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Current Bitcoin Price
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Exchange Giant CME Announces Bitcoin Futures
Mastercard's blockchain plan gets down to business
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eCapital joins Blockchain in Trucking Alliance
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We already know blockchain's killer apps
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Novateqni and Novus To Showcase New Blockchain Capable Census Devices
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Russia is going all in on bitcoin
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Bitcoin Dips a Toe Into the Mainstream
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Is Bitcoin Facing A Corporate Takeover Via The '2x' Fork? A Developer And A Business Leader ...
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Move Over Pork Bellies: CME Group To Begin Trading Bitcoin Futures
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Bitcoin's Mysterious Creator Appears to be Sitting On a $5.8 Billion Fortune
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CME to offer bitcoin futures
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Bitcoin Price Climbs to New All-Time High at $6450, as Market Gains Absolute Confidence
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Inside Russia's love-hate relationship with Bitcoin
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Bitcoin futures approval sparks fears: 'The financial crisis all over again'
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CME Group Announces Plans to Launch Bitcoin Futures
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Bitcoin Turns 9 and Has Evolved into a Global Currency Already
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These International Bitcoin Communities Are Rejecting SegWit2x
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Only Buy Bitcoin If You're Ready to Lose It
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Vietnam's Central Bank Announces Ban on Bitcoin Payments
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Bitcoin Futures Could Open the Floodgates for Institutional Investors
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Bitcoin or not, blockchain is here to stay
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The Blockchain Next Generation Alternative to PayPal Has Arrived
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Blockchain Will Keep Growing Even After the Bans, Chinese AI Startup
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Deloitte publishes new principles for blockchain in financial services
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CME Group Aims to Launch a Bitcoin Derivatives Platform This Quarter
On October 31 the world’s largest options and futures exchange, CME Group, has announced it will be launching a bitcoin-based derivatives marketplace for future contracts during Q4 of 2017. The U.S. headquartered financial markets company says there is “increasing interest” for cryptocurrency options and futures products for mainstream investors.
Also read: Over $1 Million in Bitcoin Swaps and Options Traded on Ledger X in its First Week
The World’s Leading FX Marketplace Will Launch bitcoin-based derivatives In Q4 2017
“Given increasing client interest in the evolving cryptocurrency markets, we have decided to introduce a bitcoin futures contract,” explains Terry Duffy, CME Group’s CEO, and Chairman.
As the world’s largest regulated FX marketplace, CME Group is the natural home for this new vehicle that will provide investors with transparency, price discovery and risk transfer capabilities.
CME’s Futures Aims to Reflect the Global Bitcoin-Dollar Trade Transparently
CME has been calculating and publishing the BRR reference rates since 2016 with help from the firm Crypto Facilities Ltd. Essentially BRR tracks the trade flow of a few significant bitcoin exchange’s spot prices based on the U.S. dollar. CME explains the reference rate follows “IOSCO Principles” used in traditional financial standards. The following trading platforms used to calculate the BRR include Kraken, GDAX, Bitstamp, and Itbit.
“The BRR has proven to reliably and transparently reflect global bitcoin-dollar trading and has become the price reference of choice for financial institutions, trading firms and data providers worldwide,” details Dr. Timo Schlaefer, CEO of Crypto Facilities.
Also, both companies say that they will continue to provide a superior form of “price transparency to the spot bitcoin market,” with its CME CF Bitcoin Real-Time Index (BRTI). This particular index combines global demand within a calculated order book which mirrors bitcoin’s USD spot price. “The BRTI is published in real time and is suitable for marking portfolios, executing intra-day bitcoin transactions and risk management,” CME notes.
Will Future’s Open the Doors for Bitcoin ETFs?
A lot of cryptocurrency proponents are excited for bitcoin options and futures markets, as they could help pave the way for specific bitcoin-based exchange-traded funds (ETF). Many ETF applicants have decided to wait for CME and Ledger X to get the ball rolling before applying again with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). CME Group details that its bitcoin futures products will launch if “all relevant regulatory review periods,” are approved by U.S. officials.
What do you think about CME launching a bitcoin-based derivatives marketplace for future contracts? Let us know in the comments below.
Images via Shutterstock, AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, and CME Group.
Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section.
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CryptoShuffler: Trojan stole $140000 in Bitcoin
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PR: Xenio.io Releases Decentralized Gaming Blockchain Source Code
This is a paid press release, which contains forward looking statements, and should be treated as advertising or promotional material. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support this product/service. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the press release.
