Day: December 4, 2017

While most cryptocurrencies have gone in the red over the past few hours, NEO is the only currency noting some interesting gains. More specifically, the NEO price has increased by as much as 5% over the past 24 hours, pushing the value back toward $40. This is an interesting turn of events for the NEO price, as things weren’t looking all that great earlier this week.

NEO Price Makes Another Run

Things have been somewhat quiet on the NEO price front over the past week or so. That is somewhat surprising, considering the price per NEO was very close to $40 early last week. Unfortunately, this momentum was unsustainable, and the NEO price quickly headed down again toward the $30 mark. At its lowest point, one NEO was valued at $30.17, but this created another buy opportunity for most speculators.

Ever since hitting that low, the NEO price has mounted another strong comeback. With gradual gains to take into account, the NEO price successfully reached $35 again shortly after. It is evident there is plenty of momentum to surpass $40 once again for NEO, but it will mainly depend on whether or not there is enough trading volume to keep the ball rolling.

With the NEO price now fast approaching $40 once again, it will be interesting to see if this trend will reverse again. With a solid 5% gain in USD value and a 7.91% gain over Bitcoin, things are looking very promising for this altcoin. At the same time, it is only a matter of time until the markets start to favor Bitcoin again, by the look of things. A lot can change for NEO and all other altcoins in the coming hours and days, that much is evident.

Thanks to a trading volume of just over $92.4m, the NEO price is able to move up in this regard. It is not the highest trading volume by any means, but it seems most cryptocurrency markets are relatively quiet right now. The year 2017 has been very bullish for all currencies, that much is evident. Things will eventually get stuck in sideways trading motion for quite some time. So far, that has not happened just yet, but it may only be a matter of time.

Most of the NEO trading volume comes from Bittrex, who are well ahead of both Bitfinex and Binance. It is worth noting Two out of three trading markets are linked to Bitcoin, whereas Bitfinex is the only place where new fiat currency is coming into NEO. That is not necessarily something to worry about right now, but it’s well worth taking into account.

Whether or not the NEO price can top $40 for an extended period of time, is anybody’s guess right now. It wouldn’t be the first time something like this happens, although the momentum eventually turns against NEO every single time. An interesting four weeks are ahead for cryptocurrency as a whole, that much is certain. A lot can change before the year is over, and no one knows what 2018 may bring for NEO and other currencies.

Various financial providers prevent users from buying or selling cryptocurrencies. We have seen banks halt transfers or close accounts because of this. It now appears Western Union attempts to do the same. By actively preventing users from sending wire transfers to exchanges, an interesting precedent is created. Whether or not this course of action is warranted, remains to be seen.

Unlike what most people think, Western Union offers a lot of services. Their remittance model is the one most people are familiar with. However, they also allow for wire transfers in certain regions, which is pretty interesting. In some cases, people used that service to send money to cryptocurrency exchanges. That may no longer be possible, as the company is cracking down on such activity. It is rather unfortunate, but no one should be really surprised by this development.

Western Union Denies Bitcoin Purchases

According to one Reddit user, Western Union is blocking wire transfers to exchanges. Since the company is fully compliant, such a decision was only a matter of time. Their internal regulations do not allow WU to be used for cryptocurrency services or transactions. As a result,m they can refuse to process specific transactions and return the money to users’ bank accounts.

One could argue using Western Union for wire transfers is a big step backward. That assumption would be absolutely true in every regard. However, it is a viable alternative for those without access to a bank account capable of sending money to exchanges. Using third-party services is always problematic, though, especially when it comes to Bitcoin. Western Union is setting an interesting precedent in this regard, that much is certain. It is unclear if this affects all of their branches in every country.

The bigger question is whether or not issues like these will ever be resolved. More specifically, it will hurt exchanges as much as it does cryptocurrency users. Exchanges will need to come up with more funding methods at some point to avoid issues like these. Western Union is also shooting themselves in the foot by taking this route. After all, they will lose out on a lot of business over the years. A very troublesome development, but one that won’t hinder Bitcoin growth all that much.

The post Western Union Prevents Users From Completing Cryptocurrency-related Transactions appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Despite having clocked a new lifetime high of $11,831 yesterday, bitcoin prices could be on the verge of a pullback.

Coinbase, world’s largest Bitcoin brokerage and wallet, will integrate SegWit soon, which will reduce Bitcoin transaction fees.

South Korea is Not Banning Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Trading Contrary to Unverified Rumors.

Olaf Carlson-Wee, founder and CEO of Polychain Capital, has said that bitcoin is a “breakthrough technology,” and perhaps bigger than the internet.

