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Magma VC invests $400,000 in GetGems, the social messaging app with a built-in Bitcoin wallet

By Forexminute - Deepak Tiwari | Bitcoin | Jan 6, 2015 9:53PM GMT



GetGems, the social messaging app with a built-in Bitcoin wallet, have announced that it has raised $400,000 from venture capitalist Magma Venture Partners. With the latest fund Gems, a new social messenger service that includes Bitcoin wallet and rewards its users for the use of the messaging service, thanks to its own altcoin named GEMZ, will further expand its reach.

The company says that users can transfer the GEMZ to other messaging users or withdraw them. On the other hand, Magma VC is trying to invest in the widely anticipated crypto 2.0 projects, which seeks to incentivize social messaging users through the use of GEMZ, a native token issued on Counterparty that allows users to profit from the platform’s growth.

Nonetheless, the investment has come at a time when GetGems’ is trying to do crowdsale to attract funds for its operations and research. The company has been quite successful in its pursuance and since its 1st December launch; it has raised $600,000 through the sale, bringing its total funding to roughly $1m.

Magma has thus entered into Bitcoin ecosystem with big huge investment and GetGems is the first company that has received the funds. General partner Ran Achituv says that the investment is just another example of how his firm is able to identify disruptive trends early. He admits that the company is looking for disruption, differentiation, distribution and a great winning team.

The Funds Will Help GetGems Scale Faster in Competitive Market

According to him his organization felt Gems has very good characteristics in all four parameters. Also as chat and value transfer is a growing trend; the company will further gain traction in the segment. He believes that GetGems was attractive as it is not wholly dependent on the price of Bitcoin, but rather leverages its technological benefits to provide value for consumers.

He says that the company is looking for investments that control their destiny on their own and create new solutions and value. Also, according to him his organization is seeing now is not directly on Bitcoin, it’s more trying to leverage the benefits of the technology for new use cases and capabilities.

Similar views were shared by GetGems CEO Daniel Peled who expressed his belief that Magma VC would in turn increase its chances of success in the long term. He said that the additional funding will help his company scale faster which is necessary since the mainstream instant messaging market is very competitive.


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South African Bitcoin exchange ICE3X has launched Bitcoin trading in Nigeria

By Forexminute - Deepak Tiwari | Bitcoin | Jan 7, 2015 10:00PM GMT




Nigerians can now trade Bitcoin as South African Bitcoin exchange ICE3X has launched Bitcoin trading in the country for the first time. Thus, the organization has opened up a potentially huge market for Bitcoin in Africa’s most populous country. For the purpose the company has formed an exclusive partnership with Nigerian payment processor VoguePay.

According to a source from ICE3X the partnership with VoguePay will allow users to buy and sell Bitcoin using the local currency, the naira, directly from existing VoguePay wallets. Nonetheless, the company is also planning to roll out merchant services allowing local businesses to accept Bitcoin – this is going to boost the local Bitcoin users.

Talking to media professionals ICE3X founder Gareth Grobler described Nigeria as “virgin territory” for Bitcoin as according to him only a small number of traders and hobbyists are involved in Bitcoin in the country so far. However, he believes that the market is potentially massive and partnership with the local payment processor VoguePay will help it explore.

He says that VoguePay has spotted the opportunity Bitcoin offers, seeing as one of the primary attributes of Bitcoin is its security. Also, as Nigerian online consumers simply do not have the same access to goods and services from international vendors due to one simple thing – credit card fraud, Bitcoin can be the best solution for the problem.

Nigeria Has Huge Scope for Digital Currency Companies

Nonetheless, Grobler believes that setting up in the country was “pretty straightforward”, as it was simply a matter of expanding the business and infrastructure ICE3X already operates in South Africa. The company says that by building a more advanced online payment system in Africa it is paving the way for young African entrepreneurs.

Grobler says that his company wants to help African entrepreneurs foster better business relationships by making the online markets more accessible to millions of Africans. Whereas VoguePay’s executive and research teams are based in Canary Wharf, London, development, operations and professional services groups are located in Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos.

