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Bitcoin  The way we consume media content has been on a continual overhaul for the past two decades. Every aspect of media distribution has become more streamlined from the razor-thin devices we use to consume media to the manner in which we purchase and store our coveted content. Books, music and movies have all seen their physical bodies and storage locations dissolve, to be replaced with on-demand downloads and digital copies. The digital content revolution has done a lot for increasing access and visibility for artists and authors, but the current publishing giants have failed to adequately adjust to the times in a few crucial areas. While it's true that platforms such as YouTube and Medium have granted publishing access to the greater public and eliminated gatekeeping middlemen like talent agents and PR people, the current digital content sharing platforms have built their empires on the skeletons of the publishing giants’ templates that existed before and, unfortunately,

Bitcoin  You’ve probably heard it many times if you frequently spread the good word about crypto. “Isn’t Bitcoin volatile? What if the price crashes?” By now, many POS systems offer free fiat conversion, alleviating some concern, but until the volatility of cryptocurrencies is addressed, most people will be unwilling to hold any. We need to find a way to fight the volatility that is inherent in Bitcoin. This doesn’t necessarily mean Bitcoin has to change; many people prefer to use a deflationary currency, especially those who like to save. Despite the skepticism of many altcoin critics, a currency can be better suited for some applications than others. Financial privacy, for example, is great for political activists, but more problematic when it comes to political campaign finance. We need a stable cryptocurrency designed for use in commerce; unless you’re living paycheck to paycheck, this would be held as only a fraction of your wealth, the rest reserved as other coins like bitcoin

Cryptocurrency-related cyber attacks are on the rise . As cryptocurrency continues to explode in value and public awareness, we can only expect this trend to continue. I was recently the target of such an attack. I also personally know of multiple other cases of the same attack being successfully carried out. Even worse, this type of attack is becoming ever more common and is likely to see an even bigger boost thanks to the  professional excellence of firms like Equifax , making it an urgent topic as almost everyone is at immediate risk. This article describes this increasingly common attack vector and provides immediate steps you can take to protect yourself. I will also provide additional tools and best practices to further safeguard yourself and your funds more generally. As a computer programmer active in the crypto ecosystem since early 2013, I’ve always been too aware of the constant threat of cybersecurity attacks and the possibility that I could be targeted at any time. Cryp

Gold ownership Reflecting gold’s historical repute as a scarce and valued resource, Bitcoin has become known in many investment circles as “digital gold.” With its unprecedented rise, Bitcoin’s worth is now estimated to be about twice that of an ounce of physical gold. On August 7, 2017, the startup  GoldMint was launched with the intent of ushering in a new digital era of gold as a store of value. This project aims to provide a unique set of gold ownership solutions for cryptocurrency investors and enthusiasts worldwide. It is holding an  initial coin offering  (ICO) that starts in less than 12 hours.  The GoldMint project reaffirms the notion that physical gold is a respected method of payment and wealth preservation, all tied to its value and scarcity. Gold ownership, however, requires expensive security, safekeeping and insurance. GoldMint’s innovative approach seeks to address these inherent issues. GoldMint purchases, sells and repurchases their native digital asset called

Bitcoin  To a complete outsider, the worlds of art and cryptocurrency do not appear to be linked. But for content creators of all kinds, blockchain technology provides an ideal solution to preserve intellectual property, create demand and increase value for digital content. The digital revolution is often blamed for making life harder than ever for artists. We are always hearing stories of artists realizing their work has been ripped off by a major brand or that they are not being paid or credited for the content they create. However, thanks to blockchains, ownership rights can be restored in favor of artists. The very digital landscape that proves so difficult for artists could well increase the possibility of profits for artists online. Physical art was one of the first big applications of blockchain technology. The concept of integrating blockchain technology into the art industry is not untested. Blockchains have  already been a part of the physical art world  for a few years

Bitcoin While China tightens its grip on its cryptocurrency community, Japan is openly embracing cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, legalizing bitcoin, and encouraging and funding blockchain research. Even Japan’s banks are onboard, working collaboratively to develop a blockchain platform specifically for the financial sector. With its 120 member banks, the  Japanese Bankers Association  (JBA) is creating a Collaborative Blockchain Platform and is actively looking for a company to supply its blockchain technology on an ongoing basis. Experimenting with the Collaborative Blockchain Platform, the JBA will initially determine which financial services best lend themselves to the new platform, likely including settlement/transfer services, know-your-customer (KYC) systems and financial infrastructure such as their Zengin System and Densai Net System. Japanese bitcoin exchange bitFlyer is stepping up to the plate to take on tech giants including Fujitsu, Hitachi and NTT Data to

Bitcon China is clamping down on cryptocurrency, that much is clear. But while the developing story dominates headlines, a notable trend is the lack of official information. Chinese officials seem to systematically decline requests for comments, local sources are willing to provide information on condition of anonymity only, while leaked documents remain unverified. Despite this lack of clarity, here’s what’s known so far. Effects on Trading The most important thing we know for sure is that Chinese bitcoin exchanges will be closing down, or at least exiting China. BTCC — the oldest bitcoin exchange in the world — was the first exchange to announce they’d be closing shop within the Asian country, by the end of this month. The exchange  cited  guidelines  published by the Chinese central bank (the People’s Bank of China; PBOC), which initially appeared to only affect ICOs, as its reason for closing down. Other exchanges quickly followed BTCC's lead.  ViaBTC  and  Yunbi  both a

