As far as regulation and acceptance especially with connection to the governments, I would say that we are moving steadily though not on a trailblazing pace but still considering that Bitcoin is not that really old this is already satisfying and inspiring. There can be more positive developments coming in the coming months and years for Bitcoin as changes are slowly trek in. Working with the government and convincing them of the many advantages of regulating cryptocurrency is the name of the game...hopefully more will be joining the bandwagon soon. I am expecting that eventually India and Russia will pass laws regulating Bitcoin...these are two big markets and can be influential on how Bitcoin moves in the market.

Interesting news, indeed! Imagine they are detaining the ATM machines as if criminals in their own rights. Okay, am sure the machines are processed as big evidence of the mayhem and they also contained necessary information that can be used in filing cases against the operators of the money laundering operation. This can create a black eye against Bitcoin temporarily but this should be serving as a reminder to all of us not to use this new platform and opportunity for illegal purposes.

In the ideal world dreamed by the man named Satoshi Nakamoto, the government should have a very minimal role in the development, spread and use of Bitcoin as it is supposed to be peer-to-peer and decentralized kind of thing. However, we are living in the real world where the government has the say on almost everything in our lives much more so on any financial system in existence. Now, instead of fighting the government the industry has no choice but to work with it except in cases where it is hostile and adamant against Bitcoin.

As shown by countries like Japan, Switzerland, South Korea and many more, there would be bigger growth and positive development if the government is friendly and is making sure that the field is fair and that all players are not eating each other. In other words, regulations in place for Bitcoin or cryptocurrency can be a big catalyst for its spread and use rather than being an agent to curtail it.

While I don't see something wrong if one can be viewing cryptocurrency as an investment or a tool of speculation just like what many are doing with the physical gold, we are really longing for massive adoption and the process could be hasten if people will start to look the other side of cryptocurrency: that being a currency that can be used daily to buy anything online or even offline. We need more merchants to accept cryptocurrency and we need more buyers to use it so that there would be an exciting, pulsating and expanding business environment everybody can participate with. I am sure that Bitcoin is here to stay and will be evolving as I believe that its relatively short 10 years in history is just a foretaste of things to come.

The big point of the recent Binance hack is that nothing is really safe especially if your platform is online. And with Binance holding millions and millions of coins and tokens, the incentive for the hackers to focus and give all what they got is quite enormous...and they eventually got the prize worth around $40,000,000.

Hackers with their excellent talents and skills can be two steps ahead of the security game...this is the reason why even the best security technology can be no match to them. They are the best in finding even minute weakness or bugs of the system and they have the patience to wait for the right time to make the bite.

I am expecting that this will not be the last and there will be more dramatic and much bigger quests soon. This is also the reason why somebody should come up with a more hack-proof security system otherwise we are definitely fried in here.

We have the same opinion on this one...we should be preferring a slow and steady growth rather than a rampaging bull run that can fuel unnecessary over-speculation resulting into overheating of Bitcoin and a crash. In the next few months, we can be witnessing the climb of Bitcoin towards $7,000 to $8,000 if the same trend will persist and there will no major developments that can pull back the upward movement. Will it be possible that before 2019 ends Bitcoin can successfully trample the  $10,000 level? Well, that is not impossible but let's not expect too much on that because I am already happy with the way things are going on with Bitcoin right now.

I remember that towards the end of 2017 when Bitcoin had its biggest momentum in its history so far, there were also bad news ignored by the market and the same thing is happening right now. Does it mean that Bitcoin is already matured? I am not really sure of that because frankly speaking Bitcoin's volatility also means that it can be reacting in unpredictable ways than one. In terms of technology, Bitcoin is a continuing evolution as it is not actually perfect and there are more challenges ahead of itself. Maybe the market is right now looking with a different eye: if a negative news will not be directly affecting Bitcoin then it will not have a direct effect on its price plus there is no question that Bitcoin has been hibernating for too long it is time to awaken and make some roar.

