Category Archives: Cryptocurrency
Heres a Bitcoin Timeline for Everything You Need To Know About the Cryptocurrency – Yahoo Finance
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You might not have even heard of Bitcoin until a few years ago or maybe even more recently than that. Believe it or not, the worlds biggest cryptocurrency is more than a dozen years old. But its roots go all the way back to the time of the analog world when the concept of private, anonymous, computerized money first emerged in the closing decades of the 20th century. Heres how one of the greatest stories in the history of both technology and money has played out so far.
Read: 10 Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest In for 2021
For most people, Bitcoin just came out of nowhere one day when everyone started talking about it on Twitter. The truth is that Bitcoin stands on the shoulders of visionary cryptographers and computer scientists who were way ahead of their time at the dawn of the era of personal computers.
1976: Inspired by the work of computer scientist Ralph C. Merkle, cryptographers Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman publish the white paper New Directions in Cryptography. It outlines the concept of public-key cryptography, which Bitcoin would use more than 30 years later to specify ownership.
1983: Computer scientist David Chaum creates eCash, a digital currency that uses a type of cryptography called blind signatures to provide secure and anonymous transactions. It is the first known example of what would become cryptocurrency.
1997: Building on what Chaum had started, cryptographer and cypherpunk Adam Back invents Hashcash, which uses a proof of work system that will later make Bitcoin mining possible.
See: How Does Cryptocurrency Work and Is It Safe?
Looking back, its hard to believe that a whole decade passed after 1997 without someone inventing the equivalent of Bitcoin. Between proof-of-work protocols, the internet, public-key cryptography and blind signatures, the crypto community had everything it needed plus two decades worth of research, experiments and knowledge to build on. Yet somehow, the world waited until 2007 for a mysterious person or people that went by the name Satoshi Nakamoto to bring to fruition the combined efforts of all those who had come before.
Story continues
2007: Satoshi Nakamoto begins coding for what will become Bitcoin. The name is a pseudonym for the still-anonymous crypto creator, who could be a man, woman or even a group of people. Since Satoshi is traditionally a mans name, Satoshi Nakamoto is often referred to as he or him.
2008: Satoshi Nakamoto publishes a white paper called Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System to an online cryptography newsletter.
Check Out: Bitcoin Cash (BCH): Hows It Differ From Bitcoin and Whats It Worth?
2008: The domain name bitcoin.org is registered.
2009: The Bitcoin network goes live when Satoshi Nakamoto mines Bitcoin block No. 0, known as the genesis block. It came with a reward of 50 Bitcoins and its coinbase was embedded with this text: The Times Jan/03/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.
2009: In the worlds first P2P Bitcoin transaction, Satoshi Nakamoto sends 10 Bitcoins to Hal Finney, a computer scientist and early adopter of Bitcoin, after he mines a block. Also in 2009, Finney became the first person to tweet about Bitcoin.
Bitcoin had no quantifiable value in its infancy. Hobbyists and computer scientists like Finney traded it amongst themselves. That all changed on May 22, 2010, when a man named Laszlo Hanyecz got hungry.
2010: Crypto-miner Laszlo Hanyecz offers 10,000 Bitcoins from his personal stash to anyone who can make two Papa Johns pizzas appear at his house. A fellow crypto-geek delivered, then Papa Johns delivered, then Hanyecz delivered on his end of the bargain. It was historys first real-world cryptocurrency payment for something of tangible value two large pies for the 2021 equivalent of nearly a half-billion dollars.
More: Coinbase, the Largest US Cryptocurrency Exchange, Goes Public
2010: Since the two pizzas cost $25 and that transaction was settled with 10,000 Bitcoins, the cryptocurrency community agreed that a single Bitcoin should be worth one-quarter of a penny. Bitcoin now had a monetary value and an exchange rate.
2010: Just a few months after Laszlo Hanyecz ate what would become the worlds most expensive pizzas, Bitcoin began trading on open exchanges. Non-computer whizzes could now buy it, sell it and price it against the U.S. dollar. Its opening asking price was $0.0008, or eight 10,000ths of a dollar. In less than a month, its price skyrocketed to eight cents per Bitcoin.
In the 2010s, Bitcoin went on one of the wildest rides in the history of investing. With a run defined by giddy highs and bottomless lows, Bitcoin began the decade as a virtual unknown that traded for a few pennies per unit. By the end of the decade, companies like Tesla accepted Bitcoin as payment and it was so valuable that a single one was enough to buy an actual Tesla with plenty of change to spare.
