Rememberful Bitcoin News.
Crypto exchange Huobi has signed an agreement with a Chinese blockchain company JD Cloud to explore blockchain and cloud computing
Crypto exchange Huobi has signed an agreement with a Chinese blockchain company JD Cloud to explore blockchain and cloud computing
North America Welcome to our weekly roundup of all important blockchain and cryptocurrency news from around the world. Follow the latest developments in the cryptocurrency space continent by continent, country by country. USA Facebook goes back on crypto ad ban: Social media giant Facebook has announced that it is overturning an earlier decision to ban cryptocurrency …
The post North America: Crypto and Blockchain News Roundup, 22nd to 28th June 2018 appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.
Welcome to our weekly roundup of all important blockchain and cryptocurrency news from around the world. Follow the latest developments in the cryptocurrency space continent by continent, country by country.
Facebook goes back on crypto ad ban: Social media giant Facebook has announced that it is overturning an earlier decision to ban cryptocurrency ads on the social media network.
According to the company, new guidelines for ICOs and other coin projects will be adopted as they were adopted by other platforms including Twitter, Google and other major social media platform owners. Facebook will now check to see whether a coin project is registered and licensed before allowing it to run crypto related ads.
According to the extensive blog post: “In the last few months, we’ve looked at the best way to refine this policy — to allow some ads while also working to ensure that they’re safe… So starting June 26, we’ll be updating our policy to allow ads that promote cryptocurrency and related content from pre-approved advertisers. But we’ll continue to prohibit ads that promote binary options and initial coin offerings.”
Big money coming from ICOs is likely to be a reason behind the overturning of the earlier decision.
Floria to appoint cryptocurrency chief: Jimmy Patronis, the chief financial officer of the state of Florida, has said that a cryptocurrency chief will be appointed.
The GDP of Florida is around USD 1 trillion and establishment of a cryptocurrency chief will help protect the citizens from potential scams.
“We cannot allow the cryptocurrency industry to expand in Florida unfettered and unchecked with the potential for so many, including our large population of seniors, to be exploited. By taking an active, comprehensive and balanced approach, our state will provide an appropriate level of scrutiny for emerging digital asset technologies. It is absolutely essential that Florida create safeguards to protect our consumers from fraud,” said Patronis.
Crypto-related frauds have caused a lot of problems in the past and now the state is looking to right the wrongs by ensuring government oversight.
Texas saves money through Ethereum blockchain: Texas Public Utilities Commission is going to release a blockchain-based system to buy electricity and is hoping to save public money through it.
A native token called Grid+ token, based on the Ethereum blockchain, is being considered. Through this token, Texans can access wholesale energy markets and be smart about their energy purchases including solar.
Government set on launching state crypto: Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Bahamas Kevin Peter has announced at the Bahamas Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference that government will soon be launching a state-backed cryptocurrency in the country.
“The production of a modern fully digital payment service is the way forward for this era of governance. A digital Bahamian currency is especially important for the many Family Islands as they have seen many commercial banks downsize and pull out of their communities, leaving them without banking services. As an island nation, where transportation can be an inconvenience for many, especially the elderly, and costly, we must offer financial services digitally and securely,” said Peter.
Bahamas currency is directly tied to the US dollar, so a state-backed cryptocurrency could be a bold move by the tiny Caribbean nation.
Investment organization to propose regulations on crypto: Canadian Investment Industry Regulatory Organization (IIROC) has said that it is going to pursue a regulatory response to blockchain applications within the capital markets ecosystem.
The news came from a June 25 notice issued by the financial monitor that is a non-profit self-regulatory body that serves public interest and promotes level playing field in the financial capital markets.
As part of its vision, it stated: “The potential application of blockchain technology is poised to dramatically alter the very ecosystem that underpins the capital markets. Digital assets such as cryptocurrencies… have already begun to impact the capital markets in significant ways, as potential direct or indirect investments, or in the form of initial coin offerings, cryptocurrency exchanges, etc.”
The IIROC will focus on new regulatory advice in the near future and will present the draft to the government’s bodies later on.
Bitcoin mining eating up Canada’s electricity: Hydro-Quebec, one of Canada’s electricity providers has tripled prices for Bitcoin mining operations in the area as it embarks on a desperate attempt to stop companies aiming to set up mining operations in the country.
According to Hydro-Quebec’s official Jonathan Cote, more than 300 applications had been tabled with the company asking for an impossible 15,000 MW of power which is equal to almost 1/3 of the total installed capacity of the state.
“It’s really unprecedented. We have not seen any industry come here and so suddenly ask for so much power. People started really knocking at our door about this maybe last fall or winter. Within six months, we had all these requests… we have not seen any industry come here and so suddenly ask for so much power,” said Cote.
Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bitcoinnewscom
Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews
Image Courtesy: Bitcoin News
The post North America: Crypto and Blockchain News Roundup, 22nd to 28th June 2018 appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.
