Day: February 18, 2018

Shark Tank’s Robert Herjavic believes BTC and Blockchain will be around for the long term. #NEWS

Ethereum network may be able to scale better with this $100 mln grant. #ANALYSIS

When it comes to projects embracing smart contract technology, there is quite a lot of competition in the marketplace. Achain hopes to make a positive impact in this area over the next few years. The platform is designed to build a boundless blockchain reality, which sounds rather ambitious.

Why was Achain Created?

The Achain team decided to create a new public blockchain platform to let developers issue tokens, smart contracts, dApps, and blockchain systems. Although most of this functionality can be found in Ethereum, that particular ecosystem isn’t capable of scaling properly at this time. Achain, on the other hand, is built from the ground up with scalability in mind, as it aims to become a global blockchain network for both information exchange and value transactions.

What’s under the hood?

A global blockchain network on the scale of Achain will need some powerful technology to make it appealing. First of all, there is the smart contract component. With a modular design in mind, there will be a sandbox environment to automatically test and monitor the environment where new contracts operate. Consequently, developers will be able to ensure the stability of their code without deploying it on the Achain main net directly.

Additionally, unlike most other public blockchain systems, there is no need for Achain users to download the entire blockchain. Once they install this wallet – on their PC, Mac, or mobile device – they can start participating in the ecosystem right away. This may sound like it should be a normal aspect of blockchain technology-based platforms, but that is not necessarily the case for most projects. The Achain team wants to make everything as convenient as possible for developers and companies.

Last but not least, Achain boasts a throughput of 1,000 transactions per second. This is not the highest number we have seen for a public blockchain, yet it does indicate there may be future improvements on the horizon. It is also cross-platform, which will be of great interest to a lot of developers. Moreover, its blockchain-as-a-service approach may allow Achain to rival other BaaS projects in the industry today.

What About the ACT Token?

There is no public or private blockchain ecosystem which doesn’t have its own native currency or token these days. Achain is no different in this regard, as its ACT token holds the value of the ecosystem. Holders of ACT will gain access to all basic blockchain services. Additionally, token holders have the ability to get involved with community events, delegate voting agents, get profits, etc. It offers quite a few benefits, even though its value may not necessarily appreciate all that much.

What’s Next for Achain?

As things stand now, there is still a ton of work to be done for Achain. Its modular smart contract-based sandbox environment is being implemented as we speak and should be ready for use shortly. Later this year, we will see the blockchain-as-a-service scalable network, followed by a proper interconnected network in early 2019. It remains to be seen if interest in ACT will increase in the meantime, but for now, it seems a bit unlikely.

It seems the rather negative trend will continue to affect all cryptocurrency markets for today. None of the top 30 markets are in the green right now, even though the losses fluctuate wildly. It is somewhat surprising to see the NEM price struggle so much compared to other currencies. With a value of $0.53, things aren’t looking all that bad for the NEM price, though.

NEM Price Draws the Short Straw

When the Bitcoin price is down by less than half a percent over 24 hours, one would expect altcoins to note similar results. Unsurprisingly, that is not always the case, depending on which currency you are looking at. A decline in TBC value often means losses in the BTC ratio for altcoins. The NEM price is a great example of this odd trend, as this altcoin loses ground in both USD and BTC value over the past 24 hours.

More specifically, the NEM price has dipped from $0.6 all the way to $0.53 over the past 24 hours. Such big dips are not uncommon in the cryptocurrency world, yet it goes to show the markets are extremely volatile on Sunday. This particular momentum has been rather apparent virtually every Sunday this year, and it seems that situation will not change in the near future. For speculators, it is a positive development, but the rest of the world may think otherwise.

With an 8.79% decline over the past 24 hours, the NEM price faces a steep uphill climb to get back in the green. Unfortunately, the currency also loses nearly 8% against Bitcoin itself, which explains why this currency is getting battered as of right now. It is unclear where this negative pressure comes from all of a sudden, as there is no real reason for it.

