Day: March 25, 2018

Forbes

If You Held Bitcoins In 2017 Put Your Tax Return On Extension Forbes Bitcoin has a daily transaction volume over $6 billion. There are nineteen currencies with daily transaction volume over $100 million. So there is a lot going on there, a lot of it in just Bitcoin, but by no means all. As I write this the five top ... and more »

Newsweek

Bitcoin Price Predictions 2018: Expert Says Cryptocurrency Could Be Valued At $30000 By End of Year Newsweek Reports of bitcoin millionaires flooded in as cryptocurrency newbies rushed to get in on the action. Some governments, skeptical of the decentralized digital currency, have put legal restrictions on bitcoin. As well as the G20 meeting, Drake reacted to ... Bitcoin Records 6% Increase as Cryptocurrency Market Jumps $20 ...CCN all 57 news articles »

BOScoin is another cryptocurrency project which aims to make a lasting impact. With so many different currencies to keep an eye on, BOScoin has to bring something unique to the table. This “self-evolving cryptocurrency platform for trust contracts” certainly sounds appealing, and it is a good time to see what this project is all about.

The Concept of BOScoin

While the concept of trust contracts sounds exciting, it needs some explaining. These contracts are designed to be executed on the BOScoin blockchain, and they allow for a decidable and approachable framework. These contracts are securely executable and aim to take the concept of smart contracts to a new level. It is evident this is just one aspect of this particular ecosystem, as there is a lot more to take into account.

Under the Hood

The ecosystem of this particular project is pretty intricate. First of all, there are the Trust Contracts, but they only make up part of the ecosystem. There is also a Commons Budget, which is a public budget for growth and evolution of the network as a whole. The native incentive system also allows for the freezing and confirmation of rewards, which is something well worth keeping an eye on.

There’s also the mFBA consensus algorithm, which is a modified version of the Federated Byzantine Agreement which some people may already be familiar with. More projects with their own types of consensus algorithms is a positive evolution as a whole, although it remains to be seen how things will play out for BOScoin in this regard.

Last but not least, there is the Congress, which allows for a democratic decision-making network. All of this will be supported by various distributed applications, including contract-based services. The BOScoin ecosystem is built on top of owlchain, which uses OWL and TAL to provide the backbone for these Trust Contracts. It’s an interesting approach that will either work flawlessly or backfire in the long run.

BOScoin’s Currency Explained

Since BOScoin uses proof-of-stake for coin freezing, its native currency has some interesting aspects. There will be four ways to issue new coins, which will eventually bring the total to 5 billion in the next 100 years. The currency will be used to power all of the native network operations.

The Road Ahead

There is still a lot of work to be done before BOScoin can make its mark on the industry. Right now, the team is working on deploying the main net, although it is unclear when this will happen exactly. The project will also receive public financing at some point this year, and BOScoin’s exclusive P2P exchange will be introduced at some point as well.

CNBC

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey says bitcoin will eventually be the single global currency: Report CNBC Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter and Square, expects bitcoin to become the single global currency within the next decade, he told the Sunday Times newspaper. Dorsey, a personal investor in bitcoin, expects the cryptocurrency to be used for simple things ... and more »

ivyKoin is the first cryptocurrency with built-in Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) systems that aim to provide service to businesses and organizations by developing a cryptocurrency that is transparent, flexible, and scalable.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

With advisors such as Feroz Sanaulla and Josh Maher that have decades of experience in the finance and technology sectors working with multi-billion dollar conglomerates like Commonwealth Bank, Intel, Microsoft, Westpac, PayPal, Mastercard, and Viacom, the ivyKoin development team primarily seeks to serve large-scale businesses.

“ivyKoin is establishing the bridge between cryptocurrencies and today’s existing financial institutions,” said the team. “We see ivyKoin as an opportunity for banks and financial institutions to participate in the blockchain/cryptocurrency world while de-risking the anonymity that is normally associated with existing tokens and coins. The $400 Billion+ crypto market needs stability and structure and ivyKoin will allow for that to occur.”

