Day: August 18, 2018

Crypto markets suffer another slump, with Ethereum and Ethereum Classic wavering following last week’s gains

A US court has ordered an alleged hacker to pay for his bail using cryptocurrency.

Magistrate Judge Corley has ordered the defendant, Martin Marsich — a 25-year-old Serb/Italian national charged for a hacking offense to pay an equivalent of $750,000 in cryptocurrency for bail.

Marsich is accused of hacking US video games company Electronic Arts (EA), and obtaining in-game currency to buy and sell in-game items. He is also said to have sold access to online games though black-market websites. Marsich is accused of hacking into 25,000 user accounts.

Residing Judge Corley has been in the news before regarding cryptocurrency. Last November she ruled in favor of the IRS, against cryptocurrency giant exchange Coinbase. Judge Corley ordered the cryptocurrency platform to submit information about clients’ transactions to the government agency.

District Attorney of St Mateo County, Steve Wagstaffe was quoted saying, “[he has] never heard of anyone bailing out of jail with cryptocurrency in any courtroom.” While acknowledging that cryptocurrency was acceptable in the federal court, he claimed that a similar bail “would fly in a San Mateo County Superior Court”

Assistant District Attorney Abraham Simmons explained that “judges can order many kinds of bail, including real estate owned by another person.”

Further, he was quoted saying, “The judge could order just about anything…It really is quite broad…What the objective is, is to get the defendant to comply with an order to appear later.”

With regards to the fluctuating value of cryptocurrencies, particularly in the current volatile market ,and how this would affect a “crypto-paid” bail, Simmons commented, “I would imagine that either side would alert the court of an extreme change in the value of the asset, but it doesn’t mean that the court would care one way or the other.”

The initial complaint charges Marsich with:

“…intentionally accessing a protected computer without authorization to obtain information for the purposes of commercial advantage and private financial gain…and accessing a protected computer to defraud and obtain anything of value.”

Marsich was arrested while boarding a flight to Serbia on August 8^th by San Francisco Police. If convicted, the defendant could face a maximum of  5 years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000 plus restitution.

Although bail bonds paid using cryptocurrency may be regarded as beyond the norm, paying taxes in this may well become acceptable in the US after the Rules Committee of the Arizona House of Representatives passed a bill this year that allows residents of the state to use cryptocurrencies in making tax payments.

Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at @BitcoinNewsCom

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

Image Courtesy: Pixabay

The post Landmark Hearing: US Hacker Ordered by Court to Pay Bail in Bitcoin appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

At press time, bitcoin has fallen back a bit and is now trading for just over $6,300. This is about $200 less than where it stood yesterday.

Some strange occurrences are happening in the bitcoin space. For example, one source notices that there’s a strong correlation between bitcoin and Overstock. Rather, Overstock’s stock (mini tongue twisters ahead). Both allegedly seem to be following the same patterns, and the story has been the same for the past four years.

It’s interesting in the sense that Overstock was one of the first major retailers to accept bitcoin as a means of payment for goods and services on its website. The company has since expanded, and other retailers have followed suit, but the source suggests that Overstock investors are using the company as a sort of “proxy asset” for bitcoin.

Since 2014 – when Overstock and bitcoin first became “acquainted” – there have been similar holding patterns between both entities. Both bitcoin and Overstock saw their prices soar in 2014, though once Overstock made the decision to accept bitcoin, 20 percent crashes for each entity became imminent. In June 2015, bitcoin started to see its downward trend back off a bit, though Overstock continued to experience bearish activity.

However, in 2017, even stronger similarities were noticed. Bitcoin began its price surge – ultimately rising by about 1,500 percent – while Overstock’s stock also jumped by roughly 400 percent, and in 2018, the similarities were at an all-time high. Both entities saw their prices drop significantly on the same date of February 6 following the introduction of the current bear market. In addition, both peaked after a “relief rally” just 14 days later, and both companies had their lowest prices on June 28.

