Bitcoin Magician

Blockchain Platform to Help Content Creators Earn Fair Pay for Music, Movies, Games, eBooks sponsored A decentralized content production and distribution platform will see creative professionals paid royalties that reflect how much work they put into a project. A new decentralized content production and distribution platform is using blockchain to ensure project founders and content creators receive fair compensation for their hard work – helping passionate and talented professionals in creative industries to earn a living. Qravity has created a space that enables visionaries to collaborate more efficiently and profitably when developing monetizable digital media, including movies, video games, music, ebooks, and applications. It will also serve as a marketplace where consumers and distributors can purchase or rent this original premium content. Built on the Ethereum blockchain , the platform uses virtual tokens to securely record every project’s progress and guarantee that every t

How Edgar Allan Poe Inspired a Composer to Build a Blockchain Platform for Creatives Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. Lifestyles of the Poor & Famous  On January 29, 1845, Edgar Allan Poe became an overnight sensation with the New York Evening Mirror’s publication of a poem that still thrills and haunts readers , listeners , and viewers to this day. Despite the overwhelming popularity of The Raven, it netted Poe a total of $24; over half of that amount was charity that he received for what may have been a draft. Adjusted for inflation , his literary masterpiece netted him a total of $754.91 in 2018. To put this in a contemporary context, think about an international chart-topping single, say Taylor Swift’s Shake it Off. It’s hard to imagine Ms. Swift selling that track, rights and all, to a record label for a little over $750. The Raven went viral, first in the US, then in

Microsoft to Buy GitHub: Bitcoin Devs Call for Exit Bitcoin core developers are among those reacting angrily to news Microsoft has reportedly acquired GitHub in a deal worth at least $2 billion. Bitcoin Developers Call For GitHub Exit The takeover, which anonymous sources claim should see an official announcement later Monday, has led to multiple calls to remove Bitcoin activity from the code repository. Github had previously stated it would strive to remain independent, even planning an IPO in 2017. The company’s CEO and co-founder Chris Wanstrath resigned in August, with executives “struggling” to find a suitable replacement since, Business Insider reported when it first broke the news Friday. Bitcoin development has traditionally used the website as a global participation environment. Unsurprisingly, news of a corporate takeover failed to impress community figures, who demanded Bitcoin activity be taken elsewhere. “Yes,” Bitcoin core developer Wladimir J. van der Laan wrote on

Monster Inc. Desperately Launching $300 Million ICO Monster Inc, the company which notoriously lost out on Beats By Dre headphones , is planning on launching its very own cryptocurrency. The offering is slated to be called the “Monster Money Token,” according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Monster also plans on revamping its e-commerce website to let users purchase Monster products with the cryptocurrency.  Need Money? Launch an ICO! Monster Inc is launching an initial coin offering (ICO) and a new e-commerce website to help recover losses it’s sustained over recent years. According to an SEC application , the company has lost almost $20 million dollars in the first quarter of 2017, alone. Monster’s solution to its financial woes is to sell ERC20 “Monster Money Tokens.” In an SEC document, the company explains: As we develop Monster Money Network and our backend systems, we intend to utilize the blockchain technology to our marketing, accounti

Huobi vs. Binance: Who Will Invest More in Blockchain Start-ups? As blockchain technology continues to gain mainstream acceptance, initiatives to foster the development of promising projects have begun to emerge. These initiatives — called blockchain accelerators or incubators — are becoming increasingly popular, with key figures in the tech world getting involved. Now, popular cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Huobi are the latest to throw their hats into the ring.  Huobi Steps In: Jointly Launches $93 Million Blockchain Investment Fund Last month, Huobi — currently the third largest cryptocurrency exchange by trade volume  — announced plans to launch a one billion USD blockchain incubator. The project, dubbed “Huobi Labs,” would be a collaborative effort between the popular Asian exchange and Tianya Community Network, a well-known Chinese social media company. While we have yet to see whether or not this potential fund will ever come into existence, Huobi entered into another

