On October 29, 1 million tokens will go on sale at $ 0.25 each, anyone who signs up on the Bitcoin.com exchange can participate in the public sale

Two years or more after being announced, the token from video game company Atari is ready to pave their way for sale. Starting October 29, each token can get the price of $ 0.25 on the Bitcoin.com exchange.

At the public launch, 4 million tokens will see their sales at that price for a total of $ 1 million. After the initial public sale, the currency is going to appear on that exchange at the price determined by the bidders and applicants.

The launch of The Atari Exchange is coming soon, when this and other tokens can be exchanged, and acquired with credit cards. Atari (ATRI) may initially be used in some video games and an online casino. The company’s goal is to progressively incorporate new use cases into its ecosystem.

Atari’s plans also include expanding into the field of decentralized finance (DeFi) to finance the development of new games.

Atari Token Features and Use Cases

“Our goal is to create a token for the video game industry that is available to as many platforms and users as possible,” they report on the Atari website.

They detail that ATRI is an ERC20 token, which means that it is developed on the main Ethereum network (ETH). This is the network of choice currently for most Defi protocols and tokens.

In the Etherscan explorer,  the total ATRI issued is 7,771 million, which implies it will have a market capitalization of almost USD 1,943 million during the time of its public sale, at USD 0.25 each token.

The company explains that ATARI’s features will allow it to be easily integrated into video games programmed by any developer. They mention as an example of use in video games, the bet of tokens against other players. After the game, the best player keeps the tokens bet.

The company is already working on putting Atari Casino online, this new project will feature, like other similar sites, roulette, poker tables, and blackjack. Also, they will have their games where the player’s skill will increase their chances of winning.

They also said that the Atari token will serve as collateral for the stable coin Atari USD. This token will maintain parity with the US dollar and can also be used for the products of the Atari ecosystem.

What will the Atari token distribution be like?

According to Atari, 25% of the tokens will remain in the possession of the company. They will be used to sponsor new platforms and use cases, to promote the growth of the Atari network.

20% of the tokens make up an ecosystem development fund. These will be distributed monthly for 3 years. The Atari Board of Directors are the ones who decide the amounts to be disbursed as well as the schedule.  They may also adjust these decisions according to demand.

Another 10% was also distributed at USD 0.08 and USD 0.16 in pre-sales that took place during April – March and in September, respectively. Finally, another 10% will be in distribution at the public sale on October 29. In case there are tokens up for public sale without buyers, they will be burned, which would reduce ATARI’s total working capital.

By: Jenson Nuñez.

Caracas, Valencia, and Maracaibo are the first three cities in Venezuela in which the AKB Fintech firm will begin to install ATMs to withdraw dollars in cash. Get familiar with the 6 keys of the project.

This Friday, October 16, the AKB Fintech Company announced that it will install 3 ATMs in Venezuela to dispense US dollars in cash. According to the information provided, the ATMs will work as of Saturday, November 7, 2020, in the cities of Caracas, Valencia, and Barquisimeto.

This was reported by the president of the AKB Fintech firm, Guillermo Scarpantonio, in a radio interview directed by journalist Román Lozinski, and cited by various national media. As relevant data, the maximum daily withdrawal would be $200 and the minimum was established at $20.

Project status

According to Scarpantonio, the firm is currently in “the process of complying with ATMs standards of correct operation and security.” By November 7, they hope to carry out the first operations.

The interviewed explained that it would be the firm’s clients who could withdraw the cash. AKB Fintech is a firm that currently specializes in financial technology intending to help those who find it difficult to access currencies such as the dollar, through its main product, the Mía wallet.

For Scarpantonio, it is a fact that there are already three ATMs in dollars in Venezuela in the process of installation and adaptation. He even mentioned in the interview that “another group of ATMs are also ready to start installations”, although he did not mention locations.

Finally, he added that they are “adjusting the last details of testing at the server level from the US to Venezuela so that the process is expeditious and reduce most of the problems when dispensing cash.”

