Digital Marketing Stats That Got Our Attention This Week

Digital Marketing Stats That Got Our Attention This Week

Social TV, gamers and Wonder Woman chatter

    

It was an unusually busy week in the realm of interactive numbers.

It was another intriguing week in online marketing data points, with even more eyebrow-raising mobile numbers than usual. Check out the eight that we found particularly noteworthy:

Social TV in 2017
Want to know which TV shows are currently killing it on social? AMC program The Walking Dead—with 18 million engagements recently—definitely is, per 4C, which looked into social engagement for the first four-and-a-half months of this year.

Spare change
According to TechCrunch, Pokemon Go charges retailers anywhere from 15 cents to 50 cents every time a user visits a sponsored location. Sponsored locations are one of the ad products the smartphone-based, virtuality-reality-based app offers marketers.

Gamers shop—a lot
Speaking of smartphone games, Chartboost, a mobile app ad network, analyzed activity across 64 million devices and found that mobile gaming audiences are 62 percent female and normally older than 25 years of age. In addition, 47 percent of mobile gamers shop online more than three hours per week, which is high compared to 28 percent for non-gamers. What’s more, Chartboost claimed that the most popular mobile game beats the scale of TV networks.

Mobile eats away at traditional media
By 2019, the mobile web will account for 26 percent of all media consumption globally, up from 19 percent last year, per Zenith Media’s third annual forecast. TV and radio execs probably dislike reading those numbers.

Where Twitter routs Snapchat
Muck Rack surveyed 400 journalists and found that 70 percent think Twitter is a valuable reporting tool, while roughly 4 percent thought the same of Snapchat. Yeah, that’s kind of low for Snapchat.

Smells like teen social
Meet Baby Ariel, a star on Musical.ly, the hyperaddictive social media platform that counts more than 100 million users, or “musers,” many of them Gen Zers. Baby Ariel—a 16-year-old Floridian whose real name is Ariel Martin—has 19.5 million Musical.ly followers. Read our full story on the rising star here. For the uninitiated, the 3-year-old Musical.ly lets users share short videos of themselves lip-syncing to popular songs or bits of prerecorded dialogue. It’s become a popular place for artists to debut new singles and for brands to connect with kids and teens. 

Mary’s data day
Mary Meeker released her uber-hyped internet trends report on Wednesday. Here’s one of her more interesting data points: Over the last four years, YouTube’s share of mobile traffic has fallen from 30 percent to 20 percent, while Facebook’s share has increased from 7 percent to 14 percent.

Superhero inspires super chatter
Fifty-four percent of people talking about the movie Wonder Woman online are female, per Taykey. Not entirely surprising. More interestingly, Gen X women are showing up in full force to digitally discuss the film, which is expected to be a hit in spite of controversial reviews.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about –
Inbound Marketing.

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Is this Business Development strategy Correct?

Is this Business Development strategy  Correct? 

Our expert has given us some pointers on how to address the various issues

below. A strong and experienced business leader, he has worked in the aerospace, defence and energy sectors for industry leading global companies. Identified as a high potential individual early in his career he has a proven track record in new business and product development, project management of manufacturing and process plant engineering and procurement and construction (EPC) projects.

He has extensive international experience, having worked in the MENA region for more than half of his career including his most recent role growing a ‘start-up’ business from company registration to a significant multi-sector, multi-product 300m+ AED order book, based in the United Arab Emirates  He challenges the norm and has the long term strategic focus required to successfully lead and manage business at executive level.

What is the most important aspect of developing a BD strategy?

Macro level marketing is important as a first step when developing a business development strategy, however, it is not enough to truly understand the market conditions for a given product or service. Upfront, limited level of investment in field marketing is critical to define the market entry requirements, the competitive landscape, and the delivery model. This must be executed by a combination of personnel that have in depth knowledge and experience of the

a) Company’s existing business and

b) Those of a similar knowledge, experience and network in the particular market in which you are developing business.

You have a proven track record in developing and delivering new businesses to grow organisation structure – what is the most important ingredients to make this happen? It is my firm believe that success in successfully developing and delivering new business is driven by clearly addressing the strategy, tactics and operations of the business through the following:-

Business Planning & Preparation

The upfront marketing is paramount to set a clear vision for the business and to then follow that with a strategic plan which adequately addresses the steps required to enter (‘right to play’) and to succeed (‘right to win’). It is important to aim high, to get the attention of the top executives in the business and get them to believe that the particular venture is worth exploring and investing in.

