Your Crypto News on Steemit December 16, 2017

Blockchain is set to revolutionize the Internet of Things in 2018!
Advisor Putins proposes Cryptocurrencies to circumvent Economic Sanctions!
ICO project Herdius wants to make Cryptocurrencies Mass-Suitable!
India's Income Tax Department collects User Data from various Bitcoin Exchanges!
Goldman Sachs Expert Jeffrey Currie says Bitcoin is not a Threat to Gold!
Danish Bitcoin Baron becomes Main Sponsor of Ice Hockey Club!
Inno3D P104-100: Hybrid of GTX 1070 and GTX 1080 for faster mining!

Blockchain technology securely manages this data. In particular, private blockchains with a limited network of selected users are expected to make the breakthrough in 2018.

With the topic Bitcoin the blockchain technology of these days even arrived in the mainstream media. In the coming year, she is to find with numerous applications "entrance into the business everyday life", as Eco, the federation of the InterNet economy, announces.

Blockchain-based technical platforms are specifically designed to support those business applications where an intermediary trusts and transacts transactions. "New platforms solve current performance and scalability issues," says Wolfgang Prinz, Deputy Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology (FIT) in Sankt Augustin. In this way, they could "take on more and more tasks" in everyday business life.

Boom for the Internet of Things

This, in turn, benefits the rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoT). Managing exponentially growing Smart Home, Smart City and Industrial-IoT data poses major challenges for companies and public institutions.

"Using blockchain technology, this data can be efficiently and securely managed and used as an important resource in our digitized world," says Stephan Zimprich, head of the "Blockchain Competence Group" at Eco. This development is favored by new platforms that rely on so-called validation options, which are less energy and cost-intensive than the proof-of-work process, which uses, for example, the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.

6 Questions that every company should ask in digitization:

Do my employees have mobile access to key enterprise data such as CRM, ERP and business intelligence?
Is there a software tool like Slack that makes internal communication more efficient?
What things is Microsoft Excel used for? Is there a better software?
Are there on-premise solutions that could pull into a public cloud?

Is there a comprehensive analysis of what data already exists in the enterprise and how it could be used to make decisions?
Is there an analysis of which data points could still be meaningfully captured - and what data is exchanged?
Does it make sense to evaluate data that is currently not evaluated? Does the company need big data analysts and machine learning experts?

Has middle management in particular already dealt with topics such as digital leadership and agile methods of leadership?
Are we paying enough attention to customer feedback when developing products and services? Is the use of focus groups useful? Can more iterations be incorporated into feedback during the development?
Does management understand the dynamics of the digital economy and can use terms such as network effect, platform, and tipping point to better understand how the market is developing?

Are production plants networked? Is there a plan for that? Is there a systematic approach to the question of which IoT platform should be used for data exchange?
Are my production systems already represented by a digital twin?

Is there a possible demand for my product in booming markets like China?
What is the right sales channel? Do I know the possibilities of big Chinese B2B platforms like Alibaba and B2C platforms like Wechat?

Who is the target audience on social media? Customers or employees and applicants? Do I need two social media appearances?
Are my employees familiar with the most important social media rules?

New consensus algorithms make transactions much faster and more energy-efficient - and at the same time very difficult to manipulate. Platforms such as Iota or Hyperledger Fabric would thus provide "central office" for "the necessary trust in the network," says Eco.

2018: Business applications in the foreground

Above all, companies allegedly drive the technological advancements to benefit from the blockchain technology as soon as possible, says Prinz: While 2017 was the year of blockchain proof-of-concepts, which proved the principle feasibility of blockchain projects In 2018, "more blockchain applications will be experienced in operational business applications," he predicts.

In particular, private blockchains, ie those with a limited network of selected users, should be operated by companies from 2018 onwards. "The large public blockchains such as Bitcoin or Ethereum will often serve as a backstop for these private blockchains to safeguard their own integrity. In other words, both approaches will exist both side by side and interwoven in the future, "says Prinz.

In addition to Ethereum, which many experts refer to as Blockchain 2.0, Hyperledger Fabric has also made the breakthrough: Both platforms provide the basis for many proof-of-concept. For example, the Ethereum-integrated concept of smart contracts helps automate simple processes with blockchain. The platform thus provides the basis for distributed apps (Dapps), ie applications distributed in the network.

