Day: November 25, 2017

Kazakhstan is one of those countries people hardly hear about when it comes to cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. That’s not because these topics are not of great interest to Kazhaks, but rather because there has not been a reason to introduce any sort of regulation. That being said, the country now has its very own Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association meant to move things forward. It’s an interesting development, as this legal entity is seeking state approval.

Kazakhstan is Raising the Bar

It is good to see this particular country embarking on a mission to promote cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in the coming years. Whereas most governments oppose and even suppress such ideas, things are very different in Kazakhstan. For the time being, there is no official legislation or regulation for either blockchain or cryptocurrency, but that may come to change if the newly-formed Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association has its way. It’s an ambitious project, to say the least.

The new organization already has six core members, and another 15 have applied for membership. That is quite a promising start for a venture which few people had heard of a week ago. Now is an opportune time to unite companies, organizations, and enthusiasts in an official state-approved organization. It is evident Kazakhstan has big plans for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in the years to come. How all of this will play out in the long run has yet to be determined, though, as all options are on the table at this point in time.

Kazakhstan seems to be quite welcoming of blockchain and cryptocurrency. This is not the case with a lot of other countries around the world, where harsh regulation seems to be the go-to approach first and foremost. In this particular country, the goal is to create a viable ecosystem, approved by the state and the national bank. Striking the right balance between regulation and innovation will not be easy, but all the world’s industries have faced that problem before.

Looking at how the rest of the world perceives blockchain and cryptocurrency appears to have been the first step in establishing a new ecosystem. Over in Russia, an association has been created with a similar purpose. Some initial results have been achieved already, but it is unclear whether Kazakhstan aims to take a similar route in this regard. It will be interesting to see if its new association can make any progress before the year is over. There are no official timelines as far as we know.

As one would expect, these industries are still in the early stages of development in Kazakhstan. There is no real way to assess these markets in financial terms, but things have progressed nicely over the past few years. Having the required infrastructure in place to accommodate further growth and provide proper legislation is the government’s number one priority. According to one source, the legislative aspect will heavily depend on how both industries evolve over the next two years. That is an interesting sentiment, as a lot can happen in such a short period.

It is good to see the Kazakh population flock to both cryptocurrency and blockchain. The demand for alternative solutions has never been greater than it is today. The country’s national bank is even contemplating the creation of a digital asset to make the process of converting from fiat currency to cryptocurrency more convenient. Whether or not the so-called CryptoTenge will ever be introduced to the masses remains to be seen, though. An interesting future lies ahead for blockchain and cryptocurrency in Kazakhstan; that much is certain.

Decentralized startup accelerator RocketICO begins implementation of Bancor’s Smart Token™ protocol on its platform.

RocketICO is announcing the beginning of the implementation of Bancor’s Smart Token™ protocol on its platform. With Smart Token™ protocol all the tokens, issued by the projects on the RocketICO platform, will get the continuous liquidity and formulaic pricing through compatible Web3 wallets. The blockchain community showed its support for the protocol through a record-breaking Token Generation Event for the Bancor Network Token in June 2017 and the list of successful projects, adopting the protocol, continues to grow.

The Bancor protocol enables anyone to create a new type of cryptocurrency called a Smart Token™, which can hold (and trade) other cryptocurrencies. The continuous liquidity of Smart Tokens™ removes the barrier-to-liquidity and enables the emergence of the long tail of user-generated currencies. RocketICO member tokens will benefit from:

• no additional commissions or fees to be listed,
• the decrease in price volatility thanks to formulaic pricing,
• no spread as buy and sell prices are identical through the smart contract,
• continuous and additional liquidity regardless of exchange listings.

RocketICO is proud to integrate with Bancor to offer an innovative solution to support a high volume of diverse projects launched from the platform, and to encourage the creation of network effect between them. This solution to the liquidity challenge so many new tokens face will allow a wide variety of ideas and teams to flourish, and the entire blockchain industry to expand and progress.

For more information about the Bancor Protocol, please visit the Bancor site and read the Whitepaper. For more information about RocketICO, please visit www.rocketico.io. RocketICO token campaign is on, join now and get special bonus!

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.

According to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Director and Registrar, Norman Mataruka, the use of “Bitcoin … is not actually legal” within the country’s jurisdiction.

Under the draft, virtual currencies and initial coin offerings (ICO), as well as mining will already be allowed in the country, while exchanges can trade rubles for cryptocurrencies.

