Because of the semi-anonymous nature of Bitcoin, it’s used in ransomware attacks. Hackers breach networks and hold them hostage until payment is made to them. Hospitals and schools have been victims of these types of attacks. However, unlike cash, which was favored by thieves in the past, Bitcoin always leaves a trail in the blockchain that investigators can follow.

Bitcoin has a limit to the number of tokens it will release. That number is hard-coded at 21 million. The estimated date of Bitcoin issuing its last coin is believed to be in the year 2140. No one can predict what will happen at that point, but miners will always earn some profit from transaction fees. Plus, users of the blockchain and the Bitcoins themselves will be incentivized to protect the network, because if mining stops, Bitcoins become vulnerable and so does the data that has been locked into the blockchain.

Bitcoin is the opposite of a pyramid scheme from the point of view of Bitcoin miners. The Bitcoin protocol is designed like a cannibalistic arms race. Every additional miner prompts the protocol to increase the difficulty of mining. From a social point of view, Bitcoin is a pure market. The price of Bitcoins fluctuates based on market supply, demand, and perceived value.

When it comes to defining the dollar value of crypto asset transaction activity relative to network value or the crypto asset valuation framework I really appreciate the NVT or The Network Value to Transactions (NVT) ratio. NVT ratio is similar to the price-earnings ratio (PE Ratio), one we use in the traditional stock market but in this case, we are dealing with crypto assets instead of companies. NVT Ratio can be used as a valuation metric for almost any other crypto-assets or coins. I came know to know about NVT when the Bitcoin prices were soaring up and really helped me to predict whether it was the bubble or not.

The reason I really adore waves is that unlike other cryptocurrencies Waves does not try to replace Bitcoin. In fact, Waves allows you to create your own cryptocurrencies within no time and it is one of a unique feature of the Waves platform. Waves platform gives people an alternate way of digitizing their asset in form of custom tokens. You can create your own tokens of anything with just one WAVES (native Waves currency) as fees on Waves platform.

The answer is Waves platform.
Waves is the decentralized financial trading platform that is built on its own blockchain where you can create your own custom tokens which is its main feature.  Like all other cryptocurrencies have their own tokens, Waves also introduced their native token called WAVES which is the fuel of the platform. Waves, in summary, is a very quick way of creating tokens and these tokens can be used to represent anything in the world. They can be even reused to represent the gold, diamonds, US dollars, and other commodities. Anyone can create the token on waves and it just cost one WAVES to create any token you want. Isn’t it just amazing that you can create your own crypto coin with few clicks?   

Currently, Monero is holding 11th place in terms of market capital and worth whopping $220.89. The all-time high was around an astounding $495.84 on 7th January 2018. The monero is available on the variety of popular exchanges. Most volume goes through Poloniex, HitBTC, and Bittrex. Other exchanges include coin-swap, BTer, Melotic, CryptLocal, and Shapeshift. Monero’s supply schedule is a hybrid of Litecoin and Dogecoin. For Monero, a new block is appended to its blockchain every 2 minutes, similar to Litecoin’s 2.5 minutes. Like Dogecoin, however, it will have a small degree of inflation for its entire life beginning in May 2022, when 0.3 Monero will be released every minute, totaling 157,680 Monero every year. At that time, there will be 18.1 million units of Monero outstanding, so inflation in that first year will be only 0.87 percent.  As we head further into the future that inflation decreases as the base of Monero outstanding increases. Interestingly, in 2040 there will be nearly equivalent units of bitcoin and Monero outstanding, and in the period of 2019 to 2027, Monero’s rate of supply inflation will be lower than Bitcoin’s, but in all other periods, the opposite is true.
Expectedly, Monero’s ability to create privacy in transactions was a technological breakthrough that was recognized within the crypto asset community and the markets. By the end of 2016, Monero had the fifth largest network value of any cryptocurrency and was the top performing digital currency in 2016, with a price increase over the year of 2,760 percent. This clearly demonstrates the level of interest in privacy protecting cryptocurrency. Some of that interest, no doubt, comes from less than savory sources. please comment you thoughts on Monero whether it is good crypto asset to hold for long term?

[Slovenia – A Pro-Bitcoin Country]

Kranj, the fourth largest city of Slovenia, is going to be the first city in the world to have a Bitcoin monument built in a public space — a roundabout that connects Oldhamska and Gregorčičeva streets. The monument is to be a symbol of the growth of the overall crypto space and could potentially become a pilgrimage spot for the community.



More photos: http://www.andrejtrcek.com/bitcoin-roundabout/

Slovenia is a technology-friendly country which on some occasions has been designated as the “Silicon Valley of Europe”. However, until the advent of blockchain technology, the Central European country has seen little in the way of actual success.

