Crypto Companies Cashing in on the Name of Bitcoin’s Founding Fathers – Bitcoin News

Crypto Companies Cashing in on the Name of Bitcoin’s Founding Fathers – Bitcoin News

9:20 AM

The Crypto Companies Cashing in on the Name Of Bitcoin’s Founding Fathers

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Bitcoin is a powerful brand. Even uttering its name – or that of its underlying technology, blockchain – can be enough to revive tired companies and send stock prices soaring. But Bitcoin isn’t the only name strategically deployed for marketing purposes: companies are also shamelessly cashing in on the name of the cryptocurrency’s founding fathers.

Also read: Michael Novogratz $400 Million Bet: Form Giant Crypto Merchant Bank

Hijacking the Bitcoin Brand

Pseudonymous, enigmatic, and unknowable, Satoshi Nakamoto was bound to leave a legacy. Responsible for one of the greatest inventions of the 21st century, Satoshi’s name has kept resonating long after he submitted his final Bitcointalk post and went AFK for time indefinite. His name has come to be used for everything from the smallest unit of bitcoin – a satoshi – to educational initiatives such as the Satoshi Nakamoto Institute, an organization set up to share cryptography ideas.

These instances, and many more which take the pseudonym of bitcoin’s creator, demonstrate the respect that the community has for Satoshi, whoever they were. There are other cases of “Satoshi dropping” though where it’s hard to shake the feeling that it’s more about brand hijacking than crediting Nakamoto’s genius. There’s Satoshi Brewery, for example, a Russian project that promised to create the world’s first brewery token. Its ICO page has since disappeared, and the brewery’s website is just a holding page, which doesn’t bode well for the project. Uttering the name of Satoshi is no protection against mediocrity.

Preying on the Defenceless

It’s not just Satoshi Nakamoto whose name has been exploited for capital gain. The same has happened to Hal Finney. Like Satoshi, Finney is no longer around to defend himself. The computer scientist, who was the second person ever to use bitcoin, died in 2014 following terminal illness. After his death, his body was cryopreserved. Finney is held in high regard by the bitcoin community, but more recent entrants to the crypto space seem to care less about what Finney did for bitcoin and more about what he can do for them.

Cryogen is an ICO that, in faltering English, offers to “safe your body, brain, or even pet” by cryogenically freezing them. The homepage of its website attributes a false cryonics quote to Hal Finney. Even if the bitcoin pioneer had uttered those words, it is hard to imagine him consenting to endorse a cryo-crypto project. In December, Sirin Labs raised $157m via a crowdsale for its blockchain smartphone, named Finney. This invocation of Hal Finney’s name is at least more tasteful than that of Cryogen.

There’s nothing to stop startups from ambushing the bitcoin brand and adopting the names of its founding fathers. While some instances are respectful, others, unfortunately, feel outright cynical.

How do you feel about companies using the names of Nakamoto and Finney? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of myBTCcoin, Cryogen and Satoshi Brewery.

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Original article and pictures take mybtccoin.com site

Crypto Bits

Crypto Bits

Bitcoin Logo on Orange T-Shirt

Classic Bitcoin Logo on White T-Shirt

Silver, 8 GB, Black USB Drive with Bitcoin Logo

Original article and pictures take asset.zcache.com site

Critical ‘Monsieur Bitcoin’ Appointed Head of French Crypto Regulatory Task Force

Critical ‘Monsieur Bitcoin’ Appointed Head of French Crypto Regulatory Task Force

France is to spearhead its cryptocurrency regulation with a task force headed by Jean-Pierre Landau who thinks Bitcoin is the “tulips of modern times.”

France’s Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire has appointed an open Bitcoin critic to head a task force examining cryptocurrency regulation, local source Les Echos reports Monday, Jan. 15.

Jean-Pierre Landau, who called Bitcoin “the tulips of modern times” four years ago, will now head France’s efforts to “better control” its regulatory evolution.

“We want a stable economy,” minister Le Maire told reporters in a session during which he announced Landau’s appointment.

“We cannot allow speculative risk and the possibility of misappropriation [of funds] linked to Bitcoin.”

Despite Landau’s past opposition, Les Echos describes him as “Monsieur Bitcoin,” Mister Bitcoin.

Landau’s tasks will also involve researching how French authorities can stop “tax evasion, money laundering and criminal and terrorist activity financing” using cryptocurrency.

Le Maire himself has become a vocal proponent of legislative improvements for cryptocurrency at an international level in recent months.

In December, he announced his desire for Bitcoin to be a topic of debate at the forthcoming G20 Summit in Argentina scheduled for March.

“There is evidently a risk of speculation. We need to consider and examine this and see how… with all the other G20 members we can regulate Bitcoin,” he told local news network LCI.

Original article and pictures take www.btcethereum.com site

Crackdown on Bitcoin Hits Businesses in Bali – Bitcoin News

Crackdown on Bitcoin Hits Businesses in Bali – Bitcoin News

1:21 PM

Having issued a stark warning to “all parties” against any use of “virtual currency”, Bank Indonesia has now joined forces with local police to prevent bitcoin transactions where they are most likely to take place – in Bali. The island, a popular holiday destination with tourists spending both fiat and crypto, has been targeted by authorities. Inspections of businesses accepting bitcoin are underway, according to Indonesian media and the crypto community in the country.

