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Bitcoin Private a Triple Fork: Fork of a Fork of a Fork

The world of cryptocurrency has seen many intriguing changes. Currencies are created out of thin air, whereas some of them are effective “forks” of others. In the case of Bitcoin Private, it is safe to say this is a fork of a forked currency that was also forked from Bitcoin. Not necessarily something that makes … Continue reading Bitcoin Private a Triple Fork: Fork of a Fork of a Fork

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The world of cryptocurrency has seen many intriguing changes. Currencies are created out of thin air, whereas some of them are effective “forks” of others. In the case of Bitcoin Private, it is safe to say this is a fork of a forked currency that was also forked from Bitcoin. Not necessarily something that makes a lot of sense to people.

Too Much Forking Action

On paper, there is nothing wrong with forking existing cryptocurrencies. In most cases, this is done due to technical disagreements or a completely different vision. Bitcoin has seen its fair share of forks, although only one of them has effectively succeeded so far. Bitcoin Cash is, by far, the most stable forked off Bitcoin on the market. However, this trend of forking Bitcoin goes back for quite some time.

People who keep a close eye on privacy-oriented currencies will know about ZCash. This privacy-oriented coin has made some great headlines over the past 18 months. It is not an anonymous currency, though, as it lacks all necessary traits to achieve that goal. Few people are aware of how ZCash was effectively created. It is a Bitcoin fork at its core, with different features added on top of it. As such, it derives from the original Bitcoin “path” right away.

ZCash has seen its own forked currency, known as ZClassic. It removes some aspects of ZCash and replaces them with other solutions. As such, ZClassic is – in theory – based on Bitcoin, but it is even further removed from the original currency than its own predecessor ZCash. Hence, a fork of a fork is created, which is already confusing to most novice cryptocurrency enthusiasts.

What About Bitcoin Private?

Here is where things get really interesting. Bitcoin Private is a so-called Bitcoin fork, yet it does not derive from that code base directly. Instead, it is a fork of ZClassic. This means we are now dealing with a fork of a forked currency, which also forked from Bitcoin. It is quite confusing, as it seems Bitcoin Private has even less to do with Bitcoin than either ZCash or ZClassic do right now. Even so, the developers choose to use the term “Bitcoin” as part of their brand.

Moreover, it seems Bitcoin Private caused some big market spikes for ZClassic. Its value has skyrocketed and then crashed once Bitcoin Private went live. The free airdropped tokens to ZCL holders are probably the main reason for this development. Once people got the currency they actually wanted, they sold ZCL back on the open market to crash its price altogether.  As such, ZCL is now back to its pre-fork prices.

The main question is whether or not Bitcoin Private is a threat to BTC itself. Right now, that does not appear to be the case, but things can change quickly. It also means we have another currency with “Bitcoin” in the name to deal with. For novice users, Bitcoin Private will only add more confusion and unnecessary friction. For now, we will have to wait and see how things play out in this regard. A fork of a fork of a fork is not necessarily a positive development.

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Fujitsu Touts New Tech to Detect Ethereum Smart Contract Bugs

Japanese IT giant Fujitsu has revealed a new technology that it says could help to mitigate problems with ethereum’s smart contracts.

Japanese IT giant Fujitsu has revealed a new technology that it says could help to mitigate problems with ethereum’s smart contracts.

Saifu, a Simple and Secure Cryptocurrency Solution

There’s a paradigm shift underway. The steady growth in popularity and value of cryptocurrencies in the past few years is forcing people to rethink the concept of money. At this point, it seems certain that cryptocurrencies will play a major role in how we store and exchange value in the future. We are on the … Continue reading Saifu, a Simple and Secure Cryptocurrency Solution

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There’s a paradigm shift underway. The steady growth in popularity and value of cryptocurrencies in the past few years is forcing people to rethink the concept of money. At this point, it seems certain that cryptocurrencies will play a major role in how we store and exchange value in the future. We are on the cusp of a digital revolution not unlike the explosion of the internet retailers of the last two decades.

In 2017, the major cryptocurrencies exploded in value – Bitcoin is worth ten times what it was one year ago, Ether is 66 times more valuable, Ripple is worth almost 200 times more. Obviously, this level of growth has attracted a lot of interest. Everyone wants an investment with that sort of value. However, for most people cryptocurrencies can be difficult to buy, hard to keep safe and impossible to use for many day-to-day financial transactions.

Currently, a user can buy Bitcoin from an exchange like Coinbase or Binance using their credit card, for a fee. But then the user has a difficult decision: what do they do with their Bitcoin? They can leave it on the exchange, but a number of major exchanges have been hacked, gone insolvent, or simply disappeared with their customers’ money. They can transfer the Bitcoin to an online wallet, but this also presents a lot of security risks. The transfer could be monitored by hackers, who would then have access to the Bitcoin. Alternatively, the user could transfer their Bitcoin to a hardware wallet. This is the most secure solution but also presents security risks. The Bitcoin is now sitting on a computer. What if it fails, or is stolen? And what can the user do with those Bitcoin? Transfer them back to an exchange and sell them, then transfer the funds back to their account? That’s an unwieldy process with fees at every step.

