roadrunner

Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, serving life in prison without parole, has joined Twitter. While denied direct internet access from behind bars, he is now able to communicate with the Twittersphere, in a fashion, with the aid of hand-written notes posted to a Twitter account in his name. It is hoped the account will keep his case in the spotlight as he fights for his freedom. Also read: Change.org Petition Attempts to Fight for Ross Ulbricht’s Freedom Ross Ulbricht Finds His Voice For approaching five years, Ross Ulbricht has awoken each morning inside a federal penitentiary. Barring a miracle, that pattern will repeat every day for the rest of his life. Despite all conventional avenues of appeal having been exhausted, hopes remain that the Silk Road mastermind may eventually taste freedom. Until such a time, the 34-year-old now has a means of conveying his thoughts to the public, many of whom have been campaigning for his release. @RealRossU is the handle of the Twitter account that launched today to convey the thoughts of Ross Ulbricht. “I’m hoping to find my voice here after all these years of silence. It has been a strange journey, but I’m so grateful for all those who’ve shown love and support and held me up through the hard times. You give me strength,” he writes in a note that has been transcribed and shared on his behalf. A photo of the original letter, hosted on freeross.org, attests to its authenticity. “This is My First Time on Twitter” “This is my first time on Twitter,” writes Ross, “so I’m not sure yet what I’ll be tweeting about. I guess we’ll figure it out together. It’s coming up on five years that I’ve been in prison though, so I’m hoping this will help me feel more connected to the outside. Thank you for supporting me and for all your support in my struggle for freedom.” Ross Ulbricht is serving his sentence in USP Florence High, a maximum security penitentiary in Colorado, which has a population of 776 inmates. Policy governing the electronic communications granted to prisoners differs on a state by state and case by case basis. However, individuals whose cases have become a cause célèbre have been granted this right in the past, albeit under tight restrictions. Chelsea Manning was able to join Twitter in 2015 while imprisoned and dictate communications over the phone to a third party who published them on her behalf. If Ross’s updates are to be delivered by mail only, as appears to be the case, followers will have to content themselves with sporadic updates. That said, given the amount of free time the Austin, Texas native has at his disposal, he may be able to despatch multiple missives that are shared in installments. Within an hour of his first tweet being published, @RealRossU had already attracted 500 followers, a number that is sure to grow significantly in the coming days. While social metrics and the minutiae of Twitter are the least of Ross Ulbricht’s concerns, knowing that an army of followers are hanging on his every word is sure to fortify him as his fight for freedom steps up. Do you think Ross Ulbricht will ever receive clemency? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Twitter and Freeross.org. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Ross Ulbricht Joins Twitter appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Seiko Noda, Japan’s Minister for Internal Affairs & Communications, and Minister in charge of Women’s Empowerment, was questioned by the Japanese press on Thursday over her involvement with an unregistered cryptocurrency exchange, which was allegedly violating the Japanese fund settlement law. Also read: Japan Tax Agency Says Individuals Earning $1,800+ in Crypto a Year Will Declare Tax It was revealed on Thursday that, on January 30, Noda’s secretary and aide allegedly invited an agent of the FSA and the representative of an unnamed unregistered cryptocurrency exchange operator to her parliamentary office. The said exchange operator was under investigation by the FSA for operating without registration, Jiji Press reported. The FSA had slapped the Tokyo-based company with a warning on January 12, saying it was suspected of violating the law. Given Her Position as a Cabinet Minister, Noda Risked Being Accused of Exerting Pressure on a Government Investigation Seiko Noda, Minister for Internal Affairs “Because there has never been any administrative ties between this company and my office, I believe there is no exerting pressure on the front of this government investigation.” Noda told the press at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, on Thursday. According to Noda, her secretary and aide solicited an FSA agent for general background briefing regarding crypto exchanges’ legal framework and organized a meeting at her parliamentary office with an acquaintance who represented the company. Noda said she was not present at the meeting. The unnamed company was under government investigation on suspicion of violating the fund settlement law at the time, but Noda’s team claims it was not aware of that fact. An FSA official visited Noda’s office at the Diet members’ building on January 30 to explain Noda’s aide and the representative of the company under investigation the FSA’s positioning on regulations concerning funds raising by issuing cryptocurrency and other matters. A senior agency official noted that the request from Noda’s office for a briefing could be interpreted as pressure. “A public servant will likely take it as pressure if an aide to a sitting Cabinet member calls for a meeting in which an employee of a company the agency is looking into is also present,” the official was quoted saying to Asahi newspaper. Noda told reporters that she hasn’t received any political contribution, nor had she made any investment with the company. “I promise I will take more prudent responses in the future.” She added. The company, which began dealing in its own cryptocurrency in October 2017, received administrative guidance in February 2018 not to continue selling cryptocurrencies. The Amended Settlement Act The National Diet, the seat of the Japanese government Japanese lawmakers amended the Act on Settlement of Funds in May 2016 to regulate businesses handling virtual currencies. This law was amended after Mt. Gox went bankrupt in Japan in February of 2014 due to the misappropriation of customers’ assets by its operator. In response to these background events, Japanese lawmakers enacted the Amended Settlement Act with three pillars of regulation as follows: Registration requirements on virtual currency exchange business in Japan; Regulation against money laundering and terrorist financing; and Introduction of rules to ensure customer protection. What do you think of this Minister’s implication in government investigation into the crypto exchange operator? Share your thoughts in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Jiji Press and Japan Times. At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even lookup the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more. The post Japanese Minister Denies Ties to Unregistered Crypto Exchange Under Investigation appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Malta Stock Exchange has separately announced today that MSX, the innovation, digital and fintech arm of the group, will be developing two new platforms for listing and trading security tokens. Neufund is developed in partnership with Binance, and OKMSX in collaboration with Okex. Also Read: No Insider Trading, Market Manipulation and Misleading Ads – Malta’s New Crypto Law Neufund A subsidiary of the Malta Stock Exchange and Binance, Neufund aims to become an end-to-end primary issuance platform for security tokens, equity tokens in particular. It will allow for secondary trading of equity tokens and enable companies from around the world to raise funds in a legal way while offering liquidity. Seven companies are already slated to conduct an Equity Token Offering (ETO) on the platform: Founders Bank, Brille24, Uniti, Myswooop, Next Big Thing, Blockstate and Emflux Motors. A pilot project is promised later in 2018 which is said to include the public offering of tokenized equity on Neufund’s primary market which may later be tradable on Binance and other crypto exchanges pending regulatory and listing approvals. “We are thrilled to announce the partnerships with Malta Stock Exchange and Binance, that will ensure high liquidity to equity tokens issued on Neufund. It is the first time in history, that security tokens can be offered and traded in a legally binding way. The upcoming pilot project will allow us to test the market’s reaction and realize the overall project idea in an environment with minimized risk,” commented Zoe Adamovicz, CEO and Co-founder at Neufund. OKMSX OKMSX is meant to leverage Okex’s digital asset operations and security expertise, along with the Malta Stock Exchange’s 26-year experience in regulatory compliance and client due diligence. It aims to develop an institutional grade security-tokens trading platform. The two parties say they strive to finalize the joint venture by Q3 2018 and that this new platform will launch by Q1 2019 to service clients globally from Malta. “Malta is taking the helm of regulating the blockchain technology and cultivating a regulated cryptocurrency and ICO epicentre. This joint venture marks our confidence in the Maltese government as well as our commitment to providing an efficient, secure, and transparent blockchain trading environment to clients worldwide. We believe OKMSX will be a milestone in the economic development of Malta,” said Tim Byun, Chief Risk Officer and Head of Government Relations of Okex. “Today Malta opened up a way for legally binding listing and trading of tokenized securities. We are proud of Malta Stock Exchange to enter a partnership with a worldwide leader in primary offerings on blockchain such as OKEx. I look forward to the fruitful collaboration in the future,” commented Silvio Schembri, the Maltese minister for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation. Are security tokens listed on stock exchange-backed platforms really more safe to invest in? 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 Malta Stock Exchange to Develop Two New Platforms for Security Tokens appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Federal Reserve’s new chairman made his stance on cryptocurrency clear to the US House of Representatives on Wednesday. In his view, cryptocurrencies have no intrinsic value, are not used often as a means of payment, are not a store of value, but are great for money laundering. He also dismisses the idea that cryptocurrencies could pose a significant risk to the country’s financial stability at their current size. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Powell’s Testimony The chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve who took office in February, Jerome Powell, answered questions about cryptocurrencies in his testimony before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday. Jerome Powell. This committee has jurisdiction over issues pertaining to the U.S. economy, banking system, housing, insurance, securities, exchanges, monetary policy, international finance, international monetary organizations, and efforts to combat terrorist financing. U.S. Representative and vice-chairman of the committee, Patrick T. Mchenry, asked Powell to outline his thinking on cryptocurrencies. The chairman replied that there are “significant” risks to “relatively unsophisticated investors” who “see the asset going up in price and they think this is great; I’ll buy this [but] in fact there is no promise behind that.” He elaborated: Cryptocurrencies are great if you’re trying to hide money or if you’re trying to launder money…it doesn’t really have any intrinsic value so I think there’re investor or consumer protection issues as well. Furthermore, regarding whether the Fed is considering issuing its own digital currency, the chairman clarified, “that’s not something we’re looking at,” reiterating, “we’re not looking at this at the Fed as something that we should be doing.” As for whether cryptocurrency is a currency, Powell claims that “it’s not really a currency,” clarifying: If you think about what currencies do, they’re supposed to be a means of payment and a store of value, basically. And cryptocurrencies…they’re not really used very much in payment. Typically people sell their cryptocurrencies and then pay in dollars. In terms of a store of value, you know, look at the volatility and…it’s just not there. Regulatory Framework Patrick T. Mchenry. While questioning Powell, Mchenry outlined the current regulatory framework for cryptocurrency in the U.S. He detailed that each of the 50 states has its own requirements for crypto businesses operating locally such as obtaining a money service license. There are also regulators such as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that have some jurisdiction over cryptocurrency when it falls under their domain, he described, reiterating: There’s some broad [regulatory] framework of it but not a concerted effort by the federal government to understand what’s happening in cryptocurrency. No Serious Risk to Financial Stability Mchenry further asked Powell whether the Fed sees cryptocurrency impairing its ability “to act on monetary policy, given the current shape and scope of the size of the market.” The Fed chair replied, “not at all today.” Powell additionally explained his previous statement regarding the impact of crypto on the country’s financial stability. He recalled being asked, “do cryptocurrencies currently present a serious financial stability threat?” He clarified: They’re not big enough to do that yet. That’s really what I was saying, not that they’re not a longer-term thing. Powell believes that the recent BIS report and others have adequately outlined risks associated with cryptocurrency “and called on the appropriate regulatory bodies to address them.” He emphasized, “we don’t have jurisdiction over cryptocurrency. We have jurisdiction over banks,” adding that those with jurisdiction such as the CFTC and the SEC can address the investor protection aspects of crypto. This week, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) also said that “Crypto-assets do not pose a material risk to global financial stability at this time.” What do you think of Powell’s view on cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and the U.S. government. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Fed Chair: Crypto Has No Intrinsic Value, Not a Store of Value, Great for Money Laundering 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. Wednesday Lugano, Switzerland – trade.io, a leading cryptocurrency exchange and innovator of the industry’s leading liquidity pool, today announced that David Hannigan has joined the company as its Chief Dealer. David brings almost 30 years of trading and risk management experience, most notably his position as Senior VP at National Australia Bank, to his new role. David will lead trade.io’s risk management department, and will be responsible for building out its OTC Desk, allowing for both retail and institutional fiat-to-crypto exchange functionality. Up to 50% of all OTC Desk revenues will be allocated to the forthcoming liquidity pool, which can only be accessed by using trade.io’s utility token, TIO. trade.io’s CEO Jim Preissler said, “We’re very lucky to have someone with David’s experience lead the risk management team and spearhead our OTC Desk. David has an impeccable track record in trading and risk management, which is invaluable when dealing with the size of deals in the crypto space. It’s not uncommon to have a $10m deal come through the desk multiple times per day.” David Hannigan also commented, “I see a lot of similarities in how trade.io runs its business to many of the large banks I’ve worked for in the past. With my prior experience in the banking sector, I am cognizant on how profitable an OTC Desk can be. I am thrilled to hit the ground running to provide this service to the trade.io community.” David will also be providing daily commentary on the crypto markets which can be accessed by registered trade.io users. About trade.io trade.io is a next-generation financial institution based on blockchain technology, providing the ultimate in security and transparency. By leveraging decades of experience in the investment banking, trading & FinTech sectors, and combining them with the power and transparency of the distributed ledger, trade.io has created a truly unique exchange that will revolutionize asset trading and investment banking. Press Contact Email Address marilia.kountouridou@trade.io Supporting Link https://exchange.trade.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: trade.Io Appoints Banking Veteran David Hannigan to Run OTC Desk appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In today’s edition of Bitcoin in Brief we cover an American anti-crypto politician who is financially backed by a legacy payments firm, a positive change of leadership at Goldman Sachs, Grayscale’s performance during first half of 2018 and much more. Also Read: Mastercard Patents a Method to Manage Cryptocurrency “Fractional Reserves” He Who Pays the Piper Calls the Tune Whenever you hear politicians talk about something and it sounds like they don’t have a clue about it, it’s important to remember that they may have a vested interest in misunderstanding it that way. An example of this came as US Representative Brad Sherman (Democrat-California) blasted cryptocurrencies at a House Financial Services Committee hearing entitled “The Future of Money: Digital Currency” on Wednesday. “We should prohibit U.S. persons from buying or mining cryptocurrencies,” Rep. Sherman proclaimed. “Mining alone uses electricity which takes away from other needs and-or adds to the carbon footprint. As a store, as a medium of exchange, cryptocurrency accomplishes nothing except facilitating narcotics trafficking, terrorism, and tax evasion.” And indeed members of the crypto community where quick to point out on social media and forums that, according to Opensecrets.org, his top financial contributor for 2017-2018 is Allied Wallet. This company is an online payments processor offering credit card, ACH and other legacy services that stand to lose out once wider cryptocurrency adoption makes them redundant. DJ D-Sol Takes the Helm at Goldman The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) has announced that Lloyd C. Blankfein will retire as Chairman and CEO on September 30, 2018, and that the Board of Directors has appointed David M. Solomon to succeed him in both roles. The move caught the interest of cryptocurrency investors as, while Blankfein was more hesitant, Solomon is considered to be open to trading the new instruments. “We are clearing some futures around bitcoin, talking about doing some other activities there, but it’s going very cautiously,” Solomon said in an interview on Bloomberg TV last month. “We’re listening to our clients and trying to help our clients as they’re exploring those things too.” Goldman Sachs must “evolve its business and adapt to the environment,” he explained. On a side note, Solomon is also known for moonlighting as a DJ at exclusive parties around the world. Yes, really. Grayscale Raised $250m in H1 2018 Grayscale Investments, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Digital Currency Group which offers trusts for BTC, BCH, ETH, ETS, XRP, ZEC, and LTC, has released a report that analyzes the activity across its product range during the first half of 2018. The figures show that the company raised almost $250 million ($248.4 million) in its investment products, making it the strongest fundraising six-month period since Grayscale launched its first product in September 2013. The company also notes that institutional investors accounted for 56% of all new investment dollars into Grayscale products, a pronounced increase in allocations to the asset class despite a broad-based price reduction across digital currencies during 2018. Coinbase Not Approved for Securities After All? Earlier this week Coinbase claimed that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) had approved its takeover of Keystone Capital, Venovate Marketplace, and Digital Wealth, the three entities that Coinbase sought for their securities licenses. Now the company appears to be walking back from these statements. “It is not correct to say that the SEC and FINRA approved Coinbase’s purchase of Keystone because SEC was not involved in the approval process,” Coinbase spokeswoman Rachael Horwitz told Bloomberg. “The SEC’s approval is not required for the change of control application,” Horwitz claimed. “Coinbase has discussed aspects of its proposed operations, including the acquisition of the Keystone Entity, on an informal basis with several members of SEC staff.” Stellar Sharia The Stellar Development Foundation has announced a couple of days ago that it obtained a Sharia compliance certification for the network from the Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB), an international Sharia advisory agency licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain. The foundation hopes that this certification will help grow the Stellar ecosystem in regions where financial services require compliance with Islamic financing principles. Whether or not many potential crypto investors were really waiting for a token with a Sharia-compliant sign of approval, the move certainly didn’t hurt Stellar as XLM is now worth over 50% more than just a week ago. 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: Anti-Crypto Politician Backed by Payments Firm, Grayscale Raised $250m in H1 appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Two more types of BCH tokenization projects have been announced on July 18, giving the BCH community a wider variety of different ideas that can bring forth the concept of representative tokens into reality on the Bitcoin Cash network. Also read: Powerful Cryptocurrency Firms on the Road Towards Becoming Banks Bitcoin Cash Community Greeted by Two More Token Creation Systems The Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network has seen a lot of development since the last hard fork which debuted the reenabled Satoshi OP_Codes and the upgraded default data-carrier-size. The BCH community and developers have been bolstering the idea of tokenization on the BCH chain. There’s been a bunch of ideas so far with Andrew Stone’s GROUP proposal and Joannes Vermorel’s Tokeda paper. Then this week Bitmain developers revealed the Wormhole project that utilizes a fork of the Omni Layer. Then on Wednesday, two more token ideas have been introduced for the BCH chain — One concept from the Cryptonize.it developers, and another proposal written by a group of six developers including Jonald Fyookball, James Cramer, Unwriter, Mark B. Lundeberg, Calin Culianu, and Ryan X. Charles. Colored Coins & Cryptonized Cash The creators of the platforms Cryptonize.it and the Cashpay wallet explained that they are bringing the Colored Coins protocol to the BCH network. The Colored Coins (CC) protocol debuted for the BTC back in 2013 network by adding specific metadata to the blockchain. This in turn created ‘representative tokens’ or ‘colored coins’ that can represent any physical or digital item like stocks, bonds, gold and silver backed coins. The Colored Coin protocol will allow Cryptonize.it the ability to create a currency called Cryptonized Cash (CC) that can be used with Cashpay for discounts and exclusive products. “Further utility will be added as Cryptonize.it grows — There will be a total of 1 billion CC, without the ability to add more in the future,” the developers emphasized on the social media platform Yours.org. “The tokens are always redeemable on Cryptonize.it — One of the most important questions to answer when proposing adoption of a certain framework is what are the use-cases? Luckily with colored coins, the answer is endless. Colored coins can represent vouchers, coupons, tokens, altcoins or other assets. You can tokenize whatever you want. The first real-world use-case is Cryptonized Cash (CC), an incentive program on Cryptonize.it which is live right now. The Simple Ledger Protocol Following the Colored Coins concept, another paper was revealed to the public written by Ryan X. Charles, Mark B. Lundeberg, Calin Culianu, Jonald Fyookball, James Cramer, and the developer Unwriter. The paper called, “Simple Ledger Protocol: A token system for Bitcoin Cash,” details a proposal for the BCH network that handles tradeable redeemable tokens without a consensus upgrade. Enhancement proposals such as GROUP have not been able to obtain consensus needed to change the base protocol, explains the group of developers. Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) utilizes metadata in OP_Return transactions and the SLP creators believe consensus can be achieved by “token users and market participants adhering to a prescribed set of simple rules.” A diagram from the SLP paper. “Because SLP builds on the transaction chain of the existing Bitcoin framework, users can easily verify transactions with SPV/lite wallets within practical boundaries,” the paper explains. Full validation of a transaction back to its token genesis is possible by supplementing existing transaction-retrieval infrastructure with the integration of SLP consensus rules. The developers say that the SLP system will be permissionless, simple, robust, non-invasive, extensible, and an implementation plan for rapid ecosystem support. The 26-page paper is extremely detailed and it observes multiple subjects that need attention such as wallet implementations, token address format, proxies, utilizing the Bitdb network, economic implications, and more. The group of six developers revealed they were motivated to present their own token solution and the key to its success will be simplicity. “But will also depend on our taking action to foster the support of the ecosystem,” the SLP programmers add. No Matter How You Look at It, Token Assets Are Coming to the Bitcoin Cash Network Of course, the Bitcoin Cash community was pretty thrilled about two more tokenization projects using the BCH chain. One user on the Reddit forum r/btc who enjoyed the SLP paper notes that there has been quite a lot of these proposals lately, “I believe we’re hitting some ‘tokenization proposal fatigue.” Nevertheless, enthusiasts dig the competition and the amount of development dedicated to bringing tokenized assets to the Bitcoin Cash network. The community may end up using a bunch of different color coin methods down the line or perhaps they may just use the superior tokenized system. Whatever the case may be, the race is on to get a system that creates representative tokens using the security of the BCH protocol. What do you think about these two BCH tokenization concepts introduced? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comment section below. Images via Pixabay, the SLP paper, and Cryptonize.it. 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 No Matter How You Slice It — Token Assets Are Coming to Bitcoin Cash appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The alleged bitcoin Ponzi kingpin, Amit Bhardwaj, has reportedly offered to pay back the initial investments in Indian rupees to those who lost money through his scheme. However, victims want the current value of their cryptocurrencies, not the initial investments. Zebpay, one of India’s largest crypto exchanges, has also been called in to help with the investigation. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Bitcoin Ponzi Kingpin Offers to Compensate Victims Amit Bhardwaj, the founder of GBminers and Gainbitcoin, has offered “to pay back investors their initial investments in Indian rupees,” the Factor Daily reported Wednesday. He has been accused of duping thousands of investors with promises of unrealistic returns on bitcoin investments. According to the news outlet, “dozens have filed police complaints in Pune, Mumbai, Nanded (Maharashtra), Kolkata, Delhi and others cities.” One of the victims was quoted as saying: We want the returns in (today’s) cryptocurrency value and not the value of the cryptocurrency when we invested. Today, the bitcoin price is much higher than what it was when we invested. It is like Bhardwaj will keep the profits and just return the principal amount which is wrong. Since the middle of 2015, more than Rs 1,000 crore (~US$146 million) is estimated to have been invested in the Bhardwaj-led Gainbitcoin empire, the publication detailed. Citing that Zebpay, one of India’s largest crypto exchanges, was called in to help with the investigation, Inspector Jayram Paygude of the Pune Cyber Crime Cell explained to the publication: Zebpay is the platform through which investment and sale of bitcoins were done in this case, which is why they were called for an enquiry. Challenge Recovering Crypto During an assembly session held last week, Nationalist Congress Party member Hemant Takle raised questions about the delay in recovering bitcoins “and the inability of the police to nab the remaining absconders in the case,” according to the news outlet. He also raised the question regarding the compensation that Bhardwaj’s victims will receive, pointing out the difference in the price of BTC now and at the time of their initial investments. In response to Takle’s statement, Deepak Kesarkar, a member of the 13th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, explained the difficulty in recovering some of the victims’ money which has been invested in bitcoin, stating: Some of this amount is recovered by the police department through the e-wallets of these companies. The value of these digital currencies in the wallet will be recovered but it is difficult to recover the investment made in foreign companies. Last week, the Indian state of Maharashtra announced that it is establishing a special unit to investigate all cases related to cryptocurrency, a move which follows the crypto banking ban by the Reserve Bank of India taking effect. What do you think of Amit Bhardwaj offering to repay investors their initial investments? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Zebpay. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Indian Bitcoin Ponzi Schemer Offers to Repay Initial Investments to Victims appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Eastern European nations have been following closely regulatory developments in the West to better understand where the wind is blowing before addressing the challenges presented by cryptocurrencies. This strategy has proved fruitless, however, as developed western countries, and international organizations, have not been able to come up with a unified approach towards regulating the crypto space. The weightlessness goes on. Also read: US Ranked Top Destination for Coin Offerings, Majority of ICOs Identified as Scams Russia Postpones Crypto Regulation The adoption of the legislation meant to regulate the crypto industry in Russia has been delayed, despite President Putin’s July deadline for the legal framework. In the past weeks, Russian outlets have quoted officials expressing concerns that the draft laws introduced in the State Duma in March won’t be approved during the spring session. The three bills adopted on first reading in May were expected to pass a second vote before the parliament’s summer break. According to Elina Sidorenko, head of the interdepartmental group assessing the risks associated with cryptocurrencies, the laws will be finalized after the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) develops its standards in the field, as news.Bitcoin.com reported. The news that the legislation will be postponed until the fall was confirmed by the chairman of the parliamentary Financial Market Committee, Anatoly Aksakov, who was quoted by RIA Novosti saying: We don’t have time during the spring session […]. The technology is rather complicated, it is largely transboundary. So, taking into account its characteristics, we wouldn’t like to write down norms that wouldn’t work. The documents will be ready by early fall. We expect the second and third reading in September. “All this is just new for us and requires deep immersion into the features of this new technology and these new tools. Accordingly, time is needed to produce competent legal documents,” the Russian lawmaker added. As a result, the legal status of cryptocurrencies, mining, and crowdfunding in Russia remains undetermined. Bulgaria’s Financial Regulator to Monitor the Crypto Sector Bulgaria, one of those EU member-states that await a pan-European decision on cryptocurrencies, has not made any significant progress towards regulating the crypto space, if we don’t count a clarification notice on crypto taxation issued by the National Revenue Service some time ago. However, the recent activity in Brussels, including the adoption of the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive which entered into force last week, has provided enough stimulus for authorities in Sofia to do something. The Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) adopted a “Strategy to Monitor Financial Technologies (Fintech) in the Non-Banking Financial Sector” (2018 – 2020). The document provides basic definitions of terms like crypto-assets, virtual currency, smart contract, blockchain technology, initial coin offering, and other. The paper also calls for defining the requirements for a licensing or registration regime for companies offering “financially innovative products, services, and technologies,” and analyzes the need for regulations governing the outsourcing activities in the industry. The strategy speaks about setting up innovation hubs and sandboxes, as well as introducing mechanisms to manage the risks arising from innovations in the nonbanking sector. Crypto Tax Break Introduced in Poland Poland, which is also wondering what to do with cryptocurrencies, decided in May to temporarily freeze its plans to tax all crypto transactions. Earlier this year, the Polish Ministry of Finance announced it would impose the “Civil Law Transactions Tax” (PCC) on all purchases and sales of cryptocurrency in the country. This meant that the crypto holdings of a Polish trader could potentially melt down to zero because of the 1% tax levied at each transaction, regardless of its profitability. Regulators decided to abandon the idea until they figure out how to comprehensively regulate the sector. The Finance Ministry decree introducing the yearlong tax break for crypto transactions entered into force on July 13. According to representatives of the Polish crypto community, the measure will normalize the situation around the taxation of crypto incomes and profits. The controversy arose from a decision by the Polish Supreme Administrative Court in March that classified cryptocurrencies as property rights, Kryptowaluty reported. As a result, the trading of cryptocurrencies under a sales or an exchange agreement was deemed to be subject to the PCC tax. Bank Clampdown Provokes Reaction in Slovakia Banks in Slovakia have been closing accounts belonging to crypto businesses and investors since June. According to local media, the private financial institutions have been acting on instructions from the state regulators. It’s been reported that the central bank in Bratislava has secretly sent letters to the country’s commercial banks asking them to quit providing services to crypto companies and individuals dealing in cryptocurrency. The hostile attitude of the traditional financial system provoked a sharp reaction from the Slovak crypto community. A video uploaded on Youtube this month shows activists projecting a Bitcoin logo on the facades of major financial institutions in Bratislava, including the National Bank of Slovakia, commercial banks and payment services providers. The clip is titled “(En)light(enment) to banks”. The “Paralelná Polis” crypto association is behind the protest action against the unfair treatment of crypto businesses. What do you think about all these crypto-related developments in Eastern Europe? 