Google Search Requests for the Term “Bitcoin” Tripled after the Digital Asset’s Latest Surge

Andres Chavez
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It is no secret that Bitcoin’s price has been closely monitored by the entire industry ever since it started to climb precipitously in December 2017 and reached almost $20,000 in early 2018. The subsequent collapses; therefore, have gained worldwide attention from investors and even outside observers.

The extra attention that the industry gives Bitcoin-related news was put in evidence when Google Trends published that Google searches for “Bitcoin” tripled during the world’s premier cryptocurrency latest price surge, experienced in the past few days. It goes to show that people in every location is well-acquainted with the crypto phenomenon.

Google Trends reported that search requests for Bitcoin went from approximately 30 to 100 after the largest cryptocurrency by market cap finally surpassed $4,500 after battling with that threshold for a few months. It happened on the night of April 2nd, and it represented a 15% gain in the span of 24 hours.

A monumental Collapse and Recent Recovery

Bitcoin had been struggling to regain its footing ever since the mid-November collapse took place. That day (November 14th), in what many pundits link with the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) hard fork, BTC went from being worth well over $6,000 to barely over $3,000 in a span of a few days.

Ever since that moment, the digital asset had struggled to surpass even the $4,000 mark for most of 2019. However, on April 2nd, it reached $4,500 and now, at the moment of writing this article, it is exchanging hands at $4,938.06, with a market cap of $87,048,862,580 and a 24-hour trading volume of $17,249,689,818.

Brian Kelly, the CEO and founder of the digital currency investment company BKCM LLC, stated after the price upswing that BTC’s next target would be surpassing the $6,000 threshold, in an interview with American network CNBC on April 2nd.

Google Trends’ Method Explained

Google Trends’ rating is made by compiling algorithms. Numbers “represent search interest relative to the highest point on the chart for the given region and time. A value of 100 is the peak popularity for the term. A value of 50 means that the term is half as popular. A score of 0 means there was not enough data for this term.”

The site’s statistics also revealed that the most search requests came from Nigeria, the Netherlands, South Africa, Austria, and Switzerland. In American soil, “Bitcoin” generated the most interest in the states of California, Washington, Nevada, New York and Colorado after the most recent market recovery.

Bitcoin even crossed the $5,000 mark on April 3rd, for the first time since that dreaded month of November 2018. People are still debating what caused the recent revival: Tone Vays, a famous crypto analyst, explained that there isn’t always a “trigger,” and that “Bitcoin is no different than any other asset.”

Bitcoin started April 5th north of $5,200, but during the day, it slightly dipped under $5,000 to its current value. As Google Trends show, people are now paying close attention to the price behavior, with their minds set on similar events to those of December 2017, in which it started climbing towards an all-time high.

By Andres Chavez

Cryptojacking is Soaring: Users’ Devices are Used to Obtain Cryptocurrencies

Willmen Blanco
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Cryptojacking is Soaring: Users’ Devices are Used to Obtain Cryptocurrencies

The National Cryptological Center recommends a series of good practices to avoid attacks, which are easily launched but hardly detected

Cryptojacking is a type of attack through which the illegitimate use of an external electronic device is used for taking advantage of its processing and calculating capacity of the graphics card, the memory and the processor. The objective is to take advantage of users’ devices for the process of obtaining cryptocurrencies.

Cryptojacking attacks vary depending on the objective pursued by the cybercriminal and the form of distribution of the harmful code. This can be done through fraudulent email (phishing), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, web pages or mobile applications.

This situation is becoming increasingly worse. According to data from the National Cryptological Center (NCC) in Spain, this type of practice increased 34,000% in 2017. Only in the last three months of that year, the increase was 8,500 percent. In addition, attacks are easy to launch and automate, but hard to detect in infected devices.

After analyzing different occurrences of crypto attacks, this center, which is attached to the National Intelligence Center, has prepared a report that aims to guide users’ on how to avoid the risks that arise from this practice. This report includes recommendations that are intended to hinder these attacks, from the perspective of how important it is for users to be aware of advice such as disabling Javascript in browsers.

A Few Pieces of Advice against ‘Cryptojacking’

The NCC reminds users that many cryptocurrency miners are written in JavaScript, which is especially harmful to websites that need JavaScript for their execution. Consequently, they recommend using extensions, such as Toggle Javascript, to activate and deactivate this programming language.

