The ICO is called "Blockvest" and last month they were ordered to halt before they really even began, via an emergency court order.  The SEC press release explained their reasoning at the time:

"An SEC complaint unsealed yesterday alleges that Blockvest falsely claimed its ICO and its affiliates received regulatory approval from various agencies, including the SEC."

But today, the case was thrown out in court, the judge examining the case stated in his findings:

"Plaintiff and Defendants provide starkly different facts as to what the 32 test investors relied on, in terms of promotional materials, information, economic inducements or oral representations at the seminars, before they purchased the test BLV tokens. Therefore, because there are disputed issues of fact, the Court cannot make a determination whether the test BLV tokens were “securities”..."

the findings continue...

"At this stage, without full discovery and disputed issues of material facts, the Court cannot make a determination whether the BLV token offered to the 32 test investors was a ‘security'"

Why we shouldn't read too much into this:
The key word's above are 'at this stage' - because while the ICO had taken on investors, the "32 test investors" named were friends, family, and associates of the founder, which he had approached personally.

Those 'test investors' then made the case that they didn't invest because he had promised huge returns, they invested basically just because they liked the guy, as explained in the finding:

"...they were investing in because they trusted them based on their long-time familial and friend relationship."

It's the fact that the ICO went no further than these '32 test investors' that saved them.  Had the tokens been sold to the public, I think it's safe to say their violations would have been clear and indisputable.

Make no mistake - Blockvest and it's founder were up to no good:
We're not looking at totally innocent people here. The initial press release from back when the SEC ordered them to halt, highlights some of the shady things they were attempting to pull off.

"Ringgold promoted the ICO with a fake agency he created called the 'Blockchain Exchange Commission' using a graphic similar to the SEC's seal and the same address as SEC headquarters."

Other claims included that they we're regularly undergoing 3rd party auditing - they weren't.

But their defense revolved around stating his 'test investors' had never seen any of these false claims - therefore they couldn't have been misled by them. If none of the money he raised was the result of these misleading statements - then he never scammed investors.

One interesting precedent set:
Airdrops appear to be in the clear.  Other than the 'test investors' in this case, the ICO had only given out airdropped tokens to the public.

Given that a 'security' by definition has to involve the risk of an investment being lost, the definition just cannot apply. When it comes to airdropped tokens, no investment was ever made - the tokens are simply being given away.

So - airdropped tokens are outside of the SEC's regulatory oversight.

The full court documents can be viewed here.

-------

We covered the story when it broke in April and little was heard since then, until now.

It turns out, lawyers for Mayweather and Khaled have been busy negotiating with the SEC, and today reached a settlement.

Mayweather will return $300,000 he received to promote the ICOs plus a $300,000 penalty, and an additional $14,775 in prejudgment interest.

DJ Khaled will return $50,000, pay a $100,000 penalty, and $2,725 in prejudgment interest.

The case revolved around an ICO called "Centra" which turned out to be fraudulent, according to the SEC case:

“They claimed, for example, to offer a debit card backed by Visa and Mastercard that would allow users to instantly covert hard-to-spend cryptocurrencies into US dollars or legal tender. In reality,  Centra had no relationships with Visa or MasterCard.” 

Centra went on to raise $32 million, the criminal cases against the founders are still moving forward.

Binance has replaced the "USDT" symbol on their exchange - it no longer means Tether, but rather a symbol that represents their entire stablecoin market, a collection of multiple stablecoins.

Our readers were the first to see this coming, when an insider within one of the stablecoin projects leaked exclusive information with us regarding the discussions between their leadership and Binance (read that article here).

Well - it all turned out to be true, a new statement from Binance reads:

"Binance has renamed the USDT Market (USDT) to now be a combined Stablecoin Market (USDⓈ). This is to support more trading pairs with different stablecoins offered as a base pair.

We will make a further announcement soon on the exact pairs to be initially moved or added to this market.

Please note that USDⓈ is not a new stablecoin: it is the symbol of Binance's new stablecoin market."

What's interesting here is this at least appears on the surface to be a real jab at Tether, for the simple fact that "USDT" is their symbol, they trade under on every exchange where it's used - and Binance basically just said 'sorry, not anymore'.

But today - Tether just swung back.  Re-opening their "Direct redemption"portal that allows anyone to buy Tether using USD or Euro, and more importantly - exchange Tether for fiat currency.    In a statement Tether says:

"Due to the unexpected rush of new cryptocurrency traders over the last year, Tether grew at an unpredicted rate, quickly making the initial model (enabling direct redemption of Tether to fiat through its native platform) unsustainable. In this environment, it made sense to take the stress off growing pains by flexing the existing model to harness the established infrastructure and security of Bitfinex, which was built to withstand a much larger volume of customers. Those wishing to redeem could do so 1:1 via Bitfinex with whom we had a business to business relationship.

Against this backdrop and with alternative stablecoins entering the market, Tether has maintained its stablecoin market domination, but naturally differentiated, with heavy adoption amongst professional investors.

