Day: November 3, 2017

The bitcoin bull market may be reaching a point of exhaustion, according to price action analysis.

Bankers have no love lost for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies these days. That’s been proven a few dozen times in recent years. However, family members of prominent bankers are entirely different creatures. Maksim Zaslavskiy, the brother of a Morgan Stanley banker, was arrested earlier this week. Apparently, Zaslavskiy had run an illegal cryptocurrency project and defrauded investors for over US$300,000 in the process.

Initial Coin Offerings Remain a big Risk

If there is one trend in the cryptocurrency world to be wary of, it is the initial coin offering hype. Dozens of new projects run ICOs every single month. It is difficult to cull the wheat from the chaff in this regard. Not all projects have honest intentions, and some are even outright scams. It appears Maksim Zaslavskiy has been running a few fraudulent initial coin offerings in recent months. His sole goal was seemingly to defraud investors and get rich in the process.

Those efforts were successful, as Zaslavskiy raised over US$300,000 from investors in the process. Not too long ago, we reported that the SEC had filed fraud charges against two particular initial coin offerings. One project was purportedly “backed” by real estate, whereas the other involved diamonds. It turned out both of those investment opportunities were operated by the same person – Maksim Zaslavskiy. Seeing this investigation yield additional fruit is a big relief, to say the very least.

It is evident initial coin offerings are a very risky market right now. While most people may be concerned about cryptocurrencies in general, these investment opportunities are a much bigger problem that should be regulated sooner rather than later. Governments want to send a clear signal that fraudulent activity cannot be left unpunished when it comes to ICOs. We already know that nearly nine in ten projects will fail despite honest intentions. It is evident there are also far less honest projects out there which are raising a lot of money.

No one will be surprised to learn that both investment schemes operated by Zaslavskiy were flawed. Neither of these investments actually existed, yet over US$300,000 was raised. It is unclear if this money will be returned to investors in the near future, although that remains the best possible outcome. For the time being, Zaslavskiy has been released on bond, though the investigation is far from over.

Misleading investors for criminal purposes is a very serious offense, especially in the United States. While there may not be any official ICO regulation to speak of right now, examples need to be made regardless. As of right now, Zaslavskiy faces up to five years of jail time, which is next to nothing for committing fraud on such a large scale. Then again, without any real regulation in place, it will be very difficult to press for a much longer jail sentence. Only time will tell if such a short sentence will be handed down or not.

This news comes at a very interesting time for cryptocurrency ICOs. More specifically, the SEC recently issued a stern warning not to trust any initial coin offering endorsed by celebrities. It is certainly true anyone promoting such securities will be scrutinized by the SEC in the near future. Given the vast number of people partaking in these sponsored promotions these days, it is evident something will have to change sooner or later. ICOs are a very risky business for both investors and endorsers; that much is rather evident.

Do you also believe that digital tokens should be more than just financial speculatory assets? If yes, then you are not alone as even the UTRUST team believes the same.  This revolutionary platform provides a simple, affordable, and security-conscious payment in the cryptocurrency market. They are taking online payments and trust to a whole new level. While providing protection for your digital currencies online, UTRUST also ensures that undertaking transactions online with your digital tokens become an easy, seamless task.

That’s why you should join the UTRUST ICO

UTRUST’s ICO has started from the 2^nd of November, and you wouldn’t want to be left out. With a system that will provide not just a token sale, but an investment and a payment platform in itself, this ICO is going to change the way we all invest, spend, and store our cryptocurrencies across the globe.

Apart from providing seamless token spending and investment platform, the ICO also allow you to spend your tokens. The catch? Those investing in the platform stand a chance to witness the value of tokens grow with the rising popularity of the cryptocurrency platform.

UTRUST’s ICO’s Investment options: the choice is yours.

The ICO comes with different payment options. If you are somebody who uses bitcoin, then you can go the bitcoin way. If you don’t use bitcoin, you have an option of investing using the Ethereum platform, in which case, you will invest with the Ether.

Why you shouldn’t wait longer

With an investment platform that offers you a payment solution in the digital payment ecosystem, as well as state-of-the-art protection, there is no reason why you shouldn’t invest.

