Ну почему сразу хлам. У ребят из Германии готовый бизнес по защите авторских прав, причем давно работает. Просто в наших широтах как то не принято защищать свои авторские права, сплошное пиратство в сфере интелектуальной собственности. А на западе с этим жестче. Если разумеете по английски, есть статья, как Copytrack помогла защитить интеллектуальную собственность для владельцев сайта https://www.traveladdicts.net/

https://www.copytrack.com/travel-addicts/

The head of Malaysia’s central bank has firmly stated that the fate of cryptocurrencies in the country depends on the public adopting them, adding it would neither ban nor recognize cryptocurrency.

Speaking at the 40th-anniversary dinner of the Harvard Business School Alumni Club of Malaysia this month, Bank Negara governor Muhammad Ibrahim had some noteworthy things to say about the future of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin in Malaysian society, according to a report by local portal The Nation.

The central banker, refreshingly, revealed a decidedly free-market stance on cryptocurrencies wherein a hands-off approach would essentially see the public make their own decisions with investments or participation in cryptocurrency markets.

“Basically, we will let the cryptocurrency promoters including bitcoin, Ethereum and ripple to be more transparent, the methods to be more transparent and people behind the scene are to be more transparent too,” the central bank chief stated, hinting at introducing some fundamental guidelines for the cryptocurrency sector to operate in Malaysia.

More pointedly, he added:

      “By doing so, the public can decide on its own if they want to invest in cryptocurrencies.”

The central bank governor was quick to stress that the authority would not recognize cryptocurrency as fiat money while notably adding it wouldn’t ban cryptocurrencies in the country either.

The central bank chief also revealed an upcoming concept paper for the public on cryptocurrencies, presumably a detailed report to educate residents of cryptocurrencies. Malaysia’s central bank is already working toward a regulatory framework that will, for instance, deem cryptocurrency exchanges as ‘reporting institutions’ to curb criminal and unlawful activities through cryptocurrencies.

The central baker’s remarks follow similar statements from Malaysia’s deputy finance minister who, in January, confirmed the government would not ban trading of cryptocurrencies.

“It is not the intention of the authorities to ban or put a stop on any innovation that is perceived to be beneficial to the public,” he stated at the time.

Malaysia joins the Philippines, two countries among the world’s fastest growing economies, to take a refreshingly open and even embracive approach to cryptocurrencies in society. After figuring among the earliest countries in the world to mandate regulations for its domestic cryptocurrency industry, the deputy director of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) spoke of the convenience of using bitcoin in payments.

The central bank official was speaking in a televised interview in late 2017 when he stated:

       “There are risks but essentially, it can be managed. If you want something that is fast, near real-time and convenient then there’s the benefit of using virtual currencies like bitcoin.”

https://www.ccn.com/public-will-decide-cryptocurrencies-future-malaysias-central-bank/

У этого проекта наблюдается некоторые проблемы с открытостью. Так люди уже не раз задавали вопрос в англоязычной ветке, почему на такую большую команду разработчиков, почти ни у кого нет профиля Linkedin. Еще 20 дней назад обещали решить эту проблему на след. день, а воз и ныне там. Существуют ли вообще все эти люди из Англии, большой вопрос. Но главное для инвестора, провести свой собственный анализ команды и их бэкграунда, а это сложно без linkedin.

In October 2017, the Iranian government all but decided to implement Bitcoin as a means to completely bypass sanctions, while also allowing citizens to conduct international trades otherwise not possible. Now, however, the Islamic Republic on the Persian coast has changed its mind.

A Foolish Inconsistency

According to the independent Iranian news site Iran Front Page (via Fortune), the Republic’s central bank claims it never recognized, nor planned on recognizing, Bitcoin as an official currency. It also denies all claims that it was actively facilitating Bitcoin transactions to circumvent sanctions while making some rather bearish statements on cryptocurrencies in general:

The wild fluctuations of the digital currencies along with competitive business activities underway via network marketing and pyramid scheme [tactics] have made the market of these currencies highly unreliable and risky.

Interestingly, Iran’s central bank is not only claiming to be disinterested in cryptocurrency but is actively looking to “control and prevent digital currencies” in the country.

