Day: March 26, 2018

A Chinese government-led research body has rolled out a blockchain-as-a-service platform for identity and supply-chain tracking.

Having been successful in gaining hold of the cryptocurrency market, the broker company NordFX continues to expand the range of services it offers in this field.

The opportunity to trade highly volatile crypto-currencies on the world’s most widely used MetaTrader 4 platform has immediately become popular with NordFX clients, using a host of technical analysis tools: there are six crypto currency pairs (BTCUSD, LTCUSD, ETHUSD, DSHUSD, XRPUSD and BCHUSD) that are among this company’s trading instruments.

In addition, starting from mid-March 2018, the company’s clients can also deposit and withdraw funds from their trading accounts in Ethereum (ETH), along with USD and Bitcoin.

NordFX provides its clients with a unique maximum leverage ratio of 1:1000 for all trading instruments (33 currency pairs, gold, silver and 6 major crypto-currencies), which allows traders to make a substantial profit even with relatively small deposits. Thus, if you take the average quotes of March 2018, the client only needs $100 in their account to buy 10 Bitcoins, 100 Ethereums, 500 Litecoins or 100,000 Ripples.

At the same time, traders can profit not only on the growth but also on the fall of the value of the cryptocurrency – something that is crucial in light of extreme market volatility. This makes transactions with a broker fundamentally different to transactions on crypto-exchanges, where earnings are only possible if the acquired asset grows.

It should also be noted that to this day, NordFX has not encountered a single case of hacking, in contrast to crypto-exchanges, where hacking of clients’ wallets is fairly frequent. This is primarily due to the fact that over the years – NordFX has been in the market for a whole decade – the broker has acquired considerable experience in blocking off hacker attacks using the most innovative and reliable software.

The reliability and stability of NordFX’s work are also evidenced by the fact that, since 2008, over 1,200,000 accounts have been opened in the company by clients from more than 100 countries, and the company itself has been awarded over 30 prestigious professional prizes and awards, such as:

– Most Reliable Broker 2016 (The Forex Awards)
– Most Reliable Broker 2017 (ShowFX World)
– Best Crypto Broker Asia 2017 (Forex Awards Ratings)
– The Best Broker to Work with Cryptocurrencies 2017 (IAFT Awards)

as well as many others, confirming the recognition and credibility of the company among both clients and colleagues in the financial industry.

The post Broker NordFX Offers Unique Terms for Transactions with Crypto Currencies appeared first on NewsBTC.

There are always interesting developments in the world of blockchain. New Zealand is paying very close to all of the changes and improvements occurring. So much even that FintechNZ general manager James Brown is confident the Kiwi nation can become a global blockchain center.

The Blockchain Industry in New Zealand

Most people would not necessarily associate blockchain developments with New Zealand. That is somewhat strange, given the country’s reputation as a hub for global tech developments. So far, things have been relatively quiet on the blockchain front. That situation will soon come to change, according to FintechNZ’s James Brown. He is confident this technology will continue to make a major impact.

At the same time, there appears to be a growing focus on this technology in the Kiwi nation. Startups are showing a keen interest in this technology as of right now.Blockchain Lab NZ attracted over NZ$410m through its ICO listings not that long ago. All of this shows the interest in distributed ledgers is very tangible.

Moreover, the online ratings and review industry will see some disruption as well. This will be made possible through some of the tech stars in New Zealand. These industry leaders are confident blockchain for online ratings and reviews is the right way forward. It can introduce additional trust while still letting users maintain a degree of privacy when submitting information.

Kiwis Care About Cryptocurrency

Even though countries besides New Zealand are keen on blockchain, very few working products exist right now. Building up this new infrastructure takes time. At the same time, the hype surrounding this technology has gone on for some time now. It is due time real-world use cases come to market to showcase the potential of this technology.

Few people are aware of how Cryptopia is an exchange based in New Zealand. The platform is mainly known for altcoin trading and is considered one of the smaller platforms. Even so, they now have nearly 1.5 million users, which is an impressive number. It is evident the Kiwi nation should not be overlooked when it comes to blockchain and cryptocurrency.

