#Blockchain The Daily: Grin Developer Fund Grows, Russian Agent’s BTC Transaction Tracked

Posted on 3 February 2019 by Startup365

The Daily: Privacy Coin Grin Gets Donations, Researchers Track GRU’s BTC Transaction

In this edition of The Daily, a leading Grin developer has received donations worth $26,000 to fund his work on the project. Also, research group Bellingcat has tracked a BTC transaction allegedly made by Russian agents meddling in U.S. elections, and stablecoin paxos has reached $10 billion in transactions.

Also read: Zebpay Launches in 5 European Markets, Coinpulse Enters ‘Indefinite Maintenance’

Grin Developer Receives Donations Worth $26,000

The Daily: Grin Developer Fund Grows, Russian Agent's BTC Transaction Tracked A campaign to raise funds for the development of privacy-centric coin Grin is halfway towards its target. A dedicated page on the project’s website shows that €22,530 (approx. $26,000) of the targeted €55,000 ($63,000) has been collected in crypto already.

As of Feb. 1, 3.4 BTC, 134.14 ETH and 7 GRIN have been donated. The money will be used to finance the work of Grin’s developer Michael Cordner, also known as ‘Yeastplume.’ Cordner has been an active contributor since May 2017 and the Grin project has been his full-time job since February of last year. Yeastplume also states:

I hope my performance so far has been satisfactory to the community as well as beneficial to Grin and Mimblewimble development … I’m happy to make myself known partly for funding transparency reasons, and partly because I’m happy to take on some of the public-facing tasks that will inevitably come up as Grin evolves.

Michael Cordner further shares information about what the previous funds have been used for, as well as his future development plans. He also notes that once the funding goal is reached, the crypto amounts will be cashed out into euros. The money is expected to finance his efforts in the development of the coin until August 2019.

Grin is one of two cryptocurrencies based on Mimblewimble that were launched this year, with Beam being the first. The protocol was originally developed in 2016 to improve the scalability of the Bitcoin network and provide enhanced privacy for its users.

Bellingcat Claims to Have Tracked BTC Sent by GRU

Research group Bellingcat has reportedly tracked a 0.026043 BTC transaction from Feb. 1, 2016 that, according to Robert Mueller, special counsel of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, is related to the activities of agents of Russia’s foreign military intelligence agency GRU as well as the hacking of the DNC servers.

The Daily: Grin Developer Fund Grows, Russian Agent's BTC Transaction Tracked

Despite noting that in recent years cryptocurrencies have been used by “bad actors,” the authors of the report admit many people utilize them for legitimate purposes and that the Bitcoin blockchain “cuts down on anonymity with regard to cryptocurrency use.” That allowed Bellingcat to track down the transaction mentioned in the Mueller indictment of 12 alleged Russian GRU agents from July 2018.

Using a block explorer, the researchers found that the first block containing a transaction for that amount was on Feb. 1, 2016, in block 396049. Then they checked all subsequent blocks and found two transactions of roughly the same amount, in block 396123 (0.026043 BTC) and in block 396060 (0.02604322 BTC).

Since the exact amount was sent with the transaction in block 396123 from 1LQv8aKtQoiY5M5zkaG8RWL7LMwNzVaVqR, Bellingcat concludes that address is more likely to have been used by the GRU agents three years ago. The digital cash was sent to 1NZ4MSeYcDKFiPRt8h7VK6XMhShwzhCzCp and the U.K.-based research group believes this address is connected to the presumed Russian hackers.

Paxos Marks $10 Billion in Transactions Since Launch

The U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin paxos standard token (PAX) has reached over $10 billion in transactions in less than five months since its launch in September 2018, the coin’s developers announced on Twitter this week. “Redemption requests are processed in just 5 hours,” their post further details. All-time redemptions are close to $260 million and weekly redemptions are over $16 million.

The Daily: Grin Developer Fund Grows, Russian Agent's BTC Transaction Tracked

According to the shared data, the weekly PAX transactions currently amount to almost $580 million. As of Jan. 29, the total issuance has been $394 million and at the time of writing, the stablecoin’s market capitalization hovers around $123 million.

The paxos standard token is issued by the Paxos Trust Company. PAX was one of two ‘regulated’ stablecoins that received approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services last fall, with the other one being the Gemini dollar (GUSD) issued by Gemini Trust. Both have been announced as cryptocurrencies backed 1:1 with USD.

The team behind another dollar-pegged stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC), recently announced they’ve expanded the crypto’s ecosystem. Goldman Sachs-backed startup Circle revealed three new companies have added support for its digital currency, bringing the total number of partners to more than 100. Among them are cryptocurrency exchanges, wallet providers, other crypto platforms and app developers.

What are your thoughts on today’s news tidbits? Tell us in the comments section.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Make sure you do not miss any important Bitcoin-related news! Follow our news feed any which way you prefer; via Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, RSS or email (scroll down to the bottom of this page to subscribe). We’ve got daily, weekly and quarterly summaries in newsletter form. Bitcoin never sleeps. Neither do we.

