Day: August 29, 2017

A trio of notable blockchain funds including Polychain Capital and Pantera Capital are investing in a token sale for mobile messaging platform Kik.

Most people in cryptocurrency are well aware of the ICO boom of 2017. This means that they are also likely familiar with the fact that ICOs do not allow investors from the United States to participate in most cases. Recently, I wondered if this also applied to U.S. dual citizens. Would a dual citizen be allowed to participate using his or her other citizenship? I wanted to find out, so I did some research.

Dual Citizens and ICOs

I want to start off by saying I am not a immigration or citizenship law expert, so all of my analysis here should be taken with a grain of salt. You should always conduct your own independent research.

As many of you know, the main reason that U.S. citizens are not allowed to participate in ICOs is because the U.S. sees ICO tokens as securities and needing to be regulated as such. Since ICOs cannot guarantee that accredited investors are the U.S. citizens taking part, most have closed the door on Americans all together. Read The Merkle’s article for a more in-depth presentation of these guidelines.

The United States tolerates but does not encourage dual citizenship. In fact, the U.S. does not recognize dual citizenship. This is because no U.S. law mentions dual citizenship or require dual citizens to choose between their two nationalities. The only instance where individuals would need to choose is if they were applying for foreign citizenship that might necessitate forfeiting U.S. citizenship. Most dual citizens have both nationalities at birth, so they would not encounter this situation.

While dual citizens have two passports, presenting their non-U.S. passport at a U.S. border or customs check leads to a lot of questions and a major inconvenience for the traveler. This is because the U.S. essentially does not recognize dual citizens as dual citizens at all, but rather just as U.S. citizens. Showing a non-U.S. passport as a U.S. citizen would be strange and raise inquiries.

Dual citizens get to enjoy the benefits of both of their citizenships, such as visa-free work and living in those nations. However they would also potentially be subjected to civic duties such as conscription and – for the U.S. anyway – dual taxation. So I wondered if dual citizens would be able to use their non-U.S. citizen privileges to participate in ICOs.

Sadly, from what I understand, this is not the case. All of the above suggests that dual citizens are just seen as U.S. citizens by financial authorities. Since the U.S. is very strict about its citizens’ ability to invest in securities, and the fact that the country taxes citizens’ income regardless of where they are living in the world, trying to circumvent this might spell disaster. While the individual might legally be two different people – most dual citizens are issued two birth certificates, one from each country of citizenship – separating the two financially is impossible.

There are many cool benefits of being a dual citizen, but it does not appear that participating in the hot world of ICOs is one of them just yet.

What’s better than sharing WiFi with others and getting paid for it? If you answered nothing, I have some good news for you. A company named Ammbr is trying to make that a reality. Not only will you possibly be able to make money, but you will also be sharing the wonders of the internet … Continue reading Internet to the Masses: Tokenizing Broadband Access

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While the 2nd stage of ATB Coin ICO is in process, potential investors have an opportunity to support the cryptocurrency on favorable terms. Joining the project until September 1st will bring a 10% bonus on the account of each investor. Only 3 days left to the official blockchain network launch – hurry up to make a choice.

At the moment over 6100 persons have supported ATB Coin by investing over $16 000 000. Such an interest to the cryptocurrency results from its innovativeness and high perspective. The project aims to make micropayments a part of everyday life and let its users enjoy fast and secure service with near-zero commissions.  Advanced technological decisions implemented in the cryptocurrency, in particular, Lightning Network, SegWit and Smart Contracts, make analysts see high potential and call ATB Coin the cryptocurrency of the future.

At the moment investors continue joining the project, participating in ATB Coin Wallet testing and Bounty hunting. The company is preparing for the blockchain network launch and works on expanding its network of partners by entering negotiations with companies met at IV International Blockchain Summit-2017.

3 days left for you to make a decision that can bring great changes into your life and your future!

ATB Coin

40 Wall Street, 28th floor

New York , NY 10005

https://atbcoin.com/

+1 (886) 337-3940

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored press release and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of any Merkle employees. This is not investment or trading advice; always do your own independent research.

A quick guide in how Blockchain-based transfer systems work and why they are better than traditional ones.

Cryptocurrency startup Coinbase is receiving the lion’s share of customer complaints filed with the US government, according to a new report.

There are new types of ransomware popping up on a weekly basis. The vast majority of new ransomware types are based on existing source code. The CryptoMix code is especially popular among developers, though that may change in the near future. It appears the developers using this code are slowly running out of ideas, as no new features have come to fruition and the names have been getting eerily similar. EMPTY CryptoMix is nothing special by any means.

CryptoMix Ransomware may Come to an end Soon

There have been a few dozen different versions of CryptoMix ransomware to date. Not all of those variants introduced major changes under the hood, though. In fact, it appears the big changes have been exhausted for quite some time now, and the only remaining course of action was to come up with new file extensions when the encryption process takes place. The latest variant of the CryptoMix family is called “EMPTY,” which does nothing different from any other recent variation of this malware strain.

This does not mean the new CryptoMix variant is not a big threat, though. There is no free decryption tool available for the EMPTY variant just yet, although that situation may change in the near future. It looks very similar to other recent variations of the same ransomware family, but it uses a different file extension to encrypt files.  Other than that, there are no major changes and everything else is the same as it has been for several months now. Because this ransomware family has been quite prevalent, security researchers have come up with quick solutions to decrypt files free of charge.

The main change in this variant is how it appends the .EMPTY file extension to encrypted files. This does not mean the file itself is suddenly empty, though, since this is not a data wiper. Indeed, the developers are running out of ideas to make CryptoMix better and more lucrative, which is a good sign for the rest of the world. If threats like these slowly fade away, the war against ransomware will eventually end. Unfortunately, there are plenty of other threats to deal with in this particular industry.

There is also a slight variation in the ransom note distributed as part of the EMPTY CryptoMix variant. It asks victims to send emails to three different email addresses in order to receive payment instructions. This further confirms that most ransomware developers are looking for ways to get rid of central command & control servers to issue payment instructions. It also makes it a bit more difficult to shut down these ransomware strains, though. At least it also shows how the ransomware industry is changing, as it requires a lot more effort to make money with malware now than just a few months ago.

For the time being, it is unclear how much money victims will need to pay to have their files decrypted. We have seen different types of ransomware charge a fee between US$20 and US$5,000 lately. With the Bitcoin price spiking to new heights, criminals have become a lot bolder when it comes to ransom payment amounts. Everyone wants to get rich as quickly as possible, and it only takes a few Bitcoins to accumulate a lot of money. Proper criminals will look for anonymous payment solutions such as PaySafeCard and gift cards.

The ransomware industry undergoes change on a regular basis. Earlier this year, CryptoMix ransomware was considered to be one of the biggest threats of 2017. Eight months in and the developers have no fresh ideas. They are clearly struggling to keep their creations relevant. It is unclear what the future holds for CryptoMix, but for now, things are not looking all that great. The rest of the world will not shed a tear over its struggles.

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Cappasity is providing a Blockchain solution for AR/VR users and creators to create and monetize new 3D content.

The post Blockchain in Trucking Alliance Seeks to Revolutionize the Transport Industry appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Somewhere around midafternoon out of Europe, the bitcoin price spiked to the upside and broke through 4600, a level we have been watching quite closely recently as one that could be pretty psychologically significant. Almost immediately subsequent to the break, however, price peaked in and around 4625 and started to decline. It fell right back … Continue reading Bitcoin Price Watch; Live Downside Entry

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The latest price review on top 5 cryptocurrencies.