Government Head of IT Department Fired for Mining Bitcoin Using State-Owned Computers in Crimea
The Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee of the Republic of Crimea, Alexander Akshatin, said at a press conference last week in Sevastopol that two employees of the Crimean Council of Ministers were caught mining bitcoin using government properties, RIA Novosti reported. One was the head of the IT department and the other was the department’s head of hardware and technical support. Both were subsequently dismissed, Akshatin revealed, adding that:
Government Officials Fired for Mining Bitcoin Using State-Owned Computers in CrimeaAkshatin detailed that his committee and the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) were able to identify the activities of the Council of Ministers’ employees in time and subsequently fired them before they had time to cash out. As for how much they were able to mine, he said, “I cannot exactly say, but less than one bitcoin.” He then noted that “in February-March 2017, a bitcoin was $1800, now it costs $4000. Even half a bitcoin is some money.”
"They thought that there was nothing wrong with that," Akshatin told the press. "But if we were not on the alert and some limited information went through this channel, you understand the extent to which this could all turn out. Fortunately, this did not happen." He believes that their dismissals will deter anyone from doing the same in the future.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2xUwMcq
Source: Bitcoin News
Nigerian P2P Bitcoin Exchange Offers Services to All African Nations
Nigeria has become host to a P2P bitcoin exchange seeking to facilitate greater access to bitcoin throughout the African region. Bitkoin.Africa has been launched by a team of Nigerian developers including Timi Ajiboye.
The platform currently only allows Nigerian users to post listings to sell bitcoins, however, offers listings to buy to customers from “all other countries.” The exchange provides wallet and escrow services, and facilitates a range of payment methods via Paystack. According to Techmoran, Ajiboye stated that “each Bitkoin Africa account comes with a bitcoin wallet that enables users store, receive and send bitcoin. Bitkoin Africa transactions are carried out online and are facilitated by users’ Nigerian bank accounts or Naira debit cards.”
Timi Ajiboye announced the launch of Bitkoin.Africa via twitter, posting that he and his team had “been working hard on something for the past four months; a bitcoin exchange for Africa.” Ajiboye garnered international attention in 2016 for his and his partner’s involvement in the development of Muslimcondemn – a website which hosts “a collection of all the cases where Muslims have condemned wrongdoings done falsely in the name of Islam” in an attempt to provide a greater public platform for the sentiments of Islamic moderates.
Bitkoin.Africa enters a relatively crowded market of companies providing exchange services to the Nigerian bitcoin community, with Luno, Remitano, and NairaEX already competing for the loyalty of local cryptocurrency users. Shopnow.ng, an e-commerce website claiming to be the first of its kind in Nigeria to solely accept bitcoin as a means of payment, opened its doors in recent months – suggesting that cryptocurrency demand and adoption is growing locally.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2xU3evy
Source: Bitcoin News
Sweden’s Largest Online Stockbroker Avanza Bank Adds Bitcoin Services
The Swedish firm Avanza Bank Holdings founded in 1999 is a well-known financial establishment in the region. The brokerage service participates in the largest number of trades that take place on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. This week the financial institution announced it would provide a feature that allows a complete picture of their customer’s portfolio; including bitcoin investments. According to the bank’s press release, Avanza customers will be able to view both bitcoin and ethereum holdings.
“More and more of our customers are investing in cryptocurrencies, and therefore it is natural that they can follow the value directly with us,” explains the stockbroker’s CEO Johan Prom.
Even though the bank is moving towards cryptocurrency services, the bank’s own savings economist, Claes Hemberg, has been very outspoken against bitcoin in the past. Hemberg is “concerned” for retail investors and believes that bitcoin is a pyramid scheme. “Instead, I look forward to the possibility that the Swedish Riksbank will offer a first serious alternative – the e-krona – within 1-2 years,” explains Hemberg this past August. Hemberg has also said that he believes bitcoin is no different than the MLM scheme Onecoin.
