roadrunner

Over the past month or so since the most recent Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network upgrade, a lot of developers have created platforms and extensions that utilize the re-enabled Satoshi OP_Codes. There’s been a bunch of social media applications like Memo and Blockpress that allow users to submit data that’s tied to the BCH protocol in an on-chain fashion. Now there’s an application that combines all of the data sent on-chain through a platform called Chainfeed — A tool that displays a global real-time news feed powered by bitcoin cash. Also read: A Character Called Bitpico Thinks He Can Stress-Test the BCH Network Three Apps That Showcase the Bitcoin Cash Network’s OP_Return Innovation @_Unwriter Over the past few weeks since the successful Bitcoin Cash network upgrade this past May lots of BCH supporters have been experimenting with the new OP_Codes and OP_Return transactions. Immediately after the fork, platforms like Memo.cash, and Blockpress also upgraded their software which allowed users more characters per written post. With all the OP_Return innovation taking place a developer called ‘Unwriter’ has created three platform extensions called Chainfeed, the _opreturn Twitter bot, and read.cash. The applications work with programs like Memo.cash, while also using the Twitter API as well. Chainfeed: A Global Real-Time News Feed Powered by BCH OP_Return Transactions Chainfeed is a global newsfeed that shows all the messages being created on the Bitcoin Cash network in real-time. Basically, the tool logs all the OP_Return transactions on the BCH chain and delivers the data to users on the client side. Scrolling through the app’s interface shows all the OP_Return transactions taking place right now and a portion of the feed is a bunch of gibberish. However, users can filter the platform’s query so it only finds OP_Return transactions tied to specific applications like Blockpress. Chainfeed’s data site and the info shown can be shared with direct links alongside the ability to be bookmarked as well. “There are currently two tabs: ‘all’ and ‘featured apps.’ ‘All’ is the raw OP_Return feed,” explains the Chainfeed creator. ‘Featured Apps’ is for applications that have their own overlay application protocols (such as memo.cash or blockpress so far). It’s still early days so there aren’t many apps that make use of the OP_Return data transaction feature yet, but we will probably see a lot of exciting apps soon. Chainfeed API. The Twitter Bot ‘_Opreturn’ Turns Twitter Into an Application-Specific Bitcoin Sidechain The developer has also created a Twitter bot called @_Opreturn which is a program that uses the Chainfeed firehouse API to monitor real-time messages sent on the BCH chain. Then the messages are replicated onto Twitter using the Twitter API. Visiting the bot’s Twitter page shows the application is quite active as it posts BCH-powered OP_Return transaction and streams them into _Opreturn’s Twitter feed. So far since Unwriter launched the bot the platform has tweeted 3,322 times and a good majority of the posts stem from the Memo.cash application. “We’re turning Twitter into an application-specific Bitcoin sidechain,” explains Unwriter. @_Opreturn Watch All of Those Bitcoin Cash Social Media Accounts With Read.cash Lastly, the developer Unwriter has created another BCH application called read.cash. In essence, read.cash takes all your BCH-centric social media accounts from Yours.org, Blockpress, and Memo and creates a platform that allows the owner to manage all of the tethered BCH wallets in one place. Read.cash enables users to add wallets using public keys instead of private keys. Creates a watchlist for all of the accounts’ wallets so people can view their accounts’ actions and most importantly the funds stored on these websites. Moreover, users have the ability to recharge application wallets using QR codes and the Moneybutton application. Read.cash All of Unwriters platforms are open source and the codebase and descriptions can be viewed at the developer’s Github repository. The applications Unwriter has created just scratches the surface when it comes to the potential of these censorship resistant social media platforms and the extensions that have followed. Ever since the OP_Codes were re-enabled it has caused a tidal wave of platforms that showcase innovation like the apps mentioned above and other realized concepts like trustless betting, auctions, and dice rolls. What do you think about the platforms and extensions Unwriter has built on top of the Bitcoin Cash blockchain? Let us know what you think in the comment section below. Images via Shutterstock, Twitter, read.cash, Chainfeed, and @_Opreturn. Express yourself freely at Bitcoin.com’s user forums. We don’t censor on political grounds. Check forum.Bitcoin.com. The post Meet Three More Applications That Utilize Bitcoin Cash OP_Codes appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

People hear and know more about cryptocurrencies with every passing day, and according to a new survey, interest in Bitcoin is expected to increase twofold in Europe. The poll gauges the awareness of cryptocurrencies and the expectations for their future. The research covers over a dozen European nations, but also the United States and Australia, presenting some unexpected findings. Also read: Survey: 13% of Net-Savvy Ukrainians Own Cryptocurrencies Lower Income Countries Know More About Bitcoin The survey, carried out by Ipsos for the Dutch banking giant ING, reveals how cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are perceived in 2018. It does so by interviewing almost 15,000 respondents in 15 European countries, the United States and Australia. The authors aimed to better understand how people around the world spend, save, invest and feel about digital money. They also sought answers to the question, will cryptocurrency become more mainstream? The poll conducted online between March 26 and April 6 reveals high awareness of cryptocurrencies among residents of the Old Continent. Two thirds of Europeans (66%) have heard of cryptos, with higher numbers among males (77%). Several lower income countries like Turkey (70%), Romania (75%) and Poland (77%) have a higher share of people who have heard of cryptocurrency than the European average – 66%. More Australians (70%) than Americans (57%) are aware of Bitcoin. A surprising discovery was that younger people, in the brackets 25-34 and 35-44 years, are not necessarily much more knowledgeable than other age groups. For example, 60% of European respondents aged 65 or older shared they had heard of cryptocurrency. Tech-savvy Europeans, typically those using their mobile devices for online banking, are more likely to have heard of cryptocurrencies (69%) than the rest (59%), the researchers point out. In most cases, 11 out of 15 countries, websites specialized in providing cryptocurrency-related content are the preferred source of information when making decisions on bitcoin investments. Investors in only three countries, Spain, Luxembourg and France, tend to more often seek advice from experts from financial institutions and banks, while Italians are divided, the study shows. The numbers of those who rely on guidance from family and friends or software algorithms are relatively small. Less than a third of European respondents said they would never invest in cryptocurrencies. Austrians are the biggest skeptics, as well as people over 65 years of age. Only 14% of the young respondents, 18-34 years old, are unwilling to put money into crypto. A Quarter of Europeans Expect to Own Crypto in the Future The share of people owning cryptocurrency in Europe is still relatively low – 9% said they had purchased bitcoin or any other crypto, with the data for Australia (7%) and the US (8%) showing similar results. Luxembourg (4%) and Belgium (5%) are at the bottom of the table, while Eastern European countries, like Poland (11%) and Romania (12%), are among the leaders in the survey. Turkey, with its staggering 18%, tops the chart. In Europe, “mobile bankers” (12%), males (13%) and young people between 25 and 34 years old (16%) are again more likely to own cryptocurrency. The good news is that one in four Europeans (25%) expects to acquire cryptocurrency in the future, which translates into a 16% potential increase in the share of crypto owners. Again, the percentage of those likely to say they expect to buy cryptocurrency is higher among people using their smartphones for banking. Generally, those Europeans that are at least aware of cryptocurrencies are also less likely to purchase crypto assets. Elsewhere, 15% of Australian respondents believe they would own cryptos in the future, while the same can be said for 21% of Americans. Europeans More Optimistic than Australians and Americans The authors of the survey also asked several questions to determine the respondents’ view of what the future holds for Bitcoin and the like. Europeans are generally more optimistic than participants from Australia and the US. The combined data for the 13 European countries in the study shows that 35% of those questioned expect cryptocurrencies to rise in value in the next 12 months. That’s compared to 34% of Americans and 22% of Australians. The Turks are the most optimistic of the bunch, 51%, while only 20% of the residents of Luxembourg expect the prices of the digital coins to go up again. The optimistic Europeans are also those who believe cryptocurrencies are the future of online spending: 35% and 32% respectively say Bitcoin and altcoins are the future of financial investments. In Australia, these numbers are 18% and 19%. Almost a third of Americans, 31%, think cryptocurrencies will be used for online purchases and 29% see them as main investment instruments in the years to come. European respondents that know of, own or plan to acquire cryptocurrency have also been asked if they would use it for certain purchases and purposes. Less than half of the interviewed Europeans, between 40 and 49% from all categories, don’t want to change their habits when it comes to everyday payment transactions. From the rest, 23% said they would buy a cup of coffee with bitcoin, 21% are willing to pay their taxes or monthly electricity bills in crypto, 26% think it’s a good idea to buy a plane ticket with bitcoin, 30% are ready to make international online payments, and 20% admit they would use cryptocurrency to save for their children’s tuition fees. In general, the researchers conclude, younger people and residents of countries with lower per-capita income levels are more likely to consider cryptocurrency as a payment option. At the moment, 15% of Europeans would accept their salary in cryptocurrency. Do you expect interest in cryptocurrencies to rise again in the near future? Tell us in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Make sure you do not miss any important Bitcoin-related news! Follow our news feed any which way you prefer; via Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, RSS or email (scroll down to the bottom of this page to subscribe). We’ve got daily, weekly and quarterly summaries in newsletter form. Bitcoin never sleeps. Neither do we. The post Interest in Bitcoin Set to Double in Europe, New Survey Suggests appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Some exchange operators have found a new trick to artificially pump up their trade volume. They are directly rewarding users with their own issued tokens for generating transactions, something critics call a backdoor ICO ripe for manipulation. Also Read: If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them – Bitcoin Is Hiring Regulators Trading as Mining High trade volume has been a measure bitcoin exchanges competed on for a long while now. And some supposedly used various methods just to increase their numbers along the years, from zero-fee transactions to encouraging algos. Recently there were even accusations that some hired their own market makers just to constantly trade and even counting both sides of any trade, effectively doubling the real action. And now some have started to just pay traders for using their platforms instead of waiting for organic growth. Apparently invented by Fcoin, a platform recently founded by former Huobi CTO Zhang Jian, the “transaction fee mining” model is meant to help clients offset trading costs by handing them exchange tokens. While this is a new development in crypto, it has precedents in other fields. FX and stock brokers sometimes offer cashbacks or other incentives (such as free iPads) dependent on volume to increase client trading. Here, however, the tokens are arguably a form of dividend-bearing securities, and offering control in the exchanges themselves … which is something that can not happen without crypto tokens. Stealing Binance’s Thunder? A number of exchanges using the trans-fee model have popped up following Fcoin, including Singapore’s Coinbene and Hong Kong’s Bit-Z. The platforms have been able to rack up massive trade volume numbers in short time thanks to this method. Naturally, the company that is most upset about this is Binance which, of course, has its own token but distributed it in an ICO. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao slammed the practice as a disguised ICO on Chinese social media and reportedly stated: “If an exchange’s survival depends largely on the price rise of its own token rather than on transaction fee earnings, it has to drive up the token price. In this regard, less experienced traders and retail investors can hardly have the upper hand in the trading competition with those crypto whales, especially the exchange whale.” Do you care about and trust the reported trade volume by exchanges in the bitcoin ecosystem? