Just yesterday the U.S. Patent Office issued # 9,947,033 to Amazon for software titled Streaming Data Marketplace. CNBC first reported the headlines. Here are some direct excerpts from the patent application:
Streaming analytics technologies hold the promise of making vast volumes of data available in a low latency fashion. However, while prior technologies may be able to provide data in a low latency fashion, the raw data may have low value (or have less valuable than the data could have) until the raw data is enhanced by correlating the raw data with additional data, such as by matching records using common values.
One example is a data stream that publishes or includes global bitcoin transactions (or any cryptocurrency transaction). These transactions are completely visible to each participant in the network. The raw transaction data may have little meaning to a customer unless the customer has a way to correlate various elements of the stream with other useful data.
For example, a group of electronic or internet retailers who accept bitcoin transactions may have a shipping address that may correlate with the bitcoin address. The electronic retailers may combine the shipping address with the bitcoin transaction data to create correlated data and republish the combined data as a combined data stream.
A group of telecommunications providers may subscribe downstream to the combined data stream and be able to correlate the IP (Internet Protocol) addresses of the transactions to countries of origin. Government agencies may be able to subscribe downstream and correlate tax transaction data to help identify transaction participants.
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Amazon filed this patent back in 2014 so it is obvious that cryptocurrencies were not the only application they had in mind for their Streaming Data Marketplace. That doesn’t change the fact that crypto has evolved in value to over $300 billion and adoption of bitcoin by Amazon would be a major legitimizing force in the whole crypto movement.
The one big thing standing in the way of acceptance of a large number of relatively small value transactions is liquidity (speed) and Amazon vendors profits could be enhanced or completely wiped out by crypto volatility. Before getting all excited, the Streaming Data Marketplace would need to address this issue.
Without trying to get into the techno garbodigook, one way to address the problem would be for Amazon to create their own massive crypto exchange that not only provided low latency transactions but serve as yet another Amazon service. Just using the Amazon name would bring enormous credibility.
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After reading through the patent, it is obvious there are many applications to be developed. Helping regulators may be one of those. Here is what the patent application states.
For example, a law enforcement agency may be a customer and may desire to receive global bitcoin transactions, correlated by country, with ISP data to determine source IP addresses and shipping addresses that correlate to bitcoin addresses. The agency may not want additional available enhancements such as local bank data records.
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Is having all of the additional data available to law enforcement and other regulators a good or bad thing? After all, doesn’t this take away all the anonymity that attracted so many to cryptocurrencies in the first place?
There are arguments on both sides of this issue but I think the benefits are worth some consideration. The biggest is that if Amazon and all of its vendors have a mechanism in place to accept payment in bitcoin, this is a huge plus. The day this happens eBay and virtually every other online merchant will get with the game. And let’s remember we are talking about far more than just bitcoin. The downside is that if you have obtained your crypto from some questionable activities or wish to maintain your anonymity, stay away from online shopping.
Source: hacked.com
]]>If Jamie Dimon didn’t believe in karma before, he may be a believer now.
JPMorgan has been hit with a class-action lawsuit on allegations of tacking on unannounced layers of fees plus interest after pulling the rug out from under the feet of cryptocurrency investors, according to a Reuters report. No wonder the decentralized revolution is upon us.
The bank put the kibosh on credit card purchases for cryptocurrencies earlier this year when it also sparked controversy by treating crypto purchases as cash advances, the latter of which command higher fees. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon infamously called bitcoin a fraud a while back, and now those words are coming back to haunt him.
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The plaintiff, Brady Tucker, is from Idaho and the lawsuit was filed in a New York court. He alleges that JPMorgan charged additional layers of fees and much higher interest on the cash advances versus what they charge for credit card purchases. Customers cried foul, but the bank refused to budge.
A Chase spokesperson told Reuters that while the bank placed a ban on credit card purchases for bitcoin and altcoins, they did so “because of the credit risk involved” and pointed out that customers could still use their checking account-linked debit cards for purchases and bypass fees. JPMorgan wasn’t the only bank to ban credit card use for bitcoin, as Bank of America, Citi and others took similar action amid a pullback in the bitcoin price in the new year.
Meanwhile, the Plaintiff is fighting back after being charged these extra fees, including more than $140 in “fees” and another $20-plus in sudden interest charges tied to nearly half-a-dozen transactions right about the same time Chase implemented the ban.
According to the lawsuit, there are “hundreds” and “possibly thousands” of other Chase customers who were similarly met with these unexpected fees in their accounts. While the suit may be about the fees, it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that it’s also about the principle.
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Before turning to the law, Tucker reached out to JPMorgan Chase’s customer service and afforded them the chance to remove the charges, to no avail. Instead, the lawsuit says the bank “stuck the plaintiff with the bill, after the fact of his transactions, and insisted that he pay it.”
Tucker’s attorneys are arguing a violation of the US Truth and Lending Act, which is designed to protect consumers from “unfair credit billing and credit card practices.” It also says that financial institutions must inform customers of any changes to the terms in writing.
The class action lawsuit is seeking damages of $1 million.
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The third largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization with $18.9 billion [according to coinmarketcap] – Ripple (XRP) did have its time to shine back in January as most leading cryptos did when it reached its all-time high over $3.00. Before it managed to reach the major $4.00 the market dipped and so we are on today’s stage.
Not surprising, accordingly to the market development that is taking place now, with cryptocurrencies changing beds from green to red in a matter of a single day, the pair XRP/USD is changing hands just above $0.50 battling to keep its head above waters. But, keeping in mind Ripple’s unique marketing strategy and what it does need to get motors running, going in the flow of some recent announcements – XRP could achieve the $1.00 sooner than what many think.
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Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse, back in January, did announce without providing any further details, up to this point, that Ripple is going into a partnership with a very important money transfer institution. That gave the public some room for guessing so in general opinion, everyone thought that XRP is either going to partner up with Western Union or MoneyGram.
On the other hand, the price of XRP is being tanked very harshly by the avoidance that Coinbase is showcasing not listing the token for live trading. It is evident that Ripple has dropped greatly in price in the last 3 months, however, on the long run the partnership mentioned above will be a catalyst of great change and impact its physical value.
One of the most impacting developments that many are eagerly waiting for to see in action is the Cobalt Algorithm that was introduced by Ethan MacBrough – Ripple employee and a very respected cryptocurrency architect. The official announcement for the implementation of the ingenious-considered algorithm was done on March 27 2018 by Ripple’s team.
The Cobalt algorithm would mitigate the time for a cross-border transaction to nearly 1 second. Previously, Ripple’s cross-border transactions used to take three to four seconds. Therefore, this new implementation would increase Ripple’s speed by nearly 75%.
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XRP transaction speed of processing has surpassed Visa transaction speed at a stunning double the rate – processing 50,000 transactions/sec while VISA reaches to 24,000 transactions/sec.
The San-Francisco based startup Ripple [XRP] has just announced a partnership with Hyperledger – an open source initiative, marking an important step on unfolding the infrastructure for their long-term view of the Internet of Value.
Thanks to this partnership, Ripple will be able to make blockchain technology even more desirable as they are now able to gain the access to the ILP algorithm, which Ripple has modified a while ago to match new demands for blockchain-based operations while changing the way this algorithm is operating.
Joining open source collaborative @Hyperledger is an important step in establishing an #InternetofValue.
— Ripple (@Ripple) March 28, 2018
We're proud to be a part of the #blockchain revolution https://t.co/kRNT2agQHJ
Once the market stops the violent selling and massive plummeting, we will experience incredible results on XRP’s price as a conclusion of these developments that will supports Ripple to reach $1.00 on the near term.
]]>The game isn’t over for Bitcoin yet. And neither is its price volatility, which divides cryptocurrency experts on where bitcoin price is heading next.
