Regarding Recent Allegations and Smear Campaigns

When the concept of Bitcoin was first introduced on a cryptography mailing list by Satoshi Nakamoto, certain developers purported to have already "proven that decentralized consensus was impossible". Today, the same developers offer a similarly specious "proof" that the implementation of long-published ASIC optimizations is some kind of "attack" on the Bitcoin network.

We'd like to clear the air.

Bitmain has tested ASICBOOST on the Testnet but has never used ASICBOOST on the mainnet as implied in Gregory Maxwell's proposal. We ask conclusive proof from whoever claims this to be false because such baseless claims are toxic for the Bitcoin space. We also believe the math used by Gregory Maxwell is incorrect and that the method is not practical in a production environment.

Our ASIC chips, like those of some other manufacturers, have a circuit design that supports ASICBOOST. However, the ASICBOOST method has not been used by us on the mainnet. We have not seen any evidence yet on the main net that anyone has used it in the patented way.

Bitmain holds the ASICBOOST patent in China. We can legally use it in our own mining farms in China to profit from it and sell the cloud mining contracts to the public. This, however profitable, is not something we would do for the greater good of Bitcoin.

The mining equipment produced by Bitmain for its own use is in no way intended to be technically superior or more power-efficient than the equipment it sells to the public. The ASICBOOST method has not been employed by Bitmain to increase the power-efficiency of the miners in its own mining farms.


Bitcoin mining equipment depreciates rapidly. Bitmain has constantly been introducing newer more efficient miner models for all. As such the statement that the deployment of ASICBOOST, which can lead to a 20% difference in power efficiency, is some kind of negative development for Bitmain's business model is false. Bitmain has shown the ability to adapt and thrive in the constantly changing and extremely challenging Bitcoin mining environment. Whether ASICBOOST is used or not, Bitmain will continue to produce more efficient miners.

Bitmain had always supported the Hong Kong Agreement, which means Segwit plus a hard fork to 2MB block size, until we no longer felt that it was going to happen in the foreseeable future. In fact, Bitmain is publicly on record as historically supporting SegWit and Lightning Network in the context of the Hong Kong agreement, and any accusations to the contrary are completely false and specious.

Miners love multi-layer solutions like Lightning Network. To support these off-chain solutions, Bitmain is very supportive of fixing malleability issues. At the same time, we also believe the first layer, which has been well-tested by time, is very important and should not be crippled. We are worried about the policy and precedence set by Bitcoin Core in this regard.

"Tothemoon", an extension blocks plan proposed recently by Purse.io using a new Bitcon protocol implementation called Bcoin, could be designed to be incompatible with ASICBOOST much like Segwit is. ASICBOOST is not a deterrent to Bitmain's support of SegWit or Tothemoon. SegWit is not running in production because the conditions made clear in the Hong Kong agreement have not been met, in which we foresee a non-witness block size increase coming together with SegWit. Bitmain's co-CEO Jihan Wu has clearly expressed support for Tothemoon recently. Tothemoon is a real and standard block size increase, but not through an arbitrary witness discount policy.

Gregory Maxwell's recent proposal suggests changing 2^32 collision to 2^64 collision to make ASICBOOST more difficult. The result of this would be a loss for the patent owners and the Bitcoin protocol. The patent owners will get nothing and Bitcoin protocol will become more complicated. The only beneficiary will be the technical bureaucrats who are engineering it. The more complicated the protocol is, the higher the cost and barrier to have multiple implementations become. We confirm that we support multiple implementations because they will bring more innovation and better security to the network, while threatening the monopolistic position of certain developers.

Bitmain has continuously been advocating for increasing the Bitcoin block size. Increasing the block size will make the collisions even more difficult, damaging the potential benefits of Bitmain's gain from the private ASICBOOST assumed by Maxwell's proposal. The conspiracy theories do not add up here.

There are better ways to resolve the issues that Gregory Maxwell's proposal seeks to address. Adversarial thinking is not the only way. We suggest working with the patent owners so that the patent could be used by the public. If all mining equipment could use ASICBOOST, it will lower the J/GH cost and the total network hash rate will increase, making the Bitcoin network even stronger. So, the ASICBOOST method is not a "covert attack" on the Bitcoin PoW function. It is an engineering optimization.

The best method to leverage ASICBOOST is by using the Bitcoin block header's version bits. Patent owner Timo has mentioned it in the patent. Gregory Maxwell's proposal seems to be missing this point. Usage of these bits was proposed by Timo Hanke through Bitcoin Core's BIP process but it was declined by Gregory Maxwell and Core developers.

