Day: October 30, 2017

Over the past few months, we have seen multiple cryptocurrency developers explore opportunities in the world of atomic swaps. Rather than using centralized exchange platforms, an atomic swap allows people to intermittently exchange cryptocurrencies in a decentralized manner. BarterDEX is one of several decentralized interfaces which aims to support atomic swaps in the future. More importantly, this platform is already live right now, even though few people have paid much attention to it so far.

What is BarterDEX and why Does it Matter?

No one can argue the number of centralized cryptocurrency exchanges has grown spectacularly over the past few years. Although all of these platforms seemingly make it more convenient for consumers to buy and sell cryptocurrency, they are also a major weak point in the entire infrastructure. A centralized exchange is, for all intents and purposes, not all that different from a bank exchanging your existing money for other currencies.

What’s more, a centralized exchange controls your money at all times. Many users think they are in full control, but that is not the case when dealing with any form of money on centralized exchanges. In fact, most platforms don’t even let users access their wallets’ private keys either. This is why there has been a growing demand for decentralized trading platforms. So far, a few projects are in development, but there are only a handful that are actually available for use today.

One of those accessible projects goes by the name BarterDEX. It is a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange, but it has some interesting features under the hood. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect is how this platform supports atomic swaps, allowing users to exchange value between different cryptocurrencies without going through a centralized entity. In fact, BarterDEX doesn’t take control of user funds at any point, but merely serves as an interface to promote decentralized peer-to-peer trading as a whole.

Several dozen cryptocurrencies have been integrated with this platform already. The coins supported include Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dash, Stratis, and ZCash, to name a few. Users are able to exchange these coins intermittently and without having to rely on any centralized platform whatsoever. Communities are invited to work together with BarterDEX to ensure their preferred currencies are supported in the future. Everything is open source, and anyone in the world can connect their exchange service to BarterDEX as we speak.

Interfaces such as BarterDEX also eliminate the potential for account theft or hacking attempts. After all, there is no centralized engine to be hacked, and no coins are stored on behalf of users either. Hackers looking to take advantage of BarterDEX users will have to go after those users individually, which is much easier said than done. Moreover, this new interface ensures that coin delisting is a non-issue, as the trading pairs don’t take up significant resources whatsoever.

It is well worth checking out the BarterDEX whitepaper as well, as it contains a lot of technical specifications regarding this interface. No one can deny decentralized exchanges and atomic swaps are quickly becoming the new norm. With more efforts focusing on these concepts, it is only a matter of time until we will finally be rid of centralized exchanges once and for all. The future is looking rather bright for cryptocurrency as a whole; that much is evident.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett recently made headlines again when he issued yet another warning against investing in Bitcoin. Speaking to a group of business students at one of his recent Hilton hotel Q&A sessions, he paints a rather grim picture of the world’s most famous cryptocurrency in the future. “People get excited from big price … Continue reading What Warren Buffett Gets Wrong About Bitcoin

The post What Warren Buffett Gets Wrong About Bitcoin appeared first on NEWSBTC.

The draw of Blockchain technology and tokenization is huge, yet not obtainable for all mainstream businesses and apps. However, Simple Token is looking to be the conduit to mass Blockchain adoption.

Fizcal brings Accounting to the Blockchain and has launched their Pre ICO.

To purchase Fizcoins visit https://fizcal.co

Fizcal is the next generation of accounting software that uses Blockchain technology to implement triple entry accounting, and uses AI and machine learning to improve businesses.  Fizcal’s aim to be the first to market in developing a fully decentralised triple entry framework for bookkeeping and accounting, a concept first developed by Yuji Ijiri in 1989.

CPA Maggie Kennedy have been appointed as advisor to Fizcal Limited (https://fizcal.co) it has been announced.

CPA Maggie Kennedy is a Senior Manager in the Accounting Solutions consulting group of EKS&H and has been involved in public accounting/consulting since 2005.

She joins Fizcal with a wealth of skills and experience having worked in real estate, property management, hospitality, construction, healthcare and general service industries, as well as extensive experience in public sector financial services and leased asset management.

Maggie Kennedy, CPA and Accounting strategist to Fizcal, said:

“I’m extremely excited to be joining Fizcal as accounting advisor. The blockchain opens up many exciting opportunities within the accounting industry and i’m  delighted to be part of a team that wants to improve the way accountants and businesses work together.”

Ismael Rahim, CEO of Fizcal, said:

I’m delighted to welcome Maggie to the Fizcal team.

Maggie’s wealth of knowledge and experience will be of great benefit to our ambitions for the future and beyond.

More details about Maggie’s background and experience are available on the Fizcal website (fizcal.co)

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.

So that’s the end of another day of trading in the bitcoin price and things have been pretty volatile throughout the session. This isn’t unexpected – we put forward our thoughts on some pending volatility as part of the first of our twice daily Bitcoin Price Watch analyses earlier this morning – but it’s something … Continue reading Bitcoin Price Watch; Scalping The Evening Session

The post Bitcoin Price Watch; Scalping The Evening Session appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Based on the application, the electronics manufacturer Sony could use two different Blockchain platforms in conjunction with each other in the proposed user login system. Find out more.

Cryptocurrencies don’t pose “any pressing regulatory issues” for the Australian central bank’s policies for payments.

