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Elon Musk’s SpaceX aiming to raise $250 million, taking valuation to around $36 billion: Report – Firstpost

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

ReutersFeb 24, 2020 10:22:32 IST

Elon Musk's SpaceX is looking to raise about $250 million (192.7 million pounds), taking the private rocket company's valuation to about $36 billion, CNBC reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the financing.

The company plans to raise the amount at a price of $220 per share and the latest funding round is not expected to close until the second week of March, according to the report.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.

SpaceX has been launching Starlink satellites in batches of 60 since May and currently has 240 orbiting Earth. The company aims to make the broadband internet service operational by the end of 2020.

Welcome to Tech2 Innovate, Indias most definitive youth festival celebrating innovation is being held at GMR Grounds, Aerocity Phase 2, on 14th and 15th February 2020. Come and experience an amalgamation of tech, gadgets, automobiles, music, technology, and pop culture along with the whos who of the online world. Book your tickets now.

‘Terrifying’ deepfake puts Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk in ‘Star Trek’ – The Daily Dot

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk have gone head-to-head in a new deepfake centered in the world of Star Trek.

The video, uploaded to YouTube by deepfake creator The Fakening this week, has already been watched more than 320,000 times.

In the clip, taken from the originalStar Trekpilot, the Amazon CEO takes the form of one of the Talosians, a sentient humanoid native to the planet Talos IV.

The face of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, on the other hand, can be seen on the body of Enterprise captain Christopher Pike.

In a copy of the video posted to his Twitter page, The Fakening states that Musk in the not too distant future will save humanity from the captivity of Bezos Amazon illusion.

While the videos commentary may be more appealing to fans of the sci-fi franchise, the deepfake itself perfectly showcases how far the technology has come.

The idea for the clip appears to have originated, at least in part, from South Park. The Comedy Central show famously depicted Bezos as a large-brained Talosian in a December 2018 episode that took aim at Amazon.

The deepfake is not the first from The Fakening to include the Tesla CEO. In May of last year, Musk was terrifying transformed not only into a giggling baby but also into Hollywood actor Charlie Sheen.

Other prominent deepfake creators have similarly turned Musk into everyone, from Tony Stark to Dr. Evil.

H/T Mashable

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'Terrifying' deepfake puts Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk in 'Star Trek' - The Daily Dot

The Tech Weekender: Elon Musk slams Bill Gates, Google indexing WhatsApp group chat links, Bezos fights climate change, and Pixel 4 arrives in India -…

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

Apple obtained a temporary restraining order against a man of Indian origin, who allegedly stalked and harassed CEO Tim Cook and other company executives. Rakesh 'Rocky' Sharma, a San Francisco resident, reportedly made threatening phone calls to the Cupertino-based company. According to the court documents uncovered by OneZero's Dave Gershgorn, Sharma began calling Apple executives and leaving "disturbing" voicemails. Sharma was directed by the court to steer clear of Apple executives, the company's headquarters as well as Tim Cook and his property. The restraining order is effective until March 3, which is the same day the hearing on the case is scheduled to take place.

Twitter recently tweaked its user interface to make it easier to add new tweets to old threads. With the new feature, you can easily thread multiple tweets together while you compose them. You will no longer have to go digging through your tweets to reply to one with a recent update. While this has been possible for quite some time now, the new feature just makes it easier to connect an in-progress tweet to an earlier post.

Elon Musk dissed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in a tweet saying, "My conversations with Gates have been underwhelming tbh". Musk's remarks came after an unofficial Tesla news account expressed disappointment with the Microsoft billionaire's recent decision to buy a Porsche Taycan instead of a Tesla. At $103,800, the Taycan is a direct competitor to several Tesla models. The tweets came after Gates revealed that he bought his first-ever electric vehicle, a Porsche Taycan, in an interview with popular YouTuber Marques Brownlee. While Gates seemed excited about his first electric vehicle, he also said that Tesla is the frontrunner in the passenger car industry addressing climate change.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos recently committed $10 billion of his personal fortune to set up the new Bezos Earth Fund to tackle climate change. In the fight for the planet, Bezos' commitment of $10 billion dwarfed the $4 billion that 29 philanthropic organisations had pledged to fighting climate change in 2018. While Bezos' decision does seem like a monumental step forward, it isn't all that surprising, with many summing it up as no more than a publicity gimmick. Amazon is paying a corporate tax rate of barely one percent, which gives Bezos the freedom to invest in philanthropic ventures. Additionally, Politico reported that Amazon's convenient deliveries and massive data centres emitted around 44.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2018. Last year, Amazon employees took to the streets to voice their complaints about Amazon's carbon footprint. While Google, Amazon and Microsoft have been vocal about their efforts to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels, they are currently teaming up with the fossil fuel industry to help companies squeeze as much oil and gas out of the ground as possible by using artificial intelligence to get the best results in fracking.

Jordan Wildon, a journalist at DW, recently noticed that Google is indexing some WhatsApp group invitations in its search. This will allow random people to discover and join a range of private WhatsApp group chats with a simple search. While group administrators can invalidate a link to a chat if they want, Wildon discovered that WhatsApp generates a new link in such a case and doesn't necessarily disable the original link. Although many of these are relatively harmless, Motherboard found a private group using specific Google searches which did include some sensitive data. The group they joined was apparently intended for NGOs accredited by the UN where it was possible to access the list of participants and their phone numbers.

In a surprising development, the Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4XL found its way onto Amazon shelves in India. The Pixel 4 starts from Rs 69,990 in India, while the XL variant is priced at Rs 76,997. When Google launched the Pixel 4 series in October 2019, the devices didn't arrive in India because of issues surrounding the Soli Radar chip. What's even more surprising is that the Pixel 4 handsets are being sold with the "Amazon Fulfilled" assurance, which means that the e-commerce giant directly handles delivery, customer service, and returns.

While prices of Samsung's Galaxy S20 series have been unveiled in India, there aren't any details about a sale. However, the South Korean electronics giant unveiled the price of the foldable Galaxy Z Flip in the country and already made it available for pre-order on February 21. But, despite its Rs 1,09,999 price, the Z Flip went out of stock within minutes in the country. Pre-bookings are currently on hold and will re-open soon. The pre-booking could be made through Samsung's official site and select retail stores in the country. Those who managed to order the Galaxy Z Flip will start getting the phones from February 26.

First Published on Feb 22, 2020 06:59 pm

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The Tech Weekender: Elon Musk slams Bill Gates, Google indexing WhatsApp group chat links, Bezos fights climate change, and Pixel 4 arrives in India -...

How Cryptocurrency Trading Has Evolved in Recent Years – Cointelegraph

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

In the early days of blockchain, cryptocurrency trading was seen by many as merely exchanging a few dollars for Bitcoins (BTC). The birth of other tokens and the high volatility in cryptocurrencies have led many traders to speculate by buying a few coins through exchanges in hoping the value will increase for the sake of profit.

The decision to switch to floating exchange rates was made in the second half of the last century, when it became clear to financial institutions that they could not provide the right amount of United States currency secured by a gold reserve. Thus, financial regulators abandoned the gold standard by adopting a system of floating exchange rates. This stage is perceived by many as the beginning of the emergence of the forex market.

