Coincheck To Refund All Customers Affected By Hack, Faced By Community Support Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck has announced Saturday, Jan. 27, that it will issue full refunds to all of the 260,000 of its users who have become victims of the Friday NEM hack. The Coincheck exchange has been hacked two todays ago, Jan. 26, resulting in a massive loss of 523 mln NEM coins, worth approximately $534 mln at that time. During a press release following the hack, it has been revealed by the exchange’s representatives that the funds were stored on a single-signature hot wallet, constituting a relatively low-security environment. The company has now confirmed its intention to refund the stolen money to the affected users. According to the announcement, the refunds will be done using the exchange’s own capital. The company is still considering the exact timing and methodology for the process. However, it has already announced that the compensation for each NEM coin will be JPY 88.549, which is the weighted average exchange rate during the period from when the trading was halted to the release of the latest announcement. Coincheck indicated that they are referencing the XEM/JPY exchange rate at Zaif, another Japanese exchange which has the most trading volume for XEM globally. Furthermore, Coincheck has again confirmed their intention to stay in business, as opposed to declaring bankruptcy, saying: ”Along with our ongoing efforts to file applications to be registered as a Cryptocurrency Exchange Service Provider with Financial Services Agency, we will continue business."Community reacts favorablyThe theft of the NEM coins represents the largest hacking event in the history of cryptocurrency since the infamous Mt. Gox collapse, which also took place in Japan. The fact that the local community has already been “battle-tested” has likely contributed to it remaining largely unfazed by the latest event. This is most apparently reflected through the numbers, as the Japanese cryptocurrency markets are on the rise today, less than 24 hours since the hack has taken place. 【ビットコイン #BTC/JPY 24時間変動比】+3.26% (+38393) 1215835 #仮想通貨 #Coincheck pic.twitter.com/zNCfy4wqlZ https://t.co/SutXttxbPt ま～たはじまった — おとぼけ王子 (@otoboke1ouji) January 27, 2018 NEM also responded favorably on a global scale, with a nearly 30 percent jump on Coincheck’s announcement, according to Coinmarketcap.  The need to support Coincheck, especially in light of their commitment to refund affected customers, has been a common sentiment among Japanese crypto community’s opinion leaders today, even as they acknowledged the exchange’s part in not providing sufficient security for its NEM wallet. 記者のみなさん、コインチェックに非があるのは間違いないですが、フェアにやりましょうね。正直ひどいですよ 今後個人的には、今回アンフェアな新聞社の取材はすべて今後拒否しますことを宣言しておきます。 — 大石哲之(Bitcoin,Blockchain) (@bigstonebtc) January 26, 2018 つまりコインチェックをつぶそうとすることは、マーケット全体にとってマイナスであり日本が唯一NO1になれるテーマを捨てることになる。そして仮想通貨マーケットのみにあらず日経は下がり給与は上がらずインフレは進みみんなでタイタニック号に舞い戻り。それよりリスクを取って何か一つでも変えよう — 与沢 翼 (@tsubasa_yozawa) January 27, 2018 Meanwhile, the development team behind NEM has announced that it is working on an automated system that will track the stolen coins and tag all addresses that receive the “tainted” money. This will allow any cryptocurrency exchange to blacklist the hackers’ accounts, preventing them from ever cashing out their illegally obtained fortune. Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/coincheck-to-refund-all-customers-affected-by-hack-faced-by-community-support
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Crypto-Mining Malware Epidemic: 55% of Businesses Affected Worldwide, Including YouTube Another case of “ cryptojacking” was detected on YouTube and resolved by Google over the course of this week, Ars Technica reported Friday, Jan. 26. According to the report, anonymous hackers have managed to run ads on YouTube that consumed the visitors’ CPU power and electricity in order to mine cryptocurrencies for the attackers. The users started posting complaints on social media this week telling that their antivirus programs detected cryptocurrency mining code in the ads that have been displayed to them by Youtube. According to the report of the cybersecurity company Trend Micro, the attackers have managed to place mining malware on YouTube via the Google DoubleClick advertising platform. The ads disproportionately targeted users from Japan, France, Taiwan, Italy, and Spain. The vast majority - ninety percent - of ads were using JavaScript code provided by Coinhive, a controversial cryptocurrency mining platform that allows its subscribers to earn income by using other people’s computing power in an unauthorized manner. As has been discovered by Trend Micro on Friday, the YouTube ads have been responsible for a threefold increase in Web miner detections worldwide. In reaction to complaints from the users, Google - who owns YouTube - has announced that the situation has been resolved in a couple of hours. According to an email from the company, " the ads were blocked in less than two hours and the malicious actors were quickly removed from our platforms." However, there is still no precise information about the timeframe of the events as Google didn’t provide any additional data, while Trend Micro claims that the warnings about the abusive ads started emerging as early as Jan.18. Earlier this month, the software security firm Check Point issued a report about a sharp increase in the prevalence of crypto-mining malware, stating that 55% of businesses worldwide are affected by the attacks. The report declared Coinhive to be the number 1 “ Most Wanted Malware.” Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-mining-malware-epidemic-55-of-businesses-affected-worldwide-including-youtube
