Monday, February 20, 2017

Districts 3D Blockchain Applications Platform


Those businesses that have only limited financial resources and that are unable to spend towards expensive advertisements for attracting more customers need not worry any more because the Districts 3D Blockchain Applications Platform is now available for them. It is a Zine Laabidine Rezig, a.k.a. Zain, an enthusiastic entrepreneur and a game and programming developer, who developed the Districts project. He was the founder of the Blockchain Technology L.L.C. a corporation registered in the UAE. 

Zain's aim was to help those business people who did not have enough financial resources. These business people struggle a lot to compete with big players operating in their fields because big companies do not mind spending huge amounts on expensive advertisements. In other words, small companies with their limited resources will continue to struggle to achieve the growth they aspire for. In fact, sustaining in their field is itself difficult for them. That was mainly the reason Zain worked hard and developed the Districts 3D Blockchain Applications Platform. 

The program regulates itself using crypto-currencies like Bitcoin, Monero, Dash, etc. If you own a small business, you can make more interesting presentations and manage your projects more impressively and efficiently by making use of this program. In other words, you will be able to manage your business services or your store in a better manner. 

In fact, Zain's aim was to help even those business owners who are not tech-savvy or who are literate lay-people with regard to their knowledge in computer science or information technology. This means that if you are not tech-savvy and if you opt to use the Districts 3D Blockchain Applications Platform, you need not write laborious computer codes for making use of this platform for reaching out to more number of customers or for managing your store or business services. 

The foremost benefit you or business owners like you can derive is that you need not squander your time in writing for their projects. You have to follow a few simple steps for choosing a template for your project and for building your DAPP in a jiffy so you can publish as well as manage. 

The Districts 3D Blockchain Applications Platform also comes with certain advanced features like the World 3D generated by the transaction block, Social Networking 3D, Layer address Privacy, and encrypted instant messenger. 

Secondly it is completely a community platform which means all changes in the project will be determined by the community Voice Power. 

The 3D World is another advanced feature that will allow you to communicate easily and directly so you can share your ideas without any hassles. You can do shopping, play games or even place your order for a pizza. Remember that you need not even take off your Virtual Reality or VR Headset. In other words, all the applications and games in this 3D advanced feature are completely VR compatible. 

To cut the long story short, Zain can justifiably claim that he has accomplished his aim of making available a platform that can help even non-tech-savvy business people also to attract more number of customers and manage their business services cost-effectively. 

Sunday, February 19, 2017

Augmentors – A world of battle


Playing games is definitely a stress-buster for everyone. Now, we have come out with the new dimension in the gaming world. It will take your love for the game to the next level, which is something new add to your love for the games. We give you an experience of playing into the world of creatures, where you can amazingly own your creature and take to your place to get ready for the next battle ahead. By this augmentors game, we intend to give our players a battle like feel that allow gamers to summons creatures into the amazing world of battle which looks to real. Isn't strange and amazing. You can own your creature and make them fight as per your battle requirement against your enemies and foes. We have around 50 creatures. In the beginning you will have a opportunity to choose one out of 5 augmentors starter to begin your battle just in your way. 

You need to choose a strong player, as once you choose a augmentor, you are ready to start the battle with your creatures around the world. Once you start the game, you need to win upon your opponents to level up your game as much as high. You have to more to make your augmentor strong. This will definitely increase chances to make your creature, the best one. You will get relics in between the battle. Relics are such type of equipments that will boost up the energy of the creature. You can also purchase these equipments from the store or either you have to play a battle to win most of the equipments. When your creature will gain experience they will be able to unlock next round, skin and much equipment too. You will also get an opportunity to play with multiplayer around the globe. So why to wait, just play augmentors and go inside the world of battle with your creature. 

