Mining Round-Up: Ebang Files for IPO in HK, Miner Arrested in China

In recent mining news, major mining chip manufacturer Ebang Communications has filed for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in Hong Kong, a Chinese miner has been arrested for allegedly stealing 150,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity in roughly one month, and a report has provided unique insight into the state of mining in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
Also Read: FBI Currently Investigating 130 Crypto-Related Cases

Chip Manufacturer Ebang Communications Files for IPO in Hong Kong

Major mining chip manufacturer Ebang Communication has become the latest leading firm operating in the bitcoin mining industry to file for an IPO in Hong Kong.
The company’s application for IPO is in its draft form, and as such does not state the volume of funds that Ebang seeks to raise, nor does it disclose a valuation for the company. According to financial statements included in the application, Ebang generated approximately $140 million USD in revenue and $60 million in net profit during 2017. The financial statement also estimates that more than 94% of the company’s revenues for 2017 were generated through the sale of bitcoin miners, a significant spike from 31% in 2015 and 42% in 2016.
Last month, Reuters reported that Ebang Communications was rumored to be seeking to conduct a $1 billion IPO in Hong Kong. The report stated that earlier this year Ebang “delisted from China’s National Equities Exchange and Quotations […] after announcing in January that it would seek a Hong Kong listing.”
Earlier this year, Canaan Creative revealed it would be seeking to conduct a $1 billion IPO in Hong Kong. At the start of June, the chief executive officer of Bitmain, Jihan Wu, indicate that the company is open to conducting an overseas IPO in Hong Kong, or any jurisdiction in which shares would be denominated in U.S. dollars.

Chinese Miner Arrested for Allegedly Stealing 150,000 KWH of Electricity

 

More than 200 mining rigs have been confiscated by police in China’s Anhui Province following the arrest of a man accused of stealing 150,000 kWh of electricity in roughly a month.
According to state-operating Chinese media outlet, Xinhua News, police found that the electricity meter for the alleged mining operation had been “short-circuited” in an attempt to obfuscate the scale of power being consumed by the hardware.
The suspect reportedly told police that he purchased his mining hardware in April, however, discovered that the daily operating costs of his operations exceeded 6,000 yuan (approximately $925 USD). The suspect also claimed that he had not yet generated a profit on the operation at the time of his arrest.

“Whatever is not Illegal is Legal” – Mining in the Russian Province of Kaliningrad

 

A recent report published by Financial Times has provided an insight into the present state of mining operations in the Russian province of Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave situated between Lithuania and Poland on the edge of the Baltic Sea.
The article states that the author met with Kaliningrad Region Development Corporation (KRDC) – a state-owned institution tasked with attracting and fostering investment into the region. The report reveals that the KRDC had recently shown two datacenters to prospective mining investors, both of which were purchased by the entrepreneurs who invested $50 million USD into the sites.
Regarding the legal status of cryptocurrency mining in Kaliningrad, Sergei Evstigneev, the region’s IT and communications minister, stated “Whatever is not illegal is legal. There are no laws regarding cryptocurrency mining because it’s a new kind of business.”
Vladimir Zarudny, the KRDC’s director-general, stated “Kaliningrad has become a kind of lab where we can test new initiatives and legislation. We think we could be a liberal Russian territory which is friendly for doing business, and a gateway to Russian markets.”
Do you think more mining companies will file for IPOs in Hong Kong? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

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Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Ebang.cn

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Why 70% of ICO Tokens Are Not Exchange Listed and Probably Never Will Be

“When Binance?” is the refrain from impatient bag-holders in ICO Telegram groups. For investors eager to flip their tokens and move onto the next thing, a major exchange listing is the big event, and the sooner the better. But for beleaguered project teams, with a community to manage, workforce to recruit, and decentralized solution to build, an exchange listing is the least of their concerns. It’s also the most expensive.
Also read: FBI Currently Investigating 130 Crypto-Related Cases

Creating a Token is Easy. Listing it is Hard

With the number of global cryptocurrency exchanges now in excess of 250, there ought to be more than enough platforms to support new ICO tokens. But as many of these projects are finding out, obtaining an exchange listing without paying exorbitant fees is almost impossible. ICOs unwilling to stump up risk being left to languish in the shadowlands of low liquidity DEXes. Recent research from ICOrating.com shows the difficulties projects face in getting their token listed on a reputable exchange – and those problems aren’t limited to affording the listing fee.
For one thing, the project needs to have completed a successful ICO in the first place. If their tokens failed to sell out, even with the remainder being burned, demand for the token on the secondary markets will be low and exchanges are unlikely to be interested. ICOrating reports that only 22% of ICOs that completed in Q1 of this year were able to have their token listed. This figure is down 10% on the previous quarter, which is attributed to the fact that half of all ICOs in Q1 of this year raised less than $100,000.

