New 7nm Bitcoin Mining Equipment From Triple-1 Co. Ltd.

Besides Canaan Creative, Bitmain, Innosilicon, & GMO Internet, another company is working on producing 7nm mining equipment. Triple-1 has been working on its 7nm bitcoin mining chips and expects to start shipping the equipment in November, shortly after GMO (a fellow Japanese ASIC Manufacturer)  expects to start shipping its 7nm miners.

Developing 7nm Mining Equipment

Triple-1 Co. Ltd., a Japanese company established in November 2016 and headquartered in Fukuoka, engages in ASIC chip development and cryptocurrency mining farm construction. The company began looking into developing 7nm bitcoin mining chips in February last year.

This week, Triple-1 confirmed that it has completed “the silicon wafer, the sample-chip, the sample-board and the prototype-unit of the mining [7nm] ASIC chip ‘Kamikaze.’”

A representative of the company told news.Bitcoin.com, “we have been conducting a verification of the function as well as the efficiency on the sample-chip and prototype unit,” adding that the company’s “partner foundry is TSMC Co. Ltd. (Taiwan).”

The power efficiency of Triple-1’s 7nm chip is listed at 0.05W/GH, which the company claims, reduces power consumption by at least 50 percent over a conventional 16nm chip.

The Kamikaze chip is the same size as conventional chips, but with a circuit density 5.2 times greater, the company claims, which boosts each chip’s performance to 300GH/s or more.

Triple-1 president and CEO, Takuya Yamaguchi, commented, “Although mining capacity is more than four times that of conventional products, power consumption is expected to be halved at maximum.”

Delivery Schedule

According to Triple-1’s development schedule, the sample 7nm mining unit is expected to be completed at the end of September. Mass production of Kamikaze chips is slated to start in the middle of October with the mining units delivered by the end of November.

Yamaguchi told the Sankei Shimbun:

We plan to ship samples in August and mass-produced items from October, and aim for 10 million chips per month in FY 2019.

In June, GMO Internet also unveiled its 7nm bitcoin mining chips and mining rigs. The company now has two models of its 7nm bitcoin miners, B2 and B3. Both are expected to ship at the end of October.

 

ShapeShift Acquires Tool That Quickly Swaps Bitcoin forOther Cryptos

ShapeShift has acquired a startup that developed a tool for exchanging cryptocurrencies more efficiently.

The company said Wednesday that it acquired the Texas-based Bitfract after it made the tool – allowing for the exchange of bitcoin for “dozens of digital assets in a single transaction” using the company’s API. The idea is that the tool makes it easier for crypto-buyers to switch up their portfolio without having to execute numerous transactions.

“This demonstrated a great alignment of strategy and thinking, and their execution was so exceptional that we wanted to bring their talented team and technology on board,” CEO Erik Voorhees said in a statement.

The tool works by letting investors choose what percentage of their holdings should be in a particular asset, add the destination wallet addresses and send bitcoin in a single mass transaction.

ShapeShift intends to continue operating Bitfract’s tool in its present form “as a demonstration of the power of ShapeShift’s open API.” However, the exchange will also integrate the platform’s mechanism into its own platform, creating a native “multiple output transactions” function.

“We believe in a decentralized future where individuals freely control their digital wealth, and our team is honored to work alongside Erik and everyone at ShapeShift to make this a reality,” Bitfract co-founder and CEO Willy Ogorzaly said of the acquisition.

The move comes just less than a year after ShapeShift announced the acquisition of KeepKey, a bitcoin hardware wallet startup. ShapeShift raised a $10.4 million Series A funding round in March 2017.

ShapeShift image via Piotr Swat / Shutterstock

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Bitcoin ATMs Now In The Thousands Around the World

Bitcoin ATM's growing

Coinatmradar.com reports a milestone of the 3,500 threshold being crossed for bitcoin ATMs (BATM) installed across the globe. One of the goals behind bitcoin automated teller machines is ease of onboarding to the world of crypto. A bear market – a protracted Crypto Winter – appeared to slow BATMs’ placement. And for sure it just might have, but numbers remain relatively strong considering, with the greater worry among BATM operators being US federal regulations preventing innovation.

