Day: May 22, 2018

ZRX had a 300% bull run after April first, fueled by speculation around Coinbase using the protocol. CEO Brian Armstrong hinted at this in his latest blog post regarding decentralized crypto-to-crypto trading. Developing a competitor to ETHfinex and Binance, or directly acquiring a relayer like Radar Relay, remains a strong possibility.

Bitcoin’s price is slipping below $8,000 again, reaching its 35-day low within just an hour since the trading entered Wednesday morning session.

The Shacklewell Lane Mosque, also referred to as Masjid Ramadan, has announced that it will accept donations in cryptocurrency. The move would make the Hackney mosque the first in the U.K. to take payments in digital currency.

Mosque’s Chairman: “It’s New Money, It’s Moving with the Times”

The chairman of the Shacklewell Lane Mosque told the U.K.’s news publication i about the move to accept both Bitcoin and Ether for donations. According to 51-year-old Erkin Guney, these contributions would be spent on structural repair work at the mosque, helping poor members of the community with funeral costs, and feeding less well-off Muslim families. He said:

“It’s new money. It’s moving with the times. It’s no different from transferring money from the bank.”

The mosque’s leaders have been advised about how the intricacies of using digital currency work by the founder of Combo Innovation, Gurmit Singh. Islamic finance is the focus of the London-based blockchain technology company.

Guney went on to speak to the publication about the religious contributions Muslims make towards their community. These are known as Zakat:

“The total market cap on cryptocurrencies is £290bn, with Bitcoin accounting for £104bn. If Muslims, who make up a quarter of the world’s population, hold just 1% of Bitcoins, or £1.04bn, then £26 million in Zakat contributions is due… It’s likely the actual figure is much higher. Currently hardly any mosques or Islamic charities accept Zakat in cryptocurrency. They are potentially losing out on millions of pounds.”

However, some may remember earlier reports NewsBTC have penned about various Islamic nations discussing internally whether or not cryptocurrency should be deemed as being halal (permissible) or not. At the start of the year, the Mufti of Egypt expressed his feeling that Islam forbade the financial innovation. He stated:

“…it is a cryptographic form of money that is vague and gives namelessness to crooks.”

Despite this, a religious adviser to the mosque stated that these claims were unfounded. Zayd al Khair said that people spoke in a similar way about paper money when they initially moved from a gold-based economy. He went on to state in a meeting held Monday that he felt other mosques would soon open up to accepting cryptocurrency payments too.

“Any money or currency is neither halal – permissible – nor haram – impermissible. Guidance is about the value which it represents. If money is transacted in a lawful manner then it is halal. We do not always know the source of cash donations, but we take these in good faith too.”

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post London Mosque Becomes the UK’s First to Accept Bitcoin and Ether appeared first on NewsBTC.

A South Carolina securities regulator has issued a cease-and-desist order to a blockchain startup for violation of the state’s securities statutes

Banco Masventas of Argentina has partnered with a blockchain-based financial services firm to use Bitcoin as an alternative to SWIFT for cross-border payments

SEC launches HoweyCoins — an ICO investment satire intended to educate gullible investors about ICO scams

On May 13 2018, the Reserve Bank Of Zimbabwe (RBZ) issued guidelines in a circular that detailed cryptocurrency activities taking place within the country are now banned. The RBZ further stated that domestic digital currency operations had sixty days to become compliant. Local reports now reveal the Zimbabwe-based cryptocurrency exchange Golix plans to take the central bank to court for banning digital assets, as the firm emphasizes that the RBZ has no authority to ban cryptocurrencies across the country.

Also read: How Bitcoin Cash Can Avoid the Same Mistakes as Bitcoin Core, Part 4 of 4

Reserve Bank Of Zimbabwe Faces Legal Backlash

Last week cryptocurrency enthusiasts and businesses in Zimbabwe got some bad news as the central bank decided to ban all digital currency activities. The RBZ warned about the ‘risks’ involved with cryptocurrencies and told financial institutions not to deal with digital asset businesses.