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi’s Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post This New Trick Helps Exchanges Artificially Pump Up Their Trade Volume appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Delhi-based cryptocurrency trading platform Coinsecure has officially announced its claims process for customers who were affected by the culprit who stole 438 BTC from exchange this past April. The firm plans to compensate Coinsecure users with Indian rupee as long as they sign an agreement that releases the company from any future liability. Also Read: A Character Called Bitpico Thinks He Can Stress-Test the BCH Network Coinsecure Announces Compensation Plan for the April 9 Theft Offering Impacted Customers Repayment in Indian Rupee On April 9 the Indian exchange, Coinsecure, lost approximately 438.31859715 BTC when the funds were stolen from an offline wallet. At the time of the incident, the loss accounted for over $3Mn USD worth of bitcoins and 11,000 Coinsecure customers were affected. Moreover, after the theft Coinsecure accused the company’s chief scientist Dr. Amitabh Saxena in playing a role in the heist when he was processing Bitcoin Gold (BTG) extractions. Following the investigation details, the company announced on April 14 that it had devised a repayment plan and revealed a bounty worth 20 million rupees ($300,000 USD) if someone helped recover the stolen BTC. On Tuesday, June 26 Coinsecure has revealed it will be compensating its customers that were impacted by the theft on April 8. However, the process comes with a catch. Affected users must file a claim and provide a valid signature that absolves the exchange of any future liability. Furthermore, these customers have to provide identification and deliver the documents by the end of this week. “We are happy to inform you that we have started the process of compensating our customers in Indian rupees, ex gratia, for the loss of their bitcoins in the attack that occurred on April 9, 2018,” explains the firm. Please note that the last date for submitting claims to us along with all appropriate documents is June 30, 2018 — We will not entertain any claims received after June 30, 2018, and we shall have no liability towards any users who try to submit claims after the said date. After a Five Day Window Delivery Requirements, the Delhi-based Coinsecure Will Not Entertain Further Liability To many observers, Coinnsecure’s announcement of the official claim process, and setting a deadline that’s only five days away, seems a bit fast to handle the request of 11,000 affected users. Nevertheless, Coinsecure will not entertain any more claims in regard to the April 9 theft after this date, and users are now directed to the firm’s claims page which contains the full list of compensation requirements. What do you think about Coinsecure’s compensation plan? Do you think a five-day window and personal delivery is fair to ask of customers who were affected by this loss? Let us know in the comment section below. Images via Shutterstock, Pixabay, Twitter, and Coinsecure. Express yourself freely at Bitcoin.com’s user forums. We don’t censor on political grounds. Check forum.Bitcoin.com. The post Coinsecure Exchange Reveals Compensation Plan With a Catch appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

While everyone is looking for an indication that institutional money is about to flood into bitcoin and revive the market, we just got another conformation that crypto has indeed entered the big leagues. Companies in the industry are now putting former regulators on their payroll, as is common for Wall Street mega banks, government-supported telecom monopolies, competition-stifling tech giants and the like. Also Read: Bitcoin in Brief: New Patents, Research Centers and a $300M Fund Another Regulator Gets a Big Paycheck Along the announcement of its new $300 million a16z crypto fund, Andreessen Horowitz also revealed it had hired Katie Haun as its newest general partner. While most tech publications hailed the move in the name of diversity and inclusivity, due to her gender, few took note that she is yet another in a string of government lawyers and regulators who joined the ranks of cryptocurrency companies recently. According to her bio at Stanford, Haun spent over a decade as a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where she focused on fraud, cybercrime, and corporate compliance failures alongside agencies such as the SEC, FBI, and Treasury. She was the DOJ’s first-ever coordinator for digital assets, and led investigations into the Mt. Gox hack and the corrupt agents on the Silk Road task force. As her impressive resume proves, Haun is no doubt a very capable and highly intelligent woman. However, she is a law expert not a venture capital or investment expert, which could raise some questions about her new role. Free and Fair Market? As mentioned before, Haun is only the latest regulator to make the move into the crypto industry. In May 2018, Kraken hired Mary Beth Buchanan, the former US Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. In December 2017 Bittrex hired Kiran Raj, a former Deputy General Counsel at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as chief strategy officer, as well as John Roth, a DHS Inspector General who spent twenty-five years at the DOJ, as chief compliance and ethics officer. In November 2017, the former New York Superintendent of Financial Services who pushed for the Bitlicense, Ben Lawsky, joined Ripple’s board of directors. And the list goes on and on as far back as in 2015, when Itbit hired former NY DFS General Counsel Daniel Alter as its general counsel and chief compliance officer. All of this is, of course, not illegal and serves both parties. The crypto companies get people on board that can help them navigate the complex legal system, and the former regulators get to leverage their government experience in the much more lucrative private sector. The main downside is that this practice can potentially hurt end users as it hampers competition by erecting steep barriers for entry. Just imagine you want to open a new US crypto exchange. You might fear that, unless you have the financial resources and right connections to hire a former top government lawyer, you will have a severe disadvantage compared with the established players, and ultimately cancel the plan as a result. Hopefully, at some point some honest lawmakers will notice what is happening and conclude that the regulatory maze is too cumbersome for the good of the market. Until that happens, bitcoin companies will keep hiring people that mix in the right circles and know who to give a call when needed. Are these developments good for the long term health of the bitcoin ecosystem? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi’s Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them – Bitcoin Is Hiring Regulators appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

This is a paid press release, which contains forward looking statements, and should be treated as advertising or promotional material. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support this product/service. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the press release. The travel industry is considered as the fastest-growing economic sector in the world. According to the report of the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization), it provides about 10% of the global GDP and 30% of total export of services. For some countries, for example, Aruba, Malta, the Maldives, Cape Verde and others, tourism has become the main driver of socio-economic development through the creation of jobs, infrastructure and export revenues. At the same time, more and more people visit other countries for tourism purposes every year. In 2016 the number of international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) reached a total of 1.235 billion worldwide, then by 2030 it’s expected to exceed 1.8 billion. The tourism industry is very dynamic. Developing at a fast pace, it absorbs new trends, hi-tech features, and ideas. While a century ago, traveling was a luxury, accessible only to a small segment of the population, now it has become a part of the lifestyle of millions, largely attributable to the adoption of new digital technologies. In particular, appeared GPS navigators that replaced inconvenient paper maps, reservation systems like Booking.com or Expedia, through which you can book accommodation quickly and easily. In addition, travelers discovered such services as Airbnb and Uber, began to actively use mobile money for payments. While these concepts have already proved their usefulness and have ingrained in the modern tourism, the soaring blockchain technologies are just on their way. Recently the world has been overwhelmed with the news about companies that are beginning to implement them in their business. Today, we are on the verge of a new reality, and obviously, those who adapt to changes first will be the winners in a competitive race. Upending the industry with blockchain In tourism using blockchain is a win-win for both sides: travelers and service providers. It can be applied to ensure security, privacy, and accuracy of shared information especially in regard to financial data and users’ ID details. Travel industry holds astronomical amounts of vulnerable personal information such as passports, bank accounts, and even people’s income records. Keeping all these pieces on the distributed ledger, blockchain is able to protect them from fraud, hacking and misuse. Moreover, it can reshape the way travelers book flights and accommodation. With decentralized technologies, they’ll have a much cheaper and more appealing alternative to traditional Booking.com or Airbnb. Proof algorithms which form the bases of blockchain network guarantee that a hotel or an airline would receive a payment from a customer in a seamless and fast way. Meanwhile, as the intermediaries would be eliminated from the process, travelers won’t have to pay extra commission fees. By the way, similar solutions already exist in the tourism market. The blockchain version of Airbnb was created by the Rentberry company. Smart contracts help handle relations between tenants and landlords in a more reliable and transparent manner, with all agreements being written on the blockchain ledger. Another curious startup uses blockchain to make travel cheaper for consumers and more profitable for suppliers is the Swiss Winding Tree. It’s a decentralized open-source travel distribution platform, which allows airlines and hotels to connect with travel operators and agencies directly, without centralized control of big market players, excessive fees and barriers for entry. Winding Tree established partnerships with Lufthansa, Air New Zealand, Swiss International Air Lines and Austrian Airlines to bring the new technology to the travel industry. Crypto paradise for travelers Blockchain can enhance travelers experience in many ways, but the most anticipated is, of course, paying with cryptocurrency. The number of people owning cryptocurrencies is increasing daily. According to the recent studies, in 2017 the total value of all cryptocurrencies grew by over 3300% to over $600 billion. In the USA alone, over 16.3 million citizens own digital coins and tokens. Blockchain throws down a challenge to the traditional methods of payment, and the most tech-savvy companies are actively adapting to the new realities. Doubtless, the technology makes a big difference in financial transfers. It facilitates international payments so that travelers don’t need to exchange currencies multiple times, thus saving their time and cutting off additional commission expenditures. No less importantly, the adoption of cryptocurrencies as a payment provides a significant competitive advantage to the whole tourist region, making it attractive to millions of virtual coin holders around the world. This market niche is still vacant and those who occupy it will definitely become innovation drivers with a bright future. In fact, such pioneers have already begun to appear. In particular, in March 2018 the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) announced that they’re now accepting cryptocurrencies as a form of payment for its services. The company’s aim is to represent Germany as an attractive travel destination and they believe being crypto-friendly will contribute to that a lot. A similar idea is realized by the Noah Project powered by non-profit Noah Foundation. The company implements several blockchain projects that would allow locals, expats and travelers to take advantage of the innovative digital technologies – send and receive money transfers in virtual currency, use it to transact products and services and even enjoy a luxury vacation on the Philippines. The creators of the Noah project admit that “the rise of blockchain is inevitable. Today people expect to access what they need in a fast, simple and convenient way. If a person wants to get his confidential data protected, he should get it. If an expat wants to transfer money to his family at home easily, he should get it. And, obviously, if he wants to pay for traveling with virtual money – we should think about that. You cannot ignore these technological trends, as they’re not going anywhere. But you should be among the first to bring them to the world”. The Noah Project is among these “the first”. Since its start in 2016, the company has been developing the Noah Ecosystem, where its own infrastructural token – Noah Coin – will be used. The ecosystem comprises of various services, and beach vacations are among them. The Noah Project partners with Dakak Beach Resort in the Philippines to create the Noah Resort, where the company’s token will be accepted. With Noah Coin, travelers will be able not only to sunbathe but will also get exclusive access to all the facilities of the resort, including 3 tennis courts, horseback riding, golf course, rock climbing, kayaking, scuba diving, river and sunset cruises. The Noah Resort aims to open a whole new travel experience where people won’t need to worry about currency exchanges – all they need is the wireless connection and a blockchain wallet. You can get a ticket to the crypto paradise today – Noah Coin is available for purchase on several exchanges: HitBTC, Changelly, Livecoin, Mercatox and BTC-Alpha. To stay in touch with the team and get the latest news, join a hot discussion of the Noah Project on Telegram. Supporting Link https://noahcoin.org/ Contact Email Address on@zmest.io This is a paid press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post PR: Noah Project Partners with Dakak Beach Resort appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

