Monthly Archives: July 2017

Steep decline in cryptocurrency market has miners dumping their … – PC Gamer

Posted: July 18, 2017 at 3:49 am

Ethereum, one of the most popular cryptocurrencies, is becoming more difficult to mine. At the same time, volatility is rearing its welcome head, and the value of Ethereum is now less than half of what it was around a month ago. As a result, profitability is way down, and some miners are putting their GPUs up for sale on second-hand sites such as Ebay, CoinDesk reports.

While it is difficult to predict anything when it comes to cryptocurrencies, we are cautiously optimistic that GPU pricing should start trending back to normal in the coming weeks. That could change at the drop of the hat, of course, but with the way things are now, miners are less motivated to stock up on GPUs and mine Ethereum.

That was not the case a month ago when Ethereum reached an all-time high of $300 before recording another high of more than $400 a short while later. More and more miners jumped on the crytpocurrency bandwagon in hopes of making some extra dough, and maybe even eventually striking it rich, as some early adopters of Bitcoin did. But since then, Ethereum has fallen in value, declining to a low of $133 over the weekend. It's currently trading at around $170-$180.

It has also become more difficult to mine over the past month. Have a look at the steep trend line from the beginning of June until now:

From our vantage point, the difficulty in mining has caused about a 10 percent drop in profitability, while the falling price has made Ethereum mining 50 percent (or more) less profitable. Power costs remain constant, so where an RX 580 might have grossed up to $5 per day next last month, it will now only gross around $1.70. That means instead of a net profit of $4, it's now down to a net gain only $1.25 (at a power cost of $0.10 per kWh). Generally speaking, it looks like a typical miner might have to wait six months or more to pay for a GPU hardware investment, compared to two or three months.

This is a good thing for gamers. While crytpocurrencies like Bitcoin (SHA256) are far more easily mined on ASIC hardware, othere's like Ethereum (Dagger-Hashimoto) and ZCash (Equihash) use algorithms that are resistant to ASIC hardware. Combined with Ethereum's spiking value, miners went running for the hills with as many GPUs as they could carry in what became a modern day gold rush.

This resulted in a shortage of many desirable graphics cards from both AMD and Nvidia. The best bang-for-buck options for gaming are also great options for mining, but there just aren't enough parts to meet the demand of both markets. Cards like the Radeon RX 570 have been out of stock or grossly overpriced by third-party vendors, such as this Gigabyte Aorus Radeon RX 570 going for $550. And that's not even the most expensive RX 570 SKU out there. PowerColor's Red Devil variant is listed on Newegg (through a third-party) for $639.

It's a crazy situation, but here's hoping that recent events restore some sanity to the graphics card market. There's an RX 580 8GB currently in stock at Newegg for 'only' $310, which is still way over MSRP, but the coming weeks should see inventories and prices start to return to normal. If you'd rather not wait for inventory levels to even out, you can also check second-hand sites for deals.

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Trading Cryptocurrency the eToro Way – newsBTC

Posted: at 3:49 am

Digital currencies are decentralized, peer to peer currencies that are not influenced by the actions of governments or central banks. They run on open source platforms, and can be traded against fiat currencies, or as funds, at leading trading platforms. Blockchain technology has revolutionized e-commerce and financial services, and more banks are adopting this dynamic technology to process financial transactions.

Digital currencies have come a long way since inception after the global financial crisis of 2008/2009. Bitcoin was created by Satoshi Nakamoto, an individual, or group of individuals, who have since disappeared from the scene. Their legacy remains however, with a myriad of digital currencies now available on the market. These include Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum and hundreds of others which are rapidly garnering the attention of e-commerce retailers, traders, banks, financial institutions, and even regulatory authorities around the world.

