Mining references generally evoke images of picks and shovels.

For advocates of bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies surging in value, the gold may be in the shares of the companies that produce the computer processors and chips used to create the digital currencies in the process thats become known as mining.

Digital coins can only be created by using computers to solve complex mathematical problems. The difficulty increases as more of the problems get solved, prompting the miners to require even more powerful hardware.With digital coin prices soaring, demand for the components is surging as miners are able to recoup their initial investment quicker.

A complete mining rig, which is made up of graphics cards, a processor, power supply, memory, cabling and a fan, costs between $2,400 to $3,800 on Amazon.com. The Antminer S9, which is estimated to mine 0.29 bitcoin per month, and retails for $2,795, which means you can break even in about four months with bitcoin at $2,700, without taking into account electricity costs. Miners typically buy complete rigs or build them themselves.

The following are some of the companies that make the parts.

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The Santa Clara, California-based company manufactures graphic processing units used by gamers and increasingly, by digital-currency miners. GPUs listed in Nvidias website can cost as much as $1,200. The rig-mining market can grow to about $1.3 billion, and with GPUs making up approximately 2/3 of coin mining costs, the demand for GPUs can increase to $875 million, according to a RBC Capital Markets report on June 6. If Nvidia gets half of that, it represents a 10 percent increase on its GPU sales, RBC analyst Mitch Steves said in an interview. The company currently has about 75 percent of the GPU market, according to a Jon Peddie Research report.

The complexity of mining bitcoin has increased to the point that GPUs arent powerful enough, and miners are mostly using application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICs, which Nvidia and competitor Advanced Micro Devices dont make. Tech news website Digitimes reported Nvidia and AMD are planning to release GPUs specifically designed to mine bitcoin.

Shares of Nvidia have climbed 45 percent this year, and have more then tripled in the past year.

AMD, as the company is known, also makes graphics cards used for mining ethereum and other coins. The Sunyvale, California-based companys shares have rallied the most in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index in the past week, in part thanks to a PCWorld article that said its almost impossible to get AMDs Radeon graphics cards after a surge in demand from ethereum miners.

The company also builds the processors typically used to build mining rigs, and itsChief Technology Officer Mark Papermaster said at a Bank of America Merrill Lynch conference its product compete with bigger rival Intel Corp.

The shares are up 27 percent in the past month, and have almost tripled over 12 months.

Digital currency mining has the potential to boost demand for Intels processors, said Kevin Cassidy, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus. While AMD CPUs are popular among miners, Intel is the traditional leader in the sector and is taking steps to counter its fledgling rival.

The companys shares have lagged rivals, with a gain of 17 percent in the past year.

Boise, Idaho-based Micron is the largest U.S. maker of memory chips, one of the components of a mining rig, so it also stands to benefit, Cassidy said.

Micron shares have surged almost 50 percent this year, and have more then doubled in the past 12 months.

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These Companies Stand to Gain the Most From the Cryptocurrency Rush - Bloomberg

It is always nice to see projects attempting to better the world they live in. This is especially nice because of the low adoption rate of cryptocurrencies and Blockchain technologies on a global scale. A recent CryptoCoinNews interview went over the lack of Blockchain adoption in Africa, while pointing out the massive opportunities that reside on the continent because of that fact. One new project, Bolenum, is looking to start off there.

Though Bolenum has sights on an intercontinental project, the majority of their initial efforts appear to be in Africa. Their Whitepaper outlines the two main issues they feel have caused cryptocurrencies to see lower scale adoption than other parts of the world.

The first obstacle is one known all too well by all cryptocurrencies: lack of public awareness. Many just do not know about cryptocurrency, the Blockchain, or what it can provide. This could be because of a lack of cryptocurrency and blockchain evangelists, but also can be blamed on the lack of readily translated literature into local dialects.

The second problem is one that many in the western world have not really had to deal with: convertibility of funds. While every exchange takes Euros, United States Dollars, and Chinese Yuan, it is way less likely that these exchanges will take the Egyptian Pound, the Nigerian Naira, or the Moroccan Dirham. Without access to fiat exchanges to convert to more readily accepted currencies for crypto, individuals may be out of luck.

They hope to provide solution to these issues at the first ethereum based token and exchange platform that aims to engender more participation in the cryptocurrency on the African continent.

