roadrunner

South Korea’s national legislature has officially proposed to allow domestic initial coin offerings, effectively lifting the ban imposed by the government in September last year. With the lack of proper guidelines, South Korean companies have been migrating abroad to launch their token sales. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space National Assembly’s Proposal The National Assembly, the 300-member unicameral national legislature of South Korea, has officially proposed for the government to lift the ban on initial coin offerings imposed last September, Business Korea reported on Tuesday. The news outlet elaborated: The National Assembly has officially made a proposal to allow domestic initial coin offerings (ICOs). As the administration is sitting on its hands after imposing a total ban on ICOs in September last year, the National Assembly has come forward with an official recommendation. National Assembly. Citing the Assembly’s proposed “legislative and policy proposal of recommendation to allow ICOs under the conditions of investor protection provisions,” the publication explained that the next step is for the administration to discuss the proposal with the Assembly. Earlier this month, news.Bitcoin.com reported a group of lawmakers working on a bill to legalize ICOs that meet certain conditions under the government’s supervision. ICOs that are approved will be subject to tight supervision by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Ministry of Science and ICT. Special Committee’s Recommendations The special committee on the fourth industrial revolution under the National Assembly held their last general meeting on May 28. “Through the legislative and policy proposal of recommendation finalized on the same day, the committee accused the administration of neglecting its duty in responding to blockchain application expansion,” the news outlet detailed. “We need to form a task force including private experts in order to improve transparency of cryptocurrency trading and establish a healthy trade order,” the committee described. Among other recommendations, the committee outlined, “we will also establish a legal basis for cryptocurrency trading, including permission for ICOs, through the National Assembly Standing Committee.” ICOs Moving Out of Korea The news outlet pointed out that: With the government failing to present any guidelines for ICOs, domestic blockchain companies are going to Singapore and Switzerland to do an ICO and pay unnecessary expenses. Singapore and Hong Kong have recently emerged as meccas for token sales. According to Anson Zeall, chairman of the Association of Cryptocurrency Enterprises and Startups Singapore, “there has been a lot of [ICO] activity since September last year.” Naver and Kakao Corp, the parent companies of popular chat apps Line and Kakaotalk, recently set up subsidiaries abroad with the possibility of launching ICOs. One of the country’s largest crypto exchanges, Bithumb, has also partnered with a Singaporean company to launch its own cryptocurrency. Do you think South Korea will soon allow domestic ICOs? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Business Korea. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post South Korea’s National Assembly Officially Proposes Lifting ICO Ban appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In times when cryptocurrency markets are experiencing a relatively significant dip, some influential voices continue to sound optimistic. We cover these opinions in today’s edition of Bitcoin in Brief. Of course, positive predictions are almost always balanced by some negative expectations; in this case they are part of a short-term prognosis. Also read: Bitcoin in Brief Monday: Poloniex Responds to Frozen Accounts Complaints McAfee Sees Bitcoin Beyond $15,000 in June Soon after tweeting that “institutional investors are preparing to enter the cryptocurrency market with a vengeance,” cybersecurity guru John McAfee issued another bullish prediction. Focusing on short term analysis this time, which he admits is not his favorite, he turns attention to several events that may influence the cryptocurrency market – which, in his words, “will turn before June 12.” According to McAfee, the “Korea deal is done and Trump will sign the documents in Singapore on 12 June […] The various noises being made are propaganda for domestic consumption,” he notes. After Singapore, the software businessman expects a visit by the US President to Japan, where “talks on creating a gold backed US currency will commence.” Bitcoin (BTC) will surpass $15,000 in June, but will dip in July, McAfee predicts. His post also features several altcoins like golem, docademic, bezop, bitcoin private, and EOS. McAfee, who is a known supporter of cryptocurrencies and their adoption, has previously stated that the price of bitcoin will reach $1 million per coin by the end of 2020. In recently recorded video, the internet security expert also talks about “the war we are all engaged in.” The banks, the government and the US Securities and Exchange Commission have declared war on crypto, in his judgement. In a rather calm tone, McAfee advises crypto enthusiasts to take action – write their congressmen and press banks and credit card companies with demands for crypto transactions. John McAfee calls on his followers to also write the SEC and ask “to leave us alone, because we are not a security […] we are a currency.” Bitcoin Still a Buy, Good for Store of Value McAfee is not alone in the optimists’ camp. According to blockchain venture capitalist Spencer Bogart, bitcoin is still worth buying, despite its continued losses. The increased number of use cases is a proof that BTC is becoming more institutionalized, he told CNBC. “Every major bank is trying to do something in the space,” Bogart said, noting that banks are either going to be offering bitcoin to their clients, they’re working on a custody platform, or are opening up a trading desk. Spencer Bogart advised investors to sell coins like cardano, tron, IOTA and NEO, but said they should hold cryptocurrencies like bitcoin cash (BCH), ethereum, ripple, and EOS. According to Matt Hougan, Global Head of Research for Bitwise Asset Management, the most compelling use case for bitcoin today is as a store of value, although he admits the idea is often dismissed because of the volatility of the cryptocurrency. “Gold is solid. Bitcoin is volatile. It’ll never work – these statements are ignorant of gold’s history and devoid of imagination,” Hougan recently wrote in an op-ed piece for Forbes. “Before 1971, the US dollar was hard-backed by gold, and gold’s value was effectively vouchsafed by the full faith and credit of our government. When Richard Nixon took the US off of the gold standard, it set gold loose from its moorings,” Matt Hougan explains. “What followed was a period of huge volatility, as gold fought to establish itself as an independent store of wealth. In 1974, for instance, gold bullion prices rose 73%, before falling 24% in 1975. In 1981, gold lost 33% of its value, after being up 121% just two years prior,” he details. Russian Experts Expect Further Decline in Prices Crypto experts contacted by Russian media are not so optimistic, at least in the short run. The value of bitcoin core (BTC) will continue to drop, even below the psychological $6,000 USD threshold, they claim. At the time of writing, BTC is trading at around $7,450, while bitcoin cash (BCH) holds over $900. The downward trend is largely due to decisions and statements made by regulators in a number of countries, points out Vladislav Antonov, analyst at Alpari. Several factors have caused the weakening of bitcoin, according to the expert. Recently, the US Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into supposed price manipulations in the cryptocurrency markets. News came out that authorities in India may impose 18 percent tax on crypto trading. Speaking to RIA Novosti, Antonov also mentioned the crackdown on fraudulent ICO projects and suspicious crypto activities, part of the coordinated “Operation Crypto-Sweep” in North America. Another event that has influenced the prices is the expiration of CME bitcoin futures on May 25th. Igor Zartdinov, co-founder of the ICG crypto fund, says the decrease in the value of bitcoin occurs on a neutral-to-positive news background. He thinks that market manipulation is a possible explanation, as big players usually earn at the expense of small investors. “That’s what we are seeing now,” Zartdinov believes. What are your predictions about the future of crypto markets? Share your expectations in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even lookup the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more. The post Bitcoin in Brief Tuesday: Positive Predictions Meet Negative Prognosis 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 has already been three weeks since the launch of DIW’s ICO with just one week left to go – just enough time to seize this rare opportunity and join this unprecedented project! The entire team has been on constant alert for months now with quite a few kilos of coffee consumed on many endless meetings and sleepless nights! It has been a unique and amazing experience thus far and everyone is looking forward to the next stage that the project is about to enter. There is a contrast of emotions though within the team. Excitement regarding its own project, but disappointment regarding many others and the industry in general. Unfortunately, ICO projects have made a bad name for the industry and for blockchain technology in general. Some have labelled cryptocurrencies, and especially ICOs ‘Ponzi schemes’, ‘fraudsters’, ‘mothers of all bubbles’, ‘criminal cyber-terrorism’, ‘greedy scams’ and many more. The underlying reason is that most of the teams behind ICOs are just after quick money. They have no vision for the future, nor have they made any solid, or well thought out plans on how to proceed and how to implement the latest technology within their proposed product. Furthermore, the teams who have actually made plans claiming to incorporate ground breaking blockchain technology, actually don’t. Blockchain is only utilised marginally and is not included in the core of their product. Blockchain is used just as an excuse that enables these teams to proceed with an ICO. Additionally, it has been proven that the teams behind most ICO projects are inadequate for the job, some not even including people remotely associated to blockchain technology. DIW is different. The team behind DIW always had its sides on developing the project – it was never about the funds. It was all about the project; about breaking new technological ground, being pioneers. With a highly skilled group of people, the DIW project is bound to succeed. Our coders, cryptographers, solidity developers as well as front end developers, are highly skilled and motivated. With a proven track record, our team was focused on developing the project even before the start of the ICO. Due to all of this labour, we are now highly excited to announce the release of our Alpha edition on testnet. Getting to the nitty-gritty details everyone has been waiting for: Alpha DIW Platform on testnet By proceeding with uploading its Alpha on a testnet, DIW is providing its early adopting members with the opportunity of joining its team in the development of the project. The testnet allows the creation of a virtual account giving the opportunity for everyone to use the Alpha edition of DIW’s product for free via a demo account and without the need to save actual sensitive information for it to work. The first function of DIW’s vault that is to be released, is that of the password manager. The team will be releasing the Alpha edition of its product utilizing the basic interface design proposed within the DIW whitepaper. Additionally, parts of the code will also be released on GitHub. Please keep in mind that part of the code’s core will be hidden for now due to the very early stage that the project is in right now. Moreover, please note that the Alpha edition, is being developed on basic technology that is currently available to the team. More advanced technology will be incorporated as the project along with technology progresses. Further enhancements will be made via the incorporation of partner technology such as that developed by Ties.DB and the Raiden Network as well as that of future partners. All of DIW’s community members are welcome to put the alpha edition of the vault through its paces, keeping in mind that it’s a product in development. The team is aware that the alpha will be buggy at first, so your understanding and patience will be highly appreciated. Please do not report back any issues for now. Using the alpha version at first, will enable you to become supporters of the DIW Blockchain revolution! As the team feels that the project’s supporters should also be included in its development, since they will be making up the bulk of its users, DIW plans to release a ‘Bug Report Program’ that will award all of its contributing participants with DIW Tokens depending on their involvement and level of assistance in the development of the project. Further details will be released regarding this program in due time, including how to gain approval in order to get on-board. Main points behind the coding of the platform: – The team has used the most proper and professional coding available today to ensure the best performance, optimization and efficiency, making sure that its product is future proof as well as able to be rapidly developed. – Trusted technologies have been utilized to create our decentralised securely encrypted storage system, such as the Ethereum platform and operating system as well as the IPFS protocol and network, due to their proven capabilities. – For secure and efficient encryption of the data, the team opted to incorporate algorithms such as the RSA & AES. – Furthermore, the team has used a ‘Functional programming’ paradigm in the design process assuring the code’s scalability, upgradability and optimisation. How the DIW Storage System Works Account Creation – 1st Step 1. The user will be creating an account on the DIW network 2. The user will then receive their ‘private’ and ‘public’ keys DIW Data Encryption Method 1. The system creates a random number (‘secret’) in the background. 