One of the worlds premier financial trading platforms, eToro has launched a CryptoFund. This fund tracks the activity of cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin and others. The precise asset allocation in the CryptoFund is as follows:

The bulk of the CryptoFund 84% is comprised of Bitcoin, Ripple and Ethereum. In June, the fund tracked negatively with losses of 4.65%, followed by month-to-date declines in July of 25.64%. The eToro CryptoFund is a trading option, meaning that registered clients can benefit from price movements in the fund regardless of direction. At eToro, there are currently over $300,000 worth of assets under management (daily reading) with the CryptoFund, with hundreds of traders.

Since this is a CopyFund, it is possible to follow successful traders, copy their trades and profit accordingly. The increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies is a result of several factors, notably their increasing adoption in e-commerce, their rarity, and the anonymity that is afforded to traders. Compared to fiat currency which is completely controlled by governments and central banks, cryptocurrency offers multiple trading opportunities. This fund has a market capitalization of at least $1 billion with monthly trading volumes in excess of $20 million.

eToro management carefully monitors the individual components of the fund and if any of them dips beneath $1 billion, or if trading volumes are less than $20 million, a currency could be dropped from the fund. The cryptocurrency with the highest market capitalization is Bitcoin at $40 billion, but others like Ethereum and Litecoin also have high market capitalizations. The precise weighting assigned to individual currencies in the fund is determined by the portfolio manager at eToro.

The Crypto Copyfund is traded as a CFD (contract for difference) which is a derivative trading instrument. eToro management protects traders with the limits imposed on the daily trading activity of the CryptoFund. If the limit is exceeded, the funds trading activity will be closed for the day. This is done to maintain stability in trading activity, much like the major indices on Wall Street.

eToro is a strictly regulated financial trading enterprise. Only traders from accepted jurisdictions can register, deposit, and trade cryptocurrency online. In the United Kingdom, eToro is registered by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and operates under the name eToro UK. The minimum required deposit is $5,000, and clients are required to be UK residents.

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Bitcoin slides below $2000 as cryptocurrency selloff continues – MarketWatch

Posted: at 3:49 am

The price of the digital currency bitcoin fell over the weekend, dropping below $2,000 and farther away from its June highs, part of a broad selloff in dozens of cryptocurrencies, including ether.

Bitcoin on Sunday traded as low as $1,836, according to news and research site CoinDesk, down about 8% on the day, and almost 40% from its high of $3,018 on June 11. Meanwhile, ether, the currency used on the Ethereum network, traded as low as $155 on Sunday, down about 60% from its high of $395 on June 13.

Prices were lower across the board on Sunday, most notably for the tokens created via the so-called initial coin offering, or ICO, process.

The selloffs are yet another stark reminder that for all the potential and promise in these new kinds of digital assets, they remain highly speculative trading vehicles. The markets around them are still relatively immature and illiquid, resulting in extremely volatile trading.

An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.

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Bitcoin Jumps as Miners Take First Step to Avoid Currency Split – Bloomberg

Posted: at 3:49 am

Bitcoin reversed steep losses as miners began using new software which aims to bridge an ideological gap that has threatened to divide the cryptocurrency.

The price of bitcoin rose as high as $2,248 before trading at $2,232 as of 3:55 p.m. in Tokyo. The digital currency slumped to as low as $1,758 at the weekend on Coinbases exchange.

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Bitcoins community has been at bitter odds for more than two years about how to solve its scaling problem, which has hampered the cryptocurrencys growth and allowed rivals like ethereum to steal some of the spotlight. The new software, known as SegWit2x, is seen as a compromise for the two sides of the debate: miners who act as the backbone of the blockchain, and developers known as Core who uphold bitcoins bug-free software. While both sides have incentives to reach a consensus, bitcoins lack of central authority has made reaching agreement difficult.

SegWit2x was formally released over the weekend and has already gained adoption by large miners Antpool, BTCC and Bixin. About 55 percent of blocks mined in the last 24 hours were done with SegWit2x, according to coin.dance, which monitors blockchain activity.

If support reaches 80 percent and maintains that threshold from more than two days, it will move bitcoin closer to avoiding a split.

