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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. The One Solution to all of blockchain Issues The cryptographic money industry keeps on developing in 2018, with a groundswell of undertakings helping push cryptos into the standard. Bixtrim is a creative crypto-trade stage with rearranged access for everybody. Here at Bixtrim, we trust everybody ought to have simple and quick access to crypto-money related administrations, that is the reason our group made a stage explaining the present most consuming issues in the crypto world. The stage covers different idealized adaptations of capacities found in return stages. The Bixtrim group has an inventive vision of a future with rearranged use of crypto in consistently life and we need our clients to be a piece of it. The fame and speedy achievement of cryptographic forms of money has made it critical for framework and usefulness to keep up. That is precisely why we discovered such huge numbers of snags and issues that should have been explained. Our group of similar individuals aroused keeping in mind the end goal to make these progressive thoughts a reality. Furthermore, BXM is attempting to make cryptos available and streamlined for use regularly. The approach of blockchain innovation takes into account apparently boundless conceivable outcomes that remain to drastically enhance heritage frameworks and other customary types of installments, ventures, and different utilities. BXM is likewise attempting to set up its own particular biological community of money related instruments in light of these advantages, saddling the influence of blockchain innovation. What BXM can improve the situation you Despite countless propelling in the business, there is as yet plentiful space for development and advancement. Numerous stages and advances are simply starting to begin to expose what’s underneath and potential. BXM is attempting to idealize a few of these advances, supporting a more extensive item suite that is characterized by administrations for the mass market. BXM perceives the primary issues that are as of now tormenting the business. This incorporates the moderate trade of cryptos and as a rule the failure to trade them to fiat cash immediately. This procedure is as yet protracted and can take upwards of a few business days. Additionally, numerous coin holders are taking a chance with their venture and could possibly lose cash. The gathering has taken measures to help give answers for each issue. BXM is in association with a main smaller scale back association in Georgia – an individual from its holding, which is encouraging the trade out of cryptos out minutes at BXM’s money decks. What’s more, BXM will expand accounts in different banks, helping support whatever number current cash exchange strategies as could be allowed (e.g. SEPA) to make exchanges brisk. As far as helping bolster the estimation of coins, BXM is likewise attempting to build up a crypto pawn shop where coins proprietors can pawn them for some period and get them back, in the wake of paying off the dedication. This plausibility is to a great degree advantageous as it manages clients the chance to keep coins, and additionally acquiring the required money for a here and now and benefit in a long haul. Issuance of universally upheld crypto BXM is additionally issuing a worldwide crypto, with the capacity to process no less than 100k exchanges for every second. By outfitting such innovation, this interface can bolster preparing all around, with BXM coins filling in as an impetus that associates cryptos to retail showcases. Through its multifunctional stage, BXM and its different highlights and administrations will expect to fill the holes of the current elective models for installments, investment funds, exchanging, trade and loaning. The venture started out of Georgia, which is deliberately arranged amongst Europe and Asia. The total achievement of BXM’s stage has likewise profited BXM token holders by giving expanded value strength, whereby prompting higher estimation of their token resources. Tokens helps alleviate commissions on trade stage, implying that their market cost won’t be constrained. Basically, the more exchanges are handled on stage, the more esteem BXM tokens acquire. Tokens permit to bring down commissions in second hand store, which implies that their market cost won’t be constrained – the more coins are pawned, the profitable BXM tokens progresses toward becoming. At long last, BXM tokens can be traded to new digital money, which implies that their market cost won’t be restricted – the higher ascents the cost of coin, the significant BXM tokens movees toward becoming. To help drive the advancement of its venture, BXM had startes its ICO, with BXM tokens disseminated among members and speculators. BXM tokens are the primary instrument utilized for the accompanying exchanges. Specifically, the general volume of issued tokens will be 72.0 million BXM tokens. Imminent financial specialists are urged to acquaint themselves with BXM’s whitepaper for more points of interest. Proprietors of BXM tokens have the chance to gain considerably more tokens. private deal has completed, 3 000 BXM were available to be purchased, 80% markdown with least request, 20 000 tokens. It was sold 2 340 000 BXM (468 000 $), this is prominent number and in like manner assurance of successfully finished stage. It’s necessary to mention , that this will expand trust in individuals and it will be essential of future achievement. The new stage is beginning , phase 1 of sales . It will last from 21 to 30th of June. 1 300 000 BXM will be sold .60 % markdown with minimum arrange 30 000 token. At last, every enlisted client that has just bought any number of tokens will be given a referral code and a referral interface. This code or connection can be imparted to any unregistered individual, so they can open enrollment frame with the connection or enter the code amid enlistment physically. At whatever point a buy is produced using a record enlisted by means of referral code or connection, the arbitrator will get number of tokens, equivalent to 10 percent of unique buy, as a referral reward. This is one anticipate you would prefer not to pass up a great opportunity for. With the business proceeding to develop at a solid pace, an opportunity to be a piece of a developing stage is presently. Contact Email Address m.elizbarashvili@bixtrim.com Supporting Link https://www.bixtrim.com 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: Bixtrim Launches Innovative Crypto Exchange Platform appeared first on Bitcoin News. 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Just recently the Bitcoin ABC development team has published the Bitcoin Cash ‘November 15 Upgrade Timeline’ which details what the programmers plan to do before the hard fork. As the upgrade approaches the ABC development team wants to ensure a smooth hard fork by making sure every full node participant and miner is ready with the necessary preparations. Also read: Privacy-Centric ‘Bob Wallet’ Adds Bitcoin Cash Support Preparing for the Next Bitcoin Cash Hard Fork The Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network is planning for another hard fork this coming November which will see a few more changes to the protocol. So far since the split on August 1 the BCH community performed two successful hard forks with one on November 13, 2017, and the other on May 15, 2018. The first upgrade fixed the network’s Difficulty Adjustment Algorithm (DAA), while the second hard fork saw a 32 MB block size increase alongside a few re-enabled Satoshi OP_Codes, and the increase default datacarriersize to 220 bytes. The Bitcoin ABC development timeline does not reveal what will be added this November as far as features are concerned. However, the programmers do explain two key goals as for the next codebase upgrade with the first being code completion by August 15, 2018. “Due to the higher-than-normal risk associated with protocol upgrades, everyone needs time to review the code changes involved,” explains the latest upgrade timeline. To accommodate that, Bitcoin ABC is targeting August 15th as its code completion date — Protocol changes past this date will be recommended for next year’s May hard fork. October 15, 2018: The Official Bitcoin ABC 0.18 Release and Testnet Launch Date Moreover, when the code is polished, testing on testnet will begin, explains the Bitcoin ABC team, revealing the deadline and 0.18 official release will be on October 15, 2018. “Barring the discovery of any major issues after two months of testnet testing and debugging, Bitcoin ABC will launch the official release for version 0.18,” the timeline details. This will give node operators approximately 30 days to upgrade in time for the hard fork. Discussions and Proposals According to an ABC team member, the discussions and the development on the table include various features and some things will be skipped until the next fork in May 2019. Right now developers are discussing and testing “canonical transaction ordering, OP_Datasigverify and variants, tokenization, UTXO commitments, and reintroducing other previously removed OP_Codes.” Other proposals that are under development that might make the cut include: binary contracts via OP_Datasigverify, a more efficient way of announcing blocks with Graphene, a revised DAA, double spend proof creation and forwarding, and maybe a nomenclature for the unit of 1/1,000,000 BCH. As of now, there are no guarantees on any of these improvements this coming November or next May. But when the new codebase is launched people will surely find out what features are coming with the next upgrade. Another thing to note is that there has been no mention of a block size increase this time around, and this BCH hard fork may not include an increase. What do you think about the preparations and timeline for the next Bitcoin Cash network upgrade coming this November? Let us know your thoughts on this subject in the comment section below. Images via Shutterstock, Pixabay, Bitcoin ABC & BCH logos. Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH, and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi’Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post Bitcoin ABC Developers Publish Bitcoin Cash Upgrade Timeline appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has issued a notice encouraging every firm that sells securities to the public in the U.S. to disclose any activities “related to digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies and other virtual coins and tokens.” Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Firms Encouraged to Disclose Crypto Involvement The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a Regulatory Notice last week on digital assets. A not-for-profit organization authorized by Congress, FINRA is not part of the U.S. government but is tasked with protecting America’s investors by making sure the broker-dealer industry operates fairly and honestly, its website describes. With few exceptions, the Authority explains that in addition to registering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): Every firm and broker that sells securities to the public in the United States must be licensed and registered by FINRA. Individual registered representatives must also register with FINRA. According to its website, FINRA had 629,112 registered representatives and 3,712 member firms in April. In the 4-page notice, the Authority emphasized that it “is monitoring developments in the digital asset marketplace and is undertaking efforts to ascertain the extent of FINRA member involvement related to digital assets,” adding: FINRA is issuing this notice to encourage each firm to promptly notify FINRA if it, or its associated persons or affiliates, currently engages, or intends to engage, in any activities related to digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies and other virtual coins and tokens. Furthermore, until July 31 next year, the Authority “encourages each firm to keep its Regulatory Coordinator abreast of changes in the event the firm, or its associated persons or affiliates, determines to engage in activities relating to digital assets not previously disclosed.” Monitoring Crypto Development In FINRA’s Annual Regulatory and Examination Priorities Letter, published earlier this year, CEO Robert Cook pointed out that cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs) “have received significant media, public and regulatory attention in the past year.” The Letter highlights issues of importance to the organization’s regulatory programs. Cook detailed: FINRA will closely monitor developments in this area, including the role firms and registered representatives may play in effecting transactions in such assets and ICOs. Where such assets are securities or where an ICO involves the offer and sale of securities, FINRA may review the mechanisms…firms have put in place to ensure compliance with relevant federal securities laws and regulations and FINRA rules. Previously, the Authority issued a notice warning investors of pump-and-dump schemes. It advised them to “be cautious when considering the purchase of shares of companies that tout the potential of high returns associated with cryptocurrency-related activities without the business fundamentals and transparent financial reporting to back up such claims.” What do you think of FINRA asking brokerage firms to declare crypto activities? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and FINRA. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post US Financial Authority Asks Brokerage Firms to Disclose Crypto Activities appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Cryptocurrency analysts are increasingly arguing that the lack of custody services provided by leading players from within the finance industry pose a significant barrier to institutional investors seeking exposure to the cryptocurrency markets. Also Read: Policy Easing, New Crypto Classification in South Korea Lack of Crypto Custody Services Comprises Serious Issue for Institutional Investors A number of finance professionals have argued that a lack of cryptocurrency services being offered by institutional custodians poses a significant barrier to widespread institutional investment in the virtual currency sector. Blake Estes of Alston & Bird LLP stated “For chief investment officers, there’s only downside risk in cryptocurrency,” adding that it “would take a leap of faith with a new custodian with no brand recognition. That presents a real risk for them,” during a recent interview with Pensions & Investments. Mr. Estes of Alston & Bird shares this opinion, stating that “So much of the security of bitcoin and other cryptocurrency rests with who stores that private key, who controls the vault. Blockchain (the technology behind the transfer of assets) itself can’t be hacked, but it all still boils down to who ends up holding the keys. I’d tend to think that pension funds will not venture into uncharted territory until they’re certain about the security of who has custody of the keys.” Analysts Argue Cryptocurrency Sector is Not Yet Developed Enough for Institutional Custodians Mark Kinoshita, senior vice president of Callan LLC, believes that the virtual currency industry is still a long way from witnessing institutional custodians offering services to cryptocurrency investors. “I don’t know that (custodians) are focused on cryptocurrency; I think they’re more focused on blockchain and distributed ledger technology and their use in operations. They’re joining consortiums that are looking at uses in things like cross-border services, clearing, and settlements. Rather than comment on cryptocustody, they’re working with partners in fintech and insurance firms to determine applications of blockchain and (distributed ledger technology) to streamline clearing and settlement processes. They’re still at the exploration stage,” Mr. Kinoshita said. John Lore, managing partner, Capital Fund Law Group PC, New York, agrees that the cryptocurrency sector is not yet developed enough for institutional custodians, stating “it’s really too soon to determine what cybersecurity risks will need to be dealt with, there aren’t enough custodians who are capable of handling that risk yet. […] If you want a long-term storage of assets in a digital wallet, there are regulatory ways of doing that, but none that are recognized across the large custodians, Once there, it’s an asset that’s very easy to lose, through computer failure or hacking. At the core, that’s a major risk issue.” “Vicious Cycle” of Custodianship in Crypto Jonathan Benassaya, founder and CEO of IronChain Capital, attributes the lack of institutional custodianship in the cryptocurrency sector to “vicious cycle” in which “Investors want the infrastructure from custodians,” however, “custodians want investors before they build the infrastructure.” Despite such, Mr. Benassaya expects that custodians “are not so far” from entering the cryptocurrency industry, stating “You read about cryptocustody because of general news about data hacking and security. They want it safely stored in a vault, like gold. […] The level of custody in crypto is the same as with other assets, except that crypto is self-cleared through the blockchain. Custodians are not so far away from making this happen.” Do you agree that a lack of trusted custodians providing services to cryptocurrency investors poses a significant barrier to widespread institutional investment in virtual currencies? 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 Crypto Custody Poses Barrier to Institutional Investment appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Hyundai Digital Asset Company (Hdac) paid to air a television commercial for its blockchain solution-based services during this year’s World Cup in Russia. And while it was only a little over half a minute, it’s something of a first. The crypto community generally wow’d at the ecosystem’s arrival, its maturity, in having the idea put in front of tens of millions of people (maybe even billions). However, is this really an advancement, or is it just another cynical corporate ploy to exploit a little understood technology? Also read: US Presidential Candidate Would Pardon Snowden, Ulbricht on First Day Millions are Exposed to Blockchain Technology During World Cup With a good old fashioned blow out in evidence on the pitch, 2018 World Cup fans watching on television around the world were confronted with perhaps something slightly more interesting, the word ‘blockchain’. Zug, Switzerland’s Hyundai Digital Asset Company paid to air a 35 second spot highlighting its products through their use of technology underpinning cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. “Hdac Technology is building the future with the blockchain solution,” the spot immediately highlights at the screen’s bottom. The scene opens to a modern family, maybe one in the not too distant future. They’ve holographic imagery in service to basic needs; even a little girl can use them with confidence. The family leaves, and rather suddenly home appliances begin communicating, calculating, working for their masters while they’re away. “Hdac Technology platform is smart and secure, thanks to the blockchain solution,” the ad concludes. In corporate speak, this genre is known as the Internet of Things (IoT). The appliances are demonstrating how “a interconnected smart household will operate,” according to its press release. The coming world is interconnected digitally, and somehow blockchain is relevant. English-speaking viewers of ITV and Eurosport are the primary targets of the vignette, and Hdac promises to have replays of it during the length of this year’s tournament. As bang for the buck goes, running a spot during the World Cup at the very least exposes the product or services to tens of millions, as surely was the case during more recent later-bracket matches with so much at stake tournament-wise. Estimates of viewership, along with overall World Cup awareness around the world, include nearly half the human population. Trillion Dollar Company Meets Blockchain Hype Of course, Hyundai the international giant is a well-known brand. It’s subsidiary, Hdac, is less so. It was founded last year by the nephew of the parent company’s current CEO. Evidently, blockchain is key to their ultimate success, or so it would seem. “The technology can be applied to smart factories, smart homes, smart buildings, and various industries,” Hdac’s website reads. Machine to machine transactions “for mutual contracts and operation between IoT devices are implemented to bring a platform where rational consumptions and transactions are possible,” Hdac stresses dizzyingly. Indeed, Hdac even jumped onboard the initial coin offering bandwagon, raising a quarter of a billion dollars with its DAC token presentation in late 2017. As a welcome to the wild world of corporate crypto its mining pool was promptly hacked. The company scrambled to address the issue, having to at one point cease all withdrawals. It also settled on verbiage claiming to accept no liability due to the pool being “decentralized.” Ads like theirs can run $300k per airing, and Hdac has scheduled 80 spots throughout the tournament. The ad is noticeably weak on real details, and everything about it points to potential and the future. Critics say that’s because blockchain use cases are few and far between in actual applied, practical, everyday implementation. For crypto space veterans it is also far from clear exactly how blockchain is even relevant to appliances and the like, much less how an old, rather clunky tech speeds up innovation (blockchain is simply a glorified database). Its lone use case, so far as anyone can tell, is by acting in conjunction with a cryptocurrency. Still, there might be something to airing related crypto tech at mainstream audiences. Much of what passes for discussion on the subject in popular media involves nefarious characters. At least in the Hdac attempt a family is front and center. For now, there is potential and the future, both slippery linguistic escape hatches by design, and the obligatory ICO token … which might explain the dog’s confusion. Is blockchain tech outside of cryptocurrencies just hype? Let us know in the comments section below. Images via 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 Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post Tens of Millions View Crypto Tech During World Cup appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

IOTA Foundation Head, Lewis Freiberg, attempted to explain alleged scalability and transaction issues at the project. The world’s number 9 cryptocurrency by market capitalization is under some pressure to clarify why its answer to traditional blockchain technology, the Tangle, is increasingly having to deal with spammers who create parasite chains or ‘Side Tangles.’ Also read: Quebec Mining Drama: Bitmain Money Muscle or Local Sour Grapes? IOTA’s Tangle Seems to Have Transaction Issues What’s up with the Tangle? is a recent post by Lewis Freiberg, Head of Ecosystem at IOTA Foundation. The former psychology major’s explanation is part counseling, essentially teaching enthusiasts how to emotionally view the project’s success and issues, and part technical analysis. Describing the essay’s title as “a common question,” Mr. Freiberg stresses how such queries “about the state of the Tangle usually stem from the way it is represented in a visualiser or due to a high/low confirmation rate.” To reassure those presumably worried or alarmed, he notes whenever “these questions are asked in the community, we are asking them ourselves. We are all as intrigued as everyone, if not we’d be doing something else. These events present learning opportunities for those working on IRI and other aspects of the network.” He was hired by the Foundation a year ago this Fall. The IOTA Foundation itself is described as “not-for-profit foundation with the mission is to support the development and standardization of new open-source distributed ledger technologies (DLT).” His role is to “ educate governments, corporates and the public about the research & development activities within the Foundation while also working with ecosystems and IOTA’s community of developers to promote co-innovation around IOTA’s open-source technologies.” The Tangle is IOTA’s answer, of sorts, to what project participants believe are problems with traditional blockchain technology. Tangle is, essentially, a directed graph data structure underneath IOTA. In one variation of this scheme, transactions choose two earlier on the network to approve. Transaction C, then, would approve transactions B and A, chronologically. Each new, unapproved transaction chooses two previous at random. The Tangle: transaction number 5 approves transactions numbers 2 and 3, for example. Adoption Versus Transactions Per Second Mr. Freiberg believes questioners are too focused upon transactions per second (TPS), as opposed to adoption by new users and confirmed transaction per second (CTPS) metrics. This is due to “Our desire to see the Tangle ‘outperform’ other networks,” he urges, leading “us to spam the mainnet in order to push the TPS as high as it can go. Without fail this results in ‘Wow, the tangle is flying today,’ and then ‘Why did the TPS suddenly drop’ after someone turns off a