Day: November 22, 2017

The number of Bitcoin wallets available today is absolutely amazing. Every platform has its own wallet, or even multiple offerings to choose from. However, not all Bitcoin wallets are created equal or focus on Bitcoin itself. It is clear that the Bitcoin.com wallet is purposefully misleading novice cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Bitcoin Cash is not Bitcoin, and this app’s listing should be modified to reflect the truth.

Beware of the “Fake” Bitcoin Wallet

It is evident that novice cryptocurrency users are looking for new Bitcoin wallet solutions every single day. In most cases, mobile wallets are in especially high demand. Both Android and iOS have a few different options to choose from these days. Some of these apps allow users to control their private keys, whereas others do not. There are also some wallets with support for altcoins, making it somewhat difficult for novice users to make a proper choice.

One option that will need to be avoided is the Bitcoin.com wallet app. Although there is nothing wrong with the code itself, this is not an actual Bitcoin wallet. Instead, the app supports Bitcoin Cash first and foremost, and it creates a BCH address by default. Considering that this altcoin uses the same address codebase as Bitcoin itself, this could cause a lot of people to buy Bitcoin and send it to an incompatible address. It’s a very deliberate scheme, by the look of things.

Unfortunately, a lot of novice users will overlook this problem and discover it the hard way. One could argue that people should read the app’s description properly. Then again, the name of the app is Bitcoin Wallet, and thus it is only to be expected that no one will read the description. It would be in everybody’s best interest to rename this wallet “Bitcoin Cash wallet”, as it would certainly make things clearer.

I can confirm that Bitcoin dot com’s wallet has BCash as default wallet. Don’t steer any noobs to the wallet or the site. It’s officially trying to hijack Bitcoin through smoke screen.

— Alan Silbert (@alansilbert) November 20, 2017

All of this goes to show that political shenanigans in the Bitcoin world are far from over. This is rather unfortunate, as Bitcoin Cash is not Bitcoin and vice versa. Purposefully trying to convert people to Bitcoin Cash when they are looking for a Bitcoin wallet solution is rather odd. While it is very possible that this was not intentional, something needs to be done to avoid unnecessary confusion before things get out of hand.

It is unclear whether anyone has lost funds due to this situation so far. The Bitcoin.com wallet is pretty popular and most people know that it supports Bitcoin Cash by default. However, with so much new money flooding into cryptocurrency and users showing up by the dozens, it is inevitable that someone may lose out eventually. The wallet has a Bitcoin option, mind you, but for people not accustomed to abbreviations such as BTC or BCH, this is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

Rest assured there will be a lot of complaints leveled against this “fake” Bitcoin wallet in the coming weeks. The overall Bitcoin community doesn’t take kindly to shenanigans like these, even though the wallet is not doing anything illegal. It is a clever way of taking advantage of Bitcoin’s popularity, although not everyone sees it that way. A small update in the description would certainly make things a lot easier, yet it’s doubtful such a change will ever be made.

How all of this will play out for Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash remains to be determined. Issues like this one need to be resolved rather than cause outrage over what various cryptocurrencies are trying to achieve. For the time being, this is a point of friction that will remain in place until this app’s name or description is changed. People looking for a Bitcoin wallet should get exactly that – not a wallet which uses Bitcoin as an afterthought. This is a problematic development in the cryptocurrency world, to say the least.

The governor of Malaysia’s central bank has provided more detail on upcoming regulations aimed to counter the illicit uses of cryptocurrencies.

A recent disclosure of an Uber hack as far back as 2016, may put mobile wallet users at risk of hacks.

Bitcoin cash may be vying for the top spot in bitcoin software, but it’s still working to correct fundamental usability problems.

It has been a pretty interesting week for Monero holders. With the Monero price surging toward $155 at the time of writing, it seems people are actively looking for a currency that provides proper anonymity.  There have not been any recent XMR-related announcements to speak of, but many people would argue the Monero price has been suppressed for some time now. How all of this will play out in the long run, remains to be determined.