Not a day goes by without a healthy dose of Bitcoin drama, by the look of things. There have been so many discussions and debates over the years, it has become impossible to recollect them all. The latest incident involved a message on the Bitcoin.org website claiming the Core client would be replaced by Bitcoin Knots. While the note was removed quickly, it still sent an interesting message to the community.

What is Theymos Doing This Time?

Every time Theymos so much as farts, the entire Internet is up in arms. While it is certainly true this one individual has too much control over Bitcoin-related media – including Bitcoin.org, BitcoinTalk, and /r/Bitcoin – he doesn’t always seek to harm Bitcoin itself. The latest stunt Theymos pulled off tells a different story, though, as it is not something the overall community would have liked to see whatsoever. Then again, it remains unclear how serious this plan was to begin with, as the message posted on Bitcoin.org has already been removed.

The message in question pertained to potentially replacing the Bitcoin Core client with Bitcoin Knots. As most people should be aware, Bitcoin Knots is a valuable alternative client for Bitcoin and also offers full node capabilities. However, the message posted on the Bitcoin.org website talked about how the time had come to steer away from using Bitcoin Core. It was an interesting statement, especially given all of the advocacy Bitcoin Cash supporters have been doing in support of a similar agenda.

Bitcoin.org itself aimed to promote Bitcoin Knots as a viable alternative to Bitcoin Core. It is a compatible derivative of Core with a few improvements users may like to take advantage of. Everyone has a free choice to use whatever client he or she prefers, and Bitcoin Knots has been publicly available for download ever since the project went into development. It is not advertised as one of the main Bitcoin clients right now, but it seems Theymos intends to change that. On paper, there is nothing wrong with this approach, as the vast majority of Bitcoin users rely on Bitcoin Core first and foremost.

However, replacing the main client on the Bitcoin.org website with Bitcoin Knots seems like a hasty decision. After all, it was a decision made by Theymos alone without consulting the community or even asking for input regarding this matter. It was an unprofessional approach and a clear anti-Core move as well. While having multiple clients supported and promoted at the same time can only lead to more decentralization over time, it seems the general Bitcoin community doesn’t like this idea all that much. That may explain why this message was removed from the website.

A strong reliance on Bitcoin Core introduces a certain degree of centralization into the Bitcoin world. There are a fair few alternative clients out there, all of which are well worth checking out. Some offer very different functionality from Core, which can only be considered a good thing, as the goal is to make Bitcoin more resilient and diverse. In the end, all of these clients will adopt the changes proposed by the Bitcoin Core team and update their codebases accordingly. There is no reason not to give alternative clients such as Bitcoin Knots a try, but these decisions should never be forced upon Bitcoin enthusiasts by one individual.

All of this goes to show there are interesting changes coming to the Bitcoin ecosystem. Although people have always had the ability to choose which Bitcoin client to support, the vast majority of users have flocked to Core. That situation may soon come to change, even though everyone will use the major codebase from Core in the end. A more diversified Bitcoin client ecosystem would not be a bad thing by any means. That being said, it is not up to individuals such as Theymos to make these decisions for everyone else in the world.

The regulatory development opens the way for the institutional-grade bitcoin exchange to deal with EUR fiat payments globally.

25 November, 2017, Gibraltar – Globitex, the new bitcoin exchange co-founded by early bitcoin adopter and former Executive Director and a Founding Board Member of the Bitcoin Foundation Jon Matonis, marks a significant milestone in its journey to make bitcoin a truly global currency of settlement. Globitex Holding (Latvia) group company NexPay UAB has been granted an e-money license (EMI) by the Bank of Lithuania to carry out payment services and e-money issuance in the EU. This opens a series of doors for Globitex exchange, enabling it to take an important step closer to its goal of dramatically increasing bitcoin trading volumes in order to facilitate its use right across the spectrum of commodity and money markets. Current operating entity of the Globitex bitcoin exchange is a UK-based Globitex group company.

Bitcoin: currency of global settlement

Whilst bitcoin is currently making new highs, there is still the fundamental economic issue that order-book depth and liquidity cannot support very large trades. Although bitcoin offers enormous advantages for international settlement due to its speed and low cost compared to legacy money transfer services, it cannot yet serve as a currency of international trade settlement across the world’s financial markets.

Globitex Chairman and Founding Director of Bitcoin Foundation, Jon Matonis, stated:

‘I look forward to this evolution of digital currency trading platforms that ensure futures contracts with a physical delivery component. Strong connection to the spot markets, including contract limits and physical delivery that is linked to provisioned commodities, will serve as the market standard for price integrity.’

