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More Millennials Use Bitcoin Marketplaces Like Paxful to Invest in Cryptocurrency Market

An increasing number of millennials are utilizing bitcoin marketplaces and peer-to-peer exchanges like Paxful to invest in the cryptocurrency market as a store of value and an alternative payment system to banks. Millennials Better Suited to Lead Cryptocurrency Adoption Earlier this year, Columbia University Business School professor Chris Castiglione stated that millennials are better suited

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An increasing number of millennials are utilizing bitcoin marketplaces and peer-to-peer exchanges like Paxful to invest in the cryptocurrency market as a store of value and an alternative payment system to banks.

Millennials Better Suited to Lead Cryptocurrency Adoption

Earlier this year, Columbia University Business School professor Chris Castiglione stated that millennials are better suited to lead the adoption of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Ethereum because they are capable of managing the risks associated in transacting with and investing in cryptocurrencies.

“I think the crypto market is attractive to millennials because it’s a space with both a lot of growth and risk. People who are 40+ years of age are likely settled down with a career and family, and less inclined to get into such a quick growth, volatile field. It’s been the same way with startup founders over the past 2 decades. Millennials also seem to be much more digitally literate than Gen X or baby boomers,” explained Castiglione.

Cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges enable users to send, receive, store, and invest in cryptocurrencies with ease and eliminate the necessity of technical knowledge on blockchain technology and cryptographic systems. As such, by simply entering wallet addresses and maintaining back ups of private keys, it is possible for newcomers to send, receive, and store bitcoin relatively easily.

Bitcoin provides complete financial independence and freedom, as it eliminates the involvement of third party service providers like banks. Even on exchanges and marketplaces like Paxful that are peer-to-peer, users can buy and sell bitcoin without depending on financial institutions.

Consequently, because trusted third party service providers do not exist, careless mistakes such as sending funds to the wrong bitcoin address or account could result in permanent loss of funds and unrecoverable errors. Castiglione stated that to utilize cryptocurrencies, individuals must have some digital literacy and thus, millennials are better suited to adopt cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Ethereum.

“Many of the people starting cryptocurrencies and tokens do seem to be between the ages of around 22-40. But obviously anything is possible, and I could list many exceptions to the rule,” Castiglione.

Millennials Core of Crypto

In consideration of the statement of Castiglione, it is not an understatement to claim that millennials are a core part of crypto. With studies suggesting that millennials have lost trust in banks and financial institutions over the past few years, the cryptocurrency sector is in ideal position to appeal to young users.

Bitcoin service providers and peer-to-peer marketplaces such as Paxful have started to observe a rapid increase in the activity of millennials on their platforms and as millennials continue to utilize cryptocurrencies more extensively in the future, platforms like Paxful will be able to grow exponentially in terms of user base and user activity.

“As masters of the side hustle and challengers of the traditional 9-5 working lives of previous generations, millennials are welcoming blockchain with open arms,” Storm CEO Simon Yu noted, emphasizing that cryptocurrencies have also become an opportunity for millennials.

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Bitcoin Price Weekly Analysis: BTC/USD Testing Crucial Resistance – newsBTC

newsBTCBitcoin Price Weekly Analysis: BTC/USD Testing Crucial ResistancenewsBTCThis past week, there were further downsides from well above $8,500 in bitcoin price against the US Dollar. The price moved down and broke the $8,200 support level. There wa…


newsBTC

Bitcoin Price Weekly Analysis: BTC/USD Testing Crucial Resistance
newsBTC
This past week, there were further downsides from well above $8,500 in bitcoin price against the US Dollar. The price moved down and broke the $8,200 support level. There was even a spike below the $8,000 pivot level before a low was formed at $7,940.

Bitcoin Price Weekly Analysis: BTC/USD Testing Crucial Resistance

Key Points Bitcoin price stayed above the $8,000 support level and recovered against the US Dollar. There is a monster bearish trend line forming with resistance at $8,300 on the 4-hours chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken). The pair has to move above the trend line and settle above $8,300-8,400 for more

The post Bitcoin Price Weekly Analysis: BTC/USD Testing Crucial Resistance appeared first on NewsBTC.

