Great find, and example of how it could improve your overall portfolio.
Bitcoin: a way to enhance returns
In addition to helping mitigate downside risk, an investment in bitcoin can also enhance overall portfolio
returns. For example, Figure 4 illustrates the performance of a sample globally-allocated portfolio of
stocks, bonds, commodities, and cash held over a 12-mo investment horizon. In a traditional investor’s
portfolio, for example, with a larger weighting to stocks and a smaller allocation to cash, the return of
this hypothetical base portfolio would have been -6.9%.
In our low-rate and slow-growth environment, investors have been looking to alternative assets to boost
returns. An alternative asset to consider adding to a portfolio is bitcoin. Given the low correlation to
other assets, and decreasing volatility, investing in bitcoin could help boost gains, while adding minimal
risk to one’s overall portfolio. When we reallocate a portion of commodities into bitcoin within the
aforementioned base portfolio, the total performance improves by about 2.3%, with the portfolio only
returning -4.6%. The portfolio’s risk remains fairly similar as measured by the portfolio’s annual standard
deviation. While past performance is no guarantee of future results, this illustrates the value in adding
bitcoin to enhance returns, without necessarily taking on additional risk. In particular, reallocating funds
from an existing alternative asset such as commodities into a growth asset such as bitcoin improves
performance |
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This is why I will never trust the banks with their own private blockchain!! 100 different financial institutions in 30 different countries were involved. Bangladesh central bank chief resigns after $101 million heistThe chief of Bangladesh's central bank has resigned after losing $101 million in a bank heist that spanned at least four countries and raised questions over the international banking system's vulnerability to cyberattack. A spokesman for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the resignation of Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman was accepted on Tuesday. Fazle Kabir, a former finance minister, has been chosen as Rahman's replacement. Bank robbers successfully made five transfers out of Bangladesh Bank's account at the New York Fed in early February. The request appeared to come from a Bangladesh server, and the thieves supplied the correct bank codes to authenticate the transfers, the New York Fed said. Officials in Bangladesh suggested that hackers were to blame. The New York Fed maintains that it was not hacked. Spoofing servers is a common technique that hackers use to steal money and hide their tracks. It's akin to placing a phone call using a number from another area code -- your call could be coming from Los Angeles but appear to be coming from Chicago. It's unclear how the robbers obtained the correct bank codes, however. Most of the stolen funds ended up in accounts located in the Philippines, while roughly $20 million went to Sri Lanka. Bangladesh Bank said it has recovered all the money it lost to Sri Lankan accounts, and was "working closely" with authorities in the Philippines to recover the remaining funds. The robbers tried to steal $850 million more, but the New York Fed denied those transactions. It's not clear why the $101 million in Bangladesh Bank funds was allowed to be transferred to third-party accounts in foreign countries. The Bangladesh central bank said it was hopeful that all of the missing funds would be returned "We are optimistic about recovering the money we lost," said AFM Asaduzzaman, a spokesman for Bangladesh Bank, prior to Rahman's resignation. Rahman could not immediately be reached for comment. http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/15/technology/bangladesh-bank-new-york-fed-bank-robbers-resign/index.html?iid=hp-stack-domThat is unfortunate and very understandable concerns. There has been a lot of talk about private blockchains, centralized and semi centralized currencies, and the fact remains that a decentralized system is superior for everyone's protection. Though I can understand their interest and want to create a centralized solution. |
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This is pretty cool, will be interesting to follow along to see where it leads: USAA Expands Bitcoin Integration to All MembersUSAA is expanding its bitcoin integration by allowing all accountholders to connect and view balances on Coinbase from its USAA.com website following its November pilot program.
In a post today, USAA called the pilot run successful and stated that support for the mobile app would likely be rolled out in March. Both USAA.com and the USAA mobile apps were part of the initial trial. |
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No doubt fractional reserve is a problem, but I dont believe you can just rip it away without serious consequences. DNotes plan makes the most sense to me, to become a global supplemental digital currency, over time this can be a pathway to replacement of fractional reserve systems and debt based economy.
The double spending attack is just thrown in there without any regards to context. This is why we have confirmations, to prevent double spending.
Its a shame, and, irresponsible when the media uses terms and references they don't really understand. Reporters are more interested in the page view than the content and that is becoming a big problem across the board not just crypto-currency. There's a very old saying the media needs to re-aquaint itself with: "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt." This is one of the worst instances of misinformation. It can be said that bitcoin was created to solve the double spending issue of digital currency as one of the primary objectives. |
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Found this interesting piece on coindesk. Bitcoin and Public Blockchains Will Power the Smart Contracts Revolution[...] Target market
But who needs this service? Why would someone seek an environment where such un-alterable settlement would offer any efficiency? Well, like all things blockchain, these features will find their efficiency through any agency that stands to gain from the regulatory benefits of not having custody of funds.
