Month: September 2017

There is still a lot of speculation regarding SegWit2x. That is not surprising as the deadline for activation draws near The question is whether or not all signees will honor the agreement signed several months ago. Some companies have pulled out already, with others likely to follow. Jaxx is one of the companies still on … Continue reading Jaxx Remains Indecisive on SegWit2x Support

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Binance – the fastest growing global cryptocurrency exchange has announced that CTR — platform token of Centra Tech, is now tradable on Binance.com. Centra Tech, the Florida-headquartered blockchain startup, is a multi-blockchain debit card provider that allows users to spend digital currency anywhere where bank cards are accepted with zero percent exchange, spend, and withdrawal … Continue reading Binance to Add Centra Tech CTR Token

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Binance – the fastest growing global cryptocurrency exchange has announced the inclusion of IOTA on the platform. With this new development, users can now start trading the cryptocurrency on Binance.com. IOTA is the world’s first public distributed ledger that goes beyond blockchain in order to get rid of fees and scaling limitations inherent in blockchain … Continue reading Binance to Include Support for IOTA Token

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It looks as if we may finally see official cryptocurrency regulation in China. Although this discussion has gone on for some time, the conclusion may arrive in a day from now.Chinese sources claim the new guidelines will go into effect on October 1st of 2017. Although no one knows for sure what the regulation entails, … Continue reading Bitcoin may be Considered Virtual Property Under new Chinese Regulation

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Everyone will agree Elon Musk is a visionary who isn’t afraid of throwing some wild ideas around. One of his new projects would allow humans to travel between different cities with rockets. It would certainly be an interesting way to address traffic congestion, although traveling by rocket sounds pretty scary. The big question is whether or not this plan is feasible to begin with, and if so, how it could be achieved in a safe and affordable manner.

Elon Musk has a new pet Project

While no one will deny Elon Musk is by far one of the bolder visionaries our society has seen in decades, some of his ideas nevertheless instill fear in the hearts of the masses. In particular, the concept of using rockets to travel from city to city on Planet Earth raises a lot of questions which aren’t easy to answer. It does not appear this project will interfere with Musk’s plan to visit the moon or Mars in the near future, which is pretty impressive.

Musk claims the same interplanetary rocket system which will take him to the moon and Mars can be used for long-distance travel on Earth too. That is a very ambitious goal, to say the very least. Being able to complete most long-distance trips in 30 minutes or slightly more certainly sounds appealing. However, it is not something most travel agencies and airlines will be too pleased with, for obvious reasons.

Then again, it isn’t as if such a project will launch overnight either. That is, assuming none of Musk’s companies makes a major breakthrough when it comes to building rockets. After all, the Tesla founder claims he will be able to offer rocket-based city-to-city travel at the cost of a regular economy airline ticket. While that sounds great on paper, it is not necessarily something that can be achieved in the real world – especially not when the upcoming SpaceX mega-rocket is involved.

To put this into perspective, we would still need a massive spaceship to be placed in Earth’s orbit. This spaceship could settle down on floating landing pads near major cities. It’s all very intriguing in theory, but the concept may not necessarily play out as planned. After all, construction of the rocket will begin at some point in 2018. It will take years before we will even be able to ascertain whether or not it is achievable. The “Big Fucking Rocket” does sound quite interesting, though.

Assuming this is indeed something that Elon Musk – or someone else – can realize in a modest amount of time, the way we think about traveling the world will undergo some major changes. While a lot of details are left deliberately vague, one cannot deny there is something to this concept that excites all of us. Each rocket is seemingly capable of carrying 200 people at maximum, which is not much but more than enough if frequent trips are made.

One thing to keep in mind is how this method of travel will not necessarily be pleasant for passengers whatsoever. A rocket is nothing like an airplane and travelers will leave the atmosphere for a brief period of time. It is doubtful that anyone could take part in such a trip without dedicated training. There is also the matter of landing the flight, which is notoriously troublesome for rockets of any kind. It will be interesting to find out whether or not we hear more about this initiative in the future.

