Day: April 20, 2018

A lot of things are happening in the world of cryptocurrency as we speak. With pretty solid gains over the past few days, it has become evident this momentum will not slow down anytime soon. In fact, the daily gains are getting bigger and better, especially where the XRP price is concerned. Despite all of the hate for this currency among cryptocurrency users, the value per XRP has risen to $0.875 once again.

XRP Price Surpasses $0.85

It was only yesterday we saw the XRP price blaze past $0.7 for the first time in a few weeks. Whereas most of the enthusiasts assumed that would warrant a temporary retrace, it has not happened just yet. Instead, we get the opposite effect, which is not entirely that surprising either. Thanks to more solid gains, the value per XRP has now risen to just over $0.875.

This is another spectacular 21.17% gain over the past 24 hours. It is evident the infectious positive momentum in Bitcoin is spilling over onto the altcoins, which is not necessarily a bad thing by any means. If this trend keeps up, there’s no reason to think the XRP price won’t reach $1 again in the coming days. Then again, the weekend is almost upon us, and we may see some crazy action in the opposite direction as well.

It is always interesting to see how alternative currencies such as XRP behave compared to Bitcoin. While both markets are on the rise, XRP successfully gained another 16.94% over Bitcoin in the past 24 hours. A solid trend which has been present for several days now, and it seems that situation will continue for quite some time to come.

As is usually the case when the prices go up, the trading volume rises accordingly. In the case of XRP, its 24-hour trading volume has been pretty impressive and is on track tor each $2bn later today. Right now, there is $1.841bn in volume, which is a nice increase compared to the numbers we saw just yesterday. The bulls are firmly in control of this market, for the time being, which is a good sign.

South Korea and Japan continue to dominate the XRP trading segment as we speak. Bithumb is still in the lead, and its gap over Bitbank hasn’t shrunk by any means. We do see Upbit in second place today, whereas it was in third position yesterday. In the entire top five, there are four fiat currency pairs for XRP, which seems to indicate the best has yet to come for this altcoin.

For the time being, it seems we will hit an XRP price of $0.9 without too many issues. Anything above that value, however, is up for grabs. The bears will eventually begin pushing all prices back down, but it is still too early to tell if these efforts can be successful. The way things look right now, it will be pretty difficult to keep the XRP price from surpassing $1 at some point over the weekend.

Tezos cofounder Arthur Breitman has received a $20,000 fine and cannot engage with broker-dealers for two years, Reuters reports. #NEWS

FSB employee tells his colleagues that Telegram ban is due to the company’s crypto plans, nothing to do with terrorism, according to Russian media reports. #NEWS

The European Parliament has voted for regulations to prevent the use of cryptocurrencies in money laundering and terrorism financing.

Bitcoin Press Release: Public multi-chain project Ontology has announced a series of strategic partnerships with fellow ecosystem builders Tembusu Partners, Accomplice, Hashed, and Onchain.

Apr 13th, 2018, Singapore – Public multi-chain project and a distributed trust platform Ontologyhas just announced plans to co-build their ecosystem with a series of partnering companies. Fello ecosystem builder Tembusu Partners, Accomplice, Hashed, and Onchain will all join the fold to pursue a Co-Builder plan to help build, govern and serve the industry ecosystem together.

The group partnership will aim to explore application development, outreach, incubation, and build a new generation of public blockchain infrastructure and a distributed trust ecosystem. The purpose will be to support real business applications and scenarios.

Established in 2006, Tembusu Partners is a leading private equity firm with deep roots in Emerging Asia. Headquartered in Singapore, it has a deep understanding of the Asian market and regional economy. After joining the Ontology co-builder program, Tembusu Partners and Ontology will jointly develop Southeast Asian market partners to provide government service support for the local markets.

Andy Lim, Chairman of Tembusu Partners had this to say about the new partnership;

“Tembusu Partners is delighted to cooperate with Ontology to develop the blockchain market in the South East Asian region. This blockchain technology will disrupt many industries and create significant growth just as the internet did twenty years ago.”

Partner and International co-builder, Accomplice, is a seed-led venture capital firm known for embracing risk. Headquartered in Boston and San Francisco, Accomplice has been part of the origin‍‍‍‍‍‍ story of many companies, including AngelList, CoinList, Carbon Black, DraftKings, Hopper, PillPack, Veracode, and Zoopla.

The company has pioneered a community approach through platforms like Spearhead, BOSS, Rev, and TUGG. Through the co-building program, Ontology and Accomplice will work together to strengthen technical advocacy, as well as build and expand the influence of Ontology in the United States and Israel.

Hashed is one of the most influential groups in blockchain in South Korea. The company builds communities, accelerates projects, and is a strategic partner of innovative blockchain projects around the globe. Hashed has also accelerated South Korea’s largest wallet provider, CoinManager. Moreover, Hashed operates a blockchain meetup called “Hashed Lounge” and a blockchain-related journal called the “Hashed Post”. As a member of the Ontology co-builder program, Hashed will help Ontology to strengthen its development and influence in South Korea and Northeast Asia, creating a local technical community, and holding and promoting events, forums, etc.