The UTRUST platform has already gained prominence following its recently concluded pre-ICO round. The company, in a very short period of time managed to raise 5 percent of the targeted amount, representing $50,000,000, which was sold out following the launch on August 28, 2017. The creators of the platform, with this success rate believe that they are on the right path to creating a go-to solution for digital payments where buyer and seller security is assured.

The November 2^nd ICO comes at $0.065 per token. UTRUST will be looking at getting 70 percent of its target during this ICO sale, which will be representing $45,500,000 dollars, which is a lot to be raised.

Opportunities don’t come always. Take the chance to be part of something bigger, better, and security oriented. Join the ICO now.

The post The UTRUST ICO: Innovating Digital Currency Payments appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Investment in crypto-trading, leasing of equipment for mining, integrated P2P-exchange, adaptive multi-crypto-currency wallet, career for representatives, round-the-clock multi-language support – right from the start Octoin company offers a variety of tools for earning money, promising career growth for its employees and partners, and announces the creation of a new crypto-currency.

The multifunctional platform of Octoin is launched, thanks to which a wide range of users from among the fans of crypto-currency will have access to complex trading and mining tools. As representatives of the company inform, right from the start users will be provided with an unparalleled service.

“The goal of Octoin is to give maximum functionality to users to work with crypto-currencies in one place. With us, you don’t need to keep dozens of wallets for each coin – everything can be brought together in a single Octoin wallet and managed from one platform. Our mission is to make crypto-currencies simple and affordable” – Ryan Murthy, the head of Octoin Software Department, told us.

Octoin offers several types of cooperation. Passive investors, having access to a wide range of investment portfolios and leasing equipment for mining, as well as active leaders in crypto-communities, for which Octoin has provided a profitable partner offer, represent Octoin’s audience.

Within the framework of the platform, the P2P exchange platform is implemented: this is a platform for free exchange of crypto-currencies, which, according to our forecasts, in 3 months will become one of the largest platforms for direct exchange of crypto-currency and fiat assets on a “person-to-person” basis.

Octoin is also an information portal. Users will be able to independently monitor the latest news, study and analyze the behavior of the crypto-currency market, transaction strategies, choose the best moments for buying and selling on exchanges, and after comparing their data with the recommendations of Octoin experts make decisions on their activity.

The company offers to active users to promote digital business together with and build an international career. The company generously shares revenues – marketing involves premiums for achieving status, daily bonuses from team revenues, increased investment income and comprehensive assistance to the Representatives.

The nearest important step in the company’s development: Octoin plans to open representative offices in Europe and Asia, and to launch its own crypto-currency OctoinCoin.

90 Long Acre
London
WC2E 9RZ
https://octoin.com

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.

$7,500 Bitcoin price is only one of crypto’s insane statistics this week.

The original ethereum dapp browsers has announced a new update designed to make its technology more user-friendly for developers.

A crypto-based domain name auction service launched earlier this year is finally gaining traction and attracting some big investors willing to pay top dollar for domain names. The Ethereum Name Service was launched on May 4, 2017; it featured an automatic registrar service enabling people to quickly and cheaply register a domain name ending in .eth via an auction.

Since its launch, the service has had almost 620,000 auctions and generated nearly 3.3 million ETH in deposits for bids. At the moment the addresses need to be at least seven characters but plan to reduce this limitation are in the pipeline. Serious bids have been coming in, some up to a million dollars, to secure an Ethereum domain name.

Names already claimed include, exchange.eth was which went for 6,660 ETH, foundation.eth went for 300 ETH, and weather.eth was auctioned for 101 ETH. The ENS works in a similar way to the Domain Name Server (DNS) that we are all familiar with today. It is a step towards mass adoption of Ethereum by making addresses easier to use. Currently, an Ethereum address is 42 characters long and not memorable, ENS enables the creation of more user-friendly addresses.

As with top-level domains (TLDs) investors are seeking the asset value in .eth names and are getting in early to hold on to them for later resale at a huge profit. This has been a huge issue with regular domain names where ‘cybersquatting’ accounts for an estimated 30% of them. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization domain holding cases and disputes have increased year on year, breaking previous records each year.

