Monthly Archives: April 2017

Censorious students slapped down by First Amendment legend Mary Beth Tinker – The College Fix

Posted: April 25, 2017 at 4:43 am

Censorious students slapped down by First Amendment legend Mary Beth Tinker

She was a child. And speech was all she had

Its tough being a liberal Democrat who supports free speech on campus these days, like the University of PennsylvaniasJonathan Zimmerman.

The history professor recently shared his gloom in The Philadelphia Inquirerthat hes become a de facto conservative in the realm of the campus,wherestudents believe they have a moral imperative to silence viewpoints they consider racist.

As Zimmerman says, thats a view at odds with every great champion of African American freedom in our history, including Frederick Douglass, who once said speech suppression is the equivalent of theft.

He has some interesting theories about this growing intolerance for diverse ideas, including thedecreasing stigma around mental health problems and the rising use of social media:

Arriving on campuses made up of diverse groups, students are warned that their comments and behavior could cause psychological distress to any of them.

But whats really interesting about his op-ed is Zimmermans description of his students recently meeting a woman whose name is a major Supreme Court precedent, Mary Beth Tinker.

MORE:Angry mob shuts down Blue Lives Matter speech

As a student during the Vietnam War, Tinker wore a black antiwar armband to school and won the right for students to express themselves as long as they didnt create a substantial disruption in school.

She has continued to get involved in First Amendment issues, arguing for the right of California students to wear American flag-themed clothing during Cinco de Mayo, and even startingan educational Tinker Tour with the Student Press Law Center.

Zimmermans students clearly didnt know what they were getting into when they tried to defendtheir censorious attitudes to Tinker, as the professor recounts:

All of my students said they should be allowed to engage in antiwar demonstrations, of course, but they drew the line at racist or sexist speech that causes yes psychological injury. But Tinker wasnt having it. Surely, she said, parents whose children were fighting in Vietnam or, especially, students whose parents had died there were profoundly wounded by her very public act of protest. Yet that wasnt a good enough reason to silence her, or anybody.

You get the feeling that if Mary Beth Tinker were invited to speak on campus by a College Republicans chapter, she would be shouted down and denounced as a white supremacist colonialist imperialist blah blah blah:

Other students argued that free speech is really a matter of power, which has become another popular line on our campuses. In a society marred by racial inequality, the argument goes, speech is used by whites to oppress minorities. Hence white speech must be restrained, so that minorities can be protected.

But Tinker wasnt buying that, either. Historically, free speech has been a weapon often, the only weapon of the powerless, not the powerful. At the time her case began, Tinker reminded us, she was a child. And speech was all she had.

Its amazing that Zimmermans students and thousands of others are so blind that they cant see all of their anti-racist, anti-classist, anti-fascist advocacy is speech and its just as vulnerable to censorship when an administrator decides itis psychologically injuring someone else.

MORE: First Amendment legends demand students right to wear the flag

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Encrypted Chat Took Over. Let’s Encrypt Calls, Too – Huffington Post

Posted: at 4:42 am

By Lily Hay Newman for WIRED.

WIRED

As end-to-end encrypted messaging apps have exploded in popularity, several well-known services have added encrypted calls as well. Why not, right? If it works for text-based chat, voice seems like a natural extension. If only it were that easy.

Encrypting calls has plenty of value, keeping conversations strictly between the two parties. They can circumvent government wiretaps, or criminal snooping. But a host of technical challenges with facilitating the calls themselves has slowed the spread of voice over internet protocol overall. Bandwidth is expensive. Firewalls and network filters make it harder to route data streams. Even basic call quality issues, like delays and echoes, prove difficult to fix. Adding encryption on top of all of this takes additional resources and specialized developers.

All of which has delayed encrypted calling but not stopped it. And a new groundswell of enthusiasm is bringing more options than ever.

The challenges of making reliable encrypted calling starts with the underlying premise of internet-based calls. Theyre hard. While VoIP calling has become more reliable over the years, it remains technically challenging in itself, especially when people use cellular data instead of more stable ethernet or Wi-Fi connections.

Despite those challenges, Signal, the well-regarded secure communication platform, has offered encrypted calling since 2014. And when WhatsApp followed in 2016, bringing encrypted calls and video chat to more than a billion users, it helped shake off some longstanding inertia. Other secure messaging apps like Wire and Telegram have added encrypted calling over the last year. Signal itself even rolled out call quality improvements in February.