The big question is how the local government will respond to these developments. So far, it seems officials are keeping an open mind. Blockchain experts across the country expect guidance from the government to accelerate adoption of this technology. Whether or not that will be the case, remains to be seen

The post New Zealand’s Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Sector is Booming With Developments appeared first on NewsBTC.

At BITRUST we regularly receive questions from the enthusiastic newcomers into crypto world about how the actual cryptocurrency and tokens purchase process happens. While we are a business and definitely do not intend to advise on any crypto investment decision here, we have learned a thing or two about exchanges, wallets, security and other issues and would like to share them here for everyone’s benefit.

 Congrats, it happened — you have decided to join crypto community and you are a believer that blockchain technology is going to save the world. Well, almost all the team members at BITRUST were early adopters of the whole idea and had to face some storms making our first steps trying to make sense of bitcoin, altcoin and token buying. So, why don’t we recap those steps and answer to some of your most frequent questions?

 The choice is yours — you can trade altcoins, invest in them or tokens, you can use cryptocurrency for transactions where it is accepted, or you can even try to mine coins, if this is something you’d like to try. Anyhow, just to see how dealing with altcoins and tokens work, you will need a wallet.

 Waa… what?!

A digital cryptocurrency wallet is basically a software — a collection of private and public keys. This software knows how to interact with blockchain and enables you to receive and send altcoins or tokens and show you the actual balance.

So, this set of public and private keys is extremely important. If anyone will get access to that set of keys, and especially a private key, they will have access to everything which is stored in that wallet. Choosing a way to store your cryptocurrency or tokens will be basically be defined by a level of security of your keys.

When choosing a wallet, pay attention whether your wallet service use a centralized server/ a few distributed servers (considered to be less secure as you are dependent on these servers to be functional to interact with the network) or the connection to the network is taken care of by the client using simple payment verification (SPV) technology, communicating in a lightweight fashion with the network. In any case, don’t forget to back up your wallets from time to time and use maximum secure passwords.

 And what about eeh… exchanges?!

Cryptocurrency exchange is an online marketplace, where you can buy or sell your cryptocurrencies against other altcoins, tokens or fiat currency. You can think of it like of a traditional currency exchange only for crypto assets. As a beginner you will need such an exchange (or better several) to be able to manage your altcoins and tokens, so start with a research.

Some of such exchanges (like Coinbase or Gemini, for example) do have an insurance and are quite heavily regulated. So, it is important that you understand if it is a case with an exchange you will decide to work with. And it goes quite intuitively easy from there — you link your bank card to your account and start buying, selling. Whenever you decide to extract your fiat assets, you can do that linking your PayPal or bank account to the service.

By the way, you can store all your crypto assets in a cryptocurrency exchange wallet too.

 So, what is a better way to store the altcoins then?

Well, it is a question with many answers. It is mostly a tradeoff between convenience and security that you have to decide about. None will be able to give you a definite advice, so just consider these options:

• Exchanges — are considered to be least secure due to a simple fact of you not having access to your private keys. Add to that a wallet functionality itself being at a very basic level. So, whenever there is a hacker attack on an exchange, or your particular wallet is being targeted by an impostor, or a service just goes offline for any reason, you’re not in possession of your assets.

One might think it is extremely convenient to store your altcoins with a service you can buy or sell your cryptocurrency through. And it’s true, you can change between currencies or switch to a fiat currency in an instant. However, we have been there, done that and learnt our lesson a hard way years ago — so, we do not advice storing all your crypto assets there if you are serious about their safety.

