All posts by flippener

UK Government Lures Distributed Ledger Projects With $26 Million Fund

January 28, 2018 flippener

The United Kingdom’s technology development arm, Innovate UK, is doubling down on its support for blockchain-based technologies, it announced on Jan. 22.

The U.K.’s nondepartmental public office said it would invest a total of £19 million ($26.6 million) in projects which will result in new products or service in the fields of emerging and enabling technologies, including using distributed ledgers. The agency will also offer a further £12 million ($16.8 million) for businesses trying to recruit graduates to help develop their project.

Blockchain (Image: DavidStankiewicz/Wikipedia)

Respondents have until March 28, 2018 to submit their proposal, and must be run by a business or a research and technology group. The projects’ scopes must cost at least £35,000 and last at least for three months, but can go on to three years with a cost of £2 million, according to the announcement. Also a part of the eligibility criteria is that businesses should be able to raise up to 70 percent of their costs on their own.

Crypto Fear-Mongering at Davos

January 27, 2018 flippener

While cryptocurrencies have been a talking point at previous World Economic Forum conferences, they have come to the fore in Davos this year.

Following a breakout year which saw Bitcoin rise to an almighty high of $20,000, alongside the massive growth of other altcoins, it’s hardly surprising that one of the major talking points at WEF would be the future of cryptocurrency.

With financial industry leaders coming together at the most important annual event on the economic calendar, media outlets took their chance to ask the top minds for their two cents worth on the current and future prospects of virtual currencies.

Cointelegraph is currently attending the summit in Davos and has reported continual resistant perceptions towards cryptocurrencies.

These views stem from a lack of a regulatory framework for virtual currencies which has made some of the world’s prominent banking and financial institutions hesitant about investing and supporting cryptocurrencies.

UBS Chairman Axel Weber said as much in an interview with Bloomberg, saying his firm would not recommend cryptocurrency adoption or investment to its clients until there is clarity on future regulatory action.

As per usual, the vibrant and feisty cryptocurrency community has been watching developments at Davos keenly, and there has been plenty of backlash in response to any FUD or untoward comments about cryptocurrencies.

Mining Adventure Part 2: 13 GPUs in One PC?

Video January 26, 2018 flippener

We finally rectify the mistakes made in Mining Adventure Part 1, and show you guys how you can build a rig to mine cryptocurrencies like Monero, and Zcash.

Bitcoin (BTC), News

Bitcoin Demand at $10K Hints at Move Higher

January 25, 2018 flippener

Persistent demand around the $10,000 mark appears to have not only neutralized the immediate bearish outlook on bitcoin, but also hints the cryptocurrency could be building a base for an eventual move higher.

Prices on CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) fell to $9,972.29 yesterday, before witnessing a quick recovery to $11,000 levels. This is the fourth time in last week that bitcoin (BTC) has recovered losses after sinking below $10,000 levels. As of writing, bitcoin is at $10,990 levels. The cryptocurrency has appreciated by 3.38 percent in the last 24 hours, according to OnChainFX.

Bitcoin price chart (Image: geralt/Pixabay)

On Coinbase’s GDAX exchange, BTC witnessed two-way business yesterday with prices hitting highs and lows of $$11, 370 and $9,945, respectively, before closing (as per UTC) at $10,824 levels.

The situation looks no different today as the rebound from the intraday low of $10,450 seems to have run out of steam above $11,000 levels. The cryptocurrency was last seen changing hands on GDAX at $10,970 levels.

Only 20 Percent Of Total Bitcoins Remain To Be Mined

January 24, 2018 flippener

Bitcoin miners passed a significant milestone over the weekend, when they mined the 16.8 millionth bitcoin from the cryptocurrency’s planned total of 21 million coins.

This means that 80 percent of all bitcoins that will be in existence have already been mined. According to estimates, bitcoin will reach its final coin figure sometime in 2140. (See also: How Does Bitcoin Mining Work?)

Over the years, bitcoin has adjusted the number of coins in circulation through a complex calibration of miner rewards and problem difficulty. Bitcoins are awarded to miners who solve complex mathematical problems through intensive computation. The reward number is halved every 210,000 blocks, per bitcoin’s original algorithm.

Immediately after bitcoin’s launch, miners earned 50 coins as reward for solving problems. It was cut to 25 in 2012 and 12.5 in 2016. In two years, miners can expect 6.25 bitcoins as rewards. The difficulty of problems has kept pace with rewards. As the number of rewards has decreased, bitcoin’s problem difficulty has increased, thereby making it more difficult and computation intensive to earn the coin.

Fernhill Corporation Finalizes Design for Bitcoin Mining Rig with Backup Power Supply Systems

January 22, 2018 flippener

[Just a development in the market that I found interesting]

Fernhill Corporation (OTC PINK: FERN) is pleased to report its progress on the development of a bitcoin mining rig with onboard energy storage and peak shaving capabilities.

