Ethereum’s creator is mad at Facebook for not removing fake profiles of him

Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum has been dealing with Twitter impresonators seeking to steal digital currency from naïve investors. It seems the trend has gradually caught on to other media platforms like instagram or Facebook.

The young entrepreneur has taken to Twitter to criticize Facebook and Instagram for allowing clearly fraudulent accounts to exist on their platforms. Buterin also took a moment to ask his followers to report the fake accounts, because he does not have one himself.

Vitalik pointed that he doesn’t use any social platform, besides Twitter and Reddit.

According to the Ethereum founder, it has been more than five days since he first reported the fake accounts to Facebook and Instagram, but the companies have yet to remove them.

For several weeks Twitter has been struggling with the same issue. Buterin is the only person, that scammers are impersonating on social media. Charlie Lee, the Litecoin founder complained about the same matter last month. The micro-blogging service appears to be doing a much better job of purging fraudulent accounts from its platform.

In the aftermath of the Cambrdige Analytica scandal, the last thing Facebook needs is a scam epidemic breaking out.

The investors of digital money also must take caution against these impersonating accounts. It is unlikely that Vitalik Buterin, Charlie Lee, or any other influencer is ever going to ask anyone to send them ‘cash’ over social media.

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Arizona Bitcoin Trader Being Convicted For Cryptocurrency Laundering

A Bitcoin trader from Arizona has been convicted for using cryptocurrency with a purpose of money laundering.

Thomas Mario Costanzo, who goes by Morpheus Titania on Twitter and operated a peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange website, was found guilty of charges of five money laundering by a federal jury in Phoenix on March 28, according to a Justice Department announcement.

In the April report of the U.S. Homeland Security Department Costanzo was initially arrested for unlawful possession of ammunition that derived from a prior conviction. The DHS further seized Costanzo’s cryptocurrency assets including bitcoin, ethereum and dash, and software pertaining to the tech.

While Costanzo was held in custody following the raid, searches conducted by federal agents at the time raised suspicions that he was using cryptocurrencies to launder proceeds for drug dealers.

According to the latest conviction Costanzo laundered $164,700 during a two-year period – money taken from undercover federal agents who approached the trader saying they were heroin and cocaine traffickers, the announcement says.

In addition, evidence was also presented to show that the felon himself used bitcoin to buy drugs, as well as offering an online bitcoin exchange service for others purchasing drugs without implementing know-your-customer authentication procedures.

The Justice Department said each of the five charges can bring a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or a combination of the two. Costanzo is expected to face sentence on June 11.

The Justice Department added, that cryptocurrencies involved in the case may be forfeited by the U.S. government.

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Intel Prepares To Patent A Bitcoin Mining Accelerator

A newly-published filing reveals, that Tech giant Intel is seeking to patent a hardware “accelerator” for bitcoin mining chips.

The application was published on Thursday, though it was originally submitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in September 2016. Intel outlines a method in the filing, by which it could augment the existing bitcoin mining process, consuming less electricity – thereby spending less money – in the process.

Intel pointed:

“Because the software and hardware utilized in Bitcoin mining uses brute force to repeatedly and endlessly perform SHA-256 functions, the process of Bitcoin mining can be very power-intensive and utilize large amounts of hardware space. The embodiments described herein optimize Bitcoin mining operations by reducing the space utilized and power consumed by Bitcoin mining hardware.”

The application of Intel says, that its “accelerator” approach could reduce power use by as much as 35 percent, compared to general-purpose processors.

It’s a notable filing from a firm once connected to the mining operation of Silicon Valley startup 21 Inc., which soon offered its eponymous bitcoin computer and later pivoted to a social network offering called Earn.com. According to the report, Intel built chips for 21 at its foundry, though a hinted plan to integrate the chips into other Intel products never materialized.

Intel suggested that the concept isn’t limited to application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). To say in simple words, the “accelerator” could be applied to an array of mining set-ups.

Though not explicitly focused on cryptocurrency mining, a previous patent application from Intel published in December suggested that the tech giant sees a role for the energy-intensive process in genetic sequencing.

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 Cryptocurrency Billionaire Who Built N1 Exchange in 8 Months

Cryptocurrency billionaire Changpeng Zhao has vaulted from obscurity to the cover of Forbes magazine in just 8 months.

The founder of Binance, who goes by the name of CZ, has steered his company to a $200 million profit in its second quarter of existence and built a personal fortune of nearly $2 billion.

The exchange has an ability to process 1.4 million transactions a second on a peak day this year. It was processing 3.5 billion new orders and trades.

The 41-year-old Chinese-Canadian coder, who wears a black hoodie, like some cross between Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs, owns a large chunk of the company. But before fame and fortune turned in his favor, CZ flipped burgers at McDonald’s and worked overnight shifts at a gas station in Vancouver to cover the household expenses.

His first summer job was in Tokyo exchange as a trader. CZ was offered work by the same company, after he finished college. He spent the next four years in this company before moving to New York.

Then, in 2013, Zhao learned about Bitcoin from a venture capitalist with whom he played poker. His interest steered him to dig deeper into the cryptocurrency space and by the end of last year, he had decided to make his move.

Despite all the regulatory headwinds surrounding digital currencies globally, CZ told Bloomberg earlier this year that he’s as optimistic as he’s ever been about cryptocurrencies.

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Two Japanese Exchanges To Be Closed

Two cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan are reportedly set to cease operating amid growing scrutiny from regulators in the wake of a $500 million theft.

The two exchanges- Mr. Exchange and Tokyo GateWay – are withdrawing previously filed applications with Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA).

As of press time no official statements have been published by either exchange, though on 8 March Mr. Exchange posted it had received an order requiring it to beef up its internal protocols in the wake of the attack in late January. The incident resulted in approximately $533 million worth of the cryptocurrency NEM token being stolen.

Per Nikkei’s report, the closures won’t occur until user funds have been withdrawn or otherwise returned.

Earlier this month, Japanese regulators suspended two cryptocurrency exchanges, FSHO and Bit Station, citing security flaws. The Nikkei reports, that Bit Station has withdrawn its application with the agency.

“More are expected to follow, as the FSA has given several exchanges a chance voluntarily close before ordering them to do so,” the news service added.

