Day: November 24, 2017

Business transactions over blockchain. Fast – Secure – System to System automation.

The SophiaTX team has delivered and unveiled a working Proof of Concept that demonstrates how companies can exchange information between their enterprise systems, such as SAP, using SophiaTX blockchain. As per SAP company, its software touches 74% of the world’s transaction revenue and is used by 87% of Fortune 2000 companies.

The proof of concept shows the capability of sending a variety of documents and in the demonstration they showcase a customer invoice automatic transfer between SAP systems. The customer invoice was created directly in one SAP system and then automatically transferred via SophaTX testnet to another company using another SAP system. A detailed description of this example, as well as others, can be found in the project’s whitepaper.

Blockchain allows the parties to transact in real time while acknowledging trust and transparency. “The information exchanges such as these can connect companies in many different ways, drive significant cost efficiencies and even completely redefine how companies collaborate.” said Jaroslav Kacina, CEO of Equidato Technologies AG, the company behind SophiaTX.

The solution has been built using the SophiaTX API which encrypts the data before sending it to the blockchain. SAP Business One systems which are connected to the blockchain listen for incoming messages; when a message is received by the client application the information is decrypted and presented to the end user in a meaningful way.

“The Proof of Concept uses all the building blocks which we have architected in our solution” said CTO of SophiaTX, Martyn Harler.  “Data is encrypted and sent securely over our testnet and then processed by the receiving system in a matter of seconds. Using traditional methods such as the Post or EDI would take a much longer time to process, the traditional mechanisms also don’t provide the security which our solution provides or the proof of delivery which is intrinsic to the Blockchain technology.”

“The Proof of Concept clearly demonstrates the capabilities and dedication of our team, and most importantly it’s a great starting point to engage our potential customers in exploring usage of SophiaTX.” said Jaroslav Kacina.

About SophiaTX

SophiaTX is a blockchain platform and marketplace for businesses of all sizes, and the first open source platform to primarily integrate blockchain technology with SAP and other enterprise systems (video). As an open source platform, it contains integration APIs to SAP and other enterprise software, covering leading ERP, CRM and SCM systems. SophiaTX blockchain is tailored for extending traditional enterprise applications and allows for the enhancing and reshaping of current business models.

The post SophiaTX – Unveils Proof of Concept appeared first on NEWSBTC.

In another major win for Bitcoin institutional adoption, the second largest bank in South Korea is planning to create new cryptocurrency wallets for their users.

Philippines SEC Commissioner Emilio Aquino stated in a news conference in late November 2017 that the agency plans to consider the virtual currencies as securities so that they can be regulated under the country’s regulatory code.

It is also expected that CBOE will introduce different types of contracts in the near future in its bid to secure a major market share quickly.

Most people will agree that Ethereum is a valuable addition to the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain. Although the system is not without its flaws, significant progress has been made over the past two and a half years. However, when it comes to Ethereum wallets, there is still some work to be done. Jibrel Network, a Swiss company registered in Zug, is developing the jWallet, a product whose functionality extends far beyond storing cryptocurrencies.

jWallet Combines Cryptocurrency and Traditional Investing

While there are many wallets with support for multiple cryptocurrencies already, they aren’t suited for much more than that. A lot of consumers want convenience more than anything else. This means they are less inclined to obtain a cryptocurrency wallet in addition to another solution for more traditional investments. The Jibrel Network thinks that now is a good time to bridge the gap between both worlds. As a result, its jWallet product not only supports cryptocurrencies and digital tokens, but also bonds, commodities, and equities.

The jWallet is still mainly designed to store Ethereum and Ethereum-related forms of money. It is commendable that this company has created its own wallet, especially after it raised US$3 million to do exactly that. Some of its investors include ArabianChain, the TaaS Fund, and Aurora Partners. Building a brand-new robust Ethereum wallet from scratch is no easy feat. Moreover, given the recent issues concerning scams, phishing sites, and Parity, it is evident there is a need for better solutions.