Russian economist and adviser Sergei Glazyev suggests President Putin use cryptocurrencies to circumvent Western economic sanctions. The US and its partners had with their blockade policy ensured that you have to come up with something new. Glazyev is also in favor of issuing his own crypto rubles.

As reported by the Rambler News Service (RNS) on Tuesday, a meeting of Russian Presidential Administration focused on cryptocurrencies and what legal regulations should govern them. Glazyev described cryptocurrencies as "an objective need" to counter restrictions imposed on the Russian Federation. In his view, there is an "objective need" for this "instrument". Russian banks are known to be subject to external sanctions and under certain circumstances can not settle. According to Glazyev, cryptocurrencies are even suitable for paying "sensitive state activities". What this means in concrete terms was unfortunately not carried out by the RNS. Glazyev emphasized that the ruble could only be used by the government because of the sanctions. Putin's advisor also said that he supports the idea of creating a national, and therefore government, cryptocurrency. However, the exact name for the digital ruble or cryptor is not yet known, according to Glasyev. In his view, the new digital currency is to be issued by Blockchain technology from the Russian Central Bank. Just like the ordinary ruble, too. In addition to cash and property, there should thus be a national digital currency in the future.) on Tuesday, a meeting of Russian Presidential Administration focused on cryptocurrencies and what legal regulations should govern them. Glazyev described cryptocurrencies as "an objective need" to counter restrictions imposed on the Russian Federation. In his view, there is an "objective need" for this "instrument". Russian banks are known to be subject to external sanctions and under certain circumstances can not settle. According to Glazyev, cryptocurrencies are even suitable for paying "sensitive state activities". What this means in concrete terms was unfortunately not carried out by the RNS. Glazyev emphasized that the ruble could only be used by the government because of the sanctions. Putin's advisor also said that he supports the idea of creating a national, and therefore government, cryptocurrency. However, the exact name for the digital ruble or cryptor is not yet known, according to Glasyev. In his view, the new digital currency is to be issued by blockchain technology from the Russian Central Bank. Just like the ordinary ruble, too. In addition to cash and property, there should thus be a national digital currency in the future.

Background: The nearly 57-year-old Sergei Yuriyevich Glazyev is a habilitated economist and politician, who worked in the early 1990s in the Russian government. He is also considered one of President Putin's key advisers in the Ukraine crisis in 2014.

Julian Assange uses news for criticism of the US

Wikileaks spokesman Julian Assange uses the burgeoning theme for his own purposes. A few years ago, Bitcoin was introduced to the disclosure platform as a new donation option after the US government wanted to turn it off after the first big releases. At that time, several US companies such as PayPal or Mastercard unilaterally terminated their contract because they did not want to promote "illegal activities". At the same time, the accounts at Swiss Post Finance and VISA were also blocked in 2010. Hours later, the Wau-Holland Foundation was threatened with a review by auditors, as their account was suddenly one of the last donation opportunities. All coincidence? Hardly likely.

Assange was answered via twitter.
If anything, you should do it right the first time. Meaning: If Wikileaks is already using a cryptocurrency for donations, then please only the Monero, because the Bitcoin is not anonymous. Assange did not respond. In the absence of further information, it remains to be seen how strong the focus of the planned crypto-ruble will be on protecting the identity of the sender and receiver. Fact is also: For anonymous transfers, the Presidential Administration of Russia would not have to create a new digital currency. The Monero, even if he is not controlled by the state, there is already.

The Berlin based startup Herdius wants to reduce the barriers to entry into cryptocurrencies with a cross-block trading network. Compared to existing blockchains, the Herdius network should offer more scalability, speed and security. The ICO planned in the first quarter of 2018 is in coordination with the Financial Regulator.

Herdius founder and CEO Balasz Deme has big goals: The 20-year-old wants to establish an infrastructure for the entire ecosystem of cryptocurrencies. "We want to improve the transaction speed, security, and usability of established cryptocurrencies and enable immediate data exchange between different blockchains," explains Deme. It should enable a transaction level that lies between the user and the underlying blockchains of established cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Cryptocurrencies transferred to the Herdius network should be tradable much faster than the established blockchains. The time advantage is to be achieved, by the application of a block-of-blocks (BoB) architecture, which allows vertical expansion of blocks. In dealing with private keys Herdius wants to open a third way with distributed, virtual wallets, in addition to offline storage or safekeeping in online wallets. "To put it simply, the idea is to cut up private keys and store the pieces encrypted on the network until they're needed again," says Deme. "That would be as convenient for the user as online wallets, but much safer."