The Japanese exchanges are required to register with the FSA. While a number of exchanges have received licenses on time, the agency  stepped up out of the industry in the wake of the Coincheck hack.

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Venezuela Tries To Pay Russian Debt With Cryptocurrency

Venezuela hopes to pay off its US$3.15-billion debt to Russia with its new cryptocurrency. But Russian Finance Ministry announces it won’t be accepting digital coin.

The head of the Russian Finance Ministry’s state debt department Konstantin Vyshkovsky has said Venezuela will not be paying any part of its debt to Russia with its cryptocurrency.

In November last year, Russia threw a life-line to Venezuela after the two countries signed a deal to restructure US$3.15 billion worth of Venezuelan debt owed to Moscow. Under the terms of the deal, Venezuela will be repaying the debt over the next ten years, of which the first six years include “minimal payments”.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced on the following month that his country would be issuing an oil-backed cryptocurrency called Petro.

The U.S. President Donald Trump banned U.S. purchases and dealings of any digital coin or token issued by Venezuela.

Last week, Time magazine reported that Russia secretly helped Venezuela in creating the Petro, with the purpose of undermining the power of U.S. sanctions, the magazine reported, citing sources familiar with the effort.

The Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Artyom Kozhin pointed that Russia and Venezuela had never cooperated on the development of the Venezuelan cryptocurrency.

Russia and China are the last holdouts that still finance Venezuela, which is digging deeper into the downward spiral of economic crisis, hyperinflation, and crumbling oil production. However, China is reportedly thinking of cutting off Venezuela from new loans. This would leave Russia as the only financial supporter of the Maduro regime, and if all it’s got is a crypto coin that no one really believes in to pay off debt, loans are likely to be plentiful.

See the previous post.

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Cryptocurrency Exchange Bitfinex Plans Move to Switzerland

The 5th largest cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex is moving from Hong Kong to Switzerland. As confirmed by sources close to Bitfinex, the exchange is already in talks with Swiss authorities.

The CEO at Bitfinex Jean-Louis van der Velde said, they are looking for a new home for Bitfinex and the parent company iFinex, where they want to merge the operations previously spread over several locations.

Van der Velde said that Bitfinex, now based in Hong Kong, was also considering London as a potential new location, but for now, Switzerland remains its first choice.

IFinex is also the parent company of Tether, a token pegged to the U.S. dollar. It is traded on several exchanges, including Bitfinex, but since no third-party audit has ever taken place, questions linger as to whether the $2.3 billion in USDT so far issued by Tether are backed by actual dollars.

Adding to the opaqueness of Bitfinex’s business dealings, since April 2017, Bitfinex and Tether have been cut off from banks in the U.S. and Taiwan and have been left to move among a series of banks in other countries, without informing their customers.

Van der Velde hints that a move to Switzerland would bring a renewed transparency to the business. “We want to be the most transparent of all exchanges and meet the requirements of the Swiss regulator,” he said, adding that Bitfinex is currently in talks with Swiss banks.

Switzerland is the home of several initial coin offerings, where the town of Zug has unofficially become “Crypto Valley.” The move could be a win-win for both Bitfinex and Switzerland. Also the Bitfinex will attract more technology business to the Switzerland.

Bitfinex is not the only exchange that is looking to exit Hong Kong. Last week, Hong Kong–based Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, announced it was looking to relocate to Malta, after running up against regulatory hurdles in Asia.

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Wellsite announces blockchain integration

A professional network and collaboration platform for the upstream oil and gas industry called Wellsite announced today a major blockchain initiative for its flagship platform, Wellsite.com. Additionally, there was a launch of a token sale for its cryptocurrency designed for the oilfield services market, Crudecoin. This move will help to better enable the company to offer the industry’s first, crypto-ready marketplace for oilfield equipment and services.

The Crudecoin presale will begin on March 26, 2018 at 12:00 GMT -6 and will end on April 26, 2018 at 12:00 GMT -6. The public sale is expected to begin June 8, 2018 at 12:00 GMT -6 and will continue until August 8, 2018 at 12:00 GMT -6. The token sale will end early if the hard cap is reached prior to the end of the public sale. Key information on the token sale, including the whitepaper, token structure and use of proceeds, is available on the token sale website: https://wellsite.io.

The Founder and COO of Wellsite Ken Hartman said, that Crudecoin will enable operators to solve some of the biggest problems facing the industry today: speed, trust, and cost. By fully embracing blockchain and token technologies, Wellsite has positioned the company as a leader in changing how the oil and gas industry operates its business.

Crudecoin tokens will be issued within two weeks. These tokens are an ERC20-compatible cryptocurrency token and will be fully integrated with its blockchain applications. The oil and gas industry can use Crudecoin to confidently execute contracts, efficiently, and at a lower cost.

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Betting with Halkbet with BTC

Litecoin Technical View 27.03.2018

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Why Litecoin Impresses Everyone

Many online specialists have given predictions for Litecoin. It’s important to know that these opinions cannot always be considered reliable. One thing, which some cryptocurrency commentators have mentioned is certain. In graphical view Litecoin continues to increase in value.

It’s true that the market has become volatile in recent months and this can make predictions more difficult.

However, we can see analyzing the history of Litecoin, that it is a constantly improving coin. In a 6-month time frame, Litecoin has tripled in value. This is an unprecedented circumstance that has excited investors.

Recently, we have seen that when Bitcoin prospers, so do other coins. This exactly what happened with Litecoin. Litecoin doesn’t have such a volatile value, unlike some other currencies. It is consistent and rising. The coin saw a significant climb in value due to increased publicity and investment hype. Then it fell back down in value. This could be seen by some as a sign of the coin failing. It is clear that Litecoin has had a steady price rise and the sudden climb can be seen as an anomaly.

When analysing the growth of Litecoin, we can see two factors. One is the aforementioned investment hype. Unrealistic predictions have had real-world consequences; they have affected the market. This can be seen in the sudden price rise in Litecoin.

There is another fact, that Litecoin is developing coin. From the beginning, we see Litecoin steadily and consistently climbing. This could mean that investors shouldn’t look for a Bull scenario in this case. The key of making profits is to keep patience.