Related: How to Trade Big Crypto Volumes, Explained

Cryptocurrency trading is the exact opposite of forex and its options for owning an asset. On crypto exchanges, traders buy the desired token and place an order to sell it, exchanging for another coin or fiat. That is, cryptocurrency trading is a real exchange of one cryptocurrency for another.

At the same time, forex exchange rates reflect the state of the economy of countries. Being very stable assets especially compared to cryptocurrencies the value of fiat currencies mainly change within three to five decimal places. Cryptocurrencies change much more noticeably, and can gain as much as 100% against the U.S. dollars within 24 hours.

Cryptocurrency trading, due to its high margin, can generate good income even without leverage, which very often leads to a loss of deposit. Investing in coins at their early stages has proven to be a highly effective trading tool for increasing capital.

Due to the high volatility in the crypto market, many traders begin to seek or return to the traditional trading market. The price stability of many trading pairs puts the market in a state of hibernation, which is why many traders lose money.

Related: Why Is the Cryptocurrency Market So Volatile: Expert Take

In search of a solution, some part of the community pays attention to other types of trading: futures, options, stocks, or the most popular forex. Forex turnover reaches nearly $6.6 trillion per day. At the same time, futures trading volumes are $440 billion and the U.S. stock market shows a value of $257 billion, while the cryptocurrency market volatility is only $4.8 billion a day.

Despite the advantages of trading on cryptocurrency exchanges, the long history of the forex market stands as one of its strong points. For a long time, traders have received several popular platforms, such as MetaTrader 4 and 5, thousands of indicators, and tools for forecasts and technical analysis. Recently, brokers have begun to add an imitation of a cryptocurrency trader to their platforms. But the essence of the market remains the same.

The impact of the forex market can be removed if cryptocurrency companies can improve on their security levels. One of the main reasons why traders have a hard time trusting cryptocurrency exchanges is because user funds can often go missing. A recent example is Binance being hacked in 2019, wherein an estimated $40 million was withdrawn from the exchanges hot wallets.

Related: Most Significant Hacks of 2019 New Record of Twelve in One Year

One of the solutions for reducing the impact of the forex market in crypto is a project based on the Stellar blockchain. Bridge token enables its users to convert from forex to crypto with outstanding trading conditions and transparency.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Oluwatobi Joel is a U.S.-based freelance copywriter, community manager, blockchain expert and serial entrepreneur. He has worked with various blockchain startups as a marketing strategist.

Crypto Appears on Simpsons Where Jim Parsons Explains It’s ‘Cash of the Future’ – Cointelegraph

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

One of the latest episode of "The Simpsons" aired has just aired featuring Jim Parsons of Big Bang Theory appearing as a guest star to explain cryptocurrencies and how a blockchain works.

In the song and dance predicts cryptocurrency to be the future money, the animated ledger states: "Each day I'm closer, to being the cash of the future. Not in your wallet, I'm in your computer!

At the end of Jims talk, there is a subliminal message on screen. It further explains how cryptocurrencies work, part of which says:

"Using the word "cryptocurrency" repeatedly while defining cryptocurrency makes it seem like we have a novice's understanding of cryptocurrency. Well that is a total pile of cryptocurrency. In this system, rules are defined for the creation of additional units of cryptocurrency. They can be generated by fiat like traditional currency or just thrown around randomly or all given to LeBron."

The crypto community welcomed the episode. Altcoin Daily account has commented:

The Simpsons did it! Cryptocurrency explained to Lisa by the great Jim Parsons on #TheSimpsons! It's the money of the future! Bullish!

Some comments to the tweet also pointed out that the Simpsons has a reputation for predicting the future over the years. Ten years ago it showcased Donald Trump as the president of the U.S., and more recently guessed the Game of Thrones series finale.

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Crypto Appears on Simpsons Where Jim Parsons Explains It's 'Cash of the Future' - Cointelegraph

Bitcoin touches $9,500 as $31 billion wiped off cryptocurrency markets – Yahoo Finance

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

In the last three days, the cryptocurrency market has experienced a minor reversal of sorts, with more than $31 billion wiped from the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies in the last three days.

Much of this loss can be attributed to the recent bearish momentum seen by Bitcoin (BTC), which fell from over $10,300 on February 15 down to briefly touch below $9,500 today as more than $14 billion was wiped off its market cap. Bitcoin has since recovered slightly and currently sits at just south of $9,600.

Other major cryptocurrencies are also experiencing similar, if not greater losses. As it stands, every cryptocurrency in the top ten by market capitalization is in the red today, with Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and XRP currently performing the worst after losing between 7-8% apiece. Likewise, Ethereum (ETH) and EOS are down around 4% each.

Although it is currently unclear why the market has taken a bearish turn, recent performance issues seen by Binance may have contributed to a change in investor sentiment. Nonetheless, despite its recent losses, the global cryptocurrency market is still up by almost 14% in the last month, and almost 17% in the last three months. As such, there is still some leeway before this adverse market movement can be considered a long-term change in market dynamics.

The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.

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Bitcoin touches $9,500 as $31 billion wiped off cryptocurrency markets - Yahoo Finance

Cryptocurrency Market Update: Hostility ousted as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple make blissful moves – FXStreet

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

The cryptocurrency market is on Friday being painted by one massive green brush. The gains come to correct the negative correction recorded this week when Bitcoin dived to $9,500 twice, Ethereum touched weekly lows at $245 while Ripple crashed to $0.26. On the flip side, the bulls have made a decision to end the week in the positive ahead of the weekend session. Some of the market leaders include Ethereum Classic up 3.69%, EOS after growing 3.03% on the day and Litecoin with a 3.27% hike.

The fight against the Coronavirus could see the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) accelerate its plans to release its digital currency according to remarks by the central banks former president Lihiu Li. His argument is that a digital currency system presents efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and convenience during a time of distress. Li is currently the head of blockchain at the state-run National Internet Finance Association.

The government has already taken measures such as quarantining the old paper cash and made a fresh distribution of 600 billion yuan to stop the spread of the virus, especially in Huobei. China has also restricted movements in affected regions.

Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) is in agreement with the Central Bank of Russia that digital payments should not be allowed in the country. A letter sent to the President, Vladimir Putin from the Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko indicated that the two government institutions have agreed to outlaw cryptocurrencies as a means of payment.

A decision was made following a meeting in the government to establish a ban on the issuance and use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment.

Bitcoin price is settling above $9,700 after recovery from the range between $9,500 and $9,600. The resistance at the 50 SMA at $9,800 on the 2-hour chart must come down to open the door for the final leg towards $10,000. The RSI signals that bulls are relatively in charge, but the sideways movement shows that the current session is likely to be characterized by sideways trading.

Ethereum is trading at $261 after adding about $4 to the opening value at $257. An intraday high as been formed $264. Further movement north is limited by the developing bearish momentum and the volatility levels.

Ripple price, on the other hand, teeters a $0.2757 following a jump from $00.2711 (opening value). Upward movement have failed to rise past $0.2786 (intraday high) leaving the resistance at $0.28 untested.

