It is true that two of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in China, OKCoin and Huobi, issued statements saying they would shutdown all trading between bitcoin and the Yuan. Beijing’s crackdown on bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies comes just over a week after it banned all forms of initial coin offerings (ICO), defining the activity as unauthorised fundraising – a criminal offence in China. China’s government is starting an all-out war against bitcoin and other digital currencies by banning fundraising through initial coin offerings and shutting down all mainland digital currency exchanges.

Fundraising schemes, whether through online peer-to-peer lending or pyramid sales, have often led to protests when they collapsed, making Beijing particularly wary of quickly spreading ICOs.

As far as the basics of Lightning Network is concerned, it builds an additional layer on top of the Bitcoin network that enables instant off-chain transfer of the ownership of the Bitcoin. Lightning Network utilizes bi-directional payments channels that consist of multi-signature address.  Meaning Bitcoin will be held in a multi-signature address where transaction will use a multi-sign address as their input and point at two different address as their output. The transaction inside the lighting network are not broadcasted to the bitcoin network as long the channel is open (in order to reduce the load on the blockchain). To open a channel you have to lock funds in a multi-sign address. This is with an on-chain transaction. So those funds can't be used to pay Cindy on-chain. They can't be used to pay Cindy on LN either without both Alice and Bob's approval since it's a multisig address that requires both Alice's and Bob's signature. This is how Alice is prevented from double spending.

In the recent weeks we have observed the implementation of Lightning Network in the transactions of Bitcoin. This is a very healthy news as far as the bulk of transactions and the associated fees are considered. Briefly, Lightning Network is a decentralized network using smart contract functionality in the blockchain to enable instant payments across a network of participants. It is dependent upon the technology of the blockchain. Using real Bitcoin / blockchain transactions and using its native smart-contract scripting language, it is possible to create a secure network of participants which are able to transact at high volume and high speed.

Two participants create a ledger entry on the blockchain which requires both participants to sign off on any spending of funds. Both parties create transactions which refund the ledger entry to their individual allocation, but do not broadcast them to the blockchain. They can update their individual allocations for the ledger entry by creating many transactions spending from the current ledger entry output. Only the most recent version is valid, which is enforced by blockchain-parsable smart-contract scripting. This entry can be closed out at any time by either party without any trust or custodianship by broadcasting the most recent version to the blockchain. By creating a network of these two-party ledger entries, it is possible to find a path across the network similar to routing packets on the internet. The nodes along the path are not trusted, as the payment is enforced using a script which enforces the atomicity (either the entire payment succeeds or fails) via decrementing time-locks. As a result, it is possible to conduct transactions off-blockchain without limitations.

Transactions can be made off-chain with confidence of on-blockchain enforceability. This is similar to how one makes many legal contracts with others, but one does not go to court every time a contract is made. By making the transactions and scripts parsable, the smart-contract can be enforced on-blockchain. Only in the event of non-cooperation is the court involved – but with the blockchain, the result is deterministic.

That is absolutely true. The EU governments plan to regulate cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, amid concerns they are being used for money laundering. government is planning to crack down on bitcoin as concerns grow that cryptocurrencies are being used to facilitate financial crimes and launder money. The Treasury is planning new legislation that will mean anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing rules apply to cryptocurrency in future.

New legislation will bring cryptocurrencies in line with anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing legislation by increasing transparency. It will include rules forcing traders to reveal their identities in some circumstances. Under an EU-wide plan, online platforms where currencies are traded will be made to carry out due diligence on buyers. The UK government is currently negotiating amendments to the fourth anti-money laundering directive that will bring virtual currency exchange platforms and custodian wallet providers into anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing regulation, which will result in these firms' activities being overseen by national competent authorities for these areas.

We have clear tax rules for people who use cryptocurrencies, and like all tax rules, these are kept under review. We also intend to update legislation to bring virtual currency exchange platforms into anti money laundering and counter terrorist financing regulation. Industry players want the same thing as politicians - cryptocurrencies that offer cheap, frictionless, international transactions used for legal purposes. If anything, regulation will only increase bitcoin's rate of growth as regulation lends credibility and engenders trust

Few places in the world accommodate profitable cryptocurrency mining. With most governments not taking kindly to Bitcoin, there are fewer locations available. In Canada, the Powerview-Pine Falls are suddenly of great interest. More specifically, the community of 1,300 residents has seen an influx of cryptocurrency miners. It is a surprising turn of events, yet a welcome one for the small town. Since there is no real use for the power line, it was never fully decommissioned either. The mayor admits most people forgot it was even there to begin with. Luckily, it now gets a second lease on life thanks to cryptocurrency mining firms. Low temperatures and hydroelectricity in abundance create a profitable environment for these types of ventures. With the value of Bitcoin and consorts soaring, cryptocurrency mining has become a lot more popular. Especially Chinese operators show a big interest in this particular location. Bitmain is rumored to be in talks with the Quebec authorities to set up hop. Toronto’s own Hut 8 mining Corp is also involved in some discussions as of right now. All of this is positive news for Powerview-Pine Falls. A new type of heavy industry will create new jobs and put old infrastructure to good use.