On one side is the bullish camp, which argues that Bitcoin is still in an uptrend, betting that it will eventually reach $30,000.
Marshall Taplits, Chief Strategy Officer for NYNJA, is one of them. “Speculation on price is always difficult, says Taplits. “However, the trend for Bitcoin is clear - UP, going to about $20,000 USD from zero in 10 years. Each time Bitcoin corrects, the media wrenches. However, anyone who has been watching crypto currency since the beginning knows to bet on $30,000.”
Coin | Price |
Bitcoin (BTC) | $6,795.53 |
Ethereum (ETH) | $378.22 |
Ripple (XRP) | 0.48 |
**As of 4/6/18, at 9.30 pm
Source: Coinranking.com
Daniel Worsley Chief Operating Officer of LocalCoinSwap is another Bitcoin bull. “There is no other network that has been as battle tested as the Bitcoin blockchain,” says Worsley. “It has resisted serious adversaries, and coordinated attacks designed to disrupt its functioning. It has survived all assaults. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see the price above $20,000 USD this year. Especially given the amount of negative press which is now priced in, and investor expectation of another bull run, it will only take a couple of positive developments to set off the train.”
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On the other side is the bearish camp, which argues that Bitcoin is a mania that sooner or later will come to an end, the way every mania ends: falling demand in the face of rising supply (in this case from competing coins). And when these conditions are met, Bitcoin prices could be driven back to $1000.
That’s according to some estimates which set the fundamental value of Bitcoin at $1,142.
Still, it may take quite some time before the price of Bitcoin reaches its fundamental value, even in a rational world. “Rationality of behavior and expectations is not enough to prevent bubbles, as it is not enough to guarantee that the price of an asset is equal to its fundamental value,” explains Christos Giannikos, Professor of Finance at Baruch College.
What might the catalyst be that would eventually push Bitcoin to its fundamental value?
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There are a couple of things that could kill the hype for the digital currency and help push demand in the opposite direction.
One of them is a Lehman or Enron-style fraud event, not necessarily in the Bitcoin market, but in some other cryptocurrency market, which brings to mind the wild west mentality of mid-19th century capitalism.
The second thing would be the end of easy money. That would push interest rates higher, and take the “air” out of the Bitcoin mania bubble, as discussed in previous pieces here.
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Meanwhile, the volatility in the Bitcoin market and other cryptocurrency markets will continue. "No one can be sure of how it will end up. Bitcoin is expected to face the biggest battle of all," says Dimitris Ioannides, Digital Partnerships & Products & Partnerships Section Manager at OTE & COSMOTE. "Regulators, governments, central banks are here to introduce new rules and put limits. For one thing we must be sure of. Bitcoin's volatility will continue until the end."
Source: Forbes.com
]]>The three billion dollar firm will be investing in the cryptocurrency market and projects. Founded in 1969, the grandson of John D. Rockefeller brought his siblings together to form the company. The company started with a one million dollar capitalization, but after multiple successes, they’ve grown into a huge three billion dollar firm.
Venrock is known for its abilities to find extremely successful start-ups. Their long list of clients is very impressive. They’ve invested in Intel and Apple before they were household names. Even recently, they’ve had prominent success. Nest and the Dollar Shave Club are clients of Venrock, and they’ve grown to be multi-billion dollar firms.
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Since Venrock has such impressive success, cryptocurrencies being added is a huge sign. They’ve done their research and have found crypto to be a huge space in the future. This is an extremely bullish sign. Many venture capital firms will follow in Venrock’s footsteps, investing in crypto.
When asked about cryptocurrencies, David Pakman, a Venrock partner, had an interesting response. He said Venrock wasn’t interested in short-term gains, but rather the long-term future of crypto. Venrock is making a multi-million dollar bet on cryptocurrencies being part of our daily lives in the future.
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Venrock will be partnering with CoinFund, a fund that specializes in the cryptocurrency industry. CoinFund is a venture capital firm that invests in companies that use blockchain technologies. One of CoinFund’s greatest successes is Kik, a widely-used chat platform that recently created its own cryptocurrency. They’ve also invested in Telegram’s multi-billion dollar ICO.
]]>Coinbase, one of the world’s largest exchanges, has blown up in the news over the past week due to many developments being announced. Such developments include a venture fund for crypto startups, withdrawal support for more Bitcoin forks, and entering talks with the SEC to become an officially licensed broker.
Coinbase has just announced that they are planning on adding support for upcoming Bitcoin hard forks. For the time being, this support is expected to only take form in withdrawals of these Bitcoin hard fork currencies.The exact date of this support was not noted but is expected in the upcoming months.
Coinbase noted in their Medium post that, in accordance with their new process for adding new assets to their exchange, they announced this internally and publicly at the same time. This was a wise move as Coinbase has been working on creating a better image for itself in the eyes of the public.
The team at Coinbase wants to make sure that debacles do not occur again, like what was seen in early December of last year with Bitcoin Cash.
A quick refresher – just before Bitcoin Cash was released for trading on Coinbase/GDAX, there was an unexpected ramp up in volume in the trading of Bitcoin Cash. This led some to believe that there was insider news being thrown around in circles within the cryptocurrency community. Coinbase responded by forbidding employees from trading Bitcoin Cash for several weeks as well as launching an internal investigation. However, it still left the exchange with a black eye.
On the topic of these forks, Coinbase did not mention the exact Bitcoin forks that will be supported for withdrawal by the exchange. Each different Bitcoin fork has different claiming methods and alternative wallets so the exchange may only be able to support forks which are easy for large-scale support due to the millions of customers Coinbase has.
In addition to Coinbase support, GDAX fork support is also being worked on. However, Coinbase reiterates that they will only be supporting withdrawals of these forks, unless otherwise noted.
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In a move that wasn’t seen coming, Coinbase has announced a fund for blockchain and cryptocurrency startups that are in early phases of development. On Thursday, along with the announcement of withdrawal support for Bitcoin forks, Coinbase’s Emilie Choi wrote a Medium article highlighting the proposed Coinbase Ventures.
Coinbase hopes to help promote and support promising blockchain and cryptocurrency startups which will help to disrupt traditional markets while still helping the space grow and mature. This support will come in the form of funding for these startups, and the exchange is encouraging their own employees to think in an entrepreneurial manner.
In another surprising move, the article also noted how the venture fund will not be afraid to invest into startups which may compete with their own platform. Choi writes:
You may also see us invest in companies that ostensibly look competitive with Coinbase. There may be nuance to the way these startups are building out their products. Or, in some cases, we may be comfortable investing in companies that are potentially competitive, because it’s in everyone’s interest to see the ecosystem innovate. We’re taking a long term view of the space, and we believe that multiple approaches are healthy and good.
Competition is always important in maintaining an ever growing and diversifying economy, and it often produces the best results in an industry. Some argue that the rivalry between Apple and Microsoft helped push both companies to succeed.
Coinbase also hopes that investments into other companies in the space will help in minimizing the amount of volatility in the crypto sphere. Volatility has been found as one of the main reasons why retail investors will not invest in the space, which means a lower volatility factor will entice more retail investors to dip their feet into the cryptocurrency market.
With this newly announced fund, Coinbase hopes to help propel and expand the blockchain and cryptocurrency space into a new era of innovation and healthy competition.
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Over the past few weeks, Coinbase has begun discussion with the Securities and Exchange Commission about the potential of becoming registered as an officially licensed broker.
If Coinbase receives SEC approval, they will be able to support a vast variety of assets which were previously off-limits, especially tokens that the SEC considers securities. The U.S. government’s issues with coming up with clear regulatory legislation concerning cryptocurrency and ICOs has likely been a reason why Coinbase has been hesitant to list new assets on the platform.
