Category Archives: Bitcoin

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Summary: MobileGo is the new dual blockchain token developed by Gamecredits . The MobileGo Crowdsale begins April 25th and will help finance and brand the Gamecredits Mobile Store. MobileGo will operate within the mobile platform and will use both the Ethereum and Waves blockchains.

GameCredits Inc has announced an affiliated crowdsale beginning April 25th at 3:00 PM UTC. The crowdsale is supporting MobileGo, the first dual blockchain cryptocurrency aimed at providing decentralized solutions to the mobile gaming industry. The three main solutions the innovative coin provides are a player to player virtual item marketplace, player run wager tournaments, and player vs player wager match-play. These technologies are launching inside of the GameCredits Mobile Store, leveraging the hundreds of games already signed up for the platform. A demo of the GameCredits Mobile Store GameCredits, done by VP of Business Operations Sergey Sholom can be seen in the Gamecredits Inc social outlets.

Currently, virtual item exchange and e-sports are fast growing billion dollar industries for PC gaming. However, there are no such solutions for mobile gaming, which is the fastest growing sector, projected to reach a whopping 80.6 billion dollars in size by 2020. These three sectors are currently untapped markets, meaning MobileGo could be the first to take them over. With this in mind, the MobileGo foundation will take 50% of all funds raised to advertise the GameCredits Mobile Store, acquiring millions of gamers to the platform at an industry average cost of $1.50 per gamer. MobileGo and GameCredits will work in unison to bring competitive gaming to phones around the globe.

MobileGo is gearing up to be one of the most promising blockchain technology projects of the year. The project consists of incredibly qualified people from a variety of fields. Two head developers Maxim and Sergey Sholom, have over 25 combined years of combined experience developing successful PC and Mobile games. The team also consists of cryptocurrency and big data experts innovating the tokens dual blockchain platform. In addition, the core product behind MobileGo, the GameCredits Mobile Store, is entirely developed. Investing in MobileGo means investing in the success of the GameCredits Mobile Store since 10% of all store profit will be used to buyback and burn MobileGo tokens.

Chief Marketing Officer of MobileGo Jon Comer had this to say about the unique development of MobileGo. Its important to realize weve been working on these projects for almost two years, with almost two million dollars in self-financing. Many blockchain projects have a desire to solve problems but are trying to solve problems from the outside in. MobileGo, on the other hand, has been a collaboration from the inside out. Essentially, experts from the gaming blockchain and gaming industries have joined forces to solve gaming industry problems using MobileGo.

The MobileGo foundation has also implemented a discount schedule. During the first week there is a 15% discount for investments made with BTC, ETH, WAVES, and USD, with an additional 7% discount for investments made in GAME. Registration and introduction to the MobileGo Crowdsale can be seen at https://getmobilego.com/crowdsale-investors-only/

This is a paid press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to thepromotedcompanyor any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release.

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New Dual Blockchain Crowdfund set to run ... - news.bitcoin.com

"Ten percent of my net worth is in this space," Novogratz said at a forum held at the Harvard Business School Club of New York Wednesday. He declined to say exactly how wealthy he is, but he's a former hedge fund manager at Fortress Investment Group and a Goldman Sachs partner who made the Forbes billionaire list in 2008.

It's the "best investment of my life," Novogratz said.

Bitcoin was worth under $500 a year ago. Today the digital currency trades at over $1,200. Back in 2013, Novogratz predicted Bitcoin's value would soar. He remembers people laughing at him at the time.

Since then, Bitcoin's price has been on a wild run. It surged to nearly $1,000 in late 2013 and then fell to under $250 in 2015. It started to fly again last year, around the time of the Brexit vote. It surpassed $1,000 in January of this year again and has kept climbing.

Now Novogratz is saying Bitcoin will go to $2,000.

But he also warned the Harvard Business School Club crowd that there will "likely be a bubble" in digital currencies. The best way to handle it, he argues, is the old Wall Street trick of diversification. Put a little money in a lot of different plays in digital currency.

