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Articles about Cryptocurrency / Baidu To Launch A Blockchain Reward System

« on: July 15, 2018, 11:09:08 PM »

While Google might still be making up its mind on whether to launch their own cryptocurrency, their rival search engine from across the sea; China, is already making strides with the technology underpinning cryptos. Baidu has announced they will be rewarding their customers through ‘Totem‘, a blockchain-based platform that helps its users protect and manage their intellectual rights and images. Backed by the company’s artificial intelligence technology, Totem will be able to monitor the web for any copyright violation. The technology additionally makes the licensing process much faster and efficient all while ensuring transparency and credibility using blockchain technology.

Totem Reward System

Totem will reward artists who upload their content to the blockchain platform. Artist such as photographers will apply using an online application, the content will be verified and once successful, the content can be posted on the blockchain platform bearing the artists signature. Currently, the platform is only rewarding users for uploading their content but promises that in the future they will reward them for any image or intellectual transactions. If this sounds familiar, that’s because it’s identical to the recently launched KODAKOne platform. KODAKOne similarly is a management system that protects and manages image copyrights. However, the system has a more defined reward system, users can make money by selling their images to potential buyers using the platforms in-house currency, KodakCoin. One thing that might see Totem make greater strides is that while KODAKOne is backed by Kodak, Totem will be backed by Baidu which has advanced technology and is heavily invested in blockchain technology.

Google’s Cryptocurrency Rumors

Since the beginning of the year, there have been rumors flying around that Google would be launching its own cryptocurrency. Much like most rumors, they have been baseless with most experts dismissing the idea after the internet company banned crypto related ads. However, given Google’s current business model which includes YouTube and Google Shopping, Google’s adaptation of blockchain and use of cryptocurrency could revolutionize the way the company operates and makes financial transactions. Advancement in technology and adaptation by its rival companies might just push Google to look into the technology given the rising interest in blockchain technology and use of cryptocurrencies around the world.

Facebook is also rumored to be thinking of getting into the crypto space. It all began with the social media platform lifting its ban on cryptocurrency ads and while this wasn’t much to go on, the situation has evolved to become something much more serious. The company has undergone some management shuffles that have seen the former head of Facebook Messenger re-posted to be the new head of an exploratory blockchain group within the company. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly interested in creating his own cryptocurrency and has effectively put up an exploratory blockchain group that will be reporting directly to Facebook’s CTO, Mike Schroepfer. Facebook’s interest in blockchain technology could see it overcome one of its greatest challenges; privacy. The company has in recent days and years been faced with allegations of disclosing personal data to third parties as well as data leaks within the company. By employing blockchain technology, this could be a thing of the past in the giant social media platform.

Source: https://www.crypto-news.net/baidu-to-launch-a-blockchain-reward-system/

Bitcoin News & Updates / A Review of Four Insane Bitcoin Price Predictions for 2018

« on: July 15, 2018, 11:06:47 PM »

Bitcoin has been one of the most speculative digital assets in the crypto-sphere with contradictory price predictions from renowned experts and analysts. Despite the many failed predictions, few of them still stand tall. There have been instances where the consideration of Bitcoin for economic and financial analysis with the application of theories has been doubted. This is due to the fact that the digital asset goes beyond tests and ride on speculations as experts have suggested. Regardless of its nature, few price predictions have come to pass, and many more are being expected to see the light of the day. Here are four insane price predictions of Bitcoin for 2018.

$50,000 Price Prediction by Arthur Hayes

Arthur Hayes, the CEO, and Co-Founder of Bitmex predicted that Bitcoin will end the year with $50,000. Despite the market pullback and the storm that is making the cryptocurrencies struggle in the market, Hayes remained certain that something big will happen. According to him, two situations are likely to be a catalyst to this Bull Run: the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency and the expectations of people about the possible run in the future. The highly volatile asset can make an uninterrupted run to that price zone with the high rate of acceptance by investors being the underlying force. However, he did not rule out a possible price bottom of $3000 to $5000. “We could definitely find a bottom in the $3,000 to $5,000 range,” he said.

The $100k Price Prediction

Despite the fact that many investors have given up hope on the future bull run, and other analysts reconsidering their previous predictions, Kay Van-Petersen, an analyst at Saxo Bank, believes firmly that Bitcoin will reach $100,000. In his view, the Bitcoin future contracts launched by the CME and the CBOE were meant to get individual and institutional investors involved. Institution investments into cryptocurrencies have been reported to be on the rise, and, therefore, will be the possible catalyst for his price prediction. Van-Petersen said to reporters that institutions getting involved in the cryptocurrency will be a gradual process, and could take time for $100,000 to come to reality.

