Private Equity Moris Beracha Wuani

By Adrian Zmudzinski Youniqx Identity AG, a subsidiary of the Austrian State Printing House, has developed a cryptocurrency hardware wallet, reveals a press release published on July 29. Per the report, the hardware wallet — named Chainlock — enables the offline storage of private keys allowing access to cryptocurrency wallets. The device is reportedly capable of generating the private key, and is also water and heat resistant. The wallet in question will be available via the firm’s partners, including Tokenize Exchange in Singapore and Coinfinity in Central Europe. The release further claims that the Austrian State Printing House is specialized in identity document manufacturing that “implements and offers personalisation solutions for identity documents such as the highly secure Austrian passport.” The printing house has been active in document management for over two-hundred years. As Cointelegraph recently reported, Daimler, the German multi...

By Helen Partz European crypto exchange Bitstamp has set up its own Lightning Network (LN) node to boost the network’s capabilities, the company tweeted on July 8. As a second layer over the blockchain of the biggest cryptocurrency, bitcoin (BTC), the LN is designed to enable fast and zero-fee transactions by creating payment channels between users. Specifically, the network aims to address bitcoin’s scalability problem by keeping the majority of transactions off-chain. By launching its own LN node, Bitstamp aims to promote the growth of the network, as well as encourage the crypto industry to adopt the technology, the firm wrote in an official announcement. Bitstamp said that bringing more nodes to the LN will keep the network active, describing the nodes as its basic building units. As more nodes generate payment channels, the total network liquidity increases, which in turn increases the transactions capabilities on the network, Bitstamp explained. Most recently, LN ser...

  By Jeff Kauflin A new movement is pumping oxygen into the cryptocurrency industry despite asset prices that remain 75% lower than where they were in late 2017. It’s called DeFi, short for decentralized finance—it’s the notion that crypto entrepreneurs can recreate traditional financial instruments in a decentralized architecture, outside of companies’ and governments’ control. And with fresh allegations of misused funds against the centrally controlled cryptocurrency tether, the argument for decentralized applications has become even more relevant. Bitcoin and Ethereum are the original DeFi applications. Both are controlled by large networks of computers, not central authorities. Many investors use bitcoin like gold, as a store-of-value investment that protects against inflation, while Ethereum has been instrumental—and controversial—in helping startups crowdfund their operations. But newer apps are dominating the DeFi...

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 pump, a to...

Decentralized project ContentsDeal is a content exchange platform that enables users and creators (e.g., singers, artists, writers, etc.) to trade and distribute genuine, exclusive content transparently via blockchain. By simplifying the complex distribution structure of copyrights in today’s entertainment industry, ContentsDeal ensures fair profitability to artists, content creators as well as contributors to the network, the team emphasizes. All the parties involved can leverage blockchain encryption to make sure transaction information, payments and membership are kept safe and secure on an immutable network.  ContentsDeal is the place where creators can protect their rights, while at the same time contribute to the development of a transparent content production environment. The benefit of the public is that by signing up on the platform they get higher quality content that they can use via trading content using StarCoin (KST) and DEAL tokens.  Blo...

By Moris Beracha .-   Cryptocurrency mining is a process that exceeds electricity consumption. This is known by bitcoin mining companies and the authorities of the different countries of the world and therefore they have set to work, in order to drastically reduce the amount of energy to be used. An example of this reality includes Soluna, a Bitcoin-mining company, which plans to start the construction of a 36 megawatt wind farm in Morocco in January 2019. According to a company statement, southern Morocco enjoys the ideal conditions to produce wind energy, which will help relieve the country’s electricity system and deem cryptocurrency mining much more comfortable. Soluna acquired the rights to a 37,000 acres of land, with over 900 MW of wind power potential available for development, so it does not rule out the storage of the remaining energy in devices as soon as wheather conditions are not fully effective. Likewise, the Brookstone Part...

By Ana Alexandre A recent study by recruiting site Glassdoor published Oct. 18 found that crypto and blockchain-related job opportunities significantly increased in the U.S. this year, despite the slump in cryptocurrency prices. In the course of its analysis, Glassdoor examined a large number of online U.S. job postings on their site containing keywords related to blockchain, Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency. To ensure more accuracy, the company also included more general blockchain-related terms, while excluding jobs from third-party recruiting firms. To estimate salaries, Glassdoor used its “Know Your Worth” instrument. Per the report, as of August 2018 there were 1,775 unique blockchain-related job openings in the U.S., while at this time last year there were 446 similar job ads, which represents a 300 percent year-over-year increase. The highest proportion of job openings is concentrated in 15 cities, including New York City and San Francisco, wit...

Daniel Palmer After news broke yesterday of yet another hack of a cryptocurrency exchange in Japan, the country's police authority has released figures revealing the rise in such attacks this year. According to a report from The Asahi Shimbun Thursday, the National Police Agency (NPA) has released data for the first six months of 2018 that reveal cyberattacks on crypto wallets and platforms tripled over the same period last year. The NPA said that, through 158 cyber-breaches, hackers had stolen a massive 60.503 billion yen (around $540 million) worth of cryptocurrency. That figure puts the total for January through June 2017 in the shade – a period when $5.9 million in cryptos was stolen in 149 cases of theft. As per the data, the majority of the losses for 2018's first half were stolen from exchange platforms, around $518 million. The remainder – just over $22 million – was taken from individuals' crypto wallets. In what should be a lesson for us all in what not to do...

courtesy of Shutterstock By Lubomir Tassev Draft laws employing alternative approaches to regulating digital currencies have been introduced in Ukraine and Russia. In Kiev, a bill that classifies cryptocurrency as an asset, unit of exchange and store of value has been filed in the Rada and it’s supported by both deputies and representatives of the industry. In Moscow, the managers of leading Russian enterprises have prepared their own version of the law on digital financial assets which contains the legal term “cryptocurrency” and differentiates it from tokens. New Crypto Bill Filed in the Ukrainian Rada Alternative Crypto Bills Presented in Ukraine and RussiaA bill that leaves crypto-to-crypto trade outside of the scope of government regulation has been filed in the Ukrainian parliament. The draft has been signed by 23 members of the Verkhovna Rada and is prepared in cooperation with representatives of the industry. News about the filling was announced during a crypto...

By Moris Beracha  / El ciudadano At present, several accounting technology businesses are working with the world's big sports emporiums, in order to optimize the sale of tickets and thus prevent fraud. In this regard, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) announced the successful trial of a blockchain-based ticket distribution system. According to the highest football authority in the old continent, the system was trialed at the European League final, between Spanish teams Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid held in Tallinn, Estonia. They stated that a blockchain-based Android and iOS app was used to successfully provide and distribute tickets to fans attending the game. UEFA’s statement posted on its website also explains the system aims to provide a secure framework for ticket distribution, thus preventing the replication and duplication of tickets, by fraudsters that harm the main sport. UEFA says it will continue to develop the technology and...

By Rachel Wolfson  The cryptocurrency market and initial coin offerings (ICOs) have carved out a grey area for regulatory efforts in the United States. For example, utility tokens (user owned tokens that are not created as investment vehicles and hold a claim that they are exempt from federal laws that govern securities) are the primary tokens circulating most ICOs. Owners of utility tokens can’t use the coins outside of the platform without exchanging them; they can send tokens person to person within the network. ICOs must evolve to become self-regulatory, in order to advance the crypto market and become attractive to institutional investors. It’s not uncommon to find that the majority of companies selling utility tokens don’t have token economics. Therefore, most listed utility tokens are not real utility tokens, but rather, these companies are actually selling security tokens. Due to this problem, many institutional investors have been bearish...