Signature Bank of New York is courting licensed fintech firms in Bermuda, including crypto startups that have struggled to secure accounts.
Source: Coindesk
Original Post: Signature Bank to Offer Accounts to Bermuda’s Crypto Startups
Crypto exchange Kraken is giving a $100,000 reward for info or assistance that leads to the discovery of QuadrigaCX’s missing funds
Source: Cointelegraph.com
Original Post: Crypto Exchange Kraken Offers 0,000 Reward for QuadrigaCX’s Missing Funds
Tesla’s big news event for today was dominated by the official unveiling of the long-awaited $35,000 Model 3. Excitement over the new low-cost sedan was sapped, however, after Elon Musk delivered disappointing news about Tesla’s profitability prospects. Tesla Unveils $35,000 Model 3 $35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Nowhttps://t.co/xZ0J4rbbgM — Tesla (@Tesla) February 28, 2019 The Model 3’s new $35,000 version will have a 220-mile battery pack range. New buyers will only be able to make purchases online. Here’s a look at the bare bones Standard Model 3 specs. There is a range of options available, and they’re noted on the
The post Elon Musk’s Mysterious Tweet Results in $35,000 Tesla Model 3 appeared first on CCN
Source: CCN.com
Original Post: Elon Musk’s Mysterious Tweet Results in ,000 Tesla Model 3
While answering questions at Los Angeles-based news outlet Daily Journal Corp’s annual meeting, Charlie Munger, Vice Chairman of investment giant Berkshire Hathaway and longtime partner of fellow billionaire Warren Buffett, took a thinly-veiled shot at Elon Musk, founder and CEO of automobile company Tesla Inc. Munger, who serves as the chairman of Journal Daily Corp, has gained worldwide acclaim as a successful investor and is also seen as a “sage” who gives some of the best investment advice. At the annual meeting, Munger was asked by a company shareholder about his proverb, where he once famously said he would rather
The post Billionaire Charlie Munger Destroys Elon Musk’s Hyperinflated Sense of IQ appeared first on CCN
Source: CCN.com
Original Post: Billionaire Charlie Munger Destroys Elon Musk’s Hyperinflated Sense of IQ
Earlier this week, Coinomi, cryptocurrency wallet that enables users to trade, secure and manage their Bitcoin [BTC] and other cryptocurrencies, was recently under the scrutiny of the cryptocurrency space as an alleged vulnerability in the wallet was bought to light on Reddit by Warith Al Maawali. However, Coinomi has now addressed this issue on its official web page.
The user of the platform has claimed to have lost about $60,000 – $70,000 worth of cryptocurrency because of this vulnerability. According to the post, the wallet’s “poor implementation” has, in turn, resulted in users plain-text passphrase being shared to a third-party server. Here, the third-party under the limelight is Google servers. The user said on Reddit:
“Please note that this security issue cannot be exploited by anyone except by the people who created it or have control over the backend. To everyone who is using or used Coinomi wallet, make sure to remove your funds from the wallet and change your passphrase by creating a new wallet using another application otherwise your funds might get stolen sooner or later.”
This was followed by the user stating that the wallet’s seeds, otherwise known as a passphrase, are spell checked by Google servers in “clear plain text”, thereby enabling remote access to Google. He went on to say:
“So essentially the textbox which you enter your passphrase in, is basically an HTML file ran by Chromium browser component and once you type or paste anything in that textbox it will immediately and discreetly send it remotely to googleapis.com for spelling check (how awesome is that!)”
When this news broke-out in the cryptocurrency space, several other users of the wallet-provider also came forth stating that they had also lost their funds on the platform recently. Nonetheless, the platform also spoke about this issue. In a blog post, the platform said:
“The report said that seed phrases were being sent over to Google in plain text due to a built-in spell-check functionality in Desktop wallets and that there was a wallet hacked due to this vulnerability. Our engineers confirmed that spell-check functionality was indeed enabled for the Desktop wallets only — the mobile apps were not affected by this.”
