Loads of BS is what John McAfee's prediction is. People should get prosecuted for uttering stuff like this.

It's just money, so you'll get it all back eventually. However, losing money the way you did is always a hard pill to swallow and the aftertaste would stay on for days if not weeks.

As what most people mentioned here, you may already have been compromised right at the start when the wallet was created. If that person has the seeds for that wallet, changing your PW would not have helped as the seeds would allow him access to your wallet. You don't want to accuse him but his actions are pretty suspect so he should be No.1 on your most probable suspect list.

To generate your bitcoin address, did you create it online or did you use a software - like electrum (https://electrum.org/) to get one. Or was your btc address generated through his bitcoin wallet and was it the the bitcoin.com password that he asked you to change.

If he gave you a btc address from his wallet, that address was under his control and he can readily check if funds are there. If he was the one who created the btc wallet for you, he may have kept the seeds to your wallet which he can actually use to access your funds.

Doing an IP trace may get you somewhere but it'll cost some money to pay a tech guy to do the sleuthing for you (and the results may be suspect). One other option is to act blind and do an entrapment on the suspect. This will involve getting in touch with local authorities who deal with thefts like this and would be quite long and complicated.

If you need to brush up on wallets, this article may help:

https://www.coindesk.com/information/how-to-store-your-bitcoins/

 

It takes patient study and diligent exercise to gain mastery in anything. These things are not secrets, just plain hard work. One must be ready to put in the hard work to advance.

I hope that the people behind the scheme would all get incarcerated, and left there to simmer for a long long time. Devious people and their devious schemes - society would be greatly improved with their demise.

This is welcome news. It should help increase the quality of the ICO's that people bring to the market and would potentially improve investor confidence. Hope that this is not all hype and the pledge would turn out into hard action. We've heard plenty of similar buzz from everywhere it seems nowadays and yet it seems that things remain the same.

He should continue with his tweets, PR campaigns, etc. and make sure that it has mass media coverage. That way, we'll know which things to avoid. Everything that he promotes, basically.

If it's true, the rotting of the brain part would not be blockchain's fault. It's the end user's fault for becoming over dependent on the technology itself instead of becoming its master. A crude example would be that of the rise of texting/sms plus the auto-correct app which resulted to people being poor in spelling. People can be good in spelling if they want to but would not bother because how it's done in sms is ok and auto-correct is always there do the work for them.

Segwit and BCH Show There’s More Than One Way to Scale a Blockchain
Blockchain scaling is one part technical, one part ideological. There was a number of reasons that led to the fork of bitcoin core in August to form bitcoin cash, but at its heart it came down to increasing transaction capacity. Segwit sought to compress the amount of data in each transaction, thereby freeing up block space, while bitcoin cash made the size of each block bigger, up to a maximum of 8MB. New data published by Bitmex Research shows how each chain has fared since bitcoin core and bitcoin cash went their separate ways.

The cumulative transaction volume between BCH and Segwit is remarkably close, showing that each scaling solution has found their levels of support. Bitmex Research explains: “Since the launch of Bitcoin Cash, 6.1 million Segwit transactions have taken place, only 20.1% more than the cumulative number of Bitcoin Cash transactions…Adjusting for the one-month head start [BCH had], SegWit has 31.5% more cumulative transaction volume than Bitcoin Cash, larger than 20.1% but still reasonably close.”

The Race Between Segwit and Bitcoin Cash Is Heating Up
Total transaction volume for Segwit and BCH is extremely close.
Segwit Had a Slow Start
Segwit adoption was low from the outset, and remained that way for several months, allowing bitcoin cash to get a head start. By late December, the total transaction volume of BCH and Segwit was neck and neck at around 4 million transactions apiece. It is only in the last month, when Coinbase belatedly introduced Segwit, pushing its adoption rate over 30% for the first time, that its total transaction volume has been able to compete with bitcoin cash.

