Web Browser Brave to Add Cryptocurrency-Based Twitter and Reddit Tipping

Those thousands of hours you spent crafting witty memes while you should have been doing your algebra homework may finally earn you more than retweets and Reddit karma.

 

CNET reports that Brave, the privacy-centric web browser launched by Mozilla co-founder Brendan Eich and funded by an initial coin offering (ICO), plans to roll out Reddit and Twitter tipping to its native cryptocurrency payments system.

 

After manually enabling the payment system through the browser’s settings page, users will be able to link their social media accounts to their in-browser Basic Attention Token (BAT) wallets and both tip and accept tips from other users.

 

“The model will be tipping — a user likes a tweet and can give BAT to the tweeter, and optionally tweet back that he tipped,” the company said, adding that the feature would go live later in the year.

 

As CCN reported, Twitch streamers and YouTube channel operators, along with website owners, can already register as Brave publishers, allowing them to accept BAT payments from their viewers, readers, or fans. Users seeking to reward publishers for quality content can either manually set monthly contributions for individual sites or allow Brave to divide their monthly contribution automatically based on the amount of time that they spent consuming each publisher’s content.

 

Two months ago, Brave — whose browser blocks ads by default — began trialing a feature that allows users to earn cryptocurrency by opting-in to device-based ads that do not track or expose user data. Over the long-term, Brave plans to allow users to earn 70 percent of the gross advertising revenue raised through this system. Publishers will also receive a portion of that revenue, while Brave will take a small cut as well.

 

As of July, the company reported that its browser had 3 million monthly active users across all devices and said that it expects to cross the 5 million mark by the end of the year.

 

Notably, Brave isn’t the only web browser seeking to integrate cryptocurrency into its core services. Last month, Opera announced that it would add a native ethereum wallet to the Android version of its web browser, and just this week the company revealed that users will be able to link their mobile ethereum wallets to their desktop browsers.

Satellite TV Giant DISH Network Now Accepts Bitcoin Cash

Bitcoin cash has been confirmed as the second cryptocurrency payment option by subscription model pay-TV provider, DISH. As announced on the company’s website, in addition to bitcoin which was adopted in 2014 as a payment system, subscribers can now pay for services using bitcoin cash.

 

Since 1980, DISH Network Corporation has played a significant role in the evolution of pay-TV. The company provides services to millions of customers across the globe through its numerous subsidiaries. The services include satellite DISH TV and streaming Sling TV services. The company also operates a national in-home installation workforce and advertising solutions among other services.

Maintaining Brand Versatility

 

The adoption of bitcoin cash by DISH happens at a time when the company is also migrating to BitPay as a new blockchain payment processor for cryptocurrency transaction with customers.

 

John Swieringa, executive vice president and chief operating officer of DISH, notes that the addition of bitcoin cash as a payment system is aimed at serving customers who have adopted a new way of doing business.

 

“We have a steady volume of customers paying with cryptocurrency each month, and BitPay will allow us to continue offering more choice and convenience to our customers.”

 

BitPay is the pioneer company in bitcoin and blockchain payment processing. With offices in North America, Europe and South America, the company is also established in cross-border payments, and enables consumers to manage digital assets with the BitPay Wallet.

Enabling a Seamless Transition

 

To pay with bitcoin or bitcoin cash, a one-time payment is executed by a DISH customer through the website or DISH’s hopper DVR. On sending the exact payment amount in bitcoin or bitcoin cash, BitPay exchanges the funds into U.S. dollars immediately, thereby avoiding the risk of volatility usually associated with cryptocurrency transactions.

 

According to Sonny Singh, chief commercial officer of BitPay, the goal of his company is to offer DISH Network a seamless transition that will enable all customers who are currently use bitcoin for payment to have the extra option of paying with bitcoin cash.

 

Singh notes that cryptocurrency is an increasingly popular way for customers to make purchases and pay for services online as it reduces credit card fraud and is cheaper for the merchants.

