Blockchain technology

[goyacobol]

I think most of us looking at cryptocurrencies can see the possible applications but it would require a far more STO world before it could be anywhere near being free of outside manipulation that mimics the system of fiat currency we have now.

Agree, but at the same time there is the danger to wait forever until STO 'automagically' appears in our world. If STO is ever to come into our 3D realm, WE have to be the ones actively creating it, and that includes the utilization of a whole spectrum of technologies.

The internet's origin was a military project. Today our forum runs on top of it, which is a kind of a miracle if you really think about it. There is nothing preventing the same happening in the area of cryptocurrencies.

One could be of the opinion that for decades, the traditional banking system has been an incarnation of STS in one way or another. Now crypto comes along and, from my perspective, brings the possibility to "level the playing field" in this sector. Whoever is only focussing on the exchange rates, investments, getting rich, sensationalist headlines, or other hypes, is missing the crux of the technology, and falling prey to said STS desires.

The early internet was full of flaws and was only for experts. The general population came to use it only a decade later. Many missed the boat. The same with cryptocurrencies right now IMO.

At this point, I cannot see that there is anything an average person could do with it, except learning about it and help educating others and help countering disinformation. As a layperson (without deep knowledge of IT, economics, and law), venturing into this sector can be really, really dangerous.

I agree with you too but...there's that Yes but...

That is not to say this thread should be ignored. Maybe if we all don't go to 5th density we could work on a better value exchange system. Maybe even better than bitcoin (I know it sounds like wishful thinking)?

I have no problem either way for now. Maybe I'll change my mind if I end up in a nice "camp" somewhere.

What do you suggest beyond learning more about cryptocurrencies?

 

[Mikey]

I agree with you too but...there's that Yes but...

Yes, but:

In itself, there's nothing wrong with using these words in discussion;

:)

 

[goyacobol]

I agree with you too but...there's that Yes but...

Yes, but:

In itself, there's nothing wrong with using these words in discussion;

:)

I was hoping you would say that. Whew! :D

I really think this thread and topic is interesting and basically see both arguments. I see the technology as a tool that can be used for good or bad. And although I try to be positive I don't know how this blockchain technology will play out so I will "wait and see". Of course I can keep an eye on it an continue to learn more about it too. :/

 

[trendsetter37]

I was hoping you would say that. Whew! :D

I really think this thread and topic is interesting and basically see both arguments. I see the technology as a tool that can be used for good or bad. And although I try to be positive I don't know how this blockchain technology will play out so I will "wait and see". Of course I can keep an eye on it an continue to learn more about it too. :/

I share this sentiment as well, goyacobol. And further, to be completely honest, the only thing we can do at the moment is observe and/or experiment objectively. Sending a signal to the universe isn't always predicated on immediately perceived results. IMO, choosing to be complacent and passively accepting the current state is a strong signal that you're complicit. Conversely, looking into other options such as the blockchain (and certainly others not mentioned here) sends a different signal.

Another good point to remember is that everyone doesn't need to use this type of technology for it to make a positive impact. If you need to send money quickly to another person in a different country without being gouged by fees, you can. The infrastructure is already to the point where this is feasible.

Also keep in mind that this is not only about money or avoiding tax implications. Not by a long shot. Under the surface this and related sectors of technology can represent push-back regarding censorship and the overreaching surveillance measures that exist.

 

[gdpetti]

See if any of this sounds familiar: https://www.naturalnews.com/2017-12-10-evidence-points-to-bitcoin-being-an-nsa-psyop-roll-out-one-world-digital-currency.html

Evidence points to Bitcoin being an NSA-engineered psyop to roll out one-world digital currency

Sunday, December 10, 2017 by: Mike Adams


Evidence points to Bitcoin being an NSA-engineered psyop to roll out one-world digital currency

Sunday, December 10, 2017 by: Mike Adams
Tags: bitcoin, cryptocurency, cryptography, NSA, one-world currency, Trojan Horse
53KViews
Image: Evidence points to Bitcoin being an NSA-engineered psyop to roll out one-world digital currency

(Natural News) I’m going to assume the readers who make it to this article are well informed enough that I don’t have to go into the history of the global money changers and their desire for a one world currency. (If you don’t yet understand the goal of the globalist banking empire and the coming engineered collapse of the fiat currency system, you’re already about 5,000 posts behind the curve.)

