What’s Next for Bradley Manning? – wsj.com

What's Next for Bradley Manning? 8/21/2013 4:00PM Transcript

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... the ... private first class Bradley Manning is sentenced to thirty five years in jail ... while knacks the ham ... will have back and mall right and right now on the New Saab good afternoon and welcome I'm Simon Constable ... all I'm Simon Bradley Manning Manning is a big question not just the ham ... joining me recall Pfizer Patel says co director of the liberty and national security for another friend's son of the justices found the stem the streets of Manhattan thank you very much his debut on the New Saab increased at a thank you for having me so let's go through ... with the some of things with thirty five years to do anything strike you but I simply open on time tonight ... was an awfully long time that if you look at the other whistleblower are ... tight ... prosecutions that happens that in this administration you seen those people getting ... sentences in the range of eighteen knots twenty knots thirty months that's about the rain to reach that people been sentenced for other ... weeks of government secrets and compare that to the thirty five years it does seem like an extraordinarily long time ... this is only those sending a message ... aam to to of of what the weakest right that spot ... absolutely yes it's a it's a it's probably ... not what can he do can be can he ... you feel that skinny get down to time so to think ... why is it has a lot of steals options and unique in that apply for clemency to these review board in the military ... he has an automatic right to appeal to the military's Court of appeal ... and you can actually even take this case all the way up to the U S Supreme Court ... I'm ... and are important legal issues in this case which might need to add and change him and what he's been convicted ... to use it ... is it likely that the heat that he gets this down substantially what's the what's your feeling on the summit of a lot of people look look look of the sky and say yet he did something stupid I don't think anybody ... disagrees with that that this was was was ready quite quite unbelievably students in some ways ... the same time no one is that in many ... out of all not not many people autonomy get that house ... write a ... mean that's one of the things like the law doesn't care whether he has it that hard aren't that hard for ... the mining and don't see in other areas of law though it it does matter so many cases it matches you have the malice so that in in in the sense that you know we are humans how can we not be swayed by that PPP millet re ... the Milford judges achievements what I'm that that was one of the factors of the jet's digs in theory take into account in sentencing now ... recall that under the military justice system he is eligible for parole after ten years ago you never have a sentence of more than thirty hours ... automatically after ten years are eligible for consideration for for will and he's been he's been and he's been locked up for a considerable time so fat with ... for years the three s of a pot of that will come to an annual so ... aam this in some time off for having ... been and I guess ... today ... it aggressively ... death and aggressively up Porsche ... yes I'm basically in around seven years or so keen to bring his case out for Roh Moo can ... you also can get it down even futher through this review process from ... this and he can appeal it just as anybody else can appeal their their prison sentence doesn't become easier for ... people and probably many of them is a lot publicity around this and everyone the country knows about it will the millet re knows about it ... doesn't become easier when this is out of the public on a four that the most records to say I'm the and with the present system decided ... you know you've been a good TV critic of Prisma UK to blunt the lesson during his arm ... was thirty seven years from now public sentiment will no doubt be much less interested in Bradley Manning that it is today and so when it comes time for him to go ... up before our old ward I think he would have that the case to make at that time who can hum tum ... we feel is chances are she's getting attacked one for some time and he aam ... to BBB he's known as the day hero acidic and BP up in my neighborhood so aam it it seems likely to be attacked on present time ... we're Levy given protective custody ... I think it's it's it's a tough thing because he doesn't wanna be in solitary obviously and so you don't wanna create a situation where he's put in solitary for his own protection ... well ... I aam ... and the same time ago it is after the military to make sure that he is an attack that's their responsibility ... also in the rebels say ... come forces killed over one thousand people in the sum of the Damascus any poison gas attack and the government has denied the reports Pfizer Patel a former senior policy officer for the organization of the prohibition of chemical weapons system and a day and the continues with us ... aam you how great ... these two stories history ... all the new all the news to die ... aam ... what can you tell us about this attack they you know why I think it this way we know ... only a limited amount that this attack and we have the allegations date and about a thousand people died and people are complaining about a respiratory illness that is when suggests that it's likely some kind if it is a chemical weapons attack then ... those are the same tens of that kind of nerve agents and their fat attacks ... against the asset not a lot of them I guess is that make the same ... so late BX or sandwich or that they know they just attack the nervous system ... they can compete in a gas or liquid eye and ... that doesn't sound Basin the symptoms reported that its mustard gas because that that creates blisters and so forth and and that was something that accuse him fuss for Woolwich has said it was a hundred years ago now ... on the PC might get some of these these agents that you know these these these gases will ... make the Coming shells or or that this post and then they need to activate the Madame estate to spur us very quickly ... write ... not necessarily as I ... can actually linger for a long time and also depend so we will be possible to go to the sign and discover whether this wasn't the trace elements that oh absolutely I mean I have no doubt that have qualified chemical weapons teams that says the UN team is on the ground now ... they discover ... that ... it's an order gas or really any other kind of chemical agent attack it's even several weeks of paid to confess that ... quick quickly but if it if it does tie mounts that chemical weapons were used by the asset regime it is the alignment being cross that present Obama talked about if if if the line is crossed and on this happens ... when chemical weapons is it's it's a dream of the US might have to get involved it is the isthe without being given absolutely thank twenty twenty full of that's the treaty indication that he gave I guess I was almost a year ago now he said and this is the red line that they can cross they cannot use chemical weapons on civilians ... and so if they if that and there's the UN team though that if they were to find ... chemical weapons use I think he would be hard pressed to back away from that ... okay so maybe it's just some of which are free to be on the war yet again and again thank you very much Pfizer Patel ... the confusion hit the markets as the Fed was of July policy meeting minutes offered ... no clear signal on when the central bank will begin to end its money printing program ... MoneyBeat Report and Steve Russell and joins me now on the site to explain ... explain the confusion ... Monday's more trim the money war ... that ... nobody knows what's going on right now suffer from the of the minutes from the latest Fed meeting business all you officials that wanted to want to start tapering sooner than later ... your mother's that said ... no it's not playtime in and basically it didn't really answer any questions as to when the Fed is going to move next ... lot of reaction now is people ... that bought that September was going to be that that I'm that that is going to start ... pulling back on stimulus they still think that now ... people wouldn't think that still don't think that also so it did not not a lot of change here but think the big takeaway though ... CME's might add so much about school and markets is ... you didn't get a clear cut direction among others many of uncertainty people don't like uncertainty and on top of that ... Fed officials seen the will but more guarded about the economy the scene that you know maybe things aren't as good as they recently had opened ... he was very get better so it was better than terrible they thought that the tunnel but now I think that they're even starting to pull back a little bit so that is it that so beautiful was a little bit better than terrible and I think it's is not as much ... that meant I would fall ... so I mean really I mean it's not like them and it took about wanting to sell the employment situation ... and that is one of the big goals of this this money printing program which of which is going on