New VIP improvements makes BitStarz the new Mecca for highrollers!

BitStarz is attracting more big players than ever, and here’s why.

Having a bunch of big winners in the casino is cool and all, and BitStarz has never had so many of them from separate players as in the past few weeks.

But let’s face facts. Any casino can be lucky enough to have a big winner, and after all, casino is mostly about luck. As we cannot pull a magic lever to ensure players win, our resources and time are put into various areas where improvements actually can be made, all in order to enhance the VIP experience.

It’s all about the VIP Treatment

In the past weeks, BitStarz has done major changes to the casino in order to create the perfect
environment for the biggest of players, and the amendments are really attracting some major
ones. We’ve removed the max cashout limit, which means the players can withdraw all their
winnings immediately, and thanks to our 10-minute average cashout time, they’re getting all
their winnings with lightning speed.

They’re also assigned a Senior VIP Manager with over 10+ years experience in the industry,
available 24/7 via phone, email and whatsapp. Someone that doesn’t just know the industry
inside and out, but who’s also a great guy to be around.

On top of that. Tailored reward plans based on multiple variables and increased bet limits on
both slots and table games are also reasons why high rollers from around the world flock to
BitStarz.

Major wins, cashed out immediately

To give one example of some recent big wins, one of the VIPs landed a 62.4 BTC win in a single spin on Fire Lightning, and went on to win 45.84 BTC on Platinum Lightning Deluxe and then 69.19 BTC on Brave Viking. If you add all this together, that’s over $730,000, and how long did it take for him to receive the money from the time he requested a cashout later? 5 minutes. The cornerstone of BitStarz Casino is fairness and integrity, and if you’ve won money in the casino, you should be able to get all your winnings out immediately. No stalling, no restrictions per week or month, no complications. This and the reasons above sends a clear message - if you’re looking for a fair casino and a true VIP experience, look no further than BitStarz.

Offering what players actually care about

BitStarz, Srdjan Kapor – BitStarz Marketing Manager – commented: “As many of us are players, it was a simple matter of just putting ourselves in their shoes and asking what we care about the most when we play. As a result, these major changes were put into place, and it’s extremely clear that this has been very widely appreciated among the VIPs!”

Visit www.bitstarz.eu

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For more information on BitStarz and our action-packed casino platform, please contact Srdjan
Kapor at srdjan.kapor@bitstarz.com.
Press contact:
Srdjan Kapor
Marketing Manager
srdjan.kapor@bitstarz.com
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Information provided via press release


After years of hurling insults and slander at Coinbase, Ripple fans celebrate victory! A look back on how it all went down...

It's official - the 'XRP Army' has won the war - CoinBase has decided to list their favorite token! While everyone is best friends now, 48hrs ago it was a different story... seriously, about as different as a story can be.

Anyone who's in crypto, and on Twitter, has undoubtedly been subjected to seeing every Tweet posted by, or related to Coinbase or their leadership, get totally taken over by the 'XRP Community'  aka 'XRP Army' as they absolutely ripped Coinbase apart.

It became so bad, i'm somewhat shocked Coinbase added them, and now we finally know the trick to get a coin listed - verbally assault them daily on social media.

While the XRP community celebrates their official listing on Coinbase - I thought it would be fun to look back at all the good times!

If you're part of a project with a token and dream about one day being listed on Coinbase - take notes, this is how it's done...













What else is there to say? It worked!

So... good job?

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Author: Oliver Redding
Seattle News Desk


HACKED and LEAKED - the documents some say explain the early 2018 Bitcoin crash, and the 'smoking gun' that could prove it..

For those new to the cryptocurrency scene, you may be lucky enough to never have heard of Mt. Gox.

Mt.Gox was a bitcoin exchange that at one point up to 70% of Bitcoin trades were going through.

It began in 2010, and ended horribly in 2014 when they announced that approximately 850,000 bitcoins belonging to customers and the company were missing and likely stolen, an amount valued at more than $450 million at the time.

Mark Karpeles, although not the sites founder, bought the site in 2011 and took over as CEO.  While his level of personal fault has been debated, he was the man in charge when in June of the same year when in response to a security breach Mt. Gox moved bitcoins from "cold storage" and it was all downhill from there.

Then, beginning in Nov 2013 customers were experiencing delays of weeks to months in withdrawing cash from their accounts, and by Feb 2014, Mt. Gox halted all bitcoin withdrawals, and by the end of the month the fiasco was blamed for a 36% loss in Bitcoin's value.

Now, somebody's out for revenge! A website called "GoxDox" is releasing leaked/hacked documents they claim expose a 'behind the scenes' even worse than the disaster the public already knew.

Short version of the story - they were ordered to sell the remaining coins they had to pay back whatever user losses they could. They did, but insisted it was all done "OTC", a reference to over the counter trading where someone simply sells their Bitcoin to someone else directly.

When it's done this way the price isn't effected for the rest of the market, the price we all use comes from recent bids on exchanges, when nobody is bidding nothing can change.

But the leaked documents show internal discussions of selling off BTC on BitPoint, an exchange.

