Onfido is encouraging cryptocurrency exchanges to adopt secure identification technology. In doing so, the company called attention to the recent story of Stefan Thomas, who has $220 million worth of Bitcoin stored on an IronKey that will be lost forever if he cannot guess the password in his next two tries.

With that in mind, Onfido noted that the same features that make cryptocurrencies so appealing can have a profoundly negative impact on their overall utility. For example, many people turned to Bitcoin precisely because it exists outside of the traditional banking system. Anyone can sign up for an account without going through a lengthy identification process, which in theory makes the currency more accessible.

The downside, however, is that that framework essentially forces each individual user to act as their own bank, since there is no centralized authority to help maintain the system. That means that regular people become responsible for things that would normally be handled by professionals, which can create problems if those people are not up to the task.

Thats especially true with regards to security. Since there is no customer service, Bitcoin owners do not have any way to reset a password or recover an account that has been lost or stolen. As a stands, Onfido estimates that 20 percent of all Bitcoin (worth around $140 billion) is now completely inaccessible, either because it is lost or it is locked in inaccessible wallets like Thomas IronKey, which has no recovery mechanism.

The fact that cryptocurrencies do not require proof of identity also makes them popular with cybercriminals. According to Onfido, cryptocurrency exchanges were used to launder $2.8 billion in 2019, a figure that is attracting the scrutiny of governments and international regulators. If cryptocurrencies do not find a way to address that problem, legislators could pass laws in an effort to bring the system under their control.

While there is some oversight for centralized exchanges that allow users to trade cryptocurrencies for official fiat currencies, the majority (81 percent) of the decentralized peer-to-peer exchanges have either weak Know Your Customer procedures or none at all. Onfido suggests that exchanges should be trying to address that problem, with KYC and anti-money laundering features that build trust and improve the user experience for everyday consumers. Doing so could eliminate some of cryptocurrencys original appeal, but it would also satisfy regulators and attract new users if it makes people feel more comfortable with cryptocurrency exchanges.

Onfido, of course, is a leading developer of remote identity verification technology. The company has provided biometric onboarding capabilities for several cryptocurrency companies, with Hodlnaut and LocalBitcoins standing as the latest additions to its client roster.

Original post:
Onfido Calls for Better Identity Verification Practices in Cryptocurrency Industry - Mobile ID World

One internet caf in Vietnam has reportedly switched to cryptocurrency mining to turn over a healthy profit, while its usual clientele are stuck indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The LP T PHNG NET cafe, run by Star Gaming, is showing off its new mining setup on its Facebook page, as spotted by I_Leak_VN, and not too long after it celebrated switching to the latest GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards.

"Transforming business in the pandemic," the post reads (translated by Facebook). "Profits are higher than net business, net room owners who want to do it, please contact me to do it for free."

Pictured are rows and rows of monitors and PCs with tens of graphics cards sat underneath. If you scroll a little further down on the page, you can see the impressive gear that the internet caf was offering gamers, plenty of which could moonlight as cryptocurrency mining rigs, and very capable ones at that.

Despite the likely increase in electrical costs, the owners say they are making a healthy profit.

Such a business strategy may be becoming popular elsewhere as cafes look to offset losses. Twitter leaker harukaze5719 comments that cryptocurrency mining is a popular move for cafes in South Korea.

All of which is made possible by the recent rise in many value for many cryptocurrencies. The most reliable signifier is Bitcoin, which currently sits at $50,000 USD a piece, although most GPU mining rigs will instead be looking to Ethereum to turn a quick buck.

For internet cafe owners, many of which focus heavily on gaming gear, they could be sitting on a goldmine of hard working hardware, at a time when it might not find much use elsewhere due to the pandemic. Cryptocurrency mining will wear these cards pretty thin, however, so some of the profits may end up being required to buy in new equipment once gamers eventually start walking back through the doors.

