Day: November 25, 2017

Today has proven to be a majestic day for Litecoin. Although this altcoin is often overlooked amid all the pump-and-dump schemes, it is still a very solid currency. Thanks to Litecoin’s recent gains, it’s now valued at over US$83. This year is a gift that keeps on giving for all cryptocurrency supporters, by the look of things.

Litecoin Price Hits All-time High

It almost sounds like a broken record, but we have another all-time high for a very popular cryptocurrency. After Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero, and Dash all set all-time highs in recent days, it is now Litecoin’s turn. With a Litecoin price of over US$83, the sky’s the limit, so to speak. We’ve seen massive growth among all altcoins which have solid technical foundations, and it would be wrong to not include Litecoin on this list.

The sudden Litecoin price gain is a bit surprising, although it was only a matter of time in hindsight. After all, we’re seeing all currencies in the top 10 hitting new support levels with higher lows and higher highs. This trend may not be sustainable in the long run, but for now, all systems are go. The Litecoin price may even surpass US$100 before the year is over, as nothing seems impossible in the cryptocurrency world these days. Then again, one should always remain a bit cautious.

Whether or not Litecoin can keep this momentum going remains anybody’s guess at this point. It is good to see altcoins find their proper value, regardless of how the Bitcoin price is evolving. In most cases when Bitcoin surges, Litecoin – along with other alts – takes a big hit, but that is no longer the obvious outcome these days. It’s an intriguing development that may signal substantial growth for years to come.

Litecoin has seen some nice trading volume over the past 24 hours as well. With nearly US$381 million worth of LTC changing hands across all exchanges since yesterday, it is evident this altcoin is in high demand right now. The same applies to virtually all other altcoins, but it is good to see this established currency go with the flow. A lot of people had expected the Litecoin price to dwindle after the China debacle, but that never happened.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that the majority of Litecoin’s 24-hour trading volume hasn’t originated from Bithumb for a change. Instead, we’re seeing GDAX and Bitfinex dominate the charts, as both have a clear lead over Bithumb. The fact that there are three fiat currency trading pairs among the top three indicates there is fresh capital entering the cryptocurrency world, which can only be considered a good thing. This has certainly helped push the LTC market capitalization above US$4.5 billion, cementing this altcoin’s solid growth.

It will be interesting to see where things go from here. The bullish momentum affecting all cryptocurrencies cannot last forever, but there is no reason to think we will see any major changes before the year is over. There will be plenty of opportunities to take profits along the way, and traders must make sure they do so before the eventual correction.

Most people have heard about Confido, the ICO that blew up last week. More specifically, the ICO’s team successfully scammed investors out of a few hundred thousand dollars. What’s more, a lot of those investors will not be reimbursed. People who stored their currency on the KuCoin exchange, however, will receive their money back, as the company is paying users out of its own pocket.

Confido ICO Scam has Major Repercussions

It was only a matter of time until the ICO industry saw its very first scam blow up. While some people still claim Tezos may fall into this category as well, it remains to be seen how things will evolve for that particular coin offering. In the case of Confido, however, the ICO quickly turned into a major shitshow once the developers announced they had pulled the plug on the project altogether. As a result, the CFD token price quickly dropped by over 95%, and a lot of people were left with a very sour taste in their mouths.

With so many investors losing a lot of money, it is evident there are some issues which will need to be resolved in the future. Since there will be no significant legal action taken against the Confido team – it is still an unregulated industry, after all – at least one token exchange is doing the right thing. More specifically, the KuCoin exchange will reimburse Confido investors with money out of its own pocket.

This is a major decision in the history of cryptocurrency. After all, Kucoin has no legal obligation to refund its customers, since the company was not responsible for creating the tokens in question. However, it was one of the very few platforms where CFD tokens could be traded soon after the ICO had completed. In a way, that makes them liable for financial damages suffered by CFD holders. By making this decision, the company will avoid any future legal repercussions from this debacle.

Since KuCoin has been unsuccessful in its communication with the Confido team, its decision is all the more impressive. Unlike other exchanges, this trading platform has gone to great lengths to successfully make a positive impact. The company will shut down CFD trading as of November 30th, and anyone who has trades open at that time will receive compensation. For every CFD held, 38 Satoshi will be credited to user balances automatically.

Users will be able to withdraw this money at any given time after the 30th, and there will be no penalty for cashing out these funds whatsoever. It is unclear how many tokens are stored on the exchange right now or how much money the company will lose as a result of this sudden decision. Aside from that, KuCoin will avoid other repercussions, as the goal is to keep its users happy and keep its business operational.

All of this goes to show the ICO industry will continue to cause a lot of problems in the coming years. With so much money being invested in projects which have no working code and seemingly less than honest intentions, things are not looking all that positive. We may see a lot more of these incidents in the future, as plenty of exchanges trade ICO tokens pretty quickly after the crowdsale is over. This industry will undergo more rough patches sooner or later, though; that much is evident.

