Tag: Crypto

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

EU Banks Welcome Bitcoin

From next year banks in EU banks will offer their customers cryptocurrencies in online banking
The German lawmaker is the leader in the regulation of cryptocurrencies.

By G. Gligorijevic

EU banks welcome Bitcoin??? Yes. In the ever-running war of governments against money laundering and terrorism financing new regulations are being enacted and implemented in many countries on almost regular yearly levels. And the approaching deadline for implementing one such regulation in the EU is good news for all investors and potential investors in cryptocurrencies from this supranational block. The governments of EU member states have until January 10, 2020, time to implement the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5th AMLD) which brings a sorely needed legal framework for trading and investing in cryptos. Until recently, among the EU legislators existed a strong negative attitude towards the cryptocurrencies. Most often justified by a lack of proper legal framework and the potential for a sinister use of the advantages they are lauded for. But from January next year, such obstacles shall be removed, and crypto trading will be available along with the more conventional banking and investment products.

What does 5th AMLD bring?

While most of the public and media is putting the focus on the parts of the new regulations which tighten the AML rules concerning the regulation of real estate agents and precious metals dealers, on the sidelines are left novelties regarding the cryptocurrencies.

The most important novelty is the implementation of a definition of what is a cryptocurrency. Even though the general public knows what it is and what it is not, this was a crucial moment for making investment and trading with cryptos through traditional institutions possible in the EU. Now the commercial and investment banks will have a precise legal language of what cryptocurrencies are.

The second crucial part of legal regulations is the definition of a waller provider. This will have the effect of allowing all of the existing financial regulations to be applicable to cryptocurrencies. And such applicability will legally equalize the traditional investment vehicles with the cryptocurrencies.

The impact on traders, investors and common people

That would be the legal language of it, but what does it mean in simple terms. In the most simple terms, it means that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Etherum, and others; will be equal to the fiat currencies. Banks will be able to provide all of the traditional banking products to their customers in cryptocurrencies. People and institutions will be able to hold them in their accounts, exchange them for other fiat or cryptocurrencies. But also they will be able to use cryptocurrencies to purchase other financial assets with cryptocurrencies. Bonds, stocks, derivatives, and the likes will be available for purchase.

Implementation still lagging

The deadline for implementation of new AML regulation is fast approaching, but many member states are well behind is this regard. On November 14 this year, Geman’s Bundestag has passed a new bill which now awaits the passage in the upper house of German Parliament, after which ratification by all 16 federal states must follow.

After this new financial regulation bill becomes the law of the land, Germany will join the likes of Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Greece, Finland, Croatia, Italy, Latvia, and Luxembourg; as another country that has implemented new rules and made cryptocurrency investing and trading possible. But, Germany is an economic powerhouse and one of the financial centers of the EU, thus this move has a higher significance than meets the eye. Germany is not just another country. It is a country with a GDP amounting to 22% of the whole block, and its financial regulations and market trends are closely watched and often copied by other member states.

The public reaction on how EU banks welcome Bitcoin

The public reaction to the new bill was somewhat as expected, some have welcomed it while others decided to criticize less novel potential impacts.

The Association of German Banks has reacted positively to the news that EU banks welcome Bitcoin. This comes as no surprise bearing in mind how much this institution was expressing support for regulating cryptocurrencies, and thus bringing it into a legitimate system of banking in Germany out from the grey zone it existed till now. The criticism can be boiled down to repeated yelling “banks are crooked”. And these concerns do have merit. In the past, commercial and investment banks did, and often still do, behave in a predatory way. But that is not the reason to fight against bringing the cryptos into the world of traditional banking. It is a reason to better regulate traditional banks, and protect their customers. After all, decreasing the power of banks over common people was one of the philosophical reasons for the invention of cryptocurrencies.

In the end, a long time considered as an obsession of pimpled geeky libertarians cryptocurrencies is about to enter the game after January 10, when the second-largest economy per GDP makes them part of its regulated financial system.

29th November 2019
Crypto Hacker, Decline – Crypto Market is Facing Difficulties

2 min read

According to News BTC: “the total crypto market cap declined to $242.0B and is currently correcting higher. Bitcoin price is currently correcting higher and is trading above the $10,200 level. BCH price stayed above the $300 support and it is currently near the $310 level. The EOS price is currently consolidating above the key $3.500 support area. Stellar (XLM) price is slowly recovering higher towards the $0.0700 and $0.0720 resistance levels. Tron (TRX) price is trading in a strong downtrend below $0.0200 and $0.0180.”

Bitcoin and the crypto market cap are recovering towards key resistances. Almost all cryptocurrencies are trading in a major downtrend.

But our attention is on hacking the cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

The crypto hacker behind personal user data supposedly stolen from crypto exchange Binance is planning to publish additional material. So, we can expect a new wave of leaking data.

Crypto hacker was playing his abnormal game in a series of tweets today, on August 16. A Twitter profile is known as Bnatov Platon tweeted an outline of Binance Know-Your-Customer (KYC) data supposedly he or she holds.

This was followed by other tweets.

