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The Chilean president, Mario Marcel, has made comment seemingly in favor of developing a regulatory apparatus for virtual currencies. The apparent openness to regulating cryptocurrencies contrasts significantly from the recent banking embargo targeting virtual currency recently witnessed in Chile. Also Read: Spanish Regulator Open to Approving Funds Investing Directly in Cryptocurrencies Chilean President Discusses Benefits of Regulating Cryptocurrencies During a forum recently held by Chile’s Finance Commission of Deputies, President Marcel made comments indicating that his administration is considering developing a legislative apparatus designed to regulate and monitor activities pertaining to Chile’s cryptocurrency sector. Presently, cryptocurrencies are entirely unregulated in Chile, and are not legally recognized as a means of exchange or securities. Mr. Marcel spoke in favor of developing an effective means through which to monitor the cryptocurrency markets, stating that “Incorporating a regulation would allow having a registry of the participants in these activities and thus have information to monitor the associated risks,” adding that “These activities could be developed under more robust standards and mechanisms, especially in terms of market transparency, consumer protection, and prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing.” By contrast, President Marcel warned that developing an ad hoc regulatory apparatus could risk providing a false “sense of security” whilst failing to effectively manage associated risks. Despite the comments, Mr. Marcel still questioned whether or not a regulatory framework for virtual currencies is warranted in Chile, stating “Considering that these assets exist in the country, there is an associated industry and people who own them, it is questionable if it would be appropriate to change this situation.” Chile Changes Course After Recent Cryptocurrency Banking Embargo The apparent openness on the part of the Chilean administration to developing a regulatory apparatus for cryptocurrencies comprises a significant a departure from the recent banking embargo experienced in Chile. In March, two Chilean cryptocurrency exchanges, Buda and Crypto Mkt, requested clarity on the position of the country’s banking association regarding virtual currencies after numerous banks suddenly terminated their accounts with the exchanges. At the beginning of April, both exchanges, in addition to a third exchange, Orionx, received notice from Banco del Estado de Chile (Banco Estado) that their accounts with the country’s sole state bank would soon be closed. During mid-April, the Buda sought to appeal against the account suspensions. The action would prove successful, with Chile’s anti-monopoly court ordering two of ten banks to re-open Buda’s accounts. The verdict led to the Chilean Minister of Economy, Development, and Tourism, José Ramón Valente, issuing a statement seeking to emphasize the government is “not in favor [of] or against [cryptocurrencies], but simply see them as another innovation.” Do you think that Chile will move towards developing a permissive regulatory apparatus for cryptocurrencies? Share your thoughts in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Wikipedia, http://corporativo.bancoestado.cl Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Chilean President Considering Regulation of Cryptocurrencies appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Accident-prone altcoin verge has been crippled by yet another mining attack. A little over a month after being subjected to a 51% attack, the network is once again at the mercy of a malevolent attacker who is rejecting blocks and profiting handsomely off the carnage caused. The repeat attack illustrates the risks faced by low hashrate Proof of Work coins. Also read: Verge Is Forced to Fork After Suffering a 51% Attack Verge Does a Verge Special The 51% attack in action On the morning of May 22, Suprvona, one of the largest altcoin mining pools, informed its 19,000 Twitter followers that verge was suffering yet another 51% attack, causing all blocks to be rejected. The attack was spotted by the same individual who uncovered the previous attack in April. In a post on the Bitcointalk forum, “ocminer” wrote: “Since nothing really was done about the previous attacks (only a band-aid), the attackers now simply use two algos to fork the chain for their own use and are gaining millions”. The entity responsible was coining in $1,000 a minute and is believed to have made $1.7 million already from the attack. Predictably, verge’s fans assigned the attacker’s motivations to “an act of hate” designed to FUD their altcoin. This theory gained short shrift on the Bitcointalk forum, with one commenter retorting: “Verge is being targeted because it has shitty coding and an incompetent developer. This hack is the result of the terrible job he did ‘patching’ the previous hack.” The original attack involved exploiting one of the five hashing algorithms verge uses (most cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin only use one). This time around the attacker is believed to have used two algos after renting power from a service such as Nicehash and then using it to find all the new blocks. Followers of the official Verge Twitter account, meanwhile, will have had no idea why their coin is dumping, because the team doesn’t like to share bad news: As understatements go, that tweet is right up there with the account’s previous one in relation to last month’s attack. Verge: Good for Porn, Bad for Everything Else Verge (XVG) has had a roller-coaster year to say the least. Despite pumping off the news of a major paid partnership, which transpired to be with Pornhub, it’s been rocked by mining attacks. As one redditor quipped on r/Cryptocurrency, the attacker “is securing his lifetime porn hub membership”. Only days ago, a Chinese agency ranked verge’s blockchain level with bitcoin itself, placing it joint 13th out of 28 cryptocurrencies. The price of XVG has dropped significantly since the attack came to light, mirroring that of bitcoin gold, which was hit by an almost identical attack four days ago, leading to double spend attacks and forcing the BTG team to issue a warning to exchanges to be alert to large fraudulent deposits being made. Incidents such as these illustrate the difficulty of securing smaller PoW chains. It is not inconceivable that a time might arrive when only BTC, BCH, and a handful of other chains of note are secured by PoW, with lesser altcoins forced to migrate to Proof of Stake to mitigate 51% attacks. Do you think 51% attacks on lower hashrate coins are inevitable? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Verge Struck by Second PoW Attack in as Many Months appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Professor Robert Shiller, who received the 2013 Nobel prize in economics and is famous for the Case-Shiller Index, published an article on Monday talking about the way the allure of bitcoin fits previous attempts to reinvent money. Also Read: Crypto Revolution Starts Reshaping Global Politics Historical Precedents The main question Shiller was trying to answer is how cryptocurrency users can maintain a high level of enthusiasm in the face of constant warnings that it’s all just a big scam. Instead of comparing bitcoin to past technological solutions, as has been done many times before, he puts it in the context of time-based and electricity-backed experimental forms of alternative money. Putting the technology of Bitcoin on the same level as primarily political movements, he also compared it to attempts to reshape how governments and economies operate. And while novel ideas by communist and technocratic thinkers have failed, the Euro – which was devised to help unite former warring nations – is still around. Revolutionary Zeal Is Not Enough Nobel Prize Laureate Robert J. Shiller After reviewing these past examples, Shiller explains that: “Each of these monetary innovations has been coupled with a unique technological story. But, more fundamentally, all are connected with a deep yearning for some kind of revolution in society. The cryptocurrencies are a statement of faith in a new community of entrepreneurial cosmopolitans who hold themselves above national governments, which are viewed as the drivers of a long train of inequality and war.” “And, as in the past, the public’s fascination with cryptocurrencies is tied to a sort of mystery, like the mystery of the value of money itself, consisting in the new money’s connection to advanced science. Practically no one, outside of computer science departments, can explain how cryptocurrencies work. That mystery creates an aura of exclusivity, gives the new money glamour, and fills devotees with revolutionary zeal. None of this is new, and, as with past monetary innovations, a compelling story may not be enough,” he concluded. Whether it’s true or not that only computer scientists understand cryptocurrencies today, it is certainly accepted that having a story is not enough by itself, which is why bitcoin entrepreneurs continue to work on exciting use cases that are only made possible with this revolutionary technology. What should the bitcoin community make of the professor’s observations? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Bengt Nyman. 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 Economics Nobel Laureate Robert Shiller Examines Bitcoin in Historical Context appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On May 13 2018, the Reserve Bank Of Zimbabwe (RBZ) issued guidelines in a circular that detailed cryptocurrency activities taking place within the country are now banned. The RBZ further stated that domestic digital currency operations had sixty days to become compliant. Local reports now reveal the Zimbabwe-based cryptocurrency exchange Golix plans to take the central bank to court for banning digital assets, as the firm emphasizes that the RBZ has no authority to ban cryptocurrencies across the country. Also read: How Bitcoin Cash Can Avoid the Same Mistakes as Bitcoin Core, Part 4 of 4 Reserve Bank Of Zimbabwe Faces Legal Backlash Last week cryptocurrency enthusiasts and businesses in Zimbabwe got some bad news as the central bank decided to ban all digital currency activities. The RBZ warned about the ‘risks’ involved with cryptocurrencies and told financial institutions not to deal with digital asset businesses. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe released a circular which effectively banned cryptocurrencies this month. The ban would affect Localbitcoins trades within the region alongside the country’s three exchanges Golix, Bitfinance, and Styx24. News.Bitcoin.com spoke with Golix representative Tawanda Kembo last month when the exchange installed a Bitcoin ATM. Our newsdesk also received an email from the Golix exchange shortly after the ban. “On Friday, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe issued a statement to all banks instructing them to stop providing bank accounts to cryptocurrency companies within the next sixty days,” the Golix exchange explains. This means that unless the central bank changes its position prior to the expiry of the sixty-day window, you will not be able to send or receive fiat currencies for cryptocurrency trades. According to the regional publication Zimeye.net, Golix is taking the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to the High Courts. Golix Files a Lawsuit Against the RBZ with the High Court Shortly after the email, the regional publication Zimeye.net reported that Golix was now planning to “slap a lawsuit” against the RBZ for issuing a countrywide cryptocurrency ban. Golix says they are taking the central bank to the High Court and state that the RBZ governor has no experience with managing a local currency giving him no right to ban it. The exchange argues that the central bank has no authority to ban digital currencies and only parliament has the means to make such laws. ”I submit that the ban in effect outlaws and classifies as illegal Applicant’s operations,” a Golix official said to the Zimeye publication. The respondents are in fact purporting to classify the trade in cryptocurrency as illegal. That will amount to law making, a function that belongs to the legislature and not the respondents. Respondents are thus clandestinely usurping Parliament’s law making powers. Golix Has Yet to Receive Instructions From Their Bank — Continues Business as Usual News.Bitcoin.com reached out to Golix for further information on this lawsuit but has yet to hear back from the exchange. According to other reports, even though the RBZ has issued a ban in its circular to banking institutions concerning virtual currencies, Golix is still organizing an initial coin offering (ICO). “Thus far we are yet to receive instructions from our bank as to what will happen, if at all anything. Once we do, we will update,” an official from the Golix exchange detailed. What do you think about the Golix exchange slapping a lawsuit against the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe? Let us know your thoughts on this subject in the comments below. Images via Shutterstock, Pixabay, and Golix. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Golix Exchange Files Lawsuit Against Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Cryptocurrency Ban appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

