Day: February 2, 2018

Blockchain is touted as being the next revolution in the technology world and, over the last twelve months, we’ve seen a number of companies take the first steps towards executing on these expectations.

MeshBox is one of those companies.

Many reading might already be familiar with a company that’s closely affiliated with MeshBox – SmartMesh. For anyone that’s not, the company has developed a technology that facilitates mesh networking – a concept that allows multiple devices to act as nodes within a network and, in doing so, allows for the creation of a network that doesn’t rely on a central actor.

Anyway, MeshBox is a company that has designed and is now building hardware that can integrate with the SmartMesh protocol. Specifically, MeshBox is a Development Platform for distributed applications.

As SmartMesh puts it, if the Internet was conceived today, it would have been a P2P network that connects smartphones, and it would have been safer, cheaper, faster. With MeshBox, the concept goes one step further and connects the P2P smartphone nodes with a MeshBox hardware (which, as its name suggests, is a physical box that’s designed to connect to the SmartMesh network).

The technology integrates with mobile Raiden technology, which affords the opportunity for lightning fast payments, and (as we’ll cover shortly) can help the technology overcome some of the issues associated with the current legacy internet framework that exists today.

Well, MeshBox just closed on an incredibly successful fundraising round, selling out in a matter of seconds. The company has two versions of its box as a core focus right now, one designed for indoor and one designed for outdoor use, with the former targeting the connectivity of regions that don’t have internet access as things stand (so, remote areas, developing nations, etc.) and the latter designed to serve as a sort of parallel internet, providing an alternative network that can be connected to in times of crisis – earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, etc.

With regards to the outdoor and currently unconnected market – there are somewhere in the region of 3.9 billion people unconnected right now. That’s a huge market and it’s one that’s ready and waiting for a solution like that which MeshBox provides.

The technology also allows for no single point of failure, meaning in circumstances such as those listed above (natural disasters, etc.) as well as things like social riots, connectivity can be maintained.

So why is this big news now?

Outside of the funding round development, the company also just saw an industry incumbent join its team in an advisory role. David Cohen, Founder of Dcntral.ai, Executive member of the IOTA Foundation and HashGraph Advisor, has joined the company’s advisory board and, in doing so, has shored up an already incredibly strong leadership and management team.

Cohen is one of the early pioneers of the bitcoin and blockchain space and his name is associated with a number of successful projects, many of which have returned handsomely for their respective backers, from the last five years and more.

In the blockchain space right now, numerous companies and entities are vying for investor and market attention. Separating the strong plays from the weak ones is difficult, purely as a result of the noise that’s crowding the sector.

One sure fire way to achieve this separation, however, and to identify the companies with the highest potential for success, is to look at who’s driving the operational efforts forward.

Few, if any, score as highly as MeshBox does in this regard.

And as outlined above, we’re not just talking about a great team here. Sure, a great team can probably turn even a mediocre technology into a success. When you combine a great team with a potentially game-changing technology, however, it’s tough to see any other outcome.

The company’s White Paper is available here (and it’s well worth a read) for anyone that’s looking to gain some insight into exactly where this company fits into the future technological landscape.

There also a rundown of who’s who from a leadership perspective at MeshBox’s website here.

Bottom line: take a step back from the price action that’s causing weak sentiment in the space right now and use the opportunity to identify potential game-changing opportunities with a long-term game plan. This is one such opportunity.

The post David Cohen Joins MeshBox, The Company That’s Building A Parallel Internet appeared first on NewsBTC.

It is that time of year again when we hear some very interesting cryptocurrency price predictions. It is no secret the Bitcoin price is not going anywhere but down in the near future, which also affects all other cryptocurrencies on the market. Calvin Ayre, a notorious Bitcoin Cash supporter, remains confident BCH will have a value of at least US$10,000 in May of this year. 

Can Bitcoin Cash Reach $10,000?

A few years ago, most people were convinced the Bitcoin price would never surpass US$2,500. They were all proven wrong last year, and then some. Having peaked over US$19,000, the Bitcoin price has been the talk of the town for quite some time now. As was to be expected, however, this uptrend would be followed by a massive market correction. So far, things are playing out as anticipated, and things are not looking all that great for Bitcoin.