Or, better still, these features would offer efficiencies in the world of the underserviced, where custodians for these funds are either unavailable – or worse still, to be found amongst the company of problematic institutions without insurance or verified holdings.
At the moment, two distinct classes of 'blockchains' are tackling this market: public blockchains such as bitcoin, and distributed ledgers (sometimes labelled "private blockchains").
However, both systems have shortcomings in their current forms that are impacting their ability to find widespread adoption.
Private blockchains miss the efficiencies of smart contracts in a number of obvious ways.
Chiefly, bearer assets are not supported, and thus value of any kind is not escrowed. This means that despite the outcomes in which a "distributed ledger" or "private blockchain" determines how funds should be routed, moderation and regulatory hurdles will nonetheless be present at the time funds are delivered through an incumbent network.
This begs the question as to why the custodian of the funds doesn't just execute a user's code on their own servers, perhaps with a cryptographically verifiable receipt. Thus far, users haven't needed such features on registered assets, and the jury's out as to whether there will be any efficiency here going forward.
If you believe that the 'blockchain' was the invention of digital bearer assets by Satoshi Nakamoto, then public blockchains are necessarily where all smart contract efficiencies will manifest. However, these systems are also encumbered with non-trivial technical hurdles.
Primarily, the notion of "fungibility" is still the source of a large part of the burden for these systems, as it would be assumed that securities for which a bearer could be reversibly determined will still enable regulators and moderators to exercise roadblocks in a smart contract's execution.
Thus far, only the bitcoin blockchain is tackling this hurdle, with promising developments in the form of "confidential transactions" and even "coin joining".
Another hurdle that still remains the source of much debate in the public blockchain space is that of the "Hash Strength" of a public blockchain. Put simply, this strength represents the amount of energy burned to secure a blockchain.
As the financial gains for those executing contracts in a public blockchain increases, so too does the incentive for an attacker to disrupt that blockchain. In the case of bitcoin, the cost to disrupt the blockchain is approximately $1m US dollars per day, which is formidable, though still a bit too small for the aspirations of many large institutions.
And for comparison, the next largest public smart contract platform, Ethereum, is trivially dismissable at a current "hashrate" of about $25,000 usd per day.[...] One note I wanted to make on "cost to disrupt the blockchain" being 1m US per day, or Ethereum being 25k per day. I feel this statement trivializes what it would actually take. That figure might be close to accurate, assuming you could actually rent or purchase that much hashrate on a daily basis, and the owners who rented it to you would allow it to be used for such a purpose. The initial investment required for that kind of equipment would be more like 300 million, assuming you could find enough manufacturers who could produce that kind of output in a reasonable timeframe. Never mind the cost and limitations of running that kind of equipment. Otherwise a pretty good article. |
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Should be good make another pool for DNotes ?
I was mining for a long time in DNotespool, is sad, but just now pool not have enought hash to run profitable. long long time between blocks found
im having issues of loosing hash, i conect 7 mhash 2 days pass i have 6 mhash two days pass i have 5 mhash 1 week i have little bit moar than 4.3 mhash, maybe i just a sucker blowing my internet just to know if this happen to other miners in pool or is just my problem.
Good weekend 4all
VERY interesting! I've experienced the exact same thing. Start with around 80 MH/s and watch it slowly drop over a period of several days until it's down to 4 to 5 MH/S. This happens AFTER the DIFF settles. If I reset the miners and reconnect, it goes back to normal and repeats the cycle. I thought it was my end for while but don't seem to have the issue on most other pools although a couple do the same thing but over a much longer time period. Any ideas would be welcome... I can't say with certainty, but I believe that is because the way vardiff is setup on DNotesPool. Maybe you can give me a few examples of ones that do not do it so I can see what the difference might be? Also, for DNotes supporters who wish support DNotes by mining at a dedicated pool, send me a PM and I will setup an additional reward structure if you want to dedicate some of your hashing power to a DNotes dedicated pool over the next 6-12 months. One example of a pool that remains quite steady is the Gulden pool at: http://nlg.hardcoreminers.comAhh, do you use the static difficulty ports? |
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Digital Currency Weekly Recap 3-13-2016Coinfest UK Begins April 8th in Manchester Vietnam Issues Digital Currency Warning Russian Ministry Calls for Jailing Digital Currency Issuers RSCoin: A Centralized Bitcoin Knock-off for Central Banks Everywhere Crypto Charting Platform Coinigy Takes New Venture Top Prize Satori Coin Introduced in Japan http://dcebrief.com/digital-currency-weekly-recap-3-13-2016/ Wish I was in the UK, Coinfest looks like something I would like to attend. What day is Chris speaking? Chris will be presenting at 3PM on the 9th. It sounds great, I would like to attend as well. |
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Digital Currency Weekly Recap 3-13-2016Coinfest UK Begins April 8th in Manchester Vietnam Issues Digital Currency Warning Russian Ministry Calls for Jailing Digital Currency Issuers RSCoin: A Centralized Bitcoin Knock-off for Central Banks Everywhere Crypto Charting Platform Coinigy Takes New Venture Top Prize Satori Coin Introduced in Japan http://dcebrief.com/digital-currency-weekly-recap-3-13-2016/
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She has my vote! At 12 I doubt even gave a second thought to where money came, she is one smart cookie. |
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Should be good make another pool for DNotes ?
