Tag: blockchain

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Bitcoin as Trend Setter: Warren Buffett on Why Money Management is Expensive & Inefficient

Bitcoin as Trend Setter:

Warren Buffett on Why Money Management is
Expensive & Inefficient

 

Increasing ambiguity in the structure of the financial industry and rapidly changing trends in investing are bringing more attention towards Bitcoin, the digital currency which traders and investors are using to avoid economic instability and financial uncertainty. Both financial and technology corporations are also actively investigating the potential of Bitcoin’s underlying technology — the Blockchain — in creating a secure, efficient, transparent and cross-sector platform for the settlement of transactions and assets.

However, still, the vast majority of investors and traders are eying potential investments in Bitcoin, possibly through fully regulated and liquid financial instruments such as the Winklevoss twins’ Bitcoin ETF. As Cointelegraph reported, the March 11 approval of the Winklevoss twins’ COIN ETF is nearing and analysts are quite optimistic towards its approval. Once approved, the ETF will open a new market for Bitcoin, encouraging hedge funds and large-scale investment firms to enter.

Warren Buffett says investors always try to beat market,
Bitcoin is a trend setter

Warren Buffett, a prominent American investor with a net worth of $76.1 bln, recently wrote to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway in his annual letter that wealthy investors should be able to afford superior financial services. In the letter, Buffett also mentioned that investors and traders are always trying to beat the market, as breaking the trend and investing in innovative companies often lead to the highest profit margins. Buffett himself is known be an early investor in some of the most wildly successful conglomerates, most notably the $183.7 bln beverages company The Coca-Cola Co.

To beat the market and make profitable investments, a high level of risk is involved. More to that, financial managers, investors, and hedge funds maintain a massive portfolio of investments that require immense labor. Thus, hedge funds and investment firms have been charging high fees to their clients for managing their funds. This trend, which has sustained its stability for decades, is starting to change. Hedge fund managers like Paul Tudor Jones, who was known to the financial industry for charging some of the highest fees to his clients, have been continuously decreasing fees over the past few years.

Why Bitcoin matters
and money management will continue to see declining fees

Essentially, the decline of money management fees and the sense of urgency of hedge funds managers all boil down to acknowledging new trends in the market. Over the past few years, Bitcoin has consistently been the top performing currency and assets across all markets and industries across the world. In fact, many mainstream investors, traders, and analysts in early 2017 recognized Bitcoin as the best performing asset and currency throughout 2016, offering extensive media coverage and comprehensive review of Bitcoin as an investment. As a result, Bitcoin’s market cap is continuing to reach new all-time highs.

In the near future, investors will be left with two choices: leave their money with expensive and inefficient hedge funds or invest in emerging assets or currencies like Bitcoin. The choice to invest in Bitcoin will be readily available once the Winklevoss twins’ ETF is approved.

Second Blockchain Academy Launched in Kerala, India

Kerala is to become the second Indian state to get its own Blockchain academy in a joint scheme between the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala, hereinafter IIITM-K and international learning and business development platform Blockchain Education Network, hereinafter BEN. The initiative was announced a recent Blockchain workshop held by the IIITM-K in Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram, with director Dr. Rajasree MS confident of its potential. “Banking, health care [sic], and governance are the three major avenues where Blockchains [sic] will find applications,” he said quoted by Indian Express Sunday.

Professor S Rajeev, a consultant at Maker Village, a subsidiary incubator run by IIITM-K, added that “Blockchain [sic] technology, which leverages the idea of a distributed and decentralized ledger, will open up new avenues both in the software and hardware sectors.” The focus of such ‘academies’ in both Kerala and pioneer Bangalore remains somewhat vague but points to a desire to understand the impact of technology on various spheres of the economy. At the same time, India’s central bank last week suggested Blockchain becoming mainstream was a “pipe dream” and that such technology could only gain popular acceptance with the endorsement of authorities.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor

 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

The Many Ways You Can Book Your Travels Using Bitcoin

 

You can also earn Bitcoin and have them traded for you on auto pilot. Thomas Prendergast and myself are rolliing out a massive marketing effort to build a huge team. You can join the link

HERE https://office.tradecoinclub.com/register/ICOREY Do not drag your feet and miss out on very important placement on our team

Many bitcoiners like to travel. In 2017 there are ways for people to use their bitcoins to book flights, car rentals, and hotels. Indeed, there are many options available to purchase any travel amenities imaginable without having to convert bitcoin to fiat.

