Hive Blockchain Lost 'Last Analyst'; Reports Record Income, Still Makes Loss
The first publicly listed blockchain infrastructure company, Hive Blockchain Technologies Ltd., reportedly lost the last analyst covering it, and the price of its shares is far from the early days of it going public. Meanwhile, the company reported an income increase of c. 84% in Q3, compared to the same period last year, but still suffered multi million loss.
Vancouver-based Hive Blockchain Technologies (HIVE) went public in 2017, but now the only analyst left covering it, PI Financial, abandoned the company, leading Hive to join “the list of flame-outs on Canada’s junior stock exchange,” Bloomberg reported . The media outlet cites analyst David Kwan who said that Hive “no longer meets our coverage criteria.”
Hive opened on the TSX Venture Exchange in September 2017, seeing great interest from investors and traders, particularly given the rise in prices of Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins. In an interview in 2018, Hive Blockchain CEO Harry Pokrandt said that the largest listed blockchain infrastructure was established with the launch of Hive, which raised USD 115 million in funding in its first year.
Bloomberg also reports that the company was “an overnight stock sensation” after starting to trade publicly, seeing its share price triple on the very first day, then skyrocket more than 2,000% in the following weeks, later even hitting a market value of CAD 1.9 billion (USD 1.4 billion) “making it one of the largest blockchain-related companies anywhere.”
Meanwhile, Hive was busy this year. In January, it received regulatory approval from the TSX Venture Exchange for a 50% increase in ASIC capacity to mine Bitcoin. In February, Hive began trading on OTCQX under the symbol "HVBTF." In April news of contractual disputes with Hive’s largest stakeholder, Genesis Mining, were reported. Genesis “requisitioned a meeting of shareholders for the purpose of removing directors independent of Genesis and electing a board of directors, the majority of whom would be senior officers and employees of Genesis,” which Hive rejected. The two have settled in June, rebooting operations in Sweden and reaching 99% utilization of capacity there in July. In November, Hive completed the transition of its GPU chips in Sweden from Genesis Mining to Blockbase Group.
In September, they reported revenues of USD 31.8 million, a 143% increase of income from digital currency mining over fiscal year 2018, as well as USD 5.6 million of net income for the first quarter.
On December 2, the company announced its results for the second quarter of their financial year ended September 30, 2019, reporting “a healthy second fiscal quarter of positive free cash flow contributing to an already strong balance sheet.” Highlights include:
-generated record income from digital currency mining of USD 12.0 million, an increase of approximately 84% from the same period in the prior year;
-incurred a net loss of USD 11.5 million for the period;
-generated USD 0.3 million in cash flow from operations;
-increased net cash less loans payables to USD 5.3 million, with digital currencies assets at USD 7.2 million, as at September 30, 2019.
Meanwhile, Simply Wall St reported that “the general public, who are mostly retail investors, collectively hold 71% of Hive Blockchain Technologies shares.”
HIVE price chart:
The first publicly listed blockchain infrastructure company, Hive Blockchain Technologies Ltd., reportedly lost the last analyst covering it, and the price of its shares is far from the early days of it going public. Meanwhile, the company reported an income increase of c. 84% in Q3, compared to the same period last year, but still suffered multi million loss.
Vancouver-based Hive Blockchain Technologies (HIVE) went public in 2017, but now the only analyst left covering it, PI Financial, abandoned the company, leading Hive to join “the list of flame-outs on Canada’s junior stock exchange,” Bloomberg reported . The media outlet cites analyst David Kwan who said that Hive “no longer meets our coverage criteria.”
Hive opened on the TSX Venture Exchange in September 2017, seeing great interest from investors and traders, particularly given the rise in prices of Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins. In an interview in 2018, Hive Blockchain CEO Harry Pokrandt said that the largest listed blockchain infrastructure was established with the launch of Hive, which raised USD 115 million in funding in its first year.
Bloomberg also reports that the company was “an overnight stock sensation” after starting to trade publicly, seeing its share price triple on the very first day, then skyrocket more than 2,000% in the following weeks, later even hitting a market value of CAD 1.9 billion (USD 1.4 billion) “making it one of the largest blockchain-related companies anywhere.”
Meanwhile, Hive was busy this year. In January, it received regulatory approval from the TSX Venture Exchange for a 50% increase in ASIC capacity to mine Bitcoin. In February, Hive began trading on OTCQX under the symbol "HVBTF." In April news of contractual disputes with Hive’s largest stakeholder, Genesis Mining, were reported. Genesis “requisitioned a meeting of shareholders for the purpose of removing directors independent of Genesis and electing a board of directors, the majority of whom would be senior officers and employees of Genesis,” which Hive rejected. The two have settled in June, rebooting operations in Sweden and reaching 99% utilization of capacity there in July. In November, Hive completed the transition of its GPU chips in Sweden from Genesis Mining to Blockbase Group.
In September, they reported revenues of USD 31.8 million, a 143% increase of income from digital currency mining over fiscal year 2018, as well as USD 5.6 million of net income for the first quarter.
On December 2, the company announced its results for the second quarter of their financial year ended September 30, 2019, reporting “a healthy second fiscal quarter of positive free cash flow contributing to an already strong balance sheet.” Highlights include:
-generated record income from digital currency mining of USD 12.0 million, an increase of approximately 84% from the same period in the prior year;
-incurred a net loss of USD 11.5 million for the period;
-generated USD 0.3 million in cash flow from operations;
-increased net cash less loans payables to USD 5.3 million, with digital currencies assets at USD 7.2 million, as at September 30, 2019.
Meanwhile, Simply Wall St reported that “the general public, who are mostly retail investors, collectively hold 71% of Hive Blockchain Technologies shares.”
HIVE price chart:
UAE Central Bank Says It Doesn’t Approve Private Cryptos; Could This Be a Threat to the Middle East?
Cryptocurrencies have been one of the most polarizing concepts of the 21st Century, which have divided the world into two major fractions. First, who believe that Bitcoin is revolutionary, and is the future of global monetary systems. Second, who think that crypto is the threat of the sovereign governments of all the countries.
The debate, which has been alive for almost a decade now, got refueled after technology giant Facebook announced their ambitious crypto project Libra, and ever since, reactions from all over the world seem to be growing, with no signs of slowing down. The latest of these countries iterating their stand on crypto is the United Arab Emirates, the land which has been quite favorable for crypto projects. However, that might soon change, as the Central Bank of the UAE has stated that it doesn’t approve any private cryptocurrencies, and to break the hearts of enthusiasts, almost every digital coin, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, Litecoin, etc., is a private token.
In answer to an article published on an online portal, which claimed that the Governor of the Central Bank of UAE (CBUAE) endorses a private crypto trading platform, the CBUAE released an official statement that it doesn’t endorse any such platform, called the portal that published the article as a “potentially fraudulent website.” The apex banking authority in the Gulf country said,
“The Central Bank does not approve any private cryptocurrencies or schemes and has not issued any licences in the UAE. CBUAE believes that private cryptocurrencies pose potential risks related to price volatility, money laundering, and terrorist financing.”
Those who have been following statements by political leaders on the crypto industry will soon remember that similar criticism was made by Donald Trump a few months ago. The US President had said,
“I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air. Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behaviour, including drug trade and other illegal activity. Similarly, Facebook Libra’s “virtual currency” will have little standing or dependability… We have only one real currency in the USA, and it is stronger than ever, both dependable and reliable. It is by far the most dominant currency anywhere in the World, and it will always stay that way. It is called the United States Dollar!”
What’s common in the statement by CBUAE and the earlier one made by President Trump is that both of them accuse private or unregulated cryptocurrencies of facilitating illegal activities like terrorism and drug trafficking. However, several reports recently and even in the past have shown that such anti-social activities are carried on significantly more on cash than crypto.
The statement by the CBUAE comes at a time when major economies in the world are criticizing crypto, and Bitcoin itself is on a severe downfall, priced below $7,500, which significantly lower than the yearly high of $13,500. Several crypto companies have settled in the UAE in the last few years. In fact, there were reports earlier this year that the governments of UAE and Saudi Arabia were to launch a joint crypto program, which would assist the joint cross-border trade between the countries.
Cryptocurrencies have been one of the most polarizing concepts of the 21st Century, which have divided the world into two major fractions. First, who believe that Bitcoin is revolutionary, and is the future of global monetary systems. Second, who think that crypto is the threat of the sovereign governments of all the countries.
The debate, which has been alive for almost a decade now, got refueled after technology giant Facebook announced their ambitious crypto project Libra, and ever since, reactions from all over the world seem to be growing, with no signs of slowing down. The latest of these countries iterating their stand on crypto is the United Arab Emirates, the land which has been quite favorable for crypto projects. However, that might soon change, as the Central Bank of the UAE has stated that it doesn’t approve any private cryptocurrencies, and to break the hearts of enthusiasts, almost every digital coin, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, Litecoin, etc., is a private token.
In answer to an article published on an online portal, which claimed that the Governor of the Central Bank of UAE (CBUAE) endorses a private crypto trading platform, the CBUAE released an official statement that it doesn’t endorse any such platform, called the portal that published the article as a “potentially fraudulent website.” The apex banking authority in the Gulf country said,
“The Central Bank does not approve any private cryptocurrencies or schemes and has not issued any licences in the UAE. CBUAE believes that private cryptocurrencies pose potential risks related to price volatility, money laundering, and terrorist financing.”
Those who have been following statements by political leaders on the crypto industry will soon remember that similar criticism was made by Donald Trump a few months ago. The US President had said,
“I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air. Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behaviour, including drug trade and other illegal activity. Similarly, Facebook Libra’s “virtual currency” will have little standing or dependability… We have only one real currency in the USA, and it is stronger than ever, both dependable and reliable. It is by far the most dominant currency anywhere in the World, and it will always stay that way. It is called the United States Dollar!”
What’s common in the statement by CBUAE and the earlier one made by President Trump is that both of them accuse private or unregulated cryptocurrencies of facilitating illegal activities like terrorism and drug trafficking. However, several reports recently and even in the past have shown that such anti-social activities are carried on significantly more on cash than crypto.
The statement by the CBUAE comes at a time when major economies in the world are criticizing crypto, and Bitcoin itself is on a severe downfall, priced below $7,500, which significantly lower than the yearly high of $13,500. Several crypto companies have settled in the UAE in the last few years. In fact, there were reports earlier this year that the governments of UAE and Saudi Arabia were to launch a joint crypto program, which would assist the joint cross-border trade between the countries.
Croatia’s Karic Automobili Now Allows Crypto Payments for Car Purchases
Croatia’s auto company Karic Automobili has announced that it would now accept cryptocurrency payments while purchasing all car models.
It has thus become the first auto dealer who has initiated crypto payments in the auto sector of Croatia.
Karic Automobili is an authorized dealer and service provider for luxury cars, including Ford, Alfa Romeo, and Fiats. Using the GoCrypto instant crypto payment service, it will now accept payments via major cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin (BTC), and GoCrypto token (GoC).
Tomislav Karic, Head of Karic Automobili commented, “We are extremely proud that we can offer to the buyers of our brands, for the first time on the Croatian market, another simple payment method which is in response to the growing number of buyers requests for payment in cryptocurrency.”
He expressed optimism that more traders will be inspired to follow their steps. He said, “I believe our example will be followed by other traders in the industry who will start using this payment method, which benefits both sellers and buyers.”
It’s noteworthy that the transactional charges through cryptos are much lower than the debit/credit payments for the traders and it is also convenient for the customers as well.
