Latest posts of: TheQuin

Show Posts
Pages: [1] 2 »

Economy / Reputation / Alts Adriano2010, dandan1010 & costeljj cheating forum and other givaways

on: March 21, 2021, 03:19:10 AM

Users connected: Adriano2010 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=514126 dandan1010 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=934733 costeljj https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2753468 All 3 users have contacted me via PM claiming to be the owners of 3 freebitco.in accounts that are actually 3 accounts of the same bot run by one person as detailed with proof given by me in this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5323816.msg56562651#msg56562651 I also listed proof all three accounts had also abused a free giveaway on Games and Rounds board on this forum. Quote from: TheQuin on March 16, 2021, 05:31:40 AM A quick look at the post history of those 3 accounts will show that you were also abusing free giveaways here on the forum by multi-accounting (hence the red paint I applied to your trust walls). Topic: [0.06 BTC] 🔮 MOONLIGHT 🌙 HALL OF FRAMER CHALLENGE 🔮 [CLOSED] Quote from: CyberDice on February 04, 2020, 12:30:20 PM ~snip Requirement: • Win one roll on a 81 multiplier and then win nine consecutive rolls on a 81% win chance. • Series of nine rolls must be consecutive. • Particular winning rolls don't have to be made in exact order. • Minimum roll amount: 0.00000025 BTC • One valid entry per one person. • No multiple accounts. • Jr. members and above or members with +45 posts count are eligible to participate in the challenge. • Bets must have been made after the commencement of this promotion. • CyberDice reserves a right to disqualify users for which there is a reasonable doubt that they used multiple accounts and abused the terms of the challenge. • Suspicious and disqualified users are, of course, not eligible to be paid out. Prize pool: • Minimum: 0.015 BTC • If over 30 participants: 0.03 BTC • If over 50 participants: 0.06 BTC ~snip This giveaway specifically excludes multiple accounts. Quote from: Adriano2010 on February 04, 2020, 06:15:33 PM Username : Adriano2010 81x [I mg]https://i.postimg.cc/xCk9ZM8w/IMG-20200204-200803.jpg[/img] 81% [I mg]https://i.postimg.cc/vZph9d95/IMG-20200204-201144.jpg[/img] Quote from: costeljj on February 09, 2020, 11:20:04 PM Username: costeljj 81 x: 173098088 https://prnt.sc/qzww73 81 %: 173098328 173098329 173098330 173098331 173098333 173098334 173098335 173098336 173098337 https://prnt.sc/qzwwb5 Quote from: dandan1010 on February 04, 2020, 07:51:56 PM Username : dandan1010 Bet id 172469624 - 81x [I mg]https://i.postimg.cc/XNrYxzWt/81x.png[/img] Bets 81% 172470010 172470012 172470014 172470016 172470018 172470020 172470023 172470026 172470030 172470033 172470036 [I mg]https://i.postimg.cc/Hkx5ttSx/IMG-20200204-214117.jpg[/img] Images broken for space saving.

Bitcoin / Press / [2018-08-16] Livesquawk "MASSIVE" INSTITUTIONAL INTEREST IN NEXT 12 MOS

