Day: July 25, 2017

On July 24 the operator of the website and bitcoin mixing service Bitmixer.io announced the operation is now ending its mixing services. Although many Bitcoiners assumed the closure was due to law enforcement pressure the owner insists it is due to a change in his ideology.

Also read: What Every Bitcoiner Should Know About ‘Bitcoin Cash’

‘The Largest Bitcoin Mixer is About to Stop Working’

Bitmixer.io is one of the most popular bitcoin mixing and tumbling services on the web and caters to large volumes of BTC. The service has been operating since 2014, and the platform was processing 65,000 BTC per month according to the operator of the site. Bitmixer provided digitally signed proof of every order and offered instant mixing with a big reserve. In addition to Bitmixer’s website on clearnet, the operation also had an official Tor mirror as well on the deep web. For over three years the tumbling service operated for those who wanted to mix quantities of bitcoins. Then on July 24, the sites operator announced, “the largest bitcoin mixer is about to stop working.”

“Despite the huge profit we earn, we are closing our activity,” explains Bitmixer. “Let me explain why. I’m bitcoin enthusiast since 2011. When we started this service, I was convinced that any Bitcoin user has a natural right to privacy. I was totally wrong. Now I grasp that Bitcoin is a transparent non-anonymous system by design. Blockchain is a great open book.”

I believe that Bitcoin will have a great future without dark market transactions. You may use Dash or Zerocoin if you want to buy some weed. Not Bitcoin.

Recent Darknet Takedowns Cause Speculation

The news comes shortly after the recent global law enforcement takedown of the Alphabay and Hansa darknet marketplaces. As soon as Bitmixer’s announcement was made, many people asked whether or not the organization was threatened by law enforcement. Lots of darknet customers and vendors use mixers to cover their tracks. Alongside this, lately bureaucrats worldwide are talking of banning these types of applications and frowning upon those who condone bitcoin tumblers. However, the operator of Bitmixer thinks that this is a ridiculous assumption.   

“The government pressure doesn’t work like ‘Oh man, please close your service,’” Bitmixer responds. “No way. They just come and arrest you for illegal activity. We are privacy experts; it is hard or impossible to find out our location and personality, our servers are located in the country where Bitcoin is not considered as a currency. I could sell the business to our competitors for $5-6M, but I will not do this.”

It is important that you understand my position. I really revised my view about Bitcoin as a transparent system. Bitcoin has no future with drug/weapon traffic or any other illegal activity. This is my point.

A lot of people still didn’t believe the Bitmixer operator reasons but wished him luck for helping people mix coins. One person writes, “I don’t believe that he turned 180 degrees to anti-privacy — Anyhow, thanks for your service mate!”

What do you think about Bitmixer closing up shop for ideological reasons? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock, and Bitmixer. 

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A prominent figure in the movement to encourage blockchain tokens as a funding method has lauded new SEC guidance for the industry.

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The SEC’s new blockchain token guidelines aren’t a surprise to industry commentators.

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In a press release issued today, the SEC concluded that tokens that were part of The DAO project were in fact securities. What this means for current ICOs and future token sales is that they will have to abide by federal securities laws.

While many ICOs already exclude certain IP addresses from participating, this “official” ruling means the SEC may start cracking down on token sales based in the states.

“The Report confirms that issuers of distributed ledger or blockchain technology-based securities must register offers and sales of such securities unless a valid exemption applies. Those participating in unregistered offerings also may be liable for violations of the securities laws.”

The report goes into detail about how The DAO project worked, who was behind it, and how investors could become part of the project. The report concluded that DAO tokens were in fact securities by definition, and went further to explain how the organization behind it acted as a securities issuer that should have been federally registered.

According to the Securities and Exchange Acts, a security is an “investment contract.” The SEC defines an investment contract as “an investment of money in a common enterprise with a reasonable expectation of profits to be derived from the entrepreneurial or managerial efforts of others.”

The key word here is profits from “entrepreneurial or managerial efforts of others.” The DAO did allow for voting for new proposals and the direction in which the project goes, however, the SEC argued that the DAO token holders’ rights were limited because any proposals would first have to be approved by a team of curators.