The projects token, BLN, aims to serve as a secure payment method, and also be able to protect wealth. These are Ether based tokens so they benefit from the speed and security of the Ethereum Blockchain.

The main perk that may help the project accomplish its goal is the fact that they will also be opening an exchange that will allow for BLN tokens to be traded for local currencies. This means that someone will be able to not only withdraw the value of their tokens into local currencies, but could give better access to the cryptosphere as a whole. If someone buys BLN with a local currency, they should in theory be able to trade those BLNs on a different exchange for any other digital asset they were interested in. It not only is an asset by itself, but a gateway asset to others previously denied by fiat binding.

They will be holding an ICO for this project starting July 15, and it will span for 30 days. 10,000,000 BLN tokens will be made, with 50% of those being open to the public in an ICO with the other 50% behind held by the Bolenum team as capital to support their future exchange.

Disclaimer: This is a paid press release, the product / service mentioned is not endorsed by The Merkle, always do your own independent research. This is not investment or trading advice.

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Bolenum's Project to Widen Cryptocurrency Adoption - The Merkle

Older Raspberry Pi devices, such as this Raspberry Pi 2, may be more vulnerable to the malware if they haven't been updated in a while.

Someone has developed a simple Linux trojan designed to harness the meager power of Raspberry Pi devices to mine cryptocurrency.

Raspberry Pi users may need to consider applying a recent Raspbian OS update to their devices, particularly if they are currently configured to allow external SSH connections.

According to Russian security firm Dr Web, the malware Linux.MulDrop.14 exclusively targets Raspberry Pi devices to use their processing power to mine a cryptocurrency.

Dr Web discovered the Raspberry Pi mining malware after its Linux honeypot machine became infected with it. The malware uses a simple Bash script to attempt to connect to Raspberry Pi devices configured to accept external SSH connections. It targets Raspberry Pi boards with the default login and password, which are 'pi' and 'raspberry', respectively.

It then changes 'pi' to '$6$U1Nu9qCp$FhPuo8s5PsQlH6lwUdTwFcAUPNzmr0pWCdNJj.p6l4Mzi8S867YLmc7BspmEH95POvxPQ3PzP029yT1L3yi6K1'.

From there it installs the internet-scanning tool ZMap and the sshpass utility, and searches the network for other devices with an open port 22 to infect them.

Older Raspberry Pi devices may be more vulnerable to this malware if they haven't been updated in a while. The Raspberry Pi Foundation told ZDNet sister site TechRepublic that a Raspbian OS update released late last year turned off SSH by default and forced users to change the default password.

However, it warned that there could still be millions of Raspberry Pi boards that haven't been updated. Some 12.5 million of the single-board computers have been sold over the past five years, according to the official Raspberry Pi Magazine.

The malware doesn't try to mine for Bitcoin, whose 'difficulty level' is too high to mine cost-effectively, even for a massive network of PCs let alone Raspberry Pi devices.

However, there are numerous other cryptocurrencies that can be mined with less computational power. In 2014, malware writers experimented with Android malware to mine Dogecoins and Litecoins. Dr Web's virus analysts said the Raspberry Pi malware mines Monero, a lesser-known, but increasingly popular cryptocurrency for dark-web drug markets.

Researchers in May discovered that a network of several hundred thousand PCs infected with the Adylkuzz mining malware, which used the same Windows exploit behind the WannaCry ransomware epidemic, had been toiling away on Monero blocks. At the time, Adylkuzz had generated about $43,000 over several months of mining activity.

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Linux malware enslaves Raspberry Pi to mine cryptocurrency | ZDNet - ZDNet

News wallets and exchanges

eToro, a social investment and trading network, has announced the launch of its Cryptocurrency CopyFund. This comes shortly after the total market cap of cryptocurrencies surpassed $100 billion.

On June 6, eToro announced the launch of its Cryptocurrency CopyFund, which will allow customers to invest in Ether and bitcoin. Over the last year, the number of eToro users trading cryptocurrencies has grown by a factor of four. Co-founder and CEO of eToro, Yoni Assia, said:

We have been seeing an increasing number of our clients looking for a simpler way to access investments in cryptocurrencies with a view to building a portfolio in the future. They were asking how to allocate their investments between the two largest cryptocurrencies that are traded on eToro, so we have launched an automatically rebalanced investment strategy to simplify their investments into this new exciting asset class.

eToro customers have previously accessed the cryptocurrency markets through CFDs (contracts for difference).

