Day: November 13, 2017

On November 12, the Bitcoin Gold network went live at 4 pm EDT according to the team’s blog page and Slack channel. The controversial project currently has a full node client, but public mining didn’t start until private miners reached block height 499407.

Also read: Swedish Pirate Rick Falkvinge Brings Humor and Profundity to Bitcoin Cash Debate

The Bitcoin Gold Mainnet Has Launched, Well Kinda…

The cryptocurrency bitcoin gold (BTG) is slowly being released into the wild as the development team launched its mainnet on Sunday, November 12. The organization also created a new website, alongside an available full node client.

According to the currency’s blockchain explorer, there are 124 BTG nodes at the moment. The explorer details that the BTG chain is currently at block height 499792 which means the BTG chain has been mined publicly for a few hours now. The BTG hashrate is approximately 104.0542 equihash solutions per second (MSol/s), a number that’s increased quite a bit since developers were mining the currency by themselves. However, the cryptocurrency’s network has had a real bumpy start as there have been some reports of “chain splitting.”

“Be aware that there’s currently a chain-split happening and Suprnova’s chain could be ‘declared’ as the wrong chain by the dev-team,” the mining pool Suprnova explains. However, it’s the longest chain, so usually, it should be okay, it’s advisable to not invest in mining until the devs give out an official statement — UPDATE: It seems our chain is correct.”

The BTG Team and Infrastructure Support      

On the project website’s front page there is a place where people can verify a bitcoin balance and address prior to block 491407. Additionally, the people behind bitcoin gold have decided to show their identities in the team section. The BTG team includes the Chinese miner and GPU producer Jack Liao, the anonymous lead developer ‘h4x3rotab’ (China), strategist Robert Kuhne (U.S.), organizer Alejandro Regojo (Spain), Advisor/Core Developer Martin Kuvandzhiev (Bulgaria), and web designer Franco Niebles.

The bitcoin gold team claims to have sixteen mining pools associated with the BTG mining environment. Some pools are well known like the organizations like Minergate, Suprnova, and other unknown pools that look like they were just created for the nascent network. The team’s website features five wallets that support the BTG protocol and eighteen exchanges who are listing BTG token trading. Exchanges listing the currency include Hitbtc, Bitfinex, Biflyer, Coinnest, Cex.io, and more according to the BTG website.

That Confounded Pre-Mine and a Private Network Launch

Bitcoin gold is listed on Coinmarketcap.com and allegedly has had around $68M in 24-hour volume. Presently the cryptocurrency’s value is around $250-275 as markets have dropped 36 percent. According to Coingecko’s index data, the currency’s average price was $268 with a circulating supply of only 58 thousand coins.

Right now as the network has experienced splitting issues lots of people are still very skeptical of this project. The team’s Slack channel is filled with people fighting, trolling, and calling out the BTG team’s development weaknesses. As we’ve mentioned in previous articles in the past, the biggest concern for skeptics is the digital token’s pre-mine and now the BTG team has mined their share. In the Slack channel where the BTG mainnet announcement was initially announced, individuals were not very pleased that they had to wait until block height 499407. The bitcoin gold project remains a theatrical show to many skeptics as the project’s mainnet has had a pretty rough start, at least for the general public after the pre-mine.

What do you think about the bitcoin gold project? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock, Coingecko, and the Bitcoin Gold website. 

Need to know the price of bitcoin? Check this chart.

The post Bitcoin Gold’s Confusing Mainnet Launch Has a Rough Start appeared first on Bitcoin News.

The market capitalisation of Bitcoin’s August 2017 hard fork, Bitcoin Cash, briefly exceeded that of the native cryptocurrency on the Ethereum blockchain, Ether, in the early hours of Sunday morning. The Bitcoin offshoot’s price surged to an all-time high of $2,577 at around 1:49am. It has since settled back into third position at a total market cap of $23.35 billion or $1389.62 which is still more than double the currency’s previous all-time high. It sits behind Ether at $30.22 billion and the original Bitcoin chain at $106.62 billion.