Read: Ethereum (ETH): What It Is, What Its Worth and Should You Be Investing?
2011: Bitcoin makes history when it breaks through the $1 mark and keeps climbing all the way up to $31. Ecstatic investors are disappointed to realize its a bubble the first of many for Bitcoin and when it pops, prices crater back down to single digits.
2011: In the first known mainstream news coverage of Bitcoin, Time runs an article by Jerry Brito with the headline Online Cash Bitcoin Could Challenge Governments, Banks.
2013: Bitcoins potential and its potential for extreme volatility are realized when it starts 2013 trading around $12 and leaps to $1,242 about the same as an ounce of gold by November. From this moment forward, there is simply no more ignoring Bitcoin.
2016: After crashing into the low triple-digits, Bitcoin is back approaching $1,000 in 2016.
2017: Bitcoin hits the $1,000 mark again and begins a run reminiscent of the dotcom bubble of the 1990s. On Dec. 16, Bitcoin peaks at an astonishing $19,497.40.
2018: Prices collapse to sub-$10,000 levels again before reaching bedrock in the low $3,000s. Moving into 2019 prices briefly reach $10,000 again.
The private, untraceable and anonymous nature of Bitcoin put the cryptocurrency in high demand during the uncertainty and mistrust that defined the pandemic. Thanks to COVID-19, Bitcoin gained rock-star status and a place in the mainstream.
See: Dogecoin (DOGE): What It Is, What Its Worth and Should You Be Investing?
2020: Bitcoin starts the year at $7,200 but roars back into five figures by midsummer. As the year draws to a close in December, Bitcoin leaps past its 2017 record after trading in the $20,000s for the first time ever.
2021: Bitcoin passes $30,000 at the beginning of January, $50,000 one month later in February, then $60,000 just one month after that in March. As of April 22, Bitcoin is trading at a little over $52,000 per coin.
2021: As of April 2021, some of the worlds biggest and most recognizable brands are accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment. You can buy just about anything anywhere with a Bitcoin Visa or Mastercard. Microsoft, AT&T and Burger King all accept Bitcoin, as do KFC, Overstock, Subway, Shopify, several pro sports franchises and Pizza Hut (but not Papa Johns). You can buy a Tesla with Bitcoin and you can buy, sell and hold it on PayPal. As the third decade of the 21st century gets underway, it does so with Bitcoin squarely in the mainstream.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Heres a Bitcoin Timeline for Everything You Need To Know About the Cryptocurrency
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Heres a Bitcoin Timeline for Everything You Need To Know About the Cryptocurrency - Yahoo Finance
South Korean Police Officers Banned From Buying Cryptocurrency Regulation Bitcoin News – Bitcoin News
A recent ban imposed by the South Korean National Police Agency will bar particular officers from purchasing additional cryptocurrencies. The announcement coincides with a report revealing a heightened domestic availability of digital coins, in comparison to the global marketplace.
Officers with certain investigative and inspective responsibilities have been prohibited from buying additional cryptocurrency. Reporting on the Friday announcement suggests that Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) officers will be obliged to make additional disclosures on any held digital assets.
The countrys main law enforcement agency stressed penalties for non-compliance, without any indication to their severity. Domestic sources suggest the move aims to introduce additional transparency to sensitive KNPA departments, after a last-month announcement from the South Korean government that it would crackdown on illicit crypto transactions.
The government claims that market price increases have inflated risks of money laundering and fraud. Between April and June, additional efforts will be made to curb illegal activity. Countermeasures were recently discussed at a meeting between various ministries, law enforcement agencies, and financial regulators. It remains uncertain what other policies may be implemented in the coming summer months.
While the KNPA has moved against its own officers holding digital assets, a media report has turned attention to the wide availability of cryptocurrencies in the South Korean market.
According to the Chosun Ilbo daily, the country has more cryptocurrency exchanges than Japan and the United States. The Financial Services Commission warned that all of the countrys crypto exchanges, around 200 platforms, could be shut down for failing to register with the regulator. Among these exchanges include controversial smaller trading platforms, which often deal in a variety of more volatile currencies.
Currency variety is not unique to the younger and smaller domestic exchanges. Upbit, South Koreas largest crypto trading platform, supports 178 different cryptocurrencies. Another major exchange, Bithumb, offers 170. In comparison, Coinbase, the leading U.S. crypto exchange, trades 58 currencies, and every listed exchange in Japan combined only 29.
Many transactions are being made solely based on agreements between issuers and exchanges, said Choi Gong-pil, an associate of the Korea Institute of Finance. He suggested a lack of transparent standards and current industry rules contribute to speculation, and a risky environment for investors.