The potential with crypto oriented names could be as big as the coin market itself. The same type of speculation is now occurring with ENS that was witnessed during the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s. In order to resell or trade names, there needs to be a marketplace, and these are starting to emerge, the first being namebazaar.io. The platform provides a streamlined alternative way of transferring names using smart contracts.

Other developments with registrars, wallets and blockchain based contracts will soon emerge from what is currently embryonic technology. The potential for growth is immense, as with the thousands of regular domain name registrars around the globe, there could be a similar future for ENS or other crypto-based name systems.

The post Service Providing Ethereum Domain Name Gains Traction appeared first on NEWSBTC.

There are always interesting developments in the world of cryptocurrency. Amazon has been doing some remarkable things in this area, even though its motives remain unclear for the time being. Most recently, the company has purchased three cryptocurrency-related domain names. It is unclear what it plans to do with them, as the company isn’t planning to accept cryptocurrency payments anytime soon.

Amazon Buys Cryptocurrency Domains

There are many potential reasons as to why Amazon would register three domain names which are related to cryptocurrency. According to CNBC, the company bought AmazonEthereum, AmazonCryptocurrency, and AmazonCryptocurrrencies last month. It’s a rather interesting development, especially considering the e-commerce giant affirmed it would not accept cryptocurrency payments now or in the future. Unless real demand were to kick in, that situation will not change whatsoever.

Even the most recent petition to enable Litecoin payments on Amazon has fallen on deaf ears. While there have been rumors that Amazon would soon enable Bitcoin payments, those claims are 100% fake for the time being. That doesn’t mean this situation can’t change over time, but there are currently no plans to make any changes in this regard. That’s an understandable decision, even though having Amazon on board would be quite spectacular for cryptocurrency as a whole. It would certainly alleviate some of the “speculative investment vehicle” concerns associated with Bitcoin.

For the time being, no one knows for sure what Amazon will use these three domains for. One possibility could involve the company providing a brokerage service for cryptocurrencies without enabling payments on its shopping platform. The choice to do so with Ethereum is quite peculiar, to say the very least, although it is hard to gauge its potential impact. Another option would be Amazon creating its own centralized digital currency going by the name of AmazonEthereum. Again, this is mere speculation more than anything else, but the possibility is certainly real.

Whether or not Amazon will ever use these domains for anything other than redirection purposes remains to be seen. It is a smart move to buy up these domains regardless, as other entities might be tempted to do the same. Considering that Amazon has been (wrongfully) associated with cryptocurrencies over the past few months, it would make for an interesting marketing stunt if someone else bought up these domains. Then again, Amazon also owns AmazonBitcoin.com which simply redirects to the main Amazon shopping page.

No one can deny these developments are very interesting to keep an eye on. While the future of Amazon and cryptocurrency remains shrouded in mystery for the time being, it is doubtful this is the last we will hear in this regard. Until Amazon decides to accept cryptocurrencies directly, using a cryptocurrency debit card remains a popular option for consumers. It is not the “pure” solution most people want to see, but it is certainly worth exploring.

Rest assured this new development will get a lot of mainstream media attention over the next few weeks. The decision to register these domain names comes at a time during which the Bitcoin price is smashing every previous record on a regular basis. It is impossible to predict where this market will head next, but the year 2017 has been rather spectacular for many different reasons. Amazon clearly has some sort of plan for its new domain names, but no one outside the company knows for sure when and how they will be used in the future.

October 30^th Gibraltar: Privatix Network is the first fully decentralized and autonomous P2P VPN-network based on the blockchain technology that allows its participants to buy and sell internet channels for cryptocurrency. All settlements between members of Privatix Network are done using the cryptocurrency based on Ethereum blockchain. PRIX, an ERC20 token is the central part of Privatix Network, it can be freely exchanged to other currencies.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

On October 19, 2017, 14:00 UTC – PRIX token sale started. Importantly, the Token Sale offer 8,000,000 PRIX  and successfully finished hitting the minimum goal (soft cap) of 3,350 ETH. The Token sale ends November 16, 2017 and indicating a great interest of the audience to the concept of a standalone blockchain-powered p2p VPN platform. Unlike other tokens, PRIX tokens cannot be mined. After the initial emission, the overall number of tokens remains fixed and no more new tokens will be issued. A bonus of 40% was granted to every buyer in the first 48 hours after the token sale starts. Then the bonuses will decrease every week.