It is also fundamental to be clear from as early as possible in the business development process the estimated investment requirements, the associated business case (Return On Investment, Internal Rate of Return etc.), and timescale required to win and deliver business and in doing so build the organisation as business volume grows, whether it be via internal product development, organic growth, strategic partnering, or mergers & acquisitions.

People

Recruitment of the right type of people is another key ingredient in developing and growing business. This has to be a dynamic and complementary mix of vastly experienced people with less experienced people motivated and driven to succeed, and willing challenge ‘the norm’.

Policies, Processes, & Procedures

Clear policies, processes and procedures aligned to the regulatory, market and company requirements must be in place and available to all as part of a robust management system for a new and developing business. This has to be complimented with meaningful induction and training to ensure that there is a consistent approach and that any issues or concerns are addressed as part of continuous improvement initiatives.

Communications

Open and transparent communications must be encourage up and down the various levels in the organisation as it grows to ensure that there is a ‘no surprises good or bad’ culture in the organisation. This has to be both formal via reporting, regular review meetings, electronic communications, social media, ‘townhall’ sessions etc., and informal by creating an environment where all levels in the organisation are encouraged to interact transparently, whilst maintaining mutual respect for their respective roles.

The key to the success has been striking a balance between global brand and best practice, whilst localising the organisation, operations and business management systems to ensure that a robust and cost competitive delivery model is in place to give clients the overall technical and commercial solution that they require.

What strategy did you implement to grow from to 300m+ AED in less than 2 years?

We conducted a thorough assessment of market entry options for an engineering services business offering products and services similar to Doosan Babcock. This involved a complete cross sector (i.e. oil & gas, power & water, nuclear and industrial) analysis of client business delivery models, project pipelines, and procurement systems, as well as the competitions’ business models and business performance – benchmarking. This exercise established 3 core options to satisfy the legislative market entry requirements, delivery infrastructure and competitive, profitable product and service offering.

  1. Aggressive organic growth
  • Head hunt key personnel from main competitors to provide client confidence and improved competitive position
  • Invest in establish the offices and facilities required to satisfy customer of delivery capability
  • Pre-qualify with key customers and develop strong relationships to grow business sales pipeline
  • Develop new product and service offerings outside of traditional offering, specific to the market
  • Invest in training and integration of new organising to ensure that a consistent, robust business management model and common understanding of the company’s standard and expectations of its people.
  1. Merger & Acquisition
  • Purchase controlling shareholding in competitor best aligned to company’s core business and future business aspiration with ‘1 + 1 = 3’ philosophy.
  • Embed post-merger integration team to establish common business management system.
  1. Strategic Partnering
  • Form incorporated or unincorporated joint venture (JV) with complimentary interest and clear division of responsibility covering technical delivery and corporate governance requirements, managed by an integrated executive committee.

Following consultation and review with board, Option 1 was adopted as the initial business development route that could bring the required short term (1 to 2 years) success when compared with the investment required. This has proven to be a good selection, and now that the business has achieved significant organic growth in this short term, all of these options are being revisited on regular basis (as part of the business planning cycle) to ensure that the future growth aspirations are achieved

What advice would you give anyone trying to emulate the above?

Minimal upfront investment is required to conduct detailed field marketing to drive robust business planning. This cannot be independently so make sure that you put experienced, dynamic team players around you to support in achieving excellence!

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about –
Inbound Marketing.

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

How to Create a Typical Business Development Plan

How to Create a Typical
Business Development Plan

    

A Typical Business Development Plan:

You should plan out the whole year and review / revise quarterly. List your existing accounts and plan what activities / actions need to be completed in order to fully exhaust all opportunities. You may for instance, plan to cover more bases within the decision making unit or contact associated companies or offices. The Strategic Account Profile can be used as a prompt.

Begin to target new accounts using business directories etc. and set targets per week / month / quarter i.e. I normally allow for eight hours per week as a minimum (Don’t forget to continually refer back to your Ideal Profile). Then build in what assistance you need from your marketing function ñ i.e. qualified leads, seminars, exhibition attendance etc. Finally share your plan with your manager and then commit to it. You should also measure it against S.M.A.R.T.E.R. i.e. is it. S.pecific, M.easurable, A.chievable, R.elevant, T.imed, E.xciting, R.ecorded

Linking With Your Commercial Plan:

I have suggested that your Business Development Strategy, would link with your Master Business Plan but logically you should also integrate it into your Commercial Kit(this is a document that outlines your monthly,quarterly and annual targets) specifically the areas that deal with new business generation, account management and development, four tier account lists etc. These three documents when combined should drive and guide you through the next twelve months and beyond.

