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The entire crypto-economy has been meandering just above $109 billion after the last two weeks of market dumps. Volume has been light this week as digital asset enthusiasts and traders are now pondering the crypto market’s next big move. Also Read: Former Israeli Prime Minister Calls Cryptocurrencies a ‘Ponzi Scheme’ Market Surfers Wait for the Next Big Crypto Wave Digital currency prices are at their lowest in over 15 months and prices have dropped considerably over the last few weeks. After many of the top cryptocurrencies touched significant lows on Dec. 7, about 48 hours later markets saw a brief spike upwards. Right now, most of the top coins are moving in a consolidated triangular pattern, seeing some lighter swings on Monday, Dec. 10. The top 10 cryptocurrencies on Monday, Dec. 10, 2018. At the time of publication, the price of bitcoin core (BTC) is about $3,478 and is down roughly 4.5% over the last 24 hours. The second highest valued market held by ripple (XRP) is down 4.8% and each coin is trading for $0.30. Ethereum (ETH) prices have lost 6.2% during the last day and the coin is being swapped for $91. The cryptocurrency stellar (XLM) is the fourth largest market cap today as each coin trades for $0.11. Meanwhile, the stablecoin tether (USDT) has seen significant demand and now captures the fifth largest crypto valuation. Tether usage has reached a three-month low, however, as other stablecoins like TUSD, USDC, and GUSD have seen significant volume increases. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Market Action Bitcoin cash (BCH) markets are doing better today after a little skirmish with BSV in terms of prices on Dec. 7. Today, BCH is trading for $106 per coin and markets are down 2.9% for the day and 33% for the week. Bitcoin cash has about $86 million in trade volume which still pales in comparison to the $500 million global trades per day the coin held prior to the fork. The top five trading platforms swapping the most BCH today are Lbank, Binance, Huobi, Bluebelt, and Hitbtc. The biggest pair today being swapped against BCH is ethereum (ETH) which captures over 34% of Monday’s BCH trades. This is followed by BTC (28.5%), USDT (25.6%), USD (4.9%), and the EUR (2.3%). This week BCH is the 13th most traded cryptocurrency out of the 2,000+ coins on the market. BCH/USD 7-day chart on Dec. 10. BCH/USD Technical Indicators Looking at the BCH/USD four-hour chart on Bitstamp shows bulls are attempting to push forward after some heavy hits the past few days. At the moment, one BCH is trading for $101 per coin. The two Simple Moving Averages (SMA) show the long-term 200 SMA is still above the short term trendline indicating the path toward the least resistance is still down. BCH/USD 4-hour chart on Bitstamp. 12/10/18 However, the 30-minute BCH/USD chart shows the two trend lines recently crossed paths and on the four-hour chart it looks as though they may cross hairs as well. The relative strength index on the four-hour shows oversold conditions at -39 and the MACd shows room for improvement too, but more so toward the downside. Order books on Bitstamp indicate that BCH bulls need to fight current resistance that’s stacked up until the $125-$150 zones. If bulls can surpass this region then they could gain some upward momentum. On the backside, order books show fairly solid foundations between now and $88 per BCH. BCH/USD 4-hour chart 3:00 p.m. EST, 12/10/18. The Verdict: Traders Too Skeptical to Call the Bottom Most traders have been conversing about whether or not current prices can be regarded as ‘the bottom’, a topic they have pondered multiple times this year. Prices have shown various bull traps and dead kittens bouncing from the all-time highs last December all the way to the lowest of lows this December. BTC/USD shorts are still incredibly high and short positions placed on Bitfinex touched all-time highs on Dec. 6, reaching more than 42,000 that day. BTC/USD shorts on Bitfinex. 12/10/18. This metric has tapered off a little, but BTC/USD short positions are still incredibly high (37,000) with the price as low as it is today. Nevertheless, BTC dominance among all digital asset market valuations has remained unscathed over the last three months. Again, another week has passed and cryptocurrencies have seemingly bottomed out and continue to consolidate for now, leaving traders to pray they played their positions right this time around. 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: Cryptocurrency Traders Are Still Searching for the Elusive ‘Bottom’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The ongoing bear market has caused another cryptocurrency company to downsize its operations. Bitmain, the Beijing-headquartered bitcoin mining technology giant, has now begun shutting down its research and development center in Ra’anana, Israel. Also Read: Former Israeli Prime Minister Calls Cryptocurrencies a ‘Ponzi Scheme’ Bitmaintech Israel Closes Down According to reports from Israel, Bitmain’s research and development center in the country will be shut down this week. A total of 23 employees are being laid off, and Gadi Glikberg, who headed the Israeli company and served as a VP at Bitmain, will also lose his position. “The crypto market has been going through turmoil in the past few months, which has forced Bitmain to examine its various activities around the globe and to refocus its business in accordance with the current situation,” Glikberg told his staff according to a report by the local Globes newspaper. AI and Mining Talent Bitmaintech Israel was the company’s first R&D center outside of China. It created the ‘Connect BTC’ mining pool and also developed Artificial Intelligence applications for the Chinese company. “Over the past three years, we have built an amazing team with the highest performance capabilities in the field. Our development plans included a lot of work in the field of onboarding and making digital currencies more accessible to the general public, but unfortunately the market growth and user base forecasts have not materialized. Therefore, it was sadly decided to terminate the activity and stop the work of the 23 employees of the company in Israel,” Glikberg added in his announcement to the employees. “We are gathering together a number of applications from technology companies that have already shown an interest in recruiting staff, and our human resources department will continue to assist as much as possible in the rapid integration of our people into the job market. It was a wonderful journey, and I am saddened it ends this way, but at least we got to experience it with you – programmers and professionals among the best in the Israeli market and even the world. ” Do you expect more cryptocurrency businesses to shut down if the market does not recover soon? 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 Bitmain Shuts Down Research and Development Center in Israel appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Local reports have asserted that the Israel Tax Authority has launched a renewed crackdown on unreported cryptocurrency earnings. The Israeli tax regulator has opened hundreds of tax accounts and sent letters of notice to Israeli citizens suspected of failing to disclose earnings derived from cryptocurrency-relate activities. Also Read: $1 Million BTC Options Position Set to Expire on Dec. 28 Israel Tax Authority Targets Undisclosed Cryptocurrency Earnings The Israel Tax Authority has launched an offensive designed to crack down on cryptocurrency earnings not reported by Israeli citizens, reportedly resulting in the opening of hundreds of tax accounts. Citing an anonymous “Israeli official familiar with the matter,” local media outlet Calcalistech has reported that the Israel’s tax regulator has sent letters to citizens suspected of failing to report crypto income, as well as individuals who frequently travel overseas without possessing the required funds on paper and individuals who own more than three apartments. Eran Yaakov, the head of the Israel Tax Authority, stated that the regulator will continue to actively target withheld cryptocurrency earnings moving forward. Crackdown Expands on Previous Action Taken by Israel Tax Authority in May In February, the Israel Tax Authority announced that it would mandate the taxation of cryptocurrency as an asset, resulting in the introduction of a 25 percent capital gains tax for private investors and a 47 percent marginal rate for businesses. Additionally, individuals mining or trading cryptocurrencies through a business were made liable for Israel’s 17 percent value-added tax. Soon thereafter, the Israel Tax Authority sought to crack down on undisclosed cryptocurrency earnings and holdings, issuing letters to citizens suspected of failing to divulge pertinent cryptocurrency-related activities in May of this year. At the time, news.Bitcoin.com reported on rumors that undercover agents of the Israeli tax regulator were monitoring local groups for the peer-to-peer trade of cryptocurrencies on major social media platforms including Facebook, Whatsapp, and Telegram. What do you think of Israel’s tax regime for cryptocurrency earnings? Share your thoughts in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock, gov.il 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 Israel Tax Authority Launches Offensive on Undisclosed Crypto Earnings appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

From mining virtual currencies to purchasing virtual land, Monday’s episode of The Daily spans very different regions of the cryptosphere. We begin with an examination of how the latest bitcoin crash has affected miners, and then follow up with a look at the second Decentraland virtual land auction, which commences at 10 a.m. EST today. Also read: Trace Mayer Draws Support for Proof of Keys — Celebrating Genesis Block Day Miners Struggle to Keep the Lights on in Bitcoin’s Darkest Hour It isn’t easy being a bitcoin miner, what with sunk costs, rapidly devaluing hardware, market volatility, and the stress of competing against every other entrepreneur in the world with the same idea. When the going’s good, the rewards for mining cryptocurrencies such as BTC can be handsome, but when it’s bad, the only certainty is a huge electricity bill at the end of the month. In its latest report, Bitmex Research has examined the effect that plummeting crypto prices have had on miners. It charts the two recent downward difficulty adjustments, in mid-November and early December, before observing that BTC “mining industry revenue has fallen from around $13 million per day, at the start of November, to around $6 million per day, at the start of December.” The drop in mining revenue outstripped the drop in the price of BTC during this period. The report notes that “There has been considerable speculation around the causes of the price crash, with some saying miners sold [BTC] in order to finance a costly hashwar in Bitcoin Cash. The cryptocurrency intelligence monitoring platform Boltzmann flagged to us that their platform had detected unusually large miner selling of [BTC] on 12th November, a few days before the Bitcoin Cash split.” The report concludes with an observation that others within the crypto community have also made in recent weeks, to the effect that bitcoin mining will remain cost-effective for sufficient miners to secure the network for the foreseeable future: This is likely to be a very tough time for the mining industry. However, for miners with lower costs, our basic analysis indicates that the situation may be better than people expect. If the miners acquired their equipment from Bitmain at below-cost prices, they could still be in the green, even when including depreciation and other administrative expenses. Over 9,000 Decentraland Parcels Go Up for Auction The second Decentraland auction commenced at 10 a.m. EST today, following on from the initial auction that took place in the virtual city last year. All of the remaining 9,331 parcels of land, currently marked as black squares on the map, will be made available via a Dutch auction in which prices begin at 200,000 mana ($12,000), before dropping gradually to as low as 1,000 mana if required. It is expected that all of the new parcels will have been purchased by the time the bidding price falls to around 5,000 mana, however. Decentraland During the past week, Decentraland has announced a number of partnerships and integrations, enabling bidders to purchase land using not only mana, but also ZIL, SNT, ELF, DAI, MKR, KNC, RCN, and BNB. There has been significant interest in the project as the auction date has neared, offsetting some of the gloom that’s pervaded the market at large amidst falling cryptocurrency prices. Bloggers have published guides advising interested parties on where the pick of the unclaimed lands lie on the map, and how to go about obtaining them. Despite Decentraland’s virtual world yet to have launched, interest in trading the parcels, represented as ERC721 non-fungible tokens, has been keen, with land fetching as much as $175,000 a square. 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, Decentraland, and Bitmex Research. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post The Daily: Virtual Land Auction Goes Live, How the Crypto Crash Affects Miners appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Trace Mayer is calling for all bitcoiners to participate in a “Proof of Keys” celebration on Genesis Block day. “Not your keys; not your bitcoin,” he emphasized, urging bitcoiners to declare monetary sovereignty by withdrawing all of their bitcoins held with trusted third parties to software for which they control the private keys. Also read: Indian Supreme Court Moves Crypto Hearing, Community Calls for Positive Regulations Proof of Keys Early Bitcoin promoter, investor and podcaster Trace Mayer is hoping to inspire the community to take their bitcoins out of exchanges and third-party wallets on Genesis Block day. “Let’s start a new #Bitcoin cultural tradition,” he tweeted on Sunday. “I want to start a new cultural tradition where we declare and re-declare our monetary sovereignty every Jan. 3 as a celebration of the Genesis Block,” he said. Mayer has created a website, Proofofkeys.com, to provide details of the event and spread the word. He described: Every January 3rd the Bitcoin community HODLers of last resort participate in a Proof of Keys celebration by demanding and taking possession of all bitcoins held by trusted third parties on their behalf. The concept for the event originated from Reddit user “sotashi,” whom Mayer credited on his new website. He further explained that “By demanding and taking possession of their assets, individuals will learn real fast with blockchain proof whether they are part of the elite HODLers or not. Proof of Keys is the annual HODLer initiation.” Genesis Block Celebration Mayer has invited anyone interested in participating in the Proof of Keys event to tweet or retweet his message and fill out a form on the Proof of Keys website with links to their tweets. Their names will then be displayed on the website. At the time of this writing, 70 people have filled out the form, including crypto personalities such as Keiser Report co-host Stacy Herbert and Adamant Capital founder Tuur Demeester. This event will also be “The ultimate stress test,” Mayer added, given that the movement of participants’ coins would result in a large number of transactions on that day. Noting that “Companies and exchanges must prove their trustworthiness and consensus,” he asserted: This simple exercise costs little, perhaps a few transaction fees, yet proves possession and strengthens network consensus. “Remember, remember the 3rd of January! And please help spread the word,” Mayer reiterated, adding that “Then on the 4th of January there can be a return to business as usual with renewed confidence based on Proof of Keys.” Will you be participating in the Proof of Keys event? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Trace Mayer. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Trace Mayer Draws Support for Proof of Keys — Celebrating Genesis Block Day appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Cryptocurrency debit card provider Wirex has introduced Iban support for all EUR accounts in the past few weeks. Users in the European Economic Area (EEA) are now able to fund their accounts by bank transfer and receive euro payments. They can also have their salary deposited directly into their Wirex account. Also read: Australian Company Issues Loans Backed by Cryptocurrencies Iban Added to Wirex Accounts in the EEA The U.K.-based fintech startup has rolled out Iban functionality across Europe after a successful pilot in four countries over the last couple of months. In September, the company launched Iban support for accounts opened in Spain and France. Later Italy and Germany were added. U.K.-registered accounts had Iban numbers even earlier. The company also raised the funding limits for account holders in the EEA to £15,000, €16,000 and $20,000. Iban, or international bank account number, is a system of identifying bank accounts that allows international payments. Each Iban is unique and consists of up to 34 alphanumeric characters representing country code, domestic bank account number, branch identifier, and routing information. The Iban also has two check digits which allow the verification of the number and reduce the risk of errors. Wirex has been a popular choice for cryptocurrency users in Europe since it became the first platform to reintroduce crypto debit cards after they were suspended by Visa last year. Its cards allow users to spend several major cryptocurrencies – bitcoin core (BTC), litecoin (LTC), ethereum (ETH), and ripple (XRP) – in stores and online, anywhere Visa is accepted. That’s possible thanks to instant conversion to three leading fiat currencies – British pound (GBP), euro (EUR) and U.S. dollar (USD). Wirex wallets support all three currencies and can be linked to the Wirex plastic and virtual cards. Expansion in North America The British fintech startup has announced plans to offer its services to customers in North American markets. In August, the company was granted a Fintrac and Money Service Business registration by regulators in Canada, where users can already set up and use Wirex cryptocurrency wallets. The next step is to introduce fiat currency accounts and start issuing contactless crypto debit cards. Wirex is also preparing to launch in the United States. The company recently posted in its blog that it’s currently looking for beta testers to trial its onboarding process in the U.S. In the announcement, Wirex detailed: We’ll soon be testing our market-leading offering on American soil for the first time. We’d like to know your thoughts – what you like, what you don’t like and if you detect any bugs that may need our attention before the launch. Residents of seven pilot states, Nevada, Alaska, Virginia, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Louisiana, and Montana, who have a registered Wirex account have been invited to apply. Wirex will grant approved candidates access to the testing program and they will be able to try its new features before the service is rolled out to the public in the U.S. What do you think of Wirex adding Iban support for European accounts? Tell us in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Smartmockups, Wirex. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Wirex Introduces Iban for All European Crypto Card Accounts appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

This is a paid press release, which contains forward looking statements, and should be treated as advertising or promotional material. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support this product/service. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the press release. Recently, Postar, the world’s first public chain eco-transaction platform，has attracted the attention at home and abroad. However, emerging in the bear market, Postar faces many challenges and doubts. Today, we will be using a simple language to expound this platform at multi-levels. Regular At present, projects are difficult to keep from intermingling the good and the bad due to the different attitudes of the national regulatory bills on crypto assets. Investors are hard to be safeguard. Therefore, the legality of the project has always been one of the concerns of investors. Postar is currently applying for a license with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Under the guidance of Singapore’s national strategy, Postar develops a brand new public chain eco-transaction model by using the blockchain as the core technology and trading platform as the carrier. It will be building a regular trading platform by basing itself within Singapore and facing the outside world, relying on its prior talent management experience and the advanced trading system. Professional Postar has a strong and solid team. Its core members mostly come from world famous companies such as Apple, Alibaba, KPMG and well-known blockchain venture capital firms. Roy Zhang, Postar CEO, is expert on customer relationship and account security. He is former senior consultant of App Store and anti-fraud management team in Apple Greater China and early investor and observer of the blockchain in Southeast Asia Tony Yang is a the CMO of Postar, who was a former chief team manager of Greater China of Apple, the director of anti-fraud team of iTunes Store, the founder of BITSG Block Chain Service which is the first block chain service company in Southeast Asia, and the initiator of the BitShares community in Singapore. Jack Zhang, Postar CTO, graduated from Oxford Brookes University with 6 years experience in Internet and blockchain development. He has led a highly skilled development service team to successfully develop a number of large-scale website projects. Ronny Doe a key engineer in Postar and he has worked in Alibaba, where he was one of the main developers of AliExpress, who’s also an expert in the field of block chain content storage and copyright protection. Sky Qiu is the Executive Consultant of Postar, and he was the Senior Auditor as well as the Chartered Financial Consultant of KPMG, with rich experience in legal affairs and risk management. Patrick Mei, Postar Chinese community leader, worked in QuarkChain as community manager with five years of investment experience; Blockchain self-media writer; Founder of Chief Capital; Early investor in multiple high-quality blockchain projects This group of elites, from different fields, gather together to build Postar a first-class trading platform driving the development of the block chain with sound advanced technology and firm belief. Innovative Currently, traditional trading platform is chaotic. Public chains also face bottleneck. Postar is positioned in the global first trading platform of public chain ecology and in addition to providing users with basic services such as coin-to-coin trading and futures contracts, the public chain ecology is another highlight. With cooperation and opening, Postar selects online high-quality public chains, takes its original currency as the value-anchored ecological trading area, in order to promote its ecological development and meet more trading needs of investors, thus letting investors to give it real market value. The establishment of the Institute aims to break the current vicious competition and isolation of the public chains in the blockchain world, and embrace the development of the public chain ecosystem with an open and win-win attitude. Through the cooperation between the public chains and technology complementation, Institute focuses on accelerating the application of blockchain technology and promoting the development process of blockchain technology in all fields. Dividend We are well aware that the success of a blockchain project is heavily dependent on their community support. Postar introduces innovative model called “PoS mining dividend”. PSTR dividend and mining awards will be rewarded to token holders. There exist many excellent exchanges in the market. The emergence of Postar is a great change from model to system. It is always committed to promoting the development of the public chain ecology and digital asset trading market while returning profits to investors and the market. The return of power to the community and ultimately integrated with the community has also contributed to an important step in the exchange’s transformation. We firmly believe that Postar, a new rising star in the digital trading platform, will surely bring us great surprise in the near future! For more information，please visit the twitter at： https://twitter.com/PostarExchange Contact Email Address bd@postar.top Supporting Link: http://www.postar.top/web/index.html This is a paid press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted 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 the press release. The post PR: Postar – Public Chain Transaction Platform appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Former portfolio manager at the University of Chicago endowment and current CIO of Blocktower Capital, Ari Paul, was reported to have made the largest-ever speculative play using BTC options during December of 2017. The contracts, which will expire on Dec. 28, 2018, are almost guaranteed to close as a total loss. Also Read: Report: Indian Government Panel Submits Crypto Recommendations Ari Paul’s Record Options Position Set to Soon Flop The options were purchased for nearly $1 million when BTC was trading for approximately $16,200, 12 months ago. The call options have a strike price of $50,000, meaning that BTC would have to spike by over 1,400 percent in the next two and a half weeks in order for the contracts to retain any value, as they will expire to be worthless should prices fail to sit above $50,000 as of Dec. 28. The $50,000 calls were purchased for $3,600 each. Twitter-based cryptocurrency commentator Bambouclub recently posted that contracts for $40,000 calls are currently trading for $9.60 on Deribit, estimating that Paul has already eaten a more than 99.73 percent loss. Should the tides turn in Paul’s favor, the contracts would entitle him to 275 BTC value at $50,000 each, equating to $13.8 million worth of crypto. Apparently-Doomed Options Position the Largest Taken on Ledgerx During December of 2017, Ledgerx chief executive officer, Paul Chou, confirmed the position, adding that such was the largest options trade to have been placed using the company’s platform. While protecting the identity of the trader who placed the position, Chou described the trade as being indicative of increased institutional demand for cryptocurrency, stating: “Without a doubt, there are institutions out there that are looking at these types of trades or have done these types of trades,” adding that the trader behind the position was “not an individual.” On Dec. 22, 2017, Business Insider reported that “people familiar with the matter” had revealed that the seven-figure position had been made by Blocktower Capital. The report also cited a tweet posted by Blocktower co-founder Ari Paul, stating “I wonder who bought these?” that was accompanied by a winking smiley and a link to Wall Street Journal’s coverage of the trade. Options Position Taken to Manage Risk In an interview with CNBC that was published on Dec. 26, 2017, Paul confirmed that he had made the trade, stating: “I think it’s not quite as interesting as people make it out to be.” Paul stated that the position had been taken in the interest of managing the risk of his fund’s portfolio, adding that he “wouldn’t recommend for most people to buy these options.” “I manage a cryptocurrency portfolio and I’m trying to give investors access to the upside, but I’m also very focused on risk management,” Paul continued. “So these calls are a way for me to capture upside exposure, while actually owning less bitcoin [and] reducing my downside risk.” What is your response to the apparently impending wipe-out of Blocktower’s record sized options position? 