Day: July 12, 2017

On July 10-11 after coasting along for over 72-hours above the US$2530 range the price of bitcoin took a significant dive to $2240. Bitcoin markets have rebounded slightly on July 12 and the price per BTC is now hovering around $2370 at the time of writing. Further many altcoin markets have seen bigger percentage drops as the entire cryptocurrency market capitalization has lost billions.

Also read: Bitcoin Helps Venezuelan Families Avoid Starvation

Cryptocurrency Market Capitalizations See a Significant Decline in Value  

Digital currency markets have seen better days as nearly every cryptocurrency saw a bearish decline in value over the past two weeks. At the moment bitcoin’s price is staying above $2300 but some traders believe we could go under $2K soon, due to the next few months scaling uncertainty and a possible chain split. Alongside bitcoin’s drop in value, many altcoin markets are suffered from significantly deeper corrections. The one-week bitcoin price average shows a loss of 8 percent, meanwhile, a vast amount of altcoins are seeing 10-50 percent losses. For instance, the second largest cryptocurrency market ethereum has declined roughly 27 percent over the course of the week and hit a low of $190 per ETH. Ethereum markets have since rebounded as well on Wednesday roughly 15 percent to $225 ETH/USD.

‘Bitcoin Uncertainty Brings Doom and Gloom to the Whole Ecosystem’

This week Bitcoin.com spoke with Charles Hayter founder, and CEO of the cryptocurrency data analysis firm Crypto Compare about his thoughts on the current cryptocurrency markets’ decline. Hayter says there’s a lot going on right now in crypto-land with the recent ethereum ICO gold rush and possible bitcoin scaling events (UASF, Segwit2x) taking place this summer.

“A bear market has been in effect and certainly sentiment has switched away from the irrational exuberance that was leading people to buy ethereum and then rush into various ICO’s,” Hayter tells Bitcoin.com. Some of the heat is coming out of recent rises – the feedback loop between the fiat on ramps to bitcoin and ethereum then on into ICO’s is seeing less volume so the supply and demand balance is out of kilter.

Altcoin markets have been the ones with a higher risk-reward ratio so operate on a higher beta than bitcoin — when the markets move the altcoins will move with more vigor in the direction of the trend. A rising tide lifts all boats but the opposite is also true. Although ethereum has had huge rises and is challenging bitcoin’s supremacy – bitcoin is still the gold standard of the crypto space and uncertainty surrounding its charted path brings doom and gloom to the whole ecosystem.

A Bitcoin Split Could Cast a Shadow on Cryptos in General

Hayter says it’s hard to call the bottom right now for markets like ethereum and bitcoin. “One can look at technical levels for psychological reasons but these are momentary impulses in the market. Predicting when the market will turn with sentiment and for demand to become dominant is a shell game but you will start to see it in volume and general market chatter.”

We also discussed Hayter’s predictions if the bitcoin blockchain splits and the possible outcome of a Segwit implementation. “A chain split will create uncertainty — the only historic precedent is ethereum and ethereum classic — it’s possible to envision both scenarios of a loss or total gain in value.

However, the uncertainty created across exchanges and wallets with the resultant main media fallout will certainly give a more negative taste to the whole experience and cast a shadow on cryptos in general.

Hayter believes a Segwit implementation could have a positive effect on markets by moving past the scaling issue temporarily. The Crypto Compare founder says,“Segwit does open up new opportunities for bitcoin and to have it implemented opens up options for development — to put the scaling issue to bed to a large degree will be positive as in the long term it re-unifies the bitcoin community.”

“Instead of wasting firepower fighting for respective vested interests and ideals – energy can be invested in building the future,” Hayter concludes.

What do you think is in store for bitcoin and the future of cryptocurrencies? Do you envision prices reaching all-time highs again? Let us know what you think in the comments below. 

Images via Shutterstock, Bitcoin.com, Charles Hayter, and the Crypto Compare Index. 

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The post Crypto Compare’s Charles Hayter: ‘The Bear Market Versus Irrational Exuberance’ appeared first on Bitcoin News.

It appears as if the Poloniex exchange is dealing with some issues yet again. More specifically, the company has disabled a few cryptocurrency wallets without any prior warning or further explanation. One of those markets is ZCash, as its wallets have been disabled since July 7th. So far, no one knows exactly what is going on. Poloniex claims the network is experiencing issues as we speak.

