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Cryptocurrency Is A Bubble: What’s Next?

Cryptocurrency Is A Bubble:
What's Next?

 

In my article Cryptocurrency Is A Bubble I predicted it would crash.

Well I was wrong, it crashed twice.

In part two, Cryptocurrency Is A Bubble, Revisited,
I argued you should skill up because this was the big one.
Which I’m sure many are doing right now.

Now the big question is what is going to happen next?

It is going to crash again but the trend is going to be up punctuated with gut wrenching corrections. This is only the beginning, not the end, of Bitcoin and the other 1,000 altcoins. There is only one call to make. That call is simple and was highlighted by Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan: Is cryptocurrency a fraud? JPMorgan thinks it is, and you'd think they should know, having been investigated by the likes of the FBI and fined bazzillions for such things.

However, I say no.

Clearly if you agree with Jamie Dimon and you are right that people just “can’t go around inventing their own currency,” you should just avoid the whole area. Don’t let go of that view and buy in at the top. Now that would be painful. If Dimon is right, cryptocurrencies will end badly just like many banks.

If cryptocurrencies are not frauds, they will grow. The key question, then, is what is the current market cap of all cryptocurrencies on earth now and what could it be in the future? It is currently $121 billion. (Though by the time you read this it might be a lot higher.) $121 billion is equivalent to the market cap of McDonald’s, esteemed purveyors of hamburgers.So here is the Google trends for them both–and I’ve thrown in the U.S. dollar, for fun.

Google trends for cryptocurrency versus Macdonald's and the U.S. dollarSo it looks as if Ronald, like China, needs to worry about Bitcoin becoming too important.But seriously, a financial instrument category with $121 billion float is not a material issue to the world economy.Or is it? Clearly China sees it as a looming threat. Having banned initial coin offerings (ICOs),  it then banned Bitcoin exchanges, hand that triggered this crash.

I think it is very bullish that China wants to clamp down. China bans powerful ideas because it cannot stand any but its own. China just endorsed the power of cryptocurrencies so any doubts about the strength of the concept can be forgotten. If cryptocurrency is this potent, then a market cap of $121 billion is a drop in the bucket. So what should the float of a global currency platform capable of making the Chinese government skittish be?

Let’s take gold as a benchmark–after all, that is what its fans claim it is. The market cap of gold reserves is held to be $5 trillion and gold is good for nothing but dentistry, electronics and payments in times of war. So why couldn’t cryptocurrencies match it? As long as a cryptocurrency can be accessed and created then its money supply can grow to meet the needs of its user base. As Bitcoin and the likes are nowhere near the mainstream then the upside must be multiples of where it is today. That could be a striking multiplier.

So what could go wrong?

The main risk is that cryptocurrencies could be banned outright everywhere. It is an obvious thought and the one grasped at most frequently. I don’t think this will happen, as for a start, politicians don’t close their own loopholes. Furthermore, it only takes one global jurisdiction to allow cryptocurrency and the distributed nature of cryptocurrencies and the Internet leaves the door wide open for all. What is more, blockchain technology has huge potential to revolutionize economies by building a trustless infrastructure with transparency. This will disintermediate layers of inefficient gatekeepers whose rent seeking behavior gums up the economies of the world with their unnecessary tollgates.

Any economy using that technology will wield a massive economic advantage against luddites so the outcome is economically inevitable. Luddites can’t win. Have they ever? You could say cryptocurrencies are better than old style currencies and that their very nature makes them invulnerable but I feel the protection is in the pure efficiency of blockchain technologies and the giant economic advantages they will bring. Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are genies that won’t go back into their bottles and like the Internet, change everything.

Blockchain is about trustless systems. Trustless systems, of which Bitcoin is one, are the real revolution behind this surge. Trustless systems are a platform for tremendous progress. Imagine all the things in your life that would be better if you didn’t have to trust or distrust people. How many hours a week do we spend unlocking doors or substantiating facts or protecting ourselves from error and "bad actors."

Blockchain is going to be huge and it would be perverse if the thing that is driving it forwards, cryptocurrency, was somehow going to be run out of town on a rail at the same time. So while China might try and nip Bitcoin in the bud I think it is unlikely that less twitchy and less totalitarian countries will follow suit. It could happen but I believe it won’t.