Being licensed by the SEC will likely put pressure on other U.S.-based exchanges to follow suit. While there are some definite benefits to being licensed by the SEC, there are some drawbacks as well.
If Coinbase becomes licensed by the SEC, this will mean that they can and may become the target for more government scrutiny. The exchange will now be legally required to give up information and records in order to keep their license. For better or for worse, the government could have a much higher level of access to information on cryptocurrency trades and their respective traders in the near future.
All this aside, it is clear to see that the exchange is having a busy week as it seeks to expand and evolve.
]]>George Soros called cryptocurrencies a bubble in January. Now his $26 billion family office is planning to trade digital assets.
Adam Fisher, who oversees macro investing at New York-based Soros Fund Management, got internal approval to trade virtual coins in the last few months, though he has yet to make a wager, according to people familiar with the matter. A spokesman declined to comment.
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Soros, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said digital coins cannot function as actual currencies because of their volatility. But he didn’t predict the hard tumble that some observers had forecast at the time.
“As long as you have dictatorships on the rise you will have a different ending, because the rulers in those countries will turn to Bitcoin to build a nest egg abroad,” Soros, 87, said on Jan. 25.
Since the billionaire investor made his comments, Bitcoin has fallen 41 percent. The asset’s whipsaw ride over the past six months has caused some investors to doubt the value of trading it. Former hedge fund manager Mike Novogratz shelved plans to launch a crypto fund in December, shifting his efforts to a merchant bank focused on cryptocurrencies and ventures based on related technologies.
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Other macro managers have turned to digital coins as profits from their hedge funds dwindle. John Burbank, who shuttered his main fund last year, plans to raise $150 million for two funds investing in digital currencies. His Passport Capital started the funds in January and have mostly sought investments from family offices and other wealthy investors.
Billionaire Alan Howard made sizable personal wagers -- separate from his firm -- in cryptocurrencies last year and plans to put more of his own money into digital assets and the blockchain technology behind them.
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Soros has already been indirectly betting on crypto. The firm amassed a stake in Overstock.com in the fourth quarter, making it the third-biggest shareholder of the discount e-commerce company. In August 2017 it became the first major retailer to accept digital currencies. The company had also planned to start an exchange for cryptocurrencies as well as offer digital coins that could trade on the platform.
In March, Overstock.com disclosed that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating its proposed ICO. Shares have sunk about 40 percent in the wake of the disclosure.
Investors in digital assets also face the growing possibility of government intervention. Central banks globally are investigating the benefits and risks of cryptocurrencies, while regulators in South Korea, one of the world’s busiest Bitcoin markets, are cracking down on such trading amid allegations of fraud.
]]>London Block Exchange (LBX), the U.K.’s only multi-cryptocurrency over-the-counter exchange, has announced that it has added Ripple’s digital asset, XRP to its list of coins available to customers.
As a registered Electronic Money Services Directive (EMD) for e-wallet functionality by the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), this means that LBX is not only the sole operator in the market delivering U.K. on-shore banking, but is also the only exchange to offer Ripple-GBP pairing.
The addition of the third-ranked cryptocurrency by market value joins the likes of bitcoin, ethereum, BCH, and litecoin, that are already available for trading on the exchange. The company also has plans to add more cryptocurrencies.
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“As we open our doors to U.K. crypto enthusiasts, we’re listening and acting on what the community wants, and that’s an array of good quality coin options to trade, all backed by a reliable, comprehensive, and user-friendly service that they can trust,” Benjamin Dives, LBX founder and CEO, said. “And we’ll be adding more coins by the week. So watch this space.”
In addition to delivering a platform for customers to buy, sell, and exchange cryptocurrencies, LBX is also providing a space where they can access educational materials designed to help users get started in the industry.
Via its College of Crypto page newbie, and veteran, investors can find an array of information pertaining to blockchain fundamentals, coin tutorials, how the industry is changing the world, as well as information on forks, wallets, public and private keys, and regulation. All of which are aimed at aiding those to make informed decisions in the industry.
Users can also receive a free daily market report that gives the low-down on what’s going on with industry price movements.
]]>Bitcoin ABC developers officially announced this week that the Bitcoin Cash network will be having a hard fork on May 15. The development team also made available the codebase for the client Bitcoin ABC 0.17.0 along with the newly added consensus rules.
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Bitcoin cash will undergo another fork on May 15, 2018, and the protocol’s consensus procedures will be adjusted in time as the fork goes forward. The fork was highly anticipated as the lead developer at Bitcoin ABC, Amaury Séchet revealed intentions for this fork a few months ago.
Séchet said that it would be easier to fork after the new year and gave reasons why the fork would happen. This week the ABC development team has launched the 0.17.0 version which has the code that can change the consensus rules of the Bitcoin Cash network.
The activation is scheduled on May 15 but no block height has been specified for this hard fork. Similar to the creation of BCH, and the recent fork in November, consensus rules will be modified after the “Median Time Past” (MTP) system.
On May 15 at 12:00:00 UTC, 2018 when the MTP happens with last 11 blocks equal to or greater than 1,526,400,000, the very following block will start the hard fork.
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The development team details that anyone who runs on an ABC node should upgrade at once to the 0.17.0 release. Regarding other clients, ABC developers said they cannot speak in the name of the other implementation teams, but ABC has discussed with them.
“Bitcoin ABC is currently testing both the new rules and their activation — a testnet should be available soon,”said Bitcoin ABC. The latest announcement also gives details about the important modifications within the new software.
“The most notable change is the increase of the maximum block size to 32 MB — There are also several bitcoin script operation codes (op-codes) being added or reactivated. “
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The developers also revealed that they are in talks with major exchanges and wallet providers regarding the May 15th upgrade. The team underlines that the community help make this process go more smoothly by communicating with infrastructure providers.
The last upgrade from November 2017, caused no problems or complications for the Bitcoin Cash network, and the Difficulty Algorithm Adjustment (DAA) consensus alterations have preserved a stable mining difficulty.
It seems that the BCH community does not fear hard forks based on the network’s prior experience. Supporters are actually looking forward to a 32 MB block size upgrade and op-code additions that could improve the network.
]]>The Bitcoin has found the support at 76.4% Fibonacci retracement after it has been rejected together with the uptrend trendline on the 6th of February. However, on the lower scale, the uptrend trendline has been broken and Fibonacci applied to the trendline breakout point shows that the 38.2% Fibos has also been rejected on the 6th of February.
It makes the area between $6k and $6.5k a very strong support, that hasn’t been penetrated. Whats more, is that currently Bitcoin is moving within the descending channel and seem to rejected the lower trendline. All-in-all Bitcoin is facing a strong support area and if it continues to be respected by the market price could potentially correct upwards towards nearest resistance at $9k. Break above that resistance is likely to establish an uptrend towards $15k-17k area.
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On the downside, weekly break and close below the $6k support should push price further down, towards $3.3k – $3.8k support area, from where Bitcoin is likely to recover very fast.
]]>Clamping down on virtual currencies such as bitcoin, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday announced to ring fence banks and financial institutions from dealing in them. In its first policy statement of fiscal year 2018-19, the central bank highlighted that the banks should stop dealing with the entities that deal in digital currencies, such as bitcoins. The central bank has on multiple occasions in the past cautioned users against use of virtual currencies including bitcoins. Bitcoin is the world's largest cryptocurrency.
"To ring fence the RBI regulated entities (banks) from the risk of dealing with entities associated with virtual currencies, they (banks) are required to stop having business relations with the entities dealing in virtual currencies forthwith. And (they are also required to) unwind the existing relation in three months," said B P Kanungo, deputy governor of RBI.