"How do we know it's BitPoint?  GoxDox is in possession of the trustee’s bank book, posted in full at the footer for your reading pleasure.  BitPoint in Japanese is ビットポイント . (seen on screen shots here) Unless BitPoint is being really generous, we’d wager the reason they are depositing billions JPY into the trustee’s bank account is because they were hired to sell the MtGox Estate's BTC/BCH." says the leaker.

They then share further documention that outline a series of 25 large sell orders, spread out over a 3 month period and totaling $312 million.



But the biggest factor we've spotted and the most simple way to confirm a connection - the starting balance of the account is the same as Mt.Gox's known remaining supply.

Legit or not? Decide for yourself - view the leaked documents here.

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Author: Oliver Redding
Seattle News Desk


Full Length Documentary: What happens when 850,000 Bitcoins go missing? The unbelievable true story...


In 2015 a man is escorted his home in Tokyo by authorities. Hours later, he's indicted and imprisoned for forgery of computer data and embezzlement in connection with the disappearance of 850,000 Bitcoins. At the time, the equivalent of approximately a half billion dollars.

By the end of 2018 those coins would be worth a staggering $16 Billion+...

This is the series of events that brought him to this point.
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US Government recovers and returns stolen BTC to Bitfinex... but only 28 out of the 120,000 total.

Back in August of 2016 Bitfinex fell victim to one of the worst hacks among the more 'mainstream' exchanges when the hackers got away with stealing a total of 120,000 BTC.

Today the US Government returned (almost) 28 of them (27.66 BTC) as the result of "law enforcement efforts". No additional details have been provided from US officials.

My best guess at what happened - they arrested someone who sold something to the actual hackers, but not the hackers themselves.

At it's peak the tokens would have been worth nearly $228 million.

Bitfinex has just shared the following press release:

Since the well documented hack in 2016, Bitfinex has collaborated with international law enforcement agencies to provide intelligence and assist with investigations. Bitfinex was alerted in November 2018 that the U.S. government had obtained bitcoins believed to be proceeds from the 2016 hack.

Bitfinex has now retrieved 27.7 BTC and, further to the recovery strategy outlined in the aftermath of the hack, this is being converted to USD and paid to RRT (Recovery Right Token) Holders.


RRTs and Bitfinex’s Hack Recovery Plan: Following the theft on August 2nd 2016, Bitfinex took a unique approach, generalising the losses across all accounts and crediting BFX tokens to customers at a ratio of 1 BFX to 1 dollar lost. Bitfinex honoured its commitment to repay the losses. Within eight months of the security breach, all BFX token holders had their tokens redeemed at 100 cents on the dollar or exchanged their tokens for, directly or indirectly, shares of the capital stock of iFinex Inc. All BFX tokens were destroyed within this process. Additionally, Bitfinex created a tradable Recovery Right Token (RRT) for BFX holders that converted BFX tokens into shares of iFinex.


The benefit to RRT holders is that in the event of any retrieval of the stolen property, and after any outstanding or unconverted BFX token holders have been reimbursed, recovered funds are distributed to RRT holders, up to 1 dollar per RRT. As all BFX tokens have been redeemed and destroyed, the full amount of recovered bitcoins today is being distributed pro rata to the RRT holders.


“Over two years following the hack of the Bitfinex platform, today we see the results of a clear and robust response strategy and the efforts of the U.S. government. It gives us great pleasure to be able to reimburse our traders that were loyal to us and believed in us at a very difficult time. We would like to thank U.S. federal law enforcement agencies for their ongoing efforts to investigate the security breach and their commitment to seizing and returning stolen assets.


We will continue to assist law enforcement with their inquiries, and also once again extend an open invitation to the hackers, or anyone harbouring information pertaining to the breach, to make contact in whichever medium they feel most secure with, to finally resolve the situation in a mutually beneficial manner.” says Bitfinex CFO Giancarlo Devasini


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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk


Mark Zuckerberg's weird, nonsensical idea to use blockchain to fix Facebook's public relations nightmare...

Over and over Facebook finds themselves continually under attack for everything from claims their platform enabled election interference in the US and other countries, to admissions from former staff that they've conducted creepy experiments on users to see if they could manipulate a user's emotional state.

But the issue that keeps coming back in various forms - privacy.

From the amount of data outside developers were able to access, which came to light in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, to learning that they keep deleted video sand  'scan' images sent privately through messenger.  You get the idea - Facebook has creeped a lot of people out.

This may surprise you, but in most of these scandals, I don't put much blame on Facebook. If the first step was allowing an app access and clicking "ok" to a notification that the app will have access to your personal info, you can't complain when that's exactly what they do.  The same goes for anything a user uploads - you don't get to act shocked Facebook has the data that you uploaded to Facebook.

Also strange - the idea that Facebook is the worst violator. What they actually do is pretty much 'standard' here in Silicon Valley - but for whatever reason, Facebook has been singled out.

We probably all know someone delusional enough to think they've taken control of their privacy by leaving Facebook... but their e-mail address is still Google GMail.  This perfectly sums up Facebook's current situation.

Zuckerberg's confusing proposition...