Continue reading >> http://bitcoinist.com/iran-changes-mind-decides-it-doesnt-actually-like-bitcoin/

There’s a lot of doubt surrounding Bitcoin’s potential as a viable, real-world currency – but PayPal’s chief financial officer sees only positive things in the dominant cryptocurrency’s future.

A `Very High Likelihood` of Success

According to John Rainey, PayPal’s chief financial officer, Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies will one day become a popular method of payment – just not yet. Rainey told The Wall Street Journal:

`Given the volatility of bitcoin right now, it’s not a reliable currency for transactions because if you’re a merchant and you have a 10% profit margin, and you accept bitcoin, and the very next day bitcoin drops 15%, you are now underwater on that transaction.`

Nevertheless, Rainey recognizes Bitcoin as a legitimate currency, even if it’s not quite ready for mainstream adoption yet. Says Rainey:

`At some point there is very high likelihood. The technology, there is real merit to it. I do think, though, it will be years down the road before we see the kind of ubiquity and acceptance that make it a form of currency that is used every day.`

This is not the first time PayPal has shown support for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. PayPal was one of the first companies to accept cryptocurrency as a currency on its platform, allowing merchants the option to be paid in Bitcoin as early as 2014/2015.

Earlier this year, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman called Bitcoin “an interesting experiment” in a Facebook Live event, while also noting that “it could change the world.” At the same time, Xapo CEO Wences Casares even went so far as to predict a future in which one single Bitcoin could be worth $1 million.

Differing Opinions

Of course, not everyone agrees with Rainey’s and Schulman’s optimistic long-term assessment of Bitcoin’s future as a currency. Earlier this week, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney claimed Bitcoin has already failed on virtually every front, stating:

`It has pretty much failed thus far on … the traditional aspects of money. It is not a store of value because it is all over the map. Nobody uses it as a medium of exchange.`

Venture capitalist and Tezos investor Tim Draper, however, recently claimed Bitcoin is “the future” of currency while claiming a large portion of the world’s currency will someday be comprised of cryptocurrencies.

http://bitcoinist.com/trends-regulation-crypto-industry-discussed-blockchain-bitcoin-conference-germany-april-4/

Public consultations on a new regulatory regime for crypto companies in Italy are now closed. Interested parties were invited by the Ministry of Economy and Finance to share suggestions and comments on a draft decree introducing registration and reporting requirements in the sector. The new set of rules will come into force within 3 months of adoption.

Italy Trying to Understand the Phenomenon

The ministerial decree has been designed to “explore and understand the various aspects of the virtual currency phenomenon”. The legal document, aimed at implementing Italy’s updated and “strengthened” anti-money laundering laws, was published by MEF’s Treasury Department on February 2. Interested parties had two weeks to express their opinions and suggest amendments.

In May 2017 the Italian government issued another decree requiring “service providers related to the use of virtual currency”, like exchanges, to fulfil their obligations to prevent money laundering and illicit crypto transactions. The new document introduces additional responsibilities for crypto businesses. They will have to report regularly their activities to the Finance Ministry.

The text of the proposed decree clarifies that although cryptocurrency is used as a “means of exchange for the purchase of goods and services”, it is not issued by a central bank or other public authority. The embedded disclaimer also states that cryptos are “not necessarily connected to a currency that is a legal tender”.

Continue reading >> https://news.bitcoin.com/italy-completes-consultations-on-registration-of-crypto-companies/

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange operators have reportedly made enormous gains in commission-related sales in 2017, over 85 times that of the previous year.

According to data released on Sunday by a politician from South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party, the accumulated sales from commissions among 30 cryptocurrency exchange operators is said to have reached 700 billion won ($648 million) in 2017, Yonhap reports. That figure is up from an estimated 8 billion won in 2016.

The data was released on Sunday by Rep. Park Kwang-on, a journalist-turned-politician who previously served as the spokesperson for South Korea’s president Moon Jae-in. The government reportedly aided in compiling the data which was based on the sales of commissions and bitcoin trading prices released by various exchange operators.

The report also reveals Upbit as country’s leading cryptocurrency exchange operator occupying over half of South Korea’s cryptocurrency trading market at 52.9%. Bithumb, Korbit, and Coinone respectively make for the three largest cryptocurrency exchanges after Upbit.

