Month: May 2018

What good is having immutable record-keeping and shared digital trust if you can’t kick it off with a rip-roaring banger? Amirite?

It will be quite interesting to see how all of the cryptocurrency markets will evolve in the near future. Although Bitcoin and most other top currencies are down a bit as of right now, the Stellar price is still going strong. Albeit the uptrend is pretty small, it seems this is the only top asset to effectively buck this bear trend.

Stellar Price Remains in the Green

Given all of the negative pressure across the cryptocurrency industry, it is all the more surprising to see the Stellar price remain in the green. While that is a positive development as of right now, it remains to be seen how long this momentum can remain in place. After all, there is nothing preventing the Stellar price from dropping below $0.4 right now, even though there appears to be some positive market momentum to take note of.

To be more specific, the Stellar price currently sits at $0.449. That is a 3.52% increase over the past 24 hours. Keeping in mind how most of the top cryptocurrencies have dropped by a similar value in the past day, it seems safe to say there is a lot more interest in XLM compared to all other assets on the market. Assuming this trend remains in place, Stellar will have zero problems maintaining this level. However, the market can always turn bearish when people least expect it.

It is rather interesting to see how Stellar is the only currency in the top 10 effectively gaining on Bitcoin. More specifically, XLM has noted a 6.2% gain over Bitcoin in this regard. It seems this shift is the main reason why the Stellar price remains in the green, rather than follow the pattern of all other currencies. Gaining on Bitcoin when the world’s leading cryptocurrency is struggling is always a positive trend for alternative currencies.

With $136.44m in 24-hour trading volume, XLM is not exactly the most liquid asset in the top 10 right now. Even so, the volume is more than sufficient to keep the current Stellar price momentum going for some time to come. It will all heavily depend on how the Bitcoin price evolves in the future, although things are not looking all that great as of right now.

Unsurprisingly, Binance is leading the XLM trading volume with its BTC pair. Upbit comes in second place, although not too far behind. GOPAX is still in third place, even though it remains to be determined how long this exchange can hold on to that position. It is good to see some new names on these lists, though, but GOPAX remains a fairly unknown trading platform as of right now.

For the time being, it is a bit unclear what the future will hold for the Stellar price moving forward. Given the volatility visible across all cryptocurrencies and the bearish pressure coming with it, it seems safe to say we will see an XLM price decline sooner rather than later. If and when that bearish pressure will affect XLM, remains to be determined at this stage.

Yet another global regulator is speaking out about its attempts to fight fraud in the ICO market. This time, it’s Australia taking the lead.

Bitcoin is part currency, part security, and part digital coin according to the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commision (CFTC).

CFTC Chair Struggles to Define Bitcoin

As the ecosystem around Bitcoin and cryptocurrency continues to evolve the various regulatory bodies in the US still struggle to define what it is so to create a framework in which it can be controlled.

Today the Chairman of the CFTC, J. Christopher Giancarlo, went on CNBC’s Fast Money and announced that Bitcoin is a little bit of everything. Speaking to host Melissa Lee the Chairman said “Bitcoin and a lot of its other virtual currency counterparts really have elements of all of the different asset classes, whether they’re meeting payment, whether it’s a long-term asset,”

Conceding that cryptocurrency is hard to define by the criteria that the various financial regulatory bodies in the US use, Giancarlo went on to explain that most of the asset definitions they use were established during the reform period of the 1930’s which makes it very difficult to apply to a currency based on technology which is only about ten years old.

The Chairman may have been referring to the Howey Test of 1946 that the SEC has been suggesting cryptocurrency exchanges refer to in order to self-determine whether they are involved in trading securities or not.

When asked to define what aspect of Bitcoin would apply to the CFTC Giancarlo said that;

“We see elements of commodity in it that are subject to our regulations, but depending on which regulatory regime you’re looking at, it has different aspects of all of that,“

before making a specific comparison between gold and Bitcoin which he then confused by saying “Only it’s virtual – It’s digital.”

