World's Largest Crypto Exchange Binance To Launch Decentralized Trading Platform
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, announced that it is officially developing a public Blockchain to create a new decentralized exchange, according a statement on March 13.
Binance’s vision that “centralized and decentralized exchanges will co-exist in the near future, complementing each other” inspired them to develop the Binance Chain, which will be used for the transfer and trading of Blockchain assets. The move will also push the cryptocurrency exchange toward transforming from a company into a community.
“We believe that continuously supporting high-quality blockchain projects is the best way to develop this industry. We will continue to improve this part, as we committed in our whitepaper,” the cryptocurrency said.
The new Blockchain will also host Binance Coin (BNB), which will become a native coin on its own Blockchain mainnet.
more......https://cointelegraph.com/news/worlds-largest-crypto-exchange-binance-to-launch-decentralized-trading-platform
Bitcoin Classes Are All the Rage for University Students in Chicago
Hosting the CME, the Cboe and many investment funds, Chicago is an American and global financial trading powerhouse. As such it should come as no surprise that students in the region are clamoring to learn about a major part of the economy of the future, bitcoin.
more...https://news.bitcoin.com/bitcoin-classes-rage-university-students-chicago-illinois/
Coincheck spends US$435 mln to compensate customers after hack
Coincheck Inc., a Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange, said it has spent 46.3 billion yen (US$435 million) to compensate customers affected by the hacking of its trading platform in January, the Wall Street Journal reports.
It said it has resumed some exchange services after compensating 260,000 customers who had kept a digital currency called NEM at the exchange. Some 523 million units of NEM were stolen in the January cyberattack.
The customers received refunds in yen at a rate of 88.549 yen per NEM, which is higher than the current market rate but lower than the 110 yen value at the time of the hacking, the newspaper said.
A Coincheck spokeswoman said the company used its own funds for the payment, adding that the refunds were all given on Monday.
The company also resumed processing withdrawals of selected cryptocurrencies on Monday, but has yet to resume accepting deposits.
more....http://www.ejinsight.com/20180314-coincheck-spends-us435-mln-to-compensate-customers-after-hack/
Gold Can Alleviate Bitcoin’s Regulatory Headaches
Bitcoin’s main challenges remain regulation and lack of legitimacy, which is where gold comes in, according to one major European digital currency exchange.
“Regulation provides us with more legitimacy,” Austria-based Bitpanda GmbH co-CEO Eric Demuth told Bloomberg on Monday. “We’ve wanted to be regulated, but so far have been told that we cannot be.”
Financial regulators are yet to figure out the best way to oversee bitcoin transactions. In the meantime, bitcoin exchanges like Bitpanda are trying to come up with their own rules to boost credibility.
One of the solutions Australian government is looking at is applying gold’s trading rules to cryptocurrencies.
The big worry with digital currencies is money laundering, Austrian Finance Minister Hartwig Loeger said in February.
“Cryptocurrencies are significantly gaining importance in the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing,” Loeger said. “That’s an important aspect for the changes we support. We need more trust and more security.”
more...http://www.kitco.com/news/2018-03-13/Gold-Can-Alleviate-Bitcoin-s-Regulatory-Headaches.html
$600 Million Magic, Strange Moves On The Tether Charts
During a defining five-minute period on January 27, 2018, the nominal market cap of Tether rose by more than $600 million. Today, close to 40 percent of USDT trade occurs on OKEx and Binance.
It doesn't take a genius – or even a technical analyst – to see that there are some intriguing movements on the Tether (USDT) price chart. Specifically, direct your attention to the blue tracker, which represents the market cap of the token. The relevant period is circled in red
more....https://www.ethnews.com/600-million-magic-strange-moves-on-tether-charts
Bitcoin’s Premium to Gold Looks Set to Get Hit by Fed Hikes
Bitcoin’s soaring premium to gold is being eroded as the digital currency faces regulatory scrutiny and lower demand. The convergence is likely to accelerate with help from the Federal Reserve, according to Mike McGlone, a strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, who says rate hikes have marked bitcoin tops and gold bottoms. “Getting past imminent Fed tightening, increasing inflation and the weak dollar are all gold-positive, while the opposite, mean reversion, is bound to continue overwhelming bitcoin,” he said, adding that the price of one bitcoin and an ounce of gold were the same only 11 months ago.