Key Points

  • Bitcoin price stayed above the $8,000 support level and recovered against the US Dollar.
  • There is a monster bearish trend line forming with resistance at $8,300 on the 4-hours chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
  • The pair has to move above the trend line and settle above $8,300-8,400 for more gains in the near term.

Bitcoin price is currently testing a major resistance near $8,400 against the US Dollar. BTC/USD could accelerate higher once there is a proper close above $8,400.

Bitcoin Price Upside Barrier

This past week, there were further downsides from well above $8,500 in bitcoin price against the US Dollar. The price moved down and broke the $8,200 support level. There was even a spike below the $8,000 pivot level before a low was formed at $7,940. Later, the price started an upside correction and succeeded in moving above the $8,000 pivot level.

There was also break above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $8,884 high to $7,940 low. However, there is a crucial barrier on the upside near $8,300-8,400, which is preventing further gains. More importantly, there is a monster bearish trend line forming with resistance at $8,300 on the 4-hours chart of the BTC/USD pair. Furthermore, the 50% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $8,884 high to $7,940 low is also close to the $8,400 level. Therefore, a break and close above the $8,400 resistance is needed for more gains in BTC. The next resistance above $8,400 sits near the $8,800 pivot level.

Bitcoin Price Weekly Analysis BTC USD

Looking at the chart, the price seems to be approaching a key break above $8,400. If buyers fail to push the price above the mentioned resistance, there could be a downside reaction back towards $8,000.

Looking at the technical indicators:

4-hours MACD – The MACD for BTC/USD is currently stable in the bullish zone.

4-hours RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI is currently just below the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $8,000

Major Resistance Level – $8,400

The post Bitcoin Price Weekly Analysis: BTC/USD Testing Crucial Resistance appeared first on NewsBTC.

China Ranks Cryptos: Bitcoin (BTC) Dismal 13 of 28 – Bitcoin News (press release)


Bitcoin News (press release)

China Ranks Cryptos: Bitcoin (BTC) Dismal 13 of 28
Bitcoin News (press release)
People’s Republic of China (PRC) 中华人民共和国 was one of the first governments to ban bitcoin, cryptocurrency. Now, the PRC is the first country to come out with official government crypto rankings. Its China Center for Information Industry


Bitcoin News (press release)

China Ranks Cryptos: Bitcoin (BTC) Dismal 13 of 28
Bitcoin News (press release)
People's Republic of China (PRC) 中华人民共和国 was one of the first governments to ban bitcoin, cryptocurrency. Now, the PRC is the first country to come out with official government crypto rankings. Its China Center for Information Industry ...

China Ranks Cryptos: Bitcoin (BTC) Dismal 13 of 28

China Ranks Cryptos: Bitcoin Dismal Number 13 of 28People’s Republic of China (PRC) 中华人民共和国 was one of the first governments to ban bitcoin, cryptocurrency. Now, the PRC is the first country to come out with official government crypto rankings. Its China Center for Information Industry Development (CCID) used three filters through which coins would be judged: innovation, technology, application. Rather surprisingly to some […]

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China Ranks Cryptos: Bitcoin Dismal Number 13 of 28

People’s Republic of China (PRC) 中华人民共和国 was one of the first governments to ban bitcoin, cryptocurrency. Now, the PRC is the first country to come out with official government crypto rankings. Its China Center for Information Industry Development (CCID) used three filters through which coins would be judged: innovation, technology, application. Rather surprisingly to some enthusiasts, bitcoin core (BTC) didn’t even crack the top ten, while bitcoin cash (BCH) almost didn’t make the list at all.

Also read: Alec Baldwin’s Lambo Movie Backed by Crypto Tech

China Lists Ethereum as Best in Crypto Class

In what is either widely being referred to as a case of communist schizophrenia or a passive nod to the inevitable financial future, the PRC’s CCID released its first set of cryptocurrency rankings. China, of course, outright banned crypto in all its various forms, and the broader market was thought to have plummeted for a time as a result. That it is now publishing coin rankings is confusing to many observers.

CN Ledger, a popular Twitter handle, was the first to expose the rankings to the outside world. Its author, Eric Zhao, explained how “most old-school experts haven’t followed the crypto space long enough to grasp some of the traits of tech and community that can’t be found elsewhere.”