According to some data Nigeria has over 177 million people out of which 33.6 million are in the 18–35 age brackets. Thus, the country has huge population of youth which has huge potential for growth. With 48.1 million active Internet subscriptions through mobile phone networks, there is huge scope for the digital currency.


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While the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) still remains undecided on their proceedings towards Bitcoin regulations, its commissioner – Commissioner Mark Wetien – proved himself to be more open this new commodity-cum-payment-technology.

In his recent Op-Ed for the Wall Street Journal, Wetien wrote lengths about the importance of Bitcoin in transforming the finance industry, especially the derivatives market which is being generally oversaw by his organization. He though referred a number of virtual currency-based merchants whose comments sent a clear message to regulators, while raising the need to hedge exposures to unannounced volatility in Bitcoin market.

He went on explaining how CFTC is taking steps to reduce activities that involve Bitcoin manipulation, starting with treating digital currencies as commodities. This step gives CFTC the authority to act against individuals that are found to deliberately causing manipulation in Bitcoin value. “CFTC certainly has a responsibility to ensure to the greatest extent the integrity of the derivatives markets, including those for Bitcoin swaps and other virtual currencies,” Wetien added.

He further indicated how such a handful of negative traits are stopping Bitcoin from gaining financial freedom. “Regulators should work quickly to understand how these technologies work and how they affect specific regulatory jurisdictions, with the ultimate goal of creating a regulatory framework should the public begin adopting or using these technologies in greater numbers,” he concluded.

“Creating a flexible and rational regulatory framework also is the best way for regulators to respond to previous incidents such as Mt. Gox, Liberty Reserve or Silk Road – serious innovators will choose to work within such a regime in the U.S. rather than avoid it, which in turn will build more confidence in consumers currently leery of embracing the new technology, or something like it. That will lay the groundwork for future innovation in virtual currencies.”

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Today’s US NFP Report was a bit crummy. Although the headline reading was slightly above forecast and the unemployment rate fell, labor participation also dropped to its lowest rate in 33 years, and average hourly earnings fell in December. This gave way to some correction against recent USD strength, and the AUD/USD rallied.

The 4H AUD/USD chart shows that a double bottom was formed after today’s NFP report. Now, we want to see confirmation. If price gets to 0.8215-0.8235, we should expect some resistance. If there is one, we should monitor the 0.8125 area. A bullish market should hold above this level. However, a break below 0.81 makes it unclear, and a break below 0.8087 is likely to signal bearish continuation, or at least a sideways instead of a bullish consolidation.*This would put pressure on the 0.8035 low, with risk of breaking towards the 0.80 handle. On the other hand, a break above 0.8250 would signal a more bullish type of correction within a medium-term consolidation mode.


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Following are the major Bitcoin news of the day

Cex.io Halts Cloud Mining Operations over Weak Bitcoin Value

Bitcoin cloud mining service provider Cex.io is no longer providing its services, thanks to the constantly falling prices and increasing mining difficulty, which are impacting their and their customers’ revenues. The halt however is temporary, and the company has confirmed to resume if Bitcoin value reaches $320. You can read the whole report here.

Meet PEY: a 3D-Printed Bitcoin Payment Terminal

Innovator and entrepreneur Ricardo Ferrer Rivero recently launched the prototype of a3-D printed bitcoin payment terminal PEY that is aimed towards simplifying cryptocurrency payments. The new model users the iBeacon technology that connects users to the nearest Bitcoin-accepting retailers using a special mobile application. Because the app is directly connected to the terminal, it provides users and merchants a homogenous environment to conduct Bitcoin transactions. The terminal also features QR code, as well as NFC technology. You can read the whole report here.

CoinTerra Sued; Accused of Breach of Contracts

Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer CoinTerra recently got sued by a Utah-based data center C7. According to the available reports, it is found that the latter was a former partner of CoinTerra and sued them for alleged breach of contract over $1.4 million worth unpaid services. C7 CEO said:

“We had filed suit against them, which is public, for non-payment over 60 days. So, their services were suspended with no attempt to solve that. We went ahead and filed suit for that non-payment, plus the breach of contract for the remaining contract.”
You can read the whole report here.




