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General

What Is A Bounce Rate:How Important Is It?

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What Is A Bounce Rate: How Important Is It? 

What is a Bounce Rate? 

Here is an easy way to think of the website bounce rate. Think of a ‘bounce’ as someone landing on your website, not clicking on any other pages and then leaving. The bounce rate is, therefore, the percentage of people that do this, rather than stay and take a look around your website. You want your bounce rate to be as low as possible, get them to engage and take the next step down your sales funnel. 

 

There are some key factors to consider that determine your website bounce rate…

What Type Of Traffic Are You Attracting? 

Are the visitors to your website specifically looking for your company, or are they looking for information? People who are familiar with you will bounce less than those who are in information-gathering mode. If you have an eCommerce store, does your traffic have high ‘commercial intent’? Are they ready to buy or simply researching for future purchases?  

Writing really awesome blog posts can bring you lots of traffic, but this tends to be more information-seeking traffic as opposed to visitors with high commercial intent. Consequently, traffic to blog posts tends to have a higher bounce rate than traffic to your home page even if the average session duration is longer. 

This shows the blogs are good quality and all that may be needed is a prominent call to action. Another way to keep them on longer is to have lots of relevant internal links so the visitors can delve deeper into a topic that interests them. 

 

 

What Causes Artificially High Bounce Rates? 

Websites are frequently crawled by bots. Some are friendly and used to decide where to rank the website. Other bots are nasty and evil and are looking for content to scrape and load to spammy sites. Therefore the bounce rate is skewed because they are not real visitors.

 

The Sources Of Your Traffic. 

Visitors that come from Google search results tend to ‘bounce’ much less than visitors from Facebook, for example. People are in very different frames of mind when they’re in work or play modes. Paid traffic sites can have an effect on your bounce rate due to the fact they are not organic or perhaps targeting the wrong audience pulling in unqualified traffic.

Sending the wrong people to your landing page will definitely result in a higher bounce rate. The right traffic is visitors that are primed to convert because they are in your target audience. 

CEO and CMO of Markethive, Thomas Prendergast has done some excellent research on the target market for Markethive. Given the company is on blockchain and crypto-based, it makes sense to target people using the platforms illustrated in this research

The Design And Layout Of Your Website.

Sites that are difficult to navigate, confusing, or look old-fashioned all tend to have higher bounce rates than new clean, easy-to-use, mobile-friendly websites. Intrusive advertisements will not only have a negative effect but will also reduce the reputation of your landing pages. Also, auto-play videos are a strict no-no. Most people don’t like surprises or be bombarded as soon as they hit the site. 

Headlines and subheadings are helpful to visitors to scan blocks of text quickly. If they cannot spot the content by scanning the headline or subheadings, they most likely will not take the time to search your site. 

Images relating to the content make it easier to read. Text without images can be overwhelming and needs to be optimized for online reading. Writing on the web is very different than writing for written publications. Images break up the copy making it easier on the eyes. 

Note: Images need to be relevant, inspiring and entertaining but not too many or too distracting. Avoid oversized images also. Combining images with great content simply reinforces what you want to say with the visual.

The Clarity Of Your Message.

Within the first few seconds of arriving at a website, visitors will automatically scan for content and design elements that communicate Credibility and Safety. The perceived safety of the site relates to the quality of the content and the appearance of the pages. If your site communicates safety, the visitor will be encouraged to stay, explore and may even take the next step.

Grammar and spelling errors on a site are very often perceived as not credible. It’s an absolute turn off for me when visiting sites. But the credibility and safety go well beyond grammar and spelling. The quality of content must quickly communicate that… 

  1. You understand their problem
  2. You have a solution that could solve their problem
  3. They just need to take the next step 

The next step is a clear call to action. Having a clear call to action means the visitor knows at a glance what their next step should be and where it is on the page. Making it easy and not asking for too much information will definitely work in your favor. Even asking for full name, phone number and email can result in a bounce or maybe even a false lead. A simple widget connected to their email account is a one-click verified lead that most people accept and is an easy, unobtrusive way to capture them.  

If the visitor is not convinced that the site is credible, reliable and safe for any reason, they will bounce from the page within the first few seconds after arriving. 

 

The Speed Of Your Website. 

Slow-loading websites have high bounce rates and low conversion rates. It’s that simple. The golden rule is that people do leave a website if it takes more than 4 seconds to load. 

These following factors tend to slow page load times: 

  • Cheap hosting
  • Oversized images that can’t be downloaded quickly
  • Too many images will cause too many requests on each page load
  • Using custom fonts need to be downloaded for the visitor to read 
  • Too many fancy sliders and javascript effects that also must be downloaded to work. 

 

What Is A Good Bounce Rate?

As a very broad rule of thumb, you’re aiming for a website bounce rate of under 40%. Between 40% and 55% is usually okay, whilst 55-65% shows significant room for improvement. This is a very simple and broad rule of thumb. There are certain circumstances like paid and social traffic, traffic hitting blog posts and also mobile traffic tends to bounce more. This is where it might be perfectly okay to have a bounce rate higher than these figures.

 

Checklist of things to review on your landing pages…

  1. You sent the right people to your landing pages.
  2. You don’t bombard people with intrusive ads that distract from your primary call to action.
  3. Your headlines match the advertisement that promoted the landing page.
  4. Visitors can quickly find what they are looking for.
  5. Spelling and grammar have been checked out.
  6. The content provided is of high quality.
  7. It’s well designed with a clear message.
  8. The images don’t distract from the call to action.
  9. You have a clear next step for the visitor avoiding confusion.
  10. You avoid asking for too much information.
  11. Landing pages load under 2 seconds.

 

For Markethive Associates, You can find your bounce rate under Statistics either on your Profile Page or in Pages for your Widget and Capture Page stats. Markethive has made it very easy to read the analytics and keep on top of critical information that can help you improve where need to reach your end goals.