The customers will be benefitted more through the GoCrypto loyalty program as well, which offers a partial fund back through its “Elly Wallet.”
Croatia’s auto company Karic Automobili has announced that it would now accept cryptocurrency payments while purchasing all car models.
It has thus become the first auto dealer who has initiated crypto payments in the auto sector of Croatia.
Karic Automobili is an authorized dealer and service provider for luxury cars, including Ford, Alfa Romeo, and Fiats. Using the GoCrypto instant crypto payment service, it will now accept payments via major cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin (BTC), and GoCrypto token (GoC).
Tomislav Karic, Head of Karic Automobili commented, “We are extremely proud that we can offer to the buyers of our brands, for the first time on the Croatian market, another simple payment method which is in response to the growing number of buyers requests for payment in cryptocurrency.”
He expressed optimism that more traders will be inspired to follow their steps. He said, “I believe our example will be followed by other traders in the industry who will start using this payment method, which benefits both sellers and buyers.”
It’s noteworthy that the transactional charges through cryptos are much lower than the debit/credit payments for the traders and it is also convenient for the customers as well.
The customers will be benefitted more through the GoCrypto loyalty program as well, which offers a partial fund back through its “Elly Wallet.”
Dash Core Group Announces a Comprehensive Strategy to Improve Dash’s Divergent Market Performance
Dash group CEO Ryan Tayler analyzed the root causes of the declining price of Dash and disclosed substantial plans to fix its dwindling value in the crypto markets.
After a pick point of $59. 33 at the November end, Dash prices are facing a consistent drop in December. The moving average has maintained $51.46 in the last week.
Owing to these fluctuations, Ryan Taylor has unveiled a bold strategy to fix the dash price in the ongoing bulling market. The strategy includes probable reduction of the proof of work mining reward and introducing proof of stake feature.
In a series of tweets on December 6, Ryan Taylor announced his ideas for the improvement of the Dash price, including the economic model, the future path for improvement, user staking, and miner staking policy.
At a Dash Evolution Open House event in Scottsdale, Arizona, Taylor presented the extensive plan which elaborated a comprehensive history of Dash‘s price structure and its resultant influence on deeps and highs in connection with rewards within the network.
To resolve the loopholes in incentive policies, Taylor revealed certain solutions, including the reward change plan and the alteration in Dash’s entire consensus method.
Highlights of the presentation:
Taylor elaborated various components involved in Dash’s incentive model, including the new coin’s creation, which was distributed further to a 45% reward split between the master nodes and miners each. The move was to keep the coins preserved off the market, while 45 % were provided to miners to sell them in markets to maintain the thin margins in the industry. This reward program further fluctuated the price of Dash in 2017.
Taylor revealed that most of the revenue of the miners is spent on labor, equipment maintenance, and electricity expenditure, which compels them to sell the new coins mined that eventually pushes the price downwards. During the market inflations, they are unable to spend more on expansion operations and new equipment purchases due to time constraints. During market crashes, their revenue is spent more on exchanges to cover their maintenance costs, which leads to more downfall of Dash value. This “boom and bust” structure has severely affected other cryptocurrencies and has more severely affected Dash due to its unique structure.
Dash has thus tested many network designs and models of economics to improve and iterate those policies for the improvement of Dash performance.
Dash group CEO Ryan Tayler analyzed the root causes of the declining price of Dash and disclosed substantial plans to fix its dwindling value in the crypto markets.
After a pick point of $59. 33 at the November end, Dash prices are facing a consistent drop in December. The moving average has maintained $51.46 in the last week.
Owing to these fluctuations, Ryan Taylor has unveiled a bold strategy to fix the dash price in the ongoing bulling market. The strategy includes probable reduction of the proof of work mining reward and introducing proof of stake feature.
In a series of tweets on December 6, Ryan Taylor announced his ideas for the improvement of the Dash price, including the economic model, the future path for improvement, user staking, and miner staking policy.
At a Dash Evolution Open House event in Scottsdale, Arizona, Taylor presented the extensive plan which elaborated a comprehensive history of Dash‘s price structure and its resultant influence on deeps and highs in connection with rewards within the network.
To resolve the loopholes in incentive policies, Taylor revealed certain solutions, including the reward change plan and the alteration in Dash’s entire consensus method.
Highlights of the presentation:
Taylor elaborated various components involved in Dash’s incentive model, including the new coin’s creation, which was distributed further to a 45% reward split between the master nodes and miners each. The move was to keep the coins preserved off the market, while 45 % were provided to miners to sell them in markets to maintain the thin margins in the industry. This reward program further fluctuated the price of Dash in 2017.
Taylor revealed that most of the revenue of the miners is spent on labor, equipment maintenance, and electricity expenditure, which compels them to sell the new coins mined that eventually pushes the price downwards. During the market inflations, they are unable to spend more on expansion operations and new equipment purchases due to time constraints. During market crashes, their revenue is spent more on exchanges to cover their maintenance costs, which leads to more downfall of Dash value. This “boom and bust” structure has severely affected other cryptocurrencies and has more severely affected Dash due to its unique structure.
Dash has thus tested many network designs and models of economics to improve and iterate those policies for the improvement of Dash performance.
Decoding Litecoin With Charlie Lee on Let’s Talk Bitcoin
In the latest podcast of Let’s Talk Bitcoin, we have listened to a detailed and holistic perspective related to cryptocurrency. The guest on the show was Charlie Lee, the creator of the Litecoin.
Litecoin Vs. Bitcoin
Lee talked extensively on the issue of cryptocurrency adoption while highlighting similarities and differences in Bitcoin and Litecoin. Emphasizing the basic structure of Litecoin, Lee said that unlike Bitcoin, Litecoin has a known founder, which helps the coin to shape its vision in the long term.
Nature of Litecoin and Network Effect
Lee explained that several decisions had been taken in the history of Litecoin, which goes far beyond the commercial interest of the cryptocurrency. They don’t only focus on the price of Litecoin but are more concerned with the overall significance of the digital coin for society. The issue of trust, transparency, and fair business practices was highlighted during the discussion when the conversation moved from the competitiveness in the crypto industry to the collaboration aspect. The industry growth is heavily dependent upon new innovations, and in this regard, coming together of the cryptocurrency organizations will be beneficial for all the concerned stakeholders.
Anonymity and Market Valuation
The question of anonymity also figured in the discussions. Litecoin has a clear advantage over Bitcoin in this particular aspect. This, according to Lee, is something that people appreciate and feel reassured about. The whole operating mechanism of the digital coin, which includes the various stakeholder involved in the process such as miners, uptime, and technical support, is very important from the adoption viewpoint of a digital coin. More importantly, the transaction time in the case of Litecoin is one-fourth compared to Bitcoin, which comes as an added advantage.
One of the other key advantages with Litecoin is that the digital currency has its own set of miners, which plays a very important role in creating a robust ecosystem for the coin. It is good for transaction speed and overall safety offered by the Litecoin. When asked about the comparatively low market capitalization of Litecoin, Lee said that the more centralization aspect of the coin has some negative impact on its market valuation. Lee explained that it is more convenient for the government authorities or federal agencies to put a leash on the Litecoin as they know who the owner is – something that is not in case of Bitcoin, and this adds to the vulnerability of Litecoin.
Accessibility Strategy
One prominent issue related to cryptocurrency adoption is accessibility. Banking systems across the globe are still opposed to the idea of digital coins, and this opposition continues to remain one of the most critical stumbling blocks in the wider adoption of cryptocurrency. Litecoin has tried to find a way as its foundation acquired a 9.9% equity stake in WEG bank of Germany. This move is expected to have long-term ramifications as industry experts see it as a game-changer move, that will dissolve resistance of the bankers for the idea of cryptocurrency. Lee said the rationale behind this decision is to get its roots in the banking industry and convince them to start dealing the digital coins. It is a long way to go, although the start has already been made.
Conclusion
In sum, the discussion provided rich information on the comparisons of Bitcoin and Litecoin. While both digital coins have their own characteristics, it bodes well for the overall industry if players collaborate for the larger cause of crypto adoption.
In the latest podcast of Let’s Talk Bitcoin, we have listened to a detailed and holistic perspective related to cryptocurrency. The guest on the show was Charlie Lee, the creator of the Litecoin.
Litecoin Vs. Bitcoin
Lee talked extensively on the issue of cryptocurrency adoption while highlighting similarities and differences in Bitcoin and Litecoin. Emphasizing the basic structure of Litecoin, Lee said that unlike Bitcoin, Litecoin has a known founder, which helps the coin to shape its vision in the long term.
Nature of Litecoin and Network Effect
Lee explained that several decisions had been taken in the history of Litecoin, which goes far beyond the commercial interest of the cryptocurrency. They don’t only focus on the price of Litecoin but are more concerned with the overall significance of the digital coin for society. The issue of trust, transparency, and fair business practices was highlighted during the discussion when the conversation moved from the competitiveness in the crypto industry to the collaboration aspect. The industry growth is heavily dependent upon new innovations, and in this regard, coming together of the cryptocurrency organizations will be beneficial for all the concerned stakeholders.
Anonymity and Market Valuation
The question of anonymity also figured in the discussions. Litecoin has a clear advantage over Bitcoin in this particular aspect. This, according to Lee, is something that people appreciate and feel reassured about. The whole operating mechanism of the digital coin, which includes the various stakeholder involved in the process such as miners, uptime, and technical support, is very important from the adoption viewpoint of a digital coin. More importantly, the transaction time in the case of Litecoin is one-fourth compared to Bitcoin, which comes as an added advantage.
One of the other key advantages with Litecoin is that the digital currency has its own set of miners, which plays a very important role in creating a robust ecosystem for the coin. It is good for transaction speed and overall safety offered by the Litecoin. When asked about the comparatively low market capitalization of Litecoin, Lee said that the more centralization aspect of the coin has some negative impact on its market valuation. Lee explained that it is more convenient for the government authorities or federal agencies to put a leash on the Litecoin as they know who the owner is – something that is not in case of Bitcoin, and this adds to the vulnerability of Litecoin.
Accessibility Strategy
One prominent issue related to cryptocurrency adoption is accessibility. Banking systems across the globe are still opposed to the idea of digital coins, and this opposition continues to remain one of the most critical stumbling blocks in the wider adoption of cryptocurrency. Litecoin has tried to find a way as its foundation acquired a 9.9% equity stake in WEG bank of Germany. This move is expected to have long-term ramifications as industry experts see it as a game-changer move, that will dissolve resistance of the bankers for the idea of cryptocurrency. Lee said the rationale behind this decision is to get its roots in the banking industry and convince them to start dealing the digital coins. It is a long way to go, although the start has already been made.
Conclusion
In sum, the discussion provided rich information on the comparisons of Bitcoin and Litecoin. While both digital coins have their own characteristics, it bodes well for the overall industry if players collaborate for the larger cause of crypto adoption.
A Thorough Analysis of Cryptojacking and Its Prevention
Ever since the cryptocurrencies have gained popularity in the financial world as a revolutionary medium of payment settlements, there has been an unfortunate increase in the crimes, frauds, and illicit activities around this new age technology niche. With hefty amounts being circulated in the crypto circuit and lack of complete knowledge about the operations, data of digital asset holdings are often compromised. The most recent crypto crime that is enveloping the crypto domain in its grip is “Cryptojacking.”
Cryptojacking is the term used for the process in which cybercriminals indulge in unauthorized usage of computer systems, mobiles, tablets, or connected home devices to mine cryptocurrencies notoriously. The criminals load the malicious crypto mining code on the victim’s computer through an infected email or by corrupting a website or online ad with a JavaScript code.
