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“My name is David Siegel, I am a regulatory refugee from the United States.” This is how David Siegel, founder of crypto projects Pillar and 20|30, starts his presentations. What challenges have you faced building projects within the blockchain industry? Siegel understands the need for innovation and disruption within economies, and he can get more done in the UK and Europe than he can in the US. His frustration is that institutional legacy mindsets are holding society back at the precise point when we have the ability to leap forward. I can hear the frustration in his voice as we
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2019 has witnessed a Cambrian explosion of crypto interest schemes. Previously, the only way to make a passive income on your cryptocurrency was through hodling and hoping it would rise in dollar terms, or to operate a masternode for a dubious altcoin. Today’s investors have it a whole lot easier thanks to a string of new savings programs that promise annual interest simply for locking up digital assets.
Also read: This Photo Gallery App Is a BCH Light Wallet in Disguise
Last week, Nexo became the latest crypto company to introduce interest to its customers, with the provision of up to 6.5 percent annually on stablecoins DAI, PAX, USDC, USDT, and TUSD. Interest will be compounded daily and funds will be protected by custodial insurance. Unlike most of the crypto interest schemes to have emerged this year, Nexo enables its clients to withdraw any amount of cryptocurrency at any time. As such, their crypto account essentially becomes a checking account, stocked with dollar-pegged tokens, but bolstered by the promise of annual interest that exceeds that of most fiat saving accounts.
Nexo is by no means alone in incentivizing customers to secure their crypto in a custodial account and be rewarded. Blockfi will disburse 6 percent annually to clients who store ETH or BTC deposits. Ledgerx introduced its own interest-bearing BTC account last year for U.S. investors, while Compound provides up to 4.2 percent annually for assets such as DAI. At the start of March, Universal Protocol Alliance announced a stablecoin that would pay interest of up to 10 percent per year.
Cryptocurrency users have never had more options in terms of where to store their digital assets. Having had it drummed into them for years that noncustodial wallets are the best place to stash their coins, long-term hodlers now find themselves torn on account of the attractive interest rates offered by third parties. Even with the promise of full custodial cover, cryptocurrency owners face a dilemma: to seek the sanctity and privacy of storing funds in a noncustodial wallet, or to raise the risk a little in return for a generous 6 percent.
When Blockfi announced its crypto interest scheme, eagle-eyed readers scrutinizing the terms and conditions spotted that the assets would not be insured against losses. While offerings from the likes of Nexo and Coinbase Custody are fully insured, consumers should nevertheless familiarize themselves with the small print before committing. Coinbase hasn’t begun offering crypto interest accounts per se, it should be noted: rather, it’s added staking as a service, which obliges hodlers to lock up qualifying Proof of Stake coins such as tezos (XTZ). The end result to clients is much the same as receiving interest however; by the time Coinbase has taken its 2 percent, stakers will be left with an annual yield of around 6 percent.
Staking and interest are not the same, as industry commenters such as Meltem Demirors have been keen to stress. For the end user, however, be it an institutional client who doesn’t want to “get their hands dirty” with the technical side of staking, or a retail client who doesn’t want to assume custody for their crypto, the outcome can appear indistinguishable. “Financialization of Bitcoin is inevitable and vitally important,” argued Zane Pocock in a Medium post on March 29. He continued:
Financialized structures allow for much better liquidity, debt structures, and other benefits that mean institutional custody and lending can be good for Bitcoin.
Pocock urged investors to do their own research into the interest accounts being offered by crypto companies and not to “fall for the illusion of free money. Bitcoin is our emergency exit from the outcomes of precisely that fallacy.” Crypto interest programs remain an alluring proposal, however, and their number is set to multiply over the coming year. As Shapeshift’s Erik Vorhees pointed out, once the inflationary nature of central bank currencies is factored in, crypto interest accounts become significantly more appealing than their fiat counterparts.
When comparing crypto-denominated interest/yield to fiat-denominated yields, remember to subtract 2-3% of the fiat yield due to inflation. Stated differently, compare the real yield of fiat returns to the nominal yield of crypto returns. The delta is what central banks r stealing
— Erik Voorhees (@ErikVoorhees) March 29, 2019
What are your thoughts on interest-paying crypto accounts? Let us know in the comments section below.
