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Acer Will Soon Strike A Deal with IOTA : IOTA, Stellar Lumens, Tron, Litecoin and EOS Price Technical Analysis (June 1, 2018)

Unexpectedly, Tron prices are dipping after mainnet launch. Given the marketing done by Justin Sun and the Tron Foundation, the markets are thirst for action. Savvy programmers on the other hand have something to cheer because should they find a flaw-like those in EOS- they are entitled to a $100,000 reward from Tron foundation. These

The post Acer Will Soon Strike A Deal with IOTA : IOTA, Stellar Lumens, Tron, Litecoin and EOS Price Technical Analysis (June 1, 2018) appeared first on NewsBTC.

Unexpectedly, Tron prices are dipping after mainnet launch. Given the marketing done by Justin Sun and the Tron Foundation, the markets are thirst for action. Savvy programmers on the other hand have something to cheer because should they find a flaw-like those in EOS- they are entitled to a $100,000 reward from Tron foundation. These are the kind of incentives that spur coders or white hats into action benefiting the platform in the process. Before the bounty program ends on June 21, we should see progress as the Tron network undergoes rigorous testing. Apart from this, technical formations hint of possible low risk, high reward trades in IOTA and Stellar Lumens.

EOS Price Technical Analysis

So, Binance did decide to block deposit and withdrawal of EOS ERC tokens two days before the mainnet migration. Worse, most people didn’t see their advertisements on social media catching many by surprise. Even though some few traders claimed that they had withdrawn their coins and stored them in hard wallets and alternatives as Exodus, frustration is palpable for those who didn’t. However, it’s good news for those in Kucoin and HitBTC because they still have a lee way before the cryptocurrency exchanges withdrawal and deposit blockade begins.

In other news, Nick Szabo, who many think is the real Satoshi, didn’t have kind words for EOS. He referred its constitution as a “naively crafted” and its code WET. In his words he thinks EOS blockchain would be “labor intensive”, full of permissions and rigid when it comes to scalability.

What I’m seeing now is a very nice accumulation that began following that bullish engulfing reversal in May 24. While we are positive of a possible appreciation, traders can begin spreading their long entries anywhere between $11 and $13 just before the mainnet launch. Safe stops lies at May 24 lows at $10.

Litecoin (LTC) Price Technical Analysis

Of course, any founder would shill his/her coin. Would you trash yours? I guess not! Now, Charlie Lee is absolutely right and even a 51 percent attack on this merchant network would prove financially prohibitive and a loss making venture. The capital injection won’t justify the reasons why and so, yes, to some degree we remain safe. What if it’s just but a malicious attack? Think about that. It’s about $700 million to take control for an hour.

Price wise, we shall stick to our previous trade plan. Either you can continue ramping up at current prices with stops at $110 or wait for a break above $130. It’s your choice and mostly depends on your trading style. Overly, bull targets stands at $180 and later $240.

Stellar Lumens (XLM) Price Technical Analysis

Here, our technical tea leaves are aligning to the upside. We have higher highs bouncing off May 29 bullish candlestick with increasing volumes. I recommend buys with stops at 28 cents and targets at 50 cents and later 70 cents. Why? Well, check out that double bar bullish reversal pattern, May 30 tight trade range and yesterday’s bull acceleration confirming May 29 bullish moves.

Tron (TRX) Price Technical Analysis

Prices often tank after mainnet launches, I highlighted this before because history has some irrefutable data for your reference. The depreciation is not that bad though. TRX is up one percent in the last 24 hours as I type this.

Do you think TRX value will float without Ethereum influence? Time will tell but at the moment, Justin Sun is welcoming any white hacker to check their network for flaws and should they find one, there is a $100,000 reward for their excellent work.

Price wise, I remain as usual neutral until after we see a break below or above this 2 cents consolidation between 7.5 cents and 5.5 cents on the lower side. If prices pick up and end up bearish like yesterday, then we shall take cautious shorts with tight stops and follow May 28 bear candlestick. In that case, 5 cents would be our first bear target.

IOTA (IOT) Price Technical Analysis

It seems their partnership with the UN brought good IOTA vibes. We can see this not only from their market over-performance to Taiwanese delegates visiting their headquarters to discuss smart cities, education and yes, issues to do with governance.

Like yesterday’s forecast, you can continue loading your longs at every dip in lower time frame. Stops should be at $1.5 with bull targets at $2.6 in line with our previous trade plan.