Isa lang ang masasabi ko dito: ang Facebook ay isang malaking negosyo at wala talaga sa kanilang polisiya ang tumanggi sa mga posibleng mag-ads sa kanilang social media platform wag lang illegal ang pinapa-ads. Noon pang inanunsyo ng Facebook sa ban alam ko na ibabalik din nila ito basta susunod lang sa kanilang mga palatuntunan. Di gusto ni Mark na mawalan ng isang source of revenues kaya nila ibinalik ang mga cryptocurrency related ads. Ganyan lang yan kasimple lalo na ngayon na meron ata silang plano na gagamit din ng cryptocurrency sa kanilang mga social media sites.

Sa mga nabanggit sa itaas na mga cryptocurrency platforms dito sa Pilipinas, ang Coins.Ph lang ang ginagamit ko at wala pa akong mga accounts sa iba. Bakit ba ang Coins.Ph ang nanatiling numero uno sa Pilipinas? Isa lang ang malaking dahilan dyan: magaling sila sa marketing noon pa hanggang ngayon. Parang alam ng Coins.Ph ang kiliti nating mga Pinoy kaya naman sila ang nakakuha ng malaking market share dito sa Pilipinas at marami na din silang related services na malaki din ang pakinabang sa atin tulad na lang ng kanilang loading services na nagbibigay ng 10% rebates. Pero titingnan ko din yung ibang nabanggit dito baka meron din silang mga magagandang service offerings...

Malaki ang respeto ko sa UnionBank dahil sa kanilang pagtanggap ng cryptocurrency at pagiging tulay ng bansa para makasali tayo sa paglago ng makabagong blockchain-supported economy. Ang UnionBank ang magiging modelo ng iba pang mga malalaking bangko sa Pilipinas at pag makita nila na maganda ang cryptocurrency sigurado ako marami pa ang maenganyo na sumali na rin kasi sa ngayon marami pa ring bangko ang hindi kumbinsido sa legaledad at kaseguraduhan sa cryptocurrency. UnionBan can be the trailblazer of cryptocurrency here in the Philippines and soon they will be reaping the fruits of their labor just like what Coins.Ph is doing right now. Iisa lang talaga ang di ko gusto sa UnionBank: wala silang branch dito malapit sa amin.

Sa mundo ng online at cryptocurrency, iisa lang ang sigurado: walang ligtas kahit kanino laban sa mga magagaling na mga hackers na walang ibang ginagawa kundi makapasok sa mga malalaking exchanges at makakuha ng maraming milyon. Gaya ng nangyari sa Binance ilang araw pa lang ang lumipas. Di natin akalain na ang isang malaki at tanyag na exchange tulad ng Binance ay mabiktima ng isang hacking na nagresulta sa pagkawala ng mahigit $40 milyong dolyar.

Napaisip tuloy ako: paano na lang kaya kung ma-hack din si Coins.ph tiyak na maging isa itong malaking dagok sa mundo ng cryptocurrency dito sa Pilipinas kasi marami ng Pinoy ang umaasa sa serbisyo nito...

Kaya umaasa ako sa Coins.Ph na doblehin pa ang kanilang seguridad para sa kapakanan ng mga gumagamit nito at para na rin sa kanilang patuloy na negosyo.

Sa tingin mo, ano-ano ang mga bagay na makatulong tayong mga Coins.Ph users para sa kaligtasan nito?

I am sure that this situation can be used by many competitors of Binance as a chance to take some of the market share of the leader but how they gonna do that remains to be seen. Will they say that they have the stronger security technology that Binance is using? Or will they boast of a fund that can cover any loss due to hacking? Not unless they can convince the public that they can offer better, then I think Binance will continue its dominance most especially if people of Binance will get their acts together in assuring the users that things will gonna be fine and that they will do everything they can to ensure the same breach will never happen again. Actually, this is the real time for Binance competitors to inspect their security fences as all exchanges can be the target of hacking anytime.

