Stellar Rockets into the Cryptocurrency Top 10 After Tripling in a Week
2018 is still in diapers and yet the cryptocurrency top 10 is already looking very different to last year. Gone are the likes of dash, replaced by coins that have never reached these heady heights before: tron and stellar. The latter peaked at number six this week after tripling in value in seven days from a low of 32 cents. Stellar now boasts a $13 billion market cap. After lying low for the first three years of its existence, stellar is riding high and attracting widespread media attention.
Also read: Ethereum Over $1000 and $100B Market Cap, BTC Dominance at 32% Record Low
From a Ripple to a Rocket
Stellar is described is an open-source project with a “distributed, hybrid blockchain”. It “exists to facilitate cross-asset transfers of value, including payments. The Stellar Network forms “an open, global financial network where all actors – be they people, payment networks, or banks – have equal access”. If that sounds a lot like Ripple, that’s because it is: Stellar is Ripple’s sibling, having been created by Ripple cofounder Jed McCaleb after he left the company. McCaleb is also famous for having sold Mt Gox to Mark Karpeles in 2011. Stellar was initially a fork of the Ripple protocol, before later being extensively rewritten.
Lumens (XLM) are the currency that power the Stellar Network, which boasts transaction times of under five seconds. The network has a fixed inflation rate of 1% per year. Like Ripple, Stellar’s targets are financial institutions and corporations, and the company has already inked deals with IBM and Deloitte; the latter is classified as a partner. Stellar’s goal, like that of many cryptocurrencies, is to become the web’s go-to payment solution. Low fees and fast transaction times are its two biggest claims, although the same can be said of many altcoins.
Billions of Lumens Shining Bright
In 2017, 29 cryptocurrencies exceeded bitcoin’s 1,600% gains, and stellar was one of them. Its value has grown an astonishing 28,000% in the space of a year. In the past 24 hours, $800 million lumens were traded on exchanges. The token reached an all-time high of 90 cents this week and is currently trading for around 75 cents.
For one thing, it’s not hoarding 60% of the total supply to itself. Ripple, on the other hand, still holds 55 billion XRP. The total number of coins in existence on each network is very similar though, standing at 100 billion ripple and 103 billion stellar. 17.8 billion stellar are in circulation right now, two billion of which were awarded to Stripe in 2014 in exchange for a $3 million loan. If Stripe still has them, those lumens are now worth billions.
Despite Stellar’s interstellar ascent, not everyone is convinced by the cryptocurrency.
How Centralized is Stellar?
Like Ripple, Stellar uses a network of trusted validator nodes. While anyone can host one, the Stellar Network relies on approved nodes which have close ties to Stellar. As a consequence, stellar is not a true decentralized currency. Generally speaking, the closer a cryptocurrency is aligned with institutional investors, the more centralized it is by design. For what it is worth, Stellar is at least less centralized than Ripple.
It is debatable whether Stellar is worth its $13 billion market cap, but then the same could be said of many cryptocurrencies lurking in the top 10, including Ripple, Tron, and Cardano. In an irrational market, assets are worth whatever the next buyer’s willing to pay for them, and right now that figure is higher than the one before. If Ripple can become a $3 coin, there’s no reason why Stellar can’t continue on its rocket ride to infinity and beyond. After months of bitcoin dominance, altcoin season has returned, and it’s the penny stocks of the crypto world that are shining the brightest.
Which project do you prefer – Stellar or Ripple? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Coincodex.
Need to know the price of bitcoin? Check this chart.
The post Stellar Rockets into the Cryptocurrency Top 10 After Tripling in a Week appeared first on Bitcoin News.
Strong Cryptocurrency CFD Volumes Bring Record Revenues for Plus 500
The latest trading update from Plus 500 reveals a growing appetite for cryptocurrency exposure among contract-for-difference (CFD) traders.
Also Read: Ethereum Over $1000 and $100B Market Cap, BTC Dominance at 32% Record Low
Plus Bitcoin, Plus Ripple, Plus500
London Stock Exchange AIM-listed online brokerage Plus 500 (LON: PLUS) has announced it achieved record quarterly revenues in the final quarter of 2017 on the back of strong trading volumes in cryptocurrency CFDs. The Israel-based group also revealed it has seen increased interest throughout the year in the cryptocurrency category which it first introduced back in 2013.
