We have received some more updates in regards to the ongoing development of KorePhone and their very own mobile operating system, ÆtherKriptonOS.Several more API’s have been completed, and can now be used by developers to create more applications for this operating system.
Slowly but surely, the Æther Kripton OS is coming together as a full fledged mobile operating system. An integral part of creating a successful mobile operating system is having a list of useful and interesting applications for your users.
There are several apps currently being tested in a sandboxed environment already, such as the Korecoin client, and other applications are in development as we speak. For example, there will be a specially developed voice application. But all in all, there is still plenty of room for useful tools.
Four new APIs for Æther Kripton OS have been compiled a few days ago : GPS, Gyroscope, Accelerometer and ÆtherTextBox. It will be interesting to see what kind of applications the developers will be coming up with in the future.
Last but not least, there seems to be a growing interest in Æther Kripton OS on the XDA Developers forums. There is still no word on whether or not there will be a dedicated sub forum for this new mobile operating system, but we will keep an eye out for more updates.
One of the altcoins I have personally been most excited about ever since it originally launched, is NobleCoin. Not just because their developer is one of the brightest minds we have seen in the altcoin scene so far, but simply because of the sheer amount of services NOBL has to offer, which still go by unnoticed by the general cryptocurrency community.
While the focus for digital currency and altcoins is mostly on marketing and education, as it should be, there is still the human element. Interaction between all parties making up the network cannot be replaced by code, tools or anything else. We need to make cryptocurrency more “human’ than it is right now.
NobleCoin wants to tackle this issue by merging most of the core philosophy, work ethic, brand and infrastructure with market expectations, industry thought leadership, and most importantly, a legal and regulatory framework. Most crypto enthusiasts are against any regulation, but we simply cannot go around it anymore, as it will happen.
The result of NobleCoin’s plan will be a colored coin, which can be used for exclusive services, rewards and e-commerce. The focus will be on information and corporate systems running on top of the blockchain technology. A complete crypto-centric ecosystem is the goal to be achieved by NobleCoin and its community.
Said colored coin will be a coin having zero mining emission, yet remaining secure. The colored coin supply cap will be fixed and predetermined, and while the value of the underlying cryptocurrency might be affected by emission pressure, that does not necessarily have to be the case for the colored coin.
In order to reduce the risks of an initial distribution being severely overvalued, the market cap of the total initial distributed coins will not exceed approximately US$150,000. Considering there is a solid plan and a working infrastructure behind these colored coins, it is safe to say this market cap is very conservative.
Even though there are many more details to discuss, I would advise everyone to read the actual Distribution Draft PDF file, written up by the NobleCoin developer. You can find this PDF here :
Security researcher Kristov Atlas has concluded his code review and security audit of Darkcoin. He was solicited by the developers of Darkcoin, based on 4+ years of professionally reviewing C/C++ software, to review the code and suggest any changes which could improve the software. Kristov Atlas concluded that Darkcoin’s claims of functional anonymity are well-founded. He did suggest a few concerns, which the Darkcoin team immediately fixed (the fixes will be released Monday as part of the next scheduled update to the Darkcoin client). Mr. Atlas’ primary concern was that a bad actor could launch a so-called Sybil attack against the network. Evan Duffield, lead developer of Darkcoin, closed this potential attack vector and in doing so also found a way to increase the overall anonymity of Darkcoin transactions.
The new update to Darkcoin, “Release Candidate 5” (RC5), will be made publically available Monday, September 22. It fixes the concerns raised by Mr. Atlas, increases anonymity, fixes bugs, and improves the user experience by implementing a new interface. After eight months of continuous improvement, the developers of Darkcoin are confident that the currency is finally ready to meet the scrutiny of coders world-wide. Duffield has announced that on September 29, the source code of Darkcoin’s Darksend technology will be opened and published. This is the final piece of the overall system to be opened up. Darkcoin will then become the first fully open-source, decentralized, anonymous crypto-currency in the industry.
Future plans include the adoption of a new Instant Transactions technology which Duffield has described in his whitepaper [https://www.darkcoin.io/downloads/InstantTX.pdf]. This technology will allow Darkcoin to compete with other nearly instantaneous transaction systems such as credit cards. If successful, such an idea could revolutionize crypto-currencies by providing a decentralized payment system usable in retail stores and other face-to-face situations. The delay between sending and confirming transactions would be reduced from one hour (with currencies such as Bitcoin) to as little as twenty seconds. A future press release will describe the system in greater detail.
The Darkcoin client and more information can be obtained at their website: http://www.darkcoin.io.
About Darkcoin:
Bitcoin works with an unprecedented level of transparency that most people are not used to dealing with. Every transaction that has ever happened is stored permanently in a ledger that is made public for the world to see, forever.
Darkcoin solves this problem by implementing an ahead-of-time CoinJoin implementation called Darksend. A user that wants to be anonymous can use the built-in technology to utilize the Masternode network to make their transaction nearly impossible to track.
Serge: Can you tell our readers what Bitpay is and does? What is your perspective on Bitpay as a company?