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The new merit system: The good, the bad, and the ugly! The good: Only the quality posters will rank up. The bad: Even if you post quality contents you may not get many merits by the people. The ugly: When you post great content many people are lazy to click and go to the next page and add the merit(s). Share your thoughts about this merit system latest development, thanks  |
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Hi guys, I have a question about Bitconnect, does anyone here think bitconnect has future? After looking at the bitconnect current price chart. I know the people who mistakenly invested into it are still in tears. Bitconnect was once selling at $442 for God's sake. It has the market capitalization of over $2 Billion and it's now in chapter eleven  Share with us what you think about the future of bitconnect. |
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Bitcoin SNUBBED after value plunge as Starbucks announces plans to accept cryptocurrencies STARBUCKS is set to become one of the first major high street shops to accept cryptocurrency after it announced plans to incorporate blockchain as part of its payment strategy, but in a snub it has ruled out using Bitcoin. The move means digital currencies could be traded for everyday purchases in the coming years. Following the increase in consumer interest in the online currencies, Starbucks Chairman Howard Shultz said it was necessary for major businesses to adapt their strategies. But the Starbucks boss said his company would not be looking at Bitcoin in their corporate strategy, claiming the original digital currency would not “be a currency today or in the future”. He said: “I believe that we are heading into a new age, in which blockchain technology is going to provide a significant level of a digital currency that is going to have a consumer application.” A number of cryptocurrencies have risen in popularity over the past 12 months with bitcoin, ripple, and ethereum all seeing surges. Since bitcoin was first mined in 2009, the virtual currency has seen its value surge and reach an all-time high of more than $17,000 (Ł12,000) in December 2017. However, it has recently plunged and last week saw its value drop to just Ł8,300. There are concerns the currency’s value will continue to drop throughout 2018. Starbucks introduced a mobile payment app in 2015 that allowed customers to pay and order their drinks. The app gave customers rewards the more they used the app and has become a commercial success. It is the success of the mobile app that leads Mr. Shultz to believe his company could become a world leader in accepting cryptocurrencies. He also indicated if Starbucks was able to accept cryptocurrencies it would “significantly create long-term shareholder value”.  Starbucks Chairman Howard Shultz made the unexpected announcementHe said: “We think we have something to offer the companies that are chasing this because we are in a position to create the trusted legitimate place in which this could be accepted and possibly take advantage of the mobile payment digital platform that we have created.” Nearly a third of all mobile payment for Starbucks is made via the mobile app. The businessman added: “I believe that we are heading into a new age, in which Blockchain technology is going to provide a significant level of a digital currency that is going to have a consumer application.” Source: https://www.express.co.uk/finance/city/910629/bitcoin-cryptocurrency-news-latest-Ripple-Ethereum-price-value-surge-starbucks-payment
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How Chinese Bitcoin Buyers Are Getting Around Government Ban Chinese citizens are still investing in Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market despite the government’s heavy crackdown. In September 2017, Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges BTCC China, Huobi and OKCoin were ordered by the government to shut down their businesses. At one point, executives of the three cryptocurrency exchanges were prevented from leaving the country, due to a government investigation into local cryptocurrency exchanges. Three months later, in December of 2017, China’s three largest cryptocurrency exchanges relocated their businesses to Hong Kong. BTCC China, Huobi and OKCoin rebranded to BTCC, Huobi Pro and OKEx, respectively. They intended to address the rapidly growing demand from Hong Kong-based investors. Shortly after their move, the three trading platforms started to see daily volumes from Chinese investors grow exponentially. Somehow, Chinese investors were managing to circumvent Chinese trading restrictions by using Hong Kong-based exchanges. How is this possible? In Hong Kong, it is relatively easy for investors to set up businesses. With less than $1,000, businesses can be legally created, which allows the opening of business bank accounts at Hong Kong-based financial institutions. Beginning in December 2017, many Chinese investors moved their funds from their Chinese bank accounts to Hong Kong bank accounts and started to trade cryptocurrencies more actively, effectively bypassing China’s restrictions. But, unlike China, Hong Kong has a substantially lower supply to meet the growing demand. While China is home to major miners like Bitmain, Hong Kong does not produce much Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. As such, premiums in the Hong Kong cryptocurrency market increased, surpassing even that of the South Korean market. On January 18, when the global average price of Bitcoin was around $11,500, Bitcoin was being traded at above $13,000 on Huobi Pro. Krystal Hu, a Hong Kong-based finance journalist, noted that traders outside of China have also started to take advantage of the arbitrage opportunity presented by the Hong Kong market. For instance, on January 18, the price of Bitcoin on Coinbase was $11,800. Purchasing Bitcoin from Coinbase and selling it on any Hong Kong-based market would have generated $1,200 in profit.
