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Saturday, September 1, 2018

NEM-[XEM


NEM-[XEM]: Defined












Unit XEM / Quick Over View:

    • Max and circulating supply 8,999,999,999 XEM.
    • Created in 2014.
    • Launched in 2015.
    • Created by a non-profit organization founded in Singapore.
    • Block A block can contain up to 120 transactions.
    • Maximum block size is not defined.
    • Mining NEM uses the term harvesting. Open source project available on github.
    • Smart Asset System.
    • Powerful API interface that can be used with many programming languages.
    • NEM offers public or private blockchains to customers.
    • NEM transaction might be 100% transparent.
    • EigenTrust++ algorithm is used for peer-to-peer communication. Embedded messaging and escrow services.


        Introduction:

        • The "New Economy Movement",(NEM), currency-econsystem attracts a lot of people for many reasons.
        • The newly introduced consensus mechanism called "Proof Of Importance", (POI), is cover later on in this article.
        • The code-base was designed and developed from scratch (no fork of other existing project).

        Influencers:

          • Long Wong the president of the founding board.
          • Jason Lee the global director.

            Technology:

              • NEM is a peer-to-peer, scaled blockchain platform ready for small and enterprise businesses.
              • NEM aims to penetrate into the banking sector, which requires mainly transparency and transaction verification.
              • For this reason the NEM blockchain is public.
              • However NEM offers also a private blockchain to satisfy all customer needs.
              • NEM is regarded as a green friendly technology since it uses 100 times less electricity than Bitcoin for network operations.
              • That is made possible by the usage of POI consensus mechanism, which is not so energy demanding as POW or POS.
              • It is worth mentioning the Catapult project.
              • Within the project the core code-base was rewritten from Java (the first generation) to C++ (the second generation) and and the Mijin (NEM’s permissioned) ledger was completely overhauled to give a superior performance.
              • It significantly increased NEM‘s performance and made it ready for the financial sector.
              • Thus NEM can be considered as a competitor to Ripple.
              • For more details check the Catapult white paper.
              • NEM is able to handle 3.000+ (peak 4000) transactions per second. Transactions are visible within 6 seconds in a wallet/NEM client.
              • Confirmation comes within 20 seconds.
              • Transaction fee is 0.1% of the transaction amount.
              • NEM allows customers to build arbitrary asset systems.
              • Customers define how the NEM blockchain will look like, what it will be doing and how it is going to be used.
              • The potential is huge as it can be utilized in fintech, logistics, exchange, ICO, document storage and notarization, decentralized authentication, military, medical and many other businesses.
              • To build an asset a customer must define a namespace (and possibly subdomains), which is in fact the home address in a NEM blockchain.
              • Next step is a definition of arbitrary mosaics in a given namespace.
              • Mosaics are NEM‘s sub assets. The creation of sub assets requires the rental of a root namespace.
              • A customized mosaic is a basic building block of smart assets that can represent anything.
              • For example a coin, signature, document, status or any other thing.
              • An asset can be updated by a NEM transaction, which is not always the case in similar competitor projects.
              • Moreover NEM allows the creation of addresses acting as containers for mosaics that can be connected with multiple rules.
              • Address can represent a user as a NEM account holder.
              • In addition, assets can be transferred as an attachment via the NEM embedded messaging system.
              • This is what makes NEM unique in the cryptocurrency world.
              • NEM invented the revolutionary consensus mechanism called proof of importance (POI).
              • As POW and POS are considered unfair and energy wasting, the POI introduced a new way of block selection.
              • Instead of the term mining, well-known in crypto world, the word harvesting is used in NEM.
              • Every user can participate in "harvesting" when he fulfills the required conditions and thus gains so-called importance.

                Advantages:

                    • The main advantage is surely the POI consensus mechanism. Moreover POI is green and an energy sparing technology.
                    • Nearly every considerable business can be built on top of the NEM blockchain.
                    • NEM is a business ready blockchain and is already used in ICO, cryptocurrency exchange, state economy digitalization, etc.
                    • It is an open source project.
                    • NEM CEO Martin Alf is an experienced manager who has led multi-million dollar companies.
                    • A strong community in comparison with other projects.
                    • An available SDK.

                        Disadvantages:

                            • Even though POI brings some great ideas it seems though that POS is being recognized as a more effective consensus mechanism.
                            • Huge max XEM supply.
                            • Financial results not published.
                            • None or not revealed advisors.
                            • No mention about the development team at official web side.
                            • Nearly no activity on youtube



                                Whitepaper:

                                  • NEM does not have a whitepaper.
                                  • NEM does have a technical reference representing both the whitepaper and the technical overview.
                                  • It is a circa 55-page document with relevant information.
                                  • Topics as accounts, addresses, used cryptography, transactions and blockchain, POI and networks are discussed.
                                  • I advise you to also read the Catapult white paper.

                                    Real examples of use:

                                      • XEM is a coin in NEM. It is a deflationary coin with maximum supply of 8,999,999,999.
                                      • XEM came into existence when 1,500 stakeholders each received 5,999,999 XEM.
                                      • Then they distributed, said coins, to the community.
                                      • Other funds were distributed to multi-sig wallets with the intention of distribution for NEMs development and rewards.
                                      • XEM can be bought on exchanges (available at all major players) or be harvested.
                                      • In NEM there are two kinds of users.
                                      • Either with importance or without it. By default the user does not have the importance.
                                      • In order to be eligible for importance calculation, the user needs to have at least 10.000 XEM in their balance.
                                      • The importance is then calculated based on two factors.
                                      • Firstly XEM amount is taken into account.
                                      • Secondly a number of transactions within the last month is considered.
                                      • So not only account balance is crucial by the importance calculation, but also the amount of transactions. It ensures fairness.
                                      • Harvesting is the process of generating blocks and earning the transaction fees in that block as a reward.
                                      • POI determines who generates a new block.
                                      • To be able to harvest, the account needs to have importance.
                                      • If that is the case, then every 1440 blocks 1/10th of the unvested balance is moved to the vested part.
                                      • Note that harvesting does not create new XEM coins.
                                      • Harvesting revenue is approximately 1% per year (depends on the amount of transactions).
                                      • Also read the paragraph related to the wallet to understand the difference between local and delegated harvesting.
                                      • When the account achieves the importance, then it can become a super-node. There are 2 advantages of being a super-node.
                                      • Besides the possibility of harvesting, a super-node can take part in voting and thus influence the further development.
                                      • Note that the POI and the harvesting explanation is simplified.
                                      • To fully understand how POI works I advise you to read the NEM tech reference.
                                      • NEM is real business, and NEM established a partnership with the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).
                                      • MDEC is the leading agency responsible for introducing digital economy in Malaysia.
                                      • The NEM blockchain was launched in Kuala Lumpur to support innovation and mass adoption of digitization.
                                      • NEM is used as a backend and asset system (tokens, smart signing contracts etc.) for Comsa.
                                      • Comsa is an ICO solution platform. It enables an easy way for companies to create ICO.
                                      • The NEM blockchain is used in Mijin.
                                      • Mijin is a successful commercial blockchain used by financial institutions and private companies in Japan.

                                        Technical analysis:

                                          • Embedded messaging system with the possibility to send assets in the message.
                                          • POI.
                                          • Smart asset system.
                                          • Passive income via harvesting.
                                          • Account security with multistage approvals.

