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Friday 31 May 2019

Bitcoin Price Analysis: Bullish Market Structure Upheld Following Strong Sell Off

http://bit.ly/2s78wSl

Bitcoin Price Analysis

Summary:

  1. Although we saw a strong sell off yesterday, the bullish market structure has yet to be violated. The weekly support has been confirmed for the time being and our parabolic advance is still intact.
  2. We are currently failing to hold support in the $8,500s for our intraday market structure. As we test the failed support we have yet to confirm if it has new found resistance. If we fail to regain the level we can expect to see an intraday retest of our weekly support level in the $8,100s.
  3. If the $8,100 level fails, it is entirely possible that we will be visiting the mid $6,000s before buying pressure picks up to push the price. However, if we can sustain support on our weekly $8,100 level, we could ultimately see a test of our monthly and weekly resistance in the low $9,000 level before any meaningful, macro correction takes place.

Trading and investing in digital assets like bitcoin is highly speculative and comes with many risks. This analysis is for informational purposes and should not be considered investment advice. Statements and financial information onBitcoin Magazine and BTC Inc sites do not necessarily reflect the opinion of BTC Inc and should not be construed as an endorsement or recommendation to buy, sell or hold. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.



via Bitcoin Magazine https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/bitcoin-price-analysis-bullish-market-structure-upheld-following-strong-sell/#1559335919

The Copyright for the Satoshi White Paper is Already Causing Trouble

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Craig Wright's copyright registration of the Satoshi White Paper is causing some online services to censor the document.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/the-copyright-for-the-satoshi-white-paper-is-already-causing-trouble

SEC’s Hinman Says Some ICOs May Be Eligible for ‘No-Action’ Relief

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Startups that conducted ICOs may be eligible for relief from SEC enforcement actions, an agency official said.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/secs-hinman-says-some-icos-may-be-eligible-for-no-action-relief

Proof of Love Episode 17 Love in Vegas

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There was never a dull moment during this conversation with Kingsley and Erin. Started off, Kingsley shared what it was like growing up with a father who has been incarcerated for most of his life and their frustration with a slow and ineffective justice system. The conversation turns to the couple dynamic as they have turned what started out as a rocky relationship, into one with hopes of having a baby. During the whole time, lifestyles have evolved and their future has been tested. In the midst of this and the launching of their startup Flote, they're even planning Anarchovegas for the crypto and activist communities in Las Vegas. You don't want to miss out on this conversation.

About the Guests:

Kingsley Edwards founded Leet, an online esports bitcoin platform, in 2013 with the vision of integrating cryptocurrencies with popular video games. Shortly after that, he met Erin in 2014 where they hosted the one of the first Las Vegas Bitcoin Meetups. After Leet was acquired by Unikrn, Kingsley acted as a Director for the UnikoinGold token sale that sold over $30M in tokens. They both are focused now on helping spread mass adoption by building out Flote, an uncensorable social media platform that will help onboard users to use crypto in an easy way and still put on meetups to this day.

Do you have a burning question, or a show idea for us? Please email us at tatiana@proofoflovecast.com!

Thank you to our Vaultoro & Blocktap.io

Remember, this is a new show, so if you like it, please be sure to tell 3 friends! Leave a good review on Itunes, and be sure to follow us on our socials!

More Info:

Flote.app

Block16.io

AnarchoVegas

TheTatianaShow

Sponsors:

Vaultoro.com

Blocktap.io



via The Let's Talk Bitcoin Network https://letstalkbitcoin.com/blog/post/proof-of-love-episode-17-love-in-vegas

Op Ed: Bitcoin in Africa, What Needs to Be Done to Encourage Adoption?

http://bit.ly/30XDtIX

Bitcoins

Bitcoin has the potential to revolutionize the African continent. Through Bitcoin, millions of unbanked Africans will have access to financial services.

These and many more such statements exist across the internet. All these statements are true. But, despite all the benefits that Bitcoin is expected to bring to African countries, adoption levels in Africa continue to be the lowest globally.

Which begs the question, “If Bitcoin is to help Africa catch up with the rest of the world, what is preventing Africans from adopting the cryptocurrency?”

Why Is Africa Lagging in Bitcoin Adoption?

Africans are interested in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Nigerians account for the highest number of searches for the keyword “Bitcoin.” However, this peak in interest does not appear to be translating to increased adoption rates.

Why is this?

One of the main factors limiting bitcoin adoption in Africa is the availability or lack of regulations. African governments either have introduced strict regulations limiting bitcoin use or have not introduced any legislation to govern cryptocurrencies.

In countries such as Zimbabwe, the government introduced strict regulations against cryptocurrencies, which resulted in Golix — the country’s only crypto exchange — shutting down its bitcoin ATMs.

In countries where crypto regulation is still absent, citizens are exposed to a multitude of scams, which makes them wary of bitcoin. In Uganda, for example, bitcoin scams have been on the rise, which has resulted in legislators calling for regulation of crypto assets.

The lack of regulation also plays a part in bitcoin’s market volatility. Generally speaking, early bitcoin adopters had a high-risk appetite. However, most people hate the uncertainty that results from the lack of regulations, which has contributed to the lag in bitcoin adoption in Africa.

Lack of Awareness

Bitcoin is still a foreign concept to many Africans. This lack of awareness is another factor contributing to the low rates of bitcoin adoption in Africa. A very small percentage of Africans has heard of bitcoin. A majority of these are young tech enthusiasts, freelancers and traders.

The higher percentage of the African population has never heard of digital coins. Bitcoin is expected to help the unbanked access financial services. However, how is this to happen if most of this population has never heard of cryptocurrencies?

Putting bitcoin in the hands of this population will contribute greatly to mass adoption in African states. But this cannot be done if the majority of the population does not understand bitcoin.

The lack of awareness of bitcoin has also made many Africans prone to crypto scams. Many Africans don’t understand how bitcoin works. Scammers use this ignorance to frame bitcoin as a get-rich-quick scheme, which attracts thousands of willing investors. In March 2019, several Kenyans lost their savings after falling for a Brazilian bitcoin con.

Expansive Use of Mobile Money Services Hinders Adoption

Africa is home to over 50 percent of the global mobile money market. In some countries, over 80 percent of the population uses mobile money services. This high proliferation of mobile money is a major contributor to the failure of many Bitcoin-based startups in Africa.

For you to send or trade bitcoin, you need to have a smartphone and access to the internet. Mobile money services, on the other hand, allow one to send or receive money through text messages, a feature that works even on the most basic telephone handset.

Although internet access has been on the rise in Africa, the majority of the population still lacks access to stable internet connections, which results in them preferring the more accessible mobile money services.

Bitcoin will undoubtedly transform the African continent. However, to achieve this transformation, several changes need to occur within the continent and among Bitcoin-based startups.

