Day: May 3, 2018

Bitcoin miners suffer revenue drops in 2018, but hashrates are on an upward trend

Ruling Democratic Party member Hong Eui-rak and 10 other legislators have joined together to draft a bill, which if passed, would legalize initial coin offerings (ICOs) in South Korea.

Since last September’s government ban, when South Korean regulators expressed “serious concern” about markets being pushed towards nonproductive speculation, there have been numerous calls for the government to legalize ICOs. Since then, many South Korean companies have raised their funds through ICOs overseas.

Park Sung-joon, head of the Blockchain Research Center at Seoul’s Dongguk University is one that wants to see the ban lifted:

“An ICO is banned only in South Korea and China. The government said it will make a 14 billion [Korean] won (KRW or USD 13.15 million) investment to promote the technology but it is a ridiculously small amount of money considering the fact that other countries are seeking to research and develop the technology by raising hundreds of millions of won through an ICO.”

Hong Eui-rak spoke this week at an ICO and blockchain forum at South Korea’s Nation Assembly and suggested that his bill would be aimed at legalizing ICOs, but with government supervision. If the bill were passed ICOs would come under strict guidelines set by the FSC and the Ministry of Science and ICT.

Party member Hong said that they had based the bill on research conducted between his office and the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) and reiterated that last years’ government concerns could be addressed by more clarity: “The primary goal (of the legislation) is helping remove uncertainties facing blockchain-related businesses.”

Chung Sye-kyun, a speaker from the National Assembly also voiced a similar opinion: “Blockchain and cryptos can be used in various public sectors for good causes. Given their potential, we need to work to help reduce political uncertainties they face.”

Despite rumors in March that the South Korean government had plans to lift the ban on ICOs, this bill, if it is presented, will be the first of its kind to challenge the government at parliamentary level.

image source: https://pixabay.com/en/bitcoin-mining-processor-3369039/ – TheDigitalArtist

 

The post South Korean Bill to Legalize ICOs in Pipeline appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

There’s something romantic about the notion of the struggling artist. Sketching portraits in the cobbled streets of an aging city, scribbling novels by candlelight in a dimly-lit apartment, eating noodles from a cup… Who doesn’t love a struggling artist? Struggling artists, for one.

Let’s be honest. Writers, actors, dancers, singers, filmmakers, creative types in general… most of them put in hours of endless slog for very little reward.

Once the door of opportunity slams in their face enough times, they begin to buy into the belief that “making it big” is a mere pipedream. Or that they have to be incredibly lucky to get ahead in this world. Well, being lucky may help. But then again, some people say you make your own luck.

Struggling artists of the world, take heart. Blockchain has a service for you, too.

Get Rewarded for Your Work

Social media has opened up many doors, undeniably leveling the playing field for independent artists. Anyone with a smartphone and an internet connection can add their contribution online. But while they may get their content on the net, that doesn’t mean it will be seen – or that they’ll get much financial reward.

The trouble with mainstream video platforms is that content creators are only paid if they generate a high number of views. YouTube, for example, pays around $1 per 1,000 views. But with blockchain technology’s ability to monetize smaller transactions, that model is beginning to change.

POP Network is a blockchain-based, peer-to-peer video sharing platform that will allow for micropayments in cryptocurrency beyond one billionth of a penny. Not only will artists be rewarded for their work and every view and engagement, but the network will help content contributors find opportunities outside the traditional Hollywood or digital ecosystem.

Enabling Content to Flourish

Verasity is a next-generation video sharing platform with a similar objective – not only to reward artists for their work, but to cut out the middlemen taking chunks of their profits. David Orman, its CEO, explains:

We want viewers to use our VERA currency to pay content creators, directly, through the touch of a button in the video player. Just by clicking a button. Content owners can choose to accept donations, switch on pay-per-view, or enable subscriptions. This flexibility allows content to flourish as well, ensuring creators can find the right model for their business.

