‘World’s Largest Ethereum Wallet’ ImToken Raises $10 Million Series A to Fund Global Expansion

Chinese ethereum wallet startup imToken has raised a $10 million Series A from IDG Capital as it seeks to expand its product offering and finance international expansion into Asia, Africa, and the United States.

The Hangzhou-based company, which was founded in 2016, claims to be the world’s largest ethereum wallet, with more than 4 million monthly active users and support for 30,000 tokens.

ImToken says that $35 billion worth of funds have been stored in the app over the past calendar year, which is 75 percent more than the “more than $20 billion” that Coinbase has said its customers have stored on its platform. Self-reported data also indicates that imToken users account for approximately 10 percent of all ethereum transactions.

“imToken has developed its product into one of the top crypto asset wallets in the world with such a sound reputation. We believe it will become a significant infrastructure for the tokenization manifesto, benefitting both the crypto economy and blockchain technology,” IDG Capital’s Young Guo was quoted as saying in a press statement.

According to Bloomberg, 70 percent of imToken’s user base comes from China, and the company has said that IDG’s funding will be used to bootstrap international adoption. The firm will open an office in Singapore that will focus on expansion into Southeast Asia, after which it intends to expand into the rest of Asia as well as African countries where the app already has a core user group. Finally, the firm will make a global push, expanding into the US and other regions.

Though available to Western users, the app has yet to make much of a dent in this market. At present, the app has approximately 100,000 installs from the Google Play store — which is not readily available in China — along with a four-star rating.

ImToken also intends to use the funds to expand the range of assets supported by the mobile wallet. The company recently rolled out support for bitcoin (including SegWit), and it also intends to develop compatibility with EOS and other blockchains.

Kuwait Bank Adopts Ripple(XRP) for Instant Cross-Border Payments

The Kuwait Finance House (KFH) has become the Arab nation’s first bank to join RippleNet, an enterprise blockchain network from industry giant Ripple, for international remittance payments.

In an announcement, the Kuwaiti bank confirmed its move to join RippleNet, a SWIFT-replacement global blockchain network that sees over 100 financial institutions including banks, payment providers, remittance operators and other financial institutions use the product for real-time clearing and settlement of international transactions.

KFH, which is also Kuwait’s first Islamic bank, underlined its intention to use Ripple’s ‘unique tool’ for cross-border payments for its retail customers, stating:

With this, KFH can provide instant and secure cross-border money transfers within seconds, with end-to-end visibility over the journey of the payment.

Details of the offering are currently scarce and it remains to be seen if the bank uses Ripple’s xCurrent, an enterprise blockchain software that enables settlements in fiat or xRapid, a product which uses Ripple’s token cryptocurrency XRP for real-time liquidity for international transactions.

While the bank says it will require the approval of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) prior to the launch of the Ripple-enabled service, KFH insists customers will benefit from faster payments in increased efficiency, security and transparency of the transaction at markedly lower costs than traditional remittance solutions.

Elsewhere in the region, UAE-based RAK Bank, also known as the National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah, an emirate in the UAE, became a RippleNet member in September to enable “instant, frictionless and secure money transfer services” to recipients with accounts in India’s Axis Bank, also a RippleNet member. In February, one of the Middle East’s biggest money transfer and forex firms, the UAE Exchange, also joined the blockchain network developed by San Francisco-based Ripple.

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), the defacto central bank of Saudi Arabia, has also partnered Ripple to pilot Ripple’s xCurrent among a number of regional banks. The SAMA also became the first central bank in the world to join RippleNet.

Porn Star Stormy Daniels Now Accepts Vice Industry Token on Official Website

The Vice Industry Token (VIT) Network will include twenty adult sites as part of a partnership with Darkreach Communications, including one that features the work of alleged Trump mistress Stormy Daniels.

Vice Token CEO Stewart Duncan said:

“Stormy Daniels understands the value of cryptocurrency. We are thrilled that she chose our blockchain technology to implement on her site.”

