Monthly Archives: November 2019

NATO Envoy Says Afghans Do Not Want To See A Repeat Of The National Unity Government – Gandhara

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British diplomat Nicholas Kay is currently serving as NATOs senior civilian representative in Afghanistan. In an interview with Radio Free Afghanistan, he says not a single Afghan wants another national unity government. Instead, he says, Afghans would like to see a clear winner emerge from the September 28 presidential vote. The Afghan election commission now expects to announce the preliminary results of the vote on November 14.

RFE/RL: How important is it to NATO that this years presidential election in Afghanistan be transparent and credible?

Nicholas Kay: Its important and crucial for Afghans and therefore also for NATO. The credibility of the elections over the last several years has been reducing. We saw serious problems in the parliamentary elections last year and in 2014. It's vital that, now in 2019, the independent and electoral [complaint] commission does its job well and counts votes accurately. Afghans are absolutely depending on them to do their job so that they can trust the electoral process.

RFE/RL: The 2014 presidential elections was marred by allegations of massive fraud, and then U.S Secretary of State John Kerry was sent to Kabul. He cobbled together a national unity government, which critics say was never united. Is this going to happen again?

Kay: I havent met a single Afghan who wants to see that repeated. The Afghans I speak to want to see a clear result and a clear win for one candidate or the other, and no one wants someone from the outside to have to come in and help resolve what is an internal Afghan political problem. So this time I really hope the election result will be credible because it will be based on a clean, transparent and thorough process.

RFE/RL: The Taliban oppose the elections and have even threatened Afghan voters. According to the UNs latest report, scores of civilians were killed and hundreds more were wounded on September 28 alone. Whats your message to the Taliban?

Kay: The Taliban have shown themselves to be the enemies not only of democracy but of the Afghan people, who have clearly shown that they want democracy. Since 2001, they have participated in four presidential elections and parliamentary elections, as well. They have turned out under difficult circumstances, facing threats from terrorists, and they have shown that they want to vote to choose their leaders. The Taliban should respect the will of the Afghan people.

RFE/RL: In terms of counterterrorism assurances, has the Taliban really severed ties to transnational terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda?

Kay: There is no evidence yet that they have done that, but we know it was a part of the negotiations between the United States and the Taliban in Doha. They were negotiating verifiable, clear assurances of that. But that process has stopped and at the moment, as far as I am aware, the linkages to Al-Qaeda from the Taliban still exist.

RFE/RL: Another security threat in Afghanistan is the presence of IS affiliates. Can they re-establish their defeated caliphate in Afghanistan?

Kay: You are absolutely right. There is a presence of Daesh. Its a serious presence. They conduct terrorist attacks killing Afghan civilians. Just last week, they attacked a mosque and killed at least 69 Afghan civilians. So the Daesh presence is there, and it is a serious concern. However, the establishments of a caliphate or something like that is a very remote thing. No Afghan I have met has any wish to see either a caliphate or an emirate.

What I hear from most Afghans I meet is that they want a modern democracy that respects fundamental human rights civil and political rights, and that is what NATO is there helping the Afghans to achieve by creating the conditions [by] training and advising, assisting the Afghan National Security Forces, and I really see that march toward that modern democracy. That march is underway, and it is up to all of us now to remain committed to that mission and make sure the conditions are there for Afghans to enjoy durable peace.

RFE/RL: What do you want from the key regional stakeholders such as China, Iran, Pakistan, and Russia?

Kay: Support for a stable, peaceful Afghanistan. Support for the initiative to bring about intra-Afghan negotiations. The regional countries play a very important role, but neither the regional countries nor NATO nor any other country is going to solve this conflict, only Afghans will solve this at the negotiating table with the Taliban, the government, and other representatives of Afghanistan. The sooner we can get to that negotiating table, the better.

RFE/RL: Finally, lets talk about a potential future peace deal with the Taliban. How do you see the gains and achievements made during the years of NATOs presence in the country?

Kay: NATO has been there to train, advise, and assist the Afghan Security Forces, and I can see a transformation in their capacity and capabilities. I was last working in Afghanistan in 2006-07, and when I came back 10 years later in 2017, I could see with my own eyes that a transformation had taken place: You have capable Afghan security forces, special forces, commandos, and Air Force now, and so the progress is clear there. There is a lot of other progress that has been achieved over the past 18 years: democracy, womens rights, access to education, etc.

This is a new, modern Afghanistan. And of course, in that Afghanistan, there is as well freedom of speech, and the free media, and a very professional media, as well. All of these achievements over the past 18 years should be the foundation for a durable peace.

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NATO Envoy Says Afghans Do Not Want To See A Repeat Of The National Unity Government - Gandhara

Think tank report outlines steps NATO needs to take to defend Baltics – ERR News

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The report, titled "How to Defend the Baltic States" (link to PDF)examines opportunities for building up sufficient deterrence in the three Baltic countries, and, in the event that this deterrence fails, organizing the necessary warfare to drive the attacker out of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Thus far, the U.S. has not done enough to strengthen deterrence and defense on NATO's eastern flank or to encourage allies there to strengthen their own defense as called for in the U.S.' nationalsecurity strategy in 2017, report author Richard D. Hooker writes.

Last year, the U.S. allocated three times more financial aid to Rwanda than to any one Baltic country, and practically none of the $15 billion (USD) allocated by the U.S. to the European deterrence initiative reached the Baltic countries. The defense of NATO's eastern flank may be one of the most urgent national security matters, the author of the report finds.

To strengthen the Baltics, the U.S. could, for example, hand over the armored equipment already currently stored there, including M1A1 tanks, similarly to how the U.S. gave 162 tanks to Morocco, Hooker added.

The report also calls on the Baltic states to contribute more to their own defense as well, however.

In case of war, Kaliningrad must be neutralized

According to the conventional warfare scenario described in the report, in which war breaks out following an attack by Russia, Moscow needs seven to ten days to launch an offensive. At the same time, referring to several earlier assessments, it is noted that Russian units only need a few days to capture the three countries.

Nonetheless, in describing the possible defense of Estonia, the report describes how enemy forces approaching from the direction of Narva could be halted by Rakvere, or from the south near Tartu. "Some territory in the east may be lost, but retaining control of the capital is likely," the overview of Estonia notes.

The document stresses the importance of defense and deterrence activities to precede the attack, as well as describes which European-based U.S. units should be relocated to the Baltics.

According to the scenario described in the report, NATO forces should be capable of destroying Russia's Kaliningrad-based anti-aircraft capabilities by the 14th day after the conflict breaks out, following which allies can utilize their air supremacy and begin to more extensively move their units into the region. Polish and U.S. units must enter the Russian exclave as soon as the conflict breaks out, the report stresses.

After taking Kaliningrad, allied troops must also gain superiority on the Baltic Sea, at which point they will be capable of driving the warships of Russia's Baltic Fleet to St. Petersburg.

Deterrence cheaper than strike back

According to the report, the first priority should be to develop the Baltic countries' own respective defense capabilities, but at the same time improve the speed and quality of moving in additional allied forces.

In order to do so, a comprehensive action plan will need to be drawn up and U.S. and NATO support thereof ensured. The cost of necessary preparations for deterrence is not that great, the author of the report finds, especially considering NATO's great wealth, and the fact that the alternative is significantly more ominous.

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Think tank report outlines steps NATO needs to take to defend Baltics - ERR News

Ukraine asks NATO to grant it status of member of partnership of expanded opportunities Kuleba – Interfax Ukraine

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Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba says that Ukraine has applied to NATO with a request to grant it the status of a member of the partnership of expanded opportunities.

"During the visit, Ukraine turned to the North Atlantic Alliance with a request to move to a new level of cooperation and provide Ukraine with the status of a member of the partnership of expanded opportunities," Kuleba said at a briefing in Kyiv on Friday.

He noted that in the framework of such a partnership, Ukraine may receive priority access to certification of events that take place through NATO-Ukraine. The program also provides for: expanded cooperation in the field of intelligence; providing opportunities for representatives of partner countries to receive positions at NATO headquarters or in NATO structures.

The deputy PM emphasized that the program of expanded opportunities is not a substitute for the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP).

"We very much hope that the alliance will make a positive decision regarding our initiative," Kuleba added.