Verasity is also aiming to help producers and publishers create new content through its ‘‘Spark Marketplace”, which uses smart contracts to enable fans and followers to support and finance the growth of their favorite creators. Orman enthuses, “We are developing the VeraSpark system as a tool to help all creators, so they can finance anything from needing new camera equipment all the way to creating a feature film!”

How is Blockchain Being Used to Do This?

Blockchain’s ability to monetize the most minute of transactions and cut out intermediaries through smart contracts is fundamental. But its proof-of-work is another key element.

Verasity’s own blockchain technology will eliminate another of the biggest problems with existing video platforms – fake views and bots. Advertising fraud is big business, set to cost advertisers an eye-watering $19 billion this year alone.

With a patent-pending Proof-of-View (PoV™) technology, blockchain can eradicate fake views and bot traffic by providing ‘true’ media accountability. By eliminating fake views and bots, Verasity’s platform solves many problems that exist today including “distorted content recommendation, ad-fraud and even the promotion of fake news.”

So, unless you secretly enjoy working for free or getting paid in beer, blockchain technology is offering new opportunities to monetize your work. You don’t have to ditch the cup noodles if you really enjoy their taste. But at least now you can eat them with a silver spoon and perhaps a glass of champagne.

A patent application by JPMorgan Chase suggests putting financial transaction information on a distributed ledger.

As reported earlier this week, meat and cold cut company Oscar Mayer is running a promotion called ‘Bacoin,’ a cryptocurrency-inspired redemption program designed to get people to promote bacon on social media. But there’s a problem.

Bacoin Token

According to new reports, the Kraft/Heinz-owned company weren’t the first to bring Bacoin to the market. A 27-year-old IT worker from Michigan called Kirk Steele says he created a cryptocurrency called Bacoin designed to be ‘backed’ by bacon in 2014. The coins, just like Mayer’s Bacoin, were meant to be able to be redeemed for strips of bacon.

This Monday, Steele sent the Bacoin promotion administrator, HelloWorld Inc., a cease-and-desist letter demanding the company stop the promotion or face legal action.

Steele, who spoke with Motherboard, said that he was moved to take action despite his Bacoin project being far from complete because he feels that Mayer’s promotion is a ‘gag.’ Steele’s Bacoin was decommissioned and then revived last year, but as of yet Steele has not found a local meat company that will trade their bacon for his token.

“I thought [Bacoin] would be a nice way to get a local company in Michigan some coverage and have some fun with it,” Steele told Motherboard. “My initial reaction to [Oscar Mayer’s Bacoin] was that this is awesome, but then I realized that it’s fake and I don’t think there’s going to be any sort of blockchain behind it.”

Spokespeople for Kraft Heinz and HelloWorld didn’t immediately respond to Motherboard’s request for comments on Steele’s cease-and-desist and whether or not the promotion has a blockchain component.

How does it work?

Steele, who is actually quite serious about his project, is upset because Mayer’s press release names Bacoin alongside other ‘joke promotions’ from the company. One is a dating app called Sizzl that helps users find other bacon lovers, and potential love interests, nearby. Mayer also has an iOS app that works as an alarm by waking people up to the sound of bacon being cooked.

Bacoin’s official rules state that tokens are won via lottery and its price — which represents how many strips of bacon one token can be redeemed for — goes up and down based on how many people promote it on social media. The rules also note that the value of Bacoin may be adjusted ‘if sharing is slow and the value is low.’

“If they threw me a free year of bacon I would probably drop it and say that’s cool,” Steele said. “I’m kind of standing up for the little guy here. I don’t think I can afford a lawyer to go all the way with it, but we’ll see.”

Blockchain Piggy-Backing

The Meyer campaign isn’t the first initiative to piggy-back cryptocurrencies and blockchain. It isn’t even the first food-based company to do so. Long Island Iced Tea Corp. rebranded itself to Long Island Blockchain Corp. during the cryptocurrency frenzy at the end of 2017 and in turn saw its stock price escalate, albeit briefly.