The Quinlan Associates Prediction

Another insane price prediction for Bitcoin came from the Quinlan Associate, forecasting that Bitcoin will trade as low as $1800 over the course of the year. Even though this prediction did not go down well with investors, the Bitcoin price is not far from that zone. In their report entitled “Fool’s Gold: Unearthing the World of Cryptocurrency,” the Quinlan Associates showed how their cost of production and store of value approach resulted in $2,161 and $687 respectively. “After significant testing, we calculated the price of BTC to be $1,780,” they wrote. They made this prediction when Bitcoin was trading at $14,000. Bitcoin rose in price to an all-time high of $20,000 before its subsequent fall in price. In their analysis, they established that the drop in the Bitcoin value will collapse the total cryptocurrency market capitalization up to 70 percent.

The $25k Price Prediction by Thomas Lee

Thomas Lee, the founder of Fundstrat believes that Bitcoin has an interesting future ahead. A number of his predictions have come to light and his credible track record has rekindled hope in the Bitcoin industry. Many experts see this recession as a time Bitcoin is gathering momentum to break forth. At this time, a number of investors are getting involved in the digital asset due to the speculations surrounding its future success. Tom Lee said to reporters that Bitcoin will bounce back and reach as high as $25,000 at the end of the year. “We still feel pretty confident that Bitcoin is a great risk-reward and we think it could reach $25,000 by the end of the year,” he said.

The possibility of these predictions coming to pass is 50:50. Per individual observation, it is likely that there may be favorable environments provided by various governments which would give Bitcoin the needed conditions to flourish. Also, a complete opposite of this may happen, as regulations about its operation could become stricter. This would, therefore, cause the price to fall further. Bitcoin has been said to have no real value, hence any false speculations could drive it to zero. Similarly, it could rise beyond the predicted price just as analysts have predicted.

Source: https://www.crypto-news.net/a-review-of-four-insane-bitcoin-price-predictions-for-2018/

Articles about Cryptocurrency / IT Giant Fujitsu Is Launching a 'Ready-to-Go' Blockchain Service

« on: July 15, 2018, 11:00:52 PM »

IT giant Fujitsu is launching a new consultancy service that it claims will deliver a "ready-to-go" minimum viable product in just five days.

According to The Register, prices for the service start at €9,900 and will include everything from basic introductory lessons on blockchain technology to assessments of the proposed use case and the building of a prototype by day five.

From there, clients can choose to fork out more cash to have the product further developed or walk away with the work as it stands.

Chris Pilling, lead architect at Fujitsu's Blockchain Innovation Centre, which opened back in March, explained, "It would be great to say, yes, we've met the proof of business and they want to get the global blockchain team involved... [but] we allow the customer to go away and play with the prototype."

This "proof of business" approach, in contrast to a proof-of-concept, is a way for clients to run through a business process that focuses on creating "business value" and avoids common "pitfalls" of blockchain projects, according to Frederik de Breuck, head of the Blockchain Innovation Centre.

The overall aim of the service is either to provide a fast way to kick off new blockchain development or to improve blockchain projects already in development.

According to Fintech Finance, de Breuck explained:

"Inspired by high levels of interest from our customers, we have created this ready-to-go package not only to jump-start the customers' blockchain efforts but also to review and improve existing projects. Available immediately across the EMEIA region, we expect this assessment to have a major impact on unlocking blockchain's potential for business use cases."

The Japanese multinational already holds close to 50 different patents on blockchain technology according to BankingTech. It has also launched a number of different blockchain-related services in the past year, including systems for data storage and data exchange.

A founding member of blockchain consortium Hyperledger, Fujitsu is currently helping to commercialize the group's Fabric product. Described as a way to speed up the rate of transactions for high-performance use cases, the development is set for completion later this year.

Source: https://www.coindesk.com/it-giant-fujitsu-is-launching-a-ready-to-go-blockchain-service/

Articles about Cryptocurrency / 81% of ICOs Are Scams, U.S. Losing Token Sale Market Share: Report

« on: July 15, 2018, 10:54:01 PM »

Initial coin offering (ICO) promoters have been widely successful with regards to the quantity of projects they have been able to at least partially fund. On matters of quality, perhaps not so much.