on: August 16, 2018, 05:30:55 PM

https://www.livesquawk.com/members/crypto_update_aug_2018 Quote SHAKEOUT OF LEFT-OVER LONGS FROM LAST YEAR, UK EXPERT NUNN SEES "MASSIVE" INSTITUTIONAL INTEREST IN NEXT 12 MOS Thursday, 16 August 2018 Selloff also represents a market waking up to the fact "you don't need 1,000" different currencies Bitcoin acting as a safe-haven within crypto market Market awaiting US regulatory word on bitcoin ETFs, plus launch of NYSE owner's Bakkt platform The recent selloff in cryptocurrencies is largely due to the growing presence of professional traders and speculators in this alternative market, said UK expert Phillip Nunn, who is predicting “massive institutional interest” in the next 12 months. Nunn, CEO of Wealth Chain Capital, noted that compared against other market manias, it was the crowd who first entered into the crypto universe followed by the ‘Big Boys’, who are now flushing out a lot of these man-on-the-street investors, who had “held and held” since late last year after bitcoin fell towards $6,000 from its all-time high around $20,000. “When the Big Boys, these experienced traders, entered, the market was more vulnerable,” Nunn said to LiveSquawk News. “That’s just how these things go, the smaller investor can suffer.” In December, coincidental to the fever-pitch state of the cash crypto market, Cboe Global Markets Inc. was the first to launch bitcoin futures, with a floor pit dedicated to the currency. The CME Group followed suit with its own bitcoin futures contract. All of which attracted more professional interest in both the underlying currency as well as derivatives, Nunn said. Bitcoin futures volumes at both exchanges are still relatively light less than a year after their launch dates, but growing. CME bitcoin futures' average daily volume is 3,408 contracts, but in July more than doubled from June to 6,671 contracts or an equivalent of more than 33,000 bitcoins (notional $230 million), said Tim McCourt, CME Global Head of Equity Products and Alternative Investments. Average daily volume in August is already up 8pct over July, he said. "CME is a price-agnostic, neutral marketplace, here to help market participants manage risk in the bitcoin market - regardless of whether the price goes up or down," said a CME spokesperson. "Many factors influence price, and it is worth noting that the futures market is still trading a fraction of the cash bitcoin market each day." The cash price for a bitcoin is currently down more than 55pct year to date and down 63pct from its 2018 high of $17,221, having hit $6,080 earlier in the week, according to CoinMarketCap. Other sources have quoted a bitcoin fall below the key $6,000 on 14th August, but without a retest of the yearly low. “There have been years when crypto has been down a lot more than this,” Nunn said. “In this latest correction, bitcoin is being treated as a safe haven within cryptos, and has held onto market dominance of about 50pct, which is a positive.” According to CoinMarket Cap, bitcoin currently has a 53.2pct market share in the $205 billion crypto market (v a market cap of about $1 trillion a year ago). “The market is waking up to the fact that you don’t need 1,000 cryptocurrencies,” he said. Nunn doesn’t seem to be shying away his “bold” prediction earlier this year that bitcoin could rise to $60,000, noting that in 2017 bitcoin rose from $6,000 to $20,000 “in 14 days.” “In the next 12 months, there will be massive institutional interest,” he said. The market is awaiting US regulatory word on the approval of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on bitcoin, while the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), is launching a federally-regulated bitcoin trading platform called Bakkt to enhance the role of bitcoin as a genuine currency. Microsoft, Starbucks and Boston Consultancy Group are also backers. “Bakkt is designed to serve as a scalable on-ramp for institutional, merchant, and consumer participation in digital assets by promoting greater efficiency, security, and utility,” Kelly Loeffler, Bakkt CEO said in ICE's 3rd August 2018 press release announcing the launch. “We are collaborating to build an open platform that helps unlock the transformative potential of digital assets across global markets and commerce.” Stephanie Sprague, Princeton, NJ - LiveSquawk News

Other / Meta / How many times does someone have to break a rule before they get banned.

on: July 10, 2018, 03:00:06 PM

There is an account broke_tradah that has been trolling the freebitco.in threads I manage for some time now in order to promote his dice script. His own service thread died due to lack of interest so he's trying to take over mine. Rule 22. Advertising (this includes mining pools, gambling services, exchanges, shops, etc.) in others threads' is no longer allowed, including, but not limited to, in altcoin announcement threads. I've reported many of these and most have been deleted and few remain unhandled but as soon as one is deleted he just posts more. This is the latest example I've just reported. Quote from: broke_tradah on July 10, 2018, 02:23:27 PM Do NOT use that "btc bonus balance" bullshit. Its a total scam if you expect to get any of your balance back and are betting by hand. You have to wager 25x more than the balance you end up with in that locked up balance. The longer you play, the more you lose. The entire site is just one big suckerfest designed to sucker people like you into losing btc that you deposited. Absolutely NEVER deposit anything into this site. Ever. Never ever ever never ever. You will lose it all. Unless of course you use a bot like mine My bot could possibly wager 25x without losing it all. Doing 25x is so repetitive that u would get carpal tunnel trying it by hand and would make a mistake easily such as attempting to get a 25x win streak with 47.5 odds. That would absolutely never happen. Ever. By the time you got to about 7 or 8x, you would have nothing left in the account at all due to all the losses. Archive because he has a habit of editing posts after I report them. http://archive.is/drGt8#selection-5055.0-5055.12 Does this go on forever or is there some punishment?

