Day: February 11, 2018

When people consider which casino to join, a lot of factors come into play. It is very common for new players to become seduced by the promise of an enormous welcome bonus, or dazzled by the array of slot games on offer. However, there are other factors which also need to be taken into account when choosing a casino. This is a business where you will be depositing your money, and you will need to be confident that the site is trustworthy, fair and that it will make payouts promptly and with a minimum of fuss. We are going to take a quick look at how online casino payouts work, and what you need to know in order to make the process run as smoothly as possible. 

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

Every game in an online casinos (and a land-based casino too, for that matter) will favor the house. This is a simple fact, and is how casinos manage to stay in business. What this means in effect is that every casino game will return a percentage of profit back to the casino over time. Of course players can – and do – make a profit from casino play, but when averaged over time and over all customers, the casino will come out on top in the end. Take the popular game of blackjack, for example. When played statistically correctly, this game offers a return to the player of over 99%, leaving just less than 1% as the house edge. Of course not all blackjack players do play optimally, meaning that the house edge goes up a few percentage points. 

Other casino games are less generous than blackjack to the players. Most slot games offer a return to players of between 93% and 97%, with the casino taking the rest. Games like bingo and keno offer the worst value of all to players, with returns of around just 60%. This means that while bingo can be a fun and sociable game to play online, it should never be relied upon as a money-maker! Of course, it is possible for players to make a profit on any casino game, so long as Lady Luck is shining a light in their direction. With that in mind, you will want to be able to withdraw any of your profits in a timely fashion, so let’s look at how the payout process works.

Before signing up with any online casino, scroll down to the bottom of the main page to check where the site is regulated. A solid regulator will be a guarantee of fairness and that financial transactions will be processed quickly and securely. If you are not sure about a particular casino, check out a site like  Reel Bonanza, where you can find a large database of recommended sites along with the payout structures on various games (lots of casinos have the same games). Having signed up with a reputable site, make sure that your account is verified and you will be able to make your payouts whenever you need them and with a minimum of fuss. 

Licensed and regulated online casinos are required to prove the identities of their players. This is to protect against fraud, as well as to confirm that players are over-age and also that they are not trying to conceal a gambling problem behind a false identity. Sometimes new players can get nervous about the fact that an online casino is asking them for scans of ID and proofs of address, but in fact this should be a reassurance rather than a worry. While customers from the UK can often have their details verified from online records, players from other countries will be asked to send scans of ID to confirm their identity. You will not be able to withdraw funds until your name, age and address have been confirmed, so you should do this as quickly as possible. 

Most casinos will ask for a scan of a passport, driving licence or ID card to prove customer identity. Proof of address will often be a bank statement, utility bill or a rental agreement. Send these by email when requested, and you should expect your account to be verified within 72 hours at the latest. Now you will be able to process all withdrawals without further delay. The speed of withdrawals depends upon the size of the payout as well as the payment method used. Electronic wallets like Skrill, PayPal and Neteller are the quickest withdrawal methods. The slowest method is via bank transfer, as this can potentially take between 3 and 10 days to process, depending on the countries involved. Note that as an anti-fraud measure, online casinos will require you to withdraw to the same method which you used to deposit. If this is not possible, then you will be asked to withdraw to your personal bank account. 

Bitcoin’s latest fork is just weeks away and this one’s a little different from the rest. Rather than simply tinkering with Segwit or adjusting block sizes, Bitcoin private (BTCP) is adding zk-Snarks. The privacy enhancing feature is best known for its use in the Z family of coins including zcash, zclassic, and zencash. That’s not surprising given that the fork is being instigated by Rhett Creighton, who is simultaneously forking bitcoin and zclassic on February 28 to create BTCP which will then be available to holders of both coins.

Also read: U.S. Lawmaker Wants Ethics Committee to Form Bitcoin Disclosure Guidelines

The Quest to Make Bitcoin Private Again

Like all forks, bitcoin private is not without its controversies. Bitcoin’s underlying code hasn’t changed greatly over the years, but the ability of law enforcement, the IRS, and other busybodies to scrutinize blockchain activity has. Whereas once bitcoin could be used on the deep web and elsewhere with a reasonable assumption of privacy, doing so today is fraught with risks. The rise of privacy coins such as monero is a direct response to this gradual erosion of privacy.

