Your Crypto News on Steemit January 26, 2018

• Suspected Ripple and NEM Theft - Coincheck freezes Transactions!
• Doctoral Student decrypt DNA and wins Bitcoin!
• Oil Company enters the Bitcoin Industry!
• xRapid Project: Two New Partnerships for Ripple!
• Premiere: A Freighter Load of 3,000 Tons Wheat is paid with Bitcoins!
• The Banks of Scandinavia find Bitcoin not so great!
• The Bitrent Platform will transfer Construction to Smart Contracts!

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Japan's crypto exchange Coincheck has been blocking numerous transactions on its network since yesterday. Above all, it affects the cryptocurrencies NEM and Ripple, but also withdrawals in Fiat. The incident is believed to be a response to theft.

While today's first CME futures round expires, strangers at Coincheck have cashed out a large amount of Ripple and NEM. Whether these are regular transactions or an attack / theft is not clear. However, in response to the big deals, Coincheck froze all transactions.

As can be seen from there blog, Coincheck has since yesterday evening imposed far-reaching restrictions on transactions. First, the Japanese stock exchange blocked the deposit of NEM. So it was initially no longer possible for users to transfer the cryptocurrency to Coinbase, so any deposits would not be displayed on the wallet. Except for further instructions users should refrain from making further deposits.

Subsequently, the trade with NEM was blocked, so it is not possible to buy or sell the cryptocurrency. During the night Coincheck extended the restrictions. So they have completely blocked all withdrawals in Fiat. Only the purchase of Bitcoin is currently possible. Trading with Altcoins is currently not possible.

Coincheck has a large Ripple transaction

As can be seen from the Ripple transaction history, Coincheck Wallet transferred a total of 101,265,057 Ripple worth approximately $ 123.5 million just prior to announcements.

In addition, unknowns have withdrawn from the crypto exchange NEM worth 600 million US dollars. Rumors are circulating on Twitter that it could be a hacker attack:

However, this message is not confirmed. Since yesterday, both the Ripple and the NEM course have fallen. Although the message is likely to lead to FUD, I advise my readers as always against panic reactions. Keep Calm.

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Sander Wuyts, a doctoral student at the University of Antwerp and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, has won a DNA and Bitcoin competition this week. He had to decode an encrypted message hidden in a DNA sample. He won a Bitcoin at the competition.

Data storage in DNA

Three years ago, Nick Goldman, a professor at the European Bioinformatics Institute, gave a presentation to the World Economic Forum. Meanwhile, he explained that DNA is a good alternative to data storage. He said:

The magic of cryptocurrencies

During the presentation, he also announced the "DNA Storage Bitcoin Challenge". At the competition, young researchers were to decode a message hidden in DNA samples. The deadline was January 21, 2018 set. When Goldman opened the contest, a bitcoin was worth only a few hundred dollars; Currently, the price of Bitcoin is over 9,000 euros. At the end of the presentation, the DNA samples were distributed that contained "the necessary information for the claim of Bitcoin".

Sander Wuyts describes himself as a "DNA junkie" and is a great lover of science and technology. Since he was not present at that time, it had been difficult to come to a rehearsal. In his blog, the PhD student wrote: "Besides, like the rest of the world, I discovered the magic of cryptocurrencies six months ago."

Bitcoin will be the financial basis of further research

He started a hackathon with some of his colleagues. They used a special device to decrypt the message. After frustrating their heads on the wall, they managed to decode the message before the deadline. The message included instructions on getting Bitcoin, some more information, the logo of the European Bioinformatics Institute and a drawing by James Joyce.

Wuyts explained his plans with his Bitcoin:

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Although the Israeli government has announced that it will not tolerate Bitcoin, the country's private companies are constantly trying to enter the industry. The most recent example is now a Tel Aviv-based oil company, which intends to sell Bitcoin ATMs to casinos in Northern Cyprus and Nigeria.

Bitcoin is the new oil

Chiron Refineries LTD (TASE: CHR), a company focused on the development of oil refineries in Africa, announced on Tuesday that it wanted to enter the cryptocurrency market. As a result, the prices of shares of the oil company rose up to 60%. Following a reference by the Israeli government to the legal situation, the company published another opinion.

Chiron, which only entered into a contract for a new oil refinery in Nigeria on Sunday, has decided to extend its offer to include access to cryptocurrencies. The Group has entered into an agreement with Crypto Technologies Ltd to set up a subsidiary in Northern Cyprus to become the only manufacturer of this type of product for the region. In addition, the contract creates the opportunity to expand services to Nigeria within the next year.

Every casino needs a Bitcoin ATM

Crypto Technologies Ltd stated that it is developing "a unique technology" that guarantees "fast and secure purchase and sale for consumer cryptocurrencies". A closer description of the product indicates that it is likely to be an app. This is to convert tablets into a Bitcoin ATM and is expected to be released in April.