Monero Eyes $200 Reversal Target After Hard Fork Delay
The privacy-focused cryptocurrency monero (XMR) has been dumping the last few days on the news developers have postponed a highly anticipated hard fork by six weeks.
As of writing, the world's 11th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is trading at $258 - down 10 percent in the last 24 hours, according to data source CoinMarketCap.
A week ago, XMR was solidly bid around $380, reporting 90 percent gains over lows seen in February as investors seemingly bought with an intention of making free money via the "moneroV" hard fork, originally scheduled for March 15. However, on March 9 the developers announced a delay as requested by users, trading platforms and large mining pools.
Consequently, prices have dropped more than 30 percent in a week.
The hard fork is now scheduled to happen on April 30 at block 1564965 and the holders (at the time of the fork) will receive free moneroV tokens at a ratio of 10 to one.
Given the demand for free coins via forks, this could lead to positive growth a couple of weeks down the line. That said, the technical charts indicate $200 could be a potential bullish reversal point.
more....https://www.coindesk.com/monero-eyes-200-reversal-target-hard-fork-delay/
Central Bank Digital Currencies Could Destabilize the Global Economy’ Says Bank for International Settlements (BIS)
While the central banks of some countries are hoping to be a part of the virtual currency revolution, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is concerned about the repercussions of going digital.
A cashless society is definitely the way of the future, a future that some governments and banks are trying to be a part of. Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) may be an abomination of decentralized cryptocurrencies, but it is happening.
more....http://bitcoinist.com/central-bank-digital-currencies-destabilize-global-economy-says-bank-international-settlements-bis/
ICOs Go to Washington: What to Expect When Congress Talks Crypto
Cryptocurrencies are heading back to Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
On March 14, a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing entitled "Examining Cryptocurrencies and ICO Markets." The hearing marks the first time a group within Congress will specifically tackle the question of initial coin offerings (ICOs), an area that is firmly in the cross-hairs of agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as well as regulators around the world.
Statements from some of the members of the Capital Markets, Securities and Investment Subcommittee suggest that the hearing will have a largely educational bent. Speaking to CoinDesk last week, U.S. Representative Tom Emmer indicated that some of those attending are there to learn more about cryptocurrencies and token sales.
"I think this is going to be more elementary," he said during an interview on the sidelines of last week's DC Blockchain Summit in Washington, D.C. "I don't think they understand the depth or breadth of this thing - yet."
more....https://www.coindesk.com/icos-go-washington-expect-congress-talks-crypto/
Cryptocurrency Exchange Offers $250K Bounty for Arrest of Failed Hackers
Binance, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, is offering a bounty equivalent of $250,000 USD in BNB in cryptocurrency for information that leads to the arrest of the hackers involved in a recent phishing attempt. On top of this, they are maintaining a $10 million cryptocurrency reserve for bounties to nab hackers in the future.
In a statement, Binance addressed the importance of going on the offensive against attempted hacks:
more...http://truthinmedia.com/cryptocurrency-exchange-250k-bounty-arrest-hackers/
Europe's Central Bank Touts Crypto As Underbanked Aid
The European Central Bank (ECB) has said cryptocurrencies could "be an early sign of change" around the world.
In an opinion piece on Tuesday titled "Bitcoin is not the answer to a cashless society," ECB executive board member Benoît Coeuré and Bank of International Settlements Markets Committee chair Jacqueline Loh write that, while digital money may be the way of the future, existing public cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are not that future. Rather, the pair tout the potential of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in changing the way consumers have control of their money.