Also read: Here Are Four Bitcoin Exchanges That Require Very Little Identity Verification

Traveling the World With Bitcoin

Did you know there are quite a few options out there to pay for flights and travel accommodations with Bitcoin? In fact, everyone’s favorite cryptocurrency can pay for plane tickets, purchase a rental car, and book lodging in cities across the globe. Over the past few years, a good handful of travel companies have embraced Bitcoin, thus enabling people to visit worldwide destinations on the decentralized currency.

Cheapair

Cheapair.com is well-known in the cryptocurrency community for offering affordable flights for Bitcoin. The California-based company introduced Bitcoin support in 2013. Cheapair believes it was one of the first travel firms to accept the digital currency for payment processing.

“We will do whatever it takes to make travel buying easier and give Cheapair customers more options,” said Jeff Klee, CEO of Cheapair at the time. “We’re intrigued by the growing Bitcoin phenomenon, and we are happy to provide Bitcoin users an easy, secure way to book flights.”

The platform’s interface is pretty straightforward and operates like any other online travel service. Users can book flights to anywhere in the world from most airports and major airline services. Cheapair can also provide hotel accommodations and car rentals for trips as well. All of these services can be purchased with bitcoin immediately by using the company’s shopping cart portal.

BTCTrip

BTCTrip believes it is “the travel agency for the cryptocurrency community.” The New York-based company, founded in 2013 by Yamil Alis and Martin Fernandez, enables users to pay with bitcoin for travel needs. Currently, the service offers flight and hotel accommodations, covering many destinations worldwide. The user interface is fairly simple, allowing users to fill out where they would like to travel, followed by departure and return dates. The travel company also accepts Dogecoin and Litecoin payments.

Expedia

 

Expedia is probably one of the most popular online travel agencies and has been around since 1996. The full-service travel giant announced it would accept bitcoin back in June 2014. The announcement pleased the cryptocurrency community, as it meant a degree of mainstream acceptance. The company partnered with Coinbase to facilitate bitcoin purchases for flight and travel accommodations.

Fred Ehrsam, co-founder of Coinbase, explained that “By accepting bitcoin as a form of payment, Expedia is giving a wider community of users the opportunity to book hotels from their site’s inventory of properties all around the world quickly and easily.”

Expedia users simply choose a flight, hotel or car rental using the company’s online platform, and proceed to pay with bitcoin at checkout. Expedia does have a separate terms and conditions page specifically for bitcoin purchases. The site explains how Coinbase facilitates the payment, tells its customers about miner fees, and how bitcoin transactions are irreversible.

More Flights for Bitcoin

There are other companies that offer airline tickets for bitcoin payments. If you are planning to travel around the European mainland a company called Abitsky offers discounted flights and travel accommodations for travelers paying with bitcoin. Destinia is another company that offers trip amenities for destinations all around the world using cryptocurrency payments. Destinia recently said it would rather “build bridges than walls”, speaking out in opposition to Donald Trump’s immigration statements. The travel agency is offering a 5 percent discount for those traveling from Mexico to the U.S.

Another full-service travel agency that accepts bitcoin payments is Fluege.com, which offers flights, hotels, and car rentals worldwide. Furthermore, the well-known airline service Airbaltic has offered alternative payment choices, such as bitcoin for flights, since 2014. The well-known airline takes passengers to many Baltic state destinations, and the company can be found at many local airports worldwide.

While planning a trip can be frustrating, finding a travel agency that accepts Bitcoin is pretty easy.

Have you ever used any of these companies to purchase travel arrangements with bitcoin? Let us know in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Pixabay, BTCTrip, Expedia, and Cheapair.

Whether you’re a beginner or a long-time bitcoin player, there’s always something interesting going on in the bitcoin.com Forums. We are proud free speech advocates, and no matter what your opinion on bitcoin we guarantee it’ll be seen and heard here. We don’t censor.

Chris Corey CMO Markethive Inc

http:// https://office.tradecoinclub.com/register/ICOREY

 

By Jamie Redman –

 

February 15, 2017

 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

90% of Altcoins Wont Make it But Bitcoin Will Sustain

 

Altcoins are springing up on a daily basis, you might have noticed that they appear pretty regularly in the lists of CoinMarketCap. However, Ethereum Classic's Charles Hoskinson predicts that as much as 90 percent of altcoin will probably die out in the near future.