Listing Fees Vary Greatly

Projects that failed to hit their hard cap simply can’t afford an exchange listing, while those that did may still balk at the price. The discrepancy between what exchanges charge is huge, ranging from around $100,000 to $3 million for the largest and most liquid exchanges. (It has been claimed that Binance charges as much as $7 million in some cases.) In fairness to cryptocurrency exchanges, listing a new token isn’t as simple as many traders seem to think.

 

Among the many tasks that must be performed before a token can be listed is the necessary due diligence to ensure the project is not a scam. Should a token later be discovered to be one, it risks affecting the platform’s reputation, as happened when Centra was revealed to be a fraud, prompting Kucoin and Binance to hastily delist it. Due to the time required to perform various security checks and other administrative tasks, it takes an average of 21 days for an ICO’s token to start trading, ICOrating reports. Some exchanges also insist that the token’s smart contract is audited to check for bugs, which is understandable given their prevalence and potential severity.

Exchanges Can’t Always Be Relied On

 

Even after securing an exchange listing, it is not always plain sailing for ICOs. There have been instances of exchanges delisting tokens without warning. Regulatory pressure can also take its toll: if there are rumors that a certain token risks being labeled a security, exchanges can get spooked and delist it to be safe. Given the haste with which newly listed tokens can be pumped, dumped, and then left to die a lingering death, with the project still months away from launch, it’s no wonder that some ICOs are hesitant to have their token listed before their beta is ready and there’s genuine demand for their token.

For each problem an exchange listing solves, it introduces several more. Be it through choice or necessity, 70% of this year’s ICO tokens have yet to make an exchange. Most of them never will.
Do you think ICOs should try to have their token listed as soon as possible, or is it better to wait until the project is ready? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

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Uphold to Acquire JNK Securities, Opening Door for US-Regulated ICO Trading

It seems that a race to take over US-licensed brokerages has begun among crypto companies. Soon after Coinbase revealed it is buying up a securities firm, Uphold has now followed the move with its own acquisition. JNK Securities’ licenses could possibly open the door for the company to offer trading on ICO tokens deemed securities by US authorities.

Also Read: The Daily: Pornhub Adds New Tokens, Fcoin Defends Trans-Fee, Coinbase Goes Pro

Uphold to Acquire JNK Securities

Uphold has announced it reached an agreement to acquire JNK Securities Corp, a New York Stock Exchange member and an SEC and FINRA regulated broker-dealer founded in 1993. At the same time, the company has filed an application with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for the approval of the change of ownership of JNK and its and business expansion.
If its application with the regulators is approved, the extension of the broker-dealer registration will cover Uphold’s securities and security-token business and expand its compliance capabilities, customer base, and service offering. The acquisition will also offer JNK clients access to all of Uphold’s crypto to fiat trading pairs and assets, introducing the platform to a new group of institutional investors.

Opening the Door for ICOs

 

Once known as Bit Reserve, Uphold now supports over thirty currencies and commodities, just eight of which are cryptocurrencies. With a securities license this might expand to include many ICO tokens, which some regulators in the US deem to be securities. It mirrors the very recent action by Coinbase which also acquired the broker-dealer Keystone Capital “for its licenses.”
Uphold CEO, Adrian Steckel, Stated: “We have kept a close eye on statements from global regulators regarding virtual currencies and tokens and believe that many crypto assets (particularly ICO tokens) may be treated as securities in some cases. Broker-dealer and ATS coverage is key to protecting our customers and to building a preeminent financial services ecosystem. We are proud to be a compliant financial services company, working with regulators to ensure we provide the most trusted and transparent access to digital financial services worldwide. Through our new securities division, we would be able to offer sales and trading of ICO tokens and fractional equities and provide other exchange services, under the oversight of the SEC and FINRA. Additionally, with the acquisition of JNK, we’re enhancing its compliance and regulatory policies and practices.”
Are only rich Americans going to have access to invest in ICOs? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. 

