Mastodon

A Bitcoin ‘Big Bang Theory’ Episode Is Coming, God Has Abandoned Us – Motherboard


Motherboard

A Bitcoin ‘Big Bang Theory’ Episode Is Coming, God Has Abandoned Us
Motherboard
Close your eyes and think of the word “insufferable,” what comes to mind? For me, it’s two things: Bitcoin lords and The Big Bang Theory. Next week, because we have all been abandoned on this slowly-dying rock in space by whatever supernatural forces …


Motherboard

A Bitcoin 'Big Bang Theory' Episode Is Coming, God Has Abandoned Us
Motherboard
Close your eyes and think of the word “insufferable,” what comes to mind? For me, it's two things: Bitcoin lords and The Big Bang Theory. Next week, because we have all been abandoned on this slowly-dying rock in space by whatever supernatural forces ...

iPhone 8 vs. iPhone x – Which One is the Better Smartphone

iphone xWhen it comes to smartphones one of the key players in the industry is Apple. The iPhones are one of the most bought mobiles of the modern era and people are always eager to get their hands on the company’s latest flagship device. Just a couple of months ago, Apple shocked the world by announcing not just one new premium handset but three, leaving fans wondering which they should buy and why. Unveiled were the iPhone 8, its bigger brother the 8 Plus and the iPhone X. The question is, which one is better? Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

iphone x

When it comes to smartphones one of the key players in the industry is Apple. The iPhones are one of the most bought mobiles of the modern era and people are always eager to get their hands on the company’s latest flagship device. Just a couple of months ago, Apple shocked the world by announcing not just one new premium handset but three, leaving fans wondering which they should buy and why. Unveiled were the iPhone 8, its bigger brother the 8 Plus and the iPhone X. The question is, which one is better?

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

The first thing people notice is the design and it’s the iPhone X that really stands out here, probably because the screen stretches right to the edge of the device. It’s a much better looking iPhone than ever seen before and one that you would expect Apple to continue with going forward. However, the X has no home button and this for many is a drawback. So if you want the new futuristic look, it’s the X but for a more traditional handset, the 8. The 8 Plus is for those wanting a bigger screen.

When it comes to power, all 3 handsets have people well covered. The iPhone 8 and the X are both powered by the A11 Bionic chip along with the Snapdragon 835 processor. This means both handsets are able to run apps and games effortlessly, with multiple tasks ongoing at the same time. So whether someone is playing a power hungry game such as Grand Theft Auto, one which features the latest tech such as augmented reality like Pokemon Go or whether they’re playing a roulette game on PartyCasino, these handsets have you covered.

You would probably look at all 3 handsets and their prices and be able to guess that the iPhone X has a slight edge in most departments. The display for example on the X is OLED rather than the typical IPS LCD seen in the iPhone 8. It also has Dolby Vision and is HDR 10 capable with a higher resolution too. So the iPhone X probably does win the battle but the real question is whether the marquee handset is worth paying extra for as the iPhone 8 does everything as well as you’d expect it too.

There’s only a slight increase in RAM between the devices, with the 8 having 2gb and the X having 3; but the increase is rarely noticeable. As said before the X doesn’t have the home button and this is something that many people will take a while to get used to. The reality is three handsets are great additions to the premium smartphone market. The X has all the features of the iPhone 8 but with signs that Apple are going to go in a new direction, while the iPhone 8 does everything you’d expect of a flagship device and a little more too. If gaming is your thing though, the large screen of the 8 Plus could appeal too.

Public Wireless Network Costs Austrian Man US$117K Worth of Bitcoin

TheMerkle Bitcoin Theft Wirless NetworkUsing public wireless networks has always been a security risk first and foremost. While it may seem logical to a lot of people to connect their device to a public wireless network, doing so can have negative repercussions. One Bitcoin user found this out the hard way, unfortunately. More specifically, he lost over US$117,000 worth of Bitcoin to criminals who successfully infiltrated his account while connected to a wireless network. Public Wifi and Bitcoin together is a Bad Combination This particular story took place in Innsbruck, Austria, at some point this week. One Bitcoin user was connected to a public wireless network

TheMerkle Bitcoin Theft Wirless Network

Using public wireless networks has always been a security risk first and foremost. While it may seem logical to a lot of people to connect their device to a public wireless network, doing so can have negative repercussions. One Bitcoin user found this out the hard way, unfortunately. More specifically, he lost over US$117,000 worth of Bitcoin to criminals who successfully infiltrated his account while connected to a wireless network.