The Rampant Growth of Cryptojacking
It is unlikely to assess the volume of cryptocurrency that has been mined through cryptojacking in all these years, but it will not be wrong to say that the crime has strongly rooted itself into the depths of the industry.
According to the Bad Packets Report, published in February 2018, a total of 34,474 sites were found guilty of running the most well-known JavaScript miner Coinhive. Later in July 2018, Check Point Software Technologies stated that out of the top 10 malware they have detected, four were crypto miners with Coinhive and Cryptoloot grabbing the top two slots.
Cryptomining, which earlier accounted for 23% of all the total cyber attacks in 2018, now has succumbed to a mere 7% as revealed by the Positive Technology’s Cybersecurity Threatscape Q1 2019 report. The reports indicated that ransomware crimes have earned greater popularity in recent times.
The Cryptojacking Mechanism
Two widely used mechanisms are being used by programmers to facilitate cryptojacking. One of the most popular methods adopted by the scammers is to send legitimate-looking email into the computer system of a person, thereby forcing him to click on the link provided in the email. As soon as the person clicks the link, the crypto mining code starts running and the corrupted script gets installed on the computer.
The most prominent feature of these infected programs is that they continue to function in the background without getting noticed by the victims. The only significant signal one can pay attention to is the reduction in the performance speed and execution.
Another cryptojacking method is known as a web browser miner. The hackers corrupt the system by injecting a crypto mining script on a website or an ad that is present on various web portals. On the visit to an affected website, the script runs automatically on the system.
In both the methods, the victim remains unaware while the malicious code solves the mathematical problems and transmits the results to the hacker.
How To detect Cryptojacking?
The potent signs which convey cryptojacking infection include:
Unusual high processor usage
Overheating of the computer or device in use
Very slow response times
Cryptojacking Prevention
To keep oneself protected from the cryptojacking threats, one can use efficient security software like Norton Security. For additional coverage from the malicious software, one can also install ad-blocking or anti-crypto mining extensions on web browsers.
However, as the well-known proverb says that “Prevention is better than cure,” one should keep themselves aware of phishing emails, suspicious attachments, and links.
Ever since the cryptocurrencies have gained popularity in the financial world as a revolutionary medium of payment settlements, there has been an unfortunate increase in the crimes, frauds, and illicit activities around this new age technology niche. With hefty amounts being circulated in the crypto circuit and lack of complete knowledge about the operations, data of digital asset holdings are often compromised. The most recent crypto crime that is enveloping the crypto domain in its grip is “Cryptojacking.”
Cryptojacking is the term used for the process in which cybercriminals indulge in unauthorized usage of computer systems, mobiles, tablets, or connected home devices to mine cryptocurrencies notoriously. The criminals load the malicious crypto mining code on the victim’s computer through an infected email or by corrupting a website or online ad with a JavaScript code.
The Rampant Growth of Cryptojacking
It is unlikely to assess the volume of cryptocurrency that has been mined through cryptojacking in all these years, but it will not be wrong to say that the crime has strongly rooted itself into the depths of the industry.
According to the Bad Packets Report, published in February 2018, a total of 34,474 sites were found guilty of running the most well-known JavaScript miner Coinhive. Later in July 2018, Check Point Software Technologies stated that out of the top 10 malware they have detected, four were crypto miners with Coinhive and Cryptoloot grabbing the top two slots.
Cryptomining, which earlier accounted for 23% of all the total cyber attacks in 2018, now has succumbed to a mere 7% as revealed by the Positive Technology’s Cybersecurity Threatscape Q1 2019 report. The reports indicated that ransomware crimes have earned greater popularity in recent times.
The Cryptojacking Mechanism
Two widely used mechanisms are being used by programmers to facilitate cryptojacking. One of the most popular methods adopted by the scammers is to send legitimate-looking email into the computer system of a person, thereby forcing him to click on the link provided in the email. As soon as the person clicks the link, the crypto mining code starts running and the corrupted script gets installed on the computer.
The most prominent feature of these infected programs is that they continue to function in the background without getting noticed by the victims. The only significant signal one can pay attention to is the reduction in the performance speed and execution.
Another cryptojacking method is known as a web browser miner. The hackers corrupt the system by injecting a crypto mining script on a website or an ad that is present on various web portals. On the visit to an affected website, the script runs automatically on the system.
In both the methods, the victim remains unaware while the malicious code solves the mathematical problems and transmits the results to the hacker.
How To detect Cryptojacking?
The potent signs which convey cryptojacking infection include:
Unusual high processor usage
Overheating of the computer or device in use
Very slow response times
Cryptojacking Prevention
To keep oneself protected from the cryptojacking threats, one can use efficient security software like Norton Security. For additional coverage from the malicious software, one can also install ad-blocking or anti-crypto mining extensions on web browsers.
However, as the well-known proverb says that “Prevention is better than cure,” one should keep themselves aware of phishing emails, suspicious attachments, and links.
UAE Central Bank Says It Doesn’t Approve Private Cryptos; Could This Be a Threat to the Middle East?
Cryptocurrencies have been one of the most polarizing concepts of the 21st Century, which have divided the world into two major fractions. First, who believe that Bitcoin is revolutionary, and is the future of global monetary systems. Second, who think that crypto is the threat of the sovereign governments of all the countries.
The debate, which has been alive for almost a decade now, got refueled after technology giant Facebook announced their ambitious crypto project Libra, and ever since, reactions from all over the world seem to be growing, with no signs of slowing down. The latest of these countries iterating their stand on crypto is the United Arab Emirates, the land which has been quite favorable for crypto projects. However, that might soon change, as the Central Bank of the UAE has stated that it doesn’t approve any private cryptocurrencies, and to break the hearts of enthusiasts, almost every digital coin, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, Litecoin, etc., is a private token.
In answer to an article published on an online portal, which claimed that the Governor of the Central Bank of UAE (CBUAE) endorses a private crypto trading platform, the CBUAE released an official statement that it doesn’t endorse any such platform, called the portal that published the article as a “potentially fraudulent website.” The apex banking authority in the Gulf country said,
“The Central Bank does not approve any private cryptocurrencies or schemes and has not issued any licences in the UAE. CBUAE believes that private cryptocurrencies pose potential risks related to price volatility, money laundering, and terrorist financing.”
Those who have been following statements by political leaders on the crypto industry will soon remember that similar criticism was made by Donald Trump a few months ago. The US President had said,
“I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air. Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behaviour, including drug trade and other illegal activity. Similarly, Facebook Libra’s “virtual currency” will have little standing or dependability… We have only one real currency in the USA, and it is stronger than ever, both dependable and reliable. It is by far the most dominant currency anywhere in the World, and it will always stay that way. It is called the United States Dollar!”
What’s common in the statement by CBUAE and the earlier one made by President Trump is that both of them accuse private or unregulated cryptocurrencies of facilitating illegal activities like terrorism and drug trafficking. However, several reports recently and even in the past have shown that such anti-social activities are carried on significantly more on cash than crypto.
The statement by the CBUAE comes at a time when major economies in the world are criticizing crypto, and Bitcoin itself is on a severe downfall, priced below $7,500, which significantly lower than the yearly high of $13,500. Several crypto companies have settled in the UAE in the last few years. In fact, there were reports earlier this year that the governments of UAE and Saudi Arabia were to launch a joint crypto program, which would assist the joint cross-border trade between the countries.
Does this mean that crypto companies will be banned?
Not really. UAE is an Islamic country and has a mixed approach towards policy-making. For instance, the UAE Government doesn’t promote the sale of alcohol, and hence, any advertisement of alcohol is banned. However, selling and consuming alcohol isn’t illegal, though the sale of alcoholic beverages requires licensing. After the statement of UAE, it would be too pessimistic to say that crypto will be made illegal, but some sort of strict and stringent regulatory policing should be expected.
Cryptocurrencies have been one of the most polarizing concepts of the 21st Century, which have divided the world into two major fractions. First, who believe that Bitcoin is revolutionary, and is the future of global monetary systems. Second, who think that crypto is the threat of the sovereign governments of all the countries.
The debate, which has been alive for almost a decade now, got refueled after technology giant Facebook announced their ambitious crypto project Libra, and ever since, reactions from all over the world seem to be growing, with no signs of slowing down. The latest of these countries iterating their stand on crypto is the United Arab Emirates, the land which has been quite favorable for crypto projects. However, that might soon change, as the Central Bank of the UAE has stated that it doesn’t approve any private cryptocurrencies, and to break the hearts of enthusiasts, almost every digital coin, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, Litecoin, etc., is a private token.
In answer to an article published on an online portal, which claimed that the Governor of the Central Bank of UAE (CBUAE) endorses a private crypto trading platform, the CBUAE released an official statement that it doesn’t endorse any such platform, called the portal that published the article as a “potentially fraudulent website.” The apex banking authority in the Gulf country said,
“The Central Bank does not approve any private cryptocurrencies or schemes and has not issued any licences in the UAE. CBUAE believes that private cryptocurrencies pose potential risks related to price volatility, money laundering, and terrorist financing.”
Those who have been following statements by political leaders on the crypto industry will soon remember that similar criticism was made by Donald Trump a few months ago. The US President had said,
“I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air. Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behaviour, including drug trade and other illegal activity. Similarly, Facebook Libra’s “virtual currency” will have little standing or dependability… We have only one real currency in the USA, and it is stronger than ever, both dependable and reliable. It is by far the most dominant currency anywhere in the World, and it will always stay that way. It is called the United States Dollar!”
What’s common in the statement by CBUAE and the earlier one made by President Trump is that both of them accuse private or unregulated cryptocurrencies of facilitating illegal activities like terrorism and drug trafficking. However, several reports recently and even in the past have shown that such anti-social activities are carried on significantly more on cash than crypto.
The statement by the CBUAE comes at a time when major economies in the world are criticizing crypto, and Bitcoin itself is on a severe downfall, priced below $7,500, which significantly lower than the yearly high of $13,500. Several crypto companies have settled in the UAE in the last few years. In fact, there were reports earlier this year that the governments of UAE and Saudi Arabia were to launch a joint crypto program, which would assist the joint cross-border trade between the countries.
Does this mean that crypto companies will be banned?
Not really. UAE is an Islamic country and has a mixed approach towards policy-making. For instance, the UAE Government doesn’t promote the sale of alcohol, and hence, any advertisement of alcohol is banned. However, selling and consuming alcohol isn’t illegal, though the sale of alcoholic beverages requires licensing. After the statement of UAE, it would be too pessimistic to say that crypto will be made illegal, but some sort of strict and stringent regulatory policing should be expected.
Deutsche Bank Report Considers Libra Project as a Catalyst in Crypto Mass Adoption
Having been subjected to global backlash and criticism, Facebook’s stablecoin Libra project has finally received a welcoming note from a renowned financial entity, the Deutsche Bank. Based in Frankfurt, the bank said in a statement that Libra can play a major role in giving a boost to the crypto industry, which is already enjoying fast adoption than was expected. The statement added that Libra could help in bringing the crypto industry to the mainstream by 2030.
Some time back, the adoption of cryptocurrencies was substantially slow, and experts failed to show trust in its success in the future as a strong replacement of fiat currency. However, at present, the scenario has changed in a big way and even the biggest names of industries are putting their bets in the digital currency arena.
