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Speaking as part of a testimony to the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Development, the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Jay Clayton expressed optimism that the distributed ledger technology (DLT) sector will “facilitate capital formation.” Clayton also discussed the enforcement actions taken by the SEC in regulating initial coin offerings (ICOs). Also Read: New Bitcoin ATM Tracker Site Launches in Russia SEC Chair Believes Crypto and DLT Will Generate Capital Formation Jay Clayton stated that he is “optimistic” that the developing DLT sector will “facilitate capital formation” and provide “investment opportunities for both institutional and Main Street investors.” The SEC chairman praised the commission’s regulatory apparatus pertaining to cryptocurrencies and DLT, describing it as a “balanced” approach that simultaneously “fosters innovation” and “protects investors.” Clayton stated that the SEC has used a multitude of channels to convey its “message” to investors, citing the example of the SEC’s Howeycoins.com website. Of the site, Clayton said that the SEC “created a website to educate the public about frauds involving ICOs and just how easy it is for bad actors to engineer this type of fraud,” adding that the website attracted “over 100,000 people” within one week of being online. Clayton Highlights SEC Oversight of ICO Sector The SEC chair asserted that the commission has been “focusing a significant amount of attention and resources” to the oversight and regulation of cryptocurrencies and ICOs. Clayton emphasized the inter-division and inter-agency collaboration that the SEC has undertaken recently, highlighting the issuance of public statements regarding ICOs and virtual currencies. Clayton stated that “while some market participants have engaged with our staff constructively and in good faith with questions about the application of our federal securities laws,” some companies have sought to “prey on investors’ excitement about cryptocurrencies and ICOs” and to engage in “fraud” or “other violations” of U.S. securities laws. Clayton also highlighted the commission’s establishment of a cyber unit last year, stating that “In its first year, the Cyber Unit led investigations that resulted in several emergency actions to stop ongoing alleged frauds against retail investors that involved ICOs, as well as charges against a bitcoin-denominated platform and its operator for running an unregistered securities exchange and defrauding users of that exchange.” Speaking on the cyber unit’s actions beyond ICOs, the SEC chair asserted that the unit’s enforcement actions led to the regulator returning $1.07 billion to investors during the 2017 financial year, and $794 during the 2018 financial year so far. Do you think that the SEC’s regulatory approach is balanced? Share your thoughts in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even lookup the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more. The post SEC Chair ‘Optimistic’ DLT and Crypto Will Drive Investment Opportunities appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Cubits, a London-based digital asset trading platform, has been forced into administration after fraudsters reportedly stole €29 million (about $32.5 million) from the exchange in February. The company claimed “it fell victim” to an elaborate scam orchestrated in collusion with three of its clients. Also read: Former Mt. Gox CEO Could Face 10 Years in Jail Over Embezzlement Exchange Enters Into Voluntary Administration The administration means that investors cannot deposit or withdraw funds until further notice. It’s not clear how much worth of bitcoin the exchange was holding on behalf of customers at the time of closure. Cubits has now appointed Steve Parker and Trevor Binyon of Opus Restructuring & Insolvency as joint administrators. In a statement, the company said it had failed to recover from the “criminal act,” which involved the accounts of three customers. Cubits, the trading name of legal entity Dooga Ltd., said the “serious criminal act” had crippled business operations and “finally led to the difficult decision to place the company into administration.” Three Chinese traders allegedly purchased BTC through the platform via Pay Secure Online (Paysec), a payment processor based in Malta. However, Paysec never remitted the funds to Dooga, in an alleged scam. Cubits has now filed a lawsuit in Malta to force Paysec to reimburse the €35 million ($39.2 million it supposedly owes the exchange. The reimbursement claim includes funds from the three Chinese accounts and others. The company stated: The criminal act happened in February 2018 and involved the accounts of three clients. Bitcoins with a market value at that time of approximately €29 million were properly delivered and subsequently withdrawn, with the customers apparently colluding with fraudsters. Dooga has never received the equivalent in fiat from the payment processor responsible for carrying out the transaction. Dooga stated that it had informed the responsible authorities in the U.K., Malta, China and Germany of the scam. It has also filed several criminal complaints, but nothing has materialized, forcing the exchange to file for administration. Fruitless Efforts With administration – the U.K. equivalent of bankruptcy – the administrator will seek to restructure the company in financial distress, especially its debt. During this period, investors or creditors cannot make legal claims against the entity, giving it opportunity to recover. Cubits said it had made “every possible effort to recover” the funds without success. The only other option was to file for bankruptcy. “This decision secures the current position whilst the administrators seek offers for the business and its assets,” said the exchange. “The role of the administrators will be to work with those who are owed money by the company and to collect monies that are owed. The key objective is to achieve the best possible outcome for creditors and recover as much as possible of the funds owed to the company.” Parker, who will also be working together with Allister Manson, technology partner at Opus Restructuring & Insolvency, and Nicholas Parton, head of forensic accounting at Opus, said his duties as administrator involve collaborating with those who are owed money by Cubits and to collect money owed to the company. “Dooga’s current position is secure, investigations are proceeding and we will be writing to creditors, formally, this week,” he said. Cheated? Users reacted angrily when the Cubits platform suddenly went offline on Monday. The exchange said on Twitter that the blackout was due to “maintenance.” Later, the website began producing a general error message before subsequently announcing that the company was being placed under administration. User Jamil Khadem complained on Twitter: “Have we been robbed by Cubits? I’ve been waiting for a withdrawal since the 6th of December and the company won’t give me a straight answer.” Founded in 2014, Cubits has allowed customers to buy and sell cryptocurrency like bitcoin. It also claimed to act as a bridge between virtual currency and more traditional forms of payment, specifically to the online gaming industry. What do you think about the developments at Cubits? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post U.K. Cryptocurrency Exchange Cubits Shuts Down After $33M Scam appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Digital asset prices have been dipping in value again after a few days of price consolidation. At the moment, the entire cryptocurrency economy is awfully close to dropping under the psychological $100 billion market valuation. Furthermore, since our last markets update cryptocurrency global trade volumes are weaker than usual, with only $11.5 billion worth of assets traded over the last 24 hours. Also read: Password Manager App Dashlane Mocks Cryptocurrency Owners More Price Dips and Lower Trade Volumes Crypto-market prices are sliding again as the top 10 digital assets have seen 24-hour losses between 2-13%. At the time of publication, the entire market capitalization of all the coins in existence is $104.2 billion today. Currently, bitcoin core (BTC) prices are down 3.8%, on Friday, and 2.8% over the course of the last week. This gives BTC a global average price of about $3,302 and the value is lower on certain exchanges. Moreover, bitcoin core has a market valuation of about $57.5 billion which is 55% dominance over the entire digital asset economy. Top 10 cryptocurrencies on Dec. 14, 2018. BTC is followed by ripple (XRP) as the market captures $12 billion and each XRP is being swapped for $0.29 per coin. Ethereum (ETH) holds the third position but markets are down 4.6% and ETH is being traded for $86 per token. Stellar (XLM) takes the fourth position today as each coin is trading for $0.10 a piece. However, XLM markets have lost over 7.5% during the last 24 hours of trading. Lastly, the current ruler of the fifth position is the stablecoin tether (USDT) which is trading for a U.S. dollar and once in a while a few pennies above 1 USD. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Market Action Bitcoin cash (BCH) is the seventh largest market valuation just before the weekend and the entire BCH capitalization is only $1.4 billion. BCH prices during Friday’s trading sessions are down 13% over the last 24 hours and over 18% for the week. This action has given BCH a value of about $82 per coin with roughly $98 million in global trade volume. Bitcoin cash trade volume has increased since our last market update which is a positive sign. BCH/USD daily chart. The top five exchanges swapping the most BCH include Lbank, Binance, Kraken, Huobi, and Coinbase. During our last four market updates, ETH had dominated BCH trading pairs over the last few weeks. On Friday, BTC captures the most trades against BCH with 28.5% of global trades. This is followed by ETH (26.5%), USDT (22%), EUR (9%), and USD (6.4%). BCH/USD Technical Indicators Looking at the BCH/USD 4-hour chart on Bitstamp indicates that bears have the reigns again today. The long-term 200 Simple Moving Average (SMA) is still well above the short-term 100 SMA trend line. This shows that the path towards the least resistance is still very much the downside. BCH/USD 4-hour Bitstamp. The Relative Strength Index (RSI ~21.96) is also indicating extremely bearish conditions as the RSI is still showing an oversold market. Stochastic and MACd readings show a similar downside trajectory as there will need to be some surprise bull action to make things less dreary. Order books on the upside show bulls have some resistance from now until $100 and some smoother seas from there. On the backside, support is pretty decent from the current vantage point up to $75 where buy orders start to get slimmer. Bitstamp BCH/USD trading view 4-hour chart on Dec. 14, 2018. The Verdict: Uncertainty Remains Strong With Crypto-Markets Below Their 200-Day Averages This December is showing that cryptocurrency values are not as bright as some people predicted throughout the course of 2018. Being so close to the end of the year, Fundstrat’s Tom Lee has stated that he’s getting “tired” of cryptocurrency price predictions. Lee stated multiple times this year that BTC prices could hit a target of $15,000-25,000 by the year’s end. According to Lee’s note to clients this week, the Fundstrat Global Advisor says BTC’s fair model price should be between $13,800 and $14,800. “Given we are so close to year-end, we are not providing any updates to near-term price objectives — read this as, we are tired of people asking us about target prices,” explained Lee on Friday. Lee conceded by adding: Given the steep discounts of [bitcoin] to our fair value models, the excessive bearish sentiment about fundamentals does not seem warranted. Lee’s fair market value is still more than $10,000 higher than today’s BTC spot prices. Further, with the price so low BTC/USD, and ETH/USD short positions are still at all-time highs this week. This means more so than ever individuals and organizations believe prices are going to drop again. A large portion of the top digital assets continue to slowly drop into a narrowing price range with no signs of any significant price bounces ahead. As long as BCH, ETH, BTC, and many other coins ride below their 200-day moving averages and show extremely oversold RSI levels, traders will remain skeptical. Where do you see the price of BCH, BTC and other coins heading from here? Let us know in the comments below. Disclaimer: Price articles and markets updates are intended for informational purposes only and should not to be considered as trading advice. Neither Bitcoin.com nor the author is responsible for any losses or gains, as the ultimate decision to conduct a trade is made by the reader. Always remember that only those in possession of the private keys are in control of the “money.” Images via Shutterstock, Trading View, and Satoshi Pulse. Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. The post Markets Update: Bears Continue to Drag Cryptocurrency Prices Down appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Explaining Bitcoin to someone who knows nothing about Bitcoin isn’t easy. In fact it’s fiendishly tricky. Describing concepts such as blockchain, decentralized networks, and permissionless ledgers to beginners is as tough as describing the color orange to a blind person or the taste of an orange to someone who’s never peeled one. Two new Bitcoin analogies surfaced this week, however, that should make that task easier. Also read: Password Manager App Dashlane Mocks Cryptocurrency Owners How to Explain Bitcoin to Anyone Complete the following sentence: “Bitcoin is like ____.” Defining Bitcoin isn’t easy; hell, even bitcoiners can’t agree on what the cryptocurrency is designed for, be it a store of value, medium of exchange, or a form of censorship-resistant money. It’s no surprise, therefore, that well-intentioned attempts at explaining Bitcoin to beginners can go awry. Two very different but equally compelling analogies provide a fresh take on Bitcoin. One likens it to text messaging, the other to fungus. Both are effective in driving their point home, with the text messaging comparison particularly suited to Bitcoin beginners. Analogy 1: Bitcoin Is Like Text Messaging Advanced by ‘Beautyon’ on the Bitcoin Matters podcast, and then transcribed by David van der Weele on Twitter, the first analogy goes as follows: Bitcoin operates like text messaging, only instead of words, you can only send numbers. Those numbers are called bitcoins and because their supply is limited (unlike text messages, which are infinite), they can serve as a form of money. Continuing the analogy, van der Weele explains how “Anybody can download a bitcoin app on their phone and start using it to buy things online or [receive bitcoin] for doing work for others.” This is similar to text messaging apps such as Whatsapp where it is necessary only for the other person to install the application, whereupon anyone in the world can message them. Rounding off the Bitcoin-as-text-messaging analogy, van der Weele summarizes: Analogy 2: Bitcoin Is Like Fungus While less relatable to the average person, the second Bitcoin analogy to have garnered attention this week is arguably more accurate. The only downside is that to fully appreciate it, a degree of familiarity with eukaryotic organisms is required. The concept, advanced by Brandon Quittem, is that the Bitcoin network, made up of nodes, miners, wallets and other points of access, spreads just like fungus, which has been described as “earth’s natural internet.” “Fungi don’t have a central ‘brain,” explains Quittem, “they’re decentralized networks distributing information and resources. These fungal networks form consensus on resource management, reproduction, and defense strategy.” It is fitting therefore, that “Mycelium”, a name that many bitcoiners associate with the popular BTC wallet, draws its name from fungus threads that branch together to form colonies. Brandon Quittem drives the analogy home by adding: “Fungi are the most successful species on our planet. They “inherited the earth” after all five mass extinction events … because fungi are antifragile decentralized networks and can adapt quickly and don’t need sunlight to survive and find their own food. Bitcoin will become the most successful monetary species because it’s decentralized, adapts (relatively) quickly, finds its own food (unmet demand), and doesn’t need government support. In the event of a mass monetary extinction event, bitcoin will ‘inherit the earth.’” Comparing Bitcoin to fungus probably isn’t going to entice a slew of new crypto converts. But it’s certainly a novel way of looking at a decentralized network that has thus far resisted all attempts to eradicate it. How do you describe Bitcoin to friends and family? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post These Two Analogies Will Help You Explain Bitcoin to Anyone appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A new website showing a map of cryptocurrency teller machines and other points of sale has been launched in Russia. The platform currently provides information about bitcoin ATM locations in the city of Moscow but its developers plan to expand its coverage globally. Also read: French Lawmakers Propose Lower Electricity Rates for Cryptocurrency Miners Cryptocoinmap Has Some Useful Features Cryptocoinmap.ru is quite similar in design to the popular bitcoin ATM tracker website Coinatmradar. At this early stage, there’s still a lot of room for improvement but the platform already has some unique features. It has been created by two Russian companies, Nanobit and Sova.rf, which have already expressed their intentions to continue to develop it. At present, Cryptocoinmap shows several locations in the Russian capital where crypto enthusiasts are able to trade fiat with digital money. Six of them are bitcoin ATMs, where residents and visitors of Moscow can buy cryptocurrencies, and one is an exchange which sells and buys virtual coins. The website provides information about their addresses, phone numbers and business hours as well as images of the surroundings. All points of sale support major cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin core (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH), ethereum (ETH), litecoin (LTC), and dash. The exchange rates are displayed in a number of fiat currencies including the Russian ruble, U.S. dollar, British pound, Japanese yen, Chinese yuan, Indian Rupee, and Kazakhstani tenge. Bitfinex is the crypto exchange used for reference. The service allows users to filter the suggestions by business hours, available services and supported cryptocurrencies. The platform is based on Yandex Maps, the Russian alternative to Google Maps, and it offers some useful features, including directions to the BATMs and real-time traffic updates. Cryptocoinmap lists all supported coins with their current prices in fiat sourced from major global and local digital asset exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken, Bitfinex, Bitstamp, Bittrex, Poloniex, Cex, Exmo, Livecoin, and Yobit. The numbers are accompanied by graphs showing the daily, weekly and yearly price movements. Developers Plan for Global Coverage Representatives of the companies behind the project recently told Forklog they will only add new ATMs and change bureaus that are operated within the framework of the law. Businesses applying to be listed on Cryptocoinmap must provide proof they do not owe any taxes to the government and present documents demonstrating their financial viability. Right now, the website displays only seven locations in the Russian capital, but Nanobit and Sova.rf want to expand the coverage to include over 100 regions around the world. The companies have promised to add 200 new locations by the end of the first quarter of 2019. Coinatmradar, which is the leading BATM tracker site, provides information about over 4,000 cryptocurrency ATMs globally. These are operated by 520 companies in 74 countries. According to its data, there are currently at least 11 bitcoin ATMs in and around the Russian capital, as well as dozens of devices in other regions throughout the vast country that spans 11 timezones. Have you used a cryptocurrency teller machine? Tell us in the comments section below and share your thoughts on the subject. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Cryptocoinmap. Make sure you do not miss any important Bitcoin-related news! Follow our news feed any way you prefer — via Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, RSS or email (scroll down to the bottom of this page to subscribe). We’ve got daily, weekly and quarterly summaries in newsletter form. Bitcoin never sleeps. Neither do we. The post New Bitcoin ATM Tracker Site Launches in Russia appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In Friday’s installment of The Daily, we update a story we first reported on yesterday – the closure of stablecoin project Basis. Its team have now given the official reason for its cessation. We’ll begin, though, by covering a slice of crypto crime concerning “bitcoin bandit” Nicholas Truglia. Also read: Digital Currency Platform Revolut Receives European Banking License Bitcoin Bandit Faces Justice Truglia maintains his innocence On Dec. 13, so-called “bitcoin bandit” Nicholas Truglia was extradited to California to face charges of hacking into the phones of major Silicon Valley players. Truglia is accused of stealing a cool $1 million in crypto from one victim through SIM swapping, also known as SIM jacking. The trick has become one of the most successful attack vectors for hackers seeking to part victims from their cellphones and from there to infiltrate their email accounts and override 2FA. Other high profile figures Truglia is accused of targeting in this manner include Saswata Basu, CEO of 0Chain, and Gabrielle Katsnelson, co-founder of SMBX. Truglia, for his part, maintains his innocence. While we’re taking a foray into crypto crime, a recurring story about someone making bomb threats and demanding bitcoin resurfaced this week. The story itself is neither interesting nor meaningful – anyone can email an anonymous threat and demand whatever they want to cease their mischief, but it doesn’t mean they’re getting it. One publication, however, took the threats very seriously: Business Insider Australia has claimed that the price of BTC slumped as a direct result of the threats. “Wow you are terrible at reporting,” tweeted one reader in response to the asinine assertion. Dreamr Unveils Personal Crowdfunding App Project crowdsales may be on the decline, but the personal crowdsale is just getting started. That’s the view of the Dreamr team at least, who have released details of a new mobile app and marketplace where individuals can monetize their business ideas. The service, which harnesses cryptocurrency-based features, facilitates crowdfunding campaigns based around individual or shared goals. The Las Vegas project is seeking to combine elements of decentralized service-based marketplaces with those of a conventional crowdfunding website, and claims that Dreamr will make it easier for good ideas and talented entrepreneurs to secure capital. Basis Confirms Project Shutdown As reported yesterday in The Daily, algorithmic stablecoin project Basis has shut down and returned the bulk of the $133 million it raised to investors. In a blog post, Basis has now confirmed the reason for its closure, writing: “Having to apply US securities regulation to the system had a serious negative impact on our ability to launch Basis. As regulatory guidance started to trickle out over time, our lawyers came to a consensus that there would be no way to avoid securities status for bond and share tokens.” The team did consider moving out of the U.S. to complete their project in a friendlier jurisdiction, before concluding they were better cutting their losses and calling it a day. Crash and Burn Trading Tale Goes Viral Finally, in the current bear market, tales of woe from investors who wish they’d sold the top are easy to come by. One trader’s tale has gone viral this week, however, on account of its candor and good grace. Peter McCormack’s thread on how he turned $32,000 into $1.2 million and then back to zero has been retweeted over 1,900 times and favorited another 6,300. “If there is another bull run and you make a bunch of cash then remember to take profits. Don’t overstretch yourself,” he concludes. “Don’t keep in crypto profits which will change your life.” What are your thoughts on today’s news tidbits as featured in The Daily? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and NY Post. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post The Daily: Crashing Crypto Trader Shares Advice, Bitcoin Bandit Extradited appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In today’s Chatter Report, Erik Voorhees criticizes cryptocurrency-focused venture capital firms for reneging on their signed term sheet deals. Also, Steve Patterson calls out Amaury Sechet over Chris Pacia’s comment that miners don’t vote. Lastly, imaginary_username contemplates on the different roles of miners and users in Bitcoin. Also read: BCH Devs Discuss Securing Instant Transactions With the Avalanche Protocol Crypto Venture Capital Firms Renege on Term Sheets Founder of Digital Currency Group Barry Silbert revealed on Twitter recently that Venture Capital firms that invest in cryptocurrency-related startups have been reneging on their signed term sheet deals. We've seen half a dozen fundraising deals fall apart over the past month after the lead pulled out. All is not well in crypto VC investor land Good time to remind founders that a signed term sheet does not equal cash in the bank — Barry Silbert (@barrysilbert) December 12, 2018 Silbert later pointed out in the comments that most large deals were unaffected by this phenomenon. However, it’s the smaller deals like the seed, series A and series B rounds that are being reneged. Bad Call? The decision of VC firms to pull out of their investment deals drew sharp criticism from the CEO of Shapeshift, Erik Voorhees. Voorhees was quick to point out that the VCs seemed to be the antithesis of “smart money”. The VCs disappear when markets are down, and flood back in when markets are up. Are they not supposed to be the smart money? Their investing instincts seem little better than the Coors drinkin’ taxi driver all excited about Tron three weeks before the bubble pops. https://t.co/8YTcim5iKQ — Erik Voorhees (@ErikVoorhees) December 13, 2018 Voorhees did not hold back on criticism and even compared the investment decisions of the VCs to an average Joe who FOMOed into buying a Tron right before the price dumped. Whitepaper Sacrilege? Bitcoin pundit Steve Patterson called out the BCH community over Openbazaar developer Chris Pacia’s statement that miners don’t vote. Patterson saw this as a huge deviation away from Satoshi Nakamoto’s statement in the whitepaper that “[Miners] vote with their CPU power“. "Any needed rules and incentives can be **enforced** with this consensus mechanism" Make sure you have the basic down before we can go further. Miner vote on *state* to solve the byzantine general problem. Miners also *enforce* rules. Miner do not vote on rules. — Deadal Nix (@deadalnix) December 12, 2018 Lead developer of Bitcoin ABC Amaury Sechet fired back, arguing that miners “enforce rules” and gave the analogue that miners vote as much as Walmart votes on the products on its shelves. Existential Thoughts on Roles in Bitcoin The conversation then took a slight detour as crypto Twitter began contemplating the role of miners and users in the Bitcoin ecosystem. BCH pundit imaginary_username jumped into the discussion to quote Pirate Party Founder Rick Falkvinge and explained “everyone is free to do anything, and you may not tell others what to do” in Bitcoin. They are people too and are free to follow the latest block they want… the fact remains that the users do *not* have to follow what they follow. To paraphrase @Falkvinge , "everyone is free to do anything, and you may not tell others what to do". — imaginary_username (@im_uname) December 13, 2018 Imaginary_username then elaborated on the idea of all parties being free and explained that exchanges, businesses, customers and investors all do as they please. This is because miners are unable to coerce users with guns and threats of violence the way politicians enforce rules against their own citizens in a democracy. What do you think of venture capital firms reneging on their signed term sheet deals? What about the roles of miners and users in Bitcoin? Let us know in the comments below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Bitcoin.com’s own store features a wide range of interesting Bitcoin-related products. Looking for a hardware wallet? We got ‘em. Want a good-looking t-shirt? It’s there. Want to gift a nice Bitcoin tea cup? Go shopping. The post Chatter Report: Voorhees Questions ‘Smart Money’, Sechet Explains ‘Miners Don’t Vote’ Declaration appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Monex Group, a major Japanese financial services company and the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck, has unveiled its plan to launch a crypto exchange in the U.S. next quarter. The company has also shared its expansion plans for Coincheck in Japan. Also read: Indian Supreme Court Moves Crypto Hearing, Community Calls for Positive Regulations U.S. Expansion Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed Monex Group (8698.T) held a business strategy briefing session on Wednesday to outline its U.S. expansion plan through its subsidiary Tradestation. Oki Matsumoto. The group acquired Coincheck, one of Japan’s largest crypto exchanges, after it was hacked in January. Tradestation, a U.S.-based wholly owned subsidiary of the group, offers online electronic brokerage services to individual and institutional traders. Monex CEO Oki Matsumoto said at the briefing that Tradestation “plans to offer virtual currency transactions … in the first quarter of 2019,” Reuters reported. Tradestation CEO John Bartleman was quoted by Coin Post as saying: For cryptocurrency business, we have been preparing the virtual currency service in the U.S. for the past several months. We believe it can start in the first quarter of 2019. According to Cointelegraph Japan, the new U.S. exchange will list the top five cryptocurrencies but the actual list has yet to be finalized. In addition, the company is in the process of acquiring money transmitter licenses in all U.S. states. In December last year, Tradestation began offering the trading of bitcoin futures contracts by the Cboe Futures Exchange. Expansion Plans for Japan Matsumoto also provided an update on Coincheck’s application to register as a cryptocurrency operator with Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA). “We have been consulting with the Financial Services Agency” about registration, he said, emphasizing that Coincheck resumed its exchange business last month. Currently, the exchange supports the trading of BTC, BCH, ETH, ETC, LSK, FCT, XRP, XEM, and LTC. Coincheck is categorized as a deemed dealer which means it has been allowed by the FSA to operate a crypto exchange while its application is being reviewed. Currently, there are 16 registered crypto exchanges in Japan and three deemed dealers. Monex detailed that since the acquisition of Coincheck, many improvements have been made to the platform, including a change in the management structure and delisting anonymous cryptocurrencies. Nikkei Asian Review reported Coincheck’s President Toshihiko Katsuya explaining on Wednesday: Coincheck plans to expand its services beyond trading into areas such as payments and transfers. What do you think of Monex Group’s plans to expand in the U.S. and Japan? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Monex Group, Tradestation, and Coincheck. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Japan’s Monex Group Launching Crypto Exchange in the US appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Gitcash project has re-launched this week after taking a brief hiatus following the Bitcoin Cash hard fork. After returning, the Github tipping application has released a new splitting application for pre-fork bitcoin cash and this past ‘Tipping Tuesday’ the Gitcash crew “made it rain” BCH on unsuspecting Github projects. Also Read: Digital Currency Platform Revolut Receives European Banking License Gitcash Returns to the BCH Community With a Splitting Tool In June, news.Bitcoin.com reported on the Gitcash.io platform, an application that enables bitcoin cash (BCH) tipping natively on the Github software development website. After the BCH fork that resulted in a blockchain split, the application took a brief pause, just like other bitcoin cash services at that time. At that point in time, the Gitcash team gave a shout out to BCH infrastructure providers on Nov. 19 who were suffering as a result of “this stupid fork.” Then on Monday, Dec. 14, Gitcash creators announced they were resuming operations and released a new coin-splitting tool for users who wish to separate their BCH and BSV. “Forkin’ blues got ya down? Us too, but then we re-launched with a bunch of sweet new features, and here’s one now — Deposit the pre-fork coins that you haven’t gotten around to splitting and Gitcash will do it for you,” explained the team’s developers after publishing a video demonstration of the new tool. Gitcash Leaderboards and ‘Making it Rain’ The following day, in honor of ‘Tipping Tuesday,’ the Gitcash team said they planned on “making it rain BCH on some unsuspecting Github projects.” Additionally, the project published another video on how to use the new ‘explore’ page on Gitcash, in order to find and tip certain Github repositories. The video also demonstrates how repository owners can claim their bitcoin cash. “This feature was created to allow Gitcash users to financially support specific projects while giving the owner a way to disperse the funds amongst the project’s contributors,” the video description details. In order to use the Gitcash application, users simply log in with their Github account and there are no separate passwords involved. Gitcash account funding can also be done with any BCH wallet or imported private keys. The project has a leaderboard showing statistics like the Gitcash application’s top earners. At the moment the most tipped users on Github include ‘Maplesyrupsucker,’ ‘Seanwarman,’ and ‘Cgcardona.’ Spreading Bitcoin Cash Adoption On Thursday, Dec. 13, the Gitcash crew thanked a user for “identifying a pesky bug” for the team and told the platform’s Twitter followers to check out the user’s remote mining tool. The Github user’s project is called a Full Cycle Mining Controller, which is a workflow message bus microservice architecture for bitcoin mining. This type of open source community support is what the Gitcash project is all about, and its main objective is to spread BCH adoption. The developers have emphasized that the Gitcash software is free and the team covers operational expenses by donations from the community. “This service only exists to spread the use of bitcoin cash and motivate others to be inspired by it as we’ve been,” the Gitcash website declares. What do you think about the Gitcash team re-launching the Github tipping platform this week? Let us know in the comments section below. Images via Shutterstock, Gitcash, and Twitter. At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even look up the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more. The post Tipping App Gitcash Returns With Plans to ‘Make It Rain’ BCH on Github appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Two French legislators have made a number of proposals aimed at turning France into a leading force in the development of the industry built around cryptocurrencies. One of the ideas is to allow crypto mining companies to take advantage of preferential electricity prices. Also read: Ukrainian Village Distributes Dividends From Crypto Investment ‘France Must Have Its Own Mining Farms’ As part of a parliamentary mission to explore the implementation of crypto and blockchain technologies in France’s economy, two pro-crypto deputies, Jean-Michel Mis and Laure de La Raudière, have put forward a proposal to recognize mining as an “electro-intensive activity.” That status would allow cryptocurrency miners to pay for the electricity needed for their facilities at preferential rates. According to Jean-Michel Mis, France should offer mining companies good conditions to operate in the country, French news outlet Cryptonaute reported. He believes that cryptocurrency miners should be well distributed around the world as the concentration of mining power benefits mostly big players in China and the U.S. “We must have our own mining farms here in France,” the French legislator stated, as quoted by Les Échos financial daily. France relies heavily on cost-efficient nuclear power to satisfy its energy needs. Almost 60 nuclear reactors account for over 70 percent of the total electricity production in the country. According to data compiled by Statista, the electricity rates in France averaged $0.19 per kilowatt hour in 2018, which is cheaper than in many other European nations. In comparison, this year’s prices in Germany have been around $0.33 per kWh. €500 Million to Build Blockchain Industry During a presentation of their report this week, the two lawmakers warned that France “shouldn’t miss the blockchain train.” They urged the French government to allocate €500 million ($568 million) to support the development of the industry until 2022. Their idea is to relocate some of the funds managed by the French Public Investment Bank, Bpifrance, and the country’s National Agency for Research, ANR. “We would like France to get ahead this time,” said Laure de La Raudière, who believes authorities in Paris should develop a state strategy for the whole sector. The two members of the French parliament, whose report contains a total of 20 proposals, also revealed that they have recommended the “testing of a digital currency” issued by either the European Central Bank or the Bank of France. According to Jean-Michel Mis, 2019 will be the year of blockchain. “This ten-year-old technology is moving out of the experimental stage into industrial implementation. The general public will see the emergence of uses that affect their daily lives,” he said, as quoted by French business weekly La Tribune. In the past months, France has gradually changed its attitude towards the crypto economy in a positive direction. In September, French lawmakers passed a law setting out guidelines for initial coin offerings (ICOs). A recent report by the country’s financial markets regulator, Autorité des marchés financiers, estimates that the global ICO industry has raised almost $22 billion since 2014. Last month, the finance commission of the National Assembly supported an amendment to the 2019 budget that will cut the capital gains tax on sales of cryptocurrencies from 36.2 to 30 percent. What do you think of France’s new policies toward the crypto industry? Tell us in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Jean-Michel Mis (Twitter). Make sure you do not miss any important Bitcoin-related news! Follow our news feed any way you prefer — via Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, RSS or email (scroll down to the bottom of this page to subscribe). We’ve got daily, weekly and quarterly summaries in newsletter form. Bitcoin never sleeps. Neither do we. The post French Lawmakers Propose Lower Electricity Rates for Cryptocurrency Miners appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On Thursday, Dec. 13, digital payments platform Revolut announced that the company has been approved for a banking license in Europe by the region’s central bank. According to Revolut, the license will help it provide better access to digital currencies and also offer traditional banking services. Also read: Google Trends Reveals One of the Top Questions of 2018 — ‘What Is Bitcoin?’ License Approved by the European Central Bank Revolut is a UK-based digital currency company that allows people to purchase, sell, and store cryptocurrencies like bitcoin cash, ripple, ethereum, and others. Founded in 2015 by Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko, Revolut has raised $336 million since its inception. On Dec. 13 the team revealed it was approved by the European Central Bank for a banking license that allows the company to provide more financial services to customers. Revolut has explained that at first everything will be done “behind the scenes” so that the company will eventually be able to offer full current accounts, overdrafts, and other traditional financial services. “If you choose to open a full current account with Revolut Bank in the future, any funds you deposit will be protected up to €100,000 under the European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS),” Revolut’s blog announcement detailed. Revolut Plans to Roll Out Overdraft Features and Personal Loans Additionally, the Revolut team says customers will have access to overdraft facilities and this means users won’t have to worry about ‘insufficient funds’ notifications, automatic top-ups, and negative balances. The company further emphasized: The competitive personal loans we plan to offer will help out when your budget can’t cover a bigger purchase when you want to book that long-overdue holiday, or for anything else that requires a small cash injection before your next payday. Revolut says it will start to experiment with the license in 2019 in Lithuania and hopes it can expand the services to other European regions after the testing. Furthermore, the license will give it the opportunity to provide U.K. direct debit payments. The British-based company also says that it is currently constructing its in-house payment processor. Revolut hopes to implement everything involved with the newly approved banking license over the next 18 months. According to the digital currency payment platform’s website, Revolut will additionally roll out services in the U.S. in the near future. What do you think about the Revolut platform getting approved for a banking license in Europe? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Images via Shutterstock, Revolut, and Pixabay. At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even look up the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more. The post Digital Currency Platform Revolut Receives European Banking License appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Having strong passwords is important for everyone in today’s world as it is full of hackers and other cyber criminals. And as cryptocurrency is value stored in code, it is no surprise that its owners are among the most paranoid about their data security. However, strong keys aren’t worth much if you can’t remember them. Also Read: Report: Lightning Network Still Way off Being Ready for Use We Are Number Three Dashlane is a New York-based password manager app with reportedly ten million users around the globe. It also features a digital wallet for aggregating credit cards and bank accounts. On Wednesday, the company released its third annual “Worst Password Offenders” list, highlighting high-profile individuals and groups that had the most significant password-related blunders in 2018. Cryptocurrency owners were ranked third on the list. “As the value of cryptocurrencies reached record levels at the beginning of the year, scores of crypto owners had the potential to cash out — if they could remember their passwords,” Dashlane explained. “The news cycle was rife with reports of people resorting to desperate measures (including hiring hypnotists) to attempt to recover/remember the forgotten passwords to their digital wallets.” Use Some Common Sense While forgetting the keys to access their digital wealth was the problem for many crypto owners that made it to the media, having weak passwords is still the number one issue for most people. This was exemplified by the number one person on the list, Kanye West, who famously unlocked his iPhone with the code “000000” during a televised meeting with President Trump. “Passwords are the first line of defense against cyber attacks. Weak passwords, reused passwords, and poor organizational password management can easily put sensitive information at risk,” commented Emmanuel Schalit, CEO of Dashlane. “The sheer number of accounts requiring passwords means everyone is prone to make the same mistakes as the Password Offenders. We hope our list serves as a wake-up call to everyone to follow the best password security practices.” The company recommends that you never use passwords that are easy to guess or are shorter than eight characters. And every one of your accounts needs a unique password so that if one service is compromised the rest of your passwords remain secured. Did cryptocurrency owners rightfully earned this ranking? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Dashlane. Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi’s Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post Password Manager App Dashlane Mocks Cryptocurrency Owners appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A new study confirms the crypto industry has a lot of progress to make to bridge the gender gap. It shows that startups conducting ICOs are still markedly male-dominated – over 85 percent of the team members in the surveyed companies are men. The data also suggests women are even less likely to hold executive and advisory positions. Also read: New Platforms Track Major Stablecoin Markets Four out of Five Startups Don’t Have a Female Executive The research conducted by Longhash covers 100 upcoming initial coin offering (ICO) projects listed by ICO Rating, a website that tracks new token sales. The crypto analysis platform has collected data about the overall gender balance of each team, the number of female executives, including founders, as well as the share of women among their advisors. According to the report, 14.5 percent of the team members are female, with only 7 percent of the executive roles occupied by women. Their number among advisors is just a touch higher – 8 percent. Furthermore, almost four out of five startups (78 percent) don’t have a single female C-level executive and 75 percent don’t have female advisors. The survey is based on information published on the projects’ websites. The companies have listed a total of 1,062 team members, including 326 founders and senior executives, and 473 advisors. Another key finding is that well over a third of the companies, or 37 percent, have no female employees at all. The authors believe these are telling numbers and also warn they might even be overly optimistic: In the case of advisors, if you discount two outlying startups that had large advisory boards with more than 25 percent women, the overall percentage of women in advisory roles drops to under 6 percent. And in the case of executives, there was only one startup out of the entire 100 we looked at that had more than one woman in an executive role. ICOs With Female Advisors Less Likely to Be Managed by a Woman Researchers at Longhash have also found some interesting correlations. It turns out, for example, that crypto companies with a woman on their advisory board are “slightly less likely” to have a female member of their executive team. On the other hand, startups that have at least one woman in an executive role appear to be more likely to have a female advisor too. Longhash warns, however, that in both cases the differences as well as the samples are relatively small to draw reliable conclusions. The authors of the report also note that the tech industry in general remains largely male-dominated. They point to other studies in the field indicating less pronounced but nevertheless evident imbalance. For instance, a study published by Statista on March 8, the International Women’s Day, shows that women made up between 26 and 43 percent of the employed in eight leading tech companies last year. And in 2015, they held 25 percent of the executive roles. Also, according to another study released by software platform Carta in September of this year, less than a third of the employees at small tech startups are women. Some representatives of the crypto industry have tried to address the issue. Following accusations that its leadership had become an “old boys’ club,” Switzerland’s Crypto Valley Association recently elected two female members to its board. According to a recent report, the upcoming major reshuffle of its management team will not affect their roles. What is your opinion about the gender imbalance in crypto startups? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Longhash. Express yourself freely at Bitcoin.com’s user forums. We don’t censor on political grounds. Check forum.Bitcoin.com. The post Study Finds Less Than 15% of Team Members in ICO Startups Are Women appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Delphi Digital has taken a deep dive into bitcoin core in its first “The State of Bitcoin” report. The 59-page document from the digital asset investment company leaves no stone unturned, covering everything from BTC payments to coin distribution and rolling returns compared to stocks and gold. The report brings together a plethora of interesting statistics that attest to bitcoin’s growing evolution and adoption. Also read: Fundraiser Aims to Raise $1M in Cryptocurrencies for Venezuelans Better Understanding Bitcoin Few people, save for a handful of terminal haters and discredited economists, dispute that Bitcoin is valuable. But quite where that value lies, and what the primary purpose of Satoshi’s creation should be, is a matter of some dispute. “In its current state, BTC is easier to dismiss than understand,” acknowledge the authors of The State of Bitcoin. “We believe the primary long-term value drivers for BTC revolve around its ability to serve as 1) a censorship-resistant store of value and 2) a ‘check’ on governments as an alternative, country-agnostic digital reserve currency.” The report itself offers something for everyone, addressing BTC’s current deployment as both a medium of exchange and a store of value. Delphi Digital devotes particular attention to charting BTC’s progress in the countries that need it most – inflation-hit Argentina and Venezuela. Here, as well as in regions where many of the world’s unbanked can be found – primarily Africa – cryptocurrencies have huge potential. The report identifies three primary drivers behind BTC adoption in these countries: As an alternative to local currencies suffering from high or hyperinflation Allowing citizens to hold their wealth directly, rather than trust a local bank To improve the speed and reduce transaction fees of sending remittances The average cost of remittance for sending $200 is as high as $36 between South Africa and Botswana, for example, showing significant scope for cryptocurrencies to provide a low-cost alternative. But BTC’s use cases don’t end there. “In the past, when high inflation took hold in a person’s country, there was little that they could do except watch as their purchasing power evaporated,” continues the report. Now, “any person with internet access has the option to insulate themselves from local currency risk by switching to [BTC]. Essentially, bitcoin can offer a check on government power and policy while providing a vital safe haven for people from all around the world.” Divining Trends Through UTXO Analysis Examining unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) offers up clues as to the market cycle that BTC is currently enduring, and hints at what may come next. Delphi Digital has used a green line to represent UTXOs that are at least a year old – i.e. coins that haven’t been spent in over a year. Monitoring the percentage of 1yr+ UTXOs, as part of BTC’s entire UTXO set, shows when bitcoin holders begin to move their coins once more, be it to sell, trade, or purchase goods and services. “In the second half of 2018, the 1-Year UTXO band began exhibiting a positive growth trajectory directly in tandem with the 1-2 Year band as older UTXO bands remain flat,” reads the report. “We believe we are in the midst of an accumulation process taking similar to the one in the 2nd half of 2014.” The black line represents the price of BTC on a logarithmic scale and the green line shows the percent of bitcoin UTXOs that have not been used in a transaction in at least a year For those searching desperately for signs of a market recovery, one of the key takeaways from the report, based primarily on UTXO analysis, is that “Bitcoin may face additional selling pressure in the near-term, but we believe prices will bottom in Q1 2019 based on our analysis of holder dynamics during prior boom-bust cycles.” 10/ The maturation of #bitcoin, driven largely by the gradual adoption among both individual and institutional participants, should suppress volatility over time, allowing $BTC to function as a reliable MoE, especially in developing markets threatened by excess inflation. pic.twitter.com/qScmmV1qKa — Delphi Digital (@Delphi_Digital) December 10, 2018 From Banks to the Unbanked, Bitcoin Is for Everyone Much of Bitcoin’s beauty lies in the fact that it can be many things to many people. While it can provide a lifeline to citizens suffering from hyperinflation or prone to having their assets seized by despotic governments, BTC can be equally valuable to governments themselves, central banks, and the so-called one percent. “There is a case to be made for central banks to hold a small portion of bitcoin in their reserves as a complement to gold if it matures into an accepted store of value,” ventures the report. It continues: If the ~$1.4 trillion of gold reserves held by central banks grows at a similarly modest 2% rate per year, the expected value of bitcoin would be roughly $10,000 assuming a 25% chance it captures half the total value of future gold reserves … The upside potential for bitcoin is immense assuming it captures even a modest portion of the total assets held in offshore bank accounts, the investible gold market, and central bank gold reserves. While it’s easy to speculate future use cases and users of bitcoin, what’s indisputable is that BTC is unlike any monetary system that’s gone before. Even now, 10 years on from the Bitcoin whitepaper, new applications for BTC are being discovered. It would take a brave soul to bet against bitcoin being worth more and transacted more 10 years from now. Do you think it’s likely that BTC will start to recover from Q1 of 2019? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Delphi Digital Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Report: BTC Gets a Health Check in ‘The State of Bitcoin’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Good Money, a digital banking startup, has announced it’s raised $30 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Galaxy Digital with investments from Breyer Capital, Blocktower Capital, Boost VC, Ken Howery, Blockchange Ventures, Cross Culture Ventures, Troy Carter, Mitch Kapor, Peter Diamandis, Blake Mycoskie, Justin Rosenstein and others. Also Read: Law Professor: Confusing Crypto Regulations Will Hamper Innovation Banking With a Social Focus Besides peer-to-peer banking services, Good Money will offer FDIC-insured savings accounts bearing a 2 percent yield, free usage of fiat ATMs across the U.S., no-overdraft fees and low consumer loan rates. However, it seems that the people behind the venture believe a strong social focus is what will attract the most interest in the app. They promise that Good Money users will be able to direct 50 percent of the platform’s profits to projects focused on fixing environmental, social and economic inequality issues. The company’s founding team has also pledged half of their own equity to philanthropy. “The combination of an activist brand with deep direct-to-consumer experience at scale, positions Good Money to be a leader in the historic disruption of the banking industry … Good Money is led by world-class founders who have built billion dollar companies, with marketing experience and relationships that can bring tens-of-millions of users into the ecosystem quickly,” said Sam Englebardt of Galaxy Digital. Putting Equity in Clients’ hands Good Money plans to launch a waiting list in January 2019 and reward users with equity for securing their place in line for the full platform which will be released later in the year. Every customer will receive equity when they open an account and thus become an owner of the banking platform and users may earn additional equity by installing the app, setting up a direct deposit or referring friends. The startup is headed by Gunnar Lovelace, the founder of Thrive Market, an online grocery that previously raised $180 million in funding. “Modern banking is a primary driver of so many issues we face as a society — from economic inequality, institutional racism, environmental destruction to political corruption,” said Lovelace. “We founded Good Money to help consumers take their money out of a system that’s both destroying the planet and extracting wealth from the most vulnerable and put it into a new system focused solely on benefiting people and planet. As we scale Good Money over the next 10 years, we will empower consumers to realize they should own the businesses they buy from as an evolutionary step in improving capitalism by leveling the economic playing field.” Is a strong social focus the right approach to attract young people to the digital ecosystem? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Good Money. Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi’s Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post Crypto-Focused VCs Invest $30 Million in Digital Banking App appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In Tuesday’s edition of The Daily we cover stories about an electronic gift card program that Coinbase is extending to the U.S. market, new job offerings from Facebook that hint at the company’s blockchain plans, and an investment in the field from Unicef. Also Read: US Law Professor: Confusing Cryptocurrency Regulations Will Hamper Innovation Coinbase Extends Wegift Partnership to the US Coinbase has announced that its trading platform now offers e-gift cards for its customers in the U.S. This means that American users will be able to instantly spend their cryptocurrency balances from the exchange with dozens of new retailers. The development has been achieved by expanding its partnership with the London-based startup Wegift, which supports many well-known brands such as Nike, Tesco, Uber, Google Play, Ticketmaster and Zalando. Coinbase informed its users that purchasing e-gift cards incurs no withdrawal fees and that bonuses of up to 10 percent make it “smoother than ever to use crypto. Now, you’re just a few clicks away from spending your balance on e-gifts cards for Adidas shoes or your next vacation. Better yet, use some on the holidays — you’re just in time.” Facebook to Develop Equitable Financial Services? At the start of 2018, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg set a goal for himself to take back power from centralized systems using “encryption and cryptocurrency.” While the year is nearly over and this resolution remains unfulfilled, his company appears to still be focused on the subject. Recently surfaced ads show that Facebook is looking for data scientists and software engineers to help develop new blockchain solutions, possibly including financial services. The company explains to potential candidates that: “At Facebook, we have established a new team building blockchain technologies. It’s a small, fast-growing, but talented group of people who are passionate about changing the world. Our leadership is experienced and are some of the best people working today in their respective fields.” “The blockchain team is a startup within Facebook, with a vision to make blockchain technology work at Facebook scale. We’re exploring areas of interest across all facets of blockchain technology. Our ultimate goal is to help billions of people with access to things they don’t have now – that could be things like equitable financial services, new ways to save, or new ways to share information.” Unicef Invests in Six Blockchain Startups The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has announced that it will provide backing to six blockchain startups from emerging economies trying to solve global challenges using the technology. The Unicef Innovation Fund will invest up to $100,000 in Atix Labs from Argentina, Onesmart and Prescrypto from Mexico, India’s Statwig, Utopixar from Tunisia and W3 Engineers from Bangladesh. The financial support is meant to help the companies deliver open-source prototypes of blockchain applications within 12 months. “Blockchain technology is still at an early stage — and there is a great deal of experimentation, failure, and learning ahead of us as we see how, and where, we can use this technology to create a better world,” said Chris Fabian, Principal Adviser at the fund. “That’s exactly the stage when UNICEF Innovation Fund invests: when our financing, technical support, and focus on vulnerable populations can help a technology grow and mature in the most fair and equitable way possible.” What do you think about today’s news tidbits? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi’s Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post The Daily: Coinbase Expands Gift Card Program, Facebook Seeks Blockchain Talent appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A Japanese lawmaker has proposed four changes to Japan’s tax law to benefit crypto users and traders as well as widen the adoption of cryptocurrency in the country. The current tax rate of 55 percent could be lowered to 20 percent while crypto-to-crypto trading and small payments could be exempt from taxation. Also read: Indian Supreme Court Moves Crypto Hearing, Community Calls for Positive Regulations Changing Crypto Taxation Representative Takeshi Fujimaki of Japan’s Nippon Ishin no Kai political party has proposed four changes to the current taxation system for cryptocurrencies. Fujimaki, who was formerly an adviser to billionaire investor George Soros, announced on Friday: We believe that it is necessary to change the current virtual currency taxation system to an appropriate tax system in order to develop virtual currency / blockchain technology. The tax system should not deprive the future of virtual currency and blockchain. The proposed changes are designed to “promote the wider adoption of virtual currency” as well as “encourage the development of blockchain technology,” he clarified. Representative Takeshi Fujimaki. From 55% Tax Rate to 20% Currently, Japan taxes profits from cryptocurrency transactions as miscellaneous income, which could be as high as 55 percent. Fujimaki explained that unlike salaries which are fixed amounts, gains from crypto transactions — like stocks and mutual funds — vary and losses could be incurred over a number of years. Capital gains from stocks and mutual funds are taxed separately from other income sources, at a flat rate of about 20 percent. “From that point of view, it is necessary to [similarly] apply separate taxation with a tax rate of 20% to the gains from virtual currency transactions,” he said. Fujimaki has also proposed allowing losses from crypto transactions to be carried forward, which the current law does not permit. Taxpayers with losses from crypto transactions this year and profits the next, for example, are not able to offset their gains with losses. He elaborated: Losses from stock trading … can be carried forward and can be deducted from the profits in the following year. From the perspective of tax fairness, you should also allow for deduction carryforward of losses from virtual currency transactions. Exemptions for Crypto-to-Crypto Trading and Payments Trading between cryptocurrencies, such as between XRP and BTC, is currently subject to taxation under the current tax law, Fujimaki noted. “The task of calculating profit and loss for each transaction is extremely cumbersome and a heavy burden,” he described, adding: In order to increase the volume of transactions between virtual currencies and to revitalize the virtual currency market, trading between virtual currencies should be tax exempt. Another tax exemption the lawmaker has proposed relates to small payments of cryptocurrencies, which he expects to increase as more stores start accepting crypto payments and more people start using them to pay for goods and services. For example, a person eating at a restaurant and paying with bitcoin will have to calculate their “profit and loss from the bitcoin price and the purchase price of the bitcoin at that point,” and then pay tax if there is profit. Fujimaki emphasized that with the current system, “you cannot hope for the adoption of virtual currency payments in real society,” elaborating: Virtual currency payments of small amounts should be tax exempt, and virtual currency payments in the real world should be expanded. What do you think of these four proposed tax changes? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Takeshi Fujimaki. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Japanese Lawmaker Proposes 4 Tax Cuts for Cryptocurrency Users and Traders appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Despite the market slump, the head of а village council in Ukraine has managed to earn profit from a cryptocurrency investment he made on behalf of the residents of the Elizavetovka, Dnipropetrovsk region. Earlier this year, Maxim Golosnoy bought a small amount of cryptocurrency using his own savings and has recently distributed dividends to the villagers. Also read: Australian Company Issues Loans Backed by Cryptocurrencies Everyone in Elizavetovka to Receive 100 Hryvnias Maxim Golosnoy When Golosnoy announced the investment this past spring, he emphasized that he hadn’t used any budgetary funds for his “crypto experiment.” Ukrainian media reported the local official had spent some of his own money, around $500, to purchase the cryptocurrency. Golosnoy said he bought the digital coins for the people of Elizavetovka, stating that every adult resident owns a share. During a recent town hall meeting, the villagers learned each one of them is now entitled to receive 100 hryvnias, Ukrainian outlet Segodnya reported. The dividend is worth only around $3.60 but no one really expected any revenue in the current market situation anyway. Golosnoy told them: This was a cryptocurrency experiment. No budgetary funds have been spent and you still have the cryptocurrency. The funds you have just received are only dividends. In May, Maxim Golosnoy reportedly purchased for the villagers some cardano, one of the coins recognized as means of payment in Elizavetovka, along with bitcoin core and ethereum. At the time, the price of the cryptocurrency was $0.14 per coin. A month and a half later, when its value reached 39 cents, he sold some of the coins to recover his initial capital investment. Golosnoy did not go into details about his subsequent crypto deals. ADA is currently trading at around $0.03 after it fell from its all-time high of $1.15 per coin in January of this year. Crypto Revenues to Be Spent for Road Repairs The residents of Elizavetovka have decided to use part of the revenues from Golosnoy’s crypto investment to fix some potholes on the road that passes through their village. They have already collected 1,200 hryvnias, a little over $400, to finance the repair works scheduled to begin as soon as the snow melts away next spring, the local TV channel Ukraina reported. Maxim Golosnoy admitted he plans to continue his cryptocurrency investment experiment. The chairman of the village council hopes he will able to distribute much higher dividends in the future. Golosnoy believes the payouts can reach 2,000 hryvnias next year. He also wants to obtain permission from the authorities in Kiev to invest some of Elizavetovka’s budget surplus in digital assets. Cryptocurrencies are yet to be regulated in Ukraine. According to a recent report, the government intends to fully legalize them within the next three years. Three bills have been filed in Ukraine’s parliament since last fall, but very little progress has been made toward their adoption. In the last couple of months, Ukrainian lawmakers proposed two new drafts introducing tax breaks for organizations and individuals reporting income and profits from crypto-related transactions. What do you think about the crypto investment initiative in Elizavetovka? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Facebook. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Ukrainian Village Distributes Dividends From Crypto Investment appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Keeping abreast of cryptocurrencies means frequently browsing and interpreting vast amounts of content from various online sources. As the crypto markets expands and matures, information overload becomes a problem. Astute traders are increasingly seeking crypto-specific tools that can distill the noisy input data into quality insights. Predicoin is one such potential solution. Also read: Meet the New Sentiment Analysis Tools Empowering Smarter Trading Predicoin Goes Live With “Sentscore” Functionality In August, news.Bitcoin.com previewed Predicoin, which was then in early stage development. The data analytics platform, which is now open to the public, aggregates news and social media content before extracting the sentiment using machine learning. In addition to serving up crypto news and social media content, Predicoin provides its own built-in analytics in the form of “Sentscore” (sentiment score). This functions as a general sentiment indicator for the cryptomarket, powered by algorithms that compute sentiment from five verticals: Amount of content and article context from crypto news sites Social media sentiment (currently Twitter and Reddit) and volume from crypto influencers Macro and micro economics/fundamentals of a coin (team, developers etc.) Technical indicators on a coin’s price Popularity and trending characteristics of a coin Predicoin plans to use its datasets and analytics framework to derive trends between sentiment and price. “We’re still tuning our algorithms and regularly backpropagating updates to prior data,” explained Pierre-Alexandre Picard, Predicoin COO. “These metrics could change, but we’re very excited to start seeing some potential correlations on our charts. We continue to work hard on identifying patterns to provide the most accurate indicators to our users.” BCH social sentiment leading up to the hard fork Gauging Social Sentiment Although Predicoin is still in beta, testing shows the platform to be quite efficient in some cases at accurately conveying social trends. For instance, at the height of the recent Bitcoin Cash fork, Predicoin detected a significant upward shift in volume of news and social media that mentioned BCH. While this finding isn’t surprising, seeing the data overlaid with that of BCH price action suggests the degree to which sentiment can be used to predict price. This is best seen in the case of Ripple’s eponymous cryptocurrency. XRP’s price run-up in September, which was linked to the announcement of U.S.