Jan 30, 2020 20:38 UTC

| Updated:

Jan 30, 2020 at 20:38 UTC

By Rajat Gaur

The crypto space in China is on a very fast trail to make things regular with the countrys economy. The countrys plan to strategize and monetize e-yuan on the primary hitlist, the laws that govern the same were also strategized and released.

The laws that came into effect at the start of this new year will be the cornerstone on which the crypto space of china will be built upon.

The Chinese released these laws to mainly implement the cryptography process at a much larger scale in their economy. This will regularise the blockchain space much more effectively.

What do the Chinese have in mind?

The Chinese really want to get the grasp over the crypto-space for which they will have to definitely have to improve their hold over cryptography.

There are many aspects on which the law stands for and of that, the key parameters include regulation of the crypto-currency, increase the security featurettes that will enable safe transactions and withdrawals and also promote the research into the field of cryptography.

One of the biggest points that are strict to be followed according to the law is that when one transfers confidential documents or information, they must do the same using the cryptography methodology to ensure safety and security.

The Chinese have also other impending laws that will soon be added to the cause leading to more definite and accurate decisions while it comes to governing digital assets with cryptography. The Chinese are also planning to enable the implementation of the law in private and commercial trade as well. But there are few bottlenecks which they will have to clear. One of the biggest concerns that worry the government is that they will have to provide security as well as safeguard the privacy of all those who are trading using cryptocurrency but in the meantime also identify the users to distinguish terrorists from the common people.

The Road map;

The Chinese laws on cryptography is not a one-night wonder show, but a meticulous effort of many fin-tech experts to put the ideal practice of law in the crypto space in place.

The Chinese president Xi Jinping is eagerly promoting the growth of the technology and is wanting to implement more of the technology usage into the financial stream of the company.

However, if China succeed in keeping the laws intact and implementing them accurately, it could slowly pave the way for them to bag the number one spot in the crypto space in the world.

See more here:
China's new law on Cryptography, much more than the law? - BTC Wires

Over time, Mr. Sanborn has tried to provide clues that could move people along, since he has been hounded by people who believe, mistakenly, that they have cracked the last passage, known as K4. He was getting 200 inquiries a week, he told me, which became overwhelming and some became threatening and even, believe it or not, racist. For $50, people could submit a proposed solution and get an answer, which made things much more manageable, he said.

He provided a clue to me in 2010 that we published in The New York Times. And again in 2014. And now.

He called me in late 2019 to suggest he might be about to release another clue, to move things along. At a recent gathering of Kryptos fans, he had said he wanted me to take it on. I said yes, of course.

I love Mr. Sanborns work. When I stumbled upon one of his unmistakable pieces on the campus of the University of Iowa, a metal cylinder with punched-through letters in many languages that is lit from within at night, casting text on the courtyard and walls around it, it seemed so instantly familiar that I felt as if I were encountering an old friend in a strange town.

But Kryptos, his decades-old piece, has become something of a millstone for him, he said. My cryptography interest left me 25 years ago, he told me as I was finishing the latest article. My art went in different directions. Thats an understatement. While he has produced other cryptographic pieces, he has also produced astonishing installations that straddle art and science, and, most recently, Without Provenance: The Making of Contemporary Antiquity, a collection of objects that explores the nature of looted antiquities and forgery in unsettling ways.

Perhaps the most interesting part of my call from Mr. Sanborn is his decision to arrange an auction to sell the solution to the mystery, whether after his death or before. If the amount of money raised is substantial and this, he admits, is unknown it will go to support climate science. He lives on an island in the Chesapeake Bay, so as he told me, it was a no-brainer. Coincidentally, this put the Kryptos news within my current beat.

As I worked on the story about the final clue, my editor, Hannah Fairfield, liked the graphics possibilities of portraying the coded and decoded passages; Jonathan Corum, the amazing science graphics editor, agreed to do his magic. And you can see the result.