Chinese Government ConcernedHong Kong’s exchanges have also integrated widely-used fintech applications in China such as Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay. Alipay is a $60 billion fintech app that is used by more than 50 percent of mobile users. WeChat Pay, which was only used by seven percent of mobile users in 2014, is now being used by more than 40 percent of mobile users in China. The integration of the two fintech payment networks has increased the accessibility of Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency OTC exchanges for Chinese investors, easing the process of investing in the cryptocurrency market. To prevent Chinese investors from buying digital currencies, the Chinese government and the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), have asked local banks to disclose any suspicious transactions linked to Hong Kong-based markets. However, even this action will not be able to prevent Chinese investors from accessing Hong Kong-based markets, due to apps such as Alipay and WeChat Pay. Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/how-chinese-bitcoin-buyers-are-getting-around-government-ban
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European Central Bank ‘Expects’ Crypto Regulation Focus At G20 In March The European Central Bank (ECB) says it “expects” cryptocurrency regulation to be high on the agenda at the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires this March. In comments at an event during the ongoing World Economic Forum 2018 in Davos, ECB board member Benoit Coeure added further weight to France’s economy minister Brune Le Maire’s vow to make Bitcoin a topic at the political forum. “The international community is... preparing an answer to that and I would expect, for instance, the G20 discussion in Buenos Aires in March to focus very much on these issues,” Coeure said quoted by Reuters. Le Maire had previously expressed a desire to have Bitcoin regulation feature on the G20 agenda, with various entities repeating calls for an international regulatory effort on cryptocurrency during the WEF. British prime minister Theresa May and US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin both expressed the need to consolidate standpoints, while former US Secretary of State John Kerry told Cointelegraph the technology “had value” and that people were thus going to talk about it. Elsewhere in Europe, Sweden’s deputy central bank governor has stopped short of calling for heightened control of cryptocurrencies, saying at the WEF they “don’t meet the criteria to be called money.” “They can be called an asset, fine, but they are not a very good version of money because it's not a very stable store of value where they fluctuate a lot,” she continued adopting a frequent narrative on Bitcoin’s use. “And it's not a very efficient medium of exchange because you don't buy your groceries with bitcoin.”
Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/european-central-bank-expects-crypto-regulation-focus-at-g20-in-march
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Coincheck: Stolen $534 Mln NEM Were Stored On Low Security Hot Wallet
Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck, one of the largest in the country, was the victim of a massive hack resulting in a loss of 523 million NEM coins, worth approximately $534 mln. The coins were stolen via several unauthorized transactions from a hot wallet at 3:00 am local time on Friday, Jan. 26. Following the hack, the Coincheck exchange has hosted a press conference to provide the details of what has happened and what’s coming next.
NEM stored on hot wallet, private key stolenThe hack only involved NEM. No other cryptocurrencies, including Ripple (XRP), were stolen, contrary to the early reports covered by Cointelegraph. According to the exchange’s representatives, the hackers have managed to steal the private key for the hot wallet where NEM coins were stored, enabling them to drain the funds. All the stolen money belonged to the customers of the exchange. The ‘inappropriate’ movement of the funds was reported by Coincheck to Japan’s Financial Services Agency, as well as the police later on the same day. Shortly after the breach, the company halted all withdrawals from the site, hoping to stop any further damage to its funds. When asked whether they will begin allowing “at least” fiat currency withdrawals soon, Coincheck replied that that will be done after they have determined the best way to proceed. It has come to light that the funds were being stored on a simple hot wallet rather than a much more secure multisig wallet. Coincheck’s representatives have claimed that the security setup differs between various coins on the exchange. Other cryptocurrencies on the site are currently stored in multisig wallets, but the NEM was not. When pressed by the media, the company insisted that “security standards were not low,” however the lack of multisig protection for NEM may indicate the opposite. The company made clear that they use various wallet types for housing different assets. Specifically, Bitcoin and Ether are stored in cold storage wallets, with Bitcoin additionally having a multisig address. Ether, “given its nature,” is not stored on a multisig wallet. According to their statement, more than half of Coincheck’s 80 permanent employees work on systems development, including security.
What comes next?Going forward, Coincheck claimed that it knows the address where the stolen NEM is currently being stored by the hackers, and is hoping to be able to track the culprits. While the company cannot currently disclose how many users were affected, they have expressed a desire to refund all the money that was lost. When asked whether they are going to resume operations or will have to declare bankruptcy, Coincheck said that ‘in principle’ they plan to keep operating. While the exchange has expressed a desire to refund all lost funds, they nevertheless are still considering how to approach the situation. Per the press conference, the “worst-case scenario” would be that the funds can never be returned. When asked whether they have any words for the customers, Coincheck representatives have said that they “deeply regret” what happened. Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/coincheck-stolen-534-mln-nem-were-stored-on-low-security-hot-wallet
