Day: September 26, 2017

You believe in Bitcoin, or you believe it is a bubble. Either way, Mike Novogratz is pumping a lot of money into it, and profiting.

Food and raw materials are among the most important commodities that are necessary for the continued existence of humankind. These commodities also represent a huge aspect of the entire commodities market which trades an average volume of about 2 Trillion USD per annum. The limits of a centralized market In the traditional markets, commodities are … Continue reading Blockchain Disruption Is Set to Affect Global Food Supply and Raw Material Distribution

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Bearish signals appear to be reversing as chart analysis suggests the quiet bitcoin price might be close to making noise.

The post Change Healthcare Announces Enterprise Blockchain Solutions on Hyperleger Fabric appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Crypto enthusiasts who won’t let India lag in the Blockchain rush.

Existing cryptocurrency protocols will need to evolve in a significant way. More specifically, to the average consumer, it makes no sense to pay a fee to move bitcoins or altcoins between accounts. Coming up with lower-fee or even feeless solutions will not be easy, though. The Lightning Network is one possible way, but there is also a concept known as Flash Channels. The latter option is a development introduced recently by the developers of IOTA.

Flash Channels are Instant and Feeless

It is always remarkable to see different project developers come up with similar solutions for one specific problem. This is one of the reasons why different altcoins can serve specific purposes, as Bitcoin is not the perfect cryptocurrency by any means. This doesn’t mean we will see altcoins competing with Bitcoin in any significant manner, though, but it’s always interesting to see what other teams are able to come up with.

IOTA is one of those altcoins most people aren’t too sure about just yet. Though it’s one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, very few people are aware of IOTA’s recent developments. One of those developments goes by the name of Flash Channels, which work pretty similar to Bitcoin’s Lightning Network. Providing instant and feeless transactions is a major development for any cryptocurrency in the world; that much is rather evident.

The IOTA Foundation has been working on layer-two solutions for a while now. Flash Channels create bidirectional off-Tangle payment channels which provide instant high-throughput transactions. This means different entities on the network can send money back and forth in as many transactions as they would like without experiencing any delays whatsoever. More importantly, they can do so without paying transaction fees, which is a pretty intriguing development in its own right.

Moreover, using Flash Channels means users don’t have to wait on network confirmations either. Money is transferred in the blink of an eye and can be spent by the recipient immediately. Interestingly, none of these transactions are recorded on the main IOTA blockchain either. That chain will only record the transactions related to opening and closing the payment channel in question. This is a very important breakthrough for the IOTA ecosystem; that much is certain.

Opening a Flash Channel still requires users to deposit equal amounts of IOTA into a multisig address controlled by all users. Once deposits are confirmed, the channel can be used for as long as needed. When everything’s said and done, the final balance will be published to the parent blockchain. It is an excellent way to reduce blockchain bloat and open up new opportunities to move money around the world with little to no friction.

All of this goes to show there are multiple ways to achieve instant cryptocurrency transactions at little to no cost. Especially when it comes to layer-two solutions, Flash Channels are – on paper – equally as impressive as Raiden or the Lightning Network. It is good to see the IOTA team providing the community with such a major development update, as it shows there is still a lot of work being done behind the scenes. The future’s certainly looking bright for most major cryptocurrencies.

Over the past few weeks, many Bitcoin Cash (BCH) supporters wondered when the peer-to-peer trading platform Localbitcoins would release BCH funds to users who left bitcoin on the exchange before the August 1 split. On September 25 the organization revealed it sold the BCH funds and will be compensating users in bitcoin.

Also read: U.S. Regulators and Blockchain Advocates to Discuss ICO Implications on October 12

Localbitcoins Sells Bitcoin Cash That Was Left on the Exchange and Compensates Users With Bitcoin

The bitcoin exchange Localbitcoins is a business based in Helsinki, Finland, that offers a web portal for nearly every city worldwide where users can participate in over-the-counter bitcoin trades. The company was founded in 2012 and has since been a favorite trading vehicle for bitcoin proponents across the globe.

Since the hard fork that produced bitcoin cash, many individuals wondered if Localbitcoins would compensate people with BCH if they held bitcoin there before August 1. Some even talked of threatening the company with a lawsuit because Localbitcoins didn’t mention a plan for after the fork. According to the company, BCH will not be supported by the organization, but they have sold the BCH balances and have credited users with BTC.     

The startup details that the BCH held on Localbitcoins was sold and “credited to customers at its corresponding value.” All of the BCH funds left on the exchange were converted to bitcoin (BTC), and the company says open trades were also considered.

“Open trades that had any balance at the time were also taken into consideration, based on who received the Bitcoin after the trade was completed or closed,” explains Localbitcoins.

Bitcoin Cash Supporters Believe Localbitcoin’s Statements Were More Like “Trolling” Than an Announcement

Bitcoin Cash supporters were not pleased with the startup’s announcement telling the public they up and sold people’s BCH funds without asking. Further, the blog post references the digital currency as “Bcash” numerous times throughout the blog post and many supporters viewed this as a taunt. According to BCH supporters, the entire announcement was very “troll-like” and condescending towards the fork.

