Day: May 21, 2018

The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will be hosting a cryptocurrency workshop to address the critical concerns of scams as well as consumer and investor security within the industry.

Educational workshop

The ‘Decrypting Cryptocurrency Scams’ workshop will be comprised of law enforcement, research organizations, consumer groups and the private sector to discuss the exploitation of consumers and explore means to protect consumers.

The FTC has been working on creating adequate protections for consumers in the age of new emerging financial technologies for quite some time. The educational workshop should lend itself toward easing the already restrictive US laws and legislation that are in place, that is, if the workshop manages to make a serious impact.

Complications in the US

The United States has some rather mixed, directionless stances on cryptocurrencies and initial coin offering (ICO) regulations. In July 2017, the SEC classified ICO tokens and cryptocurrencies as “investment contracts” and, therefore, as securities based on the Howey Test, though there appear to be no regulatory guidelines for digital coin developers to comply with.

Due to these grey areas, legal uncertainties and strict investment regulations, US citizens will also struggle to find an ICO that they can participate in; many ICO operators and companies have made a choice to ban US investors from offerings.

The SEC has also been slightly aggressive in the pursuit of gathering data on the industry; having recently issued 80 subpoenas the SEC is charging ahead with firm investigations which may be perceived as potentially having a negative impact on the industry but actually, the tough stance is not without progress.

An FTC and SEC crypto education

Despite the somewhat negative stories emerging from the US, the SEC has also taken the educational approach and launched a website that for a fake Howeycoin ICO, designed to show what a scam or hoax token offering should look like.

Following this and hopefully, the combined efforts of the SEC and FTC can keep cryptocurrency and blockchain related discourse on the table and hopefully push decision-makers towards creating a more definitive framework for ICOs and their accompanying cryptocurrencies.

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Canaan Inc. has announced it will launch an IPO in July with the goal to raise $2 billion in funds in what would be the largest Bitcoin-related IPO to date.

Canaan to Launch Biggest Bitcoin IPO Ever

Bejing based Canaan inc., the worlds second largest Bitcoin mining hardware supplier increased its overall profits seven times in 2017 during the soaring Bitcoin price craze selling its products under the AvalonMiner brand. Since those halcyon days, the profitability of mining Bitcoin has steadily declined. Today Bitcoin is worth less than half of what it was in December 2017 and mining them is 60% less profitable.

This begs the question, why is this Bitcoin mining rig maker launching an IPO with a $2 billion goal when the profits of and demands for its products are in little demand? According to inside sources who spoke to Reuters about the move Canaan will present itself as a chip designer which focuses on artificial intelligence and blockchain technology development instead of a Bitcoin mining company.

“Their customers happen to be bitcoin miners. But they are a chip company, not a bitcoin company,” Said one of the unnamed sources Reuters spoke to.

Canaan produces what are known as ASIC chips designed for the singular purpose of mining Bitcoin. Its customers have historically been large-scale mining operations incorporating thousands of machines working twenty-four hours a day.

Ironically increasing competition since the development of ASIC mining rigs has hit the profit margins of mining outfits hard. Experts estimate that mining revenue in 2018 is just 37% of what it was in 2017. This downshift in mining profits led the worlds largest manufacturer of chips, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC), to cut it’s full-year sales target, citing uncertainty in the cryptocurrency market as its reason.

In a Mining Boom Sell Shovels

These same factors could be the reasons investors will buy into an IPO by Canaan, as the old adage goes the best way to make money in a gold rush is to sell shovels. A sentiment iterated by Jehan Chu, managing partner at Kenetic Capital, a Hong Kong-based blockchain and cryptocurrency investment firm who told Reuters,

“Investors are always looking for crypto ‘picks and shovels’, and that’s what this is,”

Though crypto mining has been under serious regulatory pressure by the Chinese government and earlier rumors of Canaan’s proposed IPO had the chip maker looking to Hong Kong or Singapore it seems they have gotten approval to go ahead in the country. Last month when China Securities Regulatory Commission vice-chairman Jiang Yang visited their factory and said publicly,  “no matter what the chip is used for, fundamentally you’re still a chip company, and I hope you list in China,”

Image from Shutterstock

The post Mining Company Seeks $2 Billion in Largest Ever Bitcoin IPO appeared first on NewsBTC.

A new Smart Advertising Transaction Token project (SaTT), developed by the US-based company ATAYEN, leverages the blockchain platform to make the digital advertising market more transparent and efficient. The project’s team plans to present its smart contract within the platform, which will allow advertisers to choose publishers, set up conditions for advertising campaigns and track its performance with the help of third-party analytical tools. At the same time, the SaTT smart contract suggests automatic payment to the publisher once all the conditions are fulfilled.

