Day: May 1, 2018

CoinMarketCap, one of the crypto realm’s most popular price trackers, has launched an IOS app and revamped its website to mark its 5th birthday today #NEWS

With Blockchain, you can fully control your online data and even profit from sharing it #OPINION

The frenzy in the cryptocurrency market as coins surged towards the end of last year saw massive revenues for sites that permit customers to buy and sell them.

Among those who profited include the online trading platform Plus500, who claim that the boom in interest around cryptocurrencies has now subsided and the market had returned to more ‘normal’ conditions, according to the Financial Times.

Plus500: Bumper Quarter

Plus500’s revenue reports come after a ‘bumper quarter’ was caused by ‘a period of relatively volatile markets and high levels of interest in the company’s cryptocurrency … offering,’ it said. The platform permits customers to trade in a wide range of cryptocurrency-based ‘contract for difference’ (CFD) products, which track the price of an underlying asset — often accompanied by hefty fees.

By the numbers, Plus500, which is listed on London’s Junior Aim market, on Tuesday reported a 284% year-on-year rise in revenue in the first three months of 2018 to $297.3 million. Comparatively, this is more than double its previous best-ever quarter. The platform also reported triple the number of active users and raised its forecasts for the year ahead.

As for the cryptocurrency markets, the platform describes the current climate as follows:

“We have since seen market conditions return to more normal levels in the last two months. As such we do not expect such an exceptional performance to be repeated in the remainder of the year.”

CFDs and Regulation

Plus500 has sought to calm fears that it would be damaged by restrictions from financial authorities as well as private companies like Facebook and Google on marketing CFDs to retail investors. The new regulatory changes — which are set to come into force within weeks — were brought forth by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) earlier this year. The regulator banned retail investors from trading binary options and applied limitations to CFDs to help protect investors.

The problem is that global financial watchdogs see CFDs as high-risk products because investors can quickly rack up huge debts. CFDs enable investors to speculate on the rise or fall of the price, level, or value of an underlying asset. They are typically offered with leverage, meaning investors are required to put down only a portion of the investment’s total value.

Plus500 said on Tuesday that it is already aligned with many of the new rules which it said would ‘enhance the CFD trading landscape and create a more level playing field.’ In relation, the platform has begun to look at whether it can reclassify its more experienced customers as professional investors to partially mitigate the impact of the rules.

“Having a flexible business model and a lean cost structure enables us to optimize our performance as necessary despite the recently announced regulatory changes,” Plus500’s chief executive Asaf Elimelech said. “Having the industry leading framework enables us to be confident about the future.”

Image from Shutterstock.

The post Trading Firm Plus500: Cryptocurrency Surge Is Over, Market Has Returned to More ‘Normal’ Conditions appeared first on NewsBTC.

There are now over 1,580 cryptocurrencies (as of writing) in circulation, according to CoinMarketCap. And while most of us know the basics when it comes to big projects like Bitcoin and Ethereum, attempting to make an informed investment decision about some of the smaller ones can too often seem like a confusing prospect.

There’s a constant feud these days between Bitcoin Core (BTC) supporters and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) proponents right down to the nitty-gritty of nearly every topic in the space, and the arguments continue to this day, relentlessly. One such example is the Bitcoin Cash article hosted on Wiki has been page protected for a couple weeks now for “vandalism.”

Also Read: Hong Kong Alcohol Company Buys 51% of Bitcoin Miner for $60 Million

Bitcoin Cash Wiki Article Gets Locked Down Due to Constant Vandalism

The Wikipedia website is a collaborative effort that allows anyone to edit and contribute additions to Wiki articles for the sake of documenting history online. So often times subjects are edited by anyone online but, if the subject is contentious, an ‘editing war’ can erupt. This means editors argue about the neutrality of the article and Wiki’s dispute resolution services come into play. Right now this is taking place at the Bitcoin Cash article found on Wiki and the page displays a warning about the contention.

“The neutrality of this article is disputed — Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page — Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met,” explains Wiki when you visit the page. Further investigation directs readers and editors to the talk section which states:

There have been attempts to recruit editors of specific viewpoints to this article. If you’ve come here in response to such recruitment, please review the relevant Wikipedia policy on recruitment of editors, as well as the neutral point of view policy. Disputes on Wikipedia are resolved by consensus, not by majority vote.