AUGMENTOR ICO
Augmentor, a unique reality mobile game is created by Michael Deon. This is a first ever reality mobile game come into limelight recently. Many investors has been invested in this reality mobile game to has announced recently an ICO of augmentors Data bits crypted tokens started today January 30, 2017. They are willing to award the early investor that participated with 20% extra DTB. Augmentor reaches 250 btc in just 6 hours of the ICO, which is just amazing. Augmentor mobile game has successfully got much from the investors and has already raised fund through the shark tank. Their aim of raising fund through many investors is completion of the game on time. If they don't get million of fund through investor, they will use another fund which they get earlier in the completion of the game. The experts of mobile game augmentor continue with development part using raised fund. 

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QTUM | UTXO based POS Smart Contract Platform


A new project called Qtum has been made by the Singapore-based Quantum Foundation that arrangements to merge the Bitcoin convention with QTUM Innovation. The open source project incorporates the Ethereum Virtual Machine with Bitcoin's Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) model and intends to give brilliant contracts to organizations around the world. 

The Qtum team has been looking closely at the territories in which Bitcoin fails to adapt and grabs this opportunity to differentiate itself. Banks and other financial institutions for example, find in bitcoin a strong competitor, however not all banks and institutions have the resources, funds and knowledge in-house available to adapt or exploit the possibilities of the blockchain. And this is where Qtum steps in. With Qtum's Blockchain for businesses, they can easily adapt and integrate this praised technology in their mainstream operations. Question is however; if and when these organization will adapt this technology? 

A Project That Mixes Bitcoin Code With Ethereum's Virtual Machine

The project Qtum is an intriguing decentralized app (Dapp) that joins the Bitcoin customer 0.13, Proof of Stake (PoS), and the Ethereum Virtual Machine to empower shrewd contract administrations. The project has likewise gotten $1 million in subsidizing from speculators, for example, Fenbushi accomplice Bo Shen, Ethereum prime supporter Anthony Di lorio, BitFund originator Xiaolai Li. Qtum will likely give an esteem exchange convention Dapp stage with the best properties of both projects. 

"Qtum incorporated the EVM onto an UTXO-based blockchain, and composing contracts for this ought to be similarly as simple with respect to Ethereum, yet you get the advantages of the UTXO show," clarifies Qtumdesigner Jordan Earlz. "These advantages incorporate versatile/light wallet bolster by SPV, a more steady model (while Ethereum has forked commonly to settle issues with this), and similarity with existing Bitcoin apparatuses and conventions." 

qtum

The Qtum Project Will Deploy Master Contracts and Incentivized Proof of Stake

The Qtum improvement group subtle elements how the stage will permit both brilliant contracts and ace contracts that incorporate off-chain information. The Qtum project discloses to the distribution 8btc that ace contracts finish a great deal more than average keen contracts. 

"An agreement marked by two banks could be ended with the accord of the two banks alone," states the Quantum Foundation. An ace contract gives add up to control to the agreement endorsers over the execution or end of the contracts. That is a copy of genuine situation. The Master Contract is an extraordinary stride forward, conveying new potential to the blockchain application and augmenting the idea of the savvy contract. 

The project additionally claims to be the first to actualize a savvy contract framework using Bitcoin's UTXO while likewise coordinating a Proof of Stake instrument. The system agreement is alluded to as IPOS (Incentivized Proof of Stake) which the engineers say compensates the system members. 

Extensive Testing, Sparknet and Utilizing the Most Stable Blockchain

The Qtum group has constructed two Dapp projects so far including Spring Email and Qloha. Both administrations use cryptocurrency arrangements that improve informing applications and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (STMP). As per the group, the Qtum project is amidst making desktop and portable wallets for its client base. After broad testing, the engineers plan to reveal its testnet application named "Sparknet" which will be the prelude to the official stage dispatch. Qtum additionally has revealed that the group will search out code surveys from autonomous people and associations willing to explore different avenues regarding the project. 

The project is satisfied to use the Bitcoin convention inside the Qtum project, expressing that the Bitcoin blockchain is the most tried and true openly appropriated record accessible. 

