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Messages - mayuri27

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1
Bounty Programs / Re: RUPEEZA (RPZ) BOUNTIES
« on: January 19, 2018, 09:16:15 AM »
Is there any form to fill up for the bounty ?

2
Crypto Discussion / Local Bitcoin Meetups Are Booming Worldwide
« on: January 09, 2018, 06:29:43 PM »
Bitcoin meetups are becoming very popular these days as the cryptocurrency economy has grown exponentially during 2017 and into the new year. A lot of individuals find out about bitcoin online, but many people like to attend meetups so they can talk with like-minded individuals who believe in decentralized currencies and may even have some knowledge to share. One particular application people use to come face to face with other bitcoiners is a social media platform called “Meetup,” created by Brendan McGovern, Matt Meeker, and Scott Heiferman in 2002. The platform Meetup is used for various groups of people that want to meet others with common interests, and there are quite a bit of bitcoin-based Meetup groups.

Local Bitcoin Meetups Are Booming Worldwide

The Social Media Platform Meetup Has 3,727 Bitcoin Related Gatherings
As of January 6, 2018, there are 3,727 groups on the platform Meetup pertaining to bitcoin with 959,622 members worldwide. Currently, the most abundant bitcoin gatherings on the website Meetup include the Hackers and Founders in Mountain View California with over 15,000 members. The group Bitcoin NYC has 7,431 bitcoiners, San Francisco 6,292, Bitcoin Wednesday in Amsterdam 5,076, Bitcoin Argentina 4,976, Coinscrum 4,858, and the Paris Bitcoin group 4,762. That’s just the top ten largest groups on Meetup, and there are many more that are very active.

Lots and Lots of Noobs
Other large gatherings include the Seoul Bitcoin Meetup in South Korea run by Ruben Somsen with 2,000 members. Some of the groups have been around for quite some time like the Cryptocurrencies & Decentralized Innovation Meetup in Ghent, Belgium initiated in 2013. Another big Meetup is held at the Sacramento’s Hacker Lab co-working space that’s been seeing lots of new attendees looking to learn about bitcoin by meeting other people with knowledge about these technologies. Just recently the regional news outlet the Sacramento Bee detailed how 60 men and seven women attended the recent Sacramento meeting and more than half were “noobs.” According to the Sacramento Bee’s account, many of the participants had different stories to tell regarding their relationship with bitcoin.

“It’s borderless, and I can send money to my family in Thailand — I don’t need Western Union,” explained the Sacramento bitcoin group attendee.

Well-known Cryptocurrency Meetups Still Thriving and New Ones Popping Up Every Day
Other favorited groups worldwide include the Tokyo bitcoin meetup, the Miami International Bitcoin community, Bitcoin Saigon, Silicon Valley Bitcoin Users, Crypto Valley Forum, Bitcoin Budapest, and the West Palm Beach Government Blockchain Association. There are also a bunch of new groups forming every single day like a cryptocurrency beginners gathering in Den Haag, Netherlands; a trading group started in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, and many more. One thing’s for sure, as cryptocurrencies continue to become popularized on the global level, meetups like these will continue to grow.

3
Trading / Coinbase Withdrawal Delays Leave Users Frustrated, Crying Foul
« on: January 09, 2018, 06:28:56 PM »
San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is experiencing several disruptions to its normal business operations. According to the company’s status page, it is now facing transactions delays, wire processing delays and ID verification delays. Coinbase also reports users are getting degraded performance for both bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH).

The Coinbase team blames all these problems on high traffic, high volumes and a need to cope with a backlog of transactions. This is in common with other exchanges all around the world who say they can’t handle the massive influx of new traders without causing operational problems. Also similar to the other trading venues, the Coinbase team promises they are working on adding additional resources to optimize their systems to scale.

While the Coinbase team is working on fixing the current issues and upgrading the exchange’s ability to handle more traffic in the future, users are going public with their suffering. The Coinbase Reddit forum is dominated by complaints regarding very long delays and a lack of proper answers for support. A few posters updated that the company processed their transactions only after they got a considerable amount of attention, suggesting it was done as a PR move.

In general, users are calling on the company to take stronger actions to resolve the situation, and chief among those to halt new client registrations were recently done by Binance, CEX.IO, Bitfinex, and Bittrex. Some higher profile members of the bitcoin community have even taken to social media to threaten Coinbase with legal actions if their concerns are not met.

4
The negative reaction to Gibraltar’s decision to seduce the crypto sector came from the Royal Bank of Scotland. Its partner, the Gibraltar International Bank, has received notification that RBS will no longer process transactions connected to firms dealing with cryptocurrencies. The Scottish bank has effectively closed the clearing system for companies licensed under the new Digital Ledger Technology Regulatory Framework implemented by Gibraltar.

The new DTL legislation went into effect on January 1, after Gibraltar Parliament approved a bill last month designed to update its financial regulations. Along with online betting and gaming, financial services provide a great deal of Gibraltar’s domestic product and income. Local authorities have decided to tap into the profits of the new cryptocurrency segment, rather than ban or ignore it. The territory has also become the first in European jurisdiction to regulate ICOs through its Financial Services Commission (GFSC).

