Litecoin Segwit: how it is driving the prices
Maybe because of the recent Litecoin Segwit support, this digital currency price set a new high yesterday, reaching a value of $11.42, its highest price since May 2014.
We cannot define it a cryptocurrency pump, but the market seems to answer to the technical changes in the network.
This price growth, in fact, could be explained thanks to the almost reached the 75% support level needed in order to activatate the Litecoin Segwit (Segregated Witness), or a scaling solution that will improve blocks capacity.
Right now, in fact, just over 70% of miners were giving their support for the Litecoin Segwit.
Even if at press time, Litecoin price declined of about 67%, litecoin traded as high as $11.32 today up nearly 40% in one day, according to CoinMarketCap.
On March 30th, litecoin price increased of about 70% and, always according to Coinmarketcap data, its 24-hour volume passed $250m today.
Litecoin SegWit support
These important new Litecoin highs have coincided with the almost reached support level needed for activating the Litecoin SegWit.
First designed to be used on the Bitcoin blockchain, SegWit would increase the block capacity by modifying how transaction data is stored by the blockchain itself.
Once reached, the support level will have to remain at or above the 75% threshold level for 8,064 blocks (almost two weeks) before SegWit can officially be activated.
The litecoin price reached $50 in late 2013, but it has traded below $20 since early 2014.
Click here to read more about SegWit and a new Bitcoin potential fork.
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Kim DotCom Bitcoin: video streaming with crypto payments
Kim Dotcom bitcoin -related project is a new platform where users can sell files and video streaming by using the most famous digital currency.
Dubbed “Bitcontent”, Kim Dotcom presented his new venture in a video posted on Twitter this week.
While he is fighting extradition to the United States for criminal copyright charges because of its now-defunct streaming site Megaupload, the German entrepreneur continues his bitcoin-related platform, explaining:
“You can create a payment for any content that you put on the internet. You can share that with your customers, with the interest community and, boom, you are basically in business and can sell your content.”
He added that Bitcontent would allow both private users and companies to earn money from their websites.
Unfortunately the Kim Dotcom bitcoin platform has not a launch date yet.
Also, Dotcom hasn’t provide any details on how Bitcontent would be different from existing Bitcoin platforms or how it would help magazines and companies to earn money through its subscription payment options.
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Zcash Market Cap: top 10 cryptocurrencies
Zcash Market Cap climbed as much as $64.7m on April 4th, becoming one of the top 10 digital currencies by market capitalization.
This completely anonymous cryptocurrency was launched back in 2016 and it uses the so-called zero-knowledge proofs “zs-SNARKS” to help users hide their information during the transaction process.
In fact, the Zcash blockchain hides any information related to users and transaction amount, becoming one of the first completely anonymous digital currency together with Monero.
The major reason that helped to push zcash market cap is the rising supply of the protocol’s ZEC tokens, with the supply recently passing 1m ZEC.
While its token price rose to almost $6,000 after going live, the Zcash market cap grown only of about $1.9m.
Even if the current Zcash market cap fell back to twelfth place at press time, we expect it to rise again soon.
Zcash Wallet
Recently we at HolyTransaction launched our Zcash Wallet.
On our desktop wallet you can now store zcash, bitcoin, ether and more than other 20 digital currencies within the same login.
HolyTransaction, in fact, is a multicurrency wallet where you can buy and spend all the major cryptocurrencies, including: bitcoin, zcash, ether, dogecoin, litecoin, blackcoin, faircoin, gamecredits, tether, omni, decred, peercoin, gridcoin, dash and more, within the same account, allowing you to manage your cryptocurrencies in a safe and easy way.
Open your multicurrency wallet here.
Open your free digital wallet here to store your cryptocurrencies in a safe place.
Bitcoin Sweden regulation: the blockchain to record property deals
A new project for Bitcoin Sweden regulation has moved to its second phase. In fact, the Sweden’s land registry authority, the so- called Lantmäteriet, wants to use the distributed ledger tech with the main goal of recording property deals.
