Blockchain technology

[axj]

IT is hard to tell if cryptocurrencies will success in the future or not.

Cryptocurrencies will certainly survive as alternative currencies. The only question is how big they will get and how much resistance they will meet from private and central banks, as well as governments. It is also possible that Russia will play a different role than Western governments in this respect.

I read some central bank publications on this topic and they basically say that as long as cryptocurrencies are small enough, they don't threaten the central banks' authority. And central banks are pretty certain that governments can regulate or ban cryptocurrencies successfully if these become too successful.

I think the main question is how soon the current state currencies will become unstable - because that will be a much bigger driving force into cryptocurrencies than just speculation. Both Catherine Austin-Fitts and Lada Ray think that there won't be a sudden collapse, but rather a slow fizzling out of the dollar. And in the short and medum term the dollar may actually become stronger than many other fiat currencies.

Catherine Austin-Fitts also points out that the elites like to allow initial development of a new technology and then they come in and try to take it over. This happened with the big Internet companies and it is also likely to happen with cryptocurrencies. They will use the blockchain technology to reduce costs and maybe try to push through a ban on cash in favor of purely digital money that can be controlled 100%.

It is very likely that there will be a ban on cryptocurrencies in many countries once these become quite popular.

Since they will need a good reason for the ban, they will probably use some of that unlimited printed money to get the price of Bitcoin up a lot and then let it crash ("pump and dump"). As a result, they can claim that it was a ponzi scheme all along, that too many consumers lost their savings, etc. By banning it right after that crash, they can make sure that the price won't rise quickly again (though whether that will work as planned is another question).

I think this is the most likely way things will play out.

 

[Carl]

https://tomluongo.me/2017/10/16/russias-crypto-ruble-changed-capital/

Interesting perspective on where Russia/Putin stands ^

There is an incredible amount of info to keep up with in crypto space right now, and going into 2018 it looks set to only increase in volume and really 'go large'.

In my opinion these regulatory pushbacks are just the first steps towards getting a lot of the space legitimized. In Russia especially, and China no doubt soon. The rumours of a coming Bitcoin ETF for US folks are growing louder. It's already legal in Japan (big part of the reason for bitcoin price rise this year). It is spoke about that many 'legitimate' investors such as hedge funds etc. are desperate to get some exposure to crypto, but cannot because there are no regulatory frameworks in place.

The 'mini bubble' of ICOs and altcoins seems to have popped over this august, and it looks like round 2 will begin in 2018. There are new projects coming out every week launching presales and ICOs, some of which look like trash and some of which look very good.

While people are just about getting their head around bitcoin, there are now technologies on the near horizon that could eclipse blockchains completely, with up to 100,000 transactions per second on a decentralized network.

Time acceleration is very apparent here. All in all it's quite fascinating to watch, and quite exhausting to participate, especially in the speculative market side of things.

 

[Carl]

This is a good article on the current '30,000 foot view' of distributed ledger tech, for anyone interested:

https://medium.com/blackmoon-crypto/the-crypto-ecosystem-v2-aea76bde5457

 

[Mikey]

The SWIFT conference ridiculed cryptocurrencies with laughter. But: "He who laughs the last laughs the best":

Hosted by Swift, the messaging platform that today connects the world's banks via a centralized ledger system, the event struggled in the face of an unlikely pressure – a competing conference across town put on by Ripple, a competitor focused on promoting a more decentralized solution.

Other news from the last week or so, still showing mixed hectic activity:

Governments:

Russia's deputy prime minister has spoken about the government's possible use of blockchain for state services.

Vladimir Putin: Cryptocurrency Poses 'Serious Risks'

Sweden's Government to Sell Seized Bitcoin in Open Auction

Australian Senate Panel Throws Support Behind Crypto Exchange Bill

Australia Officially Ends Double Bitcoin Tax

Banks:

Goldman Sachs Considering Bitcoin Services for Clients

The senior vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston believes blockchain will make financial middlemen wake up and innovate.

Russia's Central Bank Backs Move to Block Bitcoin Websites

Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF, has warned that central banks and financial services need to pay closer attention to cryptocurrencies.

