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3 Reasons for Soccer Fans to Be Grateful

Unless you’re French or Croatian, you’re probably still licking your wounds from the World Cup bloodbath. After months of anticipation, elevated expectations, and shattered dreams, the most important sporting event is coming to a close. This is an anticlimactic time for soccer fans around the world. And if you’re suffering from World Cup blues, take […]

Unless you’re French or Croatian, you’re probably still licking your wounds from the World Cup bloodbath. After months of anticipation, elevated expectations, and shattered dreams, the most important sporting event is coming to a close. This is an anticlimactic time for soccer fans around the world. And if you’re suffering from World Cup blues, take heart. Here are three reasons to be grateful.

3. The Italian Football League Is Getting a Boost

Real Madrid may not be happy about losing their most important player, but Juventus is pretty psyched. The transfer of one of football’s most loved (and hated!) personalities will certainly give Italian football a much-needed boost, as Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a four-year deal with the Italian club. It will also be interesting to see what other major transfers will follow as the season starts up next month!

2. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo Have Buried the Hatchet

The longstanding feud between these two players may be coming to an end… or maybe not. But they’re putting their grievances aside for a moment at least, and it’s for a good cause. Both players are supporting CharityStar’s soccer-related auction to support the Forever Dream Foundation, a charity that works with underprivileged children and their families.

Soccer fans in need of some good news can meet their favorite players Leo Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo at a home game at Camp Nou or Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Considering that this could be Ronaldo’s last game with Spain’s top club, you’ll be seeing history in the making.

1. You Can Donate and Bid with Your Cryptocurrency

More and more charities have been accepting donations in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. So, if you feel like giving back, or you just need a tax write-off, why not donate to an awesome cause?

If you want to take part in the auction, the Forever Dream Foundation accepts bids in ETH, BTC, and AidCoin, the ERC20 token launched by CharityStars.

And if you’re a charity looking to accept donations in cryptocurrency, you can install AidCoin’s payment gateway AidPay. It lets you accept donations in more than 20 different cryptocurrencies all in one wallet.

See? It’s not all bad now that the dust has settled. Your team may not have made it to the final, but the new season starts soon. Having some exciting transfers to look forward to, a shakeup in Europe’s most prominent teams, and the chance to do something good for charity – or even meet your favorite player – should put a smile back on your face.

Bitcoin Awareness in Canada Rises to 85%: Bank of Canada Report

A survey by the Bank of Canada has found that 85 percent of Canadians are aware of Bitcoin. The survey further revealed that the level of ownership of the digital currency had nearly doubled in 2017, with most of the owners holding it for speculative reasons and as a form of investment. The residents of […]

A survey by the Bank of Canada has found that 85 percent of Canadians are aware of Bitcoin. The survey further revealed that the level of ownership of the digital currency had nearly doubled in 2017, with most of the owners holding it for speculative reasons and as a form of investment. The residents of the western province of British Columbia were the most knowledgeable at 92 percent, with Quebec registering the highest increase over the year, standing at 77 percent. The survey was dubbed the Bitcoin Omnibus Survey and was conducted to assess the impact that the rise in adoption of cryptos could have on the country’s financial system.

Bitcoin’s Rising Prominence

The level of awareness rose by 21 percentage points in 2017 as the price of Bitcoin shot through the roof, from 64 percent to 85 percent. While the increased awareness was noted across all demographics, it was highest among residents with incomes exceeding $70,000. Residents of Quebec saw the largest increase in awareness, rising by 28 percentage points to stand at 77 percent. The province of Quebec has been in the news frequently as it strives to regulate crypto mining, having become a favorite destination for miners thanks to its low power costs and its cool environment.

Awareness among women also saw a great increase to stand at 80 percent, up from 54 percent the previous year. Despite the notable increase among women, men remained more aware at 91 percent, up from 75 percent the previous year. The survey also confirmed findings by similar surveys around the world which have correlated higher income and education to greater knowledge on cryptocurrencies.

