 QUOTE OF THE DAY  |
| "The key to investing is not to do anything genuinely brilliant and to avoid doing something really stupid." - Stein/Demuth |
Happy Thursday! If you want your meme to be featured in an upcoming newsletter, respond to this email with your favorite meme or direct message it to us on Twitter!
Cheers,
Blockchain Brew Team
| COIN | PRICE | 24H |
|
| BTC | $6,069.96 | -0.6% |
|
| ETH | $433.825 | +0.15% |
|
| XRP | $0.456816 | -1.17% |
|
| BCH | $699.913 | -0.65% |
|
| EOS | $7.76849 | +1.38% |
|
*Information as of 9:30 AM EST
FBI Agent Reveals Bureau Has 130 Open Cases Related to Cryptocurrency
130 CASES
- Kyle Armstrong, a Federal Bureau of Investigation Agent spoke at a digital-asset industry conference in New York on Monday, sharing that the FBI currently has 130 open cases related to cryptocurrency
- 130 cases does seem like a significant amount, but Armstrong noted that the number is just a small portion relative to the Bureau's total case load stating, “There are thousands of cases in the bureau, so it is a small sliver at this point”
- This sort of Federal investigation is much different than the attention that the SEC or CFTC has been giving cryptocurrencies, the FBI does not have the jurisdiction to impose regulations on the digital assets, rather it is investigating crimes that involve cryptocurrencies
- The FBI states that it has a neutral view on cryptocurrencies, as it should, but also noted some of the pros and cons of the technology
CRYPTO SCHEMES
- The first major use case for cryptocurrencies was originally the use of Bitcoin as an online currency to transact illegal business on sites like the Silk Road
- Although the Silk Road was shut down in 2013, similar websites still exist on the dark web that use cryptocurrency as a medium of payment, it is estimated that 10% of all drug trade is done in this manner
- In particular, the FBI is focusing on cryptocurrencies facilitating the trade of opioids, as the class of drugs has caused an epidemic in the United States, killing on average 115 people each day
- In addition to drug trade, the FBI is also investigating human trafficking, extortion schemes, kidnapping and ransomware attacks that involve cryptocurrency
- The FBI also shared that cryptocurrencies are actually easier to trace than cash as blockchains are public and immutable, but figuring out the identities behind digital wallets can be difficult
Why a NBA Basketball Team Started Mining Crypto
MiningForGood
- On Wednesday, the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association published a press release announcing that it they have begun mining Ethereum
- Reading the headline, many people probably scratch their head wondering why a basketball team would mine cryptocurrency, all ether mined will be donated to the team's new charitable foundation, MiningForGood
- MiningForGood will gift all of the ether to the Build. Black. Coalition, a group dedicated to support African American communities in Sacramento
- Build. Black. Coalition will decide if they would like to keep the ether or sell it for US dollars
Kings Owner and Chairman Vivek Ranadivé commented:
“Opportunity begins when technology allows the world to find innovative solutions to complex problems. Through MiningForGood, not only will we raise funds to help with workforce development and training, we aim to inspire the next generation of tinkerers and thinkers to create change in their own community and around the globe.”
HOW THIS CAME ABOUT
- While it is surprising that a sports team has begun mining cryptocurrency, it is not surprising that the Sacramento Kings are the first to do it
- The Kings were named the "most innovative company in sports" by Fast Company and “Most Tech Savvy Team of 2016” by Sport Techie
- They were the first organization to accept Bitcoin and have utilized virtual reality to allow children in India to view games from the courtside
- Technological innovation has always been important to the Kings, because their owner Vivek Ranadivé is the founder of Tibco, a real-time computing software company
Coinbase CEO Launches Cryptocurrency-Powered Charity 'GiveCrypto'
GIVECRYPTO
- Yesterday, CEO and Founder of Coinbase Brian Armstrong announced that he has launched a cryptocurrency-powered charity fund called GiveCrypto
- According to its website, GiveCrypto receives crypto donations and then exchanges the crypto for cash to give to people living in poverty
- Armstrong detailed that initially, the crypto donations will focus on "emerging markets", more specifically those that are going through a "financial crisis"
Upon launching, Armstrong explained the goals that GiveCrypto wants to achieve:
"The goals behind Givecrypto.org are to help people in need by sending money to them directly, advance real-world usage and benefits of cryptocurrency, and provide universal access to an open financial system."
