Day: April 4, 2018

Blockchains are being explored by many industries, from cloud storage and healthcare to insurance and legal services. The supply chain management industry hasn’t been left behind, and it’s leading the world in research and development of blockchain technology to solve some of the challenges that have plagued this industry for so long. But how exactly will blockchains impact the supply chain industry, and will they finally bring an end to inefficiencies in this sector?

THE HISTORICAL CHALLENGES

To understand why the blockchain is a godsend for supply chain management, one has to understand the challenges faced by the industry. Top among them is insufficient data between the involved parties. This usually stems from the deep-rooted distrust between the parties which hinders them from freely sharing data among themselves. Even when the data is shared, the recipients have little trust that it is accurate and not ill-intended.

Speed is crucial in this industry, and yet the existing systems have crippled the swift movement of goods. Lack of interoperability of systems and disparate and non-standard record keeping are just a few of the contributors to the slow movement of value in supply chains.

The opaqueness of supply chains is also a big problem, especially in industries such as food and drugs. In these sectors, trusting the ingredients used and the process by which everything is put together is an essential part and may even be the defining factor as to whether one gets a license to operate or not. The only way people can have confidence and trust in the process is for them to be able to track and trace ingredients from production to the final process.

ENTER THE BLOCKCHAIN

A blockchain is a decentralized ledger in which all entries are immutable. This makes it ideal for the supply chain management industry. While the application of blockchain technology in this industry is still in pilot stages for most companies, the results so far have been positive, and in the very near future, blockchain application in this industry will go mainstream. From retail to shipping, blockchains are being embraced fully, with some of the companies on the front line being:

Walmart

The world’s largest company by revenue, Walmart demonstrated its intention to employ technology to improve efficiency when it patented its Smart Package application. Smart Package uses a blockchain-based tool to track packaged contents as they move through the supply and distribution chain, keeping track of factors such as environmental conditions and the location of the package. This is done through the recording of unique addresses on the blockchain platform such as the seller’s private key address and the courier’s private key address. Walmart has also continued to partner with IBM in the development of blockchain-powered applications for use in the supply chain industry.

Maersk

Maersk announced earlier this year that it was partnering with IBM to form a company that would be headquartered in New York and whose aim would be to provide more secure and efficient methods for conducting global trade using blockchain technology. The company will develop solutions for shipping companies, port authorities, customs offices, banks and other stakeholders in global supply chains to replace tedious paperwork with a decentralized ledger. The Danish shipping giant has been working with IBM for close to two years now, and it’s already in the pilot phase of a blockchain-based platform for its shipping line.

UPS

The package delivery company, which also provides supply chain management solutions to its clients, joined the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA) late last year. BiTA is an alliance formed by various supply chain industry titans for the development of blockchain standards for the freight industry. UPS has stated that its goal in exploring blockchain technology is to develop sustainable strategies that enable UPS clients to participate in global trade.

JD.com

China’s largest e-commerce company made the announcement last month that it would partner with Australian startup InterAgri to develop a blockchain platform to track beef imports from overseas suppliers. The platform will record information on such activities as the breeding of cattle, processing, and transportation to final consumers. JD.com is also a founding member of the Blockchain Food Safety Alliance, which seeks to implement blockchain technology to introduce transparency in China’s food supply chain. IBM, Tsinghua University and Walmart are the alliance’s other founding members.

These are just a few of the many companies that are testing blockchain technology in their supply chains. Others include FedEx, Procter & Gamble, Daimler, Bridgestone, and AmerisourceBergen. BiTA alone has 60 members, and it expects to sign many more up before the end of the year. As more development and research in this technology is carried out, the number of interested companies will continue to rise. Who knows, blockchain technology might become a necessity and not a luxury in the supply chain industry in the near future.

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Stay tuned for part two of this three-part series.

There is an all-round depreciation of altcoins. With Litecoin reversing yesterday’s gains, we are rooting for a retest of $90. However, that’s not the only coin under our preview. Stellar Lumens might follow Litecoin route and shed further with possible bear stops at $0.07 while NEO may inch towards $40 and then $25. Despite being in an ICO, EOS value might fall to $4 in the short to medium term if we base our projections on altcoins technical analysis.

Let’s have a look at these charts:

XLM/USD (Stellar Lumens)

XLMUSD Weekly Chart from Bittrex for April 5, 2018

Following Litecoin in the loss list is Stellar Lumens and despite decent gains in the past couple of days, the 12% loss in the last 24 hours is deterrence for longs. In fact, with our stops hit, we can wait until a stochastic buy signal forms maybe when prices test $0.15.

