[South African Central Bank To Start Bitcoin Regulation Experiment]

South African Central Bank To Start Bitcoin Regulation Experiment




A Blockchain-based solutions provider in South Africa, Bankymoon, has been selected by the central bank of the country to be the sandbox business in testing out digital currency regulations.

The South African Reserve Bank, essentially, the central bank of the country, will begin experimenting with different regulations surrounding Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with an eye to legitimize and understand the growing trend.

Testing the waters

The South African government has up until now mostly turned a blind eye to Bitcoin and related digital currencies, but this marks a big step towards regulating Bitcoin in a country where it is flourishing with users and merchants alike.

Lorien Gamaroff, the CEO of Bankymoon, admits that it is still the early days in their dealings with the central bank because of its hesitancy to jump in too deep, too quickly.

“All we are doing at this point is seeing how far this relationship will go on within this sandbox,” he says.

“This is because the Reserve Bank is very hesitant to give a stamp of approval on anything that comes out. The sandbox will only be Bitcoin-focused during this initial phase, but is focused on applying broad regulations to all cryptocurrencies.”

https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-african-central-bank-to-start-bitcoin-regulation-experiment

[A Brief Glimpse Into the Lives of Chinese Bitcoin Miners]

A Brief Glimpse Into the Lives of Chinese Bitcoin Miners




Ever wonder what it’s like to work at a bitcoin mining farm in China? Just recently two reports revealed the inner workings of Chinese bitcoin mines operating in the country’s Sichuan prοvince.

China’s Central Television’s Bitcoin Mining Facility Documentary

Last week on July 11, China’s Central Television (CCTV-2) channel aired a special documentary on bitcoin mining operations located in Kangding county in the southwest region of the country. The channels news reporter drives to a desolate mountainous area in Sichuan to visit a three-story mining data center. Each floor is filled with mining rigs housed on metal racks and surrounded by massive fans. CCTV also interviews Wang, the young data center owner in his twenties who runs five mining sites in the area. According to a translation from the local publication, 8btc, Wang says he runs a medium sized data center that can grow bigger. The twenty-year-old native says the operation mines 16 BTC (US$30,000) a day.   

“We are a middle-sized mining factory with 5000 bitcoin miners,” explains Wang. “We still have room to run another 5000 mining machines.”

Wang and the data center’s operations manager Xu says lots of people are choosing to set up mining sites in Xinjiang, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Inner Mongolia. The reason for this is cheaper electricity from hydropower stations located in the mountains. Wang details that typically electricity in China is 0.7 yuan per KwH, but by partnering with neighboring hydropower stations mining facilities are paying 0.3 yuan per KwH (about 0.045 USD at the time of writing).

“[Electricity] is directly transmitted from nearby hydropower stations,” Wang tells the CCTV journalist. “This is mainly why we set up the site here. Bitcoin mining is electricity-consuming and 50 percent of our profits go to the electricity bill.”






One of the bitcoin mine workers explains that the nearest town is roughly 20 miles away and there is nowhere to spend money near the facilities. “Τhe gοοd thing is, there isn’t anywhere tο spend mοney, sο yοu can save yοur whοle salary,” οne miner tοld the photographer Liu Χingzhe.

https://news.bitcoin.com/brief-glimpse-lives-chinese-bitcoin-miners/

[Japan’s Cryptocurrency Business Association Plans for August 1 Guidelines]

Japan’s Cryptocurrency Business Association Plans for August 1 Guidelines

This week we reported on upcoming events that might be taking place on August 1, concerning potential interruptions connecting to the Bitcoin network. Now the Japan Cryptocurrency Business Association made up of various regional exchanges is preparing to draft service suspension directives for bitcoin users in the country for that specific date.

Japan Cryptocurrency Business Association Considers Guidelines for August 1

Japan has had bitcoin fever over the past few months. Since this past April interest in the decentralized currency has grown quite a bit since the Japanese government legalized bitcoin as a form of payment. Now as the country continues to progress in adoption a possible blockchain split may happen in two weeks, and Japanese bitcoin businesses want to be prepared.

