Daily Archives: May 9, 2017

Bitcoin is still leading the cryptocurrency world, but isless dominant than it was a few years ago (Credit: mdorottya/Depositphotos)

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin may seem to be the fad that keeps coming back every year or so, but a new study finds they may be much bigger than previously thought. Even before the price of Bitcoin hit new record highs in recent weeks, a landmark study out of the University of Cambridge found that cryptocurrencies are actively used by three times as many people compared to other estimates.

The Global Cryptocurrency Benchmarking Study released this month is based on data collected between September 2016 and January 2017. It puts the estimated number of unique active cryptocurrency wallet users at between 2.9 million and 5.8 million.

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The nature of cryptocurrency can make it difficult to perform any sort of reliable census of users. A 2015 report from Juniper Research put the total user base at 1.3 million, but the new Cambridge report claims to provide some of the first hard data on the size of the industry.

The study is based on data gathered from over 100 cryptocurrency companies in 38 countries, providing a snapshot of an estimated 75 percent of all cryptocurrency activity.

"Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin have been seen by some as merely a passing fad or insignificant, but that view is increasingly at odds with the data we are observing," says co-author Dr. Garrick Hileman at Cambridge Judge Business School.

Other notable findings include the growth of new cryptocurrency Ether that is largely responsible for a dip in Bitcoin's dominance, which is down to 72 percent of the total cryptocurrency market from 86 percent just two years ago. It also finds that China and the United States dominate when it comes to the origin of much of the currency that is "mined" via a processor-intensive number-crunching process.

"Currently, the combined market value of all cryptocurrencies is nearly $40 billion, which represents a level of value creation on the order of Silicon Valley success stories like Airbnb," Dr. Hileman says in a foreword to the study.

Despite all that value, cryptocurrencies aren't making much of a dent when it comes to creating jobs. The study finds just a few thousand people are employed full-time in the industry.

Source: University of Cambridge [1], [2]

More here:
Study puts cryptocurrencies market at triple the size of earlier estimates - New Atlas

Cryptocurrency has been a controversial solution to the economic problems several developed and developing countries are facing. Here we discuss both the risks and opportunities blockchain technologies bring. The Bitcoin Argument

Even the mere mention of Bitcoin evokes mixed response[s] among seasoned economists according to NewsBTS. There are those who call Bitcoin revolutionary, while others discredit its potential, calling it a giant pyramid scheme.

Watch Forbes Video: Getting Rid Of Pocket Money

However, in places like Venezuela where people are living off a government-issued stipend that equates to about $6 per month Bitcoin has proved to be much more reliable than national banks for handling day to day transactions.

According to Crypto Coin News, the Venezuelan government suddenly, unilaterally, [and] without any apparent due process declared 100 Venezuelan Bolivar notes (worth around two cents in October of last year) to be completely worthless in December 2016.

This problem was almost certainly compounded by the three highly variable exchange rates Venezuelans must choose from (the elite market, the common market, and the widely used black market).

The end result? Even the highest denominations of the bolivar are now so worthless citizens of Venezuela have taken to weighing (rather than counting) their bills.

But Venezuela isnt the only nation facing an imminent economic crisis.

According to Frisco dAnconia, a West African native and writer for Crypto Coin News, Zimbabwes inflation rate was estimated at an unimaginable 79.6 billion percent by as early as 2008.

This was the era where Zimbabwe bank notes varied from 10 to 100 Billion Zimbabwean dollars, dAnconia reflects.

By 2009, economic instability forced Zimbabwe to adopt the U.S. Dollar. However, without ready access to U.S.dollars, the Zimbabwean government created a strict daily withdrawal limit of just $50 per day.

Last year, the introduction of bond notes helped resolve hyperinflation somewhat but did nothing to fix the limited availability of currency. According to dAnconia, daily withdrawal limits are still in place, and (depending on the bank) those limits could either fall even lower (to $30 a day) or banks could close their ATMs altogether (now a common practice).

Remember, these arent the only examples of hyperinflation throughout history.

If you remember seeing wheelbarrows filled with cash from the Weimar Republic following World War I, you should be able to recognize just how quickly an economic problem like this can turn into a social, global, and political disaster.

Bitcoin isnt the only cryptocurrency out there; As of today, there are over 824 unique cryptocurrencies participating in the e-commerce market.