From the 4HR chart, it’s obvious that buyers are finding strong resistance at the main resistance trend line if those strong sell candlestick forming right at $0.25 or thereabout.

At this rate of depreciation, sellers can aim for $0.17 and $0.15 because from our Stellar Lumens analysis, those are our key and immediate support lines.

After all, this is the weekly chart trend and if $0.15 doesn’t hold, then the slide towards $0.07 or August 2017 highs is a real possibility.

IOT/USD (IOTA)

IOTUSD Weekly Chart from BitFinex for April 5, 2018

On the development frontier, there are some plausible movements. After yesterday’s Ledger Nano S integration, we expect more important milestones to be hit in the medium term.

Community hero announcing Ledger Nano S beta he has been working on for awhile. https://t.co/VHf3sTCkRU

— IOTA (@iotatoken) April 4, 2018

However, when it comes to price, things are taking a turn to the worst. We can as well begin with the reaction at $1.25 and the apparent drop of prices meaning IOTA is back trading below $1 mark.

As it is, this can mean sell pressure is strong. If there is a follow through today then I won’t be surprised with price action hitting $0.90 in the coming days. This level is our short term support with a medium term target of $0.30 being on our cross-hairs.

EOS/USD (EOS)

EOSUSD 4HR Chart from BitFinex for April 5, 2018

Even with news that Tesloop shall add Tesla cars to EOS platform, prices are still down.

Watch this in-depth interview of our CEO, Rahul Sonnad, who gives a behind the scenes look into the future of Tesloop and the mobility space. https://t.co/dmxXy2uBbU

Thanks to our new friend and host @augustbradley

— Tesloop (@tesloop) April 3, 2018

Fact is, EOS is down 6%. Even though price action is still trending within March 25 high lows, I think there is more room for a downside.

This gel well with the weekly chart trend. With a stochastic sell signal in place, buyers can exit their longs. Conversely, sellers can and wait for a close below $5.15 before entering this short trade with targets at $4.

LTC/USD (Litecoin)

LTCUSD Weekly Chart from CoinBase for April 5, 2018

It’s no doubt that Litecoin vision is to be a go-to cryptocurrency for merchants. That’s an awesome vision that could benefit investors and recently Charlie Lee reiterated that overall objective.

An awesome read about @SatoshiLite's predictions for Litecoin payments! #PayWithLitecoin https://t.co/SlNEuyignK

— Aliant Payments (@AliantPayment) April 3, 2018

Therefore, it is no wonder that over the last couple of days, Abra’s involvement could be directly linked to recent Litecoin gains. After all, Abra is a working application which if it becomes mainstream will undoubtedly increase Litecoin adoption. However, as fast as the flash was, so is the crash.

From our Litecoin technical analysis, data from CoinMarketCap shows that prices are down 13%. In light of this rapid depreciation, our stops at $125 were hit. This meaning bears are right back on track now that buyers couldn’t breach the main resistance trend line in the 4HR chart. With this-and compounded by a stochastic sell signal in place- bears will most likely drive prices towards $90, the main support line in the weekly chart.

NEO/USD (NEO)

NEOUSD Weekly Chart from Bittrex for April 5, 2018

News that WinQ is the first DApp on NEO couldn’t jolt prices and sellers are definitely on a roll here. Our stops, from our previous NEO Technical analysis, at $45 will likely be hit.

WinQ is the first dApp on $NEO allowing you to earn $QLC through grabbing asset games!!!@NEOnewstoday @NEO_Blockchain #game #decentralized #dapp #GooglePlay
https://t.co/noxMPAyZdd

— Qlink (@QlinkMobi) April 4, 2018

If that’s the case, sellers enter the main bandwagon with immediate targets of $40. If there is a recovery, then I recommend buyers to stay off this trade. Trigger will only happen when prices are trading above $65 or the middle BB in the daily chart.

All charts courtesy of Trading View

The post NEO, EOS, Litecoin, IOTA and Stellar Lumens: Altcoins Technical Analysis April 5, 2018 appeared first on NewsBTC.

Canada’s Bank of Montreal will prohibit customers from purchasing cryptocurrencies using Interac debit cards, on top of an existing Mastercard ban.

