bitcoin security Archives

Bitcoin and the State of Retirement Reports Today

Posted on June 28, 2018 | by [email protected]

After looking through many studies showing the state of retirement in America today, there seems to be much room for improvement.

The National Institute on Retirement Security came out with some rather concerning statistics in their report released earlier this year, specifically that two-thirds of working millennials have nothing saved for retirement. Meanwhile, according to a Vanguard retirement study, the average account balance of nearly $104,000 was misleading because of a small number of large accounts skewing the average higher, while the median is much lower, at $26,000. And the 18th annual Transamerica Retirement Survey revealed that while 62% of workers are confident that they will be able to retire with a comfortable lifestyle, as many as 56% believe that they have not yet fully recovered financially from the Great Recession and as many as a third expect that they will see a decrease in their standard of living during retirement.

It’s time to expand the retirement savings toolkit and look at additional options, with a focus on portfolio diversification.

national-institute-retirement-security — Millennials and Retirement: Already Falling Short. From the National Institute on Retirement Security.

Benefits of Portfolio Diversification

Many experts in the financial sector advocate for portfolio diversification as a means of boosting return on investment while also minimizing risk. “For a variety of reasons, people do not understand the value of having a broadly diversified portfolio,” said Barry Ritholtz. “Perhaps they think it shows a lack of corporate loyalty to their employer…But every worker who gets company stock also gets a salary from that same employer. That is a very intense concentration of financial risk. For those workers, diversifying their company stock into broad indexes is a prudent approach.”Furthermore, decentralized assets such as Bitcoin and gold, which are removed from the stock market or any particular currency, act as a hedge against inflation, as well as any political, social, or economic unrest. And according to research done by Ark Invest and Coinbase, Bitcoin is “the only asset that maintains consistently low correlations with every other asset,” making it a strong choice as an alternative asset in a diversified retirement portfolio.

How Bitcoin IRA Works

BitcoinIRA.com, the world’s first and largest cryptocurrency platform, allows customers to purchase Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for their retirement accounts and store them in a BitGo digital wallet, the leader in multi-signature encryption technology. In 2017 alone, the company processed over $300 million in investments. To learn more about how to diversify your retirement portfolio with Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, give one of our IRA specialists a call today at 877-936-7175.

Solar-Paneled Mining: The Future of Bitcoin?

Posted on June 26, 2018 | by [email protected]

In recent months, the crypto space has gone through a lot of interesting changes and defied expectations.

For starters, the regulatory sector and the decentralized technology sector, once viewed as at odds with each other, have been in fact been working together cooperatively to create a more compliant and transparent financial landscape. This has has been demonstrated by CFTC Chairman J. Cristopher Giancarlo’s “do no harm” approach towards regulating crypto, Nasdaq and Gemini’s SMARTS market surveillance technology partnership, among other announcements.

And, on a separate crypto news front, there’s another unlikely partnership between two sectors that appears to be thriving: the solar industry and the world of bitcoin mining.

William Shatner Works With Solar Alliance to tackle Crypto Mining Sustainability

Solar Alliance, a Canadian solar energy company, announced that it acquired a 165,000 square-foot warehouse in Illinois to build a solar paneled array and rent space to bitcoin miners.

“Blockchain technologies, and cryptocurrencies specifically, are at the cutting edge of a new distributed technology infrastructure,” said actor William Shatner, also a spokesperson for Solar Alliance. “Utilizing solar arrays to power [mining operations] makes social and economic sense.”

The World of Bitcoin Mining Today

New research into energy consumption reveals that, by the end of the year, cryptocurrency could account for 0.5 percent of the world’s energy demand, roughly the same amount consumed by Austria. For crypto enthusiasts concerned about climate change, the massive energy consumption behind Bitcoin mining has been a difficult concept to reconcile with. However, this recent news from Solar Alliance may indicate that Bitcoin mining, as we know it, will change.

“The acquisition of the Murphysboro warehouse facility and the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) represent Solar Alliance’s strategic entry into tenanting and supplying low-cost power to the cryptocurrency mining sector,” said Chairman and CEO Jason Bak. “The demand from cryptocurrency mining operations for competitively priced power is immense and we are perfectly positioned to take advantage of that demand.”