Disclaimer: Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned companies or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com and the author are not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. This editorial is for informational purposes only.
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The post Interest-Paying Crypto Accounts Are This Year’s Leading Trend appeared first on Bitcoin News.
VKontakte (also known as “VK”), which is Russia’s version of Facebook, is planning to issue its own cryptocurrency. The project is currently under development, but a final decision has not yet been made. The social media firm wants to create a cryptocurrency that all its users can implement, according to Russian news website RNS. VKontakte claims it has 97 million active monthly users. VK Launched Money Transfer System In 2018 If VKontakte is successful in rolling out its own cryptocurrency, users will be able to earn crypto for sharing interesting posts and accumulating “likes.” They can also use the digital
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The week is ending on a hugely positive note for the Tezos cryptocurrency. Tezos Races Ahead of Wider Crypto Market The blockchain project’s native asset XTZ today established a new weekly high towards $1.08 – up more than 17 percent in the last 24 hours. The latest push also brought the coin’s weekly gains to 57 percent, bringing the price a few steps closer to its November 19 high at $1.09. No other top-20 cryptocurrency came close to matching the breakneck Tezos rally. Volume-wise, crypto exchanges listing XTZ-enabled pairs reported trading activity worth a little above $8.2 million. Among those
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Your smartphone, your smartwatch, and your laptop are all probably recording your information. Big deal – you knew that already. But what you might not have known is that your Tesla Model 3 is also a veritable gold mine of personal information. Tesla Wrecks are an Unexpected Hacker Gold Mine A story broke recently of a “white hat hacker” who has been restoring wrecked Teslas and demonstrating just how much data is under the hood. Phone contacts, addresses, and even crash videos were all salvageable from the car in question. But it’s not only a wrecked Tesla that is a
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In addition to learning about the latest developments in the world of Bitcoin Cash, you can take part in a special giveaway in this week’s video news update from Bitcoin.com. Streamed live and hosted by Roger Ver, the weekly show is shared on Bitcoin.com’s Youtube channel every Sunday.
Also Read: How to Print Your Own Bitcoin Cash Paper Wallet
This week’s show features a special giveaway enabling viewers to win prizes such as hardware wallets, cool BCH t-shirts and other swag. To participate all you have to do is subscribe to the Bitcoin.com Youtube channel and leave a comment on the video regarding which Bitcoin Cash news item you are most excited about. 10 winners will be randomly selected by Wednesday and their names will be announced on next week’s show.
Among the topics discussed this week are the launch of the Cashshuffle coin mixing protocol on Electron Cash, a new Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) explorer that lets users browse tokens built on the BCH blockchain, and a new app for customers to order menu items with their phones and pay with an integrated point-of-sale system using QR codes. Additionally features is the Peaceful Warrior online shop created by a group of female entrepreneurs from within the crypto space as well as the BCH community raising funds for young people in need from South Sudan.
Make sure to subscribe to the Bitcoin.com Youtube channel and leave a comment on the latest video for your chance to win.
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Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi’s Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com.
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In another blow to the crypto industry’s reputation, South Korean bitcoin exchange Bithumb was hacked again on Saturday morning. The hack marks the second time the exchange has been successfully penetrated in less than a year. Is arrogance or incompetence to blame? Bithumb Hadn’t Even Repaired its Reputation Since the Last Hack The Bithumb hack saw the offenders make off with around $20 million worth of EOS and Ripple (XRP). Three million EOS were stolen, along with 20 million XRP tokens. Influential crypto analyst Dovey Wan initially tweeted that the exchange’s cold wallet had been targeted, though that ultimately proved
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Someone needs to tell Justin Sun that there’s no shame in unplugging. With one glimpse of his sprawling office at Tron’s Beijing headquarters, it’s clear that the space doubles as a high-rise apartment. A twin bed in the corner is “used extensively during tight deadlines,” and Sun himself admits to being a workaholic, saying: “I will continue to work for 50 years, 50 weeks per year, 80 hours per week. Crypto never sleeps.” Perhaps but there’s a reason why people do. And while there’s nothing wrong with an amazing work ethic, the Tron founder has begun to show signs of
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As prime minister of between 2014 and 2016, Matteo Renzi was an unmitigated disaster for Italy. Fortunately, his incompetence and socialist ideology ensured that Italians not only showed him the door but also left his Partito Democratico (Democratic Party) politically annihilated. Now, the has-been is nostalgic of a bygone age when elites and globalists were in charge rather than populists like Donald Trump. Matteo Renzi Only Has Eyes for Barack Obama He tells CNBC: “I’m a really lucky man because I worked with Barack Obama and not Donald Trump.” The man has gotten it all wrong, and it can only
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Closely following market movements and price fluctuations is something every trader and investor in the crypto space must do in order to take advantage of opportunities and avoid losses. Cryptonaut is a portfolio management app that allows you to track your holdings in multiple cryptocurrencies.