Earlier this year, Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz stated that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have not been able to appeal to the mainstream as of yet due to the lack of adoption by retailers. While major retailers in regions like Japan and South Korea have started to integrate cryptocurrencies, the level of adoption of major digital currencies still remains low.

“I personally believe that there is going to be a one or a few legitimate trusted digital currencies off of the blockchain technology. And that legitimacy and trust in terms of its consumer application will have to be legitimized by a brand and a brick and mortar environment, where the consumer has trust and confidence in the company that is providing the transaction,” said Schultz.

In the long-term, with sufficient adoption and usage, ivyKoin could become the business-focused cryptocurrency Schultz mentioned, as it allows corporations to utilize digital currencies without the risks and legal issues involved in utilizing cryptocurrencies, namely KYC and AML policies. Usually, upon the discovery of fraudulent operations, companies have to rely on exchanges or wallets do utilize their customer information database to verify identities and match them with transactions.

On the ivyKoin network, the built-in KYC and AML system autonomously handles KYC and AML requests, enabling conglomerates, retailers, and organizations to integrate cryptocurrencies without the legal risks otherwise existent with current blockchain solutions.

“Whether you believe in cryptocurrencies or not, the market has grown too large to ignore. Some banks will be participating in this space to grow their deposits and income. Financial institutions will need to make a call on whether or not they want to be a part of it. ivyKoin’s hypothesis is that value of cryptocurrencies will continue to grow and banks who engage will have a significant competitive advantage over their peers and competitors,” added the ivyKoin team, emphasizing that the cryptocurrency market has grown to a point in which both businesses and governments can either choose to ignore and be isolated, or adapt and lead the industry.

ivyKoin created a Telegram channel in order to facilitate the ongoing cryptocurrency discussion with interested parties. With over 3,300 members to date, the channel is a great place to find common answers to questions and provides the ability to interact with ivyKoin admins. Recently launching a competition to be judged through the platform, ivyKoin has asked followers to compare it to other leading altcoins. The winner will receive  a prize of 5,000 ivyKoin Tokens (current value US$500.00).

The competition is still open and the winner will be announced during the first week of April.

To participate in the competition and interact with the ivyKoin community, join the Telegram channel here: https://t.me/ivyKoinchat.

Even though one would assume a project by the name of Time New Bank has something to do with a new computer font, that is not the case. Instead, this is a brand-new cryptocurrency and blockchain project which focuses on developing an accurate time-value-based transmission network.

The Concept of Time New Bank

It is quite interesting to take note of a precision time-value transmission platform using blockchain technology. The goal of this particular venture is to create a network of three-tiered markets for time-commodity exchange. Building such a standardized system from the ground up will not be easy by any means, yet it will open up some interesting opportunities.

The Technology Under the Hood

While this concept sounds pretty confusing to novice blockchain enthusiasts, how it works is actually pretty simple. Time New Bank wants to build a standardized system to fully express the value of time commodities by leveraging a decentralized value transmission platform. The ultimate goal is to use TNB as the settlement currency to tell both current and future values of time commodities on the market.

As one would expect, such a network cannot operate without a steady “supply” of time exporters, mature time asset operators, and investors. At the same time, there needs to be a genuine demand for these time commodities as well. With blockchain technology, Time New Bank aims to deliver the value needed to make all of this happen. Bringing additional trust to this particular industry will not be easy whatsoever, but the team is confident they can make this happen in the future.

The ecosystem itself will have a few different aspects. First of all, there is the underlying blockchain ledger, combined with a time commodity exposition platform, a time commodity issuance platform, the exchange, and a time asset exchange. On top of all that, we will also see support for DApps, enterprise service middleware, APIs, SDKs, and more.

The TNB Currency Explained

The Time New Bank ecosystem would not be complete without its own currency. In this case, TNB aims to become the standard settlement currency for both current and future time commodities. The big question is whether or not the project can succeed in achieving this goal moving forward, as it is ambitious. TNB is also the go-to instrument for transaction and settlement, yet monetizing it will prove challenging.

The Road Ahead for Time New Bank

For the time being, the main focus lies on building up the massive ecosystem which the Time New Bank team has envisioned. It is evident there is still a lot of work to be done, which also means there is no strict timeline for development. Right now, the project is still in the R&D phase, with a demo version to be tested during the next few months. Later this year or in early 2019, the first version of this platform should come to market.

