Day: July 12, 2017

While browsing through the news I came across this achievement of MCAP token on C-CEX exchange. Reading further I found out that ever since its launch date, MCAP token has garnered some remarkable responses from investors which are quite evident from these stats. Let’s state a few of them: MCAP Labs has sold over 4.8 … Continue reading MCAP token tops Hot BTC pairs index on C-CEX exchange

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Just a few days ago, people were very excited about the potential flippening. This is the instance where Ethereum would overtake Bitcoin’s market cap and become the number one cryptocurrency. While some people still believe this will happen, it now appears we are heading toward the Floppening. As the name suggests, it is the exact opposite of the Flippening. While this is merely a joke term, it is worth explaining the situation.

The Floppening is More Realistic Than a Flippening

We have seen some spectacular growth for Ethereum throughout all of 2017. The currency saw its value soar. The current market trend goes to show all of those gains can be wiped off the table in mere hours. Right now, Ether is struggling to hover around $200. Some bearish traders feel that prices will drop to as low as $100.

Ethereum’s market cap is declining a lot quicker compared to Bitcoin’s. Ethereum had a $34.5bn market cap not that long ago. Right now, that same market cap has decreased by nearly 50% in the course of a few days. It is hard to explain why this is happening right now, although it has been pointed out multiple times Ethereum has some issues which need to be fixed soon.

Bitcoin’s market cap, on the other hand, has taken a few hits as well. With a market cap of $38.5bn, it is quite far away from a high of $46.6bn. However, that is a far smaller decrease compared to Ethereum’s recent drop. This means that Bitcoin is still the dominant currency and will continue to be for quite some time to come. Anyone still holding out hope for a flippening will need a lot of patience.

Instead of the flippening, we are seeing signs of a floppening. When looking at the CoinMarketCap screenshot below, you can clearly see what the floppening entails exactly. It occurs when Bitcoin’s dominance increases once again. This Bitcoin Dominance Index is heading toward 40% for quite some time now, but it is showing signs of a major reversal.

Do keep in mind the floppening may not necessarily last all that long. It is a term to indicate Bitcoin’s market dominance remains stable or grows, whereas Ethereum’s position weakens. There will always be times when there is either a sign of a flippening or floppening. Right now, Bitcoin’s dominance is slowly inching back to 50% and more. If Ethereum continues to lose value, that percentage may be reached a lot sooner than people think.

Ethereum users may not take all that kindly to the term “floppening.” Then again, Bitcoin users are not too happy about all of this flippening talk either. It is hard to please both crowds, but no one expected anything different. There will always be some “beef” between Ethereum and Bitcoin enthusiasts, even though both currencies are not competing with one another.

A multinational network for aid groups based is testing blockchain to track donations and aid disbursements.

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One Clear Message from Yellen’s Testimony: Buy Bitcoin

Many people do not see the value of Bitcoin since they are unsure on how to spend it. Most online and physical stores still do not accept Bitcoin payments directly. Solving that problem is only a matter of time. Until that changes, alternative solutions need to be found. All4BTC provides this service, but are they worth using?

An Overview of All4BTC and Its Current Issues

All4BTC quickly became a very popular service since it launched in 2013. In fact, we have used it on multiple occasions in the past to order items from Amazon and pay with Bitcoin. Granted, there is a small service fee to use this service. At that time, it was well worth giving it a shot. After all, Amazon does not accept Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies directly. Using an intermediary service is an absolute must, for the time being.

All4BTC is not limited to just Amazon. It can be used for virtually any online retailer, as long as they can physically ship items to your delivery address. Many people used the platform to buy items from Chinese webshops as well. All it takes is for users to post the link to the item they are looking to purchase and enter the shipping details.

All4BTC is a service based out of Berlin, Germany. So far, the company handled over 1 million Euro worth of orders. There is also a Chrome extension to make using the service even easier. In fact, anyone can purchase whatever they want from the internet, as long as it does not involve subscriptions or darknet-based products. A line has to drawn somewhere, after all.

Back when we used All4BTC’s services, orders were often placed on our behalf in two to three days. That is still somewhat slow, but it understandable when using a third-party service provider at such an early stage. It looks as if things have gotten slightly worse ever since that time, though. In fact, a lot of people are voicing their complaints about the service.

One user is complaining about how they discovered various bugs on the websites. Clicking specific links on the site results in unusual 404 errors. The social media link does not work either, and there is no customer support email address. To make matters even worse, orders are still showing as waiting for confirmations despite Bitcoin transfers getting confirmed days prior. While most of these issues can be fixed easily, the delay of orders getting placed may not be so easy to fix.

Things are only growing progressively worse for All4BTC right now. Multiple users have confirmed they paid for orders, yet they have not been placed nor have they been delivered. It is possible this platform has turned into a scam or is dealing with major issues. The lack of responses from team members is worrisome, and they have not replied to any inquiries for nearly two months now. Their representative, called Dylan, is also no longer responding to emails. We will keep an eye on this situation and update the article accordingly.

On July 12 the Switzerland-based private bank Falcon Group announced the bank will offer bitcoin asset management for their customers. Through a partnership with Bitcoin Suisse AG, the bank’s clients will be able to purchase and store the decentralized currency using their account funds.

Also read: Japanese Bitcoin Exchange Bitpoint Expands into Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan

Falcon Group Becomes the First Swiss Private Bank to Offer XBT/BTC Asset Management

Over the past few months, a few banks have been integrating bitcoin asset management into their banking platforms. In May, Norway’s largest online bank Skandiabanken announced bitcoin accounts for customers, and Fidelity Investment’s just revealed a collaboration with Coinbase that will offer digital asset management as well. Now Falcon Group will become the first Swiss private bank to provide blockchain asset management solutions for its clients. The financial institutions first feature service will allow customers to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin (XBT/BTC) through the bank.

