The first quarter of 2018 has seen the crypto markets lose a little more than 48 percent of their Jan. 1 value, with total market cap down from around $612 bln to $261 bln at the first quarter close on March 31, according to data from CoinMarketCap.



Ripple’s (XRP) price has dropped the most of the top five cryptocurrencies listed on CoinMarketCap, down almost 78 percent on March 31 when it traded at $0.51 as compared to its Jan. 1 price of around $2.30.



Second place for largest percentage value drop is Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which lost about 73 percent of its value from its Jan. 1 price of around $2,543 to its March 31 price of around $697.

Litecoin (LTC) is down around 49 percent from its Jan. 1 price of about $231, trading for around $118 on March 31.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-market-sees-around-50-percent-losses-across-the-board-at-end-of-first-quarter-2018

Биткоину на прошлой неделе так и не удалось закрепиться выше $9000. Возможно, ожидания разворота тренда по флагману криптовалютного рынка оказались преждевременны, и большинство спекулятивных инвесторов закрывают длинные позиции на значимых психологических уровнях.

Новостной фон на прошлой неделе сохранял умеренно нейтральный характер, единственной негативной новостью стало предупреждение японского финансового регулятора бирже Binance. Последняя в свою очередь заявила о планах открыть офис на Мальте.

О возможных сценариях движения цен нескольких популярных альткоинов расскажет аналитик TSI Analytics Олег Сергеев.

ETH/USD
Цене Ethereum не удалось сформировать отскок от зоны поддержки в районе $460 и развить восходящее движение.



На данный момент признаков разворота устойчивого нисходящего тренда не наблюдается, цена вернулась к минимальным отметкам прошлой недели. Следующей логической целью для продолжения даунтренда станет психологический уровень $400.

XRP/USD
Котировки XRP/USD также продолжают находиться под давлением, техническая ситуация никак не изменилась с момента прошлого обзора.



Уровень в районе $0,57 пока еще продолжает выполнять роль поддержки, но цена уже неоднократно пыталась закрепиться под ним и обновить минимум текущего года.
Первым сигналом о развороте XRP станет пробой нисходящей зеленой линии, после которого может последовать движение цены в район $0,80.

https://forklog.com/analiz-tsen-altkoinov-eos-v-tsentre-vnimaniya/

Создатель Litecoin Чарли Ли и Litecoin Foundation принесли свои извинения за резкое закрытие проекта LitePay, сообщает CCN.

Цена Litecoin выросла в середине февраля на фоне новостей об открытии приложения LitePay, которое, как предлагалось, открывало возможность принятия актива за торговые услуги, а также предлагало пользователям дебетовую карту с балансом в LTC. Начало работы приложения должно было прийтись на март месяц.

Однако до запуска дело так и не дошло, и в своем заявлении от 26 марта генеральный директор LitePay Кеннет Асаре сообщил общественности, что он прекратил все операции и собирается продать компанию. В социальной сети Reddit пользователи утверждают, что Асаре озвучил чрезвычайно мало конкретики о проекте и был обвинен в уклонении от вопросов.

https://happycoin.club/charli-li-i-litecoin-foundation-prinesli-svoi-izvineniya-za-zakryitie-litepay/

Bitcoin (BTC) has been trading sideways in a narrow range over the last week, but a drop toward $8,000 may be on the way, the technical studies indicate.

As of writing, BTC is changing hands at $8,346 on Bitfinex. Meanwhile, CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index (BPI), which represents the average of BTC prices on the world's leading exchanges, is seen at $8,306 - little changed from the previous day's close (as per UTC) of $8,380.

The cryptocurrency peeped above the $9,000 mark on March 20, according to Bitfinex data, but resistance at $9,200 has proved a tough nut to crack. Meanwhile, bearish chart signals suggest a drop in prices is likely, though the 4-hour 50-MA has likely capped the downside around $8,200.

https://www.coindesk.com/trapped-below-9k-bitcoin-risks-downside-break/

Blockchain isn't going anywhere, but centralized authorities aren't either.