Fortune

Steven Seagal-Endorsed Bitcoin Knockoff Gets Strong Regulatory Warnings Fortune Regulators in New Jersey and Tennessee are sending clear signals that investors should steer clear of a cryptocurrency endorsed by faded action-film star Steven Seagal. In a perfect world, the warnings would be superfluous. Seagal is the brand ...

A company planning to be the first to use Smart Media Tokens (SMT) on the highly-rated Steem blockchain is aiming to bring cryptocurrency to millions of new users by paying them to use social media.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

APPICS is following in the footsteps of others who have used crypto to reward those who post popular content, but will completely revolutionize the  concept by paying ordinary users as well, returning the value of the network back to the content creators and curators.

The start-up, which has its ICO set for 28 March and plans to launch its app in alpha mode in Q3 2018, hopes to introduce the average social media user to the crypto world with an easy user experience and the  promise of a more generous and transparent distribution of rewards.

It claims that, unlike on other popular social media sites which are run in the interests of shareholders, “APPICS enables all users to earn a fair share, as well as influence in the network, through a cryptocurrency reward-token”.

The company says: “APPICS is more than just a mobile app that lets users monetize their posts and even their voting. APPICS is a revolutionary social mobile app that lets anyone without prior crypto-knowledge benefit from blockchain technology effortlessly.”

In its white paper, the company hints that its app will most resemble photo blogging site Instagram as it aims for a simple, visual approach which it believes has proven most popular with the world’s almost 2.8 billion social media users.

Easy Use System Aims to Encourage New Users

APPICS is one of a number of cryptocurrency start-ups currently aiming to capitalize on social media and a perception that many influencers – especially those who build significant followings but fall short of viral stardom –  feel under-rewarded by established platforms. Japanese firm Patron  and Selfllery have both recently launched plays for this market, but APPICS is aiming for a wider appeal by rewarding ordinary users who simply ‘like’ and interact with content, as well as creators.

The company says it is “bringing crypto to the masses, making it easy and user-friendly. We aim at eliminating all barriers for the average social media user to enter the crypto world, by creating an easy-to-use mobile application that rewards its users.”

Selected brands will be able to use an integrated shop feature, allowing allow users to spend their XAPs easily. It also touts its platform as an ideal venue for charitable giving, as payment can be made seamlessly to an organisation through its profile.

APPICS first to use Seemit’s SMT as currency base

With a pre-sale worth $1.5m that sold out in 26 minutes on December 26, and a currently active bounty program where early adopters can earn free XAP tokens, APPICS claims to be the first to use Steem’s Smart Media Token (SMT) as the base for its tokens. It will run on the Steem blockchain, which emerged as one of the highest rated by Weiss Rating recently.

The company lists Steemit CEO Ned Scott as an advisor, alongside Ethereum Foundation advisory board member Bernd Lapp and Decent.bet CEO Jedidiah Taylor.

APPICS says: “The concept of turning ‘likes’ into currency has proven its feasibility and capability, as seen on Steemit.com with their upvoting system. With full support of and in cooperation with Steemit Inc., APPICS is one of the first meta-tokens to launch on the Steem blockchain that aims at eliminating all barriers for the average social media user to enter the crypto-world.”

The Merkle

DMG Blockchain: Bitcoin Miners Need a BTC Price of $2400 to Break Even The Merkle Secondly, the massive upfront investment in Bitcoin mining hardware makes a lot of people think twice before undertaking such an endeavor. Although mining hardware is not overly expensive – compared to the potential benefit, that is – it is evident ...

Any discussion related to Bitcoin mining is always worth keeping an eye on. Although there are quite a few conflicting opinions on this topic, it has become evident that there are a lot of different factors to take into account at all times. New information from DMG Blockchain shows that mining Bitcoin is a lot more profitable than people would assume.