"Bitcoin is the most developed, steady and secure blockchain accessible, in contrast with Ethereum, Bitshares or others which are still viewed as flimsy with the various issues and security issues they had since they were propelled," says the Qtum group. Notwithstanding Bitcoin having the greatest support from the group which offers a huge gathering of devices and programming identified with Bitcoin which can be utilized by quantum too, rather than alternate blockchains which now and then need even the least difficult programming. 

The strengths of the Qtum project will make Qtum, if they will al be released, a strongholder and perhaps the only true bitcoin killer app. Because it's interesting to see their technical approach in action and hopefully we will be able to see it in the near future.

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Monero - secure, private, and untraceable

monero

Monero is a decentralized and anonymous cryptocurrency with CryptoNight algorithm and which is based on CryptoNote protocol. CryptoNote is a technology that allows the creation of cryptocurrencies which are privacy-centric. Monero is currently trading at $12.67 and has a market cap of $176,198,750. It also has the fastest block generation speed among all CryptoNotes, 1 minute to be exact. Regarding market cap, Monero is the second most successful CryptoNote currency, with a very active community around the coin. 

Monero, launched in 2014, aims to be an untraceable and fungible digital exchange medium. its various forks. You are your own bank with Monero. Only you are responsible and control your funds, plus your accounts and transactions are kept private from prying eyes. Monero features untraceable payments, unlinkable transactions, blockchain analysis resistance and adaptive parameters. Backup of the functionality is done by cryptographically proven schemes academic research. The Research Lab of Monero does most of this research. Currently, Monero is ranked fifth among all cryptocurrencies regarding the market cap. Monero implements four main features which are privacy-enabling that make it stand out from the cryptocurrency market. 

One is the dual key stealth address feature which Monero implements to hide the location of a sent payment. On the Monero blockchain, the transaction where the receiving address is sent can be seen. However, it is an address that is only used once and is generated automatically from Monero's public receiver's address. The addresses that can only be used once and are used for payments are not connected to Monero user public addresses. That public address is incorporated in generating a receiving address which is new for each payment. 

Also, Ring signatures are incorporated by Monero in masking transaction origin. It is not clear which outputs were employed in a transaction which is from the point of view of someone who is looking at the blockchain. In other words, rather than the one true source of payment, a person observing the blockchain sees few origins of payment. The anonymity signal provided by the ring signature feature improves when time goes by since the number of probable outputs incorporated in a transaction goes up with each transaction that is newly created. This is because, from an observer's point of view, the output is never really "spent". A Multi-layered Linkable Spontaneous Anonymous Group signature is an improved version of ring signatures introduced by RingCT which allows for destinations, hidden amounts and origins of transactions with reasonable efficiency and verifiable coin generation. 

A Ring confidential transaction is another Monero privacy feature based on confidential transactions of the Blockstream. Masking the amounts involved in transactions is the basic idea here. Transaction inputs are split into common denominations in Monero. Via a hard fork, RingCT was recently added to Monero, and via another hard fork later this year, it will become a mandatory feature. 

Incorporation of i2p to mask the original IP address of a transaction is the 4th privacy feature found in Monero. When a new transaction occurs, a node gets a notification. The node only has knowledge of the i2p address where the transaction originated from, which is not easily cuffed down to any physical location (unlike common IP addresses). However, the i2p integration on Monero is still work-in-progress.

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Saturday, February 18, 2017

What is Ethereum?


One of the newest types of currencies in the digital world is Ethereum. Ethereum is a type of digital currency that is one of the blockchain currencies that individuals can use. It is similar to its better known cousin Bitcoin, however Ethereum is different in that it allows greater customization as a part of the digital coinage. It is one of the blockchain currencies you may be looking for. It is just one of the things that allows you to make a digital share or proof or anything you need it to be. 

Ethereum is just one of the things you may need in order to customize currency to hold it until it is needed or is released back to the owner. A smart contract allows you to contract the Ether which is the currency itself (Ethereum is the platform,) and the Ethereum allows you to pay people to cut out the middleman. It is one of the things that you can depend on when you are using these digital tokens. It is decentralized currency. It is just one of the types of coins that can fluctuate with what is needed. 