PayPal as the main protagonist

Scarpantonio mentioned that mainly, the withdrawal procedure would be through AKB Fintech’s Mía wallet, in dollars directly. “Whoever has funds there can withdraw in cash,” he said.

He also provided the following example: “If you are a freelancer and your employer pays you through PayPal, you can connect your PayPal account to AKB through an allied platform called American Time Holding LLC.

You buy a gift card with a PayPal balance and reload it in your AKB wallet. Then you withdraw by cashier “. Scarpantonio did not give more information about this allied company. PayPal, as is known, is a company that, like many others, is making efforts to integrate itself into the cryptocurrency industry very soon.

Security and its risks.

As many in Venezuela know, the issue of security is of great importance in a project of this nature. And as it appears to be, Scarpantonio is clear about it, considering it “a complicated issue due to insecurity, the process of moving money from one place to another and the high costs of doing so.”

In this sense, says the interviewee, that thanks to technology, they will focus only on money that is already in establishments and in businesses that currently receive dollars.  In this way, he stated that “We will not put people’s lives at risk to transfer large amounts of dollars. Simply, the same money that is already in the shops will fill the ATMs “.

He also added, “ATMs will be in strategic points where there is access to public transport, with good parking. In Caracas, they will be close to the Metro, so that people have easy access to these shops, enter the store, make their purchases, and be able to withdraw their dollars”. Supermarkets, pharmacies, hardware stores, etc., would be the type of shops in which these cashiers would be, ended Scarpantonio.

By: Jenson Nuñez.

Mancera suggests gradual adoption to become familiar with Bitcoin. He maintains that cryptography will cause changes in economic and social systems.

Afre Mancera is a popularizer on the technological, political, and philosophical issues related to Bitcoin. He argues that most people prefer to earn extra money through speculation instead of seeking to be more sovereign.

“The use of Bitcoin will be mostly speculative unless adoption increases, which will not happen until people become really aware that they can change things or, at least, be more sovereign by using it,” said Alfre Mancera.

He also states that there is a certain comfort that leads many to “avoid the little pain of the transition.” He compares them with those who use proprietary software instead of open source software, “which is unlicensed and super easy to install.” He explains that “they prefer to pay for a license and be at risk of viruses.” He says that that same happens regarding “the adoption of Bitcoin.”

Concerning this issue, he regrets that many choose to use only the banking system as they consider it simpler than Bitcoin. He considers that people need to “be consistent with the information they have and try to use something like Bitcoin.”

“People don’t need to use it 100% of the time, as long as they gradually adopt it, so that they become familiar with the use of Bitcoin,” Mancera clarifies

Bitcoin and Cryptoanarchy

Mancera mentioned these issues to start elaborating on cryptoanarchy, the ideology in favor of the use of cryptography to enforce privacy and individual freedom.

He notes that cyberspace is the ideal place to put anarcho-capitalist ideas into practice. “In some way, in cyberspace, we can create legislation tailored to what the global individual needs.” He also distinguishes it from the “tangible world” where “everything is subject to the laws of a State”.

However, Mancera believes that this will eventually not be limited to cyberspace. According to his prediction, “the combination of strong, unbreakable public-key cryptography and virtual networks in cyberspace will cause profound and virtual changes like economic and social systems.”

He concludes his conceptual explanation of anarchy by assessing that “no leader or higher entity gives orders and directions, but the person can be sovereign.“ He explains that it is possible to reach “balances where private entities (individuals) establish order” in a community with these characteristics.

Bitcoin Involves Learning about Money and Technology

According to Mancera, Bitcoin fits into the cryptoanarchist ideal. “Bitcoin and strong cryptography allow people to understand that, regardless of political or economic theories, there is a reality: a power that controls many aspects of their lives,” he says.