Not to worry the Israeli government, Chrion announced that the company itself would neither own cryptocurrencies nor mine. In addition, cryptocurrencies are not prohibited in the selected production site and distribution locations. Furthermore, the products would only be sold to companies such as casinos and not to consumers. When Israeli media asked about the reason for the move, a lawyer from the company explained that one of the owners had relations in Northern Cyprus and some experience in the casino industry.

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The payment network Ripple is expanding its strategic cooperation with two more partners. As announced on Wednesday, IDT Corp and MercuryFX are joining the xRapid project. Ripple continues to work on its global network for cross-border payments.

Even though not much is currently happening at the ripple course, the company is still active as ever. With MoneyGram, one of the largest international payment service providers, winning a strategic partnership last week, two other payment service providers are now working with the network.

The telecommunications company IDT Corporation and MercuryFX, responsible for currency exchange, want to use in future Ripples platform xRapid and the associated token XRP. Both partners expect to be trolling for the execution of transactions in different currency areas as well as lowering the costs for their customers. Ideally, the xRapid system should be able to replace banks and transfer service providers.

Alfredo O'Hagan, Senior VP of IDT's Customer Payment Business says:

Alastair Constance, founder and CEO of MercuryFX says:

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse also commented:

Earlier this month, XRP received a market boost when it announced it would be partnering with MoneyGram. The money transfer giant followed deals with American Express and Santander banks.

Ripple has drawn criticism for its willingness to cosy up to big corporations and embrace centralisation.

Ripple has undergone an astonishing rise in the past 12 months, surging more than 35,000 percent on its price at the start of last year.

But the crypto has had a rocky few weeks. After peaking at $3.84 on January 4, Ripple plunged back below the $1 mark, losing well north of $100 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

XRP has since stabilised somewhat and is now trading near $1.35 with a market cap of $52.1 billion.

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A shipment of 3,000 tonnes of wheat from Russia to Turkey has recently been fully paid for with Bitcoin. With this delivery, the Prime Shipping Foundation has tested how to use Blockchain in international trade. Finally.

Once through the Black Sea, from Russian Rostov-on-Don to Turkish Samsun, went the first Bitcoin paid delivery of a freighter. How much bitcoin was paid for the 3,000 tons of wheat is not known. "We're trying to build a cross-border payment system that is simpler and faster than what's available today," said Ivan Vikoulov of the Prime Shipping Foundation to Bloomberg.

Of course, Bitcoin payments are likely to be faster and cheaper than the usual methods with middlemen. If the two parties to the trade also use multisig transactions, they can also save the usual trustees. What is still a bit puzzling is how both the sender and the receiver made the necessary liquidity. For both in Turkey and in Russia Bitcoin exchanges are rare and the trade takes place mostly in a gray area.

An important role in the settlement of the payment has played the Prime Shipping Foundation. This company is a partnership of Quorum Capital Ltd. and Interchart LLC. Like Quorum, the Prime Shipping Foundation is registered in Gibraltar. In international trade, it often seems that companies are based in places like Gibraltar. Vikoulov sees this as an opportunity: "Most of the tonnages shipped around the world are registered offshore. The flexibility in these jurisdictions forms a good basis for developing a simpler payment system and possibly overriding classic banking, "Bitcoin.com quotes the CEO.

But the plans of the Prime Shipping Foundation go even further. According to a press release released on Wednesday, the company is "working on the mechanics of a product that allows immediate processing of payments and the switch from Fiat to cryptocurrencies and back without any significant additional costs." So the Foundatoin is trying to position itself as a middleman who has the Payment is handled technically and for both sender and receiver the associated currency exchange takes over. A BitPay for international trade, so to speak.

The goal is to free the international freight industry from the dollar that still dominates it, including the big banks, middlemen, and money traders who have become irreplaceable in dollar dominance. Just as the gold standard unleashed a wave of globalization in the late nineteenth century, a new Bitcoin standard could spur another globalization push on the global economy. The Prime Shipping Foundation is now trying to develop a "complex ecosystem that allows transactions to be made rapidly and almost casually between the major Fiat currencies and the major cryptocurrencies."

The company wants to make money in the same way as everyone else: through a token. "The PRIME token lies at the heart of the ecosystem," according to the press release. The ICO is planned for the middle of the year. What exactly the PRIME token can do, the press release does not reveal. It promises, however, that "subscribers to the freight market, such as the owners of ships, charterers, cargo operators, brokers, agents and fuel suppliers through the Prime Ecosystem, can increase the efficiency of their operations while cutting operating costs."