We are assuming that with IEO as opposed to the usual ICO the tokens has no need to look for any exchange since the crowdsale is already there, there is lesser chance that a project can go scam or just fail and never able to reach the exchange (based on our experiences with many ICOs in the past). I am then wishing that STOs will be using the IEO route too so we can have the advantages of both platforms.

Week  9  >> 05 May - 11 May     
Twitter username: @theBitme
Twitter profile link: https://twitter.com/theBitme
Forum Username: CryptoBry
SpreadSheet: 128

1. https://twitter.com/CryptoHarborPJ/status/1124373606941618180
2. https://twitter.com/CryptoHarborPJ/status/1122076261109526528
3. https://twitter.com/CryptoHarborPJ/status/1119182311877070848
4. https://twitter.com/CryptoHarborPJ/status/1119182311877070848
5. https://twitter.com/CryptoHarborPJ/status/1116267009740697600

This can be a good option though I am doubting if this can be done now just for the sake of Binance. Maybe this can be the best time that the whole industry talk about this so that we are open for the possibility of finding solutions in case of a big hack. I am looking forward to the time when there is a set of rules and standards in dealing with this menace of the cryptocurrency industry as this will not be the last time that hackers can successfully get in and steal coins from a big exchange. In fact, am sure that with the money that hackers now have they are planning for more bigger quests soon.

In case a person has a sizable holding of digital assets, the best and the safest is to use hardware wallet. However, for people like me which only got some residual amount, then maybe the best way is to choose a good wallet and never ever share the private key. As to exchanges, choose the top ones which can guarantee of a refund in case of hacking. Another thing is to never download any wallet especially from unknown sources as hackers and phishers are using this trick in order to get into your private keys and passwords. The recent hack of Binance is making shock waves all this industry and is telling us that not even a big company like Binance is actually safe as the incentives to break the hull is quite huge.

SAFU can easily take care of this problem and if ever there is still some gap then I think Binance can also take a dip at their own funds. I think that Binance is a well-managed business and they are always prepared for the worst so this is just a little bit setback for them.

I have been intrigued with that SAFU term actually and it is just now I realized what it means and how it became the substitute for the word "safe" just like the story of the world "hodl" which is really popular.

This 3FA can be coming soon triggered by what just happened in Binance which resulted into the loss of around $40 Million dollars putting the security measures of Binance into question. Now, this can be a little bit funny, because when hackers can find out the best to go around with 3FA we can expect to get 4FA. I am then suggesting that to pole-vault the technology on this side, why not go directly to 6FA so that hackers can have a hell of time destroying its protection? Okay, am just kidding but then why not, right?

There are some coins that are also positively moving but generally speaking the altcoins are not getting benefited with the upward movement of Bitcoin. This can mean that the marketplace is now focusing too much on Bitcoin and so far there is no marked spillover unlike what we had seen in 2017 where almost all coins and tokens including many shitcoins were rejoicing. Now, does it mean that altcoins have already lost their luster and that investors are now getting wiser?  Let's see in the coming weeks how things will be unfolding.

One of the most important feature of cryptocurrency is its being irreversible. One the coin is sent, the only way for it to be back to the sender is if the receiver will do the same thing in reverse. Now, in cases of hacks, scams and frauds, it means that you better forget what you already lost as there is no way for you to recover the lost coins.

In other words, once you click the send button there is no turning back. I know that a lot of us are actually considering this a major advantage of Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency for that matter because unlike PayPal there can be no refund requests to happen.

Therefore when you are a victim of a theft, expect no one to be able to help you in recovering the coins. As one author said it, the bitcoin genie cannot be put back into the blockchain bottle.

I am wondering, can we not devise an effective and special technology that can be utilize in case of hacks or frauds? Given the advances of cryptocurrency and the blockchain we are experiencing right now, is it even possible?