The high awareness among Canadian residents hasn’t translated to ownership of the digital currency, with the survey finding that only 5 percent of the population owned Bitcoin. This is an increase from the 2.9 percent recorded a year earlier. As expected, the tech-savvy 18-24 demographic leads the race, having more than doubled from 6 percent in the previous year to stand at 14 percent. There was also a notable increase in the 45-54 demographic from 0.9 percent to 3.5 percent.

So, why do Canadians own Bitcoin?

The survey sought to find out why the residents owned Bitcoin, stating that this has major implications for central banks. Transactors who use Bitcoin to pay for goods and to send to their friends make up half the owner population, with non-transactors who have only used Bitcoin once or twice making up the other half. Among the non-transactors, an overwhelming majority held Bitcoin as an investment, with a small minority stating that they had Bitcoin because their friends did too.

Two weeks ago, yet another survey was released which focused on the popularity of cryptos in Ontario. Conducted by the Ontario Securities Commission, the survey revealed that only five percent of residents owned cryptos, with an additional four percent who previously owned them having sold them. Despite over 10 percent of the population having been approached to invest in an ICO, only 1.5 percent reported to having done so, with the majority of the respondents stating that they are unaware of who regulates this new crowdfunding space. Unlike most places around the world where the majority of people acquired cryptos hoping to sell it at a profit, most Ontarians purchased digital currencies because they were excited by the new technology, the survey found.

National Bank of Slovakia Illuminated by Massive Bitcoin Sign

Slovakian banks including the country’s central bank found themselves advertising Bitcoin on July 11th as a giant icon was illuminated on the exterior of banking institutions around Bratislava. A local action group, an arm of Czech crypto group Paraleni Polis, were responsible for the giant batman style logo which advertised the coin. The group, which …

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Slovakian banks including the country’s central bank found themselves advertising Bitcoin on July 11th as a giant icon was illuminated on the exterior of banking institutions around Bratislava.

A local action group, an arm of Czech crypto group Paraleni Polis, were responsible for the giant batman style logo which advertised the coin.

The group, which is based in the Czech capital Prague, is a well-established anti-bank, pro-crypto organization which even has its own cafe and crypto hub. Along with an uploaded video of the central bank illuminated by the Bitcoin logo they added a statement referring to the hostility shown by Czech banks towards cryptocurrencies, part of which read:

“Slovak banks, instead of embracing the unlimited possibilities of cryptocurrencies and supporting the emerging crypto companies, due to state regulators or unclear legislation remain in the darkness.”

Further, the group drew attention to the age of enlightenment and the creation of the printing press in the 15th century making the analogy that a new contemporary witch hunt instigated by government legislators is now targeting the latest innovations. The Bitcoin illumination appeared to be a reference to the banking system needing to move from the “darkness” of the status quo into the dawn of a new era, presumably blockchain.

There have been a few reported incidents this year of banks denying services to customers who have Bitcoin investments, and some exchanges have been denied services as well. Also, there has been evidence that appears to suggest that mortgages may not be quite so easy to acquire for those with a cryptocurrency selling history as Bitcoin News reported recently. A major Australian bank has also recently informed its customers that they can no longer use mortgage equity for purchasing cryptocurrency.

This is not the first time that the anti-banking logo has been used, however, this time in Switzerland, where another activist group, Trust Square, projected the same Bitcoin logo onto the wall of the National Bank of Switzerland in May, according to InsideBitcoins.

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More Wall Street Execs Decamp to Join Crypto Startups

Australian exchange bitcoin.com.au has a new man at the helm: Ben Ingram. The former executive at audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers was appointed by the exchange to spearhead its expansion as it seeks to list more cryptos and become the dominant player in the largely untapped Australian market. Ingram becomes the latest executive from a mainstream firm […]

Australian exchange bitcoin.com.au has a new man at the helm: Ben Ingram. The former executive at audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers was appointed by the exchange to spearhead its expansion as it seeks to list more cryptos and become the dominant player in the largely untapped Australian market. Ingram becomes the latest executive from a mainstream firm to join a crypto startup in what has become a very popular trend. With the industry growing by leaps and bounds over the past two years, it has attracted the attention of some of the brightest minds who have founded their own startups or joined established ones.