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 Eastern Europe: Regulation Postponed, Tax Abandoned, Banks Enlightened appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Bitforex, a cryptocurrency exchange that scarcely scraped the top 100 by trading volume until recently, has been accused of generating false trades on a mammoth scale. Crypto Exchange Ranks, which pulls in open source data from exchange APIs, has published a report in which it accuses Bitforex of creating fake volume and Coinmarketcap (CMC) of being complicit in the scam. Also read: Powerful Cryptocurrency Firms on the Road Towards Becoming Banks Bitforex, Coinmarketcap and the Case of the Fake Volume Everything about Bitforex looks off – including its logo Fake trading volume, defined as buy and sell orders designed to artificially create the impression of demand, are a running motif in the cryptocurrency world. For as long as anyone can remember, various exchanges have been accused of wash trading and inflating their volume. It’s the equivalent of a half-empty airliner placing its passengers in window seats to give the impression that the plane is full. Creating fake volume may sound like a relatively minor transgression, but it can have major ramifications for traders. “Cooking the books” by falsifying activity lures traders into signing up for an exchange that may be untrustworthy, insecure, and far less liquid than it looks. Any exchange that is willing to create false volume may have few qualms about committing more egregious crimes against its users. Until recently, Bitforex was a little-known exchange, languishing around 70th in the world by trade volume. It now stands at 12th according to data provided by Coinmarketcap, with 24-hour volume of $227 million. Crypto Exchange Ranks calls out Bitforex In a detailed and compelling blog post, Crypto Exchange Ranks outlines its case for Bitforex having generated fake volume. Aside from the fact that Bitforex’ trade volume has multiplied by almost 100x in recent weeks, and now stands at more than 10x that of established exchanges like Kraken and Kucoin, there’s its modest social media presence that includes less than 2,000 Twitter followers. The Singapore-based exchange does have 65,000 Telegram followers, but much of this can be attributed to the usual spate of bots coupled with airdrop token chasers. Bitforex’ claimed trade volume according to its website Bitforex claims in its Twitter bio to be licensed in the EU, but there is no evidence to support this; in fact its website states that the platform is licensed in the Seychelles and Philippines. The site also includes such bold claims as having 1.8 million users, to be attracting 15,000 new users a day, and to have amassed $1.5 billion of trade volume, taking it as high as number five on Coinmarketcap’s exchange rankings. Bit Who? Crypto Exchange Ranks isn’t buying Bitforex’ claims, writing “We see that the number of UU [unique users] of BitForex is 29K. In turn, Kucoin has 889K unique users. Kraken has 666K unique users. KuCoin’s number of UU is 30 times higher than that of BitForex, Kraken’s number of UU is higher by 23 times.” It concludes: As we have already discovered through SimilarWeb, the exchange receives the bulk of the new traffic through the referral source — CoinMarketCap; thus, the platform immediately attracts attention. Here’s the explanation: creating and implementing marketing and communication strategies and building a community in an organic way is more expensive than forging trade volumes. While CMC is unlikely to be abetting Bitforex, in publishing the exchange’s figures without question, it is unwittingly complicit in the deception. Other crypto comparison sites have been less eager to report the sort of inflated figures produced by the likes of Bitforex, regardless of what the data pulled by API might say. With its shoddy web design, poor English, and almost certain fake volume, Bitforex does not inspire confidence. But until Coinmarketcap makes a stand against blatantly falsified volume, exchanges will be incentivized to cheat the system and lure in gullible traders eager to try out the next big platform. Do you think Bitforex’ trading volume is real? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Coinmarketcap, and Bitforex. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post How Coinmarketcap Incentivizes Exchanges to Report Fake Volume appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In recent cryptocurrency news from China, three cryptocurrency mining hardware manufacturers have been valued at more than $1 billion USD, Bitmain has supported the launch of a research center for digital financial assets at Tsinghua University, and more than 3,000 companies were found to have registered blockchain-themed business names during the first half of 2018. Also Read:Powerful Cryptocurrency Firms on the Road Towards Becoming Banks Bitmain, Canaan Creative, and Ebang Ranked as Chinese ‘Unicorns’ Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute has published its Q2 Unicorn Index for the Greater China region, which features cryptocurrencies companies for the first time. Bitmain is ranked 13th on the list, with Hurun valuing the company to be worth 70 billion yuan ($10.3 billion USD approximately). Canaan Creative also holds a significant position on the list, sitting at 32nd (tied with 20 other companies) with a valuation of roughly 20.34 billion yuan (approximately $3 billion USD). Ebang ranks 53rd alongside 38 other companies with an approximated valuation of 10.17 billion yuan (roughly $1.5 billion USD). All three companies recently indicated their desire to conduct initial public offerings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the coming months. Bitmain Backs Launch of Digital Asset Research Center at Tsinghua University The Tsinghua School of Economics and Management has launched a “digital asset research center”, with reports asserting that donations from Bitmain were instrumental in leading to the establishment of the center. Bitmain has ties with a number of leading Chinese universities, including Tsinghua University. Bitmain has provided sponsorship to the Tsinghua supercomputing team since 2016. Bitmain also recently revealed that it plans to expand its development center in Israel. The expansion is expected to more than triple the number of Bitmain employees currently located at the facility (15), with the company indicating that it expects to recruit more than 40 additional employees to work at the center. Over 3,000 Chinese Businesses Register Blockchain-Related Names in First Half of 2018 South China Morning Post has reported that the number of companies that have registered names including the word ‘blockchain’ between January and July 16th of this year has increased by 500% when compared with the entirety of 2017. As of July 16th, 3,078 companies had registered names containing the term “qukualian” (the Chinese translation of ‘blockchain’) during 2018, bringing the total number of firms with distributed ledger technology-themed names in China to more than 4,000. By contrast, it is estimated that 817 U.S.-registered firms include the term ‘blockchain’ in their name, with 335 companies donning similar names in the U.K. Earlier this year, it was reported that Shenzhen Stock Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange were moving to crack down on the practice of companies seeking to cash in on the hype surrounding cryptocurrencies and distributed ledger technology. In March, China Money Network reported that “More than 20 listed companies have been questioned by the Shenzhen and Shanghai exchanges about their suspicious speculation on blockchain.” Do you feel that China will continue to bolster its blockchain industry whilst seeking to restrict access to cryptocurrencies? Join the discussion in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even lookup the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more. The post China Round-Up: Bitmain, Canaan and Ebang Receive ‘Unicorn’ Valuations, Number of DLT Companies Explodes appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Mastercard has patented a method to manage cryptocurrency “fractional reserves”. The big idea behind it seems to be that users will be able to pay with fiat on credit cards partly backed by crypto assets using a centralized system offering faster transaction conformation speeds. Also Read: IBM Backs the Development of Latest New Stablecoin, Stronghold USD Cryptocurrency “Fractional Reserves” Credit card giant Mastercard (NYSE: MA) was granted a patent for a “Method and system for linkage of blockchain-based assets to fiat currency accounts.” A disclosure from the US Patent and Trademark Office explains it relates specifically to the use of centralized accounts to manage fractional reserves of fiat and blockchain currency updated via transaction messages corresponding to fiat- and blockchain-based payment transactions. Explaining the need for the patent, the document states that, “blockchain currencies have seen increased usage over traditional fiat currencies by consumers who value anonymity and security. Cryptocurrencies offer consumers a currency that is decentralized and relatively anonymous and secure in its use.” And, such transactions “may be highly desirable for consumers that wish to maintain their privacy, and may help reduce the likelihood of fraud due to theft of their information.” However, “it often takes a significant amount of time, around ten minutes, for a blockchain-based transaction to be processed, due to the computer processing time and resources required to verify and update the blockchain.” In addition, “it can be difficult for consumers to adopt, or even understand, blockchain currencies,” and if a “wallet is lost, discarded, or stolen, the associated currency often cannot be recovered by the rightful owner.” Thus it concludes that, “there is a need to improve on the storage and processing of transactions that utilize blockchain currencies.” Mastercard to Really Incorporate Crypto? Mastercard has already acquired a lot of cryptocurrency-related patents before this. However, it does not seem to be planning to utilize the technology as no actual product or service have been developed. Asked about this, Mastercard senior vice president Seth Eisen explained to CNBC that, “We’re consistently looking at ways to bring new thinking and new innovations to market to create value for us and our customers and cardholders. Patent applications are part of that process, taking steps to protect the company’s intellectual property, whether or not the idea ever comes to market.” In fact, reports from earlier this year indicated that the company would only agree to facilitate fully-regulated, central bank-issued, non-anonymous coins. “If governments look to create national digital currency we’d be very happy to look at those in a more favorable way,” Ari Sarker, co-president of Mastercard’s Asia-Pacific business, said back in March. “So long as it’s backed by a regulator and the value …it is not anonymous, it is meeting all the regulatory requirements, I think that would be of greater interest for us to explore.” Is Mastercard really looking to become part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem or is it just hoarding patents for future legal battles? 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 Mastercard Patents a Method to Manage Cryptocurrency “Fractional Reserves” appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