Read the rest here:
This internet caf has begun cryptocurrency mining to turn a profit in the pandemic - PC Gamer

A Making Money with Charles Payne panel on investing in the names of the future and bitcoin.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez praised the city's governing commission for passing a resolution Thursday that willstudy the feasibility of paying employees in bitcoin, as well as allowing residents to pay fees and taxes in bitcoin.

"I want to thank the city of Miami commissioners for supporting my resolution, which directs the city manager, after analysis, to procure a vendor to be able to offer our employees to get a percentage of their salary in bitcoin, allows our residents to pay for fees in Bitcoin... [and allows] for taxes to be paid in bitcoin," Suarez said in a video Thursday night.

Its wonderful to be a very crypto-forward city in the city of Miami, and I want to thank my commission colleagues for allowing that to happen."

TESLA WALKS TIGHTROPE WITH BITCOIN INVESTMENT

The City Commission voted 4-1 to pass the resolution, which would also encourage the Florida state legislature to pass laws to allow Miami to invest some of its treasury in bitcoin.

"The whole conceptof Bitcoin is to democratize a currency,"Ken Russell,Vice Chairman of the Miami City Commission, said during the city hall meeting on Thursday. "It has become a currency for the wealthy. I think this is ourchance to, in an intelligent way, to really try to bring this to our residents and our employees, but we have to do so carefully so they can make informed decisions."

Bitcoin, a decentralized cryptocurrency, hit an all-time high of $48,912 this week, but it is still prone to wildprice swings.

CRYPTOCURRENCIES NOW 'PRICELESS' WITH MASTERCARD

Despite those swings, Miami's adoption of bitcoin is the latest signal that it is going mainstream.

Andrew Yang, who is running for Mayor of New York City, said Thursday that if elected, he would "invest in making the city a hub for [bitcoin]and other cryptocurrencies."

BNY Mellon, the oldest bank in America, announced Thursday that it will create an "integrated service for digital assets"this year that will process bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for clients.

Mastercard said Wednesday it will support cryptocurrencies directly on its network, which will "create a lot more possibilities for shoppers and merchants, allowing them to transact in an entirely new form of payment. "

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Tesla announced Monday that it invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin and would start accepting the cryptocurrency as payment.

"I do at this point think bitcoin is a good thing, and I am a supporter of bitcoin," Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Jan. 31 on Clubhouse. "I think bitcoin is on the verge of getting broad acceptance by conventional finance people."

See the article here:
Bitcoin by the beach: Miami eyes paying workers and collecting taxes in cryptocurrency - Fox Business

THE WEEK IN NUMBERS

We round up the numbers to know from the weeks biggest economic and business news stories so you can impress yourself and your friends.

If youve been glued to the impeachment proceedings unfolding in the United States, youre far from alone. But as the news out of Washington winds down for the weekend, why not take a few minutes to catch up on the biggest business and economic news stories you might have missed?

Pour yourself a cup of tea (or take that coffee out of the microwave again) and dig into these must-know numbers. We promise theyll make you the smartest person on your group text.

The span in which three separate missions to Mars were launched last year, and as those spacecraft arrive this week and next, the Red Planet is getting a little more crowded, writes Al Jazeeras David Child.

China, the United Arab Emirates and the US all launched uncrewed missions to Mars last year in the hopes of learning more about the cosmos and scanning for signs of extraterrestrial life.

An image of Mars captured by Chinas probe Tianwen-1 [File: China National Space Administration/AFP]The UAEs probe named Al Amal, which means hope in Arabic was the first to arrive in Marss orbit on Tuesday after a journey of 494 million kilometres (307 million miles). Chinese spacecraft Tianwen-1 was next to join the Martian party and sent back some souvenir video.

The USs mission is scheduled to touch down on Mars on February 18. Scientists are eager to analyse the planets atmosphere and surface as well as look for signs of past life.

The value in US dollars of one Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency with a fuzzy Shiba Inu logo that got a major boost when Tesla CEO Elon Musk started talking it up on Twitter.