Crypto hacker is making jokes

You will notice there is no timeframe for these screenshots but hacker or someone in his beneath showed Telegram chats with the person named as a member of Binance’s customer service team. There is no evidence that KYC images are collected from Binance.

The tone and arrogance in crypto hacker’s tweets are impressive. Bnatov Platon with handle @BnatovP joined the Twitter this month. With one purpose, obviously. To show how vulnerable private data is in some crypto exchange. Or on the internet overall.

But speaking about this particular case, as Cointelegraph reported at the beginning of August, Binance rejected any agreement to its user data. They were arguing the person behind the alleged robbery was a scam.

The Binance had one statement at that time:

“At the present time, no evidence has been supplied that indicates any KYC images have been obtained from Binance, as these images do not contain the digital watermark imprinted by our system.”

The Binance also noticed that the images all seem to be dated from February of 2018. Why is this important? At that time Binance had engaged a third-party KYC service provider to handle requests at that time.

Among other problems with hackers and scammers, this one is especially rude. Well, guys, someday, someone will catch you! As always do.

16th August 2019
PlusToken The Biggest Scam In The Second Part of 2019

3 min read

PlusToken was a classic Ponzi Scheme. Its operations were held in Korea, but also in the Chinese market. How Traders-Paradise is sure it was a Ponzi scheme?

PlusToken was founded in 2018 and announced high returns at various discount percentages for most active members. What does it mean? To really have the right on rebate, members were obliged to bring more and more newcomers and then would climb to the higher levels. A classic Ponzi.

At the beginning of this year, those criminals declared to have more than 10 million members.

OMG, how many naive people! Greedy? Just a false number? Everything is possible. The fact is that those scammers snatched $3 billion from their members. But despite the fact they escaped from the law, their website is still alive as much as their social networks accounts.

Okay, they didn’t have enough time to wipe off everything. More important is to save the neck and fat wallet.

“Mr. Leo”, the co-founder of PlusToken

PlusToken scammed about 10 million investors of $3 billion.

Actually, withdrawals on PlusToken started to stumble in June.

The scammers declared some technical problems as the reason. For everyone with less greed, promises given from these scammers should sound impossible to be executed. What did they promise? Nothing! No investment strategy, no valuable information, only 6 to 18% returns per month plus referral commission.

Recent research exposed PlusToken as scammers, who were acting outside the internationally used crypto social media. They were a lonely player succeeded to raise billions. On the illegal way. The police in China took some action but it wasn’t finished with arrests or investigation.

The criminals with an offer of exceptional earnings succeeded to fill their own wallets with a Bitcoins.

Dovey Wan, the co-founder of Primitive Crypto and one of the more influential Twitter accounts, brought the PlusToken story to the attention of a wider audience.

How do they stay so long unrevealed?

The essential reason is lack of communication and the existence of rivalry between Western and Chinese crypto-fans and exchanges.

The PlusToken actions were mostly ignored. The other reasons could be using different social media or the presence of language barriers. That held Asian investors to the hell.

These scammers were not modest.

Only a few weeks ago just a few days before their escape, PlusToken announced that it’s expecting to have over 10 million members to the end of 2019. Two or three months earlier they said to have 3 million users. It is obvious that they boosted those numbers because they never showed any relevant evidence for those words. Moreover, they operated under the radar, you cannot find so many details or information about the people behind this scam. As we mentioned, at the beginning of this article, some co-founder is mysterious Mr. Lee.

Take a look at the image above again.

When the scam was revealed messaging platforms reveals members who said they’ve lost up to $5,000. If you take a look at some tweets you will find some members from China who had contacted Hunan province police. How all of this will end is still unclear, but something has to be said: never be greed, use the proven exchanges and wallets with an excellent reputation. Every time when you notice that someone is offering you enormous returns, run away from such.

At any time you can check if some exchange is good in Traders-Paradise’s WALL OF FAME
The scammers are in our WALL OF SHAME

16th August 2019
The Best Time to Add Crypto Asset to Your Portfolio – BTC breaks $10,000

A digital currency similar to bitcoin called crypto-asset could be a good pick to trade

By Guy Avtalyon

If you missed getting bitcoin, this is the best time to consider and add this crypto asset to your portfolio. This crypto asset has a powerful recovery in 2019: Bitcoin. We can see on the BTC charts and from the market, bitcoin is now one of the best assets since it recovered at $10,000 again in 2019. It happened last month and it looks like it will stay there or climb more.

Bitcoin grows approx 163% this year. Most importantly, this time the basics are different.

Can you see that frenetic fight among banks, technology, and financial companies? Everyone wants to develop the blockchain.

We already wrote about Facebook, but there are more. Google, Square, Goldman Sacha are also the companies that invested in projects to provide a mass adoption of blockchain.

Bitcoin’s new rally could be more powerful than ever. How is that possible? The crypto traders and investors already know what creating of own crypto may cause on the market. Twitter is on its way to include bitcoin and other cryptos into its payment, Square. It is the question of the moment. We will not wait so long to see that.

Facebook announced its plans to introduce its own cryptocurrency, Libra.