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Australia’s Crypto Tax Guidelines

The government of Australia wants to see from the public about its tax treatment of digital currencies.

On Monday the Australian Tax Office (ATO) said it has updated its guidelines for cryptocurrencies on Mar. 13, following an increase in queries from taxpayers. The result was that officials launched a public comment process to understand the practical issues experienced when complying with cryptocurrency tax obligations.

The agency explained on its website:

“In particular, we are interested in any practical issues that may impact on taxpayers’ abilities to calculate and substantial any capital gains and losses for (cryptocurrency) capital gains tax (CGT) purposes.”

The fact that capital gains from exchanging one cryptocurrency to another are subject to tax liabilities. The guidelines mandate that taxpayers provide details of these transactions, such as their value in Australian dollar, their purpose, as well as information about the timing and parties involved. Cryptocurrency taxation has been a contentious issue within Australia on a broader level. Previously, advocates and users broadly criticized the fact that both purchases of cryptocurrency and expenditures made with the tech triggered a goods-and-services tax (GST).

Lawmakers ultimately passed legislation last year that applies the GST treatment to cryptocurrencies in the same manner as foreign currencies.

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Twitter Intends To Block Cryptocurreny Ads

Twitter will make it hard for fraudsters to perform deceptive activities by blocking cryptocurrency ads on its platform. The ban will generally target advertisements of initial coin offerings (ICOs), token sales, and crypto wallet services. The ban also covers crypto-exchanges, though it is expected to be slightly less rigid compared to the restriction for the other crypto ad. categories.

In particular, ICOs are used by startups to raise funds for a new cryptocurrency without having to go through the rigorous process of capital-raising required by venture capitalists or financial institutions. This offerings can be interesting for developers looking to raise money quickly as they cut out intermediary parties, potentially cutting the time of launch compared to traditional funds.

The ban appears after Jack Dorsey, the company CEO said Bitcoin will be the future single global currency in 10 years time. Also it follows similar action taken by other tech giants against crypto ads. Earlier, Facebook started a ban on ads for cryptocurrencies, ICOs, and binary options in January, describing these practices as deceptive methods of promotion. After that Google announced it will change the types of ads that will be allowed on its network as part of a broader crackdown on cryptocurrencies.

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It’s Better To Be a Miner, Than a Speculator: Cryptocurrency Study

There can be higher profits for those, who starts mining a crypto-currency shortly after it is listed on exchanges. But a speculator who enters the market shortly after the currency is listed might potentially earn lower returns.

These are some of the findings from a study where computer scientists estimated the potential profitability of mining versus speculating for 18 crypto-currencies that are not Bitcoin and Litecoin–known under the general label of altcoin. Computer scientists also showed that returns from mining a random altcoin tend to be less risky to earn than returns from speculation.

Researchers trade data for the study. They compared mining and speculating for 18 altcoins against Bitcoin and Litecoin.

Also they created simulations to estimate the daily returns per $1 of investment, either through mining or speculating, under various conditions. They discovered that for seven days, expected daily returns ranged from 7 to 18 percent for mining and negative 1 percent to positive 0.5 percent for speculating.

The researchers presented their results at the Financial Crypto 2018 conference Feb. 26 to March 2 in the Caribbean.

Researchers computed the potential returns under various conditions for every dollar invested in mining or buying a coin, such as time of market entry and hold positions. Many tokens follow a simple bubble-and-crash scenario, while some coins offer the potential for spectacular returns.

Digital currencies have flourished in recent years, buoyed by the tremendous success of Bitcoin. These blockchain-based currencies are associated with a few thousand to millions of dollars of market capitalization.

Altcoins have attracted many enthusiasts, who entered the market by mining or buying them. But the risks can potentially be significant, especially in the volatile market.

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The Finance Minister Of France Plans ICO Regulations

Recently, France’s finance minister Bruno Le Maire revealed that the country plans on creating a legal framework for initial coin offerings (ICOs). The aim is to become a leading ICO hub. Le Maire wrote in his article:

 “France has every interest in becoming the first major financial center to propose an ad hoc legislative framework for companies making an initial coin offering.”

Later Le Maire revealed that an action plan to be presented to the country’s government “in a few weeks” will propose seeing French market regulator to authorize companies to raise funds through ICOs.

The minister touted that blockchain technology will offer the country’s start-ups unprecedented opportunities, as they will be able to raise funds by issuing tokens. He said, that the blockchain will offer new opportunities to startups, for example Initial Coin Offerings. It will help to create a network of confidence without intermediaries and will boost economic efficiency.

According to him, France has a tradition of financial innovation, and its new goal is to “enter the world of finance of the 21st century by guaranteeing all players the necessary security for their development.” In his op-ed his piece, Le Maire wrote that France should not miss out on the blockchain revolution.

Along with Germany, France called for cryptocurrencies to be discussed at G20. Le Maire highlighted the importance of digital coins and blockchain technology during a summit in Buenos Aires. The G20 communique revealed a crackdown on cryptocurrencies may not occur, although regulation proposals are set to come by July.

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Russia Projecting Blockchain Legislation To Accelerate Adoption

Russian government is working on a regulatory framework for the full-fledged use of blocking technology and may have the draft ready within months. This announcement gave Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich on the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.

The bill was recently sent to the lower house of Russia’s parliament, State Duma. The bill was prepared by the finance ministry and Nikolai Zhuravlev of the Council of Federation. It contains provisions that require of crypto exchanges to comply with KYC procedures and tries to set a legal framework for cryptocurrencies.

Russia is known as one of the most active countries in blockchain projects. Almost 10% of all ICOs come from Russia at the current moment.

The largest bank of Russia, Sberbank has participated in a successful blockchain experiment, that generated the country’s first transaction using distributed ledger technology. The pilot also included Russian firms MegaFon and MegaLabs. It was carried out on the IBM platform.

In mid-October, Sberbank joined the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) project.

It is not only the corporate space getting seriously involved. Also the government supports the new technology with President Vladimir Putin himself saying Russia has to be more active in adopting blockchain to avoid being “late in the race.”

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Crypto Exchange Huobi Registers With U.S. Government

Huobi’s U.S.-based operation has registered with the U.S. government as a money services business ahead of a planned rollout of crypto-to-crypto trading this spring.