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Indian Women More Bullish On Crypto than Men, Invest Twice As Much

Despite being a minority among crypto investors, just like anywhere else, women in India actually spend on cryptocurrency twice more than men do. A newly released survey also found that the majority of Indian crypto users live in big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. The study comes out while Indians expect new regulations within weeks.      
Also read: Indian Crypto Regulations Ready in July, Official Reveals

Men Still a Majority Among Investors, Women Spend More

Unsurprisingly, female crypto investors are a firm minority in India, and pretty much anywhere else on the planet. However, what sets Indian women apart from many other, beauty aside, is their willingness to spend more on cryptocurrency than their husbands and boyfriends.
According to a survey carried out by crypto exchange Buyucoin, female traders in India spend more than Rs.140,000 on average (>$2,000 USD), whereas men invest half of that, around Rs.70,000, Crypto News reported. The authors of the survey arrived to these numbers after examining trading data for the country’s largest cities, where the majority of cryptocurrency users are concentrated.
The research covers over 60,000 participants and has been conducted by Buyucoin between the months of May and June, this year. The trading platform’s chief executive and co-founder, Shivam Thakral, commented:

“We wanted to conduct a detailed study to ascertain new policies and strategies that will drive this industry ahead. We acquired some interesting facts such as the service sector is taking exceptional interest in trading of cryptocurrency, and females, in particular, showed great potential in leading this industry forward.”

The published data reveals that New Delhi (National Capital Region) is the area with the most active cryptocurrency users, 22.03 percent of the total. The city also has the largest share of female crypto investors – 8.8 percent, while men are 91.2 percent. Mumbai, the financial capital of India, takes the second position with 14.42 percent active users, 93.4 percent of which are male and 6.6 percent are female. Bangalore is in third place with 13.91 percent, men are 93.2 percent and women account for 6.8 percent.
They are followed by Hyderabad – 9.6%, Pune – 8.09%, Chennai – 5.94%, and Ahmedabad – 3.81% of active users. Kolkata is at the bottom of the table with only 3.23 percent of all users, 95.8 percent of which are men and 4.2 percent women. The 8 cities covered account for three quarters of all cryptocurrency investments in the report.
Another interesting finding is related to the age at which most Indians enter the cryptocurrency world. For male investors that’s 30 years, and for women – around 40. “Usually, woman investors who are buying or trading are over 40 years of age. Typically these are mature investors who are able to put in more money,” Buyucoin CEO, Shivam Thakral, explained for Quartz. “On the other hand, more men start investing at an early age with the average age for this group being 30,” he noted.

New Regulations Expected Within Weeks

The findings come at a time when the Indian crypto community expects authorities to present a comprehensive regulatory framework for the sector. The head of the government-appointed committee tasked to propose new regulations recently said that these will be ready in the first fortnight of July, as news.Bitcoin.com reported.
So far, authorities in Delhi have mostly demonstrated negative attitude towards cryptocurrencies with the finance minister declaring they are not to be regarded as legal tender in the country and the central bank restricting financial institutions from providing services to crypto businesses and users.
The ban imposed by the Reserve Bank of India is scheduled to come into force on July 5. A number of local crypto companies have filed petitions against the measure. According to the latest reports, the Supreme Court will hear some of them on July 3, right before the deadline set by the RBI for commercial banks to comply with its directive.
Do you think regulating cryptocurrencies will attract more women into the crypto space? Share your expectations in the comments section below.

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Trustless Bitcoin Cash Betting is Coming — Chainbet Reveals Working Prototype

Just recently, news.Bitcoin.com reported on the trustless betting concept called Chainbet designed by the Electron Cash lead developer Jonald Fyookball. Since then, Chris Pacia performed the first atomic bet on the Bitcoin Cash network and now the project is seeing contributions from other developers as well. Now the programmers have revealed they have developed a working prototype that executes BCH wagers in a decentralized and trustless fashion.
Also read: Cryptocurrency Firm Circle Sees Institutional Interest Spike 30%

Chainbet Developers Produce a Working Prototype

The protocol Chainbet is moving along as the project has moved from Jonald Fyookball’s proof-of-concept into a reality as the developer has revealed a working prototype. In essence, Chainbet allows two parties (Alice & Bob) to bet in a completely trustless manner without the need for third-party arbitration and all of it is recorded on-chain using bitcoin cash. During the first week of June, Fyookball told the Bitcoin Cash community about his new idea while also launching Chainbet’s Github repository that explains the concept in better detail alongside the codebase. Openbazaar developer Chris Pacia took the project a step further performing the first atomic bet on the BCH chain. Following this, Fyookball, Pacia, and James Cramer boosted the project even more by adding the ability to not only perform simple coin flip bets, but also auctions, multiplayer bets, and six-sided dice rolls.