Whats your opinion on the ban imposed by the Korean National Police Agency? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
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South Korean Police Officers Banned From Buying Cryptocurrency Regulation Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News
Cryptocurrency Clamor: Paying Employees in Bitcoin Has Reached the Mainstream – JD Supra
Its been a big year for Bitcoin. Between hitting an all-time high trading price over $63,000, landing on the balance sheets of major companies, and being recognized as inevitable by financial institutions that once tried to avoid it, the rise of Bitcoin and the broader adoption of cryptocurrency is one of the bigger stories of 2021. Cryptocurrencies are becoming more mainstream as a form of payment and investment or speculation, depending on your perspective.
Perhaps the appeal is in the underlying technology (that is, the use of math, rather than third-party banks, to facilitate nearly instant, inexpensive, irrevocable transactions anywhere on Earth). Perhaps its the arguable benefit of holding cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoin, as a long-term hedge against inflation. Or maybe its the indisputable entertainment value of casting a one-minute candlestick chart to a big screen TV to watch the price move on a volatile day (a purely hypothetical scenario).
Whatever the case, cryptocurrencies are clearly here to stay. Innovative employers are responding by putting Bitcoin compensation on the table as a benefit to attract top talent and it its not just tech companies. This year, Twitter, the City of Miami, the City of Jackson, TN, the Sacramento Kings, and others have announced their exploration of Bitcoin payroll. We expect more are coming, and to start seeing employee-driven requests for the option. If your organization is considering paying employees or contractors in Bitcoin, what do you need to know?
Is it Legal to Pay Wages in Cryptocurrency?
The first question you need to confront: whether it is permissible under federal and state law to pay your workers in Bitcoin or similar cryptocurrency.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, wages must be paid in cash or negotiable instrument payable at par. Cryptocurrency is, of course, neither. And while the more popular cryptocurrencies can easily and immediately be sold for cash, this fact might not matter to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Further, employers must also consider state laws, some of which require wages to be paid in U.S. currency (including California, Washington, Georgia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey, Texas, and Illinois). The specific restrictions and accompanying exemptions vary from state to state. In Georgia, for example, the statute does not apply to salaried company officials, superintendents, or certain department heads, or to employers in the farming, sawmill, and turpentine industries. Meanwhile, in Texas, while wages are generally required to be paid in U.S. currency, an employee may agree in writing to receive part or all of the wages in kind or in another form.
For these reasons, you should pay base compensation in the U.S. currency in amounts that meet the federal, state, and local requirements for minimum wage, overtime, or salary-based exemptions. Any cryptocurrency payment program should be optional and authorized in writing by the employee (on a form clearly acknowledging the risks of doing so).
Why Would an Employer Want to Pay in Cryptocurrency?
Considering the legal hurdles and risks facing employers who explore this option, why bother? Primarily, talent acquisition by virtue signaling. Competition for hiring and retaining the best and brightest employees is fierce, especially in the tech industry. By offering to pay employees in cryptocurrencies, companies may attract workers looking for a forward-thinking employer by distinguishing themselves as early tech adopters that offer compelling benefits and compensation.
Companies with remote or international contractors or employees might also appreciate the ease of making cross-border payments in cryptocurrency. Who needs to pick among international currencies and worry about exchange rates when anyone can send and receive Bitcoin in minutes with nothing more than a cell phone?
Is It Practical to Pay in Cryptocurrency?
If your company decides to offer cryptocurrency as part of its payroll or bonus program, there are two general ways it can be done. Employees can either be paid (1) in their normal currency, with a designated portion of their wages being converted to their selected cryptocurrency and sent to their wallet; or (2) in the cryptocurrency itself.
In the conversion option, the employee may bear some risk that the exchange rate available to the employer is not as favorable as what the employee could get buying the cryptocurrency themselves. In the direct payment option, you are technically making a payment in property, not cash, under current IRS guidance (check out the IRS FAQs, a 2014 Notice, and a 2019 Revenue Ruling on the matter). The fair market value of the cryptocurrency easy to determine for coins as popular as Bitcoin and Ether is subject to payroll taxes and must be reported on Form W-2. While not impossible, this impact on payroll reporting and tax withholding could be administratively difficult. Regardless of the option chosen, most employers should strongly consider using a third-party service dedicated to processing payroll in cryptocurrency.