Fidelity already offers to its traders to trade BTC. Amazon is very close to offering the same possibility but at the same time, they are developing their own crypt asset.

Moreover, crypto asset-backed ETFs are preparing to enter the market. That will be a really new investment class.

What is crypto-asset?

It is a digital currency similar to bitcoin and based on blockchain technology. How things look now, it will enter a bull market. This new asset is getting strong popularity!

This hype can be compared with the time of Internet adoption.

In the beginning, it was treated as a fancy freak. Do you remember that time? Okay, someone can, but someone hadn’t been born in that time. The point is that the introduction of the Internet gave a chance to many companies to be created. For example, Google or Amazon, and many others came later. The mentioned companies are among the top market listed firms.

And now, we are witnesses of the creation of the new crypto-assets based on blockchain technology.

Maybe this is a chance for you to add crypto assets in your investment portfolio. Yes, the crypto market is volatile. But it is a chance for traders to make a profit.

Bitcoin is a volatile investment, that the truth. From $20,000 in December 2017, it dropped at a bit above $3,500 next year. It was almost a $17,000 decrease. But this year Bitcoin is doing well. It recorded (and still do) steady climbing in value. Now it is traded around $10,000. Who didn’t sell bitcoin at $3,700 can make a nice profit now.

How can you as ordinary investors get in on this the most profitable odds? How can you enter the crypto asset market?

If this is an unknown field for you, you should find some guidance, you have to find some trusted expert to guide you through the market volatility to the possibilities.

Why is this so important?

Let’s say, you don’t have a lot of knowledge about crypto assets. So, how could you profit from them without that? You can find more than 2,000 assets in the market whose total value is about $250 billion.

Which crypto asset to trade? How to pick?

Wild value fluctuations happen and you may stay confused where to invest. Don’t worry, everything will be more clear very soon.

The best part is that even the investors with most suspicious can see now that crypto is here to stay. It will not go anywhere or totally disappear. The technology behind digital assets is even more firm.

Traders-Paradise wants to give a few examples of the crypto assets which you should buy.

On the top is Bitcoin. BTC should be a central asset in your portfolio. If you still don’t hold it, it is the time to include this asset to generate really high profits because the prices will grow. So, the time to buy is NOW.

You have to pick the most future proof coin. Some will tell you it is Binance Coin, issued by Binance exchange. The price of BNB tokens will be a good test. Stay informed about it.

Some others will suggest it is NEO. It will finally expand to add other cryptos and fiat. It can be one of the most interesting and hopeful purchases. Or Stellar! The guarantee plus is a connection to IBM. Further, Ethereum. You will never go wrong with Ethereum. And also, there are Litecoin, Dash, Ripple, Monero, Bitcoin cash, etc.

Bottom line

If they sound like investments you would like to have in your portfolio, what are you waiting for?

Never mind.

You have to know that some of the biggest world companies are establishing blockchain. But the most important is that the number of companies is increasing. The power of crypto assets to make money is unquestionable.

Take your place on time.

26th July 2019
Bitcoin rose and hit One-Year High

2 min read

Bitcoin rose and hit over $9,000. This is its highest since May 2018.

This new high is perhaps caused by Facebook’s reveals to launch its crypto. Such an event added more optimism and confidence about the future of cryptocurrencies in general because it showed that digital money is going to be adopted by big companies.

The biggest cryptocurrency climbed as much as 9.4%. Other crypto coins also rose: Litecoin for 4.4% and Ethereum for 4%.

Cryptocurrencies price chart

Let’s stay with Bitcoin.

Bitcoin rose more than 130% in 2019 and has almost doubled in value. How did it happen?

The big companies like Facebook expanded or revealed that have plans, to their offering of cryptocurrency services.

It seems that Facebook’s plan to launch a digital currency is pushing people toward Bitcoin.

June 18th is tomorrow ( the date that Facebook planned to reveal more details about new digital asset) and we will have full public information. Previously, Facebook announced the plan to release a white paper for “Libra” or “Globalcoin”. This should be on June 18th as they said.

FOMO effect

Jeremy Allaire, the chief executive of Circle, tweeted the launch of Libra (whitepaper) will be a “massive inflection point in the global adoption of cryptocurrency.”

This entrepreneur said that by June 21st, he expects for Bitcoin to be valued at $10,000, “marking [the] start of Crypto Summer.”

Yes, $10,000 is a fine number, but many see it as a pivotal level for the Bitcoin price.

When Bitcoin rose to this level, and that time isn’t so far, FOMO will favor the crypto market.

Bitcoin chart

If you can recall the time when BTC went over $4,500 you know what we are talking about. This means that the price of Bitcoin and other cryptos will go higher, more above $10,000 and they will do it very fast.

For proponents, this is great news and event worth waiting for. There are so many emotions in the game. Just try to read everything on Twitter. Bitcoiners will be glad to see the opponents frustrated and to see FOMO from those who celebrated when BTC dropped about 90 %.

What will they feel about those who believed that Bitcoin is dead forever?