Where he did point out some regulatory progress has been made is in the licensing of Bitcoin futures contracts traded on the CME and CBoE which he said are working quiet well.

He talked about Bitcoin being more suitable as a long term store of wealth then an ideal form of payment without mentioning other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin Cash that were created specifically as easier to use forms of payment.

Regulation Wont be Resolved Anytime Soon

As indecisiveness as the interview was on the definition and future regulatory status of Bitcoin, the Chairman did say that in his mind Bitcoin and the underlying blockchain technology came hand in hand. That to fight against one while accepting the other would stymie the technological evolution of the ecosystem.

Before he finished the chairman said that regulating Bitcoin is going to be complicated and that he didn’t see the matter being resolved anytime soon, adding “At the end of the day, it’s for Congress, and not regulators, to decide whether new policies should be evolved for these new asset classes,”

Image from Shutterstock

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Bitcoin Press Release: Bulleon is already poised to revolutionize the way online financial transactions are conducted, but the announcement of three new team members coming on board with the company has impacted the course of Bulleon’s success already.With the addition of three top blockchain advisors and influencers, Bulleon is ensuring that their company continues on a course of disruptive success.

April 24th, 2018, Estonia – The three new members, Vladimir Nikitin, Phillip Nunn, and Nikolay Shkilev, bring a wealth of experience and practice in the cryptocurrency, financial technology, and IT technology

Nikitin is rated #2 on ICObench by success score. He’s a world renowned consulting professional whose experience includes more than a decade in the legal, finance, retail, and IT industries. He’s also forged ahead as an expert in cryptocurrency and Token Sales. He’s advocated for cryptocurrency for quite some time now, and he is proud to specialize his services to help promote this technology to the world.

Nunn is the founder of The Blackmore Group, which offers a number of investment products. His experience encompasses 15+ years in the financial realm, and his specialties include, but are not limited to, angel investment, financial tech, commercial property investment, and wealth management. In the Blockchain world, he’s a world-traveling advocate who has been part of numerous Blockchain projects advisory boards.

Shkilev is the Co-Founder of Top Blockchain Advisors, and he’s a part of numerous other business entities. He’s a powerful Blockchain advisor and ICObench expert who is rated in the top 10 in People of Blockchain. Over the past two decades, he’s been the recipient of the Self-Made Russia award, Tech guru, and Super TOP award. He is a huge fan of Blockchain technologies and a prominent mentor in the field.

These three Blockchain veterans will bring a brain trust of experience and knowledge that will be swiftly applied in the further development and growth at Bulleon. They will have a direct influence in the very foundation of what Bulleon does.

Bulleon will offer a never-before-seen interface that fuses cryptocurrency with a digital dashboard service. Users get the opportunity to capitalize on a streamlined interface where all of their needs are seamlessly met. Not just another digital asset service, Bulleon will be crafted from the ground up by experts. With the help of Nikitin, Nunn, and Shkilev, Bulleon will continue in that direction. For instance, Bulleon will continue to offer user-friendly tools that offer comprehensive digital resource solutions while helping users work their way through the crypto-world with unsurpassed ease.

With a focus on the end-user, Bulleon will offer digital asset exchange, biometric hardware wallet and login authentication, an international debit card, e-commerce services for merchants, a peer-to-peer lending platform, and a cloud mining platform.

According to Nikitin,

“I’m very proud to announce that I joined the team of real professionals and crypto enthusiasts from the team Bulleon. Bulleon is a universal tool for generating profit, includes a cryptocurrency trading platform and international debit card, a mobile app. This is the world for working with a cryptocurrency with a lot of tools.”

The Bulleon team is thrilled to welcome the these leading Blockchain experts into their midst. Their presence will add to the exceptional knowledge that comes from the company’s team of well-rounded and skilled experts who bring decades of experience and practice. This knowledge provides the basis for which Bulleon has been founded and will continue to grow.

The team at Bulleon recognizes that the world of cryptocurrency is rapidly changing and becoming popular, and they want to make it easier for anyone who wants to make their financial transactions easier than ever.