Public Wifi and Bitcoin together is a Bad Combination

This particular story took place in Innsbruck, Austria, at some point this week. One Bitcoin user was connected to a public wireless network and almost immediately lost around US$117,000 worth of BTC. It seems the criminals used this WiFi network to infiltrate the user’s computer and compromise an account belonging to him. It is unclear which account was affected, but it would appear to be associated with some sort of cryptocurrency exchange.

We do know the affected user checked this “account” in connection with the current Bitcoin price momentum. Considering that there are some wild price fluctuations these days, a lot of people are actively keeping tabs on their portfolios. Storing money on an exchange or online wallet is never a smart idea, though, especially when accessing such services through a public wireless network.

In a lot of cases, public wireless networks do not have the best security. They can be accessed by anyone, yet there is never a way to verify whether a WiFi signal comes from a legitimate network or a fake hotspot set up by criminals. It wouldn’t be the first time someone mimicked a public wireless network name in an effort to hijack connected devices and the information passing through the connection. Traffic is often unencrypted, which makes it vulnerable to individuals snooping on the data.

In regards to this specific incident, it seems the bitcoins in question were moved to an unknown account. This raises a lot of questions, as all Bitcoin transactions are publicly traceable. When they are converted to a different cryptocurrency – Monero, for instance – tracing the funds becomes a lot more difficult, though. It is unclear if that is what happened in this particular case. There is very little information to go by right now, as the investigation is still ongoing.

It is not the first time we have seen stories about cryptocurrency theft, mind you. A lot of people lose their funds because they are extremely careless. There are some basic rules people need to take into account at all times. Always store funds in a wallet you control, rather than in a web wallet or an exchange solution. Install a proper client on your mobile device or computer. Getting a hardware wallet is an even better option, although those do not support all cryptocurrencies by default.

Moreover, if you do want to check your online account balance – whether it is cryptocurrency or bank-related – do not use public wireless networks to do so. They are unencrypted and insecure and should be avoided at all costs. Public wireless networks are best suited for internet searches and not account-related activity. Exposing your credentials over an unencrypted network connection is asking for trouble; that much is certain.

Covesting Ushering in New Era of Cryptocurrency Trading

covesting interfaceGibraltar November 24, 2017 Team of former Saxo Bank employees lead by Dmitrij Pruglo, professional equity and fx trader, announced the creation of revolutionary platform for crypto currencies. A startup named Covesting is a peer-to-peer digital asset management platform infrastructure for pairing investors and cryptocurrency traders. The platform allows investors to mirror the trades of professional cryptocurrency traders without the risk of sending the trader any funds. Covesting is made up of a team with prior management and financial trading roles at banks such as Saxo Bank, JP Morgan Chase, SEB Bank, and Zurich Insurance with vast experience in the finance

covesting interface

Gibraltar November 24, 2017 Team of former Saxo Bank employees lead by Dmitrij Pruglo, professional equity and fx trader, announced the creation of revolutionary platform for crypto currencies. A startup named Covesting is a peer-to-peer digital asset management platform infrastructure for pairing investors and cryptocurrency traders. The platform allows investors to mirror the trades of professional cryptocurrency traders without the risk of sending the trader any funds.

Covesting is made up of a team with prior management and financial trading roles at banks such as Saxo Bank, JP Morgan Chase, SEB Bank, and Zurich Insurance with vast experience in the finance and tech industry. Covesting recently incorporated in Gibraltar, one of the most ICO and regulation friendly places in the world. Their Pre-ICO stage which Covesting finished on November 19th was a major success, raising over $1.1 million and growing their community on Telegram to over 2,200 members.

Covesting is bringing copy-trading, one of the most popular concepts from traditional financial markets to the crypto industry. Thousands of new cryptocurrency investors are joining the blockchain revolution daily and many do not have the technical trading experience or the knowledge of the cryptocurrency industry to make sound investments. Covesting solves this problem in two ways, the Covesting platform and the Crypto Intelligence Portal.