Following RBS’s warning, the Chief Operating Officer of GIB Derek Sene announced that his bank would look for another UK correspondent to establish a mechanism for processing crypto related transfers. He said that making strategic decisions such as this was standard practice. The Gibraltar International Bank is not dealing with cryptocurrencies but has started opening accounts for companies using blockchain technology in October last year. Quoted by local media, Sene stated that GIB would continue operating within the DLT industry.

British Bank Says “NO” to Crypto Firms from Gibraltar

A Sign from Dante’s Inferno
RBS is yet to comment officially on its decision to reject crypto related transactions from Gibraltar but its management’s attitude towards digital currencies is well known. “Put up the sign from Dante’s Inferno – ‘Abandon hope all ye who enter here” – that’s the only thing authorities could do about cryptocurrencies, according to the bank’s chairman Sir Howard Davies. That’s what needs to be done by the Fed, the ECB and the Bank of England, he told Bloomberg TV in December when Bitcoin touched $15,000.

Davies also said that Bitcoin seemed to him to be a “frothy investment bubble” but admitted he didn’t see how it could be outlawed. He noted the difficulties in defining “alternative payment systems” but also pointed out that “the market is telling us something” about the demand for new, faster payments. That demand is driving customers and companies towards cryptocurrency financial services. It seems Gibraltar authorities have sensed the trend better than those in Britain.

While the Bank of England is “pretty actively” studying Bitcoin and British spies are closely monitoring, UK banks are left to decide what to do with crypto businesses and are mostly turning their backs on them. At the same time British companies have started looking for more hospitable climates on the Continent, as the FT reported a couple of months ago. Poland and Bulgaria have been mentioned but Gibraltar is now taking the lead in Europe. Its authorities have been busy adopting regulations with incentives for companies providing crypto-financial services. And, of course, the climate there is much more clement.

5
The new impetus was given by a high-ranking government official who insisted on hastening the legal process. Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has asked the Ministry of Justice and the State Bank to quickly complete the legal framework and report to the government. According to Vietnamese media, the documents should be presented to the Council of ministers by the end of the month.

Vietnam Expedites Cryptocurrency Legal Framework – Ready End of JanuaryThe central bank of Vietnam shall assume prime responsibility for proposing amendments to the taxation laws. Respective supplements related to cryptocurrencies should be promulgated soon after the introduction of the regulatory regime. It is not yet clear whether the new legislation will define Bitcoin and its alternatives as investment assets, means of payment, or both. The exact tax rates and their scope in regards to income and profit from trading and mining are still to be defined.

With its indentations to speed up the process of “managing Bitcoin”, Vietnam is trying to catch up with China and South Korea, which recently moved in the same direction. But the Vietnamese authorities now have a chance to do a better job. They can take into account certain mistakes made by their Asian neighbors who are tightening the loophole.

Stalemate in the Status Quo
In Vietnam, and elsewhere on the Asian continent, cryptocurrencies drew significant attention in the past year, despite warnings by some experts and officials about the risks stemming from their volatile character in the absence of comprehensive legal guidance. The disruptive nature of “virtual money”, as cryptos are referred to by many in power, has divided opinions around the world about how to “manage” the phenomenon while taking advantage of it. Officials have been wondering how to sheer off some of their value worth more than $800 billion now…Or stop them in their tracks, if they prove too damaging to the status quo.

Vietnam Prime Minister Expedites Cryptocurrency Legal FrameworkThat’s a dilemma that Vietnamese officials are also facing and scratching their heads over. At a National Assembly hearing in November, the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Le Minh Hung said that under current Vietnamese regulations, bitcoin was not legal tender or a “permitted means of payment”, as the bizhub edition of Việt Nam News reported. According to the central bank, the issuance and use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for payment purposes was prohibited. However, Hung added that “from the perspective of treating it as an investment asset”, the SBV would co-operate with the justice ministry to “study the legal framework for managing” Bitcoin.

A project to develop this framework, “with an aim to protect legal rights of investors”, was approved by the government back in August. The Việt Nam News article also reads that the nature of cryptocurrencies must be clarified and the country “must learn from international experiences” – in order to minimize risks, while “ensuring flexibility and promoting innovation”. But then:

It is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people…
Rush Part of Broader Move
Whether Vietnamese authorities are losing their “Cronkites” or local media is simply relaying the mood in the corridors of power in Hanoi is hard to tell. It is important to note, though, that the rush towards cryptocurrency regulation is part of a broader move to implement changes in the “economic management” of several sectors. Ministries and other branches of the executive structure have been assigned duties and responsibilities to “quickly finalize and propose plans” to do that.

Beside the legal framework for managing Bitcoin, the finance ministry has been urged to complete a project on expanding the tax base of the non-state sector. And the Ministry of Planning and Investment was asked to provide a statistical overview of the whole Vietnamese economy. So, if Bitcoin is not singled out and put up against the wall, maybe peace is on the way in Vietnam.

6
Trading / Wall Street Wants Bitcoin ETFs with Twice the Risk/Reward
« on: January 09, 2018, 06:27:30 PM »
Wall Street Goes Short, Gets Bear, with Proposed Risky Bitcoin ETFs
The trope for years has been bitcoin’s volatility, risk, is too great for the sober adults of professional finance to be bothered. That myth was thoroughly smashed on 4 January 2018 when the NYSE Arca filed a fifty page request with the SEC. Wall Street wants Direxion Asset Management’s five ETFs, known as leveraged or inverse funds. The proposed funds up the risk level by twice, in either direction, and are short term investments. They’re easily some of the riskiest funds put forward.