 

This service is available to all Associates, Free, and Upgraded. I find the capture pages and websites at Markethive fare very well with bounce rates and conversions. 

Conclusion

Page layouts that are simple can communicate a lot of information in a short period of time. Focus on what you really want the visitor to do on your landing page. Be sure to make all the content, images and call to action buttons are gently nudging people in that direction.

Think of each landing page as a social contact. This is where you create a first impression that encourages the visitor to get to know you better, thereby improving your bounce rate, time on site and overall conversions. 

 

ecosystem for entrepreneurs

 

 

Deb Williams
Market Manager for Markethive, a global Market Network, and Writer for the Crypto/Blockchain Industry. Also a strong advocate for technology, progress, and freedom of speech.  I embrace "Change" with a passion and my purpose in life is to help people understand, accept and move forward with enthusiasm to achieve their goals. 
 

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General

My Advice On Building a Link Building Strategy

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My Advice On Building a Link Building Strategy

Link building is a crucial element when it comes to SEO (search engine optimization). 


Image by Karolina Grabowska from Pixabay 

The reason for this is clear:

A link building strategy gets you traffic to your site and greatly improves your search engine rankings. 

If you can obtain a link from another site to your site, this signals to the almighty search engines that you have something worth taking a look at and they move you closer to the front of the line. The more links you get, the closer you get to the first page of search engine results when someone does a search for a relevant term. And once you are on that first page, you will start getting more traffic. 

"So, What should be the components of a good link building strategy?" You ask.

1. Valuable Content

One of the best ways to get inbound links is to ensure that your site offers valuable information to your visitors or valuable reference pages that relate to your business. . .or both. Once you have proven that you have quality content, other website owners will link to your site without you having to go out and ask them to do so.

Make sure your link building strategy includes a concerted effort to always provide information your particular market is interested in. If you know your market well, identify the kind of informations they are interested in and give it to them.

2. Keywork Related 

Make sure your content is not only informative and valuable but also related to keywords that direct relate to your market's interests.

Keep in mind that the highest quality links are those that are connected by a keyword or keyword phrase, not links that go from another site straight to your simple domain name. So, for example, if someone links from his site www.ABC.com to your site www.DEF.com, this counts for something. But not as much if the same person links the text "red apples" from an article in his site to your article on red apples within your site.

3. Outbound Linking

Many marketers often ignore outbound linking but for a comprehensive strategy, it is worth including it in your overall strategy.

Choosing to do some outbound linking (you linking to another site) provides additional value to your readers and inspires others to link back to you. This also contributes to your link building strategy and is viewed well by the search engines. Don't overdo it though. Just one or a couple of links per page will be fine. 

4. Join Forums and/or Networks

This may seem out of place in a Link Building Strategy but the reality is that Forums and Networks offer you easy opportunities to get valuable linkbacks to your blog/web site content. The secret here is to first, learn how the forum/network operates and what behaviours it will allow, and then engage with other members. This can be time consuming but once you start contributing and helping members in your market, you will find lots of opportunities to suggest links to your content. The fundamental principle here is to be helpful.

Having said this, there are many forums I could suggest, like Warrior Forum, however, there is one absolute must network you should never do without. It is called MARKETHIVE  and it's tools are absolutely FREE to use. Every marketing strategy should include its priceless features.

SIDEBAR: You can also try link building services although it's important to do your research first. If you choose the wrong service, it can get you penalized by the search engines. It's easy to see why people do opt for these types of services–link building is a long, tedious process and hiring someone else to do the grunt work may be well worth the required fee. But it isn't worth it if your site ends up going backwards instead of forwards in search engine ranking.

Although going out and seeking links is somewhat frowned upon, it works. And it's a win-win situation if you come across a website that offers something of value to your target audience. It's important to keep in mind that it's not only the quantity but the quality of your links that will get you where you want to be. Also, the very best way to ensure that you will get links to your website is to create top quality content. 

These are the basics I suggest when it comes to implementing your link building strategy.

—

Maxwell Jacobs is the Owner of http://SolutionsforHomeProfits.com. Check us out anytime for marketing tips and a free subscription to our cutting edge newsletter. 

Markethive

Bitcoin continues its steady recovery, rising above $8,000/more

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Bitcoin continues its steady recovery, rising above $8,000

Other cryptocurrencies match bitcoin’s march higher

Bitcoin continued to move above $8,000 on Thursday,
taking a cue from global equity markets, which appeared to be stabilizing somewhat after a week of extreme volatility. The price of a single bitcoin BTCUSD, +2.72% gained 6.7% to $8,091.23, bouncing off a session low of $7,576.25, according to CoinDesk data. The price of bitcoin remains well below a level of $10,000 seen a week ago, and its December peak above $19,000, but has recovered from a drop below $6,000 on Tuesday. Ether, the coin on the ethereum network, saw a similar rise, up 6.3% to $806.63, while bitcoin cash was at $995.25, up 3.5%. Litecoin rose 2.7% to $142.66, and Ripple gained 3.4% to 75 cents, CoinDesk prices indicated.

Winklevoss:
If you can’t see bitcoin at $320,000, you just lack imagination

‘We believe bitcoin disrupts gold’

Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss are still fired up about bitcoin.

‘You know the criticisms are just a failure of the imagination.’

That’s what Tyler, one of the Winklevoss twins, had to say to the skeptics — and there are many — who fail to see the massive potential for bitcoin BTCUSD, +2.33%  and the rest of the crypto space. “Cryptocurrencies aren’t really important for human-to-human transactions… but when machines-to-machines trade economic value, they are going to plug into protocols like bitcoin and ethereum,” he explained to CNBC. “They are not going to open bank accounts at J.P. Morgan… those were invented by bankers before the internet existed. Trying to use them as payments or money on the internet is a square peg in a round hole at best.” His brother, Cameron, says bitcoin will one day be worth 40 times today’s price, which is currently just over $8,000, thanks to a double-digit rally.