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Cryptocurrency Market Update: Hostility ousted as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple make blissful moves - FXStreet

How This Cryptocurrency Platform Grew From Nothing to Top 5 Exchange Worth $1 Billion in 9 Months – newsBTC

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

Cryptocurrency derivatives exchange, FTX, launched in May 2019, now ranks as a top 5 exchange by adjusted volume. Moreover, such has been their rise, they now seek to expand operations with a $15 million equity round. This puts a $1 billion valuation on the company.

In nine short months, FTX has managed to make a huge splash in the world of cryptocurrency exchanges. Yesterday, the adjusted trading volume reached an all-time high for the platform, at around $1.3 billion.

FTX provides a futures trading exchange for digital assets. Their platform features an easy-to-use interface offering futures trading, leveraged tokens, as well as an over-the-counter (OTC) portal.

Much of FTXs rise through the ranks can be attributed to trading firm Alameda Research, who founded FTX in the spring of last year. Alameda Research trades up to $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency each day, and are responsible for managing $100 million in digital assets.

This allows us to trade hundreds of millions of dollars per day, accessing all of the major sources of flow and liquidity. This allows us to show tight spreads, for large size, consistently.

Indeed, as major shakers in the world of cryptocurrency, Alameda Research also functions as a market maker. Their role in the cryptocurrency markets is such that they rank as the biggest provider of liquidity on Bitfinex.

Bitfinex leaderboard. (Source: bitfinex.com)

And while many institutions and individuals prefer to remain anonymous, Almeda Research, and CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried take great pride in standing up to be counted.

One of the things about a leader board is, its actually quantifiable and verifiable. Its something that made it stand out from other firms.

Not only that but FTX market themselves as a platform built by traders, for traders. And this is something highly evident in the raft of features available which makes it a highly liquid cryptocurrency exchange. For example, FTXs liquidation engine prevents clawbacks by slowly closing overleveraged positions while minimizing the impact on the market.

Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO and co-founder of FTX and Alameda Research started the firm in his Berkeley apartment in late 2017 using a combination of his own money and by borrowing from family and friends.

He cut his teeth as a trader on Jane Street Capitals international exchange-traded fund desk. Here he worked for three years trading traditional investments such as currency and equities.

But he began getting interested in cryptocurrency when he spotted simple LTC arbitrage opportunities based on a 30% premium of LTC on Coinbase.

Profile of Sam Bankman-Fried. (Source: alameda-research.com)

On launching FTX, Bankman-Fried spoke about his vision for the company, and how he sees FTX as different from other cryptocurrency exchanges:

In creating FTX, I wanted to build a platform for professional traders like me. While also bringing crypto trading to the mass market and first-time users.

Original post:

How This Cryptocurrency Platform Grew From Nothing to Top 5 Exchange Worth $1 Billion in 9 Months - newsBTC

The Billion-Dollar Cryptocurrency Scams You’ve Never Heard About – OZY

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

Thesuicide note cited personal reasons. But Ashraf Nusubuga, a radiology studentat Kampalas Makerere University Ugandas leading higher educationinstitution didnt hang himself over a love affair gone wrong or because ofacademic pressure. The 22-year-old killed himself after losing money he hadinvested in a bogus cryptocurrency firm.

He had put all of his money and some he had borrowed into what turned out to be a Ponzi scheme, lured by the promise of high returns, according to Luke Oweyesigire, deputy spokesperson for Kampala Metropolitan Police. But Nusubuga isnt the only one to have fallen victim.

A series of large cryptocurrency scams is rocking Uganda, turning the East African nation into an unlikely hub for fraudulent firms claiming to offer digital currencies, while preying on weak governance and low financial literacy. Other major cryptocurrency scams in 2019 involved developed economies Japans BITPoint exchange lost $28 million, and con men in the U.K. and the Netherlands stole $27 million from Bitcoin users. Globally, cybercriminals stole $4.3 billion from users and exchanges last year. But Uganda is the worst hit by far.

At least five cryptocurrency firms have closed shop and walked away with a total of more than $26 million of their clients money in the past six months. From students and churchgoers to army officers and government officials, the victims span Ugandan society. Robert Bakalikwira, a criminal investigations officer probing these cases, estimates that in all, 200,000 Ugandans have lost about $1 billion, or almost 4 percent of the countrys GDP of $28 billion, over the past two years.

Ugandans are better off investing their money in cows than plunging into the unknown world of cryptocurrencies.

Patrick Mweheire, chairman, Uganda Bankers Association

These scams are different from those in the West, where hackers have stolen from exchanges or robbed from people. In Uganda, fake firms claiming to offer cryptocurrencies are luring people to buy in, before walking away with their money. The countrys growing crisis holds lessons for other poor nations with weak regulations unable to keep up with the sometimes misleading promise of technology.

We have receivedvery many cases of cryptocurrencyscams,says Fred Enanga, Ugandas national police spokesperson. We advise Ugandans toavoid being fleeced off their money in such deals.

But the role of President Yoweri Musevenis government is coming under scrutiny. It has set up a 10-member commission of inquiry, and is issuing public statements to alert Ugandans that the government and central bank dont recognize any cryptocurrency. Yet even though the country has no regulations for the sector, the government hasnt made it illegal to operate a cryptocurrency firm in Uganda. In parliament earlier this month, an MP pointed out that Kwame Rugunda, the son of Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, is CEO of CryptoSavannah, a cryptocurrency advisory firm.

Museveni himself appeared to be an early proponent of cryptocurrencies. At an event in Kampala in January 2017, where Bank of Uganda Governor Emmanuel Mutebile said he wasnt confident about the credibility of cryptocurrency, the president rebuffed him. Museveni said Mutebile wasbeing dogmatic, and emphasized the need to embrace technology.

Many ordinary people in the country which has the lowest literacy rate in the region took it as a government endorsement of digital currencies. A flood of firms some legitimate and several fraudulent entered the country.

Museveni is partly responsible for our suffering, says 50-year-old Ken Wamala from the southern Uganda town of Masaka who says scams have cost him around $41,000.

The fraud firms include Dumanis Coins, whose management disappeared on Dec. 3, 2019, after collecting $2.7 million in Ugandan shillings. More than 10,000 people had invested in the company. Police have arrested one of the firms directors but are still searching for four others, says Kampala police spokesman Patrick Onyango. John Kalevu, whose shop is next to Dumanis Coins former office, says he came to work one day to find the cryptocurrency firms doors open, but the office empty.

Global Cryptocurrencies closed overnight in November. Andrew Kagwa, its chief executive, was arrested after two weeks on the run. More than 10,000 people had invested $8.2 million in the firm. Lion Cryptocurrency closed down in October 2019, taking with it $5.4 million in investments made by 17,000 people, says Henry Musagala, the investigating officer. One Coin, another of the fraud firms, duped 12,000 people out of $6.8 million. The D9 cryptocurrency company shut shop with $3.2 million in investments from 9,000 people.

Other cryptocurrency companies that have closed since early 2018 leaving thousands of people confused and stranded include Team, Dutch International, Finetegry and Fital-Science.

Employees of these firms havent escaped unscathed either. Sheila Nassali, a nurse by training, recalls how a Global Cryptocurrency director convinced her to join the company as a secretary and a customer. She was shocked when the director disappeared, leaving me to face angry customers who wanted to get their money.