The Wall Street analysts stated that once $10,000 is broken trough, there will be a “fast and furious” progress to $20,000. Taking that new value as the new position, it looks more obvious that Bitcoin can double the price in the following several months.

The price of $40,000 sounds pretty good, don’t you think?

Some have a different opinion

However, there are some that deny this pleasant emotion about Libra and bright influence on Bitcoin.

Peter Schiff, investor, and libertarian-leaning economist speculated that Facebook’s Libra project will be “bad news” for Bitcoin.

This famous cryptocurrency critic, who claims that BTC has no intrinsic value and thus is not better than hard gold (Schiff is a prominent gold investor), calculates that Libra will be much stabler, cheaper, and more easy-to-use than Bitcoin.

And yes, that is exactly what Facebook promised about Libra,

low fees, fast transfer and a level of stability not seen with Bitcoin.

Behind this promise is the idea that the new cryptocurrency will be secured with traditional currencies and other ‘steady’ assets.

The bottom line

All is math. Bitcoin was $2,634 on June 16, 2017. Say you bought some BTC at that time. Now, you have an almost tripled return after 2 years. Bad investment? Never dare to say that. Sudden and fast ups and downs, yes. That’s the nature of Bitcoin and any other cryptocurrency.

And speaking about Bitcoin’s future, as Nelson Mandela said: “It always seems impossible until is done.”

risk disclosure

17th June 2019
Bitcoin is ready for the next big move

3 min read

The Bitcoin price is $7.979, at the moment of writing this post. That is lower for 0,593842% than the opening price this day.

The furious rise in Bitcoin price in the past few weeks was exciting for the majority of the crypto world. But at the same time confusing also.

For many of them, Bitcoin awakes memories on its fantastic heights at the end of 2017 when Bitcoin hit its record high of $19,783.21 on December 17.

This new Bitcoin rally brings new peaks level to many companies. For example, several crypto-tied penny stocks recorded new peaks too.

For example, the shares of MGT Capital Investments Inc. rose by 15% on Tuesday 9, May. This company is ranked as one of the biggest U.S. based Bitcoin miners.

On Tuesday the company stated that it is thinking to give its cryptocurrency mining sector extra chance. The statement came after Bitcoin’s price increased expanded the mining profitability.

This company had its highest market cap in December 2017 when it reached $350 million.

That was in any sense the golden era for crypto.

Almost at the same time, one UK company added the word ‘blockchain’ in its name rose its shares for nearly 400%.

With the hope that such time is coming, traders and investors gave a chance to other similar companies such as Grayscale Bitcoin Trust BTC or Riot Blockchain Inc.

The price of their shares rose in the past few weeks.

The Bitcoin price is likely to go far up from $8,000 and it will come very fast.

Will this word become another buzzword?

The word that can increase importance and market value? That will be interesting to see.

Anyway, Bitcoin increased by 60% in only two weeks.

Nevertheless, many investors are not convinced that this rally has both legs. This price climb seems to fast for them.

On the other side of the expert’s opinion are the other group of investors. Bulls! They insist that BTC has already reached its bottom price and all we can expect is this ‘çrypto-king’ is going to rise.

Bitcoin touched the bottom when it fell below $6,000. The crypto expert Dave the Wave called it the “ideal buying zone”.

However, traders were panicked and we saw a violent selloff. For smart people, it was time to buy.

Previously, Bitcoin was in that buy zone for two years. It was 2014 and 2015, and almost one year between 2012 – 2013.

The penny-stock companies recognized an open space to conquer.

On the other side, the rumors about the possibility the biggest companies to adopt crypto fell in the water after the Consensus 2019 conference.

Loving eBay formally denied such news.

But Facebook hired two ex-Coinbase experts. At least one of them is connected with Facebook’s blockchain venture.

Jeff Cartwright moved from Coinbase in March after five years at the cryptocurrency exchange. According to Cartwright’s LinkedIn profile, he entered Facebook this month. He will serve as a policy and compliance manager.

It isn’t a secret anymore that Facebook has plans about blockchain and cryptocurrency. The details are secret, of course. As the secret is the true role of Cartwright because Facebook spokesperson Elka Looks refused to comment ” on personnel’.

And, however, there is the third part – the media.

Just to illustrate, for example, CNBC removed Bitcoin widget last month. But now, the situation is totally twisted. They have almost in every single show a segment about Bitcoin. Weird!

And Microsoft uses Bitcoin, as we heard.

Okay, Bitcoin owners use Microsoft, right?

So, on Monday 14, May, the company revealed a project that, would give you the possibility to control your own credentials, autonomous of all companies. The new project is based on the technology that supports Bitcoin, blockchain.

That will be interesting to see, of course, if you like to take such responsibility.

Digital identity is the most exciting dream for every blockchain fans. The idea behind is that we all could have absolute, faultless access to all kinds of apps by creating mobile credentials. For now, the keys are in the hands of Facebook or Microsoft.

Enthusiasts support this idea because it can be a blessing for privacy. No one could track your activity on the internet. And that is the core of blockchain and Bitcoin as well.

