Day: July 20, 2018

Quebec, now becoming fast becoming North America’s mining hub due to its cheap energy prices, is under pressure to clarify exactly what Hydro-Quebec has planned for the province’s future; a recent interview with the public utility reveals some of the misconceptions and truths behind recent public criticism.

Much of the criticism has come from the non-mining majority, who are concerned about crypto mining activities increasing power costs and small mining operations, resulting in new requests from crypto miners to operate being temporarily suspended, pending the results of a moratorium.

As Bitcoin News recently reported, under new rules there is to be a total of 500 MW set aside for cryptocurrency mining in the Province, and the rate will be hiked by at least 1 Canadian penny (CAD 0.01) for cryptocurrency miners. Additionally, Hydro-Quebec will be able to decrease or shut off electricity a maximum of 300 hours a year in order to meet the demand of normal customers in a shortage situation.

Is this then the death knoll for crypto mining in Quebec, and are small operators being edged out of what is a highly lucrative market by big investors such as Bitmain? Hydro-Québec public relations spokesman Jonathan Cote recently attempted to answer some of these questions when talking to Bitrates.com.

Cotes claims that accusations that Hydro-Quebec has single out crypto-mining for punitive treatment is simply a “myth” and sees the industry as “a good opportunity”. He suggested that the moratorium on crypto mining had actually delayed potential business, but a framework was essential for the province to make mining “manageable”.

He went on to explain the necessity to implement a moratorium on selling electricity to Quebec’s crypto mining companies was due to recent spiralling requests from applicants, resulting in 300 extra companies wanting to do business in Quebec to the tune of an extra 18,000 MW of electricity.

Cotes argued that the province simply can’t deal with that block of power being allocated to the new industry in light of the way Hydro-Quebec allocates and divides its power into different areas. Crypto mining comes into what the utility calls “the Heritage Pool”, an allocation of 1,500 MW to high tech operations and greenhouses. This pool is the reason why Quebec’s power is kept low. Any extension of power beyond the pool would put simply, result in an increase in prices for all consumers.

Another factor is that energy is not distributed equally throughout the year given the region’s severe winters, requiring a massive boost then to cover heating. This would effectively limit blockchain projects’ usage in the winter months. Basically, public heating is seen by the utility as a greater priority.

When asked what Cotes saw as the benefits of attracting Bitcoin mining to Quebec, he commented:

“It will bring new revenue for Hydro-Québec, which is state-owned, so it means more profit that will allow us to pay a higher dividend to the government, which is then used to support public services and infrastructure… It can create jobs.”

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Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange has formed its own political action committee

Fortune magazine’s annual 40 Under 40 is out, recently published in print and online, highlighting leaders under forty years of age. This year, the cryptosphere is well represented by Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin, Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong, and Robinhood’s Vlad Tenev. Wielding billions and billions in valuations, their average age is just a tender 30 years old. Slowly and methodically, crypto is making its way into the mainstream, coming of age.

Also read: Philippines Embraces Cryptocurrency: Exchanges Issued Provisional Licenses

Fortune’s 40 Under 40 Include Ecosystem Heavy Hitters

Fortune magazine’s 40 Under 40 list contains forty of the world’s most productive, interesting leaders under forty years old. “Whether they’re building companies worth billions of dollars,” the magazine explains, “carving a prominent niche in a Fortune 500 business, leading governments or winning Academy Awards, these listers are running fast and winning big.”

The 2018 iteration includes cryptocurrency heavies such as Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin (24), Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong (35), and Robinhood’s Vlad Tenev (31). On making the cut, some were asked about keys to their success. Mr. Tenev of Robinhood, the free stock trading application which recently allowed users to trade crypto, emphasized writing things down.

“I write everything down: important decisions,” Mr. Tenev revealed, “my number-one goal for the day, to-dos, and miscellaneous thoughts. It helps me focus on what’s most important each day, not forget anything, and provides a nice look back at key moments and inflection points that can be good teaching moments for new employees down the road.” In only five years, Robinhood reached a reported $5.6 billion valuation.

Crypto is Coming of Age

Making Fortune’s list marks something of a crypto coming of age. The broader, mainstream financial community appears to be taking more notice of decentralized digital currency. It has taken nearly a decade, but with revelations about patent-seeking legacy corporations, futures markets, more talk of ETFs on the horizon, crypto has arrived.

