Private Equity Moris Beracha Wuani

By Moris Beracha .-  There are food and sweet vending machines all over the world. Therefore, this market has become the target of some developers, who are working to enable people to pay for products into vending machines with cryptocurrencies. It can be highlighted that the energy drinking company “Red Bull” installed the first energy drink machine that only accepts bitcoins (BTC) in 2016, amid the Paralelni Polis congress of hackers in Prague, the Check Republic. Then, the price of tokens dropped and many companies that planned to develop this type of technology decided to turn a blind eye, until in 2019 they decided to take up said systems. In this sense, it is important to mention that a Brazilian programmer and hardware hacker created a Coca-Cola vending machine accepting payments in BTC. The machine also accepts Lightning Network (LN) transactions. According to the TheNextWeb site, “this machine has been assembled by using a water pum...

By Vildana Hajric   While U.S. lawmakers zero in on Facebook Inc.’s ambitious plan to upend the global financial system via its cryptocurrency project, technical indicators are flashing major warning signals when it comes to the price of digital assets. Based on the GTI VERA convergence-divergence indicator, the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index -- which tracks some of the largest digital assets and is comprised 30% of Bitcoin -- received its first sell signal since early June. The indicator detects positive and negative trends, and the last time it flashed a warning sign on June 4, the index fell about 10% in one trading session.  It’s been a volatile month for crypto assets. Prices surged in June after Facebook announced plans to launch its own digital coin called Libra, which the company hopes will one day trade much like the dollar. The launch added to optimism that digital assets are becoming more widely adopted by mainstream instituti...

Bitcoin fell nearly $2,000 in a matter of minutes in a sharp crash, a reminder of the cryptocurrency’s volatility even as it has soared this month to its highest level since last year’s boom-and-bust cycle. In late New York trading hours on Wednesday, bitcoin fell from $13,850 to under $11,900 in under an hour, according to Refinitiv data. That took some of the sheen off a rally that has seen bitcoin jump from just over $5,000 at the beginning of May, evoking memories of the cryptocurrency’s last boom-and-bust cycle. By Thursday morning in London bitcoin was tumbling again and trading at around $11,500. Some attributed the slump to a brief shutdown of Coinbase, a San Francisco-based platform which is among the most popular of cryptocurrency exchanges. But Alistair Milne, chief investment officer of the Altana Digital Currency Fund, said that the rapid correction was “inevitable — you simply don’t go up this quickly and sustain it forever, followed by consolidation”. ...

Facebook is set Tuesday to unveil a bid to bring cryptocurrency payments into the mainstream, reportedly with the endorsement of governments and financial giants. The world's biggest social network is expected to outline details of a virtual currency launching next year that it hopes will avoid the rollercoaster volatility of "blockchain" technologies such as bitcoin. Facebook is setting up a consortium called "Libra" which, according to the Wall Street Journal, has been joined by more than a dozen companies including Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Uber. The companies along with venture capitalists and telecommunications firms will reportedly invest around $10 million each into the consortium. Facebook has been trying to ward off hostile regulatory scrutiny after a series of privacy abuses and the spread of fake news. The consortium will be managed externally and will seek to build trust among consumers by pegging the virtual coin to a basket of c...

By Mark Williams Blockchain is one of those tricky concepts known by many but understood by few. Despite this, it has been heralded as a true game changer with the ability to revolutionise traditional transactions and processes. Some even compare its potential to that of the internet. But what does blockchain technology do, and how is it impacting the world of work? What is a blockchain? A blockchain is a distributed digital ledger where transactions are recorded and stored in chronological order. When a transaction takes place, a new block is added. Each new block contains information about the transaction and a unique hash – much like an encrypted ‘digital fingerprint’ – for both the new block and the previous block. So, each new block is cryptographically linked to the previous block, creating a chain of blocks all the way back to the original ‘genesis’ block. Instead of being managed by a central entity, the blockchain is distributed openly across...

