roadrunner

Another Indian cryptocurrency exchange has launched crypto-to-crypto trading. Koinex is offering 23 crypto-to-crypto trading pairs with zero fees. Earlier this week, leading Indian exchange Zebpay also launched crypto-to-crypto trading but with only one trading pair. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Koinex’s Crypto-to-Crypto Trading Indian exchange Koinex announced last week, “We are delighted to announce the commencement of crypto-to-crypto trading on our platform,” elaborating: We are going live with not just one or two crypto-crypto pairs; we are launching a total of 15 token pairs, all at the same time!…This is the largest crypto-crypto pair offering by any Indian exchange and to add to this, the trading fees will be zero. The exchange then announced on Saturday the addition of 8 more crypto-to-crypto trading pairs, set to go live on Saturday night. In addition, the “seller fee has been revised to 0.15% for the INR market. Buyer fee is now fixed at a flat rate of 0.15%,” Koinex detailed. As for deposits, the exchange clarified, “INR deposits via UPI and Netbanking are now live with payment gateway 2. Deposit fee is 1.18% for UPI and 2% for Netbanking.” However, Koinex reiterated that “all other payment methods are discontinued…All INR withdrawals are temporarily halted.” 23 New Trading Pairs Koinex currently has 19 coins listed for trading against the Indian rupee. Its 24-hour trading volume for all cryptocurrencies is approximately $5.5 million, according to Coinmarketcap. For crypto-to-crypto trading, there are nine bitcoin trading pairs, six ether, and eight ripple –a total of 23. Bitcoin and ether trading pairs are already live and ripple pairs are set to go live on Saturday night, the exchange clarified. “For the first time in the crypto world, Koinex proudly presents XRP-based trading market with 8 XRP pairs going live tonight.” “The tokens available in the bitcoin market will be ethereum (ETH/BTC), litecoin (LTC/BTC), TRON (TRX/BTC), ripple (XRP/BTC), omisego (OMG/BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH/BTC), EOS (EOS/BTC), nucleus vision (NCASH/BTC), and request (REQ/BTC),” Koinex wrote. For the ether market, in addition to BTC, the exchange is offering trading pairs for BCH, TRX, XRP, OMG, EOS, and NCASH. For the ripple market, customers can trade BTC as well as LTC, TRX, EOS, OMG, REQ, NCASH, AE (aeternity), and GNT (golem). Bypassing RBI’s Order One of India’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Zebpay, also launched crypto-to-crypto trading last week with one trading pair – ETH/BTC. Both Zebpay and Koinex launched their crypto-to-crypto trading services after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued an order banning banks and financial institutions under its control from dealing “in virtual currencies or provide services for facilitating any person or entity in dealing with or settling virtual currencies,” Koinex described, adding that: Such services include maintaining accounts, registering, trading, settling, clearing, giving loans against virtual tokens, accepting them as collateral, opening accounts of exchanges dealing with them and transfer / receipt of money in accounts relating to purchase/ sale of virtual currencies. The exchange warned that RBI’s order could cause “a disruption in [its] banking services” which “may affect our capacity to service withdrawals and deposits seamlessly.” The RBI has since been taken to court by Kali Digital Eco-Systems. The Delhi High Court has accepted the company’s petition and issued a notice to the central bank. Other exchange operators are also planning to challenge the regulator as a consortium. What do you think of Koinex launching crypto-to-crypto trading with 23 trading pairs? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Koinex. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Indian Exchange Launches 23 Crypto-to-Crypto Trading Pairs with Zero Fees appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

From pump and dump groups to insiders trading on esoteric knowledge, market manipulation is rampant within the cryptocurrency space. While some of it is illegal, most of the activity is either legal or quasi-legal, falling into the sea of grey that separates lawful land from unlawful territory. Everyone knows that market manipulation is endemic. The question is, does anyone care? Also read: Warren Buffett: Bitcoin is Gambling, a Game, Not an Investment In the Beginning, There Was Fontas Traders have been manipulating the cryptocurrency markets since day one. In bitcoin’s earliest days, it and the altcoins that existed on a handful of illiquid exchanges were ripe for pumping, dumping, and then pumping again. Coins were won or lost in a heartbeat which, back then, were worth buttons. In hindsight, traders should have just hodled, as those $1 litecoins proved to be worth a whole lot more five years down the line (feathercoin and terracoin not so much). One trader whose pseudonym was synonymous with pump and dumps back in 2014 was Fontas. Often these schemes would be orchestrated through the trollbox on Btc-e, an exchange whose attitude to illegal activity was laissez-faire to say the least. No one knows how much BTC Fontas made from preying on noobs who arrived late to the pumps he orchestrated with the promise of dropping “1 BTC buy bombs” to keep the green candle rising. Phase II: Private Pumps As the cryptocurrency markets started to mature, manipulation didn’t go away: it just went private, moving from public chatboxes to invite only Slack, Discord, and Telegram groups. The objective was still the same though: to buy cheap, force the coin to pump (now by spreading fake news about partnerships and other bullish signals) and then dumping at the top. But pump and dumps are only one form of manipulation, and are arguably one of the more benign attempts at profiteering. Their effects are short-lived, and any trader who blindly chases a rising candle without understanding why it’s rocketing deserves little sympathy. Other attempts at gaming the system are more subtle and are not explicitly illegal, but their effects can be insidious. Examples include: A developer who bulk buys a shitcoin and then suggests dual forking it with bitcoin to inflate the price A major exchange that tells its cronies about an imminent coin listing, allowing them to secure a position before the masses pile in A cryptocurrency team that buys more of its own coin prior to announcing a major partnership A whale trading group that secures a discounted private sale allocation and then shills the ICO to the masses to ensure FOMO Don’t Hate the Trader, Hate the Game Every second of every day, traders are trying to game the system and steal whatever advantage they can over their peers. Whales creating fake sell walls to psych out the market; Twitter traders taking positions before shilling the coin as an undiscovered gem; FUDsters FUDing; bots buying; wash traders washing. Everyone’s at it, and while most people aren’t breaking the law in the pursuit of profit, there’s a case for saying that manipulation should simply be accepted as part of life. It’s been going on in the world of finance since day one, with insider trading and stock manipulation some of the oldest tricks in the book. Exchanges such as Bittrex and Cobinhood have condemned such behavior and the CFTC has offered pump and dump whistleblowers a $100k bounty. But given the inability of prosecutors to catch even a fraction of financial lawbreakers, what hope is there of headway in the free and easy world of cryptocurrency? Everyone’s At It A widely-shared Steemit post exposed blatant attempts to manipulate an altcoin, but many who read it demurred with the author’s assertion that a crime of the highest order had been perpetrated. “I’ve already contacted the SEC, FBI and other federal authorities regarding their activities on the market. I have all intentions of making an in-person visit either today…or tomorrow to deliver all of these screenshots,” they vigorously concluded. Some would argue that crypto users crying foul to the three-letter agencies is counter-productive and the last thing the community needs. Martha Stewart is one of the unlucky ones who got caught insider trading In his recent autobiography, “A Higher Loyalty”, former FBI director James Comey recalled his decision to prosecute Martha Stewart for insider trading when he was Attorney General. The sum the cooking magnate had cashed in was trifling – around $50,000 worth of stocks – but she was prosecuted in the end because there was clear evidence showing she had benefited from insider information and later lied about it. Most cases, Comey conceded, are unprosecutable because it is hard to prove the reason behind someone buying or selling an asset. Offloading a stock just before it dumps could be nothing more than a coincidence. How to Deal with Market Manipulation Given the impossibility of eradicating market manipulation, it may be wise to seek a more pragmatic solution. One is for the crypto community to continue publicly condemning such behavior, while in private accepting that nothing can be done about it. The alternative is to embrace manipulation and accept it as part of the cut-and-thrust of trading. This notion isn’t as outlandish as it might sound: some people believe that doping should be allowed in professional sport because if all athletes dabbled, it would create an even playing field. Who’s to say that shilling a coin on Twitter is any more ethical than pumping a shitcoin in a private group, or profiting off the inside scoop on Coinbase’s next token listing? When Martha Stewart emerged from her short prison sentence in 2005, it was to find that her fortune had increased by $200 million. Ironically, a few months away from trading could be the most profitable thing a crypto investor does. When the punishment is more profitable than the crime, there’s a case for saying that prosecution is pointless. Manipulators gonna manipulate and insider traders gonna inside trade. It’s just human nature. Do you think market manipulation is inevitable and should it be illegal? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Wikipedia, and Twitter. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Cryptocurrency Market Manipulation Is Rife – But Does Anyone Care? appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A “Bitcoin store” has opened doors in Croatia. It sells bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and even issues receipts. The shop is a welcome addition to the steadily growing crypto sector in the Balkan country. The team behind the project plans to expand to all major Croatian cities and even other countries in the region. Also read: Steps towards Self-Regulation in Croatia and Slovenia OTC Point of Sale Now Operational in Split The new walk-in point of sale is located in the Croatian city of Split, a famous tourist destination on the Adriatic coast. The store on Hrvatske Mornarice Street currently offers direct sales of bitcoin, ether and other altcoins, Bitfalls reports. The premium is around 5 percent on top of the average prices at Coinmarketcap. Customers are given a receipt and proof of purchase for tax reporting purposes. Bitcoin Store is arguably the first of its kind in the country, and probably on the Balkans. Bitkonan, the Croatian crypto exchange behind the project, has plans to offer similar OTC (over the counter) solutions to residents and guests of other major cities, starting from Zagreb and Rijeka. Its team also hopes to expand in the region, depending on demand for this kind of service in neighboring countries. The cryptocurrency sector in Croatia, including crypto trading, has seen a rapid development. Bitfalls’ own project, Coinvendor, is already processing direct purchases of digital coins through bank transfers and its services are available globally. The Bitcoin Store in Split now adds another dimension, offering cryptocurrencies for fiat cash. Croatians Helping Their Government with Regulations Interest towards cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and blockchain technologies has increased significantly in Croatia over the last several years. The local crypto community has grown with many new crypto companies and businesses accepting crypto payments. Bitcoin ATMs have been installed in major Croatian cities, including the capital Zagreb, the second-largest city Split, Rijeka, and Pula. The Croatian government, however, has yet to respond adequately to the bitcoin boom and adopt a long-awaited comprehensive regulatory framework. The Croatian National Bank (HNB) has taken a conservative stance. It stated last year that cryptocurrencies are not legal means of payment under the current laws in the country. The central bank also noted that they should not be considered electronic money. Earlier this year, blockchain businesses and crypto enthusiasts in Croatia announced intentions to “help authorities take informed decisions” about the cryptocurrency sector. The local crypto community established a new organization called Udruga za Blockchain i Kriptovalute (UBIK), or Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association. Its main task is to channel their efforts towards adopting meaningful regulations. UBIK has already declared readiness to advise authorities on all crypto-related matters. It is also providing legal, financial, and technical support to its members. Do you agree that over the counter bitcoin sales can bring more people into the crypto world? Tell us in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Google Maps. 