Signal developer Open Whisper Systems open-sources its code, so that companies can borrow from it to build their own encrypted chat and calling features. For example, while WhatsApps overall setup is proprietary, it bases the key exchange for its end-to-end encrypted messages and calls on Signal Protocol. Its users have to trust that it is implementing true end to end encryption in the way it claims. In exchange it brings some form of end to end encryption to an enormous user base that would probably otherwise have little exposure to or protection from the feature. And customers who dont have faith in a large provider like WhatsApp now have other options, given the recent proliferation of both VoIP in general and encryption specifically.

Theres so much happening right now in this space which is really exciting, says Nathan Freitas, the founder and director of the Guardian Project, a privacy and security nonprofit that worked on an encrypted calling platform called Open Secure Telephony Network. In 2012 there was just Skype basically. Google Hangouts didnt even exist. FaceTime existed kind of. So were really happy when theres so much public innovation that includes privacy and security.

Though not nearly as much as there could be, if everyone could get on the same page.

As with messaging, end-to-end encrypted calls require that both ends of the conversation use the same system. In other words, using Signal to call a landline wont cut it; you need to connect with another Signal user. Given this reality, many developers naturally gravitate to implementing encryption in closed systems; its easier both to manage and monetize.

For users, though, this approach has downsides. Unless the developer makes the product fully open source, or allows for extensive independent auditing, theres no guarantee that the encryption implementation works as advertised. The lock-in factor also limits who you can safely communicate with, which slows adoption.

Imagine, instead, an open communication standard that includes end-to-end encryption. It would allow secure communication with more people between different products and interfaces, because the protocols facilitating the end to end encryption would be the same.

The Guardian Projects OSTN experiment attempted to create exactly that sort of comprehensive, open communication suite. It focuses on using existing open, interoperable communication standards, employing classic protocols like ZRTP, which was developed in the mid 2000s by PGP creator Phil Zimmerman, and SRTP, which was developed in the early 2000s at Cisco. It also coordinates and controls its voice calls using the Session Initiation Protocol, developed by the telecom industry in the mid 1990s.

That retro backbone didnt come by choice; there simply arent a lot of more modern open protocol options available. Most big VoIP plus encryption advances have come from private companies like Skype (now owned by Microsoft), Google, and Apple, who offer varying degrees of encryption protection for calls and tend to value locked-in users over interoperability. That left OSTN with old tools.

While theyre very powerful, these are things that are 10, 20, 30 years old in terms of the architecture and the thinking, Freitas says. Theyre definitely showing their age.

And while a few smaller services, like PrivateWave and Jitsi, have adopted OSTN, the decision by larger companies to go it alone has limited its open-protocol dreams. Thats especially a shame for people who need absolute guarantees of security.

With proprietary apps, it can be hard for a user to tell if end-to-end encryption is enabled on both ends. Or, in the case of apps whose encryption protocols have not been fully vetted, whether it works as advertised to begin with.

For mainstream services, crypto is a nice add-on to give users the idea that they can feel more secure, but thats completely different than when your [customers] are people who are under threat, says Bjoern Rupp, the CEO of the boutique German secure communication firm CryptoPhone. If you have to fear for your life, not all secure communication systems are designed for that.

Encryption die-hards can host their own system using open standards like OSTN, similar to how you might host your own email server. Though it takes some technical knowhow, its an option that gives users real control and that isnt possible with closed systems. Another option is to use a security first service like CryptoPhone that offers an integrated, one-stop solution.

CryptoPhones can only call other CryptoPhones, but the company made that choice so it could control the security and experience of both hardware and software. To reconcile this closed system with transparency, the company is open source and invites independent review. It also has over a decade of experience. CryptoPhone has been making high-end commercial products for secure voice calling for a long time, the Guardian Projects Freitas says. They had these crypto flip phones, which were awesome.

None of which leaves the average consumer with widespread encrypted calling that works across multiple services. There may be some help on the way, though, in the form of a new, open, decentralized communication standard called Matrix that includes end to end encryption for chat, VoIP calling, and more. Matrix could be a clean, easy to implement standard underlying other software. For instance, if Slack and Google Hangouts both used the Matrix standard, you would be able to Slack someone from Hangouts and vice versa, similar to how you can send emails to anyone using their email address, regardless of what provider they use.