seemingly for her upright longtime ... box ... they don't just want any old shops on the spot the problem now is the mix of jobs isn't the normal mix of jobs that tend to be fairly Ofwat asleep I joked with no benefits right ... by Mark D I was not signed and that isn't exactly conducive to say you know to to some of the Keane's is ... exactly and if you look at some of the distribution of jobs where the jobs coming from the coming from ... the whistleblower pain on areas of the market rate now so not to disparage any of those jobs but what does it say to them but I mean what you know them of them all banking jobs that are in investment bankers and you're feeling goes to get ... those jobs on on Saturday night they're not high paying jobs exactly and so yet there's a lot of worry about some of the labor force to station rate which is that the team won the status line into the open to station rate ... goes down when people give up looking for a job because they just like oh my I've tried to find a bride icons and there's nothing out there so that's also what ever reason why the unemployment rate is coming down some on the surface anonymous low unemployment looks good ... but the dig will deepen its because people are just quitting the workforce will that's not a good sign right there so ... the getting back to the minute so I think that im ... looking at this ... if if the Fed is getting a little bit more guarded about the economy getting a little bit more pessimistic about the economic outlook ... that's a clear-cut negative rate now and and maybe it means that that that the bond buying continues ... it's a it's a way you will of that that that I think in in the grand scheme of things that results in that sense of history but they could still ... starts reducing the amount of money referencing in September because ... that ... would just ... do it that we barely saw leads up eighty five billion a month is one of their friends and ... you know buying the bonds of credit money on how to know what ... they could make it ... the former healthily and they cried when I make it then the next month they can make it eighty four million and eighty three how ... big is this the rebate we very slow the rate cut from the upright isn't a great when you bring up because a lot of people were sort of interesting okay they didn't even by fifteen twenty billion rupees sixty five seventy to be the new number ... now here is what people talking about seventy five to eighty so his guts your point is that the speaker could be even slower than what was initially see ... yet the content that because I might from other recommended for this crazy stuff yours or the plethora much of ... a flood of Iran s options or has hit the market Tuesday and now ... the NYSE has told officials and tends ... to come to complete a with you tonight with small mistake of Aunty joins us from ... amid last check the price of a map ... as a five-year ... high and someone one of the firm set up behind the flood of Irani is sort of oh what this mom of a Goldman Sachs ... we are now ... another one of these issues as a sign the you know that these sorts of things have ... become ... in on for so it's semi regular occurrence over the last couple years and and what it was yesterday but at the open of the markets ... I'm a software system a Goldman Sachs uses to try and gauge its clients' interest in buying ... out various options contracts ... and I mistakenly or ... repairs it a lot of orders out into the market that ... became ... actual trades when other traders sought them out there and interacted with that so what you have to say ... you know more than twenty four hours later the exchange officials are going through their pre Ewing each one of these trades they are trying to decide ... which ones will stand them that their rules which ones are to be canceled ... and which ones are somewhere in between where they think they can find a middle ground between the price that that that Rey When on that and and what it really should ... so did check up ... let let's give this why Goldman Sachs my app that might be able to have at least some possibly all of these Iranian that what they say are Iranians trades option strife ... can sold and so that means if they've lost money on aam which could limit their growth on ... them that's not a problem whereas if your ideal options trading and we ... had the bomb accidentally when we get this time treatments ... well it these changes have clear-cut rules on now what constitutes a at what they call clearly erroneous ... and that they have a process for evaluating Hugo Chavez to be canceled altogether in which case yes you're right ... Goldman says when ... you walk away from that particular one ... you know which is the patients and because not everyone of them is going to be canceled and which ones to come out somewhere in the middle ... which is really what the traders prefer ... and some important reason this is such a big deal not just that Goldman Sachs and not just that the exchanges but to a lot of traders in the market is because ... those orders plans out there ... before you know bought and sold options ... basis of the sort of the colon bought out ... so what you've got now ... the fallout of traders all across the country will hold positions and they are not sure whether you know those will be honored ... it made all the trades is the most positions ... they'll be stuck with a new position they might not want to sell and and ... the confusing thing if you're a traitor ... and creates a ton of uncertainty in the market timing one one other things so aam you now I'm I'm I'm from its friends with him in the in the futures markets ... a long time ago is that you know it's it's you know if you lose money even though many cats that that's when you got on the contract price ... that that's the idea that twelve Loeb's exchanges work ... well that's true here I mean your expense however they do have these policies in place where you know someone makes a affecting order ... I've that sort of thing you know they they try and allow for that sort of thing where yet ... the objection to your life is that the traders ... out there in the world that have interacted with these orders that Goldman said ... they're saying hey ... you know this is just a dumb pipe another firm if you're going to cancel the order I end up with exposure ... and that's not right ... you're transferring risk from Goldman Sachs who made the mistake of me with it ... and you know there's gonna be some kind of middle ground ... in the last of them chose to me a lot a lot of bylaw bang with a bowl of warm well enough thank you very much was applied and Jacob Bunge Ee ... of The will Street ... it's time the next twenty four had always shale I'm I'm Simon console Williams a sneak peek ... of what's happening in financial markets over the next twenty four oz and office mcrook lattice of MarketWatch ... thanks of a mess of it ... so if you look back on ... it's down after hours on it's earnings report and this is ... a turnaround effort the stock actually been up about eighty percent so far this year but investors are looking to sing after hours ... I also wanna mention rather than just a turnaround story of a growth name that's reporting after hours is and celestial ... as the company that's benefiting from the center signed ... off on the way ... no ... natural and organic foods and I'm not has all the things ... this is a different day different names different spelling and it's up a lot after hours on her that that the unit in one of the net effect overseas overnight China and Europe have these purchasing Management is pushing to get it which is that I think DH off owl ... the many facts in businesses NAO brand in China so it gets a lot of attention this'll be the first reading on on ... how many factions and there are ... so far in August and he could see bodies move depending on how this number turns out ... I mean we could see some reaction to the Fed's minutes but as you were just discussing ... we are confused here so most of the reaction would be confusing exciting when when I mean I think everyone will be confused but because the volatility ... that we've already seen the last few days we've above the multiple affiliate are quickly before the open ominously Azzam jobless claims fall faster and thirty thousand ... on the plan from one entrance right and we also got some stalks point ... read ... and a couple retailer's ex and doing well this year I will be Bockel and dollar tree I think of ... analysts say one thing the Buffaloes that has a lot of exclusive items in the store is another topic that's ... close to your heart have some exclusive merchandise what once the Yukon get anywhere else because if you can get some Rossi could ... price comparison and that's not good for business exactly so that people think they're doing the right thing with that and and and on trees another one that's had a nice performance so far this year although ... there some concern with Wal-Mart having a weak report earlier ... interesting stuff looks to be busy in the mornings a week and it didn't reply to specific facts make ... that work lattice with this awful lot of Warsaw come ... I'm Simon Qassam on now was you next twenty fall and that was in use up the right

