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Local Coin Swap Review

By now, cryptocurrency trading is nothing new. A huge number of exchanges have popped up around the globe, with varying degrees of popularity and transparency. As more and more countries begin to take steps towards regulating the exchanges, the number will undoubtedly be whittled down.

Whilst the blockchain-based model of cryptocurrencies allows for user anonymity, improved safety and decentralization, there are a few aspects of the cryptocurrency exchanges that are reminiscent of traditional stock exchanges.

One of those is the long chain of action that needs to be taken in order to trade a coin or a token. Another one is the amount of money that is lost in the process, as various transaction fees are deducted. A third one is the risk of insider trading.

What is LocalCoinSwap?

The team behind LocalCoinSwap call their project “the most financially transparent exchange on the market.” How do they plan on accomplishing this? By putting the users of the platform in control.

The platform will be a peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency exchange, where users can match up with each other and trade directly. No more middlemen, no more excessive transaction fees, and deductions. Just one-to-one trading.

But it does not stop there. LocalCoinSwap aims to be a democratic platform, where the community can vote on any decision affecting the exchange. Furthermore, the platform will give no less than 100% of the profit it makes back to the users.

How does it work?

With hundreds of cryptocurrency exchanges around the world. any newcomer to the market would have to have some pretty convincing USPs to fly. LocalCoinSwap has a few of those.

The first USP is that it will be much cheaper than current exchanges, by cutting out the intermediaries. Users will have to facilitate the P2P trading themselves, which will inevitably make it a cheaper system.

Secondly, there will virtually no limit to what can be traded on the platform. Many existing exchanges and P2P systems are restricted by the number of cryptocurrencies that can be used and traded on them. LocalCoinSwap will support more kinds of cryptocurrencies (and fiat money) than any other platform of its kind.

Finally, there will also be ample opportunity for ICO creators to raise funds on the LocalCoinSwap platform. This will make it easier for anyone interested in an ICO to invest in new and exciting projects, using whichever cryptocurrency the prefer.

What problems are solved?

To summarise, the LocalCoinSwap project aims to solve the following problems currently facing the cryptocurrency trading community:

• Centralised exchanges make it difficult for new traders to register without giving away personal information
• Centralised exchanges are subject to various local regulations affecting traders
• Existing exchanges are limited in their capabilities when it comes to the number of cryptocurrencies facilitated
• Existing exchanges incur too many fees on traders
• Existing exchanges don’t share their profits with the users
• Existing exchanges have too much in common with traditional stock exchanges, including lack of transparency and insider trading

What do you think of P2P exchange? Leave your comments below!

bitcointalk username: Ico Friends

Switzerland is quickly turning into the central hub for ICOs and blockchain technology.

Four out of the ten most popular ICOs last year were based in Switzerland. Why?

The Swiss franc is one of the strongest and least volatile currencies in Europe, which stands in stark opposition to the market for cryptocurrencies.

Yet, Zurich is booming with startups utilizing blockchain technology for their innovative offerings.

MyBit is a great example of this. Although not initially based in the country, the founder Ian Worrall decided to move his operations to a lakeside town in Switzerland.

What attracted him, and other entrepreneurs with their own initial coin offerings?

The benefits of Switzerland

First of all, Switzerland is a financially stable country, in large part due to the booming banking industry.

Another pull factor is that the country has very low taxes, which is a blessing for any startup company short on funding.

Finally, Switzerland is home to some of the best universities in Europe, which means that entrepreneurs have access to a large pool of talent.

Put together, these factors provide very fertile ground for ICOs.

There are even talks of an emerging Crypto Valley in the town of Zug, not dissimilar to California’s Silicon Valley.

This is not unintentional.

As a matter of fact, the Swiss minister of economics has expressed an interest in expanding the Crypto Valley into a Crypto Nation.

This is in large part due to the fact that the banking sector in Switzerland has begun to shrink drastically.

The Swiss Bankers Association reports that the number of banks has shrunk by as much as 20% in the last ten years.

A shrinking banking sector means that the country’s economy has to draw sustenance from another source.

That source could very well be the cryptocurrency community.

The rapid growth

Crypto Valley Labs is one of the places that house a lot of blockchain startup companies.

The proprietor reports that only 15 such companies were renting their spaces at Crypto Valley Labs in early 2017.

Today, this number has skyrocketed to 100. This is an excellent indication of the growth projected by the Swiss government.

None of this was artificially constructed. The corporate tax rate in Zug, which is home to the Crypto Valley, is only 14,5%.

This is a no-brainer for any budding entrepreneur, and soon startups began popping up everywhere around town.

Not only did this mean lower employment and a rapid increase in population for the town, it also turned it into a tourist destination.

Cryptocurrency enthusiasts from around the world would visit Zug, and guided tours would be offered there.

On top of all this, the financial regulator in Switzerland, Finma, is very receptive and flexible.

The downside

All is not rosy in Switzerland, however.

Along with the low taxes comes a high cost of living, which makes scaling up a startup business difficult.

The Swiss National Bank is not too fond of the risk associated with cryptocurrencies, either.

