Day: June 12, 2018

It seems the ongoing debate between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash has reached a new level of silliness. Although both sides have had a few valid arguments, there are also a lot of incidents which seemingly make little sense. It now appears Bitcoin.org has intentionally removed two companies which recently enabled support for Bitcoin Cash.

The BTC-BCH Drama Continues

There have been quite a few spats between supporters of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. These cryptocurrencies have the exact same goal, although they take vastly different approaches in this regard. That has caused a fair amount of friction on more than one occasion, and it seems things will only continue to deteriorate from here on out. It’s not a positive trend, and it’s definitely one which the cryptocurrency community doesn’t need at this stage.

Even so, various Bitcoin companies have taken a dual approach toward Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. Rather than favoring one over the other, popular platforms and service providers are adopting both currencies. This list of companies includes BitPay, Coinbase, and many others.

For the overall cryptocurrency community, competition is a positive development. After all, there needs to be more competition to bring out the best in individual coins. Moreover, there is a lot more to cryptocurrency than just Bitcoin, even though most novice speculators only consider that currency to be worthy of their attention.

https://t.co/QR7ZexVna6 just removed/censored the 2 largest US Bitcoin companies (@BitPay Payment processing and @coinbase Bitcoin Exchange). It’s a good move: Bitcoin Core is obviously no longer Bitcoin, and should ideally be removed from both @BitPay and @coinbase too.

— Olivier Janssens (@olivierjanss) June 8, 2018

Despite the competition heating up, there are those who wish to use this ‘battle’ as a way to drive home a point. Politics are nothing new in the world of cryptocurrency, nor are censorship, backhanded activity, and utterly despicable shenanigans. For all the focus on decentralization, it seems some entities want to maintain their centralized power position at all times.

On the Bitcoin.org website, for example, all references to both Coinbase and BitPay have been suddenly removed. That is rather worrisome, considering that BitPay is the world’s largest Bitcoin payment processor. Additionally, Coinbase is one of the biggest exchanges in the world. One thing these companies have in common is that both enabled support for Bitcoin Cash in recent months. It is possible that this is the main reason for the removal of all information pertaining to these companies from Bitcoin.org.

While the actual reason for this remains a bit unclear, such developments will always spark debate. It is another example of some Bitcoin ‘maximalists’ not wanting any other currency to succeed. There is no reason to think Bitcoin will lose its dominant market position anytime soon, even though issues like these will make it look far less appealing.

Twitter has become a target for online crooks promoting fake “giveaways”, according to Bleeping Computer. Such activities are estimated to have tricked people out of ETH 8,148, currently worth around USD 4.3 million, much of it through social media, according to statistical data compiled in EtherScamDB.

John Backus, co-founder of crypto-related startups Bloom and Cognito, concurs, making his own “back of an envelope” calculation that ETH scam giveaways have returned around ETH 8,148 – which happens to be exactly the same amount estimated by EtherScamDB, writes Bitcoin.com.

EtherScamDB tracks online scamming which centers round Ethereum and associated assets and was established by the team behind MyCrypto wallet.

As the figures illustrate, fake Ether giveaways are growing exponentially, and Twitter has become one of the scammers’ favorite utilities. Criminals use well-known ecosystem names to target Twitter members, using mirrored accounts complete with avatars. Posts invite targets from the fake personalities’ following to participate in free crypto programs, which then separate the target from their funds.

An example of how the scammers operate is best illustrated by Forbes writer Laura Shin’s recent experiences on Twitter, covered in an article on Bitcoin.com, when she came across an interesting Tweet by Ari Paul, investor guru of Blocktower hedge fund fame.

She came across “fairly elaborate ether (ETH) come-ons, fake giveaways using mirror’d (sic) accounts” as a result. No sooner than she realized this, she discovered that she had been compromised.

“Someone with the account @XaedenJ was using Ms Shin’s professional reputation and likeness to tacitly approve a 10,000 Ethereum giveaway, and it directs readers to a website asking for payment,” read the report.

The “new” Laura Shin was then seen to be Tweeting, “If you’re late for this event… you’ll get your investment back at once!”. The Forbes writer did some further research and discovered that her scam post had received 28 likes, although Shin suggested that they were probably bots created to give the scam some credibility. The @XaedenJ address was later removed by Twitter.