More and more traders and investors are learning about the potential of this market and getting involved. Now they will be able to access a long-term investment strategy that is constantly reviewed and rebalanced, Assia added.

In the Cryptocurrency CopyFund, holdings will be proportional to the market caps of individual cryptocurrencies. Once a month, the fund will automatically be analyzed and rebalanced. Structured as medium-to-long-term investments, CopyFunds require a minimum pay-in of $5,000. While there are no management fees associated with CopyFund investment, eToro does charge transaction fees.

eToro will expand its offerings of cryptocurrencies in the near future to encompass Ripple and Dash among others.

Based in Tel Aviv, Israel, eToro has millions of users in more than 170 countries. In December 2014, eToro raised $27 million from Chinas Ping An Insurance Company and Russias state-owned Sberbank. At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, eToro recently presented a pilot blockchain wallet in partnership with coloredcoins.org.

Matthew is a writer living in Los Angeles. He studied international economics at Georgetown University. Matthew is a full time staff writer for ETHNews and holds value in Ether.

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Cryptocurrency CopyFund Launched By eToro - ETHNews

The total market cap for all cryptocurrencies just surpassed $100 billion. The vast majority of these gains have come in just the last few months on April 1st the total market cap was just over $25 billion representing a 300 percent increase in value in just over 60 days.

While some of these gains are from bitcoin itself (BTC is up ~160 percent in the same two-month time frame), other digital currencies like Ethereum are also responsible for the increase, which on its own has increased ~439 percent over the last two months.

Theres perhaps no better way to show this diversity in gains than by looking at a chart of bitcoins dominance i.e. what percent of the entire cryptocurrency market cap is represented by bitcoin. For years this had always hovered around 80 percent, but in the last few months has fallen to below 50 percent with currencies like Ethereum and Ripple taking its place.

Source: coinmarketcap.com

Bubble talk?

Its hard to be an experienced investor, or even an at-home part-time trader, and not think of a massive bubble when you see that some asset has increased more than 400 percent in just a few months. Its just how history works when an asset rises that fast its a near certainty that it will come back down. Markets are irrational, after all.

So dont be surprised if theres at least some type of correction. There already was, a few weeks ago bitcoin pulled back from a high of $2,700 to around $2,000, but, as of today, has slowly climbed back up to a new all-time high of ~$2,850.

That being said, we may look back in 12 months and realize that this two-month period of insane growth was less of a bubble and more of a rebirth of cryptocurrencies as a whole.

The fact that these gains have come from currencies other than bitcoin are a good sign that this is less of a bubble and more of a resurgence of interest in crypto. It makes sense that Ethereum is on a tear the cryptocurrency has technological improvements over bitcoin, including the ability to code smart contracts directly into the blockchain, which in turn allow for things like the ability to build totally new tokens and even host ICOs (initial coin offerings).

And similarly, Ripple, a cryptocurrency based on inter-bank settlements, has signed up more than 100 banks worldwide. Even if this takes a while to implement (which anyone who works in the old-school banking industry will confirm), its still tangible news and a reason for people to get excited about the currency.

These recent developments certainly dont justify increases of 400 percent in 60 days. Both Ethereum and Ripple have been around for a lot longer than a few months. Soif these were publicly traded companies, there would be (almost) no reason for drastic rise in value. But cryptocurrencies are new most of the world has no idea what bitcoin is, let alone Ethereum and Ripple and other currencies.

The public has never been able to put their money directly into a technology that has so much potential but is still developing.

For example, a technology enthusiast in the 1990s may have foreseen the rise of the internet, but had no way to directly take a stake in the technology.The idea of applying cryptography to the storage and transmission of data is still very new. And the fact that anyone can directly buy the currency that powers these cryptographically securedblockchains is much like the public actually getting a chance to invest in the internet during its infancy.

There is one rational explanation that, if true, would totally justify this rapid increase in price across some of the major cryptocurrencies. And that is, maybe these currencies are actually worththese high prices, and maybe even worth many times more than that at which they are currently trading.