Moreover, the NEM trading volume over the past 24 hours doesn’t look all that appealing either. While $93.37m is not all that bad for a Sunday, one has to keep in mind NEM was a top 10 cryptocurrency not that long ago. The way things look right now, the coin may slip to thirteenth place before the day is over, which is anything but positive. At the same time, this healthy retrace was direly needed after the spectacular gains throughout the second half of 2017.

To make matters even more worrisome for NEM, nearly half of its trading volume comes from Upbit’s KRW trading pair. Since this pair can only be accessed by Korean and has no real impact on the rest of the world, it seems interest in NEM is rather low. Huobi and Bittrex complete the top three with their BTC trading markets respectively. There is only one non-Won fiat currency pair in the entire top 17, which is Zaif’s XEM/JPY market.

For the time being, it seems the NEM price may continue to decline a bit until tomorrow. Even then, this negative momentum may very well continue, depending on how the Bitcoin price will evolve next week. A positive or negative Bitcoin price change will not be good for the NEM/BTC ratio, unfortunately, although it is possible things may turn out to be far less bleak than one would expect. An interesting market to keep an eye on for those who like a gamble.

Could blockchain ever solve the issues inherent to online dating models? The Hicky ICO certainly thinks so, and with good reason.  The legacy online dating sites are rife with fake accounts, security vulnerabilities, and matching algorithm issues.  Hicky.io strives to solve all of these issues, and the Ethereum blockchain is here to help it achieve its goal.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

Finding a Better Solution for Online Dating

Hicky.io identifies the risks and flaws of the current online dating services in their whitepaper. These include the following:

Risk of information theft: dating platforms are attractive targets for hackers looking to prey on users’ personal information. The 2015 Ashley Madison hack alerted us to the vulnerabilities of the centralized platforms. Attacks such as these can result in the loss of financial details, as well as personal information that can be used to extort the victims affected.

Fraud:  according to a 2016 study, approximately 10% of all online dating profiles are fake.  This can pose a threat to authentic users, and the FBI estimates that roughly $100mln a year is lost to scam artists claiming romantic interests for money via fraudulent accounts.

Wasted time and money:  a 2011 New York Times article reveals that 30% of men lie about their career and financial positions on their dating profiles and nearly the same amount of women lie about their weight and height. This false advertising can lead to disappointing encounters and a feeling that the participants have wasted their time.

System inefficiencies: in terms of this final point, the whitepaper states, “While online dating platforms promise to improve the chances of finding an ideal partner, the evidence runs in contrary to this thesis. A 2017 study found that 22% of Millennials think technology has made finding love more difficult, with 57% saying they’re lonely (Forbes, 2017).”

Why Blockchain?

By putting a dating service on the blockchain, Hicky.io can solve the problems mentioned above.  The blockchain will reintroduce trust and democracy to online dating by decentralizing the network, while the cryptographic, distributed nature of the network is going to ensure the security of its profiles.

Hicky’s dating service won’t be run by a single entity.  Instead, it will be run by and propped up thanks to its users. “The users of the network are literally stakeholders and are thus incentivized to build and improve the platform in a way that benefits themselves,” the whitepaper states.  Thus, the platform will evolve according to its users’ wishes, and user interest will always come first as users will be arbiters of their own fates.

In addition, the blockchain’s distributed network will keep all user information encrypted and protected from a single point of failure unlike the already existing systems. This is going to insulate user information from those hacking risks the legacy dating services face. Furthermore, Hicky.io’s ID verification system will make sure that only legitimate, real users are able to create accounts on the platform.

A Decentralized Autonomous Dating Network (DAD)

Hicky’s DAD system is where all of the online dating magic happens. It is a decentralized network powered by the Hicky token to facilitate Hicky.io’s online dating solutions. The project’s whitepaper sums up the platform quite succinctly:

“ DAD is a fundamentally human system. Just as in the real world, people decide who they would like to pursue and their behaviour is judged by their peers. DAD functions as a monitoring system that rewards people for behaving well and punishes them if they don’t. This is done through financial incentivisation using the underlying token economy . The result is a democratised, fair, secure and effective dating platform.”

