Day: February 16, 2018

Atari, the company behind such nostalgic video games as Pac-Man and Pong, is planning to launch its own cryptocurrency, Atari Token. Shares in the Paris-based company have soared more than 60% since it gave further details of its crypto push on February 8th, after originally outlining some of the plans in December.

To make it possible, the company is taking a stake in Gibraltar-based Infinity Networks Ltd and has licensed its brand to the firm. Together they will be building a blockchain-based digital entertainment platform and, as part of that agreement, will create an accompanying digital currency. The name selection is a notable one, given that Atari had previously created an Atari Token to serve as a currency for making in-game purchases. Whether the newly-announced Atari Token will serve that purpose remains to be seen. The company is also expanding its online casino-gaming partnership with Pariplay Ltd to allow gambling with digital currencies. 

Atari CEO Fred Chesnais is quoted in the company’s release, saying:

“Blockchain technology is poised to take a very important place in our environment and to transform, if not revolutionize, the current economic ecosystem, especially in the areas of the video game industry and online transactions. Given our technological strengths with the development studios and the global reputation of the Atari brand, we have the opportunity to position ourselves attractively in this sector. Our objective is to take strategic positions with a limited cash risk, in order to optimize the assets and the Atari brand.”

Atari isn’t the only stock that has benefited from links with cryptocurrencies. Last month, shares of Eastman Kodak Co. jumped 245% in two days after it announced it’s working with a company that promotes paparazzi photos to offer a blockchain-based service for paying photographers. And, this December — in perhaps the most strange of such moves — the unprofitable iced-tea company formerly known as Long Island Iced Tea Corp. gained 183% in a day after re-branded as Long Blockchain Corp.

The post Atari Partners with Infinity Networks Ltd to Launch Own Cryptocurrency: Atari Token appeared first on NewsBTC.

Big changes are coming to the world of cryptocurrency exchanges. While centralized services are still the go-to solution right now, more and more decentralized trading platforms are launching as we speak. Stellarport is the latest venture of this type to open its doors to the public. It is an interesting business model which creates a trustless and frictionless ecosystem for people looking to trade and exchange digital currencies. Do keep in mind this project is not part of the Stellar Foundation, but rather a separate company. 

An Overview of Stellarport

It is always interesting to see how cryptocurrency exchanges evolve over time. Although most people have had to trust a third-party service provider with their information in order to buy Bitcoin, that may not be an issue for much longer. Slowly but surely, we are seeing an influx of new decentralized trading platforms which remove the need for placing trust in a third party altogether. Instead, users will trade in a peer-to-peer fashion, like it was supposed to be done in the first place.

Although a lot of these decentralized trading platforms do not offer much liquidity right now, things are gradually improving. With the new Stellarport service going live, it is evident things will continue to improve. This decentralized exchange has been available for some time, yet the official public release occurred only recently. As the name suggests, Stellar Lumens (XLM) is the base trading currency on this platform, but it’s possible we will see other currencies added in the future as well.

Stellarport is a decentralized exchange which aims to bring XLM to the masses. Anyone in the world can hold their own funds and trade them directly with other users. There are no custodians of funds to deal with, and the decentralized platform should be safe from hacking attempts or other criminal activity. Without intermediaries, any central point of failure is removed automatically. The website itself could be taken down, but that would not grant hackers access to any funds.

Moreover, it is worth pointing out that Stellarport is not like the other decentralized trading services we have seen in the past. That’s because there is only one “official” exchange which holds user listings. While that may seem like a centralized effort, it also makes it a lot less confusing for both novice and veteran XLM holders. There are different ways to access this trading platform, though, which means convenience is there for the taking. By combining a central trading system’s basic aspects with the benefits of decentralized technology, Stellarport is certainly a platform worth keeping an eye on moving forward.

Users will enjoy the best of both worlds when using the Stellarport platform. According to the parent company, it provides a mix of high volume, deep liquidity, cost-effectiveness, security, and reliability. It is very difficult to find all of these features in any other trading platform on the market right now. In particular, centralized exchanges are often lacking in the security and reliability department, mainly because they are a central point of failure by default.