It could be said that investors in Overstock are using the company as some sort of substitute for bitcoin ETFs. This has been a running “gag” in the cryptocurrency space over the past few months. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has received more bitcoin ETF applications than it can count, and for many, the one submitted by VanEck SolidX had the most chance of being approved.

The SEC moved its decision regarding the application to September 30, which caused a panic amongst investors that led to massive sell-offs, thereby bringing bitcoin down to its current price from the $8,000 range. The notion of a bitcoin ETF is something the SEC has been seriously playing with for the past eight months, but the organization clearly wonders if an ETF is safe. Director of investment management Dalia Blass explains:

“Until the questions identified can be addressed satisfactorily, we do not believe that it is appropriate for fund sponsors to initiate registration of funds that intend to invest substantially in cryptocurrency and related products.”

Bitcoin Charts by TradingView

Owing to the remarkable features such as convenience, easy tracking of spending, lower risks, etc., people have been increasingly adopting the concept of digital trading.  To tap into this growing trend, XINFINITY has introduced its digital wallet that will revolutionized digital currency transactions for the better.

Cryptocurrency wallets store public as well as private keys to execute various operations and there is no actual coin exchange. Instead, a transaction record is maintained on the particular blockchain network and these records are validated through variations in the sender and receiver balance of the respective cryptocurrency wallet.

Over the past few years, with more and more people adopting crytocurrency wallets, it has seen a significant advancement in the digital transaction domain. Primarily because it comes with ATM level security. Several businesses such airlines, banks, publishing, real estate, healthcare, etc. today are transacting via cryptocurrency wallets as it eliminates the need of a middleman, thus easing procedures and reducing overall costs.

XINFINITY Wallet

XINFINITY is an integrated cryptocurrency wallet that allows merchants and consumers the ability to seamlessly conduct transactions using blockchain assets as a currency. The main objective of this digital wallet is to provide a one-stop platform where merchants can store their various cryptocurrencies in a single wallet and at the same time dispense their currencies anywhere they require.

Features of XINFINITY cryptocurrency wallet :-

For Consumer

• Cross chain payment channels that ensures easy payment through the wallet
• Unlimited blockchain accounts combine into a single wallet profile
• Reliable, secure and fast transaction
• Instantly send or receive money internationally at any time of the day
• A debit card linked to the wallet, which could be used for ATM withdrawals internationally and all merchants that accepts debit cards payments.

For Merchants

• No requirement of a merchant account
• Comparatively lower payment costs
• Offers data sights
• No requirement of POS hardware
• ATM-level transaction security

What users can expect?

Here are three essential things that users of this platform can expect :-

• Reliability

The team has a year of experience in fund transfers, data jurisdiction, and legal frameworks, and has been executing e-commerce and digital transactions internationally. XINFINITY presently has a large number of bitcoin systems deployed worldwide that are used by millions of merchants, signifying the efficiency and reliability of their process.

• Scalability

They have an effective decentralised system which is capable of handling thousands of transactions in an hour. The scalability is horizontal, by adding more nodes into the network chain.

• Security

XINFINITY strictly adheres to the accessibility guidelines and is compatible with the latest web browsers. Furthermore, the platform is hosted on one of the best enterprise infrastructures, Amazon Web Service. The system operates on its own network, facilitating encrypted communication networks.

Challenges of Cryptocurrencies that XINFINITY Addresses

Even with the vast popularity that cryptocurrencies have garnered, there are several issues that create hindrances in its adoption. Following are the key challenges faced by the cryptocurrency market:-

• The precariousness of cryptocurrencies makes it complicated for the merchants to adopt it
• Lack of a dedicated global market limits the geography of transactions worldwide
• Lack of a single wallet for all cryptocurrencies make the transaction cumbersome
• The numerous cryptocurrencies makes the acceptance ineffective

However, XINFINITY is a unique platform that allows the merchants to send or receive any blockchain asset through their wallets. The company also offers debit cards to customers allowing them to make a trade in cryptocurrencies just like the normal currency. This unique platform has effectively solved the essential challenges of using cryptocurrencies, thus making its adoption faster and more convenient.