After months of closed development, the team behind the open source Xenio project have released version 0.2 of their blockchain source code, the first in a planned series of tiered releases of the greater Xenio software suite. The Github is available at: http://ift.tt/2z20NHP
Xenio is a decentralized peer-to-peer gaming distribution platform and blockchain. It allows game developers to sell games directly to gamers with no commission, and using the Xenio platform, developers can create tokens for their game licenses and in-game digital assets. Xenio runs on its own dedicated game-optimized blockchain, utilizing smart contract technology for provably fair game statistics and trustless transactions on the integrated game asset marketplace. The newly released code is capable of running the production version of the Xenio blockchain, which has already been running in stealth mode for months.
Starting features of Xenio include:
Masternode system for game server operators to earn XNO by hosting games, based on a custom consensus protocol called Proof-of-Networking
A dedicated game-optimized blockchain with smart contracts and token capabilities Blockchain-stored game statistics for open analysis and provably fair matchmaking Token creation functionality for game licenses and in-game assets (weapons, skins, in game currency, etc.) allowing optional transfer of assets to other gamer accounts XNO transaction fee sharing, paid to all connected nodes, including gaming clients.
- Fully decentralized P2P system and multi-OS consumer client with no central server authority or corporate interests
- Direct to consumer game publishing with no commission charges
- Multicurrency payment support – gamers can buy games through the user client with XNO, Bitcoin, or a number of other payment methods not just cryptocurrencies.
- APIs and SDKs using modern languages for developers to easily integrate their games
Offline client key management means no servers need to be trusted to create a new account or sign in to the system - End-to-end encrypted chat system from within the client
- Open source model enables the community to contribute to the platform directly
To find out more about Xenio, please visit: https://xenio.io
The white paper is available at: http://ift.tt/2w4LkDS
The Github is available at: http://ift.tt/2z20NHP
The Xenio ICO is currently in the Early Presale phase, and registrations are now open.
Contact Email Address
contact@xenio.io
This is a paid press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or 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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Qchain Charts New Native Advertising Roadmap
Today’s native advertising world, where a publication's editorial content is paid for by an advertiser to promote their product or service is fraught with challenges threatening the ad industry. Due in part to the growing dominance of digital media giants like Facebook, Google, and Amazon, display advertising conversions continue to experience a decline. This trend has spurred efforts to find new solutions for navigating the prevailing advertising ecosystem in a scalable, trustworthy and secure way.
A Viable Solution in the Blockchain?
This nascent technology, which undergirds Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, is certainly garnering attention in the ad tech industry. In the past 18 months, companies like MadHive, Basic Attention Token (BAT) and adChain have come to market employing blockchain protocols to applications in the digital advertising supply chain.
One creative approach to solving problems in the ad tech supply chain is an application being developed on the Ethereum and NEM blockchains by Qchain. The open source platform will use blockchain technology to facilitates transactional engagement between advertisers and content publishers, while being mediated and arbitrated by hosts. Akin to Google AdSense Network, Qchain is targeting a three-pronged approach (advertiser, publisher, and host) with an emphasis on a proof-of-interaction transaction verification system.
What makes Qchain unique as opposed to other adtech blockchain startups is its ability to subtly shift the digital advertising model in a way that’s more favorable to advertisers. User experience and ease-of-use has therefore emerged as a top priority in the company’s development amid an environment of advertisers and publishers who are traditionally fairly conservative when it comes to change. As in the case of BAT, Qchain aims to focus more on conversions versus rewarding users for their attention.
Amid its growing involvement in the intersection between blockchain technology and advertising, Qchain champions the notion that Ethereum and NEM are the two most promising enterprise-centric blockchain hubs currently in development. The former allows for ease in development of decentralized smart contracts; the latter skillfully delivers the Proof-of-Importance (POI) algorithm and the EigenTrust++ reputation system to encourage transactions. Users therefore will have maximum choice at their disposal, opting for the blockchain that most accurately suits their needs.
The infrastructural foundation of Qchain consists of four main elements: the advertiser section, the publisher section, the host section and the marketplace. A user can serve as both an advertiser and publisher.
Qchain’s Multidisciplinary Beginnings
“The members of the team and I are curious about the world, and a wide variety of academic subjects,” said CEO Wally Xie about Qchain’s ambitious direction. “Therefore we like to go where there are complex problems to solve.”
Xie has long been fascinated by complex systems, and therefore saw blockchains are also an extension of that. At the National Institutes of Health, he worked on using neural networks to simulate and replicate human brain behavior. Now at the University of California Irvine he is working on comparing complicated mathematical climate models using Bayesian statistics. “Brains and climate are complex systems, and so are blockchains,” says Xie.
After a few years of following the blockchain industry and its meteoric climb, Xie saw the “third generation” of crypto enthusiasts as well as the concept of tokenization as paths to opening up more opportunities for blockchain technology’s application. At the end of last year, he started brainstorming business and technical problems that could be solved by decentralization and transparency.