Bitcon China is clamping down on cryptocurrency, that much is clear. But while the developing story dominates headlines, a notable trend is the lack of official information. Chinese officials seem to systematically decline requests for comments, local sources are willing to provide information on condition of anonymity only, while leaked documents remain unverified. Despite this lack of clarity, here’s what’s known so far. Effects on Trading The most important thing we know for sure is that Chinese bitcoin exchanges will be closing down, or at least exiting China. BTCC — the oldest bitcoin exchange in the world — was the first exchange to announce they’d be closing shop within the Asian country, by the end of this month. The exchange  cited  guidelines  published by the Chinese central bank (the People’s Bank of China; PBOC), which initially appeared to only affect ICOs, as its reason for closing down. Other exchanges quickly followed BTCC's lead.  ViaBTC  and  Yunbi  both a

Bitcoin  Yesterday  a video teaser  from blockchain technology company Blockstream created  waves of excitement  among enthusiasts of both cryptocurrencies and space. Most participants speculated that Blockstream was about to implement the idea, promoted by Bitcoin developer Jeff Garzik (among others), of a satellite system that streams the Bitcoin blockchain to the whole planet from space. The speculations were, indeed, correct. Today, the company is announcing  Blockstream Satellite , a new service that broadcasts real-time Bitcoin blockchain data from satellites in space to almost everyone on the planet. Blockstream Satellite covers across two-thirds of the Earth’s land mass and, according to the company, additional coverage areas will soon come online to reach almost every person on the planet by the end of the year. “Bitcoin is a powerful and transformative internet native digital money that has blazed a trail of disruption, with its full potential yet to unfold. Because it’s

100 Bitcoin The Bitcoin community is not taking kindly to  BitPay  this week.  Influential  developers are accusing the major payment processor of fraud, Bitcoin users on  social media  are calling for boycots, bitcoin.org  is  removing recommendations of the company’s products, and NBitcoin developer Nicolas Dorier has  launched  an initiative to fork some of BitPay’s projects altogether. Here’s why. Bitcore The controversial issue has to do with Bitcore . Bitcore is a type of Bitcoin node developed by BitPay. It is specifically designed to offer a development platform, on top of which it is easy to build all kinds of Bitcoin applications. Anyone can use this open-source tool; some of the better-known applications that utilize it include video-streaming service  Streamium ,  Trezor ’s web interface and BitPay’s own  Copay  wallet. Within the  next a couple of days , most likely on August 23, the long-awaited Bitcoin protocol upgrade  Segregated Witness  (SegWit) will activate.

Luxurious home for bitcoins The Russian real estate firm Kalinka Group has  announced  that once of its clients is selling his luxurious home for bitcoins. The 4200 square foot country mansion is located in the village of Nikolino, situated in a fashionable neighborhood off the Rublevo-Upenskoe highway. According to the Kalinka Group, this is the first time in the history of the Russian real estate market that a client has offered to sell a property for cryptocurrencies. "Such transactions are still a novelty, even for world real estate markets,” Ekaterina Rumyantseva, the chairman of the board of Kalinka Group, said in a statement. “We are pleased to be pioneers and open new frontiers in business.” She pointed out that Russian legislation has not yet defined the rules for working with bitcoins, and so far there is no legal definition of the cryptocurrency. Also, as there is no regulatory or legal framework governing the sale, the agency's service fees will still be paid i

Bitcoin In July, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)  moved in on the "Wild West" world of ICOs , which has sent the blockchain world reeling. Now, the Israel Securities Authority (ISA) has announced its own plans to form a panel to regulate Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). This week, the ISA announced that its chairman, Prof. Shmuel Hauser, has put together a committee to examine the regulation of ICOs. The committee will investigate the applicability of securities regulations on ICOs based on shared ledgers that are being offered to the Israeli public. On July 31, the Israeli Bitcoin Association (IBA) made its own  official public statement on the topic of ICOs. The IBA cautioned potential ICO participants that it’s important to understand the huge risks that exist in investing in ICOs. This new world tends to captivate innocents tempted by the hope of getting rich quick. We implore the public considering investment in ICOs to treat the matter with serious

BTC A brand new technical conference is hitting the Bitcoin space this week. Loosely inspired by the well-known  Scaling Bitcoin  workshops, the French Bitcoin community will host the  Breaking Bitcoin conference in Paris, on September 9 and 10. The conference has an explicit focus on security and is targeted at an audience with an understanding of the technical aspects of Bitcoin. “All of the talks and panels will have different angles that tie in to this theme,” co-organizer Elizabeth Stark told  Bitcoin Magazine. The Breaking Bitcoin conference was born out of discussions on the   CryptoFR Slack , a discussion platform for the growing developer community in France. A group of volunteers, including French Bitcoin community member Pierre Lorcery, Chainsmiths  managing director Kevin Loaec  and Ledger  CTO Nicolas Bacca, as well as California-based  Lightning Labs CEO Elizabeth Stark, decided to organize the technical event. “The idea was simple,” said Stark, who has previously

cryptocurrency With the aggregate cryptocurrency market cap soaring above $150 billion, an  above-800% increase  in the first eight months of this year, parties that previously dismissed digital currencies as a niche market are starting to make their mark. Governments and financial institutions, which were previously observers, are now taking a more active role in the development of  token sales  and the trading of digital currencies. Some analysts and speculators are interpreting these developments as the glimmers of  the cryptocurrency bubble  preparing to burst. However, some interesting developments are indicative that the landscape might in fact be evolving into a more stabilized market. While stricter regulation might put a plug into the hype surrounding cryptocurrencies, it will also help bring order to the chaotic landscape of cryptocurrencies. In tandem, startups and projects are emerging to help the market adapt to the new rules. Crypto exchanges mature The first crypto