Now, thanks to stronger banking as a result of our new relationship with Deltec, Tether is able to return to its original vision of having a wallet for creating and redeeming directly on its own platform without having to rely on a third party. This update allows the immediate withdrawal of Tether to fiat (1:1), with the ability to acquire coming soon."

This is Tether saying "we have the money".  But as one person in a telegram channel i'm a member of stated "we'll see" because for many, the mistrust of Tether will continue, adding "they could be offering this knowing not everyone is going to exchange their Tether for USD at once. Smart way to look legit, but we still have no idea what their real USD reserves are".

The words "sold out" or "cap reached" have become a lot more rare to see in 2018, with the exception of several projects where the use case for a token is clear. Crest Token is one of those cases.

That's because the project actually revolves around a digital advertising platform called the "DigiAd Platform" which makes real structual improvements to the current model, it outlines ways advertisers can get better results, and publishers can increase their revenue for running the ads.  So the token's role is clear  - it's essential, because advertisers will need them if they want to use the platform.

We asked Founder and CEO Ben Sanders to outline the concept behind it "I have seen how millions of people online struggle to capitalize on the $300Bn online marketing/digital advertising industry due to lack of knowledge and experience. I decided to put a platform together using the blockchain technology that will allow members benefit from professional advertisers and publishers/affiliates (Crest DigiAd Platform), while developing their skillset in becoming successful publishers/affiliates or learning how to run a profitable ad campaigns for any crypto or non-crypto related ads (Crest Affiliate Marketing Education System - CAMES)" says Sanders.

Sanders will also be a guest speaker at the Silicon Valley Blockchain Expo on it's 2nd day, (Thur November 29th) at the "Innovations & Investors Zone" at 12:20pm (link)

The DigiAd platform utilities two emerging tech sectors, both AI and blockchain, with the end goal of ease of use that will allow for businesses with little digital marketing experience to launch powerful global campaigns - all without having to hire an expensive digital marketing director to make it happen.

Here's some of it's stand-out features:

- It allows crypto and non-crypto related advertisers and publishers to cross-promote and benefit across several industries and ad verticals.
- It enables non-crypto Advertisers and Publishers/Affiliates to enter the large and ever growing crypto/blockchain market.
- It allows crypto-focused Publishers/Affiliates to generate income outside of the crypto space, especially during the low crypto traffic demands.
- It allows members to develop their marketing skills through our educational system called CAMES.

Building all of it is a team that already knows the space, their current ventures are already pulling in 20+ million unique visitors each month, and their combined experience in the digital advertising space totals decades. Their CEO also knows what works in the cryptocurrency space as well, having participated in over 40+ ICOs himself.

Those attending the Silicon Valley Blockchain Expo can meet the team in person at booth #114.

For more information, visit them at https://cresttoken.com

The US DOD, specifically their research arm known as DARPA (The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) which is responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military, now has their eyes on blockchain technology.

Now they're reaching out to experts and professionals in the blockchain technology sector, in an announcement stating:

"Technologies for distributed consensus protocols have been revolutionized by their prominent role in cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies. These technologies have dramatic implications for the security and resilience of critical data storage and computation tasks, including for the Department of Defense (DoD). At the same time, the concrete applications and security of these technologies for the DoD is unclear. DARPA is interested in better understanding the broader implications that such technologies may play for the DoD. In order to investigate these technologies, DARPA intends to hold a workshop in February 2019 based upon responses to this RFI."

Undoubtedly, one big reason for the DOD to be taking a more aggressive approach to implementing blockchain technology is the fact China has such a head start, and the US government better catch up fast.

The Chinese Communist Party, their central bank, and even their court system are in the process of streamlining their technology - and blockchain is at the center of it.  This was all outlined in detail by Forbes earlier this year in an article titled "Making Sense Of China's Grand Blockchain Strategy" and is worth a read.

DARPA's Blockchain Workshop will take place Feburary of next year, and allows for private companies in the blockchain space to present how they believe they could help.

More information can be found here.

Korea, with its 50 million population, is one of the most active market in terms of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency industry as well as investment in the world. Continuing the nationwide investment fever in cryptocurrency, top-ranked Korean enterprises from various industries intend to accelerate the Blockchain market in Korea. No.1 social network platform Kakaotalk invested in Upbit and established the Kakao Blockchain Lab; Game industry giant Nexon took ever a digital exchange Korbit; Samsung launched a Blockchain platform, Nexledger. Korea’s giant economic & financial media Group MTN(Money Today Network Inc.) also turns to Blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, planning to co-organize an international Blockchain summit “CHAIN PLUS+” during 23-24 January in 2019.

Korea MTN Group(Money Today Network Inc.) founded in May 2001, owns an authentic economy cable channel “Money Today”, mainly targets in finance, stock market, market analysis, real estate and other news related to financial area. It is one of the most trusted financial media in Korea, and is recognized as a pioneer media in Korean.