The Profitability of Bitcoin Mining

There are quite a few factors which will determine whether or not Bitcoin mining is an option worth exploring. First of all, one has to determine the price per kWh, which can make it easier or more difficult to make money while mining Bitcoin. In a lot of countries, the choices are pretty limited in this regard, as cheap electricity is very difficult to come by as of right now.

Secondly, the massive upfront investment in Bitcoin mining hardware makes a lot of people think twice before undertaking such an endeavor. Although mining hardware is not overly expensive – compared to the potential benefit, that is – it is evident this is not spare money everyone has laying around either. Additionally, the Bitcoin network sees regular influxes of additional mining power, which means users need to scale their operations accordingly.

If DMG Blockchain is to be believed, it seems breaking even with Bitcoin mining is far less of an issue than people would assume. More specifically, we see close to 2,100 BTC being generated by the network per day. As of right now, one could earn 0.084 BTC per petahash of mining power contributed to the network. Assuming one has an electricity price of $0.07 or slightly higher, it should still be possible to break even as long as the Bitcoin price remains above $2,400.

DMG Blockchain VP Steven Eliscu summed it up as follows:

We outline the simple math for mining bitcoin on an operating basis (i.e. excluding capital costs), with a market assumption of 7c per kW-hr operations costs (mainly electricity). With the below calculation, the cash breakeven is currently about $2,400 – this is far below the current price. Generally capital moves around to mine the most profitable coins, which means that the market generally finds profitability equilibrium among mined coins in the long run.

While all of that sounds positive to the average Bitcoin user, it is also worth noting that this assumes perfect conditions. Until those conditions are met, most people will not break even when the Bitcoin price is at or around $2,400. After all, not everyone has one petahash of power at their disposal, or the capacity to even set up such an operation. Even the “fastest” Antminer S9 can only pull 14 TH/s, which means one needs over 70 of these units to meet the conditions outlined by DMG Blockchain.

While that may sound like a challenge, it does show most mining firms need a very low Bitcoin price to break even. Any operation which can meet the conditions outlined by DMG Blockchain currently makes over $6,000 in profit per day for every petahash they have under their control. It is quite an interesting business venture, although one has to take wages and so forth into account as well. It is evident there is a lot more to Bitcoin mining than most people are aware of these days.

Purchasing and selling cryptocurrency is about to become simpler for hedge funds and institutional investors, as a new Blockchain-based terminal is promising to offer transparency via sophisticated compliance software.

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The Blockchain Terminal (BCT) is a desktop designed to bring together the data and information which chief compliance officers (CCOs,) portfolio managers, analysts and traders depend upon to make investments on a daily basis.

BCT’s chief executive is a seasoned asset management executive with decades of experience on Wall Street. The company’s terminals are furnished with large displays that allow users to analyze multiple charts and sources of information at once, and they are fully compatible with hardware wallets. Over time, mobile versions of the software driving BCT are set to be made available, enabling subscribers to follow the markets whenever they’re away from their terminal.

Slowly but surely, greater numbers of investment funds are entertaining the possibility of trading cryptocurrencies. A BarclayHedge poll recently discovered that one in four hedge fund managers already include crypto in their portfolios, or plan to add it within the next six months. Almost one in 10 are examining whether it is feasible.

All the while, estimates from AutonomousNext indicate that hedge funds specializing in cryptocurrency are growing dramatically. Right now, in excess of 225 funds are managing as much as $5 bln in crypto assets.

An emphasis on compliance

BCT argues that the financial sector is unrecognizable compared to a decade ago. The company’s white paper cites the global recession and multimillion-dollar fraud cases as the perfect storm, which has necessitated greater levels of compliance and transparency. Additionally, many investors have been left disillusioned by the expensive fees they are paying while their rewards dwindle.

Through its ComplianceGuard system, which comes as standard on all BCT terminals, BCT is confident that it can tick the boxes of even the most extensive compliance guidelines followed by hedge funds. To this effect, the technology has been put through its paces at 20 funds in a trial.

The ledger at the heart of BCT uses dual Blockchain architecture. This means that delicate hedge fund intelligence can stay private in a local environment, while the transactions they complete are logged on a permissioned blockchain. As a result, immediate audits can be performed as and when required without delay. The system also makes it impossible for records to be altered.