Then there’s KFC who offered the Bitcoin Bucket in Canada, where the company offered a free bucket of chicken to (Bitcoin creator) Satoshi Nakamoto if he would pick up the food in person.

Let’s not forget Burger King’s WhopperCoin, released in August 2017 on the Waves blockchain. Customers earn coins when they purchase Whoppers, the coins are held in a digital wallet and can either be accumulated to pay for more Whoppers or exchanged for other digital currencies trading on the network.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post Oscar Mayer’s ‘Bacoin’ Campaign Sent Cease-and-Desist Order appeared first on NewsBTC.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

The Hack Heard ‘Round The Net

“I’m fairly knowledgeable in blockchain and have a lot of exposure in the space,” says Michael Fauscette, the chief research officer at G2 Crows, a platform and community where people connect and share experiences about business software.

Having spent over ten years as an executive and senior analyst at tech market research firm IDC, Fauscette, like countless others around the world, is no stranger to the dangers of brute force attacks and crypto-mining hacking attempts. But with Fauscette, he endured an automated bot brute force attack over a period of five days.

Michael’s Story

I operated two blogs that were hosted on the WordPress platform. The platform provided medium-level security—basic firewalls and free anti-virus software.

My administrator’s console was structured in [such a way] that if anyone logged into it or attempted to, it would send an email alert to the administrative email account—I was the only one with that administrative password.

Attack #1

Well, I went to bed one evening and I received a notification that someone logged in, which obviously wasn’t me. So, I immediately grabbed my laptop nearby and attempted to login—I wasn’t able to. I suspected that someone had already logged in and changed the password, preventing my entry.

However, I was able to gain access through the hosting company, which made it easier for administrative access. Once I was logged in, I was able to kick them out and change the password.

Attack #2

In the meantime, I received a similar alert from my other blog site, alerting me to the fact that someone else was logged in. So, I went through the same process as I had a few minutes before and went back to sleep. I ended up finding a bitcoin mining plugin and deleted it. It was apparent that someone wanted to use my servers for bitcoin mining.

Attack #3

You would’ve thought it was done, but alarmingly, I woke up to another alert around 5:30 AM that next morning, with the same sequence of events occurring—so I responded with the same measures I took the night before.

I started to realize that this wasn’t working, so I got out of bed and started researching security protocols…but it was too late. They had already come.

Attack #4

An hour later, they broke in again, this time much faster than [I could] figure out what new measures to implement and execute. So, all I could do was kick them out again. But, this time, they maliciously deleted both of my blogs, which [were] luckily backed up by my server’s hosting company.

I started increasing my antivirus security, enabling two-factor authentication on both blogs and across all pages. I needed to adopt new measures quickly.

But, I’m only human.

Attack #5

Five attacks within a two-and-a-half day period, and it’s not over. While working on my security updates, they broke in again—but this time, they locked me out, deleting my sites, along with all my backups.

Again, with what little luck I had, my hosting site contained backups, so I immediately began going through all the security protocols I knew how to. By this time, the front end of the server was fairly secure, which stopped the brute-force attacks.

But, the back end was vulnerable. In their last attack, after deleting everything, they managed to drop backdoors across the server, allowing them to come back in. Of course, I wasn’t receiving any multi-factor authentication notifications, because they weren’t going in through the admin console.

By the end of day five, every page had “https” security on it, and close to a thousand dollars later, my sites were finally secured.

What You Need To Learn From Michael’s Story

Lesson #1: Anything Connected to the Internet is Vulnerable

At the end of the day, you have to remember that all of these smart technologies and digital devices have a backdoor—the Internet. Given enough time, computing power, and resources, people can find ways into nearly anything. “If they don’t, they will keep trying until they do,” says Fauscette.

Lesson #2: Good Luck Finding Out Who’s Behind an Attack

While Fauscette was able to initially trace the brute-force bot attacks back to Indonesia, that still doesn’t mean much, because internet protocol (IP) addresses can be redirected from anywhere in the world.