Asaf Elimelech, Chief Executive Officer of Plus 500, commented: “We are pleased to announce another strong period in both revenues and profits. Momentum in the business has continued to be strong with increased interest in our cryptocurrency CFD offering and record new and active customer numbers, demonstrating our ability to serve our customers’ trading needs through product innovation and technology leadership.”
Investors Are Happy
While cryptocurrency CFDs can expose brokers to major risks, requiring them to carefully manage their leverage, both traders and investors seem eager to have a relevant offering on the platforms. For example, The stock price of fellow online brokerage Gain Capital increased by about 26% after it announced last month that it was adding new bitcoin derivative instruments to City Index, its UK FCA regulated brand.
Why are some traders attracted to CFDs instead of just buying the underlying cryptocurrency? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock.
Do you like to research and read about Bitcoin technology? Check out Bitcoin.com’s Wiki page for an in-depth look at Bitcoin’s innovative technology and interesting history.
The post Strong Cryptocurrency CFD Volumes Bring Record Revenues for Plus 500 appeared first on Bitcoin News.
Binance Exchange Disables New User Registrations
Anyone still sitting on the fence and considering whether to jump on the runaway cryptocurrency train way wish to make a move, because another door just slammed shut, reducing the number of on-ramps. The popular Binance exchange is no longer accepting new traders.
Also Read: Several Bitcoin Exchanges Are Closing Their Doors to New Traders
No Binance For You
The popular trading venue thus joins the growing list of major bitcoin exchanges no longer open for servicing new clients. As previously reported, CEX.IO, Bitfinex, and Bittrex have all announced similar difficulties with handling the massive influx of new business resulting in a halt of registrations. Other exchanges such as Kraken have also reported this situation is causing severe operational difficulties.
Binance Who?
The Hong Kong based exchange has a global offering and supports multiple languages including English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, French and German. It also offers instant exchanging between 96 different cryptocurrencies and bitcoin, ethereum, tether (USDT) and its own native BNB token.
While the team behind Binance attribute its rapid growth to its service, technology, and affiliates (members of the ‘Binance Angel Program’), the word on the street is that its relatively lax client verification procedures don’t hurt either. Whatever the case, this pace is obviously no longer sustainable for the company without an upgrade to its infrastructure.
Have recent exchange issues affected your trading? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock.
Do you like to research and read about Bitcoin technology? Check out Bitcoin.com’s Wiki page for an in-depth look at Bitcoin’s innovative technology and interesting history.
The post Binance Exchange Disables New User Registrations appeared first on Bitcoin News.
Bitconnect Slapped with Securities Emergency Cease and Desist Order
On Thursday the Texas Securities Commissioner (TSC) signed an Emergency Cease and Desist Order to stop Bitconnect from operating. The mysterious company is a popular bitcoin lending platform with a 4.1 billion USD market capitalization, and is long accused of being a scam.
Also read: African Central Banks Told to Ditch Dollar and Buy Bitcoin
Bitconnect Ordered Not to Mess with Texas
“The Texas Securities Commissioner has entered an Emergency Cease and Desist Order to halt the multiple investment programs operated by Bitconnect,” the press release reads, “an overseas company that claims a market share of $4.1 billion for its cryptocurrency coins.”
News.Bitcoin.com profiled growing concern within the ecosystem about Bitconnect’s doings back in November as well as through an opinion piece. Then, as now it appears officially, the worry was mostly due to promises made by the English company that seemed impossibly Ponzi.
“Bitconnect is soliciting investors for cryptocurrency-based programs that the company claims will deliver annualized returns of 100% or more,” the TSC outlines. After detailing how they issue their own coins (a fact curiously denied by advocates) with a cap of 28 million, the TSC continues, “The company requires individuals to use Bitcoin, a more established cryptocurrency, to invest in various Bitconnect programs. In one investment called the Bitconnect Lending Program, investors purchase Bitconnect Coins, which are provided to a ‘Bitconnect Trading Bot’ to generate ‘returns as high as 40% a month.’”