“We believe bitcoin disrupts gold GCH8, -0.01% We think it’s a better gold if you look at the properties of money. And what makes gold gold? Scarcity,” Cameron said. “Bitcoin is actually fixed in supply so it’s better than scarce … it’s more portable, its fungible, it’s more durable. Its sort of equals a better gold across the board. We think regardless of the price moves in the last few weeks, it’s still a very underappreciated asset.”

Neither Cameron nor his brother put a specific timeline on the prediction during the chat, but they did say they’re taking the 10-to-20 year view. The Winklevoss twins were hailed as the first crypto billionaires, after riding the hype and creating an exchange that processes $300 million in daily transactions. The brothers are currently No. 4 on the Forbes list of wealthiest players in the space, behind the Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.

February Bitcoin futures on the Cboe Global Markets XBTG8, -0.30%  slipped 2.4%, to settle at $8,040, while those on the CME Group Inc. BTCG8, -1.52%  fell 3.6% to $7,970. Cryptocurrencies have drawn some support this week from a Senate hearing to discuss regulations for the industry , which was viewed as generally positive. But bitcoin and its rivals have been not escaped the volatility that has at times whipsawed global equity markets.

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
Contributor

Please click either Link to learn more about Bitcoin.
Interested or have Questions, Call Me, 559-474-4614

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Search Engine Optimization Strategies

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seo strategiesSearch Engine Optimization Strategies. Search engine optimization

Refers to any efforts that are required to try and get your web site into the top rankings of Google (and others) search engine listing results when someone searches for your "keyword phrases". Everyone loves successful search engine optimization, because you can get lots of traffic…and…it's free!

The problem is, that no one really knows how Google decides where to rank your site and when it will show up. Any expert that tells you that they know exactly how Google's ranking works and/or guarantees that you'll get into the top spots (for a fee, of course), is being less than truthful.

Even so, there are proven techniques that you can employ to get your site into the top of the listings. We believe in being very transparent about what we're doing and why we're doing it, so we'll show you exactly what we're doing, and why it helps to skyrocket you right to the top!

Business owners have big challenges when it comes to search engine optimization:

Often, Google doesn't even know their site exists (this is VERY common). Even if Google does know about their site, it never shows up in search engine listings. Even if their site does show up in some kind of search, it's hardly ever the "keyword phrase" that the owner would like. It's very important to get the right one. Even if the owner could dictate to Google what keywords to show the site for, most business owners don't know which words and phrases are the money makers! All is not gloom and doom however!

With a little help, you can start to overcome all of these issues. Mainly open your Webmaster Tools Account and make sure your site is or can be indexed . Discover how you can gather more leads using driven traffic. Build an online business, generate leads and increase sales.

Let's face it, search engines must be able to "View" your site; and correct search engine optimization delivers search engine position allowing people to find your site and then the products you sell. Internet advertising produces Website Traffic for your business and the importance of delivering traffic and business prospects for just about any business cannot be overstated.

One of the most important additional of traffic generation is that extra traffic enhances your lead gathering function making sure relevant prospects buy from your business.

It is useless just building traffic for the sake of it unless it produces sales. That's why we focus on different web site traffic packages so that the benefits may be measured. And all our systems measure and report to you the effect of the traffic sent to your site. And you want real visitors not web bots pinging your site to record a visit.

Because so many other businesses have been disappointed by their Internet marketing results, particularly in relation to their costs, Markethive.com have endeavored to remain vendor-independent and open minded about the strategies that we design and employ for our customers.

You must have more than a valid email address and phone number on your business card. You need a high traffic site with products to sell and – create the environment for and desire for the prospect to buy from your product catalog.

After all the suspect is the person who originally responded to your web site traffic, flyer, mailing, newspaper advertisement or some other means you employed to capture their attention or original information. The important thing here is, has enough interest has been sparked in the lead to respond back to you.

Another very important question also arises here is; did the promotion material that caused the original response and subsequently the enquiry to your website fulfill its intended purpose. In other words; did the information you supplied that elicited the response from the suspect, was it relevant to your business or are you getting leads from people who misunderstood your message.

When does this Google madness end?

Nobody knows. Everybody is on board though trying to grab whatever piece of return they can from Google Organic results. Hey, it’s free, what else do you want? If you are a business owner who has jumped into the online waters, I’m sure that you are frustrated as hell hearing a million ideas and million methods from a million people. And you also know that there’s no such thing as “free advertising” in our world, at least not yet. So until then, you might want to keep on reading.

“The secret to SEO”. This is a boring title basically because of the fact that it sounds like a generic get rich theme that we Americans are subject to on a daily basis. So all you business owners and work from homers must listen to me.

THERE’S NO SECRET TO SEO.

It’s very basic and I’m sure you have read this in a lot of places; it’s content. But many sources fail to mention that it has to be relevant content. I tell each of my clients the same thing and it has 3 major clauses;

1- Original Fresh Content
2- Popularity of your site
3- Maintenance
4- Existence

Original and Fresh Content is not as easy as it sounds.

We are talking about unique information that will move people to your site. See, the problem with many companies showing up on the top page today is that their pages are optimized for Google with a combination of nonsense sentences and keywords. So, my approach is, why not build a website that actually is optimized for humans? When you do this, you are automatically taking care of the optimization for Google. Come on people, we all know that Google has game and they’re increasing their technology every day finding ways to get rid of this “optimization” deal. Google is always on the side of the users and never the advertisers keep that in mind.

Guess what, once you have original and fresh content, people are going to want to visit your site and link to your site. Hey, we just took care of Popularity as well. I’m not saying you do not have to work on the link exchange thing but I promise that it will be minimal. Also you want to stay away from link farms, link exchange offers and paying for links. So I hear that question, how else am I going to bring links to my site?

