Day: April 1, 2018

This proud father explained to reporters, first hand, “Yes, it is true. He was genuinely born a Hacker. When he was born, the first thing he did was point to my Bluetooth earpiece. Then he started to take it apart! He was not even a day old!”

“The next thing we knew, he was walking at an early age, straight to my computer. By the time he was 3, he started to make his own computers out of old staplers and chewing gum. The crazy thing is that they worked! The Commodore 64 was nothing next to the ‘Andrew Special’, as we used to call them. At one point we must have had about 100 of them around the house, and we decided to start giving them away to our family and friends. They are still operating, to this day – all of ‘em.”

Dan Hacker, the father of Andrew Hacker, CEO of Thought.live, is very excited for his son and his upcoming ICO. But for interesting reasons. He saw his son’s future develop before his very eyes.

“I myself was never into computers, but when Andrew started to come to my work at the age of 6, he was doing my work for me. He could program before he could read. I started to worry whether I can even work at my computer anymore, but when Andrew started to fix my Excel equations and upgrade my computer to the latest specs with paperclips – all before he was 8 –  I thought to myself that this could be a good thing. ”

“The word about my boy’s computer smarts spread quickly, and people started to call him ‘Young Hacker’. My wife was not quite happy about it, and we even thought about changing our last name, but then it dawned on me. I understood that the name was like a prophecy, or a calling. We knew he would never join the dark side, but stay on the good side, and our family name would be perfect for him. Like Thor!”

“Now that Andrew is a well-known Cybersecurity Expert, in Residence at Harrisburg University, and one of the most recognized faces in this field, he has attracted a lot of attention from the media. He is one Hacker to be proud of!”

“Now he has a company called Thought and is doing something with AI. I don’t know much about artificial intelligence, but I understand it is kind of like the “Terminator”, but Andrew has assured me that as long as he’s working on AI, we won’t need to call on the services of Mr. Schwarzenegger.”

“He’s also doing something called an ICO, and I’m not exactly sure what that means either, but it must be big. Apparently, even the university likes it and supports Andrew. Apparently, they are quite picky about the projects they support.”

“From early on I knew my son would do great things. I’m really proud of his accomplishments, and I support him with all of my heart. I know he’s going to change the world for the better and will only let friendly machines take over the world.”

Andrew Hacker, CEO and Founder of Thought explains, “Thought is a blockchain and AI start-up, backed by Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. Thought is fundamentally changing the way data is processed by embedding AI into every small piece of data. This makes otherwise ‘dumb’ information smart. Data becomes able to act on its own, eliminating the need for external applications, and thus makes data processing faster and cheaper.”

“Thought also solves some major issues with the current AI technology. It makes AI more transparent and accessible, and makes sure that the machines are kept under control, so we won’t need to create a revolution against the machines and bother Arnold Schwarzenegger, making my dad happy.”

Thought’s ICO is live now. Sign up at https://thought.live to receive a 5% discount from the 1st of April to the end of the ICO on the 30th of April.

This is a sponsored press release and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views held by any employees of The Merkle. This is not investment, trading, or gambling advice. Always conduct your own independent research.

Trading Bitcoin tends to attract a lot of attention from the authorities these days. This is especially true when trading it in a peer-to-peer fashion. One man’s Bitcoin trading activity will land him in jail due to five money laundering charges.

A Major Blow for P2P Bitcoin Trading

Arizona-based Thomas Costanzo was found guilty of five counts of money laundering in Phoenix last week. It is a very troublesome development, as this individual was involved in peer-to-peer Bitcoin trading. At the same time, we have seen multiple allegations of Bitcoin being a tool for money laundering already.

Costanzo was trading very large amounts of Bitcoin in a peer-to-peer fashion. Although Bitcoin trading is not illegal in Arizona – or any U.S. state – as of right now, his activities raised a lot of questions. This is mainly due to Costanzo exchanging up to $50,000 worth of Bitcoin for cash per trade. It is evident that type of behavior will eventually warrant a thorough investigation of some sort.