China Ranks Cryptos: Bitcoin Dismal Number 13 of 28

Indeed, this year found Weiss Ratings’ inaugural list of their rankings, as these pages reported. It too was very controversial. “The eagerly-anticipated report rates 74 of the most popular cryptocurrencies on the market, scoring them from A to D,” we wrote. “Such was the level of interest in the report, the company’s website was knocked offline as interest peaked on Wednesday morning. Weiss Ratings include some controversial scores for currencies such as bitcoin and ethereum that are sure to spark debate.” Then, as now, BTC ranked lower than Ethereum. Weiss spent a great deal of time defending their decision.

Mr. Zhao hoped the CCID effort signals a kind of new opening. “I believe at least it’s a sign that the officials are starting to treat crypto projects more like a neutral endeavour towards better technology and innovations, rather than just challenging the power and authority of banks and government,” he stressed.

BTC Listed 13 of 28

Just a week ago, the PRC ministry surprised enthusiasts with a press release announcing its Global Public Chain Assessment Index. “This independent analysis of cryptocurrencies and global public blockchain technology demonstrates the confidence of the Chinese Government in the technology, and will act as a guide for government, enterprise and research institute,” news.Bitcoin.com quoted the government notice as stating.

The Center for Information Industry Development used three main criteria in scoring cryptocurrencies, though scant information exists about methodology. Application, innovation, technology were used to place 28 total cryptos and their respective blockchains (which the rankings, at least at first glance, weigh heavily).

China Ranks Cryptos: Bitcoin Dismal Number 13 of 28

Of the top four coins by market capitalization, Ethereum ranked first, followed by bitcoin core (BTC) at number 13, ripple in the 17th spot, and bitcoin cash (BCH) lagging well behind them all at the lowly number 25 of 28. For the CCID, however, the top five cryptos to their liking include ether, steem, lisk, neo, komodo.

For those who worry about such rankings, PRC appears to, again, value blockchains over currencies – a common refrain heard in the Western corporate world. If, alternatively, one were to assess various cryptocurrencies according to their efficacy as mediums of exchange, BCH and BTC would likely rank quite high, and could be considered a most obvious threat to a regime bent on control. Whatever the case, cracks do happen inside the communist stronghold: quite a few crypto tech related patents are owned by China, its central bank has openly mused about state-backed crypto, and, of course, its burgeoning video game industry is very bullish on tokens and distributed ledgers. And just announced, “The most popular stock trading app in China, Straight Flush (同花顺), now adds support for showing the price of Crypto-Currencies.”

Did you think China’s rankings will have any real impact? Let us know what you think of this subject in the comments below.


Images via Pixabay, Twitter


Now live, Satoshi Pulse. A comprehensive, real-time listing of the cryptocurrency market. View prices, charts, transaction volumes, and more for the top 500 cryptocurrencies trading today.

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Ethereum Price Weekly Analysis: ETH/USD Sellers in Check

Key Highlights ETH price is slowly on the rise above the $675 support zone with positive signs against the US Dollar. There is a monster contracting triangle forming with current resistance near $712 on the 4-hours chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken). The pair has to break the triangle resistance and settle above $712

The post Ethereum Price Weekly Analysis: ETH/USD Sellers in Check appeared first on NewsBTC.

Key Highlights

  • ETH price is slowly on the rise above the $675 support zone with positive signs against the US Dollar.
  • There is a monster contracting triangle forming with current resistance near $712 on the 4-hours chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken).
  • The pair has to break the triangle resistance and settle above $712 for an upside acceleration.

Ethereum price is slowly moving higher versus the US Dollar and Bitcoin. ETH/USD must clear a huge sell wall near the $712-714 zone for more gains in the near term.

Ethereum Price Resistance

There were mostly downsides in ETH price this past week from the $730 swing high against the US Dollar. The price declined and moved below the $700, $675 and $660 support levels. It even traded close to the $650 level and formed a low at $655.67. Later, it found buyers and started an upside move from $655.67. It moved higher and broke the $675 resistance level.

It also succeeded in moving above the 50% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $741.41 high to $655.57 low. However, there is a crucial barrier for buyers near the $712-714 zone. More importantly, there is a monster contracting triangle forming with current resistance near $712 on the 4-hours chart of ETH/USD. Furthermore, the current wave struggled near the 76.4% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $741.41 high to $655.57 low. Therefore, a break above the $712-714 zone is must for further gains in ETH in the near term.

