Author: Anna Galvez

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Crypto Tech

Cryptocurrency Mining Apps Banned From App Store, Announced Apple

Cryptocurrencies have been a real revolution in digital assets market at the end of last year. In spite of their great volatility, a large number of users decided to bet on them as a means of investment because, due to speculation, their value did not stop growing and analysts assured that in 2018 they could even triple their value. As a result of their popularity, many began to use cryptocurrency for malicious purposes, forcing large corporations and governments to establish a set of rules and regulations regarding its use and how to deal with it. Now, Apple banned cryptocurrency mining apps on its App Store.

Accordingly, there are many malicious developers hiding cryptocurrency mining scripts in their apps

After the chaos generated by the cryptocurrencies in the second half of 2017, the main software developers and governments are increasingly applying restrictive rules against these decentralized monetary units.

While Microsoft and Google are already quite clear on their position, it is now Apple’s turn to control the use that can be made of crypto coins in its systems.

Apple severely restricts the use of crypto-related apps on its systems, while cryptocurrency mining apps are strictly prohibited on App Store

Apple has just released an update to its Standards Guide for Application Development and Publishing, specifically in section 2.4.2 of the Hardware Compatibility section, which makes it clear that all types of applications that use the hardware of an iPhone, iPad, and even Mac computers are completely prohibited, and therefore cannot be published on the App Store under any circumstances.

The new standard indicates that no application can quickly drain the battery of the company’s devices, and this also includes background processing and advertising, ending applications that display banner ads that undermine cryptocurrencies at the expense of users’ computers’ processing power.

ICO apps have also undergone a major adjustment and to avoid new speculation and scams, Apple will only allow registered applications such as trading companies, banks, security firms, and FCM (Futures Commission Merchants) to publish these types of ICO apps on App Store.

In short, Apple has banned any kind of cryptocurrency mining app from App Store, in a movement to protect its users from scams and speculations.

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Crypto News

Coinrail, A South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, Was Hacked, Causing Bitcoin (BTC)’s Recent Drop

The Bitcoin (BTC) price has lost more than 10% this weekend after South Korea’s Coinrail cryptocurrency exchange platform confirmed that it was hacked. This latest cyber attack, once again, calls into question the security of cryptocurrencies.

The Coinrail cryptocurrency exchange platform has acknowledged that it has lost 30% of the coins it stored, with an estimated value of around $40 million according to local media, following a rapid cyber attack.

Although the platform does not exchange Bitcoin (BTC), the news has led to Bitcoin (BTC) hitting a low of $6,652, the lowest level since last April when it hit $6,620.

Since December 2017, BTC has fallen 65%, from its highest value against the USD, $20,000.

“Coinrail is not a member of the group that promotes self-regulation to improve safety. He’s a minor player in the market and you can see how those small platforms with lower safety standards can be exposed to more risk,” said Kim Jin-Hwa, a representative of the Korea Blockchain Industry Association, cited by Reuters.

South-Korean cryptocurrency exchange platforms are still facing security issues despite crypto regulations in this regard

In January, 14 Korean platforms committed to improving their security and adopting measures to further protect the user, including restrictions on creating more than one account.

Coinrail has reported that the remaining 70% of digital currencies it moved are now housed in a portfolio that is not connected to the main network. Authorities are investigating the theft and exchanges on the platform have been suspended.

Asia has a long history of cyber attacks as it is considered a world’s leader when it comes to the cryptocurrencies market. Earlier this year, Japan’s Coincheck platform was hacked into a half-billion-dollar cryptocurrency robbery.

In 2014, Mt. Gox, which once handled 80% of the world’s Bitcoin (BTC) exchanges, filed for bankruptcy after losing around half a trillion dollars worth of BTC.

Even more recently, in December last year, South Korea’s cryptocurrency exchange platform Youbit has filed for bankruptcy after being hacked twice.

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Crypto Markets News

Cryptocurrency Mining Entrepreneurs To Enjoy A New Energy Plan From Hydro-Quebec, in Canada

Hydro-Quebec will finally make 500 megawatts (MW) available to cryptocurrency mining, leaving many contractors hungry. “We think we can connect customers this fall,” stated the Hydro-Quebec spokesman Jonathan Cote, on Thursday.

In the coming days, Hydro-Quebec will file a request for proposals with the Energy Department but it is the regulatory tribunal that will have to set a new electricity rate for this class of Canadian corporation’s customers.

Annually, Hydro-Quebec plans to supply 5 terawatt-hours (TWh) to meet this rapidly growing sector, even though it has significant energy surpluses.

A ministerial decree, tabled last week, now regulates the sale of energy to cryptocurrency mining projects, a technology that, as it is well-known already, requires powerful computers which consume a lot of energy.

Over 300 cryptocurrency mining projects have applied for the upcoming Hydro-Quebec energy plan

Hydro-Quebec says it has received more than 300 cryptocurrency mining projects applications in the recent months for a potential demand of more than 15,000 MW on its system.