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 New Store Sells Cryptocurrencies for Regular Old Cash in Croatia appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Regardless of what the central Chinese government tries to do or say, bitcoin and cryptocurrency remain popular investments among everyday people in China. And a new way to get exposure to the ecosystem just materialized for those with access to the Hong Kong market, a publicly traded company entered the mining industry. Also Read: This Week in Bitcoin: Amazon Wants to Track You and TD Ameritrade Plants a Flag Wine and Mine Diginex Limited, a multinational crypto-asset investment company headquartered in Hong Kong has announced it sold a 51% stake of its cryptocurrency mining and high performance computing (HPC) operation for $60 million USD to Madison Group Holdings (HKG: 8057), a distributor of alcoholic beverages. An MOU (memorandum of understanding) between the two companies detailed a number of synergies, including the leveraging of Diginex’s proprietary platform Digiassets that can be used by holders of cryptocurrencies to purchase high value wines and other assets. Madison Holdings Group, formerly Madison Wine, is an investment holding company mainly focused on the retail and wholesale alcoholic beverages business. The company offers a wide spectrum of fine wines, wine related products and other spirits such as premium and rare whiskies, cognacs and Chinese baijiu in Hong Kong. Madison is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 2015. GPU Farms in Asia, Sweden and Switzerland Diginex, which privately owned, has offices in Hong Kong, Switzerland, Germany and Japan. It has mining operations in Asia, Switzerland and Sweden. The $60 million investment by Madison is said to allow Diginex to fast track the expansion of their GPU mining operations in Western Europe in partnership with hardware suppliers, power and security providers in order to build a secure and efficient GPU-based cryptocurrency mining data center. Miles Pelham, the CEO of Diginex, stated: “this cash injection allows us to expedite our steps towards becoming the global provider of Distributed Ledger Technologies. We will continue to build out our mining operations in Sweden and Switzerland, but also focus on helping corporates and governments across the world to implement transformative DLT applications.” Are there any synergies between wine cellars and crypto mining farms that these companies can now exploit? 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 Hong Kong Alcohol Company Buys 51% of Bitcoin Miner for $60 Million 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. Sydney, Australia – LEEKICO, a one-stop-service ICO platform, successfully supported NKN, a project aiming to rebuild the Internet that will be truly open, decentralized, dynamic, safe, shared and owned by the community, completed its highly anticipated token sale on April 19th, 2018. With LEEKICO’s support, NKN collected a total of ETH 24,100. NKN’s early bird sale, which was only opened to participants who were previously whitelisted for the project, started on April 2nd and was completed on April 8th. The main ICO took place on April 19th and collected 70% of the hard cap in the first 3 minutes, with the cap reached shortly after. LEEKICO supported NKN in both stages of the ICO, managing the KYC (Know Your Customer) whitelisting during the first stage and the crowdfunding during the second. Thanks to LEEKICO’s service and marketing support, the project managed to reach 2,000 participants, and generate over 9,000 new sign ups to LEEKICO’s platform and deliver over 15,000 visitors per second to the project’s website at its peak. NKN (New Kind of Network) is a new generation of highly scalable, self-evolving and self-incentivized blockchain network infrastructure. NKN addresses the network decentralization and self-evolution by introducing Cellular Automata (CA) methodology for both dynamism and efficiency. NKN tokenizes network connectivity and data transmission capacity by a novel and useful Proof of Work. NKN focuses on decentralizing network resources, similar to how Bitcoin and Ethereum decentralize computing power as well as how IPFS and Filecoin decentralize storage. Together, they form the three pillars of the Internet infrastructure for next generation blockchain systems. NKN ultimately makes the network more decentralized, efficient, equalized, robust and secure, thus enabling healthier, safer, and more open Internet. “NKN intends to revolutionize the entire network technology and business. We want to be the Uber or Airbnb of the trillion-dollar communication service business, but without a central entity” Said Yanbo Li, founder and core developer of NKN. “We aspire to free the bits, and build the Internet we always wanted, and we could not have found a better partner than LEEKICO to help us run the token sale while we focus on developing our vision.” NKN is an open source community-driven blockchain project, where the team members join on a voluntary basis. The project is spearheaded by experienced blockchain, network and computing specialists including Yanbo Li, previously co-founder of Onchain, and eminent advisors such as Whitfield Diffie, winner of the 2015 Turing Award. The LEEKICO platform allows project teams to focus on developing their solution and technology by taking care of the ICO process. LEEKICO applies strict KYC (Know-Your-Customer) and region restriction policies and works with compliance agencies on top of its rigorous due diligence process to ensure a successful token sale. The LEEKICO team thoroughly reviews each project team, solution and plans, before giving them access to its friendly customer support team, marketing and promotional resources, as well as its network of over 30,000 users in 40 countries. LEEKICO is extremely experienced in managing both private sales and crowdfunding and has successfully supported a number of projects including IPFS, Singularitynet, Qash, INS, Cybermiles before NKN. LEEKICO is currently supporting the upcoming ICO of Shivom, a new blockchain project aiming to provide a platform where individuals can ‘donate’ their genomic data for use by researchers, securely store and control who accesses the information, and earn rewards as a result. About LEEKICO LEEKICO shares the belief of asset decentralization and commits to promoting the wave of global cryptocurrency start-up companies. LEEKICO aims to build an initial coin offering platform with ensured security, integrity, fairness and transparency for both start-up companies and investors. LEEKICO provides cryptocurrency and blockchain start-up companies with crowdfunding services, and provides investors with comprehensive cryptocurrency consulting services, pre-ICO, and post-ICO management service. Both start-up companies who are planning to go through an ICO process and investors who are involved in ICO projects will enjoy the best experience with LEEKICO’s one-stop service provided by the LEEKICO platform. http://leekico.com/ About NKN NKN (New Kind of Network) is a new generation of highly scalable, self-evolving and self incentivized blockchain network infrastructure. NKN addresses the network decentralization and self-evolution by introducing Cellular Automata (CA) methodology for both dynamism and efficiency. NKN tokenizes network connectivity and data transmission capacity by a novel and useful Proof of Work. The NKN Foundation is registered in Singapore. https://www.nkn.org/ Contact Email Address simon@inmatt.com Supporting Link http://leekico.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: LEEKICO helps Blockchain Network Connectivity Project NKN to Close Successful Crowdfunding appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

This week after a few months of controversy, the owners of Bitcoin.org reverted its descriptions about what Bitcoin is on the website’s front page back to “fast peer-to-peer transactions” and “low processing fees” after removing the descriptions this past January. The front page descriptions were changed by the website’s co-owner, a pseudonym called ‘Cobra Bitcoin,’ who has been a very controversial character in the cryptocurrency community. Also Read: Cryptocurrency Mining Accounted for 10% of AMD’s Overall Revenue in Q1 2018 Bitcoin.org Reverts Back to 2010 BTC Descriptions After Removing Them This Past January Back in December, as the BTC chain started to see a lot more usage than previously, the miner fees for the Bitcoin Core (BTC) network were incredibly high, rising to $40-60 per 225-byte transaction. BTC network fees dramatically jumped throughout the entire year of 2017. A trend that caused cryptocurrency enthusiasts to get upset because they either had to wait a really long time to send a transaction, or pay through the nose using a BTC network fee. On December 24 the developers of Bitcoin.org decided to discuss making specific changes to the BTC network descriptions on Bitcoin.org’s front page to reflect the high fees, and slow confirmation times. Then in January of 2018, the front page descriptions of BTC attributes were changed and “peer-to-peer transactions” and “fast” was removed. Further the description “low processing fees” were replaced with “fraud protection.” When the pull request on Bitcoin.org’s Github repository was merged the co-owner Cobra seemed pretty upset. “I feel like I’ve lost a piece of my soul after merging this pull request,” Cobra explains to his followers on Twitter. At some point we all forgot that Bitcoin was supposed to be decentralized money, and we became OK with outrageous fees and centralized mining, all to chase the $$$. The noticeable change to Bitcoin.org’s front page this past January when network fees were infeasible for many users. BTC Fees and Congestion Times Decline A few months later during the beginning of 2018’s spring months, BTC fees had dropped significantly alongside the network’s transactions (tx) per day. After network fees touched a high of $60 per tx on April 28 the average median BTC fee for a 225-byte transaction is 6,750 satoshis or $1.90 USD. Transactions per day slashed in half from its high of 400,000 this past December to 190,000 today. Some speculators believe the ‘Crypto Winter’ over the past four months where cryptocurrencies lost an incredible amount of value may have led to mainstream investors losing interest, to which, also may have caused a decline in BTC network demand. On the other hand, BTC proponents believe the network fees and congestion time have been remedied by the adoption of the Segregated Witness (Segwit) protocol and a controversial process called transaction batching. Cobra: “Fees Were Temporarily High, and There Was Little Adoption of Segwit and Batching” Now, this week the operators of Bitcoin.org have decided to revert back to the old descriptions (created in 2010) that state the BTC network has “fast peer-to-peer transactions” and “low processing fees.” Two days ago Cobra reverted the Github pull request bitcoin-dot-org/bitcoin.org#2010 and merged the 2010 descriptions back to Bitcoin.org’s front page. “This reverts the referenced pull request and restores the mention of the ‘Fast peer-to-peer transactions’, ‘Worldwide payments’ and ‘Low processing fees’ features that were previously highlighted on the homepage — At the time the pull request was created, the fees were temporarily high, and there was little adoption of Segwit and batching. Since then, the fees have been low,” Cobra details in the revert request 2317. There was also not enough thought put into the original pull request, since it’s still showing the old labels for languages other than English — I propose we comprehensively change the text across all languages when the fees are very high on a permanent basis, which I think is some years off thanks the ecosystem taking better care to optimize usage of the blockchain. The Curious Case of Cobra Bitcoin The history of Bitcoin.org’s ownership has been interesting, to say the least as the domain is currently owned