2. The user’s client software encrypts via RSA algorithm the ‘secret’ utilizing the user’s ‘public key’ (‘secret’ + ‘public key’ = ‘encrypted secret’). 3. The client software then also encrypts the user’s actual data via AES algorithm utilizing the ‘secret’ as the required data encryption / decryption password (‘secret’ acting as password + ‘data’ = ‘encrypted data’). 4. The resulting ‘encrypted data’ (now having been converted to a single file) is then sent to the IPFS network for decentralized storage. In turn, the IPFS network returns an SHA hash file with the location of the file within the decentralised network. 5. The client software then sends the location of the SHA hash file to the DIW Ethereum contract for storage in relation to the specific user. DIW’s contract, running on Ethereum network, then seals the SHA file’s location. Blockchain technology ensures that the stored SHA hash file is permanent without any modification or tampering possibilities. The SHA hash file acts as proof regarding the authenticity of the original ‘encrypted data’ stored. 6. Lastly, the ‘encrypted secret’ file is sent directly to the DIW Contract so that it may also be sealed by the Ethereum network. DIW Data Decryption Method 1. The ‘encrypted data’ file is downloaded to the client device from the IPFS network. 2. The ‘encrypted secret’ file is also downloaded as it is necessary for data decryption. 3. The ‘encrypted secret’ is then decrypted back to ‘secret’ via the utilization of the user’s ‘private key’. 4. The ‘encrypted data’ is then decrypted back to our original data by utilizing ‘secret’ acting as the decryption password. DIW Data Share Method 1. The ‘secret’ file is encrypted utilizing the Second User’s ‘public key’ with the resulting ‘encrypted secret’ file being provided to the Second User. 2. The Second User then receives the location of the ‘encrypted data’ file within the IPFS network. 3. Finally, the Second User goes through the ‘Data Accessing Method’ described above. That’s all regarding the release of the initial technical details for now. Ongoing support will be provided through DIW’s communication channels and everyone is welcome to proceed with providing the team with their queries and suggestions. These are exciting times indeed. DIW wishes to thank all of its supporters for joining in and enabling the fruition of its project. Furthermore, DIW invites everyone that hasn’t joined the project yet for any reason to do so now, while the ICO lasts for privileged access to the project. Contact Email Address contact@diwtoken.com Supporting Link https://diwtoken.com/ This is a paid press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post PR: DIWtoken.com – Alpha Launch on Testnet Before the End of ICO appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Cease and desist letters have been sent to five crypto companies operating in Alabama, as part of the ongoing “Operation Crypto-Sweep.” The campaign, led by the North American Securities Administrators Association, is targeting ICO projects and blockchain startups suspected of fraudulent activities and violations of existing securities laws. Actions have been taken already by NASAA members in a number of states and provinces in North America. Also read: Nearly 1 in 5 Offerings Accused of Fraud, Bermuda Passes Regulations, Thai SEC Holds Hearing Three LA-Based Companies Among the Targeted The Alabama Security Commission (ASC) has recently taken enforcement actions in five investigations as part of “Operation Crypto-Sweep.” The international crackdown on fraudulent Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and crypto-related investment products is coordinated by the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), a voluntary organization whose membership consists of 67 state, provincial, and territorial securities administrators in the US, Canada and Mexico, of which the ASC is also a member. The Commission has issued a total of five cease and desist orders “to protect Alabamians”, according to an official announcement. The respondents are ICO organizations that have been targeting residents in more than one state. That’s why Alabama regulators have teamed up with their colleagues from Texas and New Jersey to go after the firms implicated in illegally soliciting investors. “Fraudulent activity involving ICOs and cryptocurrency-related investment products is a significant threat to Main Street investors in Alabama,” said ASC director Joseph Borg. The Commission is “committed to swiftly and effectively protecting investors from schemes and scams involving these products,” he added, noting that the measures taken are just the tip of the iceberg. Cease and desist letters have been sent to three Los Angeles based companies. Extrabit Ltd., a purported crypto mining operation, offered through an ad the project’s EXB token at half price, conducting, according to regulators, an illegal and unregistered securities offering. Potential investors were told they had to spend $20,000 in the presale and expect the tokens within 48 hours. A 185 percent quarterly return was promised to those keeping a constant positive EXB balance. Returns were said to come from mining bitcoin, monero and zcash. The second firm form California, Leverage, has advertised itself as a crypto lending platform offering to investors a variable, daily interest. This case is again about an unlicensed security, the ASC said. Pool Trade is the third sanctioned company from LA. Platinum Coin, another of the targeted crypto businesses, from Miami, Florida, has been caught offering investors an annual return of at least 320 percent. It has been issued with cease and desist order based on the same accusations – conducting sales of unregistered securities and making unrealistic promises. The fifth recipient of a cease and desist letter is an entity that purports to conduct business as an Internet-based escrow company. According to the ASC announcement, Chain Group Escrow Service is based in Kirkland, Washington. Regulators Across North America Join “Crypto-Sweep” Regulatory authorities in other states have also taken similar actions against dubious crypto businesses. The blockchain firm Shipchain, an operator of an etherium-based logistics platform, has received a cease and desist order from the Office of the Attorney General of South Carolina. The startup has been trying to sell its Shipcoin tokens without proper registration in the state, advertising its project to local investors. The state’s legislation treats investment contracts as securities and the tokens should have been registered as such. A permanent cease and desist order has been delivered to a company in neighboring North Carolina – Power Mining Pool. Another firm, Adosia LLC, has received a consent order in the state. According to NASAA’s website, cease and desist orders and letters have been sent so far to crypto and blockchain businesses in the following states: Missouri, Texas, Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey, and Ohio, as well as in the Canadian provinces of Quebec, British Columbia and New Brunswick. “Operation Crypto-Sweep” is coordinated by NASAA which has united the efforts of more than 40 state and provincial securities regulators in the US and Canada for a series of investigations into ICOs and crypto-related investment products. There have been more than 70 inquiries and investigations so far, as well as 35 pending or completed enforcement actions since the beginning of May. The campaign was recently applauded by the chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Jay Clayton, as news.Bitcoin.com reported. Do you think the actions undertaken by NASAA members will limit fraudulent activities in the crypto sector? Share your thoughts 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 Five Firms Hit by ‘Crypto-Sweep’ in Alabama as Regulators Step up Operation appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

One of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Bithumb, has reportedly announced that it will gradually lower the withdrawal limit for any accounts that have not been converted to real-name ones, citing risks of financial crimes. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Lowering Withdrawal Limit Bithumb reportedly said on Monday that it has “decided to gradually reduce the withdrawal limit for customer accounts that have not converted to real-name confirmation accounts,” starting on June 4, according to MTN. This announcement closely follows the exchange confirming that it will block trading in 11 countries including North Korea, Iran, and Iraq, as well as strengthening the account verification process for foreign users. The South Korean regulators established the real-name system for crypto accounts at the end of January in order to end the anonymous trading of cryptocurrencies. However, the conversion rate has been low. In early May, only about 30% had switched to real-name accounts. Today it is still possible to transact cryptocurrencies in Korea using unregistered accounts. “According to Bithumb, about 60% of customers do not switch to a real-name verification accounts,” the news outlet detailed, adding that the exchange currently has a daily withdrawal limit of 50 million won (~US$46,465) and a monthly limit of 300 million won (~$278,753). Initially, “If the account is not confirmed by this measure [real-name], the daily withdrawal limit will be reduced to 45 million won [~$41,795] from next month,” the publication elaborated. While the exchange has not revealed how low the withdrawal limit will eventually be, a Bithumb official was quoted explaining: We have decided to gradually reduce the withdrawal amounts in the Korean won because it is raising concerns that bank accounts for unconverted withdrawals may become a target of various financial crimes. Complying With 5-5-7 Regulation In addition, Bithumb also announced on Monday that it has “built a first-class financial information security personnel and budget system.” The exchange says it is the first cryptocurrency exchange to have “followed all [of the] 5-5-7 [Regulation’s] provisions within the electronic banking supervisory regulations,” chapter 32, section 8, paragraph 2. The 5-5-7 Regulation recommends that 5% of a financial organization’s total workforce be IT specialists, 5% of which be dedicated to information security, and 7% of the company’s overall budget be used for privacy. Bithumb elaborated: In May 2018, the current Bithumb’s total employees compared to IT staff ratio is about 21%, and the proportion of IT staff who are responsible for information security is 10%. In addition, about 8% of the annual expenditure budget of Bithumb is used for data protection related activities. What do you think of Bithumb lowering withdrawal limits for customers not converting to real-name accounts? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Bithumb. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Bithumb to Lower Withdrawal Limit for Crypto Traders Not Using Real-Name System appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Over the past few months, there has been an ongoing theoretical and ideological debate concerning the difference between mining nodes and non-mining nodes, and whether or not one set of nodes is more important than the other. The ongoing argument between BCH proponents and BTC supporters often leads to the node debate as to which group of nodes is stronger. The dispute has even led some BTC luminaries to state that users who don’t run a fully validating node are merely ‘second-class citizens’ in the land of cryptocurrency. Also read: The Exahash Era: SHA-256 Mining is a Significant Achievement in Computer Engineering The Ongoing Debate Over the Importance of Non-Mining Nodes Nodes. A lot of people from within the BTC and BCH camps are talking about cryptocurrency enthusiasts who swear by the importance of non-mining nodes and the discussion has leaked into other digital asset communities as well. Non-mining nodes are basically a complete record of the blockchain and some people also believe non-mining nodes enforce a cryptocurrency’s protocol rules, while others believe these groups are mere spectators. Mining nodes are also considered nodes but they possess the ability to process blocks and mint new coins. Just today on the Reddit forum r/bitcoin, users argued about the fundamental difference between mining nodes and non-mining nodes. The debate showed the glaring difference of opinion between both sides of this argument. “Nodes do play a very important part to the system — They enforce the rules. Each person who runs a node has a ruleset they wish to follow — If enough nodes all agree to these rules they come to a consensus,” explains one commenter on the Reddit post. If a miner or a pool decides to break these rules of consensus within 100 blocks they will lose the mining reward. Nodes can also ban other nodes for not following the consensus too. Nodes Do Nothing But Decide for Themselves Whether the Rules Are Observed However, immediately after the person’s comment, another user disagreed with the statement. “Can an ASICs mine or generate blocks without a node?” asked the user who disagrees that non-mining nodes actually enforce rules. “No! Can a non-mining-node generate blocks? No! Who writes the chain further, if not the mining nodes? Certainly not the non-mining node — Which power decides which blocks are valid? Which power builds the other valid blocks?” the commenter continues, asking: The nodes do nothing but decide for themselves whether the rules are observed. If they are not met, they split off from the network and wait for valid blocks that will never come because there are no miners to generate the blocks. Or you have a mining node, then you try to generate the next valid block by yourself. Pool nodes are of course very important, but they have mining power behind them — Your raspberry pi doesn’t have any power at all. ‘Second-Class Bitcoin Citizens’ The conversation got interesting about a month ago when BTC developer Jameson Lopp tweeted a controversial statement about fully validating non-mining nodes. “If you don’t run a fully validating node, you’re a second-class Bitcoin citizen. If you don’t hold your own private keys, you’re a third class Bitcoin citizen,” Lopp stated on March 31, 2018. Jameson Lopp defending the ‘second-class Bitcoin citizen’ position on Twitter. The tweet didn’t go over so well as it sparked a vitriolic debate about the perceived importance of non-mining nodes. One Twitter user responded to Lopp’s tweet, writing “Why bring the bs hierarchical social scale to Bitcoin? This has to be one of the most pretentious statements I’ve heard in the Bitcoin community.” But Lopp answered back by saying: It’s not so much about social scale as it is about self-sovereignty. Three Powerful Misconceptions That Bolster Non-Mining Node Nonsense On April 29, 2018, on the We Are All Satoshi network hosted by the founder of the Pirate Party, Rick Falkvinge, the host debunked the concept that cryptocurrency investors who don’t run fully validating nodes are second class, and called the statement “nonsense.” In fact, Falkvinge explained that non-mining nodes are merely “direct spectators” who can only watch the rules, not enforce them. Falkvinge says nodes that are originally described in Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper were “mining nodes.” The Pirate Party founder says that people who promote the belief that non-mining nodes are rule enforcers are being nonsensical and usually bolster “three powerful misconceptions — users without nodes are second class, nodes have network power, and nodes decentralize the network. Rick Falkvinge discusses the three powerful misconceptions involved with the non-mining node discussions. “Users without nodes are second-class citizens — No they are not, 99.999 percent of users will not be running nodes and in fact, that’s completely fine, and required for mass scale adoption,” Falkvinge explains in his video ‘Rick Reacts: The Nonsense about Bitcoin Nodes’ video. “Nodes have network power — No that’s nonsense they don’t. The network will proceed regardless of the presence or nonpresence of certain non-mining nodes — They have no influence whatsoever.” Nodes decentralize the network — Well yes if your talking about Bangladesh goat farmers capable of renting a server, capable of gigabyte sized blocks, then you might get some decentralization. But this is used as a battering ram for hammering home the point somebody must be able to run a full node on a shitty Comcast connection — which is just atrocious — these three statements are all false narratives. The non-mining node debate has become a very contentious conversation among cryptocurrency advocates and the argument is discussed regularly on forums and social media these days. The non-mining node discussion is now at the heart of the ongoing scaling debate that seems to never end. What do you think about the debate regarding non-mining nodes? Do you think non-mining nodes are important? Let us know your thoughts on this subject in the comments below. Images via Pixabay, Shutterstock, Youtube, and Twitter. Now live, Satoshi Pulse. A comprehensive, real-time listing of the cryptocurrency market. View prices, charts, transaction volumes, and more for the top 500 cryptocurrencies trading today. The post Second Class Citizens or a False Narrative? The Non-Mining Node Debate Heats Up appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Corner those experienced within cryptocurrency’s ecosystem, and they’ll admit something akin to addicts exist. That fine line between obsession and irrational exuberance is probably best exemplified in wild price fluxuations, furious buying and selling. At least one historic county in Scotland, Peeblesshire (Siorrachd nam Pùballan), believes they’ve identified bitcoin addicts, and are beginning to treat them in the same manner as those with similar attractions to gambling. Also read: Bitgrail Exchange Ordered Down Indefinitely as Italian Court Upholds Halt Castle Craig Hospital Bitcoin Addicts are a Thing in Scotland Crypto addicts could do worse, and that’s for sure: Scotland’s Castle Craig Hospital addiction treatment center is a bucolic, sprawling campus seemingly designed to induce calm and reflection. It’s also home to a first of sorts, according to regional press: a concentrated program set to dealing with a growing phenomenon, cryptocurrency addiction. The hospital’s creative writing coordinator and gambling therapist, Christopher Burn, explains how the “high risk, fluctuating cryptocurrency market appeals to the problem gambler. It provides excitement and an escape from reality. Bitcoin, for example, has been heavily traded and huge gains and losses were made. It’s a classic bubble situation.” Christopher Burn Mr. Burn can be temporarily excused from jumping his lane into speculative finance; a good guess is literally no one seeks him out for economic analysis. But the rest of his point can be valid in the sense of popular anecdotes. At what time in the journey from regular, functional adult to 21 year old Canadian living in a car to save money in order to buy lesser-known crypto is it an addiction? What if the example does not involve a ballsy single dude; instead, it’s a family of five with three children, parents in their late 30s, who’ve sold their house in hope of riding the-then booming bitcoin core (BTC) price? Are these examples of addiction or are they simply badass pioneers who know something the rest of us do not? Is Crypto Just Gambling in Disguise? Tony Marini Tony Marini, on site therapist, and someone who has also struggled with cocaine and gambling addictions himself, details, “Having been through it myself, my experience of addiction gives me insight and empathy towards others who have the same problem. I see cryptocurrency trading as a way for people to escape from themselves, into another world, because they don’t like the world they’re in. The first stage of treatment is to join other addicts in group therapy and share their life stories. This helps them identify with each other and realise that they’re not alone.” A recurring word, “escape,” permeates both explanations, still admittedly fuzzy in the way of a solid definition. Nevertheless it does seem if crypto occupies too great (?) a space in a person’s mind, to a point where they chronically ignore real, ongoing life around them, they just might have a problem. And since speculative markets very often evidence fast fortunes gained and lost, and gained and lost again, there must be properties of problem behavior similar to gambling addictions (which have been well-documented). Experienced in treating addictions such as traditional alcohol and drug problems, Castle Craig Hospital has begun addressing addictions involving cryptocurrency. Indeed, they’re using techniques in the course developed from successful gambling addiction methods. Though more than ten million people worldwide are said to be trading and dealing in cryptocurrency, no firm numbers or percentages exist regarding the amount of people with addictive symptoms. Do you think crypto addiction exists? Let us know in the comments. Images via the Pixabay, Castle Craig Hospital. 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 Addicts Crave Risk, Excitement, Escape appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The cryptocurrency economy is nearing the end of 2018’s fifth month after a spectacular year of bullish prices throughout 2017. The past five months have been incredibly bearish as far as market values are concerned but the processing power of digital assets, particularly SHA-256 cryptocurrencies, continues to increase exponentially. Today SHA-256 miners makeup on of the largest computational networks ever created since the dawn of the internet. Also read: Prague Subway System Now Has Ten New Bitcoin ATMs SHA-256 Mining Has Created One of the Largest Computational Systems in the World There’s always a lot of talk about how valuable cryptocurrencies are today or how much electricity miners use to process blocks across the multitudes of public blockchains. However, there usually isn’t much talk about the powerful computational processing power these networks achieve on a daily basis. Since the inception of the original Bitcoin network back in 2009, and the myriad of other SHA-256 networks leading up to today has led the significant advancement in Exascale computing. The most profitable SHA-256 cryptocurrencies on the market today on May 28, 2018 according to Coinwarz. Cryptocurrencies with the SHA-256 algorithm are processed by mining computers and at a speed at which miners complete a hash operation (complex math problem) which then, in turn, is called the hashrate. When an individual miner or organized pool has a higher hashrate it increases their chances of finding the next block reward. These rewards and the profitability of cryptocurrencies as a whole has truly led to one of the largest computational networks ever created. Computer Scientists Expected Computers to Break the ‘Exahash Era’ in 2018 SHA-256 Cryptocurrency Networks Broke the Record Two Years Before the Predicted Date Exascale computing refers to a system that can process more than one exaflop per second — which is equal to one billion calculations per second. Back in May of 2013, the BTC network surpassed 1 exaflop, which at the time was six to eight times faster the combined speed of the top 500 supercomputers in the world. Today, the BTC hashrate is over 30-35 exahash per second or over 30 billion gigahashes per second, and the BCH network is 3-5 exahash per second or over 5 billion gigahashes per second. The BTC network hashrate breaks 1 exahash back in January 2016. Back in 2009 when the IBM Roadrunner supercomputer broke the petaflop (1,015 operations per second) record, computer scientists estimated exascale computing would be realized by 2018. Coincidently the Roadrunner supercomputer surpassed the petaflop the very year Satoshi launched the blockchain network that utilized Nakamoto Consensus. But the BTC network surpassed 1 exahash in 2016 and the BCH network exceeded 1 exahash in late 2017, as both networks have gained incredible amounts of processing power since then. The BCH and BTC networks combined account for more than 2/3rds of all the hashrate among every SHA-256 coin in existence. May 28, 2018, the BTC network’s absolute hashrate in exahashes per second is 35 exahash according to Blockchain.info. The World’s Strongest Computational Networks Has No Government or Corporate Backing Just Miners Voluntarily Processing Blocks for an Incentive The fact that Nakamoto Consensus has taken cryptocurrencies into the age of the exahash era is simply astounding, especially seeing how there is no corporation or government behind these operations. ASIC manufacturers and miners looking for profit have driven this computational processing power to record-breaking levels and it is a significant achievement in computer engineering. Side by side POW statistics for BCH and BTC on May 28, 2018, according to Fork.lol. Someday if SHA-256 networks can surpass 500 exahash, then the processing power will see these network(s) enter the zetahash era. The hashrate will likely climb further as 10 and 7 nanometer (nm) chips are installed into new mining rigs later this year. Love them or hate them miners have formed a symbiotic relationship with Nakamoto Consensus pushing forth computational limits into the age of the exahash era. The aforementioned metrics show that even though markets are down over the past few months, a lot of individuals believe in the long-term power of this technology, and these believers are continuing to smash computational records month after month. What do you think about the processing power of SHA-256 coins that use Nakamoto Consensus like BCH and BTC? Do you think this amount of processing power is a milestone in computer engineering? Let us know in the comments below. Images via Shutterstock, Blockchain.info, Coinwarz, and Fork.lol. 