By  Marie Huillet As many as 50,000 servers worldwide have allegedly been infected with an advanced  cryptojacking  malware that mines the privacy-focused open source cryptocurrency turtlecoin (TRTL). The news was  revealed  in an analysis by international hacker and cybersecurity expert group Guardicore Labs on May 29. As reported, cryptojacking is an industry term for stealth crypto mining attacks which work by installing malware that uses a computer’s processing power to  mine  for cryptocurrencies without the owner’s consent or knowledge. Having first detected the campaign in April and traced its origins and progress, Guardicore Labs believes the malware has infected up to 50,000 Windows MS-SQL and PHPMyAdmin servers over the past four months worldwide. The analysts backdated attacks to late February, noting the campaign’s precipitous expansion at a rate of over “seven hundred new victims per day.” Between April 13 and May 13, t...

Cryptocurrency is taking another step towards the mainstream as mobile carrier AT&T announced it would accept payments in crypto today, according to a  release from the company. Customers can pay their mobile bills via BitPay when they pay online or in app. BitPay is one of the largest cryptocurrency payment processing firms, processing bitcoin transactions. AT&T hasn't gone all in on crypto yet, as of now the option to pay through BitPay is only extended to bill transactions. Though the move may seem positive for crypto users, Joe McCann, a former crypto hedge fund  manager at Passport Capital, told The Block the move seemed to come out of left field and speculated that perhaps the company has internal data showing more millennials utilizing crypto payments. "What upside does AT&T have in supporting crypto payments?" he asked. McCann's questions of internal data may not be off-base, as Kevin McDorman, vice president, AT...

By Darryn Pollock Despite Bitcoin being the oldest, most well established, and functional cryptocurrency around, there is no doubting that there are some issues that need resolving. Those issues have been placed under the magnifying glass in more recent times with the emergence of other cryptocurrencies that are looking at being better than Bitcoin. Teenage Bitcoin millionaire Erik Finman has said that the major cryptocurrency needs to resolve some of this issues surrounding it or else it will die. He has pinpointed four issues which he believes need to be fixes, and they range from its complexity with regards to use, high transaction fees, slow processing speeds and in-fighting among development teams. Long term dead   Despite making his fortunes off some savvy and early investing in Bitcoin, Finman said in December last year that he believes that Bitcoin is “Long Term Dead”, but added that cryptocurrencies in general are here to stay. His four issues t...

By Harare Bureau BLOCKCHAIN technology can help enhance transparency, efficiency and grow investor confidence in Zimbabwe’s fledgling capital markets, experts say. The technology, which underpins crypto-currencies like bitcoin, is temper-proof. Its decentralised nature allows for financial transactions to be traced throughout the payment process by anyone with a computer or smartphone with internet connection. These characteristics have meant that blockchain technology is now being adapted for use in several spheres including the supply chain, banking, financial markets and even voting, to curb fraud while improving transparency. Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) chief executive Justin Bgoni told our Harare Bureau that the exchange is open to exploring how it can harness Blockchain technology in the near future although there is still no regulatory clarity on the matter. Mr Bgoni spoke about introducing blockchain-based new products and services such as real estate ...

By Yogita Khatri Cryptocurrency exchange Binance said it is revamping security measures after losing some 7,000 bitcoin worth over $40 million in a hack earlier this week. “Significant” changes related to its application programming interface (API), two-factor authentication (2FA) and withdrawal validation are being made, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said in a blog post published on Friday. The exchange did not disclose more details regarding these efforts, but said it is also improving its risk management and know-your-customer procedures to fight phishing, among other additional security measures at the back-end. Binance will take action of some of the measures within this week and in the coming weeks in order to resume services at the earliest, according to the post. Zhao said tentatively, the exchange is looking to resume withdrawals and deposits “early next week.” Binance will also be adding support for hardware-based 2FA devices such as YubiKey “very soon,”...

RICK D.   |  A congressman with a track record of bashing crypto has come out once again calling for a ban on digital assets. Republican Brad Sherman supposedly raised the idea earlier today in Congress. This is not the first time this week that someone has called for a ban on digital assets. However, without a huge international effort from authorities, the chances of such legislation proving effective are remote. Is the Crypto Narrative Changing from Ridicule to Fear for the Powers that be? According to a video posted to Twitter by crypto education group Coin Center, a congressman with a history of being opposed to digital currencies has once again raised the possibly of a ban on the technology. In the video, Republican Brad Sherman states with surprising candour: “I look for colleagues to join with me in introducing a bill to outlaw cryptocurrency purchases by Americans, so that we nip this in the bud, in part because an awful lot of our internation...