The Introduction of Bitcoin-Friendly Regulations

Many crypto enthusiasts are against the idea of introducing crypto and blockchain regulations. To these individuals, regulation means to control, and bitcoin was created to be free from any centralized control.

On the other hand, regulation can also mean to make something “regular.” It can help bring order to a chaotic situation. Currently, bitcoin is considered a risky investment, especially in Africa, where many have fallen prey to scams in the past.

The mass adoption of bitcoin in Africa will need the majority of the population to have access to the cryptocurrency and feel confident using it. The only way to achieve this is by giving people the perception that bitcoin is safe; the introduction of crypto-friendly regulations is necessary for this to happen.

Bitcoin is a borderless currency. This feature limits a nation’s ability to regulate it. Rather than regulating the cryptocurrency, policymakers can introduce laws to govern startups and apps using bitcoin.

Educational Workshops Can Help Promote Bitcoin Adoption in Africa

Bitcoin adoption in Africa largely depends on Africans understanding the benefits that the cryptocurrency offers. Startups working with Bitcoin in Africa should conduct educational workshops across the continent to ensure people understand the technology.

Most of the unbanked population in Africa don’t have access to basic internet services. To these people, Bitcoin is still a foreign concept that they only hear about in the news, and in most instances, it’s usually bad news.

Educational workshops would help dispel any negative myths about Bitcoin. If people understand that bitcoin is not a scam, but a new form of currency that is easier to transfer and is free from government-related economic depressions; adoption resistance will reduce.

Integration With Mobile Money

Mobile money has achieved widespread success in Africa. Two-thirds of the sub-Saharan population currently use mobile money services. For Bitcoin to achieve widespread adoption in African countries, startups need to integrate Bitcoin and mobile money.

M-Pesa and Ecocash are the dominating mobile money services in Africa. Any startup dealing with Bitcoin should integrate these mobile money options in their platform.

Take the example of Kenya’s M-Pesa. The mobile money service allows Kenyans to send money via text messages. M-Pesa also has a wide network of agents spread across the country. Bitcoin-powered startups that have integrated their services with M-Pesa have experienced higher levels of adoption.

Kipochi, a bitcoin wallet that allowed Africans to send and receive bitcoin, while at the same time allowing the exchange of bitcoin to Kenyan shillings, had integrated M-Pesa to its services. However, after the Kenyan Central Bank cautioned Kenyans against investing in bitcoin, Safaricom, the company behind M-Pesa, canceled the partnership. Before this cancellation, Kipochi was experiencing an increasing number of users. However, the ban resulted in the death of the company.

Wallettec is an example of a startup that has successfully integrated mobile money with digital wallets. This integration has allowed the company to thrive both in South Africa and Kenya.

Africa is a unique market. In the U.S., companies are installing bitcoin ATMs in grocery stores to promote adoption. In Africa, bitcoin ATMs would achieve minimal success — people rarely use bank ATMs. Bitcoin integrated with mobile money is a better option for Africa as it also allows agents to earn from facilitating transactions.

Conclusion

Bitcoin has the potential to transform African countries. However, adoption rates need to increase drastically for this transformation to occur.

Achieving mass adoption of Bitcoin in Africa will require the efforts of both policymakers and private companies; otherwise, the many benefits that Bitcoin is poised to bring to Africa will remain a dream.

This is a guest post by Steven Weru. Opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Bitcoin Magazine or BTC Inc.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.



via Bitcoin Magazine https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/op-ed-bitcoin-africa-what-needs-be-done-encourage-adoption/#1559328529

Coinbase President Steps Down, Emilie Choi Named as Replacement

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Asiff Hirji is leaving Coinbase after 18 months on the job. The crypto exchange also announced that current executive Emilie Choi would take over as COO.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/coinbase-president-steps-down-emilie-choi-named-as-replacement

Japan Hardens Rules for Cryptocurrency Storage and Trading

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The Japanese government is creating new – and potentially expensive – rules for all cryptocurrency companies.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/japan-hardens-rules-for-cryptocurrency-storage-and-trading

Bitcoin Shines Amid Wall Street Losses

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Bitcoin decoupled from traditional markets in the month of May, rising more than $3,000.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-shines-amid-wall-street-losses

Australian Government Publishes Update on Cryptocurrency and ICO Rules

http://bit.ly/2WiFC35

Sydney Australia

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has published an update on how it intends to regulate crypto-related businesses and initial coin offerings (ICOs).

In this guideline, the financial regulator outlines requirements that need to be followed for cryptocurrency businesses to be compliant with the ASIC Act.

This update is noteworthy as the country continues to battle crypto scams, losing almost $4.3 million in 2018.

Going forward, companies issuing crypto assets deemed to be financial products will be required by law to procure an Australian Financial Services (AFS) license. On the flipside, for crypto assets which aren’t financial products, promoters must ensure that they don’t engage in any form of deceptive advertising.

According to the Corporations Act, an ICO could be a financial product if it's a "managed investment scheme, security, derivative or non-cash payment (NCP) facility," ASIC explains.

Exchanges that manage and offer trading of these assets would also be required to follow the new guidelines, including holding an Australian market license, unless covered by an exemption.

In instances where miners could be considered as a part of the clearing and settlement processes for financial products, Australian laws will apply.

In part, the release notes, “Businesses offering crypto-assets, or offering services in relation to crypto assets, need to undertake appropriate inquiries to satisfy themselves they are complying with all relevant Australian laws.”

Crypto wallet and custody service providers would need the appropriate custodial and depository authorizations to operate, while crypto asset payment and service providers involved in non-cash payment facility require an AFS license.

The agency pointed out that it would be enforcing know-your-customer and anti-money laundering standards on all crypto assets. These cover assets managed within and outside of the country's borders in tandem with the Australian Consumer Law.

ASIC Commissioner John Price said, “Australian laws will also apply even if the ICO or crypto-asset is promoted or sold to Australians from offshore. Issuers of ICOs, crypto-assets and their advisers should not assume the use of these structures means that key consumer protections under Australian laws do not apply or can be ignored.”

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.



via Bitcoin Magazine https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/australian-government-publishes-update-cryptocurrency-and-ico-rules/#1559318681

Man Sentenced for Illegal Money Transmission Services on LocalBitcoins

http://bit.ly/2IbIoNJ

LocalBitcoins

U.S. citizen Morgan Rockcoons has been sentenced to fines and prison time for running unlicensed money exchange services on LocalBitcoins.

Advertising himself on the peer-to-peer bitcoin trading network, Rockcoons made more than 1,000 transactions with hundreds of different users. The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) pursued him on charges of not registering his business with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

Rockcoons’ sentencing marks the end of a somewhat protracted legal battle, following his arrest in February 2018. Rockcoons attempted to sell 10 BTC to an undercover law enforcement officer for $14,500 in cash after the officer explicitly told him that the money was acquired through the production and sale of controlled substances.