For now, the jWallet’s alpha version supports the storage, transfer, and conversion of ERC20 tokens. No user data is stored by the company and it does not get a copy of one’s wallet’s private key either. Everything is stored locally, which should put a lot of people’s minds at ease. Without any need to sacrifice security or convenience, the jWallet is a pretty interesting creature. The team does advise people to run it locally, though, or even to use the mobile app, which is also in alpha right now.

It is pretty interesting to see support for fiat currencies in jWallet as well – or more specifically, tokens created by the Jibrel Network itself. Six different fiat currencies are supported: USD, EUR, GBP, AED, CNY , and RUB. It seems these tokens are designed to compete with Tether, although there are few specifics available regarding how these assets are backed. The logical explanation is that users will convert these fiat-pegged tokens for actual money, although it remains to be seen how that will work exactly.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of jWallet is support for bonds, commodities, and equities. Considering that all of this will be stored in digital form on the Ethereum blockchain, it seems the team will have a lot of “conversion” work to do. It is unclear whether they are talking about traditional bonds or new products to be issued on top of Ethereum directly. Assuming it is the former, there will need to be an official conversion process to turn bonds into digital assets of some kind. We will hopefully find out more about this in the future.

For the time being, jWallet is accessible to the public. Anyone looking for a different type of Ethereum and ERC20 wallet can give it a try, although one has to keep in mind the software is still in the alpha stage of development. Issues may occur, and it is not advisable to store much money in this wallet until the team releases a stable version. The competition is heating up in the Ethereum wallet department, which can only be considered to be a good thing.

As we know, the crypto industry is being increasingly seen as a viable and profitable investment avenue. However, crypto trading, because of its new market, is highly unpredictable and volatile.

Autonio entered the market with an aim to offer every level of investor an opportunity to reap the rewards of crypto trading. Essentially, the platform is a decentralized trading bot, merging blockchain and AI technology. The peer-to-peer network is used to determine any code upgrades, which local clients then implement. This results in a gradual and ongoing improvement of the platform.

Members on the platform can buy or sell their trading strategies, as well as their consultation time. In addition, the platform has built-in and extremely-advanced trading indicators; the full spectrum of them can be found on their website: https://auton.io/

The platform’s medium of exchange is the NIO token, which is ERC20 compliant. NIO’s value increased by over 2,000% in its first week alone, with daily trading volume exceeding $430,000 during a spike between the 8th and the 10th of November, followed by another spike between the 12th and the 16th. At one point, NIO pushed the market cap to over $9 million, and it is now sitting at $3.7 million. NIO currently has a circulating supply of 65,828,135, and a total supply of 220,466,789.

Investors in Autonio’s ICO actually received extra returns: Autonio only raised $54,000—mainly because they did not try to oversell themselves—and all remaining tokens that weren’t burned were equally distributed to investors. In actual fact, they received 24.1646 times more tokens because of this. In addition, most investors also received a 70% discount as they contributed in the first round.

That means although the official ICO price was set at $0.05585 per token, the actual price paid by most investors was $0.0014059. Based on the actual price, Autonio made over 40 times as much on their returns, and if they sold at the peak, they would have made returns of more than 95 times as much.

“I have confidence in my vision and in what I’m trying to build,” said Ali Raheman, the Project Manager of Autonio.

“Because of the experience of my mentors, the feasibility of what we’re building was in constant check, and fortunately for us, the community saw that and wholeheartedly supported us. This is a very humble beginning for a platform that has been made purely for the community, and with the interest of users and investors in mind.”

The owner of NewsBTC, Jonathan Millet, as well as Andrew Wagner, who is the Community Manager for the news portal, are both advisors on the project. They have stated that are proud to work with successful clients who don’t disappoint investors, and that’s exactly what Autonio is.

The platform also has a very active online community on Telegram (t.me/Autonio), thanks in part to the many activities that they’re involved in. This includes airdrops like the one held for MBRS holders, and there will also be one for all ETH holders in the future.

