Why It Is Not Yet Time to Give Up on Bitcoin and Crypto

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Bitcoin and the crypto-world as a whole are in a frenzy that has undoubtedly attracted a lot of speculation as to whether they are still worth pursuing. Bitcoin’s price, for instance, has been quite elusive – the cryptocurrency has already significantly plunged in value from an initial high of over $17,000 to just about $8,000. These fluctuations have been enough to make a number of interested parties throw in the towel. Well, that is probably a wise option especially if one cannot sustain this kind of endeavor, both financially and mentally. However, if you consider the bigger picture, it is quite evident that many more factors contribute to the complex cryptocurrency ecosystem. These range from regulation, comments from prominent people and even mere talk about regulation, all of which certainly affect prices in one way or the other.

The wild ride that the bitcoin community has been taken through is undoubtedly a justifiable reason for speculation. Apparently, most of the issues that are affecting the price of bitcoin are necessary developments that are expected to make it stable in the long run. So, why do you need to hold on a little?

Fraud Is Being Stamped Out!

Naturally, cryptocurrencies were bound to attract some negative attention, particularly from some fraudulent ICOs. The numbers are rather worrying in this sense considering that about 14 to 30 percent of existing ICOs are likely to be scams. The Securities and Exchange Commission has taken notice of the ICOs too and necessary steps have been taken by the chairman to warn investors about the risks involved. This is, obviously, a good thing but it has certainly contributed to the plunge in bitcoin’s price. Still, the bigger picture here is more important – once these regulations and protections become clear, it will actually allow bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to thrive.

Facebook Pushes the Unfriend Button on Cryptocurrencies

You have to understand this if you are going to make an informed decision regarding crypto. First, in this age where social media is a force that influences almost everything in the world, crypto-fraudsters could definitely not let the opportunity cruise by. Advertisements about cryptocurrencies are quite common on the internet and a majority of them are actually used to bait unsuspecting victims who are lured in by the prospects of getting “crypto rich”.

Credit Cards Are Not Accepted

Big banks have made it quite clear that investors should never put their big bitcoin purchases on plastic. Citing the volatility and risk involved in such endeavors it is rather obvious that bitcoin investors should never contemplate risking money that they cannot afford to lose

All these steps have also been contributing to making exchanges safer since they are at the center of all this. Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will rise again, but before it gets stable, buckle up for the storm that awaits.

Bitcoin Tumbles Below $8,000; Is the Bubble About to Burst?

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For the first time since 2017, bitcoin dropped below $8,000 yesterday and with the drop came a lot of speculation about what the future holds for the digital currency. According to CoinDesk, bitcoin plunged to $7,695.10 but recovered to $8,618 by mid-day – the bitcoin price index on CoinDesk tracks cryptocurrency prices from digital currency exchanges itBit, Bitfinex, and Coinbase.

The general takeaway from some economists and digital currency experts is that bitcoin is likely to weather yet another downturn. They believe that bitcoin can only continue to develop if it continues to be extremely volatile.

“Bitcoin is in trouble,” wrote Lukman Otunuga, a research analyst at foreign exchange broker Forextime. “Price action suggests that bears are clearly in control, with further losses on the cards as jitters over regulation erode investor appetite further.”

Bitcoin is, however, not the only digital currency that is experiencing a rough time. To put this into perspective, cryptocurrencies collectively lost over $100 billion in the last 24 hours. The price drops abruptly changed the mood and people’s perspectives as far as cryptocurrencies are concerned – the hype and overall excitement that was characteristic of the crypto – world, especially during this holiday’s season run-up, turned into a wave of uncertainty that swept through the space like wildfire.

Likely reasons for the price plunge include tougher regulatory scrutiny and imposed measures by governments in South Korea and China amidst concerns about tax evasion, money laundering as well as heavy speculation. Facebook’s ban on cryptocurrency and initial coin offering (ICOs) ads earlier this week is also partially responsible for the price drops – the company is however not changing their stand as they say the ban was influenced by the fact that such ads are “frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices.”

Also, according to CoinDesk, Ether coins on the Ethereum blockchain sank 15% to $880, Ripple coins slid 13% to 85 cents, and Litecoin tumbled 11% to $128.

Facebook Bans Advertisements on Cryptocurrencies and ICOs

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In every sense of the phrase, the cryptocurrency world is without a doubt the 21st-century rendition of what was referred to as the Wild West. That said, it should not come as a surprise that, like the Wild West, we will definitely get treated to the good, the bad, and, of course, the ugly. However, there has been so much of the bad and the ugly going around that regulators and Facebook have become fed up.