Proponents of each chain have reasons to be content with these figures, and of how the future is shaping up for their preferred scaling solution. As Bitmex Research notes:

Although the data suggests that Segwit transaction have been adopted slightly faster than Bitcoin Cash, resulting in more transaction volume, Bitcoin Cash advocates could argue that the Bitcoin Cash token is more about a philosophy of larger capacity in the long term, rather than the speed of the actual increase in transaction volume in the short term. Therefore Bitcoin Cash supporters can still claim that Bitcoin Cash will eventually have more transaction volume than Bitcoin, once adoption of the coin increases.

Bitcoin Core Block Sizes Fall to Their Smallest in Two Years
Last week, the average block size for bitcoin core (BCT) fell to just over 0.5MB, its smallest since January 2016. Around 22% of block space is taken up by Segwit transactions, showing that the scaling technology is still under-utilized. The dramatic reduction in BTC block space owes less to Segwit and more to improved batching coupled with reduced transaction volume. It is no coincidence that the average number of daily BTC transactions is also at its lowest level in two years.

The Race Between Segwit and Bitcoin Cash Is Heating Up
BTC block sizes are at their lowest in two years.
The average number of daily BTC to BCH transactions for the moment maintains an average ratio of 10:1, which also mirrors each asset’s respective price. However, total transaction fees for sending BTC in the last 24 hours are 200x greater than BCH. Even if the transaction volume on each chain was equal, in other words, BTC would still cost 20x more to send.

https://news.bitcoin.com/the-race-between-segwit-and-bitcoin-cash-is-heating-up/?utm_source=OneSignal%20Push&utm_medium=notification&utm_campaign=Push%20Notifications

In a bid to strengthen the regulatory environment for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the UK has unveiled a new fintech strategy for companies. The strategy will involve the UK setting up a new crypto asset task force, which will help businesses make use of the blockchain technology that is the basis of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Speaking of the benefits, the UK Chancellor, Phillip Hammond said;

“A new task force will help the UK to manage the risks around crypto-assets, as well as a harnessing the potential benefits of the underlying technology.”

The task force is being formed from representatives from the Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority. Hammond believes that these new measures will position the UK at the heart of the fintech revolution. He said;

“I am committed to helping the sector grow and flourish, and our ambitious sector strategy sets out how we will ensure the UK remains at the cutting edge of the digital revolution.”

On top of this strategy, Hammond also revealed a bridge agreement that will allow UK fintech companies to access Australia’s 24 million people, which will open up a world of possibilities for UK fintech firms who are looking to expand into international waters.

The founder of fintech investor IW Capital, Luke Davis, spoke about this agreement, saying;

“The partnership with Australia, underpinned by the most advanced regulatory partnership that the FCA has ever signed, will connect the UK to a new market of 24 million people. Coming in the same weeks as the UK-China fintech alliance announcement, it is clear that the government is taking the views of the industry seriously.”

The London Stock Exchange released a report that stated the UK was one of the top three global markets for fintech companies, who are wishing to expand internationally. The head of primary markets, Robert Barnes said;

“The cross-border ambitions of innovative fintechs are transforming the global financial services sector. But in order to thrive, these innovators need access to long-term growth capital and a supportive global regulatory environment. The UK offers both.”

This new strategy follows the call for tighter regulations on cryptocurrencies and can be a really positive move for all cryptocurrencies, and in particular Bitcoin.

https://cryptodaily.co.uk/2018/03/uk-plans-help-bitcoin/

MARKETS AND PRICES
2 mins ago | Samuel Haig | 11
Zhao Dong Recounts How He Lost 9,000 BTC
Famed Chinese OTC bitcoin trader, Zhao Dong, recently shared the story of how he first entered the bitcoin markets, the losses he incurred, and his views on speculation in the cryptocurrency markets.

Also Read: Snowden on Bitcoin: Blasts Public Ledger and Core Developers

Zhao Dong’s Rocky Start in the Cryptocurrency Markets
Zhao Dong Recounts Story of 9,000 BTC LiquidationZhao Dong, the founder of DFUND, has, in recent years, risen to prominence as one of China’s largest OTC traders. However, early in his trading career, Mr. Dong would incur losses that drove him to contemplate suicide.