Coinomi official statement | Source: Coinomi Medium Blog
This was followed by the platform stating that the problem was not in its source code, but was, in fact, a “bad configuration option in a plug-in used in Desktop wallets only”, allowing the spell-check functionality to be a default. Nonetheless, this problem has now been fixed by the developer team and desktop users are required upgrade to the version and create a new wallet.
The post also read:
“Given the facts above, it’s extremely unlikely that this issue would ever result in loss of funds, however under no circumstances a seed phrase should go online even if this is in encrypted mode and for this we sincerely apologize. “
Luhe, another Redditor said:
“Which is more than likely true. I’ve never used this wallet, but their reasoning makes sense from a computer science perspective of view. Nobody else should have had even the theoretical possibility to see the content (I can see some possible attack scenarios, but they most likely wouldn’t be possible unless Coinomi really f***** up).”
Localether, a Reddit user said:
“Your coins are safu… as long as you trust that google employees are not grepping for pass phrases and then testing them against blockchain addresses.”
The post Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH] & altcoin wallet, Coinomi addresses seed phrase vulnerability; says highly unlikely to result in loss of funds appeared first on AMBCrypto.
Source: AMBcrypto
Original Post: Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH] & altcoin wallet, Coinomi addresses seed phrase vulnerability; says highly unlikely to result in loss of funds
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), through its LabCFTC initiative, has published an inquiry towards the end of December 2018 and sought public comments on fintech innovations, and now the results are in from a number of prominent industry figures. Gain Better Understanding of Ethereum Network According to an official communication from CFTC, over
Read MoreRead More. The post by Tom Nyarunda appeared first on BTCManager, Bitcoin, Blockchain & Cryptocurrency NewsRipple (XRP) is on the verge of a major breakout that could see the price rise or fall hard in the days ahead. The reason behind this uncertainty is that while XRP/BTC remains bullish, the rest of the market does not show enough signs for a sustained bullish momentum. In other words, even if other cryptocurrencies succeed in breaking to the upside, they still risk a fall in the long term. Ripple (XRP) on the other hand shows a slightly different short to medium term outlook but there is no denying that it will eventually have to fall to find its true bottom same as the rest of the market. For now, the price could actually succeed in breaking out to the upside as indicated by the daily Stochastic RSI for XRP/BTC.
We may not be able to see that rally last for a week or so but it will most likely be a fake out that will end up doing the opposite of what it initially signals. This symmetrical triangle that we see on the chart for XRP/BTC can be argued to have been broken sideways many times before. So, that also remains a point of concern. While the price is holding strong above the 50 day moving average and the Stochastic RSI also signals a breakout to the upside, there is still a lot of reason for caution as the long term outlook suggests a break to the downside. Now, Ripple (XRP) differs from most other cryptocurrencies in the long term outlook as well. While cryptocurrencies like Ethereum (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC) have reached overbought conditions on the weekly timeframe, Ripple (XRP) is not there yet.
All of these developments mean that the breakout in XRP/USD is going to be a lot more significant and aggressive compared to most other cryptocurrencies. The long term outlook shown by the weekly chart for XRP/USD is a lot different than what we see in the case of other cryptocurrencies. This makes XRP/USD a good bet in mid to long term from a risk/reward standpoint. We do believe that it might be difficult for XRP/USD to break past the 50 day moving average at this stage. However, even if it succeeds in testing the 50 day MA from current levels, that would still be a big achievement and traders who accumulate at current levels might be able to make significant gains on their investment.
The weekly chart for XRP/USD shows that the trading volume has dried up and a move to either the upside or the downside has the potential of being quick, abrupt and short lived. So, traders should be better off not entering any margin positions whether long or short at this point. As for long term investors in Ripple (XRP), this would be the best time to start accumulating. Ripple (XRP) has also been listed on Coinbase in the past few days which we believe is going to have a game-changing effect long term once the market recovers.
