Tag: Blockchain

All blockchain related articles are found here. Educative, informative and written clearly.

Project Libra: Facebook’s new currency based on a blockchain

3 min read

Project Libra is the internal name for Facebook’s plan to launch its own cryptocurrency. For now, it is known that it should be a stablecoin backed by government currency.

Facebook has still to state those plans about Project Libra openly. But media news about its crypto aims has risen over the past half year or so. Now, since the information is secret, we have part of them. The very well-known part is that Facebook has been planning ways of how to capitalize on blockchain technology.

Did you update your WhatsApp? Do it now!

Former PayPal president David Marcus is on the head of the team that has to build this asset-backed crypto. As far as we know, that crypto will be made to operate within Facebook’s messaging infrastructure such as WhatsApp, FB Messenger, and Instagram.

Facebook has planned blockchain long time ago

Facebook will represent plans about Libra this summer, as it is assumed. Mark Zuckerberg has already talked to Bank of England governor Mark Carney.

The discussion was about the potentialities and risks involved in launching a crypto-currency.

Facebook has also asked details and advice on regulatory issues from the US Treasury.

Facebook’s plan is to launch a full payments network including Visa, Mastercard, payments processors such as First Data as well as large e-commerce merchants. This social network asked them to support the launch with $1 billion in investments collectively.

Facebook is trying to involve these firms in order to provide support and strengthen a stablecoin that will be connected with the payments network.

The main goal is to eliminate credit card fees for merchants. Also, to avoid the volatility of bitcoin and ether.

Facebook is also in consultations with money transfer firms like Western Union because it tries to find cheaper and faster alternatives for people who don’t have bank accounts.

How will Facebook’s Libra work?

Will we have a new icon after Project Libra finished?

Facebook aspires to design a cryptocurrency that gives secure ways of making payments, notwithstanding users have or not have a bank account.

They are expecting to upset the other networks by cutting financial limits. The new Libra is good for competing with banks and decreasing user’s costs. The point is that this project will provide people to change dollars and other foreign currencies into its stablecoin. That’s why the arrangement with other banks is necessary.

In the next several weeks a group of co-founders would launch the Swiss-based association in the coming weeks, as it is expected.

Meanwhile, Facebook bans all cryptocurrency ads.

According to the Financial Times, it is still unclear how Facebook’s cryptocurrency will be issued, stored, and transferred.

Libra will be valued on a fiat

Geneva’s commercial register displays Libra Networks was registered on May 2 with Facebook Global Holdings as a stakeholder. Reuters first reported the development.

You would like to know which money app to use in 2019

The LLC is attempting to develop software and infrastructure connected with investment activities and data analysis. Among other services, there are some relating to finance and technology, according to the register.

Facebook has not yet confirmed the foundation of Libra Networks.

What we know is Facebook Global Holdings is a stockholder in the new company and it will, according to Reuters, “provide financial and technology services and develop related hardware and software, plans submitted on the Swiss register reveal.”

More about Project Libra

Facebook’s shift to crypto has been gradual and constant. Facebook’s latest move, was the hiring of two Coinbase compliance managers. That happened on May 14.

Blockchain expert David Gerard said that Facebook would get access to important spending data by creating its own payment system.

The question is why Facebook needs that, instead to use some conventional payment platform.

Garrick Hileman, a researcher at the London School of Economics, said the Libra project could be one of the most important developments in the short history of cryptocurrencies.

He estimated that around 30 million people use cryptocurrencies. And Facebook has 2.4 billion monthly users. So, just count!

You may also like to read how Apple Is Not a Tech Company Anymore

risk disclosure

6th June 2019
Investment prediction for 2019 – Traders Paradise prediction

The image is taken from depositphotos.com

By Guy Avtalyon

Investment prediction for 2019. is in front of you, so let’s start.

Investment prediction is a really tricky job. This year has been full of market volatility, climate disasters, personal data frauds, economic insecurity.

And now, in the end, we are waiting for a fresh start? Things never go in that direction. It looks that 2019 promises to be in a mess. That’s why Traders Paradise is trying to predict what will be real in the next year. And we find this, some other guys may find something different:

Bear market – is here

Nearly half the stocks in the S&P 500 index are in a bear market at the end of this year. They are down 20% from their highs.

The second-largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalization, NASDAQ, is officially in bear territory. If you don’t know yet how to trade- here’s our full guide.

All signs are pointing to more damage to the stocks.

Equity markets in more than 20 countries are in bear territory. Investors are worried about how bad it will be and how long it will last.

Bears are necessary and unavoidable cycles in markets and have been for centuries. But they are cruel. This will be a great theme in 2019. That is our investment prediction.

And each investor should be prepared and to diversify the portfolio.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

One investment prediction, more.

Japanese tech company Groove X introduced a robot whose task is to make people happy. The “Lovot” uses artificial intelligence. It can mimic human empathy.

This cute robot represents the revolution of artificial intelligence. “Robot” can feel emotions and communicate with people. It is 3kg tall and 43cm tall, the optical camera helps it move. And can be our new friend for $5,300. Some cost us even more.

There’s a vertiginous line of AI applications on the table right now. We expect this term will be very popular in 2019 and the list will become larger.

Obviously you can find all sort of information on the internet about machine learning and AI, like these articles on Wikipedia for example, but the concept is quite simple: You run an algorithm (there are many) on the set of data, and once the algorithm is finished, the software will know how to run by itself on new sets of data, even if it’s never been seen.

There are 2 types of algorithm methods READ HERE

Socially Responsible Investing – Impact investing

Socially responsible, or ESG investing accounts for environmental, social, and governance factors. But does not necessarily result in worse performance. There are those that think ESG investing can outperform the markets, and there are those who strongly believe the contrary. There are specific examples that will back up both sides of the argument.

People are often asking us what is a social enterprise, and we are usually answering by asking “what is social investing?”. Sometimes the phrase is social impact investing; sometimes it just impacts investing.

Impact investing carries risk, that’s true. But also it generates great returns and impact. It is smart and moreover, profitable to invest in companies that actively have positive social or environmental influences. It is a step further than divesting from negative impacts. For example, allocate your investment portfolio away from fossil fuels. Instead, use your money to consciously tackle society’s challenges. And to make a financial return, of course.