Hemberg isn’t bothered by Avanza choosing to look at bitcoin more closely, but also says they didn’t ask him about the decision. “Avanza is developing products that they think are good, while I say what I consider to be good for the savers,” Hemberg explains to the press.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2xU3gna
Source: Bitcoin News
Bitpay Sprints Towards Processing $1B Bitcoin Payments Annually
Bitcoin has had a phenomenal year in 2017 creating many milestones and the startup Bitpay is breaking records this year as well. The business created by Stephen Pair and Tony Gallippi started six years ago, and since then the company has become the largest bitcoin payment provider globally.
“We’ve seen major growth this year,” explains Bitpay. “We’re now on pace to process over $1B annually in bitcoin payment acceptance and payouts, and we’ve already grown our payments dollar volume 328% year-over-year from 2016.”
Bitpay also says they have seen a lot of growth in bitcoin spending. According to the company’s merchant-base, the startup’s “merchants are receiving $110M+ in bitcoin payments per month.” For instance, the precious metals brokerage JM Bullion processed roughly $4M in BTC sales in June. Alongside this, the popular electronics shop Newegg doubled its bitcoin sales says Bitpay and a lot of merchants are seeing $1M a month in bitcoin revenue.
The company’s report explains that the U.S. and Europe are the showing significant growth when it comes to bitcoin payments. In Latin America, the firm has seen bitcoin payment transactions double since August of 2016. Bitpay is also seeing a lot of merchants stemming from the Asia-Pacific region which is starting to cover a good portion of the company’s monthly transactions. Through partnerships in Asia, Latin America, and Europe with companies like Asiapay, PPRO, Paysafe, and Payu the firm has seen considerable international growth.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2xUwWAy
Source: Bitcoin News
The race to create the Amazon or Instagram of cryptocurrency
What will be the first native app that taps into the power of the blockchain, cryptocurrencies and tokens?
That's the provocative question posed last week by venture capital investor Chris Dixon and Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam in Andreessen Horowitz's tech podcast "Why Crypto Tokens Matter."
Although the extreme hype around blockchain and cryptocurrency today attracts hucksters and scammers, Dixon and Ehrsam argue that the significance of the rise of cryptocurrencies is undeniable.
The analogy they use to explain the significance is this: in the way that the web allowed for the programmability of information for the first time, cryptocurrencies and tokens allow for the programmability of money or value for the first time.
Full story at http://cnb.cx/2hLcrlX
Source: CNBC
Bitcoin-Fueled Homeless Outreach Wins Appeal Against County Officials
Last summer, we reported on the charitable outreach, Sean’s Outpost, being threatened with an eviction notice by Pensacola, Florida county officials and the organization’s neighbors residing next to the nine acres of property known as Satoshi Forest. The homeless outreach that has been fueled by bitcoin since 2013 had appealed the eviction, and on September 28 2017, Sean’s Outpost founder Michael Kimbrel told news.Bitcoin.com they had won the appeal.
The Florida-based homeless outreach Sean’s Outpost founded by Michael Kimbrel and Jason King back in 2013, has been a popular charity among bitcoin proponents. The organization has provided over 167,000 meals to those in need, and all of it has been paid for with bitcoin. The organization was created to help deal with the growing Pensacola homeless population by providing them free meals and a safe place to live. However, two years ago county officials and a few neighbors threatened Sean’s Outpost residents with eviction, stating the land was not permitted to be a campground.
For close to two years, it seemed county officials would evict Sean’s Outpost residents. The Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a cease-and-desist against structures built on the property, and the charity even faced hefty fines for code violations. However, Kimbrel told news.Bitcoin.com that they had won the appeal and Sean’s Outpost is very pleased with the latest judgment. The Escambia County Judge’s statement reads:
“It is ordered that the decision of the Escambia County Board of Adjustment decision denying the appeal of the staff denial of the development order is hereby quashed,” the Judge’s statement reads. “This cause is remanded to the board for further proceedings consistent herewith to address with specificity the compliance or lack thereof LDC buffering standards.”
Full story at http://bit.ly/2hMZhoB
Source: Bitcoin News
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