Day: April 30, 2018

The Australian department of children’s charity Unicef has created a novel way to raise funds using in-browser cryptocurrency mining.

Their ‘HopePage‘ was launched today which allows visitors to opt in to digital currency mining, choosing how much processing power they want to donate to the cause.

Unicef’s HopePage Uses Computer Processing Power to Fundraise

The website allows visitors to activate and deactivate the mining process manually. It also features a slider that lets contributors select how much processing power they want to donate to mining cryptocurrency. They can choose various increments between 20% and 80%.

The funds generated from the HopePage will be used to fund projects helping Bangladeshi children get clean water, food, and much needed vaccines.

Currently, visitors are mining privacy-focused crypto coin Monero. This is because Monero doesn’t require specialist equipment to mine in the same way that Bitcoin does. Users can still successfully solve the algorithms that award new Monero coins using CPUs.

Unicef’s website stated:

“The longer you stay on the page and the more processor power you donate, the more algorithms get solved, which earns cryptocurrency.”

Australian technology publication ITNews report that the HopePage’s source code shows that the mining is being powered by AuthedMine. It’s an alternate version of the CoinHive API that was launched in September 2017. The AuthedMine version of the software includes all the opt-in functionality that makes it suitable for fundraising for such charitable causes.

Like the original CoinHive API, the AuthedMine version might still be blocked by some anti-malware tools. Unicef have advised visitors to the HopePage to disable their ad blocking software if they want to participate. Tony Andres Tang, the digital engagement and content manager for Unicef Australia, explained this to ITNews in a statement:

“Some ad blockers do disable the script, however we ask that people that seek to donate disable this for our website.”

At the time of writing, the HopePage showed that around 2,600 visitors to the site were currently using their processors to donate to the cause.

Browser-based mining is nothing new, however it’s usually done without the knowledge of the visitor. When the user isn’t informed of the use of digital currency mining APIs, the practice is known as cryptojacking. Cryptojacking was named as one of the biggest trends in cyber crime according to a Symantec report published earlier this year. Following this, digital security specialists at Avast recently demonstrated the risks that such malicious mining can pose to internet users at the RSA 2018 conference.

Image from Shutterstock.

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Ethereum price has been rising steadily during the past few days along the upwards trend line that has been evident since April  7th. $700 was repeatedly the day high on Saturday and Sunday. Repeated cycles of upwards price bursts followed by brief downwards price correction attempts have been evident on the 4 hour ETHUSD charts, since last Friday. However, the upwards trend line has been acting as a rising support level during the past few days. The market seems to be moving towards testing the resistance around $713.24 during the first few days of the upcoming week.

So, can we expect ethereum price to exceed $700 during Tuesday’s trading sessions?

Ichimoku Cloud just turned green on the 1 day ETHUSD chart:

We will examine the 1 day ETHUSD chart from Bitfinex, while plotting the 50 day SMA (green curve), the 100 day SMA (red curve), and the Ichimoku Cloud, as shown on the below chart. We will maintain the Fibonacci retracements  we plotted during an earlier analysis, which extend between the low recorded on October 23rd, 2017 ($273.50), and the high recorded on January 13th, 2018 ($1,424.06). We can note the following:

• During the past week, ethereum price has been recording higher highs during most of the days. However, on Saturday and Sunday, the day high was repeatedly $700, which reflects that the bullish momentum is somehow slowing down as we are approaching the resistance around the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement ($713.24) (the orange horizontal line on the above chart).

• The rising uptrend line (bluish upwards sloping trend line on the above chart) is acting as a rising support level that is preventing the drop of the price of ether below its level. This is evidenced by the rising day lows during the past few days, and the relative long downwards shadows of candlesticks of Wednesday’s and Thursday’s trading sessions. As price continues moving along this uptrend line, ethereum price will most probably rise towards testing the resistance around $713.24 early during the upcoming week. As repeated testing of a resistance level weakens it, the resistance around the 61.8% Fib. retracement ($713.24) is likely to be broken if it is tested again during the next 24-48 hours.