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Ukraine asks NATO to grant it status of member of partnership of expanded opportunities Kuleba - Interfax Ukraine

Why we don’t know what to eat to stay healthy – Politico

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With help from Mona Zhang

Editor's Note: This edition of Morning Agriculture is published weekdays at 10 a.m. POLITICO Pro Agriculture subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter each morning at 6 a.m. Learn more about POLITICO Pro's comprehensive policy intelligence coverage, policy tools and services at http://www.politicopro.com.

Even in an increasingly health-conscious America, the federal government has devoted only a tiny fraction of its research dollars to nutrition, a POLITICO investigation found. Meanwhile, consumers are confused about what to eat and increasingly suffering from diet-related diseases.

The FDA on Thursday announced new tools for detecting worrisome non-stick chemicals, known as PFAS, in the food supply.

Billionaire activist and Democratic presidential contender Tom Steyer is rolling out his platform for rural America today, and MA has the scoop.

A message from the National Confectioners Association:

#AlwaysATreat: It's the Halloween season, and we want to make sure you enjoy your favorite treats with no tricks. Were coming together to help people manage their sugar intake and ensure that they feel empowered to make informed choices when enjoying their favorite treats. Learn more at AlwaysATreat.com/HalloweenCentral

HAPPY FRIDAY, NOV. 1! Welcome to Morning Ag, where your host loves Brussels sprouts and is thankful for the genetic breeding that made them tasty! Send news tips to cboudreau@politico.com and @ceboudreau, and follow us @Morning_Ag.

WHY WE DONT KNOW WHAT TO EAT TO STAY HEALTHY: Nutrition research is an afterthought in Washington even though diet-related diseases like obesity and Type 2 diabetes are skyrocketing, threatening the fiscal sustainability of the U.S. health care system, reports your host and Pro Ags Helena Bottemiller Evich.

A POLITICO analysis of federal budget documents dating back decades reveals that NIH and USDA, as a share of their overall research dollars, are shrinking investments in nutrition. NIH in 2018 invested $1.8 billion, or just under 5 percent of its total budget. USDAs Agricultural Research Service spends much less: Just $88 million was devoted to nutrition last year, or a little more than 7 percent of its overall research portfolio virtually the same as in 1983 when adjusted for inflation.

To boot, theres a lack of federal leadership on nutrition research, no major lobbying force on Capitol Hill, and a nutrition science community that finds itself fighting over whether public health enemy No. 1 is processed carbs or fat or sodium or sugar. Meanwhile, consumers get a regular dose of whiplash on diet advice: One day coffee is healthy, the next its not; red wine is good for your heart, or maybe not; cheese is either a healthy source of protein and calcium, or a dangerous overdose of fat and salt.

This has prompted calls for establishing a National Institute of Nutrition, to be housed under NIH. Leading that effort is Joon Yun, a Silicon Valley investor better known for putting up millions to spur innovations to end aging. He and two high-profile allies Dariush Mozaffarian, dean of Tufts Universitys nutrition school, and David Kessler, who led the FDA during the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations are trying to build momentum on Capitol Hill.

I dont think we can afford not to have a National Institute of Nutrition, Yun said. Pros, read the profile from yours truly and Helena here.

FDA HAS A NEW WAY TO TEST FOR PFAS IN FOOD: The agency on Thursday announced it has a scientifically validated method for testing 16 different types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in food a significant step for FDA and state health and environmental authorities that are trying to determine how much Americans are exposed to the chemicals through their diet.

As part of this effort, the FDA in June released the preliminary results of PFAS testing in a limited sampling of foods, including from areas specifically affected by PFAS environmental contamination and the general food supply, via a routine program monitoring about 800 contaminants in the average U.S. diet. After applying the validated testing method to the initial results which detected PFAS, in many cases at very low levels, in 14 out of 91 samples the FDA said thats been revised to only two out of the 91 samples.

The new results: PFAS, after initially being detected in a range of foods, was only present in ground turkey and tilapia. It was also detected in milk and produce from areas with known environmental contamination; the milk was discarded and didnt enter the food supply, while the agency determined the concentrations in produce were so low they werent a human health concern.

Curious case of chocolate cake: The preliminary testing also showed extremely high levels of PFAS in chocolate cake. However, FDA determined that chocolate appears to produce false positives. To avoid this, the new validated testing includes an additional step to confirm measurements.

There are nearly 5,000 types of PFAS, which since the 1940s have been used in everything from Teflon cookware to food packaging. PFAS have been dubbed forever chemicals because they can take thousands of years to degrade. Theyre found in about 99.8 percent of Americans blood, and several of the most well-studied are linked to kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disease and other ailments.

STEYER UNVEILS PLAN FOR RURAL AMERICA: The billionaire activist is rolling out his Partnership with Rural America platform today, and MA got a sneak preview. Steyer joins many of his 2020 Democratic rivals in calling for the agriculture sector to address the climate crisis, pledging to spend $50 billion helping growers adopt climate-smart practices, $75 billion building green water infrastructure and $20 billion reforming land conservation easement tax credits.

He also set a goal for agriculture to be carbon neutral by 2045, aided by revenue-generating market mechanisms that would direct at least 50 percent of the proceeds to disadvantaged communities and small- and mid-sized farmers. (Check out a profile of Steyer from POLITICOs Eugene Daniels.)

Steyer wants to establish an Office of Rural Affairs in the White House, which would coordinate his plans for the health care system, such as preventing hospital closures in remote areas while investing $100 billion over a decade in mental health and $75 billion to combat the opioid epidemic. It would also expand rural housing programs.

Support for clean energy and public lands initiatives are Steyers most robust financial commitments, where he would spend upward of $200 billion. The candidate did not detail how he plans to fund much of his rural platform, however.

EXCLUSIVE: HEMP ORG RELEASES NEW GUIDANCE: Third-party certification organization U.S. Hemp Authority is releasing new guidance procedures today, Pro Cannabis Mona Zhang has learned. The guidance establishes definitions for labels often found on cannabidiol, or CBD, products like full spectrum and takes cues from the FDAs regulations on food, supplements and cosmetics (although the agency has yet to release rules for CBD).

Amid the regulatory limbo, some in the hemp industry have taken steps to self-regulate. The goal, the organizations President Marielle Weintraub said, is to avoid what I refer to as a 60 Minutes moment where one company does something that brings down this entire industry, because it is under a microscope. Weintraub added that to keep up with CBDs rapid sales growth, her group plans to regularly update the guidelines.

USDA released its own interim hemp rules on Tuesday, but many issues still havent been addressed by federal regulators, including contaminant testing, seed certification and labeling.

The FDA on Thursday announced that an E. coli outbreak involving 23 illnesses was likely associated with romaine lettuce. No deaths were reported and the outbreak appears to be over, the agency said. However, it communicated details to help ensure full awareness by the public and to highlight the ongoing importance of industry actions to ensure the safety of leafy greens.

The Senate on Thursday passed a bipartisan package of fiscal 2020 spending bills that cover USDA and FDA, Pro Budgets Caitlin Emma and Jennifer Scholtes report. But lawmakers are still tangling over the vast majority of government funding, including over President Donald Trumps border wall, as a Nov. 21 deadline looms.

The Trump administration plans to keep some tariffs on Chinese goods for another three years, Pro Trades Doug Palmer reports, based on a Federal Register notice set to be published today.

Around 1 in 4 of the worlds pigs are expected to die from African swine fever, according to the World Organization for Animal Health in Paris. Read the story from POLITICO Europes Arthur Neslen.

Global commodity traders ADM, Bunge and Cargill are sustaining more damage from the U.S.-China trade war, reporting lower quarterly earnings in recent weeks, The Wall Street Journal reports.

A message from the National Confectioners Association:

#AlwaysATreat: At Halloween and throughout the year, were making sure that consumers have more information, options and support with smaller pack sizes, clear calorie labels and even more information online. And since 90 percent of parents use Halloween to talk to their children about balance, this month is the perfect time to talk about little treats with your little ones. Did you know most people in the U.S. enjoy chocolate and candy 2-3 times per week, averaging just 40 calories per day, including during candy moments like Halloween? To provide consumers and parents with more support this Halloween, weve developed a set of digital resources to help make this season a little less spooky. Learn more at AlwaysATreat.com/HalloweenCentral.

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Why we don't know what to eat to stay healthy - Politico

Quantum Computing: The Why and How – insideHPC

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In this video from the Argonne Training Program on Extreme-Scale Computing 2019, Jonathan Baker from the University of Chicago presents: Quantum Computing: The Why and How.

