THE SECOND LARGEST BANK IN SOUTH KOREA CREATES SECURE CRYPTO-CURRENCY WALLETS

In South Korea, there was an extremely important event for crypto currency in this country: Shinhan Bank, the second-largest local bank, announced that it is developing crypto-currency wallets, where users can safely store their digital assets. The information is taken from the Cointelegraph website .

SERVICE FOR STORING CRYPTO CURRENCY FROM A LARGE KOREAN BANK

The news came on the background of the recent fall of Bithumb servers in November and the July leak of personal data of 30,000 users. The representative of the bank said that the new service will have increased protection, comparing with third-party solutions. The organization will offer the transfer of money without commission, but it will still be charged for withdrawal.

Here is a quote from the bank statement:

This is a service that stores lock-keys with a virtual safe from the bank. We are looking for ways to provide free deposits and withdrawing commissions when withdrawing funds.

The announcement became another factor contributing to a significant increase in the institutional acceptance of the crypto currency. More recently, there have been announcements of bitcoin futures from theChicago Mercatile Exchange and a huge number of new hedge bitcoins. 

THE FIRST EXCHANGE OF BTC-LTC VIA THE LIGHTNING NETWORK TOOK PLACE

The first ever "atomic" exchange between Bitcoin and Litecoin has successfully taken place, Cointelegraph reports . The special importance of this translation is that it was conducted outside the detachment. This means that the ownership of koinas passed from hand to hand, but none of the banks involved the transaction was not recorded.

Here's what the founder of Litecoin, Charlie Lee, said about it:

The previous nuclear exchanges that I conducted were done on the phone and were subject to the appropriate restrictions - slow [transactions] and a high commission for the transfer. Offechanovye atomic exchanges are much better. They are instant, [have] a low commission and are better kept confidential.

ADVANTAGES OF ATOMIC SWAPS

The system will allow users who wish to have a connection between the junctions, send crypto-currencies without having to wait for confirmation on the block, and even with a much smaller commission. This connection will allow you to make incredibly fast transactions in Bitcoin-network, and it is a simple, but at the same time elegant solution to the discussion about extensibility.

Another significant advantage is that such transactions are completely anonymous. Since they leave no trace on any of the cells, being thus completed, they can not be traced in any form. This kind of confidentiality is what is being tried with ZK on Ethereum.

Cointelegraph asked Konstantin Gladich, CEO of Changelly, to share his opinion on the new technology:

Changelly is a decentralized exchange that processes voluminous transactions at the most favorable rates on the market. We are burning with the idea of ​​"atomic" off-exchange exchanges, as this is a new stage of evolution, providing off-exchange p2p deals without risks. However, for the time being this can not completely displace the existing ecosystem.

WORLD'S LARGEST ATM MANUFACTURERS ANNOUNCED SUPPORT FOR BITCOIN

Buy bitcoins is becoming easier - traders of all varieties are implementing crypto currency support, according to news.bitcoin.com. Just a few days ago Square announced that they would add the opportunity to purchase BTC using their application. Now the company has entered the game Hyosung, promising support Bitcoin. Soon, ATM users of the company will be able to buy Bitcoin by clicking on a few buttons.

BITCOIN ON REQUEST

In Hyosung announced the support of bitcoin-transactions with the help of Just Cash . When activated, the ATM will work much like a normal transaction. The digital currency will be sent to the recipient's purse after scanning the QR code. So far, only Bitcoin is planned to be added, but in due course, other crypto-currencies may appear.

Hyosung is one of the largest industrial companies in South Korea with 25,000 employees and an income of $ 17 billion for the year 2015. The production of ATMs is only a small part of the operations.

TODAY KOREA, TOMORROW THE WHOLE WORLD

Many have already become accustomed to the fact that in South Korea they like everything connected with bitcoins. However, the affairs of Hyosung are not limited to their native lands. The company operates around the world - so, in the United States alone there is a large number of their ATMs. With banks, partnership is not, so ATMs can be found in night shops and gas stations.