While daydreaming in class one day in early 2017 (he’s currently pursuing a PhD in Mathematical Biology at UC Irvine), Xie began comparing blockchain technology with what he had learned working for the social media management firm Sprout Social. Xie realized that blockchains could make payouts and transactions in advertising and marketing cheaper and more convenient. He believes that the transparency of blockchain technology makes it easier to spot ad fraud post-hoc, harder to get away with things like SSP arbitrage, and improves the bargaining power of advertisers and publishers in the digital advertising ecosystem. He also appreciates that it allows an easy way to transfer funds directly between advertisers and publishers without a central deposit.
“Of course, my views have gotten more nuanced,” admitted Xie. “I have learned that there are parties in the digital advertising ecosystem that do not want transparency. I am also of the opinion that the decline of standard web display advertising and anemic conversion rates of ads was a far larger problem than ad fraud in digital advertising.”
The first digital marketplace for native advertising
As their roadmap states, Qchain has recently launched a demo for Qchain Native Direct Buy, the first piece of the platform. This part of the application will focus on creating a marketplace enabling simple and easy transactions of native ad units between content publishers and advertisers.
Xie said, “Native advertising buys are being conducted in an inefficient manner right now. Content publishers have large, unwieldy sales teams and have to do a lot of cold calls. Advertisers have to search for publishers and individually contact them to shop for native ads via phone, email or in-person meetings; they do not have convenient means of seeing available native ad units for sale in one place.”
Here is where Native Direct Buy comes in. Qchain aims to help solve these problems by providing a singular and accessible marketplace for advertisers and content publishers, such as BuzzFeed and Vox, to efficiently transact in native ad units. Blockchain technology, Xie pointed out, contributes to this idea by allowing advertisers to directly pay content publishers through cryptocurrency and potentially future tokenized fiat accounts, rather than going through a centralized deposit system. Additionally, Xie suggested that a Native Direct Buy on the blockchain is more feasible to execute in the short term than a prototypical ad exchange based on blockchain scaling problems that cannot handle high transaction volume.
Xie said that the company is also in the process of developing their second application, Qchain Surveys, which will provide an enterprise paid survey service for marketers, pollsters and academics to inform their research.
“We will add applications in the future as we see fit to fill out the platform and fulfill our aims of building an entire end-to-end ecosystem for digital marketers and advertisers to run their whole workflow on blockchain technology,” Xie pointed out.
Qchain also has taken the rare step of developing a ready-to-employ, fully tested platform in advance of their ICO campaign - an approach that runs counter to most blockchain projects whose white paper/website only campaigns have given the ICO scene a bit of a black mark.
Xie concludes: “We want to be an example of a sustainable, ethical company that grew from a legally compliant ICO. We want to make the sponsored content sales process more convenient and easy for content publishers, so that they can spend more time working on projects that also are not sponsored and satisfy their journalistic responsibilities.”
The post Qchain Charts New Native Advertising Roadmap appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.
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New Blockchain Startup Looking to Liquidize the Illiquid
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👍 Thank You Very Much For Watching This Video! 😃 Please Remember To Hit Like & Subscribe! (Also, If You Can Share, It Shows You Care :) ►The Official Ethereal Summit Site: http://ift.tt/2pyuZFe ►The Program (Agenda): http://ift.tt/2pRwPkl 🚩Join The Crypt0's News Group: https://goo.gl/7zxDrt ►💎Donate Ether and Ethereum-Based (ERC-20) Tokens: 0x97f32d97D6Ce4dee3429279F04D5b96Aba7C969B ►💎Donate Bitcoin: 17nFpuYFBxjtGbXgoMbyFGFHemkC5ayz6D ►💎Donate Bitcoin Cash: AbU983Rg4mfRpZ45BmcnitgZfvnDDkzdk ►💎Donate Smartcash: SRmxucTyFd1Dz64LSPAJPNcxQDhAzRTyvc ►💎Donate Dash: XdhemiKBeBCzJFq3v3WNggVRTgd8S4ys9J ►💎Donate Using Paypal: https://goo.gl/7m1X4Z 📔___RECOMMENDED READING ►Ethereum: Blockchains, Digital Assets, Smart Contracts, DAOs- http://amzn.to/2t015ik ►The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology- http://amzn.to/2rHXGjQ ►Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100: http://amzn.to/2tUaEfa ►The Creature From Jekyll Island: http://amzn.to/2sWZLfa ►Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill: http://amzn.to/2t1nHOT ►📺Introduction to Cryptocurrency Playlist: https://goo.gl/YZTwvc 🔑__A MUST HAVE__ ►Ledger Nano S (Bitcoin+Ethereum+More Hardware Wallet): https://goo.gl/wZUVES ►Hardware Wallet Superstore (5$ Off): https://goo.gl/ftZL3w ►👕Epic Crypto T-Shirts: http://ift.tt/2r9Q9K2 💻FOLLOW US HERE: ►Instagram: https://goo.gl/tV9kZh ►Twitter: https://goo.gl/fY2W2k ►Snapchat: minamarie0012 ►Crypt0's News Official Site: https://goo.gl/mnWvPL -~-~~-~~~-~~-~- Please watch: "Cryptocurrency- An Introduction: Featuring Elle & Crypt0! (Basics, Tips, Resources, & Much More!)" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9B52U6tsvo -~-~~-~~~-~~-~-