The post The Daily: Grin Developer Fund Grows, Russian Agent’s BTC Transaction Tracked appeared first on Bitcoin News.

from Bitcoin News http://bit.ly/2Su8cfr The Daily: Grin Developer Fund Grows, Russian Agent’s BTC Transaction Tracked

#Blockchain Bitcoin Had a Fairer Launch Than Any Altcoin

Posted on 3 February 2019 by Startup365

What constitutes a fair coin launch? It’s a question that has had some of the brightest minds and brashest projects in the space debating the best way to kickstart a cryptocurrency. Every crypto, Bitcoin included, has attracted criticism over a distribution schedule that favored early adopters. To date, no other coin has come close to matching the egalitarianism of Bitcoin’s launch.

Also read: These Payment Gateways Will Enable Your Business to Accept Cryptocurrency

There’s More Than One Way to Launch a Coin

When it comes to world-changing innovations, it generally pays to get in on the ground floor. Not every piece of transformative tech enriches its developers (think of the internet itself or email or encryption), but most do. Bitcoin certainly did. Despite launching with no ICO, no premine, and no founders’ reward, the cryptocurrency succeeded in turning many of its earliest supporters into very rich men. This in turn empowered many of them to launch their own cryptocurrencies, which have launched very differently from Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Had a Fairer Launch Than Any Altcoin — Jed McCaleb

Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum), Zooko (Zcash), Charlie Lee (Litecoin), Jed McCaleb (Ripple, Stellar) and Dan Larimer (Bitshares, Steemit, Eos) are examples of early bitcoiners who became altcoiners. The distribution of all of the coins they spawned has came in for criticism in some way. The 20 percent mining reward that goes to the Zcash treasury to fund development remains controversial, and spawned a hard fork to create Z Classic, which removed the founders’ reward, and fork-of-a-fork Zencash, now Horizen. Zcash has also been questioned on account of the missing zero-knowledge proofs that would legitimize the “trusted setup” at the privacy coin’s creation.

The ICO that birthed Ethereum has been attacked for allocating most of the coins to a handful of whales, and in other quarters has been accused of comprising a security rather than a utility. Eos’ year-long uncapped ICO has also irked members of the cryptocurrency community, and don’t get them started on Ripple. Aside from the fact that the company that created the currency has the lion’s share of XRP, the missing early block headers means it’s impossible to even examine Ripple’s genesis event.

Grin, Beam and the Quest for the ‘Perfect Launch’

2019’s newest protocols, Grin and Beam, share commonalities, not least in terms of the Mimblewimble privacy technology they’re built upon. In other respects, however, the pair couldn’t be more different. Beam has a publicly known team, is incorporated as a business, and has a Zcash style founders’ reward to fund development. Grin, on the other hand, has a pseudonymous team, no premine or founders’ reward, and operates as a community project with no central leadership.

Whether Grin’s launch could be deemed “fair,” however, is a matter of debate. One of the goals when launching a cryptocurrency is to align incentives. This gives people a reason to devote their time, skills, and resources to the project, and rewards them for trusting in it when it was at its weakest. There were no guarantees that Bitcoin, or any of the projects mentioned above, would succeed. Their early backers knew they were taking a risk.

Bitcoin Had a Fairer Launch Than Any Altcoin

In “Grin and the Mythical Fair Launch,” Arjun Balaji asserts that “a fair launch offers equal opportunity — not equal outcome — to acquire a coin 1) over a long period of time 2) at a relatively equal price.” They conclude by opining that Grin’s launch “excels in both dimensions.” The absence of rewards for the project’s developers, however, has forced them to scrabble for the funds necessary to support their work. At the time of publication, Grin developer “yeastplume” has only raised $25,000 of the $63,000 they’re seeking. That’s a problem that funded projects like Beam and Zcash don’t have.

Unpacking Bitcoin’s Launch

Bitcoin Had a Fairer Launch Than Any Altcoin To begin with, bitcoin could be extracted in virtual shovelfuls in a process akin to open-cast mining. The low difficulty rate, coupled with the 50 BTC block reward, meant it was easy for hobbyists to mine bitcoins by the thousand. Bitcoin mining today is more like fracking: it calls for specialist hardware, has a high cost of entry and triggers environmentalists. It is widely assumed that Satoshi has permanently locked away the BTC he accrued in the early days, when he is believed to have solo mined hundreds of thousands of coins. If so, it is a selfless act from the creator of the most unselfishly launched cryptocurrency to date. Not only has Satoshi forgone his founder’s reward, but he’s removed a significant amount of coins from circulation, effectively increasing the value of everyone else’s holdings.

It’s easy to criticize Bitcoin’s launch a decade after the fact, claiming that its logarithmic supply curve was too steep, but it served its purpose of ensuring that Bitcoin survived to this day. Without it there would be no Grin, Beam, or any one of the 2,000 other cryptocurrencies out there, most of which are derived from Bitcoin.

Which cryptocurrency do you think had the fairest launch? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section.

