Day: April 21, 2018

Canada is quickly becoming a very popular country for cryptocurrency activity. Not only is there a growing interest in setting up mining operations there, but the competition among trading platforms is heating up as well. CoinField, one of the local exchanges, has big expansion plans for 2018.

CoinField Goes big in Canada

One has to acknowledge that there is very little information out there regarding cryptocurrency exchanges in Canada. A few years ago, major platforms were competing for the top spot. Since then, there have been some acquisitions and mergers, as well as other companies simply shutting down. This has created a sort of power vacuum which is waiting to be filled.

It seems a lot of Canadian Bitcoin enthusiasts currently rely on OTC trading. The overall weekly volume on LocalBitcoins Canada has spiked in recent weeks, indicating a growing demand for exposure to cryptocurrency volatility. This also means that local exchanges and trading platforms will need to step up their game if they want to remain even remotely competitive.

For CoinField, one of the lesser-known exchanges in Canada, its future direction is pretty clear. It will need to add more currencies in an effort to attract new customers and bolster its overall trading volume. While virtually every exchange around the world offers access to Bitcoin and Ethereum, there’s a lot more to the cryptocurrency ecosystem than just those coins.

As such, it is good to see the company look beyond the more traditional currencies. According to a press release, the firm will add ten additional currencies throughout 2018. Which currencies those may be remains a mystery as of right now. The final list will be made public at some point next month. It will be rather interesting to see which coins the users of this platform want to see added, as they will determine how the company improves its offerings.

CoinField CEO Babak Bob Ras commented as follows:

We are fully aware which coins are the most desirable [for the] Canadian crypto community and our team [is working] around the clock to bring these new coins [to] Canada for the first time. However, in order to stay compliant with the regulations, before we list any additions to our expansive portfolio, we have to analyze and evaluate the coins to make sure the ones we are listing are ‘commodities’ as we do not list any ‘securities’ on our platform.

That seems to indicate most ICO tokens are completely out of the question for the time being. Given the regulatory scrutiny that ICO tokens are facing all over the world, it only makes sense that most trading platforms want to avoid legal repercussions. CoinField also maintains very strict AML and KYC procedures in an effort to become the top exchange in Canada. Only time will tell whether it will be successful in doing so.

Even though things looked rather dire for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies throughout the first few months of 2018, things are changing in favor of this growing industry. Silicon Valley backers are showing an increasing appetite for volatile cryptocurrencies. As such, they are demanding that the SEC not label this form of money as securities. That is a pretty interesting endeavor, albeit one that may not necessarily have a positive outcome.

Silicon Valley Opposes Bitcoin Regulation

Ever since Bitcoin and similar currencies began gaining traction, there have been endless debates regarding regulating this industry. Every attempt made so far has either been too harsh – BitLicense, for example –  or simply ineffective. Regulating something with no central authority, company, or CEO is virtually impossible. Indeed, rules have little to no long-term effect on cryptocurrencies.

Even so, there is an argument to be made in favor of Bitcoin regulation as well. With a proper legal and regulatory framework, Bitcoin would automatically gain more legitimacy. Anything that is left untouched by the government has, in the eyes of the public, no real value and should be ignored. As for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore this industry any longer.

With the public’s interest in cryptocurrencies on the rise, so are the regulatory attempts. China and India have made a negative impact in this regard. The International Monetary Fund recently urged the world’s leaders to introduce a global standard which would allow for innovation first and foremost. This only further confirms that a harsh stance against Bitcoin will not work and potentially cause financial instability.

It seems Silicon Valley VCs are also in favor of a very light regulatory touch, so much so that Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures recently met with SEC officials. They argued that regulatory oversight from Washington could halt innovation in this industry altogether. That is something one needs to avoid at all costs, even though most politicians won’t necessarily see it that way.

Dissuading the SEC from labeling cryptocurrencies as securities is a seemingly impossible task. While an argument can be made for taking a more favorable approach in this regard, it remains doubtful the SEC will change its mind. That’s especially true when considering that the agency only recently intensified its oversight of the ICO industry in general. At the same time, ICO tokens and cryptocurrencies are not the same thing, and properly distinguishing between the two seems more than warranted at this stage.

It is good to see Silicon Valley VCs properly back Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. Although the final decision still rests with the regulators, engaging in an active dialogue will usually have some sort of a long-term impact. Whether that impact will be positive or negative in this case remains to be determined. Cryptocurrencies are not going away, but regulators will not give up their attempts to control this industry all that easily.