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 The Exahash Era: SHA-256 Mining is a Significant Achievement in Computer Engineering appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Fees on the bitcoin core network have reached their lowest in seven years, with the median cost of sending BTC currently standing at $0.11. While there are several reasons why BTC fees are low, one of them is obvious: less people are using the network. The number of daily transactions has dropped sharply since last year, and has declined further in the past month. Also read: Blockchain Projects Live a Little Over a Year on Average, China Claims Lower Fees, Lower Usage It is no secret that the number of on-chain bitcoin core transactions, along with those of other blockchains, has dropped significantly since late 2017. This mirrors the decline in the valuation of bitcoin and most other digital assets during this timeframe. On December 14, almost half a million BTC transactions were recorded in a single day. By February, this figure was averaging below 200,000 a day. On April 24, the number peaked at 254,000, but has since declined, reaching a low of 158,000 on May 26, according to Bitinfocharts.com. In early April, the median BTC transaction fee dropped to under 10 satoshis per byte before rising to almost 40 sats by the end of the month. As of yesterday, May 26, the median fee was back below 10 sats/byte once more. Median fees are taken as being a more useful metric than looking at average fees, for as Coinmetrics.io explains, “Median figures are generally much more informative for data like fees or transaction value since the data is normally extremely (positively) skewed”. The number of daily BTC transactions has been dropping BCH Is Still 3x Cheaper Than BTC to Send On May 24, the number of BTC transactions utilizing Segwit reached an all-time high of 38%. This will have contributed to reducing median fees, although many believe that Segwit’s role in doing so has been overstated, with one assessment pointing out the role that transaction batching has played in fee reduction. Median BTC fees are at their lowest in years On the bitcoin cash network, fees reached their three-month low on April 2, hitting a median of $0.0018. They now stand at $0.0038 per transaction, a significant increase in the space of a month but still three times cheaper than bitcoin core, at $0.113. When fees are unusually low, shrewd BTC holders use the opportunity to consolidate their unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs). This is done by sending all of the dust in their wallet to a BTC address they control. That way, when bitcoin core fees inevitably rise again, they’ll be able to save money on fees because each transaction will contain less UTXOs, making it smaller and thus cheaper. Do you think BTC fees will stay low, or is this just a temporary dip? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Bitinfocharts.com, and Transactionfee.info. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Bitcoin Core Fees Fall to Their Lowest in Years 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. Singapore, May 27- S. V. Sukumar, the former Partner and Head of Strategy and Operation Consulting at KPMG and a prominent thought leader joined XinFin as a Senior Advisor. Mr. Sukumar has more than 40 years of diverse experience in industrial and management consulting and has served fortune 500 brands globally. A pioneer in implementing management concepts like TQM, Six Sigma, and Lean, he strategized and improvised performance in Financial Services, Supply Chain, Consumer and Industrial Products, Pharma, Automobiles, etc., helping clients to enhance revenue and reduce costs thereby driving growth in the global competitive market. XinFin has developed a hybrid blockchain technology constituting the best features of private and public blockchains known as XDC protocol. This protocol supports smart contracts over digital assets, cryptocurrency and industrial applications. Some of the prime business use cases developed by XinFin’s team are wallets, financial applications for cross border payment, remittance sale etc. As a consultant and advisor, Sukumar will be unravelling the hybrid blockchain for business users and will be directly responsible for connecting the technology with industrial usage therefore demystifying the underlying advantages to create concrete awareness. With his diverse and vast experience, he will be strategizing the business implementation by enabling clients to integrate blockchain in their current industrial use case and providing a required management support for comprehensive amalgamation therefore, driving profitable growth. An enthusiastic Sukumar shared, “Blockchain holds huge potential to disrupt multiple industries by improvising business processes as a mediator, I will connect the two parallels of blockchain and business. XinFin comprises of a dynamic young team focused on developing a revolutionary technology hence, it’s a great opportunity for me to be a part of this revolution.” On the preceding development with XinFin Fintech Co-Founder Peter Yeo stated, “His immense experience, network and passion for client service will help XinFin grow leaps and bounds with compliance Blockchain solution with large enterprise.” About XinFin XinFin is an open source Hybrid Blockchain protocol initiated out of Singapore. XinFin Network [XDCE] is a utility network that lets enterprises deploy real world applications on Hybrid Blockchain Protocol in a conducive, compliant and regulation friendly environment for diverse use cases in trade, finance, remittance, supply chain, healthcare and other industrial areas to improve business efficiency. The XDC Dev Environment encourages developers to build DAPPs using smart contracts. The XinFin community derives its success from the ecosystem comprising of developers, network utility and long term backers. Follow XinFin on Twitter (@XinFinF), on Telegram and on Slack (https://xinfin-public.slack.com/). Supporting Link http://xinfin.org/ Contact Email Address support@xinfin.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: Former Head of Strategy & Operations Consulting at KPMG Joins XinFin Platform appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Israeli Ministry of Finance has published draft prohibiting money laundering regulations with provisions specifically pertaining to virtual currencies. The proposed regulations will also introduce a suite of new reporting requirements for financial service providers, including strict conditions regarding the cryptocurrency activities of clients. Also Read: South Korean Exchange Bithumb Blocks Trading in 11 Countries Israeli Ministry of Finance Publishes Draft Money Laundering Regulations The Israeli Ministry of Finance a draft of the amended Money Laundering Prohibition Order – with the proposed legislation now containing provisions pertinent to cryptocurrencies. The new regulations will incorporate virtual currencies into the regulatory apparatus designed to prohibit money laundering in the financial services sector. Explanatory notes accompanying the draft acknowledge the intention to expand the regulations to apply to companies providing virtual currency services in addition to mainstream financial services providers, stating: “The definition of a service in a financial asset that comes to replace and expand the term ‘currency services’ includes all the activities and services performed in financial assets through a business that does not involve granting credit. The intention is to enable the supervision of financial services, other than tangible assets or standard financial means, in an area that has been developing in recent years.” Proposed Regulations to Introduce Suite of Reporting Requirements Regarding Clients’ Cryptocurrency Activity In addition to incorporating virtual currency services into the legislative apparatus, the proposed regulations will additionally impose a number of new reporting requirements on Israeli financial institutions. According to local media: “As of June 1, brokers, banks, money changers and cryptocurrency trade and commerce platforms in Israel will be obligated to report any suspicious cryptocurrency activity by their clients […] The draft, which is open to public purview until June 13, specifies 37 money laundering red flags, among them large sums of over NIS 5,000 (approximately $1,400 USD) transferred to a digital wallet; any money transfers made using an anonymous IP address or an address that is incompatible with the geographic origin of the connection; cryptocurrency transfers to online gambling sites; and any activity in anonymous cryptocurrencies such as monero or zcash. The draft also states service providers must maintain full documentation of cryptocurrency activity, which includes all parties’ digital wallet addresses, IP addresses, and the type and amount of currency, for a period of no less than five years.” New Money Laundering Laws to Take Effect on June 1st Yishay Trif, the chief executive officer of international payments provider, Moneynetint, has indicated that financial institutions have reacted favorably to the proposed legislation bringing greater regulatory clarity regarding the virtual currency sector. “In order to complete the legal framework for activity in virtual currencies, clear instructions are required regarding the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The statement that the area is not regulated is repeated as part of the banks’ automatic refusal to provide services for those who trade in Crypto. Because of this, the steps taken are important and necessary. They provide regulatory certainty to banks and financial institutions and define clear rules on what is permitted and what is not, Mr. Trif stated.” Meni Rosenfeld, the chairman of the Israeli Bitcoin Association, has echoed Mr. Trif’s sentiment, stating that “On many of the occasions in which banks have refused to accept money that originated with cryptocurrency, we met with the statement that the field is not regulated. The new order will regulatory certainty for those involved in the field, and will define rules that are permitted and forbidden, which will enable banks and financial institutions to know who is compliant with the law, and whose money they can safely receive. The union gave a proposal on the subject to the Israel Anti-Money Laundering Authority several weeks ago, and we welcome the regulator’s quick action to allow those involved in the field to operate.” Do you think that greater legitimacy and juridical recognition of the cryptocurrency sector is a positive that outweighs the draconian reporting requirements regarding the virtual currency activities of Israeli firms’ clients? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Wikipedia At news.Bitcoin.com all comments containing links are automatically held up for moderation in the Disqus system. That means an editor has to take a look at the comment to approve it. This is due to the many, repetitive, spam and scam links people post under our articles. We do not censor any comment content based on politics or personal opinions. So, please be patient. Your comment will be published. 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The majority of blockchain projects have a short life span, averaging a little over one year, according to a report by Chinese researchers. Less than a tenth of the examined projects in the study are still active, a local official revealed at a big data expo in the city of Guizhou. Beijing, however, has recently taken steps to speed up efforts in blockchain-oriented research and development. Also read: China Has Found 421 Fake Cryptocurrencies 8 Percent of 80,000 Only 8 percent of over 80,000 blockchain projects launched globally are still actively maintained, according to He Baohong, Director of the Cloud Computing and Big Data Research Institute at the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT). He spoke at the International Big Data Industry Expo 2018 held in the southwestern city of Guizhou. In comments on the release of a new report about the top global blockchain industry trends, the Chinese official also said that the average life span of these projects is only about 1.22 years. The study produced by the CAICT has recognized six major trends, including the increasing integration of the flow of data and assets and the accelerated pace of the growth of digital assets. “[These projects] came out very quickly, but die quickly as well,” He Baohong said, without sharing further details in regards to the timeframe and the exact scope of the survey. “In this circumstance, governments are accelerating their efforts to establish unified standards in order to help blockchain projects achieve real-life applications,” he elaborated, quoted by the China Money Network. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) of China, under which Baohong’s institute operates, has actually started work on the development of a national standard for blockchain technologies and applications. According to recent Chinese media reports, the standard will be completed and introduced by the end of next year. “We have established verifiable blockchain programs in China, and nearly 200 private enterprises have expressed interests to join,” He Baohong added. “[This] will help the blockchain technology and the industry to become more transparent and open,” he emphasized. Baohong’s comments came after a recent statement by Yu Kequn, Director of the Chinese National Center for Information Technology Security Research, who said that “The development of blockchain technology may become an important step for China to grasp the global technological competition.” In his words, blockchain technology “can be applied in the production, management, and transaction chains to bring the entire life cycle of restructuring to different areas.” China Serious About Blockchain In the meantime, the executive power in Beijing has made a decision to accelerate the work on the development and implementation of blockchain and big data technologies in the country’s economy. According to a statement released last week, the State Council of China asked local governments and financial authorities, as well as relevant state-funded research institutions, to concentrate their efforts in that direction. The order, issued earlier in May, instructs provincial and municipal authorities to speed up and support the development of financial technologies, including blockchain applications, within the framework of the current Chinese regulations. The advancements in that field will also be supported financially. Last week, a Chinese blockchain accelerator announced millions of dollars in subsidies for startups. The Hangzhou-based Blockchain Industrial Park will offer up to $1 million to finance the development of new blockchain projects, among many other incentives for both fintech businesses and their qualified employees. Do you think Chinese authorities are serious about blockchain development? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Bitcoin News is growing fast. To reach our global audience, send us a news tip or submit a press release. Let’s work together to help inform the citizens of Earth (and beyond) about this new, important and amazing information network that is Bitcoin. The post Blockchain Projects Live a Little Over a Year on Average, China Claims appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has announced that it will block trading in 11 countries as part of its revised internal regulations aimed to prevent money laundering using its system. Foreign users will also need to undergo a stricter verification process. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Preventing Money Laundering Bithumb announced on Sunday that its internal regulations have been revised in order to prevent money laundering activities using its system, according to local media. Business Korea elaborated: With growing concerns over money laundering through cryptocurrency trading, Bithumb, South Korea’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, will ban digital asset trading with investors in North Korea, Iran, Iraq, and eight other countries that are considered as high-risk jurisdictions by the Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories (NCCT) Initiative. At the time of this writing, Bithumb’s 24-hour trading volume has overtaken Upbit’s, standing at about $250.41 million. The Kakao-backed exchange Upbit’s trading volume for the same time period is approximately $235.1 million, according to Coinmarketcap. To prevent the inflow of funds relating to “international terrorism and crime,” users from NCCT countries “shall be blocked,” Bithumb wrote, adding that new members from these countries will not be accepted and existing members will be blocked from the 21st. Bithumb says it is self-enforcing these strict rules to foster the transparent cryptocurrency market and investor protection. “We will cooperate with the government” and follow self-regulatory measures based on the policies introduced by the Korean Blockchain Association, the exchange emphasized. The Korean Blockchain Association is spearheading self-regulation among crypto exchanges in the country. Bithumb’s revised internal regulations reflect “the government’s recommendations and the Korean Blockchain Association’s recommendations,” Korea Economic Daily elaborated. Blocking 11 Countries The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an intergovernmental organization on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering. The NCCT are countries the FATF has “recognized as regions with insufficient policies and regulations to restrict money laundering and the utilization of various forms of money to finance illegal operations, including North Korea, Iran, Iraq and Sri Lanka,” Business Korea described. According to Bithumb’s website, the other countries are Serbia, Ethiopia, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Vanuatu, and Yemen. “The 11 countries monitored by the NCCT Initiative” will be banned, the news outlet reiterated, noting that Bithumb made this decision “to prevent its infrastructure and platform from being used to launder money and any international finance terror or criminal activities.” The publication added: Bithumb will soon request foreign users to endure a mobile verification process to ensure users cannot deceive the platform by falsifying personal information and residential address starting from next month. What do you think of Bithumb’s revised rules? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Al Monitor, and Bithumb. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post South Korean Exchange Bithumb Blocks Trading in 11 Countries appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In today’s edition of Bitcoin in Brief we feature stories that show the increased focus regulators have placed on companies operating in the cryptocurrency scene and how it can adversely affect clients. FCA revels it is investigating dozens of ventures, and Poloniex tries to reassure legacy clients that their frozen funds are safe. Also Read: Niall Ferguson Tells Bank of England Bitcoin Is Financial System of the Future Poloniex Responds to Complaints Poloniex, the cryptocurrency trading platform which was taken over by Circle earlier this year, has finally responded to complaints by its clients about frozen accounts. Stories of legacy accounts getting locked have flooded social media and cryptocurrency forums over the last week. The company now tries to reassure these clients their funds are safe and explain the matter is required by law. “As soon as you submit this information, we will take steps to verify it and re-enable trading and transactions for your account. Please rest assured that your funds remain safe and accounted for while you complete this process – you can verify your holdings on the Balances page of your account throughout. Like all registered money services businesses, Poloniex is committed to compliance with all applicable law requiring identification and verification of its customers.” The company also claims to have taken steps to increase the speed of the process. “We are happy to report that in the past 3 months we’ve seen a 33% increase in customers who are instantly verified, a 77% increase in customers who successfully pass our verification process, and an 85% decrease in customer waiting time for verification.” 24 Crypto Ventures Under FCA Investigation Traders that are used to how things were before regulators started focusing on crypto platforms are understandably angry about the new hoops they have to jump to, but there is no doubt that the companies are under scrutiny and pressure to do so from regulators. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has revealed it is currently investigating two dozen unauthorized cryptocurrency-related ventures and has also opened seven whistle-blower reports in 2018 alone related to companies operating in this field, according to FT. Responding to a freedom of information request from accountancy and consulting firm Moore Stephens, the FCA said on Friday that the purpose of the investigation is to determine whether these crypto companies might “be carrying on regulated activities that require FCA authorization”. ICO Marketing Tragedy Ask.fm, an Irish company with its base of operations in Latvia and Ukraine, has sponsored four cryptocurrency enthusiasts to climb Mount Everest and place a wallet at the summit as part of its ICO marketing campaign. Lama Babu Sherpa, one of the Nepalese natives who helped the climbers, has reportedly been missing since May 14th and is now presumed dead, according to AFP. The team responded on Saturday: “We are now aware that one of the Sherpas who assisted our group amongst others, went missing during the descent. We wish to clarify conflicting media reports by stating that at the time of this statement being made we have not had any response from the relevant officials confirming the status of the missing Sherpa, and we are not therefore in a position to confirm if he is safe or otherwise. It would be insensitive to make such assumptions and we await, and urge the media to await, confirmation from the relevant authorities. There is no doubt that climbing Everest is challenging and dangerous…The last official update we received was that the condition and location of the missing Sherpa was unknown and it was not our place to make public statements which could have resulted in false information being circulated.” Crypto Champion And lastly, some happy news. Rory MacDonald, the current Bellator MMA Welterweight World Champion, has shared a clip of himself training in a BCH shirt showing support for bitcoin cash to his hundreds of thousands of followers on social media. and another one @Everlast_ #RK #BCH #BitcoinCash pic.twitter.com/duuK4RyghF — Rory MacDonald (@rory_macdonald) May 27, 2018 What do you think about today’s news updates? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Do you agree with us that Bitcoin is the best invention since sliced bread? Thought so. That’s why we are building this online universe revolving around anything and everything Bitcoin. We have a store. And a forum. And a casino, a pool and real-time price statistics. The post Bitcoin in Brief Monday: Poloniex Responds to Frozen Accounts Complaints appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

One of the largest Bitcoin ATM manufacturers in the world, General Bytes, has recently installed ten new cryptocurrency ATMs throughout the Prague subway in the Czech Republic. Now commuters riding the Prague Metro can purchase digital assets at various locations spread out across the fifth busiest metro system in Europe. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space General Bytes Installs Ten Bitcoin ATMs Across the Prague Metro The Czech Republic-based firm General Bytes has revealed the installation of ten new cryptocurrency ATMs spread out across the Prague Metro. The subway gets more than 1.6 million people in daily foot traffic and is one of the busiest metro systems in Europe. The General Bytes machines are located at Můstek, Nádraží Veleslavín, Dejvická, Florenc, Černý Most, Zličín, Pankrác, Flora, Skalka, and Hlavní Nádraží. Moreover, General Bytes provides a detailed map and description of each location on the website. A map of the ten Prague Metro machines manufactured by General Bytes. The new machines will likely get some use in the region as Prague is considered a booming cryptocurrency hub, as the area is filled with quite a lot of crypto-enthusiasts. For instance, the area is home to the Crypto Anarchy Institute, Paralelní Polis, and a few cryptocurrency businesses including the ATM manufacturer General Bytes. General Bytes Has Manufactured 27% of the World’s Bitcoin ATMs The Czech government is relatively friendly towards cryptocurrencies and politicians haven’t regulated virtual currencies or defined them as a currency or commodity like other nation states. However, the subject is being discussed among tax officials and the Czech National Bank wrote a paper last year called “Don’t be Afraid of Bitcoin.” Last year the well known online retailer, Alza, added cryptocurrency payments and installed two Bitcoin ATMs in the company’s showroom. Just three days ago one of the largest energy suppliers in the Czech Republic, Pražská Plynárenská, announced it was accepting BTC for payments. Czech Republic map of cryptocurrency ATMs. With the ten new machines, the Czech Republic will now have a total of 46 Cryptocurrency ATMs and 27 of those devices are located in Prague. A large majority of the cryptocurrency automated tellers in the region are manufactured by General Bytes. On the General Bytes site where they announce the newly added Prague Metro machines there’s also a video explaining how to use the BATM 2 automated tellers. According to Coinatmradar out of the 3,122 cryptocurrency ATMs, General Bytes now has 858 worldwide. What do you think about General Bytes installing ten cryptocurrency ATMs throughout the Prague Metro? Let us know in the comments below. Images via the General Bytes website, and Coinatmradar. 