But the problem is we have no way to figure out their value. Cryptocurrencies arent public companies with earnings and expenses and EPS. For example, we can look at Apples financials and determine its book value what the companys assets would be worth if hypothetically liquidated today. Of course, stocks trade at a premium to this, because people are enthusiastic that Apple will continue to perform well and this book value will continue to rise.

But we cant do this with cryptocurrencies. We could guess and compare it to things like the total money or gold supply in the U.S. For example, if youre someone who thinks of cryptocurrencies as a store of value, the total estimated value of all gold in the world is more than $8 trillion dollars meaning if bitcoin would ever replace or supplant gold, its current value is pennies on the dollar.

If youre someone who thinks of cryptocurrencies as a genuine currency, you could compare the market cap to M2, which is the total money supply in the U.S. cash and checking accounts, as well as near-money accounts like savings, mutual funds and money-market securities. The total value of M2 is about $13.5 trillion, also meaning cryptocurrencies are just a small fraction of that.

Ive long cautioned readers (and friends) from buying cryptocurrencies because they have seen it rise and just want to make a quick buck. The past two months have led to a tremendous surge in public interest, with mainstream news like CNBC and CNN explaining how to invest in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Just make sure youre doing it for the right reasons. Buy cryptocurrency to learn about it and transact with it. Or buy it because you are betting that this new technology will change the world by:

These are just a few options, and if youre in tune with the cryptocurrency world, youll know the opportunities are endless. So if youre going to buy cryptocurrency, do it because you see the long-term vision (and sure, ostensibly the financial gains that may come from them), not because you think it will blindly appreciate and give you a good return on your investment.

The author holds bitcoin and Ethereum and other smaller cryptocurrencies.

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What the hell is happening to cryptocurrency valuations? - TechCrunch

The consequences of allowing a cryptocurrency takeover, or trying to head one off FT Alphaville (registration) In this guest post, economics professor and former Bank of England economist Tony Yates talks about the potential for cryptocurrencies to compete with government-backed money, and what central banks can do about it. The total value of all ...

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The consequences of allowing a cryptocurrency takeover, or trying to head one off - FT Alphaville (registration)

The blockchain and crypto industry is currently replete with innovations looking to advance the technology and bring about the best results. But could there be a missing link, which when identified can lead to better investments and proper mitigation of risks?

A section of the industry insiders believe that Derivatives could be that missing link, and introducing derivatives to the blockchain could possibly enable investors to better mitigate risks involved in trading cryptocurrencies and allow them to hedge their bets. The success of derivatives has already been proven in the world of securities trading, which can be replicated in the crypto world as well.

The benefits of derivatives will be wide ranging as they will include non-stop trading, instantaneous transactions for fraction of the current fee, nearly no need for third parties except for traditional assets, no downtime, no DDOS type attacks, anonymity and the possibility to execute trades without logging in.

The process of bringing the power of derivatives to the blockchain community is being spearheaded by DCORP. DCORPP has created a platform that will allow derivatives trading in the form of smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain where the exchange exists. Users will be provided with a friendly interface and since the exchange is decentralized and operates autonomously there is no need for intermediaries like market makers, bankers or third parties.

The exchange will generate value for the investors, the proceeds of which can be used by DCORP to carry out its venture capitalist activities. DCORP being autonomous and democratic, will, in turn, lead to the democratization of venture capitalism.

Derivatives trading has the potential to unleash revolutionary change in the way cryptocurrencies are traded today, as more investors are bound to be attracted by the opportunity to use hedging mechanisms, which will only enhance the value of blockchain.

The ability to enter derivatives contracts anonymously will also provide additional value to investors and they will also be able to trade existing derivatives contracts by sending Ether to them.

Investors stand to benefit by harnessing the power of derivatives. Traditional derivatives like futures and options will be available, and the investors will also benefit from Futures with Ascending Stakes. The whitepaper elaborates upon the type of derivatives that will be made available on the exchange.

There is also a plan to use the blockchain and smart contract technology to enable talented entrepreneurs and ventures to gain access to funding. DCORP will make it possible for anyone to join the organization either as a shareholder or as a talented contributor. Investors can also participate in the ongoing DCORP crowdsale.

