Mumbai: Poland based bitcoin exchange platform Bitbay is all set to open trading in India. The company which allows trading in multiple cryptocurrencies other than bitcoins is planning to expand its technology based workforce in the country as well.

"We will allow six more cryptocurrencies besides bitcoins for trading in India, we wish to associate and work closely with the government to remove all misconceptions around bitcoins and cryptocurrencies of the world," said Chafik Abdellaoui, chief information officer, Bitbay.

The company is planning to start demo operations on August 14 and initiate full fledged trading from August 24. They have a current workforce of 10 people here which they plan to increase to around 50 by end of the year.

At a time when bitcoins are gaining notoreity in this world as a mode of payment for ransomware, Bitbay plans to introduce full KYC norms for traders on its platform along with security applications like two factor authentication to ensure genuine users trade on its platform.

In Europe the platform records 50 million worth transactions on its platform and records around 10,000 to 1 lakh trades per day depending on price fluctuations and allows trading in 17 different cryptocurrencies. The company is also closley working with the Government of Poland to propel wider adoption of cryptocurrency in the country.

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Bitbay to launch cryptocurrency trading platform in India - Economic Times

A digital asset investment project has netted close to$1.8 million through an initial coin offering (ICO).

The Digital Developer Fund closed its ICO this morning, raising6,429 ETH worth roughly $1.85 million at current prices over a month-long period. Thecompany behind it, based in the Cayman Islands, had previously invested in domain names through a venture dating back to 2010.

The effort is one of the latest to use cryptographic tokens to represent shares in an investment firm. According to materials published on the Digital Developers Fund website, token-bearers will receive quarterly dividends distributed through an ethereum smart contract. Any netprofits generated through the fund will also be issued to token-holders.

As is the case with many ICOs, the sale was blocked to prospective buyers from the US. Other recent examples of this strategy include district0x, a blockchain-based marketplace project that raised $9 million through an ICO at the start of the month.

Token sales have accelerated in recent months, as shown by data from CoinDesk's ICO Tracker. Nearly $1.7 billion has been raised to date through the model, with more than $500 million during July alone.

That month also saw a major release from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the topic. The agency publishedits findings from an investigation into The DAO, the ethereum-based funding vehicle that sold $150 million worth of tokens at the-current prices, only to later collapse following a debilitating code exploit.

The SEC saidthat DAO tokens constitute a kind of security, and that other tokens may fall under this definition.

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Cryptocurrency Investment Fund Completes $1.8 Million ICO - CoinDesk

European cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp will launch new trading pairs for ether next week.

Beginning on August 17, Bitstamp will add markets denominated in US dollars, euros and bitcoin for the ethereum-based digital currency. As part of the release, Bitstamp also revealed a new pricing structure for its markets, which unifies the fees it assesses among the exchange'strading pairs.

In an effort to promote the new markets, Bitstamp will waive trading fees for those pairs until October 1. It will continue to offer discounts through the end of the year.

Bitstamp is one of the last major cryptocurrency exchanges to list ether. In statements, the exchange indicated that it will add support for additional assets, framing the unified fee structure release as part of that process.

Founded in 2011, Bitstamp is one of the world's oldest bitcoin exchanges. According to data from CoinMarketCap, Bitstamp operates the third most voluminous exchange in US dollar terms, reporting about $43 million in trades over the past 24 hours.

The addition of ether comes amid new developments in that digital asset's market. As CoinDesk reported yesterday, ether prices crossed the $300 line for the first time in a month.

Ether markets have subsided somewhat since then, trading at roughly $294 at press time.

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The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is an independent media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. Have breaking news or a story tip to send to our journalists? Contact us at [emailprotected].

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Bitstamp Will Add Ether Trading to Cryptocurrency Exchange - CoinDesk

A Russian entrepreneur has launched the initial offering of a cryptocurrency aimed primarily at the Jewish market on Wednesday that would conform to Jewish law and offer participants interest-free loans.

BitCoen is billed as the first kosher crypto currency in the world according to the website. It promises to give 10 percent of earnings to charity and says it can be used at 110 reception points including kosher restaurants and stores.

It is the brain child of Vyacheslav Semenchuk, a serial entrepreneur who has launched more than 30 startups.

According to the website, the new currency absorbed all the advantages of the digital world and combined them with values, customs and ancient foundations within the framework of Jewish law.

