Day: September 16, 2018

New stablecoin Gemini dollar’s transactions can be completely altered and made non-transferable every 48 hours, blockchain research proves

As Ethereum continues to fall further below US$200, headlines worldwide unanimously call for a death to Ethereum. Whether or not that is truly the case is very much up for discussion. However, in the niche of blockchain gaming, Ethereum is dying, as huge costs and inhibitions are driving game developers to alternative networks. Here are the top 5 blockchain games you’ll find somewhere other than Ethereum.

5. KittyCash (SkyCoin)

Like everything surrounding the Skycoin ecosystem, KittyCash is a bit of a head scratcher. At the surface level, the game appears poised to be somewhat of a CryptoKitties knockoff, but a deeper dive suggests there have been several months of fruitful development. Upon launch, players will, similarly to original kitty game, collect and trade virtual cats. However, KittyCash also plans to offers leveling and care systems for each player to interact with and nurture their virtual pet, kind of like Tamagotchi on the blockchain. Currently, players who join the Telegram and interact with the devs can reserve a free kitty. The game also plans to pioneer the Obelisk feature, which grants every node on the network their own blockchain.

4. Rare Pepe Party (Bitcoin)

Rare Pepe Party is the PEPECASH-based trading card game that always seems to be just around the corner. When the game is released, players build decks out of cards minted with PEPECASH via the Counterparty (XCP) protocol upon the Bitcoin blockchain, where they can compete against one another or in a single player story mode in a Hearthstone-like card game. The game will feature booster packs, which will include a number of Rare Pepe assets that are only to be circulated via the game itself. There are currently plans to incorporate Lightning Network functionalities, too.

If Rare Pepe Party releases, it will be one of the greatest blockchain games ever seen. Rare Pepe enthusiasts, who have been waiting for over a year, remain hopeful to this day. Developers still appear to be active, so fingers crossed for RPP.

3. Huntercoin

Huntercoin is the true grandfather of blockchain gaming. The blockchain-based MMO is also the longest-running blockchain game in existence, with over four years of continuous activity. In Huntercoin, players organize into teams and compete across the terrain to collect coins (HUC) as they continuously generate with each block. Huntercoin represents the first and only existing Human Mining blockchain game- the block rewards themselves are primarily distributed as earnings to players. Even to this day, players are competing to earn hundreds and sometimes thousands worth of HUC every single day.

2. Steem Monsters (Steem)

Steem Monsters is the first blockchain game to pick up steam (excuse my pun) on the Steem network. It is a collectible card game with mechanics that seem to draw inspiration from Magic: the Gathering. The game is currently in a crowdfunding phase, where supporters can purchase card backs to be used in the gameplay as it is released.

What makes the game so enticing, more than the gameplay itself, is its nature as a Steem-incubated project. The Steem blockchain is unique in its autonomous funding protocols: content is incentivized and continues to grow due to the networks ability to generate coins to fund its content creators and participants at sustainable rates. The fact that this blogging platform has now spawned a blockchain game is phenomenal. The nature of Steem also means high scalability and no transaction fees for Steem Monsters, a huge accomplishment not seen through Ethereum and most other blockchains.

1. Treat Fighter (XAYA)

Treat Fighter is the pioneer game behind the XAYA network, a custom blockchain dedicated to gaming. From TrickyFast Studios, Treat Fighter is a collectible strategy game, where players craft (or bake, if you will) candy armies to complete expeditions and compete in tournaments against other players. XAYA is an evolution of the pioneer Huntercoin experiment, and currently stands alone as the only third generation blockchain in the gaming niche to provide fast, free, and infinitely scalable blockchain gaming.

As part of the XAYA ecosystem, players can expect they’ll later be able to transfer their virtual assets and achievements from Treat Fighter to other environments on the network. The game is currently in late beta, and is set to launch on October 1st. As XAYA is still undergoing its public sale on Liquid, this launch signifies great progress for the platform.

The post Top 5 Blockchain Games not Using Ethereum appeared first on NullTX.

Bitcoin whale watch is in full effect since 58,550 bitcoins worth approximately USD 380 million left the biggest Bitcoin wallet in only 4 days. The wallet in question is the Bitfinex cold storage wallet, and based on the blockchain records, this sort of outflow in such a brief amount of time is highly unusual. Remarkably, despite the huge amount of Bitcoin sent out of the wallet, it is still the #1 Bitcoin wallet with 170,500 Bitcoins worth approximately USD 1.11 billion.