The most likely cause of such an extreme upswing was the calling off of another planned hard fork to the original chain. The Segwit2x proposal aimed to increase the size of the blocks that make up the blockchain from 1MB to 2MB. This would allow more data in each block and thus more transactions could take place more quickly. It was the result of a compromise between groups of developers who had long fought over how to best scale the network. However, the nature of the agreement that took place in New York in Summer was controversial for many and a highly divisive issue.

The Segwit2x fork was due to take place later this month on block number 481,824. However, it was announced last Wednesday that no attempt to fork the network would take place for now. The reason cited was lack of support.

Following the news, a brief surge in the price of Bitcoin (BTC) occurred, taking it to new highs of $7,879. This quickly reversed and the price crashed to a monthly low of $5,507. Interestingly, whilst many altcoins gained from the selloff, Bitcoin Cash favoured particularly well. This prompted more selling. This time it was the alts and additional money flooded into Bitcoin Cash. A large portion of this volume was in South Korean won. However, the majority was exchanged for BTC.

Trevi Digital Assets Fund manager Jacob Eliosoff told Forbes that he felt it understandable that the proponents of Segwit2x have turned to Bitcoin Cash. For him, they’ve:

… nowhere to turn but BCH. It’s not surprising that SegWit2x’s loss has been Bitcoin Cash’s gain.

Ethereum founder and general god-father, Vitalik Buterin, quickly congratulated some of the largest name’s on the “big block” side of the scaling debate. He Tweeted:

“Congrats on this. Seriously. @rogerkver @JihanWu @deadalnix“

The brains behind the briefly displaced blockchain also posted this picture of industry market analyst website Coinmarketcap confirming that BCH has become the second most dominant name in the cryptocurrency space.

Image: Wiktionary

The post Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Market Capitalisation Briefly Exceeds That of Ether (ETH) appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Bitcoin price has recovered significantly faster than most analysts had expected in the short-term, while daily trading volume of both BTC and BCH surpassed the $10 bln mark, for the first time in history.

From the very beginning, the development of DS Plus has been about putting the user first.

The mission of the application is, and has always has been, to “to make it possible for people everywhere to make money just by doing what they always do – by buying their morning coffee, going out for dinner, getting groceries, and hanging out with friends after work.” They are achieving their mission with PlusCoin (PLC). It might be for this reason that the mobile marketing application, available on iOS and Android, has been downloaded more than a million times.

DS Plus users are rewarded for their purchases by receiving instant crypto cashback in PlusCoin. For every purchase made with the DS Plus app, a certain percentage of the payment returns back to the customer, right away! PlusCoin is poised to become the cryptocurrency of mobile marketing and eCommerce.

The PlusCoin ICO has been a success so far, with millions of dollars raised up until this point. You can still participate at https://pluscoin.io –  one “First PlusCoin token” (a package of 3300 PLC) can be purchased for 14.5 USD.

 Good news for DS Plus Users

The DS Plus team has announced that the mobile application will updated in just a few days, on November 24th. The DS Plus MarketPlace will receive a new user interface, and many new products will be available to be purchased.

The more-than-a-million DS Plus users can look forward to the following new features:

• Touch ID log-in and authentication
• A new start screen for easier management of your PlusCoin finances.
• The new wallet interface allows users to access all the main PLC functions via three simple buttons: “Earn,” “Transfer,” and “Spend.”
• A new user inferface for the redemption of cashback. The cashback feature can now be accessed directly from the PlusCoin map.
• Addition of the ability to transfer PLC with a QR code or phone number.
• New “Friends” function: Now you can see who out of your phone contacts has installed the DS Plus mobile app.
• Live chat with technical support feature added.
• The app now automatically determine your city.
• Various bug fixes.

The DS Plus team has also updated the application’s privacy policy. All new and existing users are invited to review the new conditions listed therein.