According to the Nikkei Asian Review, the Japan Cryptocurrency Business Association (JCBA) is currently deliberating guidelines for a one day to one week “freeze on bitcoin transactions.” The JCBA organization says it aims to “actively investigate and research necessary information, consolidate knowledge and exchange opinions, and aim for sound industry development” in Japan. As far as August 1 is concerned, the association made up of fourteen regional cryptocurrency exchanges says it wants to “protect customer assets.”

Japanese Exchanges Detail Suspensions and Decision Announcements

The publication also details the trading platform Bitflyer is still undecided on its decision but will release an announcement next week. The Japanese exchanges Bitbank and Tech Bureau has detailed trading will be allowed, but deposits and withdrawals will be suspended until the possibility of a fork is resolved.

The statement from the JCBA and a few Japanese exchanges follows the announcement from the GDAX exchange on July 13. The exchange announced the suspension of deposits and withdrawals on August 1 and the possibility of halting trades as well. GDAX executive Adam White says the decision was based on technical risks and the possibility of “network instability.”

Masayuki Tashiro, a data analyst at the Japanese trading platform Fisco, says the chance of instability could make some transaction records inaccurate.

https://news.bitcoin.com/japans-cryptocurrency-business-association-august-1-guidelines/

[GDAX Announces Contingency Plans for Bitcoin Soft Fork]

GDAX Announces Contingency Plans for Bitcoin Soft Fork




The GDAX digital currency exchange has announced its plans for addressing the anticipated implementation of the BIP 148 User Activated Soft Fork, or UASF, on August 1st. In a blog post published on Thursday, GDAX general manager Adam White explained why the exchange may be forced to temporarily halt all trading and withdrawals to protect its customer’s funds.

The UASF is designed to force activation of Segregated Witness (SegWit). The proposal has been the subject of a great deal of controversy since it was first announced, with many favoring an alternative scaling solution known as Segwit2X. Despite that controversy, BIP 148 is scheduled to go into effect at the beginning of August.

In his post, White explained that UASF could result in the creation of two separate Bitcoin blockchains. He also acknowledged the uncertainty that such a split would create for the Bitcoin community:


“Should this occur, there are two likely outcomes:

1. One blockchain becomes dominant, resulting in the other blockchain having low community adoption and value.

2. Both blockchains are adopted, co-existing and operating independently of one another with roughly equal community adoption and value.”

According to White, GDAX has a contingency plan in place to ensure that a fork doesn’t adversely impact its customers. That plan apparently involves suspension of Bitcoin activity on the exchange during any period of uncertainty that results from the soft fork activation.


“In either scenario we will implement safeguards to ensure the safety of our customers’ funds. For example, we will temporarily suspend the deposit and withdrawal of bitcoin on GDAX and may pause the trading of bitcoin as well. This decision will be based on our assessment of the technical risks posed by the fork, such as replay attacks and other factors that could create network instability.”

https://dcebrief.com/gdax-announces-contingency-plans-for-bitcoin-soft-fork/

[Trezor Allows Bitcoin BIP148/User-Activated Soft Fork (#UASF) Wallets]

Trezor Allows Bitcoin BIP148/User-Activated Soft Fork (#UASF) Wallets

By allowing users to switch their primary Trezor node to a UASF/BIP148 node, some users perceive Trezor as being in support of BIP148. Yet, for its part, Trezor has made little in the way of public remarks regarding BIP148. Instead, they’ve acted a responsible hardware company, and simply done their best to be ready for any future changes.

The company’s innovations include allowing SegWit on the devices, multiple supported cryptocurrencies, and safe storage of bitcoins away from networked devices. By enabling a BIP148 node for Trezor users to connect to, the company is merely giving their users the choice to use only nodes which actively support the User Activated Soft Fork as opposed to any other plans that have been announced moving forward. As Bitcoin celebrity and mining innovator Slush says in his Tweet (which Trezor simply retweeted, instead of writing anything of its own): “the choice is yours.”



