Author Archives: Amelia Tomasicchio

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5 Amazing Movies about Bitcoin

Bitcoin and movies: a good chance for the cryptocurrency reputation?

There are lots of documentaries or short movies that aim at explaining how Bitcoin works, from Bitcoin: the end of money as we know it to The rise and the rise of Bitcoin, just to quote the most popular.
As you might know, also some great tv series such as C.I.S. Cyber, The Good Wife, Almost Human, decided to dedicate at least one of their episodes to the cryptocurrency, but they tend to talk about Bitcoin in a negative way, linking it to criminals and illegal activities.
One thing is sure: Bitcoin reputation is an issue.
That’s why today we want to let you know that there are lots of tv series and movies that quote Bitcoin as it is, without putting it under a negative light.

Morgan Spurlock – Inside Man (Episode 3×5)

During this episode Morgan tries to live one week using only Bitcoin, to test if the world could be ready for this digital currency transformation.
With all of the misinformation and misunderstandings on bitcoin, Spurlock wants to determine pros and cons of the cryptocurrency and what effects it can have on the worldwide economy.

Life on Bitcoin

 

 


Austin and Beccy Craig
filmed their adventures as they decided to live for 100+ days relying only on bitcoin as a method of payment (exception made for urgent medical reasons).

Also, Life on Bitcoin inspired Felix Weis, a young programmer who did the same for one year.

The Simpsons

the simpsons bitcoin
Recently we already talked about this episode of The Simpsons in this article, but we want to quote it again as it is very curious.
During the episode titled Clown in the Dumps there is a big poster showing James Corky Jones saying, “Send me your lunch money online! – Accepting Bitcoin”.

HBO Silicon Valley

During the first season, one of the coders of the team would like to be paid in bitcoin. 

Jeopardy

jeopardy on bitcoin
During the American tv show Jeopardy, the host asks what is Bitcoin, only mentioning it as being a digital decentralized currency.
Open your wallet
holytransaction logo
Blockchain is the technology that allow Bitcoin transactions.
To store your bitcoin you may need a wallet.
Open your on the HolyTransaction wallet and you will be able to store also other digital currencies such as litecoin, dogecoin, blackcoin, ethereum and more.

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

Amelia Tomasicchio
deloitte

How to use Facebook Messenger to create warranties on the Blockchain

deloitte logo

The British advisory company Deloitte recently used the new Facebook Messenger API to create a program that store warranties on the Bitcoin blockchain and allows clients to buy items insurances even after their purchase.

Of course this is only an early version of the complete Deloitte project, which is capable of working without any applications to be downloaded by the user.
On the company website, Deloitte service designer, Frank van de Ven, explains:
“It allows users to add information regarding their purchases and associated warranty information on the blockchain, by using a Facebook Messenger bot.”
Facebook Messenger users are more than a billion from all around the world, so to allow startups create products for their clients, Facebook decided to expand its Messenger app, creating a new API that allows custom bots.
This news came on April 12nd, 2016 at the annual F8 of San Francisco. During this event, in fact, Facebook presented this new bot.
Messenger Platform: Expanded access to the Messenger platform by giving you the ability to reach your customers where they already are with a new send and receive API. You will be able to build a custom bot in Messenger, providing anything from customer service to rich, interactive experiences such as automated responses or spawning a search”, explained Facebook VP Deborah Liu.

How the warranties bot works

The Deloitte warranty bot allows people to send a receipt image through the Facebook Messenger app.
Thanks to the Colu blockchain toolbox, this Deloitte feature creates a QR code and stores the bought item information on the well-known distributed ledger.
When people upload the warranty, the bot will allow items owners to transfer the warranty if the item will be resold.
It is a great idea for sure and we can’t wait to use this tool in the near future.

Multicurrencies Wallet

holytransaction logo
Blockchain is the technology that allow Bitcoin transactions.
To store your bitcoin you may need a wallet.
Open your on the HolyTransaction wallet and you will be able to store also other digital currencies such as litecoin, dogecoin, blackcoin, ethereum and more.

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

Amelia Tomasicchio
amazon web services

Amazon partners with Digital Currency Group

amazon web services logo

Always more companies are developing a private blockchain for their security reasons or aim at using the bitcoin blockchain for their business objectives.

