Day: February 8, 2018

ECB board member says crypto is at risk of “contamin[ating]” the global financial system, asks for more regulation before crypto becomes too interconnected #NEWS

The Twitter account belonging to Bitfinex’ed was briefly suspended amid a long-running controversy over the crypto exchange and related token tether.

For the amateur inventor, getting noticed is often an insurmountable challenge. From financial hurdles to networking challenges, resource allocation  and management, the path to innovation is fraught with difficulties and disappointment. iPRONTO is a decentralized platform that will nourish and endorse amateur innovators, allowing them to connect with investors.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

An Innovative Engagement Platform

Created by Idea Paradise and designed to overcome the limitations placed upon entrepreneurs due to geographical location, political boundaries, economic condition, and financial abilities, iPRONTO is a blockchain-based incubator platform for inventors by inventors. The platform will offer an invaluable range of services and support for both innovators and entrepreneurs, creating direct channels of engagement between entrepreneurs and inventors.

iPRONTO believes that great ideas should be given a conducive environment to grow and blossom irrespective of location or financial capabilities. The platform brings together talents, financing, and resources all under a unifying ecosystem and facilitating interactions between entrepreneur and investors, government bodies, lawyers and other service providers.

By leveraging blockchain technology, iPRONTO not only allows the global community to participate in the development and distribution of next generation innovation, but also provides a transparent and tamper-proof system for doing so. The platform will streamline engagements between startups and investors, providing necessary guidance and resources for curating and incubating startup portfolios. Angel investors and venture capital can easily conduct due diligence on any project they wish to invest in. They will be able to access blockchain-based documentations and records for every project hosted on the platform before committing to any engagement.

Uniting Inventors with Investors

Inventions will only be listed after the viability of the invention has been accessed, credibility of the team established, and relevant documentations have been recorded to the blockchain for easy verification, transparency, and accountability. iPRONTO presents not only business ideas to potential investors — as well as fostering the growth of these ideas, but also open up easy channels of accessibility to government services, licensing and registrations agencies, legal and HR resources, allied marketing, finance and other business services.

All engagement on the platform are backed by Smart Contracts, eliminating the traditional need of third-party in venture capital. This drastically increases processing time and provides a tamper-proof medium of exchange. iPRONTO is powered by its native iPRONTO Coin (IPR). IPR is both a medium of value exchange and also a community voting mechanism for the platform. Token holders will also be eligible to receive a share in revenues generated by the platform.

Platform Tokens Sale

iPRONTO token sale is currently ongoing, presenting the community with an opportunity to become a part of the initiative. Contributors can acquire IPR tokens at a discount – alongside other incentives and privileges. Further information about the token sale is available on the official website.

About iPRONTO

iPRONTO is a blockchain powered solution to provide incubation and a range of business services to entrepreneurs and startups. The platform is designed to work directly with stakeholders in the ecosystem and can be plugged into any existing incubator program across the world. In future, iPRONTO will be building an entire ecosystem, including peer to peer crypto exchange, and a cryptocurrency fund house as well as licensing of whole ecosystem to genuinely support incubators.

Learn more about iPRONTO at –www.iprontocoin.com

Join the crowdsale at – https://www.iprontocoin.io

Follow iPRONTO on Facebook at – https://www.facebook.com/Ipronto-150054468944431/

Find iPRONTO on Twitter at – https://twitter.com/iprontocoin

iPRONTO blog at –https://medium.com/@incubatorsparadise

Read the iPRONTO Whitepaper here – https://www.iprontocoin.io/pdf/ipronto-whitepaper-V1.0.pdf?type=V1.0

Join the Official iPRONTO Telegram group – https://t.me/joinchat/Drgb9w-iIO6S5hvsBot1XA

iPRONTO on Github – https://www.reddit.com/user/iprontocoin/

Youtube Video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3Tm-bFz7l-FV7abKJM_BjQ/

German Blockchain group Blockchain Bundesverband has highlighted the need for a “sandbox” to further the technology’s propagation. #NEWS

If there is one blockchain project in the world of cryptocurrency which has faced the most scam allegations, it has to be Veritaseum. A lot of people are not too happy with this project, mainly because there was very little information available about Veritaseum’s business model several months ago. That doesn’t mean the project doesn’t have potential, even though the jury is still out on whether or not it is a legitimate offering.