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 $1 Million BTC Options Position Set to Expire on Dec. 28 appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In today’s chatter report, Emin Gun Sirer debates with Diego Gutierrez-Zaldivar on cryptocurrencies being a good store of value and Changepeng Zhao crowdsources Twitter for ways to trigger the next crypto bull run. Some, like Richard Heart, believe that bull runs are determined by technical indicators while others argue that fundamental changes need to be made to the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Also read: Simple Ledger Developers Publish Monthly Puzzle With Bitcoin Cash Treasure Are Cryptocurrencies a Good Store of Value? When the director of research at Pension Partners Charlie Bilello pointed out that most cryptocurrencies had fallen by over 90% from their all time highs, Cornell Professor Emin Gun Sirer responded that cryptocurrencies were a poor store of value. These assets are volatile. Anyone who utters the phrase "Store of Value" is not to be trusted. https://t.co/yeWfPKxB49 — Emin Gün Sirer (@el33th4xor) December 9, 2018 Every cryptocurrency listed by Bilello had fallen by over 90 percent from their all time highs, except for BTC, which had fallen by 83 percent. Despite having a bad financial performance in 2018, cryptocurrencies has performed greatly since Bitcoin’s inception. As one twitter commentator pointed out, BTC is a good store of value because its price had appreciated from 10 cents to $3000 since its creation. Sirer strongly disagreed, arguing that the quality of a good store of value is not price appreciation, but having little variance in price movement. CEO of RSK Diego Gutierrez-Zaldivar jumped into the conversation and pointed out that the time frame of measurement is what determines a good store of value. Depends on the timeframe you want to store value. Fiat money is designed to be stable in the short term sacrificing long term value preservation (USD lost 90%+ value in the last century). Scarce money (Gold & Bitcoin) is designed to preserve long term value sacrificing stability. — Diego 'Not giving away Crypto' Gutierrez-Zaldivar (@dieguito) December 9, 2018 Zaldivar points out that fiat money like the USD is a tremendous store of value in the short term, but has lost over 90% of it’s value since it’s inception. On the other hand, assets with a fixed supply like gold and bitcoin are a good store of value in the long term with a price volatility tradeoff. When Bull Market? With cryptocurrency prices near their 2018 lows, founder of Binance exchange Changpeng Zhao took to twitter to brainstorm what it would take to “trigger” a new crypto bull market. What do you think will be the trigger for the next bull run? (I get asked this question often, and honestly, I don't know the answer, other than keep building) — CZ Binance (@cz_binance) December 8, 2018 The responses were a dichotomy of searching for technical indicators in prices and calling for fundamental changes to be made to the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Cryptocurrency pundit Richard Heart belonges to the former category, explaining that the prices of cryptocurrencies have to break and hold over the 200-day moving average. Price breaking over and holding over the 200 day moving average. — Richard Heart [BitcoinHEX] (@RichardHeartWin) December 8, 2018 A similar argument was also put forward by prominent bitcoin commentator Vortex, who argued that crypto prices had to break and hold over the 30-day moving average and expected this to happen between June and August of 2019. Fundamental Changes to the Cryptocurrency Ecosystem While Zhao didn’t comment on the technical arguments put forward, he had a lot to discuss with those who wanted to change the way the cryptocurrency ecosystem worked. One such commentator was Lawrence Digital who claimed that 3 fundamental changes to the cryptocurrency ecosystem would usher in the next bull market. 3 is sort of taken care of by this bear run. Will never be 100%. 2 is interesting. 1. I fully agree. — CZ Binance (@cz_binance) December 8, 2018 Lawrence Digital argued a combination is needed for an increased adoption of BTC, producing decentralized application products that are used daily, and purging out the scam projects that are so entrenched within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Zhao agreed with the need for adoption and also pointed out that the bear market was currently killing off most of the scams in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Are cryptocurrencies a good store of value? Or is the USD a better store of value? Let us know in the comments below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Do you need to reach out to a global audience interested in Bitcoin? Post your press release here. If approved and paid we’ll include it in our main sidebar, in our subscription newsletters and in our other distribution channels, such as Telegram. The post Chatter Report: Sirer Says Crypto Too ‘Volatile’, Zhao Ponders Next Bull ‘Trigger’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Indian government panel appointed to recommend cryptocurrency measures has reportedly submitted its report to the country’s finance minister, suggesting a new legal framework for cryptocurrencies. The actual content of the report has yet to be announced publicly. Industry participants weigh in on speculation about the report’s content. Also read: Indian Supreme Court Moves Crypto Hearing, Community Calls for Positive Regulations Panel Report Submitted The panel appointed by the Indian government to draft a set of standards for cryptocurrencies has submitted its report to the finance minister, Cnbc Tv18 reported on Friday. Quoting anonymous sources, the news outlet wrote: Ending the speculation on virtual currencies such as cryptocurrencies and bitcoins, a government panel has suggested that the government should consider framing a new law for regulating that space. Subhash Chandra Garg. This panel is headed by Subhash Chandra Garg, the country’s Economic Affairs Secretary. In November, Quartz India reported that the government’s counter-affidavit filed with the country’s supreme court stated that this panel would “deliberate the draft report and the provisions of the draft bill on virtual currencies” in December. The sources also said that the panel suggested “a new sovereign backed virtual or cryptocurrency may be proposed considering global circumstances; probably at a later stage,” Cnbc Tv18 wrote. Content of the Report in Question The report by Garg’s panel has not been made public and no official announcement has been made about its content so there is only speculation at this point. Cnbc Tv18 did not offer any concrete information about the content of the report either. The news outlet was only able to quote anonymous sources as saying, “The panel has suggested that a new legal framework within the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines should be brought in to ban cryptocurrencies and the law should clearly specify that any kind of dealing in such currencies should be treated as illegal.” Commenting on Cnbc Tv18’s reporting, Nischal Shetty, the CEO of Indian crypto exchange Wazirx, told news.Bitcoin.com: Several times we’ve heard such stuff in the news before. Until we get to see the report I would not suggest anyone to jump to conclusions. Shetty has been running a Twitter campaign to urge the government to introduce positive regulation for the crypto industry in India. The word “ban” has been used in Indian crypto-regulatory references before but its meaning has so far been open to interpretation. Quartz India reported in October on a government meeting which discussed “an appropriate legal framework to ban use of private cryptocurrencies in India.” Crypto Kanoon, a platform engaged in crypto regulatory analysis, pointed out to the news outlet that “the word ‘use’ may imply that buying, selling, transacting, or its conversion into rupees may be banned but not possession itself.” Furthermore, several announcements by the Indian government have been mistaken by some as cryptocurrencies being banned or made illegal. For example, in his February budget speech, the finance minister said that the Indian government does not consider cryptocurrencies legal tender. Some media outlets subsequently misinterpreted his words as meaning cryptocurrency are illegal. The CEO of Indian crypto exchange Unocoin, Sathvik Vishwanath, told news.Bitcoin.com: The finance minister was clear: cryptocurrencies are not legal tender in India. He did not say that they are not legal in India. There’s a huge difference. The RBI crypto banking ban has also been mistaken by some as a general ban on crypto. Challenges of Banning Crypto Naimish Sanghvi, founder of Coin Crunch India publication, shared with news.Bitcoin.com that “Recommendations [such as from Garg’s panel] don’t always immediately convert to law.” While expressing his doubt about the Cnbc Tv18 news report, he explained some challenges the government would face in implementing such measures. “If they ban it, they have to change the coinage act which currently defines only INR coins and currency as official legal tender,” adding that any change to the existing law to account for cryptocurrency “has to go to parliamentary approval as a law.” Vishwanath additionally told news.Bitcoin.com that, at the most recent supreme court hearing of the petitions against the RBI crypto banking ban, “our lawyers have asked for a date where significant time is given to us to hear on the matter and move towards an order,” noting: I foresee a significant chance that the supreme court will provide an interim relief. In India, regulation takes a long route – so there may be some drafts by December but not the regulation itself. As for whether the Indian government would be able to ban crypto, Shetty told Quartz India in November that “even if the government decides to ban possession [of cryptocurrencies], it will be just impossible to implement it.” He elaborated that even if “The government can successfully ban the known, big exchanges; but then small, hyperlocal exchanges will possibly come up and it will be extremely difficult to keep track of, and block them.” What do you think the Indian government will do about crypto regulation? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Twitter. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Report: Indian Government Panel Submits Crypto Recommendations appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A former administrator from the now-defunct Silk Road marketplace is recounting his story in a tell-all book and movie deal. After being arrested in 2013, darknet moderator Curtis Green was involved in a bizarre conspiracy with corrupt Silk Road investigators and was later told to fake his own death. Also read: Tales From A Dead Man: Curtis Green on Silk Road, Ulbricht A Kilo of Cocaine and Half a Million Dollars of BTC Curtis Green. The Silk Road marketplace, launched in Feb. 2011, was the first darknet market (DNM) that allowed the buying and selling of illicit narcotics. On Friday, a Salt Lake City media publication interviewed former Silk Road administrator Curtis Green about his involvement with the first DNM. Green says he can publicly discuss the subject now after selling his movie rights and publishing his book called The Silk Road Takedown. According to reports, Green’s memories and the Silk Road backstory has been turned into a Coen Brothers screenplay. Green was involved in a shady conspiracy that complicated the Silk Road (SR) investigation because law enforcement faked his torture and had Green pretend he was dead for a year. Before his arrest, Green worked as a salaried administrator making thousands of bitcoins in revenue by issuing accounts and passwords to SR users. When U.S. bureaucrats started talking about the darknet in Congress, several three-letter agencies began to search for the creator of the Silk Road, an anonymous figure called the Dread Pirate Roberts (DPR). According to Green, when law enforcement officials acquired his Utah address, someone sent a kilogram of cocaine to his house. The former SR moderator said he didn’t know the cocaine was being delivered and unknowingly took the narcotics into his home. Not long after opening the package of powder, Green was arrested and told the police everything he knew about the darknet marketplace. Moreover, Green gave the investigators vendor passwords and credentials to major dealers selling wares on the market. A couple of days later, about $500,000 worth of BTC was stolen from SR vendors and staff due to Green’s leaked information handed to police. “I feel terrible,” Green told KSL Broadcasting during his interview in Salt Lake City. “There’s terrible guilt — I really wish I hadn’t gone to the Silk Road.” Fake Torture and a Phony Death Plot Following the cocaine bust and stolen bitcoins, Green explained that U.S. law enforcement officials told him that DPR wanted the administrator “beat up.” So they decided to fake-torture Green and used a phony waterboarding technique to make it look like he was bruised and beaten. Green then claims the agents told him DPR wanted him dead and asked him and his wife to perform a fake death. Under instructions from federal agents, the former SR administrator and his wife