Upon registration, users will be able to secure their profile using multiple verification methods. This includes a facescan coupled with an ID check. In addition to this authentication method, whenever a user wishes to engage in conversation, they must submit a vocal verification by answering 1 of 36 predefined questions.

All messages on the platform are strictly peer to peer and fully encrypted, meaning no one outside of the two members involved can access the contents of a chat.

If a couple decides to go on a date, the Hicky provides a system of staking and financial incentives to encourage good behavior. For example, if Alice and Bob decide to go out with each other, both must commit a number of Hicky tokens to be locked in a contract until the date is over. If either of them behaves poorly (e.g., acts out, doesn’t show up), then the other can submit a case to DAD’s conflict jury. The jury reviews the case and decides how to proceed, whether by issuing penalties or dropping the case. Thus, good behavior is rewarded and bad behavior is punished, creating a more effective and self-governing platfrom.

For more information, check out the hicky.io the website. The main token sale started on Valentine’s day, and is currently running.

Cryptocurrencies have been of great interest to companies and service providers alike. In particular, companies dabbling in the Bitcoin ATM business will be making a lot of improvements in the future, including integrating support for altcoins. Most recently, Athena Bitcoin, a well-known operator in the US, added Bitcoin Cash support to their machines.

Athena Bitcoin Makes an Interesting Decision

No one will deny Bitcoin Cash has made a big impact on the cryptocurrency industry. A lot of people have very strong opinions on this altcoin, for better or worse. It is still too early to tell if BCH is the real vision of Satoshi Nakamoto, even though it is a bit more peer-to-peer than the actual Bitcoin is at times. Opinions on this front are divided as well, even though companies have been showing a keen interest in Bitcoin Cash lately.

With growing demand for Bitcoin Cash right now, ATM operators will need to come up with a plan for being part of this budding ecosystem at some point. Some operators are already making an impact by adding Bitcoin Cash support to their platforms. It is a decision that will bring positive attention to some companies, whereas others may not necessarily benefit.

It's heeere! #BitcoinCash is available at all ATM's in our network! Come and get a piece of #Satoshi's vision! #BCH pic.twitter.com/xx2hS7mzaO

— Athena Bitcoin (@AthenaBitcoin) February 16, 2018

In the case of Athena Bitcoin, the addition of Bitcoin Cash is quite an interesting choice for many reasons. The company’s ATMs will not necessarily be dropping Bitcoin anytime soon, mind you, even though the addition of Bitcoin Cash may present some additional competition between the two. With their ATMs located in a few different US states, it will be interesting to see if BCH is more popular in specific states than others.

Moreover, the company also operates some two-way machines, which means there will be a way for users to convert their Bitcoin Cash back to fiat currency as well. With both currencies now on the table, and an option to convert BCH to fiat on the fly, Athena Bitcoin is one of the first major US Bitcoin ATM operators to integrate both versions of Bitcoin in such a manner. Whether or not others will follow still remains to be seen.

So far, the Bitcoin community doesn’t seem to be too happy with this added competition in the form of Bitcoin Cash. BCH community members, on the other hand, are quite happy about this development, even though it is only accessible in the United States right now. If Bitcoin Cash gets added to major ATMs across the world, things will get interesting. Lamassu has done so in the past, and it seems other companies may follow its example in the future.

Decisions like these will always cause an uproar among cryptocurrency enthusiasts, especially because Athena Bitcoin seems to be convinced that BCH is the real vision of Satoshi Nakamoto. It is a sentiment which has been uttered by other service providers in the past, and there will be quite a lot of backlash over it for a while. The only thing that really matters is whether or not this move was a smart business decision. Only time will tell if that is the case.  

