Bitcoin Users Can Now Use ForkLog’s Lightning Network Node
ForkLog is happy to announce that our own Lighting node is now live and running. The setup has been completed and the node can be found at ln.forklog.com. "We decided to launch our own Lightning Network node because we really want to support this technology focused on enabling micro transactions in Bitcoin network," said Anatoly Kaplan, CEO of ForkLog. No need to worry if you see the 'Website is not available" message in your browser. Below is the description of the entire process of connecting to the node and opening a channel with ForkLog. This is how you do this with Lightning Wallet (Android version only). After downloading and installing the wallet, make sure you do all the necessary back-ups and save the mnemonic phrase. Step 1. Top up your wallet. Step 2. Choose the Bitcoin sign in the bottom right corner. Step 3. Choose 'Open new channel'. Step 4. Now you can see the list of the reachable nodes. Step 5. Now search for Forklog. Step 6. After choosing Forklog, you can see
Abra’s Crypto App Introduces Bitcoin Investment Option for Stocks and ETFs
U.S.-based digital wallet Abra has introduced new features enabling global investors in 155 countries to invest in shares and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) using Bitcoin (BTC). The app already offers investment in 50 fiat currencies and over 30 cryptocurrencies, with the new features expanding those possibilities to traditional financial markets. Big News: #Stock and #ETF #investing coming to Abra Sign up now for early access to secure $0 fees for 2019. Available in 155 countries Fractional investing w/$5 minimums Private and secure Welcome to the #futureofinvesting, built on #Bitcoin! — Abra (@AbraGlobal) February 6, 2019 According to the announcement, those assets include major stocks such as Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Google, Netflix, commodities such as SPDR Gold Trust, ETFs like Vanguard Growth and the S&P 500, and indexes like the Russell 2000 and others. "We're announcing that we are enabling everyone, everywhere in the world the opportunity to
Developers Fix Parity Ethereum Node Vulnerability, Urge All Node Operators to Update
A bug found in the Parity node/wallet software threatened a considerable proportion of the Ethereum infrastructure. Fortunately, the company has already issued a patch to fix the vulnerability. The issue was discovered on February 3rd when Parity received several reports that attackers were able to send a specially-crafted RPC request to public Parity Ethereum nodes. "On February 3rd, we received several reports that an attacker can send a specially-crafted RPC request to a public Parity Ethereum node (any version pre 2.2.9-stable and pre 2.3.2-beta) and that node will crash," the announcement read. The bug had opened up an attack vector to allow nodes to be forced offline by potential attackers. If undiscovered, the attack could have threatened a sizeable portion of the Ethereum infrastructure. It would appear that the only affected nodes were the ones synced up to the JSON-RPC public services like Infura, MyEtherWallet, and MyCrypto, however, all Parity node operators are encouraged
Kraken Launches Bitcoin Futures After Acquiring U.K’s Crypto Facilities In a “Nine-Figure Deal”
San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced today that it had acquired leading crypto derivatives provider Crypto Facilities. The parties declined to reveal the exact figure involved in the deal, saying that it was a "nine-figure deal" and "Kraken's largest acquisition to date and one of the largest the industry has seen." Kraken acquires Crypto Facilities, positioning itself as the world's first crypto spot and futures exchange! — Kraken Exchange (@krakenfx) February 4, 2019 "I'm thrilled to welcome the Crypto Facilities team into the Kraken family," said Kraken CEO Jesse Powell in a press release. "We are excited to introduce eligible clients to these industry leading futures and index products. Over the coming months, our teams will continue to enhance and expand these offerings. We've got great stuff in store for traders and institutional clients in 2019." Futures trading will not, however, be available for Kraken's U.S. customers. Crypto
Singapore to Host Blockchain Life 2019, a Global Forum for Crypto Investors and Experts
On April 23-24 world blockchain and cryptocurrency industry experts meet in Singapore at Blockchain Life 2019, the 3rd edition of a major crypto forum. More than 5000 participants from 70 countries are going to visit this biggest international industry event. Executives of leading blockchain companies, venture and crypto funds, traders, businessmen, private investors, promising startups, developers and miners - all gather in famous hotel Marina Bay Sands in Singapore's downtown to discuss current trends and define industry's development in the nearest future. Among the speakers are: Sergei Khitrov (Founder of Listing.Help and Jets Capital), Xinxi Wang (director of Litecoin Foundation), Vit Jedlička (president of Free Republic of Liberland), Nikolai Shkilev (Top ICO advisor), Martin Kuvandzhiev (co-founder of Bitcoin Gold), Anatoly Kaplan (founder of Forklog), Giacomo Arcaro (№1 European ICO growth hacker) and other renowned world experts. Blockchain Life is held twice a year, and the
Bitcoin Investors Are Turning to Gold, Says CEO of Van Eck
Jan Van Eck, CEO of Van Eck Associates, suggested that investors are now turning their attention to gold, leaving Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies behind. In recent interview with CNBC, Jan Van Eck noted that Bitcoin managed to pull "a little bit of demand away from gold" in 2017, but added that data showed things are changing: "Interestingly, we just polled 4,000 Bitcoin investors and their number one investment for 2019 is actually gold. So gold lost to Bitcoin and now it's going the other way," he said. During the same interview while talking about Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Tim Seymour, founder and chief investment officer of Seymour Asset Management, declared that Bitcoin's function as a store of value is questionable: "Not only have we lost all liquidity on the underlying but truly outside of the existential blockchain argument, it's been very difficult to argue store of value which is really what we started hearing about. Gold is a store of value and there's no