XINFINITY is a unified transactional platform focused on solving the primary issues in dealing with cryptocurrencies, and has presented an effective solution that has made adopting it more seamless than ever. By providing a one-stop platform for transactions of all blockchain assets, XINFINITY wallet has evidently offered a better trading experience to merchants and investors across the globe.

This is a sponsored press release and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views held by any employees of NullTX. This is not investment, trading, or gambling advice. Always conduct your own independent research.

Japanese tech giant SoftBank denies alleged investment in Bitmain, and investment from Tencent remains unconfirmed. Bitmain has refused to comment

When the banks failed in 2008, our financial systems shifted. A decade on, one of our most nagging financial predicaments centers on virtual currencies and their (lack of) regulation. 2018 is showing promising steps forward in lawmaking for countries like Switzerland, Germany, Malta, and even the US. So, why does Vancouver-based intelligence firm BIG believe that white-collar crime could double over the next 10 years?

As an agency that helps track and monitor cryptocurrency transactions at a forensic level (with the Department of Justice and Homeland Security among its clients), BIG notes that, as technology evolves, rather than fight white-collar crime, it could very well facilitate it. Moreover, the internet provides vast opportunities for white-collar criminals in 2018 – and current legislation is ill-prepared to stop the rise.

Shone Anstey, Executive Chairman, President and Co‑Founder of BIG, says: “The volume of money flowing into cryptocurrencies has been expanding rapidly in recent years. Law enforcement agencies believe that much illegal trade is carried out using cryptocurrencies as the funding mechanism. So they call on agencies such as ourselves to monitor the usage of cryptocurrencies for darknet purchases.”

What Is White-Collar Crime Exactly?

“We define white-collar crime as non-violent,” Anstey explains. “Corporate crime often performed by educated people in positions of trust. It is becoming more complex because these educated people have become more skilled in concealing their illegal actions.” Think trade-based money laundering, Ponzi schemes, and ICO fraud.

BIG believes that white-collar crime will only become more complex as technology advances. But what about the increasing voices chorusing that blockchain’s transparency and security could be a solution?

“Blockchain use will help to reduce fraud. But at the same time, continued globalization, decentralized marketplaces, and cryptocurrency will create new opportunities for white-collar criminals to reach new victims,” Anstey warns.

What Is the Solution?

Anstey believes that the lack of universal regulation is currently a major enabler of white-collar crime. While we have seen significant moves this year, they are not enough to stem the flow yet. White-collar criminals can easily find ways to circumvent the flimsy regulation that exists in selected jurisdictions and is completely absent in others.

“Regulation needs to start with the exchanges as they are the conduit between the fiat and crypto worlds. As the larger exchanges are centralized, such regulation will be more effective.”

Despite EU and US KYC/AML laws, a recent study found that almost 70 percent of cryptocurrency exchanges within these jurisdictions are currently non-compliant, asking only for an email address and phone number for account creation.

Anstey stresses, “On a global level, coordination of KYC and AML protocols between different jurisdictions will be a major step forward. Regulation can also focus on areas such as reporting of transactions above a certain value and controls on which tokens the regulated exchanges can trade. A licensing model similar to Japan’s Virtual Currency Exchange Licence can be a great help in codifying a range of regulations.”

He would also like to see improved coordination between the authorities harvesting big data – regulators, law enforcement agencies, banks, and online retailers, for example.

There is some cause for hope, however, and the possibility to regain control over white-collar criminals:

“Developments in technology, such as quantum, may bring into our view some tools we never knew had existed. Knowledge (from analytics) with the capacity to act are essential tools in this ever-changing world.”