Patrick Mweheire, chairman of the Uganda Bankers Association, says, Ugandans are better off investing their money in cows than plunging into the unknown world of cryptocurrencies.

But experts and former employees of these firms say ignorance isnt the only problem. Muzamiru Kigundu, who used to work with Lion Cryptocurrency before it shut down, alleges that many government officials are among the owners of cryptocurrency companies mushrooming in Uganda. That lends the industry legitimacy in the eyes of ordinary people. The directors of these firms rent fancy offices and drive expensive cars to create the impression that theyre wealth creators, he says.

Ugandas corruption it ranks 160 in Transparency Internationals index is also to blame. Some of the fake firms were registered as companies even though they didnt meet statutory requirements. The major cause of the cryptocurrency scams is corruption, says Joseph Bogere, professor of economics at Makerere University.

Ultimately, though, its the responsibility of the countrys leaders and security organizations to protect citizens against such crooks, says Solomon Male, a pastor. That isnt happening yet. An already poor nation is bleeding further, while gaining an unwanted reputation.

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The Billion-Dollar Cryptocurrency Scams You've Never Heard About - OZY

How the IRS Audits Cryptocurrency Tax Returns – Filing Expert Shares Example, Insights on AML Focus – Bitcoin News

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

Tax season is one of the most dreaded times of the year for many, and when the added confusion of filing crypto returns is thrown into to the mix, things can get even stickier. News.Bitcoin.com recently talked with Clinton Donnelly of Donnelly Tax Law, a service that specializes in crypto returns. The U.S. Treasury-licensed Enrolled Agent shared some of his opinions and insights regarding crypto audits and what triggers them, as well as an example from a client.

Also read: Tax Rules Hit Brazilian Crypto Exchanges, Forcing Trading Platforms Out of Business

The IRS announcement that thousands of tax warning letters would be issued to United States crypto holders last summer elicited calls for greater clarification and guidelines, but it hasnt stopped the Internal Revenue Service audit train from steaming forward. The presence of a new crypto question on 2019s Schedule 1 form has individuals concerned about reporting their crypto assets correctly more than ever, and according to experts, this is for good reason.

That is massive says Enrolled Agent Clinton Donnelly of Donnelly Tax Law. This question in the 2019 return it forces every taxpayer in the United States to make a decision whether or not theyre going to be honest or not on this question, because its a yes or no and when you sign the tax return its in small print, it says under penalty of perjury I have reviewed this return and its true, complete and correct, so failing to check the box is incomplete. He emphasizes:

Its a yes or no its kind of like coming out of the closets Anybody who was a trader in 19, well, they were probably a trader in 17 as well.

Donnelly went on to explain that by reporting crypto gains in light of the new question, many crypto holders will inadvertently reveal that they first acquired their digital assets years back, which calls their previous years returns into suspicion and makes an IRS investigation more likely.

Donnellys service has so far seen two cryptocurrency audits with its clients, and the tax professional is interested in learning more about what triggers an IRS investigation. One client claimed to have never received the 2019 warning letters, but was audited all the same. According to Donnelly, the focus of the IRS is not so much on the methods by which capital gains are reported, but that all inputs and outputs are accounted for, and that the AML (anti-money laundering) narrative remains in central focus.

I think people sense that the government views crypto traders as possibly engaging in some sort of crime, Donnelly notes. We shouldnt feel that way, but we do. He cites a recent Chainalysis report showing the darknets share of crypto usage is less than 1% of the total. The tax expert went on:

I would say most of these questions, as you read them, fall into the category of anti-money laundering My suspicion is that if the IRS wanted to crack down on every American that traded cryptos they could do it, but the backlash from voters back to congress would snap the IRS in the face and they would be sent packing So I think as long as they stay on the money laundering theme, then they look above board.

Donnelly also shared a non-confidential snippet of a clients IRS audit letter for a 2017 return relating to just under $40,000 in crypto gains. This client claims to have never received the warning letters from the agency.

Donnelly emphasized throughout our conversation that it is not so much the various means by which a crypto holder reports gains using different tax tools can and often does result in slightly different numbers but that the IRS wants to verify total asset amounts add up, with all inputs and outputs accounted for. Especially where cash is concerned. The image of the form above lays out in detail what types of specific information the agency wants to know.

Donnelly further detailed that high frequency traders are sometimes concerned when seeing large proceeds calculated for their trades on 1099-K forms from crypto exchanges, but that costs are not yet factored into these amounts. This can make some traders understandably hesitant to file, but audits are less likely if the proceeds amount is reported fully.

Half the court cases in tax court are because the IRS didnt do the procedure right, the due process, if you will, Donnelly details, but theres this form called the FBAR form that form is not a tax form, its not a part of the tax laws. The IRS administers it, but its not a part of the tax laws. Its part of the Bank Secrecy Act, Title 18. He goes on:

Prosecutors love the FBAR form because they can say you didnt file it, you should have, whammo, heres the penalty and we can assess it right now. Theres no due process defense on that.

The FBAR form has to do with assets held in foreign bank accounts, and must be filed by U.S. taxpayers if the aggregate value of those foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time during the calendar year reported. The FBAR brings Fincen (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) into the tax action, and has to do directly with combating money laundering, so Donnelly suspects this may be part of the reason the AML narrative has become the focus of crypto tax reporting. It is also a frightening prospect for crypto traders utilizing overseas exchanges and accounts.

The penalty for the anti-money laundering form this is FBAR is $10,000, plus $10,000 for every foreign account that youve never reported, Donnelly elaborates. If you never filed the FBAR, you just told the IRS all the exchanges you were on you just incriminated yourself. They say ah, well youre on Huobi, Kucoin, Binance, you got five of em. Thats $50,000 plus the $10,000 I originally smacked you with for not filing a form. You didnt do this in 17, you didnt do it in 18, you didnt do it in 16 either, so I can just add these penalties up. Before you know it youre up to $200, $300,000 and they can get worse if they want to be hostile about it. He concludes:

The IRS controls the narrative. Were not going after crypto traders, were going after people that are violating the anti-money laundering laws Its implicitly dirty, right? to be caught for money laundering.

Donnelly says his mission is to help people file what he calls a bulletproof tax return, as the penalties for simple mistakes and omissions can be so egregious, and so few tax advisors know how to help their clients when it comes to crypto.

News.Bitcoin.com also regularly publishes articles on available tax tools and software which may make the job of reporting easier for bitcoiners. Of course, when dealing with unpredictable and potentially dangerous groups like the IRS, individuals should exercise due diligence and research thoroughly before pursuing any course of action. Not surprisingly, the permissionless, peer-to-peer money designed to fight financial censorship that is bitcoin, has fast become a prime target for the very groups of middlemen, banks, politicians and other third parties it makes largely unnecessary.

What do you think of Donnellys views on crypto tax audits? Let us know in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or as a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Cryptotaxaudit.com, fair use.

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Graham Smith is an American expat living in Japan, and the founder of Voluntary Japanan initiative dedicated to spreading the philosophies of unschooling, individual self-ownership, and economic freedom in the land of the rising sun.