While Upbit is said to have amassed 194.3 billion won ($182 million) in commission sales, the estimated sales by Bithumb, in particular, is believed to have reached 317.7 billion won ($297 million). Korbit and Coinone reached 67 billion won ($62 million) and 78.1 billion won ($73 million) respectively.

South Korea has emerged among the world’s largest markets for cryptocurrencies in 2017 despite a ban on ICOs near the end of September. Rumors of following China’s lead in shuttering cryptocurrency exchanges after the turn of the year were put to bed after the South Korean government – after a significant public backlash – confirmed there was no intention to issue a sweeping ban on cryptocurrency trading.

“There is no intention to ban or suppress cryptocurrency (market),” South Korea’s Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said in late January.

https://www.ccn.com/korean-cryptocurrency-exchanges-commission-sales-spike-85x-2017/

Polish Central Bank Secretly Funds Anti-Crypto Youtube Propaganda Videos

The Central Bank of Poland has admitted to funding anti-cryptocurrency campaigns on social media, specifically Polish Youtuber Marcin Dubiel and his Dec. 2017 video, “I LOST ALL THE MONEY?!,” Polish news portal money.pl reports.

The social media campaign against crypto was carried out by Central Bank of Poland in conjunction with Polish Youtube partner network Gamellon, Google Ireland Limited, and Facebook Ireland Limited, allocating about 91,000 zloty (around $27,000) for producing anti-crypto content.

Money.pl reports that the Central Bank’s campaign also had videos published on the Planeta Faktów (Planet of Facts) Youtube channel, which has over 1.5 mln subscribers. Dubiel’s Youtube channel has over 900,000 subscribers.

Dubiel’s video makes no mention of the paid aspect of the Youtuber’s inspiration. Since Dec. 8, 2017, the Dubiel’s digital story of a young man who invests all his money in crypto only to lose it all has amassed over 500,000 views.

The description of the video contains the hashtag #uważajnakryptowaluty, which is the Polish Financial Supervision Authority and the Central Bank of Poland’s joint website dedicated to warnings against the use of cryptocurrencies.

The clip’s dramatic climax takes place in a restaurant when the main character can’t pay for his date’s meal with his new crypto investment, causing her to throw fiat money at him and storm out in a huff.

While problems with cryptocurrency-related online advertisements have recently emerged, with China allegedly banning all such ads from social media within the country, anti-crypto ads are more unusual.

After officially recognizing both trading and mining of cryptocurrencies in Feb. 2017, Poland seems to have stayed out of the crypto news cycle. However, after Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro announced the launch of a national cryptocurrency, the petro, Poland is reportedly one of the foreign investors willing to trade food and medicine for the new petro currency.

The video ends with the “evil” crypto investor that led Dubiel to ruin laughing while counting his fiat riches.

Original video: https://youtu.be/Q7GZeyXAFzo

https://cointelegraph.com/news/polish-central-bank-secretly-funds-anti-crypto-youtube-propaganda-videos

After a relatively low start to the month in the crypto market, the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies has again broken $500 bln today, Feb. 17, according to CoinMarketCap. The total market cap is currently around $502 bln at press time.

Bitcoin (BTC) has stayed well above the $10,000 mark, currently trading at about $10,830 and up almost 7 percent over a 24-hour period by press time. Ethereum (ETH) is inching closer to passing the $1000 threshold, trading at $969, up almost 3 percent over a 24-hour period by press time.



Of the top ten coins listed on CoinMarketCap, only Litecoin (LTC) is in the red, down about 3 percent at press time. Earlier week Litecoin saw a surge in price following the announcement of the upcoming launch of a LTC-fiat payment service, and a planned hard fork that Litecoin creator called a “scam”. LTC is currently trading at around $227.

The steady uptick in prices may have prompted by the bullish news that an anonymous trader purchased around 41,000 Bitcoin between Feb. 9 and Feb. 12, worth around $440 mln today, Marketwatch reported. The purchase reportedly brought the BTC address total up to over 96,000 BTC, or little over $1 bln.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/total-crypto-market-cap-back-over-500-bln-bitcoin-pushes-11k

You know that moment when you're all talking about bitcoin but nobody really understands it? Well, TV host Ellen DeGeneres summed up that feeling perfectly Thursday.