The post Acer Will Soon Strike A Deal with IOTA : IOTA, Stellar Lumens, Tron, Litecoin and EOS Price Technical Analysis (June 1, 2018) appeared first on NewsBTC.

Buy bitcoin now while it’s still cheap, says cryptocurrency hedge-fund owner – CNBC


CNBC

Buy bitcoin now while it’s still cheap, says cryptocurrency hedge-fund owner
CNBC
Bitcoin may have reached its bottom this year, Dan Morehead, founder of Pantera Capital Management, told CNBC. So now is a good time to buy. “All cryptocurrencies are very cheap right now,” said Morehead, who serves as CEO and co-chief investment …


CNBC

Buy bitcoin now while it's still cheap, says cryptocurrency hedge-fund owner
CNBC
Bitcoin may have reached its bottom this year, Dan Morehead, founder of Pantera Capital Management, told CNBC. So now is a good time to buy. "All cryptocurrencies are very cheap right now," said Morehead, who serves as CEO and co-chief investment ...

Wall St Millennials Crack Crypto Fortunes: Banker Starts New Life Firewalking

Millennials are leaving behind the world of private equity and hedge funds, and jumping off the Wall Street merry-go-round for a new life because they’ve already made their money on cryptocurrency, writes EFC. At least three staff members at New York’s Goldman Sachs have reported that it was time to move and start a new …

The post Wall St Millennials Crack Crypto Fortunes: Banker Starts New Life Firewalking appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Millennials are leaving behind the world of private equity and hedge funds, and jumping off the Wall Street merry-go-round for a new life because they’ve already made their money on cryptocurrency, writes EFC.

At least three staff members at New York’s Goldman Sachs have reported that it was time to move and start a new life, having made their own crypto fortunes, reports Bloomberg. Both Johnathan Cheesman, 36, and Justin Saslaw, a sprightly 28, have quit having made their money on trading and taking advantages of the crypto markets’ fluctuating fortunes.

Senior banker Jamie Dimon, who now regrets calling Bitcoin a fraud, is now forced to watch as those lower down the pecking order make enough money from cryptocurrency dealing to leave the security of a day job for pastures new. In March, Adrian Xinli Zhang became a director at Deutsche Bank in New York aged just 29, but was gone in a month after trading Bitcoin in his spare time, sources told Bloomberg.

BlackRock staff member Asim Ahmad put everything into Ether when he had the chance, using all of his life savings to invest in the digital currency, but has now left his London office to start anew on the back of his crypto profits. Asim commented:

“I’m in a position where it doesn’t make sense to work at BlackRock anymore… The one-day volatility of my portfolio is higher than my salary, so if I get a few investments right then I’ll have made the same as my yearly wage and everything else on top is a bonus.”

Zhang is reportedly working on a trading platform for digital assets, while Ahmad helps manage a fund that invests in blockchain businesses.

Why then, are millennials reaching these dizzy heights? Adam Grimsley, co-founder of crypto hedge fund Prime Factor Capital, suggests why a crypto generation gap among finance professionals certainly appears to be opening up.

“The youngsters may have less intellectual baggage and may be more open-minded, but they also have less responsibility for managing risk and working out the practicalities of bolting on crypto to the existing business.”

Grimsley adds, “You’ve seen a bifurcation internally at many larger houses where senior managers are very skeptical about crypto, while graduates and younger team members are very positive.”

Not all stay within the boundaries of the space that made them their fortunes. After more than 20 years working at HSBC and as a CEO for a while, Julius Cardoza now runs a London life coaching firm, with HSBC now one of his clients. One of his training program exercises is to get his clients to perilously walk over hot coals.

“Firewalking is transformational for the rest of your life because after that there’s nothing you’re frightened of because you have already tested yourself to the limits of what you think you can achieve,” he explains.

 

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Ready Set Go! Delphy Prediction Markets Go Live ahead of Russia 2018 World Cup

With the much-awaited Russia World Cup 2018 some weeks away, it’s no surprise that the blockchain prediction markets DApps are pushing hard to capitalize on this increased demand. The statistics shows that almost 3.2 billion people worldwide, roughly 46% of the world’s population, watched more than one minute of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. According to FIFA, this makes the tournament “the world’s most widely viewed sporting event.” Because football is undoubtedly played and watched by more people globally, it is understandable that trying to predict the outcomes of World Cup games is in huge demand. The Delphy (DPY) project

With the much-awaited Russia World Cup 2018 some weeks away, it’s no surprise that the blockchain prediction markets DApps are pushing hard to capitalize on this increased demand.