With that as a starting point, it’s now becoming increasingly evident that Bitcoin may be a creation of the NSA and was rolled out as a “normalization” experiment to get the public familiar with digital currency. Once this is established, the world’s fiat currencies will be obliterated in an engineered debt collapse (see below for the sequence of events), then replaced with a government approved cryptocurrency with tracking of all transactions and digital wallets by the world’s western governments.

NSA mathematicians detailed “digital cash” two decades ago

What evidence supports this notion? First, take a look at this document entitled, “How to make a mint: The cryptography of anonymous electronic cash.” This document, released in 1997 — yes, twenty years ago — detailed the overall structure and function of Bitcoin cryptocurrency.

Who authored the document? Try not to be shocked when you learn it was authored by “mathematical cryptographers at the National Security Agency’s Office of Information Security Research and Technology.”

The NSA, in other words, detailed key elements of Bitcoin long before Bitcoin ever came into existence. Much of the Bitcoin protocol is detailed in this document, including signature authentication techniques, eliminating cryptocoin counterfeits through transaction authentication and several features that support anonymity and untraceability of transactions. The document even outlines the heightened risk of money laundering that’s easily accomplished with cryptocurrencies. It also describes “secure hashing” to be “both one-way and collision-free.”

Although Bitcoin adds mining and a shared, peer-to-peer blockchain transaction authentication system to this structure, it’s clear that the NSA was researching cryptocurrencies long before everyday users had ever heard of the term. Note, too, that the name of the person credited with founding Bitcoin is Satoshi Nakamoto, who is reputed to have reserved one million Bitcoins for himself. Millions of posts and online threads discuss the possible identity of Satishi Nakamoto, and some posts even claim the NSA has identified Satoshi. However, another likely explanation is that Satoshi Nakamoto is the NSA, which means he is either working for the NSA is is a sock puppet character created by the NSA for the purpose of this whole grand experiment.

The NSA also wrote the crypto hash used by Bitcoin to secure all transactions

On top of the fact that the NSA authored a technical paper on cryptocurrency long before the arrival of Bitcoin, the agency is also the creator of the SHA-256 hash upon which every Bitcoin transaction in the world depends. As The Hacker News explains. “The integrity of Bitcoin depends on a hash function called SHA-256, which was designed by the NSA and published by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST).” THN also adds:

“If you assume that the NSA did something to SHA-256, which no outside researcher has detected, what you get is the ability, with credible and detectable action, they would be able to forge transactions. The really scary thing is somebody finds a way to find collisions in SHA-256 really fast without brute-forcing it or using lots of hardware and then they take control of the network.” Cryptography researcher Matthew D. Green of Johns Hopkins University said.

In other words, if the SHA-256 hash, which was created by the NSA, actually has a backdoor method for cracking the encryption, it would mean the NSA could steal everybody’s Bitcoins whenever it wants. (Call it “Zero Day.”) That same article, written by Mohit Kumar, mysteriously concludes, “Even today it’s too early to come to conclusions about Bitcoin. Possibly it was designed from day one as a tool to help maintain control of the money supplies of the world.”

And with that statement, Kumar has indeed stumbled upon the bigger goal in all this: To seize control over the world money supply as the fiat currency system crumbles and is replaced with a one-world digital currency controlled by globalists.

Think cryptography is bulletproof? Think again…

Lest you think that the cryptography of cryptocurrency is secure and bulletproof, consider this article from The Hacker News: Researchers Crack 1024-bit RSA Encryption in GnuPG Crypto Library, which states, “The attack allows an attacker to extract the secret crypto key from a system by analyzing the pattern of memory utilization or the electromagnetic outputs of the device that are emitted during the decryption process.”

Note, importantly, that this is a 1024-bit encryption system. The same technique is also said to be able to crack 2048-bit encryption. In fact, encryption layers are cracked on a daily basis by clever hackers. Some of those encryption layers are powering various cryptocurrencies right now. Unless you are an extremely high-level mathematician, there’s no way you can know for sure whether any crypto currency is truly non-hackable.

In fact, every cryptocurrency becomes obsolete with the invention of large-scale quantum computing. Once China manages to build a working 256-bit quantum computer, it can effectively steal all the Bitcoins in the world (plus steal most national secrets and commit other global mayhem at will).