The newly launched Croatian self-regulating Blockchain organization will work with the government to create an environment for Blockchain innovation. #NEWS

Despite the rise in mainstream media adopting a more positive stance on cryptocurrencies, at least in terms of reporting on the actual news relating to the subject, the regulatory environment remains as murky and as uncertain as ever. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are banned in around a half-dozen countries around the world and it remains to be seen how some of the major economies will decide to deal with ICOs. Still, despite the uncertainty, coins need to be mined and it is more likely than not that the cost to mine a single bitcoin is only likely to grow over time.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

To begin with, electricity usage is going higher and higher, and given the strong pricing power electric utility companies tend to have, the prices will increase over time and likely top that of inflation. More importantly, the difficulty of mining bitcoin will increase over time, that’s because there are more than 16.8 million bitcoin tokens in circulation, leaving fewer than 4.1 million left to be mined. As that difficulty increases and block rewards decline, the margin for mining bitcoin is probably going to decrease. Said differently, if bitcoin’s price keeps falling, or if mining costs keep climbing, mining operations will probably go through consolidation phase and relocate to a handful of most profitable countries. On that note, recently published analysis conducted by Elite Fixtures, which examined the electricity costs of 115 countries, revealed that 24 countries on the list had mining costs for a single bitcoin that topped $10,000, while in South Korean this rose to $26,000 per token.

Of course, you can try your luck with buying into various ICOs and coins that are traded on various exchanges, but given the recent volatility, there is a high probability that you won’t reap rewards as soon as you hoped and worse yet, ever. What makes mining pools such an attractive proposition is that it is a way for multiple units to work together across the internet, combining resources towards the mining of a block by co-operating with each other. Also, mining Bitcoin from mining pool is a lot cheaper than buying Bitcoin from an Exchange. In the end, the pay-out related to the operation is split proportionally between the participants and while this method is not as financially rewarding as solo mining operation, it does provide much more consistent and frequent revenue stream. Oasis Mining, one such platform, allows users to take advantage of a wide range of mining related services, with miners also enjoying the option to mine Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash. Mining starts on the April 1 2018, with initial trading pairs: BTC/BCH, BTC/ETH. The company claims to offer industry-wide competitive pre-sales prices along with a transparent pricing structure and immediate withdrawals. If this wasn’t enough, Oasis Mining also allows users to sell the hashpower of their hardware to a growing community of miners and the company’s farm is located in an area with a stable electricity supply with new mining hardware run in full capacity. The platform offers SHA-256 (S9) miners, the most effective Bitcoin mining hardware.

FCC officially notifies Brooklyn resident of his BTC’s miners “harmful interference” on T-Mobile’s broadband network. #NEWS

The cryptocurrency community is home to a lot of creative and unique projects. We have seen some great innovations, transparent Ponzi schemes, and now a crypto-oriented harassment campaign against Bitcoin Cash. Known as BTrash, this new project aims to inform the general public about useless currencies, and more specifically, about Bitcoin Cash. It is evident this project is not to be taken seriously, even though it does send a rather clear message to the rest of the community.

BTrash is A Rather Offensive Project

We can only applaud efforts regarding free speech and informing people about the potentially useless currencies out there. With so many different coins to choose from, there are quite a few currencies in existence which serve no real purpose whatsoever. A lot of them will never amount to much in the future, as there simply isn’t anything that sets them apart from other currencies.

The BTrash project is a mix of good banter and an “attack” against Bitcoin Cash. While it is evident there is a lot of opposition as far as Bitcoin Cash is concerned right now, that doesn’t mean people should go around calling it “trash”. Unlike some other currencies, there are use cases for BCH, with payment service providers integrating this altcoin as a payment method. Moreover, various other companies are showing an interest in Bitcoin Cash as well, which means there is a growing interest in this currency as we speak.

BTrash is a “currency” of sorts, even though it doesn’t have any official wallets. It is possible to “purchase” tokens in exchange for Ethereum, as the project has a dedicated FAQ regarding purchasing BTH with MetaMask. There is no coin sale address filled in, though, indicating this is a project trying to teach people a lesson about cryptocurrency ICOs as well. Not every project claiming to raise money is worth investing in, for obvious reasons.

