Day: January 14, 2018

For digitalization of enterprises and factories as well as to solve the problem of searching for qualified specialists in Estonia, the consulting marketplace G-Global Business Portal will be launched. This project was presented to the Member of Parliament and the Secretary-General of the Centre Party of Estonia, Mikhail Korb.

Mikhail Korb said that the modern economy provides growing demands on the quality of human resources. The emergence of new industries and trends generates a demand for focused specialists in labor markets of different countries.

To satisfy the growing personnel demands of companies the platform G-Global Business Portal was established – the consulting marketplace that unites experts and customers.

G-Global Business Portal team creates a marketplace for expert services, a fundamentally new platform for human interaction structured into decentralized protocols.

Mechanisms of the platform’s work will be created with the assistance and consultations of advisors on the platform interaction, Nobel laureates in economics Eric Maskin and Alvin Roth. In November 2017, the head of the G-Global Business Portal, Denis Tsyro signed with Eric Maskin in Harvard University and with Alvin Roth in Stanford University an agreement on cooperation for the platform development in Estonia. Academician Hanon Barabaner, the Deputy Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Club of Scientists, is the Scientific Director of the G-Global Business Portal.

The Advisor in the field of human resources management during the digitalization of the real economy sector is Sergei Sergienko (ChronoBank). The head of the G-Global Business Portal, Denis Tsyro notes the need to integrate the ChronoBank system into the consulting marketplace platform. The TIME token allows measuring the real efficiency of the employee and provides information about the usefulness of the employee at the enterprise.

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.

Find out some of the most impressive success stories of the year, as well as the profiles of people who probably wish they’d never touched Bitcoin at all. #NEW YEAR SPECIAL

Earlier this week, MoneyGram made it clear that it is more than willing to experiment with Ripple’s technology. Additionally, the remittance giant will use XRP for some of its day-to-day operations. The company has now clarified its position in this regard, as it will only run a pilot program for the time being. It has yet to be determined whether or not MoneyGram will use XRP for its consumer-oriented products in the future.

MoneyGram Will Trial XRP

When news broke about MoneyGram using XRP, it seemed a lot of people assumed the company would use this new asset for day-to-day operations. As is usually the case when announcements like these are made, that is not entirely true. More specifically, MoneyGram has confirmed that it took notice of Ripple and sees the benefit in using XRP for cross-border payments. That situation has not changed in the slightest.

Before a major rollout can occur, MoneyGram wants to conduct a pilot program first and foremost. That is only understandable, as integrating Ripple’s technology and its XRP asset with the company’s services will not be without challenges. Although XRP may offer a lot of benefits to the company right now, it wants to first experiment with this technology and see how it affects its day-to-day operations.

The new pilot program will be tested on internal MoneyGram international processes. For now, XRP will play no role in the services enjoyed by millions of consumers around the world. We do know Ripple wants to offer an improved liquidity solution for entities such as MoneyGram. It is now up to the remittance company to determine whether or not pursuing this particular option is in its best interest. Nothing has been set in stone at this stage.

Hello, This is a pilot program being tested on internal MoneyGram International processes and is not intended for consumer use.

— MoneyGram (@MoneyGram) January 11, 2018

Some people may think this is a major setback, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be one. After all, MoneyGram is taking an important first step toward giving Ripple and XRP a fair chance at disrupting the remittance industry. While there is no guarantee of success, it is still an improvement from a few months ago. Things often unfold rather slowly in the financial sector, and this pilot program is a good example of how “the system works” in this regard.

For the time being, there is no indication as to when this pilot program will commence or how long it will run for. Merging MoneyGram’s internal processes with xRapid will require some work and pose many challenges. At the same time, it will show both companies whether or not they can effectively complement one another in order to benefit consumers all over the world. The stakes are very high as far as this pilot program is concerned, but even if the trial is successful, MoneyGram may decide not to go ahead with Ripple and XRP.

How all of this will play out in the long run has yet to be determined. There is genuine interest in what Ripple has to offer and how XRP can play a role in shaping the future of remittances. However, there is no guarantee at this point that MoneyGram will use Ripple’s technology. We will have to wait and see whether or not the pilot program yields acceptable results. It is evident that the remittance industry can benefit from new liquidity solutions, but there are many different players in the market right now.