An interview published by Weixin states that Zhao Dong first entered the cryptocurrency markets with approximately 10 million yuan (roughly $1.58 million USD). He “followed the bull market quickly,” shortly leading Zhao Dong to open heavily leveraged positions. As a consequence, Zhao Dong found himself 60 million yuan (nearly $9.5 million USD) in debt to friends for whom he was informally managing the money of – after losing 9,000 bitcoin in a single day during February 2014. Despite questioning his will to live, Zhao Dong decided to persevere.

Zhao Dong Loses Over $23.5 Million in 2014
Zhao Dong Recounts Story of 9,000 BTC LiquidationDuring 2014, Zhao Dong states that he lost “nearly 150 million yuan” (almost $23.7 million USD) due to his decision to open “one of the largest [bitcoin] mines in [China]” immediately preceding the onset of 2014’s cryptocurrency bear season.

Zhao Dong states that his mining operations were based in Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, and Shenzen. As consequence of tumbling BTC prices, significant establishment costs, and mounting repayments to creditors, Zhao Dong states that the “bitcoins dug in every day [could]n’t afford even the electricity bills.”

In 2015, Zhao Dong states that he was forced to liquidate his mining operations – which saw him receive only 3 million yuan (474,000 USD) for hardware that initially cost him 50 million yuan ($8 million USD)

Zhao Dong Discourages Retail Bitcoin Speculation
Zhao Dong Recounts Story of 9,000 BTC LiquidationDespite his reputation as an OTC trader, Zhao Dong rejects the notion that he is a professional speculator. Zhao Dong states that he “doesn’t do technical analysis. I’m not a speculator. In fact, I’ve always been a small profit maker and I’m not a speculator.” Looking back on his experiences, Mr. Dong emphasizes risk management as the most important thing for traders to observe, before citing attributing a quote to Mark Zuckerberg – “not risking is the biggest risk. But adventure plus risk control is perfect.”

Zhao Dong seeks to discourage retail traders from entering the cryptocurrency markets, stating “Honestly, if you are not a professional speculator, then I suggest that you do not want to invest in speculation. For most of the speculation, losing money is almost inevitable. It’s like going to a casino.”

In spite of up-and-down experiences with bitcoin, Zhao Dong describes BTC as comprising “far more than just a technology,” adding that bitcoin “will have a profound impact on human history […] Bitcoin is the first time in human history to use technical means to ensure that private property is sacred and inviolable.”

https://news.bitcoin.com/zhao-dong-recounts-how-he-lost-9000-btc/?utm_source=OneSignal%20Push&utm_medium=notification&utm_campaign=Push%20Notifications

Coinseed ICO

NYC, USA – New York based fintech startup Coinseed, announced today that its app – which lets users invest their spare change into crypto – has now launched globally. They also announced the ICO to start on March 20th which has 15% bonus for early investors who get whitelisted.

Originally, Coinseed was founded when it became evident there was a huge audience interested in cryptocurrencies but those people found it hard to invest in crypto. They mostly wanted to invest small amounts initially to learn. “Many of our app users came to us seeking a solution that makes it child’s play to buy small amounts of cryptocurrency. We believe the Coinseed app delivers this seamlessly. So today we’re giving the whole world a chance to try what we’ve created” said co-founder Del Davaasambuu.

The Coinseed app makes it very quick and simple to invest in most of the top cryptocurrencies. Setup takes less than five minutes to both fund an account and build a portfolio. One of the most unique features of the app is that a user is able to completely change their portfolio in seconds because there are no private keys, or digital wallets (it’s all held within the platform). This one feature alone extends Coinseed’s potential global market significantly – a market that is now downloading the app in large numbers.

The Coinseed app solves two other critical pain points for many users – accessibility and security of funds. Many holders of cryptocurrency find converting crypto into physical cash challenging. Coinseed makes it incredibly easy to withdraw money. Security of funds can also be a significant issue – particularly for those less technologically literate. Coinseed uses identical security measures as Mint, Venmo, Acorns and Transferwise. It also uses the latest technology to secure the cryptocurrencies it holds – in multisig cold wallets.

