Tag: bitcoin

Kik maker launches cryptocurrency to fight Internet ‘giants’

Kik maker launches cryptocurrency to fight Internet ‘giants’

  

Launching its own cryptocurrency called Kin

Kik Interactive Inc., the maker of anonymous chat app Kik, announced today that it is launching its own cryptocurrency called Kin in order to push back against what Chief Executive Ted Livingston calls the “copy-and-crush strategy” of giant Internet companies.

“We’ve reached a worrying point in the evolution of the internet: More and more of our everyday digital activities — from talking to friends to ordering food to share photos — are controlled by fewer and fewer companies,” Livingston wrote in a blog post. “The biggest companies use their scale to  mass advertising dollars and give everything else away for free, making it nearly impossible for smaller competitors to find sustainable business models.” According to Livingston, Kik’s new cryptocurrency will allow developers to “link arms to compete with the giants together, building a better future for society while also making money.”

Kin is based on the Ethereum blockchain, and it will be integrated directly into Kik for in-app purchases, which Livingston says will help generate demand for the cryptocurrency. He noted that Kik’s existing digital currency, Kik Points, has already demonstrated that Kin could be successful. “Despite its intentional limitations, Kik Points saw a transaction volume three times higher than Bitcoin’s,” Livingston said. “As the default currency inside Kik, Kin will go far beyond Kik Points by allowing people to participate in an economy based on buying and selling stickers, hosting and joining group chats, creating and using bots, and much more.”

Livingston said he hopes Kin will help create an open, decentralized digital ecosystem, which would allow consumers to move to other platforms without losing apps or services that they have already paid for. Kik users will be able to earn and spend Kin through the app, which could allow the app’s predominantly younger user base to spend money without having to use a credit card. Kik will have also parental controls for Kin to prevent underage users from spending the currency without permission. Each day, an algorithm will also distribute Kin to developers through the Kin Rewards Engine based on how much their service contributed on the platform. The idea behind this rewards program is to compensate developers without having to rely on an advertising model, which Livingston says will “lead to a virtuous cycle in which the ecosystem grows in both size and quality.”

To oversee the new cryptocurrency, Kik is founding the Kin Foundation, an independent not-for-profit organization that will operate the reward engine and manages transaction services and a decentralized user identity. “It’s like Mozilla for the mobile era, but with payments built in,” Livingston said. Livingston did not name any names when describing the big “copy-and-crush” companies, but one of the most likely candidates would be Facebook Inc., which has been increasingly expanding its products to compete directly with newer social apps. For example, Facebook-owned Instagram has introduced a number of features over the last year that gives it functions similar to Snapchat.

Chuck Reynolds
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Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

The bitcoin and cryptocurrency bubble is just getting started

The bitcoin
and cryptocurrency
bubble is just getting started

  

 I attended one of the most important events in the blockchain world

The consensus is an annual blockchain technology summit in New York where industry leaders discuss all things bitcoin and blockchain, and where new blockchain companies come to pitch their ideas. Regular readers are familiar with bitcoin and blockchain. Bitcoin is digital money that is created and held electronically. At the core of Bitcoin technology is a super database called the “blockchain.” The blockchain contains every transaction in the history of bitcoin and is accessible to anyone. A lot of people think that blockchain will eventually be used to process everything from stock trades to voting.

I first recommended buying bitcoin back in March. Over the next two and a half months, the price of bitcoin soared 72 percent. Earlier this week, I reiterated my recommendation to buy by saying: “stop procrastinating!” Guess what? Bitcoin is up another 20 percent since then. But the rollercoaster ride isn’t done yet. One of my biggest takeaways from Consensus was that the boom in bitcoin and blockchain is just getting started. Everywhere I looked, conference attendees were on mobile phones and laptops trading cryptocurrencies throughout the course of the conference. Here are just a few of the things I learned at the summit:

The bitcoin boom is fuelling more cryptocurrency rallies

The market capitalisations of the two largest cryptocurrencies, bitcoin, and ether, have increased by nearly US$40 billion in the past three months. The total cryptocurrency market cap is up by $65 billion (a nearly 300 percent gain) to US$85 billion. As a result, holders of these currencies are sitting on huge wealth and they are now looking to “diversify” into other cryptocurrencies. This means that instead of being 100 percent in bitcoin and/or ether, investors are looking to take 5 or 10 percent of their cryptocurrency portfolio and buy other cryptocurrencies. This is fuelling a boom in second-tier cryptocurrencies.

Rampant speculation

As I listened in on pitches from new blockchain businesses, the most common single question was this: “when is the ICO?” (ICO means “initial coin offering”, the cryptocurrency equivalent of an IPO, or initial public offering, for a stock). Market participants are expecting immediate multiples of return on capital, regardless of the business case (if any). ICOs are viewed as near-guarantees of immediate big gains. I see a lot of parallels here with the tech bubble of the late 1990s. And there will be some spectacular blowups ahead.

But let’s be clear: at the peak of the dot-com bubble, the market cap of the NASDAQ index was near US$6 trillion. The entire cryptocurrency market cap right now is currently less than 1.5 percent of that. The point is, for all the noise in the media, the level of general public participation in bitcoin and cryptocurrencies remains extremely low. Just think about your own group of friends and associates. How many of them even own bitcoin? So this bubble is just getting started.

