Day: August 4, 2018

Today is proving to be a much tougher day for all cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin has faced an unexpected onslaught, and altcoins aren’t faring much better. One exception is the Ethereum Classic price which is getting pumped due to new Coinbase rumors. A major ETC dump seems to be inevitable at this point.

Another Ethereum Classic Price Pump

Over the past few months, it has become rather apparent how the Ethereum Classic price evolves. The currency goes through pump and dump cycles on a very regular basis. In most cases, such cycles last all but a few days before things return to normal. It appears this new round will be no different when everything is said and done.

A 9.64% Ethereum Classic price increase will always raise a lot of questions. Especially with Bitcoin and all top altcoins in the red, there is absolutely no reason for ETC to gain value. It appears there is a lot of FOMO over new rumors regarding Coinbase allegedly finalizing ETC integration. Even if true, that doesn’t mean the addition will kindle a new interest in this altcoin.

There is also a strong 16.87% increase in the ETC/BTC ratio to take into account. That is a very strong market push although it will not last all that long. Now is the time for altcoins to recover ground lost to Bitcoin, although that is much easier said than done under the current market conditions.

One thing working in favor of the current Ethereum classic price momentum is the overall trading volume. FOMO is a very real problem in the cryptocurrency world, as the Coinbase rumors make most traders lose all common sense. Getting listed on a new exchange doesn’t make Ethereum Classic more valuable or useful, despite generating $332,7m in volume over the past 24 hours.

Most of this volume originates from BitForex’s USDT pair, although CoinMarketcap excludes its volume for the time being. OKEx has a USDT and BTC pair in the three, followed by Binance’s USDT and BTC pairs to complete the top five. No fiat currency support further confirms this Ethereum Classic price pump will run out of steam soon enough, although it may spill over to tomorrow.

It is unclear what the future holds for the Ethereum Classic price. It seems most of the pump is already over, and buying at the top is asking for trouble. There will be some more pump action if Coinbase effectively lists ETC, albeit the company has not confirmed any official date. In the least, ETC provides some intriguing market momentum no other currency can achieve right now.

There are many conflicting opinions on what the future of blockchain entails exactly. Some projects will have a bright future, whereas others may fall woefully short. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao is confident that both Ethereum and EOS need to step up their game or risk failing.

Blockchain’s Road to Success

Hundreds if not thousands of different blockchain ecosystems are all competing for the top spot. This is by far the most exciting time to be a blockchain developer, as there is no shortage of opportunities and ways to make money. Not all of the current blockchains are necessary, as nearly 90% of them will become obsolete prior to gaining any traction.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao is confident that a lot of big changes will occur fairly soon. More specifically, he is confident that there will be a shakeup of the blockchain ecosystem, and a lot of projects will simply start to disappear. Oversaturation has become the new normal in the blockchain world, mainly because of all the hype associated with this disruptive technology.

Over the years, it has become apparent that Ethereum is the go-to blockchain for developers looking to make a lasting impact. At the same time, Ethereum has shown a few signs of weakness, mainly in terms of scaling and transaction throughput. Some companies have already switched to more professional blockchains for this reason.

Zhao has kept an eye on Ethereum’s main competitors. He cites Tezos, EOS, and Dfinity as the main “threats”. However, in his view, they are not sustainable in the long term because they are too slow to handle most applications. The same is true for Ethereum, which is simply not suited for real-world use in its current form.

How this situation will play out exactly remains to be seen. There is a lot of work to be done by the developers of all the aforementioned blockchain ecosystems. It is possible that there will be an emergence of specialized blockchains which can do specific things very well, whereas the rest will slowly be left behind. There is no one blockchain to rule them all, nor should there be. Rest assured the blockchain ecosystem as a whole is still evolving. Flaws are being ironed out and scaling problems are being worked on. In Ethereum’s case, two of those solutions are sharding and Plasma.

Markets have taken a rapid plunge today, with Bitcoin losing almost $500 on the day to dip below $7,000 and over $13 billion wiped from total market cap of all cryptos

Cryptocurrency scams have become a very real problem over the past few years. With so many new users entering this ecosystem as of late, it is evident that many are at risk of being scammed. In India, another big crypto scam has been uncovered, and two individuals associated with the venture have been arrested.

Cryptocurrency Racket Shut Down

It is good to see police officials crack down on any illegal activity involving Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. India has been cracking down on illicit cryptocurrency companies and offerings. There are many potential scams in India, which is a bigger problem that needs to be addressed.

One of the latest scams plaguing the country was created in the city of Ghaziabad. Two residents have been taken into custody by the police for allegedly duping 1,800 cryptocurrency investors. These individuals formed a fake company which claimed to offer a new investment opportunity for interested parties. Once investors began filing complaints against the company, the police launched an investigation.

