Day: May 4, 2018

The real estate market is massive, constituting 60% of global wealth. In such an established and diverse market, innovation is essential to progression. In response to an ever changing and interconnect world, DirectHome has elevated itself as a market leader in a competitive market.

Singapore’s DirectHome has the capability to be the leading platform globally, by providing unique and groundbreaking value to the real estate industry. In Singapore in 2017, transactions for residential property was S$50 billion – with 1.5% in sales commissions, which works out at S$750 million in sales commission in a valuable PropTech technology market. DirectHome has the potential to revolutionize the real estate market on a local and even globally scale.

Who are DirectHome

DirectHome offers a unique property platform that allows buyers and sellers of resale properties to transact without any real estate agents, with little to no cost. In a competitive market DirectHome is cementing itself as a leader by providing cash back for those who purchase property via the platform. The DirectHome platform is notably cost effective as well as efficient and valuable, by incorporating rewards through tokens, powered by blockchain.  

By launching DIREC token, DirectHome has skyrocketed itself as a sector leader. The decentralized platform is designed to a offer a full real estate database on a global scale, while facilitating transactions between property buy and sellers alike. Indeed, homeowners, developers and all existing stakeholders can benefit from an efficient network via the ethereum blockchain. The result: a secure efficient and cost effective platform.

Why The DirectHomes Token Event Is Different

DirectHome have differentiated themselves to their competitors by utilizing blockchain in an already profitable and successful business model, a tall order in such a deep sector. Despite being an established industry, the real estate market has been notably slow to adapt to trends observed elsewhere in fintech.

However, recently there has been an overflow of real estate oriented cryptocurrencies. Seeking to capitalize on such a seemingly untapped and lucrative sector, these various tokens and cryptocurrencies use blockchain to improve on the real estate landscape.

DirectHome has successful transcended the real estate market with its innovative stance and deep understanding of the sector, both locally and globally. By incorporating blockchain technology on top of a pre existing and successful business model, the potential of DirectHome is soon to be realized.

However, despite DirectHome’s progression, there is a number of contributing factors as to why the real estate sector has been slow to adopt areas of fintech. Primarily, real estate is heavily regulated, ownership registry-based and it is a diverse product. The DirectHomes platform, on the other hand, cuts out the need for realtors and facilitates transactions between sellers  and buyers, which generates time and saves on cost.

DirectHome is therefore cementing itself above its competitors by participating in its token sale and events.

The DirectHome Platform

Many blockchain companies and token events may fall short of their potential due to spectualing and selling untested ideas. However, Directhome has already transacted over $350 million in property value. When the existing DirectHome website fully integrates blockchain technology the true potential of DirectHome’s vision will be realized, as users will be adopting tokens with true value.

DirectHome rewards their buyers with a cash back mechanism which will be implemented in Singapore and on a global scale. DirectHome also includes a crowd source contributor platform that further reward contributors, when adding real estate data is uploaded to the platform. The platform will in turn grow globally, building a transparent and valuable platform for all contributors.

The Direct Home Token Event

DirectHome’s vision is to transform the real estate industry, and anyone can be part of it. Indeed, their platform is the first of its kind to implement blockchain technology and the launch of a token sale, with a soft cap of  3,000,000 USD.

The token sale commences May 15th 2018 (12:00 PM Singapore Time GMT +8) and ends on July 15th 2018 (11:59 AM Singapore Time GMT +8). For the first time, the public is invited. The funds generated by the sale will be used to further develop a host of different areas of the business, as DirectHome continues to grow with modern times.

For more information on DirectHome’s new era, visit their website and read their whitepaper. DirectHome also invites you to chat with their team here.

The post Real Estate Meets Blockchain: DirectHome Offers Cash Back and Token Rewards appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

All cryptocurrencies are still enjoying a lot of bullish momentum as of right now. Although it remains to be seen how long the positive trend will last, things look pretty promising for the Ethereum price as of right now. Thanks to strong overnight gains, the Ethereum price has surpassed $800 for the first time since early March 2018. A very surprising development, although one worth keeping an eye on.

The Ethereum price Momentum Remains in Place

Whenever a particular cryptocurrency surges in value in quick succession, there is a genuine expectation of how the momentum will turn bearish again sooner rather than later. For the Ethereum price, that bearish momentum has not materialized as of yet, as the value simply keeps going up day after day. It is a very peculiar trend although one that may warrant a brief Ethereum price correction at some point in the near future.