On February 28, a snapshot of the zclassic and bitcoin blockchains will be taken and holders of each cryptocurrency will be eligible for bitcoin private, distributed at a 1:1 ratio, once the BTCP mainnet launches a couple of days later. A total of 20 million coins will be created by combining the circulating supply of BTC and ZCL. When the fork was announced late last year, it caused the prize of zclassic to shoot up from around $4 on December 22 to its current price of around $97. For anyone interested in claiming their maximum allocation of bitcoin private, it makes sense to load up on zclassic given that even at $100 it is orders of magnitude cheaper than bitcoin. As the date of the hard fork looms closer, zclassic is likely to rise further still.

Smart Thinking or Cynical Ploy?

Unlike most bitcoin forks, BTCP seems to have been well thought out. It has a proper development team and the code is in the process of undergoing extensive testing. One of the reasons why the fork date was only announced recently was to allow time for BTCP wallets to be thoroughly tested. While it’s too early to assert that the fork will go without incident, the signs look promising. Many of the recent bitcoin forks, in comparison, have occurred with scant Github activity and buggy wallets. The BTCP team have been eager to avoid a repeat of the sort of problems that beset forks such as bitcoin gold.

The biggest question that surrounds the launch of bitcoin private is why? Why go to all this bother to implement a privacy technology that already exists in zclassic and its family of coins? The second question surrounds what happens to zclassic after the fork. Rhett Creighton has declared that ZCL’s development will continue to be supported, but there seems little purpose for its existence following the launch of BTCP. Zclassic is widely expected to dump in the aftermath of the fork. Finally, there’s the question of which exchanges will support BTCP.

As present, Bittrex and Cryptopia are the only major exchanges where zclassic can be traded. It’s assumed that these platforms will distribute BTCP, but there’s no confirmation yet. Coinomi wallet has at least confirmed it will support the fork, and the BTCP team have applied for listing on Binance. ZCL holders also have the option of storing their coins in the Electrum wallet prior to the fork. If nothing else, it will be interesting to see how many bitcoin holders bother to claim their BTCP. The results should give an indication, no matter how imprecise, of the extent to which bitcoiners value their privacy. Then again, should BTCP attain any sort of market value, many will claim their free allocation simply to cash out.

Will you be bothering to claim your bitcoin private? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Bitcoin Private and Coincodex.

At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even lookup the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more.

The post Bitcoin Private Fork Aiming to Make Bitcoin Anonymous appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Bitstrade’s operations have been deemed to be “violating” laws by New Jersey, where regulators called it “fraudulent.” #NEWS

We have seen multiple “versions” of Bitcoin come to market over the past few months. Bitcoin Cash is by far the most successful venture to date, although Bitcoin Gold is hanging on by a thread as well. There are a few other hard forks which gained significantly less traction and are all but forgotten about. It now seems we will have Bitcoiin as well, even though this is an Ethereum-based ERC20 token. It’s a very worrisome development, as the name will cause a lot of confusion.

Bitcoiin Will Create Quite a Stir

While it is commendable when people come up with concepts for the “second generation Bitcoin”, the way they go about things often raises a lot of questions. Hard forking the existing Bitcoin code is a commonly accepted way of making a new brand stand out. Creating a new ERC20 token which will confuse novice users is not necessarily the best approach to take. Whether or not this will cause major issues in the case of Bitcoiin remains to be seen, though.

To put this project into perspective, Bitcoiin is positioned as an Ethereum-based system which will offer interesting opportunities to its users. The team claims to have raised over US$12.6 million during its pre-ICO, although it is unclear if this is actually the case. With the original Bitcoin becoming increasingly slow and expensive to use, the time is right to introduce a superior version. Bitcoiin may not necessarily fill that gap, though, but that doesn’t mean the team won’t go ahead with their plans.

According to its website, Bitcoiin incorporates a worldwide network approach, lower costs, and a transaction speed of up to 100x faster than the original Bitcoin. The Bitcoiin project is often referred to as the “second generation of Bitcoin”, even though it is evident this project has little to do with the actual Bitcoin we all know today. It doesn’t even share the same code base, as it is issued on top of the Ethereum blockchain. To many people, this will seem like another ERC20 token looking to steal Bitcoin’s spotlight.

Surprisingly, it will be possible to mine Bitcoiin. That in itself is rather interesting, considering ERC20 tokens cannot be mined by default. It is evident this particular venture will need some explaining, as the Dragon Mining team claims users will be able to mine Bitcoiin in the future. What’s more, the project will incorporate proof-of-stake technology, making it a hybrid digital currency. The staking rewards will add up to 12% per annum, which is quite a solid number, all things considered.

If its website is to be believed, Bitcoiin will have a proof-of-work system. With the HashCash algorithm being used, it is evident Bitcoiin takes a page out of other Bitcoin clones’ playbooks. It will be interesting to see how this venture plays out, although it is possible that Bitcoiin will be an Ethereum-based project which doesn’t use the ERC20 system natively. At the same time, there is an ICO and tokens will have to be issued to investors, and thus there is a fair bit of confusion right now.