Proponents also say it would help to stop hackers. Honestly, it would be harder for hackers to approach users data because all of them would be stored in one place or in a decentralized digital configuration.

But we are still a far away from that.

Until then, keep your eyes on the growth of Bitcoin.

The future is interesting and promising.

risk disclosure

16th May 2019
Managing Money Online – How Difficult It Can Be?

Managing money online can be troublesome. It is smart to use some app to work for you

By Guy Avtalyon

Managing money online can be a tricky game. Cryptocurrencies, often associated with “geeks” or with those who want to get money quickly, have become a popular form of payment.

According to a recent report by Kaspersky Lab, every tenth user (13%) has used crypto for purchases so far. However, cybercriminals also accept this trend and increasingly target crypto-markets. By transforming the old threats, these new scammers attack investors.

Kaspersky Lab examined the habits of 12,448 consumers in 22 countries.

The crypto users are at constant risk of losing their savings stored through this technology. The hackers develop sophisticated techniques for accessing others’ finances. There is an increasing number of companies offering cryptocurrencies as a payment method, where they are now accepted by both retailers and, for example, food stores.

Interest for crypto is raising, and even major sports teams are joining on crypto-exchanges. However, people show more interest in using cryptos for investment as well as for spending money. Hence, their digital assets are increasingly subject to theft. Incidents, where stolen digital tokens worth nearly $ 530 million, are known.

Managing money online

Visiting the favorite online retailers is fast growing the most comfortable way to make must-have shopping. Their advantages are fast-tracked delivery, exclusive discounts, and free returns. This made online shopping an interesting and vital part of the present life.

It’s determined that three-quarters of us have shopped online. Even browsing for goods has become a popular pastime.

Frankly, all of us are doing it when we are on our breaks, traveling to work, or sitting in front of the television.
The e-commerce boom has made it easy to spend money online. You can buy almost everything online, from groceries and gifts, clothes, through to paying service providers, or buying a yacht. The opportunities are infinite and the variety of payment options is expanding.

The image source: kaspersky.com

The majority of retailers are encouraged us to use whatever payment method we prefer. Of course, in order to stop us from moving elsewhere. From credit card transactions and bank transfers to cryptocurrency, subscriptions, and loyalty points, we can pay for assets and services in more ways than ever before.

A large-scale spectrum of payment options offers us both choice and flexibility. But it also gives us the difficulty of protecting our financial details in various areas.

Kaspersky Lab figures suggest that 60% of consumers are worried about online banking fraud. The majority of people having various online shopping accounts, digital wallets, and login credentials. So, it can be a big challenge to hold everything in order and remember every PIN, password, and code.

Nowadays it isn’t so easy to stay in control.

Some of us have the problem to remember the email address we used to register with a particular service.

Kaspersky Lab has uncovered how people manage their finances online. They examined their attitudes toward financial cyber threats. In detail, how safe their money is, and how they value it against the security or other sensitive information.

And they revealed the risks people are prepared to take when making transactions online. What do the people do to protect their credentials to avoid their hard-earned money to fall into the wrong hands?

Is our money safe?

Online shopping now is standard. So, cybercriminals are ready to take advantage of those who fail to protect themselves online. You can’t even imagine how vulnerable our financial information is online.

For example, in October 2018, American HSBC customers’ account details were accessed by hackers through an advanced breach. That was affecting hundreds of thousands of people. This is a great example of how important is to take control of our own security and not relying on others. No one will keep our information safe as we can do it by ourselves. What can we do ourselves to minimize the chances of becoming a target?

Trying to write down your financial credentials puts you at risk. Writing a credit card PIN in a notepad, or saving a bank account passcode on a laptop, could expose you more to attack. Hence, result in monetary losses.

Kaspersky’s survey revealed that a fifth of people (20%) still rely on their smartphone or other devices as a way of noting down private banking information. This is the potential to fall into the wrong hands.

The image source: kaspersky.com

How to remember all our passwords

Kaspersky Lab found a third of people (31%) still struggle to remember their online banking credentials, admitting that they have either forgotten them or do not even try to remember them.

Signing up for subscription services is also incredibly tempting. Because it gives us the opportunity to quickly access our favorite television shows, movies, and products. The registration is easy, but it can become very tricky to track spending. 32% of people who answered the survey do not always remember every service or automated payment (direct debit) they have subscribed to. Signing up for two streaming services, a few magazines, and a gym plan can quickly lead to costly fees from multiple brands.

Password panic when managing money online

Kaspersky Lab statistics show that more than half of people (52%) are worried about being vulnerable when buying products or making financial transactions online. This result means that a small number of them would prefer if this could be done more securely. The survey also revealed that nearly half of the people (46%) would like to pay for goods online more often. All they need is a reliable protection for these financial transactions.

A third of shoppers (32%) revealed that they had a financial incident in the past year. This left many of them (26%) out of pocket. As we all know from personal experiences, they were not compensated by any payment provider or retailer involved.
The good news is that the strong majority of people (83%) believe the most important thing is to set a strong password for online banking, speaking about managing money online.

