Day: June 13, 2018

Leading the way

With the blockchain industry in a period of massive expansion, Argo’s approval for listing paves the way for more blockchain-based firms to follow suit. This move is indeed a testament to the cryptocurrency sector shedding its reputation of exclusivity.

London’s role on the international stage as a global hub for financial technology is what attracted Argo to pursue a place on the city’s stock exchange in particular. “A London stock market listing will provide Argo with the profile, credibility, and access to global capital to drive our growth and help us establish a leadership position in the long term,” co-founder of Argo Jonathan Bixby said.

The firm is looking to raise USD 20 million, with a valuation target of USD 40 million.

Argo

London-headquartered firm Argo works on a subscription-based model, with its cryptocurrency mining operations based in Quebec, Canada, active since last year. This has become a popular location for mining farms due to optimal climate and energy cost conditions. Argo has plans to expand operations to Iceland and China, both of which benefit from cheap electricity costs and a cold climate.

The firm provides clients with the ability to mine Bitcoin Gold, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, and Zcash remotely via its own mining rigs. Argo plans to charge customers USD 25 a month for access to the mining facilities. No separate mining pools are planned for development, nor will Argo act as an online wallet to store any of the cryptocurrencies mined. Customers are limited to one contract each.

Speaking to Business Insider, Mike Edwards, co-founder of Argo, noted: “Setting up a computer rig to mine cryptocurrency is challenging, inefficient and expensive. I knew that we had to change the game and democratize the process so that crypto-mining could become a mainstream consumer activity.”

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The post Cloud Mining Firm Argo London Stock Exchange’s First Crypto Listing appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

An indicator meant to measure the rate at which an asset is being bought or sold may foretell a future bump for the price of bitcoin.

Argo Blockchain has announced plans to be listed on the London Stock Exchange, becoming the first crypto-focused company to do so. The UK-Canadian firm hopes to raise $20 million from the listing at a valuation of $40 million, and Switzerland’s Mirabaud Securities will act as the corporate broker for the company. Argo Blockchain offers mining-as-a-service (MaaS) solutions which allow its users to mine cryptocurrencies from their PCs and smartphones. The company’s mining facilities are located in the Canadian province of Quebec, but it chose to get listed in London as it considers it a global financial technology hub.

The Amazon Web Services Of Crypto

The company allows its users to mine any one of four digital currencies: Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Bitcoin Gold, and Zcash. The service is renewable on a monthly basis, with the company’s website indicating that all the packages are currently sold out. Users can engage in single or multicoin mining and use their own mining pool accounts. Each user is limited to using a single account.

The founder and CEO of Argo, Jonathan Bixby, hails his company’s ability to bring crypto mining to retail miners at a time when institutional miners dominate the process. Speaking to the Financial Times, Bixby said:

More than 90 percent of crypto mining is done by elites on industrial scale because it is technically very difficult to do. It is incredibly expensive to buy, up front, the hardware you need at $5,000 a machine. We want to be the Amazon Web Services of crypto.

Argo Blockchain hopes to match the success of its competitors, which include Genesis Mining, one of the largest cloud mining platforms. Genesis is based in Iceland and has over 2 million users of its cloud mining services whom it charges between $179 to $3,975 for a three-year contract, according to the FT. Argon currently employs 20 people in its Quebec operations, with plans to expand to other nations such as Iceland and China.

New Product Targets Mainstream Users

In a bid to further grow its user base, Argo Blockchain unveiled a new low-cost subscription service that targets mainstream consumers. Announced in a press release on June 11, the new service will be flexible and easy to use, and will aim to address the “pent-up demand from users who want to benefit from mining digital currencies but have been put off by its complexity and significant up-front cost.”

The company described the new service as easy to use even for novice miners. It’s also cost-effective, as it saves the user from having to purchase expensive mining equipment.

The company’s solution is mining-as-a-service (MaaS), which enables users to commence crypto mining without the need to have significant computing expertise or acquire complex and expensive hardware and have the frustration of setting up their own systems.

Argo Blockchain is expanding its portfolio at a time when crypto mining has continued to attract negative press for its intense energy use. Quebec recently announced that it would suspend the issuing of approvals to crypto mining firms as it seeks to introduce new regulation to govern the industry. The province cited concerns over the power use of mining firms, which it says employ few people compared to other energy-intensive industries like aluminum refining.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

The Bitcoin price is not in a good place right now. That situation will not change anytime soon. When looking at the long-term picture, however, a lot of things may change in the coming months. It has become easy to overlook the positive developments happening in the Bitcoin world today.

The Bitcoin Price is Part of the Story

As is usually the case when people discuss Bitcoin, the price takes center stage. That is only normal, as it is the go-to metric for the world’s leading cryptocurrency. Even so, the price only tells a small part of how the Bitcoin ecosystem evolves at any given time. Additionally, the Bitcoin price has become very easy to manipulate, effectively triggering an official manipulation investigation.