Additionally, Stellarport offers a wallet service to its users, although it is not a mandatory solution. It is good to see the Stellar ecosystem grow, and it will be interesting to see how much attention the Stellarport platform attracts in the coming weeks and years. The way things look right now, most trading markets could use an injection of liquidity, but the platform has not been open to the public all that long. Establishing alternative trading markets for altcoins besides just Bitcoin or Ethereum pairs is always a worthwhile venture.

Ellen DeGeneres says she has learned about bitcoin…but only ‘a bit.’

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, the White House cybersecurity coordinator has stated that the U.S. government is nowhere close to regulating Bitcoin. He particularly emphasised the need to better understand the cryptocurrency’s risks and benefits before embarking on any sort of regulatory regime.

Hundreds of world leaders and security chiefs are gathered at Munich’s luxury Hotel Bayerischer Hof this weekend in what’s been called the “Academy Awards for security policy wonks.” The Munich Security Conference comprises three days of debates, speeches, and sideline meetings regarding international defence policy, and is attended by top world leaders, as well as CEOs, human rights campaigners, and environmentalists.

Speaking with CNBC, Rob Joyce, special assistant to the President and White House cybersecurity coordinator, said there’s a long way to go before the U.S. government starts regulating Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Joyce emphasized the need to better understand the cryptocurrency’s risks and benefits before moving forward with any sort of regulation: “I think we’re still absolutely studying and understanding what the good ideas and bad ideas in that space are,” he said when asked about the potential for government regulation. “So, I don’t think it’s close.”

Bitcoin is a decentralized and digital, and unlike fiat currencies such as the dollar it’s not backed by a central authority. And as transactions are anonymous, the coin has been accused of making it easier for those engaged in illicit activities to hide their money. But this ability that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies offer to avoid traditional restrictions on money and assets is part of what makes it so popular to those who use it. That decentralization is also much of the reason its price swings so wildly.

“We are worried. There are benefits to the Bitcoin concept — digital cash, digital currencies,” Joyce said. “But at the same time, if you look at the way Bitcoin works after there is a criminal act that takes place, you can’t rewind the clock and take back that currency.” Joyce described the inherent problem with this lack of a trail, noting that in the case of credit card theft, for instance, individuals or companies can contact their banks and purchases can be undone and the cash retrieved.

Business and policy leaders are divided over the future of cryptocurrencies and associated technology. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said it will have to be regulated, while South Korea’s threat of regulation in early 2018 sent waves across the crypto-world. France and Germany are said to be working on their own regulatory structure, as European Union lawmakers call for some sort of control over a currency that has the potential to be used for drug trafficking, money laundering, and terrorism. Further, governments are more uncertain still over what “regulation” would actually look like — from more subtle restrictions to an all-out ban.

The post Munich Security Conference: U.S. Govt. Nowhere Close to Regulating Bitcoin appeared first on NewsBTC.

Any project or service linked to Bitcoin Cash will get a lot of attention sooner or later. Many people were surprised to find out SBI Group is mining cryptocurrency. More specifically, it seems they are mining Bitcoin Cash, as they consider this to be the true vision of Satoshi Nakamoto. Although this is a major development, the company is seemingly mining with a slow hash rate right now. It is possible that will change, though.

SBI Group Embraces Bitcoin Cash Mining

Most people in the cryptocurrency world have heard of SBI Group by now. It is one of Japan’s premier financial conglomerates, and they are involved in everything from asset management to biotech. Adding cryptocurrency mining to their repertoire makes a lot of sense on paper, even though it remains to be seen how this will play out in the coming weeks and months.

The company has set up a subsidiary known as SBI Crypto. This cryptocurrency-oriented arm of the company will focus on mining cryptocurrencies and potentially other ventures as well. As part of its first public mining venture, the company mined a few blocks on the Bitcoin Cash network. Although it only happened a few times, this does indicate the Japanese conglomerate is prepared to work with Bitcoin Cash rather than Bitcoin itself.

Unsurprisingly, they decided to join one of the larger Bitcoin Cash mining pools for this venture. All of the blocks mined and processed by SBI Crypto were signed “SBI Crypto” in the coinbase string. This legitimizes the mining operation as a whole, although no one knows the full extent of this venture as of right now. There are a lot of questions regarding the hashpower used by SBI Group’s subsidiary, as it seems they are not using a lot of hardware as of right now.