In addition, the platform also holds trading competitions (more on http://nioking.algoshare.net/) in order to which attract high-quality traders. These competitions not only act as a great way for crypto investors to experience the benefits of Autonio, but they also allow the platform’s AI technology to learn from the strategies of the winning competitors. The platform has already had profits ranging from 1,062% to 4,235% APR.

Based on the excellent response to Autonio, it seems as if both their popularity and adoption will continue to grow. By combining the increasingly popular AI industry with the continuously growing blockchain industry, the sky is the limit as to what further advancements can be made, and what more Autonio can offer.

The post Blockchain AI Underdog Autonio Yields Over 40X Returns for ICO Investors appeared first on NEWSBTC.

On November 16, 2017 e-Chat has announced the first stage of ICO. This messenger with decentralized architecture, built-in multi-currency crypto-wallet, user-friendly interface, highest level of data security and high-quality content has all chances to become the App of the future.

e-Chat corresponds most of social and financial needs of modern people: instant communication, cryptocurrency and fiat money transactions, opportunities for earning money etc.

Right now more than 1 million people all over the world are the users of this new perspective app. And this number will rapidly grow, we believe. With the official start of ICO you are able to invest in unique project.

Why is e-Chat so unique? There are some significant features that make e-Chat stand out of many other messaging apps everybody has in his smartphone:

Decentralized infrastructure. Based on blockchain, IPFS and P2P technologies, e-Chat can boast flexibility, transparency and independence. Users may be sure in complete anonymity of their conversations and transactions. No one (for instance, even government) can get users’ data by force or somehow else as it is not stored on servers.

Encryption. When it comes to the protection of users’ data while using inbuilt multicurrency crypto wallet, we can guarantee the highest level of security that has been reached due to implementation of  the best 3-component encryption protocol MTProto. E-Chat encryption covers both users’ conversations and assets.

The e-Chat app is available on Google Play and App Store. ECHT tokens are also available for sale for $0.75. We would like to remind all potential investors that current price is the most profitable as it is expected to grow during the next rounds of ICO. The first round will end less than in a month — on December, 15.

You are welcome to invest in the App of the Future. We would appreciate every new supporter of the project that is worth to be used in global scale. To stay informed,  visit the official e-Chat website.

This is a sponsored post and does not necessarily reflect the opinions held by any of The Merkle’s employees. This is not trading or investment advice; always conduct your own independent research.

Discover a cryptocurrency community platform that educates it users and helps them to profit from Bitcoin.

With the holiday season almost upon us, the time has come to meet up with family members and friends. During these day-long festivities, a lot of topics will be discussed. Slowly but surely, mainstream consumers are inquiring about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Anyone with some expertise on these matters may find themselves at the center of attention during the holidays. Starting a discussion about Bitcoin, altcoins, or blockchain remains somewhat difficult, though.

Cryptocurrency as a Talking Point

Talking to friends or family members about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency is not an easy task by any means. Despite massive price gains, most conversations will start out with something else people heard on the news or read online. In nine out of ten cases, it will be a recent story involving Bitcoin and illegal activity. There are plenty of nefarious activities to choose from, including money laundering, kidnapping, ransomware, hacking, data breaches, and the dark web, to name a few. Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will always be associated with illegal activity, unfortunately.

Unfortunately, once the discussion turns to illicit activity, the tone has been set for the rest of the conversation. For some reason, most people have trouble looking at cryptocurrency and crime as two very separate entities. This is mainly due to the media’s tendency to only report negative stories about Bitcoin. Even the positive items – often in regards to the price – will include some backhanded comment about illegal activity at some point. Bad news sticks better in people’s minds than positive developments.

It is your job to steer these conversations in the right direction. Talking about the Bitcoin price, for example, is an interesting option worth exploring. Be prepared for these conversations to inevitably turn to the “but what gives it value?” debate. Explaining to people how fiat currencies are nothing but IOUs from the government and central bank won’t score you brownie points, unfortunately. While that is the truth, it is not something people want to think about too much. In their minds, banks are safe and Bitcoin is a fringe market.