The Exodus Continues

Ingram, who served as the director in charge of digital strategy at PwC, has his eyes set on expanding the number of cryptos listed by the exchange. Currently, only Bitcoin and Ethereum are offered. In an interview with Business Insider, Ingram also revealed that he intends to introduce crypto investment products that target the country’s vast pool of superannuation. He is optimistic that blockchain technology is the future despite the current challenges it faces.

We know this tech doesn’t have a dead-end. While the evolutionary path hasn’t been fully determined, I think there’s enough evidence that there is a path.

Ingram’s entry into the crypto industry comes barely a day after Ripple announced that Kahina Van Dyke had joined them as their senior vice president of business and corporate development. Van Dyke previously served in various roles on Wall Street including at Western Union, Citibank, PayPal, and TD Ameritrade. Her most recent post was at Facebook where she led the Global Financial Services team. Her previous experience in the financial services industry makes her an ideal match for Ripple, whose cross-border remittance products have continued to attract the attention of some of the biggest banks globally.

Asked why she decided to join Ripple, Van Dyke stated:

Ripple offers a compelling opportunity to be a transformative force for good in the world of money movement. Together, with our partners, we can reduce friction and deliver better options for individuals, businesses and financial institutions. It’s an exciting time in the industry — and I feel very fortunate to be a part of creating the next generation of global payments.

In May, Rob Jesudason shocked many when he resigned from his post as the chief financial officer at the Commonwealth Bank to become the new COO of Block.one, the company behind EOS. Jesudason had created a name for himself as one of the elite minds in the financial services world, and his move into the crypto industry came as a surprise to many. Block.one is one of the most valuable startups in the crypto industry, having set the record for the highest amount raised in an ICO this year at over $4 billion.

While Wall Street has continued to debate the place of cryptos in the financial services industry, many employees in these firms have continued to invest in cryptos, and for some, their efforts have paid off. And it’s not just executives who have been decamping, as according to a report by Bloomberg, several other lower-level employees who’d invested in cryptos early on made enough money to quit their posts and get into crypto ventures full time.

Coinbase 0x, BAT, Zcash Listing Met With Debate, Generally Optimistic

Coinbase has recently announced that it was “exploring” the addition of five altcoins, which led to widespread speculation and discussion about the topic. CNBC Breaks Down The Most Likely Additions To Coinbase Coinbase’s announcement regarding the five altcoins quickly hit headlines in the ‘cryptosphere’, with CNBC taking a unique stance on the statement. Brian Kelly, CNBC’s in-house

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Coinbase has recently announced that it was “exploring” the addition of five altcoins, which led to widespread speculation and discussion about the topic.

CNBC Breaks Down The Most Likely Additions To Coinbase

Coinbase’s announcement regarding the five altcoins quickly hit headlines in the ‘cryptosphere’, with CNBC taking a unique stance on the statement. Brian Kelly, CNBC’s in-house crypto expert and “baller”, recently made an appearance on the ‘Fast Money’ segment to give his opinions on each of the five cryptocurrencies singled out by the Coinbase statement.

Firstly, Kelly stated that Cardano tokens will most likely be seen as a non-security in the eyes of the Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC), pointing out Cardano’s active roadmap and its similarity to Ethereum’s status as a platform for other crypto assets.

Next, The CNBC analyst brought attention to 0x, a crypto that was long rumored to make an appearance on the Coinbase crypto roster. He stated:

0x (Zero X).. this is one of the most interesting ones. That is a decentralizd exchange protcol (that is) up and running. In fact, I believe that Coinbase announced a bulletin board exchange, wasn’t really an exchange. But they use 0x technology, so that’s why that one is on the list.

Speculation about the 0x addition has been rife, as Coinbase has announced support for ERC-20 tokens just a few months back while acquiring a decentralized platform based off 0x technology.

The CNBC analyst’s thoughts about Basic Attention Token or Stellar were sparse, not making it clear whether those additions were likely or not.

Last but not least, Kelly spoke on the ZCash cryptocurrency, which is a privacy-centric coin that can conceal wallet and transaction balances. The Winklevoss twins-run exchange, Gemini, announced support for unshielded ZCash trading in May, leading the community to believe that Coinbase’s support for ZCash will follow.

