Guest rooms at Petit St. Vincent resort don’t have WiFi or locking doors and that’s OK – USA TODAY

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Diane Bair and Pamela Wright, USA TODAY "Go Escape" magazine Published 8:00 a.m. ET Nov. 10, 2019 | Updated 9:48 a.m. ET Nov. 11, 2019

Petit St. Vincent(Photo: Mike Toy)

From afar, you may not be impressed. Petit St. Vincent (PSV) looks like a green hump of land as you approach it by ferry from Union Island, about 6 miles from the destination. Then, a series of cottages emerges, built into the hillside and bluffs and along the beach. Thats when things begin to look promising. And, once youre whisked by golf cart to your stone-and-hardwood abode through a whorl of sweet-scented tropical blooms, you realize youre in for something special.

Welcome to your own nearly private island. Theres no town on this 115-acre volcanic isle, just a single resort with a practical name that reiterates its location: Petit St. Vincent. Its been called one of the worlds most enchanting hideaways. Part of the island country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, lying between St. Lucia (to the north) and Grenada (to the south), Petit St. Vincent is not easy to get to. For many U.S. guests, it involves a day of travel a flight to Barbados, a shorter flight to Union Island and then a ferry ride to PSV. Any travel-induced crabbiness vanishes once you see this place up close: a collection of 22 rustic one- and two-bedroom cottages and villas, ringed by 2 miles of white sand and lapped by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Caribbean Sea on the other. Do the math: Every guest has a couple of acres each, says Matt Semark, general manager of the resort, which owns the island.

This is peaceful luxury: vibrant artwork, teak furnishings, a wood-paddled ceiling fan and of course a hammock tied between two palm trees. (Theres also air conditioning, but you probably wont need it thanks to those ocean breezes.) Cottages and villas have king-size beds, Italian linens, Bulgari toiletries, Nespresso coffee machines and Bose MP3 docks.

What you wont find in your room: Wi-Fi, TV or locks on the doors.

You can see the weight shift off peoples shoulders when they are unplugged from their devices.

Guests are often taken aback when they learn that the only connected spot is at the resorts main pavilion. (Rooms do have intercoms in case of emergency.) At first, some guests panic, Semark admits. But the following day, they appreciate it. You can see the weight shift off peoples shoulders when they are unplugged from their devices.

It can also be disconcerting that the doors dont lock but in such an open-air space, it probably doesnt matter anyway. The resort has never had an issue with security, Semark says. Its been like this (no locks) since the resort opened in 1968. On this island, its just us. Theres no crime. Everyones auntie or uncle.

Untethered from the 24/7 news cycle, its easy to fall into the carefree rhythm of island life. PSV uses a flag system to alert butlers if you need anything, and you place your breakfast order in a bamboo tube the previous night. Like magic, your meal appears in the morning. Its easy to go into major chill mode and spend the day sitting under a palapa watching the sailboats glide by. But most guests cant resist the array of sporty activities available at the resort: kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, Sunfish sailboating, sailboarding and snorkeling all included in the room rate. Some of the finest snorkeling in the West Indies is found in the Grenadines, and you can snorkel right off the beach. Once youve found the perfect spot for sunbathing, dont bother getting up. On some beaches, guests can order food using the flag system.

Rather sail or scuba dive? Sessions and courses provided by Professional Association of Diving Instructors guides are available. Or spend a day aboard Beauty, a classic 49-foot sloop (extra charges apply for both of these). Captain Jeff Stevens and crew sail Beauty to the famed Tobago Cays (named one of the most beautiful places on Earth in the book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die) for a snorkel tour, an island hike and barbecue lunch of local fish and Caribbean lobster.

If hiking is more your speed, lace up those sneakers and trek to the top of Marni Hill (an elevation of 275 feet), for sweeping views of the northern Grenadines. Or get plenty of exercise riding your bike around the island; every cottage is supplied with bikes for guests use. Other things not to be missed: a Balinese massage at the resorts treetop spa with an ocean view and morning yoga at the Conch Bay Yoga Pavilion.

Swim with marine life in Petit St. Vincent(Photo: Jean-Michel Cousteau Diving)

As if choosing which sport to try and which hammock has the best views werent difficult enough, youll also have to decide what to order at PSVs restaurants. Theres no wrong answer the food is delicious, and it couldnt be fresher. The resorts gardens are lush with kale, different types of lettuces and herbs, and the kitchen relies on the bounty of farmers and fishermen from the islands. Sustainable practices are a priority. (Refill stations for water bottles are one example.) You can literally dine with your toes in the sand at the casual Beach Restaurant, where the menu leans toward Caribbean tapas and pizza from a clay oven. The Main PavilionRestaurant and Bar offers a more formal three-course dining experience, atop a hill overlooking the harbor amid flowering frangipani and hibiscus.

With rates starting at around $1,260 per night in low season, Petit St. Vincent is a splurge, but its the rare resort that makes unwinding so effortless. And while youre here, watching the world go by from your hammock, it sure feels like it all belongs to you.

Studio Gannett's "Go Escape" Winter 2020 magazine(Photo: Studio Gannett)

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Guest rooms at Petit St. Vincent resort don't have WiFi or locking doors and that's OK - USA TODAY

A Guide to the Aland Archipelago, Where You Can Sleep on Your Own Island – The New York Times

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Situated 25 miles east of the Swedish coast, and officially an autonomous region of southwestern Finland, the Aland archipelago consists of about 6,700 named islands and 20,000 smaller rocky outcrops and islets waiting to be discovered. Conquered by Russia in the early 19th century, Aland was declared a Finnish territory in 1921, but the core of its traditions are Swedish, as is the official language. With the Baltic Sea as its backdrop, the archipelago ranges topographically from barren coastal cliffs to stunning white-sand beaches to forests and fertile farmland. Only 35 of the Aland Islands are inhabited and easily accessible from mainland Sweden and Finland; the central islands are linked to one another by bridges and cable ferries, while car ferries connect the archipelagos more remote reaches.

At the archipelagos center is Mainland Aland, home to the regions capital, Mariehamn, and much of the Alands population. The seat of the areas grain trade in the 19th century, the port town is now home to a maritime museum, a rich craft culture and restaurants that make use of local ingredients like fresh fish and dairy, wild red berries and spirits produced nearby. The archipelago also draws outdoors-minded visitors thanks to its back-to-nature lodgings, cycling routes, hiking trails and kayak-friendly waterways and its status as the sunniest area in northern Europe.

Set amid the hills of the town of Geta (on the northernmost tip of Mainland Aland), this Scandinavian hideaway offers 30 rooms and suites in its main lodge, most with floor-to-ceiling windows, plush oak interiors and seaside saunas; there are also 20 wooden villas, with fully equipped kitchens and spacious terraces. Guests can explore the nearby pine forest by bicycle or jog along the islands red granite cliffs and the arrival to HavsVidden is an attraction in and of itself; some visitors take a helicopter from Stockholm or travel by sailboat to the propertys private harbor. havsvidden.com

These lodgings extend across a trio of islands in the northern Alands; Silverskar, for which the business is named, is home to several wooden cottages and traditional log cabins. Farther afield on Klobben Island, 10 gray oceanfront cottages built to mimic the overnight refuges fishermen used in the early 1900s are positioned near a cliffside sauna cut to match the curvature of the surrounding red granite rocks. And on neighboring Sviskar, an off-the-grid, four-bed log cabin offers a back-to-basics experience complete with a wood-fired sauna for guest use. silverskar.ax

The celebrated Finnish chef Michael Bjorklund put Aland on the culinary map in the fall of 2012 when he opened the Smakbyn campus which comprises a restaurant, separate cafe, distillery, wine cellar, market and cooking school next to Kastelholm Castle, about 20 minutes by car from Mariehamn. The Smakbyn kitchen uses only ingredients found on the Aland Islands to form traditional dishes like oven-baked cod with hand-peeled shrimp basted in brown butter or horseradish and berries preserved in housemade rum and served with lingonberry, pear and cinnamon ice cream. Bjorklund himself leads five-hour-long cooking classes, the price of which includes a complimentary apron and wine or beer. smakbyn.ax

At this family-run farm in Finby, in northeastern Aland, Jennifer Sundman and Lars-Johan Mattsson (and their six cows) produce a range of specialty dairy products, from homemade kernel butter to rapeseed-oil cheese spiced with seasonings like rose pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, parsley, and garlic. Visitors can tour the facilities before stopping at the farms own cafe for light bites like salads with freshly made halloumi or decadent organic ice cream from the in-house creamery that comes in flavors such as sea buckthorn, rhubarb and lingonberry. mattas.ax

Founded in 2014 by the brewmaster Tony Asumaa, this factory produces the sole soft drink in the archipelago, known as lemonade, despite being carbonated. Free of artificial colors and flavors, the cold-pressed juice is mixed with fresh water and a touch of sugar, and packaged in an old-fashioned glass bottle. Visitors can book private tastings to sample the 12 varieties flavors include apple peel, lingonberry, rhubarb-elderflower and cranberry all made from fruits grown deep in Finlands verdant forests. limonad.ax

This Mariehamn studio once belonged to a traditional goldsmith, but now houses the archipelagos leading jeweler, founded by Maria Karlstrom in 1989. Each Guldviva piece is handmade from either 18-karat gold or recycled sterling silver, and designed to reflect Karlstroms childhood summers spent in the Alands. Though she now has a team, Karlstrom still crafts the brands signature cowslip-shaped blomman charms by hand: She twists, solders and hammers the metal into the form of the official flower of the Aland islands. guldviva.com

Founded nearly two decades ago by a small group of full-time artisans, this cooperative in Mariehamn is a one-stop shop for handmade wares produced in the Aland archipelago. Customers can browse a selection of goods by 60 Aland craftspeople, from traditional earthenware and stoneware to wool socks made using sheepskin sourced from local farms. Edible items are also on display, like the shops proprietary line of salt-and-herb mixes for cooking and Aland-made jellies and chocolates. salt.ax

