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In recent regulatory news, Malta’s financial regulator has sought to clarify the nation’s cryptocurrency regulations following the passing of an act pertaining to crypto assets, UK-based wealth managers have called for the FCA to take a strong stance regarding cryptocurrencies, and the deputy governor of Bank of Israel has predicted that cryptocurrencies will contribute to the financial system in future. Also Read: A Look at Leverage Trading: Learn to Run With the Bears and Ride the Bulls Malta Clarifies Current Regulatory Apparatus Regarding Cryptocurrencies The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has sought to clarify the country’s legislative apparatus pertaining to cryptocurrency following the passing of the “Virtual Financial Assets Act” on the 4th of July. In a press release published by the MFSA which states that the act “it is not yet in force,” and that such won’t take effect until a date that “the Minister for Digital Economy may establish by notice in the Government Gazette.” The statement asserts that the MFSA is currently developing the “Virtual Financial Assets Framework” which “underlies and complements” the act. Public consultation regarding the proposed framework ended on the 20th of July. The MFSA release seeks to emphasize that the framework is “not yet in force,” adding that “the MFSA will be in a position to start receiving requests for approvals and authorizations under the Act once the Framework is operational.” Additionally, the public consultation period for Malta’s “Consultation Paper on the Virtual Financial Assets Rules for VFA Agents presenting Chapter 1 of the proposed Virtual Financial Assets Rulebook” ends on 31 July 2018. Consultation periods regarding chapters 2 and 3 of the proposed rulebook are also expected to begin in coming weeks. UK Wealth Managers Call for Stronger Crypto Regulations UK-based wealth management firms Wealthify, Nutmeg, and Scalable Capital have urged the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to adopt a stringent regulatory approach to cryptocurrencies. Richard Theo, the chief executive officer of Wealthify, describes the FCA as having been “way too slow” in its response to cryptocurrencies.” Mr. Theo added that as a regulated firm, “there are a lot of tests we have to do before we can take on a client. But that same client can go and buy bitcoin with no questions asked. There are far more risks involved when investing in bitcoin. The FCA should get on to it fast.” Scalable Capital chief executive officer, Simon Miller, asserted that “People see the explosion of digital currencies and say ‘I can make a lot of money quickly.’ But that’s not investing — that’s gambling. It needs to be looked at.” Nutmeg’s James McManus added, “With cryptocurrencies gaining media attention for large gains but little to no attention for large losses, perhaps now is the time for regulators to take a closer look at the selling process around cryptocurrencies.” Bank of Israel Deputy Governor Predicts Cryptocurrencies Will “Contribute” to Financial System The deputy governor of the Bank of Israel, Dr. Nadine Bodo-Trachtenberg, asserted that “The technology of distributed and encrypted currencies has the “potential to contribute to the monetary and financial system in the long term” whilst speaking at the recent Bit2c Crypto Conference. Whilst presenting the Israeli central bank’s position on virtual currencies, the Bank of Israel deputy governor downplayed the potential creative destruction that many have argued cryptocurrencies could cause within the financial industries, stating “I am told that digital coins can leave users with control over data and allow decentralization. But that’s what they promised about the internet – which ultimately created huge information giants that hurt competition. Token trading and smart contracts is a technology that expands the possibilities of money and trading in assets today, can streamline processes that pass through many intermediaries.” Do you agree that cryptocurrencies will be a significant contributor to the mainstream financial system in future? Share your thoughts in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock, msfa.com.mt, Wikipedia Want a comprehensive list of the top 500 cryptocurrencies and see their prices and overall market valuation? Check out Satoshi Pulse for all that hot market action! The post Regulations Round-Up: Malta Clarifies Law, UK Wealth Managers Urge FCA Action appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

There’s a new bitcoin cash (BCH)-focused wallet called Centbee that recently launched its alpha testing version on the Google Play store. The Johannesburg-based Centbee’s wallet is a bit different than most light clients as it offers a simplistic user interface, with plans to provide an in-wallet buy and sell feature, and merchant payments service that enables BCH payment processing and account integration. Also read: A Look at Leverage Trading: Learn to Run With the Bears and Ride the Bulls Bitcoin Cash Centric Wallet Centbee Launches Alpha Version The Bitcoin Cash ecosystem has a lot of unique wallets that users can choose from for storing, sending, and receiving BCH. Now a firm based out of South Africa called Centbee has launched their open alpha wallet, which can be downloaded via the Google Play store. Centbee has been slowly building its application for quite some time now, and the firm is also backed by the London-based blockchain firm Nchain. The wallet’s creators want people to test the open alpha version so they can get feedback on how well the software works. “We are making Centbee the easiest way to store, spend and send bitcoin cash safely on your mobile phone and we know our fans cannot wait to download it, play around with it and let us know what you think!” Centbee explained during the Alpha launch. Using Centbee with Testnet Coins and the Firm’s Collaborative Efforts with Nchain News.bitcoin.com decided to give the Centbee wallet a test drive and found the interface was easy to use compared to some wallets that are very cluttered. There’s not much to the wallet as it offers very basic BCH storing, receiving and sending features. Anyone can test Centbee’s alpha version by utilizing testnet coins so users can experiment without losing real funds. You can find testnet BCH online or you can send an email to support@centbee.com with “Buzz me!” as the subject header and leave a receiving address in the email. As soon as the company gets the email, Centbee will forward the user some BCH testnet coins. The in-app exchange services and merchant features were not yet available in the testnet Centbee version. The team behind Centbee are big believers in the potential of bitcoin cash and the firm is also working with Nchain by developing a merchant Point-of-Sale (PoS) software development kit (SDK) for the worldwide market. Centbee recently announced the news during the Coingeek conference in Hong Kong and explained the SDK will be a set of “open-source tools, processes, and interfaces that software developers and system integrators can use to enable retailers to easily and quickly accept Bitcoin cash at the till-point.” Centbee Operates Similarly to Yenom With Centbee’s alpha wallet, users can integrate their phone contacts in the wallet interface as well so people can connect with BCH using the app. The Centbee light client doesn’t have a bunch of features you’d see in other wallets like Shapeshift or Changelly integration. Nor does it have annoying advertisements and promotions. The main point of the Centbee wallet is to make BCH usage as easy as possible and without all the frills. The user experience is very much like the Japanese BCH wallet Yenom which is also very simplistic, but Yenom doesn’t have a wallet backup. Centbee does provide a mnemonic seed phrase when starting the wallet and it also makes the user double check to see if they wrote it down correctly during the wallet creation process. Have you tried the Centbee wallet? What did you think about this bitcoin cash wallet and how it worked? Let us know your thoughts on this subject in the comment section below. Images via Centbee, Google Play, and Jamie Redman. Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. The post Bitcoin Cash-Focused Centbee Launches Open Alpha Wallet appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has met with representatives of the country’s banking sector in the hopes of stemming a nascent exodus among cryptocurrency companies from Switzerland. The companies’ departures have been attributed to two Swiss banks’ decisions to no longer provide financial services to businesses dealing with virtual currencies. Also Read: India Exchange Unocoin Suspends Withdrawals Following Central Bank Demands FINMA Acts to Prevent Crypto Exodus Switzerland’s financial regulators are taking steps intended to stem the perceived exodus of cryptocurrency companies from the nation, recently holding discussions with the Swiss National Bank and bankers’ association on how to increase the accessibility of financial services to cryptocurrency ventures. As it stands, many analysts have predicted that many companies operating with virtual currencies will continue to leave Switzerland in favor of jurisdictions whose financial institutions are more amenable to crypto companies, including Liechtenstein, Gibraltar and the Cayman Islands. Officials Seek to Preserve Swiss Crypto Industry Despite cryptocurrency-related activities comprising a small portion of Switzerland’s financial industries, Swiss officials are viewing the country’s virtual currency as a valuable asset that should be preserved. The finance director of Zug – a Swiss canton has been dubbed “Crypto Valley” following the establishment of between 200 and 300 virtual currency companies in the jurisdiction during recent years – Heinz Taennler, has warned that the crypto exodus may continue should the government fail to take action to guarantee the provision of financial services firms operating with virtual currencies. “All their banking relationships are going to Liechtenstein,” Mr. Taennler stated. “There are hundreds of jobs that have been created, and every job is important.” Virtual Currency Firms Appeal to Central Bank According to Thomas Moser, an alternate member of the governing board of the Swiss National Bank, several cryptocurrency companies appealed to the country’s central bank regarding concerns pertaining to the provision of financial services to the sector. Mr. Moser stated that “They raised concerns about problems with opening bank accounts, which was a worry for them, and asked for help. I said this was not something the [Swiss National Bank] dealt with, but they should speak with FINMA.” “We would not want to close the door on the opportunities that such innovation (cryptocurrencies) might bring,” Moser added. Do you think that Swiss crypto firms will continue to seek alternative jurisdictions? Join the discussion in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock Want a comprehensive list of the top 500 cryptocurrencies and see their prices and overall market valuation? Check out Satoshi Pulse for all that hot market action! The post FINMA Seeks to Stem Exodus of Swiss Cryptocurrency Firms appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Cryptocurrency markets are volatile and people can make a lot of money from the up and down price variances. When digital assets touched all-time highs this past December, a great majority of digital currencies lost more than 70 percent of their value. Now some traders were able to call the top, while others ‘hodled’ in hopes of better prices in the future, and then some traders shorted the markets all the way to the bottom. There are a few exchanges that offer leveraged BTC/USD futures contracts and other margin positions that allow traders to make decent profits even when markets are extremely bearish. Also read: Markets Update: Cryptocurrency Bulls Continue to Charge Long and Short Cryptocurrency Positions: Making New Trading Opportunities With Leverage When people think about trading cryptocurrencies they think about traders who make money by buying cryptocurrencies at a low entry price and selling it for higher than the original purchase price. And because digital asset values usually fluctuate, they can wait for markets to drop again and repeat the cycle. However, there are many other ways to trade virtual currencies and over the past six months of bearish crypto-markets, some people have been utilizing leverage and margin trading to turn negative market values into profitable opportunities. Margin trading can be risky and a lot of people get rekt along the way. Traders using exchanges like Bitfinex, Kraken, Bitmex, and others could have shorted bitcoin this year making a lot of money if their strong convictions were timed right. Markets like the ‘Crypto Winter’ of 2018 was the perfect landscape for those who wanted to short cryptocurrencies and ride the slopes all the way down. A list of exchanges that offer leverage trading: Bitmex Bitfinex Kraken Poloniex Etoro Okcoin Huobi Pro Simplefx 1Broker Whaleclub Coinbase Pro Start With Small 5-10X Positions and Improve Your Trading Skills Before Venturing to Extremely Risky 100X Positions If you predicted the tides were going to turn after BTC touched $19,600 per coin on global exchanges, then you should have opened some short positions. That means you believe the BTC/USD exchange rate was going to drop during after that period of time. So what you can do next time this happens is choose an exchange like Bitmex, Kraken, and others to open a short contract within the exchanges margin section. If you are new to leverage and margin trading, then you should start off by using as little as 5-10X leverage to get used to these types of market plays. Exchanges like Bitmex offer 100X leverage, which you should only use if your margin trading skills are extremely accurate. Moreover, the Bitmex exchange offers an exact replica of its website that accepts testnet coins so people can learn to trade with leverage without actually using real funds. Bitmex margin trading. The Bitmex exchange offers 100X leverage and also has a testnet exchange so people can practice honing their skills. Opening a Simple Short or Long Position With 10X Leverage To begin, first open a ‘short position’ on an exchange that offers this type of trading and set up a margin sell order with a specified amount, order type, and price. If you have strong conviction the BTC/USD exchange rate will fall and you have 10 BTC worth of equity ($82,071 USD) you can choose a 10X (or less) short position which gives you futures contracts worth 100 BTC ($820,711). Essentially, if the spot price of BTC drops by 1 percent, the overall 100 BTC value drops 1 percent as well. You can continue to gather profit until it drops 10 percent and pull out a fraction of your profit early as well. Or another way to look at leverage trading is you can also purchase 1 BTC ($8,200) for 0.1 BTC ($820) and short the price as BTC’s value slides. The absolute most you can lose with this type of trade is your original margin ($776) plus leverage fees. Kraken margin trading. Kraken only offers 5X leverage. Bitfinex limit, market, and stop orders. The same applies for traders going ‘long’ and if they think the price of BTC will rise they can open a ‘long contract’ for 10X leverage or more. Again, you pay 10 percent, 0.1 BTC ($776), plus the takers fee, and you can profit if the price rises. If the price doesn’t rise and say moves down in the opposite direction by 10 percent, your loss is still limited to your initial margin. There are also different types of trading processes as well you can select after choosing the desired price and quantity. Some exchanges offer limit orders and stop order approaches to leverage trading. ‘Stop orders’ are the exact opposite of ‘limit orders’ which means the price must end up lower for a ‘stop sell’ order or climb higher for a ‘stop buy’ order. A ‘market order’ is the fastest way to start trading as it will use the best prices in the books to initiate a trade. Getting familiar with each type of trade will improve your margin trading skills immensely. In addition to limit, market and stop orders, there’s also a process called a ‘stop-limit’ which acts as a safety net and you can place a ‘stop-limit’ order by setting the ‘stop price’ to a predetermined amount. This means it will sell before the price goes lower than the specified price trajectory. A method called the ‘trailing stop’ order sets the ‘stop price’ at a specified amount below the market spot price that’s tethered to a ‘trailing amount.’ Then there’s also the ‘fill or kill’ technique that represents an order to purchase or sell and its usually executed instantly. Risk and Reward Is Greater Unlike typical trades, there are a few more associated costs with leverage trading like paying interest on borrowed BTC, because essentially you are borrowing liquidity from the exchange. Leverage trading is far riskier than traditional trades but the reward can be much higher as well. The reason for this is because leverage allows you to pay a fraction of the price for a full price trade, allowing individuals to enter much larger trading positions. Many of the trading platforms listed above also offer leverage options for a variety of other digital assets. The best thing to do is practice your leveraged trades with only a small fraction of coin and some small leverage. Some exchanges don’t offer huge amounts of leverage anyway and limit exposure to only 2-10X After honing your margin trading skills, ‘Crypto Winters’ like the past six months of 2018 can look more like opportunities than losses. What do you think about leverage trading? Do you short or long cryptocurrency markets on any of the exchanges mentioned above? Let us know how you trade in the comment section below. Disclaimer: Trading 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, Pixabay, Bitfinex, Bitmex, and Kraken. Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. The post A Look at Leverage Trading: Learn to Run With the Bears and Ride the Bulls appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

This is a paid press release, which contains forward looking statements, and should be treated as advertising or promotional material. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support this product/service. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the press release. As part of their corporate responsibility, private firms take steps of supporting policies in high-income countries that will make it easier for poor people and poor countries to share in the benefits of globalization—policies such as easing barriers to market access for poor countries and increasing foreign aid. Ventures on the blockchain are enabling the same access, thereby dissipating effects of economic monopolies by removing geographical boundaries. Earth Nation has released the EarthCycle (ECE) Coin on a decentralized platform backed by the exponential growth rate of real world business revenues. How important is EarthCycle to the world’s booming population? One comment: “This is the most inspiring video I have ever seen! I have always wanted to find a way to eliminate the waste that we create and now there is a technology to do it and use the proceeds to help fund regenerative businesses that also help the environment and humanity!” 100% of profits from the EarthCycle Coin launch will be invested into profitable businesses that are solving systemic issues. These businesses will then return the majority of their profits to be re-distributed to fund additional businesses that will also return profits. I’ve taken a look at ECE’s ongoing businesses and admittedly, and ended up awestruck, to say the least: CarbonCycle, Pesco Beam, Ecobuilt Systems among them. As a follow-through on their development endeavors, EC will use 20% of all returns from ECE businesses to buy the Coin off the market and burn/destroy it. This market factor in combination with demand stimulated by ECE businesses and ECE voting platform gives the currency the potential for an exponential growth rate without speculation. From July 1 to August 1 ECE Coins are in Pre-sale, during which time ECE Coins are $0.76 USD Equivalent each or $0.72 equivalent each for orders over 10,000 Coins, with 80% of returns invested into businesses that are helping the world. Industry experts estimate a potential ECE Coin growth rate of over 100 times in the next 20 years based on ECE business profit history and historical market data. Those interested in participating in the ECE Coin sale should take note that starting 1st of August 2018, the price of ECE Coins will be $0.80 Equivalent. The price will increase every 7 days by $0.03 until the end of the the Coins sale on 1st of February, 2019. Keys to Spreading Viable Solutions Across the World EarthCycle has an astounding line up of four businesses that have been in profitable operation for 2-25 years producing from 30%-100%+ annual return every year. These businesses are solving major problems around the world and are ready to scale from a total of 41 facilities to hundreds of facilities in the next 2 years. They have exclusive contracts that give them from 50-80% ownership of all facilities funded by EarthCycle. There exists already numerous advanced technologies, that once applied on a global systemic level will drastically reduce the majority of the worst problems that plague our planet and species. Franchise-like businesses with great return on investment (25% to 100%+ yearly) that allow easy propagation and correct stewardship of technologies funded by infinitely available venture capital funds are obviously the keys to spreading these solutions across the world as quickly as possible. EarthCycle funding will be allocated to tried and tested businesses that are already in profitable operation. Earth Nation will provide each company the opportunity to develop international franchises that are indefinitely connected with the EarthCycle Coin and the EarthCycle nonprofit organizations. This element is further described in the Franchise-like Branches section of the ECE whitepaper here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yN0K2AmW-iJIHIy4HQ3QA0GB3LvpTAZ1no7xBNWLWcU. For more information check out http://EarthCycle.io. Contact Email Address key@keydifferencemedia.com Supporting Link http://EarthCycle.io This is a paid press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post PR: EarthCycle (ECE) Coin Dissipates Effects of Economic Monopolies via a Decentralized Funding Pool appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A Hong Kong-based investment firm is planning to launch a new crypto-custody service to address the growing interest from institutional clients, and we’ve covered the story in today’s Bitcoin in Brief. Also in The Daily, billionaire Mike Novogratz expects an influx of institutional investors into the crypto space; a new survey claims 30 percent of Brazilians want to invest in cryptocurrency; and an Australian startup shows what to do with excess tokens if the sale did not meet its target; Samsung stores in the Baltic states don’t accept crypto after all, Coppay explains why. Also read: TCAP Explores Market, Tutanota Accepts Cryptos, Huobi Launches Cloud Hong Kong Investment Firm to Launch Crypto Vault Responding to increasing interest in cryptocurrencies from high-net-worth and institutional clients, a Hong Kong-based company is planning to launch a crypto-custody service by the end of this year. Fusang Investment Office is an asset manager focused on Asian private family offices. Its Fusang Vault is expected to open for customers in the fourth quarter of 2018. “Digital assets are akin to bearer bonds, whereby whoever that is holding the security is presumed to be the owner and there is no registration of ownership information of the security. Hence, the way we keep digital asset secured is of paramount importance,” said CEO Henry Chong, quoted by the South China Morning Post. Chong did not provide more details about the Fusang Vault’s services. However, he shared that Fusang Investment is already working with insurers to provide cybersecurity insurance coverage for future clients’ digital assets. SCMP’s report also notes that cryptocurrency trading is attracting more and more financial institutions like hedge funds and asset managing firms. This leads to an increasing number of over-the-counter (OTC) transactions and creates the need for alternative asset safekeeping options. Novogratz Expects a ‘Herd of Institutional Investors’ in Crypto Michael Novogratz Prominent hedge fund manager Michael Novogratz expects more financial institutions coming into the crypto space. A “herd of institutional investors” is headed towards cryptocurrencies, Novogratz said in a speech during the Blockchain Week Korea last week. In an interview with The Street, he added: “I think institutional investors are slowly coming to the realization that blockchain will be Internet or Web 3.0 and they’ll want to participate just like they want to participate in the Web.” Novogratz, who earlier this year raised $250 million to launch Galaxy, a merchant bank trading cryptocurrencies, and invest in blockchain projects, also said that institutional investors will first participate through venture-capital funds. “Many of them are already participating because they’ve invested in Sequoia or Polychain or Benchmark or many of the other VC funds that invest in this area,” he added. According to the billionaire investor, the second step for these players will be to buy coins or even acquire ICOs. A Third of Brazilians Interested in Crypto Investments Amid rising popularity of cryptocurrencies around the world, a new study reveals that about 30 percent of Brazilians are interested or intend to invest funds in cryptocurrencies sometime in the near future. The survey, carried out by cybersecurity firm Avast, also found that more than 84 percent of the 1,900 people polled were aware of and familiar with cryptocurrencies. The results published by the local crypto outlet Portal Do Bitcoin also show that 44 percent of respondents agreed to websites using their computing power to mine cryptocurrencies in exchange for an ads-free surfing experience. At the same time, more than 86 percent of the surveyed admitted they were concerned about their devices being infected with mining malware. Half of the rest believed they would not be affected because they did not own any cryptos. Australian Startup Bitcar Burns Its Unsold Tokens A company building a platform to support crypto payments for fractional ownership of collectible car brands has decided to demonstrate what a startup could do when its initial coin offering did not attract as much capital as expected. Bitcar launched its ICO last year hoping to raise $25 million at the start of 2018. Investors were offered to buy the BITCAR tokens that would allow them to pay for a share of a luxury vehicle. The firm wanted to buy the cars on their behalf with the intention to hold them for around 15 years, until they appreciate enough to be sold for profit. The Australian startup, which was set up in Singapore where regulations are more favorable, managed to collect $S6.5 million (~$4.7 million USD) during the presale of its token and $S3 million (~2.2$ million USD) in the public sale later, bringing the total to $S9.5 million (~$6.9 million USD), or less than half of the stated target, Business Insider Australia reports. One token was worth US10c at the time but it’s currently trading for less than a cent. The smaller amount of capital raised has forced Bitcar’s team to reassess the situation. The startup has decided to essentially get rid of the excess tokens in hope to improve the scarcity of those already sold. “Due to the smaller raise, Bitcar have decided to burn unsold tokens from the ICO –– thus reducing the circulating and total supply,” the company explained. The startup’s founders also announced they plan to “burn” half of their allocated tokens. Samsung Stores in the Baltics Don’t Accept Crypto, Coppay Explains Why Coppay, a European crypto payment processor, announced last week that Samsung stores in the Baltic States will be accepting seven cryptocurrencies through its payment gateways. Following the announcement, a Samsung spokesperson was quoted in some reports explaining that the corporation is not partnering with Coppay. The fintech firm denied the reports and provided in a new blog post its explanation about the situation after the original release was deleted. In the update, Coppay clarifies that it has offered its solution to the Baltic premium reseller of Samsung products, which is a separate entity. The company signed an agreement with the reseller, activated its payment gates in the stores and even trained personnel there. Coppay CEO Ina Samovich emphasized: “We’ve never claimed that we enter into partnership with Samsung HQ. We announced about the possibility to buy Samsung products with cryptocurrencies in its Baltic stores.” “Unfortunately, after Samsung officially announced that it doesn’t have any plans for the crypto and blockchain payments, the reseller decided to suspend [the] cryptocurrency payment method,” the blog post details. The company also says it has the evidence to prove its version of the chain of events and has uploaded a photo of a Coppay sticker with a sign saying “cryptocurrency accepted here” in what appears to be a Samsung branded store. What are your thoughts on today’s news tidbits? Tell us in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Michael Novogratz (Twitter). 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: Crypto Vault in Hong Kong, ‘Herd of Institutional Investors’ in Crypto appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Six government-approved cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan have submitted their business improvement plans to the country’s top financial regulator. While improving their internal systems, most have also engaged in different areas of business expansion. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Six Business Improvement Plans Submitted Six of Japan’s 16 government-approved cryptocurrency exchanges have submitted their business improvement plans to the country’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA). On June 22, the FSA issued business improvement orders to Bitflyer, Bitpoint Japan, Bitbank, Btc Box, Quoine and Tech Bureau. Complying with the orders, each of the six companies confirmed that they have submitted a written business improvement plan to the agency on Monday, July 23. Bitflyer was ordered to improve in ten areas, Btc Box nine, Bitbank eight, and Quoine seven. Both Bitpoint and Tech Bureau were ordered to improve in six areas. The June 22 order was the second for Tech Bureau, the operator of the Zaif exchange. The only company to receive an order for a “drastic review of [its] management system” was Bitflyer. The exchange, along with Quoine and Btc Box, also received an order to construct “a management system related to the exclusion of antisocial forces.” Other improvement items the FSA ordered include “Building a legal compliance system,” “Establish a risk management system for money laundering and terrorist financing,” “Construction of a separation control system for user property,” “Establishment of a control system related to user protection measures,” and “Construction of the risk management system in accordance with the new handling or the like of the virtual currency.” New Trading and Payment Tools Since receiving a business improvement order, Bitpoint has launched a couple of new services. A trading tool called Bitpoint Advance was launched on June 29. It is “designed to quickly deal with price information such as charts and board information…on one screen, without changing the screen,” the exchange described. The tool supports “both in-kind trading and leveraged transactions.” Earlier this month, Bitpoint upgraded its crypto payment system for merchants called Bitpointpay, which now supports BCH, BTC, and ETH. The company detailed: We have upgraded the version to correspond to bitcoin cash (BCH) with the aim of expanding the means of settlement for users … As a result of this upgrade, customers (payers) can choose to pay franchisees from the three types of virtual currencies. Personnel Recruitment After apologizing to its customers again on Monday, Bitbank wrote that they have “fundamentally reviewed the internal control system and management system.” The measures, according to the company, were made “in order to ensure proper and reliable operation of the business towards customers’ recovery of trust.” To avoid future problems, Bitbank also indicated that they will “continue to review the management strategy and others.” Last week, the company launched a career site to “strengthen its recruitment.” The site currently lists a number of vacancies to be filled such as various positions in engineering, design, marketing, PR, HR, internal audit and compliance. The company says: We are currently growing rapidly, but we are looking for someone who can work together to grow more. App Replacement Zaif announced last week that its existing iOS and Android smartphone applications will be terminated on October 15. “Support will [also] be terminated on Tuesday, October 16, 2018,” the exchange wrote. The company emphasized that deposits, withdrawals, and trading on the Zaif exchange will be unaffected, clarifying that “Currently we are developing dedicated new applications. We will make every effort to provide you with better service with a new official application.” New Account Signups Still Suspended Meanwhile, Japan’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, Bitflyer, issued a notice Monday stating that it “strictly observes the relevant laws and regulations and further strengthens the management system throughout the company.” “We will make every effort to prevent recurrence and restore customer’s trust,” the company emphasized. The exchange stopped accepting new customers immediately after receiving the improvement order on June 22. At the time of this writing, its website still shows: We are currently pausing the account creation by new customers voluntarily in order to do our utmost to build a proper service management system and to improve our suggestions. What do you think of how the Japanese crypto industry is evolving? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Nikkei, Bitflyer, Bitbank, Bitpoint, Btc Box, and Zaif. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Japanese Crypto Exchanges Submit Business Improvement Plans appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

“Deposits/Withdrawals Notice,” came the post title from popular Indian cryptocurrency exchange Unocoin this week. “As per orders from RBI,” the exchange explained, “bank INR withdrawals and INR Deposits have temporarily been disabled. Once an alternative method of funding is identified and deployed, we will resume the deposit and withdrawal services.” Also read: Cryptowhispers: DDoS Attacks, Major Exec in Serious Crash, Twitter Drama India Crypto Exchange Unocoin Suspends Withdrawals and Deposits to Comply with Central Bank Orders Ahead of an anticipated regulatory move and potential clarification by the government of India on the subject of cryptocurrencies, popular exchange Unocoin suspended fiat deposits and withdrawals, noting “Cryptoasset(coin) deposits and withdrawals are ON @ Unocoin & Unodax; Using INR Balance Buy and Sell of BTC/ETH is ON @ Unocoin; Crypto-rupee and crypto-crypto pair trading are ON @ Unodax.” RBI is the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank; INR is the international short expression for the India rupee (₹), its fiat currency. Traditional banks were placed under strict orders this spring by the RBI to stop dealing in cryptocurrencies altogether. Exchanges filed suit, a petition, against the RBI’s policy, making its way eventually to the Supreme Court of India. Just days ago, the Court upheld the central bank’s decision, suggesting a definitive ruling on the issue will come this fall. Workarounds As a measure to mitigate against drawing further ire from officials, exchanges such as Unocoin have tried to find workarounds. Crypto trades for crypto is one step, and it does appear peer-to-peer arrangements will only see benefit from the crackdown. Just recently, the company’s Unodax revealed 17 crypto-only trading pairs, including bases made from bitcoin core (BTC), ethereum, and XRP. BTC is matched, for example, with BCH/BTC, ETH/BTC, LTC/BTC, XRP/BTC, BTG/BTC, GNT/BTC, CVC/BTC, ZRX/BTC, and OMG/BTC. As we recently reported, “an unnamed senior official from the Ministry of Finance” insisted they’ve already drafted regulatory language and “consultation is on with all the stakeholders…before coming up with the final paper. We expect it to be ready by September. ‘The ministry has constituted an interdisciplinary committee under the chairmanship of Special Secretary (Economic Affairs) to examine the regulatory framework regarding virtual currency,’ [a regional publication] detailed. ‘SEBI and RBI have expressed some reservations regarding clauses in the initial draft.'” What do you think ultimately the government of India will decide? Let us know in the comments section below. Images via Pixabay, Twitter. Be sure to check out the podcast, Blockchain 2025; latest episode here. Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. The post India Exchange Unocoin Suspends Withdrawals Following Central Bank Demands appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Widespread reporting revealed the United States’ largest cryptocurrency bank, Coinbase, has formed a political action committee (PAC). PACs are a particular way most politicians in the United States are funded. Entry into federal campaign finance by a well-regarded member of the ecosystem is a first. Also read: Philippines Embraces Cryptocurrency: Exchanges Issued Provisional Licenses Coinbase Forms PAC Colin Wilhelm effectively broke the story, and he did where it would get traction, Twitter. “SCOOP: @Coinbase has formed a political action committee as part of a push to increase its presence in DC,” he tweeted late last week. Cryptocurrency success stories such as Coinbase have a real choice: wait around to be regulated, which is coming in as many forms imaginable; or, get ahead of politicians, and frame regulation in a favorable manner. The answer seems obvious. The San Francisco-based crypto bank is officially the first in the space to form a PAC, a fact later confirmed by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). For potential institutional investors, such actions show mature, long-term thinking leads Coinbase. For the market as a whole, it just might be a lynchpin in the quest to bring about more certainty, clarity, going forward from regulators. It’s the latest in a series of such moves for the bank. Its executives are well known political animals, personally donating to favorited politicians. As a unit, however, the company reportedly approached US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulators about becoming a full-fledged brokerage, which would better explain the whys behind its PAC. If regulators don’t play ball, the politicians who appointed them could be targeted for defeat. Screwy Melange To outsiders, US politics are a melange of screwy laws, regulations, arcane rules. And nowhere is that more in evidence than with regard to political financing. PACs, in a long line of ironies, were a post-Watergate, early 1970s reform to clean up corruption. The overrepresentation of big money was thought best counteracted by regular folk being allowed to cartel up and pool resources, giving them a fighting chance in the moneyed arms race. And then there was reform of the reform meant as final reform. Odious federal and state reporting laws were enacted. Legal language Swiss cheese-like holes, wide enough to match the Grand Canyon, were quickly found. Big money got around it all, as anyone with a modicum of sense would’ve predicted. By 2010 the Roberts Court upheld more than three decades’ old challenges to the concept of money as speech. Citizens United does seem to have settled the matter. Money is speech. Key, of course, is the noun money. If a given crypto, or all, isn’t considered money then such cases mean little. Indeed, complications are numerous when its fifty states are put into play: in one instance, Colorado, is considering allowing crypto as a form of political donation; in another, Kansas outright forbade such an occurrence. Federal clarity on the issue could be an influential force for states also struggling with it. Whatever the case, Coinbase is on another roll: not only has it formed a PAC, but it snagged a giant hedge fund, became whitelisted on Facebook, and one of its founders, Brian Armstrong, was named a leading young executive. What do you think about Coinbase’s PAC? Let us know in the comments section below. Images via Pixabay, Twitter. Be sure to check out the podcast, Blockchain 2025; latest episode here. Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. The post Coinbase Flexes Muscle, Creates Political Action Committee appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

There’s an interesting platform for the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network called ‘Member,’ which allows users to post censorship resistant messages tied to specific locations around the world. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Member: Tethering Censorship Resistant Memos to Any Geographical Location With Bitcoin Cash Over the past few weeks, since the BCH upgrade back in May, there’s been a lot of developers creating applications that utilize OP_Return transactions and the extra space added to the data carrier size. The protocol improvement has allowed programmers to create a wide range of applications that tether all kinds of data to the BCH chain like Memo.cash, Blockpress, Chainfeed, and others. Another unique platform, called Member, allows users to tie Memo-style messages to any geographical location in the world. Essentially, after tying a BCH wallet with some funds to Member users can easily tag their location coordinates with a special message that will last forever. “Member is memo transaction browsing software with a client/server architecture. This design allows the client to be featureful (fat) and the server to be simple — Just serving requests on the database,” explains the website. It allows users to choose their client and server separately — Maybe choosing a client with particular features, and a server that is geographically nearby. Sharing Messages Tied to Locations for Less Than a Penny The BCH developer ‘Freetrade’ explains the open source Member allows users to remain in full control of their identity, and private keys never leave the client side. Basically, anyone can log in with a private key (Compressed WIF format) to use Member’s messaging system or use a public BCH key (any format) to follow a specific person’s posts. You don’t have to be in the location to tie a message to a specific geographical area, but if you desired to use your current coordinates the Member app uses a browser location detection feature so you can toggle a message to your exact location. When the app was announced a great deal of BCH proponents explained they enjoyed the Member platform and discussed a few ways the developers could improve Member map. Other enthusiasts liked the idea that Member connected the Bitcoin Cash network to the Open Street Map (OSM) protocol. Scrolling through the Member map shows a bunch of messages have been posted all around the world. A good number of the messages coupled to these areas shows a lot of the memos are the names and addresses of businesses. For example, there’s James the Butcher in Shepperton, Le Gros Bar in France, Southern New England Computer Services in Boston, Kansas Tree Care in Kansas, and many more. With the platform’s ability to post censorship resistant memos to any location for less than a penny it can provide some extremely affordable advertising. What do you think of the BCH-powered Member platform? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comment section below. Images via Shutterstock, and the Member. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Tie a Message to Any Location Using the BCH-Powered Member Client appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The ethereum network has another pair of smash hit dapps. The decentralized applications have proven to be a viral success over the past week, amassing more transactions than IDEX and accruing seven-day trading volume of 180,000 ETH. There’s just one problem: both dapps are ponzi schemes in which virtually everyone who plays will lose. Also read: Cryptowhispers: DDoS Attacks, Major Exec in Serious Crash, Twitter Drama Ethereum’s Latest Killer App Will Rek a Lot of People The clue is in the URL. Fomo3D, which resides at exitscam.me, is an exit scam. The game is the product of Team JUST, a group of developers that gets its name from a Brendan Fraser/The Barber meta-meme whose origins are too niche to explain here. Play Fomo3D and there’s an overwhelming chance you’ll get ‘Justed’. That is, wind up with an ethereum balance that is the equivalent of this haircut: Despite the near certainty of getting rekt, gamblers have been throwing their ether into Fomo3D and PoWH3D (Proof of Weak Hands) with wild abandon. The games, like most of the overt ponzi schemes to have dominated the ethereum network, found traction on 4chan’s /biz/ messageboard before going viral. “143,903 Transactions. 134,660.14 Eth. We shattered blockchain records, with each of the pieces of our ecosystem genuinely beating the highest dapp traffic games like this have seen on the blockchain in 24 hours. Individually,” boasted Team JUST. “Neat.” Fomo3D The Games That Play on Human Greed Fomo3D is an ironic jab at the cryptocurrency ICO space,” explain the game’s developers, “putting every player in the terrifying and tempting position to Exit Scam everything and run away with massive life-changing amounts of real Ethereum. You should take it…The game runs entirely on human greed, to the profit of everyone playing.” Players must purchase a key with ether. If the 24-hour timer goes down to zero without another player purchasing a key to reset it, the last key-owner will win the pot. At present, that jackpot stands at close to $10 million. Fomo3D With each subsequent key owner granted a chance, no matter how fleeting, of winning a life-changing amount of cryptocurrency, the temptation for speculators to keep acquiring keys has proven overwhelming. It is conceivable that the game might never go to zero, and become a permanent vortex that sucks up ether, reducing the total circulating supply until the end of time. It is also conceivable that the rising value of the jackpot could ultimately tempt a mining pool into rejecting transactions to the Fomo3D contract address in order to push through its own and claim the prize. The top two ethereum dapps this week are both ponzis Furthermore, with millions of dollars locked up in its contract, Fomo3D has the world’s largest bug bounty on its head. Smart contract experts have already been scrutinizing Team JUST’s code for possible attack vectors, and have made some interesting findings. While gamblers, smart contract auditors, and mining pools make eyes at Fomo3D, despite all the red flags the game gives off, /biz/ forum users are busy launching their next ponzi game: Fomo Five. Fear the FOMO Fomo Five’s developers explain: “This is a REVERSE fomo contract—the timer counts down, and each key purchased lowers the timer by one second. Eventually it will become profitable for a megawhale to simply sweep the entire pot and everyone who got in early enough will get a massive payout.” “IF they fork ETH to stop this game you’re gonna be so mad” runs Fomo Five’s slogan. Fomo3D and its ilk are stress testing the ethereum network and creating scenarios that its founders never envisaged. Someone, somewhere is going to make a lot of ether out of one of these games. The vast majority of gamblers, save for a handful of early adopters however, will lose everything they wager. When it comes to playing the crypto market, it seems, FOMO trumps reason every time. How do you think Fomo3D will end – or is the game destined to continue forevermore? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Fomo3D and Dappradar. Disclaimer: Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support these products/services. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned companies or any of their affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. The post $46 Million of Ether is Locked in a Pair of Ponzi Dapps appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