For now, nothing has been set in stone yet. There is a healthy mix of operations, both large and small. One firm even offered to sue all of the available electricity and pay good money for it. Whether or not any deals will be inked, remains to be seen. It is an exciting opportunity for Powerview-Pine Falls, although it remains to be seen what the future holds. Its hydroelectricity and dedicated infrastructure certainly make for an appealing location. Additionally, more jobs can only be considered to be a good thing as well.

Virtual currencies can be exchanged tax-free in the European Union, following a ruling from the highest court in Europe. Bitcoin and its alternatives can now be treated in the same way as traditional money, according to the European Court of Justice. It said in a statement Thursday morning that bitcoin transactions "are exempt from VAT (value-added tax) under the provision concerning transactions relating to currency, bank notes and coins used as legal tender." The ruling comes after a dispute in a Swedish court when David Hedqvist, a Swedish national, applied for permission to operate his online bitcoin exchange. The Swedish Revenue Law Commission initially told Hedqvist that bitcoin was exempt from VAT but the Swedish Tax Authority appealed against that decision.

The ruling paves the way for potentially cheaper transactions within the EU and therefore a boon for the nascent industry. The announcement came as the regulator ordered bitcoin options trading platform Coinflip, and its CEO Francisco Riordan, to cease trading due to it not registering and complying with its regulations. It added that it had also filed, and simultaneously settled, charges against the San Francisco-based firm.

There is a thin degree of misunderstanding in terms of “regulation” and “centralization” as discussed in the quote. We all are aware that digital currencies have largely operated in a regulatory vacuum since bitcoin's debut in 2009. But governments and central banks are starting to pay closer attention, warning investors about potential scams. However, this “regulation” refers to the protocols and parameters laid down in a country specific framework. The central banks are trying to regulate Bitcoin into the same framework internationally. This has nothing to do with it being centralized or decentralized. Hence, they cannot be equated.

Bitcoin from day one has been created on the platform of decentralized digital currency. Top government officials at the World Economic Forum in Davos also signaled that more regulation could be on its way. Hence, if the central banks start to regulate the exchanges in their own individual framework, Bitcoin will definitely re-organize its mining process so that the implemented regulations could be further decentralized all the more.

Such an irony! In the world of Crypto currency printing is not a problem at all. They need to be aware that the world is moving into a cashless market. The primary intention is for the world to be able to move into transactions without the need of CASH. The corporality that have crushed the economy without suffering any real consequence to their own livelihood nor were properly charged for their crimes, are now blasting crypto currencies that (despite of the current speculative rush during its very early infancy stage of development) remains a promising decentralized alternative currency that is made for the people of the world.

Bitcoin uses technology called a blockchain, the first of its kind. It creates an immutable ledger distributed over a network. This is very significant. Currency is one use of this technology, and other uses are being developed. There are over a thousand coins competing in the market now. Many are junk or scams, but some will thrive because they offer something useful.

It's been a good year for bitcoin investors but a terrible one for those who hoped that the cryptocurrency would become the de facto tender for the internet. Bitcoin’s creator, may be dismayed at what has become of the project, intended as peer-to-peer electronic cash that didn't require the supervision of banks. Instead, bitcoin has become an investment vehicle, embraced by many on Wall Street, an asset class like every other. For all the success of the blockchain and bitcoin's soaring value, it's clear that Nakamoto's original vision had sung the swan song.

Bitcoin is unsuitable as a currency, because people are far more likely to hold it in anticipation of it appreciating in price. Its volatility strips bitcoin of the characteristics needed "of a plausible substitute currency," making it instead a "speculative asset, a get-rich quick scheme." Stable values are required to encourage both commerce and investment, since people need to understand the value of what they're buying, and buying into.

