Bitcoin might be dividing into two separate blockchains, but its downward slide has so far been contained, signaling confidence the biggest cryptocurrency will come out of the split unscathed.

The debate over how to scale bitcoin came to a head Tuesday as some cryptocurrency miners started using software called Bitcoin Cash and splitting a new blockchain off the old one.Blockchain is the technology used for verifying and recording digital currency transactions.

Bitcoins price should reflect the split by discounting the new coin, according to Charles Hayter, who runs the cryptocurrency data platform CryptoCompare. He likened it to a stock trading ex dividend -- when the buyer isnt entitled to collect a dividend on the shares.

After four days of gains, bitcoin was down $157,or 5.4 percent, to $2,729 at 11:05 a.m. in New York. Earlier in the day, the cryptocurrency fell as much as 8.4 percent,its biggest decline since July 25. Bitcoin cash futures rose 19 percent to $331, according to CoinMarketCap.com.

The price of bitcoin has risen ahead of the split on the expectation that youll get that extra cash from bitcoin cash, so it should drop after the split, Hayter said. This has happened before in other blockchains. Its a trading event where theres number of hoops you have to jump though and people are trying to make a profit.

Bitcoin Cash started gaining traction in the past week, just as miners fended off another split by rallying behind the scaling mechanism known as SegWit2X. Bitcoin Cash wants to increase the block size -- the files in which transactions are recorded -- while SegWit2X would transfer some of the operating power outside of the main blockchain. In other words, Bitcoin Cash would be one lane with bigger cars, while SegWit2X would be two lanes with smaller cars.

The great majority of miners and developers support bitcoin, while ViaBTC, which has almost 6 percent of bitcoin processing power, is the mining pool backing bitcoin cash.

Read More: Bitcoin Moves a Step Closer to Acceptance

Theres a role for both of these coins, said Cathie Wood, the New York-based chief investment officer at ARK Investment Management, which oversees the first exchange-traded fund with indirect exposure to bitcoin. One is much more natural for store of value and the other one for a means of exchange.

Some are less bullish. Ryan Taylor, chief executive officer of Dash Core, the sixth-biggest cryptocurrency, sees little chance that bitcoin cash will succeed in the long term.

First, Bitcoin Cash has not solved scaling. It has merely kicked the can down the road with slightly larger blocks, but still lacks a credible technology to scale to massively larger numbers of users,he said in an email. Second, bitcoin will retain the network of integrated services that make the bitcoin network useful to businesses and consumers.

Bitcoin holders are set to receive the same amount of bitcoin cash as they have in bitcoin if the exchanges and wallets they use support the new coin. Exchanges including Kraken and ViaBTC have said theyll support both, while others like Coinbase and Poloniex have said they wont, citing uncertainty that bitcoin cash will have lasting market value.

Kraken said that its working on crediting accounts with bitcoin cash, and that its sites login function is down due to heavy traffic. While some miners are already using the Bitcoin Cash program, the real differentiation of the two blockchains will emerge when they mine more than 1 megabyte in one block, Hayter said. Bitcoins block limit is 1MB while Bitcoin Cashs is 8MB.

Video: Prospects of Bitcoin Splitting Into Two

Im not as concerned about this except for the administrative nightmare that some people are going to have to go through or have gone through already pulling out of the various exchanges that werent going to support it, ARK Investments Wood said.

Bruce Fenton,founder of Atlantic Financial Inc. and a board member at the Bitcoin Foundation, said both currencies should trade heavily Tuesday.

There are some very large holders who own bitcoin, who dont like bitcoin and do like bitcoin cash, he said. But you also have a lot of people who cant stand bitcoin cash, and as soon as they have the ability to get those coins theyre going to sell them on the market.

It could be a crazy day, he said.

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Bitcoin Slide Looks Limited Even After Cryptocurrency Splits - Bloomberg

Theres no shortage of bitcoin in Philadelphia.

In Northern Liberties, the red-hot digital currencycan be bought ata shipping services storefront. In West Philadelphia, customers can fill their virtual wallets after toppingoff theirtanks at a Citgo gas station. And in Cheltenham Township, a bitcoin ATM will convert your cash to cryptocurrency at a Dollar Plus variety store, conveniently sandwiched between an Aldi supermarket and a pawn shop.