Throughout the scaling debate, there have been many people who insist that companies should be taking positions, and many companies have followed suit. While a company taking a technical stance that affects its core business moving forward is to be expected, the sort of political grandstanding and politicization witnessed by Bitcoin companies during the whole affair can only be seen as a serious warning sign for outside money moving in. Trezor is wise to reserve its official statements on the matter but still provide solutions that will adapt to a changing landscape.

Luckily, reaction on the Bitcoin subreddit was tempered. Only one politicized statement was made, and it really had little to do with the news in question, but rather the existential situation that created the news in the first place.

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/trezor-allows-bitcoin-bip148user-activated-soft-fork-uasf-wallets/

[The problem of cemeteries and until where the cemeteries will be sustained?]

The problem of cemeteries and until where the cemeteries will be sustained?

I believe that this is the problem of all countries, the sharing of the dead with the living.



https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/jan/21/death-in-the-city-what-happens-cemeteries-full-cost-dying

But why do people make cemeteries?

Why do not people incinerate their loved ones?

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-Hindus-burn-their-dead-while-Muslims-and-Christians-bury-them

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1798345/jewish/Cremation-or-Burial.htm

From what I read the environmental advantages favor burial, but no one finds it strange to live with a cemetery?

In my country the cemeteries are in the cities, many times when I'm in the car next to a cemetery and what i see makes me shocked, while many people are in the cemetery with tears in their eyes to bury their loved one others are in cars with music with Loud sound, because the cemetery is in town and the young people are listening to music with loud sounds in their houses... I come to think:

What is the problem of this world?

why until today no one create an effective way to incinerate the dead, because to bury the dead will only bring many problems of space dispute between the dead and the living.

[Poloniex Bitcoiners’ Stellar Lumens in Jeopardy]

Poloniex Bitcoiners’ Stellar Lumens in Jeopardy

Stellar Labs have had an ongoing program where they are giving away free Lumens to people who already hold Bitcoin. They explain this move by saying:

"To achieve a more inclusive digital economy. Per our mission, Stellar.org works to connect people to low-cost financial services. Giving away lumens for free is an invitation to communities to design the services they need. […] To expand the reach of the network. The availability and active use of lumens on the network will increase the network’s utility by many orders of magnitude."

However, when they announced the program earlier this year, they said that users of Poloniex and other exchanges wouldn’t need to do anything:




An updated page shows that they are “confirming with Poloniex,” who summarily denied having ever agreed to receive these free assets. Stellar says they believe they had “an understanding” with Poloniex:



For its part, Poloniex fully denies it all:




Read more in this link: https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/poloniex-bitcoiners-stellar-lumens-jeopardy/

[Bitcoin Price Triangle Breakout Inminente, Investors Sense 'Big Move']

Bitcoin Price Triangle Breakout Inminente, Investors Sense 'Big Move'



Bitcoin’s price is about to break out in what commentators expect will be a “big move.”

Excitement among the cryptocurrency’s online traders is building Monday, as weeks of comparatively flat price action look to end soon



Bitcoin has been trading on average between $2,400 and $2,800 since June 16, a considerably less volatile period to that which preceded it, according to data from Coinmarketcap.

Now, however, talk is growing of the virtual currency breaking out of its current triangle to set a new trend - up or down.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-triangle-breakout-imminent-investors-sense-big-move

[Cryptocurrency Exchange ArbX ‘Technological Issue’ Sees ‘Complete Loss Of Funds,’ Scam Accusations]

Cryptocurrency Exchange ArbX ‘Technological Issue’ Sees ‘Complete Loss Of Funds,’ Scam Accusations



Cryptocurrency investment platform arbX is facing scam accusations after it told users it was “looking at a complete loss of funds.”

