Day: July 12, 2018

Scalability has been one of the biggest problems in cryptocurrency and blockchain. Even the top blockchains can’t solve this issue overnight, even though scaling solutions are in active development. Etheremon, the blockchain-based ‘Pokemon clone’, is switching its codebase from Ethereum to Zilliqa because of scalability concerns.

Etheremon Taps Zilliqa

It is evident any large-scale operation running on a public blockchain will cause issues down the line. At this stage, neither the Bitcoin chain nor the Ethereum chain is designed for mass use. Bitcoin’s lack of scalability causes a lot of transaction issues from time to time, mainly due to high fees. Similar issues have affected Ethereum, although there is a bigger underlying problem there which needs to be resolved.

For the DApps and games being built on top of Ethereum, the current situation is rather worrisome. According to the Etheremon team, the Ethereum chain is currently ill-suited for gaming purposes. That is not necessarily surprising, as Ethereum is still in the very early stages of achieving its potential. Scaling solutions are in development, with both Plasma and sharding bound to make a positive impact in this regard over the coming months.

According to the team, high gas prices are limiting the Etheremon gaming experience overall. Gas prices have shot up to 100 Gwei, making the game 100 times as expensive to play as it should be. Paying to play a blockchain game is not exactly bothersome, but paying high fees to do so is a different matter altogether.

The team has explored a temporary solution to address these problems. Etheremon has moved its battles off-chain to deal with the rising fees and scalability concerns. However, this is not a long-term solution by any means. Consequently, the team has decided to shift its focus to Zilliqa. It is not the first time a project has moved away from Ethereum for this reason.

This shift offers many advantages to Etheremon players. Battles will no longer have a fee, and players will receive 2 free energy units per hour to play a Practice or Rank match. On-chain data syncing will also undergo some changes, as players will need to perform one transaction to sync data to the Ethereum network. A hybrid blockchain approach for Etheremon appears more than warranted at this time.

Although this is an issue which makes Ethereum look unsuitable for blockchain games, that situation will change when the new scaling solutions come into effect. For the time being, however, the DApp ecosystem could cripple Ethereum’s blockchain in short order. If the developers implement scaling solutions prior to most DApps coming to market, there will be no real issues to contend with.

A startup associated with the self-proclaimed inventor of Bitcoin has been granted three Bitcoin Cash-related patents

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

Is there a correct way to use cryptocurrency bots in order to enhance trader’s profits and if so, how? Ruchi Gupta asked the question in CryptoGlobe, questioning the effectiveness of automated crypto trading.

Cryptocurrency bots, as the name implies, are robotic. They are promoted as an easy way of trading, as they run on autopilot and don’t rely on the investors’ every waking minute. The tool is designed to make trading decisions on the investor’s behalf according to a pre-tailored algorithm, based either on the trader’s own algorithm or a trading strategy built in by the developer. The more advanced the algorithm, the more likely is a profit can be gained, or so it’s reported.

The crypto bot’s main advantage is peace of mind, as the devices will take of business while traders sleep. No more disturbing “what if” thoughts; everything is in hand and algorithms work for the trader.

So why isn’t everyone using them and putting their attention to more important business while they manufacture money on autopilot?

It appears that off-the-shelf bots with fixed algorithms may be fine in the long term but apparently, they won’t last. Because of the dynamism and fluctuating fortunes of the cryptocurrency market, it’s hard to establish any sense of permanent strategy using the bots, resulting in diminishing results for the expectant trader as time moves on.

To overcome this problem, the latest development is the AI bot, also seemingly suited to those who need to rely on others’ expertise as their own ability to tackle the complexities of trading in the cryptocurrency market is lacking.  The crypto bots with artificial intelligence are a step down that road from the off-the-shelf model, also integrating the capabilities of the custom-built variety, which normally relies on more specific trader knowledge. The AI bots are able to modify strategies to suit the condition of the market, reprogramming themselves as they do so, requiring no further trader intervention, apparently doing the job of both.

If this seems to be the solution for the new crypto trader, the bad news is that a robot is still incapable of accounting for every variable in the market that might affect trade and volume. It’s a robot. It lacks human intuition and, most importantly, given today’s crypto media full of hype, spin, and fake news, basically, it can become confused, limiting its ability to read the market accurately.

So back to square one?

The advice to new traders with a limited knowledge of the cryptocurrency market is, do your homework first before you train your bot.

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League of Legends Philippines has removed crypto-mining malware from its Garena client after two days of the attack

A municipal utility provider in New York got the green light from state regulators to create a new set of electricity rates for cryptocurrency miners.

This week has seen both Shanghai Stock Exchange and Santander signal interest in implementing blockchain into securities trading

South Korea is a very important location in the world of cryptocurrency. Its exchanges generate tremendous amounts of trading volume, and it seems that situation will not change anytime soon. According to a new report, the Korean Blockchain Association has announced that all exchanges meet its regulatory requirements, which is a very positive sign.

Korean Exchanges Are in the Clear

The regulatory landscape for cryptocurrency exchanges is very different in South Korea. Rather than being governed by the government directly, all exchanges have imposed self-regulation in the past few months. The first audit of its kind has been a big success for cryptocurrency firms, as all exchanges have adhered to the self-imposed guidelines.

More specifically, the exchanges have met the regulations’ minimum requirements. That doesn’t mean they are doing everything perfectly, but it means these cryptocurrency exchanges will not face any regulatory scrutiny, which can only be considered a positive development.