When queried about the price surge seen with these cryptocurrencies, BK that the cryptocurrencies integrated by Coinbase have historically seen bullish movements and that the five mentioned on Friday could gain momentum moving into the weekend. He stated:

Once these things (cryptocurrencies) get going. Once you get that momentum, they tend to go higher… It wouldn’t surprise me to see these things up 20, 30, 40 percent over the weekend.

Coinbase recently announced plans to list SEC-regulated crypto securities, but made it clear that this process would require some time and collaboration with regulatory bodies. Due to the uncertainty around the security status of Ripple, the CNBC hosts noted that it would be unlikely for Coinbase consumers to see XRP tokens on the platform any time soon.

BK also mentioned that there are pending lawsuits going on against the Ripple company, specifically regarding XRP’s status as a security.

CNBC Fast Money host, Melissa Lee, pointed out that the addition of new assets into the Coinbase ecosystem would require certain programs and services on the platform to forcefully push new altcoins down the throats of investors. For example, the addition of ZCash would require Coinbase Index Fund investors to indirectly ‘buy’ the privacy cryptocurrency, as the fund compiles all Coinbase-supported cryptos into one tradeable asset.

Kelly agreed with what Lee had to say, adding:

It’s almost like the ETF effect that potentially some of these coins might get added to their (Coinbase’s) index product and they (investors) have to buy in. There could be some follow-on buying here.

Kraken Jokingly Criticizes Coinbase’s Announcement 

Kraken, another American exchange, recently issued a Tweet poking fun at the Coinbase announcement, specifically targeting the “exploring” segment of the exchange’s statement.

The exchange jokingly stated that they would be “contemplation the exploration of maybe adding” all of the cryptocurrencies listed on CoinMarketCap, a whole 1600 crypto assets. This joke was made in an attempt to bring attention to the fact that Coinbase may not add some, if not any, of the coins mentioned, as regulatory and technical constraints may make it difficult for a seamless integration.

As reported by NewsBTC yesterday, Coinbase did not give a clear timeline for the addition of potential integration of these five crypto assets, but noted that they will be updating the public through Medium and Twitter as the situation unravels.

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Greek Court Rules to Extradite Alexander Vinnik, Accused of Laundering $4 Bln in Bitcoin – Cointelegraph

CCNGreek Court Rules to Extradite Alexander Vinnik, Accused of Laundering $4 Bln in BitcoinCointelegraphA Greek court has ruled to extradite the alleged former operator of crypto exchange BTC-e, Alexander Vinnik, to France, local news outlet CNN Greece…


CCN

Greek Court Rules to Extradite Alexander Vinnik, Accused of Laundering $4 Bln in Bitcoin
Cointelegraph
A Greek court has ruled to extradite the alleged former operator of crypto exchange BTC-e, Alexander Vinnik, to France, local news outlet CNN Greece reported Friday, July 13. The 39-year old Russian national Vinnik, also known colloquially as “Mr ...
Greek Court Agrees to Extradite Alleged Bitcoin Fraudster BTC-e Admin to FranceCCN

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Top 5 Industries Already Affected by Cryptocurrency

A major argument in favor of blockchain technology is the role it will play in disrupting and revolutionizing major industries worldwide, as cryptocurrencies can be used to facilitate transactions and communications in new and empowering ways. While the possibilities of tomorrow are exciting, the utilization of this emerging tech on industries today is similarly significant. […]

A major argument in favor of blockchain technology is the role it will play in disrupting and revolutionizing major industries worldwide, as cryptocurrencies can be used to facilitate transactions and communications in new and empowering ways. While the possibilities of tomorrow are exciting, the utilization of this emerging tech on industries today is similarly significant. Here are five industries already seeing a positive impact through their use of crypto.

5. Charity

While members of the cryptocurrency community have earned a controversial reputation for hoarding their newfound wealth by evading taxes and exploiting loopholes, some initiatives within the space have proved that many members of the community are actually quite charitable. The Pineapple Fund, which donated US$55 million to numerous charities in late 2017, is perhaps the most prolific example. Additionally, cryptocurrency donations are seeing increasing usage in response to disasters and crises.