Win-win for investors and traders

The Covesting platform will allow novice investors to deposit BTC, ETH or their proprietary token COV, into an account on Covesting. Investors can then convert their BTC or ETH to COV and use the COV to subscribe to a professional cryptocurrency trader. This mutually beneficial idea allows novice investors who do not have the time or ability to make the trades necessary to realize the largest gains. It is not uncommon for coins to gain 100% or more in a single day. These are opportunities often missed by novice investors who have jobs, families and other priorities. Covesting allows the novice investor to make the most of their investments.

Traders can even begin their own career as fund managers with positive performances on the platform. Successful traders will attract more subscribers, increasing their earning potential. Traders can execute their deals from many of their favorite exchanges and can continue trading as they do today.

Crypto intelligence

Covesting is also quickly building the Crypto Intelligence Portal, the largest knowledge base of all cryptocurrency related information. Covesting has partnered with several cryptocurrency experts to write over one hundred original articles to teach investors and traders everything from the very basics of cryptocurrency, to reading advanced trading charts. The portal will also aggregate news articles from a carefully chosen list of unbiased sources, market analysis from top traders, and a discussion board focused on trading.

Initial Coin Offering

In order to develop the platform within shortest period of time, Covesting team has decided to go for Initial Coin Offering (ICO). Covesting project provides the unique opportunity to take part in a crowdsale and benefit from its growth by purchasing Covesting Tokens prior to the beta-version launch of the platform. All proceeds from the token sale will fund the product launch, continued platform development, and user acquisition.

The ICO opens on November 24th at 13:00 GMT time, and will run until December 24th. The initial rate is 200 COV per 1 ETH in the public ICO, but averages down as more ETH are contributed. Investors are encouraged to contribute early as the rate drops after just the first 5,000 ETH.

Visit https://covesting.io for more!

You can also find Covesting on social media:

Telegram: https://t.me/covesting

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/covesting/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/covesting?lang=en

Medium: https://medium.com/@Covesting

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.

Kim Dotcom Wants to Replace the Internet With MegaNet

TheMerkle Kim Dotcom MegaNetKim Dotcom has become a major cult figure in the world of technology over the past few years. His vision for the future revolves around achieving true internet freedom, which is a lot more difficult than one would expect. His new MegaNet project aims to replace the current Internet, although it remains to be seen how it will play out. This is a clear stand against the US government’s recent decision to overturn net neutrality. MegaNet is the Internet of the Future Everyone can agree Kim Dotcom is a very ambitious individual who will not shy away from floating an unusual idea.

TheMerkle Kim Dotcom MegaNet

Kim Dotcom has become a major cult figure in the world of technology over the past few years. His vision for the future revolves around achieving true internet freedom, which is a lot more difficult than one would expect. His new MegaNet project aims to replace the current Internet, although it remains to be seen how it will play out. This is a clear stand against the US government’s recent decision to overturn net neutrality.

MegaNet is the Internet of the Future

Everyone can agree Kim Dotcom is a very ambitious individual who will not shy away from floating an unusual idea. His conception of file sharing has been documented over the past few years, even though it has mainly received negative attention. At the same time, it is evident that Dotcom wants to revolutionize some aspects of the Internet as we know it. In fact, he wants to create a brand new type of Internet for everyone around the world. Protecting users from hackers and other attacks is the main objective here.

Given the FCC’s current plan to roll back net neutrality, it is evident we will need to come up with new solutions. That will not be easy by any means, yet Kim Dotcom’s MegaNet may introduce the changes we have all been waiting for. Ending net neutrality will only accelerate the demand for and adoption of a brand new form of internet the likes of which we have not seen before.

Truth be told, the concept of MegaNet is not new by any means. Dotcom has been teasing this idea since February of 2015, although it is unclear how much progress has been made. A decentralized internet not controlled by any government or corporation is a noble goal, though one which will be pretty difficult to achieve in the next few years. No one in their right mind would oppose getting rid of hacking, censorship, spying, and government infringement. It seems Dotcom’s proposed network may be non-IP based, although his original project never came to market.

