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Bitcoin is money, U.S. judge says in case tied to JPMorgan …

NEW YORK Bitcoin qualifies as money, a federal judge ruled on Monday, in a decision linked to a criminal case over hacking attacks against JPMorgan Chase & Co and other companies.

U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan rejected a bid by Anthony Murgio to dismiss two charges related to his alleged operation of Coin.mx, which prosecutors have called an unlicensed bitcoin exchange.

Murgio had argued that bitcoin did not qualify as "funds" under the federal law prohibiting the operation of unlicensed money transmitting businesses.

But the judge, like her colleague Jed Rakoff in an unrelated 2014 case, said the virtual currency met that definition.

"Bitcoins are funds within the plain meaning of that term," Nathan wrote. "Bitcoins can be accepted as a payment for goods and services or bought directly from an exchange with a bank account. They therefore function as pecuniary resources and are used as a medium of exchange and a means of payment."

The decision did not address six other criminal counts that Murgio faces, Nathan wrote.

Brian Klein, a lawyer for Murgio, said he disagreed with the decision.

"Anthony Murgio maintains his innocence and looks forward to clearing his name at his upcoming trial," he added.

Prosecutors last year charged Murgio over the operation of Coin.mx, and in April charged his father Michael with participating in bribery aimed at supporting it.

Authorities have said Coin.mx was owned by Gery Shalon, an Israeli man who, along with two others, was charged with running a sprawling computer hacking and fraud scheme targeting a dozen companies, including JPMorgan, and exposing personal data of more than 100 million people.

That alleged scheme generated hundreds of millions of dollars of profit through pumping up stock prices, online casinos, money laundering and other illegal activity, prosecutors have said.

Shalon has pleaded not guilty, and is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. He hired new lawyers last month and is seeking permission to replace lawyers who joined the case in June, a Monday court filing showed.

The case is U.S. v Murgio et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-cr-00769.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Diane Craft)

LONDON Accenture is challenging a defining feature of blockchain, its immutability, by patenting a system that will allow data processed and stored using the technology to be edited.

SINGAPORE Grab, the biggest rival to ride-sharing service Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] in Southeast Asia, has raised $750 million in a funding round, turning up the heat on the U.S. firm now seeking to expand in the region after exiting China.

NEW YORK JPMorgan Chase & Co said it had hired and would take a stake in InvestCloud, which provides software that makes online transactions easier for customers with banking and investment accounts.

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Cloud Storage | Save Data Conveniently, Offer Life Convenience

Cloud storage sounds like it has something to do with weather fronts and storm systems, it really refers to saving data to an off-site storage system maintained by a third party. Cloud Based Data Storage Services. Comparison of the Top Secure Solutions and Services. Cloud storage comes in all shapes and forms. Direct comparison between providers is often difficult because they focus on different aspects of the service.

Part 1 . Cloud Storage Advantages

Cloud storage has several advantages over traditional data storage. For example.

Part 2.Top 20 Best Cloud Storage

Here is a rundown of 20 of the top providers and some of their respective benefits.

1.SugarSync

SugarSync which represents a hefty reduction. For that, though, you get backup for unlimited machines, Mac or Windows, you will make sure its worth it. You can add or edit a file on one device and it will instantly be available on another and you can back up your existing folder structure (unlike with, say, DropBox), which makes things very convenient and straightforward.

With just a couple of clicks you can make sure that any folder is backed up in real time, so you can access them from other devices, anywhere PC, Mac, iOS or Android. This means you can start work on a file at the office on one computer and finish it on the bus or at home on a tablet, seamlessly. Its simple, its powerful and its still good value for money with a 1,000GB package coming in at $55 per month, and custom plans available.

2.Carbonite

Carbonite is one of the most competitive cloud services when it comes to cost. They use the same approach for both personal and business cloud backup, targeting the home/small business user, though their business solutions are more expensive. Pro gives you backup for unlimited workstations at $269.99 per year. They have a series of products across this range, with both hybrid and cloud backup. They also offer 7-day support, from 8.30am to 9pm every day. Theres a 15-day free trial and their hybrid backup bare metal recovery service comes with a 30-day money back guarantee.

3.IDrive

IDrive offer a one stop shop solution that enables you to back up everything PC, Mac, devices and even Facebook pictures into the same account. Business users can back up business computers, servers, Exchange, SQL, NAS and mobile devices.

As well as multiple device and social media backup, IDrive offers strong privacy options. Apart from 256-bit AES encryption, theres a further option for a private key known only to you putting your data beyond the reach of anyone else. IDrive also have an unusual way to kickstart your backup: they ship you a physical hard drive, which you copy your data to and send back to them, so you dont have to worry about using your full bandwidth allowance for weeks on end to get a full copy in the cloud.