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What's Next for Bradley Manning? - wsj.com

History Will Pardon Manning, Even If Obama Doesn’t

Sometimes things that are fully expected still have the capacity to shock. Thats certainly the case with the news that the former Army private Bradley Manning has been sentenced to thirty-five years in military prison for leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks. My colleague Amy Davidson, who has been writing about the Manning story since the beginning, has a post on the verdict, which contains more details. Ill confine myself to three points:

1. Make no mistake, the sentence is draconian.

Judge Denise Lind, an Army colonel, didnt give Manning the full sixty years in prison that the prosecution wanted, but the whistle-blower still faces the same sort of prison term handed out to murderers and gangsters. Assuming he follows the rules, he will be eligible for parole after eight years (a third of the sentence minus three and a half years, for time served). Even if he is released then, he will have been in prison for well over a decade.

Military justice is meant to be harsh: its designed to maintain discipline on and off the battlefield. But this isnt a case of a solider deserting his post or handing secrets over to the enemy. The governments attempts to show that Mannings leaks aided Al Qaeda were almost laughable, although nothing about this case is amusing. As Amy notes in her post, the stated intent of the Pentagon was to frighten other would-be leakers. There is value in deterrence, Your Honor, one of the military prosecutors told Lind. This court must send a message to any soldier contemplating stealing classified information.

But was it just a matter of deterrence? From the beginning, the Pentagon has treated Manning extremely harshly, holding him in solitary confinement for almost a year and then accusing him of aiding the enemya charge that carries the death penalty. (Thankfully, Lind found Manning not guilty on this count.) It certainly looked like an instance of powerful institutions and powerful people punishing a lowly private for revealing things that they would rather have kept hidden.

2. Much of the wrongdoing that Manning exposed hasnt been dealt with nearly as harshly as he has.

Amid all the discussion of the rights and wrongs of whistle-blowing and WikiLeaks, its easy to forget what exactly Manning revealed. In an article last month calling for him to be pardoned, the New Republics John Judis provided a useful reminder of some of the incidents captured in the battleground reports that Manning released:

American troops killing civilians, including women and children, and then calling in an airstrike to destroy evidence; the video of an American Apache helicopter gunship shooting civilians, including two Reuters reporters; American military authorities failing to investigate reports of torture and murder by Iraqi police; and a black unit in Afghanistan tasked to perform extrajudicial assassinations of Taliban sympathizers that killed as many as 373 civilians.

What has happened to those responsible for these acts? In most cases, not much. For example, no charges have been brought against the U.S. military personnel who were in the Apache helicopter when it opened fire in Baghdad, in July, 2007an incident that my colleague Raffi Khatchadourian wrote about at length in his 2010 article on Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. When a soldier who shared information with the press and public is punished far more harshly than others who tortured prisoners and killed civilians, something is seriously wrong with our justice system, the A.C.L.U.s Ben Wizner said in a statement. Could anybody disagree with that?

3. Even if President Obama doesnt pardon Manning, history will.

Well before the sentence came down, supporters of Manning were busy campaigning to get him freed. There were demonstrations in Washington and elsewhere, bumper stickers, and online petitionsone of which Daniel Ellsberg, the former Department of Defense official who leaked the Pentagon Papers, helped to organize. In the wake of the verdict, more protests were planned, including a rally outside the White House on Wednesday night. Amnesty International asked President Obama to release Manning and called on the U.S. government to turn its attention to investigating violations of human rights and humanitarian law he helped to uncover.

It seems unlikely in the extreme that these efforts will lead anywhere. Obama has insisted all along that Mannings case was a matter for the military authorities, and that he wasnt going to intervene. Were a nation of laws, the President said at a fundraising breakfast, in 2011. We dont individually make our own decisions about how the laws operate . He broke the law.

In helping to reveal that the U.S. authorities had repeatedly misled the public about the war in Vietnam, Ellsberg also broke the law, of course. So do most whistle-blowers who are employed by the government. But history tends to be kinder to them than the courts, and I doubt that this case will be an exception. In fifty years, people will look on the Manning case as another blot on a dark era for the United States and the values that it claims to hold dear. As for Manning himself, future historians will surely agree with Ellsberg, who, speaking to the A.P. yesterday, described him as one more casualty of a horrible, wrongful war.

Courtroom sketch: Bill Hennessy/Reuters

Original post:
History Will Pardon Manning, Even If Obama Doesn't

7 Things You Need To Know About Bradley Chelsea Manning

President Obama is facing intense backlash from Congressional Republicans following his decision to commute the sentence of leaker Bradley Manning, now self-identified as Chelsea.

While the White House has defended the presidents decision to let Manning off the hook this May, national security experts and intelligence officers worry that Obamas last-minute push for clemency may open the door to more leaks of U.S. national security secrets.

Some have called Manning a hero. Others have called him a traitor. Lost in the debate, however, are the facts.

Here are 7 things you need to know about Bradley Chelsea Manning:

1. Manning leaked 750,000 documents total, including 150,000 diplomatic cables, to notorious anti-American hacking group WikiLeaks.

2. Mannings leaks likely cost the lives of American military personnel, including army officers, intelligence agents, foreign contacts, translators. He disclosed details of American military operations, the identities of American military allies, and placed sensitive American diplomatic relationships at risk, writes National Reviews David French. We may never know exactly how much damage he did.

3. Manning attempted suicide twice as a result of his transgenderism. Manning is a man who thinks hes a woman. He has been struggling with gender dysphoria for a number of years now. The sickness has caused immense emotional and psychological stress. Manning made the first attempt at ending his life on his in June. A second attempt was carried out in October during his first night of solitary confinement. He was placed on suicide watch and transferred to a special observation unit at the time.

4. Manning staged a hunger strike to make the Army pay for his gender reassignment surgery. The Army ultimately obliged. After receiving a recommendation by his psychologist to begin transitioning last April, Manning demanded that the Army support his treatment, including a surgical solution to gender dysphoria. One hunger strike and another suicide attempt later, the Army agreed to go ahead with the procedure.