by two anonymous pseudonyms — Cobra Bitcoin and Theymos. When the page first got started it was assumed Bitcoin.org was created by Satoshi Nakamoto before the protocol was launched. Then it was operated by Martti Malmi (Sirius) for a little while, and the owners alongside the community developers enact changes to the website through an MIT licensed open source repository on Github. As the co-owner of Bitcoin.org, Cobra is very active throughout the repo, and more so than Theymos, another well-known anon who controls Bitcointalk.org, the Reddit forum /r/bitcoin, and the Bitcoin Wiki. Cobra’s statements are interesting and BTC supporters believe his accounts have been compromised. Cobra has always had extremely contentious viewpoints over the past couple of years proposing to alter the Bitcoin white paper hosted on Bitcoin.org, while also actively pursuing a BTC consensus change that would remove the network’s Proof-of-Work (PoW). Just recently Cobra caused a stir within the community when he accused Halong Mining of being a scam, but later apologized when Halong mining rigs were delivered to customers. What’s even more strange is how Cobra has since become an alleged Bitcoin Cash (BCH) supporter, telling people over Twitter how BCH has many benefits. Cobra states on April 24: To be honest some very cool stuff is being built on top of Bitcoin Cash like Joystream and Memo.cash. Fast growing merchant adoption too. Bitcoin Cash community should be proud of themselves for these achievements even though it’s not even been a year since the split. To many in the bitcoin community, no matter which side you support, the co-owner of Bitcoin.org Cobra has been somewhat of an enigma. Bitcoin Core supporters don’t trust him and believe his account has been ‘compromised,’ even though Cobra has provided his digital signature on numerous occasions. Bitcoin Cash proponents also have a distrust for Cobra due to his past statements, and his tendentious proposals to eradicate PoW and the mining industry. However the bitcoin community as a whole on both sides of the equation, do find interest in what Cobra states on Twitter, and the changes this anonymous individual merges into Bitcoin.org. The website is transparent and somewhat ‘community controlled’ via the page’s codebase on Github — But there’s also no denying the co-owner of Bitcoin.org, who refers to himself as a venomous snake, has a great deal of power much like his partner Theymos. What do you think about Bitcoin.org reverting its 2010 descriptions back to the front page? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments below. Images via Pixabay, Bitcoin.org, Twitter, GI Joe, and Bitcoin.com Looking for a Bitcoin Cash Block Explorer? Check out Bitcoin.com’s BCH Block Explorer today to find transactions, blocks, and other important blockchain data. The post Bitcoin.org Reverts Back to ‘Fast’ and ‘Low Fee’ Descriptions on Front Page appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Over the past few days we learned about how Amazon wants to track your bitcoin transactions, why TD Ameritrade planted its flag in the blockchain, and even how close to reality are flying cars. These stories and many more were covered in this week’s daily editions of Bitcoin in Brief. Also Read: Cryptocurrency Mining Accounted for 10% of AMD’s Overall Revenue in Q1 2018 Snatching Blockchain, Tracking Bitcoin On Monday we reported that online retail giant, Amazon, has obtained a bitcoin tracking patent. The company thinks that by collecting data from multiple sources and finding a correlation with transactions it can link a specific bitcoin address with a shipping address, an IP, an email, a bank account, or a social media profile. And the patent specifically notes that police forces may be interested in receiving such data. Meanwhile, Amazon’s main brick-and-mortar competitor, Walmart, has gotten its own blockchain patents. The company plans a vendor payment sharing system that will automatically process payments for products and services, and encrypt the transactions on a blockchain. Wary Giants, Eager Dwarfs When highly centralized political entities try to limit the spread of a popular product or technology it is no surprise that nearby locations will try to capitalize on such an opportunity. On Tuesday we reported about how this is seen now with bitcoin, with places like Malta, Hong Kong, Singapore and even Crimea jumping in while China, Russia, and the European Union get left behind. The next day we reported that the tiny nation of San Marino also wants to take a part of the blockchain action. Crypto Leakers, Hackers and Rappers On Wednesday it was revealed that Wikileaks has switched its store to Canada’s Coinpayments and that its publishing arm has expanded its own bitcoin and privacy system. The organization also attacked its former service provider: “Coinbase has become an unreliable and even dangerous service, subject to arbitrary, non-transparent actions as it merged with the US banking sector and started to provide information on its customers to the US government. It has become everything that Bitcoin was designed to stop.” Additionally covered were Snoop Dogg to perform at an upcoming Ripple event, hackers blackmailing governments, a new crypto VC from by Andreessen Horowitz, and the vote against restoring Parity’s lost ethers. Big Money Wears Big Horns The main focus on Thursday was on comments by John Pfeffer, an hedge fund manager that predicts the price bitcoin could rise to no less than $90,000 in the next couple of years, and potentially as high as $700,000. “When I think about the displacement argument, I start with gold. It’s kind of silly – we are a space-faring, digital society and we’re still using a yellow metal as our non-sovereign store of value. At some point we’re going to come up with a better technology for that and bitcoin is the first candidate. We’ll see if it works,” Pfeffer said. We also reported that the Chicago Board Options Exchange wants to lower the minimum increment on its bitcoin futures contracts. First Ad in the Blockchain On Friday we reported about an alleged pump and dump scheme by a group of crypto influencers. A whistleblower says he was invited to join the group’s Telegram channel where he saw their supposedly incriminating messages. According to the screenshots, members of the group discussed how much cryptocurrency would be needed to control 25% of the trading volume, how long it should be held, and when it should be dumped. Additionally covered is how TD Ameritrade claimed to have become the first company to embed an advertisement in the bitcoin blockchain. According to Denise Karkos, Chief Marketing Officer at TD Ameritrade, there is “no expectation beyond creating a little buzz for the brand” and enjoying the process. Fork-o-Mania and Flying Cars Finally, flying cars were featured on Saturday’s weekend edition of Bitcoin in Brief. The retro-futurist transports are promised to debut at an upcoming blockchain conference in Dubai. We also reported why Binance boss CZ has decided to take a stand against mainstream media journalists that write about bitcoin without ever owning a coin or completing a transaction. This Week in Bitcoin Podcast To make sure you didn’t miss any big bitcoin news this week, listen to the following podcast: What other stories everyone in the bitcoin world must have read this week? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Do you agree with us that Bitcoin is the best invention since sliced bread? Thought so. That’s why we are building this online universe revolving around anything and everything Bitcoin. We have a store. And a forum. And a casino, a pool and real-time price statistics. The post This Week in Bitcoin: Amazon Wants to Track You and TD Ameritrade Plants a Flag 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. Lack of adoption in real life is a persistent reality that cryptocurrency has endured in the last 10 years of its existence. With that in mind, Fixy network aims to facilitate the use of cryptocurrencies in daily life through its versatile, yet user-friendly app which will be available on Android and IOS. It has two main features : Decentralized exchange and marketplace. Besides its main features, advertising modules and blockchain-based games will be available to engage the community and create a sustainable microeconomic cycle inside the platform. Advertising and ICO listing features, which will accept Fixy app native currency (FXY) as its payment method, will help cryptocurrency companies marketing to deal with the imminent ads ban from major tech giants such as Google and Twitter. 55% revenue generated from the advertising services will be given back to the community through games reward mechanism. To proliferate the use of cryptocurrency in daily life, Fixy Network will provide Fixy gift cards which acts as a shortcut for everyone to directly buy cryptocurrency using their fiat money. The gift cards will be available in every Fixy store partners. In the present time, with hundreds of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) already running in the first quarter of 2018, how investors could confidently put their trust into a legit, genuine project that will realize the promises written in the whitepaper ? the simple answers will be to look at the team members ability to develop the product according to its roadmap on time and how well the established companies would open to deal a partnership with the project. Acting as a translation from abstract vision to a tangible result, Minimum Viable Product (MVP) holds an important consideration to decide the seriousness and execution quality of a project. MVP can be defined as a product with core features that developed at the early stage of a project to demonstrate the feasibility of an idea. With MVP already developed, it shows the proficiency of the team members in converting an abstract vision to manageable developmental phases. From software development perspective, there are many challenges involved in making a good mobile application, especially the one that incorporates a new technology such as blockchain as its backend. Fortunately, by having the necessary experience and long hours of development, the developers behind Fixy Network app have the capacity to understand them very well. With a lot of change cycles and features customization expected during the app development, its architecture is carefully crafted to minimize a lot of rework while providing the ease of scalability in the future. This will translate into a seamless experience when the app is used in daily life scenario. As stated in its whitepaper, Fixy Network began its software and business development in November 2017 and has always in accordance with its roadmap plan. The MVP is already packed with some key features : OTC trading, advertising, instant messaging, and find buyer & seller. With the availability of MVP, Fixy Network team is ready to implement its solution on the field and fully confident in seeking a strategic partnership with various companies. Fixy app MVP V 1.0 demos can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjB-WAgLrss While successfully developed its MVP on schedule, Fixy Network has already securing NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) contracts with two established franchise companies with 53 stores spread across Europe and Asia. The partnership will incorporate the companies into Fixy Network store partners which customers will be able to buy cryptocurrency directly with their fiat money via Fixy gift cards. Furthermore, Fixy Network is ready to accept small/medium retailer stores as its partner, to speed up its network growth, so the vision of making cryptocurrency usable in daily life could be expedited. The availability of MVP and partnerships demonstrates Fixy Network willingness to put investors and community interests at the top of its priority. Currently, the project is establishing its business by hiring ambassadors in various countries, ranging from Europe to Asia continent. With many exciting things already happened behind the scene, there are a lot of surprises to be presented in the near future. With private sale already raised 400 ETH, Fixy Network will launch its pre-ICO on May 1st 2018 with 40% bonus. Don’t miss a once in a lifetime chance to be a part of cryptocurrency mass adoption movement. Token Sale will occur from 1 May – 31 May 2018 and will be closed if sold out early Ticker: FXY Token type: ERC20 Total Supply : 100.000.000 FXY Available for Token Sale: 68.000.000 FXY Soft Cap : 2.000 ETH Hard Cap : 11.400 ETH Official Website: https://fixyapp.io Whitepaper : https://fixyapp.io/Whitepaper.pdf Telegram: https://t.me/fixynetwork Twitter: https://twitter.com/fixy_app Contact Email Address ht@fixyapp.io Supporting Link https://www.fixyapp.