“DAO Token holders were substantially reliant on the managerial efforts of Slock.it, its co-founders, and the Curators. Even if an investor’s efforts help to make an enterprise profitable, those efforts do not necessarily equate with a promoter’s significant managerial efforts or control over the enterprise”

As a result, because The DAO issued those investment contracts, and users were mostly reliant on the efforts of management to see a return on their contribution, the organization was a securities issuer. According to SEC’s report:

“The definition of “issuer” is broadly defined to include “every person who issues or proposes to issue any security” and “person” includes any unincorporated organization.”

In conclusion, even though the DAO was seemingly autonomous in its nature and the company was not incorporated, because management still had some involvement in the organization’s day to day operations the SEC deemed it to be a valid issuer of securities.

A Cornell professor who was at the center of last year’s DAO hack has issued new comments on an SEC ruling on the project.

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A major mainstream investment company, Rothschild Investment Corporation, has embraced cryptocurrency by investing in bitcoin. The company recently filed a holdings report that solidified this investment move. They bought shares of the GBTC, or the bitcoin investment trust, which acts as a share that tacks its value to bitcoin’s price. 

Also read: What Every Bitcoiner Should Know About ‘Bitcoin Cash’

The Econotimes covered the facts: “According to the details provided, Rothschild Investment Corporation has acquired shares of Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) for $210,000.”

The Bitcoin Investment Trust

The Bitcoin investment trust is a U.S. based securities exchange. For clarity, some people have misinterpreted Rothschild Investment Corporation as directly buying and storing bitcoin. In reality, they merely purchased shares of the trust, which holds “bitcoin on paper” in the traditional fashion, as publicly quoted securities. This allows investors to keep and hold the value of bitcoin without having to purchase the currency and hold it in a wallet.

The Econotimes provided an explanation:

Sponsored by Grayscale Investments, the Bitcoin Investment Trust is an open-ended grantor trust based in the U.S. Its shares are publicly quoted securities solely invested in and deriving value from the price of bitcoin. The publicly traded shares officially started trading under the ticker GBTC in 2015.

Bitcoin shares began public trading via Bitcoin Investment trust on March of 2015. This move by Rothschild Investment Company represents a major mainstream player hedging bets on the future value of bitcoin.

Rothschild Investment Corporation and an Illuminati Conspiracy

There were also rumors that Rothschild Investment Corporation was related to the Rothschild family. In various social media posts, people thought there was some kind of conspiracy or deal that Rothchild himself made for gaining shares of bitcoin. The conspiracy theorists believe the Illuminati and lizard rulers may be colluding to sabotage bitcoin.

This turned out to be false, as the company has no relationship to the Rothschild family other than possessing its namesake. The tweets below should say “Rothschild Investment Corporation,” and not just Rothschild the person. The reason for confusion is clear, because the name is relatively common. Looks like the Illuminati are still waiting for their chance to enter the market.

BREAKING: Rothschild Buy $BTC Bitcoin via $GBTC Bitcoin Investment Trust 539 SH https://t.co/2jm71uscCF /// https://t.co/gJ4z93rKld

— Brian Cohen (@inthepixels) July 22, 2017

Rothschild bought #bitcoin today via Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC). Mainstream adoption is happening. Institutional investors are buying. pic.twitter.com/DZ4AOQ06QM

— Joseph Young (@iamjosephyoung) July 22, 2017

Do you think bitcoin adoption from mainstream investment firms is good for the cryptocurrency ecosystem? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Steemit (see image above).

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Solar DAO, a blockchain based investment fund has announced the launch of its upcoming pre-ICO campaign, starting July 27, 2017. The crowdsale will offer a unique opportunity for cryptocurrency community members and investors to be part of the clean energy revolution. The energy sector is increasingly moving towards renewable energy. The shift is driven by … Continue reading Solar DAO Announces Pre-ICO as It Promotes Investments in Solar Energy

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The SEC said today that the offering and sale of digital tokens “are subject to the requirements of the federal securities laws”.

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