Day: May 16, 2018

Bermuda is continuing to make itself known in the cryptocurrency space after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Shyft, a blockchain-based KYC/AML solution that aims to build out the country’s regulatory framework.

Bermuda to Lead the Way

Announced at Consensus, the partnership between the the Government of Bermuda and the Toronto-based digital identity provider, aims to establish Bermuda as the blueprint for leveraging cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. It plans to do this within a regulated progressive framework that emphasises on strong Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance.

The Honourable E. David Burt, the Premier of Bermuda, said that Bermuda ‘has decided to lead the way and build interoperability into the government legislation, in essence, approach regulatory frameworks with exportability in mind,’ adding:

“This is our Bermuda jurisdiction as a service, the high level of exportability ‘stack’ that includes technology, regulation, process and protocol that we have built with assistance and commitment of modern companies like Shyft with expertise in handling KYC and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance. As a result, the country is able to accelerate economic growth, create jobs and attract global interest. We’re leading the world in digital assets regulation, there’s no other country that provides comparable certainty and progressive regulatory environment.”

As part of the partnership Shyft has pledged to invest $10 million over three years to support the people and government of Bermuda, create new jobs, help re-skill labour, invest in local businesses, education and infrastructure. The investment will also help repatriate skilled labour back into the country.

In addition to working with the government, Shyft will be collaborating with the necessary oversight agencies to bring about the development and improvement of a robust legal and regulatory framework, and support the training of Bermudians in blockchain technology and software development.

Shyft has also announced a separate MOU with Trunomi, a global data rights company, which was founded in Bermuda. Together the two are planning to leverage Shyft’s blockchain technology with Trunomi’s expertise in consumer consent frameworks to support the nation in its vision by implementing an innovative e-ID (electronic ID) framework.

The issued e-IDs will be globally interoperable, enabling entities to transcend borders and operate globally.

“Shyft has an ambitious objective of building a global digital identity ecosystem that gives all citizens the opportunity to participate,” said Joseph Weinberg, Shyft chair. “We have a goal of leveraging new technology to make positive and inclusive change. We have found a similar intent and aspiration with the Government of Bermuda.”

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post Blockchain Firm Shyft Enters Partnership with Bermuda to Build Crypto Regulatory Framework appeared first on NewsBTC.

As the Coindesk Consensus 2018 in New York drew to a close, it was time for US regulators to have their say, all agreeing that they did not want to interfere unduly with blockchain or the tokens built on the nascent technology, reports Coindesk.

As US regulators continue to look into cryptocurrencies and ICOs, one event at the conference saw three of them on stage together, joined by Kiran Raj, chief strategy officer at crypto exchange Bittrex, and attorney Steve Bunnel as panel moderator. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) enforcement director James McDonald, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Enforcement Division Cyber Unit chief Robert Cohen and associate deputy attorney general Sujit Raman answered questions regarding industry regulation.

Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bitcoinnewscom

Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews

The post US Regulators Support Blockchain Development as Snoop Dog Plays Them Out appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Another drop is in the books. After falling to $8,500 yesterday from its previous mark of $8,800, bitcoin is once again stumbling down the staircase and is now trading for $8,300 – just a sliver above last week’s low of $8,250.

The Coindesk Consensus Conference – which potentially gave bitcoin a boost over the last 72 hours – ends today, and it appears the hype it garnered for cryptocurrency is ending with it.

No doubt, most investors are annoyed with bitcoin’s lack of strength against its newfound resistance. Many analysts now wonder if the currency will drop back down to the $7,000 range, which it last skimmed in March.

One of the alleged reasons for the recent drop may be Bing’s recent ban of cryptocurrency ads. Powered by Microsoft, Bing is the world’s second-largest search engine behind Google, and apparently doesn’t see safety in cryptocurrency usage. The platform made the announcement on its Bing Ads blog, and expects the ban to be fully integrated by either late June or early July.