About Bulleon Decentralized token sale

Bulleon has developed a Decentralized fundraising method. Decentralized token sale – availability to participate in the initial stages of the fundraising.

Most of the current Blockchain projects have a private sale. Large portion of tokens is sold to investors with huge amounts of wealth at a cost that is lower than what is expected to be the cost in main token sale.

The pre-sale is used to raise the capital to finance the main token sale marketing strategy development and execution. In other words, the price of tokens at the next stage is much higher for the regular investor.

Bulleon have taken a different approach to this method of funding and enabled the smaller investor to participate in the early stages. There are no minimum/maximum investment limits. Large participants, funds and angel investors are also welcome.

While most other Blockchain projects sell their cheapest tokens to the major investors, venture capitals, and angels, Bulleon has a vision of decentralization of tokens. The tokens are available for all those who would like to participate from the early funding stages. Bulleon is distributing the power and opportunities regardless of the size of contribution from investors.

To learn more visit the Website : http://bulleon.io/

Meet the Team – http://bulleon.io/#team
Like us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/bulleon.net/
Chat with us on Telegram: https://t.me/bulleon_official
Connect on Twitter – https://twitter.com/Bulleon_net

Media Contact
Contact Name: Bulleon
Contact Email: [email protected]

Bulleon is the source of this content. Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to consumer protections. Cryptocurrencies and tokens are extremely volatile. There is no guarantee of a stable value, or of any value at all. Token sales are only suitable for individuals with a high risk tolerance. Only participate in a token event with what you can afford to lose.This press release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest.

The post PR: Bulleon Announces Addition of Top 3 Blockchain Advisors and Influencers to Team appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

The world of trading has always been an exclusive place; The domain of the rich and well-connected, it’s been traditionally tough to break into the stock market as a newcomer.

Today, there’s a whole new market beginning to emerge. Cryptocurrency, since its inception just under a decade ago, has been a source of fascination for people in the financial universe.

Bitcoin’s value has skyrocketed over the last few years, increasing by ten times in just a year and a half. That kind of thing never fails to capture the imagination of people who want to make money fast.

But there’s more to cryptocurrency than just an opportunity to get rich overnight.

An equal way to trade

Bitcoin and its fellows like Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin represent a new kind of trading, one that isn’t as strictly controlled and elitist as the traditional Wall Street kind. You don’t need an uncle high up in finance to get started with Bitcoin trading. You don’t need an Ivy League education or a fat start-up fund. All you need is a computer and some spare cash to make enormous gains.

This kind of accessibility is part of the reason why crypto is so popular, so beloved, and also so widely condemned by established financial institutions. It tears down the walls that separate the trading community from everyone else and makes it possible for pretty much anyone to take part in an activity that used to be confined to a select few.

In this sense, cryptocurrency is democratizing trading, and giving birth to a new generation of finance enthusiasts from all walks of life. But it isn’t perfect. In spite of everything, cryptocurrency trading is still difficult for the average person to get into, and the rich and powerful still have the edge.

Crypto is still exclusive

There are a few reasons why crypto is hard for the average Joe to break into. While just about anyone can buy and sell Bitcoin, Ether, and Ripple, it’s very difficult to manage more complex trades without specialist knowledge.

Executing a complex trade requires a fair amount of coding skill. You’re essentially automating the trade, so it will know when to sell, when to hold, how to monitor the market value of your chosen coin, and so on. This is a crucial part of trading crypto, because unlike Wall Street these markets never sleep. Crypto is 24/7, and anyone familiar with Bitcoin will be well aware of how rapidly and significantly things can change.

You don’t want to wake up one morning to find that you’ve lost everything you invested. So it’s important to have reliable trade algorithms to keep your money safe. What’s more, solid trading algorithms help guard against human error. People can be greedy, impulsive, and irrational — things machine rarely are.

The issue is, this is very difficult to do without extensive programming knowledge. Unless you’re a fairly advanced coder, or close friends with someone who is, your only option is to pay big bucks for one. Which means the wealthy have the edge, and ordinary people are excluded. Sound familiar?