Ten steps to crypto-tyranny: The “big plan” by the globalists (and how it involves Bitcoin)

In summary, here’s one possible plan by the globalists to seize total control over the world’s money supply, savings, taxation and financial transactions while enslaving humanity. (And it all starts with Bitcoin.)

1) Roll out the NSA-created Bitcoin to get the public excited about a digital currency.

2) Quietly prepare a globalist-controlled cryptocurrency to take its place. (JP Morgan, anyone?)

3) Initiate a massive, global-scale false flag operation that crashes the global debt markets and sends fiat currencies down in flames. (Hoax alien invasion, hoax North Korean EMP attack, mass distributed power grid terrorism network, etc.)

4) Blame whatever convenient enemy is politically acceptable (North Korea, “the Russians,” Little Green Men or whatever it takes…).

5) Allow the fiat currency debt pyramid to collapse and smolder until the sheeple get desperate (i.e. Venezuela-style desperation with people eating out of dumpsters).

6) With great fanfare, announce a government-backed cryptocurrency replacement for all fiat currencies, and position world governments as the SAVIOR of humanity. Allow the desperate public to trade in their fiat currencies for official crypto currencies.

7) Outlaw cash and criminalize gold and silver ownership by private citizens. All in the name of “security,” of course.

8) Criminalize all non-official cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, crashing their value virtually overnight and funneling everyone into the one world government crypto, where the NSA controls the blockchain. This can easily be achieved by blaming the false flag event (see above) on some nation or group that is said to have been “funded by Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency used by terrorists.”

9) Require embedded RFID or biometric identifiers for all transactions in order to “authenticate” the one-world digital crypto currency activities. Mark of the Beast becomes reality. No one is allowed to eat, travel or earn a wage without being marked.

10) Once absolute control over the new one-world digital currency is achieved, weaponize the government-tracked blockchain to track all transactions, investments and commercial activities. Confiscate a portion of all crypto under the guise of “automated taxation.” In an emergency, the government can even announce negative interest rates where your holdings automatically decrease each day.

With all this accomplished, globalists can now roll out absolute totalitarian control over every aspect of private lives by enforcing financial “blackouts” for those individuals who criticize the government. They can put in place automatic deductions for traffic violations, vehicle license plate taxes, internet taxes and a thousand other oppressive taxes invented by the bureaucracy. With automatic deductions run by the government, citizens have no means to halt the endless confiscation of their “money” by totalitarian bureaucrats and their deep state lackeys.

How do you feel about your Bitcoin now?

 

[Ivan_]

The article above raises some good and valid points to think about, however there are a few points that seem a bit off:

1. Just because THEIR mathematicians wrote a paper doesn't mean this move or necessity of creating such a currency has not been forseen and hence put in motion by other economic circles, governments, groups, factions and otherwise interested parties. A bit of a logic jump I think.

2. "... fiat currency system crumbles and is replaced with a one-world digital CURRENCY controlled by globalists."
A bit of an assumption again as there are MANY crypto coins and some are quite major, like Ethereum, some are quite "minor", like Dogecoin, etc., although major and minor are relative and subjective, I do agree. Many places accept not just Bitcoin so all those people have to be MADE to go to the Bitcoin only. And that is not really easy, even for the PTB. Also what about its "market cap", it's price, etc? So, knowing how many people also see problems with bitcoin and go to alternatives, the alternatives can hardly be shut down, especially with the criminal world relying on cryptos SO MUCH.

3. That AES 256 is backdoored, yes, it is. However, I think that much better protected coins either can or already are in existance. There's nothing that can't be done and many people issue their own coins, depends on who will notice and put their trust there.

4. "Initiate a massive, global-scale false flag operation that crashes the global debt markets and sends fiat currencies down in flames. (Hoax alien invasion, hoax North Korean EMP attack, mass distributed power grid terrorism network, etc.)" and
"Allow the fiat currency debt pyramid to collapse and smolder until the sheeple get desperate"

I bet that if the global markets crash, whether debt or stock or commodities or whatever, if the "fiat currency debt pyramid" collapses, currencies will be the lesser of humanity's problems. I am among the people, who think that if another financial crisis occurs, we may not even recover from it and it may spiral into something huge and global, which may make it a bit difficult for us to even use cryptos, but that's my take on it.