According to the recent Imagine 2030 report published by the Deutsche Bank, the process of mass adoption of cryptocurrencies will move at a fast pace. The report affirmed that this widescale success of cryptocurrencies has become possible only with the joint efforts of banks, card providers, and governments who are constantly striving to transit to an efficient “cashless society.” The report also bragged about Libra being an important medium supporting crypto mass adoption through its strong client base comprising of billions of users worldwide.
“When Facebook announced Libra, its new cryptocurrency payment system, earlier this year, the conversation hit all levels of society and politics. And no wonder. Facebook, with its potential user base of over 2bn, has the potential to disrupt the payment industry send the use of cryptocurrencies in to the mainstream,” said Marion Laboure, the author of the report’s crypto part.
Deutsche Bank also opined that governments around the world could play a pivotal role in popularizing digital currency adoption. The report stated that India and China might evolve as the leaders in the crypto space in the near future. The author is confident that as situations are changing rapidly, there are chances that the two countries lead the economy as users of cryptocurrencies.
Laboure mentioned Chinese President Xi Jinping’s take on cryptocurrencies, where he addressed them as “an important breakthrough for independent innovation of core technologies.”
The report stated about the Indian government’s formation of an economic panel for discussions on the introduction of an official virtual currency with the status of a legal tender by the banking regulator, the Reserve Bank of India.
Having been subjected to global backlash and criticism, Facebook’s stablecoin Libra project has finally received a welcoming note from a renowned financial entity, the Deutsche Bank. Based in Frankfurt, the bank said in a statement that Libra can play a major role in giving a boost to the crypto industry, which is already enjoying fast adoption than was expected. The statement added that Libra could help in bringing the crypto industry to the mainstream by 2030.
Some time back, the adoption of cryptocurrencies was substantially slow, and experts failed to show trust in its success in the future as a strong replacement of fiat currency. However, at present, the scenario has changed in a big way and even the biggest names of industries are putting their bets in the digital currency arena.
According to the recent Imagine 2030 report published by the Deutsche Bank, the process of mass adoption of cryptocurrencies will move at a fast pace. The report affirmed that this widescale success of cryptocurrencies has become possible only with the joint efforts of banks, card providers, and governments who are constantly striving to transit to an efficient “cashless society.” The report also bragged about Libra being an important medium supporting crypto mass adoption through its strong client base comprising of billions of users worldwide.
“When Facebook announced Libra, its new cryptocurrency payment system, earlier this year, the conversation hit all levels of society and politics. And no wonder. Facebook, with its potential user base of over 2bn, has the potential to disrupt the payment industry send the use of cryptocurrencies in to the mainstream,” said Marion Laboure, the author of the report’s crypto part.
Deutsche Bank also opined that governments around the world could play a pivotal role in popularizing digital currency adoption. The report stated that India and China might evolve as the leaders in the crypto space in the near future. The author is confident that as situations are changing rapidly, there are chances that the two countries lead the economy as users of cryptocurrencies.
Laboure mentioned Chinese President Xi Jinping’s take on cryptocurrencies, where he addressed them as “an important breakthrough for independent innovation of core technologies.”
The report stated about the Indian government’s formation of an economic panel for discussions on the introduction of an official virtual currency with the status of a legal tender by the banking regulator, the Reserve Bank of India.
Crypto-Twitter Could Be the Next Big Thing in the Crypto Sphere
In an interesting observation, the Angel investor and co-founder of Earn, Balaji S. Srinivasan, courted the idea of Crypto-Twitter. The thought was floated by Srinivasan on Twitter, and in response, a number of comments came from his followers – some appreciating the idea while others are identifying issues in the idea. Of course, the underlying mechanism for the Crypto-Twitter (if it fructifies) will be based on the open-ledger and the application programming interface (API) that is used in the blockchain technology.
Crypto-Twitter
Drawing a comparison between Twitter and hypothetical Crypto-Twitter, Srinivasan emphasized that the centralized and mutable nature of Twitter is something that makes the micro-blogging platform a bit conservative in its conversational approach. The idea behind Crypto-Twitter is to come up with a platform that will be completely decentralized and using the open-ledger technology for recording the feeds of its members. The immutable nature of blockchain is definitely going to be a big positive as nobody will be able to change the record, thereby bringing high safety aspects to the table.
In reaction to Srinivasan’s tweet of the crypto-twitter idea, many responded positively while some expressed their concern related to the requirement of resources, especially when the platform is conceptualized to take decentralized structure. Questions related to the resources involved in creating the database, network bandwidth, and meeting other requirements popped up in the responses. These concerns are legitimate ones and any step in the direction of launching Crypto-Twitter need to address these issues first.
Twitter working on the principles of cryptocurrency and blockchain curry favors with many, although the practical difficulties are aplenty in achieving this objective. While the concerns related to safety and security might be addressed through the immutability and temple-proof technology of blockchain, people may not like the idea that they are not in control once they tweeted about any particular incident or topic. The open-ledger and immutability characteristics of blockchain will take away the control that users and Twitter authorities have on tweets and operational procedures.
Conclusion
In sum, the concept of crypto-Twitter is sure to ruffle feathers as decentralization and weaning off authority will comprehensively change the scenario. Among the promoters, this is not going to go down very well as they have to cede the control. On the users’ side, though, the concept of crypto-Twitter can bring a host of advantages, including the rock-solid safety and security aspect.
In an interesting observation, the Angel investor and co-founder of Earn, Balaji S. Srinivasan, courted the idea of Crypto-Twitter. The thought was floated by Srinivasan on Twitter, and in response, a number of comments came from his followers – some appreciating the idea while others are identifying issues in the idea. Of course, the underlying mechanism for the Crypto-Twitter (if it fructifies) will be based on the open-ledger and the application programming interface (API) that is used in the blockchain technology.
Crypto-Twitter
Drawing a comparison between Twitter and hypothetical Crypto-Twitter, Srinivasan emphasized that the centralized and mutable nature of Twitter is something that makes the micro-blogging platform a bit conservative in its conversational approach. The idea behind Crypto-Twitter is to come up with a platform that will be completely decentralized and using the open-ledger technology for recording the feeds of its members. The immutable nature of blockchain is definitely going to be a big positive as nobody will be able to change the record, thereby bringing high safety aspects to the table.
In reaction to Srinivasan’s tweet of the crypto-twitter idea, many responded positively while some expressed their concern related to the requirement of resources, especially when the platform is conceptualized to take decentralized structure. Questions related to the resources involved in creating the database, network bandwidth, and meeting other requirements popped up in the responses. These concerns are legitimate ones and any step in the direction of launching Crypto-Twitter need to address these issues first.
Twitter working on the principles of cryptocurrency and blockchain curry favors with many, although the practical difficulties are aplenty in achieving this objective. While the concerns related to safety and security might be addressed through the immutability and temple-proof technology of blockchain, people may not like the idea that they are not in control once they tweeted about any particular incident or topic. The open-ledger and immutability characteristics of blockchain will take away the control that users and Twitter authorities have on tweets and operational procedures.
Conclusion
In sum, the concept of crypto-Twitter is sure to ruffle feathers as decentralization and weaning off authority will comprehensively change the scenario. Among the promoters, this is not going to go down very well as they have to cede the control. On the users’ side, though, the concept of crypto-Twitter can bring a host of advantages, including the rock-solid safety and security aspect.
Fraudulent Group Involved in $722 Scam Got Arrested by the US Authorities
On Tuesday, the Justice Department made an announcement regarding the arrest of three men involved in an alleged fraud that led to the embezzlement of a whopping amount of $722 million from the investors via fake bitcoin mining earnings.
According to the latest reports, the prosecutors have recognized and addressed the fraudulent activity as a “high-tech Ponzi scheme” operated by the “BitClub Network.” The scammers pooled in money from the investors and rewarded them for bringing in new shareholders.
The statement also revealed that the malicious activity was run by the fraudsters for a long period from April 2014 to December 2019 when finally, the authorities unveiled their scam in public. All this time, the group gathered a team of unsuspecting investors by luring them with illicit earnings claimed to have earned from the group’s mining pool.
An indictment signed by US Attorney Craig Carpenito of New Jersey affirmed that the fraud scheme was operated from Passaic, New Jersey, but was aimed to work as a “worldwide fraudulent scheme.”
The Justice Department stated that the defendant Matthew Brent Goettsche addressed the investors as “dumb” during a conversation with his other team members. The head scammer mocked that he was “building the whole model on the backs of idiots” while he ordered his accomplices to manipulate the data and figures.
Paul Delacourt, the assistant director at the FBI’s Los Angeles office, stated that the defendants “are accused of deploying elaborate tactics to lure thousands of victims with promises of large returns on their investments in a bitcoin mining pool.”
The Justice Department has accused and held Goettsche and Jobadiah Sinclair Weeks for channelizing a conspiracy to commit a well-planned fraud. Along with Joseph Frank Abel of California, Goettsche and Sinclair were charged for dealing in unregistered securities.
The officials of the Justice Department stated that the group involved two other defendants as well, and their identities are being kept hidden.
On Tuesday, the Justice Department made an announcement regarding the arrest of three men involved in an alleged fraud that led to the embezzlement of a whopping amount of $722 million from the investors via fake bitcoin mining earnings.
According to the latest reports, the prosecutors have recognized and addressed the fraudulent activity as a “high-tech Ponzi scheme” operated by the “BitClub Network.” The scammers pooled in money from the investors and rewarded them for bringing in new shareholders.
The statement also revealed that the malicious activity was run by the fraudsters for a long period from April 2014 to December 2019 when finally, the authorities unveiled their scam in public. All this time, the group gathered a team of unsuspecting investors by luring them with illicit earnings claimed to have earned from the group’s mining pool.
An indictment signed by US Attorney Craig Carpenito of New Jersey affirmed that the fraud scheme was operated from Passaic, New Jersey, but was aimed to work as a “worldwide fraudulent scheme.”
The Justice Department stated that the defendant Matthew Brent Goettsche addressed the investors as “dumb” during a conversation with his other team members. The head scammer mocked that he was “building the whole model on the backs of idiots” while he ordered his accomplices to manipulate the data and figures.
Paul Delacourt, the assistant director at the FBI’s Los Angeles office, stated that the defendants “are accused of deploying elaborate tactics to lure thousands of victims with promises of large returns on their investments in a bitcoin mining pool.”
The Justice Department has accused and held Goettsche and Jobadiah Sinclair Weeks for channelizing a conspiracy to commit a well-planned fraud. Along with Joseph Frank Abel of California, Goettsche and Sinclair were charged for dealing in unregistered securities.
The officials of the Justice Department stated that the group involved two other defendants as well, and their identities are being kept hidden.
South Korean Government Falsifies Report Claiming 10% Tax on Crypto Transactions
The Ministry of Finance of South Korea has put an end to the speculations and claims that were hovering over the Korean crypto industry in the past few weeks by refuting the report that stated that the regulatory authority had imposed 10% income tax on cryptocurrency investments.
Cryptocurrencies have been in the limelight since the time they first made their presence in the marketspace during the global depression phase, in the form of Bitcoin. From then until now, the digital currencies have faced ups and downs periodically. The recent topic of utmost importance in the crypto arena is “taxation” and its implications on the governments and the crypto investors. The topic of taxation popped up as a strong concern amongst the traders, especially after the tightening of the regulatory norms by the governing authorities worldwide.
With the constant warnings and guidelines being given by the global watchdogs, governments from countries around the globe were compelled to reveal their outlook in the matter loud and clear for the public understanding. Where some countries like Thailand waived taxes on cryptocurrency gains, others like the US imposed a capital gains tax on each and every microtransaction made by the traders. However, South Korea failed to present its perspective in public, and this led to the brewing of speculations in the market.
