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After the Moolah mishap, here comes another event that has a great potential to tarnish the entire cryptocurrency sector. If sources are to be believed, it seems that EquinoxCoin, an altcoin recently distributed via multiple ICOs, is a scam after all.

Announced on August 19th this year, EquinoxCoin was launched as an economic project whose distribution took place in multiple phases, which contains two ICOs that sold 1.3m and 8m units and a free distribution of 1.1m units as well. The first ICO batch was sold for 185 satoshi each through an escrow, while the second one was recently sold for around 800 satoshi per unit through Bittrex, a US-based cryptocurrency exchange. In the meantime, over 13.5m units were destroyed in absence of buyers.

The cryptocurrency was propagated as a fast and decentralized medium to send money to family and friends, or to pay for goods or services anywhere in the world. Upon the launch of their website, EquinoxCoin developers promised that their product will make an impression in the crypto currency market. They further added: “After the long-term analysis of the market we identified the main factors that facilitate progress and regress of the economic structure for such projects. Based on the information obtained our design team has established a new organization called Equinox Management.”

At this point of time, the Equinox Management developers seem to be missing with investors’ money. Their last public interaction is amusingly a couple of fancy images, in which they are holding a champagne at some strip-joint.

The most shocking fact however is related to cryptocurrency reviewing website CoinSource that awarded EquinoxCoin a 6/7 Trust Index Rating. We cannot imagine how many investors considered this rating before investing their money on this scam coin. This whole incident really has jeopardized CoinSource reputation by a notable extent.

Moral of the story: Don’t invest in just any coin with a fancy name and speculative features.



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Businesses hired more employees than expected in October, indicating that job growth is set to record its strongest performance in 15 years, reported the ADP Research Institute.

Companies hired 230,000 workers last month, the highest level since June, after employing 225,000 workers a month earlier. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected 220,000 workers to be hired.

The improving labor market has fuelled an increase in consumer spending amid slowdown in the global economy, aided by declining fuel prices. Despite this, wage growth should accelerate in order to boost consumer spending, which contributes about 70 percent of the U.S. economy.

“Demand is improving and businesses can’t count on productivity gains so they need to hire workers to meet that stronger demand,” Gus Faucher, a Pittsburgh-based economist at PNC Financial Services Group Inc, told Bloomberg News. “The economy is growing, and not just in a few industries, but pretty broadly. And job growth reflects that because we’re seeing broad-based job growth as well.”

Companies that produce goods, including construction firms and manufacturers, boosted payrolls by 48,000 last month, ADP’s report showed. Factories employed 15,000 workers while jobs in construction sector grew by 28,000. Service providers absorbed 181,000 new workers.

Companies that have at least 500 workers hired 5,000 workers, while medium-sized firms, which have 50 to 499 workers, absorbed 122,000 workers into their payrolls. Smaller firms employed an additional 102,000 workers. The ADP sources its data from companies that have employed nearly 24 million workers.



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Cops in the Republic of Ireland Seize 2m Euros of digital currency from the Darknet




The Darknet, an encrypted version of the internet that enables anonymity, has become a tool that is being used by drug peddlers, has been exposed in Ireland by the Irish police. According to the local reports police in the Republic of Ireland has seized almost 2m Euros of digital currency and drugs in an operation targeting international drug selling over the Darknet.

A Garda spokesman said that a critical part of this operation was preservation of data on encrypted computers which related to the worldwide distribution of controlled drugs from this premises in Dublin. He further added that the operation was based at a secured premise on the South Circular Road in Dublin’s south inner city.

Nonetheless, the police in Ireland have been able to nab the operators of the drug den – it is the first arrests and seizures relating to drug dealing on the hidden internet in the country. The cops were able to do this after keeping the operators under surveillance for a couple of weeks as a part of a global effort involving Europol and the FBI.

The seized drugs include Ecstasy tablets, LSD and other illegal drugs valued at around two million Euros. According to the police two men in their 30s were arrested at the scene and being held at nearby Kevin Street and Kilmainham Garda stations in the Irish capital under section two of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act.

Drugs and Bitcoin Seized

The cops in Ireland received a lot of invaluable assistance of the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and the Computer Crime Investigation Unit. Under the operation a number of computers were safely retrieved with accessible information immediately at the time of entry on this search. With the inputs, they were able to nab the two culprits.

