Bitcoin is often described as gold 2.0; a superior system of storing and transferring value. It has seen a rapid increase in market capitalization since its introduction in 2009, with strong custodial, exchange, and futures infrastructure.

Yet, one cryptocurrency analyst known as cryptocomicon recently laid out a series of compelling reasons why one should not invest in Bitcon. The three that stood out most were limited privacy, centralized mining, and the lack of scalability.

Despite each of these being valid points to consider, they can also be seen as advantages for BTC.

Up until 2018, governments and various financial bodies criticized the anonymous nature of Bitcoin, stating that it poses a risk to the global financial system. But, as reported by Cointelegraph, South Korea recently cracked down on a large-scale sex crime ring earlier this month through tracking Bitcoin addresses.

One could argue that the lack of privacy measures on the Bitcoin network has actually improved the image of the dominant cryptocurrency.

Previously the public and governments perceived Bitcoin as the currency most preferred for use in criminal activities and terrorist financing, but this view appears to have changed in recent years as sophisticated blockchain analytics companies who offer crypto transaction tracking services emerged.

Following the release of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)s revised guideline on crypto assets on February 22, 2020, it has become even more challenging to launder money using Bitcoin than ever before.

Thus, the lack of privacy can also be viewed as increased transparency and this could eventually prevent governments from over-regulating Bitcoin-related companies.

The low scalability of Bitcoin is similar to the no privacy argument in the sense that it can be comprehended in two ways: it can make transactions expensive when the network reaches its peak, but it can also encourage second-layer scaling.

Some state that the relatively high fees on the Bitcoin network would push for the use of second-layer scaling solutions, which many believe to be inevitable if public blockchain networks are eventually used by billions of people worldwide.

Other major public blockchain networks with high scalability like Ethereum are exploring second-layer scaling solutions such as plasma, indicating that second-layer scaling is necessary for any large blockchain network.

According to a report from CoinShares Research, up to 65 percent of the Bitcoin network hashpower comes from China, a level unseen since 2017. While the level of mining centralization in China is currently high, over time it is expected to become more distributed across the world.

To date, large mining centers in China have been able to access cheap electricity in mountainous regions of the country, operating ASIC miners at low costs with natural cooling. Consequently, the level of mining centralization in China reached unprecedented levels in December 2019.

Additional data from CoinShares explained that:

While we expect this ratio to fall again as latest generation hardware further makes its way into the non-Chinese market, at the time of writing, as much as 65% of Bitcoin hashpower resides within China the highest weve seen since we began our network monitoring in late 2017.

The researchers also said:

We have reasons to believe the lions share of the newly deployed hardware has been predominantly installed in China. There could be many reasons for this, but Occams Razor suggests that it is likely an effect of relational and geographic proximity to manufacturers making barriers to business comparatively lower.

Chinas Bitcoin mining equipment access and hashrate. Source: CoinShares

Currently Chinas mining sector has two clear advantages over the rest of the world, cheap electricity and direct access to new mining equipment. Eventually, lower electricity rates and better access to newer mining equipment could push the global mining industry to expand outside of China in the years to come, reducing the level of centralization.

Originally posted here:
Crypto Analyst Cautions Investors Against Bitcoin for 3 Key Reasons - Cointelegraph

HONG KONG, HONG KONG - NOVEMBER 9: As a visual representation of the digital Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin ... [+] with US Dollar on November 9, 2017 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Cryptocurrencies - Bitcoin, have seen unprecedented growth in 2017. (Photo by studioEAST/Getty Images)

Bitcoin remains a controversial asset with most people either believing it as doomed to be valueless or set to be worth $1 million a coin. As such it is probably a fair bet to say it will do neither.

Here is the state of play:

The Bitcoin chart as the 'halvening' approaches

This is what happened last time:

Here's what happened to the Bitcoin price after the last 'halvening'

The idea is that the price will go up because the supply of new coins will halve, so on an even keel basis there will be the same demand but less supply. The increase of bitcoin supply will half but interestingly it will also fall below the recent rate of U.S. dollar inflation. So the thinking goes: supply of new bitcoin down + supply of bitcoin less than U.S. dollars (substantially less since the recent titanic stimulus packages) + ever increasingspread of acceptance = significant price rise.