In fact, the total market cap for cryptocurrency stands at: $48,567,465,937USD

According to Forbes, many Venezuelans are turning to Bitcoin as an alternative. Some of the benefits of cryptocurrency they describe include:

That is not to say that Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) currently possess optimal economic scaffolding.

As Forbes notes, cryptocurrency transaction fees can vary widely and (in the case of Bitcoin) are far too high to benefit developing nations. Platforms like BitSquare are free and decentralized, and there are not obvious transaction fees. However, banking fees and currency conversions will still eventually cost the buyer.

On the other hand, for some developed nations, Bitcoin is viewed as too volatile.

However, BTC News reports that cryptocurrency has already proven its capabilities in the African continent by making financial services accessible to the unbanked and underbanked.

A number of cryptocurrency critics, including economists and government officials, are weary of a hypothetical flaw in blockchain technology (the process that dictates cryptocurrency transactions) called a 51% Attack. There is also a worry that quantum computers will present a security danger to cryptocurrency systems, but this is also still a hypothetical.

According to Investopedia, this attack leaves market participants open to:

miners controlling more than 50% of the networks mining hashrate, or computing power. The attackers would be able to prevent new transactions from gaining confirmations, allowing them to halt payments between some or all users. They would also be able to reverse transactions that were completed while they were in control of the network, meaning they could double-spend coins.

Even though this attack is still theoreticalother similar hacks have been executed using Bitcoin in the past. As Joo Ian Wong, technology reporter for Quartz, remarks:

The history of bitcoin exchanges is Darwinian, marked by abrupt failures triggered by security breaches. If you run a big bitcoin exchange, its usually a question of when, not if, your defenses will be breached.

However, many cryptocurrencies have created potential workarounds to safeguard against excessive mining.

In fact, Coin Market Cap currently shows 380 cryptocurrencies that are not minable. Only 16 of the 824 known cryptocurrencies have been significantly mined in the past.

Moreover, mining and cryptocurrency exchange can be difficult for most people to execute in such a complex way. They must know how to manipulate bitcoin marketplaces and currency exchanges in highly intricate wayssomething the major population of a developing country would be hard pressed to find time to do.

Still, there are several possible solutions for improving global cryptocurrency security measures including:

Because the World Bank works largely with poor and developing countries, what this partnership could mean is that instead of working on an individual competitive scale for currency rates, these developing countries could pool their currency values and participate in a fairer economic market.

In addition to assisting developing nations to stabilize their currency, cryptocurrency could ease or prevent international conflicts.

In 2015, Greece was scheduled to rollout 1,000 Bitcoin ATMs in an effort to relieve their ongoing financial crisis.

However, that proposed rollout appears to have been either delayed or canceled altogether. Right now, there are only two Bitcoin ATMs available in all of Greece, according to Bitcoin ATM Radar.

In fact, The Guardian reports that negotiations between Athens and their creditors have come to a grinding halt. As Helena Smith reports that:

The possibility of Grexit, or euro exit, has re-emerged and bond yields have soared. The yield on two-year Greek government bonds has risen from 6% to 10% in less than two weeks as spooked investors have dumped their holdings. And the shrill rhetoric last seen at the height of the crisis in 2015 has returned.

As in the case of Zimbabwe, Argentina, and Venezuela, Greece could potentially pull itself back from the brink of disaster by incorporating cryptocurrency into their economy.

Since negotiations are at a standstill, working with the World Bank & the United Nations to set guidelines on the usage of cryptocurrencies could very well spell a fresh start for Greeces the Grecians turbulent economic and social climate.

Excerpt from:
Cryptocurrencies Help Stabilize Economies - Edgy Labs (blog)

MCAP is a mining and ICO token launched by BitcoinGrowthFund (BGF) which is a Blockchain based Venture Capital Fund.

MCAP is a mining and ICO token launched by BitcoinGrowthFund (BGF) which is a Blockchain based Venture Capital Fund. BGF is a kick-starter where customers can own equity in the form of tokens in various investment opportunities.

BGF launched the sale of MCAP tokens on the 27th of April and took the Blockchain world by surprise by raising over $4 million in 10 days. The sale of MCAP tokens will end when we reach the sale cap or when the number of tokens released is exhausted. MCAP will be available to the public for trading on various platforms in the coming month.

The Blockchain community is showing a keen interest in our token sale and many members have been kind enough to offer their support and invest in our MCAP tokens.