Prominent ecosystem lights from Andreas Antonopoulos to Erik Voorhees have also made it clear to move away from the scheme. Mr. Antonopoulos was plagued with advertisements on his Youtube channel, and pleaded with followers to help him untangle. Mr. Voorhees didn’t mince words in his Tweet, flat out telling followers “Bitconnect is a scam. Stay safe out there.” Jameson Lopp was slightly more diplomatic, Tweeting “I’ve been getting more questions about 
Known in the United States as a law enforcement state, Texas’ unusually heavy hand was hardly out of character. All the TSC had to do was find the company’s “investments are securities, but were not registered as required by the Texas Securities Act and State Securities Board Rules and Regulations. In addition, the company is not registered to sell securities in Texas,” and the rest just follows. The across-the-pond entity can appeal the TSC’s decision.
Regulators Scramble to Find Fault
Late last year Texas issued an administrative order against USI-Tech Limited, the Dubai mining investment firm, also asking it immediately cease and desist.
In the present case, regulators are most likely chafing at the thought of more initial coin offerings, unregulated, being advertised to their constituents. Indeed, the press release notes, “Sales agents for Bitconnect are targeting Texas residents, as well as residents of other states, through websites, social media, and online marketplaces like craigslist,” they allege. And while it’s murky at best to assume Texas plays a large role in the assumed scam, here again is the regulator’s logic: “The sales agents are not, however, registered as agents of Bitconnect to sell securities in Texas.”
The TSC notice also mentions an upcoming announced initial coin offering by the company, scheduled for just a few days from now, and how it “operates websites and deploys online advertising to recruit sales agents, which it calls ‘affiliates.’ The company provides marketing material to affiliates, including online presentations, and pays them commissions for referrals that result in investments in” the company’s programs.
Heat
Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles also reasserts what some in the crypto community have found troubling too, that the company “has disclosed virtually nothing about its principals, financial condition, or strategies for earning profits for investors. It has not provided a physical address in England.”
The apology from the mysterious company’s scores of ambassadors usually involves making comparison to the unknown character of Satoshi Nakamoto and lack of centralization around the Bitcoin network. It’s a muddying of crypto waters less are inclined to consider.
Fair or not, one aspect to the firm’s doings is undeniable: they’ve brought heat in terms of regulators, who’re now groping at ways to smoke such projects out, using legal maneuvers other legitimate and worthy projects might eventually be swept up in.
What do you think about Bitconnect? Let us know in the comments below.
Images via Pixabay, Twitter.
Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section.
The post Bitconnect Slapped with Securities Emergency Cease and Desist Order appeared first on Bitcoin News.
Canadians Harness Wind to Mine Bitcoin – in Romania
Canadian investors have decided to put money and effort into a wind-powered crypto mining undertaking in Romania. To make it happen, they have finalized a deal to acquire a wind farm capable of producing enough energy to light the bulbs in over 30,000 homes. Driven by enthusiasm about the project, they have even added “Blockchain Power” to their company’s name.
Also read: Despite Regulation, Russians Plan to Build Europe’s Largest Mining Farms
Who Told Them About China?
It is unclear if the Canadians knew in advance about the closed-door meeting in Beijing on the use of electricity by bitcoin miners. Regardless, they have obviously made a strategic decision to spend their money several time zones to the west of the People’s Republic – in Dobrogea. The region is shared by the poorest EU member states – Romania and Bulgaria. It is a flat, wheat growing land, with no hills or mountains to stop the constant air currents from all cardinal directions. Wind farms are a common sight there.
The Ontario-based Transeastern Power Trust has just finalized a deal to acquire the Dorobantu wind park that had been developed there by OMV Petrom with a €90 million investment. The company intends to use the farm to power the mining facilities it is planning to set up in its vicinity. Cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, will be mined there, according to Romanian media reports.
Transeastern completed the acquisition of the 45MW wind park using $23 million of short-term bridge financing and €2.8 million vendor financing from OMV Petrom. The debt will be repaid from the proceeds of the previously announced $40 million private placement scheduled to close in the first week of January. The utility company has already announced a decision to change its name to Blockchain Power Trust, in line with its focusing on mining virtual coins.
We believe we will be the pioneers of a new and robust business model, switching from a utility company to a vertically integrated cryptocurrency mining operation.