As it turns out, the two individuals confirmed they’d formed a fake US-based cryptocurrency company. The venture goes by the name of Ripple Future, and it tried to capitalize on the success associated with Ripple and XRP. Unlike some other countries, India is very keen on Ripple’s technology and its native asset, despite openly opposing cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

Investors were promised a return on their initial contribution within 250 days. That would be a very tough act, especially when considering how volatile the world of cryptocurrency and digital assets is. Moreover, investors were told they’d see their initial deposit tripled in this same time period. Such investment opportunities always raise red flags immediately and should be avoided at all costs.

Despite the obvious problems associated with Ripple Future, the company still raised 30 crore  – or close to $5 million – very quickly. It is unclear what has happened with the money exactly or whether investors will be able to recoup their losses at some point. It is not the first time such a major scam has been uncovered in India, and recovering stolen money often proves impossible.

At this point, it is believed that there is still one accomplice at large. The investigation will continue to determine how this scam worked exactly and whether or not a third individual was involved. For India, this is another example of why the RBI’s decision to ban cryptocurrency trading makes a lot of sense. This industry attracts a lot of criminals, even though the positives associated with Bitcoin and altcoins should not be overlooked.

Bitcoin Cash proponents are celebrating the year anniversary of ‘Bitcoin Independence Day’ on August 1st and now into the weekend. Over the past week, quite a few bitcoiners have noticed there’s been a lot of developments, announcements, and commemorative parties within the BCH space.

Also read: High Times Becomes the First IPO to Accept Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin Cash Fans Celebrate the August 1 Anniversary Into the Weekend

There have been over 63,000 blocks mined since the blockchain split on August 1, 2017, and Bitcoin Cash fans have been observing the anniversary over the past few days with parties all around the world. At the moment, one bitcoin cash (BCH) is trading for $734 and the cryptocurrency holds the fifth highest trading volume amongst all 1600+ digital currencies that exist. On August 3, BCH transaction fees are around $0.002 USD while BTC fees are around $0.14 per transaction, in other words – around 6,900 percent cheaper. Meanwhile, there’s been a lot of developments happening within the bitcoin cash ecosystem and a new Street Fighter style video has been published which reveals the new BCH logo.

Check out the Street Fighting Bitcoin Cash video below.  

Bitcoin Unlimited Ports Double Spend Relaying Protocol from Bitcoin XT  

One recent announcement that’s buzzing around the community is the double spend relaying protocol ported from Bitcoin XT has now been implemented into the Bitcoin Unlimited (BU) client. BU’s lead developer Andrew Stone merged the relay code — a protocol that’s aimed at improving the efficiency of zero-confirmation transactions. Just recently, news.Bitcoin.com reported on Bitcoin Unlimited merging Graphene, a block propagation protocol, into the codebase on July 25.

Pixelwallet Allows Bitcoin Cash Users to Send a BCH Transaction Encrypted in an Image File

A unique application called Pixelwallet has been released into the wild and bitcoin cash fans can now send a BCH transaction encrypted in an image file. The Android application’s creators say the platform is a first of its kind, and Pixelwallet is currently running on BCH testnet. Essentially, users enter an amount to send (with testnet BCH), select an image which can also have a password attached to the file, and after that, they can then send the image by email, Telegram, and other online messengers.

GMO Group Joins the Bitcoin Cash Mining Party Again

On Friday, August 3, the Japanese internet giant GMO joined the bitcoin cash party again mining a BCH block. When speaking with our publication a few weeks ago a spokesperson told news.Bitcoin.com’s Kevin Helms the company had mined 636 BCH so far. The firm is well known for introducing mining rigs that contain 7nm semiconductors and the company’s mining subsidiary started processing cryptocurrency blocks last December. Bitcoin Cash supporters were excited to see GMO process BCH block 541818. The Bitcoin Cash network hashrate has been steadily increasing over the past few months.

Instacoin ATMs Announce BCH Integration While Supporters Observe the 687K Daily Transaction Milestone on August 1  

Lastly, the cryptocurrency automated teller machine (ATM) company Instacoin has announced it has added multi-currency support this week. Instacoin ATMs will now sell dash, litecoin, and bitcoin cash. The ATM business details that the ability to sell BCH and the other coins to their machines will be available by the end of the month.

Overall, BCH supporters are pleased with the vast amount of developments taking place in the space and many are still celebrating the anniversary and the incredible milestone of over 687,000 on-chain transactions processed for less than 1/5th of a penny, just a few days ago. Check out one of the anniversary parties below as the Coingeek ‘Bitcoin Rebirth Party’ unveils the new bitcoin cash logo. 