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 Prague Subway System Now Has Ten New Bitcoin ATMs appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea lies Lithuania, a country of some 2.8 million. Most most people would struggle to place it on a map, and there are 77 European cities larger than its capital Vilnius, which number just 578,000. Despite this, Lithuania has outperformed nations 20 times its size in the token economy, making it Europe’s fifth largest country for crowdfunding. The small nation boasts a burgeoning cryptocurrency scene, aided by fast internet and a favorable regulatory climate. Also read: Niall Ferguson Tells Bank of England Bitcoin Is Financial System of the Future From Small Nations, Mighty Crypto Projects Grow During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe, but the country has suffered some shrinkage since then, centuries of skirmishes and annexations taking their toll. Today it ranks 35th out of 49 European nations by population, but in some respects Lithuania still punches above its weight. ICO Watchlist places Lithuania fifth for European crowdfunding, based on the number of projects to have launched within its borders; Bankera alone raised $150 million, and it has been reported that 10% of all ICO money raised last year went to the Baltic country. It’s not the only nation in that part of the world to have embraced the crypto revolution; neighboring Latvia and its neighbor Estonia have are also cryptocurrency hotbeds, while adjacent Belarus recently legalized crypto and declared zero tax for cryptocurrency firms until 2023. Lithuania’s love affair with crypto is partially a regional thing, then, though its penchant for all things digital and decentralized seems stronger even than that of its peers. Anecdotally that certainly seems to be the case; attend any crypto conference this year and the odds are you’ll have met more Lithuanians than you did Russians, Ukrainians, and Estonians combined. The Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. Education, Independence and Fast Internet Bescouted is a photography community that’s preparing to launch its own crowdsale and native token to reward users for sharing content. Its founder, Deividas Leilionas, believes that Lithuanians were primed to adopt cryptocurrency long before bitcoin was even a thing, explaining: “Historically Lithuania has always maintained high standards for education. After getting back their independence, Lithuanians were contracted to build software solutions for western companies, and hence developed a vast number of skilled engineers. The government is also very tech oriented and assisted with developing an excellent IT infrastructure. For a while, Lithuania was running the fastest internet per capita in the world.” Vladas Jurkevičius, the CEO of Lithuanian digital identity startup Safein, echoes this sentiment, adding: “Lithuania doesn’t have a track record of world-famous tech startups, and we didn’t have access to large VC funds. ICOs and crypto communities remove boundaries so that no matter where you are located, only the team, technology and idea matters. In addition, the blockchain community is very strong within Lithuania; people share their ideas and experience freely. The country is famous for its regulatory framework for fintech companies as well, and when blockchain technology was on the rise, a lot of projects received support from the government.” Cryptocurrency Is a Great Leveler One of the greatest things about cryptocurrency is that it gives nations a chance to compete on an even keel. It doesn’t matter what your GDP is, or how many nukes are locked in your bunker: on the internet, everyone’s equal. This has given countries that have traditionally lagged industrially and economically a chance to make amends. From tiny islands to humble nation states, a series of global outposts have made it known that they’re open for crypto business. In terms of cryptocurrency adoption, for example, the UK has long been synonymous with bitcoin. (It’s even been speculated that Satoshi may have been British on account of his spelling and colloquialisms.) But the UK government has been glacially slow to capitalize on cryptocurrency, allowing European nations such as Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Malta, and Lithuania to steal a march. Malta is another unlikely small where crypto innovation has been encouraged Joao Martins is head of business development for Birdchain, a Lithuanian tokenized advertising and rewards platform. He moved to the country two years ago from his native Portugal and has been smitten with it ever since. Joao speaks of sensing “the beating pulse of a whole generation embracing this adolescent energy [of cryptocurrency] with a voracious hunger and drive to prove their worth to the world”. Like Be Scouted’s Deividas, he praises the country’s internet quality and notes: “Since they became part of the EU, there has been a clear path of investment in technological infrastructure and education…Lithuania is also a small society where entrepreneurs get in touch with their peers and openly exchange experiences. Blockchain and cryptocurrency hit Lithuania at the right moment and was gratefully seized”. Cryptocurrency is an alien aircraft, crashing landed in a pasture, and global governments are the startled cows trying to make sense of it. Some are spooked, and some oblivious, while others walk right up, give it a lick, and decide they like what they see. Right now, Lithuania and its neighboring territories are at the head of that herd. What other small countries do you think are over-achieving when it comes to cryptocurrency innovation? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post How Lithuania Became a Hub of Cryptocurrency Innovation appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Johannesburg-based investment management company, Sygnia Ltd., has announced its intention to launch a cryptocurrency exchange, Sygniacoin – which is expected to launch in the third quarter of 2018. Also Read: BTCC to Launch New Exchange Platform in June South African Wealth Management Firm to Launch Cryptocurrency Exchange Next Quarter South African investment management firm, Sygnia, has announced that it plans to launch a cryptocurrency exchange by Q4, 2018. Sygnia Ltd. currently manages ZAR 184 billion (approximately $14.7 billion USD) worth of assets and has offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. Sygnia claims to currently employ over 175 staff, and manage the assets of over 6,000 individual clients, and 600 international clients. Magda Wierzycka, the chief executive officer of Sygnia stated “We aim to launch SygniaCoin, a cryptocurrency exchange, in the third quarter of 2018. The cryptocurrency market is evolving at a rapid pace internationally and domestically, and is attracting both domestic and international flows.” Mrs. Wierzycka described the move as comprising one of “a number of new strategic initiatives that will position Sygnia for the evolving digital future, as well as help its new business development and distribution efforts.” “With its fintech focus, Sygnia is well-positioned to become the first major financial services institution to embrace cryptocurrencies and to offer investors a secure trading and execution platform backed by an international infrastructure, well-designed custody, and integration with standard savings products,” Mrs. Weirzycka stated. Sygniacoin Seeks to Operate According to New York State Regulations Sygnia has indicated that it intends to operate its cryptocurrency exchange according to the principles underpinning New York’s legislative apparatus pertaining to virtual currencies. The Sygnia CEO stated, “To ensure the highest levels of integrity and security for clients, we are basing our policies, protocols, and processes on existing regulatory framework applicable to cryptocurrency exchanges registered in New York State, USA.” Regarding South Africa’s regulatory apparatus, Mrs. Wierzycka acknowledged the South African Revenue Service’s move to tax investments and trades made in cryptocurrencies, adding “We expect further regulatory frameworks to follow.” The firm also announced its intention to launch a “Sygnia Cryptocurrency Fund’ aimed at institutional investors. South African Authorities Launch Regulatory Action Targeting Cryptocurrency Ponzi Scheme In recent days, South African authorities have launched an investigation into an alleged cryptocurrency ponzi scheme estimated to have defrauded investors of approximately ZAR 1 billion ($80 million USD). The alleged ponzi scheme, BTC Global, purported to offer clients returns of 2 percent daily, 14 percent weekly, and 50 percent monthly. In a statement, local police stated “Members of the public are believed to have been targeted as part of the scam and encouraged by agents of BTC Global […] Some of the investors got paid in terms of the agreement. However, the payments suddenly stopped. Investigator Yolisa Matakata added, “This may prove to be the tip of the iceberg with potentially thousands more yet to discover they’ve lost money.” Local reports have also indicated concerns that cryptocurrency guidelines recently published by the South African Reserve Bank may indicate a coming crackdown on offshore cryptocurrency purchases. Images courtesy of Shuttestock, Sygnia Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post South African Asset Management Firm, Sygnia, to Open Crypto Exchange appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Following the court order for three major banks in Chile to reopen current accounts of crypto exchanges, Cryptomkt and Buda.com, one bank has complied. Bancoestado has reportedly made arrangements to open an account for Cryptomkt exchange, which expects to resume cryptocurrency transactions in the coming days. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Bank Reopens Crypto Accounts Bancoestado, the only public bank in Chile, on Thursday “finalized the first [re]opening of a current account for Cryptomkt, as confirmed by Martín Jofré, founding partner of the cryptocurrency platform,” La Tercera reported. The move follows the order by Chile’s Tribunal for the Defense of Free Competition (TDLC) in April for three of the country’s largest banks to reopen the accounts of two crypto exchanges. Bancoestado, Scotiabank, and Itaú were all ordered to reopen bank accounts of Cryptomkt and Buda.com. Itaú is a subsidiary of Brazilian bank Itaú Unibanc; Scotiabank Chile is the Chilean unit of Canada’s Scotiabank. Following the court’s order, they appealed the decision, but the court rejected the appeal and confirmed that they must reopen the bank accounts of the two crypto exchanges while the case is still pending. According to Jofré, when the banks announced the closing of his exchange’s accounts, “in five days they returned 99.8% of the funds to the clients of Cryptomkt, so now they will start from scratch,” the publication described. Nonetheless, Diario Financiero reported that the exchange “expects to resume the digital currency transaction market in Chile in the coming days.” Banks Appealing to Court While Bancoestado has reportedly been in contact with Cryptomkt to reopen the exchange’s bank account, Scotiabank and Itaú are expected to “appeal to the precautionary measure approved by the TDLC,” the news outlet detailed. Buda.com has not confirmed that its bank account will be reopened. The legal manager of the exchange, Samuel Cañas, indicated after the court’s decision early this month that they will continue to “completely discredit the accusations presented by the banks in their brief, which demonstrate a serious ignorance of our business and the economic institutions that support our activity,” MSN reported. On Friday, La Tercera quoted Bravo law firm explaining that the only recourse the banks have is to take the case to the supreme court. However, “even if that happens, they must make effective the reopening [of crypto exchanges’ bank accounts] ordered by the TDLC,” the news outlet emphasized. Do you think banks will find a way to close accounts of crypto exchanges again? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Itau, Bancoestado, and Scotiabank. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Chilean Bank Reopens Accounts of Cryptocurrency Exchanges appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