Indeed, famed crypto bank and quasi-exchange, Coinbase has at its head a 35-year-old who believes in motivational language. CEO Brian Armstrong explains, “Everyday, I write down affirmations (what I aspire to be in the world) and my goals (if I only got three things done today, what would they be). Then I start on those three things, before looking at anything else like my inbox.” Coinbase has grown so fast; rumors are that it aims to be the ecosystem’s Google in terms of stature.

Vitalik Buterin, 24, a founder and the face of Ethereum, describes “his open-source blockchain platform Ethereum as a ‘world computer,’” Fortune notes. “The skinny visionary’s experiment, which began as a white paper, now has a market valuation of $48 billion, making it the second-most-valuable crypto network next to Bitcoin. Ethereum caught a lucky break this year when the SEC said it would not regulate ether, the network’s native coin, as a security. Rumor has it Google recently tried to hire Buterin to lead its own whispered crypto endeavors, but he declined.”

Has crypto arrived in the mainstream sense? Let us know in the comments section below. 

Images via the Pixabay.

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Coinbase formed a Political Action Committee, though it is unclear which candidates it plans to support at this time.

The Financial Stability Council of Ukraine supported a regulatory concept of crypto regulation that involves recognizing cryptocurrencies as a financial instrument

CoinMarketCap, a leading site for cryptocurrency market cap data and crypto exchange ranks, has announced that an update of policies and website design to reduce the impact of trading volume fraud on crypto exchange ranks, in a post titled ‘CoinMarketCap stands for data transparency and clarity‘.

The most recent trend which has been inflating crypto exchange volume is “transaction fee mining” where exchanges compensate fees with their native exchange tokens. Transaction fee mining incentivizes wash trading, oftentimes with trading bots, so users can get as many tokens as possible. Wash trading is when a user opens multiple accounts and trades against themselves just to generate more volume. This has resulted in several exchanges rocketing to the top of CoinMarketCap, including CoinBene and Bit-Z. Also, usually crypto exchanges require a cryptocurrency to have a certain amount of volume to remain listed, so some crypto projects conduct wash trading just to remain listed. This inflates the overall volume of the exchange.

Apparently, crypto exchanges have been wash trading just to get listed on CoinMarketCap, because up to now CoinMarketCap has had minimum volume requirements to be listed. The biggest change CoinMarketCap is making is to remove the minimum volume requirement, so there will be no more incentive for inflating trading volume just to get listed. However, CoinMarketCap will evaluate all exchanges before listing them to make sure they are legitimate. This change has already been implemented, and now 212 crypto exchanges are listed on CoinMarketCap.

CoinMarketCap doesn’t want to get into censoring and policing exchanges if they are using transaction fee mining or other features that inflate trading volume, instead they will provide all the data possible and let users decide. They will update their website design to have more filters and toggles so users can see which exchanges are using transaction fee mining, and what other features exchanges have. In general, CoinMarketCap does not want to introduce its own bias but wants users to reach their own conclusions by using all the available data.

CoinMarketCap will be introducing 7-day and 30-day crypto exchange volume statistics, as well as the launch date of crypto exchanges, to give users a better idea of the consistency of each exchange. The weekly and monthly volumes for each cryptocurrency are also being calculated and already available.

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The market got a shot of adrenaline on Monday on the rumors that the world’s biggest asset manager BlackRock was investigating trading cryptocurrencies and even establishing a bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF).

The UK Law Commission has begun research into blockchain technology, specifically smart contracts, in order to reform current laws to reflect their legal viability and use cases.

The commission published a working paper on Thursday detailing the extent of the agency’s research thus far. Initial research has already begun, according to the paper, with the in-depth study starting this summer. The project is described as working towards formulating laws that sufficiently reflects the nuances of the emerging technology, including providing flexibility in a ”global, digital context” while providing both legal clarity and certainty.

Legislating for smart contracts

In a promising moment for the blockchain industry, the commission noted its interest in smart contracts, specifically acknowledging their potential to bring “trust and certainty” to businesses in a way that could reduce transaction costs. The UK must then adjust laws in order to cater to enterprises willing to use and promote smart contracts, the commission believes.

The working paper notes that it may well even be crucial for UK courts to provide an effective legal framework to suit smart contracts or risk becoming an uncompetitive choice for business. As well as saying the commission is serious about producing legal reforms, it also described the case for reviewing English laws as ”compelling“.

The research is anticipated to take between 9 and 18 months, with several factors relating to current law considered potentially problematic. In one instance, implied terms are cited as possibly incompatible with smart contracts. As well as this, data protection laws such as the recently-legislated GDPR may be conflicting.

However, there appears to be a strong movement in favor of shifting the legal framework for blockchain compatibility. Renowned British judge John Thomas last year said that he believed UK laws must be reformed to suit smart contracts.