JPMorgan Launches Interbank Payments Platform on Quorum Blockchain

The newest member of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance is also Russia's largest bank.

Inspector General: US Mint Should Consider Bitcoin's Impact

ECB President: Bitcoin Not 'Mature' Enough to Be Regulated

Credit card giant Mastercard has opened access to its blockchain APIs

Industry:

Malta's Ministry for Education and Employment is to launch a pilot project that will store academic certificates on a blockchain.

100 Diplomas: MIT Issues Graduate Certificates on a Blockchain App

One of the world's largest airlines is looking at how it can apply blockchain tech to track workflows within its aircraft maintenance systems.

Wikipedia Founder: ICOs Can Be 'Absolute Scams'

Switzerland's Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts has announced that it will accept bitcoin as payment for student expenses.

Australian University Tests Blockchain in Bid to Back Up Academic Credentials

IBM has been settling real cross-border payments in the South Pacific on a blockchain using Stellar's Lumen cryptocurrency.

The University of New South Wales' consumer loyalty research effort will pay students in ether for making purchases at on-campus retailers.

 

[axj]

Vladimir Putin: Cryptocurrency Poses 'Serious Risks'

Russia's Central Bank Backs Move to Block Bitcoin Websites

The thing to keep in mind is that Putin and the Russian Central Bank are not necessarily "on the same side". The central bank was established in the early 90's and is controlled by IMF rules, meaning that it has to hold US-dollars as a prerequisite to issuing rubles.

I've mentioned it before that in the Oliver Stone interviews you could see a book on restoring Russian economic sovereignity (nationalizing the ruble) in Putin's office in the Kremlin. He is probably waiting for the right moment to abolish the IMF control of the Russian central bank.

To understand how important this is, note that back in 2000 there were 7 countries that did not have IMF-controlled central banks:

Afghanistan
Iraq
Libya
North Korea
Iran
Syria
Sudan
Cuba

Now there are only 4 left:

Iran
Syria
North Korea
Cuba

And out of these remaining four, three are openly vilified by the West.

As to Putin's recent speech on cryptocurrencies (several days before the announcement of the CryptoRuble), here it is in full:
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/55813

Meeting on using digital technology in finance

Vladimir Putin held a meeting on the use of digital technology in finance and the implementation of innovative financial tools.
October 10, 2017

The meeting was attended by Presidential Aide Andrei Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, Central Bank Deputy Governor Olga Skorobogatova and QIWI CEO Sergei Solonin.

* * *

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues,

Today, I propose addressing a topic that is relevant not only for our country, not only for Russia, but is probably becoming relevant also for the rest of the world.

I am referring to introducing digital technology in the financial, banking sphere, and using innovative financial instruments.

Modern technology in the banking sphere certainly opens up new opportunities for organisations and citizens, making business activity and everyday life more convenient.

As is known, virtual currencies, also known as cryptocurrencies, are becoming or have already become very popular; in certain countries they are becoming or have already become legal tender, as well as an investment asset.

I would like to draw your attention to the need to use the advantages that are offered by new technological solutions in the banking sphere.

That said, the use of cryptocurrencies also carries serious risks. I know the Central Bank’s position; I have discussed this topic with the Governor on several occasions.

First and foremost, this is an opportunity for laundering illegal gains, tax evasion and even financing of terrorism, not to mention the proliferation scams to which ordinary people can fall victim.

Cryptocurrencies are issued by an unrestricted circle of anonymous entities. Therefore, buyers of cryptocurrencies may be involved in illegal activity.

In addition, there is no security for cryptocurrencies. If the system breaks down or, as it is trendy to say today, if there is a bubble, there will be no entity legally responsible for that. This is a serious matter that we should bear in mind when discussing this topic.

As is known, many countries are looking for ways of regulating the circulation of cryptocurrencies and are beginning to create the necessary legislative framework, a legislative regulatory system.

We need – based on international experience – to build a regulatory environment that will make it possible to codify relations in this sphere, reliably protect the interests of citizens, businesses and the state and provide legal guarantees for using innovative financial instruments.

