Said to be the largest survey of it's kind, it asked 4,200 Chinese citizens their stance on the topic of investments, including cryptocurrencies, and the results are surprising many...

● 98% say they've heard of cryptocurrency.

● 40% would like to own some.

● 14% already do own some.

The only investments scoring higher were stocks and real estate.

However, one data point stood out to me, 410 of the 598 people who currently own cryptocurrency say they bought it on exchanges - before exchanges were banned from operating in China.

But three times as many people said they would like to own some, 1665 total - except currently, they can't get any.

Earlier this year Chinese President Xi publicly praised blockchain technology.  At a conference presented by the Chinese Academy Of Sciences, Xi said the technology currently making "breakthroughs" in his opinion were "Artificial Intelligence, IoT, and Blockchain" and categorized them as the driving forces behind what he says will be the a "new industrial revolution".

Currently, owning or mining cryptocurrency is legal, obtaining it on exchanges though buying or trading is not. Chinese courts cleared up a few 'grey areas' in September and ruled that Bitcoin ownership is legal, merchants can choose to accept it as a form of payment, and it should be treated legally as property of the owner.

So, it's fair to say it's been a year of steps in the right direction.

This survey shows is if China allows citizens once again participate in the cryptocurrency markets - prepare for an influx of activity - they're ready!

2018 has been one hell of a year, and while it's hard to find any upsides to the bear market, perhaps the only one is how it was a great year for the cryptocurrency world to throw out some of it's trash.

Here's some of the stand-out, absolute worst people and companies we can all be glad won't be joining us in 2019...

Bitconnect
The day this ponzi scheme came crashing down began with their token at $400 and within a matter of hours had fallen to $40.  The scam required people to initially invest using Bitcoin, but would then pay people out in their token, BCC.

So of course when the company announced they were closing and giving everyone what they were owed - they did that using their BCC token as well.

The problem is, the tokens were worthless by the time someone received them - the people behind it, who to this day were never caught, kept everyone's Bitcoin - totaling in the hundreds of millions of dollars. You can read more about this here.

Bitconnect Users
Let's be honest here - the average Bitconnect user is far from an innocent victim.  Sure, they may have initially signed up ignorant to what they were getting themselves into. 

But by the time Bitconnect stole everyone's money - they all had been warned.

How did they typically respond to being warned they were promoting a scam? Everything from insisting the person warning them was actually just 'jealous they didn't get in early' like they did, or at the worst, death threats (I got some!).

Now, this pathetic group of people with no one to blame but themselves are even trying to sue YouTube. They claim they got sucked in after watching videos recommending Bitconnect.  Of course, ignore the fact that a search for Bitconnect on YouTube would also show countless videos saying it was a scam. That story here.

Savedroid's unbelievably stupid publicity stunt.
After their ICO completed the CEO tweeted that he was skipping town, and even shut down the website. 

Investors panicked as they believed they had just been robbed.

After a couple days, they posted a video saying it was just an example to show how easy it is for ICO's to scam people - but they're legit.

Ironically, a quick glance at their Twitter today shows they haven't made much progress since this - virtually every tweet has replies from angry investors saying various promises weren't kept.

But after this, could you really be that surprised to find out this is a company ran by idiots?

Read more about this here.

Twitter scammers.
Posing as everyone from Elon Musk to Vitalik Buterin, scammers on Twitter could be found responding to a variety of tweets claiming to be conducting cryptocurrency giveaways.

"Send 1 ETH and get 5 back" is the simple bait they used.

While anyone falling for this clearly isn't very bright, there's no shortage of people meeting this qualification.  One of the wallets had $14,000 sent to it from victims.

Read more on this here.

A whole lot of ICO bullshit. 
It's just too hard to name one "the worst" but i'm fine with them sharing the title.

First up is Titanium Blockchain and their CEO Michael Stollaire, and his exciting new partnerships with everyone in Silicon Valley from Apple to PayPal!  Unfortunately, these only existed in his imagination.  They ended up getting raided.  That story here.

Then there was Wind Coin, which was so sloppy grabbing random photos from the internet for their testimonials section, they featured one investor claiming he invested 4 BTC into the project. However, the photo was of England's Prince Charles.  That story here.

Blockvest possible had the most nerve - creating a non-existent government agency called "Blockchain Exchange Commission" on their website, then saying they had it's approval.  But the geniuses over there thought this wasn't enough - so they listed it at the address of the actual SEC. Then... the actual SEC shut them down.  That story here.

Lastly, there was Biitcoin - no that's not a typo, they really called it that.  With an endorsement from actor Stephan Segal, the company faced accusations they were nothing more than a pyramid scheme.  They insisted it wasn't true - but the graphic on their own website which was literally shaped like a pyramid made that a lot harder to believe.  That story here.

So 2019 is about to be upon us, and it's already filled with a lot exciting things to look forward to! But i'm sure we'll also have to deal more of these crypto-cancers popping up in the new year as well.  If you're like me, you can't help but to get angry when you see this stuff - but looking back now i'm actually feeling pretty satisfied to see most of these stories end with people getting exactly what they deserve.

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Since the beginning of cryptocurrencies, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) have been a popular method for particularly new and young projects to raise funds. While this has worked well for many namely cryptocurrencies, over the past few years a majority of ICOs have abused this concept for their own exit scams (see Bitconnect). A study published in 2017 indicated that roughly 80% of all current Initial Coin Offerings lack integrity and are potential frauds. This study was funded by the ICO-Advisory Company Satis Group. However, there are still serious projects that proof that ICOs can still be successful and are not yet to be written off.