So if it is not banned, what is the future?

The clamor is a clue–cryptocurrencies are creating more than $121 billion of noise, the real is trend to look at is the U.S. dollar. That is 13 trillion dollars of money talking. So if Dimon is right, Bitcoin is perhaps worth a bit more than the noise made by Big Macs, which is $23 billion dollars of happy meals, but if he’s wrong then ‘to the moon’ is certainly a possibility. How high is the moon? It is hard to judge, but I would be surprised if it was not at least 10 times as much as today. Is 100 times such a dream?

It is worth remembering that the total value of stocks on the NYSE and Nasdaq is $27 trillion. And more intriguing still, U.S. money supply is on $13 trillion. Then even more interesting still, the U.S. national debt is around $20 trillion. So there is $27 trillion of stocks, $20 trillion in bills but only £13 trillion in money.

Optically that does look right. $47 trillion in paper assets, not to mention hard assets like land, real estate etc,  but only $13 trillion in money? Money starts to look like a pinch point to me. Now could that be a reason for a hunger for usable currency… could there just not be enough money about? Could the missing ingredient in the tepid world economy, which doesn’t seem to get either growth or inflation, be not enough M2 (let’s call it money)?

Could there just not be enough money to get activity going? Has it all been sumped in assets and higher technical solvency requirements? If Gresham’s law is true, and bad money drives out good, then governments better get cracking and get the money out there and save us all from stagnation and/or Bitcoin. If they don’t, then cryptocurrencies will do the trick. ICOs anyone? Bitcoin or no, it’s a new dawn and you have to be in it and it’s going to be wild.

Chuck Reynolds


Marketing Dept
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.
Interested or have Questions. Call me 559-474-4614

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

$11 Billion – 24-Hour Cryptocurrency Trading Volume Hits New Record

$11 Billion - 24-Hour Cryptocurrency Trading Volume Hits New Record

$11 Billion – 24-Hour Cryptocurrency Trading Volume Hits New Record

Cryptocurrency trading volume reached a new milestone on Friday, crossing $11 billion for the first time amid regulatory uncertainty in China.

Crypto Markets Post Record Volume

According to data obtained from CoinMarketCap, the combined 24-hour trading volume of all cryptocurrencies rose to $11.5 billion shortly after 16:00 UTC. The only other time daily trading volume has surpassed $10 billion was on August 19, when it briefly spiked to $10.5 billion


Cryptocurrency Trading Volume & Market Cap Chart from CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin topped the charts with $4.2 billion in volume, while ethereum and litecoin posted $1.9 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively. In all, 10 different currencies posted volume greater than $100 million.

$11 Billion - 24-Hour Cryptocurrency Trading Volume Hits New Record
Chart from CoinMarketCap

Bithumb and Bitfinex each handled about $1.5 billion in trades while Chinese bitcoin exchange OKCoin accounted for $750 million. Altogether, at least seven exchanges, including GDAX, Bittrex, Poloniex, and Huobi surpassed the $500 million mark (Volume had tapered off a bit by the time of writing, so it is possible Kraken and Coinone crossed $500 million earlier in the day).

Friday’s trading volume surge was caused by market volatility stemming from China’s crackdown on bitcoin exchanges. Yesterday, the markets crashed following reports that a bitcoin exchange ban was “certain” and BTCC’s subsequent announcement that it would shut down all trading services at the end of September. The markets continued to plunge Friday morning as Huobi and OKCoin were rumored to be meeting with regulators and two smaller exchanges–Yunbi and ViaBTC–also announced September closures.

However, later in the day OKCoin and Huobi issued concurrent statements that suggested they might continue providing cryptocurrency-to-cryptocurrency trading services. Both exchanges announced that they would close CNY trading pairs on October 31, but–unlike BTCC, Yunbi, and ViaBTC–they did not announce the suspension of “all trading.” Moreover, they indicated that they “expect to continue to provide Chinese users with [compliant] digital asset services.”

These announcements led to an immediate rally, and trading volume soared to a record level as the markets climbed back to $120 billion after dipping below $100 billion earlier in the day.