In order for crypto to realize its potential as a more equal and fair way to trade, we need to iron out these issues and make it possible for normal people to get involved.

Democratizing automation

Gone are the days that trading automation and working algorithms are a privilege reserved for the rich and tech savvy. Projects like Capitalise believe in democratizing the crypto trading market by making it easier for non-coders to build trading algorithms and manage their finances more easily and effectively.

But what does that really mean? Well, instead of having to personally code a complex algorithm, Capitalise’s platform does it for you. Users type in their instructions in plain English and the software builds an algorithm to follow them.

This way, users can automate and fine-tune their trades, giving them control over what happens when they’re away from the computer and providing a more reliable and safe way to manage their crypto portfolio.

Best of all, it removes the need to spend big money on programmers and other experts. Anyone can use this kind of platform, so it isn’t restricted to a wealthy or technically gifted elite.

Blockchain and cryptocurrency as an industry is showing itself time and again to be a great way of leveling the playing field and making systems more democratic and decentralized.

In the spirit of this decentralization, it makes sense to build systems where even more people can get involved in a movement that is quickly redefining the way the world views finance.

The post How Can We Make Crypto Trading More Accessible to Everyone? appeared first on NewsBTC.

Origin has hired Yu Pan, a co-founder of PayPal and the first employee at YouTube, to act as its Research and Development Engineer.

The initial coin offering industry has attracted a lot of attention. Projects have raised hundreds of millions with relative ease. That momentum is seemingly coming to an end as of right now. Funding of ICOs throughout April was the lowest in the past eight months. An unsurprising development, although the total amount of money raised is still pretty significant.

What is Going on With the ICO Industry?

The past year has been rather crazy for all initial coin offerings. Various mega projects raised $100 million or more in rather quick succession. Tezos is one of the biggest companies in this regard, although its efforts did not go off without a hitch by any means. All of these successful campaigns attracted the attention of regulators around the world. Not all of the outcomes are positive in this regard.

China has officially banned all ICOs and South Korea has taken a similar approach, although that situation may be reversed in the coming weeks. In the US, the SEC is actively cracking down on coin offerings which did not adhere to securities guidelines. It has created a lot of pressure on the ICO industry as a whole, effectively disrupting the funding process.

ICOData.io indicates the funding for ICOs throughout April 2018 was very low. So low even that it is the least successful period in the past eight months. Albeit $543 million was generated in token sales, it is a 44% decline compared to March. This is an ongoing downtrend, as the amounts raised have been on the decline since January of 2018.

Will the Hype Surrounding ICOs Resume?

Given the hype and speculation associated with initial coin offerings, this may be a temporary blip. Some experts will claim the ICOs are losing their appeal, mainly because there are too many projects. Most of those concepts do not have a working products months after raising millions of dollars.  To top it all off, almost one in two projects failed before of after funding, which is not a positive indicator.

Even so, there is still a genuine interest in this business model. Companies will continue to organize ICOs as a way to generate funding and realize their vision. All the money in the world won’t make a project successful if the team is incapable. With no working technology prior to raising money, the outcome can still be negative in the long run. Only time will tell how things will play out for ICOs in this regard.

More versatile fundraising platforms can offer a long-term solution. These concepts take care of most legal issues associated with initial coin offerings which still providing a way to raise millions of dollars. Vitalik Buterin’s DAICO model, for example, is getting a lot of attention in this regard. This industry is still in the early stages and a lot of things can and will change in the future.

Image from Shutterstock

The post ICO Slowdown as Funding Drops 44% in April appeared first on NewsBTC.

According to a recently published press release by the European Commission (EC) on 26 April, the European Union (EU) executive plans to employ distributed ledger technology (DLT) to fight so-called “fake news”, the transmission of false information online.

The EC’s first step will be to introduce a plan as part of what will become the “Code of Practice on Disinformation”, an EU-wide program scheduled for publication by July 2018.

The commission says blockchain applications can help provide transparency, reliability, and traceability of news on the internet. It also added that DLT can be combined with other identification processes:

“Innovative technologies, such as blockchain, can help preserve the integrity of content, validate the reliability of information and/or its sources, enable transparency and traceability, and promote trust in news displayed on the Internet.”