ADVANTAGES OF ATMS

In the announcement of Bitcoin integration into its ATMs Hyosung advertised a number of advantages that should play into the hands of traders. There is a simple implementation, no need for hardware, a new flow of profit and the ability to attract both new and repeat customers.

All this will take place in the form of software updates, so compatibility should not cause any problems. It is characteristic that users seem to have the opportunity to exchange cash for cash, although it is not yet clear how this will work.

It is also unclear what the commission and the exchange rate will be for the purchase of bitcoins in the updated Hyosung ATMs. Usually this method is more expensive if compared with other methods of buying crypto currency (for example, on the exchange).

On the other hand, many people will find bitcoin-ATMs almost ideal solutions because of the typical problems with procedures know-your-customer (translate from English "know your customer").

ING CREATES A BLOCK-BASED SOLUTION THAT SHOULD PROVOKE INTEREST IN WALLSTREET

ING , a financial group from the Netherlands, announced the creation of a new concept of anonymous evidence called "Zero-knowledge range proof" (abbr. ZKRP). As the Cointelegraph reports , the idea should please the financiers from Wall Street, as the risks associated with security and confidentiality scared many people away from the market of block-technology.

THE KEY TO EVERYTHING IS ANONYMITY

The new proof is created in such a way as to keep anonymity, while at the same time confirming the correctness of the transaction. The manager of the blockade at ING, Mariana Gomez de la Villa, stated the following:

It is proved that the ZKRP solution from ING is 10 times more efficient than the other concepts in the Ethereum test network. At the same time, all three principles are met: completeness, validity and evidence without information transfer.

In traditional financial systems, the transaction confirmation process requires a lot of information about the parties involved. However, in systems with proof of zero knowledge, in addition to simple verification, no additional data is required. This makes the transaction completely anonymous and, at the same time, confirmed, which is critical for a massive financial spread.

For some time it was obvious that the largest financial institutions are starting to look closely at the block-technology for domestic transfers. Considering the fact that block projects are being developed in such companies as MasterCard, American Express, Bank of America and Nasdaq, the technology is waiting for a very significant future.

SWISSBANK INTENDS TO INTRODUCE BITCOIN FUTURES TO ALLOW RATES AGAINST THE CRYPTO-CURRENCY

Representatives of the Swiss bank Vontobel reported that on Friday their institution will start trading the first in Switzerland a pair of mini futures in order to "short" bitcoins, reports Reuters. This will provide investors with a tool for betting against the cost of volatile crypto currency or hedging of bitcoins.

NEED MORE BITCOIN FUTURES!

The news about the creation of two mini-futures on the Swiss stock exchange was the second largest provider of structured products in the country, following the announcement of CME Group Inc : the world's largest operator for the exchange of derivatives in the world told of plans to launch a futures contract for Bitcoin later this year.

Mini-futures are derivatives that combine the functions of futures and options. At the same time, they are quoted at a much lower cost than traditional futures contracts.

When Bitcoin's price falls by 10%, the value of the more conservative of the two mini futures rises by almost 6%, while the second increment will be almost 10%, according to a document on the terms of contracts published by Vintobel on Tuesday.

This month, the cost of BTC changed incredibly: last week it fell by 29% from a record high of $ 7.888, set on November 8. Over the past four days, the Crypto currency has recovered more than a third of its price.

Over this year, Bitcoin has risen by more than 600% - this rapid growth has pushed many people into thinking that the digital currency has become a bubble that may burst in the future.

Dubai Blockchain Ecology behind Halal Chain

Nine hundred million dollars reported - an exclusive interview with Mr. Sultan Al Howymel, co-founder of Dubai on the Halal Chain (Green Food Chain) project. Sultan is the Economic Director of Dubai International Islamic Center and has a deep and unique political background and financial resources in the Middle East countries.