The DoJ released information on this case on May 28, 2019, claiming that Rockcoons is to spend “21 months in prison for wire fraud and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business,” in addition to forfeiting over $80,000 in profits.

This marks the continuation of a trend from the U.S. federal government as it ramps up prosecution of bitcoin traders. In April 2019, the DoJ sentenced Joseph Burrell Campos to prison time and an $800,000 fine for similar charges. FinCEN itself began directly pursuing cases of this sort only a week later, levying civil damages against Eric Powers.

As in the Campos case, the DoJ claims that the charges against Rockcoons fall under Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) jurisdiction. Another similarity between these two cases is that the DoJ explicitly named LocalBitcoins.com as the mechanism by which both defendants advertised their illegal services. With the site shutting down all operations in Iran in late May 2019 to comply with U.S. sanctions on the country, the site’s operators seem aware of the possibility that legal action could be taken against the service itself.

The DoJ report added that, in this particular case, Rockcoons pled guilty to more than just the unregistered trading of bitcoin. While out on bail in 2018 for the original crime of selling bitcoin without registration, he offered parcels of land for sale in bitcoin. Rockcoons claimed that hundreds of square acres of barren Nevada desert constituted the upcoming real estate development of “Bitcointopia” where bitcoin would be legal tender. Rockcoons did not actually own any of this land.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.



via Bitcoin Magazine https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/man-sentenced-illegal-money-transmission-services-localbitcoins/#1559318124

What Bitcoin Did #112 - Bitfinex and Tether with Phil Potter

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Interview location: New York

Interview date: Saturday 11th May, 2019

Company: Bitfinex & Tether

Role: Chief Strategy Officer at Bitfinex | Co-Founder at Tether

Creating a Bitcoin business is hard, especially one processing hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars in value. For exchanges, these challenges are especially difficult, from defending against relentless hack attempts to securing banking services.

Starting a Bitcoin business today is undoubtedly easier; companies have become more open to working with Bitcoin businesses and specialist providers now exist. Still, the regulatory challenges exist as companies serve international customers with a broad set of unclear, jurisdiction-specific laws.

Bitfinex has a long history in Bitcoin, surviving many of its own challenges. It too suffered a major hack which nearly destroyed the business and faced the challenges of navigating the regulatory framework while struggling for banking services. Further, many of the team at Bitfinex were responsible for the creation of Tether, itself facing many difficulties.

In this interview, I talk with Phil Potter, who was Chief Strategy Office at Bitfinex and co-founder of Tether. We discuss the Bitfinex hack, challenges of getting banking services, the history of Tether and the difficulty of auditing reserves.

This episode is also on:

Listen to more What Bitcoin Did episodes



via The Let's Talk Bitcoin Network https://letstalkbitcoin.com/blog/post/what-bitcoin-did-112-bitfinex-and-tether-with-phil-potter

4 Minute Crypto - John McAfee says Bitcoin is Not Like Stock Market

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Crypto enthusiast John McAfee said that the crypto market is not the stock market.

He reiterated on the fact that cryptos are created by hashing or other algorithms, and that they are moved under the control of math logic.

You can find all episodes of the show by visiting 4minutecrypto.com.

CONTACT INFO

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Gary is available to keynote or emcee your Bitcoin/Crypto event. Please email GaryLeland@gmail.com for additional info.

DISCLAIMER: This article should not be taken as is, and is not intended to provide, investment advice.



via The Let's Talk Bitcoin Network https://letstalkbitcoin.com/blog/post/4-minute-crypto-john-mcafee-says-bitcoin-is-not-like-stock-market

EY Open-Sources ‘Nightfall’ Code for Private Transactions on Ethereum

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One of the world's largest consultancy firms has released a new set of protocols for enabling private transactions atop the ethereum blockchain.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/ey-open-sources-nightfall-code-for-private-transactions-on-ethereum

SBI Plans Launch of In-Store Payments With Ripple-Powered ‘Money Tap’ App

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SBI Ripple Asia is live testing in-store payments using its Ripple xCurrent-powered Money Tap app before a full launch "this year."

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/sbi-plans-launch-of-in-store-payments-with-ripple-powered-money-tap-app

Coinbase Adds Support for EOS Cryptocurrency on Retail Site and Apps

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Coinbase has added support for the EOS cryptocurrency for customers on Coinbase.com and its Android and iOS apps.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/coinbase-adds-support-for-eos-cryptocurrency-on-retail-site-and-apps

Bitcoin Price Looks Poised for Pullback But June Could Revive Rally

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Bitcoin is teasing a short-term bearish reversal at the onset of the historically strong month of June.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-price-looks-poised-for-pullback-but-june-could-revive-rally

Blockchain.info Adds PAX Stablecoin to Mobile Wallet

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Crypto-wallet powerhouse Blockchain is adding a dollar-pegged stablecoin to attract more users.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/blockchain-info-adds-pax-stablecoin-to-mobile-wallet

Collapsed Crypto Exchange Cryptopia Owes Creditors $2.7 Million: Liquidators

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The liquidators of hacked New Zealand crypto exchange Cryptopia say it owes over $2.7 million to creditors, while user losses are still unknown.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/collapsed-crypto-exchange-cryptopia-owes-creditors-2-7-million-say-liquidators

A Crypto-Friendly Puerto Rico Bank Is Crowdfunding on Circle’s SeedInvest

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Arival Bank aims to serve crypto firms rejected by traditional banks and is crowdfunding $3 million on Circle's SeedInvest platform.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/a-crypto-friendly-puerto-rico-bank-is-crowdfunding-on-circles-seedinvest

Thursday 30 May 2019

What to Expect at the SEC’s Blockchain Forum on Friday

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At a fraught moment for government-industry relations, the SEC and crypto insiders are sitting down for a meeting.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/sec-fintech-forum-preview

North Korean Hackers Target UpBit’s South Korean Users

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North Korean hackers have been using a familiar phishing tool to steal UpBit customer details.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/north-korean-hackers-target-upbits-south-korean-users

A deep dive into the recent BCH hard fork incident

Securing Your Crypto With Security Keys and WebAuthN

Op Ed: Debunking Bitcoin Myths, The ‘Intrinsic Value’ Fallacy

http://bit.ly/2YTBDqs

Bitcoin Value

A series of op eds by Kyle Torpey addressing some of the oft-repeated arguments against Bitcoin.

One of the earliest criticisms of Bitcoin was that the underlying token in the system had no intrinsic value. This point was an area of heavy debate among libertarians and Austrian economists who had become interested in bitcoin as a potential digital alternative to gold in the early stages of the crypto asset’s development.

Much of the debate revolved around Austrian school economist Ludwig Von Mises’ regression theorem, which claims non-monetary use cases as a prerequisite for any good to become a money.

Like many others, I fell on the side of bitcoin lacking any sort of intrinsic value after first learning about the new digital asset, but this was largely due to my lack of understanding around bitcoin’s utility as a digital bearer asset at the time (around 2011 to 2012).

