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Bitcoin Scammers Extort Bachelors With Blackmail — Over Non-Existent Wives – Bitcoinist


Bitcoinist

Bitcoin Scammers Extort Bachelors With Blackmail — Over Non-Existent Wives
Bitcoinist
Residents of Washington D.C.’s upscale Chevy Chase neighborhood have been targeted by Bitcoin scammers claiming theyre poised to reveal “dark secrets” to the target’s wives. Despite the claims, there’s just one problem.
Bitcoin scammers target wealthy, threaten to expose ‘secret’Sacramento Bee
‘I know about the secret’: Men in affluent neighborhoods are getting shakedown lettersWashington Post

all 80 news articles »


Bitcoinist

Bitcoin Scammers Extort Bachelors With Blackmail — Over Non-Existent Wives
Bitcoinist
Residents of Washington D.C.'s upscale Chevy Chase neighborhood have been targeted by Bitcoin scammers claiming theyre poised to reveal “dark secrets” to the target's wives. Despite the claims, there's just one problem.
Bitcoin scammers target wealthy, threaten to expose 'secret'Sacramento Bee
'I know about the secret': Men in affluent neighborhoods are getting shakedown lettersWashington Post

all 80 news articles »

Bitcoin speculators, not drug dealers, dominate crypto use now – Chicago Daily Herald

Chicago Daily HeraldBitcoin speculators, not drug dealers, dominate crypto use nowChicago Daily HeraldWhen Infante started seeing the bitcoin pop up in her cases at the DEA five years ago, her analysis of blockchain data showed criminal activity was be…


Chicago Daily Herald

Bitcoin speculators, not drug dealers, dominate crypto use now
Chicago Daily Herald
When Infante started seeing the bitcoin pop up in her cases at the DEA five years ago, her analysis of blockchain data showed criminal activity was behind about 90 percent of transactions in the cryptocurrency. Now, illegal activity has shrunk to about ...

tZero to Receive Largest Recorded Investment for Blockchain Startup

Chinese private equity firm GSR Capital has confirmed it signed a letter of intent to invest USD 270 million in blockchain startup up tZero, making it the largest recorded investment to such a company, according to Forbes. Atypical investment structure The USD 270 million investment came with an 18% stake in tZero, a platform for …

The post tZero to Receive Largest Recorded Investment for Blockchain Startup appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Chinese private equity firm GSR Capital has confirmed it signed a letter of intent to invest USD 270 million in blockchain startup up tZero, making it the largest recorded investment to such a company, according to Forbes.

Atypical investment structure

The USD 270 million investment came with an 18% stake in tZero, a platform for trading blockchain-issued securities, with GSR confirming it will spend another USD 104.55 million for approximately 10% of the platform’s parent company Overstock’s shares. Additionally, the private equity firm has pledged another USD 30 million in tZero’s initial coin offering (ICO).

This funding would bring the aggregate investment past USD 404 million, pushing tZero’s company valuation to USD 1.5 billion, surpassing its parent Overstock.com (USD 1.07 billion) despite the flagship product not even having been launched yet.

Independent letters of intent were configured and signed by all parties to secure the deal.

Sonny Wu, GSR Capital’s chairman and founder, told Forbes that his company has a long-term view on scaling the platform globally. This investment is GSR Capital’s first public blockchain venture, with its previous history focused on electric vehicles and clean energy.

tZero executive chairman and CEO of Overstock.com, Patrick Byrne, said that the money would be used to open more tokenized securities exchanges internationally for uses such as his SEC-licensed US platform. He envisions tZero’s token to be listed on each of these exchanges.

Byrne noted that raising capital from the businesses home in the US was proving challenging, hence they had to look further abroad. He told Forbes, “US capital is, to be honest, they’re gun shy on this whole blockchain issue… I’m sorry to say the US is not the leading country in the world.”

Hitting into US economics harder, Byrne said that he started the venture to undo what he called the ”original sin” of Wall Street – separating the trade of a stock and its settlement. tZero’s tokenized securities are designed to enable real-time, transparent lending of securities.

Such sentiments have led Byrne to be called the ”scourge of Wall Street” by those whose practices he criticizes, but this does not trouble him. Instead, he believes that the significant investments to tZero show that the tides are turning on traditional Wall Street practices.