Still, the piece acknowledged that cryptocurrencies are addressing an important shortfall in current banking systems, noting, "Despite its many faults, bitcoin has put the spotlight on an old failing of our current system: cross-border retail payments."
more...https://www.coindesk.com/europes-central-bank-touts-crypto-as-underbanked-aid/
G20 financial heads to urge crypto-asset monitoring
The world’s financial leaders will call for stronger monitoring of crypto-assets amid concerns that such assets could threaten financial stability.
The call appears in a draft communique prepared for the meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors of the world’s 20 biggest economies in Buenos Aires on March 19-20, seen by Reuters.
The financial leaders will say the technological innovation behind cryptocurrencies has the potential to improve the efficiency and inclusiveness of the financial system.
“Cryptocurrencies, however, raise issues with respect to consumer and investor protection, tax evasion, money laundering and terrorist financing,” the draft communique states. “At some point they could have financial stability implications.”
more...http://www.ejinsight.com/20180314-g20-financial-heads-to-urge-crypto-asset-monitoring/
Coinbase Wallet Fixes SegWit Implementation Bug, Refunds Affected Users
The Coinbase wallet and exchange service has fixed a bug in the payment gateway system which caused users to lose their funds from Bitcoin transactions via the platform. The issue emerged two weeks after the cryptocurrency exchange announced the launch of Segregated Witness (SegWit) support for its transactions.
In their Reddit post on March 12, Coinbase user Dazzling_Substance shared a problem with the platform’s payment gateway when it failed to send Bitcoin to a merchant. The user suggested that the bug was caused by a problem in the Bitcoin Payment Protocol (BIP70) that provides communication between merchants and customers.
more..https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbase-wallet-fixes-segwit-implementation-bug-refunds-affected-users
No-Fork Guarantee? New Cryptocurrency Touts Resistance to Code Splits
The team behind a soon-to-be-launched cryptocurrency has issued the notable claim that it will be un-forkable.
Announced today, Hedera is a public network built on Hashgraph, a type of distributed ledger technology (DLT) developed by the software company Swirlds, which has already deployed private versions with several enterprise clients.
Hedera Hashgraph, the governing body for the network, raised $18 million through a private sale of the as-yet-to-be-named token in January. That sale, the company said, represented less than 20% of the total supply.
Different than a blockchain, Hashgraph is billed as more secure, scalable and "fairer" than either the proof-of-work mechanism securing bitcoin or the permissioned systems that banks and other corporations have been experimenting with. The creators say the Hedera version can facilitate micropayments, distributed file storage and support smart contracts out of the gate.
more...https://www.coindesk.com/hedera-hashgraph-swirlds-no-fork-guarantee-cryptocurrency-touts-resistance-code-splits/
Ex-CFTC Chair: Regulatory Logjam Puts U.S. Crypto Industry at Disadvantage
An ongoing turf war between the regulatory agencies that oversee cryptocurrencies in the United States is putting the country at risk of falling behind other jurisdictions that are taking a more nimble and less-Byzantine approach to these new technologies, a former top regulator has warned.
Speaking at the DC Blockchain Summit last week, Jim Newsome - who served as co-chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 2000-2004 – explained that the U.S.’s piecemeal approach of regulating cryptocurrencies through different agency's based on each token’s functionality creates unnecessary friction and puts the country at a distinct competitive disadvantage.
more...https://www.forbes.com/sites/astanley/2018/03/13/ex-cftc-chair-regulatory-logjam-puts-u-s-crypto-industry-at-disadvantage/#75ad373537ed
CFTC Official Backs Winklevoss Crypto Self-Regulation Bid
A proposed cryptocurrency self-regulatory organization (SRO) put forward by Gemini founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss has won support from a key government advocate on the issue.
CFTC Commissioner Brian Quintenz has consistently advocated for the creation of a crypto SRO, calling for such a move during last week's keynote at the DC Blockchain Summit in Washington, D.C.