The Vice Industry Token is a decentralized cryptographic token that will be used as an incentive to encourage media engagement within the adult media community. For example, visitors to StormyDaniels.com will be rewarded with VIT for watching content or interacting with it by liking or commenting, and the VIT can then be spent on subscriptions or premium content on Ms. Daniels’ site or other partnered adult sites. The token can also be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies and spent or converted into fiat currency, supposedly allowing users to earn money simply for consuming adult media on any of the partnered sites.

Based in Ottowa, Canada, Darkreach Communications manages over 20 adult websites for porn studios and individual stars like Stormy Daniels and Jayden James, and VIT will be introduced to all of them. Darkreach President Rob Murray said the decision to incorporate cryptocurrency into his client’s websites was a “no-brainer”:

 “With VIT, everyone is going to make money – from the users on my sites, to myself and the performers. The way the VIT blockchain works, we all get a piece of the token, and the guaranteed genuine data is the icing in the cake.”

VIT CEO Duncan said that this was simply the first of many upcoming partnerships in the pipeline for Vice Industry Token, and that the team were working on more.

“We have been working extremely hard to ensure that when our platform launches we will have a large network of sites that accept our token to monetize users just for interacting with content. This is just the first set of partners. We are talking to new companies every day.  It’s an easy sell because with our model everyone wins.”

This is the latest instance of cryptocurrency adoption within the adult industry, with Pornhub recently introducing Verge currency as a payment option for private subscriptions and allowing for one-time payments for content using Verge after their partnership with MindGeek. Pornhub even allowed Verge to be used as a reward incentive much like VIT with Darkreach sites, potentially spelling big things for the cryptocurrency.

However, the world’s biggest porn site may be reconsidering, with a recent Pornhub competition offering prizes worth tens of thousands of dollars paid in cryptocurrency – and the cryptocurrency is Vice Token.

Pornhub may be flirting with Vice after the recent 51% attack on Verge which significantly impacted public perception of the reliability of the crypto token.

Bitcoin Price to Bottom at $5,700 in Short-Term Before Recovery: Analyst

Willy Woo, a respected cryptocurrency, and digital asset analyst, recently stated that the bitcoin price might likely fall below the $6,000 mark in the short-term.

Recent Market Struggles

Since mid-May, ever since the bitcoin price failed to test a major support level at $10,000, the cryptocurrency market has been on a continuous decline. The vast majority of tokens and small cryptocurrencies have followed the price trend of bitcoin and Ethereum. On both the upside and downside, the price movement of tokens intensified, recording larger drops than bitcoin during minor corrections.

On May 25, Woo noted that the bitcoin price would likely dip below the $6,000 level and test $5,500 to $5,700 as a long-term support level. In previous reports, CCN noted that the $6,500 mark is an important resistance level which bitcoin has been able to bounce off of since early January.

In the short-term, it is likely that bitcoin falls below $7,000 and test the $6,500 resistance level and the failure to remain above that level will likely send bitcoin to the lower end of $6,000 and potentially to the higher end of $5,000.

Woo named four major reasons to support his call:

High NVT signal
High volatility
Standard NVT overly high
Volume Profile cliff below $6,800

“NVT Signal is still too high. We need more blockchain transactional activity to justify the current price, or the price to drop to reconcile the difference. To drive up transactional activity in a bear slide is very unlikely. Volatility is still too high. I’m looking for a sustained low band of volatility which tends to be a signal for the end of the detox and the next accumulation phase. It’s still got some time to ride down,” said Woo.

NVT Signal is a trading indicator developed by Woo, which is essentially a Standard NVT Ratio–Network Valuation divided by Transaction Value on the blockchain smoothed using moving average–except that instead of applying the moving average to both Network Valuation and Transaction Value, NVT Signal applies moving average to only the Transaction Value, creating a more responsive chart.

While it is unlikely that the bitcoin price drops to the lower end of $5,000, Woo stated that bitcoin would most likely not be able to hold up in the $7,000 region and inevitably drop down to the $6,000 region.

But, because of the intensity of the decline since late 2017, Woo emphasized that 2018 will not see a similar correction period as 2014 and prevent a 2-phase drop.

“So, in summary, my best guess… slowish bleed down to $6800… then a steeper slide to $5700, then a leveling out of the drop… then a flat zone. This is an educated guess based on volume profile and fundamental data framing the rate of movement,” added Woo.