During the first three days of the attack, Fauscette was able to see traffic and hits to his sites coming from Indonesia, Korea, Asia, and multiple Eastern European countries.

Lesson #3: Protect Your ‘House’

• Get a strong firewall: don’t be cheap. Fauscette switched from a free firewall to a paid and effective system.
• Use a password manager: utilizing password manager programs like OnePass and LastPass just might prevent someone from deleting your site or compromising your online accounts. These programs create randomly generated passwords and store them in a secure, encrypted database that only you have access to.
• Keep researching: knowledge is power.
• Platforms like WordPress are attacked frequently: If you utilize a platform like WordPress, download all the best practices. Do it right. A lot of them may seem simple, but many times, you don’t think of these situations until it’s too late.

Bitcoin Press Release: Kuende is a blockchain-powered social media that promotes real-world gamified challenges in order to create meaningful connections.

29 April 2018, Baar, Switzerland: Kuende, a social network which attracts young people from all over the world by offering an interactive, hybrid online-offline social experience, is announcing their token event launch, meant to upgrade their gamification layer into a blockchain powered vote and reward system.

Pavel Antohe, Kuende’s CEO & founder stated:

“There’s something wrong in today’s social media landscape and users are looking for a better alternative. A social media that shifts the focus from heavily filtered posts that highlight a false glamorous reality to real, genuine projections of our real lives”.

Launched in 2015 and backed with a total private investment of $2.6M, with more than 54.000 organic active users and more than 20.000 app installs so far (with zero marketing investment), Kuende is a hybrid online-offline social network, available on Web, Android and iOS, that is trying to combine the appeal of a social media platform with fun and engaging offline activities.

Pavel Added:

“We’re providing users with control over their data. They can share content with friends and families by choosing between different level of privacy, while making it easy to find new friends with common interests and engage in nearby activities. Our core mission is to transform social media into a positive force, powering a more connected, engaged, and inclusive society, by reaching out to Gen-Z and Millennials. We believe these generations are not only the most active social media users but also the most affected by the lack of real-life interactions with their peers”,

Accordingly to various scientific studies, one of the biggest social issues of today’s youth is social inadequacy. Kuende’s founder says his team wants to make social media escapism and the sadness, seclusion, and other social disorders it causes a thing of the past!

By connecting people with similar interests and gamifying real-world socialization, users can create healthy, real-life connections. Kuende’s business model is designed to focus on community locations and businesses that can facilitate Challenges to support these social interactions, with minimal direct advertising, keeping the service positive and free to users.

Kuende ICO Details
Kuende is organizing an ICO in which participants can exchange ETH for Kuende Tokens (KUE). Kuende’s total token supply will be 3.56 billion, from which 50% will be sold during the private sale (April 7, 2018 – May 31, 2018) and the public sale (date yet to be announced). During the token event, each token will be valued at 1 KUE = 0.01 USD. Kuende set Soft Cap of $2 million and a Hard Cap of $17.8 million and will reserve 15% of tokens for a Community Pool for future incentivization of Kuende users, sustaining the ecosystem.

To see Kuende’s entire roadmap, distribution, and token allocation, see the whitepaper on our website: ico.kuende.com

Private Sale Structure:
– The ETH/KUE exchange rate will be decided/locked after the private sale has ended. This rate will become the point of reference for the public sale.
– There is a minimum contribution amount
– Each participant must go through the KYC procedure
– Participants can obtain bonuses up to 30%. The bonuses will be vested for a period of 3 months after the tokens will be unlocked and available to use within the platform (Q3, 2018)

For more information regarding the private sale, contact directly the CEO at [email protected]

You can also reach Kuende’s team in various ways:

Chat on Telegram: http://t.me/kuende
Visit ICO Website: ico.kuende.com
Read the Whitepaper: https://ico.kuende.com/documentation/Kuende%20Whitepaper.pdf
Check out Product: https://kuende.com/
Subscribe on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kuende.world
Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/18295683/
Subscribe on YouTube: https://youtu.be/31SMT779xRA
Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Kuende_com
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kuende_com/

Media Contact
Name: Kuende
Location: Switzerland
Email: [email protected]
Contact Person: Pavel Antohe

Kuende  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 Kuende token sale is closed to US participants and participants of all countries in which ICOs are illegal.