This past week, many users who patronize the cryptocurrency exchange, Poloniex, have been complaining about their legacy accounts being frozen for not being verified on the exchange. Complaints are piling up on social media and forums over the past couple of days, with reports of even users who have been able to get their account successfully verified through the automated process still cannot trade or access their funds. Also read: There’s a Bitcoin Themed Card Game On Kickstarter Called ‘Bitcon’ Poloniex Customers Complain About Frozen Accounts Back in December of 2017, the cryptocurrency trading platform, Poloniex, announced all users especially legacy accounts who were once grandfathered must verify their identity by Q1 of 2018. Soon after the exchange announced this requirement a press leak revealed the exchange was acquired by the firm Circle Financial but representatives denied the acquisition. Then a few months later in February, it was revealed Circle Financial had officially purchased Poloniex and that the firm was taking over the business. Many people believe Poloniex’s verification requirements were due to the Circle acquisition, as the Boston-based firm is very adherent to regulatory policies like AML/KYC laws. This week, many Poloniex customers are seeing their accounts frozen unless they verify their identity. Any time a user wants to trade, or withdraw if their account is frozen this warning pops up even for those who have submitted ID. On the Poloniex Reddit forum, there are a bunch of complaints and gripes about the verification process. One user on Reddit named u/PauleeWorli explains he is still unable to access his account even after completing the automated process. “I am a ‘legacy’ user on Poloniex and I was told to verify today when I logged in,” explains u/PauleeWorli. “I did that and promptly got an email reply saying I had been verified — My profile now says I have a ‘level 3 verification’ — the type that allows $25,000 per day. But when I go to trade it tells me ‘account frozen’ when I try to place an order. I did make a ticket and then checked Twitter and it seems many people have the same ‘now verified but still frozen’ problem. Can anyone help me here please? Legacy users who haven’t verified their accounts are greeted by this page. Legacy Customers Say They Didn’t Get An Email Notification Detailing a Specific Time Limit The Reddit post has a bunch of replies with customers explaining they are having the same issues with Poloniex even after verification. On Twitter, the same sentiment can be seen as there are many Poloniex customers grumbling about frozen accounts. One individual on Twitter explains he is angry because he wasn’t notified of the account freeze taking place this week. “Something is wrong, Poloniex, I clearly remember you giving warning before 2018 saying after disabling “TRADING” legacy accounts would be able to WITHDRAW their coins,” the customer emphasizes. Freezing suddenly? I didn’t even get an email with time limit! Just like the many Reddit posts, there are a lot of customers on Twitter complaining about this frozen account issue. At the moment there are currently no official statements on either the Poloniex Twitter page, Reddit forums, or the website itself. What do you think about the Poloniex freezing unverified accounts? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments below. Images via Shutterstock, Poloniex, and Jamie Redman. Prove ownership on the Bitcoin Cash Blockchain for only 0.0005 BCH. Using the Bitcoin.com Notary. The post Legacy Poloniex Customers Are Complaining About Frozen Accounts appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Another government-approved Japanese cryptocurrency exchange has launched a program to borrow cryptocurrencies from its members. The exchange seeks to borrow 1 BTC or more. Initially, only BTC will be borrowed, but the exchange plans to add other cryptocurrencies including BCH, XRP, ETH, and LTC. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Bitbank Will Pay for Crypto Loans Bitbank is one of the 16 fully-licensed cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan. Announcing a new service on Friday for customers to rent out their cryptocurrencies, the company explains: ‘Virtual Currency Lending’ is a service that allows customers to enter virtual currency lending transactions with Bitbank and receive up to 5% virtual currency per year…When we reach the expiration date of one year, we will reimburse by adding the specified usage fee to the virtual currency lent by customers in the month of offering. Members with an account at Bitbank can start using this service, the exchange detailed, adding that only BTC can be rented out currently, “but we will also sequentially support other virtual currencies” such as “ripple, litecoin, ether, monacoin, bitcoin cash etc.” Program Terms “In principle, the virtual currency lent by the customer is locked until the predetermined loan period has elapsed,” therefore it cannot be sold or transferred “unless the loan term expires or we return it,” Bitbank described. The loan period is 12 months. Before the loan period begins, Bitbank will hold a “recruitment month” for customers to apply for the program. For example, “If the recruitment month is January 2018, the period of use fee will be from February 1st to January 31st, 2019,” the exchange clarified. Fee chart provided by Bitbank. “The usage fee is calculated by the quantity of the target virtual currency in which the transfer was made within the period for each recruitment month,” Bitbank elaborated. The minimum amount the company will borrow is 1 BTC and the maximum is 25 BTC. Bitbank will pay 3 percent to borrow any amount less than 5 BTC, 4 percent for an amount of 5 BTC but less than 10 BTC, and 5 percent for an amount 10 BTC or more. If customers cancel the loan contracts mid-way, a five percent fee, which includes applicable taxes, will be levied. Competing with GMO Another fully-licensed Japanese crypto exchange, GMO Coin, operated by GMO Internet, launched a similar service in April. Initially, only BTC was supported but the company extended its offerings to BCH, ETH, LTC, and XRP earlier this month. GMO’s loan terms are 90 days for BTC and 150 days for other coins, which are shorter than Bitbank’s terms. In addition, GMO seeks to borrow a larger amount of coins, from 10 BTC to 100 BTC, paying a fee of 5 percent for all loans. What do you think of Bitbank’s offerings? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, GMO Internet, and Bitbank. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Got 1 BTC? Another Japanese Exchange Wants to Borrow Your Cryptocurrencies appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Central bankers are being warned by researchers that the crypto revolution will overtake the system they are in-charge of preserving. Recently, British economic historian and author Niall Ferguson told the Bank of England that Bitcoin is the financial system of the future. Also Read: This Week in Bitcoin: McAfee’s Bullish Prediction and a Guy Living in His Car The Future of Finance Niall Ferguson is a noted historian, commentator, and the author of fifteen books including The Ascent of Money and The House of Rothschild. On Tuesday he has given a seminar to the Bank of England, talking about the 2008 financial crisis and the reactions to it to this day. In his conclusion of the subject, he mentioned that bitcoin is part of the major challenges ahead for the current fiat-based system. Ferguson said: “The financial system of today is not fundamentally that different than the financial system of the pre-crisis period, except that big banks are better capitalized. I don’t think much else is really different. The novelties, the things that will really matter ten years hence are still relatively small in scale. Whether its bitcoin or cryptocurrency generally or the massive revolution in online payments that is being achieved by the big Chinese tech companies, that’s the financial system of the future, and it is still small enough not to be systemically important in 2018. In short, I am left feeling we are only a matter of time before the next crisis.” Bombarded by ICOs The above isn’t such a surprising statement coming from Ferguson. Back in December 2017 he wrote: “At some point, no doubt, regulatory changes in the US will deflate the current bitcoin bubble. But they will not halt, much less undo, this financial revolution. Think about it this way. The maximum number of bitcoins that can be created is 21m. The number of millionaires in the world, according to Credit Suisse, is 36m. Their total wealth is $128.7 trillion. If millionaires collectively decided to hold just 1% of their wealth as bitcoin, the price would be not $15,000 but north of $60,000. If they raised that to 5%, the right price for bitcoin would be above $300,000. I am not saying this is certain to happen. I’m just saying my teenage son thinks it could.” Since then he has also been exposed to more sides of the cryptocurrency market, such as the endless flood of ICO offers. “I wish I had a bitcoin for every phony white paper I’ve been shown the last six months, by people trying to raise money before the SEC clamps down,” Ferguson reportedly said last week. “When there’s no regulation, then the rogues are very quickly on the scene.” Ferguson isn’t the only noted academic figure that looked at how bitcoin fits economic history recently. Last Monday, Professor Robert Shiller, who received the 2013 Nobel prize in economics and is famous for the Case-Shiller Index, published an article talking about the way the allure of bitcoin fits enthusiasm around previous attempts to reinvent money. What role in the economy do you see Bitcoin fulfills in ten years from now? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Do you agree with us that Bitcoin is the best invention since sliced bread? Thought so. That’s why we are building this online universe revolving around anything and everything Bitcoin. We have a store. And a forum. And a casino, a pool and real-time price statistics. The post Niall Ferguson Tells Bank of England Bitcoin Is Financial System of the Future appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Multiple reports and public filings have shown a UK-based firm called ‘A.B.C. IPHoldings South West’ has successfully acquired a trademark for the name ‘Bitcoin’. According to a merchant on Etsy, IP-Holdings sent a cease and desist order because they were selling Bitcoin-themed t-shirts. Also read: There’s a Bitcoin Themed Card Game On Kickstarter Called ‘Bitcon’ UK Company Successfully Copyrights the Name ‘Bitcoin’ This week cryptocurrency enthusiasts found out the name ‘Bitcoin’ had been trademarked using the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in the UK on December 22, 2017. The news came as a shock to one merchant who was selling t-shirts on Etsy with the Bitcoin name and was told to stop his operations or be held liable in a court of law. The letter states: It has come to our client’s attention that you are offering for sale a variety of clothing bearing the Bitcoin trademark on Etsy.co.uk. [Our Client] has not authorised your use of the Bitcoin trademark on and in relation to clothing. Such use, therefore, amounts to trademark infringement pursuant to s10(1) of the Trade Marks Act 1994. Contacting the company is difficult as there is very little information on the London-headquartered firm called IP-Holdings — minus one other patented IP product called ‘Westworld.’ The trademark itself, filed this past December, reveals a list of goods that can’t bear the name without permission such as adult clothing, infants’ clothing, shoes, headbands, socks, and nearly everything that can be manufactured into a product. Trademark number ‘UK00003279106 Bitcoin’ was officially registered into the IPO’s records on April 13, 2018. The “BITCOIN” IPO trademark filed on December 22, 2017. Other Attempts to Trademark the Bitcoin Name Have Failed The UK filing seems to be the first successful trademark using the name Bitcoin as there have been other undertakings in the past. Back in March of 2015, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) rejected the company Urban Trend’s attempt to trademark the name Bitcoin (Reg 86135516). A year later during the same month, the Russian patent agency Rospatent denied the Moscow-based firm M-Group when it tried to copyright the Bitcoin name. Many cryptocurrency enthusiasts have been angry about the recent news as prior attempts have infuriated bitcoiners in the past. Back in 2015 the nonprofit organization the Bitcoin Foundation published a plea to individuals and businesses asking them not to copyright the term Bitcoin. “The Bitcoin Foundation believes that the term “Bitcoin” alone should not be the intellectual property of any individual or entity,” explained the organization back in January 2015. Rather, it is a generic term like the terms used for other currencies such as “dollar”, “euro,” “yen,” etc. The Foundation is committed to doing what it can to protect the term “Bitcoin” for public use. What do you think about the UK company trademarking the name Bitcoin and sending cease and desist letters to those who attempt to use the name? Let us know your thoughts on this subject in the comment section below. Images via Pixabay, Wiki Commons, and the Intellectual Property Office UK. Prove ownership on the Bitcoin Cash Blockchain for only 0.0005 BCH. Using the Bitcoin.com Notary. The post A London-Based Company Successfully Trademarks the Name ‘Bitcoin’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Chinese crypto company BTCC has announced it will launch an upgraded exchange platform next month. Initially, users will be able to trade BCH, BTC, ETH, LTC, and USD, with other currencies to be added later. BTCC returns with enhanced liquidity, faster deposits and withdrawals, and zero trading fees for the first three months. Also read: Six Japanese Public Companies Announce Plans to Launch Crypto Exchanges The Upgraded Platform Offers Cold Storage and SSL Encryption Hong Kong based BTCC announced through social media and its website that it’s launching its new cryptocurrency trading platform in June. The upgraded exchange will