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Category: cryptocurrencies – Page 66

Where will Bitcoin be a few years from now?
The recently concluded Bitcoin & the Blockchain Summit in San Francisco on January 27 came up as a vivid source of both anxiety and inspiration. As speakers tackled Bitcoin’s technological limits and possible drawbacks that can be caused by impending regulations, Bitcoin advocate Andreas Antonopoulos lifted up everyone’s hope by discussing how bitcoins will eventually survive and flourish. He managed to do so with no graphics or presentations to prove his claim, just his utmost confidence and conviction that it really will no matter what.

On the currency being weak

There have been statements about Bitcoin’s technology surviving, but not the currency itself. Antonopoulos, however, argues that Bitcoin’s technology, network, and currency are interdependent with each other, which means that one element won’t work without the other. He said: “A consensus network that bases its value on the currency does not work without the currency.”

On why Bitcoin works

Antonopoulos underscores the fact that Bitcoin works because it is a dumb, transaction-processing network. Calling Bitcoin dumb is far from disparaging Bitcoin’s image as he actually thinks of this dumbness as Bitcoin’s true source of strength. According to him, it is a dumb network that supports smart devices, pushing all of the intelligence to the edge. It’s an innovation without permission.

On being 2014’s worst investment

Antonopoulos also argues that those who believe bitcoins to be a bad investment only considers the price when there are other equally important factors to be looked upon such as continuous investments and technological innovations.

For instance, 500 startups were created in 2014, which generated $500 million worth of investments and produced thousands of jobs, some portion from Bitcoin gambling. This was also the year that two remarkably genuine technologies were created, the multi-sig and hierarchal deterministic (HD) wallets.

On waiting for Bitcoin to flourish in 2017

Antonopoulos then stated with unwavering certainty: “Give us two years. Now what happens when you throw 500 companies and 10,000 developers at the problem? Give (it) two years and you will see some pretty amazing things in bitcoin.”

On mining updates

Meanwhile, mining for bitcoins prove to be more challenging than before. A Bitcoin mining facility in China, for instance, generates 4,050 bitcoins every month, which is equivalent to around $1.5 million, but not without repercussions and complexities. The entrepreneurs in the mining facility realize that as the level of difficulty and computing power increase, the ratio also gradually changes.

Typically, the entire mining procedure utilizes about 1,250 kilowatt-hours of electricity, putting the factory’s electricity bill to about $80,000 every month. Nowadays, their miners produce 20–25 bitcoins a day, significantly lesser compared with their previously 100 mined bitcoins per day.

On leaving a thought

The confidence for Bitcoin’s bright future has been regained, thanks to Antonopoulos’ contagious exhilaration and resolute belief in its potential. However, we can only wonder what the increasing difficulties in mining for bitcoins entail to the cryptocurrency’s overall performance and future, though Bitcoin’s unique features have been proven to be strong and resilient enough to surpass any challenges.

Lifeboat

Armstrong and the Winklevoss twins have promising visions in securing Bitcoin exchange.

Bitcoin exchange Coinbase has brought innovation to the next level by opening the first ever licensed US Bitcoin exchange. Backed by $106 million from the New York Stock Exchange, banks, and venture-capital firms, Coinbase’s newly launched US exchange, said to be named Lunar, will provide greater security features; so as not to repeat the mistakes of Mt. Gox and Bitstamp, the former of which declared bankruptcy last year while the latter has sustained hacking attacks and is now back in the game.

Coinbase has already acquired licenses from 50% of the states in the country, which includes New York. The remaining 50% is still in the works and is necessary to complete to be able to provide full nationwide services. Also, Coinbase does not only look at expanding nationwide, it also looks at expanding worldwide in offering their Bitcoin-related services.

Of this plan, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said: “Our goal is to become the world’s largest exchange”.

For this vision to be realized, Coinbase must make sure that no security attacks will ever threaten the safety of every user’s bitcoins, which is something that the company seeks and proves to show.

On the other hand, Coinbase is not the only one that has the same vision. Entrepreneurs Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, widely known for their work on Facebook, are also eyeing on the same project.

The twins have already taken the necessary steps such as hiring engineers, enlisting a bank, and engaging with regulators to begin the process of opening their own Bitcoin exchange in the next months to come. The exchange will be named Gemini, Latin for twins.