Cryptocurrency, ICO and mining are now legal and tax-free in Belarus, will it become a global IT hub? #IN_DEPTH

Bitcoin has fundamentally changed how financial transactions are conducted around the world. Giving the power of controlling their money back to the users, it allows faster, secure, cheaper and intermediary free transactions all over the world. Yet, over the years, there have been a lot of debates and disagreements on the underlying workings of the biggest cryptocurrency. The latest split, or hard fork has been announced by Z-Magnetars, a tech company, that is designed to cater for the drawbacks in Bitcoin and exploit its true power.

But Why a Hard Fork?

A cryptocurrency developed today may seem to be the best thing that can happen to the financial world. However, a few years down the road, there might be issues that the developers could not fathom. A debate is a usual outcome when it is discussed by the community governing the cryptocurrency on how to proceed.

The debate sometimes can lead to disagreements, with one side being loyal to the original principles and philosophy, while the other will insist on making permanent changes to the code to make the technology adapt to new circumstances. If these issues are not resolved, the community usually decides to split and part ways, with one side using the original coding, and the other party making changes in the code, essentially creating a variation of the original and following its path of blockchain.

Bitcoin and the FoxBTC Fork

Bitcoin has already seen a number of forks. There are 9 major forks, such as Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold, while an astounding 25 more are planned in this year alone. FoxBTC is one of the planned forks that will initiate on 30th April. The team working on the fork, Z-Magnetars has essentially identified a couple of crucial issues that they are fixing with the change in coding:

• Increased Block Size: By raising the current block size to 10MB, it will enable scalability and allow for more transaction volume, having a minimum of a 3 minute block interval.
• Average GPU Mining: The current mining state of Bitcoin is so power hungry that it is becoming a problem for countries that have its farm, causing a huge surge in power demands. FoxBTC will counter this by allowing only smaller GPU setups to mine the coins, disabling huge farms and bringing down the costs.
• Hybrid POW/POS: Bitcoin currently works on the Proof of Work protocol, where more powerful systems take advantage and have a higher chance of mining a block. FoxBTC will use a combination of both Proof of Work and Proof of Stake, allowing normal users to earn coins by holding on to coins. POW will give around 50 coins per block and POS will give a 6% annual incentive.

FoxBTC Start

FoxBTC’s fork will occur on 30th of April, on block 520419 of Bitcoin, having around 16,500,000 coins in total circulation, with 5,500,000 for users, 5,000,000 for airdrop and 1,000,000 held in reserve for Z-Magnetars developers.

For more information on the hard fork, visit their website: https://www.foxbtc.io/

The post Z-Magnetars Announce Bitcoin Hard Fork Designed To Break The Chains Holding Bitcoin Back appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

In the world of blockchain and cryptocurrency, there is no shortage of innovative ideas. If Mithril is any indication, the way we think about social media will come to change in quite spectacular fashion. This particular project aims to decentralize social media and reward content creators in a fair and transparent manner.

The Idea Behind Mithril

One could argue that there is no shortage of social media platforms out there. That is certainly true, but all of them are designed to harvest user data. Mithril takes a completely different approach, as it aims to put the “social” back in social media. Rewarding content creators, using social power to “mine” Mithril tokens, and bringing people closer together are just some of this project’s goals.

The Technology Under the Hood

With such ambitious goals, Mithril will need to pack a fair amount of technology to make it all work. Even though the MITH token is based on the ERC20 standard, users will be able to “mine” this currency through social interactions and content creation. Any action taking place on the platform will mine MITH based on the project’s algorithm. This will incentivize people to use the platform quite frequently, as they will be rewarded for doing so.

It is also expected that this social media ecosystem will encompass a lot of different areas. Online applications for Mithril will range from online dating to premium content and even live streaming. Additionally, the goal is to make MITH a payment method for merchants, although it remains to be seen if that will be successful. After all, there’s a fair bit of competition out there in that regard.

Additionally, there is a beta Lit app available for mobile. This application is a part of the overall Mithril ecosystem, which lets users share their stories. Depending on how those creations impact and influence others across the network, the creators will be rewarded with a certain amount of MITH tokens. It’s an interesting take on things, even though “yet another social mobile app” will have a difficult time succeeding.

The MITH Token

As mentioned before, Mithril has its own token, known as MITH. It is used to reward content creators, promote social activity on the platform, and so forth. Getting this token into the hands of merchants and their clients will be a different matter altogether. Even so, the team will set up a dedicated Merchant Network which will include apps for dating and live streaming, among other things. It’s an interesting concept that may eventually succeed.

