Bitcoin has been hit the most by new rules and regulations coming up. It seemed like the odds were against the cryptocurrency since the beginning of 2018 after the virtual currency took a drastic fall through to $12,504. Thomas Glucksmann, head of APAC business development at cryptocurrency exchange Gatecoin said that bitcoin would push $50, 000 by December this year. Christine Lagard, the International Monetary Chief comes into the argument of whether regulating cryptocurrency is an ideal thing, she said that cryptocurrency regulation cannot be done without.

The fall of the cryptocurrency bitcoin has been blamed on the countries that have begun to introduce regulation in cryptocurrency. Just right after the South Korean government placed a regulation on the naming system with bitcoin, Facebook came with its own ban on cryptocurrency ads. Late last December, bitcoin traders were constantly smiling as they checked the market charts but with this new development, nobody knows what to expect for this virtual currency. However, with what is happening with bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market having over $550 billion wiped off its value, industry insiders do not think this is the end for the cryptocurrency. They see some positives coming the cryptocurrency way.

Status of Bitcoin in India

Cryptocurrency Bitcoin and other alternative currencies are not strictly banned in India but they are also not seen as a medium of exchange by financial institutions. Arun Jaitley, Indian finance minister has said that the country does not recognize Bitcoin as legal tender and that they would take steps to get rid of cryptocurrency payments. Isn’t it better for Indian’s government to come all out in placing a ban on cryptocurrencies since cryptocurrency is not seen as a unit of value in the country?The relationship between bitcoin and cryptocurrency investors in India is now on complicated levels because the government has not come right out in saying what their thoughts with cryptocurrency are. Late last August, Arun Jaitley had informed the Parliament that the government had no plans in regulating cryptocurrencies. Indians are very enthusiastic about trading cryptocurrencies.

According to Unocoin, a bitcoin platform, the website experienced an upsurge of new users towards the end of 2017. India’s Income Tax Department recently announced that it had given out notices to a hundred thousand cryptocurrency investors that have been suspected of hiding profits. Chairman of teh Central Board of Direct Taxes, Sushil Chandra, said “We found out that there is no clarity on investments made by many people, which means that they have not declared it properly,”“People who have made investments in cryptocurrency and have not paid tax on the profit earned by investing, we are sending them notices as we feel that it is all taxable. ”On Saturday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India chairman Ajay Tyagi said regulations on cryptocurrencies was being finalised, along with the individual roles of regulators, according to the New Indian Express newspaper. No further information was given but investors will now be nervously waiting to hear what happens in the coming days and weeks ahead. While the assertion that all coins are created equal stands true, it is also worthy of note that all coins are not the same. This can be said about Z cash, a cryptocurrency that was forked out of Bitcoin in 2016. Given that this cryptocurrency was created out of Bitcoin’s protocol, they have a lot in common. Z-cash builds on the existing bitcoin core team to enable privacy-preserving transaction data using zero-knowledge proofs. Is Z Cash just another cryptocurrency? Yes, just like bitcoin, ethereum, iota, dash, and the rest, Z Cash is another cryptocurrency that was created out of the standing protocol of bitcoin. Just like its master (Bitcoin), it is decentralized. However, unlike bitcoin, Z cash allows for anonymity behind transaction amounts and parties involved.

Bitcoin’s Blockchain

Bitcoin’s blockchain has a list of blocks. A block records some of the transactions, and when it is done recording, it goes into the blockchain as a permanent database. There are a limitless number of blocks in the blockchain and these blocks are connected to each other in chronological order. The first block of the chain is called the “genesis block. ” This genesis block has an index of 0 and every blockchain needs the genesis block to be valid. The block index is the position of the block in the chain. The genesis block has an index of 0, the next block will have an index of 1. The blockchain starts when someone, an intending user requests a transaction. This request is transmitted to a peer to peer network which consists of a set of computers known as nodes. This network of nodes approves the transaction. When the transaction is complete, the new block is added to the existing block of chain in a way that is permanent and cannot be changed. The new transaction is added to other existing transactions to create a new block of code to form a ledger. And there we have it, the continuous block of chain.

How is Z Cash Different From Bitcoin’s Blockchain?

In Bitcoin, with a user’s address, you can follow up on their transactions and the history of their transactions but this is not how it is in Z Cash. Z Cash allows for an anonymous transaction where all the transactions are encrypted. A Z Cash user sends money to another Z cash user without revealing their address. The addresses are hidden. The person receiving the money can only see the amount of Zcash sent and also the transaction identity which allows the user to identify the transaction in the blockchain. There is no history of the sender attached to the money being received and there is nothing about the sender’s address. This is how Zcash designed its technology: To be able to make transactions without revealing any other details about oneself. The latest happening at a research facility, Federal Nuclear centre, Sarov, where some Nuclear research scientists are detained for using the research facility’s powerful computer to mine cryptocurrencies.