Regulators at the gate

The legal and regulatory system is far behind what’s actually happening in the cryptocurrency space. How do you treat cryptocurrencies? Are they securities? Currencies? Assets? Something in between? Remember, all cryptocurrencies offer different characteristics. Some offer the equivalent of a coupon or a distribution of profits, for example. But at some stage regulators (most likely the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)) will step into this market. Especially as the financial stakes increase. There are scam-like cryptocurrencies taking advantage of the huge boom. When investors start crying foul, you can expect the SEC to start weighing in. When they do, you can expect increased volatility and big drops in the scummier cryptocurrencies out there. But SEC participation will only make this industry more mainstream and bring in more money.

In the meantime…

This was just a quick wrap-up of what’s going on in cryptocurrencies. I’ll be bringing you more insights on this space in the future. But for now, everyone should be accumulating a little bitcoin. A few hundred dollars, a couple thousand… whatever you can afford to allocate in the super-speculative portion of your portfolio. Now, bitcoin will not keep increasing in value at its current rate of growth forever. At some stage, the market price will correct.

But everyone needs to familiarize themselves with the process of buying, trading and storing cryptocurrencies. Blockchain and Bitcoin are here to stay. This technology will only grow in scale and opportunity. And being on the outside (and not understanding it) will limit your ability to profit from it. Remember, this rollercoaster ride is just getting started. So there’s no reason not to be buying now.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor
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TCC-Bitcoin.

 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

The Kin Token Is Set To Kick Off On Kik Messenger

Ontario Canada’s Kik Interactive will dive into the cryptocurrency market with Kin, an Ethereum-based ERC20 token.

  

The company plans to extend blockchain technology

May 25, 2017, during Token Summit at New York University (NYU), Kik's founder Ted Livingston announced a whitepaper outlining the creation of Kin, an ERC20-based token. A designer of the popular messenger app Kik, the company plans to extend blockchain technology into the messenger market, allowing users to make transactions in cryptocurrency. Kik's rise as a messenger is indisputable; the company boasts 300 million users according to Tech Crunch and received a nearly $1 billion valuation in 2015 after Chinese investment firm Tencent invested $50 million in the company. Now Livingston has set his eyes on blockchain technology.

During the announcement today at Token Summit in NYU, Livingston stated he doesn't want to simply create a token, he wants to build a system of value. "We give Kin value," said Livingston. "Could we use some of that value to spark the creation of a new ecosystem of digital services?" Livingston also emphasized that his intentions are not to create an advertising platform. "We just built a place that people come to together to provide value for each other, and if you do that, you can make a better future and you can also make money," he said.

Kik did tests with virtual currency in 2014 with a service called “Kik Points” which could be traded for limited edition emoticons. Now, Kik plans to manifest Kin as an ERC20 token which can be used as a general purpose cryptocurrency for services like chat, social media, and payments. To meet financing goals, a trillion units out of 10 trillion total will be distributed at a token sale to be later announced. The company plans to use the remaining unsold tokens to fund Kik operations and deploy the Kin Foundation.

The roadmap for token allocation is clear and laid out in the Kin Whitepaper:

  

It will take four straightforward steps to reach Kik's goal; first coining the Kin tokens, next integrating Kin tokens into the Kik platform. Then, development will begin on a system called Kin Rewards, which will introduce Kin into circulation as a daily reward, distributed amongst developers whose contributions are gauged by a disbursement algorithm. The final step will be to launch the Kin Foundation as a non-profit governance body to manage the entire ecosystem surrounding Kin. Kin Rewards presents users the opportunity to earn Kin for engaging other users in transactions. The proportion of rewards received is relative to transaction engagement.

If a good or service is provided in exchange for Kin, the total amount of transactions completed by that vendor is logged. Rewards are provided based on the percentage of those overall transactions that were made with Kin on a daily basis. Fred Wilson, a partner at Union Square Ventures and Kik board member, said in a release, “cryptocurrency is the next important business model innovation in tech.” He went on to say, “Kik will be the first mainstream application to integrate a cryptocurrency. This could be a watershed moment for the blockchain sector.” Kik's capability to advertise Ethereum to its numerous users may be a boon to holders of the currency as mass awareness may cause a surge in the value of Ether, which recently rose above the $200 USD mark.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor
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Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Bitcoin is going wild — here’s what the cryptocurrency is all about

Bitcoin is going wild — here's what the cryptocurrency is all about

Bitcoin is going wild — here's what the cryptocurrency is all about

Bitcoin is a currency just like the US dollar or Mexican peso. It's also back in the headlines after soaring in value. One bitcoin was worth $2,800 on May 25, up from $1,200 at the end of April.

In countries that accept it, you can buy groceries and clothes just as you would with the local currency. Only bitcoin is entirely digital; no one is carrying actual bitcoins around in their pocket.

Bitcoin is divorced from governments and central banks. It's organized through a network known as a blockchain, which is basically an online ledger that keeps a secure record of each transaction all in one place. Every time anyone buys or sells bitcoin, the swap gets logged. Several hundred of these back-and-forths make up a block.

No one controls these blocks, because blockchains are decentralized across every computer that has a bitcoin wallet, which you only get if you buy bitcoins.

Why bother using it?

True to its origins as an open, decentralized currency, bitcoin is meant to be a quicker, cheaper, and more reliable form of payment than money tied to individual countries. In addition, it's the only form of money users can theoretically "mine" themselves, if they (and their computers) have the ability.