In its statement the Ireland police said that currently analysis is continuing with regard to storage of electro currency Bitcoin, and CAB have already seized certain currency assets. It believes that as a significant vendor has been arrested in the presence of an encrypted but open computer with address lists for customers all over the world.

The list according to the investigating sources will be of significant interest to many global law enforcement agencies that specialize in Darknet investigations. They say that they have also seized a number of Bitcoin, an internet currency that enables anonymous transactions that were stored on computers recovered.


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KnCMiner Adds 20 megawatts data center in Doden, Sweden




Based in the tech hub Stockholm, Sweden, KnCMiner produces state-of-the-art chip design and cloud services for Blockchain-based applications and cryptocurrency mining, has announced that it is adding 20 megawatts to what was previously going to be a 10 megawatt data center in Boden, Sweden, in the vicinity of a massive Facebook data center.
The announcement regarding this came as the company decided to expand its data center capacity in Boden to a total of 30 megawatts and 160,000 square feet. According to the source from the organization it decided this because of the abundance of hydropower in the area and a favorable business environment.

KnCMiner says that it is groundbreaking as it is expanding the performance and an indication that there is pent up demand for Bitcoin mining data center space. Bitcoin which went up after the case of fire in a Bitcoin mining data center has huge demand for Bitcoin mining data centers; in fact, some companies have started them separately.

As Bitcoin mining need a lot of power and cooling but not necessarily the level of reliability offered by traditional data center providers, KnCMiner decided to do this on own. Additionally, as traditional colo services are generally cost-prohibitive for mining companies, it is better for the company to go solo on it and develop its own data center for higher capacity.

Low-Cost Hydro Power and Free of Cost Cooling

KnCMiner is not alone in this exercise as many other companies have built and continue to build massive data centers designed specifically for the Bitcoin mining purposes. The decision to get the new data center by the company is an indication that the place provides low-cost clean energy which is fundamental for cost-benefit.

The country provides cheap power thanks to the abundance of cheap hydropower which has made Central Washington one of the hotbeds for mining operations. Sam Cole, a KnC co-founder, said that Clear Sky farm in the polar region takes advantage of locally produced renewable hydropower and the surrounding arctic air to achieve industry-leading efficiency.
Nonetheless, KnCMiner and Facebook aren’t the only data center projects going on in Boden and the surrounding area; there are several other firms as well. One such company called Hydro66 is building a massive, 500,000 square foot, data center at the place. They all admit that they prefer this place for its cheap hydropower and cool climate for free cooling.


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Brent Approaches Longest Weekly Flop in 13 Years, OPEC Attributes Price-fall Panic to Speculation




Brent approached a seventh weekly fall, the longest losing streak since November 2001, as OPEC projected less demand for crude supplies in the wake of the US shale boom. West Texas Intermediate was flat in New York.

Futures in London were estimated to drop 3.4% for this week. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cut every projection for demand for its crude through the next two decades. Libya intends to restart output from its biggest field, which was interrupted by attacks, a Libyan official said.

Oil has entered a bear market in the wake of signs that growth of global production is surpassing demand.

“Crude oil markets remain stuck in a bear trend and after a period of consolidation the downside gave way as OPEC downgraded the outlook for demand,” Bloomberg quotes Ole Sloth Hansen of Saxo Bank as saying.

December-delivery Brent was flat, exchanging at $82.95 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London. The crude benchmark had recovered from an earlier flop of 0.8%. The Volume of futures that changed hands at the exchange was about 12% lower than the average for the past 100 days. Prices have plunged 25% in 2014.

Secretary General of OPEC asked those concerned with the recent drop in crude prices to calm down.
“The media is really panicking and the market is panicking, the consumer is panicking and the producers are panicking. We really should sit and relax and look into the situation,”*Abdalla Salem el-Badri told CNBC.

He suggested that the recent flop in prices resulted from speculation by traders as opposed to overproduction as some observers have implied. He said that the market fundamentals did not warrant the decline in crude prices that’s being witnessed.

It’s been suggested that some producers in the OPEC such as Saudi Arabia have been pushing prices down to retain their market share amid heightened competition.



