bitcoin-lamose: November 2019

Russians Design а ‘Beautiful’ Mining Rig

Form Meets Function in the “Freer” Miner

You have to admit, mining rigs are not the best-looking pieces of engineering. That’s okay when talking about industrial-grade hardware; racks upon racks of ASICs in some former factory in Russia, China, or America. But domestic devices, homemade or purchased, are not aesthetically pleasing. They are often just a skeleton frame, with half a dozen video cards, cables and fans, and, if you are lucky, you’ll get all that in an ugly square box with the fans visible on the outside. Whatever the case, it’s not something you would want to see in your living room.

A Russian design studio has decided to remedy that. They’ve recently launched their first “beautiful” miner, an aesthetically pleasing home mining device that is modular and customizable. It offers a number of ports on the back, a choice of displays on the front showing the mined coins, and it comes in different color schemes. The designers have described their creation in a poem published on their website lauding its curved shapes, extraordinary beauty and discreetly hidden cooling system: “More fashionable than an iPhone, the new geek’s dream.”

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The prototype, called “Freer”, comes as a shell and manufacturers are free to place their own mining hardware inside the box. Art Lebedev, the studio run by famous Russian designer, entrepreneur, and blogger Artemy Lebedev, has not wasted time on the engineering side but has focused primarily on the design aspect of the project. The company did not reveal details about the client who ordered its first artistic mining rigs but published some of the sketches drawn during the development of the final concept.

Lower Taxes for Miners Proposed in Russia

The fashionable mining rig has been announced at a moment when the Russian crypto community, not least miners, is eagerly awaiting the final decision of authorities in Moscow regarding the legalization and regulation of crypto-related activities such as cryptocurrency mining. Three bills dealing with the matter were voted on first reading this spring with their final adoption expected during the fall session of the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament.

The new legislation should regulate various aspects of the crypto industry including the circulation and exchange of cryptocurrencies with rubles and foreign fiat. The taxation of crypto incomes and profits is one of the outstanding issues. Currently, revenues from crypto mining are subject to the Russian flat income tax rate of 13%. Different ideas have been discussed with the latest one coming from the Russian Association of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain (RACIB) and one of its members.

A company called Crypto Universe as well as RACIB has proposed to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to allow private individuals dealing with mining to register as self-employed persons. This would lower their taxes to only 3-5%. According to Crypto Universe, there are more than 350,000 individual miners in the Russian Federation. Due to the lack of an adequate regulatory framework, many of them operate unofficially and cash out their minted coins illegally. As a result, the state treasury loses an estimated 2 billion rubles (almost $30 million) in uncollected tax annually.

Japanese Company Trials BTC and Smart Contracts in Real Estate Transactions

BTC and Smart Contracts in Real Estate

Japanese real estate company Ruden Holdings (TYO:1400) recently announced the results of an experiment using its newly-created “virtual currency real estate settlement platform.”

The company explained that the trial, which involved BTC and smart contracts, was conducted in collaboration with Blockchain Global Limited (BGL). The two companies partnered in April to develop the settlement system and a “virtual registration data inquiry system,” Ruden detailed, adding:

For the settlement of bitcoins (BTC) used in the property sale, Bitflyer’s web service and API functions were used.

Some parts of the system, such as time stamping of the contract, used the NEM test network, the company added. Bitflyer is Japan’s largest crypto exchange by volume. However, the exchange halted registering new users after receiving a business improvement order from the country’s financial regulator in June.

The Experiment

The experiment began with a seller listing a property to sell and a buyer looking for one to buy. The buyer then filled out an offer to purchase the property, which the seller confirmed.

“The buyer then sent the virtual currency (bitcoin) to the Ruden company’s virtual currency account,” the company described, elaborating:

As soon as Ruden (system) confirms the remittance of the virtual currency, we will execute the contract and [convert the] virtual currency to Japanese yen. In addition, a notarized sale [and] purchase agreement is promptly shared with [the] buyer and seller.

Other forms including the property registration application and requests to acquire other necessary documents are also automatically sent in order to execute the sale of the property.

Many Advantages Over Traditional Systems

Ruden then outlined many advantages it observed from the experiment.