Medium of Exchange vs. Store of Value

My view on bitcoin’s lack of intrinsic value changed once I realized that it was the only option in terms of a permissionless, censorship-resistant digital money.

One of the common arguments around the intrinsic value of fiat currencies, such as the U.S. dollar, is that the key underlying value proposition is that you have to pay your taxes with it. Bitcoin has a similar property where it must be used for censorship-resistant transactions online (yes, there are other options but bitcoin is the most liquid).

The continued existence of this point of view explains the thinking behind the creation of various altcoins focused on low-fee payments, such as bitcoin cash. Although, as Bitrefill CCO John Carvalho pointed out at the recent Understanding Bitcoin conference in Malta, many Bitcoin users have seen their thinking on this topic evolve further over the years.

This is not to say payments are not important (Bitcoin has its own secondary payments network known as the Lightning Network), but rather, the security and stabilization of Bitcoin’s base layer is key to protecting bitcoin’s utility as a store of value.

These two differing views on why bitcoin is valuable was a core aspect of the scaling debate from 2015 to 2017 (I’ve written an in-depth exploration of this point here).

A number of altcoins have arguably made improvements over bitcoin in terms of adding additional payment features. For example, Monero is renowned for the increased levels of privacy it can offer (although bitcoin is now seeing privacy improvements of its own through software like Wasabi Wallet and Samourai Wallet).

As Blockstream mathematician Andrew Poelstra has explained in the past, Bitcoin users simply prioritize security and stability over new, experimental payment features.

One of the key issues with these payment-focused altcoins is that they don’t have the same level of liquidity or network effects found with bitcoin, so bitcoin is still by far the most preferred money in the cryptocurrency space.

The view of bitcoin being a good as a store of value is helpful in terms of increasing the utility of that good as a medium of exchange. If more people are willing to hold a good, then they’re more likely to accept that good as payment.

Of course, having utility as a medium of exchange also assists the store of value proposition. But the key point to realize here is that a good acting as a medium of exchange is only possible if it first obtains some value. You can’t send value through a good if that good’s value is near zero (more on this from Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto later).

To be clear, it’s not the specific 21 million cap that enables bitcoin’s usefulness as a store of value. Instead, it’s the credibility of that monetary policy that matters in that it can’t be changed on a whim by anyone (not even a collection of the largest companies in the ecosystem).

Bitcoin is generally much less volatile than altcoins, which harms their comparative utility as stores of value (and, therefore, mediums of exchange).

It should also be noted that altcoins tend to be more centralized in terms of influential nodes and less diverse user bases, which puts into question the level of censorship-resistance of these cryptocurrencies as payment networks (see Ethereum’s hard fork to bail out those who were negatively affected by the hacking of The DAO).

So What Is Bitcoin’s Intrinsic Value?

“Intrinsic value” is a weird term when applied to commodities like gold and currencies like the U.S. dollar. There is nothing intrinsic about the value of anything. Value is subjective and comes from outside forces. For example, a gold bar isn’t very valuable to someone stranded on a deserted island alone.

In real terms, what makes bitcoin valuable is that it’s an apolitical digital money. The difficult-to-corrupt monetary policy is at the core of this value proposition, but other attributes and use cases are built on top of that base layer.

So, what about Mises’ regression theorem? Well, technically, bitcoin was valued as a collectible by cypherpunks before it was used as a payment system. Although it was extremely easy for cypherpunks to obtain some bitcoin at a low cost, that cost was not necessarily zero.

This early value as a collectible combined with a permissionless, censorship-resistant payment system illustrates bitcoin’s “intrinsic” utility. Satoshi wrote about this concept on the bitcointalk.org forum before he left the project.

“If [bitcoin] somehow acquired any value at all for whatever reason, then anyone wanting to transfer wealth over a long distance could buy some, transmit it, and have the recipient sell it,” wrote Satoshi. “Maybe it could get an initial value circularly as you've suggested, by people foreseeing its potential usefulness for exchange. (I would definitely want some)[.] Maybe collectors, any random reason could spark it.”

Many gold bugs (see Peter Schiff) still think there’s nothing valuable about bitcoin and perhaps they’ll never change their tune. But the same logic economists and financial experts use to argue for the intrinsic value of gold and fiat currencies applies to bitcoin too.

This is a guest post by Kyle Torpey. Opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Bitcoin Magazine or BTC Inc.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.



via Bitcoin Magazine https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/op-ed-debunking-bitcoin-myths-the-intrinsic-value-fallacy/#1559248861

State Farm, USAA to Pay Each Other Insurance Claims on Blockchain by 2020

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Insurance giants State Farm and USAA are in advanced testing of a blockchain to automate claims processing.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/state-farm-usaa-to-use-blockchain-for-car-insurance-claims-by-end-of-year

Ethereum Classic May Delay Upcoming Hard Fork ‘Atlantis’

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Ethereum Classic developer failed to reach consensus today a "final call" to approve, update or reject upcoming system-wide upgrade or hard fork, Atlantis.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/ethereum-classic-may-delay-upcoming-hard-fork-atlantis

Bitcoin’s Price Fades Rally Above $9,000

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Bitcoin's price pierced $9,000 earlier today for the first time in over a year but quickly retreated to price levels sub $8,600.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoins-price-fades-rally-above-9000

Exploring Illegal Mining Camps in Western China

http://bit.ly/2KmpqH9

Illegal Mining

This article was originally published by 8btc and written by Vincent He.

Although China has shut down bitcoin trading platforms and deemed them illegal, its attitude toward bitcoin mining is still ambiguous. Now, 70 percent of the world’s bitcoins are produced in China, while 70 percent of China’s “stock” are in Sichuan, a western province of China, especially along the Dadu River, where there is plenty of hydropower.

As bitcoin mining requires a lot of electricity, China’s bitcoin mining camps are often located in remote areas with low electricity charges, such as Xinjiang, Yunnan, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan and other regions. As a saying goes, “Sichuan is the natural ‘mining capital’ of bitcoin.”

Due to the fact that nearly 50 percent of the revenue from bitcoin mining is used to pay for electricity, miners have turned to direct power supplies from power plants.

“The cost is very low for the direct power supply of the power station, for it does not need to be integrated into the state grid,” said a senior miner. “Many mines are built directly in or near the power station, and they build their own substations.”

A Chinese bitcoin mine’s factory building cannot be approved, nor can environmental assessments and construction reports. Mines may be suspected of illegal construction and power plants’ direct sales also violate electricity laws.

The shortest factory building is on the Dadu River embankment, only a few meters away from the river surface. The newly built cement wall is isolated from the office building of the power station and connected with a transformer unit separated from the wall of the power station.

Entering the factory building, the water mist emitted from the power plant drifted in and the staff jokingly said, “This is natural cooling water.”