Transition by very large corporations, institutions, governments, banks, etc. from their current visible and hidden assets to BTC would be very difficult, making people use computer based currencies, also, especially for rich people, who can can hardly turn their PC on and want to control their belongings in the old fashioned way. Or, imagine auntie or granny, or grandpa being forced to use BTC to go to the store, hardly likely, especially when they probably believe they cannot even grasp it so will be quite reluctant. Many people show a reluctance towards online shopping, regardless if it's from their favorite site, bank or whatever, let alone cryptos. Banks and governments that relied in the 2008 crisis on cold hard cash and precious metals and similar reserves to get out of the gutter quicker, will probably also resist.. The sheer horror of documenting and controlling all that would be a huge throw-off to many and it has to be done.

Besides, if the exploits of the cryptography get leaked like the other NSA secrets of recent years, things will get REALLY UGLY, really fast. Last time their exploits got leaked, the ransomware viruses started and they did use BTC that later gets tumbled (laundered) until one cannot tell what came from where. Many powerful people will want control if this scenario unfolds like this and many problems will come up, newer cryptos may have to be created really fast, etc. Old school hackers will interfere in big ways and not all of them play nice.

5. "Outlaw cash and criminalize gold and silver ownership by private citizens. All in the name of “security,” of course."
There are many countries in Asia that cannot and will not be ok with that and as you may guess the ones which I imply, you will probably also know that they will take some convincing... After all, the author is speaking about GLOBAL dictatorship, not Western-only.

6. "Criminalize all non-official cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, crashing their value virtually overnight and funneling everyone into the one world government crypto, where the NSA controls the blockchain."

I can't see how is that going to happen. That, to me, equals to the total defeat and eradication of the digital criminal world, which I do not really think will work in real life. We have seen what they are capable of and that's not even close to what they can do if some of them choose to unite to defend themselves.

For what it's worth, sounds more like another simplistic global dictatiorship layout, but this time to make a boogeyman out of btc with a certain aim.. I am not saying it's not partly true, but it's not really likely and furthermore sounds like one that tries to achieve a certain aim.

 

[Altair]

Crypto Crackdown Begins: Bank Threatens To Close Customer Account Because Of Coinbase Purchases: “Against Policies… Will Need To Be Discontinued Immediately”

Mac Slavo
December 20th, 2017

It appears that the cryptocurrency crackdown by financial institutions has begun. After months of mixed signals from governments around the world regarding regulations, Lakestone Bank and Trust customer Jordan Spencer took to Facebook to post a letter he received on December 14th threatening to close his account for a policy violation.

What violation, you ask?

According to the letter (pasted below), Spencer has been utilizing the widely popular Coinbase website to make cryptocurrency purchases and deposits tied to his personal bank account. This, says loss prevention officer Louise Vermillion, is a policy violation that needs to be “discontinued immediately.”

The full letter from the bank has been made available below:

Source: _http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/crypto-crackdown-begins-bank-threatens-to-close-customer-account-because-of-coinbase-purchases-against-policies-will-need-to-be-discontinued-immediately_12202017

 

[monotonic]

Notice his title - "loss prevention offcer".

 

[Konstantin]

Putin Wants to Use Cryptoruble to Evade Sanctions But Bank of Russia Skeptical

_https://news.bitcoin.com/putin-cryptoruble-sanctions-bank-of-russia-skeptical/

Putin is reportedly exploring ways to create a cryptocurrency that can help the country circumvent western sanctions. The Financial Times reported Moscow officials saying that Putin “has commissioned work on establishing a cryptocurrency.” Sergey Glazyev, an economic adviser to Putin, described at a recent government meeting that “a cryptorouble would be a useful tool to get around international sanctions,” the publication added and quoted him saying:

This instrument [cryptoruble] suits us very well for sensitive activity on behalf of the state. We can settle accounts with our counterparties all over the world with no regard for sanctions.

He added that this new currency would be “the same rouble, but its circulation would be restricted in a certain way,” thereby allowing the Kremlin to track its every move, the news outlet noted.

 

[Arwenn]

I read on SoTT that the major banks in Australia have frozen the accounts of Bitcoin users.