XRP is marketed as a valuable link between the world of traditional banking and digital currencies, supposedly designed to revolutionize how banks move cash across borders, making transactions faster and cheaper. Despite this, Ripple is struggling to get listed on two major U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchanges, Gemini and Coinbase.

According to people familiar with the matter who asked to remain anonymous, last year, a Ripple executive asked whether a $1 million cash payment could persuade Gemini to list XRP in the third quarter. That followed other attempts by Ripple to get Gemini to add XRP, utilizing different strategies like paying out rebates and covering related costs, the people said.

Also last Fall, during preliminary talks with Coinbase, Ripple said it would be willing to lend the exchange more than $100 million worth of XRP to start letting users trade the asset. Ripple, without putting the proposal in writing, told Coinbase it could pay back the loan in XRP or dollars. If the exchange had chosen dollars, it could have profited had the tokens become more valuable upon being listed.

Both exchanges declined to pursue the proposals, the people said.

Gemini and Coinbase pick and choose the cryptocurrencies that trade on their platforms. At the moment, Gemini customers can only trade Bitcoin and Ether, though co-founders the Winklevoss brothers said last month that they are looking to expand, with plans to offer Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin in the near-future. Coinbase offers Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, and Litecoin.

Paid Listings

Although it might sound strange, it’s not unusual to pay for a cryptocurrency listing. Costs range from “$1 million for a reasonably regarded token, to $3 million for an opportunity to get quick liquidity,” according to a report from Autonomous Research.

According to Jesse Overall, an attorney at Clifford Chance, paying for a cryptocurrency listing is not out of the ordinary because traditional markets charge comparable fees, as companies are required to pay for listings on U.S. stock exchanges. For example, Nasdaq Inc.’s stock markets can charge annual listing fees ranging from $42,000 to $155,000, according to the company’s rule book.

The problem is that things could get complicated if a digital token were later deemed to be an unregistered security, he said. In such a case, both the exchange and issuer could face penalties.

“Listing on an exchange is an integral part of the process of facilitating an unregistered, unlawful, illegal securities issuance to people who are not allowed to buy,” Overall said.

U.S. Exchanges

Few things have propelled XRP’s price more in recent months than speculation that the token is set to graduate to U.S. exchanges — exchanges that face stricter regulations than those based in other parts of the world. A U.S. listing would cement XRP’s standing among the top cryptocurrencies: by market cap Ripple is the third-largest, behind Ethereum and Bitcoin

While the coin itself doesn’t represent an ownership stake in Ripple, a concern is that the close relationship might still lead regulators to deem XRP a security. If XRP is classified as a security, it would be removed from the largely unregulated world of cryptocurrencies and become subject to requirements similar to those that govern assets like stocks, as would exchanges that offer it. U.S. authorities are still clarifying which tokens deserve the designation as a security, so it’s not surprising that exchanges are wary. 

Image Courtesy of Shutterstock

The post Ripple Struggles to Get Listed on U.S. Exchanges as Regulators Determine What Coins Are Deemed Securities appeared first on NewsBTC.

Crypto messenger and payment platform Paymon has reached its $500,000 soft cap in the first phase of its initial coin offering. Paymon’s development began in 2016 and has steadily gained interest within crypto circles for its unique blockchain that promises zero-fee transactions, unlimited speed, atomic swaps, and massive scalability.

The team behind Paymon recently released the beta versions of their encrypted messenger service as well as smart wallet apps for securing crypto assets. As Paymon’s decentralized payments ecosystem continues to be packaged and released, investors and blockchain enthusiasts may want to pay attention to this promising project.

The Paymon blockchain

Anyone familiar with the current major blockchains (Bitcoin, Ethereum) will know firsthand that these platforms have run into a myriad of problems as their popularity has exploded over the last year: longer transaction times, increased transaction costs, and ultimately, a scalability problem.

It is no longer practical to pay for microtransactions (let’s say a pizza, for example) with Bitcoin — the transaction fee would cost more than the pizza and take hours to complete.

This is where Paymon comes in — a decentralized payments system where microtransactions work because of a unique blockchain that enables unlimited transactions at no cost.