That realization was the general takeaway at the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation's annual fintech symposium in New York City on Thursday where executives behind some of the most mature blockchain platforms currently in the works took the stage to discuss the benefits and limitations of the nascent technology.

https://www.coindesk.com/enterprises-building-blockchain-confront-tech-limitations/

Govtech
The Government of Israel promotes the policy of open government with the understanding that recent innovations in communication and information technologies could allow a significant improvement in parliamentary democracy. This approach fosters informed policy-making processes, improves governmental services and has the potential to strengthen the trust between citizens and government.

The Israeli government funds, collaborates and partners with businesses as well as educational institutions in fostering and continuously developing innovative technologies and science. The Israeli Blockchain Association bridges the interaction between these parties concerning initiatives in Blockchain technologies.

A startup Blockchain technology company, CoaIiChain, is designing an interactive political platform that promotes the policies of an open government and eliminates the communication gap between the elector and the elected. During interactive discourse between citizens and government, the platform produces heat maps and graphs conveying the citizen's interests, allowing politicians, in turn, to respond in real-time to their constituent’s queries. The data collected by the system traces the frequency of corporate influence and payments made to politicians. The system also utilizes smart contracts for enforcing campaign commitments made by politicians – such as budgets proposals, policies. The launch of a beta version is scheduled for release in Q1 2018, and the full version & Blockchain integrated app by the end of 2018 according to the company’s website. 

https://cointelegraph.com/news/blockchain-technology-takes-hold-in-israel-expert-take

Калифорнийский стартап Lightning Labs представил первую бета-версию клиента Lightning для основной сети биткоина lnd 0.4, которая позволит пользователям пересылать биткоины вне блокчейна.

Также стало известно, что компания привлекла $2,5 млн от CEO Twitter Джека Дорси, исполнительного директора Square Capital Жаклин Риз, основателя Litecoin Чарли Ли и COO PayPal Дэвида Сакса.

«Lightning является самым важным протоколом для сетей биткоина и Litecoin, а Lightning Labs — лучшим разработчиком этой технологии», — подчеркнул Сакс.

https://forklog.com/lightning-labs-predstavili-pervuyu-beta-versiyu-klienta-lnd-dlya-osnovnoj-seti-bitkoina/

Крупные монеты ушли вниз из торгового диапазона, который сложился вчера с минимума пятницы, поскольку ряд негативных новостей от регуляторов увеличили и без того сильное давление продаж по BTC и альткоинам. Поскольку во время консолидации корреляции оставались повышенными, а лидерство было узким, распродажа запустила еще одну ногу вниз. Несмотря на это, после февральских минимумов мы ожидаем возобновления долгосрочного восстановления.



BTC/USD, анализ 4-часового графика

В конце торгов биткойн упал ниже зоны поддержки около $ 8400, ранее он сломал сильную поддержку в размере $ 9000. Впервые с середины февраля был пробит уровень $ 8000. Краткосрочный импульс в настоящее время медвежий, и, поскольку возможен дальнейший минус, краткосрочные трейдеры не должны занимать здесь свои позиции.

Долгосрочные инвесторы должны хранить свои монеты, но поскольку наша трендовая модель в долгосрочном плане остается нейтральной, мы не рекомендуем добавлять BTC. Следующая сильная зона поддержки находится около уровня $ 7650, а ключевое сопротивление выше $ 8400 составляет $ 9000, $ 9200 и $ 10 000.


Далее на
https://happycoin.club/tehnicheskiy-analiz-monetyi-snova-padayut/

March 11: following a day of slight recovery, cryptocurrency market bounced back to the red, with the majority of assets listed on Coin360 having lost their value.



Bitcoin (BTC) has dropped to as low as $8,607 during the day. By press time it has recovered slightly, trading at around $9,224 with a 2.43% loss of value over the past 24 hours.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-markets-bounce-back-to-red-volatility-still-high

Некоммерческая организация Ethereum Foundation, занимающаяся поддержкой и развитием одноименного блокчейна, объявила названия проектов, которые получат гранты на общую сумму более $2,5 млн. Об этом сообщается в блоге компании.


В общей сложности 13 проектов получат финансирование для работы в сферах масштабируемости, безопасности, разработки, пользовательского интерфейса и других аспектов блокчейна Ethereum.

Гранты должны помочь сообществу в разработке распределенных приложений (Dapps) и смарт-контрактов, отмечается в сообщении. Кроме того, представители Ethereum Foundation особо обращают внимание на тот факт, что все проекты работают в разных сферах.