The deputy governor also said that the digital tokens are getting international attention and regulatory responses are not uniform. The investment in digital currency for speculative purposes can adversely impact market integrity, and capital controls, and if they grow in their critical size, they can endanger financial stability.
On three occasions, the central bank has cautioned the users, traders and holders of digital currencies.
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The first warning was sent in December 2013, the second in February 2017 while the last one in December 2017.
"Users, holders and traders of Virtual Currencies (VCs) including Bitcoins are cautioned regarding the potential economic, financial, operational, legal, customer protection and security related risks associated in dealing with such VCs," said the RBI release in December 2017.
Similarly, through a press release on February 1, 2017, RBI had clarified that it has not given any licence/authorisation to any entity/company to operate such schemes or deal with Bitcoin or any VC.
The RBI, however, acknowledges the importance of blockchain technology that lays the foundation of virtual currencies. "The blockchain should be encouraged to be exploited for the benefit of economy," said Kanugo.
In response to global digital tokens, global regulators are thinking about fiat tokens. "They are the liability of central bank. They hold the promise of reducing the cost if printing," said Kanugo.
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The people who create that content — video artists, writers, graphic designers and so on — are responsible for the main reason many of us visit the internet at all. They’re a crucial part of the web, but they aren’t rewarded nearly well enough for their efforts.
That’s an issue for all sorts of reasons, and it’s frustrating for the people who can see a real market for their content but struggle to make a living from it. For example, people watch a billion hours of YouTube every day — and yet most YouTubers don’t make good money from their videos.
The good news is that could be about to change, with the help of budding technologies like blockchain. Before we get into that, it’s important to take a look at exactly why the content creators and educators of the web are so underpaid.
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The problems with creating content and educational materials online come from the platforms that dominate this marketplace.
Basically, huge sites like Facebook and YouTube are so powerful that they’ve become gatekeepers to the world of content sharing. If you want to share a video, you have almost no choice but to use YouTube if you want anyone to see it.
These platforms come with their own ready-made audience of millions, allowing contributors to pull in huge numbers of views. The fact that they’re so centralized is a big advantage here.
Unfortunately, that centralization comes with some major downsides for content creators and educators. Facebook and YouTube, along with educational platforms, tend to take fairly sizeable cuts of whatever profit is made from sharing content on their site.
The reason these companies have grown so powerful is by making money off the work of their users. Creators toil for hours to make something worth sharing, only for the host platform to take a chunk of the profits that they did little to earn.
Getting paid for that content is a hurdle in itself. Current popular payment methods like PayPal take at least 2.9% of each transaction in fees. Not a huge deal for one-off payments, but something that adds up when your entire income works this way.
It boils down to the fact that online educators and content publishers find it hard to reach their audience directly. Their only real choice right now is to go via a third-party giant platform, with all the drawbacks that brings.
So how can blockchain help put things right?
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Blockchain is a great solution to the problems of centralization, because it can be used to build networks that are decentralized, with no third party in control. This idea forms the basis of many companies, like AC3.
They’re trying to build a platform where content publishers can interact directly with their audience and fanbase, without having to go through an expensive platform.
Fans and followers use the platform’s own crypto token (AC3) to pay for the materials they want to see, and the creators of that material are paid directly. This also gets around the issue with PayPal fees, as content creators get more of the money they’ve earned.
These coins can be exchanged for fiat money or used within the AC3 platform itself to buy courses in things like programming or graphic design. AC3 can be bought and traded on a number of exchanges.
For AC3, things are looking promising. They’ve already had over 100,000 blockchain exchanges, and are on track to forge connections with hundreds of content creators and tens of thousands of users.
The team behind the project are themselves content creators with an enormous follower base, so they understand the ups and downs of that lifestyle better than most. Instead of using an ICO to raise funds, they self-funded in order to spend more time focusing on building a solid blockchain platform.
Blockchain is constantly showing its potential in new ways, and the world of content sharing is one area that could especially benefit from more decentralization. Removing the middlemen could bring benefits to almost everyone involved and really change the way we use the internet for education and entertainment.
Verge (XVG) has been hacked. “To successfully mine XVG blocks, every ‘next’ block must be of a different algo.. so for example scrypt,then x17, then lyra etc.,” OCminer, from Suprnova pool that mines countless of cryptos including Verge, says before further adding:
“Due to several bugs in the XVG code, you can exploit this feature by mining blocks with a spoofed timestamp.
When you submit a mined block (as a malicious miner or pool) you simply set a false timestamp to this block one hour ago and XVG will then “think” the last block mined on that algo was one hour ago.
Your next block, the subsequent block will then have the correct time.. And since it’s already an hour ago (at least that is what the network thinks) it will allow this block to be added to the main chain as well.”
That’s in effect creating coins out of thin air through exploiting the very easily changeable time-stamp. The devs therefore rushed a fix to close that window. See if you can spot a difference:
Copy-paste, some are shouting, because the only difference is that Peercoin fixed it some three years ago, but 15 minutes might perhaps be too long considering the Verge blocks average 30 seconds.
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In any event, it seems the dev did not realize this was a hard-fork. Updated clients that incorporated this “fix” just stopped working. The hero verge needs, OCminer, said:
“You guys are aware that the ‘fix’ you pushed actually IS a hardfork? So your blockchain snapshot is not valid anymore, the wallet’s won’t sync up from scratch anymore and the current chain is simply not usable anymore with that new ‘fix’?”
No problem. Remove the ‘fix.’ Dev got to sleep now though, so keep the attack running, we sort this out tmrw. Dev says:
“Yeah we removed that, and we’re doing a full fork update with extra block verifications. Will be ready by tmrw =]”
There will be no roll-back, yet Sunerok, or Justinforvendetta, Verge’s seemingly pseudo-anonymous developer who says he’s from deep-space in his social profiles, stated:
“Mobile wallets are not affected. Tomorrow just the qt wallets will need to be replaced with a new version.”
Tomorrow! Apparently all is fine though because loads of eth have been stolen too. Yet none, as far as we are aware, have been stolen from protocol bugs.
And when eth had a way more benign attack back in 2016 that was just a DDoS of sorts, an army of eth devs stayed up all night then went to the Devcon conference the next morning.
While here we have a protocol bug exploit that prints money out of thin air, a developer that apparently can’t even fix it, and when he makes a mess trying to fix it throws in the towel and just goes to bed.
This all for a currency with a market-cap of around one billion dollars. Which has as a selling point the claim that tor is somehow incorporated, because of course you can’t just run your bitcoin node through tor (you can).
]]>The unlikely superstar TRON is on yet another price drive, after a solid end to March, a slow first few days ensued in April, however today the currency has taken a very healthy jump upwards.
This really stands out considering that for another day, the majority of the market is red, in a slow decline back, regressing from the promising start to April that did suggest some signs of recovery.
At the time of writing this, TRON stands at $0.03 and is up almost 23%, a trend that does look to continue despite the troubles faced around the rest of the market.
Currencies like TRON can only succeed if they break free from the currents set by Bitcoin and Ethereum. The trends of the big currencies do have an impact on the bigger alt-coins, that’s naturally how markets work, but when situations like this occur, where the big ones are in decline and TRON is moving up, quickly, it tells the rest of the world that change is possible.
Sadly, after a wealth of research there is not a lot of information around that leads to working out why TRON is doing so well today. Likewise, there’s no real justification for TRON’s performance at the end of March, I suppose it is just something that the public believe in and are sticking with, hence its rise in value and rise in popularity. This is promising though as it suggests that TRON is not reliant on hype and media exposure and that instead, it has set itself a more natural trajectory through the markets.
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Well sure, it’s unlikely that TRON is going to jump up by 25% every day, especially considering overall, everything else is looking to be on a bit of a grim slope, however, even small climbs are much better than losses in value, again, especially considering that everything else seems to be crumbling around TRON.