Australian bitcoin users find their accounts frozen by 'Big Four' banks

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Mon, 01 Jan 2018 17:25 UTC

Adding to the pressures on bitcoin early this morning, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that bitcoin users across Australia are reporting that their accounts have been abruptly frozen by the country's "Big Four" banks. And while the banks have remained largely tight-lipped about the closures, many angry account-holders are jumping to conclusions and blaming the banks for punishing them because of their involvement with bitcoin.
Bitcoin investors are claiming Australia's banks are freezing their accounts and transfers to cryptocurrency exchanges, with a viral tweet slamming the big four and an exchange platform putting a restriction on Australian deposits.

According to the Herald, cryptocurrency trader and Youtuber Alex Saunders called out National Australia Bank, ANZ, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac Banking Corporation on Twitter for freezing customer accounts and transfers to four different bitcoin exchanges - CoinJar, CoinSpot, CoinBase and BTC Markets.

In response, some users complained that their activities with the cryptocurrency had still been described as a "security risk" by their financial institutions.

While not every bank had explicit policies governing their relationship with cryptocurrencies, according to the Morning Herald, Commonwealth Bank's June 2017 terms and conditions for CommBiz accounts specifically excludes this activity, saying it can refuse to process an international money transfer or an international cash management transaction "because the destination account previously has been connected to a fraud or an attempted fraudulent transaction or is an account used to facilitate payments to Bitcoins or similar virtual currency payment services".

A Commonwealth Bank spokesman said it was receptive to innovation in alternative currencies and payment systems "however, we do not currently use or recommend any existing virtual currencies as we do not believe they have yet met a minimum standard of regulation, reliability, and reputation compared to other currencies that we offer to our customers". "Our customers can interact with these currencies as long as they comply with our terms and conditions and all relevant legal obligations," he said.

One Twitter user, Michaela Juric, who is known on twitter as Bitcoin Babe, said she had business accounts closed by 30 banks and posted a picture of a letter from ANZ, saying it was closing her accounts effective 30 January 2018 in accordance with its terms and conditions.

The bank's sudden decision to close the accounts of digital currency investors was not totally without warning: CoinSpot said it was putting a "temporary restriction on all forms of AUD deposits" that would remain in place until at least the first week of 2018 as a result of issues with Australian banks.

"We assure you we are just as unhappy with the situation as you, but unfortunately Australian banks have been so far unwilling to work with the digital currency industry which leads to frequent account closures and strict limits on accounts whilst they remain operational, in effect debanking our industry," it said. CoinSpot founder Russell Wilson said he was not aware of any new widespread issue, but was "monitoring" the situation.

"We are aware that on occasion banks will freeze payments while they clarify with their customers that the funds were not fraudulently sent from their account, this is standard best practice for the banks and protects everyone," Mr Wilson said.

Meanwhile, representatives at the major banks offered some version of "no comment" to the Herald. A Westpac spokeswoman would not comment on specific instances, but said it had controls in place to "actively verify the identity of our customers and monitor the activities of those customers".
"Where we cannot verify the origin of transfers we may act to ensure we comply with Australia's anti money laundering obligations," she said.

A NAB spokeswoman said it was important to note the currencies are currently unregulated. "While we don't support unregulated currencies, NAB does not deny the right of individual customers to buy virtual currencies," she said.

CoinBase, CoinJar and BTC Markets did not respond to request for comment.
While much of the carnage in bitcoin this morning could be attributed to the ongoing rotation into Ripple, it's important not to ignore the impact of this news. If more banks around the world start closing the bank accounts of bitcoin users and bitcoin-related businesses, it could negatively impact the price as marginal buyers, worried about being shut out of the banking system, go running for the hills.

SoTT Comment: Establishment panic? G-20 members pushing to discuss Bitcoin at next meeting

 

[Ant22]

I came across the below interesting articles on Sputnik this morning. With China and Russia buying large amounts of gold and considering introducing a gold trading standard, this is another country that wants to offer a currency (although a digital one) backed by something more than just a promise of value, like the US Dollar does.

It Has Begun! Venezuela Launches National Oil-Backed Cryptocurrency: https://sputniknews.com/business/201801061060550736-venezuela-maduropetro-launch-emission/

Venezuela is issuing $5.9 billion in petro, its state cryptocurrency, in the hopes that it will drive the country out of economic downfall amid US sanctions. The petro is backed by the country's oil, diamond and gold reserves.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in a televised address, "has ordered the emission of 100 million petros with the legal sustenance of Venezuela’s certified and legalized oil wealth. Every petro will be equal in value to Venezuela’s oil barrel."

