Category: Bitcoin

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world, history continued to repeat itself when common public health approaches were progressively put into action from one state to another. Such behaviours have disrupted the more normal everyday habits, resulting in minor but important improvements in how we work, function, pay and play from guidelines on the psychological divide to lockouts. Through QR payment code to electronic wallets, also in Southeast Asian economies, where money has traditionally reigned as sovereign, the call to non-cash payment forms has gradually been institutionalized. The move is positive provided that more than 70 per cent of women still do not have exposure in the country to fundamental financial services. Such infrastructures are expected to bring about structural improvements with a view to ensuring inclusive economic growth. In tandem with digital technology like blockchain, a new line can be converted to existing financial systems in order to best support those who are in need.

From Crisis to a Cashless World

Conflicts have the potential to cause big improvements. This tale is much more obscure, reminiscent of the explosive development that has arisen since the 2003 SARS disease in the Chinese electronic payments and e-commerce sector. Today China, of course, is home to a thriving landscape controlled by technology giants like Alipay and WeChat Pay. Coronavirus clearly accelerated penetration on emerging markets such as Singapore, which have a complex network of online payment options.

The Singapore reserve bank promoted the use of e-payment infrastructure and services including the island-wide QR code scheme for mobile e-wallets to allow besides lack of familiarity and contactless payments as part of the federal government’s public health policy. The volume of e-payments transactions alone rose in the city-state in the first quarter of 2020. A multigenerational transition has emerged with bank employees over the age of 54, showing growing confidence in internet banking services during the pandemic. Around the same time, the coronavirus has been used as a significant agent for rapid reform in many developed economies. The influence of financial technology was particularly pronounced here, and can not be lagging behind their developed counterparts.

Developing economies will gain more by operating on a “go digital or die” slogan to pull a technology-enabled paradigm of expanded fiscal and social flexibility regarding the financial pressure created by the international health crisis.

Going for the top to down

Regardless of whether developing markets have taken a radical stand or developing economies free of the bonds of established players, openness and competition define Southeast Asia’s financial services industry. We will certainly see more exhilarating instances of institutional usage in the presence of blockchain technologies as the country moves on its transparent financial course.

What Is Uphold?

Uphold is a leading digital payment platform that has more than 2.25 million customers. The company has recently launched a series of investment options to its customers. It offers hassle-free payments and investment options to both, individuals and businesses. Thus, it provides easy access to global cryptocurrencies and metals, equities, and more!

Affordable U.S. Equities For Latin Americans

Uphold, a crypto payment platform has introduced a new service to its users. According to this service, crypto holders can now own a fraction of shares in the leading companies. This service is only available to the Latin Americans as of now but it has a huge scope.

Unlike before it is now easier for crypto holders in Latin America to invest in the leading companies like Tesla, Google, and Amazon. The minimum investment is as little as 10,000 Satoshis.

Uphold supports multiple cryptocurrencies and once you are registered with the website, you’ll be able to pay in Bitcoin as well. By using Uphold’s uninterrupted service anyone can buy a stake in some of the leading companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, Tesla, Google and more!

What Is The Purpose Of Uphold Behind Launching This Service?

For many years, the U.S. equities have been a reliable source of income for a majority of people in the country. But this source was not available to the other countries. It was just a dream to most of the Latin Americans to buy stakes in renowned companies. It was either too expensive or was not available at all.

One share of Amazon costs $2,400, which is a huge sum for someone who earns approx. $3,000 a month. But Uphold has made it possible for everyone whose income is less but financial plans are high.

In a press release by Uphold, the company confirmed that they want to make it affordable to Latin natives. For a little amount of 10,000 Satoshis, anyone can invest in the company of their choice.

It is an equities service specifically designed for Latin America. It is the most hassle-free option to access the U.S. equities for the first time in history. There is no minimum investment and no hidden charges in addition to the investment.

Latin people can buy a fraction of expensive stocks without paying a huge amount of cryptocurrency. It gives easy access to the world’s largest equities market at a fraction of the cost.