Although roughly 80% of all ICOs have been conducted with fraudulent intentions it can be assumed that the remaining 20% are executed in a serious and trustworthy manner. This aspect is particularly important as it shows a significant amount of Initial Coin Offerings that lead by positive example. These ICOs guaranteed a fair, serious and respectable process.

Why is it so important to emphasize this?

The answer is simple: Assuming the initiator is respectable, ICOs are a great opportunity for investors to support a promising project from an early stage on.

Examples for success stories can be found en-masse: Ethereum (ETH) is by now one of the main cryptocurrencies. It started at 31cents and reached its peak of 1,400 US$ in January 2018. This means a 4,500-fold increase.

Ethereum is only one of many that proof that the large number of scams are no reason not to participate in this concept of fundraising. It offers a unique opportunity to gain exorbitant profits – just like so many lucky people who invested in the above-mentioned cryptocurrency from an early stage on.

Positive examples can still be found nowadays: One promising and noteworthy project is skynavpro (SNP). It is led by the renowned Dacher System GmbH, a software company that successfully established itself on the IT-market since 2005. Dacher Systems is a GmbH according to German law, which acts according to official regulations such as the BaFin. In addition to that, they have already developed a fully functional prototype for their product and produced a miniseries of 100 boxes.

Skynavpro (SNP) offers pilots access to live weather-data during the flight, a navigation tool, collision avoidance and to track & monitor the flight in real-time. For this, the aforementioned boxes must simply be connected to a portable device (e.g. tablet). The product is also adaptable to the booming drone-market; after all, autonomous flight is the future.

What to keep in mind with Initial Coin Offerings?

Skynavpro is a perfect example for a reliable and serious ICO. Not only does it fit the current time, it is also led by a well-established company and experienced team. Furthermore, the project has a functioning product, which was extensively tested by several flight schools during more than 10,000 flight hours. This is particularly impressive considering that many projects whose ICO’s ran a while ago, still cannot claim this. This also applies to many cryptocurrencies that are currently in the Top 100.

Further positive aspects of skynavpro (SNP) include the team’s promise to invest all the money raised in the further development of the product, and that they have already developed a modern online-planning platform and two navigation apps which currently count more than 25,000 flight-plans and executions. In addition to that, the project is supported by a community of roughly 12,000 pilots. The cherry on top for this overall positive project is the aviation market which is currently experiencing radical change. Cause for this, among other things, are UAV’s, or drones, which are currently experiencing a massive upturn, promising an enormous market potential. Speaking of market potential: The field of aviation is expected to reach a sum of 15 billion US-Dollar (it was only 10 billion US-Dollar in 2014); and Goldmann Sachs predicts drone technology to grow a market potential of 100 billion US-Dollar by 2020.

The message of this article? With a little research ICOs are still an exceptional opportunity to invest in promising projects and gain substantial profits. The most important aspect that remains is to differentiate the many black sheep from the serious projects like skynavpro (SNP).

The Initial Coin Offering for skynavpro (SNP) is already running and can be participated in but Pre-Sales phase is going to end in a couple of days. Hurry to benefit from the 50% bonus before the prices move up to the next stage! https://skynavpro.io/

You can't visit a major city anywhere in the world (North Korea is only exception I can think of) without seeing them - billboard advertising. All those billboards together total a $35 billion per year industry.

Another interesting factor to consider, while online advertising has taken a bite out of virtually every other traditional advertising method, the billboard advertising industry is growing, and at a healthy rate with another $10 billion expected to be added within the next few years.

Having your company's logo or message for all to see in a high traffic area, weather that's foot or vehicle traffic just isn't going to ever become 'outdated'.

There's no ad-blocker plugin or fast-forward button for the real world, so when it comes to real world advertising - billboards are the king.

But if you want your message on one, you better prepare yourself for massive headaches.

These days you often won't be able to find who owns the billboard if you want to put your ad on, instead you'll find ad agencies that have deals with the owners to act as middlemen.  They make the owner's life easier by bringing in the clients and making all the necessary arrangements.

However, if you're the client you're now forced to pay both the ad agency, and the billboard owner.

Bidooh says they have the solution - AI powered fully automated decentralized system that connects advertisers, publishers and consumers to the Bidooh platform.  What once took a week of phone calls to multiple people is done in a few minutes and a couple clicks. They explain:

"The Bidooh platform enables advertisers to buy, upload and manage their own digital advertising in 10 second increments on any Bidooh supported publisher billboard screen anywhere in the world. Using either desktop or mobile devices, advertisers will be able to accomplish this process in minutes, not days or weeks."

Like any advertising, you'll need to write up your ad and design it - but once you have that the hard work is done. Just decide where you want it to appear, how much you want to spend (how long you'll want it to run) and in the push of a button your job is done.

The billboards themselves are digital, which is why it's this simple - nobody has to climb up onto these and swap out one ad for another. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail on how a screen becomes part of the Bidooh ad network, but I will say - it looks as simple as plugging in a box they provide and connecting it to the internet.

On that note however, Bidooh has a head start - they have these screens in cities already.  They already do this stuff - what's new is adding blockchain and all the new features that are possible because of it.

The advantages don't end there - advanced  research data enables smart targeting.  If you're promoting an app, target young people in a city full of tech lovers like San Francisco or Seattle. But if your product is for something like... let's say water ski's - maybe a mall closer to the Great Lakes is best.

All of this will be powered by the DOOH token!

Which presents a new use case as well, tokens as time - because 1 DOOH token equals 10 seconds of your ad showing on-screen, which explains why 2000 of them costs $1 in their ICO.

Their ICO is live now, and ending soon - visit https://bidooh.io/

Official Press Release: See why we've scored near perfect reviews with both a 4.8 on ICOBench, and a 9.0 on ICOMarks!