The net owes its existence to open interoperability, says Matthew Hodgson, technical lead of Matrix. Then people build silos to capture value, which is fair enough, but you get to a saturation point where the silos start really stifling innovation and progress through monopolism.

The catch, of course, is getting buy-in from companies that have little incentive, or getting new services built on a standard like Matrix to take off. Walled gardens tend to produce more profit than open ones.

Still, having these new options is an important first step. And combined with the broader proliferation of encrypted voice-calling apps, change finally seems to be coming from a lot of directions at once. I think theres a longer-term project going on called the internet, Freitas says. Some of us still believe in it.

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BitTorrent Inventor Bram Cohen Will Start His Own Cryptocurrency – TorrentFreak

Posted: at 4:40 am

BitTorrent inventor Bram Cohen has already earned a spot in the Internet hall of fame, but he's not done yet. In recent years he's taken a strong interest in cryptocurrencies, something he will devote himself full-time to in the near future. This includes launching a new cryptocurrency which addresses some of the challenges facing Bitcoin.

BitTorrents inventor is known for his passion for puzzles, and more generally speaking, offering elegant solutions to complex problems through lines of code.

When Bram Cohen first launched BitTorrent he offered a solution to the bandwidth scarcity problem, by allowing anyone to distribute large files without having to invest in expensive infrastructure.

In recent years Cohen has closely followed the cryptocurrency boom. Not as a money hungry investor with dollar signs in his eyes, but as a programmer who sees problems that need solving.

In doing so, Cohen hasnt shied away from offering his opinions and suggestions. Most recently, he presented a paper and a talk at the Stanford blockchain conference, discussing proofs of space and proofs of time.

Without going into technical details, Cohen believes that Bitcoin is wasteful. He suggests that a cryptocurrency that pins the mining value on storage space rather than processor time will be superior.

In an interview with TorrentFreaks Steal This Show, Cohen revealed that his interest in cryptocurrencies is not merely abstract. It will be his core focus in the near future.

My proposal isnt really to do something to BitCoin. It really has to be a new currency, Cohen says. Im going to make a cryptocurrency company. Thats my plan.

By focusing on a storage based solution, BitTorrents inventor also hopes to address other Bitcoin flaws, such as the 51% attack.

Another benefit of storage based things is actually that theres a lot less centralization in mining. So theres a lot less concern about having a 51% attack, Cohen says.

Sometimes people have this misapprehension that Bitcoin is a democracy. No Bitcoin is not a democracy; its called a 51% attack for a reason. Thats not a majority of the vote, thats not how Bitcoin works.

While the idea of a storage based cryptocurrency isnt new, Burstcoin uses a similar concept, there is little doubt that Cohen believes he can do better. And with his status and contacts in the Bitcoin developer community, his project is likely to gain some eyeballs.

Before diving into it completely, Cohen will first finish up some other work at BitTorrent Inc. But after that, his full dedication will go into creating a superior cryptocurrency.

In the next few months Im going to devote myself full-time to the cryptocurrency stuff, Cohen concludes.

The full interview with Bran Cohen is available here, or on the Steal This Show website.

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Billionaire says he has 10% of his money in Bitcoin, Ether …

Posted: at 4:40 am

"Ten percent of my net worth is in this space," Novogratz said at a forum held at the Harvard Business School Club of New York Wednesday. He declined to say exactly how wealthy he is, but he's a former hedge fund manager at Fortress Investment Group and a Goldman Sachs partner who made the Forbes billionaire list in 2008.

It's the "best investment of my life," Novogratz said.

Bitcoin was worth under $500 a year ago. Today the digital currency trades at over $1,200. Back in 2013, Novogratz predicted Bitcoin's value would soar. He remembers people laughing at him at the time.

Since then, Bitcoin's price has been on a wild run. It surged to nearly $1,000 in late 2013 and then fell to under $250 in 2015. It started to fly again last year, around the time of the Brexit vote. It surpassed $1,000 in January of this year again and has kept climbing.

Now Novogratz is saying Bitcoin will go to $2,000.

But he also warned the Harvard Business School Club crowd that there will "likely be a bubble" in digital currencies. The best way to handle it, he argues, is the old Wall Street trick of diversification. Put a little money in a lot of different plays in digital currency.