feature enhanced liquidity, faster confirmation of deposits and withdrawals, and small bid-offer spreads, promising reliable, convenient, and secure digital asset service to its customers worldwide. At first, the platform will support the following cryptocurrencies – bitcoin cash (BCH), bitcoin core (BTC), etherium (ETH), and litecoin (LTC), as well as trading pairs like LTC/USD and LTC/BTC. Other currency options will be added regularly to meet the needs of users, according to the published press release. The new exchange will offer zero trading fees for the first three months of operation. The company also noted: In terms of technical developments, our exchange will utilize a multi-tier, multi-clustered system with an optimized, high-speed memory trading engine. So, you can make the trades you want on a cutting-edge system. BTCC claim their revamped trading platform has been optimized to include offline cold storage and SSL encrypted traffic to ensure better protection of clients’ digital assets. “We take security very seriously and are proud of the fact that we have never been compromised,” the statement reads. Another novelty – customers will be rewarded with points earned through referring new users, verifying, depositing, and other activities. They come with benefits that can be used across the ecosystem, including the BTCC Pool and the Mobi cryptocurrency wallet. Oldest Chinese Crypto Exchange Returns BTCC, formally known as BTC China, was the first bitcoin exchange in the People‘s Republic. It was founded by entrepreneur Bobby Lee in 2011. Three years later, in 2014, the platform had become the world’s second largest exchange by bitcoin trading volume. BTC China shut down amidst a crackdown by Chinese authorities in September 2017, when the central bank banned local exchanges from trading cryptocurrencies with the national fiat, the yuan. BTCC, however, continued to operate its mining pool, which currently controls 2% of the bitcoin core hashrate, and its crypto wallet, Mobi. In January this year, the crypto company announced its acquisition by a Hong Kong based investment fund. At the time, BTCC said it was shifting focus to international markets. Do you expect Chinese crypto exchanges to be able to operate again from mainland China at some point in the future? Tells us what you think in the comments 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 BTCC to Launch New Exchange Platform in June appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

This week we learned that Deutsche Börse “Deep at Work” on Bitcoin and John McAfee predicted bulls’ billions will soon be pumped by institutional investors, despite the current cool market. These stories and many more were covered in this week’s daily editions of Bitcoin in Brief. And the most commented on story of the week talked about a guy living is his car while working two jobs just to invest in crypto. Also Read: US Justice Department Investigates Price Manipulation in Bitcoin Market New EU Rules Kill Another Crypto Venture You could not have missed the impact of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which came into force this week, not with all the emails you must have received from any service that has ever had access to your address. However, one might have not known that the new regulations also had severe consequences for some services that had to shut down. On Monday we reported that team behind Parity Technologies, the developers of the Parity multi-signature wallet, have announced that due to GDPR they are shutting down PICOPS, a service used by ICO campaigns to comply with KYC/AML regulations by validating that the owner of an Ethereum wallet has already passed an ID background check. Crypto Revolution Reshaping Global Politics The intersection of politics and cryptocurrency was our main focus on Tuesday. We reported that Iranian and Russian lawmakers are jointly examining the idea of using cryptocurrency to bypass international and American sanctions. And in the US, Congressional candidate Brian Forde raised $100,000 in cryptocurrency donations, and an opponent attacked him for this, referring to his donors as “bitcoin speculators that oppose cracking down on drug deals and human trafficking.” We also reported that Vitalik Buterin has co-written a short manifesto of sorts with the young political economist Glen Weyl, unapologetically titled “Liberation Through Radical Decentralization.” In it they explain how the cryptocurrency ecosystem is suited for developing and testing new models for governance, voting and more, in a way that can fundamentally change how both democracy and capitalism work. McAfee Predicts Bull Run as Crypto Markets Dip John McAfee’s prediction of a bull run on the cryptocurrency markets in the near future was one of the most discussed issues on Wednesday. Billions will be pumped by institutional investors, the internet security expert expects. McAfee claims this will lead to significant changes in the market capitalizations of the leading cryptocurrencies, but also those of most altcoins. “Institutional investors are preparing to enter the cryptocurrency market with a vengeance,” McAfee said. He explained that they are generally long term investors that will spend billions on the market. “Expect the top ten coins to go through the roof fairly quickly. The bulk of altcoins will soon follow,” the software guru wrote. Admitting he had no more information than his followers, John McAfee advised them to check the recent news and use their heads. Main Street Adopts Bitcoin Ahead of Wall Street On Thursday we reported that Deutsche Börse AG, the group which operates the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, is actively examining its options for launching cryptocurrency derivatives. This was revealed by Jeffrey Tessler, CEO of the post-trade services provider owned by Deutsche Börse Clearstream and member of the group’s executive board. And changes to the Volcker Rule give Americans a new reason for moving their money away from big banks to cryptocurrencies, according to the latest analysis by Weiss Cryptocurrency Ratings. Luxury Jets, Cheap Air Tickets Offered for BCH The growing number of bitcoin cash adoptions has been in the headlines on Friday. White Company, founded by former executive at Formula 1 and LVMH, Elizabeth White, which offers high-end products and luxury brands, including fine watches and sports cars, has become the latest business to accept BCH payments. And the online travel agency Cheapair.com has also announced it started accepting bitcoin cash for booking flights and hotels. Man Goes All In on Crypto The most commented on story of the week talked about a guy living is his car while working two jobs just to invest it all in crypto. The Canadian man explains that he parks his car in his friend’s garage to sleep, for which he pays $40 CAD per month. Despite the cramped conditions, he hasn’t forgone all home comforts, finding space to squeeze in a memory foam mattress and comfy quilts. He’s also able to shower at a friend’s house and store some items there. As for his crypto portfolio, the unnamed Canadian is currently pinning his hopes on Collosusxt, Fundrequest, Policypal, and Dero. This Week in Bitcoin Podcast To make sure you didn’t miss any big bitcoin news this week, listen to the following podcast: What other stories everyone in the bitcoin world must have read this week? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Do you agree with us that Bitcoin is the best invention since sliced bread? Thought so. That’s why we are building this online universe revolving around anything and everything Bitcoin. We have a store. And a forum. And a casino, a pool and real-time price statistics. The post This Week in Bitcoin: McAfee’s Bullish Prediction and a Guy Living in His Car appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In our latest historic snapshot analysis, we look at the performance of the top ten cryptocurrency markets since May 28th, 2017. Despite suffering heavy losses during 2018, the average price gain of the top ten markets has been 170% when compared with prices from 12 months ago, with only one of the then leading markets trading at a lower price today. Also Read: Markets Update: Bear Market Adds Cryptocurrency Trading Uncertainty BTC and ETH up Approximately 240% in 12 Months With the price of bitcoin trading for approximately $7,345 USD as of this writing, the value of BTC has almost tripled since last year. Then trading for $2,173 according to Coinmarketcap, bitcoin had a total market capitalization of $35.5 billion on the 28th of May, 2017 – approximately one-quarter of today’s capitalization of $125 billion. During late May last year, Ethereum was in the early stages of a parabolic bull-run that by mid-June would prices up to approximately $400. After having broken above $100 for the first time just a few weeks earlier, ETH was trading for $171.55 and had a market capitalization of $15.78 billion at the time of the snapshot. ETH’s price has since increased by 242% – with the markets trading at approximately $586.80. Ethereum has remained the second largest cryptocurrency by total capitalization – currently boasting a market cap of roughly $58.5 billion. Mixed Performances Among Top Altcoin Markets Of May 2017 Like today, XRP was the third largest cryptocurrency by market cap on the 28th of May last year, with a total capitalization of $8.8 billion. As of this writing, Ripple has a market cap of roughly $23.75 billion, with the price of XRP having gained 162.75% from $0.231 to $0.606. With a total market cap of nearly $2 billion, XEM was the fourth largest market by capitalization at the time of the snapshot. Since then, XEM’s market cap has grown modestly, with XEM’s current capitalization of $2.327 billion making it the fifteenth largest crypto market. The price of XEM has increased by just 20.75% since last year, gaining from $0.214 to $0.258. Ethereum Classic is the only top ten cryptocurrency market from May 28th, 2017 to be trading at a lower price today – with ETC having fallen approximately 10% from $16.95 to $15.28. The total capitalization of Ethereum Classic has also shrunk when compared against last year, with the then fifth largest cryptocurrency market by capitalization now ranked seventeenth with approximately $1.557 billion – down from 1.559 billion last year. LTC Produces Highest Percentage Gains of Top Ten Crypto Markets Of the then ten largest cryptocurrency markets by capitalization, Litecoin has seen the largest percentage price gains since 12 months ago, with LTC’s current price of approximately $118 comprising a 365% increase from $25.38 – which was posted at the time of the snapshot. Today, as with a year ago, Litecoin is the sixth largest crypto market by market cap. The total capitalization of the LTC markets has grown from $1.3 billion 12 months ago to nearly $6.7 billion today. DASH, XMR, BCN, and GNT Slide from Top Ten Rankings by Market Cap Of the highest ranked markets by capitalization from the 28th of May, 2017, only BTC, ETH, XRP, and LTC have retained their position in the top ten – all of which are ranked the same today as they were one year ago. The then seventh-ranked cryptocurrency by market cap, DASH, now sits at thirteenth – with the total capitalization of DASH having grown from nearly $810 million to roughly $2.585 billion today. The price of DASH has grown by nearly 190% in 12 months, with DASH gaining from $110.5 to $319 today. On the 28th of May, 2017, Monero was the eight largest crypto market by capitalization with a market cap of $535 million. Today, Monero is ranked 12th with a total capitalization of $2.6 billion. XMR is the second best performing top ten crypto market since May 2017, with the current price of approximately $162 comprising a 340% increase from $36.86. 12 months ago, Bytecoin was the ninth largest cryptocurrency by market cap with approximately $480 million. The BCN markets have since moved to 19th position, with a total capitalization of $1.175 billion today. Despite the price of BCN having nearly halved in the last two weeks, BCN is currently trading 142.5% higher than it was a year ago – gaining from $0.002634 on the 28th of May, 2017 to $0.006385 today. Golem was the tenth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization 12 months ago with a total capitalization of roughly $360.5 million. Since then, the total capitalization of the GNT markets has shrunk to approximately $384.3, making Golem the forty-seventh largest cryptocurrency by market cap. The price of GNT has increased by just 5.3%, gaining from 0.437008 to 0.460301. Are you still holding cryptocurrencies you purchased last year? Share your experiences in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Trading View At news.Bitcoin.com all comments containing links are automatically held up for moderation in the Disqus system. That means an editor has to take a look at the comment to approve it. This is due to the many, repetitive, spam and scam links people post under our articles. We do not censor any comment content based on politics or personal opinions. So, please be patient. Your comment will be published. The post Despite 2018 Bear Trend, Top Ten Crypto Markets of 2017 Gain Average of 170% in 12 Months appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article