Even though there were doubts about the Bitcoin market reacting to the global economic events, the recent COVID-19 pandemic aligned it more with the global market. However, the crypto market has remained in sync with the affairs in the crypto industry. This was witnessed on 22 July when the news about the US banks offering […]
Friday, July 24, 2020
NOT SURE IF A SCAM REMOTE JOB OFFER! (Global AMC Company)
A few days a got an e-mail from a global company Global AMC based in Texas https://global-amc.com/ that I didn't apply for. They said they "got my CV from the Indeed job portal", I had been using Indeed job portal but hadn't filled out the cv blanks on the Indeed webpage, I was always only sending CV to employers as PDFs. So it was just my name and e-mail there. Also, none of my previous work experience had anything to do with finances or handling money. I was a Visual Artist / Content Manager. So I was a bit surprised.
I clicked on the link they sent me and after signing up on their platform it gave a brief overview of what's the process like (good-looking website). They asked me to sign the job agreement already, which I did, and write my current address (Germany) and send photos of 2 documents, and then I could start my paid training already. All the work would be 9-6 pm remote work. A bit more than 2000€ per month.
I did check out their website for some background research too, and in the "about" page were gaps in the text where it should have been "location", "time period" etc, like a fill-in text template. Also, the same staff people + some more work in another company "ACE & Company" https://aceandcompany.com/ with a similar mission with headquarters in Geneva.
I googled: "Is Cryptocurrency legal in Germany?" = German cryptocurrency taxation: ether, IOTA and Co. Unlike the euro (considered fiat money), Bitcoins and other cryptographic currencies are not legal tender.
This all might be totally legit as it's a less than 50 employees company that's just starting out, but I've never worked on such a profession or managed any transactions so I would be super thankful for any insights on the topic!
This is the e-mail copy paste:
"Dear ***,
We received your CV from the INDEED site and you are suitable for the position as an Account Manager.
Thank you for your interest in the position of Account Manager. Below is the link to the company site where you would have to register and also get access to all the information regarding the job position. I am available to guide you through the process and answer all questions.
https://cp.global-amc.com/
Also during registration, please select Account Manager for the vacancy option and *** as Manager
NB: This job offer is only open to candidates with European passport.
Below is the work Road map
1. register with Global AMC
2 register a payment system for working with crypto exchange
3 pass KYC verification
4 Open a bank Account through which you can make international transactions with the crypto exchange
5 register in the crypto exchange
6 get verified by KYC
7 start training with us / finish training
8 get connected with a client via our system
9 receive funds from a client
10 deposit crypto exchange
11 make a deal on cryptocurrency
12 send crypto currency directly to the client and get your commission
13 Get feedback from customer
The link to the general company site is below.
https://global-amc.com/
You can contact me on *** or via this email.
Thank you
Regards,***"
And some information from their portal:
"During the training a candidate will go through the following:
- A full cycle of working with cryptocurrency
- Creating payment portfolios for customers
- Passing checks in the main crypto exchangers
- Opening accounts in mobile banks
- Work with local banks
- Composing a report and preparation of a tax report
- Creating an order, processing application and withdrawing funds to the client"
Blockchain in the Public Sector: Webcast Insights
Link to our website: https://block.co/blockchain-in-the-public-sector-webcast-insights/
This article provides a summary of the insights provided during Block.co’s 4th Live Webcast on the topic of Digital Transformation Of The Public Sector & The Upcoming Legislation Of Blockchain Technology In Cyprus.
Adoption of Blockchain and other disruptive technologies has flourished particularly in smaller nations that represent interesting hubs where innovations are more easily tested and applied. With blockchain in Public Sector, we’ve already experienced the commitment of small countries like Switzerland, Malta, Singapore, and Cyprus more recently. In just a few years, the small island in the Mediterranean known for tourism and offshore bank accounts has become a desirable fintech jurisdiction for investors and global businesses, due to the vivid interest of the Cypriot government towards new technologies, blockchain and AI imprimis.