created a bogus death photo using a can of red soup. Green says he pretended he was dead for close to a year and never left his house in Utah. Green: ‘Bad Agents Were My Get-Out-of-Jail Card’ It was only after Ross Ulbricht was arrested in San Francisco that Green and the public found out about the two rogue special agents who stole BTC from the investigation. Federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Carl Force and U.S. Secret Service veteran Shaun Bridges were convicted of stealing thousands of bitcoins from the case and are now in prison. According to testimony in court, back in April of 2013, the father of Carl Force passed away and Force decided to create an SR account called “Death from Above.” Following the new profile creation, the agent used the account to attempt to extort DPR. Force’s legal representation, criminal defense lawyer Ivan Bates, explained that during this time Force was drinking a lot and had significant mental health problems. Later Green plead guilty for the cocaine delivery, but was let off the hook by federal prosecutors because he helped law enforcement officials and because of the part he played in the Bridges and Force scandal. “Two people that are deceitful criminals and here they were part of the government,” Green opined during his interview. The former SR administrator continued: The bad agents were my get-out-of-jail card, to be honest — They put me through a year’s worth of — ‘hell’ is not even a term befitting what they did. Meanwhile, Ross Ulbricht is serving a double life sentence for his involvement with the darknet market and his family continues to fight for his freedom. The blatant corruption involved with the Silk Road investigation gives the Ulbricht family reason to believe the whole case was rife with manipulation. The Ulbrichts have also created a petition to U.S. president Donald Trump asking for Ross to receive clemency. So far the document has garnered over 100,000 signatures. Green says his life will go on and emphasized to the Salt Lake City media publication that he “can’t go back and change it.” The former darknet administrator added: “All I can do is apologize, make sure I don’t make the same mistakes twice and move forward.” What do you think about Curtis Green’s tale regarding U.S. investigators asking him to fake his own death? Let us know what you think about this story in the comments section below. Images via Shutterstock, Twitter, and Pixabay. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Federal Agents Told This Silk Road Moderator to Fake His Own Death appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The city of Zug, home of the Swiss Crypto Valley, has been named the fastest growing technology community in Europe. Zug ranked atop the “State of European Tech” report by London-based global investment firm Atomico last week, on the strength of its year-on-year growth of attendees to tech-related meetup events. Also read: Malaysian Financial Regulators to Intensify Scrutiny of ICOs, Cryptocurrencies Zug Tech Ecosystem Grows According to the report, Zug recorded a 177 percent increase in the number of tech meetups in 2018, compared to last year. The city’s crypto activity has been warmly supported by the Swiss government, which is fine-tuning its legislation and policies to improve financial innovation, with particular emphasis on virtual currencies. “There is a huge geographic diversity among the top 20 fastest-growing tech hubs in Europe, as measured by the annual growth in attendees to tech-related meetup events in those cities. Zug in Switzerland, home to a growing crypto community, ranked number one as the fastest-growing community overall,” the report said. Novosibirsk in Russia follows Zug with 173 percent increase in tech meetups, while Ghent (Belgium), The Hague (Netherlands) and Katowice (Poland) complete the top 5 of the fastest-growing tech communities. Novosibirsk has reported startup activity in its science and technology hub, Akademgorodok, also known as the Siberian Silicon Valley. Success stories out of the suburb include nanotechnology firm Ocsial, precision laser manufacturer Tekhnoscan and banking software company CFT. The Atomico report emphasized community-building, measured by the meetups of technological talent, as necessary for attracting investment to cities. This year, the density of meetups in Europe equated around 200 events per day throughout the year. Progressive Switzerland Switzerland has taken a progressive stance towards cryptocurrency, legalizing its use and formalizing crypto transactions in a range of contexts. The country sees virtual money and blockchain technology as strategic innovations in global finance and is intent on maintaining the growth of the industry, while expanding the number of jobs it has to offer in the field. The city of Zug has led this growth. According to a report by CV Venture Capital in October, the top 50 cryptocurrency and blockchain-related companies in Switzerland’s version of the Silicon Valley are now worth $44 billion combined, underscoring the steady growth of the Swiss crypto industry. The report shows that the number of companies working either with digital coins or blockchain technologies in Zug has almost doubled to 600 in the past year. About 350 entities were featured in the directory when the CV Maps database was first launched in April of 2017. Of the top 50 companies listed, five are unicorns that are either based in the Crypto Valley or originated from the area. They include the world’s biggest bitcoin miner, Bitmain, as well as other leading cryptocurrency organizations such as Cardano, Dfinity, Ethereum and Xapo, CV said. Bitmain’s revenue soared 1,700 percent to $2.5 billion in 2017, from just $137 million two years earlier. Its full-year net profit rocketed to $1.2 billion. Lagging Behind According to the Atomico study, Switzerland’s Zürcher Kantonalbank is the second most active corporate investor in Europe, after being involved in 20 financing rounds in the last 12 months. In terms of tech destinations, however, the country fell behind its European counterparts at the tenth position, while the U.K., Germany and France led the pack. Switzerland also failed to make the list of 12 destinations for U.S. software engineers looking for jobs in Europe. Swiss state enterprises are making power moves as far as cryptocurrency is concerned. The country’s postal service, Swiss Post, and telecom provider Swisscom, both state-run, recently announced that they are collaborating on a “100 percent Swiss” blockchain infrastructure, with a view of meeting the security requirements of banks and retaining all data within Switzerland. The country was named the most “blockchain-friendly” European country earlier this year. Apart from Switzerland, major economies, most recently the U.S., higher learning institutions and legacy financial institutions have been taking a second look at their look books and policy frameworks to keep up with crypto disruption. Areas of concern have included security and issues of access. What do you think about the Atomico rankings? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Report: Swiss City of Zug Named Fastest Growing Tech Hub in Europe appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Cointext has announced that its bitcoin cash wallet service has just launched in the Ukraine and Italy. Cointext is now connected to 35 countries worldwide and the wallet works on any smartphone as well as basic feature phones. Also read: Simple Ledger Developers Publish Monthly Puzzle With Bitcoin Cash Treasure Cointext Connects to the Ukraine and Italy Cointext.io is a cryptocurrency wallet that provides users with the means to send bitcoin cash (BCH) through SMS technology (text messages). The wallet gives any text-enabled mobile phone the ability to send and receive BCH without an internet connection. The company has been adding supported countries to its list over the past few months, and on Monday Cointext added service to the Ukraine and Italy. The two new regions bring the total number of countries that are Cointext connected to 35. Because the application doesn’t require registration and all it takes to use the app is a valid text command, anyone from the supported 35 territories can send bitcoin cash via SMS. After the Ukrainian and Italian services were activated, Cointext founder and CTO Vin Armani shared some notable pictures of people in Ukraine sending BCH through text on basic feature (Nokia-style) phones. “Cointext allows anyone with a cellular signal to access cryptocurrency — This includes all brands of smartphones and about two billion people with basic feature phones,” Armani explained. The Cointext founder continued: Ukraine is experiencing political instability and Italy is facing a sovereign debt crisis. Cryptocurrency provides residents with a way to opt out, and Cointext provides them with the easiest tool to begin using cryptocurrency. 1.7 Billion Unbanked and 2 Billion Basic Feature Phones By referencing the Cointext website, users in the Ukraine, Italy, Argentina, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, United States, Netherlands, Sweden, Puerto Rico, and other countries can locate their access number to use the service. In order to get a wallet, users simply text the word “receive” to the access number to get a fresh BCH address. Cointext uses a variety of other text commands to send funds to another address, and another command to read the wallet’s balance as well. Another Ukrainian instantly transacts #cryptocurrency without Internet using a Nokia 3310! Are you ready to spread adoption? pic.twitter.com/5iZTppby5M — CoinText (@CoinText) December 7, 2018 BCH proponents like applications that give people the means to interact with bitcoin cash using any text-enabled phone. This is because concepts like Cointext could bring cryptocurrency accessibility to the 1.7 billion unbanked individuals worldwide. African telecom companies have been experimenting with services like Mpesa for years, giving citizens in the region the ability to leverage text-based payments. Because the Cointext service allows individuals to send and receive BCH onchain via SMS, it operates in the same manner as Mpesa. In the African continent, however, the Cointext service only supports South Africa right now. Cointext has the most presence in regions throughout Europe, the U.S., and South America. What do you think about the Cointext application? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Images via Shutterstock, Cointext, and Twitter. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Text-Enabled BCH Payments Now Available in 35 Countries With Cointext appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A quarterly ratings report has upgraded the score previously given to seven cryptocurrency exchanges, while downgrading four. It has also added seven new exchanges, rating them on such metrics as trading volume, security, and compliance. In related news, Crypto Exchange Ranks (CER) has begun tracking the hot and cold wallets of exchanges as part of a drive to champion greater transparency. Also read: Simple Ledger Developers Publish Monthly Puzzle With Bitcoin Cash Treasure Okex Downgraded, Bithumb Upgraded Cryptocurrency exchange ratings, much like cryptocurrency ratings, are highly subjective. Any attempt at rating and ranking the constituents of a particular set using specific benchmarks is bound to cause controversy. Nevertheless, quarterly ratings reports continue to grow in popularity and in number while shining the spotlight on various verticals within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Tokeninsight’s latest report tracks the progress of crypto exchanges over the past three months, amid difficult market conditions. Tokeninsights’ exchange rating criteria Unique visitors have dropped across the board during the last quarter, with the sole exception of Bithumb, whose traffic and aggregated score has risen. Okex, by way of comparison, has seen its weighted score fall, exacerbated by the fact that it “has repeatedly unilaterally changed its trading rules during our rating period, including data rollbacks and modifying its contract delivery rules.” The report continued: In the case of the BCH hard fork, Okex delivered the last transaction price of BCH contract ahead of schedule at 16:05 p.m. on November 14, 2018 (GMT+8), and issued an announcement only one hour in advance, causing unnecessary losses to a large number of investors. Hitbtc, Kraken, and Kucoin all saw their ratings upgraded by Tokeninsight, while Poloniex and Gemini were among the exchanges given ratings for the first time. Trans-Fee Mining Exchanges Score Poorly Transaction fee mining exchanges, often linked with wash trading and fake volume, have scored poorly in Tokeninsight’s report. Hong Kong’s Fcoin exchange is one such casualty, its score lowered, with the report noting how “Transaction mining trends once brought a large amount of traffic to the platform, due to the notion that the vast majority of transactions of transaction fees or dividends were free, and transaction volume has dropped significantly in the past three months. In terms of compliance, Fcoin has lagged behind in development and has not obtained any license of relevant regulatory agencies.” The CER dashboard, showing hot and cold wallet balances for Bittrex. Exchange analytics service Crypto Exchange Ranks has been instrumental in uncovering fake volume on Asian platforms such as Fcoin, Coinbit, and GDAC. Its latest initiative involves launching a crowdsourced framework for crypto exchange transparency. CER is seeking the help of “transparency hackers” to help it identify and then track the hot and cold wallets of all leading cryptocurrency exchanges. The CER dashboard is already populated with wallet balances for several major exchanges. Results can be filtered according to the size of the exchange wallet, and clicking on the wallet balance will reveal the distribution between hot and cold wallets, where such information is available. Eventually, CER hopes to add this data for every exchange, and in doing so to bring greater transparency to the sector through a combination of self-reporting and public diligence. Do you think ratings reports incentivize exchanges to provide greater transparency and to act ethically? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Tokeninsight, and CER. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post New Report Updates Cryptocurrency Exchange Ratings appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