The Argonne Training Program on Extreme-Scale Computing (ATPESC) provides intensive, two weeks of training on the key skills, approaches, and tools to design, implement, and execute computational science and engineering applications on current high-end computing systems and the leadership-class computing systems of the future. As a bridge to that future, this two-week program fills the gap that exists in the training computational scientists typically receive through formal education or other shorter courses. With around 70 participants accepted each year, admission to the ATPESC program is highly competitive. ATPESC is part of the Exascale Computing Project, a collaborative effort of the DOE Office of Science and the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Jonathan Baker is a second year Ph.D student at The University of Chicago advised by Fred Chong. He is studying quantum architectures, specifically how to map quantum algorithms more efficiently to near term devices. Additionally, he is interested in multivalued logic and taking advantage of quantum computings natural access to higher order states and using these states to make computation more efficient. Prior to beginning his Ph.D., he studied at the University of Notre Dame where he obtained a B.S. of Engineering in computer science and a B.S. in Chemistry and Mathematics.

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Quantum Computing: The Why and How - insideHPC

Editorial: Quantum computing is a competition we can’t afford to lose – The Winchester Star

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We Americans have a habit of bragging about our feats of technology. Our chief economic and military rivals namely Russia and China seldom do. They prefer to keep their secrets.

No one in this country is certain, then, how far the state-controlled economies of those nations have gone in developing quantum computing.

What is certain is that our national security, both militarily and economically, demands that the United States be first to perfect the technology. The reason for that was demonstrated in an announcement Wednesday by technology giant Google.

Google officials claim to have achieved a breakthrough in quantum computing. They say they have developed an experimental quantum computing processor capable of completing a complex mathematical calculation in less than four minutes.

Google says it would take the most advanced conventional supercomputer in existence about 10,000 years to do that.

Wrap your mind around that, if you can.

Other companies working with quantum computing, including IBM, Intel and Microsoft, say Google is exaggerating. IBM researchers told The Associated Press the test calculation used by Google actually could be handled by certain supercomputers in two and one-half days.

Still, you get the idea: Quantum computing will give the nation including its armed forces and industries that gets there first an enormous advantage over everyone else. The possibilities, ranging from near-perfect missile defense systems to vastly accelerated research on curing diseases, are virtually endless.

U.S. officials are cognizant of the ramifications of quantum computing, to the point that Washington has allocated $1.2 billion to support research during the next five years.

If that is not enough to ensure the United States stays in the lead in the quantum computing race, more should be provided. This is a competition we cannot afford to lose.

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Editorial: Quantum computing is a competition we can't afford to lose - The Winchester Star

Quantum investment soars in the UK to more than 1bn – Management Today

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Whats very small but set to be very big? Quantum technology, according to the UK government, which took the decision in June to reinvest in a scheme designed to move the science beyond academia and research laboratories and into commercial and practical use.

Some 1bn has already been invested in the UKs National Quantum Technologies Programme, which was set up in 2013. The government recently announced a further 153m of funding through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (which aims to ensure that 2.4 per cent of GDP is invested in R&D by 2027) plus 200m of investment from the private sector.

This means spending by industry is outstripping government investment for the first time, a good indication that the technology has stepped beyond an initial, broadly speculative stage. "Quantum is no longer an experimental science for the UK," says former science minister Chris Skidmore. "Investment by government and businesses is paying off as we become one of the worlds leading nations for quantum science and technologies."

Whereas "classical" computers are based on a structure of binary choices yes or no; on or off quantum computing is a lot more complicated. Classical chips rely on whether or not an electron is conducted from one atom to another around a circuit, but super-cooled quantum chips allow us to interface with the world at a much deeper level, taking into account properties such as superposition, entanglement or interference.

Confused? Think of a simple coin toss. Rather than being able to simply call heads or tails, superposition allows us to take into account when a coin spins, while entanglement is whether its properties are intrinsically linked with those of another coin.

To help harness this new potential in different areas, the governments programme works across four hubs: sensing and timing; imaging; computing and simulation; and communications.

One of the key advances that quantum computing is expected to bring is not just substantially greater processing speed but the ability to mimic and, therefore, understand and predict the ways that nature works.

For example, this could allow us to look directly inside the human body, see through smoke or mist, develop new drugs much more quickly and reliably by reviewing the effect on many molecules at the same time, or even make our traffic run smoothly. Meanwhile, the Met Office has already invested in this technology to improve weather forecasting.

Image: IBM Q System One quantum computer, photo by Misha Friedman/Getty Images

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Quantum investment soars in the UK to more than 1bn - Management Today

What one member of Trump’s new science advisory council wants it to tackle – Science Magazine

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Dario Gil with IBMs System One quantum computer

By Jeffrey MervisNov. 1, 2019 , 2:10 PM

The Presidents Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) has yet to hold its first meeting, and the White House hasnt even announced its full 16-person roster. But one newly appointed member, Director of IBM Research Dario Gil in Yorktown Heights, New York, already has a wish list of issues hed like it to tackle.

His list includes promoting scientific inquiry and its value to policymakers, ensuring that researchers have the computational tools they need in an era of big data, retraining the U.S. workforce to be more technically literate, and updating a partnership between the federal government, academia, and industry spelled out by Vannevar Bush at the end of World War II. Gil also thinksthe government must strike the right balance between protecting national security and fostering international scientific collaboration with the rest of the world, using a scalpel instead of a blanket policy to monitor and prevent undue foreign influences on U.S. research.

I am passionate about the need for continued investment in science, says Gil, 43, who joined IBM immediately after earning his Ph.D. in 2003 and has been rising quickly through its management ranks. I want to be an advocate of its critical importance.

That full-throated endorsement of the U.S. research enterprise may hearten some scientists who feel President Donald Trump and his administration have been scornful of their contributions and the role of science in policymaking. Gil declined to characterize his political leanings and deflected a question about whether he agrees with that criticism.

Henry Smith, a professor emeritus of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and Gils graduate adviser, thinks Trump has been a disaster for scienceand that Gil shares those views. However, Smith says Gil also understands that tact is important in trying to influence government policy.

I think that Dario will express his views as clearly and diplomatically as possible, says Smith, who has remained in touch with Gil. He knows that if he goes in and says something too radical, it would be ignored. But that doesnt mean hes not going to stand up for what he believes.

PCAST will be chaired by Kelvin Droegemeier, the presidents science adviser, who filled a 2-year vacancy when he became director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policyin January. Gil spoke with ScienceInsider shortly after the White House announced PCASTs first cohort of seven scientists and industry leaders on 22 October. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Q: What haskept you at IBM?

A: Ive been having too much fun. When I graduated from [Smiths] nanostructures laboratory, I joined a group that was a natural extension of what I had been doing, pushing the limits of nanofabrication. But then I got involved in modeling, and in high-performance computing, and in applying models more broadly across different industries. And then I became responsible for all the core scientific research at IBM in the physical sciences. Then I led the AI [artificial intelligence] organization, and then I got really involved in quantum computing.

Q: What are some key issues in applying quantum science to real-world problems?

A:People are fascinated by the word quantum; theres something about the word itself and the underlying physics that fascinates people. Beyond that, they ask about the implications, and whether it will replace personal computing.

And I say, No, its not. Its bits, neurons, and qubits coming together.Its not about qubits replacing bits or taking over the world. So, lets not think about one replacing the other.

As for what it is good for, it will have a profound effect on how we discover new materials and how material science is practiced. In agriculture it could lead to a new generation of fertilizers with a totally different energy consumption to create them, or better batteries. And it has profound implications for encryption and cybersecurity, and about U.S. economic competitiveness. There are also implications for the workforce, and what we need to do to train a new generation of scientists working in this environment.

Q: Are you worried that government policies to protect research in the name of national security could go too far and hamper progress and international collaboration?

A: I think that balance in that equation is indispensable. Science itself is very open endeavor, and its very important to maintain an open attitude toward how we do basic science.

Now, as we start adding the words technology and products, it is reasonable to discuss, for each technology, the right balance among capability, national security, openness, and so on. That is not new. Weve been doing that as a country for many decades. And AI and quantum will be no different. Were going to have to find that balance. And we need multiple voices to get that right.

Casting a broad brush to include everything does not make for sophisticated policy. So, I am in favor of being more nuanced, and more precise, in each area, and approaching it with a scalpel, not with a blanket policy.

Q: Does the government need to do more to strengthen science, technology, engineering, and matheducation and improve diversity? And what have you seen that works?

