San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange and wallet service Coinbase has launched its new “Convert” service, according to an official statement on Dec. 17.

Per the statement, customers will initially be able to convert between Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Litecoin (LTC), 0x (ZRX) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). The service will be available on coinbase.com and the firm’s iOS and Android apps.

The new feature will purportedly be made available to customers in 34 different countries, wherein Coinbase offers native payment access. According to the exchange, Convert is a “natural progression” in the platform’s development.

Since Dec. 10, Coinbase has been rolling out new offerings as part of its “12 Days of Coinbase” promotional campaign named in reference to a traditional Christmas song. On Dec. 14, the exchange introduced fiat withdrawals to payment service PayPal. The service will be available to clients in the United States and will gradually be introduced to other jurisdictions.

Coinbase and PayPal previously integrated in 2016, when the exchange added support for the platform in addition to major credit cards. At the time, Coinbase users could sell Bitcoin and have their fiat funds deposited to a PayPal wallet. The integration was terminated in February 2018 due to technical difficulties.

In addition to introducing new services and features on the Coinbase platform, the campaign has included charitable and educational initiatives.

Coinbase’s professional exchange platform Coinbase Pro is the 20th largest exchange by 24-hour trade volume, according to CoinMarketCap, at $154 million.

Since Bitcoin hit its all-time high of $20,000, the dominant cryptocurrency has seen more than an 80 percent decline in value from that historic milestone over the past 12 months.

The popularity of Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin pioneered the way for other projects to explore the possibilities of blockchain technology. The brightest minds pushed the boundaries, which gave birth to Ethereum, Ripple and other projects that have provided new and unique use cases for distributed ledger technology (DLT).

Their success set the bar high, but that also led the way for a swathe of projects being launched which sought funding from initial coin offerings (ICO). Not unlike the dot-com bubble of the 1990s, hundreds of millions of dollars were raised by projects with half-baked ideas, and now it seems as though the hens have come home to roost.

According to a report published in July 2018, over 1,000 ICOs had been declared ‘dead’ while bigger projects began to slim down their operations to ensure they remain cost-effective and profitable.



Blockchain, Bitcoin jobs on the rise

Even in this harsh slump, the outlook seems positive for the space in general. According to a LinkedIn study, blockchain developers are in high demand on the platform, becoming one of the fastest-growing emerging jobs in the United States.

Over the past three years, jobs relating to blockchain, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency have been on the rise on LinkedIn.

Facebook, for one, with its chequered attitude toward cryptocurrencies, listed five openings for blockchain-related jobs on its career portal earlier this month.



These jobs seem to be extremely lucrative, given the spike in interest in the space over the past two years. Blockchain engineers are said to be earning more than $150,000 a year.

Hired’s “State of Salaries” report also noted a 400 percent increase in demand for blockchain engineers by prospective employers since 2017, all despite the bear market that has dominated in 2018.

An objective view

As previously mentioned, one can draw similar parallels between the rise of internet companies in the 1990s and the rise of cryptocurrency- and blockchain-focused companies from 2010 onward.

Mainstream media headlines have often proclaimed the death of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies over the past few years.

As an article from the Guardian back in December 2000 summed up, the year the dot-com bubble burst saw around 130 internet companies close their doors, leading to around 8,000 job cuts from internet companies. However, those that survived ended up laying the foundation for the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry we have today.

Via: Coin Telegraph

Teen crypto star Erik Finman has said Bitcoin (BTC) “may have a bull market or two left in it,” but that “long-term, it’s dead,” in an interview with financial news site MarketWatch on Dec. 17.

Finman is famous for his precocious investment in Bitcoin back in 2011, when he reportedly bought in — at the age of twelve — at $12 a coin. The high schooler’s $1,000 gift from his grandmother thus became over $4 million during the cryptocurrency’s 2017 all-time price highs. Finman sealed further fame by notoriously winning a bet with his parents that if he became a crypto millionaire before the age of 18, he could opt out of going to college.