Vyacheslav Semenchuk (Facebook)

The ICO (Initial Coin Offering) is planned for October 9. So far the venture has attracted investments of over $42,000. Semenchuk himself invested $500,000 in the project, INC. news site reported, and he hopes to attract up to $20 million.

In addition to conforming to Jewish law, members of the kosher cryptocurrency will be able to receive interest-free loans.

The currency will be administered by a body called the Council of Six made up of six respected members of the Jewish community each representing a different area of expertise business, politics, finance, technology, social activities, culture represented by the six-pointed Magen David Jewish star.

The name of the currency BitCoen, is a play on the most popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin and the Hebrew word Kohen, referring to Jews from the priestly class.

The launch received support from one of the two chief rabbis of Russia, the Chabad-affiliated Rabbi Berel Lazar.

We expect that the cryptocurrency will cover all Jewish communities around the world, Lazars press secretary, Michael Lidogoster, said in a statement. The main guarantor of stability here is the fact that the keys to managing the cryptocurrency will be in the hands of the most respected members of the community, and not in the hands of some programmers.

BitCoen joins more than 800 cryptocurrencies traded globally.

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Russian launches world's first Jewish cryptocurrency - The Times of Israel

Imagine that its October 29, 2012. Youve just closed a deal to deliver a service or a product worth $100. But instead of sending you the funds by Paypal, your buyer offers to pay you with bitcoins.

Few people had heard of bitcoins in October 2012, so probably you would have balked. But if you had agreed to accept to accept 1,074 bitcoins instead of $100-deal, and you'd kept the bitcoins, you would have $3 million today.

Cryptocurrencies have exploded in value to become a huge opportunity. Backed by blockchains, a unique way of tracking transactions and preventing fraud, currencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin (based on an internet meme) are changing how people around the world pay for goods and services.

Cryptocurrencies allow buyers and sellers to transfer funds almost for free and almost immediately, without using big companies or a currency thats under the control of a national bank.

Cryptocurrencies are the most democratic way of doing business, and it looks now that theyre here to stay, but theyre also complicated and difficult to understand. Theyre unlike the dollars in your wallet or even the numbers in your Paypal account. Fortunately though, there are some easy places to listen, to learn and to put yourself in a position to make the most of the cryptocurrency opportunity.

Related:Why Small Businesses Should Consider Bitcoin

Here are five podcasts that will bring you quickly up to speed and keep you informed about cryptocurrencies:

Broadcast by Internet entrepreneur Joel Comm and marketing technologist Travis Wright, BadCryptoPodcast makes understanding the forks and the ledgers both simple and fun. Both Travis and Joel are experts but not about bitcoin. You get to learn with them as they explore the world of cryptocurrencies and make the subject simple for other regular people to understand and use. Just as cryptocurrency is designed to empower power, Joel and Travis show makes the complex subject matter interesting and entertaining.

Related:How Digital Wallets and Mobile Payments Are Evolving and What It Means for You

BadCryptoPodcast is a good place to start but if youre looking for something a little more intense you can move up to Unchained. Created by Laura Shin, a business journalist and Forbes contributor, the podcast takes a closer look at some of the issues that bitcoin raises, such as taxes, and also includes interviews with other experts. Its one to add to your regular listening.

Related:Someone in 2010 Bought 2 Pizzas With 10,000 Bitcoins -- Which Today Would Be Worth $20 Million

Thats also true of Epicenter. Broadcast by Ian Fabian Crain and Sbastien Couture, the podcast runs weekly interviews with leading bitcoin analysts. Its been broadcasting for a couple of years and has built up a healthy backlog of material to work through. Use it to deepen your understanding of the development of cryptocurrencies.

Related:5 Ways to Participate in the Bitcoin Revolution

Lets Talk Bitcoin is a complete platform for all things cryptocurrency. The network offers a bunch of different cryptocurrency podcasts and other content but the main podcast, led by Adam B. Levine, takes topical issues, explains them, then keeps going, turning practical information into food for thought. Its always fascinating stuff.

Related:Bitcoin Feud Splits the Currency in Two

Ansel Lindners Bitcoins and Marketspodcast has a small audience, mostly made up of experienced bitcoin users. Once youre caught up on cryptocurrencies and have been using bitcoin or ethereum for a year or so, its a good place to come to stay up to date on the connections between blockchains, cryptocurrencies and the free market.