Bitcoin Core is now almost controlled by a small secretive committee. Anyone with a basic sense about human history can tell that this is the starting of a dictatorship. Calling out an optimization an "attack" is playing a political trick to grab power.

The proposal mentions "reverse engineering of a particular mining chip demonstrated conclusively that ASICBOOST has been implemented". This statement seems directed towards Bitmain. We believe the Bitcoin community needs more constructive contributors than it needs such policing.

The proposal does not mention Bitmain, however, an orchestrated troll army within the community was effectively able to spread rumors around Bitmain. Most Bitcoin companies currently have a strong fear of such notorious assets working for certain people. Bitcoin's value of liberty is in danger.

The Bitcoin community suffered a grave misfortune when Maxwell lead the coup against Gavin Andresen and removed his Github commit access. It is now incumbent upon us as a community to figure out how to find a new core developer group that does not busy itself with attacking one of Bitcoin's largest investors (Ver), one of its largest exchanges (Coinbase), and its largest mining equipment provider (Bitmain).

There is a history of character assassinations against those who have spoken against SegWit or Core's roadmap. Gregory Maxwell's latest round of attempts follow his previous patterns. Maxwell has previously attacked one of most important Bitcoin maintainers Gavin Andresen, one of the earliest public Bitcoin advocates and investors Roger Ver, founder and CEO of one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges Brian Armstrong, the first author of Lightning Network Joseph Poon, and now Bitmain's co-CEO Jihan Wu. He has even called his fellow Core contributors who signed the Hong Kong agreement "dipshits". Such hostility is destructive for Bitcoin.

We have very firm belief that the block size of Bitcoin will be increased. It is the Bitcoin that our co-founders signed up for, it is the roadmap designed by Satoshi and it is the destiny of Bitcoin. We will protect it at any cost.

How Lunyr could change online information distribution


Internet provides us with unlimited information sources, which we can access from everywhere, anytime we want to. Best of all is that all this information is free. Which contributed to the succes of online information sources vs traditional (hardcopy) dictionaries and encyclopedia's. However, the information that we find in internet encyclopedia can be filled with false information. 

This will be changed in the near feature. A new and innovative project called Lunyr will use blockchain technology to create and sustain an independent, public and censorship free; encyclopedia for the people, by the people. 

A new encyclopedia platform is going to launch and it's a promise for the future. Lunyr (pronounced "lunar") is a project to build a decentralized encyclopedia, where the users are rewarded for peer-reviewing and contributing information. You'll find all kind of information that you need in Lunyr, with accurate and reliable sources, in general it's a decentralized Wikipedia. The long-term vision is the development of a knowledge base API that virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence but also other software can use to create content and applications. 

Problems and Solutions
From the start the short-term is to build a decentralized Wikipedia, which represents an accurate and fast-growing system and network of information. The platform aims to prevent centralization, censorship and inaccuracy, as it happens on some other platforms. Lunyr has three main strategies to provide answers towards these problems.
1. Being built on Ethereum, the platform resists to decentralize and censor information.
2. Withthe Ethereum-based token, the contributors will have an economic incentive. They'll be rewarded for their work.
3. The content will need to pass a peer-reviewed system, after creating accurate content, the content only will be published after the approval of reviewers. Reviewers will also get a token rewards as incentive. 

What is Ethereum?
Ethereum is an open source public, blockchain based distributed computing platform featuring smart contracts (scripting) functionality. It provides a decentralized virtual machine; the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which can execute scripts using an international network of public nodes.

It's a decentralized application that supports a cryptocurrency, or digital currency, just like Bitcoin. You can pay for things online, trade money buy & sell anything and any shop that accepts Ethereum. But there's more to Ethereum than there is to Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency, called Ether, runs on a "smart-contract." The smart contract is a blockchain technology and system that allows Ethereum to be traded when certain condition is met. Lunyr will be programmed that after a service is done the contract ends and a user will be paid Ether. 

Many altcoins aim to offer smart contracts. But starting 2017 only Waves, Bitbay and Ethereum actually have smart contracts. 

Review: How Lunyr could change online information distribution

The Importance of Lunyr 
Everybody needs to be informed nowadays. Information is very important and crucial in our life but information also needs to be "updated" daily. According to Alexa Rankings, seven of top ten most visited websites globally are associated with searching and obtaining information. Wikipedia is the top 1 information website, but it's not 100% trustable for reasons mentioned earlier. 