The DCORP exchange promises complete transparency in its operations as the Board of Directors will comprise of 7 elected individuals. Frank Bonnet, the founder of DCORP who will also be a member of the Board of Directors, explains that the voting behavior of the members will be recorded on the blockchain, public and immutable. The members can also be replaced by submitting a proposal and getting the token holders to vote in favor of it.

DCORP intends to carry out a streamlined democratization of venture capitalism, which is not only an interesting idea but also novel, as it enables even non-technical persons to benefit from it.

The introduction of derivatives to crypto can only generate further investor interest as it brings in an element of risk management to venture capitalism.

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Derivatives The Missing Link in The Cryptocurrency World? - newsBTC

Imagine an online gambling ecosystem that is decentralized, meaning that it cuts out the typical middleman between a game-maker or betting operator and the player or bettor. Thats the pitch of Russian company DAO.Casino, a decentralized platform for online gambling operators that runs on the Ethereum blockchain.

In its white paper on the developer site Github, DAO.Casino says it can solve common headaches of online gambling that afflict both game developers and game players, such as: fraud risk; hidden fees; high cost of entry for game developers; operational overhead; player access to funds; player withdrawal delays; and general lack of trust.

If that sounds like a mouthful, lets take a step back. In the cryptocurrency world, much of the press and attention right now is around bitcoin, since the price of bitcoin is flying: its up 200% in 2017 so far.

But the price of a rival cryptocurrency, ether, has seen a bump as well: its up 174% in the past month, to $263. Ether is the currency of the Ethereum network, which is a blockchain for smart contracts.

Price of ether in 2017. (CoinMarketCap)

While bitcoin runs on the bitcoin blockchain, a decentralized, permissionless ledgerand blockchain technology originated with bitcoin in 2009Ethereum runs on its own blockchain specifically designed for smart contracts.

Smart contracts are coded agreements that live in a permanent address on the Ethereum chain. These agreements can interact with other contracts to automatically enact functions.

In other words, smart contracts is a fancy way of saying computer programs. For example: on Ethereum, we could exchange the title deed to a car, directly from seller to buyer. In a recent Cognizant survey of 578 financial service firms, 78% of respondents said their firm is exploring multiple blockchain platformsof those, 49% listed the bitcoin blockchain, 42% said Ethereum.

While bitcoin is soaring as a speculative investment, there arent yet obvious mainstream uses for the currency beyond trading and holding it; many in the industry await the killer app for bitcoin.

There is arguably more excitement right now around the uses of Ethereum, since it was created specifically for smart contracts (not for the currency, which is just an incentive token for developers). TechCrunch writes that Ethereum is poised to overhaul open-source development. And Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin (just 23 years old) met with Vladimir Putin this week, who praised Ethereum.

That brings us to DAO.Casino, one of the many startups that believes it can solve a problem using Ethereum. On June 29, DAO.Casino will launch an ICO (initial coin offering), a popular new way of raising money for cryptocurrency startups in which investors buy up the startups own coin and pay for it with a more established coin. Ethereum did its own ICO in 2014, in which investors bought ether using bitcoin. An ICO typically lasts for a month. Think of an ICO as the equivalent of a VC round for cryptocurrency startups. In DAO.Casinos ICO, it will sell BET, its own token, in exchange for ether.

Just dont associate DAO.Casino with The DAO, a leaderless, decentralized network that launched in May 2016 (via an ICO that exchanged tokens for ether) as a platform for Ethereum-based projects and was quickly hacked, one month later, to the tune of $50 million. The entire Ethereum blockchain had to perform a split known as a fork in order to restore all the funds stolen in The DAO hack.

DAO.Casino is not an actual casino itself, but an open protocol for online gambling companies (like an online casino, blackjack game operator, or sports betting site) to build on. (DAO.Casino will also build its own branded games.) It isnt aimed at the end userif an online betting site were to use it, the bettor wouldnt have toknow or see that theyre using a system built on Ethereum. (I could even develop my own gambling site on top of DAO.Casinos protocol and pay out users in BET tokens, but rename them Dancoins.) The companys hope is that online betting sites will integrate with its network to offer games without the casino, a middleman that takes a big cut and may not always be trustworthy.

