Day: March 16, 2018

Bitgrail exchange to refund users’ stolen Nano, in exchange for no legal actions against them. #NEWS

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

Bitcoin enthusiasts woke up to a bit of good news. Following yesterday’s uninspiring price hold at $8,100, bitcoin has jumped by approximately $400 and is now trading at the $8,500 mark – a potential sign that the bulls are making a return.

No doubt, it has been a stressful period for the father of cryptocurrencies. Following Google’s recent announcement that it would no longer support crypto and ICO-related ads on its platform, the prices of bitcoin and several altcoins ultimately plummeted to lows not experienced since last February. Now, only halfway through March, it’s refreshing to see digital currency picking itself up and trying hard to move on.

It’s difficult to say, however, if this jump will be long-term, or will only carry bitcoin to a short point. Fundstrat’s Thomas Lee has commented that bitcoin’s price has dropped so dramatically, the profits one usually sees through mining are practically null and void.

Between equipment costs, electricity and overhead costs like maintenance, the expenditures of mining bitcoin are now equal to the currency’s price. As a result, incentives are practically non-existent if bitcoin decides that a northward trek is beyond its capabilities in the coming weeks, and many miners are either “hanging up their helmets” for good, or at least until the market proves as bullish as it did during early January.

One major topic of concern for most bitcoin advocates is the lack of knowledge amongst incoming investors. Figures like Vasant Prabhu, chief financial officer at Visa, share the idea that most Americans, though potentially infiltrating the bitcoin arena, know little to nothing about it. They have simply heard the name tossed about, know that it nearly reached $20,000 last December, and figure they’ll get in on the action. It’s all part of a “get rich quick” type of attitude.

The problem, however, is that bitcoin, thus far, has been unable to emulate the success it experienced in 2017. For many new investors, the coin has repeatedly been a disappointment – sinking faster and faster into the red zone before major positive change can occur. Many then seek to sell their coins, believing they have nothing to offer and that the whole scenario was part of an elaborate scam. These massive sell-offs then work to bring the price down even further.

The situation comes full circle when these investors lose all their interest in bitcoin, and ultimately turn their backs on it permanently.

For “green” traders, bitcoin has become more of a fad than a legit way of building an investment profile and subsequent profit. In not giving their investments the necessary time to grow, bitcoin is not able to garner the attention it needs (and deserves) to mold into something bigger.

Even more troublesome is that bitcoin remains something of a “small phenomenon,” with a new survey from Finder.com suggesting that less than ten percent of Americans trade or hold cryptocurrency. Granted this phenomenon could grow and finally hit mainstream status, bitcoin’s price would likely travel northward faster than ever anticipated, and 2017 could not be classified as a fluke.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

The co-founder of PayPal says there will be only one online equivalent to gold, and bitcoin, as the ‘biggest’ cryptocurrency, will triumph.

One of the NBA’s latest prospects is Jontay Porter. The 18-year-old has high hopes for the future. Firstly, of course, he’s wanting to be picked in June’s draft. Secondly, he’d love to help his team, the Missouri Tigers, win the NCAA Tournament that they’re competing in. Finally, he’s hoping for a big rebound off the court – in the cryptocurrency market.

An Enterprising Young Mind

In a recent interview with the Kansas City Star, the young NBA hopeful spoke of his interest in cryptocurrency and how he himself was invested in Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and Tron. He told the publication about how he approached putting together his diverse crypto portfolio:

“I did my own research, obviously; that’s what you should always do if you’re investing… I’m obviously not going to put all of my money in cryptocurrency.”

He started by buying $300 worth of Bitcoin. This was followed by smaller purchases of more crypto assets using his student-athlete allowance.

Unfortunately, the Tigers’ leading rebounder was forced to cash out some of his investment. He explained to the Star how he had been bought a used SUV by his parents. Owing them the money back and with no way to pay it yet, he was forced to sell half of his crypto assets. He was, however, careful to keep some skin in the game as he’s optimistic of a rebound in the markets:

“I was kind of sad, because [the market] was about to bounce back. But my mom needed it right away.”