Peter Smith, CEO of Blockchain, recently went on Bloomberg to give his opinion on the current state of institutional investment in the cryptocurrency industry. Will Blockchain Principal Strategies Fill a Growing Need with Institutional Investors? After the recent launch of Blockchain Principal Strategies (BPS), Peter Smith, the CEO of Blockchain, went on Bloomberg to give…
The post Blockchain CEO Sees Institutional Cryptocurrency Space as Immature appeared first on NewsBTC.
Peter Smith, CEO of Blockchain, recently went on Bloomberg to give his opinion on the current state of institutional investment in the cryptocurrency industry.
After the recent launch of Blockchain Principal Strategies (BPS), Peter Smith, the CEO of Blockchain, went on Bloomberg to give additional insight into the BPS platform launch.
For those who are unaware, BPS is a platform aimed at enticing and facilitating institutional investment in the cryptocurrency industry. Blockchain plans on improving institutional access by providing over-the-counter (OTC) trading, offering the purchase and selling of a multitude of cryptocurrencies without affecting exchange order books.
Smith went on to say that the current institutional investment environment around the cryptocurrency space is ‘immature,’ expecting that the BPS platform will fill a growing gap with institutional investors. This platform will be staffed by experienced money managers, well-versed in managing and trading assets in fast-paced environments.
He specifically stated:
“There’s not a lot of really mature platforms out there that are staffed by the kind of people that institutions are used to dealing with. So really, institutions are looking to gain exposure in a safe way and increasingly they are motivated about getting the best execution. But today, the institutional market is fairly immature and fairly nascent.”
When enquired about what makes BPS stand out from Coinbase‘s or Circle’s institutional investment services, the CEO noted that Blockchain intends to offer a variety of services, not just trading. Whether this is through research services, ‘deep-liquidity’ or custody services, Blockchain plans on offering a ‘much more comprehensive offering’ for institutional investors.
Smith noted that institutions are currently only setting up for eventual investment, rather than putting money into the market in its current state. He elaborated, saying:
“I think there are two separate things (for institutional investors). One is institutions wanting to set up, so they can trade and then there is the institutions wanting to trade. Right now you are seeing a lot more of the former, then the latter. I think you will have to see the market reverse before you see more of the latter.”
Contrary to popular belief, the Blockchain CEO mentioned that institutional investment in Asia isn’t as present as people put it out to be. In fact, a majority of the inbound investment is arriving from London and New York, where large financial institutions are often situated.
Despite the variety of financial institutions, Smith noted that a majority of institutions investing in the market are large family offices or hedge funds, who are most likely looking for longer-term returns.
Smith sees the London and New York markets as ‘limited,’ in terms of capital flow from traditional firms, acknowledging that the cryptocurrency market is still mostly retail driven. This statement should come as a surprise to some, as it was expected that institutional investors would empty their pockets for the industry en-masse.
But as stated by Smith before, the cryptocurrency market could take years to come to full fruition, when cryptocurrency and blockchain-related technologies begin to take over traditional systems. He wrote:
“Investors should only invest if they believe in the long-term vision of creating a global, stateless, opt-in financial system. They should also be prepared to hold their position for a very long time. I know I am.”
Hopefully, a service like BPS can help to draw in institutional investment and involvement, which will undoubtedly become a vital aspect of the cryptocurrency market in the years to come.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The post Blockchain CEO Sees Institutional Cryptocurrency Space as Immature appeared first on NewsBTC.
We’ve all seen the headlines. Dive deeper into the world of digital currency and there’s a decidedly seedy layer lurking underneath. We’re talking about drug barons and tax evaders, cybercriminals, and rogue miners. And if that weren’t enough, you have to make sure you don’t fall victim to ICO scams as well. If you can […]
We’ve all seen the headlines. Dive deeper into the world of digital currency and there’s a decidedly seedy layer lurking underneath. We’re talking about drug barons and tax evaders, cybercriminals, and rogue miners. And if that weren’t enough, you have to make sure you don’t fall victim to ICO scams as well.
If you can stay out of the path of the hackers, phishers, and digital thieves costing the industry around $9 million a day, you’re lucky. But there are plenty of others who’ve placed their bets on the wrong horse. An ICO advisory company, the Satis Group, has revealed some pretty eye-opening statistics. 80 percent of all ICOs are scams.
Of course, the definition of a “scam” is up for debate. After all, just because an ICO fails does not mean it’s a scam. 90 percent of all startups fail. That’s not because they were necessarily scams, but simply because of mismanagement, lack of budget, or a poor marketing strategy.
But while we won’t tarnish every ICO that doesn’t see success with the same brush, it pays to remember that there are a lot of bad actors out there intent on separating you from your Ether.
Let’s take a moment to look at the five biggest scams in crypto history and what we can learn from them.
A classic case of smoke and mirrors, the team behind Centratech went to amazing lengths to catch investors’ eyes. They even managed to get endorsed by DJ Khaled and boxing icon Floyd Mayweather.
But it wasn’t just the celebrity endorsement that appealed to younger people. Centratech proposed a Visa and MasterCard debit card service that would allow its users to convert cryptocurrency to fiat with ease.