According to the U.S. regulator’s database, HBUS Inc. is registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement. In January the company announced that it was opening an office in San Francisco to serve as a hub for American market.

The chief executive and founder of Huobi Group Li Lin proved the plan for a May launch through a WeChat announcement. He predicted a new crypto-only exchange platform specifically for U.S. investors that will be separate from Huobi’s existing crypto-to-crypto platform, Huobi Pro.

In his statement Li admitted that registering with U.S. financial watchdog won’t solve all the problems coming from U.S.

Li referred to the U.S. based exchange saying:

“The issue is, currently there is no clear regulatory requirement for crypto-to-crypto trading platforms from the U.S. at the federal level. Other platforms like Poloniex also operate in a similar way with registration as a money service business.”

Also he said he believes the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could weigh in on the issue of crypto-to-crypto trading in the U.S. He added that Huobi would comply with that guidance.

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UK Signals Towards Digital Assets

There is a softened approach towards cryptocurrencies by British politicians, according to Financial Stability Board (FSB) letter with positive statements from Mark Carney. Britain’s City minister John Glen is sure that virtual money won’t do any harm to the British economy, but they require adequate regulation. He said on the sidelines of the Treasury’s International Fintech conference on Thursday:

“We are seeing great excitement, some wariness, and also I think some misunderstandings. We remain agnostic and are engaged in trying to find the right narrative and the right level of regulation if that’s appropriate”.

Glen continued:

“The issue is, how do we regulate or not, how do we enable or not, based on the blend of opportunities and risks that may exist in this new technology.”

The British Chancellor of Exchequer Philip Hammond set up a special task force to assess both risks and benefits of digital assets and blockchain technologies with the purpose to attract more companies to London.

The largest cryptocurrency exchanges are concentrated in Asia and US at this moment, while UK is behind. A more friendly approach towards crypto may change the situation and force regulators to soften their position.

Major cryptocurrencies continue trading in the red zone. Bitcoin is consolidating around $8,450, after unsuccessful attempt to move above $9,000. Ethereum has settled at $522 within a whisker of critical support $500. Ripple is down 2.6% on the day,  trading below $0.63.

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Cryptocurrency Exchanges Must Be Like Stock Markets: US Regulator

According to some analysts view, cryptocurrency markets still lack proper oversight and regulations. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) head Brett Redfearn, stated that the current state of cryptocurrency markets resemble the “Wild West”. The body is generally concerned with cryptocurrency market manipulation, cybersecurity, fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing. Redfearn pointed in his article:

“ I’m not sure all of the rules would translate over, but there are certainly principles that exist in that space that we have to then apply in some respect to what’s happening with crypto-asset trading”.

The SEC isn’t only concerned with cryptocurrency space. The body is also pay attention on ICO market.

In the past, the SEC stated multiple times that investors should be very careful when they invest in ICOs and token sales. The US regulatory agency is worried that most ICO tokens may be classified as securities and don’t comply with the regulations that traditional securities do.

Redfearn says, that there are no registered exchanges to trade on those products. Also he added:

I’m not sure all of the rules would translate over, but there are certainly principles that exist in that space that we have to then apply in some respect to what’s happening with crypto-asset trading,

Many experts from cryptocurrency space believe, that the cryptocurrency and ICO market will be better off once regulators create an appropriate regulatory framework. The could give institutional investors more confidence and motivation to invest in the cryptocurrency market.

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Google Is Entering Into Blockchain Industry

Google  is creating line of blockchain-related technologies to work with its various online services. The technology is used to support cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. But Google isn’t going to create a new digital coin.

The Bloomberg reports, that the company is working on creating its own digital ledger, which could be used for a variety of purposes, such as helping to secure customers’ personal data. Also Google is planning to distribute its ledger to third parties so that they can use them to post and verify transactions. There is a plan to create a white label version that other companies can use on their own servers.

Over the past few months, many employees working within Google’s infrastructure group have been working on blockchain technologies. Google insiders believe that the tech giant’s line of cloud services are a natural fit for blockchain technology. However, a company spokesperson did confirm that Google was investigating the tech. A Google spokesperson told Bloomberg:

“Like many new technologies, we have individuals in various teams exploring potential uses of blockchain but it’s way too early for us to speculate about any possible uses or plans”.

The development of the blockchain technology provides opportunities and challenges for industry leaders such as Google. The tech could provide Google with a more secure way of storing user data, which could be a boon for the company and its customers alike.

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Toronto Stock Exchange Launches Crypto Brokerage

The operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange TMX Group has announced it’s launching a cryptocurrency brokerage platform. The service will be offered by subsidiary network and focused on bitcoin and ethereum. The project will be implemented cooperating with local startup called Paycase Financial Corp.

Also the TSE owner announced the brokerage service would be made available through partnership with Paycase Financial Corp. The company is generally specialized in decentralized financial services and operates a mobile-based remittance platform.

The Paycase CEO Joseph Weinberg pointed:

“As the first ever public crypto brokerage desk by an exchange, this deal represents the true institutionalization of cryptocurrencies as an asset class. The first major bridge between the crypto world and the traditional financial markets”.

The brokerage is a significant step in the execution of its digital strategy. The Managing Director of Enterprise Innovation & Product Development John Lee thinks the company is looking for new ways to address the needs of its clients in both traditional and non-traditional markets.

The Canadian Stock Exchange announced in February about its plans to launch a blockchain platform for clearing sales of tokens qualified as securities. The digital currencies were referred to as securities in its listings. CSE presented companies the opportunity to issue traditional shares and debt securities as “security token offerings”, to sell them to investors.

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Top Coins To Hold Until 2020

By the end of 2017 cryptocurrency boom attracted a huge amount of speculative investment. There are number of fantastic opportunities for investors who are happy to stick around for a little longer. We’ll take a look at some digital currencies that investors should hold until 2020.

Bitcoin

The underlying fundamentals of Bitcoin are basically unchanged from the days when it was hitting valuations of $20,000 or more. There is a chance it could test these high levels again and some investors with a little more confidence (and patience) than the market as a whole could make very tidy profits.