Although most people would not expect it, the Trump administration is pretty keen on blockchain technology. In fact, the team purports to be more committed to the blockchain than ever before. Improving US governmental operations is the first priority in this regard, and distributed ledger technology is considered “essential” to domestic policy and strategy development. It’s a surprising turn of events, but certainly a welcome change of pace.

Trump Administration Loves Blockchain Technology

Government operations are not as streamlined as they could be right now. That is only to be expected, considering it takes a lot of time, effort, and communication to govern an entire nation. Coming up with new ways to make these operations more efficient over time is not an easy feat whatsoever. Blockchain technology will seemingly play an integral role in this regard. The Trump administration reaffirmed its bullish stance on this technology not too long ago.

This sudden turn of events is not exactly surprising for people who have kept tabs on the matter. Adopting blockchain technology as part of US government operations will have some interesting consequences, but it also poses major challenges. Several high-ranking government officials have been advocating for the adoption of blockchain technology for several years now. The number of use cases associated with this technology is virtually limitless. They include reducing fraud, addressing waste, and improving cybersecurity defense.

One thing to keep in mind is how the executive branch and the SEC may clash when it comes to embracing the blockchain. While the Trump administration is in favor of this technology, the SEC may not necessarily be on the same page. After all, the latter entity recently announced the creation of a cyber police unit to fight market manipulation and monitor illicit use of the blockchain. Finding common ground in this regard may prove to be a bit difficult.

It is good to see the White House explore some newer forms of technology. Our society is evolving in a different direction and traditional tools and services will no longer suffice. Now is the time to embrace blockchain technology and even artificial intelligence to improve government services in the United States. Streamlining bureaucracy and serving citizens are just two of the possible applications being explored right now.

While it remains to be seen whether or not blockchain technology will be a valuable tool for the US government, it is always worth exploring all available options. Taking advantage of new opportunities is of the utmost importance; that much is evident. Data management needs to be looked at from a long-term perspective. None of the existing solutions being used today will be a viable option for the long term, by the looks of things. Getting rid of centralized solutions needs to happen sooner or later, as far as the US government is concerned.

Even though the Trump administration is getting a lot of flack from the public, they should be applauded for this open-minded approach to new and emerging technologies. A bullish attitude on the blockchain is pretty significant, especially when it is shown by one of the world’s largest nations. Whether or not other governments will follow Americans’ lead in this regard remains to be determined. An interesting future lies ahead; that much is certain.

FSA says ‘yes’ to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

NEOUSD TECHNICAL ANALYSIS It is becoming apparent that price couldn’t climb higher past the immediate ceiling at $35. After what appeared to be a perfect breakout trade on 27.09.2017, volumes are dwindling and prices are dipping with some signals indicating that this was indeed a fake breakout. To start with, we can refer to BB-price … Continue reading Altcoin Analysis for 30-09-2017: NEO, DASH, IOTA, XMR and NEM

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Whenever a company or project issues its own token, there is always a question of whether or not there is a need for more currencies. In most cases, that answer is a clear no. The EthTrader subreddit is looking to issue its own token, but it will derive its value in a different way from most. These tokens will be used as a way to establish a reputation, rather than generate value out of thin air. There will not be an ICO either, which is a good thing.

EthTrader Tokens are Being Considered

In the world of cryptocurrency trading, there is no real way to build up a solid reputation whatsoever. People can post their analyses and predictions across social media, yet it is very difficult for others to reward them for their hard work. That may soon be changing for members of the EthTrader subreddit, whose moderators are looking to introduce a new sort of reputation system. More specifically, they aim to distribute native tokens based upon various factors and user statistics.

By using these tokens as reputation points, things are bound to get a lot more interesting in this particular subreddit. Tokens will be used to evaluate and rate ICOs and Ethereum projects, tip users, and potentially identify account holders, among other things. All of these ideas are well worth exploring, especially when it comes to rating ICOs. Since these tokens will be distributed based on user karma (reputation points), behavior, and longevity of accounts – among other undisclosed factors – there should be a fair distribution when everything’s said and done.