Ethereum Price Weekly Analysis ETH USD

The above chart indicates that the price is approaching a key breakout above $712. If sellers fail to defend the triangle resistance, the price could surge higher and move towards $760. On the downside, the $675 triangle support holds a lot of importance.

4-hours MACD – The MACD is slowly moving in the bullish zone.

4-hours RSI – The RSI is currently just above the 50 level with ranging signals.

Major Support Level – $675

Major Resistance Level – $712

The post Ethereum Price Weekly Analysis: ETH/USD Sellers in Check appeared first on NewsBTC.

Bitcoin Cash Price Weekly Analysis: BCH/USD Recoveries Remain Limited

Key Points Bitcoin cash price got bid near the $1.130 level and started a recovery against the US Dollar. There is a crucial bearish trend line forming with resistance near $1,320 on the 4-hours chart of the BCH/USD pair (data feed from Kraken). The pair may continue to rise in the short term, but it

The post Bitcoin Cash Price Weekly Analysis: BCH/USD Recoveries Remain Limited appeared first on NewsBTC.

Key Points

  • Bitcoin cash price got bid near the $1.130 level and started a recovery against the US Dollar.
  • There is a crucial bearish trend line forming with resistance near $1,320 on the 4-hours chart of the BCH/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
  • The pair may continue to rise in the short term, but it is likely to face sellers near $1,320-40.

Bitcoin cash price is showing positive signs above $1,150 against the US Dollar. However, upsides in BCH/USD are likely to be limited by the $1,320 resistance zone.

Bitcoin Cash Price Upside Hurdle

This past week, there was a sharp increase in selling pressure on bitcoin cash price above $1,400 against the US Dollar. The price started a downside move and traded below the $1,350 and $1,280 support levels. There was even a break below the $1,200 pivot level, which opened the doors for more losses. It traded close to the $1,120 support level and a low was formed at $1,131.

Later, the price started an upside correction and moved above the $1,120 resistance. It also moved above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $1,506 high to $1,131 low. However, there are many barriers on the upside near $1,300. An initial hurdle is near $1,128, which was a support earlier and it may now prevent gains. There is also a crucial bearish trend line forming with resistance near $1,320 on the 4-hours chart of the BCH/USD pair. Moreover, the 50% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $1,506 high to $1,131 low is positioned near $1,318 to act as a hurdle.

Bitcoin Cash Price Weekly Analysis BCH USD

Looking at the chart, the price may continue to rise in the near term towards $1,300. However, a break above $1,300 and $1,320 won’t be easy.

Looking at the technical indicators:

4-hours MACD – The MACD for BCH/USD is moving back in the bullish zone.

4-hours RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTC/USD is heading towards the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $1,150

Major Resistance Level – $1,320

The post Bitcoin Cash Price Weekly Analysis: BCH/USD Recoveries Remain Limited appeared first on NewsBTC.

Asian Cryptocurrency Trading Roundup: Indian Exchange Listing Lifts Zilliqa

FOMO Moments While crypto markets are still open on weekends things predictably slow down a little. Activity has been relatively flat over the past two days and no momentum has built in either direction. Fortunately there has been no crash back down to early April levels, but on the flip-side the bulls could not push

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FOMO Moments

While crypto markets are still open on weekends things predictably slow down a little. Activity has been relatively flat over the past two days and no momentum has built in either direction. Fortunately there has been no crash back down to early April levels, but on the flip-side the bulls could not push total market capitalization back over $400 billion either. Bitcoin has wallowed around $8,300 for a few days with no gains or losses on yesterday’s levels. Altcoins have been a mixed bunch, some falling further while others have made small gains. Today’s coin of the moment is Zilliqa.

Coinmarketcap is currently reporting an 8% gain on ZIL which has pumped and dumped over the past week or so. Trading at $0.146 Zilliqa is up from $0.135 this time yesterday. Over the week however ZIL has lost 15% from $0.174 the same time last Sunday. When a number of exchanges announced listings it pumped to an all-time high of $0.23 on May ten but has fallen back ever since. Against Bitcoin ZIL is up 8.5% on the day to 1785 satoshis from 1650 sats this time yesterday. Over the week though it has declined 14.6% against BTC from 2090 satoshis on Sunday last week.