4.Dropbox

Perhaps the biggest and best-known name in cloud storage, Dropbox is many peoples first and last experience of a cloud provider. Dropbox syncs your files automatically and allows you to share them with your family and friends, even if they dont have a Dropbox account. Its supremely usable and intuitive, and files can be accessed from any device. You can share folders to collaborate on documents, though its not really suitable for business use its designed for individuals and casual users, rather than enterprise. Its a no-frills approach, and the privacy policy is more aligned with Googles than, say, SpiderOaks, but its a good entry-level choice if you need cloud backup.

5.Google Drive

The giant of the web, Google provides a reliable and low-cost solution for cloud storage (and much more besides). You can use Google Drive on unlimited machines, but theres no Linux option just Windows and Mac. The catch is privacy. Many companies are moving towards a model of charging little or nothing up-front, but monetising their customers by using their data for a variety of purposes, including advertising. Google are the masters at this, which is a double-edged sword. You get extremely cheap storage and its hooked into all of their many other offerings, including email. Unfortunately, its not so good for keeping your information secure. Compared to the privacy-first app.

6.BackBlaze

BackBlaze is designed differently to most cloud services. You simply download the software, install it, and then backup occurs automatically. Theres no need to select different files and folders. It just happens. BackBlaze hunts around your computer and finds photos, music, documents and other critical files. When your computer is not in use, it copies, compresses and encrypts them, before sending them to a secure data centre for safe keeping. Whats particularly encouraging is the lack of any limits imposed. You can back up data to the cloud from an external hard drive, at no extra cost; there are also no limits to file size or bandwidth, which sets them apart from many others in the space. BackBlaze runs in the background on Windows or Mac computers. Its not just secure, with strong encryption; its also easy to use, and files can still be accessed in the cloud from your mobile device using their app.

7.CrashPlan

CrashPlan works away in the background, making sure you dont lose any vital files music, photos and docs are continuously and automatically backed up for you. There are three levels of backup. You can select an external hard drive for free, so all your files are kept locally on a separate disk. Although thats a start it obviously has its limitations, so theres also the option to back up to other trusted computers in your network (e.g. family and friends). Lastly, theres the cloud option, which is most secure: sign up to their cloud service and youll get unlimited online backup, with no caps on storage, bandwidth or limits on file types. CrashPlan uses enterprise quality hardware and military-grade encryption is standard. You can continue to access your files from any device you own.

8.Mozy

Mozy is well-known and trusted in the industry, so there are plenty of testimonials and reviews to show you what their strengths are theyre used by over 6 million individuals and 100,000 businesses around the world, who entrust over 90 Petabytes of data to them. Their set it and forget it option means you can schedule backup for a time (or times) of day thats convenient its customisable to suit you. Theres a strong emphasis on security, with double encryption (256-bit AES or 448-bit managed Blowfish key, plus transfer with an SSL-encrypted connection). Data centres are monitored 24/7, with temperature control, backup power, seismic bracing and other safeguards you wont hear about from most other providers. They have multiple EU data centres, so that European data can be stored in Europe.

9.JustCloud.com

JustCloud is one of the best providers out there. There are free mobile apps, and you can share files with friends easily. Its a straightforward and automated service that aims to make hard drives obsolete, with a huge breadth of devices and operating systems supported. Should you need it, theres 24/7 support, so if you have a problem there will always be someone on hand to help. Theres also unlimited file versioning, which means every new version of a document is recorded so you wont lose a file if you make a mistake you can always revert to an old one. Files are encrypted with 256-bit secured socket layer encryption and stored in secure data centres, monitored round the clock.

10.Mega

Megas cloud packages start at EUR 9.99 per month for 500GB, or EUR 99.99 per year. You get 50GB of free storage, and its available for Windows, Mac and Linux. (Theres also a new Lite plan for low use 200GB storage and 1TB bandwidth for EUR 4.99 a month.) Mega has only been around since 2013, but it has carved out a good reputation for itself. It has a very strong ethos of data protection, and its approach is guided by the principle that security by policy is grossly inadequate; only security by design is sufficient in a post-Snowden world.

11. SOS Online Backup

SOS is another great low-cost cloud solution, starting at just $5 per month for unlimited storage, or $59.99 a year. Theres a 14-day free trial and its available for Windows or Mac. Theres also a powerful Android app to back up everything on your mobile devices. Whats more, you can restore lost files at any time, from any device. SOSs UltraSafe approach employs user-created keys, which are never stored in the cloud so you and only you can access your files. (However, this does mean that if you lose your keys, your data will be unrecoverable.) Data is stored on secure, monitored servers, which are backed up to different hardware every night.