An important technology partner in the co-builder program, Onchain is a technology companydedicated to the research, development, and operation of blockchain systems. With its accumulated blockchain technology and industry experience, the team has developed and operated several influential blockchain projects. Onchain has successfully cooperated with and provided blockchain solutions to several financial institutions, banks, and brokerage firms. At the same time, it also provides blockchain underlying technical services for public chain projects such as Ontology and Elastos. In the co-builder program, Ontology is the initiator and core technical supporter of the Ontology project.

About Ontology

Ontology is a new high-performance public multi-chain project and a distributed trust collaboration platform. Ontology provides new high-performance public blockchains that include a series of distributed ledger and smart contract systems. Ontology blockchain framework supports public blockchain systems and is able to customize different public blockchains for different applications. Ontology supports collaboration amongst chain networks with its various protocol groups.

Ontology will constantly provide common modules on the underlying infrastructure for different kinds of distributed scenarios, such as those for the distributed digital identity framework, distributed data exchange protocol, and so on. Based on specific scenario requirements, Ontology will continue to develop new common modules.

To Learn more about Ontology please visit – https://ont.io/
If you are interested in co-building our ecosystem, contact us at – [email protected]
Ontology official Telegram – https://ont.io/images/footer_01.png
Ontology on Discord – https://discordapp.com/invite/4TQujHj
Find Ontology on Twitter – https://twitter.com/OntologyNetwork
Follow Ontology on Facebook – https://ont.io/images/footer_04.png
Read about Ontology on Reddit – https://www.reddit.com/r/OntologyNetwork/
Ontology official Medium – https://medium.com/ontologynetwork
Ontology on Github – https://github.com/ontio

Media contact

Contact name: Chloe Fu
Email: [email protected]
Company: Ontology

Ontology is the source of this content. Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to consumer protections. Cryptocurrencies and tokens are extremely volatile. There is no guarantee of a stable value, or of any value at all. Token sales are only suitable for individuals with a high-risk tolerance. Only participate in a token event with what you can afford to lose. This press release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest. The Ontology  vtoken sale is closed to US participants and participants of all countries in which ICOs are illegal.

The post PR: Ontology Partners with Ecosystem Co-Builders Tembusu Partners, Accomplice, Hashed and Onchain appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Multinational giant IBM has launched a pilot blockchain-based project to support small businesses throughout Africa with a Kenyan logistics company.

The company, Kenyan-based Twiga foods, has used mobile technology to develop its supply chain for farmers and traders. To expand and offer microloans to its African clients, the company has joined IBM to employ blockchain technology to improve its current business model and deliver a more efficient and transparent service.

Skeptics have argued that it has been lenders who have historically benefited from such microloans, due to non-restrictive or in some instances a complete lack of barriers, which often translate to high-interest rates. The application of blockchain-based solutions to these loans is increasingly being cited by business as a way of addressing other microloan issues such as large overheads, slow delivery and corruption. The reason for using blockchain is that it is secure and transparent in nature. No individual or single entity can alter entries on the distributed ledger.

The IBM pilot project, developed at the IBM Lab in Nairobi, uses Hyperledger Fabric, a blockchain framework implementation that acts as a bedrock for developing applications and solutions.

The project simply requires African users to own a mobile and need capital to grow their business. The IBM blockchain program aims to fill the finance gap so small ventures can flourish on the African continent.

Isaac Markus, IBM researcher on the project, commented:

“After analyzing purchase records from a mobile device, we used machine learning algorithms to predict creditworthiness, in turn giving lenders the confidence they need to provide microloans to small businesses. Once the credit score is determined, we used a blockchain, based on the Hyperledger Fabric, to manage the entire lending process from application to receiving offers to accepting the terms of repayment.”

So far, the technology, which underwent an 8-week pilot, has processed 220 loans with a distributed average of KES 3,000 Kenyan shillings (KES), approximately USD 30, for recipients. These loans were disbursed with a repayment period of four or eight days that attracted a 1% and 2% interest respectively.

Andrew Kinai, the lead researcher at IBM research, suggested that the aim of the program was to offer the opportunity for small businesses to participate in an interdependent ecosystem based on SMS. Users, some with limited IT literacy would be better positioned to access financing for their orders.

As a result of the pilot, Twiga has benefited both from a boost in business and earned interest. Twiga, which started its business as a logistics company for bananas, has since expanded its operations to include more farm produce for distribution.

IMB now intends to spread the program throughout Africa.

The post IBM Pilots Blockchain Loans in Africa appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Bitcoin saw small gains last night, but the weak move did little to further the bull case.

China-based cloud network provider Xunlei has launched a blockchain platform, undeterred by ongoing allegations it held an unlawful ICO.