The post PR: The New Social Network Kuende Adopts Blockchain To Create Real-Life Experiences appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Investopedia (blog)

Mining Bitcoin From 21 Miles Above the Earth Investopedia (blog) Bitcoin is reaching for the stars, literally! Though the most popular cryptocurrency has had its fair share of extreme highs and lows in terms of its valuation in recent times, a promotional activity by a Bitcoin mining firm called Miner One ...

By decentralizing the supply chain, manufacturing is set for evolution

The manufacturing sector is one of those aspects of life that you can take for granted. It works well, and it seems to be getting better – but like the inner workings of a television set, you probably don’t know why or how the result comes about.

These logistical processes in themselves are fascinating in the post-globalization world in which we live, and their performance and development are largely underpinned by industrial developments in technology and standards.

In fact, terms have been coined to describe the various milestones achieved by these essential business sectors: ‘Industry 4.0’ denoted the increasing impact that interconnectivity has had across the supply chain.

‘Smart Manufacturing’ is a more recent term that refers to similar principles, though it is more representative of recent developments and official government recognition (this is evident from the establishment of the official ‘Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition’ or SMLC in 2012).

Smart Manufacturing 2.0: and Industry Redefined

As you’re reading this site, you’ve probably guessed that we are firm believers that the next evolutionary step will be attributed to Blockchain technology. In this circumstance, the progenitor of progress comes from a company called ‘Productivist’: with their decentralized Ethereum based side-chain/platform.

The platform’s team aims to utilize the inherently immutable, transparent, and exceptionally fast transaction (distributed ledger) benefits of decentralized Blockchain infrastructure. One application of this is the mitigation of cross-country obstructions reinforced by the limitations of the traditional fiat-based industry. These can include currency conversions, tax, regulations, and cultural differences regarding business practices.

Productivist seeks to challenge the current state of the industry through the delivery of a ground-breaking solution that aims to mitigate the previously discussed barriers. Its features also promise to further increase efficiency and contractual compliance within the industry.

How to change an international, disparate industry

Cryptocurrencies as a financial service solution have proven their ability to overcome regulatory and legislative barriers, cultural and standards differences, and the administration and enforcement of contractual agreements by utilizing ‘smart contract’ technology.

In the current market, middlemen have continually acted as intermediaries between commissioning parties and designers and manufacturers, as well as various other stakeholders across the supply chain.

By eliminating the middleman, Productivist additionally promises to reduce the ‘bottlenecking’ often seen with existing centralized service providers by implementing a universal standard based on identified best practices.

To further supersede the status quo of international manufacturing commissioning and service delivery, Productivist will use an economy based on a proprietary exchangeable token (‘PROD’).

Productivist: To buy or not to buy?

It is always of the utmost importance to perform independent research on both new and existing crypto investment opportunities to verify whether the project can be trusted. The first port of call should usually be the team behind the solution, as well as the partnerships they have cultivated.

Four out of five of the co-founding leaders of Productivist are cohorts who met and currently work with each other at Freelabster.com. This company is a great argument in favor of the pedigree possessed by the senior and executive leadership teams at Productivist, being an established service provider that incorporates the key principles of smart manufacturing as well as Industry 4.0.

Freelabster’s 3D printing and delivery services will act as the primary use case for the multifaceted benefits of Productivist’s chain and platform. In fact, from day one, token holders will be able to not only exchange their coins for those of other currencies but also to use them to purchase services off the Freelabster service store.