The only announcements on their feed are about stress testing that is currently taking place on the Zilliqa network. Another exchange listing however is likely to be responsible for the current boost. India’s Unocoin listed ZIL on May 18 which has resulted in solid momentum for this altcoin over the weekend.

Currently Binance commands 40% of all Zilliqa trading, followed by Huobi with around 24% of the total. Total trade volume has climbed by around 57% from $40 billion to $63 billion over the past 24 hours. There is a total supply of 12.6 billion tokens with around 7.28 billion circulating. Zilliqa has remained just on the edge of the top 25 altcoins with a market cap of just over a billion dollars.

All crypto markets combined have climbed marginally over the past day by 1.3% to $379 billion. A breakout in either direction is expected early next week. Other altcoins having a good weekend at the moment are Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Ontology, and 0x.

More on Zilliqa can be found here: https://www.zilliqa.com/

FOMO Moments is a section that takes a daily look at the top 25 altcoins during the Asian trading session and analyses the best performing one, looking for trends and possible fundamentals.

The post Asian Cryptocurrency Trading Roundup: Indian Exchange Listing Lifts Zilliqa appeared first on NewsBTC.

MP Suggests Iran and Russia Use Cryptocurrencies to Combat U.S. Economic Sanctions

An Iranian parliament member has suggested that digital currencies be used in attempts to work around returning economic sanctions from the United States. Iran and Digital Currencies The idea was brought forth by MP Mohammad-Reza Pourebrahimi who recently met with Dmitry Mezentsev, the Russian Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy, in Moscow.

The post MP Suggests Iran and Russia Use Cryptocurrencies to Combat U.S. Economic Sanctions appeared first on NewsBTC.

An Iranian parliament member has suggested that digital currencies be used in attempts to work around returning economic sanctions from the United States.

Iran and Digital Currencies

The idea was brought forth by MP Mohammad-Reza Pourebrahimi who recently met with Dmitry Mezentsev, the Russian Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy, in Moscow.

Pourebrahimi was quoted as saying that digital currencies could provide a way for Iran and Russia to avoid U.S. dollar transactions, and that the coins could even be used as a replacement for the SWIFT inter-bank payment system — a protocol used by the majority of financial institutions across the globe to transfer money.

Pourebrahimi also said that the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) had been asked by Parliament to start developing proposals for using digital currencies. Similar to the way that digital currencies can help citizens under oppressive and unstable regimes, they can also help sovereign governments bypass sanctions enforced by foreign powers.

The MP, who chairs the Iranian Parliamentary Commission for Economic Affairs, said he had discussed this topic in the State Duma’s Committee on Economic Policy and that Iran had established cooperation with Russia on the issue.

“They [Russia] share our opinion. We said that if we manage to move this work forward, then we will be the first countries that use digital currencies in the exchange of goods,” he said.

In relation, Russia’s Mezentsev noted that “interbank relations between our countries should be of great importance” considering the shared backdrop of international sanctions currently in place against both countries.

Using Digital Currencies to Fight Sanctions

The idea to use digital currencies in international trade emerged in Tehran after the country’s officials complained that the U.S. was “terrorizing” companies attempting to do business with the Islamic Republic. Because of recent moves by President Trump, Iranian’s are also seeing European companies restrict trade over fears that they will fall afoul of the sanctions.

In anticipation, Iran started developing a local cryptocurrency in 2017, which was launched earlier this month — echoing moves by the similarly sanctioned South American country Venezuela, who released the state-issued “Petro” earlier this year.

Priscilla Moriuchi, director of strategic threat development at fintech company Recorded Future, said she is skeptical about the Petro’s success and feels the same way about Iran’s experimental cryptocurrency:

“The Petro will struggle to be exchangeable for hard currencies such as the dollar or the euro and this will limit its appeal to investors and users. Iran is likely to experience some of the same hurdles if it decides to create its own oil-backed cryptocurrency,” she said.

More recently, over $2.5 billion has left the country through digital currencies, according to Pourebrahimi. This is despite the fact that Iran “banned” Bitcoin trading in April of this year — although it is still possible to purchase coins if users utilize “mixers” to hide the origin and destination of transactions.