The founders of Privatix recognize their main goal as creating an autonomous open source decentralized platform that can migrate between blockchains if necessary to remain fully operative under any circumstances. Each developer can implement various solutions based on the platform or use the platform as is. A number of products are already planned for future release: Privatix.Agent – a cross-platform application to buy and sell internet channels, will be released in Q4 2017. In 2018, a completely decentralized VPN service will be launched, and users will receive an option to buy and sell Proxy/Socks using the API. Finally, the roadmap of the company announces two more products for 2019: Privatix.FAAS (Freedom-as-a-Service) and Privatix.Monetize, both available as SDK for mobile platform developers. The official launch of the platform is planned for Q1 2019.

Links
Project page: https://Privatix.io

About the company

Privatix develops distributed broadband sharing solution based on P2P VPN platform. The company possesses more than 10 years of experience in the VPN development field. Among products created by Privatix: free VPN service Privatix.com, VPN for professionals – 5vpn.net, Temp-Mail.org temporary mail service.

Media Contact:
Name: Dmitriy Rubtsov
Company: PrivatixToken Limited
Email: [email protected]
Location: Gibraltar

Privatix is the source of this content. Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to consumer protections. This press release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest

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.

Ripple’s XRP cryptocurrency has gained 10 percent in the last 24 hours amid keen Asian trading and bullish price predictions.

Poloniex users beware – fake apps stealing funds despite exchange not having an app.

The concept of modifying DNA – human or otherwise – has always been met with a lot of resistance. No one should be allowed to play God in the minds of many people. It now turns out there is a DIY kit known as CRISPR-Cas9 which can be bought online. While it may not sound appealing, this type of kit can be used to modify any DNA one needs to from the comfort of one’s own home.

At-home CRISPR Kits may Pose Problems

It is evident there is a lot of confusion and backlash when it comes to genetically modifying DNA in any capacity. While this may not necessarily apply to human DNA per se, giving people an option to successfully “hack” DNA with a kit they can order off the internet and have delivered to their home sounds highly problematic. The fact these kits are available online is disturbing enough, as not everyone needs to get their hands on this type of technology.

Many people may not have heard of CRISPR, even though it is a technology well worth paying attention to. It is a tool wielded by scientists all over the world when it comes to making minuscule changes to DNA. In most cases, they use it to modify the genetic code of microbes, plants, animals, and even humans as needed. It is evident this technology should not be used by everyone in the world, but that is now certainly a possibility.

All one needs to do is find the CRISPR-Cas9 kit online and order it. In most cases, these kits are dirt cheap, although it is unclear what the outcome will be in the end. After all, this is technology designed for scientists rather than the average person on the street. Most people have no idea what they would do with such a kit to begin with, let alone how to accurately generate a proper result from it.

While there are many potential advantages to using CRISPR kits, it is doubtful the average John Doe on the street will find a cure for cancer or eradicate infectious diseases. While we shouldn’t knock the possibility either, there is no reason whatsoever for at-home delivery of these kits for the average consumer. Rest assured there will be some people who will decide to experiment with this technology, although their mileage may vary significantly.

If there were ever a cause for a future apocalypse, it may very well be a mad scientist splicing DNA at home. Getting one’s hands on existing bacteria is not all that easy, mind you, but there are ways to do exactly that. On the internet, one can easily find guidelines on how to use such at-home kits and what can be done with them. CRISPR itself isn’t rocket science by any means, but it is certainly possible to royally mess things up at the same time.

One thing to take into account is that one does not exert “godlike” control over bacteria and the like with the help of this kit. Indeed, its instructions prevent people from messing things up in the end, and it seems common sense often prevails when it comes to at-home kits like this one. That said, there is a good reason why there are doctors and scientists who are trained to help people. Anyone in the world can access the tools, but most people won’t have the know-how to make a positive impact with them. It doesn’t seem there is any real harm in these DIY kits, although most scientists don’t see the benefit in making them accessible to everyone either.