There’s nothing remarkable about a bitcoin transaction; it happens hundreds of thousands of times a day. But there’s one set of addresses whose contents are watched with hawk eyes. Should so much as a satoshi move from one of those wallets, it will spark global headlines and make the markets go loco. That’s because those wallets belong to Satoshi Nakamoto and if his coins move, all hell breaks loose. Also read: Satoshi Nakamoto Known to CIA? FBI? Created by NSA? Search Intensifies Speculating About Satoshi’s Next Move Is Wargames for Bitcoiners Governments frequently play out wargames in which they enact various doomsday scenarios. A nuclear missile from a rogue state; a dirty bomb detonated by a terrorist group; chemical warfare on the streets of a major city: all these scenarios, and more, have been played out countless times by army generals the world over. Speculating about what would happen if Satoshi’s coins were to move is bitcoin’s wargames equivalent. This isn’t conjecture for the sake of it, in other words: it’s a serious exercise for an event that would have serious repercussions if it were to materialize. Suppose you wake up tomorrow to learn that one of Satoshi’s estimated one million BTC, after lying dormant for almost a decade, has moved to the Bitfinex hot wallet. What would be your next move? Do you panic sell and jump into tether? Do you FOMO into buying more BTC? Or do you watch the blockchain and wait, trying to figure out Satoshi’s next move? It’s probably a good idea to work out your answer now, because if Satoshi’s coins ever do move from their current resting place, you’ll have mere minutes – if that – to act before the market does. What Did Satoshi Mean by This? To grasp where the market might move if Satoshi’s stash were to move (and why it would almost certainly be downward), it’s necessary to consider who bitcoin’s creator might be. There would appear to be three rational hypotheses: 1. Satoshi is one guy (or girl) who, for the sake of argument, we’ll call Satoshi Nakamoto. 2. Satoshi is a group of people who, for the sake of argument, we’ll call Hal Finney, Nick Szabo, and Gavin Andresen. 3. Satoshi is a government agency who, for the sake of argument, we’ll call the NSA. Of the three scenarios, number 1 would present the biggest unknown. On the one hand, coins moving from Satoshi’s wallet would induce market panic at the prospect of one million BTC being dumped by their owner. On the other hand, if the incident were to presage Satoshi’s return from the digital wilderness with a newfound determination to contribute to Bitcoin Core’s development, and eight years of brilliant ideas to share with the world, well, that could prove very bullish for bitcoin. Especially if Satoshi then locked away the rest of his fortune in multi-sig to demonstrate his determination to never cash out. For those who like their biblical allegories, bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator is synonymous with the book of Genesis. Satoshi promising never to flood the markets would be the equivalent of God sending a rainbow as his promise not to flood the earth, as recorded in Genesis 9. Make no mistake, bitcoin is better without a strong leader, as Satoshi recognized right from the start. But if he was to return it would move markets like the great flood moved mountains. And, while we’re playing wargames, if Satoshi were to return and declare Bitcoin Cash to be his original vision, the flippening might happen faster than you could fit the puzzle piece to log into Binance and load up on BCH. But enough about option 1, as we still have two alternative doomsday scenarios to play out… If Satoshi Is a They, Anything’s Possible If Satoshi is the work of several people, as has been theorized, the movement of a coin from one of the earliest wallets could signal dissent. It could herald acrimony in the camp, spurring one of bitcoin’s founding fathers to move their stack in readiness to sell. If that happens, expect huge volatility, another possible fork, and denials from the remaining possible Satoshis who may have been doxxed during the course of their erstwhile colleague going rogue. The only upside to this outcome is that if Satoshi is the work of three people, that could mean only one third of their one million BTC being dumped. Even so, 330k BTC being offloaded on the open market would make quite a dent. If Spooks, No One’s Safe The third possibility – that bitcoin was developed by a government agency such as the NSA – is perhaps the most intriguing. Bitcoin uses SHA256, a hash function partly developed by the NSA, and thus it’s not surprising that many suspect the cryptocurrency to be the agency’s handiwork. If so, that fact is immaterial in the here and now; after all, Tor was in part developed by DARPA, but that hasn’t stopped hackers, whistleblowers, and dissidents from trusting it implicitly. That’s the beauty of open source code. There are no backdoors in bitcoin because anyone can inspect its code and propose modifications to it, as developers have done over the past nine years. And yet… And yet, if it transpired that a three-letter agency was behind bitcoin, owning 5% of the total supply would be their not-so-secret weapon. When you own one million bitcoins, you don’t need to backdoor its code: you simply wait until it starts to threaten the global financial system then begin moving coins from Satoshi’s wallet just to mess with the proles. Bitcoin crashes hard, everyone but the earliest adopters gets rekt, and trust in decentralized cryptocurrency is gone for good. If the CIA or NSA created bitcoin, moving coins from Satoshi’s wallet is crypto’s very own Mutually Assured Destruction. First the Gutter, Then the Stars Regardless of which of these outcomes plays out, there is some good news for bitcoin hodlers. In the short to medium term, Satoshi’s coins moving – even without them being sold on an exchange – won’t be good for the price of BTC. But in the long-term, the effects of such a maneuver are limited. Sure, it will almost certainly depress prices, but it won’t kill off the things that made bitcoin so precious in the first place: a decentralized P2P currency that no one can censor or control. Satoshi, if he or they returns, can stall bitcoin, but remains powerless to stop it. It’s too late for that: the virus has already spread. There can be no going back. Do you think Satoshi’s coins will ever move? 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 Are You Ready for What Happens If Satoshi’s Coins Move? appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Six fully-licensed Japanese cryptocurrency exchanges have responded to the business improvement orders issued by the country’s top financial regulator. Two executives have also resigned from their positions as vice presidents of the recently formed crypto exchange association. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Japan’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), issued business improvement orders to six regulated crypto exchanges on June 22. Japan currently has 16 regulated crypto exchanges in total. Bitflyer, Bitpoint Japan, Btcbox, Bitbank, Quoine, and Tech Bureau received instructions to improve their crypto exchange businesses. Out of the six, only Tech Bureau has received two such orders. Crypto Exchange Association The Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA), founded in March, consists solely of the 16 government-approved crypto exchanges. It was formed in response to the hack of Coincheck in order to restore public trust in the industry. The chairman of the association is Taizen Okuyama of Money Partners. There are four directors: Bitflyer’s Yuzo Kano, Bitbank’s Hiroyuki Noriyuki, SBI Virtual Currencies’ Yoshitaka Kitao, and GMO Coin’s Tomitaka Ishimura. While GMO Coin did not receive a business improvement order on the 22nd, it received one in March. On Monday, June 25, the association announced that two of its vice chairmen have resigned, stating: In response to the fact that vice chairmen of the association, Yuzo Kano and Hiroyuki Noriyuki, representative directors of Bitflyer Co. Ltd. and Bitbank Corporation, received business improvement orders concerning their virtual currency exchange businesses, we inform you that we have received resignation requests from both of the vice presidents on this date and have accepted them. The association continued to detail, “we will continue to do our utmost to protect the interests of users and to promote the sound development of the virtual currency exchange industry, including the early establishment of voluntary regulation rules.” Prior to the two resignations, local media reported that the association was going to release self-regulatory rules this week; the association has not confirmed any specific details. Crypto Exchanges’ Responses Japan’s largest crypto exchange by volume, Bitflyer, announced on the same day as the FSA order its plans to improve a number of business areas. The exchange has also halted new user registrations and will strengthen its account verification process for existing users, as news.Bitcoin.com previously reported. Bitbank explained that it is reviewing “the internal control system and management system” in order to “ensure proper and reliable operation of the business towards customers’ recovery of trust.” The exchange emphasized that there is no impact to customer assets. A sophisticated management system will be established as the company works closely with the authorities, the exchange elaborated: There will be no impact on various services and customer assets provided by our company due to the business improvement order this time. You can use the service as usual for all transactions / functions including deposits and withdrawals of Japanese yen. Bitpoint Japan wrote, “We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to you and other concerned customers,” adding that it will “promptly enhance and strengthen the management control system.” Btcbox similarly declared, “We take the situation sincerely, we deeply reflect on it,” noting that it will build a management system as directed by the FSA’s order. Quoine’s CEO, Mike Kayamori, detailed how his exchange will comply with the FSA order. He explained that the order is about “governance, compliance, back-office, KYC and AML,” not security or theft, elaborating: “we will need to pull out some necessary resources, especially from the back end developers who will need to provide the necessary data to comply and work with the FSA.” He further clarified that it means pulling “key people” away who are currently working on his exchange’s Liquid platform to work with the FSA instead, elaborating: We believe this will be about a month or two process and business will be as usual. Zaif, operated by Tech Bureau, also responded, referencing the March business improvement order. In addition to complying with the previous order, two more areas will be improved. The first is the “Establishment of an effective risk management system” and the second is the “Establishment of a system to respond appropriately to customers.” The exchange wrote: We sincerely accept that we received the improvement order again. To make it possible for customers to use it with confidence, we will endeavor to further improve and strengthen the organization and work together throughout the company so that we can establish an appropriate management system. What do you think of the responses by the six Japanese crypto exchanges? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Bitflyer, Bitbank, Bitpoint, Tech Bureau, Quoine, and Btcbox. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Six Japanese Crypto Exchanges Respond to Regulator’s Improvement Orders appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