The statistics shows that almost 3.2 billion people worldwide, roughly 46% of the world’s population, watched more than one minute of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. According to FIFA, this makes the tournament “the world’s most widely viewed sporting event.” Because football is undoubtedly played and watched by more people globally, it is understandable that trying to predict the outcomes of World Cup games is in huge demand.

The Delphy (DPY) project has been pushing their development and marketing teams hard to launch the Delphy dApp ahead of the FIFA.  The project is extremely popular in China, and with over 200,000 pre-registrations for the platform. The pre-registration figures are a testament to the interest in Delphy and the immense appeal of predictive markets in China.  Delphy prediction markets, Chinese version platform will go live on 1st June 2018 and will feature numerous prediction markets set-up in anticipation to the much-awaited 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Delphy implements three of the necessary conditions for crowd wisdom as defined by renowned journalist and author, James Surowiecki: diversity of opinion, independence of opinion, and decentralization. Named after the prophetic oracle from Greek mythology, Delphy is built on a decentralized Ethereum platform, making it difficult to manipulate prediction results.

Prediction markets which harness the “wisdom of the crowds” to forecast the outcomes of future events, have been in existence for decades. Essentially, they are marketplaces that mesh financial markets, and crowdsourcing to create contracts that enable people to profit on their beliefs of what will happen. The price of the “investment,” fluctuates in response to how the participants interpret ongoing events and reflects a real-time probability of the event occurring.

According to Delphy, their prediction markets DApp will have two different types of users. One group will want to participate in the platform while a second group plans to utilize the prediction markets data as a part of their due diligence in other investment efforts.  “The wisdom of the crowd is a data set that until now has not been incorporated into predictive algorithms. This data should be statistically significant in algorithms to predict the outcome of several future events.” Fox Holt, Vice President, Business Development, Delphy.

About Delphy

A Decentralized mobile social platform for prediction markets.

Delphy is a decentralized, mobile prediction market platform built on Ethereum. The Delphy App is a light Ethereum node running on mobile devices.

Delphy uses market incentives to allow participants in a market to communicate, instantly and transparently, their wisdom regarding the outcome of upcoming events, effectively predicting the future. We design Delphy from the start to be decentralized, which makes it difficult to manipulate prediction results.

This is a sponsored press release and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views held by any employees of The Merkle. This is not investment, trading, or gambling advice. Always conduct your own independent research.

How Ubcoin Market Modulates Content Using Artificial Intelligence

Ubcoin is developing now its own AI-based system based on deep neural networks to automatically moderate millions of variable content ads without a human factor and to minimize the legal and ethical risks for the business. Ubcoin is a unique crypto-to-goods exchange – a blockchain-based platform where everyone can buy or sell real goods for cryptocurrency. Ubcoin is conducting a public token sale now having raised more than 4 million dollars from private investors and some undisclosed amount from institutional ones – the Inventure fund and the Singapore-based Amereus fund. Ubcoin will be part of the Ubank mobile app that

Ubcoin is developing now its own AI-based system based on deep neural networks to automatically moderate millions of variable content ads without a human factor and to minimize the legal and ethical risks for the business. Ubcoin is a unique crypto-to-goods exchange – a blockchain-based platform where everyone can buy or sell real goods for cryptocurrency. Ubcoin is conducting a public token sale now having raised more than 4 million dollars from private investors and some undisclosed amount from institutional ones – the Inventure fund and the Singapore-based Amereus fund. Ubcoin will be part of the Ubank mobile app that is pre-installed by Samsung in 10 countries and has over 16 mln installations worldwide. You can buy Ubcoin tokens with a discount now on https://ubcoin.io/en

Moderation of content on public marketplaces is an important task. Only a company that provides ethical and legitimate placement of content can  generate steady growth and form a successful business model.

Lack of content moderation entails legal and image risks. For example, Facebook and eBay invested hundreds of millions of dollars into programs to track and block fake news. In the spring of 2018, a competition with a prize fund of $ 35,000 was held at the Kaggle site where 4551 teams from data analysis specialists solved the task of “Toxic Comment Classification”.

Three approaches to content moderation should be considered:

  1. Manual check. An expensive approach with low quality due to the “human factor”. Manual check is unacceptable in large-scale projects, such as the Ubcoin Market.
  2. Semi-automatic check and check based on rules. Semi-automatic check is only applicable to structured, highly specialized content. For platforms with high content variability, you can not manually set all the necessary rules.
  3. Approach based on machine learning. A forward-looking approach that uses statistical data to classify content. It is the approach, which is based on artificial intelligence that we use in the Ubcoin Market service, since it is devoid of the human factor and is resistant to the variability of content in the presence of a relevant training sample.