U.K.-based startup Trustology, which develops storage solutions for digital assets, has raised $8 million in funding and we’ve got the news in this edition of The Daily. We also look at the SEC’s decision to fine another crypto company for breaching U.S. securities laws and HTC’s decision to have Brave as the default web browser on its Exodus 1 smartphone. Also read: Binance Offers Multiple Accounts, Huobi Plans Institutional Exchange Crypto Security Startup Raises $8 million London-headquartered crypto startup Trustology has received $8 million in seed funding in a round led by Two Sigma Ventures, Reuters reported. The company develops a technology that helps investors enhance the security of their digital assets. According to CEO Alex Batlin, Trustology plans to use the capital to expand globally and provide support for more cryptocurrencies. The product offered by the British company is designed to secure crypto assets. It provides investors with a simple solution to safeguard the private keys that give them access to their cryptocurrencies – hardware security modules. These are specialized processors that store passwords and digital keys. Alex Batlin noted that Trustology’s product had been initially designed for banks but the startup is currently focusing more on crypto hedge funds and individual investors. He commented: The original thinking was we would build the tech and sell to the banks. They are not moving as quickly as we are and we have quite a lot of demand from individuals, as well as crypto funds. According to Matt Jacobus, a venture partner at Two Sigma, similar solutions are needed to develop a larger trading ecosystem around digital assets for institutional investors. Blockchain technology developer Consensys also participated in the funding round. SEC Fines Cryptocurrency Fund Coinalpha The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has gone after another crypto company that, according to the regulator, sells securities without registration. The SEC, which has determined that Coinalpha does not qualify for an exemption, has fined the cryptocurrency fund manager and issued a cease and desist order on Dec. 7, 2018. The California-based Coinalpha Advisors, registered as a Delaware limited liability company, had been operating two digital asset funds – Coinalpha Falcon and Coinalpha Index, Finance Magnates reported. According to an announcement by the commission, the owners of the company have agreed to pay a civil money penalty of $50,000. Coinalpha also agreed to halt its offerings and pay back the fees it had collected from customers. The digital asset fund has already raised more than $600,000 from 22 investors in five states. The company has also promised to conduct a review of its online platform and marketing materials. Although the regulatory status of cryptocurrencies in the United States is still unclear, the SEC has already fined and issued cease and desist orders to a number of crypto businesses after concluding that securities laws apply to the tokens they were issuing. Brave Is the Default Browser on HTC Exodus 1 Privacy-oriented web browser Brave, which supports opt-in ads and cryptocurrency payments between users, has been announced as the default browser on the new HTC Exodus 1 phone, according to posts on crypto forums and social media. The application supports a crypto tipping system which relies on Brave’s basic attention token (BAT) and enjoys growing popularity in the crypto community. HTC has made its new smartphone available for buyers willing to pay in cryptocurrency. The device, which has been advertised as a blockchain-powered phone, can be purchased with three major digital coins. It has been offered at fixed prices in bitcoin core, ethereum and litecoin – 0.15 BTC, 4.78 ETH, and 19.84 LTC (around $500 at the time of writing). However, a message on HTC’s website reads “This product is currently out of stock.” The news comes days after the launch of another blockchain smartphone called Finney, which has been developed by Sirin Labs. The device has an integrated cold storage cryptocurrency wallet and can be purchased on the company’s website for $999. What are your thoughts on today’s news tidbits? Tell us in the comments section. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Trustology, HTC. Make sure you do not miss any important Bitcoin-related news! Follow our news feed any which 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 The Daily: Trustology Raises $8 million, SEC Fines Crypto Fund Coinalpha appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Major South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has beta launched a public voting system for screening new coins to be listed on its exchange. The platform, Pickthumb, aims to boost transparency and fairness in Bithumb’s listing process. Five coins are currently being evaluated with the current voting round ending in nine days. Also read: Indian Supreme Court Moves Crypto Hearing, Community Calls for Positive Regulations Bithumb’s Voting Platform One of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Bithumb, announced on Thursday the beta launch of Pickthumb, its public voting platform for coins vying to list on the exchange. The aim of this new platform is to strengthen the “transparency and fairness” of Bithumb’s cryptocurrency evaluation and listing process, the exchange detailed. According to its website: Pickthumb is a platform for screening excellent coins based on your fair evaluation … users can directly evaluate, validate and vote on cryptocurrency projects that will be listed on global cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb. Bithumb explained that any registered users can participate, adding that members can actively give their opinions and “exert more influence” on coins to be listed on the exchange. Going forward, Bithumb says it “will try to promote a healthy cryptocurrency ecosystem that investors can believe in.” Five Projects, Over 40,000 Voters so Far Pickthumb’s website currently lists five crypto projects in its first round which has nine days left. Each round lasts two weeks. At the time of this writing, there have been 41,778 voters and a total of 94,983 votes. The five projects are Rom, Amo Blockchain, Ttcprotocol, Olivecoinole, and Contentos. Users can vote for or against projects in each round. Coins attracting a large number of downvotes can be disqualified from listing consideration. After each voting round has ended, Bithumb will conduct an internal review of the winning project. According to the announcement, members who vote for the winning project will receive an airdrop of the winning coin. Penalties for Vote Manipulation On Friday, Pickthumb published a notice about how it will handle vote manipulation. The notice reads: Pickthumb is constantly monitoring the voting situation 24 hours a day for fair voting. In the event of unfair voting, the cryptocurrency project identified with fraudulent activity shall be immediately excluded from the voting round, the notice details. Furthermore, activities designed to manipulate votes can result in user accounts being permanently suspended. They include impersonating others to vote, buying votes, selling votes, and motivating or recommending others to vote in favor of a project. Pickthumb’s website states: Any act that requires money (or coins) for the benefit of a candidate listed for voting is a fraud. What do you think of Bithumb’s voting platform? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Pickthumb, and Bithumb. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Bithumb Launches Voting Platform to Screen New Cryptocurrencies appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

This article on cryptocurrency payments was written by Thomas Highwater, who is an avid fan of all things crypto-related. Mr. Highwater teaches high-school level robotics and programming. *** While there is a growing number of fiat based-payment processors with a variety of practical tools and methods of payment, adding cryptocurrency payments into the mix provides consumers and merchants with unparalleled benefits. Some of these benefits include simplicity, lower overall cost, security, privacy and a greater level of control over one’s funds. Reasons to Use Crypto Next Year Also read: Wendy McElroy: Avoiding Fraud by Going Crypto-Anarchist Cryptocurrencies are numerous and versatile and can be utilized as entirely private bank accounts and payment cards for almost any occasion. They offer a multitude of ways to earn a form of interest with little or no effort and help users protect sensitive data and holdings on the go 24/7. 1. Fees There was a time, not that long ago, when cash was king and financial institutions gave generous incentives to people who chose to put their cold hard cash into institutional coffers. Today, bank accounts of all sorts, as well as debit and credit cards, have fees associated with them — money that goes down the drain and provides no benefit, never mind interest earned. There are debit and credit card fees, ATM fees, merchant fees, checking account fees, overdraft fees, paper fees, check fees, transfer fees, change fees, charge-back fees, foreign transaction fees, minimum balance fees, inactivity fees, false decline fees, et cetera, et cetera. In comparison, popular cryptocurrency payment gateways like Bitpay and Coinpayments charge between 0.5 perecent and 1 percent per transaction. In most cases, a cryptocurrency account in the form of a digital wallet is entirely free and unless one chooses to invest in cryptocurrency hardware wallets or prepaid cards, other than the transaction fee, using cryptocurrency as money costs absolutely nothing. 2. Sensitive Data Banks and credit institutions, as well as retailers and service providers, obtain and retain too much of their customers’ personal and financial information. Details including our name, address, employers, social security number, net worth, assets, investments, account balances, credit score, credit line, and transaction history, along with everything we do and buy, who we associate with, when, where, etc. comprise our personal, professional and financial data sets. With traditional financial institutions and traditional fiat currency, we can no longer preserve our privacy. Cryptocurrency transactions provide an alternative by limiting the amount of transaction data to mere numbers also known as cryptocurrency wallet addresses and transaction IDs confirming that a wallet-to-wallet transaction took place. A cryptocurrency payment processor acting as a third party will typically require your name (and shipping address for the delivery of physical goods), but the rest of your information will remain private as long as you don’t connect your bank or credit card account and transact solely in BTC and altcoins. 3. International Use Cryptocurrencies are a borderless means of exchange allowing for instant and cost-effective transactions across the world. There is no waiting, no international fees and no limitations as to who can or cannot send funds to whom or when and where those funds can be accessed. All that is needed is an internet-enabled device like a cellphone and someone without access to a banking institution is given an alternative solution with which they can pay bills, earn income, safe-keep their funds, make purchases and conduct business. Using cryptocurrencies while traveling adds an extra layer of security and can be used as a remote source of emergency funds that can be accessed without an ID, a bank account, credit cards, a wire transfer or even a personal computer device. 4. Ecommerce Accepting cryptocurrency online has never been easier. Shopify and Etsy merchants can select to accept BTC, BCH, and altcoins. Woocommerce and Easy Digital Downloads vendors can use WordPress plugins like Mycryptocheckout for the purpose. And then there’s Shapeshift which gives customers the choice to pay with dozens of cryptocurrencies. Shapeshift is integrated with cryptocurrency payment processors like Bitpay and Coingate, and cryptocurrency wallets like Coinomi and Keepkey. Moreover, there is Purse.io, an online platform where users can buy items from Amazon with cryptocurrency and it is also integrated with Shapeshift, as are Magento and Openbazaar. Setting up cryptocurrency payments is super simple and quick and merchant transaction fees are 60-70 percent lower compared to fiat transaction fees. 5. No Charge Backs Unfortunately, there are customers who make a purchase, receive the items they ordered and, perhaps, even use them only to cancel their payment. They can do this because fiat payments are not instant. With cryptocurrencies, things are quite different. Once a transaction has occurred, there is no turning back. Funds ‘travel’ from one wallet to another, the transaction is recorded and it cannot be reversed. This is not to say that a customer cannot return an item and request a refund by communicating directly with the vendor. Of course they can. What they cannot do is place an order, pay for it, receive it and then get the sum they paid back on their account because of money back policies overseen by online payment processors and credit card companies. Charge backs are meant to prevent fraud and yet they often accomplish the very opposite. In this instance, cryptocurrency works the same way as cash. After you’ve taken the item you paid for with cash, you can’t go back to the store with a damaged or used item, never mind empty-handed, and demand your money back. 6. Mobility Mobile payments have become all the rage. Being able to use a smartphone in place of a credit card is awfully convenient. From Paypal and Apple Pay to Mastercard’s Paypass and Visa’s Paywave with near-field communication (NFC) technology and modern POS terminals, getting the check has never been easier. And yet the same privacy and security issues arise as with the rest of traditional, fiat-based financial transactions, namely too much data in one place. All currently available mobile fiat payment processors store credit card information which include all of our financial information and more. Not to mention that all that data is online and on our mobile devices everywhere we go. Cryptocurrencies are a safer digital cash option and are ideal for mobile payments by default due to their virtual, decentralized nature. 