Making payments online can be done through many different ways. Cryptocurrencies play a growing role of importance in this regard. Taking the crown from the likes of PayPal will not happen overnight. Even so, the latter company is making some policy changes which will not be to everyone’s liking.

The PayPal Policy Changes

Online payment processors need to keep a close eye on their competitors. This also includes making policy changes which may offend a fair few people. For PayPal, their new direction is pretty straightforward. The variable rate pricing for sending money outside of the US is being removed. Instead, recipients of funds will be “discriminated” based on their country of residence. A flat fee is to be introduced, which can ramp up to $4.99 per transaction.

To make matters worse, there is an extra “rule” for credit and debit card users. This same flat fee will apply, plus a fixed fee based on the currency, and a surcharge of 2.9% of the transaction amount. In the best case, sending $100 to a country with a $2.99 flat fee would net the recipient $92 or less. This new scheme will not be to the liking of people who regularly transfer money through the PayPal infrastructure.

It is important to note this does not apply to purchases made through the service. This only pertains to people who send money to friends and family members. Anything labeled as a non-purchase will be subject to this new policy. This makes PayPal a far less favorable option for sending money between friends and family members. Instead, it may push people to alternative solutions.

A Boost for Cryptocurrency?

Up until now, PayPal had made somewhat of an impact in the money transfer industry. Especially where remittances are concerned, the service offers an adequate alternative. These new changes will force people to look for alternatives in this regard. Especially with unverified users being unable to send money and make payments, things are not heading in the right direction.

Other forms of remittance will undoubtedly benefit from these policy changes. The likes of TransferWise are a lot cheaper than PayPal, but still somewhat expensive. Cryptocurrencies can make a positive impact in this regard. Unlike traditional solutions, Bitcoin and consorts are borderless and can be a lot cheaper to send money abroad.

More importantly, cryptocurrency use doesn’t necessarily require a lot of personal information. Setting up a wallet address is a matter of installing the right software. Converting cryptocurrency to fiat currency may involve a KYC procedure, but exchanges are getting better at processing those requests quickly. PayPal may effectively pave the way for broader cryptocurrency adoption in the coming years.

The post PayPal Policy Change Forces Consumers to Take Cryptocurrency More Seriously appeared first on NewsBTC.

On Thursday, April 19 the Calvin Ayre-owned blockchain and mining firm, Coingeek, announced it is contributing over $150,000 USD to help fund a blockchain developer training program in the Philippines. Coingeek believes the projects like these will help bolster the global, low-fee peer-to-peer digital currency known as bitcoin cash by improving the blockchain development community.

Also Read: Tax Time is Here and Lots of Cryptocurrency Holders Don’t Care   

Coingeek Funds Another Project to Bolster Bitcoin Adoption

The blockchain organization Coingeek owned by the billionaire Calvin Ayre has been funding a lot of research and development in regard to the Bitcoin blockchain (BCH). Just recently it launched a £5Mn Bitcoin Cash tokenization contest, while at the same time revealing the funding of the privacy-centric BCH project Cash Shuffle, and the popular wallet client Electron Cash. Now Coingeek plans to fund the Stacklab blockchain training program in the Philippines as the area is the second largest IT outsourcing region worldwide.

“[It is] important to train more developers to work in blockchain technology, because experienced blockchain developers are in short supply,” explains Coingeek.

A minimum of fifty developers will be trained on developments skills focusing on the Bitcoin BCH blockchain — Trainees will be selected at a coding tournament using the world’s most unbiased programmer capability evaluation test, which was funded by the World Bank and is recognized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).    

Trainees Will Focus on Coding the Bitcoin Cash Blockchain

Stacklabs (a Stacktrek Enterprise subsidiary) hopes to create next-generation development hubs in the Philippines. The first Stacklab training program with Coingeek will be held in the city of Iloilo. The London-based blockchain research and development company Nchain will also assist the Stacklab program curriculum and trainee projects.

“The training programs will be focused on coding on the Bitcoin BCH chain, the one true public blockchain,” Coingeek emphasizes during the announcement.

Coingeek also explains that only those who test in the top 2 through 11 percentile will make the cut for Stacklab’s Philippines project. After developers are chosen they will take a six-month training program, and Stacklab will help the trainee find an employment position in the blockchain workforce. The hope is to “transform developing cities” like Iloilo and turn them into technology centers.

What do you think about Coingeek funding a blockchain training program in order to help promote bitcoin cash development? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock, Bitcoin Cash logos, and Coingeek. 

Have you seen our new widget service? It allows anyone to embed informative Bitcoin.com widgets on their website. They’re pretty cool and you can customize by size and color. The widgets include price-only, price and graph, price and news, forum threads. There’s also a widget dedicated to our mining pool, displaying our hash power.

The post Coingeek Funds BCH Blockchain Development Training in the Philippines appeared first on Bitcoin News.