                                            Fundamental analysis:

                                              • The NEM team is formed mainly out of Japanese developers.
                                              • There is about 15+ developers working on NEM.
                                              • Judging by the pull requests on github it seems the project is live.
                                              • The development team can be reached via Telegram.
                                              • There is the NEM forum, dedicated to development on the NEM platform.
                                              • The development team is not mentioned on the official pages.

                                                Investors:

                                                  • The NEM.io Foundation stands behind NEM.
                                                  • The foundation’s purpose is to introduce, educate, and promote the NEM blockchain technology internationally.
                                                  • NEM have already claims the official web of approval.
                                                  • There is no mention of any funding.
                                                  • A list of the founding board, council and founding members is available including names and positions.
                                                  • On the Investor page there is only technical material and no mention about investors.

                                                  Conclusion:

                                                    • NEM has a really huge potential and it is already used in real business.
                                                    • It has stepped in the financial and ICO business already.
                                                    • Competitors of NEM are FACTOM, Ripple and DASH (similar node systems for governance).
                                                    • NEM is worth to keep an eye on.

                                                      Roadmap:

                                                        • It might be surprising that NEM does not have a road map.
                                                        • There is no mention on the official web site.
                                                        • There are some NEM road maps available for example on NEM‘s facebook, but it is not up to date.
                                                        • It looks more like a timeline and it covers only the years 2014 and 2015.
                                                        • It might be a case that Catapult‘s white paper and other technical documents are considered a road map.
                                                        • The “New Economy Movement”, or NEM, was officially launched in 2015 after being created by an online community of developers.
                                                        • Rather than Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work (PoW) or Nxt’s Proof-of-Stake (PoS) algorithm, NEM utilizes something called the Proof-of-Importance (PoI) algorithm.
                                                        • PoI is similar to PoS, but takes more factors into account when choosing which users get rewarded.
                                                        • The NEM token is called “XEM”.
                                                        • NEM Technical reference: “NEM is a movement that aims to empower individuals by creating a new economy based on the principles of decentralization, financial freedom, and equality of opportunity.”
                                                        • The NEM project was developed with the intention of addressing wealth inequality.
                                                        • However, few coins have made this an explicit goal.
                                                        • NEM has branded itself as “the smart asset blockchain”.
                                                        • Similar to Ethereum, NEM’s blockchain is optimized creating dapps (decentralized apps) managing financial instruments, supply chains, notarizations, and ownership records.
                                                        • Unique to NEM is it's API (Application Programming Interface), which means that external systems can easily interact with NEM.
                                                        • Just as the steering wheel or the gear shift is your way to “interact” with your car’s engine, external applications can be connected and used to interact with NEM.

                                                          How NEM Works:

                                                            1. Smart Addresses!
                                                            2. Mosaics!
                                                            3. Namespaces!
                                                              NEM has the advantage of not requiring users to write their own Smart Contract code–instead, users can compile their assets into “mosaics”, create their own “namespaces”, and manage “container” Smart Addresses through an API interface.
                                                                • Smart Addresses on the NEM network are more than just numbers that are used to send and receive transactions.
                                                                • With NEM, and address could represent “things like: a package to be shipped, a deed to a house, or a document to be notarized.”
                                                                • Essentially, NEM Smart Addresses are used as Smart Contracts–users add their data into a container address and define how the addresses relate to one another.
                                                                • Their contents are “updated and transferred” depending on the rules that users set for them.
                                                                • Mosaic “fixed smart assets” are “are fixed assets on the NEM blockchain that can represent a set of multiple identical things that do not change.”
                                                                • Practically, a Mosaic could contain things NEM tokens, reward points, signatures, votes, or other assets (like shares of stock or other cryptocurrencies).

                                                                  Creating a Mosaic:

                                                                    • Creating a Mosaic, users must define a series of attributes, including its “name, description, quantity, divisibility, transferability and more.”
                                                                    • Mosaics are distributed between assets according to the various rules and conditions that are given to the addresses.
                                                                      "A Smart Address’s conditions state that if one Smart Address sends a certain amount of tokens to a second Smart Address, the second Smart Address will automatically send a Mosaic full of shares of stock back to the first Smart Address (corresponding with the amount of tokens sent)."

                                                                      Creating a Namespace:

                                                                      • NEM users can also create Namespaces, which operate similarly to domain names on the internet.
                                                                      • Instead of websites, however, the Namespaces are created specifically for viewing assets.
                                                                      • Namespaces allow users to create a sort of “place of their own” on the NEM blockchain.
                                                                      • Using Namespaces, businesses and individuals can be accessed by other NEM users more easily.
                                                                      • Namespaces can contain “subdomains” that contain various assets, just like websites can have multiple pages.

                                                                      NEM Transactions:

                                                                        • Transactions on the NEM network can integrate MultiSig (multi-signature) technology.
                                                                        • Regards, this means users can choose to require the signature of multiple parties on a single transaction before the transaction is executed and broadcast to the network.
                                                                        • NEM also allows users to send encrypted messages to one another.
                                                                        • No transactions need to take place in order for the messages to be sent.

                                                                          NEM: Proof-of-Importance:

                                                                            • NEM is the first coin to use the Proof-of-Importance algorithm.
                                                                            • Understanding how PoI works, let’s first talk about Proof-of-Stake and Proof-of-Work.
                                                                            • Upholding a cryptocurrency’s network, the coin’s blockchain (a public ledger that stores transaction information) is stored on a network of individual computers.
                                                                            • These computers are called “nodes”.
                                                                            • Maintaining the network, nodes also fulfill the function of verifying transactions by putting them through a series of tests.
                                                                            • When transaction(s) gets verified, the nodes add the transaction information to “blocks”.
                                                                            • The blocks are then stored in a linear fashion, like a chain. That’s how “blockchain” technology gets its name.
                                                                            • In order to make new blocks, nodes participate in one of a few different processes.
                                                                            • For coins like Bitcoin, which use a Proof-of-Work algorithm, that process is called “mining”.
                                                                            • “Mining” is what happens when nodes solve complex equations that create new blocks for the blockchain.
                                                                            • In exchange for mining, you get rewarded in the form of crypto tokens.
                                                                            • Having a fancier and more complicated equipment, you are able to mine more efficiently.
                                                                            • Coins that use the Proof-of-Work algorithm can give an unfair advantage to users who have access to better equipment.
                                                                            • For coins like Nxt, that use a “Proof of Stake” algorithm, nodes take “forging” or “minting” instead of mining.
                                                                            • Opposed to solving complex equations in exchange for token rewards, nodes on a PoS network are chosen at random to create new blocks.
                                                                            • As nodes that mine coins, these nodes receive token rewards in exchange for forging.
                                                                            • We will focus now on Proof-of-Importance: Nodes on a PoI network are assigned an “importance score”.
                                                                            • The “importance score” depends on a few different things.
                                                                            • In order to be eligible to receive the score, a user must hold 10,000 XEM tokens (about US$2700 at the time of writing).
                                                                            • Additionally, the score depends on how many transactions a user takes part in on the network.
                                                                            • Users who have a higher number of transactions “harvest” more blocks on the network, and are therefore given a higher importance score, leading to higher token rewards.
                                                                            • Proof-of-Importance, (POI), give an advantage of creating serious NEM supporters who consistently support the network.
                                                                            • Transactions on the network happen faster when the token value stays more consistent.
                                                                            • Proof-of-Importance also allows users who hold at least 3 million XEM tokens to become “Supernodes” that act as the backbone of the network.
                                                                            • In exchange being a Supernode, users receive 140,000XEM every day that they run a node that fits the appropriate technical criteria.
                                                                            • NEM Supernodes are also what enable NEM litewallets, mobile apps, and external (third party) apps.
                                                                            • Transactions through NEM media are given access to the blockchain through the Supernodes, and they don’t have to contain the entire blockchain themselves.
                                                                            • NEM continues to rise in value.
                                                                            • NEM is becoming more and more difficult for nodes to receive an importance score.