In addition to tweeting that he had bought some Dogecoin for his baby son, Musk lauded the joke currency with a number of memes D is for Dogecoin! and Who let the Doge out among them. But the worlds richest person has also suggested that the people have spoken about the pitfalls of fiat currency and put his money where his mouth is when it comes to investing in cryptocurrency, writes Al Jazeeras Ben Piven.

Teslas announcement that it had bought $1.5bn in bitcoin and would accept the cryptocurrency as payment sent its value rocketing this week.

And we mean rocketing. Bitcoin neared $50,000 for the first time and cryptocurrencies across the board have been basking in the Tesla glow this week.

Cryptocurrency Dogecoin got a major boost this week after Tesla CEO Elon Musk talked it up on Twitter [File: Yuriko Nakao/Getty Images Europe]Bitcoin has gained 1,150 percent since its March 2020 lows as intrigued investors hop on the crypto bandwagon. The worlds most popular cryptocurrency also got a boost after Mastercard Inc and Bank of New York Mellon Corp announced they would make it easier for customers to use cryptocurrencies.

But some analysts warn the crypto bubble could very well burst, leaving pumped-up fans feeling deflated and their digital wallets a little lighter, too.

The number of out-of-work Americans who filed for state unemployment benefits for the first time last week, according to the US Department of Labor. New claims for assistance were down 19,000 from the week before but still remain stubbornly high nearly a year into the coronavirus pandemic.

The US unemployment situation is definitely better than it was at the start of the pandemic, when claims hit 6.867 million. But nearly a year after parts of the country first went into lockdown, 10 million of the jobs that were lost simply havent come back and some businesses have closed permanently.

Low-wage service sector workers, as well as African-American and Latino workers and women, have been disproportionately impacted by pandemic job losses, and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellenwarnedthat more aid is needed to prevent the COVID-19 crisis from becoming a generational setback for racial equality.

The number of trips that Chinas Ministry of Transport estimates that people will make during this years Lunar New Year. That represents a 20-percent decrease from 2020, and a more-than-60-percent slump compared with 2019, writes Al Jazeeras Asia business editor Azhar Sukri.

This Lunar New Year which falls on Friday is turning out to be anything but normal for a second consecutive year. While families across Asia and in the Asian diaspora are normally busy repainting and cleaning their homes to prepare for family gatherings, many dont want to bother this year as COVID-19 keeps people home.

But just because big in-person gatherings are out doesnt mean revellers cant enjoy traditional treats like oranges and cookies. So to all who are celebrating happy Year of the Ox!

Original post:
Canine cryptocurrency, race to Mars and the Year of the Ox - Al Jazeera English

Bitcoin has been in the spotlight for several months now for various reasons. The digital currency created by the mysterious and pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto has achieved a remarkable rise in 2020 amid the COVID pandemic, Brexit, and much more. Since then, Bitcoin has been on the headlines every day and pushing up the prices of other cryptocurrencies at the same time.

In a recent development in the cryptocurrency industry, Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX announced that his company Tesla invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin and intends to start accepting the currency as payment.

According to the companys filing, In January 2021, we updated our investment policy to provide us with more flexibility to further diversify and maximise returns on our cash that is not required to maintain adequate operating liquidity. As part of the policy, we may invest a portion of such cash in certain specified alternative reserve assets. Thereafter, we invested an aggregate of $1.50 billion in bitcoin under this policy. We expect to begin accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future, subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis, which we may or may not liquidate upon receipt.

Post the announcement, the Bitcoin price soared to an all-time high of $48,034 (15% jump). At the time of writing this article, Bitcoin stands at $46,943.

As a result of the announcement, many analysts have highlighted the extreme volatility of bitcoin, emphasising the fact that investors could be wiped out if the digital currency plunges in the future.

On the other hand, Musk has also made a series of tweets on the alternative cryptocurrency Dogecoin, leading to a rise in the cryptocurrencys value.