A:There are two categories that we need to pay more attention to. One is formal education, and the other is once people join the workforce.

If you look at formal education, there have been some trends that have been really disturbing. For example, if you look at the percentage of women studying computer science, we are worse off than we were 35 years ago. So that is really sad, and we have to be able to reverse that trend.

And then once youve done with formal education and you enter the workforce, theres very little continuing education to cope with technological shifts. We need to pay more attention to the mechanism for invest in acquiring those new technological skills. How are we going to do it, and what are the incentives, and what is the role of the private sector and academia?

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What one member of Trump's new science advisory council wants it to tackle - Science Magazine

Bitcoin Cash’s Q3 performance was horrid here’s what happened – The Next Web

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Bitcoin Cash BCH is a household name in the cryptocurrency world. Its never far from being in the top five cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. But in the grand scheme of things, its not that old. Bitcoin Cash was created in August 2017.

In response to Bitcoins scalability challenges, its blockchain was hard forked to create a new coin, called Bitcoin Cash. Its creators wanted to create a cryptocurrency that acted as close to a digital version of cash as possible. It wanted to reduce the comparatively high transaction fees associated with Bitcoin to make everyday use of cryptocurrency a more achievable reality.

Bitcoin Cash tries to do this with larger block sizes, which means more transactions can be mined per block, in theory reducing confirmation times and increasing the speed of transactions.

However, this didnt last for that long. Further infighting and disagreements meant Bitcoin Cash itself forked in August 2018, resulting in two different blockchains. Bitcoin ABC (supported by Roger Ver and Bitmains Jihan Wu) and Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (from Craig Wright).

Based on the stance most cryptocurrency exchange desks took, Bitcoin ABC continued to be recognized as Bitcoin Cash. Bitcoin ABC/Cash continues to use the BCH price ticker while Bitcoin SV uses BSV.

As you might expect, given its close relationship to the OG cryptocurrency, BCHs market performance is never too far from Bitcoin. But lets take a look at how Bitcoin Cash has performed recently.

Bitcoin Cash first came to market in late 2017, just in time for the infamous bull run that lasted until February 2018.

As with most cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin Cash is yet to see the highs it saw in 2017 again, and has generally been on a downward trend ever since.

Bitcoin Cash had one up swing in trading price during April 2018, where its price shot up from $643 to $1,683 over the course of the month. A year later, at the end of April 2019, Bitcoin Cash was trading at around $293, a staggering 83-percent drop.

The cryptocurrencys performance for most of 2019 has been somewhat uneventful. On June 16, Bitcoin Cash reached its 2019 high, when it was trading at $487.

Bitcoin Cash had a positive end to Q2, but that trend didnt continue into Q3.

Across the first two weeks of July 2019, Bitcoin Cashs trading price dropped from around $403 on July 1, to around $283 on July 16.

In the context ofcryptocurrencyvolatility, this 30-percent drop is a somewhat minor price correction. Across the winter of 2017 to 2018,BitcoinCash saw its price tumble by over 75 percent.

After this market correction, Bitcoin Cash recovered enough to trade sideways for most of August.

On August 5, Bitcoin Cash reached a monthly high of $333, a notable 18-percent increase on the low it saw just a few weeks earlier.

However, that was as good as it would get for the digital coin in Q3. For the rest of the quarter Bitcoin Cash had a few price fluctuations, but it would close a long way down on where it opened.

At the end of August, another albeit minor price correction saw the cryptocurrencys price drop by 11 percent from $304 on August 27 to $270 on August 31.

Bitcoin Cash did manage to stave off the doom and gloom for a little while longer though. In the first three weeks of September a steady price rally saw the coins price rise from its end of August low to a monthly high of $322 on September 18.

Unfortunately, on September 19Bitcoin, Cashs price began to tumble as the coin witnessed another sizable market correction.

On September 26, Bitcoin Cash was trading at just over $216, a 33-percent drop on where it was trading just a week earlier.

Bitcoin Cash showed no signs of recovering in the final days of the quarter. On September 30, the coin was trading at $223, 45-percent down on where it opened Q3.

Perhaps the most notable news forBitcoinCash last quarter came in September, when it was announced thatBitcoin.com was looking to launch a derivative for the cryptocurrency.

The timing of this news actually coincided with the small rally Bitcoin Cash saw in September, however, it wasnt enough to encourage any kind of sustained growth.ABitcoinCash futures contract would be a long way off, and would need to overcome numerous regulatory hurdles before launching. Bakkt has done it for Bitcoin, so its not out the question that others will follow.

In early July, Scottish alternative punk-infused brewery Brewdog announced that it would be offering shares in its company, through its long-running equity for punks scheme, in exchange for cryptocurrency including Bitcoin Cash.

In the same week, Swiss fintech firm Amun AG announced a Bitcoin Cash exchange traded product, listed on the Switzerland-based stock exchange Six.

Neither of these announcements appear to have had any positive effect on the cryptocurrencys trading price in the short term.

Its been a shaky start to the last quarter of the year for Bitcoin Cash. for most of October it has been trading sideways with no notable price swings.

However, this weeks news thatcryptocurrencyminingmainstay Bitmain had fired one of its co-founders, who was also the largest stakeholder in the business, is likely to garner interest from Bitcoin Cash fans.

The announcement was made internally to Bitmain by the companys head Jihan Wu, a longtime supporter of Bitcoin Cash. In the hours following the news, Bitcoin Cashs price increased by 10 percent.

Indeed, while this might be good news in the short term for Bitcoin Cashs trading price, the long term impact remains uncertain.

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Published October 29, 2019 13:25 UTC

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Bitcoin Cash's Q3 performance was horrid here's what happened - The Next Web

The resolution of the Bitcoin Cash experiment – CoinGeek

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The post originally appeared on Medium and we republished with permission from Unwriter.

Disclaimer: Before I go in, I want to say, if you are a Bitcoin application developer who happen to belong to any of the groups or organizations I am about to criticize here, I have nothing personal against you. I know all your hearts are in the right place. Its your group thats messed up, not you personally. Remember, you have choice. You can get out. I actually would like for you to read my post, step back, and think about why you are here. I would love to be on the same team as you, collaborating. What we have created so far with Bitcoin Cash is too precious to throw away. And this is why I speak.

From November 15 to 26 the Bitcoin Cash network went through its most important experiment since the inception of Bitcoin itself.

The so-called Bitcoin Hash War lasted about two weeks and moved in a direction that many people didnt expect Many people expected Bitcoin SV to make an aggressive re-org attack but that never happened. However what came out of the other side is the problem I will discuss in this post.

Bitcoin ABC was so afraid of an imaginary attack from SV that they made all kinds of mistakes, writing permanent code in rapid fire releases to the point where what they stand for is no longer recognizable.

And THIS ABCs self-inflicted scars that will forever exist immutably on the blockchain has led to a blockchain I can no longer build on.

I normally dislike writing because I would rather spend time building, and I prefer showing by doing, but at this time I realize I am in a very unique position of being the ONLY developer in the entire Bitcoin Cash ecosystem who has deliberately stayed politically unbiased, so I decided to contribute to the next phase.

Who is _unwriter?

First some background, heres who I am:

I work on two useful infrastructure projects in Bitcoin Cash ecosystem:

1. BitDB: Decentralized Database for Bitcoin https://bitdb.network

2. BitSocket: Realtime Message Bus for Bitcoin https://bitsocket.org

They power bitcoin applications such ascraft.cash,oyo.cash,trends.cash,matter,simple ledger protocol,memopay.xyz, and many more you probably have heard of at least once if youre a Bitcoin Cash user.

Next, about my identity. I proudly have exactly zero moral hazard. I have exactly zero conflict of interest. I am unaffiliated with ANY of the actors in the Bitcoin Cash ecosystem. There is exactly 0 person who knows who I am. Nobody has met me, nobody knows my voice, nobody funded me, I took donations from nobody, I have zero debts from anyone in the Bitcoin Cash ecosystem, both figuratively and literally.

I have only created what Bitcoin needed, and will continue to do so. There are some very exciting projects on the way I will soon release. And you will learn that BitDB, Bitquery, and Bitsocket have just been preludes to what Im actually trying to build.

Lastly, I am expressing myself here NOT as a follower, but as a chooser. I am choosing the blockchain I choose. I only pick the most superior blockchain because my projects deserve better.