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: With MVP and Partnership in Hand, Fixy Network Is Primed to Launch Its Pre-ICO appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Over the past few months, the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network has grown immensely as far as infrastructure support, merchant adoption, and the development of interesting on-chain applications. Another metric that’s been growing wildly is the significant increase of BCH focused meetups popping up in countries worldwide as organizers of these groups steadily push bitcoin cash adoption. Also read: Bitcoin Markets Steady for Another Gox Dump, 16,000 Coins Moved by Trustee Bitcoin Cash Meetups See Worldwide Growth There are a lot of ways people can learn and support blockchain technology and cryptocurrency solutions. Some people research the subject of bitcoin and only take it so far by reading about digital currencies, and maybe participating in online forums. Then other individuals looking for a more ‘hands-on’ approach attend bitcoin-focused conferences, and meetups. These days as bitcoin cash support grows many people across the globe are organizing or attending BCH-centric meetups. Lots of individuals use the website Meetup, a group-organizing platform for a variety of interests and hobbies including cryptocurrencies. Since the inception of bitcoin cash, individuals started utilizing the Meetup platform to form BCH groups that meet on a regular schedule. Now there is a vast quantity of BCH groups meeting regularly in regions such as San Francisco, Tokyo, Boston, Seoul, London, Amsterdam, Nigeria, Kenya, Hong Kong, Toronto, Seattle, Orange County, Brazil, Malaysia, Helsinki, Beijing, Cancun, Sweden, and many more. Further, there are BCH-focused organizations like the nonprofit Bitcoin Cash Fund that helps organizers bootstrap BCH meetups worldwide. The Bitcoin Cash Fund, @BCHMeetups, and Other Organizations Help Spread More BCH Meetups The Bitcoin Cash Fund is a nonprofit dedicated to spreading BCH adoption on a global level as a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system,” as Satoshi Nakamoto intended. The fund sponsors another group called @BCHMeetups who can be followed on Twitter. The Twitter handle publishes posts on bitcoin cash meetups taking place in many different countries. Moreover, the group shares information on where individuals can find meetups in their area and it publishes pictures and stories from events that have already happened. People can find BCH-centric groups using events.Bitcoin.com Some of the BCH meetups worldwide have pretty large groups that participate in the regular meetings focused on promoting bitcoin cash. For instance, the BCH Seoul meetup has 529 members, London (433), Tokyo (558), and Oslo (727), and these groups keep climbing in number. In addition to the @BCHMeetups Twitter handle, people can find BCH-centric groups using events.Bitcoin.com which displays a multitude of bitcoin cash meetups globally. As the cryptocurrency revolution grows more popular, bitcoin cash focused meetups worldwide are seeing more and more people wanting to learn about this innovative technology, or participate spreading global BCH adoption. What do you think about BCH meetups growing in number worldwide? Do you attend a cryptocurrency focused meetup in your area? We’d like to hear your thoughts on this subject in the comments below. Images via @BCHMeetups, Meetup.com, and events.Bitcoin.com Looking for a Bitcoin Cash Block Explorer? Check out Bitcoin.com’s BCH Block Explorer today to find transactions, blocks, and other important blockchain data. The post Bitcoin Cash Meetups Grow Wildly Across the Globe appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Reports have indicated that planning approval has been granted for a 20-megawatt solar farm that will be used to power cryptocurrency mining and a data center in Collie, Western Australia. Also Read: Bitcoin’s Near Term Fortunes: “Inflows of Big Money,” New Indices Emerge 20MW Solar Farm to Power Cryptocurrency Mining in Western Australia The application for the solar farm has been made a by Hadouken Pty Ltd, which is owned by Australian Ben Tan. Mr. Tan previously co-founded Nasdaq-listed international solar power company, Vivopower International PLC. The solar park will be used to power cryptocurrency mining activities and a data center. Approval for the farm was recommended by the Southern Development Assessment Panel. The site of the expected solar farm is approximately 2 kilometers (approximately 1.25 miles) north of Collie – a rural town situated 213 kilometers (approximately 132 miles) south of the Perth, the state’s capital. Collie is home to Western Australia’s largest power generator, Muja – a coal-fired power station capable of generating 854 megawatts of electricity. Hadouken’s application indicated that the company intends to install a battery storage system positioned in ten shipping containers in future, with the solar facility set to be constructed within three to six months on an eighteen-hectare site. Solar and Cryptocurrency Mining Offers Lifeline to Declining Coal Mining Town For sixty years, Collie’s two coal mines were responsible for producing 60 percent of Western Australia’s coal-fired electricity. Recent years has seen the future of town cast in doubt, with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation quoting a local politician as stating that “The cost of production is higher than the return from the coal itself so that’s really the basis of the issue and after so long a parent company’s going to say enough’s enough.” The approved application for the farm indicates enthusiasm for the project, which states that “Approval and implementation of the proposal will also be a positive contribution towards establishing a greater presence of the renewable energy sector within the Shire of Collie.” Hadouken expects to have completed the construction of the facility within three to six months. The construction of the facility is expected to hire a workforce of 40-80 individuals, with three part-time staff predicted to be tasked with the maintenance of the facility in the future. Despite the recognition of the economic benefits of the project, media has reported that some locals expressed concerns that the site may comprise an eyesore. Mr. Tan has indicated that his company will mine bitcoin in addition to “other [crypto]currencies,” with local media quoting Mr. Tan as describing Collie as an “excellent spot for a solar farm.” Do you think that Australia’s outback will soon host many large-scale mining operations? Share your thoughts in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. The post 20MW Solar Farm Set to Power Crypto Mining in Rural Australia appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Taiwan’s Minister of Justice has indicated that the country is anticipating to have implemented a regulatory apparatus for cryptocurrencies by November 2018. The Minister made comments revealing the expected deadline during a recent anti-money laundering conference. Also Read: Venezuela Shuts Down Two Cryptocurrency Exchanges Cryptocurrency Regulations Expected to be Enacted in Taiwan Before 2019 High-ranking Taiwanese officials have indicated that the country intends to develop and introduce a legislative framework for cryptocurrencies by November this year. The announcement was made by Taiwan’s Minister of Justice, Qiu Taisan, whilst speaking at a conference dedicated to money laundering prevention in the financial services industry, which was held by The Taiwan Financial Services Coalition. Mr. Taisan indicated that cryptocurrency and bitcoin are increasingly being seen as a subject of considerable concern. Mr. Taisan also revealed Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) will be tasked with developing the country’s regulatory apparatus for virtual currencies, with consultation and assistance expected to be provided by Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior, Central Bank, and the Investigation Bureau. Money Laundering Among Chief Concerns At the event, Gu Lixiong, Taiwan’s Chairman of the Financial Supervision and Management Commission indicated that preventing cryptocurrencies from becoming a vehicle for money laundering is among the principal objectives of the coming regulations, citing its pseudonymous nature as posing significant challenges to authorities. Mr. Taisan also revealed that on April 10th, Taiwan’s Legal Department had invited representatives of two domestic cryptocurrency exchange operators to provide consultation regarding the operational processes underpinning virtual currency trade. Taiwanese Legislator Calls for Regulatory Clarity Yu Wanju, a Democratic Progressive Party member of the Legislative Yuan, has posted on Facebook demanding clarity from Taiwan’s FSC regarding its stance on bitcoin and cryptocurrency. Mrs. Wanju implored the FSC to clarify as to whether or not bitcoin-relate financial activities are legal in Taiwan, emphasizing that failing to do so may prevent the country from being competitive in attracting investment from major companies operating within the emerging cryptocurrency sector. According to a rough translation, Mrs. Wanjua stated: “In order to attract top international companies and foreign capital to reinvigorate Taiwan’s economy, the most pressing matter of the moment is to set up a clear legal framework and get rid of the uncertainty.” Late last year, the chairman of the FSC, Wellington Koo, confirmed that Taiwan would not follow China’s footsteps in pursuing a prohibitive regulatory apparatus pertaining to cryptocurrencies. Do you think that Taiwan will seek to position itself as an attractive destination for cryptocurrency businesses? Share your thoughts in the comments section below! Images courtesy of Shutterstock Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. The post Taiwanese Bitcoin Regulations Expected by November 2018 appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A Chinese household has been stealing electricity to mine bitcoin using 50 mobile phones and 15 improvised mining rigs. The home workshop has consumed almost 33,000 kWh of unbilled electricity. That should be enough for a couple of bitcoins, but using a smartphone for the job is not really an option. Also read: 80% of the 21 Million Bitcoins Have Been Mined Into Existence Stealing Kilowatts to Mine Peanuts An electric utility company in China has uncovered an illicit mining operation that was simply not worth the risk. A household in the province of Guangdong was caught stealing electricity to power a bitcoin mining farm at home. The improvised facility was found by workers from the Meizhou municipal branch of the China Southern Power Grid Company. During a routine inspection in Fengshun County they discovered some illegally connected power cables and became suspicious. The cables ran over a back alley to the upper floor of a residential building. They powered 56 mobile phones and 15 homemade mining rigs, as seen on the photographs posted on the popular Chinese microblogging platform Weibo. According to the South China Morning Post, the equipment has been used to mint bitcoins. Mining the oldest cryptocurrency is a power-intensive activity. It requires a lot of electricity and needs some serious cooling. Highly specialized hardware handles the enormous number of calculations involved in the processing of bitcoin transactions. The units capable of doing all that are called Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). It is possible to mine many other cryptos with non-dedicated hardware, but then again powerful graphics processing units (GPUs) are used. Employing mobile phones to mine bitcoin, with their negligible computing power, is not a profitable undertaking. Mining a single bitcoin consumes an average of 18,000 kilowatt hours of electricity. The proof of work for bitcoin has burned more than 40 TWh of electricity in 2017, according Digiconomist. Processing ethereum transactions spent more than 10 TWh. The Chinese household, however, didn’t pay anything for the electricity consumed by its rigs and phones. That leaves some room for profit, if the energy was used to mine some of the altcoins. According to officials from the utility company, the illegal farm has consumed an estimated 32,940 kWh of stolen electricity. Chinese police are still investigating the case, the local newspaper Yangcheng Evening News reported. Authorities have not yet named the individuals involved in the illicit crypto mining operation. Bitcoin Mining Still Legal in China Unlike initial coin offerings and crypto trading, cryptocurrency mining is not yet considered illegal in the People’s Republic. Some of the world’s largest mining facilities are concentrated in power-rich regions and provinces with cooler climates. According to many estimates, up to 80% of the global bitcoin mining capacity currently resides in China. The status quo, however, may change in the future. Earlier this year reports suggested that potential energy shortages in the provinces where the largest mining facilities are located have worried Beijing. Authorities in two autonomous regions – Inner Mongolia and the Xinjiang-Uygur, and two provinces – Sichuan and Yunnan, received recommendations to restrict electricity supplies to mining farms. Even if the Chinese government decides to ban these operations, bitcoin mining won’t stop. Russia and other countries in Eastern Europe, Canada, Iceland, and the US have received attention as mining destinations, and are even competing to attract Chinese miners. What do you think about crypto mining with smartphones? Tell us in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, China Southern Power Grid Co. 