When bitcoin came out, supporters believed that the decentralized cryptocurrency would decimate the banking industry. Years later, as digital currencies became more mainstream, these networks were suddenly commanding billion dollar valuations. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency exchanges, brokerage services, and over-the-counter market makers have started to look into purchasing shares of banks and even becoming the banks themselves. Also read: Blackrock Probes Market, Coinbase to List Securities, Bitpay Gets a Bitlicense If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them A lot has changed since the Bitcoin network was launched back in 2009 when the cryptocurrency was a tiny little network with just a few users. Now there are over 1600+ digital assets and the entire cryptocurrency market capitalization of all of them combined is valued at $294Bn USD. Back in the early days, incumbent financial institutions scoffed at cryptocurrencies but now it’s pretty hard for them to ignore the massive economy growing around them. These days some of the exchanges and market makers are becoming incredibly large and dealing with very large quantities of money. Moreover, a few businesses and cryptocurrency exchanges look like they are adopting a different kind of attitude — ‘If you can’t beat them, join them,’ by either attempting to become banks or purchasing shares of these financial institutions. The San Francisco Unicorn Coinbase Looks Into a Federal Banking Charter For instance, the unicorn cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has been a digital asset heavyweight since the early days and the firm continues to make more money while expanding its services. There are those that believe Coinbase will someday become a fairly large sized ‘bitcoin bank’ with its 20Mn users that have traded $150Bn USD worth of digital assets since the company’s inception. Back in May, the public found out that the San Francisco exchange was recently exploring a federal banking charter, other banking licenses, and had been meeting with U.S. regulators. Reports had detailed that Coinbase had been visiting officials at the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in early 2018. The largest U.S. exchange by volume didn’t comment on the firm’s meeting with the OCC but made a general statement about dealing closely with government officials so they are sure they have the proper licenses. A federal banking charter would allow Coinbase to offer a plethora of banking features. Binance to Launch a ‘Decentralized Community Owned Bank’ Another extremely large international cryptocurrency trading platform, Binance, has become one of the largest exchanges in the world and just recently the firm purchased a 5 percent stake in a financial institution called Founders Bank. Binance says the bank based in Malta will utilize cryptocurrency tokens and distributed ledger technology. The Office of the Prime Minister of Malta’s junior minister for financial services, digital economy, and innovation, Silvio Schembri, stated during the bank announcement, “We are honored to be chosen as the location of the first global community-owned bank.” Binance and the Founders Bank are attempting to get a license in the EU so they can operate under the correct regulatory statutes. The firm explains that token investors will have ownership over the bank and Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s CEO, believes Malta could wind up being a hotspot for this type of financial technology. Malta is the fusion ground for traditional and blockchain finance now. A lot can happen in 3 short months,” Zhao explained to his Twitter followers. Litecoin Foundation Acquires 10 Percent Stake in German Bank A few days before the Binance announcement, the Litecoin Foundation revealed the organization and the firm Tokenpay had purchased 9.9 percent stake in WEG Bank AG. The goal is similar to the Binance – Founders Bank roadmap, as the German WEG Bank AG, the Litecoin Foundation, and Tokenpay will offer blockchain and cryptocurrency solutions to customers. The creator of the cryptocurrency litecoin (LTC) and the managing director of the Litecoin Foundation, Charlie Lee, explains LTC will be utilized in the deal. “I’m looking forward to integrating Litecoin with the WEG Bank AG and all the various services it has to offer, to make it simple for anyone to buy and use Litecoin,” Lee stated on July 10. Lee divulges further on July 17, on the Reddit forum r/litecoin: People have brought up valid concerns that we still need to work with and be approved by players in the current financial systems like Visa and SWIFT, but we definitely have a much higher chance of succeeding now that we own a stake in a bank with bank licenses. Is the Age of Cryptocurrency Banks Coming? There are many other firms who are growing exponentially in size due to the popularity of cryptocurrencies these days and many of these companies move a lot of money. The cryptocurrency firm Xapo is a good example as the company claims to store roughly $10Bn USD worth of digital assets across five different continents. Another unicorn cryptocurrency firm, Circle Internet Financial Ltd., also wants a federal charter so it can provide more types of banking services. The Boston-based firm is also working with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in order to sell tokens. With all the bank purchasing and federal charter attempts, the question remains — Will these cryptocurrency banks decimate the current financial incumbents or become them? What do you think about these businesses exploring becoming banks or purchasing a stake in these financial institutions? Let us know what you think about this subject matter in the comment section below. Images via Shutterstock, Coinbase, Binance, Litecoin, and Pixabay. 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 Powerful Cryptocurrency Firms on the Road Towards Becoming Banks appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Two days ago, cryptocurrency bulls were attempting to break strong resistance and managed to push digital asset values to much higher price regions. The price of bitcoin core (BTC) was averaging $6,740 per BTC during the early morning trading sessions on July 17, then the digital currency spiked to $7,300 a few hours later. Then again, BTC touched a high of $7,546 gaining over $800 over the course of the day. Digital currency prices, in general, followed BTC’s path as most of the top cryptocurrencies gained 10-20 percent in 24-hours. Also read: Bitcoin ABC Developers Publish Bitcoin Cash Upgrade Timeline Crypto-Bulls Return But Will They Run Out of Steam? The crypto-bulls are back, at least for time being, bringing most of the top digital assets back into the green after months of bearish sentiment. Most of the digital currencies are seeing gains between 10-20 percent but some coins like Stellar are up well over 30 percent today. The overall market capitalization of all 1600+ assets on July 18, is hovering around $296Bn with 24-hour trade volume around $20Bn. Cryptocurrency trade volumes across the boards have spiked considerably since our last markets update two days ago. Bitcoin Core (BTC) Markets Bitcoin core (BTC) market action has seen 24-hour trade volume jump from $4.4Bn on Monday to $6.6Bn today. Currently, BTC/USD is valued at approximately $7,435 per BTC. At the time of publication, the entire BTC market valuation is roughly $127Bn and BTC commands the top trade volume out of all the top markets. The top exchanges swapping the most bitcoin core today include Bitflyer, Coinbene, Bitfinex, Binance, and Fcoin. The Japanese yen is the most traded pair today with BTC capturing 54 percent of global trades. This is followed by tether (USDT 26.5%), USD (13.6%), EUR (2%), and the KRW (1.4%). Bitcoin dominance among the entire list of market capitalizations is approximately 43 percent at the time of publication. BTC/USD Technical Indicators Looking at the daily, 30-minute, and 4-hour BTC/USD charts on Bitstamp and Coinbase shows BTC reversed trends after completing an inverse head & shoulders pattern. Right now, looking at the two Simple Moving Averages (SMA), the short term 100 SMA is now well above the 200 SMA trendline. This gap indicates the path of least resistance is toward the upside for the time being. The MACd looks maxed out and may head southbound while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is hovering above 86 showing overbought conditions. With this being said, a jump to the $8K region may not be in the cards, at least for today. Order books show resistance is strong between $7600 to $8K so BTC bulls will have to overtake this area. On the backside, if bears took control, which seems unlikely, there is strong foundational support all the way back to $6,400. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Markets Bitcoin cash (BCH) markets are also doing very well this Wednesday as the currency now captures a $14.5Bn market capitalization. Trade volume for BCH has increased since our last report as well by doubling to $794Mn over the last 24-hours. The top exchanges by BCH trade volume today include Okex, Binance, Bitfinex, Coinex, and Bigone. The top currency swapped with BCH on July 18 is tether (USDT) at 42.6 percent. Following tether is BTC (27.5%), USD (17.5%), KRW (3.5%), and ETH (2.5%). Bitcoin cash holds the fifth highest trade volumes today on global exchanges. BCH/USD Technical Indicators Right now, looking at BCH/USD daily, 30-minute, and 4-hour charts on Bitfinex and Bitstamp shows BCH has a price average of around $869 per coin. Just like two days ago, the SMA trendlines show the long-term 200 SMA is still above the 100 SMA indicating the path to least resistance is towards the downside. However, this gap is shrinking and it looks like the two will cross hairs soon. MACd touched a high and is heading southbound at the moment and BCH RSI levels are around 73 right now. This means conditions are overbought but not as much as the BTC/USD charts. Order books are large on both sides and BCH bulls need to muster up the strength to surpass the current vantage point to $925, after that they will face less resistance. Looking at the buy side shows some solid foundations between now and the $740 zone. The Verdict: Steady Flow of Market Optimism Overall, things are looking good for cryptocurrency markets but prices may retract in the short term so bulls can gather more steam and keep the upward momentum going strong. Other digital currency markets that have done significantly better than BTC and BCH include EOS, XLM, ADA, and Doge. The infamous dog-meme cryptocurrency is up 60 percent over the past seven days and 32 percent over the past 24 hours. The verdict this week shows a steady flow of optimism stemming from cryptocurrency proponents and traders. A good portion of traders on social media channels believe brighter days are ahead and the bullish reversal will continue at least up until the bitcoin-based ETF decision in August. 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 Valuations Gain Billions in One Day appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Lionsgate studio and Robinhood app have teamed up to give away $50,000 in a crypto scavenger hunt at the San Diego Comic-Con this week. This is to promote the studio’s upcoming Robin Hood movie. Attendees will search for coins, redeemable for $50, $500, $1,000, and $5,000, which can then be invested in cryptocurrencies during the convention. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Crypto Scavenger Hunt For its upcoming movie Robin Hood, Lionsgate studio has announced a partnership with Robinhood investment app for a crypto scavenger hunt entitled Crypto Power To The People. It will take place at the San Diego Comic-Con between July 19 and 22. Comic-Con is an annual event for fans of fantasy, anime, comics, and other arts. There are over 30 Comic-Con conventions throughout the U.S. but the biggest one is in San Diego. In 2016, over 135,000 people attended the event according to Fortune. For the crypto scavenger hunt, Collider publication describes: Attendees will search for coins redeemable for $50, $500, $1,000, or $5,000, which they can use to invest in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin or ethereum over a three day period, July 19-21. Robin Hood and Robinhood Lionsgate Executive Vice President of Worldwide Digital Marketing Danielle Depalma and Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships and Promotions Paula Kupfer said in a joint statement, as quoted by the news outlet: We’re thrilled to partner with Robinhood to utilize state-of-the-art technology as a unique way to engage Robin Hood fans. In the spirit of the legendary hero, this collaboration gives back to the community through initiatives that parallel the high-octane adventures in our Robin Hood movie. Robinhood, the popular trading app with a modernized layout aimed at younger investors, was recently valued at $5.6 billion. Customers can now use the app to buy and sell BTC, ETH, LTC, and BCH, alongside traditional investments. The app is currently available in 17 U.S. states: AZ, CA, CO, FL, IN, MA, MI, MS, MO, MT, NJ, NM, PA, TX, UT, VA, and WI. “We also plan to further expand our coin offerings and add support for coin transfers,” the company wrote. In addition, the platform offers market data and price alerts for 16 coins. According to its website, they are “bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, bitcoin cash, ripple, ethereum classic, zcash, monero, dash, stellar, qtum, bitcoin gold, omisego, neo, lisk, and dogecoin.” In the new Robin Hood movie, Robin of Loxley, played by Taron Egerton, is a crusader that returns to lead a revolt against the corrupt English crown with his Moorish commander, played by Jamie Foxx. With the crypto scavenger hunt announcement, Lionsgate studio has also released the first official Robin Hood trailer. The movie will hit theaters with a busy pre-Thanksgiving weekend release date of November 21. What do you think of Lionsgate teaming up with Robinhood app for a crypto scavenger hunt at Comic-Con? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Robinhood app, and Lionsgate. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Robin Hood Movie and Robinhood App Hold $50k Crypto Scavenger Hunt at Comic-Con appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The United Kingdom has what it takes to become a true leader in the crypto space, according to a new report covered in today’s Bitcoin in Brief. Also in The Daily, the British Crown dependency of Jersey has adopted new requirements for ICO projects to better protect participating investors, Malta now has a two-way bitcoin ATM, and Hong Kong has been promised thousands of crypto payment terminals. Also read: Blackrock Probes Market, Coinbase to List Securities, Bitpay Gets a Bitlicense Britain Set To Become Crypto Economy Leader, Report The United Kingdom is in a good position to be a leader in the crypto economy and the implementation of blockchain technologies, according to a new report quoted by the British press. Britain has all the required resources, the authors claim, as well as industrial and governmental will to become a global hub for the technology by 2022. The analysis has been conducted by Big Innovation Centre, DAG Global and Deep Knowledge Analytics. The gap between the traditional financial system and the crypto economy in the UK will close, DAG Global CEO Sean Kiernan believes. “The UK is a major global financial hub and in recent years has become a fintech leader as well. At the same time, it is starting to demonstrate significant potential to become a leader in blockchain technologies and the crypto economy,” he said, quoted by The Guardian. The research, carried out in coordination with the parliamentary group on blockchain, has taken into consideration the £500m (~650 million) worth of investments into UK blockchain companies made in 2017-18 to conclude that the United Kingdom has the potential to become a world leader in the digital and crypto ecosystem within the next few years. “We are still at the early stages of the blockchain industry’s development and the huge impact it undoubtedly will have in Britain and globally,” said Birgitte Andersen, chief executive of Big Innovation Centre. Jersey Introduces Requirements for ICO Projects The Financial regulator of Jersey, one of the Channel Islands, has taken measures to protect investors participating in Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). In a guidance note released this month, the Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC) provides basic definitions of cryptocurrencies, digital tokens, and token sales. It recognizes that their use “has risen dramatically” but also warns about the associated risks like high levels of price volatility, loss of funds through cyber-attacks, the high number of scams and pump-and-dump schemes. Nevertheless, the JFSC states that most ICOs are unlikely to be regulated. Instead, the Commission places some conditions on the issuers of coins under the Island’s statutory instrument governing capital raising, the Control of Borrowing Order, noting for instance that a consent from the JFSC is required to establish a Jersey company. In granting such consent, regulators say, the JFSC may choose to impose certain conditions on the respective entity. Jersey-based ICO issuers are also required to be incorporated as a Jersey company and administered through a trust and company service provider licensed by the JFSC under the Financial Services Law. The Commission classifies digital coins in two major categories – security and non-security tokens. The latter have been divided into “utility token” – “a usage right or the right to access a product or service”, and “cryptocurrency token […] designed to behave like a currency, being a store of value and medium of exchange.” The document also lists a number of requirements that apply to ICO issuers and describes certain procedures and processes that should be followed in order to mitigate and manage the risks for retail investors. Companies are expected to apply anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures as well as inform investors about the risks. In recent years, the British Crown dependency, situated off the French coast of Normandy, has attracted many startups from the crypto space. In the summer of 2015, the Government of Jersey released a consultation paper on cryptocurrencies, becoming one of the first jurisdiction in Europe to address the regulatory challenges in the fintech industry. Malta Acquires Two-Way Crypto ATM Malta, another crypto-friendly European destination, has reportedly acquired its first two-way automated teller machine exchanging cryptocurrency with fiat. Last week, a company called Moon Zebra launched the ATM located at the Quicklets offices, on Tower Road in Sliema. It operates Monday through Friday, 9 am – 6:30 pm. The new BATM offers users the opportunity to buy and sell two cryptocurrencies, bitcoin (BTC) and litecoin (LTC). Moon Zebra claims this is the first device offering two-way transactions with cash. Another teller machine supporting purchases of cryptocurrency strangely disappeared last year. According to Coinatmradar, two other devices are also operational not far from Moon Zebra’s ATM, but both are buy only machines. One of them offers BTC, and the other supports BTC and LTC purchases. The launch of the new BATM comes after the island nation took another step towards becoming one of the most crypto-friendly nations in Europe. Recently, the parliament in Valletta adopted three laws designed to introduce clear regulations for the country’s growing crypto industry. It’s been reported that the largest crypto exchange by trade volume, Binance, is considering a project to launch a “decentralized bank” in Malta. The favorable business climate has attracted other large crypto businesses to the island, including the Chinese exchange Okex and the Polish Bitbay. Hong Kong Promised 5,500 Crypto POS Terminals The Indonesian startup Pundi X is working to build a network of 5,500 POS terminals in Hong Kong supporting payments in a number of cryptocurrencies, the South China Morning Post reported. The devices will be able to connect not only to crypto wallets but also with other traditional payment methods like Visa, MasterCard, and Apple Pay. According to Pundi X CEO, Zac Cheah, Hong Kong is the ideal place to test the payment network. His company has ambitious plans to introduce up to 100,000 crypto POS terminals in Southeast Asia by 2021. Recently, a chain of restaurants in Hong Kong installed crypto point-of-sale devices in partnership with the Indonesian startup. Pundi X claims that in the last six months 25,000 of its terminals have been ordered by businesses in Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Switzerland. What are your thoughts on today’s news tidbits? Tell us in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Eurostat, CIA World Factbook, Index Mundi. 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: Report Sees UK as Crypto Leader, Jersey Adopts ICO Rules appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

It seems like a new alternative for Tether (USDT) pops up at least once a week recently. And the latest stablecoin to hit the market involves an interesting supporter, computer technology giant IBM. Stronghold USD is said to be backed one-to-one by fiat US dollars held at the company’s partner bank, Prime Trust. Also Read: Malta-Based Company Launches New Euro Backed Stablecoin, EURS Stronghold USD Stronghold, a trading platform built on Stellar which recently raised $3.3 million from Freestyle Capital, has launched a new stablecoin called ‘Stronghold USD’. The token is promised to be backed one-to-one by fiat US dollars, with reserves held by Las Vegas-based Prime Trust – the same state-chartered bank as competing stablecoin TrueUSD. The company also announced a collaboration with IBM to explore uses for the token within business networks on the IBM Blockchain Platform. “The process for seamlessly managing and trading assets of any form from digital to traditional currencies, needs to evolve as financial institutions are seeking ways to break into new asset classes like cryptocurrencies,” said co-founder and CTO, Sean Bennett. “Asset-backed tokens can provide seamless access to all currencies, improving the global movement of money. We’re honored to work with IBM to explore new ways to use Stronghold USD within.” That being said, don’t expect to be able to switch over from Tether so fast by yourself. The company states that Stronghold USD are pre-approved tokens that are solely designed as a B2B solution for financial institutions, multinational corporations, and asset managers. So the stablecoin is not available for retail customers yet, but it may become available sometime in the coming months. IBM Blockchain Development “The digitization of real-world assets using blockchain can dramatically transform many forms of financial transactions conducted around the world,” said Jesse Lund, global vice president of IBM Blockchain. “New types of fiat-backed instruments, like Stronghold’s USD token, have the potential to improve the backbone of international banking operations and payments, giving banks an easier way to integrate with public blockchain networks without significant changes to their core banking and compliance infrastructure.” In general, IBM seems poised to not let the new technology leave it behind in any field. The company announced on Tuesday that it partnered with Columbia University to launch a new center devoted to research, education, and innovation at the New York-based academic institution. The Columbia-IBM Center for Blockchain and Data Transparency is said to combine cross-disciplinary teams of scientists, business people and government experts to explore issues related to the use of digital data with blockchain. It will focus on technologies such as secure multi-party computation, homomorphic encryption, secure hardware, and fraud reduction. Is the flood of new stablecoins good for the cryptocurrency ecosystem? 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 IBM Backs the Development of Latest New Stablecoin, Stronghold USD appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