• Wallets, which give you access to your private key and use of cryptography for information protection. We ourselves try choosing wallets using SPV technology (you will have to download headers of the blockchain for that to your desktop), as they are considered to be more functional and secure, as they cannot go offline during a transaction overload periods.
• A hardware wallet, which basically looks like a simple USB. It stores all of your private and public keys and everything related to your wallet and interacts with the network through your computer. But nothing is stored on your computer, as all the cryptographic work and signing of transactions happen on that USB itself, which is a good thing. It’s very safe and the data is not lost even if your computer is stolen or you lose your phone if you decide to trade cryptocurrencies using your mobile. Well, you will have to be really careful about not loosing that USB stick though!
• Heavy-weight wallets working with the complete blockchain download — a complete history of transactions of bitcoin (BitcoinCore) or ethereum (Ethereum Mist), for example. Those are gigabytes huge and tend to be super inconvenient for a regular user as you have to sync and verify those networks regularly. However, a big plus is that you’re interacting with a network directly and there is no one in between to make a transaction less secure.

Owning such a heavy-weight wallet also is a way for anyone to contribute to the whole crypto community though. As with your computer or server, where you store the whole history of all the records in the network you make blockchain more distributed and more secure. So, if you feel particularly geeky and want to embrace the whole blockchain philosophy, just go for it making sure you have that storage and CPU capacity.

– And last but not least — a paper wallet or cold storage. It basically allows you to generate a set of public and private keys yourself (using a service like bitaddress.org, for example), only instead of storing them, you will be able to print them out on a good old paper or put on a USB and keep it in a safe deposit box. This, probably, is the best for long-term intended crypto assets storages.

The best idea is probably to diversify and use a combination of these wallets for different purposes and different altcoins or tokens. You might choose to use a USB wallet for tokens, if for you it is a long-term investment and an online wallet using SPV for a cryptocurrency like bitcoin, for example.

Bitcoin is so expensive, how is it even possible to buy it?

Well, bitcoin is in its fabulous downfall stage at the moment, but if you still want to experiment with it, don’t worry, you can buy just a small share of it.

Is there a way to hedge my risks while trading altcoins?

Well, we have expanded quite a bit on this topic before, however in short — this is exactly what we’re working on at the moment! It’s been for some time now that we’ve seen that the market is craving for a service enabling to hedge risks while trading cryptocurrencies. And this is how we came up with an idea for BITRUST platform. Follow the news and join BITRUST movement!

To finance the development and launch of the BITRUST platform, a limited-supply sale of BITRUST tokens (BTFs) will be created by BTF Project Limited. The sale will start on 5^th of March 2018 — see more information about the BITRUST ICO structure and the company here.

Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Medium to be the first to find out about BITRUST development news and everything else that’s important in crypto world!

The post How to Get Into Crypto World From Square One appeared first on NewsBTC.

Bitcoin has been trading sideways in a narrow range over the last week, but a drop toward $8,000 may be on the way.

Ant Financial Services Group, Alibaba’s payment affiliate and operator of AliPay, has taken a critical stance over initial coin offerings.

The cryptocurrency markets are always unpredictable. This is especially true when people start taking a closer look at the price. For the time being, the majority of top cryptocurrencies is still in the dirt. Although most losses are minimal, the Cardano price is showing a slightly bigger retrace. Whether or not that situation will remain, is a different matter altogether.

Cardano Price Struggles Continue

There isn’t much to be excited about when it comes to the prices of individual cryptocurrencies these days. It almost feels as if all currencies will suffer from bearish momentum all year long. This negative trend will turn around at some point, though, yet no one knows for sure when that will be. As of right now, the Cardano price is struggling for traction, as it has done for quite some time now.

Ever since the Cardano price hit an all-time high of $1.23 late last year, things have gone from bad to worse pretty quickly. While it is evident the same trend applies to all other cryptocurrencies as well, a lot of people have high hopes for Cardano moving forward. Right now, the Cardano price has continued to decline over the past three months, and is currently valued at just $0.18. It is a lot lower than most people are comfortable with, and the bottom may not be in sight just yet.

More specifically, the Cardano price is losing value both due to Bitcoin’s decline and losing ground in the ADA/BC ratio. Over the past 24 hours, the USD loss amounts to 6.6%, whereas the ADA/BTC decline adds up to 5.33%. With both of these trends culminating at the same time, it is not unlikely the Cardano price will drop to $0.15 in the coming days.