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 Chinese Household in Trouble for Chasing a Lost Cause – Mining Bitcoin with Phones appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Chilean Minister of Economy has voiced his support for cryptocurrencies after the country’s anti-monopoly court ordered major banks to re-open the accounts of crypto operators. Three banks out of the 10 sued by local cryptocurrency exchange Buda have been ordered to re-open crypto exchange accounts. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Minister of Economy Supports Crypto José Ramón Valente, Chile’s Minister of Economy, Development, and Tourism, “gave a signal of support to cryptocurrencies and those who operate them in Chile,” Diario Financiero reported on Friday and quoted him saying: What interests us with cryptocurrencies is basically giving them the opportunity [to develop] because they are an important innovation that is happening in the world…You have to give them a chance. José Ramón Valente. “We cannot stay out of these innovations” or “outside of this economy of the future,” he emphasized, adding that by giving them a chance, “we are not the ones who artificially put a lock on them so they cannot happen,” the news outlet conveyed. While advocating for giving cryptocurrencies a chance “so that they demonstrate their value,” he clarified that he does not support any parties involved in the conflict between banks and crypto exchanges. “We are not in favor [of] or against them, but simply see them as another innovation and we favor that there is this innovation, and that Chile does not close before the possible technological advances in the world,” he elaborated. Scotiabank Next The minister’s remarks came after the Court for the Defense of Free Competition (TDLC – Tribunal de Defensa de la Libre Competencia) ordered Banco del Estado de Chile and Itau Corpbanca to re-open the current accounts of Buda crypto exchange, formerly Surbtc. On Friday, Diario Financiero also reported that the TDLC proceeded to issue the same order to Scotiabank to re-open the current account of another cryptocurrency operator, Cryptomkt. Responding to the court’s order, Scotiabank said: We excuse ourselves from issuing an opinion. However, we would like to point out that Scotiabank has high standards in the prevention of money laundering which are a regulatory requirement, which must be met by all bank customers without exception. The bank added that in this particular case, the account was closed after the company “was asked to prove the origin of its funds, [and] it could not adequately satisfy them.” Pablo Lorenzini, Christian Democratic Party deputy and president of the Finance Committee of the Lower Chamber, said following the TDLC’s orders, “we must legislate [cryptocurrencies] soon.” What do you think of the Chilean Minister of Economy’s support for crypto and the court’s action? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Wikipedia. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Chilean Minister Supports Cryptocurrencies After Court Sided With Exchanges Against Banks 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. Did you know that the flying cars from The Fifth Element and Blade Runner films have already become reality? Or that using a VR helmet allows you to sit in an office meeting with the world’s leading experts and investors without the traveling hassle? Probably not. Well, here’s a chance. The Futurama Blockchain Innovators Summit held by Coinsbank in Dubai welcomes you to witness the fruits of the three most revolutionary technologies of the 21st century at once: blockchain, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality. We’ll showcase you futuristic solutions, from the new generations tools for managing your personal health data, to a billion dollar trading algorithm that represents the most advanced artificial general intelligence that can reason and theorize. Headliners Galore The summit is one of the most exclusive gatherings of the world’s sharpest crypto minds. “Very excited to be there and participate” – says Brock Pierce, Bitcoin Foundation, Blockchain Capital, who already shone on the previous Coinsbank Blockchain Cruise. The Futurama Blockchain Innovators Summit will bring together the crème de la crème of the crypto industry: – Miko Matsumura, Evercoin Exchange & BitBull Capital; – Dinis Guarda, TOP 30 Most Influential People in the Blockchain; – Nicholas Merten, DataDash YouTube (283k subs); – Federico Pistono, Hyperloop; – James Glasscock, DNA Capital (the world’s premiere crypto venture fund); – Jonathan Teo, Binary Capital (over 300M under management); – Stephen Stonberg, Hedge Fund and Investment Bank (Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank); and 20+ top leaders is calling you to join them in the desert. Come join us and change the world together and for the better! “Futurama can help us create a truly global community that’s passionate about solving world’s biggest problems with the newest technologies and begin taking steps toward a better future by connecting those who want to build together across jurisdictions and countries” – says Henry Liu, Blockchain Venture Capitalist and ex-Facebook E-Commerce. Breath-taking entertainment Connect with the best. Fly with the loftiest. Float like nothing can stop you. We will show you what the best blockchain innovators can do today. Surrounded by industry whales and futuristic technology within the setting of spellbinding Arabian luxury and the beauty of the Middle East, you will jump from the largest Futuristic Yacht in the Gulf to the ball at a bright Arab Desert Rose Party, a Burning Man-like experience. “The event looks like it’ll be incredible”- said Nicholas Merten (DataDash Youtube), one of the most respectable blogger in crypto field. Can hardly wait? Join the most exclusive blockchain event in the most technologically perfect place on the planet. Don’t miss the future. Join now – COINSBANK.COM/DUBAI Contact Email Address mail@futurama-dubai.com Supporting Link https://coinsbank.com/DUBAI 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: Brock Pierce and 25+ Crypto Whales in the Most Expected Coinsbank Event of the Year appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, world renowned investor and head of Berkshire Hathaway, was asked about his views on cryptocurrency, especially that of bitcoin. While not as dour and hateful as his Vice Chairman of just two months ago, Mr. Buffett is not convinced bitcoin is anything more than gambling, a game. Also read: Bitcoin Markets Steady for Another Gox Dump, 16,000 Coins Moved by Trustee Oracle of Omaha Doesn’t Believe Bitcoin is an Investment Ahead of the 2018 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting, a near religious experience for legacy, mainstream investors, Warren Buffett was once again asked about his views on cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin. Mr. Munger (L) and Mr. Buffett “You aren’t investing when you do that,” Mr. Buffett, 87, told Yahoo! Finance recently, referencing the world’s most popular decentralized currency. “You’re speculating. There’s nothing wrong with it. If you wanna gamble somebody else will come along and pay more money tomorrow, that’s one kind of game. That is not investing.” Mr. Buffett is actually quite reasonable compared with his longtime partner, Charlie Munger. Berkshire Hathaway’s Vice Chairman told an assembled Los Angeles audience in mid-February, “I never considered for one second having anything to do with [bitcoin], I detested it the minute it had been raised. The more popular it got, the more I hated it. It’s just disgusting that people have been taken in by this.” He’d go on to compare bitcoin to a “noxious poison.” Don’t Really Have Anything that has Produced Anything Traditional finance’s most famous investor is a tad more muted about crypto, but no less skeptical. “There’s two kinds of items that people buy and think they’re investing,” Mr. Buffett continued. “One really is investing and the other isn’t.” With revenues at nearly a quarter trillion (yes, trillion) USD, Berkshire Hathaway has a lot of influence, especially in popular retail investing. As of this writing a single share of its Class A stock runs a cool $295,995 per, a price more the glassy-eyed of the bitcoin ecosystem say it too will reach one day. Mr. Buffett’s personal fortune hovers around $80 billion (yes, billion). He famously does not invest in what he doesn’t understand. Crypto would seem to fall into that category. “If you buy something like a farm, an apartment house, or an interest in a business,” he insisted, “You can do that on a private basis. And it’s a perfectly satisfactory investment. You look at the investment itself to deliver the return to you. Now, if you buy something like bitcoin or some cryptocurrency, you don’t really have anything that has produced anything. You’re just hoping the next guy pays more.” What do you think about Mr. Buffett’s comments? Let us know in the comments below. Images via Pixabay, Berkshire Hathaway. Looking for a Bitcoin Cash Block Explorer? Check out Bitcoin.com’s BCH Block Explorer today to find transactions, blocks, and other important blockchain data. The post Warren Buffett: Bitcoin is Gambling, a Game, Not an Investment appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Bitcoin prices and cryptocurrency spot markets, in general, have been recovering after the downturn that took place from mid-December 2017 up until three weeks ago. At the time, when BTC derivatives products were introduced to the public, futures contracts got off to a slow start. Now bitcoin-based futures markets from the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) have seen a significant uptick in product sales for the trading sessions during the month of April and May. Also read: Bitcoin Markets Steady for Another Gox Dump, 16,000 Coins Moved by Trustee Bitcoin Futures Products from CME and Cboe Start Seeing Significant Trade Volume In March, news.Bitcoin.com reported on bitcoin-based derivatives products from CME and Cboe starting to pick up in volume. CME contracts at the time had around 1,000 contracts per day and zero sold for the month of May as it stood. However, that month Cboe saw a great influx of volume as March expiries closed above 10,000 contracts and May products were starting to sell steadily. Fast forward to this week as cryptocurrency spot markets start seeing some signs of recovery, bitcoin futures products are selling like hotcakes. Last Wednesday’s Futures Volumes Were Nearly Three Times the Average Daily Volume This past Wednesday Cboe’s bitcoin futures (XBT) spiked in volume as more than 18,000 contracts were traded for May. Furthermore, public data shows June and July Cboe XBT products have starting selling as well but there are zero sold for the month of August. The next three months of predictions show price stability as contracts hover around the $8,900-9,100 region per XBT. Right now daily May volumes are around 3,700 contracts and 24-hour statistics have been between 3,000-6,000 products a day. Last week’s 18,000+ record beat Cboe’s first milestone of 15,000+ contracts when the futures markets first launched but slowed down considerably since then. “[The] average daily volume (ADV) runs about 6,600 in XBT Bitcoin Futures. Yesterday’s volume was nearly three times ADV,” Kevin Davitt Cboe Options Institute senior instructor explained this Thursday. Yesterday was the highest daily volume for bitcoin futures since their introduction here at CBOE nearly five months ago. The lead month May futures traded 18,210 contracts, and across the term structure, a total of 19,000 bitcoin futures traded here yesterday. The previous high-volume session was January 17 with just less than 15,500 contracts traded. Last Week’s Volumes Were Different to January’s Bitcoin Futures Volumes The