Bottom line

Managing money online, keeping expenses in order, and planning a budget can be tough. You can use personal finance sites that do everything from tracking your spending to helping you get out of debt to managing your bills for you.
Best of all, if they’re all free.

13th February 2019
QuadrigaCX CEO died – no one has access to cold storage

Founder of QuadrigaCX, 30-year-old Gerald Cotten, unexpectedly had died in December while in India, from Crohn’s disease. He reportedly had sole access to the cold wallet. QuadrigaCX owes its customers $190 million and cannot access most of the funds.

According to a Jan. 31 affidavits filed by his widow Jennifer Robertson and dug up by Coindesk, Cotten had sole access to most of the exchange’s $190 million worth of crypto held in cold storage.

No one appears to be able to access QuadrigaCX

Because when he died, Cotten took the keys with him.

His death is a very sad moment for the family, big loss, of course. But customers are in sorrow, too.

In a sworn affidavit filed Jan. 31 with the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, Jennifer Robertson, identified as the widow of QuadrigaCX founder Gerald Cotten, said the exchange owes its customers roughly $250 million CAD ($190 million) in both cryptocurrency and fiat.

The customers of QuadrigaCX seem to be really worried as the Canadian crypto exchange can no longer access its cold storage and it owes its customers nearly $190 million, according to a report by CoinDesk.

QuadrigaCX went offline a few days ago.

Initially, it was thought that routine maintenance was the cause of the sudden malfunction. But now it seems that there is something bigger behind. Bigger than what was initially thought. Reddit users are saying it is just another ‘Exit Scam’.

However, Quadriga users, are now concerned that the unannounced downtime for the QuadrigaCX website, is a sign that something might be very wrong with the crypto exchange.

Users correspond

Some Reddit users asked if QuadrigaCX shouldn’t have let their customers know before taking its site down. Another Reddit user speculated as to whether the exchange had gone bankrupt due to an inability to find a suitable bank to host an account and facilitate transfers.

Reddit users are asking for proof of death, while one user claimed that the exchange, most likely, couldn’t access assets in cold storage, as the keys were only known to Cotten.

According to the affidavit, the cryptocurrency exchange holds nearly 26,500 Bitcoin ($92.3 million USD), 11,000 Bitcoin Cash ($1.3 million), 11,000 Bitcoin Cash SV ($707,000), 35,000 Bitcoin Gold ($352,000), nearly 200,000 Litecoin ($6.5 million) and about 430,000 Ether ($46 million), amounting to nearly $147 million.

Speaking about the current difficult situation, Jennifer Robertson said, “The normal procedure was that QuadrigaCX founder and CEO Gerald Cotten would move the majority of the coins to cold storage as a way to protect the coins from hacking or other virtual theft.”

She also added that the sole responsibility of handling the funds remained with Gerald Cotten and no one else has access to the exchange’s cold wallet.

The board of the company encouraged its customers.

They stated that the issue is being handled in the best possible way and an affidavit has been filed in the Nova Scotia Court requesting the authority to appoint a third party to help the exchange in finding a solution for the problem.

If the application for creditor protection is accepted by the Courts, then the court might give QuadrigaCX at least 30 days of protection from its creditors.

There is also a possibility that some of Quadriga funds are being stored on other exchanges, though this has not been confirmed.

The Courts will rule on the request for creditor protection on February 5.

Seems a bit suspicious that Gerald Cotten was the only one that had access to these coins. It is really hard to believe.

But the whole enigma about crypto exchange QuadrigaCX become weirder because they claimed they used multi-sign wallets.

It looks entirely as the result of poor governance and processes and that’s why we need regulated exchanges.

2nd February 2019
Trade Crypto And Stocks / Forex – How To Do That
4 min read
- If you understand how the financial markets are structured you can use the same skill and experience to profit in all three.
At first, we have to define the difference between crypto and Forex/Stock trading because you have to have theoretical knowledge.

– Crypto trading, or cryptocurrency trading, is simply the exchange of cryptocurrencies. Like in Forex, you can also buy and sell a cryptocurrency for another, like Bitcoin or altcoin for USD and Euro.

– The foreign exchange market (Forex, FX, or currency market) is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This includes all aspects of buying, selling and exchanging currencies at current or determined prices.

– Stocks trading is the buying and selling of company stock – or derivative products based on company stock – in the hope of making a profit.

Let’s go further!

HOW TO TRADE CRYPTO

Crypto shows bigger growth than stocks or forex. Honestly, all of these types of investment are risky.

While Bitcoin is not the only digital currency on the market, it is indeed the first and most popular one and stands as the digital gold within the industry. The technology behind cryptocurrency holds a large part of its value. The secure way to identify a transaction and the way to transfer funds.

If you want to trade cryptocurrency you need:
1) A cryptocurrency wallet (or two).
2) A cryptocurrency exchange (or two) to trade on.

There are only a few things to know about trading cryptocurrency.

Trading cryptocurrency is simple to start. Yeah, it’s easy.

But there are some essential aspects to understand before you start trading. And this is basic friendly advice to mull over. This not professional investment advice.