Great idea. Shame it wasn’t real. After raising $32 million in its ICO, the founders were arrested and the SEC highlighted the “extreme lengths” to which they’d gone to dupe investors. That included fictitious management teams, invented biographies, and paying celebrities to endorse the scam on social media.
One of the few scams in which the perpetrators actually got their just desserts, the two founding members will be made to return all the stolen funds – with interest. They’ll also be forbidden from serving as company directors or officers as well as participating in a security offering.
Pincoin’s epic exit scam is so recent that unsuspecting investors are still positively reeling. Modern Tech, a Vietnamese cryptocurrency company, held an ICO that raised $660 million for its token from around 32,000 investors.
True to their word, the Pincoin team kept investors happy and had them inviting their friends, making good on promises of cash rewards and returns. And then they launched another token, the iFan.
As soon as investors started getting compensated in iFan rather than cash, the unscrupulous team packed up and disappeared into the night. Labeled by Techcrunch as the “largest exit scam in recent memory,” Pincoin left behind an empty office and a barely functioning website. Oh, and a whitepaper full of nice long words.
If only their investors had thought to dig a little deeper, they would have seen that no clear information about the company’s founders was to be found. The lesson? Don’t be fooled by a fancy website and a posh PDF. And if 100 percent ROI is on the table, it’s definitely a scam.
Regulators have been getting it from all sides. It’s one of those “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” kind of places to be. Those against lawmaking raise their voices to the skies, claiming that regulation will quash innovation. Those in favor have been doing a clumsy dance with various entities trying to figure out who should move first.
But in the United States, the SEC exists to protect investors (quashing regulation is just a secondary function). The fact remains that if ICO scams continue and investors keep losing money, the whole crypto market will collapse. And that’s the message behind this next scam.
The HoweyCoins scam is so interesting because it was launched by the SEC itself in a bid to educate and warn investors about the type of ICO they should avoid. It came complete with fake social media profiles, zero background info on the team, and promises of daily returns. With wording like “you won’t want to miss – act now!”, they definitely proved a point.
OK, so it’s debatable whether the Smominru Miner deserves a place on the scam list. But it’s just such an ingenious money heist that it’s worth pointing to. Unlike actively signing up for an ICO scam or transferring Ether to a public wallet, victims of this mighty botnet were completely unaware.
The Smominru Miner was engineered by a rogue hacker using EternalBlue to infect over half a million computers with malware. For what purpose? None other than to cryptojack victims’ computers and force them to mine Monero. Victims didn’t even realize it was happening until their computer fans kicked into overdrive or their electricity bills arrived.
It wasn’t a full-on, over-hyped, over-marketed scam, but the crafty hackers still managed to mine over $3 million worth of Monero.
OneCoin has been called into question several times over the last few months. But the amazing thing about OneCoin is that its team is still hanging around and you can still invest if you want to. We seriously advise you don’t.
What’s the deal? OneCoin was labeled a “Ponzi scheme” in India in July of last year and later fined €2.5 million by Italian authorities. Just in case you need a refresher, a Ponzi scheme is one in which investors are tricked into investing in a company that does not exist. As more people jump on the bandwagon, their investments are used to pay out returns to those who invested initially. But once the scheme fails to attract new investors, it inevitably withers and dies (along with investors’ funds).
OneCoin has been clocking up negative press around the world, with its offices raided in Bulgaria and its servers seized. The company has also ruffled feathers in India, paid fines in Italy, and had $30 million taken by the Chinese authorities.
Somewhat ironically, its website talks about integrity and transparency, while the opposite is clearly going on. OneCoin is on the risk list of at least five countries so far.
If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. If it’s offering “guaranteed” returns, or asking you to invite a friend, it’s potentially a Ponzi scheme. And if returns come back too quickly, or information about the team is thin, it’s definitely time to rethink investing. Be careful out there. They don’t call it “the Wild West” for nothing.
This week marks another set of patents granted Mastercard, which is part of a many years attempt by the payments behemoth to employ technology underpinning most cryptocurrencies. The latest turn involves anonymous distributed ledger transactions via a third party processor. Also read: Bitlicense Should be Smashed, Candidate for New York Governor Urges Mastercard Granted Still […]
The post Mastercard Latest Crypto Patent: Anonymous Third Party Transactions appeared first on Bitcoin News.
This week marks another set of patents granted Mastercard, which is part of a many years attempt by the payments behemoth to employ technology underpinning most cryptocurrencies. The latest turn involves anonymous distributed ledger transactions via a third party processor.
Also read: Bitlicense Should be Smashed, Candidate for New York Governor Urges
In its latest crypto patent filings, Mastercard stresses “a need for a technical solution whereby an entity may participate in a transaction where transaction details may be posted publicly to ensure accountability and trust in the data, while still providing anonymity and inability of others to track individual transactions or volume information by transaction party identifying information of both parties of a transaction to satisfy the confidentiality needs of each entity involved in the transaction.”