Most of the Edit Wars Are ‘Bcash’ Related

Going down the rabbit hole further points to an ugly situation where editors are battling about neutrality, and members of the general public are ‘vandalizing’ the page. For instance looking at the discussion on the editor’s ‘talk page’ and the Bitcoin Cash article’s revisions page many of the arguments and edits revolve around calling the cryptocurrency ‘Bcash.’

On April 20th a Wikipedia editor named ‘Foxyjim’ tried to change the name to ‘Bcash’ and argued the name was acceptable for the BCH-focused article and Wikipedia standards. ‘Bcash’ considered a derogatory term by a great majority of the BCH community, and many believe the term is used as an attempt to confuse people. On one occasion an editor and another contributor named ‘Toomuchtalk’ reverted an edit that was attempted by the user Foxyjim.   

“Foxyjim obviously doesn’t understand what Wikipedia is — Just because a disagreeing faction created a derogatory name in an effort to obscure the truthful Bitcoin history and are upset that they are using the name Bitcoin does not make the use of Bcash a legitimate historical fact,” the editor explains.  

In no way would a supporter of Bitcoin Cash supporter be ok with this!   

The New Cypherpunks

The ‘Bcash edit is a common attack made regularly on the article and disputed in Wiki edit warring discussions. Other issues with the page stem from reliable sources, arguments on how the fork was initiated, and debates regarding the Segregated Witness protocol. Throughout the revisions page, there are multiple debated edits every single day. Moreover, the neutrality template on the Bitcoin Cash article has been added and removed a few times over the past few months as well. Last week the lead developer of the BCH client Bitcoin ABC, Amaury Séchet, noticed the neutrality template on the article and made a remark about it to his followers on Twitter, stating:        

Bitcoin Cash Wikipedia is now protected due to repeated vandalism — ‘Cypherpunks do Orwellian shit’ is the new ‘Cypherpunk Write Code.’

What do you think about the Bitcoin Cash Wikipedia being vandalized and suffering from edit warring? Let us know your thoughts on this subject in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock, Wikipedia, and Bitcoin Cash 

At news.Bitcoin.com all comments containing links are automatically held up for moderation in the Disqus system. That means an editor has to take a look at the comment to approve it. This is due to the many, repetitive, spam and scam links people post under our articles. We do not censor any comment content based on politics or personal opinions. So, please be patient. Your comment will be published.  

The post Bitcoin Cash Wiki Article Suffers From Edit Warring and Vandalism appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Ripple (XRP) has recovered 70% since the lows in mid April. The market cap now stands US$81.6 billion, with US$624 million in trading volume over the past 24 hours.In Ripple’s Q1 2018 report, it was revealed that the money service business, XRP II LLC, sold US$16.6 million of XRP to market participants. The company also sold US$151.1 million worth of XRP “programmatically” which represented 0.095% of the US$160.0 billion globally traded in Q1.

Of all the coins in the top 10, Stellar Lumens is the only one in the green territory. It is resilient and it might even add to their gains especially if we see a pump past the 50 percent Fibonacci retracement level at 50 cents. Other than this and the obvious slide in Tron and EOS valuation, Litecoin and NEO moves are moderate and are buyers/sellers are yet to test key levels.

Let look at these charts:

EOSUSD (EOS)

EOS 4HR Chart by Trading View

Yes, EOS is good…Oh stop it, EOS is horrible. I shall stick to Ethereum and even Cardano if things get messy. The tag of war continues. Those are just some few conflicting sentiments from supporters and critics. The thing is: there is no one platform that will ever get the full support within the crypto space. Of course, if you will want to judge EOS then the best time is when it launches in a month. The timer reads 37 days. So, let’s see what happens.

Thus far, Dan is trying to defend the platform saying their smart contracts are provable just like that of Cardano. He says there is no issue with what developers call “overflow”, a flaw that continues to plaque Ethereum. From different commentaries, this bug is a capital sink hole and a major weakness that needs to be addressed.

Now you can write provably-correct software in c++ https://t.co/mhQQaEKA0D . #eosio #ethereum

— Daniel Larimer (@bytemaster7) April 30, 2018

As it is, our previous EOS price forecast remains as it is. In fact, EOS is down five percent and we project further losses until maybe buyers come to prop prices at around $14. In our case, patience shall triumph and in that case, a shift in momentum from deep the oversold stochastic territory is the only buy trigger in my view.