BitPay is a payment processor for bitcoins. Essentially, we make it easy for merchants to accept bitcoin as a form of payment. BitPay has over 35,000 merchants worldwide with about 50% in the US, 30% in Europe and 20% in the rest of the world processing just over $1 million daily. Some of our biggest named merchants include Newegg, TigerDirect, ESPN, Virgin Galactic and the Sacramento Kings . We integrated with the most popular shopping carts and POS solutions including WordPress, Shopify and VisualTouch.
Serge: Some of our readers are small and middle sized business holders. They do see an opportunity and possibilities digital currencies have but they are a bit reluctant to commit. The security aspect is also one of their major concerns. Can you negate some of the fears these business owners have by explaining the services that Bitpay offers to them?
Bitcoin is a new technology and is still in its very early stages. As with anything new, we recommend that the user educated themselves on the benefits as well as the risks of using bitcoins.
BitPay is attracting online merchants who are selling low-priced goods where credit card fees are expensive and high ticket items (like jewellery, electronics and gold/silver) where chargebacks are becoming common. The ability for merchants to accept bitcoins makes these transactions irreversible and for the buyer the risk of fraud and identity theft is eliminated.
To help business mitigate risks, BitPay processes the transaction accepting the bitcoins from the merchant’s customer and letting the merchant know the order had been paid. If the item is priced at $10, the merchant receives $10. BitPay settles with the merchant the next business day and offers the merchant the option of depositing dollars (or one of 9 other local currencies: https://bitpay.com/bitcoin-direct-deposit) or bitcoins or a percentage split between the two.
Serge: What will the fee be that Bitpay will ask? What makes Bitpay different from the banks?
BitPay’s fee structure starts at 1% of the transaction and goes down from there. In the above example, the merchant sells an item for $10, BitPay’s fee for the entire transaction is 10 cents. We also offer a software as a service model where merchants play a flat monthly rate.
BitPay is a business to business firm, we do not offer consumer facing products.
Serge: Last week a couple of interesting developments happened in the digital currency world The first was the creation of the Chamber of digital commerce. What do you think about all of this? A step in the right direction or is it a bit too soon?
BitPay is all for companies and organizations that want to move Bitcoin forward. The creation of the chamber a step in the right direction and we support their efforts.
Serge: The other “important” thing that happened last week is the announcement of a proposal by Benjamin M. Lawsky, Superintendent of Financial Services at NY state. In that proposal nearly everything crypto related activities will be limited, such as providing financial services. Do you think this “proposition” would ever get approved? If so what would that mean for Bitpay?
For this question, Tim Byun, BitPay’s Chief Compliance Officer offered the following thoughts:
I. It is commendable that NY DFS and Ben Lawsky are supporting innovation while ensuring balanced regulations.
II. The proposed framework reflects DFS’:
· Strong understanding of the bitcoin ecosystem, including valuable services to consumers that would benefit from an emerging, efficient and cheaper payment system
· Strong understanding of Anti-Money Laundering/Anti-Terrorist Financing and Trade Sanction obligations, including existing Virtual Currency regulations and exemptions at the Federal level.
· Ability to leverage theBank Secrecy Act and the significant resources that are already expended by the bitcoin ecosystem to comply with anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing requirements.
· Openness in setting a standard in the next 45 days that will likely be followed by other states.
III. BitPay welcomes the comment period for DFS to engage and receive feedback from the all stakeholders, including the bitcoinindustry.
· BitPay wants to ensure consumers and merchants have access to innovation, and the true potential for an efficient, cheaper, faster payment system
· BitPay and others may want to seek clarity on the following:
o VC Transaction Reporting – especially purchases over $10K per day could represent an unlevel playing field as purchases via credit or debit cards over $10K are not reported
o Identification for Large Transactions – whether transactions represent purchases of goods and services. This rule may be reasonable for exchanging of BTCs with fiat currencies and vice versa, at VC custodians; however, it may be unnecessary for purchases of goods and services similar to commerce today.
o Cyber Security Program – having sound security controls is paramount; however, the requirements of annual penetration test and others may inhibit further innovation, as smaller ecosystem entrants would face significant costs. The framework may benefit from a more risk based program or establishing nominal thresholds that would enable innovation while ensuring controls or transparency to protect consumers
Serge: You recently announced a new project of yours called Get Bit. Can you give our readers some information about what it does and why you created it?
One of the biggest challenges for the bitcoin market is acquiring bitcoins. We developed Get Bits as an easy way to get bitcoins through a Facebook friend.
Serge: The last question will be about the future of Bitpay. Nobody has a crystal ball to see how the future is going to be but can you possibly give your prediction on how you see where Bitpay will be a year from now? Do you have some projects in development that you can unveil a little bit?
Earlier this year we took in $30 million in funding and as a payment processor we are always looking at ways to acquire merchants and make it easy for them to accept bitcoin. This year our goal is to reach 100,000 merchants and offer tools to help them succeed with accepting bitcoin.