The answer is content. Write articles, submit it to article sites. Prepare a PR, submit it to Prweb.com. Believe me; all these will bring links to your site. All you have to do is, mention your website at the end of these articles and make sure you link to your site with your advertised link text.

Now you are thinking, “That’s it; I have the content and the links, I’m the king of Google”. That would be wrong. Always remember that while you are doing content and popularity, there are a million competitors doing that and more. So you want to Maintain your content. You want to update it every week so every time Google spiders come to visit your site, they find new useful information. Keep up with daily life and updated news. For example, if you sell farming supplies and the price of grain goes up, you should write an article and put it in your site. Also publish those articles on other articles sites. You can find these sites easily with a “article submit” search on Google.

And the last but not least would be Existence.

I don’t want to get all philosophical but you have to have some type of existence online. Try to search for your company name on Google and see how many results you get; that’s your existence. You could also name this one “Brand Recognition”. You want to increase that so when somebody searches for farming supplies, they must see your name. You can do this easily by writing articles and Press Releases on a weekly basis. The more you write, the more circulation you will get. If you have a great piece of article or information, acquire a list of media outlets such as local and national newspapers, and fax it to them.

They just might bite pick it up. Always remember to include your website at the end as a source and you might have yourself a million dollar making, traffic getting website, Google top ranking website !!!

Tuneup

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

What is cryptocurrency?

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What is cryptocurrency?

 

Bitcoin is a form of cryptocurrency 

Cryptocurrency is a form of digital money that is designed to be secure and, in many cases, anonymous. It is a currency associated with the internet that uses cryptography, the process of converting legible information into an almost uncrackable code, to track purchases and transfers. Cryptography was born out of the need for secure communication in the Second World War. It has evolved in the digital era with elements of mathematical theory and computer science to become a way to secure communications, information and money online. The first cryptocurrency was bitcoin, which was created in 2009 and is still the best known. There has been a proliferation of cryptocurrencies in the past decade and there are now more than 900 available on the internet. Here's everything you need to know about cryptocurrencies. 

How do cryptocurrencies work? 

Cryptocurrencies use decentralised technology to let users make secure payments and store money without the need to use their name or go through a bank. They run on a distributed public ledger called blockchain, which is a record of all transactions updated and held by currency holders.

Units of cryptocurrency are created through a process called mining, which involves using computer power to solve complicated maths problems that generate coins. Users can also buy the currencies from brokers, then store and spend them using cryptographic wallets. Cryptocurrencies and applications of blockchain technology are still nascent in financial terms and more uses should be expected. Transactions including bonds, stocks and other financial assets could eventually be traded using the technology.  

What are the most common cryptocurrencies? 

  • Bitcoin:
         Bitcoin was the first and is the most commonly traded cryptocurrency to date.  The currency was developed by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009, a mysterious figure who developed its blockchain. It has a market capitalisation of around $45 billion as of July 2017. 
  • Ethereum:
         Developed in 2015, ethereum is the currency token used in the ethereum blockchain, the second most popular and valuable cryptocurrency. Ethereum has a market capitalisation of around $18bn as of July 2017. However, ethereum has had a turbulent journey. After a major hack in 2016 it split into two currencies, while its value has in recent months reached as high as $400 but crashed briefly to as low as 10 cents.
  • Ripple:
         Ripple is another distributed ledger system that was founded in 2012. Ripple can be used to track more kinds of transactions, not just of the cryptocurrency. It has been used by banks including Santander and UBS and has a market capitalisation of around $6.3 billion.
  • Litecoin: 
    This currency is most similar in form to bitcoin, but has moved more quickly to develop new innovations, including faster payments and processes to allow many more transactions. The total value of all Litecoin is around $2.1 billion.

Why would you use a cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrencies are known for being secure and providing a level of anonymity. Transactions in them cannot be faked or reversed and there tend to be low fees, making it more reliable than conventional currency. Their decentralised nature means they are available to everyone, where banks can be exclusive in who they will let open accounts.  As a new form of cash, the cryptocurrency markets have been known to take off meaning a small investment can become a large sum over night. But the same works the other way. People look to invest in cryptocurrencies should be aware of the volatility of the market and the risks they take when buying.

Chuck Reynolds


Marketing Dept
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Why the feds took down one of Bitcoin’s largest exchanges

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Why the feds took down one of Bitcoin’s largest exchanges

Tracing Mt. Gox’s stolen coins led feds to Alexander Vinnik

  This week, one of Bitcoin’s largest and most notorious coin exchanges

was brought down by law enforcement — and police and prosecutors are now beginning to explain why. On Thursday, the Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against Alexander Vinnik — thought to be the operator, or one of the operators of Bitcoin exchange BTC-e — charging him with 21 counts of money laundering and other related financial crimes. The counts range from operating an unlicensed money transmittal business to a variety of money laundering charges, including laundering associated with ransomware payouts and a theft from the now-defunct Mt Gox exchange. More generally, the indictment paints BTC-e as a hub of criminal activity, laundering the proceeds of everything from drug trafficking to ransomware attacks.

As some suspected, Vinnik’s alleged crimes go beyond just operating the exchange. Feds believe he played a role in the theft of more 800,000 bitcoin — about $400 million at the time — from Mt. Gox, a staggering loss that ultimately shuttered the exchange. According to the indictment, 530,000 of those bitcoin ended up passing through wallets controlled by or associated with Vinnik, although his role in the larger scheme remains unclear.Vinnik’s alleged crimes go beyond just operating a Bitcoin exchange

Vinnik himself is in custody, arrested while on vacation in Greece, but the Bitcoin world is still sorting through the larger implications of his arrest. BTC-e was one of the last major exchanges outside the reach of conventional finance, and now that it’s gone, it’s unclear what might replace it. There are many legitimate uses of Bitcoin, but Bitcoin transactions have also become essential for online crime — whether it’s ransomware or Silk-Road-style online marketplaces. There will continue to be demand for exchanges like BTC-e, and ____. With feds directly targeting exchanges that don’t play by the book, the split between the two halves of Bitcoin is becoming starker and starker.