By Inside Bitcoins Ali Raza | This period is clearly one of the most exciting for the crypto world. Even electronic payment behemoth PayPal is also getting in on some crypto action. It was PayPal’s chief financial officer John Rainey who made the startling revelations in an interview with Yahoo! Finance. Even though the payment giant is also devoting some resources to the development of cryptocurrency, Rainey stated that digital currency is not going to be their major priority for now. He thinks there is still more to be done regarding universal acceptance for digital assets before they can fully roll out buy crypto with PayPal . Bitcoin is Under Consideration Even though other big brands like Fidelity were putting in a lot of resources into crypto investments, PayPal had kept many in suspense by almost ignoring the booming sector. This is despite the fact that Rainey said that PayPal actually included Bitcoin as one of their payment alternatives for merchants...

    By Adrian Zmudzinski     Blockchain Capital partner Spencer Bogart claimed that the crypto endeavors of social media giant Facebook could result in the cryptocurrency user base doubling or tripling. Bogart made his remarks during an interview with Bloomberg published on May 8. In the interview, Bogart confirmed that he thinks Facebook Coin — whether it will be a stablecoin or a different kind of crypto asset — will act as a stepping stone, introducing the masses to the idea of cryptocurrencies. He explained that once people own Facebook Coin: “It’s like being on the internet; so people can spin out and they can start owning bitcoin, they can start owning ether. Some percentage of the user base is likely to do so, and again I think that’s gonna be a dramatic catalyst.” Bogart then stated that the more important thing is that Facebook’s initiative “lit a fire in the pants of every major fintech and financial institution in the U...

By Catie Keck Facebookcoin, or whatever we’re calling it, is reportedly getting even closer to becoming a reality. Following previous reports that such an project was underway, the Wall Street Journal , citing sources familiar with the matter, reported Thursday that Facebook has been in talks with “dozens” of financial groups about its super-secret cryptocurrency initiative, which is apparently code-named “Project Libra.” Take from that information whatever you wish. According to the Journal, Facebook sees the project as a way to further integrate itself into the lives of its users—no surprise there—by developing a coin that can be used on Facebook and across the internet as easily as users use their Facebook credentials as login information for other websites and services. Unsurprisingly, because this is Facebook, the company is also reportedly looking at ways to link the project to ads: One idea being considered is that users could click ads to buy a pr...

By William Suberg   One of the United Kingdom’s most senior lawyers said in a speech on May 2 that cryptocurrency and smart contract use will inevitably begin, but regulations are needed. Addressing the University of Liverpool School of Law and the Northern Chancery Bar Association, Sir Geoffery Vos, Chancellor of the High Court, dedicated time to exploring necessary changes in order for smart contracts and crypto assets to become widespread. “My starting point is to ask why smart contracts have taken so long to become ubiquitous,” he began. Vos continued: “We have been discussing how and when they may take over the world of mainstream financial services for several years. Yet, they seem never to make that breakthrough into reality.” Vos has revealed himself to be an advocate of technological reform in the legal sector, noting in a 2018 speech that the U.K. legal system was primed to cope with innovation. This week’s pitch repeated that idea,...

Blockchain, cryptocurrency, and other innovative techs have significant disruptive potential. Within the course of time, this fact becomes obvious not only for community enthusiasts but also for traditional industry players. That is probably the major reason for world electronic bulls to explore the innovative possibilities to boost their own progress. Microsoft showed interest in blockchain technology back in 2018. They announced their plans to apply the technology behind Bitcoin (the leading crypto by market cap) in its decentralised IDs (DIDs) App. The company was support DLT-based DIDs through Microsoft Authenticator App. However, as of now, the project seems to be frozen.    Unstoppable IBM    IBM, another technological giant, has has shown interest in exploring blockchain and cryptocurrency techs even earlier, in 2015. As of now, the company is known to take part in several related projects.   In January 2019, Ford Motor comp...