Poste Italiane Joins FedEx in Adopting Hyperledger Blockchain

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Poste Italiane Joins FedEx in Adopting Hyperledger Blockchain

The Italian Postal Service has now joined multinational courier delivery services FedEx in adopting the Hyperledger blockchain.

Poste Italiane is now to use Hyperledger as part of its Deliver 2022 Business Plan in order to streamline its current mail services. Hyperledger is a collaborative project led by the Linux Foundation to create open-source standards for blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). It includes American Express, Cisco, Intel , JPMorgan, Deloitte, and Huawei.

FedEx came on board with Hyperledger in September 2018 with the company impressed that the tech had “big, big implications” for supply chains, transportation, and logistics, all areas crucial to the US postal giant’s worldwide operations.

A statement from Poste Italiane said that blockchain tech is “an effective response to the problems of security, transparency, interoperability, and privacy”. It follows a recent positive amendment to current Italian Senate definitions. Definitions have now been offered for DLT technologies and smart contracts, also that blockchain-based digital data will now represent a legal validation of content.

Once the amendment becomes Italian law, the technical aspects will be overseen by the Agency for Digital Italy and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

After signing a declaration with six other EU states this month to integrate blockchain into European economies, the Italian Government has also taken a bold step further by manning its new blockchain advisory board with 30 experts.

The board has been in the pipeline since September 2018 when the Ministry of Economic Development called for more government focus to “know, deepen and address the issue of distributed ledger technologies (DLT) and blockchain”, as well as increase public and private investments in this direction.

 

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Chicago’s Bitcoin ATM Hub Booms

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A spike in the numbers of Bitcoin ATMs could be a subtle indicator that Bitcoin is making its way into mainstream adoption rather quicker than most would care to admit. It may also be as well a signal of bullish sentiment despite market downturns.

Chicago, known for its dense financial busyness and also home to many crypto-related businesses, has also proven to be one of the hotspots for Bitcoin ATMs. Bitcoin ATM business in the city might just be booming as a total of 30 of the machines have reportedly been installed since the beginning of the year in the area.

As at November last year, Bitcoin News reported that the numbers of Bitcoin ATMs globally were breaching the 4,000 mark, currently, stats by Coin ATM Radar has it at 4,262. According to the same source, Chicago has about 226 Bitcoin ATMs / Tellers in and around Chicago.

The current wave of ATMs introduced to the city of Chicago is by Atlanta-based Lux Vending company using the tag ‘Bitcoin Deport’ and that takes the total numbers of ATMs in Chicago near 100, says Chicago Business. As for the company, this comes to a total of 200 ATMs distribution in the US.

While the competition for providers in the area may be fierce, “there’s a large degree of adoption”, says CEO of Red Leaf Chicago Eric Gravengaard whose 60 of the company’s 200 Digital Mint machines are installed in Chicago, with the others spread across the US.

Probably one of the major daunting challenges with these ATMs at present is the 10 to 20 percent transaction fees which typically cost more than an equivalent average transaction done on the US exchange Coinbase. To facilitate the rapid patronage of these new ATMs, Lux is doing a short-term waiver on its fees. Still, something has to be done about the fees; once the waiver is over, people will still have to deal with the realities of having to choose between Bitcoin ATM kiosks and other alternatives.

The good news is that there are numerous point-of-sales services for Bitcoins and while having an increased distribution of Bitcoin ATMs makes crypto sort of ubiquitous, leaving the options open will appeal to many crypto enthusiasts especially when considering the cost of exchanging their asset.

 

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Zebpay Continues European Expansion, Launches EU-Wide Trading Tournament

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<br /><br /> <br /><br /> Cryptocurrency exchange Zebpay is opening new offices in five European countries, increasing its presence on the continent to 43 countries.Launched in 2015 in India, Zebpay grew into one of the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges before shuttering its operation in September 2018, due to the crypto ban in the country. Now, the exchange operates out of Malta, and today’s expansion will make it available for users in Spain, Romania, Slovakia, Liechtenstein and Lithuania.The exchange is also running a European trading competition which will debut today, February 1, 2019. The tournament will be used by the crypto platform to identify and reward expert traders in Europe. In part, the competition is a cheers to Zebpay’s expansion, but the self-proclaimed “new member of the European crypto community” said it’s also in a bid “to build a relationship with the crypto trading community and show why over 3 million consumers worldwide trust and enjoy using Zebpay.&quot;Ajeet Khurana, CEO of Zebpay, spoke with Bitcoin Magazine about the expansion. He said, “As we continue to expand into new territories, we want to build strong relationships with crypto communities, enthusiasts and traders in existing ecosystems. Our platform is battle tested with millions of users (many of whom are new to the space) with incident free handling of billions worth of assets. We can’t wait to see how the new countries that we’ve expanded to interact with our platform.”“As of today we serve most of the EU countries and have also started accepting customers from across the globe including South America and Asia,” he added.The trading competition will be open to all European countries where Zebpay’s services are available, including the five countries that are now available today.“The goal of this competition is to encourage healthy competition amongst traders and for new traders to get a taste of the Zebpay platform,” Khurana told Bitcoin Magazine.The exchange will select 50 participants randomly to compete in a trading challenge. Each participant will get €1,000 to trade with on the platform for 30 days. There will be a public leaderboard, where traders can monitor their progress on the platform and a 24/7 support team will be available to help participants every step of the way.At the end of the competition, the top 10 traders will keep the balance in their account. Those who don&#x27;t make the cut will get a reward of €100 for participating in the tournament.<br /><br /> <br /><br /> This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

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BitcoinNews.com Bitcoin Market Analysis 31st January 2019

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BitcoinNews.com Bitcoin Market Analysis

After our previous analysis, sellers weakened their pressure and allowed buyers to organize a rollback. Buyers were able to test a price zone of USD 3,560-3,580. This is an important price zone inasmuch as sellers tried to break it three times, starting from 14 January:

If we analyze the growth on 29 January, then we can conclude that the buyers are not ready yet to break the bearish trend. The fact is that the local turnaround did not occur on increased volumes, which would show the domination of buyers. In addition, the higher the price increases, the volume decreases. This means that buyers do not have enough resources in this price zone to break the sellers’ trend. Another fact is the length of green candles. It seems that sellers control this growth and edit the height of the candles forming the pins up:

Even if sellers are weak in this price zone, their number is still quite large. Therefore, buyers will not start growing until the majority of sellers change their mood.