According to multiple reports, the Pentagon and the Defense Department are debating on whether or not cryptocurrency ownership is a problem for those who have U.S. security clearances and those applying for these privileges. The U.S. agencies may define digital currency owners as a ‘security risk’ in order to protect foreign and domestic classified information. Also read: BCH Miners Discuss Funding Development With a Fraction of Block Rewards If You Own Bitcoin and Have U.S. Security Clearance Then You Might Have a Problem American bureaucrats are deliberating on whether or not they should flag cryptocurrency investors who have special security clearances to classified government information. An individual who owns a cryptocurrency like bitcoin or ethereum, may be considered “risky” in the eyes of the Pentagon. This past February the Defense Security Service (DSS) and the Pentagon revealed they were working on guidelines for reporting cryptocurrency ownership. According to another report published on May 22, the debate is currently being argued and government contractors are already upset about the backlog of other security clearance issues. A director for Financial Services Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University, Param Vir Singh, believes cryptocurrencies do have security risks. “There are a lot of good things about cryptocurrencies, but at the same time there are these security risks,” explained Param Vir Singh this week. Think about a knife: It could be used for good things and it can be used for bad things as well. DSS Recommends Cryptocurrency Owners With Security Clearance Should Report Their Virtual Currency Holdings Further, the columnist Adam Reese recently reviewed an email by a DSS employee named Chad M. Campbell — which indicates that the security specialist recommends individuals who apply for U.S. security clearance need to report their cryptocurrency holdings on the agency’s Standard Form 86 (SF86). Additionally, the reporter received a reply from Defense Security Service Public Affairs which stated: “DSS has fielded a number of questions from industry as to whether ownership of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, should be reported by cleared persons or security clearance applicants,” explains the Defense Department. There is no current Department of Defense guidance related to the reporting of ownership of cryptocurrencies. DSS is working with DoD policy offices for further clarification and once such guidance is issued, DSS will ensure the widest dissemination to industry. Additionally, the email [Campbell’s email] was an internal discussion document which was not intended to serve as policy guidance. University of California Researcher: ‘Bitcoin Owners Deserve Suspicion’ Individuals and organizations see the security clearance/cryptocurrency discussion as a controversial subject as opinions differ depending on who is discussing the matter. Steve Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists believes holding cryptocurrencies or other behaviors don’t necessarily make a person risky. “I don’t know if the government has a clear understanding of what makes a person actually a security risk — Instead they look at proxy factors like excessive debt, drug use and contact with the criminal justice system, which don’t necessarily translate to risk,” Aftergood explains. However, a researcher at the University of California, Nicholas Weaver, disagrees and thinks digital currency holders should be suspects. “Since Bitcoin’s only real use is to buy drugs, etc., it deserves suspicion,” Weaver said this week. It’s also worth noting that some of these DSS and Pentagon officials who firmly believe cryptocurrencies are a ‘security risk’ have no problem with defense contractors who shill centralized blockchains. The DSS is not calling blockchain projects sponsored by Booze Hamilton Allen or the company’s employees suspicious — Nope just bitcoin and public blockchains seem to be a threat at the moment. What do you think about the DSS and Pentagon’s discussion about bitcoin classification and raising suspicion against cryptocurrency owners? Let us know in the comments below. Images via Pixabay, DSS, and Shutterstock. 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 Owning Contractors With U.S. Security Clearance May be Flagged ‘Risky’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued an advisory for exchanges and clearinghouses providing guidance pertaining to the assessment and listing of cryptocurrency derivatives. Also Read: Bitcoin in Brief Tuesday: Crypto Revolution Starts Reshaping Global Politics CFTC Issues Advisory Regarding Cryptocurrency Derivatives The CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight (DMO) and Division of Clearing and Risk (DCR) have issued a “joint staff advisory that gives exchanges and clearinghouses registered with the CFTC guidance for listing virtual currency derivative products.” In addition to providing guidance regarding “listing a derivative contract based on virtual currency,” the advisory “clarifies the CFTC staffs’ priorities and expectations in its review of new virtual currency derivatives to be listed.” Amir Zaidi, the DMO director, stated that “The CFTC staff is committed to providing regulatory clarity as much as possible. As the virtual currency market continues to evolve, CFTC staff will seek to provide additional guidance to help market participants keep pace with innovation while complying with CFTC regulations.” The advisory specifically outlines requirements pertaining to “Enhanced market surveillance,” “coordination with CFTC staff”, “Large trader reporting,” “Outreach to […] market participants,” and “risk management.” Brian Bussey, the DCR director, said: “CFTC staff is providing this information, in part, to aid market participants in their efforts to design risk management programs that address the new risks imposed by virtual currency products. In addition, the guidance is designed to help ensure that market participants follow appropriate governance processes with respect to the launch of these products.” CFTC Chairman Discusses Advisory at NASAA Conference Christopher Giancarlo, the CFTC chairman, mentioned the guidance for cryptocurrency derivatives during a recent speech at the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) conference. Mr Giancarlo Mr. Giancarlo described the CFTC as having “been at the regulatory horizon on virtual assets,” and stated that the “CFTC staff advisory […] reflect CFTC staff’s current thinking based on our growing experience with virtual currency derivatives,” adding that “As new products are brought forth, staff will reevaluate and revisit the advisory, as necessary, to address any new and emerging issues.” Do you think cryptocurrency derivatives will be considered a mainstream financial product in ten years? Share your thoughts in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post CFTC Publishes Advisory On Listing Cryptocurrency Derivatives appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

CNBC’s Fast Money hosts and panel were on the defensive during a recent broadcast, as some viewers accused the network of shilling for bitcoin cash (BCH). And, truth be told, CNBC has been showing the decentralized cryptocurrency an inordinate amount of love lately. A segment by a popular analyst, where he forecasts even bigger things for BCH, only added fuel to some trolls’ fire. Chairman Mow is not amused. Also read: Roger Ver and Ryan X. Charles Reveal the Future of Cash CNBC Predicts Bitcoin Cash to Moon, and Soon Wednesday in the US is known colloquially as Hump Day, the point at which the weekend seems closer. It’s also the day more and more cryptocurrency enthusiasts are tuning in to CNBC’s Fast Money program, a self described “post-market show,” hosted by Melissa Lee with contributions from well regarded traders. Trader Brian Kelly, founder and CEO of BKCM LLC, was asked to detail just why it is he’s so bullish on bitcoin cash. In introducing his plasma-fronted segment, Ms. Lee read what appears to be a month-long trend, describing bitcoin cash as having “vanquished” the likes of bitcoin core (BTC), down 5%, litecoin down 9%, and ripple down 21% while BCH remained positive at 6% price growth. Mr. Kelly asked viewers to simply look at what he refers to as catalyst factors, aspects of a digital asset, no matter what the asset, that might have caused it to gain traction in price going forward. In the case of bitcoin cash, Mr. Kelly cheered the latest development among its mining community to pool portions of rewards toward building a fund for future development. He compared it to an app store where devs pile on uses for a smartphone previously unthought of or dreamed of but not implemented. BCH, he insisted, wasn’t the only project to do something like this, and he even managed to sandwich in the word “potentially” when describing price prospects. He also equated more on-chain development with potential use cases, and use cases, then, with, well, usability and appeal to more people in the eventual hope of more adoption. Curiously he described the mining community’s latest move as a kind of cartelization, though benevolent, words and phrases that immediately rile most cryptocurrency enthusiasts. He acknowledged it, however, as a potential negative. Let the Market Decide Ultimately it all comes down to the market, Mr. Kelly noted. He turned to charting, where over the past year or so BCH has followed the broader crypto market with incredible highs back in late 2017, a precipitous drop in 2018, and a recent stabilization if not slight uptick. Drawing a horizontal line across the screen, Mr. Kelly described bitcoin cash as mostly holding support levels for the moment, a good sign. He called his squibbles and markings “a good looking chart” and a “place I want to buy.” Ms. Lee then peppered Mr. Kelly with questions from viewers. Asked if he was in to bitcoin cash for the long term, he turned diplomatic. He reminded viewers he was a trader, moving in and out of positions quickly. He wants to invest in the coin that eventually becomes the global currency, living up to crypto hype. For now, Mr. Kelly said, bitcoin core (BTC) has a massive network effect advantage, but that could change. Yet another viewer asked if Mr. Kelly had ever actually used BCH to buy something, and if not then what is its use? Mr. Kelly said he had not used bitcoin cash, but that his interest is only in its speculative value. He did say he’d used bitcoin core to buy things and to send money, and so he understands its ultimate power. The final question in the segment got Mr. Kelly laughing, as a person asked if he was indeed Roger Ver. When Ms. Lee effectively ended the spot, she was keen to emphasize CNBC and her program take exactly no money to promote anything on the show, and how no one has any connection to BCH beyond an investment. The strangest reaction by far came from BTC ambassador Samson Mow. Mr. Mow’s personality in the debate between BTC and BCH is often dismissive, above-it-all. He knows, you don’t, and you simply need to get in line. Humorless. Uncharitable. Superior. That’s all excusable, and there’s always been such an element in tech (the more obnoxious sort tend to come from Silicon Valley), but his reaction to the CNBC segment described above places him in rarified air. With a picture of a shadowy figure behind bars, Chairman Mow typed, “Collecting some gems for @SEC_Enforcement @SEC_News to take a closer look at @CNBCFastMoney @CNBC pumping and dumping altcoins on their viewers. Enough is enough. If you have more tweets, post below and I’ll add them to the Moment.” That’s right, a lower-level crypto spokesperson is advocating use of jail to punish opinions different from his. Yikes. Trader sees bitcoin cash breaking out, here’s why from CNBC. Are you excited about BCH adoption and innovation? Let us know what you think of this subject in the comments below. Images via Pixabay, CNBC 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 CNBC Shows Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Love, Predicts Mooning appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Forty regulators in the US and Canada are reportedly collaborating in the largest coordinated crackdown on cryptocurrency scams to date by state and provincial officials. The operation has triggered over 70 investigations so far, with 35 cases completed or pending. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Mass Crackdown The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) said Monday that US and Canadian securities regulators have launched nationwide investigations on suspicious cryptocurrency investment schemes, the Washington Post reported. This is “the largest coordinated crackdown to date by state and provincial officials on bitcoin scams,” the news outlet wrote. CNBC elaborated: More than 40 state and provincial watchdogs are participating in ‘Operation Crypto-Sweep,’ which has triggered at least 70 investigations so far. NASAA is a voluntary association whose members are securities administrators from states, provinces, and territories in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada, and Mexico. According to its website, the association is the oldest international organization devoted to investor protection. The association, which helps coordinate Operation Crypto-Sweep, confirmed that “as many as 70 investigations have been opened in the sweep, with more expected in the coming weeks.” Furthermore, the Washington Post detailed, “As many as 35 cases are pending or already completed, with some resulting in cease-and-desist letters warning the alleged schemes that their unregistered activity violates state securities law.” The efforts focus on “unregistered securities offerings that promise lucrative returns without adequately informing investors of the risks” as well as initial coin offerings (ICOs), the regulators explained. Fighting Fraud By posing as members of the public, the NASAA task force found roughly 30,000 crypto-related domain name registrations, the news outlet described, adding that “Many of the alleged scams use fake addresses, slick marketing materials and promises of over 4 percent daily interest,” the news outlet described. “A few have even used unauthorized photos of high-profile individuals, such as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, to portray themselves as aboveboard.” The director of enforcement at the Texas State Securities Board, Joseph Rotunda, was quoted saying, “Although the international task force’s work is far from complete, my suspicions have already been confirmed: The market for cryptocurrency investments is saturated with fraud, and our work is only revealing the tip of the iceberg.” Last week, the Wall Street Journal published a study showing that out of 1,470 ICOs, 271 were found to contain “red flags that include plagiarized investor documents, promises of guaranteed returns and missing or fake executive teams.” Investors have poured more than $1 billion into these 271 ICOs, the publication added. In addition, a Chinese government-backed industry organization also published its fake crypto analysis last week, claiming that its monitoring system has detected 421 fake cryptocurrencies. Massachusetts’ Secretary of the Commonwealth, William Francis Galvin, emphasized on Monday: Not every ICO or cryptocurrency-related investment is fraudulent, but we urge investors to approach any initial coin offering or cryptocurrency-related investment product with extreme caution. NASAA president and the director of the Alabama Securities Commission, Joseph Borg, explained that “consumers face higher risks of being misled at a time when the intense demand for bitcoin has prompted many retail investors to take extreme steps to gain exposure to the currency, such as taking out a bigger mortgage.” What do you think of Operation Crypto-Sweep? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and NASAA. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post 70+ Investigations: 40 Regulators Crack Down on Suspicious Crypto Schemes appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released a report on trends within the scam economy during 2017. The report identifies cryptocurrency related fraud to comprise less than 1% of the scam activity recorded in Australia last year. Also Read: Ross Ulbricht Continues to Fight for Freedom With Supreme Court Petition Cryptocurrency Scams Responsible for 0.6% of Australian Losses to Fraud in 2017 The ACCC has published its annual report on the Australian scam economy. The report provides insight into “emerging trends and techniques employed by scammers.” During 2017, the ACCC, and other pertinent Australian government institutions received “over 200,000 scam reports” corresponding to “losses exceeding $340 million [AUD]” (approximately $258 million USD) – an increase of 13.3% compared with 2016’s total losses. During 2017, the ACCC attributes $2.1 million AUD ($1.59 million USD approximately) in losses to cryptocurrency scams – a megre 0.617 percent of Australia’s combined losses to scams. Cryptocurrency Scams Peak During December 2017 The report states that the prevalence of reported cryptocurrency scams was closely correlated to the speculative frenzy surrounding virtual currencies last year. The states that “In the fourth quarter of 2017, the value and popularity of cryptocurrencies increased worldwide [….] Between January and September 2017, about $100,000 was reported lost per month to scams which had a cryptocurrency angle. However, in the month of December 2017, reported losses to Scamwatch exceeded $700,000 and the average reported loss had jumped from $1885 in January to $13,205.” The report also states that “With the increased popularity of cryptocurrency speculation in the last quarter of 2017, fake initial coin offerings and other cryptocurrency-related scams were reported […] to the ACCC.” Many Victims Recommended Scams by Friends The ACCC describes a variety of different scams involving cryptocurrency that were reported during 2017. In addition to “fake initial coin offerings,” the report states that other scammers “capitalized on the general confusion about how cryptocurrency works and instead of people discovering how to directly buy cryptocurrencies, many found themselves caught up in what were essentially pyramid schemes.” The report adds that “A number of reports showed that victims entered into cryptocurrency-based scams through friends and family who convinced them they were onto a good thing, a classic element of pyramid schemes.” The report also states that “Not all cryptocurrency-related scams involve victims attempting to invest in stocks or initial coin offerings. Many scammers also ask for payment through cryptocurrencies for a variety of scams because it is easier to remain anonymous while receiving payment. Ransomware scammers for example, commonly ask for payment through Bitcoin.” Crypto Fraud Dwarfed by Losses Incurred by Other Scams The ACCC report states that losses to investment scams exceeded $64 million AUD (approximately $48.6 million USD) in 2017 – a 33% increase from 2016. The report also estimates that dating and romance scams accounted for over $42 million AUD (roughly $31.9 USD). The ACCC also states that “Australian businesses were targeted by business email compromise scams” – resulting in over $22.1 million ($16.8 million USD approximately) being transferred to scammers. Do you think that the mainstream narrative surrounding cryptocurrency and scams is balanced or embellished? Share your thoughts in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock, accc.gov.au Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Crypto Scams Comprise 0.6% of Fraud – Australian Consumer Watchdog appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On May 22, the bitcoin community celebrated the second most important date in its calendar. No other date, save for January 3, 2009 when Satoshi mined the genesis block, is more symbolic. It was on May 22, 2010 that Laszlo Hanyecz purchased two pizzas for 10,000 BTC. Eight years on, the occasion has become part of bitcoin’s mythology. Also read: Ross Ulbricht Continues to Fight for Freedom With Supreme Court Petition Remembering the $83 Million Pizza On May 18 2009, Laszlo posted a thread on the Bitcointalk forum entitled “Pizza for bitcoins?” In it, he explained: “I’ll pay 10,000 bitcoins for a couple of pizzas.. like maybe 2 large ones so I have some left over for the next day. I like having left over pizza to nibble on later. You can make the pizza yourself and bring it to my house or order it for me from a delivery place, but what I’m aiming for is getting food delivered in exchange for bitcoins where I don’t have to order or prepare it myself, kind of like ordering a ‘breakfast platter’ at a hotel or something, they just bring you something to eat and you’re happy!” Laszlo then went on to list his favorite toppings, before specifying “just standard stuff no weird fish topping or anything like that”. Within days he had a buyer and the deal went through on May 22. The event is symbolic, not so much for the value of those 10,000 BTC today, but because it marked one of the first public instances of bitcoin being used as a means of payment. The pizza thread, like the value of BTC, has since grown and grown, and today runs to 73 pages, having been viewed around 750,000 times. Pizza Wallets and Pizza Moon Missions Every year on May 22 the bitcoin community now competes to despatch the best pizza tweets and branded products, all tied to that then-minor but now massive day in 2010 when bitcoin proved its worth. It hasn’t stopped proving it ever since. To mark the occasion today, Bitstamp has calculated how far $83m of pizzas would stretch, using the following formula: 10,000 BTC * 8,400 USD (1 BTC) = 84 million USD 84 million USD / 15 USD (1 pizza price) = 5.6 million pizzas 5.6 million pizzas * 14 inches (diameter of a large pizza) = 1237 miles 1237 miles / 248 miles (average altitude of the ISS) = 4.9 PIZZA TO THE MOON: In 2010, a Florida man bought two large pizzas for 10.000 #Bitcoin. Today, this could buy you enough pizzas to get to the International Space Station five times. #whenmoon Happy #BitcoinPizzaDay! #BTC #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/OuPeXC93CM — Bitstamp (@Bitstamp) May 22, 2018 Hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger has gone one better, creating a limited edition Pizza Day Nano S. Just 1,337 of the units will be issued, each coming in a special Laszlo’s Pizza box complete with a sachet of red chilli pepper oil, for those who like to spice up their cold storage. As for the man who made this infamous anniversary come about, history records that Laszlo sold most of his bitcoins at around $1 apiece but, having contributed to its early source code, and done his bit to ensure real world adoption, he regrets nothing. In the crypto community, Laszlo Hanyecz’s actions will always be the ultimate “Florida man” story, destined to be commemorated faithfully every May 22 forevermore. Would you buy a limited edition Pizza Day wallet? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, and Ledger. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Moon Missions and Custom Wallets: Bitcoin Community Celebrates Pizza Day appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The following opinion piece on Bitcoin Cash was written by Jonald Fyookball We’ve already discussed 3 reasons why the bitcoin project was subverted: lack of education, lack of clarity, and centralized development. Today I will proffer two more: censorship and propaganda were allowed to run rampant; miners didn’t understand their power and responsibility. Last Friday, Coingeek.com held a fantastic conference in Hong Kong on the topic of blockchain commerce. The conference concluded with a panel discussion featuring 3 of the most well-known thought leaders in the Bitcoin Cash community: Roger Ver, Dr. Craig Wright, and Jihan Wu. Each of them said something important that pertains to these topics. Also read: How Bitcoin Cash Can Avoid the Same Mistakes as Bitcoin Core, Part 3 Bitcoin Cash Avoiding Censorship Censorship is an obvious barrier to an educated community and is motivated by a desire to control the narrative. Thus, it goes hand-in-hand with propaganda and the active promotion of misinformation. In Hong Kong, Roger shared that his biggest mistake was underestimating how effective censorship can be. He explained why: while established community members can easily dismiss misinformation, newcomers cannot. And since the community is a fast-growing one, the misinformed newcomers become a majority. You can read more about the history of censorship in Bitcoin here. Mindful Miners In a recent “AMA”, former Bitcoin Core developer Mike Hearn pointed out that historically, BTC miners haven’t been rational economic actors. He said they’ve been incapable of disobeying the authority of the devs. But we may be turning the corner on this. At the Coingeek conference, Bitmain CEO Jihan Wu expressed that the miners have learned from previous mistakes, and are starting to take more responsibility for understanding the protocol and making intelligent decisions. In the past, miners have followed Bitcoin Core almost unconditionally — perhaps overly fearful of “breaking” the network should their guidance not be followed to the letter. While its sensible to consult experts for their opinions, Bitcoin is not on the same order of complexity as nuclear engineering. (Incidentally, nuclear engineering has been the very metaphor used to incorrectly suggest that the community should abandon independent thinking and blindly follow developers). Bitcoin is an Economic System One of the thematic ideas presented by Dr. Wright in Hong Kong (and in previous talks) is that Bitcoin is NOT a cryptographic system. It’s an economic system that happens to use cryptography. This is the kind of revelation that’s obvious after you hear it expressed so succinctly. In my own words, it means that Bitcoin’s economic incentives are the foundation of what makes Bitcoin work. The cryptography is secondary to that. The economics are the “what” and the cryptography is the “how”. If you investigate one of Bitcoin’s predecessors, Wei Dai’s b-money, you may be surprised at how similar it is to Bitcoin. The one major element that’s missing is the set of economic incentives. Miners, Users, and the Public Discourse Miners and users have a symbiotic relationship. Users don’t have a network without miners, and miners don’t have economic incentive without users. In theory, miners are rewarded by providing the network that users want. But what if the miners don’t know what users want because the public discussion is being censored and brigaded with propaganda? What if they’re listening to the devs instead of the users, or they simply don’t understand enough about Bitcoin to make good choices? Unfortunately, miners can participate in the system and earn rewards for securing the network without understanding anything about Bitcoin. But its quite dangerous for miners to be ignorant because they’re the ones directly responsible for making the bottom line decisions about consensus rules. It’s therefore really encouraging to hear that miners are much more educated and involved than they were several years ago. The Role of Developers In the (flawed) Bitcoin Core paradigm, Bitcoin developers were the wizards and rulers. They handed down the proclamations from their ivory towers for the users and miners to follow. If you didn’t like it, you were told you could “fork off”, even as those developers denied they wielded influence over the protocol. In the actual economic model of Bitcoin, miners set the consensus rules with the ultimate consent of the users who give economic value to the system. Developers, although important, serve a tertiary role and are not directly part of the incentive model. Development Funding If developer groups need to compete (as we discussed in a previous article), then the obvious question is “what incentivizes that competition?” In the past, this has been a conundrum. How can we make sure there’s enough development resources and talent in a free, open-source software project? Yet, if we look honestly at the incentive model of Bitcoin, the answer is clear: it’s ultimately the miners’ responsibility to pay for the software they are going to run. Maybe that means mining pools directly sponsor development teams (which seems to be something that’s been irrationally shamed or presented as a conflict of interest) …Or maybe it means miners should formulate some kind of system to donate a portion of the block rewards to protocol advancement, as was proposed in a recent strategy meeting. Conclusion Bitcoin Cash is on the right track and will stay on the right track by following these 5 principles: Knowledge and education must be valued and promoted. Understanding Bitcoin is not the exclusive realm of wizards. Bitcoin (BCH) is peer to peer electronic cash. Anyone can send money to anyone else in the world, quickly, cheaply, reliably, and without permission. We can disagree on many things as long as we agree on this. We must never allow censorship, because we know propaganda and misinformation are sure to quickly follow. There needs to be multiple independent teams of developers and multiple protocol implementations. No one group should have control of the protocol. The mining community must be engaged, informed, and willing to make logical decisions that align with their own economic interests. What are your thoughts on educating the BCH community? 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. This is an Op-ed article. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support views, opinions or conclusions drawn in this post. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the Op-ed article. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the content. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any information in this Op-ed article. The post How Bitcoin Cash Can Avoid the Same Mistakes as Bitcoin Core, Part 4 of 4 appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A new crypto teller machine is now operational in South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg. The ATM, which supports several digital coins, has been installed at a supermarket in the north-western part of the city’s metro area. It is the latest addition to a growing number of terminals offering automated crypto-fiat exchange services in the country and across the continent. Not all is rosy in the region, however. A crypto ban in neighboring Zimbabwe may deprive Harare of its bitcoin ATM. Nevertheless, crypto teller services are spreading in Africa. Also read: Coinsource Installs 20 Bitcoin ATM Machines Around Washington DC Multicurrency ATM Installed in a South African Supermarket Johannesburg The Republic of South Africa, the continent’s economic powerhouse, and neighboring Zimbabwe, one of Africa’s most troubled nations, have at least one thing in common – the growing interest in cryptocurrencies, although under different circumstances. In recent years, both countries have been experiencing their own versions of crypto development. The process has led to improved access to the crypto ecosphere but now their paths may diverge again. A South African outlet reported this week that the nation has got its “first” cryptocurrency ATM in its largest city. The teller machine has been installed at a store in Northwold, part of one of the biggest retail chains in the country – Spar. The automated terminal is a multicurrency device, according to Business Insider South Africa. Customers can buy bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH) and litecoin (LTC) with fiat cash. Unfortunately, it supports one-way transactions, which means only purchases of cryptocurrency are available. Of course, “the first” is almost always a doubtful label. Unsurprisingly, right after the report came out, the breaking news information was corrected by other media. “While this is undoubtedly a forward-looking move, it is most certainly not the first cryptocurrency ATM to go live in South Africa,” Mybroadband wrote in a piece putting forward another example. According to member of the local crypto sector, multiple cryptocurrency ATMs are operating in South Africa. Jacques Serfontein, CEO of mining hardware supplier Bitmart, said his company has installed one last year at its store in Nelspruit, east of Johannesburg. It supports multiple cryptocurrencies, as well, including bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, dash, and zcash. Serfontein added he knew of several other crypto ATMs in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Midrand. The new Johannesburg’s ATM may not be the first in the country after all, nevertheless, it’s arguably the first one in Northwold. The good news is that the residents of another South African neighborhood will be able to buy digital cash with a simple QR scan and a fiat payment. The teller machine has been installed by the Spar store manager, George Neophytou, who is a crypto enthusiast and entrepreneur. “I asked permission to use this location because I work here. What better place to set it up, so that if a user required help, I’d be on-site to help,” Neophytou said. His initiative was supported by Vendibit, a company developing software and hardware blockchain solutions, and his partner, Daniel Cappiello, director of the Danish firm Copencoin. The future of cryptocurrencies in South Africa is still unclear. A “self-regulatory approach” has been mentioned as part of the solution for the country’s crypto sector, while the central bank is expected to formulate a comprehensive regulatory framework. In April, the South African Revenue Service announced it expected residents to declare crypto gains on their tax returns, although cryptocurrencies are not regarded as currencies for income tax purposes. Despite the uncertainty, cryptos have been gaining popularity both as investments and as means of payment. Last year, the country’s second largest supermarket chain, Pick n Pay, started testing bitcoin payments. It has been reported that drivers can pay tickets with cryptocurrency. South Africa – Not the First and Only in Africa The teller machine in Johannesburg is definitely not the first to offer automated crypto teller services on the continent, as well. Bitcoin has been gaining ground in SA’s neighbor Zimbabwe, where cryptocurrency exchange Golix has recently installed a BATM in its Harare office, as news.Bitcoin.com reported. Another local trading platform, Styx24, has announced plans to introduce a second machine in Gweru. Neither of the two companies, however, are licensed to provide these services. Besides, Zimbabwe’s central bank issued this month a circular effectively banning all crypto-related activities. According to recent reports by local media, some of Golix’s bank accounts have been closed already and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has ordered the company to cease all crypto-exchange operations. If the trading platform shuts down, residents of Harare will probably lose the only bitcoin ATM in their city, which Golix has installed in its office. Further north, an ATM in the Kenyan capital Nairobi supports four cryptocurrencies – bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), litecoin (LTC), and dogecoin (DOGE), according to data provided by Coinatmradar. Again, only crypto purchases are available. To the east, the tiny nation of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa offers a crypto teller machine operating 24/7. Customers can both buy and sell bitcoin (BTC) through the ATM located at the Appart Hotel Moulk in the capital city. The Spanish Canary Islands, situated off the west coast of Africa, have at least three crypto teller machines. The one in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, capital of the largest island, offers support for two cryptocurrencies – BTC and LTC, but it’s a “buy only” terminal. The other two BATMs, in Costa de Adeje and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, can be used for both purchases and sales. Undoubtedly, many more cryptocurrency ATMs operate in Africa and its neighboring regions. Naturally, it’s up to local crypto communities and crypto media to spread the news about them. Do you think ATMs increase the availability and popularity of cryptocurrencies? Tells us 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 Johannesburg Gets a New Crypto ATM, Ban Threatened Harare May Lose One appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Before all the Lambo memes, shady no-product ICOs, and get-rich-quick schemes invaded the scene, Bitcoin was meant to disrupt the current economic system. Today’s edition of Bitcoin in Brief showcases how that promise is starting to materialize in different fields, including the future of elections and geopolitics. Also Read: Bitcoin in Brief Monday: New EU Rules Kill Another Crypto Venture Iran and Russia Consider Bitcoin to Skirt Sanctions Iranian and Russian lawmakers are jointly examining the idea of using cryptocurrency to bypass international and American sanctions. Mohammad-Reza Pourebrahimi, who chairs the Iranian Parliamentary Commission for Economic Affairs, raised the idea during a recent meeting in Moscow with Dmitry Mezentsev, the Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy. He explained that the Russians “share our opinion. We said that if we manage to move this work forward, then we will be the first countries that use digital currencies in the exchange of goods.” Iran’s government-owned media Press TV reports that the country’s leadership “specifically started to look at bitcoin as an alternative monetary means to be used in trade after it became clear that European companies were failing to trade with Iran over