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“Bitcoin is Property, Not Currency”, stated California Bankruptcy Court

Some days ago an American judge for the Northern District of California stated that bitcoin is a property and not a real currency.
This happened during a case in which US Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California heared HashFast, a bitcoin mining service that declared bankruptcy in 2014.
The case sees a fiduciary suing the HashFast promoter, Mark Lowe, because he wants his 3,000 BTC bank, amount that is said to have been illegally transferred to Lowe himself.

Bitcoin: property or currency?

The main problem turned to be the classification of bitcoin as a currency or a property: should bitcoin be considered as a currency, Lowe would have to return the 3,000 BTC at the value they held when he received them (almost $360,000).
But judge Dennis Montali on February 19th decided that bitcoin is a property, so Howe must return about $1.3m.
These were his words:
“I understand how the parties acted, but that doesn’t make them dollars”.
Montali said that he would return to the question, if required and Lowe would transfer the 3,000 bitcoins or the equivalent dollar amount.

Pasted cases and decisions

Previously the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) stated that bitcoins are a commodity too. But in October, 2015, the European Union’s Court of Justice decided that bitcoins are a currency and they are tax free so exchanges don’t have to pay VAT.

About the author: Amelia Tomasicchio is a writer and a journalist of Bitcoin-related news and articles. She started writing about Bitcoin in 2014 and she graduated in Rome with an essay about movie industry related to Bitcoin.

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Amelia Tomasicchio
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California lawmakers pass bill to update currency law

Image: GetToKnowBitcoin
Bitcoin is now a legal form of payment within the state of California thanks to a new bill signed into law yesterday by Governor Jerry Brown.“This bill is intended to fine-tune current law to address Californians’ payment habits in the mobile and digital fields,” said the bill’s author, Democratic Assemblyman Roger Dickinson in a press release.

 

He cited the popularity of Bitcoin, and said even gift cards and reward points from retailers could be considered illegal under the current law.
“In an era of evolving payment methods, from Amazon coins to Starbucks Stars, it is impractical to ignore the growing use of cash alternatives,” Dickinson said.
It may seem a little strange that Bitcoin wasn’t already legal within the state — considering how large a role Silicon Valley played in both legitimizing and showing the business potential of all crypto-currencies. Also, Bitcoin was already being used by a number of businesses in the state as well as Bitcoin ATMs.
The bill itself actually repealed an older state law that prohibited the use of any currency other than the U.S. dollar. With the repeal in place, Californians are now free to use Bitcoin, other crypto-currencies, and even rewards points from loyalty programs.

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Satoshi
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5 Reasons Why Cryptocurrencies Should Be Taught For Students

Crypto Student

Cryptocurrency has been impacting lives, no doubt, and Bitcoin has now become quite popular among the youth and even the adults, making smart investors extremely rich.

 Cryptocurrency has been in existence for more than 10 years now. There is hardly a developed country, a civilized geographical location, or an economy of significance around the world still ignorant of the word “cryptocurrency.”

The fact is that even if one does not know what cryptocurrency is all about. Then definitely, you have heard about it from the news, colleagues, neighbors, friends, internet, newspapers, handouts, and souvenirs, and so on.

Bitcoin is taking the lead as the most popular and the most utilized cryptocurrency with billions of dollars of transactions being carried out with it daily. Now, this begs the question, why is cryptocurrency still not taught to students?

Schools are institutions for educating people. Thus, it is of great importance and a matter of necessity that courses or subjects related to cryptocurrency be taught in school systems. This initiative will serve as a means of equipping our young generations for the future to come since cryptocurrency symbolizes a new viewpoint on finance and, primarily, the economy.

In lieu of these, it is worthy of mention that schools should also consider teaching online academic translation services as provided by The Word Point. Nowadays, such skills are essential in virtually all spheres of life.

Why not read on as you discover the five(5) essential reasons why cryptocurrency should be taught to students.