These safety concerns and the lack of integration between fiat and cryptocurrencies have given potential users the impression that cryptocurrencies are only for the technologically inclined. Many businesses would consider the benefits of accepting cryptocurrencies, but this perception makes them reluctant.

Cryptocurrencies cannot remain the exclusive domain of the techies. Saifu is a startup out of Europe that wants to make cryptocurrencies easy to buy, sell and spend, all with bank-grade security and regulation.

Fiat and Cryptocurrencies on One Secure Platform

Saifu’s goal is to make cryptocurrencies accessible to the average consumer in a secure and simple platform. After a simple onboarding procedure that satisfies Know Your Client (KYC) regulations, a Saifu user will have access to a single account capable of holding both cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies. They’ll be issued a Mastercard linked to this account, and can use the Saifu mobile app to check balances, send payments, and exchange fiat and cryptocurrencies.

These are IBAN accounts, designed to remove the complexity surrounding the crypto-economy, without compromising the security of either currency. To ensure this, the platform will provide a multi-layered, bank-grade security system, with the key purpose of providing customers with security for all their deposits.

The founders of the firm are Alexander Legoshin and Evgeny Vigovskly. Legoshin is an entrepreneur, investor and former board member at Rigas Gaze. Vigovsky was the global head of Kaspersky Lab’s DDoS protection, where he worked for over 12 years. They have both introduced high-tech products and services to the global market. Using their experience in fintech, information security, blockchain technology, product management and software development, they have spearheaded the creation and development of the Saifu platform.

Established in 2016, Saifu has already developed a range of personal services for consumers, and are operating in a closed beta. The firm will introduce additional services for businesses and financial institutions, as well as expanding their range of services to consumers. Registration for the open beta version is available now at Saifu.ai.

Saifu Features

For businesses, Saifu provides a product that helps to store and use fiat and cryptocurrencies for their daily operations. Saifu enables them to easily establish payroll programs in both cryptocurrency and fiat currency and facilitates cryptocurrency acquisition and payments for both online and offline business. Saifu will soon issue branded prepaid debit cards that are linked to the business’s Saifu accounts, making a fiat or cryptocurrency transaction as easy as it would be using a traditional bank as an intermediary.

For individuals, Saifu will provide a simple and secure platform that lets them buy, sell, and spend cryptocurrencies seamlessly. Users can rest easy knowing their cryptocurrencies are safe from hackers, protected by Thales nShield hardware security modules. Their fiat currencies will be similarly protected in IBAN accounts, connected to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) and integrated with the Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA). They’ll be issued Saifu Mastercard prepaid debit cards that can be used anywhere Mastercard is accepted, and Saifu intends to later add NFC functionality so users can pay with their phone via Apple Pay, Android Pay, or Samsung Pay. Fiat purchases can be instantly funded with the user’s cryptocurrencies.

The Future of Saifu

Saifu hopes to unveil the above features in their open beta, available Q2 ’18, but they have big plans for the future. Saifu will continue development of their trading bot for cryptocurrencies, using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and big data. Saifu will apply for principal licenses from both Visa and MasterCard, achieving their goal of becoming an authorized payment institution with an Electronic Money Institution license.

Saifu is in the midst of their ICO, which opened on February 19, and is set to end on April 30, 2018. The Saifu token (SFU) will be used to pay for all transaction fees on the Saifu website and app, and token holders will be eligible for cashback and other bonuses. They’re currently offered at a price of 0.0001 BTC. The tokens are ERC20 compliant and Saifu expects they will be traded on the three exchanges from the start, in addition to the Saifu platform. The soft cap is set at $10,000,000 and the hard cap at $49,000,000. Much of the ICO funding will go to expanding to new jurisdictions and additional licenses, which have high liquidity requirements. Additional funding will pay for marketing, infrastructure, and R&D.

Saifu promises an easy and secure way for consumers to buy, sell, and use their cryptocurrencies, and offers useful crypto services for businesses. With these features, Saifu has the potential to become a household name across the globe.

Learn more about Saifu at – http://saifu.ai/ 

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RewardMob: a New Dimension in Gaming for Players and Developers

Mobile Gaming Market Mobile games have exploded in popularity over the last decade, thanks to Apple’s iPhone and the App Store. By 2017, the industry grew to almost 3 billion active players and generated more than $43 billion in revenue globally. The field contributes 47% of revenue and is the leading gaming segment. Greater than … Continue reading RewardMob: a New Dimension in Gaming for Players and Developers

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Mobile Gaming Market

Mobile games have exploded in popularity over the last decade, thanks to Apple’s iPhone and the App Store. By 2017, the industry grew to almost 3 billion active players and generated more than $43 billion in revenue globally. The field contributes 47% of revenue and is the leading gaming segment.