LTCUSD (Litecoin)

Litecoin 4HR Chart by Trading View

Adoption is what is not only important for Litecoin but for all crypto-monies, including Bitcoin. So, it’s no better news that some 4,000 Ethereum, Bitcoin and Litecoin ATMs shall be launched in Argentina to soak up demand for cryptocurrencies. This is definitely good news and hope more countries with supportive legislation follow suit.

Price wise, our ideal support line lies at $140 and if that holds true then we expect bears to continue pushing prices lower. After all, Litecoin is down four percent in the last 24 hours and price action is towing with our previous previews.

Anyhow, here’s our thinking considering Litecoin prices have been stalling. If a stochastic buy signal prints today with buyers pushing above yesterday’s highs then we can enter this trade and aim for our first target at $180. If not, then we shall stay put and see what happens at $140.

XLMUSD (Stellar Lumens)

Stellar Lumens 4HR Chart by Trading View

It’s not really hard to see. There is a direct link between the coin exchange listing and demand. So, when rumors of CoinBase availing either Ripple or Stellar Lumens to their customers continue to heats up, expect prices to recover.

Then again, it may be a timely or even a misplaced rumor because BitFinex account holders can now trade XLM in exchange for a host of other fiat and crypto pairs as Bitcoin and GBP. Of course, we need more listing and platform announcement for Stellar to continue scaling the price ladder.

We are pleased to introduce trading for Stellar Lumens (XLM). https://t.co/poqPzTrK86 pic.twitter.com/0DPLXm6Mmp

— Bitfinex (@bitfinex) May 1, 2018

As it is, Stellar is the only coin in the top 10 that is resilient and in the green. Risk- averse traders can wait for a break above 50 cents or the 50 percent Fibonacci retracement tool before buying. Other can decide to buy now and place their stops below May 1 lows at 35 cents. Remember, overly we are net bullish this coin and so it all about entry point refinement.

TRXUSD (Tron)

Tron 4HR Chart by Trading View

Bittrex, Bit-Z and now BitFinex have declared their support for Tron mainnet launch in May 31. That’s a few days before their Ethereum migration scheduled for June 21.  Because of this Tron is airdropping 30M TRX tokens to Ethereum holders as a sign of appreciation.

We have started our #TRX airdrop to #ETH community. Welcome #Ethereum hodlers to join #TRON community to experience #TRON high TPS platform and use $TRX to vote in #TRON super representative election! https://t.co/Y2dLkaOvre

— Justin Sun (@justinsuntron) May 1, 2018

Anyway, whether this shall be a catalyst behind TRX rally I don’t know. What I do know is that TRX is down 10 percent in the last 24 hours. In fact it is one of the largest losers in the top 10 for the day but this shall quickly change say the rumored partnership with Alibaba is true.

From our previous Tron Technical analysis, our main support line is at 8.25 cents. That’s on the lower side and suppose Tron find support-like it has been-along the middle BB, then we expect bulls to resume with their higher highs.

I reiterate: Tron and EOS are safe buys say until after their respective mainnet launch. If the latter is a disappointment, then prices will inevitable tank. If not, prices may move lower and in such case 65 cents is another key support line.

NEOUSD (NEO)

NEO 4HR Chart by Trading View

There’s nothing much to write about in the ‘news’ end of this coin part form WinQ shall continue its test on the NEO blockchain. They also explained why they had to delay their migration from test net to NEO mainnet.

#WinQ continues on $NEO Testnet (and an exciting announcement)
Thank you very much for your support. $QLC #dApps #blockchaintechnology https://t.co/969Jdyy11v pic.twitter.com/ezshPwvMtn

— Qlink (@QLCchain) May 1, 2018

When it comes to price action, sellers are pushing prices down but still, price action seems to be moving in a range. In my view, yesterday’s preview is still valid and that’s how we shall trade this coin going forward.

The post NEO, Stellar Lumens, Tron, Litecoin, EOS: Technical Analysis for May 2, 2018 appeared first on NewsBTC.

The UK’s digital currency trade body is urging MPs to regulate the cryptocurrency industry, offering to focus on trading platforms, not cryptocurrencies themselves #NEWS

Bank of Korea explores crypto and blockchain applications for its “cashless society” pilot program #NEWS

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinsecure said it was not yet legally able to refund its customers due to an ongoing investigation.

Bitfinex, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has added Stellar Lumens and Verge to its list of supported currencies. This follows recent news of new fiat pairs including British pounds GBP and Japanese Yen JPY.