Additionally, there is no reason to convince people to invest in Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency either. This is a dog-eat-dog world, and no one should be trusted. Even advice you receive from family members should be taken with a few grains of salt. Financial freedom attained with cryptocurrency does not come cheap and requires doing a lot of research.

Your best bet is to get people slightly interested in this new form of money, but to tell them to do some research and perhaps point them in a direction. Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper is always a good reference, or one of the many books written about cryptocurrency will work too. The latter can also serve as a Christmas gift, killing two birds with one stone. There are a lot of good cryptocurrency information resources out there these days, which should make this process slightly easier.

We all have to acknowledge that cryptocurrency is still in the very, very early stages of mainstream awareness. A lot of people remain hesitant despite the sound financial picture. This is an investment which people are making first and foremost, and it should always be treated as such. Never go all-in with money you cannot afford to lose. Moreover, whether or not cryptocurrency will ever replace traditional money remains a big question. One thing’s for sure: there is a lot more to Bitcoin and altcoins than the illegal activity the media talks incessantly about. Spend your time wisely educating the masses, without pushing them into making an investment they may not be comfortable with.

AdEx, an international ad exchange operating on smart contracts and blockchain technology, has announced it exclusively collaborated with Ink, the world’s leading travel media company.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

The latter is the world’s biggest travel media company, whose services cover millions of airline passengers annually. The company issues magazines, offers online and mobile experience, and offers additional media services.

AdEx is among the biggest decentralized ad exchanges in the world. It employs blockchain and smart contracts to attain transparent interactions between all parties involved in advertising, and is partners with such renowned blockchain companies and projects as NEO, Wings, and Fintech Blockchain Group.

The partnership will see the companies holding an auction for ad spaces on boarding passes on blockchain, which is the first instance ever when such an auction ever occurs.

This is also one of few instances when a blockchain-based company enters the real sector of economy.

“We are pleased to be working with AdEx to deliver advertisers such a targeted medium, and to be involved in this media first,” says Simon Leslie, CEO of Ink.”

During the first auction the companies will sell 2 million ad spaces on boarding tickets. AdEx will be managing the very process of bidding while Ink and the involved airline will decide on the winners.

“This is a giant step for us as it bridges travel media, advertising and blockchain to offer advertisers even more opportunities for reaching their desired target audiences,” says Ivo Georgiev, CEO of AdEx Network.

According to him, such companies as eToro and Propy have already expressed their desire to bid for the ad places in the forthcoming auction.

The exact results and further details of the auction will be published next week.

AdEx has already partnered with several prominent cryptocurrency-related companies. After their partnership with digital assets platform NEO was announced this August, the price of the platform’s native token ADX skyrocketed to almost $2 from $0.35 in just a few days. Currently ADX is traded at around $1.

Governments all over the world are being forced to pay attention to cryptocurrency all of a sudden. With officials scrambling to draft regulatory guidelines, we may see some interesting developments in the coming months. Over in Morocco, things are not looking all that great, as the country’s government may soon move to ban cryptocurrency. As is usually the case, enforcing such a ban will be pretty difficult.

Morocco Doesn’t Like Cryptocurrency That Much

In this day and age of financial instability, it is not entirely surprising to see governments oppose cryptocurrencies. With so many factors threatening the financial sector, the last thing any government needs is having to deal with digital currency. Attempting to ban this new form of money is theoretically much better than allowing it to exist. However, one has to keep in mind that governments cannot actually ban cryptocurrency in any significant manner. All they can do is make life extremely difficult for centralized exchanges, but that won’t impact Bitcoin or altcoins all that much.

It remains to be seen how things will unfold in Morocco over the next few months. Right now, the government certainly isn’t in favor of cryptocurrencies, but nothing has been set in stone just yet. The country’s Ministry of Finance has published a document focusing on virtual currency regulation. So far, the tone is anything but positive, as cryptocurrency-related transactions are allegedly an “infringement of exchange regulations”. This means anyone using cryptocurrency exchanges could be subject to penalties and potentially even jail time.