Other charity initiatives have involved the use of mining for charity. UNICEF tinkered with an Ethereum miner, and donors could engage with a mining client that would send ETH to UNICEF. Other mining clients, such as GNation’s GShare one-click mining ecosystem, are also working to incorporate ways for users to donate a portion of their mining outputs to various charities.

4. Freelance/Microtasks

The marriage of the virtual jobs marketplace and cryptocurrency just makes sense. The nature of virtual work prior to cryptocurrency made small freelance contracts and microtask work nearly impossible to agree upon, as there were many insecurities and inefficiencies that would often negate these types of work agreements.

However, with cryptocurrency’s simple cross-border, anonymous payment capabilities, community trust networks, and smart contract escrow, online work in any capacity is possible at any scale. The bounty hunting niche, where users earn significant wages by completing microtasks for numerous entities, was essentially born through the proliferation of cryptocurrency.

3. The Black Market

For better or worse, cryptocurrency plays a role in black market transactions. While most cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, are arguably worse than fiat due to the transparent, immutable nature of its transactions, privacy coins such as Monero are far-and-away the most secure option for sellers and buyers. With Monero, addresses, transactions, blocks, and so on are opaque. It’s not possible to see the balances or activities of any wallet in the Monero network.

However, black market activity extends beyond the drugs and weapons that typically come to mind when speaking on the subject. Cryptocurrency use in black markets are actually more prominent in economies such as Venezuela, where cryptocurrency sees significant use as a method of transacting outside of the nation’s failing currency and beyond the scope of the oppressive regime, oftentimes providing opportunities such as food security not normally possible through regulated markets.

2. Finance

Although cryptocurrency was first introduced through Bitcoin as a tool to arm global citizens against banks and financial institutions, these same enemies of crypto have been major adopters. Of course, with the nature of the finance industry in mind, this doesn’t seem too far-fetched. Institutions that perform record keeping and transact on blockchain networks, rather than in central databases, can save exponentially on energy costs.

For example, participants in Ripple’s RippleNet can see savings of up to 97% on cross-border payments. Firms in the industry that choose to not even explore blockchain are essentially shooting themselves in the foot. However, industry leaders, such as JP Morgan, Bank of America, and Mastercard have all taken increasingly proactive roles in cryptocurrency, which suggests that moving forward we will see more and more blockchain adoption by these firms.

1. E-commerce

E-commerce is the first and arguably most prolific use case for cryptocurrency. Since the early days of Bitcoin, cryptocurrency has enabled individuals to engage in e-commerce through avenues that were previously impossible, like micropayments for things such as online accounts and subscriptions, game currencies, software keys, and more.

As cryptocurrency has grown, so has its adoption in e-commerce. Numerous major e-commerce businesses, such as Overstock, WordPress, and Newegg have accepted Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for many years. Nowadays, cryptocurrency can be used to purchase anything online. Even E-commerce gargantuan Amazon has been experimenting with blockchain since at least 2014.

Japanese Police Seize Crypto For Parking Tickets, Setting Legal Precedent

Japanese police from Hyogo Prefecture have seized cryptocurrency, albeit a small amount, for unpaid traffic tickets for the first time in history. Apparently, a revised fund settlement act issued in April 2017 which legalizes cryptocurrency as a payment method gives police the ability to seize crypto for unpaid fines. Typically real-estate, vehicles, bank savings, salary, …

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Japanese police from Hyogo Prefecture have seized cryptocurrency, albeit a small amount, for unpaid traffic tickets for the first time in history. Apparently, a revised fund settlement act issued in April 2017 which legalizes cryptocurrency as a payment method gives police the ability to seize crypto for unpaid fines.