Related: What is Bitcoin? Read CNN's explainer

For example, Novogratz was also an early investor in Ether. It's another digital currency that has quickly emerged as the No. 2 rival to Bitcoin. Novogratz says he bought Ether when it was trading for about $1. Today it's worth over $48.

Novogratz met Vitalik Buterin, the young Russian brainchild behind Ether at a dinner party at a prominent CEO's home. He recalls that Buterin, then 21, showed up late, which struck him as shocking -- and a bit ballsy. He figured it was worth paying attention to Buterin.

Ether is a currency with a "smart contract" function that gives users additional security and abilities to transfer information in addition to monetary value.

We're witnessing the "3rd inning" of this digital asset revolution, Novogratz predicts. He's not exactly sure how it will play out, but he plans to continue investing in digital currencies and Blockchain, the revolutionary technology behind the scenes that makes Bitcoin work.

Blockchain is literally a digital ledger to record and track transactions. What makes it so technologically advanced is that multiple companies or parties can access the Blockchain and see the history of what happened to an asset.

Related: Yext: The newest $1 billion tech company

Novogratz has emerged as one of the biggest Wall Street cheerleaders of Blockchain, but his bets haven't always gone so well. He exited Fortress in 2015 after the company shut down his Marco Fund for poor performance. It lost around 20% in its final year after his investments in emerging markets, especially Brazil, tanked.

"We have had an extremely challenging two years, and I do not believe the current environment is conducive to achieving our best results," Novogratz said at the time.

CNNMoney (New York) First published April 20, 2017: 12:44 PM ET

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New Dual Blockchain Crowdfund set to run … – news.bitcoin.com

Posted: at 4:40 am

This is a paid press release, which contains forward looking statements,and should be treated as advertising or promotional material. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support this product/service. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the press release.

Summary: MobileGo is the new dual blockchain token developed by Gamecredits . The MobileGo Crowdsale begins April 25th and will help finance and brand the Gamecredits Mobile Store. MobileGo will operate within the mobile platform and will use both the Ethereum and Waves blockchains.

GameCredits Inc has announced an affiliated crowdsale beginning April 25th at 3:00 PM UTC. The crowdsale is supporting MobileGo, the first dual blockchain cryptocurrency aimed at providing decentralized solutions to the mobile gaming industry. The three main solutions the innovative coin provides are a player to player virtual item marketplace, player run wager tournaments, and player vs player wager match-play. These technologies are launching inside of the GameCredits Mobile Store, leveraging the hundreds of games already signed up for the platform. A demo of the GameCredits Mobile Store GameCredits, done by VP of Business Operations Sergey Sholom can be seen in the Gamecredits Inc social outlets.

Currently, virtual item exchange and e-sports are fast growing billion dollar industries for PC gaming. However, there are no such solutions for mobile gaming, which is the fastest growing sector, projected to reach a whopping 80.6 billion dollars in size by 2020. These three sectors are currently untapped markets, meaning MobileGo could be the first to take them over. With this in mind, the MobileGo foundation will take 50% of all funds raised to advertise the GameCredits Mobile Store, acquiring millions of gamers to the platform at an industry average cost of $1.50 per gamer. MobileGo and GameCredits will work in unison to bring competitive gaming to phones around the globe.

MobileGo is gearing up to be one of the most promising blockchain technology projects of the year. The project consists of incredibly qualified people from a variety of fields. Two head developers Maxim and Sergey Sholom, have over 25 combined years of combined experience developing successful PC and Mobile games. The team also consists of cryptocurrency and big data experts innovating the tokens dual blockchain platform. In addition, the core product behind MobileGo, the GameCredits Mobile Store, is entirely developed. Investing in MobileGo means investing in the success of the GameCredits Mobile Store since 10% of all store profit will be used to buyback and burn MobileGo tokens.

Chief Marketing Officer of MobileGo Jon Comer had this to say about the unique development of MobileGo. Its important to realize weve been working on these projects for almost two years, with almost two million dollars in self-financing. Many blockchain projects have a desire to solve problems but are trying to solve problems from the outside in. MobileGo, on the other hand, has been a collaboration from the inside out. Essentially, experts from the gaming blockchain and gaming industries have joined forces to solve gaming industry problems using MobileGo.