Source: CryptoDaily.co.uk
Original Post: Why Ripple (XRP) Is On The Verge Of A Major Breakout
A new study from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences analyzes Switzerland’s fintech sector growth in 2018
Source: Cointelegraph.com
Original Post: Report: Swiss Fintech Market Grew by 62 Percent in 2018
On Feb. 27, KYC-free cryptocurrency exchange Hodl Hodl announced a new service called Predictions, which will soon be added to the peer-to-peer trading platform. Hodl Hodl believes prediction markets are useful financial instruments within the crypto ecosystem that offer an incentive for those forecasting the specific outcome of an event.
Also read: What Does the Future Hold for Augur’s Prediction Market?
Peer-to-peer multi-signature trading platform Hodl Hodl will be adding a prediction markets feature this spring. Hodl Hodl is an exchange that doesn’t require KYC verification and utilizes a multi-signature escrow scheme that curbs the possibility of theft and fraud. At the moment, the exchange allows users to trade BTC and LTC, but the founders are considering adding other coins as well. The multi-signature escrow system protects funds during trades by using a P2SH contract, which gives traders the ability to hold keys to funds held in escrow. The latest prediction markets feature will use a similar approach by locking prediction contracts in a 2-out-of-3 multi-signature escrow.
Prediction markets are nothing new to the crypto ecosystem. They are used as financial tools that allow participants to create a contract with others and the system rewards the correct prediction after the event has unfolded. For instance, a contract could be created on the outcome of the next U.S. presidential election or someone could attempt to forecast the price of a certain cryptocurrency in 2020. The Augur platform is the leading crypto prediction market which relies on the wisdom of the crowd and its native currency REP. The Hodl Hodl concept utilizes BTC, and its developers claim their implementation “can be called a ‘peer-to-peer’ prediction market.”
“Because each party would lock funds in multi-signature 2-out-of-3 escrow, the oracle, in this case, is going to be sort of distributed: in a perfect case, both parties agree on the outcome, because neither party is able to return the coins locked in escrow unilaterally and, thus, they have nothing to win whatsoever by denying the outcome in favor of the other party,” the developers explained. “In fact, they risk losing their reputation on Hodl Hodl and future prospects for creating contracts.”
The blog post adds:
But even in case of a dispute, Hodl Hodl leaves a chance of interference with its third key, which can be used to sign the transaction in favor of the party, who guessed the outcome — Best part of it is that Hodl Hodl, as always, doesn’t have direct access to the funds and is not actually in possession of bitcoins at any moment.
Hodl Hodl further explained that participants will be able to create contracts on things like election outcomes, the price of oil or other assets, and the weather. However, the team will make sure contract conditions are “not illegal or ambiguous.” Offers are pre-moderated, which means the contract creator will have to execute the prediction contract after it’s approved. The founders have detailed that Hodl Hodl’s prediction markets will offer a unique approach to contracts as well, such as offering different odds and a minimum contract volume and offer balance method. For example, the contract’s creator can up the odds by making them 1 to 10 which means the creator locks 1 BTC and the counterparty must lock 10 BTC.
Hodl Hodl added that they will be informing the public as soon as the prediction markets launch and emphasized that the new feature should not be considered gambling. The developers of Hodl Hodl said that gambling traditionally involves an “instant gratification expectation, fast execution, and randomness.” Whereas the trading platform’s prediction markets will rely on “low-time preference, financial planning, and responsibility.”
What do you think about Hodl Hodl’s prediction markets announcement? Do you think prediction markets and gambling are different or are they the same? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, and Hodl Hodl.
Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section.
The post P2P Exchange Hodl Hodl Announces New Prediction Market appeared first on Bitcoin News.
Source: Bitcoin.com
Original Post: P2P Exchange Hodl Hodl Announces New Prediction Market
The influence of digital currencies across the globe has been massive since the inception of Bitcoin. The South American provinces have been some of the most active regions in terms of implementation and setting up regulations for the use of cryptocurrencies.
Venezuela, which has its own oil-backed cryptocurrency, has now been involved in a lot of incidents revolving Bitcoin. According to reports, cryptocurrency wallet platform AirTM and artist cryptograffiti, have taken the initiative to raise $1 million for the aid of Venezuelans through a legitimate Bitcoin installation.