12. SpiderOak

SpiderOak adopts a Zero Knowledge approach to privacy, their USP. Prices start at $7 per month for 30GB, or $84 a year; you can use it on unlimited machines and its available for Windows, Mac and Linux. Plans go up to 5TB, with 1TB just $12 a month. For that, as well as the impressive amount of space, you also get sole control of your data: nothing unencrypted is stored on their servers. Its an approach that has been endorsed by Edward Snowden, who compares them (very favourably) with DropBox. SpiderOaks policy is that privacy should come as standard, and that companies that dont want to give it to you invariably stand to make money from your data.

13. Norton

Norton is a big name in online security thanks to their antivirus and other products, and theyve branched out into cloud storage too. Its also straightforward to transfer files between computers, and retrieve backed up files from any machine via a secure, password-protected web page. Previous backups are held for 90 days, so if you need to revert to an older version in that time, theyre available. Files are automatically compressed at backup to save space.

14. SafeCopy

SafeCopy offers a lot of storage at a reasonable price. You get 3GB for free, after which its $4.17 a month ($50 a year) for up to 200GB. Theres a 30-day free trial, and you can use it from an unlimited number of machines (Windows and Mac). Files are protected with 448-military grade encryption, and most of the heavy lifting is done by SafeCopys own servers, so the CPU overhead is low. Theres unlimited versioning, you can backup multiple folders (unlike Dropbox, for example) and you can restore files from anywhere. If you delete a file on your computer, it remains on SafeCopy, unless you manually delete it too so its a great way to avoid mistakes. Its also easy to share files with friends and family. SafeCopy comes with support for 15 languages.

15. Livedrive

Livedrive provide unlimited storage for $8 a month or $48 a year. Theres a 14-day free trial, but no free storage allowance, and you can use it on only one machine. Windows and Mac are supported. Livedrive is one of the fastest-growing cloud storage services. Their Briefcase option is a step up from the basic backup; its easy to set up and there are apps to enable you to see your files on any iOS, Android or Windows 8 device. Livedrive is also aimed at resellers who provide backup, cloud storage and sync products to their customers. Theres a flat fee per month for this, with no per-customer billing.

16. pCloud

pCloud gives you a generous 10GB of free storage across unlimited machines, and supports Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. If you need more, its only $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year for 100GB. pCloud lets you access documents from your computer, from a smartphone or device, or even from a web browser. Theres an option to up security and encrypt sensitive files with pCloud Crypto, which will cost a further $3.99 a month. Once active, files can be added to your Crypto folder and locked with a password. Encryption is client-side, so pCloud itself doesnt have access to your files.

17. OpenDrive

OpenDrive offer unlimited space on unlimited machines from $9.95 per month or $99 per year, supporting Windows or Mac systems. You get 5GB of free storage. As well as desktop versions, theres an Android app you can download to back up and share files quickly and easily from a tablet. Files and folders of any size can be shared, and media files played directly from the cloud. Hotlinking enables you to link to cloud-based files in emails and documents, and its easy to add people to shared folders. This does, of course, come at the expense of some data security.

18. altdrive

Altdrive offers no free storage and you can only use it on one machine, but there is a 30-day trial and it works with Mac, Windows and Linux (as well as the Solaris operating system). You can buy unlimited storage for $4.45 per month, or $44.50 a year. Altdrive supports very large files up to 4GB making it an option for businesses that routinely deal with such documents. Theres a strong emphasis on security, which is one of the reasons it does not offer syncing or sharing of files (which are offered by platforms like Dropbox); they state that we cannot recommend them for sensitive files because they have ongoing unresolved security issues.

19.Zoolz

Zoolz specialise in long-term storage, stating that they will keep your data in the cloud for a lifetimeand that other companies do not have this long-term outlook. Before documents are sent to their servers they are encrypted with 256-bit military-grade AES encryption. There are plenty of features such as scheduling and setting upload speed limits, and theres a hybrid option if you want a second backup on a local server.

Although you can restore individual files or everything, should you need to, the process incurs a delay of 3-5 hourssomething Zoolz state is to do with their long-term approach, without explaining why. This, along with the higher-than-usual cost, may put off some prospective customers.

20. ADrive ADrive is a pretty flexible option, supporting Windows, Mac and Linux systems. You can access files from anywhere, and share or edit them online. There are good search tools, and folder upload for simplicity. Premium and business packages offer online collaboration, file history recovery, public file expiration and SSL encryption. However, premium/business packages also offer No 3rd Party Advertisements, which suggests the basic package will include ads not something many people will want to sign up for. You can access your files from anywhere with an internet connection, though, and there are also Android and iOS apps to download, as well as desktop software.

Its therefore worth looking ahead to see how much you will have to pay, and how much space it will get you. Aside from that, you should look at what operating systems are supported, and whether you will be able to back up and use files from more than one files formats converter machine if you are working on documents at home as well as in the office, The flipside of this is that you will bear greater responsibility for safeguarding your data, and there are sometimes usability implications (sharing and collaborating on files becomes harder if you also have to manage encryption keys, for example).