What began in the 1920s as a private collection of antique sailing regalia like ship bells and figureheads belonging to the former sea captain Carl Holmqvist is now the largest museum in Mariehamn, open to the public since 1949. Among the objects on display: one of the worlds only authentic skull-and-crossbones pirate flags, a 200-year-old artifact that came to the Aland Islands from the Mediterranean coast of North Africa. Following a renovation in 2012, the museum now features a self-guided tour of the Pommern, a four-masted, iron-hulled barque docked in front of the museum with an exhibit that recounts the crews voyages to carry grain from England to Australia in the 1920s. sjofartsmuseum.ax

Originally built as a fortress in the late 1300s, this medieval castle situated on the shores of Lumparn Bay, 20 minutes by car from Mariehamn has withstood sieges, fires and rebellions; until the 1600s, the building served as the administrative center of Aland and was, at one point, the royal hunting lodge for Gustav Vasa, the King of Sweden from 1523 to 1560. Today, visitors can take one-hour tours of the open-air Jan Karlsgarden museum, where 20 traditional farmhouses offer insight into how native Alanders have lived and worked since the 1930s. The grounds are also home to the prison museum Vita Bjorn, which explores the castles history of jailing notable Swedish royals. kastelholm.ax

Visitors to Finlands southernmost apple orchard have been known to arrive by ferry, bike, sailboat and even kayak since it opened to visitors in 2016. But Peders Aplagard started to produce sweet and crisp rubinola, lobo and raike apples decades before then, in 1985. Now, the orchard includes 1,200 trees, and has its own farmhouse cafe and shop where travelers can taste and take home jams, baked goods, locally produced honey and apple ciders flavored with lingonberry, juniper berries and gooseberries. aplagarden.ax

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A Guide to the Aland Archipelago, Where You Can Sleep on Your Own Island - The New York Times

Exclusive: how Royal Caribbean’s private Island will "chill and thrill" – Cruise Passenger

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Lelepa island in Vanuatu boasts pristine white sand beaches and swaying palm trees with limited access to fresh water and power. It is remote, stunning and almost stands still in time. But not for long.

Lelepa is home to a number of traditional island villagers with a long and beautiful ancestry and is one of 83 islands in the Republic of Vanuatu, a stunning archipelago of natural reefs and volcanos known as the ring of fire including one extinct volcano in the distance on the island of Nguna.

But fast forward exactly two years to October 2022, and Lelepa is forecast to look vastly different. The Royal Caribbean day club is proposed to open for passengers up to 4,500 of them per day to begin with offering the opportunity to experience a Perfect Day on a tropical island.

Pristine Lelepa island is about to be transformed

Ever since the announcement that the worlds second biggest cruise ship company had negotiated a lease with the Vanuatu Government, speculation has been rife about what that would mean.

In an exclusive interview with the Australian architects behind Royal Caribbeans new private waterpark island in Vanuatu, we discover what a Perfect Day at Lelepa is going to look like. According to head designer David Holm, of Cox Architects, its going to be all about chill and thrill.

A look at Coco Cay in the Bahamas RCCLs existing island

There will be huge water slides, some of the worlds longest and fastest zip lines, kids water parks, swimming pools, numerous dining options, a wave pool, hot air balloon rides, private beach clubs for adults, family designated beach areas, possible over water bungalows and of course, a pier large enough to receive the cruise ships.

Perfect Day at Coco Cay under construction earlier in 2019

The difference between this island design and existing RCCL private islands such as Coco Cay in the Bahamas is that Cox Architects say they will be attempting to integrate as much of the local Vanuatu design and culture as possible, to give it a more aesthetically sensitive look and feel.

So what exactly does this mean?

The main pavilion areas will be based on traditional Vanuatu meeting place designs called Nakamals, with large open-air roofs, woven natural materials, bamboo, local wild cane, and naturally sourced timbers and furniture sourced in the South Pacific, says Mr Holm.

A traditional open air nakamal meeting place

This will be a fully carbon neutral island, with a sustainable energy and waste management system, and we aim to immerse ourselves in the local culture and design to achieve an authenticity and calibre of thoughtfulness, Mr Holm says.

Vanuatus culture and style will be integrated into Perfect Day

Think of Indiana Jones, with a bit of Mad Max mixed in, Mr Holm says, when describing how the island is going to feel for passengers when they arrive. We want to leave a light footprint with no pipes in and no pipes out and we want the guests to feel like they are explorers.

We will collaborate with local builders, businesses and villagers to blend the indigenous culture into the island experience. We want this Perfect Day to be grown and crafted in-keeping with the Vanuatu style, Mr Holm added.

Ni Vanuatu locals are hoping to be consulted on the plans

So the chill and thrill? It will have something for everyone catering to a large density of guests, but people who also do not want to queue. It will be fun, with escape areas too, says Mr Holm.

Over water bungalows are on the cards for a more chilled zone

Community consultation meetings are being held with local residents in the coming weeks, with detailed designs promised to be made public by April next year.

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Exclusive: how Royal Caribbean's private Island will "chill and thrill" - Cruise Passenger

Prince Andrew accuser target of suit questioning her claims of forced sex – USA TODAY

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According to The Guardian, Andrew met Epstein in the 1990s through Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of British media mogul Robert Maxwell. Wochit

Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz filed a defamation claim Thursday against a woman who says she was a Jeffrey Epstein "teen sex slave" forced to have sex with powerful men, including Dershowitz and Britain's Prince Andrew.

It's the latest development in a long-running legal struggle between former Epstein lawyer Dershowitz, 81, and Virginia Roberts Giuffre, 35, an American living in Australia, who's claimed since 2011 that convicted sex offender Epstein and his associates groomed her as a sex slave when she was a young Florida teen.

She says they trafficked her to powerful men who were Epstein's friends,with whom she said she was compelled to have sex in planes, hotels, mansions and on private islands.

But Dershowitz's lawsuit raises multiple questions about Giuffre's credibility regarding him and others. She and her legal team have made it clear she's not going to stop accusing Andrew of dark deeds, insisting he "should go to jail" and should submit to questioning by the FBI. But so far she has not gone after him in court.

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, on Sept. 7, 2019 in Bruges, Belgium.(Photo: JOHN THYS, AFP/Getty Images)

"Giuffres credibility has been completely destroyed," Dershowitz's suit argues. "She has repeatedly and deliberately lied and committed perjury for money."

Dershowitz's lawsuit features multiple examples that call Giuffre's credibility into question, saysone of Dershowitz's lawyers, Imran Ansari. "Certainly, there is a strong argument to support the claim that her allegations lack a shred of truth as they pertain to Mr. Dershowitz."

Giuffre's lawyer, CharlesCooper, dismissed Dershowitz' counterclaim as just another attack on Giuffre.

"Recycling the same false claims from his increasingly stale playbook, Alan Dershowitz has once again launched an attack on Virginia Giuffre and her lawyers," he said in a statement to USA TODAY. "Let's call his counterclaim what it is:a failed attempt to make something old and tired look new."

In April this year, Giuffre filed a defamation suit against Dershowitz in federal court in New York, for calling her a liar; that suit is pending.

Now Dershowitz has filed a counterclaim in federal court, accusing her of defaming him.In it,he describes his anguish and fury about the damage he says Giuffre has caused to his reputation, business and health.

Alan Dershowitz leaves the federal courthouse in Manhattan in March 2019.(Photo: Frank Franklin II/ AP)

He says he has travel records, credit card statements and phone records proving he was never in places when Giuffre claims to have had sex with him. Her "false claims" have led him to suffer severe emotional distress, including "cardiac conditions," the filing says.

Dershowitz is seeking a jury trial and unspecified compensatory and punitive damages if he wins, plus attorney's fees.

All of the men whose names have surfaced in connection with Epstein and Giuffre,including Dershowitz and Andrew, have denied her claims. Nothing she has said about either man has yet been proven in any court, civil or criminal.

Giuffre's allegations have been place in the public record via documents and depositions in her own and others'lawsuits, and through her book proposal.

If an Americanjury concludes she is mistaken or lying about Dershowitz, then that could alleviate some of the pressure that's burdened Andrew and Buckingham Palace for nearly five years.And if a jury believes her, that could be more bad news for Andrew and the British royals.

Her allegations exploded inheadlines in January 2015, when she claimed incourt documents that Epstein forced her to have sex with Dershowitz and with Andrew when she was 17. She said she had encounters with Andrew in New York, in the Virgin Islands and in London.

Buckingham Palace issued multiple statements emphatically denying Andrew had any sexual contact or relationship with Giuffre.

Dershowitz immediately went on TV to denounce her, then known as Virginia Roberts, asserting if she's lying about him then she can't be believed about her Andrew claims.

Later that year, a federal judge in Florida called these claims "immaterial" and irrelevant to the case at issue and threw them out.

Meanwhile, Giuffre has donemultiple media interviews, includinga sit-down with Australia's "60 Minutes," which aired Sunday. She reiterated her allegations against Andrew and said she is sick of his "lame excuses" for denying them. She also publicly called Dershowitz an Epstein"co-conspirator."

British tabloids, who have called Andrew "Randy Andy" for years,have been especiallyeager to hear details of her accusations against the Duke of York, 59, Queen Elizabeth II's second son and anacknowledged former friend of Epstein.

Giuffre stepped up the pace of her public statements afterEpstein was found hanging in his cell in August in a federal detention facility in New York while awaiting trial on new sex-crime charges. His death means there will be no jury trialat which Epstein's many accusers, including Giuffre, hoped to tell their stories.

Instead, they're hiring lawyers andfiling civil lawsuits against his estate and his associates.In 2015, Giuffre filed a defamation lawsuit against Epstein friend Ghislaine Maxwell (for calling her a liar) and settled for an undisclosed sum in 2017.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre at press conference outside a Manhattan court in New York, Aug. 27, 2019.(Photo: Bebeto Matthews, AP)

In his counterclaim, Dershowitz revives his argument that copies of a May 2011 exchange of emails between Giuffreand a reporter for the British tabloid Daily Mail, Sharon Churcher, seem to suggest that Churcher gave Giuffre the idea of accusing Dershowitz in her book proposal pitch.