The more than half-a-century old legacy payments institution based in the United States is a world leader. Tens of thousands of employees. Nearly $13 billion in yearly revenue. It is a staple of Standard & Poor’s component indices. Its principal global business is as an intermediary, trusted third party, between merchant banks, and their derivations, along with credit, prepaid, and debit cards.
United States Patent Application 20180181953, granted yesterday after having been filed back in late December of 2016, reads in abstract, “A method for posting of anonymous directed transaction includes: storing a plurality of entity profiles, each including an entity identifier and a secret value; receiving a transaction request from a first entity, the request including transaction data and a specific entity identifier associated with a second entity; identifying a specific entity profile that includes the specific entity identifier; generating a first hash value via application of one or more hashing algorithms to the transaction data; generating a second hash value via application of one of more hashing algorithms to a combination of the first hash value and the secret value included in the identified specific entity profile; and posting the first hash value and second hash value to a publicly accessible data source.”
Loosely translated, a public blockchain transaction, as it exists in its popular forms with regard to bitcoin core (BTC), just might be a key in holding back more crypto acceptance on a broader scale. Of its many ironies, BTC’s open ledger provides a wealth of information for both consumers and businesses, and aspects of industrial espionage are sure to follow, something giants like Mastercard are keen to avoid at all cost.
The cryptocurrency world has continued to tackle the issue of private, cash-like transacting since its inception. Alternatives abound among tokens and alternative coins, and their numbers and intensity are growing at record paces.
For traditional payments companies, avoiding a public distributed ledger is equally growing in importance. They’ve several masters to please, including lawmakers and regulators who wish to grant such transaction access to police. Eliminating peer-to-peer features is also very important, and so third party processors are vital to the company’s plans. A lucrative side business is to sell such information to other companies hoping to exploit its proprietary data for advertising purposes, for example.
Crypto-related patents recently granted to the company include travel and even coupons. They’re yet another ironic turn for a company with well-known hostilities toward the crypto community.
What do you think about Mastercard’s patent moves? Let us know in the comments.
Images via the Pixabay, Mastercard.
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 Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com.
The post Mastercard Latest Crypto Patent: Anonymous Third Party Transactions appeared first on Bitcoin News.
Europe Welcome to our weekly roundup of all important blockchain and cryptocurrency news from around the world. Follow the latest developments in the cryptocurrency space continent by continent, country by country. France Government wants alleged $4 billion Bitcoin fraudster on new charges: The French government is looking to indict alleged Bitcoin fraudster Alexander Vinnik. The cyber …
The post Europe: Crypto and Blockchain News Roundup, 22nd to 28th June 2018 appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.
Welcome to our weekly roundup of all important blockchain and cryptocurrency news from around the world. Follow the latest developments in the cryptocurrency space continent by continent, country by country.
Government wants alleged $4 billion Bitcoin fraudster on new charges: The French government is looking to indict alleged Bitcoin fraudster Alexander Vinnik. The cyber criminal was arrested in Greece last year but is now awaiting extradition to Russia.
Vinnik was the head of cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e and is accused to have been involved in defrauding over 100 people in six French cities. Previously, only US and Russia has laid claims over the alleged fraudulent entrepreneur.
A final decision regarding his extradition is in the hands of Greek justice minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos.
Bitcoin association sues banks over unofficial crypto ban: The Polish Bitcoin Association, a leading cryptocurrency advocating group, has said that closure of bank accounts linked to crypto firms is illegal and has challenged the decision, according to Finance Magnates.
The union has taken its complaints to local competition organization the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (OCCP) over the closure of accounts linked to crypto firms. There has been no word from the banks yet but their move is similar to other banks around the world including ones in India and Chile.
Corporate reporting must consider blockchain’s disruptive potential: According to a new report released by the UK Financial Reporting Council, the potential impact of blockchain technology is huge and all those involved in different industries need to consider the tech’s disruptive nature.
The main subject of the report is blockchain’s challenges and how it will be successful in the future. The report overall praises technology, but also exercises caution.
Bank of England to use DLT for resettlement system: The Central Bank of England has announced that it is building a Real Time Gross Settlement System through blockchain DLT.
The bank’s governor Mark Carney made this announcement in the iconic Mansion House on 22 June 2018. He commented that private businesses and platforms need to be able to work with the bank’s own system because of the high volume of funds moving between banks all the time.
“Our new, hard infrastructure will be future-proofed to your imaginations, opening up a range of potential innovations in wholesale markets, and corporate banking and retail services,” said Carney.
Previously, a proof-of-concept feature was rejected by the bank in the discussed system but now an improved DLT interface could work in the future.
Malta to enact 3 new blockchain bills: The Maltese parliament is on the way of passing three important cryptocurrency and blockchain bills in the country according to latest reports from the Mediterranean country.
Cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects are increasingly popular in the country already and the new bills are aimed at increasing the lure of the country as a blockchain capital of the continent alongside Switzerland.
Working group aiming to establish crypto-friendly banking ecosystem: Zug’s financial director has said that the Swiss Bankers Association should make it easier for blockchain companies to bank.