Traders are excited by the prospect of a resolution to the scaling debate, which is why the price has rallied, said Thomas Glucksmann, head of marketing at Hong Kong-based bitcoin exchange Gatecoin.

Read more about bitcoins civil war.

Despite the progress with SegWit2x, some warned that bitcoin isnt out of the woods yet. Many Core members still vehemently oppose the software, which they say hasnt been properly vetted for bugs. Also, not all miners support SegWit2x, which they say is a flawed compromise that doesnt solve the root scaling problem.

This price rally is a bounce, we are very bearish in the near term for a number of reasons, said Harry Yeh, managing partner at digital currency dealer Binary Financial, who cites the lack of support from Core developers as one of his biggest worries. Anytime the price rockets up quickly, it will be followed by a strong correction which we are starting to see. We are definitely headed for some turbulent and volatile times in the short term.

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Bitcoin Falls Below $2000 – Bloomberg

Posted: at 3:49 am

Bitcoin fell below $2,000 for the first time since May amid anxiety its dominant status is under threat.

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Asenthusiasts consider adopting competing updates to the blockchain technology that underpins the exchange method by the end of July, it has raised the possibility of the cryptocurrency splitting in two. Bitcoin has lost about a third of its value since peaking at about $3,000 last month. Calls for a revamp of the software come as exchanges struggled to keep up with rising volumes while the price almost tripled this year.

Bitcoin isnt the only one struggling as the two competing camps -- miners and developers -- are facing off over how to deal with increasing transaction times and processing fees. The 30 largest cryptocurrencies have all suffered declines over the past seven days,according to data from coinmarketcap.com. Bitcoin has lost about 20 percent of its market value, while the second-biggest digital coin -- ethereum -- has lost 30 percent.

Cryptocurrency exchange GDAX said it anticipates temporarily suspending bitcoin deposits and withdrawals after the Aug. 1 software update deadline, and may also pause trading.

"In either scenario we will implement safeguards to ensure the safety of our customers funds," the exchange said in a July 13 post on its website. "This decision will be based on our assessment of the technical risks posed by the fork, such as replay attacks and other factors that could create network instability."

Read more on how bitcoin is perplexing analysts.

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The Bitcoin Scaling Countdown: Miners Begin Running Segwit2x Software – Bitcoin News (press release)

Posted: at 3:49 am

It seems July 17 has initiated the beginning steps towards Segwit2x activation as the code has been released and miners who supported the New York Agreement (NYA) have started running the new BTC1 software.

Also read:A Brief Glimpse Into the Lives of Chinese Bitcoin Miners

As the price of bitcoin dropped to new lows this weekend, some bitcoin proponents were patiently waiting for the promised BTC1 software. Now it seems in a short period of time the bitcoin community may see the protocol Segregated Witness (Segwit) activated as the mining community has begun to signalBIP91. The proposal BIP91 is a combination of Segwit2x and BIP148. The version 1.14.4code has been pushed to the repository by the Segwit2x working group, and a few mining pools have already started running the protocol. The China-based Bitmain technologies announced their support via Twitter by stating;

All of our bitcoin mining pools will start running the new Segwit2x software today

Other mining pools signaling and mining BIP91 blocks include Bixin, Antpool, BTC.com, Bitfury, and Bitclub so far. Now spectators are waiting for other pools like BTCC, F2pool, Slush, and a few others to join. Back in June Bitcoin.com reported on how a vast majority of the hashrate was signaling their initial support for Segwit2x. Miners running the new BTC1 software and currently signaling BIP91 means that if enough hashrate reaches over 80 percent and continues for a 336 block period, Segwit will lock in. If all is successful, this will then lead to another 336 block period that will activate the Segwit protocol on the main chain.

Its still a bit early and hard to gauge the overall sentiment of bitcoiners, but there are definitely a lot of individuals on forums and social media who support the Segwit2x plan. For instance, Fred Wilson, managing partner at Union Square Ventures revealed he favored Segwit2x adoption on July 17 via the investors blog.