A NEW CULTURE
- For years the cryptocurrency community has been looked at as greedy or as a rowdy bunch of criminals using crypto to elude law enforcement, not philanthropic
- Armstrong believes the "bros in lambos" idea has given cryptocurrency holders a poor reputation and misrepresents crypto as a whole
- Through GiveCrypto, Armstrong hopes to change that reputation because he believes crypto holders "have a responsibility to help this technology reach a much wider audience"
Armstrong pointed out other strong philanthropic efforts by the industry to further his point:
"It’s still very early days in crypto and yet we’re already seeing philanthropy in cryptocurrency, from Ripple giving away $29 million to public schools to the Pineapple Fund or projects like Eat BCH. Now is the time to make sure we fold philanthropy and giving back into the fabric of this new industry."
So far, GiveCrypto has reached its first milestone of over $1 million worth of crypto donations with notable donors including the CEO of Ripple Brad Garlinghouse, Roger Ver, Bitmain and more.
Travel Giant Expedia Removes Bitcoin Payment Option Quietly
BITCOIN NOT ACCEPTED
- Since 2014 Expedia has offered a Bitcoin payment option to its customers
- However, yesterday, an Expedia spokesperson confirmed to CoinTelegraph that Bitcoin will no longer be an acceptable form of payment
- Though there has been no official statement released by Expedia at this time, many believe Expedia has stopped accepting Bitcoin because Coinbase, its Bitcoin payment processor, will no longer provide custodial solutions to merchants
- In April, CheapAir, one of Expedia's competitors, switched to BitPay from Coinbase due to the same reason
COMMUNITY BACKLASH
- In retaliation, many users on Reddit began to criticize Expedia's decision and pledged to use alternatives to book their travel that accept cryptocurrencies like CheapAir
One Reddit user pointed out that many employees have been taking the option to get paid partially in cryptocurrencies and that Expedia's decision is now an inconvenience:
"Expedia.com, one of the largest sites to book flights/hotels on used to take Bitcoin for years... I went on there to look at flights and noticed they no longer accept it. Customer support said they stopped accepting it June 10… A lot of us in the tech industry get a portion of our salary in Bitcoin and it was really good to use Expedia for flights. I won’t be using them anymore!"
- Peter Thiel and Coinbase Invest $5 million USD in Stablecoin Project Reserve
- Chat App Kik Launches 'Crypto-Economy' With Kin Token Integration
- Apple’s Steve Wozniak Calls Blockchain a ‘Bubble,’ Thinks Bitcoin Is Still ‘Just Amazing’
Lisk (LSK)
Max Kordek, Lisk's founder, will be a guest speaker at Distribute 2018 and talk on how to effectively utilize blockchain technology
Lisk (LSK)
"The event will cover Lisk’s technological proposition, explain the Lisk ecosystem and answer attendee questions in a Q&A style format."
Lisk (LSK)
"...Migration will take place when we reach block height 5,594,490 — the date and time is estimated to be 12:00 CET on Thursday, June 28..."
Bitcoin (BTC)
World Blockchain Roadshow in Asia, Part 1. The conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from Jun 28 to Jul 6.
Today in Crypto is powered by coinmarketcal.com
| Scry.info (DDD) |
| SCRY.INFO is the world's first blockchain-based quantifiable data exchange platform for real data storage, validation, sharing, analysis and trading. Based on its built-in smart contracts, SCRY.INFO provides cluster-based smart data validation for distributed users across industries, as well as enables access, tools, transactions and sharing on the SCRY platform. SCRY.INFO also provides smart contractual agreements related to a specific industry/event to market-based customers and developers, which can be applied in a variety of commercial data scenarios in sports, entertainment, agriculture, financial markets and other prediction or trading markets. |
| WEBSITE | | REDDIT |
| The above is not intended to be investment advice. |
| 1317 8th Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. |
| If you don't absolutely love us, drop us, click here. |
| Copyright © 2018 Blockchain Brew, All rights reserved. |