As the public is slowly becoming more aware about the cryptocurrencies circulating in the market, more people have started investing in coins such as Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin etc.

In the recent months, the price of Bitcoin has gone from $954 to a little over $1500 and predictions are that by the end of 2017, Bitcoin will see an increase of nearly 150% of its price in March 17. Similarly, other cryptocurrencies such as Ether, Litecoin, Zcash etc. have also witnessed an exponential increase in their price.

We at Bitcoin Growth Fund have realised the potential profits which can be generated from mining and have developed an algorithm to calculate which cryptocurrency would be most profitable to mine at any given moment based on various parameters.

Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is the latest development in the market to raise funds for projects where companies raise money through tokens to invest in other avenues.

According to the recent article published in Forbes by Roger Aitken, the boom in cryptocurrencies by the end of 2017 will outpace bitcoin by a wide margin and their mining will yield substantial returns.

With MCAP tokens, our aim is to enable the average user to be able to earn huge returns in the long run by investing in one single coin rather than investing in multiple cryptocurrencies and hoping for their price to increase.

With the money raised through the sale of our MCAP tokens, BGF will invest in the mining of Bitcoin & other alt-coins along with investing in other ICOs. With the growing market cap and gradually increasing trading volumes of cryptocurrencies, our development team at BGF has developed algorithms to help us decide which alt-coin to mine at any time to get maximum profits.

Once released onto several trading platforms, supply and demand will be the only factors affecting the price of MCAP tokens. Our token is the best possible long term investment for customers as the MCAP tokens will surely yield huge returns and we hope to see the price of each of our tokens increase to $70 once the users start buying and selling MCAP tokens.

BGF is offering lucrative discounts to the early buyers of MCAP tokens. Kindly refer to the website link for more details.

Read more from the original source:
MCAP: The New Buzz in the Cryptocurrency World - NewsBTC - newsBTC

People involved in the world of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency eventually exhibit traits of OCD. To be more specific, there are people who suffer from obsessive Cryptocurrency Disorder. Given all of the hype and excitement surrounding this industry, that is anything but surprising. However, it can cause quite some issues regarding mental health and reduce ones social life to a bare minimum.

Outsiders often underestimate the willpower it takes to not look at cryptocurrency trading charts all day. As soon as someone owns a Bitcoin or alternative cryptocurrency, they will want to keep tabs on the price. That is only normal, even though things may not change all that much over the course of a day. To be more specific, a lot of volatility has left the cryptocurrency scene as of late, although some currencies are still subject to massive trade swings.

Keeping track of a cryptocurrencyportfolios value is not all that difficult either. In most cases, it starts out by opening a separate tab on one of the computer screens where a chart is updating in real-time. Some traders and enthusiasts even dedicate a second or third monitor to cryptocurrency price charts to keep tabs on things. While that is not necessarily disturbing, it can affect productivity by quite a margin.

Mobile phones are also a great tool to keep track of a cryptocurrencys value. Multiple mobile exchange and trading apps exist, all of which have some form of API that can be used as a phone widget. Simply turn on your screen to see the current Bitcoin or altcoin price you are looking for. Once again, it seems innocent at first, but it quickly becomes second nature.

This is how Obsessive Cryptocurrency Disorder starts to manifest itself. When things like checking a coins price are part of your daily routine, it only is a matter of time until the urge to do so becomes overwhelming. Price watching is a disease, as one Reddit user aptly points out. It is difficult to not get swept up in all of the excitement when the candles turn green, or the despair when things head south.

In fact, a lot of cryptocurrency enthusiasts suffer from Obsessive Cryptocurrency Disorder, yet fail to recognize it. Being involved in Bitcoin and altcoins involves checking prices, which only seems natural to us. However, in some cases, it starts eating at peoples lives, costing them sleep, reducing their productivity, and even affecting their social life. while a large part of our society is always checking their phones, it has become problematic when someone keeps glaring at charts and mumbling to themselves, though.

Obsessive Cryptocurrency Disorder is just like any other thing people can get excited about, though. Grabbing for a phone, tablet, or any other electronic device to look up specific information or connect to the world has become a daily routine for most of us in this day and age of digitization. We need to find a way to deal with this new type of OCD, though, as it is not a healthy development by any means.

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What is Obsessive Cryptocurrency Disorder? The Merkle - The Merkle