An EU study claims that the international nature of the cryptocurrency markets is a challenge for European regulators because many players, especially miners, are outside their reach. The researchers also expect that bank-issued coins could reshape the balance of power among cryptos, with commercial banks using underhanded tactics to stifle the competition. Also Read: The Daily: TCAP Explores Market, Tutanota Accepts Cryptos, Huobi Launches Cloud Regulatory Challenge A recent study titled “Competition issues in the Area of Financial Technology”, which was requested by the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, raised a couple of interesting issues from a regulatory point of view. First, the researchers say that the international nature of cryptocurrency markets is a challenge to the implementation of competition policy at the European level. The paper explains that many of the players operate from locations outside the jurisdiction of EU competition authorities, which makes investigation or prosecution more difficult. The main weakness of European regulators is the concentration of the mining activity in non-European countries. The researchers write: “Mining is the most strategic, sophisticated and technology dependent activity in the cryptocurrency market, and there currently appears to be a significant concentration of mining activities occurring in certain Chinese provinces.” Bank-Coins to Reshape Competition? The EU study also claims that the arrival of “permissioned cryptocurrencies” issued by banks, both commercial and central, will reshape the current competition level in the cryptocurrency market. A potential inadequacy of traditional policy to address competition issues in the cryptocurrency markets can be found, “suggesting direct public participation through a central-bank digital currency as a remedy.” The researchers warn that the market power of incumbent commercial banks might be used to limit competition in the cryptocurrency market through preemptive acquisitions or predatory pricing schemes. The banks may also engage in anti-competitive practices by denying access to their gateways for exchange or wallet services, such as payment and transfer systems or card processor schemes. This may be conducted by means of low service quality, delays in negotiation, proprietary technical standards or excessive pricing. They say that these practices may deter consumers from using normal cryptocurrencies in favor of those promoted by the banks. Is the international cryptocurrency market being outside of a single regulator’s reach really a problem for competition? 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 Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post EU Study: International Nature of Cryptocurrency Markets Is a Challenge for Regulators appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Financial ministers and central bankers from the G20 states met over the weekend in Argentina to discuss the challenges for the global economy. They reiterated their position that cryptocurrencies do not pose a risk to the financial stability. The officials also called on the Financial Action Task Force to clarify by October how its anti-money laundering standards apply to crypto-assets. Also read: Ukraine’s Financial Stability Council Supports Crypto Regulatory Concept Reiterated: Cryptocurrencies Not a Risk to Stability The representatives of the G20 member-states said in a communique released after the meetings on July 21-22 that growth remains robust and unemployment is at a decade low. However, they also noted the need to strengthen the dialog and adopt measures to mitigate the risks for economic development like “rising financial vulnerabilities, heightened trade and geopolitical tensions, global imbalances, inequality and structurally weak growth.” The statement does mention cryptocurrencies, or crypto-assets as they are called, but not among the risks that need to be addressed immediately. “While crypto-assets do not at this point pose a global financial stability risk, we remain vigilant,” the government officials stated. G20 members also issued a warning that sounds familiar – cryptos “raise issues with respect to consumer and investor protection, market integrity, tax evasion, money laundering and terrorist financing.” Ministers and bankers didn’t miss the chance to point out, not for the first time, that crypto-assets, “lack the key attributes of sovereign money.” And, of course, they didn’t skip another favorite talking point of governments and regulators – “technological innovations, including those underlying crypto-assets, can deliver significant benefits to the financial system and the broader economy,” a confession that’s not really a concession. G20 Wants AML Crypto Standard in October The participants in the meeting reiterated their commitments from the G20 summit in March regarding the implementation of the standards on combating money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation adopted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). They called on FATF to clarify in October this year how these AML standards apply to crypto-assets. The G20 also welcomed the updates provided by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the standard setting bodies, adding that it expected them to continue to monitor the potential risks of crypto-assets and assess multilateral responses. FSB, an international organization that makes recommendations about the global financial system, announced last week a framework to monitor the financial stability implications of crypto-asset markets, as news.Bitcoin.com reported. It has been developed together with the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI), another international body serving as a standard setter for payment, clearing, and settlement arrangements. The previous meeting of the Group of Twenty, on March 19-20, ended with pretty much the same results, as far as cryptocurrencies are concerned. The forum did not adopt unified crypto-related regulations but urged FATF to apply their standards to crypto-assets. Right before the last summit, the Financial Stability Board dismissed calls from member-states for global crypto rules. FSB’s assessment at the time was identical – crypto-assets do not pose risks to the global financial stability. The G20 is an international forum of government officials and central bank governors from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the Republic of South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union – the economies that account for 85% of the gross world product and 80% of the world trade. Many of its members have already called for adopting global crypto regulations. Do you expect the G20 to eventually propose common rules or guidelines for regulating the crypto space? 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 G20 Asks FATF to Clarify AML Standards for Cryptocurrencies appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

This is a paid press release, which contains forward looking statements, and should be treated as advertising or promotional material. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support this product/service. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the press release. Global cryptocurrency payment card project FuzeX revealed today (23rd) that they signed a partnership with Bitcoin.com, thereby adding Bitcoin Cash to the FuzeX card. FuzeX official stated that “Considering the issues of transaction speed and fee, we decided that Bitcoin Core did not fit the philosophy of FuzeX. So we decided to drop BTC and replace it with Bitcoin Cash, which has a much faster transaction speed and a cheaper transaction fee.” Bitcoin Cash, which came into the world last August, was created to solve the scaling problem of the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Bitcoin Cash is now widely regarded as the go-to cryptocurrency in terms of real life usage, as it provides a fast, cheap and reliable method of payment. Roger Ver, CEO of Bitcoin.com said “We are happy that this partnership will help Bitcoin Cash lovers all around the world use BCH as an everyday currency. Bitcoin Core, which is more expensive, slower and less reliable is thus unusable in the FuzeX payment system. It will be dropped and replaced by BCH as the base currency on the platform. Furthermore, we are going to cooperate with FuzeX in an effort to continue coming up with win-win situations for all users. BrilliantTS CEO and FuzeX project leader Jae-Hoon Bae said “We are happy to announce the partnership. With the help of Bitcoin.com, we will be able to provide a useful and pragmatic payment service. We are going to work with Bitcoin.com to bring about interesting projects that can help cryptocurrencies be used in the real world.” FuzeX is the first company in the world to provide a physical crypto-payment card on which the users can check their balance in real-time. Their card will be released this Q3 and be purchasable via FuzeX’s token ‘FXT’. FXT is currently purchasable at HitBTC, Corbinhood, Coss.io, and livecoin.net. Contact Email Address rachel@fuzex.co Supporting Link https://fuzex.co/ This is a paid press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post PR: FuzeX Partners with Bitcoin.com – Adds BCH to FuzeX Cards, Drops BTC appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Over the past few days, cryptocurrency markets have been showing bullish gains after a few small retractions during the weekend. At the moment the entire digital asset economy is valued at $285Bn while $14.3Bn worth of trades were swapped over the past 24-hours. Today on July 23 bitcoin core (BTC) markets are holding an average price of $7,700 per BTC. Meanwhile, bitcoin cash (BCH) prices are hovering around $815 per BCH at press time. Also read: A Discussion With the Prolific Bitcoin Developer Unwriter Are the Tides Turning for Cryptocurrencies? A good portion of cryptocurrencies on Monday are seeing some gains after some good dips that took place over the weekend. Most digital assets are consolidating losses while a few others like BTC, BCH, LTC, and XMR are up between 1-2% today. Bitcoin core dominance (the percentage of BTC’s market capitalization among all 1,600+ assets) has been steadily moving up over the past few weeks and touched a high of 46 percent today. The top five digital currencies with the most trade volume today includes BTC, USDT, ETH, EOS, and BCH. Many crypto-enthusiasts and traders are optimistic the tides have changed after months of bearish prices plagued cryptocurrency markets. Bitcoin Core (BTC) Market Action Bitcoin core (BTC) market action shows the cryptocurrency is being sold at prices between $7,650-7,710 per coin. BTC’s market capitalization is around $132Bn, and 24-hour trade volume is about $4.8Bn worth of swaps. The top exchanges trading the most BTC include Bitlfyer, Bitfinex, Fcoin, Binance, and Coinbene. The Japanese yen is the most dominant pair today with BTC commanding more than 54 percent of global trades. This is followed by tether (USDT 28.8%) USD (11.3%), EUR (2%), and KRW (1.5%). The top trade today on the peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange Shapeshift.io is ethereum (ETH) for bitcoin core. BTC/USD Technical Indicators Looking at the BTC/USD charts on Bitstamp and Coinbase shows BTC bulls are trying to break massive resistance between the current vantage point to get past the $7,950-8,100 regions. The 4-hour chart shows the Relative Strength Index (RSI 62.9) is nearing the overbought zone at press time. However, the 100 Simple Moving Average (SMA) is above the longer term 200 SMA, which means buyers could take the upside after breaking some more resistance. MACd lines continue to confirm short-term upper movement is in the cards as the MACd histogram shows room for more improvement. So far it looks as though bulls could press past the $8K region as the upside trend looks strong while observing the Average Directional Index (ADX). Looking at order books shows BTC bulls have some thick resistance to crack above the EMA 200 resistance $7,950 zone and there will be another pitstop around the $8,250 region. On the backside, if bulls get exhausted and bearish sentiment takes over there is strong support between now and $7,350 and also another stop at $6,850 if markets dropped lower. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Market Action Bitcoin cash (BCH) markets are showing an average price of $820 per coin this Monday. The cryptocurrency currently has a market valuation of around $14.1Bn and trade volume has dropped a touch since our last markets update to $617Mn over the last 24-hours. The top trading platforms exchanging the most BCH today includes Coinex, Okex, Binance, Hitbtc, and Bitfinex. The biggest trading pair with BCH today is tether (USDT) which captures 50.4 percent of global BCH trades. This is followed by BTC (29.1%), USD (9.8%), KRW (2.4%) and ETH (2.35%). The EUR also commands roughly 1.7 percent of today’s BCH swaps on July 23. BCH/USD Technical Indicators Observing the technical indicators on the daily and 4-hour Bitfinex BCH/USD charts show the price has been somewhat stable lately with charts showing slight variances here and there over the past week. The short-term 100 SMA is slightly above the 200 SMA trendline indicating the path of least resistance should be towards the upside. The 4-hour chart indicates that the Relative Strength Index (RSI 52.4) is meandering in the middle showing a small period of trading uncertainty. The Average Directional Index (ADX) confirms bulls still have the reigns, and the strength of market conditions remains solid for the short term. Looking at order books and the EMA 200 shows strong resistance between the $850-925 zone. BCH bulls will need to eat away at these orders to continue maintaining upward momentum. On the back side, order books show some strong foundations between the current vantage point and $760, while after that region books begin to thin out. Could We Be on the Cusp of a Massive Bull Run? Enthusiasts and traders are still skeptical of what will take place next within the land of cryptocurrency markets. All of the digital assets have had mediocre trade volumes since last week as general markets are seeing a slight dip in crypto-swaps over the past few days. Bulls are making some moves northbound but the volumes show conviction is lacking. However, many crypto-proponents believe the upcoming bitcoin-based exchange-traded-fund (ETF) decision this August is what’s fueling the current pumps over the last week. For example, the senior market analyst at Etoro, Mati Greenspan, believes a market reversal is imminent. Greenspan explains to his Twitter followers: We might just be on the cusp of the largest bitcoin bull run in history. Where do you see the price of BCH, BTC, and other coins headed from here? Let us know in the comments below. Disclaimer: Price articles and markets updates are intended for informational purposes only and should not to be considered as trading advice. Neither Bitcoin.com nor the author is responsible for any losses or gains, as the ultimate decision to conduct a trade is made by the reader. Always remember that only those in possession of the private keys are in control of the “money.” Images via Shutterstock, Trading View, and Satoshi Pulse. Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. The post Markets Update: Cryptocurrency Bulls Continue to Charge appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Indian government is expected to issue detailed cryptocurrency guidelines by September, a senior official from the country’s Ministry of Finance reportedly said. Consultations with all stakeholders including the central bank have already begun. This announcement is independent of the supreme court’s hearing of petitions relating to crypto regulation in India. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Regulation Expected by September The Indian government has reportedly finished drafting the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. The New Indian Express wrote on Saturday that the government is “likely to issue guidelines on cryptocurrency by September.” Subhash Garg. This news follows the statement last month by the country’s Economic Affairs Secretary, Subhash Garg, confirming that the draft law would be ready by mid-July. Citing that stakeholders include the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), an unnamed senior official from the Ministry of Finance told the news outlet: The draft is ready and consultation is on with all the stakeholders…before coming up with the final paper. We expect it to be ready by September. “The ministry has constituted an interdisciplinary committee under the chairmanship of Special Secretary (Economic Affairs) to examine the regulatory framework regarding virtual currency,” the publication detailed. “SEBI and RBI have expressed some reservations regarding clauses in the initial draft.” How Should Crypto be Regulated? The unnamed senior official was quoted by the New Indian Express, “Cryptocurrency is a new phenomenon and naturally, governments across the globe are struggling with it.” He further detailed, “Most of the officials have serious reservations against it, which all of us agree with … we want to arrive at a common conclusion. There must be an appropriate mechanism to regulate the same.” While the regulators have not confirmed how cryptocurrency will be regulated, Quartz reported that a senior government official familiar with the matter indicated it could be regulated as a commodity. “I don’t think anyone is really thinking of banning it (cryptocurrencies) altogether. The issue here is about regulating the trade and we need to know where the money is coming from. Allowing it as (a) commodity may let us better regulate trade and so that is being looked at,” the publication quoted him saying on July 11. He explained that cryptocurrency “trade is not a criminal offence,” describing: What has to be in place is a mechanism to be sure that the money used is not illegal money, and to track its source is the most important thing. Supreme Court Hearing Also in September The Supreme Court of India on July 20 set the final hearing date for all petitions relating to cryptocurrency regulations to September 11. The hearing is in response to the circular issued by RBI on April 6 banning banks and all financial institutions under its control from providing services to crypto companies. Many industry participants have petitioned against the ban. The IAMAI successfully convinced the supreme court to hear its petition on July 3. However, the court did not grant a stay and the ban went into effect on July 5. Banks subsequently closed the accounts of most crypto exchanges. Judgement Day The supreme court was supposed to hear all of the petitions relating to crypto on July 20. However, since some government bodies such as SEBI have not provided a response, the news outlet noted: A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra acceded to the request made by the petitioners and the matter has been listed for final disposal on September 11. At the hearing on Friday, the IAMAI was represented by Advocate Gopal Subramanium while Advocate Shyam Divan appeared for RBI. Divan “informed the court that allowing dealings in cryptocurrencies will encourage illegal transactions,” the publication conveyed, adding that he clarified the central bank’s policy is of “extreme caution.” How do you think India will regulate cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Linkedin. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Indian Crypto Regulation Ready by September: Official appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In today’s edition of Bitcoin in Brief we cover stories about one of the largest inter-dealer brokers in the world exploring the cryptocurrency market, a privacy-focused email service that now accepts several cryptos, a new white label exchange offering and a cloud mining service that abruptly ended BTC contracts. Also Read: Coinbase Gets $20 Billion Prime Client, Ads Back on Facebook TCAP Explores Market TP Icap plc (LSE:TCAP), one of the largest connectors between banks’ traders in the financial, energy and commodities markets, has reportedly set up a ‘working group’ earlier this year to explore how it should approach cryptocurrencies. The crypto working group includes some of TP Icap’s most senior executives and was established under former CEO John Phizackerley, according to “people with knowledge of the matter” cited by Financial News London. This could be another indication that mega banks are looking to enter the crypto dealing market and that the networks that serve them are preparing for that day. Last week it was reported that Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, is probing the crypto market with a similar working group. Hashflare Stops BTC Cloud Mining Hashflare, a cloud mining service which has been operating for a few years already, has announced it stopped its active SHA-256 contracts due to continued BTC mining unprofitability. The company explained in a Facebook post that: “For over a month our users encountered a situation when the payouts were lower than the maintenance fees, resulting in zero accruals to the balance. As of 18.07.2018, the payouts were lower than maintenance for 28 consecutive days.” The team seem to think they can recover from this, writing “We expect that the cryptocurrency market situation will stabilize in the nearest future and we will be able to offer our users new advantageous solutions.” However, the reputation of Hashflare might be too tarnished for that, as many clients are complaining that the company offers no refund for their money invested in the contracts nor an alternative mining option to divert their resources to. People are also suspicious that the company has added KYC/AML requirements right before this announcement, preventing those who wish to remain anonymous from withdrawing their funds. Tutanota Now Accepts Several Cryptocurrencies Tutanota, an open-source end-to-end encrypted email with over 2 million users, has announced that the service has started integrating cryptocurrency support. As a first step, users can now donate to Tutanota with BTC, BCH, ETH and XMR. The developers are now also testing how easily they can automate the processing of crypto payments in order to add an option to pay with cryptocurrencies. “We at Tutanota have always been in support for cryptocurrencies because we welcome the idea of a decentralized payment method that works independent of centralized payment processors such as banks or credit card institutions”, the team stated. “We very much welcome the idea of an anonymous payment option as well. With Tutanota we want to provide an anonymous email service for journalists, whistleblowers and human rights activists who need the extra protection they get from the built-in encryption of Tutanota.” Huobi Launches White Label Exchange Service Did you ever want to launch your own crypto exchange but didn’t have the technical capabilities to set it up? Now you have a new option. Huobi, the Singapore-headquartered trading venue, has launched a new service for companies that wish to offer a white label exchange of their own. Called Huobi Cloud, the business will rely on Huobi’s existing platforms, providing services for setting up OTC exchanges and currency exchanges with little to no IT capability requirement. The company explains that clients can share the order integration system, wallet system, asset management and clearing system of the Huobi Global platform, connecting to its depth, liquidity, and market data. 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: TCAP Explores Market, Tutanota Accepts Cryptos, Huobi Launches Cloud appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

This is a paid press release, which contains forward looking statements, and should be treated as advertising or promotional material. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support this product/service. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the press release. SAN FRANCISCO — Vaultbank announces the addition of free stock trading to its October Launch. This is in addition to crypto trading and issuance of security tokens. With all of these services on one platform, users will have a single platform solution to invest globally, trade digitally, and cash out locally. The Vaultbank Platform is currently in beta testing. A tiered global rollout is scheduled to begin in October 2018. Prospective users are invited to join the waitlist on Vaultbank’s homepage at vaultbank.io. Through this newly formed partnership, Vaultbank has built a solution for Retail and Hedge Fund investors allowing them to trade U.S. equity securities (NYSE, Nasdaq, OTC) that are priced greater than $1.00 per share. These customers will have the ability to trade on margin and access real-time market data, as well as the ability to short. This partnership allows Vaultbank to utilize its existing broker dealer for equities trading. Vaultbank is in the process of obtaining its own licenses and approvals for the creation, sale, and trading of tokenized securities in addition to dozens of utility tokens. Aaron Travis, COO of Vaultbank, shares: “The addition of traditional equity securities on our platform enables our customers to utilize a single platform solution for all of their investing needs. Whereas they would previously use 3-4 other platforms, the Vaultbank Platform will allow individuals from 120+ countries to fund their account with their native fiat, trade an array of digital assets, and cash out to their mobile wallet or bank account. This development is in line with our goal of being a leader in the convergence of traditional finance with the digital asset space through the use of blockchain technology.” ABOUT VAULTBANK Vaultbank Vaultbank is a FinTech company innovating the convergence of two worlds – traditional investments and digital assets. Vaultbank utilizes blockchain technology to create, issue and trade financial instruments through a single platform. By providing the next generation suite of financial services, Vaultbank will allow for the buying, selling, and spending of cryptocurrencies, tokenized securities, and traditional equities on web-based and mobile platforms. For more information visit: https://vaultbank.io The Vaultbank Platform The Vaultbank Platform intends to be one of the first platforms to compliantly facilitate the global trading of both utility and security tokens. Vaultbank has been working with regulatory agencies and other governmental bodies to acquire necessary licenses and comply with strict KYC/AML, FATCA and accreditation requirements in jurisdictions all over the world. The VB Token Vaultbank intends to generate profits and distribute dividends to VB Token holders. The VB Tokens represent partial ownership stakes in Vaultbank and its VB Fund and are backed by non-voting shares of Vaultbank held in equitable trust. The Vaultbank Board of Directors The Vaultbank Board of Directors includes former BlackRock CIO Ken Kroner, Chairman of the Board Austin Trombley, former Third Point Capital Partner Keri Findley, former MasterCard Head of Digital Commerce (MEA) Aaron Oliver, and Gyft co-founder CJ MacDonald. MEDIA CONTACT: John Nahas – john.nahas@vaultbank.io – +1-818-438-9707 Disclaimer: Vaultbank refers to a group of companies that includes Vaultbanc Ltd., a Singapore public company limited by shares, and certain of its affiliates. This press release is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States or elsewhere. Some of the statements in this press release may constitute “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements include those relating to our expectations, estimates and intentions regarding our business and our industry, and are generally identified by the words “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” believes,” “plans,” “will be” and similar expressions. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond our control. Other than as required by law, Vaultbank does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. Vaultbank is not a bank as defined under the Banking Act of 1933 or any other applicable law in the United States, Singapore or elsewhere. Contact Email Address alina.jais@vaultbank.io Supporting Link https://vaultbank.io/ This is a paid press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post PR: Vaultbank to Bring Free Stock Trading with Margin, Top 20 Cryptos, 120+ Fiat Currencies appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Cryptowhispers explores the wildcatting world of direct denial of service (DDoS) attacks, and why the socially maladjusted tend to flock to that particular vector … especially for coin projects they hate; a popular cryptocurrency trading application executive was involved in a serious car accident on the eve of an anticipated cross promotion at Comic Con; and what would a crypto gossip column be without Twitter drama. Also read: Philippines Embraces Cryptocurrency: Exchanges Issued Provisional Licenses Cryptowhispers at Comic Con San Diego 2018 Rumor has it a multibillion dollar smartphone cryptocurrency trading application executive was involved in a serious car accident Friday, July 20th, ahead of a major promotional reveal. The company has been on a tear this year in particular, expanding its offerings while staying hungry enough to try new, innovative marketing. As far as anyone knows, these two were not paid for their efforts. Its cross promotion over several days at the Comic Con International San Diego gathering, where an estimated 300,000 cargo-shorts wearing nerds descended upon the city’s convention center and famed Gaslamp District, was set to climax Saturday, early afternoon. The company partnered with Lionsgate to feature two products: the studio’s forthcoming movie and the app’s crypto platform. Fans were led via social media in an effort to find literal money drops off campus, around San Diego’s downtown. At about 1 am that morning, just hours before the final drop, the very high up trading app executive emailed involvement in the accident and of sustained injuries bad enough to warrant an emergency room visit. That’s right, the executive, while under trauma examination and still at the ER, was sure to apologize for not being able to make the final event. Such dedication might be at least one reason said company is thriving. Crypto Twitter Aflutter as Craig Wright is, well, Craig Wright Vinny Lingham, voted one of the world’s top CEOs, founder of Gyft and Civic, and a Bitcoin Cash supporter, is the latest to be bounced by Mr. Wright, the controversial once-thought-to-be-Satoshi-but-admitted-he-wasn’t and prolific academic entrepreneur. He’s apparently clearing up follower space. Mr. Wright has also recently excommunicated Vin Armani of CoinText fame. Even prominent Bitcoin Cash developer, Amaury Séchet, has had enough of Mr. Wright’s social media theatre. With talk in some quarters of how Bitcoin Cash is controlled or centralized, those claims are increasingly becoming more difficult to sustain. BCH proponents are taking polar opposite sides on the coin going forward, and debate seems more of feature than a bug. But it does make trolls very happy. Mr. Lingham is taking the latest weirdness in stride, retweeting the spectacle. Mr. Wright has also more recently taken to outright bizarre diatribes against “anarchists,” insisting they had little-to-nothing to do with crypto’s development. Each tweeted rant usually ends with Mr. Wright “not giving a fack,” emphasis mine on the last word to underline his Aussie patois. DDoS Attack on Bitcoin Cash Projects Avinoc.com is an initial coin offering (ICO) accepting bitcoin cash (BCH). Understanding how, in some quarters, trolls were prone to make incorporating BCH an issue of derision or worse for entrepreneurs, Avinoc gave previously hidden 5% post-deposit bonuses. They also used airdrop promotions, common in the ICO space, whereby the company hatched user missions, tasks, one of which involved promoting BCH and a faucet — a previous tradition in the community is to give away small amounts of BCH to entice folks into downloading a wallet and giving the BCH experience a try. Word got out, and before its latest BCH faucet promotion could commence, the Avinoc site was held up by a direct denial of service (DDoS) attack vector, effectively preventing customers from using the site (now closing-in on 200,000). Rumors are the company relocated entry servers in anticipation of future malicious acts. A person familiar with the matter explained the attack lasted at least “a day. The website was down for several hours. Well, not really down, but unreachable. [The company] had another small one yesterday very early in the morning, but [they] were already able to handle that.” Bitcoin.com CEO Roger Ver voiced exasperation, “The fact [attackers] are willing to do such things shows that their morals are in the wrong place.” “Everyone [at the company] is a huge Bitcoin Cash fan, but […] it can be dangerous to publicly state this. […] the token contract creation [was purposefully delayed] in the hope to have it working on BCH, but the May hard fork was too little. [The company hopes] that OP_GROUP will be added ASAP [so they] can eventually move [the project] from ETH to BCH,” a personal with firsthand knowledge noted. BTC Trolls Getting Desperate as BCHers Continue to Build As ICOs go, Avinoc is a compelling idea, at least theoretically. They “have a working product for business aviation since almost 10 years ago. And it is a real competitive advancement for its users. However, the real problem of the Bizav is that is has more than 50% overhead ($150+Billion/year),” a person in the industry detailed. That’s “because there is no unified global data solution. And even the best product is always a competitor to all other solutions. So the only solution to crack that issue is to create something that is not a competitor.” Thus the reason for the company’s “blockchain based data layer. [Permissionless], every competitor can […] integrate it and eventually it will eliminate all the overhead.” Avinoc is also rumored to have moved servers out of Asia altogether, and to an undisclosed location in “the west.” An anonymous source ranted, “For real, those Core trolls should do something productive with their lives. The world is full of real enemies of freedom, there are plenty of actual real enemies worth to be fighting against.” Placing the blame at the feet of BTC trolls comes only as an inference. The source has “some experience with regular DDoS attacks on Bitcoin sites, [and] usually one gets an email with some demand. This time we got nothing, so that clearly indicates that the DDoS was not to get a ransom.” This was very personal. Rumors also include the company being bullish on BCH going forward, even with hater potential at annoyance level. The source insists, BCH is “the real Bitcoin, and frankly ETH is a mess compared to Bitcoin,” and the company sees “a great potential for it in the future.” A mainnet launch is in the works with the current token referred to as “just a placeholder,” as BCH is the company’s go-to. OP-ed disclaimer: This is an Op-ed article. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support views, opinions or conclusions drawn in this post. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the Op-ed article. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the content. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any information in this Op-ed article. What juicy tidbits do you have? Let us know in the comments section below. Images via Pixabay, Twitter. Be sure to check out the podcast, Blockchain 2025; latest episode here. Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. The post Cryptowhispers: DDoS Attacks, Major Exec in Serious Crash, Twitter Drama appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

South Korea’s top financial regulator is planning a major organizational restructuring that includes introducing some new crypto policy initiatives. A bureau dedicated to financial innovations that include cryptocurrencies is being set up. In addition, an agreement with Chinese authorities relating to crypto and initial coin offerings has also been reached. Meanwhile, the contracts between Korean crypto exchanges and banks for real-name accounts will expire this month. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Major Organizational Restructuring FSC Chairman Choi Jong-ku. Last week South Korea’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), said it will undergo a “major organizational restructuring.” As part of the plans, it “will establish a department exclusively for policymaking initiatives in the nation’s blockchain industry,” the Korea Times described. The new department, called the Financial Innovation Bureau, will have a two-year lifespan. Its establishment is part of the FSC’s “restructuring plan to lead financial innovation in the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution era,” the news outlet explained, adding that “it will help nurture Korea’s fintech industry, mostly covering the nation’s cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.” Citing that the Commission is planning “a major organizational reshuffle to better protect financial consumers,” an FSC official elaborated: The new Financial Innovation Bureau will also be tasked with policy initiatives for financial innovation, such as innovating financial services using fintech or big data, and responses to new developments and challenges such as cryptocurrencies. Agreement with China Yoo Kwang-yeol. Chosun reported last week that First Senior Deputy Governor of South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), Yoo Kwang-yeol, recently met with the Deputy Chairman of the Insurance Supervision and Management Committee of the Bank of China. They agreed to integrate the Financial Supervisory Cooperation Agreement. The initiative between the two countries began as the FSS reviewed the process of establishing foreign branches for Korean insurance companies in China. “The two organizations have decided to expand their monitoring experience and information exchange on internal control of financial institutions and anti-money laundering,” the publication details, adding: In a meeting with the China Securities Regulatory Commission, a cooperative channel was set up, including the establishment of a working-level hotline … it will jointly respond to new emerging global supervisory and regulatory issues such as international financial regulation, virtual currency, ICO [initial coin offering] and fintech. This was not the first time the two governments discussed collaborating on crypto measures; earlier this year news.Bitcoin.com reported that the South Korean regulators were seeking to collaborate with China and Japan. In February, the country’s Minister of Strategy and Finance, Kim Dong-yeon, met with the governor of the People’s Bank of China to discuss economic issues of both countries as well as cryptocurrency policies. Tax Benefits for Blockchain Companies At the meeting of the ministers on economic policies, the government decided on a plan to revitalize the country’s investment incentive system, the Korea Times reported this week. Blockchain was added to the list of emerging technologies eligible for tax benefits. “In order to alleviate the investment burden of companies that use new technology,” the publication explained that the government has decided to “apply the tax benefits to blockchain” technology, noting: Blockchain-based information security technology, quantum computing (advanced computer technology that operates on the principle of quantum mechanics), and commercialization facilities to the range of new growth technologies [are] to be subject to tax exemption under the Tax Exemption Restriction Act (157 technologies in 11 existing sectors). Real-Name Account Contracts Expiring The South Korean government implemented the real-name system for cryptocurrency trading accounts at the end of January. According to Money Today, the contracts between crypto exchanges and commercial banks for the issuance of real-name accounts must be renewed “every six months to encourage virtual currency trading sites to continue their anti-money laundering efforts.” Existing contracts will expire at the end of this month. So far, only the country’s four biggest crypto exchanges have real-name account contracts. While Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit can issue real-name accounts for their customers, other exchanges continue to use corporate accounts. In addition, only three banks currently offer real-name account services despite six of them having the capability to do so. The publication elaborated: Currently, Bithumb has contracts with Shinhan Bank and Nonghyup Bank. Upbit is with IBK, Coinone with Nonghyup Bank, and Korbit with Shinhan Bank. At the time of contract renewals, Coinplug may become the fifth trading platform to have a real-name contract with a bank, the news outlet detailed, citing that the company “has been in talks with Shinhan Bank since the beginning of this year.” What do you think of South Korea’s crypto initiatives? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Chosun. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post South Korea’s Crypto Regulation Shakeup: New Bureau, Agreement With China appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Mainstream media (MSM) loves bitcoin. It is the Donald Trump of money, certain to generate guaranteed clicks with minimum effort. As cryptocurrency has risen, over the past 18 months, so has its profile in MSM publications. But don’t mistake this prolific coverage for affection. Mainstream media has always hated, feared, and misunderstood bitcoin. BTC might have made it to the front pages, but the reporting of it remains as dumb as ever. Also read: Thanks to Mainstream Media the Public Clueless About Cryptocurrency MSM Love to Hate Bitcoin “I read the newspaper avidly. It is my one form of continuous fiction,” riffed Nye Bevan, British Health Minister from the 1940s. The world has evolved immeasurably since the Welsh politician’s day, yet in other respects, little has changed. Many mainstream media outlets, despite have migrated to the web in the so-called Information Age, still struggle to get their basic information right. Bitcoin is a perfect example of the failure, from many quarters, to grasp a transformative technology and understand what makes it tick. Mainstream media, with a new notable exceptions, has been wrong about bitcoin since day one and, almost a decade on, continues to be laughably, glaringly wrong. Only it’s not so funny when you remember that the majority of the population still forms their opinions from the fodder that outlets such as CNBC, Fox, Forbes, and Bloomberg feed them in the US, and The Sun, Express, and Daily Mail in the UK. For those outside of the crypto cocoon that avid bitcoiners inhabit, facts are thin on the ground, while fake news and FUD abound, as the following case studies show. Wired: Wrong From the Start and Still Wrong Today As a tech publication, you’d expect Wired to have latched onto bitcoin from the outset. And it did…sort of, by writing the nascent cryptocurrency off countless times over: Seven years later, one might hope Wired would have gotten with the program and made amends, but whaddya know? This was only a week ago: As news.Bitcoin.com observed, it’s possible that Wired is still salty over having mined 13 BTC back in the day and then destroyed the key to the wallet, for reasons that no one will ever understand. For all its snark and sins, however, Wired is by no means the worst culprit when it comes to inaccurate MSM reporting. British Press Don’t Get Bitcoin and Never Will Picking out inaccuracies in British media coverage of bitcoin could be a parlor game. The Express, a once proud but now dying newspaper, takes the biscuit for the most fails that can be squeezed into a single report. In addition to claiming the price of 1 XRP to be $45 (instead of 45 cents), a story from last week includes such zingers as “BITCOIN has slipped nearly $100 this