In a statement released on Tuesday, he congratulated the Winklevosses on their "thoughtful approach" to the area, going on to say:
more...https://www.coindesk.com/cftc-official-backs-winklevoss-brothers-crypto-self-regulation-bid/
Dangerous malware stealing bitcoin hosted on Download.com for years
In today’s day and age, when you ask a security expert about some basic tips to stay safe on the web, one of the most important things he will probably tell you is to download software only from legitimate sources. Sometimes even such a basic and obvious advice might not save you from malware encounters. We found three trojanized applications hosted on download.cnet.com, which is one of the most popular software hosting sites in the world as its Alexa rank (163th) shows.
The user Crawsh from /r/monero subreddit was one of the victims with such a story, but luckily for him, his story had a happy ending.
more...https://www.welivesecurity.com/2018/03/14/stealing-bitcoin-download-com/
IMF's Lagarde: Track Cryptos with Blockchain to 'Fight Fire with Fire'
The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, has said regulators should use blockchain technology to curb the "peril that comes along with the promise" of cryptocurrencies.
"The same innovations that power crypto-assets can also help us regulate them. To put it another way, we can fight fire with fire," Lagarde wrote in an IMF blog post on Tuesday.
Lagarde warned that cryptocurrencies could create financial instability, as well as facilitate terrorism and money laundering, arguing that distributed ledger technology and cryptography could be used in internationally coordinated regulatory efforts.
Distributed ledger technology, she claimed, "can be used to speed up information-sharing between market participants and regulators."
more....https://www.coindesk.com/imfs-lagarde-track-cryptos-with-blockchain-to-fight-fire-with-fire/
What Should Be in an ICO White Paper? Expert Take
The rising popularity of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) — and an accompanying spate of fraud and market volatility — has prompted an overdue debate in Washington, D.C., and around the world, about the proper regulatory policies for ICOs and cryptocurrencies more generally. Some of the most common questions involve the appropriate division of authority between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and whether their authority should reach deep into the heart of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, the spot market. Still, others contemplate whether or not an entirely new or alternative regulatory regime is needed for cryptocurrency and token fundraisers, not only here but also in Europe and elsewhere.
more...https://cointelegraph.com/news/what-should-be-in-an-ico-white-paper-expert-take
Price of Binance Coin Surges 25% Following Announcement
Following major declines in global trading volume, cryptocurrency exchanges across the board have seen significant losses since the start of 2018. Coincidentally, the corresponding exchange tokens have also suffered. However, Binance Coin (BNB) looks poised to contend this trend with great reception to a recent major announcement.
Earlier today, the Binance team published an article regarding a new, major innovation they are working towards: Binance Chain. Binance Chain represents the leading altcoin exchange’s approach to cost and scalability issues, as well as a viable upgrade to help maintain the exchange’s edge over competitors.
more...https://themerkle.com/price-of-binance-coin-surges-25-following-announcement/
Bitcoin Mining Behemoth Bitmain Could Secretly be Creating a Mining Facility in the US
One of the areas that became extremely popular during the rapid rise of bitcoin prices during 2017 was that of bitcoin mining. While in the formative years of the world’s first cryptocurrency, individual miners were able to compete without having ultra-expensive mining rigs, this is no longer the case.
The space of bitcoin mining is extremely competitive these days, with large warehouses being full of top of the line hardware that mines around the clock. The competitiveness of mining has driven individual miners towards mining pools and more expensive equipment if they want to remain profitable in this space.
One of the leading companies in the cryptocurrency mining hardware sector is Bitmain. It was revealed recently that they have been creating new facilities quietly in the Pacific Northwest of America.
more....https://btcmanager.com/bitcoin-mining-behemoth-bitmain-secretly-creating-mining-facility-us/
India Can’t Regulate Bitcoin Says Official
Indian authorities have been struggling to grasp the crypto phenomenon for quite some time now – years, to be more precise. The inability to fully understand it and put it under control has resulted in a state of semi-denial: “it’s illegal”, officials repeat tirelessly, but also keep trying to tax it. It doesn’t help when someone previously charged with proposing regulations, now says – India just can’t regulate bitcoin.
more....https://news.bitcoin.com/india-cant-regulate-bitcoin-says-official/
Why is the Cryptocurrency Community Ignoring Bitcore?
