Day: June 13, 2018

Want to cash out Ethereum or other cryptocurrencies from an exchange instantly without paying ridiculous fees? ORCA can help you. The passage linking cryptocurrencies together regular finance is being laid. Yesterday ORCA Alliance has presented their technological case for the community during a live event streamed online. Mere 6 seconds. That’s how long it took ORCA to complete a transfer from a cryptocurrency exchange straight to user’s bank.

The demonstration was opened by Laurent Bourquin, Chief Operating Officer of ORCA and former investment bank analyst who presented the changing landscape of global finance. 

“The whole banking sector is being disrupted <…>. A couple of years ago it had been inconceivable to think that a start-up can enter the closed market of retail and investment banking and take over a part of its market share” – claimed L. Bourquin.

According to him, new IT-based market players are challenging banks and providing cheaper, more efficient services. To intensify the changes further, Open Banking is already making it’s way to Europe while other countries are watching closely to jump onboard. Most importantly, cryptocurrencies are capturing people’s attention and have become the most recent trend widely discussed in the world of finance, especially due to the fact it is including and making regular people interested in finance.  

Natan Avidan, the co-founder, and CEO of ORCA Alliance gave a broader presentation about ORCA and what problems does it aim to solve. ORCA is a financial management tool oriented for cryptocurrency users which connects various financial accounts through their APIs.  N. Avidan said that mass cryptocurrency adoption would be reached only if the market becomes more user-friendly, facilitating ease of access to technologically uneducated users. 

The technological case itself was presented by Dmitrij Radin, Chief Technological Officer of ORCA, with the help of a vending machine which helped to verify that funds were received. The transfer took only 6 seconds, ten times shorter than was initially expected. 

ORCA’s solution is set to relieve loads of issues tormenting cryptocurrency adopters. ORCA is building an Open Banking platform that will make everyone’s banking experience convenient and simple. Users will be able to connect, track and manage their financial accounts from European banks, e-money institutions, cryptocurrency exchanges, and wallets. ORCA is providing an all-in-one banking solution.

“At the core, ORCA is a consumer application, and we are well aware that mass adoption can be reached only through practical use cases and convenience benefits. Instant crypto withdrawals are just a stepping stone towards our goal albeit an essential one.” – commented Natan Avidan, CEO of ORCA Alliance.

ORCA started making waves in the crypto community. Fintech start-up recently announced a partnership with an e-money institution MisterTango which is operating under the supervision of European authorities. Soon enough they presented the technological solution for momentous crypto withdrawals and plans to release introductory version of the platform before the end of June. The timing of ORCA to create a consumer-oriented application for personal banking including cryptocurrencies is impeccable.

More information about ORCA: https://orcaalliance.eu 

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

Can you pinpoint the prices bottom? Check our latest price analysis to find out

The chief scientist of blockchain research and development company nChain, Craig Wright, has written up an analysis of orphan blocks and determined that although miners complain about them, they increase the health of the Bitcoin mining network by incentivizing miners to invest in increased connectivity.

A block is a collection of the most recent transactions on the Bitcoin network collected together and cryptographically hashed. An orphan block is a duplicate block that has the same block number as another block, but is rejected when the main chain chooses the other block. Orphan blocks occur naturally when miners find blocks at similar times, but can also be caused by an attacker with a large amount of hash power attempting to reverse transactions with a 51% double spend attack.

Orphan blocks are a rare occurrence; only two have occurred since the beginning of 2018. Regardless, miners still complain about orphan blocks, especially when they experience them first hand. They successfully solve a block, receive the block reward, only to have it yanked away minutes later when the main chain has chosen another block. This results in a loss of the block reward of BTC 12.5 Bitcoins currently worth USD 80,000, enough of a loss to frustrate miners.

As Craig Wright points out, there is no true loss of mining reward due to orphan blocks on average. There are always 2016 blocks every two weeks and, therefore 2016 block rewards, regardless of how many orphan blocks occur.

Orphan blocks actually increase the health of the Bitcoin network since they give miners a good incentive to have proper connectivity infrastructure. A natural orphan block occurs due to a lack of efficient network communication combined with two pools finding blocks within a minute of each other. Both pools broadcast their block, but the pool with better connectivity will win since its block will propagate across the network faster.

Therefore, orphan blocks should not be viewed as a flaw in Bitcoin’s protocol, rather they are a benefit since they encourage connectivity of the mining network, increasing the speed, efficiency, and security of the Bitcoin network.

Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bitcoinnewscom

Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews

The post Orphan Blocks Are Healthy for Bitcoin appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Singapore — Bloom Technologies, a cryptocurrency pioneer in Southeast Asia, last week launched its private token sale for BloomX (Bx8.io), a platform that connects real-world foreign exchange dealers and their customers with the Stellar DEX. The company provides both a white-label Teller app for the dealers, and a white-label multi-currency Wallet app for their customers. Bloom Technologies has been providing crypto solutions to the money services industry for several years, and has already powered over $125,000,000 in transactions through their platform.

As the popularity of cryptocurrencies continues to grow, the prevalence of scams in emerging markets are reaching a fever-pitch. One popular pyramid scheme in the Philippines managed to raise over $18,000,000 from investors before the perpetrators were arrested. Their promise to reinvest their members’ funds into Bitcoin is a common strategy; the Securities and Exchange Commission listed fourteen such scams in a recent Warning to the Public.

“The way to combat scams is with customer education,” says Luis Buenaventura, founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Bloom Technologies. “If people are armed with a reasonable amount of knowledge about crypto, they will be able to make informed decisions and avoid getting scammed. The problem right now is that there’s nothing but hype out there, and no one is talking about the fundamentals.”

As part of its new network, Bloom is releasing two new flagship applications: a Teller app and a Wallet app. The Teller app will allow neighborhood foreign exchange dealers to buy and sell cryptocurrency in a compliant way, sourcing liquidity from the Stellar decentralized exchange and Bloom’s own trusted marketmakers. The Wallet app meanwhile will help customers manage their holdings safely, and teach them about the fundamentals of cryptocurrencies, personal security, and wealth management.

Both applications are being developed on top of the Stellar blockchain. Bloom Technologies CTO Ramon Tayag explains that Stellar is “a perfect fit for the activity that will occur on the platform. Every exchange of currency or payment these MSBs execute on the network adds to the total liquidity in the network. Combined with the Stellar Decentralized Exchange, the benefits that will accrue to the businesses and end-users is immense.”

Rendition of BloomX launch partners’ storefronts

BloomX is launching in 2018 with two major partners: Palawan Pawnshop and Czarina Foreign Exchange. Together, the two companies operate a network of 3,000 outlets around the country, and specialize in dealing with low-value cash transactions. In Southeast Asia, where banking has still not reached more than 30% of the adult population, this is critical to success.

By 2019, BloomX will be powering forex dealers all over Southeast Asia, and reaching a population larger than that of the United States. Bloom Technologies Founder and CEO Israel Keys says, “We’re building a bridge for the Asian underbanked to safely transition from the cash in their pockets over to the new crypto economy. It will be one of the most profound shifts Asia has ever seen.”

For more information, please contact:

Toni Reyes

Business Development Manager

[email protected]

Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bitcoinnewscom

Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews

The post PR: BloomX Provides Safe Access to Crypto for 650 Million Asians appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Many analysts and mainstream media outlets including Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal attributed the recent drop in the Bitcoin price from $7,500 to $6,700 to the hacking attack suffered by Coinrail, a minor cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea.

However, the reasoning behind attributing the latest correction to Coinrail is incorrect, given that Coinrail is a small exchange with a low daily trading volume used by a small portion of investors in South Korea. Bithumb, UPbit, and Korbit remain the three biggest cryptocurrency trading platforms in South Korea, and Coinrail is not considered a major exchange.

Analysts tend to apply any negative event or news to explain declines in the value of Bitcoin and the entire cryptocurrency market because, for general readers and investors, it is difficult to accept the fact that the market moves based on supply and demand, and that the price of Bitcoin has fallen by such a large margin overnight without a solid trigger.

$6,700 Isn’t New

For many weeks, prominent analysts and cryptocurrency researchers including Willy Woo have emphasized that the downward trend of Bitcoin is simply too strong to be influenced by indicators such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and moving averages. In late May, Woo noted that it was likely that Bitcoin would experience a slow bleed out to the higher end of the $6,000 region and eventually make its way down to $5,700.

Woo explained:

“So in summary my best guess is slowish bleed down to $6,800, then a steeper slide to $5,700, then a levelling out of the drop. then a flat zone. This is an educated guess based on volume profile and fundamental data framing the rate of movement.”