That is, the total petro emission is estimated at nearly $6 billion.

Apart from oil, whose largest stocks are found in Venezuela and which constitutes some 95 percent of the export revenue, the petro is backed by gold and diamond reserves.

Maduro announced an intention to create a national cryptocurrency in early December. The blockchain technology is expected to help the South American country overcome a financial blockade imposed by the United States and facilitate the currency system. The Finance Ministry underscored the advantage of the cryptocurrency for conducting financial transactions and searching for new financing options, as the country's fiat currency, the bolivar, has been in freefall for two years with the country's economy struggling.

In August, Washington slapped sweeping sanctions on Caracas, barring American businesses from lending to the Venezuelan government or the state-run oil and gas company PDVSA.

The United Kingdom, meanwhile, may reportedly give a green light to the introduction of a national cryptocurrency this year.

The success of cryptocurrencies resides in the transparency of their transactions.

Bitcoin keychains on circuit boardVenezuela’s Cryptocurrency Creation Intriguing, But May Face Difficulties: https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201712051059692893-venezuela-cryptocurrency-creation-difficulty-trade/

The Venezuelan government’s initiative to create a cryptocurrency backed by state natural reserves is an intriguing prospective solution to overcome the financial blockade, but the currency may face serious challenges in trading, experts told Sputnik on Monday.

On Sunday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the country would establish a digital currency called the petro, which would be backed by oil, gas, gold and diamond reserves, in order to carry out financial transactions and search for new financing options.

The initiative follows a range of financial sanctions imposed by Washington on Caracas in August, which forbid US businesses from lending to the Venezuelan government or the state-run oil and gas company PDVSA. The sanctions also cut into the dividends that PDVSA's US subsidiary Citgo may send back to Venezuela.

Exchange Between Petro, Int'l Currencies Unclear

While Maduro’s initiative may be a very promising solution to Venezuela’s economic turmoil, the petro’s actual ability to support the Venezuelan financial system remains to be seen, according to Thomas Glucksmann.

"This would depend on the adoption of the petro as a popular currency used by Venezuelans to transact domestically, in addition to the exchange rate between the petro and other currencies for international trade. For example would purchase of Venezuelan natural resources by foreigners require settlement in the petro?" Glucksmann, who is head of business development for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) at Gatecoin, a cryptocurrency and blockchain token exchange, said.

According to the expert, the project would also require the associated network infrastructure to support the digital currency's transactions nation-wide.

Meanwhile, jumping on the cryptocurrency bandwagon may be just another route to improve the country’s "poor management of national resources, institutions and fair treatment of its people," Charles Hayter from Crypto Compare cryptocurrency data analysis firm argued.

"Venezuela has a strong propensity to print money and devalue the currency — this risk is paramount with Maduro's gambit. Maduro's move is spurious at best and the currency will trade at a fractional level in relation to proven reserves and a steep discount due to sovereign risk — if it ever trades at all," Hayter, who is founder and CEO of the firm, warned.

The existing financial restrictions and a potential new round of US sanctions is another issue, which may prevent the Venezuelan venture from proving to be successful.
"Becoming the settlement currency for trade may also be challenging as its likely US sanctions may also be applied to transactions involving the petro," Glucksmann said.

Overall, Maduro’s intention to create the digital currency backed by physical commodity reserves seems to be an idea worth considering by other resource-rich but less industrialized economies.

"An asset backed cryptocurrency that is directly tied to the natural resources of an economy is a very intriguing prospective solution to Venezuela’s current economic challenges. If successful, the approach could be adapted to other resource-rich but less industrialized economies, such as those in Central Asia and Africa," Glucksmann proposed.

Bitcoin's Popularity Unrelated to Maduro's Proposal

Since last week, Bitcoin, the world's most popular cryptocurrency, continues to renew its historic record value, reaching as high as $11,874 on Sunday, twofold of $5,948 recorded just three weeks ago on November 13.

Nevertheless, experts agreed that the sweeping popularity has nothing to do with Maduro’s initiative to create the state’s own cryptocurrency, being the first president in the world to officially support cryptocurrencies.