Also read: New Crypto-Friendly Banking and Payment Services Launch in the UK and Russia
The Cryptonaut mobile app, available for both Android and iOS devices, has gathered positive reviews thanks to its intuitive interface and smooth performance. It lets you add virtually any coin or token you can think of and track the value of your crypto holdings in a number of fiat currencies, including major ones such as the U.S. dollar, the euro, and the British pound, but also Indian rupee, Russian ruble, and Turkish lira among others. Price charts for different time periods – hour, day, week, month, and year – can be displayed in BTC and ETH as well.
The option to set price alerts for the digital assets crypto traders are interested in is other useful feature. Each time the price of a particular coin moves above or below a preset level, the app sends a push notification that allows investors to adapt their trading strategy. They can also use the application to calculate the return on their cryptocurrency investments.
Cryptonaut is quite flexible in terms of registration requirements. Once the app is downloaded and installed, users are prompted to create a new account and log in or opt for a more private experience. They can either link an exchange account or simply input their portfolio data manually to protect their information. Accounts can be deleted from the Settings menu at any time.
Another positive to the portfolio management app is its availability in multiple languages. Cryptonaut has English, Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Portuguese and other versions.
Are you using a mobile app to track your crypto holdings? Let us know in the comments section below.
Disclaimer: Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned companies or any of their affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Cryptonaut.
At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even lookup the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more.
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Tim Sloan is out as CEO of the beleaguered Wells Fargo. The news sparked curiosity and hope among crypto players that his replacement is more open to the space than Sloan. While Wells Fargo execs were mum about who’d replace Sloan, the rumor mill chatter quickly began to spin. Making the list are several people from J.P. Morgan. Before you say that’s a wrap considering the outrageous comments its CEO Jamie Dimon has made about cryptos, just wait. Some of these people have expressed being open to cryptos. No matter, if the choice is someone who thinks differently, and not
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Throughout the past month, the price of Ethereum (ETH) increased from $126 to $140, by more than 11 percent against the U.S. dollar. Similar to how several strategists expect the bitcoin price to increase substantially if it breaks the $4,200 resistance level in the near-term, traders foresee Ethereum rising to as high as $200 if it rebounds over crucial levels. $148 For Ethereum is Key According to a cryptocurrency technical trader recognized by the community as “The Crypto Dog,” the price of Ethereum could surpass $200 if it breaks out of $148 and continues to demonstrate momentum in the weeks
The post Ethereum May Surge 35% to $200 in Near-Term; What Will Fuel It? appeared first on CCN
In one spectacular quarter, the U.S. stock market has almost fully recovered from its 2018 correction with the Dow Jones nearing 26,000 points and the S&P 500 surpassing November levels. Since December 24, the Dow Jones has rebounded from 21,792 points to 25,928 points by 18.9 percent and the S&P 500 demonstrated a similar performance, rising from 2,351 points to 2,834 points by 20 percent. While strategists remain cautious on the near-term performance of the Dow due to geopolitical risks arising from the U.S.-China trade war and the weakening economy of the eurozone, the strength of the U.S. market could
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The inaction of India’s supreme court to end the prolonged banking restriction has forced another cryptocurrency exchange to shut down. The exchange has given its users 30 days to withdraw funds at increased fees, prompting several other exchanges to offer to refund these fees for customers switching to them.
Also read: Indian Supreme Court Set to Hear Crypto Case on March 29
Indian crypto exchange Coindelta announced its service termination on Saturday. The exchange wrote, “we will no longer be able to provide exchange services for cryptocurrencies,” elaborating:
The curb on the bank accounts by RBI has made us handicapped in order to provide seamless deposit and withdrawal services. There has not been any significant progress in the supreme court case which makes it difficult to predict when we will see the regulation.
