Bitcoin remittance service Sobit has been launched to enable users to charge their prepaid mobile SIM cards using bitcoin. The service supports over 600 operators in 136 countries.

Also read:Rollout of 260,000+ Bitcoin-Accepting Stores in Japan Begins

Sobit was jointly developed by Japans leading reward site operator Ceres Inc and the Tokyo-based bitcoin and blockchain venture company Janom LLC.

Ceres has already partnered with other prominent bitcoin companies including Bitflyer, Bitbank, Coincheck, and Breadwallet on other cryptocurrency projects. Janom launched a bitcoin remittance service called Cointip in November 2016 and the company also partnered with Keepkey LLC to obtain exclusive distribution right of Keepkey products in Japan.Ceres Inc recently announced the launch of Sobit:

With Sobit, you can charge your prepaid SIM card using just bitcoin. You dont need any accounts, credit cards etc. Just a wallet with available bitcoin. Sobit supports prepaid SIM cards from over 600 operators in almost 140 countries.

Users first enter their phone numbers to use Sobit, even though the system should correctly detect the operator of each phone number most of the time, the company conveyed. Once the right operator is selected, the user can check the rates, choose the desired top-up amount, type in their email address and send bitcoin through the QR code provided or via their bitcoin wallets. The company states:

We will charge your phone as soon as your bitcoin transaction gets one confirmation, which may take up to 10 minutes (it depends mostly on your bitcoin wallet and fee settings).

Users will also get an email confirmation with their order details. While you should get your top-up immediately, for some countries or operators, there may be significant delays, even up to 24 hours, Sobit cautioned.

Currently, only payments equivalent to $100 maximum per day will be accepted due to technical reasons, the company added.

On Sobits website, 136 countries are listed. In the U.S., supported operators include Verizon, T-mobile, AT&T, H2O, and Net10. In the UK, they include Orange, T-mobile, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone. In China, they are China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom.

Would you use Sobit? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock,Sobit,Ceres

Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check ourtoolssection.

See the original post:

Bitcoin Mobile SIM Card Top-Ups Now Available in 136 Countries - Bitcoin News (press release)

Bitcoin has continued consolidating near all time highs over the past week, with little price action. Hash rate is also essentially unchanged, while SegWit is on track for lock-in and activation sometime later this month.

All eyes were on the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) fork of Bitcoin, which occurred on August 1st. Its had a few issues from the start. Initial hash rate was extremely low. BCH still needs several difficulty adjustments before miners are incentivized to switch from any profitable cryptocurrency.

While a select few miners have begun mining BCH, block times and confirmations have been highly variable, with up to four hours between blocks. Below is a visualization of the mempool.

Early trading on ViaBTC, who was accepting single confirmations of BCH, had several large sell offs, timed with the initial few blocks.

Additionally, due to problems on their end, Bitfinex distributed about 15% less BCH than was owed to their customers. Trezor, a hardware wallet, also initially had problems distributing BCH to their users. In the mean time, Coinbase reversed their initial stance on on the digital asset, after they were threatened with a class action lawsuit for not distributing BCH to their users.

With liquidity low across the board, slow confirmation times, and mining centralization, its far too early to speculate on the true price of BCH or whether it will be successful in any way.

In the meantime, despite the dead and then undead COIN ETF, the Winklevoss twins are back at it again. It was announced this week that the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) will use the Winklevoss Bitcoin exchange, Gemini, to provide market data for potential derivatives products.

A futures product is planned for the fourth quarter of 2017 or early 2018 pending the US Commodity Futures Trading Commissions approval. In the press release, CBOE acknowledges that, trading volume of the bitcoin market has grown substantially in the last two years.

One veteran institutional trader told BNC, "If the CBOE obtains regulatory approval to launch a Bitcoin future on the Chicago Futures Exchange, I expect it to do well based on the grandfathered institutional liquidity pools as well as exposure to traditional brokers and retail order flow. With volatility flattening out in most sectors, trading firms are excited about the potential of a traditionally listed volatile asset. The added interest can only be a boon to the underlying market price of the Bitcoin asset.

Ongoing consolidation with several failed breakout and breakdown attempts may represent the underlying fundamental changes surrounding the Bitcoin protocol happening this month. With continued consolidation, there is very little new to say this week on the road map or price targets. There are two building chart patterns, both of which represent continuation. There is a building ascending triangle, with a projected target about $4000, and inverted head and shoulders with a projected target around $3200.

An alternative roadmap would look similar to a Wyckoff distribution phase, where this would essentially be the top of the current trend. A failed breakout above $3000 and a successful breakdown below $2000 would be conclusive for a distribution phase.

The Bitcoin Cash fork has come and gone, with the event itself continuing to show Bitcoins anti-fragility. Whether BCH will gain any traction remains to be seen, but it certainly will create brand confusion if it becomes more popular.

While there are several chart patterns representing continuation, continued stagnation in this price zone may match Wyckoffian distribution market structure. However, it is difficult to make this assessment until after SegWit is activated as this represents a substantial increase in network efficiency and should therefore increase price long term as well.

Read the original post:

Bitcoin Price Analysis - Consolidation continues - Brave New Coin

Aurlien Menant, founder and CEO of Gatecoin, a regulated bitcoin and ethereum token exchange based in Hong Kong, says parts of the community are referring to the new token as Bcash. He says the new coin will pose no threat to the future of bitcoin.

"Investors holding both bitcoin and Bcash may benefit from the speculative price gains in both cryptocurrencies following the hard fork, but adoption of Bcash as a network will be limited in the short term."

Fran Strajnar, co-founder & CEO of data and research company Brave New Coin, says most cryto currency funds and investors are looking forward to receiving their free tokens.

"Most will likely hold as it's free, just to see what happens or for hedging," he told CNBC via email on Monday.

"However a majority of everyday users, traders and investors are vocal about market dumping their free tokens as soon as they can."