While short term investors and speculators might not be in the best of shape right now, the long term development of the ecosystem is still advancing on pace. Companies and institutions are continuing to invest time and money for furthering cryptocurrency research as can be seen by the stories featured in today’s edition of Bitcoin in Brief. Also Read: Alleged Fraudster Arrested in China Over $15M Mining Hardware Con Preventing the Next Mt. Gox Nchain, the BCH-focused R&D firm, has announced the issuance of its second patent by the European Patent Office, entitled “Determining a common secret for the secure exchange of information and hierarchical deterministic cryptographic keys.” This Deterministic Key Generation technique is said to provide for improved secure communication between a pair of nodes, while being able to keep their private keys secret. The company explains that it has already been using the technique as part of its work with SBI BITS in Japan, the subsidiary of SBI Holdings, and that its publicly available SDK offers the patented technique for any developers that need it. Nchain CEO, Jimmy Nguyen, stated: “The Deterministic Key Generation technique will help prevent Mt. Gox-type hacks of cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets. But its potential use cases are far greater as the digital world grows with increased digitisation of assets, cloud storage of data, newer methods of digital communication, and the anticipated explosion of Internet of Things devices. The invention can provide significant security benefits for any situation in which sensitive data, assets, communications or controlled resources need to be secured.” Stanford Research Center A new Center for Blockchain Research has been founded by leading computer scientists at Stanford University. The center will be headed by professors Dan Boneh and David Mazières, and faculty will also include Alex Aiken, David Dill, John Mitchell, Tim Roughgarden and Joe Grundfest. It is meant to help scientists develop best practices for the field as well as create courses to help future students. Prof. Boneh commented: “Blockchains will become increasingly critical to doing business globally. Stanford should be at the forefront of efforts to improve, apply and understand the many ripple effects of this technology.” Prof Mazières added: “Blockchain massively lowers the barriers to creating tradeable, digital assets. It allows individuals who don’t know each other, or even trust one another, to make irreversible transactions in a whole variety of fields in a safe and secure way.” New $300 Million Crypto Fund Andreessen Horowitz, the Menlo Park headquartered venture capital firm, has announced the launch of a16z crypto, a new $300 million venture fund that will invest in crypto companies and protocols. The fund will be led by Katie Haun, a former US DoJ federal prosecutor who worked on the Silk Road case which seats on the board of directors at Coinbase as well as taught cybercrime and cryptocurrency at Stanford Law School. Chris Dixon, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, stated: “We are long-term, patient investors. We’ve been investing in crypto assets for 5+ years. We’ve never sold any of those investments, and don’t plan to any time soon. We structured the a16z crypto fund to be able to hold investments for 10+ years. We have an ‘all weather’ fund. We plan to invest consistently over time, regardless of market conditions. If there is another ‘crypto winter,’ we’ll keep investing aggressively.” Regarding possible investment targets he added: “We are focused on non-speculative use case. We want services powered by crypto protocols to be used by hundreds of millions and eventually billions of people. Crypto tokens are the native asset class of digital networks, but their value is driven by the underlying, practical uses cases.” 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 Bitcoin in Brief Tuesday: New Patents, Research Centers and a $300M Fund appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Electronic music futurist, Gramatik, released a groundbreaking song and accompanying video, highlighting the development of money. With all the trash in popular culture when it comes to cryptocurrency (drugs, terrorism, etc.), his ‘Future Crypto’ is a welcome respite. Speaking of trash, Netflix greenlights Vox’s horrible episode five in its first season of ‘Explained,’ where it falls prey to every mainstream cliché. Also read: Supremes Uphold Cell Privacy, Hope for Ross Ulbricht Gramatik Sets the Bar High with ‘Future Crypto’ Sometimes in the crypto space, there’s a tendency to make every aspect of it a goddamn joke. Jokey videos. Jokey songs. Jokey memes. Why take this stuff seriously? Isn’t it just magic internet beans! Irreverence has become tiresome. Some of us are here for the art as well as thumbing our noses at The Man. And when math is done about the world-impacting potential of decentralized, stateless cash, it does seem at times much of what is passing for humor is at least misplaced. Enter Gramatik, electronic dance music artist, DJ. He’s bringing back a reverence, a seriousness to the project with his release of ‘Future Crypto.’ As it happens, the best way to listen is by finding able speakers, ones capable of some bass and volume. Position them stereo, if you’re able, so as to get the sound right between your eyes. Press play. Youtube isn’t known for its audio fidelity, and in fact it can dull tracks with nuance, be they highs or lows. Gramatik has foiled that problem, as I hope you’ll hear. It’s a collab with BRANX, and the song is almost a year old. At 2:28, it’s also not going to soak up your time — it’s a perfect slot, actually. Beginning with a hard clap and thump, the dominant beat is a callback to Parliament-Funkadelic jams of yore, only slowed way down. A plodding march through commercial history is what it brings to mind, and that might be the video’s graphic influence making that connection for me now that I think about it. Produced by Supermassive and Zach LeBeau, the graphics are stunning. The scene opens with humankind’s earliest reason to record, in written form, history: transactions. Fish for shells is the operative slide, and then the video dutifully marches off through distributed ledger evolution. In a few short seconds, the story of just who controls half of all transactions, money, weaves through medieval bouts, gold bugs, up to modern nation state crackdowns of domestic populations and worse. It shows the symbiotic relationship between technological advancement, freedom, and social control, each seemingly leading to the other. ‘Future Crypto’ is also a bit of an infomercial, a reminder of Gramatik’s initial coin offering of last year. He explains his overall motivation, “Our species is advancing. Shouldn’t our currency be doing the same? With this being the first piece of content being made since the token launch + ETH raise, I wanted to explain to my fans what Future Crypto is really about. Future Crypto is dedicated to the importance of leaving Big Business + Big Banks out of curation and creation. Cutting out the middleman. I really think Isaac Asimov said it best with ‘The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.’” Netflix Sucks for Airing Vox’s Trashy Crypto Episode I actually dig some of Vox’s online content, especially their viral, more topical vignettes. They’re usually thoughtful and poignant. And so it was I embraced their announcement to team with online streaming giant, Netflix, to produce a season of short takes on issues of the day. When I read cryptocurrency would be among the episodes of Explained, I was very much looking forward to what they’d deliver. Trash. Straight trash. The great Paz Gómez of the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) puts it bluntly: “Instead of addressing misconceptions and increasing public understanding, however, [Netflix and Vox] double down on the scare-mongering that has been the staple of shallow tech journalism.” The episode goes negative, and fast. Crypto is mostly used for drugs and shadowy illegal services, Vox claims, falling into well worn canards. It “ignores the fact that the US dollar is still the preferred currency of choice for criminals. It also asserts that established services are more ‘convenient,’ even if they sometimes abuse our trust. If people were satisfied with the status quo, would they be investing so much money and effort to build alternatives? The established institutions would have nothing to fear,” Ms. Gómez rightly contends. And while Silk Road, and other such sites, are indeed relevant to crypto’s evolution, there is a way to tell that story without appealing to the lowest common denominator, as Vox does. Ms. Gómez bristles, “The blockchain is revolutionary in deploying several mechanisms, namely game theory and algorithms—proof of work, proof of stake, and so on—to encourage network participants to behave correctly. The documentary ends with a cautionary tale about trust in technology, but millions around the world are proving that cryptocurrencies can give us back our financial independence and privacy. Isn’t that the whole point?” What do you think about popular conceptions of crypto in the media? Let us know in the comments. Images via the Pixabay, Gramatik, Multimedia image credit: Supermassive / Story by Zach LeBeau 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. Disclaimer: Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support this product/service. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. The post Gramatik Lays Down Funky Crypto, Netflix Sucks appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

This is a paid press release, which contains forward looking statements, and should be treated as advertising or promotional material. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support this product/service. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the press release. Nowadays there are many challenges inherent to the existing blockchains. Among them the following main problems may be distinguished: • Low capacity level caused by permanent data calculation. • Progressively growing blockchain data volume, which in its turn causes troubles when there is a full synchronization. • High transaction costs. We are glad to present you the VestChain Project, the representatives of which claim they can contribute to solving the problems stated above. VestChain is a tree-like blockchain ecosystem, made of branches and multi-dimensional blockchains, the aim of which is to connect all the blockchain nets and to transform Internet services into blockchain format. VestChain Platform consists of the StemChain and the BranchChains. The StemChain stores all the BranchChains information, connected to the VestChain and let them work together. The StemChain is optimized for scaling up transaction process and is being expanded by means of storing minimum but essential information. The BranchChains are created as independent blockchains that is why they are not affected by transaction failures and overload of other BranchChains. VestChain awards users with a higher reputation with low or even zero commissions. Reputation is estimated on the base of time and useful actions, made in the net; the higher the reputation, the lower the commission. As the representatives of the team say, at present VestChain is focused on two spheres, in which they have a sufficient experience – modern technologies and remittances. The primary means of the VestChain economy is the VEST Token which makes the base for calculations within the operation of the entire system. The VEST Token is issued by the Ethereum platform and meets the ERC-20 standard. Its compatibility with the standard guarantees that token integration with the exchanges and other services will not be more complicated than those of any other token issued on the base of Ethereum. In conclusion, the VestChain representatives state that after the launch the emphasis will be placed on permanent improvement of quality and efficiency of the system as a whole; moreover, organizers claim that transaction cost will be reduced. 01 July 2018, VestChain starts the AirDrop. To get the Tokens you need to register on the official VestChain site. Supporting Link https://vestchain.io/signup/ Contact Email Address hello@vestchain.io This is a paid press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post PR: Vestchain Starts Airdrop appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Cryptocurrency traders in Japan currently can be taxed as high as 55% on their profits. However, the country’s Deputy Prime Minister, Taro Aso, wants to change how crypto transactions are taxed, from a progressive rate to a uniform rate. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Aso Wants to Change Crypto Taxation The Japanese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Taro Aso, said at the Upper House budget committee meeting on June 25, as reported by Reuters: The profits gained by virtual currency transactions should be changed from current ‘miscellaneous income’ to ‘declaration separate taxation.’ Currently, capital gains from crypto transactions are taxed as miscellaneous income. Accounting software company Freee described, “Miscellaneous income is subject to comprehensive taxation, and the tax rate is decided according to the amount combined with other income such as salary income.” The National Tax Agency (NTA) explained that Japan has seven income tax brackets, with the tax rates ranging from 5% to 45% based on earnings. On top of the progressive tax rates, inhabitant taxes are levied in Japan by prefectural and municipal governments at the rate of 10%. The Policy Research Institute of the Japanese Ministry of Finance commented: The maximum income tax rate now stands at as high as 55% including 10 percentage points for the local individual inhabitant tax. Under the current rule, cryptocurrency traders could, therefore, pay up to 55% in capital gains tax. Moving to Uniform Tax Rate The Deputy Prime Minister’s proposal would enable crypto profits to be taxed at a uniform rate, the same presently enjoyed by stock traders. Pwc explained that in Japan: Capital gains from sales of certain securities (including shares/equity interest in corporations, warrant bonds, etc.) are taxed separately from other sources of income at a flat rate of 20.315% (i.e. 15.315% national tax and 5% local inhabitant’s tax). Taro Aso. Ever since the Japanese government declared crypto profits are taxed as miscellaneous income, many industry participants have criticized this tax treatment. 11,786 of them soon signed a petition on Change.org calling for the NTA to tax crypto profits like they do stocks. Recently, news.Bitcoin.com reported that 331 taxpayers with miscellaneous incomes of 100 million yen (~US$914,000) and over from sources other than public pensions in Japan declared cryptocurrency income. As Taro Aso, the 59th Prime Minister of Japan, suggested the change, he also conveyed his doubt that people will understand the reason for the change. “From the viewpoint of the international nature of virtual currency uncertainty and tax fairness, etc,” Reuters quoted him expressing that it is doubtful “public understanding can be obtained” for the tax rate “equal to a uniform rate of 20%.” How do you think Japan should tax crypto profits? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Daily Mail, and the NTA. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Japan Wants to Scrap Its Progressive Crypto Tax Rate appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