 

Author: Josiah Wilmoth on 15/09/2017

 

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Blockchain Providing Bridge for Unbanked, Lifting Global Economy

Blockchain Providing Bridge for Unbanked, Lifting Global Economy

 

With the increasing price of Bitcoin and Ethereum
bringing attention to Blockchain technology, corporations are researching ways the technology could be used to optimize their existing business processes.

More than $16 bln lost in identity thefts and frauds

Considering the billions of dollars lost in fraud and online identity thefts, one of the increasingly impactful areas for Blockchain technology is in securing payment transactions. With this goal in mind, a new Blockchain company called UTRUST is taking on the challenge of becoming the first online cryptocurrency payment platform to offer consumer protections.

Nuno Correia, CEO of UTRUST, says:

"We aim to create an infrastructure that provides the benefits of fast, secure, convenient, and inexpensive cryptocurrency transactions alongside the world’s first cryptocurrency payment protections. Our goal is to democratize the world of altcoins and Blockchain technology to ensure that anyone can benefit from instantaneous, transparent and cost-effective transactions, irrespective of where they live and [their] level of education."

Using digital currencies, UTRUST aims to provide access to the mainstream financial system for the growing unbanked population worldwide, which according to the World Economic Forum is around 2 bln. The company recently raised $1.5 mln in their pre-ICO.

Cryptocurrencies will be used as daily payment method

Currently, most users are treating cryptocurrencies as speculative assets rather than using them in daily life. Given the sector’s exponential growth and the way Blockchain technology is becoming increasingly mainstream, many are optimistic that digital currencies will be used more as a currency and less as a speculative asset. With the aid of platforms that help rebuild trust in online transactions, cryptocurrencies will likely gain more traction as a mainstream payment method.

Providing a bridge for the unbanked through cryptocurrencies

With 2.5 billion unbanked people worldwide to benefit from transacting with the mainstream financial system, it is estimated that Blockchain technology could result in 95 mln new jobs in emerging economies and provide a boost to these economies of up to $3.7 trln. Forbes contributor Nikolai Kuznetsov suggests that Blockchain has the ability to overcome current banking limitations, making it an ideal solution for the growing unbanked population in

developing countries.

“Unlike banks, no physical branch presence is needed for Blockchain to work. Since Blockchain operates on a distributed network, there’s no need for a complex and expensive private infrastructure to run. This saves on the costs that banks and telecom companies pass on to users through fees and other charges when using bank accounts or performing mobile transactions.”

Chuck Reynolds


Marketing Dept
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.
Interested or have Questions. Call me 559-474-4614

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Russia May Become World Leader in Blockchain Technology Adoption in 2018

Russia May Become World Leader in Blockchain Technology Adoption in 2018

 

Russia could become a world leader in the adoption

of the blockchain technology next year, Chairman of Russia’s Vnesheconombank (VEB) Sergey Gorkov told Sputnik on Saturday, stressing that the mass use of the technology will take place in 2019-2020.MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Gorkov said that the blockchain technology will be implemented in Russia by 2020."We did not expect such an upsurge of interest [in the blockchain], technologies, I believe, will become a reality in 2017-2018,… 2018 will be the year of 'trial and error,' while 2019-2020 — a real period of implementation," he said. Gorkov noted that the VEB would prepare directions for the development of blockchain in October and was also negotiating with Rostelecom telecommunications operator and the Russian Post on the possibility of using the technology.

With Cryptocurrencies on Rise Worldwide, Has Fine Art Finally Got the Picture?"We have created a group at the level of the Russian government on the introduction of blockchain, no other country in the world has it. I believe that in 2018 Russia could become a leader in the adoption of the blockchain technology," Gorkov pointed out.

Blockchain technology is a distributed database, all replicas of which are regularly updated to add the information about all new transactions. Every time a transaction occurs, it is encrypted in a block, which is then sent out to all network users. Each block has a time-stamp and a reference to the previous block, which allows to establish the sequence of transactions. The data is therefore transparent and very difficult to change, which makes it a helpful security solution for any distribution or transaction processes.