Scalability remains one of the issues holding back the progress of blockchain technology. However, an older and lesser known concept is coming to Ethereum in an attempt to remove current limitations. The network presently has an upper-bound on the number of computations that can be made, this is referred to as the ‘gas-limit’.

A new version of a protocol called TrueBit will be released this month in an effort to remove this limitation. It differs from other scaling technologies such as sharding and Raiden as it focuses on the computational limits of the network, not the transaction speed. Ethereum has some serious speed issues, even founder Vitalik Buterin joked that it is about as quick as a mobile phone from 1999.

The protocol could be used for heavy computer work such as video processing or machine learning. It would remove the ‘gas limit’ by outsourcing the heaving loading to external computer networks and marketplaces. The off-chain work would be done by validators that receive rewards for their contributions. The marketplace would consist of “task givers” which pay “verifiers” to solve computations in exchange for rewards, while “validators” check that the calculations are correct.

There will be an open environment where anyone can check the work, and efficiency checks would need to be introduced to ensure validations are being done correctly. This is being tackled with an incentive called ‘forced errors jackpot’ whereby validators that are actively checking for correctness require verifiers to occasionally submit incorrect information. The validators would then make profits or ‘jackpots’ when they find these forced errors.

It sounds over complicated but by allowing anyone to work and validate it will encourage teams to work together in pools to agree on a consensus and foster honesty. The evolution of TrueBit will address issues of plausibility and security that the current network faces. As computations grow there may be limitations on what can be validated effectively in terms of cost and time which may lead to bad verifications.

In an interview with Coindesk mathematician and co-founder of TrueBit, Jason Teutsch, addressed security issues by explaining that the protocol is built on game theory where security becomes an observational science where developers try to put themselves in every position an attacker might be in. Two versions of the protocol may be run in tandem for improved security.

The industry is still in relative infancy so new solutions constantly need to be sought to iron out issues with rapidly expanding networks, systems, and their scalability as adoption increases. Ethereum is well on the way to becoming the supercomputer of the internet.

Cover Image via Shutterstock 

The post Ethereum to Put Its Foot on the Gas appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Regional reporting insists Her Majesty’s Treasury (Treasury) of the United Kingdom (UK) is “launching a crackdown on the virtual currency Bitcoin amid growing concern it is being used to launder money and dodge tax.” Bitcoin enthusiasts, however, understand that the world’s most popular cryptocurrency’s continual all-time-high price records, rather than terror or tax avoidance, are drawing more governments into formal regulation policy and pronouncements.  

Also read: Egypt Finance Attorney General Calls for International Governance of Bitcoin

Treasury Worries about Bitcoin and Terror, Theft

“These new forms of exchange are expanding rapidly and we’ve got to make sure we don’t get left behind – that’s particularly important in terms of money-laundering, terrorism or pure theft,” explained Labor Party Minister of Parliament (MP) John Mann. Mr. Mann is also a member of the Treasury Committee.

Regulatory Lag

“I’m not convinced that the regulatory authorities are keeping up to speed. I would be surprised if the committee doesn’t have an inquiry next year,” Mr. Mann said.

The country’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), however, issued warnings this year, both for investors and firms involved in everything from cryptocurrencies to initial coin offerings. It even went so far as to pronounce bitcoin as not being a currency.

Mr. Mann concluded, “It would be timely to have a proper look at what this means. It may be that we want to speed up our use of these kinds of things in this country, but that makes it all the more important that we don’t have a regulatory lag.”

Mr. Mendick and Mr. Rayner believe rules governing bitcoin will spread over the continent, and could begin as soon as the end of the present year (unlikely) or “early in 2018, the minister in charge has said.”

Perspective

In terms of real, attributable numbers, though bitcoin appears stratospheric in the press, the truth is cryptocurrencies generally and bitcoin in particular are hardly dominating financial affairs. Crypto has a way to go yet.

This year, in fact, University of Cambridge Judge Business School released its Global Cryptocurrency Benchmarking Study. The 115 page report is an exhaustive snapshot of roughly where bitcoin was/is in 2016 as detailed by Cambridge Centre for
Alternative Finance.

Its findings include: between 2.9 and 5.8 million active wallet users; at least 1,876 people are working full-time in the cryptocurrency industry. And of course these numbers have jumped in 2017, but nothing on par with the scrutiny and negative press-coverage being heaped upon the ecosystem even if we assume ten-fold increases since.

Nevertheless, UK regulators are aiming specifically at the heart of bitcoin’s relative anonymity, according to Economic Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Barclay. “The UK government is currently negotiating amendments that will bring virtual currency exchange platforms and custodian wallet providers into Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing regulation, which will result in these firms’ activities being overseen by national competent authorities,” Mr. Barclay wrote.

What are your thoughts on the UK’s crackdown? Tell us in the comments! 