According to these emails, Churcher told her to include him as one of the accused because he would be a "good name" to drop in a pitch.

"This evidence proves that Giuffres claim that she had sex with Dershowitz is a fabrication and she published her claim while knowing it was false," Dershowitz's filing says. "Indeed, Giuffre has lied about these emails by falsely testifying under oath that no such emails between her and Churcher about Dershowitz existed."

Dershowitz maintains Giuffre and her lawyers are engaged in a campaign to "maliciously disparage and attack" him by making defamatory statements herselfor speaking through her lawyers and representatives.

Giuffre recently lost her lead lawyer, celebrity trial attorney David Boies (with whom Dershowitz isengaged in a separate legal battle ), and his law firmafter a federal judge ruled he could no longer represent her in her defamation suit against Dershowitz due to a conflict.

I await the opportunity to cross examine my false accuser and the lawyers who pressured her to falsely accuse me. I will prove, by overwhelming evidence...that I never met her and that she made up the entire story for money," Dershowitz said in a statement to USA TODAY.

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Prince Andrew accuser target of suit questioning her claims of forced sex - USA TODAY

5 ski chalets and mountain homes on the market right now – The Spaces

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Theres nothing better than cosying up in front of the fire after a long day on the slopes. But if the classic alpine ski chalet aesthetic leaves you cold, weve got the remedy. This cache of mountain homes offers proximity to the best slopes with design credentials to match. Think innovative A-frames, minimalist retreats and moody Scandinavian interiors. Get a closer look.

Via Windermere Real Estate

$746,000 via Windermere Real EstateThis prefab A-frame cabin by Mark Rylant of Buildhouse puts a contemporary spin on rustic, with raw plywood walls, exposed iron beams, and modern Scandinavian-inspired furnishings. Architect Ryan Stephenson designed the chalet, whose interiors are deliberately simple, with lots of natural wood finishes and a neutral colour palette. The two-bedroom cabin took just two days to build and has a fully glazed front facade that peeks onto its setting two miles from the summit at Snoqualmie in the Washington community of Snoqualmie Pass 28 miles from Seattle.

Via 212 Property

6.35m KR via MaklarhusetThe alpine aesthetic is stripped back to basics inside this Vemdalsskalet cabin on the slopes of Vamdalen, which reboots the classic ski chalet as a minimalist retreat. Knotted pine is swapped for waxed birch plywood walls, clean lines and moody colour pops. Developer 212 Property built the four-bedroom Swedish home conceived as a house within a house and the double-height kitchen and living room follow the contour of the roof, while rectangular picture windows look out onto the valley below. Vemdalen has some 50km of snow-shoe and backcountry skiing trails. See more.

Via Barnes International

POA via Barnes International Real EstateWhile its pitched roof and terraced exterior is classic alpine architecture, this Verbier chalet takes a sophisticated twist inside via skylit ceilings, soaring woodburning fireplaces and a mix of metal and stone finishes. The five-bedroom Swiss property is in the skiing community of Verbier, serviced via an elevator, and has ski-in, ski-out facilities. The loft-style chalet was built in 2018 and has a minimalist vibe thanks to shuttered windows, brick fireplaces and contemporary furniture.

Via Windermere Real Estate

$3.9m via Windermere Real EstateAIA architects Tracy Stocking and David Hunter designed this fieldstone-clad mountain home in the town of Alta to maximise its views a two-storey wall of windows peeks out towards Sugarloaf and the Greely Bowl canyon. The heart of the house is the double-height family room, while the master bedroom one of four inside the ski-in, ski-out Utah property has a private terrace. The mountain home is accessible by a gravel road in summer and snowmobile or snowshoe in winter. Luckily, a PistenBully 100 snowcat is included in the sale for ferrying around guests, groceries, and gear.

Via Cardis / Sothebys International Realty

POA via Cardis Immobilier / Sothebys International RealtyThis mountainside Swiss chalet is accessed via a private funicular railway and is set across four floors. The six-bedroom cabin has four balconies all of which have views of the nearby Matterhorn and a ground floor sauna, jacuzzi and massage room to ease tired muscles after a long day on the slopes.

7 private islands for sale right now

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5 ski chalets and mountain homes on the market right now - The Spaces

All the New Places to Stay in Australias Whitsunday Islands – Cond Nast Traveler

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When Cyclone Debbie tore through Australia's Whitsunday Islands in March 2017, the storm left wispy white-sand isles thrashed, hotels destroyed, and renowned natural wonders like the Great Barrier Reef and Whitehaven Beach in ruin. With losses to the tourism industry estimated at $114.5 million, the event could have wrought lasting damage. But just two years on, the islands are back.

The revival began with a mega-makeover of palm-fringed Airlie Beach, unveiled in June: A sleek new waterfront promenade, bursting with restaurants and markets, has allowed the formerly backpacker-filled beach town to pivot from being a regional jump-off point to a destination unto itself. New and improved hotels, too, have perked up the area's prospects, with adults-only wellness retreat Elysian opening in March. The 20-guest escape brings unprecedented exclusivity to the islands, not to mention sustainabilityit's the first fully solar-powered resort in the Great Barrier Reef. In April, the family-friendly Daydream Island Resort reopened, showing off a $100 million renovation and breezy, barefoot-luxe rooms; then came the InterContinental Hayman Island Resort, which has taken over from One&Only in one of the Whitsunday Islands' most glamorous spots. Unveiled in July, it includes eight sumptuous private beachfront villas and the 4,300-square-foot Hayman Beach House, set up steps from the ocean. Plus, travelers can now snorkel to a six-sculpture underwater exhibit, opened in September.

From left: Michaelmas Reef, Arlington Reef, and Bramble Reef all part of the Great Barrier Reef.

Alistair Taylor-Young

Next month the Museum of Underwater Artthe first of its kind in the Southern Hemispheremakes its much-anticipated debut, with installations scattered among the islands that double as sites for coral and marine-life regeneration. Perhaps the most original development, though, comes courtesy of tour operator Cruise Whitsundays; the outfitter has just launched Reefsuites, Australia's first underwater hotel, where guests spend the night in a fully-submerged glass-walled suite, taking in an incredible hidden world. All of these eyes focused on the reef will amplify the attention needed to protect its future.

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All the New Places to Stay in Australias Whitsunday Islands - Cond Nast Traveler

Inside the World’s Most Expensive Real Estate of 2019 – Maxim

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The 439-acre Casteel Creek Retreat near Vail, Colorado is currently listed for sale with LIV Sothebys International Realty for $78 million.

LIV Sotheby's International Realty

In our last survey of over-the-top real estate for Maxim,we noted that $100 million listings, almost unheard of until a few years ago, had become the new benchmark for the ultra rich buyer. Now in the space of less than a year that figure seems to have doubled. In August one of the most expensive estates ever listed for sale, the historic Villa Les Cdres in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat on the French Riviera, once owned by King Leopold II of Belgium, sold to an undisclosed, but undoubtedly extremely well off, buyer for about $221 million. And that was after a 43% price drop.

Nor is the picturesque property, surrounded by a 34 acre botanical garden on a peninsula perched between Nice and Monaco, alone in that realm. A similarly well heeled house hunter can now write a check for $279 million for a 26,000+ square foot Colorado compound (see below) owned by Discovery Channel founder John Hendricks that comes complete with a car museum. Not to mention an airstrip, airplane hangar, helipad, horse stables, and private observatory, all on a total of 8,700 acres. And in January billionaire Citadel hedge fund founder Ken Griffin set a new record for the highest priced house ever sold in the United States when he paid $238 million for a New York City penthouse. With an unbelievable 24,000 square feet, its owner was immediately crowned the new king of Gotham.

Discovery Channel founder John Hendrickss Colorado compound is on the market for $279 million via LIV Sothebys International Realty.

LIV Sotheby's International Realty

If billionaire real estate deals are anything to go by, this has certainly been a banner year. In January private equity mogul Henry Kravis listed his White River Valley Colorado ranch on 4,600 acres for $46 million. The property comes with five miles of private fly fishing on both forks of the White River, as well as a Greg Norman designed four hole golf course; the famous golf champion has a place nearby. That same month banking billionaire Nurzhan Subkhanberdin closed on the sale of a pair of penthouses atop Manhattans Time Warner Center for about $20 million. They span a total of 4,743 square feet and could easily be combine to create a grand home, as the listing noted.

Speaking of grand homes, in February the billionaire investor,hedge fund manager and philanthropist Steve Cohen listed his 9,600 square foot Manhattan triplex for a not inconsiderable $33.5 million, then sold it just over a month later for close to the asking price at $30 million. In May Russian oligarch Andrey Borodin paid $23 million for an enormous equestrian compound near Palm Beach that was once home to the Lechuza Caracas polo team, to add to his real estate portfolio that includes the one-time most expensive home in England. And in June in Bridgehampton, natural gas billionaire Michael Smith sold a beachfront compound for close to its $42.5 million asking price; not to worry, he still has a $110 million spread in East Hampton as well as a another estate in Malibu worth the same eye-popping amount.

Casteel Creek Retreat features a 32,000-square-foot main residence as well as an indoor sports arena, five-story rock climbing wall, Olympic size lap pool, a shooting range and a fully-stocked trout pond.

LIV Sotheby's International Realty

At times multiple properties have changed hands in a single megabucks deal. Also in May Howard Marks, the billionaire co-founder of Oaktree Capital Management, spent $35 million to buy four properties in Amagansett from Barbara Zuckerberg, the ex-wife of former Goldman Sachs executive Roy Zuckerberg, according to the New York Post. He already owned a neighboring $30 million property, making his combined compound worth $65 million. That was dwarfed however by the news that billionaire WhatsApp cofounder Brian Acton had quietly amassed a portfolio of adjacent propertiesmore than half a dozen of them on a single residential blockin Palo Alto, California worth a combined $86 million.

The summer was equally sizzling. In June billionaire British inventor and entrepreneur Sir James Dyson made headlines when he bought Singapores most expensive penthouse for a reported $54.2 million. It was actually something of a bargain considering the three story aerie complete with a private pool was once valued as high as $100 million. And in July an unnamed Chinese billionaire reportedly paid $75 millioncashfor a 24,000 square foot mega mansion in Bel Air that he stumbled across one day while idly browsing Zillow, the online real estate database.

