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Why Freelance Platforms Need Improvements
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Storm Play to change the way people earn money online.
During the last couple of years, the freelancing market has boomed with millions of people giving up their day jobs and choosing to work from home in industries which they love.
However, finding a steady flow of work, unaffected by large commissions can be quite difficult in the current state of the market. In fact, centralized industry leaders, such as Fiverr, Freelancer, Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and Upwork charge large transaction fees, hence affecting the amount of profit freelancers make.
Solution
The problem lies with the high number of expensive middlemen facilitating transactions. To bring a fix to this issue and improve the freelancer market, StormX has rebranded its BitMaker application to Storm Play, and kicked off the integration of Blockchain technology within the app via STORM tokens.
With this in mind, Storm Play can be regarded as the foundational piece of the greater gamified micro-task marketplace.
At this time, the Storm Market focuses on user engagement gamified micro-tasks, but in the future, the company plans to create three different categories: promotional user engagement (Storm Play), shopping tasks (Storm Shop) and freelance gigs (Storm Gigs) including both micro-tasks and longer-term contracts.
Storm Market benefits
Based on these aspects, Storm Market will likely change the way people throughout the world earn money online. Some of the main benefits associated with the platform include:
- An engaging gamified user experience supported by Blockchain technology
- A global platform introduced that will fulfill the need of work for over four bln people
- Continued opportunity growth for freelancers
- One of the largest crypto-focused communities with over 1.3 mln downloads
- Gamification techniques that will be used to allow users (Storm Players) to earn more STORM tokens, which can then be exchanged for fiat or other digital currencies on supporting exchanges
Already, via Blockchain technology, Storm Play matches Storm Makers with Storm Players on tasks that take five minutes or less to fulfill. Upon the task fulfillment, these freelancers are rewarded with the relevant number of tokens for the task in question, with minimum human intervention.
It is expected that the Storm Market will be used by individuals, advertisers, gaming platforms, publishers, recruiters, machine learning companies and more.
Storm Play already has a fast-growing base of over 307,000 monthly active users from over 187 countries. Outside of Coinbase and exchanges, Storm Play likely has the largest crypto-focused community user base.
Those who are interested in trying out the platform now should know that there are a ton of real products available on Storm Play already, such as Hulu, DraftKings and even Uber. Fulfilling gamified micro-tasks allows you to earn rewards made in STORM tokens, BTC or ETH.
STORM Token Crowdsale
StormX is holding a public crowdsale, currently in progress. Once the Crowdsale is over, distribution will be 41.74 percent for sale, 23.26 percent locked, 25 percent for the company and 10 percent for the users. Currently, one ETH is worth 26,950 STORM Tokens, whereas one Qtum is worth 1,152 STORM. There are still three more days to participate before it is over.
StormX Team
To help make the project a reality, the team is blessed with a top-tier advisory board, including Bill Shihara (CEO of Bittrex), Jeff Pulver (founder of Vonage and founder of VOIP), Tom Bollich (founding member of Zynga and CTO of MadHive) and more. Additionally, the STORM team is working with Qtum to help promote the Qtum Dapps and gain additional access to the Asian community. Don’t forget their already-established awesome partnership team, consisting of Jaxx, ZenCash, Kyber Network, Bancor and more.
Disclaimer. Cointelegraph does not endorse any content or product on this page. While we aim at providing you all important information that we could obtain, readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to the company and carry full responsibility for their decisions, nor this article can be considered as an investment advice.
Choose: All Bitcoin, or New Zealand
Bitcoin’s value is constantly rising, to the point where it is starting to be worth more than countries and companies.
As Bitcoin continues to grow and grow, people try to quantify where it stands in relation to other markets, companies, people, and even countries. As it stands today, Bitcoin is worth more than the GDP of New Zealand.
Of course, this makes it sound like a dangerously huge entity, and also makes it sound like it is inflating to a bubble-pop point, but with all these comparisons; from the Queen, to Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, it is more important to look at its market status.
