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Clovr recently surveyed 1,023 registered U.S. voters to learn how the American public views the possibility of political candidates accepting cryptocurrency donations for campaign financing. A majority of 60 percent said cryptocurrency donations should be treated the same as fiat, with only 21 percent disagreeing. Also Read: New ‘Trust Machine’ Blockchain Film Tackles Politics of Technology Safe and (Relatively) Stable Regarding the topic of security, 54 percent of respondents in the Clovr survey answered that cryptocurrencies were safe enough for political donations. Breaking it down by party affiliation, 63 percent of Republicans agreed cryptocurrency was secure enough to be used for political purposes, with 52 percent of Democrats and 45 percent of independents saying the same. Additionally, 73 percent of those polled who claimed to be knowledgeable about cryptocurrencies believed security was not an issue. Voters appear less certain about the question of price stability with regards to USD exchange rates, but still supportive in relatively high numbers. The survey showed 52 percent of Republicans think cryptocurrency is stable enough for political campaign donations, with just 40 percent of Democrats and 35 percent of independents believing the same. In contrast, 62 percent of those who self-identity as ‘extremely familiar’ with cryptocurrency answered that it is stable enough. One result from the survey that should be of particular interest to politicians is that almost 25 percent of respondents said they would be more likely to financially back campaigns if they accepted cryptocurrency as an option. This is true for 27 percent of Republicans, 25 percent of Democrats and 22 percent of independents. Some Concerns Remain With the current state of deep political division and mistrust of public institutions in the U.S., it’s no surprise that the survey also found some fears about incorporating cryptocurrency into the elections process. A total of 60 percent of respondents were concerned that cryptocurrency donations could increase foreign interference in American elections. 66 percent of Democrats were concerned about this issue, but also 58 percent of Republicans and 56 percent of independents. Besides the possibility of outside interference, American voters also seem to think that their elected officials can’t be trusted with cryptocurrency. In total, 62 percent of respondents answered that cryptocurrency donations would increase illegal activity within the U.S. political system. “The overall findings are contradictory but intuitive: overwhelming support for crypto as a currency and a technology, countered by an equally unanimous distrust of what people, particularly those in politics, might do with it,” commented Clovr co-founder Mike Cribari. Are you more likely to support a politician that accepts cryptocurrency donations? 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 Survey: 60% of US Voters Want Cryptocurrency Political Donations to Be Legal appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In this edition of Exchanges Roundup, we focus on Ironx, which has just wrapped up a $22.3 million private sale. We also look at International Digital Currency Markets’ plans to provide solutions for security token offerings, as well as some of the new exchanges opening in Estonia. Also Read: The Daily: Outcry Over Censoring of Gab, Chinese State Media Plugs Bitcoin Book UK Minister Reaps Windfall After Ironx Resignation Ironx, a cryptocurrency exchange that Cyprus-based Ironfx plans to launch in December, sold 67.6 million IRX tokens after raising $22.3 million during its recent private sale. The tokens were sold for just shy of $0.33 each. Stephen Hammond, a former vice chairman of the U.K. Conservative Party and current member of the U.K. Treasury Committee, recently resigned from Ironx after working for the company for just four days. Based on the pricing for the planned exchange’s private sale, the 50,000 IRX tokens that Hammond received as remuneration would be valued at approximately $16,500. Ironfx will open the Ironx exchange in partnership with Emurgohk Group, the Hong Kong-based company behind Cardano. ADA will be the base currency on Ironx. IDCM Reveals Plan to Become ‘Cryptocurrency Investment Bank’ Andrew Wong, a managing partner at International Digital Currency Markets, recently spoke to the South China Morning Post about the company’s long-term plans, which include becoming a full-fledged crypto investment bank. “Part of that process would be to provide a solution for a security token offering, where a pool of investors is screened and cleared to invest,” Wong said. Estonian Licenses Attract Exchanges Estonia’s licenses for exchange and wallet service providers are continuing to attract virtual currency companies, with cryptocurrency exchange XRP United launching operations in the country last week. The exchange uses XRP as its base currency and presently supports BCH/XRP, ETH/XRP, and BTC/XRP. It also intends to support XMR/XRP once a Monero wallet has been implemented on its platform. Crowdwiz is another company that has recently secured a license to provide wallet and exchange services in Estonia. It currently aims to launch a beta product for its Wizexchange before 2019. Do you think more and more exchanges will use cryptocurrencies other than BTC as a base currency? Share your thoughts in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock, stephenhammond.net The Bitcoin universe is vast. So is Bitcoin.com. Check our Wiki, where you can learn everything you were afraid to ask. Or read our news coverage to stay up to date on the latest. Or delve into statistics on our helpful tools page. The post Exchanges Roundup: Ironx Raises $22.3M in Private Sale, IDCM to Target STOs appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Digital asset prices dropped in value on Monday after the last few weeks of cryptocurrency market consolidation and stability. Around 8:10 a.m. EDT on Oct. 29, the top 10 digital currency markets saw percentage losses of between 2-5%. Since our last markets update two days ago, the entire crypto-economy has lost $5.6 billion in value. Also read: New Qart Wallet Gives Bitcoin Cash QR Codes a Personal Touch Top Cryptocurrency Markets Dip While Traders Play the Range After the tight trading range over the last few weeks, many people joked about cryptocurrency prices remaining stable indefinitely. Of course, most crypto enthusiasts know better and on Monday, after a dull trading weekend, the majority of digital asset markets saw price declines across the board. Bitcoin core (BTC) prices saw a low of $6,208 and bitcoin cash spot prices dipped to $414. Even though markets are now in the red, trading volumes have increased immensely since our last report. At the time, $8.6 billion worth of 24-hour cryptocurrency global trade volume was recorded but today the worldwide trade volume touched around $12 billion. The top ten cryptocurrency markets on Oct. 29, 2018. Bitcoin core (BTC) is currently trading for $6,344 per coin and has seen a loss of around 2% over the last 24 hours. Following behind is ethereum (ETH), as markets have seen a 3.5% loss during the morning trading sessions. One ETH is being swapped for $197 at the time of publication. The third largest market capitalization held by ripple (XRP) lost 3.5% and each token is trading for $0.44. The morning dip has erased 4.7% off the overall eos (EOS) capitalization and each token is trading for $5.14. On Oct. 29, at 12:15 p.m., the market valuation of all 2,000+ cryptocurrencies is around $206 billion. Just before the dip, dwindling cryptocurrency trade volumes started to reverse and now many traders are scrambling to find new positions. Bitcoin Cash Market Action Bitcoin cash (BCH) is currently trading for $416 per coin and the cryptocurrency has lost 4.7% since the initial plunge. The BCH market valuation is $7.2 billion and there’s been $298 million worth of BCH trades over the last 24 hours. Bitcoin cash (BCH) market action 7-day. The top five exchanges trading the most BCH this Monday are Lbank, Hitbtc, Bithumb, Okex, and Digifinex. BTC trades cover 40% of today’s BCH pairs, followed by USDT (26%), KRW (13.4%), ETH (10.2%), and USD (5.5%). BCH is currently the seventh most traded cryptocurrency out of all the virtual currency markets. Bitcoin cash (BCH) market action 1-day. BCH/USD Technical Indicators Looking at the four-hour and daily charts shows traders have been ‘playing the range’ so to speak over the last couple of days, and even more so now. Bollinger bands are extremely tight and the long and short-term SMA trendlines have crossed. On the four-hour BCH/USD chart, the longer-term 200 SMA is now well above the short term 100 SMA. This shows the path of least resistance for BCH traders right now will be the downside. BCH/USD Bitfinex 4-H. Oct. 29, 2018. The relative strength indicator (RSI) shows BCH is oversold right now (-21) and traders may see a reversal after all the scraps are bought. Right now on Bitstamp’s order book, there’s a huge sell wall that will keep bulls at bay until $430. Bulls have another obstacle around the $475 region if they plan on gathering momentum. On the backside, bears will see resistance at the current vantage point up until $350 where they will hit a bigger buy wall. The Verdict: Traders On Edge Find New Positions Before the Next Significant Move Overall, many traders have noticed that trade volumes have been relatively low and that there’s been anomalies and weird correlations between cryptocurrency markets and traditional equity markets. Then there’s been the peculiar action taking place with the various stablecoins over the last two weeks. Also, the decline in Japanese yen against cryptocurrency pairs and the rise of the Korean won has been a curious occurrence. The recent downturn has put traders on edge, and now on high alert, which makes a refreshing change from the tedium of the crypto-economy’s stability over the last few weeks. What do you think about digital asset market dips today? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section 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: Traders Play a Lower Range After Cryptocurrency Prices Dip appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The second BCH Devcon hackathon took place in Amsterdam on Oct. 27-28, with more than 100 people competing to build useful cryptocurrency applications. The event culminated with a project called Pandacash winning the grand prize by delivering a “one-click” Bitcoin Cash blockchain software development kit. Also read: Send Bitcoin Cash Over the Web in a Private Fashion Using Tor Two-Day Hackathon in Amsterdam Permissionless Ventures, a $50 million innovation fund created by Bitmain Technologies, started hosting the BCH Devcon series of events earlier this month. News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on the first BCH Devcon hackathon in San Francisco, which saw the Yenom development team take home the grand prize. This past weekend, software programmers and blockchain executives gathered once again to build new cryptocurrency platforms, but this time the dev teams were allowed to use any blockchain they desired. BCH Devcon Amsterdam and the Pandacash team The Amsterdam event featured a number of cryptocurrency luminaries as judges and panel presenters, including Ryan X. Charles, Nikita Zhavoronkov, Gabriel Cardona, Eléonore Blanc, Nikol Daru, Paul Wasensteiner, Alejandro DeLaTorre, and Epperly Li. The BCH Devcon judges based their decisions on whether participating projects offered the right mix of utility, creativity, usability, and overall functionality. Over the course of the two-day event, programmers crafted streaming applications, software development kits, smart contracts, and tokenization concepts. BCH Devcon teams discuss their blockchain-powered projects. BCH Blockchain Tool for ‘Lazy’ People Pandacash, the winner of the BCH Devcon grand prize in Amsterdam, is a proof-of-concept software development kit created by Adrian Barwicki, Rosco Kalis, Bryan Lee-A-Leong and Nikolay Manolov. According to the team, the project is the “lazy person’s” Bitcoin Cash blockchain utility tool. BCH Devcon Amsterdam grand prize winners Pandacash Pandacash can fire up a personal BCH chain that runs tests and executes commands. It can also be controlled on a whim. “With [Pandacash] you can make calls to the Bitcoin Cash blockchain without the overheads of running an actual Bitcoin Cash node,” the developers explained in a recent blog post. “Addresses can be re-cycled, reset, instantiated with a fixed amount of bitcoin cash (no need for faucets or mining), and debug logs are displayed by default.” Additionally, the Pandacash specifications are fully documented on the project’s Github repository. The only thing you need to start working on Bitcoin Cash applications with Pandacash is a docker container and NodeJS installed — The personal blockchain can be started from a command line tool. BCH Devcon Amsterdam panel Weekend of Innovation Many participants described BCH Devcon as a success, telling news.Bitcoin.com that there was plenty of innovation on display throughout the weekend. Other BCH-based projects included Honeystream, a paid-streaming service that uses bitcoin cash. There was also a permissioned token project, a proof-of-picture concept, an hourly virtual private network service powered by BCH payments, and a reputation system that uses the BCH protocol. One team even showed off an idea that sold event tickets using bitcoin cash, while another project, Blurry, allows people to sell blurry pictures that become clear after a BCH payment is processed. Attendees at the Amsterdam BCH Devcon event told news.Bitcoin.com that the hackathon was a blast. The next BCH Devcon events will be hosted by Permissionless Ventures in Israel, Japan, South Korea, and India. The official BCH Devcon page provides information on how people can participate, as well as resources on some of the open-source programs that contestants can use during the challenges. Check out a video of the Pandacash proof of concept below. What do you think about the BCH Devcon event in Amsterdam? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: Bitcoin.com is an official sponsor of the BCH Devcon series. Images via Shutterstock, Gabriel Cardona, Medium, Pandacash, and Permissionless Ventures. 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 Pandacash Wins Grand Prize at BCH Devcon appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Maplechange, a small Canadian cryptocurrency exchange, has ceased operations following the purported theft of all the funds it was holding. Despite promises of an investigation into the matter, many have accused the exchange of attempting to stage an exit scam. Also Read: Japanese Regulator: Stablecoins Are Not Cryptocurrencies Under Current Law Canadian Exchange Drained of Holdings Maplechange took to Twitter to announce the hack, which took place one day after it had conducted “maintenance” to revamp its website. It claimed that “due to a bug, some people have managed to withdraw all the funds” it had been holding. The exchange said it had launched a “thorough investigation” and insisted that it couldn’t offer refunds to customers until it had concluded its probe. “We are extremely sorry that it has to come to end like this,” it added. Some sites claimed that Maplechange had deleted the initial tweet within an hour, along with its Telegram and Discord accounts. Those reports cited another tweet from the exchange stating that it would cease business and shut down its social media presence, because it had been completely drained of funds and was left unable to pay its customers back. Partial Refunds However, Maplechange returned to Twitter five hours after it reported the hack, amid widespread accusations that it was staging an exit scam. “We have not disappeared,” it said. “We simply turned off our accounts temporarily to think this solution through.” The company opened a Discord server for refunds an hour later, stating that it would be unable to refund any BTC or LTC that had been lost. However, it vowed to try “to refund everything else.” Significant Trading Spike Prior to Hack Maplechange saw a significant spike in trade volume in the week preceding the hack. After posting daily trade volume of between $2,000 and $3,000 for the majority of the second and third weeks of October, it bounced between approximately $10,000 and $65,000 in the days leading up to the hack, before falling to roughly $5,000 during the website maintenance period on Oct. 27. At the time of the purported hack, CCX/BTC and LMO/LTC were the two most traded pairings on Maplechange. The company has since pledged to transfer all of the coins it still possesses back to the coin developers. At the time of this writing, it had said that it had already returned funds to Lumeneo (LMO) and Carbon Credit Coin (CCX). Maplechange first launched an LTC/CCX pairing on Oct. 11. “Amazing volume today thanks to LMO,” it posted on the following day. “Make sure to grab a boatload for yourself.” It also introduced an XMR/CCX pairing on Oct. 2, and thanked its LTC/LMO pairing for producing “rock solid” daily volume on Oct. 3. Do you think the purported hack of Maplechange sounds suspicious? 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 Rumors of Exit Scam Swirl as Maplechange Loses Funds in Hack appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In today’s edition of The Daily, we focus on the crypto community’s alarm over the de-platforming of a social media network in response to a shooting incident in the U.S. We also look at a recent Bitcoin book recommendation on a Chinese TV show, as well as a North Korean attempt to scam investors. Also Read: New ‘Trust Machine’ Blockchain Film Tackles Politics of Technology Paypal and Stripe Block Gab Over the past two days, the Gab social network has been “no-platformed” by a handful of mobile app stores, web hosting providers and payment processors, in response to the murder of 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. The suspect in the mass shooting was a user of the service, which reportedly has been cooperating with investigators. Paypal and rival payments processor Stripe have blocked Gab’s ability to receive funds since the shooting, even though they did not take similar action against Facebook, Twitter and Youtube after it was revealed that they had enabled terrorist groups to recruit new members on their own platforms. However, as a much smaller social network, Gab — which has publicly condemned the Pittsburgh atrocity — is not being given the same benefit of the doubt by Silicon Valley. In response, noted social media influencer Cøbra has called on freedom-loving cypherpunks and others in the Bitcoin community to stand behind Gab. Chinese TV Show Promotes ‘Mastering Bitcoin’ A program on CCTV2, the economy-focused channel of state broadcaster China Central Television, recently recommended Andreas Antonopoulos’ book, “Mastering Bitcoin,” according to local media reports. Developments in the Chinese cryptocurrency community usually draw a lot of attention beyond the borders of the world’s second-biggest economy, which is home to numerous Bitcoin miners and investors, and this was no exception. Controversy has erupted over claims that the program apparently changed the book’s title in Chinese to mention “blockchain” instead of “Bitcoin.” This has driven speculation among commentators about how the TV show might reflect the Chinese government’s current thoughts about the two terms. But beyond the title, the actual content of the book does not appear to have changed, according to Antonopoulos, who cited local sources. Security Company Claims North Korea Behind Cryptocurrency Scam The North Korean government has long been suspected of using illicit means to secure cryptocurrencies for its own use. However, while most reports have pointed to evidence that the hermit kingdom is using hackers to steal funds — particularly from South Korean exchanges — the regime has apparently resorted to other means, as well. Recorded Future, a cyber-security company with offices in the U.S. and Sweden, said last week that it has discovered an asset-backed token-sale scam called Marine Chain, allegedly run by a Singapore-based “network of North Korea enablers.” The group behind Marine Chain claimed that it was an asset-backed cryptocurrency to tokenize sea vessels used and owned by different parties. Recorded Future has argued that the move into cryptocurrencies is a “natural” progression for the regime of Kim Jong-un, which is eager to identify new revenue streams in the face of strict international sanctions. What do you think about today’s news tidbits? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi’s Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post The Daily: Outcry Over Censoring of Gab, Chinese State Media Plugs Bitcoin Book appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

When you’re running your own website, widgets are the final piece of the puzzle, as these simple lines of HTML or Javascript code can be used to pull in custom content from third-party developers. Placed judiciously in sidebars, footers, and anywhere else there’s a space to be filled, widgets can make your homepage feel like it represents your interests and those of your readers. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up seven of the best cryptocurrency widgets that are currently available. Also read: Send Bitcoin Cash Over the Web in a Private Fashion Using Tor Coinmarketcap Price Ticker Coinmarketcap’s customizable widgets allow you to style your site to suit your taste in altcoins. You can select market cap, volumes and rankings for even the most obscure cryptocurrencies, with prices denoted in a wide range of fiat currencies. Market Dominance Ticker Coinratecap offers a range of widgets, including price tickers for individual coins, much like Coinmarketcap does. It’s also possible to enable double or multiple coin ticker widgets, providing a high degree of customizability. In addition, it offers a nifty dominance widget, so you can determine at a glance how much of the markets bitcoin core is claiming. Bitcoin Cash Money Button The beauty of bitcoin cash (BCH) is that it’s suitable for micro-payments, which makes it ideal for tipping. Install the BCH Money Button on your site and users who have signed up for the service can send you small amounts of BCH almost instantly to show their appreciation for a job well done. We also recently wrote about the Cashtippr WordPress plugin, which does a similar job. Bitcoin.com Price and News Tickers Bitcoin.com provides a range of embeddable, small and large bitcoin cash widgets in light or dark colors, with a range of fiat currencies (USD, EUR, JPY). There’s also a news widget that shows the latest stories on news.Bitcoin.com and a similar one for posts on the Bitcoin.com forum. Take your pick on the Widgets page. The Bitcoin.com news widget Cryptocurrency Converter There are many third-party widgets that allow you to convert specific sums of cryptocurrency to fiat currency, or vice-versa, but Coinlib’s is one of the best. Simply enter the currency code of the assets you wish to switch between and the widget will handle the rest. Coinlib also offers a cool horizontal scrolling price ticker that might sit well on a dedicated trading platform or market news website. Hybrid Cryptocurrency Widget Crypto Compare offers a highly customizable range of widgets, including a hybrid option that allows you to incorporate price data and the latest news on specific cryptocurrencies. Very compact and extremely neat. Mining Profitability Calculator Cryptorival’s mining profitability widgets are to be prized for the plethora of metrics they provide. Pick a Proof-of-Work coin, grab the embed code and your website can display data such as pool fees, mining difficulty, power costs and block rewards. What other types of cryptocurrency widgets do you use on your website? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Review: 7 of the Best Cryptocurrency Widgets for Webmasters appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Japan’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency, has exclusively explained to news.Bitcoin.com how stablecoins are treated under current Japanese law. In addition to emphasizing that they are not virtual currencies, the regulator clarified the registration requirements for their issuers and dealers. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Not Virtual Currencies Japan’s amended Fund Settlement Law and the amended Payment Services Act which went into effect in April last year regulate the country’s crypto industry. The former defines “virtual currencies,” which include cryptocurrencies, as a means of payment and exempts them from consumption tax. The latter requires cryptocurrency exchange operators to register with the Financial Services Agency (FSA). With the global rise in popularity of fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies, commonly referred to as stablecoins, news.Bitcoin.com asked the FSA how these coins are treated under Japanese law. The regulator clarified: In principle, stable coins pegged by legal currencies do not fall into the category of ‘virtual currencies’ based on the Payment Services Act. On Oct. 9, Japanese internet giant GMO announced that it “will start full-scale preparations to issue stable coins of virtual currency.” GMO Internet’s subsidiary, GMO Coin, operates one of Japan’s 16 registered crypto exchanges. The country also has three other crypto exchanges that the FSA has allowed to operate while their applications are being reviewed. Registration Requirements The FSA further explained to news.Bitcoin.com that “Due to its [stablecoin’s] characteristics, it is not necessarily appropriate to suggest what those companies need to obtain or register before issuing stable coins.” Nonetheless, the regulator described: Generally speaking, companies need to register as the ‘Issuer of Prepaid Payment Instruments’ or the ‘Funds Transfer Service Providers’ based on Payment Services Act, when virtual currency broker dealers trade stable coins. There are two types of prepaid payment instruments: those for one’s own business and those for third-party businesses, according to the FSA. Each has its own reporting and registration requirements. As for fund transfer service providers, the Bank of Japan detailed, “under the Payment Services Act, those registered as fund transfer service providers may perform fund transfer transactions of up to one million yen [$9,000]” without a banking license. “In other words, fund transfer transactions of over one million yen are still handled exclusively by banks,” the FSA elaborated, noting: When a person/an entity engages in exchange transactions of one million yen equivalent or less in the course of trade, registration as a funds transfer service provider is required. For exchange transactions exceeding one million yen, a license for banking business pursuant to the ‘Banking Act’ is required. How do you think stablecoins should be treated under Japanese law? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Japanese Regulator: Stablecoins Are Not Cryptocurrencies Under Current Law appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned about nine unauthorized tokens and initial coin offerings. These have neither been approved by the authorities nor met the necessary requirements. In addition, the regulator is also reportedly considering allowing asset management companies to launch cryptocurrency funds. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space SEC’s Warning The Thai SEC warned the public on Friday about nine tokens and initial coin offerings (ICOs) that have not applied for approval. However, the authority has found posts on social media, such as on Facebook and Youtube, publicly promoting and soliciting investments in them. The nine consist of five tokens and four ICOs. According to the Thai SEC’s website, the tokens are Every coin, Orientum coin, Onecoin and OFC coin, Tripxchain coin, and TUC coin. The four ICOs are those issued by G2S Expert, Singhcom Enterprise, Adventure Hostel Bangkok, and Kidstocurrency. The regulator has warned anyone who may come across them to take caution due to their high investment risks, stating: Currently, no digital asset issuer has been approved and no one has filed an application for a license [to issue tokens] with the SEC. Therefore, [the SEC is warning] investors to take caution when being solicited or receiving information about investments in digital assets. The Thai SEC specifically noted five key risks associated with the above nine tokens and ICOs. Firstly, they have not applied for approval or been approved by the commission. Secondly, they have not been evaluated by any SEC-licensed ICO portals. In addition, they may not provide adequate disclosure for investors. Next, their issuers and promoters have not been licensed to carry out digital asset-related activities. Lastly, they may not be liquid and may not be easily converted to cash, the commission detailed. In August, the Thai SEC warned about a company called DB Hold Plc that had been soliciting investments in its token without approval. The regulator subsequently ordered the company to cease all token issuance and promotional activities. Local companies that launched their ICOs before the country’s regulations took effect, such as Jmart Plc, are allowed to continue their token activities without gaining approval. Crypto Asset Funds With the rising interest in cryptocurrencies in Thailand and abroad, the SEC is also “considering allowing asset management companies to launch digital asset funds to meet growing investment demand for digital assets,” the Bangkok Post reported on Oct. 22. While the publication emphasized that no proposal has been submitted to the commission, SEC deputy secretary-general Tipsuda Thavaramara was quoted describing: We have to consider this carefully because it is a new type of investment asset … If something goes wrong, there will be a huge impact on the mutual fund industry. According to the news outlet, the Association of Thai Securities Companies said that many securities firms are interested in starting crypto businesses such as exchanges, brokers, dealers, and ICO portals. One of the largest asset management companies in Thailand, SCB Asset Management Co. Ltd., an affiliate of Siam Commercial Bank, revealed in February its desire to launch a cryptocurrency fund that invests in bitcoin futures. Currently, six cryptocurrency exchanges have been temporarily granted approval by the Thai SEC to operate in the country while their applications are being reviewed. They are Bx, Bitkub, Cash2coin, Tdax, Coin Asset, and Seadex. In addition, two dealers were temporarily approved: Coins Th and Thaiwm. However, the latter has withdrawn its application and ceased crypto-related operations since Sept. 28. What do you think of the Thai SEC’s warning? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Thai SEC. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Thai SEC Warns About 9 Unauthorized Tokens appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

France’s Financia Business School, which offers post-graduate courses in financial and blockchain technology, now allows students to pay their fees in cryptocurrency. Since the institution introduced the measure, about half a dozen students have paid in BTC for the 2018 academic year. Also Read: Okex Cryptocurrency Exchange to Delist 42 Trading Pairs Cryptocurrency to Cut Transfer Costs for Foreign Students A quarter of the Financia Business School’s enrolment is foreign, with many students having to shoulder complex and punitive money transfer costs. The acceptance of cryptocurrency for fees makes it easier for foreign students to cut these costs and transact with ease, said the Paris-based college. Students wishing to transact in BTC do so through Coin Capital, a startup specializing in digital assets and blockchain techology, which has entered into partnership with Financia Business School for support with fee payment processes. Adam Hasib, a foreign student at the school, is an early adopter of cryptocurrency tuition payments. He acquired his first BTC last year, and relishes being able to register with the school while getting added value on his digital currency investment. “I became interested in this technology early on and quickly became a staunch supporter of blockchain’s decentralized model,” Hasib told Studyrama, an online French education platform. “By June 2017, I had acquired my first bitcoins, which allowed me to pay the registration deposit at school … I just had to contact the administration to get the wallet address before [making] my deposit.” Financia to Deepen Blockchain Offerings as the Technology Gains Global Traction Financia Business School said it was committed to embracing emerging technologies within the financial sector, hence its early development of a blockchain curriculum. It is set to complement the cryptocurrency fee facility with a raft of blockchain-inspired administrative innovations. These will include the creation of a token for the payment of services within the school and partner institutions; the launch of proof of concept around blockchain projects by and for students; and the reinforcement of courses on blockchain, initial coin offerings and other related issues. Financia’s adoption of virtual currency fees could be the first of a wave as legacy institutions of higher learning continue to show interest in blockchain technology. In Britain, the London School of Economics recently launched a course titled “Cryptocurrency Investment and Disruption,” while research in the U.S. last month revealed that 9 percent of U.S. undergraduates across the world have taken a blockchain-related class and 26 percent intend to. An August 2018 study established that among the world’s most prestigious higher learning institutions, Stanford University offers the most cryptocurrency and blockchain courses. The study also established that 42 percent of the world’s top 50 universities now offer at least one blockchain or crypto-related class. This academic interest corresponds with a rapidly increasing industrial demand for blockchain and cryptocurrency talent. Research shows blockchain-related jobs in the U.S. rose 300 percent and 50 percent in Asia in the past year. Would you pay your fees in cryptocurrency? Let us know what you think 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 French Business School Accepts Fees in Bitcoin for Blockchain Technology Courses appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

There are several ways to add layers of anonymity to bitcoin cash (BCH) transactions such as using a VPN or shuffling coins with mixers. One way to anonymize when using the BCH chain is by utilizing free Tor software while transacting online. This way, internet traffic is encrypted and routed through nodes throughout the overlay network. Tor won’t hide the transaction’s path, but bitcoiners using the Tor network can make it extremely hard for investigators to pinpoint their IP address and geolocation. Also read: How to Use a VPN in the EU to Access the Uncensored Web The Overlay Network Known as Tor When Satoshi Nakamoto launched the Bitcoin network, the creator did not make the protocol anonymous. The network is not private and all the transactions broadcast over the network are available to see by anyone with a copy of the blockchain. However, the technology is pseudo-anonymous and when transacting with a cryptocurrency like bitcoin cash, users can add a few levels of privacy to obfuscate BCH transactions. One privacy method cryptocurrency proponents use is the Tor protocol, an overlay network consisting of thousands of nodes that conceal a user’s location. If a person were to send a bitcoin cash transaction using the Tor network it would help encrypt and route the web traffic, which essentially hides the user’s location and internet provider (IP). Tor, or ‘onion routing’, was created around the mid-1990s. Links to download Tor and resources concerning how the protocol works can be found here. People can download the Tor software for Windows, Mac, and GNU/Linux from the official website. Tor is about 64MB in size and downloads quickly from the server depending on your internet speed. The program can run immediately after the install but it can also be installed to a USB flash drive. Tor comes with its own web browser that protects anonymity when it’s used to surf the internet. How Tor encrypts internet traffic and routes through the network. VPN, Tor and Tumble Most of the time when people are using Tor to conceal the original location of BCH transactions, individuals will create a bitcoin cash wallet while using the Tor network. Additionally, they can use a virtual private network (VPN) to further bury their internet traffic. Both Tor and a VPN will help confuse online investigators looking for the exact location of a user who sent the transaction. Tor will not conceal the original BCH addresses or destinations, as blockchain surveillance can follow these inputs and outputs. A user who wants to overcome this anonymity hurdle has to use a cryptocurrency tumbler or mixer to hide the fund’s original derivation and paths going forward. If a person uses Tor coupled with a VPN and then uses a bitcoin cash tumbler as well, the chances of the owner being found are much slimmer. The Cash Shuffle application is a bitcoin cash shuffling plugin for the Electron Cash wallet. There are also centralized BCH shuffling services that can be found on both clearnet and the deep web. Running a Bitcoin Cash Full Node With the Tor Network There’s also a way that BCH full node operators can hide their transaction originations over the Tor network. For instance, a user can download the Bitcoin ABC client or another BCH implementation and route traffic through the Tor network instead of having it stem from a real IP address. As long as the user has a Tor proxy running on port 9150 they can send and receive BCH using a full node client in a fairly anonymous manner. Running a Bitcoin Cash full node behind a Tor proxy In order to configure the Tor browser to work with a BCH full node client, the Tor SOCKS proxy