At the moment, buyers have a positive mood for the continuation of the growth. Buyers are increasing their margin positions from 28 January:

However, according to the chart, it is clear that the positions are moving in the falling channel and if sellers are now taking the initiative then buyers will sharply close their positions. Which, consequently, will help sellers sharply to dip the price down.

Sellers’ margin positions are also increasing:

But sellers steadily are increasing their margin positions from 22 December. Both buyers and sellers see the perspective. In this case, it entirely depends on critical points and large volumes where everyone will understand the situation.

In our opinion, lowering the price down now is much easier than breaking through the price zone of USD 3,560-3,580 (this is not the only liquid area which buyers will have to deal with).

Therefore, we adhere to our main scenario: the price range test of USD 3,230-3,330.

According to the wave analysis, growth from 29 January adjusted the falling impulse by 50%.

The critical point for sellers is the price of USD 3,450. If buyers can not break through this price zone, then the turnover will start without a price zone test of USD 3,230-3,330.

That is why we expect the continuation of the fall and we hope to see a change in the market forces for the start of growth.

 

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Chainalysis: Darknet Market Activity Nearly Doubled Throughout 2018

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<br /><br /> <br /><br /> Darknet markets are going as strong as ever, if Chainalysis data is to be believed.In its latest Crypto Crime Report, published earlier this week, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis reports that darknet market activity has nearly doubled throughout 2018. After a slump in late 2017 and early 2018 due to the closure of two major online marketplaces for illicit activity — AlphaBay and Hansa — volume has since almost completely recovered to early-2017’s all-time high levels, surpassing $600 million worth of bitcoin for the year.“Law enforcement has been working hard to stop illicit activity on darknet markets, and there have been some notable successes like the closure of AlphaBay,” the report notes. “Overall, these markets continue to thrive, however, as participants simply move their business to other platforms and technologies.”Whack-A-MoleDarknet markets, the online market places for illicit goods and services that operate on hidden services and use bitcoin (and sometimes altcoins like litecoin and monero) for payments, have been around in their current form since 2011, when Ross Ulbricht founded Silk Road.Although this pioneering darknet market was shut down by law enforcement in 2013, others have since taken its place. What’s more, the size and volume of these markets have only grown over the years. According to Chainalysis data, trading volume at identified darknet markets was over $700 million dollars worth in 2017 — where Silk Road never accounted for more than $200 million a year.The Silk Road’s biggest and best-known successor, other than Silk Road 2.0, may have been AlphaBay, with Hansa following closely behind. In the summer of 2017, both AlphaBay and Hansa joined in Silk Road’s fate, however, and were closed down by law enforcement. Silk Road 2.0 had already been shut down in 2014.Yet, once again, in the greater scheme of countering darknet markets, this only proved to be a stop-gap solution. In what Chainalysis describes as “playing whack-a-mole with darknet markets,” alternative and new platforms took the place of the old, and after an initial drop, overall trading volume rebounded as well. Throughout 2018, this totaled over $600 million, Chainalysis estimates, with more than $2 million a day toward the end of the year.“Darknet market activity has been remarkably resilient over the last few years, despite continued efforts by law enforcement to shut down illicit activities,” Chainalysis writes in its report. “When one darknet market closes, others pop up to take its place.”Chainalysis points to the Russian-language Hydra as one of the main successors of AlphaBay, which has doubled its activity since the latter was closed in 2017. Other major darknet markets that are active today include Dream Market and Wall Street Market.Bitcoin and Darknet MarketsWhile bitcoin is still the currency of choice on most darknet markets, Chainalysis does believe that this type of activity has come to constitute a much smaller share of total bitcoin usage over time. While up to 7 percent of transacted bitcoin value in 2012 and 2013 — the peak of the Silk Road — was related to darknet markets, this is now well below 1 percent, Chainalysis estimates.The blockchain data analytics firm also found that the bitcoin price has little effect on its use for these kinds of illicit activities.“Darknet market activity is relatively price inelastic; that is, you don’t see a drop in this type of activity when cryptocurrency prices fall. In fact, in 2018, when Bitcoin volumes dropped by 78%, darknet market activity nearly doubled,” the report notes.This inelasticity is in large part because users of these markets often merely use bitcoin as a vehicle to move value around — not for speculative purposes. Consumers buy bitcoin with fiat currency on one end of the trade, and dealers sell the bitcoin for fiat currency on the other. Indeed, Chainalysis found that more funds were flowing to darknet markets toward the end of the week (as buyers move to purchase goods), while dealers generally move their bitcoin out on Mondays to cash in their proceeds.Finally, Chainalysis describes how, as law enforcement is getting better at shutting down darknet markets, a new and potentially even more resilient model for darknet market activity is emerging. Moving away from centralized platforms, the analytics firm reports that an increasing amount of trading is taking place on encrypted messaging apps.“Top law enforcement officials tell us that criminals are migrating increasingly to encrypted messaging apps including Telegram and WhatsApp to execute illegal transactions. When conducted through these apps, transaction activity is decentralized and person-to-person; there’s little risk that law enforcement will shut down the entire network by closing a website,” the report reads.You can download the Chainalysis report here.<br /><br /> <br /><br /> This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

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Danish State Energy Firm to Examine IOTA’s Tangle in Electricity Supply Chain

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Danish Energinet to Use IOTA’s Tangle in Electricity Supply Chain Market

IOTA, an internet-of-things system based on distributed ledger technology (DLT), has announced a partnership with Danish state-owned energy company Energinet, with the hopes of exploring Tangle — the native technology of IOTA — towards an efficient electricity supply chain.