Speaking to Cointelegraph about the sustainability of cryptocurrencies, Hoskinson, who was with Ethereum before crossing the carpet to ETC, outlined what makes a digital currency thick.

"As for most cryptocurrencies, I agree completely they will likely die out," Hoskinson related. "As 90 percent of businesses usually fail in the first few years, there is no reason to believe that coins are any different."

Treasury Mechanic system

To ensure sustainability of cryptocurrency he is convinced Treasury Mechanic measures should be explored and taken seriously:

"I think all cryptocurrencies should strongly consider a treasury mechanic. It creates long-term sustainability if it's correctly implemented. We are going to look closely at our own treasury for ETC."

Recently some altcoins have come under scrutiny for employing pump and dump tactics to swindle its holders. Case in point is CageCoin, that recently rose by 31,000 percentage point but fell miserably within 24 hours.

It is very imperative that community members undertake the necessary due diligence when they are investing in any coin. This is very crucial at a stage where digital currency is scaling and convincing sceptics, it is not a nine-day wonder but has really come to stay.

Bitcoin is sustainable

On the contrary, Hoskinson holds the view that Bitcoin is not in the category of the unsustainable coins and the strength of every currency is in its communities, not its technology per se.

He elaborates:

"Technology can incentivize more community to come but it cannot replace it. Bitcoin has the strongest community of all cryptocurrencies and also the most resilient. It has survived over a billion dollars of theft, dozens of death declarations and exchange failures alongside many so called leaders trying to hijack to project and the founder leaving. It's absolutely stunning that Bitcoin has survived and thrived. I don't think Bitcoin is going to die. Rather the better question is where does it stop."

Truly, that is the only thing for all currencies including the US Dollar. It is merely strong because people accept it for goods and services. Imagine if they suddenly stopped, the dollar would be in trouble

 

Bitcoin won't die

"I don't think Bitcoin is going to die. Rather the better question is where does it stop?" Hoskinson queries. He articulates it will either become a universal payment system or simply a digital gold standard that stores value.

With the standard of measurement improving swiftly with infrastructures like ATMs, debit cards, hundreds of thousands of merchants, it is hard to dispute Charles Hoskinson on this.

"Many contractors in Eastern Europe do dev work for Bitcoin — it is very popular in Ukraine, for example," Hoskinson remarked. If you would like to earn and have Bitcoin traded for you automatically? 

Thomas Prendergast and I are putting together a team in Trade Coin Club and you can join us Here https://office.tradecoinclub.com/register/ICOREY

 

Chris Corey CMO Markethive Inc

 

BY: Frisco d'Anconia

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Why a New Small Business Blockchain is Actually a Big Deal

Efforts to apply blockchain in the supply chain took an interesting turn last week.

blockchain for small business

I'm speaking, of course, about a piece of news that at first seemed pretty ordinary: a group of European banks announced they would band together to develop a blockchain-based trade finance solution.

This one, though, is unusual.

Rather than tackle large-scale global transactions that cross oceans, the project focuses on intra-European trade, and, more importantly, between small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Why is this interesting? It's not because SMEs make up the vast majority of the world's businesses (although that certainly does make for a compelling use case). Rather, it's because of what it says about the evolving nature of trade finance.

We have seen many blockchain projects take a run at the subject, and the application seems obvious. Transactions across borders generally involve significant documentation, a process that itself generates numerous errors and gross inefficiencies.

Reducing the burden associated with getting goods from one place to another has to be a good thing, right?

Let's take a look.

Starting smaller

Most of the projects to date have focused on large international corporations, which is understandable, given that over two-thirds of world trade originates with global enterprises.

Where both the pain and potential promise are most acutely felt, however, is not in conglomerates, but in SMEs. In part, it's because of their sheer number, but mainly, it's due to financial trends.

Approximately 80% of global trade is now conducted through open account transactions, not via traditional channels using letters of credit. This means that there is no bank guarantee of payment.

The buyer pays when it's time to pay — usually well after the product has been delivered.

For many large corporations, this shift reflects tighter restrictions many banks are facing on lending and guarantees, as well as a desire to improve working capital and reduce administration and financing costs.

For most SMEs, open account is their only option, since over half of SME trade finance applications are declined.