Bitfinex Adds Two Coins and More Trading Pairs

Bitfinex now supports 56 cryptocurrencies, all of which can be traded with USD and BTC. Last month they introduced trading for 12 new Ethereum tokens which have a combined market capitalization of more than $1.1 billion. Stellar and Verge have market caps of $8 billion and $1.1 billion respectively. Bitfinex is currently the sixth ranked exchange with a 24-hour trade volume of $1 trillion.

Stellar is an open-source network for building financial products. It aims to provide a decentralized way for banks and individuals to connect, offering fast cross-border transactions. Co-founder Jed McCaleb was originally a co-founder of Ripple, but decided to start his own cryptocurrency over fears that Ripple was not decentralized enough. Stellar was originally a Ripple fork but has had its code re-written since.

Verge is a Bitcoin fork designed for everyday payments. It was created in 2014 under the name DogeCoinDark. It is touted a privacy coin due to the Wraith protocol which allows users to switch between private and public ledgers. When Wraith is used, transaction data is not available via the blockchain explorer.

On April 17, Verge announced a partnership with Mindgeek, who own Pornhub and other adult entertainment sites. This was revealed two weeks after they launched a four day long crowdfund which was mostly fulfilled by TokenPay, who are partners with Verge. In the run up to the announcement, the price increased by 150% and sits currently at $0.08.

On March 29, Bitfinex added new fiat pairs including support for British pounds (GBP) and Japanese Yen (JPY). The Japanese market is important as the Japanese Yen accounts for 55% of global Bitcoin trading, according to Coinhills. On the other hand, GBP trading volume amounts to less than 1% of the global market.

Jean-Louis van der Velde, CEO of Bitfinex, said: “We are very pleased to add to our selection of fiat offerings and to do our part in making cryptocurrencies more globally accessible. We are making a strong push for improved transparency and worldwide regulatory collaboration, and our ability to add support for these markets is a strong win on that front.”

Bitfinex also announced support for the Tron (TRX) migration to MainNet in June. Withdrawals and deposits will be affected between June 21 and June 26. Trading will not be affected.

Bitfinex use a multi-faceted method for deciding which cryptocurrencies to add. They take into account user requests, shareholder interest, market capitalization, token design parameters, and their own assessment of the cryptocurrency. This includes researching the team behind the coin and their ability to solve technical and non-technical issues.

Trading is now live for XLM and XVG.

Both pairs can be traded against BTC, ETH, USD, EUR, GBP & JPY.

— Bitfinex (@bitfinex) May 1, 2018

By Tim Copeland.

Image from Shutterstock.

The post Bitfinex Announce Support for Stellar (XLM) and Verge (XVG) appeared first on NewsBTC.

According to Robert Jackson, a commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a solution is needed to facilitate the launching of ICOs within current US securities law.

Speaking to CNBC’s Squawk Box on Monday, Jackson voiced current SEC concerns regarding the need to address ICO fraud, but suggested a legal method for raising cryptocurrency funds might be possible:

“Investors are having a hard time telling the difference between investments and fraud. Down the road, I think we will be thinking about ways to make those investments work consistent with our securities laws.”

There have been other positive voices coming from the SEC in the last few weeks. Recently, Republican Minnesota Representative Tom Emmer at an SEC Division of Corporation Finance meeting suggested that much of the furor over crypto fraud was exaggerated. He argued that regulators assumptions that decentralized networks were only used for fraud and crime, bore parallels to early explorers’ assumptions about Earth.

The US has no desire to follow in China’s footsteps by banning ICOs, but among regulatory bodies such as the SEC, there are clearly ongoing concerns over the protection of consumers, given events of the past few years.

“If you want to know what our markets would look like with no securities regulation, what it would look like if the SEC didn’t do its job? The answer is the ICO market,” Jackson said.

Although the SEC considers most ICOs as securities, and despite several warnings being issued to crypto startups for non-compliance with current rules, there is more than a suggestion of pragmatism in dealing with the issue.

Last month, SEC division head William Hinman suggested that the SEC was “meeting with participants that have these ideas of a token that shouldn’t be regulated as a security” and said that he was working with them on how they should be structured. He pointed out that the US wanted to be pragmatic in support of new technology.

In March, the SEC announced that crypto exchanges which provide ICO token trading solutions had to register with the regulator.

image source https://pixabay.com/en/startup-wall-painter-house-painter-2850272/  geralt

The post Legal Pathway for ICOs Sought by US Regulators appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.