Casteel Creek Retreat features stunning views of the Rocky mountains.

LIV Sotheby's International Realty

So what do these extremely wealthy gentleman intend to do with such awe-inspiring properties? We may not find out for several years, but considering these are some of the most accomplished and successful men in the world, its reasonable to assume theres a profit to be made somewhere down the line. In 2013 when Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev paid somewhere around $150 million for the private Greek island of Skorpios which was once owned by Aristotle Onassis, it was reported to be an investment for his daughter. This past summer his vision for the property was finally revealed.

Billion-dollar views from Hendricks' West Creek Ranch.

LIV Sotheby's International Realty

The investment project, expected to be completed in two to three years, includes a luxury resort complex with spa, restaurants, and marina, as he told Wealth Management. In addition, there will be showrooms, an amphitheater, a helipad, a farm, and recreation areas. It will, he promises, be unique in the Mediterranean.

Having first sailed by on his yacht, I remember being captivated by this earthly paradise with its enchanting natural beauty, Rybolovlev, owner of the AS Monaco Football Club among other assets, recounted. After buying it and spending a lot of vacation there, Skorpios means so much to me. He describes it as a private shelter that helps me relax, recharge my batteries and return to my responsibilities.

Toys on offer atHendricks' West Creek Ranch.

LIV Sotheby's International Realty

Want to acquire a private Greek island of your own? Private Islands Inc. has several listed for sale, ranging from 26 acres to over 1,300 acres, most of them uninhabited and ripe for development on a comparable scale to the Skorpios project. Of course if you just decided to live there quietly untroubled by nosy paparazzi, troublesome ex-wives or autograph seekers, we would hardly blame you.

Originally posted here:

Inside the World's Most Expensive Real Estate of 2019 - Maxim

Inside the latest issue of Spears: 5 Hertford Street, the inaugral luxury index and more – Spear’s WMS

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The latest issue of Spears is an embarrassment of riches, covering the best in luxury, as well as everything from 5 Hertford Street to Maldivian private islands, writes Alec Marsh

Those with what used to be called a Classical education will take pleasure in the cover of this edition, supplied by our brilliant cover artist Adam Dant. Odi profanum vulgus et arceo, of course, is a quote from Horace, meaning: I hate the unholy rabble and keep them away. As coverlines go, its not terribly inclusive.

But it is, of course, deliberately ironical and as the Spanish artist Velazquez proved in 1647 when he inserted a gure of Eros into what was otherwise a racy nude of his girlfriend in the Rokeby Venus (on display at the National Gallery, room 30), a cloak of classicism can work wonders. In this edition we celebrate 100 of the leading gures working in luxury today. Our inaugural Spears Luxury Index, published in association with Boadicea the Victorious, identifies and profiles the elite cadre of individuals making waves across luxury goods and services from horologists to hoteliers and hatters qualifying by their sheer excellence, innovation or in influence. Its an unrivalled journey into the best of the best.

This November/December edition, offers a cornucopia of riches: first, we have a conversation with Salman Rushdie, one of the worlds greatest living authors. Hes on page 40. We also meet Stephen Schwarzman, the co-founder of Blackstone and one of the worlds richest the worlds richest men, in an interview which charts his rise. Find out what keeps a man with $18 billion awake at night.

We also take two walks this issue one through Londons Theatreland with the inestimable Simon Callow and our intrepid editor-at-large William Cash goes for a mind-expanding and waist-shrinking hike along the West Highland Way.Finally, our Issues section is completed by two important contributions: first,a visit to 5 Hertford Street, where our writer Edwin Smith finds out what has made this, quite plausibly, the most important private members club in the world today.

John Arlidge sketches out the new battle lines between BA and Virgin as both unveil new and improved services.

There is so much of which I am proud in this edition: thank you to all our contributors not least Nicholas Coleridge, Lucia van der Post, Jason Cowley, Clive Aslet, Nick Foulkes and Annamaria Koerling.

Thank you also to our other interview guests, including Andrew Bainbridge, Colin Davidson and Alexandra Tolstoy As Oscar Wilde put it,nothing succeeds likes uccess. And we dont need Latin for that.

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Inside the latest issue of Spears: 5 Hertford Street, the inaugral luxury index and more - Spear's WMS

Love Islands Jourdan Riane reveals hurtful Danny Williams split – Metro.co.uk

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The love affair is sadly over for Jourdan and Danny (Picture: Jourdan Riane, Instagram)

Love Island star Jourdan Riane has opened up about her shocking split from Danny Williams and admits shes done with dating other celebrities after their hurtful break-up.

Fans of the couple were shocked earlier this month when Jourdan and Danny confirmed the end of their relationship after falling in love on the ITV2 dating series this summer.

It came days after Danny, 21, was accused of cheating on Jourdan and flirting with other women, which he strongly denied.

There were rumours the couple had reconciled after flying to Los Angeles together for a work trip with JD Sports last weekend, but Jourdan insists theyre not back together.

Speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk, the model said: Im out here in LA for work, hes out here for work and I was never going to say to him, You cant work. So its more a case of lets just keep it amicable and keep it moving.

We havent spoken about things on the trip, mainly because its been about work. But Id be lying if I said it was easy.

She continued: Definitely not the easiest, definitely quite a hard situation to be in. But I kind of try and put the amicable side of things to the front of it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0Gy015JIgX/

Because out of everything, I did get really hurt by the situation so Im trying to stand my ground and have my self-respect.

My mum raised me to be the type of person that, regardless of anything, to be the adult and take the high ground because to me it was about forgetting everything that happened and just be civil.

In fact, Jourdan says she was so hurt by the ordeal that she has no interest in dating another famous man again. That includes her fellow Love Islander Ovie Soko whom some have tried to ship together now that hes single again after splitting from India Reynolds.

I think Im done with dating someone else in the public eye, she admitted confidently.

No more public relationships for me, I think Im going to go back to being as private as possible and the easiest way to do that is to date someone whos relatively unknown.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2KSI3CJQGW/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B32W4xBJXFi/

Jourdan added of Ovie: Hes an amazing guy, we really got on in the villa. Hes such a sweet guy. But Ovies a national figure now so Im pretty sure hes got about a million people waiting for him.

The 24-year-old explained that her relationship with Danny broke down in a short amount of time.

It kind of happened quite fast and, from being in the public eye, something I really like to cherish is the private moments. So as much as its impossible to have a private relationship when youre in the public eye, I tried to keep my relationship quite private, she explained.

In light of Yewande Bialas famous warning about Danny what goes around comes around does Jourdan regret not listening to the advice?

No, not at all, she admits.

I feel like theres multiple men and women in the world based on what theyve done in the past, who kind of get pre-judged. My mum always raised me to give people the benefit of the doubt because someone can do things with multiple women but act different in a situation with someone else.

With all the recent Love Island break-ups Ovie and India, Amber Gill and Greg OShea fans of the series have wondered if the couples are under a contract to stay together for a certain amount of time.

Jourdan refutes the idea and states: I went on the show to genuinely find a connection, found it and it just didnt go to plan.

Theres no contracts. They put you in an environment where natural feelings and natural relationships develop at a faster pace. And we are still real people with real feelings and as much as people love to sit there and say its fake, unless youre in it, you dont really know what it feels like.

You genuinely feel like that person is the one for you.

She added: For me there was no, you have to be in the relationship for this long, but its for real people with real feelings and the hardest part of all of the relationship is the basic regularities of every normal relationship that everyone has, but in the public eye with millions of people judging you for it.

Jourdan may be putting her dating life on hold for a while but her career at least seems to be taking off the model teased shes got some exciting projects in the pipeline with her acting, including a mysterious project that will be released in the US next week.

In other words, shes well and truly booked and busy, heartbreak aside.

Jourdan spoke on behalf of Bliss Sanctuary for Women, which offers a tranquil retreat for women who are travelling and want ultimate relaxation hassle free. To enjoy yoga and petal baths like Jourdan did at the retreat, visit the Bliss website.

If you've got a story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk Entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page - we'd love to hear from you.

MORE: Gabby Allen thinks winter Love Island will be make or break and reveals how she copes with fame

MORE: Maura Higgins swaps Love Island for Hollywood as she parties with Paris Hilton at Boohoo launch

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Love Islands Jourdan Riane reveals hurtful Danny Williams split - Metro.co.uk

How I got sucked into cryptocurrency and made $13 million – The Hustle

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On a gray morning in May 2016, I left my office in downtown San Francisco and walked down Montgomery Street, to Wells Fargo.

I swiveled open the two gigantic doors, walked up to the counter, and explained to the teller that I needed to send a money wire to Gemini Trust Company, LLC., a cryptocurrency exchange based in New York City.

Certainly, she said. How much will you be sending today, Mr. Conway?

One hundred thousand dollars.

My voice sped up as I said it: $100k. This represented my familys entire life savings. It was money my wife and I planned to use to pay for our 3 kids college tuition, our eventual retirement, and emergency expenses. I was a middle-aged guy with a family who had never been on the cutting edge of anything. But I was about to bet everything I had on an unproven virtual currency called Ethereum.

This could only end two ways: Id lose everything I owned, or make a fortune.

Up to that point, my professional life was one of quiet desperation.

I was a 45-year-old middle manager at a major multi-media company in San Francisco. Though I earned a respectable $150k per year, I hated the fake company culture, the bureaucracy, and the endless chains of command.

Like so many others, I was looking for some kind of escape. And soon, I found one.

Dan wallowing in the misery of corporate America (courtesy of Dan Conway)

One early morning in mid-2015, before anyone else was in the office, I was browsing online and stumbled upon an article about Bitcoin.

Id heard about Bitcoin years earlier when I was preoccupied with climbing the corporate ladder. Back then, it seemed ludicrous to spend money real currency that I could hold in my hands on some digital token that existed on a public ledger in the cloud. To be frank, I thought it was complete bullshit.