With the international regulatory drive to tackle tax evasion by cryptocurrency users, combined with a lack of clear guidance from authorities in many places, everyday people are concerned about handling reporting themselves. And where there is a need, companies always pop up to tap the demand with various solutions. The latest example of this comes from Canada, where Coinsmart has set up a new exchange specifically designed to make compliance easier for Canadian tax payers. Also Read: The Daily: Blackrock Probes Market, Coinbase to List Securities, Bitpay Gets a Bitlicense Easy Exchange for Canadian Tax Payers Coinsmart, a Canadian startup, has launched a new cryptocurrency exchange for investors in the country. The platform targets the “Crypto Curious” market, meaning people who are just entering the market. It does this by offering an easy-to-use interface, educational resources, and 24/7 live support. Coinsmart will also offer a tax-time reporting tool to help clients determine their taxable income and capital gains. An automatically-generated report will account for both fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-crypto transactions. “As a long-standing cryptocurrency investor, I have experienced first-hand how Canadians are under-served by existing exchanges,” said CEO Justin Hartzman. “Platforms are unnecessarily complex, lack personal touch, and do not provide the tools and service support that consumers deserve. We used these issues as our design motivation and trust that Coinsmart fixes all these concerns allowing any investor —first time or not— to truly feel comfortable and secure.” Buy Any Coin Without Going Through BTC or ETH As of launch day, Coinsmart will offer BTC, ETH, BCH, LTC, DASH, XMR, and EOS, while promising that additional altcoins are planned for roll-out on an ongoing basis. Clients can fund their accounts using fiat, Canada’s Electronic Money Transfer (EMT) system and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) with plans to introduce credit card, Flexepin and other gift card funding options. Interestingly, users will be able to purchase any listed cryptocurrency directly with CAD, mitigating the need for a BTC or ETH pairing. The exchange also allows investors to transact between crypto assets not paired with BTC or ETH, giving them the ability to switch from one cryptocurrency to another while Coinsmart handles this on the back-end. Are the current popular exchanges too complicated for many people to grasp? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Coinsmart. 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 Coinsmart Launches Cryptocurrency Exchange for Canadian Tax Payers appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Hedge fund Tetras Capital has issued a bearish call on ethereum and opined that bitcoin has more upside potential. The New York-based fund has been blessed with perfect timing, with ETH falling in BTC terms following the publication of its report 24 hours ago, while bitcoin has rallied strongly. Also read: Post-Flood Reflections Reveal Insights Into Lives of Sichuan Miners Tetras Capital Gives Ethereum the Thumbs Down Single-handedly, no investment fund can commandeer the market and short a particular asset. But by issuing an unequivocally bearish call, it can capture the attention of other traders and attempt to convince them of its wisdom. Convert enough of them, and it might be sufficient to make the pessimistic prediction come true. That seems to have been the intention of Tetras Capital, who caught the headlines on Monday after publishing a “Bearish Thesis” on ethereum. A blog post outlining the fund’s reasons for going short on ETH linked to a comprehensive 42-page report that detailed its case in forensic detail. Tetras Capital was hoping for headlines and its wish was quickly granted. Not only has the hedge fund’s proclamation gained traction, but so far, its call appears to be bearing fruit. Every single crypto asset in the top 100 has rallied in the last 24 hours, with bitcoin predictably leading the charge. Ethereum has slipped in BTC terms, however, dropping from around 0.072 at the time of Tetras Capital’s report to 0.0684 BTC at the time of publication. Long on Bitcoin, Short on Ethereum “Just as ETH benefited from irrational exuberance, it will inevitably suffer further as the market sobers up,” claims the hedge fund, before continuing: We believe that ETH’s current price is still significantly overvalued; still significantly decoupled from the Ethereum network’s current and near-term technological state. Our research has led us to believe that the market and technology is still far too immature to justify current valuations. This nascent asset class has taken off due to speculative narratives, and we believe that the current marketplace is not sophisticated enough to properly evaluate risks or general economic concerns. In setting its stall firmly in the anti-ETH camp, the New York hedge fund is going against the predictions of ethereum maximalists such as Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong, who is firmly in Team ETH. Even Vitalik Buterin has been forced to concede that ethereum has had its problems of late, noting that $15m has been wasted on gas recently due to network spam which has caused ETH fees to surpass those of BTC. Making Bearish Predictions is Good for Publicity Bill Ackman There’s a history of investors making very public calls to short particular assets, and in doing so going against the prevailing market sentiment at the time. Legendary hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, for example, tried shorting Herbalife for years, before eventually calling off his long-running campaign, at great expense to his wealth and reputation. Tetras Capital will be hoping for a greater ROI from shorting ethereum, be it literally or symbolically by putting the bulk of its assets into BTC instead. The hedge fund’s bearish forecast finishes: “We believe the coming months will be extremely telling for Ethereum’s future. Network strain (from Dapp usage), competition (from alternative Dapp platforms), and regulation (towards ICOs) will test the speculative hype and price of ETH.” Do you think Tetras Capital is right to be bearish on ethereum? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, and Tetras Capital. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Hedge Fund Issues Bearish Call on Ethereum and Sides with BTC appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Kodak-branded bitcoin mining rigs unveiled at the CES technology trade show this year will no longer be available to mine for customers. Amid scam accusations, the company behind the Kodak Kashminer crypto mining scheme has reportedly confirmed the plan has collapsed, citing intervention by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Kodak-Branded Mining Rig is No More Kodak Kashminer on display at CES. A Kodak-branded mining rig was on display on Kodak’s official stand at the CES technology trade show in Las Vegas in January. The Kodak Kashminer is a product of Spotlite USA, one of many companies that license the Kodak brand to put on its own products. The miner was unveiled at the same time as Kodakcoin, as news.Bitcoin.com previously reported. According to Spotlite’s CEO, Halston Mikail, the company planned “to install hundreds of the devices at the Kodak headquarters in Rochester, New York, to take advantage of cheap electricity offered by an on-site power plant,” the BBC reported. He also claimed that “80 devices were already in operation.” However, Kodak told the news outlet that “the venture was never officially licensed and that no devices had ever been installed.” While Spotlite is licensed to use the Kodak brand for LED lighting products, it is not licensed to use the brand for mining rigs. A company spokesman was quoted explaining: While you saw units at CES from our licensee Spotlite, the Kashminer is not a Kodak brand licensed product. Units were not installed at our headquarters. Change of Plans The licensee planned to rent out the machines for an up-front fee and let customers “keep a cut of any bitcoins generated,” the news outlet detailed. Spotlite’s promotional material claims: An up-front investment of $3,400 would generate earnings of $375 a month for two years by mining bitcoin. However, the publication pointed out that critics have called this offering a scam, citing unachievable and misleading profit advertisement. Furthermore, the calculation does not take into account the mining difficulty that has been increasing. Economist Saifedean Ammous was quoted asserting,”there is no way your magical Kodak miner will make the same $375 every month,” noting that anyone signing up for this service “would have made a loss on their investment.” Claims of a steady income from bitcoin mining are often debunked. Each miner earns less from the shared pool of block rewards and mining fees as more people add their mining hashpower to the network. Since the beginning of the year, bitcoin miners’ revenue has declined from approximately $33 million per day to less than $10 million. Mikail told the publication that “the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had prevented the scheme from going ahead.” Instead of renting out mining capacity, his company will now “run its mining operation privately with equipment installed in Iceland,” he described, confirming that “the [original] plan has collapsed.” What do you think of this Kodak-branded mining scheme? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, blockchain.com, BBC, Kodak, and Spotlite USA. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Kodak-Branded Bitcoin Mining Scheme Collapses appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

With Chinese media estimating that Sichuan’s mining sector comprises 70% of the computing power of both the bitcoin network and the total processing power situated within China’s borders, reflections following the devastating Sichuan floods’ have many insights into the realities of life of a crypto miner in Sichuan. Also Read: Change.org Petition Attempts to Fight for Ross Ulbricht’s Freedom Floods Wreak Havoc in Sichuan According to Chinese media outlet Jiemian, prior to the floods, roughly 5 million mining rigs owned by approximately 25,000 people were situated in Sichuan. The recent flooding in the province resulted in the streets being littered with broken mining rigs, as the entrepreneurs seeking to cash-in on the nascent next boom industry were forced into a state of survival. Li Yang, a cryptocurrency miner based in Sichuan, discussed his firsthand account of the flood with Jieman, stating that unusually heavy rainfall began to besiege the province in June. Before long, the local hydropower station had cut the electricity provided to many miners – with Li Yang’s being among those to lose power. At 10 am, on the 26th of June, Li Yang recounts that the water level quickly soared, resulting in the destruction of tens of thousands of mining rigs situated at low altitude – including those belonging to Li Yang. With each of Li Yang’s 2,000 mining rigs estimated to have cost 5,000 yuan each, the floods caused a total loss of 10 million yuan (approximately $1.5 million USD). Li Yang also recounts that cloud mining companies flocked to Sichuan in the wake of the devastation, “offering 50 yuan a unit” to miners for scrap rigs. Sichuan Attracts Li Yang Li Yang is a former Apple employee who moved to Sichuan from Chengdu in 2017, quickly opening a cryptocurrency mine next to a hydropower station in Aba, Sichuan. Li Yang was attracted to the simplicity of the business model underpinning mining, stating “This business is very simple. Many people want to mine, but the cost of operation of a single mining pool is too high. Customers pay for the mining machine and then host it. We use the APP to check the status of the mining machine at any time.” The entrepreneur had calculated that each small crypto mine hosting 1,000 rigs should be able to generate 1 million yuan (approximately $150,000) in profits each year after expenses. At present, Li Yang owns 5 mines. Sichuan as Global Hydropower Capital According to Jeimian, Sichuan is home to the most abundant hydropower worldwide, with “20 hydropower stations [located] in the Lancang River Basin. During the peak of the wet season, the media outlet estimates that “the cost of electricity in Sichuan can be as low as 0.08 yuan” – less than one-third of the price of thermal power in the region. An anonymous mine operator from Chengdu attested that “Electricity is directly pulled from the hydropower station,” adding that “The hydropower station over there has too much electricity, and it can’t be used.” Sichuan is estimated to be home to approximately 600 medium and large sized cryptocurrency mines hosting more than 2,000 machines each. Do you think that the devastation caused by the recent Sichuan floods will lead to more miners spreading their operations across multiple locations? Share your thoughts in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even lookup the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more. The post Post-Flood Reflections Reveal Insights Into Lives of Sichuan Miners appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Social petition platform, Change.org, has announced the launch of a screensaver that mines Monero on behalf of the organization. “The Mining Screensaver” will pool the computing power of the program’s users, with all XMR generated being automatically transferred to the Change.org Foundation. Also Read: Iran Considers Using Cryptocurrencies to Evade US Sanctions “The Screensaver That Mines Cryptocurrency to Help People Change the World” Change.org has partnered with marketing agency, Traceylocke Brazil, to launch a screensaver that mines bitcoin whilst users’ computers sit idly. According to Change.org’s website, the screensaver “ensures that your computer mines cryptocurrency when you’re not using it,” and “The amount you earn is directly donated to the Change.org Foundation.” The