                                                                              NEM for Developers:

                                                                                • NEM was written in Java.
                                                                                • Developers do not have to learn a new programming language in order to develop dapps (decentralized application) on its blockchain.
                                                                                • Developer who want to create a Ethereum blockchain must first learn the Ethereum programming language, which commonly is a deterrent.

                                                                                History of NEM:

                                                                                  • The crypto world reached discussions in online communities.
                                                                                  • Much of the history surrounding various cryptocurrencies is documented on sites that are focused on blockchains,and other programming technologies.
                                                                                  • NEM is no different.
                                                                                  • NEM was originally proposed by UtopianFuture, a user on a Bitcoin Talk forum.
                                                                                  • NEM was conceptualized as a fork of NXT, which is a cryptocurrency and payment network that utilizes a proof-of-stake algorithm.
                                                                                  • On January 19, 2014, UtopianFuture placed an open call for community participation in the development of NEM.
                                                                                  • NEM is a cryptocurrency within a solid community base.NEM is built from scratch by developers who never met offline.
                                                                                  • NEM did not have a typical ICO
                                                                                  • NEM's non-typical ICO enables coins sold to a group of investors who pay with cash or other coins (usually Bitcoin or Ethereum).
                                                                                  • There is 2.25 million XEM tokens that were distributed among community developers who contributed to the creation of the NEM-coin.
                                                                                  • The stable version of NEM was introduced to the public in March of 2015.
                                                                                  • At the time of release, a single XEM token was worth ~US$0.00004.
                                                                                  • NEM’s value didn’t change with any significance for the next two years, but it started to see a sharp increase in April of 2017.

                                                                                    NEM as an Investment: 

                                                                                      • NEM is currently a cryptocurrency with seventh of the largest market cap in the world.
                                                                                      • NEM is currently priced at ~$0.28 a token.
                                                                                      • The market cap is $2,502,126,000, close to its all-time high.
                                                                                      • There are nearly 9 billion XEM tokens in circulation.


                                                                                        Iconomi [ICN]: Defined in CryptoCurrency


                                                                                        Iconomi [ICN] Defined:

                                                                                        DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT PLATFORM














                                                                                        What is ICONOMI?


                                                                                        For beginners, ICONOMI is the best way to take your first steps into the crypto-economy.

                                                                                        For experienced investors, ICONOMI is the easiest way to diversify your digital portfolio.

                                                                                        The emergence of technologies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum marks the creation of a revolutionary new asset class: digital assets.

                                                                                        ICONOMI is always successfully managing your own digital assets is hard, requiring intensive research, security measures with no room for error, and multiple exchange accounts.

                                                                                        The ICONOMI Digital Asset Management Platform is a new and unique technical service that takes care of this process for you using diversified baskets of digital assets called Digital Asset Arrays (DAAs).

                                                                                        INSTANT EXPOSURE TO DIGITAL ASSETS:

                                                                                        Sign up, deposit your bitcoin or ether, and gain exposure to a wide variety of digital assets in seconds.

                                                                                        24/7 ACCESS AND LIQUIDITY:

                                                                                        Manage your digital assets 24/7. Fast withdrawals and no contract lock-ins. A growing list of supported value tokens with deep liquidity.

                                                                                        CUTTING-EDGE SECURITY AND CUSTODIANSHIP:

                                                                                        Digital assets require extra layers of security. The majority of assets are permanently stored in multi-sig protected cold wallets, so you can enjoy the safety of physical bank vaults.

                                                                                        100% TRANSPARENCY:

                                                                                        All exchanges are executed on the markets. No small print or hidden costs.

                                                                                        Digital Assets Arrays:

                                                                                        DAA (Digital Assets Arrays™) are comprised of various combinations of digital assets. Each manager can create his own assortment of specific digital assets and offer them to the community of supporters.

                                                                                        Benefits of DAA:

                                                                                        Because DAA can consist of as many underlying digital assets as you want, they are a perfect vehicle to achieve your goals. DAA can be either diversified to maximise value stability, or fine tuned to aggressively pursue maximum gains.

                                                                                        LOWER THE RISK OF DEPRECIATION:

                                                                                        The new economy moves at lightning speed, so the value of digital assets can fluctuate rapidly. Making a DAA of several digital assets can lower the risk of depreciation.

                                                                                        MAINTAIN AN OPTIMAL DIGITAL ASSET MIX:

                                                                                        Easy array adjustments enable constant reaction to the markets for optimal growth.

                                                                                        ATTRACT SUPPORTERS AND SPLIT THE PROFITS:

                                                                                        Invite others to support your assets DAA and share proceeds.

                                                                                        Digital Assets Array:

                                                                                        Digital Asset Arrays (DAAs) are the foundation of ICONOMI and include various combinations of digital assets. Arrays can consist of any number of underlying digital assets. For example, you could design a diversified array to maximize value stability or a higher-risk array tuned to aggressively pursue maximal gains.

                                                                                        Simple purchase:

                                                                                        Purchase our cross section of digital assets in seconds.

                                                                                        Low entry barrier:

                                                                                        Low fees and easy sign-up.

                                                                                        Low entry barrier:

                                                                                        Low fees and easy sign-up.

                                                                                        Lower risk:

                                                                                        Diversify your portfolio and minimize risk.

                                                                                        DAA showcase: Blockchain Index:

                                                                                        Blockchain Index is the first passively managed DAA and can be acquired with just a few clicks. You benefit from a diverse investment and spread risk. The digital assets currently included represent 78% of the total market cap. Blockchain Index is perfect for beginners and the more experienced alike.

                                                                                        Blockchain Index Performance:

                                                                                        1 week return 14.01 %
                                                                                        1 month return -15.36 %
                                                                                        Launch date 21 Dec 2016

                                                                                         

                                                                                        ABOUT DAA:

                                                                                        Blockchain Index (BLX) is a passively managed DAA investing in established blockchain-based projects with active beta components. The DAA is market-cap weighted, adjusted for trading volume, and free float. Blockchain Index is a well diversified vehicle keeping a finger on the pulse of the blockchain economy. The focus of the investment selection is on nascent projects with potential strategic importance in the future distributed economy.

                                                                                         

                                                                                        About DAA manager:

                                                                                        Columbus Capital Ltd is an investment management company focusing only on blockchain-based assets. We are the missing link between traditional investment management standards and the newest asset class on the market. We follow traditional investment management techniques and processes by applying them to the management of pure blockchain-based assets.

                                                                                         

                                                                                        DAA strategy:

                                                                                        Weighting is based on market cap and the logarithm of market cap value in cases where assets have a proportionally higher market cap. The average daily volume of an individual asset in the past seven days must be at least double the invested value in the portfolio. The invested amount of a particular asset should not exceed 5% of its market capitalization. There is no maximum number of included assets in the index; they are added based on fundamental analysis and potential strategic importance in the future distributed economy. Regular rebalancing is done monthly, and additional rebalancing is triggered if an individual asset surpasses 25% weight.