Investors’ concerns

Investors sometimes ask how much return they will have to trade-off in order to make impact investments.

Firstly, there is no “impact see-saw”. Just because a business is creating a more positive impact, that does not mean they are creating a less financial return. Indeed, in many cases, because the impact is at the heart of the business model, the more impact they create, the more profit they make, and vice versa. Some research even suggested that impact-focused businesses are more sustainable and profitable in the long-term.

In any investment, there are different levels of risk and return and there are also different levels of impact. An impact investment may be riskier. It has high returns and high impact. Or, it could be less risky since it brings market-rate returns and significant social or environmental impact.

As with any investment, it depends on the business or the fund.

The statistic shows that 89% of investors making impact investments find these are meeting their return expectations, and 54% of investors are targeting market-rate or above market-rate returns.

There are many ways to get involved in impact investing. Crowdfunding has even helped retail investors, who have less risk capital, to get involved in this space.

Generally, our investment prediction that this kind of investment will be more popular in the next year.

Blockchain

Traders Paradise’s investment prediction is this will be one of the most popular terms in 2019.

Blockchain technology provides a way to make transactions and transfers online without the use of an intermediary. Instead of trusting a third party to keep the transaction history safe and accurate, blockchain technology lets you seal “pages” of transactions with a key code for security.

One of the most relevant reasons that many companies are adopting blockchain technology is efficiency. We can all realize how exchanges can become quicker. And simpler too, when they don’t have to go through a third party. It’s also beginning to move document authentication toward obsolescence, removing a step in the translational process.

How To Make Money With Blockchain Technology READ THIS TOO:

Blockchain technology can also make companies feel like their information is safer and more secure. In an age where hacking banks cannot always resist off attempts to attack people’s financial privacy. Therefore, blockchain technology is a way to feel a greater sense of control over transactions.

Short Selling

Many experienced investors think that short selling has an important part in the markets. It improves price discovery and rational capital allocation. At the same time, prevents financial bubbles and finding fraud.
Shorting is a trading strategy where traders are selling a borrowed stock with a belief that it will drop in value. So, they can buy it back later at a lower price. Academic research has shown the stocks of companies that complain about short-sellers tend to falter.

Investment prediction can be an ungrateful job

This term is already hot. Let’s show how much on the example of TESLA.

It is a stressful time to be an investor in Tesla, of course. On September 29th shares in the electric-car manufacturer soared by 17% after its boss, Elon Musk, settled fraud charges with America’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Just days later, on October 4th, a series of belligerent tweets by the firm ’s founder sent shares tumbling by more than 7%.

You might be interested Apple is charging its batteries with Tesla’s employees

The tweets in question were targeted at short-sellers, who aim to make money by selling borrowed shares and buying them back later at a lower price. With a quarter of its publicly traded shares lent out to facilitate short-sellers’ bets, Tesla is one of the most heavily shorted companies in America. Elon Musk has publicly feuded with short-sellers for years, calling them “haters”, “jerks” and “not super smart”. Research suggests that such insults are undeserved. Short-sellers are savvy investors who help to keep the market’s exuberance in check.

So, Traders Paradise believes that short-selling may continue in the next year. The bear market just started.

So, think about this investment prediction.

Unlike Amazon stock – which we truly believe will rise and get to new highs.

Our investment predictions are based on personal research and act as an observation about what we all can expect in the coming year. But we have to admit, nothing good. We hope we are wrong.

Anyway, we wish you a healthy, happy, and fruitful new year! You can have it!

30th December 2018
Cryptocurrency mining – how to start
2 min read

Cryptocurrency mining involves two particular functions: adding transactions to the blockchain and also releasing new currency. Mining needs a powerful computer and a usually complex program. That helps miners compete with their peers in solving complicated mathematical problems. Cryptocurrency mining requires a lot of computer resources and power.

Cryptocurrency mining will celebrate its 10th year of existence in 2019. The very concept of mining with high-end computer hardware is starting to become mainstream. Mining is the way a certain kind of blockchain pays for participants to maintain it, its integrity and records, by paying ‘miners’ in the blockchains own coins.

How cryptocurrency mining works

The main point of mining is to fulfill three things:
- Provide bookkeeping services to the coin network. Mining is just about 24/7 computer * accounting called “verifying transactions.”
- Get paid a small reward for your accounting services by receiving fractions of coins every couple of days.
- Keep your personal costs down, including electricity and hardware.
Since Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency that dictates the destiny of all others, we will use it as an example

Cryptocurrency mining is simply just converting a sha2 hash into an integer and seeing if it is less than some value. Finding that number is difficult.

How do miners find this number? By guessing at random. The hash function makes it impossible to predict what the output will be. Miners guess the mystery number and apply the hash function to the combination of that guessed number and the data in the block. The resulting hash has to start with a pre-established number of zeroes. There’s no way of knowing which number will work because two consecutive integers will give wildly varying results. What’s more, there may be several nonces that produce the desired result. But there may be none and the miners keep trying, but with a different block configuration.

The first miner to get a resulting hash within the desired range announces its victory to the rest of the network. All the other miners immediately stop work on that block and start trying to figure out the mystery number for the next one. As a reward for its work, the victorious miner gets some new bitcoin.

What you will need to mine cryptocurrency

You will need several, well more than several things to mine.

You will need a wallet. This is a password-protected container that stores your earnings and keeps a network-wide ledger of transactions. Also, a free mining software package typically made up of cgminer and stratum. You’ll have to be a member of an online mining pool. It is a community of miners who combine their computers to increase profitability and income stability. You’ll have to be a member of an online mining pool. It is a community of miners who combine their computers to increase profitability and income stability.

Your hardware has to be set up in a cool and air-conditioned space.

And your desktop or custom-built computer has to be designed for mining, separate dedicated computer is ideal. You may use your current computer to start, but you won’t be able to use the computer while the miner is running. It isn’t recommended to use a laptop, gaming console or handheld device to mine because these devices are not effective enough to generate income.

An ATI graphics processing unit (GPU) or a specialized processing device called a mining ASIC chip is the must. The cost will be anywhere from $90 used to $3000 new for each GPU or ASIC chip. The GPU or ASIC will be the workhorse of providing the accounting services and mining work.

And you have to provide cooling the hardware.