Features of Uphold U.S. Equities

1. The number 1 and probably the most attractive feature of this new service by Uphold is the affordability. People in Latin America can invest as little as $1 in a valuable company such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook.
2. There is no commission to trade on the platform. The commission-free model of Uphold eliminates any extra cost and hidden charges. While other platforms are charging dormancy charges, forex fees, and account maintenance, anyone can get relief from these extra charges while using Uphold.
3. It is the easiest way to trade in U.S. equities.
4. Another feature which makes Uphold a unique platform is convenient while shifting from one company to another. For example, you can shift from Google to Amazon in one simple step without prior USD conversion. The platform allows to trade in more than 100 cryptocurrencies, equities, metals, and currencies. It will require a single trade to be shifted into another company while other platforms may require two trades in this case. Other platforms, on the other hand, consumes so much time and money in conversion. But on Uphold, anyone can go from Bitcoin to Amazon in one trade.

Latin American customers of Uphold are using the platform for saving their money to stay protected from the constant devaluation of the currency. The new feature that allows them to trade in U.S. equities can become a huge source to invest at an affordable option. Since the U.S. equity is still one of the most viable option to invest even during the global pandemic.

At present, many scammers use different web viruses and crawlers to get the control of the computers of different users for mining cryptocurrencies. This is called cryptojacking.

Basic idea over Cryptojacking

It is defined as the unauthorized usage of a person’s computer in order to mine cryptocurrency. Scammers or hackers perform these tasks by luring the victim and finally makes the user click on some harmful or malicious link that loads different cryptomining scripts on the device. Or, they also infect an online advertisement or even a whole website with a .Js code that automatically gets loaded on any of the browsers victim uses.

After that, the cryptomining script starts running automatically in background. The victim will never get a hint of it and continue with his or her work normally. The odd thing that they can expect the most is they would find their device is running a little slower than before, which won’t usually cause any suspicion in the victim’s mind.

A Little More About Cryptojacking

Nobody actually has any idea how the cryptocurrencies are being mined by cryptojacking. However, there is no doubt that this task is executed out of control.

Cryptojacking based on browser spread faster. But nowadays it’s reducing most probably for the volatility of cryptocurrency. Cryptojacking does not even need any particular technical skills.

Important Cryptojacking Exploitation Events

• On the basis of the report, Gold Rush Cryptocurrencies are the New Fraud in current market. Different cryptojacking kits are easily obtainable on the dark web for as little as 30 USD.

• In 2018, in the month of January, Smominru cryptomining botnet was found that had already contaminated above half million devices. It occurred mainly in India, Russia, and Taiwan.

• Positive Technology’s report: Cybersecurity-Threatscape-Q1 (2019), showed that cryptomining attacks has been reduced to 7% currently from 23% earlier in 2018.

The threat analyst of WatchGuard Technologies, Marc Laliberte had to say that cryptomining is in its early stage currently. He is a network security solutions provider at WatchGuard. He also added that there is enough space to grow.

He made the observation over Coinhive, it has created 300000 USD in the first month after launch. Coinhive is also easy to implement. He also said that it had expanded quite a lot after that.

How does it Operate?

The ones to do cryptojacking have two major techniques to make someone a victim under their noses.

• In the first method, the victim is tricked and somehow mentally insisted to try clicking any malicious link and by this, cryptomining scripts get access to their devices. It’s done by luring the victim with the help of a very highlighted email that contains the link.

• The second method is placing a script in the background code of an advertisement or a website. Then the ad or website link is shared on different online platforms. It pops up as soon as the victim visits the website. He might end up clicking on it as it might feel quite an attractive one.

Conclusion

No matter which technology is applied, the script runs in the targeted device and transfers the results to hacker’s server. Nonetheless, most of the time, hackers use both techniques at once in order to gain double. That was all you needed to be updated about cryptojacking exploits in recent times.

Elliptic, a blockchain analysis company, has added two of the privacy coins, such as Zen and Zcash, to its monitoring platform. It is big news in the cryptocurrency world. The addition of these two coins gives a clear cut insight to both the exchanges and institutional investors to take proper due diligence measures after completion of the transaction trails. The main thing about using Crypto is the privacy factor. The firms are looking to carry out their transactions high safe and in private. The transactions that are happening on the blockchain technology are entirely safe, secure, and meet people’s privacy.