If it does continue, and indeed, IF… then I would expect TRON to climb in small intervals, perhaps overall it’s value won’t change too much, but like I say, if everything else is moving downwards and TRON manages to maintain at best, it’s share and its popularity will grow and grow, eventually leading to a boom for the currency.
Otherwise, by being on the up for a few days, the currency has at least maintained some damage control, brushing off the threat of a big price decline much more effectively than its big rivals like Bitcoin.
Hopefully TRON can set the scene for the rest of the market over the coming days, we will have to wait and see.
]]>A change bureau trading bitcoin has been opened in the Russian capital. According to local media, this is the only currency exchange in Moscow buying and selling cryptos for cash. Lawyers say nothing in the law prohibits this kind of service, and the business is legal.
Russian authorities have not regulated cryptocurrencies yet, but Russians are already adopting them. A new bitcoin change has been opened recently, not far from one of Moscow’s main railroad stations, Kursky Vokzal. According to media reports, the bureau is the first of its kind in the Russian capital.
The exchange is trading only bitcoins for Russian rubles in cash. Customers can buy and sell the cryptocurrency if they present an ID. The management claims that their business complies with current Russian laws. The bureau is located on the “Verhniy Susalniy” street. Other offices will be opened at two other locations, the business centers “Moscow City” and “Rumyantsevo”, Bitfin reports.
Cryptocurrencies are not considered legal tender in Russia. A draft law to legalize crypto-related activities, like initial coin offerings and mining, has been introduced in the Duma by the Ministry of Finance. Another bill, co-sponsored by the parliament speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, aims to regulate the use of “digital money” and protect “digital rights” of investors. The new legislation should be adopted by July.
The circulation of cryptocurrencies and their use for payments have divided government institutions. The Finance Ministry wants to legalize their trade on registered exchanges but the Central Bank has opposed the idea. There have been calls for an outright ban on cryptocurrencies by officials who consider them illegal money surrogates. On the other hand, the current legislation does not explicitly prohibit cryptocurrency operations like exchange services.
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“In any democratic society, including Russia, if something isn’t banned, it should be legal,” said Vladimir Yurasov, managing partner at a Moscow-based law firm. “The federal legislation has no provisions prohibiting the use of bitcoin in financial transactions. The purchase and sale of bitcoin do not violate the Civil Code”, he told BFM. If there is no criminal offense, these activities are legal, the lawyer added. Russians can buy bitcoin, both on the internet and on the street, Yurasov said.
The branding of the new crypto exchange, however, is a bit misleading. The office of “Sbercoin” resembles that of a Sberbank branch – similar name, the same green colors. The state-owned Russian “Savings bank” is among the biggest in Europe. Despite its interest in cryptocurrencies, it certainly has nothing to do with the small change tucked between a grill and a tobacco shop.
According to Vivalacloud, Sbercoin also offers its customers a contract for some of its services. It comes with a plastic card showing a public key to a new crypto wallet. A private key is provided in an envelope – only you will know it… and Sbercoin, of course. Remember, Bitcoin has its “dos” and “don’ts”!
]]>Sirin Labs has hired Chinese phone manufacturer Foxconn to produce the world’s first blockchain phone for the mass market, which will appear in stores in October 2018.
Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer for hire, with iPhones, Kindle, and PlayStation, in its portfolio, has agreed to help develop and produce a blockchain phone from Sirin Labs. Finney is a device for the cryptocurrency era, designed to help owners securely store and use digital coins without having to pay transaction fees. Additionally, the phone integrates all kinds of tokens, allows converting cash into specialized tokens, and serves as a payments tool.
Competing against digital wallets and USB sticks in a way, Finney wants to bring the cryptocurrency world to the average Joe. Moshe Hogeg, Chief Executive Officer of Sirin Labs, told Bloomberg how the current user experience is inaccessible to most.
“The mass market would never get it. There’s no chance my mom can figure out how to use Bitcoin, and my mom is smart. I think I can take it to a mass market phone in a world where innovation in phones is saturated, it’s dead.”
The startup has raised $158 million in an initial coin offering in December as well as $70 million raised previously in order to make Finney a reality. The 25,000 units pre-ordered and scheduled to be shipped in October will be sold in eight new stores in active crypto communities such as Vietnam and Turkey, among other countries. The company estimates it will be able to ship up to a few million units in 2018 and eventually partner with mobile carriers.
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Security will be protected via an iris or fingerprint scans or the traditional password, instead of a complex address and private key. All coin-related services are activated with a physical switch. The security design seems to be unable to prevent thieves from kidnapping Finney owners in order to access the digital wallets. Making it easier to identify targets and allowing iris and fingerprint scans instead of complex keys and addresses could pose an unexpected risk to Finney users.
The Swiss-based startup is pricing the phone at $1,000, but aims to push the price down to $200 amid the licensing of its technology to other phone manufacturers and suppliers, including a potential deal with Huawei Technologies. The mass market is up for grabs and other two competitors are in the race. Zippie, a 10-person team with experience at Nokia and mobile OS firm Jolla, has raised $30 million in February to license its software to hardware manufacturers. BitVault, another competitor, intends to expand its blockchain phone from the military market to the masses.
]]>BREAKING NEWS: according to Rahul Sonnad, Tesloop CEO and co-founder,
— EOS Italy (@EOS_Italy) April 3, 2018
Tesla cars will be added in the EOS blockchain, now in test, production on summer 💪🏼 See the video at 39’40”https://t.co/JX94f3Yf5C@eosnewyork @eos_news @go_eos @BrendanBlumer @TBCox @EOS_io
However, the EOS blockchain will only handle limited data related to the car’s insurable events. Blockchains are not a good data structure for storing and constantly renewing and querying data, explained Sonnad. However, the choice of the EOS blockchain is still a breakthrough for the project.
It must be noted that Teslaloop using EOS does not mean all Tesla cars data would be kept on the blockchain, only some cars used for shared rides. But tis is a real-world case usage for the blockchain, and is yet another sign of mainstream acceptance.
For months and years now, blockchain projects have claimed they are capable of handling the large data volumes of the still-hypothetical Internet of Things. However, there are too many limitations and requirements for governance to achieve faster handling of data without errors.
The EOS system would have a semi-centralized governance system, which should hypothetically handle apps fast enough to simulate real-time work. But at the moment, the system is only a prediction and the performance of apps a hypothetical proposition.
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At the moment, EOS is one of the high-profile platforms that is still in the pre-launch stage. The EOS digital asset once again climbed to position six on CoinMarketCap, rising a bit to $5.99. In the past days, EOS has hovered around $6 both in market prices and on the daily auctions. EOS is also seeing a short-term recovery as trading returns.
But there are some doubts whether the EOS ecosystem would be able to deliver its promises. Some investors see EOS as an alternative to Cardano (ADA). Until now, Ethereum was the leading platform with a smart contract layer, while ADA only works as a payments blockchain, and EOS is still an ERC-20 token based on Ethereum.
]]>The volatility of crypto markets is often exacerbated by social media and the nature of unregulated publishing on a grand scale. When cryptocurrencies started to explode in 2017 pumps and dumps were commonplace, occasionally initiated by a shill on a social platform. Altcoin markets have calmed down a little now and common trends seem to be affecting them all, however, marketing crypto is still big business for some.
Self-styled crypto warlord John McAfee has revealed on his own website on a page called “The McAfee Effect” that he charges $105,000 for crypto tweets promoting an ICO or altcoin. Last week the new crypto team wrote a guide on how their promotional tweets work. McAfee went on to say;
“It’s self-aggrandizing and ego stroking for us, however, if you’re planning an ICO, trying to boost a coin or want to shine a light on your latest project, you should overlook our swollen egos and see,”
As reported by The Verge, tweets can sway price action on some cryptocurrencies and there were a number of noteworthy examples last year including Burst coin which reportedly jumped 350% on the shill.