The Coinseed ICO has been designed to be a highly attractive proposition for investors. “We have rolled out a steady stream of new features in the app and have added a number of highly experienced advisors and team members. We are an actual business and we are already profitable. We believe the token configuration and offering make it a difficult combination to turn down”. Coinseed’s pre-ICO fundraising round came in at $200,000, and they are raising a further $10 million during their crowdsale beginning March 20th.

Contact Email Address
sukhbat@coinseed.co
Supporting Link
www.ico.coinseed.co

Earlier this month, cryptocurrency trader Sylvain Ribes investigated into the volumes of most small-scale cryptocurrencies and discovered that the trading volume of OKEx, the fourth largest cryptocurrency trading platform in the world, is mostly inflated.

Inflated volumes
Ribes, who initially set out to conduct a study on the liquidity of cryptocurrencies and digital assets, utilized a method he named “slippage” to test the order book of each cryptocurrency trading pair. The slippage method by tests the liquidity of digital assets by selling $50,000 worth of each asset across various exchanges.

After selling $50,000 worth of a cryptocurrency, Ribes measured the rate of decline of that particular cryptocurrency on a certain exchange to measure its liquidity. Ribes implemented this method to test the liquidity of cryptocurrencies on OKEx, Bitfinex, Kraken, and GDAX.

Operated by OKCoin, formerly the largest cryptocurrency exchange in China prior to the local government’s crackdown on trading, Hong Kong-based OKEx briefly became the biggest cryptocurrency exchange internationally, as reported by Cointelegraph, overtaking Binance in March 2018. At the time of reporting, OKEx remains among the four largest trading platforms, alongside Binance, Huobi, and Bitfinex.

Bitfinex, Kraken, and GDAX are regulated cryptocurrency exchanges that allow cryptocurrency-to-fiat trading. GDAX was founded and is currently being operated by Coinbase, which has more than 20 mln users and is the most widely utilized Bitcoin wallet. Kraken is based in San Francisco, while Bitfinex is based in Hong Kong, alongside OKEx and Huobi.

According to the chart below, Kraken and GDAX, which are mostly utilized by users to process cryptocurrency-to-fiat trades, deposits, and withdrawals, recorded the smallest slippages, signaling that the two exchanges have sufficient liquidity to deal with relatively large sell-offs, in the range of $50,000 to $100,000.

Pic

Image source: Blog post of Sylvian Ribes on Medium

However, the rate of slippage on OKEx, supposedly one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, was substantially higher than that of the three fiat-processing cryptocurrency exchanges.

Large slippage, manipulation possible
On GDAX, a sell off of $50,000 worth of a particular cryptocurrency only led to a slippage of around 0.1 percent, as seen on the blue dots on the chart above. However, $50,000 sell offs on OKEx led to massive slippages, as the value of cryptocurrencies fell and order books became unstable.

On a blog post detailing his findings, Ribes stated that the research has shown how the volumes of OKEx and other cryptocurrency-only exchanges are fabricated and inflated, given that a small amount of sell orders can manipulate the order books and prices of cryptocurrencies.

“The chart is striking. It shows how, although all first three exchanges seem to behave rather similarly, OKex pairs, in red, all have a massively higher slippage with regards to their volume. Like I explained before, this can only mean that most of the volume OKex claims is completely fabricated.”

Moreover, Ribes revealed that the chart above excluded slippages of over 4 percent. The chart provided by Ribes below, which includes slippages of more than 4 percent, show the shallow order books and low liquidity of OKEx.

Pic

Image source: Blog post of Sylvian Ribes on Medium

Mt. Gox and other factors influencing BTC price
On March 7, 2018, cryptocurrency analysts including Alistair Milne stated that the sell off of hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin has led the price of the cryptocurrency to crash down to $8,300. Cointelegraph released an in-depth analysis on the matter, dissecting the impact Mt. Gox bitcoin sell-off had on the market over the past few weeks, and its continuous effect on the entire cryptocurrency market.