According to statistics, the global Halalfood market has grown from 2.3 trillion U.S. dollars in 2014 to 3.2 trillion U.S. dollars now. At the same time, this figure is still growing. It is estimated that the annual Halal industry output in the world will increase to 6.4 trillion U.S. dollars in 2018. With the rapid growth of market demand, Halalfood in the market is waiting to be tapped.

So what is the size of the Halal industry? Halal is a legal act alleged by sharia law. Especially the Halal on the basis of the development and the formation of the world's Muslim diet commonly used protocol.

Halal Industry Information Asymmetric Issues Serious Trust Establishes Difficulties

Halalfood, food that meets the Islamic HALAL food standards. In China, Halalfood usually refers to Halal-compliant diet products that have been slaughtered, processed and prepared according to the Chinese Muslim diet. However, there are many obstacles to the development of this vast market. First, there is a lack of Halal product certification system. With nearly 2 billion Muslims scattered around the world, each region has a relatively closed market for Halal products, resulting in many of Halalfood's outstanding domestic industries being unable to connect with international markets. Halal product information, there is a serious problem of information asymmetry, leading to many ordinary users can not identify the purchase of the product is indeed Halal products, especially for small and medium brands, their HALAL products can not get the trust of consumers, which is the product Sales and circulation created obstacles. The lack of a viable regulatory portal for regulation allows regulators to systematically control the entire supply chain from raw material supply to sales. For some centralized management mechanism is not perfect The state laws and regulations on Halalfood market regulation has not yet promulgated, will lead to Halal industry problems.

In response to this series of questions, an international team is using blockchain technology to address the painful Halal industry. Halal Chain came into being. Blockchain is inherently deconcentrated, traceable, tampered with, and so on, all of which can solve the pain points in Halal's industry.

Halal Chain Upcoming Chinese investors can join

Mr. Sultan said the Halal industry will see tremendous growth at the upcoming critical juncture.The Halal industry includes more than just Halalfood (halal food) but also all Halal industries involved. The volume of Halal-related products in 2021 will double in 2014. Investors who expect to invest in Halal products in the near future will be rewarded with huge returns. One of Halal's plans for Dubai's industrial development is Halal Chain, which will debut in Dubai on November 21 and the Halal Chain project will be officially launched to the public with an introduction to its use. This project will allow more businesses and more transactions to enter the blockchain, and it is expected that after the launch of Halal Chain, the trading volume in the chain will be very alarming. Chinese investors will also be involved in the project, just as UAE investors expect the project to become one of the largest landmark projects in the global Halal market in three years.

This program encourages businesses and commodity manufacturers to trade on this Halal Chain, and whatever type of product you offer will be presented to consumers around the world in this chain, and will allow companies to provide JAKIM compliant halal standards The highest quality products to trade. Second, since the users of the blockchain come from all over the world and face the global market, the user base will be huge. This huge market will also make the enterprises willing to join Halal Chain for trading.

Halal Chain will integrate market resources and will benefit every company that joins the ecosystem. However, the project is still in the distribution phase and will start inviting enterprises to join the project after the project is released.

Halal Chain leverages blockchain traceability to add more SMEs to the Halal industry

Before the advent of the Halal Chain, JAKIM-certified products made it clear that consumers were told at the time of purchase that the product was halal, and that consumers were relieved to buy it, but there was no other method than this s Choice. The emergence of Halal Chain will encourage small and medium-sized enterprises, especially small businesses, to join this blockchain ecosystem and enter the HALAL market. There are currently far fewer players in the HALAL market than they should be in this market and we are going to encourage businesses that should have entered the market to join the HALAL industry.

The global halal market reached 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars in 2014, and by 2021 this figure will grow to 1.9 trillion U.S. dollars. The growth of this market is huge. This is just the food industry, HALAL industry and tourism, Fashion, media and other sub-industries, you can expect the entire industry will have big growth.