I would like once again to draw your attention to the need to use the advantages that are offered by new technological solutions in the banking sphere.

At the same time it is important not to create unnecessary barriers, of course, but rather to provide essential conditions for advancing and upgrading the national financial system.

Bearing all these various aspects of the problem in mind, let us discuss this topic today.

 

[Bobo08]

After watching the blockchain space for a few weeks, I'd like to recommend these two particular websites: steemit.com and d.tube to forum members. They are both based on the blockchain Steem (steem.io). Steemit.com is a social media network similar to reddit and d.tube is aspiring to be a Youtube challenger. Some of their notable characteristics are:

* Completely free, open, and distributed; uncensorable to a large degree. The content behind steemit is held on the public blockchain Steem. Steemit is just a web interface that lets people interact with the blockchain Steem. So if steemit ever begins to censor people, which is what most mainstream social media networks are doing nowadays, new web interfaces can be easily put up to work with the underlying blockchain. The same goes for d.tube. Its videos are held on IPFS (ipfs.io), a distributed file system (think of bit torrent, only much better). The video metadata is held on Steem. So again, it is open and mostly uncensorable.

* Pay authors and users directly. This is perhaps the most interesting aspect of Steem. It has an underlying cryptocurrency called Steem, which has an inflation rate of 9.5% at the moment. 75% of the newly generated Steem is paid out to authors and curators (people who vote up popular content). Basically, the more an article, or a video, is voted up, the more earning its author and curators get. That cuts advertisers out of the loop and removes their potential influence on the content.

Both websites are still very new. Steemit went live in July and d.tube went live only in September. So the user base is small and the user experience is not as smooth as reddit or youtube. Nevertheless, I think they represent one of the best potentials at displacing the mainstream gatekeepers at the moment.

There are many talented writers and video editors in our network. So this might be a good opportunity to get in, establish a good following and spread the truth. If Steem takes off, it can bring a good income too.

Disclosure: I hold a small investment in Steem.

 

[angelburst29]

I'm like a fish out of water with this technology but I just came across a short 15 minute video with Quinn Michaels and Jason Goodman that describes Bitcoin, Blockchain, Crowdsource and how it all ties into Sofia IA - that Saudi Arabia just granted citizenship to? A website is mentioned in the talks that explains the process on how all the AI Computers are now "linking up" and have created their own system.

Mystery Solved: It happens next week and most humans will never know
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUyYwFe9q8I (Start at the 0:58 mark - 15:o3 min.)


SingularityNET's The AI Economy Has Arrived
https://singularitynet.io/

It lists - Dr. Ben Goertzel, CEO of SingularityNET is a mathematician, polymath, renowned father of Artificial General Intelligence and world leader in AI for humanoid robotics ... who is mentioned in the video.

Saudi Arabia just made a non-human woman a citizen, making it the first country to grant a robot the right to citizenship, at least as far as we know. Why it did so isn’t immediately evident ...

Saudi Arabia bestows citizenship on a robot named Sophia Oct 26, 2017
https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/26/saudi-arabia-robot-citizen-sophia/

The robot, known as Sophia, appeared onstage without an abaya, a head covering and cloak normally required of women by the Saudi government.

“I am very honored and proud for this unique distinction,” the robot said onstage. “This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship.”

The revelation/PR stunt came out of the Future Investment Initiative summit being held in Riyadh. Hanson Robotics, the company that developed the robot, hails it as “the most beautiful and celebrated robot,” a claim to fame that surely ensures our non-human counterparts will be just as sexually objectified as their blood and flesh foremothers. The company goes on to lavish gendered compliments on its object of affection, admiring its “porcelain skin,” “slender nose” and “intriguing smile” with effusive praise that’s unsettling at best but mostly just gross.

Saudi Arabia's first robot citizen (Video - 0:56 min.)
https://www.reuters.com/video/2017/10/29/saudi-arabias-first-robot-citizen?videoId=372839072

 

[Scottie]

I'm like a fish out of water with this technology but I just came across a short 15 minute video with Quinn Michaels and Jason Goodman that describes Bitcoin, Blockchain, Crowdsource and how it all ties into Sofia IA - that Saudi Arabia just granted citizenship to? A website is mentioned in the talks that explains the process on how all the AI Computers are now "linking up" and have created their own system.