7. A Growing Market Bitpay, one of the most successful crypto payment gateways, is processing $1 billion worth of transactions annually at a rate of a quarter million transactions per month. Coinpayments already serves millions of vendors in 200 countries and has just integrated with Bittorrent to give its 100 million users the option to pay with BTC and altcoins. Coingate serves 50,000 merchants and has processed hundreds of thousands of cryptocurrency payments, and Utrust just partnered with Payrexx and its 10,000 European merchants. More integrations and partnerships between cryptocurrency payment processors and fiat payment processors are in the works and the market is expected to grow by 50 percent in the next two years. In particular, Foton announced plans to attract 100 million users by 2020 and offer competitive features including its own stablecoin, fiat pairs, atomic swaps, a loan and escrow service, and a payment card with loyalty rewards and cash back. So there is no doubt: millions of merchants all over the world accept cryptocurrencies, as do tens of thousands of websites. 8. Commercial Use It has been estimated that some 20 million people worldwide own cryptocurrency. Most others have heard of bitcoin and many plan on adding it to their portfolio. Square, a credit card payment processor serving merchants, employers and mobile payment users, is gradually out-competing Paypal while also increasing its profits through BTC sales. The majority of Square’s merchant customers have expressed interest in accepting bitcoin core and a 2017 Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance study confirmed that 40 percent of consumers would, indeed, like to be able to make purchases with BTC. Countries with weaker than average fiat currencies tend to favor the use of cryptos. Turkey, Venezuela, Brazil, Australia and South Africa appear to have large numbers of cryptocurrency users. In fact, a whopping 80 percent of Australians would like to use cryptocurrencies for daily purchases. Merchants in Eastern Europe and small western European towns seem more open toward adding bitcoin as a method of payment. Even before the 2017 cryptocurrency bull market, more than 10 percent of Eastern Europeans reported using cryptocurrency in place of fiat for everyday purchases. Crypto as Money Nowadays, almost anything can be paid directly with cryptocurrencies: homes, condos, boats, cars, clothing, electronics, health and pet products, food, wine, accessories, plane tickets, vacations, tools, musical instruments, as well as dating services, professional services, internet services, and, of course crypto gear. Without pointing out the obvious, let’s look at the most interesting things digital currencies can buy you: Enjoy a Thai or Indian restaurant in Montreal or have Dutch pancakes in Aruba Buy vintage furniture in Massachusetts or rent an office in Miami See the Cerro Negro volcano in Nicaragua or charter a yacht in South Florida Buy a Benz or a Beamer in California or a Rolex in Europe The Market According to Experts In January, a company called Bakkt, owned by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) which also owns the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), will launch bitcoin futures which will be settled in BTC, not cash. Its partners include Microsoft, Starbucks and Pantera Capital. There will be no leverage trading, meaning that actual bitcoin will have to be bought and owned for the duration of the contract. Given that these are institutional investors, BTC’s volume is expected to reach new heights. The CEO of ICE and NYSE chairman Jeff Sprecher stated that digital assets are here to stay and that they “have a future in regulated markets.” It is evident that the cryptocurrency industry has grown by leaps and bounds in the past 10 years since Bitcoin was born. Fintech is transforming the financial industry and more and more people are getting onboard. Shopping in-store and online is going fully digital but raising cyber security fears, which can be drastically reduced with a broader acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment. Do you think payments in crypto will continue to trend? Is this the route to mass adoption? Images courtesy of Shutterstock OP-ed disclaimer: This is an Op-ed article. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support views, opinions or conclusions drawn in this post. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the Op-ed article. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the content. 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 information in this Op-ed article. The post Eight Reasons to Use Cryptocurrency Payments in 2019 appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A constitutional complaint has reportedly been filed in South Korea alleging that the government’s ban on initial coin offerings is unconstitutional. It has been more than a year since token sales were banned in the country but the government has yet to introduce any regulations for them, causing problems for startups. Also read: Indian Supreme Court Moves Crypto Hearing, Community Calls for Positive Regulations Constitutional Complaint Filed South Korean blockchain startup Presto announced on Friday that it has filed a constitutional complaint alleging that the government’s ban on all forms of initial coin offerings (ICOs) in September last year is unconstitutional, local media reported. The company has requested an appeal of the ban, according to Sedaily. Constitutional Court of Korea. Presto CEO Kang Kyung-won explained that although his company had considered alternative means such as setting up an overseas corporation to issue tokens, the Korea Economic Daily quoted him as saying, “We trusted that the government will foster [this] new industry through follow-up measures.” However, it has been more than a year since the ban and the government has yet to introduce any forms of ICO guidelines or regulations. Kang was further quoted by Sedaily as saying: As a blockchain startup company, we face a great deal of difficulties due to the ICO ban and the lack of legislation from the government and the parliament for more than a year. I am requesting confirmation of the unconstitutionality of the lack of legislation. Lawyer Explains Why the Ban Is Unconstitutional Lawyer Park Ju-hyun, who is in charge of filing this case, explained last week why the government’s ICO measures are unconstitutional, Zdnet Korea reported. He noted that the measures can be subject to a constitutional appeal if a request is filed with the constitutional court. Park said the ban is unconstitutional on two grounds. The first is that it infringes on “the basic rights of the Constitution,” such as “freedom of occupation, right to property, [and] right to equality,” Sedaily wrote. His “second point is that the basic restrictions were imposed without legal basis,” which he cited Article 37 (2) of the Korean Constitution, the news outlet added. The lawyer also referenced a recent court case where the court ruled that one of the country’s largest banks, Nonghyup Bank, illegally blocked transactions of cryptocurrency exchange Coinis. He reiterated the importance of “whether there is a legal basis,” noting that the bank’s action was illegal because it was done without a legal basis. Presto emphasized that the ban infringes on “the right to equality because it arbitrarily discriminates against ICO companies without reason,” compared to initial public offerings or other types of crowdfunding methods, Sedaily conveyed. Do you think the Korean government’s ICO ban is unconstitutional? What do you think the court will do? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Korean Court Case Alleges Government’s ICO Ban Is Unconstitutional appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A Melbourne-based company is now offering crypto-backed loans. Helio operates under an Australian Credit License (ACL) issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). In the current bear market, cryptocurrency holders can borrow fiat money and keep their digital coins for better times. Also read: Chat Bot Advises Crypto Startups and Investors Helio Lends Fiat Against Crypto as Collateral Helio Lending accepts four major cryptocurrencies as collateral. The platform currently supports bitcoin core (BTC), ethereum (ETH), litecoin (LTC), and ripple (XRP). It offers loans for up to 48 months and with an APR of between 17 and 24 percent, depending on the value of the collateral. Customers can choose between 30, 40 and 50 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio. For example, a 10,000 Australian-dollar loan with a 30 percent LTV would require the borrower to pledge 7.19 BTC as collateral. In this case, the APR would be 17 percent and the monthly payment 350 Australian dollars (around US $250). Helio’s website has a calculator that can produce different loan configurations. The minimum amount that can be borrowed is set at 1,000 Australian dollars. The application process starts with providing a valid email address. To complete signup, applicants should follow the confirmation link sent by the platform. Credit License Secured According to Helio’s founder, John O’Shea, his company is the first licensed entity in Australia to offer crypto-backed loans. He believes there’s a massive market for digital assets in the country. Some estimates suggest that Australians perform cryptocurrency transactions worth around $2.8 million daily. Speaking to Businessbuyinvest.com, O’Shea stated there are currently not enough service providers and companies willing or able to support the growing market and to loan against crypto assets. That’s why he sees an opportunity to “capitalize on something that is so highly sought after, yet so underserviced.” The entrepreneur explained: We provide finance to both individuals and businesses through cryptocurrency asset-backed lending. This means that clients who hold bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin or ripple are able to use their assets as collateral for loan financing. Unlike traditional lenders, Helio can rely on the digital assets transferred by its customers to a secured collateral wallet. In the event of a default, the company can sell the coins to cover the losses. At the same time, Helio’s customers can benefit from the protection provided by ACL and ASIC laws and regulations. According to Australian media reports, Helio Lending has obtained its credit license by acquiring another company that held one, Cashflow Investment. The ACL license will allow Helio to offer its clients even more favorable terms in the future. What do you think about cryptocurrency-backed loans? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Make sure you do not miss any important Bitcoin-related news! Follow our news feed any which 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 Australian Company Issues Loans Backed by Cryptocurrencies appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In late November, the creators of the Simple Ledger Protocol announced the launch of Ledger Treasure, a contest in which contestants must solve a puzzle to win over $100 worth of bitcoin cash (BCH). On Dec. 6, Simple Ledger developer James Cramer revealed the winner of the first puzzle solved by gaining access to the BCH funds locked in a special P2SH address. Also read: Previously Inactive Whales Are Moving Large Amounts of BTC Simple Ledger Treasure Developers of the Simpleledger.io (SLP) project are hosting a monthly contest that offers the chance to win over $100 worth of BCH for solving a puzzle. The team will be giving away BCH after crafting a solvable puzzle and publishing it with the project’s monthly newsletter. On Dec. 6, the first winner received 1 BCH for unlocking the funds contained in a bitcoin cash P2SH address. The first issue of the Ledger Treasure newsletter sent out to registrants contained the maiden puzzle, called “Stashed Cash 1.” The 1 BCH of locked funds in a P2SH address was solved one hour after the puzzle was published, explained its creator James Cramer. The first thing people need to do to solve the puzzle is load a script template JSON file into the P2SH.cash website, a tool that enables a P2SH spend, a calculator, and oracle. After loading the template, the user needs to actually search for the address with the funded BCH inside. If the treasure hunter doesn’t understand much about P2SH script then the puzzle gives a great lesson about the protocol. In order to complete it, the contestant needs to fill in the blanks within the “redeem script” section. A math equation is then presented within the script template which shows the basics of how stack-based math operates. “The final requirement of this puzzle was to interact with the Ledger Treasure Newsletter, which is accomplished using the ‘Oracles’ tab of the P2SH.cash website,” explained Cramer’s blog post on the subject. “The oracle’s public key was required for the redeem script section and the unlocking script section oracle’s signature was required for the unlocking script section in the ‘Spend P2SH’ tab,” the developer added. The creator of the Ledger Treasure Newsletter hunt continued by stating: The only way to obtain a valid signature for this puzzle is to first be a subscriber of the Ledger Treasure newsletter. More Difficult Bitcoin Cash P2SH Puzzles Are on the Way Cramer concluded that the first puzzle was a success and stated that at least three other challengers solved it within three days. The Simple Ledger developer said that he looks forward to devising more puzzles and that the first one wasn’t that hard. Eventually, the creator intends to make the puzzles significantly more difficult as time passes but still wants to create simple puzzles for new visitors. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts who want to attempt to solve the next Ledger puzzle need to sign up for the newsletter before the second edition is published on the first of January. What do you think about the Simple Ledger treasure hunt? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Images via the Ledger Treasure newsletter, SLP, and Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Simple Ledger Developers Publish Monthly Puzzle With Bitcoin Cash Treasure appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