Mining generates substantial heat and cooling the hardware could be critical for your success. You can use a house fan to blow air across your computer. But many currencies require specialized, high powered machines that use large amounts of electricity, and create excess heat.

There are ongoing technology changes for optimizing crypto mining results. Why we are pointing this? Because if you want to be cryptocurrency miner, you have to constantly learn. You have to follow new techniques and perhaps, spend hours studying the best ways to adjust and improve your cryptocurrency mining performance every week. We hope you’ll stick around for each new guide and explained.

Is it worth it to mine?

If you want a hobby venture, the answer is yes. Cryptocurrency mining can generate a small income of a dollar or two per day. You can recoup $1000 in hardware costs in about 18-24 months.

On the other hand, cryptocurrency mining is not a reliable way to make basic money. The profit from mining cryptos only becomes significant when someone invests $3000-$5000 in hardware costs. On that way time, you could potentially earn $50 per day or more. Miners have to keep electricity costs to under $0.11 per kWh. Mining with 4 GPU graphic cards can bring you around $8.00 to $10.00 per day or around $250-$300 per month.

Have reasonable expectation

There are two things you have to be informed about:

The investment in 4 ASIC processors or 4 AMD Vega graphic processing units

The market value of cryptocurrencies

There is a small chance your chosen digital currency could jump in value alongside Bitcoin at some moment. And you could find yourself sitting on thousands of dollars in cryptos. The accent here is on “small chance”. This means slightly better than winning the lottery.

If you want to try cryptocurrency mining, you should. But start with a very small income return. You will not collect gold nuggets but you will not lose your money. And do your research to avoid a scam currency.

Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)
27th November 2018
Bitcoin Price Hits a New Low Level
2 min read
- Bitcoin is currently sitting in the volatility of the market, though it is hard to predict how investors will react to the recent events.
The aggressive dump can be a result of panic selling caused by the breakout from the $5600. Many interpreted this as “the bottom”. Since the price went below what many thought to be the bottom a panic selling would have triggered. The bitcoin’s lowest price in bear markets has been $5600.

Right now the price of bitcoin is around $4,600, but yesterday BTC stumbled down to $4,237. Over the past 24 hours, the price of Bitcoin fell from $4,900 to $4,280, by more than 12.5% for the first time in 2018. Ripple (XRP) markets have been doing better than most but had dipped to a low of $0.41 per XRP. The XRP token was down 6.6%, and over 13.4% over the last seven days. XRP is now back up to $0.46 per token according to the most recent data. Ethereum (ETH) now commands the third position among the top 10 cryptos market capitalizations and is down 35% for the week. Currently, ETH is trading for $144 per coin and holds $14.8 billion market valuation. Lastly, stellar (XLM) has been pushed back to the fifth position and is trading for $0.21 this Tuesday. Stellar markets are down 23% for the week but briefly managed to take the fourth position among the top 10 market caps.

Some media reported that the low trading volume of BTC in a period of an intense sell-off and free fall suggests a further decline to the low $4,000 region is likely, especially if the volume of BTC begins to increase in the days to come.

Is bitcoin going to hit new low price?

It is really possible the volume on Bitcoin could lead to a decline to a low range at $4,000. But what does it mean?

The sell-off continues in the crypto universe as the main cryptocurrencies set new minimums.

Economist Nouriel Roubini is known as “Dr. Doom” declares that the main central banks’ initiative to launch their blockchain based currencies will compromise the future of the current cryptocurrencies.

The argument is reasonable from the perspective of the current situation but he forgets to put all the elements on the balances.

Tomas Salles from fxstreet.com asked one very important question and gave the answer: ‘If someday the current financial system collapses in the face of unpayable debt, what security does it provide that the instrument is digital, reliable and decentralized? If that day arrives, I will prefer to get my paycheck in Bitcoins than in a currency that is worth less every day while the central banks raise rates in despair.’

Will bitcoin recover?

Bitcoin is currently sitting in the volatility of the market, though it is hard to predict how investors will react to the recent events.

Analysts have suggested that 2018 will be the year of cryptocurrencies. Wall Street hedge fund firm Fundstrat’s CEO Tom Lee has regularly predicted bitcoin to exceed expectations in 2018, with prices pushing past $25,000. Bitcoin’s famous volatility makes it impossible to predict, that’s the truth. And there are numerous factors that have an influence on the cryptocurrency market.

The values of Bitcoin, Ripple, and other cryptocurrencies have been crashing lately, but one analyst is predicting a huge rise ahead for Bitcoin with a forecast for it to reach as high as $100,000 in 2018.

Kay Van-Petersen, an analyst at Saxo Bank, said in December 2016 that bitcoin would reach $2,000 in 2017, a feat achieved in May. He now says bitcoin will be driven by a larger uptake of institutional investors and futures contracts.

That might seem unlikely. But the analyst predicting Bitcoin’s 2018 surge has been right before. Toward the end of 2016, the Danish firm Saxo Bank released its annual list of “Outrageous Predictions” for the year ahead. In it, the bank’s analysts said that Bitcoin could easily triple in value in 2017. That prediction came true by the spring of 2017. Bitcoin went on to increase from around $9,000 to $18,000 in the course of the year.

Why Bitcoin is swinging up and down?

In 2017, Bitcoin’s value soared from $1,000 to just under $20,000. And was dropping down to around $13,000 by the end of the year. Since then, it’s value has risen and dropped sporadically from day to day. And smaller cryptocurrencies like Ether and Ripple along with it too.

If you’re new to cryptocurrencies, this kind of volatility can be strange. But if you take a closer look it starts to make sense.

Individual owners have less power over the price of Bitcoin, and it creates stability since more people have a stake in the cryptocurrency. The other possibility is that government regulation could help stabilize Bitcoin. In the short term, that could cause its value to drop drastically as it happened in China and South Korea. But in the future, it could help calm down the speculation. Furthermore, regulation could dislodge the types of dark Bitcoin-related business that jeopardize the entire concept of cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrency price will rise despite fears of a collapse

Bitcoin has been the top-performing currency in the world in six of the past seven years.

Bitcoin’s price will rise again, after the digital currency and its rivals saw values plummet. Crypto investors suggest cryptocurrencies could surge. Bitcoin is now tested and proven to the market. People now understand the blockchain’s abilities from outside issues. Bitcoin is gaining more confidence from users. The upside for bitcoin is virtually limitless.
Or as someone twitted

Ignore the noise, trust the code.

Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)
21st November 2018
What is Bitcoin Wallet and How to Open It?

The bitcoin wallet is a collection of private keys

By Guy Avtalyon

The answer is simple, a Bitcoin wallet is a collection of private keys. It may also refer to client software used to manage those keys and to make transactions on the Bitcoin network.

But there is also the technical definition. The Bitcoin wallet is a software program that stores your private and public keys (they come in pairs). It enables you to send and receive coins through the blockchain, as well as monitoring your balance.

How to open a Bitcoin wallet?

The exchanges automatically create a bitcoin wallet for new accounts, almost all of them. All you’ll have to do to be able to use a bitcoin wallet is to load it with bitcoin or some altcoins. However, as wallet providers will charge fees for any outside transaction, it may be cheaper to examine the benefits of a non-managed opportunity.

It’s easy to find plenty of free wallet options. When using a web-based wallet that means, you’ll have to share your private key with a third party. For the new users of crypto, this is maybe the easiest way to start using a bitcoin wallet. On the other hand, this isn’t suitable for privacy-minded users.
Keeping your coins in an exchange can be risky. There is a potential of losing them all. Why? Simply because you do not technically “own” the coins you’ve bought in exchange. Exchanges operate like a bank. It represents a third-party service provider and you must trust they are able to keep your coins safe. Still, there is always a chance that exchange can be shutting down or be hacked. The result could be you end up in a loss of your coins. Given the lack of regulatory frameworks on exchanges and cryptocurrencies as a whole as well as the infancy of the industry, the best way to keep your coins safe is to have total control of your coins.

How does the Bitcoin wallet work?

Ownership of your private keys gives you total control over the funds associated with your matching public keys. That’s why it is vital to make sure you keep your private keys secretly hidden so that only you know your private keys. It is important to have a back-up of your private keys.

Digital, and in the same way bitcoin wallets are different as compared to your physical wallet. Digital wallets don’t store real money, instead, they store private and public keys. Private keys are like your PIN number to access your bank account, while public keys are similar to your bank account number. When you send Bitcoin, you’re sending a value in the form of a transaction, transferring the ownership of your coin to the recipient. For recipient is important that his/her private keys must match the public address you used to send Bitcoin. Of course, if that one wants to spend transferred Bitcoin.

Why would you need a Bitcoin wallet?

Bitcoin, as a difference from traditional money, is digital money. Hence, access to this currency is totally different. Especially when it comes to receiving and storing it. To be clear, Bitcoin doesn’t live in any tangible form, it can’t be stored anywhere. What owners can store is the private keys to have access to the public Bitcoin address. Key is also necessary to sign the transactions that need to be securely kept.
Only with this combination of recipient’s public key and your private key a Bitcoin transaction possible.

You’ll find several different kinds of Bitcoin wallets, that fit different requirements and differing in means of safety and security, comfort, or convenience.

By using the wallet software, you are able to send and receive Bitcoin. If you want to receive Bitcoin, a wallet is all you need. This means that you personally can send the Bitcoin to the address of your wallet.

In case you want to send Bitcoins, you will need to have them first. To buy Bitcoin you’ll need to subscribe to one of the online exchanges. to authenticate yourself, you’ll need some ID card and proof of residence. When it is done, you can start to send money to that exchange and in return to receive Bitcoin for fiat money. The rest is simple. Just send the bought Bitcoin to your digital wallet. Never keep Bitcoin or any other digital currency for a long time. In fact, as long as your Bitcoin is stored on exchange it isn’t really yours. The exchange could be hacked or closed. Well, you’ll lose all your funds.

What is needed to open it?

Because Bitcoin is decentralized, you cannot just open an account and put money in and out. To put your digital coins somewhere, you’ll need a wallet or at least a Bitcoin address and a private key. On an elementary level, the address operates like a bank account number. The private key is actually similar to your signature or password to a netbank. To confirm the possession of your digital money you need a private key. Never ever share it with anyone!

Okay, but how will you access your coins? You have to download a digital wallet on your computer/phone. Cryptocurrency wallets store your address and private key, they’re functioning like a netbank. You can receive and send amounts.

It’s difficult to choose from the millions of Bitcoin wallets. Do some research and find the best for you. Maybe the most comfortable way is to add a wallet extension to your browser.

1st November 2018
How To Make Money With Blockchain Technology?
The 21st century is all about technology, a new addition to the pack is Blockchain technology.
There are many ways you to make money with Blockchain

2 min read

The Blockchain is the revolutionary technology impacting different industries miraculously was introduced in the markets with its very first modern application Bitcoin. Bitcoin is nothing but a form of digital currency (cryptocurrency) which can be used instead of fiat money for trading. And the underlying technology behind the success of cryptocurrencies is termed as the Blockchain technology.

With the increasing need for modernization in our everyday lives, people need to accept new technologies. From using a remote for controlling devices to using voice notes for giving commands; modern technology has made space in our regular lives. Technology like augmented IoT that have gained tread in the past decade and now there’s a new addition to the pack i.e. Blockchain technology.

Actually, the 21st century is all about technology.

There’s a misconception that Bitcoin and Blockchain are one and the same, however, that is not the case. Creating cryptocurrencies is one of the applications of blockchain technology and other than Bitcoin, there are numerous applications that are being developed on the basis of blockchain technology. The blockchain is just a public ledger of transactions on the bitcoin network.

Before we tell you how to make money with blockchain technology, there are several things you have to know.

Though blockchain technology has evolved to many levels since inception, there are two broad categories in which blockchains can be classified majorly i.e. Public and Private blockchains.

At first, let’s keep a check on the similarities that both public and private blockchain have:
- Both Public and Private blockchain have peer-to-peer decentralized networks.
- All the participants of the network maintain the copy of the shared ledger with them.
- The network maintains copies of the ledger and synchronizes the latest update with the help of consensus.
- The rules for immutability and safety of the ledger are decided and applied on the network so as to avoid malicious attacks.
And let’s see the differences between them.