same day CME Group saw a similar uptick in bitcoin futures volumes for its April 2018 contracts. Wednesday saw 11,000+ contracts on CME’s bitcoin markets according to public data. Cboe’s Davitt says that January’s volume coincided with the first set of contracts but this past Wednesday’s volumes did not, the Cboe senior instructor explained. Nor did it have a 15-20 percent range in futures he would otherwise have expected, he added. What do you think about Cboe and CME’s bitcoin futures markets seeing considerable contract volume this past week? Let us know in the comments below. Images via Pixabay, CME Group, Cboe, and CNBC charts. Looking for a Bitcoin Cash Block Explorer? Check out Bitcoin.com’s BCH Block Explorer today to find transactions, blocks, and other important blockchain data. The post Bitcoin Futures Markets See a Big Uptick in Trade Volume appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Just recently we reported about the on-chain social media network called Memo, an application that allows people to publish censorship resistant ‘memos’ on the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) blockchain. So far users have sent thousands of on-chain memos, and the platform’s developers have added new features like ‘replies’ which unleashed over 3,000 Memo transactions in 24 hours after adding the reply component. Also read: Markets Update: Cryptocurrencies Erase Two-Day Losses New Features Added to the On-Chain Social Media Platform Memo.cash Bitcoin Cash proponents have been very excited about the new Memo.cash application that was launched two weeks ago. Memo is seeing a lot of traction, and there are quite a bit of users on the platform now, as scrolling through the app’s profile list can take some time. A lot of BCH supporters seem to really like the idea of a censorship-proof social media system where literally everything is stored on-chain. Since the app was launched, people started posting like crazy with little blurbs and cementing URLs into the BCH chain. Following this, Memo has seen some new user interface (UI) features which include the use of emojis, the ability to reply back to memos, and a counter for typing. Memo users start using emojis. 3,000 On-Chain Memo Transactions in 24-Hours When the reply feature was added to the platform, the Memo website got a lot of use that day. According to Memo user Zhell, the app broke records by accumulating 3,000 on-chain transactions in 24-hours after adding replies. Every action on the Memo platform is accounted for on the BCH chain because the platform uses P2PKH addresses, which saves the data via an OP_Return transaction. So any time the user writes a memo, likes and tips a memo, or replies, there is an immutable record of these activities on the BCH chain using very small microtransactions. Besides the point that Memo works in a peer-to-peer manner, and the fact that recorded memos can be kept on the BCH chain in a censorship-resistant manner, excites bitcoin cash proponents. Using Public Blockchains to Fight Censorship For instance, coding messages into a public blockchain made headlines this week when students from China and members of the #metoo movement used the Ethereum network to overcome Chinese government censorship. Students are being censored for exposing sexual harassment stemming from University professors, and officials silenced most of the dissenting voices on this issue. One female student from Peking University wrote a letter about the sexual harassment but faculty and Chinese officials censored the letter. So on April 23 in a similar fashion to the way Memo operates, a user sent an OP_Return ETH transaction that gave people access to her letter via the Ethereum blockchain. Cases like these solidify the value of an on-chain network which lets users share censorship-resistant data. Early bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen seems to like Memo.cash. Memo Has More Features Coming Memo, on the other hand, has a more rich display of text, emojis, and direct URLs that can be seen on certain block explorers. The developers of the Memo project have more features planned for the next updates such as setting a profile picture, attaching photos, and reposting memos. Moreover, the team mentions on the website that additional features can be added such as a voting system, tagging profiles, issue and revoke delegated addresses, and dislike or flag users/posts. After May 15 when the BCH hard fork is complete Memo may see even more robust actions that could be added to the platform because there will be a notable increase in the OP_Return field. This will allow any developer, including Memo’s programmer, to build ‘colored coins’ or representative assets, alongside digital rights management services that are interoperable with the bitcoin cash blockchain. What do you think about the Memo.cash platform? Have you tried it yet? Let us know what you think in the comments below. Images via Shutterstock, Memo.cash, and Pixabay. Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. The post Memo Innovation Invigorates Bitcoin Cash Proponents 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. London, UK. Today, 4NEW announced that they have secured two operational Waste to Energy power plants that produce over 10 megawatts of electricity per hour in the United Kingdom. The power plants, located in Middlesborough and Hartlepool, utilize the Anaerobic Digestion technology to convert regular household waste and feedstock into electricity that is currently sold to the UK national grid. 4NEW’s securing of the two power plants is positioned to redefine the crypto landscape by placing a permanent footprint for the community that will deliver for decades to come. In Q3 of this year, 4New will install onsite cryptocurrency mining farm that will be powered by dedicated electrical supply from the two plants that will generate digital assets such as Ethereum, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and other cryptocurrencies as determined by the holders of the 4New utility token the KWATT. 4NEW has approached the crypto supply chain from the perspective of power production in response to Bitcoin’s voracious energy consumption which currently equates to the same electricity usage as the nation of Switzerland. The conventional approach of the crypto-mining community has remained focused on mining by trying to source the cheapest power available to them. However, with 1 Bitcoin transaction consuming as much power as 34 US households in a day, a mining arms race has caused a record spike in electricity consumption. In recent months, some US utility companies have banned miners from tapping into subsidized power rates. To attack this problem, 4NEW focused their pursuit of renewable energies such as Waste to Energy power plants. “We couldn’t be more thrilled than to deliver to our investment community these sites, already operational in the United Kingdom. To be able to deliver two plants and begin mining is fantastic, we can help reduce the cost of mining while helping the planet at the same time. Come the end of June, we will be utilizing up to 10MW per hour to mine cryptocurrencies bringing the KWATT to life” said Varun Datta, Founder of 4New. Waste to Energy technology has been in play in excess of 100 years with 71 WTE plants within the United States and over 80 WTE plants in Europe. These plants solve two major social problems; Waste surplus and energy shortfall. It is projected that waste output will double within 25 years. To combat this waste epidemic, 4NEW has chosen Waste to Energy technology as its desired protocol to purchase, build and develop power plants globally. “We are thrilled to participate in this deal with 4New which we believe is carving an entirely new demand and validation of the waste-to-energy power production technology.” said James Williams, representing the sellers of both plants in Middlesborough and Hartlepool. WTE plants operate at breakeven due to revenue generated from the sale of Waste processing services and byproducts. Therefore the energy produced is free and can be sold to a national grid. 4NEW has decided to dedicate this energy to the blockchain and mine the most desired cryptocurrencies. ABOUT 4NEW 4New is a waste to energy company focused on the production and provision of electricity to power the mining of popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Thanks to the waste-to-energy model, energy produced is ‘free’, given the revenue generated from waste processing. Consequently, as Bitcoin mining gets increasingly harder to maintain profitably, 4NEW’s ecosystem, coupled with free energy, will be disruptive, providing users with unparalleled competitive edge compared to all other actors within the mining industry. Contact Email Address ssharma@4new.co.uk Supporting Link www.4new.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: 4NEW – Two Operational Power Plants Secured with Launch Plan to Initiate Onsite Crypto Mining Farm appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Satoshi Revolution: A Revolution of Rising Expectations Section 3: Decentralization Chapter 7, Part 3. Are You Part of the Revolution or Part of the War? by Wendy McElroy What do We mean by the [American] Revolution? The War? That was no part of the Revolution. It was only an Effect and Consequence of it. The Revolution was in the Minds of the People, and this was effected, from 1760 to 1775, in the course of fifteen Years before a drop of blood was drawn at Lexington. —John Adams to Thomas Jefferson Revolution and war are polar opposites. Revolution is the decentralization of power from a concentrated authority down to the level of individuals who demand control of their own lives. War is the centralization of power into a coerced and coordinated effort by elites who hold individuals in such contempt as to call them cannon fodder. A war on cryptocurrency has been declared. It comes from government and from those who believe crypto must be made “respectable,” which always translates to regulation, which always translates to people going to prison for making decisions about their own lives. Authorities and those who believe in authority want to control the wealth of other people. “EU Parliament Votes for Closer Regulation of Cryptocurrencies.” “Australian Cryptocurrency Exchanges are Under Regulation, Starting Today.” “South Africa Central Bank Wants to Regulate Cryptocurrency.” The war is afoot. But the revolution continues. Cryptocurrency, like the printing press, has been a social and political game-changer. A huge window of freedom has opened for the average person who can now avoid the central banking system and the government’s grab for wealth and social control. A lot of confusion surrounds the issue of revolution because it has been so badly portrayed. Barricaded streets, people rampaging, cars on fire, conflict with the military…that is not revolution. The violence may be the effects and consequences of revolution, but change comes from the hearts and minds of people when they embrace a new idea. Revolution is not rage and despair; it is hope and realization. The decentralization cannot be handed down, like a pretty gift, from those in political power to those who produce and engage in daily life. The power of decentralization rises up from people who understand that basic human rights are never something for which you say “thanks!” They are a birthright. John Adams explained where the American Revolution could be found. “The Records of thirteen [Colonial] Legislatures, the Pamphlets, Newspapers in all the Colonies ought be consulted, during that Period…” The violence that erupted in 1776 could well be described as a Civil War because about a third of the colonial population backed the British. The War itself was not the revolution; indeed, the War interrupted an intellectual revolution that was slowly winning the loyalty of average people, and might have produced a non-violent societal overthrow. What would America now look like if it had not been born in blood? Fortunately, it was born in newsprint far more than in violence. The quiet explosion caused by Satoshi in 2008 was every bit as much “a revolution.” Those who call it so are often dismissed as hyperbolic because the cryptocurrency eruption does not conform to the images of barricaded streets and people screaming “Pig of a Government!” The social changes in crypto are largely silent. “Pig of a Government!” remarks are hurled at a computer screen in the wee hours of the morning. The pioneers of cryptocurrency are far from traditional bombastic revolutionaries, like Che Guevara, whose portraits are plastered on the walls of post-revolutionary nations. Satoshi himself remains anonymous. It is an unassuming, unpretentious revolution. Besides which, the subject in contention is finance—also