Day: September 26, 2017

Peer-to-peer marketplaces are quickly becoming more popular in the world of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. With LocalBitcoins and LocalMonero recently taking off, it’s been evident other currencies would see similar platforms moving forward. It appears Ethereum is the next major currency to take the local route, as its version of LocalBitcoins is now open for registration. It will be interesting to see how LocalEthereum performs in the coming months.

LocalEthereum is Worth Keeping an eye on

Buying and selling altcoins has become a lot more convenient over the past few years. Although users will always have to rely on centralized exchanges or brokers to purchase any significant amount of a specific altcoin, things are slowly improving in this regard.  Having more competition in these markets can only be seen as a positive thing; that much is certain. In fact, it appears peer-to-peer marketplaces are the way forward for some of the top altcoins.

Not too long ago, the Monero community was introduced to LocalMonero. It took a page out of the LocalBitcoins playbook by providing a peer-to-peer marketplace for XMR users. This was a positive development, especially considering that using centralized exchanges to buy or sell decentralized currency is not the best way of doing business whatsoever. We need to create more decentralized or peer-to-peer solutions, rather than rely on centralized infrastructure which forces users to give up control over their funds.

This is where LocalEthereum comes into the picture, as it aims to provide a peer-to-peer marketplace service to Ethereum enthusiasts around the world. This platform has been in development for some time now, as the first code was written in late 2016. Adapting the LocalBitcoins concept to Ethereum is not as simple as it seems. While users can currently register for an account, trading will not be available until October 21.

To kick things off, LocalEthereum’s operators will waive hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees to create liquidity on the new marketplace. The goal is to use smart contracts and in-browser cryptography to buy or sell Ether for offline currencies. Converting between fiat currencies and Ether has not been easy up to this point, and has always occurred through intermediaries. LocalEthereum is set up in such a way that users always control their funds regardless of the currency in which it is denominated.

Depositing Ether using LocalEthereum will result in funds being moved to a client-side encrypted wallet. This wallet resides in the browser alone and is not controlled by the platform operators whatsoever. All communication between buyers and sellers employs end-to-end encryption for additional privacy and security. Both parties can also agree to use an escrow system which makes use of smart contract features. The team will be able to read messages only when a dispute occurs. That process involves both parties voluntarily offering the decrypted versions of their communications to an arbitrator.

It will be interesting to see whether or not LocalEthereum proves to be a great addition to the overall community.  It’s a very interesting concept that will surely create new opportunities for Ethereum enthusiasts on a global scale. All things considered, LocalEthereum sounds like a secure peer-to-peer marketplace. It’s also positive to see the operators use native Ethereum technology such as smart contracts, rather than centralizing control and oversight.

NEOUSD TECHNICAL ANALYSIS Major resistance trend line was broken on 24.09.2017 and confirmed yesterday when that bullish candlestick was printed. It is also obvious from stochastics behavior that bulls are entering the market with clear buy signals first printed on 15.09.2017 and again after yesterday’s close. I’m bullish and my first target will be support … Continue reading Altcoin Analysis for 26-09-2017: NEO, DASH, IOTA, XMR and NEM

The post Altcoin Analysis for 26-09-2017: NEO, DASH, IOTA, XMR and NEM appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Breaking down cryptocurrency payment gateways.

Indicoin is an autonomous cryptocurrency and a social service platform built over top of Ethereum Blockchain that enables users to provide social proof to the blockchain community through a decentralized and transparent voting process thereby incentivizing and encouraging the user to create an inclusive community of people who are incentivized to do social tasks. it is the first ever social platform where people can not only contribute but also validate through any kind of content posted anonymously from anywhere, anytime and also earn through it.

Indicoin recently launched their Pre-Sale on the Midnight of 10th September 2017, going live as “India’s First Cryptocurrency & Token Sale”. Varad Shambhawa, Community Admin & Lead Developer from Indicoin mentioned that they were skeptical about the Pre-Sale as India comes very new to Cryptocurrency and only 0.5% of population in India invests in Bitcoin. It was a big challenge for the team to overcome. When we started working on this project back in November 2016, we didn’t expect such huge turnouts in the Pre-Sale given that Indicoin is India’s First ICO. Not to forget we started on 15th August 2017 with a small announcement on Bitcoin Talk.”