Other / Meta / Is deleting and reusing posts allowed?

on: June 16, 2018, 08:52:55 AM

I came across user taxmanmt5 when they posted in a thread I watch and I was sure I had already read the exact same thing. When I searched for it I found it had indeed already been posted in the same thread by another user but it had now been deleted. See https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1926895.msg40158216#msg40158216 for more details. Today I had time to look more closely and it seems that everything taxmanmt5 posts is something that either they themselves have already posted in that thread and just deleted or one of presumably their alt accounts posted and deleted. Example posted yesterday. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3786714.msg40158460#msg40158460 Quote from: taxmanmt5 on June 15, 2018, 09:16:46 AM Quote from: Choi Jihun on May 14, 2018, 02:32:53 AM The reason why we should invest in Bitcoin Or Ethereum ? I think that all of invester have the same goal. Investing in Bitcoin in the hope of taking advantage of future price increases is as simple as buying Bitcoin on an online exchange. When the price increases, it means that we get profit. More and more profit! Moreover, bitcoin transactions are subject to few regulatory oversights, which makes transactions fast and headache-free. What do you think? How many other reason for this question,please let me know! Thank you very much. I myself bought both coins after studying them. I know something that the price may fall, but its just a temporary effect . After going down it will start increasing its value. These two coins never disappoint. They can bless you with huge profit. Just take a chance and buy now before it too late. Previously: They posted on May 23rd. http://archive.is/wiUEh#selection-1327.0-1327.9

Economy / Exchanges / Coinfloor UK banking changes

on: May 01, 2018, 06:51:03 AM

I received the email below this morning. Does anyone know what is behind this? Are they having problems with regulators or is there more to it? Quote Dear Customer, From the beginning of May, Coinfloor UK will change the process for handling fiat deposits and withdrawals. Going forward, please ensure that you always check the latest instructions on the DEPOSIT or WITHDRAWAL pages prior to sending any deposit or withdrawal of fiat currencies as we will be using multiple banks and financial providers going forward and these instructions could change regularly. During the transition to the new process, there may be some disruption to our normal transaction processing times. Please rest assured that these changes are being rolled out to ensure a more reliable service going forward. Thank you in advance for your patience. Coinfloor Team Coinfloor Limited - Trade with confidence.

Economy / Speculation / Barclays considering starting a cryptocurrency trading desk

on: April 17, 2018, 08:05:53 AM

Another sign of mainstream financial interests moving into the cryptocurrency space. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-16/barclays-is-said-to-be-sounding-out-clients-about-trading-crypto Quote Barclays Plc has been gauging clients’ interest in the British bank starting a cryptocurrency trading desk, potentially joining Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in pioneering a new business on Wall Street, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The CME and CBoE futures markets were only the start which allows major institutions to hedge their positions. I really see this opening up a path to a major inflow of fresh money.

Economy / Speculation / Bitcoin Hitting $91,000 By March 2020 - Tom Lee, Fundstrat Global Advisors

on: March 19, 2018, 08:14:43 AM

It's unusual to find a positive outlook for Bitcoin in the mainstream financial media these days but Forbes has published some research by Tom Lee, Fundstrat Global Advisors (link to article). The projection of $91,000 by March 2020 is based on what happened after each of the previous 'bubbles burst'. They also recommend focusing on the main currencies as they see a shakeout of the 1,500 plus cryptos around at the moment. Click here if image doesn't load below.