100% Benefits, CBNT Disrupting the News System

CBNT (cbnt.io), a decentralized news, and content sharing community will build a well-designed incentive system to create a win-win ecosystem for all participants, including content/articles providers, content readers (viewers), ad publishers, and token holders. In the CBNT community, whether you are content generators or content viewers, both sides can receive tokens “Mining Rewards”. As CBNT grows and traffic boosts, all the profit of numerous ads will also be distributed to all of the participants.

 

Innovation in the CBNT community: participating is mining; 100% benefit exchanging; Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO); practicing decentralized self-operation management of “group wisdom”. All participants in this ecosystem can get 100% corresponding rights and benefits, thus to achieve a win-win system of "content, traffic, and advertising."

 

In the past, the seriously unequal relationship between the media companies, content creators, and readers allowed the media companies to exclusively gain most of the benefit, while the creators, the source of the content, could only get a fraction of the benefit. The content readers and communicators, who contributed their energy and time, did not get any financial benefits from this business model. Their information, time and energy were packaged and sold to the advertisers for the companies benefit. In the CBNT content sharing ecosystem, the advertising value of traffic will be 100% shared with content creators, content readers, and communicators.

High-Quality Content Creators: Obtain benefits from the high-quality content created

• High-quality content will be rewarded with more tokens, which equals benefits and reflects the value of their creations.


• Second, lots of traffic will lead to high-quality content and generate advertising value.     


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Content Viewers and Communicators: obtain returns from the views contributed

• High-quality content can attract more viewer’s attention, and viewers can gain CBNT tokens via sharing, commenting, and liking etc. This creates a positive feedback loop between content viewers and generators.

 

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• All CBNT participants are real name people providing high-quality traffic. This helps advertisers to effectively select real and precise traffic, increase advertising conversion rates, reduce advertising costs, and increase ROI.


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• Based on the CBNT Token operating system, content creators, viewers, and the CBNT community will become stakeholders. When the value of the CBNT community continues to rise, all CBNT token holders will benefit. The news articles will be ranked based on an algorithm from community recommendation, thus achieving a decentralized display. CBNT advertisements will adopt an open and transparent bidding method to protect the interests of CBNT token holders.

 

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CRYPTOCURRENCY REMAINS POPULAR IN SOUTH AFRICA, BUT SCAMS AND QUESTIONS STILL LOOM

Sales for an exclusively African cryptocurrency opened up in August to those with a South African bank account — seemingly capitalizing on virtual currency’s popularity in the nation. Despite growing interest, however, scams and fraud are still rife in the country.

 

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have seen a surge in popularity across South Africa as the nation grapples with growing political and economic uncertainty.

 

The nation has made international headlines as the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and President Cyril Ramaphosa discuss contentious land reform policies in a country facing high unemployment rates and liquidity crises.

 

As a result, more and more citizens are researching virtual currencies, and rising trade volume inside of the country has also been seen. Research from a pan-African investment bank in July revealed how38 percent of South Africans “wish they had invested” in cryptocurrency.

 

Legal regulations in the nation have also been relatively loose so far.

 

The South African Revenue Service announced a new taxation framework for cryptocurrencies in April, but authorities have not really had any other mandates concerning the digital currency market just yet.

FIRST DIBS ON SAFCOIN

 

South African investors now have a new cryptocurrency to look into before the rest of the world gets a glimpse.

 

Those with a valid bank account can now purchase some of the 500,000 SAFCOINs exclusively available for sale to South Africans. In October, 5 million tokens will be listed on other local and international exchanges.

 

Launched by a blockchain company called FHM (Pty) Ltd., SAFCOIN is designed to help Africans get involved with digital currency investing. Company leaders hope to see SAFCOIN “become a widely accepted form of payment across the entire African online trading community” by eliminating “red tape and bulky transaction processes.”

 

FHM said in mid-July that more than 400 e-commerce companies were willing to accept SAFCOIN as payment.

A THRIVING MARKET, BUT ONE WITH SOME RISKS

 

Even though many exchanges are seeing record levels of visitors from South Africans who are looking to buy, sell, trade, and expand their portfolios, there have been some high-profile scams that have swindled investors.