Airdrop Venezuela, which is currently led by Steve H. Hanke, is trying to bring the cryptocurrencies for the native citizens of Venezuela from abroad so that it can use to exchange for local money, adding real-world usage to digital currencies.
Airdrop Venezuela, which is based out of the Columbian town of Cúcuta, is taking the assistance of the Bitcoin blockchain network to allow injection of financial aid for the betterment of Venezuelans economic status. The campaign is accepting donations in several cryptocurrencies and says that 100% of the donations received are sent to Venezuelan recipients.
The news has been followed up with the report that an impending US intervention is upon the South American subcontinent very soon as the US is in favor of opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who is trying to force President Nicolás Maduro out of power.
The citizens of Venezuela have turned against the President after Maduro refused to aid. He retaliated against the citizens by burning trucks on bridges and stranding convoys which were laden with resources for the mass on the Venezuelan borders of Colombia and Brazil.
The AirVenezuala and artist partnership has led to the creation of a mural, which is an incumbent of President Nicolas Maduro, composed of banknotes of Venezuela’s inflation-stuck currency.
The project’s dedicated website earnestly declared a statement of intent on its website. It stated,
“Funds raised go towards rebuilding a local daycare centers and the 100,000 Venezuelan participants of [Airdrop Venezuela]. 50% of the proceeds will help build proper facilities at the event venue. Airtm will distribute the other 50% of proceeds at the conclusion of the [Airdrop Venezuela] campaign in April.”
The post Venezuela to raise $1 million in Bitcoin for aid; Opposition leader anticipates end of Maduro’s regime in the country appeared first on AMBCrypto.
Source: AMBcrypto
Original Post: Venezuela to raise million in Bitcoin for aid; Opposition leader anticipates end of Maduro’s regime in the country
Gemini, the licensed and regulated digital asset exchange and custodian founded by the Winklevoss twins, has joined the BT…
The post Gemini Opens the Door to Institutional Clients With New Partnership With British Telecom appeared first on Invest In Blockchain.
Source: Investinblockchain.com
Original Post: Gemini Opens the Door to Institutional Clients With New Partnership With British Telecom
Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a fresh order to Russia’s government demanding that they draft and approve a regulatory framework for the crypto industry.
Although this seems like a positive development for the industry, similar orders have been issued on multiple occasions over the past few years to no avail, which calls into question the clout that these orders truly hold within the Russian government.
Russia has taken a confusing position on cryptocurrency in the past, as there have been multiple conflicting statement from different regulatory and government officials regarding the status of crypto as a legal form of currency.
Despite this, it appears that the country’s hesitance to accept crypto in its current state stems from fear regarding the unregulated nature of the nascent industry, as there have been multiple occasions over the past few years where Putin, or other government officials, have put forth bills or orders demanding the drafting and approval of a regulatory framework for digital assets.
It is important to note, however, that these aforementioned demands for regulation have been filled with sound and fury and have – thus far – signified nothing.
Starting in late-2017, news broke that Putin was insisting that the country develop a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, despite warnings from his finance minister and central bank chief, who both claimed that digital currencies could pose “serious risks” to investors and could be easily utilized by criminals.
At this point in time, it was illegal to pay for anything in crypto or to convert digital currencies to the country’s fiat currency – the ruble.
Fast forward a few months to January of 2018 and the situation became slightly more complex when the country’s Finance Ministry announced that they were working on legislation that would regulate cryptocurrency transactions without fully banning them.
At the time, the finance ministry explained their decision, noting that it would be impractical to try to ban crypto transactions entirely.
“Trades with cryptocurrencies have become so widespread, a legal ban on such activity would lead to the creation of conditions for the use of cryptocurrencies as an instrument to service illegal businesses, launder criminal incomes, and finance terrorism,” they said.
Despite this, one year later in January of 2019, nothing new had occurred with regards to Russia’s regulatory climate, and the aforementioned legislation never came to fruition.
This led to a new round of news regarding regulation in Russia, as Anatoly Aksakov, the Head of the State Duma’s Committee on the Financial Market, proclaimed that his state government would convene to debate the merits of crypto regulation shortly after he made his initial announcement.