What is Veritaseum About?

On paper, the Veritaseum project focuses on many things, but it basically comes down to enabling software-driven peer-to-peer capital markets. Most importantly, this service will be provided without middlemen, brokers, or even banks. This “disruptive application of blockchain technology” offers its very own smart contracts and distributed computing solutions to industries suffering from friction, inefficiencies, and high fees.

But How Does it all Work?

It is evident Veritaseum wants to become the gateway to peer-to-peer capital markets. By allowing individuals to transact directly with one another, the project cuts out all intermediaries along the way. Even though this functionality sounds very similar to most brokerage services, Veritaseum doesn’t portray itself as a broker, fund, bank or exchange. Instead, it is a distributed and serverless piece of software.

Bringing templated agreements to the masses is a rather intriguing business model. This will be facilitated by the native smart contracts which reside on the Veritaseum blockchain. Additionally, self-custodied capital will be escrowed in a distributed manner and open up a lot of new opportunities in the process. One could say Veritaseum is a vendor of new smart contracts which could transform the way the world transfers value. To that end, the team has introduced something called the VeADIR financial machine.

Currently in beta, VeADIR stands for Veritaseum Autonomous Distributed Interactive Research and provides exposure to vetted research subjects. It is completely independent of Veritaseum itself. All communication is performed in machine language, and the solution will pay operating fees to Veritaseum for real-world research. Research results will then be fed back into VeADIR, and the cycle continues.

What Comes Next for Veritaseum?

With such an ambitious project, most of the underlying infrastructure will first have to be developed and optimized. Unfortunately, there does not appear to be a specific roadmap for this project, which is a bit worrisome. We do know the team is working on VeRent – an economic rent facility – and VeExposure solutions, but there are no official deadlines for any of these projects as of right now. Some initial investors will be keeping a close eye on how things unfold, but for now, it is anybody’s guess as to what happens next.

Centralized content sharing platforms demonetizing small video producers

A large video sharing platform recently announced that it will drop thousands of small video producers from its revenue programs. Many of these video producers took to social media following the announcement to voice their displeasure of the choice. The choice was made so that the video tube channel could comply with advertiser guidelines after continued scandals revolving around offensive content kept occurring.

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The recent change in protocol has altered the entry requirements for video makers, demonetizing a significant portion of video content. The new system will involve a high minimum number of subscribers and a minimum number of views imposed. This will make it very difficult for the smaller video makers and new producers who will not be included.

Viuly’s Decentralized Solution

The Viuly platform (currently in Alpha), plans to do away with needless middlemen and commission charges. Instead, the platform as distributed in a fair way, allowing content producers a chance to earn higher percentages than those offered to them currently.

Video makers of varying budgets will be offered benefits on the Viuly ecosystem, with a chance to earn revenue in the form of VIU tokens without being restricted by entry requirements.

The Viuly platform runs off its native token, the VIU token. These tokens can be used by advertisers to buy packages, earned as rewards for watching videos and earned by video makers for generating views on their videos. Viuly’s target is to drastically improve the video-sharing industry by offering free content for all, through an open system of distributed content, devoid of restrictions and limitations to access, imposed by centralized intermediaries.

Moderating Via a P2P Model

As participation in revenue programs on traditional platforms becomes more strict the pre-approval, and still susceptible to the inclusion of “offensive content”, Viuly aims to moderate its content through a decentralized system.

The Viuly platform offers pre-approved content that is rated and passed or violation by peer-appointed moderators adhering to a common standard of community ethics. All users of the platform will be eligible to access all content regardless of geographic location or other common access limitations.

Viuly’s aims to disrupt the multi-billion dollar industry of online video-sharing with its blockchain-based answer to recent market problems. The platform will provide a decentralized and transparent solution and will strive to create a fair and open video network operating on an equitable model of revenue sharing.
Visit Viuly’s Official Website Here: https://viuly.io/

A bitcoin-friendly U.S. lawmaker is hoping to get members of Congress to disclose their holdings of cryptocurrency assets.