Also read: Luno Exchange Bank Account Frozen by Malaysian Tax Officials

Authorities on the Lookout for Illegal Transactions

Representatives of the Indonesian central bank and the national police force on the island have teamed up to investigate cases of cryptocurrency trading deemed illegal by authorities in Jakarta. They have already started collecting information about possible violations.

The crackdown in Bali comes after BI declared bitcoin an illegal form of payment in the country. Virtual currencies are prohibited in Indonesia, the financial institution stated. Rupiahs should be used for all payments and transactions that need money. The banning statement came with plans to swiftly implement the rules:

We are looking out for bitcoin transactions in Bali, particularly in tourist spots. We will take measures against non-rupiah transactions.

That announcement was made by the head of BI’s local branch Causa Iman Karana, who called the island “an alluring place for those who want to carry out illegal transactions”. Quoted by local press, Karana said in Denpasar that institutions had already warned people not to use virtual money “because there is no authority that regulates transactions”.

Businesses Can Be Closed, Owners Taken to Court

Members of the crypto community on the island quickly shared the news of the imminent crackdown in social media. Warnings were posted about checks expected to be carried out by bank officials and local law enforcement officers. Businesses could be suspended and owners taken to court, if they accept bitcoin payments. A villa has been reportedly closed down by inspectors. A foreign national had been used as a “mystery customer”… according to comments on the Bitcoins in Bali Facebook page.

Bali has been put in the spotlight after the announced prohibition of payments involving bitcoin. BI’s spokesman Agusman Zainal said that such transactions violated Law No. 7/2011 regulating currencies and their transactions in the country.

The ban has been further detailed in a dedicated bank regulation No. PBI: 19/12/PBI/2017 covering the implementation of financial technology. Under the current law, any payment in Indonesia should be made in the national currency, the Rupiah.

The central bank official also pointed to the risks associated with bitcoin transactions, noting that the cryptocurrency had no “official administrator”. Money laundering, terrorism and other criminal activities were added to the ubiquitous list of unwanted side effects.

Indonesians had been notified about the restrictions long before BI issued its ultimate warning to “not buy, sell, or trade virtual currency”. The assault on Bali shows that Jakarta means business. But what the crackdown means for the business, only time will show.

Do you think that the Indonesian government will succeed in preventing Bitcoin payments in Bali? Tell us in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of myBTCcoin.

Express yourself freely at Bitcoin.com’s user forums. We don’t censor on political grounds. Check forum.Bitcoin.com.

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Original article and pictures take mybtccoin.com site

Cómo explican que va a explotar bitcoin los que afirman que es una burbuja

Cómo explican que va a explotar bitcoin los que afirman que es una burbuja

Que Bitcoin esté viviendo o no una burbuja es todavía una incógnita. Es muy difícil predecir las burbujas cuando se está dentro de ellas y solo cuando han pasado unos años del pico se puede asegurar que el pasado era irracional. Pero desde luego todas las burbujas tienen sus gurús, aquellos que predecían correctamente el futuro, y ya hay expertos que aseguran que Bitcoin está viviendo una.

Ahora bien, ¿cómo será esta explosión de la burbuja que predicen estos expertos? No hay un consenso. Hay múltiples motivos por los que una burbuja puede estallar y más en el caso de una criptomoneda como Bitcoin, con cierta peculiaridades legales y técnicas que no tienen otros productos financieros.

Pánico y bajada

La primera forma en la que puede bajar Bitcoin es el mecanismo clásico por el que estallan todas las burbujas. Sin que haya un motivo concreto muchos inversores empiezan a recoger beneficios y entonces el Bitcoin empieza a bajar de precio. Esto llama a otros inversores a vender y realimentan la bajada. Al final hay un pánico vendedor y las caídas son bruscas (dentro de lo que permita el sistema).

Si una vez superado el pánico se crea un consenso en que Bitcoin realmente no tiene sentido, de que es un simple "juego" virtual y que no tenía sentido invertir en él, el precio no se recupera. Es decir, igual que existe un cierto consenso (o al menos el dinero de muchos inversores así lo piensa) de que Bitcoin es una inversión con sentido, si el consenso cambia y no hay un respaldo real por detrás, el precio se se puede desplomar de una forma definitiva y duradera.

Esto no ocurre cuando el activo financiero tiene un respaldo detrás. Por ejemplo, puede haber un pánico bursátil con las acciones de Zara, pero si cuando publica las cuentas trimestrales las ventas siguen potentes, la acción se recupera. Detrás de Bitcoin no hay nada y por tanto un pánico puede ser realmente una explosión de la burbuja.

¿Quién piensa que algo así puede suceder? El gran gurú de las burbujas, Robert J. Shiller, premio Nobel de Economía por sus trabajos en la valoración de activos, predijo con antelación tanto la burbuja punto com como la inmobiliaria de EEUU. Y él piensa que Bitcoin está viviendo una burbuja y que sus precios, antes o después, caerán.

Problemas regulatorios

Pero Bitcoin no es un activo financiero al estilo clásico. Puede tener otro tipo de fenómenos que empujen su precio a la baja. Y uno de ellos es una gran crisis regulatoria. ¿Qué significa esto? Pues que los Gobiernos del mundo consideren que hay que combatir a Bitcoin, ya que se puede usar para actividades delictivas y evadir así los controles de capitales.

