Day: December 15, 2017

According to a few regional news outlets, a Danish bitcoin billionaire and the co-owner of the Rungsted Seier Capital ice rink, Niklas Nikolajsen, plans to change the name of his skating hall and call it the “Bitcoin Arena.” In addition to this news, one of the professional hockey players who plays in the arena has opted to get his salary paid in bitcoin.

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Saxo Bank Ice Skating Rink In Rungsted Will Soon Be Called the ‘Bitcoin Arena’

Soon there will be a professional hockey arena and ice skating rink in Hørsholm that features bitcoin advertisements, bitcoin hockey pucks, and a bitcoin symbol etched under the skating hall’s ice. The changes to the Rungsted Seier Capital hockey club are being made by its co-owner Niklas Nikolajsen who also runs the trading platform Bitcoin Suisse. The ice rink’s name will change from “Saxo Bank” to the “Bitcoin Arena” according to reports. The sponsorship deal includes an unknown “seven-digit amount” Danish news outlets reveal.    

“It shows how far bitcoin has really come,” explains Niklas Nikolajsen. “It is quite interesting that when the classic banks move out, we move in.”

And I’m going to pull on a smile when I hear the sports commentators, every time they switch over to a match in Rungsted, they have to switch to the Bitcoin Arena. It’s funny, and it’s clear that it’s a little nasty thing.

A Nine Meter Bitcoin Symbol In the Center of the Rink and a Top Player Paid In Bitcoin  

The changes are expected to take place on December 27 when Nikolajsen and his partner Lars Seier Christensen cut the Bitcoin Arena’s ribbon on opening day. The bitcoin symbol will be in the center of the skating rink and will stretch 9 meters in length. Alongside the new sponsorship deal, one of the leading players from the Rungsted team will be paid in bitcoin.

Nikolaj Rosenthal is a full-time hockey player who has been under contract for four years. Rosenthal has agreed to get his pay issued by Nikolajsen’s Bitcoin Suisse payment processor. So far Rosenthal is the only player that has opted to be paid in BTC, but he believes other players will also agree to this type of salary in the future.

“I can imagine that they would,” says Rosenthal. “It’s really exciting to be allowed to be a pioneer with this.”

What do you think about the Rungsted hockey rink changing its name to Bitcoin Arena? Let us know what you think about this story in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock, Rungsted Seier Capital hockey club, and Bitcoin Suisse.

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The post Danish Billionaire Renames the Rungsted Capital Ice Rink to ‘Bitcoin Arena’ appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Decentralized retailer Hamster Marketplace has launched their pre-ICO token sale, after receiving 600,000 USD in private investment. Investors in the pre-ICO will receive HMT tokens. These ERC20 tokens are the power behind the platform, connecting inventors, innovators and gadget producers with technology.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

Hamster Marketplace is a unique, decentralized, non-profit trading platform which enables emerging producers and startups an opportunity to sell their inventions to a focused market without the need for the already unnecessary third party.

The distribution of HTM tokens will allow Hamster Marketplace to attract a wide range of vendors and buyers to help fulfill the decentralized trading platform vision of the future.

The Hamster Marketplace platform helps innovative vendors who do not have the ability to sell their product, through current platform’s. This enables the vendors to be able to  reach out to millions of buyers instantaneously, while also giving producers the freedom to take control of the platform using the Emercoin open blockchain voting system. Using blockchain technology allows the platform to be completely transparent, ensuring no corruption from any party.

For buyers and technology fans

• ·    A unique set of gadgets and electronics
• ·    Inventions, DIY, and products for any needs
• ·    Selective offers without fakes and at the manufacturer’s price

For producers

• ·    Large audience with a demand for niche electronics
• ·    Minimum costs for positioning and promotion
• ·    The ability to take their sales and production to a new level

The Hamster Marketplace Pre-ICO sale.

Funds raised in this pre-ICO sale will allow Hamster Marketplace to follow their road made effectively, releasing the Alpha version in mid-2018 and the Beta version by the end of 2018. The company has set a soft cap of 2 million USD as the minimum level of funding to reach to continue development. In total 14,000,000 HMT will be created with 1,200,000 of these tokens up for sale in the pre-ICO sale at a 20% discount of $1:40 per token. HMT will not be mineable.

The post Meet "Pine," the Bitcoin Philanthropist Who Set Up the $85 Million Pineapple Fund appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Bitcoin mining will be regulated in Venezuela. The move is viewed by the opposition as a further clampdown by President Nicolas Maduro’s authoritarian regime.

For those who expected the Alexander Vinnik drama to be over, another plot twist has occurred. More specifically, Greece’s Supreme Court has rejected Vinnik’s appeal that he not be extradited to the US. It is evident this Russian national will face severe penalties in the US, which will be far more severe than any punishment handed down in Greece. For now, it remains to be seen if this extradition will actually happen, as the final verdict has yet to be rendered.

Alexander Vinnik Faces Another Setback

Ever since the BTC-E exchange was shut down by authorities, it became evident someone would have to pay the price. Alexander Vinnik, an alleged operator of the BTC-E exchange, has been in custody and facing extradition for quite some time now. However, it remains to be seen how this situation will play out, as a final verdict has yet to be rendered by Greece’s justice minister. Vinnik doesn’t want to be extradited to the US, for obvious reasons.