Many articles that we find there can be edited by anyone with an internet connection, and this way, users can easily falsify information. Some of them are quickly corrected, but the not so popular articles could take months to be correct by other editors. In these months a lot of false information can be distributed to innocent users. Using Ethereum, the application runs exactly as programmed without fraud, censorship or any third party interference. This way Lunyr can create the next generation of knowledgebase that solves all the problems we have today, which is trusting in false information or having no authority information sources. 

Why Ethereum and Lunyr?
Like I explained before, both Lunyr and Ethereum are new technologies that came to disturb the old school ones (BitCoin and Wikipedia). With Ethereum, Lunyr will create the incentive of trustable information, using the Ethereum's token. In a way it will be working as Steemit. Where authors are rewarded money (incentive) for sharing content. 

They will eliminate the potential of financial interest to the influenced content and Ethereum will manage the financial and funding system. Lunyr will have the token "LUN", the monetary token that contributors will receive for their work. Those two combined, may be the start how Lunyr could change the way online information distribution will become. 

Roadmap

Review: How Lunyr could change online information distribution

-Official Website : https://lunyr.com
-Blog : https://medium.com/lunyr
-Twitter: https://twitter.com/LunyrInc
-Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Lunyr
-Slack: https://slack.lunyr.com
-GitHub: https://github.com/lunyr
-Whitepaper: Download
-Announcements: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1818468.0

Microsoft Office Add-in Certifies Documents on Bitcoin & Ethereum Blockchains


Microsoft has created an add-in for Microsoft Office utilizes Stampery, a blockchain-based timestamping architecture that verifies and certifies documents. Stampery has added Microsoft Office as a client to improve its customer reach, according to Microsoft.

Stampery provides a public API so users can integrate their own applications with its timestamping architecture and have transparency, accountability, and attribution. The Stampery timestamping architecture focuses on scalability and efficiency while ensuring ownership using cryptographic proofs that can be independently verified, according to the company's website. The architecture combines bitcoin and Ethereum anchoring to have certainty and responsiveness simultaneously.

Meeting An Enterprise Need
The Stampery API addresses the challenge enterprise organizations face keeping records in Microsoft Office.

Enterprise organizations have addressed this challenge in the past by hiring certification and storage providers, but the client must rely on the company ensuring the privacy.

An alternative is to create a hash of the document and send it to a blockchain. It can then not be changed without invalidating the hash.

Stampery creates hashes of documents and stores them on both the bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains. To ensure this function, it provides a RESTful API.

Microsoft leveraged the Stampery API to develop an add-in to Microsoft Outlook that functions like a near-native feature to certify an email while remaining in Outlook.

How It Works
The certification button calls a JavaScript Office function that hashes the document and transmits the sha256 hash to a Node.js server as a REST call. The server runs as an Azure App Service, keeping a copy of the hash for verification. Stampery then puts the hash on the bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains.

The verification button calls the Javascript function from the certification process again, then hashes the document and sends the hash to the Node.js server as a REST call. The server then calls the Stampery API to access the document's original hash from both blockchains. It compares the hashes and verifies the result.

The Microsoft add-in is deployed in JavaScript operating in Office with a Node.js server. There is a manifest in Office allowing add-ins for the document and functions providing the service. The Node.js servicer offers the REST service to link to the Office functions and the Stampery API.

The JavaScript that runs in Office provides stamp and prove functions. The functions retrieve the document, not the metadata, from Office, then hashes it. The hash then posts to the Node.js server, or the server requests the proof of the hash.

More Upgrades Ahead
The Stampery API will be enhanced to include secure hash storage so the in-memory object is no longer needed.

The Stampery API helps users deploy the most secure method for storing hash and document. Enterprise customers depending on Microsoft Office can use blockchain technology and Stampery to confirm the validity of documents.

The solution is reusable for enterprise resource planning applications and Microsoft Office products. Anyone seeking to verify and certify digital assets can build on this capability.

Coin of the Internet Realm, Aeternity


Aeternity is a brand new blockcoin that provides quick and safe smart contracts that interface with real world data by way of a decentralized oracle. It achieves scalability through Turing-complete state channels, this is one way in which it differs from Ethereum. Through a major innovation in oracle design, the interface to data in the real world is based on prediction markets. Scalability is increased by the state channels because all of the transactions are independent, this allows them to be processed in parallel. In addition, contracts will never write to a shared state, keeping the testing and verification simplified. 