Litecoin

This is another of the big players in the cryptocurrency world that has had a fairly difficult time of late. Litecoin has struggled to gain backing from the kind of financial big players that have given Ripple its boost in recent months. There are, however, some signs that this type of backing is on the way, meaning that Litecoin could have a fairly bright future.

Ethereum

The key difference here are smart contracts. Ethereum allows users to automatically send payments when certain conditions are met, unlike many other cryptocurrencies. This feature, combined with its relatively high profile, should assure a bright future.

Ripple

As the major players showed interest that Ripple has seen from major players, there are rumours the Coinbase exchange is planning to add Ripple token to its ist of tradable coins. It could open new markets to Ripple and increase the number of investors who can easily trade it.

Stellar

Stellar, built on the same protocol as Ripple is an alternative currency that targets smaller transactions. This means that it enjoys the same robust features as Ripple but with lower barriers to entry for day-to-day users. This could well be a coin that enters into mainstream use.

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France Looks To Join Blockchain Revolution

France intends to become a hub for initial coin offerings (ICOs), according to the country’s finance minister Bruno Le Maire opinion. He had defended his position at the G20 meeting in Buenos Aires, where the G20 members gathered this week.

Le Maire already took action in this direction. He has asked the former second deputy governor of the central bank, Jean-Pierre Landau, to come up with a draft bill related to cryptocurrencies.

Le Maire said, that France has an interest in becoming the first major financial center for ICO companies.

He said, he would ensure an action plan to the French government. It will allow stock market regulator to authorize firms for fundraising. The companies will have to comply with certain criteria to protect investors.

“This ‘white list’ will be a valuable benchmark for investors who want to finance serious projects that create value,” Le Maire wrote.

In a few weeks this initiative named Action Plan for the Growth and Transformation of Enterprises (PACTE) will be delivered to the Council of Ministers.

Last year, the AMF revealed that it was analyzing the legal framework for ICOs, which were emerging in France.

The finance minister thinks the blockchain could be an excellent opportunity to collect funds via ICOs.

Le Maire said, this will create a network of confidence without intermediaries, offers increased traceability and will boost economic efficiency.

France should not miss the blockchain revolution and should enter the finance world of the 21^st century, the minister noted.

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Korea’s First Cryptocurrency Index Launched By UpBit Exchange

The South Korea’s second largest crypto exchange Upbit plans to launch a new cryptocurrency index called UBCI (Upbit Crypto Index). The concept will provide a standard index which can measure market conditions by suggesting and creating a coin quote standard.

The company also plans to expand the business so that the index can be used on international markets. There is often a difference between cryptocurrency prices on domestic and international markets due to local demand. The country is leader in crypto trading and the developments in South Korea often has wider implications across the rest of the world.

The new index will function by collecting long term transaction and trade data from the exchange and using it to create a standard value in confidence levels. Four indexes will be developed: a Market Index, Sector Index, Bitcoin Index, and a Strategy Index. The Market, Sector, and Bitcoin indexes will be launched in April, and Upbit will launch the Strategy Index later in the year.

Lee Seok-woo, the president of Dunamu told local media:

The present situation of the cryptocurrency market is quite similar to the traditional financial market based on stocks and bonds in its early stage. Accordingly, as the market gets more sophisticated, the UBCI is expected to play an important role in this area in the future. We will also disclose the index rulebook and let the market evaluate it before long.

According to CoinMarketCap, Upbit currently handles $732 million (86,700 BTC) per day. Recently, it has added a number of new altcoins to its listings, including Icon and Tron, and is the country’s second largest exchange after Bithumb.

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Binance Denies Japanese Regulator’s Criminal Warning

Bitcoin price’s sharp pullback on Thursday came after Japan’s regulator had issued a warning to Binance, one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, that it was operating in the country illegally and criminal charges would be filed if it did not cease.

There was considerable misunderstand over the report. Around the  time the Nikkei report was published, Bitcoin dropped over 4%.

Binance  CEO Zhao Changpeng refuted the news. He took to Twitter to rebuke the Nikkei’s “irresponsible journalism” and deny that they had received any mandate from the Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA). Changpeng said, that in the past few hours they had received “a simple letter from JFSA”. He simply pointed:

“Our lawyers called JFSA immediately, and will find a solution. Protecting user interests is our top priority.”

The Argentine Central Bank chairman Frederico Sturzenegger confirmed after G20 meeting, that the members had agreed to a July deadline by which to outline a policy for digital currencies, though Brazil  will not be involved as the country’s Central Bank president Ilan Goldfajn stated on Monday that cryptocurrencies would not be regulated.

At the same time G20 applied the standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which is a body formed to fight money laundering in the crypto space.

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Pablo Escobar’s Brother Launches Bitcoin ICO

Escobar Inc. launched Bitcoin fork called “Diet Bitcoin” (DDX), which will deliver a quick and simple payment alternative. Currently it is available at a 96% discount in the company’s ICO, selling at $2 instead of the usual $50. Also there will be further token sales with the second tranche priced at $100, and the third at $1,000.

There is a book titled “Pablo Escobar’s Diet Bitcoin”, though Escobar himself died 16 years before the Bitcoin creation.

The publication makes some startling claims, not least that Bitcoin was created by the U.S. government. And, for Escobar, this will eventually be its undoing. “The world is going to see that this was created by the government”, he says, at which point the “CIA is going to sell all of their coins, and they will destroy the value of Bitcoin.”

Escobar sees such an end for all “your worthless coins,” leaving only one coin standing: “They will all go to zero… But not my coin… This is going to be my new work in life.”

The white paper of Diet Bitcoin focuses on the Pablo Escobar connection as the ICO’s main selling point. It also points Roberto’s previous time served as “accountant of all of Pablo’s businesses and enterprises and his most trusted confidant” and points to other feathers in his bow such as “the creation of offshore entities and the opening of bank accounts”.

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Hedge Fund CEO Is Bullish On Cryptocurrencies

The CEO of Pantera Capital Dan Morehead is no stranger to bullish remarks concerning bitcoin and the crypto market. He remarked in a recent interview, that the crypto market was on track to produce far higher returns than leading financial markets.