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👍 Thank You Very Much For Watching This Video! 😃 Please Remember To Hit Like & Subscribe! (Also, If You Can Share, It Shows You Care :) 🚩Join The Crypt0's News Group: https://goo.gl/7zxDrt ►💎Donate Ether and Ethereum-Based (ERC-20) Tokens: 0x97f32d97D6Ce4dee3429279F04D5b96Aba7C969B ►💎Donate Bitcoin: 17nFpuYFBxjtGbXgoMbyFGFHemkC5ayz6D ►💎Donate Bitcoin Cash: AbU983Rg4mfRpZ45BmcnitgZfvnDDkzdk ►💎Donate Smartcash: SRmxucTyFd1Dz64LSPAJPNcxQDhAzRTyvc ►💎Donate Dash: XdhemiKBeBCzJFq3v3WNggVRTgd8S4ys9J ►💎Donate Using Paypal: https://goo.gl/7m1X4Z 📔___RECOMMENDED READING ►Ethereum: Blockchains, Digital Assets, Smart Contracts, DAOs- http://amzn.to/2t015ik ►The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology- http://amzn.to/2rHXGjQ ►Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100: http://amzn.to/2tUaEfa ►The Creature From Jekyll Island: http://amzn.to/2sWZLfa ►Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill: http://amzn.to/2t1nHOT ►📺Introduction to Cryptocurrency Playlist: https://goo.gl/YZTwvc 🔑__A MUST HAVE__ ►Ledger Nano S (Bitcoin+Ethereum+More Hardware Wallet): https://goo.gl/wZUVES ►Hardware Wallet Superstore (5$ Off): https://goo.gl/ftZL3w ►👕Epic Crypto T-Shirts: http://ift.tt/2r9Q9K2 💻FOLLOW US HERE: ►Instagram: https://goo.gl/tV9kZh ►Twitter: https://goo.gl/fY2W2k ►Snapchat: minamarie0012 ►Crypt0's News Official Site: https://goo.gl/mnWvPL -~-~~-~~~-~~-~- Please watch: "Cryptocurrency- An Introduction: Featuring Elle & Crypt0! (Basics, Tips, Resources, & Much More!)" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9B52U6tsvo -~-~~-~~~-~~-~-
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CME Group Announces Launch of Bitcoin Futures
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CME to launch Bitcoin futures
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R3 unveils more information on its blockchain-inspired tech
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DAT Joins Trucking-Focused Blockchain Group
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Can Hashgraph Dethrone Blockchain as the Future Backbone of Consensus Algorithms?
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Four Weddings and a Funeral, Blockchain Style
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In the Era of Microcredentials, Institutions Look to Blockchain to Verify Learning
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R3, 22 banks build blockchain-based international payments platform
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Blockchain: the key to protecting IP in the live business?
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Twenty-Seven Ways Marketers Can Use Blockchain
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How organizations can use blockchain technology to enhance cybersecurity
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Blockchain In Trucking Alliance Lands Corporate Finance Member
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Could Blockchain Wipe Out DDoS Attacks?
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Which Type of Blockchain is Right for You?
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What's Driving Blockchain Adoption in Healthcare?
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Blockchain Engineer Salary in Washington, DC
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These International Bitcoin Communities Are Rejecting SegWit2x
The hard fork part of the New York Agreement is scheduled to take place within about two weeks. This incompatible protocol rule change is set to increase Bitcoin’s block weight limit, to allow for more transactions on the network — if everyone adopts the change. Otherwise, it will create a new blockchain and currency that may or may not be considered to be “Bitcoin.”
The list of signatories of this agreement includes several of the largest Bitcoin startups and mining pools that, together, claim to represent a majority of users and hash power. Yet, it is far from clear that this 2x part of SegWit2x proposal really has much support outside of these signatories. Most of Bitcoin’s development community, a significant number of other companies, some mining pools, user polls as well as futures markets suggest otherwise.