No es un riesgo leve, sino todo lo contrario. Algunos países, como China y Corea del Sur, están combatiendo activamente el uso de Bitcoin. De momento de una forma leve, prohibiendo las ICOs en el caso de China y prohibiendo su uso comercial en el caso de Corea del Sur, pero podría ir a más. De hecho hay países (eso sí, algo autoritarios) donde los Bitcoin están firmemente prohibidos.

Algunos expertos como Joseph Stiglitz, premio Nobel de Economía, proponen prohibir completamente Bitcoin mientras sea anónimo y las transacciones no tengan una explicación. Otros, como Mark Haefele, Chief Investment Officer de UBS Group AG, son también categóricos: no invierten en Bitcoin porque solo haría falta un atentado terrorista en EEUU, financiado a través de Bitcoin, para que los reguladores se lo tomen mucho más en serio.

Si Bitcoin vive una crisis regulatoria puede que toda la euforia que hemos vivido en los últimos meses se desvanezca y solo queden los verdaderos fanáticos de las divisas virtuales y grupúsculos anti-estado. Desde luego el riesgo de una crisis así es muy real.

Hackeado

Otro problema que puede destruir el valor del Bitcoin son los hackeos. No es la primera vez que un exchange es hackeado, de hecho el caso de Mt. Gox tiene ya varios años. La consecuencia de dicho hackeo fue clara, el valor del Bitcoin se desplomó. Pero el volumen todavía era pequeño y siguieron entrando nuevos inversores no escarmentados. A día de hoy un hackeo de un gran exchange puede ser más determinante y hundir el valor significativamente y de forma durarera. Y es que estos hackeos son bastante habituales, el último hace solo un mes.

De todas formas existe un riesgo aún mayor que los hackeos a los exchange (que son como los bancos de Bitcoin). Y es que el algoritmo de Bitcoin, el diseño detrás del blockchain, no sea seguro. Está basado en SHA-256, que a día de hoy se considera seguro, pero una vulnerabilidad en este algoritmo de hash podría hacer que todo el valor se esfumara. Un fallo de este estilo seguro que hundiría el valor de una forma definitiva, aunque pudiera solucionarse con un cambio ágil del algoritmo (cosa que no es ni mucho menos sencilla).

Problemas técnicos de escalabilidad

Bitcoin tiene otros problemas, esta vez técnicos. Y es que el crecimiento está demostrando que tiene problemas de escalabilidad. Por un lado las comisiones en las transacciones a los precios actuales son una barbaridad, tanto que una conferencia de Bitcoin ha decidido dejar de aceptar los propios Bitcoin como medio de pago.

Otro debate es el del consumo energético para mantener la red de Bitcoin. Y aunque normalmente se habla muy alegremente del consumo energético, lo cierto es que el coste energético por transacción es significativamente superior al de otras opciones más tradiciones como el pago con tarjeta de crédito.

Estas limitaciones podrían reducir el uso de Bitcoin y hacer que su precio se redujera, incluso para iniciar un desplome de la supuesta burbuja. De hecho hay críticas muy bien fundamentadas sobre las implicaciones de estos problemas técnicos.

Otros motivos por los que podría desplomarse Bitcoin

Aunque lo repasado anteriormente son las causas fundamentales por las que podría hundirse el valor de Bitcoin lo cierto es que hay algunas otras, aunque menos potentes. La primera es que surja un fork que haga que Bitcoin se convierta en minoritario (por ejemplo para eliminar o corregir los problemas técnicos). Lo cierto es que es improbable, ya ha habido algunos intentos que no han cuajado. Y aunque triunfara, tampoco se puede decir que Bitcoin se ha hundido si surge un Bitcoin B que sigue funcionando.

Por otro lado el surgimiento de derivados financieros para invertir en Bitcoin ha sido señalado por algunos como una herramienta que puede hundir los precios de Bitcoin, ya que apostar a la baja es más sencillo. Aquí hay mucha polémica ya que no está del todo claro que los productos derivados puedan afectar al valor del subyacente. Mi opinión personal es que no, no pueden afectar a su valor. Y menos en el caso del Bitcoin, donde hay manipulaciones mucho más grotescas, tanto por los exchange como por inversores individuales.

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Stiglitz, Krugman y Shiller: los Nobel de Economía que dicen que Bitcoin es una burbuja

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La noticia Cómo explican que va a explotar bitcoin los que afirman que es una burbuja fue publicada originalmente en Xataka por Alejandro Nieto .

Original article and pictures take jccomputerservices.blogspot.com site

Coinbase bug let Overstock users pay in Bitcoin Cash, get refunds in Bitcoin

Coinbase bug let Overstock users pay in Bitcoin Cash, get refunds in Bitcoin

It turns out that newbie cryptocurrency enthusiasts are not the only ones struggling to tell Bitcoin apart from its fork, Bitcoin Cash.

Online retailer Overstock.com, which has a wide selection of goods from furniture to luxury watches, suffered from a nasty technical flaw that allowed customers to pay with both Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash – despite the fact that the latter currency was valued at a significantly lower price.

The bug essentially made it possible to successfully pay the required amount of BTC in BCH, but without adjusting the price according to the value of the latter. This meant that you could get any item at a 70-plus-percent “discount.” At the time of writing, Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash stand at $14,524 and $2,675, respectively.

The worst part was that, once users had requested a refund, the retailer would proceed to pay them back in the original Bitcoin value – a glitch that could have easily incurred millions of losses.

The technical shortcoming was first reported by KrebsOnSecurity, where the flaw has been documented in more detail. Reporter Brian Krebs notes he discovered the issue following a notice from a concerned Overstock customer.