Chainers Inc, co-established by Vision Creator, a top-tier traditional financial advisor and VC in Korea, and The Blockchainer, No.1 Chinese Blockchain ecosystem builder, incubating and accelerating global&domestic Blockchain projects worldwide. So far, Chainers has provided successful business solutions for prominent Blockchain projects such as AE, Terra, ONT, Bumo.

As 2-days summit during the 2nd Annual CHAINERS Blockchain week, CHAIN PLUS+ focuses on topics Blockchain empowering substantial economy, which aims to build a bridge between Blockchain projects and local enterprises and a creative win-win platform for participants in this ecosystem.

Relying on its long term reputation with a great social influence, MTN will invite officials from layers of government, congress, and giant firms in Korea. Meanwhile, with the great support from Korean Blockchain Association and top-tier developer communities like KBIP Lab, Decipher, and POSTECH, Chainers will have over 25% of leading developers in Korea attending the conference. On top of that, top 10 Blockchain Youtubers and 30 KOLs(Naver bloggers) will be the feast in the Chain Plus+ Summit. All in one, one for all.

Global Crypto Press is an official media partner with Chainers Blockchain week.
For full information visit: http://www.blockkarneval.com

First off - don't even try to imply we're shilling for Tether.  In fact we're one of the first publications to touch the accusations against them - ironically one year ago today exactly (link) and in over 5 follow-up articles on the subject. 

Our stance is - just do the audit and put all this to rest already, and the longer they go without it, the more suspicious they look.  For that reason, Tether has largely brought this upon themselves.

But now with the news today of the the DOJ officially investigating them, and having already covered the accusations against them to death - let's examine another angle.

What if they're innocent?

Whether the accusations turn out to be true or not the fact is it took a year of non-stop bad press before an investigation was even launched.  Frankly, the reason for that is - it just isn't totally clear anything even happened.

On that note, here's a few factors worth considering:

Bitfinex isn't even in the top 3 exchanges that hold the most Tether.

Binance, Huobi, Poloniex, then Bitfinex in 4th place when it comes to who holds the most USDT.

The upside to these exchanges listing a USDT pairing option is obviously the more trades they get people to execute, the more trading fees they get to claim.  But there's no way the profits from these fees justify risking their entire business by working with Tether.

There's no doubt these exchanges looked into Tether as soon as the accusations against it surfaced - yet a year later, they're still using it.

The 'risk VS reward' for these exchanges just doesn't add up.

One of those exchanges is Binance, the world's top exchange.

Binance and specifically it's CEO are known for having very little tolerance for nonsense, and on the topic of Tether, CEO Changpeng Zhao (aka "CZ" in the crypto world) says:

“I haven’t personally seen their bank accounts but from a logical point of view they have so many profits from their regular exchange business, they don’t need to do anything crazy about the Tethering. I think the reason they cannot release their bank account details is because if they release whichever bank they’re using, then the bank account gets shut down” 

Could the explanation really be this simple?

Binance is also known for de-listing coins, and doing it fast - at the first sign of trouble. Yet Tether is still there.

Anonymous accusers.

At the root of the accusations against Tether are tweets and posts on Medium (a blog site anyone can post on) that then went viral.

Why not add validity to the claims by telling everyone who's making them?   There's no fear of legal repercussions against someone making truthful claims.

Did the price of Bitcoin REALLY need to be artificially pumped up?

Think back to when things got crazy beginning late 2017.  Among the people in my life who contacted me to say they just bought, or wanted help buying cryptocurrency were college friends I hadn't talked to in years, a friend of mine who's a radio DJ, another friend who's a professional swimming coach, another one who teaches 2nd grade elementary school - the list goes on.

Point is - everyone actually was buying Bitcoin, that wasn't in our imagination.

So in closing , sure, the accusations very well may be true and i'd even say there's a 'good chance' they are.

But... there's also a 'good chance' they aren't.

It's hard to make the case that the cryptocurrency market needs more exchanges, that is unless it's not just more of the same, but instead one that has learned from the mistakes of those who came before them, and can offer traders real noticeable improvements.

In other words, it's time to bring on the 2nd generation of cryptocurrency exchanges. That's exactly what Encrybit is setting out to do.

They started with a blank slate, and filled it with the feedback gathered though a massive study they conducted with 11k+ participants from over 150 countries.  The concerns and wishes expressed to them by the participants ranged from everything to security concern, to usability issues.

One interesting data point is that a vast majority of traders currently use multiple exchanges, so there is a real opening in the market if one can properly identify why, and put all those reasons into 1 exchange.

On that note Encrybit has taken notice, saying "too many exchanges needed by the user in order to trade cryptocurrencies and this issue will be the main focus for us."

Of all the concerns addressed in their research, the top of the list was security - with 40% of traders saying it was their main concern with current exchanges.