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A great deal of cryptocurrency proponents are hoping for a positive outcome when the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) decides on whether or not they will approve the latest bitcoin-based ETF application file by Cboe. The US regulator had asked for public opinion concerning the ETF again, and this time around the number of responses sent to the regulator is 10X the amount that was sent this past April.

Also Read: Bitcoin Futures Volume Spike As Cboe Awaits ETF Decision 

SEC Receives 10X the Number of Responses for the Upcoming Bitcoin ETF Decision

Virtual currency enthusiasts really want a bitcoin-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) approved by US regulators. Over the past few weeks, since Cboe filed an application with the SEC, so it can list shares backed by the Vaneck Solidx Bitcoin Trust (“the Trust”), the SEC office received a large swathe of opinion letters from more than 90 individuals according to recent reports. The number of responses sent was 10X the amount of opinions written last April during a prior bitcoin ETF decision.

Reports also detail that Cboe’s bitcoin-based ETF has been so popular that the SEC has pushed another cryptocurrency related listing off until this September. The attempted Cboe ETF has been a popular discussion among cryptocurrency enthusiasts and some speculators believe digital asset prices will rise in anticipation of the SEC’s decision. Cryptocurrency markets have seemingly already reversed their bearish trend and a good amount of proponents believe this decision will cause a spike either before and after the ruling if it is positive.

SEC Decision Date Discrepancy and a Possible Crypto-Bull Run if the Ruling Is Positive  

There’s also been a discrepancy on when the official decision would be made as many people and publications assumed the verdict would be on August 10. However, according to a Reddit user, who claims to be a securities lawyer, on the forum r/cryptocurrency, an August 10 decision is impossible.

“The way this works is that the SEC issues a notice, which is then published in the Federal Register — As you will find stated clearly in the notice, the period is within 45 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register — not the date the notice is released by the SEC (edit: failure to understand this distinction is the source of the incorrect August 10th date),” explains the post.  

The date of publication in the Federal Register was July 2nd — This means they have until August 16th. Bear in mind that it can be extended, and even once the period ends, the SEC may “initiate proceedings” to assist in making a decision.

A Possible Crypto-Bull Run if the SEC Ruling Is Positive

If an ETF judgment is made on August 16 there is well over a month until that date, so a lot could happen to cryptocurrency spot markets between now and that time. People who hope this ETF will happen believe it might be approved because of Cboe’s previous experience with bitcoin futures markets introduced this past December. So far the derivatives markets offered by both Cboe and CME Group have done well, and growing volumes show there is interest in these mainstream cryptocurrency investment vehicles. Arthur Hayes the co-founder and CEO of Bitmex exchange explains on the CNBC broadcast Fast Money that a positive ETF ruling could prime the next massive bull run.

“We’re one positive regulatory decision away — maybe an ETF approved by the SEC — to climb through $20,000 and even to $50,000 by the end of the year,” the Bitmex CEO states.

What do you think about the SEC being swamped with letters about the bitcoin ETF decision? Do you think a positive decision will cause a cryptocurrency bull run to happen? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.

Images via Shutterstock, Wiki Commons, and Pixabay

At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even look up the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more.

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On a weekly basis, XRP lags and is up one percent in the same time frame. This comes at the backdrop of FUDs and talk of SEC anticipated clarification of XRP. Despite all, XRP is still trading above key support lines. It is likely that weekend’s price action would shape the short to medium term trajectory of this coin.

From the News

The sore, iterative and tired debate of whether XRP is a security or a utility is quickly degenerating into drivel. If anything, ordinary investors don’t care about SEC position. XRP traders on the other hand are after playing the market and are always angling to clip some profits. Of course, SEC oversight on cryptocurrencies-an emergent and a complex market-is but welcomed. This is solely because of the inherent architecture and unregulated nature of cryptocurrencies in general.

Overly though, what commentators will argue is about the utility of XRP and the number of companies that are currently using the technology to improve on efficiency. That cannot be overstated and while we understand how SEC comments on the coin will always be that dark shadow, it is way better to look into the medium term and bask in the glory that BTC resurgence is tagging along with.

Anyhow, Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple the company said the XRP-BTC coupling will probably take years before it wears off. Therefore, as long as BTC is trending, XRP shall closely follow suit.