That doesn’t mean Dotcom has given up on creating MegaNet, mind you. Some of his recent tweets revitalized this concept again, although it remains to be seen how the product will be developed. Moreover, there will be a strong focus on developing K.im and Bitcache first and foremost. The latter project will combine the benefits of Bitcoin payments and decentralized file sharing. All three of these projects are well worth paying attention to, despite not having any official ETA at this time.

Without too many technical specifications to go by, there is a lot of speculation as to what MegaNet would entail exactly. It may serve as a form of a mesh network, which is another technology struggling to gain any mainstream traction. The Internet is not something only ISPs and governments can provide to the world, mind you. There are many ways of establishing global networks where information can be shared and accessed.

It is evident that technology will change a lot of things about our daily lives in the future. While a lot of people are familiar with the Internet as it works right now, few people consider the consequences of what is going on behind the scenes. Reversing net neutrality rules is a major step backward, and users, tech giants, and other industry enthusiasts are growing increasingly concerned over what this means for the future. Giving ISPs more control over content distribution, freedom of speech, and general accessibility is never the answer.

Billion Dollar Savings in the Auto Industry from Vehicle Lifecycle Blockchain

vlb tokens logoOne in three american drivers can’t afford to repair their car.  Manufacturers waste billions on warranties and recalls. Vehicle Lifecycle Blockchain will help improve this scenario. Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article A survey carried out by AAA indicates that one in three Americans would not be able to pay for unexpected car repairs without falling into debt. They estimate that common repair costs between US$ 500-600. As an example the cost of changing a new timing belt would set a driver off $ 400-900, while simple break repairs would be in the region of $ 500. Add to the

vlb tokens logo

One in three american drivers can’t afford to repair their car.  Manufacturers waste billions on warranties and recalls. Vehicle Lifecycle Blockchain will help improve this scenario.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

A survey carried out by AAA indicates that one in three Americans would not be able to pay for unexpected car repairs without falling into debt. They estimate that common repair costs between US$ 500-600. As an example the cost of changing a new timing belt would set a driver off $ 400-900, while simple break repairs would be in the region of $ 500. Add to the high costs the stories of excessive charging by repair shops or unnecessary repairs carried out by service centres that are not required. Repair shop customers are often also worried about the quality of spares that are replaced. Owning a car means dealing with a web of different industries including banks, insurance companies, service centres and car manufacturers. All of which seem to exist in a disconnected eco system, which often leads to the customer having to bear the brunt.

What the automotive sector needs is clarity, transparency and a system that binds it together. Blockchain technology has been deployed in many sectors like finance, insurance and even medicine to improve outcomes. However, the automotive industry has still not benefitted from this technology. CarFix, the issuer of VLB tokens, is aiming to change that with their Vehicle Lifecycle Blockchain.

Why automotive sector needs verifiability

Did you know that car manufacturers waste 30% of warranty costs due to inadequate repair shop operations and fraud? Then there are problems in car insurance sector, where 23% of the total operating costs result only from claim management issues. The car insurers are still using arcane methods while processing claims. Most of the times these high costs are the result of the left hand not knowing what the right is doing. CarFix is planning to deploy an integrated vehicle lifestyle system based on their Vehicle Lifecycle Blockchain. This will ensure that the interactions between various players in the automotive sector are streamlined and increased economies, savings and new business opportunities emerge as a result.

Nitin Gaur, Director of IBM Blockchain Labs became an advisor to VLB Tokens ICO and had this to say about Vehicle Lifecycle Blockchain: “I am continuously seeking innovative teams and projects that aim to find new and creative applications of blockchain technologies to real economy sectors.  I am also working with the automotive sector to introduce blockchain solutions.  I believe that the Vehicle Lifecycle Blockchain that CarFix is developing is precisely what the industry needs to capture what happens in a car’s lifecycle after it comes off the factory floor.”

