 Show Posts
|
|
Pages: [1]
|
The global bitcoin donation marathone organized by BitFury Group and Georgian Co-Investment Fund is finished, says the BitFury press release. The bitcoin fundraising campaign announced by BitFury Group on 15 June has ended, says the company's press release. A special bitcoin wallet was used to collect donations that came from all over the world. Nearly 230 transactions took place, bringing over $64,000 for the victims of the Tbilisi flood. Valery Vavilov, CEO of BitFury stated the company was “proud that the bitcoin community has once again demonstrated its generosity and support”. http://www.coinfox.info/news/2425-over-64-000-in-bitcoin-have-been-raised-to-support-the-victims-of-the-tbilisi-flood |
|
|
|
The new online booking portal, HotelGo24.com launched a Bitcoin cashback service fo hotel reservations. Now clients can receive up to 5 percent cashback for each booking. According to the information on the website, the company “offers a perfect solution for the summertime, especially for Bitcoin enthusiasts”. HotelGo24.com provides an online booking service at the lowest price on the market and has access to more than 130,000 hotels, located in 20,426 cities from 198 countries. http://www.coinfox.info/news/2356-hotelgo24-com-offers-bitcoin-bonus-on-each-hotel-booking |
|
|
|
CCEDK, a Denmark-based online bitcoin exchange in cooperation with Bit-x platform introduced its own Bitcoin debit card, which provides users with high-end experience. According to the press release published by Coindesk, the developers “have combined the strength of digital currencies pioneered by bitcoin with the universal acceptance of major credit cards”. A brand new bitcoin NanoCard provides instant bitcoin-to-fiat spending without exchange risks. It’s worth mentioning that the card requires no verification. The company guarantees a very low commission as well as low service fees. A long awaited bitcoin debit card can be used for shopping online as well as offline, and it supports money withdrawals from ATMs worldwide. Unlike prepaid cards, the debit card balance will be available in dollars and euros. CCEDK developers also plan to implement support for other cryptocurrencies, like NuBits, BitUSD, NXT and LTC. After the official launch of the next-generation card Ronny Boesing, CEO of CCEDK said: “We are extremely proud to have partnered with Bit-x after just a year in business. The result is perhaps the world’s first true crypto-debit card. No one can tell you how to use your own money and thanks to Bit-x this will be accepted everywhere.” The Danish bitcoin exchange wishes to reduce security and volatility risks in the cryptocurrency use, so the company started implementing security measures in collaboration with software developers Cryptonomex. This partnership will enable CCEDK to become an exchange, a bitcoin wallet and a vault at the same time. In order to reduce the volatility risk, CCEDK enables clients to use BitShares’ SmartCoins as a funding option for the NanoCard. The client’s balance can be stored to these SmartCoins pegged to USD, EUR, CNY or even gold and silver, according to the press release. Ronny Boesing believes that their new product is a real “killer app” and a breakthrough in digital currency space: “Bit-x, CCEDK, Cryptonomex, BitShares: each provides a part of the puzzle and the result is bitcoin’s killer app.” http://www.coinfox.info/news/company/2422-ccedk-eventually-launched-a-bitcoin-debit-nanocard |
|
|
|
http://www.coinfox.info/news/2421-bitkoin-soobshchestvo-obsuzhdaet-slova-rossijskogo-prezidenta-o-kriptovalyute-2Putin’s mentioning of ‘coins’ at an educational forum for the young people provoked a wide range of reactions from bitcoiners and non-bitcoiners, both Russian and foreign. As CoinFox repоrted yesterday, Vladimir Putin told the participants of Klyazma Youth Forum that it is possible to use cryptocurrencies “in certain segments of economy” though they “have no real basis”. He also acknowledged he has been discussing cryptocurrencies with Elvira Nabiullina, the head of the Russian Central Bank who has recently spoken favourably about bitcoin. The president of Russia did not mention the word “bitcoin”, speaking instead of ‘something-coins’. His press-secretary, Dmitry Peskov later explained that Putin’s words were “not specifically about Bitcoin”, but bitcoin community was quick to react. Some reactions were positive. Putin’s words about cryptocurrencies were taken as a sign that the Russian government is not going to ban bitcoin. A Reddit user wrote: “It appears as a very reasonable comment by a head of state. I am very pleasantly surprised.” A Bitcointalk user echoed this: “I think that's awesome news, he didn't express his support but he also didn't condemn it.” Another commentator told: “Your turn, Barack Obama.” A number of commentators made jokes, telling, for instance, that Putin is a real Satoshi Nakamoto. Others looked for hidden motives in his words. Citing a CoinFox article about the change of stance of Russian Central Bank towards cryptocurrencies, a Reddit user suggested that the real reason was that “some high ranking Russians have invested in bitcoin”. Others suggested that Putin looked towards bitcoin as a means of escaping Western sanctions and welcoming “anything that can help avoid the financial restriction”. Some users remarked they did not need a permission from a dictator to use bitcoin. Perhaps the most critical comment was left by the Reddit user earthmoonsun: “The problem with Putin and Russia is that today he says this and tomorrow he announces that. You can't really trust him. Long-term planning is almost impossible.”