Other / Meta / Suggestion: Merit Phase 2 - Drain the Swamp (@theymos)

on: March 14, 2018, 09:35:08 AM

The Merit system has been with us for six weeks now and is clearly having some success in reducing the spam. It is now very hard, if not impossible, for account farmers to provide a constant supply of high ranked accounts. This, of course, is good news for any of us who have become tired of finding any interesting content quickly buried under a pile of shitposts. What this hasn't addressed is the large number of accounts already in the hands of shitposters. Let's be honest about what rank is all about - signatures and the ability to gain income from them. The ability of someone who is already in possession of, for example, a Hero account (or 10) to continue to get paid for every shitpost they tack on the end of a spam megathread has not diminished or been restrained by the Merit system. Some campaign managers have taken the initiative to make minimum Merit requirements compulsory to join their campaigns but those managers were already the ones with high standards. They were not the problem, it has always been the managers that just blindly accept the first x hundred people to apply and pay them regardless of the spam they produce. I have noticed that these spammers are very easy to spot now, they are the ones stuck on 100, 250, 500 or whatever merit number they were initially given. They haven't managed to gain one single Merit point in the last 6 weeks. So to my suggestion: Amend the forum to hide signatures of any account that hasn't earned at least 1 Merit in the last 2 months. This will bar them from getting paid to post and not have any negative impact on anyone making even the tiniest contribution to the forum. Nobody loses their rank and even if someone is away from the forum for a while they can quickly get their signature back.

Economy / Reputation / HunterV new alt of ayoubouni95

on: March 05, 2018, 02:49:22 PM

Account ayoubouni95 with DT trust ratings: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=trust;u=513340 malevolent 2017-07-01 0.00000000 Reference Self-admitted carder. KWH 2016-10-23 0.00000000 Reference Selling hacked Paypal account. Just gave 17 merit to new Jr account HunterV For this stunning piece of work: Quote from: HunterV on December 09, 2017, 05:53:45 PM I think the worst mistake in gambling is to being greedy, I think greed people will be always looser, as they want much amount of money. http://archive.is/frEXz

Economy / Reputation / niknik1966 ranked up to Sr Member via Merit farming

on: March 02, 2018, 04:58:14 PM

Other / Meta / Hacked account Patron92

on: February 22, 2018, 06:09:14 AM

Account Patron92 just woke up after being inactive since September 03, 2014. Trust summary for Patron92 This user's email address was changed recently. This user recently woke up from a long period of inactivity. This user changed his/her password recently. After changing email and password the first post received 90 merit from two accounts already tagged as hacked. http://archive.is/EkdVT https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=300605 Received in the last 120 days Today at 05:50:41 AM: 50 from superscommessebitcoin for A gift for the holiday with bitcoin! Today at 04:44:14 AM: 40 from ifightformerkel for A gift for the holiday with bitcoin! https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=trust;u=178502 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=trust;u=206417

Bitcoin / Development & Technical Discussion / Is bitcoinfees.earn.com systematically overestimating fees?

on: February 21, 2018, 09:02:15 AM

I've been intrigued for some time as to why the recommended fee on bitcoinfees.earn.com is usually at least 10 times what you really need to pay to get included in the next block. Over the last few days, I've noticed that they show about 600 transactions at 211+ and about another 650 at 141-150. After each block is found these do not disappear. This screenshot was taken immediately after a block which included many transactions at 5 sats/byte. These transactions are not shown on https://jochen-hoenicke.de/queue/#1,2h So as every node has its own version of the mempool these transactions for some reason must not be getting propagated around the network. Obviously, if the data they are using to estimate fees has 1200 high fee transactions that cannot get confirmed then their estimate is going to be much higher than it needs to be. How does this happen? Is this a bug?