Much of the time, journalism is jack rabbit quick, with the need to leap when news breaks.

Sometimes its slow, and things can percolate. And sometimes it even helps us solve a puzzle.

Follow the @ReaderCenter on Twitter for more coverage highlighting your perspectives and experiences and for insight into how we work.

Link:
How I Got the Latest Clue to a 30-Year-Old Puzzle at the C.I.A. - The New York Times

Most online casinos accept a number of different payment methods. Pretty much every casino accepts Visa and Mastercard, while some other options that are widely accepted include e-wallets PayPal, Neteller and Skrill, along with prepaid cards such as Paysafecard. Generally speaking, the more payment methods a casino accepts, the more players it can attract. After all, theres no point signing up to a casino if it doesnt accept the payment method youre currently using.

All of the payment methods mentioned above are used to transfer fiat currencies from one account to another. Fiat currencies are traditional currencies, such as Dollar, Euro, and Pound, that are regulated by governments or banks.

Many online casinos have started accepting a new type of currency: cryptocurrency. This is an entirely digital currency thats not regulated by any government or bank and uses cryptography to ensure that transactions are fully protected at all times. The first cryptocurrency was Bitcoin, which was launched in 2009; since then, many others have come into use, including Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, and EOS.IO.

Lots of online casinos accept cryptocurrencies. Some only let you use Bitcoin, while others accept Bitcoin and a small number of other cryptocurrencies. There are even a growing number of casinos that dont accept any fiat currencies at all and only allow gambling with cryptocurrencies. These so-called crypto casinos typically offer Bitcoin and quite a few other major cryptocurrencies, as well as some minor ones. Of course, you will still find no wager free spins promotions on sites like 777 Casino offers page.

Cryptocurrencies offer online gamblers numerous benefits. Theyre very safe and secure, plus they can be used without you having to provide the casino with any personal or banking details. Payments are fast (especially withdrawals) and anonymous. For many players, cryptocurrencies are seen as the most convenient option for making online payments.

As previously mentioned, the more payment methods a casino offers, the more players it can attract. Ideally, all casinos should offer at least some cryptocurrencies as payment methods. The reason for this is that more and more people prefer to use cryptocurrencies over fiat currencies for online gambling. If cryptocurrencies are what people would rather use, it makes sense for casino operators to accept these currencies and let players use them at the casino to gamble online.

If a casino continues not to accept cryptocurrencies, its missing out. Players who only use cryptocurrencies wont bother with this casino and will instead look for one where they can gamble using their preferred payment method. If a casino decides to start accepting cryptocurrencies, even if its just Bitcoin, its not going to miss out as much. There will always be those who prefer fiat currencies, but by not accepting cryptocurrencies, casinos are missing out on a growing market that could become quite large someday. Theres every chance that cryptocurrencies could become just as widely used as fiat currencies for online payments, especially since there are so many of them in fact, there are well over a thousand of them.

To conclude, cryptocurrencies are a popular way of carrying out online transactions because of the safety and anonymity they offer. Many people prefer using them for online gambling. As many online casinos as possible should offer cryptocurrencies as payment options for two reasons: one, so that they can attract players and dont miss out on their customer; two, so that those who use cryptocurrencies exclusively have just as many places to gamble online as those who use fiat currencies do. Cryptocurrencies arent going anywhere, so it really is in casinos best interests to offer this new type of currency as a payment method.

View original post here:
Are Crypto Payments Useful as a Form of Payment in Casinos? - CryptoNewsZ

While people are slowly recognizing cryptocurrencys value, China is still hesitating.Accordingly, the country has taken some strong steps against cryptocurrencies in the past few years. Though the intent is not always wrong, the implementation remains questionable. We take a deeper look.

So whats crypto trading in China really like? Lets begin the examination by recalling the circumstances of the ICO ban.