A Maturing Crypto Landscape

While 2017 was the year that Bitcoin experienced unprecedented growth, 2018 is shaping up to be the year that the crypto space is officially growing up. While crypto used to be a largely unregulated space, 2018 has focused heavily on crypto compliance, between the SEC’s increased regulation of crypto trading platforms to companies like Chainalysis raising impressive funding to help Bitcoin-based businesses protect themselves against fraud.

In addition to increased regulation, 2018 has also marked a year devoted to deepening understanding around blockchain technology, from the NYCEDC announcing big plans to expand educational efforts in this sector to Facebook launching a new team dedicated to blockchain research.

In my opinion, the advancement in solar-paneled bitcoin mining is another example of progress and maturation in the crypto industry. Just as the regulatory sector is making an extensive effort to weed out the bad actors in the crypto world, solar-paneled mining is addressing the the industry’s inherent environmental concerns. It’s encouraging to see different organizations and sectors tackling crypto’s issues as it scales from an industry with growing pains into an industry all grown up, with an emphasis on being more compliant, transparent, and environmentally conscious than ever before.

Bitcoin and Ether are Not Securities

Posted on June 21, 2018 | by [email protected]

At Yahoo Finance’s All Market Summit: Crypto on June 14, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Director William Hinman announced that Bitcoin and Ether would not be considered securities. “Based on my understanding of the present state of ether, the Ethereum network, and its decentralized structure, current offers of sales of ether are not securities transactions,” Hinman said. “And, as with bitcoin, applying the disclosure regime of the federal securities laws to current transactions in ether would seem to add little value.”

In turn, innovators in the decentralized technology space are committed to working with regulators to promote a more compliant crypto landscape than ever before. Joe Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum and founder of ConsenSys, a major Ethereum application company, expressed gratitude for the SEC’s decision and said “Ether and other next generation consumer utility tokens will continue evolving the web towards networks that are more fair, secure, and evenly distributed.”

Ultimately, I believe that the SEC’s announcement is a big win for the crypto industry as a whole, as it helps resolve some of the regulatory uncertainty that many experts, such as Tom Lee, believe is contributing to market stagnation.

Many crypto enthusiasts, who were initially drawn to the formerly unregulated sector because of its decentralization and anonymity, feared that the increase in regulatory measures would infringe upon all they valued about crypto in the first place. But with time, it’s becoming clearer that the regulators and the decentralized technology sector in fact have a respectful, productive, and cooperative relationship, and are committed to working together to make the financial landscape more compliant than before. Let’s take a closer look.

CFTC “Do No Harm” Approach Set a Positive Precedent

Back in February of this year, Chairman of the CFTC J. Christopher Giancarlo set a precedent for a productive relationship between regulators and the decentralized technology sector when he advocated for a “do no harm” approach. “I believe that ‘do no harm’ is the right overarching approach for distributed ledger technology…With the proper balance of sound, regulatory oversight, and private sector innovation, new technologies will allow American markets to evolve in responsible ways and continue to grow our economy and increase prosperity,” Giancarlo said.

While this balanced sentiment may have seemed unrealistic to skeptics in the crypto space when it was first announced, I believe there has been continual cooperation between regulators and many crypto-based businesses and decentralized technology companies ever since.

Gemini Launches Nasdaq’s Market Surveillance Technology

In April, Nasdaq and cryptocurrency exchange Gemini announced that Gemini would be leveraging Nasdaq’s SMARTS market surveillance technology to monitor its marketplace. “Since launch, Gemini has aggressively pursued comprehensive compliance and surveillance programs, which we believe betters our exchange and the cryptocurrency industry as a whole,” said CEO of Gemini Tyler Winklevoss.

In fact, Nasdaq has proven to be just one of many financial institutions that has demonstrated interest in working alongside the crypto space.

BitcoinIRA.com Hires General Counsel and Senior Compliance Officer

BitcoinIRA.com, the world’s largest and most secure cryptocurrency IRA platform that allows customers to purchase Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies, appointed by Maryann Bullion as its General Counsel and Senior Compliance Officer in March. “We are focused on providing unparalleled products for our clients that not only adhere to the most secure measures, but also uphold the most stringent compliance guidelines,” said Camilo Concha, BitcoinIRA.com CEO and co-founder.

“I strongly believe in the future of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology and the opportunity it presents for investors within a retirement account,” said Bullion. “I am excited to work with the executive team to streamline the compliance framework and to provide the safest and most efficient products and processes for its customers.”

To learn more about how you can diversify your retirement portfolio with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies, give BitcoinIRA.com a call today at 877-936-7175.