C3 Platform provides an opportunity to pick up the credit offer with optimal interest rate or use all accepted limits approved by banks expanding and managing thus the pool of available limits with free interest period of credit limits up to 60 days.

Crypto Credit Card (C3) is the platform, that monitors and aggregate the best credit and cryptocredit offers around the world and allows managing of funds on top crypto exchanges and investment platforms.

Credit products of the platform:

• Traditional consumer crediting;
• Cryptocrediting, or obtaining of a loan in fiat supported by cryptocurrency on the C3 account;
• Microloans.

Traditional consumer crediting

Banks will be able to grant loans on the basis of blockchain technology smart contracts, which will allow them to reduce costs and simplify accumulation of information about the solvency of the clients. The clients will be able to obtain loans on the most favorable terms by choosing the most optimal credit product or by use all credit limits that will be approved by banks, managing thereby a pool of their limits.

Cryptocrediting

Crypto crediting is the provision of loan in traditional currency pledged by crypto currency on the platform account. This is an innovative solution in the credit market. Banks will be able to grant loans secured by crypto currency based on smart contracts even to the clients with a low credit rating or by reducing the number of procedures necessary to grant a loan on favorable terms and guaranteeing a minimum interest rate.

Microloans

Now on the market there are many micro crediting offers from banks and micro financing funds. The platform will allow choosing the optimal solution for the client without going through additional procedures of solvency analysis. For banks and micro financing funds, the platform will give access to an additional sales channel for their products.

Cryptocrediting is an innovative product on the market. The growth of cryptocurrency index rates will help to ensure almost non-interest-bearing use of credit funds. Crypto credits assure the lowest interest rate, allow to release funds from cryptocurrency to fiats for paying bills, and simultaneously earn profits from the cryptocurrency pledged by using trust management services.

Investment Opportunities

Financing received in the form of consumer, micro or crypto credit on the platform is easy to invest to any cryptocurrency, ICO or fund. The platform will provide access to the global network of exchanges and investment platforms.

Multicurrency wallet alows to keep securely cryptocurrency, euros, dollars and domestic currency on the account in the Wallet, to exchange cryptocurrencies to fiats and vice versa with up to 2% commission rate, to replenish the account by any convenient tool, such as another payment card or internet wallet, and to transfer money to other users without commission.

Crypto Credit Card allows to pay the bills and purchases and to withdraw cash in ATMs all over the world. When paying for goods and services by Crypto Credit Card in major retail chains, restaurants and service centers up to 30% of the amount spent will be refunded. Cryptocurrency is also can be used for payments where only fiats have been accepted before. We plan to expand the number of partners that accept payments in cryptocurrency.

The World’s First Crypto Credit Aggregator with a Swiss Bank License

Decentralized principle ensures the highest level of protection and transparency of the platform, which enables banks and customers to cooperate on the basis of smart contracts, reduce costs, accelerate the launch of the new credit products and reduce time for processing information and decision making.

Crypto Credit Card Token Sale

CCCR tokens will be released on the Ethereum platform in accordance with the ERC20 standard. The price of CCCR token will be amounted to $1 USA. 55% of tokens (110 million by volume) will be available for sale, and 45% of tokens (90 million) will be reserved for the company, team, bounty programs and promotion of the platform.

Presale of CCCR tokens will be held from 15 November 2017 to 29 November 2017. Crowdsale of tokens will be held from 4 December 2017 to 15 February 2018. If during the period of the ICO a minimum amount of funds of $1 million will not be attracted, all funds will be automatically returned to the owners of Ethereum-based smart contracts. All unsold tokens will be destroyed.

Bonuses granted for tokens purchase:

• from 15 November 2017 to 29 November 2017—38%
• from 4 December 2017 to 13 December 2017—23%
• from 14 December 2017 to 27 December 2017—15%
• from 28 December 2017 to 10 January 2018—9%

During one month after ICO finish, the company plans the listing of CCCR tokens on several major exchanges.

Crypto Credit Card Team

The team of the project consists of more than 40 experts in banking, credit products sale, blockchain solutions and IT-developers. The key team members have more than 15 years experience of the development and sale of credit products.

CEO of the project, Sergey Salynin, is investor, successful entrepreneur, Vice-President of payment system solution company, Top-manager of several international banks. Advisors of the project are investors and enterpreneurs in blockchain, legal and compliance of innovations, banking, finance and investments management fields.

Participate in the pre-ICO and get CCCR tokens.

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.

There have been a lot of interesting developments when it comes to self-driving cars. Not all of these are positive, mind you, and some are pretty disturbing. According to USA Today, it seems some self-driving cars may essentially be programmed to decide who dies and who lives in a car crash. While this may all be hypothetical in some people’s minds, the reality may prove to be rather different.

Self-Driving Cars Must Make Tough Calls

As most people are well aware, autonomous vehicles are packed with a ton of sensors to collect data from the environment. These sensors observe traffic, cyclists, people walking on the curb, traffic lights, and the like. While some companies may claim their autonomous vehicles can’t cause accidents, that doesn’t mean they won’t be involved in them. When they are, a tough call must be made. The chances of someone dying are very real, after all.