5. Manning was charged with violating the US Espionage Act and sentenced to 35 years in prison. He will only serve seven years in prison, thanks to President Obama. Manning was detained in 2010 after leaking information of vital national security interest to the United States. He was due out of jail in 2045. That was before Obama stepped in. Manning will now be a free man (or man whos deluded into thinking hes a woman) on May 17.

6. Manning didnt know what he was leaking to WikiLeaks. Poorly-educated and wholly underinformed about US national security protocol and military logistics, Manning decided to take it upon himself to steal 750,000 documents from the Army. At the time he was just an Army private with little to no knowledge of what he was stealing. Nonetheless, he handed over all these documents to an organization infamous for its campaign to dismantle U.S. national security infrastructure.

7. Supported by a cadre of anarchists, libertarian extremists, anti-US leftists, pro-Russian allies, and liberal academics, Manning filed an official clemency request with the White House, according to his attorney. A White House petition asking for President Obama to commute Mannings sentence to time serve received 117,000 signatures, reports ABC News. Manning, who corresponds with supporters online, tweeted about the potential for her clemency request. If nothing else, a significant number of Mannings supporters are guilty of hypocrisy. Many of the same Democrats praising Obamas decision to commute Mannings sentence have been calling for an aggressive probe into Julian Assange and the alleged Russian hacking of the last presidential election.

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7 Things You Need To Know About Bradley Chelsea Manning

Best Cryptocurrency to Invest 2018 – The Deepweb 2018

Considering the Digital evolution of man, its only natural that we have Cryptocurrencies (digital currencies) now, replacing the traditional ones. If you want to grow your financial worth with the help of these cryptocurrencies, definitely you want to invest some of your money in the crypto coins but before anything you want to know which coins you need to buy for holding, thats the main reason I am writing this post Best Cryptocurrency to Invest for you.

Now there are quite a few cryptocurrencies making their mark in the digital sphere out there, but the only thing common to most of them is that they are digital, and function on Blockchain!

Apart from that, their infrastructure, security, future, and everything else differs vastly.

So weve compiled this list on the 7 best Cryptocurrency to invest in, taking into considerations various market as well as currency-specific factors and data which we will explain throughout this piece.

Bitcoins are the hot potatoes right now! The answer to Why lies in this simple graph

As you can see, it went from $500 to $18000 in just one year! Well, thats 36x times your investment!

Meaning if you had $75,000 worth of BTC in Jan 2016, youd be 1.5 million (April 29, 2018) right now!

Not to mention that just $100-500 investment back in 2009 when it launched, wouldve made you a millionaire for sure and nearly a billionaire. (Even by June 2015, you could buy it for as low as $0.07/BTC!)

Also, it broke all records this week by touching $19000 (Dec 2017)! The only crypto to have made that mark!

Limited Supply The reason Bitcoin stands out from the crowd in its own unique color and shape is the fact that its Limited!

Well yeah! Unlike a lot of other cryptocurrencies out there which can be produced endlessly on a supply & demand basis, Bitcoin is capped permanently at 21,000,000 BTC.

So no matter whats the demand or how many people want it, the world wont ever see a bit more than 21,000,000! Naturally, anything which is limited is ever more valued than something which can be procured endlessly, isnt it?

Market Capitalization/ Circulating Supply The current Market value of all the Bitcoins on the network is exactly $158,046,916,785 or 17,005,062BTC exactly.

So that is yet another factor which makes it my currency of choice when Im deciding the best Cryptocurrency to invest in 2018! It already has acquired quite the market, with only about 37% of the BTC been mined so far.

24 Hours Volume $8,766,180,000 (April 2018) worth of Bitcoins have been traded (bought and/or Sold) in the last 24 hours alone! Considering its a Digital currency and still not in every corner of the world, that kind of volume is just a confidence booster.

Note that only Trades are considered while calculating the volume, and not the withdrawals or transfers.

Poloniex (LTC/BTC), Bittrex, and Poliniex (ETH/BTC) again are the three major Bitcoin traders responsible for 8.90%, 5.05%, and 4.57% of the total trade volume respectively.

Final Verdict Any investment isnt 100% full-proof. Thats the reason they are called investments and not Money-multipliers or something like that.

Bitcoin is no different. But considering were talking about cryptocurrencies, one fact that can be claimed from the data and past history is it clearly is the most profitable among the available best cryptocurrency to invest in 2018!

Van Petersen, one of the most acclaimed strategists on the planet has speculated that Bitcoin price would reach $100,000 in the next 10 years!

How? Well, he has explained the exact numbers and figures which lead up to his conclusion of that figure, which can be found on this CNBC post!

Ethreum is the cut-throat competitor Bitcoin has. Although they both are Cryptocurrencies, the purpose of why they were invented differs widely.

Bitcoin was invented with the sole purpose of replacing traditional currency by offering better security, anonymity and P2P exchanges.

While Ethreum too boasts those features, its primary intention isnt to overtake the traditional currency, instead, it focuses more on its smart contracts and other features.

Anyway, getting into the difference isnt the motive of this post, let me illuminate the fact why Ethreum is one of the best cryptocurrency to invest in 2017!

a). Current Trend As the following chart should explain, Ethreum was just launched couple years back, and from then it has only skyrocketed.

Only in the last couple months, its value has multiplied itself 4-5times over! Again a millionaire maker for the early riders.

Right now its priced at $376/ETH. Considering it was $40 just in April, 2017 the price is predicted to hit four figures by the end of this year.

b). Market Cap Ethreums current market cap is 34,904,016,009 USD, which isnt very far off compared to Bitcoins.

If we take a look at ETHs market cap graph, we would find that its almost identical to its price graph unlike the case of Bitcoins.

But we also have to keep in mind ETHs unlimited supply and production compared to the limited number of Bitcoins out there.

c). Volume Ethreums last 24 hour volume was exactly $733,043,000. Considering its only a year old currency, Id say thats a pretty good number of trades for one day.

Infact its my second choice of best cryptocurrency to invest in 2017 because Bitcoin is nearly 6 years old now, and still Ethreum managed to push itself to half of BTCs daily volume in just a year!

d). Circulating Supply Even though Ethreum can be produced as much as needed, its current market circulation is 92, 637, 709 ETH exactly, which translates to around $338,276, 3785! The only currency to touch the Billion dollar mark after Bitcoin.

e). Backed by Fortune 500 Companies And if youre still skeptical, let me tell you that some of the best names on the planet, including

Have shown their faith in the currency.

If youre worried that you missed the early wagon in case of Bitcoin or Ethreum, well you might as well catch the Ripple train.