Mallorca Blockchain Days Inaugural Conference to Gather Prominent Crypto Experts
Mallorca Blockchain, the series of Bitcoin and Blockchain meetups, has announced Mallorca Blockchain Days, its inaugural conference for blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies, which aims to bring those at the forefront of crypto technologies together. The ground-breaking event will take place on March 22 – 24 in Palma de Mallorca, in the legendary Pueblo Español, known for its real open-air museum of magnificent Spanish architecture. A plethora of Bitcoin investors and blockchain specialists will present their speeches at the conference. Some of the names include Joshua Scigala, Vaultoro; Jonathan Chester, Bitwage; Rodolfo Andragnes, Bitcoin Argentina; Andrii Zamovsky, Ambisafe; Aaron Koenig, Bitfilm; Tone Vays, crypto trader; Gerald Hoerhan, Investmentpunk; Christian Luecke, Cryptonaut; Vit Jedlicka, Liberland; Bastian Fritsche, Mallorca Blockchain, Winiota, and many more. "We bring those at the forefront of blockchain technologies together," a spokesperson for Mallorca
New Bundle of Lightning Network Business Products Released by Bitfury
Blockchain technology firm Bitfury has announced the release of a comprehensive suite of products designed to make the use of Lightning Network easier for vendors and consumers. These include an open-source Lightning wallet, hardware and software tools for merchants and payment processors to accept payments as well as developer tools and a public lightning network node called "The Peach" to let Bitcoin users open or create payment channels. The products were created and are supported by Bitfury's Lightning Network engineering and research team, Lightning Peach. "The Lightning Network will enable people to use Bitcoin in their everyday lives," said Valery Vavilov, CEO of Bitfury. "By providing these products to the market, Bitfury is encouraging worldwide adoption of this technology and providing unparalleled support to consumers and merchants." Peach Wallet According to blog post (removed for some reason but still available in a web cache), Peach Wallet is a free, cross-platform mobile
U.S. Presidential Candidate John McAfee Flees The Country for Alleged Tax Fraud
Cryptocurrency advocate and antivirus pioneer John McAfee revealed that he had fled the country after being charged with felonies by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). As McAfee explained in a video published on Tuesday, January 22, he was charged for "using cryptocurrencies in criminal acts" by Tennessee court officials. The entrepreneur added that his wife Janice along with four other members of his 2020 presidential campaign has also been charged with "unspecified charges of a felonious nature". The McAfee 2020 Campaign is, as of this day, in exile. I am being charged with using Crypto Cuttencies in criminal acts against the U. S. Government. More videos coming shortly. Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/C75zcbnKTD — John McAfee (@officialmcafee) January 22, 2019 "I have not paid taxes for eight years and I have made no secret of it," McAfee emphasized while sitting on a rocking boat. According to the video, John McAfee has imposed on himself an exile on water at an unspecified location
Grayscale Investments Adds Stellar to Its Cryptocurrency Investment Portfolio
Digital currency investment group Grayscale, the company behind the Bitcoin Investment Trust, announced the launch of Stellar Lumens Trust, a "single-asset investment product" which exposes investors to lumens (XLM), the native asset of the Stellar network. The newly-launched Stellar Lumens Trust is Grayscale's ninth-single asset product. Others include its flagship Bitcoin product, as well as funds for Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Horizen (ZEN), Litecoin (LTC), XRP, and Zcash (ZEC). Stellar is a platform that connects financial institutions, payment systems, and people around the world. The platform is designed to provide low-cost financial services to fight poverty and income inequality and foster individual growth. Founded by Jed McCaleb, the Stellar project has notably attracted the interest of IBM, which is building a cross-border payment rail on top of the network. Speaking to Fortune, managing director Michael Sonnenshein said the latest addition
Ethereum Constantinople Upgrade Delayed Over Security Vulnerability
The long-awaited Constantinople fork of the Ethereum network has been delayed earlier this week due to potential security issues identified by security audit company ChainSecurity on January 15. The security bug could potentially make some smart contracts on Ethereum vulnerable to a so-called "re-entrancy attack," enabling an attacker to steal other people's ETH. Following ChainSecurity's findings, key stakeholders within the Ethereum community decided to postpone the Constantinople fork, initially scheduled to activate on block 7,080,000 on January 16. #Constantinople upgrade is temporarily postponed out of caution following a consensus decision by #Ethereum developers, security professionals and other community members. More information and instructions are below. — Ethereum (@ethereum) January 15, 2019 The bug is explained in detail in a blog post by ChainSecurity. The important thing is that, since Constantinople was delayed, no smart contracts are
Ethereum Classic Developers Hope to Get a Full Picture of a Potential 51% Attack Soon