It's a valid concern, at the Global Crypto Press we've spent 2018 covering one story after another. In an article I wrote last month we examined the blame game surrounding over $800 million stolen between 14 separate security breaches.

"Encrybit is focusing more on the security aspects, therefore having multiple security advisors and information security experts in the team is a plus. With that Encrybit is getting security architecture services from the best in the industry." according to their whitepaper.

The exchange will also feature a native token, think of this as their version of BNB (Binance Coin) called ENCX and trades executed with it will receive 50% off trading fees. Also worth noting, 40% of any coin listing fees will be charged in ENCX, and every month 10% of profits will be set aside for ENCX token buybacks.

It's a project worth keeping a close eye on - and the Encybit ENCX token pre-sale has just gone live.

For more information on the project, or to read the full whitepaper visit https://encrybit.io

I invest in both cryptocurrencies (obviously) and stocks as well, mainly tech companies.  I'm an active member of online communities/forums for both and this last week they've both had a lot in common - they're full of people in pretty bad moods from losing a lot of cash, at least on paper.

But only the cryptocurrency community seems to have this over reaction - like the world is coming to an end.

Which has me thinking, perhaps those in the cryptocurrency communities aren't even aware - this 'dip' isn't just happening in the cryptocurrency markets.

Let's instead take a wider look at tech in general. You'll quickly see it's been one hell of a week all around...

Amazon (AMZN) lost $60 billion.
Apple (AAPL) lost $39 billion.
Facebook (FB) lost $28 billion.
Nvidia (NVDA) lost $27 billion.
Bitcoin (BTC) lost $25 billion.
Google (GOOGL) lost $14 billion.
Ethereum (ETH) lost $6 billion.

There's always some that seem to weather the storm, and in tech stocks this past week that would be Intel (INTC) which managed to make some decent gains while others in their industry dropped.  In the cryptocurrency markets that would be Ripple (XRP), love them or hate them that's not my point - but they're sitting pretty much where they were a week ago.

Now let's consider - who might own a whole lot of Bitcoin? The same kind of people who also invested heavily in companies like Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook.

The reasons they're on a selling spree vary, but summed up into one word it's "uncertainty" and they're running from anything that has a lot of it. The same question that's been hanging over the cryptocurrency markets for some time of 'what regulations may be coming?' has spread throughout tech in general, specifically companies that deal with issues of privacy.

All at once investors decided to pull out until those questions get answered. Why did they suddenly across the board decide that they weren't willing to risk any unwanted surprises? I have no idea - but it happened, so here we are.

You're probably now wondering - so where's all the money going?  It's looking like towards the less risky classics - for example CocaCola and Procter & Gamble have taken on some pretty big gains as tech crumbles. A sudden big move towards 'playing it safe'.

So, the conclusion i'd like to leave you with is this - no one in the stock world is saying "well, it's all over for Amazon and Apple" - instead they're simply asking the much more reasonable question of "when will this current bear market move towards an uptrend?".

With that in mind -  there's no rational reason why the cryptocurrency world should have any different of an outlook than that.  So remain calm, and understand we aren't alone in our suffering right now, we're sharing in it with virtually every important player in tech - and like them, we will survive!

One last thing - don't take this as me yelling "HODL". I don't know what price you entered the market at, I don't know your portfolio. In other words - i'm not advising anyone to do anything except to evaluate the big picture to then make rational and informed decisions, whatever those may be.

There's no way around it - the use case for cryptocurrency isn't theoretical, and it's proven every day.

Some examples larger than others, this being one of the larger ones.  Binance transferred Bitcoin funds totaling $600 million in value into cold storage (secure offline storage).

Next time someone says cryptocurrency is pointless, and that they "just use PayPal" point out that the fee on this transaction would cost them over $17 million dollars using PayPal - and even though they're not transferring hundreds of millions of dollars, just for fun add up those $5-$20 fees over the years, the total may surprise them.

PayPal's $15.2 billion in annual profits aren't coming out of thin air, they come from taking a large chunk of other people's income.

The next largest competitor would be Square Cash, at their 1.5% fee the total would amount to a still-massive $9 million.

Binance's cold storage wallet can be viewed at here.

The case involves 1 man, and 2 fraudulent ICOs, and we initially covered the story when it began in November of last year.   At the time he said he would be fighting the case, but yesterday he plead guilty to the charges against him.

His name is Maksim Zaslavskiy and he's the former CEO of 'REcoin' an ICO that claimed to be backed by tokenized real estate assets, and 'Diamond Reserve Club' an ICO that claimed to tokenize a reserve of physical diamonds.

But there was one massive problem, as his own guilty plea states:

“We had not yet purchased any real estate. We had not purchased any diamonds.”

Zaslavskiy's defense maintains that fraud was never the intent and that their client just did things in reverse, saying:

“This is a case where he had a good-faith belief in his cryptocurrency products, but he marketed it as further along than what had been actually developed.”

