Day: September 22, 2017

Want to lose all your money? Invest in a lousy ICO.

Indian officials revealed last week that the country’s tax agency and investigation taskforce have concerns about money laundering and black market activities associated with bitcoin. India’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) is in the midst of drafting a report detailing problematic issues regarding the decentralized cryptocurrency.

Also read: India Considers Issuing Its Own Bitcoin-Like Cryptocurrency as Legal Tender

Indian Officials Concerned With How Bitcoin Operates

According to an Indian publication, The Economic Times, government agencies in the country have concerns about illegal activities that could be tied to bitcoin. An unnamed source explained that the SIT taskforce is currently drafting a report about these concerns, and the final draft should be completed in a month.

“There are concerns on the way [bitcoin] operates — Some unaccounted money could be flowing into [cryptocurrencies],” explained the source familiar with the matter.

Following this statement, the news outlet reported that India’s income tax agency is also concerned with money laundering and illegal transmissions. “There are issues with large investments flowing into this currency,” said a senior tax department official. Moreover, an Indian central bank official told the press on September 13 that the institution still feels uneasy about bitcoin. “In regard to non-fiat cryptocurrencies, I think we are not comfortable,” explained Sudarshan Sen, Executive Director at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Despite Government’s Opinion, Bitcoin is Thriving in India

After the RBI director’s statements, the bitcoin-based trading platform Unocoin said that bitcoin is thriving in the nation despite the central bank’s opinions.

“The Indian Bitcoin ecosystem is thriving — In metropolitan cities such as Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai, there are a large number of existing and upcoming bitcoin quarries that are running in temperature controlled rooms, around the clock, every day,” explained Unocoin.

The company said that domestic Indian Bitcoin transactions have increased exponentially. By the end of 2016, the country had over 500 bitcoin-accepting merchants. “The number of Indian bitcoin investors is increasing at 2,500 a day,” claimed Unocoin. “In fact, it’s well known that bitcoin can be freely converted anywhere in the subcontinent into any physical currency — USD or INR.”

So it’s safe to say that India is indeed welcoming bitcoin with — semi-opened — arms, with the RBI keeping the handcuffs in place.

While Unocoin said it does not know if BTC will obtain legal status, it noted that “bitcoins aren’t necessarily ‘banned’ in India.” For now, Indian residents and Bitcoin startups will have to continue operating within the legal uncertainty until the government and the RBI come to a decision.

What do you think about India’s officials stating that they still have concerns with bitcoin? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Images via Shutterstock, Unocoin, and AP Photo Abhijit Bhatlekar.

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Charlie Lee, the creator of cryptocurrency Litecoin, has taken to Twitter to voice his doubts over the current Chinese crypto-ban rumours. In a series of Tweets from today, the mastermind behind Litecoin claimed to “have a trusted source that says that there’s no truth to China banning mining or network” and that “the FUD is … Continue reading Litecoin’s Charlie Lee Makes Cryptic Claims About Crypto-Bans on Twitter

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Mingo – an interconnected set of supporting products, announces its Pre -ICO sale to raise €2M, scheduled to begin at 3 PM GMT on 25th September 2017. The upcoming token sale will be followed by the planned ICO, going live sometime during the first quarter of 2018. The proceeds from the campaign will be allocated … Continue reading MingoCoin Token Pre-Sale Goes Live on September 25, 2017

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To an average consumer and ordinary retailer, the world of cryptocurrencies has successfully been demystified by the entrance of PlusCoin in the market — a coin that is fully integrated into the DS Plus mobile marketplace. And in an effort to go beyond customers to enterprises, PlusCoin is already enjoying partnerships with corporations like the … Continue reading PlusCoin ICO has Loads of Benefits to Share with Crowdsale Participants

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There is a Russia based platform that aims to totally disrupt the organic food and eco-farming sector. The platform is a retail network that seeks to introduce a revolutionary idea into the market. They will do this through the use of a platform known as BioCoin. What BioCoin expects to achieve is to leverage on … Continue reading BioCoin Seeks to Introduce Loyalty Reward Programs Using Blockchain Technology

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The company’s solution will streamline information sharing, using a permissioned blockchain to ensure the security and integrity of critical data.

September 20, Connecticut, U.S, Reliable access to patients’ medical information is a prerequisite for timely and effective healthcare, but the confidential nature of personal data means that healthcare providers often operate within a siloed world creating unintended consequences where patient outcomes come second to data protection concerns.

These tensions have led the Connecticut-based company SimplyVital Health (SVH) to create a totally new kind of data-sharing solution. Health Nexus is an autonomous, blockchain ecosystem that integrates with existing healthcare systems for lower on-boarding costs. Because it employs a permissioned ledger – rather than an open protocol, like the bitcoin network – it is possible to ensure that all miners maintaining the network are validated entities. The platform is consequently secure enough to deal with data as private and sensitive as healthcare records.