Typically real-estate, vehicles, bank savings, salary, and life insurance payouts can be seized by Japanese police for unpaid fines. However, the man, in this case, has no bank accounts and police don’t know where he works, so they went into his cryptocurrency exchange account and took the balance. Police seized JPY 5,000 (USD 44), which is actually a small fraction of the total of JPY 99,7000 in unpaid traffic tickets the man accrued for leaving his vehicle unattended and illegally parked. If payment for these fines is not received by the end of July 2018, the Japanese police will liquidate the seized cryptocurrency into fiat.

This is a miniscule amount of cryptocurrency, but it’s not the amount of cryptocurrency seized that matters, but the fact that Japanese police have now set a precedent for seizing cryptocurrency to pay fines. It goes further than that, now government officials across Japan have been given the precedent to seize cryptocurrency for any unpaid debt.

This is yet another reason to keep cryptocurrency in your own wallet instead of an exchange. It is important to keep cryptocurrency in wallets where you are in complete control of the private keys and no one else. If the man followed this simple rule, there would be no way for Japanese police to seize his crypto. The only reason this cryptocurrency was seized is because the man kept it on a centralized exchange where he did not control the private keys. Literally, someone could have USD 1 billion sitting in Bitcoin and an entire police department surrounding them in an interrogation room, but if the private key is properly secured then the police have no way to access the Bitcoin.

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New York State Prepares to Welcome Bitcoin Miners With Cheaper Electricity Rates

The state of New York doesn’t have the best of reputations when it comes to cryptocurrency. Its BitLicense requirement has made operating a crypto business very expensive and difficult. In an effort to turn things around, state regulators are now aiming to attract Bitcoin and altcoin miners. New York and Bitcoin Mining On paper, there […]

The state of New York doesn’t have the best of reputations when it comes to cryptocurrency. Its BitLicense requirement has made operating a crypto business very expensive and difficult. In an effort to turn things around, state regulators are now aiming to attract Bitcoin and altcoin miners.

New York and Bitcoin Mining

On paper, there is no reason for cryptocurrency miners to ever consider setting up shop in New York. The state has a very problematic regulatory ecosystem, and the situation seemingly won’t be changing anytime soon. Few people are aware that the region could soon provide access to very cheap electricity.

A new electricity rate structure has been proposed by New York regulators. Miners who are contemplating setting up shop in this part of the United States would be able to negotiate a more favorable price. The municipality of Massena is leading the way in this regard, as its utility provider will review contracts individually. Additionally, it will ensure that other clients do not suffer from higher rates due to the influx of mining firms.

This news comes at a very interesting time for the cryptocurrency industry. Earlier this year, the New York regulators decided to increase the overall electricity rates for cryptocurrency mining firms. It seems that decision hasn’t paid off favorably for the state of New York, although there may be other reasons for this sudden change of heart.

New York State Department of Public Service Chair John Rhodes stated:

We must ensure that business customers pay a fair price for the electricity that they consume. However, given the abundance of low-cost electricity in Upstate New York, there is an opportunity to serve the needs of existing customers and to encourage economic development in the region.

With so many mining firms and investors looking to find the cheapest electricity rates possible, competition is direly needed in this regard. New York State seeks to have its finger on the pulse of this industry as soon as possible. It remains to be seen how much electricity will be provided to mining firms, though. Depending on the overall consumption, there may be some limitations put in place.

For the cryptocurrency industry, this news comes at a more than opportune time. Considering that there are so many negative developments taking place in the price department, it remains to be seen if this news can appease investors and speculators once again. Hydroelectric power is one of the many renewable energy sources cryptocurrency mining operators can take advantage of in order to cut down on overall operational costs.

Robinhood Crypto Enables Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash Support

Making cryptocurrencies more accessible to the masses will be an ongoing struggle. Even centralized exchanges are not making the biggest of impacts in this regard. Robinhood, a brokerage which has ventured into cryptocurrency recently, has added support for both Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. Robinhood Continues to Expand Although not everyone is a big fan of […]

Making cryptocurrencies more accessible to the masses will be an ongoing struggle. Even centralized exchanges are not making the biggest of impacts in this regard. Robinhood, a brokerage which has ventured into cryptocurrency recently, has added support for both Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash.