In order to prevent such activities and falling foul to such scams, MyCrypto wrote a support document that recommends several protective measures including using hardware wallets, using cold storage or running wallets offline. It also recommends looking up ETH addresses on Etherscan.io to check for bad reviews, and to not trust any messages promising free ETH or hack alerts.

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In a recent update, Apple expanded their initial guidelines on cryptocurrencies to include policies on wallets, mining, exchanges, ICOs, and more.

An LA woman known as ‘Bitcoin Maven’ faces prosecution for allegedly running an unregistered multimillion dollar Bitcoin-fiat money transmitting business

There have been a lot of incidents involving cryptocurrency mining. This has become especially apparent where malicious mining scripts on various websites are concerned. It seems one official website in Russia has fallen victim to a malicious mining attack which ran for ten full days.

Another Cryptocurrency Mining Incident

It is neither the first nor the last time there has been an incident involving cryptocurrency mining scripts. Such incidents have taken place all over the world in the past few months. Criminals have successfully injected cryptocurrency mining code into popular websites, making any high-profile website a target for cybercriminals in this day and age.

One of the most recent attacks involving cryptocurrency mining involved the website of the Khabarovsk region administration. The site was successfully infected with a malicious cryptocurrency miner, which was only discovered after nearly ten full days of operation. An investigation was launched after several complaints were received from users who claimed the administration’s website had been slow and had caused their computers to perform erratically.

Although a lot of the details regarding this malicious cryptocurrency miner have yet to be uncovered at this stage, this does show that criminals are getting a lot bolder in their pursuit of obtaining cryptocurrencies through less than legitimate means. Cryptocurrency mining scripts have caused issues on a global scale in this regard, and it seems they will continue to do so for quite some time to come. That is not something to look forward to by any means, but there is little to be done about it as of right now.

It remains unclear who implemented the cryptocurrency mining script on the Khabarovsk administration’s website and when it was done exactly. It appears the hack may have occurred as a result of a third-party service provider being exposed to a vulnerability, although no further details are known at this time. Additionally, it seems the mining script was used to generate Monero first and foremost, as that remains one of the very few cryptocurrencies which can still be mined with ordinary computers.

Considering that the website in question receives several hundred visitors per day, it is possible that the criminals made a decent amount of cryptocurrency from this venture. It is evident that there will be a lot more attempts at mining cryptocurrencies in an illicit manner. Websites seemingly remain extremely vulnerable to code injections, which is completely unacceptable in this day and age of cyberattacks.

It does appear that the malicious cryptocurrency mining script has been removed from the affected website already. Given the uneasy relationship that Russia has with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, incidents like these will only make matters worse. They also don’t help to validate cryptocurrencies in the eyes of the general public, as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Monero don’t have the best of reputations at this stage.

There is little time left until the launch of Streamity project’s main service. In the run-up to this event Streamity team presented its alpha-version, which is accessible for testing to those people who want to check out service functionalities.

StreamDesk is a decentralized platform for cryptocurrency exchange, which is based on the smart-contract architecture and the API of payment systems. What does it mean to a user?

First of all, the service is very easy to use.  Everything you have to do is to enter your blockchain wallet address into the system only once and then the process becomes simple and automated. There is no need to visit a third-party service in order to transfer cryptocurrency or check your balance, or to work with full functionalities within the platform. Meanwhile the cryptocurrency is never stored within StreamDesk system, which makes security impenetrable in comparison to centralized services. The same thing concerns fiat money. The whole process is automated and completely decentralized.

Transaction guarantee. While the cryptocurrency is locked in a smart-contract until the fiat money is transferred in a certain period of time, there is no way to gain access to the smart-contract, the only way to unlock it is to receive the signal from the payment system. It guarantees the security of a transaction.

“We are developing fast, promptly adding different changes to the platform’s functionality, that’s why we decided to share with you our plans and tell you more about important innovations,” says Streamity CEO Vladislav Kuznetsov.