BTC-e, founded in 2011, always stood out as an anomaly among the major Bitcoin exchanges. Even a cursory look at BTC-e flagged it as a little strange. “Their exchange prices always seemed weird and out of line with every other exchange, and I had wondered why,” Matthew Green, a professor at Johns Hopkins University told The Verge in an email.

Nicholas Weaver wrote at Lawfare that BTC-e was noted for its “sketchy ownership and control.” The exchange was supposedly located in Eastern Europe, but there were no clues as to who ran it — until now.300,000 bitcoin from Mt. Gox went to wallets tied to “BTC-e administrative accounts” But the big surprise in the indictment is how closely tied BTC-e is to a massive theft at Mt. Gox, one that eventually bankrupted the exchange in 2014. Founded in 2010, Mt. Gox dominated the Bitcoin world for years, at one point processing 80 percent of all bitcoin-to-currency transactions. Mt. Gox first suffered a multimillion-dollar theft in June 2011. When the exchange collapsed in 2014, the equivalent of nearly half a billion dollars was unaccounted for.

On Wednesday, in the wake of the arrest of Vinnik, WizSec published a blogpost presenting the findings of an investigation into the Mt. Gox thefts that they have apparently been preparing for years. According to WizSec, the Mt. Gox hot wallet private keys were stolen sometime in 2011, and the hacker (or multiple hackers) continued to steal bitcoin through 2012 and 2013. The bitcoin were laundered through wallets controlled by Alexander Vinnik. The indictment claims that 300,000 bitcoin were stolen from Mt. Gox went directly to three connected BTC-e accounts “directly linked” to “BTC-e administrative accounts” that only BTC-e admins and operators could have had access to.

At least one of the accounts — under the name “Vamnedam” — was controlled by Vinnik and “others known and unknown.” (The “others known” are either not named in the indictment or have been redacted from the published document.)Many of the charges allege more straightforward money laundering" More bitcoin from the theft were sent to other Mt. Gox wallets and wallets at a third exchange — the now-defunct Tradehill, which operated out of San Francisco, California. From there, they eventually ended up at BTC-e, in an account that was directly controlled by Vinnik. WizSec also claims that the wallets that laundered Mt. Gox coins also handled “coins stolen from Bitcoinica, Bitfloor and several other thefts from back in 2011 and 2012.”

It’s not clear whether Vinnik was directly involved in the Mt. Gox theft, or how close he is to any of those previous thefts, or even the CryptoWall ransomware hackers whose funds he is accused of laundering. But when it comes to Mt. Gox, at least, BTC-e’s proximity to the theft is fairly suspicious.“Anybody who thought about this for a second understood that law enforcement was working on a case against BTC-e" While the Mt. Gox allegations are the most eye-catching, many of the charges that brought down BTC-e allege more straightforward money laundering. The very first count listed in the indictment is for operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business: a criminal charge based on failing to register with FinCEN, an intelligence network that’s mandatory for all financial companies dealing with US customers.

Participating in FinCEN comes with a range of requirements, from registration to internal anti-money laundering programs. Since 2013, it’s been clear that Bitcoin exchanges had to follow those same rules, and for the most part, exchanges have complied — and prosecutors haven’t been shy about filing charges against services that don’t. In recent years, BTC-e has been the largest Bitcoin exchange not registered with FinCEN, a distinction that made it an obvious target for law enforcement, even without Vinnik’s alleged Mt. Gox involvement. “Anybody who thought about this for a second understood that law enforcement was working on a case against BTC-e,” said Jerry Brito, executive director of Coin Center. “The question was just whether the government would catch them.”“designed so that criminals could effect financial transactions under multiple layers of anonymity”

Where other counts in the indictment focus on money transfers linked to theft and ransomware, the first two — operation of an unlicensed money transmitter and conspiracy to commit money-laundering — focus on the technological capabilities of BTC-e itself, claiming that the exchange had a “criminal design.” “BTC-e’s system was designed so that criminals could accomplish financial transactions with anonymity and thereby avoid apprehension by law enforcement or seizure of funds,” the indictment says, pointing out that BTC-e only required “a username, password, and an email address,” unlike “legitimate payment processors or digital currency exchangers.” The indictment also points to suspicious usernames like “ISIS,” “CocaineCowboys,” “blackhathackers,” “dzkillerhacker,” and “hacker4hire” as additional support for the money-laundering allegations.

The language in the indictment about BTC-e’s “criminal design” mimics the indictment against Liberty Reserve — an anonymous currency service taken down by law enforcement in 2013 — which also accused the online exchange of having a “criminal design” and a system “designed so that criminals could effect financial transactions under multiple layers of anonymity.” (The Liberty Reserve indictment also took the time to point out that account names on the site included “Russia Hackers” and “Hacker Accounts.”) BTC-e’s website claimed that they required customers to provide proof of identity — namely, a scanned ID card and a scanned utility bill or bank statement — and forbid any US customers, letting them off the hook for FinCEN registration. But neither turned out to be true, according to the indictment.“Exchanges will go one of two ways. Either they’ll clean up their act… or they’ll go fully underground.”