fears that they would fall afoul of US primary sanctions.” It should be noted that the Iranian government is trying to stop its citizens from having access to global markets it seeks for itself, banning banks from dealing with crypto and even traditional foreign currency exchange shops. Still, Iranian citizens have reportedly sent more than $2.5 billion out of the country to purchase cryptocurrencies with. US Politician Raises $100k From Crypto Community Congressional candidate Brian Forde has celebrated on Monday in San Francisco his campaign raising $100,000 in cryptocurrency donations. A former head of MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative and Obama’s Senior Technology Advisor, he is considered to be a vocal supporter of cryptocurrency. Meanwhile his main Democratic opponent, a former SEC enforcement attorney, has attacked Forde for his work in cryptocurrency, referring to his donors in an ad as “bitcoin speculators that oppose cracking down on drug deals and human trafficking.” This contested race is shaping up to be a major example of cryptocurrency impact on electoral politics in America. It is also nice to see that the matter is now getting bipartisan support in the US. As we recently reported, on the other side of the country and the opposite side of the aisle, a Trump-supporting Republican and a bitcoin enthusiast is running to be the next New York Attorney General. Liberation Through Radical Decentralization 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. They remind us that: “Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in particular emerged directly as a reaction to the perceived excesses of the traditional financial system, with ‘The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks’ carved indelibly into Bitcoin’s genesis block. That said, the decentralized technologies behind cryptocurrencies have potential applications far beyond finance.” Real Products, Real Adoption With all the recent news about so many ICOs being outright scams or just failures, it’s good to remember that there are actual projects in the cryptocurrency space that are delivering real services to real users. Two recent examples are Brave and Steemit, coincidentally two different attempts to change how online content monetisation works. The Brave browser recently passed 5 million downloads for the Android operating system and now boasts over 2.3 million monthly active users and over 14,000 verified publishers. And recently the one millionth account was created on the Steem blockchain, which now sees around 60,000 unique accounts transacting each day, and over 250,000 unique daily visitors for the site. What do you think about today’s news updates and what they mean for the future? 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 Tuesday: Crypto Revolution Starts Reshaping Global Politics appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A recent “analysis of 1,450 cryptocurrency offerings” published by the Wall Street Journal has claimed to have revealed “rampant plagiarism, identity theft, and promises of improbable returns.” In other ICO news, Bermuda’s parliament has passed regulations that will legitimize initial coin offerings as a means of fundraising, and Thailand’s SEC held a hearing regarding its upcoming ICO regulations. Also Read: Onchain Capital Founder Bullish on BCH and ETH Wall Street Journal Accuses 18.7% of ICOs of Fraudulent Activities Of the 1,450 initial coin offerings (ICOs) recently examined by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), 271 were purportedly found to be exhibiting “red flags” including “plagiarized investor documents, promises of guaranteed returns and missing or fake executive teams.” Collectively, the 271 flagged offerings were estimated to have raised more than $1 billion USD from investors. So far, investors have “claimed losses of up to $273 million in these projects, according to lawsuits and regulatory actions.” Of the flagged offerings, 111 are alleged to have “repeated entire sections word-for-word from other white papers” – including “descriptions of marketing plans, security issues and even distinct technical features such as how other programmers can interact with their database.” The publication’s analysis was said to comprise “a review of company statements and online transaction records. WSJ added that “Some of the firms are still raising funds, while others have shut down.” Bermuda Parliament Passes ICO Regulations In recent weeks, Bermuda’s House of Assembly passed the Companies and Limited Liability Company (Initial Coin Offering) Amendment Act 2018 (ICO Act). The Act, which will regulate and legitimize initial coin offerings as a means of fundraising, now awaits approval from Bermuda’s governor. The Premier of Bermuda, Edward David Burt, welcomes the legislation, stating “With this Bill, this government has chosen to be bold and take a significant step on the world stage.” At Consensus 2018, a partnership was announced between the government of Bermuda and Shyft – which will provide digital identification services to the British Overseas Territory. “The Government of Bermuda has decided to lead the way and build interoperability into the legislation [to], in essence, approach regulatory frameworks with exportability in mind,” Premier Burt said. Thai SEC Holds Focus Group on Cryptocurrency Regulations The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand held a focus group on cryptocurrency regulations that was streamed live via Facebook. The hearing predominantly facilitated discussions relating to Thailand’s highly anticipated ICO regulations – with the discussions revealing that offerings will only be permitted to raise capital in the form of Thai baht of virtual currencies that are approved by the SEC. The SEC also indicated that companies seeking licensing to conduct ICOs must apply within 60 days. The hearing comes approximately a week after Thailand’s regulatory apparatus for cryptocurrencies came into effect. A follow-up hearing is scheduled to occur on the 30th of May. Do you think that initial coin offerings will become seen as a legitimate means of fundraising as more jurisdictions will seek to adopt ICO-friendly regulatory frameworks? Share your thoughts in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock, www.sec.or.th Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post ICO Round-Up: Nearly 1 in 5 Offerings Accused of Fraud, Bermuda Passes Regulations, Thai SEC Holds Hearing 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. – Launch of a crypto exchange and wallet – – Bringing crypto offering to the U.S. market – Global investment platform eToro has today announced plans to expand its cryptocurrency capabilities and subject to regulatory approvals will launch an exchange and a digital wallet. eToro will also bring its cryptocurrency offering to the United States, launching the platform to U.S. customers later this year under the leadership of the newly appointed U.S. Managing Director Guy Hirsch. Yoni Assia, Co-founder and CEO of eToro, said: “We believe that in the future all assets will become digitised. This will help to open the markets to everyone and enable them to invest in the assets they want in a simple and transparent way. Crypto is the first step on this journey and we are excited to share our plans to launch an exchange and wallet.” The announcements made today at Consensus 2018 in New York, follow the news in March that eToro had completed its Series E funding round, raising $100m USD to accelerate its global expansion and the development of blockchain technology to support the digitisation of assets. The platform enables people to invest in the assets they want to own from cryptocurrencies though to traditional assets such as commodities. Yoni Assia, commented: “An exchange and wallet are important additions to our crypto offering and we know that both have been eagerly anticipated by our customers.” eToro currently offers ten cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, XRP, Litecoin, Ethereum Classic, Dash, Stellar, NEO and EOS) with plans to add more coins over the coming months. eToro’s cryptocurrency to cryptocurrency exchange will launch later this year enabling customers to trade coins. The wallet will be launched as a phased rollout with select customers participating in beta testing to ensure that eToro provides an app which best meets its customers’ needs. The wallet app will be available to download on the App Store and Play Store and will work across multiple platforms and in multiple languages. It will enable users to hold multiple cryptocurrencies and tokens. Since launching in 2007, eToro has built a global community of more than ten million investors across 140 countries. Guy Hirsch has been appointed US Managing Director responsible for bringing eToro’s cryptocurrency offering to the United States. Guy previously served as Director of Innovation Strategy at Samsung and has extensive experience across digital transformation and unified commerce. Guy Hirsch, USA Managing Director, eToro, said: “eToro empowers investors with a platform that gives them access to the assets they want, shared knowledge and ease of transaction. We know that there is a strong demand in the U.S. for crypto and we are excited to be able to offer U.S. investors the opportunity to learn about and invest across multiple cryptocurrencies.” eToro will offer U.S. investors three ways to access the crypto markets: manually invest in a coin, automatically copy the trades of other traders on the platform to benefit from their knowledge and investment expertise, or invest in a Crypto CopyFund which provides a diversified portfolio of major crypto assets. From today, U.S. investors can visit eToro.com to join the waiting list ahead of the launch of the U.S. platform later this year. ENDS About eToro eToro empowers people to invest on their own terms. The platform enables people to invest in the assets they want, from cryptocurrencies to commodities. eToro is a global community of more than ten million people who share their investment strategies; and anyone can follow the approaches of those who have been the most successful. Users can easily buy, hold and sell assets, monitor their portfolio in real time, and transact whenever they want. eToro is regulated in Europe by Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority. www.etoro.com Contact Email Address https://www.etoro.com/about/contact-us/ Supporting Link www.etoro.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: eToro Announces Expansion Plans appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On Monday the blockchain research and development firm, Nchain, announced the acquisition of a majority stake in the Bitcoin Cash-centric startup Handcash. The Handcash platform allows users to send BCH in a contactless manner using near field communication (NFC) technology. Also read: BCH Miners Discuss Funding Development With a Fraction of Block Rewards Nchain Acquires a Majority Stake in the BCH Platform Handcash This week the firm Nchain Group announced they had “closed a deal” that gives the company a large stake in the Handcash platform. According to Nchain, the deal was facilitated through the company’s investment arm Nchain Reaction. News.Bitcoin.com reported on Handcash this past February when the team launched its bitcoin cash beta client for Android phones. The Handcash app allows users to transact with BCH using NFC technology and the platform was created by two developers from Spain, Alejandro Pascual Agut and Rafael Jiménez Seibane. “Bitcoin was conceived to be peer-to-peer electronic cash — So we wondered why Bitcoin was not being used like cash,” Alejandro Agut explained during the announcement. That gave us the idea to create a wallet application that allows you to send Bitcoin in a way that resembles handing someone cash, by merely placing a sender’s mobile device close to the recipient’s device. The Nakasendo SDK Earlier this month, the Handcash development team also revealed they were allowed to use the Nchain software development kit (SDK) Nakasendo before it was publicly released. News.Bitcoin.com spoke directly with Agut about how the new partnership with Nchain what the BCH community expect from Handcash going forward. “It certainly opens up new collaborations with other apps and services from the Nchain family right away, so we can put our protocols there and vice versa,” Agut details. “We are already working with a “Magic Protocol” that will be able to connect your Handcash wallet to third-party services — It uses the Nakasendo SDK — Also, we are going to be first in line to test upcoming SDKs for a few new features we want to adopt in the future.” It has been very easy to work with them. And in the end it’s all about human connections — and they do a great job with managing with all dev teams and projects. User Interfaces Need to Become Better and Easier Nchain says that the application Handcash make it easier to send BCH in a contactless fashion without any of the processes of copying an address or scanning a QR code. “For Bitcoin Cash to grow, user interfaces need to become better and easier to use — We are impressed with Handcash and its vision for simplifying the Bitcoin Cash transaction process to a contactless approach,” Nchain Group’s CEO Jimmy Nguyen stated during the acquisition. Nchain is thrilled to support Handcash on its journey to make Bitcoin Cash wallets and payment systems easy to use around the world, and to ignite global adoption of Bitcoin Cash. Over the years there have been a couple attempts of NFC cryptocurrency wallets but nothing has really gained traction. There’s been a long wait for a cryptocurrency platform that delivers smooth and effortless cryptocurrency transactions combined with NFC technology, and BCH proponents hope this partnership delivers on its promises. What do you think about Nchain acquiring a large stake in Handcash? Let us know in the comments below. Images via Shutterstock, Nchain, and Handcash. 