 

Image from Shutterstock

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HTC announce blockchain-powered smartphone – but why?

Speaking at Consensus 2018, HTC founder Phil Chen revealed the plan for ‘Exodus’, a smartphone that will support “underlying protocols such as Bitcoin, Lightning Networks, Ethereum, Dfinity, and more.”

Speaking at Consensus 2018, HTC founder Phil Chen revealed the plan for ‘Exodus’, a smartphone that will support “underlying protocols such as Bitcoin, Lightning Networks, Ethereum, Dfinity, and more.”

Canadian citizen, Louis Ong, jailed in US for exchanging bitcoin – Crypto Insider

Crypto InsiderCanadian citizen, Louis Ong, jailed in US for exchanging bitcoinCrypto InsiderIn December 2016, Canadian citizen, Louis Ong, was targeted by US department of Homeland Security federal agents for posting an advertisement online to anonymou…


Crypto Insider

Canadian citizen, Louis Ong, jailed in US for exchanging bitcoin
Crypto Insider
In December 2016, Canadian citizen, Louis Ong, was targeted by US department of Homeland Security federal agents for posting an advertisement online to anonymously exchange bitcoin for US dollars. Just last week he was tried in a Seattle court and …
Unlicensed BC bitcoin trader jailed in US after federal stingCBC.ca

all 2 news articles »

It’s Time to Do Away with Traditional Coupons and Place Them on the Blockchain

You never change things by fighting the existing reality; to change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. Buckminster Fuller, 20th-century architect and theorist Blockchain tech allows business transactions to be secure in a world where everything from your Facebook profile to your entire business model can be hacked. But it’s the unseen fraud and tactics that go unnoticed which companies and security experts need to worry about as well. Too Costly and Burdensome For those who still receive the Sunday newspaper, there is still the excitement of all those coupons you get to clip for upcoming

You never change things by fighting the existing reality; to change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.

Buckminster Fuller, 20th-century architect and theorist

Blockchain tech allows business transactions to be secure in a world where everything from your Facebook profile to your entire business model can be hacked. But it’s the unseen fraud and tactics that go unnoticed which companies and security experts need to worry about as well.

Too Costly and Burdensome

For those who still receive the Sunday newspaper, there is still the excitement of all those coupons you get to clip for upcoming sales. But for most people these days, it’s all about pulling deals up on your phone or email. According to a Business Wire report, as of April 2017, of the 293 billion coupons distributed across the US, 1.3% of them were digital, while the rest were paper. It is extremely costly and tedious for parties to spend the time planning, creating, and managing the distribution of all those coupons. On average, paper coupons typically cost two to four times more than digital coupons do.

A recently-launched blockchain platform, A7 Core, is addressing issues affecting the coupon industry, aiming to reduce the cost of creating, distributing, funding, and managing digital coupons for brands and retailers while providing highly effective fraud control.

Evaluating a Coupon’s Lifespan

Did you know US millennials are emerging as heavy users of coupons? So much so that they are even willing to search non-traditional sites to find them. The average coupon campaign has a lifespan of six months and takes an additional 90 days to ensure appropriate tracking. Why? First, you’re looking at a physical document, which almost always gets lost in stacks of papers and ends up in the garbage, or is even utilized way after its expiration date. When it comes to accounting liability, the industry spends approximately $45 billion per month on traditional coupons.

As for digital coupons, they are easily accessible and almost unforgettable, whether they come through email offers or mobile apps or services like RetailMeNot. It’s time to transition from paper to the digital space, as consumer-packaged goods would cost significantly less without all the intermediaries and clearinghouses.

Fraud

Did you know that coupon fraud costs business owners almost $600 million a year?

Within the coupon industry, fraud has the potential to rampantly scale with digital,” says Will Parker, Chief Marketing Officer and Co-Founder of A7 Core. “It’s already a major concern because over the past two decades, many industries have been completely disrupted by this digital revolution; however, coupons remain relatively unchanged.”

Streamlining The Coupon Creation Process

Currently, for companies to have coupons created and distributed, each coupon involves multiple entities, including clearinghouses. There can be anywhere from six to ten different entities touching a digital coupon from inception to redemption. With each party comes an additional increase in cost, friction, and risk of error or fraud.