The MobileGo foundation has also implemented a discount schedule. During the first week there is a 15% discount for investments made with BTC, ETH, WAVES, and USD, with an additional 7% discount for investments made in GAME. Registration and introduction to the MobileGo Crowdsale can be seen at https://getmobilego.com/crowdsale-investors-only/

This is a paid press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to thepromotedcompanyor any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release.

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Bitcoin traders are losing confidence in the rally – MarketWatch

Posted: at 4:40 am

As Bitcoins price is creeping back toward its all-time high, speculators are growing increasingly wary of the notion that its astonishing gains can be sustained.

The size of the total outstanding long positions on Bitfinex, one of a handful of large cryptocurrency exchanges that allows customers to buy and sell on margin, has shrunk to its lowest level since Sept. 15.

Meanwhile, the price of a single coin BTCUSD, +0.23% was hovering around $1,245 on Monday, leaving it within $40 of an all-time high reached in early March, when hopes that the Securities and Exchange Commission might soon approve the first bitcoin exchange-traded fund were still running high.

Since then, the agency has rejected two bitcoin ETF proposals. It is expected to issue a ruling on a third contender, the Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust, early in the third quarter.

Bitcoin has been largely stable even as support for a controversial software update called bitcoin unlimited has receded dramatically as developers have identified another bug in its code. The update would, if passes a threshold of 95% of the networks hashing power, increased the amount of transaction data that can be stored in each block of the bitcoin blockchain.

Bitfinexs customers are now long nearly 12,967 coins, while 18,775 coins are being held short. Positioning data like these are widely viewed as a counter indicator; that is, when bets against the currency rise, it raises the likelihood that any gains could be amplified as vulnerable investors scramble to buy back coins held short.

Read: Bitcoin bears ramp up bets virtual currency will fall

Read: Bitcoin touches record high as investors await SEC decision

Read: Heres whats next for bitcoin after the SEC killed the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust

Shorts surpassed longs earlier this month for the first time since February. The last time this happened, it preceded a nearly $300 rally in the price.

The blockchain is the cryptographically secured digital ledger that records all bitcoin transactions. A copy of the blockchain is stored by each computer node running the bitcoin software, and each transaction must first be independently approved by every node in the network before it can be confirmed.

After spending two years in the doldrums, bitcoin came roaring back in 2016 as the price more than doubled. The currency is up more than 30% so far this year.

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9 Things We Bought With Bitcoin – Huffington Post

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Youve got to admit that everyone likes to go shopping once in a while, whether its to buy that designer shirt youve been eyeing or those nifty gadgets you saw in a catalog the other day. To do this youve got to spend money. But what happens if you want to shop with cryptocurrency?

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that has gained popularity over the years. Here are 9 things you can buy with bitcoin:

Time to go out again. We still have our socks, but maybe we need new shoes? Normally having leather shoes handcrafted for your foot size and shape cost a fortune, but in Iran, with its fine leather and shoe industry, these high quality products are affordable.

Interestingly the sanctions against Iran dont make it illegal to import shoes (unless you are American, maybe). But it does make it impossible to send payments. In this case, we literally have no other option than to pay with Bitcoin.

Ever wanted to visit North Korea? The China-based travel agency Young Pioneer Tours has 9 years of experience of organizing tours to North Korea, and can help you with flights, hotels, visa and a tour guide. Its difficult to make a wire transfer to China, so Bitcoin is our natural choice of payment.

Okay, we get it, Bitcoin is awesome. We constantly want to talk about it, tell others about our trip to North Korea, and how we were able to tweet pictures the entire trip from one of the most heavily locked down countries on earth.

But doing so would make us a bit annoying. We head over to South Korean company Kimchi Socks to buy their Bitcoin branded socks. That way, maybe people will notice and ask about Bitcoin themselves? Bitcoin socks, paid with Bitcoin. We are so much fun at parties!

So now we have shoes from Iran, been to North Korea and have these stylish new socks. Why put shoes on again? Why not just make your work life a whole lot better with some awesome office gadgets?

Gadgets and toys are enjoyed all around the world by people of all age, color and gender. But not everyone has a credit card to pay for it. Bitcoin to the rescue.

Quickly after the first game we realize we might need a better monitor. There are tons of places online that sell monitors for Bitcoins. Rakuten, Overstock, Dell, Tiger Direct and others.

Do you know that feeling when you make yourself coffee while playing a video game, and then you forget you made it and now its cold? That happens with tea as well, but cold tea is still delicious. Just put some Ice cubes inside! No idea how to combine ice cubes and Bitcoin, but for the tea, head to Beautiful Taiwan Tea.