Doomsters say that miners will flee as they can no longer make money mining and the blockchain will seize up. However, every two weeks the mining difficulty retargets to take that into account, so this scenario simply wont happen and in the end transaction costs would make up for any drop in new coin rewards if the situation became difficult. A $6 per transaction fee would fill the gap, which is super pricey, but not when large transactions are at stake.

The halvening wont break bitcoin, but will it be the beginning of the next leg up?

I think so.

Will it catapult bitcoin to $100,000 a coin? It could happen but I want to believe because I have a pile of bitcoins.

The key factor will be the shape of the developing coronavirus recession. The outcome of these huge stimulus packages are impossible to predict. Not only is their effect utterly unpredictable but even their scale is uncertain. Bitcoin (BTC) is just a tiny sideshow to all these goliath moves.

The only outcome that would hurt BTC is deflationary depression and with trillions of cash being helicoptered in to bailout everyone, at least the deflationary part seems hard to imagine.

What isnt so hard to imagine is something the ex-Federal Reserve Chairman brought up: Hysteresis. Thats not the electrical thing, its the political type. Hysteresis is what Marxists use to explain away the fact that their fabulous theories never seem to be adopted or work. Its a shock to the system that is needed to create the momentum for a sudden and irreversible change. That Ben Benenke should bring up the prospect for that is enough to make your ears burn. Bitcoin $1 million is totally ridiculous but then.

A Zimbabwe one hundred trillion dollar note

Whether hysteresis would mean a trillion dollar bill or something else entirely, it wont do bitcoin any harm.

Love it or hate it, in times of hysteresis a bitcoin wallet would be a prized possession. Even without the halvening, bitcoin looks good as a haven/flight asset in very uncertain times.

-

Clem Chambers is the CEO of private investors websiteADVFN.com and author of 101 Ways to Pick Stock Market Winners and Trading Cryptocurrencies: A Beginners Guide.

Chambers won Journalist of the Year in the Business Market Commentary category in the State Street U.K. Institutional Press Awards in 2018.

Read the original here:
Bitcoin: The Halvening Cometh - Forbes

Investors may be accumulating bitcoin ahead of next month's miner reward halving.

The seven-day moving average of the total number of bitcoin held in exchange addresses fell to 2,214,365 on April 14 the lowest level since last June according to numbers from blockchain intelligence firm Glassnode.

As of Tuesday, the average was down nearly 8 percent from a high of 2,404,786 registered on Jan. 17, 2020.

The decline in exchange balances suggests a shift to longer-term holding strategies, according to Glassnode.

That's because investors usually withdraw coins from the exchanges to hold in their personal wallets when prices are expected to rise. Conversely, they tend to move their balances to exchanges in preparation to sell when a price drop is expected or during a price crash.

For instance, bitcoins price fell by 33 percent in the seven days to March 15. At the time, the seven-day average of coins held on exchanges rose from 2,333,279 on March 11 to 2,350,795 on March 18.

However, the spike was short lived and the downturn in exchange balances resumed from March 19.

The increased levels of holding may be associated with bullish expectations tied to bitcoins mining reward halving, scheduled to take effect in just 27 days. The process, aimed at controlling inflation, will reduce rewards per block mined from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC.

Essentially, miners will be adding fewer coins to the ecosystem following the halving. Some analysts think that would create a supply deficit and push up prices.Once bitcoin has its halving next month, we expect prices to rally, carrying the rest of the market with it, said Richard Rosenblum, head of trading at GSR.

Meanwhile, some stock-to-flow models indicate the halving could send bitcoins price to $100,000, as noted in the cryptocurrency platform Lunos weekly market report.

Further, the coronavirus-induced global economic recession and resulting unprecedented monetary and fiscal stimulus launched by the Federal Reserve and the U.S. government, respectively, are widely expected to boost bitcoins appeal as a safe haven asset and a hedge against inflation.

However, some observers have been skeptical about the bullish narrative surrounding bitcoins halving. Bitcoin halving in May 2020 wont do anything to the price. It will be a non-event, Jason Williams, co-founder of digital asset fund Morgan Creek Digital, tweeted in December.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency has so far failed to perform as a safe haven asset and has largely moved in line with the equity markets. Since the beginning of March, bitcoins correlation with the S&P and Dow has been unusually high at approximately 0.82, Nicholas Pelecanos, head of trading at NEM Ventures, told CoinDesk.

If the decline in exchange balances is a guide, though, the investor community looks to have some belief in the bullish halving narrative and the long-term value of the cryptocurrency as an inflation hedge.