There is a way to earn BTrash, but it requires a lot of work through social media. More specifically, the assignment is to offer severe criticism of Bitcoin Cash, mainly on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Even articles or YouTube videos published to simply bash Bitcoin Cash are fair game. Moreover, users need to mention that Bitcoin Trash is the “real Bitcoin Cash” to be eligible for BTH rewards.

With a total of over 3 million BTH to be awarded for these bounties, it will be interesting to see if people take the team up on its offer. There is a genuine dislike of Bitcoin Cash in the real world, but it’s doubtful many people will go through the trouble of bashing BCH for this “token”. Why anyone would go through the trouble of bashing an established altcoin simply for the fun of it is rather difficult to explain. Then again, people will do some odd things in return for financial rewards these days.

It is evident the BTrash project is quite interesting to some, even though it makes no sense to most of the world right now. Since the project has no real token by the look of things – although it could easily be created on top of Ethereum – the project simply wants Bitcoin Cash to disappear and ensure Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that people care about. Whether or not this venture will prove successful remains to be determined.

A general understanding of the benefit of Blockchain technology, and to a bigger extent, smart contracts, will lead one to see similarities between the business world and the relationships within them, as well as contract disputes.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

When it comes to making business contract, and a dispute arises, that dispute is usually because of unfulfilled promises and the interpretation of such. This can lead to big issues where arbitration, mediation, and even litigation can be brought in leading to an expensive and time consuming process.

Litigation especially is a costly endeavor, especially for contractual disputes, and this has led to Jury.Online taking disputes and contracts onto the Blockchain.

But there is more fairness that Jury.Online is trying to enforce, and this time on a level it is familiar with, taking aim at ICOs, and holding them accountable.

Bringing responsibility to the ICO marketplace

One of the interesting strings to Jury.Online’s bow is what it can bring to making ICOs responsible for their projects, and the funding they receive from investors.

Currently, other than a nice looking white paper, and a few vague points of reference on a road map along with unknown faces on the team page, there is not much accountability for ICOs.

Jury.Online is challenging this scam-worthy way of doing things by implementing a multi step smart-contracts protocol with escrow function and arbitration option into every upcoming ICO.

Essentially, with the use of their protocol, an ICO can reach milestones that are set on the Blockchain which are essentially smart contracts.

Each time a milestone is passed the team places the outcome in the Blockchain providing investors with clear evidence that a result was reached and “a promise has been kept” otherwise no further funding will be released to the project.

Jury.Online’s responsible ICO manifesto comes at a perfect time as recent guidance set out by the New York State Department of Financial Services. The department is looking to crack down on market manipulation and other wrongful activity, and this has been addressed to all virtual currency business entities.

Jury.Online’s aim is to bridge this divide of trust between investors and ICOs and as such they could play a major role in the advancing a secure and trustworthy cryptocurrency and Blockchain space going forward.

Holding your end up

The beauty of the Blockchain, and the smart contracts that can be utilized along the Ethereum network, is that when ends are met that are pre determined, the outcome is assured and unchangeable.

The Blockchain ensures that once a threshold has been met, the outcome will be reached. In relation to a business contract, the decision can be reached and agreed upon, and then the contract can be executed and met without the need of interference from a third party to verify.

With Jury.Online, parties agree on the terms of a deal, deposit their funds into an escrow account, and then fulfill their end of the deal. This completes the smart contract and the deal is done.

However, if a dispute is forthcoming, Jury.Online has a solution for that too.

Dispute resolution

Jury.Online, aside from its deal making capabilities, also allows for disputes to be settled by a panel of anonymous jurors who investigate the claims and make speedily resolutions.

This form of arbitration has many benefits over the usual form as it is conducted by anonymous, multiple parties, whose impartiality is ensured by a rating system which incentivises correct and fair decision making.

Jury.Online’s own ICO begin on February 12 with the pre ICO already underway.

Accountability

Just like the justice system calls for accountability, so Jury.Online is looking to do the same thing with its protocol. From dealmakers to ICOs, the Jury.Online protocol could lead to a lot more accountability, and a lot less grey areas.