There are some future milestones listed on this project’s website as well, indicating Bitcoiin has an actual roadmap as of right now. The official coin launch will not occur until March of this year, with desktop wallet clients coming in April. Mobile wallets are coming in July, which is something to look forward to. Additionally, the team is confident they can attain a price of US$388 per B2G by December, although that seems highly unlikely.

With the impending arrival of the era of the Internet of Things (IoT), defined as the moment when the number of internet connected devices worldwide reaches 50 billion, “connection and authentication” is bound to become a fundamental part of a society driven by IoT and artificial intelligence (AI). In light of this, reshaping the authentication industry is of great significance to the greater society while forecasts show that it can be expected to open up market opportunities worth more than one trillion US dollars.

In our daily lives, property ownership, skill qualifications, and even our educational degrees and identity authentication cannot be validated without related documents of proof provided by a multiplicity of third-party organizations.

People are often overwhelmed by the tedious and decentralized efforts in separately validating their own identities by providing multiple documents of proof to each and every agency, a process that, with each step up in heightened security, seems to take longer and longer each time, involving ever escalating commission fees.

ID Chain aims to address all issues related to authentication via the highly efficient, low-cost and reliable confirmation of identity and credit data, whether it be person-to-person, person-to-device or device-to-device.

ID Chain offers a solution that records key user identity data on the blockchain by way of an encryption algorithm. These records cannot be altered and are irreversible once generated. On the ID Chain platform, rapid authentication is achieved via streamlined authorization and scanning.

Chain enables rapid and reliable data authentication while ensuring end-to-end data security. In addition, the platform is capable of handling of a massive amount of authentication requests, due to the extensive scalability, vastly reducing the overlapping investment in authentication.

This is all achieved thanks to the inherent features of blockchain technology, which include openness, transparency, decentralization, irreversibility and smart contracts. 

Members of the project team have extensive background and experience in the construction of industrial ecosystems as well as in the blockchain industry.

In 2014, they started developing Bitcoin mining chips based on their understanding of the underlying protocol while having in their possession a massive amount of big data.

In 2016, they were commissioned by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to draft a white paper on the use of digital IDs in the banking sector, with the top five banks in Hong Kong, including HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank, participating in the discussions. The team got the ID Chain project off to a hot start by providing ongoing authentication services to telecom operators, banks, financial services and credit users in the Asia Pacific region.

At the same time, the project team plans to gradually expand into new markets and applications.

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.

We are living in the age of Web 2.0, but it’s an era that may soon be drawing to an end. Word on the web is that it’s soon to be replaced by its younger and nimbler sibling, the originally named Web 3.0. Three will be everything that two was not: secure, private, and egalitarian. Instead of leaving billions of web users at the mercy of monopolistic internet companies and their insecure databases and opaque data sharing practices, it will return control to the people. That’s right, the very same individuals who own the information that web giants are prone to trading like football cards.

The idea behind Web 3.0 is often portrayed as a bold one; revolutionary even, but it’s not as outré as it stands. Essentially, the notion supporting it is that it makes more sense to entrust users to act as custodians of their own data rather than corporations that have more important considerations to focus on, like maximizing profits to appease stakeholders. It’s hard to sign up for any sort of online account these days without disclosing more personal information than you’d feel comfortable giving to your closest friends. In many cases, there’s no justifiable need for it. Web 3.0 keeps all such requests to a minimum and enables users to submit their details on a case-by-case and permissioned basis, rather than having it hoovered up as part of the terms of service.

Actions speak louder than words

Web 3.0 is the product of the same visionaries who have helped drive cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Indeed, the concept of a distributed ledger – like that pioneered by Bitcoin – is what defines the platforms operating on the next iteration of the web. By relying on a series of distributed nodes or databases, redundancy is ensured and distributed denial of service attacks are all but eliminated. To log onto the Web 3.0 and interact with the various decentralized apps (dApps), wallets, and platforms that will form its backbone, a seed will be used.

Rather than typing in usernames, passwords, and email addresses everywhere they go, users will be reliant on a seed to verify their identity but without giving up their personal identity in the process. At present, web users are resigned to having to give up multiple permissions just for the privilege of installing an app or joining a website. They accept it because they have no other choice. But choice is coming, and when it arrives, webizens will finally be free to engage with platforms and products that respect their right to privacy.