Brian Kelly: Ripple Needs More Utility for XRP Prices to Increase Brian Kelly, the CEO of cryptocurrency trading firm BKCM, believes that investors are missing the bigger picture when it comes to Ripple. Speaking with CNBC, Kelly outlined the potential utility for both the Ripple Ledger and XRP. Ripple’s Utility in the Payments Arena The global payments industry is incredibly massive. Advances in cross-border payments and international banking systems have increased the total addressable market — with BKCM’s Brian Kelly claiming that the size of the internal payments market, alone, is $155 trillion. According to Kelly, it costs about $31 billion to move the entire $155 trillion strong market. Ripple’s core mandate is to be a real-time gross settlement system, currency exchange, and remittance network. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and the team at Ripple believe that XRP can find significant utility in the payments industry — potentially saving banks up to 60 percent on international

Vitalik Buterin: Sharding and Plasma Could Scale Ethereum by 10,000x Vitalik Buterin has shed some light on the subjects of Sharding and Plasma while essentially suggesting that Ethereum’s network will ultimately be capable of supporting tens of thousands of transactions per second. OmiseGO (OMG) held a holiday special AMA on May 30, which featured Ethereum’s founder Vitalik Buterin. While the entire session was filled with interesting insight, what definitely caught the attention of most viewers were Buterin’s thoughts on Sharding and Plasma — two major improvements to the Ethereum blockchain which are currently under development. As it stands currently, Ethereum’s blockchain can — according to Buterin — support up to 15 transactions per second (TPS). Recognizing that this has become widely inefficient and, for what it’s worth, insufficient, Buterin explained that the team’s concentrated efforts have been to handle what could be a major roadblock for Ethereum’s further development

Blockchain Advisory Expert, Ian Scarffe Joins ONe Network Advisory Board ONe Network, one of the world’s first blockchain social media platforms, is pleased to announce the addition of Ian Scarffe to its Board of Advisors. As ONe continues to attract international attention, Ian brings extensive experience within the Investment and Blockchain markets to support the ONe Network ICO/ITO process. ONe Network is preparing to launch its ICO/ITO after announcing that it is using the latest in Blockchain and Dapp Technology with built-in privacy and control features to deliver privacy in the new Social 2.0. The ICO/ITO will support ongoing development and scaling as ONe begins its global mission to bring Privacy, Data Ownership/Control and Cryptocurrency ease of use to the masses. As a Blockchain expert, Ian is on the advisory board of multi-million-dollar Blockchain startups. John Hoelzer, Founder/CEO of ONe Network, notes: As one of the most highly experienced and sought after Blockch

Abu Dhabi Ports Launches First Domestic Blockchain Solution for Logistics Abu Dhabi is introducing blockchain tech into its shipping and logistics industry through Maqta Gateway. Maqta Gateway LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Ports, has become the first entity in Abu Dhabi to deploy its own blockchain solution, Construction Business News reports June 2. Maqta Gateway has developed and launched Silsal — a blockchain-based technology that aims to improve efficiency in the shipping and logistics industry. According to Construction Business News, Silsal will initially be available to freight forwarders and their customers, with the new system being rolled out to “the rest of the trade community as a complementary tool to the existing mPCS (Maqta’s Port Community System).” Using an internal blockchain, Abu Dhabi Ports hopes to reduce paperwork, facilitate real-time status updates and accelerate information exchange. Silsal was developed internally in the Digital Innovation

Hodler’s Digest, May 28-June 3: South Korea Get Back Into Crypto, China Embraces Blockchain This week closes with both sensational headlines — a crypto-backed fiat currency launched by John McAfee — and wins for adoption — South Korea re-thinking their ICO ban. Coming every Sunday, the Hodler’s Digest will help you to track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions, and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week South Korea Contemplates Lifting ICO Ban South Korea — which has given the crypto community more than its share of FUD since it began banning ICOs and anonymous trading months earlier — is now considering re-legalizing Initial Coin Offerings in the country . The change of heart reportedly comes as the National Assembly seeks to enhance the legal “basis” of cryptocurrency. Vulnerabilities In EOS Blockchain Discovered, Fixed Same Day A C

Spain Introduces Innovation-Aimed Crypto Regulation, But Political Unrest Might Cause a Setback Can Spain still become a fintech haven? On May 30, the Spanish Congress unanimously supported draft legislation that would favorably regulate blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies in the country. While the move marks pro-crypto tendencies among local politicians, there are complications that the reform might stumble upon, namely EU compliance laws and the very recent overthrow of prime minister Mariano Rajoy. The “sandbox” concept Currently, there is no regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in Spain. Bitcoin is thus not considered legal currency in the country. According to the Library of Congress , however, it may be viewed as a “digital good” and can therefore comply with the rules of barter in Spain’s civil code. Due to the absence of a supervisory framework, the draft calls for a review of regulations pertaining to Bitcoin and altcoins, as well as to blockchain, proposing t