Advertising policy manager for Microsoft Melissa Alsoszatai-Petheo explained:

“Because cryptocurrency and related products are not regulated, we have found them to present a possible elevated risk to our users, with the potential for bad actors participating in predatory behaviors or scamming consumers. To help protect our users from this risk, we have made the decision to disallow advertising. We are always evaluating our policies to ensure a safe and engaging experience for our Bing users and the digital advertising ecosystem.”

Facebook made a similar ban last January. Representatives explained that they could no longer promote unregulated financial options as they potentially put investors and their money through unsafe conditions. Company product management director Rob Leathern later commented, “We want people to continue to discover and learn about new products and services through Facebook ads without fear of scams or deception. That said, there are many companies who are advertising binary options, ICOs, and cryptocurrencies that are not currently operating in good faith.”

Google took a similar route in March, explaining that all cryptocurrencies would be banned from its AdWords platform given that they were not regulated, and investors were offered no guarantees that digital currencies or ICOs operated in a clean or decipherable manner.

According to one source, bitcoin is the victim of weak “technical setup.” It’s explained that bitcoin is back to the diamond formation it had escaped last week, and the price could potentially fall as low as $7,850 or $7,800 in the coming days. The source did say, however, that if bitcoin broke above $8,500, it could develop newfound resistance levels. Perhaps $9,000 isn’t far off the mark after all…

And still, many analysts remain bullish towards the coin. Jeremy Liew and Peter Smith – a Snap venture capitalist and the CEO of Blockchain, respectively – believe that the currency could hit the half-a-million mark by the end of 2030. Granted we still have 12 years to wait, but both men believe bitcoin adoption will explode in the coming years, and that bitcoin transactions will account for roughly half of the world’s non-cash transactions, pushing the price to new heights.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission wants to make sure investors know what a scam ICO looks like. Even if it has to launch its own.

Cryptocurrency enthusiasts have shown a keen interest in automated trading bots over the past few years. Finding the right tool to make cryptocurrency more accessible is still a work in progress. HodlBot is an interesting offering in this regard, even though it still requires some trust in the creators’ skills.

The Concept of HodlBot

Although the name might not suggest it, HodlBot is a full-fledged trading bot for cryptocurrency enthusiasts. This project is not about holding onto one’s coins, but rather creating a diversified trading portfolio. It mainly relies on the Binance exchange, which is one of the largest cryptocurrency trading platforms in the world today.

How Does it Work?

The purpose of HodlBot is to provide users with an algorithmic trading solution using their own exchange accounts. Investors are then able to select long-term strategies for use with their cryptocurrency portfolios. After that, they can simply sit back, relax, and watch the HodlBot do its thing. It does require that users have a Binance account, but that is not entirely surprising. Given the platform’s popularity, this choice makes a lot of sense.

Providing any third-party software with one’s API keys for a given exchange is always a bit risky. Although it seems HodlBot does not record this information, it is still a bit of a security risk. Then again, so are most trading solutions which offer a high degree of convenience. There is always a bit of a trade-off in this regard, and thus HodlBot isn’t doing anything out of the ordinary.

There is a $200 minimum account balance requirement to use HodlBot, which may confuse a lot of people. According to the team, this limit is in place because Binance maintains a minimum trading limit, and the $200 minimum was put in place to let people create a fairly balanced portfolio. The monthly fee to use HodlBot is $10, though the first month costs $1.

Should You use it?

Anyone can manually create and maintain a balanced cryptocurrency portfolio. With HodlBot, that process becomes completely automated, but outside of users’ control as well, to a certain degree. Shared API keys do not require withdrawal access, which is a positive sign. The team is still working on expanding the number of portfolio options, as only one is available right now. It’s an interesting project to keep an eye on.

Parity Technologies and Web3 Foundation will soon launch the first proof-of-concept of their blockchain interoperability protocol, Polkadot.

Enterprise blockchain developer Filament, which receives significant Intel investment, has released an Internet of Things(IoT)-optimized, USB Blocklet chip.

Filament chief executive Clift-Jennings explained, “Many products, not all, have the ability to connect to USB. These are for manufacturing lines – we have a version of a USB product that plugs into the onboard diagnostics port in vehicles. It’s very much trying to drive toward machines being transactive in nature.”