#1 Changes in Valuation Overtime

The knowledge of cryptocurrencies have increased in the general population of the world and have undertaken a new shape over time. According to BitcoinWiki, in 2009, there was no cryptocurrency exchange; the users at that time were majorly cryptography fans who transferred bitcoin mainly as a hobby. 

In 2010, a user, known as “Smoke too much,” auctioned 10,000 BTC for $50 without any buyer. Lazlo Hanyecs was also reported to have successfully bought two pizzas at Jacksonville, Florida, on the 22nd of May, 2010. This was the first recorded successful bitcoin transaction. On the 26th of June, 2019, Bitcoin hit $13000, which notable experts attributed to the development of the cryptocurrencies technology industry. This is to enlighten you concerning the history of the significant changes of Bitcoin as a major cryptocurrency. To open your minds to a new life-changing experience, and for you to reason and agree with me as per why cryptocurrency should be taught to students.

#2 Promising Career Opportunities

Taking into consideration, the rate at which cryptocurrency is growing concerning its wide acceptance, thousands of career opportunities are bound to manifest within the years to come.

Concerning a report by Coinbase, it was brought to public knowledge that the population of students from various departments who have become interested in cryptocurrency is growing so fast.

Some companies today are on the lookout for job-seeking graduates who are progressive-minded and are interested in fast-growing technologies. Likely, most of these employers are not well-grounded in the knowledge of cryptocurrency themselves. Hence, they need workers who are capable of bringing this knowledge to an organization.

In the world of crypto, Many opportunities abound, and the possibilities are limitless. Cryptocurrency and digital currency go hand in hand, such that a wide range of opportunities are opened for young scholars. The lists of potential careers for cryptocurrency lovers are virtually enormous. 

Here are some few potential career opportunities you should look forward to:

  • Cryptocurrency developers and miners
  • Cryptocurrency traders
  • Cryptocurrency analysts
  • Cryptocurrency-based software engineer
  • Cryptocurrency developers, and so on.

#3 Encompassing all Industries

According to the SI News blog, Cryptocurrencies have been forecasted to be utilized extensively in industries like Agriculture. Going by this report, it becomes evident that cryptocurrency technology is here to revolutionize the way we run our businesses.

In current times, workers are highly required by employers to collaborate and work across different departments. Several Interdisciplinary research is also growing in popularity in various universities in most developed countries. 

For instance, the University of California-Berkeley started delivering a cryptocurrency class called “Blockchain, Crypto economics, and the Future of Technology, Business and Law” which has become quite popular among students.

#4 It is a Great Investment Opportunity

Investment in cryptocurrency is highly encouraged for every business person or investor looking to make it big within a short period. It is indeed an excellent Investment platform given the astronomic rise in bitcoin rate in the year 2007 when it rose to its highest-ever to about $20,000, by which investors made a whole lot of money as a result of their investment. 

Even though some investors or individuals will argue that Bitcoin is highly volatile and full of risk, the same principles that apply to businesses and investment opportunities are still applicable to an investment in cryptocurrency.

#5 The Impacts of Cryptocurrency are Enormous

Following the growing trend of cryptocurrency, the impacts are becoming greater and more significant over time. This further stresses the reason why the course should be taught to students. Students need to be prepared for the crypto revolution to come.

Jake Gardner, a crypto analyst once said that “the impact of cryptocurrency is omnipotent considering the huge amount of benefits attached to it”. He also gave some notable advantages of cryptocurrency, which includes:

  • It reduces the cost of health-care services.
  • It guarantees a secured record-keeping.
  • It produces an extensive adoption of cryptocurrency technologies in the next 2-3 years.
  • It helps to reduce the cost of operations as well as minimizes the cost incurred from cross-border payments and many more.

Final Thoughts

There is a strong need for cryptocurrency classes to be held in various schools, and it should not be handled with levity. Students should be well equipped and fortified with the knowledge of cryptocurrency to be economically relevant towards its full implementation in a few years to come. Given the reasons above, should cryptocurrency be taught in schools or not? I leave you with this question to ponder on.