                                                                                         

                                                                                        DAA tokenization:

                                                                                        The BLX DAA has been tokenized, and tokens can be withdrawn to any Ethereum ERC20 compatible wallet. It may be listed on exchanges. The BLX token smart contract can be viewed here.

                                                                                         

                                                                                        COMPARE

                                                                                        Sunday, August 26, 2018

                                                                                        Burst-{BURST)-Coin: Defined in CryptoCurrency


                                                                                        Burst-Coin: Defined
































                                                                                        d



                                                                                        Burstcoin: Defined!

                                                                                        This is the approved revision of this page, as well as being the most recent.



                                                                                        Burstcoin logo Above...


                                                                                        Burstcoin is a digital cryptocurrency and payment system based on the blockchain technology.

                                                                                        The Burstcoin was introduced on the bitcointalk.org forum on 10 August 2014 as an Nxt-based cryptocurrency.

                                                                                        Burstcoins are mined using an algorithm called proof-of-capacity (PoC) in which miners use computer storage instead of the more common energy-expensive method proof-of-work (PoW) which involves permanent computational operations.

                                                                                        The energy requirement for Burstcoin mining is minimal compared to most other cryptocurrencies making Burstcoin one of the most nergy efficient within the field of proof based cryptocurrencies.

                                                                                        The Nxt blockchain platform allows for development flexibility, ensuring developers freedom to create their own applications.

                                                                                        In this sense, Burstcoin can be considered as a next-generation cryptographic application project (often called 'cryptocurrency 2.0') in contrast to the first generation cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

                                                                                        The crypto tokens, called Burst, are fairly distributed. There was no ICO, no pre-mine allocations to early adopters, and no airdrops for any promotions of the cryptocurrency during the launch.

                                                                                        The Burstcoin blockchain operates with a block time of 4 minutes, the block reward size reduces at a fixed rate of 5 percent each month, and contains a limited token supply of 2,158,812,800 Burst crypto tokens. The network offers a dedicated digital wallet called Burst Wallet.

                                                                                        Burstcoin Price Online From CoinMarketCap




                                                                                        History

                                                                                        Origin to community takeover Burstcoin was released to the public on 10 August 2014 on bitcointalk.org by the original developer who is known under the alias "Burstcoin".

                                                                                        Their real identity is still unknown today.

                                                                                        The coin was launched without an initial coin offering (ICO) or premine.

                                                                                        The genesis block was published on 11 August 2014. Approximately one year later, the main developer "Burstcoin" disappeared without any explanation.

                                                                                        Being an open source project, other members of community then took over the development of Burstcoin.

                                                                                        On 11 January 2016, a new forum thread was created on Bitcointalk.org by a senior community member. The core code is being actively developed by an international community of contributors.

                                                                                        Innovations:

                                                                                        Burstcoin is the first cryptocurrency using the proof-of-capacity algorithm. Proof-of-capacity was successfully implemented by the original developer, going by the name "Burstcoin" on bitcointalk.org forums.

                                                                                        Burstcoin was the first cryptocurrency to implement working, "Turing complete" smart contracts in a live environment in the form of Automated Transactions (AT), this occurred before both Ethereum and Counterparty.

                                                                                        An application of these smart contracts was shown in the form of the world's first decentralized lottery. It became the first ever program to run on top of a blockchain in a trustless decentralized manner.

                                                                                        Other use cases of the Automated Transactions include decentralized crowdfunding.

                                                                                        A more recent innovation by Burstcoin and Qora is the Atomic cross-chain transactions (ACCT), this allows for full decentralized trading between two cryptocurrencies without the need for any third-party, namely an online exchange.

                                                                                        Cross-chain transactions have been successfully made between the blockchain of Burstcoin and Qora.


                                                                                        Design Blockchain:

                                                                                        The Burstcoin blockchain is a public ledger that records every transaction. It is fully distributed and works without a central trusted authority:
                                                                                        • The blockchain is maintained by a network of computers known as nodes running the Burstcoin software.
                                                                                         

                                                                                        Ownership:

                                                                                        Ownership of Burstcoins implies that a user can spend Burstcoins linked with a specific address.

                                                                                        For this to occur, a payer must digitally sign the transaction using the associated private key.

                                                                                        Without knowledge of the private key, the transaction cannot be signed and Burstcoins cannot be spent.

                                                                                        The network verifies the signature using the public key.

                                                                                        If the private key is lost, the Burstcoin network will not recognize any other evidence of ownership; the coins are then unusable and are effectively lost.

                                                                                        Transactions:

                                                                                        A summary of a Burstcoin transaction is as follows...

                                                                                        The sender details the parameters for the required transaction type (sending money, creating an alias, transmitting a message, issuing an asset or an order for an asset).

                                                                                        All values for the transaction inputs are bounds checked for validity. If the transaction is found to be valid then the public key for the generating account is computed using the supplied secret passphrase.

                                                                                        A new transaction is created, with a type and sub-type value set to match the type of transaction being created.

                                                                                        All specified parameters are included in the Transaction object. A unique transaction ID is generated with the creation of the object. The transaction is digitally signed using the sending account's private key.

                                                                                        The encrypted transaction data is placed within a message instructing network peers to process the transaction.  The transaction is then broadcast to all peers on the network. Burstcoin transactions are based on the Nxt code base. A detailed explanation of the transaction process can be found on its wiki page.


                                                                                        Mining (proof-of-capacity):

                                                                                        The mining burstcoin process is based on a proof-of-capacity (PoC) consensus algorithm. In order to mine burstcoins each miner first computes a large data set which is then saved to a computer storage medium.

                                                                                        These data sets are known as plots. For each new block in the blockchain each miner will read through a tiny subset (1/4096th - approximately 0.024%) of their own saved plots and return a result as a time interval in seconds known as a deadline.

                                                                                        The miner with the lowest deadline wins the block and is then rewarded with the transaction fees and the decreasing block reward of burstcoins.
                                                                                        The computational resources for mining burstcoin are limited to the time it takes the miner to read the plot files stored on mass storage.

                                                                                        Once this is achieved no other computational resources are needed until the next block making Burst highly energy efficient.The total size of a miners plots is comparable to the mining speed used by other cryptocurrencies.

                                                                                        The hardware entry point for Burst mining is minimal as it can currently be mined on an Android device. Proof-of-capacity is also claimed to be ASIC-proof. Burst's proof-of-capacity algorithm is based on precomputed proof-of-work, so theoretically one could compute the Proofs in real time.

                                                                                        However, it is currently impossible to efficiently compute a significant amount of work during a 4-minute time interval. Inspecting the precomputed work stored on the hard drive is both faster and more energy efficient than any conceivable ASIC device could achieve providing in real-time.

                                                                                        Mining pools:

                                                                                        How to mine burstcoin in the pools? Given that it can take a long time to find the smallest deadline, some miners collectively mine in what is known as a mining burstcoin pool.

                                                                                        Mining pools allow miners to have a more evenly distributed Burst income: the reward for each block won by the pool is distributed between the miners of that pool.

                                                                                        By use of mining pools smaller miners can collectively compete with the larger solo miners. When a block is won the pool miner who finds the lowest deadline receives typically between 50% and 60% of the block reward. Alternatively a solo miner wins 100% of the block reward.

                                                                                        Features:

                                                                                        The core feature set of Burst is based on the Nxt platform which allows the adding of external services to be built on top of the blockchain.