Blockchain can be used to increase transparency between designers, service providers, and end users, making license management safer, providing production-quality data and becoming resilient against counterfeiting via secure design storage.

Counterfeiting and product integrity

According to BusinessWire, the global total of counterfeited goods has increased to USD 1.2 trillion. Counterfeiting of clothing and textiles primarily affects profits, whereas fraudulent components for machinery, cosmetics, and consumables can have a more detrimental effect by risking health and safety. It is believed that up to 10% of aircraft parts are counterfeit. The outsourcing of services causes difficulty in tracking the source and quality of components, as well as where maintenance is carried out.

The global distribution of manufactured components, must take steps to guarantee the security of plans, and provide data that is tamper-proof and in line with regulations and production standards. This must be achieved while preventing the misuse of plans to manufacture counterfeit goods.

Blockchain IoT shaping the future

Data drives innovation so the ability to share or sell manufacturing data on a ledger could fast track other businesses. Autonomous cars are going to rely heavily on driver data to increase safety in their transition to level 5 (the highest level of autonomy). Having existing hardware produced by IBM or Filament with a variety of companies from Microsoft to Amazon offering blockchain API frameworks, this could quickly accelerate blockchain proof of concept in the industry and change how data is shared an analyzed.

Big companies such as Mastercard are already looking at the applications for blockchain to track goods, providing consumers with product integrity. This could then extend right through to the manufacturing level with the use IoT-optimized hardware.

Intel’s investment in Filament is part of their blockchain initiative for large-scale industrial IoT deployments. The vice president and general manager of Intel, Doug Fisher said, “At Intel, we believe the future of IoT will be enabled by smart, connected, secure edge-devices that drive a data-based economy.”

Image source: Saginaw Future Inc. – CIGNYS Corporation has three advanced manufacturing facilities in Saginaw County.

Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews

The post Intel and Filament Push for a Blockchain IoT Future appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Garrick Hileman, the University of Cambridge’s first ‘cryptocurrency academic,’ is to head Blockchain.com’s new “research arm”

Amidst news of Bing’s crypto ad ban, markets see a sharp decline: Bitcoin nears $8000, Ethereum dips below $700

Lex Sokolin of Autonomous Research has stated that he feels it’s time that financial advisers started doing their jobs properly and learned about cryptocurrency. He claimed that since investors will buy into digital currencies either way, it’s irresponsible for many so-called advisers to remain clueless about the ever-expanding financial innovation.

Sokolin: Cryptocurrency is “Really Here to Stay”

Sokolin’s comments were made during an interview with CNBC earlier today. The global director of fintech strategy for Autonomous Research claimed that the advice of many advisers to stay well clear of cryptocurrencies was a big mistake. He stated:

“Cryptocurrency is very controversial, but it’s really here to stay… And the underlying [blockchain] technology is really fundamental to the types of companies that people are building right now.”

During the interview, Sokolin went onto state that since clients of financial advisers were going to invest anyway, it was imperative that they learned about the innovation:

“So [advisors] can choose to say that this whole thing will fall apart and not get educated about it and not help [investors], but that’s really irresponsible.”

His comments come in response to the likes of JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon famously dismissing Bitcoin as a ‘fraud,’ Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffet and his sidekick Charlie Munger who called it ‘rat poison squared’ and ‘scum-ball activity’ respectively, and Vanguard CEO Tim Buckley arguing that ‘you will never see a fund from Vanguard on Bitcoin.’

For Sokolin such blanket dismissal is down right dangerous considering advisers are supposed to offer advice. He said:

“Advisers really need to start to understand the basics of how blockchain works… Start to understand why there are different cryptocurrencies.”

He continued, stating that it was important for those who want to invest in digital currencies first to understand what they are getting involved with. This requires them learning exactly what blockchain technology is. For this, they might require the assistance of an adviser and naturally it’s desirable for that adviser to have in-depth knowledge of the subject before they themselves form a snap decision. Sokolin also claimed that the most interesting thing about crypto is the underlying blockchain.