One common concern about paying employees in Bitcoin is its volatility risk $100 worth of Bitcoin on payday might only be worth $80 when it hits the employees wallet. These days, it might be a fair presumption that anyone comfortable enough with cryptocurrency to opt in to receiving it as part of their wages would be very familiar with this risk. (Many would even be excited if the price fell dramatically right before payday, so they can buy the dip. Lots of users are dollar-cost averaging cryptocurrency into their portfolios just as they would buy mutual funds in a 401(k).) But you need to consider the risks that would likely accompany those disgruntled employees who are not happy with such a precipitous drop. And you might not want to simply assume that anyone signing up to receive compensation via cryptocurrency understands these swings, making sure to provide sufficient notification about the realities to those considering the option.
Another concern is taxes. Despite IRS guidance published on the topic in 2014, and clarified in great detail in late 2019 (links above), many cryptocurrency holders seem to be unaware that they are walking into an interesting lesson in capital gains taxes when they buy, sell, exchange, and are paid in cryptocurrency. You should include relevant disclaimers, and perhaps a reference to current tax guidance, in any employee authorization to be paid in a digital asset.
The Future Of Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin adoption has been moving at light speed in 2021. Simply stated, it is not a passing fad.
Private Businesses Getting in on the Act
WeWork announced that it will start accepting payment in Bitcoin, Ether, and several other cryptocurrencies as payment, including for its memberships, and intends to hold the assets on its balance sheet. It will also work with landlords and other partners to make payments in cryptocurrency. Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, will be the first client to pay for its WeWork membership in cryptocurrency.
Mastercard has announced that it plans to give merchants the option to receive payments in cryptocurrency this year. Mastercards Executive Vice President for Blockchain and Digital Asset Products, Raj Dhamordharan, commented, Our philosophy on cryptocurrencies is straightforward: Its about choice. Mastercard isnt here to recommend you start using cryptocurrencies. But we are here to enable customers, merchants and businesses to move digital value.
Venmo, a large peer-to-peer payment app, announced that it would support cryptocurrency payments between users. PayPal announced that its users will be able to buy, sell, and transfer cryptocurrencies.
Federal and State Governments are also Signaling Interest
In February, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen indicated that central banks should be considering issuing digital currencies. From Yellens view, a digital dollar could help alleviate hurdles that many low-income households face in financial inclusion. However, Secretary Yellen has also warned that Bitcoin is extremely inefficient, and the Biden administration is reportedly developing a crypto regulatory framework.
In 2019, Ohio gave companies that operate there the option of paying their taxes with Bitcoin. Other states, such as Georgia and Illinois, have considered legislation to allow cryptocurrency tax payments but to date, that legislation has failed. As Bitcoin becomes more widely adopted and used as a currency, look for other states to follow in Ohios footsteps and accept Bitcoin. States will likely make this move, and take other steps, to attract businesses just as private companies have begun to do.
The government taking note of the benefits of cryptocurrencies is a large step toward legitimacy and mass adoption. Further, acceptance by the government could lead to systematic changes that would make it much easier for employers to accept payment in the form of cryptocurrencies and in turn pay employees with crypto.
Conclusion
The recent Bitcoin announcements by major companies is a sign of the increasing adoption of cryptocurrencies as currencies. This increases the likelihood that an employee may request to be paid in Bitcoin. As we have discussed, there are many potential traps when paying employees with Bitcoin and the decision to offer payment in Bitcoin should not be taken lightly. If you make the decision to pay employees in Bitcoin, or other cryptocurrencies, ensure that nonexempt employees are paid the applicable minimum and overtime wages.
While there are many potential legal issues that may arise, employers who want to pay employees with cryptocurrency can likely find solutions with the help of legal counsel. Moreover, regardless of which state an employer is operating, you should never proceed with introducing cryptocurrency into wage or bonus payments without first consulting with your employment counsel.
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Cryptocurrency Clamor: Paying Employees in Bitcoin Has Reached the Mainstream - JD Supra
Rise of cryptocurrency: How it works, where its going – RochesterFirst
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) Cryptocurrencies are big business on Wall Street as valuations soar, but are they a form of currency for the masses?
CPA Garrett Wagner discussed the rise of these digital currencies Thursday during News 8 at Sunrise.
For many, Bitcoin is the most well-known cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin is a truly interesting technological creation, said Wagner. What makes it really interesting, if we go back to the beginning, no one knows who created it. Unlike Kodak we all know here in Rochester George Eastman was the founder of Kodak no one knows who created Blockchain and cryptocurrency. So its shrouded in mystery. But their goal was to take power away from the banks and let people like you and me exchange money without banks. So thats kind of how it got started take power away from the banks and create a global currency. Its just kind of gone from there in this big mess of confusion which is what were seeing today.
