Day: June 16, 2018

The cryptocurrency world is constantly evolving. More and more consumers are becoming exposed to digital currency such as Bitcoin. However, as the cryptocurrency space is becoming more well known, making your first Bitcoin or Altcoin purchase is still largely confusing for first time buyers. Online exchanges look complicated and a beginner Bitcoin buyer may not know where to start. Bitcoin of America is seeking to change this, by ensuring customers a fast, reliable and safe transaction with their Over the Counter cryptocurrency exchange. Their goal is to provide a seamless transaction to buy bitcoin online.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

For veterans in the cryptocurrency space, the notion that your first crypto purchase is still tedious and complicated may seem laughable. However, a recent video exemplifies just this, for the general population (especially those in the US), cryptocurrency purchases are hard. This is where Bitcoin of America comes in. Bitcoin of America arms consumers with a simple, secure, and straightforward service to buy Bitcoin.

Three Ways to Play

Bitcoin of America offers three methods to safely buy Bitcoin. The first method of exchange is a bank-to-bank wire transfer. This is done directly through the website. Simply create an account to start buying and selling cryptocurrency. Currently Bitcoin of America supports Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple transactions. The customer will be able to wire money from their bank account directly to Bitcoin of America to buy bitcoin online. As a courtesy, for the first transaction, Bitcoin of America’s customer service team will guide you through the transaction process and will verify the BTC address (or other cryptocurrency) to make sure for a smooth purchase.

Another way to buy Bitcoin is through Bitcoin of America’s Bitcoin ATMs. These Bitcoin ATMs allow a customer to purchase Bitcoin on the spot, usually 24 hours a day. Currently Bitcoin of America operates Bitcoin ATMs in major cities such as Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New Orleans and St. Louis, with plans to expand to new cities throughout the US this year. Customers can buy Bitcoin with cash, at any of the Bitcoin ATMs. This allows users a chance to buy bitcoin immediately without having to wait for a wire transfer.

Lastly, Bitcoin of America’s services span to store payment locations throughout the US. Through their online Bitcoin of America account, users can place Bitcoin orders that they later fulfill in store. Orders are time stamped so the exact rate of exchange is locked in. After placing the order, customers simply make their payment at the store location closest to them in order to receive their BTC.

Utmost Ease

Bitcoin of America allows users to buy bitcoin with ease while providing a fast, safe and reliable transaction. The company offers live chat support for wire services to enable a smooth transaction. This allows the customer to be completely comfortable with their purchase and allows them to ask any questions they may have before buying cryptocurrency. Other bitcoin exchanges only offer email support and that may take days to receive a response all while Bitcoin price is fluctuating. Bitcoin of America allows for any issue that comes up be addressed directly and in the best approach possible. Another key feature that sets Bitcoin of America apart from all of its competitors is same day settlement for all cryptocurrency purchases. Simply wire in the morning and receive your Bitcoin in hours! No waiting 5-7 days like other exchanges.

Bitcoin of America ensures a reliable and safe method to buy bitcoin online and through its Bitcoin ATM and store payment locations.

To get in touch with Bitcoin of America, check out their website and follow them on Twitter.

The EOS blockchain went live this week, sparking debate and commentary from cryptocurrency’s avid social media users.

Token swaps are becoming common, but what do they mean for users and investors? CoinDesk explores the evolving art of blockchain migrations.

Bitcoin Press Release: Blockchain cross-network ecosystem ARK have announced details and release date of their Core v2 Codebase. The codebase will be available for public testing on DevNet, so enthusiasts worldwide can get a taste of what is to come, and contribute to the ongoing development of the platform.

5th June 2018, Lons-le-Saunier, France – Yes, this is the moment most of you have been waiting for – the release date of the new ARK Core v2 codebase for public testing on DevNet (ARK’s public test network). This is not a MainNet release, only for their testing DevNet, but the code for v2 will finally be available for the world to see, test and contribute to.

“We have completely rewritten our core to make it faster, more scalable, more modular, easier to work with and some great new features. Such as Dynamic Fees and Multisig support. This rewrite has been months in the making and we are very proud to show the world what the next level of DPoS can do!” – ARK Co-Founder Travis Walker

Although most of you are familiar with ARK’s motto “ARK Gives No Dates”, this latest release needs coordination with those running DevNet delegates and relay nodes. Anyone running a DevNet node needs to be on board and prepared prior to release. Before we tell you the date, let’s review the steps that will occur during the upcoming months.