Strajnar predicts the price for Bitcoin Cash could be hit heavily once it is open to trading.

"If there's any legs at all to Bitcoin Cash or if the miners backing it deploy large scale and sustained attacks on bitcoin, then Bitcoin Cash may survive its initial violent birth."

Whatever happens, bitcoin will not disappoint in terms of creating drama, says Matthew Roszak, co-founder & chairman of blockchain enterprise software company Bloq.

"This entire process will be a key test for bitcoin in its evolution beyond a store of value and show its potential to grow into something much greater," he told CNBC via email.

Read the original:

Blockchain fork will create new digital currency called ...

Menant said Gatecoin would start supporting trade with "bitcoin cash". This is in contrast to Coinbase, the world's largest bitcoin exchange, which decided not to support the new cryptocurrency.

In a Tweet on Tuesday, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, said we "don't want to rush anything out," highlighting the uncertainty over "bitcoin cash's" future.

But the continuing debate over the underlying bitcoin technology continues. The fight was over how much to increase the block size of the blockchain.

To understand this, it's important to outline how transactions work. Transactions by users are gathered into "blocks" which is turned into a complex math solution. So-called miners, using high-powered computers work these solutions out to determine if the transaction is possible. Once other miners also check the puzzle is correct, the transactions are approved and the miners are rewarded in bitcoin.

Increasing the block size would boost transaction speeds. Some people wanted a solution that would dramatically increase the block size from its current 1 megabyte level. But the majority of the community have decided to increase the block size to 2 megabytes.

A full recap of what has happened can be found here. This 2MB increase is likely to come into effect in November, providing miners stick to their word and make the necessary software updates.

If this doesn't happen, then "bitcoin cash" could get a boost.

"If most miners decide that for economic reasons they prefer to mine larger blocks and commit more hashing power to Bcash, then it's likely more development work and user adoption would follow, and those conducting business with bitcoin may decide to adopt Bcash instead," Menant said.

"Yet for this to happen Bcash would need to prove that its technology can match the security features and reliability of bitcoin's software," he added, striking a note of caution.

See the original post here:

'Bitcoin cash' potential limited, but a catalyst could be looming for it to take off - CNBC

The Wall Street Journal first reported news of the agreement Tuesday.

"We very much look forward to responding to the growing interest in cryptocurrencies through the creation of bitcoin futures traded on a regulated derivatives exchange," CBOE Holdings Chairman and CEO Ed Tilly said in a release.

CBOE Holdings' other subsidiaries include the Bats exchanges.

In late April, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it would review its rejection of the Winklevoss brothers' application to list a bitcoin exchange-traded fund on the Bats BZX exchange.

The SEC declined to comment.

"By working with the team at CBOE, we are helping to make bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies increasingly accessible to both retail and institutional investors," Gemini CEO Tyler Winklevoss said in the release.

On July 24, the CFTC announced it approved digital currency-trading platform LedgerX for clearing derivatives, which would mark the first federally supervised options venue for bitcoin.

LedgerX said at the time it plans to launch bitcoin options in early fall for institutional investors, although those firms could, in turn, offer retail investor products.

Bitcoin has more than doubled in value this year, while rival digital currency Ethereum has gained more than 2,000 percent. The value of all digital currencies has jumped from around $20 billion at the beginning of this year to more than $100 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Link:

CBOE plans to launch bitcoin futures, announces agreement with Winklevoss brothers' digital currency exchange - CNBC

The Czech National Bank has published a statement addressing bitcoin and cryptocurrency on its website. The document addresses the popularity of bitcoin in Prague and the Czech Republic, discusses whether cryptocurrency poses a threat to the traditional banking system, and argues that fiat currencies comprise better currencies than bitcoin due to price stability.

Also Read:Largest Czech Online Retailer Alza Accepts Bitcoin, Installs 2 Bitcoin ATMs in Showroom

The Czech National Banks statement regarding cryptocurrency is titled Dont be afraid of bitcoin, and seeks to address popular assertions regarding the potential threats that bitcoin and cryptocurrency may pose to existing monetary systems.

The document starts by stating that Prague is home to a strong community of cryptocurrency supporters and users. The statement then immediately turns to questions regarding whether institutions such as the Czech National Bank should be afraid of bitcoin. And of their power to marginalise traditional money.

The Czech National Bank states that there is no reason for banks to fear bitcoin and cryptocurrency. Virtual currency adoption is described as negligible in its size and scope, arguing that electronic transactions using bitcoin worldwide amount to only 16% of the electronic transactions conducted in the Czech koruna, a currency used by just 10.5m people.

The article argues that bitcoin does not comprise a suitable mainstream money commodity due to its constantly changing price. A good currency is argued to possess a stable purchasing power, with the Czech National Bank describing Bitcoin as inherently volatile owing to its fixed supply.

Bitcoin is described as the antithesis of [the Czech] elastic money system, which is based on the principle that to keep the purchasing power of money relatively constant the amount of money has to change flexibly over time. Price stability is argued to be the most beneficial feature of money in its present form, with the bank concluding that there is no reason to fear that our existing monetary system will be replaced by a fixed-money alternative.

Do you think that bitcoin could comprise an effective mainstream currency? Or do you think that the recent history of price volatility is too great a hurdle for significant mainstream adoption to occur? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock

AtNews.Bitcoin.comall comments containing links are automatically held up for moderation in the Disqus system. That means an editor has to take a look at the comment to approve it.This is due to the many, repetitive, spam and scam links people post under our articles.We do not censor any comment content based on politics or personal opinions.So, please be patient. Your comment will be published.