Related: What is Bitcoin? Read CNN's explainer

For example, Novogratz was also an early investor in Ether. It's another digital currency that has quickly emerged as the No. 2 rival to Bitcoin. Novogratz says he bought Ether when it was trading for about $1. Today it's worth over $48.

Novogratz met Vitalik Buterin, the young Russian brainchild behind Ether at a dinner party at a prominent CEO's home. He recalls that Buterin, then 21, showed up late, which struck him as shocking -- and a bit ballsy. He figured it was worth paying attention to Buterin.

Ether is a currency with a "smart contract" function that gives users additional security and abilities to transfer information in addition to monetary value.

We're witnessing the "3rd inning" of this digital asset revolution, Novogratz predicts. He's not exactly sure how it will play out, but he plans to continue investing in digital currencies and Blockchain, the revolutionary technology behind the scenes that makes Bitcoin work.

Blockchain is literally a digital ledger to record and track transactions. What makes it so technologically advanced is that multiple companies or parties can access the Blockchain and see the history of what happened to an asset.

Related: Yext: The newest $1 billion tech company

Novogratz has emerged as one of the biggest Wall Street cheerleaders of Blockchain, but his bets haven't always gone so well. He exited Fortress in 2015 after the company shut down his Marco Fund for poor performance. It lost around 20% in its final year after his investments in emerging markets, especially Brazil, tanked.

"We have had an extremely challenging two years, and I do not believe the current environment is conducive to achieving our best results," Novogratz said at the time.

CNNMoney (New York) First published April 20, 2017: 12:44 PM ET

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Billionaire says he has 10% of his money in Bitcoin, Ether ...

Youve got to admit that everyone likes to go shopping once in a while, whether its to buy that designer shirt youve been eyeing or those nifty gadgets you saw in a catalog the other day. To do this youve got to spend money. But what happens if you want to shop with cryptocurrency?

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that has gained popularity over the years. Here are 9 things you can buy with bitcoin:

Time to go out again. We still have our socks, but maybe we need new shoes? Normally having leather shoes handcrafted for your foot size and shape cost a fortune, but in Iran, with its fine leather and shoe industry, these high quality products are affordable.

Interestingly the sanctions against Iran dont make it illegal to import shoes (unless you are American, maybe). But it does make it impossible to send payments. In this case, we literally have no other option than to pay with Bitcoin.

Ever wanted to visit North Korea? The China-based travel agency Young Pioneer Tours has 9 years of experience of organizing tours to North Korea, and can help you with flights, hotels, visa and a tour guide. Its difficult to make a wire transfer to China, so Bitcoin is our natural choice of payment.

Okay, we get it, Bitcoin is awesome. We constantly want to talk about it, tell others about our trip to North Korea, and how we were able to tweet pictures the entire trip from one of the most heavily locked down countries on earth.

But doing so would make us a bit annoying. We head over to South Korean company Kimchi Socks to buy their Bitcoin branded socks. That way, maybe people will notice and ask about Bitcoin themselves? Bitcoin socks, paid with Bitcoin. We are so much fun at parties!

So now we have shoes from Iran, been to North Korea and have these stylish new socks. Why put shoes on again? Why not just make your work life a whole lot better with some awesome office gadgets?

Gadgets and toys are enjoyed all around the world by people of all age, color and gender. But not everyone has a credit card to pay for it. Bitcoin to the rescue.

Quickly after the first game we realize we might need a better monitor. There are tons of places online that sell monitors for Bitcoins. Rakuten, Overstock, Dell, Tiger Direct and others.

Do you know that feeling when you make yourself coffee while playing a video game, and then you forget you made it and now its cold? That happens with tea as well, but cold tea is still delicious. Just put some Ice cubes inside! No idea how to combine ice cubes and Bitcoin, but for the tea, head to Beautiful Taiwan Tea.

VPNs are meant to protect our privacy and data when we browse the web from a coffee shop or airport Wi-Fi. Many of us live in countries that actively monitor and censor the internet, and a logless VPN protects us.

For more privacy, it makes perfect sense to not use your credit card (which is connected to your real name), but instead the pseudonymous currency Bitcoin.