"This decision is more likely related to the general interest in cryptocurrency technologies instead of the speculative popularity of bitcoin. After all, the petro would be backed by the physical commodity reserves of Venezuela; bitcoin has no underlying physical asset or government backing. In fact, bitcoin mining and exchange activities have been persecuted in Venezuela because it is a decentralized cryptocurrency outside of government control," Glucksmann explained.

However, bitcoin’s increasing success encourages other countries to adopt similar technologies in their financial systems.

"Bitcoin's success is prompting a number of nation states to look at cryptocurrencies to reduce friction in economies and open new business models," Hayter concluded.

Bitcoin has no material form and allows users to make payments for goods and services online. It was introduced in 2009 as an independent alternative to government-backed currencies.

 

[Bobo08]

Telegram is a big instant messaging company in Russia, comparable to WeChat in China. Before 2013, Telegram founder was also the lead engineer of VK, the largest social media network in Russia and Eastern Europe at the moment. It just announced an ambitious foray into the blockchain field.

Telegram to launch an ambitious multi-billion ICO, the biggest to date https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2018/01/09/telegram-ico-white-paper-leak/

Problem Statement

Despite their revolutionary potential, existing cryptocurrencies lack the qualities required to attract the mass consumer. There are three main hurdles in today’s environments:

• The established blockchain networks — Bitcoin and Ethereum — play important roles in the ecosystem, but don’t have the capacity to replace VISA or Mastercard. In their current architecture they are limited to a maximum of only 7 transactions per second for Bitcoin and 15 transactions per second for Ethereum, resulting in insufficient speeds and higher transaction costs.
  
• Regular users starting to engage with Bitcoin and similar technologies often get confused when trying to buy, store, and send their coins.
  
• The market of goods and services that can be bought with cryptocurrencies is limited, and the demand for crypto-assets comes mainly from investors, not consumers.

The current state of blockchain technology resembles automobile design in 1870: it is promising and praised by enthusiasts, but inefficient and too complicated to appeal to the mass consumer. As a result, no cryptocurrency or decentralized platform has gone truly mainstream, and centralized solutions continue to dominate the market.

Outline of the Vision

Telegram will use its expertise in encrypted distributed data storage to create TON, a fast and inherently scalable multi-blockchain architecture. TON can be regarded as a decentralized supercomputer and value transfer system. By combining minimum transaction time with maximum security, TON can become a VISA/Mastercard alternative for the new decentralized economy.

In October 2017, Telegram reached 170 million monthly users, delivering 70 billion messages every day. 3 At least 500 000 new users join Telegram daily. At this rate, the service is expected to hit 200 million monthly users in Q1 2018. These users can provide the required critical mass to push cryptocurrencies towards widespread adoption.

TON Blockchain

To achieve scalability, TON has built-in support for sharding: TON blockchains can automatically split and merge to accommodate changes in load. This means that new blocks are always generated quickly and the absence of long queues helps keep transaction costs low, even if some of the services using the platform become massively popular.

TON uses a Proof-of-Stake approach in which processing nodes («validators») deposit stakes to guarantee their dependability and reach consensus through a variant of the Byzantine Fault Tolerant protocol. This allows TON to focus the computing power of its nodes on handling transactions and smart contracts, further increasing speed and efficiency.

TON Platform

TON Storage is a distributed file-storage technology, accessible through the TON P2P Network and available for storing arbitrary files, with torrent-like access technology and smart contracts used to enforce availability. This component not only enables storage services akin to a distributed Dropbox, but also paves the way for more complex decentralized apps that require storing large amounts of data, such as Youtube — or Telegram.

TON Proxy is a network proxy/anonymizer layer used to hide the identity and IP addresses of TON nodes. Similar to I 2 P (Invisible Internet Project), this layer can be used to create decentralized VPN services and blockchain-based TOR alternatives to achieve anonymity and protect online privacy. In conjunction with the TON P2P Network and TON DNS, TON Proxy can make any service, including Telegram, effectively immune to censorship.

TON Services provides a platform for third-party services of any kind that enables smartphone-like friendly interfaces for decentralized apps and smart contracts, as well as a World Wide Web-like decentralized browsing experience.

TON DNS is a service for assigning human-readable names to accounts, smart contracts, services, and network nodes. With TON DNS, accessing decentralized services can be similar to viewing a website on the World Wide Web.