Bitcoin was designed to be deflationary -- artificially limiting the supply of bitcoin to 21 million, forever. But there's a problem with using deflationary money to run an economy. The limited supply of Bitcoins will plunge our primitive economy into a recession, mirroring the Great Depression of the early 20th century. Hence, it is the best to consider bitcoin is an dynamic virtual asset rather than a currency.

Bitcoin is a different kind of asset that can be difficult for people to understand. New things usually are. And while Bitcoin is nearly nine years old, it represents a completely new type of asset. As investors near the Bitcoin iceberg, the first thing they see is payments. True, Bitcoin is certainly used for payments, and this is an important part of its value. However, it’s not widely used for payments and, while it may be increasingly important over time, it isn’t the most important component of Bitcoin’s value today. However, people don’t generally use Bitcoin for payments because goods aren’t broadly priced in BTC terms. Goods aren’t broadly priced in BTC terms because, if they were, the price would have to update several times each minute just to maintain a consistent revenue for the seller. In short, the major advantage to using Bitcoin for payments is that it is volatile, which is neither a great ingredient for payments (medium of exchange) nor the pricing of goods (unit of account). While payments are the first thing that people think of for Bitcoin, the reason that most people buy today is its utility as “digital gold”—this is the center of buoyancy for the Bitcoin iceberg. People are attracted to an asset that is provably scarce, nearly impossible to seize or censor, and part of a decentralized and permission-less network that anyone can participate in.

Lets talk about two early examples within Bitcoin: multi-signature transactions and time-locked transactions. The former allows me to send Bitcoin to an address and specify that the value cannot be moved. Similarly, time-locked transactions allow me to send Bitcoin to an address and specify that it can’t be moved until some specific point in the future. Both of these examples are things I could hack onto legacy financial infrastructure. I could create a trust, for example. But these things require hours of legal cost and logistics time. In Bitcoin, that cost and effort has been reduced to a few lines of code. These are two early examples of what I believe will eventually be dozens and then hundreds of unique capabilities. Most encouragingly, young developers are picking up these puzzle pieces and assembling them in novel ways that could fundamentally change the fabric of finance and the way we transact.

Ultimately, Bitcoin’s value as a programmable asset is the most viable path to mass adoption: People will adopt Bitcoin because it’s the easiest (or only) way to complete tasks

“Bitcoin is the future currency,” said the founder of venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, “Why would I sell the future for the past? Why would I go grab some weird fiat thing that’s subject to the whims of some government? The world needs a new kind of currency”.

Amid the turmoil surrounding the Mt. Gox hack, Draper’s foresight and intuition at the time proved remarkable. Despite losing a quarter of a million dollars himself, he noted that “Bitcoin only dropped about ten percent on the news that Mt. Gox, the biggest exchange in Bitcoin basically stole or lost… all that Bitcoin.” To Draper, Bitcoin’s resilience in the face of the major disruption the Mt. Gox hack presented it, “meant the world needs this.” When pressed as to the possibility of Bitcoin potentially falling back below $1,000 from the current price around $9,000, Draper was unfazed. Acknowledging volatility in currency markets but arguing the chances of a such a fall were unlikely, the venture capitalist spun the question around. Was Bitcoin volatile against fiat currencies or were fiat currencies volatile against Bitcoin?

As for Bitcoin’s upside, Draper argued that “the world market for currency is $86 trillion. I think that will be crypto. I think a very large portion of that will be crypto.” Draper speaks almost of a new world order created by Bitcoin (and cryptocurrency technology, generally). “The unbanked are bankable through Bitcoin,” he asserts, with banking regulations making it unfeasible for banks to open accounts for those without sufficient cash. The unbanked, Draper insists, represent half of the world’s population. On the question of security, given the history of exchanges being hacked and cryptocurrencies being stolen, Draper stood firm. “My Bitcoin is more secure than my dollars in the banks.” The blockchain has not been hacked, he argues, whereas banks have been “over and over”.

Well, experts in the financial market states that an anonymous crypto currency enthusiast capitalized on this week's dramatic bitcoin price plunge by scooping up  $400 million worth of bitcoin. Crypto currencies have had a tumultuous start to 2018. At the start of the new year, many digital currencies were riding a wave of price growth, and the market capitalization of the industry grew to the point that a $1 trillion valuation didn't seem unreasonable. Then, early in the new year, prices collapsed, and many of the top 20 crypto currencies slumped considerably. While the price dump may not have been the crypto currency bubble pop that many analysts have predicted, it did mean that top crypto currencies, even industry leader bitcoin, fell to their lowest levels in months. Although bitcoin dipped below $6,000 per coin in early February, according to Market Watch, the price has since risen considerably. In fact, it has climbed by more than 60% in the past two weeks or so, finally climbing back above $10,000. Apparently, the anonymous crypto currency trader who made a major investment in the currency imagines that this upward trend will continue. Nonetheless, bitcoin's price remains far below its all-time high of just under $20,000 per coin, attained late in 2017. Who was the trader who made the astonishing investment? For the time being, his or her identity has been difficult or even impossible to surmise. Crypto currency bulls have begun to argue about the direction of the price of the world's top digital currency. If bitcoin continues to gain back value, the anonymous buyer could soon find him or herself in the crypto billionaire circle.

