The intelligent investors guide to Particl (PART): Part 6 - What does Particl as a privacy platform have over Monero and other privacy currencies?

What does Particl as a privacy platform have over Monero and other privacycurrencies?

Monero is a decentralised currency that is currently reliant on centralised services for its use. Thus in its practical implementation it is not fully decentralised and there is a central point of failure when transacting.

In contrast under the Particl network and client listings, transactions, escrow services and settlement are fully integrated and decentralised; this includes:

Network security where the nodes can be obfuscated via tor integration.

Transactions security where the buyer, seller and amount can be obfuscated yet verified by RingCT.

Seller security whereby the nature of listed items being sold can be made private and obfuscated to the rest of the Particl network and only viewable if the viewkey is disclosed (i.e. the seller discloses this via private communication to potential buyers).

Communications security. The client nodes have the capacity for sending encrypted messages between each other allowing for truly private communications between individuals on the Particl network.

Settlement security by providing a trustless third party free escrow service (the mutually assured destruction escrow) whereby both seller and buyer deposit a bond that can only be released when both sides agree goods/services have been delivered as specified.

I'd just like to point out that many of Particl's competitors (syscoin, district0x, openbazaar) do not offer this level of security or integration in transacting, listing, exchange and settlement, because they lack one or more features that are already built into Particl by default; this includes the integration of exchanges and direct currency conversions via atomic swaps

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Whilst Monero and other private currencies offer anonymous settlement security with the benefits of decentralisation, they do not provide the other forms of decentralised security I've just listed which Particl and currently Particl alone proposes to.

Yes decentralised marketplaces could accept monero currency but they would have to provide decentralised, trustless privacy centric escrow, communications and private listings to provide the same level of service and flexibility of selling/buying options that the Particl platform intrinsically provides.

This is because in addition to what I've described Particl also enables anonymous or public settlement of public listings.

By:Joske

Vouching Bitfinex and Tether’s Bank Accounts Hold Nearly $3 Billion USD

Zhao Dong, a prominent Chinese early bitcoin adopter and shareholder in Bitfinex, recently posted on Weibo seeking to provide anecdotal evidence as to the integrity of Bitfinex and Tether's financial reserves. The post claims that Zhao Dong and Lao Mao, the chief executive of Big.one, have witnessed first hand the balances of Bitfinex and Tether's respective bank accounts during a meeting with Bitfinex's chief financial officer, Giancarlo Devasini. The post alleges that the combined bank accounts of Tether and Bitfinex hold nearly $3 billion USD.

Zhao Dong

Zhao Dong, a well known Chinese early adopter of bitcoin, has published a post on Weibo claiming that he has personally seen the bank balances of Tether and Bitfinex first hand during a recent meeting with Bitfinex's CFO, Giancarlo Devasini. Zhao Dong is a shareholder in Bitfinex, and has been described as one of China's largest over-the-counter (OTC) traders.

According to a rough translation, Zhao Dong's Weibo post states "Lao Mao (and I) just had a look at the USD account of Tether and Bitfinex in Giancarlo's (Boss of BFX, CFO) room, in which Tether's account holds 1.8x billion USD and Bitfinex holds 1.1x billion USD. The total number of the two accounts is around 3 billion USD, which is beyond the current circulated supply of USDT. This debunks all rumors around USDT."

Lao Mao (left) and Giancarlo Devasini (right)

The chief executive officer of Big.one published a blog post following the trip, in which an interview between Mr. Devasini and one of Lao Mao's associates is made public. In the interview, Bitfinex's CFO claims that the "the team of Bitfinex has around 50 people", and that the "Tether team does not work for money," adding that "As an early bitcoin investor, the team has a sense of responsibility and mission."