-based PNC Bank partnering with Ripple to conduct instantaneous cross-border payments. Predicoin identified the positive news published on XRP and shared multiple times across social media, taking its native Sentscore to an all-time high for ripple. The price followed within the next 12-24 hours, boosting XRP to over $0.60. BTC’s social chart is also interesting to explore, showing sentiment falling with the bitcoin crash that occurred on Nov. 15: The platform detected a strong downturn in the sentiment of social media the moment BTC lost around $100. To further improve its algorithmic predictions, Predicoin runs statistical tests on the data it amasses to develop metrics that connect price and social information. The goal is to ultimately develop a tool that traders and investors can rely on for asset research. Predicoin’s data analytics service currently extends to 30 cryptocurrencies, enabling enthusiasts to log in and discover social patterns, check daily, weekly, and monthly scores, and access the content from which these scores are formulated. Generating profit in a bear market isn’t easy, even when armed with tools and algorithms aplenty. Given the fallibility of technical analysis, however, alternative indicators are to be welcomed, be it to bolster existing trading ideas or to give rise to new ones. Do you think sentiment analysis can be a valuable trading indicator? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Predicoin. Disclaimer: Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support this product/service. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. The post Sentiment Analysis Service Predicoin Launches for Cryptocurrency Traders appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A cryptocurrency “airdrop” fundraiser has been launched to help Venezuelans. People are donating funds via a number of different coins to the citizens of the crisis-stricken South American nation — many of whom are refugees. Also read: Venezuelans Remain Skeptical After President Maduro Raises Petro’s Value Donate Coins to People in Need Launched by Airtm, a digital wallet connected to banks and blockchains, the fundraiser plans to send $1 million in digital currency to 100,000 ID-authenticated Venezuelans. Donations can be made in bitcoin, bitcoin cash, zcash, dash, ethereum, litecoin, ripple, and others. They can be quickly used or converted to dollars by Venezuelans. So far, Airdrop Venezuela has proven to be popular. Launched on Nov. 27, close to $50,000 has been raised at the time of this writing. Ten dollars worth of donations can help a family purchase food, medicine, and scarce imported goods. Suffering from the world’s highest inflation, the country’s currency, the bolivar, has been rendered virtually worthless. Digital money is proving to be useful to many Venezuelans who are eager to get rid of bolivars. 61% of Venezuelans have had trouble putting food on the table in 2017. The situation has continued to worsen this year, and is expected to deteriorate throughout 2019. Help us spread the word, and share the message. #AirdropVenezuela — Airtm Inc (@AirtmInc) December 10, 2018 Venezuelans have actually been selling wads of cash or even using it to make items they can sell, such as bags or handicrafts, to make money. Airtm has been helpful to Venezuelans looking to efficiently convert their bolivars into U.S. dollars. Its service allows users to quickly convert whatever currency they are holding into cash via banks, gift cards, Western Union or cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin.com CEO to Match BCH Donations for the Next 24 Hours A hot topic on Twitter, the charity’s effort is quickly gaining traction by helping spread the word about the dire help Venezuelans need. Bitcoin.com CEO Roger Ver stated on Monday that he would match all BCH donations made in the next 24 hours. He said: The bigger the network effect a currency has, the more useful that currency becomes. This is a great way to grow the network for Bitcoin Cash and help people in need at the same time. Crisis-stricken Venezuela is seeing tens of thousands of its citizens flee the country each day due to food and medicine shortages. Most go to neighboring Colombia but many others go to Peru, Brazil, the U.S., and some as far as Europe. The country’s government earlier this year launched an oil-backed digital currency, the petro, to help the economy. Just last week, President Nicolas Maduro ordered the price of the petro to double. The digital currency has been widely criticized by citizens of Venezuela and experts alike who see it as a scam or worthless currency. Despite Maduro saying it is the solution to the country’s problems, the wallet for the petro is still unavailable to the public and there have been no reports of anyone using it. What do you think of Airdrop Venezuela? Let us know in the comments section below. Images via Shutterstock and Pixabay. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Fundraiser Aims to Raise $1M in Cryptocurrencies for Venezuelans appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Kenyan health services provider Health Land Spa has started taking BTC and other cryptocurrencies as a means of payment with a view to increasing accountability and averting losses. Across East Africa, cryptocurrency acceptance is on the rise, with at least two restaurants in Uganda and Kenya selling food for virtual currencies. Also read: Wirex Introduces Iban for all European Crypto Card Accounts ‘Safe and Secure’ Currency Tony Mwongera, founder of Nairobi-based Health Land Spa, told Kenyan news site Bitcoinke that he resorted to BTC to plug revenue loss. “There was so much theft in my business. So I decided, why don’t I use a technology which is safe and secure, and I decided to accept bitcoin [core] as a mode of payment.” Tony Mwongera With the introduction of cryptocurrencies, Health Land Spa customers will now be footing the bill for massages, pedicures and other health and beauty treatment services from their digital wallets. The company, which also accepts dash, is looking to add more cryptocurrencies in the coming months. Mwongera is not the first Kenyan service provider to make a bitcoin move. Boxlight Electronics, a Kenyan company that distributes a range of electrical gadgets including television sets and home theaters, now accepts payment in bitcoin core and bitcoin cash. Robinson Murage, chief executive officer of Boxlight Electronics, has said previously: “We have received tons of requests from our customers to pay using digital currencies. As a company whose 90 percent of customers are young, tech savvy and predominantly online we choose to be all inclusive and adapt to the needs of those that prefer this type of currency.” Bitcoin for Roast Beef In Kenya’s rural town of Nyeri, Betty Wambugu operates a restaurant business, Betty’s Place, selling roast beef in digital currency. “Bitcoin is a means of payment like any other and we accept it here at the restaurant the way we do … cash,” restaurant owner Wambugu was quoted as saying. “Since the world is becoming more global, my place is also becoming a global restaurant. I attract different customers from different parts of the world, whichever coin they have. As long as it’s a viable coin we accept it,” she added. Wambugu’s relationship with BTC started much earlier than her acceptance of the digital coin. The business woman used her cryptocurrency savings to buy a two-storey building she later converted into Betty’s Place, BBC reported. However, the bitcoin side of business has not been fast for Wambugu, with about 30,000 Kenyan shillings ($300) in sales from around 20 people, as of October. Unfazed, Wambugu has recently started hosting classes at her restaurant on Sundays to encourage uptake of cryptocurrency. She intimated that the authorities are not up to speed on the technology, but Kenya’s government has launched a taskforce to look into ways the country can advance in blockchain and artificial intelligence. Top Crypto Market in Africa Several months have passed since the Kenyan parliament tasked the country’s Financial Ministry with coming up with a determination as to whether to regulate bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. There has not been any official communication from the Kenyan government in relation to its latest position on the future of BTC. However, the economy is rated as one of the top 25 cryptocurrency markets in the world, and third in Africa after Nigeria and South Africa. In neighboring Uganda, restaurant owner Jennifer Birungi also accepts BTC; not a hard business decision as the Ugandan capital, Kampala, is home to dedicated bitcoin evangelists like the lecturer Richard M Bagorogo. “I am living on bitcoin because getting a job in this country is not easy,” Bagorogo told the congregation that faithfully flocks to his bitcoin “sermons.” What do you think about bitcoin acceptance in Africa? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Bitcoinke Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our toolssection. The post Steady Rise in Small Businesses Accepting Bitcoin Payments in Kenya appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Local media has reported that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has banned security token offerings (STOs). Pan Gongsheng, a deputy governor of the PBOC, has mobilized the same rhetoric used with regard to initial coin offerings (ICOs) in describing STOs, accusing security token offerings of comprising “illegal financial activity.” Also Read: Federal Agents Told This Silk Road Moderator to Fake His Own Death Security Token Offerings Deemed to Comprise Illegal Activity in Mainland China Gongsheng recently told state-owned media channel China Central Television that STOs are “still essentially an illegal financial activity in China.” Speaking at the recent 2018 Global Wealth Management Forum, Huo Xuewen, the director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Local Financial Supervision, also sought to discourage entities from conducting STOs, stating of the emerging phenomenon: “I want to warn those who are promoting STO fundraising in Beijing. Don’t do it in Beijing. You will be kicked out if you do it.” Despite Widespread Perceptions of Greater Legitimacy, Chinese Officials Lump STOs Alongside ICOs Gongsheng claimed that “virtual money has become an accomplice to all kinds of illegal and criminal activities,” seeking to emphasize the successes of the Chinese ICO crackdown that was launched during September 2017. Prior to action taken against Chinese ICOs, it was approximated that 80 percent of global ICO financing was taking place in mainland China. The deputy governor added that the majority of ICOs conducted in China are suspected of engaging in illegal fundraising, pyramid schemes, and other financial fraud. Cao Hua of United Asset Management predicted that China’s regulators will “continue to strengthen regulation in the financial technology market” to ensure stability, adding that “new business models in the financial technology sector are not welcome in China now.” A tokenized real estate investment trust STO was conducted in the U.S. at the end of November, which saw Convexity Prosperities launch a token offering seeking to raise $20 million from accredited investors in partnership with private investment tokenization platform Harbor. For now, though, STOs, as with ICOs, remain largely off-limits to Chinese citizens who are barred from participating. Do you think that STOs will be met with regulatory hostility in other jurisdictions? Or will a crackdown be implemented by few states other than