Public Blockchain – It is a permissionless ledger and can be accessed by any and everyone. Anyone who has access to the internet is eligible to download and access it, can check the overall history of the blockchain along with making any transactions through it. Public blockchains usually reward their network participants for performing the mining process and maintaining the immutability of the ledger. An example of the public blockchain is the Bitcoin Blockchain.

Public blockchains allow communities all over the world to exchange information openly and securely. However, an obvious disadvantage of this type of blockchain is that it can be compromised if the rules around it are not executed strictly. The rules decided and applied initially have very little scope of modification in the later stages.

Private Blockchain – Opposite to the public blockchain, private blockchains are shared only among the trusted participants. The overall control of the network is in the hands of the owners. The rules of a private blockchain can be changed according to different levels of permissions, exposure, number of members, authorization, etc.

Private blockchains can run alone or can be integrated with other blockchains too. These are usually used by enterprises and organizations. So we can say, the level of trust required amongst the participants is higher in private blockchains.

Ways to make money with Blockchain technology

Though Bitcoins and cryptocurrencies are the first popular application of Blockchain technology, they are not the only ones. The nature of Blockchain technology has led businesses, industries, and entrepreneurs from all around the world to explore the technology’s potential and make revolutionary changes in different sectors. The variety of blockchain technology-based businesses with paths to profitability is striking. Here are four that illustrate the width of innovation the blockchain marketplace is bringing to potentially profitable business ideas. While Millennials are certainly moving towards “alternative career paths” more often than their Generation X or Baby Boomer counterparts, there are countless ways for absolutely anyone to capitalize on the new wave of oncoming technology. Here, you’ll find an awesome starting point for making money and freelancing with blockchain technology.

Let’s see how Blockchain technology can be useful in actual implementation.

Mining

Mining cryptocurrency is considered the granddaddy of making bank on blockchain technology. Here’s a quick rundown of how the blockchain technology works in this example. Multiple transactions make up a block. Miners verify blocks through a process. They apply a mathematical formula to each block, turning it into something make money blockchain called a “hash.” Essentially, a hash is an alphanumeric sequence. The hash is then stored at the end of the blockchain. When each block’s hash is created, it uses the previous block’s hash. More or less, this is the digital version of a wax seal.

So, once a block has been “sealed off,” a flurry of activity happens. The first miner to produce the hash receives a reward. As more of the cryptocurrency is mined, the rewards are halved. The process itself is pretty straightforward. What’s not straightforward, though, is actually making it happen.

Since so many people have computers strong enough to mine, it’s far more difficult to make it a lucrative endeavor. Instead, mining pools have popped up. Mining pools are just groups of people working together to mine. If the pool wins, everyone in the pool has distributed a portion of that winning. That’s not to say, though, that mining smaller altcoins on your own isn’t a possibility.

Trading

This is definitely a lucrative way to make money with blockchain technology.

Cryptocurrencies reside on exchanges, just like fiat money. However, they have much more in common with stocks. Because cryptocurrency markets are so volatile, they can feel like more of a risk than they’re worth. But, to make money with them you just need to be aware of trends and do your research. Know the specific risks associated with trading. There are literally thousands of cryptocurrencies on the market.

On the flip side, if you choose to hold on to certain cryptocurrencies, you are considered a hodler.

Do your research. Read up on the market. Trading crypto is crazy fun, regardless of if you make money.

Freelancing

The models are different but one thing is consistent – the freelance marketplace is growing rapidly. For entrepreneurs looking to build startups on the blockchain technology, companies looking to find reliable, qualified freelancers looking for a fair and transparent platform with quick payments and low fees, the boom of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology is the new holy grail in freelance work exchange.

There are other ways you can make money with blockchain technology.
- Build your own blockchain
- Build something useful on top of someone else’s blockchain and sell it as a service
- Help someone who is building a blockchain or blockchain application to find a customer or sell their blockchain technology
- Invest in a business doing the above
- Learn more about blockchain technology and teach/run courses or webinars about blockchain
- Look for problems or businesses that have an urgent or important problem that could use a blockchain type solution and build a business case
- Get involved in an event – like a hackathon, conferences or workshop – in related industries like fintech, cryptocurrency, etc
- Volunteer or get experience working for various blockchain companies
- Download, install or register for a blockchain app and play around with it, see if there’s anything you could do with it
- Go online and explore blockchain forums, discussion groups or communities and see what opportunities may be available or advertised and speak with those groups/companies
Choose how big a wave you want to ride. If you are still learning, don’t go for that massive wave, it will kill you. You can have fun and make money from the smaller waves. Don’t let media hype distract you from this. Media make money talking about the megastars – such as Bezos and Zuckerberg – who are riding the mega waves. The story of somebody making a life-changing amount of money in a tiny niche market won’t sell page views, but yet there are millions of these stories and one of them can be you.

Bottom line: The blockchain technology seems to be growing with each passing day. Although, many claim this to be a bubble that will soon burst. However, the pace of improvement and increasing application in different fields shows that it is here to stay. There is no domain which in untouched with the impact of Blockchain technology. Companies in healthcare, medical, transportation, retail, etc. are eyeing towards this technology as a probable solution to the issue of safety. This has made more and more companies invest money in Blockchain companies. Hence, we have them earning more and more money.

Many companies are also investing in blockchain technology, and thus, it is garnering the attention of many. Blockchain came into existence in 2009, and since then it has never looked back. It is here to stay.

Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)
24th October 2018
Blockchain ‘Interesting’ But Hyped

Blockchain not the best technology for every considered use, says Australian government report.

2 min read

What a change!

In May, Australia’s Department of Home Affairs revealed a plan to investigate blockchain’s potential to bring secure and transparent international trade and supply chain management.

The chief digital officer of Digital Transformation Agency (DTA), Peter Alexander said: “Blockchain: Interesting technology but early on in its development, it’s kind of at the top of a hype cycle.” Alexander said at a parliamentary committee meeting on Tuesday, as reported by ZDNet.

He was further quoted as saying that most of the hype comes from companies seeking to make profits in this area.

“It’s not that we don’t trust any of the vendors – that would be an unfair characterization – we trust the vendors, but note that the motivation is general sales and making revenue.”

He said standardization of blockchain might open up more opportunities for its use in providing government services.

“We’re not saying that blockchain doesn’t have potential but today, without standardization, there is the challenge of blockchain becoming a little fragmented. When we get to the standardized blockchain then the opportunities for it will grow.”