In fact, it is very likely the Bitcoin price will remain stuck at or below US$10,000 for quite some time. Veteran cryptocurrency enthusiasts won’t be too bothered by this development, as most of us have witnessed three-digit Bitcoin prices before. Anything above US$1,000 is still a major validation of what Bitcoin can do in the future. So far, the Bitcoin price has not seen much positive momentum in 2018. The first quarter of a new year is always notoriously bearish for cryptocurrencies in general, and thus there isn’t much to worry about just yet.

Calvin Ayre has some interesting opinions on both Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, as it happens. Although everyone knows Ayre is a permabull when it comes to Bitcoin Cash, his prediction of BCH hitting US$10,000 in May 2018 may not necessarily come true. Right now, there is a growing Bitcoin Cash community, and merchant support has been on the rise as well. Even so, it is highly doubtful this currency will go up in value by over 700% in the next four months. Anything is possible in the cryptocurrency world, but this seems rather wishful thinking.

so far Segwit coin is as I have predicted…still waiting until Bitcoin decouples in its trading and takes on a life of its own…I am calling Bitcoin BCH above 10 K in May and Segwit BTC below remember.https://t.co/as3A0bR2fj

— Calvin Ayre (@CalvinAyre) January 31, 2018

Ayre also states that the rise of Bitcoin Cash will herald the demise of Bitcoin itself. He is very confident that the Bitcoin value will continue to crumble, although it is unclear how low we will go. Looking at the current charts, a drop to US$7,500 or less is not entirely impossible, although it may not necessarily materialize all in one go. So far, we have seen a slow bleed for the Bitcoin price, having already dropped below US$9,000.

Even though there is a lot of merit to Bitcoin Cash, it seems far more likely Ethereum will surpass Bitcoin in terms of market capitalization first. Ethereum’s market cap is US$58 billion behind Bitcoin’s, whereas this gap was close to US$125 billion not that long ago. The demise of Bitcoin will shake up a lot of markets, and it is evident there will be some interesting changes sooner rather than later. The Bitcoin price decline has also dragged the Bitcoin Cash price down with it, whereas Ethereum has been largely unaffected.  

It will be interesting to see what the future holds for Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. Both currencies are considered different sides of the same medallion, even though there are some interesting differences between the two. A Bitcoin Cash price prediction of US$10,000 is far more conservative than John McAfee’s Bitcoin price prediction of US$500,000. It seems only one of them will come true, but no one knows for sure which one it will be.

Russia’s PM Medvedev sees a need for more unified cryptocurrency regulation across the Eurasian Economic Union. #NEWS

RxEAL is a platform for secure rental deposit storage that utilizes blockchain technology to solve long-standing problems faced by rental markets. One of the most pressing challenges in rental transactions is the high rate of security deposit disputes – globally, almost half of all security deposits are subject to disputes. RxEAL aims to solve this problem by employing blockchain technology and smart contracts to improve rental security deposit storage and dispute resolution.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

The Problem

The majority of security deposit disputes are raised on the basis that funds have not been returned or the amount returned was lower than expected. However, the problem is even bigger than the dispute rates reflect, because a significant number of conflicts don’t get properly solved. Hence, the challenge is twofold: first, lessees have to hand over the deposit funds to lessors and both parties need to trust that the other party won’t violate the agreement; second – legal actions required to solve these disputes are too complicated and too costly.

The Blockchain Solution

The potential of blockchain in rental markets lies in the fact that trust is built into the technology’s design. The solution provided by RxEAL eliminates the possibility of breaching the contract terms, hence solving the first issue – the lack of trust associated with rental agreements. In addition, the RxEAL team believes that it is also essential that the deposited funds are distributed fairly and promptly at the end of the agreement.

Since blockchain is a decentralized technology, meaning that no middleman is needed, it has a great potential to provide the required solution. On the RxEAL platform, the blockchain technology is used to directly connect independent legal experts with parties involved in a rental agreement, which significantly reduces legal costs and time required to solve a dispute.

By combining blockchain technology with everyday rental transactions, RxEAL is able to create an entirely new and improved way for users with little or no technical knowledge to take advantage of the benefits offered by blockchain technology and smart contracts. Compared to the traditional alternatives, the solution offered by RxEAL is safer, faster and cheaper.