ETFs are prized because they’re traded like stocks with the muscle of mutual funds. The SEC has yet to approve bitcoin ETFs, and applications for rule-changes are stacking up. Some estimates have requests for the cryptocurrency to be formally listed at nearly a dozen. This year enthusiasts will learn the financial product’s fate, most experts believe.

Direxion is presently asking five funds be listed: Direxion Daily Bitcoin Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily Bitcoin 1.25X Bull Shares, Direxion Daily Bitcoin 1.5X Bull Shares, Direxion Daily Bitcoin 2X Bull Shares, and Direxion Daily Bitcoin 2X Bear Shares. If approved they’d trade on the NYSE’s Arca market. Investors could see their returns as much as double; they could also see losses compound in the other direction just as fast.

Wall Street Wants Bitcoin ETFs with Twice the Risk

Twice as Fast in Either Direction
The funds aren’t necessarily tethered to bitcoin’s spot price, but are instead a way to track bitcoin futures on markets such as those created by NYSE rivals Cboe and CME, with “investment results (before fees and expenses) that correlate positively to either 125%, 150%, or 200% the daily return of the target benchmark,” according to the filing.Wall Street Wants Bitcoin ETFs with Twice the Risk

That assumes a bull market, but, again, losses are multiplied as well which logically means these are for short term investing (longer options are available). ETFs would bring even more mainstreaming to bitcoin with regard to the broader investment community.

It’s a curious move, but the risks are sure to attract investment. One would assume the natural bitcoin price spikes would be enough for adrenaline junkies. But there is still widespread skepticism and worry about actually owning and holding bitcoin among Wall Street types. Nevertheless, such short-term volatility is something many traders value. Indeed the filing insists the Direxion ETFs “enhance competition among market participants, to the benefit of investors and the marketplace.”

7
The South Korean Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), under the Financial Services Commission (FSC), and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said on Sunday, January 7, that they will jointly inspect 6 major banks for compliance of cryptocurrency regulation.

The inspection will take place between January 8 and 11. Woori Bank, KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Nonghyup Bank, Korea Development Bank (KDB), and Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) will be inspected.

This move follows the government’s clampdown on the use of virtual accounts for anonymous trading at the end of last month, as news.Bitcoin.com previously reported. Financial News described:

The FIU and FSS will check whether banks have properly implemented their anti-money laundering obligations to operate virtual accounts…The FIU has imposed more than 40 checklists on suspicious transactions, stipulating virtual currency as a ‘high risk’ transaction.
The Korea Herald commented, “It is rare for the two organizations to conduct a joint survey, a move that industry watchers viewed as beyond a watch on anti-money laundering measures by the banks and ultimately intended to cool the overheated market.”

Real-Name System Expected Around Jan 20
Korean Government Starts Inspecting Major Banks for Crypto Regulation ComplianceLast week, the FSS revealed that the amount of fiat deposits at crypto exchanges as of December 12 last year amounted to 2.067 trillion won [~USD$1.95 billion]. Furthermore, 111 virtual bank accounts were detected at the six aforementioned banks at the end of December, the news outlet detailed.

In an effort to end anonymous trading, the government has prohibited banks and crypto exchanges from both issuing new virtual accounts and adding new members to existing ones, as news.Bitcoin.com previously explained.

The government is developing a real-name identification system which is expected to be introduced around January 20. Joongang Daily elaborated:

The real name confirmation service that banks are building by the end of this month is a method of allowing deposits and withdrawals only when the account of the trader who is identified and the account of [the trader at] the virtual currency exchange are the same.

8
The Man Mainstream Media Calls the ‘Guru of Finance’ Plans to Launch a Digital Currency Exchange
It’s hard not to notice James Altucher as his picture with his eccentric hair, and his commentary on finance, is all over the web. These days Altucher’s words are tethered to the subject of cryptocurrencies. Altucher has been around the financial circuit for quite some time as a well-known author, entrepreneur, and he’s sometimes called a “guru.” This week it was revealed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing that Altucher is backing a company called Bitzumi, Inc., which plans to launch a bitcoin exchange.         

“Bitzumi is a vertically-integrated Bitcoin exchange and marketplace. Our mission is to drive growth to the cryptocurrency industry — We plan to launch our business divisions with a phased approach,” explains the firm’s SEC filing on January 4. 

Initially, our primary focus will be to develop a publishing and marketing company to educate potential Bitzumi exchange/wallet consumers, and to gain name recognition — Ultimately, we intend for our primary product to be our cryptocurrency exchange and digital storage — We also plan to develop various educational and information products and newsletters focusing on the cryptocurrency industry.

James Altucher has been promoted as ‘cryptocurrency guru’ by the mainstream media.
Bitzumi Exchange Plans to Raise $10 Million and Publish a Newsletter Backed by James Altucher
The co-founder, Altucher, and his company hope to raise $10 million USD, with a minimum of $1Mn for Bitzumi’s initial phases. The first phase will be a newsletter procured by Altucher, and the firm started that period already on October 9, 2017, when Bitzumi Publishing partnered with Altucher’s Agora Financial, LLC. Phase two will be the exchange and wallet system, two services that Bitzumi says will compete with the likes of large exchanges like Bitstamp. Initially, Bitzumi will offer bitcoin, litecoin, ripple, and ethereum trades.