In order to reduce operational costs, the middleman needs to go. Casting aside the operational inefficiencies, companies need to focus on repairing the lack of data management and AI systems in the traditional coupon model.

“E-commerce retailers can provide recommendations and unique pricing based on past purchases,” says Parker. “Why would Coca-Cola offer two people the same discount when one buys five cans a day and the other hasn’t purchased a Coke product in six months? Many brick-and-mortar options force Coca-Cola to push universal coupons to market.

“A blockchain-managed ecosystem can house historical consumer purchase data and not only recommend discounts based on past purchases but dynamically price them based on the highest ROI for brands.”

Bitcoin Cash Undergoes Hard Fork, 16% of Its Network Splits Off

Bitcoin Cash updated its protocol and executed a hard fork at block 530,350 one week ago, but 16% of Bitcoin Cash nodes did not switch to the new protocol. This amounts to roughly 350 nodes out of a total 2200 nodes on the Bitcoin Cash network. Bitcoin Cash itself was created by forking Bitcoin’s protocol …

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Bitcoin Cash updated its protocol and executed a hard fork at block 530,350 one week ago, but 16% of Bitcoin Cash nodes did not switch to the new protocol. This amounts to roughly 350 nodes out of a total 2200 nodes on the Bitcoin Cash network.

Bitcoin Cash itself was created by forking Bitcoin’s protocol amid much controversy in August 2017 near block 477,000. Now Bitcoin Cash is the 4th most valuable cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple with a market cap of $20 billion.

The most significant protocol change that Bitcoin Cash introduced was to increase the maximum block size to 8 MB, which allows more transactions per block. This reduces transaction fees and makes it easier to use Bitcoin Cash as an everyday currency versus Bitcoin where transaction fees have been high enough at times in the past to make small transactions like buying a cup of coffee unfeasible. Hence the word cash in its name.

When the Bitcoin Cash fork occurred one week ago, any nodes that did not update their protocol became incompatible with nodes that did change their protocol. It can result in risky situations, leading to a loss of money. For example, if someone sends Bitcoin Cash from a wallet they didn’t update to an exchange that is updated they would lose their money. This issue is one of the most dangerous things about cryptocurrency forks.

Essentially, the 16% of Bitcoin Cash nodes that did not update are running on their own distinct blockchain and could be considered a new cryptocurrency. It is unknown whether this 16 % of nodes simply forgot to update or if keeping the old protocol was intentional and organized. If it was indeed intentional this new cryptocurrency may soon get a name, like Bitcoin Cash Legacy for example.

The protocol changes introduced on the hard fork include another block size increase from 8 MB to 32 MB and smart contracts. Introducing smart contracts to Bitcoin Cash makes it competitive with Ethereum, the 2nd most popular cryptocurrency, and is a major improvement. Smart contract functionality will allow users to develop decentralized applications that integrate the Bitcoin Cash blockchain.

The block size increase from 8 MB to 32 MB is more controversial as the 8 MB size is already eight times more than Bitcoin’s 1 MB, and is quite enough space for the foreseeable future to keep transaction fees low. In fact, Bitcoin Cash block sizes are often less than 100 KB and almost always less than 1 MB, so changing the block size limit to 8 MB like the original protocol does actually makes no difference versus Bitcoin. Upping the block size limit to 32 MB seems senseless.

Bitcoin Cash developers have received some criticism from the Bitcoin community about leaving nearly 1/5th of their network behind.

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Crypto Floating Island Project Closer to Realization

Crypto Floating Island Project Closer to RealizationBlue Frontiers has signed a much-publicized memorandum of understanding with French Polynesia. The Floating Island Project is exactly as it reads, only it’s to be an independent government complete with its own cryptocurrency. An idea long thought to be a crazy dream of libertarians is now incredibly close to realization. Also read: Alec Baldwin’s Lambo […]

The post Crypto Floating Island Project Closer to Realization appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Crypto Floating Island Project Closer to Realization

Blue Frontiers has signed a much-publicized memorandum of understanding with French Polynesia. The Floating Island Project is exactly as it reads, only it’s to be an independent government complete with its own cryptocurrency. An idea long thought to be a crazy dream of libertarians is now incredibly close to realization.