The walls of the buildings in the mine are equipped with large fans running at high speed. In front of the fans in the workshop are dense mining machines. In front of some vacant machines, many workers are busy installing machines.

According to the staff, the mining machines here come from all over the country, mostly from Sichuan, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shenzhen and other regions. The owners keep their own mining machines in the mine camp. They pay the electricity fee, the deposit fee and wait for the coins.

“During the flood season, the mining machines return to Sichuan one after another,” Xiaowu said. Just like migratory birds, the mining machines migrate to Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang in winter and return to Sichuan and Yunnan in summer, where electricity prices are lower.

A mine owner revealed that, because of the slow signing of the power supply agreement with the power plant, building the plant cannot include an environment assessment or construction reporting in advance.

The Municipal Bureau of Land and Resources said that they had known the illegal construction of bitcoin mining camps occurs along the Dadu River. At present, a working group led by the Credit and Economic Bureau has been set up, which is conducting a thorough investigation.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.



via Bitcoin Magazine https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/exploring-illegal-mining-camps-western-china/#1559236445

EOS (EOS) is now available on Coinbase

‘Everyone Can Be Satoshi’: Wei Liu Breaks Silence on Bid to Contest Craig Wright’s Bitcoin Copyright

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Crypto trader Wei Liu says he registered a copyright on the Satoshi White Paper to poke fun at what he calls the "cult of CSW."

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/everyone-can-be-satoshi-wei-liu-on-contesting-craig-wrights-copyright

What Bitcoin Did #111 - Bitcoin and Financial Markets with Travis Kling

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Interview location: New York

Interview date: Thursday 16th May, 2019

Company: Ikigai Asset Management

Role: Chief Investment Officer

For many buyers, Bitcoin might be their first investment of any kind. If these investors are not long-term holders, they may be susceptible to reacting to sudden price movements, whether panic selling or FOMO buying.

The price movements of Bitcoin can be isolated towards specific events, such as the inherent Bitcoin market cycle or a subsidy halving, but the price is also increasingly tied to traditional markets.

The traditional financial markets are complex, and the mortgage crisis highlighted how specific events could trigger changes across the world. What is the role of Bitcoin in this?

In this interview I talk with Travis Kling, Chief Investment Officer at Ikigai, we discuss how the traditional financial markets work, including quantitative easing, fiscal policies, Bitcoin's relationship with these markets and concerns with tokens and smart contract platforms.

This episode is also on:

Listen to more What Bitcoin Did episodes



via The Let's Talk Bitcoin Network https://letstalkbitcoin.com/blog/post/what-bitcoin-did-111-bitcoin-and-financial-markets-with-travis-kling

Huobi Clamps Down on Crypto Wash Trading After Bitwise Report

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Huobi said it has taken steps to discourage wash trading in the wake of a report that implied the exchange inflated trading volume.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/huobi-clamps-down-on-crypto-wash-trading-after-bitwise-report

Binance to Offer Crypto Lending and Borrowing Through Cred Partnership

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Binance exchange is making cryptocurrency lending and borrowing firm Cred an official partner.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/binance-to-offer-crypto-lending-and-borrowing-through-cred-partnership

Australian Securities Watchdog Updates Guidance on ICOs and Crypto Assets

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ASIC, the Australian securities regulator, has updated its guidance for businesses involved with initial coin offerings and crypto assets.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/australian-securities-watchdog-updates-guidance-on-icos-and-crypto-assets

Bitcoin Remains on Hunt for $9K After Defense of Key Price Support

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Bitcoin still has potential for a move to $9,000, having established a bullish pattern at key price support in the last 24 hours.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-remains-on-hunt-for-9k-after-defense-of-key-price-support

Another Satoshi: Second Copyright Filing Appears for Bitcoin White Paper

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Craig Wright now has a legal rival for claimed authorship of the bitcoin white paper, as a second registration is filed with the U.S. Copyright Office.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/another-satoshi-second-copyright-filing-appears-for-bitcoin-white-paper

Three of Ireland’s ‘Big Four’ Banks Using Blockchain to Verify Staff Credentials

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Bank of Ireland, AIB and Ulster Bank, are using a Deloitte blockchain system to verify and track employees' credentials.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/three-of-irelands-big-four-banks-using-blockchain-to-verify-staff-credentials

China Authorities Probe Alleged Illegal Bitcoin Mining Sites at Hydro Plants

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Authorities in Sichuan province are reportedly probing into local bitcoin mining farms that may have been constructed without official approval.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/china-authorities-probe-alleged-illegal-bitcoin-mining-sites-at-hydro-plants

New Game From ‘CryptoKitties’ Creator Nets Nearly $200K in First-Week Spending

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"Cheeze Wizards" is the new crypto game from Dapper Labs, and it's already seeing interest from NFT collectors.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/new-game-from-cryptokitties-creator-nets-nearly-200k-in-first-week-spending

Wednesday 29 May 2019

How MakerDAO Works – The Stablecoin Explainer

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The most popular decentralized finance application on ethereum, MakerDAO, was built to keep a stablecoin's price stable. Under the hood, it's quite complex, featuring two separate tokens, a lending system and even a voting process. Here's how it works

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/how-makerdao-works

In First, Tezos Blockchain Activates Upgrade By Token Holder Voting

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Tezos has activated its first ever on-chain upgrade initiated entirely by Tezos bakers during a three months period of both voting and code testing.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/in-first-tezos-blockchain-activates-upgrade-by-token-holder-voting

Egypt Lifts Ban, Will Allow Licensed Cryptocurrency Companies

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Egypt is considering legislation that would let the central bank issue licenses for cryptocurrency-related activities.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/egypt-lifts-ban-will-allow-licensed-cryptocurrency-companies

Bitcoin Price Analysis: Bitcoin Could See Continued Growth if Support Holds

http://bit.ly/2OUP1qU

Price Analysis Video.jpg

Summary:

  1. Bitcoin is currently perched between a well-defined band of prices outlined on both the weekly and monthly timeframes.
  2. As we float between the weekly/monthly horizontals, volume is beginning to diminish on both the supply and the demand sides. However, what little supply has surfaced has appeared to be absorbed. If we can maintain support on our weekly $8,200 level, we can expect to see the market push to test the upper boundaries of the resistance in the $9,200 to $9,500 range.
  3. However, if support does not hold and we manage to fall through, we can expect to see a much deeper test and potentially revisit the $6,400 to $6,800 range.