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Advanced Global Concepts of Jason Brailow Receives $5 million for Bitcoin Exchange




Advanced Global Concepts which was founded by CEO Jason Brailow has received first round financing of $5 million. The company is building a technologically advanced, high performance exchange that will set the standard for the increasingly important Bitcoin market and expected to do well as the funds start pouring in and further investments are available.
According to the firm it will count many of the world’s most active and influential banks, brokerages, hedge funds, trading firms, and foreign exchange dealers among its client base. Talking to media professionals Jason Brailow said that the Advanced Global Concepts system will include partners from the leading global financial services firms.

This according to him will enable them to run their own exchanges and offer Bitcoin trading to their customers. Jason Brailow admitted that the project will allow the company and its partners to participate in and profit from the rapidly growing Bitcoin market, which some analysts are already labeling as a “disruptor” for the world’s traditional currencies.

The Exchange Will Benefit from the Experience of Jason Brailow

Jason Brailow comes with a wide-range of experience in business and technology startups and according to observers this is going to help the Advanced Global Concept emerge as a leading Bitcoin exchange. He brings the ideal skill set to the research, development, building, and launch of Advanced Global Concepts’ Bitcoin exchange and storage project.

Jason Brailow knows what it takes to become successful in today’s hyper-competitive global marketplace. He learned this from one of his earlier projects, a direct marketing company, and quickly gained an international reputation and shot up to number 184 on the Inc. 500 list. Thus, with a diverse background, he is all set to carve a place for himself in Bitcoin ecosystem.

The whole focus of Advanced Global Concepts is to construct its own robust trading engine from the ground up as demand for it is going up. Also, as the financial services sector is going to expand further for Bitcoin, the requirement for a Bitcoin exchange, the organization is willing to invest heavily and reap the benefits.

Nonetheless, the company says that it is developing the safest and most secure place to store Bitcoin with monumentally innovating security protocols to protect against the risk of attacks. Thus, focus is also on the security of Bitcoin which has long been a major concern for users around the world.


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Russia and China inked a framework accord on Sunday for a major gas supply agreement, a couple of months after the two countries closed a $400 billion gas deal in line with President Vladimir Putin’s plans to boost ties with China.
Putin has ordered a reorientation of Russia’s economy towards the east as a way around isolation after the country suffered sanctions by the West over the Ukraine crisis.

Last month, Russia and China sealed deals bordering on energy, trade and finance, including the 150 billion yuan ($25 billion) currency exchange meant to trim the influence of the US dollar.

The new gas agreement under negotiation will permit Russia to sell an extra 30 billion cubic meters of gas to China for the three decades from deposits in West Siberia and ship it through the Altai pipeline, Reuters reported. *That is in addition to the deal in May for Russian state-owned firm Gazprom to ship 38 bcm per year to Beijing through gas deposits from East Siberia.

On the completion of the Altai pipeline, China will become biggest Russian gas buyer, handing the world’s top energy user a substantial source of cleaner fuel and offering Moscow a new market for its gas as it faces loss of European buyers over the Ukraine conflict.

The framework agreement was signed between Gazprom and state-controlled China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), a statement by the Russian government said, after discussions between Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
The original deal “will make Russia rely more on China both economically and politically. China is probably the only country in the world that has both the financial ability and the market capacity to consume Russia’s huge energy exports on a sustainable basis over a long period of time,” Lin Boqiang of Xiamen University told Bloomberg by phone.


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The reports are that citing the reason that it wants to protect consumers’ rights, the National Bank of Ukraine stressed that the international spread payments using Bitcoin are illegal. According to the bank this Bitcoin is being used for illegal activities, including money laundering of crime or financing terrorism and this must not continue.

The government says that the virtual currency Bitcoin cannot be used in Ukraine as a means of payment any longer. According to the regulator which has to ensure real value, virtual currencies are “money substitutes” it has been observing the activities that were being carried out in the Bitcoin ecosystem and concluded finally to clamp down.

An official representative said, “In order to protect consumers’ rights and security of the money transfer National Bank recommends that you use the services of only those payment systems, settlement systems, which are included in the register of payment systems, settlement systems, participants in these systems and service providers payment infrastructure.”

A Ukrainian User in Reddit Contradicts the News

Posting his comment in /r/Bitcoin, this user says that as he can read National Bank of Ukraine website and their original posting, there is nothing like they have banned Bitcoin. According to him they stated that Bitcoin is not regulated by them or anybody and they cannot guarantee safety of funds or operations.