This Sunday news.Bitcoin.com reported on a community-driven Bitcoin Cash network stress test taking place this September. However, allegedly another stress test is in the works with malicious intent, according to a lesser known developer named Bitpico. The anonymous person claims the attack has already started, and emphasizes his blitz of spam will amplify over time. Also read: Taiwan’s Financial Regulator to Conduct Limited Oversight of Cryptocurrencies An Anonymous Person Claims to Have the Power to Take Down the Bitcoin Cash Network With His Homemade Spamming Payloads An anonymous developer is threatening to strike the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network with a series of spam attacks that he believes will be powerful enough to hurt the network. The developer had spoken to people about his attempt not long ago, but on June 22 Bitpico said the onslaught has started and believes it will be far more powerful in the coming weeks. “The Bcash – BCH attack has been started; it will continue to run as we work to amplify it over the coming months,” explains Bitpico showing a video of code scrolling down a blue screen. We expect to have 5,000 Bcash attack nodes in roughly 6 weeks and then we will multi-fork the chain. Bitpico’s attack on the Bitcoin Cash network. Since then Bitpico has continued to detail to the public that he will besiege the BCH network with his mining power and malicious nodes. Of course, the BCH community thinks that Bitpico’s Twitter chatter is a whole lot of hot air, and there is a good reason for them not to take Bitpico seriously, due to his empty threats in the past. For instance, the script scrolling down a blue screen is questionable at best, and many have already dismissed him as a ‘script kiddie’ because of the video. On June 24 Bitpico writes, “don’t say we didn’t warn you,” and shares a Fork.lol screenshot of the BTC and BCH hashrate. No one on Twitter understands what the picture meant when observing the comments, and one person asks if they will be able to follow Bitpico’s so-called mined blocks from a block explorer. There is no response to this question. ‘Low to High-Level Attacks’ Following this, according to Bitpico, he was interviewed by the publication Coindesk and leaves a Pastebin copy of the interview for everyone to see. We don’t know if Coindesk will be publishing the story, but the developer tells the journalist interviewing him that he is creating all types of attacks from “low-level TCP/IP stack attacks to high-level bitcoin cash protocol attacks.” Bitpico explains that “they” have studied this attack and states there is enough conclusive evidence from his research that assures him he can successfully attack the BCH chain enough for it to split. Moreover, Bitpico has created a Github repository for his low and mid-level test toolkit that contains a GNU license and a readme file. Bitpico creates a Github repo on June 23, 2018, for his network test tool. The repo is pretty much empty. Bitpico’s Hollow Segwit2x Threats Besides all the words Bitpico has stated many people cannot find conclusive evidence that Bitpicos words are more than mere statements. The reason for this is his connection with the Segwit2x (BTC1 repository) fiasco. Bitpico was often found discussing technical matters on the BTC1 Slack channel and the developers mailing list. Although when Segwit2x was canceled by Jeff Garzik, the anonymous individual was not too pleased. Back on November 9, 2017, Bitpico explained that his team was carrying out the Segwit2x fork whether people liked it or not and claimed to have 30 percent of the hashrate. “We are carrying out the fork regardless as everything is set in motion. Backing down the difficulty right now is a strategy,” explained Bitpico that day. Wonder why 30% network hash-rate disappeared? It’s ours; the miners that will continue what is set in motion… A handful of humans cannot stop what they have no control over. Script-Kiddies and Popcorn Following Bitpico’s threats this past November, nothing ever happened, and his 30 percent of hashrate never came to fruition. Many BCH proponents believe that because of the empty Segwit2x threats, and no evidence of any hashrate Bitpico spamming the BCH network with a homemade payload implausible and to some even downright laughable. just helping @bitpico with the #bch @bitcoin attack #hacking #skills #security pic.twitter.com/uAspsRjjvR — rob (@r0bbot) June 23, 2018 One person explains all of Bitpico’s current threats also seem pretty hollow, as the Reddit user ‘chernobyl169′ states: DDoS attacks on hosts, TCP/IP stack of hosts — Breaking a host doesn’t break Bitcoin. Hunting for buffer overflows — Breaking an implementation doesn’t break Bitcoin Cash because there are multiple implementations. Key extraction with SPECTRE and friends — Have at it, big boy. If you can pull this off, all crypto is your sandbox for theft, there are endless possibilities. And endless ways for the network to route around the damage. Allegedly not long ago, Bitpico performed similar TCP/IP based DDoS attacks against the Lightning Network with a picture of code running down his a computer screen as well. Many BCH supporters who are skeptical of Bitpico’s words encouraged him to pretty much — “Bring it on.” What do you think about Bitpico’s malicious threats against the BCH network? Let us know in the comments below. Images via Pixabay, and Twitter. Express yourself freely at Bitcoin.com’s user forums. We don’t censor on political grounds. Check forum.Bitcoin.com. The post A Character Called Bitpico Thinks He Can Stress-Test the BCH Network appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

If you thought crypto in India was over, you were probably wrong. According to a recent statement by a high-ranking official, the long-awaited regulations are on the way. A draft framework has been prepared, and authorities in Delhi hope to “wrap this up” as early as the first half of next month. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has agreed to review a petition against the RBI ban earlier than expected, resetting the hearing for July 3. Also read: Taiwan’s Financial Regulator to Conduct Limited Oversight of Cryptocurrencies Committee Decides the Fate of Bitcoin in India The new Indian regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies is likely to be presented in the first half of July, according to a recent statement by Subhash Chandra Garg, Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Finance. A draft has been put together and will be discussed in the first week of next month, the official said in an interview with the news channel ET Now. Garg, who is heading the committee tasked to determine the future of Bitcoin in India, explained: We are fairly close to developing a kind of template which we think might be in the best interest of our country. We have prepared a draft which we intend to discuss with the committee members in the first week of July. The Finance Ministry representative also noted that the committee has made a lot of progress in regards to determining “what part of business should be banned, what should be preserved, and what not.” In his words, the lower detail work has already happened. “We should be in the position to wrap this up in the first fortnight of July,” he elaborated. Assets, Not Currencies, Still Valuable for Some In previous comments, Mr. Garg said the Indian government “does not read this [cryptocurrency] as currency” and would not allow its use in the country’s payment system. This, he explained, means the executive power “would do something to eliminate” the illegal use of “crypto assets.” Nevertheless, he recognized that some people may still find value in cryptocurrencies and that would require introducing certain regulations so that crypto transactions are legal and transparent. Earlier reports that the roles of regulators had been decided and that the new rules were coming soon were not confirmed by concrete actions. Subhash Garg also noted that cryptocurrency exchanges in India are not regulated and indicated that the upcoming regulations would introduce legal requirements for know your customer procedures and record keeping for transactions. In February, he expressed hope that his committee would finalize its recommendations within this financial year. Then, legal changes would have to be made and regulatory responsibilities assigned. Indian media points out, however, that the panel headed by Garg is the second body formed to come up with a solution, after the first committee failed to complete the task. Indian authorities have been sending mixed signals about the future of cryptocurrencies, along with issuing warnings and applying restrictive administrative measures. In his budget speech in February, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reiterated the official position that cryptocurrencies are not recognized as legal tender and said the government will crack down on their use for illegal activities. Since then, the Income Tax Department has issued notices to thousands of crypto investors accusing them of tax evasion. For its part, the Reserve Bank of India ordered all regulated financial institutions to quit providing services to businesses and individuals dealing in cryptocurrencies. Nevertheless, there are voices within the Indian government that insist Bitcoin has its place in India. Supreme Court Resets Hearing Date to July 3 The RBI gave commercial banks three months to comply with its directive formally motivated with the need to protect consumers and prevent money laundering. Recently, the central bank admitted it had done no proper research into cryptocurrencies before issuing its circular. In the past few weeks, local exchanges have been preparing for the ban by terminating fiat deposits and withdrawals while launching and expanding crypto-to-crypto trading. A number of Indian crypto companies filed petitions against the restrictions that eventually reached the Supreme Court, which barred all other courts from accepting new petitions. The hearing was initially set for July 20, two weeks after the RBI comes into effect, on July 5, which triggered protests by the members of the country’s crypto community. One of the companies that has filed a petition challenging RBI’s measures is the operator of the Indian exchange Coinrecoil, Kali Digital Eco-Systems. Its co-founder and director, Kunal Barchha, told news.Bitcoin.com that the Supreme Court has rescheduled the hearing for an earlier date on request by one of the other petitioners – the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). The review is now set to take place on July 3, before the enforcement of the ban. Mr. Barchha also said that Coinrecoil’s lawyer will file a similar request on July 2 and he expects the court to honor it. Do you think Indian authorities will eventually adopt looser regulations on cryptocurrencies and crypto transactions? Share your expectations in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Make sure you do not miss any important Bitcoin-related news! Follow our news feed any which way you prefer; via Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, RSS or email (scroll down to the bottom of this page to subscribe). We’ve got daily, weekly and quarterly summaries in newsletter form. Bitcoin never sleeps. Neither do we. The post Indian Crypto Regulations Ready in July, Official Reveals appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Over the past few months, there’s been a lot of headlines and new wallets created for the notorious Lightning Network — The second layer payment protocol that’s being touted as a solution to the BTC chain’s scaling issues. The project is in its very early stages as the technology is still in beta, but people are actually using the protocol on main-net with real funds. So far this technology still seems very far away, and some people looking beyond the hype are finding individuals and groups who are testing this second layer are running into problems. Also read: Bitcoin and Mnemonics: The Art of the Secret Phrase Lightning Network Tipping Turns Out to be Not So Easy For a while now in the cryptocurrency space people have been hearing about the Lightning Network (LN), new LN wallets, and areas on the internet that allow users to test the technology using both Bitcoin Core’s (BTC) testnet and mainnet. A percentage of individuals and cryptocurrency users have been using the second layer protocol on the main BTC network as there are 2,307 LN nodes today, and 5,036 open channels. According to statistics, the Lighting Network shows over $142,000 USD worth of BTC locked in channels or being used on the network right now. There has been a lot of noise about the using LN and posts can be seen on social media channels and forums almost every day with people demonstrating the LN protocol. However, even though there seems to be a lot of action on the pixelated graphics website ‘Satoshi’s Place’ people are experiencing lots of issues with this protocol and there are many LN problems without solutions. Lightning Network June 25, 2018. For instance on a Reddit post stemming from the subreddit r/bitcoin called “Lightning Network Submarine Swaps,” shows an interesting interaction between two LN users. One user named ‘Windsok’ wants to tip another Reddit user with five bucks worth of BTC, and he asks the recipient to create an LN node and send him an invoice for $5 worth of BTC. “Oh goody, a tip! You made me finally download and install a lightning node,” explains the hopeful recipient. “Now I’ve got it up and running and some funds in a channel for the first time — but, alas, I can only receive $5 via that channel once I’ve spent $5.” The Common Answer to LN’s Problems: Custodial Services, Watchtowers, and Centralized Hubs The problems get worse for the two as the invoice expires for the user trying to receive the money. Then he creates an invoice with a longer expiry which also has issues. But one problem observers took issue with was the fact that a new user must use some of the BTC on the LN network, before being able to receive funds. Further, the person trying to receive the BTC explains he never got the tip and users may have to utilize a custodial service to