How the IRS Audits Cryptocurrency Tax Returns - Filing Expert Shares Example, Insights on AML Focus - Bitcoin News

Tezos to the Moon: How The Unstoppable Cryptocurrency Rally Could Double – newsBTC

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

The cryptocurrency known as Tezos is among the years best performing altcoin assets, rising more than 200% year-to-date.

And while the surging crypto asset is showing no signs of stopping, it could go on to double from here, according to a prominent crypto analyst and short-term parabola.

Tezos is a clear cryptocurrency industry standout.

The altcoin recently exploded into the top ten crypto assets by market cap, after an early 2020 rally smashed all expectations and then some.

Related Reading | Top Trader: Tezos Cryptocurrency Can Surge 5-10x After 100% Rally in 2 Weeks

Since the start of the year, Tezos is up an insane 200%.

From the assets late 2019 downtrend bottom, Tezos has quadrupled in value, with a sky-high, over 420% return.

And from the assets bear market bottom, it has grown in value by a staggering 1,125% in a little over a years time.

Analysts have been warning late-to-the-game investors from FOMOing into an asset that has already risen so much, but Tezos has continued to rally, leaving cautious traders filled with regret.

That regret will only grow if Tezos does as one analyst believes and extends its parabola to as much as $6.30 per XTZ token.

The current high is set at $3.70, so reaching such a target would mean that Tezos price doubles from current levels.

Such a rally would cause yet another 100% push from here, taking year-to-date gains to over 400%.

It would also take any investments made from the very bottom to as high as just under 2,000% returns in less than 16-months.

Tezos has completed these amazing feats, all before the bull market has truly begun for cryptocurrencies.

And because Tezos is a relative newcomer alongside other altcoins like Link, who missed out on the last crypto bubble, these shiny new altcoins have less tarnish and negativity to break free from.

The assets also dont have support levels turned resistance to contend with, and instead are in price discovery mode.

Related Reading | Tezos & Ethereum: These Top Performing Altcoins Flash Dangerous Sell Signals

This means that any peaks are just psychological barriers while a true value is established by the way of the push and pull of market dynamics.

This is the exact reason why Tezos could easily double from here, and reach prices of $6.3 in the coming days because no one knows truly what Tezos should be worth, so the speculative asset is likely to explode further until a strong psychological resistance is reached.

When assets perform like Tezos, sky is the limit. But remember, just like Bitcoin at the last bull market peak: everything that goes up that fast, eventually falls back down quite hard.

And with how much Tezos has rallied, while it can certainly go a lot higher, when it does turn around, much of the gains could be erased.

Why Venezuela’s Oil Based Cryptocurrency Is Still Alive – OilPrice.com

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

In a recentWall Street Journalarticle, Mary Anastasia OGrady writes that VenezuelasNational Superintendency for the Defense of Socio-Economic Rights is reportedly pressuring stores to accept the governments new digital fiat currency, the Petro.The Venezuelan government claims its digital currency, which launched in early 2018, is backed one-for-one by a barrel of oil. The petro is also intended to circulate at a fixed exchange rate with the bolvar soberano, the latest iteration of Venezuelas fledgling currency.

Ms. OGrady quotes me summarizing some of the work I have done with Josh Hendrickson and Thomas Hogan, which shows that a government canget its citizens to use its preferred money so long as it issufficiently bigor is willing to levysufficiently large punishments. But she leaves another question unanswered:why would the Venezuelan government prefer the petro? Stays Alive

Three reasons stand out.

Venezuela relies heavily on oil revenues.According to OPEC, oil revenues typically account for around 99 percent of Venezuelas total export revenues. And, historically, much of those oil exports have gone to the U.S. However, its oil exportsfell by a third in 2019, in large part because ofeconomic sanctions levied by the U.S.

To fully appreciate the nature of the problem, it is useful to make a distinction between primary and secondary sanctions. Primary economic sanctions levied by the U.S. government prevent Americans from purchasing oil from Venezuela. However, the U.S. government has also announced that it will impose sanctions on anyone else trading with Venezuela. And these secondary sanctions have been pretty effective.

Why are U.S. secondary sanctions so effective?J.P. Koning is certainly correctwhen he writes that most companies and countries do not want to risk losing access to U.S. markets. But he probably goes too far in claiming this has very little to do with the U.S. dollar functioning as the worlds reserve currency. The U.S. government has a much easier time monitoring international transactions executed in U.S. dollars.

International transactions executed in U.S. dollars are typically cleared in a New York bank. Those banks know their customers and are obliged to hand over transactions data to the U.S. government when subpoenaed or if they suspect a crime is being committed. Related: Texas Oil Production To Rise In 2020 Despite Lower Prices

If the international transaction is executed in some other currency, like euros, the information is a little more difficult for the U.S. government to access. Of course, most European banks will refuse to clear the transaction as well since the U.S. government can require they hand over the relevant transactions data, in which case they would be found to have violated sanctions by processing the transaction, or they would lose access to U.S. markets on grounds of non-compliance; and, since most international transactions are executed in U.S. dollars, a European bank that cannot transfer money to and from U.S. banks will struggle to serve its international transactions-making customers.

Nonetheless, the risk of detection is probably a little lower than it would be if the transaction were made in U.S. dollars. And, as a result, the transaction is more likely to be executed.

The international financial plumbing has a lot of pipes running to and from the U.S. And that gives the U.S. a lot of power to levy sanctions, not just on its own citizens, but also on citizens and companies of other countries interested in international trade.

You can probably see where this is going. If Venezuela were able to create a parallel financial system, one with no pipes going to and from the U.S., it could make and receive international transactions with even less risk of detection than is afforded by other national currencies, like the euro, ruble, or renminbi.

Thats where the petro comes in. As a digital currency, it enables one to send or receive funds virtually anywhere around the world. And, to the extent that those transactions are disconnected from the U.S. financial system, they are much less likely to be detected by the U.S. government.

Again: the sanctions still apply. But, by conducting transactions in petros, they are easier to get around.

Why, then, does Venezuela push the petro at home? Why not just require it for international transactions? For one, few will be willing to accept the petro if there isnt a very big market for petros. Hence, by increasing the demand for petros at home, Venezuela makes it less risky for foreigners to accept them if only for a short period of time.

For international transactions, the petro offers those interested in skirting U.S. sanctions some financial privacy not afforded by traditional cross-border electronic transfers. For internal transactions, in contrast, it almost certainly offers far less financial privacy than hand-to-hand currency.

As Josh Hendrickson and I explain in arecent working paper, hand-to-hand currency cash affords a lot of financial privacy. There are drawbacks to using cash, to be sure.

Cash does not bear interest. It is easier to lose and easier to steal than balances held at a bank and less likely to be insured due to loss or theft. It is more cumbersome for high-valued transactions, since one must carry many notes, and odd-amount transactions, since one must provide the correct denominations. And it typically requires the sender and receiver to be physically present in the same location when funds are transferred. Related: U.S. Administration Discusses Plan To Oust Venezuelas Maduro

But, for relatively small, local transactions where financial privacy is important, cash is still king.