These are the words of Mr. J. Colter Eadie, Chief executive officer of Transeastern. He also added that the name change and the implementation of a new trading symbol will better reflect the Trust’s expansion into cryptocurrency mining powered predominantly by its self-generated, 100% renewable energy. The company is working on similar projects through its subsidiaries elsewhere in Europe, including the Netherlands.
Winds Will Blow Even If Coal Burns Out
The Canadian company has already entered into a non-binding agreement to buy mining equipment for which it expects to pay approximately $23 million. According to Transeastern, its new mining farm will have a processing power of 90.7 PH/s. That translates into generating about 30 bitcoins per day.
Chinese coal may burn out for crypto miners and gorgeous “Gorges” dams may dry out, but it is still a huge global village. From Romanian winds and Dutch waves, to bursting geysers in Iceland and sun catching mirrors in Arizona – there is a lot of energy to prove the work for Bitcoin.
And it’s not just about North Americans or Eastern Asians: Bitcoin is growing big in obscure corners of good ol’ Europe, too. Romanian cryptocurrency exchange CoinFlux announced last year that almost $24 million (100 million RON) worth of cryptos had been traded on its platform since its inception in late 2015, And those were figures from times when bitcoin was trading for a thousand dollars.
The Transeastern “Blockchain Power” Trust from Canada seeks to provide investors with “long-term, stable distributions, while preserving the capital value of its portfolio through investment”. Bitcoin mining sounds like something the company can utilize to deliver on that promise.
Do you think miners will relocate to other regions after China’s decision to quit preferential policies for them? Tell us in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock.
Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section.
The post Canadians Harness Wind to Mine Bitcoin – in Romania appeared first on Bitcoin News.
Fantasy Football Giant Fanduel Launches ‘Bitcoin Bowl’ Contest
This week one the largest fantasy football leagues, Fanduel, announced it’s having an NFL playoffs contest called “The Bitcoin Bowl.” The contest is giving away two BTC prizes consisting of a one bitcoin reward for its ‘free play’ match and two bitcoins for its tournament round.
Also read: Peter Thiel, Bitcoin Astronaut, Moves Markets with Crypto Moonshot
Fanduel’s Fantasy Football Contest Is Giving Away Bitcoin Prizes
All Fanduel users have to do is choose the right contest, pick their team’s players, and the highest score wins among all the eligible teams. The ‘free play’ match is giving away a grand prize of 1BTC at the end of the NFL playoffs. The paid tournament ($3) is giving away a grand prize of 2BTC, and there is lower winning jackpots consisting of .5 and .25BTC as well.
The Ultimate Bandwagon: Fanduel Says They Recognize Their Users Interest In Bitcoin
Fanduel has grown exponentially over the past few years, garnishing over 6 million registrants, and the firm understands the growing interest in digital assets. Andy Giancamilli, Fanduel’s chief financial officer, said his company has always searched for unique prizes. Giancamilli says the firm recognized that a lot of Fanduel’s user base has a significant interest in bitcoin.
The ‘free play’ contest will begin on January 6 at 4:35 pm EDT and the paid tournament will also start on the same day. Users who try to use the free play option can only enter the contest once or otherwise they will be removed from the contest. Users will have to provide a valid bitcoin address in order to receive the winning jackpots after the playoffs are finished.
“When your team makes the playoffs, the sky’s the limit — And from what we’ve read online, bitcoin investors know exactly how that feels,” explains Fanduel.
So, for week one of the playoffs, we’re giving you two chances to hop on the ultimate bandwagon and play to win some bitcoins of your own.
What do you think about Fanduel’s NFL playoffs contest? Let us know in the comments below.
Images via Pixabay, Fanduel, and the NFL.
At news.Bitcoin.com all comments containing links are automatically held up for moderation in the Disqus system. That means an editor has to take a look at the comment to approve it. This is due to the many, repetitive, spam and scam links people post under our articles. We do not censor any comment content based on politics or personal opinions. So, please be patient. Your comment will be published.
The post Fantasy Football Giant Fanduel Launches ‘Bitcoin Bowl’ Contest appeared first on Bitcoin News.
Source: https://news.bitcoin.com/