benefit from LN. “I never got the tip because his node couldn’t find a route to mine,” explains the user. Partly this is likely due to my node being often offline, as it is on my laptop. For tips and receiving small amounts I think laptop users like myself will need to use custodial wallets once they are available, and withdraw from them to a self-hosted node whenever we have an opportunity. An interesting post on trying to receive an LN tip. Sorry This Channel Has Closed, Try Again Another Time This isn’t the only time people are seen on the internet complaining about the LN protocol not working correctly. With a quick Google search, anyone can find lengthy studies about LN’s topology concerns, discussions about centralized hubs, watchtowers, and routing problems. For instance, downloading an LN node is a long process and for the non-technical people in the world, it is difficult and a hassle. Alternatively, using light client wallets like Eclair and others also have connection issues, and people are always losing access to their channels that are constantly opening and closing. Eclair wallet. LN users using the ‘lnd’ client will find issues with Satoshi’s Place (SP) because SP uses ‘c-lightning’ and there are issues with incompatible fees. LN Nodes have difficulties finding routes so then some people recommend connecting to more centralized nodes like Yalls or Acinq’s nodes in order to find a route. And even with these methods channels close often, usually after 10-15 minutes and sometimes immediately. The problems and bugs revolving around LN most definitely begs the question — Will the Lightning Network provide a solution to network congestion if it happens again? When will LN help with the rising network fees? Some skeptics believe even from the current vantage point that this second layer protocol is way more than “18 months away,” and even further than that when it comes to non-technical users otherwise known as mainstream adoption. Even worse is the theoretical chance that LN could lead to significant centralization, and KYC/AML regulations because major hubs in this hub & spoke environment could end up being the very banks we tried to avoid. Images via Pixabay, reksplorer, Eclair wallet, and Reddit. erify 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 Looking Beyond the Lightning Network Hype: Every Day Users Experience Issues appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

When making investment decisions it is always important to remember the old saying, “If something looks too good to be true, it probably is.” This is especially true if anyone promises you a bitcoin mining rig, which people wait for months in advance, at just a third of the retail price. Also Read: Silicon Valley Whales Buy Diamonds in the Millions With Bitcoin The $15 Million Sting The cryptocurrency market is usually hit with rather sophisticated cyber crimes like ransomware, hacking and malicious code injections. Still, good old fashioned methods of separating people from their money have not disappeared. A new example of this comes from China where a man allegedly made about $15 million by just appealing to people’s greed, promising mining hardware at a huge discount, and simply running away with the money. Mr. Zhang, a resident of Anhui province in his twenties, has been arrested for allegedly defrauding almost 100 million yuan from fifty victims over a three month period, state media China Central Television (CCTV) reports. He took advantage of the insatiable demand for bitcoin in China at the tail end of 2017’s price rally and posted claims online that he can deliver mining rigs, that cost about 30,000 yuan at the time, for just 10,000 yuan. The delivery of the goods was promised two months after he got the money, but it never materialized. Money Spent on Luxury Cars According to the report, Zhang gained the trust of his victims by appearing to deliver some of the mining machines for the discounted price. However, he didn’t really have a source for cheap rigs, and the Chinese police discovered later-on that they were actually bought for full price by him. Once people were convinced Zhang can really get discounted rigs, he received orders for thousands of them before vanishing in January. The alleged conman surrendered to the police by his own volition after two months, claiming he was unable to deliver the promised rigs due to supply shortage and rising prices. He now awaits prosecution, but the money he received had already been spent on luxury cars as well as the rigs, according to CCTV. Would you trust anyone that promises a mining rig at a third of the cost? 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 Alleged Fraudster Arrested in China Over $15M Mining Hardware Con appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

This is a paid press release, which contains forward looking statements, and should be treated as advertising or promotional material. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support this product/service. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the press release. It is no secret that the recent volatility in the market has been extreme with Bitcoin and Ethereum prices in freefall. Market participants are suffering losses but also given the opportunity to invest at lower prices to gain if the market pulls up. Cryptocurrency investor Brian Kelly, states on CCN “Referring back to the basic rule of investing, Kelly noted that during a period in which the market is extremely bullish and optimistic, it is better to sell and eye a timely opportunity to enter and when the market is overly pessimistic, it is wise to look for a position to enter.” Bitcoin originally was supposed to offer an efficient means of transferring money over the internet and is controlled by a decentralized network with a transparent set of rules, thus presenting an alternative to central bank controlled fiat money. Market participants changed from geeks and believers in Blockchain to funds and investors looking to make profit with the uptrend volatile market. This led people to ignore the primary function of Bitcoin which was to efficiently transfer money over the internet with no control from central banks. This is affecting the whole markets including the new ICOs and tokens. New ICOs and tokens are simply being invested in to sell once listed and gain whatever discount rate the ICO is offering. Most of the time these tokens are tied to the price volatility and movement of Bitcoin and Ethereum. INGOT Coin has been studying the market carefully in order to develop in ways that separated from Bitcoin and Ethereum as well as their price volatility INGOT Coin intends to foster building an interconnected global community of trust and cooperation on which the basis of honesty and transparency between its members exist. INGOT is well on its way in making a breakthrough in Crypto & financial markets by presenting a revolutionary gateway towards an all-inclusive environment. The vision and aim of INGOT is to provide the community with real Utility value whether Bitcoin was at a new low or high. To achieve that aim INGOT has partnered with multiple ICOs in order to provide numerous Utilities with an access from one platform. INGOT also does not base their coin on Ethereum or Bitcoin but rather on USD value. The ICOs are all in different industries from Health to Financial services and E-commerce to Real Estate. INGOT Coin, GMEX-Group, BolttCoin, Modern Finance Chain (MFChain), SwachhCoin, Black.Insure, PlaceToRent (PTRT), Bineuro and Stella have all formed a unified front under one alliance. The group of ICOs along with GMEX plan to establish a single platform that will allow all their communities to use their utilities simultaneously. Furthermore, plans of enabling different discounts among each one of the ICOs is being discussed in order to give edge to all participants. Providing all those different Utilities through one gateway will provide true value to the tokens and the end users. In giving real utility to different tokens and access from one point it is clear that the latter will be the value of the tokens and not the price and volatility of Bitcoin and Ethereum. Ahmed Khawanky CMO at INGOT Coin https://t.me/KomorebiAlliance https://t.me/INGOTCoin Contact Email Address A.Khawanky@INGOTCoin.io Supporting Link www.INGOTCoin.io This is a paid press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post PR: Ingot Leads the Formation of Komorebi Alliance appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Following such places as Quebec and New York, the latest location in North America to attract large Bitcoin mining operations with a cheap supply of electricity is Colorado Springs. A miner has paid $13 million to convert an abandoned Intel chip manufacturing complex into an industrial mining farm. Also Read: Silicon Valley Whales Buy Diamonds in the Millions With Bitcoin New 85,000 Square Feet Mining Operation 3G Venture II, a California-based company, has paid $13 million for a big chuck of an abandoned Intel chip manufacturing complex at Garden of the Gods Road in Colorado. The owner of the company, John Chen from Los Angeles, reportedly plans to use the facility to mine bitcoin. The deal includes 30 acres and over 700,000 square feet in several buildings, with bitcoin mining planned for three buildings, totaling about 85,000 square feet, and the rest planned to be leased to others. Michael Palmer, a broker with Quantum Commercial Group who marketed the real estate, revealed that the electricity network installed for Intel’s needs was especially alluring for the miner. The complex includes an on-site substation, two separate power feeds, and the new owner also asked Colorado Springs Utilities to increase capacity to the site, he said. Besides that, the location’s cheap energy prices have long attracted companies to enter the area, including for establishing data centers by Progressive Insurance, FedEx and Walmart, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. One Mining Farm Is Enough? Earlier this month we reported about a town in New York that welcomed a new giant mining facility at a former aluminum smelting plant. The main reason for that was the promise of over 150 jobs that were estimated to be added to the local economy as a result of the opening of the facility. However, it appears that there is less enthusiasm about the new industry in Colorado Springs as they don’t expect it to create many jobs. Dirk Draper, president and CEO of the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce & EDC, said the group didn’t seek out the miner, and instead just cooperated with him after he showed interest in the Intel complex. Moreover, the Chamber & EDC doesn’t plan to attract more such companies, he said. “While it is beneficial for some segments of the community to have the large base power users, and we understand that and are supportive of it, our focus is more on the employment side,” Draper explained. Can bitcoin mining bring back manufacturing jobs to the US? 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 Abandoned Intel Manufacturing Complex Bought for $13M to Mine Bitcoin appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Every week, the news.Bitcoin.com inbox, and that of every other crypto newsdesk, fills up with press releases festooned with gratuitous use of the word ‘blockchain’. We’re not against blockchain technology – all of our favorite cryptocurrencies are reliant on it – but we’re vehemently against things being given blockchain that have no right to that moniker, like the following examples. Also read: Bitcoin and Mnemonics: The Art of the Secret Phrase Blockchain, Because 2018 Bemoaning gratuitous appropriation of blockchain isn’t anything new; this publication, and many others, have been bemoaning its brand-jacking for months. Since PR companies don’t seem to have taken the hint, it behoves us to name and shame some of the more egregious cases, in the hope that others take the hint. We’ll start with Our Music Festival. The event, scheduled for San Francisco on October 20, will be “the first-ever blockchain powered festival.” Its organizers have been “exploring the potential synergies between blockchain technology and the festival business.” Having done some cursory exploring ourselves, we failed to detect any. Sorry, OMF, but we’ll pass. A selection of the spurious blockchain PR messages we receive on a weekly basis What else has reached the news.Bitcoin.com inbox lately from the world of blockchain? In “Half Of All Millennials Heart Coupons: How Blockchain Will Take Discounting To The Next Level” we learn that “Blockchain technology allows for the greatest degree of customization instead of that one-size fits all coupon on Groupon. The digital ledger allows companies to look at what a customer buys often and offer deeper discounts on those products. So basically, consumers get the discounts they actually want, not ones that just make them shrug their shoulders.” Finally (or we’d be here all day), we have an email simply titled “Can Blockchain help farmer?” If “farmer” is planning to build a censorship-resistant distributed ledger to facilitate P2P payment of cryptocurrency, yes. Otherwise, we think not. Replace ‘Blockchain’ with ‘Distributed Database’ A simple means of telling whether a product needs blockchain is to replace the word with ‘distributed database’. For example, “Hashed PKI certificates stored on a distributed database” works. “Distributed database-powered festival,” on the other hand, does not. If any good comes of the enduring bear market, it will hopefully be the loss of blockchain as a superfluous prefix for products. If it takes another 12 months of bleeding crypto markets to weed out the blockchain impostors, we’ll take it. We welcome news tips, especially stories of real-world cryptocurrency adoption. But please, no more superfluous blockchain. We just can’t take it. What are the most ridiculous appropriations of blockchain that you’ve encountered? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, and Twitter. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Here Are Some More Things That Really Don’t Need Blockchain appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In today’s edition of Bitcoin in Brief, “U.S. person” Phil Potter, Chief Strategy Officer at crypto exchange Bitfinex, is departing the company as it pivots away from the United States. In America, the Supreme Court mentions Bitcoin and cowrie shells in the context of money. On Capitol Hill, congressmen have been warned to disclose their crypto holdings, while a Republican Rep. calls for “light touch” ICO regulations. Also read: This Week in Bitcoin: McAfee Backs Off, Crypto World Cup and the Mystery of 21e8 Chief of Strategy Leaves Trading Platform Bitfinex Phil Potter, the Chief Strategy Officer of Bitfinex, is leaving his post at the exchange, Reuters reported quoting both him and the company. Potter will be replaced by Chief Executive JL van der Velde, Bitfinex announced. Speaking of new opportunities he did not specify, Potter stated: As Bitfinex pivots away from the U.S., I felt that, as a U.S. person, it was time for me to rethink my position as a member of the executive team. Bitfinex, currently the fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, is owned by a company based in the British Virgin Islands. The platform offers traders the opportunity to buy and sell cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether. In April, Bitfinex also introduced trading for 12 altcoins. The exchange shares management with Tether Limited, the company that issues the Tether token (USDT) which, according to its developers, is pegged to the U.S. dollar. The claim, however, has been contested by critics who doubt the company holds $1 USD in reserve for every minted coin. According to a research paper by the University of Texas, Tether may have been used to manipulate the price of bitcoin last year – an allegation that Bitfinex rejects. An investigation opened by the U.S. Justice Department into possible manipulations is believed to be one of the main reasons for the recent crypto market losses. US Supreme Court Mentions Bitcoin Since the announcement of the US DOJ probe, several other interesting developments have been reported in the U.S. In a ruling not directly related to cryptocurrencies, the Supreme Court of the United States mentioned Bitcoin, arguably for the first time. The dissenting opinion in the Wisconsin Central Ltd. v. United States case, authored by Justice Stephen Breyer, puts forward the first cryptocurrency as an example of how views regarding money are changing over time. The case is centered on a taxation dispute stemming from the government’s assertion that the railroad company’s stock option payments to its employees represent “money remuneration” and should be taxed, while Wisconsin Central and its workers claim the opposite. The majority opinion, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, supported the company’s view in a 5-4 vote stating that stock options were not money and could not be subject to taxation under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act of 1934. However, the dissenting opinion, authored by Breyer and backed by three of his colleagues, argued that the stock options were in fact money remunerations. Justice Breyer specifically refers to Bitcoin, stating that “[…] what we view as money has changed over time. Cowrie shells once were such a medium but no longer are […]; our currency originally included gold coins and bullion, but, after 1934, gold could not be used as a medium of exchange […]; perhaps one day employees will be paid in Bitcoin or some other type of cryptocurrency […]. Nothing in the statute suggests the meaning of this provision should be trapped in a monetary time warp, forever limited to those forms of money commonly used in the 1930’s.” US Congressmen Advised to Disclose Crypto Holdings The members of the House of Representatives will have to disclose information about their investments in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The obligation covers holdings of more than $1,000 in US dollar equivalent, according to an announcement issued last week by the Committee on Ethics of the congressional lower house. The “Memorandum to All House Members, Officers and Employees” reads: In particular, the Committee has determined that with respect to financial disclosure, cryptocurrencies will be treated as an “other forms of securities” and are therefore subject to reporting both on a financial disclosure filer’s annual Financial Disclosure Statement (FD Statements or Statements) and on Periodic Transaction Reports (PTRs) throughout the year. The Committee also recommends, “due to the evolving nature of cryptocurrencies,” that anyone with questions about digital currencies or intentions to participate in Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) contact the Committee for guidance prior to investing. In addition, House members are now obliged to report, within 45 days, any transactions with crypto assets, again in excess of $1,000 USD, The Wall Street Journal reported. Congressman Calls for Light ICO Regulations Speaking of crypto investments and the Capitol, a call was issued last week to adopt a “light touch regulatory framework” for the young crowdfunding industry. In an interview with CNBC, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) said: “We want to make sure that the United States’ capital markets stay strong and vibrant, and one of the ways to do that is to provide regulatory certainty.” Davidson, who is a member of the House Financial Services Committee, said lawmakers have been working with representatives of the industry, including regulators, to determine how regulations should be shaped in order to drive capital. He also noted that “right now there are concerns that there is a regulatory arbitrage going on” and that “everything starts looking as a security to a securities’ regulator.” The congressman also shared concerns that without coherent regulations the ICO sector in the U.S. may end up being regulated by a disparate patch of court rulings. “We want to protect that market,” Warren Davidson emphasized. What are your thoughts on today’s Bitcoin in Brief topics? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Make sure you do not miss any important Bitcoin-related news! Follow our news feed any which way you prefer; via Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, RSS or email (scroll down to the bottom of this page to subscribe). We’ve got daily, weekly and quarterly summaries in newsletter form. Bitcoin never sleeps. Neither do we. The post Bitcoin in Brief Monday: Chief Strategist Quits Bitfinex, Cryptos Climb Capitol Hill appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Analysis conducted by Diar has indicated that only a minority of cryptocurrencies represent the vast majority of trading volume in the virtual currency markets – with only 0.36% of tradable cryptocurrencies found to have comprised 69% of the total trade volume of the entire cryptocurrency markets. Also Read: The Poor Flip, the Rich Hodl, Startup Finds Out Tracing Its Tokens Liquidity Across Majority of Cryptocurrency Markets “Near Non-Existent” A recent report published by Diar has found that over of half of the trading volume of more than 1,600 cryptocurrency markets was produced by the pairings of just five virtual currencies – BTC, XRP, ETH, BCH, and LTC. The report cites Coinmarketcap data recorded on the 18th of June, 2018. BTC pairings were found to comprise approximately 33% of the roughly “$12 [billion] in traded volume at press time for 18 June 2018.” ETH pairings represented 12% of total volume, followed by BCH with 3%, and XRP and LTC with 2% each. In addition, USDT pairings were found to comprise 17% of the total trade volume of the cryptocurrency markets. The combined volume of all other altcoin markets listed on Coinmarketcap was found to have constituted just 31% of trade volume. The report asserts that “liquidity [is] near non-existent on [the] majority of traded tokens,” concluding that the price action of most altcoins is “pinned to the peaks and valleys of bitcoin.” Roughly Half of All Altcoins Found to Have “Less Than $10k Trading Volume” Diar asserts that a third of all cryptocurrency markets (542 tokens) generated less than $1,000 USD in 24-hour trade volume. The report also found that 49.3% of altcoin markets (803 tokens) had produced less than $10,000 in trade volume, and that 67.3% (1,096 tokens) posted less than $100,000 in trade volume. Just 15.3% cryptocurrencies produced a trade volume of $1 million or higher, and only 6.3% of markets produced $5 million or more in 24-hour trade volume. What is your reaction to the lack of volume present across the majority of altcoin markets? Join the discussion in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock Want a comprehensive list of the top 500 cryptocurrencies and see their prices and overall market valuation? Check out Satoshi Pulse for all that hot market action! The post Pairings of 6 Cryptocurrencies Comprises 69% of Total Crypto Volume appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

This is a paid press release, which contains forward looking statements, and should be treated as advertising or promotional material. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support this product/service. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the press release. “June 25th marks the day of TRON’s independence from Ethereum.” TRON had its Independence Day press conference on June 25th 2018, 10:00 (GMT+8). Founder and CEO of TRON Justin Sun announced: “TRON has completed token migration from ERC20 to mainnet. The community consensus initiated the TRON network and generated the Genesis block, which signifies TRON’s official independence. TRON is now one of the most competitive major public chains in the world.” At the conference, Justin Sun introduced TRON’s major breakthroughs since its founding: 1. May 25th, launch of virtual machine in beta 2. May 31th, the launch of mainnet Odyssey 2.0 3. June 25th, creation of Genesis block, independence from Ethereum Regarding virtual machines, Sun said: “We launched our first version of the virtual machine on May 25th, which is fully compatible with Ethereum’s virtual machine environment. Developers can use Solidity to develop, debug, and compile in a familiar Remix environment without having to learn a new coding language. On July 31th, we will launch the official version of TVM, which will allow developers to use the TRON virtual machine to develop decentralized apps that are significantly better than Ethereum and unlock a powerful decentralized ecosystem.” Today’s conference shed light on TRON’s two major updates, which is also what TRON Independence Day is about: 1. Genesis block creation 2. Token migration During token migration on June 25th, all ERC20 tokens will be migrated TRON mainnet. Why is this migration necessary? First, Ethereum has low TPS, which bottlenecks many dApps from running on the network. TRON, on the contrary, uses a DPOS consensus mechanism, which is more than ten times faster than Ethereum’s. Second, Ethereum has high gas fees, while TRON doesn’t charge any transaction fees. TRON also uses a bandwidth model to enhance network security, so that users and dApp developers can transfer funds in a safer and more convenient manner. Third, Ethereum uses PoW which makes it difficult for the average user to participate at a low cost. That is why their community is not fully democratic. TRON’sTPoS consensus mechanism gives every tokenholder the right to vote, where the community can participate in a democratic election and vote for Super Representatives. Sun explained the difference between June 25th Independence Day and May 31th mainnet launch: “Becoming independent from Ethereum is a complex process. It needs the community’s consensus to initiate the network and conduct large-scale collaboration. We need the consensus of more than one million users in the TRON community to launch the mainnet and achieve complete independence from Ethereum”. Sun also spoke about the significance of TRON’s independence from Ethereum: “TRON’s independence paves the way for a community governance mechanism that is based on democratic election. It will bring the notion of ‘popular sovereignty and natural rights of the token’ to life and provide support for all developers within TRON’s ecosystem. This is how we will realize TRON’s vision of a truly decentralized Internet”. The Super Representatives (SR) Election is the highlight of the livestream. According to previous statements, TRON will launch its SR election on June 26th. As an epitome of community governance, this election will make TRON one of the few communities that has the capability for self-governance. In a previous livestream, Justin also focused on token migration, a hot topic amongst users. This time, Justin re-emphasized that TRX migration is supported by mainstream exchanges and does not have an expiration date. Users who forget to migrate their tokens will be able to do it later. Binance, along with other renowned global exchanges will permanently support TRX migration. TRON’s journey has been a marathon, but we combined speed with solid work and authenticity. Overseas blockchain projects have a significant lead over Chinese ones. It is safe to say that we will see some solid progress in the future with a lot of potential waiting to be unleashed. Who will come out on top during this dynamic time and become the leading blockchain community in China? Will it be EOS? Or TRON? The raw force of blockchain industry development is often seen at the beginning stages of most industries. It will unleash the potential of ongoing projects and help the industry reach a stable phase of growth. Contact Email Address trx@tron.network Supporting Link https://tron.network/ 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: Tron Celebrates It’s Independence from Ethereum appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