host must be the same. To find this in the Tor browser, simply select the advanced network settings in the tools section and make sure the configuration is set to 127.0.0.1: 9150. After checking the Tor configuration, the Bitcoin ABC client or another BCH implementation needs to be set to 127.0.0.1: 9150 as well. In the full node client’s user interface (UI), look for the network tab in the settings section and configure the BCH implementation to 127.0.0.1:9150. Running a Bitcoin full node behind a Tor proxy to make all outgoing transactions more private. Your Sovereign Right to Use Privacy Protocols There are additional steps to take a BCH full node implementation further down the road of privacy by binding the address using the Tor proxy. The user can study and execute a variety of methods so all clearnet connections are unable to connect and view the incoming and outgoing traffic. The Tor protocol, VPNs, and tumblers are great methods to anonymize bitcoin cash transactions, but none of them are 100 percent full-proof. They do help confuse blockchain surveillance, though, if you are concerned with onlookers viewing your funds. Moreover, anyone can use these protocols to make themselves anonymous. While there’s a misconception that only criminals use these tools, that’s really not the case. Privacy is extremely important to a lot of people in this world, especially when it comes to money. Just like using the BCH protocol, every individual on this planet has the sovereign right to use a VPN, Tor, and even mixing services. What do you think about using Tor while sending bitcoin cash transactions? Let us know what you think about the Tor project in the comments section below. Disclaimer: Walkthrough editorials are intended for informational purposes only. There are multiple security risks and methods that are ultimately made by the decisions of the user. There are various steps mentioned in reviews and guides and some of them are optional. Bitcoin.com and the author are not responsible for any losses, mistakes, skipped steps or security measures not taken, as the ultimate decision-making process to do any of these things is solely the reader’s responsibility. For good measure always cross-reference guides with other walkthroughs found online. Images via Tor, Pixabay, Github, Fossbytes, and Electron Cash. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Send Bitcoin Cash Over the Web in a Private Fashion Using Tor appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In the cryptocurrency markets, the recent settlement of CME futures contracts appears to have exerted little impact on spot BTC prices, the CEO of Pantera Capital has shared his outlook on initial coin offerings, and October has proven to be the least volatile month of 2018, with only a single day producing a price swing greater than 5 percent as of this writing. Also Read: Taiwan Drafting National ICO Standards CME Futures Settlement Exerts Little Impact on Price The recent settlement of CME’s bitcoin futures contracts appears to have little effect on the spot markets, with many analysts inferring that the settlement date for said contracts does not exert a significant impact upon the retail price of BTC. Many analysts are attributing the apparent lack of influence from the futures markets to the lack of trade volume. CME recorded an average of 5,000 contracts traded daily during the third quarter, which, despite comprising a 43% increase over the previous quarter’s 3,500, is dwarfed by the 18 million contracts traded across CME’s other products during the second quarter. Dan Morehead: Bitcoin Is in “Buy One, Get Two Free Sale” Speaking to CNBC Crypto Trader’s Ran Neu-Ner at the recent Crypto Invest Summit, Dan Morehead, chief executive officer of Pantera Capital, shared his opinion on the current cryptocurrency bear trend and the cyclical sentiment surrounding the crypto markets. Regarding the current state of bitcoin and cryptocurrency price performance, Morehead stated: “I think this is a multi-decade thing. I’ve been involved in bitcoin since 2011 and seen several of these cycles already, there’s going to be a dozen more before this thing has fully played out, so you have to be investing for the multi-year approach.” “Human nature is pro-cyclical,” he continued, “when the market is at highs in December, and the FOMO devil is whispering in your ear … it’s so easy to want to buy, and then now, when it’s down, you don’t want to tell your spouse you want to buy something that’s down 70% because that seems crazy – but that is actually the time to buy.” On Pantera’s position with regards to investing in initial coin offerings (ICOs), Morehead stated: “ICOs have been around since Mastercoin in 2013, and Ethereum in 2014 … they’ve been around for a long time, and our fund has been buying one or two a month for a long time … In May of last year, it exploded [and] we were getting 50 … inbound token projects … a week,” adding that “now, it has essentially gone back to normal, there [are] one or two really interesting projects a month.” October Poised to Post Weakest Daily BTC Volatility of 2018 As of this writing, October has comprised the weakest month of volatility for 2018, with only a single day posting a price swing exceeding 5 percent. So far, October appears to have beaten out May, June, August, and September – all of which saw just three days of price action greater than 5 percent. The average number of days in a month to experience BTC price volatility of more than 5 percent for 2018 is 4.7 as of this writing. Do you think the markets are overdue to make a large move? Share your price action predictions in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Bloomberg. 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 Markets Roundup: Spot BTC Markets Shrug CME Settlement, Pantera CEO on Cyclical Sentiment appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In recent regulatory news, a report by the Center for Public Integrity has explored the potential for cryptocurrency donations to obfuscate politicians’ sources of funding, a U.S. judge has urged the Malaysian public to exercise due diligence when considering seeking exposure to cryptocurrencies, and a report conducted by IBM Blockchain and the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) has found that central banks are unlikely to adopt national cryptocurrencies in the near term. Also Read: Silk Road Operator Libertas Pleads Guilty, Seeks Plea Deal Cryptocurrency Campaign Contributions and Donor Transparency A report published by the Center for Public Integrity and Politico has sought to explore whether cryptocurrency donations pose a unique challenge to transparency in the donors to politicians. The study looks at 20 candidates from across the political spectrum that have received or requested campaign donations in the form of cryptocurrencies. The report asserts that at least three of said candidates were running for office in a state that has since banned crypto donations. Cryptocurrency analyst Joseph Argiro is quoted as emphasizing the need for US states to “put in political surveillance on [cryptocurrency] campaign contributions.” Despite such, Argiro noted that “the industry is so new that the tools are still being developed to facilitate that surveillance.” US Judge Urges Malaysian Public to Exercise Caution With Cryptocurrency While speaking at the “Cybersecurity in a Digital Era of Human Security” conference in Malaysia, Paul Grimm, United States district judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, urged Malaysian citizens to exercise caution and conduct due diligence in considering making investments in cryptocurrency. Grimm warned that cryptocurrency “exists in a market that is subject to fluctuations that are not controlled by a national bank with professionals,” adding: “Cryptocurrencies are not backed by the national banking system and no regulator can step in to ‘cool it down’ or ‘heat it up’ with regulatory monitoring policy that will affect it.” “If you are looking at cryptocurrency as an investment, you should do due diligence over how the currency is valued, the value fluctuations and how to deal with risks associated with the investment,” Grimm stated. Report Finds Central Banks Hesitant on National Cryptocurrencies IBM Blockchain and OMFIF have published their findings from a joint survey of central banks looking into sentiment regarding central bank-issued digital currencies (CBDC). The report was informed by 21 central banks that participated in the OMFIF’s survey during July and September of this year. The results show that 38 percent of the institutions are actively “researching or trialing a wholesale CBDC to best inform the next upgrade to their [Real Time Gross Settlement] system,” leaving 62 percent that are not exploring CBDC. 69 percent of the respondents reported “significant issues with the current cross-border processes.” The survey finds that 76 percent of institutions are uncertain as to “whether [distributed ledger technology (DLT)] will be able to deliver on its promise, especially in areas such as regulation,” suggesting that more than a third of the institutions currently exploring blockchain technologies may not be optimistic about the prospect of integrating DLT into their operational processes. The report asserts that “Trials of wholesale CBDC systems illustrate how variations of distributed ledger technologies have the capacity to meet and, in some cases, exceed the performance of existing interbank systems,” however, it concludes that “there is still a long way to go before the technology is mature enough to meet central banks’ expectations for the next generation of real-time gross settlement systems.” Do you think that we will see widespread central bank adoption of distributed ledger technology? 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 Regulations Roundup: Cryptocurrency Campaign Donations, US Judge Warns Malaysians appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The creators of the Handcash wallet have released a free software developer kit (SDK) for programmers who want to leverage the Bitcoin Cash network into applications and websites. The SDK called ‘Cashport’ is an open source BCH-based micropayments system for Android operating systems and web typescript that can be integrated into a variety of services. Also read: Unwriter Launches ‘Bitsocket’ — A Push API for the Bitcoin Cash Network Cashport: A New Software Developer Kit for Bitcoin Cash Handcash developers have released a new tool for programmers that allows them to utilize bitcoin cash (BCH) micropayments. The SDK Cashport is a system that uses the Bitcoin Cash network as a payment rail and connects to the company’s Handcash wallet. Cashport offers one-click onboarding with Handcash wallet users and there are no fees for the service itself, only the standard BCH network fee. Additionally, the service works in a non-custodial fashion, which means the application or web service never holds users’ funds. When the team was asked on Reddit if the Cashport SDK was something like Cash ID and the Money Button combined for websites, the Handcash team’s product designer, Alex Agut, clarified, “that’s one way to look at it.” “But [Cashport] is also for mobile apps and games — The goal is to create an ecosystem where your money is always available through thousands of apps and games,” Agut detailed on Reddit. “Just one account — No more deposits or withdrawals, copy and paste or QR codes — Just flows,” the Handcash representative added. Agut details that all of the services are tethered to the owner’s Handcash wallet and the SDK can also be used for developing games and mobile applications. He further states that the tool works silently in the background, so the developer can concentrate on the API and user interactions. Examples would be micropayments on social media, in-game money, and a pay-per-minute type of model. “We wanted a very easy way for developers and businesses to implement micropayments with zero bitcoin knowledge,” Agut explained. Cashport offers one-click onboarding with the Handcash wallet’s handle system. Alex Agut: ‘APIs on Any Kind of Interaction or Event You Wish’ Right now the SDK is available for Android and web typescript systems, and both are open source on Github under the open standard MIT License. The Cashport website states that an iOS version of the codebase will also be released in the near future. With the onboarding feature, users with the Handcash wallet will be able to access things with just ‘one-click,’ an action that pushes the Handcash ‘handle’ identification system and the wallet’s data to the developer’s application. The Handcash developers believe the Cashport system is a great component to monetize user interactions with bitcoin cash. The platform’s creators say that programmers can now focus on building quality content. According to the team, developers can go to the Cashport website, obtain some API keys and implement the SDK. After that, “money has never been simpler,” the Handcash developers state. What do you think about the Cashport SDK? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Images via Cashport, Handcash, and Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Handcash Developers Launch ‘Cashport’, a Developer Kit for Bitcoin Cash appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In this edition of The Daily, we cover reports that the U.S. exchange Coinbase has laid off some of its remote workforce. We also look at news that Bitfury is considering holding an initial public offering like Bitmain. Also, a court in Moscow has reject an appeal against the ban imposed on the popular messenger Telegram. Also read: September Losses for Most Traders, Crypto Debit Cards Shipped in Singapore Coinbase Lays Off 15 Employees, Report California-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has reportedly laid off some employees this week. The cuts have affected its customer support, compliance, and fraud departments. According to sources quoted by Yahoo Finance, more than 15 people have been released from duties, mostly remote staffers. Coinbase has confirmed the layoffs but declined to specify the number. The personnel cuts in the U.S. crypto company, which is thought to be preparing to go public, come after a major funding round this month that raised its valuation to $8 billion. The cryptocurrency trading platform employs around 550 people. Coinbase’s remote customer support team was built in the past few years to accommodate its growing user base. The exchange claims to have 25 million customers worldwide. The San-Francisco-headquartered business has offices in New York, Chicago, Portland, London, Dublin, and Tokyo. According to the report, Coinbase’s new customer service executive, Tina Bhatnagar, wants to centralize the operations of the department. As a result, some members of the remote support team have been laid off, while others have been offered to relocate to one of the company’s offices. In a written statement, Coinbase commented: “We’ve learned that certain teams who are co-located are more efficient, effective, and happier in their roles. So moving forward, some teams – Including Support, Fraud, and Compliance – will only hire employees into Coinbase offices.” Bitfury Considers Initial Public Offering Mining hardware producer Bitfury is exploring a number of business options including an initial public offering (IPO). The IPO can be held in Amsterdam, London or Hong Kong, said sources familiar with the matter quoted by Bloomberg. According to the report, raising debt financing or selling a minority stake are also among the alternatives currently reviewed by the company. Some estimates suggest that the decision to go public could raise its valuation to between $3 and $5 billion. Bitfury has so far declined to comment on the matter but the move wouldn’t be a huge surprise. Bitmain, the Beijing-based mining giant and hardware manufacturer, has already filed for an IPO and seeks approval to be listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. In August, market observers predicted the Chinese company could raise up to $3 billion. Earlier reports were more optimistic. Bitmain’s listing is expected in the first quarter of 2019. Moscow Court Turns Down Appeal Against Telegram Ban The Moscow City Court has rejected a cassation appeal filed against the Russian blockade of Telegram, RIA Novosti reported quoting the court’s press secretary, Ulyana Solopova. The clampdown on the messenger, popular among crypto enthusiasts around the world, started with attempts by Russia’s telecom watchdog, Roskomnadzor, to restrict the service. They followed a decision issued by a district court in the capital city on Apr. 13, 2018, which came in response to Telegram’s refusal to hand over its encryption keys to the Federal Security Service (FSB). The agency insists the messaging app is used by terrorist suspects. The city court now says that Telegram’s claimed inability to provide the keys is not a reasonable ground for non-compliance with the law. References to provisions safeguarding the privacy of correspondence have been rejected as well with the presiding judge stating that the information needed to decode the messages does not constitute a secret protected by the Russian constitution. The efforts to block access to the messaging platform have been largely unsuccessful. In August, Telegram agreed to share information with authorities in cases in which the court has issued an order. What are your thoughts on today’s news tidbits? Tell us 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 The Daily: Coinbase Reportedly Cuts Staff, Telegram Loses Appeal Against Ban appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The government in Kiev intends to legalize cryptocurrencies and comprehensively regulate the fintech sector as part of a new public policy developed by the economy ministry. The process may take up to three years to complete but eventually the industry built around digital assets should become a legitimate part of the country’s economy. Also read: Czech Bank Launches Cryptocurrency-Friendly Services Parliament to Adopt Laws for ICOs and Smart Contracts The new regulatory concept will be implemented in two stages. The legal status of cryptocurrencies, trading platforms and other entities dealing with digital assets must be determined in 2018 and 2019. By the end of next year, the Ukrainian government will analyze the market to identify trends and outstanding issues in order to put forward adequate proposals to regulate the whole sector. According to the document prepared by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, the next stage, 2020-2021, would involve recognizing cryptocurrency wallet providers and custodial platforms as “subjects of primary financial monitoring.” The status is typically granted to traditional financial institutions such as commercial banks and insurance companies. During that time, Ukrainian lawmakers are expected to draft and adopt legislation regulating initial coin offerings (ICOs), tokens and the use of smart contracts, Forklog reported. A number of bills have been filed in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, since last year but very little progress has been made toward their adoption. The first three drafts from last fall were meant to regulate the circulation of digital coins, stimulate the cryptocurrency market and amend the Ukrainian tax code to regulate the taxation of profits related to digital assets. In the last couple of months, two bills introducing tax breaks for businesses and individuals dealing with cryptocurrencies have been proposed by Ukrainian legislators from different political parties. Companies to Gain Access to Banking Services In an announcement published on its website this week, the economy ministry expressed confidence that the implementation of its regulatory concept would allow crypto companies to gain access to banking services and attract more capital through regulated token sales. The ministry noted that due to the legal uncertainty, these businesses face many difficulties, while the industry remains largely part of the shadow economy. The authors of the new strategy hope that the regulation of the sector will increase budget receipts and foreign investments, while stimulating the development of the digital economy. In less than two years, Ukrainian companies have raised over $100 million through ICOs and cryptocurrency mining businesses are generating $100 million annually. The daily volume of trading cryptocurrencies with the Ukrainian hryvnia has reached almost $2 million and the Ministry of Economic Development claims Ukraine is among the top 10 countries by number of cryptocurrency users. The ministry’s initiative is the second attempt this year to coordinate the efforts of Ukrainian institutions aimed at adopting a comprehensive legal framework for the cryptocurrency space. In July, Ukraine’s Financial Stability Council approved another regulatory concept for the sector, and in January, the National Security Council formed a working group tasked to finalize the different proposals. The new document will be submitted for approval by the Cabinet of Ministers. What are your expectations about the future of cryptocurrencies in Ukraine? 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 Ukraine Plans to Fully Legalize Cryptocurrencies Within Three Years appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Taiwanese Financial Supervisory Commission is drafting a set of national standards for initial coin offerings. The regulator reportedly aims to make tokens as easy to invest and as liquid as stocks. The commission emphasizes that it “has no intention of curbing the creativity and productivity associated with cryptocurrencies if they are not used as securities.” Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Taiwan to Regulate ICOs FSC Chairman Wellington Koo. The chairman of Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), Wellington Koo, has reportedly confirmed that the commission is drafting national standards for initial coin offerings (ICOs). The FSC aims “to make virtual tokens as easy to invest in as stocks and just as liquid,” the Taipei Times reported on Oct. 23. At a finance committee meeting, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator William Tseng asked Koo whether the government would regulate ICOs. Tseng pointed out that 127 ICO whitepapers worldwide were found last year to be fake, the publication described, adding that 80 whitepapers were found to be inaccurate as of April. The legislator also quoted findings from Satis Group showing that 81 percent of ICOs have been identified as scams. The news outlet conveyed Koo’s reply: The commission would regulate ICOs … [but] tokens exchanged for goods, such as those used in accruing points at convenience stores or mileage points accepted by airlines, would not be covered by the standards. In May, China’s National Committee of Experts on the Internet Financial Security Technology, a Chinese government-backed industry organization, said it found 421 fake cryptocurrencies. Independently, the Wall Street Journal analyzed 1,450 ICOs and “found 271 with red flags that include plagiarized investor documents, promises of guaranteed returns and missing or fake executive teams.” Securities Tokens Taiwan’s Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director-General Tsai Li-ling was quoted by the Taipei Times asserting: People often confuse an ICO with the trading of cryptocurrencies. The governor of Taiwan’s central bank, Yang Chin-long, told the finance committee that “the government tends to regard cryptocurrencies as virtual commodities or assets rather than currencies, because they have no intrinsic value.” Tsai elaborated that “cryptocurrency trading is similar to trading in gold, for which the commission only implements money laundering controls.” If a token functions similar to a security, “the commission would define it as a ‘securities token’ and subject it to the Securities and Exchange Act,” the publication quoted Tsai describing, adding: The issuer would also need to disclose information similar to what companies that are publicly traded need to do now. Regarding the time frame of the ICO standards, “The draft is to be completed by June next year,” the news outlet detailed, noting that “The commission has no intention of curbing the creativity and productivity associated with cryptocurrencies if they are not used as securities.” “The more we regulate, the more this new economic behavior wanes,” Koo was quoted saying. In June, the FSC indicated that it intended to maintain only a limited oversight of cryptocurrencies and focus on anti-money laundering measures. In April, news.Bitcoin.com reported that Taiwanese bitcoin regulations are expected by November. What do you think of Taiwan regulating ICOs? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Wikipedia. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Taiwan Drafting National ICO Standards appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Gary Davis, an Irishman who was extradited to the United States in July to face charges for his suspected involvement in the operations of Silk Road, has reportedly begun discusssing a plea bargain with prosecutors. Davis, who was known as ‘Libertas’ on Silk Road, has pled guilty to conspiring to distribute narcotics – a charge resulting from roles as a Silk Road administrator. Also Read: Markets Update: Tranquil Markets Presage a Storm Brewing Silk Road Administrator Libertas Pleads Guilty Earlier this month, Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Davis had pled guilty to “conspiring to distribute massive quantities of narcotics,” a charge which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years stemming from his role as “a member of the small administrative staff” tasked with operating Silk Road during 2013. Authorities claim that Davis received weekly remittances from Ulbricht exceeding $1,000 during 2013 in exchange for his work as part of a three-man team that is believed to have operated the anonymous market on behalf of its founder, Ross Ulbricht. Davis served as a forum moderator from May 2013 up to June 2013 for Silk Road, and as a site administrator from June 2013 up until Oct. 2, 2013. Davis is currently scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 17, 2019. Silk Road Responsibilities Court documents state that as a forum moderator, Davis had been responsible for, among other things, “monitoring user activity on discussion forums associated with the site, providing guidance to forum users concerning how to conduct business on Silk Road, and reporting any significant problems discussed on the forums to the site administrators and to Ulbricht.” As a site administrator, Davis was later tasked with, “monitoring user activity on Silk Road for problems, responding to customer service inquiries, and resolving disputes between buyers and vendors.” Berman emphasized his belief that Davis’ arrest evidences that the activities of dark web users are not beyond reproach from authorities, stating: “Silk Road was a secret online marketplace for illegal drugs, hacking services, and a whole host of other criminal activity. As he admitted today, Gary Davis served as an administrator who helped run the Silk Road marketplace. Davis’s arrest, extradition from Ireland, and conviction should send a clear message: the purported anonymity of the dark web is not a protective shield from prosecution.” The case is being prosecuted by the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit of the United States Attorney’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Michael D. Neff, Eun Young Choi, and Timothy Howard are in charge of the prosecution. Are you surprised by the news that Libertas is seeking a plea deal? 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 Silk Road Operator Libertas Pleads Guilty, Seeks Plea Deal appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On Oct. 16, Elise de Loos from Cashpay Solutions launched a new video website called Xhoneybadger.com, a platform that utilizes bitcoin cash for ad revenue that’s shared with its users. Basically, Xhoneybadger members are paid in tokens called honeybadgers (XHB) every time they watch a video. Then, at the end of each month members can use their XHB to claim a share of BCH ad revenue or save their tokens. Also read: Unwriter Launches ‘Bitsocket’ — A Push API for the Bitcoin Cash Network Watch Videos and Get Paid in Bitcoin Cash There’s a new video website called Xhoneybadger.com that pays members to view video content hosted on the platform. During the project’s first week of launch, it was originally dedicated to porn videos only, but since then the platform now hosts a variety of regular content. The platform was created by Elise de Loos from the Cashpay Solutions team, the creators of Cryptonize.it and the Cashpay wallet. The new Xhoneybadger platform has native tokens called honeybadgers (XHB), which are distributed to users every time they watch a video. Xhoneybadger creates revenue by selling advertisements and each ad-sale is converted to bitcoin cash (BCH) and at the end of each month, users can convert shares of XHB into BCH earnings. Additionally, honeybadgers can also be used to purchase Amazon gift cards from the Xhoneybadger website. The project creators say that once a “viable onchain token solution” is made available, then XHB will be able to be traded openly on the market. The company explains that the current redeem value for 1 XHB is $0.01 for Amazon.com gift cards with a $25 minimum limit. The Xhoneybadger team also says that the system is currently centralized and offchain “until one of the current token solutions matures.” A Variety of Videos, Articles, and Porn While perusing through Xhoneybadger’s new regular video content, the application has a good variety of subjects to choose from including technology, art, health, bitcoin cash, astronomy, music, philosophy, and more. For those who dig adult content, the porn section has a good amount of erotic entertainment. The pornographic section is separated from the regular videos and the site warns the user that they have to be 18 years or older to visit that area. There’s also an assortment of descriptive search words that lead to an array of videos tethered to a specific type of adult content or fetish. Initially, Xhoneybadger was all porn but now the site offers all content. Overall, the platform has a surprisingly large amount of video content for a project that just started less than two weeks ago. Moreover, the website just added regular videos and the ability to earn funds by reading articles on Oct. 24. Signing up for Xhoneybadger only requires an email address, and after registering the user is brought to an account dashboard. The account dashboard shows the user’s profile details, addresses, a download shop, and an XHB withdrawal section. In addition to the shop that sells Amazon gift cards, the e-commerce section sells XHB as well. Just like any new bitcoin cash platform stepping into the wild, the Xhoneybadger platform will likely need to gather a good amount of users to stay viable. The platform’s front page does not reveal any porn, so people who dislike this type of video material are not confronted with something they don’t expect. But for people who love pornography and have no problem with sexual content, the website surely caters to this crowd of viewers too. What do you think about the Xhoneybadger.com video site that allows viewers to earn bitcoin cash? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Disclaimer: Bitcoin.com does not endorse this product/service. Review editorials are intended for informational purposes only. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com or the author is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Images via Xhoneybadger.com, Shutterstock, and Jamie Redman. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Xhoneybadger.com Pays Viewers Cryptocurrency to Watch Content appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In recent news pertaining to cryptocurrency exchanges, SBI Group has unveiled a partnership with Sepior that will see the companies jointly develop a proprietary wallet, Huobi has announced it is establishing an operational base in Dubai to target the African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian cryptocurrency markets, and Trijo, a Swedish crypto exchange, has received Estonian licensing that allows the company to offer services to residents of all EU nations. Also Read: Czech Bank Launches Cryptocurrency-Friendly Services SBI and Sepior Partner to Develop Proprietary Wallet Major Japanese financial services company SBI Group has announced a partnership with Danish cryptography security company Sepior Aps to jointly develop “a proprietary wallet to secure the online contents and transactions on SBI’s virtual currencies exchange platform, Vctrade.” The president and chief executive officer of SBI Holdings, Yoshitaka Kitao, described Sepior as a “market leader in cryptography and threshold MPC,” praising the company’s facilitation of “secure online transactions without the classic reliance on a single trusted party.” Ahmet Tuncay, the chief executive officer of Sepior, stated: “We are absolutely thrilled to be working with the SBI Group.” Huobi Announces Plan to Expand Into International Markets Speaking at the World Blockchain Summit in Dubai, Huobi Mena co-founder, Mohit Davar, announced the company’s intention to expand into the cryptocurrency markets of Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. “We are very excited to bring the Huobi blockchain and digital asset ecosystem to the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. As Dubai is leading the blockchain effort in the region, it made sense for us to set up our Regional Head Office here,” said Davar. Davar also announced that Huobi has established a team based in Dubai which will be tasked with facilitating “OTC trading, token-to-token trading, blockchain projects incubation, community development, and an educational center” targeting customers based in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. The beta version of the platform is live, currently hosting token-to-token and OTC trading. Trijo Granted Regulatory Licensing in Estonia Swedish cryptocurrency exchange Trijo has been granted licensing from the Financial Supervisory Authority of Estonia. The regulatory apparatus governing Trijo’s operations was designed specifically for cryptocurrency exchanges and will allow the exchange to offer services to all European Union (EU) nations. Totte Löfström, the chief executive officer and founder of Trijo, praised Estonia’s regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, stating: “We intended to work entirely from Sweden, but it does not work when there are so many better-tailored solutions abroad.” Citing the benefits of being “one of the few” companies to receive the new Estonian licensing, Löfström stated: “It means greater security for our customers. They can be sure that we comply with laws and regulations for money laundering, but also that we have obligations to our customers that others do not have.” Do you think that more major financial institutions like SBI will seek to offer cryptocurrency services? 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 Exchanges Roundup: SBI to Develop Wallet, Huobi Targets New Markets appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Cryptocurrency prices have been quite stable over the last few weeks as volatility throughout many markets has been non-existent. After patiently waiting, traders and investors are now curious to see if something transpires after a long spell of tranquil digital asset markets. Also read: New Qart Wallet Gives Bitcoin Cash QR Codes a Personal Touch Do Calm Crypto-Market Seas Suggest Something Big Is on the Horizon? Throughout the flurry of new stablecoins, the original pack of digital currencies has been very stable these days with low volatility. This Saturday, Oct. 27, the entire cryptocurrency economy is valued at $212.5 billion with around $8.6 billion worth of 24-hour global trade volume. The top exchanged coin today with the most trade volume is bitcoin core (BTC) with a daily volume of around $3.7 billion. At the moment, BTC is trading at a global weighted average of around $6,494 per coin, with an overall market valuation of about $112 billion. Following behind BTC is ethereum (ETH), which is trading for $203 per coin. The third highest cryptocurrency capitalization is held by ripple (XRP) and each token is being swapped for $0.45. Lastly, this weekend eos (EOS) tokens are being traded for $5.37, with a capitalization of about $4.8 billion today. The top ten cryptocurrency markets. Oct. 27, 2018. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Market Action The fourth largest market valuation among all 2000+ digital assets belongs to bitcoin cash (BCH) this weekend. Bitcoin cash is down 0.63% this Saturday and 1.2% over the last seven days. At the time of publication, one BCH is being swapped for $439 per coin and has around $229 million in global trade volume. The top five exchanges swapping the most BCH include Lbank, Hitbtc, Bithumb, Okex, and Digifinex. BTC is the leading pair swapped with BCH as the currency captures 38.4%. This is followed by USDT (25.4%), KRW (18.4%), ETH (10.9%), and ZB (2.2%) pairs. Bitcoin cash holds the sixth largest global trade volume throughout the entire crypto-economy. BCH seven day. BCH/USD Technical Indicators The BCH/USD 4-hour and daily charts show very little action and less volatility than we’ve seen in weeks. RSI and stochastic levels are meandering in the middle (between 46-50) and it’s been hard to find an indication of any big market moves coming soon. The Macd shows a similar outlook even though at the moment it’s heading southbound. A trend change may be imminent as the two Simple Moving Average (SMA) trendlines are about to cross. BCH/USD 4-hour, Bitfinex. Oct. 27, 2018. The longer-term 200 SMA is just about to dip below the short term 100 SMA indicating the path towards the least resistance could change toward the upside. Order books show some tough resistance at the $475 range and another hump above the $515 territory. Looking at the backside, BCH bears will see some pitstops at $410 and a much large wall in the $380 zone. BCH/USD 1-hour, Bitstamp. Oct. 27, 2018. The Verdict: Apprehensive Traders Among Calmness and Stability Within the Cryptocurrency Economy A great majority of 2018’s market update verdicts have been filled with skepticism and this week’s outlook is no different. The last ten months of bearish markets, fakeouts, and extremely flaccid trade volumes have led to uncertainty among many cryptocurrency traders. However, most digital assets have seemingly found their bottoms (the lowest the price will go), or at least some people hope the crypto-price bottoms have been found. The truth is no one truly knows what prices will look like by the year’s end. As stated above, the eerily serene markets are likely making traders and enthusiasts more anxious for an unexpected breakout in both directions to occur. What do you think about the tranquility of cryptocurrency markets these days? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section 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: Tranquil Markets Presage a Storm Brewing 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 4 In a Stateless Society, Crypto is Law and Justice The economic analysis of crime starts with one simple assumption: Criminals are rational. A mugger is a mugger…because that profession makes him better off, by his own standards, than any other alternative available to him…. If muggers are rational, we do not have to make mugging impossible in order to prevent it, merely unprofitable….If little old ladies start carrying pistols in their purses, so that one mugging in ten puts the mugger in the hospital or the morgue, the number of muggers will decrease drastically–not because they have all been shot but because most will have switched to safer ways of making a living. If mugging becomes sufficiently unprofitable, nobody will do it. -David Friedman, “Rational Criminals and Profit-Maximizing Police” The specter of aggression haunts every society. Crimes against person and property cannot be eradicated, unfortunately, because violent impulses are part of human nature, and crime can be profitable. The desire for safety and peaceful exchange is also part of human nature, however. It creates a market demand for the protection of individual “rights.” How can society minimize and redress the violation of rights? This reduces to how individuals can address crime within an otherwise peaceful society. Overwhelmingly, the crime against which crypto users must protect and seek redress is theft—not murder, not rape, not battery, not victimless crime, or crime against the state. Theft. Focusing on one area of crime simplifies the problem enormously. Some argue that crypto’s remedy for theft is contained within the definition of crypto anarchism itself: the use of encryption and technology to achieve personal freedom by enabling privacy, autonomy, and self-empowerment. Encryption and technology. Most of crypto’s features provide specific protections to individuals, including irreversibility, transparency, pseudonymity, time-stamping, and private wallets. But the protection is primarily against the state, especially against its trusted third party arm—the central banking system. Crypto anarchism needs to address private crime, the crimes individuals commit against each other. Those crimes occur at points of intersection, at points where people access or exchange with each other. Again, the solution is the free market. Safety and the redress of crime are both services, like insuring a car or retaining a lawyer. In a real sense, people realize this. They pay for the service of safety and redress through the collective bill of taxation that funds police and court systems. Many people discuss the inadequacies of these services. But only anarchists claim the problem is that the services come from the state. People simply take it as a given: the state supervises violence. It is such a deep assumption that protecting against violence is the first and last argument the state uses to justify its existence. Without my presence, the state declares, the street would run red with blood and enemy armies would surge across the border. Odd. It is widely acknowledged that every other service required by society can be provided privately, but security cannot be addressed or redressed through voluntary exchange. Anarchists disagree. They object to the grave mistake of granting the state a monopoly over a basic human need, which destroys the very possibility of a free society. They understand: private money and self-banking cannot co-exist in narrow parallel with central banking because the state attacks any threat to its authority. This is happening already. The state is playing catch-up in order to rein in the crypto that flows outside its control. The spread of “wild crypto” is irreversible, however, in much the same manner as the black markets that thrive despite or due to repression. The monetary systems run in parallel only by maintaining a sharp separation. The state is a money and banking monopoly with the goal of social control; crypto is its antithesis. In close proximity, one will destroy the other. The same would be true of any free-market institution that serviced the human need for safety. The state would try to control or destroy it as a threat to its own monopoly. The state and society are either-or. Crypto anarchist and security expert Pavol Luptak explains the schism. “Personally, I don’t like black & white plots, but it seems we will live either in a digitally free society or digital dictatorship. Even now, we can see an intense polarization of society splitting into the government’s controlled dictatorship and parallel free crypto societies at the same time. Unfortunately, I don’t think there is a place for some other alternatives.” To grasp the depth of this either-or choice, it is useful to sketch a broader context for the conflict. The State’s Monopoly of Self-Defense Leads to Totalitarianism A society that robs an individual of the product of his effort, or enslaves him, or attempts to limit the freedom of his mind, or compels him to act against his own rational judgment—a society that sets up a conflict between its edicts and the requirements of man’s nature—is not strictly speaking a society but a mob held together by institutional gang rule. —Ayn Rand, “The Nature of Government” Free exchange is natural to the institutions that comprise society, including family, the marketplace, education, and art. These systems evolve spontaneously in response to human needs and desires. They are the reason why individuals band together in the first place, instead of living in isolation. Through natural networks, individuals enrich themselves, fulfilling requirements that are both physical and psychological. The extent to which violence intrudes into natural institutions is the extent to which the institutions become their own mirror opposites. This is true of the intrusion of private crime. Domestic violence converts a home from a place of safety into one of danger. Fraud transforms a business from a place of mutual exchange into one of victimization. It is also true of violence that is entrenched within society, as with a state. A key difference? New institutions are created by the state in order to circumvent the human instinct to defend against violence, if only by avoiding where or how it happens. These new and artificial institutions are often monopolies that displace their free-market counterparts. The extent to which such artificial institutions intrude upon society is the extent to which the benefits of society are destroyed. Taxation reduces the benefit of productivity. Central banks introduce third-party theft into commerce. Police use guns and threats to preserve the peace. The freedom level of a society can be measured by the ratio of its artificial to natural institutions. When there are few to none, the society is called “free”; the individuals within it receive immense benefits from interacting. When artificial institutions dominate, the society is called “totalitarian”; the individuals within suffer and face unnatural choices. They can live in quiet and obedient despair. They can risk becoming outlaws on the economic or intellectual black market. They can become thugs and join with those who administer the violence. Or they can flee to a place with less entrenched violence. When these are the choices individuals confront, civil society is dead. Those are the stakes in play on how a society deals with safety: nothing less than freedom versus the state. As long as the state can convince people that its monopoly on the use of violence is necessary to guarantee safety, then the state can justify its existence. Once the state has that monopoly, it has everything. Crypto “solved” the embedded violence of central banking. It did so through a stunningly brilliant insight and application of political theory: the trusted third party problem. Central banks forced individuals who wished to function in modern commerce to use them as an intermediary and so to participate in the fiat money and fiat banking that defrauded them at every turn. The banks reported personal and financial data to an umbrella trusted third party—the state. Layer after layer of intermediary institutions killed not only personal freedom but also the freedom and benefits of society. Until bitcoin sidestepped the institutional violence. Equally, crypto needs to develop ways of handling private criminals who rob, extort (ransomware), and defraud. The strategies used on state violence will not work. Bypassing trusted third parties will not work on private crimes that are peer-to-peer. What would work? Crypto’s Greatest Political Challenge Private crime is the Achilles Heel of crypto. Users who view crypto merely as a way to make money, rather than as a promise of freedom, want state involvement to ensure a safe haven that is modeled on central banks. Every high-profile case of private crime is used as a reason to call for regulation. The Satoshi Revolution‘s final challenge is to suggest free-market methods by which the community can address private violence. The focus is not on the unpredictable breakthroughs in technology that are destined to change how crypto deals with crime. (Prevention has been discussed previously.) The focus is on the make-up of the institutions and methods through which crypto can minimize crime and provide remedies when it occurs. Technology is able to adapt in a snap. But this means that economic and social patterns evolve as quickly. Crypto, the blockchain, 3-D printing, and robotics are among the game-changing technologies that are reshaping the world in their own images. And this evolution will only accelerate. The transformation of politics will be extreme. It is about time. Today’s political system emerged from the Industrial Revolution and it grew over centuries of war after war. The state’s characteristics include massive bureaucracy, extreme centralization, nationalism, and crony capitalism. But a new revolution is in town. Crypto’s characteristics include peer-to-peer exchange, decentralization, a flow without borders, and the lack of governmental privilege. Politics has already changed, whether politicians know it or not. Anarchism, liberty, does not tell you a thing about how free people will behave or what arrangements they will make. It simply says the people have the capacity to make the arrangements. Anarchism is not normative. It does not say how to be free. It says only that freedom, liberty, can exist. —Karl Hess, “Anarchism without Hyphens” How will crypto prevent and remedy private crime? It is difficult to say, for many reasons, including the unpredictability of technological advances. Some of the obstacles: The state regulates or bans any threat to its authority. This is especially true of law enforcement and the use of force, which are mother’s milk. One result: few anti-crime institutions exist that have not been defined by their need to comply with laws of the state. Even private police forces mimic state ones. People base their assumptions on what they are taught and what they have seen. If they had been taught that the food supply requires a centralized coordination by the state and they had seen nothing else, then they would laugh at the very idea of the free-market spontaneously coordinating agriculture, transportation, canning factories, and grocery stores. The same is true of the free market coordinating safety. The state does not encourage research and development into alternative forms of justice that are outside of its control. 3D-printed guns are an example. 