“Energinet has been exploring concepts of digital trust and distributed ledger technologies (DLT),” the blog post reads. This is in tune with the aim of providing a more efficient green energy system with the company as a core entity between energy producers and consumers. As André Bryde Alnor, Market Developer in Energinet, puts it: “We know that we have to bridge the gap between the fast developments in IoT technology, being implemented on both household and industry level, and the centralized systems of the European energy system.”

IOTA is technically not a blockchain but an open source distributed ledger — terms often misconstrued. It combines the concept of blockchain and internet of things (IoT) to form its own technology, the Tangle.

This isn’t the first time both companies would be working together. In November 2017, when IOTA was running a Data Marketplace initiative, Energinet was a participant along with several industrial and IT companies. Now that Energinet has finished testing distributed identities, it wants to move on to applications of IoT in electricity markets through the Tangle technology.

DLT, the term to address all blockchain and non-blockchain systems using distributed consensus algorithms models, continues at a steady pace along with other emerging technologies to restructure the energy markets.

Recently, Japanese Tech giant Fujitsu announced its successful trial of a blockchain-based system for improving energy trading throughputs between consumers and producers.

Many blockchain-based startup companies are currently racing to provide energy efficient solutions that involve transparency, security and smart administration. While some of them may be fortunate to onboard traditional firms to support their vision, sadly adoption may still be a while off. Perhaps, one of the advantages established businesses have over startups in exploring DLT is the robust resources that enhance their research and development, as well as their track records and credibility in other fields of endeavors.

However, it is expected that as the blockchain ecosystem matures, more partnerships will ensue between traditional businesses and startups when they develop proof of concepts that are practical and relevant to today’s economy.

 

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Binance Accepts Credit Cards: Traders Can Buy Crypto With Credit Cards

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Binance accepts credit cards

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, Binance, has given traders another reason to flock to its platform. Binance now accepts credit cards. Who’d have thought it!?

Users can now buy cryptocurrencies using their Visa or MasterCard credit cards. This is no doubt going to please a lot of traders. Let’s check it out.

Binance Accepts Credit Cards

Announced earlier today, Binance has partnered with Israel-based payments processing firm, Simplex, to allow the ability to use credit cards on its exchange.

The move will now make purchasing cryptocurrency much easier for ...

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Seven Crypto Exchanges Use Nasdaq Surveillance Tech for Clean Trading

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7 Crypto Exchanges Use Nasdaq Surveillance Tech for Clean Trading

Nasdaq’s cryptocurrency exchange guidelines are continuing to offer technical support for seven cryptocurrency exchanges, paying to use its tech to help them ensure trading activities are kept free from manipulation.

Nasdaq’s team of specialists monitor all exchanges wishing to use the surveillance technology for both technical capability and ethics. To date, seven crypto exchanges have satisfied Nasdaq’s stringent guideless although only the connection with Gemini and SBI Virtual Currency has been made public so far.

Nasdaq’s head of exchange and regulator surveillance team, Tony Sio, explained the company’s thinking on allowing access to tech support: “Historically, we don’t do such a large vetting process for our clients because they are much more well-known… But as we started working with less well-known names, startups, then we realized we needed to do this check process.”

At yesterday’s Nasdaq briefing, the company’s surveillance head broke down the process of vetting crypto exchanges to members of the press, clarifying that not everyone makes the cut. Such is the rigorous nature of their prerequisites, which have separate criteria: a business model, KYC/AML, and exchange governance and controls.

Until recently, Nasdaq’s primary interest in this area has been in blockchain. In September 2015, it joined a USD 30 million investment round in Chain, a blockchain startup that then partnered Nasdaq to launch Linq, a private equity platform. Last week, Nasdaq also hooked up with Symbiont with a USD 20 million investment.

One key factor in allowing access to Nasdaq tech has been the company’s interest in how exchanges use their assets and exactly who is using them, and what they may have been used for in the past, illustrating the high level of ethical standard exchanges must demonstrate before passing muster, gaining access to the technology.

 

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The Bitcoin’s impact on the entertainment industry

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The Bitcoin’s impact on the entertainment industry

In 2009, the cryptocurrency Bitcoin started to change our lives and provided a new and exciting way of making payments online. It was a revolutionary approach, which allowed for moving money with a peer-to-peer transfer using blockchain. The rest is history. But the origins of the currency lie within the online community. Despite more and more land-based businesses adopting it, it is the online world where the Bitcoin was most needed and welcomed with open arms, first and foremost in the entertainment industry.

How did it all start?

In October 2009, the first Bitcoin (BTC) was sold and its value was not even one penny. In 2010, 10,000 BTC could have gotten you $ 25 worth of pizza. Not much, is it? Then in February 2011, the world got a first glimpse of the Bitcoin’s true potential. Its value rose by more than 1,000% to $ 1 per Bitcoin. In April 2011, it was possible to trade your Bitcoins into GBP, euros and other currencies. Soon after in May 2013, the Bitcoin made its first appearance in the online entertainment industry and Prime Dice was the first online casino to accept stakes placed in Bitcoin.

During the first three months after its venturing out into the gambling realm the casino made $ 15 million with Bitcoins. The cryptocurrency quickly found its place in the modern entertainment industry and nowadays people can even play online slots using Bitcoin. There’s a vast array of options when you want to try casino games such as fruit machines, blackjack or roulette with cryptocurrencies as some operators have even extended their portfolio of featured payment methods to Ethereum, Doge or Litecoin. The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has recently introduced a new law specifically designed for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency transactions in online casinos. However, the potential of Bitcoin needs to be taken with a grain of salt as recent warning about scams show.