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Russian Bill Draft Requires Gov’t Officials To Declare Crypto Assets In a recent interview with the Russian news outlet Gazeta, the chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, Anatoly Aksakov stated that the current draft of Russian cryptocurrency bill requires government officials to declare their cryptocurrency investments. The draft is currently under review by the Russian Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank with the final version of the bill slated to be released no later than July 1, 2018, according to Forklog. As of now, government officials are not required to declare their cryptocurrency assets because of a lack of proper definition and regulation of cryptocurrencies, according to a recent announcement by the Russian Ministry of Labor. Thus, Aksakov continues in his interview with Gazeta, if the new bill does define cryptocurrencies as property, “all property owned by a State Duma MP has to be declared, [including cryptocurrency].” Russia is not the only country to consider making it a legal requirement for government officials to declare their cryptocurrency holdings. Earlier this week, South Korean National Assembly’s Administrative and Security Committee has reportedly introduced a bill to require officials to declare their crypto assets. This has happened after some employees of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) were accused of insider trading of Bitcoin. Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/russian-bill-draft-requires-govt-officials-to-declare-crypto-assets
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Nasdaq Undecided About Launching Own Bitcoin Futures, ‘Still Evaluating’ Feasibility Nasdaq is still estimating whether “it is the right thing to” launch its own Bitcoin futures to compete with the futures products of Chicago Board Options Exchange ( CBOE) and Chicago Mercantile Exchange ( CME), Bloomberg reports Wednesday, Jan. 24. Nasdaq is currently looking for the ways to produce something “unique enough” to make it different from its competitors and attractive for users, said CEO Adena Friedman. The statement comes from an interview with Bloomberg TV at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos. “We have been working with the industry ... to look at whether or not [launching our own futures product] is the right thing for us to do,” Friedman said, adding that Nasdaq is “ still evaluating that.” The CEO did not specify when the potential Nasdaq Bitcoin futures are expected to arrive. The Nasdaq stock exchange first started talking about its plans to launch Bitcoin futures in Nov. 2017. Back then, the potential launch was slated to happen as early as June 2018. When asked whether Nasdaq would consider launching futures products based on cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin, such as Ether or Ripple, Friedman noted: “We have two exchange-traded notes that are listed in our Nordic markets … one is an Ethereum ETN, and the other is a Bitcoin ETN. So we would look more holistically at cryptocurrencies, not just at one.”“Our view is that digital currencies and cryptocurrencies will have a role in the global economy,” Friedman added. Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/nasdaq-undecided-about-launching-own-bitcoin-futures-still-evaluating-feasibility
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Why are Potential Forks not Accounted into the Bitcoin Futures Price New Bitcoin forks became a sensitive issue after CME launched Bitcoin future contracts. Their average price does not include new offsprings as CME has no fork policy yet. Since being created by Satoshi Nakamoto nine years ago, Bitcoin has generated polarized attitudes. Supporters trust that Bitcoin heralds a new era in human civilization, while the executives of the established financial institutions qualify it as a bubble and predict that cryptocurrencies “almost with certainty will come to a bad ending," as billionaire Berkshire Hathaway chief Warren Buffett said Jan. 10.
What are the futures forOne of the reasons why financial executives are perplexed might be that Bitcoin is a retail phenomenon and wasn’t initiated by financial hubs but was invented by a mysterious programmer that enabled the peer-to-peer transition of financial assets bypassing the institutions that monopolized this functionality for literally hundreds of years. Governments usually regulate these institutions rather heavily to prevent abuse of their status and due to this regulation, there are almost insurmountable obstacles to hold and trade Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that are now being traded relatively freely by retail investors. In particular institutional investors often trade not the underlying assets but just a derivative on this asset and delegate the settlements to a central authority like the clearinghouses to settle those derivatives. This kind of trade happens in the commodity space where contracts on an oil barrel are futures contracts (the shortest being for one month). These contracts are essentially what determines the oil prices and eventually the gas price we pay at the pump. To mitigate the situation and give institutional investors access to Bitcoin asset CME introduced Bitcoin Futures contract Dec. 17, 2017. Of course, the introduction of Bitcoin futures had other goals. “ That’s a very important step for Bitcoin’s history... We will regulate, make Bitcoin not wild, nor wilder. We’ll tame it into a regular type instrument of trade with rules,” Leo Melamed, chairman emeritus of CME Group said. However, futures enable institutional investors to short Bitcoin much more efficiently and thus create an alternative for Bitcoin bears to express their view selling the futures and using this shorting Bitcoin. Also, the futures contract contains safeguards against large daily price swings.  BTC Returns 10/13/2017-1/16/2018It is an interesting exercise to compare the volatility of Bitcoin before and after futures introduction. It was 37 percent annualized two months before the futures launch versus 44 percent in the last month of the futures launch. Thus, volatility of Bitcoin hasn’t changed downside significantly during this period.
Checks and balancesOf course, it’s still a short time since the futures were launched and it will be interesting to watch whether it will indeed tame Bitcoin volatility as some financial executives hope and will make Bitcoin more palatable as an asset to hold for banks and other financial intermediaries. Personally, I am confident that the clearinghouses are experienced enough to handle the daily Bitcoin volatility and put enough safeguards checks and balances to prevent any risk for the clearinghouse itself when they handle Bitcoin settlement issues. It does seem that the Bitcoin bears prevailed since the futures were launched. Another interesting feature of the futures is that they are settled in cash rather than delivering actual Bitcoins. While it is natural to expect this to occur due to the effort of establishing Bitcoin wallets and trade them physically, we will see very soon that this creates some other issues that involve another feature of Bitcoin due to its nature of being essentially a software product, which are forks. Consider for a moment a future on a stock paying a dividend or a bond. The clearinghouse settles the futures including not just its price, but also any potential dividend or any interest paying on a bond. The similar thing occurs with a stock split or a merger event during the future active trading. The clearinghouse will adjust the price of the future for a merger or a split and will settle the claim accordingly.