 

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Bitcoin Is a Safe-Haven Asset That Will Improve Finance, New Research Suggests – Bitcoinist

BitcoinistBitcoin Is a Safe-Haven Asset That Will Improve Finance, New Research SuggestsBitcoinistBitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will dramatically increase the effectiveness of the financial industry. Bitcoin is an efficient alternative in countrie…


Bitcoinist

Bitcoin Is a Safe-Haven Asset That Will Improve Finance, New Research Suggests
Bitcoinist
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will dramatically increase the effectiveness of the financial industry. Bitcoin is an efficient alternative in countries with unstable economies, according to a study recently published by Infiniti Research.

and more »

Bitcoin Dominance Rate Hits 50% For First Time in 2018 – CoinDesk


CoinDesk

Bitcoin Dominance Rate Hits 50% For First Time in 2018
CoinDesk
Shortly past 03:00 UTC on August 11, CoinMarketCap’s bitcoin dominance rate – an indicator that tracks the percent of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization contributed by the leading cryptocurrency – reached 50 percent for the first time since …
Bitcoin Falls to $6050, Establishes New 1 Month LowEthereum World News (blog)
New Survey Finds 50% of Americans ‘Willing to Try Out’ BitcoinBitcoinist
‘Game Over’ for Bitcoin, Claims Bearish Technical AnalystCCN
Fortune –National Bureau of Economic Research
all 210 news articles »

CoinDesk

Bitcoin Dominance Rate Hits 50% For First Time in 2018
CoinDesk
Shortly past 03:00 UTC on August 11, CoinMarketCap's bitcoin dominance rate – an indicator that tracks the percent of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization contributed by the leading cryptocurrency – reached 50 percent for the first time since ...
Bitcoin Falls to $6050, Establishes New 1 Month LowEthereum World News (blog)
New Survey Finds 50% of Americans 'Willing to Try Out' BitcoinBitcoinist
'Game Over' for Bitcoin, Claims Bearish Technical AnalystCCN
Fortune -National Bureau of Economic Research
all 210 news articles »

African Crypto Movement Learns from Past to Push Forward

An examination of Google Trends this year illustrates how the African continent is waking up to cryptocurrency-related products and exploring the sector for innovative opportunities. The popularity of Bitcoin in Africa continues to grow, enabled by the presence of a greater number of cryptocurrency exchange platforms. There are benefits to cryptocurrency ownership unique to the …

The post African Crypto Movement Learns from Past to Push Forward appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

An examination of Google Trends this year illustrates how the African continent is waking up to cryptocurrency-related products and exploring the sector for innovative opportunities.

The popularity of Bitcoin in Africa continues to grow, enabled by the presence of a greater number of cryptocurrency exchange platforms. There are benefits to cryptocurrency ownership unique to the continent of Africa, many devolving from the widespread unstable economic conditions.

Google searches reveal that Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa are frantically searching online when it comes down to cryptocurrency and Bitcoin.

The M-pesa mobile money platform that started over 10 years ago as a Vodaphone pilot scheme for Safaricom and Vodacom, the largest mobile network operators in Kenya and Tanzania, is now an African giant. It is convenience that has made a massive impact in these countries, allowing users to deposit, withdraw, transfer money and pay for goods and services from their mobile phone.

So big has the company become it has now reached South Africa and further afield in Afghanistan, India, Romania and Albania.

The mobile phone has become Africa’s most significant innovation, connecting people across the continent in remote regions, also providing a host of innovative apps, thereby making more conventional and expensive forms of communication obsolete. Africa’s early steps in the cryptocurrency space, with crypto users doing their business through P2P networks, avoiding the limitations of banks and exchanges, neither of which many people have access to, show that the mobile phone is key.

Michael Kimani, the chairperson of the Blockchain Association of Kenya, draws a comparison to the early days of M-pesa to the current movement towards crypto and P2P solutions as users innovate to circumnavigate the drawbacks of trading. In the pre-M-Pesa period, people would trade airtime between themselves to escape inflated telecoms charges. He feels similar is happening now with crypto trading. He argues:

“These informal networks, resemble the airtime currency informal networks of pre-2006 that powered remittance payment networks before M-Pesa became a thing.”