The central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), issued a circular in April last year banning banks from providing services to crypto businesses including exchanges. The ban went into effect in July and banks closed the accounts of crypto exchanges at that time.
The banking restriction has put many crypto businesses in limbo. Zebpay, formerly one of the largest crypto exchanges in India, was forced to close down its exchange operations in the country in September last year.
A number of industry participants have filed writ petitions against the ban which the supreme court originally scheduled to hear in September last year. However, the case has repeatedly been postponed. During the most recent hearing which took place on Friday, the court adjourned without addressing the ban until at least July.
The team at Coindelta, an 18-month-old exchange, explained that “Running the exchange is very expensive in such [an] unfavourable environment.” Noting that “We have been operating at a minimal trade fee, bearing all the costs ourselves ensuring that your trading experience remains unaffected in the current unregulated environment,” the team admitted:
It has been really difficult for us to operate Coindelta exchange for the last 6 months … Economically, it’s no longer viable to continue with the exchange.
According to Saturday’s announcement, Coindelta’s exchange services were suspended and all open orders canceled in all markets at 2:00 p.m. (Indian time) on March 30. However, the wallet services will continue until April 29.
Coindelta has requested that its customers withdraw all their funds within 30 days of the suspension, after which all requests must be submitted to support. “There will be a fixed fee applicable on all the withdrawals,” the exchange warned.
According to the Indian crypto community, these fees are high compared to what other exchanges are charging. For example, “they increased the XRP withdrawal fees to 10 XRP,” Coindcx CEO Sumit Gupta told news.Bitcoin.com, emphasizing that this fee is “a lot” since his exchange charges 0.01 XRP for withdrawals. Coindelta’s BTC withdrawal fee is 0.002 BTC, worth about $8.19 at the time of writing.
Nischal Shetty, CEO of crypto exchange Wazirx, tweeted that he “Got many messages that withdrawal fees from Coindelta have been increased,” adding that his exchange is offering Coindelta’s users 100 percent refund of withdrawal fees if they switch to Wazirx.
Another Indian exchange, Bitbns, has made a similar offer. “We are waiving off/refunding any fee incurred while depositing funds to Bitbns from any other cryptocurrency exchange across the world. This means you can now transfer your funds from any crypto exchange to Bitbns without bearing any transfer charges,” the exchange announced on Sunday.
What do you think of the Indian supreme court taking so long to end the RBI ban that Coindelta has to shut down? Let us know in the comments section below.
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BOLT GLOBAL, a blockchain-based content rewards platform, recently made several partnership announcements. First, BOLT’s user access to premium sporting streams just got a boost. The International Cricket Council granted BOLT transmission rights to the 2019 Cricket World Cup for users in Southeast Asia, where Cricket reigns as the number one watched sport. In their second announcement, the team reported that the BOLT token has been listed on BitMax.io, marking its first appearance on a digital asset exchange. As of March 26, 2019, BOLT trade pairs with BTC and USDT are available on BitMax.io. BOLT’s vision is to provide premium mobile
The post How BOLT’s Tokenized Ecosystem Transforms Content Streaming appeared first on CCN
After more than five years of business, Dream is preparing to close its doors. The darknet marketplace (DNM) will shut up shop within a month, before relaunching under a new name and onion domain. The move has caused jitters within the darknet community, with buyers seeking reassurances that the site hasn’t been compromised by law enforcement.
Also read: 6 Popular Darknet Marketplaces That Accept Cryptocurrency
In the post-Silk Road era, Dream has came to be known as the darknet’s most reliable marketplace, both in terms of uptime and vendor reputation. It appeared to be impervious from law enforcement and from hackers seeking to extort money from the marketplace. In the last few weeks, however, Dream has suffered from intermittent service, with a determined DDoSer knocking the site offline. In a post shared on Reddit-like darknet forum Dread, Dream admins explained they were being extorted for $400K by the DDoSer, who has persisted with his attack for the past seven weeks.
Urging everyone to ignore the FUD suggesting the site had been compromised by law enforcement, Dream admins promised that the new-look market will be “as good as Dream.” As an infographic by the EU Drugs Agency shows, the number of scammy darknet markets has vastly exceeded the number of legitimate ones over the years. The loss of Dream has been hard to stomach for users, even if its replacement is promised to be every bit as good. Many customers rushed to withdraw their funds from Dream following the announcement, only to find the site had been knocked offline again, with pages loading sporadically.