Excerpt from:

Czech National Bank: Don't Be Afraid of Bitcoin - Bitcoin News (press release)

BBC News

Bitcoin splits as new currency takes off BBC News A new version of Bitcoin has been mined for the first time in the crypto-currency's history. Bitcoin Cash is the result of months of debate and development over how the currency would continue to evolve. Fears of large swings in the value of Bitcoin ... Bitcoin splits into two as transaction volumes increaseFinancial Times Bitcoin dispute results in split-coinRappler all 8 news articles »

Here is the original post:

Bitcoin splits as new currency takes off - BBC News

After ongoing debates over how to scale the digital currency called bitcoin, some people have decided to make an entirely new currency called Bitcoin Cash.

It's a bit complicated for those who aren't in the bitcoin weeds. Essentially, political, technological, and ideological debates about growing bitcoin have come to a head. And some say that an entirely new currency called Bitcoin Cash could help scale bitcoin and bring it to the masses.

"The course of the summer has been a battle between competing visions," said Zaki Manain, an independent cryptocurrency expert. This week the competition is playing out.

In order for bitcoin to become a simple global payment system for anyone to use, it needs to get over its growing pains. For some, the solution to that is to make a whole new currency using similar software.

So what does that mean?

Let's start with why scaling bitcoin is tough.

Bitcoin is built on something called a blockchain. The bitcoin blockchain is a public ledger containing all the transaction data from anyone who uses bitcoin. Transactions are added to "blocks" or the links of code that make up the chain, and each transaction must be recorded on a block. But these blocks are full, and it is slowing transactions way down.

Currently, there are an average of about 1,700 transactions that can be saved per bitcoin block, at about three transactions per second, Manain said. That's not very much. (Visa, for example, handles thousands of transactions every second.)

Because the bitcoin blockchain is becoming too congested, someone could pay for something with bitcoin, but it wouldn't be approved for hours.

Related: What is bitcoin?

The bitcoin community tried to solve this problem by implementing a rule change to its software. Called "Segregated Witness," the rule change would let people put more transactions on each block. This, in technical terms, is called a "soft fork," and would not result in an entirely new cryptocurrency. The new rule is supposed be enacted this month.

For some, this was not enough. That's where Bitcoin Cash comes in.

Bitcoin Cash

The creation of Bitcoin Cash is what is called a "hard fork." The creators are releasing a completely new software that allows for eight times the number of transactions per block. This means Bitcoin Cash could process transactions faster.

Bitcoin Cash is not worth the same as bitcoin. As of this writing, a unit of Bitcoin Cash is valued around $240, but one Bitcoin is worth more than $2,700.

Like bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash relies on the community. It will only be successful if people decide en masse to create the blocks for the Bitcoin Cash blockchain. The first block was created Tuesday afternoon EST.

What it means for consumers and businesses

Anyone who owns bitcoin will also own the same number of Bitcoin Cash units. However, not all bitcoin exchanges (where people store their bitcoin) will accept Bitcoin Cash, and that could potentially hinder the widespread adoption of the new digital currency.

And in order for Bitcoin Cash to be used for mainstream transactions like buying coffee, businesses will have to accept it, regardless of whether they already accept bitcoin or not.

"This will be informative for how we deal with these systems in the future," Manain said. "Without a doubt this is going to be a blueprint, and we are going to learn a lot from this process."

CNNMoney (San Francisco) First published August 1, 2017: 2:09 PM ET

Link:

Bitcoin split in two, here's what that means - CNNMoney

Bitcoin has just undergone a contentious hard fork that cleaved it into two separate entities for the first time in the cryptocurrencys nearly nine-year history. In addition to the first version of bitcoin, there is now a new cryptocurrency called bitcoin cash that offers an eight-fold increase in transaction capacity.

For the last several years, the bitcoin infrastructure has been struggling to handle a growing number of transactions, and technical experts have said a new implementation of the currency will solve its back-logging issues.

That is what bitcoin cash promises. Like the original bitcoin, it uses the currencys principal innovation: the blockchain, an immutable ledger of all the transactions ever performed with the cryptocurrency. Now that there are two versions of the ledger, however, there could be some practical problems, like vanishing coins, and philosophical ones, like a communal agreement on which blockchain represents the one, true, bitcoin.

The first bitcoin cash block on its own blockchain was successfully created at exactly 2:12 p.m. ET, and the new currency is already trading at $210 USD per coin.

Read next: Bitcoins civil war threatens to blow up the cryptocurrency itself

See the original post here:

Bitcoin has split, and there are now two versions of the popular cryptocurrency - Quartz

The price of the digital currency bitcoin fell on Tuesday, amid volatility stemming from a split in the cryptocurrency that occurred earlier in the day.

The price of a single bitcoin BTCUSD, +1.30% was down 5.7% at $2,710.39, according to cryptocurrency research-and-data site Coindesk. Ether, the digital currency that runs on the Ethereum network and is considered bitcoins chief rival, rose 2.6% to $209.91.

While bitcoin remains below an all-time high of more than $3,000 hit on July 11, it has been in a general uptrend since a recent bottom on July 16. Ether, meanwhile, has struggled ever since hitting a record of $395.16 on June 13.

The gyrations in bitcoin prices were largely due to the launch of Bitcoin Cash, a new version of bitcoin that followed a user-initiated fork in the digital currency. The split between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash occurred at 8:20 a.m. Eastern.

Read more about the Bitcoin split

The fork follows a July agreement that was considered controversial in the industry. The agreement dealt with expanding the bitcoin trading network in order to help process transactions quickly and efficiently, an issue known as scalability.

Read more about bitcoin scalability

Forks of this kind pose a risk for users of the cryptocurrency during the transition phase. In the event that only a minority of the network computing power supports one of the branches there is a potential for this weaker branch to become orphaned by the network or, in certain circumstances, for the forks to converge resulting in the wipe out of the weaker branch, said Christian Kourtis, senior associate at Gowling WLG, a law firm that specializes in financial technologies.