A PROD in the right direction

In the future, Productivist aims to make its name through the offering of an open source and adaptable solution for external parties as well as direct partners. The platform will offer APIs and SDKs as well as support to encourage the adoption and on-boarding of participants on both sides of the market (plus marketplaces themselves).

If you like the sound of what you’ve read so far, you should investigate the project’s official resources as soon as possible – their pre-ICO sale has launched on May 1, 2018. As a start, here are links to their website, whitepaper, lite-paper, and social media (Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, and Medium).

Trading expectations (straight from the horse’s mouth) are as follows…

Smart-manufacturing market value by 2025: €321 bln (Source: Grand View Research, Inc)
Market share objective: 0.88%
Annual Volume: €2.84 bln
Daily volume: €7.78 mln
Estimated yearly trading volume for each PROD based on released token supply: €11.93  per PROD.

The post The Smarter Solution to Manufacturing: Ins and Outs of Productivist appeared first on NewsBTC.

Global demand for gold appears to be dropping according to figures published by the World Gold Council earlier today. The asset had its weakest opening quarter since the global financial crisis of 2008.

Is Bitcoin Filling the Same Niche as Gold?

According to CNBC, worldwide demand for gold was down seven percent year-on-year for the first quarter of 2018. The WGC apparently blamed the drop on around a 15 percent decrease in investment in gold bars. Alistair Hewitt, the head of market intelligence at the trade group commented on the drop in demand:

“Relatively solid global economic growth, coupled with the return of volatility in the capital markets in February, created a stable environment for gold in (the first quarter).”

Gold is an asset that has traditionally been seen as a safe haven during times of global turmoil. This was particularly evident in the first three months of 2017 when heightened political uncertainty saw the price of gold rise. Despite what Hewitt refers to as ‘relatively solid global economic growth’ there is still great uncertainty around the world. For example, troubles surrounding U.S. military operations in Syria are consistently portrayed in the media as a certain precursor to an imminent global conflict. Yet still the price of gold seems stable.

Could this be down to another asset fulfilling the same niche that humanity has carved for gold over the course of thousands of years?

Bitcoin seems to represent almost all that gold ever did and more. It’s scarce and in a known quantity – space exploration isn’t suddenly going to flood the market with Bitcoin in the future. It’s also easier to store, easier to transfer, and completely unconfiscatable (when secured correctly). The only thing it lacks to fulfil the properties of a store of value is historical precedent.

The likes of Peter Schiff scoff at Bitcoin because its value is only determined by supply and demand along with a psychological drive to hoard it. Isn’t this the same as any asset though? If suddenly the whole planet decided that the U.S. dollar was worthless, its perceived value would crash. The same would happen with gold. Value itself is social construct. Non-human primates don’t hoard gold, dollars, Bitcoin, or any other asset for that matter. If the proverbial really did hit the fan, the ‘value’ of all these assets would crash whilst people instead stockpiled ammunition, weapons, and food.

Evidence is growing that more people are rejecting the traditional safe haven of gold in favour of Bitcoin. Christopher Giancarlo of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently claimed that global fascination with Bitcoin was the result of a generation losing faith in those that created the global financial crisis of ten years ago. Other reports suggest that younger people who have grown up in a digital world understand Bitcoin in a way the generation before them doesn’t. This seems rational given that surveys by Blockchain Capital last year suggested that millennials were increasingly favouring Bitcoin over gold.

Could the current slump reported by the WGC in the price of gold be down to a greater understanding of what Bitcoin represents – freedom to store value without government intrusion? It’s much too early to tell for sure but it’ll certainly be an interesting trend to watch in the coming years.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post Is Gold’s Position as a Safe Haven Asset Slipping in Favour of Bitcoin? appeared first on NewsBTC.

Arizona’s crypto tax bill no longer enables the Department of Revenue to collect taxes in cryptocurrency, but rather directs it to conduct a study.

Bitcoin Press Release: The banking sector is changing. Gone are those days when it held monopoly over whose and what funds to keep and when to exchange them. Thanks to blockchain technology, power is being vested in the hands of economic agents. However, the potentials of this power is yet to be truly unleashed for end users.