This project was conducted by the blockchain startup called ChromaWay and the consultancy group Kairos Future, that are also working in partnership with two banks: SBAB and Landshypotek.
Talking about the project’s potential, ChromaWay CEO Henrik Hjelte commented:
“It could be a great benefit for economic growth”.
Also, he said that Sweden is the ideal country to test a distributed ledger system for land titles, because trust in public authorities is higher than elsewhere and it could influence other countries to do the same in the next future.
Thanks to this system, a buyer and seller would open a contract where banks and the land registry can view the workflow of the deal, such as due dates for payments.
“In the blockchain confirmation of each step in the workflow is made with a hash, like the blockchain normally. Everyone has the same information and you can check it yourself,” said Magnus Kempe of Kairos Future.
Another use case for this project is the potential verification of an IOU issued by the bank to its property buyer.
“That part is going to be hidden for the others in the contract. You will only have the hash confirming from the bank that the IOU has been signed,” commented Kempe.
That said, SBAB Bank explaind it has no imminent plans to implement the blockchain:
“Our reason to participate in the project has not been to actually implement the solution in our current processes. But rather an opportunity for us to get a better understanding of the blockchain technology and how it might possibly fit in our future products/offerings.”
Bitcoin Sweden regulation: what is the EU doing?
Recently, the EU passed a directive that puts more weight behind digital signatures; a similar bill has been proposed in Arizona too.
Click here to read more about EU regulation related to bitcoin and blockchain.
A the moment, this land registry project is looking at new ways for working at this issue.
“Actually, the land registry today, they don’t receive much physical paper, they get PDFs of the contracts which are signed electronically so they don’t store the physical contracts. What we are thinking of is, you can actually sign the contract digitally in the blockchain to the land registry, they can award the land titles and then you can throw away the paper so you’re not dependent on the physical archive.”
According to ChromaWay’s Henrik Hjelte, the use of blockchain could be disruprive in order to manage ownership of property and improving transparency in real estate sales.
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Blockchain regulation: Arizona recognizes it under state law
Another move has been made in Arizona in order to make Blockchain regulation more effective.
In fact, a legislature has creared a bill that would recognize the distributed ledger signature and smart contracts under state law.
At the moment the bill has been sent to the governor’s desk for a final approval.
As previously reported, this bill would make data tied to a blockchain “considered to be in an electronic format and to be an electronic record” in the US State of Arizona.
Also, the bill quotes specifically the Ethereum smart contracts, so there is a specific effort with the main goal of capturing new kinds of delivering information – the distributed ledger– under existing laws.
The bill explains:
“‘Smart contract’ means an event-driven program, with state, that runs on a distributed, decentralized, shared and replicated ledger and that can take custody over and instruct transfer of assets on that ledger.”
This bill was sent to sent to Governator Doug Ducey’s office on March 27th, after clearing the Senate by a 28-1 vote on the 23rd.
Even if it’s not so clear if or when the governor will sign the bill, its support suggests that this measure will see the light soon.
A few members of the legislature’s lower chamber, in fact, approved this bill unanimously previously this year.
This Arizona bill is similar to a legislation passed and signed in Vermont last year. There, lawmakers proposed to allow data embedded on a blockchain to be used in a court of law.
Click here to read more about Blockchain regulation worldwide.
Open your free digital wallet here to store your cryptocurrencies in a safe place.
Bitcoin fork: why developers keep calm
Right now the debate about a possible Bitcoin fork is very noisy and maybe it is the main factor that is driving the cryptocurrency price at the moment.
At press time, bitcoin value is less than $1000 with some traders that are liquidating their positions.
Amidst one of the more volatile period of bitcoin, developers seem not to be scared or worried about this two-year scaling debate.
Several miners are running the so-called solution “Bitcoin Unlimited“, a popular alternative bitcoin software that opened a discussion of a possible fork of the network which could generate two different digital currencies, a result similar to what happened with the recent Ethereum hard fork that lead to the creation of Ethereum Classic.