Currently, Prime is still working with financial institutions to bridge the gap between fiat and cryptocurrencies. In order to serve as a "handler" to the crypto assets in the future, the Prime Shipping Foundation has applied for a banking license in Gibraltar.

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In fact, cryptocurrencies are quite popular in Scandinavia. Apparently not for the banks. For example, the large Nordea Bank has banned its employees from privately trading bitcoins. The Danske Bank also toying with a similar measure, while it has already stated that no deposit of speculative profits through cryptocurrencies to accept.

When everything happens for the first time, you quickly become a pioneer. The Swedish Nordea Bank has recently become the European Bitcoin pioneer - albeit a bit different than we would have liked.

Headquartered in Stockholm, Nordea Bank is one of Northern Europe's largest banks with more than 11 million clients and more than 30,000 employees. If among these 30,000 employees are Bitcoin fans, the old question, "Bitcoin or Bank" for them now unexpectedly becomes concrete. After all, the bank has banned its employees from trading Bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies on February 28th. This prohibition covers not only the work at the bank, but also the private investments of the employees. The risk is too great, both for the bank and for the staff, said a spokeswoman. Employees who already have cryptocurrencies are not forced to sell them, even if the bank recommends them.

Nordea Bank really does not seem to like Bitcoin. Earlier, the CEO, Casper von Koskull, had called Bitcoin a "joke". He also said that the cryptocurrency is unregulated and regularly linked to fraud and criminal activity. He does not believe that governments will allow an unregulated currency to continue to exist. Especially not when something goes wrong.

In Denmark, meanwhile, a union is preparing to sue Nordea for the ban. The bank defends itself by saying that "It is a widespread practice in the banking industry to limit the personal investment of employees to prevent them from building positions in speculative investments ..." said a spokesman for the bank. Nordea, like all other banks, has the right to impose such rules. The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority seems to agree with the bank. A spokesman told Bloomberg that it is up to each bank to set rules for employees' investments.

The colleagues from the central bank in Denmark go one step further. Central Bank Chief Lars Rohde, in a December television interview, called on the country's residents "to keep their hands off Bitcoin. It is deadly. It is not a regulated market. It is not the responsibility of the supervisor. It is the sole responsibility of individuals. "Bitcoin is like" the tulip mania, a bubble that has gone out of control. "

Denmark's largest bank, Danske Bank A / S, has recently stated that it will not allow its customers to deposit funds that they have acquired through speculation on Bitcoin. This is already a fat dog, but is also in the range of what is allowed banks. In addition, a similar ban, as the Nordea has imposed, also at the Danske Bank for debate. She is already asking her staff to trade bitcoins, but has not yet decided whether a full ban will be necessary. "We are skeptical of cryptocurrencies and advise our employees not to act on them," a spokesperson said. Analyze the situation currently and "time will tell if there will be a formal ban."

Outside the banking world, cryptocurrencies are more popular in Scandinavia than ever before. It was not until December that Danish-Swiss Bitcoin multi-millionaire Niklas Nikolajson became the main sponsor of an ice hockey team, while Swedish ETN publisher XBT Provider brought Bitcoin and Ethereum papers to the Stockholm Stock Exchange and hungry.dk Bitcoin Cash, a Danish food delivery portal, for 1,200 restaurants has accepted.

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At the recent blockade summit in Macau, Bitrent announced the successful completion of the pre-sale and its plans to release the token for major crypto exchanges. In the near future, the platform will be the first construction site of 100,000 square meters where RFID sensors and smart contracts will be deployed.

Bitrent creates the world's first block-based platform that enables anyone to own real estate in any part of the world. Users can invest in the construction at any time, monitor the work steps in real time and manage the processes. An investment in real estate can be any amount, starting at $ 500.

Bitrent makes it possible for the average user to make the process of investing in equity investments in commercial and residential real estate understandable, transparent and predictable through intelligent contracts around the world.

The global construction volume is $ 10-15 trillion per year. The construction is a multiplier of 30% in the world economy and the engine of a large amount of money in the world. The crypto industry is estimated at $ 600-700 billion. If we send these funds to construction, the world of real estate can become simpler, more accessible and more technological.

Bitrent allows investors to participate in joint construction projects anywhere, anytime, anywhere in the world. One of the most important aspects of the platform is keeping records in the system of blockages.

Company founder Dmitry Starovoitov says:

The founders of Bitrent have 15 years of development experience. The company has built more than two million square meters of real estate including factories, business centers and shopping malls. The last three years of Bitrent's work are aimed at combining real estate and cryptocurrencies.

If you like to participate in there ICO and get some RNTB tokens go on this link:
http://token.bitrent.io/main.php

Disclaimer: The information presented in this post is not a recommendation for purchase or sale. It is only an opinion of me the author. They serve merely to describe the project and are not to be understood as an investment analysis.

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@danyelk