Hi all

I think we all are very busy these days. For a few weeks still it seems that I have problems finding the time to post here. 

I hope it will be better in a few weeks. Thanks to Hugues and Bob for posting. I'm reading all the posts though.

"Important Announcement

14th January 2019, the Cryptopia Exchange suffered a security breach which resulted in significant losses. Once identified, the exchange was put into maintenance while we assessed damages.

Cryptopia has notified and is cooperating with the appropriate government agencies, including the NZ Police and High Tech Crimes Unit. Please see their media release below.

NZ Police Press Release"

https://www.cryptopia.co.nz/


This is bad. I have coins there.

Now that I justed posted ( a few minutes ago) about Tether (USDT), should we we go for stablecoins?

Swiss Crypto Industry Leader Says Next Crypto Wave Will Be Stablecoins, Security Tokens

Bitcoin Association Switzerland board member Luzius Meisser says he believes the next wave of crypto innovation will focus on stablecoins and security tokens. Meisser made his remarks during an interview with Cointelegraph’s correspondent during the Crypto Finance Conference in St. Moritz, Switzerland on Jan. 16. ...

https://cointelegraph.com/news/swiss-crypto-industry-leader-says-next-crypto-wave-will-be-stablecoins-security-tokens


Switzerland, officially the Swiss Federation. The Swiss economy is considered to be the one of the most stable in the world. The average income per capita is quite a bit higher compared with the world’s average. Progressive legislation, relatively low taxation, a developed bank infrastructure and secrecy have made Switzerland secure and attractive not only for international investors, but also for setting up businesses related to cryptocurrencies. Switzerland is one of the first countries to have shown a positive attitude toward Bitcoin. In Switzerland, cryptocurrency regulation provides decent conditions and support for investments, ICOs and developments.

Below you will find a link about "Bitcoin Rises as Yellow Vests Call For a Run on the Banks"
The fact this happened would also mean that people would run into crypto when USD and Euro crash or when the economy collapses.
Knowing that France is only a very small part of the (crypto) world.
What is your opinion?

https://www.trustnodes.com/2019/01/08/bitcoin-rises-as-yellow-vests-call-for-a-run-on-the-banks

Remeber, about a year ago we discussed about Tether (USDT) being a scam because it would not be backed by USD.
Well it seems they are ok.
Cleared from all blames about that rumour.

Tether is Apparently Fully Dollar Backed Afterall

Tether has the funds to convert all USDT into USD according to bank statements seen by Bloomberg which claims the veracity of these USD funds has been confirmed by an unnamed government official.
How Bloomberg got hold of these documents is not clear, but they say Tether had $2.2 billion at Noble Bank Ltd. on Jan. 31 2018. That same day, 2.195 billion Tethers existed. They further add:
“Each time a Tether is issued or redeemed, it’s publicly recorded on the Omni layer of the Bitcoin blockchain. These transactions were required by Noble as justification for moving money between the Tether and Bitfinex accounts, the people said.
That created an audit trail that was presented to the CFTC once the subpoenas were issued, they said. Regulators spent about six months digging through the transactions, they said.”...
Read more on the source website: https://www.trustnodes.com/2018/12/18/te...d-afterall

I knew about this one since quite some time but I never paid any attention to it.
yesterday it gained 30% and today it gained another 20%.
Reason for me to have a look at the website.
Very interesting project.

https://www.augur.net/

https://www.trustnodes.com/2019/01/16/au...k-and-veil

There is this new attack that can swap your Eth/Btc address when you put it on the clipboard IF you have downloaded a movie via the torrent protocol from the pirate bay. It's really kind of scary and impressive at the same time that some have done it. Read about it here and be careful double checking your addresses when transferring crypto

https://cointelegraph.com/news/windows-t...cher-warns

For your information:
Decentralized Chat App Using Blockchain

Biser is the evolution social platform, using Blockchain Technology to protect freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is a human right , adopted in 1948, states that: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

https://biser.io/

Fintech Firm (Quantfury) Launches App For Crypto Owners to Trade All Markets Without Any Fees.

Taking on the retail trading industry and giving crypto owners the opportunity to use digital currencies as collateral and to trade across markets with fiat funds — avoiding any commissions or fees.

Quantfury says its mission is to make the markets “absolutely transparent and fair” while giving crypto enthusiasts an opportunity to use their assets in a new way.

https://quantfury.com/

One of the richest people in the world invests in cryptocurrency exchange Bakkt

Bakkt was set up by the Intercontinental Exchange and has completed despite the first financing round. Among these investors is also the 23rd richest man in the world, Li Ka-shing. This is a billionaire from Hong Kong.

With Bakkt, investors can trade in physical bitcoin futures. With bitcoin futures you speculate on the price of bitcoin. Normally a bitcoin future contract is separate from bitcoin, you do not trade in bitcoin itself. That is different at Bakkt. Each bitcoin future contract is covered by real bitcoin, which is kept in the Bakkt Warehouse. Hence the name: Bakkt (backed).

Li Ka-Shing leads investment round for Bakkt.
Bakkt recently announced that it had raised 182 million dollars in its first investment round. The platform received money from various large parties. This includes Boston Consultin Group, Galaxy Digital, GoldInch partners, M12 (Microsoft's investment fund, Pantera Capital and Protocol Ventures).

According to the website EJ Insight (http://www.ejinsight.com/), one of the most notable investors in Bakkt was the company Horizons Ventures. This Venture Capital company from Hong Kong was founded by, a Li Ka-shing. Ka-shing has built up a varied portfolio of different tech startups over the past decade.

With a value of 30.7 billion dollars, he has sufficient capital to invest. But this is not the first time that Ka-shing has ventured into the market of cryptocurrencies. In 2013, Horizons Ventures invested in BitPay, a company that looks at payments with Bitcoin. But also in 2016 in Blockstream, a supplier of blockchain technology.

Investors see the potential of Bakkt
The idea of Bakkt to bring a digital platform to market what Bitcoin futures offers seems to catch on with the investors. The above investors are in fact some of the biggest names among investors. Institutional investors could help the cryptocurrency market to obtain more recognition. Institutional support can also reduce the volatility that has plagued the crypto market for years.

Physically delivered crypto futures will distinguish Bakkt from the competition, as rival exchanges CME and CBOE handle the contracts in euros. Bakkt's contracts are also stored via ICE in the US. Many small crypto traders are looking forward to the launch of the Bakkt contracts on 24 January 2019.