The year 2017 has been pretty spectacular for most cryptocurrencies so far. The Bitcoin price has gained a lot of value, but the increase in the Ethereum price hasn’t gone unnoticed either. As a result, Ethereum is slowly becoming more appealing to mainstream consumers. There is still a lot of work to be done in this regard, though. An initiative known as Open Money is planning to boost awareness and understanding of the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, even though it will be fighting an uphill battle.

Open Money has Bold Plans for Ethereum

While Ethereum may be appealing to the average speculator and market maker right now, the technology powering this entire ecosystem still remains its largest selling point. Smart contracts, for example, can revolutionize the world as we know it today. However, the average person on the street has no idea what this technology is about, let alone why they should care about it in the first place.

This is where Open Money comes into the picture. This multinational blockchain initiative will focus on educating the masses on Ethereum and its underlying technology. It’s quite an ambitious goal, to say the least, as the general public’s understanding of Ethereum still needs a fair bit of work. It is certainly true a lot of mainstream developers are paying attention to Ethereum’s ecosystem right now, but the need for developers still outweighs the supply right now.

The bigger question is how Open Money plans to realize its ambitious goals moving forward. An Open Initiative has been created to facilitate the integration of cryptocurrencies into traditional applications used by mainstream consumers. During the initiative’s first stage, the main focus will be on Ethereum first and foremost, although it is possible Open Money would support other currencies in the future as well.

To ensure such integration is accomplished in a smooth and convenient manner, the Open Money team will make use of SDKs and a REST API. Moreover, everything they do will be backed by a blockchain infrastructure, as one has come to expect from such an initiative. No one can deny that the concept of using cryptocurrencies within traditional software applications can open up a lot of new and exciting opportunities in the future. It is unclear which applications are on the team’s priority list right now, though.

Ensuring that more people get a hands-on experience with cryptocurrency is an absolute must at this point in time. Seeing is believing, a concept that often goes hand in hand with explaining new forms of technology. In the case of Ethereum and similar currencies, consumers need a hands-on approach in order to see the merits of cryptocurrency. Whether or not this venture will result in another increase in value for Ethereum remains to be determined, though.

The possibilities associated with such a venture are virtually limitless. There is no specific course of action for Open Money right now, but it certainly would be possible to, say, pay tuition with Ethereum or sign smart contract-based agreements with insurance providers. The sky’s the limit, assuming enough people are willing to embrace this concept. That will remain the biggest hurdle to be overcome, as not every service provider or software developer will get on board with this initiative right away.

Another week passes and another Asian nation makes moves to regulate the rising tide of interest and investment in cryptocurrencies. Last week it was Vietnam’s turn to ban them, this week South Korea’s central bank announced that it wants to regulate Bitcoin as a commodity as opposed to a currency. However, instead of outlawing cryptos … Continue reading Clampdown on Cryptocurrencies continue in South Korea

The post Clampdown on Cryptocurrencies continue in South Korea appeared first on NEWSBTC.

What is a crypto-token? Find it out in the CT comprehensive essay.

How to dine with Cristiano Ronaldo or meet Leo Messi with Bitcoin?

Not a week goes by without some interesting development in the world of robotics. The RoboBee is by far one of the more unique creations we have seen as of late. This flying robot is only a millimeter wide and has been in development for several years now. Its main selling point is its amphibious nature, which is something most people wouldn’t associate with this type of machine.

RoboBee Opens up new Opportunities

Researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute have been experimenting with amphibious flying robots for some time now. More specifically, the RoboBee project has been in development for multiple years now and still continues to receive regular updates. For a flying robot that’s one millimeter wide, it is remarkable what this contraption is capable of and what potential it has.

More specifically, a recent update allows the RoboBee to dive into water, emerge, and shoot itself upwards using a rather complicated mechanism. This new mechanism also allows for a safe landing nearby, which is pretty interesting to take note of as well. As one would expect, bringing this technology to such a small form factor hasn’t been easy. Moreover, ensuring the RoboBee can effectively transition between flight and swimming is still problematic.

With its small size, this robot may experience some water resistance making it impossible to take off properly. In particular, the lower parts of the RobeBee can be hindered significantly when submersed. Thankfully, the team at the Wyss Institute has been able to overcome this problem for the time being. Interestingly, all of this has been achieved by adding buoyant outriggers to bring the robot back to the surface.

The fact that the RoboBee is just a millimeter wide also makes it difficult for the device to carry much weight. It is a very small and lightweight flying robot, for obvious reasons. The addition of electrolytic plates has also been of great interest. With this plate, the robot can split water into hydrogen and oxygen and mix them together to create “fuel”. With enough of this volatile concoction on board, it becomes a lot easier to make the robot lift off. That’s a smart design choice, to say the very least.

This is another major breakthrough in the world of tiny robots with more than one method of moving around. Flying and swimming interchangeably is incredibly difficult to achieve for any robot, regardless of its size. Being able to bring such powerful technology together into a speck-sized flying robot is an amazing feat. The RoboBee is certainly worth keeping an eye on moving forward.

Moreover, it will be rather interesting to see how the developers plan on making the RoboBee even more versatile moving forward. It would appear the proverbial ceiling has been reached as far as this small form factor is concerned. Then again, no one expected this latest round of developments either, and it is certainly possible these researchers will surprise us in the end.