The uncertainty over Dream’s impending closure has proved a boon to other DNMs, which have enjoyed an influx of buyers and vendors. Wall Street Market appears to have been the prime beneficiary; Point marketplace, meanwhile, has been suffering from its own bout of downtime. “I’m heartbroken,” wrote one Redditor in reaction to news of the darknet’s largest marketplace shutting shop. “I exclusively use Dream and it has never let me down.”
TMG has closed for registration while the whole Dream thing gets sorted out. The Hub has still not come back online. It’s lights off in the dark web at the moment pic.twitter.com/QBCOt1Atf3
— Eileen Ormsby (the Darkest Web) (@EileenOrmsby) March 28, 2019
While Wall Street accepts BTC and XMR, Dream is powered by the two bitcoins – BTC and BCH. It is unclear whether its successor will retain the same format, both in terms of digital assets and wares. It’s also unclear how the move to a new onion domain will mitigate the DDoS attacks that have plagued the DNM of late. Buyers, many of whom use darknet markets to purchase narcotics, recall the time when law enforcement shut down Alphabay and then funneled users to Hansa, which they had also compromised. The latter served as a honeypot, and significantly increased the number of arrests while decreasing trust in the darknet’s opaque ecosystem.
There is nothing to suggest that Dream has been compromised, but until such a time as its replacement can launch successfully and rebuild trust, speculation will continue to mount. Will the domain earmarked for the rebranded Dream – weroidjkazxqds2l.onion – show the logo of the brand new darknet market leader when it launches? Or will it, as Silk Road did on the day of Ross Ulbricht’s arrest, show the logo of the Federal Bureau of Investigation? The DNM community shouldn’t have to wait long to find out.
What are your thoughts on Dream’s closure? Let us know in the comments section below.
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The post The Darknet’s Largest Marketplace Is Closing – But a Replacement Is on Its Way appeared first on Bitcoin News.
Last summer, Bitcoin.com launched a developer suite so Bitcoin Cash (BCH) programmers could have access to a slew of resources, tools, and software development kits (SDK). At the time, the web portal contained three key tools for blockchain programmers: the Bitbox SDK, REST, and the GUI platform. Now, Developer.Bitcoin.com hosts two more SDKs so developers can build applications with Badger Wallet and the Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP).
Also read: Mempool ‘Spam’ and Rising Fees: The Consequences of Veriblock’s Mainnet Launch
Bitcoin.com believes that BCH has the potential to change the world and provide people with economic freedom. On account of this conviction, our web portal provides resources, tools, and other helpful services so individuals and groups can dive right into this innovative industry that’s transforming our world. After providing a wide variety of resources for retail investors and newbies, last July we launched Developer.Bitcoin.com in order to provide assistance to the BCH development community. The service includes a bunch of tools that leverage the BCH blockchain to build decentralized and censorship-resistant applications. Initially, the software included on Developer.Bitcoin.com consisted of Bitbox SDK, REST, and GUI tools, but we’ve added two more SDKs to the mix.
The first is the Badger SDK which can act as a gateway to the world of BCH apps. Programmers can utilize the Badger API and provide website visitors with the ability to allow apps to request their permission to send BCH, send tokens, or authenticate with the Cash-ID protocol. Badger Wallet has become the BCH version of Metamask as it allows connections to a variety of BCH applications and tokens. For instance, it supports SLP tokens and has been easily integrated with popular platforms such as Satoshi Dice and Sideshift. The Chrome and Firefox-based Badger software has the ability to process micropayments and smart assets, fuel decentralized exchanges, and power distributed autonomous organizations. Badger is also connected to the Cash-ID protocol which can give users the ability to sign in to web pages and BCH-based applications and unlock content using their private keys. Developer.Bitcoin.com also hosts Badger React components that make integrating Bitcoin Cash into any project much easier.