In view of regulatory warnings of ICOs and public criticism of this financing model, the Herdius project should be legally secure. The start-up operates as a German GmbH(company with limited liability), the ICO plans were disclosed to the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). "We want to protect our token buyers," explains Deme. As part of the ICO, scheduled for the first quarter of 2018, users can purchase Herdius tokens up to a limit of € 30 million against Ether.

If a threshold of five million euros is not reached, Herdius promises the return of all funds to the token buyers. Among other things, the Herdius token is intended to enable acquirers to validate transactions, as well as participation in voting on the development of the network. A Herdius spokesman makes it clear that they are utility tokens: "The acquirers do not determine what Herdius GmbH does," says Thomas Euler. The spokesperson emphasizes that the Herdius ICO complies with the current regulatory requirements: "But if supervisors should come up with new rules, we will adapt to them," says Euler. Until the ICO Herdius has been accompanied according to his information by the venture financiers Medici Ventures and Catena Capital.

The development phase of the Herdius blockchain should start after the end of the ICO, a first demo version is due to be released in January according to Thomas Euler. An alpha version will follow in the third quarter of 2018, the fully functional Herdius blockchain is to be launched in the second quarter of 2019.

Disclaimer:

The information presented in this post is not a recommendation for purchase or sale. It is only an opinion of me the author. They serve merely to describe the project and are not to be understood as an investment analysis.

The Indian Income Tax Department has visited Bitcoin Exchanges across the country.

The aim is to identify the users. The large-scale investigation was initiated on suspicion of tax evasion by Exchange customers, according to the [information of the Press Trust of India](http://ptinews.com/news/9319036_I-T-dept-conducts-surveys-at-bitcoin-exchanges-across-India9. The agency visited nine crypto-currency exchanges in cities such as Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi.

According to officials of the tax authority, the interviews were conducted in accordance with section 133A of the Indian Income Tax Act. The purpose was to collect the identity of digital currency investors, their transactions, the bank accounts used, e-mails and other data. The investigation teams were reportedly equipped with a set of software tools to collect interchange data, including cloning and mirroring. In this way, they managed to identify the accounts of a number of wealthy individuals. Entries from these individuals indicate that they have traded on these exchanges.

A senior official of the department was quoted:

Planned investigations

The operations were overseen by the Bengaluru Investigation Department, as those responsible had been working on these cases for a long time and carried out similar operations in the capital of Karnataka in 2013. The department said it also looks for cases where large amounts of "black money" were washed with Bitcoin in November 2016 during the demonetization process.

With the recent rise in bitcoin prices (as well as other cryptocurrencies), alarm bells rang last week at the country's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India. As a result, users, holders and distributors of cryptocurrencies were warned about the perceived risks of involvement. As early as March, the Union's Treasury Department set up an interdisciplinary committee to take stock of the current status of virtual currencies, both in India and globally. The aim is to derive suitable measures for dealing with such currencies.

According to Goldman Sachs, the global head of raw materials research, Bitcoin's price increase had no major impact on gold demand, according to Jeffrey Currie. His statements in an interview with Financial Times, however, contradict an analysis by other financial experts.

In an interview, Currie argued that digital and analogue gold had different pools of investors.

He also commented that the lack of regulation of the cryptocurrency prevents traditional investors from jumping on the hype train. In addition, the characteristics would be significantly different. Above all, it is the higher speculative nature of Bitcoin, which sets the cryptocurrency of the precious metal.

The gold price has fallen as the Bitcoin shot up

Contrary to the statement of the bank guru, the gold price after the launch of the futures actually - in relative terms - bagged. On December 12, it had reached its low since mid-July. Whether this is correlation or coincidence, of course, can not be said with definite certainty. However, as we have already reported, the largest online exchange for the precious metal has begun to accept Bitcoin. It can be interpreted as an indication that the Bitcoin is about to send the gold back into the mines.

Currie, however, sees it differently. He also stressed that gold's traded funds have been at their highest levels for four years. One of the problems of Bitcoin is its volatility, which might attract so-called day traders, but rather scare off many long-established investors. His colleague Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, said in an interview with Bloomberg at the beginning of November, especially in terms of intrinsic values:

At the moment everything looks like it.