Basically Ethereum is a robot based platform that does all the work for you. Ethereum and blockchain smart wallets offers application control you may need. You can hold a smart wallet and keep your currency customized as to how you want it. It is simply one of the modern ways to make payments in today's world. Use your Smart contract to trade, buy and all of these things are just what you might want to use it for. 



Ethereum is widely thought of as being the currency of the future in some circles so you might want to invest in this currency and get the sort of options and applications you need. It is truly away to benefit from the encryption and the specialized contracts that make up the digital world. The applications of the contracts with Ethereum are basically unlimited. It is one of the good things that you might I enjoy as the funds are decentralized and safe from fraud or other influence. Some researchers state that Ethereum has more advantages than Bitcoin because it is transferable to other forms of currency. 

It is a specialized tradable contract currency. Specialized or smart contracts enable you to do more with digital currency than you have been able to do before. Many can use this currency and can get the sort of programming needed when looking for a digital currency that is useable, and secure and allows exchanges of currencies and contracts. It is great to be able to cut out the middleman when it comes to using various types of currencies and Ethereum allows you to do this. You can customize the currency and do what they need to do with it. It is more technologically feasible and easier to use than Bitcoin. This may be why individuals use this currency and why they think it is the best. Use a smart wallet with Ethereum and be a step up on other digital currencies. It is just the wave of the future. 

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Augmentors Game


The world of augmented reality continues to surprise with the recent developments as a result of technology advancement. Augmented reality can now be used for designing, making presentations among other functions but gaming is quickly emerging as its most popular function. Pokemon Go, the game that has created a craze in the past months is an excellent example of augmentor reality. Augmentors is a brand new and revolutionary 3D modeled virtual reality game backed by the bitcoin blockchain and consists of characters known as Augmentors. The game is still in the early development stages but continues to show signs of being groundbreaking with endorsements from industry stakeholders. 

How to Play

First, the user has to download Augmentors game for free on their device. At the start, the user then selection of free 'creatures' to choose. A tap of the screen will summon your creature and select a creature against which the user will battle against. Users can then customize their creatures to their liking by for example training or swapping. 

Augmentors ICO

The developers of this project came up with a 30-day ICO to complete the development of the game. The month-long ICO will end on the 28th February 2017. During this period, there will be a one-time opportunity for users to purchase some rare creatures in the game. All creatures in the game will have Counterparty Token ID and the number of creatures to be issued is fixed. In addition to a creature's uniqueness, there are other items referred to as relics which will act as boosters to the creatures. The relics can be purchased, attained at a milestone or as rewards for completing missions in the game. 

Databits

Databits is the currency that will be used in the game to purchase creatures and relics. There are about 70 million databits that will be up for sale. The rate of change starts at 1Bitcoin = 15000 databits (DTB). The databits can, however, be purchased at lower denominations. The rate of exchange is also set to gradually rise finishing at the rate of 1 Bitcoin = 10000 databits on the last days of the ICO. 

Trade and Sell

As intimated earlier, each creature will have a token ID which indicates its value. This will enable users to buy and sell creatures on the application or the online creature store. The buy and sell transactions will require an individual to have a counterparty wallet and have databits in the wallet. Swapbots, which are like automated vending machines will send a creature once the amount a user sends is sufficient. 

The Augmentors ICO has already started and there still a good amount of time for those interested to participate. Augmentors ICO targets 1 million dollars and even if the target is not reached, the funds will be used in creating the Alpha edition of Augmentors. 

Chronobank - Blockchain revolution for the recruitment industry


Chronobank is developing a highly advanced Blockchain-based financial system that is aimed at helping contractors and freelancers to obtain work whereby they will get remuneration by Chronobank's "labor-hour" token. The platform will disrupt the workings of the finance, recruitment and HR sectors. It is an alternative financial system that is aimed at transacting Labor- Hour enabling people to find work and receive remuneration. Furthermore, the platform is designed to be multi-Blockchain and will allow several trading ways including the use of Ethereum, NEM and Bitcoin Blockchains. The website will issue LH debit cards.

