Category: Crypto

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Crypto News

The US Congress Demanded The SEC To Clarify The Cryptocurrency Regulations Situation

On September 28th, a group of US congressmen sent a letter to the president of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Jay Clayton, asking him to clarify the regulatory framework surrounding cryptocurrency. The message, presented by more than a dozen congressmen, is a step for the securities laws to be modified to include cryptos.

The document was sent a few days after a meeting between representatives of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, congressmen and traditional market investors. Congressmen highlighted the lack of clarity regarding the SEC decisional process regarding whether a crypto token is a security or not.

Additionally, in the letter, they asked the SEC to clarify whether a token could be analyzed separately from the purchase contract, which in turn could become an offer of value. If so, they question whether the resulting token would be treated as a value.

The SEC keeps alive the dilemma surrounding the crypto tokens issued via ICOs

The SEC has cataloged Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) as commodities, so their regulation is not related to the SEC, but to the CFTC. In the case of other cryptos, such as tokens, the SEC has indicated so far that it will use the Howey test to determine whether they are values or not. But this instrument does not cover the variety of characteristics crypto tokens sum up.

The US Congress also questioned the SEC chief if he agrees with the past statements of the director of corporate finance, William Hinman, who pointed out that the cryptos coming from Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) should be regulated as securities, a measure that until now is not contemplated by the cryptocurrency regulations.

Also, on September 25th, a meeting was held in Washington DC between Wall Street investors, US congressmen and representatives of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, in which they discussed aspects to prepare a draft law for more explicit cryptocurrency regulations. On that occasion, cryptocurrency companies stressed that, without a clear regulatory framework, the US would lose its advantage in this industry.

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Pornhub Adopted Cryptocurrency Payments But Less Than 1% Of Its Subscribers Pay In Crypto

Pornhub adopted cryptocurrency payments for some time now. However, less than 1% of the famous adult entertainment site’s subscribers make payments with crypto coins. The information was made public through a publication in the Hard Fork portal on September 28th where the company stated that after the implementation of the crypto payments system last April, via Verge (XVG), the expected results have not been obtained yet.

In this regard, the Pornhub plans to team up with PumaPay, a cryptocurrency payment processor based on the Ethereum (ETH) network with the possibility of accepting its token, PumaPay (PMA), as a means of payment, too.

While the official announcement about the partnership between Pornhub and PumaPay was made in August, until now the payment function is not available on the platform. In this regard, the integration will take place in Q1 2019, according to some rumors coming from PumaPay.

As regarding the already-implemented cryptocurrency payments systems, Pornhub said that only 1% of its premium subscribers pay with cryptocurrencies.

Pornhub adopted cryptocurrency payments, but less than 1% of its subscribers pay in the accepted cryptos

Pornhub introduced payments with the Verge (XVG) token last April because the cryptocurrency focuses on privacy and anonymity, which is considered the most convenient and safe for this market, according to Corey Price, the vice president of the famous adult entertainment platform. Since then, Pornhub also accepted TRON (TRX) and ZenCash (ZEN).

“Transactions with ZenCash and TRON will allow for flexible billing practices and popular scenarios within the adult entertainment industry, i.e., pay-per-use while ensuring user anonymity, as well as high speed and low transaction costs,” said Corey Price, Vice President at Pornhub.

At that time, Price again exalted the viability of cryptos as a means of payment in the adult entertainment industry, adding that payments with these two tokens would be made through CoinPayments.

However, although the expectations were higher, less than 1% of the Pornhub subscribers pay for their membership in cryptocurrency.

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Bitmain, Bitcoin (BTC) Mining Rigs Manufacturer, Reported Losses In Q2 2018

The Chinese Bitcoin (BTC) mining equipment manufacturer Bitmain introduced an Initial Public Offering (IPO) application on the Hong Kong stock exchange, in which it confirms losses of $395 million in the second quarter of 2018, after almost surpassing its net profit for the whole of 2017 in Q1.

In the application for the IPO, Bitmain reveals its business figures until the second quarter of 2018

After doubling its sales in 2016 compared with 2015, and almost multiplying them by 10 in 2017, the Chinese manufacturer obtained more revenue in the first half of 2018 than in the whole of 2017, as shown.

The losses are attributed to the drop in the price of Bitcoin (BTC) in 2018, about 67%, from its January 2018 peak of $19,608, to its current value of around $6,500. This notorious decrease affects the profitability of Bitcoin (BTC) mining, although it is known that miners, in general, do not stop investing in better equipment.

Bitmain was already preparing its IPO, with some incidents such as leaked documents about its assets in cryptocurrencies, or support publications from other companies that were later rejected, although it finally formalized the IPO request this Wednesday.