The split caused some confusion at digital currency exchanges and brokerages, with some barring trades until they could confirm that their networks were stable amid the split. However, the volatility was seen as a short-term factor.

When we look back 30 days from now, this is essentially going to be a nonevent, Sheffield Clark, chief executive officer of Coinsource said in a statement.

Related: This is what it will take for bitcoin to become a legit currency

At current levels, bitcoin has a market capitalization of $44.45 billion, more than double the $20.51 billion market cap of Ether. The overall crypto universe has a market cap of $91.17 billion, according to the data site CoinMarketCap.

Over the long term, both bitcoin and Ether have been big gainers. Bitcoin prices have risen by nearly 180% thus far this year, while Ether has soared nearly 2,500%.

Go here to read the rest:

Bitcoin tumbles as 'split' takes effect; Ether rebounds - MarketWatch

Prior to the bitcoin cash hard fork, research firm Nchain conducted a workshop with the Bitcoin Unlimited (BU) team. The intent of the meeting was to signal joint support for new bitcoin scaling initiatives. The two groups explored ways to achieve greater bitcoin scaling in order to grow overall network capacity. They met in Vancouver, Canada on July 26.

Also read: Fork Watch: First Bitcoin Cash Block Mined Included Over 6k Transactions

According to an Nchain press release, the meeting focused on ways Nchain can help enhance the Bitcoin Unlimited protocol. Nchain is supposed to make the software into a certified, next generation version. The software will be rigorously tested for quality assurance. They will eventually release a version intended for mass consumer and small business usage.Stefan Matthews, Chief Executive Officer of the nChain Group, elaborated:

Nchain has confidence in Bitcoin Unlimited and BUs code. With improvements we can provide using nChains expertise, we are also confident that our certified version of Bitcoin Unlimiteds client software will address the needs of enterprise users, especially miners. nChain intends to make this certified version available for usage without charge, as part of our contributions to help achieve a faster, more powerful bitcoin network and exponentially higher bitcoin value for everyones benefit.

With the happening of the recent Nchain and BU workshop, there have been whispers either BU or Nchain has had a connection with bitcoin cash. Dr. Craig Wright of Nchain has already come out and falsified those claims. He also praised bitcoin cash. He said,

I recognize why I am a polarizing figure in bitcoin and understand why so much is written about me on the Internet and social media, even though most online posts are incorrect. The incorrect comments include anything suggesting that I am behind the Bitcoin Cash initiative; I am not. However, I applaud the efforts of whoever is behind Bitcoin Cash to achieve a truly decentralized, peer-to-peer electronic cash with higher, more efficient transaction capacity.

Both teams, however, have a problem with Segwit2x. Nchain supports the 2mb fork increase. However, Nchain claims it is not enough. In staying true to Satoshi Nakamotos original vision, Nchain wants to see larger scaling initiatives for the Segwit fork of bitcoin. Nchain said they will remain open for communication and new research development to help bootstrap bitcoin with more network capacity.

What do you think about this meeting? Will Nchain and BU succeed at scaling bitcoin? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, prnewswire.com, and bitcoinunlimited.info

Do you agree with us that Bitcoin is the best invention since sliced bread? Thought so. Thats why we are building this online universe revolving around anything and everything Bitcoin. We have a store. And a forum. And a casino, a pool and real-time price statistics

See the rest here:

Nchain and Bitcoin Unlimited Promote Bitcoin Scaling Initiatives Amid Hard Fork - Bitcoin News (press release)

Last week, I wrote about the different methods used to calculate and express daily price changes in stocks and cryptocurrencies.

The big takeaway? Since cryptocurrencies trade in a 24/7 fashion, there is no closing price to quote. Instead, daily price changes are calculated by comparing the current price of the asset to the price of the same asset 24 hours earlier, and calculating the percent change between the two numbers.

Using this trailing 24-hour percent change calculation, however, can produce some very strange results.

As I wrote last week:

"What's the practical effect of this rolling denominator? In the simplest terms, it means that if you're just looking at the percentage change over the last 24 hours, you can't tell whether you're seeing real-time price movement in the cryptocurrency or just residual price volatility from the day before."

Today, I want to show you two examples of just how wildly distorting that rolling calculation can seem, using two hypothetical charts depicting bitcoin prices over a 48-hour timeframe.

In our first example, we have a chart that shows the price of bitcoin rising about 3percent in Day 1, as depicted by the yellow bar.

On Day 2, bitcoin essentially goes sideways for 24hours.

Now, take a look at what happens to the 24-hour price change during Day 2, as shown by the dark brown bar.

When Day 2 begins, the 24-hour change displays an increase of just over 3percent. As the day progresses, however, the 24-hour change begins to "roll off" until this figure hits zero on at 11:59pm.

Of course, all the 24-hour price change depicted by the brown bar during Day 2 happened when there was very little change in the value of bitcoin: the movement in 24-hour price change came entirely from "legacy" price volatility from the prior day.

The example shown in the second chart is even more unusual.

On Day 1, the price of bitcoin is very volatile.

Between 3 a.m. and 5:30 a.m., the price of bitcoin spikes up about 18percent on a straight price basis then bounces down a bit, between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m., and finally crashes over 20 percent between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

On Day 2, bitcoin trades basically sideways all day.

As the price stays flat, however, the 24-hour price change bounces all over the map. First, the 24-hour price change crashes more than 15 percent, then it spikes up over 8 percent, crashes down around 15 percent again, and ultimately "rolls off" at zero at day's end showing absolutely no change over the course of the 24-hour period.

For investors especially retail investors new to the cryptocurrency space it's easy to see how the 24-hour percent change convention could be confusing.

If you're new to trading, you may want to check your charts twice.

Trading chartimage via Shutterstock. CoinDesk charts and data via Alex Sunnarborg

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is an independent media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. Interested in offering your expertise or insights to our reporting? Contact us at [emailprotected].