No matter if you want jewelry for yourself or as a gift, Reeds takes Bitcoins and ships to wherever you are.

At the end of the day, why not donate your Bitcoins to one of over 10,000 charities in the United Kingdom? With Proof of Donation, you are issued a cryptographic receipt that irrefutably proves you did good. With Bitcoin.

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9 Things We Bought With Bitcoin - Huffington Post

As Bitcoins price is creeping back toward its all-time high, speculators are growing increasingly wary of the notion that its astonishing gains can be sustained.

The size of the total outstanding long positions on Bitfinex, one of a handful of large cryptocurrency exchanges that allows customers to buy and sell on margin, has shrunk to its lowest level since Sept. 15.

Meanwhile, the price of a single coin BTCUSD, +0.23% was hovering around $1,245 on Monday, leaving it within $40 of an all-time high reached in early March, when hopes that the Securities and Exchange Commission might soon approve the first bitcoin exchange-traded fund were still running high.

Since then, the agency has rejected two bitcoin ETF proposals. It is expected to issue a ruling on a third contender, the Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust, early in the third quarter.

Bitcoin has been largely stable even as support for a controversial software update called bitcoin unlimited has receded dramatically as developers have identified another bug in its code. The update would, if passes a threshold of 95% of the networks hashing power, increased the amount of transaction data that can be stored in each block of the bitcoin blockchain.

Bitfinexs customers are now long nearly 12,967 coins, while 18,775 coins are being held short. Positioning data like these are widely viewed as a counter indicator; that is, when bets against the currency rise, it raises the likelihood that any gains could be amplified as vulnerable investors scramble to buy back coins held short.

Read: Bitcoin bears ramp up bets virtual currency will fall

Read: Bitcoin touches record high as investors await SEC decision

Read: Heres whats next for bitcoin after the SEC killed the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust

Shorts surpassed longs earlier this month for the first time since February. The last time this happened, it preceded a nearly $300 rally in the price.

The blockchain is the cryptographically secured digital ledger that records all bitcoin transactions. A copy of the blockchain is stored by each computer node running the bitcoin software, and each transaction must first be independently approved by every node in the network before it can be confirmed.

After spending two years in the doldrums, bitcoin came roaring back in 2016 as the price more than doubled. The currency is up more than 30% so far this year.

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Bitcoin traders are losing confidence in the rally - MarketWatch

The Bitcoin network has seen a sharp increase in U.S. dollar denominated transaction fees and the average amount of time it takes for a transaction to receive its first confirmation over the past year due to blocks becoming increasingly full. While some have claimed these perceived issues are extremely detrimental to the adoption of Bitcoin in developing countries, Bitwala CEO Jrg von Minckwitz told Bitcoin Magazine that this is not necessarily true.

Bitwala is a Bitcoin-focused international money transfer startup that also aims to provide blockchain-based banking services that are accessible to anyone on any part of the planet.

According to Minckwitz, the changes in the Bitcoin network over the past year have not had much effect on the particular types of use cases that have become popular on the African continent. Bitwala as a company also likes Bitcoin as it exists today, although they believe off-chain solutions such as the lightning network are the right path forward in terms of future improvements to the network.

What Is Bitcoin Used for in Africa?

According to Minckwitz, North Africa is the most popular region of the continent when it comes to new signups and website visits; however, the Bitcoin startup is also seeing a daily rise in signups and generally increased interest from users in other areas.

According to data recently released by Bitwala, 30 percent of their new signups are coming from a combination of Africa and South East Asia.

Bitcoin is also becoming very popular in Sub-Saharan and East Africa where it fills the need to serve underbanked communities and where the cryptocurrency steps in place of sometimes absent currencies, Minckwitz said.

Minckwitz went on to claim that Bitwala has seen a lot of businesses, especially in Nigeria, that utilize bitcoin to provide bank-like services such as offering loans.