Tasks solved by artificial intelligence Ubcoin Market:

  1. Verification of content for compliance with the requirements of law. An artificial neural network detects content by category: drugs, weapons, pornography, etc., and either immediately blocks the advertisement or sends it to the moderator for a specialist.
  2. Ethical review. Ubcoin Market does not accept placement of materials containing toxic comments, racism or discrimination.
  3. Detect duplicate ads. Often, duplicate ads are placed by scammers, and therefore it is necessary to track copies of texts and images.

The principle of how artificial intelligence operates within the Ubcoin Market

The basis of artificial intelligence within the Ubcoin Market is established with three machine learning models.

  1. The processing of ad texts is carried out using a model based on a deep, bidirectional recurrent neural network and an algorithm for translating text data into a feature vector – Word2Vec.
  2. Deep neural networks with a ResNet-based architecture pre-trained on ImageNet images and additionally trained on their own training sample are used to process images and to reveal the content of the inscriptions on the image.
  3. The output uses the XGBoost algorithm, which is based on the composition of decision trees and takes into account variative data.

The Ubcoin Market team tests GAN algorithms (Generate adversarial network). GAN is an approach proposed by Google in 2014, in which not one neural network is used, but two that “teach each other.” Generative adversarial network will allow to reach a qualitatively new level in the classification of content.

Ubcoin Market will also use artificial intelligence for the tasks of personal recommendations and the fight against fraud. To do this, it is poised to collect data on the behavior of users on the platform and to build predictive models based on them.

The problem of models of machine learning is their “obsolescence” with time. In order for models to be relevant and give the best quality of prediction, a regular update of the training sample and model parameters is required. To do this, the Ubcoin Market team plans to use the data from both open source and work-related platforms, with markup on platforms such as “Amazon Mechanical Turk”.

The process of artificial intelligence Ubcoin Market is carried out as follows:

To train an artificial algorithm, a training sample is assembled, consisting of relevant examples. After “teaching” the algorithm, the input algorithm is supplied with text and graphic data. At the output, we get the value of a class that demonstrates whether the ad contains signs that indicate a violation of the rules.

Ubcoin Market implements state of the art approaches such as using technologies like artificial intelligence to ensure the company’s competitiveness in the 21st century.

Artificial intelligence based on deep neural networks allows Ubcoin Market to automatically moderate millions of variable content ads without a human factor and minimizes the legal and ethical risks for the business. You can buy Ubcoin tokens with a discount now on https://ubcoin.io/en

This is a sponsored press release and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views held by any employees of The Merkle. This is not investment, trading, or gambling advice. Always conduct your own independent research.

Québec Lifts Electricity Ban on Cryptocurrency Miners with New Mandate

The Canadian Province of Québec’s ban on the sale of electricity to cryptocurrency miners has been lifted, with a new decree expected to be put into place to monitor the sale of electricity to miners, according to sources. Hydro-Québec’s Mandate In a report from the Le Journal De Montreal, sources suggest the move to lift the moratorium

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The Canadian Province of Québec’s ban on the sale of electricity to cryptocurrency miners has been lifted, with a new decree expected to be put into place to monitor the sale of electricity to miners, according to sources.

Hydro-Québec’s Mandate

In a report from the Le Journal De Montreal, sources suggest the move to lift the moratorium is because the Québec government wants to ‘avoid missing the ship’ on cryptocurrencies and therefore ‘can not wait’ any longer. This comes after a March 2018 ban the government put in place to prevent supplying electricity to crypto mining companies.

This step will likely prove to be doubly beneficial for Québec because it ensures that mining doesn’t come at the expense of homes and other businesses and could also could help push the city to the epicenter of the nascent cryptocurrency mining industry.

The regulation not only lifts the ban, but also contains plans to work with companies. The only problem is that crypto miners will be supplied with electricity with the caveat that Hydro-Québec will do ‘forced load shedding’ during peak times. This means that when the power grid is stretched to capacity, power to miners will be cut off, which will lead to a loss of power for between 100 to 300 hours per year.

Other than the forced load shedding, the decree will also set different rates for electricity supplied to the miners. Marc-Antoine Pouliot, spokesperson for Hydro-Québec, describes the plan as follows:

“Having interruptible customers during these critical periods makes it possible to connect more. [Hydro-Québec’s mandate] is to ensure the implementation of cryptocurrencies in Québec by maximizing economic benefits and ensuring the stability of our electricity supply.”