Mithril’s Roadmap

Building this decentralized social media ecosystem will require a lot of work in the months and years to come. Although the beta version of the mobile app is a positive step in the right direction, further improvements can be made. The top priority is getting content creators excited about Mithril to ensure that they produce and share unique content on this platform, rather than copy and paste the same information across multiple networks. Achieving that goal will be pretty difficult.

John Williams, widely expected to be the next president of the New York Federal Reserve, admits that he is biased against cryptocurrency, and suggests that digital currency “doesn’t pass the basic test of what a currency should be”, according to CNBC.

Williams, head of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, expressed in a speech on Friday that cryptocurrencies offered more a promise of technology than that of currency. He added that a currency should be something with a “store of value” and that cryptocurrencies lack the elasticity to support varying economic and financial conditions. He suggested that:

“The setup or institutional arrangement around Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, first of all, they have problems with fraud, problems with money laundering, terror financing. There’s lots of problems there… The idea of the supply of currency and thinking about currency really belongs more in the sphere of government and central banks…”

US cryptocurrency investors are still searching for clarity regarding the future regulation of the industry. This has recently resulted in some top investors appealing for the Security and Exchange Commission to relax current regulations to encourage business.

Between the 12 regional federal banks in the US Federal Reserve System, the New York Federal Reserve Bank and its president are considered first among equals. The New York Fed is the largest by assets and the most active by volume. While US monetary policy is decided by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington DC, the New York Fed is where it is implemented.

He was president of the San Francisco Fed while Wells Fargo, which is based in San Francisco, engaged in aggressive sales practices that resulted in the opening of millions of accounts without customers’ knowledge. His supporters maintain that he has pushed the central bank to consider a new approach to monetary policy which augers well for the future.

Williams is expected to lead the New York Federal Reserve Bank in June when current President, William Dudley, will step down.

The post Likely NY Fed Reserve President Admits Crypto Bias appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Despite the pullback from $9,060, the outlook for bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, remains bullish.

It is safe to say that plenty of cryptocurrency enthusiasts have some degree of political ambition, and it seems there is an interesting development taking place where OTCBTC is concerned. The company’s CEO, Yi-Ting Cheng, has made it clear that he will run for mayor of Taipei. It’s a rather surprising development, but one that also makes a lot of sense for him.

Running for Mayor of Taipei

If there is one thing that has become painfully evident, it is that most politicians couldn’t care less about technology or its potential implications. This does not just apply to cryptocurrency, but also to any other disruptive idea which involves technology. The global crackdown on end-to-end encryption, for example, is a clear example of how politicians often see the negative side of innovation first and foremost.

In Taipei, a mayoral election will be held this year. Although that is nothing out of the ordinary, one of the individuals planning to run for mayor is of great interest to the cryptocurrency community. Yi-Ting Cheng, the CEO and owner of OTCBTC, wants to fill that position for the years to come. Going from running the largest OTC crypto exchange in Asia to managing one of the region’s biggest cities will be quite a challenge.

At the age of 35, Cheng is convinced he is the right mayor for the city. Although it sounds like a stupid idea to some people, there are a lot of reasons why this decision makes sense. If he gets elected, Cheng intends to make Taipei the blockchain hub of Asia. With its location close to Japan, Korea, and China, it could influence the regulatory environment from within.

Some people may recall that Taipei used to be a proactive city when it came to technological developments. A lot has changed in the past 20 years, especially in terms of regulation and legislation. This has had a negative impact on the economy, which is why blockchain and cryptocurrencies are needed to revitalize that area. Making politicians listen to entrepreneurs is pretty much impossible unless one of them takes control of a city.

While this plan is rather commendable, it remains to be seen how successful Cheng will be in this regard. Even if he doesn’t get elected, his candidacy will bring some positive attention to OTCBTC, and eventually to cryptocurrencies themselves. Whether or not this will spur massive growth in the ecosystem is a different matter altogether. After all, Asia is quite divided when it comes to regulating cryptocurrency, with a lot of conflicting opinions to take into account.

It will certainly be interesting to see if the OTCBTC CEO can make his vision for Taipei come true. Paying attention to blockchain technology and cryptocurrency is of the utmost importance for any government right now. Unfortunately, most of them will continue to ignore these emerging technologies for as long as they possibly can. Change from within seems more than warranted at this stage.