CarFix have gained experience on the ground

As a project, CarFix has not just got the concept clear, it has also put it into practice on the ground. Since the founding of CarFix in May 2016, it has onboarded 500 repair shops and 250,000 customers, 10 distributers and earned the trust of major clients like Uber and Fleetcor as well as a car manufacturer. They have also raised over $6 million from Tier 1 venture investors. The next step for them is to bring every aspect of the automotive ecosystem together and make it work using Vehicle Lifecycle Blockchain. VLB tokens would play a crucial part in this and be at the centre of this ecosystem. Initially CarFix would play the role of moderator but as soon as the blockchain reaches ‘critical mass’, CarFix would remove itself from this role and let the industry participants who meet the requirements take over the role of the validation nodes. Ultimately the blockchain will be able to expand globally independently of CarFix with various vehicle manufacturers and OEMs taking over as super nodes.

VLB ICO will help propel the project

An ICO is being held in which VLB tokens would be put on sale, starting November 27, 2017 and ending December 17, 2017. A hard cap of 300,000 ETH is in place for the ICO. During the ICO 200 million VLB tokens would be sold. Investors who participate early can receive bonus VLB tokens. Any tokens that are not sold during the ICO will be liquidated. The Vehicle Lifecycle Blockchain will be developed from the funds gathered from the ICO. The blockchain would be based on Ethereum with VLB token at the core of its economic operations. A whitepaper has been issued that describes the working of the project. What sets VLB apart from other ICOs is that there is a great deal of infrastructure, agreements and investment already in place. The operational model has been tested on the ground and the result would have a significant impact on the entire automotive sector. Investors can find more information about the ICO and VLB by visiting the website.

Leading Payments Services Company in India Starts Crypto Exchange

The increasing popularity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in India has led to multiple exchanges operating in India. The latest exchange to be launched is Coinome, which is backed by BillDesk, one of India’s leading payment servi…

The increasing popularity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in India has led to multiple exchanges operating in India. The latest exchange to be launched is Coinome, which is backed by BillDesk, one of India’s leading payment services companies.

How Gameflip Is Modernizing the Gaming Industry

The gaming industry is one that is growing at an exponential ratio, with over 2.2 billion gamers around the world who bring in an annual revenue of about $108.9 billion. Among these figures, about $94.4 billion is made from the sale of digital goods by publishers directly. According to projections, by 2020 this amount will … Continue reading How Gameflip Is Modernizing the Gaming Industry

The post How Gameflip Is Modernizing the Gaming Industry appeared first on NEWSBTC.

The gaming industry is one that is growing at an exponential ratio, with over 2.2 billion gamers around the world who bring in an annual revenue of about $108.9 billion. Among these figures, about $94.4 billion is made from the sale of digital goods by publishers directly. According to projections, by 2020 this amount will increase to $128.5 billion.

Despite these rising figures, there still remains an untapped opportunity within the gaming industry – a secure and frictionless transaction system for “gamer-earned” digital goods. These digital goods include in-game elements that the players can earn as an achievement or use to enhance their performance within the game. The demand for such things among the gamer community presents a huge opportunity, which when capitalized, can revolutionize the gaming industry. It will help gamers not to leave empty-handed when they are done playing a game. By giving gamers something that can be used at a later date, the game and digital goods publishers also stand to retain them as customers.

While many companies have been trying to address the value drain for both game publishers and gamers, Gameflip has provided the way forward. It has extended its proven platform to the public blockchain, which gives gamers flexibility and ownership to liquidate their goods as a fraud-free ecosystem.

What is Gameflip?

Gameflip is a Silicon Valley-based platform boasting over 2 million memberships and a global digital goods marketplace. It has over 500,000 active monthly users transacting millions of dollars in digital goods, with a goal of becoming a top-notch marketplace for gamers offering 100% security and transparency.

Game publishers own, develop and operate every aspect of the game, which includes the digital goods generated within the game platform. Without their active participation, moving the digital goods onto the blockchain won’t be possible because they are cautious about integrating a new technology. This is why Gameflip is utilizing its established network to collaborate further with top game publishers to build a successful decentralized and crypto-token ecosystem for gamers.