Sokolin then said that despite their volatility, it’s a wise move to take up a small position in crypto. However, he definitely recommended against going ‘all-in’ on digital currencies:

“It’s volatile right now, so you should not just go and fill your entire portfolio with cryptocurrencies… But it is a good way to add alternatives to your general allocation, something like 3 [percent] to 5 percent of your portfolio.”

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post Financial Pundit: Crypto Is Here to Stay, Financial Advisers Need to Learn About It appeared first on NewsBTC.

Venezuela’s Petro has proven to be a rather intriguing cryptocurrency. While it is the first of its kind – though not necessarily the last – to be backed by natural oil reserves, the Petro has not been received all that well. The United States was quick to prohibit the use of this new currency. However, it seems Venezuela is getting a helping hand from a small Russian bank.

The Petro Plot Continues to Thicken

It has become more than apparent that the issuance of Venezuela’s Petro cryptocurrency will not go off without a hitch. Despite opposition from various government officials, President Maduro went ahead with it anyway. A good amount of money was raised during the initial sale of the Petro, even though there are still no real use cases for this currency at this time – and there may never be.

To curb the potential impact of the Petro, the US government has made it clear it wants nothing to do with the Petro. Considering that this form of money is primarily designed to bypass existing sanctions imposed upon Venezuela by the US, America wants to make sure this new cryptocurrency has no chance of succeeding. That’s understandable, although it may be pretty difficult to stop the Petro from making an impact.

As it happens, a Russian bank is trying to help Venezuela in this regard. Known as Evrofinance Mosnarbank, it is the only international bank defying the US campaign to prevent the Petro from gaining any sort of traction. The largest shareholders of this Russian bank are President Maduro’s socialist government, and two state-controlled Russian firms suffering from similar US sanctions. It is an unofficial alliance between all parties who wish to achieve a similar goal of bypassing the American sanctions.

It also appears the Russian bank has allowed customers to buy the Petro with relative ease. Whether or not doing so is still possible is a bit unclear, as the bank will face a lot of scrutiny over its connection with the Petro. President Maduro is convinced the Petro is still a legitimate counterweight to the US dollar, although this will be a steep uphill battle.

It is only normal that Russia shows an increasing interest in the Petro cryptocurrency. The Eastern European nation has become a sort of pariah in the financial sector. By actively collaborating with China to build the SIPS network and potentially dethroning the US dollar as the one ‘global’ currency, the country is definitely on a unique path. Its relations with both the US and the EU are quickly deteriorating as well, which only further pushes it toward alternative solutions.

This is a very interesting situation, and a very tense one at that. Russia and Venezuela are concocting schemes which could potentially shift the balance of power in the financial sector pretty quickly. If that were to happen, new challenges and problems would emerge as well. The Petro is a very intriguing creation, albeit one that will continue to face a lot of opposition for some time to come.

Melissa Alsoszatai-Petheo, of Microsoft’s Bing search engine, announced its advertising arm is banning all cryptocurrency advertisements. This follows market leaders such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter either severely restricting crypto ads or banning them altogether.

Also read: Ethereum Futures in US One Step Closer as CME Deal is Struck

Microsoft’s Bing Search Engine Bans Crypto Ads

Advertiser Policy Manager, Melissa Alsoszatai-Petheo, posted an update to Microsoft’s Bing search engine ad policy. Bing Ads to Disallow Cryptocurrency Advertising is the title of the company’s rather obvious move. “We are always evaluating our policies to ensure a safe and engaging experience for our Bing users and the digital advertising ecosystem,” Ms. Alsoszatai-Petheo began. “Because cryptocurrency and related products are not regulated, we have found them to present a possible elevated risk to our users with the potential for bad actors to participate in predatory behaviors, or otherwise scam consumers.”

Bing has consistently ranked a very distant second behind the Google juggernaut, which gobbles up better than 60% of search traffic on the internet. Google at the beginning of 2018 announced a far more specific series of cryptocurrency related prohibitions, down to defining contract for difference (CFDs) products.