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If youre confused, dont feel bad. In a blog post back in March, the company addressed the confusion its name creates. Many people wonder why do we have DAO in our name, when the term has previously been associated with a hacked investor-directed venture capital fund. They think and we dont blame them for it that is somewhat an extension of an organization whose security loop couldve cost them millions worth of ether. The post goes on to acknowledge that using the DAO acronym is somewhat giving us bad publicity.

Nonetheless, the company embraced the DAO acronym because of what it stands for, a decentralized autonomous organization (which any blockchain-based project is), even if it now carries the stink of The DAO.

Of course, online betting operators may be hesitant to jump on an Ethereum-based protocol for reasons that have nothing to do with DAO.Casinos name.

For starters, the entire cryptocurrency space still has an air of distrust to it; blame the high-profile Silk Road drug market trial, or periodic hacks of bitcoin exchange sites, all of which stoke negative headlines. As one West Coast bankruptcy lawyer, who wishes to remain anonymous, tells Yahoo Finance, I get clients all the time that say, I want to take X and make it better by using cryptocurrency, and its always either a way to try to get around something illegal or it solves a problem that really didnt exist.

Keep in mind also that online gambling (or iGaming) is still illegal in most states in the US, even when the website taking a bet is based outside the US. But online gambling thrives outside America, and is a $46 billion market globally.DAO.Casino could face regulatory scrutiny in the US, even though the company would likely make the argument that it is just an Internet protocol, not the gambling operator.

As of January, nearly 25% of all smart contracts on Ethereum were game-related. Thats why DAO.Casino CEO Ilya Tarutov honed in on a gambling protocol. Traditional server-based online gambling sites dont engender enough trust, he says, but using a decentralized network can add transparency.

Tarutov explained it to Coin Telegraph thusly: Game outcomes are determined by equally unpredictable pseudorandom values, and anyone can audit this. Once the game software is audited and deployed, no one can fiddle with it and change it.

To ensure fairness of games, DAO.Casino implements randomness through PRNGs (pseudorandom number generators), and incentivizes users who develop new games, fund the development of new games, operate casinos, and contribute random-number algorithms by rewarding them in BET tokens. The games built on DAO.Casino will operate in BET. (Grossly simplified, Tarutov explains, BET is a security measure.)

For now, DAO.Casino is in beta, and offers a simple dice game as an example of what it can do. More games are coming, Tarutov says, from online gambling operators ready to put their games on DAO.Casinos testnet. In the next few days, the site will add a blackjack game.

You can register right now and youll get a free token to try these games. But their real purpose is to show developers, Tarutov says, that it is possible to implement serverless and fast PRNG methods on Ethereum. It shows that theres hope and direction. Were confident that we can implement one more method before the end of this year which is suitable for multiplayer games. But this is just a start.

Daniel Roberts closely covers bitcoin and blockchain at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite.

Read more:

Why Ethereum is the hottest new thing in digital currency

More than 75 banks are now on Ripples blockchain network

Expect more blockchain hype in 2017

Heres why 21 Inc. is the most exciting bitcoin company right now

How bitcoin company Coinbase is staying relevant amid the blockchain craze

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DAO Casino wants to use cryptocurrency to disrupt online gambling - Yahoo Finance

Over the past few months, there has been an increased focus on cryptocurrency ICOs. These initial coin offerings are a great way for investors to buy into a project at an affordable price. At the same time, the project developers try to raise as much money as possible to finish their creation as soon as possible. It is a well-balanced ecosystem, but a lot of people are still confused about certain ICO aspects. In this series, we will try to address some concerns people still have.

As most people should be familiar with by now, buying into a cryptocurrency ICO is the same as backing a project on Kickstarter or IndieGala. Investors receive a reward for pledging money to the cause, even though not all of these projects may succeed in the end. Unlike traditional crowdfunding campaigns, cryptocurrency ICOs do not accept credit cards or other traditional payment methods. Most projects only accept investments in either Ether or Bitcoin, albeit some projects accept additional currencies and tokens as well.

There is another similarity to cryptocurrency ICOs and crowdfunding projects. It is always of the utmost importance to invest as early as possible. In the case of a cryptocurrency ICO, early investors often received a specific percentage of tokens on top of the regular amount. These bonuses can either be time-based or based on the amount of tokens sold already. As we have seen with a lot of recent ICOs, time to buy in is incredibly limited, though.