With a highly favorable tax environment and the financial incentives available, Cyprus is shining as a hotspot for blockchain businesses and entrepreneurs from all over the world. In 2018 a Declaration was signed by EU member states to promote blockchain in public sector use across its members. By that time, Cyprus had already expressed interest in the technology with a series of initiatives. Cyprus’s partnership with Singapore-based blockchain platform VeChain was sealed to push forward the development and adoption of the technology. In addition, the Cyprus Blockchain Association was created while the University of Nicosia was involved in the development of the technology by offering courses and Master’s degrees on blockchain and cryptocurrencies, and by also practically using blockchain technology to validate academic documentation through block.co.
The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) launched a blockchain innovation hub with other organizations and associations to support the development and implementation of technologies that can facilitate administrative operations and improve citizens relations with authorities. In 2019, Cyprus’ cabinet published its National Strategy on Distributed Ledger Technologies in order to provide a platform for both public sector and private initiatives employing blockchain applications. With such an exciting background in mind, Block.co arranged its fourth webcast that was held on Tuesday 21st July at the presence of prominent guests, who are all helping the government of Cyprus, develop and adopt the disruptive technologies in its administrative, economic and legal activities.
How are corporates, governments, and citizens impacted by the changes in legislation?
Hosted by brilliant Christiana Aristidou, a Technology Lawyer and Digital Transformation Specialist, Block.co along with Cyprus’s Deputy Minister for Research, Innovation & Digital Policy, Mr. Kyriacos Kokkinos, and international Blockchain experts Jeff Bandman and Steve Tendon joined forces in the webcast to discuss the enormous potential of Blockchain technology in both the public and private sectors.
The guests’ common path into blockchain was the early and skeptical discovery of Bitcoin followed by years of research and a more in-depth understanding of the technology which led them to embrace it in different ways.
Jeff became interested in the legal implications and the regulatory framework that would arise with the technology. His firm Bandman Advisors has recently been appointed by the Cyprus Government to draft its legislation on Blockchain & DLT.
Steve was a software engineer who moved to a management consulting role and had founded TameFlow when he learned about technologies like Ethereum and how its smart contracts could be used in governance. He became a consultant for Malta to help the country benefit from blockchain adoption and gave a major contribution to the drafting of Malta’s National Strategy on Blockchain.
The Deputy Minister, Mr. Kokkinos is the person responsible for the design and implementation of Cyprus’s Blockchain and DLT strategy:
“We want to convert the innovation researching tools into pillars for our economy to encourage more prosperity for our society. Blockchain and DLT are essential for digital transformation, a key player in a globalized economy. In June 2019, the Council of Ministers of Cyprus approved a strategy for DLT and blockchain, and part of my job is to facilitate the detailed implementation through both technical and legal perspectives. Jeff Bandman has worked to help with the legal, I help with the strategic side.”
The strategy document indicates that “The Republic of Cyprus, in line with the European and global trends of change and progress, strives to create the right environment for enterprises, companies, services, and investments by adopting innovative practices and procedures.”
“We’re all closely monitoring discussions at the EU level -continues the Deputy Minister- in order to meet regulatory standards and we’re considering them for our strategy. We’re working on achieving maximum compatibility with the EU legislation and encouraging all members to arrange a deployment of blockchain in all fields.”
Governments have come to realize they must provide all tools available and needed for digital transformation in the public sector, to ultimately best serve its business communities and citizens alike. The intricacies of bureaucracy speed up the need for new technologies, and in the pandemic era, access to digitalization is proving crucial to meet future challenges especially in areas where blockchain can help like healthcare, supply chain, and digital identity implementation. Jeff believes that blockchain can start by keeping consistency between democracy and trust, through the transparency that it can provide. “For example tracing the origin of funds and their allocation, will facilitate trust which is the basis of a distributed and decentralized environment”.
According to Steve: “Blockchain can be interesting from different perspectives and I also believe trust is crucial. While we normally trust governments and authorities to manage most of our public and private life, with blockchain we have the chance to take it all back and shift to a sovereign approach. Starting with your own identity, with healthcare records, licenses, voting, and so forth, self-sovereignty will identify who you are, not a government. We’ve started building SOV, a stablecoin that will soon be legal tender, detached from a central bank but built on the chain and established by the algorithm. For the first time, this new monetary policy will remove the discretionary power of central banks, something that was not even conceivable before blockchain. The power is back to the people”.