The aim of Globitex is to facilitate entry into the bitcoin market for a new generation of customers, both retail and institutional-level traders, enabling the increase in value and stability that will allow commodities like crude oil, gold, coffee and other financial instruments to be priced directly in bitcoin.

SEPA payments

Acquisition of the EMI licence brings with it the possibility of integrating with the SEPA euro payments system directly through the Central Bank of Lithuania. This will enable NexPay to clear euro payments directly, without the involvement of commercial banks, and to issue IBAN accounts to Globitex clients just like banks issue accounts to clients. This is a huge step forward in terms of accessibility.

The regulatory green light for the EMI licence is a leap forward in the development of the bitcoin and broader cryptocurrency industry. This sets a new level of legitimacy for cryptocurrency overall, moving towards widespread adoption.

Crucially, the newly-issued EMI licence is fully ‘passportable’ to all other EU member states, allowing NexPay to provide clients with payment services and e-money issuance across all 28 countries.

Liza Aizupiete, Managing Director of Globitex, reflects:

‘Globitex is looking to set new cryptocurrency trading standards not only technologically, or by commodities-linked product offering, but especially in Globitex’s legal setup, ensuring safe passage to the digital age.’

GBX token sale

Globitex group is holding a token sale to fund the scaling of its existing exchange infrastructure into a commodities spot and derivatives exchange for bitcoin. The GBX utility token will be issued on the Ethereum blockchain. GBX will be used to pay trading fees and reward exchange users and liquidity providers.

The GBX token will be sold for the equivalent of EUR 0.10 in Bitcoin (XBT), Ether (ETH) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), with significant discounts for early participants.

For more information, visit https://Globitex.com or to participate in the token sale visit www.GlobitexICO.com.

This is a sponsored press release and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views held by any employees of The Merkle. This is not investment, trading, or gambling advice. Always conduct your own independent research.

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency users are often targeted by criminals. We have seen numerous attack vectors affecting this user base already. Whether it is phishing attacks, malware, ransomware, Trojans, or fake ICO projects, the number of threats out there should never be underestimated. According to a brand-new website, internet routing attacks may pose a significant threat to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Two specific types of attacks may cause a lot of issues in the future.

Internet Routing Attacks and Bitcoin

There are quite a few issues associated with Bitcoin which will cause problems sooner or later. One of these problems involves the centralized “hosting” of Bitcoin nodes. As one would expect, very few people run such a node on their own computer infrastructure at home. Instead, they generally use a VPS or other online solution to add a node to the network. While this is a valid approach, the vast majority of Bitcoin nodes are hosted on just 13 different ISPs. Considering that there are over 50,000 internet service providers worldwide, that is quite worrisome.

To make matters worse, the new website also claims that a large amount of Bitcoin network traffic passes through three different ISPs. That is quite a startling discovery, considering it pertains to almost 60% of all Bitcoin network traffic. This is an unacceptable situation for a cryptocurrency which prides itself on being a decentralized and global solution. A lot will need to change in order to prevent this centralization from becoming a big problem in the near future.

With so few ISPs effectively controlling the Bitcoin network – up to a certain degree – they could quite easily enforce a routing attack against the network. If that were to happen, this handful of ISPs could redirect traffic through fake announcements on the internet routing system. Hijacks are nothing new in the world of online connectivity, and they’ve been happening quite a lot as of late. Some of these attacks have (allegedly) affected the Bitcoin network already. In fact, around one hundred Bitcoin nodes are reportedly hijacked every single month. That is a very worrisome statistic that doesn’t bode well for Bitcoin whatsoever.

The site explains how two different attack vectors can be used to cripple the Bitcoin network. The first attack revolves around splitting the network into different components. Certain nodes would no longer be able to communicate with the rest of the network, creating a parallel blockchain. If this attack were successful, any blocks mined on the smaller “component” would be discarded with all of the transactions and miner revenue included. That would be an economic disaster if a lot of miners suddenly found themselves on the wrong blockchain.

A second type of attack might push the Bitcoin block time back by up to 20 minutes. Right now, network blocks are discovered roughly ten minutes apart, but a proper routing attack would push this time back to 30 minutes. We have seen multiple incidents where the Bitcoin network got clogged up despite normal block generation times. A delay in block time would only compound these problems and result in the network grinding to a halt at some point. Clearly, routing attacks are not to be trifled with whatsoever.