It did not take long to launch this investigation in 2014. It seems Costanzo was advertising his services on a peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange, most likely LocalBitcoins. Undercover agents approached Costanzo as a way to vet his services. However, they identified themselves as drug dealers looking to clean some dirty money, which did not seem to bother Costanzo all that much.

In fact, he told the undercover agents that using Bitcoin would help them evade detection by law enforcement agencies. That clearly showed malicious intent, which made it easier for the judge to render a verdict in this case. Over a period of two years, Costanzo exchanged over $160,000 in cash for Bitcoin, all of which came from the undercover agents. That evidence was presented during the trial, and it was the biggest nail in the coffin for this Bitcoin trader.

To make matters worse, further evidence shows Costanzo used Bitcoin to buy drugs from others, and he also supplied BTC to people looking to buy drugs off the internet. It was almost a small crime ring operated by just one person, even though it is safe to say that greed simply got the best of him. With five convictions of money laundering against him, Costanzo will probably spend a lot of time in jail.

Indeed, Costanzo currently faces up to 100 years in jail, a $1.25 million fine, or a combination of both. The investigators also seized all of Costanzo’s Bitcoin holdings when he was arrested. Similar to previous incidents, that Bitcoin balance will be subject to forfeiture and most likely be auctioned off to the highest bidder at some point.

Most people are all too aware that scammers have been targeting the ICO industry for quite some time now. It seems some criminals are shifting their attention from potential investors to the people organizing these crowdsales. It’s a very peculiar trend, although it seems there is still a lot of work to be done until people actually fall for these scammy tactics.

A Different Breed of ICO Scam

It is somewhat refreshing to see scammers target the ICO industry and not go after investors for a change. Although the latter activity will persist for quite some time, it seems this new trend may prove rather intriguing. Instead of hacking a website, sending out a phishing email, or simply creating a pure scam, the new tactic takes a very different approach.

This screenshot shows how one particular scammer tried to defraud an ICO team. He or she attempted to defraud the ICO’s owner by offering fake advertising services. Although that is not exactly new, it does go to show that people are willing to go to great lengths to defraud ICO teams these days.

This particular individual is known as Kelvin and claims to be part of a marketing team. If there is one thing the cryptocurrency world has no shortage of, it is self-professed marketing gurus. Kelvin’s team purportedly focuses on upcoming ICOs, and they even offer review services of every initial coin offering to give it some more legitimacy – assuming it is legitimate to begin with.

As such, the “company” claims to offer special packages for interviews, which can be as expensive as $2,500. While the prices are negotiable, it is evident there is no reason for anyone to trust this offer whatsoever. After all, there is no website linked, and the scammer just gives out a Bitcoin address to which people can send money.

The person who Kelvin tried to scam quickly saw through these lies and eventually turned this attempt into a major joke. It is quite a valuable lesson for other ICO projects out there, as people will come up with the weirdest of offers these days. Since most projects want instant legitimacy in the hopes of raising a lot of money, it is only normal that some people may fall for this particular approach.

It is evident that the scammer has no clue as to how Bitcoin works, though. His failure to understand what a Trezor is – thinking it was a person – and not even noticing the hidden message in the fake transaction ID only shows how clueless some of these scammers really are. Rest assured we will see a lot more of these attempts in the future, as ICOs will continue to attract all kinds of people moving forward.

Zhao Changpeng, founder of Binance, was able to grow his company into the world’s largest digital-asset exchange by traded value in less than eight months. The exchange, however, may face challenging times as regulators worldwide start clamping down on the cryptocurrency market. Zhao has described regulation as a risk for Binance.

Binance Under Pressure as Regulators Clamp Down on The Market

Many Binance customers support its policies. “The less regulation, the better. I’m confident in Binance’s ability to secure its own platform”, Zachary Ising, a U.S. cryptocurrency trader, told Bloomberg.

Even the locations of Binance’s offices and servers are a secret in order to make it harder to determine which country has jurisdiction over the company. “We’re OK to do things very creatively to avoid unnecessary regulation,’’ Zhao said in a recent interview.