New family membersThe fork takes place when Bitcoin code is being changed and anybody who owned Bitcoin at this particular point in time adds with another cryptocurrency which is its offspring. It is similar to a family situation when a new child is born and becomes a family member instantly. However, the average Bitcoin price doesn’t reflect these new members of the Bitcoin family. Consider for example the two big splits of Bitcoin into BCH (Bitcoin Cash) and BTG (Bitcoin Gold) the owners of Bitcoin ended up owning these new currencies. But the Bitcoin index doesn’t incorporate the price of these two currencies into its price action. Thus, people who would buy futures will lose these potential gains that Bitcoin holders would have gained if the fork occurred when the futures contract started to trade. The same happens with a process called airdrop where a new crypto asset takes its genesis block to be a certain block in the Bitcoin Blockchain. In this case, Bitcoin holders own immediately this new coin that was airdropped to their laps. There will be numerous Bitcoin forks in the near future. Some forks and airdrops occur during the futures launch and thus need to be accommodated in the futures contract. Note that there would be no issues like that if Bitcoin futures would be settled physically. Indeed, one would simply buy Bitcoin at the moment of the contract inception and deliver them physically to the contract buyer at the time of inception. Any airdrops or forks occurring during the futures contract would be transferred to the future buyer automatically with the physical Bitcoin.
What fork is viableCME is aware of the issue but seems not have a well-defined policy to handle this issue. To wit, we read on the FAQ page of CME: “CME is developing a hard fork policy for capturing cash market exposures in response to viable forks. The policy may involve cash adjustments to position holders or listing related futures that are also issued to position holders.”
It isn’t clear at all what viable fork means. The physical Bitcoin holders will enjoy these forks and it will be their decision and not of the clearinghouse, whether they like to claim these extra coins or not. The failure of the clearinghouses to incorporate forks may lead into fiduciary conflicts once Bitcoin future holders realized that these potential forks are not accounted into the future settlement practices (as this create an unfair advantage for the Bitcoin futures and will lead to arbitrage opportunities). The question of forks and futures may lead to unexpected developments for future Bitcoin traders. These issues underscore the unique traits of Bitcoin as a financial product and show the challenges that the regular financial institutions face on their crusade to tame and regulate Bitcoin. Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/why-are-potential-forks-not-accounted-into-the-bitcoin-futures-price
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50 Cent Makes Millions Selling Album For Bitcoin
Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson made a lot of money by being an early believer in Bitcoin, TMZ.com reported on Tuesday. After giving the cryptocurrency a chance 4 years ago, he is now reaping the benefits which amount to over $7 mln, according to current exchange rates. 50 Cent became the first rapper who started accepting Bitcoin as payment for his fifth album “Animal Ambition” released in 2014. At $5.50 a copy which was equivalent to 0.0088 BTC back in 2014, the unexpected “money genius” made about 700 bitcoins which were worth more than $400,000 that year. The rapper is reported to have kept all of his bitcoins without selling them for years until 2018. During that time the cryptocurrency has grown immensely -- with the current price set at around $11,000, Jackson’s 700 coins are now worth more than $7 mln. 50 Cent has confirmed the news of his successful ‘ Hodling’ on Twitter: A little bitcoin anyone? LOL. l know l make you sick but excuse me...I’m getting to the bag 💰 #denofthieves pic.twitter.com/DCJu2thDr9
— 50cent (@50cent) January 23, 2018
He also posted on Instagram: “ Not Bad for a kid from South Side, I’m so proud of me,” commenting that he had forgotten he even owned the coins. TMZ claims that 50 Cent might think twice about withdrawing his earnings now. Since the overall cryptocurrency market has declined significantly over the past month, it may be better for 50 cent to sit it out, if he can afford it. Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/50-cent-makes-millions-selling-album-for-bitcoin
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What the FUD? Bitcoin Market Beset by January Woes It has been a depressing fortnight for anybody reading various mainstream headlines touting the ‘ end of Bitcoin’ and the arrival of the ‘ crypto bubble’ crash. Unsurprisingly, the most recent cryptocurrency market slump has led to naysayers stepping onto their soapboxes, crying out messages of ‘I told you so’. Their rhetoric is not unfounded, given that the overall cryptocurrency markets have suffered two dramatic corrections in under a month, one just before Christmas and the most recent last week. So-called industry experts have been voicing their opinions in interviews with mainstream media, speculating on the burst crypto bubble without any real evidence to show that the markets are irreversibly damaged. What we knowA wave of uncertainty in South Korea led to massive sell-off of cryptocurrencies last week, as traders unloaded amid fears of regulatory clamp downs from the government. Those fears were led by misleading reports of an all out cryptocurrency trading ban in a country which accounts for 20 percent of global trades. It is now understood that South Korea will only ban anonymous trading - meaning people wishing to trade cryptocurrencies need to do so through authorised exchanges using a registered bank account. Furthermore, foreigners and minors in the country are now prohibited from cryptocurrency trading, while the government will tax exchanges in line with existing policies. This was coupled with murmurs of further regulatory moves in China, which has already banned cryptocurrency exchanges in the country. Unsurprisingly, the markets reacted as they would with any hint of bad news, which has led to bearish attitude.
Banks, financial institutions still waryFinancial service giant UBS is particularly bearish towards Bitcoin. Speaking at the World Economic forum this week, chairman Axel Weber said the company had advised clients to steer clear of investing in Bitcoin. In an interview with CNBC, Weber said: “Retail clients, who don’t fully understand these products, should be protected from going into these products, because if there is a retail client affected in the future, the question will be again who was the bank that sold them these products and then banks will be blamed again for what has happened.”Weber went on to say that the growing interest in cryptocurrencies around the world will inevitably lead to further regulation. Regulations, as he told Bloomberg in another interview, could lead to further market corrections. Earlier this week, Wall Street analyst Peter Boockvar suggested that Bitcoin could drop as low as $1000 in 2018. He also attributed the rise in popularity of cryptocurrencies to their inflation-proof nature and scarcity.