Bitcoin can buy you a lot of things, in terms of retail, but in terms of value globally, it can buy a lot more. However, despite the buying power of this digital currency, it is still that same small fish in a large market ocean.
What can all Bitcoin buy you?
If suddenly, you found yourself in possession of every Bitcoin in existence, you first stop should be your own private Island; Richard Branson-esque. But instead of a sandbar, why not buy New Zealand whose GDP sits at economy, is valued at $185 bln, according to World Bank data.
You could also instead opt for Qatar, Kuwait and Hungary.
Business more of your thing? You could get into the banking market ironically and buyout Goldman Sachs and UBS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s market cap is $97 bln while UBS Group AG came in at about $67 bln. Add those numbers together and it still falls short of Bitcoin.
Traveling will be important with your new found fame, so why not buy Boeing? The aeronautics company has a market cap of $162 bln thanks to over a century of building the aerospace frontier. Bitcoin is worth more than that and is less than 10 years old.
Perhaps you are a little paranoid about this earth and would like some military hardware, you could spring for 14 aircraft carriers. The USS Gerald R. Ford, the first of a new class of nuclear-powered supercarriers, was delivered to the US Navy in May. It cost an estimated $13 bln.
There is also a chance to be the richest person in the room if that room had the mega-rich Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, and even her majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Gates and Buffett come in with nearly $90 bln each while the Queen chips in with a paltry $383 mln.
Impressive, but meaningless
All these comparisons really illustrate is that there is value in Bitcoin and that it has buying power. Many can look at that as signs that this emerging currency is getting too big for its own good, but it’s not.
Comparing the residential real estate market to how many aircraft carriers you can buy (1,2461 by the way) it is ridiculous and nonsensical. That is because the real estate market is just that, a mega-market that has structure in place that can collapse, and even pop.
Bitcoin is too small to pop, despite what many of the major money men feel, such as Buffet. Buffett claimed that Bitcoin is a “real bubble,” when giving a speech in early October.
"People get excited from big price movements, and Wall Street accommodates. You can’t value Bitcoin because it’s not a value-producing asset."
Jim Rogers, the famous investor guru and founder of the Rogers International Commodity Index (RICI) has expressed his opinion that Bitcoin “looks and smells” like a bubble.
Via a technically sound ‘smell test’ Rogers has suggested that Bitcoin is a bubble. In fact, the investment guru said:
“It looks and smells like all the bubbles I have seen throughout history.”
Secret symbol № 27: w What is this?
JPMorgan Switches Tact, Backs Bitcoin as New Gold
JPMorgan starting to see Bitcoin as stable, reliable and a traditional asset class.
After Jamie Dimon drew a line in the sand for JPMorgan, calling it a ‘fraud,’ the company has once again stepped over that line, praising the digital coin as a ‘new gold.’
Analysts at JPMorgan believe that Bitcoin has changed its shape and that it could soon be joining gold as a reliable, long-term way to store wealth. Recent growth and recent changes have seen Bitcoin lean more towards being digital gold, and this is where JPMorgan see its value.
“Potential to elevate cryptocurrencies to an emerging asset class”
According to JPMorgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, the incredible spike in the value of Bitcoin is allowing it to start competing as an asset class; and seemingly at the same time drop out of the currency race.
There are changes afoot in the Bitcoin market, especially when it comes to making the digital currency easier to invest in. Panigirtzoglou said:
“The prospective launch of Bitcoin futures contracts by established exchanges, in particular, has the potential to add legitimacy and thus increase the appeal of the cryptocurrency market to both retail and institutional investors.”
Still chasing gold
There is an ongoing debate over which is more popular, and if one can kill the other when it comes to talking about investing in gold and Bitcoin. However, the precious metal may be steady and safe, thus not as exciting as Bitcoin, but it still holds a large chunk of influential sway.
Bitcoin still falls short of Gold’s $6 tln valuation, however, it is the speed at which it has grown which is more impressive. The huge growth spurt could make cryptocurrencies match or even surpass gold quite soon as an investable asset.