An NGO and a cryptocurrency platform are planning to construct a school in Rwanda using cryptocurrency funding.

The non-profit organization, Zam Zam Water, in a cooperative project with Peer-to-Peer finance platform provider Paxful is aiming to raise $100,000 for an education center. The project will be implemented in Rwanda’s Bugesera District, complete with full-time teaching staff.

The school building project in Rwanda is not the first of its kind in the region. It follows a similar project which saw the opening of a school for children aged three to six. The new school will be built to complement the first school by catering for children aged six to 15.

The raising of estimated building costs of up $100,000 has been started for the new project with a donation of $20,000 from Paxful. The remaining funds will be raised through online crowdfunding. Cryptocurrency donations via Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin and Dash will be matched by the crypto platform’s BuiltWithBitcoin initiative until the necessary funds have been raised. Ray Youseff, CEO at Paxful commented:

“The BuiltWithBitcoin initiative is a testament to the growing power of cryptocurrency…We firmly believe in its capacity to improve lives and make the world a better place.”

The second of the two schools will be larger, almost double the size of the first with six classrooms and six full-time teachers. The school will have its own cafeteria, potable well, and sustainable solar panel power system

Yusuf A. Nessary, Founder and President at Zam Zam Water sees education as fundamental in moving countries like Rwanda forward, suggesting:

“Education is a crucial tool for helping those in developing nations increase their standard of living, so we are very pleased to partner with Paxful to serve these bright young students”, adding, “This is only a small glimpse into what we can and will continue to do with the power of cryptocurrency.”

Cryptocurrency is increasingly being used to fund humanitarian projects in developing countries around the world, particularly on the African continent. Global micro-leasing marketplace Powerhive announced a partnership this year to offer decentralized solar power to poorer nations.

AfricaPowerhive will be the beneficiary of funds generated from the sale of Sun Exchange’s SUNEX rewards tokens through public sale. The money will then be spent on developing solar-powered mini-grid projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. The project will allow for the solar panels used to be sold later to Sun Exchange members who will, in turn, own the cells used in the projects and subsequently profit from a sustained period of “solar-powered money”

Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at @BitcoinNewsCom

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

Image Courtesy: Pixabay

The post Second Crypto Funded School to Be Built in Rwanda appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Adult entertainment keeps eyes on crypto, with Tube8 announcing a partnership with VIT to let users get paid to watch

Crypto markets are down across the board, and that’s nothing new. But what’s behind Ethereum losing 44 percent of its value in just two weeks? From August 1 to August 14, crypto’s number two went from $470 to $260. That’s its lowest level since November 2017. It was trading at around $285 at the time of writing.

Sure, it’s been somewhat of a bloodbath for all cryptocurrencies lately, with other major coins taking a hit as well. But Bitcoin’s value drop is nothing compared to Ethereum’s despite the delayed ETF. What gives?

Here are four possible reasons for the (drastic) downturn in the Ethereum price:

4. Scalability Issues

The Ethereum network’s infamous problems with scalability continue to plague its developers – and now its price – according to Jimmy Zhong, co-founder and CEO of enterprise-grade blockchain infrastructure IOST. He says:

“Some of this price decline may be because the platform that Ethereum has been promising since its launch is still so far away. Bogged down by its scaling issues and clearly struggling to keep up with platforms that aren’t hampered by legacy technology, there are cracks showing in Ethereum’s armor. This is one of the reasons that decoupling from Ethereum is such a big deal and why companies are starting to show interest in developing their own blockchains.”

3. ICOs Dumping Large Amounts of Ether

According to a report by CNN, Ethereum’s price drop could be due to ICOs dumping large amounts of Ether. The report cited a cryptocurrency researcher at fintech company Cinnober, Eric Wall, who said that over the last 12 months, ICOs have raised hundreds of millions of dollars in Ether. They then dumped it at the same time, causing a domino effect on the market.