Bitcoin Core contributor Eric Lombrozo has taken a skeptical point of view, explaining that the bitcoin community is not new to this issues.
Bitcoin XT and Bitcoin Classic, or other software alternatives that aims at changing the bitcoin blockchain- related rules, have emerged, but also declined, over the last few days.
While users who support the Bitcoin Unlimited think that is the real future for bitcoin, arguing that a bitcoin fork will bring it as the winning software, critics view it as broken.
Lombozo explained:
“The idea you can change bitcoin by lobbying one group of stakeholders against another is fundamentally flawed, as is the idea you can force controversial consensus rule changes. Bitcoin requires more tactful politics.”
On the other hand, Bitcoin Unlimited supporter Peter Rizun believes that bitcoin will see a block size increase, making bitcoin competitive with the other alternative cryptocurrencies.
“In my opinion, there’s a 75% chance we get an upgrade to larger blocks in 2017,” he commented.
So, while some people substain that only one software will be able to survive after this possible bitcoin fork, other experts suggested that most people won’t move to a new blockchain, so Bitcoin Unlimited will lead to another digital currency.
But, of course, the greatest part of the community want only one bitcoin.
Bitcoin Core contributor Luke Dashjr said to Coindesk:
“A hard fork is by definition an altcoin that the entire community decides to adopt as a replacement. Since most of the community rejects Bitcoin Unlimited, it is impossible for it to become a hard fork. Anyone can fork at any time. That people don’t speaks to the strong incentives not to.”
Open your free digital wallet here to store your cryptocurrencies in a safe place.
GameCredits will release its free to use API
Gamecredits Inc wants to change the cryptocurrency market, by releasing its free to use API.
Gamecredits is a digital currency payment solution that can be used within any videogame.
Developers who want to accept gamecredits payments can decide to reduce fees by up to 20%, eliminating chargebacks and increasing user deposit limits and payments speed.
Gamecredits provides all these benefits and takes 10% of game developers revenues, instead of the usual 30% charged by Apple, Google or Steam.
In order to avoid the current issue and let users change their habits starting to use digital currencies, Gamecredits offers several features, so gamers can find coupon codes for the cryptocurrency just by playing their videogames.
The announcement of the release of Gamecredits API comes after the recent announcement of Gamecredits Mobile Store that is set to launch this spring with more than 300 games that will receive instant access to the API.
You can buy or exchange your Gamecredits by using our wallet, as we at HolyTransaction recently integrated this digital currency into our platform.
By using HolyTransaction wallet, you will be able to:
- Send Gamecredits to any address, even to addresses of other cryptocurrencies with instant conversion on the fly;
- Receive transactions;
- Exchange Gamecredits with any supported coins;
- Make instant transactions between HT users;
- Get real time exchange rates on the website;
- Set OTP for additional protection.
Open your Gamecredits wallet here. You just need an email account and the process can be done in only 1 minute.
Open your free digital wallet here to store your cryptocurrencies in a safe place.
Nevada stops blockchain transactions taxes
A new bill has been proposed to the Nevada Senate and, if it pass, will stop local taxes and fees on the use of a blockchain ledger, both for payments and contracts.
Nevada Senate Bill 398 was filed yesterday and presented by Senator Ben Kieckhefer, who wants to create a legal level for the use of blockchain-based networks.
Notably, this bill will also stop local governments asking for taxes on the use of the distributed ledger or to require a special licensure in order to use it.
This new proposed bill explains:
“A local governmental entity shall not: Impose any tax or fee on the use of a blockchain or smart contract by any person or entity; Require any person or entity to obtain from the local governmental entity any certificate, license or permit to use a blockchain or smart contract; or Impose any other requirement relating to the use of a blockchain or smart contract by any person or entity.”
If this bill pass, its benefits won’t be applied only to these potential economic expenses.
Kieckhefer’s suggestion, in fact, will allow blockchain records to be used in proceedings, noting that “if a law requires a record to be in writing, submission of a blockchain which electronically contains the record satisfies the law”.