Chuck Reynolds


Marketing Dept
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.
Interested or have Questions. Call me 559-474-4614

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Essential Inbound Marketing Strategies for Every Startup

Essential Inbound Marketing Strategies for Every Startup

 

Inbound marketing has become increasingly popular

in the marketing and advertising world for the last several years, and it's no surprise why. While traditional outbound ad campaigns attempt to persuade unfamiliar audiences with sales-y messages, "inbound" campaigns focus on the value they can provide users. And that prompts those users to naturally gravitate to those business when the need arises. Generally, inbound marketing strategies are less expensive, hold a wider range of benefits and, over the long term, will generate a higher rate of return. So, if these benefits resonate with you, consider the following inbound marketing strategies, which are among the most popular. At this point, they're essential for all new startups:

On-site content marketing.

On-site content marketing is useful in a number of ways. Not only does new content drive new readers to your site, it keeps your existing readers and customers engaged with your brand, allowing you to maximize client retention. You'll have to provide highly detailed, original and valuable content, which isn't always easy or straightforward; but, with a steady stream of high-quality content, you'll find that the advantages can be enormous. Content marketing also provides syndication fuel to your social media and email campaigns and boosts your search rankings (more on this momentarily). In a recent survey I conducted, of 357 marketers, 93 percent of respondents said they planned to increase or keep their on-site content marketing budgets the same. That's pretty high praise for the power of on-site content!

Off-site content marketing.

Your off-site content marketing campaign will function in a similar manner, prompting you to provide well-written, targeted, valuable content, but instead of publishing it on your own site, you'll be publishing it on another site (hopefully, a major media publication!). The advantage here is the opportunity to gain visibility with new audiences, who may not have heard of you otherwise. You'll get referral traffic, and your brand reputation will steadily grow as you work your way up to bigger and better publishers. Here's an article I recently wrote to help entrepreneurs get started with off-site content marketing: "5 Ways to Get Media Coverage as a Startup."

Search engine optimization (SEO).

On-site and off-site content marketing will provide you substantial fuel for increasing your search visibility. On-site content attracts inbound links, while off-site content directly builds links to your site. The more high-quality, valuable inbound links your website has, the higher it will rank in search engines. In fact, a recent report from Google noted that two of the top three ranking factors in the algorithm were content and inbound links. But there are other, more technical components to SEO you'll need to implement to boost your inbound traffic from search engines. These include optimizing for mobile devices, improving site speed and targeting strategic niche keyword phrases. It's a time-intensive strategy, but it pays off in spades.

 Social media marketing.

Organic social media marketing has taken its fair share of hits, but it remains one of the most effective strategies for generating new visibility. You have the power to engage with almost anyone in the world through social media, gradually building up a loyal audience (as long as you're consistently providing valuable insights and material).

Throw your on-site and off-site content into syndication here, and your followers will have even more reason to stick around. Alone, social media can generate a steady stream of traffic to your site, and build your brand, but its real power is amplifying the effects of your other inbound marketing strategies. According to the same survey referenced earlier, 65 percent of respondents — the highest percentage across 10 marketing strategies included in the survey — said they believed that social media marketing was poised to become even more effective in the next five years.

Influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing is relatively simple in concept, but it's a little more difficult to carry out practically. The idea is to target "influencers" in your industry –these are thought leaders, movers, and shakers who hold the best reputations and the biggest portions of audiences in your niche. By working with these influencers on joint content projects or even just innocuous exchanges on social media, you'll cross-pollinate your audiences (oftentimes for mutual benefit), and earn a better reputation by proxy.

The hardest part is identifying the influencers most likely to benefit your brand and persuading them to engage with your campaign. Influencer marketing seems to be the most cutting-edge strategy on this list, evidenced by the highest percentage of marketers (38 percent) agreeing to a statement on the survey — in this case saying they were "not currently using this strategy, but plan[ned] to in the future."

Email newsletters.

I hesitated to include email newsletters on this list, since email marketing in general might be considered an outbound strategy. However, email newsletters usually revolve around the provision of content to subscribers, increasing their loyalty and retention while simultaneously setting up a recurring traffic stream back to your site. Because your content is providing value to your readers and subscribers, and you're not just using it as a way to advertise your products and services, it can be considered a form of inbound marketing. Additionally, email marketing may be a relatively low-hanging fruit: In the survey, email marketing was reported as the second-easiest tactic to perform, but one that provided the fifth-highest ROI of the ten strategies included.

Personal branding.

Finally, personal branding may be used in conjunction with almost any of the strategies above. For example, you might have some of your upper-level team members post more on-site content and reach out to major publications for guest-posting opportunities, or even to become contributors in order to fuel an off-site content strategy.