Ethereum Classic's (ETC) development team admitted a malicious attack on the network had taken place and hopes the full extent of the incident will be known rather soon than later. According to at least two different block explorers, Bitfly and Blockscout, Ethereum Classic saw more than 100 blocks "reorganized" during a potential 51 percent attack late Sunday. At the same time, it was reported on Monday that an abnormal hash rate going into a single mining pool had been detected, potentially causing mass reorganizations (reorgs) of mined blocks. Ethereum Classic developers initially refuted such claims, however had to admit a cause for concerns at a later stage, urging exchanges and mining pools to increase the number of transaction confirmations. To all exchanges and mining pools please allow a significantly higher confirmation time on withdrawals and deposits (+400) cc @OKEx @ExchangeXGroup @HuobiGroup @digifinex @binance @bitfinex — Ethereum Classic (@eth
Satoshi Nakamoto Thanked on Bitcoin’s Genesis Block 10th Anniversary with The Times Advert
Cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX has placed an advertisement on the front page of January 3rd, 2019 edition of The Times, in which it thanks Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin. This happened exactly ten years to the day after Satoshi Nakamoto quoted the front page of the same publication in Bitcoin's Genesis (#0). Happy 10th Birthday Bitcoin! pic.twitter.com/DpOPjojsOd — BitMEX Research (@BitMEXResearch) January 2, 2019 The advertisement features the block hash and message that reads "w#\/ ThanksSatoshi /BTC.COM/��mm,���CA4Z_IGQ�~YVM܈H����{�|�|###B#b)#�" The message symbolizes 10 years of Bitcoin since the first (genesis) block was mined on January 3, 2009. Today's Times newspaper (3rd January 2019) celebrates Bitcoin's 10th Birthday Included on the front page is the hash of the Bitcoin block 554,509. Thanks to @JihanWu and @btccom_official for including the message "ThanksSatoshi" in the Coinbase input pic.twitter.com/QtSRvI6wNo — BitMEX
New York Creates U.S. First Crypto Task Force
New York State became the first state in the nation to create a cryptocurrency task force to study how to properly regulate, define and use cryptocurrency. According to a press release published on Wednesday, January 2, The Digital Currency Study Bill, A8783B/S9013, was signed into law last week by NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo. The members of the task force, appointed by the Governor, Senate and Assembly, are to submit reports by December 15, 2020. The members will include stakeholders such as, technologists, consumers, institutional and small investors, large and small blockchain enterprises and academics. The group shall report on digital currency, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Commenting on the initiative, New York State Assemblyman and Chair of Subcommittee on Internet and New Technologies Clyde Vanel said: "New York leads the country in finance. We will also lead in proper fintech regulation. The task force of experts will help us strike the balance between having a
Bitcoin Bull Mike Novogratz Increases Stake in Galaxy Digital
Former Goldman Sachs' partner Mike Novogratz has invested nearly $5 million more in his crypto-focused merchant bank, Galaxy Digital Holdings, Ltd., increasing his shares in the venture to almost 80%. Novogratz, who also serves as CEO of the bank, purchased 7.5 million ordinary shares of the company, or 2.7 percent of total shares outstanding, for 7.42 million Canadian dollars ($4.8 million), according to a press release published on Wednesday, January 2. The purchase increased his total stake to about 79.3% of Galaxy Digital, which trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange's TSX Venture Exchange. Previously, Novogratz "beneficially owned 213.7 million Class B limited partnership units, representing about 76.6% of ordinary shares assuming conversion." Markets responded positively to news of the founder's increased stake, with shares reportedly rising 7.8% to C$1.43 as of 02:15 PM EST. The stock fell 19 percent last year amid a bear market for crypto investments. Galaxy Digital went public
Mycelium Becomes Latest Addition to Foundation for Interwallet Operability
The movement to improve crypto usability industry-wide is gaining momentum with news today that Mycelium has become the latest wallet to sign up to the protocol that provides an enhanced layer of usability features for existing and future wallets and exchanges - making the transfer of cryptocurrencies between wallets as simple and straightforward for everyday consumers as making transfers on PayPal. Mycelium joins some of the world's leading wallets and exchanges – ShapeShift, KeepKey, Coinomi, MyCrypto, BRD, and Edge – as members of the Foundation for Interwallet Operability (FIO), which seeks to accelerate blockchain adoption by reducing the risk, complexity, and inconvenience of sending and receiving tokens and coins. Described by ShapeShift's CEO Erik Vorhees as "the future of crypto payments," FIO's decentralized, open-source blockchain protocol, which is being built by Dapix, will provide an enhanced layer of usability features for existing and future wallets and exchanges. It's
Ethereum Back to Crypto Second Spot Amid Market’s Moderately Positive Growth
Ethereum (ETH) has reclaimed its position as the largest altcoin by market cap, data provided by CoinMarketCap shows on Wednesday, Jan. 2. The asset is up over 8% over the last 24 hours while other virtual currencies are showing signs of reversing the downward trend at the beginning of the new year. At press time (09:45 UTC), ETH was changing hands at about $147, other biggest gainers in the CMC Top-10 are Litecoin (LTC) – up to $32.26 with 4,37% growth, and EOS ($2.68 ; + 3,20%). Ether's 24-hour trading volume was $2.56 billion and its market capitalization stands at $15.30 billion. Ripple's XRP has occupied the second spot for several month but now is valued at $14.80 billion and has a 24-hour trading volume of $435.8 million. Ethereum is likely to retain the second position due to impending hype that will surround the Constantinople upgrade. The hard fork upgrade will take place in about two weeks and will see the network's capacity increase to over 1,000 transactions per second.