Win-win situation

In open account transactions, trust becomes a huge factor. This is an issue when initiating a new commercial relationship, especially for SMEs with patchy or non-existent credit histories.

Without going into the details of how the new platform will work, the ability to see, in real-time, the status of the transaction at each step should make trust more transparent. Accelerating the process from order to settlement will increase liquidity.

The incorporation of the management of the respective banking functions (payment, factoring, etc) aims to facilitate the procedure even further, and could increase margins for both the banks and their participating clients.

Seen from the exporting SME's point of view, the project could be a way to overcome obstacles created by the shifting sands of finance and politics. And from the banks’ point of view, not only will it help to retain and support SME customers, it is also an effective way for banks to re-intermediate themselves into the trade finance process.

Starting within the relatively "safe" confines of the European Union gives the project a chance to test the process of cross-border trade before venturing into more complicated territory.

What's next

If things go according to plan, we shouldn’t have to wait long to see how the project fares with target users. It is already a working proof-of-concept, developed last year by Belgian bank KBC.

Opening it up to six other European institutions is an obvious step toward scalability, presenting a way to test cross-border relationships within a manageable group before it's global.

The team will start to seek regulatory approval within the next few months, with a view to going "live" before the year's end.

Looking forward, the compelling advantage of lower transaction costs and stronger commercial relationships could help to partially offset the uncertainty and potential price of rising interest rates and shifting trade barriers.

It's not hard to see how projects like this could help to prepare businesses around the world for the changes ahead, and to adapt to not only current trends, but future ones as well.

If you believe that my message is worth spreading, please use the share buttons if they show on this page.

Stephen Hodgkiss
Chief Engineer at MarketHive
markethive.com

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Bitcoin Prices Spike Above $900 But Turbulence Remains

Bitcoin Prices Spike Above $900

But Turbulence Remains

 

coindesk-bpi-chart-94

 

Bitcoin prices passed $900 today, though this feat was diminished by several rallies that ultimately failed to push its value above this benchmark. Overall, the digital currency rose to as much as $904.76, after falling below $880 earlier in the session, climbing above this level amid modest volatility.

Later in the session, the price mounted another comeback, hitting a high just above $905, according to the CoinDesk USD Bitcoin Price Index (BPI). At press time, however, the price had dipped again to a value of $894.95. This upward movement represented the latest session of relatively mild price volatility, at least compared to the sharp price fluctuations experienced earlier this month.

Most notable, however, about the day's trading, may have been the lack of any serious decline over the day's trading. Bitcoin prices enjoyed their latest climb in spite of new Chinese regulatory developments that found the nation’s exchanges responding publicly to pressures from the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank.

Bullish sentiment

Still, market sentiment has been bullish, according to figures provided by a handful of exchanges, even with the confirmation that major Chinese exchanges Huobi and OKCoin had stopped offering margin trading. The market was 91% long on 19th January, Whaleclub figures reveal. In addition, more than 53% of Bitfinex orders that were executed in the 24 hours through 22:15 UTC were buy orders, according to BFX Data.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Everything You Need to Know About Bitcoin

Everything You Need to Know About Bitcoin

Many netizens have heard of bitcoin, the digital currency. This means it exists electronically. To be more precise, bitcoin is a type of cryptocurrency — the implication of security and encryption is important. Cryptocurrency, or digital currency, is an invention of the Internet. Basically, someone out there thought, "hey, what if…Read more. In this post, we attempt to identify 10 questions about Bitcoins that can give you a clearer understanding of what it is, what it does and how you can use it to buy products or services online.

What are bitcoins?

Bitcoin (capitalized) refers to the software or network (ie: the Bitcoin Network), while bitcoin (not capitalized) refers to the digital currency itself (ie: two bitcoins). he price fluctuates, depending on what people were willing to pay for it. It traded for as low as pennies (during the infancy stage) to as high as USD1200 during its peak in 2013.

Who developed the idea of bitcoins?

The idea of Bitcoin was conceptualized by Satoshi Nakamoto, an anonymous figure. In May 2008, he shared a white paper [PDF] about Bitcoin, a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency. Without disclosing who he was, Satoshi outlined how the currency would work: bitcoins would be ‘mined’ by computer software, transferred directly amongst users and recorded in an untamperable ledger without the need of a third party.