The inauguration of the monument will be held on March 13th, 2018, and the monument will be a Bitcoin symbol.

The commemorative sculpture will be placed in the middle of a traffic roundabout, and the roads on each side will represent the decentralized connections on the network. The monument symbolizes the growth that bitcoin and blockchain could bring to the economy of Kranj.

Last year, the Danish professional hockey team Rungsted Seier Capital changed its arena name to “Bitcoin Arena”. It was one of the first physical structures to have a representation of the Bitcoin theme. Now we also have the Bitcoin roundabout to indicate the growing trend among people from around the world.

Slovenia – A Pro-Bitcoin Country
Recently, Slovenia tried to market itself as a destination for blockchain technology companies. The Slovenian government is formulating crypto-friendly policies to attract domestic and foreign companies to invest in the country.

The popular Bitcoin exchange Bitstamp was started in Slovenia by  Nejc Kodrič and Damijan Merlak. However, its  registration was later moved to the U.K., due to lack of access to financial services in Slovenia. That’s a big problem the government will need to overcome if it wants to retain its crypto stars.

Recently Dr. Miro Cerar, Prime Minister of Slovenia, referring to blockchain technology’s potential, said:

“The government is aware of Slovenia’s involvement in the global flows, and with our vision of modernization and digitization promotion in all areas, we are bringing to the fore the introduction of new technologies. We thus recognize blockchain technology as an exceptional opportunity: in this respect, Slovenia is at the forefront and one of the most recognized blockchain destinations in Europe.”

By announcing the inauguration of Bitcoin monument, Slovenia has shown its openness and willingness to embrace the distributed ledger technology — at least symbolically. The central European country is sending a message to the world that it is open to blockchain based projects, but will need to back up its symbolism with actual policies if it wants to profit from them.

Source: https://www.bitsonline.com/first-bitcoin-monument-slovenia/

[zakalwe Escrow Service]

zakalwe Escrow Service

After successfully completing some escrow deals, I decided to publicly offer my escrow service.
I am very open about different types of deals and trades, I will escrow anything legal.

As I'm just starting my service, I expect smaller trades at the beginning until I get some reputation. I will escrow only for amounts up to $200 because I don't want assumptions that I am here trying to run away with large amounts.
I guarantee for my service with my account which is very valuable for me, it is Sr Member and I participate in signature campaign so I can't afford to get negative feedback.

Fee:
4%** and minimum $5 No fee till the end of March for amounts up to $200.
Can be payed by buyer, seller or 50/50.
** I can lower the fee to as low as 1% for larger amounts. Send me private message about that.

Examples:
Escrow amount $200, fee is $8
Escrow amount $60, fee is $5

I can escrow Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.

Here is a signed message from Bitcoin address 1LgsZ9ZTQW5LpfiMYcLwHeCVuG9ZT93z1f that I staked on November 19, 2017:

Code:

-----BEGIN BITCOIN SIGNED MESSAGE-----
I am zakalwe from bitcointalk (id 23149). I am starting my escrow service today, on 3 March 2018.
-----BEGIN SIGNATURE-----
1LgsZ9ZTQW5LpfiMYcLwHeCVuG9ZT93z1f
IIUXgbrx3TdSCcaKqvHCUfFXDk7JXU25KXgZ7sr9ut9jPbAt09HXuyuVCmaM45bu9R0s43nCKKl7XbcpveczCgc=
-----END BITCOIN SIGNED MESSAGE-----

Signed message verified

Want to buy up to 5 motherboards with LGA 1155 socket, I need them for the Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs. I am buying new, unused motherboards only.
Send your offers via PM.

There have been many tweets and posts on Facebook in the last 5 hours, saying that NiceHash has probably been hacked.
People say that hackers stolen 56 million USD worth of bitcoins. Many user's addresses have been emptied few hours ago.
NiceHash website is down and the only update from the company is this (9 hours ago)

Dear NiceHash user, our service is currently under maintenance.
We are sorry for the inconvenience and please stay tuned for updates.
Thank you for your understanding.

This is supposed to be BTC address of the hackers: https://bitinfocharts.com/bitcoin/address/1EnJHhq8Jq8vDuZA5ahVh6H4t6jh1mB4rq
Containing 4736 BTC worth 60 million USD.

MORE INFO:
Twitter debate: https://twitter.com/nagyga1/status/938391838037127168
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/NiceHash/comments/7hxxp3/hicehash_hacked/

EDIT: I SUGGEST YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM THIS EXCHANGE. Reasons explained in the discussion.

This is not ANN, it is a discussion thread.


AEX.com is a Chinese cryptocurrency exchange registered in the United Kingdom but they do accept foreign users.

It was lunched on October 19, 2017. Despite the fact that it was lunched recently, it already has decent trading volume. Today's volume is about 4 million USD.
AEX on coinmarketcap.com

Withdrawal fee for all cryptocurrencies is 1%.