These comments in the immediate of the cryptocurrency market correction saw the total crypto market cap decline by almost 50 percent at the start of 2018.

Morehead is still optimistic that investors will turn healthy profits, even with the persistent price slump. The investor turned the dot-com bubble argument on its head extracting his point.

The Pantera CEO described a positive scenario for investors in letter given on March 16.

Naturally, and despite the majority of internet stocks crashing at the turn of the millennium, said investors still enjoyed massive gains.

He assured his investors, that even bitcoin were to go to another website view, they would still make health profits.

The Pantera CEO spoke in his letter about the importance of a diversified crypto investment portfolio. He took inspiration from Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon and his investment strategy during the dot-com era.

He advised investors to put some money from their crypto portfolio into blockchain projects. He even called bitcoin “the miracle whip of finance.”

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Crypto Task Force Launched By UK Government

The U.K. Exchequer Chancellor Philip Hammond is expected to announce a government “crypto assets task force”  and a host of other fintech initiatives on Thursday.

The Treasury’s office statement says, that Hammond will reveal the task force, which will include the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority in addition to the Treasury.

Hammond is also set to announce several other measures relating to the fintech sector more broadly, including “the next steps in ‘robo-regulation.'”

The letter would consist of pilot schemes to help new fintech firms, and the financial services industry more widely to automatically ensure the rules, which will save time and money.

The statement discovered the government’s intention to create a U.K.-Australia “fintech bridge,” which will connect the countries respective markets.

Other notable features of the Fintech Sector Strategy include the creation of standards to make it easier for fintech firms to partner with banks.

The government plans to partner with fintech companies to “create ‘shared platforms’ which will help remove the barriers that these firms face.

It did not provide further detail regarding the nature of these platforms.

The government of U.K. has largely proved amenable to blockchain technology broadly, but it has shown less enthusiasm for cryptocurrency.

The Prime Minister Theresa May said at January’s World Economic Forum about concerns of potential criminal usage of crypto. At the same event, Hammond called for the regulation of cryptocurrencies.

The governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney made the same appeal for regulation at the beginning of March during a speech at the Scottish Economics Conference.

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Twitter’s CEO View: Bitcoin Will Be The World’s Single Currency

Last year was booming crypto space, when over 1,000 different types of virtual currencies being traded on various exchanges worldwide.

Jack Dorsey, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur predicts that bitcoin is going to be the world’s single currency during ten years, if not faster.

In an interview with The Times of London, the chief executive of social networking site Twitter and mobile payments service Square said: “The world ultimately will have a single currency; the internet will have a single currency. I personally believe that it will be bitcoin.”

In December Bitcoin has seen a correction of more than 50% from its record high of nearly $20,000.

Today the cryptocurrency was trading at US$9,012, after slumping to a low of US$7,377 on Sunday.

Bitcoin skeptics label considered it a scam and said it will crash to zero. They also belittle its chances of becoming a legitimate medium of exchange, citing its high transaction cost, wild price volatility and slow settlement times.

Dorsey has made investments in crypto area. Ha took part in a US$2.5 million seed funding round for Lightning Labs, a startup that specializes in Lightning Network, a technology that can potentially make bitcoin cheaper and faster to use for transactions.

His mobile payment company will continue to support bitcoin. Square’s peer-to-peer payment app, Square Cash, has been offering its users access to direct bitcoin trading, since February.

The app does not charge a fee for users’ bitcoin purchases, but the sale price is averaged from different exchanges, with a spread included, according to TechCrunch.

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Iceland Energy Consumption For Bitcoin Mining Is More Than Home Powering

According to the Icelandic energy firm HS Orka, the country is expected to use more energy processing Bitcoin transactions in 2018 than it uses to power its homes, consuming some 840 gigawatt-hours of electricity related to the cryptocurrency this year.

The population of the country is about 340,000 people, but it is known to be a home of several major data centers that use its abundant renewable hydropower and geothermal energy sources to operate. As the BBC explained earlier, Bitcoin is “mined” when “computers solve complex mathematical problems — a process that in turn validates transactions between users of the cryptocurrency.” Every time a computer solves a problem, it earns a small Bitcoin reward, generating digital revenue for the data centers running the programs.

The HS Orka spokesman Johann Snorri Sigurbergsson told the BBC, that they see exponential growth in the energy consumption of data centers. Iceland is fielding several proposals for new data centers, which could increase Bitcoin-related energy use even more.

However, there are some Icelandic politicians, who are cautious about the Bitcoin boom in the country. A member of Parliament from the minority Pirate Party Smari McCarthy posted, that Cryptocurrency mining requires almost no staff, very little in capital investments, and mostly leaves no taxes either. He said, that the value- to-Iceland generated ratio is virtually zero.

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Ethereum Technical View 21.03.2018

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G20 Calls For Cryptocurrency Regulation By July 2018

The world economic leaders have met in Buenos Aires for G20 summit and discussed the proposals of cryptocurrency regulations to come by July 2018 according to the G20 communique. The document backs the words of Frederico Sturzenegger, Argentina’s Central Bank chief, who noted cryptocurrencies need to be examined.

The document shows, that world’s economic leaders prefer to call cryptocurrencies “crypto-assets,” implying they see cryptos as assets and not currencies.

The G20 communique notably acknowledges the “technological innovation” underlying cryptocurrencies, which has the potential to “improve the efficiency and inclusiveness of the financial system and the economy more broadly.”

When it comes to consumer and investor protection, cryptocurrencies raise issues echoing concerns regulators throughout the world have in the past expressed.

However, not all countries are on board with this approach. The local news outlet El Cronist and Brazil’s Central Bank president has revealed they aren’t going to regulate cryptocurrencies in the country.

At the end of the communique, it becomes clear that cryptocurrency regulations are coming by July 2018.

The conclusion the world’s economic leaders seemingly arrived to has been expressed by FSB chief and Bank of England governor Mark Carney, who in a letter sent to G20 finance ministers argued cryptocurrencies ”do not pose risks to global financial stability at this time.”

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The US National Security Agency Starts To Identify Bitcoin Users

According to a report, the US National Security Agency (NSA) is reportedly able to locate senders and receivers of Bitcoin around the world, as classified documents provided by Edward Snowden reveal.