He further emphasized that the price movement of Bitcoin was nearly identical to its correction in 2014, the biggest correction in its history. If the chart of Bitcoin from 2014 and mid-2018 are placed side by side, price movements seem unrealistically similar.

“This is like 2014 but Y-axis is just 20x. In some ways the markets are more reliable to forecast in 2018 than in 2014. Data on fundamentals should map more reliably to price as we ain’t in the early phase of a few whales randomly pushing things around anymore,” added Woo.

The price movement of Bitcoin in mid-2018 is similar to the 2014 correction because both periods saw a correction triggered by retail investors or individual traders. While major financial institutions such as NASDAQ, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley have announced their entrance into the cryptocurrency sector and the demand from institutional investors has increased significantly, the amount of capital currently coming from institutional investors in the cryptocurrency sector is close to zero.

What Lies Ahead?

Even short-term bears and skeptics see a bright mid-term future for Bitcoin, especially in late 2018, as institutional investors are planning to enter the cryptocurrency market when custodial solutions from companies like Coinbase, Gemini, and Fidelity are ready. If billions of dollars start to come into the cryptocurrency market, as billionaire investor Mike Novogratz previously stated, FOMO (fear of missing out) could be triggered by large-scale pensions and hedge funds, leading Bitcoin and the rest of the market to experience exponential growth.

In the short-term, however, it is highly likely that Bitcoin will dip below the $6,000 mark before recovering, due to its low volume and demand from retail investors.

Adblock Plus has created an extension to combat fake news using blockchain technology

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

Truegame is a smart-contract enabled igaming platform that is attempting to bring the trustless nature of blockchain to online casinos. The platform is marketed as a solution to the inherent uncertainty regarding the trustworthiness of facilitators of these games of chance.

Players must trust that casino operators or lottery managers will fairly oversee games, ensuring that nothing other than mathematical probability determines winners and losers. Unfortunately for them, this is no guarantee as current environments provide plenty of room for cheating.

Truegame announces successful token sale

Truegame is trying to fix this uncertainty by injecting a greater level of transparency and trustlessness into the igaming industry. Truegame recently took its first step towards that goal by completed its main crowdsale — successfully raising over 5000 ETH (3 million USD).

Considering the startup’s soft cap goal was 2300 ETH, Truegame has deemed the token sale a success — raising well over double that minimum limit. Furthermore, the hard cap was set at 10300 ETH and sold over 70 million tokens with over 210 million being made available to purchase in all.

The Truegame effect

By leveraging smart contracts and blockchain tech, players using Truegame will not only know exactly how payouts are determined (via open ledger exploration), but rest easy knowing that they will be executed automatically without human interference.

Therefore, outcomes will be pre-determined in a certain way given that all results are visible on the blockchain open registry. All doubts about return to player, an industry term describing the percentage of all the wagered money a slot machine will pay back to players over time, will be effectively removed.

Dmitry Danilov, CEO of Truegame, explains how Truegame was conceived as a solution to the opaque nature of the igaming model — putting the ‘house’ on full display to be scrutinized by the players.

“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’.

About Truegame

Truegame utilizes blockchain technology, the power behind this tech removes any doubts about the operator’s integrity. Truegame will soon be granted a gambling license from Curacao and are in negotiations with other regulatory bodies worldwide.

Truegame employs a native cryptocurrency, called TGAME, a utility token the platform requires all users to possess in order to play on their website and participate in the games they have to offer.

Additionally, the project has attracted unprecedented attention from the iGaming community, with several leading figures from the industry on-board as advisors, including Gluck Games COO and co-founder Arvind Upadhyay.

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

Chat on Telegram: https://t.me/truegame_chat

ICO Bench: ICO Bench – Truegame

ICO Rating Agency: ICO Rating Agency – Truegame

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/truegameSRL

Subscribe on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/truegame.io/

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-NLPf7AAn6sFxOiH1GFI4A

Join on Medium: https://medium.com/@truegame/

Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bitcoinnewscom

Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews

The post Truegame Successfully Reaches Crowdfunding Goal appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

India is a very peculiar country when it comes to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The RBI decided to restrict such activity in the country in April of 2018. However, further research seems to indicate this decision is not based on research or consultation. As such, various parties question whether or not the RBI’s decision can be ‘just.’

The RBI and Cryptocurrency

The Reserve Bank of India does not like Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies. This has become apparently clear as more time progresses. In April of 2018, the RBI dissuaded banks and financial service providers from dealing with virtual currencies altogether. This puts a lot of pressure on exchanges and other cryptocurrency service providers active in India. More importantly, it seems to prevent any form of financial innovation in the country.