This past week has been rather interesting for all major cryptocurrencies. Some altcoins gained value, whereas others struggled to remain stable. As far as the NEO price is concerned, things have certainly evolved in a positive direction. More specifically, the NEO price has successfully risen to over $145 as we speak. It is remarkable growth, although the big question is whether or not this momentum will remain in place. So far, everything seems in place to ensure things don’t change all of a sudden.

NEO Price Surpass $140 With Relative Ease

With the cryptocurrency markets still in a volatile period, it is pretty interesting to see how some altcoins are responding to this pressure. Especially when it comes to NEO, the currency is far more resilient than most people would give it credit for. It is good to note some currencies are not as dependant on Bitcoin compared to others. NEO will still be affected by any sudden Bitcoin price changes, though, but it will take a lot of pressure to reduce its recent gains in the future.

To put this into perspective, the NEO price has risen from $95 all the way to $142 without too many problems. Seeing such a bullish trend for seven days straight is rather impressive, as very few altcoins will ever see such a string of success in this day and age. In fact, it seems the majority of altcoins are working on ways to remains table, rather than go down with the sinking ship known as Bitcoin.The NEO price has successfully bucked this negative trend for now, although things can always change in the future.

With the NEO price now above $145, it will be interesting to see if $150 becomes a potential target. We have seen a 4.53% increase in USD value and 10.71% increase in BTC value during the past 24 hours. That in itself is pretty bullish already, and one shouldn’t expect things to only accelerate from here on out. The NEO price will need time to stabilize first and foremost. We may even see a small retrace in the coming hours, depending on how all of the markets evolve in this same time period.

With $496.58m in 24-hour trading volume, NEO still doesn’t generate the volume most other top altcoins are capable of. It is highly unlikely this altcoin will surpass $1bn in 24-hour volume anytime soon, even though it is a very popular currency these days. Then again, NEO never needed a ten-digit trading volume to make spectacular gains either. How all of this will play out moving forward, is anybody’s guess right now.

Most of NEO’s trading volume comes courtesy of the Bitcoin pairs it is linked to. Binance clearly has the lead in this regard, with $124.11m in volume. OKEx is in second place, although they are in a battle for position with Bittrex. The first fiat currency pair is Bitfinex’s USD market, which brings in another $43.67m over the past 24 hours. Other than that, there is no major fiat currency gateway for NEO right now, thus there is not much ‘fresh capital” entering the ecosystem that way.

It is unclear if the NEO price will remain above $140 for long, though. Right now, most cryptocurrency markets are still subject to a bearish sentiment, which indicates all of these gains can be wiped out rather quickly. For now, there is enough momentum to keep the NEO price train going for a few more hours, but things often work in mysterious ways when it comes to cryptocurrency. Always remember to take profits when the opportunity arises. It is better to make a bit of money rather than lose money an hour later.

At the beginning of 2018, I wrote an article outlining a New Year’s resolution that I thought could help boost cryptocurrency adoption and awareness in 2018. Last week, I started to keep my end of the deal with the first installment of my year of cryptocurrency. Keeping to this resolution has made me realize just how much I already talk about cryptocurrency and also how much more we all need to be talking about it. As always, I encourage you to take this challenge on as well, even if a bit later. Let’s get into my week.

Try to speak to as many people about cryptocurrency as you possibly can

This week was a bit more somber when it came to my discussions, largely due to the recent price crashes we’ve seen across most cryptocurrency markets. Like last time, I took some notes so that the best conversations could be recorded here.

1. I went to get some ramen with a friend of mine to catch up and talk. We both are big fans of markets, and he’s recently gotten into cryptocurrencies more. He is still net positive, thankfully, on his investment but has noted that he took a larger hit than he had wanted to recently, as I think most of us have. We were able to rope another one of our friends into the conversation for a little, but they got lost after someone brought up merkle trees.
2. I was hanging out with another friend and they asked me what an ICO was and why the heck Kodak was doing one. I explained that Kodak’s proposed platform was actually a really interesting idea, but that I worried an ICO open only to accredited investors would only draw speculators in and may undermine the platform itself. He and I agreed that we’d just have to see how it plays out, and lamented not buying more KODK at three dollars a share.