The social media platform recently unveiled a new advertising policy that will have huge impacts on how people interact and consume content pertaining to cryptocurrencies, initial coin offering (ICOs) as well as binary options. Narrowing down to the specifics, Facebook Product Management Director Rob Leathern clarified that the new policy is a move against advertisements that promote products and services “that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive practices.”

Advertisers will no longer be allowed to promote cryptocurrency related products and services regardless of whether they are legitimate or not. Any advertiser that violates Facebook’s new policy will not only be banned on the core app but also in all of its other ad selling platforms such as its ad network, Instagram and Audience Network which puts advertisements on third-party apps.

On the same day that Facebook announced its new policy, there was also news of United States regulatory activity that targeted cryptocurrency issuers. This included a move by the Securities and Exchange Commission to shut down an ICO that is backed by former boxer Evander Holyfield. Little is known about the future of the regulatory measures that the authorities are now implementing. Facebook, on the hand, says that the decision is not permanent and that it will revisit the rules later when it perfects its ad detection and removal algorithms.

“This policy is intentionally broad while we work to better detect deceptive and misleading advertising practices, and enforcement will begin to ramp up across Facebook, Instagram, and its off-platform Audience Network, “ wrote Leathern. “We will revisit this policy and how we enforce it as our signals improve.”

Tides Get Rockier for Bitcoin

The move by Facebook and regulators in the United States did a number on bitcoin’s price – its price plummeted to below $10,000 just a few weeks after it climbed to a record high of $19,000. The wider crypto market took a hit as well with almost all of the top 50 altcoins experiencing price drops of over 10 percent.

Surprisingly though, the Facebook ban has been welcomed quite well on social media, especially by detractors of the crypto craze and supporters of decentralized digital currencies who want cryptocurrencies to be portrayed in a more legitimate fashion. There have also been speculations that claim that Facebook plans to launch its own digital currency to be used on the platform. Others think it is a play that intends to censor cryptocurrencies. Either way, it is about time that such measures were put in place to tone down the chaotic nature of the crypto world.

Great Times Ahead for Luckbox.com As It Heads to Token Sale

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Luckbox is the latest Esports betting venture that is upping its game with its very own initial coin offering (ICO). Regardless of the fact that Initial Coin Offerings have always been known to be quite stormy, the chief executive officer of the Isle of Man-based startup, Lars Lien is quite confident that the company will not back down from the token issuance endeavor. Being a pro in the gambling space, and having previously worked as part of PokerStars operational team, Lien definitely has a great deal of experience and expertise that will help steer the startup out of the choppy waters of ICOs.

Initially, Lien intended to persuade the PokerStars management to let the renowned casino operator branch out and provide a dedicated Esports offering but this particular opportunity flew out the window when a new owner came along. The primary cause for the dismissal of Lien’s proposal was, however, the emergence of newer and wider developments that had huge impacts on PokerStars as a whole.

“I wanted to build an Esports platform,” Lien says. “And it just so happens that my experience means I have helped to build something unique.”

His dream came true when he joined forces with Mike Stevens, a fellow PokerStars veteran, to finally realize his goals which also included a desire to recreate something that he refers to as the “Scheinberg ethic” of business. In essence, this implies that the two poker pros platform will strive to offer better services and use practices that rise above what regular sports betting operators have to offer. According to them, the Esports betting community is a totally different demographic and thus what Luckbox offers is intended to cater specifically to that population – Luckbox is, by all means, a social experience that features a variety of goals, unlockable achievements as well as nicely implemented social interaction capabilities.

The Token Effort

Already, there are a couple of Esports-only offerings available in the mainstream market with ESP.bet and Unikrn having the largest stakes – like Luckbox, both of them also have opted for the token route as a means of attracting more players and gaining liquidity. While it is definitely a bold move for Luckbox, the decision comes at a time when the whole ICO market is undergoing some major issues. For instance, bitcoin’s vicious fluctuations have had huge ramifications on token markets especially in cases where bitcoin is the buy-in currency.

As it stands, Luckbox has already drawn a larger number of users to buy into LuckCash, its utility coin, and raised about $1.8 million in bitcoin via a private sale. During the February sale, the startup hopes to double down and raised up to a further $20 million ahead of its much-anticipated product launch by the third quarter of 2018. Luckbox tokens were designed with a variety of great features that will leave most of the existing tokens in the dust.