Seeking to quell criticisms and concerns relating to Bitfinex and Tether's banking relationships and capitalization, Mr. Davasini also claims that the companies "are not in a position to fully disclose [their] bank accounts" as a consequence of "pressure from [the] US banking industry." The CFO alleges that the "US banking industry is blocking Tether by various means," adding that in future, "Tether may no longer anchor to [the] US dollar," suggesting that the company may "use Euro, Japanese Yen, or other fiats instead." Notably, the comments came just two weeks after Tether launched EURT – an ERC20 token intended to function as a hedging tool pegged to the value of the Euro.

The Big.one CEO concluded the post by stating "we can trust Tether and USDT," also announcing that "Big.one will also list USDT as soon as possible."

Lao Mao Apparently Reverses Opinion on Tether – Crypto Community Not So Easily Convinced

Zhao Dong and Lao Mao 'Vouch' That Bitfinex and Tether's Combined Bank Accounts Hold Nearly $3 Billion USDThe comments comprise an apparent change of heart for Lao Mao, who during November 2017, published a post urging exchanges not to introduce USDT pairings. At the time, Lao Mao stated "we have appointed our partner with Goldman Sachs to conduct research on USDT," describing the results of the research as "shocking." The report criticized the company's lack of banking transparency, and stated that "Bitfinex, the majority shareholder of Tether, arguably has access to Tether's deposits at any time." The report also criticized the internal memorandum issued by Friedman LLP that, at the time of release, Tether had misrepresented – claiming that such comprised an "audit."

Despite the 'vouches' from Zhao Dong and Lao Mao, the cryptocurrency community appears to have remained skeptical regarding the integrity of Bitfinex and Tether's accounts, with one of the most upvoted comments on Zhao Dong's Weibo post stating "You need to present [an] audit report from a third party accounting firm or lawyer. Your word doesn't count."

Concerns pertaining to the opaque accounting practices of Bitfinex and Tether have heightening heading into 2018, following a dramatic explosion in the number of USDT in existence. The number of USDT in circulation grew from less than 10 million on January 1st, 2017, to reach almost 1.4 billion just 12 months later – despite all banking services to Tether and Bitfinex having been cut off by Wells Fargo on March 23rd, and neither company providing definitive evidence that they have successfully restored banking relationships since. Tether has since shown no signs of slowing down its production of new USDT, with 400 million new USDT being produced in four days just one week ago.

People Are Paying Thousands of Dollars for Crypto Celebrities on the Blockchain

Anything can be placed on the blockchain with a little ingenuity – even Hollywood celebrities. Cryptocelebrities is this week's Cryptokitties, a smart contract-based trading game which profits from digital scarcity. Only one copy of each celebrity is released, compelling traders to spend thousands of dollars to snap up 'celebs' like Satoshi Nakamoto and Emma Watson.

Celebrities on the Blockchain Because 2018

On paper, a game like Cryptocelebrities sounds as dumb as last month's big crypto game, Cryptokitties. Like its feline forebear, Cryptocelebrities rewards early adopters who get to snap up the best digital real estate and then sell it on for a profit. Blockchain-based collectors' games such as these create a level of FOMO that can cause assets to change hands for thousands of dollars. At 4pm EST on Tuesday 23rd January, the Cryptocelebrities site was knocked offline temporarily, believed to be due to high demand.

While the Cryptocelebrities project looks like a shameless cash-in, both on the current craze for blockchain games and on the celebs themselves, it does have some interesting features. One of these is for verified celebrities to control the royalties from the trading of their image and earn a share of the profits. It's hard to imagine the likes of Clint Eastwood or Donald Trump using ether to verify their blockchain counterparts, but it's a bold concept. Vitalik Buterin and Satoshi Nakamoto (depicted here as simply a question mark) also feature.

Don't Get Too Attached

People Are Paying Thousands of Dollars for Crypto Celebrities on the BlockchainAnyone contemplating snapping up Hollywood's – or Crypto's – A-listers would do well not to get too attached. Anyone who wants to buy a celeb off its current owner can do so, and there's nothing its owner can do to halt the sale. As the Cryptocelebrities website explains: "When someone else matches the current price, they'll automatically snatch your Smart Contract. You'll lose the card but you will receive up to double the amount you originally invested in ETH."