There is better technology?

Alexander continued, saying that, “for every use of blockchain you would consider today, there is a better technology.”
According to InnovationAus.com. Alexander said that one of the defining features of the blockchain, the potential for anonymity, is among the biggest stumbling blocks.

“Generally speaking when the government is engaging with someone, we want to have a trusted relationship with them. We want to know who they are and give them a personalized service,” he said. “Blockchain is good for low-trust engagement. You don’t know who you’re dealing with but have a series of ledgers that can give some validation and support.”

Peter Alexander, the CDO at DTA said the technology is worth keeping an eye on but is not yet mature enough.

According to Alexander, blockchain is at the “top of the hype cycle”, with demand driven by the industry.

“It would be fair to say that a lot of the big vendors are pushing blockchain very hard. And internationally most of the hype around blockchain is coming from vendors and companies. Not from governments and users and deliverers of services,” he said.

Interesting timing

It is indicated to this opinion was arrived at after the Australian government’s Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) received AU$700,000 (about US$500,000) from the government in May. That amount came to explore blockchain applications within government services.

The Australian government’s DTA has cast doubts over the validity of blockchains for governmental purposes. The agency has been working with a number of government agencies. They wanted to develop prototypes for the use of blockchain to deliver services. Including with the Department of Human Services for welfare payments and cargo settlement.

On the other side is Australia’s new prime minister, Scott Morrison. He is a fan of fintech, open banking and technologies such as blockchain that will drive Australia’s future.

As treasurer, Morrison urged attendees at the Australian Fintech Awards in early August 2018. He wanted to take advantage of the disruption wave sweeping through the global economy.

“I am frankly counting on you not to stuff this up. You need to make this work…In today’s global economy, the ability for economies to become more productive is not being done the old way: the biggest transformer of productivity [will be] innovation,” he told attendees at the awards, as reported by the Australian Financial Review.

Unfortunately, Australia is not an isolated case.

China is another nation that finds blockchain’s anonymity a problem. Earlier this year Chinese students encoded allegations of sexual harassment against a prominent professor on the Ethereum blockchain. They wanted to evade the country’s censors. All social media posts on the issue having been blocked. The same technique was used to spread the news about low quality and counterfeit vaccines, another scandal the government sought to cover up.

China banned crypto

But the Chinese government has drafted a new regulation. That ordinance would require users to provide their real names and national ID card numbers when registering for a blockchain service. The policy would also demand that blockchain services remove ‘illegal information’. And before it can be spread among users. Also under the proposed legislation. Service providers would also have obligation to retain backups of user data for six months. Of course, and to hand it over to the police on request.

China also banned cryptocurrency trading earlier this year, although. Apparently, this has been less than effective. The Ethereum Hotel recently opened in the country, accepting payment in cryptocurrencies.

One note to remember. Without the possibility of anonymity, a permanent ledger could also be a powerful tool in the authoritarian regime’s surveillance and control systems.

Unlike Australia and China, UK leads the way in blockchain deployments for the supply chain.

There is some survey conducted by consultancy Capgemini. They researched 450 organizations implementing blockchain in their supply chain. And the result wasn’t surprising. Only three percent so far took initial experiments into production at scale. Well, the adoption and the technology itself are at an early stage. The Capgemini report identifies a number of current use cases. They are in the range from low complexity/high adoption scenarios. Like the prevention of counterfeits and tracking asset maintenance, for instance. But also more ambitious and complex uses. Like customer loyalty programs, contract labor procurement, and regulatory compliance, for example.

United Kingdom example

The UK currently leads the way with production and pilot implementations of blockchain projects in the supply chain. At the same time, the USA leads in terms of funding blockchain initiatives.

In the UK specifically, the consumer products vertical is the biggest adopter among those surveyed. It is followed by manufacturing and then retail. However, globally manufacturing is in the leads in adopting this technology.

Capgemini has been working with blockchain technology since 2016. Then it began developing solutions for the financial services industry. The report predicts that experimenting with blockchain will peak in 2020. But it will enter mainstream supply chain usage by 2025.

While throughout the history there were numerous cases of unfounded fears of new technology. For many potential uses, the blockchain is not mature enough. Or lacks the functionality. Or there is the issue of the anonymity of users.

On the other hand, this anonymity could inhibit the nefarious motives and actions of less savory governments against their own citizens.

We will see in which direction the further development of blockchain will go. There is one solid fact: blockchain will survive.

Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)

23rd October 2018
India Could Treat Unregulated Crypto Assets as Illegal

2 min read

According to Moneycontrol, a report which is being prepared by a committee headed by India’s Economic Affairs Secretary, Subhash Chandra Garg, may propose amendments to the existing laws with a view of making it illegal to hold crypto assets that are not approved by the government.

Does it mean that could soon be illegal to hold cryptocurrencies that lack the government’s seal of approval in the world’s largest democracy?

The panel will propose legislative amendments and recommending punishment for those holding unapproved crypto assets and also will penalties for those who flout the law.

This move is the result of the government’s attitude that crypto assets which are unregulated should be kept out of the Indian financial system to prevent them from being used to aid illegalities. Under this formulation, they mean evading taxes as well as in Ponzi and multi-level marketing schemes.

According to the same source, holding unregulated crypto assets like bitcoin in India could attract punishment.

India treats crypto as illegal.

Why this isn’t surprising?

The Subhash Garg-committee was placed last year and have to submit its report in December. Besides the Economic Affairs Secretary, the other members of the committee come from India’s central bank and the country’s securities markets regulator.

It is expected the Subhash Garg-panel report be adopted. Having in mind their previous attitude, there will not be a surprise.

Anti-Cryptocurrency opinions have various government agencies in India. This spring, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barred banks and financial companies dealing with virtual currencies and banned these financial institutions from allowing their clients to buy cryptocurrencies. They were given three months’ time (ending June 2018) to exit from any such services if they were offering.

“…with immediate effect, entities regulated by RBI shall not deal with or provide services to any individual or business entities dealing with or settling VCs [Virtual Currencies],” read part of a statement issued by the RBI as reported by CCN. “Regulated entities which already provide such services shall exit the relationship within a specified time.”

The consequences after the ban are still felt today.