TradePlace are aiming to build the biggest and best cryptocurrency exchange possible. Having analyzed the most popular exchanges and surveyed the trading community, we have discovered what people really want in an exchange and how today’s most popular ones fall short in many areas.

TradePlace will be much more than just a place where you can swap one blockchain asset for another. Our vision is to create a platform that will provide all the features a trader would ever need and then some!

We have heard the cries of traders who are struggling and even leaving the cryptocurrency space altogether because an exchange let them down, and we are here to answer the call to action. No longer will exchanges serve their own interests, but from now on we will build up a platform which will move other exchanges to shame. Our first and only mission will be to serve the community in everything we do, not our own pockets.

The TradePlace team envisions a future where exchanges are multi-featured and expansive platforms serving each user, no matter how much or how little their contribution to the platform is.

Come and visualize with us a community of traders all working together to help each other become better and more productive traders. Even those who aren’t active traders will be able to participate and share their knowledge with others. TradePlace will be the place for people to come together and perform cryptocurrency-related activities without the fear of losing their funds, but instead with the feeling of being part of a movement, an innovative new frontier, the bleeding-edge of the latest financial technology.

Roadmap 2018 – 2020

Below you will find our roadmap which is our future large-scale game plan to revolutionize the exchange industry. Stuff you see here are subject to change, but you can use this to see how we’ve meticulously planned out how we will innovate the best exchange ever.

1st and 2nd Quarter 2018:

- We began searching for answers to the issues of today’s exchanges, and then we met up and started formulating a plan to overcome them.

3rd Quarter 2018:

- We are creating the initial rough design plan of the exchange without any of our partners. This is the first step in the creation of the exchange itself. In the last part of this phase we’ll begin the relationships with our marketing, design and development partners.

4th Quarter 2018:

At this time we will start our intensive marketing campaign to get people excited about our platform. Then, once we’ve received enough attention, we’ll kick off the Pre-ITO (Initial Token Offering) and then the rest of the four ITO stages will follow.

1st Quarter 2019:

- Now the ITO will be over and we’ll have received enough funds to start active development of the exchange. We’ll be creating an easy-to-use KYC system and distribute the XTP tokens we sold during the ITO while also listing our token on at least two other exchanges. The analysis service will begin at this time, with our experts publishing their first analyses. A listing on CoinMarketCap will also be sought during this time.

2nd Quarter 2019:

- The awesome community forum will be set up alongside the live news sharing service. Competition and voting for the adding of new coins or tokens to the exchange will also begin, together with two new exchange partnerships.

3rd Quarter 2019:

- Then we will take the first steps to be regulated by the SEC and/or the CTFC. TradePlace will transform into an auditable exchange to comply with all required legislation and regulations.

4th Quarter 2019:

- All users verified through KYC will be able to receive a MasterCard to spend their funds all across the world. We will also be taking the first steps to create our own blockchain.

1st Quarter 2020:

- The migration of the XTP token from the Ethereum blockchain to our own blockchain will begin at this time. We will also be forming new relationships with more exchanges so that our token will be listed almost everywhere. From this point onwards we will continue to develop new technology and strive to innovate the best exchange and blockchain in the world.

Here are more about TradePlace ICO:

ICO’s Website : https://ico.eTradePlace.com

The WhitePaper : https://etradeplace.com/docs/TradePlace_WhitepaperV1.pdf

Video presentation : https://youtu.be/sdgWMQq6V5g

The new cryptocurrency app "Voyager" has just launched the first beta version, and they're currently giving new users $25 to help them test it out. 

Voyager's founders include Uber co-founder Oscar Salazar, as well as early Uber investor Philip Eytan. The company CEO is Stephen Ehrlich, who previously ran the professional trading arm for online stock broker E-Trade.

The Voyager app feels like any other trading app, you buy and sell with the push of a button. But behind the scenes it's searching for the lowest price of the coin you want on multiple exchanges.

While giving the app a test run, I honestly didn't even notice that I was actually shopping multiple exchanges, I just chose a coin, put in the amount, pressed "buy", and a second later the tokens were in my wallet - i'm not even sure which exchange the app found the coins on.

The current list of tokens supported include:
Bitcoin (BTC)
Ethereum (ETH)
Ripple (XRP)
Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV)
EOS (EOS)
Stellar Lumens (XLM)
Litecoin (LTC)
Ethereum Classic (ETC)
Ontology (ONT)
Zcash (ZEC)
Tron (TRX)
Cardano (ADA)
Iota (IOT)
Neo (NEO)
VeChain (VET)
Qtum (QTUM)
ICON (ICX)

Voyager has partnered with universal wallet Ethos which will provide integrated storage for all of the coins you've traded with Voyager, keeping them in 1 central wallet that you control.

The app is in beta testing now, and the official launch comes soon.

You can now help test the app, and they'll start you off with $25 worth of Bitcoin in your account balance.

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It's actually happening! Congressmen Warren Davidson (Republican) and Darren Soto (Democrat) today introduced the "Token Taxonomy Act" - a bill that restores the rights of cryptocurrency investors, and project developers to fully participate this emerging sector.

The markets are reacting to the news with Bitcoin returning to prices above $4000, and dozens of altcoins with double-digit percentage gains as well.

So - what does this bill do exactly?

First it addresses how cryptocurrenies have been treated the same as stocks by the Securities And Exchange Commission (SEC), which claimed they were unlicensed securities.  This meant anyone who issued a token was in violation of the law.  Scared about what could happen next, many investors simply pulled out, and new investors just stayed away - making 2018 an awful year for cryptocurrency.