The blockchain brings the entire market to a new era where traditional halal labeling is the only way to import and export goods in the market without which it will not be able to offer goods in the market but new Technology is blockchain technology, driven by more companies to join the industry, new technology will also lead the company to move beyond the traditional barriers to move forward. For the Dubai government, this is not just planning but actually putting it into practice. They want Dubai to be the center of the world's blockchain. Just four weeks ago, Dubai government officials announced that " As of 2020, all Dubai government agencies will use blockchain technology. "So by 2020 the blockchain will be spread across Dubai, and Halal Chain is one of the key components. When Halal Chain joins this ecosystem, it will create a billions of dollars in revenue, and companies from China will also be able to join the economy. Dubai wants to be a global leader in the Halal industry, so the industry-related ecology will be backed by the government.

Dubai government supports blockchain development Halal Chain is an important part of the plan

Dubai's government affairs are also considering the use of blockchain technology to improve government efficiency, there are six government departments in Dubai to consider the introduction of blockchain projects, including Smart Dubai (Smart Dubai) and so on. The Halal Chain project will also be introduced to the government. Before Dubai has never done Halal Chain project, Halal Chain is a unique project, which is why this project is widely supported reasons.

Dubai will actively embrace new technologies like blockchain and will devote itself to promoting the development of blockchain technology. Every Dubaiman will inevitably use a blockchain in future life. In the future, government departments will close down their offices, Instead, they use online offices to encourage people to use technology to deal with business issues. Not only is everyone encouraged to use blockchain technology, but more importantly, every individual is added to the ecology of the blockchain, especially Halal Chain.

Halal Chain will host a global conference in Dubai on the 21st of this month. The media will follow up all the time, so stay tuned.

AMERICAN EXPRESS OPENS THE FIRST BLOCKADE CORRIDOR ON RIPPLE TECHNOLOGY

In 1927, the pilot Charles Lindberg could fly with cash across the Atlantic Ocean faster than most payments cross the same water space at the present time.

While Lindberg made his historic single flight from New York to Paris in 33 hours, a typical bank transfer today takes 1-2 days using Swift, and a typical ACH transaction can take twice as long.

Today's news has been waiting a long time: American Express (Amex) has opened a payment corridor using Ripple. According to the website Coindesk , with the help of it you can send money from England to the United States of America in just a few seconds.

The new corridor was created in cooperation with the Spanish bank Santander. Managing the strategic accounts of Ripple, McRus Tricher, called it obviously a faster, but at the same time, safer way of sending money across the Atlantic.

Tricher, who was previously on the board of directors of Swift, said:

Earlier Amex had to send Swift messages to banks for requesting payment, now Amex is directly connected to banks thanks to Ripple and its cryptography, so the value transfer is instantaneous.

The corridor is managed by the American Express Division for International Payments in Foreign Currency (FXIP). It connects US Amex users using dollars to Santander bank accounts in the UK using British pounds. All this is done with the help of Ripple - RippleNet.

According to Tricher, integration directs non-card payments through a distributed payment network for the possibility of almost instantaneous, verifiable cross-border payments.

DIRECT CONNECTIONS

The project is the last important Amex event for this year. In 2017, the credit giant managed to join the Hyperledger consortium and enter into partnerships with the Bitcoin application provider Abra.

For Ripple, which recently hosted a conference called Swell, the new project is the next step to allow its own blocking platform, which was tested during the first half of 2016, to go on a free flight.

For example, Ripple recently joined Europe and the US through joint work with the Swedish bank SEB, which at the end of last year revealed its intentions to connect Stockholm with New York using Ripple technology.

Tricher said that since the launch in the second quarter of this year, the SEB platform has already conducted transactions for $ 630 million.

If you believe him, the project moves forward and makes it possible to make a transaction in nine seconds or less. Now it is limited to "clean" blocking, which does not require crypto currency.

He said that both projects have something in common: "direct connection". "There is no intermediary in the form of a crypto currency."

ABOUT THE CRYPTO CURRENCY HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN

However, Tricher also shared his expectations that other banks will increasingly follow the example of financial services provider Cuallix. Last month, the company became the first Ripple partner to convert cross-border funds transfers into its own XRP lock token.