Roger Ver Expands His Online Gambling Site to Accept BCH

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Renowned online casino operator and die-hard cryptocurrency champion, Roger Ver has upgraded his online gambling platform to allow wagers to be made using bitcoin cash (BCH). In September last year, Bitcoin.com, which is Ver’s cryptocurrency portal launched Bitcoin Games – an online casino that used the old Segwit Bitcoin token. Owing to its success, the platform is now branching out in a bid to offer the same services to more cryptocurrency users with its newly launched BCH-powered variation that has been named Bitcoin Cash Games and will feature significantly lower prices than those of its older counterpart.

Ver expressed his confidence in Bitcoin Cash as the core reason for his decision to branch out and venture into an online casino that supported the relatively young cryptocurrency.

In his official statement, he pointed out that “the BCH network and currency has proven itself to be reliable while also offering transaction fees ($0.01 or less) they are practically non-existent.”

This is where Bitcoin Cash has managed to best its older counterpart that is currently the market leader in the cryptocurrency world. So far, the bitcoin fork has managed to hold its ground quite well and it is already making waves in the gambling industry as well as in crypto-trading spaces.

Games offered at Bitcoin Cash Games include provable fair video poker, roulette, keno, blackjack, slots, dice, and craps, all of which feature a 99 percent expected return. The platform further has a referral program that allows players to earn themselves up to 25 percent of the platform’s house edge by enlisting new players.

No registration is required for non-US players using the platform since Ver and company are rather serious about anonymity. The only reason why the US is an exception is the government’s rather paranoid regulations – however, the games are still available to US customers in the form of free-play action.

Cryptocurrency Trading Still Thriving in China Despite Ban

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Last September, China stunned the cryptocurrency community when it announced a crackdown on ICOs after which it further gave all crypto exchanges in mainland China an ultimatum that required them to wind up their operations by October – seemingly a big blow that would potentially kill the nascent Chinese blockchain and cryptocurrency industry. Chinese bitcoin trading volumes had already dropped significantly since January 2017 and prior to the announcement especially because of the exchange fees Chinese exchanges were forced to raise and the AML protocols they were forced to implement by the authorities at the beginning of 2017. Regardless, the country remained a crucial market for cryptocurrency trading, and more specifically for bitcoin.
Surprisingly, the halting of Chinese crypto-exchange operations did not get in bitcoin’s way as its price skyrocketed just a couple of months later to reach an all-time high of around $20,000. At about the same time, three of China’s largest trading platforms, Huobi, BTCC, and OKCoin, all of which were ordered to shut down their businesses in September, relocated their businesses to Hong Kong with the intent to cater to the rapidly growing demand from investors in the city.
Relocating to friendlier jurisdictions seemed to be the best option for the businesses but they were also considering a number of options that included applying for licenses in Japan and setting up over-the-counter (OTC) shops in Hong Kong.

Enter OTCs

Cryptocurrency enthusiasts in mainland China are still able to trade domestically – the only difference is that instead of relying on exchanges to route their transactions, the transactions are negotiated on recently set up over-the-counter (OTC) trading platforms such as OKEx, Huobi, and OTCBTC. As you may have noticed, these OTC operations are forked the parent companies which were previously China’s, or even the world’s, largest crypto-exchange platforms.

Is There a Catch?

Of course, there is! Chinese crypto-junkies who still want to partake in trading activities have to put up with significantly inflated prices. For instance, when compared to traditional cryptocurrency exchanges, the prices on OTC platforms are higher by 10 to 20 percent. Case in point, when bitcoin was trading at $11,730 on Coinbase, the lowest bitcoin price on the Huobi OTC platform was $13,085. However, the government regulations are culpable for the premium that Chinese investors are forced to pay as a result of the limited supply of OTC coin. Still, wittier traders have taken advantage of the arbitrage opportunity to buy cryptocurrencies at cheaper prices from foreign exchanges after which they sell them back on the domestic OTC platforms at higher prices. There are risks like price volatility and slow transaction times involved but the traders are willing to put up with this.

On the OTC platforms, cryptocurrency trading is as easy as buying goods on eBay. All a buyer needs to do is to pick a currency they want to buy and then offers from multiple sellers appear. Buyers are allowed to link their bank accounts or use mobile payment services that are available in China.