About the author: Frank Hamilton is a blogger and translator from Manchester. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing and self-education. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.

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Satoshi
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Real Estate Blockchain: houses on the ledger

The real estate blockchain is one of the most imporant use case for the distributed ledger as it is a secure and efficient data management system that enable buyers to rely on a live network.

The California-based Blockchain startup called Propy aims at simplifying real estate sales for investors and brokers by using the ledger.

At the moment Propy is available in Dubai, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and Moscow, so users can buy and rent houses creating a connection with the real estate broker on a blockchain platform.

Ethereum network

Propy exploits the Ethereum network, the blockchain network based on smart contract development.

Using Ethereum Propy can replicate the traditional process of real estate transactions by using a safer ledger.

The development team of Propy spent lots of time and effort in designing a smart contract project to be applied on this business.

Real estate Blockchain: how to use smart contract

Propy’s Andrey Zamovsky explained that the world lacks of “proper and robust electronic property registry”.

Some countries that have a digitalized registry to delete data manipulation issues, so Zamovsky said that a blockchain-based platform can be a very useful tool to eliminate corruption. Also, the lack of sophisticated and secure ledger makes the verification process more difficult for brokers.

To avoid this potential issues on data mismanagement, government agencies often take a few weeks to verify ownership transfers, but this is inefficient and expensive method for customers.

Zamovsky explained:

“A lot of developing countries still don’t have any kind of electronic property registry or have very inefficient ones – vulnerable to corruption, physical damage, hack attacks and fraud. The Blockchain database is replicated on thousands of servers worldwide, so it will be close to impossible to lose registry data.”

To read more about real estate blockchain, click here.

Open your free digital wallet here to store your cryptocurrencies in a safe place.

Amelia Tomasicchio

Bitcoin as Money recognized in Florida

bitcoin_as_money
 
Florida Senator wants to regulate bitcoin as money in the U.S.A. state.
Senator Dorothy Hukill, in fact, explained that the draft legislation aims at protecting users and startups.
Earlier this year bitcoin was defined as a property during a criminal case judged in Florida itself.
Now Hukill, Republican senator of Florida and member of the Finance & Tax Committee, commented that legislation details still have to be discussed.
These were her words:
“I think you have to recognize it at some level, so you can legislate and protect your constituents. Then you have to figure out what you recognize it as and how you regulate it.”
While Hukill cannot define an exact date, her office suggested the bill will be submitted to the Florida Senate by the end of 2016.
As the legislative session doesn’t begin until March and with the upcoming elections, bills have to wait until November.
Hukill also explained that she will look for industry stakeholders’ feedback, but that process cannot start if the bill is not well defined.

Bitcoin as Money around the world

California, North Carolina and New Jersey and several other states tried to regulate bitcoin.
 
“If we can fit it under our current law, where it’s actually money and can be used legitimately so we’re not chasing people away, that’s what we’re looking to do,” explained the senator.
Hukill explained that the bill she proposed is well needed also due to the growing interest in bitcoin, as a few shops in Florida started to accept the digital currency as a method of payment.

Open your free digital wallet here to store your cryptocurrencies in a safe place.

Satoshi
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How to pre-order a new Tesla with Bitcoin

Tesla picture

Pre-ordering a Tesla 

A few days ago a guy called Mason Borda described on Medium his experience in pre-ordering a Tesla Model 3 with Bitcoin
“Today there are many applications coming online that enable consumers to buy everyday goods for Bitcoin. So I decided to perform the momentous act of preordering my Tesla Model 3 with Bitcoin”, wrote Borda in the blog post.
Borda used Shakepay, an application which allows to upload a one-time-use credit card for Bitcoin. 
The full process took him just one minute, once his card was loaded. 
“There was no credit check involved, or a waiting period for the credit card to arrive in the mail”, explained Borda.