From a technical analysis standpoint, the cryptocurrencys recovery rally from the March low of $3,867 looks to have run out of steam.

Weekly chart

Bitcoin has failed three times in the last month to keep gains above the 100-week moving average, currently lined up near $7,060.The repeated failure is suggestive of buyer fatigue.

That, coupled with the rising wedge breakdown seen on the daily chart, suggests scope for a downside break of the recent trading range of $6,600$7,200. A range breakdown, if confirmed, would open the doors to $6,100, as discussed Tuesday.

Bitcoin has enjoyed an over-50-percent rally from its mid-March low. The bulls now must sustain the rally at an equal or greater pace in the short term or the bears might take back some serious ground," said NEM Ventures Pelecanos. "Indicators from one of our momentum-based strategies are beginning to show a serious bearish setup that could lead to a 50-percent sell-off, sending prices into the low $3,000s."

Disclosure:The author currently holds no cryptocurrencies.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

Visit link:
More Investors Are Holding Bitcoin Ahead of the Halving, Data Suggests - CoinDesk

Niklas Nikolajsen, the founder of Swiss crypto broker Bitcoin Suisse, predicts that Bitcoin (BTC) will move to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) once the Ethereum (ETH) network has proved the algorithms success.

Bitcoins current Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm the pioneering concept which in fact pre-existed Bitcoin, but has since come to be indissociable from the cryptocurrency will probably change in the future, Nikolajsen argued.

In outtakes from an interview conducted for a German TV documentary recorded back in October 2019, but uploaded on April 6 Nikolajsen said:

[Bitcoins move to Proof-of-Stake] is not planned, but the second-largest cryptocurrency, Ether, will move to a Proof-of-Stake concept that demands vastly less electricity, already in a few months. Im sure, once the technology is proven, that Bitcoin will adapt to it as well.

Once its proven that Proof-of-Stake works well, its a superior system to Proof-of-Work, he said.

In blockchains that use a PoS system, nodes in the network engage in validating blocks, rather than mining them, as in PoW. For PoS, a deterministic algorithm selects block validators based on the number of tokens a given node has staked in their wallet i.e. deposited as collateral in order to compete to add the next block to the chain.

Nikolajsen's prediction that Bitcoin will eventually migrate to a PoS system was made in the context of a discussion of the notoriously high levels of electricity needed to sustain mining on the current network.

He dismissed claims that mining Bitcoin consumes levels of electricity comparable to small nations and also emphasized that mining's energy-intensity is less of an issue than where that energy is produced and how sustainably it is generated.

Moreover, the energy consumption of producing gold Bitcoins proverbial predecessor must be equally acknowledged, Nikolajsen states, as does that in the existing banking system and tech industry:

Which metropolis in the world doesnt have 100-story-high banking towers, glowing in a million different colors all night, and their financial systems, their computers, server rooms. How much energy does Facebook consume? They have 21 huge data centers worldwide, Id say probably more than Bitcoin. The banking system for sure consumes a lot more energy.

The common perception that high energy consumption is an Achilles Heel for Bitcoin has been critiqued by some proponents of clean energy, who, like Nikolajsen, place an emphasis on the sources of power, rather than levels of consumption.

Beyond the energy problem, the PoS vs. PoW debate engages questions of economic fairness, barriers to entry, network security and decentralization.

Read the original:
Bitcoin Will Follow Ethereum And Move to Proof-of-Stake, Says Bitcoin Suisse Founder - Cointelegraph

A federal judge said Craig Wright's objection to handing over crucial evidence regarding billions in bitcoin left her "puzzled," as he seemed to be arguing the court should "blindly accept" everything he says.

District Judge Beth Bloom overruled Wright's objections to an Order of Discovery issued by another judge, compelling Wright to produce 11,000 documents for the Kleiman lawsuit. She said the defendant mischaracterized the order and relied on unsubstantiated arguments.

In a highly critical explanation for her decision for the Southern District Court of Florida, Bloom said it was the role of the presiding judge to determine what evidence was admissible in court. She ruled Wright's arguments that the documents would be inadmissible because they would disregard his attorney-client privilege was a mischaracterization.

The brother of Wright's deceased business partner is suing Wright for half of the 1.1 million bitcoin supposedly held in a joint mining venture known as the Tulip Trust. Based on today's price, the overall value of the bitcoin in question would be more than $7.7 billion, according to CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index.