There are speculations among the Bitcoin whale watchers that such large movements of Bitcoin could precede a dump. That is possible if this Bitcoin is going from Bitfinex’s cold storage to a hot wallet in preparation for a dump. However, according to data on Bitcoinwisdom, there is no indication of such a large amount of bitcoins being dumped on Bitfinex. This large outflow of Bitcoin from the cold wallet was completed on the 13th of September 2018; it’s been 3 days since then (as at the time of this writing).

In a more optimistic scenario, perhaps someone has decided to hodl this USD 380 million of Bitcoin in anticipation of a rally in the long-term and has moved the bitcoins from the exchange to their personal wallet. Another possible scenario is that this just represents Bitfinex moving coins around for unknown management reasons, perhaps making their hot wallets more liquid, or in preparation of a business deal.

The reality, however, is that no one knows for sure what is going on, and it isn’t worth speculating since there are so many possibilities. Even if this was the worst case scenario and these bitcoins are meant to be dumped, it wouldn’t affect the market much because every single day there are several billion in USD of Bitcoin trading volume on spot exchanges worldwide.

One remarkable aspect of this USD 380 million worth of Bitcoin outflow from the Bitfinex cold wallet is that they only paid USD 120 as fees, or 0.00000315% and the fees paid were much higher than they had to be, probably for security reasons. No fiat payment method in the world offers low fees comparable to Bitcoin. Fees for sending USD 380 million via banks could easily cost more than USD 1 million.

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The post Bitcoin Whale Watch: USD 380 Million Leaves #1 Bitcoin Wallet In Only 4 Days appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

The SEC and FINRA scold some alleged crypto scams, the Winklevoss twins pop out a new stablecoin, and more in this week’s Hodler’s Digest

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

There is no such thing as a boring day in the cryptocurrency world. Even though all major currencies are suffering from a loss, it is evident the Dogecoin price is on the end. This surprising turn of events was bound to occur sooner or later, primarily because DOGE seems to thrive when the rest of the market struggles.

Dogecoin Price Rebound Kicks in

As mentioned earlier this week, a Dogecoin price reversal appeared to be on the horizon. So far, that seems to hold true, as the Dogecoin price has recovered a bit of lost value over the past 24 hours. Although the gain is relatively small, it is rather impressive when considering how the Bitcoin price, as well as Ethereum’s value, are both suffering from declines as of right now.

To put this in perspective, the Dogecoin price has gained 3.19% in the past 24 hours. This helps push the value back to $0.006361, and its market cap is on the way to hit $740m again. If this trend keeps up, it is not unlikely Dogecoin’s market cap will rise to $75m and potentially higher in the coming days. That can only happen if Bitcoin’s value doesn’t recover, though, as that appears to hinder DOGE’s price growth.

Looking across social media, it seems the opinions on Dogecoin’s price momentum are sparking new initiatives and debates. One user explained how the SEC is likely to reject another Bitcoin ETF proposal in the near future, which would send the BTC value spiraling down very quickly. Given how the SEC rejected nearly a dozen proposals a few weeks ago, it seems unlikely any other outcome should be expected first and foremost.

I will be all-in #dogecoin after the next bounce. #bitcoin etf this week will likely be denied… Dogecoin UP. Approved? Bitcoin up, #doge flat. A "safe" play.https://t.co/EosBUpBHmH

— Isa (@__eesa__) September 16, 2018

Whether or not the advice of going all-in on Dogecoin needs to be followed by other traders, is a different matter altogether. There are no real “safe plays” in cryptocurrency these days, unless one is willing to hold onto the cryptocurrency for a very long time. Both Dogecoin and Bitcoin present an interesting case in this regard, as they may both note some interesting trends moving forward.

On the meme front, a lot of exciting things are happening as of right now. It appears someone has replaced a Bitcoin Cash sticker at a local McDonalds with a Dogecoin sticker. Although BCH has seen its fair share of hate, this is simply a joke attempt first and foremost. Even so, one has to wonder if and when any major retailer begins accepting Dogecoin payments. McDonalds is an unlikely candidate in this regard, but one never knows what the future holds.