In September one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in India, Zebpay, announced that it was shutting down after it found itself unable to operate without access to banking services. That is the indicator that India treats crypto as illegal.

The negative consequences of the ban have not been limited to cryptocurrency exchanges, however, and have spread to the wider blockchain ecosystem. As CCN reported in September, this was leading to a ‘blockchain brain drain’ as well as ‘blockchain capital flight’ to jurisdictions with more conducive environments such as Malta, Estonia, Switzerland, and Thailand.

What can be expected from these last stages of deliberation?

The government view is that unregulated crypto assets should not be allowed to move into the financial system. In short, India treats crypto as illegal. So, it is expectable that the Garg-panel is likely to recommend appropriate amendments in existing laws, defining the punitive measures for those found holding illegal crypto assets.

In his budget speech for 2018-19, finance minister Arun Jaitley had pointed that cryptocurrency was not legal tender in India, but hinted that the government was open to adopting the underlying technology, called blockchain, to bring in more efficiencies in India’s digital payment systems because it allows keeping a record of a chain of transactions, eliminating the need of intermediaries.

According to Moneycontrol, officials of the capital markets watchdog, the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) have also organized tours to Japan’s Financial Services Agency; the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, and Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority,

The study tours “help engage with the international regulators and gain a deeper understanding of the systems and mechanisms,” SEBI said in it’s in the annual report for 2017-18.

And December is near. The trail of the devastation of cryptocurrency exchanges is visible.

But despite these moves of various governments, which are understandable in some sense because they have no control over the crypto, cryptocurrency will survive. We will be witnesses.

Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)

18th October 2018
How Blockchain and Construction Will Build a New World

1 min read

When we think about industries set for disruption by blockchain, construction probably isn’t top of the list. After all, the traditional image of a building site seems far removed from crypto, coding, and hackathons. But there are potentially enormous benefits for putting blockchain and construction together.

This article will round up some of the possible use cases for blockchain in the construction industry.

Blockchain and Construction Supply Chains

A bad workman blames his tools, right? Maybe that’s a bit harsh, though. After all, the construction industry is dependent on the availability of quality supplies and tools, at the right time and in the right place. Given that the sector is highly fragmented with many different players, big and small, supply chains are a big deal.

Purchase orders, delivery notes, and invoices are often still paper-based. Firms frequently don’t know if the supplies they need are in stock when they start a project, which leads to delays and incurs costs.

These aren’t even the worst consequences. UK government contract Carillion collapsed at the start of 2018, affecting the jobs of around 43,000 people as a result. Sources pointed to its poor supply chain management as being a critical factor in the collapse, through lousy credit management and a lack of visibility over projects and required supplies.

The blockchain is already proving its ability to transform supply chains, in one instance through the partnership between Walmart and IBM. Using blockchain to manage construction supply chains could create a single source of truth regarding the availability and provenance of construction supplies, as well as tracking payments.

The industry is taking notice of this use case for blockchain and construction. Recent announcements have now confirmed that Probuild, one of Australia’s largest building firms, has partnered with US blockchain construction innovator Brickschain for managing its global supply chain. The announcement confirms that “Probuild has the vision that Blockchain, IoT and Big Data can revolutionize the construction supply chain.”

Blockchain and Construction Project Management

Construction projects rely on various parties to work together to complete a building based on pre-defined specifications. Each party expects payment based on work done. Therefore, the peer-to-peer connectivity of blockchain, combined with smart contract functionality, brings excellent opportunities to streamline construction project management.

One study into the potential of blockchain in construction project management found that “[o]n the construction site blockchain can improve the reliability and trustworthiness of construction logbooks, works performed and material quantities recorded.”

Industry publication Construction Manager (they don’t mess around with fluffy, ambiguous names in this business) also reported on the development of two prototype applications combining blockchain and construction.

TraderTransferTrust is a payment system built on blockchain that triggers payment only on the completion of work done. Physical proof of work, if you will. ConstructCoin is another project from the same development team. It aims to create a marketplace of information about the construction industry.

Reduce Litigation

The Construction Blockchain Consortium (CBC) is an industry group set up by its members to investigate the potential for how blockchain and construction could play together. While the above use cases are transformational, the CBC outlines some cultural shifts that may occur in the industry as a result of using blockchain.

The building industry has become highly litigious. The CBC highlights how using blockchain to foster a culture of collaboration and ownership could help to reduce incidences of parties suing one another for shoddy work or delays in project completion. Further, the consortium believes that a less litigious environment “should encourage a less ‘defensive’ approach to decision making and thereby encourage innovation.”

Digitized Land Acquisition and Building Rights

In their paper about the future of smart cities, McKinsey points to the current bureaucracy involved in land acquisition and building rights as a barrier to agile construction. The paper goes on to explain how digitized solutions will speed up the process of obtaining land and building approvals.

Blockchain-based land registries provide a vast improvement over today’s paper-laden processes. Blockchain allows for speedier approvals with no loss of paperwork or waiting for multi-party signatures on physical documents.

Additionally, in countries, land disputes are all too common. A permanent, unalterable record of ownership has distinct advantages in proving ownership. India is among the countries that have been trialing the use of blockchain in land registrations.

Building Inspections
Most buildings are subject to inspections at some point or another. Structures used by the public need checks to ensure adherence to safety standards. Building surveys often feature in sales of real estate, as they reveal any structural faults that may impact the valuation.

These inspections are often conducted in a fragmented way. An inspector or surveyor may have limited or no visibility of records from previous checks. This makes the process heavily dependent on the specific inspector, and errors or oversights may happen.

Blockchain offers the opportunity for a piece of real estate to come with its own permanent record of past inspections. Blockchain data is immune to tampering by any party who may have an interest in ensuring structure passes muster. Similarly, blockchain could also record any structural or maintenance work undertaken on the property over its life cycle.

More Agile Planning

Currently, there is a lengthy process to procure public funds for investment in infrastructure. Governments must justify the need to spend taxpayer funds on a particular initiative. This means that new infrastructure investment can take months or even years to come to fruition.

As we move towards the smart cities of the future, increased connectivity and availability of information could significantly speed approvals for new infrastructure investment. For example, a government body may quickly build a case showing increased traffic flows in a particular area, using sensor data from a blockchain. This enables faster construction investment in road improvements, traffic calming measures or other means.