With the first upcoming legislation in Cyprus, Christiana asked Jeff if he could share what this new law will involve, and what will be regulated.
“We’ve been working very hard on drafting and evaluating the different perspectives. Most efforts and resources are being dedicated to a definition and classification of the different digital assets, to the legal certainty around smart contracts, and to protect vulnerable consumers. From a business perspective, we’re still evaluating company laws, how blockchain can assist the full operational process, which criteria will help mainstream adoption of blockchain in Cyprus”.
The results of the 2019 strategy plan were supposed to be released in April but the Covid-19 crisis has delayed the works and they’re now expected in September this year. “The lesson we can learn from pioneer Malta -informs us Steve, who played a pivotal role in shaping Malta’s blockchain reputation- is to set up the right expectation and find a balance between the level of ambition and what is practical. Malta became a blockchain island because it made efforts to regulate the technology, but the challenge is to make regulation fair and accessible to everybody, the community, and the professionals so that innovation is encouraged at all times.”
What will the future hold for Cyprus? Will it be the new blockchain island?
“We have a promising technology -continues Steve Tendon- and collaboration between countries should be encouraged in terms of legislation and regulations, and the EU should take a more active role. It’s not a competition but a collaboration between Malta, Cyprus, and other geographies where a regulatory framework that promotes innovation should reflect and embrace the changes that new technologies bring to a globalized world.”
For more info, contact Block.co directly or email at enquiries@block.co.
Tel +357 70007828
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The State of DAOs
Since 2016 and the fall of the DAO project, spotlights on DAOs have silently faded until 2019, when it started to gain traction again. During this period of what we call the ‘winter of DAOs’, there was and there still is a general sense of trauma revolving around DAOs and the idea of decentralizing organizations with the help of smart contracts.
In the ‘Beginners Guide to CBDAO’ article, we have explained the term DAO, in layman’s terms, to be an organization which is governed and managed by all members as opposed to having a select few entity or individual(s) governing and making executive decisions indefinitely.
However, this definition does not do justice to the overall concept of DAOs. There exists some room for debate as to what exactly a DAO is and how it operates. Philippe Honigman from DAObase states that each of the words in the term DAO, “can be interpreted in many ways, spawning different definitions of DAOs with emphasis on one aspect or another”.
For instance, the word ‘decentralized’ in the term ‘DAO’ may contain varying meanings as the word does not fully indicate or consider the level of decentralization used on its consensus protocol (these levels are described in the Beginners Guide to CBDAO article). Honigman (DAObase) describes the word ‘decentralized’ to have two varying meanings when it comes to DAOs and these are:
- The DAO is decentralized because it runs on a decentralized infrastructure.
- The DAO is decentralized because it’s not organized hierarchically around executives or shareholders, and it does not concentrate the power around them.
As such, it is not right to assume all DAO projects to be completely ‘decentralized’ and ‘autonomous’.
So what exactly is a DAO and how can we better describe the term?
To be able to better understand the term, we will have to briefly learn about the history of DAOs and how they emerged. The concept of DAOs were first introduced by Dan Larimer back in 2013 as he was describing Bitcoin to be a ‘Decentralized Autonomous Corporation’, whereby its shareholders would be the holders and its employees would be the miners.
For something to be considered a ‘DAC’, it must have the following measurements met:
- A DAC must not depend upon any single individual, company or organization to have value.
- A DAC cannot control a private key because it cannot hold secrets. Its operation must be entirely independent of any actors with secrets.
- A DAC must not depend upon any legally binding contracts or laws such as copyright or patents.
DAOs work in the similar sense that:
- It should not depend upon any single individual, entity or organization to have a value.
- Its operation (governance) must be independent of pressures from an individual, entity or organization.
- It should not depend upon any legally binding contracts or laws.