Now the project is really moving along, according to Fyookball, as the developers have devised a working prototype and the reference implementation was built with the open source SDK Bitbox. The Chainbet developers have also released a video of the prototype in action which shows a wager taking place between two candidates in a decentralized manner. According to a source familiar with the development team, the protocol could add a lot more on-chain transactions on the BCH chain.
“Each bet is around 10 on-chain transactions — Once it goes live it should increase transaction count quite a bit,” our source details.

Chainbet Goes Beyond Provably Fair

Following the announcement of a working prototype and a video showing the action in process, a Lightning Network supporter claimed on Reddit that there was a “better solution to betting in a provably fair model that scales efficiently working right now” and shared an app called ‘Lightningspin.’
The Electron Cash developer and creator of Chainbet Jonald Fyookball scoffed at the LN supporter’s assumption that the ‘Lightningspin’ app is a ‘better solution.’

Chainbet goes beyond provably fair — It is also trustless.

Since the inception of Chainbet, the recently re-enabled OP_Codes, and increased OP_Return data field things like on-chain trustless wagers are becoming a reality. The idea shows that decentralized bets used in various ways on gambling websites like Satoshi Dice, Bitcoin Cash Games, and other BCH casinos could create trustless environment for their visiting players. Essentially, wagers like these could revolutionize the way we gamble online.

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Why do we need AMICORUM.LIVE

With numerous music festivals around the world, the excitement for being a part of these has only doubled in the past few years. We have seen a growth of 50% in ticket sales in each year across all the major music festivals. Being a part of this generation has led us to attend and be a part of some amazing festivals across the globe – ranging from JWP, Ultra, EDC, Sziget, Tomorrowland and the list goes on.

However, there is an underlying devil behind each of these festivals and many of us know it as “tickets”. Either they are just too expensive or out of reach due to being sold out. As many as 80% of these festivals sell out in as little as a day and their tickets get listed on the Seconday Market for double or sometimes, even triple the costs. Let alone the ticket costs, there is an average charge of 10% to use the ticketing platform and bank charges.

And the ticket that was to cost X is now X+Y+Z (ticket price + transaction cost + processing fees)
We solve this major pain. 

AMICORUM (Latin word close to the meaning of Gathering of Friends) is an innovative platform that will decentralize the ticket re-sale industry using blockchain and secure identity platform. The platform will be secure, transparent and free of any transaction/processing fees for buying and selling of only authenticated tickets in the secondary re-sale market.
Sellers will be able to list their tickets in fiat (using a market-feed oracle, the platform will calculate AMI prices at the time of purchase) that will be authenticated with smart contract and Buyer’s will be able to buy tickets with the AMI token (the new cryptocurrency based on Ethereum blockchain) at 0 transaction fee and 0 processing fees.

Rewards will also be offered to users for transacting on the platform.

For more information, please visit:

Website: https://amicorum.live/
Whitepaper: https://account.amicorum.live/WhitepaperEnglish.pdf
Announcement: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3032839.0
Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/IAPTFAnbFEx2gjtuw23RCA
Twitter: http://twitter.com/AmicorumLive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amicorum.live/
Medium: https://medium.com/@amicorumlive
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/amicorum/
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/amicorum-live/

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AMICORUM.LIVE – What it brings?

In our yesterday’s post we gave a short introduction on what is AMICORUM.LIVE and why do we need it.
Today, we will talk about the established credibility of the Secondary Ticket Market and Features that AMICORUM.LIVE will host.
The ticket sales turnover on the secondary market in 2016 alone was over $8.9Bln and the major segments were:

• Sporting Events
• Concerts & Festivals
• Theatres
• Movies

The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the live music ticketing sector will average 6.92% from 2016 to 2021, reaching a value of US$24.55 billion in 2021.
The company goal is to achieve at least 25% of this market by 2022 and grow the user base substantially.
Enter AMICORUM.LIVE – What features will it bring?

• User Portal for the Seller & Buyer
• KYC and Vetting Mechanism for Seller & Buyer
• Decentralized Ticketing Exchange for Seller & Buyer
• Real Time conversion of Ticket Price to AMI Tokens (Token to use on the platform)
• Reconciliation of Sales and funds remittance to sellers after network confirmations
• Blockchain ledger validation with complete security of information

We are not only defining the way people buy and sell their tickets but also helping them validate their purchase to ensure redundancy of any fraud. The early adopters will have massive opportunity in guiding the growth of the company.
The ICO brings with it a validation and support of over 1,000 people in just 5 days and also a brighter future for the millennials to make the most out of decentralization.
In the next topic, we will discuss why there is a need for blockchain in this industry, innovating and reward features and why fiat competitors will lose the game!