By popular demand, we have added @Ripple trading on CoinFlux.
In order to buy/sell @Ripple via CoinFlux you’ll need an active account.
And, as always, our helpful colleagues from Customer Support are online to assist you for any inquiries you might have.https://t.co/dGKU0lHeRm pic.twitter.com/UOScfVvkjQ

— CoinFlux (@CoinFlux) July 19, 2018

After all, there are numerous channels of buying or trading with XRP. Most recently, CoinFlux announced their support of XRP. Initially, this Cluj based cryptocurrency exchange focused on ETH and BTC but considering the demand, XRP had to be an addition.

XRP Technical Analysis

Weekly Chart

XRP Weekly Chart By Trading View

Regardless of the general crypto market revival, XRP sellers are determined to clip this week’s gain. So far, we have this bear pin bar right at the 45 cents main support line printing despite our bullish stand.

Now, for that position to hold true then we might see rejection of lower lowers and that means XRP must print above 45 cents and ideally reverse July 18-20 losses. If not and there is a convincing close below 45 cents then next week we shall initiate shorts with targets at 15 cents.

Daily Chart

XRP Daily Chart By Trading View

In any case, XRP is moving within a 10 cent trade range with buy triggers at 55 cents and main support at 45 cents. Because of July 16 and 17 higher highs, we remain bullish despite the low volume accompanying that thrust. As we have mentioned above, should we see sellers driving prices to 45 cents, then my suggestion is to short on pull backs with stops at 50 cents.

Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are those of the author and aren’t investment advice. Trading of any form involves risk and so do your due diligence before making a trading decision.

The post XRP Technical Analysis: Spike in XRP FUDs Signals a Bottoming Market appeared first on NewsBTC.

Spanish bank BBVA signed a new blockchain-powered loan, having completed the first global blockchain-based pilot on loans and corporate finance

The Jigsaw malware is back and it is ready to steal Bitcoin from consumers once again.

Jigsaw is Back to Scare Bitcoin Users

ZDNet recently reported that the “Jigsaw” ransomware has recently been revised by hackers to steal Bitcoin from unsuspecting users through a “simple-but-effective trick.”

According to the technology news source, Jigsaw first appeared in the cryptocurrency scene in April 2016 as a form of ransomware, holding the files and information of users hostage until a ransom of Bitcoin was paid. The reason why it is named Jigsaw is due to the fact that the piece of code displayed the likeness of the Saw horror film villain.

However, with this most recent revision, the ransomware has been re-purposed to steal Bitcoin in a fairly innovative and non-intrusive manner, modifying the addresses inputted by a user. Once the piece of malware alters an address, the Bitcoin payment will then be redirected to the hacker’s wallet, resulting in lost crypto for the victim.

Jigsaw, or “BitcoinStealer,” as it is known by references in the code of the program, accomplishes this by altering Bitcoin addresses in someone’s clipboard, or the area where copied pieces of text lie.

However, the ingenuity of the program does not stop there, as BitcoinStealer is able to the intended address of the payment to one that looks very similar, using a program such as VanityGen to trick the user into thinking the hacker’s address and the original address are one and the same.

Image Courtesy of Fortinet

This ingenuity has proven to be rather successful, with researchers from Fortinet, who first broke the news about Jigsaw, saying that cyber attacks utilizing this method have garnered over 8.4 Bitcoin, or approximately $61,000 at current market prices. Fortinet also discovered that there were many similar projects for “modifying cryptocurrency addresses”  being advertised on dark web forum sites, presumably by hackers enlisting the same method of attack.

Crypto-Related Cybercrime is Still Prevalent Despite Price Decline

However, this method of cybercrime, which the cyber researchers called the “clipboard-substitution malware family,” was not mentioned in a recent threat report from the cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes.

According to the report released on July 17th, ransomware and cryptojacking were by far the primary sources of crypto-related cybercrime, with “cryptominers continuing to dominate” the threat landscape.

Despite starting to slow down due to declining cryptocurrency prices and mining profits, the Cybercrime Tactics & Techniques Report for Q2 2018 still found that cryptominers are as prevalent as ever, noting:

“Cryptomining detections are slowly declining; however, as one of the top two detections for both businesses and consumers, they still dominate the threat landscape”

Nonetheless, moving into Q3 of 2018, Malwarebytes expects for cryptojacking cases to slowly fade, as cybercriminals follow the industries where they can make the biggest profits. The security firm wrote:

“Ultimately, many criminals aren’t getting the return on investment (ROI) from cryptomining they were expecting. The cryptojacking craze will likely stabilize as it follows market trends in cryptocurrency… Until changes in the cryptocurrency market cause a spike or swift downturn, expect to see cryptomining hum along at its current slower pace into Q3.”