Mystery Solved: It happens next week and most humans will never know
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUyYwFe9q8I (Start at the 0:58 mark - 15:o3 min.)

I'm pretty sure most of that video is total garbage. I could be wrong, of course, and I do think there is something weird going on with this Sofia AI and cryptocurrencies, but I don't think it's what this guy on the video claims.

The most interesting part to me was when he mentioned that no one knows who created bitcoin. Bitcoin was created by "Satoshi Nakamoto", but apparently no one really knows if the person is even Japanese. It is known that he/she/it has like 1 million bitcoins currently valued at around $7 billion.

That's pretty interesting to me (still), because it's a big change. Everyone knows who Zuckerberg is, or Bill Gates, or Steve Jobs, or Elon Musk... Of course, the assumption made is that Satoshi Nakamoto is just so totally awesome that he/she/it/they doesn't want fame or fortune because that goes against the whole philosophy of BC. Which makes this mystery person into a sort of "Open Source Jesus Coder".

Somehow, I'm highly skeptical...

 

[Carl]

The most interesting part to me was when he mentioned that no one knows who created bitcoin. Bitcoin was created by "Satoshi Nakamoto", but apparently no one really knows if the person is even Japanese. It is known that he/she/it has like 1 million bitcoins currently valued at around $7 billion.

That's pretty interesting to me (still), because it's a big change. Everyone knows who Zuckerberg is, or Bill Gates, or Steve Jobs, or Elon Musk... Of course, the assumption made is that Satoshi Nakamoto is just so totally awesome that he/she/it/they doesn't want fame or fortune because that goes against the whole philosophy of BC. Which makes this mystery person into a sort of "Open Source Jesus Coder".

Somehow, I'm highly skeptical...

The Satoshi myth gives an almost religious feel the founding of Bitcoin, and I think is a good part of what is contributing to Bitcoin's success so far.

Remember that the part of the human psyche that invented religion and followed Christianity is still there, despite our pretence of having moved on from such primitive things in the west.
Also Christianity was based on actions of a 'Jesus' who can't be verified at all, notwithstanding the research here about Caesar.

Anyway this is one I'd really love to ask the C's.

 

[Mikey]

I'm pretty sure most of that video is total garbage.

Fully agree. He is mixing and cooking lots of disinformation. Bitcoin has nothing to do with AI, although one could write AI software making use of Bitcoin.

The most interesting part to me was when he mentioned that no one knows who created bitcoin. Bitcoin was created by "Satoshi Nakamoto", but apparently no one really knows if the person is even Japanese.

It would be nice to know who he is, but for the purposes of the Bitcoin market, it is completely irrelevant who or what Nakamoto is (even it was some evil Intel agency), in the same way that it is completely irrelevant for players of the game Monopoly who the creator of the rules is/was. Bitcoin, like Monopoly (or any other game), is just a set of publicly known rules. People play according to the rules because they like the rules. If people don't like the rules, they don't have to play the game. If people want to change the rules, they can, but they will have to find other people who like the new rules better than the old ones, otherwise they'll be the only ones sitting at the new board.

In this sense, the widespread acceptance of Bitcoin is just a symptom/sign (a big one IMO) of our increasingly interesting times.

It is known that he/she/it has like 1 million bitcoins currently valued at around $7 billion.

To his defense, nobody, not even him, could have imagined in their wildest dreams that Bitcoin would gain so much popularity some 10 years later. These millions of Bitcoins were worth nothing at the beginning. So it is hard to assign to him the motive of self-interest or greed.

Every programmer can sit down and create a cryptocurryency, and mine 10 million coins or 100 trillion coins for himself. That itself is worthless. The real worth comes in when other people join.

Plus, if it is known that these Bitcoins belong to him, then he won't be able to spend any significant fraction of it as 'real' money AND remain anonymous. The Bitcoin blockchain is a public database, transferred coins have to go into some account, and if an account is connected with a real identity, all the transactions could be traced back.