Economy / Reputation / Jacques_Bittard - Hacked troll account.

on: February 18, 2018, 09:55:18 AM

Another anti-Bitcoin troll caught my attention with this post. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2965877.msg30527709#msg30527709 http://archive.is/bT3jX Jacques_Bittard The account was registered on June 12, 2015 and has been inactive since June 16, 2015. Then came back to life on February 06, 2018. Trust summary for Jacques_Bittard This user's password was reset recently. This user recently woke up from a long period of inactivity. https://snag.gy/jw1hyg.jpg

Bitcoin / Press / 2018-02-09 NewsBTC - Hedge Fund Investor: Bitcoin Already Hit Bottom, Ready to S

on: February 09, 2018, 07:48:24 AM

Hedge Fund Investor: Bitcoin Already Hit Bottom, Ready to Surge https://www.newsbtc.com/2018/02/09/hedge-fund-investor-bitcoin-already-hit-bottom/ Quote Bitcoin has gone to its bottom price and will rise back to its peak level and then probably grow from there said digital investor Dan Morehead. Bitcoin Should Return to its Peak Soon Speaking with CNBC’s Fast Money Dan Morehead from Pantera Capital made some very promising predictions regarding the immediate future of cryptocurrency, and he had the statistics to back them up. “Bitcoin is still so underowned by institutional investors that it trades at its own beat,” Morehead called for a 50 percent decline in Bitcoin prices before there would be another surge back in December when his fund was up 2,922 percent and had collected $2 Billion in assets under management. The firm became so successful it was forced to raise fees to reduce investor inflow. “It’s volatile on the upside. It can be volatile on the downside.” Pantera Capital started its first fund in 2003 and it’s first cryptocurrency fund in 2013. Now working only in cryptocurrency Pantera has had returns of over 22,000 percent. In 2017, the firm launched an ICO, or initial coin offering, fund, and a digital asset fund, receiving returns of 549 percent and 188 percent, respectively. Morehead said that we have experienced a 64% fall from peak to trough which is the average decline for Bitcoin in the last seven bear market cycles. He said the fall in value was the right downdraft. Adding that bear markets have historically had a 71-day run and that this one is in its 52 day he sees it coming to the end of its cycle. “It seems like another couple of weeks and everything will be normal and [bitcoin] can start growing back up again.” Since the new year market correction cryptocurrency has started a slow recovery starting mid-week as Bitcoin went back over $8,000. Regulation Will be Good for the Market When asked about regulatory measures in the US Morehead said that it has been good for cryptocurrency and even more would be better. Citing the ruling of Bitcoin as property and the CFTC clearing the way for crypto futures, and the SEC talking a more or less hands-off approach as being helpful to investors. While confirming that his firm is most heavily involved with established cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum Morehead said that emerging protocol tokens or ICO’s are what interests him personally. Calling them the small caps of the industry.

Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / The purpose of Bitcoin

on: January 05, 2018, 01:08:38 PM

I was just reading this article in this months The Spectator https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/01/why-cryptocurrencies-are-the-answer/ and there it was in the last sentence of the first paragraph: Quote The craze for cryptocurrency can be explained by a host of factors: the allure of getting rich quick; the attraction of off-the-grid accountancy for malefactors like tax evaders and drug dealers (though Bitcoin is traceable); the glamour of the new. Despite blockchain currencies’ wild volatility thus far, I’d still posit that the more underlying attraction is to a reliable store of value. Bitcoin investors may not recognise their motivation as such, but the impulse behind computer-generated currency is revolutionary: to take the production and control of money away from government. This was exactly the motivation I had had back in 2012 when I first became involved, but it is far too easy to lose sight of that over time. This is about taking back control of money from those that have devalued it so recklessly over the last century. As the article goes on to point out both the US Dollar and the Britsh Pound are now worth 1/100th of what they were 100 years ago. I find it interesting and unusual that a mainstream publication like The Spectator actually gets what this is all about.