 

In March, a massive Ponzi scheme in the country affected around 28,000 virtual currency investors. BTC Global was able to steal at least $80 million from victims. South Africa’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation said in late May how BTC Global representatives promised “2% interest per day, 14% per week and ultimately 50% per month” for investment returns. The authority also alleged BitCaw Trading Company of being involved with the scheme, an accusation the company strongly denied.

 

Some experts also worry about the lack of education and awareness across Africa about the risks and responsibilities associated with cryptocurrency investment. Rafiq Phillips of ‘just for Getting it (dot) CryptoCurrency’ thinks the virtual currency world in Africa is overall “stacked against the man on the street” as speculation holds up the market across the continent.

MULTIPLE COMPANIES TESTING OUT CRYPTOCURRENCY FROM MESSAGING APP KIK

Messaging service Kik unveiled their own cryptocurrency last year, partially as a way to set it apart from the competition. A growing number of companies are now trying out Kik’s ‘Kin’ virtual currency and associated application for their own usage.

 

 

Kik, well-known for their popular ad-free messaging service, had a highly successful $100 million ICO last year.

 

The company’s Kin token is designed to help users get rewards for finishing activities like surveys and quizzes and for watching interactive videos. Kik has teamed up with Blackhawk Network to also let users trade in rewards for gift cards from places like Dominos, Nike, and Sephora.

 

Companies like Red Bull and Swarovski have been recently experimenting with Kin in order to give fans tokens in exchange for answering survey questions.

 

Now even more companies have taken an interest in Kin’s exclusive Android app, Kinit, which was launched last month. It lets people earn Kin by engaging with different brands through quizzes and surveys, allowing users to spend tokens thanks to a built-in wallet.

PLUGGING INTO KINIT

 

Other messaging services like Telegram have taken steps to create their own cryptocurrency. But Kik’s offering is unique for a couple of reasons.

 

The company decided to move the Kin token from Ethereum to the Stellar network back in March since Stellar is designed for faster transactions. Kik has also spent at least $3 million dollars to get developers to work on the token through the ‘KinEcoststem.’ The Kinit app was designed to get more people used to Kik’s virtual currency.

 

A growing number of companies are turning to Kinit to encourage more user interaction. An Austrian company called Swelly uses Knit to carry out polls for brands. CEO Peter Buchroithner said offering cryptocurrency through Kin was another way to further reward customers who answer questions.

 

21^st Century Fox’s ad-tech division, TrueX, is also utilizing Kinit to give people rewards after they watch 30-second advertisements.

 

Kik’s vice president of communications, Rod McLeod, wrote how the purpose behind Kinit is to help make

 

“Crypto truly consumer-friendly through fun and engaging experiences.”

A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR KIK?

 

Even though the Kik team sees a bright future for the Kin cryptocurrency and associated Kinit app, there are some questions about future viability.

 

Some are not sure current reward structures make it lucrative enough for people to engage with Kinit and Kik in order to earn Kin tokens. Others are worried that partner brands will be unwilling to give users generous amounts of Kin, hindering them from getting the rewards they want.

 

However, others see Kinit as a way to get users and brands to interact and collaborate in a manner that reduces the amounts of personal data shared. This, in turn, could make it a popular tool for people who are concerned about their digital privacy.

Exchanges Round-Up: Goldman Considers Crypto Custody, SA Exchange Launches USDT

Goldman Sachs Exploring Crypto Custody Services

 

Bloomberg has reported that leading financial services company, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., is exploring cryptocurrency custody as a potential future product. According to “people familiar with the matter,” Bloomberg wrote that the firm “is considering a plan to offer custody for crypto funds.”

 

A spokesperson for Goldman Sachs stated: “In response to client interest in various digital products we are exploring how best to serve them in this space. At this point, we have not reached a conclusion on the scope of our digital asset offering.”