The user further clarifies that the National Bank of Ukraine stated that Bitcoin is often used for illegal activities and pointed out that only legal currency for payment for goods and services inside Ukraine is Hryvnia (UAH). According to them it always was that way; therefore, none can slap anything on price tag in the shop except UAH.

The National Bank of Ukraine also determined that the sale logic is applicable for other officially documented prices or contracts. The organization asks citizens to be vigilant for scams when using Bitcoin. Essentially, the Government bank is saying that if the users lose their money transacting Bitcoin, they are warned beforehand.

At the same time the National Bank of Ukraine has urged the citizens to use the national currency than Bitcoin for their business records and official prices and tax records. Essentially, the warning is typical that has been used by various other governments like India, China, Russia, etc. around the world that consider Bitcoin a challenge for their national currencies.


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Global payment conglomerate NCR announced that it will introduce support for Bitcoin payments at one of its point-of-sale systems. NCR firmly believes that as the transaction landscape changes, offering Bitcoin support payments, will enable small businesses to attract clients who prefer using the crypto-currency over traditional payments.

NCR additionally sees huge potential in mobile payment, using Bitcoin wallets, which will allow clients to conduct transactions using Bitcoins. This of course industry experts consider to be tremendously beneficial for Bitcoin in the long-term.

The BTC/USD continued its upward trend during the Asian-morning session but it did not ascend above its $370 resistance. In last night’s session however, the BTC/USD in fact climbed above this resistance zone but was unable to sustain itself.
Analyst do note that volumes are certainly picking up, indicating a fresh wave buying interest is now present at lower levels. Meanwhile its support continues to remain near the $321 level.

Meanwhile, the stochastic oscillator for the BTC/USD has entered the overbought zone, but is not displaying any sign of an imminent reversal, which is undeniably a positive indicator. The relative strength index has given a buy signal and formed a higher-high, which implies inherent strength in its price action. Lastly, it is imperative to state that the BTC/USD continues to trade below its important daily moving average.

Actionable Insight:

Long the BTC/USD if it moves above $372 for a short term target at $400, with a stop loss below $347.
Short the BTC/USD if it moves below $347 for a short term target at $320, with a stop loss above $362.



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Former global macro fund manager Raoul Pal Says Bitcoin is worth $100,000

By Forexminute - Deepak Tiwari | Bitcoin | Nov 11, 2014 9:45PM GMT




A former global macro fund manager and current author of the Global Macro Investor newsletter, Raoul Pal says that Bitcoin is still worth $100,000. The last year in October during the Bitcoin bubble reached to above $1200 as well. Some investors even claimed that the digital currency may reach above ten thousand dollars.

However, the latest claim from Raoul Pal is not just bizarre but outrageous for a lot of people who believe that he has gone overboard. Nonetheless, he seems bullish about what he thinks when he says that limited edition of Bitcoin circulation is a major reason that he believes will help the value go to exponential heights.

According to Raoul Pal he did some analysis a while ago to try and create a valuation framework that gives some value to Bitcoin because nobody really knows that it’s worth. He added that there’s a finite amount that’s been mined. The rest is underground and everyone kind of know how long it’s going to take before all the gold is mined or before all the Bitcoin.
Pal says that putting the digital currency in the same kind of equation we get a value which goes to a million dollars. Thus, according to him people will never hear an analyst say this-but he does not mind this. He says that he could be wrong by 90%; however, he still believes that the digital currency will be worth $100,000.

Buy Physically Unencumbered Gold Than Paper Gold Suggests Raoul Pal

Coming from an expert investor, the prediction cannot be taken lightly. He also brings a piece of suggestion for investors when he says that they should be careful about how they own their gold as because of the proliferation of derivatives and ETFs, gold is just the collateral to a highly-leveraged “monster.”

Nonetheless, Pal thinks that it’s best to buy physically unencumbered gold instead of paper gold. He has plenty of experience in terms of experience in managing investors’ money wherein he co-managed the GLG Global Macro Fund in London for GLG Partners, one of the largest hedge fund groups in the world.

Later on Raoul came to GLG from Goldman Sachs where he co-managed the hedge fund sales business in Equities and Equity Derivatives in Europe and retired from managing client money in 2004 at the age of 36 and now lives on the Valencian coast of Spain, from where he writes for The Global Macro Investor.


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