Binance has close to $1.8 billion in daily trading volumes, according to Coinmarketcap.com, but there is no regulator to audit its volume statistics.

The post Binance Fights Increasing Regulation appeared first on NewsBTC.

It is evident there are still a fair few countries which want to create their own cryptocurrency at some point. In the case of China, such a currency has been hinted at for quite some time now, and it seems the rumor mill is still churning at full strength. According to Reuters, the Petro-Yuan will come to market fairly soon, even though it has nothing to do with Venezuela’s recently-launched cryptocurrency.

The Chinese Petro-Yuan

It is quite interesting that China seemingly plans to go ahead with creating a digital currency. Although this new form of money has still not been officially confirmed, Reuters indicates that may soon change. According to sources, Chinese officials are planning to pay for oil imports using a newly created Petro-Yuan, albeit one that has absolutely nothing to do with Venezuela’s Petro cryptocurrency. A trial for paying for oil imports with the “new” yuan will begin as early as Q3 of this year.

For now, it seems this venture is mainly designed to facilitate the importing of oil from Russia and Angola. That in itself is quite interesting, as it further hints at close collaboration between China and Russia. Both countries have already been working on a Swift payment competitor known as CIPS, and it seems this whole concept will be taken one step further in the very near future.

The bigger question is whether or not the “Petro-Yuan” will be the digital currency Chinese officials have hinted at for quite some time now. Since there is no official indication as to whether or not that plan will come to fruition, most of this is based on speculation. It is no secret China wants a digital currency to compete with Bitcoin at some point, but creating a Petro-Yuan may not necessarily fit the bill.

Regardless of how this plan unfolds, China is clearly sending a strong message to the United States. As of right now, the U.S. dollar is the go-to currency for oil trading all over the world, even for countries that don’t use the dollar as their main currency. For China, this is another step toward distancing itself from the US dollar, a plan Russian officials can certainly get behind right now. Between the new Petro-Yuan and the ongoing rumors about China creating its own Bitcoin competitor, there are a lot of exciting developments to look forward to, by the look of things. 

The Bitcoin price is not a good place right now and things only get worse as more time progresses. That is the overall sentiment in the cryptocurrency world right now, even though the long-term trend is still extremely bullish. As of right now, we are looking at a Bitcoin price of just over $6,500, which is a lot lower than what most people would like to see.

The Bitcoin Price Continues to Struggle

Even though some experts had predicted a semi-positive weekend for the Bitcoin price it seems there are all proven wrong yet again. Technical analysis of any currency never tells the complete story, and Bitcoin is no exception in this regard. As of right now, we are dealing with a Bitcoin price which will most likely tank below $6.500 and could even go a slow as $6.000.

For the people with long-term memory loss, this is still a lot better compared to the Bitcoin price one year ago today. In fact, it is still better than the Bitcoin price in November of 2017. Even though we have seen a major price dip ever since early January, it is evident the long-term perspective still seems to hold up just fine.

With another 8.04% decline over the past 24 hours, it has become more than evident the bears remain in full control of the Bitcoin market as of right now. It seems this negative pressure will not relent either, as this will only trigger more panic sells from people who spent their savings on Bitcoin and are now dealing with this extended volatility.

While the Bitcoin trading volume seems to hold its own at $4bn and change, it is a lot lower compared to a few months ago. Then again, a daily trading volume of $20bn simply wasn’t sustainable for Bitcoin in its current shape. With some big technical improvements on the horizon, the true value of BTC will become more apparent. Such a process takes time, though, and we can expect a lot more bearish pressure until that time.

As of right now, the majority of Bitcoin trading volume comes from Bitfinex, although their lead over OKEx is not all that big. Binance is also getting involved in the debate, which is quite interesting to see. As is always the case, the fiat currency trading pairs can be found across multiple exchanges, although the USD pairs always tend to note higher volume. Unfortunately, most of the capital is exiting Bitcoin right now.