 

A lack of established custodians in providing cryptocurrency services has increasingly been perceived as a barrier to institutional investment into virtual currencies in recent discourse, with Blake Estes of Alston & Bird stating last month: “So much of the security of bitcoin and other cryptocurrency rests with who stores that private key, who controls the vault. Blockchain (the technology behind the transfer of assets) itself can’t be hacked, but it all still boils down to who ends up holding the keys. I’d tend to think that pension funds will not venture into uncharted territory until they’re certain about the security of who has custody of the keys.”

South African Exchange Launches Tether Pairings to Drive Down Local Price Premium

 

Johannesburg-based cryptocurrency exchange, Altcointrader, launched Tether (USDT) pairings. The company has introduced USDT with the intention of driving down the premium on cryptocurrency prices in South Africa.

 

Richard de Sousa, Altcointrader partner, estimates that BTC trades at “6%-7%” higher in South Africa when compared to USD prices. With the introduction of USDT pairings, Mr. De Sousa expects that foreigners seeking to capitalize on the arbitrage opportunities presented by the South African markets will drive down the premium on local prices over time.

 

“The trading pair is quite important because it allows people to buy bitcoin without using rands,” De Sousa stated. “They will level the price and make it more competitive. There are massive arbitrage opportunities. It won’t happen overnight, but those who see the opportunities and are willing to take them will benefit tremendously, and this benefit will trickle down to the man in the street because the price of bitcoins in [South Africa] will become closer to the international standard.”

Sublime Group Announced as Market Makers for Blockexmarkets

 

Digital asset brokerage exchange, Blockex, has announced that Sublime Group has begun operating as a market maker on its exchange, Blockexmarkets.

 

The chief executive officer of Blockex, Adam Leonard, stated: “Market Making is a core part of any mature exchange and we are particularly delighted to welcome Sublime Group aboard to our market maker program because they are a great fit for our business.”

 

Rishan Bhagowat, Director of Sublime Group, added: “The digital token age is upon us and BlockEx has shown they are the institutional-grade exchange provider that bridges the traditional and new capital worlds. This shared vision makes BlockExMarkets.com an ideal market for us to support. We’re more than excited to partner with BlockEx and contribute to the realization of the next generation of capital markets.”

 

Last month, Blockex was announced as one of 29 businesses accepted into cohort 4 of the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority’s regulatory sandbox.

Electron Cash Wallet Now Available for Basic Feature Phones

Electron Cash Can Now be Installed on Nokia Style Feature Phones

 

Last February the Electron Cash lead developer, Jonald Fyookball, announced the development team would be funded by the firm Coingeek, and Electron Cash would launch a bunch of new features over the course of the year. So far the team has launched a new iOS version of the wallet and added a Coinshuffle plugin to the client’s desktop version. Now, this week the Electron Cash team has released a Java Micro-Edition of the wallet (J2ME) which makes the client available to feature phones much like the popular and less sophisticated Nokia phones.

 

“Electron Cash published a new wallet: The ‘J2ME’ version of Electron Cash. J2ME stands for Java Micro-Edition,” the Electron Cash lead developer explained in an interview with the publication Coingeek.

 

"With Electron Cash for J2ME, now users who only have access to basic ‘feature phones’ such as the Nokia 216 will still have access to a real Bitcoin Cash SPV wallet, with all the benefits that come with it, including controlling their own private keys and being able to restore their wallet from a mnemonic seed phrase. "

Over 1.3 Billion Feature Phone Users Can Now Use the Bitcoin Cash-Centric Wallet Electron Cash

 

Bitcoin Cash proponents are excited to see an Electron Cash client for feature phones as the wallet could help spread adoption in areas where basic phones are more prevalent. These areas would include Asia and Africa, and according to Counterpoint research there are 1.3 billion feature phone users worldwide.

 

The Electron Cash J2ME version source code is available for review on Github, explains the development team. “The original python code was rewritten in Java, mostly from scratch, in order to build this wallet. It is currently published on GitHub as an alpha release and is currently being reviewed and tested,” Fyookball emphasized.