And now, a growing list of international Bitcoin communities is putting out public statements against the SegWit2x hard fork as well.
An overview…
Seoul Bitcoin Meetup
On October 12, 2017, the Seoul Bitcoin Meetup — the largest and longest-running Bitcoin meetup in South Korea with over 1700 members — was the first user community to put out a statement on SegWit2x. More precisely, in their own words, the group voiced its “staunch opposition to this November’s proposed hardfork.”
In its statement, the Seoul Bitcoin Meetup places emphasis on the manner in which the agreement was made. Typically, changes to the Bitcoin protocol go through the Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) process where it is peer reviewed by developers across the ecosystem, whereas SegWit2x went through the New York Agreement, which was forged at an invite-only meeting among about a dozen company executives.
The Seoul Meetup states:
If a select group of CEOs and investors, no matter how benevolent their intentions, can unilaterally make decisions about the consensus rules without public comment and force these changes upon the network regardless of overall consensus, then Bitcoin will have lost the properties that make it valuable in the first place.
Additionally, the Seoul Bitcoin Meetup argues that the hard fork is needlessly risky without offering sufficient benefits to warrant the risk. It also takes issue with the controversial decision of SegWit2x developers not to implement strong replay protection.
Bitcoin Meetup Munich
On the same day as the Seoul Meetup Group, the Bitcoin Munich meetup group also put out a public statement against the SegWit2x hard fork. This meetup group consists of over 2000 members — though only several dozen of them actually engaged in the vote whether or not the statement against the SegWit2x hard fork would be accepted. This statement itself was spread via photo on social media.
In its statement, the Bitcoin Munich meetup explains it opposes the SegWit2x hard fork in part because of technical concerns:
Another doubling of the block size so quickly after SegWit seems hasty and might cause further mining centralization.
The statement further argues that a hard fork requires more and better preparation and should include more improvements from the hard fork wish list, and it endorses Bitcoin Core as “the true Bitcoin client.”
Brazilian and Argentinian Bitcoin Communities
The biggest user community also published the longest statement against the SegWit2x hard fork so far. A combined effort between a significant group of Argentinian and Brazilian users and companies, published on October 17,2017, voiced “their deepest concerns over the upcoming November hardfork as mandated by the so-called New York Agreement (NYA), also known as SegWit2x (S2X).”
Not unlike other critics of the hard fork, emphasis was placed on the process that led to the SegWit2x agreement:
The very nature of an ‘agreement’ between a few parties in a decentralized consensus protocol can be interpreted as an aggression against the network.
Similarly, the statement addresses the lack of transparency from SegWit2x proponents, criticizing the notion of a “political compromise instead of a technical upgrade” and the “consensus imposition instead of consensus building.”
Other points of concern include the lack of replay protection, the rushed nature of the hard fork, misleading statements by SegWit2x proponents and much more.
Israeli Bitcoin Association
The Israeli Bitcoin Association is a non-profit organization that promotes Bitcoin and similar technologies in Israel, with an open membership. On October 24, 2017, this association put out its own statement on the SegWit2x hard fork.
Slightly different from several of the other statements, the Israeli Bitcoin Association emphasizes the right of anyone to fork Bitcoin and create a new cryptocurrency. That naturally includes SegWit2x proponents.
But importantly, the association adds:
A protocol change in the currency holding the name ‘Bitcoin’, especially one requiring a hard fork, requires overwhelming consensus. The SegWit2x hard fork does not in any way enjoy such consensus, and while this remains the case we cannot refer to the resulting currency as ‘Bitcoin.’
The SegWit2x currency will instead be referred to as “‘Bitcoin2x.’ ‘SegWit2x coins,’ BT2, B2X, S2X or any other distinctive term that the industry will adopt.”
The Hong Kong Bitcoin Community / Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Bitcoin Community in general, and the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong specifically, put out statements against SegWit2x on October 25, 2017.
While technically separate statements, both voice their concern about the lack of consensus for the hard fork. The Hong Kong Bitcoin Community — a group of Hong Kong–based companies — states that “the lack of enthusiastic support for this fork among the community is striking.” The association — which mostly exists to promote Bitcoin in Hong Kong — states that “the proponents of the hardfork should kindly ask the Bitcoin community to support them and then only proceed with the hardfork if there is widespread community support.”
Additionally, the Hong Kong groups speak out against the lack of replay protection in the SegWit2x fork.
Due to the combination of both a lack of consensus across the community and a lack of strong replay protection, we consider SegWit2x a reckless endeavor that will cause disruption and harm to the ecosystem.