A further accelerant could be just around the corner with last month’s launch of an African-focused cryptocurrency exchange called Coindirect. Co-founder Stephen Young says that Africa has unique problems and these must be considered in any startup plan for cryptocurrency adoption on the continent. He feels that current exchanges don’t take these into consideration.

In terms of African fiat currencies, Young identifies their systemic volatility, insecurity and lack of governance as factors that the crypto space need to take on board: He argues:

“If Africans are to benefit from the cryptocurrency revolution we need make it easier to buy, store and trade cryptocurrencies. As Africans, it is our responsibility to help build the infrastructure and we need to be a part of the revolution.”

The South African exchange allows users to buy, convert, store, send or sell more than 40 cryptocurrencies, combining a peer-to-peer marketplace, wallets and an exchange to allow customers to access cryptocurrencies from their local currency.

 

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Colorado Governor Democrat Candidate Lists Blockchain on Policy Issues

The US State of Colorado has a Democratic candidate who has positioned blockchain technology policies as a key component of his campaign in the upcoming gubernatorial elections. Early adopter Democratic nominee Jared Polis has held a bullish stance on bitcoin and blockchain for quite some time. In 2014, the congressman was an early crypto-evangelist. At …

The post Colorado Governor Democrat Candidate Lists Blockchain on Policy Issues appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

The US State of Colorado has a Democratic candidate who has positioned blockchain technology policies as a key component of his campaign in the upcoming gubernatorial elections.

Early adopter

Democratic nominee Jared Polis has held a bullish stance on bitcoin and blockchain for quite some time. In 2014, the congressman was an early crypto-evangelist. At the time he was making satirical arguments to ban the US dollar as a response to a Senator who was calling for bitcoin to be banned outright.

The entrepreneur turned politician has a distinctive modern-technology background; being an early adopter of the internet he founded American Information Systems, a dial-up internet service provider in the mid 90’s. Additionally, he has founded several cyber-businesses and was reported to have received USD 2,500 in Bitcoin campaign donations in 2014.

Now the pro-blockchain nominee has declared his intentions to turn Colorado into a “national hub for blockchain innovation in business and government”.

Polis said, “It’s still the early days in the evolution of blockchain, but we should take the opportunity to get out ahead. I’m thrilled to have worked with blockchain leaders to implement this bold, innovative vision that will make Colorado the best place in the country to start or grow a blockchain company.”

Blockchain policy highlights

The candidate believes that the security, transparency and efficiency of blockchain technologies can bring even higher standards to governance and election systems. Another part of the blockchain policy includes the implementation of new legislation that protects cryptocurrencies that can be used to buy goods or services.

Another policy is the integration of blockchain solutions to the energy grid, with hopes of making energy cheaper and more reliable for the state; he also wishes to digitize government records through the blockchain and boost transparency, allowing public access to Colorado contracts and expenditures.

Finally, Polis will collaborate with various financial, public and governmental entities, lawmakers and local communities, pushing the advancement of blockchain technology.

Blockchain pioneer

Polis is also a founder of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, a bipartisan platform for both industry and government to study and research blockchain technology. The caucus is presently attempting to push the ‘Cryptocurrency Tax Fairness Act of 2017‘ into law.

At a recent event in Boulder, Polis said that if the act is passed, it would make everyday cryptocurrency purchases easier. He said, “…we’re going to continue to fight to pass that into law to make it easier for people to not have to worry about tax liability or paperwork simply for using their currency of choice.”

At the event, he also bullishly compared to the boom of the internet to blockchain saying, “It’s clear that blockchain-based technologies and cryptocurrencies have great potential to truly transform our 21st-century economy probably in the greatest way since the internet did.”