Wagner explained how cryptocurrency works.
Its very similar to the fundamental idea about you and I exchanging cash. Instead of having cash in U.S. currency, well have cash in Bitcoin or Ether or something else and well exchange that from one to another. Now thats not what gets most of the hype of cryptocurrency today. Most of the hype that we hear about is people investing in Blockchain, in Bitcoin, in Ether more like its a stock and they hope that if I buy $1,000 worth of Bitcoin today it will be worth $5,000 tomorrow. They dont want to actually conduct transactions with it. They hope that they just make a bunch of money and get out before it crashes back down.
Bitcoin has been around for more than 10 years, but Wagner said people outside investors have been slow to gravitate to it.
Were used to U.S. dollars. Were used to credit cards. Were used to ATM cards. Trying to get everybody to switch over to something else is a monumentally difficult task. So its been very, very, very slow to gain that adoption because no one wants to be the only person at a dinner party with 20 people who has Blockchain when everyone else has actual cash. So its been slow to make that change. Itll come at some point in the future, possibly, but for now, all of the speculation is about how can people get rich on this technology.
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Rise of cryptocurrency: How it works, where its going - RochesterFirst
GitHub Reacts to Growing Cryptocurrency Mining Attacks Using GitHub Actions – InfoQ.com
In response to the recent surge in cryptocurrency mining attacks, GitHub has changed how pull requests from public forks are handled in GitHub Actions to prevent abuse.
As the CEO of DevOps platform LayerCI, Colin Chartier, explained in a recent article,
As the market capitalization of cryptocurrency surged from $190 billion in January of 2020 to $2 trillion in April of 2021, it's become profitable for bad actors to make a full time job of attacking the free tiers of platform-as-a-service providers.
Chartier describes how an attacker can abuse GitHub Actions cron feature to create new commits every hour with the aim to mine cryptocurrencies.
Because developers can run arbitrary code on our servers, they often violate our terms of service to run cryptocurrency miners as a "build step" for their websites.
According to Chartier, one strategy to reduce the chances of being detected that is becoming popular is using a headless browser for these attacks.
As a result of this, major providers of free-tiered CI platforms, including GitLab and TraviCI, announced restrictions to their free offerings to prevent abuse.
Given this context, GitHub has announced two changes to pull request handling to make it harder for attackers to trigger the execution of mining code on upstream repositories by simply submitting a pull request.
This [...] has a negative impact on repository owners whose legitimate pull requests and accounts may be blocked as a result of this activity.
As a first measure, upstream repositories will not be held responsible for abusive attacks triggered by forked repos.
Our enforcement will be directed at the account hosting the fork and not the account associated with the upstream repository.
In addition to this, when a contributor submits a pull request for the first time, manual approval from a repository collaborator with write access will be required before a GitHub Action can be run.
Based on conversations with several maintainers, we feel this step is a good balance between manual approval and existing automated workflows. This will be the default setting and, as of now, there is no way to opt out of the behavior.
GitHub also stated this approach could be made more flexible in the future, if it impacts negatively maintainers.
While GitHub strategy could work for the time being, according to Chartier it is likely that attacks will become more sophisticated and will circumvent any measures. In his rather pessimistic view, only abandoning computationally expensive proof-of-concept mining could preserve CI platforms free tiers.
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GitHub Reacts to Growing Cryptocurrency Mining Attacks Using GitHub Actions - InfoQ.com
How to Make Money With Cryptocurrency – NBC Connecticut
This story originally appeared on LX.com
Cryptocurrency is part computer science and part finance, but dont let that intimidate you. Its simple to get started and you dont have to be an expert.
It's good to know what a blockchain is and how it works but its not a necessity. Think about what happens when you buy something online do you know how an Automated Clearing House works? How well do you understand the system of banks and payment processors that make up traditional finance? Lacking this knowledge doesnt prevent you from using dollars, and likewise wont prevent you from using crypto.
That said, what you need to know is that a cryptocurrency relies on a blockchain, a special type of digital network. There are different blockchainslike Ethereum, Cardano and Stellar. They work similarly, but have different features.
Bitcoin [BTC] is the most popular cryptocurrency. BTC transactions are processed and verified by people called miners. When miners process enough transactions, using specialized computers, theyre rewarded with some BTC. Essentially, the act of verifying transactions is what creates more BTC. So as long as miners want more cryptocurrency, the blockchain will function.