Bitzumi’s application details that the business will also offer cryptocurrency payment processing and escrow features. Additionally, the exchange will be fully regulated working with U.S. officials from Fincen, SEC, CFTC, and the IRS. The business venture looks like it will be relying heavily on Altucher’s backing and his newsletter, but Bitzumi will be led by the chief executive officer, Scot Cohen, an executive involved with oil and gas entities. Becoming a business involved with popular digital currencies, Bitzumi aims to be positioned as an “emerging growth company” the filing emphasizes.

9
Redditor moodyrocket is coming to terms with having his “life savings” wiped out this week, after $34,000 of crypto was stolen from his newly acquired Nano Ledger hardware wallet. The device was compromised, not due to any flaws in its design, but thanks to a man in the middle attack that saw the reseller insert their own recovery seed. The buyer then unwittingly began using the wallet, unaware that the default seed they were using had not been randomly assigned by the manufacturer. He explained:

I have not used my Ledger in a week, today I decide to check the value of my XRP, Litecoin and Dash only to discover that all of them showed up as zero and had been transferred somewhere else yesterday all around the same time at 7:30pm. I am not sure how this is possible as I have not access my Ledger in a week.
The victim was initially confused as to how the attack could have been successfully pulled off, before eventually twigging that the Ebay seller must have tampered with the device. After sharing his story on Reddit, Ledger reached out to moodyrocket and encouraged him to report the crime to “bring the eBay seller to justice”.

Man Has Cryptocurrency Stolen from Hardware Wallet Supplied by a Reseller
The fraudulent documentation that came with the wallet.
An Elaborate Hoax
The odds of the British-based victim getting his cryptocurrency back are remote, but his loss can at least be the community’s gain. The widespread attention the tale has received serves to highlight the dangers to anyone considering purchasing a hardware wallet from a third party. Auction sites, unaffiliated vendors, and merchants who have no formal partnership with wallet manufacturers should all be avoided.

Man Has Cryptocurrency Stolen from Hardware Wallet Supplied by a Reseller
This sheet should not come with your Ledger wallet.
The vast majority of resellers stocking wallets such as Ledgers and Trezors have no intention of meddling with the devices. But it only takes one unscrupulous entity to interfere with a wallet and pass it on to the unsuspecting buyer. The Ebay seller who duped moodyrocket had gone to great lengths to orchestrate the scam. The seed is meant to be generated by the device, but this purchase came with “scratch off” paper that revealed the seed.

Despite the security of hardware devices themselves, the weakest link is always the people using them. Even a raft of anti-theft tech can’t atone for human error. Had the victim reset the device and created a new seed he would have been fine. When presented with convincingly forged documentation, though, he naturally felt safe in sticking with the default seed. Purchasing hardware wallets directly from the manufacturer may take longer and cost more, but the alternatives just aren’t worth it.

Would you feel comfortable buying a hardware wallet from a third party? Let us know in the comments section below.

10
Just recently we reported on European bitcoin users having issues with their loadable bitcoin debit cards. Even though some of these businesses are having a few issues, there are many cryptocurrency debit cards available all around the world.

Also read: Visa Veto Leaves Several European Cryptocurrency Cards Locked Out

Since 2015 Bitcoin-Based Debit Cards Have Grown Very Popular
These days cryptocurrency enthusiasts have a lot more infrastructure than the early days when bitcoin was just getting started. One of the biggest trends of 2015-2017 was the rise of loadable cryptocurrency debit cards backed by Visa, Mastercard, and other financial institutions. Some of the cards like the Coinbase Shift card uses cryptocurrency funds directly while other cards like the Bitpay Visa users sell their bitcoin for a balance of fiat reserves. Depending on where the crypto-enthusiast lives they can order multiple types of cards and some cards also process digital assets like ethereum and bitcoin cash. Today we’re going to discuss the wide range of digital currency loadable debit cards that are available in many different countries.

Keep in mind that we previously reported this past week that Wavecrest Holdings Ltd. have been giving some cryptocurrency card companies issues. At the moment European issued bitcoin debit cards such as Cryptopay, Tenx, Bitwala, Bitpay (EUR), and Xapo are out of service.

“Once we are able to service Xapo Cards in your country again, we will offer you a new card free of charge — We are hard at work to find alternative card solutions for you,” explains Xapo’s announcement on January 5, 2018. 

Bitwala Prepaid Debit Card

Cut Off? Here Are 7 Different Bitcoin Debit Card Services and Fees

The Bitwala Visa card is a popular choice among European bitcoiners that offers prepaid balances in euro (EUR). The card is issued by a firm called Mychoice and a bank called Wavecrest Holdings Ltd. There is a single card load fee of 0.5 percent, and the company offers both virtual and physical cards. ATM fees cost 2.25 EUR, and all point-of-sale (PoS) transactions have no fees. Physical Bitwala debit cards can be used wherever Visa is accepted and cost €8.00, while virtual cards cost €2.00 per issuance.