Good news for banks
Around the time Dimon was spurting his rhetoric on Bitcoin, there was a feeling that the banks and Bitcoin were in a battle royale. The one was being challenged by a young upstart of a digital currency, and losing ground.
Banks were nervous of Bitcoin as a currency and how it could liberate people from the clutches of the government-backed fiat, however, that fight has died down somewhat as the future is now aimed at accumulating the valuable asset.
Instead of a flying in the face of the institutionalized banking system, Bitcoin looks like it has outgrown its angsty teen stages.There is now a literal digital gold rush as the fear of missing out sweeps the globe.
UBS Files Patent For Blockchain Validation
UBS joining the Blockchain revolution, per recent patent release.
In a recently released patent office filing, UBS, the 935 bln CHF Swiss banking giant, has sought approval for a Blockchain technology-based validation platform for users. The patent indicates that UBS is pursuing Blockchain technology as a solution for client IP and user validation.
The filing itself has been made back on May 24, 2016, but the patent has only been released recently. The Blockchain platform UBS envisions would be used to store records of all activities of the company on the Blockchain. By having an immutable record, the company could maintain more strict protocols than with traditional database systems. Per the application:
“Blockchain technology can provide a "distributed ledger," or a database maintained not by a single actor, such as a bank, but collaboratively by a number of participants. As an example, Blockchain-based techniques include multiple participant computer systems regularly agreeing on how to modify the database, after which the modifications they have settled on are rendered unchangeable with the help of complex cryptography.”
The application reflects the growing adoption of Blockchain technology among major financial institutions, with Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and others recently unveiling Blockchain platforms.
Happy $12k! Bitcoin Prices Break Another Record In Epic Week
Bitcoin quietly took off past $12,000 for a brief trip to new all-time highs today.
Bitcoin temporarily hit $12,000 and a $200 bln market cap Tuesday before correcting as prices continue their remarkable week-long surge.
As major exchanges such as Coinbase, Bitstamp, Kraken and others trade around $11,850 at press time, lively global markets produced an average all-time high of $12,027.
This is the first time Bitcoin has passed the new barrier, having grown from $9200 lows within a matter of days.
The pace of progress comes as the prospect of a Wall Street influx via regulated Bitcoin futures comes true December 10 and 18 as CBOE and CME Group enter the market.
Commenting on the continuing investment into Bitcoin, Chris Burniske noted the swing away from ICOs in recent months to favor the largest cryptocurrency.
#ICOs feel to have lost some of their luster as #bitcoin has regained its shiny gold reputation in the mainstream’s eye.
— Chris Burniske (@cburniske) December 5, 2017
Bitcoin forks are swiftly becoming the talk of the speculative crypto investment world, with a host of Bitcoin ‘impersonators’ lined up to debut this month.
So far, however, extant forks have failed to match BTC’s progress, Bitcoin Cash up 1.7% in 24 hours and Bitcoin Gold posting flat performance for the same period.
By contrast, privacy-focused altcoin Monero continues as the clear altcoin winner, advancing another 22% Tuesday to hit its own all-time highs of $240.
New App to Signal Start of Bitcoin Crash
Developers have made an app that uses AI to monitor and warn of major Bitcoin price changes.
Bitcoin’s meteoric rise in value has been nothing less than spectacular, but it has also been volatile, which has had less-seasoned investor nervous, to say the least.
Like any stock or market, rising prices are celebrated, but a bull run is two-sided.
On the one hand, a massive rise in value makes some people incredibly rich. On the other hand, it could lead to massive correction where a large amount of people start to sell their stock.
When that happens, the price of the commodity being traded plummets in value. For Bitcoin, that could mean a chain death spiral.
Luckily we live in the digital age of mobile apps and Blockchain technology. Some very smart developers have created an application which uses computational learning power to scan Bitcoin markets, news and social media platforms to signal any potential market crashes in the future.