Now that DACs were a ‘thing’, the blockchain community moved on to discuss about how these DACs could be governed better. Here’s where Vitalik Buterin (Founder of Ethereum) first introduced the idea of a resource-democracy voting mechanism, while he was still working as a writer on the Bitcoin Magazine.
“We can use some kind of resource-democracy mechanism to vote on the correct value of some fact, and ensure that people are incentivized to provide accurate estimates by depriving everyone whose report does not match the “mainstream view” of the monetary reward.” — Vitalik Buterin
As such, an incentivized governance protocol was first introduced for DACs. Ever since, many different types of consensus protocols have emerged and DACs have evolved to become DAOs.
Philippe from DAObase explains that as of today, there are two dominant types of DAOs — protocols and collectives.
“Protocol DAOs enable interested parties to make collective decisions regarding the critical parameters of a crypto-network based on an open-source protocol: blockchain protocols such as Tezos or Decred, financial protocols such as Compound, DeversiFi or Maker.
Collectives are closer to traditional organizations: They have a smaller number of active members and a wider range of activities than protocol DAOs. 1Hive, dOrg, or MetaGame are examples of collectives that use DAOs to be more transparent, more open, more flexible and fairer towards their members than usual corporations.”
He further indicates that “there is no such thing as a pure “Decentralized Autonomous Organization”. DAOs are imperfectly decentralized, very moderately autonomous, and hardly comparable to organizations in the traditional sense”.
DAOs are less a thing than a gradual, dynamic process. — Philippe Honigman
Here are two videos you should watch to provide yourself with a better understanding of the term. In these videos, Aragon and DAOstack both try to explain what a DAO is and how they operate. Notice that there is a difference in their tone and explanation of the overall concept of DAOs. Aragon explains it to be a ‘fight for freedom’ in decentralizing what can be and should be decentralized whilst DAOstack describes it to be more of a ‘collaborative experience’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqjIWmiAidw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25wtmzBG1Yg
If you are still unsure about DAOs, it is recommended that you read the following articles which comprehensively covers the concept and definition of DAOs.
What can we do with a DAO in 2020?What is a DAO? An attempt to clarify a complex ideaBootstrapping A Decentralized Autonomous Corporation: Part IDAC RevisitedHow the term DAO applies to Coin Breeder
Coin Breeder DAO (CBDAO) can be seen as a hybrid of the protocol-type and the collective-type of DAOs, whereby it functions just like a traditional organization with the ability to make collective decisions regarding the critical parameters of the crypto-network ($BREE token) with an open-source protocol (the $BREE token smart contract).
As Philippe explains above, “there is no such thing as a pure “Decentralized Autonomous Organization”. This statement can be similarly applied to CBDAO in the sense that complete ‘decentralization’ and ‘autonomy’ can’t be met due to the nature of the $BREE tokenonomics — e.g. determining farming rates for each governance asset (an off-chain oracle and manual review is required). However, attempts to reach pure ‘decentralization’ and ‘autonomy’ are in the scopes of our roadmap and it should be noted that it is indeed one of our core priorities (roadmap can be viewed here).
CBDAO’s Role in Researching DAOs
CBDAO will serve as the ultimate sandbox for DAO and blockchain researchers, developers and users to proof-test and experiment various consensus protocols on DAOs. Our main focus will be in experimenting consensus protocols and voting mechanisms to solve existing challenges and vulnerabilities in regards to governing DAOs (some of the issues have been outlined here). CBDAO will be publishing quarterly reports on these experiments, highlighting what we have learned and how things could be improved. Our ultimate goal and mission is to provide a wide range of fundamental reference points for future researchers and developers to save their time and risk less on experimenting and proof-testing various consensus protocols on a DAO. CBDAO will evolve with the community as we collectively experiment, learn and grow together.