Nonetheless his pitch to investors implied he already owned the assets, not that he was raising money to acquire them.

Sentencing for Zaslavskiy will take place in April 18th of next year, where he can face a maximum of 37 months in prison.

Video Courtesy of CNBC.

Following yesterday's cryptocurrency market bloodbath, today's recovery has given us a new #2 token - Ripple's XRP has overthrown Ethereum to take the spot after the never-dethroned #1 - Bitcoin.

The margin isn't huge, with XRP's market cap sitting at $18,683,209,694 and Ethereum at $18,307,093,020 at the time of publishing.

A few factors aside from yesterday's crash played into this too - when markets take a dive, ICO's that raised Ethereum to fund project development tend to ditch some or all of their ETH. Rather than sit by and see how low it will go and risking the funds they need pay the bills.

At the exact same time, Ripple was getting a wave of positive press following an interview it's Chief Executive Officer Brad Garlinghouse did with Bloomberg, where he outlined Ripple's aggressive goals to take over banking transactions.

But the battle for #2 is hardly over, while it's been a rough year for Ethereum the light at the end of the tunnel keeps getting brighter. 

Last week at Ethereum's 4th annual developer conference the public was given an update on Ethereum 2.0 which could very well solve all of Ethereum's current problems with one big upgrade. It's coming, but the release dates keep changing and Ethereum's rough ride will likely continue for awhile longer - still, don't make the mistake of thinking a comeback isn't extremely likely.

I've covered a variety of scams in the cryptocurrency world, more than I wish I had to, and one thing i'm noticing is - they just keep getting bolder.

Until now things have missed that 'personal touch' - awhile ago the big hustle they had going was just making fake exchange sites and when someone entered their login info, it would really just send the victims username and password to the scammers - just those old phishing tricks that have been around since the internet.

Then they moved on to posing as celebrities on Twitter, and running fake "crypto giveaways" - but of course to receive your free crypto, for some reason you had to send them some first... I still don't know how anyone falls for that.

There's a variety of others, too many to list here, but my point is they were all done by some guy hiding behind a computer screen, who was never seen or heard.

But now - they're getting their victims to actually call them on the phone!

So here's how it works - the scammers now have real, toll free phone numbers, and they're posting them everywhere they can.

I've found these numbers showing up as the customer support lines for a variety of well known cryptocurrency exchanges and blockchain based products and services  - Binance, Coinbase, Ledger, Tezos, Bittrex, Kraken and others.

Then to insure the phone numbers that belong to them show up when someone does a Google search, they've created pages on a variety of popular social networking sites including Facebook, LinkedIn, and GitHib - many that appear to have been operating for weeks now...

Fake CoinBase support on LinkedIn.

Fake Binance support on LinkedIn.

Fake Binance support on Facebook.

Fake Binance support on GitHub.

So then, to find out exactly how the scam works - I had to call them myself.

Once I dialed some kind of automated system picked up immediately and placed me on hold, classical music then began to play - to their credit, it really was feeling like a typical customer service call experience. But after sitting on hold for about 15 minutes, I just hung up.

I figured I would try again the next day... but to my surprise - they called me!

The first call I placed to them was around 1pm in the afternoon here in San Francisco.  But the return call I was receiving came in at 2:20am - a pretty clear sign that these guy's aren't in the USA.

I answered and they informed me they were with "blockchain support" - which makes sense because they can't say which exchange they're from, because they don't know which exchange I was calling them for - they spam out the same phone number for all of them!

I stayed on the line just long enough to get the rundown of how they pull it off - first they have you download TeamViewer, for those who aren't familiar with it, it allows two people to connect to each other and one to control the other persons computer.  It's a program used for a variety of legitimate reasons, but it's a dangerous tool in the wrong hands.

What they then do it have someone log in to their account, seize control of the computer, and while under the scammers control they will send all of your cryptocurrency to their wallets.

The most popular numbers associated with this scam I discovered are:

888-884-0111
888-399-2543
800-631-6981

I'm only putting them in this article for one reason - now when someone does a Google search to see if the phone numbers are legitimate - they'll find this.

Be careful out there and remember - never find contact info for an exchange anywhere except their official site.

Changpeng Zhao, known in the crypto world as "CZ" is a Chinese-Canadian business executive and the founder and CEO of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume.

Speaking to the hosts of "Crypto Trader" a show that airs on CNBC's South African network, he shared his mindset on why he's patiently waiting for the next Bitcoin bull run - not wondering if it will happen, but only when.

"Even if I don’t know what will catalyze a bitcoin bull run, I am certain it will happen... Sooner or later, something will trigger it." says CZ.

Also adding that while it's been a bear year for the markets - Binance is doing just fine, saying:

"Compared to January, we are probably down 90 percent. So we only have one-tenth of the trading volume compared to what we had in January. But, compared to like a year or two years ago, we’re still trading at huge volumes. Business is still okay, we are still profitable, and we are still a very healthy business"

The next thing to watch from CZ is if Binance's attempt to target large institutional investors will be a success.