The post Bitcoin Had a Fairer Launch Than Any Altcoin appeared first on Bitcoin News.

from Bitcoin News http://bit.ly/2Gl96nG Bitcoin Had a Fairer Launch Than Any Altcoin

#Blockchain Point-of-Sale Platform Anypay Adds Full Bitcoin Cash Support

Posted on 3 February 2019 by Startup365

Point-of-Sale Platform Anypay Adds Full Bitcoin Cash Support

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) proponents were pleased to hear this week that the point-of-sale payment processing application Anypay has fully integrated BCH. With the Anypay platform, anyone can accept BCH at their store using a tablet, mobile device or desktop in a noncustodial fashion.

Also read: Properties Are Still Being Sold for Cryptocurrency Despite the Bear Market

Crypto Payment Processor Anypay Completes Bitcoin Cash Integration

Derrick Freeman, the founder of point-of-sale (PoS) cryptocurrency platform Anypay Global, explained to BCH supporters the payment application has integrated bitcoin cash support. Anypay initially announced support for BCH back in November 2017 but as some users tested the platform it had a few quirks, so support was removed off and on for a year.

Point-of-Sale Platform Anypay Adds Full Bitcoin Cash Support

Now since Jan. 31, the cryptocurrency has been added to Anypay’s list of fully supported coins which also includes LTC, DASH, BTC, DOGE, ZEC, XRP, and ZEN. Freeman explained in a recent blog post that he knew at some point Anypay would give BCH the attention that it deserves. The entrepreneur and activist also stated he admired that BCH is about “spendability, low fees” and that it’s also “easy to send, and easy to accept.”

“We knew we would come back to it, someday, to treat it right — to give it the beautiful, easy to use, and ideologically pure point of sale app it deserves,” Freeman detailed.

The Anypay founder further stated:

And finally, it is done and BCH is now fully supported on Anypay — Go ahead and try it. You will be amazed at how fast your payment arrives in your wallet. Your eyes will well up at the beauty and simplicity of the experience — You will see God.

Free, No IDs, and No Complicated Setup

Last November, news.Bitcoin.com reviewed Anypay Global’s application and was the first to notice the platform had fused Cointext into the system. The Cointext integration means people who pay an Anypay invoice with BCH can simply text the payment by using SMS. The user could pay a tab without an internet connection or use a Nokia style feature phone without web services. In a matter of minutes, with a bitcoin cash address, anyone can accept the currency in a noncustodial manner as all the funds are held by the merchant. Anypay has zero access to the private keys as the PoS system simply uses an anchored public address.

“You can approach any business, and in minutes have them accepting multiple cryptocurrencies on their store iPad, Android tablet, mobile, or desktop — totally free, without IDs, and without any complicated setup,” Freeman detailed during the announcement.

Point-of-Sale Platform Anypay Adds Full Bitcoin Cash Support

On social media and BCH related forums, supporters were thrilled to hear the news about the payment processor’s full support. Many BCH proponents enjoyed Freeman’s honesty and opinion on how the cryptocurrency originally forked off. “[Bitcoin Cash] shed its fat, ugly layer of loser nobodies who were frantically buying up as many digital tokens as they could, getting high off the rush from their imaginations of lambos and yachts and get-rich-quick easy money,” the activist remarked.

What do you think about Anypay adding full BCH support? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: 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 and the author are 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. This editorial is for informational purposes only.

Image credits: Anypay Global, and Bitcoincash.org.

Express yourself freely at Bitcoin.com’s user forums. We don’t censor on political grounds. Check forum.Bitcoin.com

The post Point-of-Sale Platform Anypay Adds Full Bitcoin Cash Support appeared first on Bitcoin News.

from Bitcoin News http://bit.ly/2S58vxv Point-of-Sale Platform Anypay Adds Full Bitcoin Cash Support

#Blockchain Crypto-Stealing SIM Swapper Pleads Guilty, Gets 10 Years in Prison

Posted on 3 February 2019 by Startup365

Joel Ortiz, a college student who allegedly stole cryptocurrency worth over $5 million, has pleaded guilty and accepted a 10-year prison sentence. Ortiz was arrested last year and accused of hijacking the phone numbers of around 40 people. He is now the first person to be sentenced for the crime, commonly known as SIM swapping.

Also read: Plaintiff in AT&T SIM-Swapping Case Sues ‘Bitcoin Bandit’ for $81M

First Case of SIM Swapping Conviction

The 20-year-old from Boston was detained at Los Angeles International Airport in July 2018 while trying to leave for Europe. He is one of several hackers arrested for SIM swapping last year including Xzavyer Narvaez, Nicholas Truglia and Joseph Harris.

Crypto-Stealing SIM Swapper Pleads Guilty, Gets 10 Years in Prison

All of these individuals have been accused of stealing millions in crypto. The SIM swappers used the hijacked phone numbers to gain access to the victims’ email and social media accounts, as well as their bitcoin wallets.

Joel Ortiz accepted the plea deal last week and will be officially sentenced on March 14, Motherboard reported, quoting the Deputy District Attorney in Santa Clara County, California, Erin West. Authorities believe his case is the first that ends with a conviction for SIM swapping. West commented:

In looking at Joel’s sentence – 10 years – it shows that our community will not tolerate this type of crime. And we will continue to find everyone who’s responsible.