But even for those who don't discover using their own high-powered computers, anyone can buy and sell bitcoins, typically through online exchanges like Coinbase or LocalBitcoins.

A 2015 survey showed bitcoin users tend to be overwhelmingly white and male, but of varying incomes. The people with the most bitcoins are more likely to be using it for illegal purposes, the survey suggested.

Each bitcoin has a complicated ID, known as a hexadecimal code, that is many times more difficult to steal than someone's credit-card information. And since there is a finite number to be accounted for, there is less of a chance bitcoin or fractions of a bitcoin will go missing.

But while fraudulent credit-card purchases are reversible, bitcoin transactions are not.

21 million

Bitcoin is unique in that there are a finite number of them: 21 million. Satoshi Nakamoto, bitcoin's enigmatic founder, arrived at that number by assuming people would discover, or "mine," a set number of blocks of transactions daily.

Every four years, the number of bitcoins released relative to the previous cycle gets cut in half, as does the reward to miners for discovering new blocks. (The reward right now is 12.5 bitcoins.) As a result, the number of bitcoins in circulation will approach 21 million, but never hit it.

This means bitcoin never experiences inflation. Unlike US dollars, whose buying power the Fed can dilute by printing more greenbacks, there simply won't be more bitcoin available in the future. That has worried some skeptics, as it means a hack could be catastrophic in wiping out people's bitcoin wallets, with less hope for reimbursement.

The future of bitcoin

Historically, the currency has been extremely volatile. But go by its recent boom — and a forecast by Snapchat's first investor, Jeremy Liew, that it will hit $500,000 by 2030 — and nabbing even a fraction of a bitcoin starts to look a lot more enticing.

Bitcoin users predict 94% of all bitcoins will have been released by 2024. As the total number creeps toward the 21 million mark, many suspect the profits miners once made creating new blocks will become so low they'll become negligible. But with more bitcoins in circulation, people also expect transaction fees to rise, possibly making up the difference.

 

David Ogden
Entrepreneur
 

Chris Weller

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Did this not-safe-for-work internet sensation just signal a top in Bitcoin?

Did this not-safe-for-work internet sensation just signal a top in Bitcoin?

   Dan Bilzerian’s penchant for automatic weapons,

high-stakes poker, fast women, and faster cars have made him an unfiltered internet phenomenon. Now you can add go ahead and bitcoin BTCUSD, +3.10%  to his list. Bilzerian told his 22.3 million Instagram followers on Wednesday afternoon that he “just bought a sh*tload of Bitcoin” and that “it’s so crazy watching that sh*t f**king go up it’s like… betting a bunch of money on the Super Bowl.” Do you trust this guy’s judgment?

Bilzerian, of course, knows all about betting a bunch of money. He once claimed he won $50 million over the course of a year playing poker. He also said that he flipped a coin for $2.3 million and lost. So, yes, Bitcoin sounds about right, considering the cryptocurrency’s volatility. On Thursday, Bitcoin rallied to yet another record high and has now jumped almost 50% in the last week alone. Since last year, Bitcoin has surged more than 400%. As you can see, however, Bilzerian’s endorsement didn’t exactly thrill many of the investors frequenting Reddit’s Bitcoin group:

“If that’s not a sign of a bubble IDK what is lol.”  “NORMIES INCOMING!”  “F**k I just sold some because of this, not even joking.” Does Bilzerian’s post, indeed, mark a potential top for bitcoin, like a cab driver tipping you off about the next hot semiconductor stock?  Who knows, but he has backed a winning long shot before.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor
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TCC-Bitcoin.

 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Bitcoin’s appeal is at an all-time high

Bitcoin’s appeal is at an all-time high

  

Global stock indexes are not the only asset

class making new highs on a daily basis. Cryptocurrencies — specifically Bitcoin soaring to fresh levels as well. Despite two major setbacks for bitcoin in 2017, it has soared nearly 55 percent from its year-to-date lows as Asian investors flock to the new-age currency. Bitcoin prices are now trading at previously uncharted levels as the value of the cryptocurrency reached a high of $1,588 on CoinDesk on Friday morning. In January the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, launched a crackdown on bitcoin, believing that citizens were using it to move wealth out of the country. Prices fell as low as $750 on Jan. 12 before recovering.

In March the cryptocurrency had a run-up on anticipation that the Securities and Exchange Commission would decide in favor of a bitcoin exchange-traded fund driven by the Winklevoss brothers. Bitcoin prices reached a high of $1,350 before the feds nixed the proposal, sending prices to a low of $891 soon afterward. Prices began to recover as Japan officially acknowledged the use of cryptocurrencies and passed legislation allowing retailers to accept payment in digital form. Russia and India have also loosened restrictions on cryptocurrencies, leading to wider acceptance within their borders as both countries — India especially — struggle with their own internal currency crises.

The SEC announced in April that it would take a second look at a bitcoin ETF by reviewing its ruling in the Winklevoss brothers’ application. No timetable has been released on when that may happen. Bitcoin’s market cap is now north of $23 billion, which is chump change for any asset class. But with more acceptance and wider appeal, the digital currency can be divided into smaller units such as decibits, millibits, and centibits to make smaller transactions possible. Ethereum, which is the second-most prominent cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, struck a new all-time high Tuesday as well, trading at $85. It now has a market cap of $7 billion on the strength of its acceptance in gaming circles in Asian countries.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about –
TCC-Bitcoin.