Now that BTC-e is down for good, it could have a profound impact on the criminal ecosystem more broadly. BTC-e handled about 5 percent of total Bitcoin transactions, but recent research found that as much as 95 percent of ransomware cashouts happened through the platform. With most comparably sized exchanges already registered under FinCEN, the takedown could make it both harder and riskier for criminals to cash out — something law enforcement seems to be counting on. In the same Lawfare piece, Weaver says he thinks taking down BTC-e “will probably prove more important than the AlphaBay and Hansa takedowns” in fighting online crime. For Bitcoiners less invested in law enforcement’s war on dark web marketplaces, the lesson is a more ambiguous one. Cornell professor Emin Gun Sirer says the focus on FinCEN compliance could lead to a lasting split in Bitcoin markets, as exchanges face the choice of whether to comply with US government demands.

“Exchanges will go one of two ways,” Sirer says. “Either they will clean their act, by first shopping for the most lenient jurisdictions and complying with relevant KYC/AML laws, or they'll go ‘fully underground,’ and operate with no rules, behind Tor and other anonymous communication technologies. The most colorful drama ahead will involve exchanges, such as Bitfinex, that operate in the gray zone, where they seem to neither comply with relevant laws nor go fully underground.” For a technology with a surrounding community built on libertarian ideas, that may be a difficult pill to swallow. But as the past week has made clear, those that don’t will be taking a very serious risk.

Chuck Reynolds


Marketing Dept
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Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

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Bitcoin Cash: Why It’s Forking the Blockchain And What That Means

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Bitcoin Cash:
Why It's Forking the Blockchain And What That Means

 

Bitcoin's scaling debate finally seems to be shaking out,

but some users aren't happy with the results. After a few years of debate, it was perhaps to be expected that at least some were going to come away empty-handed. Controversial scaling proposal Segwit2x tried to remedy this by joining two code change ideas – the code optimization Segregated Witness (SegWit) and a block size increase. Today, SegWit is just a couple of steps away from activating on bitcoin, but some bitcoin users are unhappy about the outcome.

Others who originally backed the Segwit2x proposal appear to be losing confidence in an eventual block size increase and are now taking matters into their own hands by making their own version of bitcoin – and they're doing so on a short timeline. On August 1, at precisely 12:20 UTC, the group claims that they will split off from bitcoin, creating a new cryptocurrency called Bitcoin Cash. Developer Calin Culianu, who's contributing code to an implementation of Bitcoin Cash, is one user who doesn't like SegWit, suspecting that others feel the same way.

Culianu told CoinDesk:

”If the Segwit2x agreement fails to implement the 2x part, which is not entirely unreasonable, and only ends up being being basically SegWit without the 2x, many miners will likely defect to Bitcoin Cash."

What is Bitcoin Cash?

So, what is it? And how does it differ from bitcoin? There are two main changes of note:

  • It increases the block size to 8 MB.
  • It removes SegWit, a code change that might activate on the bitcoin blockchain by the end of August.

Some, including a few of the project's supporters, call Bitcoin Cash an "altcoin," a term that usually denotes a fork of the software that creates a new cryptocurrency, with its own market. Indeed, the cryptocurrency is currently trading at $461, meaning it's worth about 18% of bitcoin's current price of $2,568, in an already-open futures market. Unlike other altcoins, though, Bitcoin Cash's transaction history would be the same as bitcoin's – at least up until the point of the split. So, if and when Bitcoin Cash splits off, users would have bitcoin on both blockchains.

Another difference is the project says it will support multiple implementations of its software, a move that's not surprising given the criticism that Bitcoin Core's software is too dominant on the bitcoin network. BitcoinABC is the first software to implement the Bitcoin Cash protocol, but the goal is for there to be many implementations. Culianu said that both Bitcoin Unlimited and Bitcoin Classic, other implementations that aim to increase bitcoin’s block size, are working on a version compatible with Bitcoin Cash. These might or might not be ready for August 1.

Who's involved?

So far, most bitcoin companies, mining pools, users and bitcoin developers seem uninterested in the effort. Yet, there are some eager supporters.Beijing-based mining firm ViaBTC, which boasts roughly 4% of bitcoin’s computing power, is the clear ringleader. The firm, which also operates an exchange, has become the first to list the cryptocurrency and also has plans to launch a new mining pool dedicated solely to Bitcoin Cash. (Though, so far, it's not clear how much of its 4% mining hashrate it will commit to the effort.) Asked if he believed Segwit2x would fulfill its roadmap, CEO Haipo Yang responded: "I doubt it."

Further, Bitcoin Cash has attracted support from some users who want a block size increase, as well as developers of other proposals such as Bitcoin Classic and Bitcoin Unlimited. What might be more surprising, though, is who's not involved. Even former supporters, including mining firms Bitcoin.com and Bitmain, seem hesitant to back the effort. For now, they remain committed to controversial scaling proposal Segwit2x. Mining company Bitmain even inspired Bitcoin Cash. Yet, the firm said that they only planned on going through with making the switch under certain conditions. Still, the firm might support both Segwit2x and Bitcoin Cash in the future.

In a PSA statement, Bitcoin.com said that it will allow miners in its pool to choose if they want to mine the Bitcoin Cash token BCC. For now, though, it will mine on Segwit2x chain, though it said it "will immediately shift all company resources to supporting Bitcoin Cash exclusively" if the block size increase part of SegWit, scheduled for roughly three months from now, falls through.

Wait, but why?

There are a few reasons users and mining pools might like to break off from bitcoin:

  • These users want an increase in bitcoin's block size parameter, and believe that the cryptocurrency's future depends on it.
  • SegWit is likely going to activate soon and some users want to avoid the feature.
  • There's a possibility that Segwit2x's block size parameter increase will ultimately fall through.

This mix of ideological and technical reasons was also on display in conversations with users. When asked by CoinDesk what BitcoinABC's goal is,

Culianu responded:

"To save bitcoin. We want to scale bitcoin up so that it won't die. It's already a bit sick and dying."

What's different here?

Many other efforts over the last couple of years have said they would split off from bitcoin, if they gained enough support from those operating the computers that secure the network. But, to date, no group has actually carried through with this plan so far. Bitcoin Cash might be unique in that it's actually committing to a deadline to split bitcoin into two, and that deadline is less than a week away.

