Day: December 28, 2017

DASH/USD

DASH continues to be volatile against the US dollar, as we have slammed into the $1000 handle. Currently, we are in very thin markets, as we are between 2 major holidays. Because of this, I think we are more apt to continue the overall consolidation. That means we could very easily bounce towards the $1200 level. However, if we were to break down below the $900 level that would be cause for concern.

LTC/USD

Litecoin had a slightly negative session on Thursday, but we have enough support just below to keep me somewhat optimistic. I think we could drift towards the $275 level without much effort, as the $225 level underneath offer significant support. With low-volume, I would not expect much of the next couple of sessions, but certainly it looks as if we could settle into a nice tight range between $200 on the very bottom, and $300 and the very top.

Thanks for watching, I’ll be back next time.

The post DASH and Litecoin Analysis December 29, 2017 appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Bookmaking is a growing industry and an important contributor to the economy in many developed nations. Take an example of the United Kingdom, where bookmaking generated GBP 2.3 bln towards the national GDP. The betting landscape though is changing with the advent of new technology. More people are comfortable placing bets online using their portable devices and expect the convenience that they have become accustomed to in other sectors to be extended to betting as well. The availability of 24 hours, 365 days a year betting has changed the consumer mindset.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

The consumer also expects the online betting industry to be more reliable as things go online, Management Today UK reports, “Currently, online represents a third of the market, but it’s where all the growth is. By way of illustration, consider William Hill’s latest figures: It closed 104 stores in 2014, and Q3 revenues reported a four percent rise, built from a six percent rise in online and a one percent decrease in store revenues.” If this trend of growth in online betting is to continue, trust in the system would be a crucial factor.

Building a Blockchain-based betting system

At the moment no bookmaker utilizes the Blockchain’s ability to deliver verifiable and transparent services. Although Blockchain technology is being increasingly used in other areas such as financial services and information technology, the betting companies have not taken advantage of it. A Blockchain-based betting system could use smart contracts to deliver reliability and ensure that both the players and the bookmaker fulfill their obligations. An Ethereum based Blockchain betting system could thus ensure that the conditions for payout are pre-determined. Such a system owing to smart contracts could also ensure that there are no account lockouts caused by frequent wins or arbitrages. Registration and identification can be made simpler and security of funds ensured.

Minimizing risk in online betting

In order to bring the same amount of reliability in online betting as it exists in brick and mortar variant, it is necessary that every aspect of bookmaking is made secure against the risks of embezzlement and fraud. Limiting access to funds through smart contracts can enable that to a great extent. This ensures that the capital of the best is always secure. Players would be secure against a number of threats like substitution of results, account thefts and non-payment of winnings due to this. As online bookmakers have lower costs and the technology is already in place, a Blockchain based bookmaker has the potential of offering cheaper and more cost-effective services as well.

First ever crypto betting platform

XWIN is building a crypto betting platform, the worlds first and is a pioneer in this space. Using the Ethereum Blockchain, they will attempt to reap all the benefits that this technology can offer in the betting environment. Customer privacy and confidentiality would also be greatly enhanced by implementing a Blockchain based solution that they are devising. In this regard, the project has issued a white paper that outlines their vision, “The unprecedented development of Blockchain technology and the introduction of smart contracts has led to new opportunities in the field of betting on sporting and other events. At present, for the majority of private players, it is important to have comfortable, convenient and, most importantly, safe and guaranteed access to betting on the outcome of any event, and for investors – to receive guaranteed income from the bookmaker’s activity. XWIN was created in order to solve these tasks.”

Creating a new betting economy

Bookmakers in the crypto betting environment need a new economic model. This will allow players to utilize the power of the Blockchain for sports betting and other forms of gambling. The XWIN token was designed to be the lynchpin of this model. The token will allow investors to become co-owners in the pioneering XWIN crypto bookmaker. Investors would receive a 100 percent of the net income generated as a reward. XWIN tokens are available at a pre-ICO sale with a bonus of 40 percent on offer. Investors can participate in the ICO, which is set to begin on Jan. 1, 2018. There are plans to issue a limited number of tokens out of which 80 percent have been set aside for sale to investors. Excess tokens would be withdrawn depending on the number sold. Investors can find more details about the token sale on the XWIN website and also register for the ICO there.