Internet Giant Baidu Unveils Energy-Efficient ‘Super Chain’ Blockchain Protocol ‘Chinese Google’ Baidu has revealed its latest blockchain product targeting cryptocurrency energy consumption. Chinese internet giant Baidu has announced the next step in its blockchain integration in the form of a protocol aimed at reducing mining energy consumption, according to a report by China News Weekly today, June 3. Dubbed ‘Super Chain,’ chief scientist at Baidu’s blockchain division Xiao Wei revealed the protocol at a local conference over the weekend. The move forms the latest in a series of increasingly direct experiments with cryptocurrency for Baidu, which launched its Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) solution in January this year. Super Chain can “insert and remove consensus mechanisms to solve the current energy consumption problem,” Wei explained, and is also “compatible with the development system of Bitcoin and Ethereum.” Baidu has already released one blockchain-based product s

Crypto Markets Gain $25 Bln Over the Week, Ethereum Price Above $600 Crypto markets have gained $25 bln over the past 7 days, with all of top ten coins by market cap in the green. Sunday, June 3: over the past 7 days, the total capitalization of crypto markets has increased by as much as $25 bln , with all of the top ten cryptocurrencies listed on Coinmarketcap (CMC) currently in the green. Market visualization from Coin360 Bitcoin (BTC) is slightly up today, currently trading at $7,704 , having gained about 1 percent in 24 hours to press time and around 6 percent over the week. However, the cryptocurrency is still down 17 percent over the last month. Bitcoin price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Bitcoin Price Index Ethereum (ETH) has gained around 5 percent over the 24-hour period, which places it above the $600 mark - the coin is trading at $621 as of press time. Ethereum price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Ethereum Price Index Total crypto market capitalization is curren

Bitcoin Price Sets Sights On $8,000 As Investors Watch For ‘Buy’ Signal On June 3, the price of Bitcoin broke through ten-day highs to once again challenge $8,000 — as multiple investors eye fresh ‘buy’ signals.  Brandt Watches For Sunday ‘Buy’ Chart Data from across major exchanges showed BTC/USD move through $7,700. As of press time on Sunday, it is hovering between $7,720 and $7900. Bitcoin’s newfound support upends a weekly downturn, which saw prices bottom out at $7,096 on May 29. A strong support at $6,900 remains untested since early April. Sources from within the cryptocurrency industry remain hawkish on the potential for a more decisive return to form for Bitcoin — which has so far failed to regain ground lost through May, where it hit a peak of $9,922 .  When analyzing charts over the weekend, veteran trader Peter Brandt suggested BTC/USD “could” produce a ‘buy’ signal by Monday — while tapering enthusiasm about the pair sustaining further support. A chart buy signal

Google, Facebook and Uber: Has Their Blockchain Time Arrived? World corporations continue to experiment with blockchain, and 66 percent expect the technology to be integrated into their systems by the end of 2018. Will this transformation occur and why hasn’t it happened yet? The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of Cointelegraph.com. British company Juniper Research recently published a study which suggests that the use of blockchain technology by multinational companies is just a matter of time. Analysts report that nearly 6 out of 10 corporations are considering application of this technology or already in the process of developing corporate blockchain services: Two-thirds (66 percent) expected blockchain to be integrated into their systems by the end of 2018. Only 15 percent of respondents know about the technology by hearsay, while 75 percent are confident that its use will be "very useful”. Earlier, Cointelegraph re

Estcoin Backs Down as Banking Authorities Bully Estonia The small Baltic nation of Estonia has backed down on its plan to create a national cryptocurrency after drawing heat from Italian economist and President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi, as well as local banking authorities. Now, the Estcoin will simply be used as an incentive for e-residents.  Banking Bullies Estonia’s cryptocurrency project, Estcoin , will “definitely not be a national ‘cryptocurrency,” after receiving pressure from banking authorities. According to Estonia’s head of IT strategy, Siim Sikkut, the digital token will now merely be offered as an incentive to foreigners using Estonia’s electronic identification to sign documents and set up companies remotely. Estonia originally planned on pegging its national cryptocurrency to the euro — the official currency of the European Union — as well as offering them to all citizens within the Baltic country. ‘The currency of the eurozone is the euro’ As noted