Summary:

As I have said often enough “People do not fail because they planned to fail but rather because they failed to plan” The man who knows where he wants to go is more likely to get there, he just has to decide how to get there. All plans are essentially maps and guides; the strategic element is the How. Do be prepared to change course, flexibility is key, and don’t be afraid to experiment, look outside the square.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about –
Inbound Marketing.

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Move Over Bitcoin, These 4 Cryptocurrencies are Making Their Mark

Move Over Bitcoin, These 4 Cryptocurrencies are Making Their Mark

Move Over Bitcoin, These 4 Cryptocurrencies are Making Their Mark

 

Just a few years ago if you thought of cryptocurrency you thought of Bitcoin and Bitcoin only.

Bitcoin was propelled into the limelight back in 2013. Around that time The Silk Road was taken down and the U.S. government confiscated hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin. Back then, cryptocurrency and Bitcoin was more of an underground thing used mostly for dodgy purposes. But today, the tech and entrepreneurial community has gotten their hands on blockchain and cryptocurrency with the creation of other coins and technology. And now cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum are being used and backed by the biggest companies in the world such as Microsoft, JP Morgan Chase and Samsung to name a few.

Ethereum is leading the pack of the new age cryptocurrencies. The big difference is that these 2.0 and 3.0 versions of digital currencies actually do quite a bit on top of the basic technology that Bitcoin introduced to the world via blockchain. Bitcoin was just the beginning.

Here are 4 cryptocurrencies worth watching this year:

Ethereum (ETH) got popular just a few months ago when the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance was announced. The biggest companies in the world are officially backing and utilizing the new blockchain technology that Ethereum provides, specifically their smart contracts, decentralized applications on the blockchain, the creation of decentralized autonomous organizations and so much more. Ethereum does for code, apps and programming what Bitcion did for peer to peer transactions. Ethereum could eventually, starting with the launch of it’s new web browser Mist, become a complete decentralized internet.

Stratis (STRAT) is a powerful blockchain development platform. They recently got the highest level support from companies like Microsoft. Their aim is to be the one-stop shop for all things blockchain, essentially becoming a Blockchain As A Service (BAAS) platform. They are similar to Ethereum in concept but also very different. Stratis runs on the Bitcoin blockchain. But, where Stratis makes itself unique is that it offers developers the ability to code in C# which opens up a ton of possibilities for app and other developers. Additionally, Stratis is soon to launch their breeze wallet that could revolutionize and redefine transactional privacy. Stratis has a very similar number of circulating supply as Ethereum. So if you wanted to guess where Stratis (STRAT) could be price wise in a short while then look at today’s Ethereum prices.

Ripple (XRP) is a very interesting technology that allows banks to interact with eachother directly without any central point of control or middleman. This could (and is) revolutionize banking. Ripple and it’s token XRP have been critized for not having the technology and the currency truly connected. They also do not currently have their own currency wallet so storing it becomes complicated. But if they were to solve those 2 problems it could be doing very well this year.

Siacoin (SC) is a cryptocurrency and technology that was innovated at MIT at a hackathon in 2013. Siacoin’s blockchain has a technology that allows smart contracts to be created for digital storage. Essentially this could spawn the next Dropbox or Amazon AWS. But instead of Siacoin doing that directly they allow other partners like hosts to connect and compete for the business of consumers via their technology. It is a little early for Siacoin but big developments are already happening. Once they have a few more big use cases things could really take off. Their technology could be backing the next Dropbox or Amazon AWS. And if you have ever paid Amazon AWS hosting or storage costs, you know that needs to be distrupted and made cheaper. Siacoin’s blockchain technology could be the solution.

 

There you have it. These are the 4 cryptocurrencies that I and many others in the community have their eyes on to make big movement in 2017.

Author: Brian D. Evans

 

There is another coin Infinity(XIN) standing in the wings which you will be hearing more about this month so watch this space.

David Ogden
Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

OneGram Sharia Compliant, Gold-Backed Cryptocurrency Announces ICO

OneGram Sharia Compliant, Gold-Backed Cryptocurrency Announces ICO

OneGram, the first ever Sharia-compliant gold-backed cryptocurrency announces the launch of its ICO.

    

Dubai holds the distinction of being the financial capital of the Islamic world.