More importantly, this idea by the EthTrader moderators does not involve a traditional ICO model. No money will change hands whatsoever, as this is not about making money. Too many projects get blinded by greed when issuing their tokens, rather than focusing on actual use cases. The EthTrader token will serve its purpose and offer no intrinsic monetary value whatsoever. That doesn’t mean people won’t try to buy and sell tokens to influence particular ratings, though, but that is a problem that can be tackled later on.

While this concept sounds great on paper, there are still some aspects of it which need to be ironed out. For example, it is unclear how many tokens will be distributed initially and whether or not “spent” tokens will be burned automatically. There also should be some form of smart contract registry to map users and their Ethereum addresses. After all, these tokens need to be issued on the blockchain in one way or another and be sent to ETH addresses in the end.

Furthermore, it appears there will be a browser plugin for the EthTrader subreddit. This plugin will have its own overlay of the subreddit to let users take advantage of their tokens in the future. Said plugin will need to pull information from the registry and associated smart contracts. This does not mean the regular /r/EthTrader experience will be affected in any way, mind you. It is a very interesting concept, but there is still a lot of work to be done in this regard.

For now, the concept is still in the idea stage and nothing has been set in stone just yet. Regardless, it is good to see the moderators thinking along these lines, as it would certainly validate the concept of Ethereum-based tokens as a whole. There are a lot of concerns regarding the functions of these tokens, though, as many individuals will look for ways to monetize their Reddit accounts in the future. It will be interesting to see whether this project ever comes to fruition, and if so, how well it will work.

Why Europe is poised to take a leading role in the emerging decentralized revolution.

Most financial industry enthusiasts will have come across the name Fidelity Investments. It is one of the largest investment firms to date, managing US$2.3 trillion worth of assets as of today. Unlike most other firms, however, Fidelity has taken a keen interest in cryptocurrencies. In fact, the company is even mining specific currencies, although not too many specifics have been shared at this time.

Fidelity Investments Mines Cryptocurrency

When it comes to bridging the gap between traditional finance and cryptocurrency, look no further than Fidelity Investments, Although the company has been doing well without a specific focus on cryptocurrency, it is not ignoring the possibilities that lie ahead. More specifically, the company has been experimenting with Bitcoin internally for quite some time now. In the near future, some of those features will be rolled out to all Fidelity customers, by the looks of things.

And it doesn’t stop there. Fidelity Investments has also made some strategic contributions to Bitcoin startups. Additionally, the company has been looking for new use cases involving blockchain technology. While a lot of use cases revolve around the financial sector, the possibilities go far beyond any one industry. Identifying those key areas is of the utmost importance to the company; that much is evident.

However, those are not the things which have the cryptocurrency community abuzz right now. Instead, it is the fact that Fidelity is actively mining cryptocurrency that’s baffling so many people right now. Although no one should really be surprised by such a development, it goes to show there are players in the financial industry who do not oppose the concept of mining Bitcoin and altcoins by any means. Although this is only a small operation, it is a pretty intriguing development regardless.

According to Quartz, the company is mining both Bitcoin and Ethereum right now. Abigail Johnson, chief executive of Fidelity Investments, confirmed as much, although she stated it was only for “educational purposes”. Even if that were the original idea, the operation has started turning a small profit. This is mainly thanks to the price of Bitcoin and Ethereum having skyrocketed throughout 2017. If the trend continues, even smaller mining operations around the world could turn out to be rather profitable.

Interestingly enough, it appears Fidelity has purchased its mining hardware from 21 Inc. That company is best known for its Bitcoin Computer project, which got a lukewarm reception from the overall cryptocurrency community. It is unclear how many units were purchased or what type of mining power Fidelity currently controls, though. It is safe to assume this “small” operation is rather limited in power, considering it was only set up for educational purposes. That doesn’t mean the company won’t buy additional hardware in the future, even if it doesn’t appear to be a priority right now.

It is good to see Fidelity Investments demonstrating confidence in the cryptocurrency industry. In doing so, the company pushes back against what JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dixon stated about Bitcoin not too long ago. Some financial service providers see the merit in Bitcoin, whereas others will continue to ignore what they can’t control. Only time will tell which approach works out best in the long run. For now, Fidelity is pretty confident Bitcoin and its brethren will stick around, even though they are not going all-in on cryptocurrency by any means.