South Korea will push for major cryptocurrency adoption, claims a new report, strengthening the spotlight on the tech hub which forms one of the most crypto-friendly countries in the world. Also read: Korean Incoming Minister Confirms Crypto Taxation Plans South Korea’s Enthusiasm for Tech As one of the most innovative countries in the world, it’s no surprise the tech-savvy population of South Korea has been quick to take to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. In fact, the small country makes up around 30 percent of global cryptocurrency trading, despite having a population of little over 51 million. Now, a report by fintech company Cindicator has stated that the country is going to play an even bigger role in the adoption of cryptocurrencies in the future, partly due to its highly developed cryptocurrency exchange infrastructure and regulatory and taxation framework. The report claims: These projects and their eventual success are obviously a great indication of what crypto believers in the country feel the new technology could do in the future. The report states that it is because of exchanges such as Bithumb – the country’s largest – that South Korea ranks so highly worldwide in terms of the sheer volume of trading. As well as the country housing major exchanges such as Upbit, Korbit, and Coinone, it is home to a number of crypto and blockchain projects, which are a “great indication of what crypto believers in the country feel the new technology could do in the future.” The report notes the many occasions when the announcement of a new altcoin listing on a South Korean exchange saw its value skyrocket. South Koreans have been quick to get involved with crypto because of the desire to reap potentially large profits and an enthusiasm for the technology itself. Greater Regulation Coming Soon The South Korean government this week announced it would be taxing cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings – despite bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies being exempt from capital gains tax since 2013. But the government fully understands the potential of blockchain technology, having recently announced 1 trillion won (USD $880 million) to spend on blockchain development in 2019. The newly elected mayor of Jeju Island, Won Hee-ryong, who ran on a pro-blockchain and cryptocurrency ticket, provides further evidence to suggest that South Korea will play a pivotal role in advancing global adoption of cryptocurrencies and their underlying technology. What do you think about the role South Korea will play in the future of global cryptocurrency adoption? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Express yourself freely at Bitcoin.com’s user forums. We don’t censor on political grounds. Check forum.Bitcoin.com. The post Report: South Korea to Push for Major Adoption of Cryptocurrencies appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Malaysia’s securities regulator and central bank are to strengthen their scrutiny of initial coin offerings (ICOs) through new rules meant to eliminate issues of unfair trade practices and alleged risk of money laundering and terrorism financing. The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said they will also tighten regulation in the trade of cryptocurrencies to boost investor security. Also read: Brazilian Bitcoin Exchange Sends User $35M in Bug-Induced Error ‘Fair and Orderly Trading’ “The SC will regulate issuances of digital assets via ICOs and the trading of digital assets at digital asset exchanges in Malaysia,” the regulators said in a joint statement released Dec. 6. “Regulations are currently being put in place to bring digital assets within the remit of securities laws to promote fair and orderly trading and ensure investor protection,” they added. Bitcoin and other digital currencies are not recognized as legal tender in Malaysia, but they aren’t banned either. That means individuals or companies trading cryptocurrency are free to do so, but are not protected by law. However, under the anti-money laundering legislation, all crypto asset exchanges operating in Malaysia are subject to reporting obligations. Malaysian finance minister Lim Guan Eng said cryptocurrency regulations will come into force during the first quarter of 2019. He also warned individuals and companies planning to issue new cryptocurrencies with a stern: “Don’t do it,” advising to wait for guidance from the country’s central bank. Lim Guan Eng said the government was open to emerging forms of money such as virtual currency, but only if they adhere to the law. Enforcing Compliance Now the Securities Commission and Bank Negara are starting to put that regulatory framework together. The two “will enter into coordination arrangements to ensure compliance with laws and regulations under the purview of both regulators,” said the statement. It added: “Initial coin offering issuers and digital asset exchanges which are involved in the issuance or dealing of digital assets with a payment function will need to comply with relevant BNM laws and regulations relating to payments and currency matters.” Malaysia is slowly emerging as a hotbed of cryptocurrency trading. The government isn’t particularly averse to the technology. For example, Pakatan Harapan, Malaysia’s ruling party, is raising political funding through a cryptocurrency called “harapan coin,” in preparation for the 2019 general elections. Party officials say they have submitted documents of the harapan coin to Bank Negara for approval. What do you think about the regulatory developments in Malaysia? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Malaysian Financial Regulators to Intensify Scrutiny of ICOs, Cryptocurrencies appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Social media platform Honest Cash has activated 200 new users and added a few new features, according to its creator Adrian Barwicki. News.Bitcoin.com reported on its initial launch during the last week of November, when the blogging platform started with the first 100 registrants. Also read: ‘Crypto Crisis’ Mining Simulator Lets Players Relive the Last 10 Years of Bitcoin Honest Cash Sees 7-10% Daily Growth Since the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network hard fork a few weeks ago, a new social media platform called Honest Cash was launched for BCH proponents. Similar to blogging platforms like Medium or Steemit, the Honest Cash application gives registered users the ability to create a unique profile tethered to a BCH wallet and post written content in short or long form. Initially registered users could only post written text, but since then, Barwicki has added the ability to upload photos and videos as well. This means the Honest Cash community of users can reward good content by tipping not just writers, but vloggers, graphic artists, reporters, and more with bitcoin cash. Barwicki has been registering users by invite-only after people sign up with a valid email address and had approved 100 users during the week news.Bitcoin.com tested the platform. On Friday, the developer announced that the team activated 200 more users and they have only 50 slots open for the rest of the trial period. Moreover, looking at the data, Honest Cash has grown 7-10 percent a day and that’s not including the waiting list Barwicki detailed on Twitter. “Another 200 accounts have just been activated on Honest Cash,” the founder emphasized. 190 stories have been published, 150 are being written, 120 tips/upvotes were given since two days ago and we have an elite retention rate of over 50% — Is something growing like this on BSV? The Honest Cash news feed. New Native Wallet and the First Uncensorable Post While scrolling through the Honest Cash front page, the feed consists of subjects like bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, trading, economics, and politics which shows the platform is growing. Users can now follow other users and unique content creators can grow a list of followers too. Additionally, the Honest Cash application allows individuals to tether their Twitter profile or Reddit account to the platform. When news.Bitcoin.com tested the platform in November, you could tether a third-party wallet to a profile. But now Honest Cash has its own native client which can generate a new wallet. Users can also import existing keys with custom HD derivation path support. Honest Cash can now generate a new BCH wallet or connect to an existing wallet with a recovery phrase. Recovery phrases never leave the browser, explains the Honest Cash website, and with all the transactions signed, the software never exposes keys over the internet. However Honest Cash recommends not attaching a wallet with a large amount of BCH, as only a small amount of funds is needed to tip and upvote. Furthermore, five days ago the first uncensorable post was recorded on the Honest Cash platform with a little help from the Bitcoin Files platform. “It cannot be removed, censored or amended. It is saved in the history of mankind for all times — Be honest,” explains the post with the bitcoin file hash. What do you think about the Honest Cash platform? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Images via Shutterstock, Honest Cash, and Pixabay. At news.Bitcoin.com all comments containing links are automatically held up for moderation in the Disqus system. That means an editor has to take a look at the comment to approve it. This is due to the many, repetitive, spam and scam links people post under our articles. We do not censor any comment content based on politics or personal opinions. So, please be patient. Your comment will be published. The post BCH App ‘Honest Cash’ Sees Significant Growth and Adds Native Wallet appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Satoshi Revolution: A Revolution of Rising Expectations Section 5: Saving the World Through Anarchism Chapter 11, Part 8 Avoiding Fraud By Going Crypto-Anarchist A transfer on the blockchain is a simplistic peer-to-peer contract, which memorializes the terms for those involved and is seen to be valid by the surrounding community through transparency. It is a voluntary exchange. The blockchain is also an instrument of enforcement that embodies the terms of execution, such as irreversibility, to which both parties have agreed; their agreement is expressed through the willingness to use the blockchain. Thus the blockchain expresses both requirements of libertarian law; it facilitates voluntary interaction and it acts as an instrument of enforcement. –Wendy McElroy, “Don’t Smash the State, Bypass the State” The late Samuel E. Konkin III (SEK3), the father of agorism and an old drinking buddy of mine, used to answer his telephone with the salutation “Smash the State.” And, yet, his lifestyle did not include direct confrontations with authority. Whenever possible, SEK3 avoided or replaced the state in his daily life, because he knew that the most effective way to smash the state was to render it irrelevant. His lasting legacy to anarchist theory: Agorism is a peaceful revolution that is achieved by counter-economics, which SEK3 defined as “the study or practice of all peaceful human action which is forbidden by the State.” Counter-economics is a black market version of Ludwig von Mises’s praxeology—the study of human action that flaunts the state. SEK3 would have reveled in the audacity of cryptocurrency, which both avoids and replaces state fiat because being a better currency is the surest way to destroy fiat. He would have declared crypto to be the “counter-economic currency”–the currency of agorism. But more than this. In a flash, SEK3 would have recognized crypto’s implications for justice, because it also avoids and replaces state law as the default position for contracts. The default position becomes the free market or agorism. I can see SEK3 take a swig of black beer and a drag on his constantly present pipe, before announcing that anarchy had arrived. The message of anarchism never should have been “smash the state” or “convince everyone to become an anarchist.” Those are impossible ends. The message should be “free yourself” by decentralizing the power expressed by