«Надеемся, эти гранты продемонстрируют сообществу, что мы действительно видим недостающие элементы в экосистеме, которые нуждаются в поддержке. [Гранты] помогут командам и отдельным разработчикам предотвратить трагедию общин», — говорится в сообщении.

Кроме того, отмечается, что акценты программы слегка сместились с тех пор, как она была впервые анонсирована в январе. На тот момент в центре внимания находились в основном программисты, работающие над решениями масштабируемости сети Ethereum.

«Мы расширили поддержку проектов, работающих в сферах масштабируемости, безопасности и оптимизации. У этих стартапов нет ICO, нет токенсейлов, а главная их задача — просто создание полезных продуктов и услуг», — отмечается в послании.

Стоит отметить, что средства получат не только проекты, работающие исключительно в главной сети. В Ethereum Foundation отметили, что некоторые из грантов достались «хактернам», предложившим полезные сторонние разработки.

В то же время самый большой грант все-таки получила команда, занимающаяся масштабируемостью и шардингом: L4 Research ($1,5 млн).

Полный список победителей и направлений выглядит так:

L4 Research — масштабируемость, $1,5 млн;
Runtime Verification — безопасность, $500 тысяч;
ETHGlobal — грант DevEx, $200 тысяч;
Prysmatic Labs — масштабируемость, $100 тысяч;
DDA — грант #buidl, $100 тысяч;
Barcelona Supercomputing Center — масштабируемость, $50 тысяч;
Plasma Taiwan Dev — масштабируемость, $25 тысяч;
Ethers.js — грант DevEx, $25 тысяч;
Turbo Geth — масштабируемость, $25 тысяч;
Solium — грант DevEx, $10 тысяч;
Алекс Комаров — дизайн, $10 тысяч;
Анонимно — «хактерн», $10 тысяч;
Анкит Раж — «хактерн», $10 тысяч.
Напомним, ранее известные Ethereum-проекты объявили о выделении грантов на развитие инфраструктуры сети.

https://forklog.com/ethereum-foundation-nazvala-pobeditelej-konkursa-grantov-na-2-5-mln/

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Despite the recent news about banks closing their doors on credit card purchases of crypto; one after the other, there are still available options you can use to buy crypto. Let’s see what they are.

The easiest way is to buy cryptocurrency with a debit card on a centralized exchange.

It really is as easy as buying clothes on Amazon. Coinbase, for example, is a popular interface to buy crypto with fiat (fiat = paper currency like dollars or euro).

On Coinbase, users need to create an account and verify identity. After that, they can buy with their debit card.

Rules for verifying identity differ for each exchange/country; generally, users need to at least provide an ID/Passport and enable 2-factor authentication.

Coinbase also has a sister company named GDAX - this type of platform gives users a better idea of how crypto exchanges really work. It features an intuitive interface with many charting tools, trade history, and real-time order books. These are all tools that traders use to make sure that they are getting the most out of their trade. This exchange follows US regulations, bringing it to compliance in USA, Canada, Europe, the UK, Australia, and Singapore.



Bitfinex is another very popular exchange that has been around as early as 2012. Its website boasts being the “most advanced cryptocurrency trading platform” in the world, with many advanced charting tools to equip while trading. The website even has an app that is available for both Android and the iPhone. The core of the exchange is made up of three features: Exchange trading, Margin trading, and Margin funding. The P2P financing market integrated into Bitfinex matches borrowers with lenders to bring the advanced tools of margin trading. A beginner’s guide is offered in their support section so that even a first timer can buy on the site.


While there are many more places to buy cryptocurrency with fiat, Robinhood is unique in its zero-fee approach and their goals to be an even easier platform to buy cryptocurrency. This exchange/trading app hybrid lets users buy Bitcoin and Ethereum right from their phone with no trading fee. Compare this to Coinbase’s 1.49%-3.99% fees added to every purchase.

Just after the announcement of launching a crypto trading platform, the millennial stock trading app received over 1 million users on their waitlist to try in just five days.

While this app platform is not fully released yet, Robinhood has allowed some users from a few states to begin trading on the app.