An opportunity awaits

Betting industry is profitable, with a margin range of 6-20 percent. According to XWIN, investors can gain 20 percent of these margins. The fact that XWIN is the first on the scene would also help their case as they can single-handedly garner the market if not create it. Development is high on their agenda with 32 percent of the funds raised during the ICO marked for it, they would be spending 35 percent on Public Relations and marketing so that the platform gets the exposure among players. A referral program and sponsorship contracts etc are also being envisaged. In order to increase exposure, XWIN will develop a cross-platform interface that can be used on Android, Apple devices and through a browser. The code for XWIN smart contracts is being made available publically through GitHub.

Tightening the screw in ICO market, regulators block ways for diligent startups, still not being able to stop fraudsters. #EXPERT BLOG

ETH/USD

Ethereum fell initially during the trading session on Thursday, reaching towards the $675 level before bouncing. It looks as if we are ready to rally though, and I think the market is probably going to go looking towards the $770 level above. A break above the $775 level opens the door to $800 next. If we do fall from here, I expect to see massive support at the $600 handle.

ETH/BTC

Ethereum continues to fight against Bitcoin which of course has been a bit soft. I think we are currently testing a range, meaning we could rise to the 0.053 level, but anything beyond that is probably expecting a bit too much during the holiday season. Look at the 0.045 level as massive support.

Thanks for watching, I’ll be back tomorrow.

The post Ethereum Analysis December 29, 2017 appeared first on NEWSBTC.

BTC/USD

Bitcoin fell slightly against the US dollar initially on Thursday, testing the $13,500 level. We are currently in the middle of consolidation, with $13,000 on the bottom being support, and the $16,000 level above is significant resistance. I believe that the market should continue to be very choppy and sideways, as volume is not a major part of the market between holidays.

BTC/JPY

The Bitcoin market was also soft against the Japanese yen, reaching down towards the ¥1.6 million level. The 1.9 million level above is significantly resistant, extending to the ¥2 million level. If we can break above the ¥2 million level, the market should then continue to go much higher. If we break down below the ¥1.5 million level, that would be a very negative sign.

Thanks for watching, I’ll be back tomorrow.

The post Bitcoin Analysis December 29, 2017 appeared first on NEWSBTC.

The South Korea now bans domestic cryptocurrency exchanges from allowing users to make transactions through anonymous accounts.

If you know how hot South Koreans are for crypto, this may not come as much of a surprise. According to a new survey, 3 out of every 10 South Korean workers have some investment experience with cryptocurrencies.

Nearly 1 in 3 Invested in Cryptocurrency

This Wednesday, web-based job portal Saramin published the results of a survey that included 941 salaried South Korean citizens. Saramin found that 31.3% of respondents held a position in cryptocurrency.

Revealing their reasons for investing in crypto, 54.2% of the individuals surveyed believed that these investments were the fastest way to make money, and 47.8% indicated that investing small amounts of money into cryptocurrency was easy enough to justify the decision.

According to the data, 44.1% of surveyed workers have invested less than 1 million won (US$930). Some 18.3% have invested 1 to 2 million won, while another 9.8% invested between 2 and 4 million won. 7.8% indicated that they’d invested anywhere from 4 to 6 million won, and 12.9% have invested over 10 million won. The survey detailed the average investment as 5.66 million won (US$5,264).

The survey also noted the success rates of its respondents. 80.3% of those surveyed recorded a profitable return on their investment. Only 6.4% indicated that they were down on their initial investment, while 13.2% said they’d seen neither substantial losses nor gains from their starting positions.

Survey Confirms Koreans’ Love for Crypto

This survey confirms what most of us in the crypto community already knew: South Koreans are crazy for cryptocurrency.

For example, South Koreans are notorious for collectively pumping and investing in coins like Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum Classic. Korean traders investing through Bithumb are often blamed for the massive price pump of Bitcoin Cash back in November.

The South Korean government has taken regulatory measures in an effort to curb overzealous investment practices and protect its citizens from the market’s volatility. In the past month alone, it’s banned Bitcoin futures contracts, set mandatory guidelines for exchanges, and proposed legislation to tackle non-accredited investing. The last of these efforts looked specifically to quell interest in crypto among adolescent Koreans, a demographic that is especially interested in cryptocurrency as an investment and blockchain as a technological innovation.