Perhaps the main update concerns the addition of new cryptocurrencies to the system. We decided to add into the system not just cryptocurrencies, but new blockchains. Thanks to smart-contracts, the platform guarantees security, that is why we add to the service such crypto-currencies as: NEM, NEO, EOS, ADA, QTUM. Now we are negotiating with them about partnership. Peer-to-peer exchanges will be performed within their smart contracts and we have the right to say that our platform unites different blockchains. We also work hard to apply atomic transactions inside the system.

Another important update – we have made a temporary decision not to introduce tariffs into the system and to give all users an opportunity to get acquainted with the platform and make transactions without fees at the time of the service launch on June 25! The beta version will work simultaneously in a fully functioning and test modes. The decision on fees implementation will be taken within a month, so everyone needs to hurry up and sign up in StreamDesk. We remind you that certain tokens holders will be able to make transactions without fees at all; all you need is to keep tokens on the balance sheet.

You can find other interesting updates in Medium or YouTube, where we cover all our events in detail and carry out webinars.

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.

A United Nations body that facilitates global trade is examining blockchain and smart contracts to see if they could play a role in its mission.

Crypto mining company Argo set to become first blockchain firm to list on London Stock Exchange

Uses and applications for blockchain is a constantly evolving matter, there are constantly new domains being discovered which can use the help of blockchain technology. Blockchain technology can be used to remove any doubts about variable return to player by giving gamers a completely transparent experience.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

This is the niche that Truegame wants to fill, as the first to offer a variety of gaming sites and applications that are based upon smart contracts allowing for results to be transparent on the blockchain open registry. It is evident Truegame means business as they have applied for gambling licenses, in addition a Curacao license is on the horizon, alongside licenses in other areas.

Truthful Games with the Truegame Platform

Gamers will have the ability to purchase Truegame’s very own token the TGAME to advance with games on their website and soon-to-come mobile apps. These games include the core gambling games such as slots, scratch cards and lotteries including other instant win games.

Due to the backbone of these games being on the blockchain, users can trust the integrity of the games as they have the power to view what’s going on for themselves. This provides users with the assurance that they are not being scammed and are being offered a fair chance at winning a prize.

Dmitry Danilov, CEO of Truegame, said:

“In an age where player protection is under increasing scrutiny and the integrity of some of the world’s biggest gaming operators is under regular question, we saw the huge potential for an iGaming model where there is complete transparency between the player and the ‘house’.

Truegame is on a roll

The project has been well received by various sources from the Blockchain community. It has collected the highest rating available from ICO Trackers and has been backed by the COO of bitcoin.com, Mate Tokay.

Furthermore, TrueGame has received the support from members of the iGaming community with numerous prominent figures advising on the project including the COO of Gluck Games Arvind Upadhyay, Gamevy CEO, Robert Lenzhofer and Andrew Clarke a former senior figure at Lottoland.

The next step on TrueGame’s bucket list is to undergo a marketing campaign as the company aims to gain a significant portion of the market share.

Dmitry Danilov Added:

“We are the first to launch a working iGaming platform that is based on smart contract technology and we will move fast and work hard to ensure we gain market share in what will become a strong and competitive marketplace in years to come; one that could rival and even eventually surpass the iGaming industry as we currently know it.”

Gaming with the TGAME Token

The TGAME token is a utility token which allows players to participate in their chosen games. The token sale for said token held the top ranking for the highest rating on the majority of ICO trackers including ICO Bench: 4.8/5 with reviews coming from 96 experts and the ICO Rating Agency who deemed the project to be “low risk”.

Visit the Website: https://www.truegame.io/

The pattern of projects issuing their own tokens and currencies willy-nilly has attracted a fair amount of criticism. A lot of ICO projects don’t need their own currencies, or even their own blockchains. Even so, there have been a few projects poking fun at this concept. Devolver Digital, a well-known game development studio, is joining the club by “issuing” something it calls Lootbox Coin.

Another Jab at Useless Coins and Tokens

Considering that over 6,000 different cryptocurrencies and ICO tokens exist at this time, one has to wonder how useful they will all be in the long run. The answer to that question is simple: not very. Most of them will disappear into obscurity, as they serve no real purpose in the end. Even so, new coins, hard forks, airdrops, and tokens continue to launch in the cryptocurrency industry virtually every other week. This dilutes the overall ecosystem and makes it seem far less professional.