Now, a firm based out of the Emirate has decided to redefine the digital “gold standard” with OneGram, while factoring in the 1.6 billion followers of the Islamic faith. The gold-backed cryptocurrency has announced its ICO at the recently concluded Consensus 2017.

OneGram calls itself the world’s first Sharia-compliant cryptocurrency whose value is backed by actual gold reserves. Hailed as a Bitcoin alternative for the Islamic world, the ICO was announced to coincide with the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan. The OneGram platform is aiming to raise a total of $500 million against 12 million OneGram tokens (OGC).

In the recent press release, the CEO of OneGram, Ibrahim Mohammed is quoted saying,

“We are very pleased with early support for the OGC token crowdsale from the cryptocurrency and Islamic finance communities. More than 1,000 people have registered for GoldGuard accounts to participate, and the number is growing each day as we prepare to launch our crowdsale in alignment with Ramadan.”

The ICO will go on for 120 days, and the purchase of OGC tokens during the crowdsale will also include a 10% fee which will be utilized by the platform for business development, marketing costs, operational costs, and salaries. In the release, the company also states that each OGC will have a 1% transaction fee associated with it, of which 70% will be reinvested to buy more gold reserves.

Those buying OGC tokens will have to create an account on GoldGuard and purchase gold at live spot rates. The platform has announced that a portion of the proceeds from collected purchase fees will be used for charity donations and PoS mining rewards. This is not the first time someone has created a gold-backed cryptocurrency. There are various initiatives which revolve around the same core concept. However, unlike the rest, OneGram will have a much greater appeal to devout Muslims who prefer to follow the Islamic laws. With a huge target population, OGC has a huge potential in front of it, which could be realized in due time.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about –
TCC-Bitcoin.

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Cryptocurrency company pushes back against Shadow Brokers’ latest claims

Cryptocurrency company pushes back against Shadow Brokers' latest claims

    

The Shadow Brokers say they will be accepting Zcash for subscriptions

to their monthly dumps of leaked NSA files — a decision intended to needle the U.S. government over its role in the cryptocurrency’s creation. But the company that oversees Zcash says that federal agencies have no ties to the cryptocurrency beyond some general connections to its academic roots. In announcing the subscription service, the Shadow Brokers insinuated that Zcash has links to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, other U.S. military agencies and Israel.

“Maybe USG is needing to be sending money outside from banking systems? If USG is hacking and watching banking systems (SWIFT) then adversaries is also hacking and watching banking systems. Maybe is for sending money to deep cover foreign assets? Maybe is being trojan horse with cryptographic flaw or weakness only NSA can exploit? Maybe is not being for money?” the blog post written in broken English reads.

Though the hacking group has claimed Zcash’s privacy model to be unreliable and potentially entwined in U.S. government interests, it said it will continue to use the cryptocurrency at least through June. Researchers and executives at the Zerocoin Electric Coin Company, Zcash’s operator, maintain that the platform offers strong security benefits and is free of U.S. government influence. Users of the Zcash network own about $350 million worth of the currency, the company says.

Government help, but no ties

ZECC says it prides itself on transparency. It discloses investors on its website and offers further financial information in a regularly updated blog. “There’s no other financial backing of the Zcash company other than what’s shown in our blog posts,” Zcash CEO and founder Zooko Wilcox told CyberScoop. Zerocash, the research project that led to Zcash, lists DARPA, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Office of Naval Research, the Israeli Centers of Research Excellence I-CORE program and the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology as sponsors, among others.

When Wilcox founded Zcash, however, none of the above institutions invested in or supported the company, he said. “They don’t have any financial stake in the company,” Wilcox said. “They donated money to the research institutions years ago, and none of them are among the investors in the company. On the other hand, all of our scientists are still on good terms with that world. Our scientists still work at the same institutions, still doing new research and still getting grants from those or other grant-making institutions, governments or universities.”

Matthew Green, creator of the Zerocash protocol and a professor at Johns Hopkins University, said the protocol originated in an academic paper meant to address the privacy flaws in cryptocurrency like bitcoin. “We wanted to build basically an experimental currency that would offer at least reasonable privacy, if not more, and so that was kind of why we deployed with Zerocash,” Green said. “We wanted to see people actually using the technology in the real world.”