Bakkt Raises $182.5M Funding from Major VC Investors, Bitcoin Futures Platform Launch to be Delayed Again
Bakkt, the cryptocurrency platform by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), has announced on the New Year's Eve that is has completed its first round of funding, raising $182.5 million from 12 partners and investors. The partners and investors in the first round include Boston Consulting Group, CMT Digital, Eagle Seven, Galaxy Digital, Goldfinch Partners, Alan Howard, Horizons Ventures, Intercontinental Exchange, Microsoft's venture capital arm, M12, Pantera Capital, PayU, the fintech arm of Naspers, and Protocol Ventures. We are pleased to confirm that we have completed our first round of funding of $182.5 million — Bakkt (@Bakkt) December 31, 2018 Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler said in a statement: "Our work today is centered on driving institutional access for digital assets, along with merchant and consumer uses, and we're already expanding on this vision, collaborating with great companies like Starbucks in these efforts". Bakkt originally was preparing to launch a
Nearly 1,000 Crypto Projects Declared Dead in 2018
Nearly 1,000 cryptocurrency projects have officially become 'dead' projects over the course of 2018, Chepicap reported citing data provided by Coinopsy and DeadCoins. The term 'dead' projects relates to projects that were either scams or projects that failed to deliver any product, eventually leading to zero trading volume. 2018 saw the crypto market plunge from record highs last December losing more than 84 percent of its valuation. Partly this could be attributed to some projects falling victim to becoming defunct. However, most of the projects were simply initial coin offerings (ICO) which took advantage of the ICO hype in late 2017. Most of them simply turned into cash grabs or even more blatantly, exit scams, running off with millions of investor funds. While DeadCoins currently features 934 coins which are categorized as either scams, hacked, deceased or parody projects, Coinopsy features a more in depth analysis totalling 462 coins but does not feature the past months results.
Operational Adjustment – Bitcoin Mining Giant Bitmain Confirms Staff Layoff
Chinese crypto mining giant Bitmain confirmed the restructuring of the company in order to "build a long-term, sustainable and scalable business." In a statement to Coindesk, a Bitmain representative said: "There has been some adjustment to our staff this year as we continue to build a long-term, sustainable and scalable business. A part of that is having to really focus on things that are core to that mission and not things that are auxiliary." The discussion of the company cutting off staff first emerged in mid-December on Maimai, China's equivalent to LinkedIn, where one anonymous user posted a thread asking if anyone had insider information about a possible layoff at Bitmain soon. This post came to public attention via a tweet by Dovey Wan, a Founding Partner at Primitive Ventures, a crypto-focused investment fund: ⚠️⚠️⚠️ there's post on Chinese Linkedin (usually very high accuracy, posted by employees themselves) saying Bitmain will start a layoff the coming week ... A
GMO Internet Quits Bitcoin Miner Production After Recording Extraordinary Losses
Japanese internet giant GMO Internet Group is quitting the Bitcoin mining hardware sector citing "extraordinary loss" in Q4 this year, Cointelegraph reported on Tuesday, December 25. According to a public document, the Tokyo-based company will "no longer develop, manufacture and sell" miners. "GMO Internet, Inc. resolved at the meeting of the Board of Directors held today to post an extraordinary loss in the cryptocurrency mining business for the fourth quarter (October 1, 2018, to December 31, 2018) of the fiscal year ending December 2018. These numbers are approximate values and may fluctuate, affected by the exchange rate," the document reads. The company added that taking into consideration changes in the current business environment, it thinks it is difficult to recover the carrying amounts of the in-house-mining-related business assets, and therefore, "it has been decided to record an extraordinary loss". GMO's consolidated losses for Q4 totalled 35.5 billion yen ($320 million),
Bitcoin Transaction Volume in 2018 Exceeds $410 Billion
According to data provided by Blockchain. com, over $410 billion was transacted in Bitcoin (BTC) in 2018, averaging over $13,000 per second. This was noted in a tweet by Jameson Lopp, a bitcoin developer and CTO at U.S.-based blockchain security startup Casa. estimates (by removing likely change outputs) that over $410 billion was transacted via BTC in 2018, averaging over $13,000 per second. pic.twitter.com/wjnDOQlXEi — Jameson Lopp (@lopp) December 24, 2018 Additionally, during 2018 the number of known Lightning Network channels has grown from 0 to over 19,000 while their capacity has increased from 0 to over 500 BTC, says Lopp. The number of known (advertised) Lightning Network channels has grown from 0 to over 19,000 while their capacity has increased from 0 to over 500 BTC during 2018. It's not possible to compile statistics for unadvertised channels. pic.twitter.com/uXLE4Smrlb — Jameson Lopp (@lopp) December 24, 2018 He also noted a significant growth
2018 is the Year of Crypto Correction According to Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao as Bitcoin Goes Bullish
Changpeng Zhao, the CEO and co-founder of major cryptocurrency exchange Binance, believes that 2018 is a "correction year" for cryptocurrencies, which makes him express general optimism for the future of the industry. In an interview with Bloomberg, Changpeng Zhao noted that while "price is a very strong attraction" for speculators, the industry will grow thanks to developers who build applications and "real use cases" that drive the further adoption of cryptocurrency. When asked about how the bear market that had been plaguing traders this year affected the company's plans, Zhao said that Binance launched one fiat exchange, and plans to launch two or three "in the next month or so," and ten more fiat exchanges next year. "None of our plans changed, we are still pushing forward very aggressively," he added. Speaking of the increased regulation and government involvement in the crypto