Missouri Tigers’ assistant coach and father of the budding basketball star turned investor, Michael Porter Sr., told the publication about his son’s inquisitive mind. He said, “he’s  always been a thinker.” Meanwhile, Lisa Porter, the teenage athlete’s mother added:

“He had the gumption to just do it… All my other kids would really debate over it.”

From a young age, Jontay had an inquisitive mind and sought ways to turn that into financial gain. In the Sixth Grade, he started dismantling, repairing, and jail-breaking his iPhones. This transformed into something of a business. He’d advertise his repair services for cracked screens and the like on CraigsList. He always made sure to undercut the local businesses offering the same services in his town.

Of course, Jontay Porter isn’t the first athlete to embrace cryptocurrency. The US Winter Olympic luge team famously declared that they’d accept Bitcoin donations for their medal challenge this year. Unfortunately, Olympic rules prohibited the team from wearing any Bitcoin branding on their official uniforms. This is a real shame too as the event was held in crypto-loving South Korea and had the whole world’s eyes upon it.

All of us at here NewsBTC are hoping that Jontay Porter is successful in his bid to make the big time as an NBA star. He’ll certainly become one of the higher-profile proponents of Bitcoin if he does. Hopefully, he won’t be shy about plugging his investment interests in his post-match press conferences too!

The post NBA Draft Prospect Jonay Porter is Also a Crypto Fanatic appeared first on NewsBTC.

At the request of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida has halted the activities of four individuals who allegedly promoted deceptive money-making schemes involving cryptocurrencies. These schemes falsely promised participants they could garner huge returns by using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Litecoin to enroll themselves and others.

In a complaint, the FTC alleges that four defendants — Thomas Dluca, Louis Gatto, Eric Pinkston, and Scott Chandler — promoted the chain referral schemes called Bitcoin Funding Team, My7Network, and Jetcoin. Using YouTube videos, social media, and conference calls, the defendants promised big rewards for small payments of Bitcoin or Litecoin. The FTC alleges, however, that the structure of the schemes ensured that few would benefit — and that, in fact, the large majority of participants would fail to recoup their initial investments.

Bitcoin Funding Team, My7Network, and Jetcoin

Two of these schemes — Bitcoin Funding Team and My7Network — required people to use Bitcoin or Litecoin to pay for the right to recruit others into the schemes. There was no product or service to sell, people were simply told to pay in and recruit other people into the program. Supposedly, the more cryptocurrency people paid in, the more they would make. The FTC alleges that these programs were “illegal chain referral schemes.”

“This case shows that scammers always find new ways to market old schemes, which is why the FTC will remain vigilant regardless of the platform – or currency used,” said Tom Pahl, Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The schemes the defendants promoted were designed to enrich those at the top at the expense of everyone else.”

The FTC alleges that a fourth defendant, Scott Chandler, promoted Bitcoin Funding Team and another deceptive cryptocurrency scheme, Jetcoin. Similar to the other two, Jetcoin also promoted a recruitment scheme but also promised investors a fixed rate of return on their initial Bitcoin investments as a result of Bitcoin trading. In a series of promotional calls, Chandler claimed Jetcoin participants could double their investment in 50 days. In reality, the FTC complaint alleges, the scheme failed to deliver on these claims and ceased operation within two months of launching.

In its complaint, the FTC charged that the defendants violated the FTC Act’s prohibition against deceptive acts by misrepresenting the chain referral schemes as bona fide money-making opportunities and by falsely claiming that participants could earn substantial income by participating in the schemes. As requested by the FTC, the court has issued a temporary restraining order and frozen the defendants’ assets pending trial.

These types of complaints have been popping up much more frequently as of late. This year has seen the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission hitting cryptocurrency and blockchain based technology companies with subpoenas and demands for information in a widespread effort to control fundraising and weed out bad players. The CFTC has also been issuing warnings against similar crypto-related fraud schemes called pump and dumps.

The post FTC Halts Activities of Four Floridians Involved in Crypto-Related Chain Referral Schemes appeared first on NewsBTC.