Not even a year later in January 2014, Bitcasino, the first Bitcoin online casino, opened its doors to players. It was also the first casino to operate with a full license. However, it is not only the gambling sector that opened up to cryptocurrencies. The gaming community found the Bitcoin very helpful as well. In December 2014, Microsoft accepted Bitcoins as a means of payment for the Xbox. In April 2017, the Bitcoin was equally accepted as a payment method for the gaming platform Steam.

What is the current status of the Bitcoin in the entertainment sector?

Since the early days in 2009, the Bitcoin has been adopted as a payment method throughout the online world. Regardless of whether it is online shopping or your tickets for the movie theatre, everything can be paid with Bitcoins nowadays. Online dating platforms and online game resellers made payments via Bitcoin available as well. However, it was in the online casino market where the Bitcoin had the biggest influence and changed the ways payments were processed. Even though there were casinos created entirely for the use of Bitcoins it did not take long until it could be seen that more and more providers accepted Bitcoins. It is estimated that since 2014 $ 4.5 billion have been used to place bets or play other online casino games. Bitcoin was such a success in this sector that in 2013 betting accounted for more than 50% of all transactions of the cryptocurrency. There are several reasons for the currency’s popularity with fees associated with credit card payments only being one of them. The Bitcoin allows casinos to receive payments fast and smoothly while players can withdraw their winnings the same way with no limits that need to be taken into account. As of 2017, statistics across 60 cryptocurrency-based casino and betting sites reveal that players are wagering 3 Bitcoins per minute with a total of 337 bet per second. For the period 2018-2022 analysts predict a further growth of 8.45%.

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IOTA Recovers Nearly All of $11 Million of Stolen Crypto

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IOTA Recovers Nearly All USD 11 Million of Crypto Lost in Hack

Following the USD 11.4 million hack of technology group IOTA, a top official has confirmed to Reuters that nearly all of the funds have been recovered.

The hackers stole cryptocurrency funds from investor’s wallets on the IOTA platform by creating a malicious seed-generator running over the websites own page. When clients used the generator to create their 81-digit seed password, the hackers were able to capture and save the digits.

A 36-year-old man from Oxford, England was arrested last week on the grounds of stealing the funds from over 85 victims. It was initially thought to have been committed by an organized criminal group but officials now believe this man was the sole perpetrator. Authorities are withholding the funds to use as evidence in court.

Since the attack, IOTA has partnered with Ledger Hardware Wallet to enable users to protect their private keys for their IOTA tokens.

While of course any hacks or criminal activities that result in the unlawful loss of funds are unacceptable, it is a promising step that authorities are becoming increasing equipped to trace funds and find the criminals behind the offenses.

 

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Banks in India Push for Blockchain in Lending

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Banks in India Push for Blockchain Use in Lending Business

Some major Banks in India are reportedly combining resources to harness blockchain technology in the lending business to cater to micro, medium and small scale enterprise (MSMEs) for transparency and reliability of credit data structures.

As reported by the Economic Times, a band of 11 banks to include Standard Chartered Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Kotak Mahindra Bank, and South Indian Bank are collaborating to launch the country’s first blockchain-based funding system for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Abhijeet Singh, head of business technology at ICICI Bank, a founding member-bank of the coalition. was quoted as saying, “The core objective of having such a ledger-network is to ensure transparency in credit disbursement, especially in the underbanked section.”

The credit data system in the region is a far cry from ideal; basically resulting from falsified or inaccurate credit assessments and profiling. This invariably affects the lender’s trust in such data as it exposes them to high-risk situations.

The system to be developed is described as one which will essentially allow participating banks to share data along the supply-chain through the blockchain, thereby ensuring the transparency and credibility of the data.

India has seen its fair share of blockchain activists and crypto sympathizers, however, the government through its regulatory body — the Reserve Bank of India — with its blanket ban on crypto, has made it tough for the crypto side of the industry to develop. This move by the collaborating banks, however, may prove useful to future adoption of blockchain technology in India.

No lost luster in India

Against the odds of the current crypto market, blockchain continues to prove in many ways and in different economic strata that it can ameliorate some of the major crisis ongoing in legacy systems plagued by lack of transparency and accuracy of data systems.

Perhaps Bitcoin and cryptocurrency hype is the problem after all and not blockchain. The government does frown at the idea of an unregulated cryptocurrency and is no longer keen on issuing a central bank digital currency any time soon despite claiming last year that it was considering it as an alternative to minting physical cash which weighed heavily on the government. It is now focused on structuring a formidable crypto legislature for the industry.

It does count as a win for the industry since such a blockchain-based initiative could be carried out by banks and not fintech startups, being the more dominant feature in blockchain space.

On the other hand, cryptocurrencies are also important streams in the balance for blockchain development and adoption, as they provide incentive models to keep certain blockchains decentralized — an essential quality of the technology.

The bottom line is; India may need to step up, as its indecisiveness may prove unfavorable in the long term. Just as reported by a recent Accenture report, noting that India must improve its skills pool with regards to emerging technologies.

 

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Crypto Fund Strategies Edge Out Hedge Fund Models

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Crypto Venture Fund Strategies are Beating Hedge Fund Models

A report from Bloomberg shows the changing nature of cryptocurrency investment, with crypto venture fund strategies surpassing their hedge fund counterparts for the first time.

The reason for this shift is suspected to be the changing conditions brought by the ongoing bear market and the collapse of initial coin offerings (ICOs) in the wake of the increased regulation from the US. The prices of tokens fell up to 90% last year, meaning investors wanted out and venture funds replaced them, entering with purchases at cents on the dollar.

Jeff Dorman, partner and portfolio manager at Los Angeles-based Arca, explained to Bloomberg the benefit for the venture capitalists, saying that it was an opportunity to ”buy below even the cash value of the company”.

Last year, 125 new cryptocurrency venture funds launched, compared to 115 investment-oriented cryptocurrency hedge funds — a stark difference to 2017 that saw 136 hedge funds and just 85 venture funds emerge.