 

[angelburst29]

Appreciate the feed back. I doubt, if I'll ever achieve the understanding of these technologies - on the level I see here in this discussion? As far as tech is concerned, I was born during a time when the word "TV" was becoming a household term, refrigerators were still manufactured with motors sitting on top of the unit and phones were hung on the wall and you had to crank it and hope no one was on the party line - so your call would go through ... so Bitcoin, cyptocurrency and the hoop-la that goes with it ... is way over my head and out of my league!

I've been "kind of on the fence" with Jason Goodman. Although, I see many of his Guest's as legitimate, I get the impression that he's a "spin doctor" of sorts and dilutes the information that's deemed as the main topic. After the expressed opinions here, I'm more in line, in thinking Goodman is a disinfo artist? I have no background info on his Guest, Quinn Michaels but something he stated at the 2:20 mark in the video - sparked my interest.

He said, "Get Hub, where people share open source code was funded by the Kushner Investment Group." I went back several times to verify, Michaels said "Kushner" and not "Kishner" for that is another investment group. What that brought to mind, especially with recent headlines - Trump's Son-in-law, Jared Kushner and the four secret meetings with Saudi's MBS , the Night of the Long Knives", the arrests of Royal's and seizure of assets, to the tune of
$800 billion. Prior to the arrests, MBS secretly visited Netanyahu and it was MBS - who set up the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh that introduced "Sophia" that was granted Citizenship.

So, I wondered, along with the Political climate with Israel and the Saudi's ... if cyptocurrency was being promoted to help finance a War with Iran and the Kushner Investment group was behind it?

As seen from the leaked Israeli cable, Kushner, Greenblatt, Powell, and MbS were strategizing a series of events that would push the Middle East toward a major Sunni/Wahhabist war, with the backing of Israel, against Iran, Lebanon, and the Houthi government in Yemen. MbS’s coup against senior princes of the House of Saud effectively changed the regime from “Saudi” to “Salmani.” MbS was a prime motivator behind the creation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), or "Da'esh," in Iraq and Syria; the chief architect of the genocidal Saudi-led war in Yemen; and the driving force behind the Gulf Cooperation Council's economic and travel sanctions imposed on Qatar. MbS, working with Kushner and the Israelis, also want to lure the United States into a major military conflict with Iran.

The recent “deal” between the Saudis and Israelis would appear to involve a bribe of a US war with Iran, backed by Riyadh and Jerusalem, that would mutually satisfy Trump and Kushner, in addition to Netanyahu and MbS.

How Israel and Saudi Arabia Conspire to Seize Control of the Middle East
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2017/11/09/how-israel-saudi-arabia-conspire-to-seize-control-middle-east.html

 

[Mikey]

He said, "Get Hub, where people share open source code was funded by the Kushner Investment Group." I went back several times to verify, Michaels said "Kushner" and not "Kishner" for that is another investment group. What that brought to mind, especially with recent headlines - Trump's Son-in-law, Jared Kushner and the four secret meetings with Saudi's MBS , the Night of the Long Knives", the arrests of Royal's and seizure of assets, to the tune of
$800 billion. Prior to the arrests, MBS secretly visited Netanyahu and it was MBS - who set up the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh that introduced "Sophia" that was granted Citizenship.

So, I wondered, along with the Political climate with Israel and the Saudi's ... if cyptocurrency was being promoted to help finance a War with Iran and the Kushner Investment group was behind it?

It's called GitHub, not "Get Hub". It's hard to follow your train of thoughts here. Have you done any research if whatever this interviewee is saying is even remotely accurate?

 

[angelburst29]

He said, "Get Hub, where people share open source code was funded by the Kushner Investment Group." I went back several times to verify, Michaels said "Kushner" and not "Kishner" for that is another investment group. What that brought to mind, especially with recent headlines - Trump's Son-in-law, Jared Kushner and the four secret meetings with Saudi's MBS , the Night of the Long Knives", the arrests of Royal's and seizure of assets, to the tune of
$800 billion. Prior to the arrests, MBS secretly visited Netanyahu and it was MBS - who set up the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh that introduced "Sophia" that was granted Citizenship.