Multiple Other Investigations Under Way

Law enforcement representatives expressed hope the case will also serve as an example for others alleged or suspected of the same crime and send a message to the hackers. The officials did not reveal the number of ongoing investigations but admitted there have been new arrests and search warrants.

According to the publication, the majority of these investigations are led by the Regional Enforcement Allied Computer Team (React). The task force unites the efforts of numerous local police departments in the U.S. state of California.

Samy Tarazi, one of the agents who worked on the Ortiz case, said the unit has received hundreds of reports of SIM swapping attacks from people that have been targeted by hackers. However, he added that their number has now decreased.

Crypto-Stealing SIM Swapper Pleads Guilty, Gets 10 Years in Prison

When Joel Ortiz was arrested at LAX last summer, he was about to fly to Europe with $250,000 in cryptocurrency, Boston Globe reported. Before his attempt to leave the U.S., Ortiz had spent another $150,000 of the misappropriated digital funds.

Ortiz and his accomplices specifically targeted people from the crypto space. It’s believed their victims included attendees of the Consensus conference in New York last May. They managed to steal the crypto assets after tricking wireless phone companies into transferring the target’s phone number to a SIM card in their control.

During his trial, Joel Ortiz was facing 28 charges including multiple counts of hacking, identity theft and grand theft.

What do you think about the outcome of the Ortiz case? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Swiss Venture Capital Report 2019.

The post Crypto-Stealing SIM Swapper Pleads Guilty, Gets 10 Years in Prison appeared first on Bitcoin News.

from Bitcoin News http://bit.ly/2BrsZ9J Crypto-Stealing SIM Swapper Pleads Guilty, Gets 10 Years in Prison

#Blockchain Stacks Network Plans to Leverage BTC’s Proof of Work and Burn Bitcoins

Posted on 3 February 2019 by Startup365

Stacks Network Plans to Leverage BTC's Proof-of-Work and Burn Bitcoins

Blockchain startup Blockstack has revealed the company is in the midst of developing a new distributed ledger protocol called Stacks, a chain that leverages the hash power from the Bitcoin Core (BTC) network. Not only is the Stacks network secured by over 45 exahash of distributed hashrate, but its consensus algorithm also burns BTC by using a mechanism known as proof of burn (PoB).

Also read: Properties Are Still Being Sold for Cryptocurrency Despite the Bear Market

Proof of Burn

Blockstack, formerly called Onename, and Stacks lead developer Jude Nelson have published a video that describes a newly designed blockchain consensus algorithm. It utilizes Bitcoin Core’s proof of work (PoW), alongside the burning of coins (PoB) in order to process blocks on the Stacks chain. Nelson details there are inherent issues with proof-of-stake consensus models and the PoB consensus mechanism is meant to bootstrap itself from the established hash power stemming from the BTC chain. Over time, the Stacks chain will slowly transition away from BTC’s hash power, but using it initially will help curb 51% attacks that have been seen in recent months with networks that have an extremely low amount of PoW.

Stacks Network Plans to Leverage BTC's Proof-of-Work and Burn Bitcoins — **Muneeb Ali and Ryan Shea founded Blockstack in 2013.**

Nelson believes it would be better to build on top of the security of BTC rather than try to mimic that success.

“Instead of expending electrical and hardware costs, participants in proof-of-burn consensus do just that — They provably destroy (or “burn”) their own bitcoin as the economic cost for their participation,” explains Nelson’s recent video describing the Stacks chain. “Every participant competing for the opportunity to write the next block must burn a certain amount of proof-of-work token (bitcoin) to enter the competition.”

The Blockstack developer continued by stating:

A participant’s likelihood of winning the competition increases with the percentage of bitcoin they burn compared to other participants — The competition’s winner writes the block, collects transaction fees, and earns the block reward of Stacks tokens.

Building on Top of the Largest PoW Chain

Nelson’s blog post and recently published video also explains that the Stacks blockchain has its own memory-hard PoW process, but only 5 percent is allocated and the other 95 percent stems from BTC’s hash power. The process is tunable so that in future the Stacks developers can lessen the dependency on the BTC chain. “As the Stacks blockchain starts to get significant hash power there is a path available (by changing the tunable threshold) to reduce the percentage for Bitcoin and slowly transition away from it,” Nelson’s report notes.

A Stacks block is found by using a mechanism called “cryptographic sortition” and each block with the burns from all participants is used to calculate a probability distribution at random. If a participant spends a lot of bitcoin during the burn process and doesn’t receive any incentive, the loss is similar to BTC miners using electricity and losing the block race, Nelson explains. “If you contribute 90% of all burns in an epoch, there’s still a 10% chance that you will lose (but your Bitcoin is destroyed either way,” the developer adds.

Nelson states further:

It’s worth noting though; the burns aren’t truly “wasted” — they still improve the chain quality since their (wasted) burns get used to calculate a “burn quota” which helps slow down attackers.