Recently, a report published in Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo about the statement given by an unidentified high-ranking official from the Ministry of Finance sparked the news about the imposition of a 10% tax on all crypto trades. The report read: “We have already decided to tax profits from investments in cryptocurrency. The question is only how much time we should give investors and when to start implementing it.”
The report also stated that the government is likely to provide a two-year grace period before the tax code will come into effect.
In response, the Ministry of Finance denied the accuracy of the report by stating that it “is different from the fact.”
The credibility of the article was supported by the reports published earlier in the year that opined Korea’s planning to execute their cryptocurrency tax framework in June 2018.
Though the report created a lot of chaos in the crypto domain, the recent take of the Ministry of Finance on it has indicated that there are no signs of the Korean government giving an official statement on the crypto tax module anytime in the near future.
The Ministry of Finance of South Korea has put an end to the speculations and claims that were hovering over the Korean crypto industry in the past few weeks by refuting the report that stated that the regulatory authority had imposed 10% income tax on cryptocurrency investments.
Cryptocurrencies have been in the limelight since the time they first made their presence in the marketspace during the global depression phase, in the form of Bitcoin. From then until now, the digital currencies have faced ups and downs periodically. The recent topic of utmost importance in the crypto arena is “taxation” and its implications on the governments and the crypto investors. The topic of taxation popped up as a strong concern amongst the traders, especially after the tightening of the regulatory norms by the governing authorities worldwide.
With the constant warnings and guidelines being given by the global watchdogs, governments from countries around the globe were compelled to reveal their outlook in the matter loud and clear for the public understanding. Where some countries like Thailand waived taxes on cryptocurrency gains, others like the US imposed a capital gains tax on each and every microtransaction made by the traders. However, South Korea failed to present its perspective in public, and this led to the brewing of speculations in the market.
Recently, a report published in Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo about the statement given by an unidentified high-ranking official from the Ministry of Finance sparked the news about the imposition of a 10% tax on all crypto trades. The report read: “We have already decided to tax profits from investments in cryptocurrency. The question is only how much time we should give investors and when to start implementing it.”
The report also stated that the government is likely to provide a two-year grace period before the tax code will come into effect.
In response, the Ministry of Finance denied the accuracy of the report by stating that it “is different from the fact.”
The credibility of the article was supported by the reports published earlier in the year that opined Korea’s planning to execute their cryptocurrency tax framework in June 2018.
Though the report created a lot of chaos in the crypto domain, the recent take of the Ministry of Finance on it has indicated that there are no signs of the Korean government giving an official statement on the crypto tax module anytime in the near future.
Russian Authorities Charge Two Anonymous Crypto Scammers
Ever since the popularity of cryptocurrencies has seen a tremendous jump in the financial market, the rate of crimes, frauds, and illicit activities concerning digital assets have also surged up at an equally fast pace. In a recent incident, the regulatory authorities held two Russian citizens under prosecution for attempting to sabotage the computer systems of state organizations with an aim to mine cryptocurrencies in a fraudulent manner.
The process of using a person’s computer system for mining cryptocurrencies without the consent or knowledge of the owner of the system is known as cryptojacking. The instances of cryptojacking have been on the rise all this while and the regulatory authorities have been constantly giving warning to the users act instantly even at the slightest fear of hacking threat.
According to the report published by local media portal Tass on December 16, the two anonymous intruders executed their malign plan by infecting the hardware of the system with a malicious program that uses a web browser to mine cryptocurrencies. Out of the two scammers, one designed the botnet to hack the computers around different regions of the country. The other suspect channelized his operations to mine crypto using the hardware at the state water utility JSC Rostovvodokanal.
Nikolay Murashov, the Deputy Director of Russia’s National Coordination Center for Computer Incidents, addressed a press conference and stated that “up to 80% of the computer’s free power can be used to generate virtual coins, and a legitimate user may not even know about it.” The spearhead warned organizations to maintain the highest standards of cybersecurity to avoid such intrusions by fraudsters who aim to crumble the operational capacities of the businesses.
This is not for the first time that Russia has been subjected to a cyber breach incident. In February 2018, the country’s security agents trapped a nuclear engineer’s group from a top-secret nuclear warhead platform who attempted to mine Bitcoin using the state’s most powerful supercomputer.
Russia is gearing up to bring legislation that would render the authorities to seize digital asset holdings during judicial proceedings. The initiative will help the authorities to eliminate hacking risks and fraudulent activities in the country.
Ever since the popularity of cryptocurrencies has seen a tremendous jump in the financial market, the rate of crimes, frauds, and illicit activities concerning digital assets have also surged up at an equally fast pace. In a recent incident, the regulatory authorities held two Russian citizens under prosecution for attempting to sabotage the computer systems of state organizations with an aim to mine cryptocurrencies in a fraudulent manner.
The process of using a person’s computer system for mining cryptocurrencies without the consent or knowledge of the owner of the system is known as cryptojacking. The instances of cryptojacking have been on the rise all this while and the regulatory authorities have been constantly giving warning to the users act instantly even at the slightest fear of hacking threat.
According to the report published by local media portal Tass on December 16, the two anonymous intruders executed their malign plan by infecting the hardware of the system with a malicious program that uses a web browser to mine cryptocurrencies. Out of the two scammers, one designed the botnet to hack the computers around different regions of the country. The other suspect channelized his operations to mine crypto using the hardware at the state water utility JSC Rostovvodokanal.
Nikolay Murashov, the Deputy Director of Russia’s National Coordination Center for Computer Incidents, addressed a press conference and stated that “up to 80% of the computer’s free power can be used to generate virtual coins, and a legitimate user may not even know about it.” The spearhead warned organizations to maintain the highest standards of cybersecurity to avoid such intrusions by fraudsters who aim to crumble the operational capacities of the businesses.
This is not for the first time that Russia has been subjected to a cyber breach incident. In February 2018, the country’s security agents trapped a nuclear engineer’s group from a top-secret nuclear warhead platform who attempted to mine Bitcoin using the state’s most powerful supercomputer.
Russia is gearing up to bring legislation that would render the authorities to seize digital asset holdings during judicial proceedings. The initiative will help the authorities to eliminate hacking risks and fraudulent activities in the country.
Is Bitcoin SV About to Sabotage Itself?
As a major crypto company warned that their users will not be able to receive funds to their Bitcoin Satoshi’s Vision (BSV) wallets due to the coin's hard fork in February 2020, people online wonder if the project is sabotaging itself.
Digital asset custody company BitGo said that this comes as a result of the Genesis hard fork that BSV Protocol developers have scheduled for block height 620538, currently estimated to happen on February 4 next year.
The first beta version for the Genesis Hard Fork has already been released, and two public testnets created: Genesis Testnet and Genesis Reset, the latter of which will follow a 48-hour reset cycle for repeated testing of the transition, a blog post on Bitcoin SV site explained. “This hard fork represents a significant milestone in Bitcoin SV’s journey to restore the original Bitcoin protocol,” it said.
However, once completed, the consensus rule change will allegedly render Pay-to-Script-Hash (P2SH) outputs invalid, and with them all BitGo BSV wallets, as these use P2SH-based multi-signature addresses.
Making P2SH outputs invalid could potentially carry major consequences for BSV, backed by Craig Wright, and its users, if it turns out that more companies and service providers will follow BitGo’s course of action. We’ve asked Bitcoinsv.io about this situation and how will it affect BSV, and we’ll update the text should we get a response.
In case of BitGo, which was founded in 2013 and supports more than 200 coins and tokens, it means that users can still spend the funds they already held in P2SH, but they will not be able to receive any to the BitGo BSV wallet – including the change returned from a BitGo wallet. Therefore, all users will have to choose one of the two available options: either move their BSV to an external wallet, or contact BitGo to convert BSV into Bitcoin (BTC).
The second option can be seen as quite ironic given the history the two coins share (BSV is a hard fork of Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which in turn is a hard fork of BTC), as well as the animosity between the two communities – a point that hasn’t escaped online commenters.
People online have also wondered why would a project narrow down the options for their users and turn them to the competition, as it seems counter-intuitive and going against adoption. For example, Jameson Lopp, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of crypto security specialist Casa, commented: “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. BSV is essentially delisting itself.”
BSV, ranked 9th by market capitalization, is currently (13:22 UTC) trading at c. USD 78. The price has gone down 10% in the past 24 hours, while other coins from the top 10 are down 5%-13% today.
As a major crypto company warned that their users will not be able to receive funds to their Bitcoin Satoshi’s Vision (BSV) wallets due to the coin's hard fork in February 2020, people online wonder if the project is sabotaging itself.
Digital asset custody company BitGo said that this comes as a result of the Genesis hard fork that BSV Protocol developers have scheduled for block height 620538, currently estimated to happen on February 4 next year.
The first beta version for the Genesis Hard Fork has already been released, and two public testnets created: Genesis Testnet and Genesis Reset, the latter of which will follow a 48-hour reset cycle for repeated testing of the transition, a blog post on Bitcoin SV site explained. “This hard fork represents a significant milestone in Bitcoin SV’s journey to restore the original Bitcoin protocol,” it said.
However, once completed, the consensus rule change will allegedly render Pay-to-Script-Hash (P2SH) outputs invalid, and with them all BitGo BSV wallets, as these use P2SH-based multi-signature addresses.
Making P2SH outputs invalid could potentially carry major consequences for BSV, backed by Craig Wright, and its users, if it turns out that more companies and service providers will follow BitGo’s course of action. We’ve asked Bitcoinsv.io about this situation and how will it affect BSV, and we’ll update the text should we get a response.
In case of BitGo, which was founded in 2013 and supports more than 200 coins and tokens, it means that users can still spend the funds they already held in P2SH, but they will not be able to receive any to the BitGo BSV wallet – including the change returned from a BitGo wallet. Therefore, all users will have to choose one of the two available options: either move their BSV to an external wallet, or contact BitGo to convert BSV into Bitcoin (BTC).
The second option can be seen as quite ironic given the history the two coins share (BSV is a hard fork of Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which in turn is a hard fork of BTC), as well as the animosity between the two communities – a point that hasn’t escaped online commenters.
People online have also wondered why would a project narrow down the options for their users and turn them to the competition, as it seems counter-intuitive and going against adoption. For example, Jameson Lopp, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of crypto security specialist Casa, commented: “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. BSV is essentially delisting itself.”
BSV, ranked 9th by market capitalization, is currently (13:22 UTC) trading at c. USD 78. The price has gone down 10% in the past 24 hours, while other coins from the top 10 are down 5%-13% today.
CipherTrace Hints at Financial Institutions Incompetence to Trace Digital Currency Transactions
CipherTrace has taken the crypto world in a blow by stating that nearly $2 billion digital currency transactions, processed by the top 10 highly reputed U.S banking entities, go traceless on a yearly basis. CipherTrace takes pride in being the world’s first blockchain forensics team created by the entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley.
The leading blockchain analysis platform has highlighted a suite of financial organizations that have failed to adopt a law-abiding framework for the fulfillment of KYC/AML norms. The firm stated that the unaccounted pool of funds is directed via money service business’ (MSBs) transactions that involve virtual currency exchanges and brokerage services.
As per the statement given by the CipherTrace team, the chief cause for the processing of the transactions, unknowingly, by the banking institutions is the lack of adoption of the latest technological excellence required for the tracing of such trading activities. The report mentioned nearly two-third of the top crypto exchanges as institutions following a “weak KYC” mechanism. It revealed that one of the exchanges allowed the CipherTrace team to withdraw 0.25 BTC per day without any substantial scrutiny, which exposed the weak ecosystem.