Is Poloniex Preparing an Exit Scam?

For the longest time now, people have been rather wary of the Poloniex exchange. That is only normal, as the cryptocurrency exchange has seen its fair share of issues. Ranging from temporarily disabling markets in missing deposits and “alleged” DDOS attacks, the past year has not been all that great for this exchange. This also worries a lot of people as to how secure their funds are. This most recent issue has cast another dark shadow over this platform, to say the least.

More specifically, things started to go awry for Poloniex almost a week ago. On July 7th, users started complaining about the exchange being slow when it comes to crediting ZEC deposits. Not too long after those complaints started to surface, the exchange suddenly disabled the ZEC wallet altogether. This means users are no longer able to deposit or withdraw ZCash from the exchange. Interestingly enough, the trading market is still active, yet it remains a bit unclear how long that will last.

It did not take long for rumors to start surfacing regarding how Poloniex is preparing to pull a major exit scam. Considering the company controls millions in ZEC on behalf of users, they would be in a prime position to do exactly that. Then again, there are other cryptocurrency markets which generate a lot more volume, which they could hold hostage and simply crash the price if they wanted to.

The troubling part is how there is still no word on resuming the ZCash wallet service on Poloniex anytime soon. Right now, there is no official ETA for this service, which is very worrisome to say the least. Being unable to provide such a vital service to users without an official explanation is not a good sign. Poloniex claims the ZCash network suffers from issues, which could affect both deposits and withdrawals. No other exchange has disabled ZEC for this specific reason, though, which makes this explanation less than credible.

As one would expect, disabling the ZEC wallet has cost people a good amount of money already. A lot of users fear their pending deposits will be lost forever, which would – allegedly-  not be the first time where Poloniex is concerned. Interestingly enough, the ZCash developers are also unaware of any issues affecting the network or any wallet issues being present right now. Poloniex is definitely up to something, but no one knows what they are playing at exactly.

One thing which could explain this situation is how Poloniex is upgrading their ZCash wallet to the newest version. Then again, this wallet has been out for some time now, thus it is strange that they are waiting so long to pursue this upgrade. Users are advised not to make ZEC deposits until these issues are resolved, although this situation may last for another few days or weeks. Luckily, users can still exchange their existing ZEC Poloniex balance for Bitcoin and cash the funds out that way without issues. Unfortuantely, this will put a lot of selling pressure on the ZEC price.

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This week the creator of Hiddenwallet, a Simplified Payment Verification client (SPV) that utilizes the trustless anonymous payment hub Tumblebit revealed the near completion of another project, called N-Tumblebit. Software developer and Tumblebit researcher, Adam Ficsor has added Tor integration to this implementation and says it’s one of the last building blocks for the platform.

Also read: Fifty Developers Hack With Bitcoin for Two Days in San Francisco

The Race Towards Getting Tumblebit Production Ready

Back in August of 2016, the proof-of-concept Tumblebit excited a lot of bitcoin proponents as the idea outlined the possibility of a trustless payment hub. Since the white paper was released, many developers including the paper’s authors set out to build a working platform. Initially, Adam Ficsor was working with the Stratis team on the Tumblebit-based Breeze wallet build but decided to create his own Tumblebit ready wallet. Ficsor announced the first release of Hiddenwallet this past May which he believes is “a major step down the road of making Bitcoin anonymous again.”

Now on July 9th Ficsor announced the integration of Tor to his other project N-Tumblebit and states on the Github description, “This is the last major milestone that’ll make Tumblebit protocol implementation a complete Bitcoin anonymity technique. The rest is UX, bug fixing, and optimization.”

Brace yourselves Bitcoin is about to become fungible

The Choice to be Your Own Bank

Other N-Bitcoin developers and Tumblebit researchers Nicolas Dorier, and Ethan Heilman have also been contributing feedback to the project as well as working on their own branches. N-Tumblebit requires NET Core SDK 1.0.4, and a fully synced, RPC-enabled 0.13.1 client. Even though UX work and bug fixing have to be finalized Nicolas Dorier says there’s still more a bit more work to be done.    