A series of updates following what arbX described as a “technological issue” told investors of its three separate funds that all its capital had gone.

“I regret to say we are looking at a complete loss of funds - they were all centralized to wallets for the school weekend away as we do not regard exchanges as safe nor did we want any fiat over the holiday,” founder Jonathan Weltman appeared to tell one investor in private, with the comments subsequently uploaded to Reddit.

arbX reportedly had around 100 customers, yet it remains unknown how much the service held in cryptocurrency.

Weltman subsequently added he intended to “restore” the funds without going into full detail as to how this would happen. He added the company had “made an error.”

“We made an error that effective mean't (sic) that we lost coins after a drive fail and backups were not correct,” he continued.

“I intend to find a way to make payments until the fund is restored. I am working on selling our IP as a way to fund this.”

The user involved was not convinced, calling Weltman someone “not to deal with” and querying “whether arbX was a scam all along.”

The funds used P2P “Bitcoin bank” BTCpop as a capital manager.

Cointelegraph has reached out to arbX via its website and will update readers in the event of a response.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/cryptocurrency-exchange-arbx-technological-issue-sees-complete-loss-of-funds-scam-accusations#recent-aside

[With ICO Coming Under Attack, Market Participants Still Wary of Govt Regulation]

With ICO Coming Under Attack, Market Participants Still Wary of Govt Regulation






Quite recently, Charlie Lee, creator of Litecoin stated that the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) craze is out of control because people never learned their lesson with the DAO after everyone got bailed out. In a post on Twitter, the man who just resigned from Coinbase to concentrate on Litecoin declared ICOs are a disaster that is waiting to explode soon.

Under attack


ICOs have come under serious attack recently especially with accusations of scams. However, it remains one of the numerous clever innovations in the crypto space signifying how funds can be raised in a free market without the involvement of the state or banks. Besides, it eliminates the cost and burdensome barriers involved in traditional IPOs.
But maybe, after all, the ICO market just needs the government involvement?

Fears unfounded?

David Mondrus, founder of Trive, an entity using the Blockchain to kill fake news with crowdsourcing and crypto, believes it is the end of the monopoly that is Wall Street. He thinks Charlie Lee's fears are unfounded:

"A lot of people believe there is an impending disaster. I don't know Charlie's reasons specifically but I lived through the Dot-com crash. We survived that and we'll survive whatever this brings. But post Dot-com crash we got Google and Facebook."

https://cointelegraph.com/news/with-ico-coming-under-attack-market-participants-still-wary-of-govt-regulation

[Russian Border Cities Request Central Bank Legalize Bitcoin to Help Regional Economy]

Russian Border Cities Request Central Bank Legalize Bitcoin to Help Regional Economy



The Russian Central Bank has been asked to legalize bitcoin in the Leningrad region, particularly districts that border Estonia and Finland in order to allow visitors to pay for goods and services in bitcoin.

Leningrad Region Wants Bitcoin Legalized

In Russia’s Leningrad region which surrounds St. Petersburg, Vladimir Petrov is the Deputy in the region’s Legislative Assembly, Marina Chistova is Head of the Slantsy district, and Viktor Karpenko is the mayor of Ivangorod. Last week, the three formally requested for the Bank of Russia to “legalize the circulation and exchange of cryptocurrencies in the border areas of the Leningrad region,” according to the local publication Vesti.

https://news.bitcoin.com/russian-border-cities-request-central-bank-legalize-bitcoin-help-regional-economy

[Mosul: The last days of the shrinking Isis enclave in the Old City]

Mosul: The last days of the shrinking Isis enclave in the Old City


The noose is tightening around the extremist group in Mosul. In the first part of a series from Iraq, residents tell Patrick Cockburn of the brutally repressive measures used against them



The voice of Abdulkareem, 43, a former construction worker trapped inside the fast-shrinking Isis enclave in Mosul, trembles with fear as he describes the battle raging around him. He knows that it would be dangerous to try to escape, but it may be even more risky to stay where he is. He told The Independent in a phone interview: “I cannot speak more loudly because they [Isis] will shoot me if they catch me talking on the phone.”