Bitwala has emerged to fill the gap left by money transfer intermediaries and banks when it comes to cheaper and faster international transfers, Minckwitz said. Although we cannot tell for sure, judging by the amounts transferred, people in Africa are using Bitwala for sending money to friends and family, but business-like transactions are also on the rise.

In a past interview with CoinJournal, Kenya-based fintech blogger Michael Kimani shared similar statements, noting the use of Bitcoin for filling the gaps between the various online payment systems in the country.

Bitcoins Network Congestion Not Causing Problems in Africa

When asked if Bitwala has been negatively affected by higher fees and longer confirmation times on the Bitcoin network, Minckwitz bluntly responded, To be honest, no.

We like Bitcoin as it is and we dont see higher fees as a threat, Minckwitz continued. Higher fees make companies [optimize] their payment flows. Many transactions of a day-to-day life dont need to be settled on chain. With higher fees, the spam (useless transactions) on chain gets reduced, which is in our opinion a good thing. Bitcoin was not meant to be a payment network. It is the value that the payment network should carry.

Some in the Bitcoin community would dispute the claim that the P2P digital cash system was never meant to be a payment network. After all, the introduction of the Bitcoin white paper discusses the need for an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust.

Having said that, the earliest of adopters, such as cypherpunk Hal Finney, who received the first-ever bitcoin transaction from Satoshi Nakamoto, have also noted the digital commoditys gold-esque properties, which could signify its importance as a store of value.

In Minckwitzs view, the bigger Bitcoin companies should settle their bitcoin payments in a manner similar to how traditional banks work today, at least for now. They calculate their debt or balance during the day and once a day they do one transfer instead of hundreds back and forth all day long, he explained.

I think it all comes down to the perspective, Minckwitz continued. When you take a look at the current system in Africa, it is way worse than Bitcoins transaction fees. When you transfer money to Africa with Bitcoin it is just a fraction of the amount you pay for companies that serve Africa at the moment.

Minckwitz added that the use of bitcoin as a store of value in Africa should also not be forgotten. Most countries in Africa have really unstable currencies, so sometimes they lose almost everything overnight, he said. We see Bitcoin as the first solution where they are in charge themselves.

Scaling Bitcoin via Off-Chain Solutions

From Minckwitzs perspective, the best path forward for scaling Bitcoin is through the use of off-chain solutions. In addition to having users improve the organization of their payment flows and the bank-esque settlement techniques mentioned previously, Minckwitz would like to see this process improved further through the adoption of Segregated Witness and the lightning network.

It enables people [to] do transactions off chain during a certain time period, Minckwitz said of the lightning network. In the end of this period, there is one transaction on chain to rebalance the accounts. That is an infinite scalable solution and proven since it is in a similar way commonly used today in the banking system already, so I think that is the way to go.

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Network Congestion Not an Issue for Bitcoin in Africa - Bitcoin Magazine

North Korea May Be Responsible for Recent Spate of Bitcoin Attacks Investopedia Bitcoin offers a number of potential advantages over other types of currency. It is decentralized, by necessity digital, easily transacted, and more. On the other hand, though, the requirement that Bitcoin be tied with a digital footprint means that ... and more »

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North Korea May Be Responsible for Recent Spate of Bitcoin Attacks - Investopedia

Bitcoin has existed for less than a decade, but it has achieved amazing popularity across the globe, and its value has risen along with its use. Shortly after its creation in 2009, one could buy the virtual currency for less than a penny per bitcoin. Now, a bitcoin is worth about $1,250, and many believe that the upward trend for bitcoin could continue indefinitely. Despite there being plenty of skepticism about the inherent value of bitcoin, the currency has survived dramatic volatility without losing favor among its core users.

During the first couple of years of its existence, bitcoin saw dramatic gains in price. From its penny valuation in 2009, bitcoin rose to $0.10 by 2010 and first hit the $1 mark in early 2011. That ignited a huge wave of new demand for bitcoin, sending the currency up to more than $10 by mid-2011.

Image source: Getty Images.

Yet at that point, bitcoin showed its propensity for big ups and downs. Within just a few months, bitcoin prices dropped 80%, punishing those who had gotten in at the top and were looking for quick gains. Still, those who stuck with bitcoin earned back their losses, with the currency reaching the $10 mark again in late 2012.