For buyers and sellers, the company explained that using smart contracts and crypto payments makes it “possible to drastically shorten the time required” to perform each step of the process, including depositing money.

“Smart contracts eliminate the need for manual work and conditions,” the company detailed, adding that “the time to negotiate and conclude can be shortened compared to the current work.” Furthermore, the system also reduces “trouble such as refusal” to hand over the property after payment has been made.

Overall, Ruden emphasized:

It is not only to improve the efficiency of operations, but also to prevent unforeseen circumstances.

In addition to building the two systems above, the company announced last week the establishment of an overseas subsidiary in Singapore for the issuance of its own token.

Abra Launches Services for SEPA Bank Account Holders

SEPA Bank Account Holders Now Able to Purchase Crypto Through Abra

Abra, a virtual currency wallet and exchange, has announced support for SEPA bank account holders – increasing the number of countries serviced by the company by 35.

Bill Barhydt, the founder and chief executive of Abra, stated: “With users from over 70 countries globally, and a greater demand for the ability to invest in cryptocurrencies from any bank account, it is really important to give investors the opportunity to fund their Abra wallet directly from any bank account. This new feature is helping to change the way people invest, adding to a brighter future for the cryptocurrency market around the world.”

“As we continue to expand our capabilities, we are constantly looking for efficient and secure on-ramps that will enable our users to easily invest in cryptocurrencies. Ease, efficiency, and effectiveness are paramount for us in helping our clients invest,” he added.

Abra Customers Soon Able to Fund Accounts Using BCH

Abra Launches Services for SEPA Bank Account Holders

Abra’s customers will soon be able to fund their wallets using Bitcoin Cash, with a press release stating that “beginning over the next several days, users will also have the ability to fund their Abra wallet using Bitcoin Cash (BCH). This would come in addition to the newly launched SEPA bank transfers and cryptocurrency deposit options already available in the app today.”

Alongside the expansion into the SEPA zone, Abra also launched support for Cardano (ADA), Basic Attention Token (BAT), and Tron (TRX). Abra now provides support for 50 fiat currencies and 28 cryptocurrencies.

21,000 New Locations Across Canada, Europe, Australia to Purchase Bitcoin Cash

21,000 New Locations to Buy Bitcoin Cash

“Adding BCH brings us to having 6 of the top 7 coins available via Netcoins. With just EOS left among the top 7 coins, we are giving investors a compelling reason to use the Netcoins network for all their crypto needs, whether via OTC or via our strong retail network,” announced Netcoins CEO Mark Binns.

21,000 New Locations Across Canada, Europe, Australia to Purchase Bitcoin Cash

Netcoins has been around for three years, and is from Vancouver, Canada, where it initiated its virtual ATM business in 2015. “Merchants from all over the world can sign up for the Netcoins service and be provided with a platform that allows them to have a Bitcoin ATM without having to buy a machine. The application can work on a smartphone or tablet allowing merchants to offer the sale of Bitcoin without the substantial costs involved with the purchase of a device or the physical space needed within the store,” we profiled previously.

For BCH, it’s another adoption score, one in a string this year. Netcoins services 21,000 retail locations throughout Canada, Europe, and Australia. In its announcement the company promised immediate access to purchase BCH through its OTC Private Brokerage Services.

Adoption Milestones Keep Coming for BCH

Just days ago, these pages reported how “the Atlanta-based firm Bitpay announced that its merchants can now receive settlement in bitcoin cash (BCH). Not only can Bitpay merchants accept the decentralized digital currency and keep all the bitcoin cash, but they can also split their funds into a fraction of fiat and BCH as well,” a significant step for merchants tired of changing out from bitcoin core (BTC) back into BCH after settling.

And a week prior to the above, “a new bitcoin cash SPV client available called Pixel Wallet that provides users with the ability to attach BCH transactions to pictures” was released. “Basically, bitcoin cash users can send BCH transactions in a steganographic manner with the wallet hiding funds in plain sight. Pixel Wallet was initially announced and launched on the BCH testnet during the first week of August, and the project’s developers explained the application would be the first of its kind.”

Netcoins appears to be doing well during an extended bear market. They announced this summer pushing through more than $2 million worth of transactions in a 24-hour period, capping a vibrant month for the outfit of over $5 million in transactions total.

Sunday, November 3, 2019