Also read: Queensland, Australia Invests Portion of its $6.1Mil Ignite Ideas Fund in Crypto Startup

3,500 Bitcoin ATMs Installed Around the World

Coinatmradar.com announced this week a psychological milestone for the ecosystem had been reached: more than 3,500 bitcoin ATM machines are now installed all over the world. Not so long ago, BATMs were thought to a perfect onboarding tool, and especially in the United States.

Bitcoin ATMs Now In The Thousands Around the World

Americans are already trained on the basic tech, having had decades of automated ways to snag cash. That such machines could be placed where consumers are, rather than the customer having to seek it out, meant BATMs would be put in liquor stores, fast food restaurants, shopping malls, movie theatres, etc. It was just a matter of time until such convenience caught on.

That was before prices soured and the US federal government began cracking down on BATM operators. “No doubt, US regulations play a huge role in our business,” head of marketing at Blockchain BTM, Tim Curry stressed. “We would be able to provide many more services, and for much cheaper, were it not for a myriad of regulations we must comply with,” Mr. Curry explained to News.Bitcoin.com at this year’s Comic Con in San Diego, where his company was an exhibitor.

9 Per Day

Still, the fact so many BATMs are up and running, with a heavy concentration of those in the United States, and all this during a bear market, is testimony to BATMs’ potential power. “It’s a bank in a box,” Mr. Curry noted. “We can onboard someone faster than Coinbase, and in about two to three minutes from start to finish. No having to wait up to a week. No linking your personal bank account.” Blockchain BTM is largely focused on the California market at the moment, from the border with Mexico to about as far north as Bakersfield.

Bitcoin ATMs Now In The Thousands Around the World

Just shy of a year and a half ago, the ecosystem celebrated BATMs reaching four digits, 1,000, around the world. Of the approximate 3,500 installed across the globe, over 1,800 support alternative coins such as litecoin and ether. North America retains the greatest concentration of machines, with close to 2,600 installed between the United States and Canada.

At present, something on the order of 9 BATMs are being installed per day. Genesis Coin and General Bytes make up over half of all installations. Most machines are set to offramp from fiat, government paper, and onto crypto. However, markets seem to be seeking two-way alternative machines, allowing users to jump in and out of fiat and crypto, as those BATMs are growing in total market share.

Read the original post here 

Images via Pixabay. 

Coinbase Seeks Online Merchant Crypto Adoption by the Millions

Coinbase announced digital payment system for woocommerce

Adoption news keeps flowing this week, from Wall Street to Australia, and now San Francisco. The United States largest cryptocurrency bank, Coinbase, announced it is expanding its commerce section to include Woo Commerce via a plugin downloadable from Github. It could be just what more online merchants need to get comfortable with cryptocurrency.

Coinbase Seeks Online Merchant Crypto Adoption by the Millions

More than a quarter of all online merchants use Woo Commerce. It’s easily one of the most popular payment platforms around. This week, Coinbase announced it is releasing a Woo Commerce plugin as part of its proprietary Coinbase Commerce offering which can be downloaded from Github.

Coinbase Commerce is itself a payment solution focusing on getting more online merchants to use cryptocurrency. Woo Commerce businesses will “have access to cryptocurrency payments from customers around the world,” Coinbase stressed. “This increased access will lead to more widespread adoption, and ultimately, moves us closer to our goal of an open financial system.”

At present, ethereum and bitcoin cash (BCH) are still being tested on the platform, but users who hold bitcoin core (BTC) and litecoin can send theirs from Coinbase Commerce. The team is working on building similar functionality for bitcoin cash and ethereum.

Huge Market

Merchants who use the payment button React now have the option of embedding Coinbase functionality as well. The San Francisco-based crypto bank is also incorporating programming languages such as Python, and are said to even be considering Ruby. The idea seems to be keeping merchants happy by not asking them for acceptance payment fees.

Coinbase logoThese are just a scant few moves Coinbase has been making as a unit this year. They are now involved with institutional financial products, and are launching a crypto index fund, gobbling up licenses such as the Bitlicense, have purchased Paradax exchange, and are plotting a move into Japan.