Is this enough credibility for you? Or are you going to call me a shill and close this page? If you are a rational person, at least try to read till the end, because all I want is to collaborate with all of you and move forward in the right direction instead of fighting. And no matter which situation youre in, its not too late. You decide.

The importance of Capitalists in Bitcoin

I posted a public message to Bitcoin application developers last week:

The application developers are the capitalists of the nation of Bitcoin. And THEY are the ones who determine the wealth of the nation. Wise capitalists dont follow the herd. They notice opportunities and act on them.

I have been saying this that Bitcoin needs to attract application developers and the only way to do so is by signaling dedication to scalability, stability and openness instead of adding some new feature from the beginning. Below is an excerpt from an interview from back in July:

Note the last sentence in the excerpt:

they dont want to wake up one day to find that the rules of the game have changed overnight and all their effort has gone to waste.

And indeed, the rules of the game have changed in Bitcoin Cash. It is no longer the Bitcoin I signed up for.

Is Bitcoin Cash the real Bitcoin?

There is something very wrong with Bitcoin Cash ABC and its community today. There is too much misinformation out there, and people seem too willing to believe anything if it comes from some influencer guy who they see as respected by the community, even when they have no idea why they are respected by the community in the first place.

In this article I will explain what ABC has irreversibly turned itself into:

1. Censorable

2. Centralized

3. Unstable

4. Death of Permissionless Innovation

5. Anti Bitcoin Maximalist

I hope my perspective will be helpful for many application developers out there who are still confused about what they should do going forward.

Rid yourself from social obligations and social pressure. If your ideas are influenced by your employer, social clique, or by your past behaviors, try to be aware of this and think independently. You have choice. You can even leave your job and get a new one if you realize your employer doesnt stand for what you signed up for when you got into Bitcoin.

Just think about WHY you are here in the first place.

That said, what IS wrong with Bitcoin ABC?

1. Censorable

Heres a serious issue most ABC supporters seem to deliberately ignore out of cognitive dissonance, or because of misinformation.

Bitcoin Cash ABC has effectively become censorable. Yes, the very quality Bitcoin stands for censorship resistant money is dead on the ABC chain. you just cant see it yet.

The manner in which the centralized checkpointing was executed throughout the war should be a serious risk to any developer considering building on top of Bitcoin ABC.

This whole scheme of centralized checkpointing was powered by a cartel of crypto exchanges behind closed doors. This is not only immoral (in terms of Bitcoins morality), but potentially illegal AND makes the coin vulnerable even in the real world sense. And it is this real world aspect I would like to discuss, since this is a very real risk. Morality is subjective, but risk is real.

Heres a recorded livestream video where they explain, step by step, how this capture the ticker mission was accomplished by a cartel of ABC developers and crypto exchanges (instead of through Proof of Work):

Whats interesting about this centralized checkpoint is that it provides both the reason AND the means for a powerful adversary to take down the network in the future. They simply need to attack the associated ABC cartel, leveraging the centralized checkpoint to do whatever they want to the chain once compromised. And you wouldnt even know what went on as a user.

Of course I can already hear many people saying Shut up you shill, thats all just theory and is unlikely to happen!, but if you know anything about crypto or security, the rule of thumb is to be always paranoid than sorry, because crypto never forgets. And blockchain never forgets. A vulnerability once created never goes away.

Another rule is, where there is vulnerability there will be exploit. This is inevitable. Its just a matter of when. If you dont believe me, just ask Ethereum, their infamous DAO hack vulnerability had been known for a while but nobody thought it would actually happen for whatever reason.

Until it did.

Remember, if it can happen, it WILL happen, especially if its related to money and security.

Another lesson we can learn from Ethereums DAO hack is how the Ethereum team handled the hack afterwards.

Instead of moving on without messing with the economy, the core Ethereum team and the insiders decided to bail out the casualties of the hack, thereby saving some of the important early members of the Ethereum community.

This is why ETH and ETC (Ethereum Classic) split into two. ETC made up of people who believed in the principle, and ETH made up of people who have made a compromise. This demonstrated how a centralized protocol development team can play Keynes and roll back the ledger through powerful oligarchic actors conspiring with one another.

And this is where a lot of early Ethereum investors lost faith in the project.

It had turned into crony capitalism, as can be seen in the excerpt below:

I hope some of you are starting to see the parallels by now.

So, after all this, obviously I dont feel comfortable building my entire infrastructure empire on top of something that can be seized by various unknown gatekeeper adversaries without me even realizing whats going on.

Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but if it can happen, it WILL happen, even if its after decades. Its just a matter of time. Thats NOT sound money. Its money with insecurities.

Ask yourself: Why would I want to build on something that can go down or be manipulated just like that one day? I am building something that will last forever, so this is already game over in my eyes.

2. Centralized

There are many aspects of centralization, but here I will only discuss the protocol development centralization which ABC has finally achieved through this war.

In the past you may have heard some anti bitcoin cash people criticize how Bitcoin Cash development is centralized. To be clear, this has never been the case, at least until this hash war. There were plenty of developers working on multiple implementations that follow the same Bitcoin Cash protocol, such as Bitcoin ABC, Bitcoin Unlimited, Bitcoin XT, Bitprim, Flowee, etc.

But today, while these multiple implementations still DO exist and may even look like they are doing fine, they will only exist as ghosts of their past.

As of today, no one can deny the reality that the only client that has the ultimate power in Bitcoin Cash is Bitcoin ABC. Everyone else has become decimated to the point where they simply function as a follower client. ABC doesnt even need to discuss anything with the other teams. They can simply add new features arbitrarily in a permission-less manner, and push it out.

You can see this in action with the last couple of releases where ABC has added adjustable checkpoint system (with a default of 10 blocks) WITHOUT even consulting any other developer team. You can watch the outrage over at Bitcoin Unlimited forum:

Theres an internal conflict going on there those who are too deep in the game with ABC that they fail to see the problem, and those who are calling them out but I dont think this will have any effect because these people have no influence under the new Bitcoin ABC puppet state regime.

3. Unstable

Bitcoin ABC is no longer sound money. There are so many things, but Ill just list out a few that make it a dealbreaker for me:

First, these various reactionary amendments written into the constitution of Bitcoin Cash in order to defend against some imaginary attacks from Bitcoin SV that may or may not have even existed should be a huge red flag. The war started last week with version 0.18.1, but after just a week its already at 0.18.5. And according to their development repository, theyve already finished 0.18.6 last week. So well probably see another release soon.

Second, these amendments have added needless technical debt and serious security vulnerabilities, which is why theyve been releasing patch after patch to fix the bugs they introduced with the patch before. The reckless rapid fire releases resulted in the network being split among multiple nodes, each with different versions of rules (Im only talking about ABC clients, imagine what this means for other clients like Bitcoin Unlimited who have to keep up with following these patches every day to stay in the game. And as far as I know, Bitcoin Unlimited was the only client that has even attempted to follow ABCs continuous delivery).

I think these follower node developers (Bitcoin Unlimited, etc.) may have some irrational hope that this power dynamic will change somehow in the future, but this time its different. Youve lost the moment you let ABC upgrade with a centralized checkpointing system and conspire with external actors to execute on their goal. You have not given power to ABC, but to external centralized actors.

Lastly, now with Bitcoin SV gone and no one to provide checks and balances, theyre happily adding all kinds of bells and whistles to Bitcoin. For example, here you see the code for Avalanche also known as the infamous Pre-consensus on their master branch.

I know many ABC supporters will say this is not really a big deal because its just being used for mempool synchronization, but you have no idea what kind of economic implication this will have. Economics is subtle, this is why classical and Austrian economists always say When in doubt, Laissez-faire. Things like this is whats called Keynesian and ABC is working very hard to achieve that status.

Unlike changing the block size limit, something like Avalanche changes the entire dynamic between the mempool and the blockchain, which is directly related to miners incentive, and one would be lying if he claimed to know exactly how this will turn out economically.

The first time Europeans brought gold from their foreign colonies they had no idea that would cause inflation. They just thought they would become rich. Obviously, you have more gold you become rich, right? And they did become rich, in the short term at least. But then inflation happened, and nobody knew what was going on.

Same with Bitcoin. Just because mempool becomes faster, doesnt mean youve succeeded. If the mempool synchronization becomes 1000 times faster but it completely messes up the economics of Bitcoin, its effectively a useless ledger. Congrats, you can now experience its uselessness 1000 times faster.