Greater than 2.2 million mobile apps exist in the App Store and almost a million of these are gaming apps. Due to the abundance of games, developers must continually find ways to connect games with players, keep players engaged, and find new and better ways to increase monetization.

One of the first “cryptogaming” companies in existence, RewardMob aims to take over the $906 million mobile eSports industry.

What is RewardMob?

Blockchain technology has proven so efficient and reliable that it is now being incorporated into more and more industries that can utilize and benefit from the inherent speed, security, and immutability of the ledger.

RewardMob is a mobile eSports reward platform that harnesses the power of blockchain technology through integration with the Waves platform. Game Developers partner with RewardMob to allow their players the opportunity to earn RewardMob loyalty tokens (RMOB), cash and other prizes when participating in Free-to-Play mobile eSports tournaments. The platform can be easily integrated into any mobile game and RewardMob then facilitates the fully managed tournaments.

Alongside the Free-to-Play tournaments, RewardMob is set to launch a Pay-to-Play version later in the year, as well as Weekend Championship tournaments with high-roller pots on the Free-to-Play platform in Q2 of 2018.

Growth Model

Due to the potential for millions of users and the enormous amount of transactions which will occur on the platform each day, the RewardMob developers chose to utilize the speed and security of the Waves platform.

The RewardMob app was released in 2017 and already has over 50,000 users – each of which also has a wallet on the Waves platform that securely holds the RewardMob digital currency otherwise known as the RMOB token.

As game developers partner with RewardMob, their players are offered the option of creating a RewardMob account which will be required to participate in tournaments and earn rewards in the games. Therefore, growth is organic and potentially explosive. If successful, RewardMob will help to make the Waves platform one of the most widely used blockchain platforms in existence.

The RewardMob Advantage

Once a player is introduced to the world of competitive gaming, mobile esports can prove very addicting. The more skilled the player, the better the chance of a winning placement in a tournament. The longer the game is played, the more opportunity to win tokens, cash, and other prizes. Gamers are motivated to play which naturally results in increased session times and improved player loyalty.

Another advantage of using the blockchain-powered platform is increased monetization; RewardMob shares a portion of ad revenue with game developers and advertiser engagement is central to keeping the Free-to-Play platform free to both players and developers. While most game development studios are figuring out ways to introduce ads into games without frustrating players, RewardMob takes the ads out of the game and centralizes them within the RewardMob app. Advertiser engagement is voluntary and linked to the reward opening process thereby making the process much more gratifying. As rewards will collect in the RewardMob app and can be opened at any time, at no point does advertiser engagement interrupt gameplay – a key feature of the RewardMob design.

The platform encourages players to churn between the games within the RewardMob community thereby connecting players to new titles and enhancing discovery without significant effort or cost on the part of the developer.

RewardMob allows developers to increase player retention and gameplay, improve the player experience, and add revenue stream with additional monetization, faster payouts, and the absence of chargebacks.

Compare this to the current model in which it can take up to 90 days for game developers to receive payments from ad networks and chargebacks can run as high as 18% and the advantages are clear!

What Do the Numbers Say?

  • 187% – Increase in gameplay session time
  • 212% – Increase in user retention
  • 257% – Increase in revenue
  • 94% – Rewards opened versus won/earned
  • 50k+ – Number of users
  • 3m+ – Total number of rewards opened
  • 8m+ – RMOB tokens won
  • 500k+ – Number of tournament entries

Turn Any Mobile Game into a Competitive eSport in Three Steps

1.Install

Install the RewardMob SDK into the game (drag and drop).

2.Customize

Customize prize distribution in the game with RewardMob.

 3.Republish

Republish the new version of the game.

The RewardMob Tournament Ticket Sale

RewardMob is set to launch a public ticket sale on March 13, 2018.

As the product is live and the platform already features a working token, the RewardMob developers have chosen to take a very different approach to the traditional token sale model. During the public sale, RewardMob will sell entry tickets to the Weekend Championship tournaments which will be held on the Free-to-Play platform. The tickets will be used to bypass the qualifying tournaments for these high-roller pots.

RMOB tokens will never be directly sold through RewardMob. The only way to obtain them is to earn and win them through gameplay or by purchasing them on an exchange after the public sale has ended.

Participants in the public sale will receive one ticket per $1 USD. As a bonus, they will also receive a corresponding number of RMOB tokens dependent on how many tickets are purchased and at what stage of the sale.