Instead of storing dozens of "exotic currencies" (as Tricher called them) on so-called nostro accounts all over the world, Cuallix took the first step towards the release of these funds through the storage of XRP. Otherwise, the funds would be frozen for reuse.

It is the use of Ripple's own crypto currency, says Tricher, which will lead to the company's rise above its competitors. The main one, Swift, creates its own block system using Hyperledger. There are many smaller companies with their own cross-border payments options.

"If banks and bank users accept Ripple like American Express and start connecting, XRP will be an option that they can use for liquidity," he said, adding the following:

It is at this moment that everything will truly come to life.

WALLSTREET FEARS THAT BITCOIN FUTURES "DESTABILIZE THE REAL ECONOMY"

Wall Street is not too happy about the fact that this year before Christmas will have to open the market of crypto-currency futures. A number of high-profile names from this sphere express their concerns aloud, news.bitcoin.com reports . Their rhetoric makes it clear that Bitcoin and others are not very happy in such a society.
WALL STREET ASKS THE REGULATOR TO SEPARATE THE CRYPTO-CURRENCIES

The purpose of the letter is to ask the Commission on Futures Exchange Commission [CFTC] to set the following requirement: each clearing house wishing to work with any crypto currency or derivative financial instrument will have to do it in a separate clearing system, isolated from other products," wrote Chairman of Interactive Brokers (IB) Thomas Pieterfy.

IB is one of the leading suppliers of derivative financial instruments and services for brokered clearing on Wall Street. The letter was published on November 14, 2017 in the Wall Street Journal as an advertisement.

As reported in a variety of sources, Chicago Merc plans to release bitcoin futures in the last weeks of this year. Among the supporters of Bitcoin, the news was adopted with cautious optimism, but, apparently, in the traditional industry, not everyone would like to see such a financial future.

The open letter, which took up the whole page of the ad slot, referred to the chairman of the CFTC, J. Christopher Giancarlo. It warned about the fact that the fate of capital markets is at stake. Mr. Peterfi has called for the isolation of bitcoin futures, so as not to risk the possibility of "destabilizing the real economy".
CRYPTO-CURRENCIES ARE QUITE "NOT RIPE" YET
The letter also says the following: if CME "will clear the crypto currency with other products, a large price movement of the crypto currency destabilizing the participants clearing the crypto currency will destabilize the clearinghouse itself and its ability to fulfill its basic obligation to pay the winners and collect money from the losers for other products in the same clearing pool. "

The crypto currency has no mature, regulated and tested base market," continues to criticize Peterfy. "Products and their markets have existed for less than 10 years and have very little (if any) attitudes to any economic conditions or realities in the world.

Undoubtedly, here the tycoon of derivative instruments refers to the movement "up, down and quickly again up", characteristic of the Bitcoin price. For many current financiers, such volatility violates almost all historical precedents, not to mention technology or other disputes around the crypto currency.

This resonant advertising campaign is the second one for Mr. Peterfi. In 2012, he spent millions on television advertising during the presidential election. Then he lamented over what seemed to him the growth of socialist sentiments and said what now seems ironic:

America is rich thanks to the efforts of people who are hungry for success. Take away their incentive by untruthful criticism, and you take away the wealth that helps us take care of the poor. 

Reality Shares And NASDAQ Will Launch The Blockchain Economy Index

Reality Shares, a financial services company that filed an EFT application earlier this month, recently announced a partnership with NASDAQ to jointly launch a blockchain economy index to track companies in this nascent industry. From these initiatives it can be seen that the company has been actively involved in the area of ​​blockchain in order to seize the opportunity to better serve customers.

The investment market Reality Shares has partnered with Nasdaq to launch an index tracking of companies in the emerging blockchain industry.

Its press release calls the index "smart-beta index," also known as the "Reality Shares Nasdaq Block Economy Index," based on internal and external research and proprietary "blockchain scores "Ranking system prepared.