Governments hold the future of cryptosOne theme that is becoming increasingly clear is that mainstream investment institutions are still worried about regulations crippling the future of cryptocurrencies. As Weber noted in his interview with Bloomberg, investors’ interest is always piqued by growth in value of any asset. He admits that cryptocurrencies have not gone unnoticed, but the uncertainty of their future is too risky for institutional investors to go in 100 percent. However, what goes unspoken by critics is that any positive moves by countries could bring about exponential growth and adoption of virtual currencies. This year undoubtedly holds a lot in store, and it seems far too early in the year for people to be writing off every single cryptocurrency. Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/what-the-fud-bitcoin-market-beset-by-january-woes
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Even With Energy Surplus, Canada Unable to Meet Electricity Demands of Bitcoin Miners
Canada’s Hydro Quebec will have to turn away cryptocurrency miners looking to setup operations in the province. The electricity supplier has been inundated with requests from cryptocurrency miners looking to setup operations in energy-rich province Quebec, according to Reuters. Many miners, including giants like China-based Bitmain, have made it clear that they are looking to setup new mining operations overseas in countries with low power costs and surplus of energy crackdown down on cryptocurrency exchanges in China, as well as talks of power regulations applying to miners, has prompted miners to consider new sites to operate from. Bitmain told Reuters that it has been mining in Canada since 2016, although the location of their Canadian operation was not revealed.
Canada’s surplus isn’t enough
Ironically, Hydro Quebec may have to renege on its commercial power strategy - as forecasts show that they would not be able to meet the booming demand of industries looking to take advantage of the energy surplus in the province. The company is reviewing its plans after 70 cryptocurrency mining operators applied to set up shop in the province in the space of the week. Hydro Quebec claims to have a surplus of 100 terawatt-hours over 10 years. As a reference, Digiconomist’s Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index estimates the combination of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash’s estimated annual electricity consumption around 31 terawatt-hours
Not enough powerThe utility supplier’s spokesman, Marc-Antoine Pouliot, told Reuters that the sheer number of companies looking to start cryptocurrency mining operations in the province is not sustainable, even with the surplus created by Hydro Quebec. “We are receiving dozens of demands each day. This context is prompting us to clearly define our strategy. We won’t be able to power all the projects that we’re receiving. This is evolving very rapidly so we have to be prudent.”
The utility has also been actively attracting data centers to the province since 2016, citing the potential for job creation by these centers. In an earlier interview with Reuters, HQ business development director David Vincent said potential mining operators were looking at sites with energy demands ranging from those of data centers to that of power-hungry as metal smelting plants. Another stumbling block in the way of cryptocurrency operations being established is the lack of buildings ready for occupation. Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/even-with-energy-surplus-canada-unable-to-meet-electricity-demands-of-bitcoin-miners
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What's a Former CIA Lawyer Doing in Crypto? Russell Bruemmer is taking it upon himself to help token issuers construct compliant initial coin offerings (ICOs). While that might sound challenging in a space where the regulatory framework has not been formalized, Bruemmer is as prepared as anyone could be in his new role advising blockchain startup Applied Philosophy Labs (APL). A former top lawyer of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the former lead of the congressional affairs unit at the FBI, Bruemmer gained the relevant experience working for decades at for the law firm of WilmerHale, helping traditional companies structure their corporate governance. In recent years, he said, he was approached by a number of blockchain entrepreneurs trying to figure out if the token they wanted to issue was a security or not. As a result, by the time he retired from the firm in 2015, he had laid the foundation for his work advising startups more broadly. "[Bruemmer] seemed like exactly what I needed in the new venture," said APL founder David Levine. In a climate where the Securities and Exchange Commission has been cracking down on crypto token fundraising schemes, Bruemmer knows he has his work cut out for him. At APL specifically, he has helped the public benefit corporation draw up plans for a network of humanitarian companies that would sit underneath the parent entity and issue regulated cryptocurrency tokens. To fund the humanitarian companies, he helped create a template to comply with the SEC's Reg CF and Reg A+. The hope is that, eventually, this compliant structure will define a path to public offerings via an S-1 filing and S-3 filing. Bruemmer told CoinDesk: "We are using corporate and governance structures that will be familiar to, and thus comfortable for, our investors. This is another aspect of our intention to be transparent with our investors and regulators who have jurisdiction over our activities."
And the first company that gets the treatment is solar power startup Indeco. A power playIndeco was one of the reasons Bruemmer was intrigued with APL in the first place, he told CoinDesk, since he already had an interest in how a compliant crypto token could incentivize the adoption of solar power. And so the crew got started. Speaking to Bruemmer's insight, Levine told CoinDesk: "Within a couple hours, we had mapped out the whole plan on how to build a regulatory compliant crypto."