Robinhood Continues to Expand

Although not everyone is a big fan of companies that do not let consumers control their own private keys, it is evident Robinhood is quickly gaining traction. The California-based broker added cryptocurrency support to its platform a while ago. Ever since that time, the company has seen an influx of new users and a demand from clients to offer support for additional currencies.

That decision has now been made, as two new currencies will make their way to the Robinhood platform. Clients will be able to be exposed to the volatility presented by both Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. Adding these two currencies comes at a crucial time for the company, especially because the firm is still relatively new. Even so, its course of action makes sense, as adding established currencies is a solid business decision.

Robinhood has made its intentions to add new currencies quite clear over the past few weeks. The company has already hired additional developers to incorporate support for additional cryptocurrencies. Whether or not these currencies will be added in the coming weeks and months remains a bit unclear at this time. The company has not offered any official clarification in this regard.

Considering that Robinhood Crypto is only available in 17 states, its impact has been rather minimal. The company aims to dethrone Coinbase as the leading exchange among novice cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Doing so is a very tall order, but it is not impossible. Robinhood’s users need to keep in mind that they are never in full control of their funds, which could be a major roadblock.

Despite its somewhat limited popularity, Robinhood claims it provides services to as many as five million customers. This is a healthy increase compared to its three million clients in December of 2017. Adding cryptocurrency support has been quite beneficial to the company, and further expanding upon this functionality is more than warranted at this time.

For the cryptocurrency industry, this may not necessarily result in any major changes. More people being exposed to various cryptocurrencies will not necessarily result in major price movements or wider adoption. Even so, one cannot deny that traditional finance has been bridging the gap with cryptocurrency in many ways as of late. When looking at the bigger picture, this move is another nod of approval to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The Day A Hacker Created 184.4 Billion Bitcoins

Bitcoin has an excellent track record, with nearly 100% uptime and impregnable cryptographic security. However, during the early days of Bitcoin there were many bugs to work out, and on 15 August 2010, a hacker caused the value overflow incident at block 74,638, which resulted in the creation of 184.4 billion bitcoins. Bitcoin’s lead developer …

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Bitcoin has an excellent track record, with nearly 100% uptime and impregnable cryptographic security. However, during the early days of Bitcoin there were many bugs to work out, and on 15 August 2010, a hacker caused the value overflow incident at block 74,638, which resulted in the creation of 184.4 billion bitcoins. Bitcoin’s lead developer at the time, Wladimir Van Der Laan said: “It was the worst problem ever”.

The hacker figured out that the code used for checking transactions didn’t work if outputs were so large that they overflowed when summed. The hacker exploited this flaw and outputted 184.467 billion Bitcoins, sending 92.2 billion Bitcoins to 2 addresses. There will only be 21 million Bitcoins ever created, so this single transaction created 8,784 times more Bitcoins than the total possible Bitcoin supply. If this wasn’t fixed it could’ve caused an early death for Bitcoin, since it would crash markets to zero, and completely ruin Bitcoin’s credibility.

Fortunately, the value overflow incident was noticed almost immediately and a code fix was put into place within 5 hours by Satoshi Nakamoto, with the help of Gavin Andresen and other Bitcoin developers. The new code rejected transactions whose output was a value overflow and also rejected outputs that for any reason have more than 21 million bitcoins.

The only way to fix the hack was to implement the code fix and re-start the blockchain from the time right before the value overflow incident occurred. This resulted in a fork and 2 competing blockchains, but at block 74,691 the corrected blockchain overtook the hacked blockchain, after which all nodes accepted the corrected blockchain as the mainchain and the 184.4 billion bitcoins disappeared.

This means that the hacked blockchain with 184.4 billion Bitcoins was dominant for 53 blocks, which is roughly 9 hours. Transactions sent on the hacked blockchain during these 9 hours were reversed, which might have resulted in the loss of money for some Bitcoin users, and is a very serious incident that could cause people to lose trust in Bitcoin. Fortunately, Bitcoin was used by only a small number of people back then, so any damage was limited, and the incident didn’t stop Bitcoin from growing into a major global currency.

A very positive lesson that can be learned from the value overflow incident is even if Bitcoin encounters an error, it can be fixed with the help of the developer team and good communication.

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