According to the post, all it took to pull off this “trick” was paying for your item of choice with BCH instead of BTC. As long as the requested BTC fee was the same, the payment would go through as successful.

“Logging into Coinbase, I took the [B]itcoin address and pasted that into the “pay to:” field, and then told Coinbase to send 0.00475574 in [B]itcoin [C]ash instead of [B]itcoin,” Krebs wrote. “The site responded that the payment was complete. Within a few seconds I received an email from Overstock congratulating me on my purchase and stating that the items would be shipped shortly.”

“I had just made a $78 purchase by sending approximately USD $12 worth of [B]itcoin [C]ash,” Krebs continued.

As Krebs himself points out, any customer practically had the the ability to exploit this bug to make “ridiculous sums” of Bitcoin in a very short window of time.

“Let’s say I purchased one of the more expensive items for sale on Overstock, such as this $100,000, 3-carat platinum diamond ring. I then pay for it in Bitcoin cash, using an amount equivalent to approximately 1 bitcoin ($~15,000),” Krebs said. “Then I simply cancel my order, and Overstock/Coinbase sends me almost $100,000 in bitcoin, netting me a tidy $85,000 profit. Rinse, wash, repeat.”

For background, Overstock partnered with cryptocurrency exchange desk Coinbase back in 2014 so the retailer could offer its customers the option to pay in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

According to Overstock, the issue resulted from a faulty payment integration provided by Coinbase. Coinbase has since shifted the blame back to Overstock, saying that “the merchant partner improperly using the return values in our merchant integration API.”

The bug purportedly existed for “approximately three weeks,” according to a statement from Coinbase. Fortunately for Overstock, it has since been fixed.

Original article and pictures take cdn0.tnwcdn.com site

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Chinese Bitcoin Miners Largely Unaffected by Volatility and Regulation

Chinese Bitcoin Miners Largely Unaffected by Volatility and Regulation

China has proven to be one of the most profitable locations for Bitcoin mining, even with the increased cost of electricity and reduced rate of mining. This would mean that if the dominant cryptocurrency were to fall by half its value, miners in China would still turn a profit.

Balancing Electricity Costs

The price of bitcoin is currently trading near the $14,000 mark but was valued at $6,900 as recently as mid-November 2017, less than two months before the date of writing this article. As long as Bitcoin’s value is above $6,925, Chinese miners turn a profit.

This benchmark is associated with the highest-possible electricity rate in China, inferring that mining is profitable under any electricity regime. Should the electricity be reduced to the wholesale price, the breakeven point would be $4,800. Were it to be further lowered to the discounted rate, the points at which profits are earned would lie as low as $3,900.

Approached from another angle, profits range up to $10,100 (72 percent) per bitcoin at the discounted electrical rate, up to $9,200 (65 percent) per bitcoin at the wholesale rate, and up to $7,100 (50%) at the industrial rate.

Thus, it is no wonder that miners from all over the world have set up Bitcoin mining operations in the country, despite its crackdown and impending mining regulation.

The Chinese government has expressed concern at the amount of electricity used by bitcoin miners, especially from hydropower stations which were intended to deliver low-cost or free electricity to low-income rural areas in the country.

Bitcoin mining is done through the solving of complex mathematical equations, which have the purpose of validating transactions on the blockchain. At the same time, new blocks are created, which is how freshly “mined” bitcoins (or parts thereof) are received by miners.

Where it was once possible to mine for bitcoins on an ordinary computer, as the digital currency has progressed through its main developmental stages, mining has become increasingly difficult. As a result, it is now necessary to use industrial-grade specially developed bitcoin mining machines.

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Naturally, the process is highly energy-intensive, with heat being produced as a by-product. Many miners have spoken of placing machines in their basements to heat their homes.

Consequently, China has made moves to clamp down on Bitcoin mining with the aim to eradicate it country-wide. Although highly inconvenient, miners in China saw this decision coming after the first Chinese crackdown on the cryptocurrency. In preparation for what was widely deemed inevitable, many miners have long since made arrangements to transfer their operations elsewhere.

Although China represents the vast majority of the world’s bitcoin mining industry, the consensus is that a mining crackdown in the country would not have a lasting effect on the industry or the cryptocurrency as a whole.

The post Chinese Bitcoin Miners Largely Unaffected by Volatility and Regulation appeared first on BTCMANAGER.

Original article and pictures take decentral.market site

Chain of Wealth

Chain of Wealth

So, You Want to Buy Bitcoin?

First off, welcome to the world of Cryptocurrency!

You’re probably here because you’ve heard about the recent gains your friends have been making in the cryptosphere and want to get in on the action.

I, myself have friends who have earned hundreds of thousands of dollars because they invested at the right time.

But I totally get it: all the crypto-talk has your head spinning and you’re not sure who you can trust and you don’t want to lose thousands of dollars. Well, you’ve come to the right place, Chain of Wealth is an educational platform that aims to empower our audience. We run a successful Podcast & Blog and interview some of the most inspiring people in the world.

In this guide we will go through all the things you should do when you buy Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency.

If you’d like to skip ahead you can register an account on Coinbase (do it now, I’ll wait).

That link will get you $10 for free of Bitcoin if you spend $100 or more.

If you take one thing away from this guide I want it to be that you need to understand what you are buying before diving in.