Pouliot continues: “To ensure the implementation of cryptocurrencies in Québec by maximizing economic benefits and ensuring the stability of our electricity supply… We’ve been waiting a long time.”

Hydro-Québec offers some of the lowest electricity rates in North America, charging an industrial rate of $0.0248 per kilowatt hour (2.48 U.S. cents) for data centers and $0.0394 per kilowatt hour (3.94 U.S. cents) for cryptocurrency customers.

Large Cryptocurrency Mining Pools Grow More Powerful

Cryptocurrency mining is increasingly becoming an activity for big business, as the complex calculations needed to generate the coins require industrial-scale capabilities. As the mining industry matures, the expected consolidation is likely to oust ‘regular folks’ that use their personal computers.

In fact, Bill Tai, the chairman of Hut 8 Mining Corp., the North American arm for crypto-mining equipment provider Bitfury Group Ltd., expects only five to 10 of the largest miners to survive and be profitable.

“It’s totally different this year than last year. The bitcoin mining industry was this mysterious dark cottage industry, and it’s about to grow up and about to have elements of institutional scalability at all levels,” Tai said.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

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Hong Kong Government Gives Thumbs Down to Own Crypto

In an announcement on 30 May, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced that it currently has no plans to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC), reports Coindesk. In April of last year, the HKMA first revealed, in a response to legislators, that the banking authority has started “research and a proof-of-concept work on …

The post Hong Kong Government Gives Thumbs Down to Own Crypto appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

In an announcement on 30 May, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced that it currently has no plans to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC), reports Coindesk.

In April of last year, the HKMA first revealed, in a response to legislators, that the banking authority has started “research and a proof-of-concept work on central bank digital currency”, which would be completed by the end of 2017 and then acted on appropriately later.

Acting secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Joseph Chan, claimed that the completed HKMA research revealed that Hong Kong would not particularly profit from adopting a CBDC compared to some other jurisdictions.

“In the context of Hong Kong, the already efficient payment infrastructure and services make CBDC a less attractive proposition. The HKMA has no plan to issue CBDC at this stage but will continue to monitor the international development.”

Hong Kong has been experiencing a heightened level of concern around the cryptocurrency space due to high levels of fraud. Research recently revealed that the percentage of financial crime involving cryptocurrencies was in fact comparatively low, when compared to other methods of, largely organized, crime in the city.

Businesses in Hong Kong have long complained that lending banks’ concerns about money laundering have severely curtailed available customer services. This has also impacted the cryptocurrency industry. The current government stance is that virtual currencies’ largely unregulated position makes them a risk, pointing out that unlike institutions offering fiat currencies, cryptocurrencies have no specific regulation.

Unlike China, rather than ban cryptocurrencies, the Hong Kong government has chosen the educative path with The Financial Service Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and the Investor Education Centre (IEC), all subsidiaries of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), teaming up to launch a campaign which began earlier this year, including a TV campaign, warning Hong Kong citizens to stay away from cryptocurrency.

 

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A group of Bitcoin nerds are trying to secede from America – The Outline


The Outline

A group of Bitcoin nerds are trying to secede from America
The Outline
But also, oh my god, people are trying to make Bitcointopia and the United States of Bitcoin exist, and the whole thing sounds just as zany as you’d assume a town called Bitcointopia that’s the capital of a made-up country called the United States of


The Outline

A group of Bitcoin nerds are trying to secede from America
The Outline
But also, oh my god, people are trying to make Bitcointopia and the United States of Bitcoin exist, and the whole thing sounds just as zany as you'd assume a town called Bitcointopia that's the capital of a made-up country called the United States of ...

Officials in Venezuela Begin Confiscating Imported Bitcoin Mining Hardware

Venezuela is an important region in the cryptocurrency world. So far, consumers and corporations have shown a keen interest in cryptocurrency. It seems that situation may come to change fairly soon. Local sources indicate the government is confiscating any hardware related to cryptocurrency mining. The Bitcoin Situation in Venezuela Over the past few years, the

The post Officials in Venezuela Begin Confiscating Imported Bitcoin Mining Hardware appeared first on NewsBTC.

Venezuela is an important region in the cryptocurrency world. So far, consumers and corporations have shown a keen interest in cryptocurrency. It seems that situation may come to change fairly soon. Local sources indicate the government is confiscating any hardware related to cryptocurrency mining.