VPNs are meant to protect our privacy and data when we browse the web from a coffee shop or airport Wi-Fi. Many of us live in countries that actively monitor and censor the internet, and a logless VPN protects us.

For more privacy, it makes perfect sense to not use your credit card (which is connected to your real name), but instead the pseudonymous currency Bitcoin.

No matter if you want jewelry for yourself or as a gift, Reeds takes Bitcoins and ships to wherever you are.

At the end of the day, why not donate your Bitcoins to one of over 10,000 charities in the United Kingdom? With Proof of Donation, you are issued a cryptographic receipt that irrefutably proves you did good. With Bitcoin.

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North Korea May Be Responsible for Recent Spate of Bitcoin Attacks – Investopedia

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North Korea May Be Responsible for Recent Spate of Bitcoin Attacks
Investopedia
Bitcoin offers a number of potential advantages over other types of currency. It is decentralized, by necessity digital, easily transacted, and more. On the other hand, though, the requirement that Bitcoin be tied with a digital footprint means that ...

and more »

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Network Congestion Not an Issue for Bitcoin in Africa – Bitcoin Magazine

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The Bitcoin network has seen a sharp increase in U.S. dollar denominated transaction fees and the average amount of time it takes for a transaction to receive its first confirmation over the past year due to blocks becoming increasingly full. While some have claimed these perceived issues are extremely detrimental to the adoption of Bitcoin in developing countries, Bitwala CEO Jrg von Minckwitz told Bitcoin Magazine that this is not necessarily true.

Bitwala is a Bitcoin-focused international money transfer startup that also aims to provide blockchain-based banking services that are accessible to anyone on any part of the planet.

According to Minckwitz, the changes in the Bitcoin network over the past year have not had much effect on the particular types of use cases that have become popular on the African continent. Bitwala as a company also likes Bitcoin as it exists today, although they believe off-chain solutions such as the lightning network are the right path forward in terms of future improvements to the network.

What Is Bitcoin Used for in Africa?

According to Minckwitz, North Africa is the most popular region of the continent when it comes to new signups and website visits; however, the Bitcoin startup is also seeing a daily rise in signups and generally increased interest from users in other areas.

According to data recently released by Bitwala, 30 percent of their new signups are coming from a combination of Africa and South East Asia.

Bitcoin is also becoming very popular in Sub-Saharan and East Africa where it fills the need to serve underbanked communities and where the cryptocurrency steps in place of sometimes absent currencies, Minckwitz said.

Minckwitz went on to claim that Bitwala has seen a lot of businesses, especially in Nigeria, that utilize bitcoin to provide bank-like services such as offering loans.

Bitwala has emerged to fill the gap left by money transfer intermediaries and banks when it comes to cheaper and faster international transfers, Minckwitz said. Although we cannot tell for sure, judging by the amounts transferred, people in Africa are using Bitwala for sending money to friends and family, but business-like transactions are also on the rise.

In a past interview with CoinJournal, Kenya-based fintech blogger Michael Kimani shared similar statements, noting the use of Bitcoin for filling the gaps between the various online payment systems in the country.

Bitcoins Network Congestion Not Causing Problems in Africa

When asked if Bitwala has been negatively affected by higher fees and longer confirmation times on the Bitcoin network, Minckwitz bluntly responded, To be honest, no.

We like Bitcoin as it is and we dont see higher fees as a threat, Minckwitz continued. Higher fees make companies [optimize] their payment flows. Many transactions of a day-to-day life dont need to be settled on chain. With higher fees, the spam (useless transactions) on chain gets reduced, which is in our opinion a good thing. Bitcoin was not meant to be a payment network. It is the value that the payment network should carry.

Some in the Bitcoin community would dispute the claim that the P2P digital cash system was never meant to be a payment network. After all, the introduction of the Bitcoin white paper discusses the need for an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust.

Having said that, the earliest of adopters, such as cypherpunk Hal Finney, who received the first-ever bitcoin transaction from Satoshi Nakamoto, have also noted the digital commoditys gold-esque properties, which could signify its importance as a store of value.

In Minckwitzs view, the bigger Bitcoin companies should settle their bitcoin payments in a manner similar to how traditional banks work today, at least for now. They calculate their debt or balance during the day and once a day they do one transfer instead of hundreds back and forth all day long, he explained.