Just 16 hours before publishing this article Mark Zuckerberg debuted a new video series he's hosting himself, a "series of discussions on the future of technology and society".  In this first episode he speaks with guest Harvard Law Professor Jonathan Zittrain on a variety of topics, decentralized services being one of them.  Mark states:

“A use of blockchain that I’ve been thinking about … though I haven’t figured out a way to make this work out, is around authentication and… granting access to your information to different services”  He continued “So, replacing the notion of what we have with Facebook Connect with something that is truly distributed.”

Facebook Connect is when you see that 'sign on with Facebook' option on sites which allow you to bypass the usual a signup method.

Here's the problem:

Imagine I have built an app that gives the option to connect to your Facebook account - in fact, it requires it (as some do).  For this, it asks for permission to view your friends list, your e-mail address, the pages you 'like', your location, and your posts - a pretty common request for apps using Facebook Connect.

Here's a screenshot from the Facebook developer area, showing all the data someone can request access to:

So now I'm receiving enough information on you where I know the music you listen to and shows you watch (from the fan pages you liked), where you live, and what's on your mind (remember, I can read your posts).

If this process was executed using blockchain technology as Zuckerberg is considering, on the distributed ledger could see exactly what information was shared and where it went when you installed my app.

Now imagine I put all the information I've gathered from everyone into a database, and sold it.

That's the problem - once your personal data has been delivered to me via blockchain, I don't need the blockchain anymore, your data is mine.

Blockchain is necessary to guarantee a cryptocurrency transaction is valid every time it changes hands. It's why we can't just create Bitcoin for ourselves by storing it offline and duplicating the storage device.

But I can sell copies of your personal data to 10 different companies, nobody cares if there are multiple copies. It's not like once the first person used it, it would stop working for the other 9.

It's all about perception...

As I said in the beginning, Facebook as a public perception problem - I even said it's unfair to act like Facebook is doing anything worse than the other tech giants.

So I think the idea is this: the public feels Facebook is especially untrustworthy with their data, even though that's not true.  Let's make them feel like we've taken big steps to secure their data, even though that's not true.

While putting "users in control of their data using blockchain technology" wouldn't make any real difference, if they could spin the concept properly people may feel that it does, and that's all that really matters.

Conclusion...

There's only one real option - Facebook starts gathering less data, and greatly restricts data developers can access.

They took one small step in that direction, it just took a media firestorm. The loophole that gave Cambridge Analytica access to so much information has been closed. Until then, an app could access the data of the person who approved it, and their friends. Cambridge Analytica got terminated for reselling the data, and now all developers can only access the data of the individual who approved it.

It briefly came up in this same discussion, Zuckerberg touched on it saying "...people chose to give their data which was affiliated with Cambridge University and that person sold that information to Cambridge Analytica, which was a violation of our policies."

Everyone agreed that level of access was excessive, but to restrict developers access even more is asking for a revolt. Developers around the world implement Facebook into their products for this data, and a good chunk of Facebook's value comes from this.

Currently Facebook has the luxury of there being no real competition.I know you're thinking "what? there's countless competing social networking platforms!". Yeah but think back to the death of MySpace, if a friend disappeared there, you just knew they officially moved to Facebook.   There's no 1 place everyone quitting Facebook is popping back up on.

If there was, you can be sure Facebook would be right there with an offer they can't refuse - just as they did when Instagram started cutting into people's time on Facebook.

So if Facebook decides to "use blockchain" understand that all they're really doing is using the word "blockchain" - and hoping they can absorb some of the trust people associate with it.
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Author: Ross Davis
E-Mail: Ross@GlobalCryptoPress.com Twitter:@RossFM

San Francisco News Desk

Elon Musk calls cryptocurrency 'brilliant' while predicting the end of paper money...

The Tesla and SpaceX founder shared his thoughts on cryptocurrency on the ARK Invest podcast, stating:

"Paper money is going away and cryptocurrency is a far better way to transfer value than pieces of paper" but as far as his companies getting involved "I don’t think it would be a good use of Tesla’s resources"

However, some of the companies in his portfolio likely will - as many have remarked that cryptocurrency will be how artificial intelligence powered devices will spend and receive money.

His past experiences with the crypto world haven't been great, as Ethereum scammers have stolen his identity on Twitter countless times.  Posing as Musk they tweet that he's doing an ETH giveaway, just send 1 and get 10 back... I think you know how this ends. (That story here)

There's no denying the advantages of cryptocurrency over fiat, as Musk made clear today.

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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk


Game changer: They've Thrown Out ALL The Rules - The Die-Hard Team Behind A VERY Bold Mission...


This isn't your typical story of a blockchain startup, in every way imaginable.

The path usually taken clearly hasn’t led to enough positive results to make the case that it’s a mistake to go another way - with that in mind, they threw out all the rules when it comes to launching a new token, and the project behind it.

For example you probably immediately thought 'ICO' upon reading the words ‘startup’ and 'token’.. but no, there will be no ICO.

Then surely, it's safe to assume they must be making the rounds pitching their concept to VC's, doing a standard 'series A' round of investments... but no, everyone on the team is too busy building to be distracted with that right now.