New research reveals 2 in 5 crypto investors in the UK are women

Well, its not only Elon Musk and Tesla. Numerous companies and startups in the UK are focusing on cryptocurrencies and Blockchains as this is the next big transformation in the fintech industry. Having said that, heres the list of 10 companies working on cryptocurrencies in the UK you should know.

Founder/s: Evgeny Gaevoy, Harro Mantel, Yoann Turpin

Funding: 17.2M

Wintermute was founded in 2017 with the mission to provide the much-needed liquidity to the crypto markets, thus contributing to the adoption of new decentralised finance.

A sweet Valentines Day for Bumble with February IPO: What about UK dating startups?

Founder/s: Konstantin Zaripov, Sergey Romanovskiy

Funding: 4.5M

This London-based company bridges the gap between crypto and cash, providing people with instant crypto-backed cash services for everyday use. Nebeus offers a host of secure and compliant solutions allowing customers to borrow, earn, send, and receive cash and crypto with full security.

Founder/s: Gabriele Musella, Oleg Giberstein, Zdenek Hofler

Ubamarket scores 2.9M: The Scan Pay Go retail tech app from UK wants to revolutionise hospitality sector

Funding: 941K

Coinrule is the smart assistant for cryptocurrency trading, allowing users to take full control of their trading while being able to fight back hedge funds and automated bots. As per the companys claims, it is simple and with no coding skills required.

Founder/s: Dan Hughes

Funding: 16.2M

Radix DLT, a London-based DeFi (decentralised finance) startup is building a decentralised finance protocol, which provides frictionless access, programmability, and liquidity to any asset in the world. The company aims to solve many of the pain points in todays centralised financial system.

Founder/s: Dmitry Lazarichev, Georgy Sokolov, Pavel Matveev

Funding: 5.7M

Based out of London, Wirex aims to make crypto and traditional currencies equal and accessible to everyone. The companys app and next-gen Wirex card let users buy, store, exchange, and spend a wide variety of conventional and digital currencies quickly and securely, with no hidden fees.

Founder/s: Mark Hipperson, Niall McConnell, Philip Goffin

Funding: 11.4M

Ziglu, the personal money app offers an account with traditional & digital currencies managed seamlessly in one app. The cryptocurrency platform gives everyone easy access to digital currencies including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, Litecoin, and XRP, with zero hidden fees or transaction charges.

Founder/s: Carel van Wyk, Marcus Swanepoel, Pieter Heyns, Timothy Stranex

Funding: 9.9M

Based out of London, Luno is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that lets users to buy, store and learn about cryptocurrencies. The company is on a mission to upgrade the world to a better financial system. Luno operates in 40 countries across Africa, South East Asia, and Europe and employs around 250 people.

Founder/s: Gerald Goldstein, Itamar Lesuisse, Julien Niset

Funding: 11.5M

Headquartered in London, Argent is an Ethereum wallet for iOS and Android. With this platform, users can earn interest and invest; borrow, store and send. The platform also lets users access DeFi and Dapps in a few taps.

Founder/s: Jason Fitzpatrick, Jeff Hancock, Keith Christie-Smith, Paul Tiley

Funding: NA

Coinpass is a UK-based cryptocurrency exchange platform, founded to solve the demand for fast, reliable, professional, and high-quality financial service products for crypto-to-fiat trading in the UK. The company aims to be the global leader in the digital finance space by striving to bridge the gap between traditional finance and digital assets.

Founder/s: Grant Blaisdell, Jakub Fijolek, Maciej Ziolkowski, Pawel Aleksander, Pawel Kuskowski

Funding: 11.5M

Based out of London, Coinfirm offers AML and regulatory technology for blockchain and cryptocurrencies. It offers the industrys largest blockchain coverage, supporting over 1,400 cryptocurrencies and protocols including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Hyperledger, and many more.