Aeternity is powered be an Aeternity token, which can be symbolized as either AE or Aeon. Resources that one may consume on the platform are paid for with these Aeternity tokens, they are also used as the bases for any implemented applications on said platform. A small contract that is hosted on Ethereum will determine the distribution of Aeternity tokens in the genesis block. An account that will support human friendly names as well as have an address and balance will manage the Aeternity tokens. 

There are three identities in Aeternity, they are pubkey, hash, and a name. The pubkey comes from the account, the name is from the alias, and the hash links to any further data on the IFPS. 

The blockchain itself is made up eight components, they are as follows:

  • 1 The hash of the previous block
  • 2 A Merkle Tree of Transactions
  • 3 A Merkle Tree of accounts
  • 4 A Merkle tree of names
  • 5 A Merkle tree of channels
  • 6 A Merkle tree of oracles that have not answered the questions asked of them
  • 7 A Merkle tree of oracle answers
  • 8 A Merkle tree of Merkle roots, these are used to prove identity and to prove the existence of the blockchain.
This blockchain is of course revolutionary in the way that it functions. It is a hybrid of a Proof-of-Work and a Proof-of-Stake blockchain. It achieves its consensus through POW mining. And uses a "Cuckoo Cycle" algorithm by Tromp. These blockchains are even able to be mined with smart phones, allowing it to achieve the highest possible level of decentralization. Governance is achieved by way of PoS prediction markets. These Prediction markets have been shown to be very good tools to extract information from crowds of people, it has even been shown to be better than basic voting. 

Aeternity boasts an infinite trustless off-chain transaction speed that is limited only by the speed of light since the transactions are taking place in state channels. The on chain transaction speed is defined by four variables. "B" which is the block size measured in bytes. "F" which is the blocks till finality. "R" which is the time till finality measured in seconds, and "T" which is the transaction size measured in bytes. It should be noted that these variables are always being updated by either the consensus or the governance. 

Aeternity utilizes a Turing-complete virtual machine that processes smart contracts through MAST. Aeternity turns these smart contracts into financial agreements that distribute money according to rules that are predetermined. 

Powered By:

EncryptoTel, Secure VoIP and B2B blockchain communications infrastructure


On 24th April 2017, EncryptoTel will start it's ICO (Initial Coin Offering). Their first target of $100,000 will go towards creating a fully-functional cloud PBX with reliable encryption which is not only stable but also offers greater accessibility across the planet. The expert team at EncryptoTel are familiar with existing products in the market and their extensive research has identified the gaps in the market as well as customer feedback has highlighted problems in the current systems.

 

What is EncryptoTel Proposing?

The strength of EncryptoTel lies in their cutting-edge solutions namely in encryption through proven, open algorithms and the use of blockchain technology.

They currently implemented a Beta Version which is downloadable from their website and it features a traffic encryption based on SIP/TLS technologies. This basically allows for connections to be made by client-server applications but avoid unauthorized access and evade audio interception. This connection is to be made available to everyone, not just corporations.

 

They are currently work going on to develop their own secure connection which includes two network contours, several types of servers and the future plans is to develop their own security protocols.

EncryptoTel Innovation



EncryptoTel

In the coming months, EncryptoTel aim to enter the Global PBX Market. The EncryptoTel token (ETT) will be the native currency for the company. There will be plans to introduce he possibility of using other cryptocurrencies in the future.

 

The team at EncryptoTel believe that privacy is the basic right of individuals and as such the power to communicate freely without fear of being interception is what they want to provide to their users. Regardless of the fact that the threat is from malicious individuals or state-backed or corporate espionage, privacy should be made available. Therefore, Encrypto Tel's vision is to realize an open, reliable and above all secure means of communication regardless of where the user is located.

 

EncryptoTel aims to provide a Virtual PBX service where they will be able to sell phone numbers for users anywhere in the world. What will set EncryptoTel apart is that they are currently the only PBX company which will accept cryptocurrency payments.

 

EncryptoTel

Some of the services to be offered will include:

  • Call redirection

Ability to redirect an incoming call to another phone number. 

Example

The user can redirect calls to multiple local numbers or a local number based on who is calling and when.

  • Two-factor authentication (2FA)

An additional layer of protection will be offered for services such as crypto-wallets and exchanges.

Example

In addition to username-password login, users will receive a call, text message or other authentication details before access is granted just as how some major global brands have adapted this protection currently.

  • Hide a phone number

Phone numbers used will be masked when outgoing calls are made.

Example: Conduct communication without revealing your direct subscriber's number which is in line with the vision of the company of secure communication.

  • Free communication

Every subscriber will receive a free number (internal) for the network.