The comedian took it upon herself to explain to her audience what the cryptocurrency actually is.

"Everybody is talking about bitcoin, nobody understands it," she said. "It's like a plot twist in a confusing movie, when you're watching a movie and your friends are acting like they know what's going on, and you're like, 'Yeah, I do too.'

"Pretend like bitcoin is a goat. Now it's adorable... and you want to pick it up and you want to pet it. But you can't because it's not there, it doesn't exist except for on that Internet right there, just like bitcoin is digital currency."

DeGeneres explained that bitcoin is like a stock market where people can make money off of it, but said that she'd "rather own a baby goat" than the cryptocurrency.

"Basically, if you invest in bitcoin, you'll either be a millionaire or you'll be totally broke," she said.

The TV host tweeted out the clip of her explanation.

DeGeneres is not far off in some senses. Bitcoin is indeed digital not physical. It is known as a "decentralized currency" because it is not issued by a central authority. Instead its maintenance relies on a network of computers and different participants.

It also is underpinned by a technology called blockchain, which is a public ledger of activity that is tamperproof.

Cryptocurrencies are known for their extreme volatility. The market recently saw a crash but has since recovered slightly, although many digital coins are still off their all-time highs.

Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS2BMxeHsv8

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/16/ellen-degeneres-explains-bitcoin.html

Bitcoin Price Surges to $10,000 as Market Continues to Recover to $500 Billion

The bitcoin price has surpassed the $10,000 mark, which analysts including BitFury vice chairman George Kikvadze described as a psychological threshold, as the entire cryptocurrency market recorded large gains.

Bitcoin

In yesterday’s report, CCN noted that bitcoin is in an ideal position to break through the $10,000 mark, given its strong volume across all major cryptocurrency exchanges. Although the price of bitcoin has dipped below $9,900 since achieving $10,000, unless sell volumes continue to rise in the upcoming hours, it is unlikely that the price of bitcoin will stay below the $10,000 mark in the short-term.

Throughout the past 12 hours, the daily trading volume of bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies remained relatively low, in comparison to the market’s volume on February 15. Bitcoin also demonstrated a massive sell volume earlier today, the biggest one yet since February 14. If bitcoin cam remain above the $9,700 mark, the starting point of February 14, it will likely soon rebound to $10,000 and potentially lead a strong rally.

Tom Lee, a Wall Street strategist at Fundstrat known for his mid and long-term bitcoin analysis, has stated that bitcoin will likely achieve new all-time highs by July of this year. Based on the v-shaped bottom of bitcoin, Lee noted that bitcoin will begin to show resilience and start to build some momentum throughout the mid-term.

“This recent 70% decline is severe. We can see a case for Bitcoin’s resilience here given the sharpness of the recent decline,” said Lee, predicting bitcoin to achieve a new all-time high by July.

Even at $10,000, bitcoin remains at below 53 percent from its all-time high established at $19,000. While most assets tend to struggle to recover in the short-term after 70 percent corrections, bitcoin has started to show early signs of mid-term recovery, as explained by Lee.

As a volatile currency, bitcoin declines by large margins but also increases rapidly in short periods of time. Hence, as bitcoin stabilizes above the $10,000 mark, as it did in throughout November and December, it is entirely possible that it will experience an exponential increase in value from $10,000 back to its all-time high at $19,000 in the upcoming months.

Continue reading >> https://www.ccn.com/bitcoin-price-surges-10000-market-continues-recover-500-billion/

India’s Banks Tigthen Cryptocurrency Regulation, Prohibit Use of Credit Cards in Trading

Several weeks after Western banks banned the usage of credit cards in cryptocurrency investment, banks in India have prohibited debit and credit card usage in cryptocurrency purchases.

In a statement sent to its customers obtained by Quartz, Citibank wrote:

“[There have been] concerns, both globally and locally, including from the Reserve Bank of India, cautioning members of the public regarding the potential economic, financial, operational, legal, customer protection and security-related risks associated in dealing with bitcoins, cryptocurrencies and virtual currencies.”