Not all cryptocurrencies can be bought with fiat
As of now, it’s mostly Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple that have fiat/crypto pairs. To obtain the ~1,546 cryptocurrencies, commonly referred to as “altcoins”, that are listed right now on Coinmarketcap, users need to trade BTC or ETH. Every altcoin has a BTC/crypto pair, and most have ETH pairs as well.

Coinbase offers Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash that users can buy with fiat debit cards. To get involved with other altcoins, users will need to send their BTC, ETH, LTC or BCH over to an exchange that has all of these pairs. The two most popular fluctuate between Binance and OKex, both of which are well trusted global exchange networks.

How to buy with Cash - P2P
Buying Bitcoin with cash can be as simple as giving money to your friend in exchange for BTC. For those who don’t know anyone with BTC (or anyone that wants to sell), there are decentralized, p2p sites to meet with people. LocalBitcoins works worldwide as an advertising community board for users to agree on a price beforehand, and then meet in person to trade. It might take a lot of time to process the exchange process, and it might not seem trustworthy enough, as it involves strangers, but it is still popular and has great reviews from users. It is technically a decentralized platform because it involves p2p trading. No middlemen are used to mediate the deal - which means no fees are paid at all.

How to Simply buy Bitcoin (no exchanges involved)
Bitcoin ATM - Bitcoin ATMs are becoming very popular- March tolls about 2,393 Bitcoin ATM machines worldwide, with a steady trend upwards. With these machines, the user shows up to a physical location and either a) buys Bitcoin using fiat currency and has it sent to a Bitcoin wallet or b) sells Bitcoin from the atm to withdraw fiat money. These devices are extremely convenient and allow traders to not have to deal at all with the “trading” part of crypto.

Buy.Cointelegraph - Cointelegraph has recently partnered up with Simplex to offer a convenient way to buy Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and/or Ethereum. Simplex accepts most credit cards (including Visa and Mastercard) and also accepts some debit and prepaid cards.



Coming Soon: Decentralized Exchanges
While not very popular yet, mostly because the technology is still being worked on, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) are set to become more popular in 2018. DEXs use a trustless AI system to connect traders online. In a centralized exchange, the money goes from the user’s wallet to an escrow, and then to the other user in the trade. Funds stored on centralized exchanges are stored in wallets owned by the company, making funds more susceptible to hacks. In a DEX, user funds are stored in hardware wallets on each user’s computer, and value is never lost; when a trade commences, and instant swap, i.e., atomic swap, occurs so that the money never passes through a middleman. A smart contract is used to keep trust between the two users trading the money.

Altcoin.io is working hard to make the first ever decentralized exchanges for traders, by traders. While many DEXs have bulky, complicated interfaces; Altcoin.io is working to make both a simple interface to quickly exchange crypto, as well as an in-depth, customizable exchange. The team was made famous back in October for successfully completing the first ever BTC-ETH atomic swap - a complicated feat because these two coins run completely different blockchains.



Bitshares already has a working platform, which works best as a client downloaded straight to the computer. Decentralized exchanges that are already working tend to be for the crypto-savvy; there are many advanced features, and the interfaces are not as easy on the eyes. While the number one exchange, currently OKex, is trading $1.75 billion million daily, Bitshares is only trading at approximately $2 million.

Crypto is easier than ever to buy now, and this year should see some huge improvements for both centralized and decentralized exchanges. Centralized exchanges will focus on scaling, usability and adding of new tokens, while decentralized exchanges will be focusing on getting their product out on the web and involving the existing crypto community. But for now, and forever, it’s a good time to buy crypto.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/how-and-where-to-buy-cryptocurrency-overview

The theft of hundreds of cryptocurrency miners in Iceland has led to a series of arrests amid an ongoing investigation.

The Associated Press reports that as many as 600 miners - which have yet to be recovered - were stolen during four separate incidents in December and January.