morning from yesterday’s high of $7,531. However, a leading bitcoin believer has claimed that another big fall is now likely”, before concluding its report by stating “Bitcoin has turned losses into gains and is currently up $1.07 on the day so far.” Imagine reporting on a $7,500 asset moving by 0.01% in a day. Talk about volatility. ICOformula recently picked up on The Sun’s execrable bitcoin reporting, noting: “One of the most astonishing things about the cryptocurrency and blockchain sectors is there is no shortage of critics prepared to dismiss any and all benefits of the technology, whilst at the same time admitting (or proving through their statements) they have no idea what they’re talking about.” It continued: “The mainstream press is not much better, with many just not even bothering to check the price of Bitcoin before writing and publishing an article – we pointed out to UK ‘newspaper’ The Sun earlier this month when they published 2 articles by 2 different ‘journalists’ on the same day quoting ‘A single Bitcoin is worth over £12,000 today’ and ‘Transactions are made without middlemen, so there are no transaction fees and no need to give your real name.’” Although the articles were edited after it being pointed out (but still full of holes), there is no recourse for such bad reporting. If the stock price of Microsoft or Apple were reported at more than double its current value, or the USD to GBP exchange rate was published at twice the level it should be there would be hell to pay – sadly the cryptocurrency markets are yet to command the level of respect the traditional FIAT world has come to rely upon. Financial Times and Its Insatiable Snark Like most conservative publications that are deeply entrenched with Wall Street, the Financial Times has been suspicious of bitcoin from the outset: It eventually got onboard, recognizing, belatedly, that it had better start taking this digital asset class seriously since everyone else was. Leading its crypto coverage, since the FT decided to buck up its act, has been Jemima Kelly. At times, her scepticism for ICO bullshit and vaporware has been refreshing, such as her takedown of IOTA. Ever since, however, a campaign of relentless snark for all things crypto has rendered Kelly’s, and by extension the Financial Times’, reporting worthless. No one is opposed to calling out the scams and avarice committed within the crypto space, whose perpetrators do not represent bitcoin and everything it stands for. But if MSM outlets are determined to fixate on the outlying scammers, they’re missing the cryptocurrency revolution that’s taking place under their noses, as the populace in their droves are rejecting devalued bank coins in favor of self-sovereignty and the right to transact privately. Dissing crypto because of ICO charlatans is like writing off email because of a few Nigerian 419 scams. Mainstream media have been wrong about bitcoin since the start, and, having been forced to play catch-up, are now covering it relentlessly but adversarially. That way, if it fails, they can crow that they were right all along, but if it prospers, can boast that they were telling their readers about it for years. MSM loves to hate crypto. When bitcoin takes over, never forget the names of the outlets that tried to dissuade you from getting into it. We can laugh at them now in the knowledge that one day history will follow suit. Do you think most mainstream media outlets are clueless about cryptocurrency, or are they starting to catch on? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Mainstream Media and Its Strange Love-Hate Affair with Bitcoin appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

This week news.Bitcoin.com spoke with one of the most prolific developers working with the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network. Over the past few months, the developer Unwriter has created a large swathe of censorship-resistant applications that are tethered to the BCH blockchain. We decided to get an inside glimpse of all the interesting platforms Unwriter has been launching, and the programmer tells us why they were conceived and how they operate. Also read: No Matter How You Slice It — Token Assets Are Coming to Bitcoin Cash So far the programmer Unwriter has launched platforms such as Chainfeed, a Twitter bot called @_Opreturn, Read.cash, the Bitdb.network, and a few more applications that are compatible with the BCH chain. Moreover, Unwriter has also been collaborating with five other well-known Bitcoin developers and contributed to the working paper called ‘The Simple Ledger Protocol,’ a concept that aims to create representative assets using the Bitcoin Cash network. With so many projects under this developer’s belt, we decided to chat with Unwriter in order to get some perspective on some of these unique applications. Unwriter Has Launched a Flurry of Censorship Resistant Applications News.Bitcoin.com (BC): Can you tell us about the first three applications you created? Unwriter: Chainfeed.org is the first application I created on BCH. Chainfeed is a web app that delivers the full firehose of real-time Bitcoin OP_RETURN transactions. It’s pretty mesmerizing to keep the site open and watch as messages flow in, especially now that there’s more variety in the types of apps being built on OP_RETURNs. Immediately after I released Chainfeed people started asking for an API, and soon I released the Chainfeed Firehose API. Now anyone with programming skills could hook into the real-time Bitcoin OP_RETURN feed with just a single function call. Chainfeed.org To demonstrate the Chainfeed API I built a Twitter bot called @_Opreturn. The @_opreturn account auto-replicates OP_RETURN transactions to Twitter via the Chainfeed API, effectively creating a portal from the Bitcoin world to the “real world”. Currently, it imports content from Memo.cash, blockpress, and Matter, a long-form blogging tool on the blockchain. But it may incorporate other apps in the future whenever it makes sense, pull requests and suggestions are welcome. It’s open sourced on Github so anyone can just fork it and build their own custom bot too. The Twitter bot @_Opreturn Read.cash was a project I spontaneously built one afternoon because I needed it myself. A lot of Bitcoin-powered apps nowadays have their own built-in wallets to provide a better user experience. You can see this in apps like Memo.cash and Yours.org. Whenever you receive money through these apps, you end up with separate wallets each tied to its parent application website. As I started playing around with these apps, I felt the need to keep track of all of these wallets in one place so I have a comprehensive view of how much money I’m making in total. And that’s what Read.cash does. It’s a read-only monitor that aggregates balances from all your wallets across the web and lets you keep track of them easily in one place. Read.cash You can add as many public Bitcoin addresses as you want and it doesn’t even require you to add any private key or anything, it’s 100 percent powered by public bitcoin addresses and the site is completely open source so there’s no security risk. Also, with the Money Button integration, you can even charge all your wallets in one place with one click. Some of the future improvements would be incorporating Tipbots like Tippr or Chaintip. Currently, they don’t provide a public access to user addresses so you can’t add them to Read.cash, but I heard some of them are thinking about it, so I’m looking forward to that day. BC: Just recently you launched the Bitdb.network can you tell our readers about this project and what it can do? Unwriter: Bitdb is a global NoSQL database backed by Bitcoin and implemented with MongoDB. Bitcoin’s blockchain is the perfect data structure to function as the single source of truth, but it’s not at all designed to facilitate flexible queries. And obviously, this is essential if you want to build any sophisticated app. Bitdb complements Bitcoin by taking all the OP_RETURN transactions on Bitcoin and creating a public MongoDB index that makes it hyper-queryable. This way you can build all kinds of apps easily which used to take months to build because all you need to focus on now are the protocol design and the frontend implementation. You no longer need to build out your entire custom backend infrastructure from scratch. For example, I recently released a new app called https://chaintrend.org – a “Google Trends for Bitcoin op_return”. Something like this would have taken me weeks to build had I started from scratch, but it took me exactly one day to build the whole thing thanks to Bitdb. It was just a matter of a single map-reduce query to the db. The Bitdb network. In addition to the ease of use, a more important benefit of Bitdb is that it provides a standardized way of querying Bitcoin OP_RETURNs, which is something that never existed before. Before Bitdb if you wanted to build an OP_RETURN based application, you would have had to build an entire backend infrastructure to crawl, process, index, and store OP_RETURNs in your own custom database in a queryable manner. This is exactly what the Memo.cash team did and it’s a lot of work. Furthermore, this is completely redundant for every developer who wants to work on a decentralized app powered by Bitcoin OP_RETURN. They would all end up building their own custom infrastructure that are completely incompatible with one another even though they’re all building on top of exactly the same ledger — Bitcoin. This is where Bitdb comes in. It takes all the OP_RETURN messages, chunks them into pieces, and stores them under attributes with a standardized naming convention that goes: “b1”, “b2”, “b3”, etc. There are many benefits to this approach: This standardized way of indexing provides a uniform interface to querying the blockchain and makes interoperability across apps a trivial matter. For example when Blockpress first launched, a lot of people complained about the protocol incompatibility between Memo and Blockpress. But with Bitdb this is a non-issue. For example, with a single query, you can even create an app that combines Memo and Blockpress into a unified feed. Here’s a great example. Developers no longer need to worry about how to store their data. Without an open standard indexing strategy, every app developer needs to carefully think about how they will structure the protocol and how they will store the data. And since all apps have different purposes, their database will all look different and incompatible with one another therefore difficult to integrate. We don’t want that. We want all apps to seamlessly integrate with one another through the single parent protocol which is Bitcoin. And that’s Bitdb’s main goal — Interoperability. When you build your decentralized app using Bitdb your app is automatically open sourced (which is what users want) even without you doing anything (which is what you want). All you need to maintain are the protocol specification and the frontend implementation. So if the app developer decides to move on, anyone can resurrect the app easily by reconstructing the data from scratch using Bitdb — no need for the original developer to go through trouble to open source their backend, because it’s already 100% open simply by choosing to use the Bitdb scheme instead of rolling a custom backend infrastructure. You could even build an app WITHOUT a public frontend. An app developer may decide to just publish the Bitdb query recipe for their app protocol somewhere either publicly or privately, and the target users can build their own frontend locally using the Bitdb query, which means you can build truly censorship resistant apps this way if you want. BC: How do you feel about the amount of development taking place with the BCH ecosystem since the May hard fork? Unwriter: Two things: OP_RETURN increase: When most people see the OP_RETURN size increase from 80 bytes to 220 bytes, they see just a three-fold increase. But when developers look at it I think they see an exponential increase. Developers are very used to creating exponential output from linear input because that’s their job description. We won’t see apps that are 3 times better, we will start seeing apps that never could exist before, which will change everything. The block size limit increase: For most people, I assume the 32 MB size probably sounds cool but not really that tangible. But what’s really important is this increase is a great signaling for all the developers and entrepreneurs who are looking for a platform to build on top of. The block size increase demonstrates the commitment to the “permissionless innovation” philosophy and I think that’s a good philosophy to bet on if you’re building an open source project such as Bitcoin. BC: If there was something specific you wanted to add to the next hard fork what would it be? @_Unwriter Unwriter: To succeed, I think Bitcoin at this stage needs to focus on the application ecosystem growth instead of its own growth. This is because I believe exponential growth will come NOT from individual merchant adoptions but from entrepreneurs and developers building useful things on top of Bitcoin. These people are good at creating exponential output from linear input, therefore are the ones Bitcoin needs to win trust from if it wants to grow most efficiently. So in my humble opinion, the top priority for protocol changes should be the features that improve on these fronts — getting trust and attention from entrepreneurs and developers (instead of individual users and merchants). Individual users and merchants will follow when there are more useful things they can do with Bitcoin. Until then, individuals will only see Bitcoin as a speculative asset no matter how many buzzwordy features it adds. And to win trust from these people Bitcoin needs to show that it’s scalable, stable, and permissionless. Without scalability, it’s not so attractive to these people because they would rather spend their energy building things on other platforms that they can benefit exponentially from. And without the perception of permissionless innovation and stability, wise developers will not want to waste their energy building stuff on top of Bitcoin because they don’t want to wake up one day to find that the rules of the game have changed overnight and all their effort has gone to waste. So for example, I think the recent hype and conflicts around tokens on BCH is very healthy and desirable. ICOs have acquired a bad reputation because most of them are scams, but I do believe it is a necessary evil because it will attract the type of people who are seeking exponential growth/returns on their projects and businesses. It will have been a success even if 0.01% of them end up becoming a success and the rest of them are scams or failures. Especially on BCH, since it’s all about scalable usage. BC: As far as the BCH and BTC rivalry is concerned how do you feel about this subject as far as the future is concerned? Unwriter: We can learn a lot from history. I think the French revolution provides a lot of insight into the future. BC: How can other developers help you with your projects if they wanted to collaborate with you or the new applications you’ve built? Unwriter: I think the best way to get started is actually build your own apps using all the open sourced tools such as Chainfeed API and BitDB. There are so many cool things you can build TODAY, even without running your own node but simply using BitDB/Chainfeed combination. Eventually, as you start using them you will come across pain points and maybe even improvement ideas. Feel free to make suggestions, ask questions, and send pull requests. I’ve done my best to be available as much as possible through the telegram chatroom and Twitter, so reach out anytime. In fact, all this is already happening organically and it’s amazing. There are some really cool projects already using the Chainfeed and Bitdb infrastructure. One such example is the Chainbet protocol. It uses the Chainfeed API to deal with real-time messaging. Also, the upcoming Simple Ledger Protocol will use a unique security model that takes advantage of both SPVs and BitDB to complement each other. Also, the popular Memo++ extension by Modulus makes use of Chainfeed/Bitdb API. Lastly, I also know of a few people working on a Google-like search engine on top of Bitdb. But these are just some of the projects I’m aware of, and I’m sure there are many other people working on their cool projects, would love to hear from them. Some people are even forking Bitdb for their own altcoin blockchains and I totally encourage them. If you’re thinking of doing this, please do so and reach out. The codebase is modular for a reason so any Bitcoin-like chains can integrate easily. I take this radical open approach because I believe strongly enough in Bitcoin that I know it can do no harm but only bring good. I also believe the most effective way for Bitcoin to grow at this stage is to gain as much external developer/entrepreneur mindshare as possible, and interface with as many external technologies as possible. What do you think about all the applications Unwriter has launched? Let us know what you think in the comment section below. Images via Chainfeed, Read.cash, Bitdb.network, and Twitter. 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 Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post A Discussion With the Prolific Bitcoin Developer Unwriter appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