|
|
|
|
Стартап Bitsoko, получивший финансирование от фонда Билла и Мелинды Гейтс объявил о проведении серии образовательных встреч о технологии биткоина в Кении. Мероприятия пройдут в столице Кении Найроби и будут посвящены технологии публичного реестра. Их цель – рассказать кенийский стартапам о возможностях и инновациях в индустрии. В качестве докладчиков выступят представители международного и кенийского биткоин-сообществ. Каждый пришедший на встречу получит небольшое количество биткоина и образовательную литературу о биткоине и публичном реестре. Bitsoko запланировала 6 встреч на ближайшие полгода. Месяц назад Bitsoko выиграла грант Grand Challenges Explorations размером в $100 000. По условиям награды стартап получит дополнительный грант в 1 млн долларов, если проект окажется успешным. Грант GCE финансируется фондом Билла и Мелинды Гейтс и помогает решать глобальные проблемы, связанные со здоровьем и развитием в мире. Проект Bitsoko будет решать задачу, как ввести мобильные платежи по всем миру. Его возглавит Дэниел Блох, один из основателей Bitsoko. При поддержке GCE компания планирует расширить сферу обслуживания и открыть сервис в еще трех африканских странах: Гане, Зимбабве и Сьерра-Леоне. В данный момент Bitsoko находится в Найроби и предоставляет мобильный кошелек цифровой валюты для Android, пока в бета-версии. Компания собирается объявить об открытии в этом году. Сейчас Bitsoko изучает рынок в Кении и Гане. Как сообщил Гибсон Джума, один из основателей Bitsoko, почти 30% всех пользователей кошелька – из России. “Мы думаем, что у нас так много пользователей из России из-за того, что там введен запрет и блокировка некоторых сайтов, связанных с биткоином”. Африка является быстро развивающимся рынком в биткоин-пространстве. Мы писали ранее о BitHub, новом пространастве для образования и развития в сфере цифровых валют, который открылся в Кейптауне. BitX недавно объявила о начале биткоин-платежей для пополнения мобильного счета в Нигерии и Южной Африке. http://www.coinfox.ru/novosti/2418-fond-billa-gejta-podderzhit-bitkoin-obrazovanie-v-kenii |
|
|
|
A digital currency wallet, Bitsoko funded by Bill & Melinda Gates foundation announced plans to sponsor a series of educational events in Nairobi, Kenya, on the blockchain for start-ups. The events will focus on the blockchain technology to provide local start-ups with knowledge on opportunities and innovations in the industry. Speakers will be invited from the international and local bitcoin community. Each attendee will receive a small amount of bitcoin and educational literature on bitcoin and the blockchain. The events are scheduled to run on monthly basis for a half a year. Last month, Bitsoko won a Grand Challenges Explorations research grant worth $100,000 with an opportunity to receive an add-grant of $1,000,000 if the project is successful. The GCE scheme funded by Bill & Melinda Gates foundation helps projects that offer solutions to global health and development challenges. Bitsoko's project is called “Enable Universal Acceptance of Mobile Money Payments” and will be run by Daniel Bloch, a co-founder at Bitsoko. With GCE funding, Bitsoko plans to expand its services to three more African countries: Ghana, Zimbabwe, and Sierra Leone. Bitsoko is a Nairobi-based Android digital currency wallet that seeks to integrate the blockchain technology to the mobile payment market in Africa. The wallet enables sending money from a smartphone for a 0.1% transaction fee. The start-up sees its mission in bridging fiat in the developed world with digital money in the developing one and to facilitate money transfers to Kenya. The service is currently in beta version. “The financial structure in Kenya and throughout Africa has changed rapidly since the birth of mobile money by MPesa. We believe that this will only continue to grow and tools such as Bitsoko that leverage Blockchain technology to lower transaction costs will be at the forefront of this boom,” said Allan Juma, another Bitsoko co-founder. Bitsoko are planning to launch later this year and are currently monitoring the market response in Kenya and Ghana. Surprisingly, nearly 30% of Bitsoko users are from Russia, as Gibson Juma, a co-founder told an online media: “We think we have been getting users from Russia because of the banning and blocking of some bitcoin related websites in the country.” The start-up is currently trying to create more services within the wallet to increase the use of bitcoin in Kenya: “We have signed up local businesses including restaurants, cyber cafes, and mama mbogas (roadside vegetable vendors). If you go to a restaurant and pay using bitcoin, the owner of the business will send us the bitcoin and receive mobile money in exchange. We are trying to build the infrastructure around bitcoin, which is lacking here.” Africa is a quickly growing market in the bitcoin space. CoinFox wrote earlier about BitHub, a new space with strong focus on digital currencies related education and development, in Cape Town. BitX recently announced bitcoin payments for mobile top-ups in Nigeria and South Africa. http://www.coinfox.info/news/2408-bitsoko |