Spectrocoin Visa

Cut Off? Here Are 7 Different Bitcoin Debit Card Services and Fees

The company Spectrocoin and its card service citizens living in the Baltic region. Balances can be loaded in USD, EUR, GBP with physical cards starting at €8.00 and virtual cards are sold for €0.50. There are no top-up fees, but Spectrocoin’s card charges €1.00 per month for service charges. If a resident from the Baltic States wants to use an ATM within the region or internationally prices can vary between $3.50/€2.75/£2.25 per withdrawal. Spectrocoin cards are also issued by the Mychoice company.

The Bitpay Visa

A Brief Glimpse at Seven Different Bitcoin Debit Cards Services and Fees

Bitpay offers a Visa card for both U.S. and European residents. Loading fees are free except when applying international currencies, and the top up also charges a bitcoin network fee. The card costs $10 USD to purchase, and the card is issued by Metropolitan Commercial Bank in the U.S. and Wavecrest Holdings for European cards. Bitpay loads are a direct sale for fiat, and the BTC spot rate is based on multiple price indexes. Bitpay’s ATM fees are $2 per withdrawal, and PoS transactions are free.

Xapo Debit Cards

A Brief Glimpse at Seven Different Bitcoin Debit Cards Services and Fees

Xapo offers a popular debit card that can be loaded with BTC, and the physical card costs roughly €18.00. The company charges €2.25 for ATM withdrawals, and PoS transactions are free. Xapo transfers have real-time conversion and users only pay bitcoin network fees for the card that’s also issued by the firm Mychoice. Xapo cards have no annual fees, and a 3 percent foreign exchange fee is applied for those types of purchase. Xapo cards are not available in the U.S. 

Coinbase Shift Card

A Brief Glimpse at Seven Different Bitcoin Debit Cards Services and Fees

The Coinbase Shift card is a popular card in the U.S. which deducts balances directly from BTC, LTC, BCH, and ETH wallets. Only one cryptocurrency wallet can be tethered to the Shift card that’s accepted by over 38 million Visa-accepting merchants worldwide. The card costs $10.00 to order and has a 0 percent BTC to USD conversion fee. Domestic ATM withdrawals are $2.50 while international ATM withdrawals are $3.50. Shift cards can be connected directly with Coinbase but also can be tethered to a Dwolla account as well.   

Coinsbank

A Brief Glimpse at Seven Different Bitcoin Debit Cards Services and Fees

The Coinsbank card offers both bitcoin and litecoin denominated loads offering both physical and virtual cards. The service also used to sell a “No Name” card, but the feature is temporarily unavailable. Otherwise, payments and withdrawals are only available for verified users with a card level 3. This allows cash withdrawals for verified users which is up to a 1000 EUR limit per 30 days. ATM withdrawals cost $4.95, and domestic transactions are free. There is a monthly fee of $0.95, and inactive users will be charged 4.95 if they don’t use the card after the second year. Coinsbank cards are not available in the U.S.

Wirex Card

A Brief Glimpse at Seven Different Bitcoin Debit Cards Services and Fees

The company Wirex offers both virtual (free) and physical debit cards ($17) that can be loaded with a Wirex account. There is a $2.50 ATM fee for the card, and a $1 monthly service fee as well. Exchanging bitcoin to fiat is free except for the miner’s fee. The Wirex Visa card works by first funding the Wirex account and adding money in a local currency (such as USD or EUR). The physical card requires verification but the Wirex virtual card no identification is required. Wirex cards are not available for U.S. users.

29 Different Crypto-Cards Available Worldwide
There are many more cards available from various companies like Advcash, ANX, Mobi, and Worldcore.eu that offer different fees and can only be used in certain countries. At the moment, there are roughly 29 different debit card services that can be used with cryptocurrencies. So the idea that paying for real-world items with cryptocurrencies is difficult is kind of far-fetched.

What cryptocurrency debit card do you use? Are there any cards that we didn’t mention above that you prefer? Let us know about it in the comments below.

Disclaimer: Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support these products/services.
Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned companies or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Shutterstock, Bitpay, Shift, Bitwala, Spectrocoin, Coinsbank, Wirex, and Xapo

11
It looks as if Silicon Valley and Wall Street are coming together just to see who can shower cryptocurrency ventures with more money.

Also Read: Strong Cryptocurrency CFD Volumes Bring Record Revenues for Plus 500

Blocktower Capital Crypto Hedge Fund
Cryptocurrency Hedge Fund Headed by Ex-Goldman Sachs VP Raises $140 MillionBlocktower Capital is a cryptocurrency hedge fund headed by former Goldman Sachs vice president Matthew Goetz. The new venture was only launched in August 2017 and has already said to have raised about $140 million.

Investors in Blocktower reportedly include family offices and other entities such as venture capital firms such as Union Square Ventures LLC and Andreessen Horowitz.

Some of the raised funds were apparently redirected towards boosting the company’s staff, now estimated to sport eight executives. On Thursday Blocktower issued a statement that it hired Michael Bucella, who was also with Goldman Sachs since 2008. Bucella’s last role at the bank was related to multi-asset sales in Canada, where he headed strategic partnerships and business development.