On the 4th of September 2017, seven Chinese governmental agencies jointly issued a notice regarding the Prevention of Risks of Token Offering and Financing. These agencies include the Peoples Bank of China, the Central Cybersecurity and Information Technology Lead Group of the Communist Party of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. As well as the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, China Banking Regulatory Commission, China Security Regulatory Commission, and China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

To remind, the notice banned all ICOs in China. It ordered the organizations and individuals who had previously completed an ICO to return token assets to investors and thus protect investor rights.

On September 15, 2017, the Beijing Internet Finance Risk Working Group summoned senior executives of cryptocurrency trading platforms in Beijing. Discussions revolved around two major topics:

As a result, the platforms shut down their trading business in China. And such behemoth exchanges like Binance moved to Malta.

In February 2018, the South China Morning Post reported that China was planning to block websites related to cryptocurrency trading and ICOs, including foreign platforms. This way the countryaimed at completely removing cryptocurrency trading. However, this move was not implemented.

The country also imposed restrictions on cryptocurrency trading platforms. According to the Government rule,

Recently, the National Development Reform Commission, Chinas top economic planning body, proposed banning all cryptocurrency miners within its borders.

According to the Leading Group of Internet Financial Risks Remediation the countrys internet finance regulator which initiated the clampdown on bitcoin said:

Yet, in November it seemed like the country took a U-Turn. After all, the group itself doesnt control national energy usage but it is an influential political vehicle thats led by the deputy governor of the Peoples Bank of China (PBC), Pan Gongsheng.

Thus, the community should prepare for the worse.

Recently in the 14th Session of the 13th National Peoples Congress Standing Committee voted to pass the crypto law, which will be implemented from January 1, 2020.

The Cryptography Law aims to

According to the law, passwords will now be classified into the following categories:

Citizens, legal persons, and other organizations will use these passwords to protect networks and other related information.

A total of 5 chapters and 44 articles were published stating details related to usage requirements, security management system, and different safeguard systems and measures to strengthen the passwords which fall in these categories.

The Cryptography Law also states that it will strengthen cryptographic talents. An individual with outstanding contributions will receive rewards and appreciations.

China has not yet passed any legislation regulating cryptocurrencies. At the same time, the regulators are not recognizing them asa means of payment. Also, the Chinese banking system is not accepting any existing cryptocurrencies or providing relevant services.

That said, it is not illegal to hold Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, or even to buy or sell them in China. The Chinese government also encourages the development and application of blockchain technology. However, the government has made it clear that blockchain technology must serve the real economy.

Besides, the Peoples Bank of China is about to launch its own digital currency.

On a different note, it is quite surprising that in spite of Chinas tough stance, many promising crypto projects are from this country. Perhaps, in the long run, China will be able to balance regulation with innovation. While only time will tell what will happen to Bitcoin, its vital that we get the foundations right.

Here are some interesting reads from our database

Whats Going on in China? Changpeng Zhao Knows

China Will Have a Public Blockchain Says Qtum Growth Head

China: Yes to Blockchain, Still No to Crypto

Chinas Cryptography Law is About to Take Effect

China is Even Closer to Launching its Own Cryptocurrency

China Bans Crypto. Again

Source

Xinhuanet, Dffyw,loc.gov

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Rules and Regulations of Crypto Trading in China - Bitcoin & Crypto Guide - Altcoin Buzz

New Delhi, February 03, 2020: Punjab National Bank recently partnered with Uniken to integrate its award-winning REL ID platform for their PNB Verify app. This integration will help PNB ensure a flawless and error-free environment for all transactions made on the app by the users, thereby eliminating the risk of all possible cyber threats. Uniken has created a niche for itself and has been a preferred choice when it comes to cyber security, especially in the finance sector owing to its zero fraud record till date. Uniken has been working with other major national banks by offering its unique REL-ID technology. Unikens long-term successful association with partners is a testimony to their ability to implement, sustain and support large deployments with best outcomes.