The laundry list of legislation is meant “to prevent a general public without expertise from suffering losses by participating in virtual currency investments that have massive fluctuations.” We don’t know if these regulations will keep people from losing money, but given the results of the recent survey, they certainly aren’t stopping them from trying to make some.

Legendary Swiss ski resort St. Moritz has announced today that they will begin accepting Bitcoin payments for lift passes. The 2017/18 season that has just begun will be the first in which the payment method is trialled.

According to Swiss information port SwissInfo, the director of the ski lift company at the resort, Markus Meili claimed that he wasn’t concerned about Bitcoin’s volatile price. In a subtle jive against the European single currency which the resort also accepts, he explained their position to local newspaper Südostschweiz:

“We also have to accept the euro, regardless of the exchange rate… We have to keep up with the times, especially when it comes to digitilisation.”

The news that skiers and snowboarders will be able to use cryptocurrencies to buy their lift passes in St. Moritz is likely in response to the sudden influx of cryptocurrency investors that will be visiting the resort this January. Whilst it’s the Crypto Finance Conference that has drawn them to the mountain town rather than its world class alpine sports facilities, it’d be rude not to take in a few runs on some of the planet’s most famous slopes – particularly when the option to pay in cryptocurrency is presented.

The conference will draw investors from all corners of the globe for a three day meet up of talks and presentations. Topics on the agenda include regulation, societal implications of cryptocurrencies, and investment opportunities. Speakers have been selected from a vast spread of industry professionals and thought leaders. The likes of Jon Matonis of the Bitcoin Foundation, and Bobby Lee of BTCC will be amongst those presenting to the audience of investors interested in the field of Blockchain technology.

There will also be workshops dedicated to understanding more technical aspects of the cryptocurrency space. These will include topics on forks, ICOs, and general understanding of blockchain technology.

Despite being located in the global cryptocurrency hub that is Switzerland, St. Moritz isn’t the first ski resort on Earth to begin accepting payments using Bitcoin. In Bankso, Bulgaria, BTC can be used to pay for ski hire, ski lessons, and lift passes. Meanwhile, Spanish Highs in the Sierra Nevada mountains of Spain, and legendary Canadian resort, Whistler Blackcomb, are also amongst the few cryptocurrency-friendly resorts. Of course, it’s likely that there will be many more in the future, as adoption of digital currencies increases.

The post St. Moritz Joins Handful of Ski Resorts Accepting Bitcoin appeared first on NEWSBTC.

What did ICOs get right in 2018? What went wrong? Attorney and entrepreneur Christine Duhaime unpacks a chaotic year.

Over the past couple of months, there’s been a “forking fever” taking place as many people have decided to create their own form of the original Bitcoin protocol. A few weeks ago we reported on the ‘Bitcoin God’ snapshot-clone started by the well-known Chinese investor Chandler Guo. Now another snapshot fork is due to happen on December 28 at block height 501,451 called Segwit2x. With so many snapshot-clones being created out of thin air many cryptocurrency enthusiasts are getting leery towards these projects and are even calling them downright “scams.”

Also read: South Korea Clarifies Position After Reports of Possible Ban on All Crypto Transactions

Another BTC Snapshot Plans to Launch on December 28

Supposedly on December 28 a new form of bitcoin will join the long list of BTC blockchain clones created this year. The latest so-called ‘fork’ will be dubbed “Segwit2x,” after the project that failed to reach consensus this past November. Unlike the vast quantities of clone projects that don’t even have a codebase, the new Segwit2x project does have available code on Github for review. The Segwit2x clone plans to make some significant changes to the legacy codebase such as using the X11 algorithm, a high block generation rate, a Unique address format, and it will increase the block size to 4MB.

Satoshi Labs CTO: ‘No Trezor Support for Segwit2x’

Alongside this, the project promises replay attack protection will be implemented. The founder of the new Segwit2x bitcoin clone is Jaap Terlouw, a developer based out of the Netherlands. The Segwit2x infrastructure is slim with only five exchanges supporting the token, two wallets, and three mining pools. The Segwit2x project has a variety of social media accounts and forum domains as well. The cryptocurrency community is very skeptical of this token, and many people consider it “shady” like a good number of snapshots born this year. The project is discussed quite a bit on the Reddit forum /r/bitcoinscamcoins. Even the co-founder and CTO of Satoshi Labs says the new Segwit2X fork is a “scam” stating on the Trezor subreddit:   

No support for this scam.