Trading and investing in digital assets like bitcoin is highly speculative and comes with many risks. This analysis is for informational purposes and should not be considered investment advice. Statements and financial information onBitcoin Magazine and BTC Inc sites do not necessarily reflect the opinion of BTC Inc and should not be construed as an endorsement or recommendation to buy, sell or hold. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.



via Bitcoin Magazine https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/bitcoin-price-analysis-bitcoin-could-see-continued-growth-if-support-holds/#1559160662

Associated Press Rules ‘Crypto’ Isn’t a Substitute for ‘Cryptocurrency’

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Cryptocurrency, bitcoin, and ethereum finally make it into the venerable AP Stylebook.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/associated-press-rules-crypto-isnt-a-substitute-for-cryptocurrency

Telegram-Based Crypto Wallet App Now Allows Fiat Purchases

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Button Wallet, an app that puts a crypto wallet inside your Telegram account, is adding a fiat on-ramp in a partnership with Wyre.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/telegram-based-crypto-wallet-app-now-allows-fiat-purchases

Scammers Boost BSV Price With Fake Satoshi Confirmation

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Scammers boosted the price of bitcoin SV with a fake news alert purporting to show BSV's creator is also bitcoin's.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/scammers-boost-bsv-price-with-fake-satoshi-confirmation

BlockFi Adds Gemini Dollar Stablecoin Support

http://bit.ly/2YXQvEf

BlockFi

Crypto lender BlockFi is rolling out support for the gemini dollar (GUSD) stablecoin, claiming an expected initial annual percentage yield (APY) of 6.2 percent for non-U.S. customers.

Founded in late 2017, BlockFi is a U.S.-based startup company that issues loans backed by various cryptocurrencies to its users. This practice allows users to generate cash flow without having to permanently sell off particular cryptocurrencies. With the service, investors collateralize the loans with their cryptocurrency holdings and earn interest on these loans.

BlockFi’s recent integration of GUSD is an extension of its already working relationship with Gemini’s services.

“We’ve been working with Gemini as a partner for their custody solution for close to two years,” BlockFi’s founder and CEO Mark Prince told Bitcoin Magazine. “When they launched Gemini Dollar we were immediately interested in bringing it onto the BlockFi platform. The integration process was relatively easy to set up into our dashboard flow.”

Starting with bitcoin and ether, BlockFi has been working to expand its repertoire of available crypto assets for quite some time. Declaring support for litecoin in April 2018, the company also announced its intention to add GUSD to the lineup at the time.

Prince added that this expansion accomplishes two major goals for the future of BlockFi itself.

“The first is as a diversifier of our lending capital which could reduce USD borrowing rates for our clients,” he explained. “The second is that it creates an opportunity for us to work with clients who don’t own crypto yet, but are interested in earning dollar denominated interest from a U.S.-based fintech company.”

Prince suggested that customers “might see bitcoin or other crypto assets being used as ramps into a digital dollar financial ecosystem” if a strong enough demand for the practice materializes.

He also noted that the biggest challenge BlockFi faced with this integration was related to regulation and where GUSD or other stablecoins fit into existing U.S. regulatory frameworks.

“As a result,” he said, “we are not making GUSD in the interest account available in the U.S. market at launch, but expect to have it available in the U.S. before the end of the year.”

In the future, Prince said that the company plans to rollout support for other stablecoins and expects “a variety of financial and payment applications to leverage them.” BlockFi is “very bullish on stablecoins in general and especially reputable, dollar-backed stablecoins like GUSD,” Prince concluded.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.



via Bitcoin Magazine https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/blockfi-adds-gemini-dollar-stablecoin-support/#1559148284

Cloud Giant Salesforce Unveils First Blockchain Product

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Salesforce announces its first blockchain partners including Arizona State University. The product will add blockchain to its popular CRM products.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/cloud-giant-salesforce-unveils-first-blockchain-product

Chinese Listed Companies and Bitcoin Mining: Partner or Predator?

http://bit.ly/2G8XJOg

Mining

This article was originally published by 8btc and written by Lylian Teng.

Some Chinese listed companies have jumped on the bandwagon of bitcoin mining following the bitcoin bull run throughout 2017, either under the guise of cloud computing or providing mining hosting services, in an effort to bypass regulations considering the country’s tough stance on bitcoin.

A recent report indicating that Huatie HengAn, a subsidiary of Chinese publicly listed company Huatie, lost over $23 million for its secret bitcoin mining business has caused quite a stir among investors and triggered investigations from regulators.

In this follow-up report, it’s apparent that more listed companies in China have been involved in cryptocurrency mining, though the country is considering a ban on this “wasteful” activity.

Per a prospectus from leading bitcoin mining machine manufacturer Ebang, its second largest customer, an anonymous Xinjiang-based company, is very likely to be the aforementioned Huatie HengAn, as it fits all the description shown in the prospectus. It is worth noting that its largest client, Beijing Xincailiang Tech, is a subsidiary of Shenzhen-listed technical company Wholeasy. The firm contributed 17.7 percent of Ebang’s miner sales for the first half of 2018.

Chinese Listed Companies in Bitcoin Mining Overseas: Partner or Predator?

Varied from Huatie HengAn, who apparently secretly mined bitcoin in 2018 under the guise of cloud computing, Xincailiang has built crypto mining farms overseas and offers miner host services. But public information shows Xincailiang is mainly engaged in case planning and big data traffic distribution in the field of mobile games in China.

Partner?

In August 2018, Wholeasy released an announcement that Mobcolor Technologies USA LLC, a subsidiary of Xincailiang, had reached a cooperation with California power supplier 3G Venture LLC and Singapore-based enterprise Vast Day Industry Trade Company PTE.Limited (VDIT) to “construct [a] mining center for digital cloud computing.”

According to the agreement, 3G Venture could offer 100,000 square feet for Mobcolor with a rental cost of $18 million per year and 90 MW of power capacity at $0.055/kWh, and Mobcolor’s Chinese parent company bought 65,000 mining rigs from Ebang and then resold them to VDIT who entrusted the mining operation to Mobcolor. The Chinese company’s U.S. subsidiary charged VDIT $0.075/kWh and a $24 million rental fee per year.

Having jumped on the bitcoin mining bandwagon amid the sluggish market in 2018, the company seems quite confident about the prospect of cryptomining.

Predator?

Indeed, Wholeasy is not the only Chinese listed company looking to build mines overseas.

“A plurality of bitcoin mining farms in Iran and the Middle East are run by a company named RHY, which is a NEEQ-listed Chinese company,” a miner named Ma Jingguo said.

According to its official website, RHY is a “large-scale blockchain mine.” It claims to be the largest mining company in the world, having a power supply capacity of 450 MW which could power up to 300,000 miners at the same time.

Chinese Listed Companies in Bitcoin Mining Overseas: Partner or Predator?

“In 2016, the company has invested in the construction of large-scale substations and natural gas power stations in energy-rich countries dominated by the Middle East,” Ma said. “It has become the core blockchain data center with the most competitive electricity rates in the industry. As the majority of its mines are located in Iran, #MininginIran was first hyped by the company.”

It is tough for Chinese companies to conduct bitcoin mining operations both at home and abroad, but they have advantages in capital, talent and other resources over bitcoin mining startups. Their only concern is to be compliant. In such a context, going overseas is a possible solution for them.