In the following update, expected features will include:

• Initial integration of the PlusCoin blockchain, using the Ethereum network, to secure purchases on DS Plus.
• Measures to strengthen the social dimension of the app, including a built-in messenger service, where DS Plus users will be able to communicate with one another.
• Improvement of the “Category” tab on the app, making it easier to find online and offline DS Plus partner enterprises and earn PlusCoin.

Good news for PlusCoin investors

1. PlusCoin is in demand: During the recent Black Friday sale, which took place on October 27th, 30,000 USD in PlusCoin worth of merchandise was sold. PLC is circulating already, and being used for real purchases – and the ICO hasn’t even ended. You can read more about the monthly Black Friday sales on the PlusCoin blog.
2. Major cryptocurrency exchanges are excited to host PLC: As was promised in the PlusCoin roadmap, PLC tokens will debut on the several major exchanges at the beginning of January, 2018. This month, the PlusCoin business team reached agreements with a number of exchanges, including HitBTC, Yobit, Get BTC, Mercatox, Bitflip, C-CEX, and Etherdelta.

Given the achievements of the DS Plus team this month, and during the entire ICO, it is easy to see that PlusCoin is well on track to become the cryptocurrency of mobile marketing and eCommerce. The DS Plus app is becoming easier to use for both existing and new users, and PlusCoin is right on track to begin to rapidly gain value, following the end of the ICO.

For more information about DS Plus and PlusCoin visit https://pluscoin.io or subscribe to the telegram channel at https://t.me/PlusCoinENG .

The post Good News for DS Plus Users and PlusCoin Investors appeared first on NEWSBTC.

We have heard some very interesting Bitcoin price predictions over the past few years. Some individuals such as Boston University’s Mark T. Williams, better known as Professor Bitcorn, expected Bitcoin to die a few years ago. Others think now is only the start of a major Bitcoin price rally. No one knows for sure who is right and who is wrong in this regard. Morgan Creek Capital Management CEO Mark Yusko is confident that one Bitcoin will be worth US$400,000 someday.

What is the True Value of one Bitcoin?

Surprisingly, this is perhaps one of the most difficult questions to answer right now. No one can deny there is a lot of value in Bitcoin, but there are also some big flaws which need to be addressed sooner rather than later. From a speculative point of view, Bitcoin could be worth millions of dollars, for all we know. Mark Yusko, CEO of Morgan Creek Capital Management, is only slightly less bold in stating that it could certainly reach US$400,000 in the long term.

Price predictions always get a lot of attention, and Yusko’s bold claim is no different. What with all of the Bitcoin Cash drama and the SegWit2x debacle, reaching US$400,000 per BTC may be difficult, to say the least. At the same time, we have seen the Bitcoin price suffer from some major volatility over the past few years and only come out stronger in the end.

No one can deny Bitcoin has pleasantly surprised a lot of people. After the major price crash of 2014, a lot of speculators and investors assumed it would soon be game over for Bitcoin. Surprisingly, that is not what happened at all, and the Bitcoin price eventually reached an all-time high of over US$7,600 not long ago. It has been an uphill battle ever since, mind you, but the world’s leading cryptocurrency has not given up by any means. Whether or not we will see a new all-time high later this year is highly debatable, though.

Yusko has explained why he made such a bold prediction at this point in time. It seems he’s been coming across the name Bitcoin a lot more often since 2011, which clearly indicates the cryptocurrency is doing something right. He is also a big Bitcoin investor, although he’s never clarified how many bitcoins he actually holds right now. It is evident a rising Bitcoin price would be in Yusko’s best interest as well.

Bitcoin has proven to be a disruptive force which can’t be ignored whatsoever. Banks and financial institutions all over the world have been attempting to discredit Bitcoin for many years now, but they are starting to display a more open mind towards the world’s leading cryptocurrency these days. Bitcoin may be a bubble in the minds of some people, but the rest of the world seems to vastly disagree. Then again, no one should expect banks not to oppose Bitcoin either, as it is something that genuinely threatens their business model.

