Month: April 2018

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.

Solving one of the most prominent issues in the data and AI industry

The world’s first university backed ICO, Thought.live, is developing the first mineable public AI blockchain, which will create a completely new way of utilizing the data generated by our society.

Thought is embedding smart logic and AI into every bit of information, making information aware of its origin and able to act on its own to accomplish its purpose.

Thought patented technology of making data smart reduces the need for external applications that until this point have been required, increasing processing speed and decreasing the complexity associated with these application. In addition, it decreases the problem with the exponentially increasing amounts of data.

“With the advancements in technology we are also experiencing an increase in information created by our society. Everything from social media to human genome research generates data, and we are already struggling to process it all.“ Explains Professor Andrew Hacker, the CEO of Thought. “With Smart Data, we can usher in a whole new paradigm of active data, where we can do the things we want more securely, efficiently, quickly and intelligently.”

Introducing unparalleled security to artificial intelligence

Sam Jones, the Chief Software Engineer of Thought: “Using blockchain technology allows us to protect every bit of information with multi-layered encryption, creating the highest level of security.“

“Being able to secure individual bits of data is like the Holy Grail of cybersecurity.” Adds Professor Hacker, who in addition to running Thought is a cybersecurity expert in residence at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, which is one of Thought’s closest partners.

Bringing equality to the monopolistic world of AI

In addition to vastly improving the security of information by integrating blockchain technology and multi-level encryption, Though opens up many new opportunities in the field of artificial intelligence.

One of the main aspects of Thought is their ecosystem where data is used as the commodity. Until this point AI and data analytics has been the playground for giant corporations who have billions of dollars and millions of active users. The smaller guys who don’t have such funding are left out of the game. Thought’s ecosystem will change that, giving everyone the possibility to access AI and valuable data for reasonable prices.

“AI, by its very nature, must be personalized in order to be accepted and effective. AI cannot remain trapped at Google, Amazon, Microsoft or IBM – it is designed to help people, not only huge companies. There’s no way AI gets developed to its greatest potential if it’s only limited to these large enterprises.” Says Matthew Hykes, Chief Software Archidect of Thought.

“Until this day, access to AI and big data has been limited to only a handful of organizations, but for seeing true innovation take place, AI and data have to become easily accessed and available to everyone who’s looking to work with this emerging technology.” Says Nathaniel DiMemmo, COO of Thought.

The importance of a great team

Nathaniel adds: „Coming up with world-changing ideas and realizing them to bring the state of the art innovations to the world, have always been the priorities for our team. Our team has worked together for years, developing the next thing that will take the field of artificial intelligence and data handling to the next level.“

„It is incredible to witness how our team is able to crush one obstacle after another with collective passion, even if it requires sleepless nights and 20-hour workdays.“ Says Andrew Hacker. „Three patents and 10 years of work later, things are finally coming together. Every day interest and support behind our project increases dramatically and we are powering towards to the completion of our platform.“

Collaboration with Harrisburg University

„We’re proud of Andrew’s accomplishments and are honored to have him as a valuable member of Harrisburg University,” said the President of Harrisburg University Dr. Eric Darr. „The upcoming release of this new technology, Thought, and its applications for businesses and consumers in AI and analytics represents the bleeding edge of innovation. Harrisburg University looks forward to continuing its work with Mr. Hacker and Thought as they continue developing new and valuable technology.“

„We are not only developing AI, we are educating people on this new field. Working closely with Harrisburg University has allowed us to bring knowledge to thousands of people, bringing great AI blockchain technology to the forefront and training a new generation of people knowleageable in the latest advancements in tech.“ Says Professor Hacker.

Join the ICO

Thought’s ICO is live now. Sign up at https://thought.live to receive a 10% discount on your purchase until the end of March. From the 1st of April to the end of the ICO on the 30th of April participants receive a 5% discount.

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.