This change is perhaps not surprising; Eurekahedge Crypto-Currency Hedge Fund Index reported average losses of around 70% for crypto hedge funds in 2018.

Despite poor performances, several hedge funds told Bloomberg they are seeing an influx of institutional investors. “We are talking to a lot”, one contributor added.

 

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Chip Makers Blame Slow Profits on Mining Slump, Phone Sales Also Down

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Chip Manufacturers Blame Mining Slump But Phone Sales Also Down

Taiwanese chip manufacturer United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) has blamed its 10% drop in revenue for the last quarter of 2018 on a downturn in mining.

Mining hardware sales are always affected when the demand for cryptocurrency is slow, due to reduced levels of mining activity, but there are some who feel mining is too often the scapegoat for a drop in chip sales. TSMC, the manufacturer responsible for supplying chips to Bitmain, were also quick to attribute their losses to a downturn in the crypto market. The company’s co-president Jason Wang commented:

“Looking into the first quarter of 2019, we anticipate further deceleration in customers’ wafer demand, due to a softer than expected outlook in entry-level and mid-end smartphones as well as falling cryptocurrency valuations.”

Some observers have commented that this drop in smartphones sales is more significant than some companies like to indicate as profits from mining hardware have recently outperformed smartphone sales. For example, as mining demand drove up profits significantly in 2017, new smartphone shipments only increased by 2%.

The argument is, given that smartphones are the greatest driver of chip sales, a declining market in mobiles has more impact on chip sales than a decline in the crypto mining sector. Some argue that the makers of cellphones need to address this and develop new markets, particularly in developing areas such as Africa and South America where smartphone ownership is still relatively low.

Companies manufacturing hardware need to diversify, given that cryptocurrency is still in its youth, in order to ride out lean periods. The cryptocurrency market will fluctuate, as clearly illustrated by the last two years. The crypto winter “blame game” will run out of steam very quickly when cryptocurrencies become a fact of life and demand for hardware will be overtaken by demand.

 

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Fidelity’s Bitcoin Custody Service Could Launch This March

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<br /><br /> <br /><br /> Fidelity Investments, one of the world’s largest asset managers, is breaking into bitcoin custody.According to a recent report from Bloomberg, three people “with knowledge on the matter” from firms in contact with Fidelity have said that the company is tentatively planning to launch a custody service for bitcoin in March.This move would fall in line with the company’s recent pushes toward the crypto space. Last October, Fidelity announced the creation of a platform for institutional traders to invest in cryptocurrencies, using over-the-counter trading and cold storage to ensure the security of the various assets.As the first quarter of the 2019 fiscal year is well underway, Fidelity is making moves to turn this proposal into reality. These sources claim that bitcoin will naturally be the first crypto asset offered on the platform, though “ether custody is expected to be next.”Fidelity did comment directly on the imminent plans for this custody service, although they made no guarantees of the projected launch date. “We are currently serving a select set of eligible clients as we continue to build our initial solutions,” they said. “Over the next several months, we will thoughtfully engage with and prioritize prospective clients based on needs, jurisdiction and other factors.”Custody is a commonplace service in the world of markets but is significantly less common in the crypto asset investment space at the institutional level. Relying on third-party actors to protect securities from the risk of theft or fraud, most crypto custody takes place within the realm of startups. With the recent announcement that New York state will condone crypto custody, however, many financial banks are looking to get in on the action.An institutional custody service from a titanic asset manager like Fidelity, which deals with trillions of dollars of properties, could give a boost to bitcoin’s slow progress with Wall Street.<br /><br /> <br /><br /> This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

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Changelly Review: Is It Safe to Use?

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Changelly Review BitcoinNews

Changelly is a popular cryptocurrency exchange founded in Prague, in 2013. With its simple interface, Changelly is convenient for beginners, as well as experienced users. You can use this platform to quickly swap cryptocurrencies as the name suggests, but you can also buy crypto for fiat currencies. In this Changelly review, we aim to provide all the necessary information you need to know before using this exchange, such as account setup, fees, customer support and security.

Account setup and purchase

To open an account on Changelly, all you have to do is provide your email address. Once you enter the platform, you can type in the amount and type of cryptocurrency you would like to exchange. Changelly then displays the best available rate and shows you the estimated amount you will receive. The rates aren’t fixed and the amount can vary due to market volatility. That means that sometimes you will get higher and sometimes lower final rate than expected. This has caused some negative user comments and reviews, but Changelly explains that it’s necessary in order to avoid high fees.

The next page shows in detail the exchange rate and approximate time of arrival. After you enter the wallet address, you will be asked to confirm the whole process, and the recipient’s address receives the funds in 5-30 minutes.
For a crypto-to-crypto exchange, Changelly charges a reasonable 0.5% commission.

With Visa and MasterCard debit or credit cards, users can buy Bitcoin and over 100 different altcoins. Changelly has a partnership with Simplex and Indacoin for processing all credit/debit card transactions. The whole process is self-explanatory, but you will be asked to provide your phone number and a three-digit code from your bank statement. After you complete the verification process, the transaction will be received in 5-30 minutes. The fee for buying crypto with fiat money is a little high, costing a total of 10%: 5% for the exchange and 5% for the card processor. On the other hand, Changelly does not charge withdrawal fees while some other exchanges do.

Privacy and security

Changelly follows KYC and AML procedures, and if your activity is flagged by the system as suspicious, your account will be put on hold and you will be asked to verify your identity. You will then have to provide a passport/photo ID and prove the origin of your funds as legitimate. All your data is collected and processed by two companies: Fintechvision and Sum & Substance.

Changelly does not hold funds on their platform, and all transactions go straight to the receiver’s wallet. They also use two-factor authentication and Google authenticator is required. This feature can be disabled, but it’s not recommended.

Customer support

Customer support can be reached via live chat and responses are usually received within a good timeframe. Another way to get help is to send them an email at support@changelly.com. They also have a solid FAQ section, where you can find the answers to most of the questions you may have.