I am for the Segwit2x proposal and hope that we see it broadly adopted later this month, explains Wilson. There is a chance that doesnt happen, and a user activated soft fork (UASF) could be used to force Segwit into the market. I personally hope that a user activated soft fork doesnt happen as it would create a lot of turbulence.

Rootstock Chief Scientist, Sergio Demian Lerner also states his opinion of the Segwit2x compromise revealing he doesnt believe the intention is to fire core programmers, which is one of the conspiracies that has been spread around the community.

In my humble opinion the New York Agreement wanted to start from Bitcoin Core 0.14 because the group wants core to keep leading Bitcoin, explains the Rootstock developer and initial creator of the Segwit2x proposal.

It doesnt try to be the next core If NYA intention was to dump Core, they would have started from BU or Bitcoin Classic or they would have removed the witness discount

Further Sergio Demian Lerner details that he knows Segwit isnt perfect but he doesnt think perfection is obtainable anyway.

I audited Segwit in 2016. Found problems. Code far from perfect. HOWEVER I DO support Segwit because I dont believe in perfection, says the Rootstock engineer. You have to know the actual code in detail to say you know Segwit. Thats the problem with Segwit. Thats a community fault.

There are still those who vehemently disagree with the progression of BTC1 and are showing sole support for either UASF or UAHF,vowing never to compromise. However, gauging sentiment viaTwitter or Reddit forums is a horrible metric, and the only things that matters now in this debateare the actions from the networks participants, rather than mere internet chatter.

People are also discussing the next step of the Segwit2x plan after the Segregated Witness protocol is implemented, which is the 2MB hard fork. The hard fork subject is also a contentious topic, and people are wondering if NYA participants will still support the hard fork after Segwit gets implemented. If Segwit2x continues to be agreed upon then exactly 12,960 blocks (~3 months) after Segwit activates The hard fork will commence.

Now if mining pools continue to do what they agreed upon in regards to the NYA plan and other miners join in then the implementation of Segwit will likely happen soon.

What do you think about Segwit2x? Are you in favor of this compromise? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock, XBT.eu, and Bitcoin.com.

Do you want to vote on important Bitcoin issues? Bitcoin.com has acquired Bitcoinocracy, and rebranded the project to Vote.bitcoin.com. Users simply sign a statement with a non-empty Bitcoin address and express their opinions. The project focuses on determining truth backed by monetary value and transparency.

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Bitcoin Price Analysis: This Bear Still Has Some Bite Left in It – Bitcoin Magazine

Posted: at 3:49 am

In just a few short days, the BTC-USD price dropped nearly $700 in value in a move that consequently managed to drop the entire crypto-market by almost 25 percent:

Figure 1: BTC-USD Market Cap

Leading up to this weekends drop in BTC-USD price, several previous BTC-USD market breakdowns (click here and here for details) tracked the progress of a massive Head and Shoulders Pattern. The estimated price target of the Head and Shoulders pattern left the previous market value of $2,400 poised to drop steeply to $1,800. If you are reading this article, you are probably wondering what the heck just happened and if the carnage is going to continue ...

First, lets take a look at how the market reacted to the completion of this Head and Shoulders pattern and then extrapolate what that may mean for the overall trend of BTC-USD. The figure below shows the key support levels that were broken during the fall this weekend:

Figure 2: BTC-USD, 6-hr Candles, GDAX, Head and Shoulders Key Support Levels

After the initial breakout of the Head and Shoulders, the price took a steep plunge downward. Ultimately, after several days of a strong bear market (and several significant support levels broken), we reached our price target of $1,800 before bouncing and beginning the process of retesting crucial support (now turned resistance) levels:

Figure 3: BTC-USD, 6-hr Candles, GDAX, Broken Support Levels

With very little effort, the BTC-USD market managed to reach its price target and appears to be making a recovery but is this a fake-out? Are we bouncing back to our previous trend? Not likely. Below are some of the more glaring reasons why I think this bear still has some bite left in it.