Atayen is founded by the Gauthier Brothers and Stephanie Clement and has developed IFrame apps suite for the enterprises to extend pages in social network services and websites, and resulted in having more than 4 mln businesses around the globe.

The company is now targeting “major issues of digital advertising industry” with the new blockchain-based solution for more efficient interaction between affiliates, advertisers, and publishers. This product is constructed on the Ethereum network, utilizes its own SaTT token that is required to gain access to the platform and to use its functionality.

The SaTT creators say one of the main advantages of the Ethereum blockchain is the usage of smart contract technology for transactions within a platform. Using the SaTT smart contracts, advertisers will be available to choose relevant publishers for their purposes by defining criteria for partner participation in a digital campaign. This can depend on the scope of their broadcast network, topics addressed or any other characteristics.

Oracles for advertisers

Furthermore, oracles will give a possibility to evaluate exact results of an advertising campaign for the advertisers and the reward to be paid to the publishers by a smart contract. Oracles are platform apps, based on existing major audience and traffic analysis tools such as Google Analytics and Facebook Analytics. Using its API, ATAYEN and other developers will implement oracles in the smart contract structure.

The advertiser can choose between third-party apps depending on its objective. There are different types of oracles: performance oracles, such as MailChimp, Twitter or Google Analytics. They may be used to count views, clicks, lead engagements or sales. Capacity oracles analyze partner profiles to validate if they meet the criteria set by the advertiser for the campaign. These conditions range from the reputation of the publisher on social networks to the audience segment. Typical capacity oracles are the Reech or the Klout services. Finally, security oracles allow users to analyze and validate the quality of the campaign as well as minimizing potential fraud. One example is DataDome.

Security and transparency

Another issue for the current digital advertising industry is that affiliate networks are centralized structures, increasing the risk of hacking the whole system. In case of a technical failure, all ad campaigns of the affiliate stop running respectively. On the other hand, both publisher and advertisers are able to fake data of the campaign.

As the Gauthier brothers and Clement point out, blockchain has a decentralized and distributed structure that cannot be stopped by a single malfunction and can’t be hacked or tricked. By using SaTT smart contracts, payments are immediate as long as the success criteria are met. Transactions are subject to neither a transfer fee nor a currency conversion fee.

SaTT crowdsale

To run the platform ATAYEN has created 420 mln SaTT tokens overall, planning to sell more than 59 percent on the crowdsale. The latest started on May 1 and will last for 2 months, with a soft cap of $7.56 mln and a hard cap of $104.16 mln. The price of 1 SaTT is $0.42, and the minimum amount of purchase is $50.

According to the project’s roadmap, the team is going to present payments for existing ATAYENapps with SaTT tokens and SaTT-based invoices for e-mail campaigns in June this year. Oracles for Google Analytics, Instagram Analytics, and Youtube Analytics should come out in September, along with the launch of the campaign offer directory. The release of the SaTT smart contract platform, the developer API, and software development kit is scheduled for November this year.

Learn more: https://www.atayen.us/satt/

The post SaTT Project Offers Smart Contracts, Oracles For Digital Ads appeared first on NewsBTC.

Key Highlights

• Ripple price declined recently after buyers failed to push it above $0.7100 against the US dollar.
• Yesterday’s highlighted crucial ascending channel with support at $0.6860 was broken on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair (data source from Kraken).
• The pair is now trading below the $0.6800 support level and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

Ripple price made a bearish turn against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. XRP/USD may correct lower towards the $0.6600 support in the near term.

Ripple Price Resistance

There was no upside break above the $0.7100 level in Ripple price against the US Dollar. The price traded as high as $0.7060 before sellers appeared and pushed the price lower. A fresh bearish wave was initiated and the price declined below the $0.7000 support. The decline was such that the price also settled below the 0.6800 support level and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

More importantly, yesterday’s highlighted crucial ascending channel with support at $0.6860 was broken on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair. The pair also broke the 50% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $0.6478 low to $0.7067 high. It has opened the doors for more losses and the price could decline further towards the $0.6600 support. An immediate support sits around the 76.4% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $0.6478 low to $0.7067 high.

Looking at the chart, the price is currently in a bearish zone below $0.6800. Should there be an upside correction, the price could face sellers near $0.6800 and the 100 hourly SMA. On the downside, buyers can keep an eye on the $0.6600 support level. Below $0.6600, the last swing low of $0.6478 may be retested.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for XRP/USD is slightly placed in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for XRP/USD is declining and is currently well below the 40 level.