Other cars sold for Bitcoin

But this is actually not news, because on January 2016 the Auto Outlet Helsinki Oy sold a Tesla Model S P85+ for an amount in bitcoin equivalent to €140.000.
Also, nowadays there are several places where you can buy a car in bitcoin.
One of the most important examples is Beepi, a marketplace where you can sell or buy used cars for bitcoin. 
Another example is BitPremiere that aims at providing luxury items including cars to bitcoin users.

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How to study with Bitcoin payments

Pay with Bitcoin at Cevro University in Prague

Bitcoin at University

From now on students from all around the world can pay with bitcoin for their university – if they decide to move in Prague.
In fact, the CEVRO Institute University in Prague has announced that it will accept bitcoin among their allowed methods of payment.
Recently the Greek University of Nicosia, Draper University of California, the University of Cumbria and King’s College in the UK started to accept the cryptocurrency.

Why in Prague

The University rector Josef Šíma explained to Cointelegraph:
“As a first school in the Czech Republic we have opened unique Oxford style PPE (Philosophy, Politics, Economics) taught by a team of Czech and foreign professors in English and accepted many foreign students from US and Canada to India and China. One of them asked about the possibility to pay his tuition in bitcoin. And because we have hosted in past several lectures and conferences about this exciting new phenomenon and as a part of the PPE, and we will have courses dealing with alternative monetary schemes, free banking and cryptocurrencies, it was a really easy decision.”
The Prague University, in fact, was the first university to create the PPE class to allow its students to study the connections between Bitcoin and politics, philosophy and economy.
Fees in bitcoin will be calculated based on the current bitcoin price.

Bitcoin worldwide recognition

The acceptance of bitcoin by public institutions could be an important step for the recognition and the increase in popularity of Bitcoin.
We do not want merely to teach about the beauty of markets, modern technologies and innovation, we want to be innovators ourselves! We want to actively use most modern technologies and offer our students new opportunities which technologies made available” Šíma explained.

Open your free digital wallet here to store your cryptocurrencies in a safe place.

Amelia Tomasicchio
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Hitachi is studying the Blockchain

Some days ago the Japanese company Hitachi announced that it will open a research laboratory in the US that will study the blockchain ledger and its possible applications.
The lab will partner with Hitachi technology innovation division and it will be opened next month in Santa Clara, California.Hitachi wants to use the research laboratory to work on some projects for its customer base.

In a press release, Hitachi explained:

“By establishing the Financial Innovation Laboratory in the Silicon Valley, Hitachi will accelerate research [and] development of blockchain technology, collaborative creation with customers, and development of solutions to support business innovation in financial institutions.”

 

Hitachi partners with Hyperledger

This statement follows a previous company’s news related to the blockchain: in fact, in February Hitachi joined the Hyperledger Project, an advaced blockchain technology that aims at “identifying and addressing important features for a cross-industry open standard for distributed ledgers that can transform the way business transactions are conducted globally.”

The Hyperledger Project is a Linux Foundation collaborative project that stars some of the most important companies in the world, including IBM, J.P. Morgan, Fujitsu and many more.

Open your free digital wallet here to store your cryptocurrencies in a safe place.

Amelia Tomasicchio

Ethereum and Arcade City could kill Uber

A few days ago Don Tapscott suggested the idea that the blockchain could cause the death of services like Uber and Airbnb.
And it seems like this is truly happening, as a service called Arcade City has officially published a press release where they “declare war on Uber over fare cuts and plan to replace drivers with self-driving cars”.

Arcade City is an open marketplace where riders connect directly with drivers. It only works via a mobile app, available for both iOS and Android. 

How it works

Let the company speaks for itself:

It works through the Ethereum Blockchain

Most importantly, Arcade City integrates the Ethereum blockchain.
During a recent interview with CoinTelegraph, Christopher David, founder at Arcade City, commented: 

“the main deciding factor was that the vision of Ethereum aligns precisely with our own vision of peer-to-peer transportation and distributed logistics”.

Where can we move with Arcade City?