Features of the ChronoBank Project 
· Unlike other trading platforms, Chronobank does not experience inflation among other factors of demand and supply.
· The platform will allow all exchanges including AUD, EUR, GBP and USD. 
· This platform is a time-based token system that is entirely different from other platforms.
· Unlike typical freelance websites like Upwork that pay through Paypal and Bitcoin, Chronobank will utilize time-based currencies and is likely to be the first Blockchain job in the world. 
· Unlike other platforms, in Chronobank only valid TIME holders will be considered current stakeholders in its CBE system and will be the only party authorized to take part in a poll. With chronobank, unlimited TIMEtokens are generated during crowd sale. Nonetheless, no further TIME tokens will be generated apart from the initial phase project.
· Chronobank utilizes Labour-Hour Tokens as the fundamental units of value. These tokens provide a non-volatile and inflation-resistant digital store that has value on multiple blockchains. These tokens are further envisaged for further utilization in future systems including LaborX. The Labour-Hour Token is derived from Ethereum ERC20 token and can be traded on multiple major exchanges. Stakeholders will have the ability to redeem their tokens for real-world labour-hour compensation at any time. 
· Chronobank will maintain fixed fees that may vary on the special case-to-case basis to manage the viability and stability of Chronobank ecosystem. 
· A centralized entity that is aimed at coordinating redemption, creation as well as the destruction of the Labour-Hour Tokens referred to as ChronoBank Entity (CBE) is employed. CBE facilitates acquisition and coordination of legal contracts for labor.


Chronobank

Pros of the Project

  • Contract jobs and freelancing are increasingly becoming popular due to the rise in career diversity hence cryptocurrency is very popular. This is a good chance for Chronobank to further contract and freelancing jobs.
  • Chronobank's initial implementation of CBE will employ Ethereum blockchain. Nonetheless, future applications are expected to tokenise assets on the alternative blockchain systems when deemed appropriate. CBE is projected to benefit stakeholders and the environment it is deployed. This is unlike region-specific CBE deployment system where only a single group of CBE stakeholders exist globally.
  • This time-based cryptocurrency is expected to be highly profitable since it will pay people in hourly wages.


Cons of the Project

  • It will not be more attractive than the current widely used US dollar.
  • Chronobank is coming to an already established market and where competitors have established themselves and gained thousands of users making it hard for Chronobank to make its mark.


Summary

ChronoBank.io is an ambitious and wide-ranging blockchain project, aimed at disrupting the HR/recruitment/finance industries in a similar way to how Uber disrupted the taxi business and how Upwork represented an evolution in freelancing. 

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The Worlds Most Advanced Cryptocurrency Software, BitBay Makes Itself Visible


February 13, 2017, Baja California, Mexico – BitBay, the cryptocurrency software suite offering unbreakable smart contracts was keeping a low profile for some time but has now resurfaced; stronger than ever. The creator and soul developer of BitHalo/BlackHalo David Zimbeck has worked effortlessly the past two years to create the most advanced and secure wallet in cryptocurrency space. The software suite is capable of supporting an entire smart contracting interface with decentralized markets and other features.

A BitBay community member comments,

"How is it that a single developer can deliver such an incredible suite when entire teams of coders have a hard time even delivering a functional wallet? How on earth has this project gone unnoticed, and why is it not in the top 10 coins in the world?"

Unbreakable Smart Contracts

Unlike many other platforms, BitBay is not vaporware. It is a feature rich platform that offers unbreakable smart contracts for important real world applications. The BitBay contracts are far superior to other smart contracts as they are secured by collateral deposits from both parties, which makes it unbreakable. In the event of a default by one of the parties, their collateral funds will be burnt, making it illogical for them to cheat or exit the contract with the intention of defrauding the other.