Source: http://cloudnewsdaily.com/cloud-storage/

Part 3. DVD And Blu-ray Rip/Backup/Copy Tips

Part 4.Software Recommendation

How about streaming DVD/Blu-ray/ video toCloud Storage, can your playCloud Storage filesfor your devices?

Part 5.How to Transcode and Stream DVD/Blu-ray toCloud Storage (Example for- ByteCopy )

Step 1: Load 4K video into the program

Launch the program on your computer, click File menu and select Add Video/Audio or Add DVD/Blu-ray from folder to import 4K video files into the application.

Step 2: Define output format

Click Format bar, from its drop-down options, select right formats as output video to your media player compatible file formats such as HD Video/TV/3D > H.264 HD Video(*.mp4)which is a friendly format used by most device .

Tips of three ways to backup Blu-ray .Method One: Losslessly Backup Blu-ray with original structure,Method Two: Losslessly Copy Blu-ray Main Movie and leave out extras,Method Three: Losslessly Backup Blu-ray to MKV/MP4/AVI/MOV/WMV

Step 3: Begin the conversion process

After all the settings is completed, hit right-bottom Convert button to start video/DVD/Blu-ray to Cloud Storagemedia players streamable formats conversion process.

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Crowd funding | ASIC’s MoneySmart

Chipping in

Contributing money to a crowd funding project can be a great way of showing your support for a creative, social or business initiative you believe has merit. However, you need to do some research to ensure your money is being used for a legitimate project. Here are some things to consider before you decide to get involved.

Crowd funding is used by artists and entrepreneurs to find money to fund their projects. Money is usually raised through a crowd funding website. The website enables people who are not professional financiers to pool their money towards a project.

Most crowd funding websites will have information on the project's aims and objectives, how it will work and its budget. Crowd source funding websites can be based in Australia or overseas. The projects they fund are usually creative, business or social initiatives with relatively small budgets.

Crowd funding projects are usually promoted using social media and word-of-mouth. Often project sponsors are friends and family, or people easily contacted through existing networks. However, anyone can pledge money to the project via the website and some get world-wide support from complete strangers.

There is no monetary reward for supporting a project and sponsors are often enticed with a small gift such as a signed CD, a free T-shirt or a discount on products in return for their support.

In most cases, only projects that raise enough money can go ahead. Most, but not all sites return funds if the target amount is not reached.

Crowd source funding websites make money through a levy on the total funds received for the campaign. Often the levy is only deducted if the campaign goes ahead.

If you want to participate in crowd source funding you'll need to:

Once the project has reached it's target funding, the money you've pledged will be deducted from your account.

Most crowd funding websites do not have Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status so you will not be able to claim a tax deduction for the money you pledge.

However, the project creator may have DGR status. If so, it is up to them to provide you with a tax deductible receipt if you request one.

You cannot claim a tax deduction if you have received a gift, reward or discount.

Raising money for a crowd funding project relies heavily on trust.

Even if there's a small gift involved, the main motivation for sponsoring a project is usually because you have an interest in the project and a desire to see it succeed.

If you've heard about a crowd source funding project that you'd like to support make sure you check the legitimacy of any website or social media page you're directed to. Remember to carefully read the terms and conditions on the crowd funding site before signing up.

You should also try to find out as much information as you can about the project and its owner before you sponsor them. For example:

Don't give your credit card details unless you're comfortable that the website, the project and its owners are legitimate.

Visit our credit card scams page to find out what to do if you think your credit card details have been compromised or you think you've been scammed.

Supporting a project you really believe in can be a rewarding experience but you need to be careful someone isn't taking advantage of your generosity.

Last updated: 07 Aug 2016

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Cloud Server Hosting in India – dialwebhosting.com

Businesses that collaborate with DialWebHosting, benefit from our higher service levels, reduced complexities, and uninterrupted service availability. We own and manage multiple Tier III data centers, located in low-seismic zone to keep your businesses functional in any catastrophic event.

Our data centers are stapled with stringent security controls, dedicated firewalls, and other security devices to defend business critical and personally identifiable information against security vulnerabilities.

Our elastic cloud-enabled data center infrastructure can adjust dynamically changing business needs. Our on-demand provisioning module allows clients to provision resources in a real-time for both analytics and transaction processing at competitive pricing.

Our cloud experts manage your deployed environment, relieving your in-house IT staff to focus on more value-generating activities, allowing them to find room for innovation.

We offer transparent pricing based on different usage metrics. It allows clients to readily calculate costs based on several different usage estimates, and plan accordingly.

Over provisioning of servers and computing resources creates unused capacity and thus, entails higher cost while under provisioning of servers can have significant impact on service levels. Being the leading cloud server hosting provider in India, we allow businesses to dial up the resources immediately, and then, dial them down when needed.

By leveraging our cloud server hosting services, businesses can rapidly provision innovative apps, including analytics and other requisite tools. This, in turn, will enable organizations to focus on extracting business value and think strategically.