Rewards, Transparency, and Value: blockchain’s answer to freelancing

The state of the gig economy is in a precarious situation – facilitated by the leveling of the marketplace, in part. If you look at any of the current leading service providers for freelancers and their employers, you might notice that after a while: both sides present some recurring complaints.

Key issues include extortionate service fees (often applied to both participating sides of a freelance contract), slow processing times, and a lack of customer support. Unfortunately, it’s now been a while since a new contender has had a significant disruptive impact on the market.

That was, until a unique solution based on decentralized blockchain technology decided to enter the arena…

To Decentralize & Disrupt an Industry

‘Blue Whale Platform’ is the next evolutionary step in the long-term vision of a company named Verlocal, who are specialists in the creation and distribution of various SaaS solutions. These include a tried and tested, pre-existing freelance marketplace and economy infrastructure.

Essentially, it is a decentralized take on the freelancing platforms and web services that you may be already familiar with. Verlocal hopes to prove to the world that blockchain / distributed ledger technology can improve upon the (centralized) gig economy just as significantly as it has fiat currencies.

Both the Blue Whale Foundation and Verlocal are headed by Will Lee, a crypto entrepreneur possessing a strong vision, along with a portfolio of qualifications and professional experience. What’s different about Lee and his team’s approach to the freelancing sector, is that they offer unrivaled standards of partnership, support, and facilities to their clients.

Furthermore, the organization has been incrementally growing their talent, having recently added the co-founder of OKCoin to their team (Professor Arturo Bris) as an advisor.

Hail to the Whale: The Benefits of Blockchain Freelancing

The original use case for blockchain technology was Bitcoin, and subsequently cryptocurrencies.

Features offered by this phenomenon include anonymization and encryption of user data, whilst allowing these users to privately access information pertaining to them through use of a private/public key system. In terms of finance, the high commission fees and slow payment processing times are to be negated using a proprietary cryptocurrency token (BWX).

According to the white paper, BWX will be used for all financial transactions which take place on their platform. This isn’t just between client and freelancer, but also for their revolutionary advertising and referral schemes. By introducing new methods of revenue generation, Blue Whale aims to significantly reduce costs associated with traditional online freelancing platforms.

CAM DAN ReBa: Big Fish, or a Blowhole?

Blue Whale themselves have actually published what they consider to be the ‘three pillars’ of their platform’s underlying proposition. These are all considered to be both decentralised applications (‘dApps’) and APIs, which means that they can be adapted and implemented by third parties.

These are referred to by the team themselves as the Blue Whale ‘WORK’ (Worker Optimized Reward Keeper) – which comprises a set of tools and functions divided into three distinct categories…

Contribution Activity Manager (CAM)

• The system which supports the tracking and distribution of rewards to users. These incentives are rewarded for the completion of a range of tasks, including successful introduction of new clients or freelancers to the platform. Other bounties include successful driving of traffic to various service providers as an influencer and established recommender; as well as community-driven conflict resolution & reputation verification.

Decentralized Associated Network (DAN)

• This is the name which Blue Whale uses to refer to its community of freelancers and clients; denoting the advanced level of interconnectivity afforded by their platform. One of the main draws for both parties is the competitive cost and value propositions. The benefits of their decentralized relational databases are linked to the implementation of cutting-edge machine learning activity; resulting in a truly bespoke yet-secure service. Additional unique selling points of this network include the provision of a comprehensive suite of valuable business development tools – giving freelancers unparalleled support for scaling and streamlining their operations.

Reward Bank (ReBa)

• A decentralized entity, accountable for the automated processing of payments, both receipt, and distribution, for the Blue Whale eXchange (BWX) coin. The activities and decisions implemented by the Reward Bank are informed by the algorithmic and machine learning systems contained within the DAN. Additionally, all transactions are transparent & trackable on the ICON decentralized blockchain – with agreements enforced via smart contracts.

The Blue Whale ICO is slated for a May 2018 launch. If their pre-launch funding round is anything to go by (25 million Singapore Dollars raised): then the hard cap is going to be reached extremely quickly for the public launch in May

Check out their website, social media (Facebook / Twitter), whitepaper and Telegram group if you are interested in learning more.

Keep an eye out in the following weeks for big news regarding forthcoming partnerships with traditional / ‘centralized’ businesses.

The post From Freelancers to Decentralized Empires: Blue Whale, the First ICON ICO appeared first on NewsBTC.