The smart contracts system on BitBay eliminates arbitrators, biased third parties, escrow and even fees. Without any middlemen, it can create coins for cash contracts like a decentralized "LocalBitcoins", where cash payments are completely trustless. It can also be used to create "employment contracts", "decentralized eBay-like delivery contracts" (to ensure prompt delivery of working products), and even "barter contracts" that allows people to create a "wish list" and trade any item off that list.

The user-friendly templates on BitBay enable users to create smart contracts by just entering few details. The platform currently has a handful of templates in place, with more to be added shortly. In David Zimbeck's words, all one has to do is use their imagination to create a custom template for any deal they want. The platform's "Cash for Coins" template has already been successfully used by many to automate buying process and complete cash deals without needing escrow or middlemen. The platform will soon release a "buy/sell anything" contract template with reverse and regular auctions support. It will also include a variety of shipping choices.

Decentralized Marketplace

BitBay had a decentralized marketplace almost a year before "Open Bazaar". BitBay's completely anonymous market is built right into the client, and it allows users to create their own public and private markets. Or they can just check different contracts already available in the main market. The BitBay software allows communication between users by supporting email with end to end encryption like Thunderbird and it also supports Bitmessage for a more decentralized option.

Other features on BitBay include "Pay to Email" which uses steganography to hide payments within photos sent to recipient's email. The feature, originally created for tipping purposes has various other applications as well. Even the wallets' two encrypted keys can be hidden within images using David's steganography based feature. These keys can then be used on two different computers to sign transactions – a feature that lays the foundation for "Cold Staking", which will be utilized in both BitBay and BlackHalo. The Cold Staking feature will be almost impossible to crack because the computers used to sign your transactions can be in completely separate locations. BitBay will also make allowance for "exotic spending" such as "locktimes". In addition to the "dead man's switch", "parking of coins", "burn" and other spending types, it also supports automated joint accounts for business partners and spouses. The BitBay platform can also translate to 92 different languages.

About BitBay

BitBay has so far created a whole cryptocurrency ecosystem with its own functional market economy. All these things have turned BitBay into a powerful cryptocurrency software suite that can take on other cryptocurrencies. The platform enjoys a vibrant community that is regularly attracting and training new users. The "contract faucet" created by one of the team members is currently giving away coins using a unilateral "Guarantor" contract to whoever accepts it.

BitBay will soon release their secret star feature that will eliminate the cryptocurrency's volatility.

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Anonymous Currencies Might Limit Financial Access



A recent report states that Bitcoin isn’t anonymous enough, and to an extent, the report is correct. While part of Bitcoin’s reputation has been built on the notion of privacy, the truth is that the blockchain records every transaction in real time, and nothing can escape its shuttering technology. In the long run, no matter how private Bitcoin claims to be, there always seems to be an open window to one’s financial history.

But one has to wonder if this isn’t a bad thing. Two of the cryptocurrency world’s most recent additions, Zcash and Monero, tout complete anonymity for those looking to remain duly private, but there seem to be issues emerging from the backend, and many investors and crypto-enthusiasts are having a hard time deciding where they stand.

First off, let’s look at criminal activity. Anonymity is often showered with praise, but when something is completely hidden like this, it can potentially give rise to back-door dealers looking for ways to exploit any lagging visibility. Monero, for example, is often labeled as the most popular cryptocurrency amongst drug purchasers on the dark net. Many regulators arguing against the notion of completely anonymous digital currency trading feel that the situation is likely to give rise to another Silk Road, only this time, things may be a little harder to shut down.

Zcash is another financial entity that claims to offer new waves of privacy. Again, good for some, criticized by others. Zcash recently hit new heights on cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex, hitting the $2 million per coin mark, but many argue whether this was real or caused by error or platform manipulation. If that’s the case, there’s certainly cause to worry. It was this same kind of manipulation that fired bitcoin into the $1,000 range in 2013 prior to the sudden collapse of Mt. Gox.