Eleven people, including a security worker, have been arrested in connection with the investigation into what has been called the "Big Bitcoin Heist." Two of those arrested remain in custody after a Reykjanes District Court ruling, though it is unclear what role they allegedly played in the heists.

https://www.coindesk.com/icelandic-police-hunting-hundreds-bitcoin-miners/

Все с первым днём весны!
Цена болтается неспешно, никак не определившись, куда ей нужно идти. Развязка ситуации затягивается. Быки и медведи не спешат делать большие ставки в свои стороны, понемногу вбрасывая объёмы, которые отражаются в вялой волатильности.
Сейчас возможно как начало снижения, так и продолжение роста.
Сценарии изображены на центральном и правом графиках.
Советую ловить локальные развороты в ту, или иную сторону при помощи сетапа, который описывал в обучающем посте "Суть движения цены".

https://ru.tradingview.com/chart/BTCUSD/Nczd0lmw-btcusd-volny-pod-mikroskopom-albty-01-03-2018/

The receiver for AriseBank, the Texas ICO issuer at the center of a securities fraud case, suspects the firm's co-founders have not been entirely forthcoming with asset disclosures, documents show.

According to a receivership report filed this week, co-founders, Jared Rice Sr. and Stanley Ford, initially failed to comply with a court order requiring them to disclose all of their property as well as assets owned by AriseBank.

Ford is at present in Dubai, but Rice later acquiesced and the case's appointed receiver, Mark Rasmussen, has identified 27.96 bitcoins, 196,131.04 dogecoins, 271.33 litecoins, 2,391,455.51 bitshares coins, 19,413.76 PIVX and 3599.99 BitUSD coins in addition to other funds in fiat as assets.

https://www.coindesk.com/arisebank-ico-fraud-case-may-ensnare-additional-parties/

Several top-tier public universities in China are stepping up efforts to patent blockchain applications developed on campus.

New data published on Feb. 16 and Feb. 23 by China State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) highlights the efforts by institutions such as Zhejiang University, Shenzhen University and Chinese Academy of Sciences to obtain patents related to the tech. The efforts are a tangible sign of the growing interest - and investment of resources - from China's government-funded academic institutions in the area of blockchain research and development.

more on :

https://www.coindesk.com/chinese-universities-pursuing-blockchain-patents/

Japan's financial regulator is mulling the creation of a regulatory framework for companies raising funds through initial coin offerings, a report indicates.

According to Sankei Shimbun, the Financial Service Agency is considering the revision of relevant laws and regulations in an effort to regulate ICOs in Japan, amid the growing popularity of token sale activities within the territory.

The report indicates that Japan currently has no clear regulations covering ICOs specifically, while the existing bitcoin payment law that went into effect last April is not sufficient to define the legal status of some ICO activities.

"There is an increasing demand for amendment of the law, and the FSA is planning to consider suspension of inappropriate ICOs," the report reads.

The FSA has already started monitoring ICOs that target Japanese investors and are deemed suspicious by the agency.

As reported, the FSA has issued multiple warnings to a Macau-based cryptocurrency firm that solicits interests from residents in Japan and published a formal statement on its website to order a halt to the firm's operation in the country.

The move towards a potential regulation is also a follow-up to the FSA's statement in October last year, in which the agency stressed several risk factors of token sales activities with a fund-raising purpose.

Other nations have recently moved to more clearly define ICO tokens, both to protect investors and to bring clarity to the industry.

Just four days ago, Austria announced plans to draw up ICO and cryptocurrency regulations, using existing rules for the trading of gold and derivatives as a model.

And on Feb. 22, Germany's financial markets regulator issued new guidance on how it will classify ICO tokens, including those it will consider securities.

https://www.coindesk.com/japans-finance-watchdog-eyeing-ico-regulation-says-report/

Bitwala has announced that it is launching a new banking service with real debit cards. Its application with the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority of Germany (Bafin) is pending. Once approved, customers’ funds will be guaranteed up to €100,000. The move follows the suspension of the company’s prepaid Visa cards.

Also read: Indians Look to Buy Bitcoin Overseas as Regulations Tighten

Bitwala’s New Banking Service
Bitwala Launching Full-Fledged Crypto-Friendly Banking Service with Debit CardBlockchain-based payment service provider Bitwala announced on Monday that it is building an online bank account service, “enabling a seamless transition between the crypto and fiat worlds.” The account combines “all the features of traditional banking with the crypto economy,” the company added, noting that “We aim to introduce the new Bitwala accounts to the world within the next few months.”

The company says it has over 57,00 users currently in over 200 countries. Prospective customers can now pre-register for this new service, Bitwala detailed, elaborating:

In the next few months, we will be building a full-fledged German bank account that will come with a German IBAN, BIC along with a real debit card from Mastercard…Your funds up to €100,000 will be guaranteed.