My instincts are saying “Of course not”. Bitcoin is clearly a protocol for sending value around the internet. Any computer science geek can tell you it meets all the requirements to be a bona fide protocol. All protocols gain dominance and hold it in the same way, without exception: Once one protocol gets out in a clear lead against any competing protocols, the Network effect never fails to work for it and against every competitor. This is unavoidable; it's just human nature. For instance, HD DVD is never going to overtake Blue Ray, just like Minidisc never overtook CDs, nor Betamax never overtook VHS. Many have tried to create better protocols than these, (and minidisc was clearly superior to the CD) but nothing ever overtook TCPIP nor HTTP nor FTP either for their respected roles... This clearly means that no altcoin you can create today is ever going to overtake bitcoin, period. -No matter how advanced it is. You may ask then why we don't use VCRs nor CDs anymore; but they weren't beaten by others attempting to replace their protocol... They were made useless by some new level of technology that doesn't even need that format at all anymore. (A CD is a protocol for storing music on a cheap disc... We don't need the format of discs anymore, so hence that whole format has gone extinct, not just CDs.)

For some new kind of money to come along that can do the same to bitcoin it would have to be so advanced that we cannot imagine it today. I believe telepathy would be required, or it may be be based on some kind of data that can be sent faster than light... But the thought of it just being more anonymous, secure, or have faster confirmation times is laughable... Think of how much better bitcoin had to be than the Dollar for it to overtake that. (When it finally does.) That's the amount of difference you must look for before bitcoin can be over taken.

We are all aware a lot of the High Street Banks' don't like BTC and especially trading as have heard various people get there accounts shut down and then following all the other banks shutting them down. British banks are shunning companies that handle crypto currencies, forcing many to open accounts in Gibraltar, Poland and Bulgaria and prompting some to question the UK’s ambitions to be a global hub for the fast-growing fintech sector. Investor interest in bitcoin and other crypto currencies has surged since their prices rocketed this year, but traditional banks are steering clear of the sector, fearing it is riddled with criminals and fraudsters. The Financial Conduct Authority is worried that banks’ reluctance to open accounts for some fintechs is hurting competition after it hampered several start-ups entering its sandbox to test their business models under its supervision. However, banks are keeping their distance, worried by the fact that crypto currencies are commonly used by criminals to trade illicit goods on the “dark web”. A few countries, including Japan and Gibraltar, have created rules for crypto currencies, but they remain unregulated in many parts of the world, including much of Europe.

There is a slight discord to the opinion “the asset is completely immune to the turmoil of the vast financial market”. In the month when the US stocks, emerging markets and money markets may have hit the low, Bitcoin had sailed high. However, you will find months when the reverse logic will stand true. In such a situation what will you choose to do ? Be a hopper, hoping to invest in markets where you will always earn profit (both long term and short term). No, since there is NO market worldwide which is immune to the financial turmoil. In the US stock market the core inflation numbers have risen drastically prompting the five interest rate hikes that began in December 2015.

At this juncture Trumph administration needs to focus on how far you allow to raise interest rates to accommodate inflationary expectations. The fact that it is now with us may create a certain element of reality. However, let us wait for the FED to respond. So, we learn that both the centralized and de-centralized markets are dependent on each other to streamline the turmoil of the vast financial market.

We need to understand that the price of Bitcoin is a balance between what price someone is willing to trade with to part from the Bitcoin and what someone is ready to pay to acquire it. In a simpler scenario between two people, where I’m trying to buy a house from, say Mark. I’d be looking to buy the house at the cheapest price that I can get and Mark would be looking to sell the house at the highest price that he could get. Of Course, this transaction cannot happen if both of us stand our ground and refuse to come to an agreement. Say, this transaction is similar to majority of the transactions where I can afford to buy the house for a certain sum and no more than that, and Mark certainly does have a figure in mind below which he wouldn’t be willing to sell his house.