Monero Price Reaches a new All-time High

It may seem like a coincidence, both Dash and Monero are going up in value at the same time. Whether or not that is actually the case, remains to be seen, though. Dash and Monero are nothing alike in any way. While both currencies focus on privacy and anonymity, Dash seems to be far more centralized in terms of network-wide features compared to Monero. At the same time, using Monero is still pretty difficult for non-techy users, although things have improved a lot throughout 2017.

With the Monero price reaching a new all-time high after almost two months of sideways momentum, things suddenly look very different compared to a week ago. While there has been a steady uptrend in the Monero price these past few weeks, the gains over the past few days have been pretty significant. One week ago, one XMR was worth $120.2, whereas it is worth $155.95 right now. Such a major price difference is not uncommon in cryptocurrency, but it’s not native to Monero either.

More specifically, the Monero price has a tendency of being relatively stable in US Dollar value for extended periods of time. While the popular altcoin may lose ground in BTC value on a virtually weekly basis, its USD value has been pretty solid these past few weeks. Over the past 24 hours, we suddenly see a 14.2% value increase in US Dollar and a 13.63% gain over Bitcoin itself. Remarkable developments which are somewhat difficult to explain at this time.

One also has to keep in mind every Monero price move is done through a low amount of trading volume. Unlike other top cryptocurrencies, Monero has never seen days of over $500m worth of trading volume. Nor will this happen anytime soon either, although there is more than sufficient liquidity across exchanges. If there is one thing Monero would need, it is more fiat currency gateways in Europe and the US. After all, only three out of the ten trading markets ranked by volume are denominated in fiat currency right now.

Some people may argue USDT is fiat currency too, but the opinions are divided on that front. It is a digital representation of the US Dollar, but given Tether’s recent “discrepancies”, it is not exactly a good metric whatsoever. The top exchange is Bithumb, with over $41.7m in trading volume. Bitfinex is a surprising second entrant, although their lead over HitBTC is not that big. It will be interesting to see if these rankings change over the coming hours and days, and if so, how it will affect the Monero price.

For the time being, it is unclear why the Monero price is going up. There is a strong belief among XMR community members Monero should be worth more than Dash, although the Dash community will gladly state otherwise. The most remarkable feat is how we see privacy- and anonymity-oriented currencies finally hit their stride in the world of cryptocurrencies. These two currencies do something different from the likes of Ethereum, NEO, Bitcoin Cash, and XRP. There is no reason why all of these currencies can’t thrive together.

Institutional investors looking for Bitcoin exposure now have a new friend in France with the TOBAM asset management company, who has announced the first ever Bitcoin mutual fund.

Billionaire Mike Novogratz has restated his belief that bitcoin will end the year at $10,000, while ethereum could hit $500.

Investors have reacted hugely positively to 2MB blocks and transaction fee reductions for Dash.

Mining pools are always looking to attract more miners. That is much easier than done, though. ViaBTC has come up with a new plan to do exactly that. Their new “holiday incentive” is pretty interesting to take a look at. Anyone who continuously mines for 30 days will be eligible for a prize. Some of these rewards are pretty big, even though most users won’t have the necessary hashrate whatsoever.

It is evident the big miners will benefit the most from this new ViaBTC campaign. Anyone who contributes less than 1 petahash per second will not receive anything, by the look of things. That is only to be expected, although this incentive was never designed for the everyday miner whatsoever. The users who can successfully contribute that amount or hashpower or even more will certainly get rewarded handsomely.

Massive Giveaway by ViaBTC

Rewards include Bluetooth speakers, an iPhone X, and Macbook laptops. Those who successfully contribute between 7 and 8 petahash will be eligible for the iPhone X giveaway. It seems these rewards will be issued free of charge and come on top of the regular mining rewards users receive. An interesting way of tying more miners to ViaBTC and Bitcoin Cash, that much is evident. It makes you wonder why we don’t see more of these efforts in the first place.