April 25th 2018, Nicosia, Cyprus – Introducing Kvantor, developed by an enterprising team of industry specialists, Kvantor is a blockchain-based banking revolution set to usher in new levels of economic freedom to market play. The platform facilitates the decentralization of all financial relationships between counterparties, opening up a seamless channel for the exchange of values without third-party mediation. The elimination of third-party players in any transactional exchanges not only reduces the cost of transaction drastically, but also expedites the interaction.

Kvantor aims to bring about true economic freedom to the global market, enabling users to leverage cutting-edge technologies for all settlement, reduce transaction speed of exchange from days to mere minutes at competitive and attractive rates. Using Kvantor, currency and commodity service providers are now able to provide their clients with a state-of-the-art service delivery through a transparent, secure, and tamper-proof technology. No longer do users have to worry about entry barriers to banking services due to geographical location, politics, or financial status. All they now need is an internet-capable device to enjoying banking services on-the-go anytime, anywhere.

Kvantor also offers the following services:

• Interbank transfers for foreign trade: Transfer of fiat currencies and digital instruments between the banks from different countries.
• Banking services: Money transfers, clearing, bank guarantees, factoring, etc.
• Exchange trading services (for Brokers, manufacturers and purchasers of goods): Agricultural exchange (meat, fish, corn), commodities and raw materials exchange (oil, coal, gold) and currency exchange (fiat currencies and digital instruments).

A Seamless Ecosystem

Security is at the forefront of the platform’s development and not just for funds, but for every interaction and exchange on the ecosystem.

Kvantor boosts of the highest level of data protection including users’ identity, smart contract interactions, and transaction exchanges based on legislative considerations. Its transparent ecosystem is powered by an instrument of economic agents (from physical entities to transnational corporations) that has no entry barrier, embodied in its native token.

Token-as-a-License

Each Kvantor token holder is entitled to a one-of-its-kind license usage for the results of intellectual activities (RIA), on the platform. The number of tokens determines the share in the RIA.

Kvantor will be issuing a sale for its licenses with a nominal value of 1/1300 the value of the troy ounce of gold on the day the KVANTOR licenses are issued. Kicking off from the 26/04/2018 to the 25/05/2018, the first phase of the event will issue 20% of the licensed tokens to the public at a 40%discount.

From 28/05/2018 to 27/06/2018, an additional 40% of licensed tokens will be issued at 20%discount. Hard cap for the event has been set at 32 million GBP.\

To learn more visit the Website : https://kvantor.com/

Chat on Telegram: https://t.me/kvantorcom
Read the Whitepaper – https://kvantor.com/docs/whitepaper_en.pdf
Meet the Team – https://kvantor.com/#team

Media Contact
Name: Kvantor
Contact Email: [email protected]

Kvantor 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 post PR: Kvantor Introduces New Level of Freedom for Economic Transactions appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

It is estimated that a staggering $350 trillion in global assets are held and traded daily via the use of conventional fiat banking systems. These systems, while highly prevalent, are ridden with innate issues of poor liquidity, low transparency, and little accountability. This is because banks and other financial institutions are governed by central operators and thus are confined in terms of overall operability.

CommerceBlock is an all-new blockchain-based platform that has been designed to facilitate global economic trade in a secure, private, and efficient manner via public blockchains. All of the project’s technology is based on peer-reviewed research by experts from the open source and academic cryptocurrency communities.

One can also think of CommerceBlock as a public blockchain platform that allows anyone to build and use financial products and services that have otherwise been reserved for commercial banking customers. The system provides users with a framework that incorporates unique elements such as:

• Trust-minimized trade
• Decentralized contract execution
• On-chain derivatives
• Asset-backed token issuance

Overview of the platform

• CommerceBlock offers users with a fully-developed set of tools that can allow them to build and deploy smart contracts.
• The system is designed to help manage trade flows, engage in multiparty dispute management, issue monetary assets, etc.
• Owing to its unique digital framework, CommerceBlock is able to assist developers and end users in managing various aspects of business interaction and multi-party contracts.
• The platform employs a homomorphic address protocol that has been designed to streamline the way in which business logic, customer funds, and specific trade details are managed.
• CommerceBlock is secure and does not have access to customer funds or their private information.