If you ask any cryptocurrency fanatic what their opinion on the Bitcoin versus Bitcoin Cash war is, you’ll get a variety of responses. Some will tell you that “Bitcoin Cash is the real Bitcoin” and others may tell you that Bitcoin is being mimicked by Bitcoin Cash and that it is a scam that was conjured entirely by Roger Ver as a wild power grab. There are a number of other responses that you may get, but those are among the most popular and frequently stated ones on social media and other areas within the crypto community.
What’s the Source of the Debate?
The source of the contention between these two sides is ‘scalability.’ Anyone that was involved with Bitcoin or cryptocurrency before December 2017 knows that the attention that Bitcoin’s price rise attracted ultimately resulted in the network receiving an unprecedented amount of activity. This led to substantial delays in payment and soaring fees that topped $20+ at times. It was at this point that the debate raged on.
Was Bitcoin ready? Was Bitcoin Cash right in asserting that Bitcoin would never be able to scale to the often sought-out ‘mainstream adoption’ point that cryptocurrency fans have been discussing for years?
more....https://btcmanager.com/cryptocurrency-community-ignoring-bitcore/
ConsenSys Partners with TrueEX to Create a Benchmark Price for Ether
New York-based blockchain startup Consensys has partnered with an affiliate of marketplace trueEX known as trueDigital Holdings (TDH), to develop a benchmark price for ether, Ethereum’s cryptocurrency.
The March 12 press release mentions that Consensys and TDH will have a reference index price for ether. Ether is currently the second largest cryptocurrency with a current total value of more than $68 billion in market capitalization while bitcoin and ether reach a market capitalization of $220.6 billion according to CoinMarketCap.
TrueEX announced their partnership with Consensys along with a plan to launch a regulated derivatives marketplace for digital assets. Although trueEX is the first exchange approved by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a designated contract market for swaps, trueEX is still awaiting approval from the CFTC for contracts.
Once approved, the first product released will be Bitcoin-based non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) settled in USD and listed under the trueDigital brand on trueEX’s swap platform.
TrueEX is well known for their innovative practices. Apart from winning the OTC Trading Platform of the Year at the Risk Awards, since their launch, they’ve reported trading volumes of over $9.7 trillion.
more...https://btcmanager.com/consensys-partners-with-trueex-to-create-a-benchmark-price-for-ether/
Is 2018 the Year of Cryptocurrency Regulation?
If 2017 was defined by Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), perhaps 2018 will be the year of cryptocurrency regulations. Plenty of evidence can support this claim, too. Last year, the industry witnessed the initial steps regarding any legal framework incorporating cryptocurrencies in the traditional system.
Politician’s Take on Cryptocurrencies
Globally, financial regulators released their respective statements on how ICOs shall be treated moving forward. In the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, authorities have voiced the preparation that would work towards minimizing the role played by cryptocurrencies in money laundering.
more....https://btcmanager.com/2018-year-cryptocurrency-regulation/
Bitcoin start-ups in Asia take aim at remittances market
HONG KONG/SEOUL: Bitcoin, battered by warnings about volatility and bubble-like appreciation, may have found a way to play a niche role in a big market: overseas money transfers.
Used as a transfer mechanism rather than a currency, bitcoin circumvents banks’ transaction fees.
Start-ups such as Bitspark in Hong Kong, and Bloom, Payphil, coins.
ph and Satoshi Citadel Industries’ (SCI) remittance unit Rebit in Philippines, are trying to turn that into a business model.
Reduced liquidity on cryptocurrency exchanges and regulatory uncertainty are, for now, limiting monthly bitcoin-based remittances to millions of dollars in a multibillion-dollar market, the start-ups say.