But that morning, I had a sudden change of heart.

Bitcoin, the article read, was going through an especially rough patch. Its price, which was in a constant state of volatility, had fallen from a high of $1.2k in 2013 to $300. My mind raced: What if it goes up again? What if I put everything I had into this? I could get rich and never work another day in corporate America

A part of me recognized these thoughts as destructive mania. My addictive personality had landed me in trouble before first with alcohol, then with harder drugs. My 12-step sponsor wasnt going to pat me on the back and say, Go buy that Bitcoin, Dan! Sounds like a fantastic plan!

At the same time, my wife Eileen and I were raising 3 children and had a big mortgage on our home in the Bay Area. The Great Recession had snatched away most of Eileens PR consulting clients. We were privileged, of course, but money was tighter than usual.

Sitting in my empty office, I began to go down the crypto rabbit hole. And the more I learned, the more I was pulled in.

Through early research, I gravitated from Bitcoin to Ethereum (ETH), a then-newly launched coin that debuted in July 2015.

Blockchain, the technology underlying Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies, promised to one day decentralize corporations. As TechCrunch wrote, it would offer the stability of an organization but without the hierarchy. It seemed almost too good to be true, but a lot of smart, future-forward people were getting behind it.

As a disenfranchised suit-and-tie, I was enraptured by the possibility of a decentralized future. As a greedy speculative investor, it gave me a rush.

Juggling crypto research and family time (courtesy of Dan Conway)

In short order, I developed an Ethereum obsession.

I listened to Ethereum podcasts while walking the dog. I read about Ethereum during every spare minute I had at work. I rejiggered my Twitter feed to follow mostly Ethereum-related accounts. I absorbed hours of Ethereum commentary on YouTube.

My biggest source of conviction was Ethereums developers. In the 90s, Id worked in PR at Macromedia. The companys product, Flash, had dominated the web graphics market after catching the attention of the most forward-thinking web designers. In the same sense, the smartest developers were now flocking to Ethereum.

Occasionally, my Ethereum fever broke and I wondered if Id gone off the deep end.

Was my growing desire to invest in Ethereum a desperate attempt by a desperate man to find some kind of midlife salvation? Was this whole thing some kind of elaborate ruse to scam people like me out of their nest eggs?

Most of my friends in tech folks working at places like Google, Apple, and Uber were dismissive of blockchain. Few of them had heard of Ethereum. When I told a buddy of mine that I was considering investing in cryptocurrency, he broke out in laughter, as if Id admitted I was hedging my future on Smurfberries or Scooby Snacks.

But my mind was made: I was going to put everything I had into this.

Less than a year later, I found myself standing at a Wells Fargo desk, transferring our life savings to Gemini in exchange for 6,993 ETH, at an average price of $14.

Eileen had been rightfully resistant to the idea. Eventually, though, she agreed to a deal: I could make the transfer, but I had to promise my children that Id take them on a number of expensive trips.

Texts exchanged between Dan and his wife, Eileen (courtesy of Dan Conway; illustration by The Hustle)

After watching me go through years of addiction issues, depression, and corporate misery, Eileen was happy to see me excited about something even if it was some virtual coin. Never for a moment did she think wed get rich off of it. But she didnt want to break the spell I was under.

Unfortunately, it wasnt long before I experienced the Earth-shaking volatility of the crypto market.

In June 2016, a high-visibility project was hacked and Ethereum tanked: By December, our original $100k investment was worth less than $40k.

Though I was $60k in the hole, my confidence in Ethereum was stronger than ever and it was now at a bargain-basement-level price. So, I decided to double down.

We didnt have the cash. The only pool of funds available was the line of credit on our home. Racking up a big debt on our home equity line would very likely set us up for an unhappy ending.

But I felt in my bones that this was my shot and I might not get another one.

In December of 2016, I visited Wells Fargo 3 times, transferring an increasing amount of money from our home equity line to Gemini. After each transfer, I went home and bought ETH slowly so I didnt cause a run-up. (The order books were thin with limited liquidity in those days; a rush of sales could cause the other traders and their bots to snatch up all the available coins.)

That winter, I borrowed $200k on my home and used it to buy more ETH. I now owned 26,750 ETH total, at an average buy-in of $11.21/coin.

And I was $300k in the hole.

In February 2017, during our first negotiated trip of a lifetime in Mexico, Ethereum came back to life.

It was the middle of the night, and I was in the back of a cab battling a nasty bout of food poisoning. I was puking my guts out, foaming at the mouth, and delirious but I didnt care because our ETH was up $50K. We were in the black for the first time.

Then, something miraculous happened: It kept going up and up and up. Between February and March of 2017, ETH shot from $15 to $50 per coin. By April, it was at $70; by May, $230.

In a span of 4 months, my $300k investment ballooned to $6m.

Every investors dream (The Hustle; historical ETH data via Coinmarketcap.com)

Id seen a story at some point about someone who had spontaneous orgasms at random times throughout the day. Thats the best way I can describe the feeling. When I checked my phone, Id be up another 6 figures since the last time I looked. I couldnt resist stopping whatever I was doing to pump my fist and shout, YEESSSS!

But other times, ETH would dip, and the value of my stack would plummet by more than $1m in less than an hour. The orgasms were replaced by brutal withdrawals. The volatility was a narcotic, shooting up my brain with boosts of dopamine and serotonin.

The coins consumed me and changed my entire persona.

When ETH stopped going up or had a mild dip, Id get snappy with the kids. I donned a hoodie and stared into the void for hours, my mind enslaved to the promise of Ethereum and its price variations. I was fired from my job of 6 years.

In the midst of a particularly volatile week, I found myself in the emergency room, struggling to breathe. The doctor diagnosed me with a panic event. Is anything making you anxious? he asked.

There was also the constant, looming fear that my crypto account could be hacked at any moment. In 2017 alone, hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto were stolen from accounts and there wasnt any regulatory body to protect victims.

From June to October of 2017, ETH floated between $200 to $400 per coin an increase of 2,000% since the beginning of the year. That summer, many of the early HODLers (the folks who were holding for the long-term) began to cash out.

My coins were now worth millions, but I continued to hold the majority of them. This decision would soon pay off in a bigger way than I ever couldve imagined.

In the course of 2 weeks in December 2017, ETH nearly doubled in price from $430 to $830. On January 3, 2018, it hit $900; 3 days later, it passed $1k.

It was an unprecedented burst so monumental in scope that it temporarily froze the exchanges. It was like a 9.0 earthquake with an infinite number of aftershocks.

In the midst of this madness, I received an email from my financial advisor, who Id hired months earlier to oversee my growing funds.

An email Dan received from his financial advisor in December 2017 (Courtesy of Dan Conway)

The alarm bells were sounding.

Sitting on my couch in sweaty workout clothes, I turned to my favorite subreddit, r/EthTrader. The message board was full-on mayhem, with 1.4k comments that morning alone. Grandparents, and taxi drivers, and anyone else whod gotten a hot tip was buying in without even knowing what crypto was. Even for hardcore HODLers like me, it was too much, too fast.

I frantically logged into my Gemini account and weighed my options.

If I didnt sell and ETH tanked, Id lose it all. Id have to tell Eileen and the kids that dad had dropped the golden goose egg, that Id squandered my lottery ticket.

Watching the greedy masses pile into ETH reminded me of the famous battle scene from Braveheart: While the hordes rush forward in full sprint, lances atilt, the defenders sit still, unflinching and calm, waiting for the signal to attack.

I watched the price climb to $915. Then, over the course of two hours, I sold 11k ETH, the majority of my remaining stack, for $10m.

I sent Eileen a text: We are done.

Shortly after we cashed out, the cryptocurrency market took a nosedive.

Ethereum dropped from a high of $1,396 in January to $385 in April. By December of 2018, it was back below $100.

Eileen and I paid off our $950k mortgage. We booked a trip to Africa wed always dreamed of. Hell, we even bought a second home in Ireland.

Nearly 2 years later, its still surreal looking at our bank account and seeing high 7-figures, post-tax. It all happened so quickly that it feels like a dream.

Top: Dans bank statement from December 2017 to January 2018, showing a Gemini transfer of $10.7m; Bottom: The family in Italy one of the agreed-upon destinations (Courtesy of Dan Conway)

I still believe crypto will open up new possibilities for organizing the world in the decades ahead, and Im confident it will pop again as a result. But I dont recommend that anyone try to replicate what I did.

Luck played a significant role in my success.

I banked everything I had on a relatively unproven technology and got out at the right time. For every story like mine, there are hundreds of others about people who lost it all. I know that couldve easily been me.

At the same time, Im no blackjack player. My investment wasnt purely a blind gamble that came up aces. I was, and am, a true believer in crypto and I had the right mix of courageousness and craziness to take a big risk.

Ive since turned my efforts toward making the concept of crypto-based decentralization more accessible to the general public. My recent book, which chronicles my wild journey, encourages people to think about their own risk parameters.

Today, Ive settled back into a normal life. I make dinner, do odd-jobs around the house, and live a very pleasant life by almost any measure. I still drive a minivan every day. Crypto no longer consumes me.

But every now and then, after the kids are asleep, I lie awake thinking back on the rush of the market. And I miss it like hell.

Interested in learning more about Dans story? He recently chronicled his entire journey in a full-length book, Confessions of a Crypto Millionaire.

You should check out our new premium publication called Trends.

Weve hired a team of journalists, entrepreneurs, and data scientists to crawl millions of data points and interview industry leaders to find gaps in the market. And each week we reveal our findings in a newsletter update.

Weve also created a private community for subscribers and the people we interview, where entrepreneurs and experts pick apart ideas and discuss the merits of others strategies. Click here to learn more.

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How I got sucked into cryptocurrency and made $13 million - The Hustle

Creativity and Value Will Win the Cryptocurrency Exchange Wars – newsBTC

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The American gold rush was marked by a host of hard times and a few sudden millionaires. Men gave up everything to travel to California in hopes of striking it rich. But the man who really struck it rich during the gold rush was Levi Strauss, a simple tailor who made tough cotton pants for the miners.