Bitcoin Price to Rebound from $5,700
In October 2017, after nearly doubling in price within a 3-month period, the bitcoin price achieved $5,700. Falling to the $5,700 region would essentially send the price of bitcoin back by nine months.

However, the cryptocurrency market is significantly different from where it was in October. Its volumes are in orders of magnitude larger and the standard of infrastructure provided by companies like Coinbase and Gemini are unprecedented compared to the platforms that were available in early 2017.

Given the difference in the volume and structure of the market in comparison to 2017 and previous years, both Woo and other analysts in the cryptocurrency sector agree that the next bull rally or up cycle for bitcoin will take less time to initiate, possibly in the third quarter of 2018.

Bitcoin Price Drops to $7,300 as Cryptocurrency Market Correction Continues

The bitcoin price has dropped below the $7,300 mark as the valuation of the cryptocurrency market declined by more than $25 billion, from $350 billion to $325 billion over the past 24 hours.
Within the past three days, within merely 72 hours, the valuation of the cryptocurrency market sharply dropped from $390 to $333 billion, losing more than $57 billion. At its previously weekly low, the valuation of the cryptocurrency market dipped to $327 billion. Today, on May 24, the cryptocurrency market fell to a new monthly low.

What is Causing the Market to Drop?

As always, a wide range of factors have contributed to the recent market correction and it is difficult to pinpoint several events as the definitive factors behind the fall of the market. Rather, it as an amalgamation of many events that have occurred throughout the year, which include:

Mt. Gox sell-off

Possible manipulation by large-scale traders in the futures market
Bitfinex taxation policy
Bithumb and UPbit scandal in South Korea
Failure of institutional investors to meet the anticipation of the community
Regulatory uncertainty in several regions
But, it is most likely that the launch of the bitcoin futures market in late 2017 and the manipulation of the cryptocurrency market eventually led the market to become extremely volatile and experience large corrections on a regular basis.

The massive sell-off of bitcoin by the Mt. Gox trustee and a series of negative events from South Korea and the US-led investors to lose confidence in the cryptocurrency market in the short-term.

Earlier today, Bloomberg also reported that the US government and the Justice Department launched an investigation into illicit trading and bitcoin price manipulation.

“The Justice Department has opened a criminal probe into whether traders are manipulating the price of Bitcoin and other digital currencies, dramatically ratcheting up U.S. scrutiny of red-hot markets that critics say are rife with misconduct, according to four people familiar with the matter,” Matt Robinson from Bloomberg reported.

Due to the abnormal volatility in the cryptocurrency market, it is likely that the US government suspects whales and large-scale investors of manipulating the market to drive larger movements on both the upside and downside.

Where Does Bitcoin go From Here?

Yesterday, CCN reported that the breach of the $8,000 resistance level could send the bitcoin price to the lower end of $7,000. Based on the strong downward trend of bitcoin, it is likely that the dominant cryptocurrency dips below $7,000 and reaches $6,900 before rebounding.

Other cryptocurrencies such as Polymath, Ethos, Storm, Zcash, and Waves, which have recorded large gains throughout April and May, declined by 10 to 20 percent against both bitcoin and the US dollar.

Although the Relative Strength Index (RSI) of bitcoin is signifying a neutral zone, it is unlikely that the bitcoin price rebounds before dropping to the lower end of $7,000.

Ethereum, in particular, has experienced a sharp drop over the past 24 hours, declining by more than 10 percent against the US dollar.

Start-Up Uses Blockchain And AI To Offer ‘Trustworthy, Unbiased’ Skincare Advice

A new project aims to rejuvenate the skincare industry by launching a blockchain platform designed to solve problems “experienced by millions of people globally.”

Opu Labs says the vast majority of consumers get advice from social media, friends and product marketers – information which is often biased or too general to take their unique skin type into account. According to its white paper, just 12 percent of people  get recommendations from professional dermatologists, but more than 80 percent would like to do so.

The project wants to provide individuals with “personalized, intelligent treatment options” and recommendations they can trust. It believes its technology could enhance the quality of skincare services while making them available to a broader cross-section of consumers.

Eventually, Opu Labs plans for its technology to be split into five core services.