1. Release of ARK Core v2 Codebase

First, ARK will release the ARK Core v2 code on their public GitHub repository. This will be accompanied by a detailed blog post on the date specified for public release. The repository will be available at: http://github.com/arkecosystem/ark-core

The current ARK Node codebase will as such become deprecated, not maintained and replaced with the new ARK Core v2 repository.

2. Preparations and installation of ARK Core on DevNet

Next, the community and delegates who are running v1 DevNet nodes on the current codebase (ARK Node) will need to update their servers with ARK Core v2. Don’t worry, ARK will release a detailed guide on how to install/replace your current ARK Node on DevNet. It will be much simpler to install the new Core and will now support different Operating Systems (including Windows). Be prepared for many new features to test!

With this, public testing of ARK Core v2 will begin! Test it thoroughly, try the most unimaginable of things, stress it, attacking the whole dev network, catch every issue you can, report bugs, provide improvements to the code, … and the end result will be a truly stable foundation for MainNet release. But who are we kidding, DevNet is where all the fun will be at so make sure you join in!

Note that the first iteration of the new ARK Core will be 100% backwards compatible (no new transaction types that are detailed in AIP-11). You will still be able to run your old ARK Node on DevNet, but ARK of course want you to switch to new code as soon as possible and help test it.

3. Transition from DevNet to MainNet

After DevNet testing is complete, ARK will provide another date announcing transition of the ARK Core v2 to MainNet. From ARK gives no dates to ARK gives two dates, they know this is a new concept too.

Predicting a date for MainNet at this time is highly unlikely as it all depends on how the testing on DevNet will go — on how many things that need to be modified, fixed and improved. Running on an internally controlled TestNet is a different beast from a live environment with real parameters and in a more distributed manner.

4. AIP-11 Hardfork

AIP-11 types (timelock, multipayments, IPFS, delegate resignation) will be part of a hardfork that will occur after we get our initial v2 release running on the MainNet. AIP-11 will require all delegates to update in order for the network to switch and support the new transaction. This hardfork will NOT be backwards compatible (and again it will be tested beforehand on DevNet).

The timing of the AIP-11 hardfork also depends on when ARK get the initial ARK Core v2 update onto MainNet. ARK expect to start testing the hardfork as soon as possible on DevNet after v2 is running on MainNet. So batten down the hatches, furl those sails … all hands on deck as the ARK is prepared for stormy seas as the voyage continues….

The  ARK Core v2 codebase will become available on: Thursday, the 14th of June 2018, https://ark.io/countdown

To learn more about the ARK project visit these links:

Website- https://ark.io
Blog- https://blog.ark.io/
Twitter- https://twitter.com/ArkEcosystem
YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpc2k6zOOutGT9y56urDClg
Slack Chat- https://ark.io/slack
Steemit Blog- https://steemit.com/@arkecosystem

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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The uneasy situation across all cryptocurrency markets is till tangible at this point. So much even that it would appear another round of bearish pressure will materialize at any given moment. As is usually the case, some coins feel this pressure a lot sooner compared to others. For the IOTA price, things are not looking too impressive.

IOTA Price Decline is Real

It was to be expected the weekend would bring more bearish pressure across all cryptocurrency markets. Weekends are notoriously troublesome for the many people trying to score quick profits. It seems unlike any major changes will occur in this regard. As far as the IOTA price is concerned, the losses have begun to mount pretty quickly over the past few hours.

More specifically, the market is currently faced with a 3.87% decline in IOTA price over the past 24 hours. It is also the biggest decline in the entire top 10, which further confirms this market will remain rather volatile for quite some time to come. For IOA price speculators, this development is not what they were hoping for, but there isn’t much one can do about this negative pressure.

Additionally, the IOTA price is currently bogged down by another decline in MIOTA/BTC ratio. Although a 2.62% setback isn’t all that spectacular, it does appear this will continue to weigh heavily on the IOTA price. Whether or not this means there will be further declines in the coming hours, remains to be seen. For now, the uneasy situation will remain in place.

Similar to most other cryptocurrencies, IOTA is suffering from a very steep decline in trading volume. It is evident the cryptocurrency markets suffer from a very worrisome trend in this regard. With the overall volume down to $11.766bn, it seems evident the altcoins will continue to suffer for quite some time to come.

Looking over the exchanges ranked by IOTA trading volume, Bitfinex is clearly in control of the market. Together with OKEX’s and Binance, these platforms complete the top five in a rather interesting mix. Although only one platform offers a fiat currency pair, it is evident there isn’t much fresh capital entering the IOTA market. That can become a big problem moving forward.