3-D guns allow individuals to defend themselves without surrendering their privacy to authorities. The state’s response? The pioneer of 3-D weaponry, Cody Wilson, has been arrested on what appear to be “set-up” charges. The entrenched assumptions of the public are against crypto solutions. The assumptions include: one law must cover everyone in a geographical territory, not a mosaic that reflects personal choice; and, the primary purpose of law is punishment, not restitution. Armed with caveats, the next step is to explore a practical method by which crypto anarchy can deal with private crime. Like crypto itself, the method has to be individualistic, decentralized, transparent, and entirely private. The best place to begin is with an analogy that has already been drawn: car insurance. [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: In a Stateless Society Crypto is Law and Justice appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The majority of cryptocurrency traders recorded losses on their investments last month, according to a report we’ve covered in The Daily. In this edition, we also look at the new debit cards allowing customers in Singapore to spend cryptocurrencies anywhere Visa is accepted and the decision of a large cryptocurrency mining company to move one of its farms from Sweden to Colorado. Also read: Royal Mint Drops Digital Gold, Malta Issues Warning About Trading Platform Report Depicts Bleak September September was a busy but not an optimistic month for the crypto space, according to a report published by OK Blockchain Capital – the investment arm of OK Group, operator of cryptocurrency exchange Okex. The monthly survey among investors found that most of them had suffered small losses (25.47%), “essentially flat” (24.53%) or large losses (23.58%). A little over 14.15% of traders made small gains, while another 5.19% remained on the sidelines. The market situation was rather bleak, the authors have concluded. The study confirms a continued downward trend in the value of digital assets throughout September. However, the trading volume rebounded significantly toward the end of the period. According to the aggregated data, the average global daily market cap of digital assets was $211.103 billion, down 10.27% from August. At the same time, the transaction volume reached $13.526 billion, up 5.15%. The top three cryptocurrency holdings last month were BTC (23.11%), EOS (16.04%) and ETH (12.26%). The report also lists the industry buzzwords for September, including stablecoins, bitcoin mining machines, Bitmain, and the Ethereum “Difficulty Bomb.” Iran’s decision to recognize cryptocurrency mining, the ongoing court proceedings around the RBI ban in India, and regulatory developments in Japan and the United States are mentioned among the most important global policy news items. Crypto Debit Cards Issued to Customers in Singapore Cryptocurrency platform and payment provider Crypto.com has announced it is now shipping the new MCO Visa Cards to customers in Singapore. The prepaid cards are linked to a mobile wallet that allows holders to buy, sell, store, send, and track cryptocurrencies, the company formerly known as Monaco explained in a post published on Medium this week. With the wallet app, users can order an MCO card, control its usage and manage all transactions. They will also be able to freeze or unfreeze their card. The metal cards come with free ATM withdrawals and no annual or monthly fees. The cards issued by Crypto.com will enable customers to spend digital coins converted to fiat money anywhere Visa is accepted. The service supports cryptocurrencies like bitcoin core (BTC), ethereum (ETH), Binance coin (BNB) and the platform’s own MCO token as well as major fiat currencies, including the U.S. dollar, euro, British pound, Singapore dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Japanese yen, and Australian dollar. MGT Moves 6,000 Miners From Sweden to Colorado MGT Capital Investments, a company involved in cryptocurrency mining operations in the State of Washington and in Northern Sweden, has announced it concluded a hosting agreement for a new facility in Colorado. MGT has been exploring options to relocate more than 6,000 S9 Antminer devices that are currently installed in its bitcoin farm in the Scandinavian country. “We have identified and successfully negotiated a deal with a U.S. facility that nicely suits our needs,” said MGT’s Chief Operating Officer, Stephen Schaeffer. “This location is capable of not only providing a cost-effective solution to our relocation needs, but also facilitates our growth plans for 2019,” he added, as quoted in a press release. The facility in Colorado Springs, a former semiconductor campus, has an initial capacity of 10MW of electricity but the electrical infrastructure can support an additional 30MW of power. MGT Capital intends to complete the relocation and restart mining operations in the new location by the end of 2018. MGT Capital Investments is one of the largest cryptocurrency mining companies in the U.S. where it operates around 6,800 Bitmain S9 miners. What are your thoughts on today’s news tidbits? Tell us in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Crypto.com. 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: September Losses for Most Traders, Crypto Debit Cards Shipped in Singapore appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A commercial bank in the Czech Republic is now offering online services that combine traditional financial features with those for cryptocurrency users. Expobank CZ says its customers will be able to trade cryptocurrencies, invest in startups, and buy precious metals through their accounts. Also read: Bill Proposes Tax Holiday for Cryptocurrency Businesses in Ukraine Bank Provides Access to Cryptocurrencies and Crowdfunding Expobank CZ claims it is the first bank in Europe to offer account holders the opportunity to perform crypto-related transactions alongside traditional banking activities. The new service called Neo is based on the bank’s online platform Expobanking. It gives users full control over their financial activities, including those related to cryptocurrencies, Prague Express reported. Expobank has recently entered into partnerships with two companies from the crypto sector in order to provide crypto-related services. An agreement with Wbtcb allows the bank’s customers to invest and transact in BTC. According to a press release referenced by Czech media, the bank’s customers will not need to create a separate cryptocurrency wallet. Higher transaction limits will be available to verified account holders. Expobank’s clients will have access to new investment opportunities in the growing crypto industry. They will be granted access to Fundlift, the largest crowdfunding platform in the Czech Republic and another of the bank’s partners. Investors will be able to support fintech startups by participating in initial coin offerings as well as purchase shares of established companies. Neo account holders will also be able to invest in precious metals. Expobank has formed an agreement with the Czech Mint which produces gold and silver coins and ingots. Purchases and sales of gold in the Czech Republic are exempt from taxation. Users of Expobank’s new platform will also have access to insurance services provided by one of the largest insurers, Allianz. For example, they can purchase insurance policies for business trips from within their accounts. Prague Named Best City to Spend Cryptocurrency The Czech Republic is one of the most crypto-friendly destinations in Europe. Its capital city recently topped a list of the best cities to spend digital coins, according to a study carried out by Fortune Jack which covers bitcoin hotspots around the world. Prague is home to over 150 venues that accept cryptocurrency payments, including many tourist attractions, stores, hotels, and restaurants. Last year, the largest online retailer in the country, Alza.cz, started accepting BTC. This past spring, one of the largest Czech utility companies, Pražská Plynárenská, launched a cryptocurrency payment gateway for its customers. With the launch of the Neo service, Expobank expects to attract more crypto enthusiasts, potential investors, and businesses operating in the industry — and eventually expand its customer base. According to Czech outlet Blesk, the bank currently has around 20,000 clients. Restricted access to regular banking services remains a major hurdle for companies operating in the fintech sector, even in crypto-friendly jurisdictions such as Switzerland. There is an ongoing debate in the Alpine nation on how to solve the issue in order to prevent an exodus of fintech startups. Do you think the new service offered by Expobank will attract crypto businesses? Tell us in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Expobank CZ. Make sure you do not miss any important Bitcoin-related news! Follow our news feed any way you prefer — via Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, RSS or email (scroll down to the bottom of this page to subscribe). We’ve got daily, weekly and quarterly summaries in newsletter form. Bitcoin never sleeps. Neither do we. The post Czech Bank Launches Cryptocurrency-Friendly Services appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

BTC is poised to make its Ethereum debut. An initiative involving several decentralized exchanges (DEXs) as well as crypto-custodians Bitgo will introduce ”BTC-backed” WBTC, with the W standing for “wrapped.” When WBTC launches in January 2019, it will enable ethereum-based ”bitcoin” to be traded on DEXs, boosting liquidity and opening the Ethereum ecosystem to a wider audience. Also read: Visa CEO Plays Down Cryptocurrency Threat, Indicates Possible Intervention Bitcoin Represented as an ERC20 Token Blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum have always operated independently. While interoperability protocols have been under development for some time, achieving full compatibility between networks whose code is alien to one another is a complex task. The development of wrapped bitcoin does not mean that full synergy between bitcoin and ethereum has been attained. What it does mean is that BTC users can transact on ERC20 platforms using a native token that represents the bitcoin they’re accustomed to. As wbtc.network explains: “WBTC standardizes bitcoin to the ERC20 format, creating smart contracts for Bitcoin. This makes it easier to write smart contracts that integrate bitcoin transfers … The Ethereum network processes transactions faster than the Bitcoin network, but bitcoin holders don’t have to wait anymore. With WBTC, moving bitcoin between exchanges is much faster.” The initiative has attracted a host of major players from the worlds of Bitcoin and Ethereum. Led by Kyber, Republic Protocol and Bitgo, WBTC will launch with the aid of partners that include Airswap, Ddex, Hydrogen, Set Protocol, Compound, Maker, Dharma, Prycto, IDEX, Gnosis, Radar Relay and Blockfolio. The concept of wrapping a cryptocurrency to create an asset that is to all intents and purposes identical has already been trialled by the likes of 0x and Maker. The former’s Radar Relay and the latter’s DAI stablecoin both make use of WETH – wrapped ETH. More Convenience, Less Privacy Within the cryptoconomy, the only decentralized exchanges with any sort of meaningful volume all operate on the Ethereum network. IDEX, which is supporting WBTC, is the largest DEX by a wide margin. Should wrapped bitcoin prove successful, the exchange and others like it can expect a significant influx of liquidity as bitcoin-holders enjoy the convenience of WBTC over the laboriousness of needing to trade BTC for ETH before they can participate. That convenience comes at a price however. As wbtc.network explains: To receive WBTC, a user requests tokens from a merchant. The merchant then performs the required KYC/AML procedures and verifies the user’s identity. Once this is completed, the user and merchant execute their swap, with bitcoin from the user transferring to the merchant, and WBTC from the merchant transferring to the user. The prospect of requiring KYC to obtain an ERC20 token to trade on a decentralized exchange will be anathema to the many individuals inclined to use such a platform. It is unclear whether there will be any other means to obtain WBTC without being forced to undergo KYC. The potential use cases for wrapped bitcoin are include enabling dapps to accept bitcoin payments “for lending protocols, funds, prediction markets and token sales.” The benefits offered by ethereum-compatible bitcoin are manifold. The drawbacks, however, may be too much for the privacy-conscious to countenance. Would you use WBTC? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and wbtc.network. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Wrapped Bitcoin Is Coming to Ethereum appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article