Recently, Hydro-Quebec senior management met in Montreal with leaders of the Chinese cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain, which wants to establish itself in Quebec, Canada.

Hydro-Quebec currently offers a 120 MW block to the cryptocurrency mining industry but several cryptocurrency entrepreneurs informed on Thursday that they are very disappointed with this new government policy and they demanded for more. Some of these local cryptocurrency miners fear they won’t be able to compete with the big players of the cryptocurrency mining industry as some of them, such as the before-mentioned Bitmain, are already in the picture and in discussion with the Canadian government.

The Crown corporation, on the other hand, plans to use “forced load shedding” to have access for 300 hours in winter to electricity from these companies while the Quebec power grid is operating at maximum capacity.

Quebec province is the ideal place in Canada, and one of the few in the world, as the annual average temperature is ideal for cryptocurrency mining equipment to work flawlessly and cost-effective, and this is why many cryptocurrency miners are drawn to this region.

Categories
Crypto Markets

Bitcoin (BTC) To Be Trading At $25K by The End Of 2018, According To Fundstrat’s Tom Lee

Although it may start to look like a track played in a loop, Tom Lee from Fundstrat has not yet dismissed his $25,000 prediction regarding the Bitcoin (BTC). At the beginning of the year, Lee declared that Bitcoin (BTC) will be traded at $20,000 by mid-2018 just to end the year at $25,000.

Now, even though the mid-2018 is here alright and Bitcoin (BTC) is traded at  $7,245 (-4.83 in the last 24 hours), thus, pretty much behind Lee’s $20,000 prediction for the mid-year, Tom Lee still refuses to change his mind regarding his $25,000 prediction for the end of the year.

According to him, it is very achievable for BTC to grow about 250% in the following 5-6 months to reach $25,000 by the end of 2018. However, even though Bitcoin (BTC) did it once, this year’s cryptocurrencies market is different and, as we speak, it follows a sort of a long-lasting downtrend.

Bitcoin (BTC) to be trading at $25,000 by the end of 2018, predicts Tom Lee

In a recent interview Tom Lee had on Bloomberg, he showed himself very comfy and confident with its predictions, despite the fact that he has already mistaken half of the forecast, as BTC hasn’t reached $20,000 in mid-2018 and is quite impossible for it to grow so much in only a month or two.

Based on what did Lee say, the cryptocurrencies count is supposed to surpass its former all-time high. The Fundstrat’s market analysts pointed to the rise of increased exposure in institutional work. In the last few months, businesses both within and beyond the mainstream cryptocurrency environment have released products and services targeted to big institutional investors. He gave Nasdaq and Goldman Sachs as examples.

Additionally, he also thinks that well-established cryptocurrency regulations, such as those in Japan, will, in fact, help the cryptocurrencies market on the long-term, especially the Bitcoin (BTC).

Tom Lee is completely sure the Bitcoin (BTC) will be trading at $25,000 by the end of 2018 also because Bitcoin mining will become costly, reaching around 13,000 by the end of the year, therefore the cryptocurrency has to be twice as valuable.

 

Categories
Crypto

IOTA (MIOTA) To Become A Fierce Competitor For Ethereum (ETH), Thanks To Qubic

There is ongoing excitement in the just-released IOTA (MIOTA) Qubic, as the community lists potential examples of using the technology, such as oracle computers, subcontracted calculations, and smart contracts, which makes it a prospective contender for Ethereum.

As a result of the introduction of Qubic, the staff behind IOTA (MIOTA) is currently preparing an expanded AMA to shed light on the ongoing strategies for advancing Qubic.

Very soon we will have an extensive #AMA on #IOTA, Qubic, strategy and so on. I encourage a healthy and constructive discussion about #Qubic (microHash is a good example), but if you are not sure, etc., wait for WADA.

David Sonstenbo, IOTA (MIOTA) co-founder, on Twitter

Since Qubic was disclosed, IOTA enthusiasts have been full of hope. Several analysts have been speculating on the different applications involving the product and their implications. But no one appeared to be completely correct until the crew behind the concept came out to thoroughly discuss what technology has to say in the blockchain universe.

Qubic makes IOTA (MIOTA) a fierce competitor for Ethereum (ETH)

Qubic is reputedly a standard protocol that defines the IOTA standard for quorum-based calculations, including systems such as oracle machines, subcontracted computing, and smart contracts.

One of Qubic’s greatest benefits is its smart computing power, which will put IOTA (MIOTA) at the same level to Ethereum (ETH) that has taken advantage of the development of its new market for ERC20 tokens which are completely reliant on ETH.

As many have grumbled about the poor scalability of Ethereum (ETH) system, which has a high transactional fee that leaves it relatively undesirable for the applications, IOTA (MIOTA) Qubic has the chance to surpass the ETH platform with its outstanding characteristics.

Qubic, that will totally follow the IOTA (MIOTA) protocol, is reported to be much more satisfying and proactive than the Ethereum (ETH) platform. Also, amazingly, Qubic provides tokens which are referred to as “toqens” on the platform.

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