Looks like exciting times are ahead for EncryptoTel and only time will tell if they can blast off and change the landscape of cloud PBX.

MinexCoin A new cryptocurrency project



What Affects the Minexcoin Price? written by: literal2 Before we go into the specifications as to what affects the Minexcoin price, we need to explain some definitions first. The Minexcoin Price and the Minexcoin value are not related to each other. 

The Minexcoin price only applies to the direct monetary costs of getting Minexcoins - it is an objective factor. The value of Minexcoins, however, relates to its anticipated usefulness and benefits to the individual who is buying Minexcoins - this is a subjective factor. 

Right now, the Minexcoin cost is for the most part communicated at a swapping scale against the U.S dollar. In any case, as time proceeds onward and fiat monetary standards turn out to be increasingly flimsy, this "swapping scale" will turn out to be less significant. 

The Minexcoin convention is to make an aggregate of 21 million Minexcoins more than 100 years. This point of confinement on the aggregate sum of Minexcoins that can ever be made is basic in keeping the cost at a generally stable rate. There will be times (and it has occurred before) where there will be sharp value vacillations - however, the market is equipped for "redressing" itself moderately rapidly from these progressions. 

The farthest point likewise guarantees that there will never be an instance of "runaway swelling" - an issue that torment all types of paper (fiat) money. Mining Minexcoins is not the same as unendingly printing out paper cash. 

More people and organizations around the globe are utilizing Minexcoins. This expanding request on the general restricted supply of Minexcoins guarantees a steady market cost. At the season of this written work, the cost of Minexcoin is progressively rising, and many estimates express that this pattern will proceed over the long haul. 

Presently how about we take a gander at some different variables that relate (either straightforwardly or in a roundabout way) to the Minexcoin Price.

Minexcoin Price and The BlockChain:

The Minexcoin Network (The BlockChain) as of now keeps running more than 240 thousand exchanges for each day, evaluated at a volume of more than 122 million U.S dollars. Pretty much a year prior, the system was handling around 100 thousand exchanges for every day, esteemed at a volume of around 42 million U.S dollars. 

The continuous increment in the utilization of Minexcoins is a certain indication of a sound system. As more individuals from around the globe utilize Minexcoins, these upward patterns of every day exchanges and volume will proceed. 

Minexcoin Price and Purchases:

Minexcoins takes after the lead of interest and supply, much the same as numerous different wares. One noteworthy contrast is that Minexcoins are less inclined to outer manipulative strengths (more n that later). When you buy Minexcoins (either by utilizing fiat cash or by utilizing another cryptocurrency), you are assuming a part in Minexcoin's upward cost. 

At the point when individuals around the globe buy Minexcoins, the general volume of buys is recorded in the trade organize, and the cost is raised against another product (like the U.S dollar for instance). 

Minexcoin Price and Sales:

Since Minexcoins take after the manage of interest and supply, then the offer of Minexcoins in return for some other ware would add to a diminishing in cost. We should take a gander at these two situations: 

1. You bought a thing from an online store (that acknowledges Minexcoins). 
2. You sold your Minexcoins in return for another money. 

In both situations, you are offering your Minexcoins. The offer of Minexcoins assumes a part in the Minexcoin cost going descending. 

Minexcoin Price and Investments:

As you probably are aware at this point, Minexcoins are a product - and like some other item, it can be utilized for speculation purposes. Putting resources into Minexcoins likewise assumes a part in the upward pattern of the Minexcoin cost. 

By obtaining Minexcoins (and clutching them), you are removing those Minexcoins from flow - which obviously implies that there are less Minexcoins on the trade system to offer. 

The upward "request" incline for Minexcoins, combined with the restricted "supply" consequently compels the cost of Minexcoins upward. Numerous people and organizations are adding Minexcoins to their speculation portfolios because of this fundamental certainty. 

Minexcoin Price and Outside Forces:

The Minexcoin convention is the primary advanced cash that is free from direct control by any focal specialist. Many banks and governments attempt to ruin Minexcoins just in light of the fact that they can't control it. Minexcoins permit people to unreservedly exchange for wares without dealing with any problematic "specialists" acting as a burden. One of the best cases of how Minexcoins are changing the way we exchange was amid the "Financier Bailout Scandal." Faith and trust in banks and governments are consistently going downhill (particularly in European nations). An ever increasing number of individuals are performing exchanges by means of Minexcoins - and in a few nations, you can get to Minexcoin ATMs. 