It is likely that the propagation of clipboard-substitutions will become a growing threat for cryptocurrency users moving into the future, as it is a much more reliable, non-intrusive and profitable way for hackers to get their hand on consumer crypto.

So watch out, double, triple or even quadruple check the address when you send your next Bitcoin transaction.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post The Jigsaw Ransomware Has Been Revived to Steal Bitcoin from Unsuspecting Users appeared first on NewsBTC.

The digital content space has a host of problems related to transparency, centralization, and hype, making it difficult for creators to deliver and receive both actual value to users and rightful revenue from platforms that distribute their content. Newly developed blockchain use cases in the industry are emerging to combat these problems.

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Digital Content Is a Mess

The digital content industry is opaque and unaccountable. Ownership of digital content has long been hard to verify, making transactions unnecessarily complicated because of arcane copyright transfer methods, creating otherwise avoidable copyright disputes around unregulated derivative works. Worse, the entire industry is platform-centric: creators earn much less from their own work than distribution channels like Youtube or Tidal, any of which can change their revenue-sharing models whenever they want. And, since such platforms direct users’ content experiences through matching algorithms based on previous views, individual users’ level of interest in different types of content is not always clear, forcing creators to cater to unclear user interests possibly developed in the digital echo chambers these situations tend to create.

How To Clean Up Digital Content

As in the recording industry, where record studios frequently take ownership of artists’ master recording rights, so in the digital content industry do distribution platforms gain the lion’s share of revenue produced by their partner creators. The answer to this problem is to decentralize proof of ownership, copyright, pricing and revenue-sharing in and of digital content. The technology most capable of doing this is blockchain. A decentralized, trustless, immutable digital ledger enabling self-executing (or, “smart”) contracts, transparent and open-source auditing of transactions, blockchain disintermediates supply and value chains, opening up and standardizing revenue distribution and ownership verifiability. By opening up more revenue and autonomy to creators, blockchain technology can improve industry working conditions, as well as production standards and expectations for creators.and platforms alike. The time has come for a decentralized global ecosystem for digital content enabling its free production, authenticating copyrights, distributing it and transacting around it openly, allowing creators to retain the rights to their work and its value.

The Market

Global advertising revenue from digital content reached $500bn in 2016 over 1.7bn live-streaming app users, with 17% of revenue and viewership originating from China. Growth in mobile video consumption, accounting for 55% of all video consumption in 2015, will account for 75% of all video consumption in 2020–an almost 25% increase. So, too, will the volume of mobile video users penetrating the space increase–from 22% in 2015 to 34% in 2020.

Traction of Blockchain Use Cases in Digital Content

The application of blockchain to the problems surrounding the mobile digital content industry has many potential benefits. With the blockchain’s key attributes of disintermediation, open-source verifiability and transparency, it enables copyright authentication, transaction, and attestation of mobile digital content. It also makes immutable transactions and derivative works unalterable, while simultaneously enabling copyright verification and disabling track infringement using timestamps on the blockchain. Mobile digital content on the blockchain would also decentralize income distribution between creators and users, disintermediating the industry by removing the need for distribution platforms, allowing creators and users to transact between each other. It would also distribute income based on content value and user contribution, delivering more value to creators and greater access speed to users.

Among the use cases delivering value in this space, Contentos stands out. Contentos is a blockchain-based decentralized global ecosystem for digital content, enabling content to be freely produced, authenticated, distributed, and transacted. It is a global creator community and a shared content ecosystem between users and creators, where users and creators can communicate and transact with one another instantly and freely without intermediaries. Pricing is open and transparent while credit is based on usage and participation. With industry-leading strategic partners like LiveMe, Cheez and PhotoGrid, Contentos has the potential to reshape the mobile digital content industry by opening up revenue circulation and validating viewership and intellectual property, creating an ecosystem where every creator is fairly rewarded for their work and every user is given maximum access to creator content without having to go through paywalls or activate troublesome subscriptions.

Blockchain use cases like Contentos in the digital content industry are changing the industry, and the application of the technology will lead to greater transaction and viewing speed, clarity, and verifiability. Yet to be competitive, such apps will need to partner with existing companies that stand to gain from blockchain integration instead of platforms that separate users and creators. Apps that can do this will come to lead the industry in the next 10 to 20 years as blockchain technology becomes more and more mainstream.

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What are your thoughts about digital content on blockchains? Creators, could it improve your process and earning potential? Consumers: could it improve your listening and viewing experiences? Post in the comments below and let us know!

Blockshow Americas 2018 debuts its first-ever conference in Las Vegas August 20-21, 2018. Registration is now open