About two dozen machines or shops in the region will take regular cash and credit private bitcoin accounts, according to the website CoinATMRadar.com, which locates and maps bitcoin ATMs.Those accounts can then be used to pay for goods online without a credit card, remit payments quickly to family overseas, or cover bets placed on online gambling sites.

Sam Wood

A bitcoin ATM at the Dollar Plus variety store on Ogontz Avenue in Cheltenham Township.

They can also be used to buyillicit drugs over the Internet, according to federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations.

And the number of those bitcoin outlets appears to be growing. That should come as no surprise becausethe value of bitcoin has skyrocketed. In January 2015, the value of a single coin was about $220. In mid-May it spiked to more than$3,000. On Monday evening, one bitcoinwas trading comfortably at about $2,860.

Hedge funds have swept in to gamble on the digital currency. Celebrities and athletes, from Bollywood movie stars to boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., have promoted cryptocurrency, pumping up popular interest across the globe.

Theres a lot of excitement about it, said Kevin Werbach, a Wharton School professor whostudies bitcoin and its underlying technology, called blockchain. Its a commodity, and demand is exceeding supply.

The magnitude of the rise this year has been a speculative bubble which will in time deflate, Werbach said. but how fast and how far we dont know.

The worlds dominant digital currency (there are more than 700), bitcoin operates independently of any government or bank. Transactions are recorded and verified on the blockchain database that is instantly shared on a worldwide network of computers. Industry analysts say that the technology underlyingthose transactions makes bitcoin more secure than using a credit card.

At Liberty Parcel, on the 800 block of North Second Street, a bitcoin ATM has been sittinginside the shops entrance for more than a year, where it simply occupies space. Its like a gumball machine in front of a pizza shop, said a clerk who did not want to be identified by name.

An average machine might exchange between $25,000 and $30,000 a month, said Neil Conner, a spokesman for Lamassu, a New Hampshire-based producerof bitcoin machines. Typically, stores where they are placed collect about $100 a month in rent.

Legitimate businesses accept bitcoin, most famously Microsoft (though only for games, movies, and apps in the Windows and Xbox stores) along with merchants on Etsy (an online marketplace for crafts) and Overstock.com. Some political action committees will accept donations in bitcoin.

Most bitcoin is traded on exchanges such as Coinbase and Poloniex, online operations thatmatch buyers and sellers. The exchanges, which typically charge a 2 percent fee, arestrictly regulated by federal and state agencies and follow the same rules as banks. Their clients include high-end investors, financial institutions, and speculators and have caught the attention of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, which last week announced it wants to regulate some transactions.

Bitcoin ATMs generally serve a less sophisticated clientele, according to industry experts. The machines charge steep fees up to 12 percent and rarely require more than a cellphone number to establish an identity. Bitcoin ATM companies have moved aggressively into areas that are underserved by banks.

Because they require so little identification, the ATMs frequently are used to buy bitcoin for nefarious reasons, according to federal agents. Most notoriously, bitcoin is the currency of choiceon the dark web, where its used to buy illicit narcotics. Its also used to extract payments from ransomware victims.

Because this is a private, decentralized currency, bitcoin itself has no way of telling if youre buying a bag of potato chips with it or a kilo of drugs, said Werbach, the Wharton professor.

Lamassus Conner said the bitcoin ATM machines allow new customers an easy way to experience the digital currency.

If youre looking to get your feet wet in cryptocurrency, bitcoin ATMsare the easiest on-ramp, Conner said. Whether its $5 or $100, its the least confusing way ofgetting involved.

Case to proceed against Montco man accused in $50M bitcoin heist Jul 27 - 8:07 PM

Feds: Jobless Montco man is no bit player in $50M bitcoin theft Jul 26 - 3:40 PM

Bucks burglary probe leads to a Montco hacker and possible $40M bitcoin theft Jul 24 - 8:32 AM

Published: August 1, 2017 3:01 AM EDT | Updated: August 1, 2017 5:31 AM EDT

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Bitcoin ATMs invade Philly, taking cryptocurrency to the masses - Philly.com

When it comes to regulation, what exactly is a cryptocurrency? Is it a currency? Is it a piece of software? Is it more like an equity? And if it is an equity, does that mean it should be regulated like any other security?

