Day: June 28, 2018

From lithographs to polaroids to VHS, pornography has been a key to pushing forward technology as far back as recorded history. A dirty secret maybe but one that Tron founder Justin Sun must recognize as he has partnered with Pornhub.

Pornhub Accepting TRX and Zcash Soon

Pornhub, which recently made payments available with the cryptocurrency Verge (XVG), will now soon be accepting Tron’s TRX as well as Zcash (ZEC) as payment for all their services. “Decentralized payment systems have continued to grow in popularity, and cryptocurrency adoption is exploding across a broad economic spectrum,” Pornhub VP Corey Price said in a statement that went on to add:

“Today, cryptocurrencies are especially viable in the adult entertainment industry because they are privacy-centric and incorporate more anonymity tools than traditional tender.”

Meanwhile, Tron founder Justin Sun has also bought the peer to peer sharing platform BitTorrent for an unconfirmed $118 million in cash, not crypto, according to the entertainment trade site Variety. BitTorrent was launched in 20o4 and has had a legacy of legal problems due to copyright infringement with a number of countries shutting down their sites and trackers.

With a reported 170 million users, including on its sub-client BitTorrent now, the torrent platform has been looking for a buyer for a number of years after failed negotiations with several other interested parties including TiVo.

Tron Buys BitTorrent for $118 Million

According to a statement made by Tron about their plans, it “aims to be a decentralized entertainment content-sharing platform eventually leveraging blockchain and peer-to-peer network technology.”  Which according to insiders can be read to mean that BitTorrent will be used as a base to increase the number of users of TRX, much as the deal with Pornhub is meant to do.

While partnering with a content provider boasting 90 million daily users, as Pornhub claims to have, using the TRX token is, on the face of it, a very good move. Others have wondered if the deal may put off companies with more traditional interests creating partnerships. Tron has been a steady climber in the market since its launch in 2017 and though its market cap is down almost 50% in the last three weeks its token is in the green at the time of writing according to livecoinwatch.

Along with adding both Zcash and TRX to its payment options, Pornhub has also just added a closed captioning feature for over 1,000 of its most popular videos as part of its philanthropic efforts which come under the company’s Pornhub cares umbrella.

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Some of Poland’s banks are being challenged by the Polish Bitcoin Association (PBS), a cryptocurrency industry group, over the closure of accounts linked to crypto firms in the country, writes Finance Magnates.

The PBS have taken its complaints to the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (OCCP) to investigate claims that the bank’s activities are illegal. The Polish legal system currently has no regulations prohibiting the activity of cryptocurrencies exchanges. However, it’s been reported that the crypto community in Poland is concerned that the bank’s activities are an indication that the government might be considering a move towards the prohibition of digital currencies in the future.

According to the OCCP, it has been challenging for crypto companies to find banks which will support their businesses, and there appears to be a blanket ban by several banks on cryptocurrency exchanges or companies.

The government, through a financial reparatory response, denies that it is behind the bank’s hostile activities, as cryptocurrency exchanges operate under Polish law. This has apparently done little to stop the banks, with the PBS citing 15 financial institutions refusing to open bank accounts to multiple users, with mBank making nine refusals to cryptocurrency companies and closing three existing accounts.

The PBS states that this behavior is tantamount to trying to remove legally-conducted cryptocurrency activity from the market, which is why it has taken the recent action with the OCCP, suggesting that the banks should be regulated and, if necessary, fined.

Poland’s regulation of cryptocurrency has like many other countries focused primarily on the curbing of legal activity, which has resulted in a ban on ICOs. Recent government “education” campaigns about cryptocurrency highlight potential risks of trading in digital currencies.

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Third largest crypto exchange Huobi opens new London office, expects to begin OTC trading tests in Q3 2018

A lot of things continue to happen behind the scenes of Ethereum. Another new token standard is about to be introduced in the coming weeks. Known as ERC-1155, this new standard is mainly designed for the video gaming industry.  Merging that industry with blockchain can lead to some intriguing developments down the line.