The online betting industry is by far one of the fastest growing industries today, which leaves a lot of room for innovation. The easing of government regulations has been identified as one of the primary growth drivers of the global online gambling market. According to a report published by Interpol, the industry has a turnover of more than $1 trillion. The market is characterized by the presence of several vendors competing to gain market dominance. Yet, this seems to have little or no effect on market players’ innovative instincts.

Today’s betting services are flawed. Betting firms are increasingly growing shy of global expansion, choosing to encourage neither deposits nor withdrawal from players outside their chosen territories, no worldwide support, only local and most known sporting events. Many bookmakers ban foreign users. This is not to say that local players have it easy. These firms charge high commissions as high as 1-3% on money deposit, 1-3% fee on money withdrawals, 0-5% fee on individual player winnings. Let’s not forget that conditions are unfair, and automatic tax cuts on personal income.

In this technologically advanced age, online betting firms are yet to develop a vendor platform, provide public API for developers, and while there exists decentralized, tech-savvy platforms, they can’t provide fast betting services to match their “low-tech” competitors. The solution of the problems described above is the Betrium.

Betrium, the solution

Betrium, the platform with its ICO scheduled from 26th March 2018 to 29th April 2018, is a solution developed by a group of entrepreneurs and MIT and MIPT graduates. The platform offers the first partly decentralized worldwide betting service (betting exchange and sport-book) with zero-commissions and cryptocurrency support. Betrium also provides a platform for event organizers, developers, and third-party service providers.

So, what makes Betrium stand out?

After months of research and analysis of betting and gambling markets and bookmakers’ business model, Betrium’s developers decided to build their own advanced and fair service based on powerful blockchain technology. On Betrium, bets happen off-chain and only added when the event happens, and the outcome is undeniable. The bets are instantly broadcasted over the network to recalculate. This means that in contrast to their competitors, Betrium’s developers are able to provide a high-speed betting service built on decentralized IT architecture. This is an outcome that not just any solution powered by Ethereum blockchain can provide, in the speed required for professional betting and trading on sports.

A decentralized service is revolutionizing the nature of online betting and, in the future, Betrium will revolutionize overall gambling. The platform will accept deposits and withdrawals from users across the world, with worldwide support for 25 to 30 countries, and features all sports events all around the world. User balances will be fixed in USD/EUR. The reason for this is so users can be protected by integrating exchange functionality.

Commission-wise, Betrium wins. The platform will charge astonishingly low commissions than the industry average. A 0-1% fee will be charged on money deposits, withdrawals, and winnings. Not only will the Betrium platform support fiat currency but also popular cryptocurrencies such as BTC, ETH, LTC, XZC, and DASH. Due to its nature, accepting cryptocurrencies among other implemented concepts, Betrium can’t take taxes on the personal earnings of individuals. So players are assured of receiving their winnings in equal measure.

For event organizers, Betrium will offer a dedicated platform which seeks to provide them with an opportunity to create events and particularly cyber sports streams and make a profit on betting using a powerful blockchain technology. On the other hand, developers will be granted access to an open public RESTful API, so they may create as many betting bots as possible, build their own third-party apps and betting service providers, using Betrium’s core. This will help the Betrium team expand the scope of the user experience beyond what is already available in the system.

The token sale

The building block of the Betrium platform, its business model, is actually designed to make money for the founders, investors, and customers. So, Betrium is launching an ICO to raise funding for the world’s most advanced gambling platform. The Betrium tokens (BTRM) are decentralized ERC20 tokens based on the Ethereum blockchain. A total of 140,000,000 BTRM will be emitted and no tokens will be issued after the sale ends.

Betrium’s ICO starts on 26th March and ends on 29th April, in which 63,000,000 BTRM, equal to 45% of the total supply will be distributed. The price of BTRM tokens will depend on the number of tokens issued during the ICO. The soft cap is set at 1200 ETH while the hard cap is 22,000 ETH. Unsold tokens will be burnt after the ICO. Betrium Tokens will be transferable and listed on the exchange once the initial sale is completed.