Secure, Open Healthcare Marketplace

SimplyVital Health has created this powerful new platform to allow healthcare providers to roll out innovative new products and services without being unnecessarily hampered by the issues surrounding data storage and sharing. A key pair system is built into the protocol, ensuring safe and robust access to medical records. Health Nexus propels healthcare infrastructure forward and, through the efficient and trustworthy ledger blockchain provides, empowers providers worldwide to transition to better care coordination. The immutable nature of blockchain entries ensures proof of provided care, whilst the simplicity of secure data sharing allows a patient’s entire care team, from surgeons to specialists, to coordinate treatment from first appointment to final check-up.

Their current platform, ConnectingCare, is commercially available, and a number of organisations already employ it to facilitate their business models – making it one of the first practical use-cases for blockchain technology in healthcare. The company’s aim is ultimately to leverage Health Nexus to unite healthcare provision on a global scale, rather than allowing individual providers to remain in their own silos.

HealthCash Token Sale

SimplyVital Health will hold a token sale for Health Cash (HLTH), the blockchain token that will provide rewards for the miners who maintain the network and help catalyse the growth and security of the ecosystem – bringing the revolutionary advantages of blockchain technology to a new generation of healthcare providers in the process.

The token pre-sale begins on 26 September, with the main crowd sale beginning one month later on 31 October. To learn more, visit www.tokensale.simplyvitalhealth.com.

This is a sponsored press release and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views held by any employees of The Merkle. This is not investment, trading, or gambling advice. Always conduct your own independent research.

Eloplay, an eSports project, has announced in its recent blogpost that it integrates blockchain-based solutions in the platform’s operation. Even though by itself it doesn’t seem like big news, this announcement has probably outlined the growing trend of blockchain acceptance by the eSports industry. eSports at a Glance eSports is a relatively new phenomenon that, … Continue reading Blockchain Conquering Esports Industry

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Josh Brown, the money manager and bitcoin bear-turned-bull, had some harsh words for initial coin offerings (ICOs) in a new blog post.

Cryptocurrency mining is known to consume lots of energy. This basically means that if one would want to set up a mining farm then energy costs should be on top of their list. Couple all this with the changing climate, it is important that the carbon footprint of your mining farm should be considered. Such … Continue reading Hydrominer: Green, Efficient and Profitable Cryptocurrency Mining Initiative

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As many as four blockchain-related amendments, funding various initiatives, could find their way into the European Union’s 2018 budget.

Although we are only now starting to realize the potential of cross-chain atomic swaps, there are more advanced solutions in development. The main downside of atomic swaps is that they only support currencies of the same type. SmartBridge, on the other hand, is capable of communicating with blockchains powering different types of cryptocurrencies. Although the technology is far from finished, it warrants a closer look.

SmartBridge is a Major Game Changer

Cryptocurrency developers are looking for new ways to exchange value between different blockchains and currencies. So far, these efforts have not resulted in any major changes. Virtually all trades still take place through centralized platforms. These exchanges and service providers are a weak link in the world of decentralized cryptocurrencies. Removing these intermediaries from the equation will not be easy, though.

This is where cross-chain atomic swaps come into the picture. Litecoin developer Charlie Lee is actively developing this concept as we speak. In fact, he completed such an atomic swap between Litecoin and Decred just the other day. While that was a major breakthrough, it is not necessarily the best solution for exchanging cryptocurrencies directly. A SmartBridge would make a lot more sense in this regard, assuming developers are willing to experiment with it.

What the SmartBridge does is effectively connect different blockchains with one another. Every currency making use of this technology will become more powerful and valuable as a result. Additionally, applications developed on any of the supporting blockchains will be able to use all of these coins and currencies without friction. Plus, it can even bring specific altcoin functionality to Bitcoin users in the process if needed. It’s a very interesting concept to look forward to, assuming it is implemented in the first place.

No one will be surprised to hear blockchains cannot communicate with one another directly, as they are not built for that purpose whatsoever. However, a small piece of code would certainly make communication between blockchains possible. Blockchain developers will need to integrate a specific data section which is capable of bridging the gap between different blockchains. In its current state of development, this snippet of code poses no harm to blockchains whatsoever.

The one downside to the only working SmartBridge available today is that it needs to go through the ARK blockchain. The ARK project has been focusing on SmartBridge technology for some time now. ARK chain will consequently be the go-to intermediary for all other cryptocurrencies utilizing this concept. That’s not necessarily a solution most people will readily use, as the goal is to decentralize anything and everything. Rest assured some developers will come up with ways to avoid reliance on such intermediaries in the future.

All things considered, SmartBridge seems to be more advanced compared to cross-chain atomic swaps. However, both concepts have their advantages and drawbacks, regardless of how you want to look at things. SmartBridge is definitely something to look forward to, as it would make all supported cryptocurrencies more appealing to the masses. It would effectively eliminate competition between coins, as everyone could access the same features on an even playing field. Such a technology will significantly impact the cryptocurrency sector as a whole; that is for sure.

WePower Network plans to utilize the Blockchain technology to increase the speed of adoption of renewable energy sources worldwide.