If you buy a contract for 0.2 ETH, another player can snatch it away from you. Once that happens, you'll automatically receive 0.4 ETH! Most contracts double in price with each transaction until they reach 1 ETH. Price increase: 2x from 0 ETH to 0.05 ETH, 1.2x from 0.05 ETH to 0.5 ETH and 1.15x from 0.5 ETH up.

Like other blockchain games, the smart contracts that control ownership may be decentralized but the images of the celebs reside on a centralized database. Should Robert Pattinson or Woody Allen's agent step in and exert pressure on Cryptocelebrities to remove their image, traders could be left holding an empty card. Right now, Woody Allen is worth 1.05 ETH, but would anyone be willing to pay a higher free if his image wasn't associated with the smart contract?

At present, Vitalik Buterin is the most traded celeb, with a price tag that stands at 20 ETH, followed by Satoshi Nakamoto and Angelina Jolie on 13 ETH apiece. While it's hard to imagine the pair ever sharing a red carpet, in Cryptocelebrities they stand shoulder to shoulder. Such is the popularity of the site that newly added celebs can change hands a dozen times within the first hour, as traders jostle to complete their Metamask transaction ahead of the competition. In the interests of journalism, news.Bitcoin.com tried – and failed – to snap up Ellie Goulding and Van Morrison.

Someone paid half an ETH for this.

At the time of publication, user mfs7772 is the Cryptocelebs whale, with 24 high-priced contracts in their custodianship including Nicole Kidman, Vitalik Buterin, and Ke$ha. It's easy to write these primitive games off as ephemeral and frivolous – which they undoubtedly are – but they make for a fascinating study of human psychology, whilst demonstrating the concept of digital scarcity and the greater fool theory in action.

SCCEX Will Support BCH Because It Is “Satoshi’s True Bitcoin”

Bitcoin Cash is on the minds of a lot of people these days. Whether one loves it or hates it, no one can deny BCH has made its mark on the cryptocurrency ecosystem as a whole. So much, even, that the Scandinavian Cryptocurrency Exchange (SCCEX) is looking to promote this altcoin. More specifically, it will offer fee-free Bitcoin Cash trading. Moreover, there will be a line of BCH-related banknote-style paper wallets as well.

SCCEX HAS BIG PLANS FOR BITCOIN CASH

In the history of crypto, we have never seen exchanges show such outspoken support for specific altcoins. Although most trading platforms offer support for currencies such as XRP, ETH, and LTC, they have never gone "all-in" on such currencies. However, SCCEX has announced some big plans for Bitcoin Cash, the alternative version of Bitcoin which came to market several months ago.

According to the company's recent announcement, it will not charge any trading fees for BCH trades. That is always a good way to attract more traders, even though the name Scandinavian Cryptocurrency Exchange won't ring a bell for most people. The company also offers fee-free trading for Ethereum Classic, which is another relatively new cryptocurrency which has not gained as much traction just yet. By not charging any fees, the company aims to push adoption of specific altcoins throughout Scandinavia and Europe.

The primary reason for this decision is that SCCEX views Bitcoin Cash as the Bitcoin that Satoshi Nakamoto originally intended to create. It is a statement we have heard before from other companies, even though the jury is still out on whether or not BCH can become the one and true Bitcoin over time. It is certainly true that Bitcoin Cash has a few aspects which make it far more appealing than Bitcoin itself, namely its lower fees, faster transactions, and on-chain scaling. Bitcoin itself should not be discounted just yet either, though, as things will continue to evolve moving forward.

Furthermore, SCCEX plans to introduce some new paper wallets for Bitcoin Cash enthusiasts in the form of physical cryptocurrency banknotes. The design of these notes looks rather appealing in the Medium post, but users can only obtain them by visiting the company's physical offices. It's always nice to have a Bitcoin Cash paper wallet with a far more appealing design, even though people could generate them at home as well if they wanted to do so.