Someone stuck a bcash sticker on the drive thru at a local McDonald's. Today, we made doge great again. #dogecoinhttps://t.co/sHBt4piDAR

— Mike Olthoff (@olthoff) September 15, 2018

For the time being, things look good as far as the Dogecoin price is concerned. Although this trend may not necessarily last all that long, there is plenty of reason to be happy with the current trend. Dogecoin continues to spark a fair few debates as time progresses, which is always exciting and intriguing to keep an eye on.  The coming hours and days may prove to be crucial for this cryptocurrency.

The post Dogecoin Price: Bulls Regain Control as Bitcoin and Ethereum Falter appeared first on NullTX.

Another TV staple added some extra exposure to cryptocurrency. Britain’s longest running TV drama Coronation Street, added a scenario fitting a recent script.

The soap, Coronation Street, is one of the world’s oldest show running on British TV since 1960 and has a run of 9,500 episodes since its creation. The show is watched nightly by over 8 million viewers in the UK and many more around Europe.

The plots, always set in a working-class neighborhood in Manchester, deal with the daily struggles of loves and lives of those living in one street. The current plot in question focused on a local Ryan Conner, an ex-drug user with a serious gambling problem. He remembers a £50 investment he once made in a cryptocurrency called “Whipcoin” (fictional), only to discover that his investment is now worth £250 million.

Of course, he’s forgotten his password, but eventually, upon locating the coins, he finds that the information he was given about the coin was wrong. Although, his investment in Whipcoin had indeed been worth £250 million when the price of the coin peaked. It had since then plummetted in value to practically zero.

Channels such as Bitcoin News continue to bring the latest in cryptocurrency to the public, but the sector still needs greater mainstream media exposures. Although, this is happening slowly with exposure on popular mainstream television such as The Simpsons, The Big Bang Theory, House of Cards, Supernatural, The Good Wife, Silicon Valley, Family Guy, and Parks and Recreation.

The Big Screen is slow to integrate scripts with Bitcoin or cryptocurrency as a theme, but there are a few in the pipeline such as “Crypto,” starring Kurt Russell in the lead role. The film, already in post-production, is reportedly a crime-based thriller following in the footsteps of films such as Wall Street, Wolf of Wall Street and The Big Short which focussed on the economic crisis of 2008.

Such films about the financial sector are becoming increasingly popular and tend to get good box office ratings as a result. Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street quickly became the prolific filmmaker’s top-grossing film at the worldwide box office shortly after its release.

Publisher Little Brown is to release a biography about crypto twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss called “Bitcoin Billionaires”. The book, which is to be published both in the UK and US next year, has been bought by Richard Beswick, Little Brown’s publishing director.

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The post TV Drama Features Crypto, Still the Elephant in the Room? appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

The cryptocurrency industry is under threat from a lot of different angles. One of the biggest potential problems is to so-called 51% attack, which can disrupt networks in very quick succession. The year 2018 has been quite successful in this regard, as no less than seven 51% attacks have been performed successfully. The following incidents are ranked from oldest to most recent.

#6 Electroneum

The 51% attack spree of 2018 kicked off with a successful attack against Electroneum in April of 2018. This smaller altcoin was based on the CryptoNight algorithm, although the developers have made some changed in this regard ever since. A successful 51% attack affected the network for a little while, but Electroneum eventually recovered and moved on.

#5 Monacoin

The popular cryptocurrency in Japan also fell victim to a 51% attack on May 13th of this year. The currency used the Lyra2REv2 algorithm during the time of the attack, which is rarely exploited for a 51% attempt. Criminals were successful in this regard, resulting in roughly $90,0000 worth of “damage”. It is an unfortunate development, but one that shows no mining algorithm is safe from such potential attacks.

#4 Bitcoin Gold Double-Dip

May was a very busy month for 51% attacks against small-cap cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin Gold noted not one, but two successful 51% attacks in very quick succession. Over the span of four days – between May 16th and 19th- these two small attacks were performed successfully. It put Bitcoin Gold in a very awkward position, yet the currency is still going strong today.