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Why Blockchain Technology Is So Secure

Posted on December 21, 2017 | by [email protected]

This past September, a cybersecurity breach at credit-reporting company Equifax compromised 143 million customers. In July, an attack exposed the records of over 14 million Verizon subscribers. Last year, hackers broke into the servers of Bangladesh Bank and made off with $100 million.

These aren’t isolated incidents. Hundreds of data breaches happen each year across industry sectors, from banking to retail to healthcare. Statistics show that it’s getting worse: the volume of cyberattacks doubled in the first half of 2017 alone, and continues to rise.

The prevalence of data breaches is no surprise, given the volume of transactions and personal data stored online. With the growth of networked commerce, cybersecurity has become a top priority for companies. But conventional cybersecurity solutions aren’t doing the job. Today, many companies are looking to blockchain technology for better data security.

What Makes Bitcoin and Blockchain So Secure?

Bitcoin, and the blockchain technology behind it, provides a highly secure platform to process and record transactions. It tracks the transfer of ownership and other sensitive data in a distributed public ledger that can be viewed by anyone, but not modified.

The blockchain ledger creates a searchable database of transactions. Records are stored across a vast network of servers that constantly verify each other. Not only does this system reduce error, it decentralizes the information across servers. Because the blockchain ledger is decentralized and encrypted, it’s more difficult to hack, and less vulnerable to breaches.

Blockchain works so well for Bitcoin because it lets users make transactions without going through a central institution, like a bank. Transactions are essentially self-verifying – there’s no need to rely on the banking system to transfer value. Each Bitcoin transaction is recorded chronologically in the blockchain and confirmed using a private key. Once made, transactions can’t be altered. A record of transactions is visible to all users in a shared public ledger.

Beyond Finance: How Blockchain is Changing Data Security

The innovative technology behind Bitcoin has applications beyond finance. Blockchain can work for any organization that has a need to track data or transactions. In the modern internet economy, that covers just about everybody.

Consider the amount of sensitive data that exists online. Healthcare organizations routinely process patient medical records and identifying information. Legal firms execute contracts, transfer property rights, and access public records to serve clients. Manufacturers, retailers, and shipping companies track orders and commerce across large and complex supply chains.

These industries expend large amounts of time and resources to process transactions. They also spend huge sums to keep that data secure. With blockchain, companies can cut costs and streamline transactions while providing a secure environment for data.

New Applications Across Industries

Bitcoin and blockchain are leading the charge across industries as innovative, effective, and secure ways to track the transfer of information. One example is APPII, a blockchain-based platform that allows human resources professionals to verify CVs and credentials to make sure that job applicants aren’t making false claims. As APPII managing director Gary McKay points out, any industry that requires value transfer between parties and the establishment of trust can benefit from blockchain solutions.

Healthcare IT and the law are actively integrating blockchain into their processes. Consulting firm IDC Health Insights predicts that by 2020, 20% of healthcare organizations will be using blockchain for record-keeping, operations, and identity verification. In the legal field, blockchain-based smart contracts can ensure that contractual conditions are met automatically, without human legal professionals. Land deeds and intellectual property rights can also be tracked using the public ledger system.

Manufacturers benefit from blockchain’s supply chain applications. Electronics manufacturer Foxconn is already using blockchain’s decentralized network to facilitate transactions at every point in the supply chain, from factory to customer. Since blockchain requires no central clearinghouse, it saves cost and time by cutting out the middleman while providing an auditable public record of transactions. The Blockchain Research Institute, which includes IBM, FedEx, and PepsiCo, is working towards advancing blockchain integration in industry.

The Blockchain Solution

As the economy becomes increasingly networked, data security becomes a growing concern for companies across a wide span of industries. Siloed data is easy to falsify. Centralized networks create vulnerable targets for hackers. Skilled cybercriminals exploit these weaknesses, resulting in millions of compromised records.

Bitcoin, and the blockchain technology that powers it, offers a solution. It decentralizes data, making it harder to hack. It creates an immutable public record that is self-verifying and cannot be faked. It also establishes trust automatically among parties so that value can be safely transferred without the need for a middleman.

As Bitcoin goes mainstream, so too does blockchain. It’s becoming an essential ingredient in data transfer, record keeping, and operations. Within a few years, we can expect to see a dramatic improvement in cybersecurity due to blockchain technology.

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