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently weighed in. How regulators like the SEC define and treat cryptocurrencies is important because it affects both the value of cryptocurrencies, and how likely it is that blockchain technology will thrive in a particular jurisdiction. For example, if a countrys regulatory body decides that cryptocurrencies should be banned, then this will drag down prices (depending on the size of the country) and blockchain technology companies will avoid setting up shop or investing there they wont feel welcome.

The SEC has been notably quiet on the subject of cryptocurrencies. Other regulatory bodies and governments, primarily in Asia, have been extremely proactive in outlining how they will treat and regulate bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as an asset class. In May, I told you that the SEC would eventually step into this market, "especially as the financial stakes increase". Now, it looks like the SEC is on the ball.

Earlier this week, the SEC issued the results of an investigative report into the details surrounding a cryptocurrency initial coin offering ("ICO") called the DAO in the first half of 2016. An ICO is when a new cryptocurrency token is offered for sale to the public, similar to an initial public offering ("IPO") in the stock market.

The DAO intended to be a fully decentralized cryptocurrency venture capital fund. It would raise money (in the form of a cryptocurrency called ether), issuing DAO tokens in return. It would then allocate those raised ether funds to various business ventures by way of voting amongst the DAO token holders.

The DAO raised US$150 million worth of ether from some 11,000 investors. But then disaster struck. Despite assertions that the DAOs code had been analyzed by one of the worlds leading security audit companies and that no stone was left unturned during those five whole days of security analysis, DAO was hacked. US$50 million of ether was stolen.

The SECs investigative report wasnt about trying to identify the culprit behind the attack. Instead, it was focused on whether or not DAO tokens constituted a security (that is, a stock) and should therefore be regulated under existing securities laws.

The straightforward answer is maybe. The fact is, every cryptocurrency token has its own attributes. As the SEC report put it;

U.S. federal securities law may apply to various activities, including distributed ledger technology, depending on the particular facts and circumstances, without regard to the form of the organization or technology used to effectuate a particular [cryptocurrency] offer or sale.

In other words, it just depends. But on what?

To answer that, we turn to the Howey Test, which was created by the Supreme Court as a means of determining whether certain transactions qualify as investment contracts.

[The test refers to a precedent from a case the SEC levied against Florida companies W. J. Howey Co. and Howey-in-the-Hills Service, Inc. that sought to determine whether or not a particular land-related deal constituted an investment contract under the Securities Act of 1933.]

If certain transactions meet the criteria, then they are deemed securities and subject to a raft of regulatory requirements. Without going through all the checks, Ill just include some of the pertinent ones that the SEC included in its report.

So, investing money (cryptocurrencies included) in a token with an expectation of profit (dividend or simple value increase) derived from the managerial efforts of other people points to a cryptocurrency being a security, and that its required to be regulated as such.

The report was a warning. The SEC stated that charges would not be brought against anybody involved with the DAO. But that the report serves to caution the industry and market participants.

Given that there are no charges to be brought against the DAO, its likely that existing cryptocurrencies are safe from securities regulation for now, although that wont be the case for long. The primary focus of the SEC will be newcomers to the market, with the starting point being the Howey Test criteria, some of which are listed above.

There has been little to no impact on the broader cryptocurrency market from this report from the SEC. As someone whos personally been involved in the cryptocurrency token distribution process, the Howey Test is already a key component of any legal diligence on a cryptocurrency.

However, some cryptocurrencies are flying a little too close to the sun, especially those that specify dividend-style payouts for token holders. The SEC is very clear that just because something is virtual, it doesnt exempt it from being a security. And when cryptocurrencies inevitably start falling under SEC jurisdiction, investors (particularly U.S. investors) will need to ensure that whatever they are buying is compliant with U.S. securities laws.