Wright has long claimed to have access to the bitcoin but has told the court he couldn't prove this as it would infringe on the privilege he has with a mysterious Kenyan lawyer known as Denis Mayaka, who is supposedly counsel for the Tulip Trust.

As Bloom said in this week's court order, Reinhart already highlighted Wright's relationship with this lawyer could not properly be authenticated. The evidence consists of a LinkedIn printout and typed declaration asserting he is counsel for the Trust. This "could easily have been generated by anyone with word processing software and a pen," Reinhart had said.

In her reasons for overruling Wright's objections, Bloom said Reinhart "was not clearly erroneous or acting contrary to law" after he issued the discovery order. "Defendants gripe, therefore, is not with the supposed exclusion of the evidence but instead with the weight assigned to it."

Bloom said Reinhart's skepticism was justified on the basis of Wright's history of providing false evidence.

"[T]he Court is puzzled by Defendants apparent argument that Judge Reinhart must blindly accept items produced by Defendant such that Judge Reinhart cannot rely on his past experiences with Defendant in this litigation (including his history of providing forged materials and giving perjured testimony) in evaluating whether Defendant has carried his burden as to privilege."

"That is not how fact-finding works," Bloom added.

Bloom found nothing to support Wright's argument that producing the evidence would leave him in violation of Australian law. She also threw out claims the magistrate judge should have determined whether documents were relevant to the proceedings before ordering Wright to produce them in court.

The court order is the latest development in a long lawsuit characterized by bad blood on both sides. Wright was previously found to be in contempt of court, while just last month Reinhart criticized Kleiman's legal team for charging "excessive fees" that were to be paid by the defendant due to the drawn-out proceedings.

Wright now has until April 17 to produce the requested documents.

See the full filing below:

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

Link:
Judge 'Puzzled' by Craig Wright's Objections to Producing Evidence of Over 1.1M Bitcoin - CoinDesk

One of the most well-known figures in the crypto industry, supporting Bitcoin from the very beginning, has expressed some positive comments regarding the stand out altcoin cryptocurrency Chainlink, which has been a top-performing asset throughout the last two years. He even compares the assets community to that of Bitcoin or Ethereums, noting that it is one of the rare cryptocurrencies with real merit behind it.

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are widely recognized as investors, businessmen, and entrepreneurs by the general public, due to their close involvement with the early days of Facebook. The duo worked closely with Mark Zuckerberg and was emblazoned in a long court battle over rights to the social media network.

After losing the fight to Zuckerbergs arsenal of lawyers, the pair brushed off their losses and took another chance at something potentially as disruptive and far-reaching, if only the world could ever realize its power. During the earliest days of Bitcoin, the Winklevoss twins met Charlie Schrem, who put them onto the first-ever cryptocurrency.

Related Reading | Chainlink Integrates Real-World Assets Into DeFi on Ethereum

They bought a substantial amount of the asset, and are known to have one of the largest holdings of Bitcoin even today. When Bitcoin ballooned to over $20,000, their net worths skyrocketed, thanks to the two betting big on what they refer to as the future of finance.

Their belief in crypto was so powerful, the two launched the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange as a means to connect the disruptive fintech with consumers at scale.

Tyler Winklevoss, shares some of that belief in the up and comer altcoin called Chainlink, tweeting positively about not only the asset itself but its development and investor community.

The Gemini exchange co-founder and one half of the Winklevii, Tyler, took to Twitter to commend the cryptocurrency known as Chainlink, and the assets community.

He revealed that the passion the community shows is appreciated, and reminds him of the dedication early Bitcoin supporters like himself and his twin brother. The same goes for the community involved in the number two crypto by market cap, Ethereum.

Related Reading | Crypto Trader Gets $0.0001 Chainlink Order Partially Filled on Binance

Etheruem enjoys one of the most active development and investment communities in the investment space, so comparing it to Chainlink is an enormous nod of approval. Chainlink doesnt yet support such activity, but the altcoin is very young and support is still growing rapidly.

And so is that assets price. After being the top performing crypto asset of 2019, Chainlink was the only altcoin to set a new all-time high amidst the coronavirus chaos last month, when markets collapsed into a downward spiral of panic-selling.

With such community support, rapidly rising prices, and a nod of approval from the likes of Tyler Winklevoss, Chainlink is set to have yet another incredible year.