Why Gameflip is the only team capable of building a decentralized ecosystem for gamers

  • It already has a thriving platform
  • It’s comprised of gaming and publishing experts
  • It has an established and trusted network
  • It has an existing marketplace with over 2 million users
  • It is VC backed by leading venture capital firms

How Gameflip benefits gamers

Gamers have the opportunity of owning their digital goods. This initiative from Gameflip provides flexibility to trade, sell, and buy digital goods for cash through a transparent platform. This ownership guarantees that the value of goods is maintained, giving the gamers the encouragement to reinvest into the digital goods.

How Gameflip benefits Publishers

The publisher receives commission during every transaction conducted by a gamer with FLIP through the partnering publisher’s digital goods. This is made possible through the Gameflip open-sourced plugins and SDKs, which track the blockchain transaction of publisher goods.

Gameflip is currently in the process of organizing a crowdsale to facilitate the development of its blockchain platform for the gaming community. As a part of the token sale, investors and community members can purchase the platform’s native FLIP tokens which is the driving currency on the platform.

More information about the token sale can be found at – https://tokensale.gameflip.com

 

The post How Gameflip Is Modernizing the Gaming Industry appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Smart Contract Usage in Marketplace Powered by Blockchain – Storiqa

The digital commerce experience sufficient changes in XXI century. These changes affect many fields of economy and global market. On the one hand, it becomes much more popular and international, borders are slowly breaking. On the other – there are still a lot of problems for both buyers and sellers. Customers have to experience high … Continue reading Smart Contract Usage in Marketplace Powered by Blockchain – Storiqa

The post Smart Contract Usage in Marketplace Powered by Blockchain – Storiqa appeared first on NEWSBTC.

The digital commerce experience sufficient changes in XXI century. These changes affect many fields of economy and global market. On the one hand, it becomes much more popular and international, borders are slowly breaking. On the other – there are still a lot of problems for both buyers and sellers.

Customers have to experience high commission, problems with currency exchange, payment limitation, insecurity and so on. The seller, in turn, generally encounters many obstacles to entering the global market, because setting up the online store is not so easy thing and requires some programming skills. High commissions and lack of transparency are the problems for all the sides.

All this could leave like that too long, new ideas and solutions were unavoidable. In the age of Blockchain, many projects found the smart contract technology applicable to many fields. E-commerce is not the exception.

Blockchain-based online trading platforms have a lot of advantages over the traditional ones. However, they are not free from all the problems. Let’s overview all the pro and contra.

Why smart contract is the best thing the world ever knew before

The negative things could be left for dessert, but now we will talk about the obvious advantages of marketplaces, based on smart contracts.

First of all, thanks to smart contracts, every blockchain-based trading platform is an absolutely safe place for the buyer. The smart contract is the guardian of your funds, who gives your money to the seller when purchased items safely and successfully come to you.

Transactions, circulating within the smart contract system, can be very useful for the online store owner. He can use this data for making the ratings. It is impossible to create fake ratings because the only way to rate an item and leave a comment is to purchase it at first. Only when seller made transaction he or she has the right to comment and express his or her opinion.

Blockchain-based marketplaces like Storiqa use their own internal tokens (STQ in case of Storiqa), which makes the platform more internationalized. For example, you are a buyer from any EU country, while your seller cannot accept EURO. For traditional online stores, it is a problem, but such kind of crypto tokens are the keys to the solution.

Why smart contract is a headache

Some advantages of smart contracts are like a coin. Every coin has both sides, and positives moments are negative at the same time. What does it mean? Above has been already stated that buyers’ money is transferred only after he/she gets his/her purchased goods. It is good for the buyer, but what does it mean for the seller? In fact, it means that seller will have to wait until goods will be shipped to buyer and it could take a long time.

Despite the rating system is more honest thanks to the smart contracts, but still, shops can make their own transactions to leave their own reviews on their own goods. It will be more complicated, but still possible.

The future

Such projects like Storiqa do their best to make their improvements to make system closer to perfection. For example, for Storiqa there is a priority to make absolutely transparent review system to avoid the cheating from shops. And there is not only one field Storiqa is working in.

The main goal of the project is to destroy all the borders between buyers and sellers, as well as to make maximum transparent trading system. Storiqa makes the easy and fast system of transaction, allowing the customer exchange their currencies, buy STQ or sell them. After ICO, which start Nov, 28 and ends Dec,28 STQ tokens will be listed at HitBTC. There are no needs for any external exchange if the marketplace is exchanged itself. STQ tokens give access to sellers for useful marketing tools and higher cashback for buyers in case of payment in STQ.