We have a dedicated team of cloud security experts, who are available at your discretion, 24 hours a day to assist you throughout your cloud expedition. You can speak to our cordial and knowledgeable professionals at any time.

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Best Cloud Storage Providers 2016 Reviewed & Rated

1 Winner http://www.sync.com Sync.com File Sharing Syncronisation File versioning: Unlimited Free Storage: 5 GB Free Trial Mobile Access

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The bizarre world of bitcoin mining finds a new home in …

Inside a metal shed in the Tibetan highlands of western China, thousands of microprocessors flank narrow corridors, generating a constant hum and stifling waves of heat.

Outside, the sky is clear and blue, with a mountain peak looming at the top of a narrow wooded valley. A flock of goats ambles idly past a pile of discarded foam packaging. Inside, though, tranquility is transformed into clamor. Red, blue and green lights constantly flash; cooling water trickles down the walls, and large ventilation fans thrum as they struggle to shift the hot air produced by all this concentrated computing power.

This is a bitcoin mine, the engine room of the worlds leading digital currency. The microprocessors here approve and record all the transactions that keep the bitcoin system running. They also compete to solve complex mathematical problems and are rewarded with bitcoins: Thats a way of putting fresh digital currency into circulation and incentivizing more people to set up mining operations.

Bitcoin began as a utopian, libertarian dream, a decentralized currency outside the control of governments, a system that gives its users the anonymity of cash and the instant, global power of email. This was a system built not just for convenience, but also for those who cant bring themselves to trust the global financial system, created by a programmer whose identity remains a mystery.

Across Tibet, China is busy pulling mineral resources out of the ground; there is even a gold mine close by. But here in Kongyu, most of the mining is virtual. It is here because of extremely cheap hydropower, cheap wages and perhaps because Chinese entrepreneurs have a knack for the business.

[Chinas scary lesson to the world: Censoring the Internet works]

For a while, bitcoin was effectively kidnapped by drug dealers, becoming the anonymous payment backbone of the Silk Road, a black market in illegal drugs that flourished on the dark Net until the FBI closed that market down in 2013.

Today it is an industry that is starting to come of age, but whose center of gravity has shifted to China, and away from utopian dreamers toward venture capitalists.

When bitcoin was invented, the people dedicated to it were mostly crypto-punks and libertarians, said Eric Mu, the chief marketing officer with HaoBTC, which operates the bitcoin mine in this township in Chinas western Sichuan province. Now they are more like bankers and lawyers who see opportunities in the industry. And as they join, the industry is changing.

In this case, changing also means moving to China.

Today, mines run by Chinese companies account for about 70percent of the worlds bitcoin processing power, its factories produce the cheapest microprocessors to run these mines, and its exchanges account for about 70percent of the worlds bitcoin trade.

It is increasingly big business. Altogether there around more than 15 million bitcoin in existence: Each is worth $615 at current prices, with a market capitalization of $9.2 billion.

For some, Chinese domination of an industry once controlled by libertarian crypto-punks is a rich irony. For others, it is a more practical threat: Chinese miners, some argued, have been standing in the way of reforms needed to speed up transaction speeds on bitcoins fast-expanding network of users.

But those concerns might be overblown.

Some people in the Western world were painting Chinese miners with too broad a brush, said Emin Gn Sirer, a computer science professor at Cornell University. Its not the case that all Chinese miners are part of the same enterprise or are colluding.

But Sirer identifies one risk with the concentration of mining power here: If the Chinese government wanted, it could in theory crack down on miners and force them to block certain bitcoin accounts.

They would not be able to usurp funds, but they could stop the motion of funds, he said, describing exactly the sort of government control bitcoin was supposed to guard against.

These are concerns that have parallels with the way China is using its digital market power to reshape the Internet and influence the global debate about censorship and surveillance.

But here, in the mountains of Sichuan, it is hard to see much evidence of a Chinese plot to bring bitcoin to heel.

The Chinese government has employed a fairly light touch. Although it banned banks from taking part in bitcoin trading in 2013, it left ordinary people free to buy and trade the crypto-currency, and miners free to operate.

[Internet activists are finding ways around Chinas Great Firewall]

The industry is run by a disparate mix of investors and dreamers and is manned by electricians and IT experts. There are people like Ryan Xu, an infectiously enthusiastic Chinese-born Australian who first became interested in libertarian economics while working as a reactor operator in a nuclear power plant. He now describes himself as both a utopian and a venture capitalist.

We need to foresee the next five or 10 years, he said in a wide-ranging conversation over dinner in the western city of Kangding. All the governments are printing money and diluting peoples wealth. Is that justice or robbery? The financial system also keeps crashing every five or 10 years. I think thats an illness in the monetary system and it needs a cure.