So you shouldnt invest in cyrptocurrencies on the assumption that they arent (or wont ever) be deemed securities. And when you evaluate different blockchain companies that issue their own cryptocurrencies, check the characteristics against those Howey Test criteria. SEC regulation was always expected to occur sooner or later, and this SEC report didnt contain anything out of the ordinary it really just reiterated the criteria with which cyrptocurrencies will be measured with when it comes to regulation.

But I suspect we will start to see more global cryptocurrency offerings that specifically prohibit U.S. investors because nobody likes having to deal with U.S. regulations if they can avoid it. Still, I dont envision this having any big impacts on general cryptocurrency prices in the immediate future.

Disclosure: I am/we are long BITCOIN.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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Is A Cryptocurrency Like A Stock? The SEC Weighs In - Seeking Alpha

Crypto Insider (press release) (blog)

investFeed switch to cryptocurrency token sale brings mainstream demographics on board Crypto Insider (press release) (blog) investFeed is a New York based community powered social trading network making the switch from US equities to cryptocurrency. Marketing itself as the world's first social investment network for the cryptocurrency community, investFeed aims to ...

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investFeed switch to cryptocurrency token sale brings mainstream demographics on board - Crypto Insider (press release) (blog)

A disappointed Pokmon GO Fest attendee has proposed class-action lawsuit againstNiantic

Elad Gil is running around the Color Genomics office when I come to meet him for a little sit-down. The place is full for a Friday afternoon. Theres a worker taking calls on the couch in the front and plenty of others pacing about in the background.

The office is tucked away in an unassuming industrial area of Burlingame, California, in a building that reminds me of some 60s-style government structure. Color is easy to spot. First suite on the first floor and the only one with, well, bright color.

Gil offers me a water and we sit down in a little conference room. Jokingly, he says maybe he can do something funny for the featured image for my article like pretend to hold up the color wheel logo. Katie would never let me do that, he says, referring to his chief marketing officer and ex-Twitter employee Katie Jacobs Stanton. Hes nerdy funny. I like that.

Gil came to Silicon Valley with impressive academic credentials, including a degree in mathematics, another in molecular biology and a PhD in biology from MIT. It was 2001, and he had hoped to make a dent in the universe. But the timing was off. The country was already headed toward an economic downturn, then 9-11 happened.

He was at a telecom company that quickly grew to 150 people and shortly after shrank to a tenth of the size in five rounds of layoffs. Gil was cut in the third round.

That was a turning point for him.

All these people helped, he said. Like big brand-name VCs were referring me to companies just to help. They were like, Everythings collapsing. Youre some random person who showed up with a PhD in biology. You have no job prospects.

He went on to hold prominent positions at Google and Twitter and now as a co-founder in Color Genomics. Hes also an investor in several well-known startups including Airbnb, Square, Stripe and Pinterest and is in a position, which hes known to readily use, to give back to Silicon Valley in much the same way.

But, a dark cloud has been hanging over the Valley lately. News of several incidents of sexual harassment and sex discrimination of female founders have toppled VCs once seen as demigods and caused some to lose hope in the dream.

SB: Ive heard people say Silicon Valley is over. Theyve kind of almost lost faith in their heroes, and then theres all these other little pop-up satellite Silicon Valley-esque cities starting to come up. Do you think Silicon Valley is over?

EG: Oh God, no. I think its best days are ahead of itDo you know the last time they said that Silicon Valley was over?

SB: When?

EG: Theres two times.One was in the early 90s where they were like Its over. Theres nothing left to be done.

SB: At the height of the semiconductors.

EG: Yeah, because all the semiconductor stuff was really sort of like 70s and 80s. And then in early 90s 91, 92, 93 theres the internet. And I was talking to somebody who was really prominent in the internet wave, and he was like I moved out here in like 93 and everybody thought it was over.