Tackling Gaming With Ethereum

There has been a visible increase in the world of blockchain assets. It is only a matter of time until more industries take notice of this technology as well. For video gamers, it seems blockchain-based assets can play a vital role of importance. The newly introduced ERC-721 token standard is one of the ways to reshape this growing industry as more time progresses.

It now seems another new standard is trying to make inroads in the gaming industry. Known as ERC-1155, it is designed to become an “evolved token”. Unlike previous models, the new token standard stores items in a single contract. Moreover, this is done in such a way it requires very little data to distinguish the tokens from others.

Furthermore, this token is proposed as a means of convenience. Exchanging these tokens can be done very easily and without big intermediary steps. Instead, everything is handled by the crypto items contract itself. It makes the process of swapping assets or having them change ownership a lot more straightforward moving forward.

Can ERC-1155 Succeed?

With a very strong focus on efficiency, it is evident ERC-1155 has a leg up over other standards. It appears to be a lot more straightforward. Gone are the days in which individual assets need to be swapped one at a time. This new standard allows for the instant transfer and conversion of any number of items through one process.

According to the accompanying blog post, up to 200 operations can be performed per transaction. That is quite a milestone in terms of scalability. More importantly, this system will work with both fungible and non-fungible items. That gives ERC-1155 a leg up over other standards as well. For video gaming enthusiasts, this solution is easily the most straightforward option

The big question is whether or not game developers will embrace this concept. After all, they need to incorporate this technology in order to make it more accessible. Bigger game titles may not necessarily see the merit of ERC-1155 right away. For the time being, the standard has been submitted to the Ethereum GitHub repository where it awaits feedback.

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The Korean exchange says it has clawed back some of the millions lost in a theft of cryptocurrencies including bitcoin, XRP and bitcoin cash.

Japan’s LINE Corp. announces new crypto exchange BITBOX, which has a ‘tentative’ launch date next month

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has released its annual report in which it states the commision will continue to monitor the cryptocurrency market and step in with penalties when it needs to.

SFC Will Remain Vigilant

The document highlights the risks tied to investing in the emerging technologies and especially singles out initial coin offerings (ICO) as a hotbed of fraud.

As detailed in the report the SFC took regulatory action against crypto exchanges and ICO issuers in the past year. In February letters were sent out to crypto exchanges warning them not to become involved in trading without a license as the tokens are considered a security defined by the Securities and Futures Ordinance. They also sent out seven letters to ICO issuers informing them of the SFC’s regulation, while some opted to end their offering most complied.

The report also contains information on the country’s regulatory sandbox which is meant to allow companies to “conduct regulated activities utilizing financial technologies.” In addition, the SFC announced a partnership with the Investor Education Center to create a campaign which will strive to inform potential investors about the risks associated with ICO’s and cryptocurrencies.

In this way, Hong Kong is following other countries who have been proactive in protecting the public from predatory investment schemes in the crypto market. The US SEC even launched a phony ICO called Howey Coin replete with a website sporting all the usual trappings of a fraudulent ICO from guarantees of massive returns to the endorsement of (in this case fake) celebrities. When a visitor to the site clicked on the invest button they were sent to an SEC page with information on ICO and cryptocurrency scams.

Hong Kong Among Many Others to Inform Investors

The SEC set up its cybercrime division in September of 2017, before ICO’s became the dominant revenue generating source they are today, in order to enforce established regulation but also to inform the public and pursue bad actors in the space involved in crimes outside of most jurisdictions like creating pyramid schemes and manipulating digital coin markets.

The SFC’s efforts to inform Hong Kong’s public about the dangers inherent in crypto-based investment may be seen as a positive part of the region’s regulatory vigor since the 2017 Bitcoin Bull market focused government attention on the space, but it was also new regulation that caused Binance, the worlds largest crypto exchange, to seek a friendlier atmosphere for their business. First in Japan, and more recently to Malta which has groomed itself as a haven for crypto and blockchain related companies.

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Bitcoin’s technical charts continue to call a drop below $6,000, yet investor activity indicates a corrective rally could be on the cards.

Blockchain technology has the potential to positively disrupt a wide array of sectors and industries. However, inaction or ignorance by lawmakers may have far greater potential to derail these initiatives than many care to admit