The post Betrium Is Launching an ICO to Raise Funding for the World’s Most Advanced Gambling Platform appeared first on NewsBTC.

Cryptocurrency is notorious for its volatility, but what if there were a way to remove this constant problem? While a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin is fungible, portable, durable, tradable, and valuable, it lacks a stable value. Mom and pop stores and large firms alike have been wary of accepting Bitcoin payments because price fluctuations aren’t a gamble they want to factor into running day to day business.

Some say stablecoins are the solution for cryptocurrency volatility, while others are skeptical of claims of controlling the will of a market. Are stablecoins the key to a stable digital currency or just a short-term investment trend that’s likely to fade?

What’s the Purpose of a Stablecoin?

With cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum continually changing value on any given day, not everyone wants to ride that price roller coaster all the time. Enter Stablecoins.

Stablecoins are digital assets designed to maintain a consistent price, often pegged to a fiat currency like the US dollar or collateralized against commodities like gold. They are a store of value like the money you’d traditionally keep in a savings account and not a speculative investment. They’re backed by real-world collateral, rather than mined or distributed. All commodities including the US dollar and gold (or any tradable asset, for that matter) are part of an open market. Since other commodities fluctuate in value, how can stablecoins truly control their values over time?

Stable in Name Only?

By design, stablecoins should not fluctuate much in price, but an early stablecoin, Bitshares, and a recent stablecoin, the Dai from MakerDAO, both show that volatility might not be so easy to control.  

As seen below, one DAI was supposed to be worth US$1, but it’s been as low as US$0.82 and as high as US$1.17 just in the last few months.

Pegged to the US Dollar: Tether, Nubits, Truecoin

Tether is the most successful and widely-known stablecoin; it’s an ERC-20 token supported on the Ethereum Network. It’s only sold and not bought back; you have to sell it to other people. Tether sells Tethers for US$1, and that’s all they do. If you want to get rid of your Tether, you have to sell it on the open market for whatever you can get, which is sometimes a little more or less than you think. This can be frustrating if you want to count on your money having a specific value only to find it’s not tradable at that price.

Tether is valued at over US$2.3 billion dollars, which is the 15th highest market cap listed on CoinMarketCap. In December 2017, the FTC subpoenaed Tether, and it continues to investigate whether Tether truly owns more than two billion dollars in its reserves.

Like Tether, NuBits are pegged to the US dollar, with one dollar equivalent to one NuBit. Its claim to fame is that it’s the first stablecoin to sustain a yearlong $1 value. NuBits controls its coin’s value by getting shareholders to place buy and sell orders at US$1.00 for Nubits, rewarding them with revenue from sales of NuBit’s external cryptocurrency, NuShares.

Pegged to Gold: Digix

Digix maintains a one-to-one ratio between its DGX token and the price of one gram of gold. You can trade your DGX for actual gold, as it’s backed by the gold standard of yore, which used to support the dollar.

Stablecoins backed by multiple commodities: MakerDAO, WorldFree

MakerDAO uses a smart contract-based trading system to maintain a stable value for its stablecoin, the DAI. Like Tether and NuBits, the DAI is pegged to the dollar, but its price has fluctuated a few times, decreasing to around eighty cents on the low end.

MakerDAO started out in 2014 without an ICO or advertising, focusing on security, just as Bitshares came to market as the first stablecoin attempt. In a presentation in NYC last month, CEO Rune Christiansen explained that “DAI remains stable similarly to the gold standard” using a collateralized debt system. Anyone holding its governance token, Maker (MKR), makes decisions about businesses putting up collateral to borrow its equivalent in DAI. Holders of MKR collect bonus funds when the price of DAI exceeds a dollar (rewards are sent by trading bots), but they can also lose value if the DAI price drops, and MKR tokens are automatically sold to prop the DAI price back up to a dollar.  

The Freemark, offered by Worldfree, is supposed to be pegged to a basket of twenty different commodities managed through its own central bank. Its founder explains, “It runs on a Nodechain, which offers transaction speed much faster than a blockchain, at much greater security.” Freemark investors are rewarded over time in Freemarks.