It's a task CoinBase just failed at. They believed their crypto index fund would be the key to that opens the door and lets the large institutional investors into the crypto markets - but the fund was launched and then canceled all within a 4 month period.

Nonetheless, CZ and Binance believe they've figured out what institutional investors really want, and recently announced their plans to go after them on their blog.

Ironically, if he pulls it off - he could end up being what triggers the next bull run.

Fears and frights creep around every Halloween, but BitStarz Casino is bringing you something extra that goes bump in the night this year. Today we’re launching The Horror Trail, a new promotion that’s loaded with twists, turns, and top prizes!

2018 has been a crazy year at BitStarz, as we’ve already brought you Expedition Atlantis, Fantasy Adventure, Treasure Island Adventure, and Journey to Russia – but the best is yet to come. The Horror Trail ramps up the action with the ultimate trick or treat adventure.

Much like our previous smash hit promotions, we’re giving you more than just the feel-good factor to play for. As you battle your way across 40 levels, you’ll find yourself in the hunt for a luxury trip for two to Bali. It’s been called the jewel of Indonesia, with Bali being one of the most jaw-dropping holiday destinations in the world – now you have the chance to see it firsthand.

We know that our players love cold, hard cash, which is why we’re bringing back the prize that everyone is talking about. Our individual €50,000 prize pools have the online casino world buzzing with excitement, so as you walk down The Horror Trail you can face the frights with plenty of fast cash. Free spins, bonuses, and real money wins, every player can enjoy a stacked €50,000 individual prize pool that isn’t short on thrills.

Since 2014, we’ve been tearing up the rulebook when it comes to online casino play, pushing past tradition to present players with the freshest gaming action around. Helping us remain a cut above the competition, we give players more than 1600 games, lighting fast 10-minute cash outs, and – as you probably know – bank-busting promotions. BitStarz is red hot in 2018 and it’s safe to say that The Horror Trail is going to give you goosebumps.

If you’re not a BitStarz member already it’s time to get involved, as when you join today not only will you be able to automatically entered into The Horror Trail, but you can also get your hands on a mouthwatering welcome bonus. 20 no deposit free spins, 180 standard free spins, and up to 5 BTC/€500 in bonus funds, what more could you ask for?

The Horror Trail has arrived, will you be brave enough to bag the cash and a trip to Bali?
www.bitstarz.eu

For more information about The Horror Trail, along with everything else BitStarz has to offer, please contact Srdjan Kapor at srdjan.kapor@bitstarz.com.

Press contact:
Srdjan Kapor
Marketing Manager
srdjan.kapor@bitstarz.com 
www.bitstarz.eu

Generally, before something becomes commonplace it goes through the phases of development, awareness, and then adoption.

When it comes it Bitcoin, it looks like we can officially say we've entered the 3rd and final stage - at least here in the UK. According to the latest polling conducted by YouGov, an astounding 93% of people had at least heard of the cryptocurrency.

While the question wasn't asked in previous years, I can tell you from experience - i'd be shocked if that number was above 10% in 2016, over the last 2 years we've truly seen the public awaken, at least to it's existence.

Adoption unfortunately is another story, as 6% of men say they own Bitcoin, and just 1% of women.

Some other interesting data from the poll:

- Only 4% feel they understand Bitcoin 'very well'.
- Most who owned Bitcoin fell within the ages of 12-24
- Only 1% of those over 55 years of age own Bitcoin.

So while we can proudly say "mission accomplished" when it comes to spreading awareness, there's also some data in this poll that gives us hope for the next phase - adoption.

21% of people believe cryptocurrencies will one day "be as commonly used a payment method as card or cash" - that means while only 7% of people own it - 3x that amount of people believe in it's future.

That's really something to consider - only 1/3 of people who believe in Bitcoin's potential have yet to acquire any - that presents a very clear path for strong future growth.

The full survey results can be found here.

Jeff Garzik is one of Bitcoin's early developers, dating back to 2010.  He was one of the few to work with the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, before Nakamoto seemingly disappeared into thin air.

Back then he wanted to help drive more people to do what he's doing - write code to make Bitcoin better.  To do so he gave away "bounties", or rewards to those who did.  By the end of 2014 he had given away 15,678 BTC, worth over $300 million at it's peak - and still over $100 million today.

When asked by Bloomberg, Garzik says he has no regrets - he's just happy to see Bitcoin still going strong, saying:

“It was a question whether this thing would survive at all, and there’s no question of that today.”

He has a theory who Satoshi Nakamoto is too - another early Bitcoin developer he knew well, named Dave Kleiman, he explained his reasoning with:

"It matches his coding style, this gentleman was self taught. And the Bitcoin coder was someone who was very, very smart, but not a classically trained software engineer.”

Kleiman died in 2013 - which could also explain why Satoshi's personal stash of 1,148,800, Bitcoin hasn't been touched.