All of the country’s major exchanges have been reviewed in this regard. The list includes Upbit, Bithumb, Korbit, CoinOne, and Huobi Korea. There are over a dozen self-regulated cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea at this time, and it seems that list will continue to grow for some time to come. Even so, it is critical that all of these companies adhere to the basic guidelines.

South Korean experts are convinced that there will be another positive side effect to this positive regulatory review. New commercial bank accounts will be issued to let exchanges improve their market positions and supply of funds. This is a welcome change for some South Korean trading platforms, as several firms have resorted to accepting bank transfers through corporate accounts from individual clients. It is not the most favorable approach, but it will continue to serve its purpose until things improve for the better.

There is no guarantee that South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges will receive these new bank accounts, though. There are plenty of people who feel such accounts should only be issued to exchanges that are certified by the government. Most of the self-regulated trading platforms do not meet that requirement at this stage, although it is expected that most companies will try to get in the government’s good graces sooner or later.

Announcements like these can trigger a positive cascading effect across cryptocurrency exchanges and their users. Considering that all major cryptocurrencies have lost a lot of value in the past few days, this news may be the catalyst for a reversal of that trend. Given South Korea’s dominant position in the world of cryptocurrency, such an outcome is not impossible by any means.

All of the top 50 coins by market cap are seeing red today, with Bitcoin falling below the $6,200 mark and total market cap down $7 billion on the day

Crypto exchange Cobinhood has announced today it is supporting fiat trading starting with the U.S. dollar from July 20. The exchange, known for its zero-fee trading, is endorsed by U.S. football player Richard Sherman.

Cobinhood to Start Fiat Trading

Cobinhood has begun a move into crypto to fiat trading, following regulatory approval. Trading pairs will start operating against the U.S. dollar from later this month. They are also working with Epay, an online payment platform, to allow users to make fiat purchases within a user-friendly interface.

Founder and CEO Popo Chen said: “In several instances, the market is not reflecting tremendous progress being made at cryptocurrencies worldwide. Traders know there are opportunities abound for value, so it’s a very synergistic time to debut fiat trading on the Cobinhood platform.”

In a statement, Cobinhood referenced polls that show the majority of those in the crypto markets expect prices to rise in 2019 after a period of consolidation. The eToro U.K. managing director Iqbal Gandham told NewsBTC in a recent interview that this price correction has been a “blessing in disguise.”

“There’s no doubt in my mind that many value investors were waiting on the sidelines until prices rationalized, and so the near term promises to be an exciting time for exchanges that can offer the liquidity fiat options provide,” said Chen.

NewsBTC has previously reported on the amount of money waiting on the sidelines, held up in Tether. Liquidity is also a key issue as institutional investors begin to get into the market following news that Europe’s largest ETF trader is moving into crypto.

Crypto exchanges often earn revenue through trading fees, such as Binance aiming for $1 billion in profit by the end of 2018 and gaining from the increase in the price of their native coin BNB. For Cobinhood, it appears that they make money through supporting ‘reputable’ ICOs. This may involve their new DEXON foundation.

Cobinhood announced the creation of the DEXON foundation last month, which supports the DEXON blockchain, a blockchain lattice designed to support dApps.

ICOs running on this platform will be exclusive to Cobinhood and 5% of funds raised by Cobinhood-backed ICOs will be distributed to holders of COB. As the team hold 400 million COB, raising the price of the token seems to be one of the main focuses for creating revenue.

Cobinhood have also achieved level 3 know-your-customer (KYC) protocols, which are needed to operate in countries that have the strictest regulations, such as the U.S. It has also announced plans to move towards a decentralized exchange even though liquidity provider and decentralized exchange Bancor was hacked recently for $24 million.

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DIRT (Decentralized Incentive Registry Token), a startup that wants to develop a protocol for “decentralized information curation”, has successfully concluded a USD 3 million seed funding round.

In total, 26 prominent investors were involved, including Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam, Pantera Capital, and Digital Currency Group. The final split was between 15 venture firms and 11 angel investors.

Yin Wu, DIRT’s founder, has announced the platform will be released within the next quarter, as well as an accompanying token based on the Ethereum ERC-20 standard.

In an age of accessible information, anyone can post information on the internet. For the most part, people assume what they read is true if it sounds reasonable, as there is no real method that information is verified.

DIRT’s protocol could change all this or even transform how existing information sources work. Wikipedia could potentially become an academically-sound source if the DIRT protocol were implemented.

Another potential application could be a decentralized Better Business Bureau or a “token curated registry” (TRC) for reputable ICO projects. Other TRCs for reviews of restaurants, music, video, and much more could be other use cases.

The platform works by using the DIRT protocol, with third-party Dapp developers to create TRCs.

The TRCs are lists that encompass specific topics, and users can either submit or validate information that should be on each list. Users then back up their claims with tokens, “putting their money where their mouth is”.

Wu said, “If anyone in the network finds misinformation, they can also challenge the dataset and say this is incorrect. In order to initiate a challenge, you need a stake token. The challenge then begins with a vote. Anyone in the network can vote with tokens… Whoever wins the vote, wins the tokens; if you lose the vote or voted for the wrong side, then you are penalized.”

This makes sure users don’t submit wrong information intentionally. The financial requirement and incentives make sure users don’t spam information either, as it becomes economically unfeasible to spread rumors or false info about a certain topic or person.

DIRT is still not sure on how tokens will be distributed but may follow suit like many other blockchain startups and announce a token generation event in the following months.

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