The Bitcoin Situation in Venezuela

Over the past few years, the financial turmoil in Venezuela has become more apparent. Its national currency is losing value fairly quickly. This has caused many different issues for both corporations and consumers alike. It seems even the issuance of the Petro cryptocurrency may not necessarily improve this situation anytime soon.

Desperate times often call for desperate measures. In the case of Venezuela, citizens are flocking to cryptocurrency mining. Given the rising value of Bitcoin, mining this currency has become more popular. As a result of the country’s access to cheaper electricity, mining Bitcoins seemingly makes perfect sense.

At the same time, this type of activity has also received a lot of negative attention. The Venezuelan government officially subsidizes all electricity in the country. Anyone using this resource to mine Bitcoin has become a target for legal repercussions. Various mining operations have been shut down in the past. It now appears this situation will only grow worse as more time progresses.

The Government Intervenes Yet Again

According to local outlet Noticiero Digital, things are not evolving in a positive direction. In fact, the Venezuelan government is confiscating any shipments related to cryptocurrency mining. This applies specifically to hardware being imported from other parts of the world. It is another crackdown on Bitcoin mining, albeit a very aggressive countermeasure.

Courier services have informed clients this measure has been implemented recently. As such, users are advised not to order any Bitcoin mining hardware outside of Venezuela. That creates a big problem, as buying or selling this equipment in the country itself is difficult, if not impossible.

For the time being, it remains to be seen what the reasoning behind this development is. Government spokespeople have not issued any official comment regarding this statement. As such, it remains unclear what the officials hope to achieve by taking this drastic approach. At this stage, it seems any cryptocurrency equipment will be confiscated. In the past, harsh action was taking against ASIC units. The new development puts GPUs, motherboards, and even power supplies at risk of confiscation as well.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post Officials in Venezuela Begin Confiscating Imported Bitcoin Mining Hardware appeared first on NewsBTC.

UK’s FCA Actively Probing Two Dozen Cryptocurrency Firms

Despite the growing interest in cryptocurrency, not all ventures should be trusted by default. In the United Kingdom, an active investigation into two dozen cryptocurrency firms has been launched by the Financial Conduct Authority. Although this doesn’t mean any of these firms have done something illegal, it will be interesting to see what the investigation turns up. The FCA is on the prowl The cryptocurrency industry is undergoing some big changes. For their part, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority is looking for ways to crack down on illicit activity in the cryptocurrency industry. Cracking down on companies running illegitimate businesses is of the utmost

Despite the growing interest in cryptocurrency, not all ventures should be trusted by default. In the United Kingdom, an active investigation into two dozen cryptocurrency firms has been launched by the Financial Conduct Authority. Although this doesn’t mean any of these firms have done something illegal, it will be interesting to see what the investigation turns up.

The FCA is on the prowl

The cryptocurrency industry is undergoing some big changes. For their part, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority is looking for ways to crack down on illicit activity in the cryptocurrency industry. Cracking down on companies running illegitimate businesses is of the utmost importance.

At present, the FCA is launching no less than two dozen investigations involving cryptocurrency firms. Additionally, seven whistle-blower reports were investigated in 2018. All of those reports pertain to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, although the exact nature of the investigations is rather unclear at this time.

Of the firms under active investigation, all of them seem to be offering some form of unauthorized product or service. The FCA’s main objective is to determine whether or not those companies are conducting regulated activities which may require proper authorization now or in the future. Assuming those companies need to obtain authorization, it seems appropriate to assume their current activities will need to be suspended.

It is evident these investigations will bring some negative attention to cryptocurrency as well. While these ventures are designed to make this industry more legitimate, there still needs to be active regulation in this industry. To that end, FCA Chairman John Griffith-Jones warned that a lack of cryptocurrency regulation could potentially pose a problem in the near future.

Considering that the FCA has not shared any information as to which companies are under investigation, there’s plenty of room for speculation. It is certainly true that there has been a high number of potential cryptocurrency scams registered in the UK, and we have covered a fair few of them on this website in the past. Even so, there are plenty of companies offering legitimate services which may still require authorization.

Whether or not anything will come of this investigation remains to be determined. It is good to see the FCA take this particular course of action, as cracking down on illicit cryptocurrency activity is of the utmost importance. Additionally, any regulation will help legitimize cryptocurrency as a whole. This is a pretty big development for the UK’s crypto industry, as Bitcoin and altcoins continue to attract a lot of attention.