There are still some problems in the world of smart contracts, but hopefully, the new projects will continue their development to change the e-commerce in a positive way. Nothing happens in the moment, progress could be even slower. The fact that smart contracts just appeared is already a revolution in the economy, marketing, technology, and society.

The post Smart Contract Usage in Marketplace Powered by Blockchain – Storiqa appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Online Bank Swissquote Launches Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Product – CoinDesk


CoinDesk

Online Bank Swissquote Launches Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Product
CoinDesk
Swissquote Bank, an online banking service, has launched a bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) that it claims will curb the cryptocurrency’s volatility. The Bitcoin Active Certificate works by moving investor’s holdings between bitcoin and U.S
Swissquote Group Believes Investors of All Profiles Should Have Bitcoin ExposureBitcoin News (press release)

all 3 news articles »


CoinDesk

Online Bank Swissquote Launches Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Product
CoinDesk
Swissquote Bank, an online banking service, has launched a bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) that it claims will curb the cryptocurrency's volatility. The Bitcoin Active Certificate works by moving investor's holdings between bitcoin and U.S ...
Swissquote Group Believes Investors of All Profiles Should Have Bitcoin ExposureBitcoin News (press release)

all 3 news articles »

It Takes a Village: Parenting on the Blockchain

Want to find honest reviews on products, discounts on child supplies and excellent education for parents and kids alike? FamilyPoints has the answer through Blockchain technology.

Want to find honest reviews on products, discounts on child supplies and excellent education for parents and kids alike? FamilyPoints has the answer through Blockchain technology.

DropDeck: The Blockchain Based Funding Platform for Startups, a Review

DropDeck is a funding platform built over Ethereum Blockchain. The underlying blockchain protocol imparts the platform with payments, smart contracts and consensus mechanism related capabilities. The DropDeck platform is designed to address various issues related to cross-border funding for SMEs and startups The innovative platform is powered by its own digital token, Decentralized DropDeck (DDD). … Continue reading DropDeck: The Blockchain Based Funding Platform for Startups, a Review

The post DropDeck: The Blockchain Based Funding Platform for Startups, a Review appeared first on NEWSBTC.

DropDeck is a funding platform built over Ethereum Blockchain. The underlying blockchain protocol imparts the platform with payments, smart contracts and consensus mechanism related capabilities. The DropDeck platform is designed to address various issues related to cross-border funding for SMEs and startups

The innovative platform is powered by its own digital token, Decentralized DropDeck (DDD). These tokens not only facilitate the cross-border funding feature but also incentivizes the token holders through a smart contract, encouraging them to be part of the network.

The DDD tokens are meant to be issues and distributed as an ultimate reward for its participants within the funding value chain. The aim of DropDeck is to help funders apportion capital to the companies that deserve them most while it receives information regarding the Potential Scores of such company. The Potential Score depicts the degree of risks and potential in comparison to profitability.

How DropDeck Works

  • The Hunter finds a company worth funding and posts it on DropDeck
  • Evaluators cast evaluation on different claims of a company, contribute to its scores and ranking
  • Funders screen companies on DropDeck based on ranking and score and pays DDD to see further details on interested companies
  • Once the funder pays to see details, evaluators are rewarded with DDD
  • Funders who decide to fund a company would send DDD to a smart contract
  • Delegates are requested by the funders or company to conduct due diligence on the chosen company
  • Both the funders and the company approve a delegate to be part of the smart contract and carry out loan terms
  • Immediately the delegate is approved, the smart contract directs DDD to the Hunter and the company
  • The approved delegate makes legal arrangement with the company to enforce the repayment
  • The company sends DDD to a smart contract depending on the terms agreed on.
  • The smart contract directs a percentage to the auditor and the funder

How to spend DDD

  • Cast an evaluation
  • Send DDD towards repayment or funding smart contract
  • Pay for premium features
  • Pay for score verification

How to Earn with DDD

  • Get rewarded as a Funder, Delegate Evaluator or a Hunter
  • Predict a company’s funding outcome correctly
  • Borrow DDD from Funders

Features of DropDeck

  • Minimization of risks
  • Instant funding for companies that are in urgent need of capital, irrespective of their geographical location.
  • Transparency in monitoring the spending of companies
  • DropDeck optionally holds the tokens before all requirement are met
  • Smart contracts for incentive system (trust, evaluation, reward, etc.)