According to RT, the app Bitcoin Bubble Burst provides real-time price change alerts to users by using algorithms based on Bitcoin price change data. Combined with news and social media chatter, they hope to serve meaningful advice to users.
Potential to fail
While this app and many like it will no doubt be useful tools, there could be some potential pitfalls. A swathe of bad news reports and negative sentiment on social media could trigger sell-off messages on apps - leading to the very situation they are trying to predict.
Nevertheless, the developers plan to introduce some customizable triggers for users - so they don’t get flooded with push-notifications. They also seem to back the algorithms their software is using, according to their website:
“Utilizing sentiment analytics we can get a numeric picture of the current event. Our model learns which patterns are 'odd' and when to contact you via notification.”
Stay informed
While this handy piece of software will be nifty to use, it should not be the driving force behind a person’s decisions on Bitcoin trading.
Artificial intelligence has come a long way and the algorithms that feed our social media platforms and search engines are amazingly complex. However, they do not incorporate human emotion.
A person can take a lot of information out of the news and it goes a lot further than an app’s ability to serve you numeric data. There are sentiments and emotions involved, especially when it comes to investments, and it’s hard to believe that people will make important decisions because an app told them to do so.
At the very least, being served real-time data from a broad domain of exchanges is extremely valuable, and this app and many like it will be useful to monitor worldwide trade of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in the future.
When mainstream financial institutions like the Chicago Board Options Exchange enables trading of Bitcoin Futures on Dec. 10, more and more people will need accurate trading data on cryptocurrencies.
At the very the least, the constantly changing value of Bitcoin needs to be closely monitored, with $100 changes a day commonplace.
Keiser - Bitcoin like 'Moses' for Gold
RT host Max Keiser believes Bitcoin will revolutionize the way we trade gold.
Following the announcement that the renowned Old Mutual Gold & Silver Fund will be investing funds in Bitcoin, RT’s Max Keiser says they’re a bit late to the party.
The American broadcaster is arguably one of Bitcoin’s biggest advocates and has been bullish on his stance and predictions for the cryptocurrency’s future.
Ned Naylor-Leyland, head of Old Mutual’s Gold & Silver fund, has been slow on the uptake of Bitcoin. With most of their investments in precious metals, the fund has decided to invest five percent of its portfolio in Bitcoin and will reinvest the profits back into the gold and silver markets.
Speaking in the latest episode of The Keiser Report, the host made a jibe about Naylor-Leyland’s about-turn in sentiment on Bitcoin:
“Ned is talking about Bitcoin effectively being gold, that it was designed to be gold. Now he’s invested in it, putting money to work in it.”
Keiser said the fund manager should have taken his advice years ago when the price was a fraction of what it is today:
“We’ve spoken to him many times about Bitcoin, he’s been reluctant and hesitant, resisted the idea that it’s gold 2.0. Now he’s been sucked up into the vortex, into that black hole that is Bitcoin.”
Keiser believes that more mainstream, institutional investors will be changing their tune on cryptocurrencies sooner rather than later.
“Now the old gold fund has become the new crypto-fund. Ned is now a convert, all these names that have been crypto skeptics will get sucked up and become converts - I guarantee it’s going to happen.”
Bitcoin like Moses, parting the ‘sea of derivatives’ for gold
Known for his animated and charismatic humor, Keiser believes Bitcoin is going to change the way gold is being traded on Wall Street. He hit out at short selling and manipulation which he insists is rife in current times:
“Bitcoin is helping gold by shattering the matrix of Wall Street that is incurring the naked short-selling and financial manipulation that is going on in the futures market of gold.”
Keiser believes this could lead to a surge in the gold price:
“We’re going to obliterate all the machinery that is killing the gold price. Bitcoin is like Moses, parting the sea of derivatives and through the gap, the gold price will finally get to two or three thousand dollars an ounce- thanks to Bitcoin.”