It is easy to imagine, then, why the Venezuelan government might want to push its citizens to swap physical bolivares for digital petros even in the absence of international sanctions. The petro makes it much easier to monitor transactions and punish those conducting transactions inconsistent with the prevailing governments objectives.

It is difficult to mount much opposition without funding. And it is difficult to raise funds for an opposition movement if would-be contributors worry they will be caught and punished. By requiring petro use, the Maduro regime tightens its grip on power. YOUR INBOX

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Finally, widespread petro use would presumably help Venezuela with another one of its self-inflicted problems: cash shortages.

When the money supply (i.e., cash and deposit balances) increases, as it tends to do quite rapidly in Venezuela, the purchasing power of that money falls. As a result, more cash is needed to make routine transactions. But Venezuela does not print its bolivares notes. And, for obvious reasons, the private companies willing to crank out its ever-increasing supply of bolivares notes are not willing to receive payment in bolivares.

This has led to some amusing headlines. In April 2016,Bloombergreported thatVenezuela Doesnt Have Enough Money to Pay for Its Money. In July 2018, theEconomistreported thatVenezuelan cash is almost worthless, but also scarce. The reality on the ground is far from amusing, though. The inability to make routine transactions leads to a decline in production, leaving ordinary Venezuelans even poorer than they already were.

There are two solutions to this problem.

If the National Superintendency for the Defense of Socio-Economic Rights is successful in pressuring stores to accept the petro, it would serve the Maduro regime well. By making it easier to avoid sanctions, the petro enables the government to regain some of its lost oil revenues. By making it easier to monitor domestic transactions, the petro aids efforts to stamp out political opposition. And, by reducing the need to print up so many new notes during periods of hyperinflation, the petro reduces the likelihood and magnitude of cash shortages.

Alas, in helping the Maduro regime maintain power, the petro seems unlikely to improve the lives of ordinary Venezuelans.

By William Luther via Zerohedge.com

Top Cryptocurrency Analysts Say $100,000 Bitcoin Predictions Way Off Base Heres Where They Think BTC Will Land – The Daily Hodl

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

Two leading cryptocurrency analysts say they believe Bitcoin is in a new bull market cycle, but predictions that BTC is poised to soar to $100,000 are far too bullish.

In a recent episode of Trading Bitcoin, Tone Vays and the pseudonymous trader Filbfilb debate the current state of the crypto market and where it may head in the months to come.

Vays says BTC needs to close above $10,450 to signal that a bigger move to the upside is in store. Bitcoin came extremely close to that number on Wednesday, reaching $10,444 before plummeting to its current price of $9,568, according to CoinMarketCap.

Filbfilbs says his target for opening a long position is significantly higher. Hes looking to see if and when BTC can cross $11,500.

As for how high Bitcoin may climb in the next long-term market cycle, both analysts say they expect a new bull market top to hit well below a litany of predictions calling for a parabolic rise to $100k. Says Filbfilb,

I think were going to struggle to get past $60k. I think $60k is going to be a really, really troublesome level to get across. Ill certainly be looking to book in some serious profits at that point.

I think you said it right in Fiji. I think you said the return you get off of these long-term positions versus the risk of you getting it wrong is a terrible trade. So trying to go higher than $60k I think would be a little bit foolish at this point. But certainly around $50k, $60k would be sensible.

Vays says hes looking for BTC to top out at a slightly lower price of around $45,000.

Although the traders say hype around Bitcoins halving is fueling price action in early 2020, they say rising trading volumes and an increasing number of outstanding derivative contracts are key metrics to watch in order to gauge real long-term interest in the space.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/sustainableart

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Top Cryptocurrency Analysts Say $100,000 Bitcoin Predictions Way Off Base Heres Where They Think BTC Will Land - The Daily Hodl

Finance Sector Concerned Over the Increasing Dominance of Cryptocurrency – Inside Bitcoins

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

Cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin are barely a decade old. But they have already had a significant impact on the world of finance. When Facebook announced that it will float its own digital currency Libra, it was another sound reminder that the world is about witnessing a major shift in paradigm in the finance sector.

Now a prominent figure in the finance sector has come out again to warn those in the mainstream to keep up with the rapid changes taking place in the finance sector as a result of cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin.

U.S. Federal Reserve governor and chair of the Financial Stability Board, Randal Quarles, has warned central bankers and finance ministers to take note of the quick changes happening within the finance industry, brought by cryptocurrencies and bitcoin.

In his statement,

Technology is changing the nature of traditional finance, bringing innovations that create both potential benefits and risks.

He made this statement in a letter for the G20 summit this week. According to him, the rapid changes in the finance sector may bring about new challenges for many central banks and governments around the world.

Earlier this week, the U.S. government stated that cryptocurrency and Bitcoin can pose a challenge to the USD in retaining its status as the worlds reserve coin. Currently, its looking for researchers who would look into the extent of risks digital coins pose to the continued dominance of the USD.

And there has been growing support for the US to start developing its own government-backed digital currency.

Already, many central banks and governments believe that the introduction of Libra could have an impact on governments stronghold on their economies if the digital currency becomes widely used around the world. Some are having fears that it could lead them to lose their financial and regulatory control of economies. `

Some E.U. countries, including Spain, Italy, Germany, and France, have reiterated their desire to block the use of Libra in their respective countries because of the risk it poses to the financial sector. However, instead of using Libra, the countries are supporting the proposal of an alternate public cryptocurrency run by the central bank.

On a similar note, some top companies like eBay, PayPal, Mastercard, and Visa, who initially supported the introduction of Libra, are now backing out. They view the Libra currency as a major competition, which can put their line of business at risk, should the digital coin become a reality.

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Finance Sector Concerned Over the Increasing Dominance of Cryptocurrency - Inside Bitcoins

Swedens Central Bank To Begin Testing National Cryptocurrency – CryptoPotato

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

The Swedish Central Bank will establish a test group for its potential digital currency the e-krona. It will run for a year and should confirm if theres an actual need case for launching a digital krona.

Recently reported by local news, the Riksbank is ready to launch a group to examine the potential e-krona. The participants will play out different scenarios to determine if the digital currencys performance is sufficient and reliable. A statement from the bank outlines the various requirements that the e-krona needs to address before launching:

The aim of the project is to show how an e-krona could be used by the general public. A digital krona should be simple, user-friendly as well as fulfill critical requirements for security and performance.

The project will run on the blockchain technology in an isolated test environment. The participants will store the e-krona in a digital wallet. They will use a mobile app to make payments, deposits, and withdrawals. Additionally, users will also make payments via cards and smartwatches.

The bank will run the test group for a year until February 2021.

The Swedish central bank will also collaborate with other countries to discuss potential cases for issuing their cryptocurrency. To do so, the Riksbank will enter a dedicated group with the banks of Britain, the Eurozone, Japan, and Switzerland.

The report also outlines the real purpose of the potential digital krona. It informs that the Swedish population has stopped using cash as the primary source of payment transactions. More specifically, the percentage of people paying with cash has dropped from 40 to 13 between 2010 and 2018.

Despite that, though, the Riksbank doesnt plan to replace cash entirely if it launches the digital krona. Instead, the central bank said that it would be used as a complement. It will continue to issue banknotes and coins, as long as theres a demand in the country.