Speaking about the vision for Indicoin, He said Indicoin is a platform that relies on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies to restructure the way a lot of our daily routines are carried out. The idea behind Indicoin is to create an inclusive community of people who are incentivized to do socially positive and constructive tasks. This creates a new paradigm in which technology is infused with our social fabric. It greatly increases the area of impact for various associated technologies and makes everyone a part of the global internet. While, at the same time also providing a platform to express and impress.

The Pre-Sale collected about 900ETH running from 10th September – 20th September 2017. The lead developer, highlighted the essence of a Pre-Sale, it has given an initial boost to go up and about it with the plan. He also mentioned, “Indicoin shall redefine social service and give it another leap. Blockchain has unlocked a huge potential for the Social Sector to redefine their model and India is the rightest place to start and a very much needed crowdfunding of Social Service. Today, people are running back after making hefty monetary gains at the cost of the society, environment and various other incentivizing factor in accordance with this, they should also change the way social service functions. Indicoin shall be able to deliver on these lines”

Talking about the viability of the project he mentioned that India is a country which has the population of 17% of the world and about 22.5% of the people fall below poverty line as per the Govt. data. There lies a big scope for the development in the country with a whooping 50% population below the age of 25 and 65% of population below the age of 35. It has a vast potential to adopt this cause. Also in turn it is a community building that shall act as a boon for the whole sector and reaching out the last man in the line. Apart from the social objective, it is highly taken into consideration about the investor’s trust, to bring liquidity to their investment we have partnered in with a leading exchange, HitBtc.com to list us on the exchange and provide liquidity to the Indi Coin Holders.

The ICO for Indicoin shall be launched on 1st October 2017, It’s objective shall be to reach out every hand going in support of our cause. We are also planning to list our ICO on the exchange for more user convenience. Also to start with our on ground operations, we shall come up with partnering the pioneers of Social sector and taking their guidance for linking the platform to maximize our cause.

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.

Gaming firm Nexon has agreed to buy a majority stake in South Korea’s Korbit cryptocurrency exchange for roughly $80 million.

Cryptocurrency users around the world often suffer from banking issues. More specifically, a lot of financial institutions tend to close bank accounts related to cryptocurrency. Although such harsh actions have become less apparent, they can still occur now and then. Over in Singapore, various firms and consumers have seen bank accounts being closed for no … Continue reading Singaporean Cryptocurrency Users See Bank Accounts Getting Closed by Financial Institutions

The post Singaporean Cryptocurrency Users See Bank Accounts Getting Closed by Financial Institutions appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Although initial coin offerings have become a lot more popular over the past six months, they are not necessarily decentralized. All sales occur through a centralized website, which often creates problems and leads to scam attempts. Decentralizing the concept of an ICO is not all that easy, but the Komodo team is working to do exactly that. Now would be a good time to take a closer look at how their “dICO” works exactly.

Decentralizing Initial Coin Offerings

The Ethereum and Waves platforms are the two most common solutions for creating ICO tokens these days. Especially now that the ERC20 token standard has been officially finalized, we may see even more creations taking place on the Ethereum network than ever before. While these crowdsales are pretty successful in their own right, there is still a certain degree of centralization involved in the process. That in itself is pretty problematic, considering most projects aim to focus on decentralization in the first place.

Changing this business model is not all that easy. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done, though. If the Komodo team is to be believed, their “dICO” business model is the only way forward. This particular venture is not about creating so-called colored coins which remain pegged to the parent chain on which they are created. Moreover, ICOs in their current form are limited in their functionality, as they can only use features provided by the parent blockchain.

In the case of Ethereum-based ICO tokens, there is plenty of functionality to enjoy. However, there is always room for alternative solutions which can make these tokens even more versatile moving forward. Not having token transactions recorded on the parent chain and reducing blockchain bloat are two appealing developments, assuming they can be pulled off. As one has come to expect, all of this is much easier said than done right now.

This is where Komodo claims to be different from the competition. By supporting native cryptocurrencies, any coin can latch onto the existing platform with some minor modifications. Moreover, the platform also provides a crowdfunding solution – including support – which can be taken off the platform at a later date. The latter point is pretty intriguing, as it shows such projects can easily be “ported” to a different ecosystem if needed.  Whether or not that is something a lot of people are looking for remains to be decided.