Waves Platform Raises $120 Million for Vostok Private Blockchain Development
Waves Platform, a public blockchain network that enables digital startups to create tokens, has announced it raised $120 million to roll out a private version of its Vostok system for corporations and governments. #Vostok, a one billion dollar project in #Waves ecosystem, has closed the first funding round. 3% of VST system tokens will be airdropped to $Waves holders. Waves is becoming the first #WEB3 company with a versatile product pipeline. — Sasha Ivanov (@sasha35625) December 19, 2018 According to a Bloomberg report, the fundraising round was led by London-based financial services group Dolfin, and also included a number of other private investors. "The cryptocurrency rush is over now, while the idea of using a decentralized network to store data and cut costs is still relevant," said Alexander Ivanov, the CEO of Waves Platform. Large firms and state entities often find the speed and security level of public blockchains to be insufficient, he added,
New Evidence Suggests Tether Has the Billions It Claimed – Report
Bank statements reviewed by Bloomberg News suggest fears that the dollar-pegged digital coin, issued by Tether Ltd. (USDT), wasn't actually backed by billions in real cash, may be unfounded. Statements spanning four separate months detail the cash held in Tether Ltd.'s accounts, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg. At least some of the statements have been shared with regulators, people with knowledge of the matter said. The question is whether there really is $1 in the bank for every Tether, and while the documents don't provide a complete accounting of Tether's finances, they do offer more detail than has ever been made public. For example, one statement shows $2.2 billion was in Tether's account at Puerto Rico's Noble Bank Ltd. on Jan. 31. That same day, 2.195 billion Tethers existed, according to data compiled by Coinmarketcap.com. The numbers also match up in September and October 2017. Tether and cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex are owned by the same executives. The bank
ForkLog Exclusive: Without Fungibility Mass Adoption of Bitcoin is Just a Vision – Wasabi Wallet
Officially launched on October 31, 2018, the 10th anniversary of Satoshi Nakamoto's white paper, Wasabi Wallet is an open source, non-custodial, privacy focused Bitcoin wallet, which implements the technology known as Chaumian CoinJoin, a trustless coin shuffling with mathematically provable anonymity. Its anonymity features rely on ZeroLink, a protocol initially introduced by Ádám Ficsór aka nopara73, who is also the creator and one of the key figures behind Wasabi Wallet. Ficsór unveiled Wasabi at Building on Bitcoin 2018 in Lisbon, an industry conference dedicated to Bitcoin technical developments, explaining that it is a new implementation of the project formerly known as HiddenWallet. Video: Wasabi Wallet presentation at Building on Bitcoin 2018 (starting from 17:00) However, as Ficsór explained during his talk, Wasabi Wallet is way more than just a rebrand of HiddenWallet; in fact, it has been rewritten from scratch to add a whole bunch of new features, including default Tor
DECENT Android Wallet Beta Released
DECENT, a non-profit foundation that has developed an open-source blockchain platform DCore, announced its latest product launch – the beta version of a new Android mobile wallet. This release marks the company's final technical milestone for this year. The Android wallet is now available for download through Google Play Store. According to the company, the major highlight of DECENT's mobile wallet is the ability to view and manage all User Issued Assets (UIAs) on the company's open-source, proprietary DCore platform, making them now accessible on Android devices. These assets are essentially custom tokens created by various projects for use within the company's ecosystem, and the new wallet contains capabilities for adding any future project's tokens, as well. The beta mobile wallet currently supports the following features: Sending and receiving of DCT and other custom tokens (UIAs) issued from DCore Activating the mobile wallet via QR code Dedicated security center where users can
Sky Is No Limit – Blockstream Bitcoin Satellite Service Boosted With Lightning Network Payments
Blockchain technology firm Blockstream has expanded its Bitcoin satellite service to the Asia-Pacific region. The company also added support for Lightning Network transactions, which will allow users to pay for its service using the second layer scaling solution as soon as in January 2019. Blockstream satellite service was first launched in August 2017 and lets users transfer BTC through leased satellites. Previously covering Africa, North and South America as well as Europe, now Blockstream has added support for Asia-Pacific region, bringing access to the service to some of the most populous regions of the world. The service is aimed at individuals with limited internet access or those who otherwise face issues accessing Bitcoin. "In addition to the Phase 2 expansion, we're also excited to reveal the Blockstream Satellite API, a groundbreaking new broadcast service coming in January 2019. The Satellite API empowers users to access the Blockstream Satellite network to broadcast data to
Crypto Anarchist Manifesto Author Tim May Passed Away at Age 67