Changelly review summary

As we have seen in this Changelly review, the platform is decent if you want to swap cryptocurrencies quickly. Trading fees are reasonable and, according to Changelly, their algorithm is looking for the best rates on large crypto exchanges such as Binance and Bittrex. However, you should always check a few different exchanges for the best rate.

Over the course of six years, Changelly appears to have gained the trust of more than 2 million users. Their reputation remains quite good and internet searches will reveal mostly positive comments. They don’t store funds on the platform, minimizing security risks. Moreover, they use 2FA authentication to prevent unauthorized access to accounts.

Overall, Changelly is a reputable platform that has proven itself trustworthy and is worth giving a try.

 

Disclaimer: BitcoinNews does not provide any warranties towards the accuracy of the statements in the above Changelly review. Any content on this site should not be relied upon as advice or construed as providing recommendations of any kind. It is your responsibility to perform your own research of the platform. Trading and investing in cryptocurrencies involves considerable risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor.

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Bitcoin 2019: A Peer-to-Peer Conference for the Whole Bitcoin Community

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<br /><br /> <br /><br /> The first major Bitcoin conference, Bitcoin 2013, was held in San Jose, California. Organized by the Bitcoin Foundation, it was centered on Bitcoin specifically and the more pragmatic issues that Bitcoin was trying to solve, particularly in the areas of Bitcoin technology, Bitcoin mining, Bitcoin business and regulatory issues.Writing for Bitcoin Magazine at the time, Vitalik Buterin commented, “For long-time Bitcoin users, events like this are particularly emotional; here, for the first time, we are able to see fellow Bitcoin users, whom we have loved, worked with and had heated arguments with over forums or Skype/IRC chat for many months or years as something more than just a username. Entire companies, existing only ‘on the cloud’ before this day, are finally reunited.”This summer, billed as “A Peer-to-Peer Conference,” Bitcoin 2019 will be held at Pier 35 in San Francisco, California, hosted by BTC Inc., from June 25–26, 2019. In a blog post announcing the event, BTC Inc CEO David Bailey noted that Bitcoin 2019 was so named to harken back to that earlier conference “when the Bitcoin community was unified and nerds filled the hotel lobby until the early morning while dreaming of what Bitcoin could become.”The Bitcoin community has grown considerably since 2013, and it has experienced its share of growing pains along the way. People who are passionate about the technology have had differing viewpoints about its direction. As a result, even as Bitcoin has matured and the blockchain ecosystem has evolved, the community itself has become somewhat fractured.Bailey sees Bitcoin 2019 as an opportunity to help rekindle the “sense of shared wonder and spontaneous commitment to realizing Bitcoin’s potential,” as it was back in 2013.“We want to be able to provide a platform that brings together leaders in the Bitcoin community, along with creators, developers, newbies and enthusiasts, in order to allow for new ideas to freely flow among the people who care most about building the Bitcoin of the future,” Bailey told Bitcoin Magazine.“We want to help drive the conversation beyond simply scaling Bitcoin. We want to showcase what’s possible to build with Bitcoin, without breaking BTC’s consensus rules, which are rigid.”Attracting and Supporting New Growth in BitcoinBailey’s hope is that this event will bring together people from across Bitcoin’s ideological and political spectrum. He is quick to point out that this is not a “Bitcoin Maximalist” or an “anti-any-other-crypto-or-fork” event; however, it is unmistakably a Bitcoin/BTC conference.“We’re working hard to help curate the content of the conference so that people who aim to be unifying with fresh ideas and cool projects built on Bitcoin are able to have their voices heard,” he says. “We’re not here to argue how big a block needs to be or what Satoshi’s original vision was — that debate has already happened. BTC is BTC. Everything else is not BTC, and this is an event for BTC.”He added, “We are coming at this from the perspective that this is a Bitcoin BTC event, but it’s not ‘anti-other-crypto.’ Regardless of what other projects people have worked on or supported, we want people to not feel excluded from Bitcoin. Just check everything else at the door and come build Bitcoin with us … at least for a couple of days at the conference.”To that end, Bitcoin 2019 has reached out to a wide array of industry leaders and developers to participate in the event. Among the preliminary list of speakers are Bill Barhydt, Matt Corallo, Diego Gutierrez, Dan Held, Jimmy Song, Erik Voorhees, Jihan Wu, and Bitcoin Magazine’s own Aaron van Wirdum. More speakers will be announced in the near future.“This is not a pay-to-play event,” Bailey emphasizes. “The easy part is finding the showcase-worthy projects. We actively seek out and learn about the cool things that are going on. We talk to people all over the world constantly about their new projects they’re working on. The hard part will be deciding which ones we will be able to carve out time for at the conference.”Anyone interested in participating in Bitcoin 2019 as a speaker, panelist or presenter is encouraged to contact the organizers.In order to make the conference accessible to the greatest number of people possible, tickets will initially be priced at $100. There is also a virtual hackathon “for ideas built atop and around Bitcoin and the Lightning Network” associated with the event in the works.Bitcoin 2019 is powered by Bitcoin Magazine and produced by BTC Inc.<br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> <br /><br /> This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

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Iranians Still Back Bitcoin, US Treasury Tightens Stranglehold

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Iranians Still Back Bitcoin, US Treasury Tightens Stranglehold

As US sanctions continue to bite in Iran, Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining continue to serve as alternatives to circumvent banking institutions. However, these activities are now firmly under the US radar.

Many Iranians have adopted the digital currency both in their own country and overseas to sidestep economic sanctions. The UK, traditionally a long-time favorite location for students, has also been hit. In November, SWIFT suspended several Iranian banks from its service after the imposition of United States nuclear sanctions on Tehran. This has resulted in difficulties for Iranian students in the UK when obtaining cash.

Many universities are now advising students to return to Iran and return back to the UK with sufficient cash funds to pay for courses and living expenses. Consequently, some Iranian students have turned to Bitcoin, obtaining their fiat funds through crypto exchanges.