Literally, that was the thing. They were like The best times are behind us. All the stuff that could be done has been done. Its over. And then a small group of people were like Lets do stuff on the internet. Others were like Thats insanity. Like the internets a stupid toy thing that connects five universities. Who cares? Then of course, Netscape happened, and then theres a wave of innovations, and then in the bubble that I moved into with my perfect bad timing, the collapse I moved into. In that period, everybodys like Oh, theres nothing interesting on the internet, and we have to go back to hard tech. And Kleiner Perkins got into clean tech, and all these people were talking about nano tech, and it was like Silicon Valley is over, and theres nothing to do. We need to find new industries. Thats literally what happened.

Then all the social waves happened, and the mobile waves happened Just like theres a business cycle, theres a venture cycle, and innovation cycle. You end up with these gaps, and I think were just going through a period where theres less obvious things.

Interjection: We started talking about cryptocurrencies, ice cream, health tech and whats next in Silicon Valley. Ive cut a bunch of this short for brevity.

EG:I basically think the last six months have been cryptocurrencys Netscape moment, and I think were still trying to figure out whats Google, and whats PayPal, and Yahoo, and what to keep in with this first wave.

SB: [Cryptocurrency] scares people, especially when its very new.

EG:Totally. You remember the first internet. People were like Oh, nobodys going to buy anything on that. Theyre not going to put a credit into a website. Thats madness.Now weve got Instacart, Amazon..

Can I say something, and then argue that I never said it when you have a tape? Can I do that purposefully?

SB: Okay. What do you want to argue?

EG: I never said I like chocolate ice cream. I like chocolate chip, or something like that.

SB: And Ill be like No, on the record. This is where he said it.

Okay, so kind of wrapping this up. Where do you see Color fitting in in all of this?

EG: Yeah. I think Color was sort of part of a very early first wave of the visual data areaSo really our focus is on how do you unlock information thats sort of locked up for people, make it something they can actually use to help manage their own health.

SB: People might say it makes it a lot harder if you have to go through your physician first to get this information. I think thats kind of the allure of these at-home health tests a lot of the time.

EG: I think it depends on how much friction you can take out of the physician process, but also the flip of it is, if physicians are telling people that they should consider it, thats actually a really powerful way, as well, for people to participate. So I think there are sort of two sides of the same coin.

As an Ashkanazi Jew, I remember going to my doctor and like Hey, should I be taking these genetic tests for cystic fibrosis and Tay-sachs and all this other stuff as a carrier? And he was like, Oh yeah. Youre Jewish. Sure. You should do it.

SB: Sure. Gotta be proactive.

EG: But I had to bring it up, right? Its something thats often recommended for Ashkenazi Jews to do. So, were basically trying to create an online version of that, where youre still working with the physician but theres different ways for you to work with him.

SB:Where do you think people can innovate further in the health tech space right now? What would you like to see?

EG: Yeah. Um, thats a great question. I think ultimately, theres so much data available ambiently through peoples bodiesThis company Cardiogram that I mentioned. Im a small investor there, from a disclosure perspective. Thats a good example of where youre just ambiently recording and then telling people that they may have had a heart attack. I think that those are some themes that are really intriguing.

I think the top part in health care is that the people who are often benefiting the most from things, arent necessarily the people making the buying decisions. There are some things at a low enough price-point, so that really changes the adoption rates of different tested products. Thats one obstacle, in terms of larger scale adoptions.

SB: Okay. I think well end it on that.

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Elad Gil and Silicon Valley's bright future in cryptocurrency, genetics ... - TechCrunch

Back in 2014, Kairat Kelimbetov, then-head of Kazakhstans National Bank suggested that Bitcoin could be a form of financial pyramid scheme. The common belief among Kazakhstani officials was that cryptocurrencies could undermine the countrys already struggling tenge.

The tenge absolutely was struggling, though.

Nearly 80 percent of the Kazakhstan National Banks reserves, deposited from customers, are not kept in tenge, the countrys national currency. Though the number is lower for businesses, the fact that most of the banks reserves are in dollars, euro, and other currencies is not encouraging for the countrys national currency. Even still, with the tenge having fallen over 70% between 2008 and 2014 due to rampant corruption and low oil prices, media rumors of a BTC ban were circulating the Central Asian nation throughout 2014.

