Day: February 8, 2018

Winklevoss twins argued that the criticisms of Bitcoin are “just a failure of imagination”, claiming that Bitcoin will cost as much as 40 times its current value. #NEWS

Over the past few months, the government of South Korea has been floating the idea of banning the trade of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The very thought South Korea would institute such a ban was enough to help prompt recent declines in Bitcoin’s price. That’s reasonable considering South Koreans currently account for almost 20% of Bitcoin’s activity. Perhaps, it was nothing more than an attempt to prepare investors for what the government sees as the right solution.

Beginning on January 30, 2018, the South Korean government has authorized six banks to allow the opening of accounts that can transact business using Bitcoin. This would include accepting deposits, withdrawals and the exchanges of Bitcoin as well as other viable crypto-currencies. While this is certainly good news, it doesn’t come without a hitch.

The only way customers will be able to open said accounts is if they do so using their real names. In other words, South Korean customers will be asked to give up the anonymity afforded by Bitcoin’s “block-chain technology” in exchange for being able to trade such coins legally. For some investors, this will be considered a huge sacrifice while others may actually welcome the protection afforded them by the banking system and its regulations. From the government’s point of view, this is the perfect compromise.

In recent months, leaders within the South Korean government have expressed concerns related to theft, hacking and the use of crypto-currencies for criminal endeavors. These concerns have been behind the recent raids perpetrated on some of the country’s most prominent exchanges. As one government official from the Office of Government Policy Coordination put it, “[we] can’t let this abnormal situation of speculation go on any longer.” This could be viewed as the government’s admission they have no idea what’s going on, but they will do everything in its power to get a handle on it. By the way, the government also plans to tax all exchanges operating on South Korean soil at the current corporate tax rate of 24.2%.

If the real reasoning behind this move involves the curbing of fraud and money laundering, South Korean Bitcoin investors should welcome this compromise. They may lose some anonymity, but they can trade coins at will with some level of protection during the process. For sure, certain resolutions could be far worse.

Going forward, it will be interesting to see how other governments approach these issues. Currently, the Chinese government has also floated the notion of banning Bitcoin trading. In the west, the United States government has begun cracking down on exchanges for troubling activities. Anyone who wants to buy Bitcoin needs to read and understand the legalities of doing so within their own jurisdiction. Crypto-currencies, and more specifically Bitcoin, offer tremendous investment options for now and into the future. A lot is going to change in the future, and the most astute investors will want to stay current with the relevant news. Instead of viewing government’s involvement as interference, investors would much better-served to view it as an opportunity to get the government’s “thumbs up” and an opportunity to move full engines ahead.

The post South Korea’s Answer to Bitcoin Trading appeared first on NewsBTC.

Binance has suspended trading and withdrawals amid a site upgrade.

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Two U.S. House of Representatives subcommittees will hold a hearing next week on applications for blockchain technology.

We have seen dozens of new projects in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrency over the years. Surprisingly, very few aim to combine blockchain and digital assets with mobile data. DENT proves to be rather different in this regard, as it aims to create an open marketplace to sell and buy mobile data. As such, the DENT cryptocurrency is of great interest to people all over the world.

What is DENT Trying to Achieve?

Tokenizing mobile data on a global scale will not be an easy feat. Trading this tokenized data in a peer-to-peer fashion is even more challenging. So far, DENT has shown that its product works, with an iOS app having been released in several countries already. Its Android counterpart is slated for release in February, although no specific date has been communicated so far. The company also has solid partnerships with some of the biggest telcos in the world.

How Does DENT Factor in?

There are many aspects to revolutionizing mobile data on a global scale. First of all, DENT aims to liberate mobile data. To do so, the DENT cryptocurrency – listed as DENT on exchanges – will be the global currency for mobile data between users and telcos. This cryptocurrency allows for a data sharing economy where anyone can freely buy, sell, and donate mobile data to anyone who is part of the ecosystem. Someone in India could sell cheap excess data to someone in the US, for example.

Secondly, international roaming needs to be addressed in an aggressive manner. In the European Union, international roaming has become a non-issue for Europeans, but it’s still a big problem for everyone else, including anyone traveling abroad. With the DENT cryptocurrency, data roaming cost drivers are eliminated. It allows anyone in the world to enjoy cheaper mobile data regardless of where they are in the world. This will all become more apparent once the P2P marketplace for mobile data goes live.