Major Support Level – $0.6600

Major Resistance Level – $0.6800

The post Ripple Price Analysis: XRP/USD’s Downside Break appeared first on NewsBTC.

On Monday the blockchain research and development firm, Nchain, announced the acquisition of a majority stake in the Bitcoin Cash-centric startup Handcash. The Handcash platform allows users to send BCH in a contactless manner using near field communication (NFC) technology.

Also read: BCH Miners Discuss Funding Development With a Fraction of Block Rewards

Nchain Acquires a Majority Stake in the BCH Platform Handcash

This week the firm Nchain Group announced they had “closed a deal” that gives the company a large stake in the Handcash platform. According to Nchain, the deal was facilitated through the company’s investment arm Nchain Reaction. News.Bitcoin.com reported on Handcash this past February when the team launched its bitcoin cash beta client for Android phones. The Handcash app allows users to transact with BCH using NFC technology and the platform was created by two developers from Spain, Alejandro Pascual Agut and Rafael Jiménez Seibane.

“Bitcoin was conceived to be peer-to-peer electronic cash — So we wondered why Bitcoin was not being used like cash,” Alejandro Agut explained during the announcement.    

That gave us the idea to create a wallet application that allows you to send Bitcoin in a way that resembles handing someone cash, by merely placing a sender’s mobile device close to the recipient’s device.

The Nakasendo SDK  

Earlier this month, the Handcash development team also revealed they were allowed to use the Nchain software development kit (SDK) Nakasendo before it was publicly released. News.Bitcoin.com spoke directly with Agut about how the new partnership with Nchain what the BCH community expect from Handcash going forward.

“It certainly opens up new collaborations with other apps and services from the Nchain family right away, so we can put our protocols there and vice versa,” Agut details. “We are already working with a “Magic Protocol” that will be able to connect your Handcash wallet to third-party services — It uses the Nakasendo SDK — Also, we are going to be first in line to test upcoming SDKs for a few new features we want to adopt in the future.”

It has been very easy to work with them. And in the end it’s all about human connections — and they do a great job with managing with all dev teams and projects.

User Interfaces Need to Become Better and Easier

Nchain says that the application Handcash make it easier to send BCH in a contactless fashion without any of the processes of copying an address or scanning a QR code.  

“For Bitcoin Cash to grow, user interfaces need to become better and easier to use — We are impressed with Handcash and its vision for simplifying the Bitcoin Cash transaction process to a contactless approach,” Nchain Group’s CEO Jimmy Nguyen stated during the acquisition.

Nchain is thrilled to support Handcash on its journey to make Bitcoin Cash wallets and payment systems easy to use around the world, and to ignite global adoption of Bitcoin Cash.

Over the years there have been a couple attempts of NFC cryptocurrency wallets but nothing has really gained traction. There’s been a long wait for a cryptocurrency platform that delivers smooth and effortless cryptocurrency transactions combined with NFC technology, and BCH proponents hope this partnership delivers on its promises.

What do you think about Nchain acquiring a large stake in Handcash? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock, Nchain, and Handcash. 

The post Nchain Acquires Majority Stake in BCH-Application Handcash appeared first on Bitcoin News.

A bill proposed by an Ohio Senator would let the state legally recognize blockchain records and smart contracts.

FOMO Moments

It appears that we’re in for another week of yo-yoing on crypto markets, Monday up, Tuesday down. Momentum could not carry markets over $400 billion and they’ve fallen back today in the same pattern we’ve seen for the past week. The buying starts in Asia and the selling starts in America and the cycle repeats. Bitcoin failed to push past $8,500 and has retreated back 2% to $8,340. All altcoins have mirrored the slide and are in the red at the moment. We have to go outside the top 25 to find a coin in the green and today it is Decred.

According to Coinmarketcap DCR is up 2% percent on the day whilst all others have fallen. Currently trading at $113 this altcoin is up marginally from $110 this time yesterday. This tiny gain is only remarkable because all others have lost ground. Over the past week DCR has made 14% from $110 this time last Tuesday. On the month it has shown even better gains of 75% from $65 this time last month. Against Bitcoin DCR is up 4.5% on the day to 1364400 satoshis from around 1300000 sats this time yesterday. Weekly gains on BTC have been better with Decred climbing just under 20% from 1140000 satoshis this time last week.