The drop in Bitcoin (BTC) price affected Bitmain revenues in Q2 2018

The sharp rise in the price of Bitcoin (BTC) in 2017, which led to an increase in Bitmain sales at the beginning of this year, also led to the rise in the price of Bitcoin (BTC) mining equipment as demand exceeded supply. In the second quarter of 2018, that dynamic is reversed, as Bitmain had acquired a large inventory of ASIC chips and components to increase production and much of the equipment was not sold.

Bitmain confirms the decline in prices in 2018, comparing the average price of its equipment sold in the first half of 2017 with the average price in 2018, from $1,191 to $972. The cause of the decline, Bitmain says, is the decline in the expected return per unit of one mined Bitcoin (BTC).

As for its cryptocurrencies holdings, the Bitmain IPO filing does not specify the amounts for cryptos the Bitcoin (BTC) mining equipment manufacturer has, but it points out that it fell from $1.172.4 million in T1 to $886.9 million in T2, possibly linked to the decline in the price of BCH in that period.

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90 Percent Of The Bitcoin Network Nodes are Not Updated To The New Bug-Free Bitcoin Core Client

A detailed version of the report on a highly significant bug in the Bitcoin Core client code was released on September 20. The flaw in question would have allowed for a Denial of Service (DoS). The developers of the protocol created a new version of the Bitcoin Core client, patching the bug and urging network node operators to update their software to the secure version. However, only a few of the Bitcoin network’s nodes updated, making the blockchain vulnerable.

Although there is no concrete number of updated nodes, some, such as developer Luke Dashjr, pointed out that approximately 93% of Bitcoin blockchain nodes are still vulnerable. Others, like Cobra Bitcoin, co-owner of Bitcoin.org, claimed that the number of non-updated nodes is above 80%.

For his part, the researcher and specialist in computer science, Emin Gun Sirer said that the number of nodes not updated is due to their low economic value.

“The percentage of the network not updated after a significant patch corresponds to economically useless nodes. If they did or affected something useful, someone would have bothered to update them,” Gun Sirer explained on Twitter. Sirer himself stated that it would take about 80,000 dollars to carry out an attack taking advantage of these vulnerable Bitcoin blockchain nodes.

The economically essential nodes on the Bitcoin network are now updated

According to Gun Sirer, the more economically important nodes within the Bitcoin network are updated, ensuring a higher security level in the blockchain. Thus, the more large miners and significant commercial and exchange actors participate in the upgrade, the less likely it is that the network will be compromised even though the percentage of non-updated nodes may not be as high.

In fact, when examining the process followed by Bitcoin Core for failure resolution and node update, the team contacted the Slush mining pool to ensure that the new client went into effect. In that case, after the patch was created, Corallo, developer of Bitcoin Core, contacted the Slush executives to make sure the company updated its nodes.

Although it has not been reported that the error was exploited on the Bitcoin network, it did indicate the creation of Bitcoin (BTC) from nothing on the test network. However, being a test network, with a low hashrate level, the operation was denied.

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Stratis (STRAT) Updated Its Roadmap With Smart Contracts and Sidechains, Among Others

On September 26th, the Stratis team published the roadmap for its fourth stage of development, in which complete nodes, smart contracts, sidechains, and other products will be launched by the end of 2018.

According to the announcement, they have contemplated the launch of complete nodes, customized sidechains for companies, and smart contracts in the C programming language. They have also planned the integration of new features in version 2.0 of the platform for Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), the cold storage of the Stratis (STRAT) crypto token in the staking wallet, the Breeze privacy protocol for STRAT, the update of the Breeze portfolio, and enhancements for Stratis DLT, Stratis Core, and Stratis Academy.

Regarding the sidechains, Stratis Sidechains indicated that they would be implemented in the primary network to favor the interoperability between blockchains that use only one crypto. Regarding the smart contracts, they announced that they would be launched before the end of 2018.

For version 2.0 of their platform for ICO, they explained that it would not only include the improvements programmed by the team of developers but will also take into account the comments received from organizations that have used the current version of the platform.

Stratis (STRAT) updated its roadmap

The Stratis (STRAT) team has plans to update the Breeze wallet, a version that will include new options (of which they did not give further details) and that will also depend on the technology of the complete nodes.

As for the Breeze security protocol, which was implemented to be compatible with Bitcoin (BTC) main network, and to boost the exchange between companies, they said that it would also be available for Stratis (STRAT).

Regarding Stratis Core, they indicated that it would be updated to be compatible with the complete nodes, and they also stated that it would replace the existing StratisX (QT) purse. As far as Stratis Academy is concerned, they said that it would have an improved user interface, thinking about creating more content for the network.

The project is currently backed by just over $157 million, with more than $99 million of Stratis (STRAT) in circulation, while STRAT trades at approximately $1.61.

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