                                                                                        The Burstcoin cryptocurrency wallet comes in two versions: 
                                                                                        The web based wallet (online wallet) and a Windows desktop version (Windows Client) which is essentially a wrapper for the web wallet and a local instance with some added functionalities.

                                                                                        Users can access their account from anywhere in the world with internet access and a web browser. The features of the Burst wallet include (but are not limited to) the following below...

                                                                                        Android version:

                                                                                        An Android version of the Burst wallet was released in 2016. Although it currently only has a subset of the features of the PC version it allows users to plot the storage capacity of the device, to mine coins with it and to send and receive Burstcoins on any Android capable device.

                                                                                        Asset Exchange:


                                                                                        Screenshot of the Burstcoin Asset...

                                                                                        Exchange window...

                                                                                        The Burst Asset Exchange is a peer-to-peer exchange platform integrated into the Burst wallet. It functions primarily as a secure decentralized trading platform for Burst assets.

                                                                                        The popularity of the asset exchange is based upon the absence of any third party, allowing improved efficiency and reduced costs. A burst asset is basically a token to represent anything the asset issuer deems to be of value so that it can be traded, common examples of such assets include shares in the following: mining pools, retirement funds, crypto mining rigs, crypto gambling sites and silver investments.

                                                                                        Automated transactions (Smart Contracts):

                                                                                        Screenshot of First Smart Contract...

                                                                                        using Burstcoin...

                                                                                        Smart Contracts are self-executing contractual states, stored on the blockchain. In brief an Automated Transaction is a "uring complete" set of byte code instructions which will be executed by a byte code interpreter built into its host.

                                                                                        An AT supporting host platform automatically supports various applications ranging from games of chance to automated crowdfunding and ensuring that "long term savings" are not lost forever.

                                                                                        Crowdfunding:

                                                                                        The crowdfunding feature allows users within the Burst community to raise funds in Burst for project creators in a decentralized way.

                                                                                        Escrow service:

                                                                                        The Burstcoin Wallet has an inbuilt escrow service, it allows a quantity of Burstcoins to be held by a third-party on behalf of transacting parties.

                                                                                        Marketplace:

                                                                                        The Burstcoin Wallet includes a completely decentralized marketplace where Burstcoin users can view other users items for sale by referencing their account id. It will display all items for sale for the designated account holder.

                                                                                        Source: The Burst site




                                                                                        Proof-of-space:

                                                                                        (PoSpace), also called proof-of-capacity (PoC), is a means of showing that one has a legitimate interest in a service (such as sending an email) by allocating a non-trivial amount of memory or disk space to solve a challenge presented by the service provider. The concept was formulated by Dziembowski et al; in 2015.

                                                                                        Proofs of space are very similar to proofs of work, except that instead of computation, storage is used. Proof-of-space is related to, but also considerably different from, memory-hard functions and proofs of retrievability.

                                                                                        After the release of Bitcoin, alternatives to its PoW mining mechanism were researched and PoSpace was studied in the context of cryptocurrencies.

                                                                                        Proofs of space are seen as a fairer and greener alternative due to the general-purpose nature of storage and the lower energy cost required by storage. Several theoretical and practical implementations of PoSpace have been released and discussed, such as SpaceMint and Burstcoin.

                                                                                        Description:

                                                                                        A proof-of-space is a piece of data that a prover sends to a verifier to prove that the prover has reserved a certain amount of space. For practicality, the verification process needs to be efficient, namely, consumes a small amount of space and time.

                                                                                        For soundness, it should be hard for the prover to pass the verification if it does not actually reserve the claimed amount of space.

                                                                                        One way of implementing PoSpace is by using hard-to-pebble graphs. The verifier asks the prover to build a labeling of a hard-to-pebble graph. The prover commits to the labeling. The verifier then asks the prover to open several random locations in the commitment.

                                                                                        Uses:

                                                                                        Proofs of space could be used as an alternative to proofs of work in the traditional client puzzle applications such as anti-spam measures and denial of service attack prevention.

                                                                                        Proof-of-Space has also been used for malware detection, by determining whether the L1 cache of a processor is empty (e.g., has enough space to evaluate the PoSpace routine without cache misses) or contains a routine that resisted being evicted.

                                                                                        Burstcoin:

                                                                                        PoSpace has been used in the Burstcoin cryptocurrency founded in August 2014. Burstcoin claims to have a green algorithm that favors smaller miners by design, making transaction costs cheaper and the network more decentralized.

                                                                                        The goal of depending on smaller miners was most typified by the original Android app to mine Burstcoin.

                                                                                        However, by December 2017, the estimated network size approached 157,000 terabytes and the average mining payoff was 21 burst per week per terabyte, so participants with disk space measured in gigabytes are no longer likely to receive significant payback from mining.
                                                                                         

                                                                                        SpaceMint:

                                                                                        In 2015, a paper proposed a cryptocurrency called SpaceMint.  It attempts to solve some of the practical design problems associated with the pebbling-based PoSpace schemes.

                                                                                        In using PoSpace for decentralized cryptocurrency, the protocol has to be adapted to work in a non-interactive protocol since each individual in the network has to behave as a verifier.
                                                                                         

                                                                                        Chia:

                                                                                        A cryptocurrency developed by Bram Cohen based on a new proof of space protocol, and proof of time. 



                                                                                        Saturday, August 25, 2018

                                                                                        Bitcoin-Echange-[BTC-e]: Defined in Cryptocurrency



                                                                                        Bitcoin-Echange-[BTC-e]: Defined

                                                                                        BTC-e Domain Seized by U.S. Law Enforcement.
                                                                                        Industry: Bitcoin Exchange
                                                                                        Founded: 2011
                                                                                        Headquarters: Russia
                                                                                        Website: btc-e






                                                                                        Bitcoin-Echange [BTC-e]

                                                                                        [OptEdit]:

                                                                                        BTC-e was a cryptocurrency exchange and trading platform founded in July 2011 and operated by ALWAYS EFFICIENT LLP. 

                                                                                        The BTC-e allowed exchanges of various cryptocurrencies and the U.S. dollar, Russian ruble and Euro. 

                                                                                        This BTC-e was famous for its minimalist design and comfortable user experience. 

                                                                                        BTC-e has been shut down since July 2017, after the arrest of key staff members of the exchange, who were charged with being involved in money laundering schemes. 

                                                                                        A refurbished BTC-e re-opened as a new platform on wex.nz. The WEX trading platform is one of the youngest. It was launched in September 2017.

                                                                                        Wex works under the fulfillment of all legal requirements, such as anti-money laundering and KYC, and currently asks users to go through a registration process. 

                                                                                        Alexander Vinnik, the suspected operator of the Website-Exchange "BTC-e", is still seized by the U.S. Government and domain currently resides in Greece, where Mr. Vinnik was captured with his wife and children while on family vacation.


                                                                                        This cryptocurrency trading platform, (BTC-e), was operational until the U.S. government seized their website.

                                                                                        It was founded in July 2011 and as of February 2015 handled around 3% of all Bitcoin exchange volume on planet earth.
                                                                                        Until the 25th of July 2017, it allowed trading between the U. S. dollar, Russian ruble and euro currencies, and the bitcoin, litecoin, namecoin, novacoin, peercoin, dash and ethereum cryptocurrencies.

                                                                                        It was a component of the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index since the index started in September 2013.