You also need to realize that the cryptocurrency markets are extremely volatile and you stand to lose everything you invest. Therefore, I recommend that you only invest money you can afford to lose.

A really good friend of mine who has a masters in finance recently contributed a guest post to Chain of Wealth and he dives into exactly what is cryptocurrency and how blockchain works.

It’s a fantastic article and I won’t dive into the specifics in this post, but I do recommend you take a look at it if you’d like some further reading.

OK, you’re ready to dive in!

The way you buy crypto is on an exchange. Think of an exchange as a stock exchange, where buyers meet sellers. They agree on a certain price and a transaction takes place.

This is no different in the world of Cryptocurrencies.

There are many exchanges out there and as time has progressed some exchanges have become more trustworthy than others.

I recommend Coinbase as your first port of entry to the market. Here you can buy Bitcoin, Ethereum & Litecoin.

Coinbase has handled $50 billion in transactions, is supported in 32 countries and has served over 10 million customers.

Also, Coinbase has an insurance policy to cover you in case of a breach. They also keep 98% of the coins in offline storage which makes it very safe (see more on safety in our cryptoschool mailing list).

In short, it’s the easiest and safest way to get your feet wet.

In case you need the link again, you can sign up for Coinbase by visiting their website. (Use that link to get $10 of Bitcoin after spending $100!)

Once you’ve verified your email I strongly recommend enabling 2-factor authentication on your account.

This is to protect you from unauthorized access and I strongly advise you to take this security measure.

once you’re logged in, your dashboard will show the current prices of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin as follows:

The next step will be to fund your account.

Coinbase makes it really simple to fund your account, it accepts bank transfers, Credit & Debit Cards, Paypal & Wire Transfers.

Personally, I have funded my account with both bank transfers and credit cards, however it’s up to you to decide what’s your preferred method to fund it.

You will save money on fees if you wait for a bank transfer to go through, however if you need to make an urgent trade, a credit cards might make more sense.

Credit card funding is instant and bank transfers take 4-5 days.

I use coins in quotation marks because you don’t need to buy an entire coin.

You can buy part of a coin.

One misconception people have is they think they have to buy an entire coin- you can buy part of a coin and it still has value.

As an example, if I wanted to buy $1,000 worth of Bitcoin, I would simply enter the dollar value of Bitcoin I wish to purchase.

Coinbase will then automatically calculate the Bitcoin value that you are purchasing.

You will notice that there is a weekly limit on how much cryptocurrency you can buy.

This can be increased by verifying your identity with Coinbase and also helps securing your account. This is done to prevent fraudulent transactions as forces you to build up “trust” with Coinbase.

If you hit Increase limits, you then have some options available to you.

Pretty simple right?

This guide covered the basics on Bitcoin and how to buy it.

If you want to buy some of the other cryptocurrencies such as Ripple, you will need to transfer your Bitcoin to another exchange to do so.

If you’re looking for other critical basics such as what is a cryptowallet and how you can use it to secure your cryptocurrency (which I highly recommend doing). Then I suggest you-

Were you able to buy Bitcoin?

Let me know in the comment section below?

Original article and pictures take chainofwealth.com site

CFTC Files Fraud Charges Against Another Bitcoin Scam

CFTC Files Fraud Charges Against Another Bitcoin Scam

A New York resident who purportedly operated a bitcoin trading firm was hit with criminal charges in the second enforcement action filed today by the CFTC against cryptocurrency related fraud cases.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has charged Staten Island-based CabbageTech, doing business as Coin Drop Markets (CDM), and its principal, Patrick McDonnell, with running a fraudulent scheme that involved buying and trading the cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Litecoin.

The CFTC alleges that beginning in January 2017and continuing through to the present the defendants conspired to defraud investors by enticing them to send their money to CabbageTech, in exchange for trading recommendations and digital coins purchases under McDonnell’s direction.

Nearly all of the pool money was lost, according to the complaint that accuses the defendants of fraud, misappropriation, registration violations and issuing false statements.

In connection with the promotion of their pool, McDonnell made a series of materially false claims to lure investors interested in ‎digital coins trading. The claim was made that pool participants could get extraordinary investment returns, up to 300% in less than a week.

Instead ‎of using the investors’ monies in trading, the fraudsters ‎misappropriated all of the participants’ funds, then removed the website and social media materials and ceased communicating with customers.

Separately on Friday, the CFTC accused a Colorado businessman and his UK-registered company of violating trading regulations and defrauding at least 600 customers of more than $1.1 million.

As also ‎alleged, he used some new investors’ funds to pay back other investors in a Ponzi-‎like fashion, so that they would invest or refer additional money, thereby ‎allowing the scheme to continue for a longer period of time. ‎

Original article and pictures take bitnewsbot.b-cdn.net site

Cara Mendaftar Wallet Bitcoin Di Blockchain Terbaru

Cara Mendaftar Wallet Bitcoin Di Blockchain Terbaru

Cara Membuat Wallet Bitcoin Di Blockchain - Saat ini orang-orang sedang trend nya mencari bitcoin, akan tetapi sebelum kamu mencari bitcoin kamu harus terlebih dahulu membuat wallet bitcoin nya agar kamu mendapatkan adress/alamat bitcoin agar bisa menyimpan bitcoin kamu di blockchain. Blockchain adalah situs yang bisa di manfaatkan untuk menyimpan bitcoin yang kamu dapat, serta kamu dapat menerima bitcoin ataupun mengirim bitcoin dari blockchain. cara bitcoin.