For Indeco's ICO, people can purchase an ethereum-based ERC-20 token pegged to a single watt of solar capacity. They are then being offered an ownership stake in assets installed with the funds, including solar panels, batteries and microgrids for decentralized energy distribution. "We've evolved from cryptocurrencies which are based solely on algorithms and trading values, etc. into something like Indeco, where the coin is actually going to equate to something that is more tangible," said Bruemmer, who now sits on Indeco's board. Earlier this month the company completed a $100,000 presale, as part of a broader ICO governed by Reg A+ that could eventually see the firm raising $50 million. "If it works … you will expand the amount of solar energy being produced by bringing together groups of people who can invest small amounts, not huge amounts, and then aggregate those small amounts and build systems that can then sell energy either to a utility or to a customer," Bruemmer said. Although APL was originally designed to house what are called "series LLCs," each with its own token, due to tax considerations the final structure of the subsidiaries could end up shifting to C Corps, which can offer unlimited stocks.
Investor resistanceIf all that structuring doesn't sound complicated enough, Indeco's backstory is equally, if not more, complex. Prior to founding APL and Indeco, Levine founded Geostellar, a solar power startup like Indeco, except without the blockchain. By 2016, Geostellar was generating $3.6 million in annual revenue and had raised $27 million in venture capital, but even still, Levine was having trouble keeping the company going. To help put the company on more solid footing, Levine says he spent about $500,000 on legal fees, accounting fees and more last year, in an effort to raise $40 million in an ICO governed under Reg A+. But the company's secured creditors pushed back, Levine said. "They could block us from doing almost anything," he said. "And they were sending me cease-and-desist letters on the ICO, claiming they had to consent as our secured creditors." Levine was able to sidestep Geostellar's creditors' concerns by offering a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) on the equity crowdfunding site Republic (which recently began managing token sales). As part of the crowdfunding campaign, the company offered to those investors cryptocurrency called "zydeco," among other gifts including a "shoutout" on Facebook and a solar-powered happy hour. Levine raised $325,000 during that promotion. "The secured creditors and investors were challenging my authority to even offer free tokens, and generally criticizing everything I did," Levine said, adding, "Of course it turned out to be a huge success." Now Geostellar will be Indeco's first customer, Levine told CoinDesk. Which is one more client than most blockchain startups can boast. Then again, a struggling company with the same founder is not exactly an ideal source of revenue. Bruemmer, who chairs the conflict and audit committees of APL's board of directors, would not comment on Geostellar's history of financial struggles. But Levine said having the legal veteran on board will help Indeco navigate such complexities, telling CoinDesk: "Things were going to get weird, and we needed someone brilliant, unflappable, experienced and credible."
Source: https://www.coindesk.com/whats-former-cia-lawyer-crypto-structuring-compliant-icos/
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South Korea Announces Deadline for Halt of Anonymous Crypto Trading
South Korea's financial watchdog has set a deadline for the barring of anonymous cryptocurrency trading accounts within the country. According to a new announcement from the Financial Services Commission (FSC), starting from Jan. 30, cryptocurrency investors in South Korea will have to use real-name bank accounts in order to continue trading. Once the rule comes into effect, investors can only deposit funds to trade cryptocurrencies if their name on the crypto exchange matches that on their bank account. The move comes as part of the financial regulator's push through a strengthened "know-your-customer" (KYC) compliance to curb cryptocurrency speculation. The FSC said in the release that the new rule is resulted from an inspection of domestic anonymous crypto trading accounts – assisted by six domestic banks, as well as the Financial Intelligence Unit – from Jan. 8–16. In addition, the official announcement also established an anti-money laundering guideline for cryptocurrency exchanges, which outlines situations where exchanges should stay alert to potential illegal activity. The statement said: "Specifically, for users to make virtual currency transactions more than 10 million won per day or more than 20 million won for 7 days when depositing and withdrawing funds, this is the type of financial transaction you suspect for money laundering."