                                                                                        BTC-e was operated by ALWAYS EFFICIENT LLP which is registered in London and is listed as having 2 officers: 
                                                                                        1. Sandra Gina Esparon 
                                                                                        2. Evaline Sophie Joubert 
                                                                                        3. Alexander Buyanov Andrii Shvets.

                                                                                        The US Justice Dept attempted to close down BTC-e on the 26th of July 2017.

                                                                                        The U.S. Government charged Alexander Vinnik and BTC-e in a 21-count indictment for operating an alleged international money laundering scheme and allegedly laundering funds from the hack of Mt. Gox,
                                                                                        [ Read-More-Here ]...


                                                                                        BTC-e History:

                                                                                        The BTC-e exchange started in July 2011, handling a few coin pairs, including Bitcoin/U. S. dollar and I0Coin to Bitcoin.

                                                                                        By October 2011, they supported many different currency pairs, including Litecoin to dollars, Bitcoin to rubles and RuCoin to rubles.

                                                                                        During 2013 and 2014, BTC-e had many outages related to distributed denial of service attacks that were rumored by conspiracy alt-right groups as the left-wing deep-state within the U.S. Government; strangely enough said.

                                                                                        They later began using the reverse proxy service CloudFlare to help mitigate these attacks, reducing downtime for the exchange at that time, but the CloudFlare started giving errors of 404-Page-Not-Found.

                                                                                        The BTC-e website has been offline since 25 July 2017, following the arrest of BTC-e staff members and the seizure of server equipment at one of their data centres.

                                                                                        Suspected BTC-e operator "Alexander Vinnik" was arrested while vacationing with his family in Greece.

                                                                                        These events led to the closure of the BTC-e service.

                                                                                        On 28 July 2017, US authorities seized the BTC-e.com domain name and 38% of all customer funds.

                                                                                        To repay its customers BTC-e created WEX tokens, which were used to represent customers' stolen equity by the U.S. Government.

                                                                                        The WEX tokens represented $1 and were issued to account for the value of customers cryptocurrencies at the time of the theft.

                                                                                        Greek Supreme Court investigated the case and cleared extradition of Vinnik to the US on December 13, 2017.

                                                                                        Online exchanges for trading bitcoins and other virtual currencies can make fortunes for their owners.

                                                                                        They are largely unregulated, besieged by hackers who thieve cryptocurrency, and fraught risk upon consumers.

                                                                                        Dan Wasyluk discovered the hard way that trading cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin happens in an online Wild West where sheriffs are largely absent and never to be found.

                                                                                        Wasyluk and his programmer colleagues raised bitcoins for a new tech venture and lodged them in escrow at a company running a cryptocurrency exchange called Moolah.

                                                                                        Just months later the exchange collapsed; the man behind it is now awaiting trial in Britain on fraud and money-laundering charges.

                                                                                        He has pleaded not guilty.

                                                                                        Wasyluk’s project lost 750 bitcoins, and at that time the market worth was about $3.2 million, and he believes he stands little chance of recovering any money.

                                                                                        “It really was kind of a kneecapping of the project,” said Wasyluk of the collapse three years ago.

                                                                                        “If you are starting an exchange and you lose clients’ money, you or your company should be 100 percent accountable for that loss, but in unregulated cryptocurrency ventures this is non-existent.

                                                                                        "Right now there is no regulations in place and should never be.”

                                                                                        Cryptocurrencies are assumed to offer a secure, but never do.

                                                                                        The digital way to conduct financial transactions should be insured, but is not in the least ever.

                                                                                        You might be dogged by doubts.

                                                                                        Concerns have largely focused on their astronomical gains in value and the likelihood of painful price crashes loom in the backdrop.

                                                                                        Equally perilous, though, are the exchanges where virtual currencies are bought, sold and stored.

                                                                                        These exchanges match buyers with sellers, and sometimes hold traders’ funds.

                                                                                        This is a prime magnet for fraud and mires of technological dysfunction.

                                                                                        L. Yermack, chairman of the finance department at New York University’s Stern School of Business. “If you’re a consumer, there’s nothing to protect you in trading cryptocurrencies.”

                                                                                        Regulators and governments are still debating how to handle cryptocurrencies, and Yermack says the U.S. Congress will ultimately have to take action.

                                                                                        Some of the freewheeling exchanges are plagued with poor security and lack investor protections common in more regulated financial markets.   

                                                                                        Some exchanges have falsely inflated their trading volume to lure new customers, according to former employees of these exchanges. These exchanges hire remote administrators and are self-professed cyber-security experts with falsified credentials regardless where the exchange is located or the administrators.

                                                                                        Many times the exchange hires their own hacker friends with shady pasts that never been caught, or are known about in their self inspection, but in fact are monitored by global network law-enforcement.  Higher levels of law-enforcement, (NSA, and above), hardly ever ping a hacker letting them know they are being watched, but the lwers do. No-One has privacy on earth and everything is known and this is unconditional.

                                                                                        There have been at least three dozen heists of cryptocurrency exchanges since 2011; many of the hacked exchanges later shut down.  More than 980,000 bitcoins have been stolen, which today would be worth about $8 billion (Aug-25th-2018).

                                                                                        Few have been recovered. Burned investors have been left at the mercy of exchanges as to whether they will receive any compensation.

                                                                                        Nearly 25,000 customers of "Mt. Gox", the world’s largest bitcoin exchange, are still waiting for compensation years after its collapse into bankruptcy in Japan. The exchange said it lost well over 650,000 bitcoins and is expected over one trillion in cryptocurrencies.

                                                                                        Claims approved by the bankruptcy trustee total more than $400 million is a lie.

                                                                                        Nearly 25,000 customers of Mt. Gox, once the world’s largest bitcoin exchange, have waited more than three years for compensation following its collapse into bankruptcy.

                                                                                        In July, a federal judge in Florida ordered Paul Vernon, the operator of a collapsed U.S. exchange called Cryptsy, to pay $8.2 million to customers after he failed to respond to a class-action lawsuit.

                                                                                        The judge ruled that 11,325 bitcoins had been stolen, but did not identify the thief.

                                                                                        “This is no different than bank robbers in the Old West,” said David C. Silver, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys. “Cryptocurrency is just a new frontier.”

                                                                                        Vernon could not be reached for comment.

                                                                                        Another challenge for traders:

                                                                                        Government intervention. This month, authorities ordered some mainland cryptocurrency exchanges to stop trading.

                                                                                        The order, however, did not apply to exchanges based in Hong Kong or outside China, including those affiliated with mainland exchanges.

                                                                                        So-called “flash crashes” – when cryptocurrencies suddenly plummet in value – are also a threat. 

                                                                                        Unlike regulated U.S. stock exchanges, cryptocurrency exchanges aren’t required to have circuit breakers in place to halt trading during wild price swings. 

                                                                                        Digital coin exchanges are also frequently under assault by hackers, resulting in down times that can sideline traders at critical moments.

                                                                                        BANKER’S BLAST: 

                                                                                         - JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon has called bitcoin “a fraud” and predicted it will “blow up.”

                                                                                        On May 7, traders on a U.S. exchange called Kraken lost more than $5 million when it came under attack and could not be accessed, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in Florida.

                                                                                        During the incident, the suit alleges, the exchange’s price of a cryptocurrency called ether fell more than 70 percent and the traders’ leveraged positions were liquidated.

                                                                                        No-One Person, Group, or Trust received compensation.

                                                                                        The exchange declined to comment on the lawsuit. In a court filing, it asked for the case to be dismissed and said the claims should be decided by arbitration.