It is only to be expected that this trend would irk a lot of people. Others will gladly make fun of this ongoing hype. In the case of video game developer Devolver Digital, they have introduced a new currency known as Lootbox Coin. While clearly a joke first and foremost, they did price it at $150, even though it offers absolutely no advantages and serves no purpose whatsoever.

According to the company, Lootbox Coin is the “officially unofficial coin from Devolver Digital”. That description alone makes the intention of this product pretty clear. In a way, it pokes some fun at ICO tokens, as they are also the “officially unofficial” currencies of such projects. It’s a very interesting concept, and it is not unlikely that some people will try to buy this currency regardless.

The currency was officially presented by Devolver Digital during their 2018 E3 press conference. However, the team made it clear this new coin has no official value, nor is it a cryptocurrency (or any other sort of currency, for that matter). Clearly, buying this coin serves no purpose, just like it serves no purpose to buy cryptocurrencies or ICO tokens until the projects in question come to market. Unfortunately, that is not how most investors and speculators see it these days.

The Devolver Digital team takes things one step further by claiming that users are “insane to really buy it” unless they want to pledge their undying loyalty to the company. That would be a very unique way of supporting video game developers, but it remains to be seen how things will play out.

Perhaps the most important takeaway from all this is that Devolver Digital is making its stance on lootboxes in video games quite clear. The video gaming industry has been marred by lootboxes, which can usually be purchased with real money. As such, the company is clearly taking a stand against lootboxes and useless cryptocurrencies at the same time. It’s a very remarkable development which a lot of people certainly appreciate.

Switzerland’s progressive blockchain center in Zug is going to conduct the first blockchain-based test vote later this month, reports Coinspeaker.

In 2016, Zug was the first city in the world to accept Bitcoin (BTC) as payment for certain municipality services, and also established ‘Crypto Valley’, a not-for-profit association supporting the development of blockchain and cryptography-related technologies and businesses.

One reason for Switzerland’s success as a center for blockchain and fintech, according to Swiss law firm MME, is the country’s openness to new business concepts and innovation. Marin Eckert MME partner said, “Swiss regulators are among the few that really have a deep understanding of the technology and how it works.”

Bitfinex, the fifth-largest cryptocurrency exchange by 24-hour trading volume, planned to leave its current base in Hong Kong and relocate its resources to Switzerland in March of this year.

The trial blockchain-powered vote will utilize Zug’s eID system voting on minor issues and the future of the ID system itself. Some of the municipal services that the public will be asked to vote on include annual fireworks displays, digital ID library lending, digital entry ID parking fees and electronic tax returns.

Owners must be in possession of a digital ID in order to place their yes/no votes which will be held on 25 June. The eID system was established in November 2017, but at this stage only includes 200 users who registered in a pilot for payment of municipal services last year.  Registered voters can get their voices heard by downloading the uPort app to smartphones and then submitting their vote electronically.

Zug is not alone in Switzerland in term of its blockchain- and cryptocurrency-friendly projects, and utility payment facilities, as it has a rival in the southern Swiss-Italian border town of Chiasso, which announced earlier this year that it planned to take Bitcoin to settle up to CHF 250 (Swiss francs equivalent to USD 265) of tax bills starting from January 2018.

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Data collection is an increasingly more important practice than ever before, with the rise of big data and tools that allow for said data to be analyzed. Mobility is a crucial area for data collection as car companies, taxi companies and the like gather trends in an attempt to improve products and services. Without data collection, safety sensors can’t be tailored to be more secure, and road systems can’t be changed to feel safer for drivers.

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Following the data leaks and controversy surrounding the Cambridge Analytica and Facebook scandal citizens are more aware of their personal data than ever before. While aiding companies to make improvements is beneficial to everyone, users and drivers do not get to see any profit made from the data they helped create.

Lawrence Hui, Founder of Moveco said:

“Moveco believes car generated data is important to drive the future of mobility. We, however, also believe that consumers should be rewarded for the data shared.”

Moveco turning miles into money

Moveco is a recently launched mobility ecosystem that aims to give users control over their data. This blockchain powered platform allows customers to share their movements which in return will allow them to earn MOV tokens that can be spent on services or their next fuel bill.