They also recommend the use of extensions to block unwanted pop-ups and advertisements, as some websites may launch a small window, which minimizes immediately and goes without being noticed by the user, thus initiating the mining process or the execution of other malicious code. There are also specific extensions that detect and protect the miners.

Updating both the antivirus and the operating system often solves vulnerabilities that could be used by hackers, so users should always have the latest version of those programs.

Users’ e-mail accounts can be used as a gateway for cyber criminals, so they advise applying antispam filters in order to avoid downloading harmful code. Regarding the opening of unknown files, the NCC advises to always show file extensions, not to enable macros in an office document or, if it is done, to verify that they are signed by the sender.

Before downloading files from unknown web pages, they recommend users to run them for the first time through a virtual machine. They also advise using a blacklist of websites that use crypto miners through extensions such as NoCoin or Minerblock.

Finally, it is convenient to change the credentials that come from the factory in electronic devices, choose robust user names and passwords and not download or install programs or applications that come from unofficial sites.

The piece of advice given by the National Cryptological Center from Spain, as well as other renowned international organizations, should be followed by both those who are in the business of cryptocurrencies and those who want to become a part of it.

By Willmen Blanco

Crypto Assets in Mexico: Towards a Change in Paradigm

Willmen Blanco
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Crypto Assets in Mexico: Towards a Change in Paradigm

The advancement of crypto asset ecosystem in Mexico has been slow but sure because the actors have joined in a common effort

Manuel Flores, a researcher on crypto assets since 2014, is an organizer of Bitcoinday Mexico, the founder of Bitcoin Monterrey Community, and representative Member Node of the Mexican Spanish-American Blockchain Alliance. This article summarizes the situation of crypto assets in Mexico and it highlights the main challenges of adopting this technology in the country.

As the crypto asset ecosystem quickly advances worldwide, the question arises of what the situation of Mexico is with respect to other countries.

Venue of Important Events

The growth of the ecosystem in Mexico has been slow, but steady since the creation of the first group on April 30th, 2013 and an informal meeting on October 31st, 2013 in Mexico City.

After the first committed physical Bitcoin community in Monterrey in 2014, the number of communities has grown in different cities. Currently, regular events are held in Monterrey, Guadalajara, Mexico City, Cancun, Puebla, Tabasco and Nuevo Laredo, among others. There have also been international events such as Labitconf, Coinfest, Devcon, Anarcapulco and Bitcoinday.

Since 2016, with the raise in the price of cryptocurrencies and the distribution of accounting technology projects around the world, we can find speakers talking about the subject in technology and entrepreneurship events, such as INCmty, The week of the entrepreneur, Campus Party, and Talent Land.

Entrepreneurs in the Ecosystem

The environment of entrepreneurs, which started with two crypto bags of renown and seniority, now concentrates the most robust projects and there are more than eight Mexican crypto bags, with some foreigners working in the region, probably due to the increase in the price in 2017.

Additionally, the number of ATMs is higher, but there is a shortage of payment platforms, integrations and implementations for large businesses. In 2017 some companies stopped ​​using bitcoins as a means of payment, and the options for directly spending them declined. Some universities could be reached with the arrival of groups more focused on trading and cryptocurrencies.

In the same vein, most higher education institutions are reluctant, but exceptions such as the University of Nayarit, UNAM or Monterrey Technological College have internal research projects and plans that include the subject in the educational area.

Media Coverage on Crypto Assets

Traditional media still do not provide training in the area of ​​crypto assets, despite several reports on “Mexican Projects”, price fluctuations and wonder projects, being are cited and recycled by sources outside the ecosystem.

Regretfully, they publish wonders about any project, without prior criteria or research, provided that the representatives of the project pay the corresponding fee. They may be recognized as publishers for their constancy, but their articles lack enough reliability.

Unfounded Projects

Although scams, pyramid schemes and junk tokens have been around since cryptocurrencies were made public in Mexico, now they rely on the work of small inexperienced communities, on the media and on the raise of prices, in addition to the people’s lack of knowledge about them.

There are also unfounded projects by pseudoexperts that sell tokens which usually have no other use than raising capital or gaining renown. Gradually, projects that have the word “blockchain” in their name are shown at companies, customs offices and governmental entities by developers who can hardly make an intelligent contract.

These unfounded projects reaffirm the importance of education in cryptocurrencies beyond price analysis. Interestingly, most of these projects come from small states, where the population receives little or no education. However, they can also be seen in important cities such as Monterrey, Guadalajara or Mexico City.