In a general rule, the financial institutions need to detect the MSB transactions and report it to the financial watchdog FATF or the Financial Action Task Force. CipherTrace strongly affirmed that the banking institutions would have to comply with the given regulatory guidelines released by FATF, in the future.
“Financial institutions are exposed to cryptocurrency-related risks because they have no way to detect underlying threats,” stated Dave Jevans, the honorable CEO of CipherTrace.
The report highlighted that though the current year witnessed a downfall in crypto-related crimes, there were cases of multiple crypto exchange frauds and hacks, which amounted to $4.4 billion. CipherTrace gave a special mention to the exchanges that halted the operations of privacy coins in accordance with the FATF guidelines.
“In anticipation of the new FATF AML regulations, many cryptocurrency exchanges have preemptively jettisoned their privacy coins; yet, 32 percent of exchanges, including those determined to have weak KYC, still have privacy coins listed,” read the report.
The firm affirmed that stringent regulatory actions have played an important role in reducing malicious and fraudulent activities in the crypto niche. The report stated that “Ciphertrace had previously speculated that the shift from outright thefts to exit scams and other frauds perpetrated by insiders indicated that crypto exchanges had begun to adequately invest in hardening their IT infrastructures.”
CipherTrace has taken the crypto world in a blow by stating that nearly $2 billion digital currency transactions, processed by the top 10 highly reputed U.S banking entities, go traceless on a yearly basis. CipherTrace takes pride in being the world’s first blockchain forensics team created by the entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley.
The leading blockchain analysis platform has highlighted a suite of financial organizations that have failed to adopt a law-abiding framework for the fulfillment of KYC/AML norms. The firm stated that the unaccounted pool of funds is directed via money service business’ (MSBs) transactions that involve virtual currency exchanges and brokerage services.
As per the statement given by the CipherTrace team, the chief cause for the processing of the transactions, unknowingly, by the banking institutions is the lack of adoption of the latest technological excellence required for the tracing of such trading activities. The report mentioned nearly two-third of the top crypto exchanges as institutions following a “weak KYC” mechanism. It revealed that one of the exchanges allowed the CipherTrace team to withdraw 0.25 BTC per day without any substantial scrutiny, which exposed the weak ecosystem.
In a general rule, the financial institutions need to detect the MSB transactions and report it to the financial watchdog FATF or the Financial Action Task Force. CipherTrace strongly affirmed that the banking institutions would have to comply with the given regulatory guidelines released by FATF, in the future.
“Financial institutions are exposed to cryptocurrency-related risks because they have no way to detect underlying threats,” stated Dave Jevans, the honorable CEO of CipherTrace.
The report highlighted that though the current year witnessed a downfall in crypto-related crimes, there were cases of multiple crypto exchange frauds and hacks, which amounted to $4.4 billion. CipherTrace gave a special mention to the exchanges that halted the operations of privacy coins in accordance with the FATF guidelines.
“In anticipation of the new FATF AML regulations, many cryptocurrency exchanges have preemptively jettisoned their privacy coins; yet, 32 percent of exchanges, including those determined to have weak KYC, still have privacy coins listed,” read the report.
The firm affirmed that stringent regulatory actions have played an important role in reducing malicious and fraudulent activities in the crypto niche. The report stated that “Ciphertrace had previously speculated that the shift from outright thefts to exit scams and other frauds perpetrated by insiders indicated that crypto exchanges had begun to adequately invest in hardening their IT infrastructures.”
MoneyGram May Not Be Holding Any XRP, but They Share Equal Vision: MoneyGram CEO
MoneyGram is one of the world’s fastest-growing money transfer company and it possesses a huge market share in the United States. Recently, MoneyGram has announced many new partnerships to sustain in the market amidst tough competitions from its other peers. In an interview with CNN’s Julia Chatterley, MoneyGram’s CEO Alex Holmes described in detail about their vision and partnership with the crypto major, Ripple.
CNN correspondent Julia asked Alex the role of MoneyGram and what the company is doing to tackle border digitization. Alex briefly explained why it is the best time to focus on cross border transfer. As per him, as cross border migration is on the rise, people are sending money in huge volumes from one country to another. MoneyGram has been working traditionally on agency network basis covering 350,000 locations spreading across 200 countries in the world. However, in recent years, MoneyGram has been forwarding with an aim to modernize the way of business by introducing digitization. To cope with the advancement in the whole industry and across the globe, MoneyGram aims at making a paradigm shift in the way it handles money transfers.
When asked about the percentage of transactions done digitally compared to in-store transactions, Alex indicated that they are still miles to go before catching up on the global average of 40%. As far as the last quarter’s statistics are concerned, MoneyGram’s one-fifth of all transactions were done in digital mode. Alex also added that over the last 24 months, they have been increasing their online presence in many countries and they seemed to be pretty excited about the new changes like app launch, loyalty program, and transaction notifications.
Julia asked Alex about the rationale behind choosing Ripple as its partner and about the investment of 50 million USD that happened in June. To which Alex replied that moving money cross border is an extremely tough and complex task to do. He further explained that in the case of cross-border transfers, money physically doesn’t move, but it is the data that moves. To do that, they have to make the settlement engines available in the receiver’s country and place liquidity as well that requires loads of working capital in almost 122 different currencies. As per Alex, the whole crypto industry and blockchain technology have the potential to transform the money transfer market as it facilitates instant transfers. On specifically why Ripple, he explained that the partnership with Ripple helps them understand how they can send money without holding liquidity all over the globe and it copes with their vision as well. He said, “They (Ripple) also have the vision that encapsulates what we are trying to do as well … I think and Ripple and its crypto XRP are innovative in that sense.”
Julia asked Alex whether the association with Ripple is only about the instant transaction, or it is also related to bringing down the costs. To which Alex replied as of today, the transaction cost should be minimum and the transaction should be done instantly. However, this has not been possible because of the high cost of foreign exchange, banking transaction cost and volatility of the value of currencies. With the association with Ripple, they aim at checking both.
Quoting the most popular question, Julia went on asking if Alex holds any digital currency or XRP. Alex clarified that neither he nor MoneyGram holds any digital currency or XRP due to cumbersome regulations and changing accounting standards. MoneyGram tends to hold XRP for a while only to sell it for the completion of transactions on behalf of its customers. Alex also added that by tying up with Visa Direct, they are aiming at enhancing their global presence and competing with the organizations providing free service.
MoneyGram is one of the world’s fastest-growing money transfer company and it possesses a huge market share in the United States. Recently, MoneyGram has announced many new partnerships to sustain in the market amidst tough competitions from its other peers. In an interview with CNN’s Julia Chatterley, MoneyGram’s CEO Alex Holmes described in detail about their vision and partnership with the crypto major, Ripple.
CNN correspondent Julia asked Alex the role of MoneyGram and what the company is doing to tackle border digitization. Alex briefly explained why it is the best time to focus on cross border transfer. As per him, as cross border migration is on the rise, people are sending money in huge volumes from one country to another. MoneyGram has been working traditionally on agency network basis covering 350,000 locations spreading across 200 countries in the world. However, in recent years, MoneyGram has been forwarding with an aim to modernize the way of business by introducing digitization. To cope with the advancement in the whole industry and across the globe, MoneyGram aims at making a paradigm shift in the way it handles money transfers.
When asked about the percentage of transactions done digitally compared to in-store transactions, Alex indicated that they are still miles to go before catching up on the global average of 40%. As far as the last quarter’s statistics are concerned, MoneyGram’s one-fifth of all transactions were done in digital mode. Alex also added that over the last 24 months, they have been increasing their online presence in many countries and they seemed to be pretty excited about the new changes like app launch, loyalty program, and transaction notifications.
Julia asked Alex about the rationale behind choosing Ripple as its partner and about the investment of 50 million USD that happened in June. To which Alex replied that moving money cross border is an extremely tough and complex task to do. He further explained that in the case of cross-border transfers, money physically doesn’t move, but it is the data that moves. To do that, they have to make the settlement engines available in the receiver’s country and place liquidity as well that requires loads of working capital in almost 122 different currencies. As per Alex, the whole crypto industry and blockchain technology have the potential to transform the money transfer market as it facilitates instant transfers. On specifically why Ripple, he explained that the partnership with Ripple helps them understand how they can send money without holding liquidity all over the globe and it copes with their vision as well. He said, “They (Ripple) also have the vision that encapsulates what we are trying to do as well … I think and Ripple and its crypto XRP are innovative in that sense.”
Julia asked Alex whether the association with Ripple is only about the instant transaction, or it is also related to bringing down the costs. To which Alex replied as of today, the transaction cost should be minimum and the transaction should be done instantly. However, this has not been possible because of the high cost of foreign exchange, banking transaction cost and volatility of the value of currencies. With the association with Ripple, they aim at checking both.
Quoting the most popular question, Julia went on asking if Alex holds any digital currency or XRP. Alex clarified that neither he nor MoneyGram holds any digital currency or XRP due to cumbersome regulations and changing accounting standards. MoneyGram tends to hold XRP for a while only to sell it for the completion of transactions on behalf of its customers. Alex also added that by tying up with Visa Direct, they are aiming at enhancing their global presence and competing with the organizations providing free service.
BitEclipse is a new and reliable online broker and exchange platform allowing users to safely perform both online and offline trades. The platform’s main attraction is the familiar and easy-to-use interface that many traders already know how to use and love.
BitEclipse has also added a cryptocurrency broker network, which allows users to trade funds via a dealer network, as opposed to a centralized exchange. This over-the-counter (OTC) market comprise sellers and buyers who individually large pools of crypto, and pair them for sale. The other benefit is that the OTC market helps you to avoid slippage on your purchase and also to earn a discount. With BitEclipse cryptocurrency broker service, you get to enjoy a more flexible, faster and more convenient settlement for all trades.
Our platform is built to serve a wider community by offering the choice of trading between multiple assets including Forex, Commodity, Index CFD, and Crypto. It is also available worldwide with active users in multiple countries and to top it all off, there is no limit on how much can be traded. Besides, the fees are highly competitive—provides fast and reliable transactions with minimal fees.
At the core of BitEclipse platform, is the BitEclipse Token (BET). BET is a non-blockchained beneficial token which gives traders & IB affiliators (Introducing Broker) more power or/and right for investment and marketing within the platform. The token can also be utilized as a Margin Fund of trading with BitEclipse. BET will be available for purchase during the initial exchange offering (IEO) sale.
BitEclipse has the goal of providing cryptocurrency trading internationally, making sure that the ‘golden fruit’ is shared by everyone including the unbanked populations across the globe. Considering the financial needs of every individual customer, BitEclipse created one of the leading technology platforms to trade freely and confidently.
Start trading crypto, forex and any other asset with BitEclipse.
Telegram: https://t.me/BitEclipse
Twitter: https://twitter.com/biteclipse96122
BitEclipse has also added a cryptocurrency broker network, which allows users to trade funds via a dealer network, as opposed to a centralized exchange. This over-the-counter (OTC) market comprise sellers and buyers who individually large pools of crypto, and pair them for sale. The other benefit is that the OTC market helps you to avoid slippage on your purchase and also to earn a discount. With BitEclipse cryptocurrency broker service, you get to enjoy a more flexible, faster and more convenient settlement for all trades.
Our platform is built to serve a wider community by offering the choice of trading between multiple assets including Forex, Commodity, Index CFD, and Crypto. It is also available worldwide with active users in multiple countries and to top it all off, there is no limit on how much can be traded. Besides, the fees are highly competitive—provides fast and reliable transactions with minimal fees.