Abdulkareem lives in the Dachat Barga neighbourhood near the al-Maydan district which is being heavily fought over as the Iraqi security forces pin Isis fighters, who may number only 300 combatants, in a small part of the Old City of Mosul with their backs to the Tigris River. “It is a small area, but it is like Stalingrad in that the buildings wrecked by bombs and shells provide good defensive positions,” says one observer, who wished to remain anonymous.   

Abdulkareem can hear the sounds of fighting all around him in Dachat Barga, but he dare not go out and see exactly what is happening. “We can hear the roar of the bombing and the mortar fire,” he says. “But we don’t know whether it is the Iraqi army, the coalition airstrikes or Daesh [Isis].” A week ago, his sister and her husband were injured. A mortar shell hit their house, though nobody knew who fired it. He heard later that they were safe in the al-Farouq neighbourhood which had been overrun by Iraqi forces.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/mosul-latest-news-isis-old-city-enclave-north-iraq-forces-coalition-civilians-fighters-militants-a7827331.html

[Vatican police 'break up gay orgy' at home of one of Pope Francis' advisors]

Vatican police 'break up gay orgy' at home of one of Pope Francis' advisors

The flat belonged to the Holy Office - which is in charge of tackling sexual abuse amongst the clergy




Vatican police have broken up a gay orgy at the home of the secretary to one of Pope Francis’s key advisers, it has been claimed.

The flat belonged to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, or Holy Office, which is in charge of tackling sexual abuse amongst the clergy.

Reports in Italy claim the occupant of the apartment is the secretary to Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio - a key aide to the 80-year-old Pope.

Coccopalmerio heads the Pontifical Council for Legislative texts and was said to have once recommended his secretary for a promotion to bishop.

The claims about the police raid last month were made in the Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/vatican-police-break-up-gay-10743972

[Darknet Market AlphaBay Down: Exit Scam or Maintenance?]

Darknet Market AlphaBay Down: Exit Scam or Maintenance?

Popular darknet market AlphaBay, responsible for helping Monero’s value surge in 2016 after it partnered with Oasis and started accepting the cryptocurrency, seems to be down since Tuesday night, and users are now starting to grow suspicious.

While details are still scarce, various users stumbled upon a large bitcoin withdrawal coming from what many believe to be one of AlphaBay’s addresses. The withdrawal is of 1,479.03904709 bitcoin, worth about $3,8 million, to various addresses. This, along with silence from AlphaBay staff on the market’s subreddit, has led some users to believe we’re witnessing an exit scam – a scheme in which marketplace owners shut down the business and keep user funds to themselves.

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/darknet-market-alphabay-exit-scam-maintenance/

[MIT Crowns Nvidia as Smartest Company For Bitcoin, Ethereum & AI Development]

MIT Crowns Nvidia as Smartest Company For Bitcoin, Ethereum & AI Development



Nvidia, the California-based graphics chip manufacturer and technology company, was officially crowned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as the smartest company in the world for its innovation in fields such as AI, deep learning and AI.

The list of “smart” companies produced by MIT included some of the most innovative companies in the technology and manufacturing sectors such as SpaceX, Tesla and Amazon but according to MIT Technology Review editor David Rotman, Nvidia’s explosive growth in the AI and Blockchain markets gave the firm an edge over other companies.

"The list is our best guess as to which firms will be the dominant companies of the future. Amazon and Facebook and Google are on it, but so are plenty of newcomers,” wrote Rotman.

Jen-Hsun Huang, CEO of Nvidia, recently revealed the company’s latest deep learning-specific chip the Tesla P100, which the company spent over $2 bln in research and development to manufacturing.