Marsha is a Growth Marketing Expertbusiness advisor and speaker with specialism in international marketing.

Originally posted here:
5 Essential Podcasts for Entrepreneurs Serious About Cryptocurrency - Entrepreneur

India's government has reportedly completed work on a proposalthat outlinespossible steps for regulating cryptocurrencies.

According to local media sourceBusiness Line,the report, submitted by an intergovernmental body put together in April, has been delivered to the Indian Ministry of Finance.

It's contents are currently unknown, though media reports in recent weeks suggest that at least some of the panel's participants want to adopt a more restrictive stance. Other sources have indicated that India may ultimately move to establish some kind of tax policy for cryptocurrencies.

As previously reportedby CoinDesk, the committee was established in order to examine the current framework in for cryptocurrencies in the country. Startups in India that work with bitcoin or blockchain have called for an inclusive stance from the government, particularly in light of confusion among consumers about the tech's exact legal status.

It's not clear when the Indian Ministry of Finance will publishthe report or in what form that release will take.

Meanwhile, efforts to examine the regulatory environment for the tech continue to expand.

CoinDesk reported earlier this week that theSecurities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has unveiled a broad advisory committee that will research blockchain and other technologies. The goal, according to SEBI, is to see whether the tech could be applied to its own regulatory processes.

India temple image via Shutterstock

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is an independent media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. Have breaking news or a story tip to send to our journalists? Contact us at [emailprotected].

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India Close to Finishing Work on Cryptocurrency Rule Proposals - CoinDesk

The advertising of cryptocurrencies should be responsible, with no empty promises and fake guarantees allowed.

Russias social network VKontakte (VK) is allowing the advertising of cryptocurrencies, effective August 8, 2017. The announcementwas made by the social network yesterday.

The network now permits the advertising of cryptocurrency exchanges, blockchain services, training platforms, as well as media, startups and businesses involved in cryptocurrency mining and Bitcoin.

There are some requirements: the services and entities advertised should not be banned in Russia. Also, the advertising of cryptocurrencies should be responsible, with no empty promises and fake guarantees allowed. Advertising including promises of fast and passive returns, easy fortune and suspicious success stories will not be permitted on the network.

The announcement comes as Russian businesses and even the Russian authorities are warming up to the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communicationsexpects that the implementation of legal provisions for distributed ledger technologies (such as blockchain) will happen not later than in 2019. And although blockchain is not yet regulated in Russia, this technology is not banned.

The Bank of Russia has markedly softened its stance regarding blockchain and cryptocurrencies too. Back in 2014, the Russian megaregulator issued a warning against Bitcoin and its likes. This stance, however, has markedly change and numerous Central Bank officials have reiterated that the regulator has never effectively banned cryptocurrencies. In fact, the Bank of Russia is reported to be working on the development of a national virtual currency.

Given this, there seem to be little restrictions on the advertising of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin exchanges, blockchain products, etc.

Lets note, however, that concerns have been rising of the growing number of fraudulent schemesinvolving cryptocurrencies in Russia. One of the reasons for this trend is the lack of regulation of cryptocurrencies. Another reason is the low level of public knowledge concerning this market segment.

A recent surveyconducted by the NAFI analytical center among 1,600 respondents across 42 Russian regions, has shown only 28% of those surveyed are somewhat informed about crypto currencies. The percentage of those who heard the term crypto currency for the first time thanks to the survey is 72%.

Among those knowledgeable of crypto currencies, 38% think that this is a good investment. Nearly half of those who are familiar with crypto currencies believe that this is a temporary phenomenon.

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Russian social network VKontakte allows cryptocurrency advertising - FinanceFeeds (blog)

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Its a marvel to me to witness what is happening on planetEarth as it regardscryptocurrencies. Satoshi Nakamoto, whoever or whatever he/she/zhe is, began a revolution as big as the wheel and the printing press and the Internet that came before it, or so it seems to me.

With cryptocurrency, nobody can implement their preferred change arbitrarily.

MichaelWuensch / Pixabay

Over $93 billion dollars, and counting,have poured into the cryptocurrency market since Bitcoin wasreleased in 2009. Millions of individuals have come together without central direction to build this worldwide phenomenon.

Changes are happening every day that have global ramifications, all of which are happening without permission by governments, and often in spite of governments supposed authority to control other people. That is trulyawesome.