The paper, he said, lists DARPA, ONR and other organizations as sponsors because he was funded by a variety of ongoing grants through his work at Johns Hopkins. “It wasn’t like anyone specifically, explicitly funded us for that work,” Green said, noting that it is his practice to include thanks to each funder in papers he produces. “DARPA did not fund us to make Zerocash, and neither did the Office of Naval Research and any of those people,” Green said.

DARPA Chief of Media Relations Jared Adams wrote in an email that the contract number listed in the Zerocash paper funded the PROCEED program, which supports research in practical computation on encrypted data. Georgia Tech is recorded as the lead institution on this project, but research that occurred at other institutions, such as Johns Hopkins, could have benefited from this funding. “They did receive funding from FY10 through FY14, so some sub, including Zcash, could have contributed research in that time,” Adams wrote.

As far as connections to Israel, Green said he did collaborate with a “globally spread” team, including contributors from MIT, Tel Aviv University and Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology. “We published the first paper, and we had met them at a conference, and got good discussion about how we could improve it,” Green said. “They had been working on some other technology that was really helpful, and so we basically used some parts of their technology to build a new system.”

Leveling the playing field

Zcash itself was not deployed by Green and fellow researchers. ZECC spawned instead from a collaboration between Wilcox and the researchers in transforming the ideas published in the academic papers into a commercial venture. “We had some input, obviously, as scientists, but basically that was our role, is just to give advice,” Green said.

Wilcox had been leading the charge in the crypto-technology industry for years prior to his contact with Green and the researchers, which is what drew the two parties together, Wilcox said. A consistent proponent of internet privacy, Wilcox initially declined the offer to work with the researchers on commodifying Zerocash, he said, because he believed the technology would fail to reach a large audience in the ultra-competitive cryptocurrency market.

The CEO had a change of heart, however, when he woke up the next morning and realized that the increased privacy features that Zcash offers might match up perfectly with the needs of mainstream businesses. “You need a level playing field for everyone in an economy to be safe and have secure transactions, so I thought, ‘Zcash can be the mainstream that all business can rely on for all transactions,’” Wilcox told CyberScoop.

An experiment in privacy

On May 28, the Shadow Brokers emptied a bitcoin wallet previously associated with a bidding war for other outdated NSA hacking tools. The mysterious group’s latest statement attempts to explain its adoption of the cryptocurrency: “Zcash is making claiming bitcoin + privacy.” While the content of the Shadow Brokers’ next supposed data dump in June remains unclear, the group has set the price for access at 100 Zcash, equivalent to approximately $23,000.

The near-anonymity that Zcash offers allows organizations like the Shadow Brokers to receive their payments without fear of discovery or unmasking. While bitcoin allows for transactions to be publicly monitored, and thus traceable, Zcash’s ZeroCoin product hides the identities and transaction data of its users, rendering tracking of the currency impossible.

Despite the technology behind the cryptocurrency, the Shadow Brokers have claimed that Zcash is neither safe nor reliable. That should not matter to the “high rollers, hackers, security companies, OEMs and governments,” who may be interested in the subscription program, the group says. “Playing ‘the game’ is involving risks,” a statement reads. Wilcox likens the Zcash network to other widely accessible digital platforms.

“Zcash is just an open tool, like bitcoin or ethereum, and like a lot of the internet technology that’s out there, like email or Firefox; it’s just an open tool,” Wilcox said. Neither Wilcox, nor any other institution or agency, could lock out the Shadow Brokers from the Zcash network even if they wanted to. “It would be nice if there were somebody who had the ability to ban bad actors from using the network, but on the other hand, since there isn’t anybody who has the ability to ban anyone else from using the network, that makes it like the internet in being a global, human utility that nobody can get locked out of,” Wilcox said.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about –
TCC-Bitcoin.

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

The Benefits And Best Practices Of Branding Your Own Cryptocurrency

The Benefits And Best Practices Of Branding Your Own Cryptocurrency

In 2015, "Minecraft," one of the most popular online games now owned by Microsoft, announced that PlayMC, one of their servers, would be introducing their own cryptocurrency in order to teach children about the digital currency. It’s a pretty smart move since it sets up the potential future for the mass adoption of this new type of currency.

    

Although the game already has in-game currencies that mimic cryptocurrency,

this is the first of its kind where the players can take their money from the game and then use it in the real world for other things. There still will be the need for these players to convert their money through a bitcoin exchange, which must verify identity and approve transactions, but this is the first of its kind to be available to those under 18.