At the moment Arcade City is active in the US.
These are the states: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Washington D.C.
Drivers are also available in Australia; while Mexico, Canada and Sweden will be launched next spring.

Open your free digital wallet here to store your cryptocurrencies in a safe place.

Amelia Tomasicchio

New North Carolina Money Transmitter Bill Could Push Out Bitcoin Companies

How many Bitcoin companies operate in North Carolina? How many will there be? A new piece of legislation making its way through the North Carolina State Senate is attempting to enact further regulations on companies that handle digital currencies such as bitcoin. Originally sponsored by a state representative that also happens to be a vice president at Wells Fargo, the North Carolina legislature has moved forward with H289. H289 has made it through the North Carolina House of Representatives, and has started making its way through their state Senate. Luckily for us, the new senate bill S680 will not be voted on until Spring 2016. S680 is officially drafted by the North Carolina Banking Commission, which specifically mentioned that the proposed legislation is coming about as a result of requests by certain companies seeking clarity about digital currency regulation. It’s pretty easy to figure out which company that is.

The Politician Forgot to Take Off his Banker Hat

Before delving into the implication of this new update to the North Carolina Money Transmitters Act, we should consider the ridiculousness of how it came to be in the first place. The Representative that forgot to take off his hat was none other than Republican Representative Stephen Ross. Officially, his title is Executive Vice President, and he often votes on and sponsors financial industry related bills. Ross has also voted to protect officials that refuse to perform same-sex ceremonies. Such a bill has thus far only seen success in Utah.
A much better example of how to wear two hats can be found in a Virginia Representative. Mark Keam, a vice president for Verizon Communications has vowed to abstain from voting on issues that might present a conflict of interest with his Verizon job. Why this isn’t a basic requirement is still baffling to me. More importantly, Keam committed to not submitting any telecommunications bills during his time on the job. Representative Stephen Ross, from just a state south of Virginia, is truly only representative of the perceived political corruption and rot that fuels the anarchist movement. In a world where people are wearing more hats, both literally and figuratively, better rules to weed out moral hazard and stymie conflicts of interest are needed. More importantly, people who will follow these rules, and not bend them until they break, are also needed.

Coinbase Supports This Bill

As Bitcoin company BitGo’s engineer Jameson Lopp notes in a Medium article, Coinbase is the only Bitcoin company with lobbyists in North Carolina and it is believed that these lobbyists are actively pushing for more regulation of Bitcoin companies. These regulations would benefit companies such as Coinbase but would damage the efficacy of other smaller companies in North Carolina. In fact, Coinbase published a blog post where they praised the proposed legislation out of North Carolina. Coinbase wrote:
We want to thank the NC Bank Commissioner’s office for engaging with industry while modernizing its MTA and working to make NC a welcoming place for tech innovation. Please join us in thanking both Representative Ross and Senator Gunn, who sponsored the legislation in the NC House and Senate, respectively, and in urging the NC Legislature to move quickly in passing the legislation.

Proposed Changes May Harm Some Bitcoin Companies

Previously, the net worth requirement for receiving a license and being a fully legal Bitcoin company in the state was 100K, now it could be 250K. Depending on the volume your company handles, the surety bond that you need to provide could cost as much as 100K more than the previous $150K amount. The application fee itself has increased from $500 to $1,500 and the annual assessment fee has been raised to $5,000 and also heightens depending on transmission volume.
As Coinbase has settled itself into North Carolina. Other Bitcoin companies, such as Xapo and CoinOutlet, have announced their departure from the state. Jameson Lopp hopes that S680 can suffer a fate similar to AB1326 in the California legislature. He is working with the Chamber of Digital Commerce to create amendments to the bill that would exempt certain types of entities or activities from this legislation, and potentially give some Bitcoin companies some breathing room. However, he notes that the complete defeat of the bill is a preferred outcome.

About the author: Caleb Chen is a cryptocurrency advocate and is a research assistant at the Chamber of Digital Commerce.

Open your free digital wallet here to store your cryptocurrencies in a safe place.

Satoshi