Chuck Reynolds


Marketing Dept
Contributor

Please click either Link to Learn more about -Inbound Marketing.

Interested or have Questions. Call me 559-474-4614

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Blockchain Technology’s Next Big Superstar

Blockchain Technology’s
Next Big Superstar

 

ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) are on the rise, as more startups

turn towards blockchain-based platforms to raise funds. Just during the first half of 2017, startups raised a record of $1.27 billion through ICOs.The rise of ICOs has also resulted in the growing popularity of Bitshares and Ethereum, two of the most well known cryptocurrency platforms. ICOs use these cryptocurrency protocols to create digital currencies on top of these platforms.However, several issues are starting to arise with ICOs related to fraud and “illegal fundraising”. China, for example, just banned ICOs as forms of new digital currencies in order to prevent fundraising scams.

The illegitimate nature behind ICOs are a result of two things. First off, when doing an ICO, a company should develop its own tokens, which requires an in-depth understanding of blockchain principles and technology. Secondly, companies involved with an ICO are also operating in the real world and will have little use for the crypocurrency they raise. This means that ICO tokens should also be exchangeable for fiat currency, in order to pay for salaries, services, legal fees, etc.

A Cryptocurrency Platform For “The Real World”

Clearly, there is still much work to be done to further legitimize blockchain-based networks and ensure the growth of ICOs. And to make sure that the blockchain bubble won’t burst anytime soon, industry leaders are taking action to promote the growth of this revolutionary technology.For example, Sasha Ivanov is an expert in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Sasha graduated from the Faculty of Theoretical Physics at Moscow State University (MSU), undertaking further postgraduate study at Leipzig University in Germany. He took an early interest in electronic currencies and became involved in programming bots to trade on the international Forex markets, later working on trading operations and neural network trading systems for banks.

In order to further legitimize the ICO process, Sasha founded Waves in 2016, an open source cryptocurrency platform that allows individuals to issue and transfer custom blockchain tokens, and trade them on an integrated peer-to-peer exchange. After crowdfunding 30,000 bitcoins at a market value of $16 million, Waves has become the fifth largest crowdfunded blockchain project. Currently, the overall Waves token capitalization exceeds $400 million. Many startups have held multi-million dollar ICOs on the Waves Platform, including MobileGo, ZrCoin, and Encryptotel.

What makes Waves so successful is its unique features that differentiates it from other cryptocurrency platforms. Waves emphasizes custom token creation, transfer and decentralized trading, with deep fiat integration and a focus on community-backed projects. Waves is designed to make it extremely easy for anyone – not just startups and companies – to crowdfund a project using a blockchain token or to launch their own blockchain initiative.Waves is particularly focused on ensuring that the benefits of blockchain technology is accessible to mainstream businesses as well as individuals. All transactions are verified by the network, which uses a proof-of-stake consensus, unlike bitcoin’s energy-intensive

proof-of-work.

Waves is a cryptocurrency platform focused on building a bridge between the crypto world and the real world that we live in. I hope Waves can integrate blockchain technology into our everyday lives to help individuals and businesses become more transparent,” Sasha said.

It Starts With A Village

While many startups have already demonstrated multi-million dollar ICOs on the Waves Platform, individuals are now looking towards Waves to raise funds – even those located in tiny villages.

In April, a small Russian village known as Kolionovo (located outside of Moscow), became the first village ever to launch a blockchain-based ICO to help fund the development of farm land. The project was called the “Kolionovo Ecosystem” and was carried out on the Waves platform.Unlike other ICOs, the Kolionovo Ecosystem emphasized that the project should not be viewed as an investment opportunity promising high returns, but should only be considered as a crowdfunding tool for development of the Kolionovo ecosystem – a system of local production and consumption, which has been successfully operating for over a decade.

In 2014, with the help of the local printing company, the farmer behind the Kolionovo project printed 20,000 Kolions (its ICO tokens), which basically looked like loan-certificates. The key advantage of Kolions is that this cryptocurrency is not linked to any traditional currency. Rather, it is linked to actual product and serves as an instrument for barter, allowing shareholders to purchase a number of products and goods with a discount of up to 100 percent.