As more new people adopt cryptocurrencies, lots of newbies are creating mnemonic recovery phrases in order to make sure their digital assets are kept secure. It is very important to understand how your private keys are stored just in case there is an issue with your wallet client or device that holds your funds. Not all mnemonic phrases are the same, and restoration can be difficult for certain types of derivation paths. Today we are going to discuss what a mnemonic seed is and how they work. Also read: Bitcoin Ownership: Your Private Keys to Financial Sovereignty Understanding the Cryptocurrency Seed Phrase and the Use of Memoria Technica A mnemonic seed is used for a lot of wallets, and users traditionally write down either a 12, 18 or 24-word phrase that is tied to their private keys. The use of mnemonics, or ‘memoria technica,’ is derived from the era of the ancient Greeks when Aristotle and Plato philosophized about certain types of logic. This is a depiction of the Knuckle mnemonic which represents the number of days in each month of the Gregorian Calendar. Basically, a mnemonic is a way to reproduce something hard to remember, like a series of data, and by associating the data with things like random words, so humans can remember the original data by using the mnemonic as a deciphering tool. With private keys tied to cryptocurrencies, the list of words you write down as a backup is basically enough information to recover your funds to another wallet if something unfortunate were to happen. A trustworthy wallet’s software will tie the private key to a mnemonic recovery phrase in a secure and randomized fashion. Example twelve word seed phrase. Not All BIP 39 Mnemonic Phrase Supporting Wallets Restore in the Same Fashion Cryptocurrency wallets that use a mnemonic seeds support an implementation called BIP 39 which allows private keys to be tethered to a group of easy to remember words. So whenever you write down a seed to a new wallet the set of words is your private key and anyone who learns the mnemonic phrase has access to your funds. So always be very careful with your mnemonic recovery phrase. The longer the mnemonic, the more secure your assets will be as a 24-word seed is harder to crack compared to one that is just twelve. The English wordlist for BIP 39 contains 2048 words, so in order to crack a 12-word phrase it would require figuring out 2048^12 = 2^132 possible combinations under a shield of 128-bit security. The longer the phrase, the number of possible combinations becomes exponentially harder to crack. Not all BIP 39 implementations are the same as you may find seeds from wallets like Blockchain, Mycelium, Copay, Bitpay, Jaxx, Ledger, and Keepkey mnemonic phrases are not compatible with clients like Multibit, and BRD (Bread) seeds. This is because wallets like BRD use a different derivation path than some of the others. The different derivation paths that most wallets use include BIP 32, 44, 49, 84, and 141. So in order to find out whether or not your wallet seed is compatible with another wallet you need to figure out the wallet’s seed implementation. Researching other wallets that can restore your funds because they use the same restoration method is a really good thing to know just in case your Ledger Nano broke, or your mobile phone was stolen. It means you don’t necessarily have to use the same wallet. For instance, if your Ledger broke you wouldn’t have to wait to order a new Trezor as you could restore the funds into another wallet if you desired. Ian Coleman’s Mnemonic Code Converter If you are having issues with importing your key to another wallet you can use Ian Colman’s nifty tool called the Mnemonic Code Converter. The cool thing about the converter is that it can be used offline so people can check their mnemonic seed or addresses that contain funds. The tool has all the BIP 39 compatible derivation paths, and you can simply type in your mnemonic and it will produce all the tethered addresses including private keys, the extended private key, and more including scannable QR codes. However be very careful using a scanner as some malicious scanners can record the seed. Make sure you use this tool offline and on a clean computer. Do not use Some Wallets Offer You the Ability to Look at Your Seed Phrase at Any Time After Creation or Allow you to Initiate a Restore Dry Run Now, most newer wallets allow you to double check what you wrote down right after you finished recording the seed phrase on paper, but not all wallets do this so it’s sometimes good to double check your seed. Some wallets keep the seed available within the application so you can view it at any time if you lost your piece of paper or you think you wrote down the words incorrectly. Other wallets like Trezor allow users to perform a restoration ‘dry run’ test of a seed tethered to a device. This means if you bought a Trezor back in the early days and you’re not sure you wrote the seed down correctly, you can double check it without fully restoring as long as you have up to date firmware. Understanding and Guarding Your Seed Will Ensure Better Security and Safety from Unfortunate Issues A mnemonic recovery phrase needs to be well-guarded and kept away from prying eyes because if anyone remembers it they can steal your funds. The most common way people store them is on a piece of paper but remember that paper can burn, and deteriorate over time so some people take extra precautions. You can laminate the paper seed phrase adding more life to how long it will last, some people etch their seeds in steel, or use products like the Cryptosteel. Some people use more durable methods than paper such as steel. Other people have the guts to memorize their seed as remembering 12-24 words is not so difficult for people with photographic memory. Some people hide the mnemonic in a book or a journal using the words from inside the book as a replacement for the seed words and write down the page or highlight the words in a secret fashion. The more people understand how private keys work and how a mnemonic is tied to them then it will be much easier for people to restore funds in a less worrisome fashion. It is also good practice to make sure you wrote all the words down correctly and to also check if a wallet software’s recovery phrase is compatible with the current standards. What do you think about the method of recovering keys with a mnemonic phrase? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comment section below. Images via Shutterstock, Wiki Commons, Pixabay, Bitcoin.com, Trezor blog, and Electron Cash. 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 and Mnemonics: The Art of the Secret Phrase appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The ranking of cryptocurrency projects by the Chinese government has been revised with two new crypto projects added. EOS tops the overall list of 30 crypto projects; Ethereum fell to second place while Bitcoin dropped to 17th place. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space China Now Ranks 30 Crypto Projects China’s Center for Information Industry Development (CCID), under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, has revised its crypto project rankings. The second monthly Global Public Chain Technology Evaluation Index was officially released on June 20 at the Shanghai Science Hall, consisting of 30 crypto projects. The first index, introduced last month, has 28 projects, missing the two newly-added EOS and Nebulas. According to the CCID Network, the center’s media network under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the CCID Public Chain Technology Assessment Working Group has made some changes to the ranking structure of the index: The second-phase assessment model has been optimized compared to the first phase. The security assessment algorithm has been improved and the evaluation indicator for ease of deployment of public-chain nodes has been added. However, the basic model of technology assessment has not changed since the index was, the group explained. Evaluation criteria for the rankings are still focused on three aspects of the overall crypto projects: the basic level of technology displayed, the usefulness of the application, and the innovativeness of the project. There was no mention of typical factors used to rank cryptocurrencies such as liquidity, volume, adoption, or price. EOS First, Bitcoin Dropped to 17th Place EOS, which was not included on the original list, tops the second list overall. Ethereum, which ranked number one last month, has now been bumped to second place. Bitcoin has dropped from 13th place to 17th place. Bitcoin Cash fell slightly from 25th place to 28th place. “The EOS main network went live on June 10. Although there was an accident such as a short-term suspension, it was highly active in technological innovation, and the software update speed was still one of the new generation public chains that are currently most concerned by the industry,” the CCID explained. “However, due to its short on-line time, the stability of the network remains to be observed.” The center elaborated: The results showed that the evaluation index of EOS…was 161.5, ranking first in the evaluation index list. Ethereum, the first player in the previous period, took the second place with a combined score of 138.4…Bitcoin’s public chain technology assessment index is 91.5, ranking 17th. Two days after the Chinese index was released, the EOS Core Arbitration Forum issued its first censorship order, demanding its miners to refuse “to process transactions of any kind for the affected EOS account names and/or public keys, pending further review of the claims by an arbitrator.” 27 different wallet addresses are included in the order. The second index (left). The first index (right). What do you think of China’s crypto project rankings? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, EOS, and CCID. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post China’s New Crypto Rankings – EOS First, Ethereum Second, Bitcoin Drops to 17th appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

One of the oldest, most respected sites in the cryptosphere, Blockchain.info (Info), is moving domains. For many ecosystem veterans, Info was where it all started. First wallets. First block exploration. First real interaction with cryptocurrency. Recently, the group announced its move and plans for the future. It’s also a change signaling maturation of the space. Also read: Supremes Uphold Cell Privacy, Hope for Ross Ulbricht Blockchain.Info Moving to Blockchain.com “Later this month,” a notice on the Blockchain.info blog of read, “we’ll be consolidating all pages on blockchain.info under our one and only blockchain.com domain. We’ve been looking forward to this merger for quite some time, because it means you’ll only have one place to go for all of your crypto needs, instead of two. In the coming weeks, you’ll be able to access all of your .info favorites from blockchain.com.” Info routinely ranks in the top 1,000 global websites, according to Alexa. The Luxembourg-based company took off Summer of 2011, and was widely known as a dependable block explorer. It grew to much more than that. Transaction data, charts, wallet, mined blocks information, developer resources, along with forum and media links. Their Android mobile app is also very popular. The halcyon days in 2013-2014 saw Info become the most visited bitcoin-related website in the world, some 120 million views. It was the first to reach one million wallets. It was such a staple of the nascent community, when Apple nixed its iOS version, apeshit would be an understatement in terms of the reaction (people smashed their iPhones!). It was also during this time Info got its monetary sealegs, boasting tens of millions in venture capital. Street cred wasn’t dampened at all, as its wallet earlier embraced Tor. Fast forward years later, and they’re “now one of the oldest, most established company in the industry and so much more than a bitcoin explorer,” they acknowledge. “We’re the world’s leading crypto wallet where 25 million users invest in and store Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). We also allow users to analyze the top cryptocurrencies via our markets page and are continually expanding our widely used API services to make it even easier for developers to build on top of the block chain.” Looking Forward They continue to rake-in cash. During the 2017 run up, Info snapped up another $40 million in venture dough. It took a bold step that same year by partnering with Unocoin to bring greater crypto awareness to India. They’ve also become something of an exchange, operating in nearly half of US states as a way to buy and sell crypto. The domain move keeps a solid team intact, including co-founder Nicolas Cary. Mr. Cary was an early business leader in the space, attempting to marry commerce and philanthropy. He has a particular passion for encouraging youth entrepreneurs, founding Skies the Limit project. They “use data provided from our entrepreneur and volunteer users – such as their skills or needs, location, and stage of business – to predict and recommend high-quality matches. Then, we monitor and support these matches over time to help our entrepreneurs develop skills, build businesses and create jobs for themselves and others in their communities.” The company promises a seamless transition to its dot-com digs. “We’ve done a lot over the years,” they conclude, “but have a lot more to do in building the future of finance. As we move forward through 2018, we know that your needs are ever-changing, and we need to be prepared to offer you the end-to-end experience you’ve been waiting for.” What are your thoughts on Blockchain.info’s move? Let us know in the comments. Images via the Pixabay, Blockchain.info. 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 So Hard to Say Goodbye: Blockchain.Info Goes Dot Com appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article