Last but not least, DENT focuses on automating purchases of mobile data for the best price. This does not just apply to smartphones and tablets, but also IoT devices. Users who buy data with the DENT cryptocurrency will get the best price from the most suitable operator in their region. These packages can be accessed using the DENT mobile app for Android and iOS. So far, the iOS app has received a lot of positive feedback, as it works just as advertised. There is still some work to be done in terms of adding more telcos and adjusting in-app prices more quickly based on the value of DENT.

What is Next for the DENT Cryptocurrency?

Even though the project’s iOS app works, the Android version won’t be released until later this month. Furthermore, we will see global prepaid top-ups with the DENT cryptocurrency enabled in a few months from now. Adding more data operators is an ongoing process as well. The DENT exchange will launch in Q3 of 2018, which will be a major selling point for this project. Updated mobile apps will be introduced later this year as well. All things considered, the foundation for DENT is certainly there, but the team has yet to deliver on most of its promises.

Most people believe they are fortified with cyber defenses against cyber hackers, but the statistics tell a very different story. Hacking incidents increased by 40 percent in 2016 over 2015. In most cases, a cyber defense consists of anti-virus and malware protection software on computers and mobile devices. But most major hacking events take place on third party systems, such as social media site Yahoo or financial information provider Equifax. In other words, “digital citizens are woefully unprotected”.

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Hacking vulnerabilities reach far beyond your computer and are rapidly expanding through “Internet of Things” (IoT) devices. Consider the healthcare market. This year, as part of the digitization of health monitoring, the health statistics of tens of millions of people will be transmitted by IoT devices through a myriad of technologies. Health devices stream your health data through cellular, wifi, Bluetooth, satellite, and NFC communications, opening up many avenues for hackers to access your digital life.
The cyber criminals appear to be gaining control of the digital economy. The cyber crime economy is estimated to be worth $6 trillion, almost double the size of Europe’s largest economy, Germany.

Sharing Trust

As long as digital information is entrusted to third party information providers, hackers will be devising ways to breach the latest security defenses. The Blockchain has a better solution—”decentralized digital identity management”. The Blockchain protects digital IDs by distributing trust. In this way, no single point of failure or security breach exists. Instead, each individual controls his/her own identity. Trust is shared across many parties, but only with the consent of the identity holder.
Take the Persona identity management system as an example. Persona distributes trust by conducting identity verification across peers and certified notaries. The individual obtains one professionally verified digital identity that meets know your customer (KYC) requirements. Increasingly, KYC compliant identities are required before gaining access to digital services.

Persona co-founder and software engineer Ioana Alexandra Frincu, a “Forbes 30, Under the age 30”, has devised a single sign-on digital identity for the interconnected world. The first level of trust verification is conducted by community members. This is accomplished by members of the Persona ecosystem verifying the identity papers of other members. In return, these members receive Persona tokens, called PRS.
The verification level of the individual increases with the number of verifications, up to a 90 percent verification rating. To receive a complete verification, the identity is verified by notaries. Another key safeguard of the Persona system is the requirement for each individual to initially register in person with a local Persona representative.

One PassPort to a Digital Life

The digital citizen can now engage in any form of activity—investing, banking, social media—by signing on with a verified digital identity, which is centrally managed. This encrypted identity has no single point where it can be targeted for theft or failure.  
The Persona zero knowledge digital  identity management system runs on it’s own blockchain developed using the ARK Blockchain technology. Stefan Neagu, one of the Ark co-founders, said that choosing ARK was only natural, in order to harness Ark blockchain unique capability to interconnect with different blockchains with it’s SmartBridge technology. Persona was developed initially during Societe Generale Startup Accelerator(one of the biggest financial institutions in Europe), back in May 2017, as a ERC20 token over Ethereum. During this stage of development we realized that if we want to do a proper digital identity then it has to be developed on its own blockchain, so the product is not affected by bloat or lag on the blockchain we developed on top. This means that Persona, like ARK, is a DPoS blockchain, with a 8 seconds block time insuring a shorter time for validation and transaction.