PNB Verify application by Punjab National Bank provides additional security to authenticate financial and certain non-financial transactions initiated through Internet Banking channel or through Debit Card (e-commerce). Customer shall be able to verify (Accept or Reject) Internet Banking or Card transactions through the PNB Verify app rather than entering One Time Password received on mobile.

Speaking on the partnership, Bimal Gandhi, CEO, Uniken said Every new partnership is a testimony to our unique and state-of-the-art solution we provide through our REL-ID platform. But partnering with giants like Punjab National Bank means a lot more than just business proliferation. It keeps us on our foot and motivates us in putting relentless efforts in improving our product and keeping up with the expectations that we have set, and even outdoing ourselves. He further added REL-ID hosts various unique features that will help PNB Verify app be foolproof. We have enabled cryptographic signing that ensures that each transaction is digitally signed and is non-repudiable. The integration of REL-ID in the PNB Verify app will result in stronger prevention against Man In The Middle (MITM) attacks owing to its latest ciphers and elliptic curve cryptography. It creates an invisible multifactor authentication mechanism ensuring device trustworthiness and identity verification during app enrollment. In addition, the REL-ID storage provides stronger prevention against credential harvesting and phishing attacks.

Mr. Divyang Rastogi, AGM, IT, Punjab National Bank said Customers satisfaction and their data security is our priority, and we are always willing to go the extra mile to ensure the same. Through the implementation of Unikens REL-ID in the PNB Verify app, we have got access to a lot of security features that will help our customers in making their transactions through the app convenient and quick. Key customer centric features includes: a) Replace SMS OTP based transaction authorization by pull based out of band notifications b) Notifications are received and visible only after strong multifactor authentication c) Eliminate SIM frauds by using customers device fingerprinted app to be used for authentication and transaction authorization over a strongly authenticated secure communication channel d) Show complete transaction details encrypted using secure channel to provide customer full transaction context at the time of transaction authorization e) Use of strong Biometric, FaceID, TouchID authentication on trusted device allows one tap login to authorize transaction f) Detailed Notification history displayed on the App ensures the details available for review g) Protect data and transactions over public internet/wireless by virtue of MITM proof secure channel REL-ID from Uniken offers the most comprehensive suite of protection, detection and correction technologies in the mobile app security/shielding space. No other solution in the industry organically combines device fingerprinting, app fingerprinting, user identity management, malware detection, multi factor authentication, secure channel and cryptographic digital signing in one single small footprint SDK while maintaining maniacal focus on UX/CX.

PWR PWR

Read the rest here:
PNBs Verify App integrates Unikens award winning REL-ID technology for indefectible online transactions - Yahoo India News

ByDoug Donovan

"All in" is not just a phrase Avi Rubin throws around during poker games. It's a way of life.

Whether it's photography, boating, or his specialty field of applied cryptography, the Johns Hopkins computer science professor "never does anything halfway," says his wife, Ann.

Rubin's poker prowess outside the classroom has been well documented over the past 15 years since his younger brother, Yaacov, a senior finance official at Hopkins, introduced him to it.

But during January's Intersession, the 52-year-old professor had the opportunity to bring his passion into the classroom by teaching "Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Poker." His commitment to the course was evident: he had trophies made for various competitions he organized, he bought a domain name for the classhopkinspokercourse.com, which houses all of his filmed lectures and course materialshe set up a students-only PokerStars.com page, and he hosted a tournament at his house.

"It was like a dream come true for him," his wife says.

Image caption: Avi Rubin (right) hosted a final tournament for 52 students at his Baltimore County home.

Image credit: Will Kirk / Johns Hopkins University

Rubin wasn't the only one excited about the course, which did not involve gambling real money. Nearly 250 students registered for the class, including his daughter Elana, a junior Writing Seminars major. That made it the most popular Intersession course by far, representing 10% of the nearly 2,500 students who signed up for January classes.

"It's been amazing," Rubin says.

The poker professor was not so optimistic last year when he first started the process of getting the class approved. When two departments declined to sponsor the course, Rubin did it himself as technical director of the JHU Information Security Institute.