Falcon Group is a well-known bank based in Zurich that manages CHF 14.6 billion in customer assets worldwide. The financial institution also has offices in Geneva, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, and London. The company announced earlier that the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) had given Falcon Private Bank the approval, making the bank the first Swiss banking institution to offer Bitcoin. Further, the firm has also installed a Bitcoin ATM for clients in the lobby of Falcon’s Zurich branch at Pelikanstrasse 37.

“Following our strategic partnership with Move Digital, a best-in-class provider of digital asset management and investment advisory systems, this is a further tangible element of our new strategy,” explains Arthur Vayloyan, Global Head Products & Services, Falcon Private Bank Ltd.

We are proud to be the first-mover in the Swiss private banking area to provide blockchain asset management for our clients. Falcon is convinced that the time is right to enter this nascent market and it is our firm belief that this new product will fulfill our clients’ future needs.

‘Bridging the Gap Between Crypto and Traditional Finance’

Founded in 2013, the firm Bitcoin Suisse AG assisted the Falcon Group’s recent integration and believes the decision is a huge milestone for the entire crypto-space. Bitcoin Suisse AG will provide the underlying infrastructure and support for this new product offering, and acts as the AML-regulated broker of Falcon Private Bank. As Falcon’s crypto-asset broker and infrastructure partner, Bitcoin Suisse AG will safeguard, track, and trade crypto-assets for institutional clients.

“Bitcoin Suisse is proud to support Falcon Private Bank in this historic product offering. Falcon Private Bank is, to my knowledge, the first private bank worldwide to offer crypto-assets directly to their clients,” explains Bitcoin Suisse AG CEO Niklas Nikolajsen.

Because of its cryptographically-limited supply and its unique set of properties, in just a few short years Bitcoin has swiftly become a peerless store of value. With the recent growth in market capitalization and liquidity, Bitcoin and the other major crypto-assets offer a way to diversify cash holdings. While the volatility of crypto-assets has historically been very high, the trend the past few years has been very positive, as adaption has grown, with the Falcon Private Bank offering now definitively bridging the gap between crypto and traditional finance.  

Banks Offering Cryptocurrency Investment Management a ‘Major Leap for Bitcoin as an Asset Class’

Nikolajsen says that many high net worth individuals and institutions are showing keen interest in bitcoin and digital asset investments. With a few bank’s worldwide beginning to offer bitcoin asset management services to clients, Nikolajsen is confident that other institutions will follow Falcon Bank’s lead.

“A bank offering crypto-assets is a game changer, as it gives institutional clients and high net worth individuals a counterparty in regards to crypto-assets upon which they can rely: A regulated Swiss bank. This announcement marks a major leap for Bitcoin as an asset class and indeed for all the crypto-assets. The door has been opened wide for an entirely new class of investors to engage in the crypto-asset market,” Nikolajsen added.

What do you think about Falcon Bank offering bitcoin asset management? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via Falcon Group websites, Bitcoin Suisse AG, and Pixabay.  

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As Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen testified before Congress today, one attendee had some attention-grabbing advice: buy some bitcoin.

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Ripple, which touts itself as the “Global Settlement Network” and has been involved with various banks to move money around the world, has its own ideas about how Blockchain can and can’t help the banking sector.

For all of the groups that have popped up in cryptocurrency communities, very few of them have anything to do with religion. The Order of Ethereum, on the other hand, is trying to do things differently. Although it is very likely this is a mere joke, the concept is rather troubling.

The Order of Ethereum is a Cult?

The Order of Ethereum’s webpage shows that the team behind this project has a plan in mind. What that plan is remains to be clear at this time. They are somehow trying to mix a religious angle with blockchain technology and Ethereum. While that may sound like a good idea to some, others will see it as a cult.

Claiming how all people “need forgiveness” is a very common religious theme. While other religions require users to pray or attend services, The Order of Ethereum allows users to free themselves of the weight of their cryptocurrency. In fact, they can do so to secure their spot in the afterlife. This is another clear sign of cultish behavior. After all, every cult wants your “earthly belongings” which need to be “sacrificed for the greater good.” It is also reminiscent of selling indulgences in 16th century Catholicism. 

Stating how users can buy themselves out of guilt will create backlash. Those who make “larger contributions” will achieve a bigger status in The order of Ethereum. One can even become a saynt, prophyt, or savyor, depending on how much money you are willing to throw away. This shares some similarities with other recent ICOs we have seen without a real purpose.

Achieving this elevated status will not come cheap. Becoming a saynt requires at least 10 Ether, whereas prophyts need to cough up 100 ETH. Becoming a savyor is the most expensive of all, of course, as it requires a 100 KETH contribution. That is equal to 1,000 Ether. It is also possible to buy off one Syn for the price of 0.01 ETH. A very elaborate structure, but it is far more concerned with financial gain than any spiritual enlightenment.

This is another example of how people are trying to capitalize on the cryptocurrency ICO hype right now. Anyone in the world can create their own crowdsale and hope to raise a lot of money from doing so. Launching something which closely resembles a cult is one way of doing so. However, it may also offend quite a few religious people in the process. The order of Ethereum should not be taken seriously under any circumstance, nor should anyone send them any money.

There are some people making small contributions to the crowdsale address already. Several people are trying to atone for their syns by sending by 0.01 ETH. Although projects such as The Order of Ethereum are clearly a joke, they will give cryptocurrency ICOs an even worse name by the look of things. It will be interesting to see how much money this project raised at the end. The website is designed quite nicely indicating the person responsible for it has put in some effort.