Why Businesses Should Still Climb On-Board the Bitcoin Train

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Apparently, the world has gone cold on bitcoin ever since its meteoric rise in 2017 but all this has been subject to a lot of debate which makes arriving at a definite answer quite difficult. Considering the rising popularity of altcoins like Ripple’s XRP token and Ethereum, both of which have been trading at feverish rates, it may seem as if bitcoin is no longer the world’s most dominant digital currency. Well, not everyone is of a similar opinion and despite the hit that bitcoin might have taken in recent weeks, cryptocurrency experts have faith that it will eventually bounce back – Tom Lee, one of the crypto experts, believes that bitcoin could potentially double its price by the end of the year. In a CNBC interview, Lee pointed out that bitcoin’s recent price drop is nothing more than a “healthy consolidation” and that by the summer it would be trading at $20,000.

There will always be predictions and speculations emanating from both sides of the crypto divide but it is undeniable that bitcoin has etched out a spot as an established spending tool for very many people.

Bitcoin might have been around for a little less than a decade but this is an incredibly long time in “cryptocurrency time” – it is the oldest cryptocurrency and this means that it will always serve as a benchmark for its successors. However, it is not going away, at least not anytime soon. As such, businesses looking to appeal to the next generation of consumers should lean towards cryptocurrencies, more specifically bitcoin.

UK’s Bitcoin Spending

The United Kingdom seems to have been a trendsetter because it was already gearing up for crypto-powered spending long before bitcoin’s price boom last year. A 2015 Mining Pool study revealed that over 80 percent of Brit bitcoin owners felt that there were not enough places to spend the cryptocurrency at the time.

Also, while typical cryptocurrency traders and users are known to save their coins instead of spending them, Brits have always portrayed a willingness to spend theirs. As illustrated by these habits, bitcoin has evidently breached the mainstream market which implies that a business that invests in it would be making a very wise move.

Effectively targeting and appealing to bitcoin users both in the UK and the rest of the world means that the product has to be in line with market values as well as the underlying ethos. Practically speaking, it is also crucial that the product prices are set in accordance with the latest bitcoin value. The success of the business depends upon the way it will stay up to date with daily bitcoin charts that effectively keeps up with bitcoin’s insane market fluctuations and developing trends. Businesses can then use this information to tailor their prices to offer more attractive deals to their customers or at least an equivalent pricing deal.

One other area that business could take advantage of is the decentralization and anonymity features that all cryptocurrencies offer. Well, of course, total anonymity is still a long shot, but finding ways to reduce the amount of personal data required to make transactions would be very helpful for both the business and the customers. Since the bitcoin ecosystem already has these in place implementing it should not be that hard, should it?

A Review of Bitcoin’s and Crypto’s Rather Strange Week

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This week has been a pretty dull one for bitcoin especially with the dramatic price drops that unearthed some doubt about the hype that cryptocurrencies had created towards the end of 2017. It eventually recovered, but by doing so, it only reminded the world of how unpredictable decentralized digital currencies are. Furthermore, there have been reports that regulators are planning to toughen the market – this along with the reported evocations of the Great Depression in many ways made the week even more turbulent than expected.

Perhaps one of the biggest reasons for bitcoin’s price drop is the possibility of cryptocurrency trading being outlawed in some countries from various parts of the globe. One of the countries whose government has been hinting at such a move is South Korea. Earlier this week, Park Sang-ki, South Korea’s justice minister said that the country’s government had rather “great concerns” pertaining to digital currencies and was therefore “basically preparing a bill to ban cryptocurrency trading through exchanges”, especially because they think that crypto will make tax evasion easier.

While South Korea has since been seen to have softened its stance on the matter after a spokesperson of the Presidential Office said the possibility of a ban on crypto exchanges was simply “one of the measures prepared by the Ministry of Justice, but … not a measure that has been finalized”, investors are still panicking over the confusion caused by the uncertainty of how exactly the country intends to crack down on crypto.

There is a good reason for investor panic since even if the total ban on crypto exchanges does not come to pass, South Korea can still impose new regulations that could hugely impact the market – like bans on anonymous crypto trading accounts and underage investors, for instance. In a similar scenario, last September, the Chinese government shut down domestic changes and according to more recent reports, there are even going an extra mile to cut off access to all online crypto platforms and services operating from within or outside its borders.

Even Europe is Bursting Bitcoin’s Bubble

Financial watchdogs in Europe have begun to tighten the screws on cryptocurrencies as well in a bid to ease up the pressure of the price boom that is considered by many European economists to be nothing more than a bubble. Europe’s financial regulators watched cautiously as the price of bitcoin soared to nearly $20,000 last year. In the process, other cryptocurrencies also received a much-needed boost.