The Blockstack programmer says the firm is building the chain in this manner because they believe it would be “fruitless” to compete with the security of BTC. Rather the team decided to build on top of the largest PoW chain in order to create a more distributed and censorship-resistant web. Blockstack’s main intentions have always been working toward the decentralization of the internet. Nelson believes it’s even better when there’s a blockchain system that’s verified by individuals and organizations “acting out of rational economic self-interest.” In Hong Kong, Nelson detailed that Stacks version 2 is currently under development during his recent keynote discussion concerning the protocol. At the moment developers can review the two open SIPs or Stacks Improvement Proposals.

What do you think about Blockstack’s Stacks proof-of-burn consensus model? Let us know what you think about this project in the comments section below.

Image credits: Shutterstock, Blockstack, Pixabay, and the Blockstack white paper.

Express yourself freely at Bitcoin.com’s user forums. We don’t censor on political grounds. Check forum.Bitcoin.com.

The post Stacks Network Plans to Leverage BTC’s Proof of Work and Burn Bitcoins appeared first on Bitcoin News.

from Bitcoin News http://bit.ly/2sZ3N5C Stacks Network Plans to Leverage BTC’s Proof of Work and Burn Bitcoins

#Blockchain Fidelity Announces Institutional Crypto Platform is in ‘Final Testing’

Posted on 2 February 2019 by Startup365

Fidelity has published an update announcing that its highly anticipated cryptocurrency exchange and custody platform, Fidelity Digital Asset Services (FDAS), has entered its “final testing” phase. The financial services provider also stated that it is exclusively serving a “select set of eligible clients” while developing the platform.

Also Read: Properties Are Still Being Sold for Cryptocurrency Despite the Bear Market

Fidelity Highlights Institutional Focus for FDAS

The company has emphasized its institutional focus, stating that Fidelity’s “initial clients are an important part” of the “final testing and process refinement periods,” that will enable the company to “provide these services to a broader set of eligible institutions.”

Fidelity added that its discussions with “a variety of institutions” had underscored the perceived demand for “a trusted platform provider to engage with digital assets in a meaningful way.”

Fidelity Announces Institutional Crypto Platform is in 'Final Testing'

The company also stated that its risk and compliance teams are “actively” working with auditors to tighten policies and operational processes, adding that it hopes to “set new benchmarks for this aspect of cryptographic … finance.”

Fidelity described the development process for the platform as comprising both a “challenging and rewarding time.”

No Date for FDAS Launch Despite Rumors of March Target

While Fidelity has not revealed a firm date for the launch of FDAS, much of the cryptocurrency community is anticipating the platform may launch sometime around March.

Fidelity Announces Institutional Crypto Platform is in 'Final Testing'

On. Jan. 29, Bloomberg reported that the company was targeting March as a launch date for its custody service, citing “three people with knowledge of the matter.” At the end of 2018, Tom Jessop, the founding head of Fidelity Digital Assets, stated that the company was then hoping to launch FDAS during the first quarter of 2019.

Do you think that Fidelity will launch its cryptocurrency platform before or after the second quarter begins? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock

At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even lookup the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more.

The post Fidelity Announces Institutional Crypto Platform is in ‘Final Testing’ appeared first on Bitcoin News.

from Bitcoin News http://bit.ly/2RA5gcg Fidelity Announces Institutional Crypto Platform is in ‘Final Testing’

#Blockchain These Payment Gateways Will Enable Your Business to Accept Cryptocurrency

Posted on 2 February 2019 by Startup365

The Best Ways Merchants Can Start Charging Customers in Bitcoin

As more people become interested in the world of cryptocurrency, adoption grows and so does the number of merchants interested in accepting bitcoin payments. Here are some of the easiest methods for integrating bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies into your online business.

Also read: Wikipedia Now Accepts Bitcoin Cash Donations via Bitpay

Why Your Business Might Want to Accept Bitcoin

Charging customers in bitcoin can prove beneficial to a business in many ways. For a start, accepting payments via credit card can be expensive, with banks and payment processors typically taking a cut of 3-5 percent. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can actually reduce such fees to less than one percent. In the case of bitcoin cash, fees are usually less than one cent. Bitcoin transactions are also irreversible, so chargebacks or returns, which are common with credit card payments, become a thing of the past. Receiving payments in bitcoin can also dramatically expedite international transactions while minimizing fees, which is ideal for online merchants.

On top of all this, there is immediacy of access to funds. Merchants of course like to have funds available as quickly as possible, as cash flow can make or break a business. Charging customers in bitcoin is one way to facilitate this.

How to Get Started

First and foremost, when a business wants to start charging its customers in bitcoin, it needs to make this fact obvious. Just as many businesses, both online and offline, make it clear they accept Mastercard, Visa or Paypal, a merchant accepting bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies will want to display this fact prominently on their website, and particularly at checkout. A brick and mortar store can display their wallet addresses in the form of a QR code at the counter. Hardware terminals and touchscreen apps are other methods for accepting payments.

Setting prices is also an important matter to consider. When a business accepts bitcoin, it makes sense, at least at this stage of cryptocurrency adoption, to display the corresponding fiat currency price, and charge the customer accordingly, since the value of bitcoin fluctuates. Depending on where the business is based, tax will also have to be taken into account. It makes sense to view any bitcoin received as payment as similar to receiving a cash payment; though somewhat anonymous, it will still have to go through the books like any other payment. One thing to bare in mind is refunds. If a customer requests a refund, the merchant will need to ask for their address in order to send the cash back to them – although some platforms have ways of dealing with this smoothly.