The market variances of fiat monetary forms and the continually expanding terrible approaches from governments have constrained individuals to search for choices. Minexcoins, being the most noticeable option, has had an enduring increment in exchange volume throughout the years - and this does, in fact, influence the Minexcoin cost. 

Conclusion:

As should be obvious, a few elements influence the Minexcoin cost - either straightforwardly or in a roundabout way. These components can make slow or sharp value changes. All things considered, in the course of the most recent couple of years, Minexcoin has turned out to be a stable product, and all gauges demonstrate that it is well worth having as a long-haul venture. 

Roadmap:



Whitepaper:

https://minexcoin.com/html/download/wpeng.pdf

The Amazing Model: TaaS Close End Fund


Taas is a collective investment where token is reserved for growth. The channeling back of a given portion of funds for reinvestment boosts growth of the token. The tokenized system is a designed model to curb insecurity and technical barriers. 

Please keep scrolling down and discover the mystery behind TaaS and how it works. 

Today am not ready to beat around the bush. If you are reading this article right now, allow me expose the TaaS {Token-as-a-service}; a transparent business model designed by the Bitcoin group targeting investors of block chain space. 

TaaS-a tokenized close end fund invented to minimize challenges transparency vs technical obstacles in investing in block chain space! 

What is the blockchain?

A transparent and verifiable investment technical model. The collective distributions of database via a transparent system shared by the business partners regulate and verify the recorded information which is articulated within the database. 

Why TaaS?

The new business model is designed and promoted towards many reasons to achieve a certain targeted business spot. The tokenized model is generated to iron the technical barriers vs transparency. 

Taas creates more security for business investments and transaction within the technical system. The system of bitcoin is still a stub system with numerous loopholes hence the creation of this model protects us from exposure to insecurity. 

Profitable Reasons for Creation of Taas Model?

• Inactive regulated market; the bitcoin market is gradually reaching out to every corner of the globe hence the market regulation of the bitcoin mining is gradual in nature. 
• Inadequate investments tools; mining of the bitcoin is generated by online tools designed within a business structure merged with parental tools of business model. 
• Technical huddles; a growing system with booming investments attraction is prone to technical errors since it is still slowly developing. 
• Absence of the market knowledge; the bitcoin investors and associates slowly absorbs the market knowledge of the bitcoin investment. 

How does TaaS works?







• 25% channeled back to investment; the close end fund model operates within a business structure where 25% of the returns are reinvested back to the black chain space for growth of token. 
• Limited to Block chain market; the close end fund is modified and verified with only block chain markets where transparency is highly valued within partnership. 
• 50% quarterly profit sharing; to the shareholders, they are awarded the quarterly profit distribution of 50% as return out of the block chain investment. 
• Reserved fund; around 10% to 30% of portfolio is hedged in bitcoin since the close end fund is a model where shares are limited to internal market. 
• Trusted Transactions; the platforms of trusted transactions are promoted and limited to specific niches such as Bittrex, Kraken, or Poloniex. 

Final remarks

To cut the long story short, let me summarize it up by saying that, TaaS is launched with an eye to watch over technical huddles vs transparency. The close end fund is targeting the block chain market where trusted members transact and share profit via transparent and verifiable system since, the collective distribution of database is open to all partners.

Waves Decentralized Exchange and safe trading of blockchain assets



We're launching Waves DEX now, a decentralized solution for digital assets trading. Let's reiterate why we think that it's an important development that can actually change things.

Decentralized blockchain tokens are being traded on very centralized exchanges. Essentially it's a contradiction in terms, that manifests itself in these exchanges being hacked all the time. You just can't trust a centralized service with your decentralized tokens. Bitcoin and other crypto is a perfect thing to steal, transactions are non-reversible, transfers are hard to trace. Centralized cryptocurrency exchanges are not sustainable in the long run, since the cost of an successful attack can ruin any successful exchange.

On the other hand, until we have very high blockchain transactions throughput, we can't have a comfortable solution for a completely decentralized trading. Putting all trading data on the blockchain is doable, but you have to deal with blockchain latency and tons of data which you have to synchronize over all the nodes.

There's a solution in between, and this is the path we have taken — you can do the blockchain settlement but order matching is done in a centralized manner. What does it mean in layman's terms — there's a server which matches incoming orders, but has no access to your funds. There's no chance that you could lose money in this setup, since you have full control over your funds at all times. When the server finds a matching pair it initiates the transfer on the blockchain which moves the funds. The correctness of the matching is verified in a decentralized way, and no funds can be transferred if the orders are not matched properly.

This is a new approach that can be called "Matching as a service". You can mount your own Waves matcher and earn commissions. Probably we don't need to try to decentralize everything at this stage of blockchain protocols development, focusing only on areas where blockchain really improves things considerably. When you need high execution speed centralized solutions work better. Putting the trustless blockchain technology on top you get the best of the two worlds — speed of centralized services combined with blockchain security.

Check Waves DEX out in our lite wallet!

Join Wavesplatform Community on telegram: https://t.me/Wavescommunity

For more information about Waves or to download the client and start trading, visit: www.wavesplatform.com

OpenBazaar, an open-source market that allows buyers and sellers of goods to directly create shops and sell goods without fees, restrictions or accounts, is looking to layer multiple cryptocurrencies into its wallet in the interest of offering lower transaction fees. The online market already allows users to pay for purchases in multiple cryptocurrencies via an integration with the ShapeShift.io exchange.

With rising bitcoin fees, Mike Wolf, design lead at OpenBazaar, has proposed supporting multiple cryptocurrencies, noting there are details to be worked out.

"Bitcoin fees are getting high," Wolf tweeted. "Should @OpenBazaar support multiple cryptocurrencies?" The tweet directed readers to a Youtube video in which he presented an idea for how multiple currencies could layer into the OpenBazaar wallet.

"We have not thought about all of the functional aspects of it yet," Wolf said in the video. The team is looking for feedback as to whether the concept has value. "Let us know what coins you think are most useful," he said. "We'll definitely read through them."

Wolf also posted a survey on Twitter asking people to vote on whether OpenBazaar should support multiple currencies. With 443 votes cast and six days left, 87% wanted to see OpenBazaar accept multiple currencies.

"Relying 100% on bitcoin might not be realistic in the near future," Wolf said. "From the Open Bazaar perspective, we really want to keep fees as low as possible."

BOScoin - The new virtual currency


BOScoin is a new virtual currency created by the South Korean Fintech startup BlockChain OS. According to regional publication Pulse News, like existing virtual currencies, the new digital currency is also based on a blockchain. However, according to the Seoul-based company, the difference consists in the blockchain's ability to allow higher transaction speeds. BOScoin transaction speeds will reach up to 1000 transactions per second, in line with credit card processing speeds. 

BlockchainOS has presented the concept of the BOScoin platform at meetups in London and Berlin/ The Foundation has been answering questions from the wider community on a wide range of interest areas including design, architecture, technical, operations applications, and governance. 

BOScoin is designed as a platform for a self-evolving crypto currency, an improved version of other popular virtual currencies such as Ethereum and Bitcoin. BOScoin was developed to work with Trust Contracts that provide an approachable and decidable and framework for creating and executing blockchain contracts. 

The decision making body for the new BOScoin digital currency is the Congress Network. Congress members have the right to decide on what proposals are eligible for Commons Budgets. They also have the right to decide the functions of the blockchain itself and the revision of the policies. The Congress Network aims to create a more productive and democratic decision making process. With its particular policy rules, BOScoin is expected to avoid the hard-forking and community separation of blockchain. 



The official ICO invites the general public to participate in this international crypto currency platform. The pre-ICO funding has already raised US$3 million. According to a report from Korean publication DataNet, all code and tools used by the South Korean developers of BOScoin will be released as open-source. A next-generation smart contract solution powers BOScoin. The system is bases on an "inference engine". 

The creators of BOScoin hope to overcome the operational and technical issues present in many other crypto currencies. While deterring the centralization of power, the issuance plan and the incentive scheme of the BOScoin cryptocurrency platform aims to create value for the coin. While being more energy efficient, low latency BOScoin transactions will be created with the help of the Modified Federated Byzantine Agreement algorithm. 

A user or a machine is helped to decipher the contract by this core code and software engine. This approach is opposed to existing smart contracts that are currently written in program-level code. For most users, these existing smart contracts may prove difficult to understand. The South Korean developers of the BOScoin appear to aim, essentially, for a more-straightforward blockchain. 

The BlockchainOS Foundation that issue and manage the token currency BOScoin is established in Switzerland. BlockchainOS has engaged EY's Asia-Pacific data and analytics capability called EYC3 in its efforts to support development of the BOScoin cryptocurrency. EY has a global experience in cryptocurrency and blockchain, reaching a footprint across 150 countries. The strategy behind the new BOScoin digital currency platform is taking advantage of the critical leading data and analytics capabilities of EYC3. 