He explains that people must become aware of fundamental aspects of the organization (that is, politics), fundamental aspects of value exchange (that is, economics), and fundamental aspects of coordination (that is, organization). This expert considers that Bitcoin has proven to include all of those elements.

By Alexander Salazar

Waves grow almost 25% by offering staking of anchored cryptocurrencies.USD Coin is launched on the Stellar network and the cryptocurrency rises by 6%.

The cryptocurrency market is mostly in decline. More than 80% of altcoins saw substantial declines, while the few that rose in price advanced to nearly 25%.The most notable cryptocurrencies of the week are led by Waves (WAVES), which  is now offering stablecoin staking; and Stellar (XLM) to whose network the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) is incorporated.

The price of Bitcoin, for its part, continues to rise. These past seven days, the price grew up by 0.4%. The cryptocurrency manages to overcome the barrier of $ 10,000 to stay above $ 11,000 throughout the past weekend. On Bitcoin prices and volatility, Kraken’s research unit published a market analysis on October 14. There he notes that BTC will see higher volatility and returns in October.

Ether (ETH), by contrast, shows a slight decline. The price ranged between USD 366 and USD 393, and its average decline is 1.4%. Despite this, the cryptocurrency has been registering a growth of more than 50% in the last 3 months.

 On this, eToro presented an analysis this week. The company maintains a bullish sentiment on the price of ETH due to the boom in decentralized finance. He assures that “DeFi is here to stay” and that the price of Ether will tend to increase.

Waves Exchange enables stablecoin staking

A week ago, the cryptocurrency exchange Waves.exchange introduced a new mechanism for cryptocurrency traders to earn passive income through staking (saving) anchored cryptocurrencies or stablecoins.

In doing so, the exchange expands its ecosystem of tokenized assets to include seven different stablecoins from Neutrino, a multi-asset protocol powered by Waves. The announcement was made amid the growth in the price of WAVES, which saw an average advance of 24.4%.

Additionally, on October 14, it was reported on the integration of the Solana blockchain protocol in Waves’ decentralized cross-chain network, Gravity. According to the Waves blog post, the idea is to achieve massive cross-chain DeFi adoption through Gravity.

As explained in the note, during the initial phase, Gravity will integrate Solana as a destination chain, “which will allow its blockchain to work in conjunction with other chains integrated to Waves.”

Meanwhile, the value of the cryptocurrency began to rise substantially from October 14, reaching a peak of $ 3 on October 16. WAVES ‘market capitalization is USD 316 million and its daily trade volume is USD 148 million.

Stellar becomes the third official blockchain for USD Coin

USD Coin (USDC), stablecoin or cryptocurrency attached to the US dollar created by Circle, is integrated into Stellar’s open source protocol. Twitter has announced this since October 15, as the price of the network’s native cryptocurrency, XLM, began to rebound, to achieve a very notable advance of almost 6% in seven days.

With this integration, Stellar has currently become the third blockchain for the issuance of the stablecoin, in addition to Algorand and Ethereum. “We are positioned to offer USDC and Stellar users a new level of opportunity,” said Denelle Dixon, CEO of the Stellar Development Foundation, speaking about the partnership.

The information adds that by having a new blockchain, USDC is expected to reduce its reliance on the Ethereum network, which has provided support for the native ERC-20 currency since its inception.

By: Jenson Nuñez.

Around 2,000 accounts of the Robinhood investment service were attacked by hackers who stole an unquantified amount of funds in fiat, bitcoin, and cryptocurrencies.

Bloomberg released a report last week that collected testimonials from users who denounced an attack from hackers to their accounts. The media quoted an internal source from the company on Thursday, who preferred to keep his identity anonymous, saying that the affected accounts were around 2,000.

Robinhood only said that the hack affected “a limited number” of customers, yet no details have been released about the funds stolen, exact amounts, or hypotheses as to how the hackers managed to gain access to the accounts. In an emailed statement, they mention the following:

“We always respond to customers who report suspicious or fraudulent activity and work as quickly as possible to complete investigations. The security of Robinhood customer accounts is a top priority and something we take very seriously”.