For the time being, this weekend is shaping up like any other as far as cryptocurrency is concerned. Small bearish pressure is sending some markets off the deep end, whereas Bitcoin continues to be stuck in sideways momentum with a slight negative tilt. A declining Bitcoin price pushes the IOTA price down as well, and it seems no real changes will occur in this regard.

A 36-year-old French national plead guilty this week in U.S. courts for selling narcotics for Bitcoin on the dark web. Guy Vallerius, who operated under the monkier ‘OxyMonster,’ was arrested by authorities at the Atalanta airport last September as he was making his way to Austin, Texas to take part in the World Beard and Mustache Championships.

Authorities Uncover Identity of OxyMonster

As the criminal complaint filed last year shows, U.S. authorities were able to identify Vallerius as OxyMonster — as well as keep him under surveillance — after they discovered one of his Bitcoin accounts. They got to his Bitcoin account through Vallerius’ ‘tip jar’ on the Dream Market dark web marketplace.

The purpose of the tip jar was to allow buyers on Dream Market to tip Vallerius for his services — selling the opiate painkiller Oxycodone and the ADHD drug Ritalin. The problem for Vallerius was, unlike most vendors on the Dream Market, he did not configure his tips to go through the marketplace’s internal payment systems, which passed transactions through a tumbler/mixer. Instead, he set the tip jar to receive funds at a Bitcoin address he set up.

The complaint reads:

“After observing the bitcoin ‘tip jar’ advertised by OxyMonsyter, agents conducted [an] analysis of the incoming and outgoing transactions from that bitcoin address and learned that 15 out of 17 outgoing transactions from the OxyMonster tip jar went to multiple wallets controlled by French national Gal VALLERIUS on localbitcoins.com.”

This slip-up allowed law enforcement to get a clue of who may be behind the OxyMonster monicker. Their suspicions were later confirmed when an analysis of OxyMonster and Vallerius’ writing styles suggested they were the same person:

“Open source data revealed that VALLERIUS has Instagram and Twitter accounts. Agents compared the writing style of OxyMonster on Dream Market forum while in Senior Moderator role to the writing style of VALLERIUS on his public Instagram and Twitter accounts. Agents discovered many similarities in the use of words and punctuation to including: the word ‘cheers;’ double exclamation marks; frequent use of quotation marks; and intermittent French posts.”

Vallerius’ identity was confirmed when border agents subjected him to a search at the Atlanta airport, following a search of his laptop, which was later seized.

Following the search and seizure, agents found incriminating evidence on the laptop, including the PGP encryption key that OxyMonster used to sign messages online, OxyMonster’s login credentials for the Dream Market, and Bitcoin addresses associated with OxyMonster’s vendor accounts. According to authorities, the wallets contained a combined $500,000 worth of the cryptocurrency.

Vallerius Excepts Plea Deal

Fast forward to this week. After fighting his charges for nearly a year in attempts to avoid a lifetime prison sentence, Vallerius has plead guilty in a plea deal, admitting to selling Oxycodone and Ritalin on the Dream Market under the name of OxyMonster.

Officially, Vallerius pleaded guilty for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to launder money. This is because not only was he a vendor, but also an administrator and moderator on the Dream Market. Thanks to his plea deal, Vallerius now faces a sentence of 20 years in prison, not life.

Over the past year, U.S. authorities have brought charges against many users of dark web marketplaces. In February, two dozen midshipmen based at the U.S. navel academy in Annapolis, Maryland, were charged with being part of an elaborate scheme to sell drugs purchased with Bitcoin on the dark web.

But despite high-profile cases like these, reports earlier this year from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies found that, in reality, less than one percent of Bitcoin is used for illegal or nefarious purposes. Moving forward, it’s important to remember that criminals have existed since the beginning of time — long before Bitcoin — and they will continue to leverage new technologies to their own benefit.

The post Authorities Track Bitcoin Transactions of Dark Web Drug Dealer, Arrested appeared first on NewsBTC.

Bitcoin Press Release: Scalable HEAT crypto platform and decentralized token exchange company Heat Ledger has announced the release of their Ethereum Heatwallet.

June 5, 2018, Finland – This exciting release brings Heatwallet users the added flexibility for transferring Ethereum and viewing ERC20 assets and access to the custom tools and the functionality of the Heatwallet decentralized exchange. Heat Ledger also offers SME businesses easy and affordable access to token creation.