I’ll explain on the example of Bitcoin.

There are three ways you can trade Bitcoin:

1 Buy the underlying from an exchange or online cryptocurrency broker

For those who are willing to actively safeguard their Bitcoin, owning the underlying is clearly the way to go.

But prudent steps must be taken to mitigate the risk of Bitcoin theft or loss of private keys.

Diversifying holdings across wallet types, using two-factor authentication and strong passphrases, can be helpful.

2 Trade (buy/sell) a CFD (Contract for Difference) derivative and hold cash margin with an online forex broker or multi-asset broker.

Active traders looking to speculate on Bitcoin over the short or medium term can count that using an online forex broker will provide them with 24-hour trading. And potentially lower margin, and the ability to go either long or short.

So, it is good!

Because of counterparty risk, choosing a broker is just as important as finding one with the best trading tools or commission rates.

3 Buy a publicly listed security related to Bitcoin and hold shares with an online stockbroker.

For stock market investors, investing in Bitcoin indirectly through a listed security such as an ETF, ETP, or trust may be suitable for those looking at taking a passive position.

Active traders might find the limited trading hours and potential lack of volume a limiting factor that could hinder their trading.

Overall, using listed securities that invest, track, or hold Bitcoin can be a viable alternative to diversify away from the risks of margin trading. Or safeguarding private keys when buying the underlying.

HOW TO TRADE FOREX

Forex, also known as foreign exchange, FX or currency trading, is a decentralized global market where all the world’s currencies trade.

You can trade currency based on what you think its value is. Like, for instance, you think a currency will increase in value, you can buy it. But, if you think it will decrease, you can sell it

All forex trades involve two currencies because you’re betting on the value of a currency against another. Think of EUR/USD, the most-traded currency pair in the world.

EUR, the first currency in the pair, is the base, and USD, the second, is the counter.

When you see a price quoted on your platform, that price is how much one euro is worth in US dollars. You always see two prices because one is the buy price and one is the sell.

The difference between the two is the spread. When you click to buy or sell, you are buying or selling the first currency in the pair.

Since the euro is first, and you think it will go up, you buy EUR/USD. If you think the euro will drop in value against the US dollar, you sell EUR/USD.

If prices are quoted to the hundredths of cents, how can you see any return on your investment when you trade forex? Leverage!

When you trade forex you’re borrowing the first currency in the pair to buy or sell the second currency.

To trade with leverage, you simply set aside the required margin for your trade size. If you’re trading 200:1 leverage, for example, you can trade $2,000 in the market while only setting aside $10 in the margin in your trading account.

However, leverage doesn’t just increase your profit potential. It can also increase your losses. If you are new to forex, you should always start trading with lower leverage ratios, until you feel comfortable in the market.

HOW TO TRADE STOCKS

Stock markets are places where buyers and sellers of shares meet and decide on a price to trade.

It is important to know that the corporations listed on stock markets do not buy and sell their own shares on a regular basis. When you buy a share of stock on the stock market, you are not buying it from the company, you are buying it from some other existing shareholder.

There are many stock exchanges, many of which are linked together electronically which means markets are more efficient.

The prices of shares on a stock market can be set in a number of ways, but most the most common way is through an auction process where buyers and sellers place bids and offer to buy or sell.

A bid is a price at which somebody wishes to buy, and an offer (or ask) is the price at which somebody wishes to sell. When the bid and ask coincide, a trade is made.

If there are many buyers and sellers at sequentially higher and lower prices, the market is said to have good depth.

Stocks are quoted by their ticker symbol, represented by between one and four capital letters. They are often loosely representative of the company name.

Let’s break down what is the market order!

A market order is simply an order that instructs the broker to buy or sell shares at the best available price. The market order does not guarantee the price you will get. But it does guarantee that you will get the number of shares that you want.

When an order is completed, it is said to be filled.

Stop orders are contingent on a certain price level being attained to activate the trade and your trade will be executed only when what you want to buy or sell reaches a particular price.

If you understand how the financial markets are structured you can use the same skill and experience to profit in all three.

In all three you have to buy low and sell high against the crowd.

There is no difference.

Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)
14th December 2018
What is Blockchain or Blockchain Technology?
2 min read
- The blockchain is the mathematical structure for storing data in a way that is nearly impossible to fake.
- Blockchain technology is an important element of cryptocurrencies. Without it, digital currencies like Bitcoin would not exist.
If you are new to blockchain technology or you are already a trader, this article is for you. So, what is the blockchain? The blockchain is an absolutely brilliant invention. The idea of a person or group of people known by the pseudonym, Satoshi Nakamoto. By the time, it has developed into something greater, but still, there is a question: What is Blockchain?

Every day you can hear about Blockchain technology, Bitcoin, ICO, Ethereum. But do you understand what blockchain is?

How does it work? Can blockchain be used in business? Will blockchain change the world? This article is aimed to answer all these questions.

What blockchain is, the best explanation is through the game.