The companys solutions are used by market leaders globally, ranging from crypto exchanges such as Binance, and protocols like XRP, to major financial institutions like PKO BP.

Founder/s: Dmitry Tokarev, CEO

Funding: 6.7M

Copper is a London-based digital asset infrastructure provider. The company provides custody and prime brokerage services to more than 200 institutional clients, including traders, wealth companies, private banks, family offices and cryptocurrency funds.

Using proprietary technology including Copper ClearLoop and a Walled Garden Copper facilitates secure, instant and offline transaction settlements for 150+ digital assets, across more than 25 global exchanges.

Coppers fully integrated products are unique in the cryptoasset space. Underpinned by multi-award-winning custody, Copper has built the comprehensive and secure suite of tools and services required to safely acquire, trade, and store cryptocurrencies including access to margin lending trading facilities and the DeFi space.

Read the rest here:
UK cryptocurrency startups coining the future of fintech in 2021 - UKTN (UK Technology News

North Korea's hacking crews are causing carnage in the cryptocurrency market and one has been blamed for stealing $250 million-worth of virtual coins from one exchange in 2020.

A North Korean hacker crew called Lazarus Group has been accused of carrying out a heist on cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin, dubbed the biggest cryptocurrency theft of last year at $275 million worth of virtual money. That figure represented half of all cryptocurrency stolen in 2020, according to cryptocurrency tracker and law enforcement contractor Chainalysis, which exclusively revealed its attribution of the huge attack to Forbes ahead of the release of its own research report on Tuesday.

The hack of Singapore-based KuCoin, which lets people trade Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrency, also took Lazarus illicit winnings up to $1.75 billion, Chainalysis claimed. Its feared that North Korea is using stolen cryptocurrency to fund its nuclear initiatives, whilst also causing serious losses to the burgeoning virtual economy. Meanwhile, the thefts are helping prop up North Koreas flagging economy, which has reportedly taken a severe hit thanks to the Covid-19 crisis. CNN reported on a confidential U.N. document on Tuesday, which suggested that North Korea had stolen a total of $316.4 million from financial institutions and virtual currency companies between 2019 and November 2020 to support its warfare and economic plans.

Chainalysis said it was able to attribute the KuCoin hack to the North Korean hacking group by looking at how the stolen funds were laundered. Lazarus Group, previously blamed for the infamous Sony Pictures hack of 2014 amongst many other attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges, has a unique way in which it sends money to mixers. Those mixers mix up cryptocurrency into different accounts in order to make tracking of funds more difficult. The size, and the way that funds are sent to mixers is extremely specific, and it's like a fingerprint, said Kim Grauer, who led Chainalysis research into the KuCoin attack.

Grauer thinks North Koreas cryptocurrency thefts could be filling huge holes in the countrys coffers. COVID in particular has further continued to devastate the North Korean economy and so we think that... the country may be becoming increasingly dependent on hacking for just funding, period, Grauer added. When you think about $1.75 billion, it's a very significant amount of money for that country considering their GDP.

The KuCoin breach took place in September 2020, and the exchange offered rewards of up to $100,000 to anyone who could provide valid information to us regarding this incident. Later, KuCoin CEO and founder Johnny Lyu claimed $201 million in cryptocurrency had been recovered as of October 3 and said perpetrators had been caught. This February, Lyu said in a blog post that it had cooperated with exchange and project partners to recover $222 million (78%), and cooperated with law enforcements and security institutions to recover $17.45 million (6%). At the same time, KuCoin and our insurance fund covered the remaining part, about $45.55 million (16%). In the end, we ensured that no users sustained any loss in this incident.

KuCoin, which claims to have over six million registered users, told Forbes that while its working with law enforcement and security agencies to track the suspects, no more details can be announced at the moment, per their request. Chainalysis said it had shared its findings relating to the North Korean attribution with KuCoin, but declined to provide any more detail on its work with the exchange.