From there, the next wave of interest in bitcoin took the currency to the $100 mark and beyond, climbing to nearly $200 by early 2013. The bankruptcy of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange briefly took a big toll on prices, cutting bitcoin's value in half, but before the year was out, the digital currency climbed above $1,000 as market participants increasingly believed that bitcoin would achieve global currency status and prove to be a better alternative to traditional government-issued currency. The frequency of financial crises across the globe during the first several years of bitcoin's history certainly helped feed that theory and added to bitcoin's appeal.

Since then, bitcoin has remained volatile, but not to the same extent as it was earlier in its existence. Prices sank to around $200 in 2015, but the currency picked up steam again more recently. This year, bitcoin regained the $1,000 level and has climbed as high as nearly $1,300.

One concern that some have expressed about bitcoin is that the currency has no intrinsic value. Gold coins, by contrast, represent a given weight of an actual commodity with practical applications, and gold investors take comfort in the fact that their bullion is worth something beyond monetary terms. That's not true of bitcoin, which one receives as a reward for solving complex mathematical problems.

Yet bitcoin advocates note that the same is true of paper currency. It used to be that Federal Reserve notes were tied to the value of gold or silver, but those days are long gone. Just as a dollar bill only has whatever value a buyer and seller assign to it, so too does bitcoin have practical value to the extent that those who make exchanges of the digital currency agree on what it's worth.

One reason why bitcoin has become more valuable likely has to do with the fact that one can use it more widely now than early in its history. Many major technology and retail companies accept bitcoin in the same way they would older currencies, and small businesses have jumped on the bitcoin bandwagon as well. Moreover, with relatively low transaction fees for transfers, bitcoin has become a popular way to move money while avoiding the costly charges that banks and other financial institutions often impose.

Bitcoin has seen dramatic price increases recently, but the one thing investors in the currency can be certain of is that volatility in both directions will continue. With some calling for continued exponential growth in the value of bitcoin while others believe it's a bubble waiting to burst, the market for bitcoin is sure to be exciting for the foreseeable future.

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What Is a Bitcoin Worth? -- The Motley Fool - Motley Fool

Bitcoin inspires hope among many of its owners, investors, and users. Its culture is deeply steeped in the hopes of being your own bank and not having to rely on third parties such as government and financial institutions to guarantee, protect, and transfer your wealth. However while I love Bitcoin and want to believe in these sort of ideals as well, more and more I feel like Bitcoin may suffer some very similar problems that fiat economies have.

This is one of the most troubling aspects of Bitcoin that I can think of. Were approaching having mined into existence about 80 percent of the 21 Million Bitcoin hard limit. Even though that limit will not be hit until about 2140 well beyond my and everyone reading this articles death -barring some insane medical advancements-, the percentage of new coins that will be made available will be lower and lower.

I do not think that I am the only one who thinks that Bitcoins price will continue to explode as the available supply dwindles either. That is where the heart of this problem may be for me: Larger concentrations of coins will be in the hands of fewer people.

I believe that the individuals who have the fortitude and insight to be hodling onto their coins deserve to be rewarded for their risk. It is also my hope that I am hodling more coins if/when the price skyrockets. This will create Bitcoin oligarchs though. Those who bought in or mined early will become immensely wealthy and powerful.

Regardless of good intention, concentration of power like that historically has not worked out well. We also see large wealth disparity in our world today -which is still mostly dealing in fiats- and the levels of civil unrest that it engenders. I think that Bitcoin may share this problem and may even have it worse considering how low the population of Bitcoin users is.

Miners are necessary for processing transactions and bringing new coins into the economy. However the increasing difficulty of blocks and the insatiable thirst for electricity creates situations where only large mining farms and pools are even able to put up the hashrates needed to grab those blocks.

This is centralized. Im far from the first person to realize or point this out, but it does mean that the Bitcoin network is starting to form these sorts of things it meant to free us from. Were trending toward having very few holding the (metaphorical) keys to the coins.