Yusko’s current high level of confidence in Bitcoin is somewhat unexpected, though. He feels confident about Bitcoin’s price increase mainly because the internet of money is a very real thing. He also thinks Bitcoin is as important as the internet was back in the 1990s. It is certainly true Bitcoin may be here to stay, but only time will tell whether or not that is actually the case. To be sure, most people wouldn’t mind seeing a Bitcoin price of US$800,000 in the coming years.

CME chairman and CEO Terry Duffy has said that the derivatives exchange operator could list a planned bitcoin futures product as early as next month.

CromoLab is a predictive model generating BUY and SELL signals on the cryptocurrency market with 95% level of success.

CromoLab brings together modern econometric knowhow and melds it with the most modern information technology to create a very flexible cryptocurrency investment platform based solely on analytical methods.

CromoLab provides a platform that allows for building the cryptocurrency portfolio based on solid statistical evidence, which is digested by the statistical engine behind the platform.

The team behind CromoLab consists of world class professors in the subjects of econometrics, finance and information technology, supported by PhDs and researchers in econometrics, machine learning, financial mathematics as well as IT.

Lukasz Gatarek, Chief Data Scientist, said, “The most distinctive feature of this project is its innovative character in terms of combining two spuriously opponent fields of econometrics into one coherent mechanism. That is, mixing classical econometrics philosophy on one side, represented by leading world class econometrician in our team, Prof. Soren Johansen, and Bayesian econometric paradigm, represented by another leading world class econometrician, Prof. Herman K. Van Dijk.“

The CromoLab platform is the first analytical framework which provides the full spectrum of analytical service for the cryptocurrency market, starting with trend signal processing, going over portfolio construction and finally market-making, The CromoLab platform covers the needs of every cryptocurrency investor.

Krzysztof Kwieciński, CEO of CromoLab, said “The demand for cryptocurrency-specific analytics is growing tremendously due to the rapid development of the market and progressing tokenization of online services. The current gap derives from the emerging character of the cryptocurrency market as well as the scarcity of blockchain data scientific skills in the job market.”

Make highly advanced statistical algorithms work for you by just one click!

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Cromolab is the Only Crypto-Forecasting Tool You Will Ever Need

CromoLab is a predictive model generating BUY and SELL signals on the cryptocurrency market with 95% level of success.

CromoLab brings together modern econometric knowhow and melds it with the most modern information technology to create a very flexible cryptocurrency investment platform based solely on analytical methods.

Lukasz Gatarek, Chief Data Scientist, explained, “The key building blocks of the statistical engine behind the platform can be explained in five points:

1 – CromoLab assume that the cryptocurrency rate as any other exchange rate or financial asset price can be modeled.

2 – CromoLab assume that there is a probability distribution that stands behind this random walk, in terms of up and down movement.

3 – CromoLab assume that the evolution of this probability over time can lead to periods of rising trends and downturns.

4 – CromoLab assume that the historical quotations of the cryptocurrency rate can be explored for estimating on the relation between the price movements and the probability distribution governing the random walk behind.

5 – CromoLab assume that the entire spectrum of price series which are representing the cryptocurrencies can be modelled by means of cointegration analysis and if that is the case, we have the entire spectrum of methods developed by econometrics available for portfolio construction in such a market environment.”

The analytical platform is the main product developed by CromoLab, and customers will have options to buy and sell with a significant level of detail and accuracy.

Trend signaling for each cryptocurrency traded

Upward or downward trends with information on the exact timing of the start of such a trend and its length up to date are integral to this platform. Based upon the random walk probability distribution model the customer obtains signal which present current market sentiment:

Hedging portfolio construction

The CromoLab platform also allows for portfolio construction around a selected cryptocurrency. Given the selected cryptocurrency traded by the investor, the system selects the optimal set of variables to enter in the cointegration model. This set is selected among all the other cryptocurrencies analyzed by the platform by means of proper classifications algorithms which divide the spectrum of potential assets into applicable and nonapplicable as the hedges for a particular cryptocurrency.