Local Banks to Follow

Local banks in India are expected to comply with the decision of the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank, in prohibiting the usage of debit and credit cards in cryptocurrency investment. On local cryptocurrency exchanges, investors still can use conventional means of payments such as bank transfers and wiring to invest in the cryptocurrency market.

Earlier this month, unconfirmed rumors and FUD around the possibility of a cryptocurrency trading ban circulated within the Indian market. Many media outlets falsely reported the state of the Indian cryptocurrency market, irresponsibly claiming that cryptocurrency trading will be banned.

Shortly after rumors started to circulate and the media began to report about the false cryptocurrency trading ban, Arun Jaitley, the finance minister of India, clarified on national television that the government will not ban cryptocurrency trading.

The prohibition of debit and credit card usage on cryptocurrency exchanges and marketplaces can be considered as a measure the central bank of India took to prevent local investors from investing in the cryptocurrency market with debt.

Several research papers have shown that a relatively large portion of investors in certain regions that use credit cards to purchase bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies tend to not process their credit card payments after investing in the cryptocurrency market. During major corrections or market instability, acquisition of debt to invest in the market can lead to financial problems, especially if investors are in need of money in the short-term and unable to cash out or spend.

But, in an interview with Quartz, law firm TRA managing partner Anirudh Rastogi stated that even if the government tries to justify the decision to prohibit credit and debit card usage in cryptocurrency investment as risk mitigation, it is unjustifiable.

“Even if banks were to justify this as necessary to mitigate their risk, I would find such a view to be very conservative and unjustifiable, which leads me to think that this is arm-twisting,” said Rastogi, who oversees several cryptocurrency businesses at TRA.

Short-Term Trend

Earlier this month, almost immediately after unverified reports about cryptocurrency trading ban in India were released, local cryptocurrency exchanges Zebpay, Coinsecure, and Unocoin, which have over a million users on their platforms, reaffirmed that the government’s stance towards the local cryptocurrency exchange market has not changed, and it remains neutral.

The government is yet to release a statement regarding the long-term future of the Indian cryptocurrency exchange market and until then, it is not possible to speculate the regulatory trend of the Indian cryptocurrency market.

https://www.ccn.com/indias-banks-tigthen-cryptocurrency-regulation-prohibit-use-credit-cards-trading/

Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, has said it's not his institution's job to regulate cryptocurrencies.

As part of the ECB's #AskDraghi video series, the former Italian central banker said he has seen many users on Twitter ask if the ECB would regulate or even ban bitcoin.

In response, he said:

"It's not the ECB's responsibility to do that."

Draghi also discussed whether he would recommend purchasing bitcoin in response to a question from a college student.

He indicated he would think "carefully" about buying bitcoin, explaining that he does not see it as a currency. While the euro's value is stable, he added, "the value of a bitcoin oscillates wildly."

Also hitting out at cryptocurrencies' decentralized nature, he continued: "The euro is backed by the European Central Bank. The dollar is backed by the Federal Reserve. Currencies are backed by the central banks or their governments. Nobody backs bitcoin."

This is not the first time Draghi has made such comments on cryptocurrencies and their regulation. The ECB chief said in September 2017, that the ECB itself has "no power" to regulate bitcoin, and, in November, he said that cryptocurrencies have a limited impact on the world economy.

At the same time as it published the video, the ECB released an explainer on bitcoin that goes into deeper detail on how the institution sees bitcoin.

In addition to echoing Draghi's comments on price volatility and the lack of institutional or government backing, the explainer notes that bitcoin is not accepted widely and "transactions are slow and expensive."

Furthermore, it adds that there are no legal protections for users who lose their bitcoins to theft if their wallet were to be hacked.

https://www.coindesk.com/regulate-bitcoin-not-the-ecbs-responsibility-says-mario-draghi/

Japanese Internet Giant GMO Plans Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash Cloud Mining Launch in August

GMO Internet, a multi-billion publicly listed Japanese internet and technology conglomerate, has unveiled plans to launch its new bitcoin cloud mining service in August.

Founded in the early 1990s, Tokyo-based GMO announced its foray into the cryptocurrency space in September with a multi-million-dollar investment into a new mining venture. Crypto mining sees miners gain newly minted coins as reward for creating blocks of validated transactions and including them in the blockchain. An energy-intensive process, crypto mining profits are made when mining rewards exceed the cost of mining resources and electricity costs. At the time, GMO also hinted at entering the cloud mining space to enable customers to rent its mining equipment’s hashrate.