One of them is Opu AI, a skincare analysis platform which will be free and available as an app for smartphones and web browsers. The company says this software is driven by artificial intelligence and can detect redness, acne, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation and skin tone when provided with a facial image. From here, four regions of the face are scored based on their skin condition. This information can then be used to discover treatments and predict the improvements they would bring.

Other tools are in development

Opu Labs is currently developing an array of other tools – including a real-time search platform which would recommend products to users based on their skin condition and search history. A survey cited by the company suggests over 30 percent of users will spend 10 or more days researching products online before making a purchase decision, but currently face information overload and struggle to verify expertise when using mainstream search engines.

The company is also working on Opu Connect, an engine which would pool the data of users that they opt in. Consumers would be awarded with OPU coins, the ecosystem’s token, if they do so –  skincare companies would get the chance to use this information for the research and development of new products.

Opu CRM would be geared towards skincare professionals – enabling them to hold consultations with patients and create treatment plans. This would be coupled with a blockchain-enabled medical records system  that would allow patient data to be exchanged securely.

“From a dermatologist’s perspective there’s a genuine need to offer their professional expertise to a mass audience. Over 500 mln Facebook users are interested in skincare, yet there’s no quick trusted solution that allows dermatology  professionals to meet the individual needs of these global customers,” the company’s white paper adds.

Tapping into its primary market

Opu Labs believes that 80 percent of the consumers using its platform will be female. The company says its target market is aged between 18 and 35, have internet access, are highly educated and generally spend about $75 a month on skincare products.

In the third quarter of 2018, the company hopes to launch in Asia and release a native version of its app for Android. This would be followed by iOS software and expansion to the US in the following quarter. It hopes the functionality to make treatment recommendations – and a presence in further countries across EU – will be achieved by the end of the year.

A 100 percent bonus on tokens purchased during its presale is being offered until June 26. Its initial coin offering will follow in July.

Signal - Coin SALT

Coin #SALT at #Binance

Buy Between 3200 | 3390 Satoshi

Short-Term

Take Profit 3682 | 3887 Satoshi

Medium-Term

Take Profit 4234 | 4400 Satoshi

Long-Term

Take Profit 5183 |5988 Satoshi

Entry 5-10%

Cryptocurrency Exchange Coinbase May Apply for a Banking License

Cryptocurrency brokerage firm Coinbase has met with US regulators to discuss applying for a banking license, according to an anonymous source familiar with the matter.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the firm, one of the largest in the cryptocurrency industry, met with regulators at the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in early 2018 to discuss applying for a national banking charter, which preempts state-level financial regulations. Coinbase did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Acquiring a banking license would expand the line of services that Coinbase could offer its customers and would remove the need for it to find a banking partner willing to work with a firm that offers cryptocurrency trading.

It would also help Coinbase’s sales pitch to the large institutions it hopes to attract to its platforms. The firm has begun to roll out a wide variety of products for institutional investors — including cryptoasset custody — but many institutions feel more comfortable working with custody partners that have conventional banking licenses.

The report also states that cryptocurrency financial services startup ivyKoin met with officials at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in recent weeks, a meeting that ivyKoin President Gary Fan has publicly confirmed.

However, applying for a banking license would also subject these firms to a litany of new regulations, perhaps offsetting the benefits.

“Most fintechs come to us because they have heard of this thing called a national banking charter that gives them pre-emption across state lines,” the publication cites Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting as saying at an industry meeting last month. “When they come and they speak to us, and they understand what it really takes to be a bank, they kind of glaze over and often leave skid marks leaving the building.”

As CCN reported, Coinbase is said to have approached the SEC about becoming a registered broker-dealer. The company is also one of only five firms that have received New York’s BitLicense, which is required to facilitate cryptocurrency trading in the highly-regulated state.

China Takes Another Step Forward in Promoting Blockchain Innovation

The China Center for Information Industry Development (CCID) of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in Beijing announced its first monthly Global Public Chain Assessment Index at a recent conference. The platform is designed to offer detailed reviews of global blockchain projects by renowned experts in academia, industry and government bodies.