So far, Vinnik and his defense have been trying to counter this extradition order through legal means. None of these efforts have paid off, though, as Greece’s supreme court ruled against his request to not be extradited. That is not a big surprise, as there is no legal basis on which to halt his extradition. The alleged BTC-E operator faces criminal charges for running a US$4 billion money laundering operation involving Bitcoin.

For the time being, Vinnik continues to deny he was involved in running BTC-E. The rest of the former exchange team also claims he was not involved in its operations whatsoever. It is unclear which side is telling the truth right now, but it seems Vinnik is getting the short end of the stick. Moreover, the US has charged Vinnik with masterminding multiple crimes which date back all the way to 2011. Drug trafficking, computer hacking, and now money laundering could add up to some major penalties and jail time if his extradition is approved.

At the same time, it seems Russia will do everything it can to get its national back in its custody. The Russian government officially objected to Vinnik’s extradition to the US, although it remains to be seen if its objection will fall on deaf ears. Russia claims this extradition would violate international law, although that appears to be a subject of debate. The real issue is that Russia wants to trail him for stealing 600,000 rubles through a criminal enterprise. Not too many details regarding that heist are known right now, nor should anyone expect more information until Vinnik is officially charged.

This uneasy situation involving the alleged BTC-E operator has gotten a lot of media attention over the weeks. Money laundering involving Bitcoin will only give the world’s leading cryptocurrency an even worse reputation over time. Bitcoin already struggles massively in the PR department as it is, and this case is only making matters worse. We can only hope a final verdict is rendered quickly and the facts come to light. Whether or not there is any real proof to convict Vinnik remains to be determined, though.

Assuming Vinnik gets extradited to the US, the question becomes whether he can even expect a fair trial. As we saw with Ross Ulbricht not too long ago, the US government doesn’t take kindly to people involved with Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. It is unclear what the future holds for this alleged former BTC-E operator, but for now, things are not looking favorable. We will continue to monitor this situation, as it is not the last we will hear of Alexander Vinnik.

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The cannabis industry in the U.S. is exploding, with a projected value of $50 billion, and it is predicted to grow exponentially in the future. The buzzkill remains a lack of consistent regulations and non-standardized rules of trade across state lines, forcing much of the industry to operate in the shadows and remain essentially shunned by the nation’s established economic system.  

Despite legalization, many people still prefer buying cannabis through black market channels in hopes of obtaining their favorite strains at cheaper prices.

So what’s the solution?

Enter Budbo.

Having launched in 2016, Budbo, a U.S. based startup, initially developed a “tinder-like” mobile application to help users find their favorite strains and products at nearby dispensaries. Now boasting of nearly 100,000 users and 2,000 dispensaries as part of its network, Budbo’s platform consists of a mobile phone app and a cloud-based backend business intelligence platform, which also provides a delivery tracking service aimed at ensuring full visibility and compliance of the cannabis delivery process.  Budbo is now a respected and established presence in the cannabis ecosystem, and is looking to elevate its offering in a major way by tapping into blockchain technology.

Need of a Blockchain Revolution

Budbo believes the cannabis industry lacks the basic framework to seamlessly integrate into the country’s mainstream economy. Company leaders argue the persistent marginalization and fragmentation of the cannabis sector can be alleviated through blockchain technology.

“Blockchain possesses the power to streamline the processes of cannabis industry,” says Budbo CTO Jacob Patterson. “This system we are working on will ensure that cannabis moves safely and through proper channels, with all movements and history accounted for in a decentralized and immutable ledger.”

By bringing together growers, manufacturers, lab experts, dispensaries and other cannabis industry stakeholders, Budbo aims to construct a completely transparent, and standardized system for the cannabis trade.

Budbo As a Backbone

The blockchain technology offers a way to streamline industry channels simultaneously as it holds an immutable ledger that leverages crypto-tokens built on smart contracts. The digital ledger which Budbo aims to build will contain complete seed-to-smoke information of every cannabis consignment produced, along with real-time GPS tracking of cannabis movements between pertinent stakeholders.

Working along this path will give rise to Budbo’s ever-growing data aggregation platform, allowing full transparency among all cannabis businesses and government agencies. This data will galvanize growth and provide a strong backbone for the cannabis industry to communicate among its actors and make optimal business decisions. It will also simplify the process of cannabis businesses satisfying pertinent regulations, while giving regulators a direct, transparent and fast method to ensure that those regulations are being adhered to.

The Budbo Blockchain Token

The Budbo utility token (Budbo Token) built on top of ethereum-based blockchain technology provides stakeholders entry into this digital ledger system. Working as an API, this token will be used to access  information stored in the digital ledger.

The aggregation of data starts with consumers generating demand for a particular strain of marijuana. Dispensaries access the analytics and data trends to make smart business decisions. Based on the analytics, dispensaries place orders with nearby manufacturers. The manufacturer, in turn, accesses the information regarding strain purities as reported by testing agencies by using Budbo Tokens.

The blockchain platform ensures there is neither unaccounted pilferage of stock nor any scope for substituting high-quality strains with inferior strains. The marijuana growers buy this information by spending Budbo Tokens to plan their planting cycles and streamline the delivery of their products in markets where they are in high demand.

Aside from regulating the cannabis industry, the blockchain ecosystem designed by Budbo can eventually be used as a blueprint for blockchain integration in other industries.

For more details about Budbo, visit www.budbo.io.

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