If miners and users indeed go ahead with the split, it would mark the first time a cryptocurrency split off from bitcoin, carrying with it bitcoin’s transaction history. Like past efforts intended to replace the bitcoin used today with a new bitcoin, however, Bitcoin Cash has the same goal, but it seems willing to wait and see if users join the effort. Rather than call it bitcoin, ViaBTC, as well as a group of bitcoin companies in China, signed an agreement to label it a "competitive currency," not the "real" bitcoin. The move could set up the split to happen more quickly, as in the past exchanges have expressed confusion over how to handle a fork.

What's next?

If a new cryptocurrency splits off from the main bitcoin network, it will mark a first. So, some users are curious to see what happens. Still, without much support from miners and users, it might not end up having that much of an impact on the course of the main network. Nonetheless, it might if be worth watching if the second half of Segwit2x falls through. That's when it might see some more supporters.

Culianu, for example, concluded on an optimistic note:

”My secret gut feeling is Bitcoin Cash may surprise all of us. It is not entirely impossible that it will be the de-facto bitcoin after a few months. The much roomier 8 MB block space is attractive."

Chuck Reynolds


Marketing Dept
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Wall Street stunned over AMD’s blowout results due to cryptocurrency mining demand

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Wall Street stunned over AMD’s blowout results due to cryptocurrency mining demand

  • Wall Street is surprised over AMD's strong earnings and guidance due to digital currency mining demand for its graphics cards.
  • AMD shares have rallied 102 percent through Tuesday in the previous 12 months compared with the S&P 500's 14 percent return.
  • That performance ranks No. 4 in the entire S&P 500, according to FactSet.

Investors are mesmerized with AMD's impressive second quarter

as cryptocurrency mining demand drove the company's financial results above Wall Street's expectations. The chipmaker reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and guidance Tuesday. Its shares surged more than 10 percent in after-hours trading following the report and were up more than 9 percent in early regular trading Wednesday.

"AMD turned in a solid beat to our and consensus estimates as the company's new Ryzen desktop CPU ramped into production and GPU demand outstripped supply," Stifel analyst Kevin Cassidy wrote in a note to clients Wednesday. "While management wasn't specific on how much, the GPU revenue upside was driven by cryptocurrency applications."
AMD shares have rallied 102 percent through Tuesday in the previous 12 months compared with the S&P 500's 14 percent return. That performance ranks No. 4 in the entire S&P 500, according to FactSet. Cryptocurrency miners use graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia to "mine" new coins, which can then be sold or held for future appreciation. AMD traditionally has a better reputation for mining cryptocurrencies.

Ethereum cryptocurrency is up over 2,400 percent year-to-date through Wednesday, while Bitcoin is up about 160 percent this year, according to data from industry website CoinDesk. In June, AMD shares jumped after the company told CNBC that the dramatic rise in digital currency prices has driven demand for its graphics cards. At the time, major computer hardware retailers had sold out of AMD's recently launched RX 570 and RX 580 models. Digital currency mining was the key topic during AMD's earnings conference call with Wall Street Tuesday evening. Analysts asked company management three times for clarification on the magnitude and sustainability of cryptocurrency mining demand.

One analyst noted the company is working to mitigate future downside risk and is not incorporating continued digital currency mining outperformance in its guidance. "Crypto mining helped stimulate demand for AMD GPUs in Q2, which we think could translate to a risk should cryptocurrency values decline, AMD is working to manage the crypto risk by targeting supply to the core GPU gaming market, and working with some of its AIB [add in board] partners to offer specific feature sets to segment the market between gaming & mining," Jefferies analyst Mark Lipacis wrote Wednesday. "AMD is not including upside from mining in its outlook."

Lipacis reiterated his buy rating on the company and raised his price target to $19 from $16, representing 35 percent upside from Tuesday's close. To be sure, some analysts are still skeptical on AMD after its big run. "We were surprised at the aftermarket reaction for the stock," Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore wrote Wednesday. "We continue to be somewhat cynical on the long term intrinsic value of the stock, despite being excited about Zen and maintaining numbers that are above the Street. As street numbers start to catch up, absolute valuation levels are going to matter more." Moore reiterated his equal-weight rating and $11 price target for AMD shares.

Chuck Reynolds


Marketing Dept
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

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Bitcoin Virus ‘Has Infected 30% Of Russian Devices’: Putin Advisor

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Bitcoin Virus ‘Has Infected 30% Of Russian Devices’: Putin Advisor

 

Russia’s chief presidential advisor on the Internet

has stated a Bitcoin mining virus has infected up to 30 percent of Russian computers. Speaking in interviews with RNS and RBC, Herman Klimenko said that although infection rates varied by region and device, it involved at least 20 percent of machines. “In regions with lower bandwidth instances are reduced, but we’re looking at 20 to 30 percent of devices being infected – iPhones and Macs are less prone,” he commented.

The figures, if true, are alarming, yet Klimenko’s assessment has already come under public criticism. Speaking to RBC in light of the findings, Internet Ombudsman Dmitry Marinichev called them “rubbish.” “These viruses appear for example on devices of users who have given permission for them to start running,” he said, adding the issue was not about Bitcoin mining but stolen credit card details and similar characteristics. Klimenko, meanwhile, also chimed in on the motives of the hackers behind the recent international WannaCry cyberattack. “In the case of WannaCry, the perpetrators managed to accrue around $50-100,000,”

he told RNS.

“I’m therefore convinced the perpetrators of WannaCry were children because they do not understand where they can earn money in the Internet sector.”

Earlier this month, Russian research lab Group-IB warned of a domestic Android virus circulating consumer devices which would gain access to and empty any associated bank accounts.