According to other documents, The NSA managed this action by creating a system for harvesting, analyzing, and processing raw global internet traffic using a program disguised as a popular anonymizing software.

The NSA gave an update on intelligence collection efforts in March 2013, which targeted Bitcoin and LibertyReserve, “2 of the top 3 virtual currencies” of their interest.

According to The Intercept, Liberty Reserve was created with criminal intent in mind. It is regarded as a predecessor to Bitcoin. Digital currency service LibertyReserve, which is based in Costa Rica was founded by Arthur Budovsky. He was eventually arrested in connection with a $6 bln money laundering operation, resulting in a 20 year conviction.

After 5 months the Liberty Reserve was shut down, the US federal agents apprehended Ross Ulbricht, the man behind the world’s largest darkweb marketplace, Silk Road, where transactions were conducted in Bitcoin.

The information from Snowden’s files don’t give much information about whether the NSA actually participated in the FBI’s Silk Road investigation. But Ulbricht himself said that all evidence against him was received by the NSA in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The prosecution dismissed his theory.

The monitoring of cryptocurrencies by government surveillance agencies may come as a cause for concern for those who value cryptocurrency for its anonymity and decentralized nature.

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Blockchain For Network Security By Korea Telecom

Korea Telecom, which is the leading mobile carrier in South Korea, said on Tuesday about its plans to use new telecommunications system powered by blockchain security solutions.

The digital infrastructure project, called “Future Internet,” will help people and businessmen to earn profits for using their own data instead of portal operators like Google, which monopolize acess to private data at this moment, according to the company’s chief researcher Seo Young-il.

The head of the company’s blockchain center at the Institute of Convergence Technology said they will be able to secure data from hackers by using blockchain technologies as transmitted through the unforgeable blockchain network and users will be transmitting their own data with one another based on trust with no need to rely on third-party OTT businesses.

 

The final purpose for Korea Telecom is to rebuild South Korea’s network infrastructure using blockchain technology over the next few years.

KT is preparing to launch a blockchain-enhanced data roaming service by June, cooperating with global network operators such as US-based Sprint and Japan’s tech giant Softbank. With regards to fintech, KT already incorporated the cryptocurrency platform K-Coin into its mobile coupon service.

Young-il said, that blockchain technology will be in the center among digital technologies during forth industrial revolution.

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Facebook And Twitter Investors To Raise $12 Million In CryptoKitties

A virtual Ethereum based collectible kitten game has raised $12 million in an investment led by Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures. These investors have been quite active in the cryptocurrency space, they have also backed Coinbase. Among participants there are AngelList Founder and CEO Naval Ravikant, Founder of Zynga Mark Pincus, founder of Coinbase Fred Ehrsam.

Further it was revealed it would be spin out of its developer, who’s name is Axiom Zen. Users are able to create and breed virtual kittens and can sell or buy those kittens using Ethereum.

CryptoKitties was created on a standard for non-fungible tokens originally authored by the project team. At USV, we think digital collectibles is one of many amazing things that blockchains enable that literally could not be done before this technology emerged.

Further they said, that digital collectibles and all of the games they enable will be one of the first, if not the first, big consumer use cases for blockchain technologies.

The game has seen a success, because it has been a lucrative venture for many. The report says, that over $23.2 million worth CryptoKitties have been sold since the launch of the game. The most expensive cat was sold for $110,707 at the time of the sale. Union Square has also developed their own CryptoKitty created by partners Andy Weissman and Fred Wilson.

Though the companies have been quiet for CryptoKitties, it seems the investors of Facebook and Twitter are going to participate together.

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Custodian and KYC solutions for ICO projects

As a financial Custodian, Etana can help your ICO project by providing it with a safe, transparent and straightforward process for collecting capital from interested parties around the world.

 

Etana partners with Top rated banks and can provide your ICO project with a structured Custodian Bank account dedicated only for your Project. The bank account will be used only for your project with the main purpose of collecting fiat currency deposits from private and institutional investors who wish to purchase your ICO Tokens.

 

 

Main problems that your ICO venture will solve with a Custodian account structure

 

 

• Mitigate your KYC and AML risk exposure by delegating the Compliance risk management to Etana

   

• Obtain better public image by providing an extra layer of security to your investors and their capital

• Protect the collected fiat deposits from unforeseen  events by placing them through a Custodian

 

 

Protect the interest of your investors and the people who believe in your company product.

The main purpose of an ICO Token sale is to collect enough capital to realize an idea or to finalize a product or service that is under development. Through ICO everyone can purchase tokens to support your company and obtain future dividends.

With Etana Custody you can protect the interest of your Investors and prevent any reputation damage.

Use the Custodian structure to ensure that the investors Fiat and Crypto deposits will be returned if the ICO project is unable to reach it`s funds raising target.  

 

 

How it works

Prior to the start of the ICO, we set up a Custodial account for your project on our Custodian platform. There every investor interested in buying your Token will register and pass KYC.

 

 

Depending on your preferences you can choose Etana to act as a Custodian for:

 

1. a)       Fiat deposits
2. b)      Cryptocurrency deposits – BTC and ETH
3. c)       Both Fiat and Cryptocurrency Custodian

 

We understand, that the success of the ICO depends also on the available financing. Therefore we will make custom arrangement in order to provide you and your clients the perfect balance between mobility and security of the collected funds.

 

Fees for Etana`s Custodian solution

 

Setup fee: $1,500 – paid upon signing contract Custodian holding fee 0,5% of the Account Value.

Conversion of Fiat to Crypto  and Crypto to Fiat: We can assist also in fast and secure conversion of Crypto into Fiat currency on flat service fee of 1,6%* from the of the amount. *May change depending on the volume

 

KYC & AML risk management

 

Governments across the globe are expressing concern that anonymous cryptocurrency – while innovative and augering a new wave of future technology – serves as a medium of exchange that facilitates terrorism and criminal activity.

 

This makes the ICO projects an easy method and target for malicious users who want to invest money without providing any origin of their funds and build new companies or just transfer ownership in exchange for dividends or tokens purchased on special conditions that are not declared anywhere.