However, this bill would change everything - by legally declaring digital tokens not securities, therefore SEC would no longer have oversight of them. Digital currencies becomes its own asset class.  For exanple, you could own stocks and real estate investments, but the laws for buying and selling one is totally different from the other, because they are two different things.  Crypto and securities are different too, so they shouldn’t follow the same laws.

Congressmen Warren Davidson says the 1945 laws the SEC has been using to crack down on cryptocurrency investments were never intended for this, stating:

“This bill clarifies a 1946 court case that the SEC has been using to determine what a security is and effectively makes it clear that the finished product (a cryptocurrency token) is no longer a security." 

The congressmen explains that he fears unless these changes are made, the US will be excluding themselves from the innovative future potentials of the cryptocurrency markets, adding:

“This bill provides the certainty American markets need to compete with Singapore, Switzerland, and others who are aggressively growing their blockchain economies. To be certain, there will be other regulatory initiatives at some point, but this legislation is an essential first step to keeping this market alive in the United States. 

In the early days of the internet, Congress passed legislation that provided certainty and resisted the temptation to over-regulate the market. Our intent is to achieve a similar win for America’s economy and for American leadership in this innovative space”

He's right too - these excess SEC regulations have done nothing to help, and a lot to hurt. 

I've pointed out before that scamming investors with false claims in order to sell something, even a token, has and always will be illegal. So even after this bill passes any dishonest ICOs can still be shut down and charged with crimes.
The bill also instructs the IRS to make changes regarding the taxation of cryptocurrencies, transactions where one cryptocurrency was traded for another would be nontaxable, as well as simplified ways to claim gains or losses at the end of the year.

So what's next? Well, submitting a bill this close to the end of the year is really more of a way of making an announcement, showing what they intend to do in 2019.  Before actually being voted on, it will have to be re-submitted in the new year.

Back in April we covered the story of Coinbase purchasing Earn.com for over $100 million (link) and today they've announced an entirely new way they plan to use it.

Originally, Earn revolved around a mobile app that allows users to earn cryptocurrency as a reward when they complete a survey, join a website, read an sponsors e-mail, etc - basically advertisers can use the app and pay people for participating in a variety of ways.

Today CoinBase announced their new plan for it - people can study up on the cryptocurrencies they support, and get rewarded for it.

Coinbase explains "Coinbase Earn allows users to earn cryptocurrencies, while learning about them in a simple and engaging way. The idea is for users to understand more about an asset’s utility and its underlying technology, while getting a bit of the asset to try out."

Currently, there is only 1 of these 'lessons' about cryptocurrency on the site now, this one is about 0x and comes in the form of three 2 minute videos.

There's a lot of coins today and more coming, this really could be a great way to motivate people to look into something they otherwise wouldn't have taken the time to.

You can take a look at the 0x CoinBase Earn lessons here.

The Global Crypto Press is an official media partner with CHAINERS South Korea - As one of the world's most popular blockchain and cryptocurrency investment market, South Korea has a high level of enthusiasm for crypto investment, large companies are actively deploying blockchain tracks, and even the Korean government continues to release good news——policy as one of the most important factors in the development of the blockchain got the green light from Korean government.

According to Cointelegraph, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soo launched the “Block City Seoul City Plan” in October 2018. The plan shows that by 2022, Seoul City will set up nearly 100 million dollar as blockchain industry fund to cultivate excellent blockchain projects, effectively promote high technology, and plans to invest 53 million US dollars in the Gaepo Digital Innovation Park and Mapo Venture Center, to construct two districts for the blockchain industry where support 200 high-quality blockchain projects and aim to train local industry experts in Korea.

Recently, as the mayor of Seoul, Park Won-soon confirmed to make a keynote speech at the CHAIN PLUS+ 2019 blockchain summit which will be held on 23th-24th, Jan. and co-organized MTN(Money Today Network Inc) and Chainers, respectively as South Korean business and economic media conglomerate and top of the blockchain accelerators in South Korea.

In addition, Chainers also brought a lot of good news!

1, The government of South Korea is preparing to establish two blockchain incubation centers, to introduce new high-quality blockchain projects and companies which wish to land in and develop its business in South Korea, with its goal to develop a better eco-system in blockchain industry as well as to create new quality jobs in South Korea. In the meanwhile, Chainers will be one of the designated organizations to examine, review and recommend prospective blockchain projects, closely collaborating with related departments in government.

2, Professor Park, from Sogang University in Korea will be the president of the Korea Blockchain Association (the only official Korean blockchain association) and will serve as a senior consultant for Chainers from early next year.

3, Korean Parliamentarian "Park Joo-sun” has just successfully established a committee of 16 government members for the purpose of legislative proposal, it will have the authorization to propose blockchain related laws to related department of Korean government. While Vision Creator(parent company of Chainers in Korea) is currently preparing to implement its own STO exchange in Korea, this committee of Park Joo-sun will be our strategic partner in STO exchange.

4, Jung Joo-yong(Perry Jung), chairman of Chainers has been deeply involved in traditional financial and securities industry in Korea for decades, and is expert in IPO rules and compliance process. To help prospective blockchain projects/companies better understand market and cryptocurrency investors in Korea, and enable them to develop go-to-market strategies in Korea, Chainers is regularly holding meet-ups in many different places in China.

5, Chainers is currently working with a top traditional securities company that has obtained five financial licenses in Hong Kong, and also preparing for Korean financial licenses as well. With it’s facilitation, Chainers will be better support projects to do ICO/STO in Korea.