Bitpay

Bitpay is by far the most common method for merchants to accept bitcoin (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH) and other cryptocurrencies right now. Its system is fast, simple and incurs little risk of volatility for merchants, since Bitpay will handle settlement and automatically convert the crypto into fiat. The cryptocurrency payment processor recently released figures revealing it processed over $1 billion in payments last year. When it comes to refunds, things are simpler with Bitpay and merchants only need an email address in order to return funds to the buyer’s account.

Benefits of Bitpay include its ability to support numerous currencies including the U.S. dollar, euro, pound sterling and Chinese yuan and direct bank deposits.

Coinbase Commerce

Another popular way to accept bitcoin payments is to use Coinbase Commerce. This is ideal for an online business as it enables merchants to accept payments in bitcoin and instantly convert it into fiat to save themselves from price volatility. It’s free, too, unlike receiving payments via credit card. Given the recognition and trust granted to the Coinbase brand, it may make sense for merchants to integrate Coinbase Commerce.

Gocoin

Receiving international payments is much easier when charging customers in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Gocoin is one of the largest crypto payment processing services and supports a number of cryptocurrencies. It offers easy integration in the form of a plugin that businesses can install on their website and has a zero chargeback system.

These Payment Gateways Will Enable Your Business to Accept Cryptocurrency

Btcpay

Open source payment processor Btcpay is particularly useful for more technically accomplished merchants. The processor is essentially a decentralized version of Bitpay and allows easy migration of existing codebase to the merchant’s self-hosted payment processor. Btcpay is helpful for merchants who want to be in control of their own funds and to accept several different cryptocurrencies. The merchant retains complete control of the full node, and payments go directly into their cryptocurrency wallet, which increases privacy and security.

What other cryptocurrency payment processors have you tried? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Gocoin.

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 their 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.

The post These Payment Gateways Will Enable Your Business to Accept Cryptocurrency appeared first on Bitcoin News.

from Bitcoin News http://bit.ly/2GjFas7 These Payment Gateways Will Enable Your Business to Accept Cryptocurrency

#Blockchain Properties Are Still Being Sold for Cryptocurrency Despite the Bear Market

Posted on 2 February 2019 by Startup365

Despite Bear Market Prices Owners Are Still Selling Properties for Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin and many other digital assets have lost more than 80 percent of their fiat value since 2017. Despite this, the trend for people selling homes for cryptocurrency continues to thrive amidst one of the longest bear markets in crypto history.

Also read: Canadian Exchange Insolvent After CEO Dies With Keys to $145M of Cryptocurrency

The Real Estate and Crypto Asset Trend Continues in 2019

It’s been one of the longest bear markets ever in bitcoin land, but digital asset proponents are trucking along with relentless faith hoping that the lows will eventually come to an end. Because of the price drop, the entire cryptocurrency economy has been affected as blockchain companies have suffered layoffs and cryptocurrency-related internet searches have dropped significantly. Not all crypto trends have been downwards however: people are still interested in crypto-focused conferences and over-the-counter (OTC) bitcoin volumes have been climbing. Another trend that’s managed to survive is the real estate market and its newfound relationship with cryptocurrencies. Back in late 2017, when crypto assets were extremely valuable, people were selling real estate for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. And now, even after the 80+ percent drop in value, individuals and real estate firms are still putting homes on the market for digital currencies.

Properties Are Still Being Sold for Cryptocurrency Despite the Bear Market — **A Saddlebunch Key estate located in Key West, Florida can be exchanged for digital currencies.**

Home Owners in Australia Are Still Selling for Cryptocurrencies

On Jan. 30, a regional news outlet reported how property in Australia is still being sold for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. For instance, Real Estate agency Ray White is selling a luxurious three-bathroom home in Surfers Paradise for $580,000 and the owner is willing to accept payment in BTC. In a suburb of Darwin, an apartment is selling for roughly 126 BTC or $600,000. The private listing says “We are happy to accept Bitcoin or any other major cryptocurrency instead of Australian dollars for this property.” Not only are homes selling for cryptocurrencies in Australia but people can purchase parcels of land with digital assets as well. Another listing located in the town of Helidon, Queensland has the homeowner seeking the equivalent of $86,000 paid in BTC. “You can purchase this property entirely using bitcoins,” the listing details.

There Are People Listing Luxury Apartments, Estates and More for Digital Assets in 2019

Australia isn’t the only region seeing this trend, as real estate listings being sold for cryptocurrencies has become a mainstay over the last two years. For instance, in San Fransisco, according to a Craigslist ad, a mid-century hillside estate can be purchased for $3.3 million. “The seller may consider offers including consideration paid in bitcoin or other forms of cryptocurrency,” explains the advertisement.