TON Payments is a platform for micropayments and a micropayment channel network. It can be used for instant off-chain value transfers between users, bots, and other services. Safeguards built into the system ensure that these transfers are as secure as on-chain transactions.

Roadmap

Q1 2018 Launch of Telegram External Secure ID
Q2 2018 Launch of the Minimal Viable Test Network of TON
Q3 2018 Testing and security audits of TON
Q4 2018 Deployment of the stable version of TON
Q4 2018 Launch of Telegram Wallet
Q1 2019 Creation of TON-based economy in Telegram
Q2 2019 Launch of TON Services, TON Storage, and TON Proxy

 

[axj]

I bet that if the global markets crash, whether debt or stock or commodities or whatever, if the "fiat currency debt pyramid" collapses, currencies will be the lesser of humanity's problems.

In the case of a fiat currency crash, it is quite a leap indeed to assume that people would continue to trust central banks or even the traditional political parties. Additionally, many large banks would go bankrupt and I doubt that another massive bailout would be politically feasible at this point.

The minor crash back in 2008 required hundreds of billions in bailout dollars, while in a larger market collapse no economy would even have the money to cover the bankster losses to the tune of trillions in derivates, etc.

I think the elites want to have a slow market downturn with minor crashes along the way, so that for example the US dollar loses its importance only gradually. And I'm sure that they desperately want a cash ban to institute negative interest rates on all money, but I very much doubt that they will be able to do that in the current political climate around the world.

 

[goyacobol]

I bet that if the global markets crash, whether debt or stock or commodities or whatever, if the "fiat currency debt pyramid" collapses, currencies will be the lesser of humanity's problems.

In the case of a fiat currency crash, it is quite a leap indeed to assume that people would continue to trust central banks or even the traditional political parties. Additionally, many large banks would go bankrupt and I doubt that another massive bailout would be politically feasible at this point.

The minor crash back in 2008 required hundreds of billions in bailout dollars, while in a larger market collapse no economy would even have the money to cover the bankster losses to the tune of trillions in derivates, etc.

I think the elites want to have a slow market downturn with minor crashes along the way, so that for example the US dollar loses its importance only gradually. And I'm sure that they desperately want a cash ban to institute negative interest rates on all money, but I very much doubt that they will be able to do that in the current political climate around the world.

You both raise interesting points. It's like what happens when the parasites deplete the host to the point of collapse or death. I don't worry as much as I used to about the big "crash". It's going to be interesting how this all plays out I think. It seems to me that bitcoin and blockchain are the result of facing the reality of the fiat currencies being a natural path to implosion.

Whether there will be time to gradually move to something more honest in value before earth changes reek havoc remains to be seen I suppose. We can see that many know the way the fiat system works and where it is going. If we could not see some benefits to these ideas I don't think the thread would be here. Like any positive possibility it is only a possibility.

I think the Cs explain the nature of this subject and most of what we are dealing with in 3D.

Session 10 December 1994

Q: (T) How can you be STS through STO if STS is imbalance?
A: STO flows outward and touches all including point of origin, STS flows inward and touches only origin point.
Q: (T) Well, they refer in the material that I am reading through, that they are STS through STO. (L) They serve self BY serving
others. (T) Is that what they mean? (L) Yeah. (T) Is that what we're supposed to do, serve ourselves by serving others? (T) Yeah!
Because what goes around, comes around. If you serve others then you get things back. (F) Because when you serve yourself, all
there is is an infinite number of individuals serving self. (T) There is no energy exchange, no synergy within the group; there is no
exchange. (F) Everything moves inward. (T) There is no sharing, no growth, there is no nothing. (F) No interconnecting. (T) Right!
There is no learning. (L) In terms of major STS, this may or may not be related, could you tell us the nature of a Black Hole?]
A: Grand Scale STS.
Q: (L) Is it like a being that has achieved such a level of STS that it has literally imploded in on itself in some way?
A: Close analogy.

As far as I can see the end of this fiat system is eventual implosion so any alternative might be an improvement if executed to benefit more people than the current system which seems headed for a "black hole".

 

[goyacobol]

Sorry, to "reek" havoc with the misspelling of wreak in my previous post...spellcheck can't help you sometimes and if you don't catch it before the save feature times out it's too late. :head bash: I know it's that perfection program. :(