In the 21st century, the digital gold rush has begun with the creation of cryptocurrencies, and particularly Bitcoin. Early adopters owned thousands of Bitcoin, and these few devotees are now massively wealthy.

As the market has grown, however, the major winners in the space have been companies and individuals who offer services to the Bitcoin faithful. Among these service providers, cryptocurrency exchanges are some of the most lucrative.

However, where profit can be made, competition is sure to follow. As the digital gold rush continues, some question exists as to who will win the war to dominate the cryptocurrency exchange market. A number of exchanges have sought to take a bite out of the market. The key, to date, has been a focus on creativity and value.

Creative conquerors

Creative offerings and marketing strategies have already appeared to work in bringing attention to exchanges. Consider, for example, the creative approach Binance took to bring attention to their exchange platform.

The company offered YouTube influencers a $100K prize for those who could create the best and most helpful video about how to trade on the platform. The result was a massive number of new traders, and a substantial number of videos, all of which focused on bringing new traders to Binance.

The traction from this simple but creative marketing plan produced a huge amount of news time, and subsequently, new users. Binance trading numbers increased dramatically with the increased traffica sure signal that creativity in the market will produce results.

Other smaller companies are offering creative solutions as well. For example, Nominex, a newcomer to the exchange world, is creating a referral program that will drive business in a similar way.

The Nominex Affiliate Program allows users to share a referral link with friends or spread the word about Nominex through media and community. Each referral receives a bonus, and theres no limit to the number of referral levels users receive bonuses from. This is unlike any other exchange where those numbers are generally limited to 2 to 3.

Value proposition

Beyond creativity, as the number of exchanges on the market explodes, cryptocurrency traders are increasingly looking for genuine value. Beyond simply fast trades and low fees, traders are seeking a value proposition that moves beyond the simple offerings of early exchanges.

Again using Nominex as an example of a relative newcomer, the company has offered a series of token distributions for early adopters. First, for a month after the opening of the exchange, all users will receive 100% cashback on all trading fees, paid in NMX, the Nominex native token.

Second, after this first phase, the company will continue returning a portion of trading fees as a pool paid to users each day. These bonuses will be paid on a percentage basis of total transaction volume. For example, if a user had 1% of all transactions on a given day, he would receive 1% of the pool.

Other larger exchanges are seeking to create similar value propositions as well. Again, turning to Binance, the company has begun offering up to 8% interest on its BNB native token for those who use the platforms credit card.

Whats more, the company has also offered to pump certain tokens and companies for free. The main incentive for Binance is to bring a larger user pool onto the site, and the smaller companies (like the recent addition of Perlin) benefit from having the juggernaut crypto exchange on their side.

Junk or jeans?

The future of the cryptocurrency exchange market is still up in the air. But the reality that the market will continue to grow and change cant be denied. Nevertheless, the power for growth in the market must come from creative marketing concepts and genuine value propositions for users.

Just as in legacy financing options, companies must begin finding ways to differentiate themselves. Whether through referral programs, incentivized marketing, or bonuses on their respective networks, the future winners of the digital gold rush will be like Levi Straussselling the best products and the best prices.

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Creativity and Value Will Win the Cryptocurrency Exchange Wars - newsBTC

Switzerland gets another Bitcoin bank that holds cryptocurrency for customers – The Next Web

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A Swiss bank set up to handle both traditional financial products and new digital currencies has been given the go-ahead by the countrys regulators.

SEBA, the Swiss-based cryptocurrency bank, is now officially operational, The Block reports.

The bank reportedly shared a statement with The Block yesterday that said its Swiss clients can now open accounts with the bank. This goes for corporate businesses, asset managers, and professional private investors.

Launched earlier this year, the bank received its banking license from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) in August.

SEBA says its trying to bridge the gap between traditional and digital assets, whilst maintaining high levels of security. At the moment, the bank supports five cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, BTC Ethereum, Stellar, Litecoin, and Ethereum Classic.

Customers will be able to manage their asset accounts through an app and online banking. According to the statement, users will be able to convert cryptocurrencies into traditional currencies and back again all within these online services.

According to SEBAs road map, the next phase is to roll out its offering to international customers, before expanding its product offering. However, there are no dates attached to this timeline so theres no knowing how long either of those developments will take.

Its a bit of a politically conflicting situation depending on your perspective.

Many cryptocurrency and Bitcoin businesses have struggled to work with traditional banks. Regulatory uncertainty, and Bitcoins checkered past have led banks to tread cautiously when dealing with cryptocurrency businesses.

SEBAs offering could open a few doors for crypto companies that have so far struggled to get a foothold in the traditional banking system.

However, a bank holding your Bitcoin in custodial storage? While that might prevent you from losing your private key, it comes with a number of obvious sacrifices.

SEBA joins competitor bank Sygnum AG, which received a license from FINMA back in September.

Switzerland has been one of the more progressive nations when it comes to cryptocurrency businesses. Last year, it allowed blockchain startups to apply for a FinTech license that would let them handle deposits of up to $100 million.

Published November 13, 2019 09:49 UTC

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Switzerland gets another Bitcoin bank that holds cryptocurrency for customers - The Next Web

Big Canadian bank rumored to offer cryptocurrency accounts, Bitcoin trading – The Next Web

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The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is reportedly developing a cryptocurrency platform,The Logic reports.

If launched, the banks customers will be able to trade in cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin BTC and Ethereum.

The bank, one of the countrys largest,is also looking to let customers open cryptocurrency accounts.

According to The Block, one of the banks patent applications says the following:

To individual users, managing cryptographic keys and transacting with different cryptographic assets can be a challenge. In some situations, cryptographic asset transactions may take time to be confirmed, and/or may not be compatible or supported by merchant systems or point-of-sale devices.

But, Jean Francois Thibault, an RBC spokesperson told the Logic that the bank like many other organizations, files patent applications to ensure proprietary ideas and concepts are protected. Thibault declined to comment further.

Although little is known at this stage, this is not the first time that abank has dipped its toes into the blockchain space.

In September 2017, Reuters reported that the bank was experimenting with blockchain in a bid to facilitate payments between its US and Canadian banks.

More recently, RBC and several other Canadian banks started using blockchain technology to allow customers to digitally prove their identity.

Blockchains potential to maximize efficiency and significantly reduce costs has been lauded for some time, so its hardly surprising that banks are trying to jump on the blockchain bandwagon.

Its just ironic that Satoshi Nakamoto originally invented the technology to circumvent the mainstream financial system but here we are, the suits always take over.

Published November 12, 2019 11:03 UTC

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Big Canadian bank rumored to offer cryptocurrency accounts, Bitcoin trading - The Next Web

The cryptocurrency market update: Bitcoin and major altcoins are vulnerable to further losses – FXStreet

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The cryptocurrency market is a mixed picture on Wednesday. Bitcoin and all major altcoins are range-bound with bearish bias amid decreasing trading activity. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization dropped to $239 billion from $240 the day before; the worth of the digital asset of $67 billion change hands daily on average. Bitcoin's market share dropped to 66.0%.

BTC/USD has stayed mostly unchanged both on a day-to-day basis and since the beginning of Wednesday, changing hands at $8,730. On the intraday charts, the coin has peaked at $8,838 in Asia before reversing back below $8,800 handle. This resistance is strengthened by SMA100 (Simple Moving Average)on a daily chart. Once it is out of the way, the upside is likely to gain traction with the next focus on$9,000.

Ethereum, the second-largest digital asset with the current market capitalization of $20.2 billion, is moving within a short-term bearish bias within the recent range. The coin dropped below $186.00 to trade at $185.60 at the time of writing. Looking technically, ETH/USD has recovered from the recent low of $182.30, but the further upside is limited by $186.00 with SMA50 1-hour located on approach.

Ripples XRP has gained 1.2% since the beginning of Wednesday to trade at $0.2750 by the time of writing. The third digital coin with the current market value of $11.8 is moving within a tight range. The coin jumped above SMA50 (Simple Moving Average) and by the upper line of the Bollinger Band on a 1-hour chart. However, further recovery may be limited by SMA100 at $0.2760.

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The cryptocurrency market update: Bitcoin and major altcoins are vulnerable to further losses - FXStreet

U.S. cant let criminals get the upper hand by using Chinas coming cryptocurrency – MarketWatch

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. (Project Syndicate) Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was at least half right when he recently told the United States Congress that there is no U.S. monopoly on regulation of next-generation payments technology.

You may not like Facebooks FB, +0.16% proposed Libra (pseudo) cryptocurrency, Zuckerberg implied, but a state-run Chinese digital currency with global ambitions is perhaps just a few months away, and you would probably like that even less.

Perhaps Zuckerberg went too far when he suggested that the imminent rise of a Chinese digital currency could undermine overall dollar BUXX, +0.01% dominance of global trade and finance at least the large part that is legal, taxed, and regulated.

In fact, U.S. regulators have vast power not only over domestic entities but also over any financial firms that need access to dollar markets, as Europe recently learned to its dismay when the U.S. forced European banks to comply with severe restrictions on doing business with Iran.

Also read: ICO offerings way down, but some still using SEC back door to raise funds

Americas deep and liquid markets, its strong institutions, and the rule of law will trump Chinese efforts to achieve currency dominance for a long time to come. Chinas burdensome capital controls, its limits on foreign holdings of bonds and equities, and the general opaqueness of its financial system leave the yuan USDCNH, +0.0612% (also known as the renminbi) many decades away from supplanting the dollar in the legal global economy.

Control over the underground economy, however, is another matter entirely.

The global underground economy, consisting mainly of tax evasion and criminal activities, but also terrorism, is much smaller than the legal economy (perhaps one-fifth the size), but it is still highly consequential. The issue here is not so much whose currency is dominant, but how to minimize adverse effects.

And a widely used, state-backed Chinese digital currency could certainly have an impact, especially in areas where Chinas interests do not coincide with those of the West.

A U.S.-regulated digital currency could in principle be required to be traceable by U.S. authorities, so that if North Korea were to use it to hire Russian nuclear scientists, or Iran were to use it to finance terrorist activity, they would run a high risk of being caught, and potentially even blocked.