And dont forget, this is not something you can just complain about and it will go away. This Avalanche feature was the main reason why this entire hash war happened (also known as pre-consensus):

ABC cant give up on this feature because if they do, then it will be admitting they didnt know what they were doing. And that will mean they have lost everything for nothing. This is why they will very likely go ahead with this, and when this happens, one of the two scenarios will happen:

1. The community follows blindly so as not to rock the boat (Just like how the entire BTC camp is betting on Lightning and choosing to ignore all the red flags)

2. Some may DEFINITELY not like the change and decide to fork off again, therefore reversing adoption one more time (See the Bitcoin Unlimited forum for the early signs https://bitco.in/forum/threads/gold-collapsing-bitcoin-up.16/page-1301) But too late, ABC already has added all kinds of baggage and will have added even more by the time you realize you need to fork off.

Well, good luck to you, and I wish you the best with your coin, but either way its too unstable, and this is not Bitcoin.

And I only build on Bitcoin.

4. Death of Permissionless Innovation

One of the talking points of Bitcoin ABC camp has been Permissionless Innovation. Ironically, Bitcoin ABC is no longer a place for permissionless innovation either.

While everyone on team ABC seems to be very happy that they got the BCH ticker and proudly say the war was over even before it had started because of their coordination with the exchange cartel, they dont realize it is EXACTLY this point that makes Bitcoin ABC a deal breaker for any pragmatic application developer.

They have effectively turned themselves into crony capitalism blockchain.

What ABC has done by very successsfully pulling off this capture the ticker mission is they have demonstrated a textbook example of how a protocol developer can conspire with outside actors (a cartel of exchanges and centralized miners) to enforce centralized consensus, and do it so effectively that it even overrides the competition with a decentralized hash power. There exists no checks and balances, only the illusion of it.

This is pretty scary if you think about it. I know many people are afraid of centralization, but this is worse than centralization because it has the illusion of decentralization to the public yet it is centralized where no one can see it.

At least in centralized platforms they are completely transparent about their centralizedness, but crony capitalism looks just like capitalism to the outside world and crony decentralization looks just like decentralization to the outside world.

This means now you have to play politics and play nice with exchanges, miners, and the companies that control access to these actors such as Bitcoin.com, Bitmain, and Bitcoin ABC they are effectively the consensus makers.

It is exactly like the world you live in today, full of corruption. And Bitcoin was supposed to fix that.

I dont want to invest my time and resources working on a platform that can easily undermine my permissionless innovation anytime. For example, if you happen to build anything that competes with wormhole, expect it to get sidelined in various subtle ways, so subtle that you wont even realize it until it just hits you in the form of an ABC protocol update.

As an application developer, whatever you build can be overridden by this opaque cartel, just like how Twitter can always steer their open API to block their potential competitors from competing on equal terms on Twitter. (See Meerkat vs. Periscope)

And whats worse, the users will not even care that youre dead, they will witch hunt you and even try to silence you because they dont want to stir the pot and make the coin price go down. They will prefer the gatekeepers just win the war and carry on with no hiccup to the outside world. You can already see a glimpse of this in Reddit r/btc today.

Originally posted here:

The resolution of the Bitcoin Cash experiment - CoinGeek

Bitcoin Cash First Halving Countdown Begins, To Happen in May 2020 – Coinpedia

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Bitcoin Cash(BCH) has been in the crypto market from August 2017, It was a result of Bitcoin Hard Fork. However, it is not widely accepted as Bitcoin or altcoins like ETH or XRP. Nowadays, the BCH network has come into notice again as its Halving news has resurfaced. Bitcoin Cash Halving is estimated to occur in May 2020.

It is the event where the number of generated Bitcoin Cash rewards per block will be divided by 2. The total number of Bitcoin Cash mined by miners per block will reduce from 12.5 to 6.25 BTC.

The Halving is about to occur in less than 160 days. The general estimation is that Bitcoin Cash prices will increase after halving as the amount of minted coins decreases. However, traders can expect volatility during this period while miners will earn lower mining rewards.

Director of BD at the Kraken exchange, Dan Hedl said that Bitcoin Cash Halvening will be catastrophic for Bcash. Also, the attack rate on BCH is estimated to increase by 51%.

That doesnt sound like a bad business model but as new mining machines enter the game, so the game gets harder. In other words, the halving could just make an existing problem worse. However, as a Hodler, the Halving would be deemed as beneficial.

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Bitcoin Cash First Halving Countdown Begins, To Happen in May 2020 - Coinpedia

Bitcoin Cash, NEO and XRP Price Prediction and Analysis for October 29th – NullTX

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The cryptocurrency market exhibited some major upswings this week with the pricerising over 10% for most cryptos. Lets take a look at our select cryptocurrencies BCH, NEO and XRP and see what the charts have in store for us.

BCH/USD pair has turned out to be the third-best performing crypto with a bullish outlook. BCH is up by 6.8%, after having escalated from $253.20 to $271.54 that showed bullish sentiments over the intraday. Additionally, a bullish trend line has formed on the hourly chart that confirmed intense buying pressure. Thus, failure for the pairs price to dip below $254.57 critical support level signifies that the altcoin might continue higher. Looking at the technical, both moving averages are signaling a positive outcome since they are now below the price. The RSI is also trading above average that indicates increasing interest in buying.

An upside break above $274.81 resistance level may extend the bullish rally towards $285.00 level. However, if the price bounces back from $274.81 level, the bears might make an attempt to scale below $250.00.

Unlike BCH, NEO/USD pair has been trading on a range-bound between $13.00 and $10.85 levels with a bearish performance, which has reduced investors sentiments over the last 24hrs. The coin has succumbed to losses with a slight drop of about 2.4% after moving from $11.17 to $10.90, the current price. Afterward, the pairs price first saw an upside rally to a high of $13.65, but the bulls later reverse the trend and fluctuated the price momentum south ways. That showed strong selling pressure coming from sellers. Besides, the long-term SMA has managed to cross above the short-term SMA, and the RSI is heading south towards the oversold zone. This shows a high possibility for a further decline in the near term.

A downside break below the lower channel, which is support level could further extend losses towards $9.00 0r $8.5 level.

Like NEO, XRP/USD pair has also been on a tight range between $0.305 and $0.294. That confirmed a state of equilibrium between the buyers and sellers. Thus, XRP coin has shown no much of activity over the last 24hrs. Hence a strong breakout is expected in the near term. Despite the indecisiveness, the technical have indicated a bearish outlook, with both moving averages giving out a bearish crossover and the RSI trading below average. This shows that the bears are stronger than the bulls. However, if the bulls fight and push the RSI up to trade above average, they can prevent expected downside correction. Therefore, more buyers are needed in the market to recover some momentum.

A fall below $0.294 level may extend towards $0.100 level. However, if the price finds strong support near $0.294 and bounces back up to breach $0.305 level. Then a new uptrend can be seen with an imminent resistance level near $0.400.

Cryptocurrency Charts By Tradingview

Disclaimer: This is not trading or investment advice. The above article is for entertainment and education purposes only. Please do your own research before purchasing or investing into any cryptocurrency or digital currency.

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Bitcoin Cash, NEO and XRP Price Prediction and Analysis for October 29th - NullTX

Bitcoin Cash more vulnerable to timestamp manipulation than Bitcoin: BitMEX Research – AMBCrypto

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Recently, BitMEX Research published a report detailing Bitcoins block timestamp protection rules, ones designed to stop nefarious miners from manipulating block timestamps and achieving unfairly high mining rewards. The report also discusses certain constants that were chosen and how those values could have particular implications for Bitcoin Cash.

According to the BitMEX research team, if too many miners join or leave the network, block times could become too fast or too slow, making the network unreliable. When a block is produced on Bitcoin, a timestamp is placed in the header by the miner and the actual time at which the block is produced is stored in the block itself.

If miners manipulated block timestamps, they could make it seem as if the difficulty needs to be adjusted to maintain the 10-minute rule for mining blocks, by either making it seem as if it took longer or shorter time to mine those blocks. To mitigate this risk, Bitcoin introduces two mechanisms to protect itself against this manipulation.

The first one, the Median Past Time Rule, states that the timestamp must be further forward than the median of the last eleven blocks. This median implies that even if six blocks are re-organized, time would still not move backwards. It is also consistent with the example provided in Meni Rosenfields 2012 paper, which shows that six confirmations are necessary to decrease the probability of success below 0.1% for an attacker with 10% of the network hashrate.