Key Features

First and foremost, the APIs and SDKs employed by CommerceBlock provide users with a wide array of tools that have been tested and verified. To be even more specific, the exposed libraries can interact directly with base layer public blockchains, as well as with layered protocols such as the Lightning Network.

Overview of the platform’s architecture

According to the whitepaper, the native system API assists users in constructing zero-knowledge invoices as well as other activities such as:

• Facilitating multiparty escrow transactions
• Engaging in templated in-channel contracts on the Lightning Network
• Issuing unique monetary assets
• Utilizing and employing selectively devised smart contracts

CommerceBlock’s user interface

CommerceBlock makes use of the pay-to-contract protocol, which was first envisioned by Gerhardt and Hanke. It is a digital tool designed to mimic real-world payment interactions between merchants and customers. When using this protocol, only the merchant and customer possess cryptographic proof of who is being paid and for what.

How it Works

CommerceBlock comes with a web portal that provides users with the option of subscribing to the company’s prepaid or postpaid subscriptions. Once signed up, customers are granted access to the native toolkit that has been optimized for the construction of smart contracts and issuing/distributing assets.

Visual representation of how the system works

Other key points worth noting include:

• API users are required to pay per API call.
• SDKs are available for free download.

It should also be understood that the platform provides pre-packaged, paid-access trade flow templates to its clients. These templates clearly elucidate the intricacies and pitfalls of trade management, thereby optimizing the way in which companies can govern their internal processes.

Enterprise customers are given the option to use the company’s native APIs and SDKs. Pricing is determined on a case-by-case basis, and revenue shares/partnerships are also taken into consideration.

Lastly, according to the roadmap laid out by the CommerceBlock dev team, the company is working to integrate third-party standards in identity, storage, and security. That will make it easy for developers to integrate Ledger wallets into their product offerings.

Possible risks associated with the project

A product such as CommerceBlock is never free of uncertainties and business risks. For example, due to certain innate security vulnerabilities and bugs, the framework of this platform is not free from operational issues. While CommerceBlock’s source code is available for public peer review, additional measures such as third-party audits are also needed to ensure a high degree of safety and privacy.

About the team

Nicholas Gregory is the CEO of this project. According to his LinkedIn page, Nicholas specializes in various Java and blockchain-related digital technologies. Prior to founding CommerceBlock, he served as the CTO of circumvent.com.

Tom Trevethan is the Head of Backend Operations at CommerceBlock. Tom worked as a scientist and researcher in domains related to physics and chemistry before permanently switching over to blockchain technology some years back.

Token Performance History

Released into the crypto market on April 18, CBT tokens initially traded at a price of $0.036 per token.

CBT token lifetime performance history (courtesy of CoinMarketCap)

 

As can be seen on the chart above, the currency hit its value high on April 25 when the price of a single token scaled up to an impressive $0.122. Since then, the price has stabilized quite a bit, and as of May 3, a single CBT is trading at $0.055.

Final Thoughts

CommerceBlock promises to deliver a highly compelling service that could reshape the way in which enterprises work and conduct their daily business operations. The company’s roadmap envisions a future wherein CommerceBlock will be bolstered with a host of additional modules that will present financial engineers with a wide array of opportunities within the global economic engine.

However, as with any other business venture, it is advised that investors do a bit of research on their own before putting large amounts of money into the project.

If you would like to start investing in CommerceBlock, CBT pairs are being traded on OKEX and IDEX.

 

The 23-year old Russian crypto blogger “Pavel Nyashin” has been found dead in the apartment he shared with his mother in St. Petersburg