Part of Bitcoin’s appeal is Satoshi Nakamoto’s anonymity, who many view as a selfless act towards a new era of financial revolution. Online detectives have identified a few candidates, including a real-life Japanese person sharing the same name. Some even theorized that Satoshi Nakamoto is a pseudonym for a collective.

In May 2016, the Bitcoin community was shocked when Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright identified himself as Satoshi Nakamoto. Some people believe his claim, some didn’t, but on the whole the Bitcoin community is unaffected — the Bitcoin ecosystem is decentralized, and cannot be controlled by any person(s), including the creator.

What is so special about bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer currency and runs on a system which allows you to send and receive bitcoins without a third party. To put simply, fiat currencies rely on third parties, such as banks or payment processors like Visa, to verify the transaction. This is how you and I can ensure payment sent was indeed received. However, bitcoin transactions are recorded in a public ledger called the bitcoin blockchain. This information are permanent and publicly viewable on Blockchain.info and cannot be edited or deleted.

This means that the transaction records act as proof of transaction. Bitcoin is also programmed to be non-duplicable, which means double spending is highly unlikely.

What is decentralized currency?

Bitcoin is also a decentralized currency, as in no one government, individual or group holds authority over it. This makes bitcoin spendable anywhere in the world as long as the receiver accepts bitcoins as payment.

Decentralised currencies are a unique concept. Similar to the internet, it is free from geographical boundaries — this is why bitcoin is also dubbed ‘the currency of the internet’.

Due to lack of control and regulations, many countries are understandably wary of bitcoin — and other cryptocurrencies in general — but some progressive countries such as Japan have started to recognize it as currency.

Is bitcoin anonymous?

Bitcoin’s anonymity is a myth. Or rather, it is now much harder to make anonymous transactions with Bitcoin. Because as the ecosystem matures, many bitcoin service providers have started implementing KYC/AML regulations. KYC/AML stands for know your customers/anti-money laundering . This requires users to submit proof of identity and proof of residence.

It is also fairly easy to trace bitcoins. Bitcoins are usually bought from bitcoin exchanges, received as payment, or donated. With transaction details publicly viewable online, it is possible to trace where the bitcoin came from.

 How do you use bitcoins?

Bitcoin can be used for spending, similar to money. Some people also keep them for investment purposes, while others prefer to use them as a method to make international money transfer.  Bitcoin exists electronically and is kept in ‘bitcoin wallets’. There are many types of bitcoin wallets: desktop wallet, mobile wallet, online/web-based wallet, hardware wallet and even paper wallet.

To read more about bitcoin storage, check out this article by CoinDesk. You can have as many wallets and bitcoin addresses (where you receive money from others) as you like.

How many people are using bitcoin?

Estimates vary — it is hard to find out the exact number of people who use Bitcoin. One way to measure number of bitcoin users is by measuring the number of bitcoin wallets. According to CoinDesk’s State of Bitcoin and Blockchain 2016 report, bitcoin wallets doubled to 12.77 million in one year, from the end of 2014 to the end of 2015. Even though many bitcoin users have more than one wallet (it is common to hold a few wallets), this is an indication that the number of bitcoin users worldwide is increasing.

Another way to estimate bitcoin usage is by the number of bitcoin transactions, which has steadily increased. Although this could mean that the same people are simply making more bitcoin transactions, it is fair to assume that there are new bitcoin users in the mix, too.

How do I acquire bitcoins?

There are three main ways to get bitcoins: mine them, buy them, or work for them.

Bitcoin Mining
Bitcoin mining used to be really profitable. However at the current time it is no longer cost effective for the average individual. One will need to buy specialised Bitcoin mining equipment, get/rent dedicated spaces for them, and pay their associated costs (rental, electricity and cooling costs).
Buy Bitcoins
You can buy bitcoins from many online exchanges. There are a lot more options now than ever before — there are global bitcoin exchanges and also country-specific bitcoin exchanges. You can also buy them from other people via Localbitcoins.
Work for Bitcoins
Some people get paid in bitcoins, instead of cash currencies. Websites such as XBTFreelancer… and Coinality list jobs with bitcoin payments.There are other less effective ways to acquire bitcoins. You can get (very) small amounts of bitcoins from bitcoin faucets, which pay you to look at advertisements. You can get them as donations. There are also bitcoin ‘investments’ but if you wish to not lose money, Badbavoid companies that are listed in itcoin Badlist.