known as “filthy lucre”–and since when is that idealistic enough to deserve a revolution? Shouldn’t the banner read “FREEDOM, JUSTICE”? It does. Financial independence is freedom and justice. The ability of people to make and keep the wealth they earn is how people feed their children; it is how they rise from starvation to well-being; wealth allows people to own the land they walk upon; filthy lucre turns an assembly of strangers into a civil society that trades rather than makes war. Money is the engine of civilization itself because there is nothing more important than people being able to feed themselves. Freedom of speech, art, literature and the other amazing human accomplishments follow. The revolution of cryptocurrency takes the custody and management of wealth away from central authorities, like central banks, and returns it to individuals. This is the return of freedom itself. The revolution is all the more remarkable because it has been so peaceful. Alas, the war is beginning. Revolution is Decentralization Satoshi does not mention decentralization in his White Paper, which was pivotal in launching the crypto revolution. That’s odd. Decentralization through the distribution of information over nodes is the key to the freedom offered by cryptocurrency. Gandhi said, “the means are the ends in progress.” Decentralization is the freedom in progress. Decentralization is the revolution. Every successful revolution must answer, “What is the end point?” If there is no good answer, then a bad system will just be replaced by another bad system. The French Revolution that overturned a corrupt monarchy was replaced by a “Committee of Public Safety” that instituted what was called the “Reign of Terror.” The Satoshi revolution of decentralized personal finance must answer, “What is the end point?” The question becomes a problem when people try to give one answer. That is, when they try to centralize the answer into a single statement. The key: there is no one answer, and there should be no one answer. Every human being must decide for him or herself. In his magnum opus “Human Action”, Ludwig von Mises described the principle of Methodological Individualism to which all supposed collectives dissolve: “First we must realize that all actions are performed by individuals. A collective operates always through the intermediary of one or several individuals whose actions are related to the collective as the secondary source…The hangman, not the state, executes a criminal. It is the meaning of those concerned that discerns in the hangman’s action an action of the state… If we scrutinize the meaning of the various actions performed by individuals we must necessarily learn everything about the actions of the collective whole. For a social collective has no existence and reality outside of the individual members’ actions.” Ultimately, revolutions are not a collective. They can and should be reduced to their most basic unit: the individual. Every individual who refuses to obey must provide his or her own answer as to “why?” and “for what?” The answers cannot be collectivized without destroying the revolution itself. Including cryptocurrency. The War is Coming Cryptocurrency reverses the political trend that centralizes financial power over the lives of average people into the hands of the elite. The centralization of power literally kills the average person, for example, through war. The famed Austrian economist Murray Rothbard depicted the struggle for freedom as being Power versus Liberty. It can be rephrased as a struggle between centralization versus decentralization. It is King versus Commoner. To some, cryptocurrencies are nothing more than a profit-making scheme. So be it for them. But everyone who values the political aspect of cryptocurrency should ask themselves: are you part of the revolution or part of the war? [To be continued next week.] Reprints of this article should credit bitcoin.com and include a link back to the original links to all previous chapters Wendy McElroy has agreed to ”live-publish” her new book The Satoshi Revolution exclusively with Bitcoin.com. Every Saturday you’ll find another installment in a series of posts planned to conclude after about 18 months. Altogether they’ll make up her new book ”The Satoshi Revolution”. Read it here first. The post Wendy McElroy: Are You Part of the Revolution or Part of the War? appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The government of Venezuela has taken action against two cryptocurrency exchange operators in the country. Both of them allow customers to convert between a number of cryptocurrencies and bolivars and send remittances abroad. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Operation Paper Hands The Venezuelan government’s “Operation Paper Hands” began a new phase this week “with the dismantling of 3 illegal remittance houses: Intercash, Rapidcambio, and Airtm,” according to the country’s Prosecutor General, Tarek William Saab. He described: Operation Paper Hands is the largest anti-litigation procedure in the country’s history. So far 112 people have been arrested, of whom 107 have already been brought to court. Venezuela’s Prosecutor General, Tarek William Saab, talking about Operation Paper Hands. The operation “seeks to take action against individuals and companies that have incurred misappropriation, [and] dissemination of false information about the exchange rate,” he explained, adding that “1,382 bank accounts have been frozen in which a sum exceeding 711,967 million bolivars [~US$10.6 million] has been blocked.” Furthermore, he indicated that he has also requested the blockade of 247 bank accounts, 40 new arrest warrants, and 104 raids, according to a notice by the country’s Public Ministry. Out of the three aforementioned exchanges, the latter two engage in exchanging between cryptocurrencies and bolivars. Airtm supports the conversion of zcash, bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether, ripple, litecoin, monero, dogecoin, and tether. Rapidcambio allowed customers to exchange and send remittances using bitcoin, ether, bitcoin cash, dash, litecoin, and ripple. Charges Against the Exchanges Saab noted that these exchanges operate through websites registered abroad as well as Twitter accounts and other social networks, adding that they use international parent bank accounts in the U.S., Chile, Ecuador, and Panama. The crackdown, therefore, only affects their operations in Venezuela. He elaborated, “In those accounts, they received deposits in cash or transfers, and then converted at a high and unreal exchange rate,” adding that “I have spoken with the President of the Republic to create new detention centers for these criminals.” Efecto Cocuyo then quoted the Prosecutor General exclaiming: I want someone to explain to me how in September of 2017 a dollar cost 15,000 bolivars; in December it was 100,000 bolivars; in January of this year 200,000 bolivars and at the end of March 500,000 bolivars. Rapidcambio Shut Down At the time of this writing, one of the exchanges above has already closed down. Rapidcambio posted a notice on its website stating that it has “always demonstrated its responsibility, honesty, seriousness and a true commitment to providing a service to all Venezuelans who are abroad.” In addition, the company emphasized, “our company has never set or intended to fix market prices, our exchange rates have always been given by the law of supply and demand, as a free market without any imposition.” Nonetheless, Rapidcambio concluded: Unfortunately we are in need to close our operations indefinitely due to the unjust persecution to exchange houses in Venezuela by the National Government. What do you think of Venezuela shutting down these exchange operators? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Rapidcambio, Airtm, Vtv Canal8, and the Venezuelan government. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Venezuela Shuts Down Two Cryptocurrency Exchanges appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

When Fundstrat Global speaks, the crypto world listens. In recent months it has been a steady font of good news for the ecosystem, with five figure price calls to predicting a very bright future, a crypto future. Resident guru Thomas Lee more-or-less foretold the current after tax season spike in prices when many others were decidedly bearish on the asset class. The firm recently surveyed a small group of institutional investors, and they appear to see cryptocurrencies poised for a breakout year. To help such investors make informed choices in that regard, the company also created five new crypto indices. Also read: Bitcoin Markets Steady for Another Gox Dump, 16,000 Coins Moved by Trustee Inflows of Big Money into Crypto Fundstrat’s co-founder, Thomas Lee, tweeted how his company “hosted a small group of institutional investors” recently. It was a “mix of crypto and traditional macro [hedge funds] long-only.” It was a chance to informally survey basic sentiment about the market shortly after the end of tax season for the United States. Of the nine questions, they included: if cryptos will rise during a recession (65% Yes), if bitcoin core had bottomed (82% Yes), bitcoin core’s year-end price (vast majority believed it will be between $10K and $30K); most believed regulators will provide clarity sometime this year; they do not believe Ethereum will be classified as a security; a great number seem to be moving away from “store of value” concerns, toward an actual currency; and 60% believe Goldman Sachs will be the first to introduce institutional crypto trades. The key “takeaway,” Mr. Lee insists, is how “institutions believe [bitcoin core] bottomed. We see this as a leading indicator for inflows of big money into Crypto.” Indeed, Fundstrat’s Mr. Lee has been something of a fortune teller for the digital asset class. It was he, and almost he alone, who urged investors to perhaps buy the Crypto Winter dip, believing bitcoin core would bounce back after capital gains and relevant tax penalties were paid. As of this writing, he appears to be correct. The future looks so bright for cryptocurrencies, Fundstrat also announced a set of new indices, five to be exact. “Commodity tokens,” wrote Mr. Lee, Sam Doctor, and Robert Sluymer, “in our view, are on-ramps for institutional inflows, given the expanding options for access (futures, etc.). And commodity tokens face less regulatory risk relative to other types of tokens at the moment.” Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Core, Zcash, Monero, and Litecoin Basing their choices on relative size, the five sectors comprising 75% of the sector’s cumulative market capitalization are Stablecoins, Privacy, Platforms, Exchanges, and Commodities (which take up nearly half of the index due to components Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Core, Zcash, Monero, and Litecoin). The Privacy index has four components: BTCP, ZEC, XMR, and DASH, with Monero and Dash taking up the lion’s share. The Stablecoin index has two components: DAI, USTD, with Tether forming a whopping 99% of the sector. Ether, as most might expect, overwhelms the Platform index. More recently, the firm held out seven coins as ones to watch: BCH, BTC, EOS, BYTOM, IOTA, XLM, and NEM. Are you bullish on crypto this year? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Twitter. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Bitcoin’s Near Term Fortunes: “Inflows of Big Money,” New Indices Emerge appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