Director Heinz Tannlerand and financial director of Zurich Ernst Stocker are both advocating for ease of access for blockchain companies to banking circles. They believe that it is crucial to do so or else they will be forced to move to other countries.
Tannlerand said, “It must not be that Switzerland loses an innovative industry because it makes payment transactions impossible.”
Banks have largely complied with these demands and opened accounts of crypto companies.
No plans for Bitcoin mining legislation: The Ukrainian government has said that it has no plans right now to regulate cryptocurrency mining in the country. The State Service for Special Communication and Information Protection of Ukraine clarified the status of cryptocurrency mining in the country.
Ukraine is leading cryptocurrency development in the industry but it is also creating a lot of problems for the country especially regarding mining that is seen as using up a country’s valuable resources.
Lithuania undergoing crypto boom: The cryptocurrency space in the small European nation is booming because of the government’s liberal stance and increased ICO interest from other parts of the world.
Lithuania with a population of 2.8 million is becoming a crypto hub, especially for ICOs and blockchain projects. Up to 10% of all global ICO investments are being attracted by Lithuania and blockchain startups are thriving due to its relaxed cryptocurrency laws.
Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bitcoinnewscom
Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews
Image Courtesy: Bitcoin News
The post Europe: Crypto and Blockchain News Roundup, 22nd to 28th June 2018 appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.
Steve Wozniak has been in the technology industry for a long time, and he has seen it all. He was there during the dotcom era, and he believes that blockchain is similar to the dotcom bubble. Wozniak, who founded Apple with Steve Jobs four decades ago and has watched it become the biggest tech company in […]
Steve Wozniak has been in the technology industry for a long time, and he has seen it all. He was there during the dotcom era, and he believes that blockchain is similar to the dotcom bubble. Wozniak, who founded Apple with Steve Jobs four decades ago and has watched it become the biggest tech company in the world, believes that blockchain has the potential to transform the world. He is especially optimistic about Ethereum, whose ability to host decentralized applications gives it an edge over other blockchain projects, he said.
Blockchain technology, just like the internet, will change the world, but it needs time to do that, Wozniak said. Speaking during the NEX Technology Conference in New York, Wozniak said:
It doesn’t change in a day; a lot of the blockchain ideas that are really good, by coming out early they can burn themselves out by not being prepared to be stable in the long run.
Wozniak is especially impressed with Ethereum, which he believes has an edge over its competitors. This is because it offers developers the ability to develop their own decentralized applications. While Ethereum may be the most likely to succeed due to its applications, it’s Bitcoin that he believes will become the digital gold. This isn’t the first time Wozniak has endorsed Bitcoin, having echoed Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s similar sentiments earlier in the month during an interview with CNBC. He believes that despite shedding two-thirds of its value since the year began, it’s still “just amazing.”
Wozniak also revealed that he owns one BTC and two ETH. He had purchased Bitcoin when it was just $700, and when its price became too volatile, he got scared and sold all but one of his bitcoins. He also touched on the untapped potential of blockchain tech to power social media platforms. He said that it was time a new and innovative solution was developed to challenge Facebook’s monopoly in that area.
This wasn’t the first time Wozniak has criticized Facebook and asked people to develop solutions that can challenge the social media giant. During the WeAreDevelopers Conference in May, Wozniak expressed his disappointment at Facebook’s data breach, terming it a gross and unacceptable violation. We began by losing our security when hackers developed sophisticated programs, and now we are losing our privacy, he lamented. With blockchain, security and privacy can be enhanced, and Wozniak hopes that social media will be overhauled by blockchain solutions soon.
In a previous interview, Wozniak expressed his belief in Bitcoin as a potential universal digital currency. According to The Woz, as he is fondly known, Bitcoin’s decentralization and immunity to manipulation shows that it’s natural, “and nature is more important than all our human conventions.”
While there are many altcoins out there, Bitcoin is the only one that remains “pure”, according to Wozniak. The other cryptos, in a bid to attract more attention and steal Bitcoin’s fans, have sacrificed the central properties that attracted people to Bitcoin in the first place such as complete decentralization.
Basketball team the Sacramento Kings plan to mine Ethereum and donate the proceeds to scholarships for tech education
Basketball team the Sacramento Kings plan to mine Ethereum and donate the proceeds to scholarships for tech education
This week the well-known Purse.io, a firm that allows people to purchase items on Amazon and save 15 percent or more, has announced that Bitcoin Cash (BCH) support is now live. Furthermore, due to a partnership with the Bitcoin Cash Fund, the company is offering $10 cash back to Purse shoppers who shop and earn […]
The post Bitcoin Cash Support is Now Live on Purse.io appeared first on Bitcoin News.
This week the well-known Purse.io, a firm that allows people to purchase items on Amazon and save 15 percent or more, has announced that Bitcoin Cash (BCH) support is now live. Furthermore, due to a partnership with the Bitcoin Cash Fund, the company is offering $10 cash back to Purse shoppers who shop and earn before the end of July.