As is always the case with paper wallets, these banknotes are not designed to hold massive amounts of Bitcoin Cash. A paper wallet makes for an excellent gift or collectible item, but there is no reason to deposit hundreds of BCH to the address printed on a paper wallet. It still looks rather beautiful, though, and there will most likely be at least some interest in this particular product. It will be interesting to see if any other cryptocurrency exchanges decide to take a similar "promotional" approach to Bitcoin Cash in the future.

Do keep in mind that SCCEX is not open for business as of right now. Instead, the company expects to launch in April of 2018, with fee-free ETC and BCH trading going live on day one. It is unclear if this is a temporary measure or a permanent policy, though. Assuming it is the latter, things will get very exciting for Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum Classic supporters.

Overstock Glitch Gave Customers ‘Discounts’ With Bitcoin Cash

This week security experts found a website glitch on the e-commerce marketplace Overstock that let customers purchase items for a fraction of the price. The reason users were getting such huge discounts is because the system was accidentally allowing bitcoin cash (BCH) purchases in place of items priced in bitcoin core (BTC).

'Big Discounts': Some Overstock Customers Pay for Items Priced in BTC With BCH

Overstock Glitch Gave Customers 'Discounts' With Bitcoin Cash According to the company Krebs on Security and the security firm Bancsec, Overstock's marketplace had a serious glitch allowing people to pay for products priced in BTC in BCH. On January 5 a Krebs researcher chose to purchase three outdoor solar lamps from Overstock which added up to $78.27. At the time Overstock's invoices told the researcher to pay 0.00475574 bitcoins to a specific address. Instead of paying BTC, Krebs on Security decided to send 0.00475574 BCH to the specified address. In a matter of minutes, the researcher purchased the three lamps for roughly $12 worth of bitcoin cash.

If things couldn't get any worse, they did: Krebs decided to get a refund for the three solar lamps purchased with BCH.

"I didn't really want the solar lights, but also I had no interest in ripping off Overstock," explains the Krebs employee.

So I canceled the order — To my surprise, the system refunded my purchase in bitcoin, not bitcoin cash.

Payment Glitch Lasted for Three Weeks

Overstock Glitch Gave Customers 'Discounts' With Bitcoin Cash Krebs contacted Overstock and informed the firm that individuals were allowed to purchase lavish items like diamond rings for very little money compared to the real retail price. Overstock says they disabled the payment method glitch immediately after an independent researcher investigated the problem.

"After working with a researcher to confirm the findings, that method of payment was disabled while we worked with our cryptocurrency integration partner, Coinbase, to ensure they resolved the issue," explains Overstock to Krebs. "We have since confirmed that the issue described in the finding has been resolved, and the cryptocurrency payment option has been re-enabled."

Coinbase revealed to Krebs that the bug existed for "three weeks" and the issue was caused by the merchant partner "improperly using the return values" in the company's  merchant integration API.

What do you think about Overstock accidentally letting people buy items priced in BTC but used BCH instead? Let us know what you think of this story in the comments below.

The intelligent investors guide to Particl (PART): Part 5 - How will Particl if successfully adopted increase the value of *all* cryptocurrencie

The following is a quick announcement about how Particl (PART) if succesfully adopted could potentially increase the value of all cryptocurrencies:

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Firstly can users only use PART tokens to transact?

 

Short answer: No. Not quite.

Detailed answer: If we understand that Particl is a modular smart contract platform with the decentralised, privacy centric marketplace being the first module to launch then the following responses make more sense:

 

The aim is for the marketplace module to have built-in shapeshift integration. This means any of the (currently 67) cryptocurrencies supported by shapeshift can be transferred to a particl client and automatically converted to the native PART token for transacting on the Particl network.