The latest problem for Iranian Bitcoin users, many of then students, is that the sanctions are now extending their reach to certain providers. International crypto exchanges, including Bittrex and Binance, have also begun complying with the sanctions against Iran and have stopped dealing with Iranian clients.

The US Treasury is now warning digital marketplaces that either conduct Bitcoin business or sell computers for potential mining that they must stop providing services to Iranians, well aware that Bitcoin is being used in order to circumvent sanctions.

One Iranian miner speaking to the New York Times from a desert location outside of Tehran, explained that even using outdated Chinese A9Antminers has a purpose. “I guess this is the last place on earth where they are still profitable,” said the operator, wishing to remain anonymous. “We’ll have two engineers on site to keep everything running, that’s it,” said Behzad, CEO of IranAsic, the company running the site.

Such farms are popping up around the country aided by generous government power subsidies for electricity which is already cheap compared to the US and Europe. So cheap, it is now drawing interest from investors in Europe, Russia, and Asia.

 

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Marshall Islands National Crypto Also Issued as Physical Cash

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Marshall Islands National Crypto Also Issued in Physical Cash

The Marshall Islands’ national cryptocurrency, Sovereign (SOV), will reportedly also be issued in the form of physical banknotes backed by blockchain technology.

The announcement came from decentralized smart card wallet manufacturer, Tangem, with the company saying the cash will be launched in a scheme alongside the Marshall Islands government to order to provide ”fair and equal access to their digital currency, whether or not they have [an] internet connection”.

In a press release, Tangem stated it would create cards containing a blockchain-enabled microprocessor that will visually appear as unique banknotes, offering zero-fee transactions for processing the cash with ”immediate” transaction verification.

The Pacific island nation became the first jurisdiction to offer a legal cryptocurrency in February 2018, issuing SOV alongside the existing tender, USD. The new cryptocurrency ”cash” is the latest development as the Marshal Islands realizes the practicalities of having a national digital currency that is expected to be useable across the island by all residents.

While the country’s efforts set an appealing standard for the cryptocurrency community, not all reaction has been positive. In August last year, the International Monetary Fund warned that SOV put the nation’s relationships with foreign banks at risk, even requesting the country to reconsider its decision.

 

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Genesis Capital: Crypto Lending Weathers a Bearish Market

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Genesis Capital

Crypto lending firm Genesis Capital processed $1.1 billion in loans last year. This is according to the company’s recently released ‘Lending Snapshot’ for Q4 2018.

Genesis Capital

The figure shows the massive growth in processed loans as Bitcoin price fell over 44% in 2018.

The first Digital Asset Lending Snapshot was released at the end of Q3 2018. This reported that Genesis processed $553 million in loans from the period starting March 2018.

Therefore the most up-to-date figures show that “Q4 loan originations increased more than 100% in the final three months ...

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Crypto Hacks Take $1.7 Billion in 2018—Yikes!

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crypto hacks

Yesterday, a rather shocking cryptocurrency anti-money laundering report was released by the crypto analytics company CipherTrace. This report states that around $1.7 billion worth of cryptocurrency was obtained illegally in 2018. What’s more surprising is that crypto hacks happened three times more than in 2017. No wonder institutional investors don’t want to put big money into the crypto industry yet.

Crypto Hacks Worth $1.7 Billion

Of the total stolen in 2018, over $950 million was from cryptocurrency exchanges. This is 3.6 times more than what was stolen from exchanges in 2017. The rest of the funds ...

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Phishing Scam Hits LocalBitcoins, Clients Lose Funds

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<br /><br /> <br /><br /> On January 26, 2019, clients of peer-to-peer bitcoin trading service LocalBitcoins were the targets of a phishing scam which resulted in the theft of a handful of bitcoins.The Scam’s OperationReports claimed that the attacker was able to conduct the scam thanks to a security vulnerability on the LocalBitcoins platform. The landing page of the site’s forum reportedly was hacked, leading clients to a phishing site.The phishing site was designed to carefully mimic the features of the actual LocalBitcoins landing page. Once on it, users were prompted to log in and provide their sensitive, two-factor authentication codes.As soon as the hackers gained access to the codes, the users had the bitcoins in their wallet stolen.“We would like to inform that today 26.01.2019 at approximately 10:00:00 UTC, LocalBitcoins has detected a security vulnerability – an unauthorized source was able to access and send transactions from a number of affected accounts. Outgoing transactions were temporarily disabled while we investigated the case,” LocalBitcoins noted in a Reddit post.A user who claimed to have been hacked was able to identify the address of the hacker, and it was later found that the address has received a total of 7.95205862 BTC from five, separate transactions (equivalent to about $28,134 at press time).LocalBitcoins Safe Again?According to an announcement made by LocalBitcoins on Reddit, the exchange claims that the vulnerability to their system surfaced from flaws in a third-party software the exchange uses for its forum. In addition to that, LocalBitcoins stated that its security team was able to find and extinguish the issue quickly.It confirmed that the vulnerability allowed the attacker to gain access to an undisclosed number of accounts, although at press time, it only knew of six cases where users had been affected.It was reported that the exchange mitigated the vulnerability by blocking user access to their wallets until the issue was resolved. Also, the exchange suspended trading activities for a short period while its developers worked on neutralizing the threat. The platform was returned to full functionality a few hours after the hack.The team noted that the vulnerability was fixed. However, there was no mention of whether or not affected users will be compensated for their losses and how they intend to track the stolen bitcoins.The post also noted that the platform’s forum feature would remain disabled for security reasons, so for now, buyers and sellers will only be able to interact through the platform’s ciphered P2P chat.<br /><br /> <br /><br /> This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

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Kazakhstan Kindergartens Streamline Waiting Lists on Blockchain

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Kazakhstan Kindys Streamlining Waiting Lists Through Blockchain

Blockchain is being employed in numerous areas across sectors in all parts of the globe moving into 2019, but the education department of the Kazakhstan capital of Astana has found another use for it to keep parents happy.