In the latest blogs, in fact, we talked about companies such as DARPA or AirBnB who plan to use the blockchain for their private goals.

The “blockchain as a service” partnership

Well, today we want to talk about Amazon Web Services (AWS) who recently announced its collaboration with Digital Currency Group (DCG), one of the most important investors in the blockchain, to provide to DCG’s startups a secure place to work and a technical support for their projects related to bitcoin.
Amazon Web Services, in fact, provides cloud computing services for websites and applications, so the blockchain could be very useful to improve their database security and other objectives.

The DCG empire

The DCG startups portfolio includes almost 100 Bitcoin companies from all around the world, including Chain and RSK and recently it received a big investment from Mastercard, Western Union, New York Life, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and more.
In a recent post, Amazon Web Services developer Scott Mullins explained the partnership between AWS and DCG.
“Today in financial services, distributed ledger technology is at the forefront of any discussion related to innovation. AWS is working with financial institutions and blockchain providers to spur innovation and facilitate frictionless experimentation. DCG is a recognized leader in distributed ledger technology, and we are excited to work with them and their portfolio companies to provide laboratory environments for enterprise experimentation with blockchain technology on AWS”.

Multicurrencies Wallet

Blockchain is the technology that allow Bitcoin transactions.

To store your bitcoin you may need a wallet.

Open your on the HolyTransaction wallet  here for free and you will be able to store also other digital currencies such as Litecoin, Dogecoin, Blackcoin, Ethereum and more.

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

Amelia Tomasicchio

Bitcoin officially recognized in Japan

 

japan accept bitcoin officially
 
Japan is going to officially recognize bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Previously in March, the Japan Times announced that the Japanease Cabined approved some bills that would help banks to expand their business related to fintech.
The cabinet also recnognized the importance of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, so it aims at recognizing them as method of payment, so the government is going to bring digital currencies under the overview of the Financial Services Agency (FSA), who also control the Yen.
This system will also provide a registration of exhchanges to avoid money laudering and to protect the bitcoin users, specially after the Mt. Gox debacle back in 2014, when the company was handling 70% of all bitcoin transactions.
This way, Japan has just given virtual currencies legitimacy, and we hope this news will allow lots of other countries to do the same in the near future.

The open-minded Japan

To be honest, this news is not so shocking, as in February the Japanese regulators stated the decision to propose bitcoin among the methods of payments, so to define the digital cryptocurrencies as conventional currency.

Multicurrencies Wallet

Bitcoin is the most important and popular cryptocurrency at the moment, together with Ethereum.
So you may need an online walletwhere you can store your bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.
Here you can store several digital currencies as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, Blackcoin, Dogecoin, Litecoin and more.

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

Amelia Tomasicchio
bitcoin craig wright 1

Does Gavin Andreseen “agree” Craig Wright is the real Satoshi Nakamoto?

Australian computer scientist Craig Wright revealed he is the real Satoshi Nakamoto, the man who invented Bitcoin back in 2008. 
Wright announced this huge news at the most important news journals of the world, including BBC, GQ, and the Economist.





He explained: 
“These are the blocks used to send 10 bitcoins to Hal Finney in January as the first bitcoin transaction.”

Gavin Andresen confirms this thesis: Wright is Satoshi

The most popular Bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen published a post where he explained he is convinced by the Wright’s announcement.

He wrote:

“I was flown to London to meet Dr. Wright a couple of weeks ago, after an initial email conversation convinced me that there was a very good chance he was the same person I’d communicated with in 2010 and early 2011. After spending time with him I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt: Craig Wright is Satoshi.”

Craigh Wright is a trend on Twitter

Everyone is talking about this shocking news on Twitter. In fact, Craigh Wright quickly became a worldwide trend.


And we cannot avoid asking ourselves how this revelation will affect bitcoin.

Is the mystery solved?

In the latest hours, we found that probably the Andreseen’s account is been hacked so he never wrote the post where he confirmed the Satoshi Nakamoto identity.

Also, the signature Craig used to prove his Bitcoin invention is a fake.

Peter Todd wrote on Twitter:

Peter Todd

FYI, @gavinandresen‘s commit access just got removed – Core team members are concerned that he may have been hacked.

This article has been updated on May 2, 2016 3:45 CEST.