 

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World Bank Mandates First Ever Blockchain Bond

The World Bank has mandated the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) to authorize the world’s first blockchain bond. The foreign bond issued in Australian dollars has been dubbed bond-i, an acronym for Blockchain Offered New Debt Instrument, as well as a reference to Sydney’s Bondi Beach. bond-i A joint press release from the World Bank and the CBA describes …

The post World Bank Mandates First Ever Blockchain Bond appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

The World Bank has mandated the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) to authorize the world’s first blockchain bond. The foreign bond issued in Australian dollars has been dubbed bond-i, an acronym for Blockchain Offered New Debt Instrument, as well as a reference to Sydney’s Bondi Beach.

bond-i

A joint press release from the World Bank and the CBA describes bond-i as the first of its kind to be fully managed with blockchain technology. The bonds will be entirely created, allocated and transferred using distributed ledger technology to secure every transaction.

Noting the benefits of applying blockchain technology to bonds, the two organizations wrote in the press release that blockchain is capable of streamlining the processes of a number of debt capital market intermediaries and agents. Several benefits of this are listed, including simplifying raising capital and trading securities, improving the efficiency of operations and augmenting oversight of regulations.

Arunma Oteh, World Bank Treasurer, said: ”We believe that emerging technologies, equally offer transformative, yet prudent possibilities for us to continue to innovate, respond to investor needs and strengthen markets.”

The World Bank and CBA have built a private, Ethereum-based blockchain platform on which bonds will be issued and distributed. The CBA said that they were open to using alternative blockchain networks as the space continues to evolve.

Sophie Gilder, Head of Blockchain Innovation Labs at the CBA said that bond-i is a significant step in unlocking the revolutionary potential of blockchain in financial services and markets.

Investor interest in bond-i has already been strong, according to the World Bank, although it plans further consultations with investors prior to launching the transaction.

The World Bank will run its operations for the bond from Washington, DC, with the institution already responsible for issuing between USD 50-60 billion annually in bonds for sustainable development.

 

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Report: Facebook Denies Partnership With Stellar

Facebook has reportedly denied talks with the crypto firm Stellar following Business Insider’s report on their discussion of building Facebook’s variant of a Stellar blockchain

Facebook has reportedly denied talks with the crypto firm Stellar following Business Insider’s report on their discussion of building Facebook’s variant of a Stellar blockchain

Has Yale Found the Two Most Significant Bitcoin Price Indicators?

Connecticut-based Yale University has produced another insightful Bitcoin theory, this time claiming to have found the most significant predictors for the value of Bitcoin. The momentum effect The momentum effect describes the usual course of the price that tends to move in the same general direction that it has been. For example, if Bitcoin has …

The post Has Yale Found the Two Most Significant Bitcoin Price Indicators? appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Connecticut-based Yale University has produced another insightful Bitcoin theory, this time claiming to have found the most significant predictors for the value of Bitcoin.

The momentum effect

The momentum effect describes the usual course of the price that tends to move in the same general direction that it has been. For example, if Bitcoin has seen a significant increase of around 20% in one week, the theory suggests that historical market evidence indicates that upward trend to continue at least one more week.

In short, if you are looking to call the next movements in the market, check to see what the latest trend has been and this can be the best indicator for a cryptocurrency’s next movements.

Investor attention

Investor attention refers to the measure of hype or fear, uncertainty and despair (FUD) surrounding cryptocurrency. Significant price increases are preluded by a spike in the number of search engine increases and media attention, with Google in particular cited as a strong predictor for the forthcoming price changes. According to the research, a jump in the number of times Bitcoin is Googled can consistently predict a price increase several weeks beforehand.

Ripple and Ethereum show similar trends in line with Google searches, although with different timelines.

An increase of negative cryptocurrency searches that incorporate terms such as hacks or crime can also be an indicator for prices, this time showing that the price will soon drop.

Market sentiment

The Yale economists behind the research acknowledge in the paper that the price of cryptocurrencies cannot be predicted by the same methods of the stock market or precious metals, noting that what drives cryptocurrency prices is unique to the market itself. They outline that this is because cryptocurrency is unaffected by macroeconomic or familiar stock market factors.

Instead, the two key predictive tools of investor attention and the momentum effect are ways of gauging market sentiment. Considering that the market remains in its relative infancy, it seems logical sentiment is still such a significant force.

The research was published in a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper by Yale economists Yukun Liu and Aleh Tsyvinski.