Here is the original post:

The Problem with Bitcoin Price Charts (Explained in Two Charts) - CoinDesk

Image credit: Francis Storr/Flickr

Despite its reputation for getting constantly hacked, cryptocurrency like Bitcoin remains a hot commodity. If youve got a Satoshi or two in your wallet, you probably want to stay up to date on its value to make sure you dont lose your shirt if (lets be real, when) it crashes. Thats where Bitcoin Tracker comes in.

Unknown hackers made off with an estimated $32 million in hot cryptocurrency Ether, one of the most

Bitcoin Tracker, a free Chrome extension from developer Rahul Devaskar, lets you check out Bitcoins value every time you open a new web page.

After installing the extension, youll be able to pick your currency of choice and check out the current Bitcoin value. It also shows you its value whenever you open a new tab. There are other Bitcoin price trackers online, but Bitcoin Tracker seems the more polished of the bunch.

Devaskar wrote the extension after growing tired of missing out on buying Bitcoin during its lower price points. I built this tool to make sure that I dont miss on the next bitcoin price surge, Devaskar wrote. It has worked beautifully for me. Smart thinking. Buying Bitcoin when the price drops has proven a pretty effective way to make a quick buck in the short term, and sites like WhatIfBitcoin can show you how much money you would have made had you gotten in early.

Read the original here:

Bitcoin Chrome Extension Keeps You Up to Date on Price Fluctuations - Lifehacker

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin's underlying software code could be split on Tuesday to create a clone called "Bitcoin Cash," potentially providing a windfall for holders of the digital currency.

The initiative is being led by a small group of mostly China-based bitcoin miners - who get paid in the currency for contributing computing power to the bitcoin network - who are not happy with proposed improvements to the currency's technology.

They have initiated what is known as a "fork" - where blockchain, a public ledger of all bitcoin transactions, splits into two potential paths - that is set to be activated on Aug. 1.

A fork, if it goes ahead, would be significant as it could create a new competitor for bitcoin, which remains the oldest and most valuable digital currency. It is not clear if the fork will happen and how much the new coin would be worth.

If the fork goes ahead on Tuesday, anyone owning bitcoins before the split will have access to an equal amount of Bitcoin Cash for free, which they will then be able to trade for fiat currencies - legal tender backed by an issuing government - or other digital currencies.

"This is somewhat like a stock split," said Jeff Garzik, chief executive and co-founder of Bloq, a blockchain company. "You go to sleep with 100 bitcoins and wake up in the morning with 100 bitcoins plus 100 'Bitcoin Cash', a new token."

Bitcoin averted a split two weeks ago, when its software developers and miners agreed to implement a software upgrade called the Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) 91.

BIP 91 was the first step toward a larger effort to upgrade bitcoin through software called SegWit2x, which would make the network faster at processing transactions, such as payments using the virtual currency.

The miners, a powerful segment of the bitcoin community, represent a network of computer operators who validate information on the blockchain. Since bitcoin is powered by open-source code, any group of coders can use it to create clone coins.

Futures of Bitcoin Cash are already trading on certain exchanges at around $282.40. Bitcoin traded at $2,806.27, according to coinmarketcap.com.

If the fork goes ahead, users will only be able to receive and sell the new token on certain digital currency exchanges and digital wallet providers, as several have decided not to support it, including Coinbase, BitMEX, and Bitstamp.

"We do not want to support any behavior whereby anyone can potentially split the bitcoin blockchain and effectively create free money out of nothing," said Greg Dwyer, head of business development at BitMEX.

Two other large exchanges, Kraken and Bitfinex, said they will allow users to trade Bitcoin Cash and will credit them with the same amount of the new token after the fork, if it goes ahead.

Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Anna Irrera; Editing by Bill Rigby

Read the original:

Bitcoin technology faces split, may create clone virtual currency - Reuters

After testing out digital currencies earlier this month, independent stock research analyst Ronnie Moas on Sunday published the first two parts of his 122-page report on bitcoin and other digital currencies.

"In my view, the genie is out of the bottle, and cryptocurrencies will continue to rise and take market share away from stocks, other precious metals, bonds and currencies," Moas, founder of Standpoint Research, said in the report.

"I think investors should take a shot on this and hold for a few years. If you lose a few bucks, at least you took a shot," he said. "In life, you miss every shot that you do not take. It will probably be more upsetting to watch it (from the sidelines) go up another 1,000%."

Moas gave bitcoin a $5,000 price target for 2018, reflecting nearly 80 percent upside from Monday's price of about $2,800. He also expects rival digital currency ethereum to more than double in value from just under $200 to reach $400 in the next year, and another digital currency, litecoin, to double from about $40 to $80.

In the next week or two, Moas said he plans to issue the third part of the 122-page report about how a fourth and much smaller digital currency could rise a few hundred percent in the near future.

The stock analyst said he's bought 10 of the top 20 digital currencies by market capitalization in order to be diversified, marking the first time in 20 years he's put money into his own recommendations.

"In my view, 10-15 years from now, the charts on a few of the top 20 names will look like the Amazon, Apple, Tesla, Facebook, Netflix and Google charts look today," Moas said in the report.

Top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization

Source: Standpoint Research

Moas' report comes just before a possible split in bitcoin Tuesday, if some developers go ahead with a scheduled upgrade known as Bitcoin Cash. Direct owners of bitcoin will then hold two versions of the digital currency.

"The market is telling you right now that we will get through this event tomorrow," Moas told CNBC in a phone interview Monday, noting bitcoin traded close to its all-time high.

The digital currency hit a record $3,025 in mid-June, fell to $1,837 in mid-July, before recovering about $1,000 to trade near $2,800 on Monday, according to CoinDesk.

Bitcoin (2010 -2017)

Source: CoinDesk

Back on July 5, Moas told CNBC he bought some bitcoin, ethereum and litecoin and expects bitcoin could reach $5,000 "in a few months." He subsequently published an article on Reddit outlining his views on digital currencies.