Over the past 24 hours, the Ethereum price has surged by another 11.67%. Although Bitcoin and most other top cryptocurrencies are noting strong gains as well, It is evident Ethereum is doing a far better job, for some reason. This increase effectively pushed the Ethereum price above $800 again, albeit it is expected there will be a fair bit of resistance at this level throughout the remainder of the day and possibly all weekend as well.

It is also interesting to note how Ethereum continues to gain on Bitcoin with relative ease. Thanks to another 5.31% increase in the ETH/BTC ratio, one Ether is now valued at 0.082 BTC again. It has been a while since the ETH/BC ratio looked so healthy, although it is still a long way removed from the 0.15 BTC ratio we saw in late 2017. Whether or not such a ratio can be achieved again at some point throughout 2018, remains unclear at this stage.

Ethereum has no lack of trading volume right now. With over $4.03bn in 24-hour trading volume, the demand for Ether hasn’t slowed down in the slightest. Although the volume could still be a lot higher moving forward, the current trend looks rather promising for Ethereum in general. If this demand keeps up, maintaining an Ethereum price of $800 shouldn’t pose much of a problem.

Bitfinex has retaken control of the Ethereum trading volume, which is not entirely surprising. Binance comes in second placed, with a small lead over Huobi. Binance’s and OKEx’s USDT pairs complete the top five, which makes for a rather interesting list in general. While there is only one fiat currency pair in the top five, there is seemingly nothing to be overly concerned about as of right now.

Whether or not the Ethereum price momentum will remain firmly in place, is very difficult to predict. The past week and a half have been extremely bullish already, and nothing can go up in value forever. Even so, there are expectations of how the Ethereum price will hit $15,000 later this year. Right now, that seems highly unlikely, although cryptocurrency is a crazy market first and foremost.

Twitter bots impersonated dozens of prominent cryptocurrency traders in a phishing scam for three days before a reporter at BuzzFeed called the companies attention to it.

Twitter Scheme Created Dozens of Phony Accounts

Followers of digital investor Kevin Pham received a link in his tweets on Tuesday inviting them to win Bitcoin Ethereum and Litecoin.

The tweet read;

“Did you hear about Bitfinex Giveaway? To celebrate partnership between Biftinex and EOSfinex, they give away a total amount of 1.000 BTC, 15.000 ETH and 10.000 LTC. Hurry up before it ends!”

The problem was Kevin didn’t send that tweet and there was no such contest. Pham and dozens of other well-known crypto related tweeters had their identities attached to fake accounts which tweeted out the contest details for three days.

This was just the latest cryptocurrency related scam to be perpetrated on Twitter by bots using clone accounts to trick people into sending currency to wallets belonging to the end scammers. In this set up fake tweets sent real followers to a website that was made to look like the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex where would be contestants were asked to pick their preferred currency and given a wallet address to pay into.

To lend the scheme credibility the scammers even forged cryptocurrency transactions and created a loop back to their Bitfinex site if anyone tried to click away from the contest.

The scam was brought to light when a reporter at BuzzFeed found their account had been spoofed as well and ran the story on the site.

Scam Nets A Haul of $1,500

As Facebook, Twitter and Google have all banned cryptocurrency advertising the question of how this scam was able to exist on multiple accounts for more than three days was brought up to Twitter by BuzzFeed.

Though the company would not explain as to how the bots got around its filters they did respond through a spokesperson saying  “We’re aware of this form of manipulation and are proactively implementing a number of signals to prevent these types of accounts from engaging with others in a deceptive manner,”

Kevin Pham who is also an outspoken free speech activist on Twitter said that in the long run, these types of scams are good for us. That they will help the crypto community build up an immunity to them adding that “It’s unfortunate in the short term, but in the long term it’s kind of tough love,”

In the end, the days’ long scam netted the masterminds in charge no Bitcoin; $1,002 in Ethereum and $521 in Litecoin. Not much reward for all of the sweat and scheming that must have gone into the hoax.

The post Twitter Bots Cryptocurrency Impersonation Scam Nets $1,500 appeared first on NewsBTC.