Alpha Potential Is Abundant
Cryptocurrency Hedge Fund Headed by Ex-Goldman Sachs VP Raises $140 MillionOn its sparse website Blocktower Capital’s only description of its investment strategy, goals or operation is “bringing professional trading and portfolio management to an emerging digital asset class.” There is no mention of what cryptocurrencies they will focus on for trading, as well as whether they will invest in ICO tokens or stocks of any ‘blockchain’ companies.

However, CEO Goetz, described what is the opportunity the fund can capitalize on: “It’s a wildly inefficient market where alpha potential is abundant — more than anything we’ve seen in our careers. We think it’s a rare opportunity for investors. It’s not often there’s a new capital market being born in front of you.”

This sentiment appears to be shared among more and more investors in both the finance and the venture capital worlds. A few notable examples include legendary value investor Bill Miller who now holds half of his hedge fund in bitcoin, TechCrunch and CrunchFund founder Michael Arrington‘s $100 million XRP hedge fund, billionaire investor Michael Novogratz and most recently Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund.

12
Over the past few months, cryptocurrency exchanges across the globe have been swamped with new customers looking to trade or acquire digital assets. Trading platforms have been having a hard time keeping up with the new registrants. Users are complaining that identity verifications are now required and take weeks to process, while some exchanges are not accepting new customers at all. This has led to rise of individuals selling “fully verified” accounts for a variety of popular digital currency platforms.

Also Read: Several Bitcoin Exchanges Are Closing Their Doors to New Traders

As Exchanges Stop Accepting New Registrants and Require More Identity Verification — A Great Number of Fully Verified Accounts Are Being Sold for Bitcoin   
Just recently news.Bitcoin.com reported on how some exchanges like Bittrex, and Cex.io have temporarily stopped accepting new customers due to the heavy influx of registrants these days. Further, we reported on how one of the leading trading platforms, Binance, disabled new user accounts a few days ago. Meanwhile, in December Poloniex announced it required legacy accounts to verify their identity or the accounts would be closed. All of these issues has led to significant verification delays, and people finding it more difficult to trade cryptocurrencies. However, some individuals are selling “fully verified” cryptocurrency exchange accounts for bitcoin and other digital assets.

People Selling 'Fully Verified' Crypto-Exchange Accounts On the Rise
Poloniex and Bittrex accounts for sale this week on the forum Bitcointalk.
Verified Accounts Lead to Much Larger Withdrawal Limits
People Selling 'Fully Verified' Crypto-Exchange Accounts On the Rise
One user is selling accounts on the Selly platform.
For instance, there are many examples of people selling accounts on forums over the past few months. On Bitcointalk.org one user is selling a Poloniex Verified Account (Level 3 Verified) that comes with a  $25,000 daily withdrawal limit for $12. The same person is also selling a Bittrex enhanced account for $10. Verified accounts have been for sale for years, but these days the amount of people selling them has increased significantly. Just last week another individual was selling a Bittrex account with “proof” on the Selly platform, and announced the sale multiple times on forums stating;

Hello guys, I’m selling a Bittrex verified account with a daily withdrawal limit 100 BTC.
The Frustrating Verification Process Has Led to the Blowback of Underground Sales
Having your identity verified on exchanges is pretty much a requirement for over 90 percent of the trading platforms online, no matter which country you live in. Even exchanges that used to have very little verification requirements, like BTC-e, have changed to fully regulated platforms requiring KYC/AML. In order to get verified, users often have to upload a state-issued license, verify their phone number, and even submit various papers that show your residential address. With all these requirements many users get frustrated and won’t even sign up for an exchange. If they do register their identity, they wind up waiting a long time and even weeks on end.

People Selling 'Fully Verified' Crypto-Exchange Accounts On the Rise
People are selling verified accounts on Telegram.
In addition to these posts found on forums account dealers are also selling verified accounts on messenger apps like Telegram. Cryptocurrency groups on Telegram in particular have various individuals selling accounts to Poloniex, Bitstamp, Bittrex, GDAX, Binance, and many more exchanges. With governments making it more difficult for exchanges to operate without abiding by KYC/AML background checks comes with some blowback — The rise of underground verified cryptocurrency exchange account sales.

It’s safe to say purchasing one of these accounts is really not the smartest move, as the seller could easily hold some credentials to the account and unload the user’s funds when the person least expects it.

What do you think about the number of people selling fully verified accounts for cryptocurrency exchanges? Let us know in the comments below.

Disclaimer: Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support the product or service where people are selling verified accounts. The links provided in this article are for source purposes only and news.Bitcoin.com does not recommend or consider these account vendors trustworthy. 
Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned links or any of the vendor’s services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

13
The South Korean authorities will start inspecting major banks for their compliance with cryptocurrency regulations on Monday. This move follows the regulators’ recent announcement prohibiting the use of virtual bank accounts for anonymous trading.

Also read: Russian Regulators Draft Law to Restrict Crypto Mining, Payments, and Token Sales

Inspecting 6 Major Banks
Korean Government Starts Inspecting Major Banks for Crypto Regulation ComplianceThe South Korean Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), under the Financial Services Commission (FSC), and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said on Sunday, January 7, that they will jointly inspect 6 major banks for compliance of cryptocurrency regulation.

The inspection will take place between January 8 and 11. Woori Bank, KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Nonghyup Bank, Korea Development Bank (KDB), and Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) will be inspected.