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 Nchain Acquires Majority Stake in BCH-Application Handcash appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Just recently news.Bitcoin.com reported on Ross Ulbricht being denied a post-conviction relief extension this past February. Since then Ulbricht’s new legal team and his family continue to fight for Ross’s freedom with a filed a Petition of Certiorari with the United States Supreme Court. Also read: BCH Miners Discuss Funding Development With a Fraction of Block Rewards The Fight to Free Ross Ulbricht Continues With a Petition of Certiorari Ross William Ulbricht is a 33-year old American who was convicted of drug trafficking, money laundering, and computer hacking crimes tied to the Silk Road website created in 2011. Ulbricht was accused of being the creator of the Silk Road under the pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts,” and was arrested in 2013. In 2015 Ulbricht was convicted of the aforementioned charges and sentenced to life in prison. The family has been fighting for their son’s freedom for years due to the fact that there were many investigation discrepancies, and government agents who were caught red-handed manipulating the case. However, last year the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the decision to keep Ulbricht in jail for life. Then this year Ulbricht’s new legal team, Williams & Connolly, tried to extend a fixed three year period with a motion called “Rule 33.” Although, the extension was not granted, and Judge Forrest denied the motion to extend the time for a Rule 33. The latest Petition of Certiorari with the Supreme Court argues two very important questions tethered to Ulbricht’s case. Whether the warrantless seizure of an individual’s Internet traffic information without probable cause violates the Fourth Amendment. Whether the Sixth Amendment is violated when a judge uses uncharged allegations, never brought to trial before a jury, to support an excessive sentence. Ulbricht’s Petition of Certiorari can be read here. Another Fourth Amendment Case May Determine the Fate of Ulbricht’s Latest Petition USP Florence Maximum Security Prison – September 2017 Additionally, the team at Freeross.org explain that twenty-one organizations have supported the petition and it was distributed for conference on April 13. Out of all the cases, that day 200 were denied except for Ulbricht’s case and another called Carpenter v. U.S. Ulbricht’s legal team believes the outcome of the Fourth Amendment Carpenter case will affect Ross’s petition conference. Freeross.org explains that the legal team may find out how the court’s rule by June 2018. Alongside this news, Ulbricht has been relocated from New York to a maximum-security penitentiary called USP Florence. The family says this prison is meant for some of the country’s most violent offenders and they don’t understand why Ross is being kept there for his life sentence. “Despite the horrors of his environment, Ross remains optimistic and strong, characteristically making the best of it,” explains Ross’s mother Lyn Ulbricht. He has immersed himself in his case, spending a lot of time in the law library, and otherwise focusing on staying healthy mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically. What do you think about Ulbricht’s latest attempt for freedom by filing a Petition of Certiorari with the Supreme Court? Let us know what you think about this case in the comments below. Images via Shutterstock, and Freeross.org Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Ross Ulbricht Continues to Fight for Freedom With Supreme Court Petition appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Spain’s financial regulator has clarified its position on regulated investment funds investing directly in cryptocurrencies. These type of funds are legal under Law 22/2014, and investments can be made through three types of legal entities. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Funds Directly Investing in Cryptocurrencies Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV – Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores) recently clarified its position on registered funds investing in cryptocurrencies directly. The CNMV is the Spanish government agency responsible for regulating the securities markets. In a Questions and Answers document addressed to fintech companies on activities and services that can have a relationship with the Commission, one of the questions was “Can a fund registered by the CNMV directly invest in cryptocurrencies?” The Commission replied: This type of funds would have a legal place in Law 22/2014, which regulates, in addition to venture capital entities, other collective investment entities of closed type and their management entities. Law 22/2014 establishes, among others, closed-end collective investment entities (EICC), closed-end investment funds (FICC), and closed-end investment companies (SICC), Iclg describes. EICC, FICC, or SICC The CNMV explained that the investments could be made through EICC, FICC, or SICC. CNMV building. For EICC, Article 2.1 of the above law mandates that “the divestment policy of its participants or partners” must meet two requirements. Firstly, the fund’s “disinvestments [must] occur simultaneously for all investors or participants,” the Commission detailed. Secondly, “what is received by each investor or participant is based on the rights that correspond to each one of them, according to the established terms in its bylaws or regulations for each class of shares or participations.” Both FICC and SICC have their own “numerous requirements and conditions,” the CNMV noted. For example, an FICC registered with the Commission must be “managed by a management company of closed-end type collective investment entities (SGEIC) or by a collective investment institution management company (SGIIC) that is authorized to manage this type of funds.” The Commission also noted that “the FICC and the SICC are not subject to the supervision of the CNMV (except [for] self-managed SICC)” based on the provisions of article 85 of Law 22/2014. While registered funds can theoretically invest in cryptocurrencies directly, the Commission emphasized that there are many factors to consider, reiterating: The investment of FICC and SICC in cryptocurrencies raises a series of practical problems on how to comply with the regulations regarding the valuation of assets, the management of liquidity and the custody guarantee. European Regulation Europa Press reported earlier this month that the CNMV “will apply [its] securities regulations to cryptocurrencies until there is European regulation.” The news outlet quoted CNMV’s general director of Strategic Policy and International Affairs, Víctor Rodríguez, saying: The approach adopted by the CNMV is to try to apply the existing securities regulations as long as we do not have an international or European reference standard. What do you think of the CNMV’s approach to cryptocurrencies? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, CNMV, and Wikipedia. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Spanish Regulator Open to Approving Funds Investing Directly in Cryptocurrencies appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong (香港四季酒店) in the city’s financial center is this week’s spot for Roger Ver’s weekly video update, a project started just about a month ago. He’s joined at the five-star retreat for the episode by Ryan X. Charles, CEO of Yours.org. The two men discussed their participation in an international conference and revealed an exciting future for decentralized, censorship resistant, cash. Also read: Alec Baldwin’s Lambo Movie Backed by Crypto Tech Ver and Charles Make an Entertaining, Informative Pair “Everybody’s been excited about ‘bcash’ for quite a while,” Roger Ver (CEO of Bitcoin.com) smiled and giggled with joy at the delicious irony. “So, it’s finally here everybody!” A very relaxed Mr. Ver has taken to making weekly videos, highlighting his work within the bitcoin cash community. He was prompted to laughter by Yours.org co-founder and CEO Ryan X. Charles, joining Mr. Ver for a one-off video recently. Both men were in the glow of Antiguan entrepreneur and Coin Geek owner Calvin Ayre’s latest Hong Kong conference. Overlooking Victoria Harbour, viewers soon notice there’s a third presence in the background. Turns out, the famous International Commerce Centre building in West Kowloon, all 1,587.9 feet of it, can be seen during its LED light show. They were laughing at the name Purse.io chose for its latest product, bcash. When trolls wish to hector bitcoin cash supporters they often employ the name. Well, the two CEOs remarked gleefully, now the association has a real use case. It’s a fork of bcoin, a full node implementation, and both agreed they’d be employing the innovation. The Purse.io adventure parallels the ecosystem’s, as viewers come to find out. Mr. Charles prompts Mr. Ver into expanding on just why Mr. Ver was such a heavy proponent and user of the tech. Mr. Ver explained how he used Purse.io for a great many business transactions, for nearly everything. When bitcoin core (BTC) fees became untenable for transactions, he left the service altogether, cashing out his remaining BTC for bitcoin cash (BCH). With Purse.io continuing to innovate and adapt, accepting BCH and offering a handy 15% discount on Amazon purchases, Mr. Ver happily encouraged viewers to return to the service. And indeed there does seem to be a resurgence in so-called micropayment tech, as more and more businesses transition to BCH. Fast and Furious Mr. Charles then raves about Openbazaar’s move into decentralized cryptocurrency exchange, a very big deal in the community. Traditional exchanges ask quite a lot of potential users, with frictions in onboarding and withdrawal, not to mention invasive personal questions. They’ve long gone against a basic aspect of crypto philosophy. Mr. Ver explained the store at Bitcoin.com will also sell its goods and services on Openbazzar. Continuing on the micropayment innovations, both praised Mr. Charles’ latest project, the Money Button. The days-old tech is a spin on Yours.org’s BCH micropayment social media concept. Mr. Charles’ content providers asked for an API usable on their own proprietary websites; a money button, if you will, for the internet. The Yours.org CEO describes the Money Button as similar to pressing Like on Facebook. The prototype looks to be pretty amazing and transformative if the tech holds up: imagine every site surfed, readers and viewers had the ability to tip in fractions of BCH as a show of appreciation. Mr. Charles is careful to stress it is still not ready for large scale deployment, but he does want folks to give it a try over the next two months in the hopes of gaining feedback and working out bugs. These are just some of the forward-looking subjects the two shared. Celebrating the ‘Pizza Anniversary,’ Marco Coino app, shout out to those protesting on behalf of a bitcoiner being charged for ridiculous crimes, more Lightning Network folly, decentralized crowdfunding through Lighthouse, Twitter censorship games, Memo.cash, Blockpress.com, and, of course, the 32MB Bitcoin Cash upgrade and OP codes. For those wishing to keep up with the ongoings of bitcoin cash, whose innovations are coming fast and furious, or are just curious about the digital currency. Roger Ver and Ryan X. Charles are arguably the best ambassadors around. No word if the two plan further collabs in the video sense, but Mr. Ver did stress future shows will include a displayed key which Bitcoin.com Wallet holders will be able to scan for free BCH! Are you excited about BCH adoption and innovation? Let us know what you think of this subject in the comments below. Images via Pixabay, Youtube. 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. This is an Op-ed article. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support views, opinions or conclusions drawn in this post. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the Op-ed article. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the content. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any information in this Op-ed article. The post Roger Ver and Ryan X. Charles Reveal the Future of Cash appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