Cypherpunks co-founder Timothy C. May passed away last week at age 67 with his death appearing to be of natural causes, Lucky Green, one of the earliest contributors to the Tor Project and a personal friend of Timothy May, wrote in a Facebook post. The Cypherpunks were an organization formed in the early 1990's by a group of cryptology fans who regularly met to discuss privacy on the internet and how the developments of computer technology allowed for more personal freedom. The group was founded by Timothy May, Eric Hughes, and John Gilmore. Since being established it has managed to make progress on spreading cryptographic products and open source software. Timothy May is also the author of "The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto," published in 1992, in which he seemingly predicted some elements of currently existing decentralized cryptocurrencies: "Computer technology is on the verge of providing the ability for individuals and groups to communicate and interact with each other in a totally
Coinbase Restores PayPal Withdrawals for U.S. Citizens
Cryptocurrency exchange and wallet provider Coinbase has restored withdrawals to PayPal accounts, initially for its U.S. customers. Starting today, all Coinbase customers in the U.S. can instantly withdraw Coinbase cash balances to PayPal for no fee. It's Day 5 of 12 Days of Coinbase. Learn more here: pic.twitter.com/EFHn8LFPTs — Coinbase (@coinbase) December 14, 2018 "These withdrawals are not only fast; they're free and incur no fees. We work hard to make Coinbase the easiest and most trusted platform around — and now, moving your cryptocurrency to cash is easier and more affordable than ever," says the company's blog post. The exchange previously had a PayPal integration, but ceased offering the service due to technical issues earlier this year. According to the company, customers will only be able to make withdrawals using PayPal, but won't be able to buy supported cryptocurrencies. Before this, added Coinbase, users needed a federal wire or an ACH
Samourai Wallet’s New Update Brings Brand New Look, Full Node Hardware Announced
Privacy-oriented Bitcoin mobile wallet Samourai has announced release of a general update, bringing a fresh look and new user interface. The developers also introduce several upcoming features and products, while making available expanded information on all current features. We're excited to launch our updated today. We have a brand new look to better tie in with the new android UI being rolled out, expanded information on all of our current features and have begun to introduce a few upcoming features and products as well. pic.twitter.com/qShEX3bZbP — Samourai Wallet (@SamouraiWallet) December 14, 2018 In comments to the Twitter post published on Friday, the team behind Samourai Wallet also says they have teamed up with Bitseed to produce the special edition hardware which will allow users to connect directly to their full node over Tor hidden service and bypass their infrastructure entirely. The new product is dubbed Dojo and will include custom Samourai
The State of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency in Spain
Over the past few months, Spain has experienced major developments in the realm of cryptocurrency regulation and blockchain adoption. These developments could introduce major changes to the country's ICO regulations, tax collection practices, and public services. What follows are the details of the latest blockchain and crypto developments as of December 2018—and answers to the question of whether these events will help or hinder the crypto cause in Spain. Proposed ICO Regulations Local newspaper La Vanguardia reported on December 10 that Spain's ruling party, Partido Popular, has introduced a proposal that intends to regulate initial coin offerings (or ICOs). The proposal is fairly permissive, and it essentially outlines a standard process for cryptocurrency creators who want to sell new coins. However, the proposed regulations would also ensure the safety of those who invest in those new coins. ICOs have long been designated a risky investment: countless coins exist, and many new
Thomas Lee Remains Bullish Despite Bitcoin Price Sinking to New Lows
Thomas Lee, head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, still believes in Bitcoin's strong upside potential, even though the price of the flagship cryptocurrency continues to plummet, reaching new yearly low on Friday, December 14. Earlier this year, Thomas Lee predicted a rally to $25,000 by the end of December; however, things are not going exactly his way with Bitcoin today collapsing below $3,250. This, according to data provided by CoinMarketCap, is the new yearly low, while at Bitstamp and a number of other exchanges prices fell down to $3,180. Despite these developments, Thomas Lee is adamant that Bitcoin's fair value, given the number of active wallet addresses, usage per account and factors influencing supply, is between $13,800 and $14,800. That's what he wrote in a note to investors on Thursday, Bloomberg reported. "Fair value is significantly higher than the current price of Bitcoin," he said. "In fact, working backwards, to solve for the current price of Bitcoin, this
Former Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles Faces a 10 Years Sentence In Alleged Embezzlement Case
Mark Karpeles, the former chief executive officer of now-defunct Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, faces ten years in jail over alleged embezzlement, Japanese media report on Wednesday, December 12. According to a report from Nikkei, prosecutors claimed at the Tokyo District Court that Karpeles used customers' funds for his own personal use. According to the indictment, Karpeles embezzled a total of 341 million yen ($3 million) of customers' money kept in a Mt. Gox bank account by transferring it to his own account between September and December of 2013. He also allegedly manipulated data on his company's trading system to pad the balance. Reportedly, Karpeles "diverted company funds to such uses as investing in a software development business for personal interest" and "played a great role in totally destroying the confidence of bitcoin users." Karpeles pleaded innocent in the first hearing of his trial in July 2017, saying, "I swear to God I am not guilty." Later in April of this year, the