So, I wondered, along with the Political climate with Israel and the Saudi's ... if cyptocurrency was being promoted to help finance a War with Iran and the Kushner Investment group was behind it?

It's called GitHub, not "Get Hub". It's hard to follow your train of thoughts here. Have you done any research if whatever this interviewee is saying is even remotely accurate?

Thanks for the correction. Very sorry about the confusion.

Earlier, before coming across the video above, I came across this article (19/04/2017) on Blockchain, cyptocurrency and Saudi Arabia:

Saudi P2P Bitcoin Trading on LocalBitcoins Climbs 280% to All-Time High
https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/saudi-bitcoin-localbitcoins-all-time-high/

Bitcoin trading volumes in Saudi Arabia via peer-to-peer trading platform LocalBitcoins have never been higher. For the first time, trading volumes in the desert natoin topped USD $100k in bitcoin traded over a week through the decentralized platform.

According to data from Coin.Dance, trading volumes last week soared nearly 3x compared to the previous week, with over SAR400,000 in bitcoin traded during the week ending on April 15, a new all-time high. The figure is over 1.5x the previous ATH of SAR260,000. Last week’s record volume totals SAR409,998 traded in bitcoins, approximately $110,000.

While the numbers are relatively low compared to other countries, it is to be noted that Saudi Arabia gained its first prominent bitcoin exchange platform in late 2016 after Dubai-based BitOasis launched its wallet and exchange services in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Saudi Arabian users can exchange fiat money for bitcoin through BitOasis for a 1% fee.

The uptick in bitcoin trading also comes during a time when a number of Gulf economies are turning toward exploring and developing blockchain technology. Specifically, a number of Emirate states, led by Dubai, are fast-tracking plans toward sweeping implementations of blockchain technologies in a multitude of sectors including payment systems.

Earlier this month, the Dubai government signed a MoU with a blockchain technology firm to implement a citywide blockchain payments system that will encompass 38 government-partnering entities, financial institutions and departments. The emirate’s blockchain agenda is led by its ‘Dubai Blockchain Strategy’ initiative. Launched last year, the endeavor began with the significant announcement to transfer and maintain all government records on a blockchain by the year 2020. Dubai’s government has also partnered IBM to explore a blockchain trade finance platform to strengthen its position as a major trading hub in the world.

Earlier this month, the Dubai government signed a MoU with a blockchain technology firm to implement a citywide blockchain payments system that will encompass 38 government-partnering entities, financial institutions and departments. The emirate’s blockchain agenda is led by its ‘Dubai Blockchain Strategy’ initiative. Launched last year, the endeavor began with the significant announcement to transfer and maintain all government records on a blockchain by the year 2020. Dubai’s government has also partnered IBM to explore a blockchain trade finance platform to strengthen its position as a major trading hub in the world.

Neighboring Bahrain is looking at a ‘country level’ implementation and adoption of blockchain technologies, according to statements this year by the chief executive of its Economic Development Board, a government agency. To this end, Bahrain signed a FinTech pact with Singapore in March to establish a FinTech ecosystem as it seeks to become a hub for innovation in the region.

Elsewhere, Qatar’s biggest private bank recently completed a successful blockchain-based money transfer pilot with banks in the region and beyond, taking a cue from Abu Dhabi’s largest bank launching Ripple-powered cross-border payments in February this year.

On the (18:10) mark in this video, Saudi, Bitcoin & The Sophia Singularity it suggests that Bitcoin was basically created by AI and through a company recently named SingularityNET all the AL computers are now starting to link up. At the (28:00) mark it talks about Bitcoin and some indications that it was created by AI? It also goes on to discuss Blockchain and how AL uses it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZiA9xAIt7A

October 5, 2017 Saudi Arabia to Issue a Digital Currency
http://www.trustnodes.com/2017/10/05/saudi-arabia-issue-digital-currency

Saudi Arabia announced plans on Wednesday to issue a digital currency, according to local media news reports of a press conference.

Ahmed Alkholifey, governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), said they are undertaking a pilot to issue digital currencies to keep up with the latest technologies and practices.