After delving into the world of cryptocurrencies one can see that good majority of digital asset proponents are big fans of privacy and anonymity. Just recently a spreadsheet document was published that lists the top privacy-centric coins and the various differences between them. The paper called “Privacy Coin Matrix,” allows enthusiasts to see a comprehensive list of cryptocurrency networks that focus on promoting financial privacy. Also read: Marvel, The Simpsons Go Crypto Introducing the Privacy Coin Matrix A Google Docs’ spreadsheet has been recently published on the wide variety of cryptocurrencies that aim to bolster financial anonymity. The paper is very comprehensive and includes various details about each coins’ attributes strewn across a very long spreadsheet. Coins that are present in the ‘Matrix’ spreadsheet include Bitcoin Core (BTC), Monero (XMR), Zcash (ZEC), Dash, Verge (XVG), PIVX, Bitcoin Private (BTCP), and more. There are a total of twenty cryptocurrencies listed, alongside some relatively unknown coins like Zoin (ZOI), and Colossus Coin (COLX). There are a bunch of privacy-centric coins missing from the list as well such as anon tokens like Boolberry (BBR), and Bitcoin Dark (BTCD). There are fourteen separate sections that distinguish each coin such as the asset’s summary, features, resources, trading, supply and distribution, wallets, and privacy benefits. With each section summarizing the protocols’ features it can give a reader an in-depth look at how much privacy these networks actually give to users. For instance, in the ‘privacy’ section, readers will likely get the most information concerning anonymity methods. Both Bitcoin Core (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) mentioned in the list fail miserably when it comes to nearly everything privacy related. Some Coins Offer Very Little Privacy, Scaling is Dependent on Unfinished Second Layer Solutions, and Others Have No Wallet Support The lists details that other coins such as Monero, Zash, Particl, Bitcoin Private, Zencash, Zclassic, and Sumocoin obfuscate a recipient, and a senders’ transactions with certain features. Anonymity protocols these coins use are methods like ring signatures, stealth addresses, and zsnarks (zerocoin). According to the Matrix spreadsheet many of the other coins mentioned like Dash, and Colossus show no cryptographic privacy, and they depend on techniques like Coinjoin. Further, the list also details whether or not the coins have an auditable supply and a trusted setup. The coins’ ability to scale is also a section worth reading as it shows which cryptocurrencies have begun to scale through forks, and others waiting on technologies like Lightning to come to fruition. Other technologies mentioned in the scaling section include masternode protocols, bulletproofs, and other second layer options. Lastly, some of the coins mentioned have wallet implementations across most clients created within the industry, while other coins have very little wallet support making utility very difficult for coins like Phore, Zoin, Colossus, Spectrecoin, and Sumokoin. Matrix List Cuts Through the Anon-Coin Hype Besides this list, there are more anonymity focused cryptocurrencies in existence that claim to provide significant privacy for users utilizing these networks. However, the Matrix spreadsheet cuts through all the anon-coin hype, headlines, and shilling taking place across the web by separating features, attributes, and facts, into a list of things cryptocurrency proponents care about. What do you think about the Privacy Coin Matrix spreadsheet? Are there privacy coins that you didn’t see mention in the Matrix list? Let us know your thoughts on this subject in the comments below. Images via the Matrix, The Wachowski Brothers, and the Matrix spreadsheet. 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 The Privacy Coin Matrix: A Comprehensive Spreadsheet of Anonymous Digital Assets appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Tel Aviv District Court has received today an indictment against Halmi Git, a 33-year-old from the Palestinian city of Hebron, for a wide-ranging affair involving the management of forums for the sharing and sale of stolen credit card details. His forums have allegedly involved about 1,300,000 users from around the world, leading to massive fraud. Also Read: Bitcoin in Brief Monday: New EU Rules Kill Another Crypto Venture Stealing Even From the Moon According to the indictment, the defendant established the forums in 2008 and managed them until his arrest at the beginning of the month. The entrance to the forums was free of charge, but users could purchase a VIP status to receive stolen details of “fresh” credit cards, which are more likely to be still working. Additionally he published manuals and guides that provided information and tools on how to commit various computer offenses, remotely hacking computers and taking over remote computers or servers. Halmi also allegedly committed crimes of fraud against users of his own forums. The defendant would offer selling cell phones at discounted prices, but once a user transferred him money he would block the user from the site and take his money without providing compensation. He would then publish a message, supposedly in the name of the deceived user, in which he thanked the defendant for providing the cheap mobile phone. Apparently trying to convince investigators his actions were not motivated by specific malice towards Israelis, many of which were his alleged victims, Halmi is quoted as saying: “We are thieves, from wherever we can take money, we will take it – it does not matter where, from Israel, the US or even the moon, we will reach it and use it.” 1,071 BTC Seized According to the indictment, the defendant demanded that all payments to him be made through Bitcoin, to make it more difficult to locate him. In addition, Halmi acted consistently to disguise his identity by technological means, made many money transfers between different Bitcoin wallets for the purpose of covering his tracks, used online masking services to distance himself from his various accounts, and recorded parts of his property in the name of his relatives. The Israeli State Prosecutor’s Office attributes to the defendant money laundering of at least 1,071 BTC, estimated at NIS 31,000,000. During the interrogation, in a precedent-setting move, the defendant’s Bitcoin wallet was seized and the amount found in it was transferred to a police wallet. The State Prosecutor’s Office intends to confiscate all the contents of the defendant’s Bitcoin wallets, if and when he is convicted. The case was investigated by investigators of the Israeli national cyber unit at Lahav 433. The offenses with which Halmi is charged are: credit card fraud under aggravated circumstances (multiple offenses), receiving a thing fraudulently under aggravated circumstances, providing means for committing a crime, violating the Computers Law and money laundering. What should be the punishment for such an alleged crime? 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 Hebron Resident Accused of Laundering Millions From Stolen Credit Cards With Bitcoin appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The founder of Onchain Capital, and host of CNBC Africa’s ‘Crypto Trader’ show, Ran Neu-Ner, recently discussed his outlook for cryptocurrency regulation, initial coin offering (ICOs), and shared his outlook for several top cryptocurrencies markets. Mr. Neu-Ner described Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum as markets that he intends to ‘HODL’, adding that right now, he is passing on BTC in favor of more “exciting” virtual currency markets. Also Read: Blockchair Feed Reveals Messages Encoded in the BCH, BTC and ETH Blockchains Onchain Capital Founder Warns That Lack of Regulations May Stifle Entire Cryptocurrency Industry In an interview with CNBC‘s Fast Money, Mr. Neu-Ner described the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as having taken an appropriate position in cautiously monitoring the cryptocurrency markets up until now, however, warned that a failure to introduce clear regulatory apparatus pertaining to virtual currencies may be to the severe detriment of the United States’ burgeoning cryptocurrency industry. “I think the initiative by the SEC was a great one, but I think the joke is on the SEC now because they need to come up with regulation now, if they don’t come up with regulation, they may stifle an entire industry,” he said. Mr. Neu-Ner added: “Now I know they are balancing investor protection with the need to grow an industry, but if you look to places like Japan and Singapore, they’ve got thriving ICOs, and they’ve got a thriving new industry, and my fear, having travelled extensively to that region, and spoken to all the founders and the legislators there, is that the US actually may be falling behind, and that we may not get a silicon valley here in the USA, because it may all fall into the legislations that are favourable towards these ICOs, and have got some kind of regulation in place.” Mr. Neu-Ner Warns of Potential “Brains Drain” if Regulators Fail to Act When questioned as to whether he believed that continual innovation in the cryptocurrency sector was contingent on the legitimation of the ICO industry, the Onchain Capital Founder stated “Well you can get the innovation without the ICOs, and that’s what the U.S. people are doing, they are establishing companies in places like Malta and Gibraltar, and Singapore, and place where there are favourable tax incentives, and places where the regulation speaks well towards ICOs.” Mr. Neu-Ner also warned that ”the U.S may get a brains drain towards those areas – if you go to Singapore [or] Japan, you’re speaking to Americans, and they’re there because they want to launch their ICOs.” “I think the SEC did adopt a responsible approach by taking their time to see what is happening with the industry, but now we know that crypto is real, we know [that] crypto, and the blockchain, is not going anywhere anytime soon. And now they’ve got to come to the party, and give us some kind of regulation, so we know where we stand,” he concluded. Onchain Capital Founder Passes on BTC Mr. Neu-Ner also participated in Fast Money’s “HODL or FODL?” segment, in which he gave his assessment of the outlook for several major cryptocurrencies. Regarding BTC, he stated “I like bitcoin a lot, but I’m going to FODL. Mr. Neu-Ner stated that although he believes that the price of bitcoin is currently “low,” and that the price “is going to continue to go up […] slowly and in a stable way,” Mr. Neu-Ner emphasized that ”there are more exciting cryptocurrencies out there, and if you’re going to ask me whether I’m going to put my money in bitcoin, or something more exciting, I’m going to go with something more exciting.” When asked of if his ‘FODL’ response to bitcoin was due to greater institutional investment dampening down the volatility of the BTC markets, Mr. Neu-Ner stated “a little bit of that, but, a lot of the money is going from bitcoin, and even Ethereum and the more established coins, into this ICO frenzy.” Mr. Neu-Ner continued: “There’s this frenzy happening which is not on the markets, […] where hundreds of millions of dollars are going into ICOs – where’s that money coming from? It’s not coming from fiat, it’s people cashing in their bitcoin and their Ethereum, and when they cash in the markets are going to go down.” Despite such, Mr. Neu-Ner does hold a bullish outlook for BTC and ETH, adding “That said, I do think the institutions are going to come in towards the end of this year – they’re going to go to bitcoin and Ethereum first, and then the market is going to go up.” Mr. Neu-Ner Bullish on BCH and ETH When asked of his outlook for Bitcoin Cash, Mr. Neu-Ner resolutely stated that he’s “HODLing,” adding “I think there’s a lot of potential for Bitcoin Cash, I like the team […] that are driving it – it’s all the old bitcoin people.” Mr. Neu-Ner jokingly predicted that his stance would lead him to be “murdered on Twitter” by “the trolls and the bitcoin maximalists,” adding that “I love both Bitcoin Cash and [bitcoin] equally, but if you ask me where I put my money right now, Bitcoin Cash has more potential.” Regarding Ethereum, Mr. Neu-Ner states “HODL for sure,” adding ”they’ve got the biggest community in the industry – thousands of people, the smartest people in the room. They’ve got use cases, [and] they’re solving their scaling issues […] so I’m holding Ethereum.” Mr. Neu-Ner Throws XRP in the Garbage When of XRP, the Onchain Capital founder stated: “Ripple I’m throwing in the garbage.” Mr. Neu-Ner elaborated, seeking to distinguish between “Ripple, the company – one of the best companies [he] know,” and “XRP, the token – [of which he] can’t work out what it’s used for.” Mr. Neu-Ner stated that “Ripple, the company, does the banking systems, it ’replaces’ bank to bank transfers, primarily international money transfers” – adding that “you don’t need the XRP token to do that.” Mr. Neu-Ner concluded that “So as far as I know, I can’t find a use for the token, so I’m out.” Adding “it’s centralized, and that defeats the whole purpose of blockchain.” Do you agree with Mr. Neu-Ner’s predictions for markets? Share your thoughts in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Wikipedia Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Onchain Capital Founder Bullish on BCH and ETH appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

