Image Of The Day, 20 Of August: News.Bitcoin, Financial Review, Business Insider and Others
We're presenting «image of the day». Bitnewstoday.com has chosen only the freshest and most important news about the digital economy and virtual currencies. Only the most valuable stories from only the trusted sources. Each and every event from this list will change the world of the digital economy either way. The most important of today's stories in most indicative quotes are below!
Major telcos, utility, and insurers may not have jumped on the cryptocurrency bandwagon, but thanks to two local fintech startups that no longer matters, with cryptocurrency owners now able to pay any bill in crypto.
Gobbill co-founder Shendon Ewans admits that he was late to the cryptocurrency party, only beginning to dabble in it early last year, but said that's what made a partnership with Cointree attractive.
2. GOOD OLD WAYS (The Next Web)
A South Korean businessman has exchanged $2.3M worth of Bitcoin for cash – only to find the banknotes were cheap, poorly printed fakes.
The setting was the glitzy French Riviera, the sunny coastal town of Nice. The target – a South Korean businessman, owner of a successful cryptocurrency business in Singapore. A Serbian man and his accomplice are alleged to have convinced the businessman to part with Bitcoin fortune, armed with €2 million ($2.3M) in counterfeit notes.
3. HARD BOOM (CNBC)
After the bitcoin boom: hard lessons for cryptocurrency investors
The virtual currency markets have been through booms and busts before — and recovered to boom again. But this bust could have a more lasting impact on the technology's adoption because of the sheer number of ordinary people who invested in digital tokens over the last year, and who are likely to associate cryptocurrencies with financial ruin for a very long time.
The damage is likely to be particularly bad in places like South Korea and Japan, where there was minimal cryptocurrency activity before last year, and where ordinary investors with little expertise jumped in with abandon.
4. BITCONNEEEECT! (news.bitcoin)
India Bitconnect Head Arrested
The sad and at times infuriating case of Bitconnect continues to unravel around the world. This week, the accused mastermind of the group in Asia, Divyesh Darji, was arrested in connection with his role in the many millions of dollars investment scam.
Local media report Mr. Darji’s outfit was registered in the United Kingdom but essentially operated from the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai. Perhaps it is a fitting center for a Bitconnect operation. The tallest structure in the world since its crowning in 2010, it mirrors proponents of the famed project and now widely recognized scam, big. Everything about Bitconnect was big: big promises, big returns, big gains, big conferences, and, alas, a very big fall.
5. AFTER THE BURST (Irish Times)
The cryptocurrency bubble has burst
In January, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies climbed beyond $800 billion (€700 billion), up from just $18 billion a year earlier according to data provider CoinMarketCap. Now the market has lost three-quarters of its value to stand at $200 billion.
The shrinking market value of the novel digital assets comes alongside rising volatility in mainstream financial markets such as equities, offering traders other opportunities to profit from fluctuating asset prices.
6. A COIN TO SPARE (Market News)
To reward crypto users who promote movies as well as movie trailers
Demand Film from Australia has launched a digital currency in a move meant to reward crypto users who promote movies as well as movie trailers. The company announced the launch of the new cryptocurrency called ‘Screencreds,’ days before it launches in Germany.
In the new program, the company will reward users of Screencreds tokens for watching or sharing trailers for all Demand Film releases. According to Doepel, the tokens paid out will be based on the rate of conversion between the people who view the films and those who end up buying tickets. The payout will be based on the number of people who buy tickets after watching the trailer.
7. CROWD-FUNDING SPEAKER (Business insider)
Anyone with a passing financial familiarity with both crowd-funded speakers and cryptocurrency might be excused for running a mile in the opposite direction. Jump in and history says you’re about to either lose your money or be lumped with some hardware that will work temperamentally for three months until software support for it is withdrawn and its bankrupt creators learn the hard way that they haven’t really researched the whole concept-to-customer chain thoroughly enough.
The team at Volareo is nothing if not realistic. Last week they launched their smart speaker on Indiegogo (the launch was originally slated for May) and are promising deliveries by January 2019 (originally late October 2018).
8. ADULT KINO (The Next Web)
Adult entertainment streaming service Tube8 – a Pornhub subsidiary with over 150 million page visits each month – wants to reward your porn-watching habits with cryptocurrency… so it is putting its entire platform on the blockchain.
In a note exclusively shared with Hard Fork, the company revealed it has entered an agreement with Vice Industry Token (VIT) that will see its platform entirely tokenized. The collaboration will enable users to earn VIT tokens for streaming and interacting with Tube8 videos.
9. SPACE FOR EVERYTHING BLOCKCHAIN (Business insider)
Blockchain Hub opens its doors: Indonesia's first community space for blockchain
Blockchain technology and the potential it has to revolutionize people's way of life is becoming more and more recognized. Around the world, organizations are sprouting up that help facilitate its growth and adoption.
Last Thursday, the capital of Indonesia saw the grand launch of the Indonesia Blockchain Hub, a space dedicated to the promotion and development of blockchain technology. The Indonesia Blockchain Hub has the mission to bring together the different Indonesian Blockchain communities, to drive innovation, and to provide education on blockchain technology.