Sedikit Ulasan Tentang Bitcoin :

Bitcoin adalah sebuah uang elektronik yang di buat pada tahun 2009 oleh Satoshi Nakamoto.

Nama tersebut juga dikaitkan dengan perangkat lunak sumber terbuka yang dia rancang, dan juga menggunakan jaringan peer-ke-peer tanpa penyimpanan terpusat atau administrator tunggal dimana Departemen Keuangan Amerika Serikat menyebut bitcoin sebuah mata uang yang terdesentralisasi .

Berikut ini adalah Cara Membuat Wallet Bitcoin Di Blockchain dengan mudah :

-Buka https://blockchain.info/

-Klik Wallet/Dompet yang berada di atas,(sebaiknya ubah bahasa menjadi bahasa indonesia agar mudah di pahami)kemudian klik buatkan dompet baru/Start a New Wallet :

Kemudian isikan email,dan password :

lalu akan keluar kalimat acak yang nantinya bisa kamu gunakan untuk melakukan pemulihan akun seperti saat kita lupa password ataupun lupa akun yang telah di daftarkan.Hal ini bersifat pribadi :

Setelah itu buka email anda,dan aktivasi/verifikasi akun blockchain kamu,nanti kamu akan menerima identifier code yang bersifat pribadi karena iditifier adalah kode untuk masuk ke akun wallet di blockchain.

NOTE : Harap Simpan kode identifier anda dengan baik,jangan sampai lupa karena kalau lupa identifier kamu tidak bisa masuk ke blockchain,kalau kamu lupa identifier tinggal kamu klik saja recovery wallet/recover dompet,nanti masukan email kamu saat mendaftar blockchain,dan setelah itu idientifier kamu akan kembali di inbox email.

Kalau Sudah Selesai Mendaftar Wallet di Block chain,kamu tinggal Log in/masuk aja :

Setelah itu masukan identifier,dan password agar kamu bisa Log in/membuka dompet wallet kamu,kalau sudah masuk ke blockchain kamu akan mendapatkan adress bitcoin kamu,adress yang kamu terima dari blockchain adalah untuk mengirim/menerima bitcoin,contoh adress bitcoin di blockchain saya :

Jangan Lupa Juga Untuk Daftar Di Situs Bitcoin Indonesia, Karena Disini Kita Akan Menjual Asset Digital Kita Berupa Bitcoin Yang Telah Kita Dapat, Dan Menjadikan Nya Uang/Rupiah…

Klik : https://vip.bitcoin.co.id/

Jika kamu masih bingung untuk mencari bitcoin nya agan bisa mining bitcoin atau dapat bitcoin gratis dari situs dibawah ini, berikut ini adalah situs situs yang menyediakan bitcoin secara gratis :

Freebitco.in

Minergate (Mining Bitcoin)

Dan Lainnya *search google

Sumber : Bitcoin (Kaskus)

Original article and pictures take cdn-images-1.medium.com site

Calvin Ayre Launching Bitcoin Cash Mining Operations – Bitcoin News

Calvin Ayre Launching Bitcoin Cash Mining Operations – Bitcoin News

3:20 PM

Calvin Ayre Launching Bitcoin Cash Mining Operations

Mining

Online gambling entrepreneur and billionaire Calvin Ayre has announced his next business venture to be cryptocurrency mining operations. According to Ayre the mining facility will dedicate its hashpower to the bitcoin cash blockchain only.

Also read: Miami Bitcoin Conference Stops Accepting Bitcoin Due to Fees and Congestion

A Mining Facility Dedicated to Bitcoin Cash Only

The Antiguan businessman Calvin Ayre is well known for founding the Bodog entertainment brand and gaming platforms. Ayre is also known for his passion for cryptocurrencies particularly bitcoin cash (BCH) and was recently appointed the Antigua and Barbuda region’s Economic Envoy for Technology Development. “Mr. Ayre will advise the Government on the effective implementation of new technological developments in cryptocurrency and Bitcoin,” explained the government’s Director-General of Communications.

On January 10, Ayre has revealed he has dedicated significant amounts of his investment funds towards creating a bitcoin cash mining operation. The entrepreneur explains he’s purchased both hardware and software in order to help build the BCH hashrate. Ayre believes bitcoin cash is the “one true bitcoin” and his mining facility will only mine BCH.

Calvin Ayre holding his physical bitcoin cash gold coins.

The Mining Operation is the First Among Many Announcements This Year That Will Focus on Bitcoin Cash

According to Ayre, the new venture will have the same name as the recent media outlet he just purchased, Coingeek.com. Coingeek will focus its efforts on both the news surrounding BCH, securing the currency with hashrate, and the firm is also launching an e-commerce website. Coingeek’s commerce operation will focus on bictoin cash-based commerce and will be named “Bcomm.” Bitcoin cash is the only technology positioned for this function,” the Antiguan explains.

“This is the first step in a whole host of activity in the BCH space that we are rolling out this year — For instance, we are also embarking on a full merchant adoption marketing program,” Ayre details during the announcement.

This will help educate not only those who have already embraced the now-dysfunctional, legacy Segwit Coin but also those who are thinking of taking the plunge for the first time; that BCH is the only option for low-fee micro-payments. This will include the industry’s first Bcomm merchant adoption conference in Hong Kong, May 18th at the Four Seasons.