Admissions to kindergartens in Astana have been painfully slow as children start their road to education, and parents have been waitlisted as a result in many of the city’s schools. The management of the waiting lists has meant that priority for admission is given to children whose legal representatives are disabled or to those without parental care, from large families or with special educational needs.

The Department of Investments and Business Development in Astana has come up with a solution to speed up the whole process for parents by applying blockchain technology. The old digitalized system of data storage led to incorrectly stored information, often delaying the admission process even further.

A new blockchain-based database will be launched on 1 February, apparently inspired by services like Booking.com, Uber, and Airbnb. Now parents will be able to choose their kindergarten based on the schools ranking and the educational program provided for their children.

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev is calling for the regulation of cryptocurrencies in the central European country as currently there is no structured framework. In the latest development, an executive body of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which includes Kazakhstan, released a report on cryptocurrency with a view to regulation in the region. Other countries contributing to the report included Russia, Armenia, Belarus, and Kyrgyzstan.

 

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LyCI – the New Generation of Crypto. Global Access to the Top 25 Cryptos in One Click!

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LyCI Press Release

Zug (Switzerland) – As the global crypto markets move cautiously into 2019 – the demand for a trading platform that offers stability, security and market access have never been stronger.

Combining both traditional investment products as well as crypto assets into one trading platform, Swiss-based firm Lykke is proud to announce the launch of the LyCI Service Token (ticker:LyCI).

Introducing LyCI – Trading Power in a Single Click!

In short, LyCI is a Service Token that allows customers the ability to purchase and trade the top 25 global cryptocurrencies in a single click.

Crucially LyCI is also index linked which means a real-time and rebalanced market-cap-weighted basket of the top 25 crypto assets.  Introduced at the end of 2018 the LyCI Index offers today’s investor piece of mind and flexibility in a single platform.

Mitigating Investor Risk Through the Power of Blockchain.

Pronounced ‘Lucy’ the LyCI Service Token allows both newcomer and professional trader alike the opportunity to participate in the crypto revolution – a diversified risk portfolio is assured as a result of the latest in blockchain technologies.

The sole aim of LyCI is to allow ease of access to the crypto markets and to help mitigate risk in an increasingly turbulent global economy. Formerly of Oanda, Richard Olsen, CEO of Lykke states:

LyCI Press Release

Richard Olsen, CEO of Lykke

“With the collapse of cryptos in 2018, investors are sitting on losses. They own BTC, ETH, EOS or AltCoins and have to decide if they should just stick with their holdings or switch to another crypto with a better outlook. Buying another crypto is risky, because their timing may be wrong. Instead, it is more efficient to switch to the Lykke Crypto Index (LyCI), a crypto ERC20 token in its own right.

LyCI is rebalanced every minute and profits from the narrow spreads of the zero fee Lykke Exchange. Crypto investors no longer have to index that tracks the winners.

The LyCI service token is the first token of its kind and makes it easy for investors to pick these winners, diversify risk and simplify the management of a broad universe of cryptos”

Available over the Lykke Exchange, LyCI is part of a growing and truly global online marketplace that puts the customer in control of their trading strategy with the option to exchange both crypto and traditional fiat currencies securely and with 0% trading fees.

The first in a series of planned Lykke financial products, LyCI offer security, flexibility and ease of use – combining both traditional assets and crypto in a single platform allows access to a truly global marketplace.

Join the Global Markets Today!

ABOUT LYKKE: Based in Switzerland, Lykke is a company with an international footprint, building a global marketplace for the free exchange of financial assets. Our mission is to not only democratise the financial industry by leveraging the benefits and power of blockchain but also to eliminate the barriers to market entry – we provide equal access to the platform from any global location.

For all press queries, please email or call Marina de Mattos on +41762274163 or visit our website for more information.

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SBI, R3 Venture to Further Adoption of Enterprise Blockchain

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SBI, R3 Venture to Further Adoption of Enterprise Blockchain

A notice released today by Tokyo-based financial service firm SBI Holdings has revealed a joint venture with R3 where it holds a major outside shareholder, to further the adoption of enterprise-grade blockchain solutions.

As per the notice, the joint venture is to be sited in Eastern Asia and will take JPY 500 million (USD 4,572,500)  to set up. Expectations include facilitating the introduction of Corda license as well as the adoption of Corda Enterprise — the consortium’s open source blockchain platform for modern-day business.

R3 is a consortium comprising of over 300 partners to include banks and regulatory agencies. It has made headway in getting its product out there, with a recent partnership with Dutch banking group ING granting the firm an operating license to use Corda Enterprise across its services.

SBI Holdings, on the other hand, has been quite active of late into digital asset platforms and blockchain industry as a whole. Bitcoin News previously reported on SBI’s recent USD 15 million investment into blockchain smart card wallet provider Tandem, being the third investment into wallet providers.

The notice further clarified on SBI’s position in expanding its investment role in the digital asset industry, which included “enhancing the ecosystem”. The financial firm has recognized blockchain as “the core technology of next-generation fintech”.

Apparently, mass adoption of blockchain industry has different phases which include the use of cryptocurrency in mainstream spending, institutional grade fintech maneuvering, and other non-fintech applications.

So far, the enterprise-grade framework takes up a bit of the fintech and non-fintech applications, making it an important facet of the industry expedient for the full maturity and mainstream adoption of blockchain-based products.

Large funds continue to flow from traditional firms into the blockchain ecosystem. This suggests that the blockchain quest may have moved from a hype driven hysteria to a conscious state of building sustainable fintech products.

Less than a week ago, Nasdaq was reportedly involved in a series B investment of about USD 20 million into enterprise blockchain platform Symbiont. The investment included Citi, Galaxy Digital, and Raptor Group as reported by Forbes which said that it “marks the latest escalation in an arms race among traditional exchanges looking to capitalize on the technology”.

 

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