There is governance, to be sure, as it regards cryptocurrencies, but such governance is without centralized structure. Cryptocurrency manipulation must follow specific rules, and changing those rules requires popular acceptance by users and stakeholders of each given cryptocurrency. Nobody can implement their preferred change arbitrarily. The only thing arbitrary about cryptocurrencies is ones desire to get involved in the hundreds of different systems, and once involved, they must follow the rules.

Nobody can implement their preferred change arbitrarily. The only thing arbitrary about cryptocurrencies is ones desire to get involved in the hundreds of different systems, and once involved, they must follow the rules.

I think theres a model here for political governance, or in others words, governance around the idea that people have rights, and those rights should be protected, with physical violence if necessary. While people mostly agree that behaviors such as murder, rape, robbery, assault, and battery are undesirable and we all should be protected from them, theres a lot of disagreement on the smaller stuff, like whos entitled to what, provided by others that havent themselves committing any of the foregoing behaviors (ie. crimes). Thats not to say that people dont disagree on the big stuff, but the disagreement is morea matter of definition than of undesirability.

The only thing arbitraryabout cryptocurrencies is once involved, one must follow the rules.

Who should decide which entitlements should be enforced? The current model says that for a givenarbitrarily-derivedgeographical area, one entity should decide, even when a party to thedispute and that entity may be influenced in any number of ways. In other words,one size fits all, like it, leave it, or hope you get enough popular support to change it.

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What Cryptocurrency Can Teach Us About Political Governance ...

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An inter-disciplinary committee that was formed to assess blockchain-based currencies has submitted its report to government officials.

The world now watches as Indian members of a government-appointed inter-disciplinary committee have released a report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on cryptocurrency regulatory standards, according to a report made August 7, 2017, from New Delhi.

As recently as this April, the committee convened to conduct an all-inclusive review of all blockchain-based currencies. After accepting public comments on the subject during the month of May, the group met to deliberate in June, as reported by ETHNews. While the findings in the report have not been made public, it is very likely that they will have an influence on the country's future stance.

Zebpay, which is a founding member of the Digital Assets and Blockchain Foundation of India (DABFI), is pushing for a solution that allows DABFI to act as "a self-regulatory" organization.

Saurabh Agrawal, co-founder and CEO of Zebpay, highlighted a need for oversight and licensing of crypto-exchanges. "We are for some form of a task force or a controlling body that will be monitoring the activities of exchanges," said Agrawal. "We want ultimately exchanges to get licences just as banks are granted licences."

Once the report is made public, ETHNews will provide additional coverage of its regulatory ramifications.

Jeremy Nation is a writer living in Los Angeles with interests in technology, human rights, and cuisine. He is a full time staff writer for ETHNews and holds value in Ether.

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Indian Inter-Disciplinary Committee Submits Cryptocurrency Report - ETHNews

With ten percent of its earnings going to tzedakah, the new Russian start-up advertises itself as the first kosher currency of the digital age

August 8, 2017 3:00 PM

Move over, Bitcoin: Theres a new digital currency in town, and its taking its cues from the priests who once served in the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. BitCoen, a new online currency startup, was created by Russian entrepreneur Vyacheslav Semenchuk. Advertised as the first kosher cryptocurrency, BitCoen boasts all the advantages of the digital world combined with the values and customs of the ancient foundations in the framework of Jewish law. The Jewish law theyre referencing is the practice of giving ten percent of your income to tzedakah. To this effect, BitCoen will give the Jewish community a tenth of its earnings in the form of the coins, according to the Russian publication CNews. The company will also give tzedakah by giving members of the system interest-free loans.

True to its Jewish roots, the company will be seen by a Sanhedrin of sorts, with Semenchuk calls The Council of Six. And while hes not revealing who these mysterious people are, the company has shared that theyll each represent a different economic area: business, politics, finance, technology, public work, and culture. BitCoen advertises this on their website with a circle of icons for each sector, connected bywhat elsea Jewish star.

Judging by the local Jewish communitys response, BitCoen has a bright future. We expect that the cryptocurrency will cover all Jewish communities around the world, Mikhail Lidogaster, Press Secretary of the Chief Rabbi of Russia, told Russian publication Inc. The main guarantor of stability here is the fact that the keys to managing the cryptocurrency will be in the hands of the most respected members of the community, and not in the hands of some programmers.

Sophie Aroesty is an editorial intern at Tablet.

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Sophie Aroesty - Tablet Magazine