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Blockchain and technology

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A blockchain,[1][2][3] originally block chain,[4][5] is a continuously growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked and secured using cryptography.[1][6] Each block typically contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block,[6] a timestamp and transaction data.[7] By design, a blockchain is inherently resistant to modification of the data. It is “an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way”.[8] For use as a distributed ledger, a blockchain is typically managed by a peer-to-peer network collectively adhering to a protocol for validating new blocks. Once recorded, the data in any given block cannot be altered retroactively without the alteration of all subsequent blocks, which requires collusion of the network majority.

Blockchains are secure by design and are an example of a distributed computing system with high Byzantine fault toleranceDecentralized consensus has therefore been achieved with a blockchain.[9] This makes blockchains potentially suitable for the recording of events, medical records,[10][11] and other records management activities, such as identity management,[12][13][14] transaction processing, documenting provenancefood traceability[15] or voting.[16]

Blockchain was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 for use in the cryptocurrency bitcoin, as its public transaction ledger.[1]

The first work on a cryptographically secured chain of blocks was described in 1991 by Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta.[17] In 1992, Bayer, Haber and Stornetta incorporated Merkle trees to the design, which improved its efficiency by allowing several documents to be collected into one block.[6][18] In 2002, David Mazières and Dennis Shasha proposed a network file system with decentralized trust: writers to the file system trust one another but not the network in between; they achieve file system integrity by writing signed commits to a shared, append-only signature chain that captures the root of the file system (which in turn is a Merkle Tree).[19] This system can be viewed as a proto-blockchain in which all authorized clients can always write, whereas, in modern blockchains, a client who solves a cryptographic puzzle can write one block.[citation needed] In 2005, Nick Szabo proposed a blockchain-like system for decentralized property titles and his bit gold payment system that utilised chained proof-of-work and timestamping. However, Szabo’s method of double-spending protection was vulnerable to Sybil attacks.[20][not in citation given]

The first blockchain was conceptualised by a person (or group of people) known as Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. It was implemented the following year by Nakamoto as a core component of the cryptocurrency bitcoin, where it serves as the public ledgerfor all transactions on the network.[1] Through the use of a blockchain, bitcoin became the first digital currency to solve the double spending problem without requiring a trusted authority and has been the inspiration for many additional applications.[4][1][3]

In August 2014, the bitcoin blockchain file size, containing records of all transactions that have occurred on the network, reached 20GB (gigabytes).[21] In January 2015, the size had grown to almost 30GB, and from January 2016 to January 2017, the bitcoin blockchain grew from 50GB to 100GB in size.[22] The words block and chain were used separately in Satoshi Nakamoto’s original paper, but were eventually popularized as a single word, blockchain, by 2016.

The term blockchain 2.0 refers to new applications of the distributed blockchain database, first emerging in 2014.[23] The Economist described one implementation of this second-generation programmable blockchain as coming with “a programming language that allows users to write more sophisticated smart contracts, thus creating invoices that pay themselves when a shipment arrives or share certificates which automatically send their owners dividends if profits reach a certain level”.[1] Blockchain 2.0 technologies go beyond transactions and enable “exchange of value without powerful intermediaries acting as arbiters of money and information”. They are expected to enable excluded people to enter the global economy, protect the privacy of participants, allow people to “monetize their own information”, and provide the capability to ensure creators are compensated for their intellectual property. Second-generation blockchain technology makes it possible to store an individual’s “persistent digital ID and persona” and are providing an avenue to help solve the problem of social inequality by “potentially changing the way wealth is distributed”.[24]:14–15 As of 2016, blockchain 2.0 implementations continue to require an off-chain oracle to access any “external data or events based on time or market conditions [that need] to interact with the blockchain”.[25]

In 2016, the central securities depository of the Russian Federation (NSD) announced a pilot project, based on the Nxt blockchain 2.0 platform, that would explore the use of blockchain-based automated voting systems.[26] IBM opened a blockchain innovation research center in Singapore in July 2016.[27] A working group for the World Economic Forum met in November 2016 to discuss the development of governance models related to blockchain.[28] According to Accenture, an application of the diffusion of innovations theory suggests that blockchains attained a 13.5% adoption rate within financial services in 2016, therefore reaching the early adopters phase.[29] Industry trade groups joined to create the Global Blockchain Forum in 2016, an initiative of the Chamber of Digital Commerce.[30]

Source: Wikipedia

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Tesla’s surge inspires fans to buy, skeptics to dig in, drives fear of missing out

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The electric vehicle maker’s stupendous rally in recent months has given shareholders something to cheer about, cost short-sellers billions of dollars and vindicated legions of retail investors who have long adored Elon Musk’s company.

Tesla shares have soared by nearly 320% since early June, helped by the company’s better-than-expected financial results and ramped-up production at its new car factory in Shanghai.