 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Blockchain Could Move Self-Driving Cars Into the Fast Lane

A future with autonomous vehicles is fast approaching 

and with it, the idea that blockchain could connect automobiles and other Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices is getting its fair share of attention. Even though smart houses (where doors, thermostats and appliances are connected to the internet for added functionality) may have seemed more trendy a year ago, blockchain startups are becoming drawn to the potential of connected cars. "Timing is everything," said John Gerryts, co-founder and CEO at Oaken. "Now is the perfect time to begin building this stuff out."

He went on to explain:

"Everyone is in turn with it and on the same page with autonomous vehicles being within reach, depending on who you talk to, in the next 5–10 years."

The "stuff" Gerryts is talking about includes developing a mechanism that would allow autonomous vehicles to be truly autonomous. This means that a car could refuel, recharge and park on its own — and pay for those services as well.

Opportunity at the edge

Most entrepreneurs in the self-driving car space, said Gerryts, are focused on mobility. However, Oaken is focused on the layers and support systems that could underlie this operation. To the startup, these edges of the industry could use smart contracts running on a blockchain to connect everything. Plus, cars equipped with a repository of cryptocurrency could purchase services — say, a tune-up or an oil change – using an instantaneous and inexpensive payment rail.

Oaken sees itself taking care of the attestation of vehicles, inputting data on the blockchain to give vehicles a kind of digital identity. Once this identity is in place, Oaken can use GPS to follow the car, time-stamping its location on the blockchain. The data gleaned from the connection of the vehicle to the internet such as seasonality and traffic patterns, can also be used by consumers, application developers, and manufacturer "If everyone had everyone else’s data it would be a faster path to autonomous cars," according to James Johnson, co-founder and chief marketing officer at Oaken.

He said:

"If these [original equipment manufacturers] and others want to accelerate the path to level-five autonomous driving, the best way to do that is through the blockchain to share all that data."

But before autonomous cars, Oaken is looking to equip today's cars, those that could be manned by a human with the ability to purchase services using cryptocurrency. The company recently built out a proof-of-concept (PoC) for a United Arab Emirates-sponsored hackathon, which won first place. The project allowed Tesla cars to pay road tolls over the ethereum network. While nothing commercial has come out of the PoC yet, Gerryts said, the company has been head’s down on the project for the Toyota Research Institute, which announced this week that it will form a consortia with multiple blockchain startup partners to focus on potential uses of Blockchain.

Oaken has also been developing a system for short-term vehicle leasing. Whether it's individuals, manufacturers or other companies with fleets, the firm wants to find a way to allow them to rent out or lease vehicles in exchange for payment. And all that data and monetary transfer will happen over a blockchain. The startup has come up with a decentralized application (dapp) on the ethereum testnet that allows people to register their vehicles for short-term lease, and one at the other end that allows people to go in and sign up to lease those vehicles. With the announcement, Oaken and the other blockchain startups in the Toyota consortium — including Gem, BigchainDB and Commuterz – aim to capture the interest of large original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). That effort, they hope, will help get the blockchain-connected hardware into vehicles' components before market.

Unlocking the middleman's money

Uber’s valuation is more than $60bn, and all the company does is act as a matchmaker.

Johnson asked:

“What if there was a direct relationship between the vehicle owner and the consumer?”

By cutting out Uber or Lyft as the middleman, drivers would make more money without the up-to-20% fee they charge, and consumers would get cheaper rides. All manufacturers and OEMs are looking at how to get a piece of this pie. And while manufacturers might be selling less cars, Johnson continued, they’ll get more revenue per car – or rather than selling cars, offer pay-per-use models. Further, as Oaken is thinking about the future of smart cities, it makes sense to utilize the roadways for ride-sharing, because, in most US cities, there are about 100 times more roads than there are mass transit lines, Johnson said. “The opportunity is so big that I think all these different players in the [blockchain] space are now trying to get that solution built,” Johnson told CoinDesk.

Reinventing insurance

One area that will absolutely change as short-term leasing of individual cars becomes more popular is car insurance. “Insurance has always been built with 12 months in mind,” said Johnson. “Now, we’re building insurance products for five minutes or 20 minutes.” Many experts have predicted a move towards usage-based insurance (UBI) or 'pay as you drive' (PAYD), not only because of short-term leasing, but because of the proliferation of telematic devices and smartphones that can be used to monitor the driving behaviors of individuals in an effort to give them discounts or better premiums for good driving.

“Usage-based insurance will be dynamic enough to charge you less on Tuesdays than Wednesdays if you're a better driver on the former day,” said Gerryts. The problem with these models is that insurance is supposed to be a pooling mechanism for distributing costs across multiple people and, in turn, keeping them down. Plus, telematic monitoring can sometimes put certain demographics at a disadvantage. For instance, most insurers will dock points for driving late at night into the early morning because statistically speaking that’s when most accidents happen. However, this puts people that work late-night and overnight shifts at a disadvantage. However, Toyota’s insurance entity is also part of the research initiative, so these challenges are being worked through, according to Gerryts.

Johnson said:

“The discrimination of usage-based insurance – autonomous cars could solve this.”

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor
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Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Here’s how blindingly fast bitcoin has been surging

Here’s how blindingly fast bitcoin has been surging

The digital currency has blown through $100 milestones nearly every day

  

That’s how long it took the cryptocurrency bitcoin,

back in April 2013, to rise from $100 for a single bitcoin to $200.