According to a report prepared by Satis Group Crypto Research, around 81% of the total number of initial coin offerings launched since 2017 have turned out to be scams. In dollar terms, however, only 11% of the approximately US$12 billion that has been raised in these projects went to these fraudulent ICOs.

The Big Three

Per the cryptocurrency research firm, most of what was raised in the scams went to only three projects, including Pincoin, which received US$660 million and Arisebank, which received US$600 million.

“Although ~1/10th of all ICO fundraising went to Identified Scams, the vast majority of the $1.3B was from just three projects, which were all relatively old school frauds by no means unique to ICOs (Pincoin ($660M), Arisebank ($600M), and Savedroid (~$50M)). These projects each did raise those amounts we believe but are subject to extensive regulatory action,” noted Satis Group in its report.

And despite the regulatory uncertainty and waning market performance, the report further states that ICO fundraising has been growing steadily. Year to date, approximately US$7 billion has been raised, and this is close to 50% of the amount that was raised in 2017. Since the inception of ICOs, the most active month was last year in December when more than US$1.4 billion was raised.

20% of the U.S. IPO Market

Satis Group further estimates that the worldwide ICO market is worth about a fifth of the initial public offering (IPO) market of the United States so far this year. And this is during a period when the U.S. IPO market has recorded the highest level of activity since 2014.

However, year-over-year growth in the ICO market has slowed, and this is attributable not just to regulatory uncertainty but also to reduced enthusiasm among retail investors. Additionally, there are concerns over the slated technical changes of the major networks on which most ICOs are built on, especially Ethereum.

U.S. Regulations Pushing out Projects

The prevailing regulatory regime in the United States has also been harmful to the sector. This has resulted in a lot of projects moving out of the world’s largest economy to launch their ICOs in more friendly jurisdictions. Some of the biggest beneficiaries of this state of affairs include the Cayman Islands, Virgin Islands, and Singapore.

Last year, for instance, the ICO fundraising market share of the U.S. compared to the rest of the world was 32%. In 2018, this has fallen to 10%. Cayman Islands had an ICO fundraising market share of 3% last year, but this year it has ballooned to 40%.

Source: https://www.ccn.com/81-of-icos-are-scams-u-s-losing-token-sale-market-share-report/

News related to Crypto / Crypto Markets Are Almost Deaf to News From the Outside World

« on: July 15, 2018, 10:45:53 PM »

Traditional markets respond to the news all the time, so much so that news analytics companies have now become significant drivers (and distorters) of stock values and commodity prices. However, to what extent can the same be said for the crypto market? Is it influenced by world events, political developments, and the release of national economic indicators?

Well, no and yes. In the short term, crypto markets and the values of cryptocurrencies aren't responding to, say, the United States' announcement of trade tariffs, or the publication by a major nation of weak economic data. That said, the general growth of cryptocurrencies, particularly in 2017, was and is being facilitated by macroeconomic conditions, such as the prevalence of low interest rates and high availability of credit.

So in other words, while crypto can't be said to respond to every single piece of economic or political news, its growth as a whole could be said to be one giant, systemic response to the current state of the global economy.

No Correlation

Finding examples of how traditional stock markets react to world events isn't difficult. For instance, when the US President Donald Trump announced trade tariffs on aluminium and steel imports on March 1, the Dow Jones stock index fell by 400 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each declined by 1.3%.

Conversely, the British pound rose by 0.61% against the US dollar in late June, after the UK government revised its estimate of UK GDP growth upwards, from 0.1% in Q1 2018 to 0.2%.

Finding such correlations for cryptocurrencies, however, is much more difficult, even if the prices for bitcoin et al. have been observed to respond to news relating specifically to crypto (e.g. in response to exchange hacks).

Given that cryptocurrencies are decentralised and designed to run independently of specific nation states, national governments, and central banks, it's perhaps unsurprising that they show little if any synchronisation with news relating to the wider world (i.e. to said states, governments, and banks).

"No, the crypto markets do not generally react to any sort of geopolitical or breaking news outside of the world of crypto," Mati Greenspan, Senior Market Analyst at eToro, a social trading platform, told Cryptonews.com.

Despite this, Greenspan also explained that crypto's indifference to the wider world often works to its advantage.