Read the rest here:
Here's Why This Billionaire Just Applauded Chainlink and Compared it to Bitcoin - Bitcoinist

Hut 8 Mining Group, a publicly traded cryptocurrency mining firm, is concerned about coronavirus-related delays of new machine deliveries from potential suppliers such as Bitmain and MicroBT.

During an earnings call last week, CEO Andrew Kiguel said his firm was grappling with a vague timeline for the delivery of crypto mining machines to support its farms, saying that while in February, you thought machines could be delivered between March and April, these timelines have since shifted due to the ongoing pandemic. He did not have a revised timeline either.

His remarks follow guidance from competitor Riot Blockchain, which also warned the novel coronavirus outbreak would impact its business operations.

Three or four weeks ago, nobody thought these things would be an issue, and the world is grappling right now with different supply chain issues like getting ventilators and masks around the world as opposed to bitcoin mining machines, Kiguel said.

Bitmain was one of several Chinese miner manufacturers that warned as far back as January close to eight weeks ago it would be forced to delay deliveries due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Bitmain has since resumed operations, though its delivery timetable is still unclear.

Hut 8 Mining Group, one of the few publicly traded mining firms in the U.S., is also closely watching the upcoming bitcoin halving in hopes of appropriately scaling the size of its mining farm.

The Canadian firm is set to have a higher stake in the bitcoin market after launching its core operation in the middle of 2018 and acquiring facilities to boost its mining power last year. According to its year-end report for 2019, released on Monday, Hut 8 saw $58.6 million in revenue, up by 66 percent from the prior year, thanks to larger capacity and higher bitcoin price.

This places it as one of the productive miners in North America among its competition, including the Colorado-based Riot Blockchain.

Hut8s coronavirus concerns come as the firm prepares for bitcoins hotly anticipated halving, tentatively set to occur in mid-May.

There's a lot of different scenario planning that we've done, Kiguel said.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

See the rest here:
Another Bitcoin Mining Firm Warns COVID-19 Pandemic May Harm Its Business - CoinDesk

Its fair to characterise Bitcoin as a reaction to the last global economic meltdown. At the time, this crypt offered great promise as a safe haven for investors against exactly the type of financial crash we saw in 2007/2008 and, with appalling (and predictable) inevitability, are seeing again now.

Let's face it, we all knew this crash was coming (yes you did, even if you didn't want to); we just didn't know when or how bad.

Now we know "when"... and "how bad"...? Well, by any market metric it's not looking good not by a long, long margin.

Getting it Right this Time Round

The difference is, Dec will be sustainable in the face of a crisis in the way that Bitcoin was supposed to have been, but has (so far) proved not to be.

We now urgently need technology and digital assets that won't simply be a rinse and repeat of the last ten years; if not, financial "stability" will continue to be measured in the time it takes the (now demonstrably) fragile mainstream economy to cycle from boom to bust.

So the question begging to be asked (and answered) is...

What the Heck Happened to Bitcoin?

Any and every Bitcoin enthusiast you've ever been trapped in an elevator with will have told you (undoubtedly many times between floors) that socioeconomic crises like we are now encountering are precisely what this (and most current) cryptocurrency was designed to insure us against. Some of cryptos most ardent supporters are (or perhaps "were" in the light of recent events) adamant that due to these digital asset being uncorrelated with traditional assets like stocks they are safe havens against the type of economic crash Covid-19 is wreaking on the markets.

Maybe now it will sink in: the digital token smoke and mirrors charade represented by current crypts (and the ropy technology that supports them) is a terrible way to secure your financial future and a disastrous attempt at establishing some kind of reputed stable alt economy or sustainable payments system to challenge mainstream alternatives.

It is now time to think differently. And laterally.

But we need to do it quickly, and as a community.

What About Stablecoins?

For the purposes of this article, and its explanatory analogies vis-a-vis our tech and aims, stablecoins are fringe products: stablecoins function to create connections between the legacy world and blockchain. Thus, the raison dtre of stablecoins to mitigate and hence solve price volatility which has so pervasively characterised cryptocurrencies while attempting to retain other characteristics of Bitcoin, is interesting but not game changing in the way we propose.

The fact that stablecoins most notably Tether (USDT) is also a popular asset among crypto traders who want to place their funds in dollars during market downturns so they can avoid crypto price volatility really just reveals them to be a type of crypt that wants to have its proverbial cake and eat it too.