Six hours—that’s how long it took for it to rise by its latest $100.

While the latter is an easier accomplishment—bitcoin only needed to rise 3.7% to add another $100 to its price, compared with 100% when it doubled to $200—it is also indicative of just how astonishingly fast the digital currency has been rising lately. It is up nearly 500% over the past 12 months, a sixfold rise, according to pricing site CoinDesk. Thus far in 2017, it is up 187%. Over just the past 10 days, it is up more than 60%. Here’s what gains like that translate to, If an investor were to have put $1,000 into bitcoin in 2010, that stake would be worth tens of millions of dollars today. Earlier this week, Charlie Bilello, a research director at investment adviser Pension Partners, created a table to show just how quickly Bitcoin has been bursting through $100 milestones. It hasn’t needed a double-digit number of days since April when it took nearly two months to move from $1,200 to $1,300.

Bitcoin BTCUSD, -0.57%   jumped another 12% on Thursday, an increase of $300. The speed and scale of the rally have raised questions about whether prices could possibly be sustained around current levels, something analysts seemed mixed on.“We’ve watched the volatility in Bitcoin ever since we first bought it, and we’re not blind to the fact that prices are driven by speculation to a certain degree. However, we think its utility is very underappreciated, and that there isn’t as much speculation as people think, necessarily,” said Cathie Wood, chief executive officer of ARK Investment Management.

ARK has two actively managed exchange-traded funds that offer indirect exposure to bitcoin, counting the Bitcoin Investment Trust GBTC, -7.23%  among their holdings. The BIT trades on the over-the-counter market and operates as a private, open-ended trust that invests solely in Bitcoin, with the value of its shares entirely derived from price moves in bitcoin.  The BIT typically trades at a high premium to bitcoin itself, but it has nonetheless followed the cryptocurrency higher in 2017—much higher. It is up more than 300% thus far this year, and it has more than doubled this week alone.

What is the future of bitcoin?he gains in bitcoin have been so large that the trust has become one of the top holdings of both the ARK Web x.0 ETF ARKW, +0.85%  and the A Innovation ETF ARKK, +0.18% the two actively managed funds that own What is the future of bitcoin?he gains in bitcoin have been so large that the trust has become one of the top holdings of both the ARK Web x.0 ETF ARKW, +0.85%  and the A Innovation ETF ARKK, +0.18% the two actively managed funds that own the trust (the ETFs only hold the trust, not bitcoin itself).the trust.

The trust is the largest holding of the Web ETF, comprising 8.24% of the portfolio. At 7.8%, the trust is the second-largest holding of the Innovation Fund. According to Wood, the ETFs both first bought the trust in July 2015, when it comprised 1% of the portfolios. Both ETFs have gained more than 40% in 2017, in large part due to the gain in the trust. And because they are among the few vehicles available for investors to get some kind of Bitcoin exposure—without buying it directly, something that can be complicated and risky—both have seen heavy increases in investor interest. The Web fund has seen inflows of $10.8 million in 2017, with $6.5 million of that coming over the past month, according to FactSet data. The Innovation ETF has had inflows of $16.6 million years to date, with $12 million of that coming over the past month.

Both funds have less than $30 million in assets, meaning the inflows this year have increased their size by about 50%. Wood said ARK may sell some of its BIT holdings soon, as the rules of the funds stipulate that it can’t have more than 10% of its holdings in an illiquid security—something the trust qualifies as. Despite the recent rally, she said she wasn’t necessarily worried that prices had gotten ahead of themselves. “Bitcoin is less than 50% of the crypto space; it used to be 80%,” she said. “That happened while its price was escalating; it’s just that the price of other crypto assets has escalated more, which suggests more speculation in those. But you can see that bitcoin transactions relative to the trading volume have been moving up, while developers are developing more. Both of those are good fundamental signs.”

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about –
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Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Bitcoin Surge Is Driven by People Leaving Riskier Digital Currencies, Say Execs

Bitcoin Surge Is Driven by People Leaving Riskier Digital Currencies, Say Execs

Bitcoin Surge Is Driven by People Leaving Riskier Digital Currencies, Say Execs

Bitcoin’s dramatic surge may be more than just a speculative frenzy. The recent rally is being driven partially by enthusiasts rotating out of riskier digital assets and into the more established cryptocurrency, according to industry executives.

"A lot of the volume into bitcoin right now is actually not dollar or yen or euro into bitcoin, but is rather alt digital assets," said Peter Smith, co-founder and CEO of digital asset software platform Blockchain, at an industry conference Tuesday that brought in 2,700 people on the first day. “People do view a lot of these newer assets as more risky, and so when they make big gains there, they’re selling down those gains and rotating into bitcoin."

Numerous alternative cryptocurrencies, or "altcoins" such as ripple, have emerged since bitcoin broke into public consciousness in 2013. Companies can sell new tokens through initial coin offerings, or ICOs. While the cost of one bitcoin has skyrocketed to more than $2,000 from just 8 cents in 2010, you can buy one litecoin for about $30.

The price of ether, the cryptocurrency tied to the Ethereum blockchain, has almost doubled in the last week.

Some are worried that there’s a bitcoin bubble in the making, but Smith and Erik Voorhees, founder and chief executive officer of cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift, aren’t too concerned. Booms and busts are a normal part of any economic cycle, they said at the Consensus 2017 conference.

"Every time bitcoin goes through these bubbles, a whole new wave of users come in," Voorhees said. "The reason that bitcoin is taking off is because banks have not been innovating."