One believer in the transformative potential of the web-to-come is Matteo Gianpietro Zago. The 27-year-old entrepreneur became transfixed by blockchain technology while working for AdVantage Media, an Amsterdam-based mobile advertising agency he founded. The mobile web came naturally to Mat, who had already earned notoriety as the creator of the most popular post in Facebook history. The piece notched up four million replies in just 30 days, a record which has yet to be surpassed.

As a digital native, Bitcoin and blockchain – while new to Mat – came easily, and soon he was immersed in a world of decentralization, GPU miners, and permissionless ledgers. It was almost inevitable that Mat’s next business venture would be in this emerging sector, and so it proved to be with the launch of Essentia. The startup is seeking to create a decentralized framework for connecting to Web 3.0.

The concept goes as follows: at present the decentralized apps, wallets, platforms, and other digital assets that make up Web 3.0 are scattered. Accessing these interfaces calls for separate seeds, logins, and identities – much like the existing Web 2.0. Essentia.one will link these disparate platforms together via a single seed. Because this will operate as an encrypted key that can be associated with its owner, Essentia will provide proof of identity but without giving up any more of that individual’s identity than is necessary.

Setting the standard for Web 3.0

Predictably, blockchain technology first gained traction with the geeks of the world: cypherpunks, libertarians, programmers, and engineers. Just like the earliest days of the internet, the decentralized web demanded a certain degree of technical prowess. That’s all changing though as the framework by which users access Web 3.0 becomes more user-friendly.

“Usability is a huge problem to solve,” says Gianpietro. “It doesn’t matter how revolutionary and empowering Web 3.0 is if it’s a chore to use. “We need to build a front-end on top of the basic infrastructure that makes the decentralized web a doddle to use, whether you’re 18 or 80. Achieve that and it’s only a matter of time until the public start to take note.”

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.

February  11th, 2018 /Singapore, Seul, Tokyo, Moscow/ Tutor Ninja, a global platform for private tutoring services, secures equivalent of 15mn US dollars to attract crypto-funds via selling NTOK token assets up to the end of March 2018. The ERC20 tokens are a crypto-utility providing a  remote education ecosystem to pay for tutored lessons and licensed partners’ content, including cross-border services. At the presale stage the tokens were offered with a 10-20% bonus for amounts equivalent to 50 US dollars and above. The NTOK beta-version is expected in June 2018.

Anton Mishin, Chief Executive Officer, said “The students benefit from the availability of the remote access to the educational services, a blockchain based loyalty system and settlements simplified through the introduction of NTOKs. The removal of intermediaries by utilising the NTOK platform, which is built on blockchain and challenges the existing educational methods, is at same time answering the question of how to find and verify trustworthy coaches world-wide. The blockchain technology raises the efficiency of interaction between coaches and school children significantly.”

Natalya Asenova, Tutor Ninja Marketing Executive, additionally said “We believe that NTOK contributes to future continuous education. A Tutor Ninja qualified knowledge of onboarding coaches and our no-intermediary blockchain ranking approach will attract providers and customers from various countries. Another advantage is that the lesson fee is paid directly to a tutor in accordance with transparent rules, established across NTOK.”

Max Shekhovtsov, CFO and co-founder, added “NTOK pioneers a blockchain tutoring segment yet to be assessed in full. We follow the trends of the EdTech market which are growing at an average 17-25% GAGR, while the private tutoring services market will exceed 227 bn US dollars by 2022, according to 2016 Report by Global Industry Analysts,Inc. Out of this amount some 3% is now digital; to conclude tutoring as a part of a continuous education concept presents today and will be in the future. Its potential is borderless in many senses”.

References

Tutor Ninja is a global private tutoring platform, established in 2016, and operates with hundreds of coaches and thousands of students.

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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.

UK entrepreneurs and partners Michelle Mone and Douglas Barrowman have sold 50 flats for Bitcoin. The property on offer is located in the luxurious Aston Plaza and Residences development in Dubai. #NEWS

Yes, blockchain entrepreneurs should try to make work more rewarding for employees. But that’s just a baby step on the road we’re on.

Even though cryptocurrencies are incredibly popular right now, spending Bitcoin or altcoins is still rather problematic. Very few people actually accept cryptocurrency payments, which means there is a need for intermediary solutions. TenX aims to provide a way to spend virtual currencies anytime and anywhere. It is evident the world of cryptocurrency debit cards needs some major competition, even though both Visa and MasterCard are not too keen on this concept right now.

What Exactly is TenX?

It is obvious TenX wants to help the cryptocurrency industry make a big impact on a global scale. While spending such currencies remains a challenge for the time being, there has been an interest in cryptocurrency-related debit cards. While both Visa and MasterCard have been shutting down such products, TenX will still let users spend cryptocurrency using a payment card. It supports multiple virtual currencies and makes the process of spending Bitcoin and altcoins far more convenient for all parties involved.