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Fake Investment Company Steals 1,000 BTC from Customers

Just a few days back, a group of people complained about CryptoDouble, an investment company that disappeared with around 1,000 Bitcoin. The company promised these people to double-up their cryptocurrency investments within 100 hours of deposit, a thing that eventually turned out to be scam. You can read the full report here.

Russia Blocks Bitcoin Websites

Being on the verge of an economic collapse, Russia is still treating Bitcoin as some sort of crime-inducing technology, proved their latest rulings against a handful of digital currency websites. According to the available reports, Russian authorities have blacklisted several Bitcoin-related web addresses, having the suffix “.ru”. You can read the full report here.

Bitcoin Price Continues to Tumble amid Panic Sell

The downtrend in Bitcoin price continued to hit traders when it fell below the $200 mark today, eventually rebounding from $156. The time we thought 2014 was the worst Bitcoin trading year, 2015 came to be even better at being worst. The technical indicators are pointing towards a strong bearish presence, while even the fundamentals are not supporting any volatile rebound. Speculators however are wondering if lower Bitcoin value might generate some buying momentum – at least for short term. You can read the technical analysis here.


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Netherlands Stockholder Association’s Director Paul Koster recently requested the central bankers to immediately ban the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.

According to a report published on Dutch news service BNR, Koster deliberately chose the Bitcoin’s worst trading phase to throw tantrums over it. “These volatile Bitcoin price fluctuations prove that this market is not supervised and/or regulated by any government or institution,” he said. “As a result, it is impossible for banks, consumers, investors and retailers to estimate the potential risks of getting involved with Bitcoin.”

Koster also questioned the central bank’s capability by criticizing their weak stance against the cryptocurrency sector. “I don’t know why they even allow Bitcoin,” he commented while referring central bankers. “It is a wild market with endless potential risks.”

Many Bitcoin followers questioned Koster’s timing of issuing such a provocative statement, when Bitcoin is going through rough phase in terms of value. Some also commented over the “director” to ignore greater benefits cryptocurrency technology brings to finance market.

“Ban is just the paternalistic attitude that feeds the bitcoin movement,” said one of the commentators. “If you find bitcoin better, then you use them, with all the risks that entails. In addition, it is a global phenomenon, where you with regional prohibitions learn a very little.”

The Dutch Central Bank has already issued a warning to local banks and payment institution to be aware of cryptocurrency risks.



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Unión Progreso y Democracia (UPyD) of Spain asks for Bitcoin Regulations



Unión Progreso y Democracia (UPyD) of Spain has submitted a proposal to the country’s Congress wherein it outlines the requirements for Bitcoin regulation. The political party which is though liberal in ideology, calls out for stricter control measures to be placed on the technology in a bid to improve security and prevent fraudulent and criminal activity.

The document submitted by the political party says that Bitcoin should not remain in a legal vacuum, without the appropriate supervision as it believes that there are currently 40,000 Bitcoin users in Spain, and that while this small user base doesn’t pose a risk to the larger economy today, measures should be enacted now before it becomes more widespread.

This is not the first time that some political party is asking for regulation; similar voices have come in several other countries. UPyD claims that the lack of regulation could impact central banks in its filing as it feels given the shared characteristics with other payment systems, incidents could be linked to the lack of intervention by public banking authorities.

The party in document has tried to touch upon various issues as well; for instance, it talks about the European Banking Authority (EBA) which identified more than 70 risks that affect users, market participants, and financial integrity – by facilitating money laundering and other financial crimes – existing payment systems and the regulating authorities.

Bitcoin Could be used for Money Laundering and Criminal Activities

ForexMinute had then reported that the EBA had then warned the EU members to be careful of Bitcoin. Now, the party says that the current document is an addition to what the EBA’s call for short-term regulatory measures was. According to them the suggested regulation will discuss the issue in Congress on 30th January.