Bittrex Lands Bank Agreement to Help Customers Buy Bitcoin With Dollars

Seattle-based cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex Inc. has established a formal agreement with Signature Bank in New York to allow corporate clients in specific states to purchase virtual tokens using USD. The move i…

Bittrex Gets Bank Agreement to Help Customers Buy Bitcoin With Dollars

Seattle-based cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex Inc. has established a formal agreement with Signature Bank in New York to allow corporate clients in specific states to purchase virtual tokens using USD. The move is designed to increase the amount of institutional capital making its way through the crypto space.

Chief executive officer of Bittrex Bill Shihara says the exchange has been working on this partnership for months. “It’s been a long path,” he commented. “It’s not just about banks being able to trust Bittrex; it’s about banks being able to trust crypto in general, and I think it’s really showing that crypto is turning the corner in terms of mainstream acceptance.”

Due to regulatory uncertainty surrounding virtual currencies, many established financial institutions continue to associate them with money laundering and related criminal activity, and have chosen to avoid them altogether. Last February, for example, customers who tried to purchase digital currency through Citigroup were treated to serious delays and cancelled transactions after the investment firm made the decision to bar users from buying crypto using their debit cards or checking accounts.

This decision was later replicated by establishments like Chase and Bank of America, both of which implemented bans preventing customers from purchasing cryptocurrencies on major exchanges. Thus, many virtual currency marketplaces still only allow customers to trade between digital assets, rather than dollar for crypto or vice versa.

However, some banks are beginning to show signs of change in both attitude and business protocol, and have become more welcoming of cryptocurrencies. Popular digital currency exchange Coinbase has recently developed partnerships with Cross River Bank, Metropolitan Bank and Silvergate Bank in the United States. The company has even garnered a Barclays PLC bank account in the United Kingdom.

Noble Bank International in San Juan, Puerto Rico, also took over banking duties for Bitfinex in 2017 after the exchange’s relationship with Wells Fargo came to a sudden end.

Discussing the needs of traditional banks, Shihara went on to say, “They really do look and pour through the entire business. They want to make sure we’ve got robust AML/KYC processes and that we’ve got the right controls on our finances. They do background checks and everything. They really look at our business soup to nuts.”

Bittrex, which boasts roughly 3 million customers around the world, allows users to trade up to 200 different digital coins. Fiat trading capabilities will also be launched May 31, 2018, for bitcoin, Tether and TrueUSD. At press time, the service is only available to corporate clients in New York, California, Washington and Montana, though executives say they are working to expand this capability to retail investors once regulations are more defined.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

Mastercard Looks to Blockchain to Make Coupons Immutable

A patent application from Mastercard suggests that the payments giant is eyeing blockchain as part of a way to verify the authenticity of coupons.

A patent application from Mastercard suggests that the payments giant is eyeing blockchain as part of a way to verify the authenticity of coupons.

Brisbane Airport Lets You Buy Before You Fly with Crypto

Australia’s Brisbane International Airport has announced that it is to introduce cryptocurrency payments at its terminal, according to News BTC. Brisbane airport has teamed up with Australian crypto travel company TravelByBit, which designs tourist routes and provides selected providers with a digital currency payment platform. The airport will use the platform to enable flyers to …

The post Brisbane Airport Lets You Buy Before You Fly with Crypto appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Australia’s Brisbane International Airport has announced that it is to introduce cryptocurrency payments at its terminal, according to News BTC.

Brisbane airport has teamed up with Australian crypto travel company TravelByBit, which designs tourist routes and provides selected providers with a digital currency payment platform. The airport will use the platform to enable flyers to use Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash and other digital currencies to shop and dine at various stores and restaurants across both of Brisbane’s air terminals, a press release says.

Roel Hellemons, Brisbane Airport Corporation’s (BAC) general manager of strategic planning and development, claims that Brisbane is the first city airport worldwide to offer the service saying that it’s a logical move given that many travelers are cryptocurrency investors. He said, “This is just the beginning for us as we hope to expand the digital currency option across the business.”

TravelByBit CEO Caleb Yeoh said that the move was a good indicator that cryptocurrencies were a viable currency, commenting, “Here at TravelByBit we are promoting the Bitcoin travel movement. Digital currency for worldwide travel. It’s simple, safe and there are no bank fees.”

Australian business has a very progressive record in its uptake of cryptocurrency for commercial purchasing. TravelByBit has been very proactive in promoting its use within the booming travel and hospitality industry across the country. Brisbane itself has been named ‘Crypto Valley’ by locals with more than 20 merchants across the city now accepting crypto payments.