spammer.” For him, “Even though adoption cannot be measured with one simple metric, it is nonetheless a much more important metric that one must gauge when considering whether or not the tangle ‘works.’” CTPS on the Tangle are much lower than TPSs. Intuitively, most believe both should be parallel, at about par, when compared to one another. Mr. Freiberg refers to this intuition as a “misunderstanding.” He details, “When someone starts sending bad transactions which outweigh the honest transactions by 5x the confirmation rate will drop to 20%. In reality the confirmation rate didn’t drop, the amount of invalid or poorly referenced TXs just increased. The honest throughput of the network remained the same.” Lewis Freiberg, Head of Ecosystem at IOTA Foundation Candidly, the Ecosystem Head reveals “this post was brought about by the recent occurrence of a ‘Side Tangle’ appearing in visualisers.” Side Tangles, which he describes as “a well-known phenomenon since the Tangle white paper,” are parasite chains: spammers select unconfirmed transactions that “only reference themselves,” resulting in “a tangle of transactions being built up that is distinct from the main tangle.” Enthusiastically, he insists the Tangle “is performing as theorized” in its original design. “The protocol has been designed to be resilient to funny things happening,” he warns, and when “someone started spamming transactions with a low likelihood of confirmation,” the metrics “took a nosedive. To speculate, reasons could include: attempts at price manipulation, testing network response to different things, or just to get attention.” Whatever the actual case, there is a lot of money now riding on the IOTA project, including a very recent announcement the it was picked as part of a 30 million euro consortium to develop smart cities in seven urban environments. Only “constant learning and incremental improvement can push the IOTA project forward,” Mr. Freiberg concludes. What are your thoughts on Tangle? Let us know in the comments section below. Images via Pixabay, IOTA Foundation. Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post IOTA Tangle Transactions Nosedive as Spammers Create Parasite Chains appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Over the past year, cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have gained in value and some people have ‘cashed out’ their digital assets in order to purchase cars or a new home. However, some people who have sold cryptocurrencies in the past may have a hard time getting a home loan even though they have the funds to purchase the property. This week on the bitcoin Reddit forum r/btc, a person who attempted to get a mortgage from the U.S. based financial firm, PNC Bank, was denied because he sold cryptocurrencies in the past. Also read: Dancing With the Devil: ‘Cashing Out’ Cryptos Into Fiat Not So Easy Mortgage Division at PNC Bank Allegedly Denies Loan Because of Prior Bitcoin Sales Back in December of 2017, the price of BTC was close to $20,000 USD per coin and there were definitely a lot of investors who ‘cashed out’ during that time, and the months that followed. Around that time news.Bitcoin.com reported on the major hype that was taking place with media reports of Lamborghini purchases, and lots of mansions bought with bitcoin. We also detailed that ‘cashing out’ cryptocurrencies into fiat is not so easy, especially when it comes to transfers over $10,000 USD. This week a bitcoin investor who sold some of his digital assets this past December reveals he was denied a mortgage loan from PNC Bank because the source of his funds may have been derived from cryptocurrency sales. “I sold some coin in December, and I have jumped through tons of hoops, unrelated to bitcoin, while getting a traditional mortgage with PNC — They didn’t mention bitcoin as a concern at all during the entire process,” explains the Reddit user u/fojawi. “Finally, after I make all the concessions they want, answer all of their questions, they admit they were throwing up these walls because some of the source of funds for the downpayment is bitcoin.” In the end, they are now saying that no part of the funding for the downpayment or other factors for the mortgage can be sales related to bitcoin. All of the money is in the bank in a savings account. The bank holding the money never touched any bitcoin exchange. They say it doesn’t matter how long ago the sale was… ‘Mortgage Providers, in General, Are Not Ready for This Issue’ This is not the first time people have had issues with prior bitcoin sales messing up their chances towards securing a mortgage from a lender. Immediately after the all-time price highs within the cryptocurrency economy, reports began to surface that UK mortgage lenders were refusing to accept deposits associated with digital assets because of “money laundering fears.” According to a broker from House and Holiday Home Mortgages, Mark Stallard, one individual he was working with had accumulated £40,000 from bitcoin investments and Stallard had difficulties with lenders. “The first mortgage lender I rang asked me what a cryptocurrency was,” Stallard details in an interview. “I rang two other lenders and they said they would not touch it.” When I mentioned where the money had come from there was massive reluctance to help or understand the problem. I do not believe the mortgage providers, in general, are ready for this issue and research tells me that a lot more people will be knocking on our doors with funds made or raised in this fashion. Building Societies Association and UK Lenders Consider Funds Derived From Cryptocurrencies Risky Because of Possible Relations to Money Laundering Moreover, some of the UK mortgage lenders who might allow funds derived from cryptocurrency gains in order to procure a mortgage will need extensive audits. For instance, the UK’s Skipton, Yorkshire, and Coventry Building Society say they will accept funds derived from cryptocurrencies, but will also require a more thorough audit and identification process. A statement from the region’s Building Societies Association (BSA) details that lenders are leery of these funds due to “money laundering risks.” The BSA represents and is partnered with a large number of mutual lenders and deposit takers within the UK. “There is currently no regulation of these electronic currencies, which puts them into the highest risk category in relation to money laundering — In addition, it is well known that such currencies are popular with criminals, who use them to launder the proceeds of crime,” the BSA explained this past January. What do you think about banks and mortgage lenders denying applicants because their money was connected to cryptocurrency sales? Let us know your thoughts on this subject in the comment section below. Images via Shutterstock, Pixabay, and Wiki Commons. 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 Lenders May Deny Your Mortgage Application if You Sold Bitcoin in the Past appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Pirate Bay is again taking over its users’ CPUs in order to mine the Monero (XMR) cryptocurrency to generate additional revenue. Unlike previous times, the site now displays a notification on the matter for users to know what is going on with their systems. Also Read: The Daily: Bitmain Valued at $12 Billion, New US Crypto Exchange Opens for Business Leave Now or Else The Pirate Bay, the major torrent downloading website, has begun notifying its visitors that their systems are being used to mine Monero. The message at the bottom of the site now reads: “By entering TPB you agree to XMR being mined using your CPU. If you don’t agree please leave now or install an adBlocker.” Last year, the discovery of cryptocurrency mining scripts on website generated an uproar from many of The Pirate Bay’s users.The company admitted it has done so after it was exposed, and went on to claim then that it was only a short experiment. “As you may have noticed we are testing a Monero javascript miner. This is only a test. We really want to get rid of all the ads. But we also need enough money to keep the site running.” Now it appears that the experiment has succeeded and The Pirate Bay determined it is worth the negative reactions it will receive as a result of making this controversial means to generate funds a permanent feature of its operation. Legitimate Business Model or Just Cryptojacking? The idea of using visitors’ computer power to mine for cryptocurrency, and thus fund the websites they use, has been one of a number of innovations in the field made possible by cryptocurrency technology. With many people using ad blockers, as well as Google and Facebook monopolizing most of the profits from online media advertising, some websites have turned to mining as an alternative to ads revenue and payment walls. It can be seen as a legitimate business model if done so transparently – where users are allowed to consent to such. The practice can also be misused, of course, when it is done in secret by the websites themselves, or when mining code is injected by hackers as a form of cryptojacking. Is The Pirate Bay entitled to use its users CPUs to mine cryptocurrency? 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 Pirate Bay Is Again Using Users’ CPUs to Mine XMR appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) has filed an application for a bitcoin-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC has requested public feedback regarding CBOE’s prospective ETF. Also Read: Youtube Dragged Into Bitconnect Class Action Lawsuit for Failure to Protect Victims CBOE Files for Bitcoin ETF With SEC CBOE has filed an application for a bitcoin-based ETF that will list and trade BTC shares backed by the Vaneck Solidx Bitcoin Trust (“the Trust”). According to a release published by the SEC, the application was filed on the 20th of June. The SEC is seeking public feedback regarding the application, with the release stating that “Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and arguments” concerning the proposed ETF. Fund to “Invest in Bitcoin Only” The SEC release states that “The Exchange proposes to list and trade the Shares under BZX Rule 14.11(e)(4), which governs the listing and trading of Commodity-Based Trust Shares on the Exchange. Solidx Management LLC is the sponsor of the Trust (Sponsor). The Trust will be responsible for custody of the Trust’s bitcoin. Delaware Trust Company is the trustee (Trustee). The Bank of New York Mellon will be the administrator (Administrator), transfer agent (Transfer Agent) and the custodian, with respect to cash, (Cash Custodian) of the Trust. Foreside Fund Services, LLC will be the marketing agent (Marketing Agent) in connection with the creation and redemption of ‘Baskets’ of Shares.” Each of the fund’s shares “will represent a fractional undivided beneficial interest in the Trust’s net assets. The Trust’s assets will consist of bitcoin held […] utilizing a secure process […] The Trust will not normally hold cash or any other assets, but may hold a very limited amount of cash in connection with the creation and redemption of Baskets and to pay Trust expenses.” According to the registration statement, “the Trust will issue and redeem ‘Baskets’, each equal to a block of 5 Shares” to “Authorized Participants” exclusively. Each share “currently represents approximately 25 bitcoin.” ETF to Track MVBTCO Index The investment objective of the Trust is for “the Shares to reflect the performance of the price of bitcoin, less the expenses of the Trust’s operations. The Trust intends to achieve this objective by investing substantially all of its assets in bitcoin traded primarily in the over-the-counter (OTC) markets, though the Trust may also invest in bitcoin traded on domestic and international bitcoin exchanges, depending on liquidity and otherwise at the Trust’s discretion.” The fund will track the prices as determined by the MVBTCO index – which “calculates the intra-day price of bitcoin every 15 seconds, including the closing price as of 4:00 p.m. E.T.” The SEC release states that “The bitcoin OTC platforms included in the MVBTCO are U.S.