The news comes hot on the heels of a Google warning that another crew of alleged North Korean hackers had attacked security researchers via what may have been a Chrome zero-day exploit - an attack on an unpatched vulnerability or string of vulnerabilities.

With a mix of more sophisticated digital attacks and huge thefts of cryptocurrency, North Koreas investment in offensive cybersecurity is proving to be reaping rewards for Kim Jong-uns regime, whilst costing victims their privacy and, in some cases, their crypto wealth.

Read the original post:
North Korean Hackers Accused Of Biggest Cryptocurrency Theft Of 2020Their Heists Are Now Worth $1.75 Billion - Forbes

A new cryptocurrency, The Graph (GRT), soared79.92% more than any other coin in the 24 hours to press time to $2.43 on Friday.What Happened: GRT has spiked 176.7% on a seven-day trailing basis. The token of the entity that helps decentralized applications discover and organize blockchain data has reached a market capitalization of $3.04 billion.

The token was launched on Dec. 17 at a price of $0.26, which means the Graph has risen 834.62% since it made its debut.

See also:Best Cryptocurrency Brokers

Why It Matters: The price movement in the Graph is partly driven by a social media buzz on Reddit and Stocktwits. GRT.X was the top trending ticker on Stocktwits early Thursday at one point, ahead of Sundial Growers Inc. (NASDAQ: SNDL),Tilray Inc.(NASDAQ: TLRY), andAphria Inc.(NASDAQ: APHA).

The Graph has left behind major cryptocurrencies as of press time. Bitcoin (BTC) traded 5.04% at $46,998.37, while Ethereum (ETH) traded 1.45% higher at $1,749.99.

2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Excerpt from:
Why The Graph Cryptocurrency Is Skyrocketing Today, Outperforming Bitcoin, All Other Coins - Benzinga

After a two-year negative downtrend, the IOTA (MIOTA) token rallied by 136.88% over the past week to $1.18.

What Happened:While most cryptocurrencies were trading close to their all-time highs, IOTAs price movement wasnt exactly fuelled by the overall bullish uptrend in the market.

Yesterday, the IOTA Foundationannounceda partnership withDell Technologies Inc(NYSE: DELL) called Project Alvarium.

Project Alvarium plans to measure the trustworthiness of data before it is used by an application.

Dell first introduced the technology known as Data Confidence Fabric in 2019; IOTA then re-engineered it using the IOTA Streams framework.

See also:How to Buy IOTA (MIOTA-USD)

"The importance of data transparency is integral to how organizations in every industry move forward," said Steve Todd, Fellow at Dell Technologies.

In order to bring Project Alvarium to life, IOTA and Dell partnered withIntel Corporation(NASDAQ: INTC) to facilitate real-world pilots.

Market participants quickly reacted to the news, and the cryptocurrency price rallied over 68% from $0.73 to $1.23 in a single day.

The price, however, has since consolidated to around $1.19, and trading volume was down by 40% in the past 24 hours, indicating that some long-term holders might have capitalized on a three-year high by selling at these levels.

Price Action:IOTA was trading at$1.18at press time.

Dell shares grew by 0.25% and were trading at $79.70.

Intel shares were at $61.50, gaining 1.38%.

Image:iota.org

2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Excerpt from:
Cryptocurrency IOTA Up 137% This Week, Trades At Two-Year High Following Dell Partnership News - Benzinga

The cryptocurrency market has continued to witness a boom despite the global pandemic wreaking havoc on all significant economies on the planet.

Many crypto startups have emerged in the space during this pandemic to cater to the ever-increasing demand for Bitcoin and alike cryptocurrencies.

For instance, CoinSwitch Kuber recently announced the raising of $15 million (Rs 109 crore) Series A funding from leading global fintech investors such as Ribbit Capital, Paradigm, Sequoia Capital India and prominent angel investor Kunal Shah from CRED.