The new Coingeek operated mining facility will join the eight known mining pools dedicating hashpower to the BCH chain. This includes pools such as Antpool, Viabtc, Bitcoin.com, BTC.top, 58coin, BTC.com, Hashbx, and Bitclub. At the moment there is 2 exahash worth of hashpower pointed at the BCH chain and it’s 1.5 percent more profitable to mine. Ayre and Coingeek hopes to bolster the hashrate even more with its new mining facility.

What do you think about Calvin Ayre starting his own mining operation dedicated to BCH? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via myBTCcoin, and Calvin Ayre.

Do you like to research and read about Bitcoin technology? Check out Bitcoin.com’s Wiki page for an in-depth look at Bitcoin’s innovative technology and interesting history.

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Original article and pictures take mybtccoin.com site

Blockchain Technology Is Changing The Digital World As We Know It

Blockchain Technology Is Changing The Digital World As We Know It

Although the creation of the web has solved many problems over the years, and because of the fact that many of us couldn’t live without it, there’s always been the concern about people’s security. Other people can see what you’re doing online, track trends over what you look at, see your pictures, and most importantly, it’s possible to see your financial transactions over the worldwide web. No matter how many different solutions have been thrown at this problem, there were always leaks in them due to the use of third parties. When purchasing something online using a credit card, which many of us do on a daily basis, you’re giving away tons of your personal data, plus there’s the transaction fees that we’ve all grown so used to, which are often not even worth it for smaller payments and purchases.

Not too long ago, in the year 2008, the first ever cryptocurrency was created, it was the digital currency known as Bitcoin. These are different then traditional types of currencies as they’re not controlled by countries or governements, and don’t go through any third party. This was a huge breakthrough for means of exchange, and a big solution to a lot of problems. Transactions usually go through two or more parties for reasons of trust, but now trust can be manufactured simply through a complex code.

All the transactions of a Bitcoin are recorded in ledgers known as blockchains. These ledgers use extremely complex technology in order to work effectively, however the idea is fairly simple. A blockchain enables anyone to directly and securely make a transaction or to create a smart contract between two people or companies (which a new platform called Ethereum is doing), without having to go through any third parties. These third parties could include a credit card company, bank, or a platform such as PayPal, all of which will take a transaction fee. Blockchains have the potential to unleash endless new applications. Using blockchains has many benefits, such as a very secure system, increased speed, few errors, lower costs than other methods, plus the elimination of central points of attack. Therefore, it is no surprise that many companies are showing an interest in this rather new technology. It’s for these reasons, that this new technology is set to change the world as we know it today. Bitcoin opened the door using blockchains for the first cryptocurrency, and now Ethereum is broadening the horizon of blockchain technology with what it’s calling Smart Contracts.

The following infographic is brought to you by a joint collaboration between bargainroo.com and gutcher.de.

Blockchain Technology Is Changing The Digital World As We Know It

Original article and pictures take www.valuewalk.com site

Blockchain beyond Bitcoin

Blockchain beyond Bitcoin

Infographic outlining what blockchain adoption could look like, the 10 key hurdles to adopting blockchain in financial services and more

Original article and pictures take www.raconteur.net site

Blockchain Announces Service Plans for Segwit2x

Blockchain Announces Service Plans for Segwit2x

One of the largest bitcoin wallet providers in the world, Blockchain, has announced its plans for the upcoming Segwit2x fork. After block 494784 takes place on the network, the firm has decided it will follow the chain with the most accumulated difficulty.

Also read: Blockchain Wallet Adds the Ability to Exchange and Store Ether

Blockchain: ‘Segwit2x Is a Capacity Upgrade’

Blockchain is one of the oldest bitcoin wallet providers in the industry, servicing over 18 million issued wallets. This week the company has revealed its contingency plans for the Segwit2x block size increase. According to the wallet provider, Segwit2x is “essentially a software upgrade that will bring improved capacity to the Bitcoin protocol.” Blockchain says the team is working 24-7 to make sure users’ funds will be protected and safe throughout the fork. In order to ensure safety, the wallet service says specific features will be inoperable for a period of time.

“To keep your funds safe while the network is in transition, we will temporarily suspend bitcoin send, request, buy, sell, and exchange functionality roughly 24 hours before the time of the fork until the network stabilizes,” explains Blockchain.

Blockchain’s Services Will Follow the Chain With the Most Accumulated Difficulty

The company explains there is no immediate action required by users but does advise them to make sure they have saved their passwords and seed phrases. Additionally Blockchain acknowledges the chance of a blockchain split resulting in two tokens and separate networks. The firm has decided on the token names and which chain it will support after the fork.

“There is a significant possibility that the planned hard fork will result in two bitcoin blockchains,” Blockchain emphasizes.

In this case, we will follow the chain with the most accumulated difficulty and refer to that chain as bitcoin. If the minority chain has significant value, we will make that value available for customers to hold or exchange for a period of time, as we have done with Bitcoin Cash. If the minority chain is the one with 1MB blocks, we plan to call it BT1. If the minority chain has 2MB blocks, we plan to call it BT2.

The Firm Will Temporarily Suspend Transactions

London Startup Blockchain Announces Service Plans for Segwit2x

The London-based company further explains users will be able to view their bitcoin holdings, but Blockchain will “temporarily suspend transactions for bitcoin.” Moreover, even though the platform’s buy and sell functionality will be suspended, the firm notes Blockchain wallet users can transact with ethereum during the fork. In addition to the Segwit2x contingency plan announcement, the company has created a “status page” called blockchain-status.com. A place where Blockchain wallet users can get regular updates concerning the pending fork alongside other announcements in the future.