Images courtesy of: Pixabay, Facebook. 

Get our news feed on your site. Check our widget services.

The post UK Ministry of Treasury Plans to Regulate Bitcoin appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Cryptocurrency markets are always evolving in interesting directions. While most people keep an eye on Bitcoin or Ethereum, the IOTA price is surging to record highs on a regular basis as well. Right now, one iOTA is valued at $2.40, which is a massive gain compared to a month ago. No one knows for sure how high the IOTA price can go, but there are plenty of concerns regarding this being a pump-and-dump.

IOTA Price Surge is Anything but Organic

In the world of Bitcoin and altcoins, we have seen many different pump-and-dump cycles. In fact, such “opportunities” arise pretty much every week, mainly affecting smaller altcoins. In recent weeks, however, we have seen some of the bigger altcoins go through these hype cycles as well. It appears the IOTA price is being pushed up by some speculators first and foremost, even though there is no real reason to warrant such an increase at this point.

That is not to say IOTA doesn’t have interesting technology under the hood. Its DAG, for example, may very well revolutionize cryptocurrency as we know it in the future. However, none of this should have such a massive impact on the IOTA price until actual developments become more apparent. All cryptocurrencies are thriving thanks to speculation first and foremost. In the case of IOTA, however, that speculation has massively inflated the IOTA price beyond what it should really be at this point. Then again, the rationale is hard to come by in this industry as well.

One month ago, the IOTA price was hovering around the $0.37 level. Anyone who bought in at that point and is still holding has a near 700% return on their investment. Profit taking will eventually set in for IOTA, which may send the price down again in quick succession. There has been very little market resistance over the past week, effectively culminating in this 50% price pump over the past 24 hours. How this will all play out, remains to be seen, though.

One thing working in favor of IOTA is the massive trading volume. With over $768m worth of IOTA changing hands in the past 24 hours, there is still room for future price growth. In fact, it is not unlikely we will see the IOTA price rise to $3 or even higher in the coming days, assuming this trend keeps up. Considering how there are over 2.77 billion tokens in circulation, such an IOTA price gain would push the market cap well above $10bn out of the blue.

The vast majority of IOTA trades originate from the Bitfinex exchange. All of these markets combined represent 60% of all trades, which is rather scary. Especially when considering how people are concerned over Bitfinex’s solvency and trading behavior. Then again, those people who make good money from this pump and are able to cash out will not care too much about said concerns. A lot of strange things are happening with Bitfinex right now, that much is rather evident.

No one knows whether or not the IOTA price can continue to soar or will eventually plummet to the ground. For now, all charts indicate there are more gains on the horizon, as long as people are willing to pay the price for it. At some point, the market will realize IOTA is well overpriced, and things can get very nasty from that point forward. Then again, the project has a lot of potential, and the developers may surprise us all in the end. An interesting market to keep an eye on, that much is evident.

Everyone knows Venezuela is not the healthiest country when it comes to finance. After suffering so much hardship, it is evident all traditional solutions won’t suffice. As a result, the government is looking for a new way to bring some more financial stability to this country. Their answer is to create a national digital currency, known as the Petro. An interesting venture that may not necessarily suffice.

Finding a solution to Venezuela’s financial problems will not be easy whatsoever. The country has suffered from many setbacks over the years and things are only getting worse. With the financial blockade by the US in place, things have only gotten even harder. This is why the government of Venezuela wants to create its own digital currency. Unlike the physical Bolivar, however, this new currency will have actual financial backing. It is linked to the country’s oil, gas, gold, and diamond holdings and reserves.

Petro can Become Venezuela’s Bitcoin

In a way, this is the first gold-backed currency we have seen in quite some time. Many people still wrongfully assume fiat currencies have any actual backing, but that is not the case. They were decoupled from the gold value several decades ago. With the Petro, Venezuela takes an interesting approach once again. This new digital currency will certainly ruffle a lot of feathers all over the world, that much is evident.

For the time being, it remains to be seen what the Petro entails exactly. More specifically, there is no technical information, supply details, or release date of this currency. Despite those drawbacks, this currency may succeed, up to a certain level. Without trust, acceptance, and use, there will be very little interest in the Petro, that much is evident. A new currency issued by a struggling nation will not be all that appealing to the masses whatsoever.

How things will play out in Venezuela, remains to be determined. The country direly needs a solution to overcome these issues, but that is much easier said than done. A digital currency may effectively be the answer, but it is doubtful there will be a major success right away. It is not the first time residents will be confronted with digital money, though. Venezuela has become a major Bitcoin hub throughout the years. Which of these two currencies will have more success, remains to be determined.

The post Venezuela Wants to Create its own Version of Bitcoin Called the Petro appeared first on NEWSBTC.