petition platform estimates that if 10,000 computers use the screensaver for 12 hours each day, the platform could generate $10,000 USD worth donations in one month. At present, the program is only available for Windows users, with no indication being given as to whether or not Change.org plans to release a version for Mac in future. With the program being made available as open source, in addition to being built around Monero, many from the cryptocurrency community suspect The Mining Screen Saver may have been built using a modified version of Coinhive’s API. On the program’s website, Change.org describes cryptocurrency as comprising “an alternative economic system that has the potential to revolutionize the way money circulate.” Past Efforts to Converge Cryptocurrency Mining and Charity The Mining Page appears to have been inspired by Unicef Australia’s “The Hopepage” – a website that diverts visitors’ processing power to mine cryptocurrency that is donated to Unicef Australia. The Hopepage was built using Authedmine – a modified version of Coinhive’s API that allows users to consent to their computing power being used to mine Monero on behalf of the program’s publishers. As of this writing, there are 19,306 computers that are contributing to The Hopepage. In December 2017, Bail Bloc – a charity donating XMR mined by users to raise bail money for non-violent offenders – generated $3,000 which was donated to the Bronx Freedom Fund after just one month of operation. Do you think that opt-in cryptocurrency mining will become a common means through which charities raise money? Join the discussion in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even lookup the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more. The post Change.org Launches Screensaver That Mines Crypto for Charity appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

This week the RSK Labs development team launched a new service that provides programmers with a variety of tools to build decentralized applications. According to RSK, the ‘Dapp’ platform will provide developers with a great deal of infrastructure services all in one place. Also read: RSK Mines Its Genesis Block – Bitcoin Now Has an Ethereum-Like Smart Contracts Platform RSK Labs Launches Decentralized App Service The Rootstock (RSK) project is a Turing-complete smart contract sidechain that is pegged 1-1 to BTC. Additionally, the RSK platform’s virtual machine (VM) is backward compatible with the Ethereum VM which adds even more depth to the system. Back in February, news.Bitcoin.com reported on RSK mining its genesis block which initiated the launch of the RSK ecosystem. This past spring, at the Consensus event in New York, RSK Labs co-founder Gabriel Kurman revealed that the sidechain was now secured by 1 in 10 BTC miners. Furthermore, there’s been a few walkthroughs and step-by-step guides on how developers can build smart contracts using the RSK network. Now RSK Labs has launched a public infrastructure service that enables decentralized application (Dapp) creations without the infrastructure installation process. Essentially programmers won’t need to install specific infrastructure components so they build Dapps on the RSK network on-demand. “We are excited to avail this service to let the Dapp developers focus on their solutions while we have their back on a reliable and scalable infrastructure that they do not need to install anymore,” Adrian Eidelman, RSK’s CTO details during the Dapp service announcement. Dapp Infrastructure Without Tedious Installation, Jaxx Integration, and Bamboo Version 0.4.4 The full implementation of the RSK Dapp infrastructure is available on Github and there are two public nodes for testing — Testnet and mainnet. The nodes support 26 JSON remote procedure call (RPC) methods. If a programmer doesn’t want to use the public developer service they can still install, compile and run their own RSK node. Jaxx wallet users can store, send and receive RSK network smart bitcoins (SBTC). There’s been a lot of development happening with RSK Labs and the sidechain seems to be moving along after a long three-year wait prior to the initial launch. Further, the RSK token called ‘smart bitcoin (SBTC)’ also has wallet framework from a third party through a partnership with Jaxx.io. Jaxx users can store, send, and receive the RSK network’s SBTC using the light client. “It speaks volumes that RSK has chosen the Jaxx platform as the first to integrate with — Proponents of the RSK vision believe this is a key step towards keeping the world’s biggest cryptocurrency competitive with the platform that pioneered smart contracts, or self-executing code,” explains Anthony Diiorio, the founder of Jaxx.io. With the latest Dapp infrastructure service launch, RSK developers can now use those SBTCs to help with their platform builds. The service also follows the RSK Bamboo release v0.4.4 which adds improvements like reduced block processing and blockchain synchronization times. What do you think about the latest RSK Labs Dapp infrastructure service? Let us know what you think about the RSK sidechain in the comment section below. Images via Shutterstock, RSK Labs, and RSK.co. Want to get a few bits of BCH to test out this awesome technology check out our Bitcoin Cash Faucet today! The post RSK Labs Launches Decentralized App Infrastructure Service appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

According to a report on the social media platform Yours.org, software developers associated with the mining giant Bitmain plan on launching a smart contract protocol for the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network. The project called ‘Wormhole’ will utilize the increased data-carrier-size and OP_Return transactions alongside a protocol based on the Omni Layer project. Also read: Group or Tokeda? A Look at the BCH Color Coin Debate Bitmain Developers Debut the Omni Layer-Forked Wormhole Protocol for Bitcoin Cash On July 16 a report written on the platform Yours.org detailed that Bitmain developers are in the midst of creating a smart contract system for the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network. The article written by the China-based, Cindy Daily, explained that Bitmain programmers introduced a token proposal called “Wormhole” in Chinese Wechat groups on Monday. The reporter explained that her news was roughly translated and said that Bitmain would officially reveal the concept in the coming days. Within the Chinese Wechat conversations, the developers state that innovation requires a “permissionless community” and they have been studying ways to implement smart contract solutions on the BCH chain without utilizing a consensus upgrade. “After tremendous research effort, we have paid attention to the Omni Layer protocol, a scheme to realize token issuance through the OP_Return opcode — It is the technical basis for daily distribution and circulation of USDT (Tether),” explains the report. The Omni Layer runs on top of Bitcoin blockchain — Since the Omni Layer protocol uses the MIT license (open source), we forked the Omni Layer protocol and implemented the tech feature on Bitcoin Cash blockchain to achieve token issuance. We named this technical solution Wormhole protocol, and the original token in the protocol is named Wormhole Cash. Two-Layer Security Approach The reporter’s account also explains that Wormhole will utilize Bitcoind nodes and consensus will not need to be changed. Wormhole Cash (WHC) will use a two-layer security approach and the first layer will be BCH transaction security. The second layer run on Bitcoind will consist of nodes that won’t process data that doesn’t meet the Wormhole protocol requirements. Another tokenization project news.Bitcoin.com reported on this past February is Counterparty Cash which is different from Omni layer but has similarities. It will be interesting to see an attempt to deploy a token creation mechanism for BCH alongside smart contract capabilities. A few members of the BCH community has been asking developers to create a fork of Omni Layer for quite some time now. Reportedly the Chinese-based mining firm will reveal the full details of this project soon. What do you think about an Omni Layer-like idea for the Bitcoin Cash network and the Wormhole Cash currency? Let us know your thoughts on the Bitmain developer’s new idea in the comment section below. Images via Shutterstock, and Cindy Daily. Want to get a few bits of BCH to test out this awesome technology check out our Bitcoin Cash Faucet today! The post Omni Layer Fork Called ‘Wormhole’ Debuts for Bitcoin Cash appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

After being denied a post-conviction relief extension in February 2018, Ross Ulbricht’s family and legal team filed a Petition of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court based on constitutional violations in the investigation and at sentencing. The petition was supported by 21 organizations, however, the Court denied Ulbricht’s petition on June 28. The fight to free Ross Ulbricht, 33, is now reinforced with a new petition created on Change.org, 3 days ago by FreeRoss.org. There are currently 6,242+ signatures and the petition aims at reaching 7,500. Also read: Ross Ulbricht Continues to Fight for Freedom With Supreme Court Petition “It’s Not the End,” Mother Cried at Her Son When Taken Back to Prison Cell “It’s not the end.” Lyn Ulbricht had cried at her son in the courtroom when a marshal set his hand on his back to signal it was time to return to the cell after hearing the sentence. That was in Manhattan’s U.S. district court in May 2015. That day, Lyn had declared she would never turn away from her son, whom she considers innocent. The fight to seek justice for their son is not over for this family. “My son, Ross Ulbricht, is serving a double life sentence plus 40 years, without the possibility of parole, for a website he made when he was 26 years old and passionate about free markets and privacy. Ross, an Eagle Scout, scientist and peaceful entrepreneur, had all non-violent charges and no criminal history.” The petition says. “A Sentence That Shocks the Conscience.” Ulbricht was accused of being the creator of Silk Road, the infamous international dark site and drug bazaar created in 2011, under the pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts,” aka “DPR” and was arrested in 2013. The physics graduate and alleged mastermind behind Silk Road, described in the petition as “an e-commerce platform similar to eBay, where individual users chose what to list for sale,” was convicted in February 2015 after a four-week trial on all seven counts, from drug trafficking and money laundering to maintaining an “ongoing criminal enterprise.” All to be served concurrently with no chance of parole. A sentence usually reserved to drug kingpins. Judge Katherine Forrest said she would give Ross “the severest sentence possible.” Restrained by law from issuing the death penalty, she gave him a walking death sentence instead. “Ross’s appeal points out “grotesque disparity” between Ross’s life sentence—which is unheard of for a young man with no criminal history and all non-violent charges, and the sentences of other Silk Road defendants.” FreeRoss.org writes. Ulbricht’s new legal team, Williams & Connolly, also argue that there have been discrepancies in the investigation, namely with the participation of two rogue agents leading the federal investigation into Silk Road. “Ross is condemned to die in prison, not for dealing drugs himself but for a website where others did. This is far harsher than the punishment for many murderers, pedophiles, rapists and other violent people.” The petition says. Ulbricht has been relocated from New York to a maximum-security penitentiary called USP Florence. The family says this prison is meant for some of the country’s most violent offenders and they don’t understand why Ross is being kept there for his life sentence. Do you think the sentence faced by Ross Ulbricht was fair and do you think the Change.org petition will be heard? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Freeross.org and Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Change.org Petition Attempts to Fight for Ross Ulbricht’s Freedom appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article