Ripple was launched in 2012, and honestly the price hasnt skyrocketed as much as Bitcoin or Ethreum, well so why did it make this list of best cryptocurrency to invest in 2017?

Because, even Bitcoins were priced around $200 back in 2015, 6 years after their launch! So researches believe that ones the currency has reached a stable ground, it might have a future similar to BTC or ETH.

The prediction is based on the fact that, Ripples primary aim is to do for money, what the Internet did for information (Source:- Ripple Blogpost).

In simpler English, to offer people across the globe a fast, free and decentralized transaction infrastructure, void of the delays and transaction fee levied by the banks.

a). Current Trend Right now, Ripple is almost mimicking BTC in its early days. With frequent ups and downs, but ups being the final go as you can make out from the chart.

Its priced at a mere $0.33217/ XRP! So no doubt now is the time to invest.

Simply because, even if you lose, you wont be losing a fortune, but if you gain youre on the way to make a few hundred Ks if not millions!

b). Market Cap The current Market Cap for Ripple is $12,716,850,054. Its 1/3rd of ETH or even lower if compared to Bitcoins, granted! But its still a green light because of the fact that despite being priced extremely low, it has an overall valuation equal to 1/3rd of ETHs!

c). 24-hour Volume $751,712,000 worth of Ripple has been traded in the last 24 hour itself! Clearly goes on to illustrate its market value!

Coinone is responsible for 26.77% of trades in the last 24 hours, while Poloniex for 15.05% so those two platforms can be used seamlessly for trading Ripple if you wish to do so.

d). Circulating Supply Talking in terms of USD, the total XRP in circulation is still not very significant. Although in terms of XRP its 38,290,271,363 which is a pretty good figure.

Every digit of that XRP currency is a chance for you to invest on it, and once it grows your investment would grow along with it.

e). Total Supply Ripple considers itself not a rival to Bitcoin, rather a Compliment to it. So following in the same footsteps as BTC, Ripple too aims to limit itself to 100 Billion!

Out of which, only 50Million would be out for public circulation. So if you wish to be a part of Ripples future, now is the time.

f). Ripple Markets You can Use for Trading

LiteCoin has launched 5 years ago, and although its considered similar to Bitcoin in many aspects, its not identical.

Being honest, some of its features like Segregated Witness, and Lightning Network make it better to Bitcoin in many regards.

Although the problem of orphaned blocks isnt to be ignored if were comparing it to Bitcoin.

Its primary target is to facilitate faster transactions, at almost non-existent costs!

a). Current Trend Currently, its priced at $47.13, and if you look at the price graph youd notice that it suffered a bit of a nose-dive from mid-2013 to Jan 2017.

But what makes it worth being one of the best Cryptocurrency to invest in 2017 is the fact that it not only recovered but surpassed its loss as well as earlier position in less than 6 months! And its only going up.

b). Market Cap Litecoins current Market cap is USD $2,380,384,949, and thats only for the 60% of Litecoins which have been mined already! This figure is likely to multiply several times in the near future as more of LTC are mined.

c). 24 Hour Volume More than half a Billion dollars worth, $571,097,000 to be exact has been bought and/or sold in the last 24 hours!

OkCoin and Huobi are the major traders responsible for trading 21.02% and 14.81% of LiteCoin in the last 24 hours.

d). Circulating Supply Currently 51,647, 157 LTC is in circulation. Being priced at $40/Litecoin, you can do the math in terms of USD.

Considering the current trend, each LTC is an opportunity for you to invest your money on, which is expected to hit 100-500USD in the near future.

e). Maximum Supply Litecoin is permanently capped at 84,000,000 LTC. And as already mentioned, only around 60% of the LTC is out for now.

f). Trading Markets for LiteCoin you can Use

Monero is currently the 6th most traded cryptocurrency, thus clearly justifying its presence on this list as one of the best cryptocurrency to invest in 2017.

2016 saw a huge boost for Monero pertaining to the fact that it was adopted by Alphabay!

Monero isnt a fork of Bitcoin like most other cryptocurrencies out there, instead is based on the Cryptonote protocol.

Hence theres considerable difference between Bitcoin and Monero, thus presenting you with a different opportunity and scope, even though both of them are cryptocurrencies, they are likely to have very different future and outcomes.

The primary motives behind the launch of Monero were Stability, Decentralization, and Privacy!

a). Current Trends Currently, Monero is priced at $48.17. And the chart below indicates a steady growth over the past 3 years.

b). Market Cap Moneros current market Cap in terms of USD is $706,145,634.

c). 24 Hour Trade Volume Despite being priced at $40, Monero still managed to trade $14,799,300 in the past 24 hours!

Monero, if hypothetically taken to be $2600 (value of BTC) would come out with a hypothetical trade volume of around $961,953,200.

I scribbled that figure down to emphasize the potential Monero holds once the price reaches anywhere near that of BTCs ($2600).

d). Circulating Supply After being out of the womb for 3 years, Moneros current circulating supply in the market is 14,660,088 XMR.

Trading Markets for Monero

Dash first saw the light of day back in the 2014! The same year as Monero. Dash actually means Digital cash in the actual term.

Its the 7th most traded currency, holding the position just below Monero.

Dashs primary weapons are PrivateSend and InstantSend. PrivateSend offers better anonymity, and privacy for transactions, while InstantSend focuses on making transactions as fast as possible.

Current Trend Dash is currently priced at $187/ Dash. Its not as cheap as Monero but then again its not intended to be.

Infact how low or high a currency is priced has negligible effect on how good it is for long-term investments. For eg. Bitcoin is soaring high with its price, its still a #1 cryptocurrency to invest in 2017, isnt it?

Heres a graph of Dashs current trend

As you can see, it suffered a nosedive some time back (as in the case of most currencies at some point in their existence) but its picking up the pace quite well again!

24 hour Trade Volume As far as the trade volume for Dashs last 24 hours is concerned, they traded well over $38,887, 200.

xBTCe is responsible for trading 17.39% of Dash in the last 24 hours, while Poloniex for 16.20%. Bitthumb too managed to get a big slice, 15.44% to be exact!

Circulating Supply This is the 3rd year of Dashs existence, and in this short period of existence itself it has managed to circulate 7,376,176 DASH!

Considering the price and circulating supply arent overwhelming right now, it surely becomes one of the best cryptocurrency to invest in 2017.

As the price rises, so will your investment.

Total Supply Dash cant be produced endlessly, and is permanently capped at 18,900,000 Dash. Right now only 39% of the total available Dash has been mined.

So Dash still has a H-U-G-E potential left both for the investors, as well as traders focusing on short-term goals!