The ban would affect Localbitcoins trades within the region alongside the country’s three exchanges Golix, Bitfinance, and Styx24. News.Bitcoin.com spoke with Golix representative Tawanda Kembo last month when the exchange installed a Bitcoin ATM. Our newsdesk also received an email from the Golix exchange shortly after the ban.         

“On Friday, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe issued a statement to all banks instructing them to stop providing bank accounts to cryptocurrency companies within the next sixty days,” the Golix exchange explains.  

This means that unless the central bank changes its position prior to the expiry of the sixty-day window, you will not be able to send or receive fiat currencies for cryptocurrency trades.  

Golix Files a Lawsuit Against the RBZ with the High Court

Shortly after the email, the regional publication Zimeye.net reported that Golix was now planning to “slap a lawsuit” against the RBZ for issuing a countrywide cryptocurrency ban. Golix says they are taking the central bank to the High Court and state that the RBZ governor has no experience with managing a local currency giving him no right to ban it. The exchange argues that the central bank has no authority to ban digital currencies and only parliament has the means to make such laws.  

”I submit that the ban in effect outlaws and classifies as illegal Applicant’s operations,” a Golix official said to the Zimeye publication.

The respondents are in fact purporting to classify the trade in cryptocurrency as illegal. That will amount to law making, a function that belongs to the legislature and not the respondents. Respondents are thus clandestinely usurping Parliament’s law making powers.

Golix Has Yet to Receive Instructions From Their Bank — Continues Business as Usual

News.Bitcoin.com reached out to Golix for further information on this lawsuit but has yet to hear back from the exchange. According to other reports, even though the RBZ has issued a ban in its circular to banking institutions concerning virtual currencies, Golix is still organizing an initial coin offering (ICO). “Thus far we are yet to receive instructions from our bank as to what will happen, if at all anything. Once we do, we will update,” an official from the Golix exchange detailed.

What do you think about the Golix exchange slapping a lawsuit against the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe? Let us know your thoughts on this subject in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock, Pixabay, and Golix. 

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

The post Golix Exchange Files Lawsuit Against Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Cryptocurrency Ban appeared first on Bitcoin News.

The head of the SEC has released a statement today in support of yesterday’s ‘cryptosweep’ — a joint effort between 40 U.S. and Canadian financial regulators to curb fraud in the cryptocurrency and ICO markets.

SEC’s Clayton: Public Statement 

Jay Clayton, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman posted posted the public statement on the agency’s website.

In it, he discusses the importance of taking proactive measures to protect ‘Main Street investors,’ explains the importance of concise regulation in financial markets, and talks about the recent ‘fake ICO’ site, HoweyCoin. This was launched by the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy to alert consumers to common red flags associated with the fundraising method.

“I applaud our fellow regulators in the United States and Canada who are coordinating and participating in efforts to police fraud in the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) markets.  These state and provincial regulators play a critical role in protecting Main Street investors,” Clayton writes.

Operation Cryptosweep

Operation Cryptosweep was announced yesterday. The goal of the coordinated effort from the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) is to target scams and fraudulent offerings in the cryptocurrency space.

The crackdown will see over 40 U.S. and Canadian regulators united with the common goal of ridding the cryptocurrency industry of fraudulent ICOs and other cryptocurrency investment opportunities.

President of the NASAA, Joe Borg, highlighted the importance of regulators sharing resources to successfully overcome the issue at hand. He also mentioned that his organization will be working with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), along with the SEC. ‘We all have limited resources. You are going to see a lot more collaboration,’ Borg reiterated.

Clayton describes Operation Cryptosweep as follows:

“The enforcement actions being announced by NASAA should be a strong warning to would-be fraudsters in this space that many sets of eyes are watching, and that regulators are coordinating on an international level to take strong actions to deter and stop fraud […] Information-sharing is key to cooperative enforcement operations, and by working together, we can ensure that the rapidly evolving financial technology space has the appropriate oversight to pursue bad actors, protect market participants, and allow for market-enhancing innovation.”

The SEC’s HoweyCoin

These coordinated moves by U.S. regulators come less than a week after the SEC created their own ‘fake ICO‘ website, which was developed in attempts to show potential investors the obvious signs of ICO scams.