Lastly, the development suite now has a Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) SDK so users can experiment with the SLP token universe. Ever since the launch of SLP cryptocurrency, people have been creating all types of tokens built on top of the BCH network. The SLP development kit provides programmers with a fully featured Javascript framework powered by Bitbox. This means developers will have access to everything they need to issue, spend or trade a token backed by the security of the BCH chain. The SLP framework is robust and extensible toward the light wallet ecosystem and programmers can apply multi-signature addresses and other Bitcoin script features with SLP tokens as well. Moreover, there’s a built-in console with REPL, Bitbox, and a Bitcoin Cash JSON RPC API. The SLP SDK is also coupled to REST, so no further setup is necessary.
There’s been a ton of new applications that use the innovation and security instilled within the Bitcoin Cash network and at Bitcoin.com we want to keep the momentum going. Developer.Bitcoin.com is designed to bolster the innovation and building happening in the cryptocurrency space and all of the resources are free. At Bitcoin.com we hope our developer platform will help you change the world by leveraging the benefits of the peer-to-peer electronic cash system we all love.
What do you think about Developer.Bitcoin.com? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
Image credits: Bitcoin.com
Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section.
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By CCN.com: Another day, another John McAfee tweet pumping a cryptocurrency project that has alarming red flags. The latest dubious crypto token is called Apollo, an “all-in-one” cryptocurrency with supposedly-private transactions. Crypto Developers Call Out McAfee-Linked Apollo However, according to crypto development firm Jelurida, Apollo’s so-called privacy features promoted are not so private after all. http://bit.ly/2U55kqU — Ardorgate (@Ardorgate) March 28, 2019 Imagine if some company back in the days when you made your antivirus software would have copied/cloned your work, renamed to Mcfluffy, claiming to do tons of stuff and market it as a game changer knowing that actually
The post Warning: This John McAfee-Pumped Cryptocurrency Has Major Red Flags appeared first on CCN
Wow Air, a budget airline launched in 2012, targeted younger travel audiences with ultra-cheap airfare with minimal additions. The company struggled for the last two years, hemorrhaging nearly $45 million between July 2017 and June 2018. Now, their bankruptcy threatens to ripple through Iceland’s entire economy. Wow Air Bankruptcy Could Cripple Iceland’s GDP, Tank Krona According to a local government task force, Wow Air’s bankruptcy could impact Iceland’s GDP by 3 percent and weaken the Króna by as much as 13 percent. Other forecasts claim as much as a 10 percent drop in exports and a 6 percent increase in
The post WTF: WowAir Tailspin Threatens to Tank Iceland’s Economy appeared first on CCN
Facebook is moving into cryptocurrency, aiming to create some type of stablecoin that will make it possible for users within its gargantuan network to transfer value to each other. Why Facebook doesn’t simply use an existing cryptocurrency is, of course, a mystery. Facebook’s Not Going Full Crypto Perhaps it fears to open the minds of users too much: from cryptocurrency they might graduate to better social media platforms, like Minds.com. What will the real value of another token pegged to the US dollar be to the crypto community? We can assume that over such a broad swath of users, the
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Theresa May has said on multiple occasions she won’t back a second Brexit referendum. The reason? She believes it would be an affront to democracy. Without putting too fine a point on it, this just isn’t true. The reason she won’t call a referendum is that it would be admitting that she failed – and the Conservative party lied. The Brexit Referendum and the £350 Million Elephant in the Room How could requiring more input from the British People be un-democratic? Because in the eyes of many a second vote is a slippery slope. “Why not just have ten referendums
The post 2nd Brexit Referendum Would Prove Theresa May Failed & Tories Lied appeared first on CCN
Bithumb, the largest bitcoin exchange in South Korea alongside Upbit, has been hacked for around $20 million. The company said that user funds stored in crypto cold storage wallets were not hacked, but corporate funds were moved. Bithumb Hack Likely an Inside Job Cold storage wallets refer to offline wallets that are not connected to the internet that major exchanges utilize to eliminate the vulnerability of user funds in potential security breaches. In a surprising turn of events, Bithumb disclosed that it believes the hack was an inside job and funds might have been moved by individuals associated with the
The post $20 Million Bithumb Hack Exposes Alarming Threat to Bitcoin Exchanges appeared first on CCN
On March 29, the two largest mining rig manufacturers, Canaan Creative and Bitmain Technologies, announced the sale of their next generation devices that process the SHA-256 algorithm. Both firms are gearing up to sell the new products this spring as a slew of mining operations have been prepping up new facilities in order to take advantage of the wet season in China.