#3 Verge

Three days after the second Bitcoin Gold 51% attack, Verge fell victim to a very similar incident. Although it was contained to just one attack, this event baffled a lot of people. The five-algorithm mining approach by Verge should make it virtually impossible to attack, yet an attacker successfully did so through the Scrypt Lyra2RE algorithms. Close to 35 million XVG was stolen in the end, further highlighting the disastrous consequences of 51% attacks.

#2 Litecoin Cash

The month of May came to close on the 31st, which is also the day when Litecoin Cash suffered from its very own 51% attack. Although few people were even aware this currency existed, the Reddit community quickly confirmed the attack was performed successfully. Another worrisome incident, albeit there is nothing one can do about it in hindsight.

#1 ZenCash

The final 51% attack of 201 – at least so far – comes in the form of ZenCash’s attack on June 3rd. It is evident these 7 attacks were performed in a two-month span, yet everything seems to have calmed down ever since. In the case of ZenCash’s attack, three double spends were performed during this attack. One side effect of this attack is how most exchanges still require a much higher number of transaction confirmations prior to crediting deposits.

The post Top 6 51% Attacks Affecting Cryptocurrencies in 2018 appeared first on NullTX.

India-based Blockchain App Factory has announced the expansion of its offerings, releasing their new Security Token and White-label Exchange Development services.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

Blockchain App Factory details

The project already caters to over 25 clients within the blockchain space including companies like Li & Fung, an almost 120 year-old global supply chain management company that handles nearly 9 million deliveries on the busiest of days.

Blockchain App Factory recognized a need for these services due to the state of token sales and crowd raising within the cryptocurrency sector. While ICOs have become the de facto standard for ideas to raise the capital needed to realize their vision, the scene is plagued with fraud, pump and dump schemes, and exit scams.

James Harper, Director of Sales & Business Development stated,

“The present state of ICO is riddled with roadblocks because many companies lack the clarity of ICO’s purpose and the Blockchain space. And so there is a hesitancy among the institutional investors to invest in ICO, solely because of the non-regulatory compliance, lack of financial transparency and the volatile nature of the market.”

The Current State of ICOs and STOs

Many countries’ stances toward this kind of investor transactions are ambiguous as well, resulting in many institutional and accredited investors remaining wary of cryptocurrency in general.

With professional investors having the deepest pockets, this is a largely untapped source of cash flow for the cryptocurrency market as a whole. While many other companies are trying to introduce cryptocurrency exposure into traditional markets in the form of ETFs, the SEC remains an iron curtain and has denied all proposals to this date.

It seems far easier for ICOs to be groomed and compliant with regulations than to try and have the opposite achieved.

Security Tokens also have the potential to liquidate traditionally illiquid assets such as housing, equities, precious metals, and bonds. They are expected to have better legal clarity, provide more protection to the company as well as investors through stringent regulations.

James Harper, Director of Sales & Business Development went on to comment,

“Many traditional companies will delist from traditional stock exchanges to move into blockchain due to high barriers to entry and the exorbitant cost for regulatory compliance. Traditional methods of raising capital like Venture Capital, Bonds, Stocks will be tokenized. We expect real estate especially the commercial real estate will be the first movers into the STO market.”

Token sales have already raised billions of dollars for projects, and have been the source of the highest risk, highest return short-term investments. This number is likely to continue increasing in the future, alongside the potentially trillion-dollar industry of digitizing traditional assets through security tokens.

For more information about Blockchain App Factory, check out their website. To meet the team behind the project, make sure to check out their LinkedIn page. For social media updates, make sure to follow their Facebook and Twitter accounts so you don’t skip a beat.

The post Blockchain App Factory Expands Offerings Into ICO’s and STOs appeared first on NullTX.

Games that make use of blockchain technology have so far been few and far between, not to mention relatively rudimentary.  However, this situation is likely to change as the benefits of decentralization become apparent to more game developers in an industry now valued at over $100 billion.  Enter blockchain gaming platform XAYA. In Malta last week, the company announced the start of its main sale, which is being held on Liquid’s Market.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

What is XAYA?