The payment processing market is a giant one. All the proof anyone would need to measure just how huge is, say, the recent announcement by Wall Street and its entrance into all things retail with Bakkt (includes Microsoft and Starbucks). And while the space is getting crowded a bit, Coinbase has a built-in advantage being a relatively early mover in the ecosystem, a very positive brand identification, and a host of lincenses and general trust among weathermen.

Do you think Coinbase’s new plug-in will encourage merchant adoption? Let us know in the comments section below. 

Images via Pixabay. 

Original Article can be found here

People might think it’s crazy to order & pay for coffee with Bitcoin, but Starbucks Corp. may be changing everthing.

Starbucks considering bitcoin payments

People might think it’s crazy to order & pay for coffee with Bitcoin, but Starbucks Corp. may be planning to change the way you think.

The coffee giant is partnering with one of the world’s biggest exchange operators, Intercontinental Exchange Inc., which just created a venture called Bakkt designed to bring digital currencies closer to global commerce.

Even with Bitcoin’s astronomical surge last year, it’s still barely used to buy and sell actual goods in most countries. Many startups have sought to take cryptocurrencies mainstream by developing exchanges or payment gateways for merchants, but few have had success connecting all of the necessary players. ICE wants to help change that.

“Bakkt is designed to serve as a scalable on-ramp for institutional, merchant and consumer participation in digital assets by promoting greater efficiency, security and utility,” said Kelly Loeffler, the chief executive officer of Bakkt who was until recently head of communications at ICE. “We are collaborating to build an open platform that helps unlock the transformative potential of digital assets across global markets and commerce.”

Original Post can be found here

GMO Challenges Bitmain with the 33TH/s B3

GMO B3 ASIC Bitcoin Miner

At the beginning of 2017, Japan’s GMO Internet Group officially announced its entrance into the cryptocurrency world. In May of the same year, they opened a cryptocurrency exchange via Z.com. Just a few months later, they announced an intention to produce ASIC miners with a 7nm chip. Next, they launched an open source blockchain project (GMO Blockchain OSS) that began with the release of a blockchain-based system for sharing medical records. To cap off the year, and complete a cycle, GMO announced that they would allow employees to receive some of their pay in Bitcoin.

We believe the cryptocurrencies will develop into “new universal currencies” available for use by anyone from any country or region to freely exchange “value,” creating a “new borderless economic zone.

Introducing GMO’s B3: 33TH/s SHA-256 ASIC Miner

In June of this year, GMO unveiled Japans first-ever ASIC miner, which boasts the worlds first 7nm semiconductor chip. The GMO’s B2 went on pre-sale with a hashrate of 24TH/s and is scheduled to ship in October. Only a month later, they announced the sale of the B3. This new model is to achieve up to 33TH/s. That’s a 37.5% increase over their previous model, and more than doubles the productivity available anywhere else on the market. When operating at peak performance, these miners consume 3,417w per unit (103W per TH/s).

Besides the increased hashing capabilities, the B3 also gives their operators an option between an Automatic and Manual mode. These miners can automatically determine optimum performance efficiency according to the operating environment and global hash rate; this feature also protects miners from overheating. In manual mode, the B3’s operator can manually adjust the hashrate and power consumption, depending on their needs. As with the B2, these miners also can be “daisy-chain” connected with up to 32 units. That development means that you need only one internet port to hook up as many as 32 units. The B3 also supports online updates, and GMO provides an API allowing its owners to remotely monitor mining operations.

These units are shipping in November for the same price as the B2. Since the B2 is already sold out, they’re allowing its customers to upgrade for free!

Buy GMO Miner B3 Bitcoin Miner Online

Who is the GMO Internet Group?

GMO Internet Group’s CEO, Masatoshi Kumagai, founded the company in 1991 as an entertainment business. While operating a floundering enterprise, he came upon the internet. “I realized that the internet is like the railroad business. Lots of businesses will spring up next to the train tracks,” he said and changed the company’s focus to being an internet services provider in 1994.