The Italian Bitcoin Community
The Italian Bitcoin community, more specifically a group of companies, meetups, lobbying groups and other organizations, put out a statement against SegWit2x on October 31, 2017.
The statement is largely inspired by an earlier statement by the Italian blockchain research lab BHB, which rejected SegWit2x as “an attempt to perform a political takeover of Bitcoin.”
The statement by the broader Italian Bitcoin community is a bit more compact, but nonetheless touches on many of the familiar points of criticism regarding the SegWit2x hard fork.
It reads:
The opposition is especially strong against any action of this kind that could cause huge inconveniences for service providers and serious confusion for users, potentially leading to financial losses: unilateral attempts to appropriate Bitcoin name, logo or “ticker”, attempts to mislead light-clients and SPV wallets on alternative networks not explicitly chosen by them, attempts to launch new coins in a way which leave users vulnerable to “replay attacks” or address format confusion, attempts to attack the network with a temporary hashing-power majority in order to create disruptive reorgs or to slow down the normal activity.
French-Speaking Bitcoin Communities
Meanwhile, the French-speaking Bitcoin communities are voicing their concerns with the SegWit2x hard fork through a change.org petition. It is currently signed by over 1300 people and counting.
The (French) text that accompanies the petition is mostly inspired by and based on the statement published by the Seoul Bitcoin Meetup. Like that statement, this petition emphasizes concerns about the manner in which the agreement was forged, while also noting the lack of replay protection and other problems.
Additionally, the petition includes a call to action to find alternatives for the companies that signed onto and continue to support the SegWit2x hard fork:
We would suggest avoiding the use of services of companies that support the NYA, and we hope to substitute them with alternative solutions.
Are they any more user communities that have put out statements against or in favor of the SegWit2x hard fork? Let me know at aaron@bitcoinmagazine.com.
The post These International Bitcoin Communities Are Rejecting SegWit2x appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.
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Robomed Network Unleashes Linkages Between Healthcare Patients and Providers
The global healthcare market is vast and complex, with equity funding to digital health companies having reached $5.8 billion so far this year. Within this space, myriad models of healthcare delivery are being employed as breakthrough technologies are introduced.
A concept that’s gaining increased attention is the “patient-oriented medical network.” In this model, patients can manage and control their healthcare data through a mobile electronic medical record (EMR) — information they’re able to grant their doctors access to when requested.
This mode of value-based physician-to-patient engagement is designed to impact care quality, cost and patient access across an entire healthcare continuum. One company that’s making a mark in this area is an innovative global digital platform known as Robomed Network.
Robomed is introducing a solution that allows the medical industry to replace the old, prevailing ways of managing healthcare processes with new ones designed to boost efficiency, effectiveness and transparency. This is achieved through the elimination of non-value-added processes and clinical errors.
Robomed Network is comprised of 23 clinics across the world. Through the use of this ecosystem, patients around the globe have access to bureaucracy-free, affordable and quality medical care targeted to their specific needs.
What drives all of this is a medical network managed by a blockchain token, designed to provide the most effective medical care. Robomed serves as the linkage point between health service providers and patients, all tied to a smart contract built on top of the Ethereum platform.
“Robomed’s blockchain is designed to constantly expand available capacity for record-keeping, transactions tracking and accumulation of a diverse database of medical knowledge and clinical pathways applied to treating a numerous range of medical cases,” said Robomed Network co-founder Philipp Mironovich. “We believe that the scope of medical services rendered to patients is bound to grow with the processes for obtaining these services streamlined.”
As a part of the Robomed Network, participating in-network clinics utilize what is known as “Robomed EНR,” a process-automation system geared for medical centers, which includes unified medical data storage and health management tools. Its primary purpose is to integrate all participating clinics into a single information space, allowing various service providers to quickly interact without bureaucratic, financial or legal barriers.
This bridge between the patients seeking quality medical care and access to it is a smart contact. This interactive digital mechanism allows patients to obtain access to a chain of healthcare providers committed to delivering the best medical care consistent with the digital clinical guidelines registered in Robomed Network.
These clinical guidelines are adopted via a constantly updated, competitive and transparent voting process involving the medical and patient community. The goal here is to utilize a diverse set of healthcare treatments and high standards to fulfill patients’ expectations.
Robomed Network issues its own tokens to drive the smart contract engagement between healthcare providers and patients. This elevates service value by granting token owners full accomplishment of clinical guidelines for cases.
Patients engage with the Robomed Network via Robomed Mobile or Robomed Web. The proprietary smart contract technology provides a unique opportunity to create a single system of coordinates with clinical outcomes as a reference point.
Given the possibilities and examples of using the Ethereum blockchain platform, the Robomed Network team is excited about this decentralized, cross-border ecosystem of healthcare providers they’ve created, based on an open smart contract and cryptocurrency.