“The problem when you give millions of ETH to ETH competitors is that they can unload the ETH on the spot market and short ETH on the futures market before that, so they’re not only securing the funding but also manipulating the underlying spot market in favor of their shorts,” he said.

Ethereum co-founder and ConsenSys CEO Joseph Lubin isn’t deterred by the drop in price, and he echoed Wall’s sentiments in a Bloomberg report. He said that “trader types” were driving volatility and that many startups building projects on the Ethereum blockchain and selling digital tokens for Ether are now “cashing out,” contributing to the slump.

2. Market Pressures

Andy Bromberg, co-founder and president of the CoinList token sales platform, believes the drop is temporary. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with Ethereum or its technology, he says, it’s just suffering from market pressures:

“Ethereum’s price volatility is a result of market pressures, not anything more fundamental around the technology – which is what the highest-quality projects care about. The best token issuers are heads down, focusing on building their products and businesses, and not looking up at the prices.”

1. Shaking Out Weak Players

Josh Fraser, co-founder of Origin, an open-source blockchain platform for creating P2P decentralized marketplaces, remains bullish on Ethereum. The latest downturn simply shows a market correction and a sort of sifting the wheat from the chaff:

“We’ve been through this cycle before, and we’ll go through it again. The hype and exuberance of last year have passed, but meanwhile, the real work continues. Ethereum developer tools like Truffle are seeing a record number of downloads, companies like Origin are recruiting some of the best engineers in the world, and a remarkable amount of innovation is still happening every day in the Ethereum community. We’ll find out which teams and ideas are here for the long term.”

Whichever explanation makes the most sense to you, it would seem that the most invested teams working in the space are unfazed by the temporary drop. The technology continues to get better, and they’re focused on their goals and refuse to succumb to FUD. Can you say the same?

She(256) is a clever name for a novel scheme. The female-focused mentorship program is designed to support women entering the cryptocurrency space. In doing so, the program will enable students to benefit from the guidance of a crypto OG – a seasoned professional whose business and technical experience should prove invaluable. The She(256) initiative has been broadly welcomed in most quarters of the cryptoconomy.

Also read: Bitcoin ETFs are a Terrible Idea: Andreas Antonopoulos

Mo’ Mentors, Mo’ Women

“Dear men of crypto, I would love to see many of you sign up to be She(256) mentors,” tweeted Jill Carlson. The cryptocurrency all-rounder is a recognisable and respected figure in an industry that is still overwhelmingly male-dominated. “Many of you have been the most important mentors and influences in my career,” she continued. “It matters more than you know when you support your female colleagues.”

The program she was referring to, She(256), is a University of California, Berkeley-led initiative that “presents the opportunity for a professional and young student or early-career young adult to learn from each other serving as guides and allies”. Few would argue with the basic rationale behind its ethos. Anyone who can recall their first foray into crypto, and the fledgling mistakes they made, personally and professionally, can surely appreciate the value in such an initiative.

Cryptocurrency, and the insular and often esoteric world it’s spawned, makes perfect sense once you’re battle-hardened and embroiled in it. For newcomers, however, the industry – which is notoriously unforgiving of incompetence and ‘newb mistakes’ – can seem daunting. This is true of all entrants to the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, regardless of gender, skill set, or experience accrued in other sectors.

Breaking Barriers, Nurturing Talent

“In defining the blockchain paradigm..it is critical that those building up these far-reaching systems represent the diversity of our global population, explains She(256). “We wanted She(256) to be a movement that would have long-term impact on this burgeoning industry, by allowing more women to feel welcome in this space and by highlighting the work of women who are already making an impact in this field.”

There is nothing like this particular time, place, or industry that has ever existed in the past, which gives us the unique position to set a precedent. Blockchain is disruptive technology. So let’s disrupt the industry with more diversity.