As reward halving continues, even more of these pools and farms will shut down, again leading to even more centralization of the network. It would lead us closer to a system not too far from what we have today.

While Bitcoin has many similar problems to the current prevailing financial systems it also has a very unique one: Lost Coins. This is when a wallet private key is lost and the coins in that wallet are unable to be accessed, even by the owner. While projects like the Large Bitcoin Collider may be looking for ways of cracking keys, it is generally agreed that these coins are gone until the private key is found or remembered. This adds a dynamic to Bitcoin that Banks and Governments do not really have: hard deflation. Governments and banks can always print more money. Bitcoin will only have 21 Million. Ever. So any lost coins or fraction of coins will be 21 Mill minus that amount. This could even lead to a further exacerbation of the wealth disparity problem I outlined before.

Bitcoin is a radical take on what economies should look like: trustless, secure, and reliable. However it still seems to have to address and move away from the pitfalls that our current financial system has created. To continue further without trying to address these would be foolish in my opinion.

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

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Bitcoin Is Not Immune to All Fiat Problems - The Merkle

If Bitcoin stands any chance of growing, it needs to be known. This is where Bitcoin evangelists come in, who are responsible for promoting a wider scale adoption and use of the cryptocurrency. The initial signs are promisingas the cryptos awareness and ownership is going up. Still these are drops in the ocean if Bitcoin -or any cryptocurrency- is toreally succeed.

I have drawn religious parallels to Bitcoin in the past, and this is no exception. A traditional evangelist is an individual who goes into areas that has generally low densities of their religious faith and they attempt to convert as many of the people who live and work there. They are not dissimilar to a sort of religious, traveling salesperson. They go where they are needed to spread the word.

While I have neither the time nor the desire to comment on whether or not religions should be doing that sort of thing, I do think that Bitcoin can benefit from this sort of direct and targeted marketing of itself. A Bitcoin Evangelist, then, is an individual who approaches businesses, communities, and individuals who may not necessarily be aware of or convinced by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Whether it is a business looking to a secure payment solution, a marketing firm looking to bring itself into the digital era, or a local community center trying to teach some of its members more about computing and the Internet, Bitcoin Evangelists are badly needed. A great way to look at it is by subtracting the percent of the population that knows about or owns Bitcoin, then see for yourself the vast expanses of opportunity.

So you want to do your part and help spread the word, but do not know exactly how to get started. Well it is not as daunting of a task as you may expect, but it is still an important one. You do not have to be the next Satoshi Nakamoto or Gavin Andresen to be able to bring Bitcoin into peoples lives. The Merkle has posted a few posts about commonly asked questions that you can arm yourself with to field the questions you are likely to hear.

One way that I like to disseminate information about Bitcoin is via various workplace enrichment programs. Many offices and employers have something similar, and it may be worth exploring how you can teach a Bitcoin Beginners class. The first time I held a rather informal version of this at a workplace of mine, I was surprised by the turnout and engagement. Many people want to learn, but more than anything they want someone to teach them.

Similarly, community centers that offer computer classes, colleges whose departments are searching for a speaker, and various other meetup groups may be keen to have a Bitcoin evangelist like you come and speak to them about the future of currency.

What I mean to say here is that you do not need to be the most knowledgeable about FinTech or the code behind cryptos themselves, people just need to understand the basics of how Bitcoin works and how to use it. However, you do need to put in the effort to help grow this community and push this currency into wider adoption. We need more Bitcoin Evangelists.

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

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The Need for Bitcoin Evangelists and How to Be One - The Merkle

Miami Herald

Criminals who use Bitcoin targeted under proposed Florida law Miami Herald Criminals who deal in bitcoins in Florida could soon be busted for money laundering. Florida lawmakers are poised to pass a bill that will add virtual currency to the state's money-laundering statute, a change hailed by law enforcement although ... Florida Bill Would Add Digital Currency to State's AML LawDCEBrief (press release) all 15 news articles »

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Criminals who use Bitcoin targeted under proposed Florida law - Miami Herald