Since then, GMO has become an industry leader, steadily building an empire that is now a one-stop-shop for the online entrepreneur. Under Kumagai’s leadership, GMO developed and maintains Japan’s most used domain, web-hosting, cloud-storage, e-commerce, e-security, and payment solutions. They also claim the worlds largest online FX trading platform and deal in online advertising, media, and mobile entertainment products. With headquarters in Tokyo, GMO Internet Group is comprised of 4700+ employees, between 80+ subsidiaries, across ten different countries. That’s impressive work from a high-school drop-out.

Currently, GMO’s focus is on developing online businesses, and the “new borderless economic zone” that cryptocurrencies comprise. In addition to their 2017 initiatives, this February they announced the intention to launch a cloud mining service, tentatively scheduled to open in August. To date, GMO has mined over 1900 BTC and 600 BCH since they began mining in December. With a review of GMO’s monthly reports, it’s easy to watch their exponential growth in the mining industry.

Only a week after the G2 miner was announced, they revealed plans to hide bitcoin rewards in mobile games, starting with Whimsical War, in August. Their open source project has regularly released new code, since its inception. Meanwhile, their stock value (TYO:9449) has grown by 80% over the last year.

GMO Internet Group has an overwhelming amount of experience and clout as an internet services provider, and has been building its position in the crypto-industry for nearly to two years. Overall, GMO’s rapid and impressive entrance into blockchain begs the question: “What’s Next?” Well, we already know that they plan to provide online banking services, in addition to the host of other offerings. When you add it all together with their latest miner’s incredible 33TH/s hashrate, they look to be a formidable competitor with Bitmain in the ASIC miner marketplace.

Bitmain Nears 51% of the Bitcoin Hashrate

This week’s headlines inspire fear and uncertainty. Bitmain owns the two largest Bitcoin mining pools: AntPool and BTC.com. Combined, they have produced 42.3% of new blocks over the past seven days.

The reason for concern is that once a majority of miners confirm a transaction, it becomes irreversible. If a single entity gains control over 51% of the hashrate, they could double-spend coins, and devalue the entire currency. The decentralized nature of mining is what guards against false transactions, and protects the network.

Who is Bitmain?

Founded in 2013, Bitmain is the largest manufacturer of ASIC miners. Their hardware is said to be used for 70% of all bitcoin mining, that alone is cause for concern. In April 2017 these miners were shown to possess a vulnerability that would allow Bitmain to remotely shut down the miners it produced, at any time. Although they claimed it a bug, and unintentional, it was a significant warning sign that Bitmain’s dominance places the security of the Bitcoin network in jeopardy.

At around the same time, developers were working on the SegWit protocol, aimed at making Bitcoin scaleable. Meanwhile, Bitmain was developing AsicBoost, which would allow their miners to operate 30% more efficiently. However, SegWit and AsicBoost were incompatible with each other. Whenever the protocol of Bitcoin is updated, a majority of miners must signal approval for it to be accepted. In this case, Bitmain was vocally opposed to SegWit and set their miners to reject the protocol upgrade. The community complained that Bitmain’s opposition to SegWit was so they could make more money with AsicBoost.

The fact that they possess so much power in the Bitcoin network is cause for concern on its own. Especially after the events of April 2017, Bitmain is eyed with suspicion by most of the crypto community. Even if most of the community despises Bitmain, they got to the position they’re in now by producing the most reliable hardware. As long as they deliver the most efficient and reliable equipment, miners will continue to purchase it. Now that they have become so large and successful, economies of scale make it very difficult for any competitor to surpass them.

Will Bitmain be the End of Bitcoin?

It’s healthy to be suspicious of any entity gaining so much influence in a network that relies on the distribution of power. However, although they are far from benevolent, the concern of a 51% attack is most likely unwarranted. Bitmain makes a lot of money mining cryptocurrencies, manufacturing ASIC miners, and hosting mining pools. They are said to have earned $4 Billion last year from those efforts. Bitmain has a lot to lose from an attack on the Bitcoin network. Anyone who succeeded in a double-spend would devalue the entire network. Attacking bitcoin would amount to attacking their own source of income.

For those reasons, I think Bitcoin is most likely safe from a 51% attack. That would require a desire to eliminate bitcoin from the world, and enough money and power that you could afford to lose a whole bunch of it for the sole purpose of taking down Bitcoin.