The creative minds over at Paymon began developing a blockchain that would introduce scalable solutions to today’s major blockchain problems. The team developed the new Paymon blockchain technology (called Hive) that is packaged with some cutting-edge features:

• Unlimited speed and transactions
• 0% commission and fees on transactions
• Smart contracts
• Atomic swaps (instant swapping of cryptocurrencies without an exchange)
• Proof of Me (PoM) proof-of-work rating system
• Users are “miners”
• Based on Direct Acyclic Graph algorithms

The Paymon team set out to build a blockchain and payments system that was practical for both consumers and businesses, from macro payments to micro. Paymon’s Hive technology enables the transfer of value across a seamless blockchain platform with instant speed and zero costs.

How is Hive able to handle an unlimited amount of transactions, at no cost to the user?

The developers behind Hive wanted a network that would grow faster, not slower, as new users are added to the network. To accomplish this, blocks have been reduced to a size of 1-2 transactions per block, and each user that uses the Paymon ecosystem also becomes a miner, contributing a small amount of computing resources to sustain the network and keep it free of commissions, fees, and wait times.

Paymon’s developers are continuing to develop this blockchain using the Rust programming language, and their contributions can be seen via their GitHub.

A messenger with a purpose

The development of Paymon’s free, instant and scalable blockchain platform is only one part of the greater Paymon ecosystem — the team has also rolled out a fully-encrypted messenger service that allows users to send and receive cryptocurrencies.

Paymon’s messenger is a blockchain messenger application that features:

• Encrypted security — all message traffic encrypted with Diffie-Hellman, AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) algorithms using SHA
• Smart wallet storage system for securing crypto assets — only users have access to their own private keys
• Send and receive cryptocurrency assets (BTC & ETH currently) instantly via messenger
• Android platform application available via Google Play
• Apple iOS and web applications coming soon (after ICO)

One of the greatest barriers to today’s mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies is ease-of-use. Ordinary people don’t have the time nor the desire to concern themselves with creating, storing, and securing multiple wallets, across multiple cryptocurrencies.

With Paymon’s blockchain messenger, a new wallet is created automatically for users, allowing them to instantly begin sending and receiving encrypted messages and also securely transferring crypto assets.

What’s even better is that consumers will be able to create new wallets, create backup copies of old wallets, and even exchange fiat currency and other cryptocurrencies using atomic swaps.

An opportunity for investors, small and large

Paymon is currently in the second phase of a three-phase initial coin offering (ICO). It is important to note that Paymon has already attracted significant funding ($500,000 USD) from blockchain venture firm FinShi and has also partnered with Descrow, the world’s first decentralized Escrow service.

Building off of these early partnerships, Paymon hasn’t had to spend capital on advertising — which makes it a darkhorse ICO for keen-eyed investors.

Rather than devoting funds to marketing and outreach, the Paymon team has decidedly focused on building their project and delivering on the promises of their roadmap.

These are good signs for a long-term project still in its early phase of allowing investors to contribute.

Paymon’s ICO is currently in its second phase:

• Currently, $497,000 of $500,000 soft cap has been raised
• The first phase closed on February 5th, 2018
• 1 PMNT = $.015
• Total PMNT token supply = 1bn
• Phase 1 token cap = 400m PMNT
• Phase 2 token cap = 250m PMNT
• Phase 3 token cap = 200m PMNT

All the three phases of Paymon’s ICO represent good opportunities for investors to get involved in the ambitious project. However, to access the largest coin supply at the lowest cost possible, investors have the opportunity to join in on the second phase of Paymon’s token sale.

To wrap things up, here are some (not all) of Paymon’s key features that make it an exciting project:

• A decentralized, easy-to-use, and secure payments ecosystem and development blockchain
• A zero-fee, unlimited speed, scalable blockchain platform powered by its users
• Hive blockchain platform with API support for developers, security and smart contracts for users
• Instant exchange of fiat and cryptocurrencies via atomic swaps
• Escrow services and Proof of Me rating system
• Paymon’s blockchain messenger offers encrypted messages and secure transfer of value and storage of crypto assets

Paymon’s list of features is impressive as it is long, but the bottom line is that this team is working towards a blockchain platform that is easy-to-use and will benefit everyone — consumers, developers, and even businesses.

It’s rare to find a tokenized project this impressive without the overhype, so investors might benefit from considering an early opportunity to get involved with Paymon.

If you want to learn more about Paymon, check out the following links below.

Website & ICO: https://ico.paymon.org/
Whitepaper: https://ico.paymon.org/#documents
Paymon Blockchain Messenger (Android): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.paymon.android.release&hl=en

The post Instant, Zero-Commission Cryptocurrency Messenger and Transfer Ecosystem Paymon Reaches $500k in First Stage of ICO appeared first on NewsBTC.