China? Share your thoughts in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock The Bitcoin universe is vast. So is Bitcoin.com. Check our Wiki, where you can learn everything you were afraid to ask. Or read our news coverage to stay up to date on the latest. Or delve into statistics on our helpful tools page. The post PBOC Deputy Governor Calls STOs ‘Illegal Financial Activity’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Carol Goforth is a professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law. She recently published a paper about the consequences of having cryptocurrency regulations fall under a number of conflicting laws, defined by various U.S. authorities, all at the same time. Also Read: IRS to Face Record Number of Crypto-Related Loss Claims Confusing, Prohibitive and Expensive Regulations Crypto assets are currently regulated in the U.S. as property by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as money by the Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (Fincen), as commodities by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and as securities by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Additionally, every single state has its own set of laws that may apply to crypto, and some have even adopted unique regulatory approaches towards the matter. This has produced a set of overlapping rules and confusing requirements that is likely to hamper innovation in the American crypto industry, according to law professor Carol Goforth. Moreover, the expenses associated with complying with all of these obligations can be prohibitive and time-consuming for U.S. crypto businesses such as exchanges. And with the added risk of investigations and enforcement actions, “it is easy to see why the U.S. is not regarded as being receptive to crypto,” she explained in her paper. A Paradigm Shift Is Required Unfortunately, professor Goforth has determined that it is unlikely that the U.S. will do away with any of the aforementioned bodies or limit the jurisdiction of existing agencies so as to consolidate regulatory power. This is because prior attempts to consolidate functions of different financial regulators have failed, legislators think that existing authorities have differing areas of expertise, and the courts have approved the situation. It therefore behoves these agencies to get together and make a concerted effort to coordinate enforcement and regulatory oversight based on a more nuanced approach. “This change in perspective requires a paradigm shift that moves away from treating crypto as a single kind of asset, when in reality, it is not. Hopefully, American regulators will realize this, and act on this reality, sooner rather than later,” she concluded. How should US-based cryptocurrency innovators deal with confusing regulation? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi’s Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post US Law Professor: Confusing Cryptocurrency Regulations Will Hamper Innovation appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

With cyberattacks on the rise, Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange (GBX) has announced an insurance policy to cover its digital assets in partnership with Gibraltar-based Callaghan Insurance. Cryptocurrencies held in both the hot and cold wallets of the trading platform will be insured. Also read: Report: Swiss City of Zug Named Fastest Growing Tech Hub in Europe Cyber Insurance for Cryptocurrencies “We are delighted to announce the introduction of insurance coverage … this represents an important step in attracting users who require strict assurances around the security of their assets,” Nick Cowan, chief executive officer of GBX, said in a statement on Dec. 10. Cowan said his exchange, licensed by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission only last month, was “committed to building a platform focused on the highest regulatory standards and the strictest due diligence processes.” The insurance cover ensures that assets in the custody of the GBX are insured. It also means digital currencies held by the exchange for investors will be covered, “providing additional reassurance to a wide variety of traders around security and transparency,” stated the CEO. Cyber Attacks on the Rise Attacks by hackers on exchanges are not uncommon in the fledgling cryptocurrency industry. Estimated losses from cyber crime have topped $930 million so far this year, according to data by U.S. security firm Ciphertrace. As thefts have rocked exchanges worldwide, some platforms have woken up to the need to not only strengthen their security to safeguard investor funds, but also to buy insurance to cover potential losses. This is particularly crucial in an industry that has drawn its share of unsophisticated investors who trade with a certain degree of naivety in many cases, lured by the promise of quick riches. Incidents of fraud and stolen funds can smear a market struggling to build confidence in the absence of regulatory oversight. Exchanges will also have to worry about the costs associated with investigating and closing a breach in the event of a hack, loss of business, public relations to repair confidence and other issues. Given these factors, it is of little surprise that GBX has opted to invest in cyber insurance. Gibraltar Developing Into a Cryptocurrency Hub Bruno Callaghan, managing director of Callaghan Insurance Brokers, said: “I am delighted that Callaghan have been able to procure, after much research and collaboration with the London insurance market, a bespoke, fit for purpose coverage option that affords our clients and the jurisdiction the necessary protection to move forward confidently in the distributed ledger technology arena.” GBX, a unit of the GSX Group, owners of the Gibraltar Stock Exchange, was recently granted a full license to operate by the country’s financial regulator. In the past 24 hours, about $6.5 million worth of BTC had been traded on the platform, according to Coingecko. Gibraltar is positioning itself to be a major center for cryptocurrency development. Earlier this year, the European territory introduced a purpose-built distributed ledger regulatory framework. GBX chief executive officer Nick Cowan said the partnership with Callaghan Insurance “highlights the relentless efforts being made by businesses and regulators in Gibraltar to provide a sustainable environment for blockchain development.” What do you think about cyber insurance cover for cryptocurrency exchanges? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Gibraltar Exchange Obtains Insurance for Crypto Assets as Cyber Attacks Soar appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

There has been a slew of bitcoin mining rigs announced during the last 12 months that claim to process more terahash per second while consuming less energy. However, with cryptocurrency prices so low, lots of newly launched machines are not profitable and many of them haven’t even shipped yet. Also read: Federal Agents Told This Silk Road Moderator to Fake His Own Death The Five Profitable Mining Rigs Digital asset prices have seen better days as cryptocurrency markets throughout the entire 2018 calendar year have been riding a long bearish trend. Many coins with the SHA-256 mining algorithm such as bitcoin cash (BCH), bitcoin core (BTC), and peercoin (PPC) have lost considerable value. Because cryptocurrency prices are so low, many mining devices announced this year are failing to bring a profit and some machines cannot be purchased on the open market. According to real-time statistics from Asicminervalue.com at the time of publication, only five mining devices make a profit and two machines are not yet available on the market. The data website uses a combination of electrical costs, current network difficulty, block reward, and exchange rates to figure out whether or not certain ASIC machines are profitable. Machines With Significant Terrahash Pull Small Profits The most profitable machines on Monday, Dec. 10, 2018, three weeks before the new year, are manufactured by the corporations Ebang, Asicminer, Innosilicon, and Bitmain. The Ebang Ebit E11++ is currently the most profitable mining device on the market with 44 terrahash per second (TH/s) and it consumes 1,980W. The Ebang mining rig priced at $2,500 makes about $1.39 per day profit with current BTC prices. The E11++ is currently available on the open market from two companies but one vendor is only taking pre-order right now. The Asicminer 8 Nano is another machine that processes 44TH/s but pulls 2,100W from the wall. The machine created by Asicminer was launched in October and pulls a profitability of about $1.02 per day, at the time of writing. The company’s 8 Nano is available for purchase through the Canadian dealer Mining Cave for $2,045. Then there’s the new Innosilicon T3 model, which also claims to boast roughly 43TH/s but the rig is not available to the public just yet. The T3 will be released in January 2019, according to the company, at a price of $2,500 per machine. With current market statistics, this gives the T3 a profitability of about $0.84 per day for a machine you cannot obtain. The next most profitable miner, Asicminer 8 Nano Pro, is obtainable according to Asicminervalue. The Nano Pro claims to process a whopping 76TH/s but consumes over 4,000W in electricity. These metrics make the $11,600 machine only profitable by $0.59 per day. Lastly, Bitmain contends the Antminer S15 machine produces about 28TH/s, pulling 1,596W from the wall, giving the device a profitability of $0.27 every 24 hours. Operating at a Loss Many other machines that were announced this year are not showing profits and consume more energy cost if the companies continue to operate them. GMO’s B2 and B3, which boast 24-33TH/s, can lose between $1.90-4.98 per day at current BTC prices. The infamous Halong Mining Dragonmint T1 model sees a loss of around $1.87 per day. Innosilicon’s previous models, besides the unobtainable T3, are all seeing losses at the time of publication. The top four Whatsminer models (M10, M10s, M3, and M3X) lose $1-4.25 every 24 hours, according to the statistics. A large variety of SHA-256 Bitmain models, including the S9, R4, S11, and many other series, are unprofitable. The Canaan Avalon series is in the same boat as the 841, 821, and 921, losing about $1.69-1.86 per day with current BTC prices at $3,500 per coin. Bearish SHA-256 algorithm coin prices have affected network hashrate considerably over the last few months. For instance, the bitcoin core (BTC) hashrate touched 61 exahash per second (EH/s) during the last week of August, but this month the BTC hashrate is only 35 EH/s. However, there may be many facilities which are still making a profit with older machines if their electric cost is highly subsidized or nearly free. Many flashy machines announced this year have touted 7 and 10 nm chips and much bigger processing power, but cryptocurrency market prices have made it so only a few machines are profitable. But if markets push higher again turning from a bearish-to-bullish trend, then a great majority of the newly released 2018 mining rigs should become profitable again. What do you think about these mining rigs and their profitability rates with current prices? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Disclaimer: Bitcoin.com does not endorse these products/services. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned companies or any of its affiliates or services. This editorial is intended for informational purposes only. Bitcoin.com and the author are not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Images via Shutterstock, Ebang, Asicminer Nano, Bitmain, and Asicvalue.com. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Only Five Bitcoin Mining Devices Released in 2018 Are Profitable This December appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article