Although Cardano still has $70.18m in 24-hour trading volume, this is a lot lower than most people want to see. At the same time, the overall cryptocurrency trading volume continues to dip lower as well, as we are under $12bn right now If this trend keeps up, the overall volume may drop below $10bn, which would be troublesome for many different altcoins, including Cardano.

Right now, Upbit is still generating a lot of ADA trading volume followed by Binance abed Bittrex. This interest from South Korean exchanges is not new in the world of altcoins, but it also shows the rest of the world doesn’t care too much about ADA as of right now. Upbit alone generates over 48% of all trades, although it remains to be seen how this trend will unfold over the next few days and weeks.

Whether or not the Cardano price can make up some of the lost ground in the coming days, remains to be determined. It is evident the momentum is not in favor of any cryptocurrency right now, yet this industry tends to turn around quickly when people least expect it. Until the Bitcoin price rises, we may not see any significant Cardano price momentum to speak of.

British charity English Heritage has joined the Giftcoin platform, which tokenizes donations for the purpose of traceability.

AirPod, the blockchain based, state of the art private spaces in public places project is powered by its own cryptocurrency called the APOD token. The APOD token acts as the medium of value exchange alongside other crypto and fiat payment methods. These APOD tokens have been made available to the public in the upcoming AirPod token sale.

The APOD tokens, circulated between the project and its customers will create an internal economy and these tokens will allow customers to rent the pods at a significant discount. This will not only encourage individual travelers but also companies to purchase APOD tokens for their frequent flyer executives.

APOD Token Distribution

The AirPod tokens are going to be distributed in two phases. There will be a presale followed by a Crowdsale shortly after. 200 million APOD tokens will be made available at $0.10 per token, which can be obtained against ETH payments. The project has set a soft cap of $2.7 million and a $20 million hard cap.

During the presale, 140 million APOD tokens are going to be offered. The minimum investment accepted will be 1 ETH and a maximum of 300 ETH. During this phase, there will be a 30% bonus until the $2.7 million soft cap is reached. After that, there will be an 18% discount until all the 140 million tokens are sold.

Three Benefits of APOD Tokens:

1. Joining the Sponsorship Program

The Sponsorship Program will kick off after the 400^th AirPod has been installed. Token holders will be part of this program. They can exchange your tokens for profits generated by the AirPods.

To access the Sponsorship Program, token holders will have to use the Dapp, a web application developed by AirPod. The platform will make it possible to analyze the finances of the AirPods for free and choose the one they want to adopt. An algorithm developed by the AirPod project will set the price of this program.

When multiple parties express interest in one AirPod, token holders will have to bid. When interest is high, the cost of taking part in the Sponsorship Program will also rise. The percentage interest bought in any Sponsorship Program can be sold to other parties who express interest in later stages.

2. Becoming an AirPod Partner

In the next stage, community members will be able to propose the location of future AirPods and become a partner in the project. A submitter will submit a proposal with accompanying photos of the location as well as all other potential costs. The proposal will be approved or rejected. If approved, the parameters will be written in a smart contract and payments made in APOD tokens.

3. The APOD token is not influenced by fluctuation is the cryptomarket

The APOD token will not be dependent on the cryptomarket. Rather, it will be influenced by the AirPod business, which is only set to grow with time. This is because the travel community is poised for major future growth.

What do you think about the APOD token and its benefits? Leave us your thoughts in the comment section below.

The post The Main Benefits of APOD Token appeared first on NewsBTC.

Very few countries are openly friendly to cryptocurrency companies as of right now. The lack of clear regulatory guidelines makes this particular industry difficult to navigate. Malta seems to become the go-to place for companies involved in cryptocurrency as of right now. Monaco is the latest country to set up shop in this country.

Malta is Attracting Attention

Most people know by now how Binance is moving to Malta. The cryptocurrency trading platform has big expectations following this migration. It is evident the country is a lot more open-minded when it comes to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Binance is not the only company trying their hand at moving to this country, though.

It seems Monaco, a relatively new cryptocurrency company, contemplates a similar move. For now, they are looking into tackling this market sooner or later. It will take some time to successfully do so, but the plan is set in motion. Whether or not this means Monaco will launch a new office or permanently move to Malta, remains unclear at this point.