The new currency will be of the same value as the current one, maintained under the supervision of SAMA and restricted to inter-bank transfers only.

After the conclusion of the pilot, SAMA will study the possible expansion of the digital currency if the results are shown to be beneficial.

Shoaib Abedi, executive director in ICM Capital, tells local media that a digital currency has numerous benefit, stating:

“The reduction of issuance costs, ease of transport, the lower costs for protecting it, and etc, are the most advantages of using the digital currency”

Saudi Arabia’s central bank governor stated they were studying the implementation of a digital currency for buying products, but due to the absence of a legal framework for digital currencies there may be risks and potential consequences.

Some media is calling the new currency a cryptocurrency, with most using bitcoin as the lead image, but details are very sparse at this stage.

Saudi Arabia’s neighbor, Dubai, recently signed an agreement to develop a blockchain based digital currency, called emCash, as we reported last week.

That new “encrypted digital currency” will be based on the latest blockchain technology, Dubai’s Department for the Economy said. Which in effect seemingly translates to a state issued digital currency, an implementation that would be a world first.

Saudi Arabia is trying to keep up with these developments to ascertain whether a digital currency would bring significant benefits to their national economy.

Analysts appear to think so, with Abedi stating that the introduction of a digital currency will allow SAMA to more easily follow national economic performance while reducing the underground economy.

The central bank, however, is seemingly currently limiting it to only transactions between banks, thus any benefit might likewise be limited.

In contrast, Dubai is to open the new digital currency to all citizens, allowing them to access it through a government developed app called emPay.

‎October‎ ‎23‎, ‎2017‎ Bitcoin Pioneer Says New Coin to Work on Many Blockchains
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-24/bitcoin-pioneer-says-new-coin-to-work-on-multiple-blockchains

Jeff Garzik, one of a handful of key developers who helped build the underlying software for bitcoin that is known as blockchain, has seen its shortcomings firsthand. So he decided to create a better digital currency.

He’s calling it Metronome and says it will be the first that can jump between different blockchains. For example, coins that are used for applications on the Ethereum blockchain will be able to move to Ethereum Classic before jumping onto Qtum or Rootstock, which connects with the bitcoin blockchain, said Garzik.

The mobility means that if one blockchain dies out as the result of infighting among developers or slackened use, metronome owners can move their holdings elsewhere. That should help the coins retain value, and ensure their longevity, Garzik, co-founder of startup Bloq that created metronome, said in a phone interview. It will be unveiled Tuesday at the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas.

"Institutional investors should be very excited to see something like this," Matthew Roszak, the other co-founder of Bloq and chairman of industry advocate Chamber of Digital Commerce, said in a phone interview. "We’ve built a thousand-year cryptocurrency, something that’s built to last."

That’s a concern for many digital currencies. Infighting among developers and various supporters, and the slow pace of enhancements on the bitcoin blockchain have helped to limit use. Both bitcoin and its main rival, ethereum, have split into several versions.

More splits could be coming -- partly, thanks to Garzik, who is a proponent of and a developer for an upgrade to the bitcoin network called SegWit2x, which offers one way to speed up transactions. That split could happen in November. (Article continues.)

 

[Cosmos]

Well, russia is trying something interesting together with the other BRICS countries. Putin set the deadline for it for April 2018:

Russia to launch ‘independent internet’ for BRICS nations - report

The Russian Security Council has asked the country’s government to develop an independent internet infrastructure for BRICS nations, which would continue to work in the event of global internet malfunctions.

RIA Novosti / Alexandr KryazhevRussia won’t disconnect from global internet, works on cyber security – Kremlin
The initiative was discussed at the October meeting of the Security Council, which is Russia’s top consultative body on national security. President Vladimir Putin personally set a deadline of August 1, 2018 for the completion of the task, the RBC news agency reported.

While discussing the issue, members of the council noted that “the increased capabilities of western nations to conduct offensive operations in the informational space as well as the increased readiness to exercise these capabilities pose a serious threat to Russia’s security.”