 

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Bitcoin Burst To Hit Semiconductors Soon – Seeking Alpha

Bitcoin Burst To Hit Semiconductors SoonSeeking AlphaThere is a very high correlation between Bitcoin prices and GPU prices. As processor prices return to normal levels, we expect revenue to miss estimates in upcoming earnings announcements. The market…


Bitcoin Burst To Hit Semiconductors Soon
Seeking Alpha
There is a very high correlation between Bitcoin prices and GPU prices. As processor prices return to normal levels, we expect revenue to miss estimates in upcoming earnings announcements. The market has set irrational growth expectations for ...

New Survey Finds 50% of Americans ‘Willing to Try Out’ Bitcoin – Bitcoinist


Bitcoinist

New Survey Finds 50% of Americans ‘Willing to Try Out’ Bitcoin
Bitcoinist
A new poll conducted by analytics firm Harris Insights and cryptocurrency startup Gem revealed that 50 percent of the respondents are inclined to try out the asset class. The survey also revealed that those with lower incomes are more likely to buy

and more »


Bitcoinist

New Survey Finds 50% of Americans 'Willing to Try Out' Bitcoin
Bitcoinist
A new poll conducted by analytics firm Harris Insights and cryptocurrency startup Gem revealed that 50 percent of the respondents are inclined to try out the asset class. The survey also revealed that those with lower incomes are more likely to buy

and more »

Number of ICOs Grew 1.5 Times, Money Raised Decreased 12% in Q2: Report

The number of ICOs launched in the second quarter of the year grew by 49 percent, a new report states. The amount of money raised, however, indicated that investors were less excited at the prospect of investing in ICOs, as it fell by 12 percent. Finance and commerce ICO projects took the lion’s share of […]

The number of ICOs launched in the second quarter of the year grew by 49 percent, a new report states. The amount of money raised, however, indicated that investors were less excited at the prospect of investing in ICOs, as it fell by 12 percent. Finance and commerce ICO projects took the lion’s share of the money, with entertainment coming in third. The number of projects that hit their hard cap also fell, with investors remaining cautious in the wake of huge market volatility.

The Market in Q2

The report compiled by digital assets management firm Matrix CIB revealed that in the second quarter of this year, 288 ICO projects were launched. This was a 49 percent increase from the 193 projects launched in the previous quarter. Despite the growth in the number of projects, the amount raised from ICOs dropped by 12 percent to $3.5 billion. The number of projects that hit their hard cap also dropped significantly from the 86 percent registered in the first quarter to 54 percent in Q2.

The four biggest cryptocurrencies by market cap retained their positions in the second quarter. Bitcoin, Ether, XRP and Bitcoin Cash maintained their places at the top, with Litecoin losing its spot as the fifth biggest cryptocurrency to EOS. The five largest cryptocurrencies also maintained their combined share of the total market capitalization which stood at 75 percent.

The quarter also saw a number of projects launch their mainnets. The biggest and most anticipated of these was EOS, whose yearlong ICO had set the record for the most funds raised. The anticipation of the mainnet launch, coupled with the successful ICO, shot EOS up the charts to become the fifth most valuable crypto. Other projects that launched mainnets included TRON, VeChain, Aion and Ontology.

Cryptos’ fight against being categorized as securities continued in the second quarter, with the bigger cryptos such as XRP being especially involved. However, Bitcoin and Ether held the distinction of being the only two cryptos that were exempted from being branded as securities. The SEC made it clear that thanks to their decentralized nature, the two biggest cryptos wouldn’t be categorized as securities, which was well received by the market.

The report builds on a similar one released earlier which indicated that Bitcoin’s volatility had dropped greatly in Q2. The Average True Range for Bitcoin fell from $1,400-$166 in Q1 to $400-$140 in Q2. The ATR measures the volatility, with a higher range reflecting more volatility in the market. The report also revealed that Bitcoin had been the worst performer among the top five cryptos. Bitcoin had dropped by 4.32 percent in the quarter, with Ripple coming in second with a 2 percent drop. The best performer was Ethereum which gained 23 percent, with Bitcoin Cash registering a 20 percent increase. Interestingly, the total market cap for cryptos remained largely unchanged at the end of both quarters at $267 and $254 billion respectively.