@Monaco_card supports the bold vision of PM @JosephMuscat_JM and Malta's vision of the Blockchain Island. Looking into an investment in Malta following last week’s announcement by our strategic partner @binance @cz_binance

— Kris Marszalek (@Kris_HK) March 26, 2018

This decision makes a lot of sense as well. Monaco and Binance are part of a strategic partnership. With the exchange gaining a foothold in the country, it is evident Monaco can benefit from that particular development as well. Malta is certainly getting  a lot of attention from blockchain and cryptocurrency companies right now. A positive development, especially given the vision of the country’s prime minister.

Joseph Muscat has a Bullish Outlook

During a recent political meeting in Malta, prime minister Muscat made it clear how he envisions the future of blockchain and cryptocurrency. Contrary to what people may expect, he is quite open-minded toward both industries. In fact, he is confident the country needs to take the first step to properly regulate these industries in the coming months.

It is evident Binance is not the first company to “migrate” either. There has been an interest from other companies as well, according to Muscat. However, none of them are on the same level as the popular exchange right now. These companies want to come to Malta because is ready to offer regulation. The country’s clear plan of action is a positive development for the industry as a whole.

All of this shows regulatory measures will be beneficial to cryptocurrency and blockchain as a whole. Muscat is confident he can bring this industry on par with the financial and Igaming industries in the country. Assuming that promise holds up, positive things are bound to happen for companies such as Binance and Monaco. The jobs created by all of these companies will help boost the local economy as well.

The post Another Cryptocurrency Firm Moves to Malta Following Binance, Due to Government’s Support appeared first on NewsBTC.

Big miners are eying monero as a next money-maker. The only problem? Developers are taking steps to keep them out entirely.

Privacy focused cryptocurrency Verge has had a rough year. The token literally went to the moon in December when it shot up over 3000% in just ten days. Life was good for the developers, the early investors, and those that got on the digital train before it stalled. Since those heady heights of around $0.27 (1850 satoshis) XVG has crashed over 90% and lost nearly all of those gains it made so quickly.

In an effort to bolster interest in the flagging altcoin the Verge community launched a crowd fund contest in order to secure a mystery partnership. In a Tweet last week it was claimed to be the “largest partnership in crypto to date!” A big pump often works in the nascent crypto industry and Verge finally reversed its downward ways and started with a spike on March 23. Since then XVG has gained around 40% from $0.030 to $0.042. Against Bitcoin the gains have been similar rising, 370 satoshis to around 500 today.

Donations for a New Partnership

It seems a little unorthodox to ask XVG holders to donate them back in order to secure a partnership but that is exactly what the team has done. They’re asking for 75 million tokens, worth approximately $3.1 million at today’s rate, in order to “help progress forward in the crypto space” according to the appeal web page.

This new partnership is shrouded in mystery but maximum effort has been channeled into the hype;

“A global organization with a vast network of high traffic sites is looking to enter the cryptocurrency market and form a strategic business alliance with Verge as the preferred form of secure payment method, offering a quick and private means of transaction to hundreds of millions of potential consumers daily. This partnership represents an enormous potential market with a global reach that will compete with multiple fiat currencies.”

Almost 20,000 Coins Donated

Lead developer Justin Vendetta has been posting videos updates on progress and according to one uploaded yesterday when they had over 18.3 million coins so far. There are a number of incentives for donators such as prizes and rewards.

However, he also said that the partnership would not go ahead if they failed to reach the target of 75 million. The crowd fund ends today, March 26, so there is still a long way to go and according to the blockchain explorer for the donation address they are only at 19.4 million coins (just under $800k) at the time of writing which equates to about 25% of the target.

A new website has just been launched and talk of further developments were mentioned in the video but it seems the team are hinging all hopes on hitting their target and securing this new partnership. Failure to do so may spell further slides for XVG.

The post Verge Mystery Partnership Saga Deepens, 19 Million XVG Donated appeared first on NewsBTC.