The PRS Initial Coin Offering

If you are ready to create a more secure digital self, PRS tokens will allow you to use the Persona identity management system. The presale started on December 15th and has already sold half its quota of 13.2 million PRS tokens, so act soon if you want to receive a 30 percent discount on PRS tokens. The full sale begins on February 1.

Berkeley is considering launching an ICO to fund federal housing due to fears of Trump cutting their federal fundin #NEWS

We are closing in on the end of the day on Thursday in the European session and, for our bitcoin price analysis this evening, we are going to change things up a bit to try and incorporate the expense of overnight action as it plays out into tomorrow morning.

Action today has been relatively strong, with bitcoin scoring fresh intraday highs and currently trading in and around the upper end of its intraday range. The hope is that sentiment will stay bullish and that, in turn, that today’s range will break to the upside. Of course, we’ve got to be wary of the fact that things might not plant exactly like this, but we can hope.

So, with our rambling out of the way, let’s explain what we are going for this evening.

As ever, take a quick look at the chart below before we get started so as to get an idea where things stand and where we are looking to jump in and out of the markets according to the rules of our intraday strategy if and when things move.

It is a one-minute candlestick chart that has our primary range overlaid green.

As the chart shows, the range that we are using for this evening is substantially wider than we normally go for and that’s because we are looking to go at the price with an intrarange strategy as opposed to a breakout strategy – at least for the time being.

So, if we see price bounce from current levels in and around support, we will enter long towards an immediate upside target of 8500 (resistance). A stop loss somewhere in the region of 8100 works well to define risk on the trade.

Looking the other way, if price corrects from resistance, we will enter short towards an immediate downside target of support. A stop loss on this one at 8600 looks good.

Charts courtesy of Trading View

The post Bitcoin Price Watch; Keeping Between The Lines appeared first on NewsBTC.

Nebulas is, by far, one of the most ambitious blockchain projects in existence today. Although it is completely based on incentives, its team aims to make their blockchain “evolve on its own accord”. Moreover, they want to provide a decentralized search framework which is capable of scouring all other blockchains in existence. One could say that Nebulas aims to become the Google for blockchain technology, but it remains to be seen if that is just a pipe dream.

What is Nebulas all About?

Any blockchain project will eventually bring competition to established networks. In the case of Nebulas, it will become a search platform for other blockchains, as well as a solution that focuses on upgradeable smart contracts. Although most people associate smart contracts with Ethereum, there is growing competition in this area. Especially when it comes to upgrading smart contracts, Ethereum is not the best choice right now.

How Does Nebulas Work Exactly?

Although any project revolving around search will be compared to Google or Bing, Nebulas has an entirely different vision. More specifically, the project focuses on searching for information across blockchains, decentralized applications, and smart contracts associated with other projects. The team aspires to improve worldwide equality and freedom in the process, and it will be interesting to see if they succeed. Their focus on privatizing user data is not unique in the blockchain world, though.

Several key features of Nebulas deserve to be highlighted. Nebulas Rank serves as a measure of value, and will be a “unit of repetition” for Dapps and smart contracts. There is also Nebulas Force, which can prevent forks and help developers improve their blockchains and smart contracts to meet new market demands. Nebulas developers are awarded the native NAS token for making contributions. It appears that Nebulas will also have a Lightning Network wallet to provide atomic swaps between NAS and any currency with similar functionality.

Although Nebulas is a very technical project, it is safe to assume it will find its niche market in the end. Assuming, that is, that the developers deliver on their promise of creating a decentralized search framework with verifiable computing and distributed data storage solutions. So far, there has been some positive progress in this regard, but there is still plenty of work to be done in the coming weeks and months. It is well worth your time to check out the whitepaper for a more technical explanation of how this plan will be realized.

The Nebulas Roadmap in a Nutshell

According to the official Nebulas roadmap posted on Reddit, there will be some interesting developments throughout 2018. The fully functional blockchain with JavaScript-based smart contracts will go live in Q1 of this year, and desktop and mobile wallets will be released during the same period. In Q4, the Nebulas Rank System will be integrated and the Developer Incentive Protocol will go live as well. There is a big gap between those two items, but it is evident everything is being built from scratch. Doing so takes a lot of time, but investors know what to expect in the coming months.

A Connecticut representative has introduced a bill that would mandate a fee to transact with cryptocurrency in the state.