Also read: Cryptocurrency Firm Circle Sees Institutional Interest Spike 30%
The firm Purse.io has officially announced full BCH integration due to the overwhelming requests from people asking the company to deploy more coin support. Purse says they have completed a major overhaul of the entire Purse experience, including a redesigned wallet that helps reduce fees.
“Our community has demanded more cryptocurrency choice and this is our first big step. To celebrate, we’ve partnered with the Bitcoin Cash Fund to rain cash on you all,” explains Jaqi Lenee the company’s product design leader.
We’ve built support for Bitcoin Cash [BCH], which is a great option for people who want to save more dough. Transaction fees on this network are currently cheaper and less volatile. Shoppers, simply fill your wallet with Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash and start shopping. Earners, you’ll be able to pick which coin you’d like to earn before accepting an order. Choose wisely. (Or flip a coin?)
The ‘Cashback’ contest will offer $10 cash back for 1,000 shoppers until the end of July and $850 in prizes for top earners, explains Purse. Based on the number of BCH orders accounted for within that time period, there will be a 1st place reward for $500, 2nd place ($250), and 3rd place ($100). Purse details that the Cashback promotion will distribute contest rewards after deliveries are confirmed.
Bitcoin Cash fans were excited to see that BCH is now integrated into Purse.io and even posted on some of the purchases they have been making since the launch. One Reddit user writes, “Just made my first purchase. It couldn’t be easier, and I will write a full review when I get my BCH.”
What do you think about Purse integrating bitcoin cash into their system? Let us know your thoughts on this subject in the comment section below.
Images via Shutterstock and Purse.io
Express yourself freely at Bitcoin.com’s user forums. We don’t censor on political grounds. Check forum.Bitcoin.com.
The post Bitcoin Cash Support is Now Live on Purse.io appeared first on Bitcoin News.
Microsoft Taiwan teams up with two Asia-based companies to create a blockchain platform for enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region
Microsoft Taiwan teams up with two Asia-based companies to create a blockchain platform for enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region
Vanity Fair |
Has Bitcoin Entered the Doom Loop?
Vanity Fair Throughout 2017, the price of bitcoin rose stratospherically, driven by a volatile cocktail of surging amateur interest in cryptocurrencies, professional price manipulation, rampant speculation, and techno-utopianism. By the end of last year, a single … Why El-Erian’s views on bitcoin may not work for youCNBC Why This Allianz Economist Says Bitcoin Is a Buy Around $5000Fortune Bitcoin Is a Buy at $5K, Says Allianz Chief Economist El-ErianCointelegraph PYMNTS.com –CCN all 15 news articles » |
Vanity Fair |
Has Bitcoin Entered the Doom Loop?
Vanity Fair Throughout 2017, the price of bitcoin rose stratospherically, driven by a volatile cocktail of surging amateur interest in cryptocurrencies, professional price manipulation, rampant speculation, and techno-utopianism. By the end of last year, a single … Why El-Erian's views on bitcoin may not work for you Why This Allianz Economist Says Bitcoin Is a Buy Around $5000 Bitcoin Is a Buy at $5K, Says Allianz Chief Economist El-Erian |
XRP and other well-known crypto assets are sitting on dangerous grounds as they print new price lows not seen since 2017.
XRP and other well-known crypto assets are sitting on dangerous grounds as they print new price lows not seen since 2017.
Asia and Oceania Welcome to our weekly roundup of all important blockchain and cryptocurrency news from around the world. Follow the latest developments in the cryptocurrency space continent by continent, country by country. Japan Investors plea for lower crypto taxes: Japanese investors are lobbying for lowering of cryptocurrency taxes in the country that could be …
The post Asia and Oceania: Crypto and Blockchain News Roundup, 22nd to 28th June 2018 appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.
Welcome to our weekly roundup of all important blockchain and cryptocurrency news from around the world. Follow the latest developments in the cryptocurrency space continent by continent, country by country.
Investors plea for lower crypto taxes: Japanese investors are lobbying for lowering of cryptocurrency taxes in the country that could be as much as 55% of the money earned by the people according to some estimates.
There are no special laws for cryptocurrency traders and according to the crypto tax rules; they are to be treated just like other traders who are charged according to various income brackets. Japanese government officials including Minister for Finance Fukushiro Nukuga and Deputy Prime Minister Tara Ase have said that any attempt to make special cases for crypto traders would be seen as unfair by the Japanese public and traders from other industries.
A petition with around 13,000 participants is hoping to lower the tax net for the crypto traders but there is no consensus in the government right now regarding the new taxation laws.
Bitcoin and blockchain seen as proponents of Japan’s next economic boom: Bitcoin and blockchain are seen as the source for the next industrial revolution in Japan according to financial services giant SBI Holdings’s Yoshitaka Kitao.
He made these comments during a blockchain conference in Tokyo this week. He also said that his company was a leading advocate for cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, investing over USD 460 million in AI and blockchain.