Okay, then this must just be something that's so early in its development it's nothing more than a "concept" and a bunch of hype, with a 50/50 chance of ever even happening… but wait... it’s already here! Public beta testing has already began - anyone can try it right now!

INTRODUCING TUNETRADE!

When I say they've thrown out all the rules I wasn't kidding, and that doesn't stop with how TuneTrade planned their launch - it continues into what TuneTrade actually is.

TuneTrade's platform is rich with powerful tools, and they’re putting them into the hands of anyone who wants them. This isn't an exaggeration, we're talking about something that can fundamentally change the entire landscape of the cryptocurrency and blockchain world.

Until now, even the vast majority of people who would consider themselves ‘expert cryptocurrency traders’ wouldn't know where to begin if you asked them how to create a cryptocurrency token themselves.

The day TuneTrade launches, that changes forever.

TuneTrade transforms the process of creating a token into something so easy that any brand, artist, start-up, or individual that wants one of their own can do it in minutes!

If you believe the future is tokenized, TuneTrade is a massive leap towards this theory becoming reality.

CREATION TO DISTRIBUTION, POWERED BY TUNETRADE.

To the TuneTrade user, all that power is hidden behind a sleek and easy to use interface.  The complex process of writing a smart contract and creating a token becomes as simple as naming it, deciding how many to create, and filling out the additional metadata like the author and website to associate it with.

Then, with the push of a button TuneTrade works it's magic, seconds later, you've created your own cryptocurrency!

Don't let the simplicity fool you, this is the real deal - an ERC20 token on the Ethereum blockchain! The creator also maintains full ownership and control over all of their tokens.

YOU ARE NOW THE FOUNDER OF A CRYPTOCURRENCY, THE NEXT STEP IS GETTING IT OUT THERE!

TuneTrade could have stopped at the token creation tool and still launched with plenty of excitement.

But like we said, TuneTrade isn't a normal startup.

Imagine how much easier managing a new cryptocurrency would be if you had the ability to automate parts of the distribution process.

Need to issue a set amount of tokens to someone on a specific date in the future? Maybe a long term partner you need to send 1000 tokens to per month for the next 12 months?  TuneTrade users have the ability to schedule it all, and consider it done!

Last but not least is that big question that can make or break a token - “how can I get my token on an exchange?”

Well, TuneTrade IS also an exchange  -  all you need to do is list it!

DON'T LET THE NAME FOOL YOU:

TuneTrade can be used by literally anyone - the music world just presents the first and most obvious use case.

Today's modern musicians, record labels, and their management are no strangers to digital/virtual goods. Implementing cryptocurrency into a business and culture that's been selling MP3 files instead of CDs for quite some time is a natural evolutionary step.

From the cool-factor of fans owning and trading official artist coins, to marketing purposes such as artists offering token based rewards for purchasing their music or merchandise, along with ways to then spend those tokens, and enjoy special benefits for being a token holder. This is the superfan of the future.

But music is just the beginning - TuneTrade is available for anyone to use!   Anyone who can come up with a way to use a cryptocurrency token can have one.

Retail stores, Restaurants, online storefronts, tech startups, nonprofits - the possibilities are endless.

The most exciting part may be finding out what the public will build once given the tools.

OFF TO AN UNSTOPPABLE START:

Beginning with a rock solid foundation that is  TuneTrade's team, and community.

The TuneTrade team came together in a variety of ways, from meeting years ago working at previous jobs in tech, to standing in line next to each other at blockchain conferences.

Here you find TuneTrade’s secret - a self sufficient team with every skill needed from coding and engineering, to marketing and logistics - TuneTrade’s core leadership is comprised of experts in their respective fields.

This means all bases covered - without hiring a single outsider.

As the project grew it was often as simple as identifying what needs to be done next, and someone saying 'I know the perfect person to do it' - one phone call later, the team would have a new member!

While everyone involved has some past successes of their own and necessary expenses can be covered with private funding, TuneTrade’s real funding is the same currency that built Silicon Valley - blood, sweat and tears.

Think back to the early days of our modern tech revolutionaries, powered by coffee and food delivery, grinding away until the sun began to rise the next morning.  The same determined and focused mindset can be found within TuneTrade.

TUNETRADE’S ROADMAP LEADS STRAIGHT TO THE HIGHWAY…

For a project that hasn’t even officially launched yet, TuneTrade’s growth is downright incredible.

They have been (and continue to) reward users who help give the beta platform a test run and spread the word, with small airdrops of their native TXT token - here’s what’s been accomplished so far:

Over 90,000+ users in their telegram channel.
Nearly 8000 Twitter Follows.

UP NEXT:

Official Launch as the site goes live and the platform moves over to the main Ethereum blockchain!

Token listing - The excitement in the cryptocurrency world has TuneTrade already in talks with multiple exchanges interested in listing their token - including some of the top ones that rarely would consider a project this new - have reached out!

New outreach focused on the Korean market.

Official TuneTrade anthem song by the Coin Bros.