Decred is an autonomous cryptocurrency driven by self-rule from the stakeholders. The blurb on its website states; “Our innovative consensus voting model empowers stakeholders and allows for the seamless transition from one set of rules to another. Decentralized decision-making and self-funding have enabled us to build a robust, evolving digital currency, free from third party influence.” There have been no announcements to drive current momentum which has left some traders on Reddit concerned about a pump and dump;

“Any time one of my alts has risen this much they always have crashed back down. Every single time. I don’t see much of a reason for its continued rise when the rest of the market is down.”

At the moment DCR trade is happening on the obscure exchange Ooobtc, followed by Bittrex indicating that it is not a coin favored in Asia. Decred is not far off its January all-time high of $121 but volume over the past 24 hours has slowly tapered off from $14 million to $10 million. Market cap for DCR is currently $800 million positioning it at 29^th on the crypto charts.

Total crypto market cap has fallen by 3.6% over the past 24 hours to $375 billion indicating that the bear run which started on May 6^th is continuing. All other altcoins have lost ground during this morning’s Asian trading session with EOS, Bytecoin, Zcash and Lisk taking the biggest hits.

More on Decred can be found here: https://www.decred.org/

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 Update: Only Decred Showing a Gain appeared first on NewsBTC.

Key Points

• Bitcoin cash price failed to hold gains above $1,220 and declined below $1,200 against the US Dollar.
• There is a declining channel forming with resistance at $1,220 on the hourly chart of the BCH/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
• The pair is likely to extend the current decline and it could test the $1,150 support level.

Bitcoin cash price is back in a bearish zone below $1,220 against the US Dollar. BCH/USD is losing momentum and it could continue to move down towards $1,150.

Bitcoin Cash Price Decline

There was a rejection noted from the $1,300 resistance zone in bitcoin cash price against the US Dollar. The price formed a short-term top near $1,315 before starting a downside move. It declined and moved below the $1,250 and $1,220 support levels. The downside move was strong as the price also closed below the $1,220 support and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

During the decline, the price broke the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the last leg from the $1,165 low to $1,315 high. The current price action suggests that a close below $1,220 and the 100 hourly SMA was crucial. At the moment, there is a declining channel forming with resistance at $1,220 on the hourly chart of the BCH/USD pair. The pair could accelerate declines below the 76.4% Fib retracement level of the last leg from the $1,165 low to $1,315 high. The next support may well be the last swing low of $1,165, followed by the all-important $1,150.

Looking at the chart, the current downside move seems to be a bearish wave with a close below $1,210. Should the price correct higher from the current levels, the $1,220 and $1,250 levels are likely to prevent upsides.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for BCH/USD is back gaining pace in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BCH/USD is now well below the 40 level.

Major Support Level – $1,150

Major Resistance Level – $1,220

The post Bitcoin Cash Price Analysis: BCH/USD Losing Momentum appeared first on NewsBTC.

ICOs offer a more direct route for both tapping and deploying funds, for matching founders with investors. That turns out to be quite revolutionary.

Litecoin Price Key Highlights

• Litecoin has formed lower highs and found support around $131 to create a descending triangle.
• Price got rejected on resistance and is on its way to test support.
• Another bounce could take it back to the top, but technical indicators are giving mixed signals.

Litecoin is trading inside a descending triangle and is due to test the bottom, possibly gearing up for a breakout soon.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA is below the longer-term 200 SMA to signal that the path of least resistance is to the downside. In other words, support is more likely to break than to hold.

The 200 SMA also lines up with the top of the triangle to add to its strength as a ceiling. A break below support could lead to a drop of the same height as the formation, which spans $131 to $160.

RSI appears to have bottomed out and looks ready to turn higher, likely drawing buyers back in. Stochastic is also pulling up from oversold levels to signal a return in buying momentum.

LTCUSD Chart from TradingView

Market Factors

Litecoin has lagged behind most of its altcoin peers recently as there have been no positive developments on its front. Its founder Charlie Lee has been tweeting about positive updates, but traders take this with a grain of salt since he already liquidated his litecoin holdings.

Meanwhile, the dollar has been strongly supported by fundamentals on stronger rate hike hopes. Although some policymakers have expressed concerns about the slack in the labor market and tepid wage growth, US bond yields keep rising on expectations of two or three rate hikes this year.

The FOMC minutes are up for release this week and Fed rhetoric could still shape dollar price action. Hawkish remarks could lead to a breakdown for LTCUSD while cautious comments could lead to another bounce to the triangle top.

The post Litecoin (LTC) Price Watch: Is a Triangle Breakout Underway? appeared first on NewsBTC.