Bitcoin meets Aristotle’s definition of good money
Reflecting on Naylor-Leyland’s statement that Bitcoin will see the world “revert to sound money” as quoted by Bloomberg, Keiser goes back to Aristotle’s definition of money.
The Greek philosopher wrote that money must meet four characteristics. It must be durable, portable, divisible and have intrinsic value. Keiser says like gold, Bitcoin also meets those conditions:
“The condition of scarcity is the one that people have trouble with. They don’t understand how you can have digital scarcity. But that is the genius of the protocol, it creates for the first time in history digital scarcity that is scalable and immutable - it fulfills all the characteristics of money.”
Check out the full episode here:
Blow Bitcoin, Don’t Destabilize Government: AD Newspaper
Dutch citizens urged to sell all their Bitcoin as it could destabilize the government.
Sandra Phlippen of AD Newspaper, owned by a Belgian private news company, in the Netherlands is imploring citizens to spend all their Bitcoin now in order to avoid the supposed inevitable crash. The Economist states that Bitcoin is building to a point where, when - not if - it crashes, it will be so big that it would destabilize the real world economy.
The argument goes that Bitcoin is already a threat to government and undermines the central authority of banks in sovereign states. Thus, as it continues to grow, it will cause irreparable damage to the economy, and again when - not if - it collapses, she states, the damage will be gigantic.
Rising fast
The recent growth spurt has got many people talking on both sides of the Bitcoin. Some are elated at the adoption and the associated price jump, while others are fearful of just how high the roller coaster goes.
Phlippen argues that, with information sourced from Joshua Brown, a New York financial advisor, on his private blog, that Bitcoin needs $17 mln a day to carry on without crashing. As more and more interest flows towards Bitcoin then, it is argued that that figure will rise. But because it is still such a new market, it could start to miss the predicted magical figure.
Brown explains:
“Speaking of the dot-com boom, I think this is the same thing. The people who are buying into this mania most heavily, in an emotional sense, were in elementary school for that.”
Undermine the government
Phlippen's biggest fear of Bitcoin, however, is that it undermines the government. She spouts the usual rhetoric about tax avoidance and money laundering. Additionally, it is a concern, she states, that the additional revenue that comes from Bitcoin’s growth in citizens’ wallets cannot be used to benefit the centralized government. It is the issue with gains tax and the anonymity that is empowering citizens that is unpleasant to the author.
The central bank imbalance
Not only does Phlippen highlight the plight of the government when it comes to a big Bitcoin market, but she also has concerns for the banks too.
Phlippen says:
“Central banks also have less influence on keeping the economy stable. In times of crisis, central banks can, through their influence on ordinary banks, ease credit conditions and encourage people to consume. The bank has no control over the Bitcoin economy and an economic crisis can become deeper.”
What to do?
Through all this doom and gloom of Bitcoin getting so big that it eventually reaches its breaking point and blows, along with the rest of the world economy, Phlippen's advice is: ‘sell.’
“So there is nothing else, dear Bitcoin-fans, that Bitcoin can only crash very quickly, so, before it disrupts our economy, If I had one, I would sell it now.”
Secret symbol № 26: F What is this?
Forgive Me, Father, For I Have Forked: Investor To Release Bitcoin God
Bitcoin God is the latest, most bizarre hard fork of the Bitcoin network, due to appear Dec. 25.
Chinese Bitcoin and Blockchain Angel Investor Chandler Guo has announced he will release his own Bitcoin hard fork - called Bitcoin God (GOD).
In a tweet sounding not unlike a parody of recent fork announcements in Bitcoin, Guo said his chain would fork off from Core Dec. 25, “to be symbolic of me giving candy to all Bitcoin Holders.”
When asked whether the idea was a joke, Guo confirmed it was “real.”
“The total amount will be 21 mln. No pre-mine,” he added.