|
|
|
The SWIFT institute in Belgium will pay 15 thousand euros for a detailed prediction of the blockchain technology development. According to the “Call for Proposals”, the institute is interested in the “research on the potential development of blockchain technology for use in the securities markets and the disruptive impact of such a technology on the existing securities transaction ecosystem”. In the foremore, the experts of the institute mention that some companies including The New York Stock Exchange are experimenting with the public ledger technology. “Proponents of blockchain say that distributed ledger transactions can be irrevocable, with clearing and settlement nearly instantaneous. Accuracy of transaction data is increased, whilst cost and settlement risk are reduced”. SWIFT experts think that there are certain problems that may slow down the blockchain technology development. “Bitcoin today runs primarily on desktop computers. Presumably to cater for the daily volume of securities transactions globally, high-end servers (super computers) would need to be in place,” says the Institute. To receive the grant, a proposal should address 6 questions. Key questions to be addressed are the issues of the blockchain securities transactions, the impact of the blockchain on current network of intermediaries and technological requirements for the securities transactions using the blockchain. The deadline is 15 of August. “A grant of EUR 15,000 will be awarded to the author of the selected proposal. 50% will be paid immediately; the remaining 50% will be paid on acceptance of a working paper.” The SWIFT Institute is the research organisation founded in 2012. It fosters independent research on the transaction banking by giving grants and providing access to data. SWIFT funds and provides secretariat services to the SWIFT Institute, which is headquartered in La Hulpe, Belgium. The institute is not the only organisation that invests in the studies of the blockchain banking. As CoinFox reported earlier, BNP Paribas bank recently analysed two possible ways of the blockchain technology development. One of those ways implies “privatisation” of the public ledger by the world’s biggest banks. http://www.coinfox.info/news/2400-swift-institute-promises-15-000-for-the-future-of-blockchain-securities-study |
|
|
|
President of Russia Vladimir Putin says that it is possible to use bitcoins for some operations. Putin discussed bitcoin and the problem of digital currencies with the participants of Klyazma Youth Forum, says Kremlin. “This money has no real basis and they do not depend on any real entity. In general you can use these “coins”, they are spreading more and more. You can use them as the equivalent [of money] in some segments of economy. This is possible” said president of Russia. Putin noted that he discussed the digital currency with the governor of Russian Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina. "People in Central Bank has very professional position [on bitcoin]. We do not reject it. Yet there are serious and real problems with the acceptance [of this currency]" Press-secretary of Vladimir Putin Dimitry Peskov later noted, that Vladimir Putin did not speak in support of bitcoin. "It was not specifically about Bitcoin, they talked about some form of conditional payments", - said the press secretary of the head of state - "It is clear from the context of his speech”. http://www.coinfox.info/news/2404-vladimir-putin-you-can-use-bitcoins-for-some-operations |
|
|
|