Tied to Oil: The Petro (Pretty Slick)

The Venezuelan Petro is the new national cryptocurrency of Venezuela, with 100 million Petros backed by 100 million barrels of oil. The Venezuelan government has an ugly history with crypto, and mining has cost many citizens their lives. But if you can’t beat crypto, why not join it? Venezuela’s Petro is an attempt to capitalize on its citizens’ interest in crypto, as many have converted their life savings into crypto in response to the volatility of the Venezuelan fiat currency.  

We want control, but is it truly in reach?

We have a strong desire for security as humans. For business owners, accepting an unstable currency in exchange for goods doesn’t make sense, and while this is one of the barriers to major adoption of cryptocurrencies as payments, fixing their prices might not be the answer. Neither currencies nor markets are closed systems, so while stablecoins are a grand idea, they may not be the solution.

Stephanie Avakian, a co-director of the U.S. SEC’s Enforcement Division, said the agency is investigating “dozens” of ICO campaigns.

Let’s face it. There’s a slight problem with cryptocurrencies and no, it’s not the issue of regulation. And no, it’s probably not the volatile markets or any other buzzwords or catchphrases you can think of.

Spoilt for choice?

It comes down to the eye-watering amount of pending and existing cryptocurrencies. CoinMarketCap.com has, at present, 1,565 coins and tokens listed; it’s a mind-bogglingly large number of cryptocurrencies and, to an outsider, it doesn’t quite make sense.

Cryptocurrencies are viewed as these odd digital credits that you can purchase for real money and well, that’s about it.

Unless you’ve painstakingly spent the time searching around for places and businesses in which you can go to spend your cryptocurrencies, then you’re likely nonplussed about the whole Bitcoin boom. And if you have taken it upon yourself to search for a place, you’ll come up with a few traders and merchants that accept Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), Ethereum (ETH) or any of the ‘big coins’ in the business.

Or too many cooks?

Then there is the second part of this issue. It comes in the form of a question and be prepared to think about this one. When there are 180 UN-approved currencies in the world, what good is it to have 1,565 coins?

The logical conclusion would be that the majority of these coins are entirely redundant, but that just isn’t the case.

A staggeringly large number of coins are utility tokens that solely function within an internal economy on their native platform, and this also is by no means is a particularly healthy situation for the industry at large.

Imagine that, to access your Google Drive Cloud storage you had to pay with a cryptocurrency to do so. Every single time you acted within its cloud storage platform it would be ‘fuelled’ or ‘funded’ by a coin designed explicitly to do so.

Well, you have all your cloud-storage tokens, now how about some Starbucks tokens to get your coffee? Do you have enough Apple tokens to make purchases through the App store or have you not converted enough of those tokens from the tokens you use to pay your rent?

Notice anything odd with the above?

Cryptocurrencies by their hundreds tackle niches within industries, offer solutions to some particularly fringe topics which may excite the novice or veteran traders who know how to navigate the markets profitably.

But to assume that the everyday cryptocurrency users will happily and continuously go through the process of converting their primary coins such as BTC or ETH to gain access to things that regular currency can buy? It just doesn’t seem logical and will stifle the blockchain industries’ efforts to get adopted en masse globally.

The single-use tokens that exist will have to shorten out at some point if there is to be any hope for the industry to have an easily accessible, widely available and uncomplicated future for its consumers. To the average onlooker, it’s safe to say that less is more.

The post Single-purpose cryptocurrencies have a problem appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

According to statistical studies, the renewable energy sector has drawn a total investment of over US$242 billion to date. However, investment has dipped recently due to a lack of access to capital funds. Thanks to domination by banks, private equity, and hedge funds, investors are kept out of the energy market, thereby causing a gap within the supply-demand chain for renewable resources.

WePower is an all-new blockchain-based green energy trading platform designed to tap into the existing energy market in a way that allows for optimal resource utilization.

WePower essentially acquires 0.9% of all energy that has been enabled through the platform to its token holders. These native coins (WPR tokens) are then used to accrue green energy that has been donated by renewable resource producers.