This is a significant step towards fulfilling Heat Ledger’s ambitious goal of bringing together several dramatic server level changes, client-side features, and middleware system arrangements into its public HEAT platform to form a showcase for financial applications of today and the future.

Features of the Ethereum Heatwallet include:

• Ability to view Ethereum and transaction history for any ETH address
• Ability to import account seeds and optionally store multiple encrypted seeds on the user’s device for later access
• Client-side wallet: authentication data is never transmitted to the internet but stored on the user device, even in the case of sending transitions
• View all ERC20 token balances and full ERC20 transaction history for any ETH address
• Support for HD wallets

Svante Lehtinen, Co-Founder, and CEO of Heat Ledger states:

“This is a groundbreaking release for Heat Ledger. This exciting release enables Heat Ledger to make a fundamental step towards making the HEAT token and Heatwallet accessible and leveraged by the masses. We are confident that with the release of the Ethereum Heatwallet, Heat Ledger, our partners and community of inspired users will increasingly be driving innovation in the cryptocurrency space.”

Resources

To begin trading and using Heatwallet’s groundbreaking value-adding tools, visit https://heatwallet.com and set up your free account in minutes. To learn about tokenization of your company assets visit https://heatledger.com.

About Heat Ledger

Heat Ledger Ltd is a Finnish blockchain fintech startup, overseeing it’s public HEAT cryptocurrency and decentralized crypto tokens trading platform. The HEAT technology removes this pitfall by intelligently combining the best features of the existing 2.0 cryptos with a completely remade, sliced blockchain mechanism. Using custom built storage and access solution, based on Memory Mapped Files, binary data stored on disk can be accessed at near RAM memory speeds – without the need to load this data in RAM. Splitting blockchain into separate files for various data types, the HEAT Java server can fulfill the requirements of any modern commercial fintech applications on the blockchain.

To learn more visit the Website: https://heatledger.com
Meet the Team: https://heatledger.com/team
Connect on Twitter: https://twitter.com/heatcrypto
Chat on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/heatcrypto

Media Contact
Contact Name: Svante Lehtinen
Contact Email: [email protected]

Heat Ledger 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.

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Phillip Nunn has stated that he still believes that Bitcoin will reach $60,000 this year. The CEO of The Blackmore Group and Wealth Chain Group reaffirmed his January price prediction earlier today.

Nunn Believes that Many Crypto Projects will Fail

Nunn spoke to BusinessCloud at KPMG’s Tech Manchester event on Thursday. He stated that he still very much believes the calls he made in January. At the start of the year, he made a price prediction that Bitcoin would hit both $6,000 and $60,000 at some point in 2018. Yesterday, he told the publication:

“Well we’re certainly about to see the $6,000 aren’t we?… That’s probably a few hours away.”

He then addressed the more exciting end of his prediction:

“The prediction was based on, first of all, market volatility which we’re experiencing at the moment; I think that’s really apparent. I absolutely stand by my prediction.”

He went on to compare the cryptocurrency space to the dotcom bubble. He highlighted that the crypto market was essentially the reserve of the earlier crash since the money currently in Bitcoin and other cryptos was “from the crowd”. This, for Nunn, explains a lot of the extreme volatility associated with cryptocurrency prices:

“All the money that exists in crypto at the moment is from the public, so it’s all about market sentiment. A flood of bad news can wobble the market, stuff like regulation. The industry is so small that there’s market manipulation.”

According to BusinessCloud, Nunn has a firm belief in the transformative power of blockchain technology. He goes as far as the state that it has the potential disrupt every industry on the planet. He also believes that decentralised organisation is the way of the future.

During yesterday’s interview, Nunn stated that he often speaks to banks, financial institutions, and hedge funds. He claims that they all want to get involved in cryptocurrency but struggle to find a suitable entry point:

“There’s no entry point at the moment… If you’re a pension fund with £5 billion in your pot and you want to take a 5 per cent position in crypto you’re going to really piss your investors off because of the volatility in the market.”

The crypto entrepreneur and public speaker went on to state that there just isn’t the necessary infrastructure for institutional players to enter the market yet. However, the likes of Coinbase and other companies are trying to change this with new products targeting financial institutions.

When Nunn was asked to comment on the rest of the cryptocurrency market, he admitted that he thought most of the digital assets of today would disappear in the coming years. However, for Nunn, the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation aren’t going anywhere:

“What you have is the core market like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple, to name a few, that are really solidified in the market. They’re the fabric of the industry, if you like.”

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