Bitcoin, Altcoins Meet London Art As ‘Gray’ Artsy Nets $50 Million
 

 

London’s “tradition-bound” Cork Street art empire is getting an innovation injection

as customers meet Bitcoin and even Monero as payment options. As the BBC reports Tuesday, one gallery, Dadiani Fine Arts, has begun accepting cryptocurrency in what its owner describes as an “intuitive” move. "This is not a demand-driven decision at all, it's intuitive based on the way things are going," Elena Dadiani told the publication. With the global art market worth around $60 bln and average purchase amounts high, the benefits of additional payment channels are obvious. The gallery is not stopping at Bitcoin; Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Dash, Litecoin, and soon Monero will also be featured. "For me, the Blockchain is going to be the biggest thing since the Internet,” nonetheless hinting she intends to convert at least part of the payments to fiat currency as a matter of course.

Like Blockchain, meanwhile, the art industry itself is undergoing rapid change. Artsy, the online art marketplace seeing huge expansion, this week announced the closure of a $50 mln funding round, something already causing suspicion in a manner strikingly similar to some recent Ethereum-based ICOs. “The news has left many in the industry with two questions,” industry news resource Artnet reports describing the platform as a “gray market.” “First, since Artsy has chosen to keep its actual valuation pitch-black to the public, how much is the company really worth? Second, and just as important, how is that valuation justifiable?”

Chuck Reynolds


Marketing Dept
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

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Delaware Governor Signs Blockchain Legislation Into Law

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Delaware Governor Signs Blockchain Legislation Into Law

 

The governor of the US state best known as the home

to a majority of the country's incorporated businesses has officially signed a bill making it explicitly legal for those entities to use blockchain for stock trading and record-keeping. After weeks of anticipation, Delaware governor John C. Carney Jr. signed the bill on Friday, effectively bringing closure to an effort that began in May 2016 when his predecessor, Jack Markell, launched an initiative to promote blockchain efficiencies in government.

First publicized in March this year and introduced formally in May, the bill, which amends Delaware's General Corporation Law, saw a swift passage by state lawmakers. The move further comes weeks after it passed a key vote in the state legislature, a milestone advocates sought to label as "historic" given the state's history and the increase in experimentation that could result from legal certainty. Just how impactful could the law be? Industry analysts suggest that by giving the greenlight to experimentation, the law could make it possible for the custodianship, issuance, redemption and trading to take place on a distributed ledger.

Equity Markets on a Blockchain: Delaware's Potential Impact

Noelle Acheson is a 10-year veteran of company analysis and the author of CoinDesk Weekly, a custom-curated newsletter delivered every Sunday, exclusively to CoinDesk subscribers.Last week, Delaware passed amendments to state legislation that, once signed into law by the end of July, will give corporations registered in the state the right to issue and trade shares on a blockchain platform.While this may on the surface sound like a small modification, it is a big deal. Companies and exchanges around the world have been investigating how distributed ledgers could help with issuance, execution and settlement (some have even issued shares on a blockchain). However, they have been doing so under a cloud of regulatory uncertainty, unsure of whether the stakeholders – including the relevant governing bodies – would allow the innovations to take hold.

For the first time, businesses will be able to experiment with new processes knowing they have the protection of the law. This is likely to pave the way for the entire life cycle of a share – the issuance, custodianship, trading, shareholder communication and redemption – to be enacted on a blockchain. The result could be a reframing of the global securities network, one of the cornerstones of our modern capitalist economy. The equity infrastructure used in most markets today evolved around paper-based issuance, and essentially has the same conceptual backbone as in the 17th century. Processes are complex, involving several steps, each with fees. Centralized clearing creates systemic risk by presenting a single point of failure, and since in most jurisdictions legal ownership rests with the transfer agents, true ownership can be obfuscated – in turn, this can violate rules that limit shareholdings. Furthermore, a paper-based system – even a digitized one – is vulnerable to fraud, and centralized databases can suffer security breaches.

Settle for less

With a blockchain system, investors and issuers can interact directly with each other, in theory cutting out brokers, custodians and clearing houses, thus reducing transaction costs. Settlement can happen within hours instead of days, releasing funds and lowering carrying fees. Legal ownership would be restored to investors and companies, and would be more transparent. Dividends and stock splits could be automated, reducing cost and error.

Also, a distributed ledger platform would remove the single point of failure risk, help make proxy voting more transparent and accurate and make it easier to manage cap tables as well as collateralisation. There are disadvantages. Transparency, for one: not all investors want their positions to be visible. Error resolution is another: mistakes happen, and on an immutable ledger, how do you fix them? What’s more, counterparty risk doesn’t go away, it just shifts. But as work on services and solutions picks up in the light of regulatory approval, so will the development of solutions.

Share the benefits

That this milestone was reached in Delaware is significant. The state is 49th in the nation in terms of size and 45th in population, but it boasts two-thirds of US listed companies and 85% of IPOs. It has more registered legal entities than it has residents. This is due to its relatively flexible business legislation and tax framework, and to its reputation for being a standards bearer in corporate law. What’s more, the recent amendment is part of a larger initiative to streamline corporate and governmental processes. The Delaware Blockchain Initiative, launched over a year ago, commits the state’s government to incorporating blockchain technology in the handling of official documents such as land titles, birth and death certificates, professional licenses, collateral claims and company filings.

So, here we have the US state with the largest concentration of registered corporations, and a reputation for supporting innovation, offering businesses the chance to test a new form of financing and governance. While adoption will probably be slow, at least at first, the pace is likely to pick up as the benefits become even more apparent. Other jurisdictions could follow suit to avoid losing a chunk of their domiciled businesses. And the structure of financial markets could start to gradually, but fundamentally, change. While the Delaware amendment won’t create a market revolution overnight, it does raise a question which highlights the systemic importance of the move: Will traditional equity markets still exist 10 years from now?

Chuck Reynolds


Marketing Dept
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Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member