As one would expect, not everyone agrees with the RBI and its decision. There is a growing concern as to whether or not the bank effectively conducted the proper research prior to making this decision. So far, it seems there has been no outreach in this regard, neither in the form of research or consultation. Moreover, the RBI confirmed no committee was formed to analyze the concept of blockchain or virtual currencies. With that information, the end result seems relatively biased.

Despite this ‘lack of research,’ the Reserve Bank made its decision final in April. Mandating banks and payment gateway providers to withdraw support for virtual currency firms in the next three months is not a popular decision. Some companies have complied, whereas others still remain on the fence. This is somewhat good news for exchanges and other service providers, although finding other solutions may be needed regardless.

The Future of Bitcoin in India

For cryptocurrency exchanges, the uneasy situation remains in place. Not being able to access domestic banking services cna prove to be relatively problematic. As such, companies will need to find new solutions. The most obvious change will come in the form of companies leaving India altogether. That is not a positive development for the industry as a whole, especially in India.

What is rather interesting is how a Supreme Court hearing will be held on July 20th. During this hearing, the Supreme Court will determine whether or not the decision by the RBI is just. With no official consultation and research, the one-sided verdict is subject to a lot of speculation. Whether or not any imminent changes can be expected in India, remains to be determined.

India is one of the countries where financial innovation takes center stage. Opposing cryptocurrencies seems to be a completely opposite approach in this regard. With the RBI cracking down on cryptocurrency activity, an interesting precedent is created. Whether or not it will stand, is a different matter altogether. Alienating an entire nation from Bitcoin may not be the most viable course of action at this time.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post RBI Needs to Clarify Its Anti-Crypto Decision to the Supreme Court In July appeared first on NewsBTC.

Chief of the German Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), Felix Hufeld, has described blockchain technology as “revolutionary” while stating that he sees it as capable of turning the financial sector ”upside down”.

Speaking during an event in Berlin last week, Hufeld, president of BaFin, outlined his position on both Bitcoin and blockchain.

While holding a skeptical view on the sustainability of Bitcoin’s price and the current initial coin offering (ICO) boom, Hufeld expressed his belief that blockchains capacity to power distributed applications “could actually be revolutionary”.

Highlighting the benefits unique to blockchain, Hufeld noted: “These apps are not only safe from failures of individual computers or providers, they also promote the development of a ”blockchain economy”.

An additional advantage of blockchain Hufeld considers is its potential in providing “effective control mechanisms or trustworthy institutions” in areas such as international aid that lack dependable regulation.

It appears Hufeld’s opinions have developed since April when he stated he merely did not want to ”kill [blockchain] innovation“, as BaFin expanded cryptocurrency regulations on the pretext of money laundering concerns.

Germany’s position on Bitcoin

Earlier this week, members of the German federal government stated that they believed Bitcoin did not provide a threat to financial stability because they view the volume of cryptocurrency asset transactions as too low to have a large impact on the German economy.

However, the representatives said that they believed an increase in regulatory measures was required to control the industry, with the government considering it important to monitor this area closely at the G20 level.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a report in April that cited similar reasoning as that of the German government in regards to not seeing cryptocurrencies as a threat to global financial stability.

Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bitcoinnewscom

Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews

The post German Finance Regulator: Blockchain Could Be Revolutionary appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

The number of women interested in investing in cryptocurrencies has more than doubled since the beginning of the year, a new study has revealed. The study was carried out by the London Block Exchange, a leading crypto exchange in the UK, and found that crypto interest among men had barely changed in the first six months of 2018. The report also outlined some of the defining characteristics that differentiate male and female investors, including levels of collaboration and reasons for investing.

Women Increasingly Interested in Cryptos

The report revealed that the proportion of women interested in investing in cryptos stands at one in eight, or 12.5%. This has more than doubled from the 6% polled in December of last year, reported City AM on June 9. The interest is higher among millennial women, with one in five expressing interest in crypto investment.

While the industry has been a male-dominated field for long, women are making inroads according to Agnes de Roeyer, an analyst at the London Block Exchange who was quoted by City AM.

There’s still a common misconception that cryptocurrency is a game for men, but we’ve seen hundreds of women sign up for our exchange in the last few months, and some of the most inspiring and knowledgeable investors leading the way in the industry are female.