How Does it Work?

While it is commendable to see TenX explore the cryptocurrency payment card route, the big question is how they will pull all this off. With Visa and MasterCard opposing such concepts through third-party vendors, it is evident creating such a system will not be easy. At the same time, the team has a mobile app for both Android and iOS which will make the spending of cryptocurrencies a lot easier. There is also a web app for users to enjoy.

What makes TenX so appealing is the 0% conversion fees for all transactions. Nobody who spends virtual currencies through TenX will incur additional fees, although foreign currency conversion rates may still apply in the future. With the TenX app, it is not only possible to send and receive funds, but one can also withdraw money from any ATM in the world. With real-time notifications tied to card purchasing, it becomes a lot easier to keep tabs on how one’s balance is being spent.

Even though the WaveCrest issue has affected TenX, the company has a solution in place for the time being. Further details regarding future cards have yet to be provided, as TenX is still in talks with its new card issuer. However, with the opposition by Visa and MasterCard, finding a capable partner may prove rather difficult. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for TenX in this regard, as it is not easy to create cryptocurrency payment cards right now.

What Does the TenX PAY Token do?

As one would expect, TenX has its own native token, known as PAY. With this token, users can purchase the TenX payment card. Additionally, token holders will earn a percentage of the 0.5% “reward” from TenX transactions. This incentive will be paid out in the form of PAY, which means the company will need to buy back some of these tokens over time. It is an interesting business model which will seemingly work out well for the company.

What Comes Next for the TenX Project?

According to the TenX project roadmap, a lot of things will happen in 2018 and beyond. Support for ERC20 tokens and additional cryptocurrencies is coming users’ way in Q2, and more functionality will come to the TenX card and wallet in early 2019. The official issuing license for payment cards will be obtained in Q3 of 2019, although that particular milestone is subject to change.

How to define an ICO huckster? How was the first year of Blockchain in Davos? We asked Yobie Benjamin. #INTERVIEW

Things are not going according to plan for most cryptocurrencies right now. Most markets are still down compared to 24 hours ago, although the massive price decrease has been recovered in quick succession. The first currency to note positive momentum is Ethereum Classic. More specifically, the Ethereum Classic price has increased by 1.93% over the past 24 hours, whereas all other top 20 markets are still in the red.

Ethereum Classic Price Wants More Gains

It is evident any investment in the world of cryptocurrency will pay off eventually. For some currencies, it will take very long until we see any major growth in 2018. Even so, there is the Ethereum Classic price to keep an eye on at all times. Contrary to what most people would expect, the Ethereum Classic price is effectively noting a profit during this negative market trend across all other markets. Quite remarkable, although it is a matter of time until the rest recovers as well.

To be more specific, the Ethereum Classic price is back above $25 as we speak. This is almost on par with the ETC price prior to last night’s big dip, which pushed the Ethereum Classic price down to $22.1. It’s not a big drop in USD value, yet it does represent a decline of over 11% in a matter of a few hours. Those losses have been recovered with relative ease and long-term holders are already in profit once again. Whether or not other currencies will see a similar trend, remains to be seen.

With this current 1.93% gain in USD value and a 4.39% gain in BTC value, things look pretty good for the Ethereum Classic price. Although this positive trend can still be erased with relative ease, there is no reason to think we will see any major price reversals in the coming hours. Then again, no one really expected last night’s dip to occur either, yet it did make a big impact in the end.

Over the past 24 hours, Ethereum Classic notes a trading volume of $360.29m. That is a more than respectable amount for an alternative cryptocurrency, especially when considering how the top altcoins are all struggling for momentum as of right now. Ethereum Classic is certainly bucking all of the negative trends right now, but when all other markets recover, the momentum may turn against the Ethereum Classic price again, for all we know.

OKEx dominates the charts in terms of ETC trading volume right now. Three of its trading markets generate a combined total of 42.8% of all ETC trades as we speak. Bihumb is also in the top 3 with $30m in 4-hour trading volume With three fiat currency pairs in the top 6 for ETC< there is a good amount of money coming into the market. Unfortunately, two of those pairs are denominated in Korean Won, which is always a bit problematic.

For the time being, it remains unclear what the future holds for the Ethereum Classic price. The current momentum looks pretty solid, but there is no reason to think this trend will be sustained indefinitely either. All markets are still extremely volatile, and there will be plenty of profit-taking along the way as well. For now, $25 seems to be a solid Ethereum Classic price point, but we may very well see another dip form on the charts before the day is over.