However, Europeans have hopped off of the back seat and they are now joining other policymakers from various parts of the globe in warning investors of the possibility that the crypto bubble could pop. French and German politicians, for instance, recently revealed plans to present a joint proposal that calls for the regulation of cryptocurrencies at March’s G20 summit.

CoinPoker to Launch Stage 1 of Its ICO on January 19

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CoinPoker, the growing cryptocurrency-based online poker room that was launched in late 2017, has announced that its Stage I Initial Coin Offering (ICO) will be launching on January 19th at 1000 HRS GMT. This stage of the poker room’s ICO will offer 127.5 million CHP tokens for sale at a price of 1 ETH to 4,200 CHP – CHP is the digital currency that CoinPoker uses on its platform. So far, there is a lot of optimism going around especially considering how successful the November 16 to November 22 pre-ICO launch was. CoinPoker sold out a whopping 100 million CHP tokens in six days at a great price of 1 ETH to 6,600 CHP.

As such, the Stage I ICO is attracting a lot of attention and interest from a lot of people with some even submitting whitelist registrations with hopes of hopping on to the early buyers’ list during the January 5 to January 15 open period. This stage of CoinPoker’s ICO will run until January 26 but the time will definitely be extended in case the offering is not fully sold out by then. After that, there are plans for a Stage II ICO where the online poker room will be offering another 137.5 million CHP at a price of 1 ETH to 3,500 CHP. An official date for the Stage II ICO is yet to be announced but once it is completed, CoinPoker will have distributed 375 million CHP tokens which represent 75 percent of its total supply of 500 million CHP token.

As an incentive, CoinPoker will be returning 15 percent of the tokens collected throughout the entire span of the ICO to its community. This will be done through real-money tournaments with one of the closest being scheduled for January 21st and will include a Tesla S worth £71, 000 as the top prize.

Swimming in Success

CoinPoker also launched its real-money games and promotional campaigns shortly after the pre-ICO in November – among them is a freeroll series where the prize will be 5 million CHP tokens. Both the promotions and the real-money games became huge successes with the CoinPoker online poker room already having up to 30,000 unique registrations as well as 20,000 MVP downloads.

The online poker room also now boasts of over 4,000 unique daily players as well as 15,000 CHP token holders. All this is thanks to the experienced CoinPoker staff who have been very diligent about fixing existing bugs and improving the platform’s stability. Community relations have also played a key role in its success as the staff strive to optimize outreach via various social media platforms. Additionally, the site has a very strict security policy that makes it a great place for poker players who are very keen on this aspect. Customers are further allowed to get involved in all this by giving their suggestions and stating their preferences in regards to what the platform should improve on.

Telegram Planning Largest ICO for Chat Cryptocurrency

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Popular encrypted messaging startup Telegram has declared its intentions to launch its own blockchain platform and native cryptocurrency. Dubbed ‘Gram’, Telegram’s cryptocurrency will power peer-to-peer payments on its encrypted chat app with the possibility of expansion to other platforms – this and other great ideas will help it to be a force to reckon with in the crypto space that is currently dominated by Ripple, Bitcoin, and Ethereum.

Anticipated to be funded by a huge Initial Coin Offering (ICO) the Telegram Open Network (TON), will be a third-generation blockchain that is designed to make tremendous improvements to the flaws and shortcomings of existing cryptocurrencies. TON is what the funds raised for the startup’s new cryptocurrency venture is being called. It is designed not only to be less power-hungry than its counterparts such as Bitcoin but also much faster than the rest – there are already rumors that one million transactions can be processed every second by the platform thus doing away with the 24-hour waiting period that is experienced by some users when sending Bitcoin at peak times.

While a number of large companies have been busy rolling out and working on their own blockchain-powered products, Telegram’s entry into the space is bound to shake things a bit since it has an upper hand in all this. The company’s instant messaging app boasts of 180 million-plus active users most of whom use the chat platform to stay informed about the frenzied price bumps in lesser-known cryptocurrencies such as NEO.

In its pre-ICO sale, Telegram hopes to raise about $500 million – in this round, the currency will be offloaded to big investors at a significantly reduced rate, at a potential total currency value of between $3 billion and $5 billion.

In the 132-page wallet where the announcement was made, Telegram also mentioned that its wallet could be launched by or in the fourth quarter of 2018 and by the beginning of 2019, the Telegram Open Network will open to its users.