At the core of BitEclipse platform, is the BitEclipse Token (BET). BET is a non-blockchained beneficial token which gives traders & IB affiliators (Introducing Broker) more power or/and right for investment and marketing within the platform. The token can also be utilized as a Margin Fund of trading with BitEclipse. BET will be available for purchase during the initial exchange offering (IEO) sale.
BitEclipse has the goal of providing cryptocurrency trading internationally, making sure that the ‘golden fruit’ is shared by everyone including the unbanked populations across the globe. Considering the financial needs of every individual customer, BitEclipse created one of the leading technology platforms to trade freely and confidently.
Start trading crypto, forex and any other asset with BitEclipse.
Telegram: https://t.me/BitEclipse
Twitter: https://twitter.com/biteclipse96122
Cryptocurrency : The Upcoming and Beyond
Money has always been an essential part of society for centuries. The same helped in economic growth, and thus, the money was protected in the best way possible according to the different periods. The modern-day money has to go through different channels before coming in the hand of an individual. The revolution that changed the definition of money gained popularity from 2009. The digital money was a peer to peer networking thing that attracted many. Due to the same, cryptocurrencies were recognized as a diverse opportunity for growth. Some even said the cryptocurrency is the future of the next-gen economy.
Past of the cryptocurrency
Walking down the memory lane, the cryptocurrency caught up the buzz in 2013. Bitcoin was the nucleus of many media reports as the coin escalated to $266. In the subsequent years, the currency was spotted in 10 folds. The entire market cap was at an astounding level, and thus, the same was a magnet for the investors who wanted the future in their hands. In 2017, Bitcoin was crowned as the king of the cryptocurrency market. The coin began the year at $1,000, and by the last quarter, Bitcoin was at $17,000. In 2018, the coin escalated nearly to $20,000 at the beginning of the year, but the pullback pressure compelled the coin to close the year at $3,000.
Current Scenario of the cryptocurrency
The cryptocurrencies are the present time that has broken many restrictions. The currencies are used in gaming zones. There are Bitcoin ATMs that allow dealing by converting cash or credit card or debit card or bank transfer into Bitcoins. Alongside, there are many upcoming opportunities emerging which would give new horizons for the cryptocurrencies.
The current year spotted not only Bitcoin but coins like Litecoin, Ethereum, Ripple making its way to the top. Tron Ecosystem, the parent company of Tron, captured many headlines in the first and second quarters. Litecoin emerged as a surprise for many as the momentum in currency was better than Bitcoin. Litecoin started the year at $30 and in 6 months, the currency jumped to an approx value of $150. The digits here have quintupled in just two quarters. However, the surge wasn’t locked in Litecoin and the present value of the coin is approx $40. Bitcoin started 2019 with a marvelous pace. The coin escalated to $13,700 in the second quarter but the surge couldn’t stay for long and now, at the time of writing, the currency is around $7,000.
In 2019, there was a lot of news circulating new ventures in the market. The same is going to give 2020 a new set of opportunities. There are few exchanges planning to adopt the cryptocurrencies to give it more exposure. Also, in conjunction with the ongoing popularity, the cryptocurrency restricted countries are planning to lift the boundation.
Emergence of stability
The last couple of years are reflecting the drastic change in the volatility in the cryptocurrency. In 2018, the opening price was around $13,000 and the closing was $3,000. There was around $10,000 loss in 12 months. The picture seems to improve in 2019, as the currency started at $3,000 and is likely to close around $7,500. Instead of loss, there is a possibility of profit in Bitcoin. Alongside this, stable coins are paving their way for success. Tether and EOS, being the mainstream coins in the market, somehow managed to stay at the top of the list with their stable characteristics amidst the violate market. The coming year would carry similar potential coins with leading stability in the market.
Money has always been an essential part of society for centuries. The same helped in economic growth, and thus, the money was protected in the best way possible according to the different periods. The modern-day money has to go through different channels before coming in the hand of an individual. The revolution that changed the definition of money gained popularity from 2009. The digital money was a peer to peer networking thing that attracted many. Due to the same, cryptocurrencies were recognized as a diverse opportunity for growth. Some even said the cryptocurrency is the future of the next-gen economy.
Past of the cryptocurrency
Walking down the memory lane, the cryptocurrency caught up the buzz in 2013. Bitcoin was the nucleus of many media reports as the coin escalated to $266. In the subsequent years, the currency was spotted in 10 folds. The entire market cap was at an astounding level, and thus, the same was a magnet for the investors who wanted the future in their hands. In 2017, Bitcoin was crowned as the king of the cryptocurrency market. The coin began the year at $1,000, and by the last quarter, Bitcoin was at $17,000. In 2018, the coin escalated nearly to $20,000 at the beginning of the year, but the pullback pressure compelled the coin to close the year at $3,000.
Current Scenario of the cryptocurrency
The cryptocurrencies are the present time that has broken many restrictions. The currencies are used in gaming zones. There are Bitcoin ATMs that allow dealing by converting cash or credit card or debit card or bank transfer into Bitcoins. Alongside, there are many upcoming opportunities emerging which would give new horizons for the cryptocurrencies.
The current year spotted not only Bitcoin but coins like Litecoin, Ethereum, Ripple making its way to the top. Tron Ecosystem, the parent company of Tron, captured many headlines in the first and second quarters. Litecoin emerged as a surprise for many as the momentum in currency was better than Bitcoin. Litecoin started the year at $30 and in 6 months, the currency jumped to an approx value of $150. The digits here have quintupled in just two quarters. However, the surge wasn’t locked in Litecoin and the present value of the coin is approx $40. Bitcoin started 2019 with a marvelous pace. The coin escalated to $13,700 in the second quarter but the surge couldn’t stay for long and now, at the time of writing, the currency is around $7,000.
In 2019, there was a lot of news circulating new ventures in the market. The same is going to give 2020 a new set of opportunities. There are few exchanges planning to adopt the cryptocurrencies to give it more exposure. Also, in conjunction with the ongoing popularity, the cryptocurrency restricted countries are planning to lift the boundation.
Emergence of stability
The last couple of years are reflecting the drastic change in the volatility in the cryptocurrency. In 2018, the opening price was around $13,000 and the closing was $3,000. There was around $10,000 loss in 12 months. The picture seems to improve in 2019, as the currency started at $3,000 and is likely to close around $7,500. Instead of loss, there is a possibility of profit in Bitcoin. Alongside this, stable coins are paving their way for success. Tether and EOS, being the mainstream coins in the market, somehow managed to stay at the top of the list with their stable characteristics amidst the violate market. The coming year would carry similar potential coins with leading stability in the market.
The Top 3 Online Kratom Vendors who Accept Crytpo
Ever since the inception of cryptocurrency, the world has completely changed in terms of many businesses conducting transactions online. Cryptocurrency is beneficial for many reasons. The first and most concrete reason for using cryptocurrency is that it is fast, and secondly, data is safe over the internet. Kratom is an illegal herb that is sold by many top-notch vendors online. Although, not all but some of them accept payment in cryptocurrency. In this article, we will guide you through some top-notch kratom vendors that have introduced payment in bitcoin and other digital currencies for the benefit of the customers.
Kratom Crazy
As a veteran in its field, Kratom Crazy has over ten years’ experience of satisfying thousands of customers. Kratom crazy introduced payment via crypto just a few months back. If you pay via eCheck or bitcoin, you become eligible for a 10% discount. Kratom Crazy is applauded by many customers because the company sells lab-tested right quality products on the website. Secondly, they have a vast array of kratom strains to choose from. Once you visit their website, you will come across advertisements for coupon codes and bulk discounts on the top right corner. So, what are you waiting for? Head over to this website to avail of massive discounts.
Kraken Kratom
This company holds a positive reputation in the minds of kratom fans all across the globe. Traditionally they would ship in specific countries, but now they ship kratom products to different countries in the world. If you order using bitcoin, you become eligible for a 10% discount. Secondly, by paying in the digital currency, you also become a part of their online club that provides whopping discounts to customers. It is very simple to avail discount; all you have to do is choose payment in bitcoin while proceeding to check out. Therefore, Kraken Kratom is a suitable vendor if you want to pay online via cryptocurrency from anywhere in the world.
The Golden Monk
If you want to buy kratom of the finest quality online, head over to The Golden Monk. This company has been serving customers for more than a decade and is liked by customers because of their versatility. Apart from selling a vast array of kratom strains, you will also come across multiple payment options on this website. You can easily pay through bitcoin and avail a 10% discount. You will be intrigued to know that they have a special spin wheel that provides up to a 10% discount to the customers. However, this percentage varies according to the number of visits you pay to the website. The Golden Monk has a user-friendly website that is easy to navigate. Just before you check out, choose the mode of payment and easily pay via cryptocurrency.
Though there are other vendors as well, the ones mentioned above have joined the crypto bandwagon and are successfully serving many customers. Hadn’t it been for cryptocurrency, online payments would have never been this fast.
Ever since the inception of cryptocurrency, the world has completely changed in terms of many businesses conducting transactions online. Cryptocurrency is beneficial for many reasons. The first and most concrete reason for using cryptocurrency is that it is fast, and secondly, data is safe over the internet. Kratom is an illegal herb that is sold by many top-notch vendors online. Although, not all but some of them accept payment in cryptocurrency. In this article, we will guide you through some top-notch kratom vendors that have introduced payment in bitcoin and other digital currencies for the benefit of the customers.
Kratom Crazy
As a veteran in its field, Kratom Crazy has over ten years’ experience of satisfying thousands of customers. Kratom crazy introduced payment via crypto just a few months back. If you pay via eCheck or bitcoin, you become eligible for a 10% discount. Kratom Crazy is applauded by many customers because the company sells lab-tested right quality products on the website. Secondly, they have a vast array of kratom strains to choose from. Once you visit their website, you will come across advertisements for coupon codes and bulk discounts on the top right corner. So, what are you waiting for? Head over to this website to avail of massive discounts.
Kraken Kratom
This company holds a positive reputation in the minds of kratom fans all across the globe. Traditionally they would ship in specific countries, but now they ship kratom products to different countries in the world. If you order using bitcoin, you become eligible for a 10% discount. Secondly, by paying in the digital currency, you also become a part of their online club that provides whopping discounts to customers. It is very simple to avail discount; all you have to do is choose payment in bitcoin while proceeding to check out. Therefore, Kraken Kratom is a suitable vendor if you want to pay online via cryptocurrency from anywhere in the world.
The Golden Monk
If you want to buy kratom of the finest quality online, head over to The Golden Monk. This company has been serving customers for more than a decade and is liked by customers because of their versatility. Apart from selling a vast array of kratom strains, you will also come across multiple payment options on this website. You can easily pay through bitcoin and avail a 10% discount. You will be intrigued to know that they have a special spin wheel that provides up to a 10% discount to the customers. However, this percentage varies according to the number of visits you pay to the website. The Golden Monk has a user-friendly website that is easy to navigate. Just before you check out, choose the mode of payment and easily pay via cryptocurrency.
Though there are other vendors as well, the ones mentioned above have joined the crypto bandwagon and are successfully serving many customers. Hadn’t it been for cryptocurrency, online payments would have never been this fast.
Trinity Users Can Directly Purchase IOTA From the Wallet With Moonpay
As per the recent update, the users on trinity wallet who are keen on purchasing IOTA directly from the wallet, are presently allowed to do so by using IOTA’s integration with MoonPay, “a FIAT/IOTA onramp that enables purchasing directly from the wallet.”