How do I send/receive/spend bitcoins?

Bitcoin wallets come with bitcoin addresses, which represent a destination, similar to an email address. Bitcoin addresses are alphanumeric, between 27-34 characters in length. Many bitcoin service providers have user-friendly user interface which allows users to generate bitcoin addresses, send and receive bitcoins.

To send bitcoins, users simply have to ensure positive balance in their bitcoin wallets, insert the receiver’s bitcoin address, and hit send. There is a small miner’s fee to process the transaction — miner’s fees are given as a reward and incentive to Bitcoin miners for maintaining equipment. Bitcoin transactions usually take less than an hour to arrive, but it can take longer or shorter depending on the fee amount and the bitcoin service provider.

You can spend bitcoins anywhere that accept bitcoins as payment. You can also use a Visa/Mastercard-linked bitcoin debit card issued by companies like Wirex or Coinbase.

What are bitcoin’s disadvantages?

Depending on who you ask, you’ll get different answers. Coders and programmers might argue that bitcoin is already an outdated network, compared to some of the newer cryptocurrency networks available. Here we will concentrate on bitcoin’s disadvantages to the casual user:

Advanced digital knowledge is necessary

Bitcoin can be stolen in many ways. It is the bitcoin owner’s responsibility to keep them safe, and this meant implementing additional layers of security such as 2-factor authentication. Keeping them in web wallets can be dangerous. If you have a significant amount of bitcoins, you are advised to keep them in hardware wallets such as Trezor or Ledger.

Bitcoin service providers can be hard to trust

The biggest names have failed the Bitcoin community. Who can forget the Mt. Gox incident in 2014. It was the biggest bitcoin exchanger at the time and practically disappeared overnight along with almost 745,000 bitcoins. More recently in 2016, thieves stole almost 120,000 bitcoins during the Bitfinex hack — and experts still don’t know how they did it.

Lack of acceptance

Cold hard cash is still the widest and most used form of payment — it’s acceptance is second to none. By contrast, bitcoin is only accepted at a handful of shops. However, bitcoin debit cards help to address this issue — linked to payment processors, they help make bitcoin spending a bit easier.

Lack of protection

In general, bitcoin is not considered legal in most countries around the world. Therefore, theft or scam victims have almost no option for recourse. However, the legal landscape is ever-changing and one of the best spots to update yourself on where bitcoin is acceptable or not is Bitlegal.io.

Anti-bitcoin politicians

While many countries around the world mainly cautioned the public against the risky nature of Bitcoin, some politicians or political parties have extreme views about bitcoin. Russian and French lawmakers are considering banning it altogether.

Wrap Up

Bitcoin is cool, but the underlying technology behind it — the blockchain — is even cooler. Turns out, having a method to record data in a way that cannot be tampered or deleted is a good thing. It is also a cost-effective method to store information. Many companies including major banks have expressed interest in the blockchain technology.

David Ogden
Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Dutch and Korean Mainstream Media Extensively Cover Bitcoin Rally

Dutch and Korean Mainstream Media Extensively Cover Bitcoin Rally

Bitcoin is sustaining a strong price rally, maintaining its stability at the US$1,020 margin. Within seven days, the price of bitcoin rose by 9%, pushing the demand for the digital currency in exchanges worldwide. As a result, bitcoin began to gain extensive coverage by mainstream media in South Korea, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Extensive Coverage in Belgium and the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, de Volkskrant, leading daily morning newspaper with a circulation of nearly 250,000 nationwide and De Telegraaf, the largest Dutch daily newspaper with a circulation of 430,000, provided extensive coverage on bitcoin and its recent price rally to their mainstream audience ever since bitcoin reached the $1,000 milestone.

Analysts at De Telegraff offered insightful and accurate assessment of bitcoin’s rising value, stating that current global economic instability and uncertainty led to the increase of demand for bitcoin. Researchers at the firm also mentioned China’s role in bitcoin’s recent price rally, explaining that investors, traders and households purchased bitcoin to move the Chinese yuan out of the country.

De Telegraff stated:

Bitcoin has in recent months was sought after by investors due to the uncertainty in the international economy. According to analysts, the popularity of bitcoin is enhanced by strong demand from China, where virtual currency investors are seeking for an interesting alternative to the yuan.