“There’s a lot of speculative demand around cryptocurrencies, which is why the price is going up so quickly, but people need to think about how these technologies are being used in real life and how they can improve people’s businesses,” said Kitao.
Court rules blockchain may provide legal authentication: In a major move, a court in the Hangzhou city in China has said that blockchain technology and its transactions can legally be accepted in courts as a legitimate piece of data with authenticity.
The court said: “We can’t exclude it just because it’s a complex technology. Nor can we lower the standard just because it is tamper-proof and traceable,”
The ruling could have a major impact on legal nature of cryptocurrencies as they are often not even accepted in courts due to non-recognition by the central bank.
Alibaba’s Jack Ma unveils blockchain-based payment system, challenges conventional system: Billionaire CEO of Alibaba Jack Ma has unveiled a new blockchain-based cross-border payment system that will reduce transaction costs from overseas payments.
Right now, the company has said that the system will help the Filipino population based in Hong Kong, China that sends an approximate HKD 4.4 billion (USD 560 million) annually back to their families in the Philippines.
“I have friends who are Filipino and they asked me when they could use Alipay to send money home because it was too expensive through banks, which charge too much,” said Ma.
The service will soon be available through Ali Pay wallets based in Hong Kong and could be used by other entities in the future.
Central bank working on new cryptocurrency: The People’s Bank of China and its digital research lab is working on a new type of cryptocurrency with 41 new patents being used in the creation of the cryptocurrency.
The central bank has previously rejected the idea of a cryptocurrency but the increasing number of patents being filed for new cryptocurrencies will complicate matters in the future. Chinese cryptocurrencies could be easily adopted around the world as it is the biggest exporter in the world.
Hacked exchange BitHumb recovers $14 million in cooperation with other exchanges: In a major move, hacked cryptocurrency exchange BitHumb that reported tens of millions of dollars in stolen cryptocurrency has revealed that it has recovered USD 14 million of the stolen cryptocurrency by partnering with other exchanges in the country.
While Bitcoin transactions are irreversible and addresses partially anonymous, people can trace their flow through blockchain ledgers and flag addresses through them that may lead to cryptocurrency exchanges. In this case, hackers must have sold cryptocurrencies or transferred them to other exchanges’ wallets, thus making them traceable.
Bithumb’s success with this method is quite unusual and could be the start of a new type of cryptocurrency accountability.
India to launch IndiaChain to boost blockchain in the country: The central government of India has announced a new blockchain project in the country.
The new project will support IndiaStack, a digital program aimed at digitizing the country of a billion plus population. IndiaChain is in its ninth month of development and is aimed at reducing fraud, speeding up enforcement of contract and increasing transparency of transactions.
Blockchain company helping startups with decentralized apps: Blockchain company Centrality based in New Zealand has announced that it has created an infrastructure and marketplace for decentralized apps to help startups, according to Techwire Asia.
The co-founder of Centrality believes that his company can help level the playing field for new startups and help them collaborate with each other to remain sustainable.
Reserve bank praises Bitcoin but rules out national crypto: In a rare move, a top Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) official has praised the working of Bitcoin but has categorically stated that it would not start a national cryptocurrency like Petro according to a recent speech to Australian Business Economists.
Dr Richards, the head of RBA made these remarks while comparing Bitcoin’s credibility with Australia’s dollar. Richards even admitted that he had invested in cryptocurrencies a while ago and had been following cryptocurrency circles for the last five years. He confessed that he held admiration for its design but he ruled out any official role in the Australian economy of the cryptocurrency.
Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bitcoinnewscom
Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews
Image Courtesy: Bitcoin News
The post Asia and Oceania: Crypto and Blockchain News Roundup, 22nd to 28th June 2018 appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.
The Supreme Court announced on June 28, 2018, that it will not reconsider the conviction or life sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the alleged mastermind behind the darknet site Silk Road. At press time, no reason has b…
The Supreme Court announced on June 28, 2018, that it will not reconsider the conviction or life sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the alleged mastermind behind the darknet site Silk Road. At press time, no reason has been provided for the Court’s decision.
Ulbricht was first arrested in October 2013 at the Glen Park Branch Library in San Francisco. During his trial, prosecutors stated that, at the time, he was speaking online with an undercover FBI agent while running the site through an open laptop under the name “Dread Pirate Roberts.” Among the evidence collected from Ulbricht’s computer were chat logs, journal entries and spreadsheets pertaining to Silk Road financial data between the years 2011 and 2013.
Ulbricht’s defense team insisted that he was not the man prosecutors were looking for. They argued that Ulbricht had created Silk Road as an “economic experiment,” but that he handed the website off to another person when it became “too chaotic.” They claimed the real Dread Pirate Roberts was still out there and that Ulbricht was simply a “fall guy.”
The jury remained unconvinced by these remarks. Ulbricht was found guilty on counts of trafficking drugs on the internet, running a criminal enterprise, narcotics-trafficking conspiracy, computer hacking and money laundering, and was sentenced to life in prison. Ulbricht’s legal team later filed an appeal of the sentence, which was formally denied in 2017.