Garzik is currently working at Bloq, a company he co-founded in 2015 that provides enterprise-level blockchain solutions.

Overstock.com CEO calls traditional monetary system a  "ponzi scheme" - says people will turn to crypto when "when their own financial systems collapse"...

While a guest on cryptocurrency Youtuber Naomi Brockwell's show, the Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne said:

“People turn to it where they collapse, like Venezuela or Cyprus or Syria, something like that. When people start getting into it is when their own financial systems collapse. So yes, given that I think the entire modern financial system is a big Keynesian, magic money tree Ponzi scheme, I do expect that the day will come when people turn to crypto.”

Byrne is a long time cryptocurrency supporter - and that's why Overstock has always been ahead of the trend - they began accepting bitcoin back in 2014, before most of the public had even heard of it.

You can listen to his full interview here.

Tether just can't catch a break.  November was one hell of a month for the stablecoin from the creators of the Bitfinex exchange, that had them facing a new wave of accusations, snapping back at their critics, and then we broke the story that the top exchange Binance was actively seeking new Tether alternatives to add to their exchange.

Trying to calm the waters they announced new banking partner Deltec Bank & Trust, to act as an independent holder of the USD funds backing their cryptocurrency, which claims to have $1 in the bank for every 1 Tether token issued.

But today, news coming out of Brazil via the popular "O Globo" newspaper reports that bank is under investigation from Brazilian authorities.

The accusation however doesn't involve Tether, but rather a Brazilian official who is accused of transferring $25 million in laundered funds offshore, to another bank based in Panama, then having it  re-enter Brazil through Deltec Bank & Trust - a transaction that some say should have been immediately flagged.

But here's what all this does call in to question:  Tether's statements earlier this week, stating the high standards the bank has, and how taking Tether on as a client should be seen as a sign that their operation is on the up-and-up.  As Tether said in that statement:

“This included, notably, an analysis of our compliance processes, policies and procedures; a full background check of the shareholders, ultimate beneficiaries and officers of our company; and assessments of our ability to maintain the USD-peg at any moment and our treasury management policies.”

Following this news, Deltec Bank & Trust's endorsement doesn't mean much - and the rumors of Tether not having the funds to back up the $1.7 Billion worth of tokens in circulation continues.

FLX Wallet today announced it has released its innovative crypto currency hardware wallet. The FLX One wallet has been designed to be both secure and extremely easy to use by both new and seasoned crypto currency owners and supports many currencies. With a built-in rechargeable battery, Bluetooth wireless functionality, and iOS/Android mobile apps, you can manage all your cryptocurrencies anywhere. The revolutionary hardware FLX Key is used to backup and restore the wallet.

The FLX One system includes intuitive iOS/Android mobile apps that allows you to easily use your smartphone to make transactions and manage your cryptocurrencies with your FLX One.

The FLX One was designed and tested with ultimate security in mind, and innovative new features to usher in the next generation of hardware wallets!

Exclusive features:
● Disables communication automatically when signing transaction (i.e, wallet adaptively turns itself offline completely) (patent-pending)
● Dedicated hardware, FLX Key, for backing up and restoring your wallet. (patent-pending)
● Truly mobile - manage all your cryptocurrencies anywhere without wires
● Managed currencies solely on FLX One system (Mobile Apps and wallet) and no need to go through 3rd parties

Plus all the essential capabilities you need:
● Encrypted communication between each component in the FLX One system
● Software tamper detection (Permanently lock out FLX One when tampering is detected)
● Personal PIN (at least 6 characters long)
● Exponential lockout time when PIN is entered incorrectly
● Randomized starting keyboard cursor
● Ongoing firmware upgrade capability

The FLX Key is a revolutionary simple-to-use hardware device that is used to backup and restore your account information. If you ever damage or lose your FLX One, you can use the FLX Key to restore your account. The backup process is integrated within the initial setup by inserting the FLX Key to the FLX One wallet, and the FLX One system will take care of the rest (patent-pending). Unlike other competitors, you don't need to hand-record a list of cumbersome phases.

The FLX One currently supports major cryptocurrencies natively. Unlike other crypto currency wallets, you can manage our supported currencies solely on the FLX One system (Mobile App and FLX One) and do not need to use any 3rd party software. With firmware upgrade capability, additional currencies will be added regularly.

Kenny Fok, CEO at FLX, explained: "We looked at other hardware wallets. They are just very difficult to use, cumbersome, and not user friendly. We designed FLX One with Simple-to-use and user friendly in mind. We want typical consumers to enjoy the security of the hardware crypto wallet and have fun with it."

For full information visit https://FLXWallet.com

This time, the scam was at least a bit more creative than usual - the scammers first hacked a real verified account, giving them control over a username that has the blue "verified" check mark next to it.