Bitwala Launching Full-Fledged Crypto-Friendly Banking Service with Debit Card“Bitwala accounts will be fully regulated by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority of Germany (Bafin),” the company stated, adding that its application is currently pending. With Bafin’s approval, the deposit guarantee scheme of German banks will guarantee customers’ funds of up to €100,000 (~USD$123,000).

Bitwala claims that its “accounts will be the perfect solution for those seeking secure and crypto-friendly banking services.” Customers will be able to buy and sell cryptocurrencies as well as manage their daily expenses and setting up direct debits, the company explained.

Accounts Come with Debit Cards
Bitwala Launching Full-Fledged Crypto-Friendly Banking Service with Debit CardThe new Bitwala accounts will come with a debit card linked to customers’ accounts.

“We will be issuing a contactless debit card, enabling you to spend your funds instantly in shops, online and at any ATM,” the company detailed, adding that customers’ balances “will be immediately available” on their Bitwala debit cards. Furthermore, the company says that debit cards will also “have much lower fees and higher spending limits,” compared to the prepaid cards the company previously offered.

Problems with Prepaid Cards
Bitwala formerly offered prepaid cards denominated in EUR, issued by Wavecrest Holdings Limited. Bitwala Launching Full-Fledged Crypto-Friendly Banking Service with Debit CardHowever, on January 5, the company announced that its prepaid cards had been disabled.

“Our Bitwala Card issuer Wavecrest Holdings Ltd received direction from Visa Europe to immediately suspend all Bitwala cards effective immediately,” the company wrote.

In a statement to CNBC, Visa said it had terminated Wavecrest “from our network for violating Visa’s operating regulations,” confirming it had required the company “to close its Visa card products, some of which were linked to cryptocurrency wallets.”

Alongside Bitwala, Wavecrest provided the same services to other cryptocurrency companies, including Cryptopay, Wirex, and Tenx. “Now these cards are invalid,” the news outlet emphasized.

What do you think of Bitwala’s new service? Let us know in the comments section below.

https://news.bitcoin.com/bitwala-launching-full-fledged-crypto-friendly-banking-service-debit-card/

French video game publisher Ubisoft is exploring potential applications of blockchain in its Strategic Innovation Lab, which studies emerging technologies and their use cases.

Lidwine Sauer, the Lab's director of trends and insights, told the gaming news site IGN that Ubisoft is particularly interested in the blockchain's ability to offer unique ownership over digital items.

The technology presents the opportunity to "finally have real digital collectables that cannot be replicated by anyone and can be 100 percent owned by you," she said.

As a result, Sauer explained, the blockchain also provides more protection over creative property:

"Thanks to the blockchain, we can now have the equivalent of a digital Picasso, with the advantage that it's a lot more difficult to steal something on the blockchain than to steal a Picasso."

One use case Ubisoft is particularly keen on is related to one-of-a-kind downloadable content (DLC), which is distributed by a game's publisher and typically includes add-ons such as aesthetic changes and new gameplay features.

However, Sauer said the Lab has ambitions for blockchain applications beyond DLC.

"We want to go further than that," she said. "We feel there's something even more interesting to find [through the blockchain], and we're in the process of trying to find that interesting thing."

Ubisoft is not the first gaming developer to explore applications of blockchain technology.

CryptoKitties, a game where users can buy, collect, "breed" and sell unique digital cats also puts to use blockchain's ability to facilitate unique digital content.

Likewise, the short-lived Crypto All Stars took a similar approach, allowing users to trade digital cards depicting major figures in technology like litecoin creator Charlie Lee and AngelList co-founder Naval Ravikant.

Source : COINDESK

Link of source
https://www.coindesk.com/video-game-giant-ubisoft-exploring-blockchain-use-cases/

Аналитик независимого рейтингового агентства Weiss Хуан Виллаверде убежден, что перезапуск платформы блокчейн-приложений Lisk, который официально состоялся на прошлой неделе в Берлине, является маркетинговым ходом, своего рода ребрендингом, без серьезной технологической подоплеки. Об этом говорится на официальном сайте Weiss Cryptocurrency Ratings.


«Якобы значимое объявление, по правде говоря, содержит информацию только о новом логотипе и новом сайте, и ничего больше», — подчеркнул аналитик.