During his announcement, Aksakov said that his state’s proposed regulations – which were mainly focused on governance of crypto exchanges and marketplaces – would be adopted in mid-February, but that deadline has been pushed back in the time since.
Yesterday, however, the deadline for federal regulations was once again pushed back, when the government announced that Putin had issued a deadline for the adoption of regulation by July of 2019.
Russia may be coming close to finally regulating cryptocurrencies.
According to the official announcement, the goal of these new regulations is to encourage the development of a digital economy within Russia, which includes regulating “digital assets,” and to attract a greater amount of financial resources aimed at promoting the development of digital technologies.
If this time is different, and the Russian government does actually pass a tangible regulatory framework that encourages the formation of a digital economy based on cryptocurrencies, it would be very positive for the industry as a whole.
Despite this, it is likely that most crypto investors are not holding their breath.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The post Russia Said it Will Regulate Crypto 3 Times in the Past 2 Years, Could it Work This Time? appeared first on NewsBTC.
Source: News BTC
Original Post: Russia Said it Will Regulate Crypto 3 Times in the Past 2 Years, Could it Work This Time?
Kraken is offering up to $100,000 to anyone who can help locate QuadrigaCX's missing cryptocurrency holdings.
Source: Coindesk
Original Post: Kraken Exchange Offers 0K Reward for Missing QuadrigaCX Crypto
Source: YouTube: The Modern Investor
Original Post: Coinbase Ripple XRP Insider Trading
It isn’t a secret that Bitcoin (BTC) is an embryonic market. The cryptocurrency, launched ten years ago, has long been subject to the whims of speculators, creating a volatile and unpredictable market for all but the most skilled traders. Even still, analysts en-masse have sought to discern where cryptocurrencies will find a long-term floor.
Leading researcher Alex Krüger, however, alleges that it would be illogical to claim there are bottoms in this nascent market. In a recent Twitter thread, the New York-based investor laid out the reasoning for this claim, even as the world’s most fervent technical traders have pinned prices to a bottom.
Krüger explains that from a top-down perspective, demand for cryptocurrencies, even Bitcoin, remain mostly speculative, rather than fundamentally-based. With this in mind, he adds that there is no official floor (or peak for the matter) for BTC, both from the demand and supply side. Doubling-down on the speculation bit, Krüger noted that there remains irrational exuberance, along with “worthless s*itcoins worth $100 million or more.”
Yet, Krüger went on to bite his tongue, noting that it isn’t all doom and gloom for this market. He explains that by many measures, fundamentals for this ecosystem are better than ever, echoing a claim made by Dan Morehead of Pantera Capital. In a recent thread, Krüger himself drew attention to some positive fundamentals developments: trends in the macroeconomy, the potential approval of a Bitcoin ETF, among an array of other news. He elaborated that order book-wise, depth (liquidity) has also improved dramatically, leading to more positive price action and industry developments.
The markets researcher even remarked that there’s a chance that the drawdown in the Bitcoin price in November/December could have been true capitulation, and could thus set precedent for the return of the bulls.
Still, he went on to accentuate his point that a further crash in the value of digital assets isn’t off the table. While the issuance of Ethereum (ETH) has been dropping since December, due to the so-called “Ice Age,” Krüger notes that there is currently a false bullish narrative surrounding the Constantinople hard fork, which just activated.
This narrative purportedly exacerbated recent price movements, as seen in the relatively drastic fluctuations in the price of Ether day-to-day. And with this in mind, coupled with the fact that the Bitcoin Cash hard fork seemingly led the crypto market lower in mid-November, Krüger concluded that Constantinople has the potential to unleash another crypto-wide market drop through the lows. But as of the time of writing, it appears that the activation of the pro-scaling and issuance reduction blockchain upgrade has yet to impact cryptocurrencies negatively. In fact, as of the time of writing, Bitcoin and its brethren are up slightly.
Title Image Courtesy of Descryptive.com Via Unsplash
The post Analyst: Further Bitcoin (BTC) Crash Isn’t Nonsensical, Crypto Remains Speculative appeared first on Ethereum World News.
Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: Analyst: Further Bitcoin (BTC) Crash Isn’t Nonsensical, Crypto Remains Speculative
Bitcoin skeptic Vladimir Putin has set a July 2019 deadline for crypto regulations to be put in place in Russia. Putin made the announcement on the Kremlin website in a February 27 notice. In his order, President Putin told the Russian State Duma and the Council of the Federation of Russia to adopt cryptocurrency rules by July 1. The regulations are designed to promote the digital economy in Russia, which is struggling financially amid US economic sanctions. Previous July 2018 Deadline Largely Ignored It’s unclear whether these rules will be adopted, since Putin had previously set a July 2018 deadline for
The post Putin’s Bitcoin Regulation Deadline Might Not Lead to Actual Crypto Rules appeared first on CCN
Source: CCN.com
Original Post: Putin’s Bitcoin Regulation Deadline Might Not Lead to Actual Crypto Rules
Implemented on the second largest blockchain Ethereum (ETH) network while depended on the concept of smart contracts, Maker [native token MKR] is a case when the much criticized crypo-volatility is overcome to an extend being backed by Ether.
Despite that Tether is one of the most popular stablecoins, much doubt surrounds the coin. Lack of decentralization and transparency, emerged proof that it is backed by the dollar and the rumours that it was used to move Bitcoin’s BTC price for one’s [group] benefit could possibly make it unworthy of its fame.
On the other hand, with the use of its MKR token, the Maker balances its DAI [stablecoin planned along fractional reserve banking ideals] which is linked close to the aforementioned tokens. The dual token concept is based on the idea that MKR can not be mined but is created or the contrary as a reply to DAI price movement so it is floating approximately $1.00 against the US Dollar.
Against the US Dollar – MKR is standing strongly having one of the most positive second-month of 2019 performances out of the leading cryptocoins in the market. Going by market capitalization the 16th largest cryptocurrency – is in the green at 4.79% for the last 24-hours leading the BTC market for 4.11% making sure to position itself far upward the declining trend that has been taking place since Jan 2018.
Source: coinmarketcap
Just recently – MakerDAO decided to raise the stability fee from 0.5 to 1 with the target to decline and easier-flow fluctuations in DAI’s price peg of the US Dollar. Many appreciated and welcomed the plan set in motion as an advancement towards better economic assurances and stability by the team. Additionally, the automated ETH exchange protocol – Uniswap, took over Ethfinex exchange platform as in the first place by trading MKR against ETH.
The post Maker (MKR) Standing Above $600.00 Withstanding Sellers appeared first on Ethereum World News.
Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: Maker (MKR) Standing Above 0.00 Withstanding Sellers
Arcadia Biosciences Inc.’s share price surged 61 percent while trading on the Nasdaq Thursday after the agricultural biotech firm announced plans to dive into the hemp industry. The company’s core business area is producing food ingredients made from wheat and soybeans. The company is jumping into the cannabis space as “with an initial focus on the hemp market,” according to a news release published Thursday. “Now, the company will apply its expertise to the burgeoning cannabis industry,” the announcement stated. Raj Ketkar, chief executive office at Arcadia Biosciences, said: “We see enormous opportunity in – and demand for – improved plant
The post Surprise Pot Stock Pivot Lifts Arcadia Biosciences Shares 61% appeared first on CCN
Source: CCN.com
Original Post: Surprise Pot Stock Pivot Lifts Arcadia Biosciences Shares 61%
Justin Sun, the founder of Tron (TRX) and BitTorrent Token (BTT) as well as the CEO of BitTorrent Inc…
The post Justin Sun on TRON Hard Fork: “Without Multi-Signature, There Will Not Be Institutional Investors.” appeared first on Invest In Blockchain.
Source: Investinblockchain.com
Original Post: Justin Sun on TRON Hard Fork: “Without Multi-Signature, There Will Not Be Institutional Investors.”
Ethereum’s Constantinople and St. Petersburg upgrades have gone live in accordance with the schedule
Source: Cointelegraph.com
Original Post: Ethereum’s Constantinople, St. Petersburg Upgrades Have Been Activated