 

Etana Custody provides a standalone service for KYC risk management. With it the ICO project can delegate the compliance customer due diligence work completely to a reliable and experienced 3rd party that uses world leading Customer screening software .

 

Etana Custody offers 3 levels of screening level as  every higher level includes the one before it:

Stage 1 KYC – Verify that documents are owned by same person and are valid  $0.50

Stage 2 KYC – Do a World Check screening, eliminate the possible matches and provide report to the ICO  $2

Stage 3 KYC – Verification of Document we check if the document is counterfeited $3.50

*  Displayed prices are per User

 

For more information visit our website: www.etana.com or contact Miroslav Ivanov: miroslav@etana.com skype ID: miroslav.etana

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Mastercard Supports Cryptocurrencies

Mastercard is receptive to using central bank issued digital currency in the future, while holding on to its stance that all others are useless.

The company accepts a friendly approach towards digital currencies as long as they are issued by central banks. The credit card company thinks that private coins are ‘’junk’’ in comparison with government-backed digital money. This opinion gave Mastercard co-president Ari Sarkar.

There are lot of state governments looking for possibilities of creating cryptocurrency, which will be backed by central banks. Among them are countries like Russia, China, Canada, Iran, Britain and others. Only Venezuela with its Petro coin ventured into that uncharted territory.

According to Mr. Sarker, MasterCard launched a pilot project, enabling cardholders to cash out of bitcoin on to a MasterCard. He was stressed that the company is not exposed to Bitcoin price fluctuations and very conscious of its reputational risks. The company is actively engaged in researching blockchain technology and cryptocurrency with one 30 patents filed by MasterCard Labs.

Visa’s CFO criticized crypto earlier this month, saying that they are speculative investments operating in an unsettled regulatory environment.

Both Mastercard and Visa reclassified cryptocurrency purchasing transactions as cash advances, making it more expensive for users to buy crypto with their cards.

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Three Popular Cryptocurrencies Removed By Coincheck Due To The High Risk

A major cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck has made a decision to remove Monero, Dash and ZCash due to ‘risks’.

This news came after exchange’s hack, when about 500 million NEM tokens were stolen from the company. The exchange has started the process of reimbursing their customers of any currency they have lost, despite the fact that virtual currency still not recovered. The latest decision to remove three of the more popular virtual currencies is just one of the latest erratic moves from Coinbase.

The reason of removing these cryptocurrencies is that all provide privacy and anonymity features. It was decided that all of them hold a big risk for the company due to potential money laundering.

Both Dash and ZCash are not actually anonymous, despite the removal and the worry from the exchange. Users of either of these currencies have been successfully identified, though they do both provide privacy features. The same we can’t say for Monero, which is one of the only completely anonymous coins on the market right now, causing it to gain attraction and popularity on the darknet. It is still unknown whether the reason of the removal is that letter. . It should be noted that users can still withdraw their money, although no further details have been released.

Other exchanges had not followed suit up until now,  but it will be very interesting to see whether this remains like this for much longer, especially as anonymous coins are completely under the spotlight right now!

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Canadian Bank Lands 2 Prospects Of Using Crypto Vault

The only digital bank in Canada, Versabank prepares landing two users for its cryptocurrency vault service.

On Monday, the bank announced about signing two memorandums – one with a cryptocurrency exchange and the other with a “cryptocurrency-based fund.

In a statement Versa said about intention of facilitating discussions regarding VersaVault providing custodial services and piloting its blockchain based safety deposit box, which didn’t identify either business.

The bank’s president and CEO David Taylor pointed:

“In connection with developing a product that meets with the seamless services that both exchanges and funds require, we have signed MOUs with one of each, which will provide us with the necessary feedback … so that when we launch globally to the other exchanges, funds and numerous digital asset holders, we will have a product that meets their specific needs.”

In January, the bank introduced its digital property storage service and claimed at the time it would provide “absolute privacy” and security for digital currencies.

Versa is going to offer the service globally. In January it told Bloomberg, that it expected to roll out VersaVault in June.

The bank noted in a statement:

“Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are quickly gaining popularity and holders have already experienced their valuable holdings vanish from the less secure ‘digital storage’ options. Banks have always been known as the safest place to store physical valuables and it is the aim of VersaVault to provide the safest place to secure your digital valuables”.

VersaVault is London-Ontario based foray into the crypto industry. The bank has an electronic branchless model and is specialized in deposits and financing.

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Australian Startup Creating Its Own Restaurant Digital Coin

A dining rewards-based payment startup in Australia called Liven is creating its own cryptocurrency called LivenCoin.

The loyalty program company based on Melbourne says, that the move will be the first of its kind to let Australians transacting with cryptocurrency in daily life on a large scale via the Liven app.

This application was founded in 2014, which allows 180,000 users to be credited with 15% to 25% of their bar and restaurant bills, which can then be spent on their next outing or donated to charity.

It has raised $11,5 million traditional capital and $5 million in bill payments.

Today, the Fintech also launched the pre-sale for ICO with a purpose to gain $65 million. There is a minimum buy-in similar to $10,000 of Ether coins.

LivenCoins will be able to be spent at partner restaurants across the Liven network including 8Bit Burgers, Poke Bowl, Roll’d, Crinitis, Mad Mex, Massi, AU79, Nene Chicken and Nandos.

The co-founder Grace Wong says, that ICO will help Liven to develop a new cryptocurrency gateway for the platform as well as fund expansion into new markets and verticals. She points:

“Liven has a strong presence in both Melbourne and Sydney, however a key focus is to grow our footprint in what we’ve identified as a $39 billion market in Australia alone . We’re demonstrating 50% quarter on quarter growth, already operating as a network currency system.”

A co-founder and academic behind Liven’s economic formulae Dr. Bellerinin says the ICO is an anomaly among projects in the latest funding trend.

He says, that Liven has been of significant interest, because unlike the vast majority of ICO projects, the company is supported by a successful business model with sound unit economics and backed by millions in private capital, that only comes after painstaking due diligence and expert analysis.

“With its expansive network of merchants and customers, Liven will be the first company to achieve mass adoption of crypto transactions, external to crypto-communities.

With this new project, Liven will be the first company to achieve mass adoption of crypto transactions, external to crypto-communities.

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