MORE INFORMATION:
https://tunetrade.io
https://t.me/tunetrade
https://twitter.com/tunetradex
https://instagram.com/tunetradex


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Information provided via official press release


CME Group CEO Terry Duffy says governments need to accept that cryptocurrencies are here, has a laugh at JPMorgan suddenly becoming pro-crypto...


Terry Duffy says "governments need to accept that cryptocurrencies are here" - a reference to the point that virtually everyone on Wall Street is making - finalize the rules so everyone can participate!   He also chuckles at JPMorgan's sudden interest in cryptocurrency after their past statements against it. (This part of the discussion begins at 9:30) 





Top Prize of over $10,000 Won Every Month in CryptoSlots’ New Crypto Lotto...


Only six months into its lifespan, CryptoSlots has added a brand new way for players to win big. The Crypto Lotto began this January, with a progressive top prize which starts at $10,000 and increases throughout the month.

Players enter by earning tickets as they play at CryptoSlots. Every day they bet at least $100 on slots earns them one ticket to the lottery. At the end of each month, 20 winners are drawn at random. Second place receives $5,000, third place $1,000, followed by seven prizes of $50 + 50 Free Jackpot Tokens, then ten prizes of $25 + 25 Jackpot Tokens. Players can withdraw their wins in their cryptocurrency of choice: Bitcoin, Litecoin or Bitcoin Cash.

‘This means that players collect both Lotto tickets and Jackpot Tokens as they play. As the top lotto prize is progressive, we’re excited to see how high it’ll go.’ said CryptoSlots manager Michael Hilary.

★ Use code MATCH133GCPR now for 133% Match on your first deposit ★


The online casino is cryptocurrency only and pioneers an anonymous, exciting, and completely secure place to play. Games include top-of-the-range slots, multi-hand video poker games, Keno, and the completely unique Jackpot Trigger. The jackpot slot game offers real wins of up to $1,000,000 and can be played using Jackpot Tokens that build as players win on other games.

The Crypto Lotto is just one more feature to the list of benefits that set CryptoSlots apart from other online casinos. All games are one-of-a-kind and can be played across devices. Only an email address is required to sign up.

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Information provided via press release


Voyager has launched! New trading app from former Uber & E-Trade execs/founders is finally available...

voyager

The Voyager app created by former executives of both Uber and ETrade has finally launched and is available for download in the iTunes store.

But first, we strongly recommend you claim the $25 credit on their website before you install the app.

Users will be able to trade with no fees because Voyager acts as a broker, finding the lowest price among multiple exchanges. They only profit if they save you money and find the coins you're buying at a price lower than the current market rate, then they only take a cut out of what you saved.

“Our vision to bring the crypto brokerage experience in line with what investors have come to expect from equity markets is now a reality,” said Stephen Ehrlich, Voyager Co-Founder and CEO. “We knew there was a better way for investors to access a cost-efficient and transparent platform validated by our overwhelmingly positive feedback and demand from investors who are eager to start using our platform.”

For several of the coins supported, Voyager will be the first to provide the ability to purchase them with USD, until now the only option was to buy Bitcoin first, then use that to buy the other coin.

The list of supported coins is impressive:
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)

Unfortunately, there are a few limitations in this early stage, first being the app is iPhone only with Android coming later this year. Trading is also limited to the US only, and only in the 9 states they have received the necessary licences in.

If your state isn't one of them, don't worry it will be added soon - and they do plan on opening up for international users in the future as well!.

Register here for your $25 credit, then download the app in the App Store!

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Author: Justin Derbek
New York News Desk


You can own part of a cryptocurrency mining company w/ profits paid monthly...

 
Minedblock is enabling a new level of access to cryptocurrency mining, allowing people to literally own a piece of the company that owns and operates everything. To be abundantly clear, this is not a service that rents out mining rigs long term, or another service selling “mining contracts” popular with amateur home miners. This token offering comes with a whole lot more than a token - when I say "own a piece of the company" I mean it literally.

In what may be our favorite use-case of a security token so far, Minedblock's tokens will also legally entitle the token holder to a portion of ownership in the company itself.  Minedblock is the first to use the security token model to fund a cryptocurrency mining operation and the first to file with the SEC, which we found proof of here.

Token holders are sent their cut of the profits at the beginning of each month, paid in ETH for now, but the company says they'll have several payout options in the future. The token itself, the MinedBlock 'MBTX' is an ST-20 token built on PolyMath platform, which is built on the Ethereum blockchain.

Also interesting to see, but actually makes a lot of sense - the fundraising caps are totally open-ended, with no limits. That wouldn't sit well in the whitepaper of a typical ICO, but in this case, the amount they raise simply determines how many mining rigs will be running at the start. The percentage someone earns isn't based on the number of tokens, but the percentage of the total token supply someone is holding instead.

For obvious reasons, security tokens cannot thrive on hype alone. The token holders know exactly how well the company is doing, they're updated every month when they see what their pay is (or isn't).

So the Minedblock team is going to be feeling the pressure, and mining isn't a risk-free business - the reality is far from 'free money' like some try to describe it.  Thankfully, the Minedblock team seems to have been taking notes on what has and hasn't worked for others.