• Ethereum price is currently above the 50 day SMA, and the 100 day SMA. Moreover, the 50 day SMA is currently above the 100 day SMA, which reflects the current bullish sentiment of the market. The 50 day SMA acted as a support level that prevented further price drop during the trading sessions of last Wednesday and Thursday.

• The Ichimoku Cloud has just turned green (bullish), and ethereum price is currently above the cloud. Moreover, the Conversion Line (blue line) is above the Base Line (red line), and ethereum price is above the level of the Base Line. All these bullish signals conveyed via the Ichimoku Cloud indicate that we can see the price of ether exceed $700 early during the upcoming week.

Rising support level evident on the 4 hour ETHUSD chart:

Now, let’s examine the 4 hour ETHUSD chart from Bitfinex, while plotting the 50 period SMA (green curve), the 100 period SMA (red curve) and the Bollinger Bands indicator, as shown on the below chart.

• As the price of ether dropped near the level of the uptrend line, it became evident how this uptrend line is supporting price quite well, as shown by the formation of a “doji”, and the long downwards shadows of candlesticks.

• A “bullish crossover” is now evident, as the 50 period SMA has crossed above the 100 period SMA.

• Since last Thursday, repeated bouts, consisting of bullish bursts followed by downwards price correction attempts, have been evident on the chart. These repeated bouts have been supported by the upwards sloping trend line (greenish trend line on the chart). As such, the market is steadily moving towards retesting the resistance around $713.24 (orange horizontal line) early during this week.

Conclusion:

Ethereum price has been moving along an upwards trend line during the past few days. Even though the price of ether failed to exceed $700 during Saturday’s and Sunday’s trading sessions, we are most likely to see it move towards $713.24 during the next 24-48 hours.

Charts from Bitfinex, hosted on Tradingview.com

At the beginning of 2018, I wrote an article outlining a New Year’s resolution that I thought could help boost cryptocurrency adoption and awareness in 2018, as long as enough people were doing it. Last week was the fifteenth installment of my challenge. After a few slower weeks for my challenge, I’m happy to say that this week was far more productive for me.

I’m going to change up the usual format of this series a little bit, but probably only for this one post. I had an interesting encounter recently that checked the boxes for all of my challenge goals. Story time!

A few days out of my week, I try to go to a coworking space to get some work done, and one of the building’s weekly networking events includes a spread of free snacks and wine. My interest was piqued! I realized that this was probably a great place to try to engage with more people on cryptocurrency and blockchain. Admittedly, the prospect of free wine was also a driving force (as it is for most writers). Almost immediately, I was able to start up a conversation with the woman in front of me in line. She was new to the building and asked what I did, and seemed intrigued by the idea of cryptocurrency. She was mostly interested in it as a potentially lucrative investment vehicle. Despite my attempts to steer the conversation to focus more on the technology, she was pretty dead-set on trying to get financial advice out of me. I told her the only advice I’d ever give was to never invest any money you can’t afford or are unwilling to lose.

Next, I spoke with a few of the building’s Community Managers. They are the points of contact for the space’s members and the event organizers. At events like these boozy and foody networking events, I do my best to stay on their good side (I know where my bread is buttered) and have tried to avoid annoying them with too much crypto-talk. However, two of the Community Managers were extremely receptive, and we spoke for about 30 minutes. I learned that for many, the hardest concept to grasp is the use case for cryptocurrency. This disconnect is understandable. With so many coins, so many projects, and so many “experts” all saying what crypto is good for and what crypto is not good for, the layperson can be left dumbfounded. So I started to show them some of the places I like to spend my cryptocurrency online.

While telling them how I’d just bought some plane tickets off cheapair.com with Dogecoin, I saw another educational opportunity for these two. “Do you two want some Dogecoin?” I asked. Both chuckled and said yes. I helped them set up their wallets, and sent them 500 Doge each. It wasn’t much, but they seemed pretty excited to have Dogecoin. “I feel like I’m part of a completely new culture! I’m in the crypto game now!” one said after the transaction was confirmed.

The Community Managers are going to plan a blockchain and cryptocurrency-specific happy hour networking event soon. I look forward to attending.

*

Are you challenging yourself with this resolution too? Do you have any good/random stories that resulted in great crypto-centered conversation? Tell us on Twitter or in the comments!