"The correlations with other markets are historically very small, which is one of the main attractions for traditional investors," he said. "When you have an asset that is less-exposed to things like trade wars or monetary policy, it can have a stabilizing effect on your diversified investment portfolio."

Such comments are borne out by a glance at Bitcoin values. For example, Bitcoin rose by 4.34% on March 1, despite the unfortunate news for international trade, and despite the fact that stock markets had travelled in the opposite direction.

Its unresponsiveness to world events therefore makes it something of a safe haven, which would partly explain why it has been dubbed 'digital gold' in some quarters (gold also increased between March 1 and 2, although by about 1.4%).

'A Ton of Liquidity'

But even though cryptocurrencies tend not to fluctuate with political and economic news in the short term, their impressive growth can be construed as a longer term, organic response to the economic conditions prevailing in the world today.

"For example, 2017 was an excellent year for both stocks and cryptocurrencies with both markets seeing astronomical gains," Greenspan says. "This is largely explained by central bank operations which have pumped a ton of liquidity into the economy over the last decade, which was put to use by investors seeking larger returns and greater risk."

Because central banks have thrown extra money at the global economy (e.g. via quantitative easing), and because low interest rates have meant that traditional investments are less profitable than usual, investors have flocked to cryptocurrencies, which despite their volatility promise higher returns.

As such, the crypto market has responded to at least one particular world event: the financial crisis of 2008 and the precarious economic conditions that followed it, which despite showing some signs of recovery are still characterised by high levels of debt, low interest rates, and an excess of credit.

And it's possible that if the overall global economy doesn't significantly improve soon, crypto will only keep growing.

Source: https://cryptonews.com/exclusives/crypto-markets-are-almost-deaf-to-news-from-the-outside-worl-2221.htm

Cryptocurrency discussions / What do you think about "Police Seize $1.5 Million in Crypto in China"?

« on: July 15, 2018, 03:48:56 PM »

Police Seize $1.5 Million in Crypto During FIFA Gambling Crackdown

Local police officials in China seized more than $1.5 million worth of cryptocurrencies as part of a crackdown on gambling during the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Chinese state-run media outlet Xinhua reported on July 11 that authorities first noticed the unnamed gambling platform in May following advertisements that claimed it would "accept international recognized cryptocurrencies including bitcoin, ether and litecoin" in order to draw in users. An investigation was launched soon after, according to the outlet.

The special investigation team discovered that the site, based overseas, utilized a traditional online gambling model coupled with cryptocurrency payments. Xinhua cited "regulatory loopholes" by which the site was able to secure profits by hiding proceeds using those currencies.

All told, over the course of eight months, some 333,000 users used the site, which reportedly saw an estimated transaction volume of at least $1.5 billion.

Now, authorities have arrested six organizers of the site and confiscated $1.5 million worth of cryptocurrencies as well as $750,000 in renminbi deposits from their bank accounts.

A spokesperson from the police department in Guangdong province said that the task force will continue working to"maintain a highly concentrated attention" on cracking down online soccer gambling and advised soccer fans to watch the games "rationally and consciously."

Source: https://www.coindesk.com/police-seize-1-5-million-in-crypto-during-fifa-gambling-crackdown/

Berita & Teknologi / Celah Routing Internet Bahayakan Pengguna Bitcoin

« on: July 15, 2018, 06:18:37 AM »

Celah Routing Internet Bisa Membahayakan Pengguna Bitcoin

Dalam protokol Internet yang berbasis packet switching, routing adalah komponen utama. Dengan protokol routing, paket-paket data dapat sampai ke tempat yang dituju dengan benar. Hanya saja, Internet memang tidak disiapkan untuk menghadapi dunia yang penuh kejahatan. Desain awal protokol Internet mengandalkan kejujuran dari setiap orang yang berpartisipasi dalam jaringan raksasa Internet.