Moveco was founded in 2017 as a project that can generate telematics using their very own Drivebox. This device can read telemetrics like fuel levels and diagnostic codes, and give users the power to lock and unlock their vehicle remotely. Furthermore, the Drivebox can aid drivers by giving them information that can help improve their driving habits and choices. Moveco created a partner app called the Drivebox and their latest product Drivebox Lite, which can track routes and interpret driving behaviour.

These products are crucial for self-driving car manufacturers. McKinsey & Co, a globally recognised management firm, estimates the worldwide market for this car generated data to be valued around $450 to $750 billion by the year 2030.

Moveco is proud to be apart of the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI), a new organisation created to discover how blockchain technology can help make transportation secure, affordable and more widespread. MOBI is partnered with companies that account for over 70% of the global market share for vehicle production, this includes big names such as BMW, Ford and General Motors.

Make moves with the MOV token

Consumers will be able to collect MOV tokens by generating data while in their vehicle. These tokens can be used on the Moveco Redemption Platform or with other partners of the rewards program. Using the power of blockchain technology, users will be able to exchange the MOV tokens for car washes, parking, fuel and various other rewards. The more miles driven, the more rewards that can be collected by users.

There are three levels to collecting the MOV token. The first level is using the Moveco app on a mobile which has the ability to collect basic data such as mobility, speed and location. The second level is using hardware such as the Drivebox Lite which can gather more data in return lowering insurance premium with partnered insurance companies. The last level is using a more advanced piece of hardware such as the Lidar, which incorporate cameras and infrared vision to allow for intricate data gathering.

Visit the Website: https://moveco.io/

Government agencies all over the world scrutinize ICOs and their associated tokens. The SEC is an excellent example of the most recent developments taking place. Chairman Jay Clayton is seemingly convinced all tokens will be subject to regulation. That may prove impossible to enforce.

Jay Clayton has a Unique View

SEC Chairman Jay Clayton wants to regulate all tokens in the cryptocurrency industry. In his opinion, any security labeling itself as a token will be scrutinized quite significantly. That in itself is not necessarily bad,  as a lot of tokens are effectively securities first and foremost. As such, they need to be treated as such and be subjected to the existing financial regulation.

SEC Chrmn Jay Clayton tonight at #WSJCFO conf: “It made me unhappy that people thought that by calling it a #token it was somehow exempt from regulation. Let me be clear it does not.” I respectfully disagree with such a sweeping generalization. @WSJ #ICO #utilitytoken #blockchain pic.twitter.com/dG5cV6Ygwn

— Caitlin Long (@CaitlinLong_) June 11, 2018

Moreover, the SEC has cracked down on a few of these securities already. Centra, for example, tried to label its tokens as a utility token, even though it clearly wasn’t As such, the SEC has put this project on its radar, which had all sorts of consequences. It is this approach James Clayton seems to advocate for, which can only be considered to be a good thing.

Additionally, there are a fair few scams in the token industry. Cracking down on such illicit schemes will also be a big priority for James Clayton and the SEC. Doing so is not easy by any means, though. Since so few companies and exchanges self-report to the SEC in this regard, a slightly worrisome situation has been created. Legitimizing the token industry will take some time.

Are all Tokens a Security?

That will remain the big question people want to see answered. According to the SEC’s own rules, not all tokens can be securities. There is a difference between a security and a utility token, as these two categories need to be separated and defined quite clearly. Even in the cryptocurrency and ICO industry, utility tokens exist and come in many different forms.

Some examples of utility tokens include Ethereum’s Ether, DENT, Siacoin, and so forth. All of these tools provide access to a native ecosystem yet there are no guarantees they will increase in value. Most utility tokens also have a finite supply, but that is no longer a defining characteristic. More importantly, if the native ecosystem for the utility token fails, so will the token itself.

For token securities, the underlying technology is of less importance. It seems to mainly focus on driving up the value of the token regardless of any infrastructure to speak of. A token sale is not a security sale by default, although companies need to be more open about their actual intentions. Utility tokens can be sold through an ICO, but that doesn’t make them securities by default. James Clayton and the SEC will have their work cut out for them to sort out the differences.

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