Other companies have also branded their own cryptocurrency as a move to set themselves apart from the competition, also believing in the ability of the digital currency to change transactions forever. To date, these branded digital currencies have yet to really catch on, but there is a lot to be said for this strategy, seeing that major companies like Microsoft and those behind "Minecraft" are aggressively working toward greater acceptance. Since it is too late to be the first mover in creating your own cryptocurrency, you can still jump on this opportunity as a business owner by creating a niche digital currency that offers features that are attractive to your audience or that illustrates the benefits of using it.

Benefits And Best Practice Of Becoming Your Own Digital Currency

While some refer to it as vanity money creation, it’s an idea that has marketing value — plus, it offers a way to reach an audience that may be looking for a new way to pay for goods or services. You’ll be able to offer significant benefits, including helping users avoid the risk of fraud, enjoying complete anonymity to purchase what they want and not having to worry their currency will be taken away by any government institution.

It’s also something that sets you apart from your competition and intrigues your target audience, which may be slowly catching on to the idea of digital currency. For example, as a CTO for an online payments platform, the development of our own digital currency can be of benefit to our small business customer base and set us apart from other payment processors. Plus, we’ll have control over the payment process because we will have built the actual currency in use and know everything about it rather than relying on any third-party provider.

However, before you jump right in, there is a certain skill level that is necessary to create your own cryptocurrency brand. You’ll definitely need some technical expertise on your team in the form of a developer that has some working knowledge of how digital currency works and the blockchain technology behind it. Although the code is open source with cryptocurrency, it’s not as simple as writing a few lines of code. More thought and technical know-how are needed to develop your best practices approach to branding a digital currency.

Here are some recommendations:

  • Make sure you have a specific benefit for your end user. While it’s great to have a branded digital currency, if it’s just a “vanity” coin like a vanity plate on your vehicle, it’s not worth it. Instead, think about how you could create more value for your customer, such as convenience, more options, greater security, etc.
  • Develop the code yourself or with the help of a team or outsourced developer who understands which programming language should be used and how it can work within the existing cryptocurrency environment. This includes its ability to be used with existing cryptocurrency exchanges. You can also use a coin creation service like CoinCreator.net or CryptoLife that takes care of the technical aspects if you don’t have the resources on hand within your own company.
  • Weigh the option of creating your own blockchain or using an existing one. You’ll need this as part of constructing your own digital currency because it’s the technological framework. If you want to keep control over the code that makes up your branded currency, then you’ll need to build your own blockchain, which also helps you add any unique features you want to further differentiate you from the digital currency crowd.
  • Determine what unique features you want to have, including setting the block reward for miners, how much data is allowed in each transaction, the block size and how much coin supply you want to have out there.
  • Decide what services you want to use the coin for, including allowing your customers to check on their wallet balances and transactions as well as providing a way to help your customers accept your coin as payment in a way that integrates with their payment platform.
  • Look for any vulnerabilities with your branded cryptocurrency, even employing a friendly hacker to see if they can break into it or find any weak points. This is critical that you have it as secure as possible before putting your name on it and offering it to your audience.

With more stability coming to the overall cryptocurrency environment and larger brands coming on board with offering and accepting digital currency as part of the global transaction environment, the option of branding your own digital coin is an exciting opportunity to stand out and serve your target audience with new options that help them become a part of this digital age.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about –
TCC-Bitcoin.

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Battle Of The Cryptos: Bitcoin Vs. Ethereum

Battle Of The Cryptos:
Bitcoin Vs. Ethereum

Bitcoin enthusiasts and investors celebrated Bitcoin Pizza Day

This week, bitcoin enthusiasts and investors celebrated Bitcoin Pizza Day, the seven-year anniversary of the day programmer Laszlo Hanyecz spent 10,000 bitcoin on two Papa John’s Int'l, Inc. PZZA 0.55% pizzas. Today, the bitcoin spent on those pizzas would be worth $22 million. The price of bitcoin has skyrocketed in recent years as investors look for protection in an increasingly uncertain global economy and speculators attempt to capitalize on the momentum. However, while bitcoin may be the most popular cryptocurrency out there, it’s certainly not the only game in town.

There's Another Sheriff In Town

In fact, bitcoin isn’t even the top-performing crypocurrency of 2017. While bitcoin has once again doubled in value in 2017, the value of rival currency ether is up 2,000 percent. On the surface, ether and bitcoin share a number of similarities. Both cryptocurrencies utilize blockchain technology, the decentralized public record of all transactions that is the core of the two currencies’ security features. However, digging deeper into the two currencies reveals they are completely different in both design and utilization.