I was mining for a long time in DNotespool, is sad, but just now pool not have enought hash to run profitable. long long time between blocks found
im having issues of loosing hash, i conect 7 mhash 2 days pass i have 6 mhash two days pass i have 5 mhash 1 week i have little bit moar than 4.3 mhash, maybe i just a sucker blowing my internet just to know if this happen to other miners in pool or is just my problem.
Good weekend 4all
VERY interesting! I've experienced the exact same thing. Start with around 80 MH/s and watch it slowly drop over a period of several days until it's down to 4 to 5 MH/S. This happens AFTER the DIFF settles. If I reset the miners and reconnect, it goes back to normal and repeats the cycle. I thought it was my end for while but don't seem to have the issue on most other pools although a couple do the same thing but over a much longer time period. Any ideas would be welcome... I can't say with certainty, but I believe that is because the way vardiff is setup on DNotesPool. Maybe you can give me a few examples of ones that do not do it so I can see what the difference might be? Also, for DNotes supporters who wish support DNotes by mining at a dedicated pool, send me a PM and I will setup an additional reward structure if you want to dedicate some of your hashing power to a DNotes dedicated pool over the next 6-12 months. |
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Blockchain Weekly Recap 3-12-2016German Regulators Begin to Examine Blockchain Germany’s RWE Examining Blockchain Tech for Charging Stations TMX Hires Ethereum Founder as Exchange Moves to Explore Blockchain Deloitte Report Suggests Blockchain Could Surpass ACH Network in Nine Years Blockchain Sneaker Authentication Startup Chronicled Reports $3.4 Million Funding Guardtime Blockchain System to Secure 1 Million Estonian Healthcare Records http://dcebrief.com/blockchain-weekly-recap-3-12-2016/
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Should be good make another pool for DNotes ?
I was mining for a long time in DNotespool, is sad, but just now pool not have enought hash to run profitable. long long time between blocks found
im having issues of loosing hash, i conect 7 mhash 2 days pass i have 6 mhash two days pass i have 5 mhash 1 week i have little bit moar than 4.3 mhash, maybe i just a sucker blowing my internet just to know if this happen to other miners in pool or is just my problem.
Good weekend 4all
I encourage everyone to support the individual pools. But I do understand the problem, it's tough to compete with the multipools and such, and they make it difficult to make a good profit when they have the moajority of the hashing power. It is a self perpetuating problem, the more hash power they have, the more attractive it is to switch. As we grow it will become less of a problem, in the meantime I can only ask for your support. Thanks! |
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Notable mention for smart politician.  U.S. Congressman Seeks Blockchain Experts To Educate LawmakersBlockchain is gaining notice from at least one member of the U.S.Congress, according to TechTarget. U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., called on attendees at the DC Blockchain Summit in Washington, D.C. to educate lawmakers about the technology’s benefits so that lawmakers can address it in a way that benefits the economy as opposed to excessive regulation. Schweikert, who serves on the House of Representatives’ Financial Services Committee, noted banks are scrambling to ensure blockchain technology doesn’t disintermediate them. He said he has followed cryptocurrencies for a number of years. Congress Needs EducationOnly six or seven fellow Congress members understand the basic mechanics of the distributed ledger, Schweikert said. When The Economist published a cover story about blockchain technology last October, the Financial Services Committee bought dozens of copies to distribute to members of Congress to help bring them up to speed. Banks and other financial services companies are scared that blockchain technology will put them out of business, he said. He wondered if the technology poses a disruptive threat to those in the money transfer business, the credit card infrastructure business, and the old processing systems. Blockchain’s PotentialSchweikert recognized the benefits blockchain technology can provide. He said it has the potential to enable peer-to-peer value transfer between people — without requiring a government or bank to execute the transaction. He said this is a major threat to regional and community banks. This threat is particularly pronounced considering there are millions worldwide who up until now have been “unbankable” — lacking access to a bank account and therefore can’t participate in a credit-based economy. With blockchain technology, a mobile phone and cryptocurrency, the unbankable can join the economy without ever doing business with a bank. This market represents a huge lost opportunity to financial services companies. Financial Services Are At RiskBanks aren’t the only businesses facing disintermediation, he said. Any company acting as an intermediary in financial transactions is at risk. “Say you want to sell stock,” he said. “Could I buy it directly from you and never have to have it land in another platform?” While banks’ biggest problems once revolved around regulatory compliance requirements, the biggest threats they now face are cryptocurrencies. Schweikert called on his audience, which included many blockchain technology advocates, to take action. He implored them that if they have relationships with “those of my kind, those of us who get elected and think we already know everything” to educate them on the benefits before the “control freaks” find a way to destroy the positive things blockchain could do for the economy and for the world. https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/u-s-congressman-calls-on-dc-blockchain-summit-to-educate-lawmakers-to-help-the-global-economy/Excellent article, kudos Schweikert! |
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I found this article to be very well written and helpful. The Case for Banks to Use Open, Public BlockchainsMarc Andreessen, the venture capitalist and inventor of the early web browser Mosaic, had it right when he tweeted in December: "Big companies desperately hoping for blockchain without Bitcoin is exactly like 1994: Can't we please have online without Internet?"