The problem with the stablecoin paradigm even though it seeks to maintain the free flow of capital and censorship resistance, which is laudableis that it is exclusively reliant on third-party factors and commodities, whether through value-pegging or collateralisation. As a result, the value of stablecoins is dependent on external factors that users cannot control, and in this regard they are very similar to a stock or a bond rather than a truly decentralised alternative.

Certainly, the concept of stablecoins is apartsolution but not thewholesolution to therealproblem that needs solving: a step in the right direction, yes; the answer to a truly stable, user-centric crypt that will achieve wide-scale public adoption, generating wealth for all (but an already wealthy elite), no.

Cryptocurrency: Inflated Financial Assets

In practice, Bitcoin is too slow and inefficient to act like electronic cash and hence support any sort of alt economy to rival its mainstream counterpart. (Proof-of-Work and other expensive and unnecessary protocols have effectively hobbled it.) Instead, many enthusiasts today view it as a form of digital gold. Real gold has long been considered a reliable store of value, and investors tend to see it as a form of insurance against an economic downturn.

Many Bitcoin advocates have claimed that the digital asset belongs in this league too.

Or at least they did. Until the proverbial odorous excrement hit the fan two weeks ago.

And that was before the unmitigated carnage of March 12, when Bitcoin lost more than 40% of its value...

As traders continue to rush for the door, dumping Bitcoin to raise much-needed cash, cryptocurrency in its current underdeveloped and over-hyped form is revealing itself to be little more than another financial asset.

But is This Really any Surprise?

It shouldn't be. Not to you and me. Not to anyone. Beyond the hype, Bitcoin (or any crypt) was never really anything elsebutan inflated financial asset; the issue is and always was that the promise of a safe haven implied by Bitcoin (and other crypts) was always the clue to its most egregious failing. Sure, Bitcoin (and other crypts) is not correlated to the financial markets but it is not correlated toanything(a feature that, as discussed, stablecoins are designed to overcome), hence leaving it open to its infamous volatility.

Then last month happened. Though Bitcoins price has jumped since, the 40% dip of March 12 was enough to reveal the crypts instability in the face of the type of crises it was supposed to be stabilising HODLersagainst.

So is Bitcoin not actually a safe haven after all? Maybe. Maybe not. (At least if you cant sell corn or livestock you and your family can eat 'em.) Though it appears to have failed the biggest test of the idea yet, the debate will undoubtedly rage on, serving as a reminder that we are still figuring out exactly what Bitcoinisandis not.

Dec is What it is Not

It is the is not that our token, Dec, is specifically and unambiguously built as an antidoteto.

Unlike stablecoins (which are really only a reflection of legacy commodities and aggregate collateralisation of other crypts), Dec is pegged to the value of user data; user data being a commodity that is controlled by every user at the level of every user. Our platform and web browser ensures the 100% security and immutability of this data, hence ensuring its stability and value.

As a result, Dec places every users financial future in their own hands through proactive online activity and participation while specifically not leaving asset acquisition and valuation to the vagaries of external factors over which users have zero control.

Please find us on social media:

Subscribe to get your daily round-up of top tech stories!

Go here to see the original:
Covid-19 Exposes the Myth of Bitcoin as a Safe Haven - hackernoon.com

BTCPay, a popular open source tool for accepting bitcoin payments, is turning to PayJoin for preserving the privacy of those transactions.

PayJoin (also called P2EP) is a relatively new way to send private transactions in bitcoin and may offer better privacy than current popular alternatives such as CoinJoin. Having BTCPay on board gives PayJoin a major boost in recognition that could translate into broader use of the privacy technology by other firms.

BTCPay developer Andrew Camilleri told CoinDesk the company plans to release an "initial" version of the P2EP privacy feature built into BTCPay on Thursday. He and BTCPay lead developer Nicholas Dorier have been the main contributors to the code.

Open source BTCPay is used by a range of merchants as a way of accepting bitcoin and lightning payments.

"Our mission is financial sovereignty for everyone and PayJoin is a great tool to help break blockchain analysis heuristics and achieve that. Since BTCPay is so widely used, it should help jumpstart usage," Camilleri told CoinDesk.

The work has been sponsored by Blockstream for the past several months to help Camilleri focus on the PayJoin changes.

"We're hoping to improve the privacy and fungibility of bitcoin by accelerating the adoption of P2EP. If enough wallets and businesses support P2EP, it could provide the critical mass needed to achieve widespread financial privacy," said Blockstream Chief Strategy Officer Samson Mow.