Ethereum, A Different Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin has primarily served as a currency for consumer payment transactions. The Ethereum ether blockchain was designed to include many more features that would appeal to the corporate world. The primary feature of Ethereum that has drawn the interest of corporations is its support of smart contracts. Smart contracts are computer algorithms that automatically execute the terms of a contract as soon as the contract’s conditions are met. For example, Barclays PLC (ADR) BCS 0.28% has used this type of technology for derivatives trading.

While bitcoin’s grassroots support continues to swell, a group of corporate powerhouses, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM 0.51%, Microsoft Corporation MSFT 2.37% and Intel Corporation INTC 0.55%, have formed the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA), a network to connect large companies to work on projects involving the Ethereum blockchain.

Bitcoin’s current market cap of nearly $40 billion is more than double that of ether, but investors see the power of the corporate involvement with Ethereum and the appeal of the smart contract capabilities. For investors who want to make a big bet on Ethereum, investment options are limited at this point. The EtherIndex Ether Trust filed for NYSE listing in July 2016, but has yet to gain SEC approval. The SEC recently said it was planning to review a previously rejected bitcoin ETF created by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. For now, investors can set up an account on Coinbase to trade bitcoin and ether directly.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about –
TCC-Bitcoin.

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

From 4Chan Meme to Real Currency: ‘Rare Pepes’ are Innovating Cryptocurrency

From 4Chan Meme to Real Currency: ‘Rare Pepes’
are Innovating Cryptocurrency

    

As the value of cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin surge to all-time highs,

a new project in crypto space promises to innovate the scene with tradable cards based on the 4chan meme, Pepe the Frog, which rose to popularity during the 2016 US election. Amid the civil crisis in Venezuela and the plummeting of the Bolívar, some of its more enterprising startups were among the first to hop onboard the cryptocurrency bandwagon to secure their financial safety through the “Rare Pepe” digital currency.

So what is the tradable Rare Pepe, exactly? Unlike Dogecoin or other joke  cryptocurrencies that hold next to no value, the tradable Rare Pepe is built around the concept of tokens and digital asset collection. The 4channers who first popularized the Rare Pepe meme designed variations of Pepe—a comic strip character by artist Matt Furie—came up with the idea that each of these Pepes was one-of-a-kind, and therefore “rare.” In 2011, an eBay prank submission collecting 1,200 Rare Pepes received a $99,166 bid before being removed from the platform.

The tradable Rare Pepe builds on this concept and turns the joke into a reality. Issued as tokens on the bitcoin blockchain through Counterparty, user generated Rare Pepe collectible cards hold monetary value and are listed on a directory after inspection by administrators. The assigned tokens tied to Rare Pepe cards are locked on the blockchain,  meaning it isn’t possible to alter their Bitcoin value. Each card is a one-of-a-kind digital asset.

In addition to their scarcity, tokens issued on Counterparty are tradable on the service’s Bitcoin exchange, so users who possess these tokens can trade the Rare Pepe cards directly without anyone else holding the cards. A variety of wallets are compatible with the tokens, allowing users to amass a collection of Rare Pepe cards. The Venezuela-based game developer of Rare Pepe Party even assigned scores and RPG elements to each Rare Pepe card, incentivizing gamers to build decks of Rare Pepe cards to play online.

It draws from a similar cryptocurrency-based game, Spells of Genesis, a mobile game that gamifies digital assets. Prior to the rise of Rare Pepes, a rare Spells of Genesis card called the Satoshicard, sold for over 6 bitcoins in 2016. At the time, it was worth $3,700. It’s now worth $14,100. Rare Pepe Party and Spells of Genesis aren’t the only platform to make innovative use of cryptocurrency. The Book of Orbs was designed a collection book and wallet for Rare Pepe owners to collect and trade them on their phones.

As the players of Pokemon Trading Cards and Magic the Gathering grow up, tradeable Rare Pepes provide nerdy cryptocurrency traders actual reason to collect cards, make money, and have fun while they’re doing it. And unlike the paper-based cards, they can’t be damaged or destroyed. Rare Pepes may still seem like a joke in the mainstream, but as Coin and Peace argues on his Medium article, they have the potential to reinvent the concept of currency by providing them with additional, if only entertaining utility.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about –
TCC-Bitcoin.

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

EU Commits 5 Million Euros to Fund Blockchain Surveillance Research

A group of government agencies, law enforcement groups and academic researchers are partnering on a new digital currency surveillance project.