Crypto Exchange Kraken Considers Private Listing at $4B Valuation – Report
Leading U.S.-based bitcoin exchange Kraken is considering a private offering and has sent out emails to its high-value clients informing them about the investment opportunity, Finance Magnates reported. If confirmed, Kraken's efforts follow Coinbase's $300 million Series E round in October which brought the company to "a post-money valuation of over $8 billion." According to the contents of the email, as viewed by the publication, Kraken said that it is not in need of financing. However, in the wake of the crypto bear market and the company's reserves, the exchange sees "opportunities for acquisitions." The company also said that it is seeking a $4 billion valuation through this private listing, with the minimum investment size being $100,000. "The transaction process will be done by a 3rd party service, who will run accredited investor checks, facilitate the execution of transaction documents, and the funding of your investment," reads the quoted email. Clients who have received the
CFTC Seeks Public Comments on Ethereum and Its Underlying Technology
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has put out a Request for Information (RFI) asking for public comment and feedback to help it better understand Ether and the Ethereum blockchain, and the markets that have built up around it. In a press release published on Tuesday, December 11, the regulator said it is looking for public feedback on a number of questions about Ethereum and how its underlying technology is used. The RFI will accept responses for 60 days after being published in the Federal Register. Clarifying what the information request seeks to achieve, an excerpt from the announcement reads: "In a Request for Information (RFI) that will be published in the Federal Register, the CFTC is asking for public feedback on a range of questions related to the underlying technology, opportunities, risks, mechanics, use cases, and markets, related to Ether and the Ethereum Network. The RFI also seeks to understand similarities and distinctions between Ether and Bitcoin,
Winklevoss Brothers Launch Crypto Trading App Targeting Retail Investors
Gemini Trust Company, the digital asset exchange and custodian founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, announced that it had launched a new mobile app along with a new investment vehicle. According to an official blog post published on December 11, the new app allows users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, and monitor real-time and historical crypto market prices for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and ZCash (ZEC). Users can also see the total value of their current portfolio, and set price and percentage value change alerts for their chosen coins. Introducing the Gemini Mobile App! Crypto on the Go! Download our app here: and check out our blog post here: — Gemini (@Gemini) December 11, 2018 "We began our mission to build the future of money by creating a licensed cryptocurrency exchange and custodian that allows our customers to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrency in a safe, secure, and compliant
SegWit Inventor Launches New Open-Source Project to Improve Bitcoin Transaction Relay Mechanism
Dr. Pieter Wuille, co-founder of Blockstream and one of the most prolific Bitcoin Core developers, announced on Monday a new open-source project that will focus on making improvements to "BTC transaction relay." I'm happy to announce a new open source project: , a library for bandwidth-efficient set reconciliation. This is joint work with Greg Maxwell, Gleb Naumenko, and other contributors. — Pieter Wuille (@pwuille) December 10, 2018 According to Dr. Pieter Wuille, the new project is a library for bandwidth-efficient set reconciliation which includes contributions from such developers as Greg Maxwell, Gleb Naumenko, and others. As described on the project's Github page, the effort will create a (code) library for "BCH-based set reconciliation." BCH stands for Bose–Chaudhuri–Hocquenghem codes, which "form a class of cyclic error-correcting codes" and "one of the key features of BCH codes is that during code design, there is a precise control over the number of
New Stablecoins See Significant Growth in Adoption While Tether Dominance Drops
According to the latest report by research firm Diar, four major stablecoins - USDC, True USD (TUSD), Paxos (PAX) and the Gemini dollar (GUSD) - have breached the $5Bn mark in on-chain transactions within the three-month period. November also saw an increase of a "whopping" 1,032% in on-chain transactions of these stablecoins to date compared to September, reaching a trading volume of more than $2.3 billion for the month. Diar notes that Paxos has recorded over $1.8 billion on the Ethereum blockchain alone in the past three months. The figure is double the number of Coinbase/Circle backed USDC. According to the publication, TrueUSD was the only dollar-pegged cryptocurrency to see a slight decline in the total on-chain transactions value in November, however, its number of transactions doubled compared to October. "Stablecoins have found massive growth in adoption in the past several months as many began coming online. Concerns around Tether escalated last month which highlights a key
Crypto Derivatives Platform ErisX Raises $27.5 Million From Bitmain, Fidelity and Nasdaq Ventures