Then, they switched the account name to "Elon Musk" and tweeted out the following:

The tweet that went out, notice how the actual account is @patheuk

But they didn't stop there - then (using a stolen credit card we can safely assume) they purchased advertising from Twitter and gave the post some extra promotion - causing tens of thousands of extra people to see it.

The scam itself was the usual bait of "send some Bitcoin i'll send even more back" - which from a verified account or not - is always an obvious scam. So, honestly it's a bit hard to feel sorry for the 'victims' here.

Now, a look into the wallet the site directed people to send funds to (1KAGE12gtYVfizicQSDQmnPHYfA29bu8Da) is sitting with a little over 28 BTC in it! Valued at nearly $180k.

A look into the wallet of the scammer.

-------

The "fiscal year" as it relates to the institutions that regulate the financial markets technically came to a close on Sept 30th - the idea is anything ongoing at the point is likely to continue into the next year as lawmakers return home from Washington, and anything beyond that date will be considered part of their 2019 actions.

On that note, the US Securities and Exchange Commission released their annual report covering the 2018 fiscal year, where they touched on the topic of cryptocurrencies several times, first stating:

"In the past year, the Division has opened dozens of investigations involving ICOs and digital assets, many of which were ongoing at the close of FY 2018."

The SEC says they've helped recover over $68 million for 'duped investors' participating in ICOs that purposely mislead the public.

Among those - a story I broke here following an insider leaking documents to the Global Crypto Press regarding Titanium Blockchain, who raised over $12 million before it was discovered their CEO lied about business relationships with everyone from Apple to PayPal.

Also included in their biggest busts was TokenLot, which stands accused of operating as an unregistered broker/dealer.

Adding some relief for legitimate investors, they made a point they've made before - that only those committing fraud have reason to fear SEC intervention, saying:

“The Enforcement Division recognizes the need to balance its mission to protect investors from the risk posed by fraud and registration violations against the risk of stifling innovation and legitimate capital formation”

Which is a case often made in response to those saying the cryptocurrency markets need more regulation and oversight - that so far existing laws have been sufficient and it's been impossible for someone to operate a scam in the cryptocurrency world that didn't violate existing laws as well - meaning new regulations aren't only unnecessary, but also come with the risk of slowing innovation and growth.

The full report is available on the SEC's official site here.

Welcome to the November Cryptocurrency outlook from Contentworks Agency, a content marketing agency specialising in the financial services sector.

October was the least volatile month for the major cryptocurrencies this year. The reason for this was that the earnings season did not bring major news on the currencies. This was unlike the second quarter’s earnings where Blackrock announced its intention to invest in cryptocurrencies. This was a major news because as the biggest asset manager in the world, its entry would attract more liquidity to the industry. In addition to the low-profile earnings season, there were no major news on the regulation of the industry.

November is likely to be more active than October. This is because in the financial market, a long period of low volatility is usually seen as the ‘calm before the storm’. This is because the reason prices are often unchanged is that there is indecision among the participants. As a result, when the price starts to move in either direction, more participants enter the market.

In October, the SEC met with the Chicago Board of Exchange (CBOE), VanEck, and SolidX on the Bitcoin ETF issue. In the meeting, the regulators discussed the proposed ETF, the risks they pose to investors, and how the companies will protect retail investors. A key aspect of their ETF is the fact that they will be priced at $200,000, which will make them unaffordable to many investors.

This month, the SEC will likely rule on the ETF and whether it meets the requirement. If it does, it will likely cause the price of Bitcoin to rise. This is because with the ETF, institutions like Blackrock will be able to buy the currencies. However, for the long-term, this will not be a major driver for Bitcoin. As you recall, many investors expected the list of Bitcoin futures at the CME and CBOE to improve demand. A recent report showed that the volumes have been minimal.

This month, several crypto-related events will take place. First, there will be The Decentralized event in Athens, Greece that will happen mid-this month. Contentworks is among the media sponsors for the event that will attract over 1000 participants. The company’s co-director, Charlotte Day said the following about the event:

“Decentralized is an exciting event that brings together companies, policymakers, investors, and other participants together to share ideas about the future of blockchain. We are excited to be a sponsor and will continue supporting the cause”

Speakers at the event include Eva Kaili of the European Parliament, Angeliki Dedopoulou of the European Commission, and Llew Claasen of Bitcoin Foundation. Other major events that will take place are the Southeast Asia Blockchain Summit that will take place in Indonesia, World Blockchain Summit that will take place in Amsterdam, The ICO Summit at Zurich, and World Blockchain Forum at New York. It is important to pay close attention to these events because they could deliver important updates.

As the month goes on, it is important to focus on the security of the cryptocurrency industry. This is because these events are usually unplanned and when they happen, they could affect cryptocurrencies significantly. This year, cryptocurrencies worth over $700 million have been stolen. In addition to security, watch out for news on regulation and a large company’s entry into crypto.

Did you enjoy this month’s crypto outlook? Contact the team at www.contentworks.agency to discuss content marketing for your finance or blockchain brand.