On the higher timescales, BTC-USD is actually showing strength in downward momentum of this move. No MACD divergence (loss in market momentum) is visible. The lack of macro-trend divergence indicates that the market still has plenty of downward pull left in it before it strongly begins to resist the lower prices.

Figure 4: BTC-USD, 12-hr Candles, GDAX, No Divergence

On a smaller, one-hour scale, the market is strongly diverging in a bearish fashion. Although the market had a decent rebound off the bottom of the recent run, it is quickly losing steam (indicated by the divergence shown on the 1-hr MACD and labeled in pink). Not only is it diverging on the 1-hr MACD, across the length of the bear run, the market doesnt seem comfortable maintaining the downward momentum across multiple bearish/bullish periods (shown in yellow):

Figure 5: BTC-USD, 1-hr Candles, GDAX, 1HR Bearish Divergence

Its nearly impossible to predict the true bottom of a sustained bear or bull market, so it is very important to keep an eye on the market and constantly update your perspective. At the moment, there are several indicators that BTC-USD has a sustained bear market in its future. And, as weve seen over the course of several weeks: what brings Bitcoin down brings everyone down.

The Head and Shoulders pattern predicted in previous articles completed its price target of $1,800.

There are multiple signs that the BTC-USD bear market still has downward momentum left in it.

Trading and investing in digital assets like bitcoin and ether is highly speculative and comes with many risks. This analysis is for informational purposes and should not be considered investment advice. Statements and financial information on Bitcoin Magazine and BTC Media related sites do not necessarily reflect the opinion of BTC Media and should not be construed as an endorsement or recommendation to buy, sell or hold. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

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Exploring an abandoned Soviet space station in Outreach – PC Gamer

Posted: at 3:48 am

You, a lone Soviet cosmonaut, are sent to investigate a communications blackout on a space station. When you arrive the place is falling apart, the crew is missing, and its up to you to find out what happened to the station and the workers aboard it. Set in the 80s, Outreach fuses real-world history with conspiracy theories. The environments are realistic, modeled on Russias famous Mir space station, meaning theres no technology that didnt exist at the time. Developer Pixel Spill spent months researching the era, and it shows. Everything from computer consoles to clothing has a feel of authenticity. Its like stepping back in time.

And this realism extends to the way you navigate the station, with zero gravity to deal with. You can push against scenery to propel your body forward, or grab railings to pull yourself along. Its slightly headspinning at first, and adjusting to the fact that theres no up or down takes some getting used to. But when you master it, floating around is a lot of fun. And when you realise that you can grab objects, throw them, and watch them spin through the air realistically, the story will take a temporary backseat as you experiment and play around with the physics. The zero-gravity movement feels just right, which is the result of a lot of painstaking tweaking and adjusting by Pixel Spill.

Theres something wonderfully eerie about the lifeless station. Abandoned space stations are nothing new in games, but the realism element in Outreach makes it feel unique. The chunky tech is reminiscent of Alien: Isolation, which Pixel Spill cites as a big influence on the art design. I drift through the station discovering remnants of the mysteriously missing crew: conversations recorded on cassette tapes, letters, and family photos. I methodically check each and every module for clues, but find nothing. Then I reach a door with a broken handle, meaning Im going to have to go for a spacewalk to reach the next area.

When I step outside into the expanse of space, the size of the Earth below makes me feel dizzy. The sense of scale is incredible. And while I felt relatively safe in the confines of the station, out here Im suddenly overwhelmed by dread. A sensation thats justified when I try and leap towards a handrail, only to miss, float helplessly away and die horribly in the depths of space.

This section is remarkably tense, requiring patience, timing, and concentration to carefully grab each rail and pull yourself to a distant airlock. You have to hit the grab button at precisely the right time, otherwise youll overshoot the rail and drift away from the station with no way to make your way back. I make it eventually, but I die several times in the process. Then, cruelly, the demo ends, and I dont get to see whats inside.