Robomed’s history goes a couple of years back, to when co-founders Mironovich and Ivan Devyatkov decided to combine their expertise from the IT and healthcare sectors. Mironovich had been involved in the startup of several hospitals, and Devyatkov was involved in scaling up the second-biggest healthcare laboratory player in Russia. This is how the basic version of Robomed EHR emerged.
“Robomed’s mission is to provide equal healthcare to the world,” said Mironovich. “This means that Robomed aims toward constantly improving the effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare services across its global platform.”
Note: Trading and investing in digital assets is speculative. Based on the shifting business and regulatory environment of such a new industry, this content should not be considered investment or legal advice.
The post Robomed Network Unleashes Linkages Between Healthcare Patients and Providers appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.
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Bitcoin Cash Hard Fork Plans Updated – New Difficulty Adjustment Algorithm Chosen
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Bitcoin Cash Hard Fork Plans Updated – New Difficulty Adjustment Algorithm Chosen
The Bitcoin ABC development team has announced its plans for the November 13 Hard Fork upgrade of Bitcoin Cash. The upgrade is designed to stabilize the problematic difficulty adjustment algorithm (DAA). News.Bitcoin.com talked to Bitcoin ABC lead developer Amaury Séchet and Bitprim CEO Juan Garavaglia about what to expect.
Also read: Bitcoin Cash Community Preps Hard Fork Slated for November 13
Statement on November 13 Hard Fork
The Bitcoin ABC development team issued a statement on Monday regarding the upcoming hard fork of Bitcoin Cash (BCC). The upgrade is intended to address the cryptocurrency’s problematic DAA, which makes Bitcoin Cash’s blocktimes slow to a crawl at times and work several times too fast at others. According to the announcement:
Activation of the new consensus rules will be done on a median time stamp basis on blocks that occur after timestamp 1510600000, which corresponds to November 13th, 2:06 PM GMT.
In addition, “this activation code has been merged,” the statement continued, adding that a new software version containing an updated DAA will be published on or before November 1.
It is up to the decentralized Bitcoin Cash development community, especially the other node and wallet development teams, to upgrade their software before November 13 in order for the hard fork to proceed smoothly. Project developers stated that they “have been in communication with Bitcoin Cash miners and they are expecting this upgrade.”
Competition for the New DAA
The Monday statement describes five criteria which the new DAA algorithm seeks to accomplish. It needs to “adjust difficulty to hash rate to target a mean block interval of 600 seconds”; “avoid sudden changes in difficulty when hash rate is fairly stable”; “adjust difficulty rapidly when hash rate changes rapidly”; “avoid oscillations from feedback between hash rate and difficulty”; and “be resilient to attacks such as timestamp manipulation”.
These criteria address problems with the cryptocurrency’s original DAA, called the Emergency Difficulty Adjustment (EDA). The statement explained:
The original Bitcoin Cash “EDA” allowed Bitcoin Cash to survive as a minority chain but produces wild fluctuations of hashrate. This is problematic because it prevents consistently fast confirmations for users, and radically shifts the coin issuance schedule.
Three algorithms satisfying the criteria from developers in the greater Bitcoin Cash community were tested. They were D578 from Neil Booth; D601 from Amaury Séchet; and D622 from Tom Harding.
Séchet told news.Bitcoin.com that the testing showed another algorithm, Harding’s D622, performed “slightly better overall, but is also more complex to analyze from a security point of view and as a result was put aside for now.” He also believes the D622 algorithm could be improved upon and replace his own in the future, but he feels that “we must not delay solving a problem that is currently live on the network for too long.”
According to the Monday statement, Nchain found that Séchet’s DAA “is the logical choice,” despite the fact that D622 “is 3.1% (+/- 1.2% at 95% CI) better in most instances.” However, the faster algorithm lacked safety in their estimation. “For example, a large miner can set fluctuations into the timing,” Nchain mentioned, adding that:
We acknowledge that D601 (proposal from Amaury Séchet) may not necessarily have the highest performance, but since all 3 had similar performance, D601 was selected because it appears to have the least risk.
Why the Upgrade is Needed
Since its launch at the beginning of August, Bitcoin Cash has displayed a highly variable time between blocks being mined. With both Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, this blocktime is supposed to average out to six blocks per hour, no matter how much hashrate is pointed at it.
The EDA, which is responsible for these wild fluctuations, was created to help keep the mining hashrate steady during its first few weeks. Soon after the Bitcoin Cash community’s developers realized the EDA problem, a debate ensued about how to remove it and what to replace it with in order to keep the miners interested in mining bitcoin cash.