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

• Bitcoin price has rallied in the past few hours but also hit resistance on its channel.
• If this continues to keep gains in check, bitcoin could still resume the selloff to the support areas marked.
• Using the Fib extension tool shows the potential downside targets in the short-term.

Bitcoin price might still resume its downtrend as the top of its descending channel is keeping gains in check.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA is below the longer-term 200 SMA to confirm that the path of least resistance is to the downside. In other words, the selloff is more likely to resume than to reverse.

However, an upward crossover appears to be materializing and if so, bitcoin price might still be able to break past the channel top. In particular, a move past the swing high around $8,600 could confirm that buyers have the upper hand.

RSI is dipping into oversold territory to show that sellers are exhausted and may let buyers take over. Stochastic still seems to have some room to fall, so bitcoin price might follow suit.

The nearest support area is at the 38.2% extension or $8,039 level at the mid-channel area of interest. The 50% extension is at $7,855 and the 61.8% extension is at the swing low or $7,671. Stronger selling pressure could take it down to the 78.6% extension at $7,410 or the channel support. The full extension is located at $7,077.4.

BTCUSD Chart from TradingView

Market Factors

A rebound in risk-taking paved the way for some bitcoin price gains after a trade truce between the US and China was announced. This supported commodities, equities, and other riskier assets like cryptocurrencies versus the dollar.

The main event for the US dollar is the release of the FOMC minutes this week as this could clarify tightening expectations. Hawkish remarks could mean more dollar gains versus bitcoin while cautious ones could allow the cryptocurrency to advance.

There have been no major headlines pertaining to bitcoin, so investors could keep holding out and staying cautious while waiting for more developments.

The post Bitcoin (BTC) Price Watch: Bears Might Not Be Done Yet appeared first on NewsBTC.

Just recently news.Bitcoin.com reported on Ross Ulbricht being denied a post-conviction relief extension this past February. Since then Ulbricht’s new legal team and his family continue to fight for Ross’s freedom with a filed a Petition of Certiorari with the United States Supreme Court.

Also read: BCH Miners Discuss Funding Development With a Fraction of Block Rewards

The Fight to Free Ross Ulbricht Continues With a Petition of Certiorari

Ross William Ulbricht is a 33-year old American who was convicted of drug trafficking, money laundering, and computer hacking crimes tied to the Silk Road website created in 2011. Ulbricht was accused of being the creator of the Silk Road under the pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts,” and was arrested in 2013. In 2015 Ulbricht was convicted of the aforementioned charges and sentenced to life in prison. The family has been fighting for their son’s freedom for years due to the fact that there were many investigation discrepancies, and government agents who were caught red-handed manipulating the case. However, last year the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the decision to keep Ulbricht in jail for life.

Then this year Ulbricht’s new legal team, Williams & Connolly, tried to extend a fixed three year period with a motion called “Rule 33.” Although, the extension was not granted, and Judge Forrest denied the motion to extend the time for a Rule 33. The latest Petition of Certiorari with the Supreme Court argues two very important questions tethered to Ulbricht’s case.

• Whether the warrantless seizure of an individual’s Internet traffic information without probable cause violates the Fourth Amendment.
• Whether the Sixth Amendment is violated when a judge uses uncharged allegations, never brought to trial before a jury, to support an excessive sentence.          

Another Fourth Amendment Case May Determine the Fate of Ulbricht’s Latest Petition

Additionally, the team at Freeross.org explain that twenty-one organizations have supported the petition and it was distributed for conference on April 13. Out of all the cases, that day 200 were denied except for Ulbricht’s case and another called Carpenter v. U.S. Ulbricht’s legal team believes the outcome of the Fourth Amendment Carpenter case will affect Ross’s petition conference. Freeross.org explains that the legal team may find out how the court’s rule by June 2018.

Alongside this news, Ulbricht has been relocated from New York to a maximum-security penitentiary called USP Florence. The family says this prison is meant for some of the country’s most violent offenders and they don’t understand why Ross is being kept there for his life sentence. 

“Despite the horrors of his environment, Ross remains optimistic and strong, characteristically making the best of it,” explains Ross’s mother Lyn Ulbricht.  

He has immersed himself in his case, spending a lot of time in the law library, and otherwise focusing on staying healthy mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically.

What do you think about Ulbricht’s latest attempt for freedom by filing a Petition of Certiorari with the Supreme Court? Let us know what you think about this case in the comments below. 

Images via Shutterstock, and Freeross.org

Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section. 

The post Ross Ulbricht Continues to Fight for Freedom With Supreme Court Petition appeared first on Bitcoin News.