Reality Shares is also planning to launch an ETF to track the index and has submitted the proposal to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Fredrik Voss, NASDAQ vice president for blockchain innovation, said the partnership will provide "a tangible way to track growth in the blockchain sector." The ETF filings for Reality Shares say the blockchain index could include equity securities for both operating and non-operating companies.

Eric Ervin, CEO of Reality Shares, said:

"With the deployment of these new applications, we believe these companies are likely to become disrupts in their respective industries and potentially profit at the expense of laggards that have not taken blockchain applications."

Earlier this month, CoinDesk has been reporting news of Reality Shares filing for an ETF launch, while the Amplify Trust ETF has also submitted an application that hopes to invest and trade in blockchain startups.

THE MARKET OF BITCOIN FUTURES CME CAN BENEFIT THE "BEARS"

One of the reasons for the success of people who made only long-term investments in the bitcoin market is the lack of an effective way to sell large amounts of bitcoins for a period without coverage (ie "short-sail" or "short"). One of the authors of the Cointelegraph website believes that within a month all this can change if CME realizes its idea of ​​bitcoin futures.

BTC FUTURES CME

Bitcoin's price went up when the CME announced the release of bitcoin futures, scheduled for December 2017. It was expected that these financial instruments will make the class of assets legal. The latter, in turn, should have led to an influx of institutional investors into the Bitcoin market. In case of approval of bitcoin futures by CTFC, the US Securities and Exchange Commission would be difficult to block the traded index bitcoins (also known as Bitcoin ETFs), because there would be a regulated asset in the basis.

However, it is not a fact that investors would have caught the most important thing. The appearance of bitcoin futures would provide "bears" (traders expecting a drop in asset prices) a way to "short" huge amounts of bitcoins. Today, such luxury is not too accessible to them.

Terry Duffy, chairman and CEO of CME, in a conversation with CNBC said:

Today you can not" short "Bitcoin. Therefore, there is only one way of dealing: you either buy or sell [crypto currency] to others. Thanks to this, a two-sided market is being created, and I think this is always much more effective.

MARGINAL TRADING ON STOCK EXCHANGES

Technically, today you can "shorten" Bitcoin on existing exchanges with the help of margin trading. However, there is not enough liquidity and volumes, if we talk about large investors. Banks such as Bitfinex allow one user to borrow digital tokens and sell them, provided that others agree to lend the assets to the marginal trader.

But there are quite a few such exchanges - most offer only ordinary sales and purchases, which is beneficial to traditional long-term investors. In addition, many exchanges (the same Bitfinex, for example) do not allow US citizens to conduct margin trading on their platform. Regulated same futures - it's quite another matter, since such transactions are supported by cash, so short-sellers do not have to take bitcoins in debt.

"BEARS," BEWARE!

Bitcoin futures are able to provide skeptics a way to "short" the crypto currency, but this does not mean that such a trading strategy will be successful. Given the high volatility of Bitcoin and the propensity for sudden take-offs, futures can easily become a "bear trap" instead of making the players "teeth" drop sharper. Even Jamie Dimon, who called Bitcoin a deception and a bubble, said that he would not "short" him. Here is a quote from his conversation with CNBC in September 2017:

I'm not saying that you have to shorten. Bitcoin can reach up to $ 100,000 before it starts to fall. This is clearly not what people should be advised.

So beware, "bears". If there is something more complex than defining a "bubble", then this is clearly a calculation of the time when it bursts.

A BitcoinGold Scam - Stay aware and away

Hello Dear,
I found a website that are trying to sell Bitcoingold which is fake. The first look of website is as same as the look of Bitcoingold.org
Here is the link of that website: http://get.bictoingold.com/
Please share it with others as much as possible. Because it helps all users to stay away from this scam.

Our distribution is 1BTC:50BTG, i.e. for each Bitcoin (BTC) that you have, you are able to get 50 Bitcoin Gold (BTG). Important: To Get Bitcoin Gold you need to use wallets that provide private keys or seed, such as Electrum, Mycelium, Ledger, Trezor, blockchain.info etc. If your Bitcoins are in exchanges like Coinbase, Poloniex, Bittrex and others, you CAN'T claim Bitcoin Gold. If this is your case, move your Bitcoins to a wallet.