Cryptocurrency market capitalisation fueled by Bitcoins growth recently crossed the $1 trillion mark. Out of which, Bitcoin, has been on a bull run for quite some time and is responsible for roughly 69% of the total market value.

Similarly, many cryptocurrency prices have been on the rise, and investors are wondering why. Here are five reasons why cryptocurrency prices are rising:

Recently, there has been a trend where public companies are converting their cash treasuries into cryptocurrency. Square, an American payments company, bought $50 million worth of Bitcoins. Following this, Microstrategy- a public listed company in the US, converted $425 million worth of cash reserves into Bitcoin, considering it to be a better store of value.

The launch included four majorly traded currencies, namely Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin. Paypal has also announced plans of allowing transactions to be made using cryptocurrencies.

Paypal is known to have 350 million users who will now be capable of adopting crypto as a payment means. Also, its 30 million merchants will have the option of receiving payments in crypto.

Paypal was one of the critics of cryptocurrency as a sustainable currency. Now it is one of the biggest names jumping on the bandwagon. Along with others and PayPal's support, there has been more demand for the asset class, thus contributing to its price rise.

Apart from Paypal, the company also owns another popular payment platform Venmo which will expose another 40 million users to crypto payment. While these platforms are new to crypto, some other platforms are already making crypto payments wider.

As several private investors seek to adopt cryptocurrency as a means of exchange, many governments are also trying to regulate the market.

Many countries like Japan, USA, Germany etc. have taken a positive stance towards cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin Halving Driven ScarcityIt is not news that most cryptocurrencies in the market have a limited supply. Bitcoin is also one of them. This year the third Bitcoin Halving took place.

Bitcoin halving is an important event in the Bitcoin network that happens every four years.

The Bitcoin network works because it introduces new bitcoins in the market by a process called Bitcoin mining. Bitcoin miners do this mining by verifying Bitcoin blocks which are simply groups of Bitcoin transactions.

Every 10 minutes, a miner who can verify one block of transactions and add it to the Bitcoin network gets awarded a certain amount of bitcoins as a reward.

Currently, this reward stands at 6.25 BTC per valid block mined. But this reward per block reduces by half roughly every four years, or after every 210000 blocks are mined. This phenomenon of Bitcoin block reward getting reduced by 50% every four years is termed as Bitcoin halving.

It also doubles the stock to flow ratio (total currency available: total currency in circulation) making is highly scarce.

Halving is one of the most critical factors that contribute to the price of Bitcoin.

Since there are only 21 million Bitcoins in total, there is less circulation of the market currency as the reward decreases. And as more people become aware of the asset's scarcity, more demand rises, resulting in a higher price.

Since Bitcoin holds more than half of the market capitalisation, the Bitcoin price variation may affect other currencies.

Easy Accessibility To PublicCryptocurrency is a digital currency that can be used as both - a store of value and a mode of exchange. While it has just started to gain attention as a legit payment method, it has established itself as a new asset class over the past decade.

Even if the public is unwilling to use it for transactions, many want to convert their cash into crypto because they believe that its deflationary nature makes it a better store of value and a hedge against inflation.

Especially in India, after the RBI ban against cryptocurrency was lifted, its investors had a significant surge.

Many platforms have launched and received funding in this space to make crypto investing accessible. One such platform is CoinSwitch Kuber- acquiring over two million users in just six months after it launched.

As cryptocurrency is becoming more accessible to the public, more retail investors want a share of the asset class and are willing to pay more.

Bottom LineIf the rising prices in the crypto market have got you thinking that it is too late to invest in cryptocurrencies, understand that this is just the beginning.

With more countries seeking to regulate the market, cryptocurrencies will become mainstream.

Disclaimer: This above is non-editorial content and TIL hereby disclaims any and all warranties, express or implied, relating to the same. TIL does not guarantee, vouch for or necessarily endorse any of the above content nor is responsible for them in any manner whatsoever. The article does not constitute investment advice. Please take all steps necessary to ascertain that any information and content provided is correct, updated and verified.