Prime minister of Greece, Alexis Tzipras has signed a compromise with Eurozone leaders. Bitcoin enthusiasts use the demonstrations in Athens to spread the leaflets on bitcoins. The first Bitcoin Meetup will start in the Greek capital today. A group of enthusiasts printed 400 leaflets on bitcoin one day before the meetup. One of them acting under the alias “bitcoin-traveler” published the photos on Reddit. The leaflet depict an anarchist who throws bitcoin against the globe. “Greece! Now is the right time for plan B,” says the message in Greek. Bitcoiners distributed the leaflets at and around Syntagma square in Athens. They put posters on several ATM machines (from which Greeks can withdraw no more than 60 euros a day). “I was surprised by the interest. I've never dealt flyers before but I know that in my country 8/10 people don't bother reading handouts ever. Here people even came towards me to get a copy. Lots of questions were asked and answered,” says bitcoin-traveler. Reddit users supported the idea and began a long and lengthy debate on the proper form of the leaflet, making the discussion one of the most popular on Reddit. This June, Bitcoin experts predicted the popularity boom for Bitcoin in Greece. In June, enthusiasts installed a first bitcoin ATM in the bookshop some 30 minutes away from the Athens’ city centre. On 11 July, Catalonian Company installed another bitcoin ATM at the Center of Innovations in the Greek capital. Roman Korizky http://www.coinfox.info/news/2401-bitcoin-enthusiasts-in-greece-call-for-plan-b-spread-leaflets-about-digital-currency |
|
|
|
Тимоти Ли, бывший разработчик программного обеспечения сервиса биткоин-кошельков Blockchain.info, создал ArcBit, первый на рынке кошелек для iOS, поддерживающий стелс-адреса. Ли покинул Blockchain.info из-за разногласий с руководством по вопросам обеспечения конфиденциальности данных пользователей. Он был одним из основных разработчиков электронных кошельков и технологии HD кошельков для платформы iOS. «Когда я работал там, компания приняла несколько решений относительно устройства кошелька, которые казались мне нежелательными. В результате одного из таких решений пользователи частично лишались защиты персональной информации, с чем я был категорически не согласен», – сообщил Ли порталу Cointelegraph. Свой собственный продукт разработчик называет «настоящим биткоин-кошельком» по сравнению с сервисами Blockchain.info и Coinbase. Главным преимуществом ArcBit является то, что все биткоин ключи и пароли сохраняются на мобильном устройстве пользователя, а не на сервере. «С ArcBit ни у кого, кроме Вас, не будет доступа к вашим деньгам», – говорится на сайте сервиса. ArcBit поддерживает технологию HD кошельков, позволяет использовать стелс- адреса (скрытые адреса, обеспечивающие полную анонимность транзакций) и импортировать зашифрованные личные ключи со внешних ресурсов. Информация о сторонних кошельках остается закрытой, тогда как сервер видит лишь их адреса. Новый сервис также не требует регистрации. Так называемые стелс- адреса позволяют пользователям создавать единый, установленный адрес, на который можно перечислять деньги, не разглашая информацию о транзакции. Разработчики создали отдельный формат кошелька для продвинутых пользователей криптовалюты, а также удобный и легкий в использовании интерфейс для новичков. Кошелек также имеет опцию защиты пин-кодом и поддерживает стандарт BIP32. Недавно команда Coinfox тестировала три самых популярных биткоин-кошелька: Blockchain, Coinbase, и Mycelium. Результаты эксперимента читайте в нашем обзоре. Дарья Петушковаhttp://www.coinfox.ru/novosti/2369-a-former-blockchain-info-developer-launched-his-own-bitcoin-wallet-arcbit-2 |
|
|
|
Code To Inspire, a non-profit organisation committed to teach Afghan women how to code and find future employment as freelance workers, launched a fundraising campaign to establish a programming centre in Herat. This lab is going to be the “first coding centre of women for women by women in Afghanistan”. Code To Inspire is motivated by desire to help Afghan women make a career in programming as freelancers so they can stay independent from any geographical or physical barriers. The main goal of the programme is to improve girls’ digital literacy by teaching them how to code and provide them with the necessary skills and competences for future work. Code To Inspire believes that the educational programme will increase girls’ self-esteem and help them change their lives for the better. The programme also aims to inform female students on using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to overcome financial barriers. Fereshteh Forough, the founder and CEO of Code to Inspire, sees digital currencies as “an amazing and empowering tool” helping women to stay financially independent. http://www.coinfox.info/news/2267-code-to-inspire-empowers-afghan-girls-to-study-coding-and-digital-currency |
|
|
|