With the Bitcoin price losing so much value in 2018, the situation looks dire. Compared to January 2018, the value has dropped by nearly 50%. For short-term investors and speculators, it is the worst possible outcome. Everyone else, however, is seemingly less bothered by the short-term changes. The Binance CEO even stated how this is a temporary trend which seems to occur every year.

Moreover, various experts shared interesting Bitcoin price predictions. Some even go as far as claiming how one BTC will hit $15,000 again later this year. While not impossible, it seems to be somewhat unlikely at this point. With all of the negative momentum, chances of a Bitcoin price increase become less likely every single day. Nothing is impossible in the cryptocurrency world, as stranger things have happened over the years.

Looking Ahead with Positive News

Other than the Bitcoin price, various developments are taking place as well. Bitcoin is set to receive a fair few technical updates in the months to come. Transaction fees are already on the decline, and future scaling solutions will help improve things accordingly. When the Lightning Network will effectively gain global traction, has yet to be determined at this stage.

Furthermore, merchant adoption of Bitcoin as a payment method is also seemingly on the rise. That in itself has been a pressing problem for the world’s leading cryptocurrency. If things can pick up the pace in this regard, there will be a growing focus on paying with cryptocurrencies, rather than investing in them. Such a mindshift will be more than welcome as far as Bitcoin is concerned.

There is also the growing regulatory focus on Bitcoin. Whereas once assumed to be a necessary evil, more people now see the merit of actively regulating Bitcoin. It offers more legitimacy to the cryptocurrency space and may help attract institutional investors. All of these changes combined will eventually impact the Bitcoin price in a positive manner. Last but not least, major trading platforms are venturing  into cryptocurrency. That list includes Nasdaq, ICE, ad, and several other key players.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post Positive Bitcoin Price Momentum in Late 2018 Is Still Very Much Possible appeared first on NewsBTC.

Former Telegram director of special projects Anton Rosenberg is launching Mikado, a crypto derivatives trading platform.

A new Wired report finds that US companies are experimenting with new marketing channels within the crypto space, especially after recent high-profile bans on crypto-related advertising on social media channels and with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) starting to take a closer look at unregulated token sales late last year.

This has also created new opportunities for those willing to take on the challenging task of differentiating genuine startups from fraudulent ones.

An example is Sally, an executive assistant living in British Columbia, who created a 34-page beginner’s guide to crypto investing and shared it online, very quickly gaining 18,000 subscribers on YouTube and 14,000 followers on Twitter. Within a few months, she was making a living from her new-found life and eventually quit her job. She commented:

“I’m like a nobody in traditional marketing terms, but because this space is so new and it’s so crazy right now, there aren’t a lot of crypto influencers yet, and especially female ones.”

Although she has clearly made a success from the crypto space, now receiving up to ten requests a week to promote ICOs and post coin reviews, such opportunities need to be weeded out among the numerous similar sounding projects, many of them far less reputable.

A recent Wall Street Journal investigation has highlighted this problem of how to choose a bona fide opportunity amongst the numerous scam traps waiting for its next victim. The investigation found that nearly 20% of 1,450 projects were obvious frauds and increased scrutiny from the SEC has dampened entrepreneurial enthusiasm.

This requires that projects need to be far more innovative, particularly in the light of recent advertising bans by Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Bing. Startup fundraising was largely superseded by ICOs as an effective way of raising funds, but now ICOs are looking far less secure among the confusing mix of promoters, scammers, spammers, and regulators.

“Scams and pump-and-dump schemes have turned off many potential investors. Meanwhile, a sustained drop in the prices of major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether has left crypto investors with less capital to risk on new tokens. Making matters worse,” writes Wired.

The market is becoming expensive as it becomes primed for growth hackers, PR agencies, telegram managers and bounty hunters. Jonas Karlberg, CEO of AmaZix, a Denmark-based firm that manages Telegram communities, explains that bounty programs give products a voice and are also time-friendly, but they have a downside. He warns that numerous mindless social media shares create little value for the project. “These bounty hunters are only doing this to get their hands on some quick reward,” he says.

A Google company spokesman has said that its ban is not operational yet. Until it does, writes Wired, crypto companies will take advantage of the lag. Searches for terms like “buy ico”, “token sale” and “invest crypto” will turn up numerous ads for cryptocurrency projects, white papers, and ICOs.

Sally’s 34-page guide may be even more useful to the uninitiated about to step into this vibrant and complex space; it may possibly help them to avoid a misguided next move and make a productive, financially rewarding decision.

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Paxful, the peer-to-peer (P2P) bitcoin marketplace, has announced new developments in its #BuiltWithBitcoin charitable initiative. The company has granted scholarships to female Afghan refugees in the U.S., and provided additional resources for the Rwandan nursery school that it helped construct.