Learn Something New About Crypto

This one will somewhat bleed into the previous section. I learned that there is talk that CASPER might drop sooner rather than later on the Ethereum Network, which was exciting, but also sparked a lively debate among a group of my friends. The questions on everyone’s mind was “Is this why Ethereum has been going up?” and “Will Ethereum be the first network to migrate to PoS successfully?”

I learned that there is a lot more optimism about a PoS Ethereum than I thought, and that even the naysayers just believe that mining power as well as those who really want PoW will end up migrating to Ethereum Classic. While my sample size is admittedly small, it was a fun debate to have and a great time learning about other people’s opinions on the matter.

Be Generous – Give and Use Your Coins

To satisfy this criteria this week, I started to prime the pump. I took some of the BitcoinGold that I had following the fork and changed it into Dogecoin and Litecoin. I feel these are excellent currencies to give to friends and to get people familiar and comfortable with cryptocurrencies. I’ll be sending about 2000 doge to someone for their birthday (they don’t know it yet), and will put a bit more into paper wallets to pass out.

Have you been doing this challenge too? Let us know how it is going for you! If you haven’t, why not give it a try?

Crypto markets falling today, with most of the top 20 coins on CoinMarketCap in the red. #NEWS

Betting on the Blockchain: New Blockchain-based gambling platform LetBet launches ICO. #SPONSORED

Random pumps and dumps will continue to happen in the cryptocurrency world for quite some time to come. With so many opportunities to make quick money, it is normal that people explore all of the options at their disposal. The Ethereum Classic price, for example, is well positioned to hit US$50. That’s not due to any major developments, mind you, but rather because the Ethereum Classic price is being manipulated quite a bit.

What is Going on With the Ethereum Classic Price?

There are so many cryptocurrencies which can soar and crash in value in a matter of mere hours. Especially currencies which can be manipulated with far less money than Bitcoin or Ethereum tend to see some unexplainable price increases every now and then. Ethereum Classic is a good example of how such hype cycles tend to come around every now and then. At the same time, the market seems to absorb any losses quite well, which is more than can be said for other currencies.

Over the past three months, we have seen the Ethereum Classic price rise from US$10 all the way to US$46.36. While these are “modest” gains compared to some other altcoins out there, there are still questions as to how useful ETC will turn out to be. From an ideological point of view, there’s no reason why ETC should be worth less than ETH. Its previous all-time high of just over US$46 was quickly rejected as the Ethereum Classic price dipped to US$25.50.

Ever since that time, the Ethereum Classic price has attempted to retake US$30, although several attempts were quickly pushed down. It is the third time this altcoin has made a solid attempt at staying above US$40. Whether or not this latest run can succeed remains to be seen. For now, things aren’t looking half bad, though. With some solid gains over the past 24 hours, reaching a new all-time high of US$46.36 seemed to be relatively easy. Maintaining such bullish momentum has always been challenging, especially now that Bitcoin is taking a few solid hits on the chin.

With US$1.53 billion in 24-hour trading volume, one would assume that there would be some news to warrant this Ethereum Classic price rise. In the cryptocurrency world, currencies often appreciate in value when there is no news or major development to speak of. As such, the Ethereum Classic price tends to go up and down rather violently at seemingly random intervals, although it is likely there is a method to this madness after all.

Most of Ethereum Classic’s trading volume comes from the Bithumb exchange, which represents nearly 30% of all trades in the past 24 hours. OKEx is also a popular platform with US$211.4 million in trades. Binance is in third place, slightly ahead of Bitfinex. It seems most people are moving from Bitcoin to altcoins again as the cryptocurrency markets have hit another roadblock. In fact, all markets are going in the deep red as we speak. All the while, Ethereum Classic seems content to stay above US$40.

Whether Ethereum Classic’s price momentum is solid or genuine is always difficult to determine. Not too many things make sense in the cryptocurrency world right now, but that has not changed all that much over the years. For now, it may be best to cash out profits before all markets turn sour again. Given the overall bearish sentiment, we may very well see the Bitcoin price retrace to US$11,000. If that happens, all currencies will take a massive hit in quick succession.

The central bank of Indonesia warns all citizens against cryptocurrency use, taking a harsher tone than previous advisory statements. #NEWS