                                                                                        Not surprisingly, many banks are leery of cryptocurrency exchanges and some have refused to deal with them.

                                                                                        Boycotts by banks can make it impossible at times for exchanges to process wire transfers that allow customers to buy or sell cryptocurrencies with traditional currencies, such as dollars or euros.

                                                                                        In March, Wells Fargo stopped processing wire transfers for an exchange called Bitfinex, leaving customers unable to transfer U.S. dollars out of their accounts, except through special arrangement with the exchange’s lawyer.

                                                                                        Wells Fargo declined to comment:

                                                                                        CUT OFF: In March, Wells Fargo stopped processing wire transfers for an exchange called Bitfinex, leaving customers unable to transfer U.S. dollars out of their accounts, except through special arrangement with the exchange’s lawyer. REUTERS/Jim Young


                                                                                        Dealing with the banks “is a constant and ongoing challenge,” said Bitfinex Chief Executive Jean Louis van der Velde. “Citizens and businesses [are] being treated like criminals when they are not, including myself.”

                                                                                        He declined to say which banks Bitfinex is now using.

                                                                                        In part, banks say they are concerned about the due diligence cryptocurrency exchanges do on their customers to guard against money laundering, criminal activity and sanctions violations.

                                                                                        While regulators require banks to verify who their customers are, some cryptocurrency trading platforms have performed minimal checks.


                                                                                        Americans are generally prohibited from conducting financial transactions with individuals in Iran and North Korea or anyother sanction countries and is a legal loop-hole that places you in jail -i.e. Canada 2018.


                                                                                        Bitcoin, the first digital currency to gain widespread acceptance, sprang up during the financial crisis about nine years ago. Its attraction, early proponents maintained, was that it offered a way to bypass banks and governments, and to conduct financial transactions more cheaply.


                                                                                        “Most of the cryptocurrencies are more commodities than currency,” said Dan Schulman, chief executive of payments company PayPal. “You trade them based on what you think will happen to their value. They’re not really accepted by many merchants as a currency.”


                                                                                        Poloniex, a U.S. exchange, has allowed some customers to trade cryptocurrencies and withdraw up to $2,000 worth of digital coins a day by providing only a name, an email address and a country, Reuters found. In a statement, Poloniex said it “has spent considerable resources developing a culture of compliance and has systems in place to prevent users from abusing the platform.”

                                                                                        MARKET PLAY: PayPal CEO Dan Schulman says most cryptocurrencies are more commodities than currency. “You trade them based on what you think will happen to their value,” he said.

                                                                                        The exchange isn’t allowed to accept New York residents as customers because it lacks a state license to operate a cryptocurrency exchange.


                                                                                        In June, a former U.S. federal prosecutor testified before Congress that criminals - including distributors of malicious code called ransomware, “large drug kingpins and serial fraudsters” - were increasingly using unregulated foreign exchanges that don’t verify their customers.

                                                                                        “Criminals can open anonymous accounts, or accounts with phony names to fly under the radar of law enforcement,” Kathryn Haun, a former assistant U.S. attorney, said at a congressional hearing. “We have received ‘Mickey Mouse’ who resides at ‘1234 Main Street’ in subpoena returns.”

                                                                                        Haun left the Justice Department in May and joined the board of Coinbase, which runs the GDAX exchange. She was impressed with Coinbase’s team and vision. A class-action lawsuit was filed last year against Coinbase on behalf of customers of the collapsed Cryptsy exchange. It claims that Coinbase converted bitcoins allegedly stolen from Cryptsy into about $8.2 million that was then withdrawn. Haun and Coinbase declined to comment on the case; in a court filing, Coinbase denied any wrongdoing.

                                                                                        The alt-right conspiracy theorist banter "the only reason BTC-e Exchange was targeted is because they are Russian."

                                                                                        The Treasury Department said it had “facilitated transactions involving ransomware, computer hacking, identity theft, tax refund fraud schemes, public corruption, and drug trafficking.”

                                                                                        BTC-e required only a username, password and email address to open an account, authorities said.

                                                                                        Reuters was unable to contact BTC-e, whose base of operations was unclear, though it continues to have a website using a New Zealand domain name.

                                                                                        It now forwards to a new exchange called WEX.nz, which didn’t respond to a request for comment.

                                                                                        One of the criteria traders say they use to select an exchange is trading volume. The more trades an exchange handles, the faster buyers and sellers can be matched.

                                                                                        From about early 2014 until late January this year, exchanges accounted for about 90 percent of global bitcoin trading volume, according to the website bitcoinity.org, which collates trading data reported by exchanges.

                                                                                        Some of that high volume occurred because traders were attracted by the fact that these exchanges at that time charged no transaction fees.

                                                                                        In China, Some of the volume was faked, six former employees at two exchanges told reporters. Artificially pumped-up volumes in China could have affected the often volatile price of bitcoin, because investors elsewhere monitor and respond to the activity.

                                                                                        One exchange, OKCoin, inflated volumes through so-called wash trades, repeatedly trading nominal amounts of bitcoin back and forth between accounts, two former executives said. These transactions were logged on the exchanges, but not recorded on the blockchain, according to a former employee and everything is untraceable.

                                                                                        Zane Tackett, who held several positions at OKCoin from 2014 to 2015 including international operations manager, said he resigned primarily out of concern about its fake volumes, hackers, theft, and money laundering. 

                                                                                        “The motivation is to seem larger than their competition,” he said.

                                                                                        Changpeng Zhao, a former chief technical officer at OKCoin, stated on the website reddit.com in May 2015 that OKCoin used bots that “are designed to pump up volumes.” In a response to the post, OKCoin said: “OKCoin does not need to have any fake volumes.”

                                                                                        In a statement to Reuters, OKCoin said it “never artificially inflated trading volume.”

                                                                                        Four former employees at BTCChina, including one of its co-founders, said the exchange had also engaged in faking its trading volumes. A spokesman for the exchange said it “has never faked its trading volumes.”

                                                                                        The exchanges’ sky-high volumes appear to have caught the attention of the People’s Bank of China. After a series of inspections by the central bank, exchanges in January began charging trading fees – as exchanges elsewhere typically do – and volumes in China plummeted.

                                                                                        CROWDED MARKET:


                                                                                        “These are new assets. No one really knows what to make of them. If you’re a consumer, there’s nothing to protect you when you invest.”

                                                                                        “A deceptive market is not a healthy market,” said Xiaoyu Huang, a co-founder of BTCChina, who said that the exchange had faked some of its volume. “It was the fake volumes that made the government mistakenly believe that the market accounted for so much of the global trading volume, and caused the government to supervise bitcoin in China so forcefully.” Huang said he had left the company in part over a disagreement over its illegal actions.

                                                                                        The spokesman for BTCChina said “the government’s scrutiny into bitcoin exchanges earlier this year was because of a dramatic increase in bitcoin’s price.” China’s central bank declined to answer questions.

                                                                                        Exchanges are frequently targeted by hackers, causing additional problems for investors.

                                                                                        Walle Wei, a trader based in Guangxi in southern China, said he was trading futures in bitcoin and a cryptocurrency called litecoin on OKCoin.com on July 10, 2015.

                                                                                        Betting that the litecoin price, then about $4, would rise, he bought contracts for long positions using borrowed money. This meant that he only had to put down 10 percent to trade. Trading with that much leverage meant that a small move in the price could either wipe out his positions or greatly magnify his gains.