CEO Adam Kovacevic said:

“Over the last several weeks we have been researching and designing a platform to develop a bitcoin mining rig that has the capability of self-regulating its demand for power. A mining rig specifically built to peak shave can prove to be a viable solution to assist in driving down the high costs of power consumption associated with the bitcoin mining business.”

Peak shaving is the process of reducing the amount of power purchased from a utility company during peak demand hours. Globally, peak pricing structures allow for utility companies to bring on additional capacity to meet the obligations of increased power demands during specific times of the day. This additional capacity comes at a cost to the consumer as typically older, costlier to run power generation equipment is brought online to keep up with peak demand. Peak power pricing is substantially higher than normal rates in order to encourage users to reduce their consumption during these specific times.

Ethereum Mining Rig (Image: MaxPixel) — Mining Rig (Image: MaxPixel)

Fernhill’s CEO concluded:

“The development of a system that can run independently off the grid during peak hours is intriguing. We believe that a feasible solution can be developed to significantly decrease the energy costs associated with bitcoin mining by offsetting the electric demand usage times. Electricity costs associated with bitcoin mining could be decreased by more than 30% in some instances by introducing a system with peak shaving capabilities.”

Fernhill estimates that the first mining rig will be completed and delivered to its client for evaluation in approximately 30 days.

Revealed: The tax-free Bitcoin loophole that could cost Treasury millions

January 21, 2018 flippener

A tax loophole which reduces Bitcoin investors’ gains to zero will be exploited by people filling in their returns for this tax year, potentially creating millions in lost revenue for the Government, experts have warned.

HMRC is expecting to see a surge in the number of taxpayers declaring gains from cryptocurrencies this year after many investors sold their holdings after values soared, leaving them with huge profits.

However the taxman’s anticipated windfall could be far less than expected thanks to a loophole which lets taxpayers class their investment in cryptocurrency as “gambling”, winnings from which are tax-free.

An HMRC spokesman said:

“We don’t normally tax betting and gambling because it is usually not classed as trading income…”

The end of an era and the beginning of something new

January 20, 2018 flippener

An open letter to the Bitcoin community by Jörg von Minckwitz

I have been in the crypto economy since the very early days. This was back in 2011 and since then I got to know the ups and downs of the market. I have seen the market crash from over $10 to almost zero, from $100 to under $10 and so on. On Monday morning, as I have always done for the last 6+ years, I was shocked after checking the Bitcoin price. The first thing that came to mind was: This is the end.

Bitcoin Electronic Money (Image: MaxPixel)

It took me a few hours to remind myself that I have been through this more times than I can remember or possibly count. The MtGox closure, “Bitcoin got hacked”, China banning Bitcoin mining, JP Morgan CEO calling Bitcoin “a fraud”, Bitcoin is only for money laundering and many more.

What scares me this time is that there are other players in the game now. In the early days, when the word hodl was more or less born, I had contact with most of the major players and actors in the space and there was always one thing that we all agreed on: We want to change the world. So we fastened our seatbelts and went on the fun and thrilling crypto ride together.

It is the end of an era for me. I say this because, for many in the crypto space, bitcoin and other cryptos are no longer about changing the world – it became a way to make more (and fast) money. That is one of the reasons why people tend to panic and sell – People are afraid of losing money.

In my humble opinion, this is not how bitcoin should be treated. Bitcoin is the biggest experiment in the world so far and it has the potential to change the world as we know it forever. It is not, nor was it designed to be, a tool to get rich quickly.

The Stories We Tell About Money (A History of Bitcoin)

Video January 19, 2018 flippener

In this talk, Andreas Antonopolous recounts the history of Bitcoin and what it represents, building upon all the stories we’ve been told over the centuries about what “money” is, how we perceive its value, and why the old answers have changed as we adjust to this new world of digital peer-to-peer currencies. He also discusses global threats to economic stability and trust in the financial system, including demonetisation and wealth destruction through inflation.

[For context, note that the talk was given in India and towards the end he makes some references to India’s demonetisation]

Bitcoin (BTC), Opinion

Bitcoin Is Back Above $11,500, But Bulls Not Out of the Woods Yet

January 18, 2018 flippener

Despite a sharp price recovery to over $11,500 today, bitcoin’s bulls are not out of the woods yet, the price charts suggest.

Coindesk’s Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) has climbed 25.9 percent from the eight-week low of $9,199.59 hit yesterday at 15:44 UTC. As of writing, bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $11,590 levels.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has appreciated by 8 percent in the last 24 hours, according to data source OnChainFX.

However, the investor community isn’t convinced by the move, and comments on social media show that some believe the overnight recovery is nothing more than a “dead cat bounce.”

The price chart analysis indicates that only a close (as per UTC) above $12,500 (prices as per Coinbase) would add credence to rebound from sub-100-day moving average (MA) levels and confirm that a short-term bottom is in place.

Bitcoin Investors UK