Read more from the original source:
5 reasons why bitcoin cryptocurrency prices are on the rise - Economic Times

OLBs SecurePay TM Payment Gateway to Enable Merchants to Seamlessly Offer Cryptocurrency Payments

The OLB Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: OLB), a provider of cloud-based omnicommerce and payment acceptance solutions for small and mid-size merchants, announced it has upgraded its SecurePay payment gateway system to support Cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDC and DAI across all merchant platforms. Merchants utilizing the OLB SecurePay gateway service or the OmniSoft cloud-based business management platform will immediately have the option to accept these alternative contactless payment methods without any equipment changes. Our systems will be wallet agnostic and, integrating them with third-party software, customers will be able to seamlessly pay with Cryptocurrency wallets such as MetaMask TM, Coinbase Wallet TM, Crypto.com and Trust Wallets TM.

Ronny Yakov, CEO of OLB, said, "Providing all the latest technologies and tools to merchants is our top priority. It is imperative to adjust to these times as the world becomes further integrated with digital currencies. By enabling our merchants the ability to accept digital payments, it will also help enhance the funds available for every merchant that opts in, as these forms of payments settle instantly, providing small businesses with more flexibility and agility. By 2027, the global payments industry is projected to be 8.94 Trillion USD and according to Statista there are 66 million users of Cryptocurrency wallets, according to Fortune Business Insights"

SercurePay is compatible with mobile, tablet-based and cloud infrastructure and will be integrated into the merchants current payment ecosystem, in order to enable the acceptance of Cryptocurrency payments. Merchants interested in implementing omnicommerce services or accepting crypto within their existing payment infrastructure can set up an account at https://cryptoaccept.com

For more information about The OLB Group, please visit http://www.olb.com or http://www.olb.com/investors-data .

Story continues

Future OLB Press Releases and Updates

Interested investors or shareholders can be notified of future Press Releases and Industry Updates by e-mailing investorrelations@OLB.com .

Safe Harbor Statement

All statements from The OLB Group, Inc. in this news release that are not based on historical fact are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning the impact of COVID-19 on our operations and financial condition, our ability to implement our proprietary merchant boarding and CRM system and to roll out our Omni Commerce and SecurePay applications, including payment methods, to our current merchants and the integration of our secure payment gateway with our crowdfunding platform. While the Companys management has based any forward-looking statements contained herein on its current expectations, the information on which such expectations were based may change. These forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions concerning future events and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are outside of our control, that could cause actual results to materially differ from such statements. Such risks, uncertainties, and other factors include statements regarding the expected revenue and income for operations to be generated by The OLB Group, Inc. For other factors that may cause our actual results to differ from those that are expected, see the information under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Companys most recent Form 10-K and 10-Q filings, and amendments thereto, as well as other public filings with the SEC since such date. The Company operates in a rapidly changing and competitive environment, and new risks may arise. Accordingly, investors should not place any reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. The Company disclaims any intention to, and undertakes no obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statement.

About The OLB Group, Inc.

The OLB Group, Inc. is a payment facilitator and commerce service provider that delivers cloud-based merchant services for web-based and brick-and-mortar organizations. OLB provides a seamless, end-to-end digital commerce solution that includes site creation, hosting, transaction processing and payment gateway, order fulfillment, customer service, outbound marketing, sales reporting, and fundraising. With services from private label shopping sites designed to maintain the unique look or feel of the merchant website, to order fulfillment and customer service, OLB remains invisible to the user and promotes the merchants brand with market-leading technology and solutions. For more information about solutions, services, or to find a reseller, please visit http://www.olb.com . Investor information is available at http://www.olb.com/investors-data .

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210210005034/en/

Contacts

The OLB Group - Investor RelationsInvestorRelations@olb.com (212) 278-0900 EXT: 333

RedChip Companies Inc.Dave Gentry407-491-4498Dave@redchip.com

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