The report also looked at the differences in motivation between male and female investors, with many men investing out of the fear of missing out. Women were found to be less likely to invest out of FOMO and invest strategically, taking into account all the pros and cons of the digital currency in which they invest.

Women are likely to consult their friends and family members when making a decision on which cryptos to invest in, the report suggested. On the other hand, men aren’t as collaborative and prefer making the decision by themselves.

Apprehension Toward Cryptos In The UK

An earlier survey had revealed great apprehension toward cryptos in the UK, with 71% of the respondents stating that they wouldn’t use existing cryptocurrencies. The survey found that there is widespread awareness of cryptocurrencies – 92% are aware of the existence of Bitcoin – with the next most popular cryptos being Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin, respectively.

Interestingly, the UK market responded more positively to the prospect of a digital currency developed by the huge tech firms. Amazon was the most popular choice, with 26% of respondents stating that they would embrace an Amazon-issued digital currency to conduct transactions. Google, Apple and Facebook were the next most popular choices at 19%, 17% and 14% respectively.

The report echoes the results of a survey conducted by London-based trading platform eToro which was carried out between March 2017 and February 2018. The survey found that female investors in the sector only accounted for 8.5% of all investors, while males accounted for 91.5%. Most females were interested in XRP, while Ethereum was the most popular among the male investors. Novice investors with no prior trading experience comprised the majority, accounting for more than 80% of all crypto investors, the report found.

Known in crypto circles as the ‘Ethereum killer’ or the ‘Chinese Ethereum’, NEO is a smart contract hosting system that has blossomed into a top-15 asset with an aggressive product development road-map 

Taking a page from the CEO of JPMorgan, Jamie Dimon’s, book, Sabeer Bhatia, the founder of internet giant Hotmail.com, has explained why he isn’t fond of cryptocurrencies, even going so far as to call them a ‘fraud.’

Bhatia on Cryptocurrencies

Despite the fact that cryptocurrencies and associated blockchain technology are having an increasingly large impact on the world of finance and beyond, Bhatia is not convinced of their viability. For him, investing in any cryptocurrency practically defines the phrase ‘too good to be true.’

Speaking with Arabian Business, Bhatia, who founded and then sold the email service Hotmail in the 1990s, said that cryptocurrencies use a business model that is based on fraud. He went on to say that the coins don’t have real-world-ready business plans, and that white papers simply detail how developers dream the world will be (as opposed to how it actually is). 

“The underlying business model that I have looked at is fraud. Cryptocurrencies are nothing more than white papers, a hope in the way the world will be,” he said.

While Bhatia is appreciative of the potential for blockchain technology and it’s use in cheap, instant, and democratic cross-border settlement, he sides with Warren Buffet in the belief that many in the space will ultimately lose out on their investments.

Bhatia also rejected the oft-cited parallels between cryptocurrencies and the dotcom era, of which he was famously a part, an era that saw billions of dollars thrown into websites that had no underlying business, many of which ultimately folded.

He went on to say that the dotcom bubble had companies with viable business models, as opposed to cryptocurrency-related projects which he believes don’t. He added that ideas which have not been implemented should not be valued at billions of dollars.

Bhatia described the situation as follows:

“The likes of Pets.com and the Books.com were at least versions of e-commerce platforms that are only growing today. There [were] missteps back then but, guess what, we’re doing everything online today. They were right… but they were too early and didn’t have the staying power like an Amazon. Those failures tried to pick a vertical and wanted to be the solution for that segment. [There’s] nothing wrong with that.”

To further explain his point Bhatia brought up IOTA, which is one of the largest digital currencies in the market, currently sitting in ninth place with a market cap of almost $3.3 billion. Bhatia argued that while IOTA is based on the Internet of Things (IoT), the firm have never actually sold any IoT devices. Moreover, he explained that the company only has an idea, and one which has never been properly implemented.

Using IOTA as an example, Bhatia said:

“There is a token called IOTA, which is based on the Internet-of-Things. But they haven’t sold a single device to anyone. The whole idea is: ‘In the future, one IoT device will be able to talk to another IoT device and settle any financial transaction between them using blockchain. That’s the idea. And although it’s never been implemented, the idea is worth $15bn? Really? The values are entirely speculative.”

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post Hotmail Founder Criticizes the Valuation and Business Models of Cryptocurrencies appeared first on NewsBTC.