But the original website declares that:

The Bitcoin Gold (BTG) initial coin distribution method is almost exactly the same as that used by the Bitcoin Cash fork of August 1. Everyone who held Bitcoin when block 491406 was mined will automatically receive Bitcoin Gold at the rate of 1 BTC=1 BTG. (If you had 20 BTC at the time of the fork, you will receive 20 BTG.)

Blockchain technology is in the field of education 10 world-class universities have set up blockchain courses

Blockchain Technology is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. The purpose of blockchain technology is to increase the efficiency of other industries - from music and energy to the financial sector, etc. Blockchain technology will also reduce the costs in these areas.

As society's demand for blockchain technology continues to grow, so do students' demands for educational opportunities. The company paid large sums of money to train qualified blockchain industry professionals and currently blockchain is one of the best in the industry. This article is about 10 universities offering blockchain classes.

Cornell UniversityCornell University is one of the leading computer-centric universities and its blockchain classes are worth learning by learners. Emin Gun Sirer, who has been a leader in blockchain technology for many years, is an orthodox blockchain course.

Cambridge UniversityCambridge is one of the best universities in the world and has many opportunities both on campus and in the future. Cambridge University focuses primarily on economics in the area of ​​blockchain courses.

Princeton UniversityPrinceton, one of the most prestigious universities in the United States, has pioneered a course called Bitcoin and Encrypted Digital Currency Technology. The course is actually online, answering many questions about bitcoin and foreseeing the future of bitcoin.

University of Nicosia, CyprusThe University is the largest university in Cyprus and its blockchain courses are mainly those related to the introduction of digital currency. This course is freely available on the web and is a publicly registered MOOC course.

Stanford UniversitySurprisingly, Stanford University introduced a unique course called "Bitcoin Engineering." The main purpose of this course is to guide students to create their own bitcoin application that is more computerized.

British B9 Laboratory CollegeThe B9 Lab Academy is devoted to understanding and developing more technologies behind bitcoin and blockchain technology and analyzing its social impact.

University of Copenhagen, DenmarkRobin Baldwin, an educator, writes: "Denmark has always been the leader in technology and the university is the best choice where you can understand the blockchain technology development."

New York UniversityIn 2014, New York University opened a blockchain course titled "The Law and Business of Bitcoin and Other cryptocurrencies," which was originally opened The course is still being taught at present.

Duke UniversityUndoubtedly, Duke University, one of the leading universities in the United States, will start a blockchain course. Its main course, entitled Innovation, Subversion and Password Investment, provides an in-depth discussion of the future of bitcoin and blockchain technology.

Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyAs a leading university, MIT is involved in a wide range of technologies. Of course, it also offers a blockchain technology course. MIT is one of the first universities to offer blockchain technology-related courses and is the defender of the current Bitcoin agreement.

CHINA WILL TURN OFF BITCOIN-MINERS CHEAP ELECTRICITY

It seems that the Chinese government does not intend to abandon its anti-crypto currency position: the Cointelegraph website shares with local media reports that the cheap hydroelectric power used by the largest Bitcoin farms of the Middle Kingdom may soon go into oblivion.

The statement on stopping the supply of cheap electricity for mining refers to the fact that Sichuan Electric Power Company issued a circular with a notice that it will no longer provide the necessary energy from its connected hydroelectric power stations. The document also allegedly calls the mining of the bitcoins "an illegal operation." So far, the data on the circular has not been fully confirmed.
THE GOVERNMENT CONTINUES TO PRESS

The statement from the energy companies does not reflect the general mood among the miners, according to the article of local media . They believe that for crypto-currency operations, "unnecessary water" is used, that is, water that flows without generating electricity. Therefore, the price was so low.