Juan Garavaglia, the CEO and founder of the Bitprim project, told news.Bitcoin.com that “we expect the new algo will mitigate fluctuations in block generation, giving Bitcoin Cash users a better user experience and is one step forward aligned with Satoshi original vision.”
Séchet shared the sentiment, telling new.Bitcoin.com that, after the upgrade:
The hashrate on the BCH chain should be more stable, as well as the block production. We should see a split of the hashrate between BTC and BCH that is close to the split in term of price.
What do you think will be the result of the Bitcoin Cash hard fork? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Bitcoin ABC.
Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section.
The post Bitcoin Cash Hard Fork Plans Updated – New Difficulty Adjustment Algorithm Chosen appeared first on Bitcoin News.
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PR: Hacken Decentralized Token for Cybersecurity Announces Its Token Sale Will Start October 31
This is a paid press release, which contains forward looking statements, and should be treated as advertising or promotional material. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support this product/service. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the press release.
The crowdsale will last for one month or until the hardcap of 20 million HKNs are distributed
Hacken, an ecosystem of white-hat hackers and a bug bounty marketplace with a focus on blockchain security, announces its crowdsale is set to start on October 31. The company has already raised an equivalent of $900,000 during the pre-sale in September. Having distributed 800,000 tokens they’re now looking forward to a successful token sale with over 1,000 contributors registered in the Whitelist.
Dmytro Budorin, Hacken Co-Founder and CFO, says: “We designed Hacken to motivate hackers to make legitimate profits by being involved in white-hat penetration testing and research. Today the supply of сybersecurity services fails to meet the demand and we’re happy to see great public support for our efforts to create a unique blockchain-based cybersecurity hub”.
The alpha version of HackenProof, the bug bounty marketplace and the first component of Hacken Ecosystem, will be released during the first week of the token sale. While it has already been successfully tested with several e-commerce businesses during the HackIT cup finals, a team of developers headed by Andrii Matyukhin, Hacken CTO, are polishing the platform to have it completely ready by mid-December.
In addition to working on the product in preparation for the token sale, the Hacken team has established several strategic partnerships. Among them are:
• TaaS Fund, the first-ever tokenized closed-end fund dedicated to crypto-assets designed to reduce the risks and technical barriers of investing in the blockchain space. The cooperation includes advisory support and provides traction for Hacken in the expert community. This is extremely valuable, considering Hacken’s primary focus on blockchain security.
• Confideal, a visual smart contract builder that makes creating, managing and enforcing smart contracts easier than ever. The cooperation will provide discounted services of penetration testing and vulnerabilities analysis to Confideal and their clients, as well as broader opportunities on using smart contracts for Hacken and their clients.
• Neuromation, a technology platform that creates synthetic learning environments for deep learning of neural networks. Neuromation is building a platform of distributed computing for creating artificial worlds where AI algorithms are trained on simulated sensory input.
• SmartOne, a marketplace for legal advice, automated document preparation and individual legal consulting. SmartOne partnered with Hacken for security auditing to ensure its legal services marketplace and its clients are protected using the best security standards in the industry.
The initial price for 1 HKN is $1 in fiat equivalent. The minimum amount to be purchased is an equivalent of 1 ETH. The currencies to be accepted are BTC, ETH, DASH, LTC, USD, EUR, TaaS. 80% of the funds raised are kept in an escrow account. To manage volatility risks and increase HKN liquidity in the future, Hacken will apply its unique innovation dubbed ‘the burning principle’: once the platform is launched, Hacken will charge on average a 30% fee for each transaction and then eliminate half of it from the system. Thus, the amount of Hackens available will be constantly reducing, thereby bringing greater value for community members. The initial total amount of HKNs is limited to 20 mln with no future emissions currently planned.
Visit hacken.io to buy HKN and to contribute to Hacken token sale by subscribing to our email newsletter. Follow us on Twitter or ask your questions on Telegram or on our Facebook page.
* * *
The Hacken Ecosystem is a community-based business organization consisting of the HackenProof bug bounty marketplace, Zero-day Remuneration Platform, Hacken Accelerator and Cybersecurity Analytics Center. The Hacken Ecosystem utilizes its own cryptocurrency HKN — a dedicated cryptocurrency for white hat hackers, to incentivize users to interact with its ecosystem. Hacken’s vision is to launch a movement that in several years will become one of the main driving forces deterring and countering international cybercrime.
Contact Email Address
media@hacken.io
Supporting Link*
https://hacken.io/
This is a paid press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or 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.
The post PR: Hacken Decentralized Token for Cybersecurity Announces Its Token Sale Will Start October 31 appeared first on Bitcoin News.
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