Crypto exchange Binance has stopped trading and withdrawals due to a temporary server error, confirms on Twitter no hack has taken place #NEWS

Cryptocurrency ICOs became increasingly popular throughout 2017. During the first few months of 2018, that hype seems to have calmed down a bit, even though there’s still plenty of excitement. This is an excellent opportunity to look into various Ethereum wallets which can store ERC20 tokens. As is always the case, hardware wallets are the best solution, but there are alternatives available as well.

5. Trust

Although people may not have heard of Trust, it is an officially “endorsed” Ethereum wallet capable of supporting virtually all ERC20 tokens in existence. This app is available for both Android and iOS at present. It is a pretty convenient solution which seems to have received a fair few positive reviews, although your individual mileage may vary. For those who prefer convenience over security, Trust for iOS or Android is well worth checking out when it comes to storing ERC20 tokens.

4. Parity

The desktop Parity client has proven quite popular among Ethereum enthusiasts. Because it is one of the main wallet solutions in existence, it is only normal that there is native support for ERC20 tokens. It is expected that Parity will also support the new ERC223 Ethereum token standard in the future, although most ICOs and similar crowdsale projects will adhere to the ERC20 standard first and foremost. Parity is a convenient solution for desktop users, yet it’s always advised to make secure wallet backups and protect files accordingly.

3. Mist

For desktop users who do not like Parity much, Mist is another option well worth checking out. Mist is the “native” Ethereum wallet client and has, by default, ERC20 support built in. Coming by a wallet which supports these tokens is not all that difficult, even though they do offer varying degrees of security and convenience. Mist is certainly worth looking into, especially if you have no intention of buying a hardware wallet.

2. MetaMask

From a sheer convenience point of view, MetaMask is an exquisite solution for both Ethereum and ERC20 owners. This plugin for Chrome and Firefox simply acts as a secure storage solution and supports all ERC20 tokens in existence. MetaMask is also built into the Brave browser, which makes for another appealing option in this regard. Getting rid of unwanted ads and storing ERC20 tokens in one convenient package are big pluses.

1. MyEtherWallet + Trezor/Ledger Nano S

For those lucky people who obtained a Trezor or Ledger Nano S before demand for these devices suddenly started exceeding production rates, MyEtherWallet is the best solution for ERC20 token support. Although this online wallet service also works fine without a Trezor or Ledger Nano S, it is recommended to combine the best of both worlds for optimal security and convenience.

With the Ledger Nano S and Trezor having built-in Ethereum support, the firmware won’t need to be updated to support future ERC20 tokens. Instead, it will all be taken care of through MyEtherWallet, which serves as a user interface for hardware wallet owners looking to store and spend ERC20 tokens. The additional security provided by hardware wallets should never be overlooked, as hackers will exploit any and all weak security measures that users may put in place.

Speculation on utility is a bad idea, but ICOs can be an appealing alternative to venture capital, argues the head of blockchain R&D at Santander.

As all cryptocurrency markets show a sign of life again, things are looking pretty good all across the board. So far, the Lisk price has seen some positive changes over the past week. Even though there was a big dip along the way, the overall trend seems to be intact right now. With the current Lisk price of $23.83, things are looking rather interesting for this particular altcoin. Maintaining a positive trend will prove to be difficult in the long run, though

Lisk Price Makes a Solid Comeback

It is quite interesting to see how things evolve in the world of cryptocurrencies. More specifically, we have seen several weeks of negative pressure, but things are certainly heading in the right direction once again. Even the Lisk price is noting some solid gains, as this particular altcoin has been on the rise for quite some time now. With a solid 16.83% gain over the past 24 hours, the Lisk price is making up a lot of lost ground in quick succession. All of this is achieved despite a rather low trading volume, though.

While the current Lisk price momentum appears to be positive, the past week has been subject to a massive dip as well. A few days ago, the LSK price went from $23.5 all the way to $12 in quick succession. Considering how Bitcoin and other currencies saw losses of up to 45% during this time, that is no big surprise whatsoever. In fact, the Lisk price lost nearly 50% of its value as well, indicating the currency is just following the general trend of major cryptocurrencies right now.

With a solid 16.83% gain in USD value and a 13.56% increase in the LSK/BTC ratio over the past 24 hours, things are looking pretty good for Lisk right now. While this results in solid Lisk price gains as of right now, it is certainly possible the momentum will turn against most cryptocurrencies again in the near future. With such strong gains in just 24 hours, it seems a small correction will become apparent in the coming weeks hours and days.