Cryptocurrency Proponents View Bitcoin God As Unholy

Another project that was allegedly born on Christmas day is the Bitcoin God snapshot created by Chandler Guo. The Chinese investor has been tweeting out pictures of the snapshot to his 10,000 followers over the course of the past week. However, Bitcoin God is also listed as a scam coin on Reddit forum mentioned above, and cryptocurrency enthusiasts do not seem to trust this project, even with Guo behind the operation. For instance, one sketchy issue revealed on December 27 was a phishing site claiming to be tied to the Bitcoin God project has been trying to steal people’s private keys. Additionally, the Trezor co-founder also believes the Bitcoin God project is a “scam.”     

“God is a scam, and we don’t support it — They list Trezor and other brands without authorization and any reason,” explains Satoshi Lab’s Pavol Rusnak.

Crypto-Enthusiasts Think BTC Snapshots Look Tacky Like a Polaroid Picture

Many people are starting to see that a large portion of these snapshots do not have any infrastructure support or a working network. Basically, a snapshot is a replica of the bitcoin blockchain prior to the block height scheduled by the development team. The blockchain is not much different than a Polaroid copy, but there are alternative features added like algorithm changes and block size adjustments. Lately, there’s been a vast amount of snapshots: Diamond, Platinum, United, Lightning, Ruby, God, and more. Most all of them have been deemed ‘shady’ by the community for a multitude of reasons. Tomorrow there will be one more added to the list in 2017 with the birth of Segwit2x.

What do you think about all of these forks taking place this year? Let us know in the comments below.

Disclaimer: Bitcoin.com does not support these snapshots, forks and the project’s associated products & services. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Never reveal your private keys online to unknown sources.

Images via Shutterstock, Pixabay, the SW2X website, and Bitcoin God’s Twitter. 

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The post Crypto-Community Grows Skeptical of Bitcoin Forks appeared first on Bitcoin News.

While 2017 may have been the year that cryptocurrencies really started to get on people’s radar, I’m predicting that 2018 will be the year we see them become more widely adopted. Whether you’re just getting into cryptocurrencies now or are already a veteran, here are some tips for the upcoming year. Note: this is not financial or investing advice. Always do your own research and make your own choices.

Do your own research, and be thorough!

One of the most common questions I get asked when at events or by friends and family is, “What is the next big coin I should invest in?” Frankly, I hate this question, because everyone should really be doing their own research into what projects and cryptocurrencies they wish to spend their money on. Not only is that the adult thing to do, but it also saves everyone from the embarrassing situation of blaming someone else for financial folly. Most projects nowadays have a lot of supporting documents and channels through which to get in touch with the team directly. There is no excuse for not being thorough and autonomous in your research in 2018.

Don’t get too attached to any one cryptocurrency

Maximalism in cryptocurrency has never made sense to me. The beauty of crypto’s open-source nature is that if someone disagrees with how a project is going, they can fork away from it, or choose to buy different cryptos. Only believing in one and attacking all others results in a toxic zoo, where all crypto-curious individuals are scared away and all crypto-skeptics feel validated. So don’t get too attached, and definitely be civil in all of your interactions.

Educate as many people about cryptocurrency as you can

I think that the community is what will make 2018 be the year of wider-spread cryptocurrency adoption. So go out there and tell people about it, or maybe even prepare some paper wallets of a cheap altcoin to pass out and let people try it out for themselves. With all the FUD from mainstream media and incessant attacks from skeptics, it is on the community to show off cryptocurrency’s true value.

Lead by example: actually use some of your cryptocurrency

It can be tempting to never spend your cryptocurrencies. After all, what if they go up in price tomorrow? However, exclusively thinking this way turns the cryptocurrency community into a band of speculators, viewing their cryptocurrencies as fiat-correlated assets. That is not the original intention of cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency can only thrive if its use cases are apparent to users and adopters. If its main goal is to be a currency, then it needs to be a store of value but also a medium of exchange. Personally, I use a cold wallet for “savings” and a hot wallet for “spending” much like I do with my fiat assets, which seems to work pretty well.

Well, dear readers, the end of 2017 is upon us and I hope you’ve had a successful and profitable year. Here’s to the next one; may it be even better.

Either the investor base diversifies during this price correction or bitcoin will crash very hard, former Pimco chief predicts.