Yeoh said that the company’s aim is to build a case for cryptocurrency use within the travel industry and commented:

“Whenever you travel overseas you have to deal with multiple currencies and you never know what exchange rates the banks are charging you… we are promoting the Bitcoin travel movement. Digital currency for worldwide travel. It’s simple, safe and there are no bank fees.”

Australian as a nation was very quick to allow the public to be able to use Bitcoin as a practical payment method. Brisbane’s claim to its Crypto Valley tag rather pales when matched against Melbourne which had twice the number of merchants as Brisbane was accepting Bitcoin as far back as 2014, with Sydney laying claim to half that total. Since last year an Australian Startup called ‘the Living Room of Satoshi‘ has been helping customers to pay their utility bills with Bitcoin, by using a bank account or Bpay payment system, and then sending their funds to a cryptocurrency address, according to Business Insider..

Australia’s attempts to regulate the cryptocurrency industry have so far been successful in its endeavors to protect citizens and the financial sector while still continuing to develop and incorporate the technology into the infrastructure of the country.

 

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The post Brisbane Airport Lets You Buy Before You Fly with Crypto appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Crypto Exchange Huobi Quietly Opens Office in Brazil and Starts Hiring

Huobi, the third largest crypto exchange by 24-hour trading volume, is reportedly setting up an office in Brazil. According to reports in Portal du Bitcoin, representatives of Huobi were seen distributing busines…

Crypto Exchange Huobi Quietly Opens Office in Brazil and Starts Hiring

Huobi, the third largest crypto exchange by 24-hour trading volume, is reportedly setting up an office in Brazil. According to reports in Portal du Bitcoin, representatives of Huobi were seen distributing business cards during Bitconf, a major cryptocurrency conference held in São Paulo, Brazil, on May 5-6, 2018.

The Singapore-based exchange has yet to make an an official statement on the matter, but according to Portal du Bitcoin, which broke the news on Tuesday, May 29, 2018, Huobi has already opened an office in the coworking space WeWork in São Paulo. The company also has ads on LinkedIn looking for a Digital Marketing Manager and a Chief Compliance Officer to work out of São Paulo.

Originally founded in Beijing in 2013, Huobi was, at one time, one of the largest bitcoin exchanges in China before the country placed an all-out ban on cryptocurrency trading in September 2017. Rather than shutter its business completely, Huobi began a major expansion effort, setting up offices in Singapore, South Korea and elsewhere.

Only weeks ago, Huobi announced plans to open its first Canadian office in Toronto, and earlier this year, despite regulatory uncertainty in the U.S., Huobi also revealed that it was opening a branch in San Francisco to offer crypto-to-crypto trading in the U.S. market.

The firm also attempted to make inroads into Japan. In December 2017, Huobi revealed it intended to launch a trading platform in Japan with Japan-based investment group SBI Holdings. But the deal was scrapped in March 2018 at a time when Japan’s regulators were stepping up oversight on cryptocurrency exchanges in the country.

Now the exchange is headed to Brazil, as Huobi confirmed with CoinDesk. With a population of 210 million, Brazil is home to half the population of South America, representing a huge potential market for Huobi. Meanwhile, competition in the country is sparse. Currently, the biggest crypto exchanges in Brazil include Foxbit, BitcoinTrade and Mercado Bitcoin, which all trade in relatively small volumes compared to Huobi.

And, as far as cryptocurrency regulation goes, Brazil is still a “Wild West.” In December 2017, the country’s central bank and securities regulator went so far as to issue a joint warning to investors that virtual currencies had no official oversight in the country.

Cryptocurrency trading is a lucrative market, and Huobi is not the only major exchange on the move after the Chinese crackdown. In the past few months, Binance and OKEx separately announced plans to expand to the crypto-friendly island nation of Malta. Early this year, Bitfinex said it was planning to set up operations in Switzerland.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

Bitcoin may have found its bottom, technician says – CNBC


CNBC

Bitcoin may have found its bottom, technician says
CNBC
Bitcoin may have found its bottom, technician says. 3 Hours Ago. After sharp losses since December highs, Fundstrat’s Robert Sluymer says Bitcoin may have finally found its bottom. Watch CNBC Live TV …


CNBC

Bitcoin may have found its bottom, technician says
CNBC
Bitcoin may have found its bottom, technician says. 3 Hours Ago. After sharp losses since December highs, Fundstrat's Robert Sluymer says Bitcoin may have finally found its bottom. Watch CNBC Live TV ...