In Hughson California, you can buy a $2.3 million 5,138 sq ft luxury cherry estate with four bedrooms. The property also includes 14 acres of land and was designed by Conrad Sanchez. For 70 BTC, a property in the beautiful region of Playa Colorado can be purchased that includes its own private beach club and restaurant membership. For $900,000 in digital currencies, there’s a 3-bedroom, 1,800 sq ft Key West estate for sale located on Saddlebunch Key.

Lots of Parcels and Acreage for Sale

Homes and apartments are not the only types of properties being listed for cryptocurrencies as there are lots of plots of land for sale too. You can use BTC, ETH, or LTC to purchase 41 hectares of land by the Baltic Sea which consists of eight interconnected parcels.

In Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, someone could snatch up a vacant Poconos lot and acquire a ½ acre of this popular vacation land for digital currencies. There are almost 12 acres of land for sale that borders Boise in the region of Sweet, Idaho and the owner is interested in a digital currency trade. Or if you want a whole bunch of acreage, for $475,000 in cryptos you can purchase a 300-acre farm with water in Bouse, Arizona.

It seems that people are still finding value in listing luxury homes, apartments and lots of acreage in exchange for cryptocurrencies. The lower cryptocurrency values may entice owners selling properties because essentially they can gather a lot more coins. So far, in 2019, there are still plenty of sellers who are attracted to this form of payment and are happy to accept cryptocurrencies instead of fiat in exchange for property.

What do you think about the continued trend of people listing homes and land in exchange for cryptocurrencies? Why do you think this trend has been persistent? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: Bitcoin.com does not endorse these real estate products/services. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned listings, advertisements, companies or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com and the author are 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. This editorial is for informational purposes only.

Image credits: Shutterstock, Ray White Real Estate, and Craigslist.

Express yourself freely at Bitcoin.com’s user forums. We don’t censor on political grounds. Check forum.Bitcoin.com

The post Properties Are Still Being Sold for Cryptocurrency Despite the Bear Market appeared first on Bitcoin News.

from Bitcoin News http://bit.ly/2Uxhc0s Properties Are Still Being Sold for Cryptocurrency Despite the Bear Market

#Blockchain Canadian Exchange Insolvent After CEO Dies With Keys to $145M of Cryptocurrency

Posted on 2 February 2019 by Startup365

Canadian Crypto Exchange Files for Bankruptcy After CEO Dies With Wallet Keys

Death is complicated enough in the cryptosphere when a private investor dies with the private keys to their fortune. But the pain is amplified exponentially should the deceased be the CEO of a digital currency exchange responsible for the safekeeping of millions of dollars. The death of Gerald Cotten, founder and chief executive officer of crypto exchange Quadrigacx, has led to the loss of CAD $190 million (~ U.S. $145 million) stashed in the platform’s cold storage wallets.

Also read: Australia’s Financial Intelligence Agency Registers 246 Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Quadrigacx Seeks Court Protection From Creditors

Canadian exchange Quadrigacx this week filed for protection from creditors in the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, claiming to have failed to locate or access the money since the death of Cotten on Dec. 9, according to a report by local newspaper The Globe and Mail.

Canadian Exchange Insolvent After CEO Dies With Keys to $145M of Cryptocurrency

Significant customer investments are understood to be locked up following the loss of cold storage wallets, especially since Quadrigacx was the largest crypto exchange in Canada by traded volume. One customer is reported to have lost $700,000.

Cryptocurrency can be lost, particularly if the owner doesn’t share the private keys that allow access to the wallet to a third party by way of legacy management. Chainalysis estimates that about 25 percent of all bitcoins now in circulation (valued at roughly $23.5 billion) have already been lost forever, with death accounting for a sizeable portion of the losses.

Following the death of Cotten, Quadrigacx has reportedly lost 26,488 BTC, 11,278 BCH, 11,149 BSV, and 35,320 BTG. About 199,888 LTC and 429,966 ETH has also been lost.

‘A Lone-Wolf Operation’

In her affidavit, the CEO’s widow, Jennifer Robertson, states that her husband was the sole director and officer at Quadrigacx and its sister companies at the time of his death.

Canadian Exchange Insolvent After CEO Dies With Keys to $145M of Cryptocurrency

The company’s misfortune may have resulted in the chief executive officer’s lone-wolf style of operation. “To the best of my knowledge, most of the businesses of these companies was being conducted by Gerry whenever and wherever he and his computer were located,” she stated.

A bankruptcy hearing is scheduled for February 5 at Nova Scotia Supreme Court, with Ernst and Young Inc to be appointed as an independent monitor. Quadriga’s board of directors has posted the legal steps to be taken on their website, stating:

For the past weeks, we have worked extensively to address our liquidity issues, which include attempting to locate and secure our very significant cryptocurrency reserves held in cold wallets, and that are required to satisfy customer cryptocurrency balances on deposit, as well as sourcing a financial institution to accept the bank drafts that are to be transferred to us. Unfortunately, these efforts have not been successful.

The treasury that held Quadrigacx funds was allegedly personalized around the late CEO who had to use his personal account for company funds, as banks kept as skeptical remove away from the crypto aspect of the business. In the absence of a company account, third parties were used to facilitate payment and receipt of funds from users, according to the CEO’s widow.

The exchange’s troubled relationship with banks resulted in the loss of $28 million when a portion of its funds were frozen in January 2018. The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) froze the funds citing ownership concerns. The company initiated ongoing legal action to challenge the action.

Canadian Exchange Insolvent After CEO Dies With Keys to $145M of Cryptocurrency

A Loss That Could Have Been Avoided

Posthumous loss of bitcoin can be avoided if investors make plans for having this information disclosed to their heirs after they die. In April 2018, U.S. investor Matthew Mellon died, leaving his $500 million crypto fortune permanently inaccessible.

“Investors need a storage execution strategy for account information, as well as advice on the implications regarding the deceased estate, including access to accounts, distribution to beneficiaries, and tax implications,” Eran Brill, an investment management director at Stonehage Fleming in South Africa, explained last year.

What are your thoughts on the Quadrigacx situation – do you think the funds are lost for good? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Express yourself freely at Bitcoin.com’s user forums. We don’t censor on political grounds. Check forum.Bitcoin.com

The post Canadian Exchange Insolvent After CEO Dies With Keys to $145M of Cryptocurrency appeared first on Bitcoin News.

from Bitcoin News http://bit.ly/2RzOtWP Canadian Exchange Insolvent After CEO Dies With Keys to $145M of Cryptocurrency

#Blockchain The Daily: Zebpay Launches in 5 European Markets, Coinpulse Enters ‘Indefinite Maintenance’

Posted on 2 February 2019 by Startup365

The Daily: Zebpay Launches in 5 European Markets, Coinpulse Enters ‘Indefinite Maintenance’

Saturday’s edition of The Daily covers developments of interest to crypto traders. Once one of the largest exchanges in India, Zebpay is now increasingly focusing on Europe. The platform has expanded its services to residents of five more countries in the region. Also, troubled crypto trading platform Coinpulse has announced “indefinite maintenance,” asking customers to withdraw their funds, and Binance has introduced credit card deposits.

Also read: Bitcoin Carnivory, Dapps & DEXs, Quadrigacx Claims Insolvency

Zebpay Continues European Expansion

Zebpay, which was one of largest Indian cryptocurrency exchanges until last fall, is expanding its presence in Europe. The trading services of the now Malta-based platform will be available for users in five more countries on the Old Continent – Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain – bringing the total of supported European jurisdictions to over 40.

The Daily: Zebpay Launches in 5 European Markets, Coinpulse Enters ‘Indefinite Maintenance’

The exchange terminated its services in India in September 2018 due to the banking ban imposed by the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank. At the time, it claimed to have around 3 million users. Zebpay then established subsidiaries in Malta and Singapore and started introducing its digital asset trading platform in a number of new markets in Europe, Asia and South America.

In December, Zebpay launched euro deposits and withdrawals and started trading BTC, ETH, LTC, XRP, and EOS with EUR in 26 countries. The platform is accessible through its Android and iOS apps. The company also became a member of two Swiss industry organizations – Crypto Valley Association and Bitcoin Association Switzerland.

Coinpulse in Maintenance ‘Until Further Notice’

Crypto exchange Coinpulse has announced it will enter what it calls “indefinite maintenance” on Feb. 7, 2019 until further notice. Its team explained in a blog post that it’s been working with an investor “behind the scene” to try to keep the platform afloat, but the process has been taking longer than expected. On Thursday, Coinpulse tweeted:

We will have to suspend all trading and deposits from Feb. 1, 2019. We will keep withdrawals open until Feb. 7, 2019.

The exchange also informed users it expects them to transfer their funds out of Coinpulse wallets to their personal wallets or other exchanges in order to avoid being locked out during the maintenance. It advised traders who keep more than one currency to start withdrawing their BTC balance first, then ETH, and after that any other digital coins or tokens.

Coinpulse is currently looking for other investors interested in acquiring its digital asset trading platform along with its website and trademark.

Binance Enables Card Payments, Lists Stablecoin

Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume, has announced its users will be able to make deposits with Visa and Mastercard credit cards. The payment option has been introduced through a new partnership with the payment processor Simplex. The feature is already live, the platform said in a blog post.

The Daily: Zebpay Launches in 5 European Markets, Coinpulse Enters ‘Indefinite Maintenance’

“We want to provide Binance traders with fast and easy access to crypto, in the most secure way possible,” said Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, commenting on the news. He added that the partnership with Simplex allows the exchange to bridge the gap between credit card payments and cryptocurrencies for traders.

In a separate announcement, Binance has informed users it will list another stablecoin. On Friday, the exchange tweeted to say it’s adding support for Stable USD (USDS). The crypto is reportedly backed 1:1 with U.S. fiat currency. Trading pairs with BTC and BNB, Binance’s own token, will be available on Feb. 6, the exchange noted.

What are your thoughts on today’s news tidbits? Tell us in the comments section.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post The Daily: Zebpay Launches in 5 European Markets, Coinpulse Enters ‘Indefinite Maintenance’ appeared first on Bitcoin News.

from Bitcoin News http://bit.ly/2S23nKA The Daily: Zebpay Launches in 5 European Markets, Coinpulse Enters ‘Indefinite Maintenance’