Even though the cryptocurrency markets are reeling right now, overall demand for Bitcoin is not slowing down in the slightest. According to LocalBitcoins, the demand for Bitcoin is spiking in Canada. That in itself is rather interesting, as the country has been pretty silent on the cryptocurrency front these past few years.

Canada Shows a Healthy Appetite for Bitcoin

Looking at the LocalBitcoins chart for Canada these past few years, one can see that the demand has never been all that great. In fact, one can argue that the demand for BTC was pretty flat until late 2017. At that time, the global demand for Bitcoin was peeking, mainly because of the price quickly soaring to new heights.

As one would expect, the LocalBitcoins volume in this country tapered off in early 2018. With the markets losing value in quick succession, it’s normal that there would be far less demand for cryptocurrency. At the same time, this lower market value creates a lot of new buy opportunities for investors and speculators.

It seems there has been a renewed interest in LocalBitcoins over the past three to four weeks. With the weekly traded Bitcoin volume on the rise over this period, things look rather promising. Last week, however, the volume jumped by an astonishing CA$2.5 million for no apparent reason. That increase comes on the heels of another CA$3.4 million increase in the weeks prior.

The big question is why demand is soaring all of a sudden. Even though the lower Bitcoin price makes this investment vehicle a lot more appealing as of right now, one wouldn’t necessarily expect consumers to use LocalBitcoins for this purpose. Canada is home to a fair few cryptocurrency exchanges, although the ecosystem could certainly use a lot more competition in the near future.

Additionally, there is an increasing interest on the part of Bitcoin mining firms looking to set up shop in Canada. The country has a fair amount of renewable energy and empty data centers looking for new purposes. As such, it seems the concept of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is gaining traction in the country in various ways. At the same time, Canada still lacks clear regulatory guidelines when it comes to virtual currencies.

Whether or not the demand for Bitcoin will remain this high in Canada remains to be seen. This may very well be a temporary trend, rather than the new normal. Even so, it goes to show that LocalBitcoins is still quite popular, as peer-to-peer trading is a preferable manner of buying and selling Bitcoin these days.

Canada’s most populous province wants to retain its image as an “innovation hub,” but worries that investors don’t “understand what they’re buying.”

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

Bitcoin Cash is a very interesting addition to the cryptocurrency industry. Although it is an alternative version of Bitcoin, the currency seems to have made its mark on the industry. As such, the currency now has its very own peer-to-peer exchange, known as Remitano. This Vietnamese platform launched some time ago and recently decided to add BCH.

Remitano is a Game Changer for BCH

It is quite clear that there is a lot more to cryptocurrency than just Bitcoin. Even though BTC influences the value of all other cryptocurrencies on the market today, it seems that situation may come to change in the future. With Bitcoin Cash continuing to make its mark on the industry, there are some interesting changes to look forward to, by the look of things.

With Remitano making this change, Vietnamese cryptocurrency enthusiasts will have an easier time buying and selling BCH. This popular peer-to-peer marketplace for Bitcoin Cash will work in a similar way to LocalBitcoinCash. Even so, this is the first major P2P exchange for BCH transactions, according to the team. With all transactions subject to escrow, funds will be kept safe and scammers won’t be successful.

Remitano wants to provide the best prices on the market by keeping their fees down to 0.5%. As of right now, the market average for peer-to-peer trading platforms is closer to 1%, which is pretty steep. The escrow aspect is something everyone can appreciate, as dealing with buyers and sellers directly can be a bit dangerous.

It is not the first time Remitano has made an impact on the cryptocurrency markets. The platform has been around for quite some time now, yet it has only featured Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT until now. The addition of Bitcoin Cash will certainly attract a lot of attention. The Remitano team is convinced that BCH has lower fees and faster confirmations compared to Bitcoin, making it a viable contender.

Given the perceived popularity of Bitcoin Cash, one would have expected other P2P trading solutions to integrate this currency. So far, that has not been the case just yet, which is why Remitano wants to remain ahead of the competition. They see this change as a way to increase the day-to-day use of cryptocurrencies across Vietnam. Whether or not BCH can live up to those expectations remains to be determined.

It will be interesting to see how this business decision plays out for Remitano. Adding a new currency now and then is always a good decision, although there is no guarantee this addition will bring more positive attention to the platform. Whether or not other platforms will integrate Bitcoin Cash moving forward is another question that can’t be easily answered.