According to BBC news, this incident took place in western Russia, a place that has been marked off as ‘off-limits’ and a place nobody could find anywhere on the map. The cities were created for the sole purpose of conducting a nuclear research. A stand-in for the facility in the person of Tatiana Zalesskaya had reported that many researchers had been detained after attempting to use the facility’s computing equipment for personal ends which include mining. “There has been an unsanctioned attempt to use computer facilities for private purposes including so-called mining. “Tatiana Zalesskaya said they were prevented from carrying out their activities and that “The bungling miners have been detained by the competent authorities. As far as I know, a criminal case has been opened regarding them. ”What is Mining?Cryptocurrency mining includes two functions, namely: adding transactions to the blockchain (securing and verifying) and also releasing new currency. Individual blocks added by miners should contain a proof-of-work or PoW. Laptop or Iphone is not powerful enough to mine Bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies as this may cost you a lot of resources, large electricity bills which may not allowing mining to be profitable to you at the end. Profiting from mining involves the use of mining rigs which reduces the cost of electricity bills or one could make use of cryptocurrency sites which allows one to buy and sell coins without having to go through the hassle of mining. Mining demands a lot of work in form of money, time and most especially effort. It can take as long as days for your first coins to be mined depending on your equipment. Mining is exceptionally profitable to those who have a knowledge, or a bit of experience in the world of technology.

The knowledge of software, hardware, and decryption techniques, can be of an added advantage too. Punishable OffenceTatiana Zaleskaya says that the activity is punishable as a crime. The research computer was always offline to prevent unknown access to it so once the scientists were able to achieve getting the supercomputer on, the security department was notified and they were given over to the Federal Security Service. Some reports have it that the group of scientists were trying to mine cryptocurrency Bitcoin with the Nuclear centre’s power supercomputer. Mining virtual currencies, however, needs an immense amount of computing power and it is not unusual for cryptocurrency miners to sought out for less expensive ways, which often includes illegal sources of digital muscle. The nuclear scientists are still being detained by the authorities. Changpeng Zhao proved John McAfee wrong when he announced on Twitter about the completion of the system upgrade of Binance after about 3 days the system had gone down.

Binance’s server had gone down and this frightened a lot of investors because there had been no forewarning from Binance, not until Changpeng Zhao announced on Twitter about an error in the server which they were going to resolve in a few hours. In his words, “We experienced a server issue on our replica database cluster, causing some data to be out of sync. Need to fully resync from master. Due the size of the data, it will take several hours. No data is lost. We appreciate your understanding and support. “But few hours grew into ten hours, and the server was not back on. Changpeng tweeted that it was no hack but just a routine which was taking longer than planned. However, John McAfee would not have it as a mere system update. He accused Binance of trying to cover up a hack. On Feb 8, he tweeted, “Binance has suspended trading. The company claims that they are doing a system upgrade and will resume at 2:00 AM GMT Friday. While I have no hard evidence, rumours are flying among top crypto influencers that they may have been hacked. Will keep you informed. ” Later on, he quoted Binance’s tweet about trying to minimize potential risk by halting exchange activity, with “Not trying to spread FUD, but I have received dozens of reports like this one. I’m just trying to understand. As a security researcher, I know that potential hacks are far more easy to solve if investigated immediately. Days later magnifies the task by orders of magnitude. ” Binance replied by providing a public ledger that proves that Binance had not been hacked, and also by providing the Ethereum wallet addresses and Bitcoin wallet addresses which stands as a proof that all the money is still there. Changpeng promised to prove John McAfee wrong.

On February 9, Changpeng tweeted about the system update being fully complete and on February 10, trading resumed at 4: 35 am UTC. Who Is John McAfee?John McAfee is a programmer from Britain who is also the founder of McAfee Associates. He was appointed the chairman and CEO of MGT Capital Investment and then, he moved to mining Bitcoin and other alternate currencies. According to his Twitter account, he is a cryptocurrency visionary and he believes blockchain has a bigger picture in cybersecurity. He has also predicted that Bitcoin would be $500,000 in the next three years. John McAfee’s Apology to BinanceThis morning at 4: 33 am, John McAfee apologized to Changpeng and his team and the whole of Binance community for spreading FUD during Binance’s shutdown last week. “I would like to apologize to Binance and to CEO Changpeng Zhao for my part in the FUD regarding their outage last week. As a long time cybersecurity professional, my instincts, coupled with numerous reports which were dubious in nature, overrode my better judgment. Forgive me.