Furthermore the modular smart contract nature means other widgets and modules can be built to integrate other exchanges (both centralised and decentralised) and services into the Particl network and client e.g changelly integration for USDT:PART integration or widgets that connect direct fiat gateways.

Particl also utilises atomic swaps so any other chain which utilizes atomic swaps can directly interact with the Particl network to exchange/swap PART (foregoing exchanges altogether). Current candidates include LTC, DCR and BTC.

 

To this end its a misconception to think Particle only supports the PART token. It actually supports multiple cryptocurrencies via a mechanic that brings value to the PART token whilst providing a means to buy and sell goods anonymously using those cryptocurrencies.

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There are advantages to this approach:

For one it means Particl can simplify its user interface by driving all core transactions on the Particl network via the PART token.

It makes the Particl platform both a fiat/liquidity magnet as it provides non-speculative value to multiple cryptocurrencies which are sent to it and acts as a liquidity generator since it creates the means for people to buy/sell goods with multiple cryptocurrencies.

 

As the Particl network grows this would strengthen the links between cryptocurrency and fiat whilst simultaneously making cryptocurrency more independent of fiat.

 

This approach creates economic incentives to hold and promote the token and benefits holders as its value increases in a manner proportional to increasing non-speculative use on the Particl network.

Contrast this with systems like syscoin where the native sys token is not essential to transact. It suffers from diminished speculator and thus network effects to propagate spread, promotion and usage of the native token and even if non-speculative use of the syscoin network increases this does necessarily translate to increased buy demand on the sys token.

The PART token is used to secure the Particl network via PoS. Increased non speculative use of the PART token to transact leads to diversification of PART.

 

Those who set their clients to stake to earn a portion of the marketplace/transaction fees + staking rewards thus wind up increasing the node count and diversification which increases the security of the network.

 

The PART token has a dual nature: A public token for where the added cost/verification time of transacting privately is not necessary and where accountability is a requirement (e.g. selling large volume, low cost, high frequency white-hat goods).

 

A large transaction pool is required to make the private ringCT transactions work. If multiple currencies were allowed to buy/sell goods directly (rather than be first converted to the native PART token), the pool of available transactions for RingCT would be diluted and thus the anonymity ringCT provides would be weakened.

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Particl will provide a system where all the economic, network and pragmatic incentives of cryptocurrency are in perfect alignment, something which is not true of many other systems in cryptocurrency and distributed ledger technology.

Perhaps the most important thing I haven't stated is that by integrating all the services it does (the marketplace, the exchanges, the escrow service and the security and privacy features) and allowing for modular expansion under one privacy centric platform, Particl provides convenience and streamlines existing processes for private, anonymous and public commerce independent of traditional fiat.

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In summary cryptocurrencies that choose to integrate with the Particl platform will instantly find non-speculative uses and revenue. This will drive fiat into those cryptocurrencies and perpetuate a tendency to keep it there, increasing both their liquidity and value as these will now be used to buy and sell goods on the Particl platform via its decentralised marketplace and any other services it offers.

By: Joske

Notorious Domain XBT.com Goes up for Sale at 200 BTC

XBT.com, one of the web's most desirable domain names, is up for sale. Its current owners, XBT Holding SA, are seeking 200 BTC – or about $2.9 million – for the site. The domain is coveted partially because XBT is the abbreviation that many institutional trading platforms use for bitcoin, and also on account of the site's notoriety, having been linked to the hacking of the US Democratic Party.

Buy XBT with BTC

It's not often a three-letter dot com domain goes up for sale, but when it does, it's guaranteed to command a premium price tag. XBT.com is of particular interest to bitcoiners, given that the letters XBT are synonymous with bitcoin in some circles. This connection accounts for why the web hosting company in charge of the domain have elected to capitalize on the bitcoin boom and price the domain in BTC.