Final Word

Blockchain and construction may seem unlikely partners at first. However, like so many other sectors, construction depends on trust-based interactions with other parties along with solid record keeping. Therefore, assuming the industry can adapt, blockchain could provide significant value to the builders of the future.

Author of this article is SARAH ROTHRIE and article was originally posted on CoinCenral.com

Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)

14th October 2018
BANK OF CENTRAL BANKS WANTS TO STOP CREATION OF CRYPTO

3 min read

The rise of Bitcoin and the blockchain industry has been accompanied by criticism, just like any other emerging tech sector. Such criticism was heard during the dawn of the internet, and despite it, the internet is still alive and well today. Industry experts have offered different hot takes on the nature of cryptocurrency in general, calling it everything from a bubble to a Ponzi scheme.

The latest well-known figure to criticize the cryptocurrency industry, however, is Agustín Carstens, head of the Bank for International Settlements, also known as the central bank for all central banks.

According to Carstens in a recent interview, young people should stop trying to create money in the form of cryptocurrency.

The Bank for International Settlements’ opinion on cryptocurrency may not gain any traction within the community because things have been improving for cryptocurrency. Banks and large corporations have been warming up to blockchain, the underpinning technology of most cryptocurrencies.

Corporations like IBM have developed enterprise platforms and partnered with cryptocurrency platforms like Stellar to provide blockchain-based payment solutions. Several significant partnerships have also been made between cryptocurrency platforms and banks. Even with the fear of fraud and theft, banks realize that there is profit to be made from the industry and if their customers decide to trade, they may have no choice but to cooperate.

During the interview, Agustín Carstens was asked if cryptocurrencies can be described as money. He replied by explicitly stating that cryptocurrencies are not money, rather they are a type of asset that can be invested in. By Carstens’ description, these digital assets can’t assume the functionality of money in the economy due to the way they are created.

Mostly, cryptocurrencies are produced by a group of people who have either been appointed, elected or allowed to secure the network and receive new cryptocurrency in the form of block rewards. The most incentivized people in a cryptocurrency community are its miners. They make a profit when they create new assets and, in turn, deliver the needed security for the network.

Carstens has stated that this is a bad model for money and simply does not maximize its usefulness. Money is supposed to be a great store of value, means of payment and unit of account. However, so far, digital assets like cryptocurrency have proven to fail badly at all three things.

As for the hype surrounding the industry at the moment, mostly due to the peak prices achieved by major cryptocurrencies in 2017, Carstens believes that it is only happening as a result of the knowledge that a lot of money can be made on cryptocurrencies in a short period. He also called crypto assets a Ponzi scheme, bubble and environmental disaster due to the infrastructure needed to keep some of their networks running securely.

Carstens alluded to the fact that he is sure that cryptocurrency will not have a happy ending. He compared digital assets to the renowned National Bank electronic payment system of Switzerland saying that cryptocurrencies may never exhibit that level of efficiency and trust.

Central banks, on the other hand, have exhibited that level of trust, which is built on several years of efficient service, a level which Carstens is sure that digital asset networks will never achieve. This is why he believes that young people should be more focused on innovation and creative solutions to problems instead of trying to re-invent money.

This is not the first time that Carstens has openly criticized Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency industry. In fact, he gave a talk on the topic at the Goethe University in Germany in early 2018, stating that central banks must work hard to stop the rise of cryptocurrency. This would ensure that the technology does not meddle with the finance industry and affect the financial stability of various world economies.

He also spoke about the difficulties associated with working with Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) in central banks, including the lack of efficiency, the expensive costs, and the slow speeds. Prior to this, Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, expressed his own opinion on cryptocurrencies calling them risky assets. He also stated that the European Central Bank is continuously working to identify threats and dangers that cryptocurrency may pose so that they are mitigated before any harm can be done.

In addition to this, Carstens based the enthusiasm within the cryptocurrency industry on speculative mania and their use for illegal transactions. According to the BIS head, authorities are getting closer to finding ways to control and prevent the risks associated with digital asset use, stating that it is alarming that several banks have come up with bitcoin ATM’s where BTC can easily be bought or sold, an easy alternative to a Bitcoin exchange.

As long as the most prominent use case for cryptocurrencies lies in illegal payments, central banks cannot merge the technology with that of the banking sector, to avoid financial disaster. This is similar to the opinion shared by the U.S. Secret Service concerning the provision of regulations for cryptocurrencies, especially those that provide anonymity to users. These coins are usually misused for illegal transactions and present issues when tracing such payments.

The BIS has taken this stance on the industry for a long time. In February 2018, they highlighted issues with the scalability model of cryptocurrencies, stating that those with more users and a more extensive network are more likely to break down before others. Again, the bank warned the public to avoid making any risky decisions concerning their investments within the space.

According to the BIS annual report, due to the fragility, lack of stability and lack of scalability, trust can easily disappear from the network and its capabilities. Such networks are also subject to regular congestion as they grow larger. One example is the Ethereum network congestion that occurred subsequent to the launch of Cryptokitties. Other issues addressed include transaction fees and limits.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Many have argued that banks make money and are taking a hypocritical stand by telling others not to. The warning by Carstens will most likely not be taken seriously in light of the continuous flood of investors into the cryptocurrency space. Despite the volatility within the industry, cryptocurrency has come to be recognized as a way to invest and make a lot of money. As a result, demand for digital assets has increased over time and will continue to lead to an increase in supply, not the opposite scenario that Carstens is proposing.

Despite the bold statements by Carstens, the cryptocurrency industry has seen improvement in the number of projects, investors and the amount of money raised through crowdfunding. Apart from the statements that tell young people to stop trying to make money, he raised some relevant points including the insecurity and expenses associated with running such networks. Another problem lies in the lack of stringent regulations within the industry to govern its many investment and trade practices.

Carstens continues to be outspoken about the Bank of International Settlements lack of support for cryptocurrency as a whole. Other experts in various financial and technological fields also continue to show mixed opinions on the subject.

However, the recurring themes are rooted in regulation, theft, illegal activities and profits. Hopefully, cryptocurrency will get to a middle ground that makes security provision for users, regulators, like central banks and even law enforcement, easier.

The original article was published https://www.markemlickprivateequity.com/

Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)

4th October 2018