Blockchains use special apps, called protocols, that put your crypto to work. So in traditional finance you might have a savings account, but in crypto, youd use a savings protocol. The language of crypto is rooted in computer science.
Youll need a place to store your crypto a wallet. You can choose a software wallet like an app, or a hardware wallet an offline devicesort of like a flash drive.
Since software wallets are online, theyre potential targets for hackers. Hardware wallets are offline and cant be hacked, but they can be lost or stolen like a real wallet.
You can skip this step by downloading an exchange app like Coinbase, eToro, or Gemini, then connecting a debit card or bank account. This is the fastest way to start buying and trading crypto. Your assets will be stored in a wallet managed by the exchange, which adds some risk.
Think about it, if youre a hacker trying to steal millions, your time is better spent hacking large exchanges to access thousands of wallets. Hacking a single software wallet is probably a waste of time. To learn more about crypto wallets check out this resource from Benzinga.
If you only want to trade crypto, a wallet and exchange is all you need. But there are other ways to use crypto to make money.
Decentralized finance [DeFi] is a system of peer-to-peer finance tools that provide options like interest accounts, loans, and advanced trading for people with crypto. DeFi disrupts traditional finance by removing middlemen [bankers, lawyers, brokers] from finance processes. DeFi advocates say this makes finance faster, more affordable, more transparent, more democratic and eliminates in-person discrimination.
Getting started in DeFi takes more research. You can learn about different DeFi protocols on the web starting with The DeFi List. There, protocols are sorted by function, making it easy to understand what they do. Protocol developers share their mission statement by distributing a white paper. Heres the white paper for Compound, a popular protocol, as an example.
To use DeFi protocols, youll need access to the decentralized web [dWeb]. To learn more about DeFi protocols, their history, and how they work, check out Finematics on YouTube.
Finally, here are some scenarios to help understand dollars and crypto.
There are a lot of experts on YouTube and Reddit. To get you going, here are some free online resources ranging from the basic to the meta.
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How to Make Money With Cryptocurrency - NBC Connecticut
Cryptocurrency is making its way into the Magic City – WIAT – CBS42.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala (WIAT) Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin youve likely heard of one or more of these cryptocurrencies before. If you havent, you likely will soon as they begin to burgeon around Birmingham.
People in Birmingham theyre no different than other folks around the United States, Author of Thank God for Bitcoin Derek Waltchack said. There are more and more people buying bitcoin, sort of like a digital gold.
According to Waltchack, more people around the world are investing in the decentralized currency, believing it will eventually replace the US dollar.
The breakthrough with bitcoin it allows you transfer value on the internet as easy as sending an email, he said. You can literally send an email with your bitcoin and you have sent value. Before bitcoin you couldnt do that without a central intermediary.
In response, local businesses are adapting. As the Magic City becomes more cryptocurrency friendly, a few area businesses like Crestwood Tavern have crypto ATMs, making it possible to buy that person across the bar from you a drink.
There are better ways to buy bitcoin than an ATM because the fees are going to be really high, Waltchack said. But if you want the simplest thing in the world, go to a bitcoin ATM where you can actually buy bitcoin it gives you a paper receipt which essentially gives you your wallet address, your secret key and the amount of bitcoin you have
And Waltchack said you may want to think twice before blowing your bitcoin on a meal. He urges people to look at paying with crypto coins like paying for an Amazon item with Apple stock.
I personally wouldnt use bitcoin to buy pizza and a beer just because it continues to go up in value, he said. And you dont want to be the guy who bought a pizza and a beer and then four years later, the equivalent amount of bitcoin could buy a car or a house.
As of now, there are a few businesses around town accepting bitcoin payment including Eagles Restaurant on Birminghams north side.
Waltchack said he expects more restaurants to follow suit soon.
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Cryptocurrency is making its way into the Magic City - WIAT - CBS42.com
3 analysts explain why ether will surpass bitcoin as the leading cryptocurrency – Markets Insider
Mastercard and BNY Mellon warmed to bitcoin on Thursday, supporting XRP, ether and other cryptocurrencies
Yuriko Nakao/Getty Images
Bitcoin has been struggling, tumbling below the $47,000-level to a two-month low on April 25 after a sharp sell-off once excitement around Coinbase's public debut tapered.
Ether on the other hand has hit record highs above $2,500, pushing the market capitalization of the second largest cryptocurrency to $300 billion for the first time.
While ether remains far behind bitcoin's $1 trillion market value, some experts predict that it may not be long before the runner-up dethrones bitcoin as the world's biggest cryptocurrency, which currently represents 48% of the total crypto market, according to CoinGecko.