How it Works

In practice, the (She)256 mentorship program will see mentors contacting their allotted student by phone or in person 1-3 times a month, augmented by emails and other communications. Participants are matched to their mentor or mentee for a period of one year initially, with the option to maintain contact thereafter. “For mentees, utilize your mentors and their industry expertise to ask questions, bounce off ideas, and seek direction. For mentors, provide guidance, learn from fresh perspectives, and serve as an anchor,” explains the website.

A number of well-known figures within the cryptocurrency space have thrown their weight behind (She)256, both in terms of promoting it and in volunteering to participate in it. There have been some dissenting voices, whose opposition seems to revolve around the belief that cryptocurrency doesn’t need diversity quotas; decentralized systems, by their nature, do not care for gender, identity, or any other characteristic that exerts sway in other spheres – they care only for the veracity delivered by cryptographic protocols, and the competency of the engineers who developed them.

Even without focusing on its appeal to “young female-identifying individuals” however, She(256)’s mentorship program is sure to help emerging talents find their feet and add value to the burgeoning cryptoconomy. And that can only be a good thing.

Do you think She(256) will help more women gain cryptocurrency careers? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, and Twitter.

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

The post She(256) Mentorship Program Aims to Help More Women Gain a Cryptocurrency Career appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Ripple is targeting the Chinese market with its blockchain products, a top executive has revealed. The company has been partnering with many banks and payment processors around the world, but surprisingly, it has only partnered with one Chinese payment processor. The Chinese market is dominated by Alibaba and Tencent, with the two giants accounting for a 50 percent market share between them. Cross-border e-commerce transactions into the country are expected to hit $1.3 trillion in 2018, and acquiring a share of this market could prove quite profitable for the company.

Ripple Marches On

In a phone interview with CNBC, Ripple’s vice president of European Union strategic accounts, Jeremy Light, revealed that the company is seeking to expand into the Chinese market. Light described the Chinese market as a region of interest to the company given its blockchain solutions to cross-border remittances.

With Ripple’s specialty being cross-border remittances, China could prove to be one of the most strategic markets. China’s foreign remittance market is only second to India’s. And while Ripple has been making great inroads into India, the Chinese market has eluded it. In India, Ripple has been working with a number of banks which include the State Bank of India and Axis Bank on their remittance channels. According to Ripple’s VP of product, Asheesh Birla, the company’s market share in India’s crypto industry could be as high as 50 percent.

In its most significant foray into the Chinese market yet, Ripple partnered with LianLian International in February. The payment processor is the fourth biggest in China and supports 19 different currencies for its 150 million registered users. LianLian enrolled in Ripple’s xCurrent, an enterprise settlement solution that enables end-to-end tracking for cross-border payments. xCurrent doesn’t rely on Ripple’s digital token, XRP. With the Chinese market being quite unfriendly to cryptos, Ripple will have to rely on its non-XRP products such as xCurrent and xVia. Its xRapid solution is the only product that relies on XRP.

While Ripple is only now focusing on the Chinese market, the big players in the second-largest economy have been looking at developing blockchain solutions themselves. The dominant Alipay recently announced that it had collected $14 billion, which it will invest in developing its technology which includes artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and blockchain technology. Alipay is operated by the $150 billion Ant Financial and owns over 31 percent of the Chinese online payments market.

Tencent, whose market share is estimated at 20 percent, has also been making inroads into blockchain, with its latest being the development of China’s first blockchain-issued digital invoice. The platform was developed in partnership with the Shenzhen Municipal Taxation Bureau and is the first such project to be approved for commercial use by the country’s taxation department. The platform will be used by consumers and merchants, with one restaurant in Shenzhen reported to have already begun using it to issue invoices. Tencent owns the immensely popular messaging and social media app WeChat, which boasts over 1 billion monthly active users.

Having shown hostility to crypto trading and ICO issuing, China has been progressively warming up to and expressing support for blockchain technology. The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, recently described emerging technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence as great economic breakthroughs.

Porn doesn’t interact with the crypto that much, and the VIT lawsuit is worrying news