Last month McAfee held an impromptu survey of the crypto community and his 800,000 plus followers on Twitter. Over 50,000 responses were given to a series of questions on cryptocurrencies and the team is now using this data to promote their new services with the additional claim that “John McAfee’s tweets are by far the most influential in the field of cryptocurrency.”
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The site goes on to state that promotional material is created by their team of professional writers but over 90% of all companies wanting to buy these services are turned down;
“The reason is that only products and services that Mr. McAfee truly believes in will be promoted. These are products or services that Mr. McAfee has personally purchased or used and is pleased enough with to engage in promotions,”
Additionally the exorbitant price is further broken down to just $0.13 per “investor” when considering his own followers. Maybe another survey on how many people have invested into something from reading a tweet or social media post would produce an interesting set of results.
Either way, the crypto sphere certainly has some colourful characters, of which McAfee is one. New and unconventional methods of marketing seem to be appealing to those wanting to get on the blockchain train.
]]>“We’re so happy to give back to teachers like @kinder_roxs and all their students across the country!
Help us build on this momentum up by donating to projects on @DonorsChoose and continue the #BestSchoolDay,” posted Ripple on their Twitter.
CNBC reported that DonorsChoose will exchange the contributions into US dollars over the period of two weeks to elude the cryptocurrency market’s volatility, and to conform with the company’s policy of selling the donated tokens as soon as possible.
The donated funds will be used to supply with the necessary items over 30,000 classrooms across all 50 states; “approximately one million students are receiving books, school supplies, technology, field trips, and other resources vital for learning through DonorsChoose.org,” said Ripple on March 27th in a statement.
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According to DonorsChoose CEO and founder Charles Best, who made the donation request to Ripple, this can be considered “the largest donation of cryptocurrency.”
Ripple’s XRP digital token, which at the moment trades at $0.50, is the third biggest cryptocurrency by market cap, which is over $20 billion at the time of writing, according to the numbers from Coinmarketcap.
Ripple is not the only company that donated cryptocurrency for charitable causes. Ethereum (ETH) creator Vitalik Buterin collaborated with decentralized payment platform OmiseGO to donate $1 million in ERC20 tokens to GiveDirectly, an African charity.
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Recently in February, Buterin also made a donation of $2.4 million worth of ether to the SENS Research Foundation, a charity that backs up research for treating age-related ailments.
In December, Bitcoin Pineapple Fund gave away $1 million in Bitcoin (BTC) to the Internet Archive, and it intends to donate $86 million worth of Bitcoin in total to multiple non-profit organizations.
Source: coindoo.com
]]>Recently Coinbase announced it would be adding support for Ethereum ERC20 tokens “in the coming months”.
What are ERC20 tokens?
“ERC20 is a technical standard used for Ethereum smart contracts. ERC20 assets have become a popular way for teams to quickly build interoperable contracts/assets.”
In short, most ERC20 tokens have unique use cases that range from tokens supporting the buying and selling of distributed computing power (i.e. Golem project) to decentralized exchanges and interconnected blockchains. A vast range of exciting projects.
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Historically, new assets listed on Coinbase benefited from access to Coinbase’s large customer base through price appreciation and project exposure.
Before we can build a framework to answer that question, we have to understand the Coinbase process:
The GDAX Digital Assets Framework is a four page document with six main sections and 13 subsections. Yet some of the sections are too subjective to build a reliable framework around. For example, does anyone know of a project that isn’t in violation of section 2.2 Team – Specialized Knowledge and Key People?
“The project leadership is not highly centralized or dependent on a small number of key persons. Specialized knowledge in this field is not limited to a small group of people.”
All ERC20 tokens are relatively small projects and would violate this requirement.
It becomes obvious that if we are to attempt predicting which ERC20 token is most likely to be added, then we must focus on section 4.1 Liquidity Standards (the life-force of any exchange) and cross reference that metric with the brand concerns of Coinbase.
Here we go…
To satisfy the “Global Market Capitalization” requirement, we filtered ERC20 tokens by the top 100 assets by market capitalization on CoinMarketCap. After filtering, 46 ERC20 tokens remained.
We then filtered those 46 tokens by 30 day trading volume over $1 billion, in order to gauge “Asset Velocity”. The nine tokens below remained:
We then vetted these tokens by Coinbase branding concerns.
We are not trying to pick sides or anger a particular crypto asset community. Just remember we are approaching this from the branding perspective of a company (Coinbase) trying to ensure that it remains “the easiest and most trusted place to buy, sell, and manage your digital currency.” Any scandal or negative headline will factor into Coinbase decision making.
Despite being the number six cryptocurrency by market capitalization we removed EOS from the list due to concerns over its promotional tactics. Just view the John Oliver youtube video around minute 19 and checkout out Brock Pierce’s antics.
TRON was removed for not having a working product and seeming to be more of a trading instrument than serious project.
Binance Coin was removed because it is an asset developed by a competing exchange.
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Six ERC20 tokens remained.
DigixDAO (DGX) is a unique asset tied to gold. One DGX is worth one gram of gold. Nothing wrong with that, but we saw DGX as not satisfying a use case beyond a stable relationship to an existing commodity, so we removed it from the list.
The remaining assets (OmiseGo, ICON, VeChain, Status, and Storm) are all unique and exciting projects. Yet one stands out as the MOST likely (if we had to pick only one) asset to get added to Coinbase. In the Ethereum and crypto space nothing screams positive brand like Vitalik Buterin. He’s known for being level headed, and project NOT price focused.
OmiseGo is the only ERC20 token in the final 5 that counts Vitalik Buterin as an advisor. Recently OmiseGo and Vitalik announced a $1 million donation to refugees.
If Coinbase had to pick just one ERC20 token at this point in time, we believe it would be OmiseGO (OMG).
Invest Savagely.
*Note- This is a prediction of the MOST likely ERC20 to be listed. As time passes, and volumes and market capitalizations change, any analysis would have to consider other assets. This article is seeking to provide you with a framework for conducting your own research and strategy. We also assume more than one ERC20 asset will be listed on Coinbase.
]]>Another flat day starts in Asia as the bulls and bears are still in stalemate and the markets cannot gain traction in either direction. The total market capitalization is still hovering around $300 billion though the threat of a drop further still looms. Bitcoin has not moved from its level at just below $8,000 and altcoins have been lack luster for a few days now. The one showing the strongest gains in the top 25 this morning is Tron.
As reported by Coinmarketcap, TRX is trading 10% higher on the day. This often controversial altcoin is currently trading at $0.048 up from $0.043 this time yesterday and over the week gains have been even better at 26%. Tron has been one of the few altcoins to actually show gains over the past month as it is up 20% from $0.040 at the end of February. Comparing it to BTC Tron is up 9.5% on the day to 617 satoshis from a level of 560 this time yesterday. Over the month TRX has made solid gains against Bitcoin rising 57% from 390 sats to 615.
Tron fans are building up to the testnet launch of their decentralized entertainments ecosystem in two days which has spurred further interest in the token. Founder Justin Sun and the team are very active on Twitter with several posts per day on the countdown and various minor partnerships. Following the Binance Malta move announcement the Tron team followed up with their own posts about investing in the Mediterranean blockchain friendly island.
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TRX is traded heavily on Asian exchanges Binance at 35%, Huobi with 20% and Upbit with 12% of the daily volume. That volume has increased over the past week and is currently at $310 million. Market cap currently stands at $3.1 billion pushing Tron back up the charts to 11th spot where it currently sits.