All of this doesn’t mean there is no hope left for the Bitcoin price, though. In fact, this may very well be the healthiest Bitcoin price correction we have seen over the past nine years. Last year was ridiculous and unsustainable by all means. This year, we are returning back to normal, which also means dealing with a massive correction. The bleeding will end eventually, but for now, the sharks are still circling.

If you’re wondering whether cryptocurrencies threaten financial institutions, you’re not the only one. In some sectors, particularly finance, funnily enough, it’s fast becoming the topic du jour. You don’t have to be a Harvard graduate to see that it isn’t just robots and AI that have FSIs quaking in their boots. Blockchain technology is thundering pretty hard on their heels as well.

But are real-time transactions, decentralization, and automation of trust an opportunity or a threat? And how fine is the line separating the two?

Like pretty much anything surrounding the cryptocurrency world, that depends on whom you talk to. According to Alex Buelau, Co-founder and CEO of Coinschedule.com, one of the biggest ICO portals out there, bankers needn’t worry.

“Die-hard libertarians say that bitcoin is going to end the banking system, but most sensible people realize that the two can coexist,” he says. “It’s like Microsoft Windows and Linux.”

Does that mean that a man in the center of the cryptocurrency revolution, a previous Bitcoin miner and a general cyber enthusiast doesn’t see his business toppling the evil establishment?

“We tried to run things without a bank,” he admits, “but it’s not practical. Not everyone accepts cryptocurrency, there’s the price fluctuation. You can’t replace the banking system, in my view, at least not in the foreseeable future.”

Case closed.

But… what about the future that we can’t see? That might pose a different question.

Cryptocurrencies as a Threat

Colin Luce, SVP of Business Development at Uphold, says, “Cryptocurrencies, for the very first time, pose a serious and significant threat to financial institutions because up until now, all of the innovation in fintech has been at the application layer. Now we’re starting to see payment systems and ecosystems live completely outside of the existing infrastructure stack (credit card rails, deposit accounts, etc.) … finding innovative ways to serve the underbanked and cross-border use cases.”

For those of you who don’t know, Uphold is a multi-purpose cryptocurrency platform that supports more than 30 currencies, both crypto and fiat.

So, if Luce is right, cryptocurrencies and the technology behind them could actually undercut the banks and see the end of financial institutions as we know them.

Bank of America is certainly having a few sleepless nights. But what’s rattling them? A lack of innovation? The expense of updating their existing technology, or an unwillingness to adapt?

Perhaps a combination of these things.

Adapt or Die

You can bet that Bank of America and other multi-billion dollar institutions aren’t going to take things lying down. With some of the brightest minds outside of academia at the helm, it’s much more likely they’ll find a way to adapt and prove their worth in a system that no longer needs centralized authorities.

But they’d better get a move on. There will be winners and losers in this race.

Bitbull Capital provides research and insights into crypto asset markets. Leading the pack of expert minds and their stance on the future of finance, Chief Operating Officer Sarah Bergstrand says, “This will only threaten the financial institutions that fight against it. It will undoubtedly reshape the financial universe as we know it. However, savvy institutions are adopting the technology and using it to reduce their costs, rather than trying to extinguish it.”

Most banks and other FSIs are not falling asleep at the wheel. They’re getting used to fending off and challenging technological threats. What with ATMs, the internet, and fintech startups, these companies have a long history of scrambling to stay relevant, even before bitcoin emerged. From dedicated VCs to hedge funds and M&As, they’re not blind to the threat from the growing army of geeks in T-shirts and sneakers.

Case in point: Goldman Sachs-funded Circle acquired Poloniex for a cool $400 million, making them a first mover in the crypto space. IBM, a company with a history of innovation, is already several steps ahead with its Hyperledger Fabric project, and Ripple is making, well, ripples, with several banks experimenting with their blockchain technology.

Credit Card Companies on The Chopping Block

There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s cryptocurrency. Not all financial institutions are created equal, as Coinschedule’s boss points out: “It really depends on what financial institutions you’re talking about.” Credit card companies VISA and Mastercard could be the first to feel the pinch.