CHAIN PLUS+ 2019 blockchain summit(23th-24th, Jan 2019 in Seoul) will mainly focus on the topic “Blockchain empowering entity economy” and will be supported by different industries such as economic&finance, games, and traditional Korean conglomerates such as Samsung and Hanwha groups. Along with its various highligits and key features, Chain Plus+ 2019 will bring great values to all range of stakeholders as well as integrating industry resources and injecting new energy into blockchain industry even in the recent bear market.

Everybet.io is a modern, Bitcoin Sportsbook with a distinctive design and intuitive user interface. They currently offer the website in four languages:English, German, Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese, with more scheduled to be supported throughout 2019.

At everybet.io they aim to put the fun back into betting, not hide behind endless terms and conditions on bonuses and promotions. They want their players to enjoy betting with them and have integrated a Bitcoin payment wallet, which enables fast deposits and withdrawals. This is all backed up by an extremely knowledgeable customer support team.

The promotions team at everybet.io currently have a tempting sign-up offer whereby they match your first deposit up to 3mBTC with two FREE bets! On a daily basis they enhance individual market prices to offer their customers even more value.

As the name suggests, everybet.io offers an industry-leading number of markets, across a range of sports, that will surely impress any customer looking to bet with Bitcoin. In addition, this week they've launched their casino and offer their customers the industry-leading, live dealer content supplier Evolution, with live tables 24/7. Their casino also offers a range of slot games and in the coming weeks will be launching a number of new slot providers that will appeal to a wide customer base.

Everybet.io has just launched its affiliate site, which can be seen here: https://affiliates.everybet.io. Their programme offers a number of eye-catching deals for affiliate partners who are looking to work with Bitcoin operators. So don't delay, sign up as a partner with this crypto-leading, gaming brand.

Every hit, every miss, every moment, www.everybet.io

It's important to first understand how we got to where things stand now when it comes to conducting an ICO to fund and launch a project in the blockchain space.

The beginning was nothing short of a modern day gold rush, as over $20 billion poured into start-ups that went the ICO route. As most of those funds were raised the legal specifics of it all were still considered a grey area, and when the Securities and Exchange Commission initially took their actions, the only targets were blatant cases of fraud, only ICO's that made bold lies and clearly misled investors.

So SEC action began with the obvious bad apples, among the first was a story I actually broke following an insider leaking documents to me regarding "Titanium Blockchain" who raised over $12 million before it was discovered their CEO lied about business relationships with everyone from Apple to PayPal.

Other clear scams would come to face the SEC as well, notable ones include the Floyd Mayweather & DJ Khaled endorsed Centra which falsely claimed a partnership with Visa and MasterCard, and AriseBank which claimed to have purchased their own FDIC-insured bank.

But then - the SEC set their eyes on ICOs that never lied to their investors, changing everything.

This was a pivotal moment as the SEC charged 2 more ICOs, 'Airfox' which was launching an advertising platform, and 'Paragon' which worked in the cannabis industry. The only accusation against them was that they were selling an unregistered security, and if these ICOs qualified for SEC intervention then a whole lot of others did too.

SEC chairman Jay Clayton clarified his outlook on ICOs after a speech at Princeton University where he was asked if he generally viewed ICOs as fraud, he said "Absolutely not" but added "I believe every ICO I’ve seen is a security."

So here we are - this gets us to where things stand today.

Crypto startups do still have a couple legal routes to do an ICO, such as ban all US investors from participating, or only deal with accredited investors who can verify a high income and net worth.

But the boldest option of them all - skip the ICO phase entirely.

One of the crypto startups going this route is TuneTrade. They're in the process of launching a token creation platform where a user can launch their own token by using their tools to create a real ERC20 coin on Ethereum's blockchain. Users can then use their tools to manage it's distribution, and list their new token for trade on their built-in exchange. First use case they're targeting is the music world by allowing artists both mainstream and independent to create their own coin.

To power all of this is their platform's native token 'TXT' and without an ICO to kick it off, a whole new business model for blockchain/token based startups is beginning to emerge. Some of the changes in this new business model are indeed nothing short of massive.

The first of which is - who takes the risk?  They do, all of it.

Previously, the ideal ICO would work by first selling your token to thousands of people, and initially the token isn't good for anything but trading it. Eventually in theory it would be put to use on the service or platform or whatever the project was supposed to create, all that would be developed using the funds they raised by selling the coin first.

Under the new model, developing the platform or service comes first.  Since it's already built, that means the people acquiring your token are actual users, not investors.

"We don’t need an ICO because we have already developed our MVP (minimum viable product). Our value is determined by our community, distribution and the inherent utility of our platform. The proof is in the product not empty promises." says TuneTrade founder Kalani Moe.

With the TuneTrade platform currently in it's prototype phase they've been rewarding potential future users with airdropped (free) tokens for helping them give it a test run, joining their community on telegram/discord, or signing up to their e-mail list. 

Rewarding people with airdropped tokens for things like this isn't new, the reasoning behind it is. Airdrops have been used in the past to get people to help an ICO sell more tokens, but under this model there's an extra step.  People are instead rewarded for using the company's product, and telling their friends to. So the product better be good, actually it has to be - because selling tokens comes after all these steps first.

Of course, the key here or any time a company chooses to airdrop tokens as a marketing tactic is to give a reward large enough to create a user base, but small enough where people aren't jumping to trade the tokens before actually giving the final product a shot. A small percentage of the overall supply.

So far the results are impressive for TuneTrade as their TXT tokens are already in over 75,000 wallets, and 95,000+ users have joined their telegram channel.

It's a model we're expecting to see a whole lot more of in 2019. For people who believe in what they're creating and willing to take on the initial risks themselves instead of playing with investor funding, it's actually the route with the least amount of headaches along the way.