Not as private

CoinJoin is the main privacy tool used these days, in part because it is used by wallets Wasabi and Samourai, making it much easier for people to use.

CoinJoin allows multiple people to mix their bitcoin transactions together, making it less obvious who owns which bitcoin. While it helps users to maintain their privacy, one of the main issues is it's easy to see when a bunch of users have done a CoinJoin simply by looking at the blockchain.

Bitcoin researcher Paul Sztorc likened the technology to "wearing a ski mask to an indoor mall."

The main benefit of PayJoin's ConJoin implementation, on the other hand, is that once done, the transactions look the same as other transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain.

So instead of many senders mixing their transactions, only the sender and receiver mix a transaction.

Ultimately we need to make a choice on what kind of world we want to live in, one where there is financial privacy or one where there isnt.

It "breaks blockchain analysis heuristics," Camilleri said. Blockchain analytics companies are able to glean certain transaction criteria to guess (often correctly) if bitcoins belong to the same owner, or to see if the transaction was a part of a CoinJoin.

"Bitcoin's our chance for a logical and fair form of money. Companies that offer services that enable others to discriminate are essentially destroying that chance," Camilleri said.

One disadvantage, however, is both the sender and receiver have to support PayJoin.

"Merchant payment processor support for P2EP made perfect sense. P2EP requires the sender and receiver to both be online. If you're sending, you're naturally online, and merchants have to be online all the time," Mow said.

What's next

PayJoin has been around since 2018, but not a lot of services have added support for it yet. Both the sender and receiver need to support the standard, but most wallets don't support it right now.

"The current active implementations only allow you to do PayJoins between the same wallets, which is a bit too restrictive for widespread usage. There's nothing stopping any wallet or service from adding support for a universal PayJoin protocol now," Camilleri said.

This is one problem the project Snowball is trying to solve by creating code allowing for PayJoin transactions that can be easily added to any bitcoin wallet. The developers behind it plan to eventually open "pull requests" with suggested code to popular bitcoin wallets, to help get the ball rolling by encouraging them to adopt the privacy feature, and making it as easy as possible to do so.

Blockstream plans to further spur adoption of PayJoin. For now, it is working on adding PayJoin support to the bitcoin wallet Blockstream Green.

"The next interesting step would be for an exchange to support P2EP. Ultimately we need to make a choice on what kind of world we want to live in, one where there is financial privacy or one where there isn't," Mow said.

"Money needs to be private and fungible in order for it to be a 'good' money," he added. "With bitcoin, every transaction is open for anyone to see, so we still have a lot of work to do to get it there. Without privacy and fungibility, money can be used as a tool for oppression or financial surveillance. Bitcoin is the future of money and the future of money shouldnt be Orwellian."

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

Read the original:
BTCPay Looks to Anonymize Bitcoin Transactions With PayJoin Integration - CoinDesk

Prominent Bitcoin and crypto analyst Tone Vays says his YouTube account has been terminated.

Vays, a former Bear Stearns risk analyst and vice president at JP Morgan Chase, says his account was taken down shortly after he received a warning on one of his videos.

The popular trader alerted his 201,000 followers on Twitter on Thursday, and the former home of his YouTube channel now displays a 404 Not Found error.

So that escalated quickly. From a single video warning to the ENTIRE CHANNEL Being taken down by YouTube. If @TeamYouTube cant resolve this, might be a career change in the near future. Will just trade during the day and have a nutrition @ytcreators channels at night.

I highly doubt any review by @TeamYouTube took place as the YouTube channel got taken down an hour after the initial warning and 30 minutes after my appeal. But if this it for my @ytcreators channel, then it is what it is, was fun while it lasted.

Cryptocurrency supporters on YouTube have reported an increasing number of issues on the platform in recent months, with videos being removed and channels receiving strikes without warning.

In December, hundreds of Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto-related videos were suddenly removed in a sweeping crackdown across dozens of channels.

However, those videos were eventually restored and a YouTube spokesperson said the worlds leading video-sharing platform made the wrong call by flagging content from crypto YouTube creators as harmful.

So far, YouTube has not commented on exactly why it terminated Vayss account, saying only that he violated the platforms terms of service.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/metamorworks

See original here:
YouTube Bans Bitcoin (BTC) and Crypto Analyst Tone Vays, Removes All Videos and Terminates Account - The Daily Hodl