The largest expense of course - electricity. To lower that cost they've chosen Iceland as the first location, which has been consistently been drawing in miners with their low-cost electricity. They're also not just mining Bitcoin, they'll go wherever the highest profits are.

You can participate right away, because the token sale has just begun! They've already earned some impressive evaluation scores from ICOBench with a 4.3(out of 5.0), as well as 9 (out of 10) on ICOMarks. Head over to their site to learn more https://www.minedblock.io/

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Author: Ross Davis
E-Mail: Ross@GlobalCryptoPress.com Twitter:@RossFM

San Francisco News Desk
AN OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Exclusive: Coinbase rules against listing Bitcoin SV, allows withdraws only - learn why...


It took 3 months, but CoinBase is finally allowing users to withdraw any Bitcoin SV (BSV) they earned from holding Bitcoin Cash during the fork.

If you have any, you should have an e-mail from Coinbase now with instructions on how to withdraw the BSV to somewhere that does support it - Coinbase has decided that won't be them.

I spoke exclusively with one of my contacts inside of Coinbase to find out why they decided against giving BSV an exchange listing.  This is someone high enough up to have a role in the decision making process, and they agreed to give me 'the blunt truth' if I do not include their name and emphasize that this is not an official company statement on the issue.

I was told:

"Honestly if you asked this a couple months ago I may have said we 'likely will' add it to the exchange, or at least CoinBase Pro.

But as we evaluated it, it seemed like 90% of  BSV mentions in the press were part of articles covering something erratic its founder was doing or saying. Almost any article that mentions Bitcoin SV also includes something or someone that Craig is 'going to war' with and if that's not the theme, it's an article about Craig lying, like his 'I'm Satoshi' stunt.

All that aside an analyst here also believed that the historical trading data on BSV showed patterns that in his opinion looked like supporters emotionally buying, and haters organizing 'coordinated dumps'.

As our engineering teams finished up the back-end allowing people to access their BSV we had all these factors to take into consideration: It's already down to half the price of Bitcoin Cash, Craig seems willing to run it down to $0 on this bad-press tour, and the market data is erratic. The decision that followed was no surprise."


In closing adding;

"Do we need to feature 3 coins that have split our community into 3 groups arguing over which one is 'the real' Bitcoin?

I remember when Bitcoin Cash was launching I had a lunch meeting with the CEO of a massive Silicon Valley company (you know who this is, everyone does).  He asked me 'What is this Bitcoin civil war I read about yesterday?'.

After explaining and answering questions his whole attitude changed - he was in disbelief that someone could even legally pull off Roger Ver's campaign to devalue the real Bitcoin, along with his ownership of Bitcoin.com where he was selling his new coin simply as 'Bitcoin'.

It was like in the span of 10 minutes this respected person in tech went from taking cryptocurrency seriously, to seeing it as bunch of crazy kids with a lot to figure out."


So the forked coin of a forked coin didn't work out, who could have guessed? I'm not a Bitcoin minimalist by any means, and I believe it's very possible another coin will one day overtake the original Bitcoin.

That coin will not be Bitcoin Cash or Bitcoin SV - those will go down in history as nothing more than the experiments which established a rule:a coin cannot be replaced by a new one using it's name.

There's 1 situation where this does work, take a look at Ethereum and Ether Classic. Why? Because the creator of the first version was behind the new version. Without this people only see one person trying to destroy and take over someone else's creation - that will always be met with hostility.

Any new coin calling itself Bitcoin will never have this essential endorsement from the original creator, unless the real Satoshi comes back, too bad he's dead. Yelling at people that the original coin they hold isn't 'real' and the one you made is simply does not work.

Share your thoughts on all of this with, Tweet @GlobalCryptoDev

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Author: Ross Davis
E-Mail: Ross@GlobalCryptoPress.com Twitter:@RossFM

San Francisco News Desk

SEC Commissioner's first remarks on the Token Taxonomy Act - the bill that would remove SEC oversight from most tokens, soon to be introduced in Congress...

We've been closely following the Token Taxonomy Act, a bill that would free most cryptocurrency tokens from being labeled a "security" - which would also then remove the Securities And Exchange Commission's authority over them.  Read about that here.

In a speech given Friday at the University of Missouri School of Law, SEC commissioner Hester M. Peirce mentioned the bill for the first time - and to my surprise, she doesn't seem against it - even going as far as to cite several examples against classifying them as securities.

"Congress may resolve the ambiguities engendered by Howey by simply requiring that at least some digital assets be treated as a separate asset class. Congressmen Warren Davidson and Darren Soto recently introduced a bill in the House intended to amend the federal securities laws to do just that, provided that the token truly operated in a decentralized network.

Such an approach would facilitate more tailored disclosure. Indeed there are others who have argued that, whether ICOs can fit within the definition of a securities offering does not answer the question of whether that is how we should regulate them. In a forthcoming paper, Georgetown Law professor Chris Brummer and his co-authors argue that ICOs have certain features that make the regulatory framework applicable to IPOs inappropriate. For example, changes to the blockchain may have outsized effects on certain tokens that depend on it. An investor may need to understand, for example, how the blockchain can be changed, and how those changes would affect the relevant token before she could fully appreciate the risks of investing in that crypto asset."