EU Titanium Project

Backed by €5m in funding from the European Union, the initiative, dubbed "Tools for the Investigation of Transactions in Underground Markets", or TITANIUM, will be conducted over the next three years.

Participants include Interpol, Interior Ministries from Spain and Austria, Finland's National Bureau of Investigation, and University College London, among others.

In statements, the project's backers cited a recent wave of ransomware attacks around the globe, pointing to the event as a justification for beefing up the ability to track cryptocurrency payments.

At the same time, those involved pledged not to violate user privacy rights.

"The consortium will analyse legal and ethical requirements and define guidelines for storing and processing data, information, and knowledge involved in criminal investigations without compromising citizen privacy," said Ross King, senior scientist for the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, one of the research institutions taking part.

That the EU would take this approach – let alone fund one – is perhaps unsurprising, given past efforts and statements from leaders and officials of the economic bloc.

The EU's executive branch, the European Council, began pushing aggressively for greater oversight of digital currency users in early 2016, with the European Parliament following suit earlier this year.

According to a press release published by the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), the European Union funded a three-year project investigating the criminal use of virtual currencies and the darknet. Fifteen members from seven European countries are participating in the project. The solutions developed in the research are intended to prevent criminals and attackers from using the blockchain technology for criminal purposes while at the same time preserving the privacy rights of legitimate users.

Blockchain technology makes it possible to organize records in a distributed network without central control and thus presents new challenges for investigating authorities, the press release says. The best-known application of the blockchain technology is Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency currently on its all-time high at almost $2,500, which offers legal use, however, the virtual currency could be also used for criminal purposes. The press release stated that BTC’s illicit use most happens on the dark side of the internet, for example on darknet marketplaces or hacking forums. Since the dark web could not be accessed or crawled via common search engines, such as Google, and provides more anonymity to its users than the clearnet (the normal part of the internet everybody knows), criminals often take advantage of these perks and decide to conduct their illegal activities on the darknet. The press release emphasized that the WannaCry attackers, who locked computers in approximately 150 countries on May 12, 2017, also demanded the payment of the ransom in bitcoins.

The aim of the TITANIUM (Tools for the Investigation of Transactions in Underground Markets) project is the development of technical solutions for investigating and combating criminal and terrorist acts on the internet, which are carried out with the help of virtual currencies and underground marketplaces. The three-year project, worth a total of EUR 5 million, is funded by the European Union.

The tools developed and implemented by the partnership (including four law enforcement agencies and INTERPOL) are intended to support the forensic analysis of criminal transactions, identify anomalies in their application and identify money laundering techniques. In addition, the researchers will carry out training courses in order to “anchor” the corresponding know-how and knowledge to the law enforcement authorities of the EU helping officers in preventing and prosecuting cybercrime more efficiently. Furthermore, the tools and services developed in the project are to be tested and validated on site by the law enforcement authorities in order to check the project results for their success and effectiveness.

“Criminal and terrorist activities related to virtual currencies and dark net markets are developing rapidly and vary widely with regard to technical maturity, resilience and targeted goals,” Project Coordinator Ross King, Senior Scientist at the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), said in a statement.

In order to counteract these activities, according to Dr. King, the development of efficient and effective forensics tools is a must, which can use different types of data from different sources, including virtual currencies, online forums, peer-to-peer networks on darknet marketplaces, and on electronic equipment, which law enforcement authorities seized from the suspects. Dr King emphasized that the development of the tools within the framework of the TITANIUM project is an important focus on the protection of the personality and fundamental rights of the users.

“The partnership will analyze the legal and ethical requirements and develop guidelines for the storage and processing of data, information, and findings from criminal investigations without affecting the privacy of citizens, Dr King said.

In addition to the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, the following partners are part of the TITANIUM consortium: the Federal Criminal Police Office from Germany (BKA), Coblue Cybersecurity from the Netherlands, Countercraft SL from Spain, Dence GmbH from Germany, University of Innsbruck from Austria, INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organization), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology from Germany, Federal Ministry of the Interior of Austria, Ministry of Interior of Spain, National Bureau of Investigation from Finland, TNO from the Netherlands, Trilateral Research Ltd. from the United Kingdom, University College London from the United Kingdom, VICOMTECH-IK4 from Spain.

If you believe that my message is worth spreading, please use the share buttons if they show on this page.

Stephen Hodgkiss
Chief Engineer at MarketHive

markethive.com


Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member