The funds can be viewed to transfer from shielded addresses, and this gives rise to some compliance issues. Elliptic would not remove any feature of these coins that would breach the privacy. They want to keep the features that enhance privacy. These people offer transaction screening tools for exchanges and maintain everything private. Privacy and transparency both must be balanced. This balance can be attained through blockchain, especially bitcoins.

The company is maintaining the anonymity of the people who are carrying out the transactions. The personally identifiable information would not be revealed publicly on the blockchain. It offers high transparency that makes the transactions highly secure and safe.

There are many intelligence techniques used by the privacy coins to keep transaction trails at bay on the blockchain. There is an opt-in privacy measure available in Zcash and ZEN, which the users can disable if they want to show their transactions on the blockchain technology. If they do not want the transaction to be visible, they can enable this option.

If the cryptocurrency exchanges would like to know where the transaction was carried out, Elliptic is offering a service for privacy coins. This shows when the transaction has happened from the shielded address.

Every business which is following the regulations would like to know from where the transaction is happening. They also want to make sure that the funds are coming from a shielded address similar to that of bitcoin. It makes sure that it is coming from the mixer. If the funds come from other addresses, it is not that those coins are illegitimate or corrupt. The firms want to know where the funds are coming to take the necessary steps.

When you know that the funds are coming from shielded Zcash and horizon address, they help you adopt more of those coins. There are a few exchanges that are delisting the privacy coins to maintain good relationships with the banks.

Today, Zcash is found to be less risky than the bitcoin as it has the same visibility. The Zcash can never be used to carry out illegal trading activities. The irony is that a few illegitimate marketplaces are accepting Zcash as a mode of payment when you buy some product.

Kennedy, who is working with Chain analysis, clearly stated that Zcash would support analytics products. There are around 14% of Zcash transactions happening, and they would have shielded pools. However, only 6% of transactions that would interact with the shielded pool are actually shielded where the sender, receiver, and the amount that is sent from the sender to the receiver are encrypted. Many leading crypto firms are using Elliptic transaction and wallet monitoring tools for Zcash and ZEN.

When the blockchain monitoring support is provided to Zcash and ZEN, which are the private coins, it becomes easier for the financial institutions that are regulated in a safe and compliant way. Now, companies can use privacy coins for their business growth. Many cryptocurrency exchange are adding these privacy coins to their portfolio to grab the attention of new customers.

Elliptic’s move of using the privacy coins is taken to keep illicit activities at bay besides meeting their anti-money laundering and compliance obligations.

Paypal is one of the digital platforms used by many users across the globe. It is a system with global users where it is easy to pay and receive funds from any country. However, it is necessary to see that this platform is functional in the respective country. Since the last few weeks, markets are buzzing with the news that PayPal may be entering into the cryptocurrency market. The main reason for this rumor is the fact that the company has officially started hiring crypto engineers. While this may also be for research purposes, market participants are also eager to see if PayPal allows direct cryptocurrency purchases in the future. This can have a massive impact on the overall business of the company in the long run as the cryptocurrency market is growing at a good pace. It is also believed that in the near future, the platform is planning to initiate the transfer of bitcoin also, and that is why the preparation is being done. 

A huge network of PayPal

PayPal is one of the biggest payment platforms available in the market for many years now. Those who deal in different currencies know how useful this platform is.  It has more than 300 million users across the world. It enables users to transfer money from any location to other users. There is no restriction on geographical boundaries as most countries allow such digital transfer of payments subject to a few restrictions. It is likely to grow further if it enables direct cryptocurrency purchases as rumored in the markets for a few weeks.

PayPal hiring crypto engineers

It is now official that PayPal is hiring crypto engineers as the information is publicly available in the company job board. The job role is for Technical Lead Crypto Engineer, wherein the person will be working on designing and developing crypto products. The candidate will also be involved in the maintenance of different features of PayPal that may be integrated with cryptocurrency products.

PayPal research group

The research group of the company is also hiring candidates for a new team that will work on emerging blockchain technologies and foresees its potential use within the current services offered by the company. In this way, PayPal is indirectly sending signals to the market that it may be ready to enter the cryptocurrency market in a huge form. However, some people are also of the opinion that this may be due to the growing demand for cryptocurrencies that has the potential to hurt PayPal in the long run.