Since then, institutional attention on bitcoin has only increased.

Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee became the first major Wall Street strategist to publish a report about bitcoin on July 7. Less than a week later, Switzerland's financial market regulator authorized the first Swiss bank to manage bitcoinfor clients, while the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission last Monday approved the first bitcoin options platform.

Last Tuesday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also issued a report and investors bulletin on initial coin offerings, or sales of new digital coins.

"I have little doubt that 1% of the money in cash, bonds, stocks and gold will end up in cryptocurrencies," Moas wrote in his report.

Since the $80 billion cryptocurrency market right now is a 25th of 1 percent of the $200 trillion in gold, cash, stocks and bonds, Moas pointed out digital currencies will need to increase by 25 times in order to reach 1 percent of the overall capital market.

If cryptocurrencies become part of asset allocation models and take 2 to 4 percent of capital markets, then the digital currencies will likely increase 100 times in value, Moas said

To be sure, Moas also laid out a host of risks for investing in digital currencies, including inherent high volatility, large-scale hacks on cryptocurrency firms and potential regulation, especially in China, that could cause prices to "collapse."

In addition, Moas pointed out the lack of customer support for online digital currency products.

"There is no telephone support," he said in the report. "You must go to the FAQs section and spend a long time looking for the answer to whatever question you may have and then you may not be happy with the answer. Your only other option is to send an email to customer support which could take anywhere from one-to-seven days to get a reply."

Coinbase, a popular website for buying and selling digital currencies in the U.S., has repeatedly reported website loading delays or outages in the last few months due to high customer traffic.

All that said, the stock analyst said he believes the time to buy digital currencies is now. He described in his report how investors can buy bitcoin, and why financial institutions are interested in the blockchain technology behind bitcoin and other digital currencies.

"I watched from the sidelines for a few years and it felt recently as if the train is leaving the station," Moas said. "I think we are still in the first quarter of a four quarter game and that even though I missed out on significant gains (2014 - 2016), it is not too late to get in."

Originally posted here:

Bitcoin to surge nearly 80% to $5000, ethereum to double, Standpoint's Moas predicts - CNBC

Updated August 01, 2017 19:41:32

Fewer people have been paying for their coffee using bitcoin in recent years.

Three years ago, Scott Riggs noticed that about 12 customers per week bought food and drink from his St Kilda cafe using the digital currency.

This has since dropped sharply to one or two customers per month.

When asked why, Mr Riggs said, "I think people are holding onto their bitcoin because it's worth so much now."

One bitcoin is worth $US2,816 (or $3,517 Australian dollars) at 6:08pm AEST.

This is an extraordinary surge when one considers each bitcoin was worth as little as $US310 ($386) back in 2014.

However, recent developments have called into question the future of bitcoin for its investors and the wider business community.

A civil war has been raging within the bitcoin community about the direction which the controversial digital currency should take.

This conflict could end in a bitter split and the creation of a rival cryptocurrency called bitcoin cash which is expected to launch at 10.20pm (AEST), Tuesday evening.

In the past three months, bitcoin's value has been very volatile to say the least swinging wildly between $US3,000 ($3,760) and $US1,300 ($1,630).

But what is behind this internal conflict and price volatility?

In one word speed. As the popularity of bitcoin has increased in the last few years, so has the time and delay in processing its digital transactions.

Some bitcoin users have reported that it can even take days for their payments to clear.

Currently, bitcoin's capacity allows it to handle a few transactions per second (about seven), whereas conventional payment methods like Visa can process thousands per second.

Bitcoin cash is expected to be able to process eight times more transactions than its predecessor.

But it is uncertain which digital currency exchange operators will support the spin-off currency and how well it will perform in the marketplace.

For the original bitcoin to be more widely accepted as a currency, its speed would certainly need to improve.

On the other hand, there are those who buy bitcoin and hold onto them (instead of spending them like a normal currency). They are speculating on its future value skyrocketing and hoping "get rich quickly".

"At the moment, it's purely speculation that's leading the price," according to technology author Steve Sammartino.

For example, US billionaire fund manager Bill Miller invested 1 per cent of his wealth into bitcoin back in 2014. It is estimated his bitcoin wealth has risen tenfold since then.

It is difficult to have it both ways for an asset to function as both a store of value and a tradeable currency.

In the end, bitcoin's existential conflict is between those who are betting it will become a mainstream currency of the future, and others who see it as a (speculative) repository of wealth like gold.

"The fact that bitcoin is de-centralised is what gives it trust," Mr Sammartino said.

"No one owns it [and] no one controls it.

"It can't be used as a form of quantitative easing. And the fact that it has that element is really what enables it to get trust in the long run."

However, members of the business community like AMP chief economist Dr Shane Oliver are sceptical of bitcoin's potential as a future currency.

Dr Oliver posed the question: "If bitcoin is a store of value, why has its value gone up and down so dramatically over the last few years?

"It's almost like you're investing in spec-y stocks on the share market. It's been on a bit of a roller coaster ride.

"Unless we have some sort of major crisis and go into some sort of global apocalypse where mainstream governments in the US, Australia and others disappear and collapse, and their currencies become worthless then I can't see people switching across to alternatives like bitcoin."

Mr Sammartino is optimistic about the future of bitcoin but said "there's a chance that the currency could fail, and we've seen currencies come and go over time".

Regardless of bitcoin's future, or whether it splits, there are more than 1,000 other alternative cryptocurrencies in a market worth US$93 billion ($116 billion).

The second largest digital currency ethereum has attracted a lot of attention from the business world.

More than 100 international companies including BP, Deloitte, JPMorgan and Microsoft are members of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance.

These companies are experimenting with blockchain, the technology which powers bitcoin and ethereum.