Chicago-based crypto trading platform ErisX has closed a Series B funding round that raised $27.5 million, the company anounced on Tuesday, December 4. Funding comes from an influential group of investors spanning the traditional capital and digital asset markets including Bitmain, ConsenSys, Fidelity Investments, Nasdaq Ventures and TradeStation Securities' parent company, Monex Group Inc. Nasdaq confirmed their participation to Reuters without specifying the amount of their contribution, while Fidelity has not responded to requests for comments by press time. The new investors are part of an earlier group that saw a void in the market; including DRW Venture Capital, Valor Equity Partners, TD Ameritrade (AMTD), Virtu Financial (VIRT), NEX Opportunities, Cboe Global Markets (CBOE), CTC Group Investments, Digital Currency Group, Nico Trading, Pantera Capital, Third Stone Partners, CMT Digital, Susquehanna International Group, XR Trading, C2 Capital Management and ED&F Man Capital
Mining Difficulty Records Second-Largest Drop in History as Bitcoin Price Hovers Below $4,000
The price of Bitcoin dropped below the $3,800 level on several exchanges on Monday, December 3, while the general pessimistic sentiment on the market reflected in declining Bitcoin's network difficulty, which earlier today fell by more than 15 percent following the regular adjustment. The 275th Bitcoin mining period has started with block 552,384. ⛏ New difficulty: 5,646,403,851,534 (-15.13%) — Bitcoin Block Bot (@BtcBlockBot) December 3, 2018 Mining difficulty is relative measure of how difficult it is to find a new block. This measure is adjusted every 2016 blocks as a function of how much hashing power has been deployed by the network of miners. According to XDEX chief analyst Fernando Ulrich, this 15 percent difficulty drop is the second-largest in Bitcoin's history and the largest since November 1, 2011, when the difficulty dropped by 18 percent. #Bitcoin just had its second largest drop in mining difficulty in history: -15.1%. This is the current ranking: 2011-nov-01: -18.0%
New FINMA FinTech License Will Allow Swiss Crypto Startups to Handle Up To $100 Million
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has announced on Monday, December 3, that local blockchain and cryptocurrency startups can now apply for a new fintech license that would allow them to handle deposits of up to 100 million CHF ($100 million), just like traditional banks. According to the official announcement, starting from January 1, 2019, companies other than banks can formally request to accept public funds of up to 100 million CHF as part of their business operations. "The FinTech licence allows institutions to accept public deposits of up to CHF 100 million, provided that these are not invested and no interest is paid on them. A further requirement is that an institution with a FinTech licence must have its registered office and conduct its business activities in Switzerland," the announcement reads. In order to be granted a fintech license, companies must adhere to clear rules that dictate how they can handle customer money. For example, they may not re
DECENT Launches “Token 4 Hope”, a Donation Management Initiative for the Economically Disadvantaged
DECENT, a non-profit foundation behind the open source blockchain platform DCore, has announced it is developing Token 4 Hope, a humanitarian project aimed at helping economically disadvantaged individuals through tokenization, transparency, and credibility. According to the press release, the Token 4 Hope project is the first implementation under the Humanity Token initiative for Hilfswerk. Humanity Token aims to alleviate the trust issues pertaining to social impact funds by using DECENT's proprietary DCore blockchain platform. This will allow for donations to be tracked transparently, granting the donors direct information on how their contributions are handled. Valuable information can then be further analyzed to provide even better support for those who need help. The initiative is a collaboration between DECENT, Collective Energy, an Austrian company focused on rethinking the energy sector through innovative crowdfunding models, and HumanVenture, a Russia-based impact investment
Wall Street Crypto Bull Tom Lee to Keynote at Blockchain Economy Istanbul Summit
Tom Lee, the renowned Wall Street analyst and Managing Partner and Head of Research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, is coming to Istanbul February 2019 to take the stage at the Blockchain Economy Istanbul Summit as a keynote speaker. Known for his significant role in the Blockchain economy and bullish predictions on Bitcoin prices, Tom Lee is going to share with the Summit's attendees his predictions and prognosis about further steps for crypto investors. Blockchain Economy Istanbul Summit aims at being the largest-scale event of the region ever held in this field, and will associate investors, entrepreneurs and professionals for discussing current cryptocurrency market and future of blockchain technology. More than 5,000 attendees from 20 countries will attend the conference and more than 10,000 people will be watching it live. Other speakers include Vit Jedlicka, President of the Free Republic of Liberland; Patrick Lowry, venture capitalist, investment advisor and CEO at Iconiq
Canadian ASIC Chip Designer Squire Mining to Purchase CoinGeek for $45 Million
Vancouver-based Squire Mining is reportedly set to purchase CoinGeek, a crypto news publication and mining pool operator, for $45.3 million. As reported by Finance Magnates, the deal will make Squire Mining the world's "largest, publicly traded Bitcoin miner." Squire Mining, whose market capitalization is of $35.4 million, has its shares traded on stock exchanges worldwide, and has been partnered with CoinGeek since August. Meanwhile, Bitmain, the biggest mining company in the world, is still waiting for approval to go public in Hong Kong. The report says that under the terms of that deal, CoinGeek became the sole distributor of Squire Mining products. Squire Mining in turn is taking control of CoinGeek's operations and employees, as well as 62,440 ASIC mining devices located on sites in Canada, the US, and Kazakhstan. These machines reportedly have a combined hash rate of around 1 million terrahashes per second, according to the documents made public by the company. The deal also