Bitcoin / Electrum / Electrum Segwit Transaction size

on: December 13, 2017, 10:52:37 AM

I'm using an Electrum wallet with Segwit bech32/base32 (bc1) addresses and sent a transaction: f0dc723b3337523dfa61555f2d4c214a0b6b42e5699d1e39df11b699d61e2fa5 (Yes I know it is a low fee, I'm not in any hurry.) According to Electrum, the transaction is 212 bytes. According to blockchain.info the transaction is 374 bytes According to blocktrail.com the transaction is 157 bytes Does anybody know a) which one is correct? b) why the discrepancy?

Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Lightning Network moves a step closer.

on: December 07, 2017, 07:37:11 AM

Coindesk reports the first two transactions on the live network between the three main implementations. The standards are now agreed and we have moved on from proof of concept testing to actual live transactions. There is still work to do but this is a very significant step forward in scaling the Bitcoin network. https://www.coindesk.com/lightning-last-test-shows-bitcoin-scaling-solution-almost-ready/ Quote Bitcoin's long wait for the Lightning Network is almost over. Announced today, the startups behind the three most active Lightning implementations have revealed test results, including live transactions, proving their software is now interoperable. The findings, released by ACINQ, Blockstream and Lightning Labs, effectively bring Lightning (the mechanism many see as the best solution for increasing bitcoin's capacity) closer to public launch.

Bitcoin / Bitcoin Technical Support / Sending Tx from Core 0.15.1 to bech32/base32 address

on: November 30, 2017, 10:34:37 AM

When trying to send a transaction from my core 0.15.1 node on Windows I cannot enter a base32/bech32 address to send a transaction to my Electrum wallet (addresses beginning bc1q). Is it a misunderstanding on my part that this should be supported from 0.15.1 or is there some setting I need to use to turn it on?

Bitcoin / Press / [2017-11-22] FT - Europe’s first bitcoin mutual fund launched by Tobam

on: November 23, 2017, 03:07:25 PM

https://www.ft.com/content/fa3897da-ceac-11e7-9dbb-291a884dd8c6 Quote Europe’s first bitcoin mutual fund launched by Tobam Cryptocurrencies push deeper into mainstream investment world NOVEMBER 22, 2017 Peter Smith in London A small Paris-based asset manager has launched Europe’s first bitcoin mutual fund in a move intended to draw institutional investor interest in the volatile cryptocurrency that has surged from $1,000 to more than $8,300 this year. The unregulated Tobam bitcoin fund is the latest evidence that cryptocurrencies are pushing deeper into the mainstream, and comes ahead of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s plans to start listing bitcoin futures with a centralised clearing mechanism. There are significant regulatory hurdles for asset managers to buy bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which are often associated with money-laundering and cyber theft. Unlike other currencies, bitcoins are strings of computer code, not securities. This means they are not regulated by many financial watchdogs, including the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, and cannot be held by traditional mutual funds or most exchange traded funds. Tobam’s fund is classified as an alternative investment fund, is not traded on an exchange and does not fall under the European mutual fund structure known as Ucits. However, it has daily liquidity based on market closing prices, as is the case in most Ucits mutual funds. Tobam said it required the approval of France’s financial regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, to launch the fund. Yves Choueifaty, the founder of Tobam, said the $10bn asset manager had to convince the AMF that the bitcoin fund’s “framework is protective of investors”. PwC is the fund’s auditor and Caceis, Crédit Agricole’s asset-servicing banking group, is its custodian. “How to run the money and invest in cryptocurrencies is quite elaborate,” he said. “We found some investors to launch the fund and we have had a lot of interest from an intellectual point of view.” Mr Choueifaty said he would be disappointed if the bitcoin fund had not grown to a size of more than $400m in the next two to three years. Adrian Lowcock, investment director at Architas, the multi-manager investor, said the bitcoin fund as well as investment trusts invested in the cryptocurrency underlined interest from mainstream investors. “Obviously there is an appetite for this type of investment,” he said. Boudewijn Rooseboom, a co-founder of Cyber Capital, a specialist in cryptocurrency investment, said there was a lot of confusion about the nature of cryptocurrencies. “But from a portfolio diversification perspective, cryptocurrencies could be an interesting proposition for institutional investors,” he said. Trading in bitcoin remains hugely volatile. The currency crashed 27 per cent in the first three weeks of September, down from $4,950 to $3,612 for one bitcoin, only to go on to trade above $5,000 by mid-October, figures on Coindesk, the website providing news about digital currencies, show. “More and more cryptocurrencies have been created in recent years, with bitcoin gaining the largest market capitalisation and the longest record, while also being the most liquid,” Mr Choueifaty said. “Despite growing interest for the digital currency, the current solutions available to access bitcoin pose numerous difficulties for investors.” He added: “While bitcoin is prone to significant risks, including a very high level of volatility, it also provides diversification benefits.” Mainstream portfolio managers and financial advisers have said recently that most institutional investors are far from considering bitcoin investments