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

Amelia Tomasicchio
parliament

Blockchain is the “perfect technology” according to the European Parliament

european parliament bitcoin

During the last week, a European parliament member gave a speech about consumer protection for the latest campaign that aims at realizing new rules related to the blockchain.

The perfect technology

In fact, the Lithuania representative Antanas Guoga defined the blockchain a “perfect technology” during a speech before the Internal Market for Consumer Protection Committee, which is thinking about advancing a new proposal for cryptocurrencies.
Guoga explained:
“I’m sure a lot of us politicians haven’t got any bitcoins at the moment and we’re trying to make laws for something we don’t understand. I would suggest everyone to get some bitcoins and really learn about the system. It’s a huge leap forward and a huge opportunity.”
Guoga wants the European Commission to open a task force to monitor digital currencies.

The committee said yes

A voting on the proposal was held on April 26th and the result was 54-to-1 members that want the creation of a cryptocurrency task force.
This proposal will be voted by the entire European Parliament in the near future.

Watch the full video of the speech

Click here to listen to the entire Antanas Guoga’s speech.

Multicurrencies Wallet

Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency all around the world.
To store your bitcoin you will need a secure wallet where you can also hold Ethereum, Dogecoin, Litecoin and more digital currencies.

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

Amelia Tomasicchio
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5 Facts About Bitcoin Everyone Thinks Are True

There are lots of myths in the Bitcoin world that people think are true.
These misconceptions are usually related to its illegality or its use by criminals.
But we want to give you a good news: it is not true, and 44.3% of Bitcoin users identify themselves as “libertarian”, as you can read on this study. 

5 myths on Bitcoin

So, let’s see the 5 commons facts about Bitcoin that most people wrongly believe:
1. Bitcoin will only enable tax evaders or criminals because it is anonymous.
Well, let’s answer to this once and for all…
Cash transactions have the same level of anonymity and it is up to users to follow the applicable state laws.
Also, Bitcoin is not completely anonymous as transactions are open and public thanks to the blockchain nature.
Even if the wallet owner name doesn’t appear on the ledger, once wallet owners are identified (because it is possible) they are linked to every transaction made.

2. 21 million coins are not enough

As you may know, Satoshi Nakamoto has set a maximum level of existing bitcoins, totaling 21 million, so it can never be more than that amount.
We have to remember that one Bitcoin has eight decimals instead of the two of fiat currencies, that means there are over 2 quadrillion of usable units in the bitcoin system.
So every bitcoin represents 100,000,000 of these units.
As the value of 1 BTC is rising too much to be useful for daily transactions, people is starting dealing in smaller units, such as milli-bitcoins (mBTC) or micro-bitcoins.

3. Bitcoin will be shut down by governments as it happened with Liberty Dollars

As you may remember Liberty Dollars were created to have an alternative US currency, including physical coins.
They were shut down because they resembled US currency.
But bitcoin doesn’t resemble any other currency.
Also, closing Liberty Dollars was an easy move, because there was a company and offices. Bitcoin, instead, has no leaders, offices nor tangible asset backing, so it doesn’t have the same vulnerability.
4. The Bitcoin community consists of anarchists and conspiracy theorists
As we said, the members of the Bitcoin community are mainly composed libertarians and ideological enthusiasts.
So, the greatest part of the community wants a libertarian system without any central authority.

5. Bitcoin is illegal

Even if Bitcoin was involved in the Silk Road story, it is not illegal and it is not used only by criminals.
In 2013 the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued a guide about decentralized virtual currencies. On this guide, “a user of virtual currency is not a Money Services Businesses (MSB) under FinCEN’s regulations and therefore is not subject to MSB registration, reporting, and record keeping regulations.”

Multicurrencies Wallet

The best way to understand how bitcoin works is trying to have it.
So, try to open an online wallet where you can store your bitcoin.

 

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

Amelia Tomasicchio
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Which kind of Bitcoin user are you?

Today we want to do a little quiz with you, to find out how many types of Bitcoin user exist. 
In fact, below, you can read two studies conducted on this topic and – at the end of the article – you will be able to know which profile best fits you. 

The four types of Bitcoin users

According to Dr. Paul Ennis, researcher at The Centre for Innovation, Technology & Organization at University College Dublin, there are four types of bitcoin users: nerds, speculators, criminals and libertarians. 
In his own study, Ennis explains that each of these profiles identifies a different benefit or reward in the use of bitcoin:
– For computer programmers, the rewards for mining
– For speculators, the volatility
– For the libertarians, the perceived lack of regulation
– For criminals, the perceived anonymity.