The other rule is the Future Block Time Rule, which essentially makes sure the timestamp cannot be set to more than a constant time ahead (2 hours), relative to the median time for the nodes peers. Further, another safeguard is that the maximum allowed gap between the time provided by the nodes and the local system clock is 90 minutes. However, unlike the MPT rule, this rule is not a full consensus rule as blocks with a timestamp too far ahead in the future are not invalidated, and can become valid as time moves forward.

Rule number one ensures that the blockchain continues to move forwards in time and rule number two ensures that the chain does not move too far forwards. These time protection rules are not perfect, for example miners could still move the timestamps forward by producing timestamps in the future, within a two week period, however the impact of this would be limited.

The report added that these rules have proven reasonably effective in preventing miners from manipulating Bitcoin timestamps. Bitcoin Cash however, is a different story. Since the Emergency Difficulty Adjustment model was replaced by a more simple rolling 24-hour system, though it is faster to resolve block time discrepancies, it is more susceptible to them than Bitcoin.

For Bitcoin, the 2-hour limit is only 0.6% of the 2 weeks it takes for a difficulty adjustment. On Bitcoin Cash however, the 2 hours become 8.3% of the 1 day it takes for a difficulty adjustment. According to the researchers, this appears to be potentially significant and if exploited, could result in changes to miner profitability.

Bitcoin Cash may therefore be somewhat vulnerable to miners manipulating timestamps, or at least more vulnerable than Bitcoin. On the other hand, although Bitcoin Cash may be more vulnerable to miner timestamp manipulation attacks than Bitcoin, any issues will be resolved faster.

Researchers also commended Satoshi Nakamoto for being able to think so far ahead 10 years ago, before anyone had any experience with building a blockchain.

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Bitcoin Cash more vulnerable to timestamp manipulation than Bitcoin: BitMEX Research - AMBCrypto

Bitcoin Cash Retraces and Attempts to Retest the Previous High of $300 – Coin Idol

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Nov 01, 2019 at 11:57 // Price

Bitcoin Cash Price Analysis: BCH breaks out of its consolidation and commences a bullish movement. BCH will resume its uptrend once the price breaks the previous high of $300.

Bitcoin Cash price Long-term forecast: Bullish

Recently, the Bitcoin Cash price has continued to make an impressive move in the direction of the previous highs. Presently, the market is facing resistance to a significant area of the price zone. In retrospect, the bears were on this critical price level on three occasions before the price zone was breached. Later sellers resumed as the price fell to a low of $200. Nonetheless, BCH has risen again to retest the previous highs.

However, Bitcoin Cash's continual rise will be determined if the previous high of $300 is violated. Two days ago, the coin has been making frantic efforts to violate the $300 previous high. The market will rise and reach the highs of $360 or $400 on the condition the bulls overcome the $300 price level. Nonetheless, BCH may be compelled to a sideways trend if the bulls fail to break the previous high of $300.

The horizontal channel was broken as the market continues its rise. The RSI levels 68 signal that price is in an uptrend. The EMAs have a bullish crossover as the blue line crosses over the red line indicating a price rise.

The coin is rising as the bulls continue to push the price to previous highs. All the daily indicators are signaling an upward movement in favor of Bitcoin Cash. The market will maintain its rise if the price pushes through the previous high of $300. Conversely, the coin will fall and trade below the $300 price level.

Key Supply Zones: $320, $360, $400

Key Demand zones: $200, $160, $120

Disclaimer. This analysis and forecast are the personal opinions of the author are not a recommendation to buy or sell cryptocurrency and should not be viewed as an endorsement by Coin Idol. Readers should do their own research before investing funds.

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Bitcoin Cash Retraces and Attempts to Retest the Previous High of $300 - Coin Idol

The Crypto Daily Movers and Shakers -01/11/19 – Yahoo Finance

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Bitcoin rose by just 0.01% on Thursday. Following a 2.78% slide from Wednesday, Bitcoin ended the day at $9,185.6.

In spite of a bearish week, Bitcoin ended the month of October with a 10.2% gain.

A bearish start to the day saw Bitcoin fall from a morning high $9,241.4 to a late morning intraday low $8,982.1.

Falling short of the major resistance levels, Bitcoin fell through the first major support level at $8,997.23.

Finding support from the broader market, Bitcoin bounced back to a mid-day intraday high $9,467.1.

Bitcoin broke through the first major resistance level at $9,409.13 before sliding back to $9,012 levels.

A late recovery to $9,100 levels left Bitcoin flat on the day.

For the bulls, the extended bullish trend remained intact in spite of failing to break out from the 38.2% FIB of $9,734. Bitcoin has continued to hold above the 62% FIB of 7,245.

Across the rest of the top 10 cryptos, it was a mixed day for the majors on Thursday.

Stellars Lumen and Litecoin joined Bitcoin in the green, with gains of 1.6% and 0.57% respectively.

It was red for the rest of the pack, with Bitcoin Cash SV (-4.27%), Bitcoin Cash ABC (-3.18%), and Trons TRX (-2.40%) leading the way down.

Binance Coin (-0.80%), Ethereum (-0.56%), EOS (-0.37%), and Ripples XRP (-0.11%) saw more modest losses.

Following Thursdays moves, Stellars Lumen retook the number 10 spot by market cap from Trons TRX.

There was nothing mixed about the month, however.

Bitcoin Cash SV (+47.42%), Trons TRX (+35.65%), Binance Coin (+25.52%), and Bitcoin Cash ABC (+25.11%) led the way in October.

Ripples XRP and EOS also made strong gains, with the pair ending the month up by 14.61% and by 9.75% respectively.

Stellars Lumen (+5.44%), Litecoin (+4.06%), and Ethereum (+0.64%) saw more modest gains.

Through the month, the total crypto market cap rose from a 24th October low $203.27 a 26th October high $257.76bn before easing back. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $245.17bn.

Bitcoins dominance held steady 67% levels at the month-end, while trading volumes jumped from sub-$50bn levels to $155bn levels before easing back to sub-$90bn levels.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down by 0.41% to $9,148.2. A bearish start to the day saw Bitcoin fall from an early morning high $9,186.6 to a low $9,111.0.

Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

Elsewhere, Stellars Lumen and Trons TRX bucked the trend early on, with gains of 8.17% and 1.04% respectively.

It was red for the rest, however, with Bitcoin Cash SV (-1.64%) leading the way down.

Bitcoin would need to move through the morning high to $9,220 levels to support a run at the first major resistance level at $9,441.10.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Bitcoin to break back through to $9,400 levels.

Barring a broad-based crypto rally later in the day, Bitcoin will likely fall short of $9,500 levels for a 3rd consecutive day.

Failure to move through to $9,220 levels could see Bitcoin fall for a 3rd day in the week.

A fall back through to sub-$9,100 levels would bring the first major support level at $8.956.1 into play.

Barring a crypto meltdown, however, Bitcoin should steer clear of sub-$8,900 support levels.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

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The Crypto Daily Movers and Shakers -01/11/19 - Yahoo Finance

Bitcoin Cash Price Changed by -2.38 percent – ICO Brothers

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As at 2019-11-01 average Bitcoin Cash price is 276.58326266 USD, 0.02996438 BTC, 1.50017746 ETH.

Its noteworthy that is issued into circulation Bitcoin Cash.

In this regard, 24 hour trading volume is 1435770850.94600000 USD or 155548.03626550 BTC. At the same time Bitcoin Cash market capitalization is 5003280588 USD or $542043 BTC.

Bitcoin Cash BCH/USD on Kraken exchange is 275.80. The trading volume on Kraken is 1362854.00.

At the same time Bitcoin Cash BCH/BTC on bitFlyer exchange is 273.48. The trading volume on bitFlyer is 13641.12.

Bitcoin Cash BCH/BTC on Bittrex exchange is 275.42. The trading volume on Bittrex is 182027.00.

Bitcoin Cash BCH/KRW on Bithumb exchange is 276.44. The trading volume on Bithumb is 7513321.00.

Bitcoin Cash BCH/BTC on Huobi Global exchange is 275.32. The trading volume on Huobi Global is 8885207.00.

Bitcoin Cash average change within 24 hour is -2.38 against USD, -2.57 against BTC, -3.61 against ETH. Weekly report: 8.81 against USD, 1.49 against BTC, 7.18 against ETH. Monthly report: 23.22 against USD, 10.6 against BTC, 19.96 against ETH.