In his interview with MarketWatch, the still-teenage Finman remarked, “Bitcoin is dead, it’s too fragmented, there’s tons of infighting I just don’t think it will last.” He gave a similarly grim forecast for Litecoin (LTC), the altcoin founded by Charlie Lee:

“Litecoin has been dead for a while. It’s like when the sun is going down and there’s that eight minute period just before it goes dark. Litecoin is in its seventh minute.”

More optimism went to “project-based” coins such as Ethereum (ETH) and anonymity-oriented token Zcash (ZEC), with Finman reserving positive comments for Bitcoin Cash (BCH) — notwithstanding its recent controversial hard fork — affirming his belief in the coin’s technology.

The teen also reportedly railed against “the hooks and lobbyists” of Wall Street; buoyed by his early success, he told MarketWatch, “I’m better at this kind of stuff than those millionaires. [...] They don’t know how to work the system, they’re nerds. I’m more than that.”

According to Cointelegraph’s price indexes, as of press time Bitcoin is trading at $3,611 — up 10 percent on the day but down more than 36 percent on the month. Litecoin is up over 16 percent on the day to trade at $30 but has shed over 30 percent in value on its monthly chart.

As previously reported, Finman’s quirks include allegedly going to Mexico to safely stash away the hard disk with the private keys to his crypto wallets — in the vein of characters from the popular TV series Breaking Bad. He has also spoken of plans to purchase a Lamborghini with a personalized license plate corresponding to his average grade point in high school — 2.1 — although he never graduated.

Via: Cointelegraph

Altcoin now all dump, it is really hard for long term invest. You you are trader, becareful with your invest at the moment.

Follow my exp, Bounty hunter get more profit than airdrop. But Bounty need more time than airdrop. Someone doing airdrop because they can cheat more.

Of couse, I prefer fixed payment of tokens for performing weekly/monthly tasks.  But in most of the bounties we have stakes system that we receive weekly. Even stake system is a fair system and the problem is participation should be limited so that one can receive a good reward for their efforts or time. If we get fixed amount for the task we perform I would be more happy.

Em nghĩ đây là thời điểm vào để chốt lời dần, chắc định pump rồi xả dần chứ xả giờ tầm này chắc sập mẹ thị trường 

The Department of Financial Services of New York (NYDFS) has authorized a blockchain-based digital platform offered by a local bank, an official NYDFS press release states Dec. 4.

NYDFS superintendent Maria T. Vullo announced today that the department authorized New York-based Signature Bank to offer its digital payment platform Signet in the state. The approved system reportedly uses blockchain technology to allow the bank  clients to “transfer ‘Signets’ to make payments with no transaction fees, at any time of the day, year-round.”

The system purportedly allows funds “to be transferred in real-time between two commercial clients of Signature Bank, eliminating any dependence on a third party.” Signet has been subject to a “comprehensive and rigorous review” and needs to comply with “significant regulatory conditions.”

Namely, the “approval includes required conditions to ensure [...] compliance with New York’s strong standards and regulations regarding anti-money laundering (AML), anti-fraud, and consumer protection measures.”

Moreover, Signet balances are eligible for coverage by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), of which Signature Bank is a member. This corporation underwrites most private U.S. bank deposits “up to the legal insurable amounts defined.”

Vullo declared that the department is “pleased to strengthen and foster regulated innovation [...] specifically within our state-chartered banking system.” The superintendent stated:

“New York continues to support and help advance innovation through sound state regulation and with products such as Signet...”

According to the press release, Signature bank is a “full-service commercial bank with 30 private client offices throughout the New York metropolitan area,” which currently has $45.87 billion in assets.

This is just the latest development in the growing New York blockchain industry. In November, crypto hardware wallet Ledger opened a New York office to develop its institutional custody offering Ledger Vault.

Coinbase, the highest-volume U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, also obtained approval to offer crypto custody services in the state in mid-October.

Via: Coin telegraph