Пока китайские инвесторы стремительно теряют свой капитал, кто-то скупает биткоины. Падение фондового рынка Китая толкает курс цифровой валюты вверх. Курс биткоина накануне преодолел отметку в $300. Биткоин растетРост курса виртуальной валюты биткоин начался утром 10 июля. Биткоин вырос до $280 и к вечеру достиг отметки $294. Позднее произошла коррекция курса – он опустился до $282. На следующий день ралли продолжилось – биткоин преодолел границу в $290 и достиг $298,58. 12 июля криптовалюта пробила отметку в $300. Рост возглавила китайская биткоин-биржа OKCoin. 10 июля китайские брокеры покупали биткоины по $305. На следующий день некоторые китайские игроки уже платили за единицу цифровой валюту $380. Это произошло, когда индекс Шанхайской биржи упал на 30% от докризисного уровня. В то же время другая популярная криптовалюта, лайткоин, потеряла около 20% стоимости, вынудив участников рынка массово переходить в биткоин. Большие проблемы в КитаеВ июле того года фондовый рынок Китая переживает самое большое падение со времен мирового финансового кризиса. Многие финансовые аналитики уже сравнили его с крахом Уолл-Стрит в конце 1920-х годов, вызвавшим глобальную финансовую катастрофу и затронувшим всех крупных игроков в экономике. Китайские ценные бумаги стали самыми волатильными среди крупных рынков после греческих, констатировал Bloomberg. По последним данным, китайские ценные бумаги потеряли около $3,9 триллионов – это больше, чем весь французский фондовый рынок. Биржевой пузырь лопнул 12 июня – с тех пор индекс Шанхайской фондовой биржи потерял около 30%, а индекс Шэньчжэньской биржи опустился почти на 40%. Правительство Китая пытается остановить падение рынка. Народный банк Китая существенно снизил процентную ставку. Правительство начало скупать ценные бумаги и разрешило более чем половине китайских компаний приостановить торги и отложить запланированные IPO. Комиссия по ценным бумагам Китая запретила акционерам, владеющим более чем 5% акций компаний, продавать свои доли в течение шести месяцев. Более 1300 компаний прекратили торги на биржах материкового Китая, заморозив около $2,6 триллионов в ценных бумагах, или около 40% стоимости рынка. Падение лайткоина Крах китайского рынка совпал с крахом криптовалюты лайткоин. 10 июля курс лайткоина упал с 0,03 BTC до 0,02 BTC. Лайткоин потеря 30% стоимости. Это подтолкнуло владельцев цифровой валюты массово закрывать позиции в лайткоине и переходить в биткоин. Coinmarketcap.com зафиксировал резкий всплеск объема торгов лайткоина. Он достиг $956 млн, побив все предыдущие рекорды. Рост биткоин-биржКрах китайского рынка и паление лайткоина вызвали ажиотажный спрос на биткоин. До июня китайские биржи контролировали значительную долю рынка. По данным мартовского доклада Goldman Sachs, около 80% всех сделок с биткоином происходили с участием китайского юаня. По данным Bitcoinity.org, 10 июля дневной объем биткоин-торгов в мире составил около 600 тысяч BTC. В этот день брокеры на OKCoin купили и продали 216 тысяч BTC, а объем торгов на Huobi составил 139 тысяч BTC. BTCChina не приняла участия в ралли и сохранила контроль над скромными 8,64% рынка. Рыночная доля OKCoin выросла до 39%, а Huobi сохранила за собой 23,6%. 10 июля число биткоин-сделок в минуту значительно выросло. Bitcoinity.org зафиксировал 408 сделок в минуту на OKCoin и 278 сделок в минуту на Huobi. Роман Корицкий, Дарья Петушкова, Надежда Краснушкина http://www.coinfox.ru/novosti/obzory/2391-epic-market-crash-in-china-raised-the-price-of-bitcoin-2 |
|
|
|
A new version of Ledger Chrome App allows users to choose the speed for transaction confirmation. If you want to confirm your transaction immediately, you have to pay up to $0.3 USD per 1 KB of your data. Ledger announced their decision both on Reddit and on Twitter: “As the number of broadcasted transactions continues to rise, it gets more and more difficult to get quick confirmation using fixed fees.” The company introduced the following fees: Fast confirmation (next blockchain data block) - 1.01 mBTC ($0.29) Medium confirmation (confirms in 3 blocks) - 0.45 mBTC ($0.13) Low (confirms in 5 blocks) - 0.39 mBTC ($0.11) Users can choose the transaction speed when they send bitcoins to another user using Ledger wallet. http://www.coinfox.info/news/2379-ledger-chrome-app-allows-users-to-adjust-fees-for-faster-confirmation |
|
|
|
|
В Citigroup уже несколько лет исследуют возможности технологии публичного реестра. Рано или поздно они должны были прийти к идее собственной цифровой валюты. Но сам факт, что в Citigroup готовы на эксперименты безусловно радует.
|
|
|
|
|
