Welcome to the World Blogger digest of interesting and important news and views about Cryptocurrencies.
Will Bitcoin Cash Impact the Bitcoin Price? Traders Split on Possible Fork
Bitcoin traders may soon be able to bet on their preferred version of the blockchain.
As if a years-long debate over the network's technical roadmap wasn't dramatic enough, Tuesday could see yet another twist in bitcoin's scaling debate. That's when a group of miners and developers say they will go as far as to create an alternative network to prove bigger blocks are the best solution for increasing network capacity.
Called Bitcoin Cash (BCC), the effort will effectively fork bitcoin's existing software and transaction history, and in the process, give every bitcoin user new cryptocurrency tokens on a new blockchain with different rules.
Should users own 2 BTC, this means they'll now be able to claim 2 BCC on the Bitcoin Cash blockchain, a move that could generate millions of dollars in new value for traders.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2hfXfwu
Source: CoinDesk
How Are New Bitcoins Created? A Brief Guide to Bitcoin Mining
Bitcoin is often compared with gold, and one of the chief factors of similarity it the way they’re both obtained. Similarly to gold, new Bitcoins are created via the process called “mining.”
In fact, Bitcoin mining has a two-fold purpose: it allows for the creation of new coins and facilitates the processing of transactions in the network.
Another parallel with the precious metal is that there’s a limited amount of Bitcoins that can ever be mined: no more than 21 mln coins. As of 2017, nearly 17 mln Bitcoins have already been mined.
Mining can be quite a competitive task as new Bitcoins are created at a predictable and fixed rate. Those rates have been defined by Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, in the white paper published in 2008.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2h8Tw3I
Source: CoinTelegraph
South Africans Make Bitcoin Work for Them As Currency, Store of Wealth
South Africa is still an emerging Bitcoin market, but it is growing, as more and more citizens come around it seems the best use of the digital currency is as a store of wealth, especially compared to the failing local currency.
It is estimated that about 100,000 users are utilizing the two local exchanges, Luno and Ice3X. Ice3X founder Gareth Grobler admits that although this figure is tiny, especially in comparison to Asia, it is a positive step for the digital currency in one of the most forward thinking African nations.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2h8D1Vb
Source: CoinTelegraph
CoinFlip ATMs Only Support BTC, Not BCC
CoinFlip, the Bitcoin ATM company, has issued an open letter today informing users that they will not support the new Bitcoin Cash (BCC), should the fork occur Aug. 1.
CoinFlip’s letter comes amid a number of other statements rejecting the potentially newly created altcoin. The letter makes it clear that CoinFlip’s ATMs will not support anything other than Bitcoin core.
"CoinFlip has no plans whatsoever to support any sort of Bitcoin spin-off or altcoin, and BCC provides no exception to this stance. We will continue to support Bitcoin core, and as far as Bitcoin goes - only sell and buy Bitcoin core at our terminals."
Full story at http://bit.ly/2f0IqND
Source: CoinTelegraph
Why the feds took down one of Bitcoin’s largest exchanges
This week, one of Bitcoin’s largest and most notorious coin exchanges was brought down by law enforcement — and police and prosecutors are now beginning to explain why. On Thursday, the Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against Alexander Vinnik — thought to be the operator, or one of the operators of Bitcoin exchange BTC-e — charging him with 21 counts of money laundering and other related financial crimes. The counts range from operating an unlicensed money transmittal business to a variety of money laundering charges, including laundering associated with ransomware payouts and a theft from the now-defunct Mt Gox exchange. More generally, the indictment paints BTC-e as a hub of criminal activity, laundering the proceeds of everything from drug trafficking to ransomware attacks.
As some suspected, Vinnik’s alleged crimes go beyond just operating the exchange. Feds believe he played a role in the theft of more 800,000 bitcoin — about $400 million at the time — from Mt. Gox, a staggering loss that ultimately shuttered the exchange. According to the indictment, 530,000 of those bitcoin ended up passing through wallets controlled by or associated with Vinnik, although his role in the larger scheme remains unclear.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2f0OZzQ
Source: The Verge
Bitcoin prices rise as Ether extends recent weakness
The price of digital currency bitcoin rose Friday, putting it on track for a modest weekly gain, while rival cryptocurrency Ether extended its recent weakness.
At latest check, a single bitcoin BTCUSD, +2.35% was up 3.8% to $2,783.18, according to cryptocurrency research-and-data site Coindesk. While it remains down from an all-time high above $3,000 on June 11, its recent trend has been largely positive. It is on track for its second straight positive session, and it is up 3.3% over the past week.
The market capitalization of bitcoin rose to nearly $46 billion, meaning it once again accounts for more than half of the entire market cap for cryptocurrencies which stands at $89.9 billion, according to Coinmarketcap.com.
This is the first time since May that bitcoin has represented 50% of all crypto assets, according to Tuur Demeester, a bitcoin investor who is also the founder of Adamant Research. Earlier this year, cryptocurrencies topped $100 billion in market capitalization.
Full story at http://on.mktw.net/2f0P1aW
Source: http://marketwatch.com