Despite the volatile prices and security attacks on other exchanges, the Winklevoss twins haven’t lost their confidence in bitcoins and the technology that powers it, which is why they consider a reliable and regulated exchange extremely necessary to bring bitcoins up on its feet again.

Quoted: “We’re not there yet, but in less than 10 years, I believe that the technology behind bitcoin will transform the accounting profession entirely. What is this technology? The blockchain. Let me set the scene by going over a few bitcoin related concepts before explaining why I think that the accounting profession will undergo a major disruption in the coming years.”

Read the article here > http://www.techvibes.com/blog/how-technology-behind-bitcoin-…;01-22

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From Innovation to Oblivion…

The ups and downs of Bitcoin as an internet currency may be compared to the eventual demise of Google Glass due to its lack of purpose among consumers. While it does not significantly hold true for bitcoins, which apparently have a more supportive and enthusiastic followers, the path that these two have taken and will take may be substantially similar than we like to admit.

For one, Bitcoin’s staggering price decline in the recent days left some people wondering what road it will eventually take in the near future. Is it only taking a detour or is it bound for a dead end?

In the case of Google Glass, it received much attention during its inception a few years ago. It was even named by Time magazine one of the best innovations of 2012. However, despite the ingenuity behind a supposed-to-be groundbreaking invention, Google Glass lacked a tangible sense, its purpose incoherent.

Thus, after much speculation, Google recently announced that it would stop selling Glass and that the product would no longer be developed in their research division.

Will Bitcoin End Up Like Google Glass?

Google Glass and Bitcoin are connected by the revolutionary technology that made them a star in the first place. There was some genius work in each of the piece, there’s no doubt about that, but without a clear purpose of how to integrate each product into the mainstream society, it becomes pointless.

Fortunately, bitcoins may stand a chance. Though there’s a portion of the populace that thinks of bitcoins as the internet currency that’s only best suited for illegal activities, its original function, which is for faster and cheaper way of transacting online, still proves to be prevalent.

It’s true that bitcoins were way more fun before that they are now, but it cannot be denied that this cryptocurrency has opened doors for a myriad of possibilities and eliminated security vulnerabilities, in which financial institutions such as banks and credit card companies are relatively known for.

Unlike Google Glass, Bitcoin has a tangible sense, a coherent purpose, and a crystal-clear vision. That is to move around the internet with your money free from the control of the government or any institution. Since there’s nothing that precedes this work of art and technology, it has a chance of staying. Thus, Bitcoin’s game is far from over.

Quoted: “IBM has unveiled its proof of concept for ADEPT, a system developed in partnership with Samsung that uses elements of bitcoin’s underlying design to build a distributed network of devices – a decentralized Internet of Things. The ADEPT concept, or Autonomous Decentralized Peer-to-Peer Telemetry, taps blockchains to provide the backbone of the system, utilizing a mix of proof-of-work and proof-of-stake to secure transactions.”

Read the article here > http://www.coindesk.com/ibm-reveals-proof-concept-blockchain…et-things/

Quote: ” Internet of Coins strives to create a decentralized, self-sustaining economy by implementing intersystemic connectivity sustained by a hybrid P2P meta-network. The system will help to leverage each of its participant’s strength in numbers hence supporting both the stability of alt coins and the cryptocurrency community as a whole. Internet of Coins had an official Whitepaper launch party on the 3rd of January at the Bitcoin Embassy Amsterdam. The Whitepaper is available for download on http://internetofcoins.org. Internet of Coins has partnered-up with security oriented cryptoexchange and service provider Bitalo since November of last year for continuous development and funding of the project. The open source system will soon be released for non-commercial purposes and be easily accessible to the public; supporting continuous decentralization and empowering the cryptocurrency ecosystem to evolve.”

Read the article here > http://www.baystreet.ca/viewarticle.aspx?id=424703

Bitcoin Price Crash

The volatile nature of bitcoins took its toll as recent turn of events saw the value plunging down to $274 as of this writing. CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index reported that while it opened to $314.59 last Saturday, it was followed by a staggering $263.63 the next day.

The remarkable price drop got everyone talking and while it instigated worries among market watchers, some focused on its bright side, deeming it the perfect opportunity for buying. However, the question still lies out in the open unanswered. What caused the steep crash?

Theories suggest that it may have something to do with margin calls, which if accurate, already did something of this nature sometime in August last year. The holiday season is another factor that may have had affected the value of bitcoins inadvertently. This was the season where exchanges were few with all the banks closed, disabling traders from filling up their cryptocurrency accounts.