What do you think about Blockchain’s decision to follow the most accumulated PoW? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, and Blockchain.

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Original article and pictures take bitcoinlove.xyz site

BlackRock CEO Fink shows no signs of entering bitcoin ETF race

BlackRock CEO Fink shows no signs of entering bitcoin ETF race

NEW YORK (Reuters) – BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) has profited by being beating its competitors in exchange-traded funds to the punch, but Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink seems happy to be out of step with at least one trend – the race to build a bitcoin fund.

The world’s largest asset manager on Friday reported earnings that beat Wall Street expectations, due in no small part to aggressive investments in ETFs that track all sorts of financial markets. Investors are flocking to the relatively low-cost investments.

But when asked about a recent proposal by a competitor to build a “leveraged” ETF that would rise – or fall – twice as fast as the price of bitcoin on a given day, Fink was dismissive.

“Those are not the kinds of products we would introduce at BlackRock,” Fink told Reuters.

“Our actions will speak louder than our words.”

The comments come as a host of BlackRock’s smaller rivals in the ETF space position themselves for they hope is a gold rush to capitalize after bitcoin’s 1,500 percent surge last year.

Among the proposals, Direxion Asset Management LLC is hoping to list a leveraged bitcoin ETF on Intercontinental Exchange Inc’s (ICE.N) NYSE Arca exchange that is intended to double the price moves of the digital asset on a given day, according to filings last week.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been reluctant to let bitcoin funds come to market, with the regulatory agency asking tough questions about the stability of the market for the digital asset and pushing some issuers to withdraw their proposed funds.

For his part, Fink has told Reuters that bitcoin is a “speculative” investment that thrives because of its anonymous nature and he puzzled over “why it has so much fascination for the press.”

In 2014, Fink shocked some in the ETF business when he said that leveraged ETFs’ structural problems had the potential to “blow up the whole industry one day.”

Leveraged ETFs are designed to deliver 1.5 or more times a given market index on a day, but they can vary significantly over longer periods. Brokerage firms have been penalized for selling leveraged ETFs to investors for whom they were not suitable.

BlackRock and Vanguard Group dominate ETF inflows. Last year, BlackRock’s iShares ETFs attracted $245 billion in cash, while Vanguard pulled in $147 billion, according to the companies.

Original article and pictures take bitnewsbot.b-cdn.net site

Bitpay & Microsoft are Adding Full Nodes to the Bitcoin Network – Bitcoin News

Bitpay & Microsoft are Adding Full Nodes to the Bitcoin Network – Bitcoin News

8:21 AM

Blockchain

BitPay has announced its new feature service with Microsoft’s Azure blockchain as a service (BaaS) platform. The Bitcoin-based merchant processor BitPay will allow people to run a full Bitcoin node on the cloud.

Also read: Barclays Cuts 1,200 Jobs as ‘Dead’ Bitcoin Thrives

Our open source Bitcoin full node and development platform Bitcore is the first Bitcoin service available for Azure users.

BitPay: ‘A full node is the best way to do it’

The company wants to lower the barrier to entry for those who want to run a full node. They say that whether you are a company or an enthusiast who wants to support the system, Bitcore may be your solution. In its recent blog post, BitPay said, “running a full node is the best way to do it.” The company says that anyone can host a node with Bitcore on the Azure cloud without the need for hardware or devices. Bitcore’s website describes it as “ A powerful, modular node for bitcoin and blockchain-based apps.”

Bitcore is said to have a large set of Node.js language libraries to enable more functionality and a native set of utilities for testing and developing services with the digital currency. BitPay says that this feature allows people to run full nodes without “relying on third party APIs for querying the blockchain.” The company has also implemented the Copay wallet into the backend and users can choose to use it or another client of their choice. In order to use the cloud, user systems will need the Node.js, 100GB of disk storage, and at least 4GB of RAM. Bitcore’s documentation reads:

A Bitcoin full node for building applications and services with Node.js. A node is extensible and can be configured to run additional services. At the minimum a node has native bindings to Bitcoin Core with the Bitcoin Service. Additional services can be enabled to make a node more useful such as exposing new APIs, adding new indexes for addresses with the Address Service, running a block explorer, wallet service, and other customizations.

Bitpay wants to build blockchain services with Bitcore and add to the overall infrastructure within the industry. The company has already pioneered the merchant services arena and now with Bitcore’s service architecture it “makes it possible to create new types of applications for the Bitcoin blockchain.” Through the new service, anyone can issue digital assets and also prove ownership of digital files with the platform.

At first glance, the API and UI look relatively simple for those who are tech savvy, and there is also full documentation on the website detailing its operations for those wanting to learn. Users can test and develop whatever their imagination allows through the service and businesses can offer robust blockchain-based products.

Bitpay has been making moves in 2016, recently announcing its additional integration with Ingenico payment processors. Now, with Bitcore, the company is allowing developers and enthusiasts the chance to support the Bitcoin infrastructure first hand. The website has a testnet they call the “playground,” and it’s fully available to try out.

What do you think about Bitpay enabling people to run full nodes? Let us know in the comments below!

Images courtesy of Pixbay, Bitpay, and Microsoft

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Original article and pictures take mybtccoin.com site