Considering the country is tightening its grip on cryptocurrency, these ambitious companies are making big investments overseas in bitcoin mining, a process they believe could secure better returns than crypto pump-and-dump ploys. Will they become big players in the crypto industry in the following years?

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.



via Bitcoin Magazine https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/chinese-listed-companies-and-bitcoin-mining-partner-or-predator/#1559145213

Everything We Know About Facebook’s Cryptocurrency

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Here's the complete story (so far) of Facebook's potentially transformative blockchain project.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/everything-we-know-about-facebooks-cryptocurrency

US Lawmakers Urge Trump Advisor Larry Kudlow to Promote Blockchain

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U.S. lawmakers have asked Trump advisor Larry Kudlow to include blockchain on a list of tech initiatives to support.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/congress-letter-national-economic-council

Hyperloop: A New Concept by Lightning Aiming to Solve Liquidity Problems

http://bit.ly/2JKfJCu

Lightning

About two months ago, Lightning Labs released Lightning Loop, a service that allows users to fill or empty Lightning channels without closing them, thus reducing on-chain fees. The service, developed by Lightning Labs developers Alex Bosworth and Bryan Vu, was created to help users manage their liquidity.

The Loop service, says Bosworth, is helpful for managing liquidity because “it sidesteps the liquidity problem for Lightning, which is that you can’t do flow rebalancing. If you run out of channel capacity in one direction, there’s no possibility that you can get more in a totally self contained, only-Lightning world. You need to go outside in order to rebalance.”

So, the natural step for users to mitigate this problem today is to perform a swap, which occurs on-chain and thus requires a transaction fee — and transaction fees on the Bitcoin blockchain can be quite substantial. With the alpha version of Loop available to the public, Bosworth and Lightning Labs had to think about how to make managing liquidity as efficient as possible.

Making Liquidity More Efficient

To address this issue, Bosworth developed a concept called “Hyperloop” as a next step toward solving this problem. Hyperloop is a concept that aggregates swaps so that individual transactions don’t occur on-chain with individualized signatures and outputs. Hyperloop batches inputs together using a method called signature aggregation.

“With signature aggregation, if you can manage to get a bunch of people all together to sign cooperatively, you can take the normal signature cost of moving funds on-chain from however many parties there are on-chain to one signature. I don’t think there’s any limitation to that.”

While this saves costs, one of the requirements is cooperation between many parties over a short period of time, which can be more challenging than it sounds.

Coordinating a Hyperloop Transaction

The Hyperloop concept mediates coordination between so many parties by essentially creating a limited-time, multiparty channel for all parties to join. So, in practice, if there were a lot of users who needed inbound liquidity, a “Loop Out” event would be created using Lightning Loop.

Lightning Loop also acts as a coordinator for these multiparty events, which solves the problem of dealing with malicious actors who might join these events with the intent to mess them up. And it does all of this in a noncustodial fashion.

While Hyperloop offers significant savings for batching the input side of multiple transactions, another big advantage of Hyperloop is savings on output scripts. “The output script, at a minimal level, is only 30 bytes,” says Bosworth. “A normal, on-chain swap is around 300 bytes. So, Hyperloop offers at least 10 times’ savings here.”

Hyperloop also allows for aggregation off-chain as well. For example, if a user has two channels, both 0.1 BTC, and wants to change the balance so that both 0.1 BTC are on the same side, they could ] accomplished this today with two swaps, resulting in two on-chain transactions. This issue of funds sitting on two separate channels can be solved through a proposal called Atomic Multipath Payments (AMPs). Without getting too technical, AMPs essentially allow a user to receive multiple transactions as if they were one, reducing the on-chain cost of sending multiple transactions to the same party.

According to Bosworth, there are two ways to approach AMPs. “Ideally it will be something that we allow with improved signatures like Schnorr, but we also have another way we can do it in the short term called ‘base AMPs,’ and this works really well with Loop.”

As such, base AMPs will be used in Hyperloop as well.

How AMPs Will Benefit Hyperloop

AMPs will benefit individual users who have many open channels. For example, if a user has 100 channels, Hyperloop can be split up between all those channels and wait for all those payments to come through before the swap is executed.

This offers a significant cost savings to another concept called “splicing,” which allows for an on-chain payment (resulting in an on-chain fee) out of a channel without requiring that the channel itself be closed. In this specific use case, a base AMP makes a lot more sense.

Upcoming developments in Bitcoin are a big consideration for all of this tech. Specifically, MuSig, a new multisignature standard that serves as a building block for technologies like Taproot, is the key to achieving these huge savings. Once Schnorr and Taproot are implemented into Bitcoin, MuSig, according to Bosworth, will be helpful in providing a protocol for safe signature aggregation.

As well, it is worth noting that Lighting Labs has also been working on signature aggregation for ECDSA, in case MuSig takes longer to implement than expected.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.



via Bitcoin Magazine https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/hyperloop-new-concept-lightning-aiming-solve-liquidity-problems/#1559138305

Bullish on Bitcoin, Bearish on Trade Relations With Jeffrey Tucker

http://bit.ly/2KdPZ14

Bitcoin Magazine Podcast

Dave and Grahm are back with news and price narratives around 2019’s top-performing financial asset. This week’s stories include mainstream media’s Bitcoin FOMO, the real story of Laszlo Hanyecz (the guy behind Bitcoin Pizza Day), Dutch authorities taking down Bestmixer, Tether being partially backed by bitcoin and what Libertarian politician Ron Paul thinks about the U.S. dollar.

Also in this episode, the hosts interview Jeffery Tucker, editorial director of the American Institute of Economic Research, about how the U.S./China trade conflict might be affecting the bitcoin price.

Resources:

Be sure to subscribe to the show on the Apple podcast app, Spotify or wherever else you get your podcasts. And if you’ve got the time, please leave us a review. It really helps us improve the show and reach new listeners.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.



via Bitcoin Magazine https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/bullish-bitcoin-bearish-trade-relations-jeffrey-tucker/#1559137336

A UK University Is ‘Fingerprinting’ National Archives With Blockchain

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The University of Surrey has revealed that it's using blockchain tech to secure records of national video archives around the world against tampering.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/a-uk-university-is-fingerprinting-national-archives-with-blockchain

Bitfury, Tech Firm Mphasis Plan Blockchain Disruption in Trade Finance

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Blackstone-owned IT firm Mphasis has partnered with blockchain tech firm Bitfury to automate and tokenize trade finance processes.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/bitfury-tech-firm-mphasis-plan-blockchain-disruption-in-trade-finance

Barclays Leads $5.5 Million Round for Blockchain Business Payments Startup

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Barclays Bank has jointly led a $5.5 million Series A funding round for blockchain-based B2B payments startup Crowdz.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/barclays-leads-5-5-million-round-for-blockchain-business-payments-startup