Is PayPal planning to enter the cryptocurrency market?

All these developments have triggered various rumors about PayPal entering the cryptocurrency market. The situation with cryptocurrency is looking extremely positive, which can become a potential threat for companies like PayPal in the future if nothing is done in this regard. In order to counter this, PayPal may be securing their systems further before making a direct entry to the cryptocurrency market.

How will this development impact the digital wallet market?

If PayPal enters the cryptocurrency market, this will get a massive boost as the company has had a good reputation in the market for many years. It can definitely add more users to the new market within a short duration of time. In this regard, market participants are eagerly watching the developments in this segment. There are chances that some development will happen shortly as the demand for cryptocurrency is growing at a rapid pace across the world. This is something that cannot be ignored by PayPal and other giants in the market.

Singapore, the island nation, just got its first Bitcoin ATM in March 2020, but talk is getting more definite about whether it needs another currency whose main appeal is its anonymity? 

Bitcoin is a virtual currency that’s garnering much attention globally as the future of money. It’s fun, sexy, and easy to trade, but it has its own inherent risks. That is why countries like China and Thailand are wary of this cryptocurrency and have outlawed it. India and Indonesia may soon be following China. But, Singapore has gone off the tangent and has chosen not to regulate it, but is just warning individuals and businesses that they will trade with bitcoin at their own risk. 

It’s not surprising that Singapore has embraced this digital currency as it’s basically a business-friendly country. It’s deemed to be the world’s easiest place in which to do business, according to the World Bank’s annual report released in October 2019. Singapore offers the most business-friendly regulatory environment for entrepreneurs of all hues. But, bitcoin’s inherent risks may damage Singapore’s hard-earned financial reputation.

Voices are already growing louder that are calling Singapore out as a money-laundering hub and tax haven. The voices warn that bitcoin will increase the risks as this digital currency’s biggest appeal is the anonymity it offers. This means it is easily used for funding of illegal activities and money laundering. 

The Singapore government did a risk assessment study, and this has proven that the island nation is susceptible to terrorist financing and money laundering. The study also showed that some sectors needed stronger controls. These include banks, casinos, money changers, and lenders. It noted that banks face higher risks because of large customer volumes and also due to the international nature of the financial

transactions.

Bitcoin is an international currency, as we know. And because it can’t be traced back to the customer, many buyers and sellers doing illegal activities like the sale of contraband goods and drugs, are attracted to it. 

Bitcoin: Not a stable Payment Option 

Another reason for merchants in Singapore to be wary of bitcoin is because it’s not a very viable payment option because of the fluctuation in its value. There’s always the possibility of losing a lot of money if this currency’s value drops exponentially.

The viability of bitcoin is thus a big question mark. In a country like Singapore, consumers are used to cash, credit and debit cards, as well as wallets as payment options and they surely don’t need bitcoin.

This leads us to concur with the statement that with all the associated risks, there is little reason to transact in bitcoin over traditional money in Singapore. 

Cryptocurrencies are gaining massive traction in Asia, and as per statistics, 40% of the top 50 crypto exchanges are based in the Asia Pacific region. Singapore is known as one of Asia’s greatest startup capitals, and we hope it will maintain its position. But, Singapore can’t stem the tide of digital currencies. It has to take into account that Hong Kong is fast becoming the capital of cryptocurrencies in Asia. Singapore can’t let this happen. It has to do everything to grab a portion of the digital currency market share; otherwise, it will lag behind as a financial hub. 

Having said this, a better option would be for the value of the bitcoin to stabilize. Bitcoin will become safer if the governments start recognizing it as a legal currency. This way, customers will be able to seek recourse in the case of fraud. But, before this happens, things will not be very good for bitcoins. And this is a crying shame. Bitcoin deserves better.

People are always a bit nervous while starting a business as they are not certain about the money they are going to make in the future. The same goes for the ones trading cryptocurrencies.

Can you really make big profits by trading cryptocurrencies? Well, before that, let’s have a brief idea about it. Cryptocurrency is a pseudo currency that is guarded by cryptography, making it almost impractical to duplicate.

How to Make a Huge Profit Trading Cryptocurrency?