In the mid-90s, the advent of the Web led to private companies attempting to create proprietary information-sharing networks (think AOL and CompuServe.) But the Internet as we know it today won out over every single private network because it was not restricted to the big players and bogged down by proprietary protocols.
Banks are at risk of making the same mistake today as they show surprising interest in private distributed ledgers, or private blockchains, rather than put their intellectual capital to use on features that enhance the appeal of public blockchains and the virtual currencies – such as bitcoin – enabled by open-source ledger systems.
If the Internet and the web have taught us anything, it is that groundbreaking technology is often built on top of open protocols in a level playing field where anyone can innovate regardless of size and influence. Companies like Google and Facebook are possible precisely due to the open nature of the web.
There is no doubt that the use of private distributed ledgers can provide immediate improvements to some of the creaking infrastructure underlying the financial services industry, especially in the back office of securities settlement. But the financial industry's interest in building proprietary networks is, as Andreessen put it, like having "online without Internet."There is more, but that was a good chunk that I was impressed with. |
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Bitcoin Weekly Recap 3-11-2016BitQuick Now Using BitGo Instant BitAccess Announces Bitcoin Purchase Option across Canada Coinbase Announces Debit Card Bitcoin Purchase Feature BitPay Report Shows Rising Bitcoin Business to Business Payments Consensus Escapes Satoshi Roundtable http://dcebrief.com/bitcoin-weekly-recap-3-11-2016/
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Very cool. That would be nice if we had this option locally too. Let us know how it goes! That was pretty easy! These are the instructions posted in the article: Buying a Flexepin bitcoin voucher is like purchasing a gift card. It is bought from a store cashier. Once the purchase is made, a voucher is provided in the form of a receipt. In 60 seconds, the receipt can then be redeemed for the cash equivalent of bitcoin.
In just 3 steps, anyone can quickly buy bitcoin:
1. Find a store by visiting Bitaccess.
2. Pay the store cashier for a Flexepin voucher. If the cashier is unable to find Flexepin, tell them it is on the prepaid machine and is just like a paysafecard.
3. Redeem the voucher at https://bitcoin.bitaccess.co/ to add bitcoin to a digital wallet of your choice.
Flexepin allows you to buy up to $250 worth of bitcoin per day. They come in $10, $30, $50, $100 or $250 vouchers.The cashier had never heard of Flexepin, so I did have to mention it is like a paysafecard. I bought a $10 Flexepin voucher (at a gas station) and with the fee the total was $11.49 Canadian. The fee may seem expensive to those already in the industry, but for newcomers, ease of use comes first. One thing I forgot to ask is if the fee is a flat percentage of the voucher value, or if you get a better deal if you buy a larger amount. I can't find the answer online, so I'll check the next time I'm there. - To purchase bitcoin with this voucher, you enter a mobile phone # and they send a log-in password. - Your name and address are required as per regulations. - Once logged in, you enter the 16 digit PIN number that is on the voucher as well as your Bitcoin address. The whole process (after going out and purchasing the voucher) was faster than waiting for the Bitcoin confirmations at Poloniex. That is excellent! I certainly wish they had that around here. |
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Published almost a week ago, What Happened At The Satoshi Roundtable by Brian Armstrong and Satoshi Roundtable Thoughts by Gavin Andresen. Pretty interesting reads outlining 2 very different opinions on the issue. Brian believes we need and have an interim solution though it may not be a perfect solution but it will help keep us moving forward, Gavin hopes an off-chain solution will be created if no action is taken. What I Learned at the Satoshi Roundtable by Stephen Pair, is also worth a mention, with a more in depth explanation why we may not want to raise the limit. He does mention voting mechanisms as well. |
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