Author: Gareth Jenkinson

Litecoin Courting TenX and Korbit – Just a Month after LitePay ‘Breakup’

Posted by Gareth Jenkinson | Apr 19, 2018 | Altcoins, Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, Ethereum, ICOs, Litecoin, Regulation, Scams |

Promising Litecoin payment processing platform Litepay has vanished, but TenX and Korbit have stepped up to fill the void. Just a month after LitePay’s untimely collapse, Litecoin has teamed up with a well-known wallet platform and a large South Korean cryptocurrency exchange. Despite the disappointment of LitePay’s demise, TenX have announced Litecoin (LTC) support in on its wallet platform while South Korea’s second biggest exchange Korbit launched Litecoin trading on 18 April. It comes as a timely boon for the cryptocurrency and the Litecoin Foundation, which had been eagerly anticipating and supporting the development of LitePay – before it...

Mastercard – Denouncing Cryptocurrencies While Embracing Blockchain

Posted by Gareth Jenkinson | Apr 19, 2018 | Bitcoin, Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, Regulation |

Mastercard continues to denounce cryptocurrencies while aggressively exploring and developing Blockchain based systems. Blockchain technology has shaken up the financial world by providing a system for transactions that does not need a central authority, bank or third party payment system.This very reason has made many traditional financial institutions unsupportive of the new technology, as over time it could make their systems obsolete. Enter Mastercard, the global banking card provider. The company has been somewhat bipolar in their stance towards cryptocurrencies and Blockchain technology over the past few years. The card provider has held virtual currencies at a distance and...

Unpacking the 5 Biggest Cryptocurrency Scams

Posted by Gareth Jenkinson | Apr 18, 2018 | Altcoins, Bitcoin, Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, Ethereum, ICOs, Regulation, Scams |

In the wake of the Pincoin/iFan ICO scams in Vietnam, we take a look at the five biggest cryptocurrency scams to date. Cryptocurrencies have revolutionized the way the world looks at transactions – but they’ve also facilitated some monumental scams over the past nine years. The success of Bitcoin and a number of altcoins jumpstarted an industry that is incorporating Blockchain technology in a number of innovative ways. While the smartest minds have created some game-changing companies backed by the power of Blockchain and cryptocurrencies, nefarious minds have also jumped on the bandwagon, fleecing unwitting investors in elaborate scams....

GPUs And ASICs – A Never Ending Battle For Mining Supremacy

Posted by Gareth Jenkinson | Apr 18, 2018 | Altcoins, Bitcoin, Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, Ethereum |

Graphics cards have given ordinary people the ability to mine cryptocurrencies but the emergence of ASIC miners has thrown a spanner in the works. Since Bitcoin’s inception in 2009, cryptocurrency mining has been popular both for average enthusiasts and hardcore fanatics. In the early days there was no such thing as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), which are more commonly known as ASIC chips. Mining was first done with regular Central Processing Units (CPUs), which meant PC enthusiasts with the best hardware had a head start mining Bitcoin. According to an article by University of Washington Professor Michael Bedford...

Sharia, Taxes And Short Squeeze: Versions Behind Bitcoin’s $1000 Bounce

Posted by Gareth Jenkinson | Apr 17, 2018 | Altcoins, Bitcoin, Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, ICOs, Regulation, Scams |

Bitcoin’s surprise bounce – a number of factors compound a surge in the value of preeminent cryptocurrency. Since last week crypto community celebrates the return of Bitcoin to the green with an inspiring bounce up to $1000 in value in less than an hour of trade on Thursday, 12 April. The sudden increase in Bitcoin’s value was met with much fanfare and further speculation as to what caused the massive volume in trade in the preeminent cryptocurrency. There are a number of reasons for Bitcoin’s sudden surge in price and they have seemingly worked in tandem to boost the...

‘48 Percent Returns Monthly’: How 32,000 Vietnam Investors Got Caught By Ponzi Scheme

Posted by Gareth Jenkinson | Apr 13, 2018 | Bitcoin, Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, ICOs, Regulation, Scams |

The Pincoin and iFan ICO scams have become the biggest in cryptocurrency history, highlighting the need for financial education in the crypto community. What could well become known as the largest Initial Coin Offering (ICO) scam in history has highlighted the need for the cryptocurrency community to promote financial education. On Monday, April 9, Vietnamese media reported that nearly $660 mln of investors’ money had been stolen by two separate ICO’s, run by a parent company operating out of Ho Chi Minh city. iFan and Pincoin, the two ICOs in question, are believed to have been setup and operated...

Canceled Audit and Issuance of 300 Mln New Tokens: What’s Going on With Tether?

Posted by Gareth Jenkinson | Mar 28, 2018 | Altcoins, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies, Litecoin |

Tether’s latest issuance of 300 mln USDT tokens has brought the cryptocurrency and the lack of an official audit back into the spotlight. This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision. The inner workings of Tether have been under constant scrutiny and they’re in the spotlight again after issuing 300 mln new Tether tokens last week. To understand why Tether has been the subject of controversy for the past six months, one should remember how this cryptocurrency works. According to Tether,...

What to Make of British Cryptocurrency Task Force

Posted by Gareth Jenkinson | Mar 28, 2018 | Bitcoin, Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, Regulation |

The UK Treasury has launched a cryptocurrency task force, but do UK financial institutions believe in cryptocurrencies? Regulations have been a top priority for the burgeoning cryptocurrency markets around the world in 2018 and there has been a lot of work done on this front in the space of three months. Cryptocurrency markets floundered at the start of the year, after record highs for Bitcoin and other notable alt coins in December. This came to a head as February dawned, in the wake of mass uncertainty in the Far East and serious apathetic rhetoric towards the industry coming out...

Facebook, Google and Twitter Ban Ads, But Do Their Founders Really Dislike Crypto?

Posted by Gareth Jenkinson | Mar 27, 2018 | Bitcoin, Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, ICOs, Regulation, Scams |

Social media platforms like Facebook have banned cryptocurrency related advertising, while the brains behind the platforms believe this technology can revolutionize their products Social media platforms have recently banned advertising for cryptocurrencies and ICOs, but that stance is contradictory to the thoughts of their directors. In January, the social network giant Facebook outlawed cryptocurrency related advertising in an effort to protect users from various ICO scams, fraudulent token sales, Ponzi schemes and the likes. It has set a precedent that is now being followed by other platforms and service – but this disparaging move is at odds with the...

Child Abuse Content on Bitcoin Blockchain: Can Node Operators Be Prosecuted?

Posted by Gareth Jenkinson | Mar 22, 2018 | Altcoins, Bitcoin, Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, Ethereum, Regulation |

A research paper has found links to child pornography stored on the Bitcoin Blockchain, but can users access this information and are they liable to criminal prosecution? The Bitcoin Blockchain allows users to store and transmit files and information through transactions. It turns out somebody makes use of this non-primary option: a university study has made some startling discoveries on over 1600 files stored in the Bitcoin Blockchain. A collaborative study from Germany’s Goethe and Aachen Universities revealed eight files containing sexual content, hidden inside the world’s largest cryptocurrency Blockchain. There are a total of 274 links to websites,...