This is a paid press release, which contains forward looking statements, and should be treated as advertising or promotional material. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support this product/service. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the press release. It is no secret that everybody wants to make their own ICOs, raise funds and provide better and more efficient services. With the revolution of Blockchainit seems that we are headed towards a better, more complete and innovative future. Companies across all industries are pushing hard to be the early bird that eats the worm and achieving their legacy and create history. So why have we not yet gained the momentum we are all waiting for. Don’t you feel like we were supposed to move even faster with all this fund raising and innovative implementations. Can we truly compare this to the revolution of the internet. Masterminds are coming together, creating new projects and ways to adventure into the world of Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies & Smart Contracts, so the real question is, how do we gain the true momentum of this technology and use it to better our lives and our future. Same Technology, Different Race The truth is, as humans we compete to always finish first and eventually find out that all the other participants are in a totally different race. It starts with innovation and the intention to improve the industry but surely turns to a competition on who finishes the fastest, and makes the biggest buzz. What if we told you we can change that. What if it were possible to work together, hand in hand while sharing resources and knowledge. There are a few reasons why people are unable to partner up and work together, 1.Ego. People think it’s a weakness to cooperate or even think they are too good and can accomplish everything by themselves. 2.Fear. Market participants are scared of companies and other ICOs they do not know a lot about. There is always the assumption that any ICO could be a scam and would affect you negatively. 3.Competition, in which everyone solely focuses on themselves and any ICO trying to find an ally, believes there are many others that are doing better and can land better partnerships. Collaboration Vs. Competition INGOT Coin & Trade.io Assemble the A Team C vs C — I believe in Collaboration, I don’t believe in Competition. Let’s collaborate stated by Iman Mutlaq, INGOT Coin Founder. Iman Mutlaq Founder of INGOT Coin & Jim Preissler, CEO of Trade.io formed a partnership and plan to establish a new collaboration of a diverse set of innovative companies and market leading entrepreneurs that consists of many reputable organizations including successful and promising upcoming ICOs, experienced advisers, proven visionaries, well-accredited universities and other organizations. It is good to compete as long as there is efficiency in the competition. Competition becomes harmful when companies are no longer focused on the main goal; how can we improve our services while using Blockchain and other technological advancement to further enhance the services provided to the people. Both Iman and Jim have a great deal of experience in the financial sector. They both share a common goal; to collaborate and innovate together to pioneer the industry just like they have done in their careers. It doesn’t stop there, both Iman and Jim are already finalizing agreements with multiple organizations to join this alliance and unite to create an never-ending Legacy. What to Expect Next. Alone you might do great, alone I might do great; but together we can make history, Stated by Jim Preissler, CEO of Trade.io Both companies have very strong teams backing them up, not to mention great Advisers, the following does not even cover half of their respective teams, 1. Iman Mutlaq@INGOTCoin Founder 2. Jim Preissler@Trade.io CEO 3. Saad Mohib@INGOTCoin ICO Adviser & Co-Founder HalalChain 4. CHIEN LEE@Trade.Io Board Member 5. DAMIAN MCDOWELL@Trade.Io Board Member 6. Ali Shibib@INGOTCoin CEO 7. CHARLES VOLTRON@Trade.Io Chief Technology Officer 8. Sydney Ifergan@INGOTCoin ICO Marketing Adviser 9. ROY GUTSHALL@Trade.io COO 10. Ahmed Khawanky@INGOTCoin CMO 11. MANMOHAN SINGH@Trade.io CSO 12. Victor Chow@INGOTCoin ICO Business Adviser 13. Bogdan Fiedur@INGOTCoin ICO Tech Adviser 14. John Van der Vos@INGOTCoin ICO Adviser 15. Darrell Emmanuel@INGOTCoin Investment Adviser 16. Will Corkin@Trade.Io Director of Consulting & Strategy 17. George Mentz@INGOTCoin ICO Legal Adviser 18. Helen Astaniou@Trade.io CMO 19. Pranav Bhatia@INGOTCoin Blockchain R&D Adviser 20. Naviin Kapoor@INGOTCoin Blockchain ICO Adviser 21. Warren Whitlock@INGOTCoin PR & Marketing Adviser INGOT partners with Trade.io to enhance their ICO and leverage their established stakeholders with trade.io’s expert consulting services to maximize value to ingot’s ICO participants. Both teams are now working on providing to their group and establish a conglomerate of partners. They already have universities, ICOs and visionaries who share the same vision approaching the group with desire to join. We are expecting this week to be full of surprises and new recruitment to the group. We have almost finalized with H.E Shaikh Ali Al Khalifa from Bahrain as well as multiple organization that I can not mention, just yet. Iman Mutlaq comments on the new partnership Contact Email Address a.khawanky@ingotcoin.io Supporting Link www.INGOTCoin.io This is a paid press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post PR: Assembling the A Team – The Start of a New Era- INGOT Coin & Trade.io appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

LMAX Exchange Group, which operates a UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulated FX trading venue, has announced today a physical cryptocurrency exchange dedicated to serving only institutional clients. The company says it developed LMAX Digital at the request of its existing clients who asked for a credible, efficient and trusted platform to trade with like-minded institutions. Also Read: Bitcoin in Brief Monday: New EU Rules Kill Another Crypto Venture Institutional Grade Crypto LMAX Digital will offer access only to the most liquid crypto assets including BTC, ETH, LTC, XRP and BCH, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The company explains that trading is governed by similar rules and principles as LMAX Exchange’s FCA regulated MTF (Multilateral Trading Facility), meaning that the exchange offers the same level of security, compliance, KYC and anti-money laundering policies and procedures as its established operations. Other features of the service include keeping one public rulebook for all members; a central limit order book (CLOB) with streaming, firm institutional liquidity; safe and secure hot/warm/cold multi-signature wallets; and a full custodian solution. Execution details include a matching latency of under 350 microseconds; a high throughput greater than 100,000 messages per second; an uptime of 100%; and all orders time-stamped in microseconds (receipt to execution). After the launch of LMAX Digital in a London-based data center (LD4), the company intends to also roll out infrastructure in New York and Tokyo in the near future. Game Changer David Mercer, CEO, LMAX Exchange “We are furthering the legitimisation of the crypto currency market by offering institutions a platform on which to acquire, trade and hold crypto currencies securely with high quality, deep liquidity,” said David Mercer, CEO of LMAX Exchange. “Over $10 trillion of FIAT has been traded on our exchanges to date and we have institutional clients in over 100 countries. We’ve applied everything we’ve learned in the institutional FX market to LMAX Digital, to create a fundamentally improved, secure digital exchange based on our proven trading technology, market leading liquidity and transparent and precise execution.” “The rise of institutional trading of crypto currencies will be a game-changer for the industry. We believe our new exchange will support the transformation of the crypto market from the fringes to the mainstream. Digital currencies are, without a doubt, coming of age. Exchanges will play a crucial role in bringing the major crypto currencies into wider circulation, helping them to become accepted into conventional funds which in turn will help to support a normalisation of value,” he added. Serious institutional money has been pouring into the crypto market since 2017, leading to the recent launch of new services catered specifically to this segment from the likes of Coinbase and others. What do you think about this development in the institutional space? 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 LMAX Exchange Group Launches Institutional Cryptocurrency Exchange appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

If you had one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted, would you capture it or just let it slip? So convinced is one man that cryptocurrency is the future, he’s given up his apartment and is living in his car while putting every spare cent towards his crypto portfolio. Also read: Marvel, The Simpsons Go Crypto Crypto or Bust Last year, as bitcoin mania escalated, stories began to surface of men mortgaging their homes and going all in on crypto. But it’s not just homeowners that have given up everything in the pursuit of crypto glory: one man has forsaken his apartment in favor of living out of his car. It’s a life choice that even the most ardent of bitcoin maximalists would deem excessive, but then crypto has a tendency to attract extremists possessed with a fervent zeal. The Canadian man, posting under the handle “Livinginmycar”, shared his sleeping arrangements on 4chan’s biz message board, where crypto traders assemble to shitpost and share portfolios. Some commenters were supportive of his cause, while others were less sympathetic, one writing: “How fucking retarded are you brainlet, when you think that crypto will make you rich?…Money was made and you missed the train. Good luck waking up with 30 and being broke.” OP (i.e the original poster who started the thread) remains undaunted however, explaining how he balks at paying $800 per month in rent because “that money belongs in my crypto stack”. Living in a Garage, Working in a Warehouse The 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. During the day, the man works as a forklift driver in a warehouse and in the evenings he delivers food. His own meals come in the form of takeaway, but he claims to try and eat healthily. Some biz posters who had cheered the guy in the original thread, in which he first proposed his car living scheme, have since withdrawn their support after seeing the coins he’s coveting. OP’s portfolio reportedly stands at $6,000 CAD, but he professes to be adding an additional $2,500 per month. While commenters were divided on whether OP will make it in his quest to become crypto rich, it was widely agreed that he’ll have a memorable tale to tell years from now. As high risk strategies go, giving up your apartment and going all in on altcoins is about as perilous as it gets. Win or lose, OP will be able to look back and know that he gave it his all in his one shot for glory. Would you live in your car in exchange for crypto riches? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, and 4chan. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Sleeping in His Car and Working Two Jobs: Man Goes All In on Crypto appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article