Bitcoin Price Eyes Longest Monthly Winning Run Since 2017

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Bitcoin is on track to register its longest winning streak since August 2017, with four consecutive months of price gains.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-price-eyes-longest-monthly-winning-run-since-2017

Rakuten Brings in Compliance Partner for New Crypto Exchange

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E-commerce giant Rakuten has partnered with blockchain analytics firm CipherTrace to ensure AML compliance for its soon-to-launch exchange platform.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/rakuten-brings-in-compliance-partner-for-new-crypto-exchange

Bitbond Plans to Raise $3.9 Million in Germany’s ‘First’ Regulated STO

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Blockchain-based lending platform Bitbond says its security token offering is the first to be approved by a regulator in Germany.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/bitbond-plans-to-raise-3-9-million-in-germanys-first-regulated-sto

U.K. Exchange Coinfloor Is Getting Paid to Help Crypto Firms Access Banking

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Coinfloor will collect a fee for referring reputable crypto startups to electronic money institution Enumis for bank-like current accounts.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/u-k-exchange-coinfloor-is-getting-paid-to-help-crypto-firms-access-banking

Tuesday 28 May 2019

Bitcoin’s ‘Toxic’ Twitter ‘Culture War’ Explained

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A flare-up between developers, startup members and other members of the ecyostem around bitcoin raised a range of questions over the weekend.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoins-toxic-twitter-culture-war-explained

MakerDAO Approves Another DAI Fee Decrease After 11 Days of Token Voting

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After nearly two weeks of continuous voting, MakerDAO token holders have officially activated a decrease to DAI stablecoin fees.

via CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/makerdao-approves-another-dai-fee-decrease-after-11-days-of-token-voting

This Gallery Is Selling Indigenous Australian Art for Bitcoin

http://bit.ly/2W1H7hm

Art Gallery

Things you can buy with bitcoin: AT&T’s services, airfare, pretty much anything using gift cards through Bitrefill, pizza, drugs (duh) and now, Indigenous Australian art.

Yes, you read that right. The Indigenous Fine Art Gallery (IFAG) in Australia now accepts bitcoin for its “museum-quality art from Australia’s most collectible Indigenous artists.” This puts the IFAG in the company of a growing list of art galleries that accept bitcoin for their wares, but it’s the first ever to accept the cryptocurrency for art created by Indigenous Australians.

Sounds pretty niche, right? Accepting payment in the world’s first cryptographic currency for indigenous art, while it still remains difficult to purchase everyday items with bitcoin, may sound a bit too novel to be true. But, in the eyes of the IFAG, the method of payment is more novel than interest in the objects of purchase.

“This form of indigenous art is not necessarily a novelty as such,” IFAG partner David Meese wrote in an email to Bitcoin Magazine. “In fact, it has been traded as a precious commodity for the past 200 odd years, since the very first European settlements in Australia.”

For two commodities that may not appear to share much, bitcoin and Australian Aboriginal art have more in common than meets the eye. Specifically, both have seen a surge of interest in recent years and an accompanying jump in value. Figures shared with Bitcoin Magazine indicate that, over the past three decades, certain rarer pieces of Indigenous Australian art have appreciated over 600 percent per annum, an absolute moonshot in the realm of fine art.

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri’s Warlugulong, for instance, sold for a measly $140 AUD ($96 USD) in 1977. Thirty years later, this same artwork went for $2.4 million AUD ($1.66 million USD) at international art auction house Sotheby’s in Melbourne. Another, Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s Earth’s Creation 1, sold at the Cooee Art Auction in Sydney for $2.1 million AUD ($2.45 million USD) in 2017; 10 years earlier, in the same city, the work was auctioned for just over $1 million AUD ($690,000 USD).

According to a 2004 report for the Government of Australia Senate Committee, indigenous art sales in Australia were valued at $100 to $300 million AUD in 2002. Current figures estimate this value is now “well into the billions of dollars,” Meese states, a clear illustration of the genre’s “astonishing appreciation as an art movement.”

Meese believes that the “enthusiastic passion” infused in each piece of art, which invokes an ancestral connection to the ethereal and the physical worlds, makes them “highly infectious” as collectors’ items and so drives demand. The same motifs infused in each piece of art, though, make them more than a hot commodity; they’re also sociocultural artifacts which embody generations of Aboriginal heritage.

“Australian Indigenous art is steeped in a proud and wonderful history,” Meese said. “Each magnificent painting depicts a story or ‘dreaming’ inspired by a rich tapestry of cultures and customs … As a race of people, the Aborigines’ affinity with the earth, and respect for its elements, leaves a lot for us ‘more educated’ to ponder. They truly are at one with the land and have a definite ‘sixth sense’ or ‘additional dimension’ when it comes to the environment, the sky and the telling of dreamings through their art.”

So the art is about more than just fetching a pretty penny, Meese emphasized, and while it provides “very significant economic” benefits, it provides a wealth of “social and cultural benefits” as well.

Part of the gallery’s decision to accept bitcoin was a desire “to offer individuals all around the world a tangible and concrete investment opportunity using their bitcoin,” Meese explained, giving bitcoiners the chance to tap into a unique genre of art.

“[We wanted] to bring this beautiful, yet raw, powerful and expressive product to as many people around the world as possible,” he said. “We are big fans of Australian Aboriginal art and are very proud of this art movement and its originality and endurance. It is the oldest continuous art movement in the world and in the history of art itself.”

Meese continued to stress that each piece of art comes with “impeccable provenance” and certification to prove its authenticity. But, in the future, smart contracts and blockchains could offer even more reassurance with immutable attestations to each piece's validity. The IFAG sees great promise in blockchain technology for the future of authentication, Meese said, though it has its limits. Namely, it works better as a proactive instead of retroactive solution; case in point, you can’t rewrite authentication errors for pieces like Salvator Mundi, a $450 million painting which experts now say was likely painted by Leonardo da Vinci’s assistant and not the Renaissance man himself.

But blockchains can keep the record straight for pieces like this going forward, and Meese mentioned novel applications like allowing collectors to own a share in a piece of artwork like they might in land, stocks or other assets. Or, more probably, something like bitcoin could open up direct payment to artists, potentially rendering Meese’s job and galleries themselves obsolete, he wisecracked.

For now, though, Meese and the IFAG will focus on what they do best: selling art. He’s confident that the art’s atavistic lineage will make it an attractive investment for no-coiners and bitcoiners alike, and he’s also sure that IFAG’s pairing of cryptocurrency and art is the beginning of a sure-to-last symbiotic relationship.

“This art form has been with us for the past 60 to 80 thousand years; it has and will continue to have a longer ‘investing shelf life’ than most things,” he said. “We are confident that the art and Bitcoin can continue to grow side by side to have a very long and prosperous life together.”

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.



via Bitcoin Magazine https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/gallery-selling-indigenous-australian-art-bitcoin/#1559074513