Market making

Market making is based on the same cointegration model that is used for hedging. In this case, the cointegration model is applied to calculate the price of one cryptocurrency based on other cryptocurrencies given the statistical relation between them. This market, as with any other, tends to under and overestimate the value of the cryptocurrencies over periods of time. They go back to equilibrium quite fast, but if one knew when the price is in disequilibrium, then the profit taking opportunity would be substantial.

Krzysztof Kwieciński, CEO of CromoLab, said “The demand for cryptocurrency-specific analytics is growing tremendously due to the rapid development of the market and progressing tokenization of online services. The current gap derives from the emerging character of the cryptocurrency market as well as the scarcity of blockchain data scientific skills in the job market.”

Make highly advanced statistical algorithms work for you by just one click!

For more information, please visit www.Cromolab.io and join their ITO TODAY!

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.

Work continues on a possible way to free up the more than $150 million worth of ether stuck in multi-signature wallets following a hack last week.

Cryptocurrency’s mining aspect can be both a blessing and a curse. More specifically, we all know Bitcoin has a centralization problem when it comes to mining. Unfortunately, it seems Zcash has a similar problem right now, with one pool controlling over 50% of the network hashrate. It is unclear why miners aren’t switching over, as there are plenty of other pools to choose from. Then again, everyone wants a good chance of making money, which means joining a big pool.

Zcash Mining is Incredibly Centralized

It is always interesting to see how the mining ecosystem evolves for different cryptocurrencies. A fair few coins suffer from centralization issues in this regard, which is only to be expected. In the Bitcoin world, the centralization problem comes in the form of a few Chinese pools holding the majority of the network hash power. Sooner or later, that will backfire, but very few people are willing to make any changes in this regard. Profitability hinges on joining a pool which has a good chance of finding blocks, after all.

Interestingly enough, Bitcoin is not the cryptocurrency with the biggest centralization problem right now. That appears to be Zcash, with one mining pool controlling over 50% of all hash power right now. This is pretty interesting, considering there are a dozen decent pools to choose from. Moreover, we have seen some new pools pop up over the past week in an effort to encourage people to move away from feeding Flypool with even more hash power.

Right now, Flypool is over twice as large as F2Pool as far as the ZEC hashrate is concerned. In this regard, Flypool could easily perform a 51% attack against the network if it were ever inclined to do so. That’s not happened yet, but there is no reason to think it never will. There is no current incentive for Flypool to do so, as it already controls the Zcash network. It is not a major concern as long as nothing goes awry, but it’s unknown how long that will be the case.

Several Zcash miners have already moved away from Flypool in an effort to diversify the hashrate. So far, their efforts have not made much of an impact, but that situation may change sooner or later. It is very difficult to take away the majority of hash power from one pool and ensure other pools distribute this workload. For most miners, the only thing that matters is maximizing income in one way or another. Right now, that means joining the pool with the most hashrate, as it has the best chance of finding blocks on a regular basis. The knife cuts both ways in situations like these.

It will be interesting to see how things play out in this regard. Zcash has lost some of its momentum since launching, but that is not entirely surprising. That’s not because there is no real value to Zcash, mind you, but mainly that it’s flown under the radar for some unknown reason. This may also explain why the mining centralization issue has gone by unnoticed for so long. It is an interesting development worth keeping an eye on; that much is evident.

It is also worth noting that Zcash is not the first major altcoin to suffer from centralized mining issues. More specifically, Litecoin had a similar problem not long ago, but it seems everything turned out all right in the end. There is no reason to think Zcash will not overcome these issues, although it remains to be seen how they will be addressed. For now, miners need to keep an eye on this and ensure they move their hash power to a different pool until things normalize.

In Australia, an increasing number of Bitcoin automated teller machines (ATM) is being installed around the country due to its continuous popularity as an online currency.