“A smart contract, record or signature may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because a blockchain was used to create, store or verify the smart contract, record or signature. In a proceeding, evidence of a smart contract, record or signature must not be excluded solely because a blockchain was used to create, store or verify the smart contract, record or signature,”the proposed bill states.
Last month a similar proposal was made in Arizona, or a further move to legitimize the use of blockchain distributed ledger; a previous effort was also proposed in Vermont back in 2016.
Open your free digital wallet here to store your cryptocurrencies in a safe place.
Bitcoin exchange regulation in China
Soon a new bitcoin exchange regulation in China may be required to ensure know-your-customers (KYC) verifications.
According to an article published by Caixin, the People’s Bank of China issued a new paper for the Chinese exchanges on which it is looking for comments for the proposed regulation.
This move is part of a effort by the Chinese central bank in order to have a bitcoin exchange regulation and avoid money laundering and other financial crimes.
According to the official press release, this paper explains both a regulation related to the anti-money laundering (AML) issues and the creation of a customer identification system.
Bitcoin users will have to own an on-site certification if they want to deposit funds. To do se, they will have to present identification at the time of registration. Also, for clients who hold more than ¥50,000 (over $7,200) in volume, a remote video certification will be required to authenticate their own identity.
The document also contemplates that there must be a senior management team who controls AML procedures and reports dubious transactions.
This news come after the PBoC’s decision made back in January that indicates to intervene in the Chinese bitcoin market during this period of heavy bitcoin price volatility.
Since then, bitcoin exchanges started to implement several new policies, ending margin trading and freezing withdrawals for a few cryptocurrencies.
At the moment, while I’m writing this article, bitcoin Chinese exchange withdrawals are still frozen.
Open your free digital wallet here to store your cryptocurrencies in a safe place.
Trump Bitcoin – related new project: how will he use the Blockchain?
The newest Donald Trump Bitcoin – related project was announced this week during the DC Blockchain Summit held in Washington.
US regulators and officials explained their goal of increasing the adoption of blockchain technology within the government and the American private sector.
Also, a few representatives of President Trump, talked about the potential use cases of the distributed ledger, commenting that they are developing a new Trump Bitcoin project related to the public policy.
In fact, they underlined the ledger potential to streamline bureaucracy, empower consumers and drive economic growth.
Chief economist for Vice President Mike Pence, Mark Calabria, gave a speech in which he explained how the Donald Trump administration wants to exploit the blockchain technology and what possible applications can have the tech in government and finance, as Treasury Department is conducting a review of the whole American financial system.
“We are approaching this with an open mind. We recognize that we’re not necessarily the innovators, but what we can do is get out of the way and figure out where the government stops you from being innovative.”
Trump Bitcoin project benefits
The co-chairs of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus asserted that they are looking for understaning how the tech could be developed to be used within the public sector.
“We’re very interested in helping to facilitate the deployment of blockchain technology in federal agencies and across the government. Our role is to prod government agencies to look at more efficient ways of doing things,” said Jared Polis.
Republican co-chair from Arizona, David Schweikert, argued that one of the main goals is to keep policymakers updated about the technology’s potential .
“How do those of us who do policy not leap ahead and screw up what we don’t know is coming tomorrow? Sometimes those of us who get elected are arrogant sometimes in what we think we know. How do we help our brothers and sisters in congress understand this isn’t just about cryptocurrency? There’s an incredible world out there that’s so much bigger.”
Public and private
That said, private sector has a major role to play in the government’s blockchain adoption.
Managing director of financial services at Accenture, David Treat, explained that the public sector is not just a political advertisement.
“It was a completely different dynamic of not being reactive and not being, ‘Tell me what you did, and let’s opine on whether that was good or OK.’ It was actually, ‘We see this thing on the horizon, we know it has relevance – can you teach us?'”
Also, blockchain experts and analysts argued that its adoption by the government might help to normalize it for use in other sectors.
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