The Danish-born founder of Bitcoin Suisse, Niklas Nikolajson, becomes the new main sponsor of the Danish ice-hockey club Rungsted Seier Capital. Its stadium is renamed Bitcoin Arena, the top player will henceforth receive his income in Bitcoins.

Whether Niklas Nikolajson really is a billionaire, as one newspaper says, or "just" a multi-millionaire, as someone else writes, is probably a private matter - and depends on whether you count in euros or Danish Kroner. However, it is likely that Nikolajson, as the founder of Bitcoin Suisse, became a major player in the Swiss "Bitcoin Valley" and probably took in enough Bitcoins to buy a considerable fortune.

At least, Nikolajson has enough money to indulge in one of the most beloved hobbies of the super-rich: the sponsorship of sports clubs. And of course, as a Dane, Nikolajson financed a hockey club. "We had a good year, so we can think about where we can help with donations," said the alleged Bitcoin billionaire, who has transferred a previously unknown seven-figure amount to the club.

In return, Nikolajson may fulfill the dream of some Bitcoin fans: The ice hockey arena, which is called so far Saxo Bank Arena, will be renamed Bitcoin Arena. In the middle of the rink a Bitcoin logo is applied, which should have a diameter of 9 meters. A better symbol is hard to imagine: the logo of the bank goes, which comes from Bitcoin.

The agreement for the three-year sponsorship between Nikolajson and the ice hockey club will come into effect on December 27th. Then one of the best players of the team, Nikolaj Rosenthal, is paid in Bitcoin not in crowns. The hockey player is already looking forward to it, as he has already traded privately with Bitcoins.

The P104-100 is a graphics card without HDMI and DisplayPort, but with overclocked memory. It should be able to dig as soon as possible cryptocurrencies like Ethereum. The product is like a mixture of Geforce GTX 1070 and GTX 1080 - with a few CUDA cores but GDDR5X memory.

The hardware manufacturer Inno3d has added an unusual graphics card in its range, which should be designed specifically for the mining of cryptocurrencies. The card designates the manufacturer as Nvidia P104-100. It reads like a mixture of the Nvidia Geforce GTX 1080 and GTX 1070 graphics cards - both with Pascal architecture.

The card has no physical display outputs and can therefore be used in the manufacturer's special closed mining machines. Inno3d also sells the P104-100 as a complete system with its own power supply and air cooling, which operates nine parallel cards.

Image source: Inno3D

Unusual is the used video memory of the P104-100. Inno3d indicates 8 GB of GDDR5X memory. However, only 4 GB of them are used. According to Inno3d, this is done to speed up the calculation of hashes - possibly, memory accesses are parallelized because data is split between the two 4 GB memory halves.

The GDDR5X memory standard also uses Nvidia's Geforce GTX 1080 and 1080 Ti. The memory bandwidth is similar to the GTX 1080 with 320 GB / s. This is achieved by overclocking the memory chip from 10 GBit / s to 11 GBit / s. The card supports only PCIex4 instead of x16 and is therefore rather in larger quantities on a motherboard useful.

The standard clock is specified as 1,607 MHz, which is similar to the GTX 1070 Ti and GTX 1080. However, only 1,920 CUDA cores are enabled on the card. This corresponds to the number of units on a GeForce GTX 1070. Possibly Inno3d uses Nvidia cards with small manufacturing defects that do not meet the standards of a full-fledged GTX 1080 and sells them as a mining model.

High theoretical Hathrates foe Ethereum, Zcash and Monero

Inno3d indicates relatively high hash rates for the GP104-100. The throughput for Bitcoin's most widely used cryptocurrency Ethereum is 35 megahashes per second. In several tests, such as on the online portal Legitreviews show standard Vega 64 graphics cards from AMD Ethereum Hashraten of about 32.5 MH / s.

However, there seems to be a problem with GDDR5X memory when mining Ethereum, so a GTX 1080 is slower than a GTX 1070 with conventional GDDR5 memory. That may also apply to Inno3ds GP104-100 and its throughput.

The manufacturer also specifies Hashraten for two more cryptocurrencies: they can calculate up to 470 solutions per second at Zcash and 660 hashes per second at Monero. Inno3d indicates the power requirement with 180 watts, which are routed via 8 ATX pins.

Price and availability information will be announced by the manufacturer at the end of December. The price of a conventional Geforce GTX 1080 is currently around EUR 550 (USD 620). Specialized hardware like the P104-100 could be a bit more expensive.