If an autonomous vehicle is faced with a life-or-death situation, how will it respond based on the data to which it has access? That question has proven incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to answer properly. The biggest question is whether or not a car should even make these decisions on our behalf in the first place. After all, when it comes to possibly killing either the driver or other onlookers, a machine isn’t always best-suited to make the final call.

It may seem like that is a theoretical question first and foremost, but this is no longer the case. In fact, manufacturers of autonomous vehicles are contemplating how they should tackle this problem moving forward. It poses a massive challenge that can’t be addressed or circumvented with a simple yes or no. Tech companies have been working on new solutions involving machine learning and AI to help in these situations. With the demand for and focus on autonomous vehicles increasing all over the world, it is only normal that questions like these will need to be answered sooner rather than later.

Industry experts acknowledge that there will be accidents and crashes involving autonomous vehicles. Such situations are pretty much unavoidable, regardless of how potent the underlying technology may be, though self-driving cars can save thousands of lives in the process. Unfortunately, these vehicles can’t save everyone, and every such incident will be scrutinized beyond belief.

Moreover, there is the legal aspect of such discussions to consider as well. If an autonomous vehicle decides to sacrifice another human’s life in favor of its own driver, should there be legal repercussions for doing so? It is a very disturbing thought, which is why very few public debates regarding this topic are taking place right now. Ethical considerations of this magnitude should not be overlooked whatsoever. Rest assured this topic will be revisited a few times in the coming years.

It is evident that autonomous vehicle manufacturers will need to take these tough decisions into account as well. Programmers are tasked with writing the software for the cars in question, but they need to become familiarized with all of the variables. That is not an easy task, as there are thousands of possible outcomes for every possible accident one can think of. Getting self-driving cars to avoid accidents in the first place is a noble endeavor, but there is no foolproof solution in that regard. Google’s self-driving car unit claims its vehicles will go for the “smaller thing” if an accident occurs. Whether that ends up being an animal or a child, there are sure to be severe repercussions.

Everyone knew it was only a matter of time until the Bitcoin price would reach a new all-time high. The year 2017 has been incredibly bullish for the world’s leading cryptocurrency and the party is far from over. Despite some massive push-back the past few days, we now have a Bitcoin price of just over $8,500. A remarkable milestone for a currency so many people are willingly ignoring to this very day.

Another All-time High Bitcoin Price

With numerous all-time highs, the Bitcoin price continues to amaze a lot of people. This is only to be expected at this point in time, though, as the world’s leading cryptocurrency has been flexing its muscles all year long. Whereas financial moguls such as Jamie Dimon may doubt the potential of Bitcoin, the rest of the world seemingly disagrees. Surpassing $8,500 for the first time in history is a remarkable feat, especially for a currency that isn’t even ten years old.

It is not the first all-time high for the Bitcoin price in Q4 of 2017 either. The momentum has turned even more bullish ever since October has come around. After all, back then, once Bitcoin was barely worth over $4,500, which was a whopping 450% increase compared to January of this year. In October, few people assumed we would surpass $6,000, let alone reach $8,500 before the year was over. it is evident there is no stopping Bitcoin right now from reaching that magical $10,000 mark, although it will not be easy by any means.

With these strong Bitcoin price gains over the past few months, it will be interesting to see how things play out when Christmas comes around. A lot of people will convert small amounts of Bitcoin to fiat for spending purposes. However, the dip may not be as steep as most people would like to see either. There is a lot of bullish momentum left in the Bitcoin world, as this latest all-time high materialized after struggling to maintain the $8,000 level these past few days. No one knows how this will evolve in the days and weeks to come, that much is evident.

With over $4.32 bn in 24-hour trading volume, this global demand for BTC should not be underestimated whatsoever. It is pretty interesting to see this massive amount of trading volume for Bitcoin right now, as we started the year with around $1b of trading volume. at that time, that was considered to be a major milestone, but things have certainly evolved in a nice direction ever since. It may only be a matter of time until reaching $5bn per day becomes the new normal, but it is still too early to say for sure.

Bitfinex is still destroying most other exchanges ranked by Bitcoin trading volume. Their USD and ETH markets both generating six-figure numbers, with the USD market clearly in the lead. Bithumb is in second place again, which is good to see. There is also a massive amount of ETH volume from Poloniex, as people are seemingly cashing out Ethereum profits and buying Bitcoin with them. At the same time, the Ethereum price isn’t budging all that much either, which may create an interesting paradigm moving forward.

How all of this will play out in the long run, remains to be seen. With the Bitcoin price over $8,500 – at least temporarily – the future is looking incredibly bright. At the same time, a higher price will inevitably lead to even more market volatility, which may spell trouble up ahead. This is an interesting time to be involved in cryptocurrency, regardless of how much your portfolio is worth right now. This is only the beginning of what is yet to come for Bitcoin and the altcoins which have actual potential.  

The SEC and the CFTC? A panel of top ICO lawyers discussed pressing legal challenges in the sector on Tuesday.