Also read: Alec Baldwin’s Lambo Movie Backed by Crypto Tech

Crypto Floating Island Project Nearer to a Reality

“A core structural feature of current models of government is centralization,” begins the pitch for an initial coin offering (ICO) pre-sale of Varyon from Blue Frontiers. “Too much centralized authority leads to inefficient bureaucracies and representatives disconnected from the people they are meant to serve. Given a suitable technological solution, governments are ripe for decentralization. That technological solution is seasteading.”

The book Seasteading: How Floating Nations Will Restore the Environment, Enrich the Poor, Cure the Sick, and Liberate Humanity from Politicians (Free Press, 2017) caused an immediate media sensation. Written by Joe Quirk and Patri Friedman, it’s the nonfiction account of what seems at the outset to be a sci-fi idea. Dutifully, legacy outlets treated it that way, at times dismissing seasteading as impractical, the stuff of fantasy.

Crypto Floating Island Project Closer to Realization

“Varyon (VAR),” via the Ethereum chain (1 ETH = 14,750 VAR), ERC-20 token, “is a general purpose payment token for the exchange of goods and services in the Blue Frontiers ecosystem, other ecosystems, and between token holders. Blue Frontiers is planning to use the proceeds of the sale to expand its ecosystem and create Seazones and seasteads, and will only accept Varyon (VAR) for its products and services,” Blue Frontiers claims.

A completely unrelated business proposition put seasteading into perspective. Anglo-Dutch oil and gas concern Shell launched its quarter-century at sea project, Prelude. Assembled in Samsung’s Heavy Industries Geoje shipyard, South Korea, Prelude is Shell’s gamble at taking a refinery to natural gas deposits previously imagined out of reach. Longer than the Empire State Building is tall, Prelude’s hull is among the largest ever built. The enormous project is an inspiring construct, stretching four continents and thousands of people.

Crypto Floating Island Project Closer to Realization

No Longer Just a Dream

Prelude is a floating city, and not in the literary license sense. It doesn’t take long to sympathize with Mr. Quirk’s and Mr. Friedman’s vision, even if it’s covered in petroleum-seeking profits at the moment. A floating island, then, isn’t the wacky concept one might be forgiven for at first highly doubting. Combine that real-world use case with modern cruise ships, perhaps linking them together, and it also isn’t terribly hard to consider a country at sea.

That’s the idea. Members of the Seasteading Institute, which can count among its members luminaries such as Peter Thiel, created a company bent on making all that theory turn real, Blue Frontiers. Early last year, in fact, the group inked a deal with French Polynesia to effectively use wet territory under its dominion in an attempt to bring to life the Floating Island Project.

Crypto Floating Island Project Closer to Realization

“Blue Frontiers plans to prototype the first seastead with funds raised from the Varyon (VAR) Crowdsale, and to fund additional seasteads through sales,” the project continues. “The Varyon (VAR) Blue Frontiers holds for seastead and Seazone Construction, Development, and Administration will be used only as needed, in order to create seasteads and Seazones and to strengthen the ecosystem of products and services available to Varyon (VAR) holders.”

The distribution of VAR follows pretty standard ICO procedures: “The amount of Varyon (VAR) allotted to seastead/Seazone Construction, Development, Administration is inversely correlated with the amount purchased in the public sale. That is, the more Varyon (VAR) sold in the public sale, the less Varyon (VAR) held for seastead/Seazone Construction, Development, Administration,” Blue Frontiers details. Thus, up to 28% is available during public sale; up to 8% presale; up to 6% for seed funders; up to 15% for the team; and the remainder goes to the project itself, up to 72%.”

“Seasteading brings decentralization beyond the digital world of bits and into the world of atoms by providing modular, floating structures – seasteads – on which the evolution of new societies and forms of governance can occur,” Blue Frontiers asserts. “Promising solutions can branch off at any time by physically separating to create new seasteads – enabling a high level of evolvability and quick rate of adaptation. Mimicking nature’s time-tested method of variation and selection, the process of decentralizing governance through seasteading will spark the creation and evolution of new advancements in civilization.”

Did you think projects like seasteading will eventually get off the ground? Let us know what you think of this subject in the comments below.


Images via Pixabay, Seasteading Institute, Blue Frontiers


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