As a result, WPR token holders have the ability to use or sell the donated green energy once it has been produced.

Additionally, this system provides renewable energy producers with a platform for raising capital by issuing their own tokens. These tokens can be thought of as representations of the amount of energy one would like to commit to produce and deliver.

Overview of WePower

• Allows for energy tokenization that helps simplify the existing energy investment ecosystem
• Eliminates the need for middlemen, and allows energy producers to directly trade with green energy buyers
• The platform can be used to raise capital by selling energy upfront. This can even be done at rates well below the existing market prices, thereby increasing healthy competition
• Makes use of an innovative transmission system that is driven by individual operators

Key features

WePower is an energy trading platform that bridges the gap that currently exists between energy buyers — householders and investors — and green energy producers. Consequently, it helps customers purchase energy upfront at prices well below the existing market rates.

Key features of the WPR business model

It should also be mentioned that WePower makes use of an energy tokenization model that helps standardize, simplify, and open up the energy investment ecosystem. Not only that, but tokenization also helps ensure liquidity and improves capital access for users.

Additionally, the platform uses a scalable framework that will allow it to integrate with the IoT model.

Lastly, WePower serves as an independent energy supplier. This allows the platform to mesh within the energy grids that are used by local energy exchange markets. WePower makes use of real-time tracking modules that help procure data on produced and consumed energy, as well as on current rates from various energy grids and exchange markets.

How WePower works

For starters, once a renewable energy producer has been connected to the platform, all of his or her future energy production is tokenized. To be more specific, each kWh unit that is received by the company is converted into one internal energy token.

Overview of how the WePower platform works (courtesy of the whitepaper)

Thus, when a producer requires capital to finance his or her project on a larger scale, he or she is given the option to sell a portion of the energy that he or she will produce in the future to the WePower platform.

It should be noted that investors acquire all of this energy in the form of internal tokens, with each coin representing a smart contract unto itself. The smart contract is automated and comes with predefined information pertaining to:

• The type of energy being delivered
• A time-stamp describing the production and delivery date for the energy
• An immutable price tag

Additionally, this digital contract also represents a standard power purchase agreement that helps eliminate any issues related to sudden price hikes and supply disputes that arise at a later stage.

About the project

With the WePower platform promising big things in the future, it is important to have a look at the people running this operation.

At the helm, we have Nikolaj Martyniuk, who is the company’s co-founder and CEO. Nikolaj has been in the international renewable energy domain for a decade and has previously worked with a wide array of independent energy suppliers. He is also one of the founding partners of Smart Energy Fund.

Artūras Asakavičius is also a co-founder with a background in regulation and fintech. He has worked with an array of lawyers, blockchain businesses, as well as law firms in the past. Artūras is also the former chairman of the Lithuanian Fintech Association.

Lastly, Kaspar Kaarlep is the CTO of this venture. He has previously worked in a similar position for a national DSO whose aim was to help integrate green energy into smart grids. Kaspar is also a well-known speaker at various European conferences, with his talks focusing on domains such as energy system digitalization and implementation of big data analytics.

Token Performance

Released in February of this year, the price of WPR tokens has remained relatively stable. Due to its newness, it is difficult to assess the future price performance of this currency.

WPR token lifetime performance chart (courtesy of CoinMarketCap)

WPR was introduced at a rate of US$0.20. The token hit its peak value on the 26th of February when the price of one WPR scaled up to US$0.28. Since then, its price has dropped and the currency now stands at US$0.11 (as of March 14).

Final Thoughts

WePower offers a platform that can potentially help usher in the next generation of utility companies that are based entirely on the principles of decarbonization, democratization, and decentralization.

By combining elements of blockchain, smart contracts, and data analytics, WePower can mold the future of this planet in a direction that will not only help save natural resources but also help create more social awareness.

If you would like to start investing in WePower, WPR trading pairs are currently being offered on Huobi, Liqui, IDEX and Fork Delta.

Plattsburgh New York has banned crypto mining following resident complaints of power bill increases due to mining activities. #NEWS