What do you think about all the developments and platforms revealed this week in the bitcoin cash space? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Images via Shutterstock, the BCH Street Fighter video, Pixelwallet, Pixabay, and Twitter.

Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section.

The post BCH Roundup: More Developments, 687K Transactions, and Rebirth Parties appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Bank of Thailand has permitted banks to set up branches for dealing with cryptocurrencies, while the main crypto-dealings ban still remains

Blockchain technology attracts a lot of companies and investors. Virtually everyone sees this industry as the next big thing. Blockchain spending is still rising as well, even though no one has been able to deliver on the hype associated with distributed ledgers. At this rate, blockchain will not move beyond its ‘bubble’ phase anytime soon.

Blockchain Spending Keeps Increasing

Although excitement surrounding blockchain technology has been palpable for several years now, it seems the frenzy continues to intensify. More specifically, the overall spending associated with blockchain and distributed ledgers is not slowing down. Although the year is only halfway over, overall blockchain spending in 2018 is already larger than in all of 2017.

Whether or not that is a good thing is subject to interpretation. Although one can easily see the benefits of people investing in various blockchain startups, there are also concerns over how this industry suffers from the bubble effect. Investors continue to pour money into companies which are working on a technology that may or may not offer any real-world use cases in the end.

Even though there has been talk of a cryptocurrency bubble, it is evident the blockchain industry is going down the same path. Especially now that investors are spending more money on unproven technology with very few real-world commercial applications, the industry will be under even more pressure. Companies will need to begin delivering on their initial promises, even though that is much easier said than done.

Of the companies raising millions of dollars in the past few years, a fair few have disappeared or changed their business models entirely. Experts still predict that over 90% of blockchain projects will fail, yet that doesn’t deter big investors from throwing money at them. A new report by KPMG only confirms this worrisome trend. A lot of projects are now attracting large sums of money, although most of their funding rounds are associated with companies already entrenched in the blockchain and cryptocurrency world.

KPMG noted the following along with its findings:

Investments in insurtech and regtech are expected to grow over the next 6 months, in addition to investments in enabling technologies like AI, RPA and blockchain. Open banking will likely continue to gain ground around the world — including Asia, where the Hong Kong (SAR) Monetary Authority recently published its open API framework.

One silver lining of all this crazy behavior is that more and more companies are transitioning from an experimental phase to actual adoption. Although it is still difficult for corporations to pick one blockchain over another, it has become evident that some teams actually have a working product, even if it is still in early alpha stages. Those companies which do not have a working prototype will feel increasing pressure as time progresses.

Cryptocurrency mining has gotten a bad reputation over the years. Experts and analysts often point to the vast electricity usage associated with this business. To counter those concerns, DMG Blockchain is now building its own electrical substation. It’s a very remarkable decision that could usher in a new era of Bitcoin mining.

Another Smart Move by DMG Blockchain

There is a very good reason why some countries oppose cryptocurrency mining. This type of activity puts an incredible strain on the existing power grid. Not all regions are built to withstand such pressure, and countries want to ensure that residents and corporations don’t suffer from any unexpected outages. Avoiding problems is always better than remedying them, especially where Bitcoin mining is concerned.

It would appear DMG Blockchain has come up with a very unusual solution. Rather than relocating a mining operation, the company is building its very own electrical substation. Although setting up such a venture is not possible everywhere in the world, it further confirms that Bitcoin mining firms want to contribute to society, rather than make life more difficult. Building local power substations is one way of achieving success in this regard.

The Canadian firm is currently in the process of constructing its substation in Castlegar, British Columbia. This region has an abundance of hydropower, which means setting up a new power substation will require a lot of work and the right expertise. This is also helping create temporary jobs in the town, which is another added benefit of Bitcoin which mining experts often tend to overlook.

As one would expect, building an electrical substation is not cheap. A DMG Blockchain spokesperson confirmed this process will cost millions of dollars. Logistically speaking, they had to build a new access road to haul equipment to its destination. If everything goes according to plan, the facility will be ready for use come September. A final test will be performed by the utility provider to ensure everything works and has no negative impact on the town of Castlegar itself.

Although DMG Blockchain is setting a unique example in this regard, it seems highly unlikely more companies will embrace this approach. Building a substation requires regulatory approval, as such a venture introduces a lot of potential risks. In Castlegar, receiving that approval has seemingly not been much of a problem. Other parts of the world may not be as open-minded toward concepts like these, which is only to be expected.