Also read: Mempool ‘Spam’ and Rising Fees: The Consequences of Veriblock’s Mainnet Launch
Bitcoin miners will be interested in the latest rigs that will be sold in the near future by the industry’s leading manufacturers. On Friday, Bitmain announced a sale date so the public can purchase devices from the Antminer 17 series which include the Antminer S17 Pro, Antminer S17, and the Antminer T17. The rigs will be sold globally on April 9, and come packed with Bitmain’s newly improved second generation 7nm ASIC BM1397 mining chips. During the announcement, Bitmain’s product manager of the latest Antminer series, Yangxin, revealed some details about the relationship between the company and the semiconductor foundry TSMC.
“The new miner offers a steep improvement in the hashrate in terms of space and power consumption,” Yangxin noted.
The BM1397 chips are produced using TSMC’s 7nm Finfet process and Yangxin claims the revamped 17 series will provide miners with 28.6 percent more efficiency than the previous 7nm equipped model using the BM1391. Yangxin stated that the future of mega-efficient SHA-256 miners will go beyond the 7nm scope. “From a technical point of view, there is no end to the development of technology. However, in the short run, the driving force behind the development of next-gen miners beyond 7nm chips is slowing down due to physical limitations,” Yangxin explained. The product manager continued:
With the nm size shrinking quantum effects, among other new challenges, come into play. It is promising that TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) is already in the process of building 5nm chips.
Bitmain’s announcement does not reveal the new products’ hashrate but the previous Antminer S15 produces 28 trillion hashes per second (TH/s). The 17 series specifications will be available on the official website when the devices go up for sale. Yangxin did disclose that there is a noticeable performance improvement compared to the previous generation chip and the 17 series models have a “higher hashrate in a single miner.”
Following Bitmain’s announcement, Chinese firm Canaan Creative released information on the launch of its latest Avalon series. Canaan announced the new Avalonminer A10 on the company’s official Wechat account on Friday as well. Interestingly, Canaan’s ad says that the new miner will go on sale in March 2019, yet the official sale date is still unknown. Moreover, during the spring, Chinese miners have been flocking to Sichuan for cheap electricity during the wet season and mining operations have been buying up rigs for new facilities.
Canaan does reveal some of the specifications tied to the A10 device which include 31TH/s and power consumption of around 1736W off the wall. This means the machine boasts a possible 50W/T (watt per terahash) at max capacity. Other details such as the new Avalon rig’s price per unit are still unknown. The news follows rumors of Canaan reapplying for the company’s initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong because it expired. The finance publication Securities Times also reported that Canaan raised “several hundred million U.S. dollars” on March 11. Bitmain’s IPO application expired as well and the company has recently disclosed that the corporation will also attempt to go public again by reapplying.
What do you think about Canaan and Bitmain’s latest announcements concerning next-generation machines? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
Image credits: Canaan Creative, and Bitmain Technologies.
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The founder of Omise — the company behind the OmiseGo cryptocurrency — denied reports that his Ethereum-based payments platform was acquired for $150 million by Charoen Pokphand Group, Thailand’s largest private company. Omise Founder Demands Retraction Jun Hasegawa issued an angry denial on Twitter, where he accused the crypto news website The Block of pushing fake news. Hasegawa also threatened to take legal action if a correction/retraction isn’t issued. Hasegawa has not yet responded to CCN’s requests for comment. In response to Hasegawa’s volcanic denials, The Block reporter who broke the story says he stands by his reporting and his
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On Friday, economist and global markets analyst Alex Krüger said that the crypto bear market has been over for more than three months and if bitcoin breaks out of the $4,200 resistance level, it will mark the end of the 15-month bear trend. “The crypto bear market has been over for three months now. BTC breaking above 4200 will mark the end of the bear trend that started in January 2018. Going to miss this big fellow,” Krüger said. Throughout the past three months, the bitcoin price has remained in a relatively tight range between $3,400 to $4,000. For most
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Two companies from different parts of Europe have recently announced new products that cater to the financial needs of businesses in the crypto industry. The services range from opening bank accounts to providing payment processing solutions. Developers say they will give crypto companies the peace of mind they need to focus on their core activities without having to worry about banking.