While tightening regulations and capital controls initiated and imposed by the Chinese government indeed played a vital role in pushing the price of bitcoin, experts like Vinny Lingham told users and investors that it is important to consider the impact of the Federal Reserve’s increase in interest rates on bitcoin.

The global economy is dependent on the US dollars directly and indirectly. Currencies like the Chinese yuan and South Korean won depend on the performance of US dollars and thus, when the US dollars rise in value, they decline in price.

Inevitably, when the Fed raised rates in December, the demand for bitcoin surged in countries like China and South Korea due to the rising number of investors and traders seeking for alternative assets to avoid currency devaluation.

De Tijd, a major newspaper in Belgium with 41,000 in circulation, also provided coverage on bitcoin on its online media outlet, emphasizing bitcoin’s strong performance throughout the year. Analysts at De Tijd noted that bitcoin was worth less than $500 in the beginning of 2016 and it reached a 3-year high price on the first day of trading in 2017.

South Korea: Fed Rate Hikes, Bitcoin Demand Rises

The South Korean economy is slowly recovering from controversies surrounding President Park’s involvement in bribery and other serious offenses.

When the Fed announced its plans to raise interest rates last month, mainstream media outlets in South Korea expressed their concerns with the decreasing value of the South Korean won. Such coverage led to increasing demand for bitcoin within the country and ultimately, extensive coverage from mainstream media.

Mainstream media coverage in leading countries like the Netherlands and South Korea are exposing millions of people to bitcoin on a daily basis. If bitcoin continues rise in price, it will aid mainstream adoption of the digital currency in the long run.

Image from Shutterstock.

 

Chris Corey Chief Marketing Officer 

Markethive 

Joseph Young on 03/01/2017​

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Green Fire On The Blockchain

Green Fire On The Blockchain

Green Fire has decided to change the world as you know it. We are moving together onto the blockchain. We have chosen “Green Fire Gold” (GFG) as the blockchain application name. GFG will be the first to take landfill mining and reclamation on to the blockchain.

GFG is designed with next generation high load blockchain protocols, utilizing a blockchain design that improves functionality with each additional user, maximizing scalability and load performance.

GFG includes your own private universal wallet that allows for immediate trading and exchange between all currencies and investment markets.

The GFG blockchain is designed by the best in cryptocurrency development to create a coin and mainstream payment network usable by everyone in the world.

The GFG universal wallet/coin combo can be used to manage your entire life and assets. Inside are a Universal Dapp store (decentralized application store), micro-services, micro-payments, smart contracts, universal exchange, universal payment system, and custom template decentralized app building, just to name a few.

Understanding blockchain

The Blockchain has become the default backbone for most new financial and business development.

In essence, blockchain is a distributed database, or "timestamp server," as it was called by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto in the paper that proposed bitcoin.

The blockchain consists of blocks of data — each block is a timestamped batch of valid individual transactions and the hash of the previous block, creating a link between the two. Because each timestamp includes the previous timestamp in its hash, it forms a chain. Each new transaction must be authenticated across the distributed network of computers that form the blockchain before it can form the next block in the chain.

GFG is developing a fully decentralized, leaderless DAO*, a Decentralized Autonomous Organization, and a fully distributed financial platform, OWNED BY THE PEOPLE WHO USE IT.

GFG is using the MyCryptoWorld development platform to construct the GFG DAO. This platform develops on an advanced Ethereum blockchain.

For the determination phase of implementation an interdisciplinary team of cryptocurrency, marketing and software veterans/enthusiasts around the globe have already started determining the intelligence that operates GFG.

As soon the business determination is finished the whole system will be completely community/user driven and owned. From this point on the further evolution will be in the hands of all owners, using e-Governance/voting and other cutting edge tools to create consensus and run decisions.

The GFG DAO is a digital decentralized autonomous organization and a form of investor-directed venture capital fund.

The GFG DAO has an objective to provide a new decentralized business model for organizing both international commerce and social marketing. It will be on the Ethereum blockchain, and will have no conventional management structure or board of directors.

The GFG DAO is stateless, and not tied to any particular nation state. As a result, many questions of how government regulators would deal with a stateless fund are yet to be dealt with.

The GFG DAO is being crowdfunded via a token sale. A similar crowdfunding campaign in May 2016. It set the record for the largest crowdfunding campaign in history

OWNED BY THE PEOPLE WHO USE IT

The Landfill Pickers and the Women Informal Workers will own GFG. GFG will be governed by consensus.