Effort towards a Common Objective

Although some members of the Mexican community still do not see the innovation and the social and political paradigm shift that crypto asset technology can bring, it is going slowly but surely.

Only by joining efforts and leaving aside protagonism, egotism, classism and selfishness, advantage can be taken of others’ weaknesses to make profit. The impact of crypto assets will be greater and, consequently, more interesting projects will be accomplished.

Even though English is the language of education, more talented people have access to it. Besides, experts and professionals such as economists, technicians, lawyers, futurists, developers, among others, have joined the ecosystem.

The landscape of crypto assets in Mexico has evolved and, despite the long way that still remains to go and the many projects to accomplish, the international community has a lot of faith and interest in the country.

By Willmen Blanco

Ameren Experiments with Blockchain to Offer “Cleaner” Energy

Andres Chavez
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Ameren Experiments with Blockchain to Offer “Cleaner” Energy

Companies working in the energy industry keep experimenting with innovative solutions in an effort to diversify resources and achieve efficiency and process optimization and streamlining. The best and most effective approach to accomplish those goals remains the blockchain technology.

The latest firm performing its operations in the energy sector that has decided to embrace the blockchain approach is American company Ameren, which announced via a press release on Thursday, March 28th, that it would be joining forces with Canadian software engineering business Opus One Solutions to assess the potential of the technology in the mentioned field.

An American Powerhouse        

Ameren is a well-known company in the United States and other locations. It provides its services to approximately 2.4 million electric and 900,000 gas consumers in the market, and according to market value, it was in the top 20 of the gas and electric utility companies as of May 2018. It will now test blockchain in an attempt to provide “cleaner” energy.

The blockchain approach will be the main factor behind Ameren’s new initiative, called Transactive Energy Marketplace (TEM). It functions as a microgrid built using Opus One’s technology with the intention of improving supply and demand ratios.

“Identifying the value local distributed energy resources (DER) can provide to our distribution system and the customers it serves, helps inform how and where customers should invest in clean renewable power,” were the words of Ron Pate, Senior Vice President of operations and technical services at subsidiary Ameren Illinois, according to the press release.

Details of the Pact

The executive continued explaining the details of the alliance and the reasons why the company chose blockchain technology: “Transactive energy markets will ensure that distributed energy resources are compensated appropriately, for the services that they provide.”

The exact way in which Ameren plans on deploying the blockchain technology are not yet public, but the announcement comes in a moment in which energy providing firms throughout the world are shifting to the approach as they look to reshape the way they perform their operations.

Other Known Cases

Ameren is, naturally, not the first brand to experiment with blockchain and the distributed ledger. Earlier in March, Japanese company Marubeni established a strategic alliance with blockchain business LO3 in an attempt to promote automation and improve the efficiency of renewable energy solutions.

Before that happened, tech powerhouse Fujitsu revealed positive results of its trial involving the blockchain technology, thanks to the help and support of its ally Eneres, a Japanese energy supply company.

IoT (Internet of Things) platform Iota was the channel used to develop a Proof of Concept for an autonomous smart energy grid in the European area, most precisely, the Netherlands. It happened in February.

By Andres Chavez

A Japanese Transportation Company Will Allow Train Users to Pay with Cryptocurrencies

Maria Rodríguez
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A Japanese Transportation Company Will Allow Train Users to Pay with Cryptocurrencies

The new payment system with cryptocurrencies will benefit tourists who want trains belonging to the Japan Railway Group company

Japan has become one of the countries with the highest technological growth in the world. It is also the one that more technology adoption has had. In this way, it allows an easy access to the latest technology to most of its population, as well as facilitating trade and tourism in the country.

With respect to the use of decentralized technologies, smart contracts, or the adoption of cryptocurrencies, Japan has made important advances in its development and definitive control. In this sense, there is a significant number of companies in Japan that have decided to incorporate payment methods with cryptocurrencies, in order to diversify their economic growth, among other points.

In this sense, the most important railway company in Japan, Japan Railway Group (JR Group), recently announced that due to a series of commercial expansions and negotiations, in order to improve their services, they have decided to accept some stablecoin and cryptocurrencies as a method of payment for all ticket office. According to its official announcement, this will benefit its most frequent users, as well as tourists who have decided to reserve their money in virtual wallets.