The surge has also been tied to global political uncertainty and increased interest in Asia. Chinese stocks have slumped in recent months as bitcoin soared. The Shanghai Composite Index has fallen 6.9 percent from its high this year on April 11 amid concern authorities will step up measures to crack down on leveraged trading. China also may publish bitcoin regulations in June, according to a report earlier this month.

"Bitcoin up 100% in under 2 months. Shanghai down almost 10% same timeframe, compared to most global stocks up. Probably not a coincidence!" Doubleline Capital CEO Jeff Gundlach wrote in a tweet Tuesday.

ShapeShift users, only about 15 percent of whom are in the U.S., are moving small amounts of value between different digital tokens as they speculate about the best place to put their money, Voorhees said. Bitcoin is the "least speculative" of the digital assets, he explained.

Smith’s company, which added former Barclays Plc CEO Antony Jenkins as a board member last year, has grown every year regardless of bitcoin’s price, he said.

"One of the beautiful things about bitcoin is you get to see free-market economics at work every day, and bubbles and creative destruction are part of that process," added Smith, who said people have been incorrectly writing bitcoin’s obituary as it goes through natural up and down cycles. "I’m sure we’ll add a lot of obituaries if the market reverses and we go down below $2,000."

David Ogden
Entrepreneur

 

Author: Lily Katz

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

7 Steps To Getting Started With Trade Coin Club

7 Steps To Getting Started With Trade Coin Club

*These instructions were written at the very beginning of the pre-launch of TCC with limited information available about the program and while some of the website was still in Portuguese and Spanish. So please be lenient on the accuracy of my instruction steps. Also, keep in mind that website updates and program changes may occur which could also change the process. As needed, I will make updates to this document and make it available here.  [7 Steps Version 1.4, Updated on 3-11-17]

This is a written reference to accompany the Youtube video playlist found here:

Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyc3WvQz66K-spYcsdlNBLg

Covered in this manual:

TCC Step 1: How To Sign Up Correctly In Trade Coin Club

TCC Step 2: How To Obtain Bitcoin To Purchase A Trade Coin Club Plan

TCC Step 3. How To Select And Buy A Plan In Trade Coin Club

TCC Step 4: How To Complete Your Trade Coin Club Account Profile

TCC Step 5: Trade Coin Club Back Office Dashboard Overview

TCC Step 6: How To Transfer Your Earnings & Commissions In Trade Coin Club

TCC Step 7: How To Introduce Other People To Trade Coin Club

TCC Step 1: How To Sign Up Correctly In Trade Coin Club

Step 1 Video: 

How To Sign Up Correctly In Trade Coin Club

  • Use the referral link from the person who invited you. It should look something like mine: https://office.tradecoinclub.com/register/chuck212 or if they’ve shortened the invite link to a forwarding link, then the final landing page URL should still look like the URL above. (The last word or letters after the last slash is your sponsor’s personal invite code. “chuck212” in my case.)
  • Fill out all of the information on the form
  • Use your main email address! (You can only sign up for one spot in TCC, so make sure you take your time and do it right the first time. It is virtually impossible for the TCC tech support staff to make corrections and changes in the position of people in the network. You are only allowed one account.)
  • In the “Type Your Log In” field, you can set it to whatever invite code you want. (It will automatically set it to your first initial and last name if not customized.)
  • In the ID space, type your driver’s license number or your passport number
  • IMPORTANT: At the bottom where it says “Click here to accept the terms stated in the contract” you need to click on it, then review the terms and conditions and scroll all the way to the bottom of it and type in your name in the signature field and click I Accept.
  • After you’ve filled out all of the form, click submit (Save).
  • You will then be sent an email from TCC. Check your email inbox and open the email. Copy your login credentials at the bottom, along with the login URL (back office) and past them to a notepad or word document. Keep them safe and secure. Then click the confirmation link inside the email and this will confirm your account.
  • You can now log into the back office with the credentials you created.

Learn more about the process of how to join Trade Coin Club here: http://TheCryptoCoinExchange.com/how-to-join-trade-coin-club/

 

TCC Step 2: How To Obtain Bitcoin To Purchase A Trade Coin Club Plan

Step 2 Video:

Obtaining Bitcoin:

In order to purchase a trading plan in Trade Coin Club, you need to be able to pay for it with Bitcoin. There are several different websites and services that offer an online Bitcoin wallet. I use Coinbase. It is one of the most popular Bitcoin wallets.

To open a Coinbase account, sign up here: http://bit.ly/CoinbaseAcct

However, Coinbase only allows a maximum of a $250 deposit per weeks for new accounts. Click Here and I will fund your account.

You will need to verify your account and add a payment method such as an online bank account and/or a credit card number. When I started mine a couple of years ago, I used a bank account since I didn’t have a credit card at the time. Back then at least, it took a few days for the Bitcoin to show up in my wallet after making the transfer from my checking account.

However, if a credit card (not a debit card) was used, then the Bitcoin wallet would be funded right away. So if you want a quick transfer of funds, then I suggest using a credit card to make your initial deposit.

Another service I’ve used is CEX.io. You can open an account with CEX.io here: http://bit.ly/joinCEXIO

One of the advantages with CEX is that you can use a debit card and still fund the account right away. (Although they charge a higher fee than Coinbase.)