200 BTC is the starting bid for XBT.com, whose holding page currently shows a "buy now" button or the option to place a bid, complete with the price of bitcoin in real-time, denominated in XBT. There's more to the site than a cool name and a convenient bitcoin connection though: the backstory to XBT.com is the most enthralling part of the whole affair.

In January 2017, Buzzfeed published a story based on information supplied by research group Fusion GPS. It contained a series of allegations about XBT, the Luxembourg-based company currently selling the domain of the same name. XBT, in conjunction with its Webzilla subsidiary, had been complicit in stealing data from the Democratic Party including a damning dossier on Donald Trump, the allegation went. XBT's former CEO Aleksej Gubarev was named specifically in the report, supposedly abetted by Russia's Federal Security Service.

Notorious Domain XBT.com Goes up for Sale at 200 BTCXBT and its then-CEO bitterly contested these allegations, but the cat was already out the bag, and the company's reputation and finances took a hit. Gubarev and XBT took Buzzfeed to court over the story, in a case which is still ongoing in a Florida court. XBT and Buzzfeed have been sniping ever since, with the Luxembourg-based company filing a response to Buzzfeed's attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed entitled "Six Ways BuzzFeed Has Misled the Court (Number Two Will Amaze You) … And a Picture of a Kitten".

Bloomberg quotes Gubarev, via his lawyer, as saying:

This domain has way more value in the hands of someone in the cryptocurrency business. Also, the brand name of XBT has severely suffered due to the false allegations in the dossier, and we are considering re-branding as the result of the reputational damage.

XBT's loss can be one bitcoin entrepreneur's gain, but they'll need to dig deep for the privilege. Aside from the 200 BTC asking price, the auction requires a deposit of $10,000 or 0.5 BTC just to eligible to bid. With no bids received so far, it remains to be seen whether XBT will succeed in shifting one of the web's most infamous domains.

Dubai to Become a Blockchain City

Dubai is a city known for its extravagance and technology. Flying taxis, water jet firefighters, and robotic police are all parts of its current reality or future. It would not be a surprise if they were simply looking into smart contracts and cryptocurrencies, but what many may not realize is that they also plan on being the world's first blockchain-powered government.

DUBAI AS A BLOCKCHAIN CITY

There are some immediate and obvious advantages to getting much of a nation's citizenship and other tedious documents which require extensive reconciliation between various organizations onto a blockchain. Distributed, decentralized ledgers offer numerous benefits for this kind of recordkeeping.

Dubai plans to make the majority of city documentation powered by smart contracts by the year 2020. This is ambitious, but not impossible. The various items that will find their way onto the blockchain by then are: visa applications, bill payments, and license renewals. Essentially, anything that currently requires paperwork will likely end up on the blockchain between now and 2020.

This makes an incredible amount of sense, and the amount of money saved by cutting down on man-hours and labor costs is significant.

CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE COINS

While many may assume that these smart contracts and the associated data will be written on a public, already widely-used blockchain, we may need to reconsider. There are many reasons why new cryptocurrencies may be more attractive to governments, such as Dubai's, over others. Namely, there are coins like DubaiCoin (DBIX), which was built and developed by residents of Dubai. One must also consider the fact that Islam (the majority religion in the UAE) also has its own set of financial laws, which would make a locally created coin a more culturally appropriate choice for a predominantly Islamic city.

Please note that this is only a guess, as the Dubai government has not yet announced which blockchain(s) it will employ to facilitate these smart contract functions. Do not take this as financial advice.

OTHER GOVERNMENTS HOLD THEIR BREATH

At the end of the day, this is going to be an incredibly valuable dry run for the rest of the world. This will demonstrate just how effective blockchain technology can be for solving the many challenges that national governments face.

Once the example has been set, the benefits made apparent, and the pitfalls identified, this is going to be a great blueprint for other governments and cities to follow. While the cost of spinning all of this up may be a bit beyond the means of many governments for a while, the price of blockchain adoption will surely decrease the more widespread it becomes.

We should all be excited about this.