"As bitcoin loses its historic market dominance, the currency of the 'world's computer' is starting to fly, showing hints of the decoupling long predicted by ether bulls," Tim Frost, CEO of Yield App, a decentralized finance wealth management platform, told Insider.
Frost added that now that ether has broken the $2,500 resistance level, it could head to $3,500 "very quickly."
Ether, unlike bitcoin, not only maintains a decentralized payment network but also stores computer codes that power contracts and applications that are, thus far, tamper-proof.
Bitcoin, meanwhile, has been struggling to define its utility from being a potential currency to a store of value, among others.
Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of Chainlink, an oracle network that secures over $15 billion worth of assets on the ethereum blockchain, told Insider that the recent rally in ether, is in fact, spurred by the rise of decentralized finance applications, which are now worth over $63 billion.
Read more: Goldman Sachs names 19 crypto-exposed stocks that have piggybacked on bitcoin's surge to achieve returns that have nearly quadrupled the S&P 500
Insider spoke to three other experts who share their thoughts on why ether has the potential to become the world's leading cryptocurrency.
"We think bitcoin is overrated. We think bitcoin had the first-mover advantage. But in terms of long-term technology, we think ethereum will surpass bitcoin because if you look at developers, all the developers now are pretty much using ethereum. Ethereum has 10 times more monthly active developers than bitcoin. Bitcoin is really now, purely, in my opinion, just a digital store value, digital gold, and I view ethereum as the next internet as Web3." - Ian Balina, founder and CEO of Token Metrics, a data-driven investment research platform for crypto
"The utility will ultimately trump a store of value asset, but I think that's a little bit away. We do have bitcoin to thank for being the first to spark interest. But on etherum there's a lot of development - DeFi and NFT. Ultimately we get past the single functionality store value that is bitcoin and we get into a world where there are greater use cases - and that always trumps a single function which is an asset or a storage value." - John Wu, President of Ava labs, the team behind altcoin Avalanche
"I think most digital assets will continue to be correlated and move in tandem with bitcoin, but some blockchains and their cryptocurrencies such as ether can also be looked at from a stand-alone basis. The usual [fear, uncertainty, and doubt] can come out of nowhere and hammer down the crypto class as a whole, but some assets will be able to de-couple from the downside simply because the market participants don't care or see the current news having a long-term impact, likely due to their faith in the underlying technology. Governments proposing higher cap gains tax doesn't make any of the blockchain tech less desirable." - Justin Chuh, senior trader at Wave Financial, a regulated digital asset investment manager
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3 analysts explain why ether will surpass bitcoin as the leading cryptocurrency - Markets Insider
Delchain Partners With Flare to Advance Seamless Cryptocurrency Transactions – PRNewswire
NASSAU,Bahamas, April 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Delchain, an innovative financial digital asset service provider looking to bridge the gap between regulated financial services and blockchain, today announces its partnership with Flare, a specialized blockchain network, with the purpose of facilitating safe, peer-to-peer transactions of cryptocurrencies on the Flare platform.
Delchain is a leading one-stop shop for blockchain financial services andaims to bridge the gap between regulated financial services and the world of cryptocurrency.
Flare is a new smart contract platform and the first such platform to apply Federated Byzantine Agreement (FBA) consensus to smart contracts. Flare is built on a modified version of Avalanche and incorporates the Ethereum Virtual Machine, which is the same smart contract engine that also runs on the Ethereum blockchain. This makes Flare immediately accessible to the majority of the blockchain development community.
Because Flare doesn't require a token for staking to garner security, Flare's tokenSpark ($FLR) is used to enable a trustless, non-custodial and decentralized way to enable any cryptocurrency from any other chain to be used in smart contracts on Flare. This system is launching with XRP (Ripple transaction protocol), Litecoin, XLM (Stellar) and Dogecoin. Additional tokens may be added prior to launch and after launch, additional tokens may be added through token-controlled governance.
One highly successful application of smart contracts is Decentralized Finance (DeFi), which then allows for a system where all parties involved can interact peer-to-peer or with only a software-based middleman, rather than through an institution.
Flare's unique offering as a cryptocurrency is its own native smart contract blockchain where tokenized assets are used. Through the partnership, Delchain is now officially a custodian of Flare's native token $FLR and the assets that can be bridged onto Flare (F-Assets). By receiving coming and future tokens within the Flare environment, Delchain's participation adds an extra layer of authority. Together, the companies will advance reputable, licensed, and seamless transactions.