DropDeck is organizing a presale followed by its main crowdsale. Participants in the token sale can purchase DDD tokens at attractive pricing.

More information about the platform and token sale are available on the DropDeck website.

 

The post DropDeck: The Blockchain Based Funding Platform for Startups, a Review appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Sticking to the Scrypt: The History of Litecoin in 500 Words

Since its beginning, Litecoin has been rooted in the democratization of mining. It found its inspiration in several other altcoins that claimed to do the same thing back in 2011. Litecoin is a hard forked coin of the Bitcoin protocol, and it boasts one of the more successful and friendly cryptocurrency communities out there. Litecoin grew from the early technical passions of Google software engineer Charlie Lee, who became involved in the crypto space in 2011. His first coin, Fairbrix, was modeled after the heavily premined coin Tenebrix crafted by anonymous coder Artfortz. Tenebrix was a GPU and ASIC resistant coin featuring the Scrypt (pronounced “ess-crypt”) algorithm.

Since its beginning, Litecoin has been rooted in the democratization of mining. It found its inspiration in several other altcoins that claimed to do the same thing back in 2011. Litecoin is a hard forked coin of the Bitcoin protocol, and it boasts one of the more successful and friendly cryptocurrency communities out there.

Litecoin grew from the early technical passions of Google software engineer Charlie Lee, who became involved in the crypto space in 2011. His first coin, Fairbrix, was modeled after the heavily premined coin Tenebrix crafted by anonymous coder Artfortz.

Tenebrix was a GPU and ASIC resistant coin featuring the Scrypt (pronounced “ess-crypt”) algorithm. It was designed to run exclusively on CPUs, added a block every five minutes, and gained a small following. But many complained that the anonymous founder had premined and stashed away 7 million coins.

To counter this, Lee created a new coin or ledger system named Fairbrix in September of 2011. Like Tenebrix, Fairbrix added a block every five minutes using the Scrypt proof of work algorithm.

Although Fairbrix only had one hundred premined coins, an issue arose when a bug in the coin’s client Multicoin prohibited the creation of new coins. This, along with a majority attack on the coin from its genesis, caused the Fairbrix launch to fail.

Still convinced that he could produce a coin that was true to the original vision and early implementation of Bitcoin, Charlie Lee took the work he’d done with Fairbrix and applied it to a new client.

Lee copied much of what had worked with Fairbrix’s launch and then copied solutions from Bitcoin’s code to cover for Fairbrix’s mistakes. The new blockchain featured two-and-a-half minute blocks. Maintaining the Scrypt algorithm, it scheduled a halving for every 2,016 blocks with an 84 million block cap. Technically speaking, Litecoin is the brainchild of both Charlie Lee and Satoshi Nakamoto.

Litecoin was originally released as a Bitcoin fork on October 7th, 2011 and was implemented nearly a week later on October 13th. Litecoin’s growth was steady until it saw a spurt in November 2013 which subsequently died down.

In May of 2017, Litecoin became the first of the largest five cryptocurrencies to implement Segregated Witness. Consequently, LTC’s value skyrocketed on its new exchange Coinbase, perhaps foreshadowing things to come with Bitcoin.

Litecoin would also complete the first Lightning Network transaction in May. This transaction of one photon (.00000001 LTC) was completed in under one second. More recently, Litecoin completed the first atomic swap to Decred, and has since performed swaps with Vertcoin and Bitcoin.

Although it is sometimes passed over by investors looking for faster growth in coins with more popular features, Litecoin is often deemed a relatively “stable” coin with a positive community, and has been coined the silver to Bitcoin’s gold. And although it has a public, central creator in Charlie Lee, its founder seems dedicated to the growth of the coin while encouraging smaller crypto communities.