I think it all comes down to the perspective, Minckwitz continued. When you take a look at the current system in Africa, it is way worse than Bitcoins transaction fees. When you transfer money to Africa with Bitcoin it is just a fraction of the amount you pay for companies that serve Africa at the moment.

Minckwitz added that the use of bitcoin as a store of value in Africa should also not be forgotten. Most countries in Africa have really unstable currencies, so sometimes they lose almost everything overnight, he said. We see Bitcoin as the first solution where they are in charge themselves.

Scaling Bitcoin via Off-Chain Solutions

From Minckwitzs perspective, the best path forward for scaling Bitcoin is through the use of off-chain solutions. In addition to having users improve the organization of their payment flows and the bank-esque settlement techniques mentioned previously, Minckwitz would like to see this process improved further through the adoption of Segregated Witness and the lightning network.

It enables people [to] do transactions off chain during a certain time period, Minckwitz said of the lightning network. In the end of this period, there is one transaction on chain to rebalance the accounts. That is an infinite scalable solution and proven since it is in a similar way commonly used today in the banking system already, so I think that is the way to go.

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What Is a Bitcoin Worth? — The Motley Fool – Motley Fool

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Bitcoin has existed for less than a decade, but it has achieved amazing popularity across the globe, and its value has risen along with its use. Shortly after its creation in 2009, one could buy the virtual currency for less than a penny per bitcoin. Now, a bitcoin is worth about $1,250, and many believe that the upward trend for bitcoin could continue indefinitely. Despite there being plenty of skepticism about the inherent value of bitcoin, the currency has survived dramatic volatility without losing favor among its core users.

During the first couple of years of its existence, bitcoin saw dramatic gains in price. From its penny valuation in 2009, bitcoin rose to $0.10 by 2010 and first hit the $1 mark in early 2011. That ignited a huge wave of new demand for bitcoin, sending the currency up to more than $10 by mid-2011.

Image source: Getty Images.

Yet at that point, bitcoin showed its propensity for big ups and downs. Within just a few months, bitcoin prices dropped 80%, punishing those who had gotten in at the top and were looking for quick gains. Still, those who stuck with bitcoin earned back their losses, with the currency reaching the $10 mark again in late 2012.

From there, the next wave of interest in bitcoin took the currency to the $100 mark and beyond, climbing to nearly $200 by early 2013. The bankruptcy of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange briefly took a big toll on prices, cutting bitcoin's value in half, but before the year was out, the digital currency climbed above $1,000 as market participants increasingly believed that bitcoin would achieve global currency status and prove to be a better alternative to traditional government-issued currency. The frequency of financial crises across the globe during the first several years of bitcoin's history certainly helped feed that theory and added to bitcoin's appeal.

Since then, bitcoin has remained volatile, but not to the same extent as it was earlier in its existence. Prices sank to around $200 in 2015, but the currency picked up steam again more recently. This year, bitcoin regained the $1,000 level and has climbed as high as nearly $1,300.

One concern that some have expressed about bitcoin is that the currency has no intrinsic value. Gold coins, by contrast, represent a given weight of an actual commodity with practical applications, and gold investors take comfort in the fact that their bullion is worth something beyond monetary terms. That's not true of bitcoin, which one receives as a reward for solving complex mathematical problems.

Yet bitcoin advocates note that the same is true of paper currency. It used to be that Federal Reserve notes were tied to the value of gold or silver, but those days are long gone. Just as a dollar bill only has whatever value a buyer and seller assign to it, so too does bitcoin have practical value to the extent that those who make exchanges of the digital currency agree on what it's worth.

One reason why bitcoin has become more valuable likely has to do with the fact that one can use it more widely now than early in its history. Many major technology and retail companies accept bitcoin in the same way they would older currencies, and small businesses have jumped on the bitcoin bandwagon as well. Moreover, with relatively low transaction fees for transfers, bitcoin has become a popular way to move money while avoiding the costly charges that banks and other financial institutions often impose.

Bitcoin has seen dramatic price increases recently, but the one thing investors in the currency can be certain of is that volatility in both directions will continue. With some calling for continued exponential growth in the value of bitcoin while others believe it's a bubble waiting to burst, the market for bitcoin is sure to be exciting for the foreseeable future.

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