На конференции в берлинском Westhaven Event, разработчики Lisk представили две новых инициативы: Lisk Hub и Lisk Academy.

Lisk Hub представляет собой своеобразную приборную панель пользователя, — это и кошелек, который принимает и отправляет токены Lisk, это и инструмент для управления идентификаторами Lisk. С помощью этой панели пользователи также могут голосовать за делегатов платформы. Кроме того, Lisk Hub заменит существующие обозреватели блоков Lisk Nano и Lisk Explorer.

Lisk Academy, в свою очередь, является образовательным центром для действующих и начинающих блокчейн-разработчиков. Lisk Academy предлагает ряд текстовых и видеоуроков о применении технологии распределенного реестра и создании децентрализованных приложений.

Виллаверде указал на «чрезмерную сфокусированность» платформы Lisk на сайдчейнах и поставил под сомнение ее конкурентоспособность среди других ведущих платформ для разработки блокчейн-приложений: Ethereum, EOS и Cardano. Аналитик предполагает, что сайдчейны усложняют изначальную модель, ориентированную на простоту использования.

В Lisk не согласились с оценкой представителя Weiss Ratings, отметив, что платформа располагает инструментами для упрощения работы разработчиков, которые стремятся создать новый сайдчейн или же использовать уже существующий.

«Мы убеждены, что наши инструменты способны упростить даже самые сложные процессы. Командная строка Lisk Commander предоставляет множество возможностей и легка в эксплуатации для разработчиков. Этот инструмент позволяет генерировать код-каркас, различную документацию, создавать UX и генезис-блоки. Несмотря на упрощение процесса разработки сайдчейна, простота это только часть истории — сайдчейны обеспечивают стабильность основной сети и ее эффективность», — заявил пресс-секретарь проекта Майкл Боровиц.

Боровиц добавил, что Lisk Hub предоставляет множество полезного с точки зрения технологий функционала, а впереди у платформы релиз Lisk Core 1.0 и инструмента Sidechain Development Kit.

Однако Виллаверде смягчил позицию в конце своего доклада, заявив, что нужно дать проекту шанс проявить себя.

Ранее Weiss Ratings оценило Ethereum выше биткоина, присвоив второй по капитализации криптовалюте рейтинг B, в то время, как биткоин получил лишь C+ из-за высокой волатильности.

В агентстве также считают, что возможный крах Tether Ltd может иметь серьезные негативные последствия для криптовалютного рынка.

https://forklog.com/weiss-ratings-perezapusk-platformy-lisk-eto-marketing-a-ne-tehnologicheskoe-obnovlenie/

Exchange and wallet service Coinbase and its professional trading platform Global Digital Asset Exchange GDAX both announced they had implemented Segregated Witness (SegWit) support for Bitcoin transactions in blog posts published Friday, Feb. 23.

In their blog pos, GDAX characterizes SegWit technology as “a critical step forward in the development of Bitcoin” and promises support for SegWit transactions will be made available to 100% of their customers “over the coming days”. Coinbase also said they would be rolling out support for all customers over the next week.

SegWit technology is designed to reduce transactions times and fees on the Bitcoin network.  Many popular Bitcoin exchanges and services have been plagued network congestion from inefficient use of block space, a problem SegWit seeks to solve, resulting in widespread frustration among customers.

The past week has seen several major SegWit adoption milestones. The latest version of Bitcoin Core, which was released for public editing Feb. 15, introduced full SegWit support for the first time. Just a few days later, on Feb. 20, the same day Coinbase said it had finished SegWit testing, major crypto exchange platform Bitfinex also announced full SegWit support for all customers.

This week was also marked by record low transaction fees on the Bitcoin network, down significantly from all-time highs in December, 2017 and January, 2018.

When GDAX announced that Bitcoin Cash (BCH) would be available to trade on their platform in mid January 2018, the news fell flat for many traders, who would have rather seen the implementation of SegWit on the platform prioritized.

Moving forward, both GDAX and Coinbase noted in their blog posts that they’re committed to implementing additional scaling solutions for the Bitcoin network, including so-called ‘Layer 2’ solution, the Lightning Network.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbases-gdax-exchange-introduces-full-segwit-support