Will OPEC nations accept Cryptocurrency payments for crude oil?

Colleagues, OPEC was founded in 1960 and as of 2018 has 14 member nations which produce 44% of the world’s crude oil and possess 73$ of the world's "proven" oil reserves.  OPEC members include Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Indonesia, Libya, United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador, Gabon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea. Crude oil itself is a quasi-world currency today. We also know that some of these countries – most notably Iran – intend to use cryptocurrencies as a means of bypassing economic trade sanctions. And others such as Saudi Arabia may issue their own state-sponsored crude oil-backed cryptocurrencies. However, a separate question remains: Will there come a time when one or perhaps all of these nations will accept cryptocurrencies as “payment” for their crude oil? We are beginning to see corporate entities such as Amazon seriously exploring the acceptance of cryptocurrencies for their goods and services. Will OPEC follow? Share a comment and subscribe today! Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

Does Currencies Direct’s Testing of Ripple’s xRapid platform move the currency into the mainstream?

Colleagues, overshadowed by its most established competitors Bitcoin, Ethereum and LiteCoin, Ripple’s cryptocurrency token is seeking to gain credibility as a top-tier player. Enter UK-based Currencies Direct. Earlier this week the forex brokerage firm reported it successfully completed multiple trans-border transactions using the RippleNet platform. These transactions purported closed within seconds rather than days with an OPEX savings of some 60%-70%. RTGS Blockchain’s real-time gross settlement system lies at the core of Ripple’s XRP platform is being administered by several financial organizations around the world. Two bottom line questions arise: First, will these successful tests help Ripple gain the recognition and adoption is so desperately is seeking? And second, how well do these test bode for international payment processing for cryptocurrencies in general? Share a comment and subscribe today! Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

Ushering in the Exahash Era with the SHA-256 Cryptocurrency Mining Algorithm

Colleagues, the Exahash era of SHA-256 mining is rapidly moving into the mainstream … and much sooner than expected. Exascale computing is defined as a system that can process more than one exaflop per second — which is equal to a billion billion calculations per second. The BTC network surpassed 1 exaflop in May 0f 2013, which at the time was up to eight times faster than the combined speed of the top 500 supercomputers in the world. Enter 2018. The BTC hashrate is over 30-35 exahash per second or over 30 billion gigahashes per second, and the BCH network is 3-5 exahash per second or over 5 billion gigahashes per second. Nakamoto consensus is a name for Bitcoin’s decentralized, pseudonymous consensus protocol and is considered as Bitcoin’s core development and innovation. So when will we see the 500 exahash zetahash era? Share a comment and subscribe today! Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

Japan’s Mitsubishi Financial Group latest firm to adopt Blockchain

Colleagues, payment speed increase and OPEX reduction once again are the business drivers behind Japan’s largest bank to adopt Blockchain. Sounds familiar. MUFG in partnership with Akamai expect it to process over a million transactions per second with less latencies of less than two seconds per transaction and ultimately with underlying Blockchain architecture that is “expected to be extensible to 10 million transactions per second.” By comparison, when Bitcoin backed by the world’s first Blockchain can process seven transactions per second with latencies exceeding 10 minutes. Read the joint May 21, 2018 announcement by clicking here. This action comes just months after MUFG announces plans to issue its own yen-backed cryptocurrency in January of this year. The Cryptocurrency Academy is not surprised by this move. Moreover, we predict a veritable tsunami of cryptocurrency related Blockchain initiatives from major financial institutions across North America, Asia and Europe in the coming months. So who is next in line? Send us your comments and subscribe today! Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

How does the new Japanese GMO Titan V 8GPU Bitcoin Miner Stack-up against the Competition?

Colleagues, GMO Internet, the Japanese technology firm will launch its new B2 miner with 7nm capabilities on June 6 with mass production and shipment starting by late October. The GMO B2 7nm product uses semiconductors are very small yet house over 20 billion transistors that will allow devices to perform more complex calculations and purportedly at lower energy consumption levels (… to be verified). We at the Cryptocurrency Academy we unable to locate a publicly published price for the new mining device. Nonetheless, the key question remains: How will the GMO B2 measure-up on a performance-to-cost basis (when energy consumption is included in the equation) against leading products today? Well, the TITAN V 8GPU rig sells for $33.5k, Bitcoin Miner A1 costs $11.9k, TITAN XP/V 8 GPU has an $8.9k price tag and the Bitmain Antminer S9 which sells for $6.9k. Send us your comments and subscribe today! Lawrence, CryptocurrencyAcademy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

Will PayPal’s Expedited Virtual Currency Transaction System Speed-up Payments?

Colleagues, the goal of PayPal’s application for a “Expedited Virtual Currency Transaction System" with the US Patent and Trademark Office is to speed-up payment processing. Reducing speed generally carries the benefit of lower OPEX. To achieve this the leading payments services firm proposed a method creating secondary wallets with their own unique private keys for sellers and buyers. This innovative system would transfer private keys tied to an exact amount of a cryptocurrency. PayPal joins the ranks of JP Morgan and other firms seeking a first mover advantage in the processing of Blockchain-based cryptocurrencies. On a broader front, PayPal is among the growing list firms such as Microsoft, PizzaforCoins, Overstock, Shopify and Subway who accept payments in cryptocurrencies. Will PayPal’s new technology – once approved – expedite payments (and lower transaction costs)? And which firm(s) are next in line to accept cryptocurrency payments? Send us your comments and subscribe today! Lawrence, CryptocurrencyAcademy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)

Sizing-up the new Infinito ‘Universal’ Wallet – Reality or Hype?

Colleagues, cryptocurrency wallets … hardware, software, paper-based and electronic. They come in a variety of form factors. Enter the Infinito Wallet which purports to universally carry your codes for a multitude of cryptocurrencies. Among its key features are enhanced speeds, price optimization, QR code scanning, contracts management, touch ID support and more. The Crytocurrency Academy’s chief concern is security and convenience, otherwise this next gen feature set is quite impressive. While the concept of a ‘universal’ coin wallet is not new, if Infinito can in fact deliver on its feature and function claims this new wallet would appear to be bleeding edge. Any crypto wallet is no better than the security it provides to its owners. By contrast, the ability to carry one wallet from which you can trade multiple currencies offers significant convenience. Bottom line: How does the Infinito Wallet compare to the most popular wallets on the market today including TREZOR, KeepKey, Coinbase, Ledger BLUE and the Ledger Nano S? Send us your comments and subscribe today! Lawrence, CryptocurrencyAcademy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)