Benefits to Users

The RxEAL solution is beneficial to both sides. For landlords, the use of smart contracts allows to become more transparent with clients, thus improving their business reputation and the level of trust. The introduction of a new blockchain solution is also great for marketing communication, as it allows positioning the landlord as a forward thinking, modern and client focused business. Also, this product is particularly appealing to the rapidly growing cryptocurrency community, providing landlords with an increase in the customer base. Altogether, RxEAL adds value to the rental product, creating a competitive advantage in the market.

Tenants also benefit from this solution in multiple ways. The platform guarantees that the deposited amount is stored securely and cannot be accessed by the landlord without a mutual agreement. Also, when the contract ends, the security deposit is returned almost immediately. Finally, holding the security deposit in cryptocurrency creates the possibility for both sides to profit from cryptocurrency price appreciation.

Business Growth Potential

Currently, RxEAL’s main focus is on real estate and automotive markets worth multiple trillions of dollars, but the solution can be applied to other rental business sectors as well. Along with the rise of sharing economy, travel and other socio-economic developments, the rental market is continuously growing – more people than ever before are involved in rental transactions. As the volume of rental transactions continues to increase, so does the demand for a better way of storing security deposits. One of the underlying strengths of the RXL token is that all services offered by RxEAL can only be purchased in RXL tokens, which makes RXL a utility token. Given the fixed token supply, an increase in the usage of RxEAL services drives appreciation of the token value. This is a strong advantage over cryptocurrencies that don’t have an inherent utility and are mostly used for speculative purposes. Given the real life applicability of the RxEAL platform, it is one of the projects that will accelerate mass adaption of cryptocurrency and blockchain solutions.

RxEAL is backed by a reputable and verified development team and partners with a track record of delivering the product, such as, Scandiweb – the leading blockchain developers in the Baltics who are behind the successful Publica ICO. The team has already developed a working platform prototype, and it is planned to arrive at a final product already in Q3, 2018.

How RxEAL Works

• On the RxEAL platform, users are able to generate smart contracts based on terms both parties have agreed on.
• The contract ensures that the deposit amount is stored securely on the Ethereum blockchain throughout the term of the agreement*.
• In the event of a dispute arising regarding the final split, the platform will provide decentralized and indipendent arbitrage conducted by qualified members who earn RXL tokens for resolving the dispute.

*RxEAL will provide the option to create smart contracts with values indicated in DAI (a cryptocurrency that is price stabilized against the value of the U.S. Dollar) for those users who will want to maintain the value of the deposit relative to fiat currency.

Dates to Note

Public pre-sale starts: January 15th, 2018

Public pre-sale ends: February 5th, 2018 at 12:00 UTC or upon reaching the presale cap. **Pre-sale participants can buy RXL tokens with a 100% bonus at a fixed rate of 0.0004 ETH.

More information: rxeal.com

The Japanese FSA’s inspection of recently-hacked exchange Coincheck was not a “raid”, contrary to most reports. #NEWS

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

A new type of scam sees Twitter users copying cryptocurrency developers and companies and asking the public to send “donations.”

Finding a stable store of value in the cryptocurrency world is a lot more difficult than most people believe. Most cryptocurrencies are inherently volatile, yet efforts are underway to combine the best of cryptocurrency with stable assets. The DigixDAO is a very interesting project in this regard, as it is a Distributed Autonomous Organization which resides on the Ethereum blockchain. There is a lot to this project; that much is evident.

Why Does DigixDAO Exist?

The concept of a distributed autonomous organization doesn’t have the best of track records. This became incredibly apparent once The DAO got hacked several times and the Ethereum blockchain had to be rolled back by the developers to undo all of the damage. The DigixDAO is, by default, the first successful DAO on the Ethereum blockchain. They raised US$5.5 million in an effort to decentralize the future and introduce a new stablecoin. It seemed like an ambitious project at first, but significant progress has since been made.

How Does DigixDAO Work Exactly?

The first order of business for the DigixDAO was to introduce a new stablecoin. A unit of exchange which allows for storing value over time was not present until a few years ago. The Digix Gold Tokens – or DGX – represent value on the blockchain which will be retained over time. This token is compatible with Ethereum smart contracts, and DGX will eventually be used as a payment tool using NFC technology. This particular token is advertised as the future gold-standard for value exchange in the Ethereum ecosystem.