Other notable and unique ICOs hosted on the Waves Platform has been ZrCoin, which offers the first ever blockchain option for investing in the production of a high-demand industrial material. ZrCoin raised a total of seven hundred thousand dollars from their ICO on the Waves Platform. Blackmoon Crypto [RW1] also launched their ICO on the Waves Platform, seeking to bridge the gap between cryptocurrency and conventional investments.

Blockchain’s Next Superstar

Just like any other emerging technology, ICOs will face a number of challenges. However, as more companies and individuals adopt blockchain technology, the benefits of doing an ICO will become more apparent. Additionally, new platforms are being created that are aimed to solve the common problems associated with Bitshares and Ethereum. Fortunately, Sasha has created Waves to allow companies, as well as individuals, the opportunity to launch an ICO. Bringing blockchain to the masses is a revolutionary step in the crypto world, which means Sasha could well be on his way to becoming blockchain’s next big superstar – only time will tell.

Chuck Reynolds


Marketing Dept
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.
Interested or have Questions. Call me 559-474-4614

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Blockchain Firms Ripple, R3 File Dueling Lawsuits Over Crypto Contract Dispute

Blockchain Firms Ripple, R3 File Dueling Lawsuits Over Crypto Contract Dispute

 

Distributed ledger startups Ripple and R3

have become embroiled in a new legal battle, with both startups filing lawsuits related to a contract dispute between the two firms. Ripple alleged in a complaint filed today in the Supreme Court of California that R3 failed to honor an agreement that included an option to purchase 5 billion XRP, the cryptocurrency of Ripple's distributed ledger network. According to Reuters, R3 asked the Delaware Chancery Court to uphold the deal, which would have allowed it to buy the XRP at a price of $0.0085 per token before September 2019. Currently, XRP is currently trading at roughly $0.21 apiece, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

A copy of R3's complaint was not available at press time. According to Ripple's complaint, R3 and Ripple allegedly struck a deal to create a joint commercial venture, which would have followed an earlier test, centered around XRP, that involved a number of banks involved with R3's consortium effort. In the complaint, Ripple accused R3 of failing to uphold its end of the bargain as its fundraising efforts picked up steam, ultimately concluding with a $107 million funding round announced this spring. Ripple also accused R3 of hiding the fact that several of its consortium members, including Goldman Sachs and Banco Santander, among others, were looking to exit the group despite promises of advancing XRP to the banks involved.

A spokesperson for Ripple told CoinDesk in a statement:

"Our filing is straightforward – R3 misrepresented their ability and intent to deliver on their commitments. Given XRP’s ~4000% increase over the course of the year, R3 suddenly wants to tap into the value of XRP, though the facts are clear that they did not earn any option based on our agreement. We wish them well as they continue to try and build their consulting practice. In the meantime, Ripple is focused on serving our ecosystem of nearly 100 customers and signing up more."

When reached, a representative for R3 declined to offer specifics on the case but struck an optimistic note about the firm's prospects in court. "R3 does not discuss the details of pending litigation," the spokesman said. "We are confident in our position and hope for a speedy resolution of this matter." The suit is a notable one, given that R3 and Ripple are two of the industry's best-funded startups and both focus their products primarily toward financial institutions. R3 and Ripple have raised $107 million and $96 million, respectively, in venture capital to date.

Chuck Reynolds


Marketing Dept
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.
Interested or have Questions. Call me 559-474-4614

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Equifax Hack: 3 Investors Sold $18 Mln Shares in Unclear Transaction

Equifax Hack:
3 Investors Sold $18 Mln Shares in Unclear Transaction

 

Three Equifax investors sold $17.8 mln in shares

days before the company announced it had suffered one of the biggest hacks in history. As Reuters reports Friday, the shares sold three days after Equifax knew of the hack, and it was as yet “not clear whether these transactions were part of a pre-arranged sales plan.”

The credit giant has said that hackers gained entry to sensitive information from an unprecedented 143 mln accounts between May and July. Data such as names, social security and driver’s license numbers fell into the hands of malicious parties, along with 209,000 credit card numbers. Larger than any comparable attack in the US, Equifax is due to publish a report into the events in the coming weeks, while commentators highlight the vulnerability of centralized information storage.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, this is a 10,” an analyst told Reuters.  