There are more than 984 digital currencies all over the world, and new ones are still coming up. Thus, they have created a breeding ground for traders to make millions.

Earning money from cryptocurrency was comparatively easier when the markets were all heightening. A few adopters earlier earned 4057900% return by investing, at the time when bitcoin was being sold for $31 per unit only.

People trading Bitcoin and Altcoin turned out to be multi-millionaires within a flash. But, days have changed now. But don’t worry. Here are some suggestions you can follow to make millions by trading cryptocurrencies.

Rules to be Followed

1. Be Quick

Traders have earned millions of buying assets and selling them within hours, which is infrequent these days. Always remember that buying low and selling high is the key. There are a lot of cryptocurrencies, but it is still new to people.

There are not many signatures of how long the bear market conditions will last. Therefore, as with any other investment, you should never go for trading more than you’re ready to lose.

2. Stay Updated

Staying up to date is very crucial. Even if you miss a single day of the action in the cryptocurrency realm, it can be a huge loss in terms of money. Remain in the game everyday. It works 24 hours, but as a human being, you need rest.

A new development, a hard fork, or an exchange can make the price go high. That is why you can use trading bots, which you can set to keep up with the automated rules. This would help you keep yourself updated and prevent losing a big amount.

3. Trade Futures

There are various cryptocurrency future exchanges that will let you go for trading futures contracts. It’s just a contract between the purchaser and the seller. It points to the exchange of the underlying cryptocurrency asset at a fixed price on a future date.

Future trading opens up a gate for money dealing cryptocurrency even during the price fall of BTC. Selling bitcoin makes the dealers think that the price will fall and enter the deal to sell at the initially secured higher BTC value. Being right makes them gain when the price falls.

4. Going for Day Trading

It includes spot and margin trading. The spot means earning on your asset by trading it for another, hoping the asset makes a profit. Margin trading is borrowing money (leverage) for a payment. Some exchanges offer up to 100x leverage.

Margin trading is highly present in exchanges, the most prominent being BitMEX. So, this shows that you will be able to trade cryptocurrency with 100 times more than you have invested. Being successful can bring you unimaginably huge profits.

Conclusion

This type of business is like a gamble, always full of risk, and trading cryptocurrency is no less. But, there are people who earn millions and are among the richest ones globally. So, if you are planning to build a sturdy future by trading cryptocurrency, you have to take the chance.

It is not science, and there are no certainties. Luck obviously matters. But, what matters more is going through the right path with intelligence. That’s how you hit the jackpot. Just before going for it, make yourself informed with proper studies and research on cryptocurrency.

WhatsApp launched a digital payment system in Brazil on 15th June, 2020, allowing WhatsApp users, across the country, to send and receive payments within a chat. This system will enable them to attach the payment as they would attach an image.

In its blog post, WhatsApp said,” Payments on WhatsApp are beginning to roll out to people across Brazil beginning today, and we look forward to bringing it to everyone as we go forward.” The payments, the messenger service states, “are an open model”, to enable the addition of newer partners later on. 

Users will not be charged any fee on using the payment service. However, merchants receiving payments will have to pay a small processing fee. It will also be necessary for users to link a credit/debit card to be able to use this payment service. Cards issued by Nubank, Banco do Brasil and Sicredi will be supported, and the company is also working with Cielo, Brazilian payment gateway. Also, all transactions have been secured with a 6-digit PIN or fingerprints. 

WhatsApp has been in the process of testing digital payments. In 2018, the message service conducted beta testing in India, which led to the belief that India would be the first country to have WhatsApp digital payments. However, Facebook faced several regulatory issues in the country, and Brazil is now the first country to benefit from WhatsApp Digital Payments.

Brazil has more than 120 million WhatsApp users and is second only to India. According to Matt Idema, COO, WhatsApp, the message service is used by botsh small businesses and individuals. He further stated,” We think we can help grow digital payments, help grow the digital economy with small businesses, and help support financial inclusion.”

Even before the launch of WhatsApp’s digital payments, several small businesses in Brazil have been using the messenger for marketing purposes, to send catalogs and answer queries. 

In April, Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive, Facebook, stated that the company plans to expand business tools to aid business owners. He also stated that after Brazil, the company plans to prioritize introducing digital payments in Mexico, Indonesia, and India.