There are many websites with a list of ICOs and you can learn about the project, when does the ICO start, when it finishes, what is the total amount of tokens and so on.
But I couldn't find a website or app that also tells you the amount of money that the ICO raised so far.
I know some ICOs don't tell this information, but some do. And even if they don't have the money counter on the website, one can simply check their ETH address on etherscan.io, right? This information should be publicly available.

So does such website or app exist?

I went to my bank today to change money to foreign currency because I will be traveling abroad soon. I asked the lady what are the current annual interest rates if you decide to give your money to bank for certain period of time without being able to withdraw that money (Savings Account).
She said proudly that zhe interest rate is 1.3% which is the highest in the country. I was holding my laugh and smiled kindly to her and I said that even 1.3% is not enough for me.
What do you guys think? I think 1.3% per year is a joke. Money can lose that much value in one year so you didn't actually profit at all. What kind of interets rates do you get at your banks?

The prime minister of Slovenia touted the benefits of blockchain earlier this week while highlighting a new government-backed think tank focused on the tech.

Prime Minister Miro Cerar was speaking at the Digital Slovenia 2020 gathering on Wednesday when he gave a wide-ranging speech on blockchain. During the remarks, he notably declared that the government "wants to position Slovenia as the most recognised blockchain destination in the European Union."

He touted the country's startup community, and also disclosed that the government is looking at administrative applications of blockchain.
...
Source: https://www.coindesk.com/slovenias-prime-minister-lauds-nation-blockchain-friendly-destination/

Guys, I post it here also be very careful with bitstamp. I made a fiat deposit yesterday and they are asking me questions, screenshot fro the exchanges I use to buy alt coins.
I am bitstamp customer since several years! The did AML, KYC several times!
They should warn customers if they have issue or problems with banks. They got my money and even if I buy BTC that won't allow me to withdraw them!

About to contact my lawyer, I am really tired of all these amateurs!

Amazing.

Yet another exchange in trouble. And this is NOT GOOD for all the crypto ecosystem!

Hello all, yesterday I deposit a SEPA in Bitstamp; that are asking me (for the tenth time) again a lot of questions, even screenshots from my other exchanges to demonstrate that I bought altcoins.
I am Bitstamp customer since years and I am getting tired of all this. That have MY MONEY in Hostage, be careful with them. It seems as they have problems with bank accounts.

They are NOT trustworthy!

Hello all,
I am (I should say was) a "lucky customer" of bitcoin-central. I have just discovered that if I want to withdraw bitcoin, I have to wait for 10pm - 11pm. Yes you read well, they only proceed between this hour. Furthermore, this happens only if your request happens within 5pm, otherwise your withdrawal will take place between 10pm - 11pm of the NEXT day.

I thought they were joking. They were not. They say it's because of security.

The last time I heard these kind of b.....okay, I try and behave. The last time I heard such answers, it happened from....guess who? Yessssssss MTGOX! So you understand me if ALL my alarms ring like the Titanic sirens.....

I LOVE bitcoin and cryptos because they can move value in time zero (more or less). And what do they do? They annihilate it!

LOL!

A little note: they are a branch of paymium, which is a payment institution of France.

Bankers..........

I am literally amazed.

Of course I am moving all my bitcoins and fiat well away from them.


Cheers.

Ok now they are keeping my money (they are not allowing me to withdraw even if I write down the KYC answers) and they are keeping my bitcoin also!

What the hell is going on?

Hi all, I am tring to withdraw fiat from bitstamp. I am their customer since more than a year and I already withdrew fiat. Now a couple of days ago I tried to withdraw and since they didn't I wrote to support. Here their answer:

"We received your withdrawal request. As your withdrawal request met some of our volume and frequency thresholds, we will have to kindly ask you to help us better understand the nature of your relationship with Bitstamp. In order to do so, we require that an additional KYC (know your customer) procedure is completed before we can proceed with the processing of your transfer.

We kindly ask you to send us a high resolution image double page of your international passport and answer the following KYC questionnaire:

1. How did you learn about Bitcoin?
2. What is the purpose of your trading on Bitstamp? Please describe in as much detail as possible how you intend to use your trading account.
3. Which bank are you using? Please provide the complete address and SWIFT code.
4. Estimated amount that you would be depositing/withdrawing to/from your Bitstamp account per month (in USD and BTC)?
5. What type of trading will you conduct? Buying/selling/both? Estimated trade volume per month?
6. What is the source of the funds which you are depositing to your Bitstamp account? Please provide any financial documentation which can confirm how the funds sent to your Bitstamp account were acquired.

We kindly ask you to submit your answers and documents in a reply to this ticket."

Does anybody know what's happening??'