With an announcement on Friday, GMO has now confirmed its plan toward a ‘tentative’ launch of its new cloud mining service, called Z.com Cloud Mining, in August. To ramp up interest, the company will hold information sessions in 9 cities across the world in March. They are: Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, London, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Singapore, Zurich, Dubai.

“Before entering the cryptocurrency mining business, we have announced that we are planning to offer the cloud mining service,” the company said. “We have already been receiving inquiries about our cloud mining service, so from March 2018, GMO Internet will hold the information session in 9 cities to meet the needs of the companies or businesses worldwide who have announced their intention to participate in the cloud mining.”

On offer is a two-year rental contract for $5 million (approx. 550 million JPY), a fee that will include power costs, land, maintenance and security costs over the two-year period for the facility. The cloud mining operation will specifically support cryptocurrencies mined on the SHA256 algorithm, namely Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. The internet giant says it plans to accept up to 8 such contracts a month.

With the substantial contract price at hand, GMO adds it is considering a cheaper alternative service that “allows an individual or a business, who may find it difficult to make massive investment in and manage mining equipment, to participate in mining.”

While details of the facility are scarce, it is likely to be in Northern Europe where GMO launched its mining center ‘utilizing plentiful renewable energy’ in December. The internet giant further reiterated that cryptocurrencies mined.

https://www.ccn.com/japanese-internet-giant-gmo-plans-cryptocurrency-cloud-mining-launch-august/

Australian High School to Host ‘Educational Presentation’ on Cryptocurrencies

The soaring interest in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin in the mainstream has compelled one high school in Australia to reportedly host an information night on cryptocurrencies.

In an email sent to students’ parents, Brisbane-based St. Laurence’s College said it intends to hold an “educational presentation” on cryptocurrencies after being made aware of senior students purchasing and adopting cryptocurrencies, local news outlet ABC reported last week.

The educational crash course will be non-compulsory for the schools’ staff and students from Year 11 and 12, as well as parents who express interest in understanding the “new space”, the email reportedly said.

An excerpt from the email added:

“The presentation will look at features of cryptocurrencies, the technology underpinning them, and will give some very basic information about the state of the market and ways to keep investments safe.”

The school insists it holds no bias or stance on the subject, but felt students “should be cautioned and educated about these purchases.” The presentation was originally scheduled to be held on February 2 but has been reportedly postponed.

According to one financial expert, the move to educate students on cryptocurrencies at an institutional level is a healthy development. Queensland Tech’s business and accounting professor Chrisann Lee underlined the importance of educating high schoolers and young adults on investing in cryptocurrencies. While young adults typically possess strong basic financial literacy skills, advanced topics like investments and returns could use a helping hand, according to Dr. Lee.

“Especially telling them the underlying asset that they are buying into, the technology that supports, the security and those kinds of things… they need to be fully aware to make informed decisions,” she said, in support of the school’s intention to educate students, parents and staff on cryptocurrencies and their underlying blockchain technology.

Meanwhile, Australia’s ‘big four’ banks have ruled out any prohibitive bans on purchasing cryptocurrencies, unlike counterparts in the US and the UK. Australian authorities have also confirmed the regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges in the country, a move that the government believes will ensure consumer safety while facilitating the growth of the cryptocurrency sector in the country.

https://www.ccn.com/australian-high-school-hold-educational-presentation-cryptocurrencies/

Bitcoin’s latest fork is just weeks away and this one’s a little different from the rest. Rather than simply tinkering with Segwit or adjusting block sizes, Bitcoin private (BTCP) is adding zk-Snarks. The privacy enhancing feature is best known for its use in the Z family of coins including zcash, zclassic, and zencash. That’s not surprising given that the fork is being instigated by Rhett Creighton, who is simultaneously forking bitcoin and zclassic on February 28 to create BTCP which will then be available to holders of both coins.