Things began to change, however, and as cryptocurrencies increased in popularity and other countries began to relax their positions, the Kazakhstan government followed suit. The Kazakhstani even saw their first BTC ATM in late 2015. Seeing the need for change, the government began the race to regulate cryptos in 2016, allowing the National Bank leverage to monitor the situation, according to Daniyar Akishev.

In June 2017, Kazakhstan announced plans to begin selling blockchain based bonds. The idea was to provide investors with a low-cost, commission-free, and speedy medium for purchasing bonds. While not necessarily a new idea, it was a landmark event for Kazakhstan in the blockchain race.

Showing an even greater commitment to the governments efforts to adapt to the technology taking root across the world, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev announced that It is high time to look into the possibility of launching the international payment unit. It will help the world get rid of monetary wars, black-marketeering and decrease volatility at markets, at the 10th Astana International Forum (AIF). According to Nazarbayev, All countries should be represented there equally. This is a difficult question but it should be solved. This signaled a distinct shift in ideology from officials 2014 decry of the subject.

From that surprising announcement, a fresh movement was seemingly born. In mid-July, working with Deloitte, Kesarev Consulting, Waves Platform, and legislation firm Juscutum, the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) announced that the coalition would be working together to develop supportive cryptocurrency regulation in Kazakhstan. We consider this project as a perfect opportunity to create a new jurisdiction, which would be most favorable for crypto projects in the world, said Head of Juscutum, Artem Afyan.

Kazakhstani officials clearly recognize the need to adapt to the rapidly changing techno-economic environment, and theres no lack of enthusiasm from the trading population either. Kazakhstans move to become the worlds second government to regulate cryptocurrencies puts it on track to become a hub for crypto-startups, blockchain businesses, and ICOs. The financial implications of this move could prove to be more than beneficial to the nations struggling economy.

But Kazakhstan is not the only country in Eurasia to catch the Bitcoin bug. Belarus has recently approved the use of blockchain technology for its securities market, while Poland last year promoted an idea to move to a cashless economy favorable to blockchain-based security systems. Even Ukraine has lofty goals involving cryptocurrency.

The blockchain race is on, and those who act fast and efficiently could emerge as leaders in the crypto-revolution.

Images from Wikimedia commons and Forexnewsnow.com

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Is Kazakhstan the next cryptocurrency hotspot? - Crypto Insider (press release) (blog)

Cryptocurrency is the talk of the town now, its everywhere, from thousands of digital coin ATMs installed over the world to the hospital in Pakistan offering to accept the digital currency. Among all the debate about its legality and profitability, an unfamiliar mind finds itself confused over the word cryptocurrency. Now we are going to discuss all the whats and the hows of cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency is a digital currency which is created and accessed electronically and can be used to buy things electronically. Just like dollar, rupees or yen, various conventional currencies circulating today, there are more than 900 cryptocurrencies available. Most famous of them is Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency invented in 2009. Ethereum, Litecoin, Factom and dozen others are also used in a fair amount.

Cryptocurrency serves the same purpose as conventional currency except for the one main difference: it is decentralized i.e. there is no central bank regulating it. There is no intermediary present between two dealing parties. In the case of conventional currencies, banks have all the record and they charge fees for their services. However, in the case of cryptocurrency, there are no banks present to cut fees. It is the anonymity ensured by the absence of intermediary which has made it famous; just like in emails and phone calls, where our message travels from A to B without relying on a third-party, thus ensuring our privacy.

But the question arises who regulates the transactions? What if someone just duplicates their cryptocurrency or uses it for more than one transaction? To solve this problem, an online public ledger, Blockchain, keeps and updates all the record of transactions. It is the technology at the heart of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. It uses cryptography to make transactions secure and makes them publicly available while ensuring the users anonymity, thus also helping to reduce fraud. Since it is publicly available, the whole community can verify the authenticity of a transaction.

State Bank of Pakistan hasnt announced any regulations for the cryptocurrency, which means that digital currency neither holds the status of money nor it is illegal to use. However, earlier this year, FBR launched action against those involved in money laundering and tax evasion through digital currency, and SECP warned the public to beware of scams in cryptocurrency. Apart from this, there arent any comments by the Government of Pakistan.