Market Cap The current Market cap for Dash is $138, 282,066, 778! That is just impressive considering how over 61% of Dash still is unavailable! This market cap is just on the 39% of the available Dash!

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Best Cryptocurrency to Invest 2018 - The Deepweb 2018

Cryptocurrency Trading Easy tips to get started | AvaTrade

Start Trading Leading CryptocurrenciesWhat are Cryptocurrencies

A cryptocurrency is a digital coin, designed to be transferred between people in virtual transactions. Cryptocurrencies exist only as data and not as physical objects; you cannot actually hold a Bitcoin in your hand or keep Ethereum in your safe. Owning a Bitcoin means you have the collective agreement of each and every computer on the Bitcoin network that it is currently owned by you and more importantly that it was legitimately created by a miner.

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Cryptocurrencies are handled like cash but are mined like gold. Mining is simply the process of verifying a crypto transaction. People around the world transfer e-coins from wallet to wallet, while miners use computer-processing power to maintain the blockchain and verify these transactions.

When a new crypto is launched, its founders announce how many coins will be mined. Once the quota is reached, no further coins can be produced. The first digital coin introduced was Bitcoin, which remains today the benchmark for all other digital coins. Among other currencies that have made their way into the cryptocurrency hall-of-fame we have: Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, EOS, and a number of derived currencies, including Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold.

Unlike traditional transactions, cryptocurrency transfers are not handled by banks or other financial institutions. Every time someone pays via e-coin, his payment is recorded on a digital ledger called the blockchain.

A list of transaction records, called blocks, which are linked to each other and encrypted. The blockchain is continuously growing and is completely open to anyone. Each block in the blockchain contains:

When a new block is created, it is sent to all the users in the network. Each user then verifies the block and it is added to the blockchain.

Each one of the numerous cryptocurrencies existing today has its own blockchain, and the complex math that is at the heart of the blockchain is computer generated. In order to run a transaction on the blockchain you need an e-wallet (or cryptocurrency wallet).

The biggest problem of the Blockchain is its reliance on miners. This is exactly why the cryptocurrency called IOTA (the Internet of Thigs Application) was created in 2016. IOTA also battles increasing transaction fees and network scalability. IOTAs blockchain is called Tangle. It is a blockchain with no blocks and no chains. In this system, the users themselves are responsible for validating transactions. This means theres no need for approval from miners; so users enjoy a fee-free transaction and an increased process speed.

A piece of software or hardware that gives you the ability to store and exchange your cryptocurrencies. Each cryptocurrency wallet is encrypted and unique. When you send funds you actually broadcast an encrypted message to the recipient. Only the recipients cryptocurrency wallet can decrypt that message and thus receive the funds. A hardware cryptocurrency wallet is considered to have key advantages over other software wallets:

AvaTrade offers all traders the opportunity to trade a wide range of top-ranked digital coins 24/7. Due to the massive popularity of cryptocurrencies over the past couple of years, they have become a conventional and popular asset. The main purpose of this new technology is to allow people to buy, trade and invest without having to rely on banks or any other financial institutions.

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This mega-powerful currency has not only opened the gate for other currencies, but also leads the cryptocurrency world with pride. It is governed to make sure no extra Bitcoin is produced, as a maximum quantity of 21 Million Bitcoin units was agreed to. When introduced, the rate was $1 to 1,309 BTC. The wheel has turned, and when Bitcoin reached the all-time high of $19,783.21 in 2017, it was certainly a meaningful milestone for Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) was created by the Bitcoin hard fork on August 1, 2017, resulting in a new version of the blockchain with different rules. By switching from the main Bitcoin blockchain to a new version, the software now has a capacity for a larger number of transactions.

Bitcoin Gold (BTG) is the second fork from Bitcoin (i.e. the second version to stem from Bitcoins source code). It retains Bitcoins transaction history, meaning that if you owned Bitcoin before the fork, you now own the equal amount of Bitcoin Gold. This cryptocurrency aims to introduce an alternative mining algorithm that is less susceptible to ASIC-based optimization, therefore allowing users to earn more with their computer cycles.

Altcoins is the general term associated with the cryptocurrencies launched after Bitcoins success. At first, these were mere copies mimicking the original Bitcoin. Today, there are over 1,000 of these, and the list just keeps growing. Most crypto coins are launched following an ICO (Initial Coin Offering a form of crowdfunding) in which the developers raise cash by offering a limited number of initial coins to finance technological development. So far, besides the list below, we can find names, such as Namecoin, Peercoin, Bytecoin, Deutsche eMark, Novacoin, Cryptogenic Bullion, Quark, DarkCoin and Mangocoinz (for smartphones).

Ethereum (ETH) is more than just a currency its like one giant computer housing many computers around the globe. Ethereum can respond to sophisticated requests. Its ability to store revolutionary computer programs, known as smart contracts, gives Ethereum an edge over Bitcoin and has attracted attention from banks around the world. This, among other factors, has led to a jump of almost 10,000% in 2017!

Litecoin (LTC) is similar to Bitcoin in many of its characteristics and is also one of the more veteran cryptocurrencies out there. However, there are two main differences between Litecoin and Bitcoin: Speed and amount. While it takes 10 minutes to create a Bitcoin block, Litecoin demands roughly 2.5 minutes to create a block meaning 4 times the speed. Moreover, Litecoin attracts many users, as it can produce 4 times the quantity of Bitcoin! However, as Litecoin uses highly complex cryptography, often mining it is more complicated than other cryptocurrencies.

Ripple (XRP) can be described as the next generation of payment networks. Originally set up to engage financial industry leaders, the digital currency has been a leading technology so far. This cryptocurrency exploded in 2017, going from $0.0063 to over $1.

The e-coin that is considered Ethereums biggest competitor. The EOS blockchain gained its fame because of the way it effectively records and secures transactions. It is similar to the Ethereum blockchain but faster, more scalable, and allows users to build decentralized applications more efficiently. Market analysts are promoting the currency as The Most Powerful Infrastructure for Decentralized Applications and expect the coin to be dumped and pumped, which could provide some interesting short-term opportunities.

Cryptocurrencies allow traders to diversify their investment portfolio, as their price is mainly determined by demand and supply; Their value has a low correlation to national economies or political scenarios. Once Bitcoin surpassed the price of gold in 2017, US markets introduced 2 ETFs on Bitcoin and drew more and more institutional money into the world of cryptocurrencies. In 2017, Indian PM Narendra Modi has announced the gradual replacement of paper currency with electronic currency; In March 2018, the Marshall Islands announced that they would be introducing a cryptocurrency to replace US dollars as their main currency; other central banks are investigating the adoption of blockchain-like technologies in short cryptocurrencies are probably here to stay. A growing number of crypto investors all over the world have already discovered the benefits:

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What’s the Best Cryptocurrency to Invest in Today?