The creators of XAYA describe it as ‘The Ultimate Blockchain Gaming Platform’.  XAYA is a purpose-built blockchain (created with elements from Bitcoin Core and Namecoin) designed for gaming which facilitates real-time, trustless, and infinitely-scalable gameplay, as well as full player ownership of characters and other digital assets.  XAYA is the product of the self-described ‘inventors of blockchain gaming’, who developed the successful Huntercoin project in 2013. Rather than running on centralized servers as is currently the norm, the platform’s ecosystem allows games to be run directly on the blockchain – a first for the industry – thereby reducing costs and increasing speed when compared to games running on Ethereum and other platforms.

Unique Technologies

According to its developers, XAYA achieves these things by deploying several unique technologies:

·       Game channels – enable tracking of player movements (thousands/second) for any       number of players concurrently

·       Ephemeral timestamps – automatically block all in-game cheating ensuring fairness

·       Atomic trading – facilitates seamless trading of any virtual assets between games and users/players can safely make real profit by selling assets accrued across multiple titles

In addition, XAYA provides developers with the freedom to code their games in any language they choose, for example, Java, Python etc., and games are automatically published and distributed on the XAYA network free of charge.  Gameplay moderation is built into the network, and emergent gameplay such as human mining – whereby players earn rare blockchain-based assets that have real-world value – and Decentralized Realities (DR) are also catered for.

Exclusive Deal with Liquid

Launched just last week, Liquid is a next-generation cryptocurrency exchange that has evolved from the Quoinex and Qryptos exchanges (that boast a combined daily trade volume of over $200 million), and it has almost immediately become one of the top exchanges worldwide.  Liquid aims to provide the maximum liquidity possible, and is linked to 17 leading cryptocurrencies, granting access to the best prices available.  Fiat trading is also offered, alongside margin trading, lending and other options.

Market

Market is a key component of Liquid, and this facilitates the secure running of generation events.  According to publicity material, XAYA’s sale will be the first to be hosted by Liquid, and furthermore, the only sale run via Liquid for the first week of the sale’s duration, rapidly boosting exposure with traders.

XAYA Public Sale

The total token volume for the XAYA main sale has been set at roughly 115 million CHI (XAYA’s native currency), at a base rate of 0.00002 BTC per CHI.  This currently works out to around $10 million.  The first 4 million CHI will boast a 15% bonus, and all sale participants will be awarded $10 worth of QASH tokens by Liquid.

Looking Ahead

XAYA’s exclusive deal with Liquid’s Market could be a game-changer in terms of spreading the word about it’s flagship product.  If XAYA lives up to its developers’ bold claims and carves out a niche in the gaming universe by establishing itself as a secure, convenient and reliable ecosystem with which to develop and publish new titles, this will not be the last we hear of the platform.

The post Blockchain Gaming Platform XAYA: Public Sale Now Live on Liquid appeared first on NullTX.

Electronics giant Samsung is to develop a blockchain powered platform for use by the Korean Customs Services.

The IT arm of Samsung, Samsung SDS is basing the platform on Nexledger, currently used by businesses as a way of reducing expenses in managing financial transactions and data exchange.

Along with some other 48 organizations, including shipping and insurance companies, the South Korean Customs Service has signed up for the platform in order to streamline and track exported goods passing through customs. The blockchain platform will also aid the customs service in detecting forged documentation.

Samsung is not new to the blockchain industry and appears to be on a drive towards research and development in the new technology. It is currently committed to several new projects in the industry. Samsung is joining a number of other companies in exploring the idea of using blockchain logistics to streamline global supply chains. It is reported that the tech giant has already begun developing a distributed ledger system to monitor international shipments.

The blockchain is set to help shippers, ports, customs offices and many other parties in the global supply chain by replacing paperwork with irrefutable digital records. Blockchain could provide proof of provenance for goods by tracking them globally from the point of origin, manufacture, until the retail store shelf. Import details, fees, and taxes could all be programmed into smart contracts that release payments automatically once the conditions were met.

Recently, Samsung developed Cell 3.0, a platform which combines AI tech with company knowhow, and Banksign, a blockchain-based certification system. The adoption of this new platform is an indication that Samsung may envisage blockchain having a major role to play in the future of the company.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), has announced that it will be testing a new blockchain shipment tracking system by combining a newly developed application, Legacy, and other system developed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Also, in the past month, IBM linked with Danish logistics company Maersk to launch its own blockchain shipping project, “TradeLens” involving 95 other organizations.

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