The majority of countries have no legislation regarding any digital currency. Japan has given it the status of legal tender. However, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, and few other countries have declared it illegal, citing their concern over its possible use in money laundering.

The reason for the absence of any clear legislation is that the cryptocurrency is still in developing phase and a very small fraction of public uses it. Unless major investors enter this market, we cannot expect a word about its legality from the government.

Because of the absence of any third party, it offers a number of benefits.

No one knows how much digital currency you have and what transaction you have made unless you make your online wallet public. Compared to conventional currency, where banks carry all the information regarding your balance and transactions, it is up to you how much information you want to share with others.

Whenever you make a transaction, data is updated on Blockchain, an online ledger, but your identity is kept private. If someone wants to verify a transaction they would look it up in Blockchain, but they wont know your name. However, this privacy must not be confused with complete anonymity; you are still required to prove your identity while signing up.

Of what use a currency is if you cannot buy things with it. Many websites accept cryptocurrency as payment. For instance, Overstock.com accepts Bitcoins as payment and the good thing is they also ship to Pakistan. You can also top up your prepaid mobile phone using Bitrefill. Freelancers also prefer to use cryptocurrency, as it reduces their transaction fees and increases their earning by 2% to 5%.

Yes, there are many risks and disadvantages of using cryptocurrency.

There are a limited number of coins at the moment and demand varies from day to day. The rate of digital currency adoption may hamper or increase depending on the press coverage and other factors. But point needing emphasis is that overall trend is upwards. Earlier this year Bitcoin surpassed the value of one ounce of gold. Around the same time, it also dropped by 30%. Its a high-risk medium and you better not keep your savings in it.

You wont find any ATM for cryptocurrency in Pakistan. There arent any local retailers offering to accept any digital currency. So, you cant simply go out in the market and use cryptocurrency; it still has a lot of growing to do. The price that vendor cuts for processing your transaction keep changing, servers often dont work and it takes a whole day to do just one transaction. Cryptocurrency is new to this world and is still under development, but still, it is improving with every passing day.

World of cryptocurrency is an uncharted territory. It is so new that there isnt any legislation regarding its taxation. The government hasnt classified it either as a commodity or a currency. There are no statements regarding taxation of cryptocurrency. There is still a lot of confusion about its taxability. So, in order to avoid trouble, it is advisable to establish a record keeping system and keep a track of when is cryptocurrency acquired and when it is disposed of.

In the next story, I will tell you about the most popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin. I will also give you a detailed explanation on what you can do to buy Bitcoin or other coins in Pakistan.

Feel free to drop your questions below for further discussion.

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Cryptocurrency 101 - TechJuice - TechJuice (press release) (blog)

Investors are mesmerized with AMD's impressive second quarter as cryptocurrency mining demand drove the company's financial results above Wall Street's expectations.

The chipmaker reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and guidance Tuesday. Its shares surged more than 10 percent in after-hours trading following the report and were up more than 9 percent in early regular trading Wednesday.

"AMD turned in a solid beat to our and consensus estimates as the company's new Ryzen desktop CPU ramped into production and GPU demand outstripped supply," Stifel analyst Kevin Cassidy wrote in a note to clients Wednesday. "While management wasn't specific on how much, the GPU revenue upside was driven by cryptocurrency applications."

AMD shares have rallied 102 percent through Tuesday in the previous 12 months compared with the S&P 500's 14 percent return. That performance ranks No. 4 in the entire S&P 500, according to FactSet.

Cryptocurrency miners use graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia to "mine" new coins, which can then be sold or held for future appreciation. AMD traditionally has a better reputation for mining cryptocurrencies.

The ethereum cryptocurrency is up more than 2,400 percent year to date through Wednesday, while bitcoin is up about 160 percent this year, according to data from industry website CoinDesk.

In June, AMD shares jumped after the company told CNBC that the dramatic rise in digital currency prices has driven demand for its graphics cards. At the time, major computer hardware retailers had sold out of AMD's recently launched RX 570 and RX 580 models.