Actually, we still need something: a proof that used RSA keys can be used for blinding. This is beyond my skills though, but some people are working on it,” explains Dorier.

During the announcement of Tor integration to Ficsor’s Tumblebit tumbler platform, one individual asked what the implications of a fungible bitcoin means.

“Bitcoin gives you a choice to be your own bank. This way of using it requires a more privacy-aware approach, than using traditional institutes, because they provide you privacy against your neighbors and your stalker ex-husband,” details the N-Tumblebit developer Adam Ficsor.   

If we don’t improve Bitcoin’s fungibility, you can start practicing to live a perfect life, where you comply not only with the rules of your government, but also with the expectations of every other human being you ever get contact with during your time in this world.

Circumventing Prying Eyes and Blockchain Surveillance  

Right now there are various developers working to get Tumblebit into full production mode, and the protocol seems to be getting closer to reality every day. Even Stratis released its alpha version of the company’s Breeze wallet implementation last week. While blockchain surveillance and governments trying to ban cryptocurrency mixers is becoming the norm within the bitcoin ecosystem, these privacy-centric applications are being released to circumvent the nation state’s prying eyes.

What do you think about the work being done to bring Tumblebit to the masses? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock, Pixabay, and the Tumblebit logo. 

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The post Tumblebit Client Nears Completion — Gets a Taste of Tor appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Yet another national financial regulator is pursuing action against onecoin, an alleged cryptocurrency investment scheme.

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The post Got a Coinbase Account and an Opinion on Bitcoin Scaling? Be Heard on KYCPoll appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Starting next week, Bitcoin will be on the approved list of technologies that can move payments across the South Korean border. Fintech companies in the country will be able to obtain a permit allowing them to legally offer Bitcoin international transfer services.

Also read: South Korea Sets Up Task Force to Determine if Bitcoin Needs Regulations

New Law Making Bitcoin International Transfers Legal

Starting on July 18, the amended South Korean Foreign Exchange Transactions Act will enable fintech companies to register with the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) to legally “provide international money transfer services for small funds,” The Herald reported an FSS official saying on Wednesday.

Once registered, companies can use various methods to send money abroad, including using Bitcoin. The amended law specifically permits digital currency remittances, “which were illegal under the Foreign Exchange Transactions law,” wrote online newspaper Dailian.

To obtain a permit, a fintech firm must have a paid-in capital of more than 2 billion won (approx. 1.75 mUSD at the time of writing) and a debt-to-equity ratio of below 200 percent, The Herald explained, adding that:

A one-off transfer via a fintech firm will be limited to $3,000 or less. By an account, an annual limit for international money transfers via fintech firms will be set at $20,000.

New Challenges for Banks

The amended law will allow new entrants to compete with traditional banks, offering money transfer services at a fraction of the incumbents’ fees, with a shorter transfer time.

For an overseas remittance of 1 million won, a typical bank commission is between 50,000 won and 60,000 won, Dailian detailed, adding that fintech companies are expected to charge between 3,000 to 40,000 won. It also takes banks two or three days to complete a transfer, the publication wrote.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin remittance service provider Coinone only charges a 1% commission fee and “deposits are made within 3 minutes after requesting money transfer,” its website shows.

Responding to new fintech competitors, Keb Hana Bank has limited some of its transfer fees to around 10,000 won, and Shinhan Bank is considering the introduction of a Bitcoin-based overseas remittance system, The Herald reported. Kang Mi-jung, a senior researcher at Hana Institute of Finance, commented:

Domestic banks need to find ways to provide remittance services for simple and inexpensive fees, and to establish new profit models through partnerships with fintech.

The worldwide money transfer industry is expected to grow to approximately $600 billion this year, according to research by Infosys. About 40 fintech firms are slated to launch international money transfer services starting on August 15, the news outlet reported FSS officials saying, adding that “the move is expected to intensify competition in the 10 trillion won ($8.7 billion) international money transfer market.”

Do you think Bitcoin remittances will overtake traditional bank transfers? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Business Korea

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The post South Korea Legalizes Bitcoin International Transfers, Challenging Traditional Banks appeared first on Bitcoin News.

A private bank in Switzerland is offering its clients management services for their bitcoin holdings.

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