Also read: Cryptojobs Is a Platform With 1,300 Vacancies in the Cryptocurrency Industry
Coinacquiring, a London-based consulting firm, has announced it now offers help in opening “crypto-friendly bank accounts” for companies in the sector. The corporate banking assistance will expand its portfolio, which already includes another sought after service, fiat-to-crypto payment processing provided to merchants accepting digital currencies.
The bank accounts will be available in multiple fiat currencies including British pound, euro, U.S. dollar, Swiss franc, and Japanese yen, along with many other currencies such as Czech koruna, Romanian leu and South African rand, for example. They will also support SEPA instant credit transfers and wire transfers via Swift.
Banking and payment processing services are in high demand in the sector and the company receives several requests a day as David Jones, senior payments consultant at Coinacquiring, told news.Bitcoin.com. Jones believes banks turn the crypto businesses away because they don’t fully understand how to evaluate risk in the crypto industry.
To provide more security and stability to cryptocurrency merchants, Coinacquiring maintains relationships with a number of traditional financial institutions. “We have several Tier 1 European banks we work with and also options with smaller banks further afield,” the company representative assured.
Coinacquiring charges a fixed $500 account opening fee and additional fees are negotiated directly between the merchant and the respective bank. Jones added that these processing rates typically tend to be between 3 and 5 percent.
“We know how difficult fiat to crypto payment processing can be to set up,” David Jones was quoted as saying in a press release sent by the company earlier this week. “We want to create a space where crypto businesses can focus on building exciting products and technologies instead of having to worry about whether their banking infrastructure is reliable or not,” he emphasized.
Coinacquiring also offers assistance with opening foreign exchange accounts, although this service is not that frequently requested. “As an extension to this we will look to provide some treasury management solutions for exchanges working in multiple fiat currencies. However, this is a few months off,” Jones explained.
The consultant noted that there are currently plenty of crypto-to-fiat payment processing options and Coinacquiring wouldn’t be filling a void if it decided to offer this kind of service too. “As we grow I guess it makes sense to include this for completeness more than anything else,” Jones remarked when asked about the company’s plans for the future.
Meanwhile, a new crypto-to-fiat payment processing system has been developed in Eastern Europe, despite strong existing competition in this niche. One of the established companies in the field, Paytomat, already has a network of merchants accepting cryptocurrencies using its services for instant conversion to local fiat. Their clients are based in a dozen countries around the world, from Ukraine to Venezuela.
Now Synell, an IT company headquartered in Belarus and with offices in Russia and the U.S., is promoting its offering to the growing market, its software capable of processing direct crypto payments and converting digital coins to fiat money for businesses that wish to provide their customers with the option to pay with cryptocurrency.
The platform, called Acquiring, can accept payments in three major digital currencies – bitcoin core (BTC), ethereum (ETH) and litecoin (LTC). The developers note, however, that support for other coins can be added upon request from interested parties. The team has also developed an API and a mobile application that enables users to receive payments directly at their store checkout.
The software package is now up for sale and offered to companies that would like to invest more time and effort into its further development and integration, Synell CEO Denis Gorskin told news.Bitcoin.com. The crypto payment processing platform, which costs $18,000, was originally designed for Russian clients but it can be adapted to any other market and already has an English-language version.
Do you think the launch of new services designed specifically for crypto companies indicates that the industry is recovering? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Disclaimer: Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned companies or any of their affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.
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So AOC is the progressives’ rising star? The Democratic party’s savior in 2020 elections and beyond? To borrow a phrase from President Trump, that’s some “ridiculous bull****” and political spin from lying Democrats. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is viewed negatively by a plurality of Americans, and it should be no surprise given that the clueless freshman representative espouses arrogant and condescending far-left socialist views in the most successful capitalist nation in the world. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Has Embarrassingly Low Favorability Rating A March 28 Quinnipiac poll finds that only one in four Americans (23 percent) have a favorable view of AOC,
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If ever there was a canary in the regulatory coal mine, it’s Crypto Mom. U.S. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who is affectionately known as Crypto Mom by the community, admitted that regulators, who have so far denied a bitcoin ETF, have missed the mark on crypto. In a sit-down interview with crypto and blockchain journalist Laura Shin, Peirce appears to suggest that crypto’s potential has been stifled by a narrow-minded SEC that refuses to embrace change. She places the fate of a bitcoin ETF in the hands of the market, however, though Crypto Mom is quick to point out where
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