Original Article Can Be Found On: https://medium.com/@coinbreeder/the-state-of-daos-1aecba88d9ed
Bitcoin Price Can Hit $20K When US Banks Invest 1% of Assets — Analyst (current BTC/USD price is $9,541.05)
Latest Bitcoin News:
Bitcoin Price Can Hit $20K When US Banks Invest 1% of Assets — Analyst
Other Related Bitcoin Topics:
Bitcoin Price | Bitcoin Mining | Blockchain
The latest Bitcoin news has been sourced from the CoinSalad.com Bitcoin Price and News Events page. CoinSalad is a web service that provides real-time Bitcoin market info, charts, data and tools.
[RESOLVED] On Unconfirmed History/Balance Inconsistencies
You may have noticed some issues with unconfirmed transactions lately and things have only been resolving after confirmations. First of all: Welcome to Bitcoin :)
I went to the bottom of the issues and it turned out there was a bug in the full node software we were using to broadcast transactions: Bitcoin Knots 0.19. I upgraded the backend yesterday with Bitcoin Knots 0.20, which has already fixed the bug. However things will take a few days to fully resolve (probably 99% of issues have already resolved though) as the backend's mempool have to get in sync with the mempools of other nodes on the network.
About the bug
It turns out when you broadcast transactions to Knots .19 through RPC, it allowed double spending (without RBF.)
So, if it's fixed why does it take a few days to fully resolve?
Consider the following event:
- Yesterday, after I upgraded the backend with the proper full node I participated in the first coinjoin. It happened and even my own personal Bitcoin full node accepted it. But when I looked at it in various block explorers it turned out they were not aware of it. What's going on here?
- I traced back that one of the input has participated in another coinjoin that neither the backend, nor my local full node knew about. So everything worked properly based on what the Wasabi software knew about the network.
- However this first coinjoin had to confirm in order for my local full node and for the backend's full node to be aware of it and realize it's the tx that actually happened. But why weren't the full nodes aware of it in the first place?
- My local full node was not turned on at the time when that first coinjoin happened. This is how Bitcoin Core works, when it's restarted it doesn't start asking for full mempools, but it rather works with what it has.
- The backend's full node did know about the first coinjoin tx, but because of the double spend bug, it threw that out. However with the correct full node version the correct mempool did still not instantly came back, but right now it's working correctly with the wrong mempool and in a few days as transactions are confirming everything will be back to normal, if not already.
If you are still experiencing this issue 3 days after my post, try to turn Wasabi off, then turn it on again.
Twitter Hacked, Google Discard Twitter’s Carousel, SERP’s Impact On CTR, New Google Ads Features and A GMB Update
Did you hear about the enormous cyberattack against Twitter? Why did Google remove Twitter’s carousel from the search results page? How does SERP impact click-through rates? What are the new features Google introduced to RSA? Will an email be GMB users only notification about their listing’s suspension?
“Good marketing makes the company look good. Great marketing makes the customer feel smart.” – Joe Chernov
In this article, we’ll cover the following digital marketing news:
- Twitter suffered a huge cyberattack
- Twitter’s carousel was removed from Google’s search result page
- [Study] Google SERP’s impact on click-through rates
- Google adds new features for RSA
- Email notifications by GMB about listing suspension
Ready to dive in?
Social Media News
A Massive Hacker Attack Hits Twitter
Numerous high-profile Twitter accounts have been hacked by attackers spreading a cryptocurrency scam. According to Twitter, approximately 130 users have been targeted as part of the cyberattack.
Some of the high-profile users whose accounts were hacked include former US president Barack Obama, former US vice-president Joe Biden, numerous billionaires like Elon Musk, Warren Buffett and Jeff Bezos, celebrities like Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West as well as world-famous companies such as Apple and Uber.
While we are all still holding our breath to learn more specifics around the attack, we heard through the grapevine that the hacker behind the attack used Twitter’s own Admin tool to spread the cryptocurrency scam which was later confirmed by the company itself.
As much as such types of scam are pretty common, the scope of the attack is unprecedented on the social network. It’s also unclear how much control over the compromised accounts the hacker had. However, according to Twitter, there were no evidence passwords were compromised, therefore, the company advised password reset is unnecessary.
However, the company has not provided the same certainty when it comes to other personal/private information; including, the contents of direct messages. Will there be a future leak on how Elon Musk and Grimes came up with their recent child’s name – X Æ A-Xii?