At the moment, the users can buy IOTA tokens utilizing a credit or a debit card for a fee of 4.5 percent above €100 with a minimum charge of €4.99. Even though it is a bit expensive for some users, the convenience of buying IOTA with a debit or a credit card exceeds the card processing charges.
Sometime in the future, users can also have the option to link their bank accounts to buy with GBP/EUR for small fees. Moreover, no KYC is needed for purchases under €150, and IOTA does not need any data from MoonPay for the KYC procedure.
Besides, IOTA considers this to be a significant step to improve growth and development in the IOTA environment. In this way, this new improvement provides IOTA clients FIAT/IOTA onramp makes it special.
Last July, The IOTA Foundation declared the release of the Trinity wallet on all major desktop and mobile platforms. Trinity holds two standards for its users, such as security and user-friendliness. Currently, with over 1.8 billion dollars worth of IOTA is transacted and more than 160,000 downloads over all platforms, Trinity has become a huge achievement.
Additionally, this makes a flawless client experience for purchasing the digital token IOTA. Moreover, MoonPay, in particular, is not a specialized trading platform; it will allow users who are non-traders to explore and buy IOTA Tokens at their convenience, without the requirement of going through crypto exchanges. Besides, this is a major step in expanding the usage of the Trinity wallet.
Currently, MoonPay is accessible to users from Europe and Asia and may be available for US members in the future. This may be a restriction to MoonPay, yet they are working hard to get IOTA approved for US residents shortly.
As per the recent update, the users on trinity wallet who are keen on purchasing IOTA directly from the wallet, are presently allowed to do so by using IOTA’s integration with MoonPay, “a FIAT/IOTA onramp that enables purchasing directly from the wallet.”
At the moment, the users can buy IOTA tokens utilizing a credit or a debit card for a fee of 4.5 percent above €100 with a minimum charge of €4.99. Even though it is a bit expensive for some users, the convenience of buying IOTA with a debit or a credit card exceeds the card processing charges.
Sometime in the future, users can also have the option to link their bank accounts to buy with GBP/EUR for small fees. Moreover, no KYC is needed for purchases under €150, and IOTA does not need any data from MoonPay for the KYC procedure.
Besides, IOTA considers this to be a significant step to improve growth and development in the IOTA environment. In this way, this new improvement provides IOTA clients FIAT/IOTA onramp makes it special.
Last July, The IOTA Foundation declared the release of the Trinity wallet on all major desktop and mobile platforms. Trinity holds two standards for its users, such as security and user-friendliness. Currently, with over 1.8 billion dollars worth of IOTA is transacted and more than 160,000 downloads over all platforms, Trinity has become a huge achievement.
Additionally, this makes a flawless client experience for purchasing the digital token IOTA. Moreover, MoonPay, in particular, is not a specialized trading platform; it will allow users who are non-traders to explore and buy IOTA Tokens at their convenience, without the requirement of going through crypto exchanges. Besides, this is a major step in expanding the usage of the Trinity wallet.
Currently, MoonPay is accessible to users from Europe and Asia and may be available for US members in the future. This may be a restriction to MoonPay, yet they are working hard to get IOTA approved for US residents shortly.
Huobi Wallet Will Support ADA Staking During Cardano Mainnet Live
Good news coming for Huobi wallet users. Huobi wallet, in its latest tweet, has announced that the Huobi users can join them for staking ADA currency to earn incentives.
The tweet mentions that when the Cardano mainnet turns live on the Huobi wallet, it will support the Staking of ADA. Wallet users are invited to delegate their stakes during this mainnet.
The Huobi wallet node will also be available for Shelley Incentivized testnet and more details will soon be revealed in the upcoming days on social media.
What is the Huobi Wallet?
Huobi Wallet is a multi-asset and cross-chain exchange crypto wallet where the users can exchange various crypto coins following a simplified procedure. It is a decentralized app browser and enables the staking of coins for the PoS network. It supports the exchange of all top cryptocurrencies including BTC, EOS, ETH, USDT TRX, etc. along with ERC-20 tokens and supports for almost seven blockchains.
This decentralized wallet provides Digital Asset Management (DAM) services and is equipped with advanced security. It is supported by the Changelly crypto exchange.
What is Cardano and its Rewards Program?
Cardano is one of the largest decentralized cryptocurrency networks globally. To promote their newly launched Shelley network, they have launched various reward programs using their ADA crypto coins.
Huobi Wallet will now support the reward program, i.e. designed to build a strong and decentralized network of wallet users across the world. According to the promotional policy, wallet users can earn ADA coins as rewards advancing their support on the Shelley network.
ADA represents the amount of participation stake on the network. The amount of ADA is equal to the size of the stake. If one holds 5% ADA, he has 5% participation in the network.
Incentive Mechanism of Cardano
The rewards model works broadly on rationality that if the participant works harder, he will be benefited maximum. It is set on coded protocols, which include the details of different levels of stake delegation and when and how the incentives will be paid. It thus ensures the active collaboration of participants to contribute to the network out of self-interest.
The incentive model on testnet depends on the percentage of network participation. The users will be incentivized for delegating the stakes or for operating the stake pool.
Approximately 3.8 million ADA will be available as a reward. If the network participation goes up to 50 %, then annual rewards will be 7–8%. But, if the participation is lower than 50%, then the rewards can go up to 13–15%. For stake pool operators, assuming 10,000,000 ADA, the stake pool operation will go up to 12–13 percent.
How one can participate?
As part of the participation, the delegation of stakes can be done on the Shelley network on the Cardano platform.
If one holds ADA in their official wallets Yoroi or Daedalus, he/she can participate in the Incentivized Testnet. One can download any of the testnet wallets and start delegating the stakes to earn real rewards in the form of ADA.
The rewards will be transferred to the mainnet after the incentivized testnet ends.
Good news coming for Huobi wallet users. Huobi wallet, in its latest tweet, has announced that the Huobi users can join them for staking ADA currency to earn incentives.
The tweet mentions that when the Cardano mainnet turns live on the Huobi wallet, it will support the Staking of ADA. Wallet users are invited to delegate their stakes during this mainnet.
The Huobi wallet node will also be available for Shelley Incentivized testnet and more details will soon be revealed in the upcoming days on social media.
What is the Huobi Wallet?
Huobi Wallet is a multi-asset and cross-chain exchange crypto wallet where the users can exchange various crypto coins following a simplified procedure. It is a decentralized app browser and enables the staking of coins for the PoS network. It supports the exchange of all top cryptocurrencies including BTC, EOS, ETH, USDT TRX, etc. along with ERC-20 tokens and supports for almost seven blockchains.
This decentralized wallet provides Digital Asset Management (DAM) services and is equipped with advanced security. It is supported by the Changelly crypto exchange.
What is Cardano and its Rewards Program?
Cardano is one of the largest decentralized cryptocurrency networks globally. To promote their newly launched Shelley network, they have launched various reward programs using their ADA crypto coins.
Huobi Wallet will now support the reward program, i.e. designed to build a strong and decentralized network of wallet users across the world. According to the promotional policy, wallet users can earn ADA coins as rewards advancing their support on the Shelley network.
ADA represents the amount of participation stake on the network. The amount of ADA is equal to the size of the stake. If one holds 5% ADA, he has 5% participation in the network.
Incentive Mechanism of Cardano
The rewards model works broadly on rationality that if the participant works harder, he will be benefited maximum. It is set on coded protocols, which include the details of different levels of stake delegation and when and how the incentives will be paid. It thus ensures the active collaboration of participants to contribute to the network out of self-interest.
The incentive model on testnet depends on the percentage of network participation. The users will be incentivized for delegating the stakes or for operating the stake pool.
Approximately 3.8 million ADA will be available as a reward. If the network participation goes up to 50 %, then annual rewards will be 7–8%. But, if the participation is lower than 50%, then the rewards can go up to 13–15%. For stake pool operators, assuming 10,000,000 ADA, the stake pool operation will go up to 12–13 percent.
How one can participate?
As part of the participation, the delegation of stakes can be done on the Shelley network on the Cardano platform.
If one holds ADA in their official wallets Yoroi or Daedalus, he/she can participate in the Incentivized Testnet. One can download any of the testnet wallets and start delegating the stakes to earn real rewards in the form of ADA.
The rewards will be transferred to the mainnet after the incentivized testnet ends.
Uzbekistan Tightens Norms for Crypto Dealing; Bans Purchases
The residents of Uzbekistan will not be able to indulge in the purchasing of digital currencies from the licensed cryptocurrencies exchanges operating in the country in accordance with the latest regulatory amendments being introduced by the National Agency for Project Management on December 6, 2019. By pulling back the operability capacities of private individuals concerning the purchase of virtual currencies, the country has become a major point of discussion in the crypto world.
According to the latest reports concerning the issue, the agency has allowed the investors to sell off their digital holdings which they have traded from reliable and legal trading activities on registered crypto exchange platforms, Sputnik and Forklog.
The new amendments have put an end to the use of cryptocurrencies as a payment mode in the country. The registered exchanges will entertain the requests of only those investors who will be 18 years of age or more, having verified identities, and their names should not be in the list of individuals who are suspected of illicit activities like money laundering and terror financing.
The stringent actions taken by the Uzbekistan government have come as a surprise to many crypto enthusiasts as the country was showing signs of becoming a heaven for blockchain-based businesses and projects. In 2018, the country gave its legal acceptance for digital currency trading and allowed exchange licensing through a presidential decree. The country paved the way for the easy flow of digital currencies in the country. With a view to expanding the crypto operations in the country, the government signed a pact with the Korean Blockchain Business Association which was to provide the necessary aid for the successful execution of the Uzbekistan Revolution 4.0 project. The highly anticipated project was focused on strengthening the blockchain network in the country by the establishment of a trading exchange, blockchain academy, and legalization of ICOs.
Despite the introduction of the new policies, the Uzbekistan government is hopeful that promising foreign investments, projects, and entities will surely move to the country in the future.
The residents of Uzbekistan will not be able to indulge in the purchasing of digital currencies from the licensed cryptocurrencies exchanges operating in the country in accordance with the latest regulatory amendments being introduced by the National Agency for Project Management on December 6, 2019. By pulling back the operability capacities of private individuals concerning the purchase of virtual currencies, the country has become a major point of discussion in the crypto world.
According to the latest reports concerning the issue, the agency has allowed the investors to sell off their digital holdings which they have traded from reliable and legal trading activities on registered crypto exchange platforms, Sputnik and Forklog.
The new amendments have put an end to the use of cryptocurrencies as a payment mode in the country. The registered exchanges will entertain the requests of only those investors who will be 18 years of age or more, having verified identities, and their names should not be in the list of individuals who are suspected of illicit activities like money laundering and terror financing.
The stringent actions taken by the Uzbekistan government have come as a surprise to many crypto enthusiasts as the country was showing signs of becoming a heaven for blockchain-based businesses and projects. In 2018, the country gave its legal acceptance for digital currency trading and allowed exchange licensing through a presidential decree. The country paved the way for the easy flow of digital currencies in the country. With a view to expanding the crypto operations in the country, the government signed a pact with the Korean Blockchain Business Association which was to provide the necessary aid for the successful execution of the Uzbekistan Revolution 4.0 project. The highly anticipated project was focused on strengthening the blockchain network in the country by the establishment of a trading exchange, blockchain academy, and legalization of ICOs.
Despite the introduction of the new policies, the Uzbekistan government is hopeful that promising foreign investments, projects, and entities will surely move to the country in the future.