Blockchain.info is another popular Bitcoin wallet. You can sign up for an account there by visiting: https://blockchain.info

Another route to take is using a Bitcoin ATM. I understand that you don’t even need an online wallet for this type of transaction. For example, you could simply create a hash in Trade Coin Club to fund the account to buy a plan, (Step 3) and create a hash for it, then go to a Bitcoin ATM and deposit your local currency in cash and send it to the Bitcoin hash you created in TCC. (Of course, you would still need to eventually open an external online wallet in order to verify your TCC account and be able to withdraw funds.

You can find local Bitcoin ATMs and learn how to use each brand of them on the Coin ATM Radar website: https://coinatmradar.com/

 

TCC Step 3. How To Select And Buy A Plan In Trade Coin Club

Step 3 Video:

To Purchase A Plan In TCC:

  • Log into your TCC back office
  • Click on Plans -> Buy on the top of the page
  • Enter the value of Bitcoin you will be depositing (Or click on one of the three plans to select one.)
  • *Make sure you take into account a 0.05 Bitcoin registration fee (for any package) and add that amount to the amount being deposited. (TCC will automatically deduct 0.05 BTC as a registration fee when you purchase your first plan.)
  • Confirm the amount
  • Generate Hash
  • Copy that hash number onto a notepad
  • If I’m funding your account and paying your hash, then send that hash to me in a message.
  • If funding the hash yourself: Sign into your external Bitcoin wallet (Coinbase, etc.)
  • Choose to Send Funds
  • Enter the total amount of Bitcoin you will be sending to TCC (including the 0.05 registration fee)
  • Send that amount to the Hash you just created
  • Then go back to TCC and click “Confirm Payment”
  • *Your account should be upgraded. If your plan isn’t actually purchased yet and the Bitcoin were just sent to your main “Funds” wallet, then you’ll need to go to Plans -> Buy, then select a plan and when it asks from which wallet you want to take the Bitcoin from in order to pay for it, you can select the Funds wallet, and type in the amount you want to use underneath it in the field, and pay with it.

There are actually a couple of different ways to complete the task of buying a plan. You can also go to the “Deposit Funds” link under Plans and generate a hash there. Then you would need to send Bitcoin to that hash from an external source: Coinbase, Blockchain.info, Bitcoin ATM, etc. and send the funds to the hash you created. The Bitcoin would then be deposited to your Funds wallet, where you can use them to purchase a plan or upgrade your current plan.

The idea is to get familiar with how to move funds around within TCC. You need to understand what the Counter Sign code is, (next step) and what Tokens are, (next step). You will need to use these as security measures when transacting in TCC.

Moving funds may seem a bit overwhelming at first, but once you get familiar with how the system works, and what to do when moving funds, it’s fairly easy to use.

*After buying the plan: Another important thing you need to do in order to begin trading is to select your trading risk level. This needs to be done sometime between Sunday at 4PM PST / 7PM EST and Monday  at 4PM PST / 7PM EST.

On the dashboard section, on the right side of the page, is the risk level section. Make sure to choose your level, (I always recommend High risk) and set the trading to automatic. You simply want to make sure that your account is turned on and actively trading. (The yellow gear icons in that section will be turning if everything is turned on and the trading is going.)

 

TCC Step 4: How To Complete Your Trade Coin Club Account Profile

Step 4 Video:

*NOTE: This step is not necessary at first. You can still do the daily trading and also refer people to earn commissions without completing it. The only time this step needs to be finished is when you go to extract profits out of the system and send them to an external bitcoin wallet.

There are 4 main steps to completing your TCC account profile.

  1. Buy a package

This process was covered in the last step

  1. Enter an address

Click on the “My Profile” link at the top of the page, then scroll down to the bottom of the page, under the Address section and enter your physical address and your phone number.

  1. Send a Document

This is a picture you need to take and send in. It has instructions on the page, but I will cover it here as well. You need to take a clear, high-resolution photo of yourself holding up a government issued ID next to your face that has your picture and address on it. You can use your driver’s license or passport, or state-issued ID card.

I used my driver’s license and held it up next to my face and took a selfie with my phone. Since my driver’s license address matches the address I have on file in TCC, and the picture was clear and able to be zoomed in on, they accepted it right away. This way is fine, but don’t take a picture in the mirror. (The image of your ID would be backwards.)

However, if you have a separate address from your driver’s license or if you go by your middle name for example, then you’ll need to send in supporting documentation to prove your ID and address. If this is the case, then just contact TCC support and email them a couple good photos of yourself holding up each supporting document so they can easily tell everything is legitimate. And make sure to explain the situation and each document in the email, so that everything is crystal clear to them.

  1. Add your BTC wallet

This is simply your deposit hash for your external Bitcoin wallet. (Every Bitcoin wallet, (Coinbase, Blockchain.info, etc.) has a unique hash number assigned to your account. (Similar to an online checking account number). You can easily find this in the back office of your chosen external Bitcoin wallet. Just copy that Hash number and paste it into TCC in the BTC wallet section

And that’s it. After completing these simply steps, your account will be verified and you’ll be able to withdraw funds when you want.

 

TCC Step 5: Trade Coin Club Back Office Dashboard Overview

Step 5 Video:

Take a tour of the TCC back office dashboard and get familiar with all of its sections and functions.