Deutsche bank recently also touched upon the topic of cash necessity in todays society. It concluded that some banks, debit, and credit card providers, and governments are attempting to eliminate cash from daily usage. However, their document ultimately refuted the option of the end of cash.

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Inside the Lachish Temple, the Earliest Example of the Letter Samekh – The Daily Beast

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

Whether you text, type, scrawl chicken scratch onto a doctors pad, or inscribe calligraphy in your bullet journal, everyone who shares a language uses the same alphabet. But where does it come from? And who invented it? Even as our own alphabet changes and we devolve into the pictorial non-syllabic communication of emojis, tracing the history of writing is its own form of investigative journey.

And now archaeologists have found another piece of the puzzle: excavations in Israel have unearthed a 3,200-year-old Canaanite temple that once served the city of Lachish, the last Canaanite city. The discovery promises to shed light on the political and religious relationship between the Canaanites and Egyptians, ancient Canaanite religion and deities, and even the Israelite conquest. But among the most important discoveries at the site was the earliest example of the proto-Canaanite letter samekh a letter that would survive in Hebrew and Aramaic, find its way into ancient Greek, and enjoy an afterlife in 21st century technology.

The discovery was made by a team jointly led by Prof. Yosef Garfinkel of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Prof. Michael Hasel at Southern Adventist University in Tennessee. Though the temple was unearthed two years ago, it has taken several years for the finds and evidence to be analyzed and news of the discovery only emerged this week.

In the Bible, Lachish is mentioned several times; in particular with the conquest of the land of Canaanites by the Israelites (Joshua 10:3, 5, 23, 31-35). According to the book of Joshua, Japhia, the King of Lachish, was one of five kings who tried to push back the Israelite invasion. After being caught unawares by a surprise attack, Japhia and his allies took refuge in a cave, were captured, and then executed. Joshua then launched a siege of Lachish that lasted for two days before the city fell and Joshua had the inhabitants of the city exterminated. The city and land surrounding it was then assigned to the tribe of Judah. If all of this sounds like a war crime to you, then youre correct: the Israelite conquest narratives are stories about divinely mandated and supported genocide. The city is mentioned again on a variety of occasions; the prophet Jeremiah names it as one of the last cities to fall to the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II, for example.

The city itself is located in central Israel about 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem in the Shephelah (lowlands) region of Israel between Mount Hebron and the Mediterranean coast. In both the Canaanite and Judahite periods Lachish was second in importance only to Jerusalem. For an ancient city, Lachish is remarkably well-documented in our historical records. It appears in ancient Assyrian, Egyptian, and Biblical texts and is even referred to on stone panels found in Nineveh (modern day northern Iraq). The earliest literary reference to Lachish is in Egyptian sources: the so-called Amarna letters, a set of clay tablets that document correspondence between Egypt government and their representatives in Canaan. These everyday administrative letters reveal that Lachish was an important and powerful city in the foothills of Judea.

Even before the arrival of the Israelites, the city had had a violent history: It first rose to prominence in 1800 BCE and, for some 400 years thereafter, it flourished and prospered. It was then destroyed by Pharaoh Thutmose III in 1550 BCE as part of the 18th Dynastys expansion into Canaan. The city was rebuilt and destroyed on multiple other occasions throughout its history but the newly discovered temple dates from the citys resurgence between roughly 1200-1150 BCE. Garfinkel calls this incarnation, the last Canaanite city.

The structure of the temple is unusual for the Late Bronze age: The entrance, which featured two towers and pillars, led to a large rectangular hall. Garfinkel told Haaretz that this kind of structure was more common in earlier temples found in Syria. But the style appears to have influenced the first Temple in Jerusalem built by King Solomon which, according to the Bible, also featured pillars, towers and a central hall.

As we would expect for an urban center with close ties to Egypt, many of the artifacts found at the site revealed Egyptian influence in the region. In addition to bronze cauldrons, axes, and daggers adorned with bird heads and scarabs, the team found a gold-plated bottle inscribed with the name of Rameses II. They also discovered an amulet that references the goddess Hathor, an Egyptian bovine deity who might also have been local to Canaan. In Egyptian mythology Hathor was associated with music, fertility, love and sex and was often charged with greeting the dead in the afterlife. The discovery of Egyptian religious traditions at the temple at Lachish is evidence of the contact between and mutual influence of Canaanite and Egyptian culture on each other.

Also discovered within the Temple, however, were religious elements that would not have been found in either ancient Egypt or ancient Israel. In particular, the discovery of two small statues of the god Baalone of the God of Israels principle competitors in the Biblereveal that this was unambiguously a center of Canaanite religious life.

Arguably the most stunning revelation from the temple was the discovery of an early Canaanite inscription on a shard of pottery. Among the letters etched into the clay was the proto-Canaanite letter samekh. This letter resembles a mirrored capital letter E (a vertical line crossed by three perpendicular shorter lines). The example from Lachish is the earliest example of samekh that we have and thus adds to our understanding of the development of alphabet writing systems. Many scholars believe that ancient writing began in ancient Sumer (Mesopotamia) with the development of pictographic writing forms such as that found on the limestone Kish tablet. The Kish tablet is often seen as a bridge or transitional example between proto-writing systems (symbolic systems of communication that arose independently in various regions of the ancient world) and syllabic writing systems; in the case of the Kish tablet cuneiform, a system of wedge-shaped marks.

Whether one is willing to name the Sumerians as first (and some arent) its clear that ancient writing systems developed in the Early Bronze Age in a variety of places including Sumer (cuneiform), Egypt (hieroglyphics), Crete (hieroglyphs), China (logographs), the Indus Valley (Indus/Harrapan Script), and Mexico (Cascajal block). The aleph-bet-gimmel semitic writing system known as proto-Canaanite that would eventually develop into Hebrew and Aramaic emerged in 1800 BCE and can be seen in early examples from Egypt and Sinai. In the Lachish temple example we see for the first time how the proto-Canaanites wrote the letter samekh. Garfinkel told Haaretz [Other examples of proto-Canaanite writing] had the other letters, het and resh and shin and so on, but not samekh. Scholars were able to identify the letter because sometime between 1000 and 950 BCE the Phoenicians adopted the proto-Canaanite alphabet, refined it, and formalized it into a more structured and organized system and in the Phoenician system this is exactly how samekh looks. Now we know for sure where they got it from.

The discovery at Lachish helps us chart the shifts and changes from proto-Canaanite to Pheonecian and then to Hebrew and beyond. Dr. Robert Cargill, an archaeologist and professor of ancient Judaism and Christianity at the University of Iowa told me the samekh has an odd history because even though it is a somewhat redundant sibilant (a hissing sound, to you and me), it persists in Hebrew and Aramaic, and even in the Greek alphabet via the Phoenician alphabet. In other words, even though it was somewhat redundant, the influence of this letter is felt in a number of important writing systems. In Greek it gave rise to the letter Xi, which continues to be used (outside of just the Greek and old Cyrillic alphabets) in mathematics and science where it has over a dozen applications. Perhaps most strangely it is a monetary unit of Ethereum, a cryptocurrency that some have claimed is used by criminals to run Ponzi schemes and investment fraud. From ancient temple pottery to sophisticated Ponzi schemes, this letter has come a long way.