If you listened to her speech you may not have immediately made the connection, that 'recently introduced bill' is the Token Taxonomy Act, this was made clear when the speech was published on the official SEC website with citations and mentioned by name in the footnotes.

Evaluating the nature of her statements it seems she actually shares in the same frustrations as everyone else - if you're in America and dealing in cryptocurrency as a business, trader, or regulator - you're sick of the uncertainty and confusion the current legal framework provides.

An initial concern of mine was that opposition to the bill would come from the SEC with the intent of influencing the votes of Congress and that the SEC was viewing the Token Taxonomy Act as an attack on the work they've done so far.

But instead, she acknowledged  'the ambiguities' that come with applying the Howey test, the standard method used to answer the question of 'is this a security?'.


Congressman Warren Davidson calls current regulations 'sloppy'.

The author of the bill, U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson began seeking this clarification in a letter written by him and co-signed by a total of 11 fellow congressmen, Republican and Democrat, in that letter he stated:

"We believe the SEC could do more to clarify its position. Additionally, we are concerned about the use of enforcement actions alone to clarify policy and believe that formal guidance may be an appropriate approach to clearing up legal uncertainties which are causing the environment for the development of innovative technologies in the United States to be unnecessarily fraught."

It seems the SEC would like that clarification too - which is probably why they've struggled to provide it. When the government body in charge of enforcement seeks clarification, providing it becomes the duty of lawmakers.

Another factor worth noting that I haven't touched on in previous articles -  the rise of actual security tokens!

It seems like there's a new 'STO' project announced every day that planning to release a token that also represents some kind of equity in the company behind it. That's going to be more than enough to keep the SEC busy, and even under the Token Taxonomy Act these will remain classified as securities.

It's clear as can be - from traders to regulators, the time to bring everyone the regulatory clarity they need is now. Add all this to my list of reasons I believe this bill will pass - I wrote an in-depth look at why I think it will be met with approval each step of the way here.

The SEC Commissioner's speech can be read in full here.

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Author: Ross Davis
E-Mail: Ross@GlobalCryptoPress.com Twitter:@RossFM
San Francisco News Desk


Financial expert Ric Edelman on Bitcoin ETF approval challenges, the 'big players' addressing them, and why he's 'virtually certain' approval will follow...


Ric Edelman is the chairman and co-founder of Edelman Financial Services, LLC, the author of several personal finance books and the host of a weekly personal finance talk radio show called The Ric Edelman Show. 

He also shares his belief that Bitcoin manipulation is 'about the same as oil or gold' prices, and the SEC will just have to learn to accept it. 




Chevron joining Shell and other major oil companies on JPMorgan backed blockchain-powered commodity platform Vakt...

This is really becoming a powerhouse of well known multi-billion dollar companies turning to blockchain as a way to improve things that they've been doing for decades.

In addition to consistently adding participants, last year VAKT joined the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, the world's largest open source blockchain organization.

Announced today - Chevron will be joining Shell as the second US Based supplier, along with Total, and Reliance Industries.

Already on board was BP, Norway’s Equinor,Mercuria Energy Group and Koch and more.

VAKT has found it easy to appeal to businesses, as their platform both boosts the companies ability to track their assets, conduct transactions faster, all while removing what used to take mountains of paper to log. They described their goal at launch as:

"In a unique collaboration, several of the world's largest trading houses, integrated energy companies and banks intend to create and invest in a new venture, which will be managed and operated as an independent entity. The new venture will develop a blockchain-based digital platform intended to modernise and transform post-transaction management of physical energy commodities trading, pending relevant regulatory approvals."

Oil commodities are just the beginning - blockchain powered platforms to increase efficiancy for other sectors such as government, healthcare, energy, pharmaceuticals, are on the way too.
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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk


Interview with Trump's former head of the Department of Interior, now director at cryptocurrency firm...

After two years as Department of Interior Secretary, Zinke has made the jump to the private sector.  We learned last month that role will be the new managing director of a blockchain and cryptocurrency investment firm.

 The firm is called 'Artillery One' and not a whole lot is known about their revenue stream. Their mission statement says they “advise and funds the next generation of disruptive technologies – connecting capital to these unique opportunities and special situations.”

 They hosted the "Blockchain Innovators Summit"in Pebble Beach last year, and spent $2 million to acquire the Swiss blockchain firm 'Monetas'.




Cryptocurrency exchange gets listed on stock exchange - before they even officially launch...

Publicly traded... but not open to the public - yet.

We've been covering the developments surrounding the launch for months now - from the initial announcement to getting our hands on the beta software and trying it our ourselves.

The company and app are called "Voyager"and behind it are some MVP's from both the Fintech and mobile app space.  Uber co-founder Oscar Salazar, early Uber seed investor Philip Eytan, and serving as Voyager's CEO is Stephen Ehrlich, the guy who oversaw the 'trade' part of E-Trade.