The Quest to Make Bitcoin Private Again

Like all forks, bitcoin private is not without its controversies. Bitcoin’s underlying code hasn’t changed greatly over the years, but the ability of law enforcement, the IRS, and other busybodies to scrutinize blockchain activity has. Whereas once bitcoin could be used on the deep web and elsewhere with a reasonable assumption of privacy, doing so today is fraught with risks. The rise of privacy coins such as monero is a direct response to this gradual erosion of privacy.

On February 28, a snapshot of the zclassic and bitcoin blockchains will be taken and holders of each cryptocurrency will be eligible for bitcoin private, distributed at a 1:1 ratio, once the BTCP mainnet launches a couple of days later. A total of 20 million coins will be created by combining the circulating supply of BTC and ZCL. When the fork was announced late last year, it caused the prize of zclassic to shoot up from around $4 on December 22 to its current price of around $97. For anyone interested in claiming their maximum allocation of bitcoin private, it makes sense to load up on zclassic given that even at $100 it is orders of magnitude cheaper than bitcoin. As the date of the hard fork looms closer, zclassic is likely to rise further still.

Continue reading >> https://news.bitcoin.com/bitcoin-private-fork-aiming-to-make-bitcoin-anonymous/

It may surprise some people to learn that JPMorgan Chase is invested in the blockchain. Umar Farooq, a banker turned blockchain leader at JPMorgan, discussed how the bank is using the blockchain and didn’t shy away from bitcoin. He was speaking at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit for Crypto in New York earlier this week.

He spoke of “active engagement” with blockchain internally, as teams from across the bank’s operations are increasingly looking to distributed ledger technology as a possible solution to problems. Farooq’s at the head of that business, and he’s more open-minded about bitcoin than you might think.

He said that while the industry may say blockchain’s good and bitcoin’s bad, that’s now how JPMorgan, the top US bank based on assets, sees the world. “We all believe in blockchain good. I wouldn’t go as far to say cryptocurrencies bad. I would say and cryptocurrencies have issues.”

The big issue, he says, surrounds know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) rules.

“Everyone I talk to in the banking industry, regulators, central banks — everyone sees the potential. But everyone is trying to fundamentally grapple with the issues. I wouldn’t say crypto is bad, but I think crypto needs some evolution,” he said.

Elephant in the Room

Meanwhile, he wasn’t afraid to tackle the elephant in the room, his boss Jamie Dimon’s previous derogatory remarks on bitcoin, offering some perspective.

“I think he’s backed off, clarified a couple of comments. He’s always been super consistent in breaking the two apart cryptocurrencies versus blockchain. In terms of cryptocurrencies, given right now the banking industry is facing these questions, I think his comments were quite relevant to the times. If you talk to many regulators, they possibly have similar feelings,” said Farooq.

But he wouldn’t go so far as to say that JPMorgan has plans to roll out a bitcoin product to retail investors in the near future, saying: “At this point, everyone is studying the stuff.” Once policies are developed reflecting KYC and AML standards, “then the retail bank will take a hard look at how to do this,” he added.

Radical Impact

Meanwhile, JPMorgan has been exploring blockchain technology for the past two years when the market was still “nascent,” having developed Quorum, based on Ethereum, which was open-sourced and brought Jamie Morgan to GitHub. He doesn’t view the technology as a threat for now.

Farooq expects blockchain will have a “radical impact” on some of the bank’s businesses, particularly as it relates to providing trust between parties.  “There’s always a role for a trusted advisor in the mix,” he said, adding the bank could provide infrastructure or facilitate the data layer. “There will always be a role. It’s not an existential threat in the short-term.”

Blockchain has gripped JPMorgan, as evidenced by a blockchain virtual room for messaging that’s ballooned to more than 1,500 people. He said his team started small and now every line of business at the firm has blockchain representation. They approach the blockchain group saying a problem “smells or feels” like it could use the blockchain for data transfer, reconciliation, etc.  Today the blockchain group is engaged with multiple businesses across payments, capital markets and custody.

“Our fundamental approach to blockchain is we think about the customer issue we want to solve … 80% of the time, blockchain isn’t the answer and it ends up being an infrastructure issue. But we focus on the 20% of the time where blockchain really is a good solution. We have a number of solutions on the way,” he said.

https://www.ccn.com/jpmorgans-farooq-bitcoin-must-evolve-blockchains-not-a-threat/

Bitcoin has come a long way since the time 10,000 coins were allegedly used to buy a pizza— and if you ask Bitcoin bull Cameron Winklevoss, the gold standard of cryptocurrency still has a long way to go.