If, however, the digital currency were run out of China, the U.S. would have far fewer levers to pull. Western regulators could ultimately ban the use of Chinas digital currency, but that wouldnt stop it from being used in large parts of Africa, Latin America, and Asia, which in turn could engender some underground demand even in the U.S. and Europe.

One might well ask why existing cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin BTCUSD, -0.19% cannot already perform this function. To an extremely limited extent, they do. But regulators worldwide have huge incentives to rein in cryptocurrencies by sharply proscribing their use in banks and retail establishments.

Such restrictions make existing cryptocurrencies highly illiquid and ultimately greatly limit their fundamental underlying value. Not so for a Chinese-backed digital currency that could readily be spent in one of the worlds two largest economies.

True, when China announces its new digital currency, it would almost surely be permissioned: a central clearing house would in principle allow the Chinese government to see anything and everything. But the U.S. would not.

Facebooks Libra is also designed as a permissioned currency, in its case under the auspices of Swiss regulators. Cooperation with Switzerland, where the currency is officially registered, would surely be much better than with China, despite Switzerlands long tradition of extending privacy to financial transactions, especially with regard to tax evasion.

The fact that Libra will be pegged to the U.S. dollar would give U.S. authorities additional insight, because (at present) all dollar clearing must go through U.S.-regulated entities. Still, given that Libras functionality can largely be duplicated with existing financial instruments, it is hard to see much fundamental demand for Libra except among those aiming to evade detection.

Unless tech-sponsored currencies offer genuinely superior technology and this is not at all obvious they should be regulated in the same way as everyone else.

If nothing else, Libra has inspired many advanced-economy central banks to accelerate their programs to provide broader-based retail digital currencies, and, one hopes, to strengthen their efforts to boost financial inclusion.

But this battle is not simply over the profits from printing currency; ultimately, it is over the states ability to regulate and tax the economy in general, and over the U.S. governments ability to use the dollars global role to advance its international policy aims.

The U.S. currently has financial sanctions in place against 12 countries. Turkey was briefly sanctioned last month after its invasion of Kurdish territory in Syria, though the measures were quickly lifted. For Russia, sanctions have been in place for five years.

Just as technology has disrupted media, politics, and business, it is on the verge of disrupting Americas ability to leverage faith in its currency to pursue its broader national interests. Libra is probably not the answer to the coming disruption posed by government-sanctioned digital currencies from China and elsewhere.

But if not, Western governments need to start thinking about their response now, before it is too late.

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U.S. cant let criminals get the upper hand by using Chinas coming cryptocurrency - MarketWatch

Cryptocurrency tracking improves — but how? – FCW.com

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Law Enforcement

The IRS and other tax enforcement agencies are touting big improvements in tracing the use of cryptocurrencies in tax evasion and other criminal schemes. They just don't want to talk about how.

On Friday, officials from the J5, a cooperative consortium of tax investigation and enforcement agencies around the world that includes Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the U.S., wrapped up a week-long event in Los Angeles that brought together criminal investigators, cryptocurrency experts and data scientists.

The J5 was formed last year to help pool international tax enforcement resources and strategies. As the internet and the emergence of decentralized, pseudo-anonymous cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have made it easier for tax evaders to move and hide their money, investigation and enforcement agencies around the globe have slowly realized they are dealing with a common set of challenges.

"The goal of the week was to remove some barriers and work together collaboratively to identify the most egregious tax offenders in the world," said Ryan Korner, executive special agent for the IRS field office in Los Angeles. "I want to emphasize that this week was not just a hypothetical training exercise; all of the participants ... worked together using real data to identify real criminals."

However, the agencies were more tight-lipped when it came to discussing what those leads are, how agencies are making new use of data and what tools they're leveraging. IRS officials said they developed new analysis platforms, generated "dozens" of new leads and were getting close to announcing operational results from the partnership, but offered few specifics on their work or what new capabilities they have developed to track cryptocurrency.

"I don't want to necessarily name any of them specifically, but we do have the tools in place today that we didn't have in place even six months to a year ago to take what was an anonymous form of payment and moving funds and really make it so it's not anonymous anymore," Korner told FCW.

IRS Special Agent Chris Hueston, the J5 project lead for the U.S., did cite enhanced data-sharing practices among partner countries as one of the reasons behind the improvement.

"We're able to use some of the data that we've seized through investigations, and we're able to rely on some of our J5 countries for data that they're able to share with us, so once we put those datasets together, as well as open sources and other information that we're able to share legally, those datasets become richer as far as putting a finer point on our targeting efforts for those criminals," he said.

The emergence of decentralized, pseudo-anonymous cryptocurrencies have created new challenges for financial regulators and tax enforcement agencies, who initially struggled to track and trace payments. A 2017 survey of 564 Bitcoin investors conducted by The Motley Fool found that more than one-third reported they did not plan to report their earnings for capital gains taxation. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress that new currencies like Facebook's Libra raise "serious concerns regarding privacy, money laundering, consumer protection [and] financial stability."

While IRS officials were reluctant to discuss what tools they're using, there is evidence that law enforcement agencies are getting better at tracking cryptocurrencies. For example, the Department of Justice has cited the tracking of virtual currencies as a key component for takedowns of a massive child exploitation ring in October.

The use of new commercial software and algorithms may be fueling that improvement. At least two agencies, the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration, have engaged in sole-source procurements in recent years with contractor Chainalysis for proprietary software and training on how to track the use of virtual currency. In both cases, the agencies argue the contractor is the only company capable of providing the services.

"The vast majority of FBI personnel investigating conduct involving virtual currency only have access to Chainalysis to perform bitcoin tracing," the FBI wrote in an August 2018 sole-source justification.

About the Author

Derek B. Johnson is a senior staff writer at FCW, covering governmentwide IT policy, cybersecurity and a range of other federal technology issues.

Prior to joining FCW, Johnson was a freelance technology journalist. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, GoodCall News, Foreign Policy Journal, Washington Technology, Elevation DC, Connection Newspapers and The Maryland Gazette.

Johnson has a Bachelor's degree in journalism from Hofstra University and a Master's degree in public policy from George Mason University. He can be contacted at djohnson@fcw.com, or follow him on Twitter @derekdoestech.

Click here for previous articles by Johnson.

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Cryptocurrency tracking improves -- but how? - FCW.com

Beware of cryptocurrency gurus like Dr Ruja and her OneCoin cult – Jim Duffy – The Scotsman

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Hey! Have any of you seen a Bulgarian-looking woman who has a reputed magnetic personality and has just scammed thousands of investors out of 3.5 billion? No? Me neither. And were not likely to any time soon as the FBI are on her case.

Its no wonder folks steer clear of cryptocurrencies when scammers like the missing crypto queen turn up, sell snake oil, then disappear. Today, with so much regulation across continents, one would think that this kind of scam could never happen. But it has, and victims have lost their hard earned cash and savings.

Imagine the scene: a big event at a posh hotel or well known fancy gig. Youve seen an advert in a newspaper telling you that the hottest investment in town is coming. Shes a doctor with a super high intelligence quotient who is currently making her investors shed loads of bread. You do a bit of digging and find out that Dr Ruja Ignavota is an Oxford-educated serial entrepreneur. Its all starting to look very credible.

Her new invention OneCoin is going hell for leather, a rip-roaring success that is taking the world by storm. Her disciples and advocates are standing on stage in awe of her, now that they have made so much money on their initial investments. Its showtime and the fear of missing out is just palpable. Its now or never and shes convinced you to transfer your cash into OneCoin, her new digital currency.

Investments into thin air

Now youre part of the OneCoin cult. You wake up every morning and watch your investment rise. You flick to the OneCoin bookmark every few hours on your mobile phone. Then last thing at night, yep, its all looking good. You tell your friends and family about this once in a lifetime opportunity to get in fast before the whole world does. Still your investment goes up and up. But, unlike proper investments, your money is invested in thin air.

The story of OneCoin is one that I still cannot fathom. How did this nobody suddenly become a crypto guru conning people out of their cash. And where is she now?

Cryptocurrency is a dangerous beast. Bitcoin appears to be the safest bet. But, I wouldnt advise anyone to invest in it. Albeit it has some form of pedigree, but no fundamentals. Only this week Bobby Lee, a massive crypto bull stated that he believes Bitcoin will indeed surpass gold as the best place to invest cash in the future. Lee, who is launching a new cryptocurrency wallet for the less technically minded, has plotted that Bitcoin will hit $1m (780,000) after two more Bitcoin bubbles. The language itself is scary however, in using Bitcoin via Coinbase or Gemini, there is a piece of code that one actually owns on the blockchain.

Prevalence

Unfortunately, Dr Ignavota scammed OneCoin investors with no sign of a blockchain anywhere. There are heartbreaking stories of UK citizens losing big time as a result of investing in OneCoin. By March 2017, more than 3.5bn had been invested in the OneCoin system from 175 countries. It is thought around 100m of that came from the UK. That is a staggering amount of cash, leading to questions of how this could happen on such a scale. But the cult-like magnetism and selling tactics of OneCoin guru Ignavota meant that people were duped. Weve seen it all before and will no doubt see it again. But with the advent of mind blowing tech, it could become even more prevalent.

Its easy to rig up a credible website with logins, secure-looking banking software and fabulous graphics to hook you in. Some clever social media and a front man or woman and there is the structure of an investment vehicle. Oh, and dont forget the videos of disciples who have also invested and wax lyrical. That is just how quickly and effectively scammers can build an audience and cash piles to feed the frenzy. Of course, the investments are financial chimeras rigged to look real.

Dr Ignatova will resurface somewhere, but the damage has been done. I just wonder if the Bitcoin enthusiasts will suffer the same fate.

- Jim Duffy MBE, Create Special.