While this stance is not entirely unexpected, governments need to realize that trying to ban cryptocurrency is not in their best interest. Everyone in the world deserves to choose the financial tools he or she prefers, rather than those their government tells them to use. Fiat currencies and banks are far from perfect in their current form. Cryptocurrency is not without its flaws either, but it solves a lot of problems introduced by the banks. There is no reason why both forms of money should not peacefully co-exist.

These “threats” by Moroccan regulators will not be appreciated by the general public all that much, though. Morocco has a vibrant Bitcoin and cryptocurrency community, and this document doesn’t paint a bright future for cryptocurrency in the country whatsoever. Although there is not an official ban on Bitcoin just yet, things certainly seem to be heading in that direction. At the same time, one has to wonder how these regulations will play out exactly. Individual users can use cryptocurrency without relying on centralized exchanges or even banks; that much is certain.  

Furthermore, potentially banning Bitcoin is a clear sign of censorship. While it is not limiting people’s freedom of speech, the Moroccan government is essentially seeking to limit people’s financial freedom. That is not something anyone should support whatsoever. There is a very bright future ahead for cryptocurrency in the financial sector, and it should be treated with the utmost respect. It makes a lot of sense to remain somewhat wary of making it legal tender, but banning Bitcoin in Morocco will not do anyone any favors whatsoever.

For the time being, we have to wait and see how things play out. Morocco has a colorful history when it comes to tightly controlling foreign exchange flows. It is almost on the same level as China in this regard, which is not necessarily a positive thing. If the government wants to halt cryptocurrency activity, it will only succeed in shooting itself in the foot. After all, people will find a way to use cryptocurrency in one way or another.

Shopping dynamics and shopping itself have dramatically changed since the first store appeared in ancient Rome. Not only can we buy and sell goods and services from the comfort of our own home, but the nature of our purchases has undergone dramatic changes.

Looking back in time when Richard Sears first introduced his catalogs back in the 1800s, unlocking opportunities to buy from home, we can, without doubt, see that his legacy lives on. It has evolved, however, and moved into the virtual space. It may seem like nothing really changed, the new, virtual world has eased its way into our lives. However, it is also clear that thanks to the newfangled idea of virtual and augmented realities, in 10 years time, today’s shopping experiences will look incredibly outdated and may become obsolete altogether. While it seems far-fetched and yet unclear how widespread VR technologies will become over time and whether or not they will be used by everyone to buy goods in the real world, the gaming industry is already on the path to creating a virtual reality ecosystem for gamers around the globe.

Gaming is an immersive and experience-driven world with a lot of action in it. This new virtual universe is creating a virtual economy with virtual goods. Look close enough and you will find that we are witnessing a clash of the real with the virtual since all virtual goods can be purchased online with very real money. Today people spend billions of dollars on virtual goods every year. Virtual goods which, no matter what shape or form they are, and what features they have, are nothing but a series of 1s and 0s that are stored on some remote server. What’s more – the virtual space is developing and generating huge revenues. The driving force of this development lies in the fading barriers of people’s offline and online presence. Virtual markets are exploding as users purchases are not limited to swords or other armor to use in gameplay but also presents, ads, cryptocurrencies and so much more. Every day hundreds of thousands of transactions take place through marketplaces like eBay and Amazon. All these purchases increase people’s overall satisfaction creating real value.

Any boom is followed by tech innovations and development. One of the leading companies in this field is NAGA. NAGA is a German FinTech company that has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since July 10th when NAGA successfully carried out its IPO. Within just a few months NAGA’s stocks have  increased in price per share by more than 400%. NAGA is developing cutting edge technologies for capital markets and gaming. They are aiming to create one unified platform to trade both financial and virtual goods. Current financial and virtual markets are still struggling with security and vulnerability issues that NAGA will overcome with the help of blockchain technologies. On the way to unifying two worlds, NAGA is creating the NAGA Wallet to bridge its two major projects – SwipeStox for trading and Switex for virtual goods exchange. To fuel the NAGA ecosystem a token will be deployed. The NGC token will be  used as a currency. NGC will give any user access to virtual in-game goods via various platforms. Powered by the blockchain it will create a transparent cost structure and allow cashback through sophisticated frameworks. Decentralization deployed through the blockchain offers vast opportunities for users to take advantage of in the evolving virtual economy.