Seperti yang diulas oleh blog Naked Security, BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) dapat dimanfaatkan untuk kejahatan yang menyasar para pengguna Bitcoin. BGP merupakan protokol yang memberitahukan rute antara sebuah jaringan AS (autonomous system) dengan jaringan AS yang lain. Meski BGP tidak berpengaruh terhadap pengguna Internet pada umumnya, namun peran BGP sangat krusial bagi penyedia layanan Internet (ISP). BGP didesain pada tahun 1989 sebagai solusi jangka pendek menghadapi pesatnya perkembangan jaringan Internet saat itu. BGP sendiri mengandalkan setiap peserta dalam jaringan untuk berbagi informasi routing, dan dengan demikian jika ada 1 saja pihak yang membagikan informasi routing yang salah, maka informasi salah tersebut dapat tersebar ke seluruh mesin routing di dunia. Demikianlah yang terjadi pada tahun 2008 saat sebuah ISP di Pakistan berusaha memblokir layanan Youtube di jaringannya, namun kesalahan konfigurasi membuat informasi routing yang salah tersebar ke seluruh dunia, membuat layanan Youtube tidak dapat diakses dari seluruh dunia.

Problem yang sama menghantui pengguna Bitcoin. Siapapun yang memiliki akses terhadap BGP dapat mengerjai jaringan Bitcoin, dan dengan demikian membuat serangan terhadap Bitcoin dapat dilakukan, utamanya terkait dengan Sybil Attack. Skemanya seperti ini. Si penyerang menyiapkan satu (atau beberapa) node Bitcoin jahat, yang isi bloknya sudah dimodifikasi. Dengan dikuasainya routing paket pengguna, maka request informasi atas transaksi akan diarahkan ke node jahat yang disiapkan, membuat si penyerang bisa melakukan double spending terhadap koin yang dimiliki. Delay (penundaan) akses Internet yang disengaja bisa juga membuat double spending dilakukan meski si penyerang tidak menyiapkan node jahat khusus.

Jaringan Bitcoin bekerja dengan model peer-to-peer di mana tidak ada pengendali pusat yang mengatur bagaimana sebuah transaksi dikonfirmasi menjadi transaksi yang sah dan valid. Konfirmasi transaksi dilakukan melalui metode konsensus yang membutuhkan peran serta banyak pengguna yang tidak hanya menyediakan mekanisme konsensus tetapi juga node-node Bitcoin. Bitcoin, seperti halnya layanan berbasis Internet lainnya, membutuhkan jaringan Internet yang “jujur” agar sistem dapat berjalan dengan semestinya.

Sumber: kriptologi.com

Berita & Teknologi / Apa pendapat agan-agan terkait info isu negatif Bitcoin di 2018

« on: July 15, 2018, 05:49:14 AM »

Bitcoin Jatuh ke Titik Terendah di 2018

Pasca bobolnya dua platform pertukaran cryptocurrency asal Korea Selatan, nilai Bitcoin masih belum sepenuhnya pulih. Setelah serangan yang, secara keseluruhan, menimbulkan kerugian hampir Rp 1 triliun tersebut, harga mata uang virtual paling populer itu terus berkutat di kisaran USD 6.000.

Padahal, sebelum kasus tersebut terbongkar, Bitcoin masih duduk nyaman di kisaran USD 7.000. Malahan, cryptocurrency tersebut sempat anjlok ke USD 5.785, atau setara dengan Rp 81,8 juta. Angka tersebut merupakan yang terendah sepanjang 2018 ini. Terakhir kali mata uang virtual itu memiliki nilai di bawah USD 6.000 terjadi pada November 2017 lalu.

Hal ini diperparah dengan menurunnya kepopuleran Bitcoin di internet. Berdasarkan data dari Google Trends, tampak pencarian kata "bitcoin" terus menurun sejak Februari lalu, seiring dengan anjloknya harga cryptocurrency tersebut.

Buruknya performa Bitcoin pada 2018, setelah nilainya hampir menyentuh USD 20.000 pada Desember 2017 lalu, memunculkan berbagai prediksi yang menyudutkan mata uang digital tersebut. Salah satunya datang dari Jon Pearlstone. Figur yang bekerja pada surat kabar Cryptopatterns tersebut mengatakan bahwa nilai Bitcoin akan menuju USD 5.000.

"Itu (USD 5.000) tampaknya akan jadi tujuan paling memungkinkan dari jalan yang akan ditempuh oleh Bitcoin," ujarnya, sebagaimana detikINET kutip dari Forbes, Senin (25/6/2018).

Meski begitu, nyatanya cryptocurrency dengan kapitalisasi pasar terbesar di dunia tersebut mulai dapat pulih kembali, walau perlahan. Berdasarkan data dari Coindesk, saat ini Bitcoin terpantau memiliki harga di kisaran USD 6.100, atau setara dengan Rp 86,3 juta.

Sumber: detik.com