Lastly, the likelihood that a government or legislative system would ever be willing to regulate or fully allow the trading of anonymous currencies is particularly slim. While this may sound positive at first (cryptocurrencies were designed to offer independence), access to digital currency for third world and developing nations could wind up limited in the near future. It’s precisely because Bitcoin isn’t fully anonymous that it probably has the highest chance of ever going mainstream and reaching acceptable terms on a global scale.

As consumers, we have to ask ourselves which we’d prefer – true anonymity, or higher monetary access? The independence these currencies claim to provide is what gives us such a choice in the first place.

IRS Targeting Bitcoin-Using Tax Evaders


With tax season just a few months away, which means the season for creative forms of tax evasion is soon to begin.

Sadly, for those with dreams of using bitcoin to cheat the tax man next year, there is some bad news. The Internal Revenue Service is actively on the lookout for  bitcoin-based for tax evasion.
According to documents filed last week, the tax agency is fiercely going after both tax evaders big and small – who are using bitcoin based transactions in an attempt to hide funds from the internal revenue service, by simple not reporting them.  The tax agency sent a broad request on Thursday to Coinbase, the largest Bitcoin exchange in the United States, asking for the records of all customers who bought virtual currency from the company from 2013 to 2015.
That request came in the form of a "John Doe summons," – and indicated that the IRS had already discovered 3 cases of bitcoin based tax evasion, 2 of which came care of Coinbase customers.

Those findings combined with  Bitcoin's rather anonymous user base have made the IRS decide the time has come to take a closer look, just to make sure that a whole lot of other people haven't gotten the idea that stashing money in a Coinbase account is not a good way to hide dollars from Uncle Sam.   —

The crackdown follows a September report by the Treasury Department's inspector general focused on whether the IRS is taking an adequately aggressive stance on "unlawful activities by those who use virtual currencies."
"None of the I.R.S. operating divisions have developed any type of compliance initiatives or guidelines for conducting examinations or investigations specific to tax noncompliance related to virtual currencies," the report, delivered in September, said.

If thy comply with the request, Coinbase will be required to hand over the identity and transaction history of it's 3 million  customers. As of now Coinbase does not plan to comply.
" We can't tolerate sweeping fishing expeditions. We are very concerned about the financial privacy rights of our customers," said Coinbase's legal counsel, Juan Suarez, who said the business keeps a policy focused on working with law enforcement.

That said, bitcoin wallets are tracked through a decentralized hub, which does not record these identities.

There is also a further complication that smaller bitcoin tax "evaders" may not be evading anything – so much as confused about the actual law.
The current guidance indicates that virtual currency is property, rather than currency. That means if  a person buys Bitcoin for $200 and then sells it later for  $400, the $200 in gains are supposed to be reported to the tax authorities. However, since users often "cash in" bitcoin (and effectively sell it off into other currency) when they buy or sell goods – technically any transaction act also becomes a taxable vent.

"It may be the case that many people were not aware that what they were doing is taxable. Are those the people the I.R.S. is looking for?" noted Omri Marian, a professor of tax law at the University of California, Irvine.
Marian noted that most Bitcoin users could be totally  unaware that they were supposed to record their losses and gains as taxable events at any time they bought or sold goods with bitcoin.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Will Bitcoin Have Its Moment in the Trump Era?


History tells us that no international monetary system lasts forever. And as Barry Eichengreen, the leading thinker in this arena, has repeatedly reminded us, those systems tend to collapse very quickly, whether it was the dominance of Rome's coins, the British pound's status as the common unit of international trade, or the various periods in which the world aligned around the gold standard.

The same will be true for the dollar's unofficial status as the international reserve currency. Its hegemony will at some point disappear and, when it does, the fall will be swift as the world scrambles for a new commercial anchor.

Below I will make the case that the trigger for this decline, whether it happens in the next four years or not, could well have been put in place last Tuesday. A Trump presidency could hold the right ingredients for a dollar collapse.
I will also argue that this time, when the dollar system collapses, it won't be replaced by another outdated fiat currency like the euro, yen or Chinese yuan. Neither will we go back to a precious metals standard, however much gold bugs hanker for it.
In the interim, we may anchor world trade to a transitional, multilateral combination of these paper and commodity currencies, but soon enough it will prove to be too unwieldy and out of touch with a changing global economy.