Cai Wensheng, a Chinese angel investor, says he bought 10,000 BTC after the price dropped earlier this year.

A Malta based startup is creating a card for cryptocurrency investors that will enable short-term cash advances in the form of Mastercard and Visa cards loaded with fiat currencies #SPONSORED

South America

Welcome to our weekly roundup of all important blockchain and cryptocurrency news from around the world. Follow the latest developments in the cryptocurrency space continent by continent, country by country.

Argentina

Growing number of Bitcoin ATMs despite regulation: Bitcoin ATMs are being deployed around the world and Argentinian companies are also setting up large numbers across the country despite heavy government regulation on cryptocurrencies that is hampering the growth of the cryptocurrency space.

More than 200 Bitcoin ATMs deployed across Argentina: US ATM distributor Odyssey Group has announced that it has signed pre-agreements to install over 4,000 cryptocurrency ATMs across the Latin America country after the central bank BCRA agreed to loosen up restrictions in the space.

According to the relaxed rules, ATMs can be installed in supermarkets, shopping malls and even cinemas. Right now only the Argentinian company Bancelo has the license to install them only within bank premises but the new legislation has unveiled the path to massive Bitcoin ATMs across the country.

Brazil

Traders bet big on crypto options market: Brazilian traders have made a bold move into the cryptocurrency options market because of the volatility in the markets. They bought more than USD 1.4 billion worth of contracts on Tuesday alone, hoping it will pay off if the currency increases its value next week. Trading volume has jumped up 25 times the average volume in recent two weeks alone.

Political volatility including upcoming elections are also increasing investor anxiety and it could have effects on the investor attitude in the market.

Exchange hacked for BTC 58 overall losses: Brazilian cryptocurrency exchange FoxBit’s woes continued with a login issue resulting in traders losing more than BTC 58 in different cryptocurrencies. The cause was a bug in the login menu that allowed users to withdraw double amounts of cryptocurrencies. FoxBit was a little late to respond to the threat and had to close for 14 days. All in all, around BTC 58 (USD 540,000) was lost in the hacks.

The bug was first noticed in the Brazilian cryptocurrency circles by Leandro Trindade. His own investigation into the issue revealed that traders could even change their 2FA settings with a one-time password thus locking users out of their accounts.

In an interview with Portal do Bitcoin, Trindade said, “I could be rich right now. But my code of ethics won’t let me.”

Angry traders were reporting all sorts of losses on the platform, as much as USD 10,000 each, while the operating company has blamed the users for enabling weak security and revealing sensitive information to third parties by the users.

Chile

Court orders banks to re-opening crypto exchange accounts: Chile’s anti-monopoly court has ruled that the two Chilean banks who suspended the accounts of the cryptocurrency exchange BUDA, have to be re-open the accounts. The announcement was seen as a victory by the BUDA and CryptoMKT exchanges against the might of the Association of the Banks and Financial Institutions (ABIF) after the latter reportedly agreed on a policy to contain the cryptocurrency exchanges.

Their statement read: “The lack of knowledge and regulatory clarity has given rise to the fact that some banks, out of fear, misinformation or perhaps by strategy, are refusing to provide their services to anyone who has any relationship with any digital asset”.

Minister supports crypto initiatives after positive court decision: Chile’s Minister of Economy Jose Valente has come out and supported the cause of embattled cryptocurrency exchanges and put his weight behind their cause to get their bank accounts re-opened.

Diario Financiero reported him as saying, “What interests us with cryptocurrencies is basically giving them the opportunity [to develop] because they are an important innovation that is happening in the world… You have to give them a chance.”

He also said that Chile cannot remain outside these innovations and “economy of the future”.

Venezuela

India offered 30% discount on crude oil purchases in Petro: Venezuela is offering a big discount to other central banks to accept payment in its Petro cryptocurrency. It has offered India a 30% discount on its crude oil purchases but only if India uses Petro to pay for them.

It is difficult to say whether or not India will take up the offer as there is much to learn about the cryptocurrency. The Reserve Bank of India is already in the midst of a crackdown against Bitcoin traders across the South Asian country.

The post South America: Crypto and Blockchain News Roundup, 27th April to 3rd May 2018 appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Old hands aren’t quite sure why there’s been a spike in new contributors to bitcoin’s open-source code, but they’re quite pleased to see it happen.