Editor's Note, Dec. 5, 2017:Since we first published this story in July, the 12 cryptocurrencies listed below have enjoyed an average gain of 145%. Readers who actedon these recommendationswhen we first released them have doubled their money or better. Its not too late to profit from the cryptocurrency boom. You just need to know how to find the fastest cryptocurrency profits. Stay ahead of the money and make more with our free, real-time Cryptocurrency Profit Alerts sent to your inbox. Sign up now here.

Bitcoin, with its first-mover advantage and robust security, is the best cryptocurrency to invest in today.

There are other cryptocurrencies worth putting some money into and we'll look at some of those in a moment.

But Bitcoin (BTC) has emerged as the blue chip of the bunch.

In a nutshell, here's why Bitcoin remains the best cryptocurrency to invest in despite all the competition:

And despite the big gains Bitcoin has enjoyed more than 180% just in 2017 it's not too late to invest. The price of Bitcoin is likely to double by the end of the year. And over the next decade or so, the Bitcoin price could reach $100,000 or even $1 million.

Trending: Should I Sell My Bitcoin Now That It's Above $10,000?

But what about Ethereum? The No. 2 cryptocurrency is also a very good bet

Having launched in 2015, Ethereum (ETH) is not only younger than Bitcoin, it's younger than hundreds of other cryptocurrencies.

And yet it quickly surged to the No. 2 spot, giving you some idea of how much potential Ethereum has.

That potential is reflected in the huge gains in the Ethereum price. Even with its recent pullback to just under $200, the price of Ethereum is up 2,300% this year alone.

Some mistakenly believe Ethereum is in a rivalry with Bitcoin, but their differences make them complimentary.

These are also the traits that make Ethereum the next-best cryptocurrency to invest in:

These are the primary reasons why Ethereum price predictions for the end of 2017 go as high as $500.

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Still, some investors want to venture beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum into the wider world of cryptocurrencies

Of the more than 1,000 cryptocurrencies that have been launched, all but 26 trade for under $5.

It's easy for investors to believe a cryptocurrency they pick up for $0.50 each will go to $100 or $1,000 and make them rich, even starting with modest sums of a few hundred dollars.

While not impossible, such an outcome is not likely. Apart from Bitcoin and Ethereum, only a handful of the hundreds of cryptocurrencies out there will enjoy substantial gains.

Think of cryptocurrencies today in terms of the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. Many of the overhyped Internet-based companies of the day went belly up in the dot-com bust of 2000-2001, taking billions of investor dollars with them.

But those with sound business concepts Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY), and Priceline Group Inc. (Nasdaq: PCLN) went on to realize the promise of the dot-com hype.

The challenge is to figure out their latter-day equivalents among the cryptocurrencies.

For those willing and able to bear the risk, we've put together this list of the 10 best cryptocurrencies to invest in outside of Bitcoin and Ethereum

Join the conversation. Click here to jump to comments

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What's the Best Cryptocurrency to Invest in Today?

Cryptocurrency News | Cryptocurrency News | Blockchain …

CryptocurrencyDescriptionBitcoin (BTC)Bitcoin is the original peer-to-peer cryptocurrency founded in 2009 by Satoshi Nakomoto.Ethereum (ETH)Ethereum is a smart contract platform for decentralized applications (dapps).XRP (XRP)Ripple created XRP as a distributed network on which transactions can be made, near-instantaneously.Bitcoin Cash (BCH)Bitcoin Cash is a hard fork of Bitcoin (BTC) with an 8MB block size as opposed to Bitcoins 1MB.Stellar (XLM)XLM (or lumens) is the native asset of the Stellar Blockchain. Stellar aims to facilitate the movement of currency across borders quickly and at low cost.EOS (EOS)EOS is a decentralized application platform, similar to Ethereum. EOS aims to achieve greater scalability than Ethereum but has some drawbacks, including less decentralization and questionable governance.Litecoin (LTC)Litecoin is a source code fork of Bitcoin, so shares many similarities to the leading coin. Differences include its Scrypt mining algorithm and its higher limit for the total number of coins that can be created.Cardano (ADA)Cardano was created by one of the Ethereum co-founders, Charles Hoskinson. Cardano claims it will be capable of running financial applications. It is being constructed in layers.Monero (XMR)Monero is the leading privacy coin. Transactions on Moneros ledger are obfuscated which means third parties cannot determine the source or destination of the funds.TRON (TRX)Tron was founded by Justin Sun, and claims to be dedicated to the establishment of a truly decentralized Internet and its infrastructure. The project is not without controversy, having borrowed source code heavily from other projects.IOTA (IOTA)IOTA was designed for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. IOTA enables data and financial exchange between these devices.Dash (DASH)Dash is a Bitcoin fork that enhances privacy, has low fees and near-instant transactions thanks partly to a proof of stake mining algorithm.Binance Coin (BNB)The Binance cryptocurrency exchange issuedBNB. Users of the exchange can utilize the coin to pay reduced trading feesNEM (XEM)NEM stands for New Economy Movement and is a fork of NXT. NEMs blockchain is designed for speed and scale and uses supernodes to achieve consensus.NEO (NEO)NEO is a Chinese blockchain project which aims to create a smart economy through the use of digital assets, digital identity and smart contracts.Ethereum Classic (ETC)Ethereum Classic is a fork of Ethereum which came shortly after the notorious DAO Hack. While Ethereum effectively rolled back the resulting transactions from the bad actor(s) created during the hack, Ethereum Classic chose to continue the chain without altering these transactions.Tezos (XTZ)Tezos is similar to Ethereum and EOS in that it facilitates smart contracts and dapps. Tezos uses on-chain governance and proof-of-stake mining algorithm known as baking.Are Litecoin and Bitcoin the Same?

While they have many similarities, they are not the same. Litecoin (LTC) uses the Scrypt mining algorithm, which is more simple than Bitcoins SHA-256 algorithm. Litecoin also has a maximum limit of 84 million coins that can ever exist, whereas Bitcoin has a limit of 21 million. Transactions on the Litecoin network will be confirmed after around two and a half minutes, faster than Bitcoins approximate 10 minute confirmation time.

Ethereum (ETH) is a decentralized, open source blockchain platform which enables technology known as smart contracts.Smart contracts enable decentralized applications (dapps), which developers can create to serve a variety of purposes in many different industries. Ethereum can be used to exchange money or anything else of value, and via smart contracts, these exchanges can happen once certain conditions have been met. The Ethereum ledger is public, and all historical transactions are publicly viewable.