Every DGX token represents 1 gram of 99.99% LBMA standard gold, which is secured in Safehouse vaults. It is possible for users to redeem 100 DGX tokens in exchange for 100 grams of physical gold. This process can be completed in person or via mail, which is pretty interesting. Another feature is on-chain proof of auditing, with no fractional reserves. For anyone looking for a relatively stable digital asset, DGX is certainly worth checking out. There is also the DigixDAO token, which lets holders claim quarterly rewards based on the total DGX collected through transaction fees.

To adhere to the true nature of a DAO, the DGD tokens can be used to pledge toward DigixDAO proposals. This is not a stablecoin, as it can be traded across exchanges, and 2 million DGD tokens are in existence as of right now. By combining the concepts of rewards, badges, and proposals, the DigixDAO could become a major project a lot sooner than people may think. That being said, the governance model of this project is still undergoing careful planning and development. A lot of big things are yet to come; that much is evident.

What Comes Next for DigixDAO?

As is the case with any blockchain-related project, there is still a lot of work to be done for the DigixDAO team. A final draft audit report will be presented to the public soon. Once this audit is made public, the launch of DGX 2.0 will take place in the next eight weeks. The team’s suite of smart contracts is currently on the Kovan public testnet and awaits further feedback from the community. There are also some new partnerships to take into account, which can only be considered a good thing. It will be interesting to see how DigixDAO evolves over the coming months.

Blockchain is slowly being integrated into almost all fields of life as professionals from across the spectrum are looking towards blockchain as a solution to current and future problems. But, blockchain adoption is not an easy task to complete as there are several roadblocks in the path; The nature of the wide-ranging platforms and scalability is one of them.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

While the programmable blockchains like Ethereum, Stratis, NEO, provide a lot of utility, it still takes a lot of understanding of the working of each platform to implement things practically. So, an easy-to-use blockchain creation solution is in very high demand these days. With a platform like this, any party would be able to deploy the blockchain network and protocol that their organization requires.

This “Blockchain for everyone” approach is going to usher in a new era of development in the crypto world with universal application and outreach of the new technology. ARK, a blockchain network creation services provider has recently announced a script update of its promising platform. ARK allows easy and hassle free deployment of multiple blockchains at a time.

How Will ARK Achieve its Goals?

To achieve this extraordinary promise of blockchain-for-all, different companies have tried their hands on varying techniques to make it easy enough for everyone. ARK has developed a virtual spider web of endless use-cases for easy adoption that make the platform highly flexible and scalable according to each individual entity’s requirements.

ARK is also gearing up to solve the fundamental issues associated with cryptocurrencies. One of these issues is to endlessly trade coins on major cryptocurrencies including bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. ARK has developed a SmartBridge technology that allows free interaction between the major coin networks with the ability to utilize each of the unique features. For example through ARK, one can use the smart contracts feature of the Ethereum network while using ARK’s extremely easy interface.

A Major Script Update

The ARK’s ecosystem is vigorously designed and tested but just like any other alpha, it is likely to have some chinks in the armour before the service is fully ready. For this purpose, ARK is releasing the script of its latest ecosystem indirectly through hackathons and conferences around the world.

With this release, the blockchain services provider aims to test the limitations and working of the platform in the hands of actual users both for reality check purposes and testing.  With the new update, users will be able to create their own connected blockchain that will be built on top of the ARK’s main blockchain built in parallel. Travis Walker, Co-founder at ARK said:

“Unlike ethereum and ERC20 tokens. all ark cloned chains can have their own blockchain that will be connected to the ark ecosystem. They will be customizable, you can set your blocktimes, number of delegates, and more. This gives you complete freedom and independence without bloating the ARK mainchain, but while still having the ability to utilize the entire ecosystem”

Blockchain on demand is another useful feature of the new platform. This push-button deployment of blockchain by users is a truly unique approach that will shape the future of blockchain adaptation in the world.

Visit the ARK Official Website: https://ark.io/

The logistics arm of Chinese retail and internet giant JD.com has joined the Blockchain in Transport Alliance.