23 July 2020 UPDATE: Nearly a week after the major cyberattack on Twitter, the company revealed that the hackers behind the bitcoin scam indeed had viewed private direct messages (DMs) from 36 accounts that were involved in the hack. Additionally, it is believed that the victims of the scam have sent about £93,600 in bitcoin to the hackers. The amount could’ve potentially been higher if a crypto-current exchange had not blocked any further transfers. We may expect more details revealed about the hack once the company posts its financial results by end of today – Thursday, 23rd.
Search Engine and SEO News
Google Search Removes Twitter’s Carousel
After Twitter’s massive cyberattack, Google has removed Twitter’s carousel from the search result pages.
It appears that the carousel box has not only been removed for the affected Twitter accounts but for all. According to Google’s spokesperson, this is a temporary measure following the cyberattack on Twitter; and, the reinstating of the functionality will happen after a careful review.
[Study] How Google SERP Impacts CTR
A study conducted by Sistrix concluded that the average CTR for first position organic search results in Google is 28.5%.
The study also found that after the first position search result the percentage decreases rapidly with the average CTR for the second position being 15.7% and for third only 11%. As for the tenth position, the average CTR is just 2.5%.
Furthermore, searches for which sitelinks (hyperlinks to website subpages that appear under certain Google listings in order to help users navigate the site) are considered to have a much more satisfying CTR than organic SERPs – 46.9% to 34.2%.
In general, the study confirms keyword search volume is not the only thing factoring when estimating potential clicks.
If you’d like to read the full report click here.
PPC and Ads News
Google Ads Introduces New Features For Responsive Search Ads (RSA)
Google announced that it’ll introduce five new features to their Responsive Search Ads (RSA) –
1) location insertion – advertisers will be able to add where their product/service is offered and once set up, it’ll automatically include city, state or country based on the locations of potential customers;
2) countdown customiser – it will help advertisers promote sales and events in responsive search ads (RSA). For example, if you are a mobile phone reseller and you’ve got a limited sales offer for Samsung S10+, this feature will allow you to automatically show how much time there is left on the deal;
3) copy asset suggestions – this functionality has been improved, giving advertisers the option to create more informative RSA by providing suggestions when an advertiser writes a headline or a description;
4) cross-campaign asset reporting – this feature will allow advertisers to examine more assets at once, recognising what resonates with the customers better and faster; and
5) new recommendations – it will help advertisers improve RSA when their strength is lower ‘good’. When advertisers are checking the optimisation score, they can take a look at the recommendations. They will help identify opportunities for improvement of responsive search ads.
Digital Marketing News
As a result of a new EU law that was recently introduced, Google will now begin notifying Google My Business (GMB) account owners of local listings suspensions by email. However, as shown in the example below, there are no explanatory details behind the reason for the listing’s suspension.
In the past, for a business to find out if their GMB listing was suspended, they had to sign in into their GMB account. Another way to notice was decreased call volume, web traffic and conversions.
According to our friend and GMB specialist Ben Fisher, hard suspensions (where the listing is removed completely from Google Search and Maps) are “the most common type”. While soft suspensions (the listing is left online but the owner can’t manage it) are the least common type of suspensions.
Why should you care? GMB not only allows your listing to appear in Maps but also for people to leave reviews (which earns trust), message you directly and increase traffic and sales but most of all, it’s also cost-effective. Suspensions are and have been, the source of a substantial amount of frustration for quite a lot of businesses. So much so, users must make sure their GMB listing is compliant and within the guidelines. However, if you receive such email notification, go through the guidelines again; make any necessary changes; and, request for your listing to be reinstated.
Final Thoughts
Do you have any suggestions or ideas about which digital marketing news topics you’d like us to look out for in the future? Write your requests below. We’ll keep an eye out (or two) so you don’t have to – and all for FREE, of course.EmailOut offers the most generous email marketing software freemium product for professional micro-businesses and SMEs across the globe coupled with the very best rates for large volume corporate senders. Take a look now.
This article was originally published on 17 July and can be found here.
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