In July 2016, Ethereum implemented a contentious hard fork to restore funds stolen during the DAO hack; a hack involving the theft of 3.6 million ETH. During this fork, miners who contended the restoration of stolen funds chose to continue mining on the previous chain, and Ethereum Classic (ETC) was born.

Ripple is the settlement system and network created by Ripple Labs Inc. It supports tokens tied to many units of value including fiat currencies and commodities.

Ripples native currency, XRP, was previously also referred to as Ripple. But since the question of whether XRP is a security remains unanswered, Ripple Labs have tried to distance their company and platform from the XRP cryptocurrency.

XRP is the native cryptocurrency of Ripple. It is used to help transfer value across the Ripple network. XRP acts as the bridge between two units of value on the peer-to-peer Ripple network.

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NASDAQ, Fidelity Invest in New Cryptocurrency Exchange …

New cryptocurrency exchange has reportedly raised $27.5 million from investors which include NASDAQ Ventures and Fidelity Investments. The platform will offer cryptocurrency trading on spot and future markets starting next year.

Seemingly unphased by the current bleeding conditions of the cryptocurrency market, Fidelity Investments and NASDAQ Ventures have reportedly taken part in a funding round of new cryptocurrency exchange ErisX. The total amount raised is $27.5 million,Reutersreports.

According to the report, Nasdaq has already confirmed its participation while Fidelity is yet to respond to the requests for comment.

The new cryptocurrency exchange will purportedly enable investors to trade Bitcoin (BTC) 00, Litecoin (LTC) 00, and Ether (ETH) 00 on both spot and futures markets. It is expected to launch in 2019 following regulatory approval.

Speaking on the matter was Thomas Chippas, CEO at ErisX, who noted that the investments will be used tobuild out our infrastructure and secure the appropriate steps are taken to develop a regulated market for digital assets, and to hire staff.

Its worth noting that Chippas, according to his LinkedIn profile, comes from the banking sector and a former ManagingDirector at Citi and Barclays.

Nasdaqs involvement in ErisX comes just a few days after it renewed its vow to offer Bitcoin futures despite the current BTC price 00 drop.

Bitcoinistreported November 27 that NASDAQhas been working to satisfy the concerns of the US main swaps regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), before launching the contracts.

Fidelitys participation in ErisX also makes sense, as the asset manager recently said that it wont open its own exchange, but instead will focus on providing Bitcoin custody solution.

However, earlier in October, the company also stated that it intends to open cryptocurrency trading to its 27 million customers, so perhaps this falls in line with their involvement in ErisX latest round of investment.

What do you think of Fidelity and Nasdaqs involvement in ErisX? Dont hesitate to let us know in the comments below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock

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NASDAQ, Fidelity Invest in New Cryptocurrency Exchange ...

Thailand Issues 4 Cryptocurrency Licenses, Rejects 2 …

Thailand has officially granted licenses to three cryptocurrency exchanges and one broker-dealer. Two exchanges have been rejected and one is still being reviewed. These seven companies have been temporarily allowed to operate in the country. Two of them will now begin closing down their businesses.

Also read:Indian Supreme Court Moves Crypto Hearing, Community Calls for Positive Regulations

The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Tuesday the results of the applications for crypto business licenses. Seven companies applied for a license and have been allowed to operate their crypto businesses while the regulators reviewed their applications.

The countrys ministry of finance has granted digital asset business licences to four applicants, the Thai SEC detailed, noting that two applications have been rejected and one is still under review.

Three crypto exchanges and one broker-dealer have received licenses. The three approved exchanges are Bitcoin Exchange Co. Ltd. (Bx), Bitkub Online Co. Ltd. (Bitkub), and Satang Corporation (Satang Pro). The approved broker-dealer is Coins Th Co. Ltd.

Meanwhile, the license application filed by local crypto exchange Coin Asset Co. Ltd. is still being reviewed but the company is permitted to keep operating while the decision has not been made. The delay is due to a change of company executives, which is material information for the consideration of the application, the commission described.

The applications for crypto exchange licenses filed by Cash2coin Co. Ltd. and Southeast Asia Digital Exchange Co. Ltd. (Seadex) have been rejected. The Thai SEC revealed:

The applicants failed to meet the approval criteria regarding important work systems.

The commission added, For example, the systems for custody of client assets and know your customer (KYC) were inconsistent with the SECs acceptable standards, while the sufficiency of their IT security and cyber security systems could not be verified.

The two businesses have been notified of the closing down procedure by the Thai SEC.

The countrys ministry of finance is allowing both of them to continue operating until Jan. 14 to ensure proper proceeding of related matters including notification to the clients regarding asset refunds or asset transfers to other digital asset operators according to the clients order, the SEC noted. The twoare required to return customer assets and notify the commission of the results. However, the regulator clarified:

The application rejection this time does not invalidate their right to apply for a digital asset business licence in the future as long as the application criteria are met.

What do you think of Thailand granting licenses to four crypto operators and rejecting two? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock and the Thai SEC.

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Ecuador to audit Julian Assanges asylum & citizenship as …

Ecuador has begun a Special Examination of Julian Assanges asylum and citizenship as it looks to the IMF for a bailout, the whistleblowing site reports, with conditions including handing over the WikiLeaks founder.

Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa tweeted an image of the letter he received from the State Comptroller General on December 19, which outlines the upcoming examination by the Direction National de Auditoria.

The audit will determine whether the procedures for granting asylum and naturalization to Julian Assange were carried out in accordance with national and international law, and will cover the period between January 1, 2012 and September 20, 2018.

Assange has been in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since he sought asylum there in 2012. He was granted Ecuadorian citizenship last December in a bid to protect him from being extradited to the US where he fears he faces secret charges for publishing US government cables and documents.

READ MORE: US secretly charged Assange, prosecutor accidentally reveals WikiLeaks

Because of their hatred and persecution, we are the laughingstock of the world, Correa said of the audit.

WikiLeaks tweeted the news on Wednesday, joining the dots between the audit and Ecuadors consideration of an International Monetary Fund bailout. The country owes China more than $6.5 billion in debt and falling oil prices have affected its repayment abilities.

According to WikiLeaks, Ecuador is considering a $10 billion bailout which would allegedly come with conditions such as the US government demanded handing over Assange and dropping environmental claims against Chevron, for its role in polluting the Amazon rainforest.

Assanges position has increasingly been under threat under Correas successor, President Lenin Moreno, with Ecuadorian authorities restricting his internet access and visitors.

I believe they are going to turn over Assange to the US government, Correa told RT in October.

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