every decision into your own hands. To the extent you can act as though the state does not exist, it does not. The Basis of a Free Society The contract is the basis of anarchist law because it is tangible evidence of the consent of individuals, upon which a free society rests. That’s why it is essential to decentralize contracts under the direct control of participants. The blockchain is a self-executing transfer, with immutable and transparent terms that are dictated by the users rather than by the jurisdiction of a state; it can become a self-executing agreement through the addition of a smart contract. (Note: smart contracts are still a developing technology, but proof of principle is definitely there.) The blockchain is its own defense against fraud and theft, largely because it bypasses trusted third parties, who are the overwhelming causes of corruption. A Brookings Institute article asks, “Can Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain help Fight Corruption?” Pointing to accountability and transparency, it presents a practical example of how the blockchain prevents fraud. “If a government decides to construct a road, it can now track how each dollar is being spent, identify all the users of the funds, and ensure that only those authorized to spend money do so on originally intended expenses within the permitted time. Fraud and corruption investigations that now take on average 15 months could be performed at the touch of a button and at a fraction of the cost.” The blockchain is part of a growing push to minimize the need for lawyers and courtrooms. An article in Futurism, entitled “An AI Law Firm Wants to Automate the Entire Legal World,” explains another aspect of the trend—an automated service called LawGeex. “On LawGeex, users upload a contract and, within a short period of time (an hour on average), they receive a report that states which clauses don’t meet common legal standards. The report also details any vital clauses that could be missing, and where existing clauses might require revision. All of this is calculated by algorithms.” For a modest fee, algorithms can detect clauses that enable fraud or provide inadequate protection. It can vet smart contracts before they are coded. The Lingering Reality of Fraud Fraud is like violence. Both will always be present because some people will always choose them as options. As with violence, the goal in countering fraud is not to eliminate it, because that is Utopian. The goal is to drastically reduce it and keep it away from your life. What is fraud? It is not merely “dishonesty”–a word that is sometimes used as a synonym. Nor is it a breach of contract, which can occur between well-meaning people who then usually come to a settlement. In an anarchist framework, aggression is defined as the usurpation of property—whether it is a person’s body or goods—without the owner’s consent. In crypto, the aggression is committed against goods or wealth. If it is taken through violence, such as in a mugging or a burglary, then it is straightforward theft. If it is taken through deception or stealth, then it is the type of theft called fraud. In fraud facilitated by a contract, there may be a bogus exchange of value; a person is assured that an expensive watch is a Rolex, for example, when it is a cheap knock-off. Or the exchange may happen on falsely-stated terms; the genuine Rolex is stolen property to which the seller has no title. The seller lies; the buyer believes; the contract of sale—explicit or implicit–is invalid because the values or terms were not agreed upon by both parties. Before discussing fraud in crypto, it is important to note that the phenomenon may not be as common as many assume. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission released a report on the level and types of scams that happened in 2017. Crypto-related fraud constituted 0.6% of the total. Each instance seems to draw media attention, however, because powerful forces use the accusation of fraud to call for regulation. Or, as a headline at Panda Security recently stated, “Cryptocurrency fraud is the exception, not the rule.” I also know that for every scam, there are countless examples of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology being used responsibly to create opportunities, grow economies, and do good in the world. We need to remember that cryptocurrency fraud is the exception, not the rule. The attention to fraud is warranted, but the conclusion of a need for state involvement is not. Inviting in the state—the greatest trusted third party scam in existence—is dangerous folly. Instead, people need to focus on the correcting the unsafe user practices that are revealed by every scam. They should stop opening their wallets and crypto to thieves, statist or private. Consider the 2017 “mybtgwallet.com” scam. The website claimed to be an online web wallet for Bitcoin Gold, which was considered to be legitimate. Mybtgwallet.com offered users free Bitcoin Gold wallets through which they could check their balances, and use the website for one day for free transactions. The scam link was lent credibility by appearing briefly on the official Bitcoin Gold site—an act of incredible carelessness on the site’s part, to say the least. To take mybtgwallet.com up on its offer, users had to submit their private keys or recovery seeds. Of course, after they did so, the crypto in their wallets was forwarded to other addresses. No one should have fallen for this scam but even some crypto veterans did. Coindesk reported that “more than $3.3 million has been stolen as part of an elaborate scam that took advantage of bitcoin users seeking to claim their share of the newly created cryptocurrency bitcoin gold. At least $30,000 in ethereum,$72,000 in litecoin, $107,000 in bitcoin gold and more than $3 million in bitcoin were confiscated.” What are the lessons of the mybtgwallet.com debacle? Always assume a strange site might be trying to steal crypto. Extend trust only after due diligence. Due diligence or not, never trust anyone with private keys or recovery seeds. This is equivalent to disclosing the combination of a safe or handing over title to your wealth. The keys and recovery seeds are the proof and control of ownership. Immediately distrust anyone who asks for keys or recovery seeds. Never enter your keys or seeds anywhere that is vulnerable to being copied or stored. Always keep a paper version of both in a secure place. In essence, maintain privacy. Thieves require personal data in order to loot. If the preceding lessons are repetitive, it is because they bear repetition. Remember: when crypto leaves your wallet, it is gone forever. That should at least be the assumption. The transaction cannot be reversed, and there is no insurance company to make you whole (although the crypto community should sell this service). As it is, victims rarely receive back even cents on the dollar, as the Mt. Gox victims did after years and years of strenuous effort. The Biggest Message of mybtgwallet.com Avoid trusted third parties, however convenient or alluring they may seem. They are the major point of vulnerability for fraud and other theft. Third parties may be necessary for some purposes, such as converting between cryptos. If so, use exchanges or other services that require as little trust as possible. Many decentralized exchanges do not require keys or personal information beyond the absolute minimum of an email address and user name; prefer them over centralized exchanges that strip away all privacy. In your account, keep the least amount of crypto possible for as short a period as necessary to accomplish your goal. The trusted third party to avoid the most is the state. Unfortunately, when massive fraud occurs, even people who should assume some responsibility for the theft call, instead, for government regulation. There is an irony here. One reason fraud happens is because of the statist mindset with which people approach investing and all things monetary. They are accustomed to guarantees of safety from the state, and many believe the guarantees are real. Fiat money is backed by the state and, by law, it must be accepted as payment. Bank deposits are insured; in the U.S., the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures up to $250,000. Law enforcement operates fraud divisions that record reports of theft. In short, the state makes people feel safer than they should, and they neglect the due diligence that is the responsibility of every individual. Protecting your property is part of self-defense. The world’s most fraudulent trusted third party—the state–is not a remedy. It is not a reason to relinquish self-defense. It is a reason to learn how to be comfortable and skilled in exercising it. [To be continued next week.] Reprints of this article should credit bitcoin.com and include a link back to the original links to all previous chapters Wendy McElroy has agreed to ”live-publish” her new book The Satoshi Revolution exclusively with Bitcoin.com. Every Saturday you’ll find another installment in a series of posts planned to conclude after about 18 months. Altogether they’ll make up her new book ”The Satoshi Revolution”. Read it here first. The post Wendy McElroy: Avoiding Fraud by Going Crypto-Anarchist appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In this edition of The Daily, cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced support for multiple accounts and we’ve got all the details. Elsewhere, digital asset exchange Huobi wants to launch a regulated platform for institutional investors under its Gibraltar license. Finally, we cover a warning about an unauthorized crypto brokerage that has been issued by regulators in several European countries. Also read: Coinbase Adds Paypal Withdrawals, Gazprombank to Manage Crypto Assets Binance Introduces Subaccount Feature Binance, currently the largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume, has announced the launch of a subaccount feature for institutional clients. The upgrade will allow them to set up multiple trading accounts within an organization, providing them with improved control and asset audit tools. Entities will be able to create up to 200 subaccounts, maintaining control over the movement of digital assets from their main account. They can also grant permissions for different access levels. Each subaccount will have its own API limits which will enable API users to trade with more freedom and capacity, the exchange detailed in a post on Medium. Under the new arrangements, master accounts will be able to view all data and balances, transfer funds between accounts and exert managerial control. Both types of accounts can place orders, but subaccounts will be allowed to cancel only their own orders. The same applies to API features, where only master accounts will be able to delete keys. Binance assures customers that the new feature has been designed with security in mind. “Account login information has been properly subdivided to maximize security and minimize risk,” the trading platform noted in the announcement. Huobi to Launch Regulated Exchange for Institutions Digital asset exchange Huobi, which was recently granted a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) license in Gibraltar, has announced plans to create a global platform for institutional customers. According to a press release, the DLT license allows the Singapore-based company to store and transmit cryptocurrencies on behalf of clients around the world. It also simplifies the exchange between fiat and digital currencies. Lester Haoda Li, head of Global Institutional Business at Huobi’s London office, emphasized that well-designed regulatory regimes are a key part of the future for the cryptocurrency industry. He further explained: Our Gibraltar DLT license will allow us to open a fully-regulated exchange for our Global Institutional clients and retail clients alike, so this is a big win for Huobi and a very positive step forward for our global strategy … Among other benefits, our DLT license will allow us to open doors to more institutional investors who were previously unable or unwilling to get involved in an unregulated sphere. Gibraltar, a British overseas territory, has become a leading crypto-friendly jurisdiction in Europe. Its dedicated DLT regulatory framework entered into force at the beginning of this year. Huobi is among the first licensed crypto trading platforms. In November, the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission issued a DLT license to Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange (GBX), a subsidiary of the Gibraltar Stock Exchange. Regulators Warn About Unlicensed Crypto Broker The Italian Companies and Exchange Commission, the authority regulating the securities market in Italy, has issued a warning against an online platform offering unauthorized crypto brokerage services. The regulator has ordered Solutions CM Ltd., the operator of the Originalcrypto.com website, to cease its activities that infringe the respective provisions of the Italian law. The warning has been received and published by the Malta Financial Services Authority as well. Earlier this year, the Maltese regulator shared a similar notice issued by the Spanish National Securities Market Commission. According to the Spanish authority, Solutions CM is not authorized to provide investment services or to perform foreign currency transactions in the country. What are your thoughts on today’s news tidbits? Tell us in the comments section. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Make sure you do not miss any important Bitcoin-related news! Follow our news feed any which 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 The Daily: Binance Offers Multiple Accounts, Huobi Plans Institutional Exchange appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article