‘IT’S ACTUALLY A BUYING OPPORTUNITY’

Today, one Bitcoin is worth just over $8,000 USD. But according to Cameron Winklevoss, investors can expect it to go up 40x “someday.”

Cameron made the bold prediction on Wednesday this week to CNBC at the Milken Institute’s MENA Summit while claiming Bitcoin is better than gold. He stated:

"Taking bitcoin in isolation […] we believe bitcoin disrupts gold. We think it’s a better gold if you look at the properties of money. And what makes gold gold? Scarcity. Bitcoin is actually fixed in supply so it’s better than scarce … it’s more portable, its fungible, it’s more durable. Its sort of equals a better gold across the board."

https://www.youtube.com/embed/4r6OpXO8AUQ

By Winklevoss’ logic, the argument that digital gold is actually superior to physical gold means the total market capitalization of Bitcoin should match, if not surpass, that of gold. He explained:

"So if you look at a $100 billion market cap today, now last week it might have been more like 200, so it’s actually a buying opportunity, we think that there’s a potential appreciation of 30 to 40 times because you look at the gold market today, it’s a $7 trillion market. And so a lot of people are starting to see that, they recognize the store of value properties. So we think regardless of the price moves in the last few weeks, it’s still a very under-appreciated asset."

Whether or not Bitcoin is better than gold has been an especially contentious debate as of late. The World Gold Council has even published a report which claims Bitcoin could undermine central banks.

Continue reading >> http://bitcoinist.com/winklevoss-predict-40x-increase-bitcoin/

Famous venture capitalist Tim Draper believes that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will eventually dominate the world.

Betting on Bitcoin

Tim Draper was one the few venture capitalists that strongly believed in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies before they became mainstream. According to a recent Forbes article, Tim Draper first thought about virtual currency 15 years ago while he was in South Korea. In 2014, the California-based investor was featured on several news sites as he purchased around 32,000 Bitcoin, worth nearly $20 million through an auction by the U.S. Marshals Service. The coins were seized from the famous Silk Road darknet marketplace.

In the Forbes article, he stated:

I believe that Bitcoin and crypto will drive most of the commerce of the world.

Tim Draper also added:

I don’t know why anyone would want to go back to fiat when crypto is distributed, secure and global, while fiat is subject to the whims of political forces.

At the peak of Bitcoin’s price, Draper’s coins were estimated to be worth over $600 million.

Cryptocurrencies will Replace Fiat

This isn’t the first time Tim Draper stated his strong belief for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. In a CNBC article, he stated that in the near future, cryptocurrencies would replace fiat currencies in commerce. He stated:

In five years, if you go to a Starbucks or McDonald’s and try to buy a burger or coffee with fiat currency, the person at the counter is going to laugh at you.

Reports suggest that Draper has invested in 40 different cryptocurrencies.

Continue reading >> http://bitcoinist.com/tim-draper-bitcoin-cryptocurrencies-will-take-world/

Cryptocurrencies are trading in the green today after a tumultuous seven days.

In the last 24 hours, the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies has increased 25 percent to $352 billion, as per data provider CoinMarketCap. The total value had dropped to $276 billion yesterday – the lowest level since Nov. 26.

Though a welcome development, that figure is still down at least 30 percent from last Wednesday's high above $500 billion. Further, it's still 57 percent down compared to the record high of $830 billion seen in January.

As of writing, the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization are reporting double-digit gains.

Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has appreciated by 22 percent in the last 24 hours, again according to CoinMarketCap. As of writing, CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) is showing the average price across global exchanges at $7,845.

So why the upturn? For one, market observers have told CoinDesk that the U.S. Senate's softer approach to regulating bitcoin, publicly discussed yesterday, bodes well for cryptocurrencies.

Furthermore, as per technical studies, the bitcoin sell-off looked overdone and a correction upwards was overdue. BTC could also be pulling up other cryptocurrencies, given the tight correlation between bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.



Continue reading >> https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-jumps-over-20-percent-as-crypto-markets-regain-poise/