Future Cryptocurrency ‘Air-Drops’ Will Not be Supported by Localbitcoins

Localbitcoins says there will also be a processing fee for the BCH to BTC conversion of 0.0002 BTC per account. Anyone who was eligible for compensation was already paid, explains the exchange’s blog post. The startup also emphasizes that this type of compensation won’t likely happen again; which might be in reference to the upcoming hard fork coming this November.  

“You should not expect any previous or future cryptocurrency air-drops to be compensated or supported by LocalBitcoins,” explains the peer-to-peer trading platform.

What do you think about Localbitcoins selling Bitcoin cash (BCH) for bitcoin (BTC) and compensating users that way? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock, Bitcoin Cash, and Localbitcoins. 

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USV’s Fred Wilson says investors should diversify ahead of any potential “big crash” in cryptocurrencies.

Despite the fact that we came so far in exploring space, there are still issues to be dealt with in air travel. With over 100,000 flights made daily, serving over 2 million people, safety is still a major concern. Accidents related to air transport average to about 265 yearly, mainly due to human error. What if we could reduce the amount of air accidents, which are primarily the result of human errors by using the latest technology? Aeron is a project that is moving in that direction and they want to do this using blockchain and smart contracts.

Humans are the X factor when it comes to aviation safety. The main reason behind accidents involving aircrafts  is human factor. From about 265 accidents involving commercial aircrafts every year about 50%  is caused by pilot error and another 10% by human error “on the ground”. Apart from human factor accidents are widely caused by incomplete data: whether it came about by data intrusion or just by lack of proper background on aircraft parts, maintenance logs and so on. All of these issues can be addressed via blockchain. Minimizing these issues is essential if we are to make skies safer.

Aeron is implementing blockchain technology in such a way so that it benefits all the stakeholders in the air transport industry, be they pilots, airline companies, flight schools or regular flyers. With the help of the Aeron platform, it would be possible to verify flight logs and digitize them. As the blockchain provides immutability, there is no more scope for manipulation or corruption in the system.

Aeron will also be utilizing smart contacts and cryptographically secure databases to deliver a system which would like having an “airline in a pocket.” All of these solutions would be available through mobile applications.As an example a pilot will have an application that helps them undertake personal flight logging. Aviation companies can collect and verify data from service companies, airlines, aviation data operations and flight schools.

In a wider sense it would become possible to locate data mismatches between any Aeron data source be it Air Traffic Controller (ATC), operator or pilot, flyers or aviation authorities. Since the problems can be located quickly and early on, resolutions can be made quickly. Aeron will also make it possible for early detection of expired pilot licenses and give access to aviation school students as well as consumers to the aerotrips.com’s verified global data base. An onepager in this regard has been put out by Aeron.

After raising a million dollars in pre-sale, Aeron launches crowdsale

Aeron tokens (ARN) would be launched during the crowdsale. These tokens are ERC20 compliant and each costs US$ 0.50. The token sale would enable Aeron to raise funds for building their platform and developing the underlying technologies. Incentives are available for early investors, with more information available at the Aeron website. The crowdsale is due to end on October 23, 2017.

At the time of the launch of the ICO, it was rated 4.8 by Icobench. It may come as an interest to investors that not long ago Aeron concluded a pre sale which successfully raised US$ 1 million. During the sale Aeron announced partner with Binance, the fast growing digital asset exchange. Binance will list Aeron’s ARN token, as its first exchange platform, once the Aeron token sale event is completed in October 2017.

The Aeron token sale will allow them to raise funds for the future of the project. The sale also helps them diversify their investor base as people from all over the world can participate in the project. An additional benefit is that these investors can also be given incentives to promote Aeron products. After the sale is over, the investors can take advantage of the liquidity offered by the tokens through various exchanges.

There is a plan to distribute a maximum of 100 million ARN. The supply will reduce over time due to factors like lost private keys and the tokens will be of a deflationary nature. Aeron tokens are expected to be used both within and outside of the Aeron ecosystem.  These tokens would be used for a  myriad of purposes like subscription and transaction fee for logs, commissions on paid services, commission that arises due to intermediation and client introductions and also as a currency for purchase of aviation services and for services rendered by flight schools.

The platform will emerge in stages. Now Aeron is finalizing the portal aerotrips.com which is  almost 90% ready as far as the software part is concerned. Currently it is at the beta stage and the team is testing the system together with users, including one of the partnering schools –  Griffon Aviation in Cyprus. Once this is completed, the portal will be available to the general public in November 2017. They promise that pilot and company apps should be ready for launch by March 2018 and we hope to launch complete ecosystem by summer 2018, including mobile applications, booking and payment interfaces.

In the future,  Aeron has plans to offer services related to aircraft maintenance as well as tracking spare parts. These efforts will lead to increased flight safety. Aeron have a plan to work with a variety of people that operate across the sectors that make up the airline industry. This will lead to higher transactional revenues and have the potential to generate income for the token holders. We can say then that Aeron is ready to soar.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article.

The president and CEO of the Mizuho Financial Group “megabank” has spoken out on the potential of blockchain to disrupt financial incumbents.

South Africa breaks new ground for retailers in accepting Bitcoin as another online company goes for the digital currency.