The big question is whether or not anyone will even attempt to pull off such an attack. The site’s researchers have released a prototype implementation of the block delay attack, which can be found on GitHub. For now, no ISP has actually tried to disrupt Bitcoin in a major way, but that doesn’t mean no one won’t do so in the future. A solution to the node problem must be found sooner rather than later, but that is much easier said than done at this point. Running a node should always be done on one’s home computer or capable device, rather than a VPS or centralized server.

Commanding 70% of the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin and Ethereum are the equivalent of flawed geniuses and any company considering an ICO should look beyond them if they want to succeed in the long-term, writes Kirsten Morel.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

US$3.5 billion has been raised by ICOs since may 2016 and there’s plenty more to come. However, if you look at the wider ICO environment, most new coin offerings have been built upon Ethereum’s ERC 20 protocol but, given its flaws, this could be storing up problems for the future.

This dominance has resulted in a homogenous landscape and that on its own is a serious risk, but unfortunately, the dangers run deeper than mere market limitations. The reality is that both of the first and second generation blockchain networks have in-built weaknesses and vulnerabilities that could come back to haunt their users in years to come.

Risks that must be mitigated

A quick analysis of both the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains shows that neither is adequately decentralized and both are vulnerable to 51% attacks. Bitcoin mining is dominated by just few mining pools – a fact that would bother any competent risk manager – and whilst much of the media discussion of these issues has focused on the effect a successful attack could have on the value of Bitcoin or Ether, the growth in the number of Blockchain-based businesses means that there could be far greater market trauma caused by the collapse of operations built on the back of Ethereum than the value of Bitcoin.

That said, risk assessment is a game of probabilities. Just because the risk exists, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take it and there’s good reason to believe that a 51% attack on either blockchain is highly unlikely, so companies may choose to accept it.

Scaling problems

What isn’t in doubt, is that both platforms have serious scalability issues. Bitcoin transactions are slowing as the number of users increases. This has resulted in an ongoing debate within the Bitcoin community around the proposal of various hard forks designed to deal with the problems caused by the slowing transactions and escalating cost of confirmations that are a direct result of Bitcoin’s scaling problems.

Equally real are the environmental consequences of Bitcoin’s growth. One analysis puts the amount of energy used by the Bitcoin network as being more than the entire Republic of Ireland, whilst the Ethereum network outdoes Cyprus in energy consumption.

These are serious environmental issues that processing power efficiency will only ever mitigate at the edges because, as first and second generation networks, both Bitcoin and Ethereum were not designed with things like energy efficiency in mind.

The need for firmer foundations

If the ICO phenomenon is to continue to attract investors then it needs to be built on firmer foundations than either Bitcoin or Ethereum can deliver.

SkyLedger is the third generation blockchain network that has been designed specifically to be truly decentralized, more robust, faster, more scalable and more environmentally friendly than its predecessors. In short, SkyLedger is the ideal blockchain platform for ICOs.

With SkyLedger, risk managers don’t have to worry about 51% attacks because they are impossible to achieve, simply because the network does not use mining and also because its developers have used a distributed consensus algorithm to govern the network.

Known as Obelisk, the algorithm has been designed to distribute influence throughout the network, preventing build-ups in any single area and ensuring that no one entity can gain control.

Confirmations in seconds

As a currency platform, SkyLedger is vastly superior to either Bitcoin or Ethereum, having been built to compete with payment providers like AliPay or ApplePay. Transaction confirmations take seconds rather than minutes or hours and can easily be adjusted according to the needs of the business. Functionality like this will be welcome news to the leaders of the many ICOs that are already struggling with the slower speeds of earlier platforms.

The fact that SkyLedger’s developers have dealt efficiently with the scalability and speed issues that afflict both Bitcoin and Ethereum, shows that sometimes it is worth waiting a while before diving in!

Third generation success

It’s understandable that the first couple of generations have critical flaws but by the time we get to the third generation of any technology, users can have far greater confidence.

One of SkyLedger’s most important characteristics is the fact that it does not force all the data on its Blockchain into a single database. Instead, it provides independent data storage to every token built upon it, a move which ensures that tokens develop independently of each other, giving users the confidence of knowing that their coin’s value is a reflection of its actual market worth.

The one area we’ve not mentioned is SkyLedger’s environmental impact. Quite simply, without the need for high-consumption mining, the network uses far less energy than any first or second generation platform. Of course, as with any network, energy is needed to sustain it but it doesn’t need anything like the vast amounts required to keep Bitcoin and Ethereum going.