Selling tokens to people using your product, instead of selling tokens to people so you can build your product - it's that simple. The issues it solves and concerns put to rest under this structure go far beyond satisfying regulators - because a scam simply couldn't function like this.

Personally - i'm all for it.

You can take a look at TuneTrade at https://tunetrade.io

Cryptocurrency supporter Mick Mulvaney will soon be the #2 person in the White House as he takes the Chief of Staff position at the end of the year.  Mulvaney was previously appointed Director of the Office of Management & Budget by President Trump, and before that was elected to Congress representing South Carolina.

When it comes to Mulvaney, we're not questioning if he'll try to influence government decisions when it comes to cryptocurrency - he's proven he will.

He was the first member of Congress to accept Bitcoin donations. As a congressman he founded the bipartisan Blockchain Caucus with Jared Polis, a Colorado Democrat. He then co-authored house bills 1108 and 7002, which urged officials to take a reasonable regulatory approach to the cryptocurrency markets, and make smart contracts legally binding equal to a signature on paper.

“Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize the financial services industry, the U.S. economy and the delivery of government services, and I am proud to be involved with this initiative.”

He's also blasted the Federal Reserve's power to manipulate the dollar, saying the Fed has  “effectively devalued the dollar” but Bitcoin on the other hand is “not manipulatable by any government.”

Other pro-cryptocurrency people with the ear of the President include paypay co-founder Peter Thiel who is said he hold up to $20 million worth of cryptocurrency and is officially one of Trump's advisers, and Coinbase Chief Technology Officer Balaji Srinivasanm who once was a Trump candidate for head of the FDA.

So what does it mean? While it's possible, it's too speculative to think their influence could lead to some kind of major pro-cryptocurrency move by the US government. 

But what is safe to assume is if any drastic anti-cryptocurrency moves are proposed - these people are in a position to prevent it from getting the President's signature.

It began with huge competition that had over 500 startups in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space apply for a spot to have Binance's research arm "Binance Labs" back their company with a seed investment of $500,000 back in August of this year.

Only 8 were selected - and Binance didn't even share who they were.

Now after months of mystery, today is "BUIDLers day" named after play on HODL, but for building.

"Today, we celebrate the launch of our first batch of BUIDLers — eight sharp, inquisitive teams who are building for the future of our industry." Binance labs said in a tweet.

Later today, the projects take the stage at their "Binance BUIDLers" event, demo their products in front of an audience, and show how they spent their $500k. We'll bring you updates from the event when it happens!

Binance Labs is expanding this program in 2019 including a 5 nation world wide search for hot new projects.

This wild story all started with an error, when a man named Brian Wall from the Canadian province of British Columbia participated in an ICO called Copytrack, investing $583 worth of Ethereum into the ICO.

When the ICO was complete, he was supposed to receive 530 Copytrack tokens (CPY).

Instead, he was sent 530 ETH - valued at $370,482!

Brian was probably thinking this was the best investment he ever made, he knew the Ethereum was sent by mistake, but he was determined to keep it.

That's when the story took some strange twists and turns.  First, he transferred the ETH to his wallet on an exchange while refusing to return them to Copytrack.  Then, Copytrack began to send him legal threats.  Fearing he could end up in trouble, he agreed to return them.  Copytrack thought this was the end, as they awaited their ETH to be returned.

But then, Brian said he was hacked. The ETH tokens were sent out from his wallet, to 5 new wallets.

If this story isn't getting crazy enough for you - then, he died.

No, really, he died.  Which has now left the case in limbo, but at the center of it was a chance to legally define what kind of possession cryptocurrency is. Copytrack's claim asserted that cryptocurrency tokens are 'goods', for the following reasons:

a) They are capable of being possessed, stored, transferred, lost and stolen; 

b) They were, at the time the conversion and wrongful detention began, held in the Wall Wallet; 

c) They are specifically identifiable and have been traced to five wallets in which they are currently being held; and 

d) They can be used as a medium of exchange, a store of value, and a unit of account, like funds or currency.

With the trial now called off, Grygoriy Pustovit, a Research Fellow at Goethe University Frankfurt and contributor to the Oxford University Law Blog says this case could have set important legal precedent, if it were allowed to finish.

"The parties disputed whether cryptocurrency is a digital form of currency, a digital good, or something else. Unfortunately, the court missed the opportunity to clarify the issue, stating that while the determination of the cryptocurrency’s character was essential for the case, the issue could not be handled through summary judgment."

Brian Wall's estate will however need to pay for the legal fees of Copytrack up until his death.

As far as getting the Ethereum back, the summary judgement says Copytrack can proceed to "trace and recover the Ether Tokens in whatsoever hands those Ether Tokens may currently be held."

We spoke with Kenny Fok, Founder and CEO of FLXWallet, an innovative hardware cryptocurrency wallet to find out what we can expect from the next generation of this technology...

What was your motivation to build the FLX Wallet? What have the others been missing or doing wrong in your opinion?
The main motivation, I would say, came from the difficulties and complexity of crypto wallets. There’s a steep learning curve for less tech savvy people who want to get into cryptocurrency. We used some of the mainstream wallet offerings out there and basically said “this is really difficult”. Being an engineer for almost two decades, I immediately thought - we can make this easier. I guess that leads into what’s been missing with crypto wallets - ease of use and convenience.

Tell us a bit about your background in the cryptocurrency world, and the tech/hardware sector.
After working at Qualcomm as Director of Engineering for over 17 years, I founded eSmart Tech Inc. in 2015 for providing world-class product design and engineering services. Our team, with a combined 44 granted and 10+ pending US Patents, is constantly devising innovative ideas. We have delivered over 10 embedded product designs such as Smart IoT devices to our customers. In 2018, I founded FLX Partnership for cryptocurrency projects. FLX has leveraged eSmart's engineering team for building FLX One.