One of the victims, named Lena Williams, reported that hackers entered her account more than a month ago. The action did not raise suspicions as he had activated a two-factor authentication mechanism and did not see notifications in his email. Nevertheless, the criminals managed to gain access.

Security and hacking in Robinhood

A feasible measure to try to mitigate the situation was that Robinhood sent notifications to its users to activate a two-factor authentication. They also released security recommendations through their Twitter account, such as not entering suspicious links, securing access codes, protecting email accounts, and constantly checking mobile devices and computers.

According to a note released by CNN, there was no hack against the Robinhood platform. The media points out that hackers would have compromised the personal email accounts of a group of users, but not directly the application for investments and exchanges.

It is worth noting that users who keep bitcoins and cryptocurrencies in this service do not have full control of their funds, since they do not handle private keys. In other words, Robinhood operates under a custodial scheme with hot or cold wallets in which participants must trust that the funds are well protected or managed by the company.

The application is used to take positions in different security markets in the United States. Since February 2018, with the launch of Robinhood Crypto, residents of some jurisdictions have already been able to acquire cryptocurrencies, as CriptoNoticias reported.

It is estimated that the platform has about 13 million users, with a special focus on the millennial generation. Its main attraction is that they do not charge commissions for the operations that their users execute.

By: Jenson Nuñez.

The news service will sign the data cryptographically and publish its key. Everipedia will employ Chainlink technology to build an infrastructure of oracles.

The American news agency The Associated Press (AP) will incorporate distributed ledger technology or blockchain to its traditional vote count in the presidential election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The information cooperative established an alliance with Everipedia to use an Oracle infrastructure.

According to a press release released this Thursday, the AP will deploy specialized teams in all USA 50 states to gather information from voters. The data, once corroborated by the agency, will be incorporated into the blockchain using the Everipedia OraQle service, a solution provided by Chainlink, the decentralized network of oracles. On how the system will work, Everipedia reported the following:

“Everipedia’s Chainlink node will provide smart contracts with access to election data (which will be) backed by cryptographic proof. This can be used to verify that our node data comes directly from the original Associated Press API, to which Everipedia has exclusive and authenticated access”, the company explained.

AP will sign the data cryptographically and then publish its key through official Everipedia channels, it was added. The company pointed out that the integration will allow it to spread the election data simultaneously on multiple blockchains.

It is important to note that the AP will not only collect and disseminate certified information on the presidential election, but will also do so for the rest of the upcoming elections on Tuesday, November 3. That includes voting for 7,000 publicly elected offices such as senators and the House of Representatives. Certain states will also hold legislative elections.

Vote counting can now happen thanks to blockchain

Concerning the data collection process in this type of election, AP highlighted that before relying on “vulnerable technology”, it relies on the work of its local reporters who “have first-hand knowledge of their territories and relationships of trust with the county clerks.”

The agency has been counting presidential elections since 1848, and for the first time, the information will get validated on a blockchain. AP will leverage Chainlink’s technology and publish on Everipedia, an online encyclopedia that rewards its contributors with the IQ token.

As for the blockchain oracles, these are services solely created to use information that remains external to the blockchain provided by third parties that feed the network. They function as a bridge between blockchains and the outside world. In the absence of oracles, blockchains and smart contracts would be limited to working only with information on-chain or within the chain.

It is worth mentioning that oracles do not guarantee the veracity of the information that is recorded in the chain, which means that it is not a completely secure method.

The Associated Press captured media attention in the bitcoiner ecosystem in May last year after it included the names of various cryptocurrencies in its style manual.

The agency made the use of Bitcoin official with a capital letter to refer to the concept (digital system) that represents the cryptocurrency and bitcoin with a lowercase when talking about the native cryptocurrency of the network. Additionally, he validated the job in his Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Ethereum news.

By: Jenson Nuñez.