Imagine you and your friends are on a vacation. Its night, you are sitting around the pit-fire and playing storytelling. One has begun the story with a sentence, you are repeating the sentence and adding up your part, then the other player, etc. The main goal is the chain of sentences which are producing a story. If someone is not able to repeat and add his own sentence, the chain will fall down, it would end. New sentences are nothing without the initiation of old sentences. That exactly what the blockchain is. You added a sentence on your friend sentence, that was a ‘block’. Everyone approved your phrase because it referred to the old sentences, that is a shared ledger.

From the beginning

Common people started mistrusting the banks. There lies the birth of blockchain. A mysterious person named Satoshi Nakamoto created a whole new currency. He built the whole system on the principle of decentralization. He created a public ledger, which is synchronizing continuously and everyone is able to witness the process.

“I’ve been working on a new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party.”

These are the words of Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin, in a message sent to a cryptography-focused mailing list in October 2008. Included was a link to a nine-page white paper describing a technology that some are now convinced will disrupt the financial system.

Transform this into real life.

Let me ask you something. What happens when you send money from your bank account to someone else’s bank account? Your bank acts as a middleman, it verifies and approves the details of sender and receiver through its ledger (a book or other collection of financial accounts. In this case, you must trust your bank to have such transaction. Imagine, when banks are collapsing, will you send your money through banks? Will you be able to trust the middleman?

How does Blockchain work?

Suppose, you want to transfer some money to your friend in the other country. You will initiate a transaction, each online transaction will be a reference to ‘Block’. Because it is a public ledger, there will be broadcast to everyone in the network about the block. Constant synchronization of the ledger will be going on. If the people in the network would approve the transaction, then the ‘block’ would be added to the ‘chain’ which is a transparent record of transactions. Hence the name ‘blockchain’. This is how the money would be transferred. Satoshi Nakamoto carefully designed it to prevent the double spending of money.

What does it mean?

This problem exclusively belongs to digital currency. We can copy songs and movies from our laptops and paste them in other devices. That file will carry information. And can be copied and reproduced regarding our digital transaction. This will generate new fake currency, which is not part of our original monetary system. We can call it double spending of money.

Satoshi Nakamoto handled this problem extremely well. He introduced public ledger and an immutable chain of blocks. Every transaction is bundled into a block, every block is processed, authenticated, time-stamped and linked to the previous block.

This creates an immutable chain

When you want to send some money from your bank account, your bank will verify and confirm the transaction. Problem is that you have only one confirmation in the banking system. But, in the blockchain, at least 6 confirmations are required for a block to be added to the chain. Contrary, it is rejected. Can you see how blockchain is more secure and transparent?

Why use blockchain?

Transparency is one of the reasons why should use this technology. It is about its open source structure. It means that other users of the network can read and confirm or not confirm the information. The essential thing of being open source is that it can’t save logged data without majority blockchain network users.

Decentralization is other. Next main blockchain reason is the lack of a central data hub. Instead of running a massive data center you save your information in decentralized net, where any user can read, check and authorize any of your actions.

User controlled networks are also advantaged, a consequence of the decentralization of the network. Instead of holding a third party for data processing, stakeholders decided to control each other and decide what to do next. For instance, the inability to achieve 80% consensus on the update, tied to the bitcoin block, lies in the fact that it was necessary to develop a plug into two separate currencies, bitcoin, and bitcoin cash.

Faster transaction settlements is another advantage. Blockchain technology works 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That means the blockchain based transaction process is faster.

When you send the transaction to traditional banks, it will take days to be completely settled. This is due to protocols in bank transferring software, and working time. You also have financial institutions located in various time zones, which delays processing times, but it’s not about blockchain.

Reduced transaction costs are characteristic. Blockchain allows you to execute transactions without a third party, which is often a bank or a central server. Since the intermediary is absent, this allows you to get rid of imposing expense items.

Where to use the blockchain

There are a lot of uses of blockchain technology. Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies is just one application of blockchain. We have Ethereum, which is a platform where different applications can be built, it is more like an Operating System. And other altcoins too, are based on the blockchain. And many other fields. The blockchain is not only about cryptocurrencies.

In healthcare, the use of digital signatures based on blockchain data allows access only with the permission of several people and full compliance with keys, also allows to regulate the availability and maintain the confidentiality of medical records.

As a protection, the blockchain technology is creating an impregnable network with the impossibility to get access from the outside. The blockchain technology can improve transparency, speed up work and check corruption in governments all around the world. Probably one of the most popular uses of blockchain technology in the modern world is energy. In order to maximize the rational use of the generated energy, blockchain technology provides to see how much energy we use, at what hours, etc. There are lots of opportunities with blockchain technology and its immeasurable potential for improving the quality of service provision improving the confidentiality and integrity of data at the same time.

Bottom line:

So, what is blockchain? Maybe the best answer is this quotation: ‘The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value.’ said Don & Alex Tapscott, authors Blockchain Revolution (2016).

The blockchain technology is extremely powerful and can disrupt many existing organizations. No matter what happens with Bitcoin, Blockchain technology is here to stay, in a more refined and sophisticated manner.

Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)
23rd October 2018