The only other altcoin in the top 25 showing meaningful gains this morning is Monero which is up 5%. All others are flat or falling. Outside the top 25 Bytom is showing a 20% gain on the day and further down the list Syscoin has jumped 26%.
More on Tron can be found here: https://tron.network/
]]>As Ethereum (ETH) struggles to break free of its steep downward trend, rumors of a new Bitmain ASIC mining rig continues to hold the price down.
Rumors are swirling through the cryptocurrency market in regards to a new ASIC mining rig from Bitmain, built specifically for Ethereum mining.
According to a CNBC report cited by TechCrunch, the rumors surfaced after analyst Christopher Rolland visited China and learned of a new Ethereum-dedicated ASIC chip in development. Wrote Rolland in a note to clients:
During our travels through Asia last week, we confirmed that Bitmain has already developed an ASIC [application-specific integrated circuit] for mining Ethereum, and is readying the supply chain for shipments in 2Q18.
Some in the cryptocurrency space find this news alarming, specifically because it centralizes Ethereum mining — which has historically been dominated by GPUs. ASICs, on the other hand, raise the barrier to entry and may push out smaller miners. Notes Mikhail Avady, founder of TryMining.com:
Ethereum is of the most profitable coins available for GPU mining. It’s going to affect a lot of the market. Without understanding the hash power of these Bitmain machines we can’t tell if it will make GPUs obsolete or not.
Avady added:
It can be seen as an attack on the network. It’s a centralization problem.
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However, one need not raise the alarm just yet.
As noted by TechCrunch, Rolland’s report also claims:
While Bitmain is likely to be the largest ASIC vendor (currently 70-80% of Bitcoin mining ASICs) and the first to market with this product, we have learned of at least three other companies working on Ethereum ASICs, all at various stages of development.
Avady also claims the future probably isn’t as centralized as naysayers believe, explaining:
What would be bad is if there was only one Ethereum ASIC manufacturer, but with Samsung and a couple other players getting into the game it won’t be bad for long.
Additionally, concerns over Ethereum’s diminishing value as an ICO investment vehicle are also likely to decrease soon. According to Sky Guo, CEO of Cypherium:
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The price of ETH is becoming consolidated as people become more realistic about blockchain technology. People are looking for higher quality blockchain projects. I believe a rebound in ETH’s price will come soon as panic surrounding regulations begins to fade.
At press time, ETH is trading at $460.88 per token, which is down from hitting highs of over $1.4K in mid-January.
Source: bitcoinist.com
]]>South Korea's leading crypto exchange and a mobile payment service provider will work together to make virtual currencies available at thousands of outlets here.
The partnership was made on Monday between crypto exchange Bithumb and Korea Pay's Service, operator of mobile payment service Pay's. About 200 franchise brands will allow customers to use the service to pay at 6,000 outlets across the country.
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Among the brands are desert cafe Sulbing, Cafe Droptop, seafood buffet restaurant Todai and candle store Yankee Candle.
The two companies will work to make virtual currencies available at 6,000 outlets in the first half of the year and 8,000 by the end of the year.
"We have taken a landmark step," a Bithumb official said. "We will try hard to set up an environment in which cyptocurrencies are used extensively."
Source: koreatimes.co.kr
]]>The intervention comes at a cold time for Bitcoin, which has spent most of March wavering around the $9,000 mark. David Drake, chairman and founder of investment firm LDJ Captial, told Bloomberg last week that the underlying blockchain technology could resolve a lot of issues, citing KodakCoin as an example. Drake predicts over the coming year more firms will get on board, and with Wall Street also showing interest, Bitcoin will rally to the $30,000 mark. However, responding to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s prediction that “the internet will have a single currency,” Drake saw “hundreds” as more likely.
Drake also voiced support for the recent spate of advertising crackdowns, citing it as a legitimizing force in the industry. Facebook announced a ban on cryptocurrency ads at the end of January, while similar announcements from Google and Twitter over March coincided with a price stabilization below the $10,000 mark.
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Despite a low price coinciding with rule changes, Drake isn’t the only analyst positive about the effects. Trevor Gerszt, CEO of crypto investment service CoinIRA, told Inverse last week that ad bans “shouldn’t affect larger and more-established cryptocurrency businesses,” expecting the rules to lift once further government regulations come into play. Kyle Forkey, founder of a blockchain consulting group Ethmint, told Inverse in January that “the more we flush out these scammers, the better the ecosystem is going to handle it.”
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A jump to $30,000 would not only mean a confidence in rule changes, but a market moving past the near-$20,000 highs enjoyed by Bitcoin in its mid-December rally. It’s not the wildest analysis out there — John McAfee promised to “eat [his] dick” if it didn’t reach $1 million by 2020 — but it would need a marked shift in current price.
At the start of 2017, Bitcoin hovered around the $1,000 mark. A lot can change in 12 months.
Source: inverse.com
]]>Days before legalizing crypto activities, Belarus has adopted a new accounting standard that deals with cryptocurrencies. It classifies digital tokens according to their acquisition and intended use. The document defines the information companies will be required to share with authorities. The presidential decree regulating the crypto sector comes into force on March 28.
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The Ministry of Finance in Minsk has developed a new standard that specifies the procedures for keeping accounting records of crypto transactions. The document does not explicitly mention cryptocurrencies, which are not regarded as legal tender in Belarus. Nevertheless, it effectively regulates the reporting of cryptocurrency flows.
The obligations of organizations conducting token sales and the exact approaches to assessing the cost of “digital tokens” are also defined in the Ministry’s decree. The rules apply to private entities and not the state-owned banks or government institutions, the department clarified in an announcement quoted by Belta news agency.
The new standard classifies cryptos according to their acquisition and their intended use. Tokens acquired through initial coin offerings (ICOs) are referred to as investments. They should be debited as either “Long-term financial investments”, if their circulation period exceeds 12 months, or as “Short-term financial investments”. Their amounts must be credited in the accounting balance under “Settlements with different debtors and creditors” and “Other income and expenses”.
If the tokens are purchased for subsequent sale, by a trader or an exchange, they have to be reported in the “Goods” debit account and under the following credit accounts: “Settlements with suppliers and contractors” and “Income and expenses for current activities”. Digital tokens acquired as a result of mining operations or as remuneration for verification of crypto transactions are to be recorded under the “Finished goods” debit account and also as “Main activities” in the credit section of the balance.
Amendments have been made to several other standards of the National Chart of Accounts. These concern the individual accounting statements and the consolidated financial statements. The Finance Ministry has determined the data companies working with tokens are required to disclose in their accounting records. The information should include the amount and type of tokens in possession, as well as their initial value as calculated at the end of the previous year.
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Decree №8 “On the development of the digital economy” was signed by President Alexander Lukashenko in December. It legalizes crypto activities, creating conditions for exchange services, initial coin offerings, and cryptocurrency mining operations. The document introduces tax breaks and other incentives for crypto businesses until 2023. It will come into force on March 28, 2018.
With its implementation, Belarus is set to become arguably the first jurisdiction with a comprehensive legal framework regulating the blockchain industry. The decree does not imply restrictions or any special requirements for issuing, placement, storage, and exchange of digital tokens.
Individual entrepreneurs and corporate entities will be free to do crypto business in the country provided they register as residents of the Belarus High Technology Park (HTP). At the same time, the use of cryptocurrencies is expected to remain somewhat limited, as they will not be accepted as legal means of payment.
]]>With Binance’s new announcement to move its office to the crypto favourable territory, Malta and working on the deal with local banks to launch its fiat to crypto trading pairs, the exchange is all set to take over the Coinbase and dominate the cryptocurrency market.
One of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, Binance is riding high in the cryptocurrency market. With over 5 million users, this Chinese cryptocurrency exchange is popular for its crypto to crypto trading services.