“It affects the whole credit reporting system in the United States because nobody can recover it, everyone uses the same data.”

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence vice-president Mike Warner went even further, describing the breach as “representing a real threat to the economic security of Americans.” Legacy infrastructure is becoming an increasingly difficult topic to avoid as hackers launch ever more sophisticated attacks affecting hundreds of businesses and other organizations at once. WannaCry, the Bitcoin ransomware attack which appeared in May, partly achieved its international success due to the inadequate and outdated software still used by prominent entities.

Bitcoin Congressman Polis Legislation Abolishes Tax For US Crypto Payments Below $600

 

Bitcoin-friendly congressman Jared Polis has introduced legislation

that could allow US citizens to pay in cryptocurrency without reporting it for tax. The Cryptocurrency Tax Fairness Act, a bipartisan effort with Republican David Schweikert, aims to give everyone a $600 leeway to use crypto without needing to submit a tax return to the IRS later.

Bitcoin and virtual currencies are still classed as property in the US, obligating users to report any form of gains or losses on holdings each tax year, regardless of amount. The issue is especially poignant in 2017, as the US’s largest exchange Coinbase battles the IRS in what consumers and politicians alike have criticized as an “overly broad” tax investigation. “To keep up with modern technology, we need to remove outdated restrictions on cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, and other methods of digital payment,” Polis said in a

press release Thursday.  

“By cutting red tape and eliminating onerous reporting requirements, it will allow cryptocurrencies to further benefit consumers and help create good jobs.”

Washington is currently home to the Blockchain Caucus, a joint initiative begun in February by Polis aiming to increase education and awareness of virtual currency among the echelons of US politics. Commenting on the new act, Coin Center CEO Jerry Brito, who worked with Polis on the Caucus, said it would create a “level playing field.”

“We applaud Representatives Polis and Schweikert for their leadership in introducing the Cryptocurrency Tax Fairness Act, which would treat cryptocurrencies similarly to how foreign currency is now treated and relieve users from having to keep track of small personal transactions,” he said. “Not only will this create a level playing field for digital currencies, it will also help unleash innovation on applications like micropayments, which can consist of dozens of transactions per minute and thus are difficult to square with the current law.”

Chuck Reynolds


Marketing Dept
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.
Interested or have Questions. Call me 559-474-4614

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

How Blockchain Technology is Taking Gambling Industry to New Level

How Blockchain Technology is Taking Gambling Industry to New Level

 

Blockchain technology has been slowly creeping into our lives,

and today its presence can be felt like never before, with Google search trends showing new records and the collective cryptocurrency market cap being at its highest. However, there are certain industries with which Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies have been able to connect with on a deeper level, and gambling is one such industry. The symbiosis between crypto and gambling doesn't seem to be getting weaker either. Malta, a country that is known as a pioneer in the gambling industry, is planning to legalize the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies at online casinos, and is currently exploring the best options to do so. Yes, the future looks bright for these two, so let's take a look at how Blockchain technology is changing the gambling industry today.

Private, cheap, legal and accessible

Using cryptocurrencies for gambling has become a widely popular solution for casinos, either as a main payment system or as an alternative to fiat-based ones. The advantages are many and well documented. Using cryptocurrencies allows the user to gamble anonymously, without the need to hand over copies of documents or even create an account, depending on the platform. Smaller fees and almost-instant deposit times, have also made cryptocurrencies ideal for gambling, especially when it comes to small to medium movements. Lastly, cryptocurrencies have also been able to make online gambling accessible again, providing a low entry barrier for new players and allowing them to circumvent gambling regulations that apply to fiat only.

Probably fair

We all know that the house always wins. That’s why people build casinos in the first place, right? It’s all about making a profit in the long run, while the customer gets to enjoy himself and win big sometimes. Over time, however, the casino is always sure to make a profit and gamblers have grown to accept this.

Problems arise, however, with the lack of transparency that is prone to online casinos. If the gambler cannot be sure that the casino is indeed playing by the rules, he may not want to enter the game at all. However, cryptography has made it possible for gambling platforms to prove that they are indeed honest. Although this concept was not made possible by Blockchain technology itself, but rather by cryptography, Blockchain technology and smart contracts have taken it to the next level, allowing for more complex systems.

Decentralize everything!