It wasn’t too much later when Facebook followed, as we reported at the end of January, with “a new ruling issued on January 30, ‘ads must not promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, such as binary options, initial coin offerings, or cryptocurrency.’” Twitter too, a mere two months later, presented its new advertising policy, severely restricting initial coin offering (ICOs) and token sales.

Protection is the Pretext

“To help protect our users from this risk,” the notice from Bing continued, “we have made the decision to disallow advertising for cryptocurrency, cryptocurrency related products, and un-regulated binary options. Bing Ads will implement this change to our financial product and services policy globally in June, with enforcement rolling out in late June to early July.”

Other than seeking a press cycle of promotion, it does appear “scams” were a bit of a problem during 2017, according to Bing’s annual report. “Tech scams are widely used by bad actors and we rejected 25 million ads in this category in 2017,” they insisted. And under the banner of misleading ads, Bing noted how last “year, we took down 30 million such ads, 20,000 such websites and 43,500 bad actors.”

Do you think crypto ad bans will have a negative impact? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. 

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Do you agree with us that Bitcoin is the best invention since sliced bread? Thought so. That’s why we are building this online universe revolving around anything and everything Bitcoin. We have a store. And a forum. And a casino, a pool and real-time price statistics.

The post World’s Second Largest Search Engine Bans Crypto Ads appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Bixoxo, India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has now launched its TGE, following a very successful presale that sold 5 million tokens and concluded last month.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

TGE Details

The sale will help fund the expansion and creation of new products and services. Bitxoxo has a vision where Bitcoin and BCH have become the de facto standards for exchange value, and participants in this sale will also help make that into a reality.

Bitxoxo plans on creating a BCH Marketplace, BCH E-University Certification Program, as well as a BCH enabled POS system. The funds will also be used to launch an incubator that will help invest, grow, and promote blockchain startups.  

While the funds are split up between the usual development, legal, marketing fields, Bitxoxo is allocating 10% of funds raised into what they are calling “cryptocurrency”. Funds earmarked for cryptocurrency will be used to spread awareness through organizing various events and seminars, something not many other ICO’s are doing.

There are still over 2 weeks left in the sale, ending on May 31st. 10 million tokens are available for purchase, at a minimum price of $2. There is a soft cap at $5,000,000 and a hard cap at $27,500,000.

Since its inception back in July 2016, the exchange has become powerful not only in India but global markets, with 100,000 active users in 2017. The exchange handles over $10 million of volume daily, with 0.1% fees. The exchange operates 24/7, providing support through its chat, email and phone support system.

Bitxoxo has also expanded into bringing a mobile version of the platform for both Android and iOS, as well as offering the world’s first Bitcoin prepaid gift card and Token Sale Launchpad.

Hesham Rehman, CEO & Co-founder, Bitxoxo, said:

“Unlike other ICOs, this isn’t an investment into a new and untested exchange. We have had over two years of experience in running one of the most successful cryptocurrency exchanges ever, responsible in part for making Bitcoin a household name in India.”

Bitxoxo to pivot away from India

While the country and its government have shown support and enthusiasm for emerging blockchain technology, the Reserve Bank of India makes it very difficult for companies to do business.

Bitxoxo has pivoted operations to Australia, where it is now incorporated with expansion plans into Singapore and the Middle East, where the regulations facilitate business with cryptocurrency entities. Bitxoxo is almost complete with all legal compliance necessary to run an exchange in Australia.

Roger Ver (Founder and CEO of Bitcoin.com) and Mate Tokay (COO, Bitcoin.com) have been both attributed as people monumental in assisting the Indian exchange with expansion out of India.

What comes next?

After the TGE, a slew of launches  will be made in the following quarters. As promised, the BCH marketplace will launch in Q3 of 2018, with Bitxoxo’s very own debit card being released in the last quarter of this year.

2019 will bring expansion, the crypto e-universe, BCH enabled POS, and the Bitxoxo Incubator in that order.

To learn more, visit the website. You can chat with the team on Telegram, or learn more about them on LinkedIn. Lastly, follow Bitxoxo on Twitter and Facebook.