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Bitcoin Cash Price Changed by -2.38 percent - ICO Brothers

Bitwage Allows Companies in the EU, UK and US to Pay Wages in Bitcoin Cash – Inside Bitcoins

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Last Updated on November 1, 2019

Bitwage, an international human resources and cryptocurrency payroll service provider announced that they will now provide Bitcoin Cash (BCH) as another payroll option. It will allow users in the EU, UK, and the US to convert a segment of their money into BCH. Employers also have the option to fully fund a payroll in BCH or offer it to freelancers or employees as well.

The company initially only provided payments in Bitcoin (BTC), before expanding towards the popular cryptocurrency of Ether (ETH). Shortly after adding the Ethereum blockchains namesake currency, Bitwage held a survey to see what its user base wanted going forward. They discovered a rather vocal demand for more forms of cryptocurrency to be added. Taking this to heart, Bitwage has now added Bitcoin Cash. BCH has held a consistent fourth place in the top digital assets. It offered low fees and fast transaction times that made it an obvious addition to Bitwages arsenal.

Jonathan Chester, Bitwages Chief Executive Officer, commented about the launch. He explained that cryptocurrency is becoming more and more mainstream by the day. Because of that, both freelancers and employees are searching for a way to diversify their cryptocurrency portfolio. He explained that Bitwage makes that process more comfortable. It allows people around the world to collect the cryptocurrency of their choice by means of a passive dollar-cost-averaging process.

Bitwages payroll process has been giving bitcoin deposits as early as 2014. It reportedly serves more than 30 000 that encapsulates independent contractors, freelancers, and employees. Theyve also managed to accrue about $1 million in funding from various investors like BPI France, Draper Associates, and Orange.

Bitwage claims on its website that the service has been made use of by employees at corporate giants like Facebook, Google, American Express, GE Comcast, and Airbnb. There are public institutions making use of it as well, with the World Health Organization given as an example. With BCH being launched, Bitwage revealed that it has now on-boarded Bitcoin.com.

Payment via cryptocurrency is a growing trend among those the tech-savvy niches of today. There is a genuine chance that it will become the norm in developed countries, with every major superpower already busy developing a national cryptocurrency. Bitcoin and its derivatives will be sanctioned as the so-called brand of cryptocurrencies in the foreseeable future. As the so-called altcoins start to play catchup with Bitcoin, it will be interesting to see how this pans out.

Ethereum developers have gone on record claiming that the Ethereum blockchain will be even more secure than Bitcoins due to its Proof-of-Stake system. The quicker Bitcoin stops being the biggest fish in the sea, the faster the crypto industry will grow.

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Bitwage Allows Companies in the EU, UK and US to Pay Wages in Bitcoin Cash - Inside Bitcoins

Anonymous Bitcoin Price Prediction Finally Poised to Fail – BeInCrypto

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On January 21, 2019, an anonymous user made a series of future Bitcoin price predictions.

The user successfully called the December 2018 bottom. Also, the succeeding two predictions, which stated that the price will be $5300 and $9200 in April and July, respectively, were validated.

The third one, however, stated that the price will reach $16,000 in October. Since today is October 31, it is an interesting time to see if it is possible for this prediction to be validated.

Cryptocurrency trader @thecryptodog stated that a massive flow of cash will enter Bitcoin today, validating the prediction.

While the tweet seems sarcastic in nature, lets see if there is any chance, however slight, that it will be validated.

In order for the prediction to be validated, an increase of roughly 78 percent would be required.

During the past two years, the three dates with the highest daily rate of increase have been:

Even going further back, when the volume was significantly lower than what it is today and allowed for more volatile price movement, the highest daily rates of increase have been

While the 55 percent rate of increase in November 2017 comes close, all the other highest rates have been less than half of what is required to reach $16,000.

Considering that there are significant resistance areas above, and the movements are less volatile now than in 2013, it is probably safe to say that the prediction will be invalidated by tomorrow.

Disclaimer: This article is not trading advice and should not be construed as such. Always consult a trained financial professional before investing in cryptocurrencies, as the market is particularly volatile.

Images courtesy of Twitter, TradingView.

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Anonymous Bitcoin Price Prediction Finally Poised to Fail - BeInCrypto

Bitcoin and Altcoins Sighting Next Significant Break – Cryptonews

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In the past few sessions, bitcoin mostly traded in a range above the USD 9,000 support levels. BTC/USD made a couple of attempts to start a fresh increase above the USD 9,300 and USD 9,400 resistance levels, but it failed to continue higher.

Likewise, many major altcoins struggled to resume uptrend and either corrected further lower or consolidated in a range, including ethereum, EOS, bitcoin cash, ripple, litecoin, binance coin, ADA, TRX, and EOS. ETH/USD is currently (09:00 UTC) holding the USD 180 and USD 178 support levels, but XRP/USD is declining towards the USD 0.290 and USD 0.288 support levels. Besides, XLM/USD gained traction today and rallied close to 10%.

Total market capitalization

There were range moves in, bitcoin price above the USD 9,000 support area. BTC/USD seems to be preparing for the next crucial move. If it breaks the USD 9,000 support, the stop could be near the USD 8,850 support. Any further losses may perhaps lead the price towards the USD 8,550 support.Conversely, the price could start a fresh upward move above the USD 9,250 and USD 9,350 resistance levels. The main resistance is near the USD 9,500, above which it could revisit the USD 10,000 resistance area in the coming days.

Ethereum price declined recently below the USD 185 support level. ETH/USD even traded below USD 180, but it recovered later. The price is currently consolidating above USD 180 and it seems like there could be more losses towards USD 174 or USD 172.To start a fresh increase, the price must surpass the USD 185 and USD 188 resistance levels. The next key resistances are near USD 195 and USD 200.

Bitcoin cash price topped near the USD 305 resistance area and it recently started a downside correction. BCH/USD traded below the USD 290 support and tested the USD 280 support. If there are more losses, the price could correct further towards the USD 268 and USD 265 support levels.EOS failed to stay above USD 3.300 and declined below USD 3.250. The price is currently holding the USD 3.200 support. If there are additional weakness, the price could test the USD 3.050 and USD 3.000 support levels in the near term. On the upside, there are resistances near USD 3.350 and USD 3.400.XRP price failed to climb above the USD 0.300 and USD 0.304 resistances on many occasions. As a result, XRP/USD started a downward move below the USD 0.295 and USD 0.292 supports. The price is now trading near USD 0.290 and it could decline towards the USD 0.285 support.

In the past three sessions, a few small capitalization altcoins climbed higher and gained more than 5%, including TT, LAMB, ZIL, DCR, CENNZ, IOST, XLM and STEEM. Out of these, TT rallied close to 50% and LAMB jumped around 28%.

Overall, bitcoin price is testing an important support area near USD 9,000. It is likely to start another increase as long as it is above USD 9,000 and USD 8,850. If not, BTC/USD could revisit the USD 8,550 support area._____

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Bitcoin and Altcoins Sighting Next Significant Break - Cryptonews

Binance.US Allowed USA Users To Buy Bitcoin with Debit Cards – Bitcoinik

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Largest cryptocurrency Binance announced that the users of the USA now allowed to buy bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with debit cards on their Binance.US exchange platform reported on 01 November 2019.

According to the report, users of the united states (USA) from now can buy the cryptocurrencies listed on the binance.us by using their debit cards directly from the binance.us exchange platform.

Binance.US launched this year at the end of September that provides trading services only for USA users, and currently it offers the trading as well as purchasing of the following digital assets: Bitcoin (BTC), BNB, Ethereum (ETH), XRP, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC) and Tether (USDT), Algorand (ALGO), Basic Attention Token (BAT), BUSD (BUSD), Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK), Cosmos (ATOM), Dash (DASH), Dogecoin (DOGE), Ethereum Classic (ETC), IOTA (IOTA), NEO (NEO), Ravencoin (RVN), Stellar (XLM), Waves (WAVES) Zcash (ZEC), and 0x (ZRX).

Binance also reported that they will also expand the roadmap for the binance.us platform in the coming months.

Previously, binance announced a new community coin vote round for free community listing of pair ARPA vs CRE, The voting for the ARPA vs CRE will start at 2019/11/05 4:00 AM (UTC).

Currently, After limiting the US Dollar Trades, The Central Bank of Argentina (BCA) just announced the ban or restrictions on the use of credit cards in buying bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for the citizens of the country,

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Binance.US Allowed USA Users To Buy Bitcoin with Debit Cards - Bitcoinik