Bitcoin is holding its ground at $9,300. The currency has been sitting at this mark for several days, and while the price hasn’t necessarily dropped, it hasn’t jumped forward either.

This suggests that bitcoin is encountering newfound resistance at its present level, and perhaps $10,000 is not as close as we originally thought. Though support remains relatively firm at the current price, bitcoin could potentially experience spikes to $11,700 and even $12,000 respectively granted it is able to move above the $9,500 mark. Once this resistance is broken, we may witness bitcoin firing forward at a rapid rate.

The upside is that bitcoin has reached its highest position since mid-March, when the price jumped slightly beyond $9,700. For the most part, bitcoin is retaining its bullish bias, though analysts suggest that “reduced crypto market volatility” is keeping bitcoin locked in place for the time being.

In addition, recent comments made by billionaire Warren Buffett regarding bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general may be another potential reason behind its unwillingness to climb higher.

Buffett has never been a large advocate for bitcoin. In fact, he has been relatively critical of it, citing it as a figure of pure speculation and rejecting the notion that it could ever hold physical worth of any kind.

Buffett recently stated:

“There are two kinds of items that people buy and think they’re investing in. One really is investing and the other one (bitcoin) isn’t. If you buy something like a farm, an apartment house or an interest in a business, you can do that on a private basis, and it’s a perfectly satisfactory investment. You look at the investment itself to deliver the return to you. Now, if you buy something like bitcoin or some cryptocurrency, you don’t really have anything. You’re just hoping the next guy pays more. You aren’t investing when you do that. You’re speculating. There’s nothing wrong with it; if you want to gamble, somebody else will come along and pay more money tomorrow. That’s one kind of game, but that is not investing.”

It is true that Warren Buffett and other top financial figures continue to remain skeptical of bitcoin’s prowess and advantages, but many analysts remain insistent that another bull run is right around the corner, citing the number of bitcoins already mined as a major reason.

Bitcoin’s total market cap is 21 million coins. At press time, less than four million non-extracted coins remain. The fewer coins in existence, the harder the mining process becomes. The final bitcoin is expected to be mined sometime in the year 2140 – more than 100 years from now.

It is a long time to wait, but putting this into context, we realize it has taken just over nine years to extract the original 17 million, and with this scarcity becoming a stronger reality every day, many experts believe the price of bitcoin will go up even further, as older coins become more difficult to gather. Many current bitcoin holders are expected to keep a tight grip on their coins and avoid cashing out in the hope they could potentially witness their earnings increase tenfold in the next three to five years alone.

Circle added zcash to its cryptocurrency storage and investment app, the company announced Monday.

Bitcoin is a bubble! Bitcoin is a scam! Bitcoin is a Ponzi scheme! Bitcoin will crash soon! How many times have you heard these and similar comments from people who seem completely convinced they are right? Too many times, right? Well, me too. Bitcoin, and by extension the whole cryptocurrency industry, has been described as the biggest bubble in recorded history by more people than we care to remember. Such statements are particularly bold considering that there have been some huge bubbles over the years, such as the Dutch tulip bubble of the 1630s, the Japanese real estate and stock market bubble of the 1980s, and the more recent dot-com bubble of the early 2000s. Will all these doubters become convinced that Bitcoin and the blockchain are here to stay and that ‘a bubble’ is the one thing it’s not?

Investment Titans To Tech Pioneers

When someone on Twitter comes out and condemns cryptocurrencies, or someone rants on Facebook about how it’s all about to come down before the year ends, we tend not to take them seriously. After all, which revolution ever garnered everyone’s support? We do our best to correct them and to enlighten them about the revolution that cryptos are part of, but that’s as far as it goes.

However, when one of the richest men calls Bitcoin a scam, it’s a different reaction altogether. Warren Buffet has been among the most vocal opponents of cryptocurrencies. Just recently, in an interview with Yahoo Finance, Buffet described cryptocurrencies as a game and a gamble, and interestingly added that “no one knows exactly what Bitcoin is.” This is not the first time Buffet has openly condemned cryptos; in the past, he’s referred to them as scams and the biggest bubble in history. In another interview earlier this year, he declared that he was certain that cryptos would come to a bad end. The most interesting part of that particular interview, which was conducted by CNBC, was when Buffet admitted to not knowing much about cryptos.