                                                                                        Bitcoins stolen by hackers from Bitfinex in August 2016.

                                                                                        Instead of rising, as Wei Dai had hoped, litecoin’s price began falling and OKCoin’s website slowed down, Wei said. He was unable to buy or sell. When he regained access to his account, his contracts had been liquidated. He said he lost 3,136 litecoins, then worth about $12,500.

                                                                                        OKCoin announced on its blog that it had been a victim of “large scale” attacks by hackers who flooded its websites with traffic, preventing some users from accessing their accounts.

                                                                                        Wei Dai suffered a second, similar event with bitcoin. He said the exchange’s website became inaccessible, his contracts were liquidated and he lost 57.9 bitcoins, then worth about $16,900.

                                                                                        Wei Dai said, he complained and OKCoin covered 15 percent of his bitcoin losses, waived one month’s worth of trading fees and gave him a mobile phone charger.

                                                                                        He said he also filed complaints with police and five government agencies, including the central bank and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

                                                                                        I was ignore, Wei Dai said. They did ignore his complaints, he said, and those that replied told him his problem didn’t fall under their jurisdiction meaning they all got paid-off.

                                                                                        “They said to find the relevant department. But I don’t know what other relevant government departments there are,” he said.

                                                                                        A person close to the CSRC said cryptocurrency exchanges fall under the purview of the central bank, which declined to answer questions.

                                                                                        Inaccessible websites aren’t the only way investors can lose money on exchanges.

                                                                                        In February, a hedge fund called GABI, based in Jersey, bought a futures contract on OKCoin’s Hong Kong exchange, betting the price of bitcoin would rise, But the contract was liquidated soon afterwards and the hedge fund called GABI lost everything... when a suspicious investor placed a giant purchse with the same name was holder of contract; is theft.

                                                                                        In regulated exchanges, such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, there are limits to the size of futures contracts to prevent one trader from dominating the market. That’s not the case on some cryptocurrency exchanges.

                                                                                        In its online February newsletter, the hedge fund’s manager called the incident “clear market manipulation.” He said he questioned OKCoin about it: “They confirmed to us that there were no position limits whatsoever and that people were free to do whatever they wanted in their", ‘happy trading environment’, and "(yes, they used those actual words).”

                                                                                        The February bitcoin contract cost the hedge fund between $400,000 and $500,000, according to a person familiar with the matter.

                                                                                        OKCoin said the “two customers traded fairly” and “there is no regulation restricting the trading strategy.”

                                                                                        Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission declined to comment.

                                                                                        In the past 15 months, Bitfinex, another one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges of Aug-2018, was fined by a U.S. regulatory in the past, because it lost $72 million worth of bitcoins to hackers and was cut off by Wells Fargo, one of America’s biggest banks.

                                                                                        Bitfinex has hundreds of thousands of clients include banks, investment funds and other cryptocurrency exchanges, according to van der Velde, its CEO and co-founder, and its lawyer lost large sums of money.

                                                                                        Bitfinex has no head office, is owned by a British Virgin Islands company and is managed by three executives who live in Hong Kong, the United States and Europe and all refuse to co-operate.

                                                                                        Besides its Dutch chief executive, they include Chief Financial Officer Giancarlo Devasini, who is Italian, and Chief Strategy Officer Philip Potter, an American who once worked at Morgan Stanley.

                                                                                        In June 2016, the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission fined Bitfinex $80,000 for offering “illegal” cryptocurrency transactions and failing to register as a futures commission merchant.

                                                                                        “We were happy with the terms of the settlement,” said Stuart Hoegner, Bitfinex’s general counsel.

                                                                                        Hackers stole 119,756 bitcoins from Bitfinex:

                                                                                        As customers and others went online to vent their anger - “@bitfinex is an absolute DISGRACE to the #bitcoin community and they need to go,” one Twitter user wrote - "Bitfinex executives weighed their options".

                                                                                        "Convinced they couldn’t get a bank loan and lacking insurance, they decided to reduce their customers’ balances by 36 percent, regardless of whether the investor accounts had been hacked – a technique known as the “socialization” of losses".

                                                                                        The exchange distributed IOUs in the form of digital tokens, which could be traded on Bitfinex. Some customers converted the tokens into equity in the company that operates the exchange. Although the exchange later redeemed the tokens in full, some customers had already sold them at a loss. In an interview, Van der Velde expressed regret for the hack.

                                                                                        Van der Velde defended his firm’s response:

                                                                                        “I felt - and I still feel - terrible for those people who lost their money,” he said. He declined to discuss how the hack happened, citing an ongoing police investigation. “We took responsibility. How many financial institutions in the past can you find that say within a very short time, ‘We are good for that loss, and we issue an IOU for that’? Please find me one.”

                                                                                        Van der Velde also said Bitfinex has acted transparently, has rigorous know-your-customer procedures and cooperates with law enforcement agencies. Despite its numerous challenges, van der Velde said Bitfinex is now handling about $12 billion in trades a month and is “very profitable.”

                                                                                        Last year, the exchange said it expected to make a $20 million profit in 2017.

                                                                                        Despite all the Wild West problems besetting cryptocurrencies, Van der Velde predicted the final amount will turn out to be even higher.

                                                                                        Another Hack(?):

                                                                                        A Jersey-based hedge fund lost between $400,000 and $500,000 in what it called “clear market manipulation” on an exchange in Hong Kong (above). The exchange said the trade was fair.

                                                                                        Making millions arranging private bitcoin transactions:


                                                                                        HELSINKI - Exchanges aren’t the only way to trade bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. Some websites help to arrange private transactions between buyers and sellers.

                                                                                        LocalBitcoins.com is a popular website through which buyers and sellers advertise bitcoins, setting their own prices and conducting trades privately. It is operated by two brothers in Helsinki who say it has about 350,000 active users from nearly every country.

                                                                                        The website has recently been facilitating trades worth as much as $72 million a week and may surpass $1 billion worth of bitcoin transactions this year, according to Nikolaus Kangas, its 31-year-old chief executive. His older brother Jeremias, a programmer, set up LocalBitcoins five years ago. It now has about 15 employees and is looking to hire more.

                                                                                        Here’s how it works: 

                                                                                        Bitcoin buyers and sellers place advertisements on LocalBitcoins. The website holds a seller’s bitcoins in escrow. A seller releases them to a buyer upon being paid. LocalBitcoins collects a 1 percent fee in bitcoins for each completed transaction. This year those fees may add up to more than $10 million worth of bitcoins.

                                                                                        Many of the customers are unknown to the two Finns. Providing identification is voluntary. Niki Kangas said about 70 percent of active clients provide ID details; the rest give only a username and email address.

                                                                                        “Right now we don’t require it,” he said. “We’ve been considering making ID mandatory.”

                                                                                        While some LocalBitcoins sellers require bitcoin buyers to identify themselves, some have openly advertised that they don’t. “I accept funds without any security check,” stated one seller who went by the user name “wmarbitr” and advertised in Russian and English. The website said he had conducted more than 3,000 confirmed trades on LocalBitcoins with more than 4,200 buyers and sellers. The website subsequently said the account was “banned by staff.”

                                                                                        Former U.S. federal prosecutor Kathryn Haun said LocalBitcoins’ policy of not requiring its users to provide identification can cause problems for law enforcement, huh, yeah and that is why.

                                                                                        “It becomes really difficult to track the identities of those people, absent physical surveillance,” she said.