Over the past few months, Binance has made a lot of advancements that have led to its increased user base, business, and credibility in the market.
Recently, Binance announced its plan to open a new office in the Mediterranean nation, Malta. Referring to the island as a progressive territory for cryptocurrency and fintech, Binance co-founder Zhao Changpen is looking for a fresh and high driven start in the crypto favorable Malta after getting a warning from Japanese financial authorities.
A small European country, Malta is very much onboard with Binance’s entry in the country as evident from the welcoming tweet of its Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat. Malta can help Binance in setting up fiat to crypto trading pairs that would allow people to buy crypto directly with USD or any other currency, unlike the current scenario where only purchase through cryptocurrency is possible. This would put Binance in neck-to-neck competition with the biggest crypto exchange Coinbase which provides the same trading service.
Additionally, Binance is already working on securing deals with the local banks of the region to facilitate the fiat to crypto service as it would allow the exchange to deposit as well as withdraw in fiat currencies.
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Due to the complicated process, people have always found it difficult to buy cryptocurrencies. Now, with such a big move, Binance is simplifying the process and increasing its liquidity that would further grow its customer base significantly.
When it comes to the user stats, Coinbase is way ahead Binance with its more than 10 million users. However, it isn’t hard to achieve as in January, Binance added about a quarter million new users in a day.
The major selling point of Coinbase is fiat to crypto trading and with Binance’s Malta move, it is all ready to get its hand on the wide fiat to crypto market.
On one hand, over the last few weeks, Coinbase launched its index fund, Commerce platform, removed its multisig vaults support and went through a lot of hiccups as well. On the other hand, Binance launched its blockchain for decentralized exchange that is Binance chain while its Binance Coin is leading the altcoin rally.
With the countries around the globe coming to terms with the cryptocurrency and its potential, regulatory authorities are working towards crypto growth instead of its crackdown. As the regulations smooth out and get laid down, the next logical step for Binance would be to go the Commerce route and take Coinbase several notches down further.
Source: coingape.com
]]>LONDON – Santander is on track to launch an international money transfer app in partnership with fintech startup Ripple in the next few months, the bank’s UK CEO has confirmed.
Nathan Bostock told the International Fintech conference in London on Friday: “This spring, if not one beats us to it, we will be the first large retail bank to carry out cross-border payments at scale with blockchain technology.”
Bostock name-checked partner Ripple, the fintech company which specialises in cross-border payments through its blockchain-based xCurrent and RippleNet products. He did not give a specific date for launch of the new product.
A spokesperson for Santander declined to comment when Business Insider inquired about Bostock’s comments.
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Santander invested in US-headquartered Ripple in 2015 and then again in 2016. The bank also trialled an international payments app using Ripple technology with its staff in 2016.
Santander CEO Ana Botin flagged the upcoming launch to customers of the payment app in the group’s 2017 results presentation at the end of January, saying the new app would go live in Spain, Brazil, the UK, and Poland.
Santander said when it launched its internal app trial that Ripple’s technology allows transfers to be settled within 24 hours, compared to days with traditional cross-border payment providers.
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The tech also lets people find out up front how much a transfer will cost. Most international transfer systems use various middle men to transfer money who will take cuts along the way so the final sum is often less than when it was sent. Because of the covulted process, most processors can’t give an accurate estimate of the total cost.
Ripple, founded in 2012, is a San Francisco-headquartered company trying to bring blockchain and cryptocurrency solutions to the global payments and transfer market. MoneyGram and Western Union are trialing its liquidity solution xRapid while global transfer businesses such as UAE Exchange use its international transfer platform xCurrent.
Stocks have been experiencing a pretty terrible week and more widely have been in a downwards trajectory now for two months.
The Dow Jones has fallen from 26,000 at the highest point in January, to around 23,000 yesterday, with the price going back to November levels and in the process wiping out some billions.
While the daily candles chart looks somewhat interesting and might perhaps be making that classic shape.
The given rational for this movement is trade war, or perhaps Facebook’s difficulties, or tech stocks, but opening China’s market, or otherwise responding in kind, should arguably benefit the economy.
It may therefore be more the case that sentiment has changed. Stocks were growing way too fast in a booming optimism following better than expected after better than expected economic data.
At some point something had to give, with more sellers overtaking buyers. After the first sell-off of course there was disbelief, back to normal, and then more sell-off.
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We’ll see how that goes now because there wouldn’t be any real reason for panic, but stocks, like most investing, are a game of chairs.
More importantly, for the first time, they have a real competitor. Everyone is talking about bitcoin because when the best have gone, the rest come.
And what currently has the best most excited is ethereum because its platform can potentially replace the stock market or at least complement it.
Look at that capitulation. That’s the biggest one week candle ever. Then more down in despair, but the candles are getting smaller and smaller.
That’s probably because the music is now no longer too loud, the fear has sort of gone. People are back to “don’t care about the price,” with the atmosphere generally calm as the excesses have arguably cleared.
Of course no one can predict the price, but cryptos might be moving ahead of the stock market, which might now be going through its own phase with cryptos potentially coming out of it.
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The lesson here for stock investors, in our view, is diversification. While the lesson for regulators and the mainstream media is that when you diss cryptos you diss the stock market.
Not least because platforms like ethereum specifically have become a modern stock market, with the first gold backed token issued yesterday, a hotel planning to tokenize, an established company too, the Telegram ICO of course, Kodak, and so on.
Source: trustnodes.com
]]>Google has been watching startups get ahead of the company with various blockchain projects, but now it has decided to take a major step.
Citing credible sources, Bloomberg is reporting that Google is planning to create its own blockchain and offer cloud and transactional services through it.
“The Alphabet Inc. unit is developing its own distributed digital ledger that third parties can use to post and verify transactions,” said one of the sources. Google cloud platform offers various products in computing, storage, networking and other tools. While the company promises security through Identity-Aware Proxy and multiple factor authentication, centralized computing network still poses a threat to its users. So, using decentralized technology will further strengthen Google’s secure infrastructure.
Google has invested in blockchain startups including Sorj Labs, Blockchain, Ripple, LedgerX, Buttercoin and Veem. It ranked second in CBI Insights “Most active corporate blockchain investors” list. However, the company won’t be disclosing details regarding the new concept anytime soon. A Google spokesman explained, “Like many new technologies, we have individuals in various teams exploring potential uses of blockchain but it’s way too early for us to speculate about any possible uses or plans.”
People close to Google explained that it was looking for new ways to use blockchain online. This leads to many use cases which have already been adopted by startups and other businesses. Google’s Internet of Things (IoT) tool and browser Chrome has been outrun by Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba and blockchain startup Brave. Alibaba recently signed a deal with an IoT research institute to launch a blockchain for IoT services.
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Brave is a web browser built on the Ethereum blockchain which connects advertisers, publishers and readers using Basic Attention Token (BAT) tokens. In fact, the platform, built by Mozilla’s former CEO Brendan Eich, raised $35 million under 30 seconds. If Google plans to make the browsing experience better for users, it is unclear how it will tackle the problem of retargeting. Retargeting is the reason you keep seeing ads that remind you of purchases you didn’t make or websites you recently visited. Although it launched a built-in ad blocker, it didn’t solve the problem of the advertising tactic mentioned above. On the other hand, Brave promises users to retain their anonymity by blocking Tracking Cookies and only allowing ads it approves. Users have the option of getting paid for enabling ads via BAT tokens.
Last week, Google banned cryptocurrency-related advertisements since it was being used for harmful activities. “We’ve seen enough consumer harm or potential for consumer harm that it’s an area that we want to approach with extreme caution,” said Scott Spencer, Google’s sustainable ads director.
Source: ccn.com
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