Essentially, it can be used for more than just making digital payments. The business world hopes blockchain will be a disruptive technology that cuts down the time and cost of doing business in the future.

A recent example of this technology simplifying business is a recent collaboration between IBM, Westpac, ANZ and Scentre Group (the owner of the Westfield shopping centres).

In early-July, those companies announced that they participated in a successful trial to digitise "the bank guarantee process" for commercial property leasing.

It is currently standard practice (and has been for a long time) that commercial landlords require their retail tenants to first obtain bank guarantees before the lease is finalised.

A Westpac spokesperson explained that the guarantee is issued on paper which can easily be lost, and that there are "tens of millions of bank guarantees out there".

According to IBM's blockchain expert Michael Aaron, this process was "old-fashioned".

He said the technology behind cryptocurrencies can "reduce the time for businesses to work together, increase trust, eliminate the need for paper, and potentially prevent fraud in the future".

"Documents written on paper are more susceptible to fraud," Mr Aaron said.

Until the technology behind cryptocurrencies is mature and more widely used by businesses, the controversy over bitcoin still rages.

"I think bitcoin is probably going to stay on the sidelines," Dr Oliver said.

"It's going to remain of interest to tech heads and people who are worrying about paper currencies collapsing in value.

"But I'd be very surprised if in the next few decades it becomes mainstream."

In the meantime, for bitcoin's users and investors, it remains a case of "buyer beware".

This story will be on The Business tonight at 8:30pm (AEST) on the ABC News channel and ABC iview.

Topics: business-economics-and-finance, computers-and-technology, consumer-finance, money-and-monetary-policy, australia

First posted August 01, 2017 19:33:30

Read the original here:

Civil war threatens future of bitcoin as business waits for technology to mature - ABC Online

On the eve of a major change in bitcoin, a threat of a split in the digital currency has been avoided for now.

A move by users to force a change in the computer code by Monday has worked. A majority of miners the core bitcoin users who verify bitcoin transactions around the world has signaled support. Though the change is designed to improve capacity on the increasingly clogged network, some miners had objected because it could reduce transaction fees they collect.

The show of support has helped reverse a slide in the value of bitcoin from around $1,900 two weeks ago to roughly $2,800 on Monday.

However, some uncertainty still remains. A May agreement between large bitcoin companies effectively pushes the threat of a split off until November. And one proposal to launch an alternative currency, Bitcoin Cash, is sowing confusion and fears of scam trades.

Heres a look at the current dispute.

___

WHAT IS BITCOIN, AGAIN?

Bitcoin is a digital currency thats not tied to any bank or government . Like cash, it lets users spend or receive money anonymously, or mostly so; like other online payment services, it also lets them do so over the internet.

The coins are created by miners, who operate computer farms that verify other users transactions by solving complex mathematical puzzles. These miners receive bitcoin in exchange. Its also possible to exchange bitcoin for U.S. dollars and other currencies.

Bitcoin has been touted as a currency of the future, but so far it hasnt proven very popular as a way to pay for goods or services.

___

WHATS BEHIND THE FUSS?

In a word, speed.

The bitcoin network is limited in how quickly it can shuffle around digital money. As bitcoin has grown, payment delays have become more common and worrisome.

Some software developers came up with a way to speed things up by reengineering bitcoins universal ledger, a file called the blockchain. Supporters of the new method include Microsoft, the bitcoin exchange Coinbase and a variety of other bitcoin proponents who would like to see the currency used more widely in commerce.

Reformers had threatened to stop recognizing transactions confirmed by miners who hadnt adopted the upgrade.

___

WHAT WOULD A SPLIT MEAN?

Generally speaking, chaos though mostly limited to those who use or squirrel away bitcoin. People who use bitcoin couldnt be sure which version they held, or what might happen if they spent it or accepted bitcoin as payment.

Taking bitcoin, for instance, could leave you with currency you couldnt spend freely and that might disappear entirely if it ended up being the wrong kind.

Thats one reason the community-supported website Bitcoin.org had warned users not to accept any bitcoin up to two days prior to Mondays deadline and to wait for confirmation the situation had been resolved before trading again.

But the change now has the support needed to proceed, so a disruption isnt likely this week.

___

WHAT ARE THE REMAINING ISSUES?

A separate group of developers sought to solve the speed issue by proposing a new currency called Bitcoin Cash. It effectively rewards every owner of bitcoin with an equal amount of the new currency using a system that can handle much higher volumes of trades.

But some digital currency exchange operators including Coinbase and Bitstamp have said they wont support Bitcoin Cash. And Cornell computer science professor Emin Gun Sirer says savvy traders can game the system to create free money for themselves.

Bitcoin Cash was slated to launch Tuesday. As of Monday the price of Bitcoin Cash futures was about one-tenth of bitcoin itself.

Tone Vays, a bitcoin analyst and consultant, says he thinks Bitcoin Cash is destined to become one of many alternative digital currencies known as alt-coins. He says the concept is similar to Clams , digital coins that were also awarded to bitcoin holders in 2014 but now trade at about one-thousandth of bitcoins price.

Once Bitcoin Cash goes live Tuesday, people will immediately sell it for bitcoin, he said Monday.

Meanwhile, major companies that came together on the May agreement committed to a second change by November that could still result in a split of bitcoin into two incompatible currencies if a significant number of miners dont agree.

The big drama has thus been postponed, Sirer said in an email Monday.

___

Follow AP Technology Writer Ryan Nakashima at https://twitter.com/rnakashi

See the original post:

AP Explains: Threat of a bitcoin split avoided, for now - The Seattle Times

Heres a candidate for the days weirdest programming announcement: Content company Ignition Creativesays its producing a reality docuseries about bitcoin regulation, of all subjects.

And it will feature Jack Abramoff the once-powerful lobbyist who was imprisoned for four years after pleading guilty to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials.