To make complicated markets simple and fun, NAGA has created a unique solution Switex, a virtual goods exchange. This will be the first legal ecosystem for virtual goods, that will help various users profit from using it. Users will be able to buy virtual goods directly from a publisher or from other users, creating primary and secondary markets of virtual goods. Switex will enter the gaming market first and then expand to other virtual products.

By offering primary and secondary market items, NAGA aims to unite the best from both eBay and Amazon.

NAGA with their unique solution Switex is aimed at legalizing all markets of virtual goods. Switex also aims to ensure the safe and correct transfer of virtual goods between users.

NAGA is advised by crypto professionals: Bitcoin.com founder Roger Ver, bitcoin.com’s COO Mate Tokay, and Miko Matsumura of Pantera Capital.

NAGA’s pre-sale started just a few days ago, but they have already sold over 50% of the pre-sale’s allocated tokens. Moreover, the predictions are that the price of NGC (NAGA coin) will reach $4.5 after it is listed on the top cryptocurrency exchanges.

Hurry up and join NAGA at the current pre-sale stage!

To find more about NAGA project and Switex visit NAGA website.

Join NAGA’s Telegram chat.

The post NAGA Will Take You to the World of Virtual Goods with Real Profit appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Russia has a very interesting relationship with cryptocurrency. We have seen so many conflicting reports over the past few months, it almost becomes impossible to keep tabs on things. The head of Russia’s Sberbank now claims Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are never going away. It’s a bold statement, although it is evident there is a lot of truth to this train of thought.

Russia’s Complicated Relationship With Cryptocurrency

There have been conflicting reports regarding the future of cryptocurrency in Russia. More specifically, we have heard rumors of Bitcoin’s legalization, a ban on all cryptocurrency activity, and even jail time for miners. So far, none of these claims have come true, which is anything but surprising. There is still a lot of work to be done among Russian regulators before we can finally start to think about Bitcoin’s future in the country.

Sberbank, Russia’s largest lender, has always kept an open mind toward Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. More specifically, it has been pro-Bitcoin so far, without making any major decisions on the cryptocurrency front. It is an interesting approach, but considering that this bank is not state-owned, it is free to do its own thing to a certain extent. There is still a lot of uncertainty in this regard.

What is somewhat surprising is the recent statement made by Sberbank’s Herman Gref. More specifically, the head of Sberbank is confident cryptocurrencies will not go away anytime soon. That in itself is a rather heartening endorsement coming from a banker, as it shows officials are at least willing to give these currencies the benefit of the doubt. Russia isn’t exactly known to have a laissez-faire approach when it comes to financial instruments not controlled by the government or issued by the central bank.

According to Gref, virtual currencies are a “natural outcome” of blockchain technology. While some entities may be in favor of banning them altogether, said Gref, the better option would be to welcome them with open arms. “Cryptocurrencies are a fact of our life,” Gref commented during a recent meeting. Cryptocurrencies are currently on a lot of people’s minds, although there is still a high degree of wariness. That isn’t surprising by any means, though, as this is still a highly unregulated market right now.

In most cases, governments will understandably try to protect their financial infrastructures first and foremost. However, there will be a place for cryptocurrency in the Russian economy in one way or another. Gref feels both the private sector and government will pave the way for Bitcoin and altcoins to thrive in the long run. It will take a lot of time for that to actually happen, though, as there is still a lot of work to be done before a major mind shift occurs.

It will be interesting to see how things play out in Russia over the next few months. Mind you, the Central Bank of Russia is still in favor of stricter regulation of cryptocurrencies. There is a lot of uncertainty regarding Russia’s financial future, but that doesn’t mean cryptocurrencies will go away or be deemed illegal by the Kremlin.