This move follows the government’s clampdown on the use of virtual accounts for anonymous trading at the end of last month, as news.Bitcoin.com previously reported. Financial News described:

The FIU and FSS will check whether banks have properly implemented their anti-money laundering obligations to operate virtual accounts…The FIU has imposed more than 40 checklists on suspicious transactions, stipulating virtual currency as a ‘high risk’ transaction.
The Korea Herald commented, “It is rare for the two organizations to conduct a joint survey, a move that industry watchers viewed as beyond a watch on anti-money laundering measures by the banks and ultimately intended to cool the overheated market.”

Real-Name System Expected Around Jan 20
Korean Government Starts Inspecting Major Banks for Crypto Regulation ComplianceLast week, the FSS revealed that the amount of fiat deposits at crypto exchanges as of December 12 last year amounted to 2.067 trillion won [~USD$1.95 billion]. Furthermore, 111 virtual bank accounts were detected at the six aforementioned banks at the end of December, the news outlet detailed.

In an effort to end anonymous trading, the government has prohibited banks and crypto exchanges from both issuing new virtual accounts and adding new members to existing ones, as news.Bitcoin.com previously explained.

The government is developing a real-name identification system which is expected to be introduced around January 20. Joongang Daily elaborated:

The real name confirmation service that banks are building by the end of this month is a method of allowing deposits and withdrawals only when the account of the trader who is identified and the account of [the trader at] the virtual currency exchange are the same.

14
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) received yet another request to approve Wall Street bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This time, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) wishes to list five new ETFs, so-called leveraged and inverse funds which increase risk and reward.

Also read: African Central Banks Urged to Ditch Dollar and Buy Bitcoin

Wall Street Wants Bitcoin ETFs with Twice the Risk/Reward

Wall Street Goes Short, Gets Bear, with Proposed Risky Bitcoin ETFs
The trope for years has been bitcoin’s volatility, risk, is too great for the sober adults of professional finance to be bothered. That myth was thoroughly smashed on 4 January 2018 when the NYSE Arca filed a fifty page request with the SEC. Wall Street wants Direxion Asset Management’s five ETFs, known as leveraged or inverse funds. The proposed funds up the risk level by twice, in either direction, and are short term investments. They’re easily some of the riskiest funds put forward.

ETFs are prized because they’re traded like stocks with the muscle of mutual funds. The SEC has yet to approve bitcoin ETFs, and applications for rule-changes are stacking up. Some estimates have requests for the cryptocurrency to be formally listed at nearly a dozen. This year enthusiasts will learn the financial product’s fate, most experts believe.

Direxion is presently asking five funds be listed: Direxion Daily Bitcoin Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily Bitcoin 1.25X Bull Shares, Direxion Daily Bitcoin 1.5X Bull Shares, Direxion Daily Bitcoin 2X Bull Shares, and Direxion Daily Bitcoin 2X Bear Shares. If approved they’d trade on the NYSE’s Arca market. Investors could see their returns as much as double; they could also see losses compound in the other direction just as fast.

Wall Street Wants Bitcoin ETFs with Twice the Risk

Twice as Fast in Either Direction
The funds aren’t necessarily tethered to bitcoin’s spot price, but are instead a way to track bitcoin futures on markets such as those created by NYSE rivals Cboe and CME, with “investment results (before fees and expenses) that correlate positively to either 125%, 150%, or 200% the daily return of the target benchmark,” according to the filing.Wall Street Wants Bitcoin ETFs with Twice the Risk

That assumes a bull market, but, again, losses are multiplied as well which logically means these are for short term investing (longer options are available). ETFs would bring even more mainstreaming to bitcoin with regard to the broader investment community.

It’s a curious move, but the risks are sure to attract investment. One would assume the natural bitcoin price spikes would be enough for adrenaline junkies. But there is still widespread skepticism and worry about actually owning and holding bitcoin among Wall Street types. Nevertheless, such short-term volatility is something many traders value. Indeed the filing insists the Direxion ETFs “enhance competition among market participants, to the benefit of investors and the marketplace.”

15
‘Vaporware’ is a term that’s tossed about loosely, often against cryptocurrency projects that have no clear use case. It’s an easy accusation to make given that many crypto projects are still at the development stage, and haven’t had a chance to prove themselves. This year’s vaporware could be next year’s ethereum – or at least so the investors hope. While a vast number of cryptocurrencies are derided as vaporware, the following four attract this jibe more than most.

Also read: People Selling ‘Fully Verified’ Crypto-Exchange Accounts On the Rise

Catching the Vapors
Vaporware has been defined as “software or hardware that has been advertised but is not yet available to buy, either because it is only a concept or because it is still being written or designed”. That definition applies to 90% of all ICOs right now, which are either still tallying up their ether or hunting down devs capable of bringing their six-page white paper to life. It will be months or even years before we discover which projects proved their worth, and which were wearing the emperor’s new clothes: ”blockchain” dressed up as innovation.

Four Cryptocurrencies That Meet the Definition of Vaporware

The vaporware meme gained traction in November after Nate Murray published a graphic describing the top 100 cryptocurrencies in four words or less. In it, Veritaseum was labeled as vaporware, though there are coins much higher on the list that arguably warrant that epithet like Kin, a billion dollar token with zero uses at present. The following projects have every chance of success. To their detractors, though, they’re little more than software in search of a solution – and unbuilt software at that.