Despite not having any accurate explanation as to what caused the bitcoins’ price to go down, the fact that it is sensitive to various factors traders are yet to fully comprehend, makes the future of bitcoins somehow ambiguous. Some traders even think that this will not be the lowest value yet; the price has further to decline. Being said that, will this affect its overall value and functions?

The fact that the number of communities, states and countries warming up to the idea of using bitcoins for basic transactions continues to increase is good news. California, for instance, known for being Bitcoin-friendly, further proves its aptitude to move forward with an open mind by legalizing the use of bitcoins in the state. Though there is a bit of disclaimer here and there as establishments are not legally obliged to incorporate cryptocurrencies in their system; still, it is a remarkable leap in Bitcoin’s journey for mainstream acceptance.

Generally, the potential of altcoins to do more than what it is originally for is a huge possibility. Bitcoins have done it, so it is natural for the rest to follow. However, with the price of Bitcoin going down for no precise reasons, there becomes a fine line between its potential and risks; something that it also shares with other altcoins.

If the definition, functions and purpose of altcoins can be laid out in the open with nothing but pure positive agenda, the essence of cryptocurrency will be fully understood and cemented into being an effective and useful alternative currency that it is, and maybe there is a greater chance of ensuring its longevity in the market.

New Book: An Irreverent Singularity Funcyclopedia, by Mondo 2000’s R.U. Sirius.

Posted by Rob Chamberlain in 3D printing, alien life, automation, big data, bionic, bioprinting, biotech/medical, complex systems, computing, cosmology, cryptocurrencies, cybercrime/malcode, cyborgs, defense, disruptive technology, DNA, driverless cars, drones, economics, electronics, encryption, energy, engineering, entertainment, environmental, ethics, existential risks, exoskeleton, finance, first contact, food, fun, futurism, general relativity, genetics, hacking, hardware, human trajectories, information science, innovation, internet, life extension, media & arts, military, mobile phones, nanotechnology, neuroscience, nuclear weapons, posthumanism, privacy, quantum physics, robotics/AI, science, security, singularity, software, solar power, space, space travel, supercomputing, time travel, transhumanism

Quoted: “Legendary cyberculture icon (and iconoclast) R.U. Sirius and Jay Cornell have written a delicious funcyclopedia of the Singularity, transhumanism, and radical futurism, just published on January 1.” And: “The book, “Transcendence – The Disinformation Encyclopedia of Transhumanism and the Singularity,” is a collection of alphabetically-ordered short chapters about artificial intelligence, cognitive science, genomics, information technology, nanotechnology, neuroscience, space exploration, synthetic biology, robotics, and virtual worlds. Entries range from Cloning and Cyborg Feminism to Designer Babies and Memory-Editing Drugs.” And: “If you are young and don’t remember the 1980s you should know that, before Wired magazine, the cyberculture magazine Mondo 2000 edited by R.U. Sirius covered dangerous hacking, new media and cyberpunk topics such as virtual reality and smart drugs, with an anarchic and subversive slant. As it often happens the more sedate Wired, a watered-down later version of Mondo 2000, was much more successful and went mainstream.”

Read the article here >https://hacked.com/irreverent-singularity-funcyclopedia-mondo-2000s-r-u-sirius/

Quoted: “If you understand the core innovations around the blockchain idea, you’ll realize that the technology concept behind it is similar to that of a database, except that the way you interact with that database is very different.

The blockchain concept represents a paradigm shift in how software engineers will write software applications in the future, and it is one of the key concepts behind the Bitcoin revolution that need to be well understood. In this post, I’d like to explain 5 of these concepts, and how they interrelate to one another in the context of this new computing paradigm that is unravelling in front of us. They are: the blockchain, decentralized consensus, trusted computing, smart contracts and proof of work / stake. This computing paradigm is important, because it is a catalyst for the creation of decentralized applications, a next-step evolution from distributed computing architectural constructs.

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Read the article here > http://startupmanagement.org/2014/12/27/the-blockchain-is-th…verything/

Quoted: “Two individual blockchains have been successfully linked, as Blocknet announced last night that Xbridge technology had for the first time allowed communications between nodes on two separate blockchains through their Xhub protocol. Aiming to construct “the internet of blockchains,” the new protocol is designed to allow separate blockchains to inter-operate.”

Read the article here > Arms Race — Blockchain 2.0