READ MORE: PureLiFi raises $18m to roll out LiFi-enabled phones, tables and laptopsREAD MORE: West Lothian entrepreneur puts six-figure sum into HR app

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Beware of cryptocurrency gurus like Dr Ruja and her OneCoin cult - Jim Duffy - The Scotsman

Evercoin Launches Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Hardware Wallet – Bitcoin News

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New York, NY, 12 November 2019 At New York Consensus Invest Summit, Evercoin Inc. today announced Evercoin 2, the safest hardware wallet. Evercoin 2 provides a wallet and exchange for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies featuring a hardware wallet the size of a house key powered by YubiKey 5ci, the first implementation of its kind. Prior to this, users wanting hardware security relied on large, difficult to use and not mobile-first first-generation hardware wallets like Ledger and Trezor. Now every compatible YubiKey owner can download a free hardware wallet.

Evercoin provides all of the financial services users expect from a service like Coinbase, but for the first time ever in a mobile wallet, secured by hardware and fully controlled by the user. Evercoin currently supports 20 assets including Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Crypto users arent safe. Here are some of the threats we can address with the new combined offering from Evercoin and Yubico:

Hack attacks : hackers can gain access to private keys, the result can be total loss of all assets.

Exchange hacks : crypto exchanges can be hacked or go out of business causing loss of funds.

Key loss : users can lose all of their assets by forgetting private keys, losing paper wallets, exposing keys to bad actors, losing hardware devices. Chainalysis estimates that 2-3 million bitcoins have been lost permanently in this way.

Other user errors : users can input the wrong address when sending transactions

Volatility : volatility of crypto prices can dramatically crash the value of user assets.

ID Theft : hackers can steal a users account and identities thus enabling a host of attacks on the users accounts and assets.

Wrench attacks : attacks involving a physical threat to your person. Phishing Attacks : user email and social networking accounts can be compromised and information and assets can then be stolen from their friends and social network.

Evercoin 2 helps keep users safe from all of these issues with these safety features:

Stopping Hack Attacks: (Hardware Security) : Users are protected from hackers by YubiKey (a small key-like device) which cryptographically secures user funds.

A Hardware Wallet such as Ledger or Trezor will provide hardware security, but the following features are unique to Evercoin, especially in combination:

User Funds Protected From Exchange Hacks : the Evercoin exchange is non-custodial so users keeping funds in Evercoin can never lose their funds to an exchange hack. Your keys, your crypto.

Protects Users From Key Loss ( Wallet Back-up & Recovery ): Users are protected by patent-pending, non-custodial, user-friendly back up of walletsenabling recovery from lost phones, lost YubiKeys and even lost passwords.

Prevents User Error : Evercoin provides the easiest to use hardware wallet which is literally like using a card key to a hotel room. Insert to unlock and remove to lock. Integrated exchange and QR codes reduce error-prone typing or pasting complicated addresses.

Allows Users to Respond to Volatility (Mobile Exchange) Sudden changes in the market can destroy the value of your assets. Instantly and securely exchange assets on-the-go with a YubiKey that fits on your key ring and your mobile phone.

Stops ID Theft: (iPhone and Android Biometrics): because Evercoin is smartphone based, it can take advantage of biometric fingerprint and face ID in ways that purpose-built hardware wallets cannot. By combining passwords with biometrics and hardware security, we can provide the worlds safest ownershipexperience.

Avoid Wrench Attacks : yubikey is small and inconspicuous unlike most hardware wallets. Nobody will know you are storing crypto.

Block Phishing Attacks ( YubiKey ): by using an unmodified YubiKey, users can also benefit from securing all of their email and password protected accounts with YubiKey.

Evercoin users deserve peace of mind. We protect users from hackers with YubiKey hardwarebut we also protect them from accidents when they have lost their phone, their YubiKey, or their password said Talip Ozturk , Founder, CEO of Evercoin. Accidents do happen, and we want to ensure that funds are always safe and recoverable.

Evercoin is working with Yubico, developer of the YubiKey, a trusted hardware security provider with millions of users. Evercoin 2 provides the first-ever hardware wallet using the new YubiKey 5ci (for iPhone and USB-C for Android). All existing owners of YubiKey 5ci can get hardware wallet capabilities just by downloading Evercoin from http://evercoin.com. Another advantage is that YubiKey is a general-purpose security deviceso Evercoin users can also use YubiKey to secure their password managers,messengers and email,social media and any number of other compatible authenticationsystems, thus providing 360 degree protection from indirect hack attacks like phishingor ID theft.

# # #Media ContactMiko Matsumuramiko@evercoin.com

About EvercoinEvercoin is a Silicon Valley based startup founded and led by Talip Ozturk, the creatorof Hazelcast, a popular open source in-memory distributed database in use at thebiggest financial services companies in the world. Having seen the power of opensource at some of the largest banks in the world, Talip was inspired to join thecryptocurrency movement which combines his love of open systems and distributedgovernance with his experience in large-scale high-performance financial infrastructureand distributed computing. Evercoin provides the worlds safest cryptocurrencyownership experience including a mobile hardware wallet, account recovery andbiometric identification.

Bitcoin.com is your premier source for everything Bitcoin-related. We can help you buy bitcoins and choose a bitcoin wallet. You can also read the latest news, or engage with the community on our Bitcoin Forum. Please keep in mind that this is a commercial website that lists wallets, exchanges and other Bitcoin-related companies.

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Evercoin Launches Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Hardware Wallet - Bitcoin News

Cryptocurrency Tips on Telegram Reach 500,000 Milestone in Just a Year – BeInCrypto

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ParJar has confirmed that it has processed over half a million tips on Telegram. Over 21,000 people have used the cryptocurrency tipping service in over 500 communities since last year.

Telegram seems like the ideal place to incorporate cryptocurrency tips. After all, the chatroom platform boasts a strong user base and a plethora of APIs for easy use. Its no surprise then that ParJar has been such a massive success on Telegram.

In a tweet sent out recently by ParJar, over 21,000 users have sent cryptocurrency tips on Telegram in about a year. In total, 512,000 tips were sent, over 20,000 deposits were made, and around 33,000 withdrawals were processed. In all, its steady growth which will likely only get better in the coming year.

Although 21,000 users might not seem like much, the fact that 512,000 tips were sent means that those who use ParJarreally like it.Thats, on average, around 24 tips sent per user. Ultimately, cryptocurrency adoption relies on a strong group of dedicated users. These recently-released stats prove that cryptocurrency tipping on Telegram is building a strong following.

Other projects have tried to capitalize on the demand for micro-transactions and tipping on social media, as well. Nano is, of course, commonly used due to its negligible fees and fast transaction speeds. However, other competitors like Basic Attention Token (BAT) also work much like a tipping token which is integrated into the Brave web browser.

As BeInCrypto reported earlier this year, Brave recently added individual tipping as a feature. Twitter has also been toying with adding tipping to its platform via the Lightning Network, but it has yet to be rolled out fully.

Although ParJar remains one of the leading means of tipping with cryptocurrencies, it seems that there is much in the pipeline to look forward to. Hopefully tipping with cryptocurrencies will soon be as easy as sending a message.

Images courtesy of Twitter.

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Cryptocurrency Tips on Telegram Reach 500,000 Milestone in Just a Year - BeInCrypto

Chainalysis Launches Kryptos to Help Financial Institutions Uncover Cryptocurrency Opportunities and Risks – PRNewswire

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NEW YORK, Nov. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Chainalysis, the blockchain analysis company, today announced the launch of Chainalysis Kryptos, new software designed to help financial institutions better understand the risks associated with existing cryptocurrency activity and opportunities for investment. Built on the reference data standard already trusted by government agencies across the world and more than 115 leading cryptocurrency businesses, Kryptos enables financial professionals to connect the dots between traditional financial transactions and cryptocurrency markets.

In September, Chainalysis polled 350 finance professionals and found that nearly half believe Bitcoin will be the investment class with the highest growth rate over the next 12 months, ahead of equities, fixed income, and the house pricing index. Despite their belief in Bitcoin's growth potential, many also expressed concerns about the ability to control illicit activity facilitated by cryptocurrency and to comply with regulations, and many aren't sure how many of their customers transact with cryptocurrency today.

Kryptos provides transparency into cryptocurrency markets and players so financial institutions can allay these compliance concerns, better understand their current risk exposure, provide banking services to cryptocurrency businesses, and build foundations for expansion into the asset class.

"We've heard grass roots excitement for cryptocurrency from financial institutions for years, and now we're focused on breaking down the barriers to entry," said Michael Gronager, Co-Founder and CEO, Chainalysis. "Finally, financial institutions can access the transparency they need to fulfill their compliance responsibilities, meet customer demand, and seize the market opportunity they already believe in."

"Chainalysis Kryptos is a powerful tool for institutions to use to evaluate the risk profile of global industry participants and to measure their counterparty risk," said Michelle Sabins, SVP Managing Principal, Silvergate. "Access to this information in a standardized way will help institutions in this space make informed business decisions regarding who they do business with, while leveraging the power of blockchain analysis."

Kryptos provides a view into Know Your Customer (KYC) practices and blockchain transaction data for the world's top cryptocurrency businesses. Users can access information about exchanges' business operations, country of operation, cryptocurrency assets supported, blockchain transaction activity, and counterparties. They can also quantify their risk exposure across wire transfers or credit card transactions with detailed company information that they can run through existing transaction monitoring systems and risk models.

"Our data puts us in a position to help financial institutions enter the cryptocurrency market safely and responsibly," said Jonathan Levin, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Chainalysis. "Not only does Kryptos help them mitigate risk and access new high-growth markets, but it will also help cryptocurrency businesses build trust with their banks. All players in the cryptocurrency ecosystem stand to benefit from increased transparency."

Kryptos is now available in Beta and will become generally available in early 2020.

About ChainalysisChainalysis is the blockchain analysis company. We provide compliance and investigation software to the world's leading banks, businesses, and governments. Our experts in financial crime and economic analysis empower our customers to derive insights they can act on. Backed by Accel, Benchmark, and other leading names in venture capital, Chainalysis builds trust in blockchains. For more information, visit http://www.chainalysis.com.

SOURCE Chainalysis Inc.

http://www.chainalysis.com

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Chainalysis Launches Kryptos to Help Financial Institutions Uncover Cryptocurrency Opportunities and Risks - PRNewswire