Day: October 6, 2017

It is not difficult to come by some interesting blockchain platforms capable of making a big impact. Especially when it comes to decentralization, there is a lot of progress being made. Oracles Network is one of those concepts which could have major consequences, even though it still preselects validators. Now is a good time to take a closer look at what this particular project aims to achieve.

Oracles Network is a Permissioned Network

Before anyone makes any assumptions about what Oracles Network may or may not be, we need to examine how the company positions itself. Despite what some would expect, this project serves as a permissioned, open, and public network based on the Ethereum protocol. Consensus is achieved through a protocol known as Proof of Authority. The only ones who can reach this consensus are pre-selected independent validators.

It is this latter aspect a lot of people will dislike, although there are always some caveats in this regard as well. For now, the project is still in the whitepaper stage, which means a lot can change in the future. Moreover, the project mainly focuses on horizontal scalability first and foremost. If all goes according to plan, the team will create a “swarm” of blockchains, all of which utilize Proof of Authority consensus. They will be connected by an interledger protocol, with Polkadot being one of the contenders right now.

You may be wondering what problem(s) this project tries to solve or improve, as that isn’t exactly clear. One of the main priorities is improving the transaction costs associated with public blockchain networks. It is certainly true all major public blockchains suffer from high fees these days and Ethereum is no exception in this regard at present. Then again, with the current two-pronged hard fork deploying on the network soon, it only appears to be a matter of time until this is solved. No one really needs a separate network for this specific purpose, in our opinion.

Using private actors on “public duty” to achieve consensus of an open permissioned network will always be met with some resistance along the way. The Proof of Authority consensus algorithm is, according to the team, an efficient form of Proof of Stake. By using a set of nodes explicitly allowed to create blocks and secure the blockchain, Oracles Network aims to address some of the issues public blockchains are dealing with right now.  Interestingly enough, Ethereum’s Kovan testnet uses the same algorithm, which seems to work just fine.

There is still a major difference between a testnet and a live blockchain, though. Validators for Oracles Network will not be required to hold a stake, but they do need to have a verified identity. It is this identity which will be “staked” to secure the network in exchange for rewards. This should prevent malicious actors from colluding with other validators, although only time will tell if this works as planned. Moreover, every validator is “asked” to have an active U.S. notary public license.

It is the latter point which is pretty interesting, as by only allowing individuals licensed within the U.S., Oracles Network cannot be considered to be fully decentralized. Then again, it is possible things will change in the future. For the time being, Oracles Network sounds like an interesting concept, although it is only normal that some people would take exception to how certain things are handled.

The price of bitcoin is edging up today, but it faces hurdles before it can rise to challenge its recently set all-time highs.

It appears everyone wants to get involved in the initial coin offering business these days. More specifically, there are a few celebrities getting involved in the process right now. The latest person to join the list is Ghostface of the Wu-Tang Clan. He is the co-founder of a cryptocurrency firm and is looking to raise … Continue reading Wu-Tang Clan Artist Ghostface Creates his own Cryptocurrency Firm and Announces ICO

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A recent survey has shown that cash is only six percent down on debit cards as people’s prefered payment method. A lot of it has to do with its simplicity as well as security.

SimplyVital Health, the healthcare startup utilizing blockchain technology to streamline medical record data sharing and storage, has announced the addition of Robert J. Wright Jr. and Tim Corvino to their advisory board. Both will help accelerate SimplyVital’s vision of a faster and more secure healthcare system. SimplyVital Health is a healthcare solution that leverages Health … Continue reading SimplyVital Health Welcomes Two New Board Members To Its Blockchain Healthcare Solution

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The minister for the Monetary Authority of Singapore has said the institution is working to create a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency payments.

It appeared the NEO price was well underway to set a new all-time high a few days ago, but things eventually retraced to a much lower level. Given the slightly negative and sideways pressure on the Bitcoin market, that isn’t entirely surprising whatsoever. As of right now, the NEO price has climbed back to around $33.88 all of a sudden, although setting that new all-time high will not be all that easy.

NEO Price Mounts Another Comeback

This past week has been pretty interesting for all cryptocurrencies. Especially the individuals looking to scalp profits by daytrading have had multiple options to make some good money in quick succession. More specifically, especially where the NEO price is concerned, things have moved in some very odd directions overall. At first, the price was well below the $30 mark, which made buying it an almost no-brainer for experienced cryptocurrency enthusiasts.

Not too long after, we saw a solid NEO price uptrend, elevating the price to just over $37.50 by October 2nd and 3rd. People who sold at that moment have made some solid profit, and they were met with another buying opportunity shortly after. More specifically, the NEO price took a dip all the way down to $32.5 and later on even below $30 again. It is highly likely this momentum was tied to the Bitcoin price chart, which saw its own ups and downs along the way as well.

Which brings us to today, a time at which we see the NEO price hitting $33.88. A more than solid value, considering there have been two dips to below the $30 mark in one week. At the same time, this price correction would happen eventually, as the rise to $37.5 was pretty steep in general. Such a price increase cannot occur without going through a correction shortly afterward, that much is certain.

Whether or not we will see a NEO price all-time high again in the coming weeks, remains to be seen, though. No one can deny there have been some interesting valuation changes over the past week, although there is always room for future growth in this regard.  To achieve the next level, NEO would need some additional trading volume by the look of things, as things are a bit bleak in that regard.

That being said, the $60.62m in 24-hour NEO trading volume shouldn’t be overlooked by any means. This number is more than solid, as it ensures the NEO market cap remains well above the $1.6bn level. This amount may be surprising to a lot of people, considering NEO was a currency very few people paid attention to about two months ago. Things have certainly come a very long way ever since that time.

With Bitfinex finally becoming the largest NEO exchange ranked by volume, the addition of this emerging altcoin is doing the company some good. Although Bitfinex also leads the market in Bitcoin trading volume, it is always good to appeal to altcoin users as well. Binance and Bittrex complete the top three for NEO right now, although both of those exchanges represent a BTC/NEO market rather than one linked to fiat currency. An interesting “power ranking” to keep an eye on, that much is certain.

ShapeShift seems once again not to be mirroring creator Erik Voorhees when it comes to Bitcoin hard forks.

So we are well underway with the European session today in bitcoin price trading efforts and it’s time to put some levels together that we can use to pull a profit from the market as things mature this afternoon. Overnight action brought us much more of the same sort of action that we have seen … Continue reading Bitcoin Price Watch; Breakout And Intrarange In Play

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Switzerland is poised to remain a hotbed of ICO activity, despite regulatory actions. But it should not try to be the only hub, writes Ian Simpson.

Ethereum (ETH) now has a US$28 billion market capitalization, second only to Bitcoin’s US$72 billion. ETH is now the fourth largest digital cryptocurrency or asset by volume, below Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ripple.ETH has been in a tight range for the past week with very negligible volatility. A decline in volume and volatility is very likely due to the upcoming Metropolis hard fork, the 3rd of 4 launch stages for Ethereum.