Digital currency mining was the key topic during AMD's earnings conference call with Wall Street on Tuesday evening. Analysts asked company management three times for clarification on the magnitude and sustainability of cryptocurrency mining demand.

One analyst noted the company is working to mitigate future downside risk and is not incorporating continued digital currency mining outperformance in its guidance.

"Crypto mining helped stimulate demand for AMD GPUs in Q2, which we think could translate to a risk should cryptocurrency values decline, AMD is working to manage the crypto risk by targeting supply to the core GPU gaming market, and working with some of its AIB [add in board] partners to offer specific feature sets to segment the market between gaming & mining," Jefferies analyst Mark Lipacis wrote Wednesday. "AMD is not including upside from mining in its outlook."

Lipacis reiterated his buy rating on the company and raised his price target to $19 from $16, representing 35 percent upside from Tuesday's close.

To be sure, some analysts are still skeptical about AMD after its big run.

"We were surprised at the aftermarket reaction for the stock," Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore wrote Wednesday. "We continue to be somewhat cynical on the long-term intrinsic value of the stock, despite being excited about Zen and maintaining numbers that are above the Street. As street numbers start to catch up, absolute valuation levels are going to matter more."

Moore reiterated his equal weight rating and $11 price target for AMD shares.

CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this story.

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Wall Street stunned over AMD's blowout results due to cryptocurrency mining demand - CNBC

Units of cryptocurrency are created through a process called mining, which involves using computer power to solve complicated maths problems that generate coins. Users can also buy the currencies from brokers, then store and spend themusing cryptographic wallets.

Cryptocurrencies and applications of blockchain technology are still nascent in financial terms and more uses should be expected. Transactions including bonds,stocks and other financial assetscould eventually be traded using the technology.

Cryptocurrencies are known for being secure and providing a level of anonymity. Transactions in them cannot be faked or reversed and there tend to be low fees, making it more reliable than conventional currency. Their decentralised nature means they are available to everyone, where banks can be exclusive in who they will let open accounts.

As a new form of cash, the cryptocurrency markets have been known to take off meaning a small investment can become a large sum over night.

But the same works the other way. People look to invest in cryptocurrencies should be aware of the volatility of the market and the risks they take when buying.

Because of the level of anonymity they offer, cryptocurrencies are often associated with illegal actvity, particularly on the dark web. Users should be careful about the connotations when choosing to buy the currencies.

Originally posted here:
What is cryptocurrency? - Telegraph.co.uk

Walk into the Amante coffee shop at 2850 Baseline Road in Boulder on any given morning and youll see what looks like an automated teller machine sitting along one wall.

Throughout the day, a handful of people use it. One is a techie, another is a well-dressed, middle-aged couple. But this is not your grandmothers ATM. Its a Bitcoin teller machine, a portal into the brave new world of cryptocurrency.

Some call this new kind of money the grandest experiment of our time. Others fear its rising power and the rest of us have no idea what the heck it is.

Boulders Eric Weissmann was fascinated early on with the potential of digital currency. And when the opportunity arose to own and operate Bitcoin teller machines, or BTMs, he jumped in and founded Modern Tender. Weissmann thought the architecture of the code, the blockchain, had the potential to transform currency markets.

I was interested in Bitcoin and thought the blockchain technology was revolutionary, so I wanted a foothold in the space. We reached out to Amante because we wanted a location that was upscale, easily accessible, and attractive to early adopters and the tech demographic, Weissmann said.

BTMs are still rare. There are 13 statewide, including two in Boulder Weissmanns at Amante Coffee and a second machine in the Spark Boulder tech accelerator at 1310 College Ave.

The two BTMs in Boulder were installed in February of 2015. The Spark machine is owned by Aurora-based XBTeller. Officials there could not be reached for comment.

Operating outside the traditional banking system with no regulatory oversight, BTMs have experienced a surge in use as more people turn to cryptocurrencies as a haven from political instability and distrust of government-backed currencies.

To read more of this story go to dailycamera.com

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Bitcoin teller machines in Boulder let customers jump into the cryptocurrency market - The Denver Post