Ulbricht attempted to bring his case before the Supreme Court last December, alleging that his fourth and sixth amendment rights had been violated. Ulbricht said that during the investigation and his sentencing, law enforcement agents had collected internet traffic information without warrants, and that the judge presiding over the case had imposed an “unreasonable sentence” due to reports that Ulbricht had tried to hire a hitman — a crime for which he was never convicted or charged with.
Ulbricht’s attempts to bring his case to the Supreme Court had been met with support from several organizations including the Gun Owners of America, the National Lawyers Guild and the Reason Foundation.
Upon hearing the recent case Carpenter v. United States — which involved location data stored and obtained by cell phone providers — the Supreme Court ruled that the fourth amendment does offer individuals “legitimate expectation of privacy” over their personal data, even if they voluntarily provide it to third parties. The ruling convinced many of Ulbricht’s supporters that the Court would be willing to at least consider his side of the story, though it appears these hopes have been dashed, and Ulbricht’s life sentence will stand.
The Twitter account @free_ross immediately posted its reaction to the decision, saying, “SCOTUS denied #RossUlbricht cert petition this morning after holding it pending Carpenter. This is a NO on internet privacy and Ross’s case. Devastating. #freeross.”
This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.
On June 14, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) director of corporate finance made waves in the cryptocurrency space when he commented at Yahoo Finance’s All Market Summit: Crypto that ether …
On June 14, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) director of corporate finance made waves in the cryptocurrency space when he commented at Yahoo Finance’s All Market Summit: Crypto that ether is not a security. The statement carries weight.
His words led to a flurry of speculation about the potential implications of what this means for Ethereum as well as the larger cryptocurrency ecosystem with regards to development and regulation.
It should be noted that the shifting status of regulatory terms can be confusing and contrary to the logic of programming languages that cryptocurrencies use. As a result, Adam B. Levine dedicated much of Episode #371 of his show, Let’s Talk Bitcoin, to clearing up misconceptions about the SEC’s stance. To do this, he invited lawyer and programmer Stephen Palley for an in-depth interview.
Levine began by reading an abridged version of the SEC director’s speech, or as he dubbed it, “When Howey Met Gary.” Next, Levine spoke with Palley to hammer out what the speech is stating. In the speech, Director William Henman recalled the 1946 Supreme Court ruling of SEC v.s. W.J. Howey Co., which first laid out the terms for what defines an asset, such as land purchases or services contracts, to be a government regulated by the Securities Act.
Under this act, the form of the contract itself is of less importance than the actual economic substance of these transactions. This means that any number of assets can still qualify as securities as long as they fulfill certain qualifications.
Qualifications include:
Securities regulations primarily exist to ensure a third party, namely a regulatory entity, is well-informed enough to judge if there is a reasonable guarantee of a safe investment, without compromising trade secrets that promoter firms do not want made public.
Furthermore, Henman stated that the decentralization offered by cryptocurrency models such as ether prevent a single promoter entity from actually gaining significant leverage in information or control that consumers would need protection from. This means certain applications of cryptocurrencies can be sold as securities, but the format itself does not require this level of regulation.
Palley, a practicing lawyer of 20 years, explained some of the concerns that have made this possible ruling particularly sticky for the world of cryptocurrencies. Palley claimed that specific types of legal contracts are similar to executable programmable code, yet legal verdicts operate in a sufficiently more complex way. Legal verdicts require contextual considerations that must be made of the technical form as well as the economic realities of various interactions. This ambiguity is often understood by programmers that, legally, the most uncharitable interpretation of a ruling will be applied unilaterally.
Palley gave an example by comparing the factors which make ether not a security while conceivably making ripple qualify as a security. Evidence for this is that the original developers of Ethereum have largely distanced themselves from the project so that they do not form a distinct entity still invested in the profit and daily operations of this platform. Ripple, on the other hand, is still one entity. Ethereum also held back a much smaller percent of ether tokens for their developers while Ripple held onto enough tokens to retain a controlling interest. For these reasons, there are easily observed asymmetries in the Ripple platform that could well classify its assets as securities.
Palley went on to ruminate on the implications that recent lawsuits against Tezos might have on future civil suits against cryptocurrency developers. Using his inside experience as a practicing lawyer working in the cryptocurrency space, Palley stated that many civil class-action suits are unable to find plaintiffs even in the event of potentially dubious actions for the simple reason that no one wants to sue a firm that is continuing to make them money. After all, tort actions of this nature typically take place as an attempt to jump on potential violations to regain lost investment money through damages if the investments themselves are no longer profitable.
Palley claimed that the lawsuits against Tezos fall under this category. He stated that Tezos has conducted its own business with enough good faith that the plaintiffs allege that the business model itself is somehow improper, rather than Tezos specifically engaging in improper decisions at the micro-level. Under this trend, Palley speculated that the most significant factor in uncharitable interpretations of cryptocurrency-related laws will take place under market contracts for the space as a whole.
This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.