Outreach is fascinating, but my demo leaves me none the wiser about what kind of story itll tell. Will it be a psychological thriller? Or is there something supernatural going on aboard the station? Im looking forward to finding out in the finished game. Pixel Spill promises players will discover the lives and motivations of the crew and learn about something called Project Outreach, which sounds suitably sinister.

The developer also says that youll uncover the true nature of the space station as you explore it, which is filling my head with questions. Im told the game will be a relatively short experiencemaybe three or four hours, the length of a long movieand Im okay with that. Short, focused, well-told stories are fast becoming one of my favourite kinds of game on PC, and I hope Outreach is one that delivers

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NASA Offers Space Station as Catalyst for Discovery in Washington – Space Daily

Posted: at 3:48 am

NASA astronauts, scientists and engineers will join industry and academia for a three-day, in-depth conversation about the International Space Station (ISS) as a catalyst for discovery during the sixth annual ISS Research and Development Conference July 17-20 in Washington. Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot will provide the morning keynote on Wednesday, July 19.

See the conference agenda for a full list of topics and speakers. Keynote addresses and panels from the conference will be broadcast on NASA TV and the agency's website.

The conference, hosted by the American Astronautical Society and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), in cooperation with NASA, brings together leaders from industry, academia and government.

Attendees will explore innovations and breakthroughs in microgravity research; life sciences; materials development; technology development; human health and remote sensing; the potential applications for space-based research; and the economic benefits of increased commercial activity in low-Earth orbit.

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, who tested an innovative technology in orbit that may improve medical diagnoses in space and on Earth, will provide a keynote presentation. Rubins completed her first spaceflight in 2016, and was the first person to sequence DNA in space.

The technology she used could help diagnose potentially fatal diseases in remote locations, including during long space voyages. Rubins also grew heart cells in orbit, performing real-time analysis and experiments.

NASA and CASIS, both manage and fund research on the space station, will provide overviews of research applications, external and internal capabilities, and upcoming opportunities.

During the Monday, July 17 preconference day, NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will host a joint workshop covering the achievements and opportunities tied to cooperative use of unique JAXA experiment hardware for joint research.

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Titan’s Alien Lakes Might Be Perfect Landing Spots for Colonization … – Outer Places

Posted: at 3:47 am

Titan, Saturn's largest Moon, has the potential to be an ideal location forhuman colonization and explorationwithin our Solar System, along withMars (though Mars' prospects have gotten less rosy lately). Some even arguethat,besidesEarth, it is theonly place suitable for human colonization in our celestial neighborhood. While it is unbelievably cold, distant, and strange, it is also home tolarge bodies of surface liquid, solid ground, a thick atmosphere, and more. And, to add to that list,scientists recently discoveredcalm hydrocarbon lakesthat could make landing future probes a piece of cake.

The highest that waves reach on the lakes of Titan is about one centimeter.These alien lakesare more tranquil than we might be able to picture, sitting remarkably still. And so, if and when we are able to send probes to that Moon, scientists think that these lakes would make a good landing point. According to lead author Cyril Grima, a research associate at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG): "There's a lot of interest in one day sending probes to the lakes, and when that's done, you want to have a safe landing, and you don't want a lot of wind...Our study shows that because the waves aren't very high, the winds are likely low."

Image Credit: NASA

So what does this mean? It might not sound that exciting at first glance, but it is a huge step forward in our never-ending cosmic exploration. Especially with the recent news that Mars' soilcould be toxic to any potential bacterial life, it is important to remember that the Red Planet isn't the only possible destination for future astronauts and probes. Titan could be the future location of a permanent human colony and the ability of a probe to successfully and smoothly land is crucial to missions going well. So, while we still have a long way to go (literally and more figuratively), this is one huge step in the right direction.

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