Despite the massive amount of Bitcoin he holds, Mt. Gox trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi dumped tens of thousands of dollars in Bitcoin in the public market, on cryptocurrency exchanges rather than over-the-counter (OTC) markets. The abrupt sell-off of nearly 32,000 Bitcoin led to a domino effect across all major cryptocurrency exchanges, and the price of Bitcoin fell as it caused panic within the public market.

Evidently, the Bitcoin market was not solely impacted by the sell off of Mt. Gox Bitcoins. It was a combination of many factors including the US government hearing on initial coin offerings (ICOs), negative mainstream media coverage about traditional finance experts criticizing the cryptocurrency market, and fear, uncertainty and doubt from Japan. The mixture of these factors alongside lack of momentum led the price of Bitcoin to decline.

Easy to distort volumes and price
In illiquid markets and trading platforms with inflated volumes, it is relatively easy to manipulate the price of small cryptocurrencies. While it takes many major factors and an unlikely correlation of events to bring down the price of major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, Ribes’ research demonstrates that a similar result can be achieved in a market with small cryptocurrencies with capital in the range of $50,000 to $100,000.

Ribes further emphasized that illiquid pairs did not just include small cryptocurrencies, but trading pairs of major cryptocurrencies like NEO and IOTA which boast market caps of over $3 bln can slip by more than 10 percent merely with a sale of $50,000.

“Many pairs, albeit boasting up to $5 mln volumes, would cost you more than 10 percent in slippage, should you want to liquidate a mere $50,000 in assets. Those pairs included, at the time of the data parsing (March 6, 2018): NEO/BTC, IOTA/USD, QTUM/USD. Hardly illiquid or low-profile assets,” Ribes added.

Changpeng Zhao, the CEO at Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, stated that the research of Ribes is a “good in-depth analysis” of the cryptocurrency market.


https://cointelegraph.com/news/volumes-on-most-major-cryptocurrency-exchanges-are-fake-or-inflated-study

The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has been reportedly monitoring the bitcoin blockchain with an eye on identifying users on the distributed network.

According to a report by the Intercept on Tuesday, the media outlet has obtained classified documents from the U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden which indicate bitcoin surveillance remains a top priority for the agency.

Documents further hint that the NSA's agenda may go beyond just tracking the bitcoin public ledger, with the agency actively analyzing global internet traffic and scraping softwares to undermine the pseudonymity of users.

For instance, one memo from the NSA, the report cited, suggested the agency has collected private information such as bitcoin user passwords, internet activity and device identifiers.

According to the report, the NSA has been monitoring the internet activities of bitcoin users since 2013 through a program with codename as OAKSTAR. And yet the new leak suggested that with MONKEYROCKET, another sub-program under OAKSTAR, the NSA may be moving closer to pinpoint users who initiate a cryptocurrency transaction.

"SSG11 analysts have found value in the MONKEYROCKET access to help track down senders and receivers of bitcoin," one memo reads.

Leaked documents also hinted that the NSA may have been using the XKeyScore system - a powerful global internet monitoring system that was first exposed in 2013 when Snowden disclosed classified documents about the NSA's surveillance activity - to investigate bitcoin user information.

The news comes at a time when the U.S government has voiced concerns via lawmakers and law enforcement agencies over the illicit use of cryptocurrencies in terrorism financing and money laundering.

https://www.coindesk.com/nsa-reportedly-eyes-to-scrap-bitcoins-anonymity/

Bitcoin already has a lot of people heavily invested in it for them to allow it's value to dip to $1k levels. If it's value would dip that low, it may never bounce back to $10k levels thus it's to the whale's best interest to keep it trading above $6k or whatever their predetermined buy order is. With how things are right now, $5k may be the lowest and $11k would be the high point.

Bitcoin's price would not see any sharp rise just because the Mt. Gox whale decided to stop selling. Bitcoin has been hammered left and right since the start of the year from people trying to weaken the cryptocurrency's value and it is the reason why it is trading at $8k and threatening to dip to $6k this month. A lot of signals should happen at the right moment for prices to go back to $10k levels and I hope that it'll happen next month.