Previously, the CCID had established the Blockchain Research Institute and the China Ecological Blockchain Alliance, which are assigned to strengthen industry, policy research and blockchain technology. The organizations also provide software research and testing to China's government.

The conference introduced blockchain experts to the CCID's latest work in public chain identification. The association's Blockchain Research Institute has garnered most of its data through the cooperation of the CCID Think Tank, the China Software Testing Center and other departments built to scientifically evaluate global public chain technology and further blockchain innovation. In the future, the CCID hopes to provide professional consulting services to blockchain businesses, government branches, technology developers and research institutes, thus paving the way for further blockchain adoption.

During the event, representatives stated what was necessary to identify public chain objects:

An application must possess its own independent main chain.

Any entity should be able to freely create and operate a full node on the network.

It should have a published block explorer where information is easily tracked.

It must run on open-source code.

Its primary team members should be easy to contact through its website.

These regulations have allowed the organization to identify several public chain objects including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Cardano and NEO, among others. The first Global Public Chain Assessment will be formally announced this coming week, while the CCID's website will serve as its official publishing platform.

The conference was hosted by Dr. Songtao Pu of the CCID Think Tank. Additional panelists included Dr. Qian Liu from the organization's software institute, Dr. Tao Lv from the China Software Testing Center, and Anlei Wei from the CCID Blockchain Research Institute.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in China was established in 2008 as a government body under the country's state council to administer China's industrial branches and information industry. Its primary duties include determining China's industrial planning, standards and policies; promoting the development of major equipment and innovation in China's communications arena; guiding the construction of information systems; and instilling necessary protection for these systems.

Serving directly under the Ministry, the CCID seeks to develop information industries in China and bridge the gaps between government and business ventures by providing research, evaluations and certifications to ongoing data projects.

RBI Crackdown Drives Crypto Businesses Overseas

The crackdown on cryptocurrencies initiated by the RBI has reportedly comprised a catalyst for the migration of numerous Indian cryptocurrency companies and ICOs seeking favorable regulatory jurisdictions.

With India's banking sector prohibited from providing financial services to businesses dealing in cryptocurrencies, many of India's crypto companies have been left with no choice but to relocate overseas.

Estonian E-Residency Program Attracts Indian Crypto Entrepreneurs

According to a report by Factor Daily, Estonia has emerged as a popular destination among Indian cryptocurrency entrepreneurs. Launched in 2014, Estonia's e-residency programme provides a simple avenue through which companies can become based in the eastern-European nation. Estonia also offers favorable taxation and regulatory apparatus for cryptocurrency and blockchain companies.

Nilesh Trivedi, the founder of Indium, is currently completing his e-residency application for Estonia Mr. Trivedi states that he would "ideally like to diversify from India given the way things are moving here in regard to cryptocurrency and the blockchain space. It's too uncertain."

Mr. Trivedi states that the e-residency "will just cost me 100 Euros for three years and I can renew it again after that," adding that "the tax regime there is good." Mr. Trivedi also notes that "Being registered [in Estonia] will also allow [him] to offer other services and conduct business in the EU."

Signal - BTC UPDATE

#BTC Update

Technical Wise We are Seeing #BTC forming a Head and Shoulder Formation and That's The Main Reason BTC Dumped to 8500 USD Area

8500 Having A Good Support, If Breaks Then 8000-8300

But 8500 is a Strong Support To Break Keep That in Mind

And So Far BTC Respecting This 8500 Support and Bouncing Off, But We Need to Wait for Few More Hrs. and Need to Keep Our Eyes on BTC Wheather it Breaks 8500 or Goes Up from This Support

Here is 👆 The BTC Technical Analysis in 4Hr. Time Frame. 

Crypto Signals Coin LRC

Signal

Coin : #LRC
Buy zone = 0.00008000-8250

Sell = 8600-9000-9400-9800-10300-10800-11500-12000+++

Crypto Signal Coin ENGF

Signal

Coin : #ENG
Buy zone = 0.00027000-30100

Sell = 0.00032000-35000-37500-
40000++
Big news for #ENG
Enigma (ENG) and 1 other

NY Meetup
(Meet the developers of Enigma and Zilliqa on Tuesday, May 15th, in New York City (venue to be announced).