The press release is a response the commission’s recent High-Level Expert report which revealed a need for more transparency online in order to fight the current surge of internet disinformation.

Earlier this year the EC announced the signing of a declaration to create a European Blockchain Partnership Initiative made of up 22 countries including Germany, France, and the UK.

A significant project is also underway is in the field of healthcare. The EU’s My Health My Data (MHMD) project “aims to use blockchain technology to enable medical data to be stored and transmitted safely and effectively”.

The latest plan to embrace blockchain technology to combat fake news can be seen as part of a larger plan to integrate fintech into the inner workings of EU administration. Vice president of the EC Andrus Ansip made a speech earlier this month urging EU governments to invest in blockchain technology both “politically and financially” as it emerges “out of the lab” and goes mainstream.

Blockchain development forms part of the EU’s research funding body Horizon 2020 Work Programme, and is considered by the EC as “the biggest EU research and innovation funding programme ever”. It is investing nearly EUR 80 billion of funding over seven years and promises “breakthroughs, discoveries, and world-firsts, by taking great ideas from the lab to the market”.

image source: https://pixabay.com/en/fake-fake-news-media-laptop-1903774/ – pixel 203

The post European Commission to Use Blockchain to Curtail Fake News appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

According to a recent report by a Hong Kong financial regulator, cryptocurrencies are not popular among its citizens, and they have a low risk of being used in money laundering #NEWS

Bitcoin Press Release: The release of the ARK Core v2 is around the corner and ARK is taking this opportunity to review and reveal the depths of the upcoming ARK Core v2.

April 23rd, 2018, Lons-le-Saunier, France – In November of 2017 ARK announced that whilst the ARK Network had proven itself a fast and reliable network with a committed community, it was time to completely overhaul the ARK core code after identifying key elements within the core design that could be improved.

ARK Core V2

The final testing phase for ARK core V2 is underway and it is nearly ready for public testing on the Devnet. It is not clear for how long it will remain in testing, and when it will reach the Mainnet, but once public, the world is invited to hack, test or review it, report bugs, suggest improvements, and any other improvement they wish to offer.

The v2 core is fully compatible with the v1 protocol and in order to make the transition, a hard fork will be necessary and the new block height will be announced when ARK is ready to. Until then, any other date announced by others is just speculation.Here is a small breakdown of some of the hottest topics surrounding the upgrade.

Block Times and Delegates

Block times will not be changed, there are no plans in place to decrease block creation times as there is no reason to do so. Block times are inherently linked to network latencies when establishing consensus, reducing the number of nodes, delegates and controlling the location of dedicated servers undermines the premise of decentralization.

Therefore, the number of delegates will remain as it is at 51. Increasing this number would require a great deal of extensive testing and would increase latencies dramatically and would most likely require decreasing TPS and increasing blocktimes.

Fees

Fee reduction has been a particularly requested topic from the community, which is understandable considering the increasing price of ARK over the past year. ARK Core v1 presently has integrated flexible fees but this was unavailable at the client and block creation level. However ARK Core v2 will enable this without the need for a hard fork, making ARK the first ever DPoS Blockchain to have a dynamic fee structure.

In summary, ARK Core v2 is bringing with it a huge amount of new features, it will be 100% backwards compatible for an easier transition to the new codebase, it’s modularized, faster and more accessible for hackers, making it easier to use and contribute. ARK core v2 is a brilliant new chapter and one of ARKs proudest moments, to see the full list and in-depth explanations of all the brilliant new features, view this ARK blog post.

Find on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/ArkEcosystem/
Follow on Twitter – https://twitter.com/ArkEcosystem
Medium – https://blog.ark.io/

Media Contact
Contact Name: Travis Walker
Contact Email: [email protected]

ARK is the source of this content. Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to consumer protections. This press release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest.

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Bitcoin dips below $9K today, altcoins follow suit, as the market sees a slight correction #NEWS