On the site, HoweyCoin — which takes its name from the 1946 four-part Howey test, created to determine what qualifies as a security — is presented as a way to invest in the luxury travel market, even promising a 25% discount to gold level investors.

The agency’s site uses the fake ICO to highlight red flags which potential investors should keep an eye out for, including: celebrity endorsements, promises of exceptionally high returns, (false) claims of regulatory compliance, and options to pay with credit cards.

The top of the page warns viewers: “If You Responded To An Investment Offer Like This, You Could Have Been Scammed – HoweyCoins Are Completely Fake!”

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post SEC Chairman Issues Public Statement in Support of NASAA’s ‘Cryptosweep’ appeared first on NewsBTC.

Everything changes. That’s the one true constant and when it comes to technology, that constant has remained the driving force behind many a breakthrough and evolutionary development. Change determines the adaptability of anything. Those impervious to it have no hope surviving be it a living creature or non-living. With living creatures, the effects of change can be seen in their physiological and intellectual development, while non-living things are constantly being improved upon, upgraded, and modified.

The Value of Money

One of the most important changes of our time is currently underway in the economic sector. As the universal measure for the direct exchange of values, goods, and services, currency have had to undergo a series of changes in order to qualify as the definitive vehicle for exchanging values. These changes have yielded four essential and interrelated values, which every asset must acquired in order to be regarded as a fully-fledged currency. These are values must provide a means of saving and accumulation, offer equivalent of value, be a means of payment, and finally must have definitive circulation.

Means of saving and accumulation

During periods of inflation, fiat currency are often unfit for preserving value, requiring some sort of mechanism or instrument to store values instead. This is why precious stones are highly valued during this period due to the fact that their values are often fixed regardless of the economic upheaval going on.

With this in mind, leading blockchain company,  MNX system, has developed an autonomous algorithm for smoothing the volatility called Minexbank. Minexbank boasts of an innovative tool for holding asset. This tool, known as  “Parking”, enables MNX holder to retain their assets, while also receiving interest for “hodling”, which currently stands at a 70% per annum interest rate at publication time.

Equivalent of value

MNX comes with a unique system for users to peg down the value of goods and services as monetary units using cross-chain transactions to peg the value of one crypto to a “benchmarked” crypto before exchanging to fiat. The ecosystem comprises of several innovative products, playing critical roles in ensuring liquidity and fluidity of exchange on the network. Physical bank cards ensures that users can still transact using MNX even in places where they no longer have access to their digital wallet.

Using trustless exchanges and ATM terminals through an Atomic Swap technology, users will be able to transact businesses or exchange fiat and digital assets without requiring third-party mediation. Through this technology, MNX is creating a gateway between the digital and the physical world.

Means of payment

For centuries now, the sole function of money has remained the liquidation of debts from financial commitment, meaning that if an asset is not considered as a means of saving and of equivalent of value, it no longer had any function.

Minexcoin eliminates this age-old problem through its intricate development  of its platform. Users on the platform are automatically presented with two enterprising products as soon as their coin becomes equivalent to its value – MinexMerchant and MinexMarket. The Merchant service allows merchants to seamlessly accept MNX for fast and convenient payment of goods and services through the platform’s core API. The marketplace, on the other hand, is a ecosystem for ordinary users to directly exchange goods or services through Peer-to-Peer channels via MNX.

Means of circulation

The barter system remains one of the most inconvenient mode of exchanging values due to the fact that not all assets can liquidate at a moment notice, nor is it circulation guaranteed. Fiat circumvented this problem by ensuring that it can quickly pass from hand to hand to perform its functions fleetingly.

To ensure that MNX becomes as liquid and convenient as fiat, MNX will be launching the MinexPlatform in the third quarter of 2018. MinexPlatform will be a springboard for developers and startups for creating digital values based on MNX using open source tools developed by the team.

For more Information, visit the Minexcoin website at – https://minexcoin.com

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The post Origin of Money and Future on the Blockchain through Minexcoin’s Four-Functions Developmental Strategy appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.