Yellowitz and Wilson Whitepaper 

To know more about the characteristics of Bitcoin users, you also can read this whitepaper written by Aaron Yelowitz and Matthew Wilson in 2015. 
Yelowitz and Matthew Wilson identified four types of Bitcoin users too (pg 1030): computer programming enthusiasts, speculative investors, libertarians and criminals. 

Libertarians

Maybe the greatest part of Bitcoin users are the libertarians, because this cryptocurrency can allow a method of payment free from a centralized authority. 
In fact, according to an online survey by Lui Smyth, researcher at University College London, 44.3% of Bitcoin users identify themselves as “libertarian”. 
Libertarians, for example, don’t trust the government to manage the nation’s currency supply, so they prefer to use Bitcoin instead. 
Bitcoin is not controlled by banks or governments, and can zip across the globe and – of course – it’s stateless.


Multicurrencies Wallet 

To use the most part of these tools you may need an online wallet where you can store your bitcoin.

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

Amelia Tomasicchio
tank usa american 1510790

Blockchain to be used on the battlefields by Darpa

darpa blockchain

The most popular research projects agency for defence, better known as Darpa, is studying a method to create a blockchain-based messaging platform to be used for battlefield objectives.

This DARPA’s project is still just an idea, but it comes out thanks to a website post on its official websites. 
DARPA became very popular thanks to its revolutionary ideas and its goal of promoting emerging technologies. 
In fact, back in the ’60s, DARPA created ARPANET, a primitive form of what today we call Internet. 

The press release

According to the official press release, DARPA aims at creating a”secure messaging system” using a “decentralized ledger” to allow encrypted secrets. 
The press release explains:
“There is a critical DoD need to develop a secure messaging and transaction platform accessible via web browser or standalone native application. The platform separates the message creation, from the transfer of the message within a secure courier to the reception and decryption of the message.”

The 3-steps model

DARPA believes it will need 3 stages to bring the project to reality.
  1. Development: “built on the framework of an existing blockchain framework”, using the blockchain as a model;
  2. Creation of prototypes and commercial-scale versions of the network;
  3. Deployment

Applications

According to DARPA, this system can be used within the DoD offices to interact in a secure way.
“By doing this, significant portions of the DoD back office infrastructure can be decentralized, smart documents and contracts can be instantly and securely sent and received thereby reducing exposure to hackers and reducing needless delays in DoD back office correspondence. As an example, Military Interdepartmental Purchase Requests (MIPR) could be implemented using the secure ledger.”
The system could be also used for battlefield applications.
“Troops on the ground in denied communications environments would have a way to securely communicate back to HQ, and DoD back office executives could rest assured that their logistics system is efficient, timely and safe from hackers”.

Multicurrencies Wallet 

To use the most part of these tools you may need an online walletwhere you can store your bitcoin.Sign here for free and create yourHolyTransaction wallet.

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

Amelia Tomasicchio

That’s why $440 Bitcoin price is low

Today Daniel Masters, ex trader at JP Morgan, published an interesting article about the bitcoin price on Linkedin.
In this article, Masters comments the upcoming halving of rewards for the miners and its impact on the current bitcoin price.
Back in 2012, the mining activity reached the level of 210,000 blocks mined and the first halving occured, taking rewards down from 50 to 25 BTC.
Right after that, the bitcoin price raised significantly, from $7 to $11 in nine months.
We are now at roughly 409,000 blocks, and the next halving will take place at 420,000, a level that is estimated to be reached by next july.

At that time rewards will lower again, from 25 to 12.5 BTC.

Bitcoin price will rise

According to Masters, it’s reasonable to expect another price rise following this event.
Here is his explanation:
“Prices so far in 2016 have been relatively stable. That tells me that there is enough new investment and real time demand to match the creation of $575m new coin. It seems obvious that if that dollar-sized demand persists, which I believe it will, that the price of bitcoin must rise to meet it”. 
In a few words, it’s a simple matter of offer and demand, exactly the same way as it happens in the oil market, where a reduction in production determines a rise in price, given a stable demand.
That’s basically why the current level of $440 is to be considered low.

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

Amelia Tomasicchio