These are called upper and lower limits of what could be the value of the house in question. Once we have a clear picture of our upper and lower limits for this transaction, we can much easily decide on a price for the house that’s between our upper and lower limits of what we’re pricing the house at. This is an example of how a transaction takes place between two people that come together to trade a house in exchange for a certain sum of money.  Bitcoin exchanges and companies that transact using bitcoins determine a lower and a upper limit around what a person in possession of Bitcoin is willing to sell it for and what a person is willing to pay in order to acquire it. A price is finally determined after setting upper and lower limits between a seller and a buyer. A price is determined between the limits based on a pricing strategy that the company(exchange) employs.  This pricing strategy differs from company to company and could also manipulated if desired. A company’s pricing strategy is dependant on its internal policies and long term plans.

The concept of recording a transaction in the blockchain technology is an extremely secure digital  ledger to investors in the world of Bitcoin. No matter what the experts in centralized currencies dictate, there is no solid evidence against cracking the protective elliptic curve signature in Bitcoins. Also, the use of Block hashing algorithm has been the best technique and the most secure transaction recording method. Bitcoin mining uses the hashcash proof of work function; the hash cash algorithm requires the following parameters: a service string, a nonce, and a counter. In bitcoin the service string is encoded in the block header data structure, and includes a version field, the hash of the previous block, the root hash of the merkle tree of all transactions in the block, the current time, and the difficulty. Bitcoin stores the nonce in the extra Nonce field which is part of the coinbase transaction, which is stored as the left most leaf node in the merkle tree (the coinbase is the special first transaction in the block). The counter parameter is small at 32-bits so each time it wraps the extra Nonce field must be incremented (or otherwise changed) to avoid repeating work. The basics of the hash cash algorithm are quite easy to understand and it is described in more detail here. When mining bitcoin, the hash cash algorithm repeatedly hashes the block header while incrementing the counter & extra Nonce fields. Incrementing the extra Nonce field entails re-computing the merkle tree, as the coinbase transaction is the left most leaf node. The block is also occasionally updated as you are working on it.

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have taken off this year, attracting investment from all over the world and achieving mainstream adoption. Blockchain technology is attracting interest from many industries, with the surging price of Bitcoin and Ethereum’s first mainstream application CryptoKitties two recent standouts. According to the Belarus News Agency, the new ordinance gives “a serious competitive edge” to the country in the creation of a 21st-century digital economy. It provides friendly conditions and simplified regulations for resident companies of the Hi-Tech Park (HTP), a cluster for innovative IT. Belarus promotes the HTP as a special economic zone with a special tax and legal regime. In particular, Belarus wants to offer comprehensive regulations for business based on blockchain technology, as well as legalize cryptocurrencies, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and smart contracts at the national level. The Digital Economy Development Ordinance is expected to come into force in March 2018, three months after its publication.

The short and crisp answer to the question is “no one knows”. As the old saying goes—predictions are hard, especially about the future. It’s hard to know when the bubble will end. It’s impossible to know if the price will keep going up, and it’s hard to even guess. We also have no idea if going “short” right now, or betting that the price will decline, will be better than going “long,” or betting that the price will continue to go up over time. Again, Bitcoin is highly volatile, and is thus not a conservative way to build something as essential as retirement. Bitcoin and other crypto currencies are so new that the market is still essentially trying to figure out their value. We don’t know what it’ll be like next week, never mind when you near retirement age. Catalini compares what’s happening now with Bitcoin to people wondering about the “value of the equity in a startup.” As expectations about the future potential of a startup shift, the perceived value of that startup changes too, and can fluctuate wildly. Something similar is happening here. However, according the positive speculations “anytime” is right time to invest in Bitcoins.

The evolution of Blockchain technology has taken the internet by storm. Not only has it become the core mechanism of many crypto currencies, it has called the attention of the business sector because its potential for use extends far beyond the confines of crypto currencies. Blockchain related technologies are promising both for business and governments, but their legal status is still evolving across the world. The main promise of Blockchain lies with it being fully decentralized. No one can tamper with completed transactions, and even if someone tries to make up some “fake” transactions, none of the validators will approve them. The next step in Blockchain growth could be smart contracts, which offer many benefits to the financial services industry. However, Blockchain is going to change the way businesses are managed, how legal transactions are handled, how people can buy and sell commodities and services. We will also see the creation of industry-specific foundations that will release coins and that will be participated by Microsoft, Fujitsy, USBank, Deutsche Telekom, and other big players that are already moving their first steps in this field.