Buffet is not alone in condemning cryptos. Less than a week ago, former PayPal CEO Bill Harris described Bitcoin as the biggest scam in history. In a blog post, Harris, who was also one of the founders of PayPal, described Bitcoin as a colossal pump and dump scheme, “the likes of which the world has never seen.” His sentiments are echoed by Jeffrey Robinson, a renowned journalist whose book, “BitCon”, was intended to discredit Bitcoin as far back as 2014. In his book, Robinson described Bitcoin as a pretend currency which has no real use and which won’t be accepted by the masses. That was back in 2014 when the price of Bitcoin was below $1,000 and when not many people in the world had embraced cryptos. Robinson is, however, unmoved, and in an interview earlier this year with CNBC, he called Bitcoin a loaded roulette wheel.

You’re better off in Vegas. The food is better.

Institutional Condemnation

The condemnation has not been left to prominent individuals alone. Some major global institutions have also made their stands against cryptos known, one of which is the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). BIS, which facilitates international monetary and financial cooperation, came out and condemned cryptos as a “combination of a bubble, a Ponzi scheme and an environmental disaster.” Its general manager, who doubles as the governor of the Bank of Mexico, questioned the sustainability of cryptos and called on authorities to clamp down on the crypto industry.

Munich-based global investment giant Allianz, which has over $81 billion worth of investment, has come out and condemned cryptos as well. Its head of strategy described cryptos as a bubble, saying that despite their liquidity, they lack intrinsic value. The firm went on to state that Bitcoin’s demise would have a negligible spillover effect on the ‘real world’, as the market capitalization of cryptos is still relatively small.

SEC Commissioner says that “down the road” the organization could consider working with ICOs to make them “consistent” with existing securities laws #NEWS

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

A 30% discount for India on Venezuelan crude oil comes with the caveat of payment in Petro, local source reports #NEWS

Japan’s financial watchdog is applying pressure to local digital currency exchanges to drop cryptocurrencies such as Monera, Zcash, and Dash, according to a report.

Altcoins Favoured by Criminals

In a report from Forbes, sources close to the the Financial Services Agency (FSA), which approves licenses to digital currency exchanges, claim that the agency is taking the necessary steps to stamp out the use of certain cryptocurrencies that are favoured by criminals and hackers.

According to the FSA, it is difficult, ‘if not impossible,’ to identify those who use digital currencies such as Monero. As a result, the agency believes that they are becoming the ideal coins for money laundering. Due to the fact that seasoned investigators can follow the money via the blockchain when bitcoin is used, cybercriminals are now using new ‘privacy coins’ instead for ransom payments or the purchase of illegal goods.

During a 10th April working group meeting on the cryptocurrency market, a member of the FSA said:

“It should be seriously discussed as to whether any registered cryptocurrency exchange should be allowed to use such currencies..”

Of the three cryptocurrencies – Monero, Zcash, and Dash – the FSA is most against Monero after it was reported that North Korea may be using the currency to raise funds, the report states.

Tokyo-based Coincheck, which was the target of the biggest hack in January that resulted in the loss of $530 million worth of NEM, had handled all three digital currencies before the exchange was hacked. However, following the theft of the coins the exchange delisted them in a bid to show better compliance standards.

As a consequence of the hack, the FSA has ramped up its efforts to ensure that the country’s exchanges are running correctly to ensure customers’ assets remain safe. The country, which has more than 3.5 million digital currency investors, is considered a crypto-friendly location; however, the issue with Coincheck has highlighted to authorities that more needs to be done to maintain a secure industry in Japan.

Coincheck has applied for a license with the FSA, but it first needs to improve its services before it has any chance of receiving one. Understandably, the regulator has ordered the exchange to make several improvements. In an attempt to boost customer confidence, Coincheck was recently acquired by online brokerage Monex Group for $33.5 million. The hope is that the exchange will experience a turnaround that sees a boost in customer confidence. However, it remains to be seen whether the exchange can re-establish itself again.

Image from Shutterstock.

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