He says he is not sure bitcoin is the answer, but it is at least an experiment that might work.

So why China?

Running microprocessors sucks electricity. Competition is intense, and profit margins are narrow: Xu has moved his mines around the world in search of the cheapest power, from Iceland to Georgia, and then to Washington state, from the coal fields of Chinas northern Inner Mongolia province and now to the mountains of Sichuan.

His latest mine is still under construction, between a hydroelectric power plant and the concrete shell of a disused power transmission station, between Kongyu and the city of Kangding.

As Chinas economy boomed, private companies set up hydroelectric plants in western Sichuan; then, as the economy slowed, they found themselves unable to sell to the national grid, elbowed out of the market by more politically powerful state-owned firms.

It took a lot of money to build the plants, but it doesnt cost that much to maintain them, said HaoBTCs Mu. So it makes sense for them to sell the power to anyone willing to buy, even at a low rate.

Maintenance staffers are cheaper here than in the West. Mu says his company employs 10 people at three mines in the mountains, paying them around 6,000 yuan ($900) a month, a decent salary for this part of the world. HaoBTC runs one other mine in Sichuan and one farther west in Xinjiang, with more than 11,000 machines, earning more than 80 bitcoin a day a daily income stream worth more than $745,000.

[These viral selfie apps with 1 billion downloads are shaping Chinas start-up culture]

But it is not only Chinese entrepreneurs who have taken to bitcoin. Deprived of good investment opportunities at home, and burned by a volatile stock market, a growing number of Chinese people have begun speculating and investing in bitcoin.

Bobby Lee, a former Silicon Valley engineer who founded Chinas first bitcoin exchange, BTCC, attributes it partly to a natural instinct to buy and sell.

If you look at Las Vegas or Macau or casinos worldwide, how come most of the clientele are of Asian descent, or Chinese specifically? he asked. It has to do with some cultural instinct. Chinese people like to gamble.

Yet as bitcoin matures, it is also experiencing some significant growing pains.

Bitcoin is virtual money that cuts out banks and credit card companies, and has gotten more popular recently. Here's what you need to know about the original cryptocurrency. (Davin Coburn/The Washington Post)

On Aug. 2, the Bitfinex exchange in Hong Kong was forced to admit that hackers had stolen nearly 120,000 bitcoin worth $72million from customers accounts. That news caused the bitcoin price to fall by more than 20 percent and underlined the safety concerns that many ordinary people feel about owning digital money.

At the same time, the system is showing signs of overloading. Bitcoins current technology can process only around three digital transactions a second minuscule compared with the roughly 24,000 transactions per second that Visa can manage.

Delays in processing transactions have grown, as have transaction fees, and the industry has become deeply divided about how to reform the system to solve the problem.

Jeff Garzik, a leading bitcoin developer based in Atlanta, argues that a technological fix is in the pipeline that soon will allow bitcoin to process tens of thousands of transactions a second.

I think that with new technologies coming down the pipeline, it can scale up to everyone buying their coffee with bitcoin in the entire world, he said. It really can be the first really good substitute for physical in-your-hand cash.

Like Sirer, he isnt too worried about the current concentration of mining power in China, partly because the market is so dynamic and the dominant players change every year.

Its much easier to challenge the dominant players in this space because market entry is so easy, he said. If the Chinese miners suddenly power off their rigs, within 24 hours well see the emergence of another competitor.

Here in the mountains, miners while away their free time playing mah-jongg or poker, smoking cigarettes or surfing on their smartphones. Site manager Guo Hua used to run a small camera-repair shop and still likes fiddling around with machines. Marketing manager Mu, who spends only a few weeks of the year here, likes to translate books in his free time or run to the nearest town to buy cigarettes for his colleagues. Sometimes he hikes into the mountains, toward a remote Tibetan village or a looming peak, a welcome change of change of pace from Beijing and its polluted air.

And all the time, the microprocessors keep on running.

Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright has come forward as the mysterious creator behind the virtual currency Bitcoin. Here's a look at what we know about the creator's pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin's history and Wright's claims. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Xu Yangjingjing contributed to this report.

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America wants to believe China cant innovate. Tech tells a different story.

The Internet was supposed to foster democracy. China has different ideas.

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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Altcoin News

Read the most breaking altcoin news here. We cove major altcoins from Litecoin to Dogecoin and Dash. If you have any altcoin news tips please use our form here.