The new rule also appears to have a wider affect on foreign nationals who had been using cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea through a virtual bank account. As the FSC's announcement pointed out, minors and non-citizens will be restricted from the new name verification service. So far, three major cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea have said they are in line with the new mandate. In an email response to CoinDesk, a representative from Coinone confirmed that it will enforce the change starting from Jan. 30. "Under the new requirement, six banks are preparing the real-name account linkage with exchanges. They are NongHyup, KookMin, Shinhan, KEBHana, IBK, and JB Bank. As for Coinone, our users have to be registered with NongHyup for the time being," the company said. In addition, in its official blog post, Korbit also said on Jan. 19 that the existing fund deposit method will be terminated and replaced this month. It added that users "must have a Shinhan Bank account registered under your legal name." According to a report from South Korean news agency Yonhap, the Bithumb exchange also said it will also enforce the new change as per the government's requirement. Source: https://www.coindesk.com/south-korea-announces-deadline-for-halt-of-anonymous-crypto-trading/
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Coinbase Overshoots 2017 Revenue Goal By 66% Making $1 Bln, Rejects Further VC Funding
America’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase reportedly made $1 billion in revenue in 2017, overshooting its 2017 revenue forecast of $600 mln by 66 percent, Recode reports, citing “industry sources.” According to Recode, despite the peaked interest of outside investors, the company remains private and does not allow the stock to be traded on secondary markets. The platform was swamped by an influx of new users looking to set up trading accounts as Bitcoin entered a massive bull run in November, 2017. Following the announcement of Bitcoin futures launch early that month on CME, Coinbase saw 100,000 new users sign up in just 24 hours. Although Bitcoin’s long bull run ended in the week leading up to Christmas, its rise to an all-time high of $20,000 in mid-December saw Coinbase make massive revenues through trades on its platform. The cryptocurrency exchange makes revenue by charging fees for fiat to crypto conversions via its Buy/Sell feature and for trades on its GDAX exchange. Investors clawing for stake in CoinbaseThe success of Coinbase has not gone unnoticed by investors and venture capitalists. According to Recode’s report, shares in the company are being sought out on a number of fronts. However, Coinbase shareholders have been told not to sell their shares to outside parties. Doing so would constitute a breach of policy, Coinbase told Recode in a statement: "As a private company, Coinbase does not allow trading of stock on secondary markets for a variety of reasons, including the fact that there is not full and equal information available to the market. We will take appropriate action if we find people have sold Coinbase shares in violation of our agreements not to do so."In August 2017, Coinbase raised $100 mln in a series D funding run aimed at increasing its engineering and customer service teams as well as opening a new GDAX office in New York. Investors that missed out on the latest fundraising series are trying their best to entice current shareholders to part ways with lucrative shares, Recode reported. By December, Coinbase had over 13 million users -- more than mainstream brokerage firm Charles Schwab. Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbase-overshoots-2017-revenue-goal-by-66-making-1-bln-rejects-further-vc-funding
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Firms Continue To ‘Capitalize’ On Blockchain Name Hype, SEC Promises Increased Scrutiny US companies who change their name to include the word ‘Blockchain’ could soon face increased scrutiny from regulators, new comments released Monday, Jan. 22. from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) suggest. Speaking at the Securities Regulation Institute Monday, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton devoted a small but pointed portion of his remarks to Blockchain technology. Specifically, Clayton addressed the growing phenomenon of companies adding the word ‘Blockchain’ to their names to “capitalize on the perceive promise” of doing so. Cointelegraph previously reported on several businesses in the US and elsewhere changing their names so that the word ‘Blockchain’ featured in their official titles. The effect of this has been to dramatically increase the value of those businesses’ stock, allowing short-term profiteering and increased publicity. In one case, involving a drinks company previously known as Long Island Iced Tea Corp., a name swap to ‘Long Island Blockchain Corp.’ raised the company’s stock prices enough to prevent it from being dropped from Nasdaq. For the most part, however, it remains dubious how companies incorporating ‘Blockchain’ into their names actually interact with the technology, and to what extent they abide by best practices in doing so. Clayton described the situation, saying:
“I doubt anyone in this audience thinks it would be acceptable for a public company with no meaningful track record in pursuing the commercialization of distributed ledger or blockchain technology to (1) start to dabble in blockchain activities, (2) change its name to something like "Blockchain-R-Us," and (3) immediately offer securities, without providing adequate disclosure to Main Street investors about those changes and the risks involved.”
This week saw UK-based telecoms acquisitions outfit Stapleton Capital jump on the bandwagon to become ‘Blockchain Worldwide,’ benefitting from a short-lived 130% stock increase which smoothed out to 45% the same day, Jan. 22. For copycats, it appears, the SEC will soon weigh in to ensure such moves are above board. Clayton closed his Monday remarks on Blockchain saying: “The SEC is looking closely at the disclosures of public companies that shift their business models to capitalize on the perceived promise of distributed ledger technology and whether the disclosures comply with the securities laws, particularly in the case of an offering,”
Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/firms-continue-to-capitalize-on-blockchain-name-hype-sec-promises-increased-scrutiny
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"actmyname" gave me "red trust" His profile: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=465017His reference: https://archive.is/yJ4P8 I thought "Red Trust" is for SCAMMERS!!! Well, I never involved myself in any scam because I'm too good to scam anyone. It's unfair for "actmyname" to discredits my account here and the "red marking" my account is very unfair too. Maybe, actmyname wants me out of this great community and perhaps that is what I should do. It's pretty funny that I got a "red mark" for posting my opinion. I thought the forums are for people to talk about their opinion. Instead, some people are using this community to blackmail others. I'm not like that, and I'll never blackmail anyone. When you see, someone is doing something wrong or you don't like why not talk to him, instead of blackmailing him, huh? actmyname - you've disappointed me! A single message would have solved this and we'll understand each other. I have no interest in doing anything wrong to this community or anyone here. Thanks |
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"actmyname" gave me "red trust" His profile: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=465017His reference: https://archive.is/yJ4P8 (Shitposting spammer) I thought "Red Trust" is for SCAMMERS!!! Well, I never involved myself in any scam because I'm too good to scam anyone. It's unfair for "actmyname" to discredits my account here and the "red marking" my account is very unfair too. Maybe, actmyname wants me out of this great community and perhaps that is what I should do. It's pretty funny that I got a "red mark" for posting my opinion. I thought the forums are for people to talk about their opinion. Instead, some people are using this community to blackmail others. I'm not like that, and I'll never blackmail anyone. When you see, someone is doing something wrong or you don't like why not talk to him, instead of blackmailing him, huh? actmyname - you've disappointed me! A single message would have solved this and we'll understand each other. I have no interest in doing anything wrong to this community or anyone here. Thanks |
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