"I've been thinking about it and planning it in the back of my mind for years," says Rubin, who is also director of the Health and Medical Security Lab at Hopkins and a computer security consultant.

He spent months devising 783 PowerPoint slides, but could only fit 491 into the two-week course. Over the holiday break in December, with about a week left before the course began, Rubin tweaked the lectures on his laptop while on a cruise to Mexico with his wife and three children.

Image credit: Will Kirk / Johns Hopkins University

"I wanted the students to get an appreciation for the depth of the rigor that goes into poker," he said. "There is a lot of math and science to it. It's not just luck. It's a game of skill."

He hosted a final tournament for 52 students, most of whom earned their seats for performing well in the class' PokerStars.com tournaments. Hosting that many students on a Thursday night for pizza was no problem for Rubin: his Baltimore County house was built with a 950-square-foot poker room that he uses for monthly games with friends. It features three flat screen televisions mounted on the walls and five burgundy poker tables positioned across a gleaming mahogany floor.

Rubin paid for gift cards and glass trophies for the winners of various competitions, including a "professor bounty chip" for the student who could knock him out of his own tournament.

That's where Amber Hamelin, a 20-year-old sophomore from Pickerington, Ohio, comes in. Hamelin got the rare opportunity most students would covetor dread: a chance to best her professor at his expertise.

Image caption: Sophomore Amber Hamelin knocked Rubin out of his own tournament, winning his "bounty" chip for her win.

Image credit: Will Kirk / Johns Hopkins University

While Hamelin had played poker before in high school, Rubin's course made it clear to her that she had no idea what she was doing.

But that didn't stop her from earning her way into the live tournament by solving a poker riddle before anyone elsea riddle that even Rubin wasn't able to solve when he first heard it.

That should have been a warning when he came face to face with Hamelin as a dozen students and Rubin's wife and three children crammed around the table to watch if she could beat the professor. With a dominant handa pair of queensRubin went all in. If he lost, he was out and Hamelin would win the professor bounty chip.

"I told myself that if I have a chance to go head to head with Professor Rubin to knock him out that I was going to take it no matter how bad my hand," said Hamelin, who studies applied math and statistics.

True to her word, Hamelin called with terrible cards: an eight of hearts and a nine of clubs.

But then she hit a winning five-card flush, giving Rubin what's called a "bad beat."

His goal was to offer an exhaustive curriculum that aimed "to take students from novices who may know nothing about poker to above average players, in two weeks," according to the course description. The class delivered on that promise for senior Andrew King, a physics and applied math major who won the live tournament.

"I never played a hand of Texas Hold 'Em poker before," said King, 21, of Towson, Maryland. "It's so random that at a certain point you can't really think about winning until you're the top three."

Shehryar Haris, 22, of Dubai, learned a similar lesson about luck's big swings. The senior international studies major earned a trophy by winning one of the class's two online poker tournaments. But he was the first player knocked out of the live tournament.

He was amazed at how much math and statistics went into winning poker. "It taught me how to do math on the fly," Haris said.

In addition to a guest lecture from Maryland poker great Steve Dannenmann, students learned just as much math as Machiavellian maneuvers. Lectures focused on calculating odds, how to "exploit passive players," and "deception."

Even before his class, however, Rubin was instructing students interested in poker when a group started the Johns Hopkins Poker Club last spring. The group meets on Wednesday nights at Levering Hall and, like Rubin's class, uses only fake money.

Siddharth Arun, president of the Hopkins Chess Club, said he took Rubin's course to learn about poker's psychological elements and to learn how to make the best decisions with limited information.

"A lot of the game revolves around psychological advantage and how well you can control your mental acumen during the game," said the senior biomedical engineering major. "Understanding strategy is helpful for decision making and having a logical train of thought. As an engineer that's how you break down problems."

Excerpt from:
Hopkins professor wins big on poker class bet - The Hub at Johns Hopkins