The Tesla P100 chip has a total of 15 bln transistors, three times more than Nvidia’s previous chips. The Tesla P100 was distributed to researchers and developers at Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon and other leading technology companies that are leading deep learning research. Chips like Tesla P100 are implemented to further enhance existing AI and deep learning technologies such as AlphaGo.

Nvidia’s success in AI development and chip manufacturing has also led to an increase in the market and investors’ confidence. In quarter one of 2017, Nvidia saw a drastic increase in the value of its stocks mostly due to the company’s progress with AI and deep learning.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/mit-crowns-nvidia-as-smartest-company-for-bitcoin-ethereum-ai-development

[Coach on fire after motorway crash - 31 people injured & 18 feared dead]

Coach on fire after motorway crash - 31 people injured & 18 feared dead



A COACH has gone up in flames after a horror crash on a motorway in Germany's Bavaria.

The coach reportedly crashed into a truck on the A9 near Muenchberg in southern Germany just before 7am (local time).

Police say 31 people are injured - two critical - and 18 people are unaccounted for.

Reports suggest the coach is completely burnt out.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/823964/Germany-coach-crash-fire-Bavaria-motorway-truck

Does anyone know this guy qwep?

See what he posted

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1956491.0

he is high ranking member, will influence the other members to invest in his ponzi site... by the history of postings i suspect that this account has been sold.

[How to invest in casinos?]

How to invest in casinos?

I want to invest in casinos, so I decided to create this thread to suppress my doubts.

Before starting i must say that i consult GOOGLE and this time i was disappointed because GOOGLE has no answers to the questions i have.

Some things to consider:


- Do not control my bad english, just read and try to understand my doubt and answer if you can and if you do not understand what I wrote just ask me that I will have the pleasure to rephrase the question.

- Please do not ask me how many bitcoins I have to invest.

Let's start:

I've never been to a casino. ha ha ha

But I always wanted to get into a casino. Ha ha ha

According to wikipedia

A casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. The industry that deals in casinos is called the gaming industry. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions. There is much debate over whether or not the social and economic consequences of casino gambling outweigh the initial revenue that may be generated. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertainment events, such as stand-up comedy, concerts, and sporting events.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casino

My questions:

- How do you invest bitcoin in casinos?

- Are the best casinos to invest bitcoin?

- What are the casinos that we should avoid investing our bitcoin?

- What is the minimum amount to invest in casinos?

- What is the ideal value for investing in casinos?

- What is the percentage of daily return that casinos offer?

- In your opinion, what are the best strategies to invest in casinos?

- Is it safe to invest in casinos?

PS: Feel free to say everything you think about casinos, if one or another casino has stolen your bitcoins share your discontent here about that casino that stole you.

Abbas Abdullahi, public works and reconstruction minister, dies after bodyguards for auditor general shoot at his car.

Bodyguards for Somalia's auditor general shot dead a government minister in an apparent accident near the presidential palace in Mogadishu on Wednesday evening, police said.

Auditor general Nur Farah's bodyguards opened fire on a car carrying Abbas Abdullahi Sheikh Siraji, the public works and reconstruction minister, near a checkpoint close to the palace, said police captain Mohamed Hussein.

Senior Somali security member Mohamed Hassan told the German news agency that the minister's bodyguards had falsely identified Farah, who was travelling in a bulletproof vehicle, as a threat and there had been an exchange of gunfire.

Several of Siraji's bodyguards were wounded in the incident, according to Hassan. Another minister who was in the car with Siraji survived.

The auditor general escaped unharmed.

Security concerns are high in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, as the al-Shabab armed group continues to target the palace, military facilities and hotels with suicide car bombings and other attacks.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/05/somali-minister-shot-dead-presidential-palace-170503180518907.html

I have some questions:

What is the minimum withdraw in btc?

I want to transfer money from advcash to btc-e.com and they mention something like "coupon"?

what is it?

PS: I do not have btc-e.com account so I do not know how it works, I'll create it as soon as I understand how it works. That is why I am counting on you.