I imagine there's not a whole lot of people with prior experience in building hardware cryptocurrency wallets. With that in mind, tell us about your team, how did you go about finding and recruiting them? What special skill-sets of your team show in the final product? 
That’s true, it’s a relatively new type of device. Basically, a hardware crypto wallet is an embedded system. Embedded systems and mobile devices is what I specialized in during my years at Qualcomm. That certainly gave me an edge on finding people with the right skill-sets to make a successful product. I think the speed of our development definitely highlights the skill-sets of the team. We’ve been able to overcome many challenges and add great features to the FLX One, very quickly. There’s a good synergy with this team.

Of course, when it comes to a cryptocurrency wallet in any form - security is the top concern. How has FLX Wallet addressed those concerns? 
Security was definitely a big concern from the start of the project. Every decision we made for the hardware and software on the FLX One, security was at the forefront. During development we purchased tools to help us find holes in the design and attempt to hack the FLX One. We also regularly test our firmware and mobile apps to make sure it stays secure. Details like a hardware cutoff for Bluetooth on the wallet, the transaction signing process, the FLX Key, firmware tamper detection, and many other features, were all part of making the FLX One as secure as possible.

Walk us through the process of recovering a lost wallet?
This is probably one of the most exciting features of the FLX One. We wanted to offer something new and easier to the way existing crypto wallets implement back up and recovery. The standard backup method for wallets is writing down a bunch of phrases on a piece of paper, which we also offer as an option on the FLX One. Every FLX One does come with an additional piece of hardware, the FLX Key. This key, which we actually shaped to look like a key, is integrated into the setup of your wallet. During setup, you’re instructed to insert the FLX Key into the FLX One, via the integrated USB connector. The FLX One generates the information needed to backup your wallet and copies it to the FLX Key, all offline, for security. This backup is encrypted and the FLX Key is permanently locked. You store the FLX Key in a secure location in case you lose or break your FLX One. If you need to restore, it’s as simple as plugging in the key during a new wallet, under the restore option. In a matter of a few seconds, your FLX One is restored. This patent pending design makes backup and recovery on the FLX One much more convenient, and we think, almost expected with modern tech users.


Tell us about the iPhone and Android apps...
The iPhone and Android apps are basically the way you use the FLX One to send/receive crypto, use the built in exchange, set your active coins list, and many additional features. The FLX One connects to the mobile app via an encrypted Bluetooth connection. Some individuals hear wireless, and may feel uncomfortable with having a wireless signal for someone to grab. We have taken this potential security concern into account. With the FLX One, nothing a thief can use is transmitted over the air on the FLX One. We like the mobile phone app approach for convenience, and to make using crypto more pragmatic for mass adoption. If crypto is going to be a method of everyday purchases in the future, it needs to be mobile. You don’t exactly want to bust out a full laptop at the counter and connect cables to make a transaction. More people have access to a mobile phone over a laptop in today’s world as well. A mobile app, just makes sense.

Which tokens is the wallet currently compatible with? Any new additions on the horizon?
Currently, the FLX One supports most of the major tokens out there. Our recent release has Ripple and DASH support and the integrated Exchange feature. We are developing support for Monero, which will be released soon as well. There’s about 25 tokens supported, at the moment. We also support any ERC-20 token. These tokens are all natively supported on the FLX One. If you’ve used some of the mainstream wallets out there, this is definitely an advantage. This means that all you need, is the FLX One and the mobile app, no 3rd party apps required. As far as new additions on the horizon - definitely! We have lots of exciting things on the FLX roadmap. Luckily, you can update the firmware on the FLX One, so you can stay up to date with all future features. You can also visit flxwallet.com, or join one of our social media platforms to stay up to date on what we are working on.

Where can the FLX hardware wallet be purchased? 
The FLX One can be purchased on Amazon and direct from our website, flxwallet.com.

Online payment giant PayPal has officially launched their own blockchain powered token, not for public use in payments though - this is for employees only.

An employee reward system to be more specific, PayPal's the director of innovation Michael Todasco told Cheddar the token powered platform was developed by a team of 25 inside of PayPal, and allows employees to earn tokens for things like suggesting new features or improvements, or participating in innovation-related programs.

So, what can the tokens be spent on?

"PayPal’s tokens are redeemable for more than 100 experiences offered on the platform, including poker tournaments with a couple of their vice presidents, a trail run and coffee with CFO John Rainey, and morning martial arts with CEO Dan Schulman. Gabrielle Scheibe Rabinovitch, the company’s head of investor relations, has offered to let employees borrow her dog for a day" said Todasco.

While this was their first blockchain project to be deployed outside of their developer labs, PayPal isn't totally new to the blockchain world.  They filed a patent earlier this year for technology that supposedly speeds up cryptocurrency transactions.

After putting together, a series of successful blockchain conferences, Block Hedge is all set to unite leading stakeholders in the crypto sphere at Bangkok, Thailand.

Thailand, as we know is one of the most prominent blockchain and cryptocurrency centers on account of its favorable business environment, regulations and tax rates. It is home to few of the most prominent crypto powerhouses, which is why it has been attracting the sizeable attention of all those involved in the field.

In light of its business-friendly environment, blockchain entrepreneurs, key industry individuals, businessmen, top government officials and blockchain enthusiasts have been valuing the region to expand their blockchain technology led business. To amplify the manifestation possibilities of their growth aspiration, Block-Hedge has been carefully designed as the perfect avenue to bring all together for an insightful day-long event on 29th March 2019, Bangkok.

