Initial Coin Offerings, popularly known as , defined late 2017. It represented a new phenomenon which gripped the Cryptocurrency market and was fueled by pure , excitement, enthusiasm, and greed. In a few months alone, investors put billions into these cheap token offerings, expecting a much higher price for them later.
The euphoria quickly turned into concern, as experts and enthusiasts argued about the legal, technical, and logical nature of such outrageous valuations. The lack of transparency added fuel to the fire, as ICO coins had a higher risk of a non-accountability of founders or being outright scams in worst case scenarios.
Although the concept of ICOs were reasoned as a novel way to raise funds, not everyone was impressed. Blockchain startups with no working products, and at times without a white paper, experienced an overnight valuation of tens of millions. The frenzy led critics to term all of the cryptocurrency markets as a “bubble,” and media outlets widely .
Unsurprisingly, financial authorities and governments were quick to cut down on this type of unsolicited funding, using sophisticated techniques, official bans, and negative public announcements.
Why U.S. Residents Cannot Invest in Initial Coin Offerings
The basic issue is that certain kinds of these token sales look, from a legal perspective in the United States, like a traditional sale of equity. The US requires by law any investments in securities to be by accredited investors, who register with and report trading activities to the government. There are a lot of ICOs that restrict US citizens. The ones that do restrict US citizens are the ones that are trying to be in compliant with SEC so that they do not get fined by them.
As expected, blockchain startups cannot guarantee that only accredited US investors would take part in their ICOs. However, they can take the necessary steps to prevent most US citizens from investing.
Some ICOs have a disclaimer present which asks if one is a US citizen before an investment is made. However, there is no way to measure the participant’s truthfulness. Sophisticated startups employ a geoIP ban, also called geo-blocking, to prevent anyone from the US to access their site.
So the question here is; do Americans not invest in ICOs?
Statistics Suggest Otherwise
According to this , US investors in the sale accounted for 14.33 percent of the demand with buyers from Korea just behind at 14.28 percent.
A brief glance of Reddit’s cryptocurrency also indicates that America’s citizens do not seem to be affected by the ICO bans, and instead, employ an old technique to be able to in ICOs.
How Do US Citizens Bypass GeoIP Bans
The answer lies in decades-old technology in use since China enacted the great Firewall; use of a Virtual Private Network, or .
The working of a VPN is simple. When enabled, a user’s region is masked by the VPN’s server, thus making the IP Address different to that of a typical US IP address. To make this possible, Apps and software are readily available online, with accessible interfaces that make sure operating the software to change location is not as intimidating as it sounds.
An example of such software is , a popular and free VPN app. The user simply selects an IP address from a dropdown list and chooses a country which doesn’t block or disallow ICOs.
And that’s it. This straightforward piece of software allows anyone to be able to invest in an ICO, regardless of their current physical location.
Be Careful While Using a VPN
Just be aware that if you do this, some ICOs require to you sign a disclaimer or acceptance of some terms and conditions explicitly stating you are not a US citizen or resident. Some even threaten to hand over your info “to the authorities” if you are found to have violated this.
traffic is easy to identify because specific wallets all use the same pre-configured ports that need to be open for the wallet to function. And obviously, devices that run cryptocurrency traffic are some of the juiciest targets to attack.
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Cryptocurrency in the hardware industry is extending beyond just mining and hardware wallets to becoming an important part of the technical usability of both existing and emerging technologies.
In The Beginning
In the early stages of blockchain technology, enthusiasts and participants within the industry laid focus on the underlying protocols and its functionalities. The few blockchain related equipment were basically computer processors that solved the inherent algorithms within the ecosystems in exchange for rewards in the form of tokens. This was how new coins were generated and the process was referred to as .
Shortly after then came the era of hardware crypto wallets, most of which boasted of superior security over digital assets compared to other storage systems. These systems are still very much in existence, showing greater improvements and attracting investors of all levels.
Traditional Companies Adopting Crypto
Barely two weeks before the time of writing, Japanese financial services management group announced that it has acquired 40 percent of the Taiwanese digital currency hardware wallet startup Coolbitx. This is just one of the various companies that are keying into the possibilities and opportunities that are made available by the implementation of cryptocurrencies.
World leading tech giant, of incorporating blockchain technology, creating an algorithm that will run on Intel chips through the use of software guard extensions (SGXs), which are sets of instructions that create enclaves for important data within the hardware. This was born out of the idea of improving two major weaknesses of the technology, in the form of trust and security.
This creation by Intel is propagated as the open-sourced Hyperledger Sawtooth code base an is finding significant partnerships and adoption, a typical example of which is the partnership with blockchain healthcare startup PokitDok. This partnership integrates a hardware component, using Hyperledger Sawtooth and SGX as a route to better secure and protect health records.
Crypto Enables Versatility
As versatile as blockchain technology and cryptocurrency has proven to become, it is already popular knowledge that the principles that govern the system are implementable in almost every industry, just like the internet. The entertainment industry is an area where this technology is seamlessly finding proper and beneficial application, simplifying processes and maximizing opportunities.
In a similar way to Intel’s revolutionary creation, is opening up the opportunities in the entertainment industry, creating room for a more satisfying experience while maximizing rewards. Already established as a leading Virtual Reality (VR) tech company, with headset is sold at major retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, CEEK’s success in expanding the population of viewers in the entertainment industry is profound. Now, fans attend events and concerts in real time without necessarily being there physically. Using VR, no matter a the geographical location of viewers, they can enjoy the atmosphere of their favourite shows in real-time. However access to events still remained somewhat restricted and revenue opportunities locked out to the extent which tickets could be purchased. Despite the various payment options available, millions of potential viewers wouldn’t find access because of their inability to purchase tickets.
Achieving Maximum Value
With the launch of a new also called CEEK, Token holders (CEEKERS) will be able to participate in immersive virtual reality (VR) experiences that grant CEEKERS special access to a tokenized rewards exchange inside exclusive CEEK enabled, virtual reality venues around the globe. This will also offer artist an opportunity of a wider reach, which automatically implies a much more improved revenue target.
Apparently, cryptocurrency and its underlying technology, blockchain is serving as a tool that redefines the social aspects of value transfer. It enables a liquid ecosystem that expand reach and motivates diversification. In its early days, crypto in the hardware industry seemed like an incompatible possibility. But with the already implemented services in this sector, and the potential value delivery that is associated, it is inevitable that several more adoptions will be experienced down the road in this industry.
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BitPay, the world’s largest global blockchain payments provider, recently closed its extended Series B funding round with an investment total of $40 million. This brings the total capital raised for BitPay to $70 million since they were founded in 2011. New investors in the Series B round led by Aquiline Capital Partners include Menlo Ventures, Capital Nine, […]
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