This rollout comes at a good time when businesses with physical contact are shut. This launch will help users conduct business without any physical interaction, and help send and receive payments for purchases. 

The WhatsApp digital payment feature is not just for businesses or online purchases. It is also for individuals who can now send money to their near and dear ones, separated by distance. 

After rolling out Facebook Pay in November 2019, the company rolled out Facebook Shops in May 2020, enabling small businesses to set up online storefronts that customers can access from both Instagram and Facebook. It works like a physical store, where customers can message the business through Instagram, WhatsApp, or Facebook Messenger and ask for help. 

Brazil has over 10 million micro and small businesses. With WhatsApp digital payments now active in Brazil, small businesses with Facebook shops can accept money on WhatsApp chat. Customers can not only view a store’s catalog but also purchase products and send payments on WhatsApp chat. This feature will open up new opportunities for businesses, helping them enter the digital economy and grow.

WhatsApp digital payments began to roll out on the 15th June 2020, and it will soon be available to everyone going forward.

As WhatsApp payments are “enabled by Facebook Pay”, as mentioned on the WhatsApp blog, the company wants to ensure that businesses and individuals can use the “same card information across Facebook’s family of apps.”

WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for $19 billion. The messaging service has more than 2 billion users now. 

Binance Pool is the largest miner of Bitcoin Satoshi Version according to services platform Coin Dance. It is among the top 10 Cryptocurrency Exchanges worldwide, with CoinMarketCap as its subsidiary. 

Binance Pool sums up to 26.3% mining of all the Bitcoin Satoshi Version blocks. Huobi and TAAL, respectively occupy the second and the third position and, SVPool and ViaBTC share the fourth position. It was launched to the sub-mining industry in April 2020 and is now open to the general public. 

What is Binance?

Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange platform where you can trade several types of cryptocurrencies. Headquartered in Malta, Changpeng Zhao founded it in 2017.

What is Binance Pool?

Binance Pool is a service platform that strives to improve the salary of miners. It allows users to make higher profits by auto-switching hash rate to mine different currencies with the same algorithm. It offers Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS) services for various coins and tokens. Its first product offering will be Bitcoin mining. 

Binance Pool is also offering the Smart Pool service. This enables users to earn higher profits by automatically switching between currencies with the same algorithm.

“Binance Pool complements the existing Binance users by providing them with mining services.”, Binance’s website stated.

Binance Pool promises a guaranteed minimum income and simple usage and operation. 

The interesting point to note is that the Bitcoin Satoshi Version is not available on Binance. Previously, its pairs were delisted, and trading ceased in April 2019. The website stated that it did not meet quality standards. However, the delisting also took place during a feud between Hodlnaut and the Santoshi claimant Craig Wright. 

The Feud

Hodlnaut is a platform that provides easy financial services to individual investors. The user called Craig Wright a ‘fraud’. In response, Craig announced a $5000 reward to the person who would give him concrete proof of Hodlnaut’s identity. 

This act left a lot of netizens in anger and rage. Most of them supported Hodlnaut and called out to delist the Bitcoin Satoshi Version. One of the people supporting Hodlnaut was Binance’s chief executive Changpeng Zhao, who stated on Twitter that Craig is not Satoshi Nakamoto. He continued to say that if Craig did not amend his behavior, Binance would delist the asset.

Most believe that Changpeng Zhao acted on the threat. 

Who is Craig Wright?

Craig Wright is the creator and chief proponent of the Bitcoin Satoshi Version. However, he has drawn criticism from crypto netizens all across the world. Wright has claimed to be the Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

Conclusion

Binance pool had initially launched as a closed-beta phase. It ranks as the largest miner of the Bitcoin Satoshi Version now. It is a part of the services offered by Binance, that is secure and transparent, gets steady earnings, and offers a comprehensive service. 

The Binance team promises to safeguard assets, while the hash rate is displayed in real-time. It uses the FPPS Model and instant settlements, to avoid variations in earnings.

Binance Pool has made a name for itself in mining Bitcoin Satoshi Version in an extremely short period. It has captured more than a quarter (26.3%) of the mining Bitcoin Satoshi Version.