The graphs these analyst use may predict one thing but bitcoin hardly behaves like any traditional investment vehicle. It is indeed a very risky investment but it is riding on the blockchain whose usefulness is undeniable as even bitcoin's most ardent detractors see value in it. And in the unlikely event that the bubble bursts, I am sure that it still won't be enough to bury bitcoin under but would only serve as a large scale correction leading to bitcoin becoming more stable.

With the way bitcoin is being speculated on right now, it is not impossible for bitcoin's value to get to $0.00. People are hardly rational and should an attack on the confidence of major bitcoin holders occur, we may very well see bitcoin being shorted to such a degree that it's value would go nil. But though such a scenario is a possibility, I believe that there are a lot of wealthy individuals who are already too invested in bitcoin to allow such a thing to happen. Their ultimate agenda may be to use bitcoin as a standard on which other cryptocurrencies will be referenced to, similar to how the dollar is right now and the UK pound before that. Thus they will use their resources to protect bitcoin and keep it stable.

They would not call bitcoin a risky investment if it's value would not bounce around like a ball in a lotto game.  You'll never know for sure how the ball will bounce. But for anyone who have followed bitcoin since 2009, don't mind what the media is saying. Year on year, bitcoin's value has always gone up regardless of how things play out in day to day trading. So if you are looking for a good bet, historically, bitcoin has been a good bet regardless of the high risk involved. As always, be diligent in your research and be rational when speculating on bitcoin.

While some governments around the world, both local and national, are taking steps to try and limit the spread of the use of cryptocurrencies, many others are trying to ensure their citizens are free to adopt the revolutionary technology. The latest example of this is the US state of Wyoming where the legislator has recently approved a host of new measures meant to attract cryptocurrency business.

Also Read: Wirex to Launch Cryptocurrency Debit Cards in Asia During Q2 2018

Property Tax Exemption for Cryptocurrencies
US State of Wyoming Exempts Cryptocurrencies From Property TaxesThe senate of Wyoming has passed a decision (bill 111) exempting cryptocurrencies from property taxation in the state. The straight forward law defines “virtual currencies” as any type of digital representation of value that is used as a medium of exchange, unit of account or store of value, and is not recognized as legal tender by the United States government.

This was one of five bills passed by the legislature in Wyoming in recent time meant to streamline the legal framework of cryptocurrency and “blockchain” technology use in the state in order to facilitate the establishment of related business ventures there. Two other bills that we reported on before made utility tokens exempt from securities laws and made cryptocurrency exchanges exempt from the Money Transmitter Act.

Attracting Crypto Business to Wyoming
US State of Wyoming Exempts Cryptocurrencies From Property Taxes
Windmills along Interstate 80, Wyoming
State Representative Tyler Lindholm went on an interview on CNBC television to promote Wyoming as a welcoming destination for crypto businesses. He explained that if you mine bitcoin there is now no longer a property tax, no income tax and no corporate tax. Wyoming is one of only nine states out of all American states that have no income tax.

Apparently trying to lure energy hungry bitcoin miners to his state, Representative Lindholm added that the state has a lot of excess electricity, exporting most of its total production capacity. According to the US Energy Information Administration, Wyoming produces about 40% of all coal mined in the country, has the largest uranium mining operations in the country, is one of the top 10 natural gas-producing states, and has a rapidly growing wind power capacity. All while being the least populated state in America.

https[Suspicious link removed]mpts-cryptocurrencies-from-property-taxes/?utm_source=OneSignal%20Push&utm_medium=notification&utm_campaign=Push%20Notifications

I'm wondering why the examples cited in the article are all from the former USSR. Does it mean that it is not safe to roam around the streets of those places? I'm pretty sure things could be much worse in some other parts of the world.

Whether you have investments in crypto or not, it is always prudent for one to take extra precautions to avoid falling victim to thieves be it online or in the real world. The tips in this article may provide added info on how to keep yourself safe online:

http://bitcoinist.com/secure-cryptocurrency-wallet-16-simple-tips-beginners/