SBI Crypto has mined less than a handful of BCH blocks so far, which is not entirely surprising. It is possible this was due to a lack of competitive mining hardware. Another possible explanation is that the company simply conducted a brief field trial of their mining operation before bringing in big equipment. With no further information shared with the public, all people can do is speculate as to how much mining power SBI Crypto has at its disposal as of right now.

SBI Holdings’ president and CEO, Yoshitaka Kitao, commented on choosing Bitcoin Cash:

The vision of the original Bitcoin white paper written by Satoshi Nakamoto calls for a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. That is a powerful vision, and SBI Group will devote resources to enable a future world where Bitcoin Cash is used globally for daily payments. SBI Group will acquire cryptocurrency share through mining, in order to stabilize the market. Presence of a cryptocurrency “stable shareholder” will stabilize the market.

It is evident that positive momentum for Bitcoin Cash continues to grow on a global basis. With an entity such as SBI Crypto picking BCH over Bitcoin or any of the other top cryptocurrencies, a clear message is sent to the rest of the industry. Although it remains unclear if the company will hold their mining earnings or convert them to fiat currency right away, this particular venture will help legitimize Bitcoin Cash’s place in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

A Chicago trader has been charged with fraud for allegedly misappropriating $2 million in cryptocurrencies from his employer.

The recent Coincheck exchange hack cannot go unpunished. Someone has to take the blame for this particular incident, and the bosses of the exchange formally apologized during a recent press conference. However, it seems several Coincheck users have filed a lawsuit against the exchange firm for freezing withdrawals after the theft occurred.

A Major Lawsuit for Coincheck

It has almost become the new normal to file a lawsuit when a cryptocurrency exchange gets hacked or conducts some dubious behavior. In a way, this can only be considered a good thing, as the responsible parties must be held accountable. While everyone would love to see authorities catch the culprit who hacked Coincheck, some users are not too pleased with the company itself either. Several individuals have filed a lawsuit against the Japanese exchange firm over its freezing of withdrawals shortly after the hack occurred.

The lawsuit was filed by seven Coincheck users at the Tokyo District Court. With $530 million worth of NEM being stolen from the exchange a few weeks ago, it once again became evident that centralized exchanges are a major weakness in the world of cryptocurrency. Thankfully, Coincheck made the smart decision by reimbursing all affected users, even though the official investigation regarding this hack is still ongoing. So far, it remains unclear if any of the stolen funds have been dumped on the market.

Reimbursing users was a grand gesture, but that doesn’t mean the company can’t be held accountable for the actions they took after the incident took place. More specifically, Coincheck froze all withdrawals for several hours, which was not to the liking of a lot of their users. While it is normal for exchanges to suspend all withdrawals until such matters are resolved, the ensuing market volatility forced traders to watch their holdings shrink in value at an alarming rate.

The seven plaintiffs are demanding that the Japanese exchange return their cryptocurrencies in their original state. It seems a total of 13 currencies are involved, although only NEM has been officially named so far. For now, most of the cryptocurrencies listed on this exchange still cannot be withdrawn, which has angered a lot of users, for obvious reasons. Withdrawals of Japanese yen are accessible again, but that is not to the liking of these seven users. Instead, they want to access their cryptocurrencies, rather than convert them to fiat currency to get their money off of the exchange.

For the time being, it remains unclear when Coincheck will resume withdrawals for all cryptocurrencies. It is possible this functionality will be reinstated soon, but it may also take weeks, if not months, until things return to normal. The seven plaintiffs will seek additional compensation for the loss in value of their portfolios for as long as withdrawals remain unavailable. It is certainly possible other Coincheck users will join this lawsuit, depending on how long it takes to resolve this problem.

It will be interesting to see how Coincheck decides to handle this situation. It is in their best interest not to attract any more legal action, even though they can’t afford to open withdrawals again if the platform is not sufficiently secure. Additionally, they have to make sure all user balances are in the correct standing before letting users move their money to another wallet or exchange. It’s an uneasy situation for all parties involved; that much is certain.

#NEWS

Switzerland’s financial regulator has released new guidelines indicating it will treat some initial coin offerings (ICOs) as securities.