Bitwala, a crypto-to-SEPA service that allows fiat currency transfers towards settlements from users who pay in cryptocurrency, has been less than impr

In a bid to break away from the U.K. and the pound Scottish Independence supporters have launched the Scotcoin; however, reports suggest that its low v

DJ Lethal and Justin Lally have launched an altcoin for the music industry called Kashcoin. Users will be eligible for deals and perks. The goal is to

Krypton, an Ethereum-based blockchain, has announced that in order to protect its token coin KR from being stolen from exchanges through a double spend

Apple has dealt a blow for Dash users looking to use the cryptocurrency on the iOS platform after telling multi-platform cryptocurrency wallet Jaxx to

The value of Monero has more than tripled in the last ten days moving from around $2.47 to $8.10 as at the time of this publication. Described as t

Blocksafe, a blockchain-based system that provides secure access, personal monitoring and control of smart guns, will use Lisk sidechain technology t

Cryptobuyer, a Venezuelan cryptocurrency brokerage has announced support for Dash, which sees the digital currency joining bitcoin on Cryptob

The popular crypto-currency Monero has increased approximately 200% over the past week as darknet marketplaces have adopted the currency. The cryptocur

In the wake of a $55 million dollar compromise of the DAO, a distributed fund created to fund Ethereum projects, a desperate debate regarding how to re

[Projects like the DAO] are an inelegant and wholly unconvincing way to commit securities fraud, speaking kindly, Preston Byrnes said at the Blockcha

The Blush familys Dash Across America Tour in its Bitcoin Bus was denied assistance from a Las Vegas bitcoin organizer in setting up ameetup in Las

ConsenSys, a blockchain technology company, and Ethereum have developed BTC Relay, an Ethereum contract that allows Ethereum users to pay with bitcoin.

Multi-platform software wallet Jaxx now stores Dash,the seventh most valued cryptocurrency in the world with a market cap of about $80 million. Jax

A pair of researchers has developed a cryptocurrency called DDoSCoin that rewards users for participating in distributed denial of service (DDoS) attac

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Altcoin News

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The AltcoinBoard – Index

Rules

Rules, ToS, etc.

2 Posts 2 Topics

Last post by AltcoinBoardAdmin in Member Ranks on March 19, 2016, 10:24:29 am

Feel free to post any suggestion you have, that may improve the forum

231 Posts 27 Topics

Last post by JasonXG in Re: Looking for crypto c... on August 31, 2016, 06:51:15 pm

Information regarding exchanging Tokens and Advertising on the forum

1 Posts 1 Topics

Last post by AltcoinBoardAdmin in Advertise on The Altcoin... on March 16, 2016, 07:49:23 pm

Everything about XAB

56 Posts 2 Topics

Last post by JasonXG in Re: The forum is not pai... on September 11, 2016, 05:31:39 pm

General discussion about our official currency

493 Posts 27 Topics

Last post by kenobius in Re: [ANN] | PostCoin | [... on August 20, 2016, 12:00:33 am

Altcoin launch announcements and official altcoin announcement threads

536 Posts 72 Topics

Last post by vindyne8 in Re: [ANN] Scavenger Worl... on September 09, 2016, 11:28:34 pm

General discussions about Altcoins

215 Posts 26 Topics

Last post by andref in Cryptocurrency Analytics... on September 08, 2016, 02:20:03 pm

Altcoin related service offers, service announcements

30 Posts 8 Topics

Last post by vindyne8 in Re: Vindyne8 Altcoin and... on September 10, 2016, 09:52:39 pm

Anything, related mining - hardwares, softwares, experiences.

37 Posts 4 Topics

Last post by Prashant in Miner guys on August 28, 2016, 06:13:14 am

Sell - Buy

29 Posts 5 Topics

Last post by Prashant in Re: market place on August 27, 2016, 03:57:30 pm

122 Posts 18 Topics

Last post by chokri29 in Get Free 60 UBW Coin (wo... on August 30, 2016, 06:03:18 pm

45 Posts 8 Topics

Last post by chokri29 in Earn Bitcoin with Bitkan... on September 08, 2016, 04:05:23 pm

Discussions about Bitcoin and the Bitcoin network in general.

37 Posts 2 Topics

Last post by calipseum in Re: Bitcoin Price on August 17, 2016, 09:15:47 am

3 Posts 2 Topics

Last post by ccedk_pro in OpenLedger ApS is hiring... on September 05, 2016, 11:01:37 am

Bitcoin related services and service announcements

2 Posts 2 Topics

Last post by chokri29 in Save money by shopping P... on September 11, 2016, 06:48:06 pm

General discussions about ETH

71 Posts 4 Topics

Last post by cjmoles in Re: Ethereum General Dis... on July 14, 2016, 08:36:52 am

General discussions about LTC

14 Posts 2 Topics

Last post by JasonXG in Re: Future of Litecoin on June 11, 2016, 12:55:18 am

General discussions about DASH

9 Posts 1 Topics

Last post by Yefet in Re: [ANN][DASH] Dash | F... on August 27, 2016, 12:29:35 pm

General discussions about NXT

13 Posts 1 Topics

Last post by kenobius in Re: NXT - general discus... on August 02, 2016, 12:41:36 pm