Also Read: Company Asks Israeli Authorities Permission to Pay Salaries in Bitcoin

Helping Afghan Women

The recipients, which were chosen based on their personal essays, are Susan Naseri, who is interested in non-profit work and law; Dunia Azizi, who will pursue a mathematics degree; and Farzana Nawabi, who is working towards a bachelor’s degree in nursing. They were awarded $5,000 each, $2,500 per semester. This scholarship will continue as an annual program by Zam Zam, the non-profit which is in charge of the implementation.

“As a recipient of the Zam Zam Water scholarship, I’d like to express endless gratitude and appreciation to Paxful and everyone involved in the donation process,” said Susan Naseri. “Receiving this scholarship is not only an immense honor and privilege; it also eases my financial stress significantly. I’m beyond humbled and thankful for this scholarship; thank you eternally for helping me expand my education and fulfill my dreams.”

Investing in Africa

Paxful, which reported earlier this year that its monthly bitcoin volume in Africa is around $40 million, launched the #BuiltWithBitcoin program in 2017 by donating $50,000 in bitcoin for the construction of a nursery school in Rwanda. The company more recently announced it is increasing its investment in the school by upgrading the facilities, providing teachers with educational materials and salaries, and giving students free launches, uniforms and new desks. It is also building a water filtration system to allow water from local wells to be used for farming.

The initiative also recently welcomed cryptocurrency provider Anthem Gold, which donated enough bitcoin to build a 35,000-liter water tank in Rwanda, and funded the cultivation of over eighty sustainable community gardens as well as thirty goats for two villages. “I am grateful to participate in a project that builds sustainable and essential projects for communities in need,” said Anthem Hayek Blanchard, CEO of Anthem Gold. “We hope to use Zam Zam’s knowledge to provide people with the building blocks needed to foster and grow.”

Ray Youssef, the CEO of Paxful, was recently interviewed on the Humans of Bitcoin podcast about why Africa needs bitcoin.

What other causes should be supported by bitcoin companies? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. 

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi’s Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com.

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The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has filed an affidavit with the country’s High Court seeking to have the court uphold its decision to shut down the country’s largest crypto exchange, Golix.com. The RBZ filed the affidavit through its governor, John Mangudya, on June 8, reports local media outlet Pindula News. The country’s financial services regulator has cracked down on the crypto industry in the country in a bid to protect its citizens. Its efforts have included starving the crypto industry of mainstream financial access as well as ordering the country’s largest crypto exchange to shut down its operations, a decision that Golix successfully challenged in court.

Decision Was “The Most Appropriate Action”

Mangudya defended the RBZ’s decision to shut down Golix, terming it the “most appropriate action to deal with the risk identified.” The decision was well thought-out, the affidavit said, while accusing Golix of running an unlicensed remittance and money transfer platform. Mangudya went into detail on the exchange’s risky operations, which he described as “a pyramid scheme that could burst at any time.”

The RBZ also took issue with the exchange’s KYC process, which it said can’t be robust as its operations were meant to assist its users in evading the law in some instances. It further defended its actions, stating that they were necessary to protect the Zimbabwean financial markets.

The measures taken against the applicant (Golix) were reasonable and necessary and proportionate to the grave risk posed to the financial system and the transacting public. Whilst the country is “open for business”, it should not be open to platforms that promote illegality.

The regulator concluded by stating that it had no objection to the matter being heard soon so that the issue could be determined once and for all.

Relentless Efforts

It all started in May, when the RBZ issued a directive to all financial institutions ordering them to terminate their existing relationships with crypto-related firms. The decision was received with criticism by the crypto industry, which termed it a violation of their constitutional rights. Financial institutions were given 60 days to comply or risk legal action.

For Bitfinance Ltd, which trades as Golix.com, this was only the beginning. Barely a week later, its banking accounts were frozen with no explanation given, according to local media outlet Techzim. This denied their clients access to their funds, which caused widespread panic. It didn’t end there for Golix, as days later, they received a directive from RBZ’s Registrar of Banking Institutions ordering them to shut down their operations. Golix went to court to challenge the directive and received interim relief until the case is determined.

Crypto exchanges have had run-ins with financial industry regulators around the world as the latter struggle to create comprehensive regulations for an industry that has shot to prominence in a few years. With most jurisdictions’ regulatory frameworks having been formulated decades ago, phenomena like cryptocurrencies, ICOs and crypto exchanges hadn’t been anticipated and are therefore largely unregulated. In some countries like Malta and Switzerland, crypto-friendly regulations have been put in place, which has continued to attract major industry players to these countries. Those countries which have adopted anti-crypto stands have seen crypto firms move their operations offshore.