Even though these similarities between cryptocurrency ICOs and crowdfunding projects should not be overlooked, that is far as both concepts can be compared. With a crowdfunding project, backers can often get a refund of their money if the project fails to deliver. That is not necessarily the case with a cryptocurrency ICO, although most projects lock funds in a smart contract. By using this technology, it is a lot easier to refund investors if needed, albeit that happens very rarely these days.

Moreover, it is always a good idea to check how many tokens will be generated during a particular cryptocurrency ICO. A lot of projects issue a billion tokens or more, which theoretically makes it impossible for them to gain any major value. That is a common misconception, though, as cryptocurrency ICOs often increase their value a tenfold or more in the first few months. Most of these tokens are quickly listed on exchanges, which means there will be plenty of liquidity as well.

Speaking of the number of tokens being issued, there are two creation models projects can make use of. First of all, there is the static supply option with a predetermined value. This means a fixed number of tokens will be issued which will always be sold at the exact same price. This levels the playing field for both early and late investors alike. It is possible this method will be considered less attractive by speculators, since there is no option to buy cheaper coins. Then again, these tokens often see their value appreciate over time just as well as other projects.

The second option revolves around a static supply with a dynamic funding goal. The distribution of cryptocurrency ICO tokens is made based on how much money has been raised to date. More funds raised will result in a higher price per token. This also means early investors will see the value of their token increase during the remainder of the ICO. These are often the most popular types of ICOs, although they often reach their funding goal in minutes or hours.

If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.

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Cryptocurrency ICO Education The Basics - The Merkle

Things are looking incredibly promising for Bitcoin and the BTC value right now. With the overall cryptocurrency market cap surpassing US$102bn, the fear of missing out is setting in around the world. A lot of consumers and investors want to ensure they make a strategic investment in cryptocurrency right now. As a result, the Bitcoin price keeps going up and is well underway to hit US$3, 000 in the near future.

Just yesterday, we discussed how the total cryptocurrency market cap would surpass US$100bn very shortly. Fast forward to today, and that is exactly what happened. As of right now, the total market cap sits at over US$102bn, and it seems there is still a lot of room for future growth. A lot of fresh capital has entered the cryptocurrency ecosystem, just as it has done so over the past few weeks.

Rest assured a lot of people are closely monitoring the Bitcoin price right now. A new all-time high has been set virtually every hour, and it looks like the momentum is not over just yet. Right now, one Bitcoin is valued at US$2,908. That means we are getting incredibly close to hitting US$3, 000. This value represents a target most experts claimed was well out of reach. Then again, one cannot properly predict how a free market will evolve despite technical analysis, charts and observations.

Even though Bitcoin is not the only cryptocurrency shooting up in value, it remains the most important one to a lot of traders. If Bitcoins value goes up, so will the value of other cryptocurrencies, digital assets, and tokens. It is in everybodys best interest to see the Bitcoin price appreciate over time. Then again, it is also possible a lot of investors will convert alternative currencies back into Bitcoin, which will lead to some volatility in these markets.

With close to US$2bn in 24-hour trading volume, it is evident demand for Bitcoin is not slowing down anytime soon. Korean exchanges have already projected the Bitcoin value at over US$3,000, although traders in these regions often pay a hefty premium to buy and sell Bitcoin. China has Bitcoin valued slightly higher compared to the American exchanges, although the gap is a lot smaller than most people would expect.

When looking past the Bitcoin trading volume generated by various alternative currencies and tokens for a moment, it is evident fiat currency-based trading is increasing in volume. The USD, KRW, CNY, and even EUR markets are all providing a lot of trading volume right now. This seemingly indicates people are converting their fiat currency to Bitcoin and vice versa. Based on the current charts, it looks like most people are actually buying Bitcoin, rather than selling it. This is a sign of FOMO settling in, although it is still too early to tell what is going on exactly.

For the time being, it is unclear what will happen to the Bitcoin price. The previous sharp increase in value was met with an equally sharp dip shortly after. It is possible Bitcoin will reach US$3, 000 without too many problems. On the other hand, the price may drop a fair before resuming this upward trend. Regardless of which scenario comes true, there will be plenty of eyeballs glued to Bitcoin trading charts over the coming days.

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Bitcoin Price on Track to hit US$3000, Total Cryptocurrency Market cap Surpasses US$102bn - The Merkle