About the system that the transport company will use to offer the new service, it was known, through a recent report of the chain of press ANN News, that among the main allies of JR Group for the launch of the system is the prestigious Internet provider and network solutions, Internet Initiative Japan (IIJ), which will allow the necessary access to conduct the purchase in an efficient and reliable way.

The use of a smart card has been enabled to facilitate the purchase of tickets with cryptocurrencies. The Suica card, which will allow the user access to the box office paid with cryptocurrency, will be strongly supported with the Exchange DeCurrent system, as well as the support of the aforementioned internet company IIJ.

During the official announcement of the measure, the Executive Director of the company JR East, which will support the smart card system, Shinobu Noguchi, commented that the measure corresponds as part of its corporate growth plans, as well as its investment motivation in the transport sector.

“Suica from JR East operates the same settlement business, and is in a position to invest in Dikalet, and is expected to develop its services to create a payment infrastructure based on transportation infrastructure (…) we started charging and using cash, which It is a general-purpose payment method, but I think it will change greatly as the flow of ‘no cash’ flows”, he concluded.

About the new support panel that the JR Group transport company hopes to enable, in some press report, the intention to create its own cryptocurrency was mentioned. This means that the assembly of an entire payment processing system with cryptocurrencies will be conducted. This suggests that in the medium term, the JR Group transport company will create an alternative company which will generate revenues based on the collection of commissions for transactions made with cryptocurrencies.

On the one hand, it is currently unknown with certainty which will be the cryptocurrencies that the Suica smart card will admit for the collection of this service. On the other hand, the system of the DeCurrent Company accepts the most commercial cryptocurrencies, such as: Bitcoin (BTC), Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC) and Ripple (XRP). This is the reason why it is believed that said cryptocurrencies will be the ones admitted by the system in order to purchase the train tickets in the above-mentioned Asian country.

By María Victoria Rodríguez

Innisfil, the Canadian City that Accepts Bitcoins for Tax Payments

Maria Rodríguez
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Innisfil, the Canadian City that Accepts Bitcoins for Tax Payments

The Government of Innisfil, a city located in Ontario, Canada, approved a pilot project that will allow residents to pay their property taxes through bitcoins

The representatives of the city of Innisfil, which has a population of approximately 36,000 people, recently partnered with the Coinberry Limited company, based in Toronto, Canada, which will provide the crypto payment service for residents for at least one year. It is part of a pilot project that was drawn up by the company and that will be an alternative for the organization of that city located in Ontario.

According to the information provided by the authorities of Innisfil, on March 27 the Council voted and approved the use of cryptographic, initially with bitcoins, for the payment of taxes. The strategy will be launched between the end of March and the beginning of April of this year, when many residents of the city located on the west coast of Simcoe Lake pay their second installment on property taxes.

The mayor of Innisfil, Lynn Dollin, spoke about the project: “Once again, we are proud to be the first to take this bold step by offering this new and exciting payment option to our residents. We are making sure that our municipality is at the forefront of the game”, she said.

In this aspect, the official added that “there is no doubt” that cryptocurrencies are growing in popularity and use. For that reason, by opening the doors to the world of cryptocurrencies, according to Dollin, the city of Innisfil will be signaling to the world that it is really an innovative community so it is ready for the near future.

An Automatic Process

Once the payment project with cryptoactives is launched, residents will instantly see a new payment option appear on the city’s website, where they will have the option to pay their taxes with bitcoins.

Initially, tax payments will be made with bitcoins, but in the future, the municipal council plans to add other cryptocurrency options such as Ether, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash and Ripple, according to the information reviewed in local media.

The service will use the city’s crypto portfolio with Coinberry Pay, a cryptocurrency payment solution, and will comply with existing financial regulatory requirements. Coinberry will immediately convert the bitcoin funds into funds expressed in the Canadian currency and will be transferred to Innisfil city accounts to cover the expenses of municipal services and benefit the citizens of the land located about 80 kilometers from Toronto. That is the plan that the authorities have so far.

“The leaders of all levels of government, who are the first to recognize the benefits of the new monetary economy, will be the first to reap the rewards”, said Andrei Poliakov, CEO and Co-founder of the Coinberry Limited platform.

The businessman explained that they are “extremely pleased” to mark a “milestone” in the history of the adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology in Canada.

Last year, Ohio, in the United States, became the state first to allow companies to pay taxes using Bitcoin, through an online portal created by the Treasury Office of the state. Since then, other cities have joined, such as California at the beginning of March and, now, Innisfil, in Canada, too.

By María Victoria Rodríguez

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