The series, to be called Capitol Makeover: Bitcoin Brigade, will show Abramoff giving lobbying lessons to AML Bitcoin creator Marcus Andrade and his colleagueswho want to prevent Congress from unintentionally destroying the digital currency industry, the release says.

Lawmakers are considering legislation designed to curb the use of digital currencies to engage in money laundering, tax evasion, and to support terrorist groups. Opponents fear that the government will restrict peoples freedom to trade with alternative currencies.

When Marcus approached me, I didnt know a bitcoin from a sirloin, Abramoff says. But, after learning about this vital new technology, I quickly realized that his mission was essential if our nation is to continue to lead the world in innovation and finance and so I pledged to do whatever I could to help short of lobbying Congress myself.

Ignition Creative CEO Martin Kistler says hes fascinated by the story of crypto currency and how it could change the consumer world as we know it.

Ignition is teaming with a new company calledBlockchain Entertainment that todays release says is dedicated to entertainment projects about digital currency and blockchain technology.

Blockchain President Andrew Williamson whos also head of Production and Development for Kylin Pictures says that the digital currency world itself is in a panic over recent and likely future moves by the United States Congress to halt the exponential growth of bitcoin.

Engaging with Abramoff, he adds, was the perfect entry into this turbulent world.

See the article here:

Ignition Creative Teams With Jack Abramoff For Bitcoin Reality ... - Deadline

This week Judge Kenneth Marra came to a conclusion in the District of Florida class action lawsuit against Paul Vernon and his company Project Investors (Cryptsy). According to the final default judgment, Vernon is liable for the principal sum of $8.2 million.

Also read:Fork Watch: Take Extra Precaution When Trying to Access Post-Fork Tokens

The curious case of the now defunct Cryptsy exchange has been a drawn out mystery for a very long time and is still not over. Back in January of 2016 the cryptocurrency trading platform Cryptsy said it was hacked for 13,000 BTC, and 300,000 LTC. Since then the founder of the exchange Paul Vernon, otherwise known as Big Vern, left his residency in Florida and allegedly is hiding out somewhere around Liaoning, China.

The Cryptsy operator has also managed to do some interviews with Floridas regional publication the Miami New Times. Vernon has denied any wrong doings and told the reporter he just regretted not being able to handle the hack the right way. Customers were not notified about the loss that happened in 2014 until the exchange was under water in 2016. Vernon and company operated the trading platform like a fractional reserve and hoped to pay the funds back but said bitcoins low price deterred that outcome. Since then Silver Law Group, Wites & Kapetan Law, two plaintiffs, and all others similarly situated started a class action lawsuit, No. 9:16-cv-80060, against Vernon and his exchange. There was also some involvement with the San Francisco-based exchange Coinbase.

Now U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra has cast judgment down upon Vernon by favoring the plaintiffs side. If Vernon is found and detained he will be liable for $8.2 million.

Plaintiffs motion for entry of final default judgment is granted, explains the court order.

Defendant Vernon is liable to the Plaintiff Class in the principal sum of $8,200,000.00, for which let execution issue forthwith.

Judge Kenneth Marra adds, prejudgment interest in the amount of $688,788.76 shall be awarded as interest on that principal sum from November 1, 2015, to the date of entry of this final judgment at the rate fixed by the Florida Department of Financial Services, as set forth by 55.03, Florida statutes.

Further, the order also details that 11,325 BTC that werestolen from the trading platform and their tethered wallets, are the property of the plaintiffs.

As of the date of this final judgment, and stored in the following cryptocurrency wallets, are property of the plaintiff class and subject to and encompassed within this final judgment

Vernons exact whereabouts are unknown, and if he is in China as is rumored, an extradition treaty will be difficult. Copies of the court order were sent to Vernons PO box in Delray Beach and his publicly known email.

Images via Bitcoin.com, District of FloridaCase 9:16-cv-80060-KAM Document 123, Pixabay, Cryptsysettlement.com and the Crypsty archives.

Have you seen our new widget service? It allows anyone to embed informative Bitcoin.com widgets on their website. Theyre pretty cool and you can customize by size and color. The widgets include price-only, price and graph, price and news, forum threads. Theres also a widget dedicated to our mining pool, displaying our hash power.

View original post here:

Vanished Cryptsy CEO 'Big Vern' Ordered to Pay $8M in Class Action Lawsuit - Bitcoin News (press release)

Bitcoin price is stuck in consolidation as traders are biting their nails ahead of a big market catalyst.

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

Bitcoin price is stuck in consolidation as traders are biting their nails ahead of a big market catalyst.

Technical Indicator Signals

The 100 SMA is crossing above the longer-term 200 SMA to signal that the path of least resistance is to the upside. This could mean that the triangle support could be more likely to hold as a floor than to break or that an upside break past the resistance around 2750 might be underway.

Note that the triangle formation spans 2200 to 2900 so the resulting breakout could last by the same amount. However, the moving averages might also be oscillating to signal that further consolidation is possible.

Stochastic is on its way down so bitcoin price might follow suit. RSI is also heading south to signal that sellers have the upper hand for now. But once both oscillators hit oversold levels and turn higher, buying pressure could return.

Also note that the triangle support is steeper compared to the resistance, which is also indicative of stronger buying pressure.

Market Factors

Traders are playing it safe ahead of the August 1 upgrade to SegWit as this could signal whether or not hard fork issues could continue to stay in place. Over the weekend, a number of exchanges already issued warnings to their clients about holding bitcoin deposits and the potential incompatibilities that may arise.

If the industry is able to emerge from this test unscathed, bitcoin price could be on its way to break past its record highs. On the other hand, weak support for the new version of the software could mean more losses for the cryptocurrency. Also, additional volatility is to be expected as the shift draws near as evidenced by the market reaction to the other weeks BIP 91 lock-in.

Excerpt from:

Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 07/31/2017 New Consolidation - newsBTC