This means that they will be reluctant to cut the eager entrepreneurs much slack when it comes to loans and interest rates.

What do you think? Are you planning on starting your own ICO? Would you do it in Switzerland? Leave your comments below!

Blockchain and cryptocurrencies have been around for what seems like forever, and yet governments around the world have only begun to pick up the ball last year.

There is still a lot of confusion surrounding blockchain and the community that is working with it, which has resulted in several political knee-jerk reactions.

More crypto-crackdowns in China

Whilst regulators in various countries have begun setting up stricter limits for ICOs, cryptocurrency exchanges, traders, and miners, there is one country that takes a much harder line than the others.

That country is the People’s Republic of China.

Not only has the government placed restrictions on ICOs, they have issued a complete blanket ban on anything related to cryptocurrencies.

Chinese citizens have expressed an incredible enthusiasm for blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies in general, but it would seem that the more interest they showed, the more restrictions the government placed on them.

A series of shutdowns

Miners of cryptocurrencies have had their computers confiscated, and this is not without reason.

Given the incredibly large coal reserves China has, the government is able to subsidize electricity for its citizens.

As anyone with knowledge of crypto-mining know, the process of mining requires a lot of energy.

Hopeful miners have attempted to capitalize on the government subsidization of their electricity, but it has been shut down.

Last year, the government banned fundraising (ICOs) related to blockchain projects, as well as some of the cryptocurrency exchanges.

Early this year, the turn came to peer-to-peer (P2P) and similar trading networks, which were shut down promptly.

Offshore exchanges were not saved either: just a month later, the government shut them down too.

The bans are not just limited to the traders and miners, however.

Even entrepreneurs looking to produce new solutions based on blockchain technology are being shut down.

Just this month, an entrepreneurial event in Shanghai was shut down by the government to prevent the spread of ideas related to the blockchain.

What these bans and shutdowns have made a lot of people consider, is that China’s government is completely hostile to blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.

This would be a wrong assumption to make.

In fact, China’s government is investing heavily in blockchain technology, and are exploring the possibilities of engaging with cryptocurrencies.

Method to the madness

The Xiong’An Global Blockchain Innovation Fund is a great example of how the Chinese government is investing in blockchain – even if doing so indirectly.

Xiong’An Global Blockchain Innovation Fund is offering as much as $1.6 billion to Chinese startup companies working with blockchain.

The Chinese government and the People’s Bank of China know that the future lies in blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.

They want to be in control of the process, however.

This is not necessarily due to malice or ill-will towards independent Chinese entrepreneurs, traders or miners.

Rather, the Chinese government is, in their own way, acting in the interest of China.

They want to ensure that no money is flowing out of the country, whilst still benefiting from the technological advances offered by blockchain.

XYO Network Review

Being able to track the location of items and people has been invaluable since the invention of the first map.
Being able to actually prove that something is where it is supposed to be, in real-time, has also proved extremely useful since the first radio-based navigation systems like LORAN.

Modern-day Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are more precise because they actually cross-reference multiple sources of information in order to provide us with the actual coordinates.

Whilst this should provide a Proof of Location, the issue is that false location signals will also be picked up on.
Previous blockchain projects have attempted to remedy this issue by using the decentralization and time stamping possibilities offered by the blockchain technology.
Combined with non-blockchain (off-chain) technology, this should provide a reliable enough Proof of Location.
However, the reliance on an off-chain Oracle makes the crypto-location solutions just as flawed as the more traditional methods of determining location.

About the XYO Network

The XYO Network aims to create an entirely new ecosystem, which will be more reliable.

Here, the Oracle (which the off-chain data source) moves around in the real world, as opposed to having a fixed and centralized location. Because of this difference, the team being XYO Network has dubbed it “Sentinel”.

The main innovation of the XYO Network team, however, is to create a Proof of Location that is created by a protocol based on crypto-location.

This will create a trustless and decentralized system consisting of multiple Oracles, which will be much more resistant to any false signals caused by hackers.

Not only will this system developed by the XYO Network team make it more resistant to attacks, but it will also increase the reliability of the tracking and the accuracy of the reported location.

How will they do this? By implementing a series of abstractions that will make it more difficult for anyone to interfere with the signals.

The components of the system has been fitted with zero-knowledge proofs, and uses a network of connected devices to produce the accurate data as and when requested.

Users of the XYO Network will then be able to make queries about the location of the data on the blockchain, similar to when transactions are made with cryptocurrencies.

What about the tokens?

The XYO Network are offering investors XYO tokens for helping to fund their ICO.
When users of the network make a query about the data located somewhere on the blockchain, they will use the tokens as payment.

The amount of tokens spent will determine the accuracy and reliability of the data yielded from the query.
Users will, in other words, be able to set the level of reliability they desire for a specific location when making their query.
More reliability means that more resources and data will be needed to respond to the query – thus more tokens will need to be paid.
The XYO team aim to invest in 1,000,000 devices to be located across the globe, and the tokens will help fund the maintenance of these device.

Other Information:
– bitcointalk XYO Network ANN
– bitcointalk XYO NEtwork BOUNTY
– Telegram
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