For more information, please visit:

Website: https://amicorum.live/
Whitepaper: https://account.amicorum.live/WhitepaperEnglish.pdf
Announcement: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3032839.0
Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/IAPTFAnbFEx2gjtuw23RCA
Twitter: http://twitter.com/AmicorumLive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amicorum.live/
Medium: https://medium.com/@amicorumlive
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/amicorum/
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/amicorum-live/

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What is AMICORUM.LIVE? What is its Mission?

We are an Innovative Blockchain Ecosystem That Will Disrupt and Decentralize the Ticket Re-sale Markets.
AMICORUM.LIVE will be a peer-peer ecosystem that will provide secure, transparent and “0” transaction/processing fee based platform for the ticket re-sale industry - eliminating transaction costs, fraud and empowering ticket buyers.
The platform provides a peer to peer ecosystem to transact ticket sales via AMI Tokens. The sellers will receive payments in AMI tokens in their account and the buyers will need AMI tokens to buy the tickets.
All ticket sales will be finalized the same day of the purchase as the blockchain confirms transactions within minutes. This means you don’t have to wait for the payments to be sent from your bank to the ticket holder.
Mission - The mission is to solve two of the biggest pain points in the second ticket re-sale industry – Transaction & Processing Fees and Counterfeit Tickets
Transaction Fee – Although the seller is able to sell their tickets online, the buyer still needs to pay for the ticket, platform fee and a transaction fee that is charged by their bank. The AMICORUM.LIVE platform will take away this pain from the buyers and provide a seamless experience free from any transaction fee or bank fee. The platform will be used to sell tickets and buy tickets at the cost listed.
Untrusted/Counterfeit – Despite the usual warnings on the website asking buyers to only buy tickets from the box office or a reputable ticket exchange website, they still direly go straight into this problem. And even fuel it. The most usual case is when the same ticket is sold to 10-15 enthusiasts or even more. The first ticket holder to arrive, gets to view the event or attend the concert/festival and the rest have to just go back home.
AMICORUM.LIVE will provide blockchain authentication for the tickets to ensure a mutually profitable interaction for the parties involved.

For more information, please visit:

Website: https://amicorum.live/
Whitepaper: https://account.amicorum.live/WhitepaperEnglish.pdf
Announcement: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3032839.0
Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/IAPTFAnbFEx2gjtuw23RCA
Twitter: http://twitter.com/AmicorumLive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amicorum.live/
Medium: https://medium.com/@amicorumlive
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/amicorum/
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/amicorum-live/

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AMICORUM.LIVE - YOUR QUESTIONS, ANSWERED!

FUNDAMENTALS
AMICORUM.LIVE (Latin word close to the meaning of Gathering of Friends) is a blockchain based innovative ecosystem that will decentralize the ticket resale industry using blockchain and secure identity platform.
We are changing the way people buy and sell tickets in the Secondary Ticket Re-Sale Market.
The platform will be secure, transparent and free of any transaction/processing fees for buying and selling only authenticated tickets in the secondary resale market.
Identities will be validated using Secure Identity Platform (SIP). Read more here 
Ticket Ownership will be validated through smart contracts. Read more here
As a Seller you will be able to list your tickets on the platform and using a market-feed oracle, the price will be converted into AMI TOKENS in real time. And as a buyer, you will be able to pay with your AMI TOKENS by generating a transaction on the Ethereum Blockchain Network.
As the ticket prices are converted in real time and transactions are immuted through the blockchain, there will be no processing or transaction fees and no fraudulent tickets.
IS THIS WHAT YOU ARE WONDERING?
What's your reasoning for participating in our ICO?

• It should only be to support the decentralizing the ticket re-sale industry. We are trying to take away any middle-men that charge huge amount of transaction and processing fees.

Is it something you are passionate about?

• This is for the music industry and our niche focus is Music Festivals and Concerts. If you have been to a music festival or a concert, then our product is for you.

Can you see the potential to capture market share in the future?

• Our potential market is over 20% of 25.55B by 2022. Do you see a potential in this market?

Will you use this product?
-If you buy tickets for music festivals and concerts online, then you will use this product.
What does this technology achieve?

• Removes the middle-men, drives TRUE decentralization of the ticket resale market and allows users to be empowered.

For more information, please visit:

Website: https://amicorum.live/
Whitepaper: https://account.amicorum.live/WhitepaperEnglish.pdf
Announcement: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3032839.0
Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/IAPTFAnbFEx2gjtuw23RCA
Twitter: http://twitter.com/AmicorumLive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amicorum.live/
Medium: https://medium.com/@amicorumlive
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/amicorum/
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/amicorum-live/

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