Consensus in a distributed system is determined by entities checking each other's work and providing a stamp of approval as to transactions and activities allowed. This is accomplished through a distributed network, one might say, a “social neural network”.

Smart Contracts

GFG Blockchain also leverages a technology called "smart contracts," which are bits of executable code that only act when specific conditions within the blockchain are met. This allows a blockchain to automate activity like payment transfers when a task is completed, or even a partial payment when a milestone is achieved.

By providing a way to record transactions as automated trusted activity among digitally networked peers, audit and professional services firm Ernst & Young believes "blockchain technology has the potential to streamline and accelerate business processes, increase cybersecurity and reduce or eliminate the roles of trusted intermediaries (or centralized authorities) in industry after industry."

Blockchains have proven that they reduce cost and increase trust in financial transactions. It is becoming apparent that we can expect financial services firms to abandon existing transaction-processing technologies in favor of blockchain technologies.

We are developing the GFG DAO on the blockchain with a unique crypto token (coin) and its own brand of distributed manufacturing and ecommerce.

Green Fire is taking the Landfill Mining operations and the Children of the Landfill project and wrapping them in a blockchain application.

This will provide these “invisible workers” the very poorest of the poor the most unique democratic environment that is yet to prevail for them. They will be the next global cultural warriors to emerge from the shadows.

Mike Prettyman,
Chief Information Officer at Green Fire Engineered Reclamation
For more information come to the website
Children of the Landfill Project

Green Fire Engineered Reclamation

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Children of the Landfill
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Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Cryptocurrency Wallets

CryptoCurrency Wallets

I am continuing my education regarding MyCryptoWorld.

Today I am looking at wallets. Previously I have learn't that Cryptocurrency transactions are protected by military level encryption and physical coins do not exist. So where is the best place to store our Bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies.

There are three types of wallets

  • User controlled wallets
  • Hosted wallets
  • Hardware wallets

Your options. probably  depends on your age and familiarity with using computers and mobile devices and how often or how many coins you have, the choice is very much up to you.

My first choice is a user controlled wallet such as Blockchain, which is web based and also can be used on mobile devices. You have full control over your money, but that comes with its own dangers: you could lose your private keys, your computer could be hacked and the keys could be stolen, or your computer could break, and if you did not keep another record of your keys, you’d be out of luck.

One reason I like Blockchain is because the wallet is built on an HD (or hierarchical deterministic) framework, which has a different method for address generation and management. Each public address your wallet generates stems from your wallet's xPub (or Extended Public Key). Once your public address receives an incoming payment, a new address will automatically be generated and display when you click on receive.

There is a danger If you use the same address every time you receive funds, it becomes easy for anyone to track your entire payment history. This method of address generation improves privacy by automatically presenting you with a new address when you’re expecting payment.

I have also looked at Circle which is a hosted wallet which is more mobile based and very user friendly wallet,which can hold currencies or Bitcoin and you can send and receive either to other people by using email or Bitcoin addresses. However, there are limits which are placed on you initial transactions (0.3329 BTC weekly limit) No need to worry about anything except the limits, Great for day to day use. No need to use Bitcoin exchanges as this is all built in, Conversions are made when you add or remove funds from your wallet. Bitcoin balances in your Circle account, are fully insured against any breach of digital or physical data storage at Circle.

Initially I thought that its security was not up to scratch as I was not required to supply ID information to purchase Bitcoin. When I wanted to send Bitcoin however, I had to supply additional information which delayed the ability to send for 3-5 working days.
 

Hardware wallet is a special type of Bitcoin wallet which stores the user's private keys in a secure hardware device, which might be a usb or other storage device such as a mini computer

They have major advantages over standard software wallets:

  • private keys are often stored in a protected area of a microcontroller, and cannot be transferred out of the device in plain text

  • immune to computer viruses that steal from software wallets

  • can be used securely and interactively, as opposed to a paper wallet which must be imported to software at some point

  • much of the time, the software is open source, allowing a user to validate the entire operation of the device

 

If you want further security you could consider using a Brain Wallet

You might ask why I am providing this information and researching Cryptocurrency, It is because I am involved with the ICO of a new Cryptocoin.

David Ogden
MyCryptoWorld

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member