As author William Gibson memorably observed, “The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed”. Today’s clutch of stories attest to that. Blockchain air taxis, dual forks, and digitally scarce pillow cases may not be the future we dreamed of, but it’s the one we’ve gotten. Welcome to the weekend edition of Bitcoin in Brief. Also read: Bitcoin in Brief Friday: World Satoshi Summit Canceled, Pump and Dump Scheme Exposed From Bitcoin Private to Bitcoin Prime Bitcoin Private developer Rhett Creighton is Bitcoin Private no more. He’s been booted out of the project, which controversially forked from Bitcoin and Zclassic earlier this year, for tweeting that it should be possible to do the same with Bitcoin and Primecoin. Read like that, it sounds like Rhett was ejected simply for expressing an opinion, but the statement triggered Jackson Palmer’s bullshit detector, prompting him to do some digging. After being put on the spot by ex-Dogecoin developer Jackson, Rhett confessed that he’d bought a bunch of Primecoin, which has since pumped just like Zclassic did ahead of the Bitcoin Private fork. Jackson then labeled Rhett the “Martin Shkreli of cryptocurrency” for price manipulation and hopping from fork to fork, and urged the community to start calling out such behavior. Rhett, for his part, blocked his antagonist on Twitter and merrily urged everyone to join the Bitcoin Prime Telegram group to discuss his latest dual fork. Place your bets on which dying coin Rhett will buy up and fork next. Uber Air, Anyone? You’re probably tired of hearing about “disruptive” new ICOs that are “Uber for X”. Well, it’s hard to describe Vimana Global’s air taxis as anything other than Uber for air. The vehicles will be making their debut at the Futurama Blockchain Innovators Summit in Dubai, May 3-6. The question is, will anyone be brave enough to step inside and take to the skies? For delegates who aren’t convinced by the prospect of oversized drones, the event also promises camel rides and hot air balloon flights. Blockchain conferences are turning into Burning Man. Don’t Talk to CZ Unless You Hodl Crypto There’s been some debate over whether owning a particular cryptocurrency – or indeed any crypto – should prevent a journalist from writing about it. Some publications, such as the New York Times, bar their writers from doing so, while others require full disclosure. Binance boss CZ has taken the opposite approach, complaining that there’s a generation of journalists emerging who “have never done a single blockchain transaction writing/”teaching the public” about blockchain.” He’s got a point. Digitally Scarce Pillow Cases Are So Hot Right Now There are those who see the rise of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and digital collectibles as little more than a fad. And then there are others, such as Digital Currency Group’s Barry Silbert, who are bullish on NFTs, and Decentraland in particular. Cryptogoods launched earlier this month as a site where you can have your Cryptokitties printed on mugs, pillowcases, and a bunch of other merch. The USP is that only the token owner is allowed to order designs of their cats. This is the future we chose. Do you think bitcoin forking mania has gone too far? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, and Cryptogoods. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Bitcoin in Brief Saturday: Fork-o-Mania and Flying Cars 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. We all heard about bitcoin and the intriguing (more like confusing?) technology behind it. That is great but how do you actually benefit from this new invention without becoming an expert in it? A lot of people have been turned off by the layers of complexity required to understand the many hard to understand concepts and steps to buying, selling and storing cryptocurrency. Then there’s the memorizing all the passwords and security devices for exchanges, and the many keys and wallets required to ensure that your cryptocurrency is safe. You’re probably thinking to yourself that there must be a solution out there that simplifies this. Well, there is! One such company is Coinseed. By using their mobile app, you don’t have to deal with all the technical aspects of investing in crypto. All you need is to open an account with them and select the cryptocurrencies that you want to invest in. Their app balances high security standards, with ease of use – allowing users to invest in crypto with a click-of-a-button. In this era of technology, do we even expect any less? The app is actually a micro-investment platform similar to Acorns and Stash, allowing users to either automatically collect their spare change to invest or make recurring or one-time investment. The real value of the platform is actually allowing users to invest in cryptocurrency portfolios. In other words, you can invest just $5 in a portfolio of 10 different cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc. There is more! You can see what other users of the platform are investing in and copy their investment portfolio to be your own. Talk about growing together. As promised in the title of this article, Coinseed deals with all the technical headaches of buying, selling, and storing of your cryptocurrencies (it’s all held within the platform) so that you can just keep tapping on your phone. This one feature alone extends Coinseed’s potential global market significantly – a market that is now downloading the app in large numbers. If that was not enough, Coinseed is offering $5 referral bonus! Coinseed recently began a round of capital raising through an ICO, after rolling out their finished app globally. “We’ve rolled out a constant stream of fresh features within the app and have also added a well rounded group of highly experienced advisors and team members. We are already profit positive and have over 10,000 users.” said co-founder Sukhbat Lkhagvadorj. Coinseed’s pre-ICO fundraising round came in at $200,000, and they are raising a further $10 million during their crowdsale that began on March 20th. Contact address: ico.coinseed.co Supporting Link www.ico.coinseed.co 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: Mobile Platform Coinseed ICO Streamlines Cypto Investing appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

You’ve heard of KYC – Know Your Customer – and possibly also KYT – Know Your Transaction – but have likely yet to experience it in action. KYC have lately become the norm for crowdsale registration and exchange verification. Now, KYT is on the rise, and it threatens to blacklist bitcoiners whose cryptocurrency is deemed unclean. Also read: Chainalysis Raises $16Mn – Plans to Monitor Multiple Blockchains How Clean Is Your Crypto? It seems hypocritical to expect cryptocurrency users to account for where their coins came from. Surely it’s no one’s business what your bitcoin was spent on before it was passed on to the next person, and besides, doesn’t discriminating against specific coins go against the very concept of fungibility? Like it or not, KYT is on the rise, and if left unchecked, could create a two-state bitcoin, with one highway for the verified and one for the unverified and their “dark money”. One company whose name is synonymous with the rise of Know Your Transaction is Chainalysis. The firm, who specialize in following the money trail through the blockchain, are a controversial company to say the least. On the one hand, their software has helped trace the movements of Mt Gox’ stolen bitcoins. But on the other hand, cryptocurrency users don’t like to think of their every transaction being recorded and associated with their real world identity in perpetuity. And having recently raised $16 million, Chainalysis’ snooping tools are coming soon to a blockchain near you. When KYC No Longer Cuts It Chainalysis isn’t the only company advancing the field of KYT, for better or worse. It is now routine for some crowdsales to ask investors where their funds were sourced, and to confirm that they weren’t obtained by illegal means. There are unanswered questions, though, about what even constitutes tainted cryptocurrency. Some people would agree, for example, that the $400 million of NEM stolen from Coincheck could reasonably be labeled as dirty money. But what about coins that have passed through a deep web marketplace, even though they could have been used to make a purchase that was entirely legal? From the perspective of banks and exchanges, which must tread very carefully and be seen not to turn a blind eye to money laundering and other illegal activities, KYC may not be enough. It is, after all, a static process that can vouch for the legitimacy of a particular person at a particular moment in time. It cannot, however, identify if that individual later comes into possession of laundered assets. How Clean Is Your Fiat? Technology is neither inherently good or evil; it is simply created, and then purposed in ways benevolent and malevolent. If Chainalysis, Elliptic, Bitfury (Crystal) and others hadn’t developed KYT software, someone else would – and law enforcement would be queuing up to buy it from them instead. With an estimated 90% of U.S. bills tainted with cocaine, and the greenbacks in your wallet likely to have been used to fund various illegal activities, cryptocurrency is no dirtier than fiat currency – in fact it’s probably cleaner. The difference is that banknotes can’t be monitored in real time as they pass from person to person. One of bitcoin’s greatest strengths – its transparency – it also its weakness. For now at least, there are still ways to enter and exit the world of cryptocurrency without having to verify your identity and account for the provenance of your funds. Those doors are rapidly slamming shut though as KYT becomes the new KYC. Do you think KYT is inevitable, and do you think it threatens the fungibility of cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Chainalysis. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Know Your Transaction Is the KYC of Blockchain appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Last fall, the company Blockstack launched a Signature Bounties campaign in order to offer rewards for individuals and teams to build decentralized platforms. So far the campaign has helped produce popular apps like the messaging app ‘Stealthy,’ and ‘Graphite’ documents platform. Now Blockstack has announced it is partnering with the peer-to-peer exchange Shapeshift to offer a $50K bounty to a developer who can build a universal wallet application. Also read: Swap BTC and BCH with the Bitcoin.com Wallet’s New Shapeshift API $50K for a Developer That Can Create a Decentralized Universal Wallet Application The company Blockstack (formally Onename) is a network designed to create decentralized applications and hopes to disintermediate the application layer throughout the internet. Back in September of 2017 the company launched its Signature Bounties campaign with $25Mn behind the project. The bounties are meant to reward software developers who build decentralized applications that are compatible with the Blockstack network. The new $50,000 bounty with Shapeshift is aimed at evolving innovation for the entire cryptocurrency community. In September of 2017, Blockstack announced its Signature Bounties campaign backed by $25 million. “Increased interoperability and collaboration between projects will only hasten the pace of innovation — and making each project’s atomic unit of value accessible across communities is critical. That’s why we are partnering with Shapeshift to enable an open source wallet where users can hold and exchange most, if not all current and future forms of tokens, all in a decentralized manner,” explains Blockstack’s Xan Ditkoff. The Blockstack Signature Fund and Shapeshift teams will award $50,000 to the individual or team with the best open source wallet app using Blockstack for authentication, storage, and encryption, and Shapeshift’s API for token exchange. Blockstack and Shapeshift will award a developer or team $50K to build a universal wallet that works in a decentralized manner. Wallets Should Come With Support for Any Native Token Out of the Box Since the launch of Blockstack’s Signature bounties, two collaborative decentralized apps use the protocol for operations. According to the website, Graphite is a “decentralized and encrypted replacement for Google’s G-Suite — built on Blockstack and powered by the bitcoin blockchain.” Users sign into the app by creating signing in with Blockstack’s identity system. Stealthy is a decentralized messaging platform that also uses Blockstack’s technology and the messenger can be used as a plugin for Graphite. The decentralized universal wallet app bounty initiated by Shapeshift and Blockstack started two days ago and the deadline is June 25, 2018. The wallet app must be open source, it is required to use Shapeshift’s API and Blockstack’s encryption. Furthermore, the wallet has to support custom tokens as well. The app will be judged on the submission requirements, the applications creativity, and if it’s simple enough for users to adopt and navigate. “Shapeshift, the leading instant digital asset exchange, is an ideal partner for a bounty aimed at drastically lowering the barrier for users to hold, exchange, and add new tokens — Shapeshift has already done much to reduce this barrier, but it can go much further,” Blockstack’s announcement reads. A wallet should come with support for any user’s native token out of the box, including those that have yet to be created — And it should be simple and easy to use, so a user can have all tokens supported without having to go back and forth between different wallets or services. What do you think about Blockstack and Shapeshift offering a bounty to create a decentralized wallet app? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Images via Shutterstock, and Blockstack. Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. The post Blockstack and Shapeshift Offer a $50K Bounty for a Universal Wallet appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article