The conference is scheduled to take place at Grand Hyatt, with an agenda that is going to be
bundled with meaningful takeaway for all those who attend.

The guiding philosophy behind the event is to discover the future and amplify the growth of the most powerful and disruptive technology in the present time.

The entire focus of the spectrum of talks and panel discussions is to bring focus on the practical aspect of blockchain and cryptocurrencies and what it means for driving business results. The networking opportunities as a part of it, are sure to be extremely meaningful, with the backing of a plush gathering of blockchain business stakeholders, investors and the media.

Some of the noteworthy speakers who already associated with Block Hedge at various conferences include:

- Jose Alejandro-Co-founder- Bitcoin Gold
- Tania Balzli-Head of Banking and Crypto- PwC
- Laura Takenaka- Thailand Head- NEM.io
- Olga Feldmeier- CEO- Smart Valor
- Ben Fairbank- GM- Komodo Platform
- Alexi Lane- CEO and Founder – Everex
- Saiba Kataruka- Marketing Lead- Zilliqa
- Jon Myers- Chief Design Officer- QUOINE
- Stefano Virgilli- CEO- VOX.sg
- Kumar Gaurav – Founder- Cashaa
- Nithin Eapen - Chief Investment Officer - Arcadia Crypto Ventures

The expected count of the attendees, going exactly by the significant traction of the earlier chapters is at least 500. In the earlier events, as many as 70 percent of the conference participants were noted as C level executives, and about 20 percent - investors. Also, participation has been confirmed by leading business names such as Bitcoin Gold, PwC, Arcadia Crypto Ventures and TDA Capital London and many more.

For more information, visit: https://www.block-hedge.com/bangkok-thailand-2019/
Contact: animesh@block-hedge.com

Speaking with one of my sources when it comes to stories involving China, he mentioned how surprised he was that so many people he knew in China were selling Bitcoin they earned by mining at it's current bear market prices.  While one source wasn't enough information to come to any solid conclusion, Chinese based news outlets are also now sharing similar information.

Professionally, my source is a Chinese coder/engineer working on non-cryptocurrency related blockchain projects, but also runs a couple mining rigs in his spare time.  He's also a member of several popular online communities where Chinese-based Bitcoin miners connect with each other and share their thoughts.  He explained the current sentiment:

"Currently in the (Chinese miner) forums it's an endless argument between the more experienced miners calling people crazy for selling Bitcoin while the price is so low, insisting they'll regret it soon, and the newer miners basically saying they don't have a choice.  The newer miners bought all this hardware in 2017 just to have the markets turn bear shortly after."

It appears miners that began in 2016 or earlier have one mentality - HODL, and your patience will pay off in the long run.

But for miners that began during the 2017 boom, the mentality is different - often out of necessity. They simply can't afford to operate and not sell any of their Bitcoin.

One miner speaking to a Chinese-language news publication yesterday explained:

"Everyone is short-seller, we do this for self-defense but that will lead to a further decline in cryptocurrency price… Without short selling, we will be eliminated ultimately, but if everybody keeps doing this, we will finally die together, which is quite heroic” 

It's not just the tokens they're selling either, miners are selling their rigs too.  China based tech liquidation services have had a recent influx of mining rigs, some mining operations are just downsizing during the bear market and say they'll re-purchase the hardware when things turn around.

While the newer miners struggle, general outlook isn't all doom and gloom.

"The blockchain industry has flushed out some poor-quality projects, and the entry barrier to the industry has increased, which is beneficial to the sector's future growth. Solid public blockchain projects and numerous popular decentralized apps are gaining momentum. Chinese enterprises and conglomerates continue to explore new blockchain use cases." the CEO of Huobi China recently told Forbes.

From February, 28th to March, 2nd, European Blockchain Investment Congress will be gathering top blockchain professionals, market leaders, entrepreneurs, investors and blockchain-based startups to provide outstanding learning, discussion and networking experience first ever in such scope in Europe.

In the very heart of Vienna, international speakers connected to blockchain industry - professors, founders, influencers, representatives of blockchain-promoting associations, and others - will be brought together to raise the importance of blockchain technology as a key driving force in modern economics, and more importantly, project its future implications.

The discussion will encompass blockchain-based business models and their effect on a variety of markets from shipping to commerce, tourism and education. The leading companies are going to present the success and failure case studies, debate on advertising implications, security concerns, potential regulation and governance, and undoubtedly, the outcomes of such debates will provide an impression of how blockchain as a cutting-edge technology possesses a unique capability to develop society in a faster, more efficient and transparent way.

For the ICOs and investors, this is a unique opportunity to connect. ICOs will gain an outstanding insight into recent blockchain implementation cases from financial and non- financial institutions as to remittances, cross-border payments, settlements, identity and supply chain management, and into blockchain as a service of innovative opportunities and an ultimate record keeping tool. At the same time, investors and capital funds will have access to leading innovation enthusiasts and blockchain-savvy individuals who can provide overturning investment opportunities and generate high profits.

For the most prominent blockchain-based ICOs, the participation in EBIC AWARD is open to recognise their effective application of blockchain technology. The vote will be held between internationally successful professionals and investors, awarding the winner with a trophy for the first, second and third place as well as with a swingeing marketing package and other supportive services. Participation in EBIC AWARD attracts global attention to aspiring and ambitious entrepreneurs, giving them a chance to make a difference in a modern, rapidly blockchain-ising world.

February is around the corner, which means European Blockchain Investment Congress is nearly at your doorstep - take your chance to gain priceless knowledge on blockchain technology.

For full information visit www.ebic2019.com