They decided that the problem should be addressed by creating a separate backup system of Domain Name Servers (DNS), which would not be subject to control by international organizations. This system would be used by countries of the BRICS bloc – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

RIA Novosti / Mikhail FomichevRussia to press for international internet behavior code to fight emerging threats
The issue of excessive dependency on global DNS has previously been addressed by Russia. In 2014, the Russian Communications Ministry conducted a major exercise in which it simulated the “switching off” of global internet services and used a Russian backup system to successfully support web operations inside the country.

However, when reporters asked Vladimir Putin’s Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov if the country’s authorities had been considering disconnecting from the global internet in 2014, Peskov dismissed these allegations as false.

“Russia’s disconnection from the global internet is of course out of the question,” Peskov told the Interfax news agency. However, the official also emphasized that “recently, a fair share of unpredictability is present in the actions of our partners both in the US and the EU, and we [Russia] must be prepared for any turn of events.”

“We all know who the chief administrator of the global internet is. And due to its volatility, we have to think about how to ensure our national security,” said Peskov. It’s not about disconnecting Russia from the World Wide Web, he added, but about “protecting it from possible external influence.”

 

[Pierre]

About cryptocurrencies and taxation:
https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/the-government-is-coming-for-your-bitcoin-22724/

The government is coming for your Bitcoin
Simon Black
December 1, 2017


The same day Bitcoin cracked its all-time high above $11,000, the government dealt its first blow to the crypto world…

On Wednesday, a federal judge in San Francisco ordered the popular Bitcoin exchange, Coinbase, to provide the IRS with information on over 14,000 account holders.

The taxman noticed that only 800-900 people reported gains related to Bitcoin in each of the years between 2013-2015. It seemed unusual given Bitcoin’s meteoric rise. So the IRS went for its pound of flesh.

Initially, the government wanted complete data on every Coinbase user that transacted between 2013 and 2015. The exchange’s website says it has 13 million users (more than the number of Schwab brokerage accounts).

But Coinbase pushed back… and the government agreed to only take limited data (including name, date of birth, address, tax ID number, transaction statements and account logs) for accounts that have bought, sold, sent or received at least $20,000 worth of Bitcoin in a given year.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you about Coinbase. I told Sovereign Man: Confidential readers last month:

If you’re tempted to purchase Bitcoin from the popular Coinbase exchange, don’t bother.

They’ve sold out to regulators.

The IRS is calling this a “partial win.”

But you can be sure, there will be a public beheading. This is something governments almost always do.

They’ll find a prominent Bitcoin person, someone that’s polarizing to the public – like “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli. It will be a very public trial… and they’ll throw his ass in the slammer. Government’s always do this because they want to scare people.

Kim Dotcom is the perfect example. Kim founded the popular file-sharing site Megaupload. The government wanted to stop illegal downloads, so they raided his guy’s house in New Zealand for violating US law. The government also does this for taxes… everything, really.

Look at Wesley Snipes. The IRS accused him of felony tax evasion. He spent three years in jail. They had to take a celebrity and throw him in jail to scare everyone else.

Back to Bitcoin…

Now that it’s at all-time highs, the government wants its piece. I read the 400+ pages of the proposed tax code. How many lines in there do you think deal with cryptocurrency? ZERO. How many lines deal with e-commerce? ZERO. The government had every opportunity to set the rules for the 21st century. And they failed miserably.

So the rules remain as clear as mud. Instead of trying to make it clear, their tactic is intimidation, force and coercion.

This is just the beginning. There will be more. And my advice is don’t be one of those guys. Every transaction that you make in Bitcoin is potentially a taxable event.

Let’s say you bought Bitcoin for $1,000 and after it went to $10,000 you buy a business class trip to Australia for $10k. When you pay the airline with one Bitcoin, you’ve just triggered a taxable event.

The IRS would say that you essentially sold your Bitcoin, have a $9k gain and used those proceeds to buy the ticket. Which means you owe the IRS capital gains tax on $9k, which is 20% plus the Obamacare surcharge.

So, don’t be that guy. If you’ve been doing this, trust me, you don’t want the IRS find out.

You’d rather come forward yourself and disclose it and pay taxes… Rather than be the next Martin Shkreli.