Bitcoin God (GOD) will be forked off the main bitcoin chain at the block height of 501225, which will happen on December 25h to be symbolic of me giving candy to all Bitcoin Holders. The total amount will be 21 million. No pre-mine. pic.twitter.com/4T2lwojYTr
— Chandler Guo (@ChandlerGuo) December 4, 2017
December has suddenly become the month of forks for Bitcoin, with at least three set to take their network snapshots before the end of the year.
Bitcoin Diamond, which is currently pre-launch, could also come into effect within the same period, the fork’s futures already listed on Coinmarketcap and trading at around $45.
A key aspect of new ‘versions’ of Bitcoin is its appeal to investors looking to obtain “free money” - duplicate balances of their respective BTC holdings at the time of each snapshot.
This is no doubt the mindset behind December’s Super Bitcoin, Bitcoin Platinum and Bitcoin Cash Plus schemes, with the first of these already confirming it will award equivalent balances to those with BTC.
Guo is meanwhile yet to release further details of Bitcoin God, having made the initial announcement via WeChat.
PayPal Co-founder Says Blockchain Good, Bitcoin Not So Sure
PayPal Co-founder Max Levchin is pro-Blockchain, but not sure on Bitcoin.
Following a number of his colleagues in the financial sphere, PayPal Co-founder Max Levchin has said that Blockchain technology is revolutionary, but he’s still not sold on Bitcoin. The wildly successful entrepreneur is open on the cryptocurrency but still unsure of its long-term stability.
Based on an interview, Levchin made it clear that the power of Blockchain technology should be far-reaching, but there’s just no certainty with Bitcoin. However, the genius of the cryptocurrency is without question. He said:
"It's a brilliant mathematical idea, fantastic technology, an interesting commodity to speculate on. TBD on whether it's a currency or just a way to make money fast. I invest in things that I have a strong, long-term point of view on and Bitcoin I'm still trying to figure out.”
Join the club
Many have been praising Blockchain technology but discarding Bitcoin in recent months. Finance industry leaders like the President of the World Bank, Mastercard, and others, have suggested that the future of Blockchain is bright, but may or may not include Bitcoin in its ranks. According to Levchin:
"I think a form of a Blockchain technology, Bitcoin or otherwise will be essential and will not go away. Not only that, it will continue advancing and being used in many different industries from financial technology to medicine. But it's not clear to me whether Bitcoin itself is the great long-term investment.”
However, in spite of the relatively negative responses, the cryptocurrency continues to post all-time highs. At press time, the price was at $11,652.
Russian Government Advances Plan to Test Blockchain Technology-Based Local Voting Systems
The government of Russia has announced that it is advancing its plans to conduct a pilot test of Blockchain technology in the local voting systems.
The government of Russia has announced that it is advancing its plans to conduct a pilot test on the effectiveness of Blockchain technology in improving the local voting systems in the country. The government further claimed that the technology will make its ongoing Active Citizen program more transparent.
In its public statement released on Dec. 4, 2017, the government said that it has already developed a pilot system for the monitoring of votes during elections through the Blockchain.
Part of the statement reads:
"The introduction of this technology will make the voting in the [Active Citizen initiative] even more open: it will be difficult to say that the administration incorrectly interprets the answers, changes the results of the voting when the citizens themselves can verify this information."
Moreover, the government has also made the code behind the pilot program open-source, by publishing it on the web-based control repository hosting service GitHub.
Previous efforts by the government on Blockchain technology
In 2016, Russian officials have announced that they were assessing the possible use of a technology in order to lessen or eliminate the risk of fraud during voting on city management issues.
They claimed that the potential project would be a part of the government’s “Active Citizen” e-government program. The initiative covers several areas in which Blockchain is being explored, including the government’s new land registry system.
Private sector showed interest in Blockchain
Despite the uncertainties of whether it will be successful and implemented in real life, the announced pilot program has attracted the interest of the private sector. Among the parties is the country’s central securities depository, which already tested a Blockchain-based proxy voting system in 2016.
Under the system, stockholders are allowed to issue proxy votes on corporate decisions.
Source: https://cointelegraph.com/
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