One thing to keep in mind is how Lisk has virtually no trading volume to speak of. Although $78.21m in 24-hour trading volume is not all that bad, it is a rather disappointing number first and foremost. Especially given the current Lisk price, one would expect there to be an even bigger interest in LSK, things are not adding up by the look of things. It is possible we will see a bigger interest in Lisk over the next few days, especially if this Lisk price trend continues at this rate.

Most of the Lisk trading volume comes from Upbit, which is quickly becoming the go-to exchange for most altcoins right now. Bittrex is in second place, with a marginal difference compared to both Upbit and CoinEgg in third place. It is good to see the current volume being spread out a bit across multiple trading platforms. Binance is barely in the top five right now and they value Lisk nearly three dollars lower. An interesting trend well worth keeping an eye on.

For the time being, it remains unclear what the future will hold for the Lisk price. So far, the uptrend is in place, but the cryptocurrency markets remain extremely volatile first and foremost. It is evident interesting things are bound to happen in the next few hours and days, but no one knows for sure if it will be a positive or negative outcome. Always take profits whenever the opportunity arises, as any gains can be wiped out extremely quickly in this industry.

Creativity and business have always had to be paired in some sense in order for money to be made and bills to be paid. For every creative mind out there, there is someone who manages their finances and does the negotiating. They are often referred to as the “suits” and are the people who deal with all the adult stuff at the table.

This sort of partnership applies even to the small players who have built a small following they would like to monetize. Influencers are subject to the same fees everyone else is, but there is finally coming a time when this business model can see a change.

Influencers Creating Value that Gets Skimmed

In order for influencers to get connected to advertisers, someone needs to put them in touch. Intermediaries make vast amounts of money from these services in almost any industry you can name – finance, real estate, entertainment, etc. – but with all the new innovation occurring in the world, this won’t always be true.

Many influencers feel like they are getting “skimmed” by a business tax of sorts when they have to pay a large percentage of their earnings out to someone who acts as an agent to them, but there are no current alternatives.

It does take time to develop the network necessary to know many advertisers and influencers at the same time, but isn’t that what the Internet is for? You can search people, hotels, and businesses up, and find them with ease, so this should ideally be possible for influencers.

One Influencer Who Wanted Change

What it takes to change an industry norm like this is someone on the inside who is frustrated with the current way things are done. Atsushi Hisatsumi is a Japanese based influencer who has decided to turn entrepreneur in order to change the way influencers do business.

He saw that there was a need for change within the market and figured out that it could be executed with the help of blockchain technology. Ethereum-based smart contracts are the perfect building blocks for a decentralized “exchange” of influencers.

Rather than having every potential advertiser go to an agent to put them in touch with an influencer, Hisatsumi would have both parties interact through the PATRON platform, which he is in the process of creating.

On PATRON, users exchange PAT (PATRON coins) for services. This allows for better cross-border facilitation and more fluent networking, both of which supersede any of the options previously available.

Intermediaries were often not even capable of dealing cross-border and their networks were limited to the number of people they had previously connected with. PATRON creates an environment where advertisers are paying less but getting a way wider array of options for who advertise through. Not only will this benefit current influencers, but it will lower the barriers to entry that prevent lower-scale influencers from entering the market.

ICO to Fund Partnerships

To fund a project like this, PATRON will need money. This is why they are running an ICO which is set to start next week. On February 14th, the Pre-ICO will open up, and then on March 1st, the public sale will begin.

The goal of the ICO is to raise enough money to fund the development of the applications and protocols and to make sure they have the seed money necessary to expand their recruiting into Silicon Valley.

However, the more exciting part of the fundraising is how PATRON plans to build partnerships with influencers by setting up studios with them. This shows a long-term concern for the people who are both their products and their customers at the same time. But this is what happens when you have someone trying to bring about change from the inside.

Any YouTuber, blogger, or Instagrammer out there who has developed a following and wants to figure out how to monetize it is going to benefit greatly from the innovations that are going to come from PATRON.

The post PATRON Is a Company Made by Influencers, for Influencers appeared first on NewsBTC.

The ECB executive board member has supported recent criticism of bitcoin by Agustin Carstens, head of the Bank for International Settlements.