"We have always remained passionate about improving our services for our clients but partnering with Flare has allowed us to show and tell our priorities and our core values, saysBruno Macchialli, the CEO of Delchain. "With Flare, we found that their commitment to safety and innovation allows for consumers to continue to trust the cryptocurrency world a little bit more through facilitating secure and seamless transactions. We understand that advancement in every aspect is important to our clients and that is really what this partnership is about."
"Flare is excited to work with Delchain as custody provider to the Flare ecosystem. Custody providers play a very important role in making the decentralized world accessible to financial institutions," says Hugo Philion, the CEO of Flare.
About Delchain
Delchainis a full-service and licensed financial firm supporting a wide range of services that connect the world of blockchain and cryptocurrency to the regulated world of financial services. Delchain's services include multi-currency fiat banking, digital asset custody, capital markets, initial offering advisory, and staking.
Delchain Limited (Delchain) is a licensed Financial Corporate Service Provider, regulated by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas. Delchain, which is a part of the Deltec International Group, provides a full suite of financial services to support blockchain institutions and high net worth clients with offices in The Bahamas and Singapore.
About Flare
Flare Networksis a new blockchain network based on the Flare Consensus Protocol - the first Turing Complete Federated Byzantine Agreement protocol.
CONTACTName: Jacob CromptonPhone: 1-646-480-0356Email: [emailprotected]
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SOURCE Delchain
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Delchain Partners With Flare to Advance Seamless Cryptocurrency Transactions - PRNewswire
5 Free Fintech And Cryptocurrency Newsletters You Need To Read – Forbes
Young woman reading a cryptocurrency newsletter on her mobile phone
The rise in popularity of fintech has brought with it an increase in the number of blogs and newsletters focused on the industry.
Last year, I published a list of eight fintech blogs and newsletters I thought were the best in the industry. Its time to add some new blogs and newsletters to the list. This new list doesnt replace last yearsyou should still read last years list (especially those from Jason Mikula, Simon Taylor, and Alex Johnson).
Aika Ussenova does financial planning and analysis at Monzo Bank in the UK, and her Substack newsletter offers deep dive analyses into various players on the fintech scene including:
This Substack newsletter from Paddy Ramanathan, Managing Director of the iValley Innovation Center, has a strong focus on decentralized finance. A recent post on 10 Predictions For The Post-covid Decentralization Decade includes a prediction that virtual and decentralized business ecosystems will lead to digital jurisdictions.
Commenting on the exodus of companies from San Francisco to Austin and from New York to Florida, Ramanathan asks: Is this the beginning of the great decentralization of population and business hubs?
He asserts that it is and that business ecosystems will be tied together virtually as network graphs with cross-border governance. This will create unique policy and governance challenges that will lead to broad reform on taxation, jurisdiction, and regulations.
The subtitle of this blog is thoughts on fintech and decentralized finance and its written by Giorgio Giuliani, the Product Lead at SumUp, a Berlin, Germany fintech that enables small businesses to accept card payments in-store, in-app and online. Giuliani provides in-depth analyses on a range of topics including:
Im not a lawyer, I dont play one on TV, and I didnt sleep in a Holiday Inn last night. Thankfully, theres this Substack newslettersubtitled Fintech laws n regsfor non-lawyersfor people like (you and) me.
Youd be hard pressed to figure out that this newsletter is written by Reggie Young, legal counsel at fintech company BlueVine. His Twitter handle indicates that the newsletter is his, but the newsletter itself makes no mention of who the author is.
Young provides insights into regulatory developments that impact the fintech world (and really, banking and financial services in general). Soundbites from recent posts shed regulatory light on:
Each post explains the regulatory landscape for the topic of the day (e.g., payments, robo-advisors, lending). The newsletter subtly and indirectly proves why the unemployment rate for fintech lawyers is going to remain low for a long time to come.
This is a relatively new newsletter with just four posts under its belt as I write this. The authorsMike Sigal, founder of 20022 Labs and entrepreneur, advisor, and creator Debbie Landasay that the newsletter is a curated sports highlights newsletter to keep you up-to-date on whats most relevant.
Its a lot more (and a lot better) than that. There are a number of newsletters (that wont make my list) that just curate the news. Tracking Payments goes way beyond and offers Sigals and Landas expert and experienced views on what the news means.
Topics and questions addressed in this newsletter include:
Do you know of other free fintech and cryptocurrency newsletters that should be on this list (i.e., provide analysis and not just curate the news)? Let me know and Ill update this list.
See more here:
5 Free Fintech And Cryptocurrency Newsletters You Need To Read - Forbes