And yet, the power cutoff goes on two fronts: the province not only stated that "there will be no new power stations," but it also buys existing ones. Here's what you can read in the article:

On the one hand, Sichuan Province issued a circular at the political level, banning the emergence of new small hydroelectric power stations; [At the same time,] the energy company is moving towards acquiring such stations to promote its own power grid. This greatly reduces the amount of cheap electric energy for Bitcoin.

Such a change would well correspond to the attempts of the Chinese government to penetrate all spheres of the crypto currency.

Since the veracity of the story has not yet been confirmed, we advise interested readers to follow the further development of events.

United Nations agencies turned to enabling blockchain to combat child trafficking

The United Nations has partnered with the World Identity Network (WIN) to conduct blockchain certification pilots aimed at deterring child trafficking.
On Friday, the humanitarian blockchain summit held in New York announced the news and said that UNOPS and the UN Office of Information and Communications Technology (UN-OICT) will also participate in the pilot project .
The statement released said that if the digital identity is stored in the blockchain, "the chances of seizing the traffickers will be greatly increased." In addition, storing identity data in a tamper-proof block chain will make child trafficking more "traceable and preventative".
According to Dr. Mariana Dahan, co-founder and CEO of WIN, children under the age of five who are "unknown" and do not have a birth certificate are at risk of falling into the hands of traffickers. These children are often missed by social programs provided by the government or development agencies.
She added: "Some developing countries are actively looking for more effective ways to stop the trafficking of children, and identification has always been at the heart of the solution."
Traffickers use fake ID documents to transport adolescents across borders who are eventually forced to engage in serious illicit activities, including sexual transactions and illegal human organ transactions.
Yannick Glemarec, deputy executive director of the UN Women's Organization, said: "Child trafficking is one of the biggest violations of human rights."
She went on to say that the blockchain was a "potentially powerful" technology that could be used to solve the problem and potentially save "millions of children."

Should Overstock be transformed into a blockchain company?

Taken From Cointelegraph

Overstock is an online retailer with blockchain investments, but the market sees it as a blockchain. Should Overstock now shift its focus to blockchain business?

Loss, but stock prices
Overstock did a great job in 2017. Shares rose from $ 17.70 at the beginning of the year to $ 53.15 at the close of November 10, or 200%. After the company reported a pretax loss of $ 6.5 million in the third quarter of 2017, its share price soared 30% on Thursday. The bottom line seems to have nothing to do with the market valuation of Overstock. This optimism stems from the belief that Overstock will eventually be rewarded for its investment in blockchain technology.Overstock's ICO program also seems to have stimulated the market.

Should Overstock shift the focus to the blockchain?
In terms of valuations, the stock market seems to have neglected Overstock's core business of selling household goods and apparel. The whole point seems to be the ICO and investment in the blockchain area. The market seems to be really pleased that Overstock has changed its home electronics business. DA Davidson analyst Tom Forte raised his price target for Overstock from $ 57 to $ 85. In the client's report, Tom Forte wrote:

We now see the potential to unlock value in its two most important assets, home-e-commerce and Medici Ventures, a portfolio of nine companies that leverage the blockchain to varying degrees.

Unpredictable market
Although the main goal of corporate management is to raise shareholder value (and increase market value), they should remember that the market is a fickle animal. Earlier this month, a company rose 400% after it changed its name from On-line Plc to On-line Blockchain Plc.Therefore, changing a company's strategy based on the latest fashion may not be a good way to drive shareholder value over the long term. Although Overstock may transform itself into a blockchain company, this should not be why the blockchain company is highly valued by the market.

Amazon started from the bookstore
While the idea of ​​Overstock, the online retailer of homeware and apparel, shifting its core business looks radical, there is no precedent. Founded in 1994, Amazon started as an online bookstore but has now surpassed its conviction. It earned about $ 16 billion in sales of cloud computing services alone. Nokia, the main seller of cell phones in 2000, was a pulp mill founded in 1865. Many companies are changing themselves with the times. If Overstock does shift its focus to blockchain business and succeed, then few should remember that it was initially an online retailer.