-based entities. These platforms are well-established institutions that comply with AML and KYC regulatory requirements with respect to trading counterparties and include entities that are regulated by the SEC and FINRA as registered broker-dealers and affiliates of broker-dealers.” When trading using exchanges, the Trust expects to do so using Bitstamp, Gdax, Gemini, Itbit, Bitflyer, and Kraken. Storage and Security All bitcoins held by the Trust will be stored using “multi-signature cold storage wallets.” Additionally, “For backup and disaster recovery purposes, the Trust will maintain cold storage wallet backups in locations geographically distributed throughout the United States, including in the Northeast and Midwest.” The Trust asserts that it will also “maintain comprehensive insurance coverage underwritten by various insurance carriers.” The insurance policy “will carry initial limits of $25 million in primary coverage and $100 million in excess coverage, with the ability to increase coverage depending on the value of the bitcoin held by the Trust. To the extent the value of the Trust’s bitcoin holdings exceeds the total $125,000,000 of insurance coverage, the Sponsor has made arrangements for additional insurance coverage with the goal of maintaining insurance coverage at a one-to-one ratio with the Trust’s bitcoin holdings valued in U.S. dollars such that for every dollar of bitcoin held by the Trust there is an equal amount of insurance coverage.” Do you think that CBOE will be successful in their application? Join the discussion in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Wikipedia 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 CBOE Files Application for Bitcoin-Based ETF with SEC appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Japan’s internet giant GMO has released the latest results of its cryptocurrency mining operation. The company has also started using 7nm rigs for its in-house mining business. News.Bitcoin.com talked to a GMO spokesperson to find out more details. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space 1906 BTC and 636 BCH Mined GMO has released its mining report for June. According to the report, the company has mined 1,906 BTC and 636 BCH since its mining operation began in December last year; 528 BTC and 62 BCH were mined in June. From December last year to May this year, GMO’s monthly BTC output was 21, 93, 124, 295, 373, and 472 BTC respectively. Its BCH output was 213, 25, 287, 12, 0, 37, 62 BCH respectively. In April, GMO did not mine any BCH. A GMO spokesperson told news.Bitcoin.com that in the future: We will decide the [mining] ratio, BCH or BTC, depending on the market environment. Rising Hash Rate Meanwhile, the hash rate of GMO’s mining operation has grown from 22 PH/s in December last year to 299 PH/s in May and 384 PH/s in June. “Hash rate rose due to the increase in the number of computers we are operating as planned,” the company wrote. The company also expects the hash rate of its mining pool to reach 3,000 PH/s by the year’s end. Using 7nm Mining Rigs GMO Internet started its mining operations in December last year. The company’s mining business is divided into three areas: in-house mining; cloud mining; and the development, manufacture, and sale of mining machines. Last month, the company launched its first line of 7nm mining rigs, GMO miner B2. The rigs, priced at $1,999 per unit, were quickly sold out, according to the company. Some upgrades were subsequently made to the B2 miners, resulting in the launch of GMO miner B3 which the company claims has a maximum hash power of 33 TH/s. Both models will start shipping in November. According to its first-quarter results presentation, GMO started using an undisclosed number of 7nm mining rigs in its own mining operation last month. The GMO spokesperson confirmed to news.Bitcoin.com: We do use 7nm rigs in our mining operation…[But] it is an old type that we don’t sell to the market. In October, the company plans to start using mass-produced 7nm equipment for its own in-house and cloud mining businesses. While the spokesperson clarified that, in October, “We will use GMO miner B3” for all new mining equipment installations, he noted that existing mining rigs will not be replaced. What do you think of GMO using 7nm rigs in its own mining operations? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and GMO Group. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Japanese Internet Giant GMO Boosts Own Bitcoin Mining Output With 7nm Rigs appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

As bitcoin and the idea of decentralized technologies continue to disrupt the economy there’s been a new wave of artists that use the cryptocurrency’s symbolism in many different ways. Some of these creators are fairly unknown and use graffiti to describe the revolutionary aspects of bitcoin in the rebellious form of street art. Also read: Privacy-Centric ‘Bob Wallet’ Adds Bitcoin Cash Support Over the past few years bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have become popular and last year the technology entered a new phase of attention as a good number of mainstream onlookers finally noticed this economic phenomenon. Most of the evolutionary concepts that have changed the world have always invaded pop culture to a degree and bitcoin is no different as its logo can be seen on clothing items, coffee mugs, while also being represented in paintings and murals. One thing for sure there is a hell of a lot of interesting street art that features bitcoin and other cryptocurrency symbols all around the world as the following examples illustrate. People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish… but that’s only if it’s done properly. ― Banksy ‘Bitcoin Bubble‘ Leake Street Graffiti Tunnel, Lambeth, London ‘Fuck the IRS‘ San Francisco, California Pascal Boyart aka “PBOY,” Paris, France ‘R.I.P Banking System‘ by Ludo, Paris, France ‘Bitcoin Is Future for Your Kids‘ Kiev, Ukraine ‘Wolf of Bitcoin‘ Deep Ellum, Dallas Texas ‘BTC‘ Street Art Tel Aviv, Israel Czech Finance Minister Andrej Babis, Prague, Czech Republic Bitcoin Street Art, Elder Place, Brighton, UK Cryptograffiti Street Art, Various Cities, United States Bitcoin is an economic renaissance and the infectious spirit behind this technology has leaked into our everyday lives. These street murals are just a small taste of what’s to come. Moreover, if you notice, many of the graffiti-masters shown above have their QR code displayed on the artwork itself and some of these artists have collected thousands from people passing them on the streets. Cryptocurrencies are changing the lives of many and the streets all around the world can attest to this paradigm shift within some of the messages sprayed in multi-colored arrangements within our concrete jungles. What do you think about all the street art displayedaround the world? Let us know your thoughts on this subject in the comment section below. Images collected from the various street artists, Ludo, Cryptograffiti, PBoy, and the many unknown artists. Prove ownership on the Bitcoin Cash Blockchain for only 0.0005 BCH. Using the Bitcoin.com Notary. The post Bitcoin Graffiti: How the Economic Revolution Has Painted the Streets appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Did you hear about the next bitcoin? There’s this little-known cryptocurrency that experts are tipping to be bigger than bitcoin. This is your chance to get in on the ground floor and join the next great wealth creation event. You might have missed bitcoin and ethereum, but you haven’t missed the boat, because the next bitcoin is right here. But quick! You’ll need to get in fast before the masses find out. Also read: Kumamoto Electric Company and OZ Mining Corporation to Start Mining in Southern Japan X is the New Bitcoin Depending on what publications you read, and how desperate they are for hits, you might have read that any one of the following is set to be the next bitcoin: EOS, Verge, Zcash, and NEO. Today it was Stellar. Next week it will probably be IOTA or Tron or some other shitcoin. In Forbes, Ripple is the next bitcoin every single day of the year. The site has a peculiar obsession with the notion that XRP could take bitcoin’s throne, leading the more conspiratorially minded to muse whether Forbes could have been a benefactor of Ripple’s bottomless warchest. Forbes and its singular obsession with ripple. To understand why Ripple/EOS/Some Other Altcoin will not be the new bitcoin, it is necessary to understand what the mainstream media means by such statements, aside from the obvious clickbait. When the MSM or James Altucher (remember him?) promises that X will be the next bitcoin, they aren’t referring to their anointed altcoin’s censorship-resistance, decentralization, or versatility as a store of value and medium of exchange. What they’re referring to is its ability to moon in record time, making its holders stupidly rich. Beware the Conflation Fallacy Even if we overlook the flaws in the likelihood of another cryptocurrency replicating bitcoin’s characteristics and focus solely on price, the ‘X is the next bitcoin’ argument is still invalid. That’s because of something known as the conflation fallacy aka comparing apples to oranges. Here are a few examples: “My sports team beat Rovers 1-0 last time, who beat City 2-0 at the weekend. Therefore, when we play City next week, we should beat them 3-0.” “Binance launched an exchange via an ICO last year and now makes $1 billion a year. If my project does the same, it’s sure to become a unicorn.” “Ripple is trading for under $1 today, just as bitcoin once was. Ergo, if ripple adoption keeps growing, it could one day be worth as much as bitcoin.” Regular readers of this site will already be aware of this, and are unlikely to fall for the “next bitcoin” meme. But ordinary members of the public, who are more gullible and less knowledgeable, are easy prey for journalists shilling shitcoins out of ignorance, greed, or a desire to fuel FOMO. Cryptocurrency investing is risky enough without irresponsible publications convincing the vulnerable to throw their life savings at electroneum. Searching for the next bitcoin is like searching for the next wheel. There won’t be and can’t be one because bitcoin was that wheel. There might be cryptocurrencies that are faster, flashier, and more feature-rich than bitcoin. One day there might even be some that are more expensive or more widely used than bitcoin. But they are unlikely to replace bitcoin, and are even unlikelier to yield the same exponential gains as BTC/BCH. Besides, even if there was a new altcoin with 1000x potential, by the time Forbes or the Express start shilling it, you’ve already missed the boat. Stop looking for the next bitcoin. There’s no such thing. Do you think mainstream media are guilty of promoting certain cryptocurrencies as “the next bitcoin”? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. This is an Op-ed article. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support views, opinions or conclusions drawn in this post. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the Op-ed article. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the content. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any information in this Op-ed article. The post Stop Looking for the Next Bitcoin appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Indian cryptocurrency exchanges are forging ahead with their solutions to the crypto banking ban imposed by the country’s central bank. A growing number of exchanges have stopped fiat support as they ramp up peer-to-peer and crypto-to-crypto trading. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space RBI Ban in Effect The crypto banking ban by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) went into effect at the end of last week. The central bank issued a circular three months ago, banning all financial institutions under its control from providing services to companies dealing in cryptocurrencies. The industry was hopeful that the Supreme Court would grant a stay on the ban on July 3 but the court did not and the RBI ban subsequently went into effect. Wazirx announced on July 4, “We’ve discontinued INR deposits with immediate effect,” adding: Our banking partner has abruptly stopped supporting our bank account. This is due to the recent RBI circular banning banks from providing support to cryptocurrency exchanges. Koinex announced on July 7 that users can “submit INR withdrawal requests till 02.00 PM on July 9, 2018 (Monday) after which no further INR withdrawal requests will be accepted.” Buyucoin announced last week that “Deposit and Withdrawal will be halted until further notice due to RBI circular by midnight 5th of July’18.” Three of the first crypto exchanges to announce a suspension of fiat deposits and withdrawals were Zebpay, Pexo, and Coinome, as news.Bitcoin.com previously reported. Another major exchange, Unocoin, has yet to announce that it has stopped fiat support at press time. P2P Trading Amid RBI’s ban, Indian crypto exchanges have been ramping up their solutions to continue business after the ban. Among them is P2P trading, where the exchange acts as an escrow service between two customers for each fiat to crypto trade. Wazirx has been preparing to launch a P2P trading service. The exchange announced on July 8, “WazirX P2P is launching in a few days.” Koinex is also gearing up to launch its P2P service called Loop. Citing that “the INR/crypto trading corridor may be discontinued over the next few days with prior notice,” the exchange revealed on July 7, “after that, users will be able to trade via Koinex Loop and True USD corridors for fiat stability.” The exchange elaborated: Loop is a peer-to-peer transaction network for digital assets using fiat currency. Koinex users will automatically find their KYC-verified Loop accounts ready upon release. Loop is in the final stages of development and will be released before July 15, 2018. Crypto-to-Crypto Trading Meanwhile, a number of exchanges have ramped up crypto-to-crypto trading services, similar to Binance and Poloniex. Unocoin recently launched its crypto-to-crypto platform, Unodax. On July 4, the exchange announced more trading pairs for the platform. It now offers 9 BTC trading pairs, 4 ETH trading pairs, and 4 XRP trading pairs. Unocoin emphasized: Unodax, India’s leading blockchain and cryptoasset company is introducing 17 crypto-to-crypto trading pairs. Zebpay also offers 19 cryptocurrencies and over 35 trading pairs on its platform now that it has dropped fiat support. What do you think of RBI’s ban and crypto exchanges’ solutions? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Unocoin. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Indian Crypto Exchanges Forge Ahead With Solutions to RBI Ban appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In today’s edition of Bitcoin in Brief we cover how Bitmain’s valuation reached $12 billion, the opening of a new US-based crypto exchange, and Binance’s decision to donate $1 million to flood victims in Japan. Additionally, we explore what parts of the current crypto ecosystem Vitalik Buterin hates. Also Read: Youtube Dragged Into Bitconnect Class Action Lawsuit for Failure to Protect Victims Bitmain Valued at $12 Billion Bitmain Technologies Ltd., the Beijing-headquartered bitcoin mining machines (ASIC chips) producer, has raised up to $400 million in its latest fundraising round, valuing the company at $12 billion, Chinese media outlet Caixin has reported. The company’s B round of fundraising was led by the venture capital firm headquartered in Menlo Park, California, Sequoia Capital, along with the New York based tech sector hedge fund Coatue, and EDBI Pte Ltd., the private equity and venture capital arm of Singapore Economic Development Board, according to sources close to the deal. Based on this new valuation, Bitmain might seek a massive initial pubic offering (IPO) on the stock market in Hong Kong in the future. New US Exchange Opens The American crypto trading market is getting a little bit more competitive with a new exchange opening. HBUS, a strategic partner of Huobi, has begun accepting new user registrations by U.S. residents on July 6th. Users are able to deposit BTC, BCH, ETH, ETC, LTC, USDT, CVC, DASH and TUSD. The actual marketplace will go live tomorrow, July 10th, when users will be able to trade and withdraw funds. The launch is not nationwide yet as HBUS does not currently serve residents in Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, Hawaii, Vermont, and Washington. “Our strategic partner, Huobi, has grown to be the largest digital asset marketplace globally. As investors‘ acceptance of virtual currency and digital asset increases, we have seen incredibly high demand in the U.S. We are excited to launch as Huobi’s strategic partner, to serve the growing number of people participating in virtual currency trading,” commented Frank Fu, CEO of HBUS. Huobi has been expanding globally for a while and most recently launched AUD trading in Australia. Binance Donates $1M The leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance, which expects to make a net profit of up to $1 billion this year, has announced it donated $1 million to Japanese flood victims. The company stated that “To help out the victims in West Japan that were affected by the heavy rains on 7/7/2018, Binance is donating $1,000,000 USD and calling for our crypto friends and partners to join us in the relief initiative.” According to Japanese agencies in the field, the death toll in the western part of the country reached 112 on Monday and many more people are still missing after floods and landslides destroyed homes, disabled infrastructure and sent around 23,000 people fleeing to evacuation centers. Similar natural disasters have been on the mind of the Bitcoin community recently with floods in southern China affecting many miners. Vitalik Hates Centralized Exchanges Vitalik Buterin has recently expressed a deep hatred for the particular business model at the heart of the current crypto trading ecosystem. “I definitely hope centralized exchanges go burn in hell as much as possible,” he said. A particular issue the Ethereum founder raised was how the centralized platforms can extract up to $15 million from projects that want to list their ICO tokens. According to Buterin, crypto-only exchanges are preferable to venues which offer fiat pairs as “the fiat world only has centralized gateways.” And he also seems to not be a big fan of Bitmain and its growing power. “Back in 2013, when GHash had 51 percent everybody freaked out. It’s happening a second time and people aren’t really talking about it this much,” Buterin said at a Techcrunch event. OTCXN Live Test OTC Exchange Network, Inc. (OTCXN), an institutional finance infrastructure company, has completed its first live test trades of tokenized USD and tokenized Bitcoin between two separate trading accounts over an electronic trading platform with assets held at a neutral custodian. The platform is designed to remove counterparty and settlement risk with an atomic exchange of assets and facilitates settlement of transactions instantly. “We believe that OTCXN’s platform will transform the marketplace, by enabling assured and transparent execution, becoming a trusted cornerstone driving the maturation of the fiat and crypto markets,” said Barry Thompson, Managing Partner of Volantis Escrow which served as the custodian. “We’ve received dozens of inquiries from trading firms and custodians about our launch date. I’m thrilled that our live test trades were a success and that we’ll soon bring our solution to the market,“ added Rosario M. Ingargiola, founder and CEO of OTCXN. The company plans to launch the public beta on July 9, 2018. 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: Bitmain Valued at $12 Billion, New US Crypto Exchange Opens for Business appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Kumamoto Electric Power Company and OZ Mining Corporation have announced that they will start operating a crypto mining farm from August, aiming to install 14,000 mining machines and reach 90 million yen profit by March 2020. Also read: Japan’s Internet Giant GMO Launches New Upgraded 7nm Bitcoin Miner Kumamoto Electric Power Company to Offer Cheap Rates Kumamoto City in the Kumamoto Prefecture are located on the Kyushu island in southern Japan. Kumamoto Electric Power Company is also set on spreading crypto mining factories throughout Japan, according to a statement, making use of the cheapest electricity price in the country, limited to KEPCO (Kansai Electric Power Company) and TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company). “Since the liberalization of the electric power market took place in early 2016, there are more and more electric power companies offering lower electric fees. In the Kyushu [Southern] region, I believe Kumamoto Electric Company offers one of the cheapest rates,” a salesperson at Kumamoto Electric Company told news.Bitcoin.com. Japanese Ex-Financiers Started Mining Business in Northern Rural Industrial Zone A cryptocurrency related startup company run by a group of Japanese men formerly working in the banking industry installed a crypto mining factory with 500 miners in the country side of Fukui, a Japanese coastal city located on the Chinese side of the sea, in the North. Alt Design, founded in September 2017 in Tokyo, offers various kinds of services such as crypto and ICO consultancy, but its founder and CEO Yuta Funayama decided around November of 2017 to start mining crypto in Japan. “We wanted to offer our clients and investors who are mainly Japanese a possibility to see the miners with their own eyes.” Yuya Yamamoto, a spokesman of Alt Design, told news.Bitcoin.com in an interview: “Japanese people invest in miners abroad, but they expressed some worries saying that it’s harder to check what’s going on at the miner farms, especially if they are located outside of Japan. What we offer also, is the ‘Japanese quality’ service in which we believe the management of our miners is solid.” Alt Design has been mining litecoin and ethereum since mid-March 2018. “Our employees all have a background in IT. The miners operate 24/7 and our staff rotate daily to check if everything is running smoothly,” Yamamoto said, “we believe that our expertise is to tackle any incident quickly.” And the facility can resist natural disasters, he added. The equipment generates about 200 ETH and LTC altogether a month, he said. Also, while searching for a place to install the plant, Alt Design found an area of Japan where the local government offers subsidies for IT companies such as paying them half of the rent if they install their business in unused local factories. The municipality of Fukui offers low business settling fees in support of new businesses, including IT companies. “We offer companies which want to settle in our city to pay up to half of their rent for three years,” Hiroyasu Yoshida, who represents the Fukui Municipality said. The electricity isn’t cheap everywhere in Japan, but the tariffs are lower in the Hokuriku region, including Fukui, which is to the north of Japan’s main island, facing China. What do you think of Japanese startups starting mining operations in the north? Share your expectations in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Nikkei Asian Review. Now live, Satoshi Pulse. A comprehensive, real-time listing of the cryptocurrency market. View prices, charts, transaction volumes, and more for the top 500 cryptocurrencies trading today. The post Kumamoto Electric Company and OZ Mining Corporation to Start Mining in Southern Japan appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

South Korea has been busy revising its cryptocurrency regulations. The regulators plan to ease the rules on crypto assets in line with G20 policies. While a new crypto classification system has been created, another government agency is conducting an on-site inspection of crypto exchanges following multiple hacks. In addition, the Bank of Korea has released a report with its view on using crypto as a means of payment. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Policy Easing South Korea has been actively revising and updating its regulations for cryptocurrencies. The Korea Times reported last week that the country’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), has revised “its guidelines relating to ‘all activities’ of Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchange operators.” Furthermore, “financial regulators plan to ease rules on crypto-based assets in line with policies initiated by G20 nations to establish unified regulations,” the publication detailed. However, an FSC official told the news outlet that “Any major reversal in policies is unlikely.” Specifically, the policy change will not affect the way cryptocurrencies are classified for regulatory purposes. “The administration earlier classified cryptocurrencies as ‘non-financial products’ due to their speculative nature,” the news outlet conveyed, emphasizing: The FSC and FSS [Financial Supervisory Service] will not change the government’s stance on crypto or digital assets as it’s difficult to value them as ‘financial assets’. New Crypto Classification System The South Korean Ministry of Strategy and Finance’s Statistics Korea, responsible for statistics in the country, has created a classification system for cryptocurrency operators and other blockchain-related entities. Sedaily explained that Statistics Korea has been gathering comments on the new classification system, which will be reviewed by the National Statistical Commission Policy Subcommittee on July 11. The official results will be announced on the 25th. The publication detailed: Cryptocurrency exchanges such as Bithumb and Upbit are expected to be officially classified as crypto asset brokers after the government’s current title of ‘virtual currency handler’ is removed…The blockchain industry will be managed as a formal industry, starting with the government’s industrial classification, and conducting surveys and statistics. Specifically, the news outlet added that “Blockchain platforms such as EOS and Ethereum also have unique industry classification criteria.” The agency explained that the proposed classification “will be used for administrative purposes for the development of related statistics and various government policies and support,” Zdnet clarified. This new classification of crypto-related entities for statistical purposes does not affect the regulations by the FSC. On-Site Investigation of Crypto Exchanges The government also announced last week that the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) has launched an on-site investigation of major cryptocurrency exchanges. This is in collaboration with the Korea Internet Promotion Agency (KISA) following the hacks of multiple crypto exchanges. The announcement states: The on-site inspection mainly focuses on the technical and administrative protection measures for personal information, such as access control to the personal information processing system, prevention of tampering with access logs, encryption of personal information, and prevention of malicious programs. Bank of Korea’s Crypto Report The Bank of Korea (BOK) released its big report on “crypto assets and central banks” on Friday, July 6, according to local media. This report examines domestic and international discussions on the economic and legal nature of crypto assets, as well as key issues related to the central bank. Korean banks held crypto-assets totaling 2 trillion won (US$1.79 billion) as of December last year, equivalent to about 8 percent of the total deposits by the country’s brokerage houses, the central bank described. According to BOK, “The amount of crypto-asset investment is not really big, compared with other equity markets, and local financial institutions’ exposure to possible risks of digital assets is insignificant,” Yonhap conveyed. “Cryptographic assets are highly volatile, and transaction costs such as fees and processing time are high, making it difficult to function as currency,” Real News Korea quoted the report which also states: It is not easy [for cryptocurrency] to have broad acceptance in the short term and [it] is less competitive than traditional means of payment such as cash or credit cards. In other words, it is difficult to become a medium of exchange. While concluding that “it is difficult” to use cryptocurrency as money, Business Post quoted the central bank describing, “It is likely [for cryptocurrency] to be used as a means of payment in limited areas such as overseas remittances.” Furthermore, the central bank divulged in its report: If the technical problems of virtual currency are resolved and the acceptability of virtual currency in the general society is increased, it cannot be ruled out that it can be widely used as an investment asset and payment means. What do you think of all the changes in Korean regulations? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, the Hankyoreh, and the South Korean government. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Policy Easing, New Crypto Classification in South Korea appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Berlin-based Banking-as-a-Platform (BaaP) institution Solarisbank has recently announced the launch of their new banking service plan that’s focused on clients from the blockchain and digital currency industry. The newly featured resource called the ‘Blockchain Factory,’ will offer financial management services to companies whose business operations deal directly and indirectly with cryptocurrency solutions and blockchain technology. Also read: A Look at the Long and Annoying Process of Claiming Bitcoin Forks This German Bank Plans to Provide Special Bank Accounts for Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Companies Over the past few years as cryptocurrencies have gained in popularity a few companies like exchanges and brokerage services that deal with digital currencies have had issues with their banking providers. Banks and other financial management services have ceased their partnerships with cryptocurrency firms and have closed business accounts making it very difficult for blockchain companies to establish reliable banking partners. Now the German financial tech company, Solarisbank, plans to offer a service called the ‘Blockchain Factory.’ Companies who deal with cryptocurrencies will now have a solid banking colleague who understands the technology. “The Blockchain Factory will be used by Solarisbank to offer banking services to companies whose business is directly or indirectly based on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology — One example of these services is the ‘Blockchain Company Account’ for the banking business of blockchain companies,” Solarisbank explains. Furthermore, services for global cryptocurrency marketplaces will be made available to make it easier to buy and sell fiat currencies; such as the Solarisbank ‘Automated Trust Account’, an automated escrow account for cryptocurrency marketplaces. High Demand from the Blockchain World for a Licensed Banking Partner Solarisbank has done well since the bank’s inception in March of 2016, and entered a strategic partnership with Mastercard the following October with plans to build new banking modules. Last March, Solarisbank raised $70Mn USD in a Series B funding round from firms such as ABN Amro, SBI Group, Visa, BBVA, and Lakestar. “There is high demand from the blockchain world for a licensed partner that forms the technological and regulatory bridge to traditional banking — as a technology company with a banking license, we are the natural partner,” Roland Folz, the CEO of Solarisbank details. A Hybrid Future The financial tech company has started its first partnership with another firm called VPE Bank and the two have plans to provide cryptocurrencies to institutional traders. Moreover, the firm will establish partnerships with cryptocurrency companies that deal with banking and debit cards within their business model. “The fiat world is not about to dissolve. We are moving towards a hybrid future, in which the blockchain world still has to prove itself,” the CTO of Solarisbank, Peter Grosskopf explains. However, we see the disruptive power of these business models and we want to help shape the future of this industry. What do you think about Solarisbank’s new Blockchain Factory banking services? Do you think companies who deal with cryptocurrencies need better banking providers? Let us know your thoughts on this subject in the comment section below. Images via Shutterstock, and Solarisbank. 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. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post German Bank Offers Special Accounts to Cryptocurrency Firms appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Australia’s financial press is expecting that the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will take a hard stance on cryptocurrency investors this tax season, with the ATO recently vowing to leverage international data-matching agreements in order to track the taxation obligations of Australian cryptocurrency traders. Also Read: The Weekly: Coinbase Custody Opens, Malta Adopts Crypto Law, Bittrex Invades Europe ATO to Leverage International Data-Matching Agreements to Target Crypto Traders The Australian Tax Office has announced that it will leverage data sharing agreements made between Australia and other nations to determine the tax obligations of Australian cryptocurrency investors. “We’re alert to the potential compliance risks that arise from cryptocurrencies but we’re not really alarmed about them,” ATO acting deputy commissioner Martin Jacobs told Australian Financial Review. “Where people attempt to deliberately avoid these obligations we will attempt to take action. We have a range of existing powers that are designed to address unexplained wealth and conspicuous consumption that may arise through profits derived through cryptocurrency investment,” Mr. Jacobs added. Mr. Jacobs also emphasized that changes to anti-money laundering rules mandating that Australian crypto exchanges identify wallet holders “will enable data exchanges to collect cryptocurrency trading information, which we’ll be able to access and use in our engagement activities.” Many Traders May be Unaware of Tax Obligations Paul Drum of accounting firm CPA Australia has speculated many Australian cryptocurrency users may not be fully aware of their tax obligations, stating “We’re at the pointy end of a financial year of seismic profits and if people were thinking they could fly under the radar, I’ve got bad news. […] People wrongly believe they’re getting a windfall gain that isn’t taxed. That could be a costly mistake.” Mr. Drum also warned that many cryptocurrency traders are not aware of the tax event triggered by each “disposal” of virtual currency holdings, emphasizing that cryptocurrency-to-cryptocurrency trades require that traders declare any profits generated. “Even if you traded your ripples for bitcoin, you have to figure out whether you made a profit on the trade,” he said. ATO Criticized Over Opaque Tax Guidance for Cryptocurrency Users Australian Financial Review recently spoke to Adam Dimac of legal firm Hall and Wilcox, who are currently representing “Max” – an Australian lawyer who is currently in a dispute with the ATO regarding how his $7 million in cryptocurrency holdings should be taxed. Mr. Dimac emphasized the lack of clarity surrounding the ATO’s regulations, stating “There are a lot of technical issues for which there is just no guidance at all. One example is initial coin offerings. From a tax point of view, there’s basically no guidance on how they are treated. It’s really new ground.” Max’s lawyers are seeking to argue the personal use exemption. However, Mr. Dimac concedes that the team is “hearing it’s going to be hard to argue the personal use exemption. There are individuals who can genuinely say ‘yeah, I went into this out of intellectual curiosity and as a hobby. I’m a Millennial and this is how I think, I like to challenge the status quo. Five years later, it’s become $10 million.’ But nobody quite knows how the ATO is going to view it because everyone’s circumstances are different. And even then, the ATO is developing their thinking over time as they come to consider different scenarios and new cryptos come into the market.” Laura Spencer of Sladen Legal also believes that the ATO has failed to provide sufficient guidance regarding the tax obligations of cryptocurrency investors, stating that “The insufficient guidelines and absence of case law in this area of tax leaves early adopters of cryptocurrencies in great uncertainty. As the treatment of cryptocurrencies will play an even greater role in the future, we await further comments from the commissioner.” What is your response to the ATO’s decision to leverage international data-sharing agreements to target crypto investors? 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 ATO to Target Crypto Traders Using International Data Agreements appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Youtube has been dragged into a class action lawsuit against Bitconnect for failure to protect its users from being exposed to the scam’s videos. This case might be used by Google and others to justify their bans on crypto ads, arguing that their algorithms can not distinguish between legitimate projects and frauds. Also Read: No Insider Trading, Market Manipulation and Misleading Ads – Malta’s New Crypto Law Youtube to Blame for Bitconnect? Youtube has been added as a defendant in a class action lawsuit against Bitconnect recently, evident by publicly available documents filed with the Southern District Court of Florida. According to the lawsuit, the Google-owned video platform failed to protect or warn its users from Bitconnect affiliates’ promotional material, which reached over 70,000 hours and 58 million views on Youtube. “Several of the Affiliate Promoter Defendants had partnerships with YOUTUBE pursuant to which the BITCONNECT Defendants disseminated fraudulent and harmful content unsuspecting victims across the globe. YOUTUBE was negligent in failing to warn those victims of the harmful content for which YOUTUBE compensated their creators and publishers,” the document alleges. Another segment reads: ”In short, aided by YOUTUBE’s negligent failure to warn, the BITCONNECT Defendants defrauded tens of thousands of investors by capitalizing on the general public’s excitement for virtual currencies and by luring unsuspecting investors into purchasing unregistered securities and participating in pyramid/Ponzi schemes.” “Wide-Reaching Ponzi Scheme” As we reported earlier this year, the original complaint has been filed by Charles Wildes, Francisco Doria, Aric Harod, Akiva Katz, James Gurry, and Ronald Nelson – represented by the law firm of Silver Miller – made on behalf of all Bitconnect customers. The plaintiffs stated that Bitconnect’s former $2.5 billion market capitalization was “built through the use of fraudulent means,” in particular “a wide-reaching Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors, made a mockery of state and federal securities laws, and employed an army of social media mercenaries who were paid to bring more unsuspecting victims into the fraud.” After the matter was exposed, a number of prominent people on the platform have called out Youtubers for promoting Bitconnect, including Pewdiepie. Now the accusations go deeper than that, blaming the platform itself, which might have chilling consequences for sharing crypto content on social networks if accepted by the court. Should media platforms like Youtube be blamed for the content scammers upload? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post Youtube Dragged Into Bitconnect Class Action Lawsuit for Failure to Protect Victims appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Privacy is important in the cryptocurrency ecosystem to a large number of individuals, and people believe private transactions are needed badly these days in a society watched by the ‘deep state.’ Because people find privacy to be extremely important, some developers have designed bitcoin mixers and tumblers that help obfuscate cryptocurrency transactions recorded on public blockchains. One specific project in the works called Bob Wallet offers a privacy-centric client that enables users to move BTC and BCH from a public wallet to a private wallet in a secretive fashion. Also read: US Presidential Candidate Would Pardon Snowden, Ulbricht on First Day Cryptocurrency Privacy: The Great Cat and Mouse Game Continues With Constant Pursuit Cryptocurrencies have become very popular and alongside this trend, blockchain surveillance has also increased exponentially, and there are a lot more people snooping around publicized blockchain transactions. Companies like Chainalysis and Elliptic and many more organizations are monitoring public blockchain networks such as Bitcoin Core (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). One developer has created a wallet that aims to help bitcoin transaction fungibility and make it harder for people to trace transactions. This week the Bob Wallet developer added bitcoin cash (BCH) support. Bob Wallet Adds Bitcoin Cash Support The open source project Bob Wallet is a different type of wallet that doesn’t allow you to make payments to others as its only purpose is to allow the movement of funds from your public wallet to a private wallet in an isolated manner. The Bob Wallet project is currently in beta form and should only be used in Testnet for now until the software is thoroughly tested, explains the wallet developers. Last week on July 2nd the Bob Wallet programmers added bitcoin cash (BCH) support, so BCH users can use BCH Testnet coins and experiment with the mixing service. Users can visit the Bob Wallet website or drag and drop the ‘bobwallet.html’ into a browser to create a new Bob Wallet. “Bob Wallet is not a traditional bitcoin wallet,” details the developer’s Github repository. “You cannot use it to make a payment to someone else. Its only purpose right now is to move your bitcoins from your public wallet to your private wallet securely without anyone knowing your private Wallet addresses.” You will have to use a separate bitcoin wallet after your bitcoin has been made private in order to spend them — Ideally, use a full-node for your private wallet because 3rd-party balance queries can de-anonymize you. This transfer happens by joining together all other Bob Wallet users in order to create a single transaction called a Coinjoin — Your bitcoin can not be stolen since only you own and control your wallet keys and no one can determine your private wallet addresses. Experimenting with Bob Wallet with bitcoin cash (BCH) on Testnet. Privacy Centric Options for Bitcoin Cash Are Sorely Needed The developers of Bob Wallet have been actively building the privacy sending tool and state there are no extra fees for the service, except for the standard miners’ fees per mixing round. A round can last anywhere between 15 to 60 second per round, and if there are more active Bob Wallet participants users gain better privacy. For now, there are not that many privacy-centric options for bitcoin cash users so the development of projects like Bob Wallet are welcomed. BCH proponents also have the ability to experiment with the Cash Shuffle plugin for the Electron Cash wallet. Bob Wallet wants to make bitcoin transactions more fungible in a very simple way by mixing those happy transactions with a bright smile. “No need to download, compile, or configure a complex program — It’s as simple as visiting a website — This makes it fully cross-platform on any device,” the developers note. What do you think about Bob Wallet? Let us know your thoughts on this subject in the comment section below. Disclaimer: Bitcoin.com does not endorse this product/service. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned company/product or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Images via Pixabay, the Bob Wallet website, and Wiki Commons. Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH, and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post Privacy-Centric ‘Bob Wallet’ Adds Bitcoin Cash Support appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Bitcoin trading in renminbi (RMB) has dropped to less than 1 percent of the global total, the central bank of China announced. The People’s Republic banned yuan-crypto trade last year, prompting the exodus of hundreds of Chinese crypto businesses, including some of the world’s leading trading platforms. Also read: Crypto Exchange Binance Expects up to $1 Billion Profit in 2018 ‘Zero-Risk’ Exit for 88 Exchanges, the People’s Bank Says The trading of Bitcoin with the Chinese national currency, the renminbi (RMB), has fallen to less than 1 percent of the world’s total, the People’s Bank of China (PBC) announced this Friday, quoted by Xinhua. At its peak, the RMB/BTC trade reached more than 90 percent of the volume, the state-controlled news agency noted in its report without detailing the data. In September, 2017, Beijing authorities imposed a ban on the trading of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin with the Chinese yuan, referring to the presumed financial risk associated with the rapidly expanding crypto market. The measure also prohibited Chinese businesses from conducting crowdfunding campaigns through Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). In its announcement, The People’s Bank of China said the country had ensured a “zero-risk exit for 88 virtual currency exchanges and 85 ICO trading platforms,” since last year. Xinhua also quoted a “blockchain analyst” saying that “The timely moves by regulators effectively fended off the impact of sharp ups and downs in virtual currency prices and led the global regulatory trend.” The opinion belongs to Zhang Yifeng from the Zhongchao Credit Card Industry Development Company. In February this year, reports came out in Hong Kong that advertisements of products and services offered by companies from the crypto industry no longer appear in China’s major search engines and social networks. The absence of sponsored crypto content prompted local media to allege that the ban also censors all crypto-related ads. Chinese Platforms Expanding Across the Globe PRC regulators imposed a comprehensive ban on bitcoin trading in September, 2017, when they ordered local exchanges to suspend their operations. The authorities in the People’s Republic also tried to block access to foreign cryptocurrency trading platforms offering services to Chinese residents. The restrictions encompassed the crypto-yuan trade hitting some of the world’s largest trading platforms. The ban forced exchanges with Chinese roots, like Huobi, OK Coin, and Binance, to halt all trading in the country and seek to relocate to more favorable jurisdictions. The trading platforms founded new entities and opened offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and the United States, which allowed them to continue their activities and even grow significantly. Huobi, once one of the largest Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges, is now headquartered in Singapore and maintains presence in Hong Kong, the US and Japan, although it recently decided to close the accounts of Japanese residents as a result of compliance issues. The exchange also announced the launch of a trading platform in Australia supporting 10 pairs against the AUD, including bitcoin cash (BCH), with plans to add new cryptos in the future. Huobi confirmed it will open an office in London, too. In April, the Hong Kong based Okex, the digital asset exchange founded by OK Coin CEO Star Xu, revealed plans to expand its operations to Malta. Its announcement came after in March, Binance, currently the largest crypto exchange by trade volume, shared its intention to move to the island nation. Binance wants to offer EUR and GBP pairs from Malta, which is a member of the European Union. The company is also launching a fiat-crypto trading platform in Uganda. Do you think Chinese regulators will eventually reverse the ban on crypto trading? Share your expectations in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Changpeng Zhao (Twitter). Now live, Satoshi Pulse. A comprehensive, real-time listing of the cryptocurrency market. View prices, charts, transaction volumes, and more for the top 500 cryptocurrencies trading today. The post Bitcoin Trading in Chinese Currency Drops Below 1% of World Total appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Blockchain explorers have come a long way since bitcoin’s early days. In the beginning there were none. Then there were basic ones that allowed users to search for specific wallet addresses or transactions. Fast forward to today and we’re blessed with a plethora of blockchain explorers that can be used to extract all kinds of data from multiple blockchains including hidden messages, block heights, and rich lists. Also read: Crypto Exchange Binance Expects up to $1 Billion Profit in 2018 Blockchain Explorers Are the Google of Cryptocurrencies As giant public databases, blockchains, by their nature, are designed for exploration. It’s taken a while though for interfaces to be developed that facilitate such exploration. Cryptocurrency holders have traditionally used blockchain explorers to check on the progress of a transaction they’re sending or receiving, or to check the balance of a particular address, but the use cases for these tools doesn’t end there. Feature-rich blockchain explorers serve as the Google of cryptocurrencies, revealing all kinds of previously hidden or hard to access data. The Bitcoin.com explorer The Bitcoin Wiki credits Blockexplorer.com as being the first dedicated tool of its kind, which was developed by Bitcointalk forum owner Theymos, who’s since sold it. It came online in November 2010, and while still operational today, is one of the lesser known blockchain explorers. The following five are among the best-known and most versatile explorers on the web today. Blockchain.com Blockchain.com, which until recently resided at Blockchain.org, is probably the best known BTC explorer. While its functions are basic by the standards of today’s explorers – you can search by block, transaction, or address – it’s trusted, reliable, and well presented. The site also provides a wealth of stats pertaining to BTC activity over the past 24 hours. Blockchain.com Blockchair “Search the blockchain world for anything” is the rallying cry of Blockchair.com, and the site is as good as its word. It provides access to a trove of valuable data pertaining to the BTC, BCH, and ETH blockchains, including such things as mempool size, fees, number of nodes, and difficulty. Blockchair keeps getting better, and its array of variables that can be searched is unmatched. The explorer will even let you search for words and phrases that are encoded in the blockchain, enabling the curious to discover whether their hometown, sports team, or child’s name has been permanently encoded in the blockchain. Blockchair Tokenview Tokenview.com is a multi-chain explorer developed by a Chinese team and launched earlier this year. It’s a little rough around the edges, with some occasional translation issues, but the number of blockchains it covers is unsurpassed. More than 20 popular blockchains can be searched, making Tokenview the ultimate all-in-one tool for checking up on transactions and addresses. The site also includes a rich list for each of the cryptocurrencies it covers. Etherscan There’s a few decent ethereum explorers out there but Etherscan.io is the most popular, and for good reason. It’s particularly good for looking up smart contract addresses, checking gas prices, and viewing DEX activity. Most of all though, Etherscan is used for checking the token balances of wallet addresses, something which other ethereum-based services such as Metamask and Myetherwallet can’t always reliably do. Etherscan Bitcoin.com Finally, we’d also like to mention the Bitcoin.com block explorer. Its clean interface and minimalist design makes it easy to look up transactions for the BCH and BTC networks in a trice. You can scan in QR codes to check a wallet address, and a button allows for switching between Bitcoin legacy and cash addresses, among other mechanisms. What’s your favorite blockchain explorer? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Etherscan, Blockchair, Tokenview. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Five of the Best Blockchain Explorers appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Just recently news.Bitcoin.com reported on a new Bitcoin Cash (BCH) centric wallet called Cashpay. The wallet launched last June and allows any user to purchase anything online using BCH. This week the development team has added a new feature called ‘Spend and Replace’ a wallet function that replaces BCH with a BCH buy order from Coinbase whenever the cryptocurrency is spent. Also read: A Look at the Long and Annoying Process of Claiming Bitcoin Forks Cashpay Allows Users to Replace the Bitcoin Cash They Spend During the first week of June, we reported on a new bitcoin cash wallet application called Cashpay. The mobile app that’s available for Android and iOS was launched by the Cryptonize.it team. Cashpay has a few features that other crypto light clients don’t provide like the ability to donate to certain charitable causes with bitcoin cash. Further, the wallet allows users to purchase any item online through any merchant using BCH. Now the wallet makes it possible for users to replace the BCH they spend with a new feature called ‘Spend and Replace.’ “It’s finally here — Spend and Replace is enabled on the Cashpay wallet making it possible replace the Bitcoin Cash you spend,” explains the Cashpay development team. Spend and Replace works as follows: You connect your Coinbase account with Cashpay and enable Spend and Replace in the wallet you want to use. Every time you spent an X amount of Bitcoin Cash, the same amount of Bitcoin Cash (minus Coinbase fees) will be bought on your Coinbase account using the fiat available in your account. Hodlers Can Now Purchase That Coveted Coffee The spend and replace protocol is a first of its kind type of app that allows bitcoin cash users to do what they do best and that means spending BCH. Bitcoin cash proponents on forums seemed to like the idea of a wallet that allows people to spend their BCH on a cup of Starbucks coffee and replace the cryptocurrency spent with a Coinbase purchase. The Cashpay development team has also published a video walkthrough that shows people how to use the spend and replace feature. Cashpay also explains that for users who have the Spend and Replace feature enabled but don’t have fiat available, Coinbase will choose the next available funding method like a debit card or bank account. Coinbase fees will apply as well so you will get slightly less BCH than you originally spent. What do you think about the Cashpay Spend and Replace feature? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. Images via Shutterstock, Cashpay, 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. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post New Cashpay Wallet Feature Replaces BCH After Spending appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In this week’s daily editions of Bitcoin in Brief we reported about Coinbase opening the floodgates for institutional money, the new crypto law in Malta, and a move by Bittrex to invade the European market. We also covered, in this week’s most commented-on article, Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman’s trolling of XRP and BTC supporters. Also Read: No Insider Trading, Market Manipulation and Misleading Ads – Malta’s New Crypto Law Fake Trezor Wallet Website On Monday, we reported that hardware wallet manufacturer Trezor has issued a warning to clients about a phishing attempt against its users. A fake Trezor Wallet website was served to some users who attempted to access  the legitimate address (wallet.trezor.io). The signs point toward DNS poisoning or BGP hijacking. Thankfully, the fake wallet has been taken down by the hosting provider. However, Trezor asked clients to remain vigilant and report all suspicious sites as it is possible that this attack method will be used again in the future. Additional stories included the floods in China that took out enough mining farms to make a dent in the global hash rate, and a couple of big new investments in the field. Coinbase Custody Opens The big story on Tuesday was that the new institutional offering Coinbase Custody officially opened for business. The service will be onboarding crypto hedge funds, exchanges and ICO projects over the coming weeks. It provides secure storage for institutions in both the US and Europe, and the company hopes to bring this offering to Asia as well, before the end of the year. The service currently supports BTC, ETH, LTC and BCH, and is expected to open the floodgates for big institutional money looking for cryptocurrency exposure. In other exchange-related news, Hitbtc responded to John McAfee’s accusations that the venue is “killing poor people”, BTCC officially launched its new platform, and Huobi announced the postponement of Hadax voting. Buying Crypto is Too Hard? On Wednesday, we reported that the complicated process of purchasing cryptocurrencies is the biggest obstacle for new investors entering the crypto space. This was according to a recently released survey of 1,000 US residents designed to profile crypto holders and better understand how they are using their digital coins. The poll also attempted to gauge the cultural perceptions surrounding cryptocurrency ownership. Another study found that despite regulatory pressures and other issues like bad publicity due to fraudulent or unsuccessful projects, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) have raised $11.8 billion through May 2018. Malta Enacts Crypto Law The big news on Thursday was that the parliament of Malta had given the final approval for three bills meant to create a welcoming regulatory framework for crypto ventures. The bills enacted into law are the Digital Innovation Authority Act, the Innovative Technological Arrangement and Services Act, and the Virtual Financial Asset Act. We took a deep look into the law and found a number of issues that can have an impact on traders and exchanges such as prohibitions on insider trading, market manipulation and misleading ads or ICO whitepapers. Bittrex Invades Europe On Friday, it was reported that Bittrex has released details of a new venture with Invest.com. The pair will be creating a digital asset trading platform, to open to EU traders initially. It will feature over 200 tokens whilst leveraging Invest.com’s knowledge of derivative trading, equity trading and portfolio management. And another six letter domain, Crypto.com has been sold for millions. Bitcoin Enters Indian Politics On Saturday, it was reported that the Indian National Congress (INC), one of the two leading parties in the country, accused its major political opponent, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), of being complicit in a “bitcoin scam”. INC spokesman Shaktisinh Gohil demanded a judicial probe into the alleged money-laundering scheme using the cryptocurrency. Additional stories covered some BCH-related projects and services, as well as the latest incarnations of the blockchain technology. Paul Krugman Trolls Ripple The most commented-on article during the week covered the verbal attack on XRP by Nobel laureate economics professor and New York Times columnist, Paul Krugman. “If a digital currency isn’t actually used for any transactions, is it, you know, actually a currency?” tweeted Krugman. He was prompted by a colleague’s recent article regarding a push by Ripple’s XRP to urge users to do more than just speculate. Join the discussion. This Week in Bitcoin Podcast Catch the rest of this week’s news in the This Week in Bitcoin podcast with host Matt Aaron. What other stories in the Bitcoin world caught your attention this week? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post The Weekly: Coinbase Custody Opens, Malta Adopts Crypto Law, Bittrex Invades Europe appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance expects a net profit of up to $1 billion USD this year. The trading platform has already registered about $300 million of revenue in the first half of 2018 and a five-fold increase in the number of users. The data demonstrates a serious growth for Binance which is taking steps to expand globally. Also read: Expanding Exchanges, New Crypto Fund, Patent, and Laws Binance CEO Claims 10 million Users In a year with significant losses incurred by investors, Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trade volume, has already made some $300 million dollars of revenue. Moreover, according to CEO Changpeng Zhao, the trading platform expects to accumulate a net profit of $500 million to $1 billion USD for the whole 2018. Changpeng Zhao The average daily turnover at Binance, which was launched about a year ago, is around $1.5 billion, its founder and chief executive revealed. Quoted by Bloomberg, Changpeng Zhao also said that his platform now has 10 million users. Their number has increased from 2 million at the beginning of 2018, as announced earlier. The data shows that Binance has experienced serious growth since it started operations in July last year, after conducting an Initial Coin Offering that attracted $15 million worth of capital. Trading on the platform peaked along with the prices of cryptocurrencies towards the end of 2017, when the exchange was registering up to $11 billion of trades daily. Global Expansion in Search for a Better Home Binance was founded in China but left the country before the ban on crypto trading imposed by the Beijing authorities went into effect in September last year. The exchange moved its headquarters to Japan and earlier this year it opened an office in Taiwan as well. In March, Japan’s Financial Services Authority issued a warning and asked the exchange to shut down its operations in the country. It was reported that the company has been threatened with criminal charges for operating without a license. After regulatory pressures against it increased in both Japan and Hong Kong, where it also operated, the trading platform decided to relocate to Malta. In Malta, Binance intends to set up a fiat-crypto exchange and start supporting fiat deposits and withdrawals, adding EUR and GBP trading pairs. The island nation, an EU member-state, has established itself as a crypto-friendly jurisdiction, along with Gibraltar and Switzerland. The parliament in Valletta adopted new legislation designed to introduce clear regulations for the country’s growing crypto industry. Maltese authorities welcomed the arrival of Binance, which is not the only crypto exchange attracted by the favorable business climate the government is trying to create for crypto businesses. Another platform with Chinese roots, Okex, announced in April it is setting foot in the country, and the Polish Bitbay revealed its plans to move to the island in May. This month, Binance announced it is launching a fiat-crypto trading platform in Uganda. Earlier this year, the largest crypto exchange agreed to a partnership with the government of Bermuda, where it plans to establish a global compliance center and invest in local blockchain companies and projects. What do you make of the financial data released by the Binance CEO? Tell us in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Changpeng Zhao (Twitter). Now live, Satoshi Pulse. A comprehensive, real-time listing of the cryptocurrency market. View prices, charts, transaction volumes, and more for the top 500 cryptocurrencies trading today. The post Crypto Exchange Binance Expects up to $1 Billion Profit in 2018 appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article