Bitcoin / Press / [2017-11-17] IBT - Bitcoin Price Hits $8,000 As Lightning Tests Cross-Chain Swap

on: November 18, 2017, 06:59:01 AM

http://www.ibtimes.com/bitcoin-price-hits-8000-lightning-tests-cross-chain-swaps-2616414 Quote Bitcoin's price just reached another all-time high time on Friday, briefly passing $8,000, while the bitcoin community celebrated a few monumental achievements. The popular cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase just announced a new option for institutional investors to securely store digital assets with Coinbase Custody. This will allow more hedge funds and family offices to safely and lawfully work with cryptocurrency. “Coinbase Custody is only available to institutional investors with a minimum of $10M in deposits,” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong wrote in a blog post. “There is an initial setup fee of $100,000 USD, and a fee of 10 basis points per month on assets stored.” Meanwhile, Lighting Labs and the team behind the cryptocurrency litecoin completed the first cross-chain swap between bitcoin and litecoin. This is a big deal because so far blockchain networks each exist in their own separate spheres. In order to move value from the bitcoin network and the Ethereum network, for example, users typically needed to go to an exchange and swap currencies like travelers do with paper bills. But what if you had a magic wand that could instantly change one currency into another by yourself? “You can now transfer value instantaneously across blockchains,” litecoin creator Charlie Lee told International Business Times. “This opens up tons of new possibilities including decentralized exchanges.” “It's an important building block for a future where you can exchange crypto assets without having to go through an entity that holds custody of the funds,” Lightning Labs CEO Elizabeth Stark told IBT. “Future applications include high frequency trading, algorithmic trading, and machine learning applications with instant, high volume cross-blockchain transactions.” Next her team is working on a beta version for the public, then cross-blockchain technology for even more networks. Forbes reported many experts now believe bitcoin could soon reach $10,000. Both CME Group Inc and the Swiss bank Vontobel will soon offer bitcoin futures. Cryptocurrency derivatives might usher in a whole new category of financial products in 2018. The Korean ATM manufacturer Nautilis Hyosung also reportedly announced plans to make regular ATMs that can transact with bitcoin through a joint venture with the American fintech startup Just.Cash. Despite all this, most Americans still don’t understand the cryptocurrency industry. A YouGov survey of 1,000 Americans found 24 percent believed cryptocurrency is mostly used for illegal transactions while 38 percent weren’t sure if most virtual currency is used for lawful transactions. On the other hand, people in developing countries are flocking to buy bitcoin because of the extra security and mobility it offers. “Bitcoin is a safe haven for people around the world who don’t trust their governments,” Andrew Milne, chief investment officer and co-founder of Altana Digital Currency Fund, told Bloomberg. “There are many countries where people are looking for an asset that isn’t vulnerable to banks blowing themselves up.’’ This demand is also driving up bitcoin prices in regional markets. CNN reported bitcoin hit $13,000 on a Zimbabwe marketplace this week. No matter how you look at it, bitcoin is no longer a niche trend for black markets. Millions of users worldwide are watching mainstream businesses experiment with bitcoin as prices continue to rise.

Pages: [1] 2 »