General discussions about DCR

18 Posts 1 Topics

Last post by JasonXG in Re: Decred holders on June 09, 2016, 08:14:31 pm

Dedicated Russian Board

4203 Posts 43 Topics

Last post by chokri29 in EARN Bitcoin BITKAN (... on September 09, 2016, 10:28:12 pm

6 Posts 2 Topics

Last post by JasonXG in Re: General BITTREX Disc... on July 10, 2016, 11:28:47 am

General discussions about Livecoin.net

4 Posts 1 Topics

Last post by LiveCoin in Re: LiveCoin.net > Buy/S... on September 09, 2016, 01:15:32 pm

25 Posts 2 Topics

Last post by Prashant in Re: New coins speculatoi... on August 27, 2016, 04:13:29 pm

45 Posts 4 Topics

Last post by Prashant in Re: Go Post !! on August 27, 2016, 01:20:27 pm

5 Posts 2 Topics

Last post by Prashant in Re: How many coins have ... on August 27, 2016, 01:46:43 pm

11 Posts 1 Topics

Last post by jalmari in Re: i LOST MORE THAN 100... on June 04, 2016, 07:20:10 am

Kraken, BTC-e, Bleutrade, safecex

48 Posts 6 Topics

Last post by MenthoL in Re: Bleutrade on August 15, 2016, 07:39:35 pm

Trash, Spam, Archive.

5246 Posts 217 Topics

Last post by casio in Re: XAB - ... on August 25, 2016, 09:31:48 pm

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The AltcoinBoard - Index

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What is Cloud Computing – Cloud Providers

Consulting and professional services: We help you assess your applications and data for cloud. We plan the optimum deployment model, considering physical, virtual, cloud, or hybrid options. We plan the change, and provide the people to carry out the actual migration. Once in place, we optimise performance and cost-benefit, and ensure compliance with governance and policy.

Private cloud: Dedicated to each client and delivered as-a-service from your data centre or ours, its a cost-effective, rapid implementation alternative to building your own private cloud.

Public cloud: Our public cloud will satisfy even the most demanding enterprise users with a network-centric design, multiple layers of security, and high availability.

Hybrid cloud:We can cover every possible permutation of private and public cloud. In your data centre, ours, or both. Including managed on-site IT, and third-party cloud services. And integrate it all into a unified eco-system with consumer-style convenience in provisioning and billing.

Business continuity: We offer cloud-based back-up and disaster recovery and attach stringent service level guarantees to all commitments.

Cloud Services for Microsoft: Enjoy the flexibility of a fully-managed private or hybrid enterprise cloud service providing messaging, collaboration, PSTN voice, video and web conferencing through access to Microsoft communication and collaboration technologies all on a pay-per-use basis.

Cloud Services for Cisco: Allows you to stay in control, and retain the value of your existing UC assets as you take the first steps into the cloud, and take advantage of the benefits that the cloud offers.

Enterprise Mobility-as-a-Service: A policy-driven solution, hosted on Dimension Data's cloud infrastructure, that ensures flexible integration, rapid implementation, and fast adoption of mobility across the organisation.

OneCloud Partner Programme: Many of our cloud clients are service providers, systems integrators, or independent software vendors. By joining our OneCloud Partner Programme, these partners can either resell or white label our cloud services, or we can build a managed cloud platform for their exclusive use.

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What is Cloud Computing - Cloud Providers

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Getting started – Bitcoin

Using Bitcoin to pay and get paid is easy and accessible to everyone.

How to use Bitcoin

Bitcoin is different than what you know and use every day. Before you start using Bitcoin, there are a few things that you need to know in order to use it securely and avoid common pitfalls.

You can bring a Bitcoin wallet in your everyday life with your mobile or you can have a wallet only for online payments on your computer. In any case, choosing your wallet can be done in a minute.

You can get bitcoins by accepting them as a payment for goods and services or by buying them from a friend or someone near you. You can also buy them directly from an exchange with your bank account.

There is a growing number of services and merchants accepting Bitcoin all over the world. You can use Bitcoin to pay them and rate your experience to help honest businesses to gain more visibility.

How to accept Bitcoin

Bitcoin does not require merchants to change their habits. However, Bitcoin is different than what you know and use every day. Before you start using Bitcoin, there are a few things that you need to know in order to use it securely and avoid common pitfalls.

You can process payments and invoices by yourself or you can use merchant services and deposit money in your local currency or bitcoins. Most point of sales businesses use a tablet or a mobile phone to let customers pay with their mobile phones.

Merchants often deposit and display prices in their local currency. In other cases, Bitcoin works similarly to a foreign currency. To get appropriate guidance regarding tax compliance for your own jurisdiction, you should contact a qualified accountant.

There is a growing number of users searching for ways to spend their bitcoins. You can submit your business in online directories to help them easily find you. You can also display the Bitcoin logo on your website or your brick and mortar business.

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Getting started - Bitcoin

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