Despite the talked about regulations coming up from different banks and countries, it happens we might never be free from scams and ponzi schemes until the rules are actually enacted. Another ICO scam has taken place, exiting the market, and taking with it funds of over $4 million. LoopX ICO ScamThe company suddenly vanished into thin air this month after making promises to investors of interests they have probably never made in real life. With the aid of a trading algorithm, investors were to gain huge profits from their investments. All social media networks related to the company has been deleted with exception to its bitcointalk account which was last active December 2017. Earlier this month, the criminals had stated that investors had donated a total of 276 bitcoin and 2, 446 ether. The ICO was in 5 stages with each phase meeting up with the funds targeted. Investors still believed down to the last minute that the company was real not until they cleared out the funds. A thread was posted on company’s bitcointalk account when it was active. It reads: “With the use of the funds and months of developing this software, we have tested it successfully and are on the verge of releasing it to the public for use.

This software will help gain profits, making more money online than we could ever do in real life. “Of course, at each stage and phase of the ICOs, investors took the bait. The company did never stop to encourage them falsely as the communication channels to reaching them was always available. Investors were also assured on the emergence of the exchange and lending platform which was expected to go live in February 2018. This statement worked its wonders as investors really thought the token to be real. Unknown to them, the company was planning its exit from the market. Will these scams ever stop?LoopX was not the only company that managed to scam investors and leave with the entire funds. Other companies like Confido and Prodeum have been able to do the same, carting away millions of dollars. Projects like Bitconnect, DavorCoin, REcoin, and Bitstrade have all been taken down by regulatory authorities for illegal activities. ICOs will continue to be a way by which investors will seek to get new cryptocurrencies and make viable profits in a short time. Companies who are just starting up will also continue to see them as a way to raise funds for their project. However, it seems that these scams may then continue as in recent times. It also happens that we may not be able to put an end to these scams as the ecosystem of Blockchains and cryptocurrency is here to stay. The only way in which these may come to an end is by the regulations enacted by authorities. Until it gets regulated, we should probably except more. Most cryptocurrencies will go to $0Brad Garlinghouse has shocked everyone with the admission that all virtual currencies are set to fall in value to the price of $0. This caution is coming after Bitcoin had seen a lot of drama which involves its value plunging throughout the beginning of the year from a high record of almost $20,000 in December 2017 to its current price of $8,854.

At the Goldman Sachs’ Technology and Internet Conference where he gave a speech yesterday, the CEO of Ripple said he believes that most cryptocurrencies will eventually lose all their value. He said that while there are a lot of digital currencies out there, most of the coins do not have a value proposition and people trade these coins based on mere speculation. This simply means that most of the coins in the market are not useful as a medium of exchange and as a matter of fact, have no reason to exist. He however still has huge expectations for bitcoin to be around long-term as a store of value.

Purpose of XRP

This should come out as a shock to cryptocurrency Ripple users since Brad Garlinghouse is the man behind the cryptocurrency, Ripple. XRP sure has had some hard time too since the beginning of this year when it rose to $3. 31 in January and fell back to below $1. 06 as at the time of this writing. Investors are becoming interested in Ripple now because of what it can be used for within the Ripple payments system. XRP is a token that is very specifically intended for doing fast and low-cost international transactions between banks. To Garlinghouse’s point, that is the purpose of XRP. RippleNet did their Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in 2013 and sold their token (XRP) at a discounted price. It was worth less than half a penny.

On January 4, it sold at $3. 65. If you had saved $10,000 in XRP when it launched its ICO, you would be a proud owner of two million ripples. XRP holds the third highest market cap of any cryptocurrency, at $40. 1 billion. Still, some have criticized Ripple for holding the majority of XRP in company reserves, thus giving the company more influence over the price of the coin. This is in contrast to Bitcoin, where inflation is determined by the rate at which “miners” generate new coins. Bitcoin will still be used as a store of value. However, while Brad Garlinghouse might seem quite strict in his admission for someone whose company has benefited from the cryptocurrency rage, he has not ticked off all virtual currencies. He admitted that while bitcoin is a thousand times slower and very expensive than the token, XRP, will still be used as a store of value just like the role that gold has stood for but it won’t be used for payments. According to him, “Bitcoin is going to solve a different problem”