He says, “If you’re talking about a credit card company, then I think it is a threat because credit card companies are a middleman. They allow you to spend money and they charge fees to you and to the retailer and they make the transaction happen – with cryptocurrency you don’t need that.”

Jeff Falk, Director of Payment Platforms for CO-OP Financial Services, also paints a dismal picture for the future of plastic. “I’m not sure that crypto threatens financial institutions in general. It certainly challenges the existing payment rails associated with VISA and Mastercard, as well as any central banking authority, such as the Federal Reserve in the U.S.”

Cryptocurrency aside, credit card companies are already losing ground fast in the world of online payments. By 2021, according to WorldPay, more than half of all online transactions will be carried out using alternative payment methods. Those include bank transfers, e-wallets, and prepaid cards.

The Long View

“We’re at a critical juncture with respect to cryptocurrencies … They could spell the demise of some financial institutions, but we believe that in the long term cryptocurrencies will become the gold standard for finance,” says Andrew Hamilton, founder and CEO of Coupit.

In all likelihood, the global financial system will have no other choice than to move to the blockchain. After all, they’d be pretty foolish to resist a technology that provides a more efficient way of doing things. It’s likely we’ll see a major shift, both in the near future and for the long haul. But the apocalypse for banks? Not likely.

“It’s still early days,” says Buelau. “I don’t see how anyone in their right mind could say that we don’t need banks anymore.” And fiat currencies in general? Well, that’s another question.

A lot of things are happening behind the scene in the cryptocurrency industry. As of right now, it seems a fair few companies are relocating from Asia. Given the mixed regulatory landscape in that part of the world, such changes are not uncommon. Even so, it seems Europe is quickly becoming a prominent place for such companies.

The Asian Cryptocurrency Regulatory Landscape

Most cryptocurrency enthusiasts know all too well Asia is a mixed bag when it comes to regulation. In Japan, Bitcoin and consorts are considered legal tender. However, local exchanges face a lot of scrutiny from the FSA. That latter part is a positive development in the long run, but it may shake up some things in the short-term.

South Korea is the largest region for cryptocurrency exchanges, for the time being. At the same time, the government is still keeping a close eye on things. China is still not in favor of cryptocurrencies and maintains its anti-CNY trading for Bitcoin and altcoins. All of these developments make some companies think twice about their future plans. It seems relocating to Europe makes a lot more sense in this regard.

Whether or not dozens of companies will move to Europe, is a different matter altogether. So far, only two major firms have made this move in recent weeks. However, it seems the seed has been planted and other companies are contemplating similar moves as we speak. All of this shows Europe is simply more welcoming to cryptocurrency than most other parts of the world.

The Migration to Europe

Bitfinex has made its plan clear to move to Switzerland from Asia pretty clear. Their location of interest is Zug, also known as “Crypto Valley”. With a lenient ecosystem toward cryptocurrencies, Zug is certainly making its mark felt. The region also wants to position itself as a major hub for blockchain and Bitcoin altogether.

Binance surprised a lot of people with their recent move. More specifically, their migration to Malta is pretty interesting. The country’s Prime Minister has made it clear Malta wants to position itself as the go-to “haven” for cryptocurrency companies. This “competition” between Zug and Malta will certainly be intriguing to keep an eye on moving forward.

Perhaps the biggest shock comes in the form of what Kakao is planning. Although it remains unclear if the company will host an ICO, their launch of a blockchain platform will still go ahead as planned. Even though the company created a Japanese subsidiary for this blockchain venture, there’s a very real possibility they will set up shop outside of Asia as well. A very peculiar development well worth keeping an eye on.

The post World’s Biggest Cryptocurrency Companies Leaving Asia Highlights Importance of Practical Regulations appeared first on NewsBTC.

Brock Pierce is leading a herd of crypto entrepreneurs and investors to Puerto Rico and the island seems mostly welcoming. Is that the right move?