The fact is we now operate in a digital economy in which economic activity is increasingly decentralized, with transactions happening peer-to-peer and, when the Internet of Things is in place, machine-to-machine. That online, decentralized economic architecture will require a digital, decentralized system of monetary exchange that bypasses the inefficient financial intermediaries of a broken banking system.

The solution might not be bitcoin per se, but the distributed, network-run system of value transfer that it represents will, I believe, provide the template for the future model. It's one possible explanation for why the digital currency got a bump on Tuesday evening through Wednesday.

Change is coming
Why might Trump set this chain of events in play? To be sure, we don't know what changes the next president will introduce, but he has definitely stoked uncertainty around the direction of US policy. And uncertainty, the enemy of efficient markets, can often have a self-fulfilling effect.
That's an unsatisfying answer, however. So let's also break down some of the ideas that Trump has floated and how they might change the international perception of America's commitment to the dollar-based international system:

Rights determined by ethnic background
Trump suggests we should discriminate against external foreigners (Muslim visitors to the US), domestic non-citizens (undocumented Hispanic immigrants) and domestic citizens (judges deemed unfit to serve for being of Mexican descent.) This is not just a moral issue; it goes to the heart of whether the law is impartially upheld in the US.


Sunday, November 6, 2016

Blockchain: Why the 'Big Guys' Can’t Win


Matthew Spoke is CEO and founder of enterprise blockchain startup Nuco. He is a bitcoin and ethereum enthusiast, who has previously worked with Deloitte with the aim of advancing the use of smart distributed protocols.
In this opinion piece, Spoke looks at moves by tech industry incumbents to capture the emerging blockchain market, and offers a warning for the eventuality that they succeed. 

Chess pieces
There's a seemingly obvious marriage happening right now between two incredibly important Internet technologies, one that promised to make web businesses more scalable and organizations more efficient (which has happened to a large extent), as well as holding decentralization and disintermediation as the ultimate objective (on which the jury is still out).
Earlier this year, I wrote a piece about the "Race Towards Irrelevance" that seemed to be taking place among traditional organizations whose markets and business models stand to lose from the adoption of decentralized systems. Primarily, I was referring to some intermediary companies in the financial services industry who will struggle to redefine their value propositions as blockchains become more commonplace.

What I failed to include in my prior ramblings was that it's not only traditional industries and businesses who face this risk. Similar to the attention and investment that has poured into the "blockchain industry" from financial services firms, there are a number of global scale technology vendors positioning themselves to dominate this market – or, to a skeptic, centralize it.

I'm referring to "the cloud" and "the blockchain", two terms which should more accurately be used in the plural sense.

Decentralization is key
I'm not suggesting that cloud computing is not well suited to underlie blockchain infrastructures.

On the contrary, in many cases, there's an obvious match that allows for efficient scalability, robust node security and light weight onboarding, among other benefits. But (and this is a big but) these benefits quickly become irrelevant if we forget about the need for appropriate decentralization. Naturally, it's no surprise that the same companies who, to a large extent, brought us the mainframe and the PC, want a piece of the blockchain action. It's also no surprise that these same companies are already in the process of capturing large parts of the emerging blockchain market.

As the old adage goes: "nobody ever got fired for buying [insert big tech company here]."

In general, I think the entrance of big tech companies into this domain has had a positive impact. It has helped bring much needed credibility and reaffirm the importance of these new technologies. That said, as markets consider their adoption, we should encourage an objective analysis as to the appropriate implementation of this technology so as to achieve its intended outcome.
Although there are many reasons to trust the competency of  prominent technology vendors and the integrity of their systems, which have been proven for decades in other domains, let's keep in mind that the intended purpose of this paradigm shift is to eliminate the need for trust. Objectively, this means that a blockchain cannot be dependent on a single vendor's infrastructure or security.