Tron
Tron founder Justin Sun is a rising star, listed in Forbes Asia’s 30 Under 30 and CEO of a company that’s risen from nothing to attain a $13 billion valuation in under six months. Tron has been one of 2018’s biggest success stories, despite the year being barely a week old. The token soared into the cryptocurrency top 10 after its market cap quadrupled in a day and a half. On January 5, Tron commanded a $16 billion market cap: not bad for a company that has no product whatsoever. Not everyone is a fan though, including Monero’s Riccardo Spagni.

Four Cryptocurrencies That Meet the Definition of Vaporware

The outspoken developer of the darknet’s favorite privacy coin conceded, however, that he bought Tron in December, explaining “just because I can identify scams doesn’t mean I’m averse to making money.” Critics have called Tron “the $14 billion whitepaper with no product” and the project seems to borrow heavily from LBRY, which launched last May.



The Tron roadmap looks like this:

Four Cryptocurrencies That Meet the Definition of Vaporware

Provided those TRX tokens keeping pumping for the next nine years though, everything should be just fine.

Verge
Verge appeared on Nate Murray’s cryptocurrency list as “privacy dogecoin”. Given that the coin started life as a doge fork known as dogecoin dark, that figures. Verge has come a long way since then in fairness, but has that journey taken it forwards or sideways? XVG is meant to be a privacy coin. The trouble is, it doesn’t appear to be very good at that. News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on a website which claims to expose IP addresses used in verge transactions.

Four Cryptocurrencies That Meet the Definition of VaporwareThe verge community bitterly dispute the accuracy of the site in question, although with no word from Verge themselves, the matter remains unresolved. The operator of the site is adamant that the data is accurate, and also reports that only 2% of verge addresses use Tor, despite anonymous deep web transactions being XVG’s USP. One writer scathingly opined that “Verge fails to offer real privacy and is indistinguishable from a scam”.

The Verge team are currently working on something called the Wraith Protocol, which supporters are prone to referencing in hushed tones. It’s “a technology that allows the user to seamlessly switch between public and private ledgers on the Verge Blockchain”, which sounds like the sort of functionality that’s been built into coins like Zencash for some time. Whether the Wraith Protocol proves to be the savior of privacy coins remains to be seen. Either way, it’s immaterial, since the majority of the verge community are only interested in using verge to speculate on the price of verge.

Four Cryptocurrencies That Meet the Definition of Vaporware

Cardano
Four Cryptocurrencies That Meet the Definition of VaporwareWith a $25 billion market cap, Cardano is cryptocurrency top five royalty. The project will form “a decentralised platform that will allow complex programmable transfers of value in a secure and scalable fashion” which could describe most crypto platforms. What’s so different about Cardano? Apparently it “differentiates itself by being designed from the ‘ground up’ to deliver a secure and sustainable blockchain that can protect user privacy whilst allowing for regulation,” which doesn’t help a lot. Also “Cardano aims to be a mature blockchain”, which is something that surely only time can apply.

Vaporware or not, decentralized cryptocurrency purists aren’t convinced by Cardano’s assertions that “full anonymity can be counterproductive, as can complete lack of regulatory oversight. The project’s founders aim to find “the right mix of individual privacy protection and provision for regulatory control”. One person who’s certainly not a fan is Dan Larimer. The Bitshares, EOS, and Steem founder is rustled by the fact that the Cardano white paper doesn’t cite his own dPOS work. He seethes:

Cardano’s Ouroboros algorithm is not mathematically secure due to bad assumptions regarding the relationship between stake and individual-judgment being distributed by the pareto principle. Furthemore, their algorithm is not “new” but a less secure slower variation of the DPOS algorithm I originally introduced in April 2014.
Larimer has his own platforms to protect, of course, so was never going to smile kindly on a competitor. Still, $24 billion for a decentralized anything seems like a lot of money for a product that exists only as a whole lot of documentation, one section of which is named Haddock.

XRP
Four Cryptocurrencies That Meet the Definition of VaporwareRipple is a fully functioning company and one of the longest established players in the cryptocurrency space. It’s still working on building up those all-important banking partnerships, but at least it has a service to offer. But what about XRP, its centralized cryptocurrency without a purpose? Ripple claims to have signed up over 100 banks, but the trouble is none of them seem to be using XRP tokens for money transfer.

The NYT quotes Blocktower Capital’s Ari Paul as saying: ““I’m not aware of banks using or planning to use the XRP token at the scale of tens of billions of dollars necessary to support XRP’s valuation.” One Mexican financial company has committed to using XRP so far. And that’s it. Still, like all of the cryptocurrencies on this list, ripple has enriched its early adopters, and for investors who are sitting comfortably in profit, that’s reason enough for its existence.

Four Cryptocurrencies That Meet the Definition of VaporwareTo be fair to the likes of Tron and Cardano, any new cryptocurrency that shoots into the top 10 is liable to be labeled vaporware until proven otherwise. And it’s not as if these are the only coins rocketing in value: altcoins across the board, from the tiniest microcaps to the largest unicorns, are currently in the green. Even Kekcoin, a meme coin for frog worshippers, is up 68% on Cryptopia this week. Then again, with a total supply of just 11 million, Kekcoin can boast one attribute that none of the tokens on this list have – digital scarcity.

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