By utilizing their governance expertise, as well as their wide range of experience in working with private global companies, EY will be able to apply their known how to supporting the BOScoin platform's self-evolving governance system. The platform provides the foundations for a secure system where even non-technical users can create sharable and immutable blockchain contracts. 

The need for a private, person to person marketplace



Large companies dominating the industry may think we're crazy; we think what we're doing is just right.

Let's start by getting the obvious out of the way; building a self-governed P2P marketplace is a complete paradigm shift. Today, shopping online requires three or more entities to be involved just to complete a sale. That's crazy! The market leaders have been perfecting customer retention, personalized recommendations and last minute deals for over two decades now. Online shopping has become so refined that buyers and sellers hardly even talk unless a problem arises, but at what cost?

Predicting what customers would like to buy isn't just a lucky guess; it's largely based on their personal shopping and browsing history. Customer metadata is collected, harvested and applied to algorithms built to maximize the bottom line. It may seem pretty cool and handy from the outside but the truth is that it is a trust-based system in which the customer usually has no choice but to accept in order to shop online. This trust extends all the way to each company's infrastructure (servers) and their ability to protect your personal data from bad actors. One could argue, "Doesn't this turn Me into the product?"

So why reinvent an entire industry that has perfected a good, logical and profit-generating business model that appears to have the customers' best interest in mind? Simple! Choice. At this time, every eCommerce platform is essentially the same. There is at least 1 payment processor who needs to be involved, collect data and charge a fee. Depending on the platform, there is at least 1 more company involved with listing the item, collecting data and charging a fee. Anytime you are not in control of your personal data and/or money, you run a huge risk of that information being manipulated, misused or hacked by a third-party. The latter can lead to embarrassing or precarious situations, for example the huge Ashley Madison leak.

Particl has a place in this industry and the time for us is now!

What is Particl?

This is a hard question to answer at first take. 

"Hey, look everyone, here's a startup now taking on many Goliaths." Amazon and eBay have 20+ years head start on the team and multiple-times over many more resources. This is a battle every startup faces and history has shown that the public responds well when what you're doing is the right way to do it.

By Usage share of web browsers (Source Net Applications).svg: arichnad, Daniel.Cardenas, Litehacker — Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15824338

Market Analytics

The best companies in the eCommerce sector have gotten to the top through stellar market analytics. However, these are only valuable to centralized companies. Strong market analytics are necessary to continually grow revenue and profits. Particl is a decentralized platform that barely collects fees to list or transact. We'll never be a bloated company with outrageous executive payrolls or lucrative stock options. The team is lean and focused on research and development in an open source environment. All fees generated on the platform are automatically redirected to the community of people keeping the network secure by running nodes and staking.

Product Recommendations

Another aspect of market analytics linked to customer retention is personalized recommendations. These added "features" rely 100% on user metadata. On Particl there is absolutely no way to collect user metadata for recommendations since everything is encrypted. Only the buyer and seller know that a transaction has ever taken place. On the public ledger, it reads like any other generic transaction. Anything from both the buyer and seller's data, the purchase history, the terms of a sale, and more are encrypted and private. We take metadata leakage very seriously, which adds a level of complexity to this project that traditional eCommerce platforms don't have to deal with.

Particl's overall competitiveness to mainstream marketplaces will take time and that's okay. Not only are we providing tools that give people a choice in an otherwise black and white 20+ year old industry, but we are also extending a helping hand to those who never did have such a choice.

Particl does offer benefits even the biggest industry leaders can't offer at this time and that is a positive way to start our journey. On top of working in an open source environment the project also offers:

  • passive income for users operating nodes and helping to secure the network.
  • zero-to-low fees
  • freedom to list almost anything
  • ownership of the platform through self-governance
  • private listings
  • 2 party trustless (MAD) escrow — whitepaper
  • end-to-end encrypted communication

Why not build Particl on Ethereum?

This is a valid question and one that would be more applicable if we were building Particl from scratch. The MVP prototype was built on Bitcoin code along with upgrades and innovations from the Shadowcash code. The Bitcoin codebase isn't causing any issue or roadblock to the development of the platform and our upgrade to the latest bitcoin codebase is only going to enhance the performance and security of Particl, as well as add a bunch of new features. I appreciate Ryan X Charles' point of view when discussing jumping ship versus solving problems. While the protocol may be more advanced than Bitcoin, moving to Ethereum would produce additional problems to solve and slow the progress on bringing the Particl platform to market. For example: Ethereum still runs on a PoW consensus algorithm while Particl runs on PoS consensus, which is a value added feature to our network ownership, governance and reward structure.


Video Particl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQvFUYrdDJU
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