This promotion begins on November 23rd and runs until December 25th. That means interested parties need to switch over their miners starting tomorrow. The hashpower needs to be provided continuously for 30 days or more. Users can’t switch to different pools in the meantime. Moreover, the winners may not receive the actual goods, depending on supply issues and locations. Overseas miners will receive gift cards with the item value instead. That makes the whole ordeal a lot less appealing all of a sudden.

It will be interesting to see how this promotion plays out for ViaBTC. Users are welcome to mine either Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash, as long as they provide the hashpower. This may lead to a spike in BCH hashrate over the next few weeks. At the same time, there is no indication anyone will join this giveaway unless they live in China, to begin with. People would love to get an iPhone X instead of a gift card, but that is pretty much impossible for non-Chinese residents. Regardless, the incentive itself is pretty clever.

The Confido ICO has raised $347K, and then disappeared with no trace of the founders, the website or the money.

Following a two-month period in the doldrums, the price of the privacy-focused cryptocurrency monero has climbed to a new all-time high of over $155.

Philippine regulators are eyeing new rules for cryptocurrency exchanges and initial coin offerings (ICOs), according to officials.

It doesn’t happen all that often most top 10 cryptocurrencies are in the green at the same time. Especially with the Bitcoin price seemingly preparing for another leg up, interesting things are bound to happen. The Dash price is still going strong after surpassing $500 last night. Right now, it seems we may see the Dash price go all the way to $600 in the coming hours, although maintaining the momentum becomes more difficult for every dollar gained.

Dash Price Keeps Soaring to new Heights

It has been a remarkable year for most cryptocurrencies, including Dash. Although Bitcoin has gotten most of the attention when it comes to price gains, one shouldn’t overlook the altcoins gains either. Looking back at the Dash price one year ago, its value was well below the $10 mark. People who stocked up on Dash at that time and are still holding today have seen a 6,000% increase in portfolio value. That is quite remarkable, to say the very least, as it makes Bitcoin’s price gains pale in comparison.

While this growth is nothing short of incredible, it remains a bit unclear why the Dash price has gone up in such spectacular fashion Granted, there have been some technical updates and a strong marketing push across Venezuela this year. Whether or not that alone warrants such a strong price increase, remains anybody’s guess right now. Most of the Dash value is derived from speculation, but that also applies to virtually every other cryptocurrency or digital asset in existence today.

Despite facing some struggles when it came to surpassing $400 permanently, the Dash price has eventually shown some more legwork and continues the push without too many problems. More specifically, one Dash was worth about half of what it is today just two months ago. It is evident the Bitcoin price surge has allowed most altcoins to thrive as well, although it is certainly possible we now have even more cryptocurrency speculators actively diversifying their portfolios. Where all of this will lead in the coming years, remains to be determined.

Thanks to over $302m in 24-hour trading volume, things are looking pretty solid for the Dash price right now. It is certainly possible we will see the Dash price reach $600 before the day is over, but it is unclear how much higher the price can go after setting this new all-time high. After all, one Dash has never been worth over $560 before, which makes this a pretty important milestone for the popular alternative cryptocurrency.

As is to be expected, the Dash trading volume mainly originates from the Bithumb exchange. South Koreans have shown a massive appetite for all cryptocurrencies as of late, which is part of the reason why the Dash price has soared to new heights these past few weeks. Bithumb alone generates over 43.5% of all trades these past 24 hours. Bitfinex and Poloniex complete the top three which is pretty interesting to see at this point. Two fiat currencies leading the pack shows people actively looking for ways to buy cryptocurrency rather than just diversify Bitcoin holdings.

It will be interesting to see what comes next for the Dash price in the coming days and weeks. Although the current demand is still pretty high, we may see some big changes before the year is over. Assuming Bitcoin can reach $10,000 before the year comes to a close, the Dash price may look very different compared to right now.  At the same time, we may look at very different rankings based on market cap. Cryptocurrency remains a very mysterious and intriguing creature, that much is rather evident.