Here you’ll learn about the platform’s back office dashboard and what all of its sections do. Watching the video for this step is the easiest way to take the tour. But here are written summaries of each section that you can use as a reference:

Dashboard

The Dashboard section gives you a quick snapshot of the balances of your 5 wallets. It also shows you where your profile is at in the stages of profile verification. It also shows you where you’re at within the cycle of your agreement (how many trading days have been completed) and lets you set your risk level and manage the trading settings.

My Network

The My Network section consists of 4 areas: My Network: this shows your overall network downline on your left and right legs. Matrix Network: Shows your 3X12 network of the people on your teams. Unilevel Network: Allows you to search specific members and view the points earned there. Qualification Plan: Shows you where you’re at in the number of cycles completed and what benefits and bonuses you’ve earned.

Financial

The Financial section shows records of your transactions and allows you to move funds. The Financial Extract section shows where you’ve moved money within TCC. The Pay Hash section allows you to search for a pre-generated hash and pay it with one of your wallets. And the Request Withdraw section allows you to extract funds from TCC and send them somewhere.

Plans

The Plans section allows you to Buy Plans and Deposit Funds. The Buy Plans process was covered in Step 3. (It’s where you choose a plan to purchase or upgrade your existing plan). And the Deposit Funds page lets you generate a hash to deposit Bitcoin into TCC from an external wallet.

Tools

The Tools section contains 4 pages: News, Videos, Downloads and Tutorials. Each page’s content is self-explanatory with the title and will be fleshed out with more content as time goes on. (Some of those pages are completely empty at the time this manual was created.)

My Profile

The My Profile section allows you to manage your Profile and Password. The instructions on how to complete your profile and verify it were covered in Step 4. Make sure this information is accurate and up to date.

Language

The Language section allows you to select your language. As time goes on, more languages will be available.

Support

This is where you contact support. Currently, it is simply an email address to use.

Sign Friend

This link opens in a new window and brings you to your sign up page with your personal invite code already embedded in the sponsor field of the form. This is the link you give others to sign up with.

Account

In the top right of the site, you can access the main aspects of your profile and log out.

TCC Step 6:
How To Transfer Your Earnings & Commissions In Trade Coin Club

How to make your first transfer, How to make other transfers after your first. One of the most powerful concepts of this opportunity is the concept of earning compound interest. So the idea is to transfer your daily trade earnings (and referral commissions if any) into your Exchange Wallet so you are trading with a higher and higher amount of funds every day throughout your 8 or 12-month agreement.

Here are the steps to transfer earnings within TCC wallets:

Step 1: Update your Countersign password if needed and make sure you have it handy. (This only needs to be done once. You do not need to do it every time you transfer your earnings.)

Step 2: Go to your Dashboard and look at your wallets and write down the amount of BTC you want to move. If you are moving BTC from more than one wallet, (example: your trading account plus your commission account to send into the exchange), then you need to add the totals and write down the sum.)

Step 3: Go to the Plans section, and then select the Buy link.

Step 4: Generate Hash. Type in the total amount of Bitcoin you want to move. (Remember if it is less than one Bitcoin, then you need to put a zero and then a decimal point, and then the amount.) Make sure the amount is correct and then click Generate Hash. And copy it to a clipboard. (Make sure you only copy the exact hash and not any spaces or other characters.)

Step 5: Go to the Financials Section and select Pay Hash. Paste in the hash code into the field and click the search button. (This will make TCC search its system and locate that hash transaction.)

Step 6: Enter the amounts under each Wallet that you want to move. (They should total the amount that you summed earlier.) Once you’re satisfied that all the numbers and amounts are correct, then click Pay.

Step 7: Then you’ll need to enter your “X-Pass”. This is your Counter Sign code that you set earlier. You may also need to confirm at Token. (A token for the transaction may need to be sent to your email.) So you may need to confirm the transaction with a Token also. (Check your email for a token number and paste in I the token field in TCC.) After you’ve confirmed the transaction, the funds will be moved and you will see that the totals in your Wallets are updated.

TCC Step 7:
How To Introduce Other People To Trade Coin Club

This step is of course optional. You are never required to introduce other people to TCC. You can simply deposit your Bitcoin in order to passively gain trading earnings. However, since the trading alone is so powerful and profitable, many people eventually tell others about their own success and offer an invite to their friends. This section of the 7 Steps will definitely be updated and improved as time goes on, but in this early stage, I thought it was important to at least have some rudimentary structure or outline for a basic process of how to introduce other people to TCC.

Step 1: Show them this short Introduction Video:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_hAYr3pjt4

Step 2: Show them a recording of an official TCC webinar Video: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTVUq-3om9s

Step 3: Give them your invite link and have them sign up and create a free TCC account.

Step 4: Give them the 7 Steps To Getting Started With Trade Coin Club page:
http://thecryptocoinexchange.com/trade-coin-club-tutorials/7-steps-getting-started-trade-coin-club/

Step 5: Show them how to buy a plan and start trading. (Make sure they actually buy a plan and get started trading.) If you need to help them obtain Bitcoin and follow the 7 Steps, then coach them along the way. Touch base regularly and help them with each step until they have funded their account and are actively trading.

Step 6: Follow up with them regularly, helping them along the way. Once their account is active and trading, stay in touch. Make sure they have studied the 7 steps and know how to use their TCC account. Make sure they know how to move funds within TCC. Make sure they know the importance of transferring their daily trading earnings into their exchange account each day in order to maximize their profits. The important thing here is to keep the communication line open, so they keep moving forward and never get stuck.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor
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Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member