According to the head of Iran’s Blockchain Association, over 500 BTC belonging to Iranians were confiscated by the U.S. government last year, and the number is still rising. He explains that Iranians are unable to take action through proper channels from within their country due to Iran’s legal status of cryptocurrency. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Iranians’ 500 BTC Seized by US Government Sepehr Mohammadi, the president of Iran’s Blockchain Association, told Ibena news outlet last week: Last year, a remarkable volume of bitcoins which belonged to some Iranians were confiscated for unspecific reasons by the federal government of the United States, and the process of confiscation is still continuing. He admitted that the exact number of confiscated BTC “is not clear, but it is expected to be over 500 bitcoins, worth approximately 25 billion tomans ($5.77 million)” at the time, the publication quoted him. “Some people believe that this confiscation is because bitcoin owners were circumventing U.S. sanctions,” Mohammadi added. Recently, news.Bitcoin.com reported that the government of Iran is considering using cryptocurrencies to evade long-held U.S. economic sanctions. Mohammad Reza Pour-Ebrahimi, the chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s Economic Commission, said in an interview with Mizan news agency on July 15 that digital currencies are among the major mechanisms that Iran can use to the evade the sanctions. He noted that the Iranian parliament will soon discuss this issue. Legal Challenge Mohammadi further explained to Ibena the challenges Iranian citizens face to recover their cryptocurrencies: The owners of confiscated bitcoins are unable to take legal action against the U.S. inside Iran as cryptocurrencies are banned in the country. The association is looking to take international legal action, but they have not yet found a legal expert in anti-money laundering law who will handle the case. Central Bank of Iran. In April, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) banned banks and financial institutions in the country from dealing with cryptocurrencies. The CBI claimed that “All cryptocurrencies have the capacity to be turned into a means for money laundering and financing terrorism and in general can be turned into a means for transferring criminals’ money.” Nonetheless, Pour-Ebrahimi told Ibena in May that even though “few people in Iran are cryptocurrency users,” according to his data, “more than 2.5 billion dollars has been sent out of the country for buying digital currencies.” What do you think of the US government seizing Iranians’ BTC? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Financial Tribune. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Over 500 BTC Belonging to Iranians Seized by US Government: Report appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Employees in Costa Rica can receive part of their salary in cryptocurrency and that wouldn’t be against the law. Certain provisions in the national legislation allow companies to pay their workers not only with fiat money but also with goods, and some legal experts believe cryptos can fit in this category. Besides, Costa Rican laws provide for the use of commonly accepted assets as means of payment. Also read: New BATM Supporting BTC, BCH Launches in Sofia Cryptos in Costa Rica Can Be Goods, Assets, Quasi-Money Workers in Costa Rica may soon start receiving a portion of their salary in cryptocurrency, local media reported. As far as Costa Rican law is concerned, there is no reason this cannot happen. The country’s legislation allows employers to partly remunerate their staff with goods that are not currency, as long as the legal minimum wage is paid in money. It also develops the concept of “quasi-money”, or any asset that can be used as a means of payment and has been widely accepted as such in the society. “This is a trend that could take hold in the country,” said Rolando Perlaza who is working at Nassar Abogados, a prominent law firm in Central America. “This type of payment would in no way replace traditional or liquid cash. It would rather become an incentive for the workers, who could decide if they accept these currencies as payment for their services,” the expert elaborated, quoted by the Costa Rican News. He also emphasized that in any case employees are protected by article 166 of the country’s Labor Code. The publication notes that in October last year, the Central Bank of Costa Rica (CBCR) issued a directive which established that cryptocurrencies are outside the national banking system. The document also indicated that carrying out any type of commercial transactions with digital coins is a “limited option” in the country. Along with that, the central bank warned that those who use cryptocurrencies assume the associated financial risks. Costa Rica’s Growing Crypto Sector Despite CBCR’s assessment, the local crypto sector has been developing steadily in recent years with a growing number of merchants and other businesses, including many hotels and companies from the tourism industry, accepting cryptocurrencies as a legitimate payment method. Costa Rica, which has remained relatively open towards business ventures in the crypto space, has also seen a number of bitcoin ATMs popping up in the capital San Jose and elsewhere. According to the report, the Latin American country also offers favorable conditions for crypto mining thanks to its renewable sources. “Our Costa Rica-based crypto mining facility utilizes renewable energy options such as solar and wind. We think renewable energy has to be an essential part of any crypto related project. This green approach is good both for us and for the planet and makes the new business opportunities even better,” said Daniel Yépez, a local crypto entrepreneur. “Cryptocurrencies are here to stay and we are embracing the changes,” added Yépez whose company, SH Mining Technologies, specializes in providing cloud mining services. Can cryptocurrencies be used as legal means of payment under the current legislation in your country? Let us know 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 Costa Rican Workers Can Be Legally Paid in Cryptocurrency appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining has become a very competitive industry, and the amount of processing power hashing away to mine these digital assets is truly amazing. However over the years since the inception of GPU and ASIC mining, essentially when home mining turned into an industry, the cryptocurrency mining space has been riddled with fraudulent operations and people pretending to be massive mining facilities when they don’t even own a single miner. Also read: Altcoins Are Dying Phony Crypto-Mining Rigs & Massive Facilities: The Tale of Mining Vaporware If you know about cryptocurrencies then you surely have heard about mining and the mega-competitive industry that surrounds this process of minting new digital assets like bitcoin, litecoin, and ethereum. Between the BCH and BTC network alone, miners are processing an average hashrate of 45 exahashes per second. However, over the years there have been a lot of fraudulent individuals and operations within the mining industry claiming to be something they’re not. Just because someone shows a picture of a cryptocurrency mining facility or a new bitcoin mining rig that outperforms the competition doesn’t make it real. We recently wrote about some sketchy blockchain projects that send cryptocurrency publications press releases, and these clown projects get front page articles even though their operations are pure vaporware. In the mining sector, there are some shady operations that profess they have a huge facility with thousands of SHA256 miners churning away at the bitcoin network, but there have been many instances where individuals have found these warehouses filled with miners don’t even exist. Some of these fraudsters have even used pictures of other people’s mining operations so they can make people believe they have a facility filled with ASIC miners. GAW Miners and Hashlets A few years ago a lot of people from the cryptocurrency community were scammed by the firm GAW Miners and its related companies. The founder of GAW Miners Joshua Garza started out as a simple mining hardware reseller, and suddenly claimed to own massive mining facilities and the company started a cloud-mining operation called “Hashlets.” There was one big problem, the operations were seemingly faked with photoshopped pictures, and his projects were bolstered by a mess of lies pushed by Garza and his associates. Of course due to these factors of fabrication, the company’s cloud-mining products called ‘Hashlets’ never paid out. The US Securities and Exchange Commission eventually charged Garza with fraud and running a Ponzi scheme. GAW Miners Josh Garza found guilty to fraud and Ponzi schemes involved with fake mining operations. Hashocean’s Exit Scam Another shady venture that started in 2014 was another cloud-mining operation called Hashocean. The Hashocean team for years claimed to have six super-large mining farms located all around the world, and for a year or so it became a very large business operation as far as contract sales were concerned. Then two years ago in July of 2016, the company abruptly halted all payouts and the site silently went offline. Hashocean was then accused of being an ‘exit scam.’ Moreover, even though the operation lasted two years according to Bitcoincloudmining.org, Hashocean had a horrible reputation for paying out, even when the site was alive and well. After the site went down so-called core members of the Hashocean team claimed they were ‘hacked’ and promised to allow withdrawals but nothing ever materialized. Hashocean team members said the domain had been hacked and sold, and it was beyond their control. Fabricated Mining Rigs Another prevalent scam is when people promote a new mining machine that supposedly outperforms every mining rig on the market, but the machine doesn’t really exist. Just like some legitimate mining manufacturers, scam machine sellers have a pre-order for their first batches of super-efficient miners. Back in May of 2017, news.Bitcoin.com caught three shady websites that were all interconnected selling fabricated mining devices. The machines did not exist, but the websites and the people behind them sure did, collecting a couple grand worth of BTC per miner for devices that will never ship out. Foxminers, UFO Miners and Minerslab all sold the same machines with different logos but the logos were photoshopped on older miners manufactured in the past like Zeus Miners. The Foxminers machine to the left is a phony machine and skeptics assumed it was a photoshopped Zeus miner. ‘The Largest Miners’ Even now pretend mining operations are still using the same old smoke and mirror tactics to make themselves look bigger than they are. For instance, to this day there are many sketchy press releases sent to cryptocurrency publications that consist of firms claiming to be the biggest data centers in Canada or the US. But there are never any pictures sent with these press announcements, and the locations of these facilities are never truly publicized, but yet these firms always claim to be the ‘largest mining facility in North America.’ If people can’t verify that these mining operations actually exist, and a press release claims to be the region’s largest crypto-mining facility by capacity, and publications print this garbage based on faith, then something is wrong. The cryptocurrency industry has a bunch of sketchy people, and some of them claim to be mining behemoths. If one was to google, “the biggest bitcoin miners in North America,” the person would find there are many firms who claim to be the area’s largest operations. Who is the largest mining operation in that region? — Is it Bitfury, Hut8, Gigawatt, Hashflare, Coinmint, and the many others who have claimed to be the biggest? Without true transparency, real-time documentation of the facilities, and actual witnesses it is likely some of the ‘biggest miners’ in North America and other regions around the world are all talk. Just because a mining company’s press release claims to have a 500-1000 petahash operation — That doesn’t make it true. Photoshopped Facilities The moral of the story is when it comes to mining operations, if it can’t be proven it’s likely someone blowing smoke. A few years ago the financial publication Business Insider’s Rob Price got a tour of the Genesis Mining firm’s mine located in Iceland. Marco Streng, the Genesis co-founder, explained at the time that mining operations have a “major trust issue.” Streng tells Price back in June of 2016: [Some miners] don’t ever even own their own mining facilities. They just take pictures from other companies, Photoshop them, then pretend they are theirs. What do you think about miners pretending to be more than what they really are? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comment section below. Disclaimer: This is an Op-ed article. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support views, opinions or conclusions drawn in this post. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the Op-ed article. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the content. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any information in this Op-ed article. Images via Shutterstock, Pixabay, Bitcointalk.org, and the Foxminers scam. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Some Crypto-Mining Operations Are Not What They Say They Are appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article