The RMOB Token

The RMOB token is the heart and soul of the RewardMob platform.

Unlike traditional mobile games in which any virtual “gems” or “coins” earned can only be used within the same game, the RMOB tokens can be used both within the RMOB platform and within partner games.

Players can remove value from the game at their discretion and have access to any earned or won tokens immediately after the tournament.

Similarly, the token allows for game developers to be paid in real time after every tournament.

Token Usability

The RMOB token allows for a unifying payment method: a currency with which game publishers, game developers, advertisers, and businesses can receive and send funds in a secure environment with faster transaction speeds.

Tokens can also be used for entry to Pay-to-Play tournaments.

Finally, RMOB tokens reward experience and loyalty: users can upgrade their profiles, earn rewards for new player referrals, and redeem tokens for auto spin functionality.

Tournament Tickets (ICO equivalent)
Start date: March 13th, 2018
Start time: 4:00 PM GMT
Minimum transaction: USD 20.00
End date: March 27th, 2018
End time: 8:00 PM GMT
Maximum transaction: USD 10,000.00

Players must acquire tickets to enter Weekend Championship tournaments. Pre-purchasing them during the sale allows eligibility for an early bird bonus of RMOB tokens.

The maximum purchase is 10,000 tickets.

Any unsold tokens will be burned.

Over 30,000 members have registered for the pre-sale.

Accepted payment methods include Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Waves.

RewardMob token supply and distribution

The total token amount created is three billion tokens. The number is fixed in perpetuity.

Token supply and distribution:

  • Game pool: 1.092 Billion [36.4%]
  • Loyalty bonus pool: 1.008 Billion [33.6%]
  • Growth reserve tokens: 0.3 Billion [10%]
  • RewardMob company: 0.6 Billion [20%]
  • Total token supply: 3.0 Billion

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Missing Bitcoin Billions from Mt Gox Linked to UK Company

The Mt Gox hack back in 2014 was one of the largest Bitcoin heists in history. Four years ago cryptocurrency was the relatively unknown domain of tech geeks and futurists so this did not make big news. The Tokyo based exchange handled as much as 70% of the world’s Bitcoin transactions at the time. It … Continue reading Missing Bitcoin Billions from Mt Gox Linked to UK Company

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The Mt Gox hack back in 2014 was one of the largest Bitcoin heists in history. Four years ago cryptocurrency was the relatively unknown domain of tech geeks and futurists so this did not make big news. The Tokyo based exchange handled as much as 70% of the world’s Bitcoin transactions at the time. It has been revealed that a UK company has been linked to the theft of 650,000 Bitcoins from the exchange.

Unraveling the Mt Gox Robbery

According to a BBC report the London-based firm Always Efficient LLP claimed to be operating the exchange at the time though it was not clear who operated the company. Mark Karpeles, who operated Mt Gox, apologized to investors at the time and cooperated with the investigation, at the end of which the FBI arrested a Russian citizen in connection with the theft.

The exchange collapsed when clients could no longer withdraw their funds.  For the first time since the hack Mark Karpeles has spoken out as he told the BBC in a Radio 4 investigation;

“It felt like… when you fall from a building and you see the ground getting closer, and you feel like you are about to die. Mt Gox went from interesting project to being, I would say, a daily nightmare of dealing with banks, governments, people I never knew existed.”

He said, explaining how the site grew rapidly beyond expectations. According to the report investigators now claim that almost half the stolen Bitcoins from Mt Gox ended up at rival exchange BTC-e. The FBI stated that this exchange was a hub for cyber-crime and filtering ill-gotten gains, often in Bitcoin. The exchange claimed to be operated by a British company called Always Efficient LLP. This was likely to be a shell company setup to facilitate the movement of money through several layers hindering the tracking process.

The FBI have linked two more Russians to the BTC-e exchange and documents revealed how the stolen Mt Gox money was laundered through various accounts, usernames, and email addresses allegedly controlled by a Mr Alexander Vinnik.

He was arrested last year in Greece and the US Department of Justice wants to extradite him to face 21 counts of money laundering and other financial crimes in the US. Karpeles was also arrested and charged with embezzlement related to payments worth $2.3 million which he denies.

Japanese bankruptcy laws state that the remaining Bitcoins on Mt Gox were valued at the going rate at the time of the incursion, $420. Those who lost out at the time are hoping to see those coins refunded at the current price which is over $10k. The case is ongoing but investors who lost out in 2014 could still come out on top due to the meteoric rise of Bitcoin over the past year.

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Japanese Banks to Harness Ripple DLT for Consumer Payments App

A group of Japanese banks is planning to use Ripple’s blockchain-based payments technology in a smartphone app aimed at general consumers.

A group of Japanese banks is planning to use Ripple’s blockchain-based payments technology in a smartphone app aimed at general consumers.