After surging 36% over Monday and Tuesday, the stock by Friday had settled back to a gain of about 15% for the week. On Friday afternoon, it was down marginally at $747.11.

Another factor driving this week’s surge may be fund managers hurrying to raise their allocation of the stock, analysts said.

“A lot of advisors and institutions, they jump in the bandwagon because they don’t want to trail,” said vocal Tesla bull Ross Gerber, president and chief executive of Gerber Kawasaki in Santa Monica, California. “If Tesla goes to $1,000 and they don’t own it, what are they going to tell their clients?”

Gerber trimmed his fund’s position in the stock as the company’s valuation soared. He hopes to buy more if the stock falls and said a fair valuation would be around $550.

THE BULLS

Retail investors have driven part of the surge.

Among Fidelity Investments customers, Tesla has been by far the most actively traded stock in recent sessions, with nearly 16,000 buy orders for the electric carmaker’s shares. Twitter, ranked second overall in trading activity on Fidelity, had just over 2,000 buy orders.

On Monday, when Tesla shot up 20% in its biggest one day rally since 2013, clients at TD Ameritrade – millennials in particular – overwhelmingly took profits after having bought the stock for months, said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at the online brokerage.

Tesla’s biggest institutional shareholders are Baillie Gifford, Capital World and Vanguard, according to Refinitiv data.

It also has an international following. Retail investors in South Korea have been trading Tesla shares at a furious pace in recent weeks, buying and selling $200 million worth of stock in January, according to the Korea Securities Depository. Volume in November stood at $43 million.

Tesla options positioning is also bullish. According to data from options analytics provider Trade Alert, skew turned deeply negative this week, meaning that demand for calls, used to position for further share gains, has surpassed demand for puts, used to guard against a fall in shares.

That’s a departure from the usual dynamic in most stocks, in which options used for downside protection generally command prices higher than those for upside participation.

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Everything you need to know about mining

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Mining cryptocoins is an arms race that rewards early adopters. You might have heard of Bitcoin, the first decentralized cryptocurrency that was released in early 2009. Similar digital currencies have crept into the worldwide market since then, including a spin-off from Bitcoin called Bitcoin Cash. You can get in on the cryptocurrency rush if you take the time to learn the basics properly.

Hover Shortcodes

You can use great shortcodes for comparison between: 

Bitcoins and Dollars
. Or 
Litecoins and Dollars
. All can be used in posts and pages in numerous ways. You can use many other cryptocurrencies and normal currencies for
comparison
. You absolutely need a strong appetite for reading and constant learning, as there are ongoing technology changes and new techniques for optimizing coin mining results.

Which Alt-Coins Should Be Mined?

If you had started mining Bitcoins back in 2009, you could have earned thousands of dollars by now. At the same time, there are plenty of ways you could have lost money, too. Bitcoins are not a good choice for beginning miners who work on a small scale. The current up-front investment and maintenance costs, not to mention the sheer mathematical difficulty of the process, just doesn’t make it profitable for consumer-level hardware. Now, Bitcoin mining is reserved for large-scale operations only.

As a second income, no, cryptocoin mining is not a reliable way to make substantial money for most. The profit from mining cryptocoins only becomes significant when someone is willing to invest $3000-$5000 in up-front, at which time you could potentially earn $50 per day or more.

How Cryptocoin Mining Works

Let’s focus on mining ‘scrypt’ coins, namely Litecoins, Dogecoins, or Feathercoins. The whole focus of mining is to accomplish three things:

  • Provide bookkeeping services to the coin network. Mining is essentially 24/7 computer accounting called ‘verifying transactions’.
  • Get paid a small reward for your accounting services by receiving fractions of coins every couple of days.
  • Keep your personal costs down, including electricity and hardware.

As a hobby venture, yes, cryptocoin mining can generate a small income of perhaps a dollar or two per day. In particular, the digital currencies mentioned above are very accessible for regular people to mine, and a person can recoup $1000 in hardware costs in about 18-24 months.

(more…)

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Bitcoin

How block-chain works

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Best known as the immutable database that runs underneath cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, blockchain is poised to play a critical role in every industry imaginable as businesses seek ways to cash in on the distributed ledger technology’s promise of enabling a “trustless” consensus to validate transactions.

Earnings in the past year

Smart miners need to keep electricity costs to under $0.11 per kilowatt-hour; mining with 4 GPU video cards can net you around $8.00 to $10.00 per day (depending upon the cryptocurrency you choose), or around $250-$300 per month.

Chart shows our earnings in the past year.

Financial transactions are typically guaranteed by a trusted third party (such as PayPal) and blockchain can be used to automate that process, reducing overall costs by cutting out the middleman with autonomous smart contracts acting as trusted intermediaries between parties on the network.

(more…)

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