April Fool’s day has been filled with crypto-related pranks ranging from fake launches of ridiculously-named cryptocurrencies to Coinmarketcap’s “Lambo” currency reference. #NEWS

The year 2018 started out great for cryptocurrencies. With most cryptos trading at record highs and awareness rising by the day, the world was coming to terms with this industry. However, things began to take a free fall in late January, and the market hasn’t recovered since. The factors contributing to this downward spiral have been many, but none have driven down the cryptocurrency universe like uncertainty regarding regulations from most regulatory bodies across the world.

THE ASIAN FACTOR

Asia’s significance to the cryptocurrency world can’t be overstated. With some of the biggest exchanges in the world including Binance, Bithumb, Upbit, Huobi, OKEx and bitFlyer, the Asian market has been a primary market maker for most cryptocurrencies. The world’s largest Bitcoin exchange, Bitfinex, is headquartered in Hong Kong and accounts for over 10% of all Bitcoin trade volume globally.

With this much significance in the crypto market, any regulation that affects cryptocurrencies in Asia is bound to have a ripple effect on the global market. One such development is Japan’s ongoing crackdown on exchanges that has seen two crypto exchanges close up shop after failing to meet the country’s Financial Services Agency’s standards. The crackdown is Japan’s way of preventing another security breach as happened with the Coincheck exchange in which hackers made off with $500 million worth of digital tokens. The crackdown has slowed down the market in one of the most important crypto nations in the world, and most cryptocurrencies are bleeding as a result.

China, which was once considered a cryptocurrency hub, has since turned against crypto by outlawing cryptocurrency exchanges and initial coin offerings. Even though the ban was imposed late last year, many Chinese traders continued trading through foreign exchanges. However, the government’s crackdown has now extended to blocking access to all domestic and foreign exchanges and ICO websites through the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank. This may wipe out cryptocurrency trading completely in the world’s most populous nation, and the results would be devastating.

Cryptocurrency exchanges in other Asian nations have also experienced slowed growth this year as citizens shy away from the market due to a vague regulatory framework. India has been one of the casualties, with cryptocurrency exchanges registering a very worrying decrease in volume of up to 90%. According to industry experts, many traders have adopted a wait-and-see attitude as they assess how the ambiguous regulatory framework will shape up in the near future. Even though cryptocurrencies haven’t been declared either legal or illegal, banks and other financial institutions have warned their customers to steer clear of them. Banks such as Citibank, the State Bank of India, and HDFC Bank have issued stern warnings to their customers against using their debit and credit cards to purchase digital assets, a move that has instilled fear and caution in the hearts of many.

A HANDS-OFF ATTITUDE

Many governments and regulatory bodies around the world have resorted to a hands-off approach regarding the cryptocurrency industry, a move that, though originally helpful, is now hurting the industry. When the crypto industry was still in a nascent stage, regulators decided to first monitor its progress before formulating policies to govern trading. This worked great for some time, as people could trade with no restrictions.

This has changed in recent times, as traders are cautious of investing in volatile assets with no explicit regulations. Japan is a nation that has a clear policy for the industry and has even gone as far as recognizing Bitcoin as a legal payment method. Sadly, other nations haven’t followed suit, and the speculation about what direction they will take is being reflected in the dropping market values of most cryptocurrencies.

THE WAY FORWARD

The cryptocurrency universe is still divided on how much of a role the government should play in regards to regulation. However, the complete lack of it in most markets and the hostile regulations in some markets like China are hurting the industry deeply. Bitcoin is struggling to stay above $7,000, and the other major cryptos aren’t faring well either. Ripple’s XRP is down more than 70% since the year began, while Ethereum’s ETH has hit its lowest levels since November of last year.

Regulation alone is not to blame. There have been other contributing factors, such as the onslaught on the industry by major digital ad providers, which have continued to stifle the industry. Most of the factors can, however, be traced back to weak and ambiguous policy frameworks. The sooner there is a clear policy regarding the cryptocurrency industry, the sooner the market can pick up its pieces and rally to record highs again.