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Inside the Lachish Temple, the Earliest Example of the Letter Samekh - The Daily Beast

Ripple Battles XRP Scams, Launches Initiative to Combat Cryptocurrency Theft, Fake Giveaways and Financial Crimes – The Daily Hodl

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

Ripple has launched a new portal designed to give cryptocurrency investors a way to report malicious activity connected to the XRP Ledger.

People can now fill out a request form asking Ripple to explore a long list of unusual activity, including theft, phishing attempts, giveaway scams, suspicious exchanges, money laundering, unauthorized transactions and other financial crimes.

Although it will investigate matters connected to the XRP Ledger, Ripple says it will not make victims whole and cannot reverse transactions.

Ledger and the users of the XRP Ledger are not customers of Ripple therefore Ripple does not have the power to reverse transactions, even in the case of a reported financial loss (ex: theft).

By submitting a request to Ripple, the company says consumers are effectively giving the company permission to report the matter to US lawmakers on the federal, state, or local level.

Ripple may also report the issue to international law enforcement or regulatory agencies.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/Dmitriy Rybin

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Ripple Battles XRP Scams, Launches Initiative to Combat Cryptocurrency Theft, Fake Giveaways and Financial Crimes - The Daily Hodl

Sealand reduces transit time between Chile and the US for table grapes – FreshPlaza.com

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

SeaLand has achieved a significant reduction in transit times from Chile to the east coast of the United States, by improving its CLX service and connections. This positions the company as one of the best alternatives for exporting table grapes to the North American market.

The commercial manager of Sealand in Chile, Ignacio Urzua, stated that this season they intend "to be a relevant player in the market, which allows our clients to be competitive, improve control over their cargo, and have full visibility of their logistics."

With the new changes in its services, the company improves its transit times from San Antonio to strategic ports on the east coast of the United States, such as Philadelphia and Port Everglades, in just 18 days, with a convenient arrival on Monday. Meanwhile, the transit time to the port of Savannah is 21 days with arrival on Fridays. This represents an improvement of 4 to 5 days compared to last year.

SeaLand has also deepened its digital development by using the Captain Peter platform, which allows users to monitor their shipments during the trip, receive notifications and advice, temperature details, connections/disconnections, etc. The new transit times, added to the technology applied to the containers, allow better traceability and load control, which means the fruits arrive in better conditions.

Sealand has also focused on delivering a complete logistics service, one of the company's global objectives.

"Both at origin and at the destination, we offer all logistics services related to cargo handling, including land transport, comprehensive document service, deconsolidation of freight, storage, inspections, etc. Our goal is to continue positioning ourselves as the leading logistics integrator in the region, delivering more and better solutions, beyond the maritime service. In the case of grapes, the goal will always be to bring the product closer to consumers," concluded Urzua.

Source: mundomaritimo.cl

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Sealand reduces transit time between Chile and the US for table grapes - FreshPlaza.com

China firms in $10 billion share sale rush as funding rules eased amid virus worries – Reuters

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Listed Chinese companies are queuing up to issue shares and have already announced plans to raise more than $10 billion in the past week after fundraising rules were relaxed to help ease cash strains caused by the coronavirus.

FILE PHOTO: A woman wearing a face mask crosses a road after the extended Lunar New Year holiday caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak, in Beijing's central business district, China February 10, 2020. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

More than 50 companies, including Bank of Ningbo (002142.SZ) and battery maker Yinghe Technology (300457.SZ), have published as of Thursday fresh or revised plans to raise as much as 73 billion yuan ($10.4 billion) through private placements, according to Reuters calculations.

The new rules allow companies to sell shares worth up to 30% of their share capital via private placements compared with 20% previously. The number of investors allowed to participate in such placements was lifted to 35 from 10.

The changes also make the deals more attractive to investors by halving the lock-up periods and enabling more flexible pricing.

The rush to market comes as China has been pumping liquidity into the financial system, cutting interest rates as well as easing other funding avenues, in a bid to limit the economic damage from the coronavirus that has killed over 2,000 people and stalled many business activities.

The share sales will also be helped by a resurgent stock market. The blue-chip CSI300 .CSI300 has rebounded roughly 13% from a low hit on February 3 when traders returned after the new year break, compared with 3.8% for the U.S. S&P 500 .SNP benchmark over the same period.

China cut its benchmark lending rate on Thursday, helping lift the tech-heavy ChiNext index .CHINEXTP to the highest level in almost three years.

Investors are encouraged by monetary easing, and are looking beyond the epidemic, said Wu Kan, a portfolio manager at Soochow Securities Co.

China needs a booming stock market to help channel funding to the real economy.

Relaxation of the rules comes as a relief to many companies. More than 75% of respondents in a survey of over 140 companies by Sealand Securities, said the epidemic was straining their liquidity, with smaller firms saying they will burn through their available cash within three months unless the situation normalizes.

Some companies badly hit by the virus reported an 80% slump in revenue.

But the relaxed standards represent a reversal of Chinas stance since officials sharply tightened share placement rules following the 2015-16 market crash, where reckless fundraising was seen as a contributing factor.

Xu Chao, analyst at the Pacific Securities, said the rule changes represented a very strong loosening signal from the authorities.

Private placements raised just 122.9 billion yuan last year from a peak of 1 trillion yuan in 2016, according to Kaiyuan Securities, which expects fundraising via this route to at least double in 2020 from 2019.

The easier access to funds could increase the risk of moral hazard, some analysts have warned.

Its a double-edged sword, said Fan Lei, economist at Sealand Securities, who said the moves implied regulators were becoming more tolerant toward market speculation, often dubbed stir frying.

A bit of stir-frying helps attract money into the market, Fan said.

Editing by Jennifer Hughes and Muralikumar Anantharaman

China firms in $10 billion share sale rush as funding rules eased amid virus worries - Reuters

Photographer from Deeside on ‘cloud nine’ with accolade – LeaderLive

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Danzig

A PHOTOGRAPHER from Deeside says she is on 'cloud nine' after being highly commended at a special awards ceremony.

Stacey Oliver from Sealand was a finalist in the Creative Wedding Photographer category at The Welsh Wedding Awards 2020.

The awards aim to reward those within the wedding industry that make the special day as perfect as possible, including the caterers that provide delicious reception meals, decorators who make the wedding venues flourish or hair and makeup artists who make the brides look and feel on top of the world.

Accolades to be awarded include Wedding Venue of the Year, Caterer of the Year, Photographer of the Year, Specialist Wedding Supplier of the Year and many more.

Mrs Oliver said: "I cant believe I was nominated, so to be highly commended in creative wedding photographer of the year for the whole of Wales is something I could only dream off.

"Words cant explain how I'm feeling at the moment - Im on cloud nine."

A spokesman for The Welsh Wedding Awards 2020 said: These awards seek to recognise everyone in this sector that has shown excellence, commitment and have the customer satisfaction as top priority in their business. Working in the wedding industry can be challenging at times and these finalists have managed to stand out amongst the rest, despite the difficulties."

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Photographer from Deeside on 'cloud nine' with accolade - LeaderLive

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