It is evident that cryptocurrency mining firms must think outside the box to make a positive impact. These firms can offer tremendous benefits to the regions in which they operate, but any good intentions are always overshadowed by concerns over electricity use, among other things. DMG Blockchain is showing that things can be done differently if regulators and policymakers allow such companies to take different approaches.

Smart contract technology is of great interest to developers and corporations. Automating specific processes using blockchain technology can create new use cases. At the same time, there are still some issues associated with smart contracts, ranging from performance to theft prevention. Solving the latter problem may not be as easy as one might think.

Smart Contracts’ Flaws

For a technology that is still in the relatively early stages of development, smart contracts are used far and wide. This has caused some major issues and discrepancies over the years. Although most of those kinks have been ironed out, there have been some lingering issues which traditional solutions can’t address. One excellent example is the Parity contract issue, which still hasn’t been resolved several months after the fact.

Finding solutions to existing and future problems remains a very big challenge. Combined with the performance issues associated with smart contracts, there is still plenty of work to be done. GoChain has come up with a proposal to alleviate most if not all concerns associated with this disruptive technology.

Although the proposal put forward on GitHub may not be a suitable outcome for everyone, it touches upon some interesting concepts associated with smart contract technology. First of all, the plan of action revolves around theft prevention. Even though smart contracts are designed to be trustless, it has become evident that there is a very good reason to be wary of this technology. Contracts are still written by humans, and bugs – or purposefully malicious coding – still remain a big problem.

Finding a solution to this problem is not easy. Introducing upgradeable smart contracts is an intriguing option to explore. They would, in theory, allow creators to pause a contract altogether or fix a big without any issues. They are not designed to just prevent theft, as they can also be used to make smart contracts more robust by adding more features. For DApp developers, they would certainly introduce a whole new set of opportunities.

The concept of upgradeable smart contracts also poses a problem. Smart contracts are, by default, designed to be immutable once written and executed. Giving developers a way out from under this immutability nullifies the reason for using blockchain technology for this specific purpose. Finding a working solution to address those concerns will take some time, as no one wants to trust a contract creator who can modify the original agreement at any given moment.

Although this proposal merely affects GoChain – not Ethereum – the concept has a lot of merit regardless. Something needs to be done to prevent potentially dangerous smart contracts from causing a ruckus. Third-party vetting of smart contract code prior to deploying them may still remain the most preferable method of attack, although opinions remain divided on that front as well.

Hedge fund manager Brian Kelly, while appearing on CNBC’s Fast Money, has called Intercontinental Exchange’s announcement about its new Bakkt platform as the “biggest news of the year.”

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), recently announced that with the help of technology partner Microsoft, it was planning to launch a new digital asset platform called Bakkt.

ICE also owns 23 exchanges worldwide apart from the NYSE along with many futures exchanges and clearing houses.  Starbucks and Microsoft will be major partners of Bakkt and will begin accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Bakkt is also planning on launching physically-settled Bitcoin futures by November 2018, which would be a mechanism for institutional investors worldwide to easily buy Bitcoin.

Kelly explained his “biggest news of the year” statement after rejecting that ETF would be approved by the SEC this year, suggesting that he’s not actually optimistic on them being approved in 2018, but the speculation surrounding them will maintain investor interest in Bitcoin regardless of the outcome.

He thinks that ICE’s move is better than Bitcoin futures due to its limitations, given that there are “a limited set of people that can trade it… And a lot of people use it for hedging.”

He recently stated that the last Bitcoin price boost following the CNBC announcement was here to stay, only to see the market drop again a week later. When asked if the ICE announcement might have more effect on prices and whether it would meet with success, he responded:

“Oh, yeah! Absolutely! I mean, they are talking about launching in November… They have been working on this in stealth mode for the last 14 months, they have already talked to regulators, they are ready to go.”

He put the lack of market response to “the biggest news of the year” down to time difference and that he expected there would be a response. Bitcoin at the time of writing is $7,473.89 (CMC). He suggested:

“Back in January, Bitcoin would have gone up 20% on this news. So, I think the bear market has just broken people’s spirit, frankly, and so people aren’t really looking for this… A lot of people I talked to today hadn’t seen the news–came out at 08:30 [UTC -04:00]–people hadn’t seen it till 2, 3 in the afternoon. So, the market is still digesting this, and remember most of Bitcoin trading happens in Asia; so, it was released at 08:30 this morning, that’s 09:30, 10:00 at night on a Friday night in Asia. [When] Asia wakes up, you might see this thing pop.”

Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at @BitcoinNewsCom

Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews

Image Courtesy:Pixabay

The post Brian Kelly Proclaims That Bakkt Is Biggest Crypto News of the Year appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.