Apps to suit every hedge fund and investor

Helping BCT to become a fully-fledged platform is a dedicated team of developers. They have been working to create a plethora of apps that can be operated through the terminals. The company believes such third-party software will enable its terminals to become essential instruments for investors in a short space of time. BCT’s exchanges also mean users can access data on hundreds of cryptocurrencies without compromising on compliance.

Third-party applications are subject to checks and balances, which help guarantee that users enjoy quality products that don’t cut corners on security. Software is validated by a not-for-profit organization which has the sole objective of helping the Blockchain terminals thrive in the investment world.

There are two sides to the coin when it comes to the platform’s BCT Token. Whereas the native side enables the terminal’s core services to function, the ERC20 token represents a user’s entitlement to access the tools it provides.

Bringing BCT to the world

In the coming month, BCT has the goal of furnishing investment institutions with hundreds of its terminals. The BCT public presale is ongoing, following a successful private presale and airdrop.

By the second half of this year, retail users will get the chance to purchase their own terminal, with apps to follow by the time 2018 draws to a close.

BCT executives have spent recent weeks generating a buzz about their business by visiting fintech and crypto exhibitions internationally. Berlin, Seoul, Singapore and Tel Aviv have been ticked off the list – with team members gearing up for conventions in major US cities over the coming weeks.

A new painting series by Andy Bauch has hidden private keys inside his Lego artwork, offering a crypto reward puzzle to all viewers. #NEWS

Using CBOE Bitcoin Futures To Predict Underlying Bitcoin Price Direction Seeking Alpha A regression coefficient of 0.85 demonstrates a strong correlation between Bitcoin futures and underlying Bitcoin pricing. Increasingly bullish positions taken on by investors in Bitcoin futures since inception suggests an optimistic stance that ...

Bitnation has been one of those blockchain projects which most people have been quite excited about. It offers the promise of blockchain jurisdiction on a global scale, and the mobile applications are finally hitting the market as we speak. This is a good time to gauge whether or not they will propel this network to new heights in the coming weeks and months.

Bitnation Enters the Next Stage

It has been coming for quite some time now, but Bitnation seems to be entering the next stage of its development. Building a project focused on blockchain governance is not easy by any means. It has taken the team three years and required pilot projects, research, engineering, and sheer determination to make this project hit its stride.

With an application for both Android and iOS now live on the respective app stores, the Bitnation blockchain jurisdiction app is quite an interesting development. It is also an important milestone for the project. Over the past few years, over 500 virtual nations have been created through Bitnation, and the initial interest in this application has been quite impressive as well. With over 15,000 people signing up in advance, things are certainly looking up for this project.

What makes this mobile app so interesting is that it allows users to create, join, and leave Decentralized Borderless Voluntary Nations. There is also functionality to use the built-in wallet, as well as set up personalized profiles. It is an important first step for this ambitious project, although there will be quite a few updates yet to come in the next few months and years.

Speaking of updates, future versions of Bitnation’s app are set to include the creation of smart contracts, dispute arbitration, and the introduction of an AI-driven reputation system. Bitnation is slowly hitting its stride in this regard, although it will take a while until sovereign jurisdictions on the blockchain becomes a trend. Given the interest by thousands of people around the world in seeing the project succeed, the app release is certainly a step in the right direction.

Bitnation’s CEO and founder, Susanne Tarkowski Tempelhof, commented:

Over 2 Billion people, mostly in developing and transitional economies, are engaged in the unregulated economy. More than 10 million people are refugees or stateless, and are systematically denied access to governance services. By 2025 more than 1 Billion people will be working globally, between nation state jurisdictions. Pangea allows these users to create voluntary communities, gain legal protection, make business agreements, and access governance services direct from their mobile phones.

Though there’s no official release date for the desktop app, the official communication indicates it will launch “later this year”. It will be quite interesting to see how the masses respond to these blockchain jurisdiction apps, as they will certainly introduce a lot of interesting opportunities moving forward.

Crypto markets have seen a slight drop today, but are still in the green over the past 7 days. Bitcoin is trading at around $8.5K. #NEWS