All currencies created using Komodo can operate independently, which means not all transactions will be recorded on the parent chain. All they need to do is transact with the parent chain for security checkups and updates. It is a very different type of business model compared to more traditional initial coin offerings, and represents a competitive edge unlike any other in the world today. Having more options to choose from can only be seen as a positive trend.

It is evident the ecosystem is slowly gravitating toward fully decentralized cryptocurrencies. That means we also need fully decentralized coin offerings, although not every project may benefit from such solutions. It will be interesting to see how things play out for dICOs in the future. It is certainly worth considering the implications, as not being “bogged down” by a parent blockchain is a significant improvement over the status quo.

Banks in Singapore have closed the accounts of a number of cryptocurrency firms without expanation, according to a news report.

After the news from China earlier this month, the entire future of cryptocurrency was cast into doubt – albeit briefly. The ban on initial coin offerings (ICOs), followed by news of exchanges shutting down was met by a widespread selloff. Whilst there was already evidence to suggest the beginning of a general correction prior to … Continue reading Bitcoin Trading Trends Exhibit Positivity amid Regulatory Uncertainities

The post Bitcoin Trading Trends Exhibit Positivity amid Regulatory Uncertainities appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Public companies like AMD and Nvidia are benefiting from a surge in cryptocurrency mining, but analysts say they may not be ready to commit long-term.

Although it is still a bit too early to say for sure, it does appear the Bitcoin price is recovering slowly. More specifically, the Bitcoin price is inching toward $4,0000 again, although reaching and maintaining the level will not be easy. Compared to a few days ago, the overall trading volume is still pretty low, though. It is certainly possible this is only a temporary uptrend, but we will have to wait and see what happens.

Bitcoin Price may Surpass $4,000 Soon

To a lot of people, it is somewhat of a surprise to see the Bitcoin price reach almost $4,000 again. The past few weeks have been anything but kind to Bitcoin and it remains to be seen if this new trend will last longer than just a few days. While there is no real reason for the Bitcoin price to go down whatsoever, no one can deny the recent trend has been pretty bearish overall. Breaking that cycle will not be easy by any stretch of the imagination.

That being said, things are looking a lot better for Bitcoin right now compared to a few days ago. After trading sideways around $3,700 for far too long, the Bitcoin price now sits at $3,945 and may even surpass $4,000 in the coming hours. Do keep in mind there is still plenty of market volatility and the price may never go that high before meeting too much resistance again. The lower price point allowed a lot of investors to buy in and they will take profits along the way.

One worrying aspect about this whole ordeal is how Bitcoin still has very low trading volume. Over the past few weeks, we have grown accustomed to a daily volume of around $2bn or more. Right now, that volume is “just” $1.3bn, which is a lot lower than it should be under normal circumstances. It is unclear what causes this discrepancy, but it is certainly possible things will pick up again sooner or later. After all, the actual demand for Bitcoin has not slowed down one bit, especially not in China.

Speaking of the Bitcoin trading volume, it appears most of the money is passing through Bitfinex, bitFlyer, and Bitstamp. None of these names is a big surprise in the top three. Bitfinex still generates nearly three times the volume of the number two exchanges, which shows how many people rely on this platform in particular. It is also good to see fiat currency markets dominate the Bitcoin trading volume charts, as the world’s leading cryptocurrency shouldn’t derive its value from people dumping altcoins.

For the time being, the bigger question is whether or not the Bitcoin price will surpass $4,000 today. It is certainly possible, but we have to keep in mind slow and steady wins the race for cryptocurrency. After the mega corrections we have seen not too long ago, it will take some time for markets to fully recover and money to find its way back to Bitcoin. While the first steps are being taken in this regard, this is not a race by any means.

A lot of cryptocurrency enthusiasts will be pleased to see the Bitcoin price finally head back in the right direction. Although the overall trend for this particular cryptocurrency has been bullish all year, the corrections have made some people think twice about how this market will evolve. All signs are still very positive for Bitcoin overall, but it is doubtful we will see a $10,000 valuation anytime soon. Then again, stranger things have happened in the cryptocurrency world.

German banks working with the R3 blockchain consortium have successfully replicated the sale of a €100,000 security on a DLT platform.

In South Korea, a new cryptocurrency exchange launched that will allow investors to trade 111 different altcoins.