Nonetheless, the document submitted by the UPyD cites the European Central Bank’s Virtual Currency Schemes report that held that Bitcoin cannot be considered a form of digital money and as such cannot be subjected to specific legislation. This has been a thought line among legislators almost everywhere and that is why they look for a separate law to deal with Bitcoin.

Also, the report though cites the various advantages of Bitcoin; for instance it says that their decentralized, cryptographic and anonymous natures are favorable to its users, it asks for regulation. The political party says that Bitcoin is inherently risky as users can be led astray by criminals involved in illegal activities or money laundering.


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The depressive Bitcoin value seems to have hit the cloud mining businesses hard, proves ZeusHash, a Bitcoin miner which recently announced to discontinue its cloud mining operations after facing a week of financial losses.

In its announcement, the company elaborately explained customers that due to weakening Bitcoin value, they are not able to cover their maintenance costs. To avoid legal implications, ZeusHash further recalled its terms that clearly allows them to withdraw all sort of mining operations “if” they are unable to recover their maintenance fees for 10 days in a row. Excerpt:
“We’d like to warn you not to purchase more GHS as it’s not the best time for investment. And we are working on different plans for your profits when the conditions for freezing GHS contracts are met. The final solution will be released then.”

In a separate comment to CoinDesk, ZeusHash CEO Terry LI said:
“I don’t know if there are many platforms [that are going to] be left on the play field. I’m sure that suppliers like us backed up by real hashing power would be running out of juice pretty soon. All contracts will be frozen within [a] short time if price keeps dropping.”

A few days back, another Bitcoin mining company Cex.io had also stopped providing cloud mining services due to no profitability.
The current Bitcoin market sentiment is bearish, and value is somewhere around $190.



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On a relatively low volume day, the cryptocurrency market is riding high on bulls if one sees the current Bitcoin and Litecoin charts. However, the longevity of this fresh buying frenzy is not yet confirmed. Here have a look:

BTC/USD 4H BitFinex Chart


After falling around 40% since New Year, Bitcoin is still trending in a bearish bias. Though at the same time, there are some notable attempts from the bulls’ end to shoot the price towards prevailing resistance levels. In last few hours, the BTC/USD moved upward after trending sideways for most of the weekend. The surprising price movements has indeed changed the near-term dynamics by putting the next resistance around 230 in sight.

The technical indicators have also been changed after the arrival of two bright green candles. MACD has moved above the signal line; value is nearing overbought region; RSI is in buying territory around 53 – all factors that are indicating towards a near-term bullish run.

At the same time, let’s not rule the possibilities of a pullback around 230, which is likely to influence Bitcoin towards trending either sideways or in a downward direction. In case it happens, the pressure would be the 172-support level to keep the price away from attempting a bearish breakout. But in case, the BTC/USD manages to push above the 230-mark, there will at least be a reduced bearish bias that will remain until the price manages to break the next pullback points around 275 and 300. The upside risk will meanwhile remain towards 320.

LTC/USD 4H BTC-e Chart


The green candles have also appeared in the Litecoin-USD charts, thus indicating a near-term recovery signal likewise Bitcoin. The Litecoin’s future movements can thus be figure out only by looking at Bitcoin’s trend. There are however a little twisted technical dynamics in LTC/USD 4H charts. The RSI is below 50, the volatility is limited, while the MACD is only slightly apart from its signal line. The upward moment in next few hours is likely, but for how long can’t say.

Which brings us to the prevailing support/resistance points. For now, it seems Litecoin will be testing 1.60 as its next resistance level, and will put pressure on 1.85-2.00 level. Speaking of south, the support around 1.07 still holds strong and any downward movement is likely to face strong buying pressure around this point.

Other Cryptocurrency

The cryptocurrency market is looking optimistic for now, with each altcoin displaying impressive surges in over the last 24 hours. Some among them are Dogecoin, Peercoin and NXT – each having a 6-8% jump. On the other hand, Darkcoin has rocketed 10% within the same span. PayCoin however has dropped 15% thanks to its own melodramatic life.



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