First off - I admit the article headline isn't totally accurate. It gets the general point across in a single sentence. But there's some nuance here too.

Voyager isn't exactly an "exchange" because when you buy or sell through the app it's automatically searching for the best deal on 10 top exchanges at once, then executing the trade all without you ever having to open an account anywhere else.

That's how they pulled off another big selling point - no exchange fees. They will only take a cut of what they are able to save you by shopping those 10 exchanges.

Voyager will support trading for 15 tokens at it's launch, the list of them can be found here.

While today's news did indeed end with the company having a stock exchange listing, they took a creative (but fairly common) shortcut - they bought a company that already had a listing, merged with it, then renamed it.  In this case it was a mining company, and not crypto mining - minerals.  That company was called UC Resources and hasn't been active since 2015.

The newly formed company 'Voyager Digital Ltd' begins trading this Monday on TSX Venture Exchange, a subsidy operated by the Toronto Stock Exchange with a market cap of approximately $40 billion.

There's actually some advantages here for potential users, specifically on the issue of trust.  Now a "publicly traded company" Voyager will face increased levels of oversight that others currently don't.

So here's where things stand, and what's coming up next:

They've been giving everyone $25 in Bitcoin if they sign up for the waiting list to be notified when the app goes live - we've been told the list has grown to over 100,000+ people.

They've brought in Ethos in an official partnership that integrates their famous 'universal wallet' into Voyager to provide secure token storage.

They've lined up "about a half-dozen" institutional investment firms and brokers to tap into their platform's capabilities via API.

We've just learned it will all launch within the next few weeks - before the end of this month!

Get it when they launch along with $25 worth of BTC to start at TheVoyagerExchange.com

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Author: Ross Davis
E-Mail: Ross@GlobalCryptoPress.com Twitter:@RossFM
San Francisco News Desk




Regulations coming following hacks? What will happen to Venezuela's coin if the government falls? This months outlook...

Jan was another sad month for cryptocurrencies. The market value of all currencies tracked by Coin Market Cap declined by more than $10 billion as confidence in the industry continued to wane. Bitcoin, the biggest crypto in the world saw its market value drop to about $60 billion.

The biggest news last month was about security in the cryptocurrencies industry. A report by Chainalysis revealed that two groups were responsible for cryptocurrency theft worth more than $1 billion. Another report from Carbon Black said that cryptocurrencies worth more than $1.1 billion were stolen in 2018 alone.

Security in the cryptocurrency industry is always cited as a key hindrance for their adoption. If there is no safe mechanism for the storage of the currencies, no retailer will want to accept them. Furthermore, they will not be viewed as safe products for institutional investors. A silver lining for all this could be Fidelity, which announced that its crypto custodian services will come online in March this year. The service will be open to institutional investors and will provide a secure model for storing the crypto to minimize risk.

This month, investors will focus on the security of the cryptocurrencies especially after the theft that was announced in January. Perhaps, these reports will lead to calls for more regulations in the industry? Crypto traders have always viewed regulations negatively. However, if these regulations could help guarantee safety in the industry, they could be the catalyst that is needed to push the prices higher.

Another focus will be on Venezuela. Venezuela has been in the news a lot lately after the US and other countries moved to recognize the head of the parliament as the legitimate president. Venezuela matters to the cryptocurrencies industry because of the sanctions that have been placed on the country. To skirt the rules, many people have been known to use Bitcoins for transactions. Indeed, the country has recently published new laws intended to regulate the industry. The country is also known for its Petro Coin, which was intended to help avoid US sanctions in the oil trade.

Investors will also focus on several upcoming events. In Cyprus, Nakamoto’s Den will take place on February 19 - 20. The event will bring together participants in the industry from around the world. It will feature digital start-ups and post ICOs going head-to-head in a bid to secure ongoing funding from top investors. It’s set to be a real-time showstopper not to mention there will be plenty of influential speakers.

In the United Kingdom, the London Blockchain Week Hackathon will take place in London on February 8 - 14. This will be the fifth year for the event, which brings together the largest participants in the cryptocurrencies industry in London. Some of the companies that will attend the event are London & Partners, CEX, and ICO Bazaar.

Another event to watch out for will be the TABConf 2019 in Atlanta. The event will take place on February 8 – 10 and will feature leading American professionals in the cryptocurrencies industry. The event will be attended by regulators, scholars, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders in  the industry.

At Contentworks, our team of financial professionals closely follows market movements for FX, Crypto and other tradable instruments. We are proud to serve some of the biggest crypto and fintech companies in the world by delivering high-impact articles, videos, PR and white papers.   See http://www.contentworks.agency

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Information provided via press release


In 2017 he sold all their belongings, moved his family into a trailer, and invested in all in Bitcoin! So, where are they now?

The weekend is here - enjoy this fun flashback and interesting story. 

We first covered the Taihuttu family in 2017, in this video we see what they're up to one year later with Bitcoin worth a lot less than it was then. 

But an important fact the Wall Street Journal moved past quickly in this video that should be highlighted, is that the family acquired most of their Bitcoin around $1000.  Even at today's prices - they've more than tripled their money!