But if cryptocurrencies mature, they say, traditional businesses will be in for some serious disruption.
more....https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/291971-bitcoin-start-ups-in-asia-take-aim-at-remittances-market
The New Era of Large-scale, Commercial Crypto Mining
The Sichuan mountains located in China, the Columbia basin that runs through Seattle and Grindavík in Iceland all have something in common. Though these places are hundreds of miles apart from each other, they play a significant role in keeping various cryptocurrencies running. These locations host the world’s most extensive commercial digital currency mining operations.
Crypto Mining is Taking Over Globally
It is estimated that there are more than 100,000 people globally who contribute to the cryptocurrency mining network. The number of miners may be large, but the highest share of the total mining resources are held by the most extensive miners who have successfully made commercial mining rigs. These commercial mining farms have popped up in locations far and wide as miners search for cheaper electricity to keep the machines running. It has been reported in Digiconomist’s Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index that bitcoin’s current estimated annual electricity consumption is 29.05 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) which is more than the total electricity consumption of 159 countries. It is also estimated that electricity used by processors involved in mining will exceed the energy demand of Ireland in 2018.
more....https://btcmanager.com/new-era-large-scale-commercial-crypto-mining/
BSP, SEC caution public on cryptocurrencies
While keeping an open mind to the growing popularity and usefulness of cryptocurrencies, Philippine financial regulators are watching out for risks that these digital tokens pose to the financial system and to investors who get sucked into the hype.
Cryptocurrencies or digital tokens are not likely to replace fiat money anytime soon, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said in forum on cryptocurrencies organized by the Shareholders Association of the Philippines on Monday.
The BSP recognizes the huge potential of digital technology, including cryptocurrencies, which is an emerging medium of exchange globally. However, Espenilla urged the public to take caution against unscrupulous parties perpetrating pyramid schemes in the guise of initial coin offerings.
more...http://business.inquirer.net/247617/bsp-sec-caution-public-cryptocurrencies
Investors Eye Bitcoin Again After ‘Tokyo Whale’ Submerges
Amid speculation that a trustee of the now-defunct Tokyo Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox has contributed to flat or even declining interest in the virtual currency, said trustee has finally stopped selling off Bitcoin to settle creditors. For now, at least.
Bulls Come out of the Gate
Legal practitioner and court-appointed trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi has already sold off around $400 million in bitcoin to reimburse creditors of the once-hopeful exchange.
While there are remaining assets and creditors to settle, the next defraying of debt won’t come about until September 2018, based on the court’s oversight of the process.
For the uninitiated, Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy in 2014 after a mammoth theft of some 850,000 bitcoins
As the slow roll of court-ordered liquidation proceeds, analysts are predicting that the interim cessation of Kobayashi’s colossal coin dump will aid positive sentiment towards Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general.
The CEO of BKCM, Brian Kelly, was quoted as saying that:
more...https://btcmanager.com/investors-eye-bitcoin-tokyo-whale-submerges/
SEED Madagascar Accepts Bitcoin to Help People and the Natural Environment
Seed Madagascar is a non-profit charity organization that is helping to bring a new a future in Madagascar using bitcoin.
The charity is dedicated to improve people’s living conditions and preserve the animals of the African island, has recently started to accept bitcoin donations. The non-profit finally realized that there’s more value in bitcoin than rather simply is a new method of simply receiving funds.
Mark Jacobs, head of the non-profit organization, explains:
“As a charity, we’re of course always looking for new ways to generate income. We see bitcoin as an important step in fulfilling this mission. Whilst bitcoin allows us to widen the net as to how we can receive donations; we see a far broader value in it. We’ve followed the bitcoin revolution closely, and it’s clear to us that many of those who have invested in it are leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs who have shown their ability to be ahead of the curve. We’re eager to engage these kinds of individuals and their ways of thinking with SEED Madagascar.”
more....https://btcmanager.com/seed-madagascar-accepts-bitcoin-to-help-people-and-the-environment/
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