Although Bitcoin is not the first cryptocurrency in history, it was the first one to provide a decentralized structure. This model allows not only for immutability and security, but also for a democratization of value creation. In Bitcoin, anyone can become a miner, profiting from newly issued coins, something that only bankers knew prior to Satoshi's masterpiece.

Blockchain technology brings this same characteristic to gambling, allowing anyone to be a member of the casino itself. Although some Bitcoin casinos allow users to fund the casinos and profit from a share of the house edge, these concept has been taken to the next level by crypto platforms like Ethereum, where projects like vSlice and many others have created a system where token holders receive automatic dividends from the profits generated by the platform. Wager, on the other hand, employs its own Blockchain network to provide a decentralized sportsbetting platform in which event outcomes are reported by a network of oracle masternodes.

The wisdom of the crowds

The wisdom of the crowds is a concept that is currently under the spotlight in the cryptosphere. Several projects leverage Blockchain technology to create decentralized prediction markets where users can bet on the outcome of an event, and having data from the event outcome introduced in a trustless manner. Although prediction markets were around before the Blockchain, their centralized structure grew far too problematic. Not only do these markets allow users to bet on pretty much anything, from the weather to sports events and elections, the data generated by the collective bets can also create a fairly accurate forecast on the outcome of that event. Magos, a complex forecasting model, leverages neural network technology to mine this data and filter it, creating highly accurate forecasts and positive returns for token holders.   

Saving the day

As we can see, cryptocurrencies and their underlying technology, the Blockchain, are changing the very fabric of online gambling. This affinity can be partially explained by human nature. Blockchain tech has come as a highly disruptive solution to problems that are inherent to many systems in our society and economy. In the gambling industry, these problems were heavily felt and crypto came just in time to save the day.

Chuck Reynolds


Marketing Dept
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Venezuela Cracks Down On Cryptocurrency Mining

Venezuela Cracks Down On Cryptocurrency Mining

Venezuela Cracks Down On Cryptocurrency Mining

Venezuela Cracks Down On Cryptocurrency Mining
 

Cryptocurrency mining has become an important source of income in Venezuela, a country ravaged by hyperinflation, but it has also become hazardous as police are cracking down on people they suspect of using too much electricity.

Venezuelans have turned to cryptocurrencies as inflation has ravaged the official bolivar, which has lost 99.4% of its value since 2012. As a result, mining has become more lucrative, and a way for people to earn money to pay for basic living expenses, according to CNBC.

 

Desperation Drives People To Mining

One miner, who agreed to speak only anonymously, became a miner because his $43 monthly salary couldn’t support his family. He began mining illegally by using government computers where he worked, and eventually quit his government job to mine at home.

Another miner who has since fled to the U.S. said mining kept him out of poverty in Venezuela. He said one mining rig will produce enough income to feed a family.

Another woman who works three jobs said mining produces 80% of her $120 monthly income. She said mining has allowed her to support herself and her daughter.

One man said the easiest way to acquire commodities in Venezuela is to use cryptocurrency to buy things on purse.io. He said he orders staples like soap and deodorant and has a courier deliver them to his office.

Miners often turn to online forums to learn how to mine.

 

Government Cracks Down

While mining has become a necessity to many, it has also become dangerous since it is illegal and police arrest people they suspect of using too much electricity. Subsidized electricity in Venezuela keeps the cost of mining down, but the government monitors its use carefully.

In 2016, two men in Valencia were arrested on charges of energy theft and possessing contraband. Since then, arrests have increased. One police official said the offenders are exploiting resources without documentation. A Reddit post said miners in the country are being arrested and charged with terrorism, money laundering and other crimes.

One 23-year-old who said he earned $20 a day mining Ethereum when the currency was at its price peak said he lives in fear of being arrested. Another miner said he was approached by intelligence officials who asked him why he was consuming so much power from his home. He said he moved to another location.

Still another miner said he conceals his electrical footprint by splitting his mining equipment across three locations. He pays neighbors to use their electricity for his mining.

Joe Lubin, Ethereum co-founder, said cryptocurrencies, despite their volatility, are integral to survival in places where natural currencies are spiraling out of control.

 

Author: Lester Coleman on 03/09/2017

 

 

Posted By David Ogden Entrepreneur

David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden