Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance has hinted it may be about to launch Bitcoin (BTC) options trading.

Bitcoin options trading on the way?

In a couple of tweets, including ‘TestFlight leaks’ and a screenshot of a BTC/USDT trading prototype, Changpeng Zhao (“CZ”), CEO of the Malta-based crypto exchange, hinted that BTC options trading is on the cards.

TestFlight leaks 👀

Notice anything new? pic.twitter.com/dH7AeHzwDs

— Binance (@binance) April 3, 2020

https://t.co/TL6P9MqrrF pic.twitter.com/53EIfDhm6C

— CZ Binance 🔶🔶🔶 (@cz_binance) April 3, 2020

The prospect of options trading being launched is reinforced by the fact that options trading support appeared on a list of things to test, which included other products that have since been launched, like buying crypto with Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards.

What exactly are ‘options?’

Options are derivative products that allow traders to hedge against prices of assets either rising or falling, by offering contracts to purchase a right to buy (call option) or right to sell (put option) at a pre-defined ‘strike price’ – which is determined on or prior to the expiration date of the contract.

If Binance does launch Bitcoin options trading it will be joining fellow Malta-based OKEx, which launched the service for selected traders in January 2020, and others including FTX, Deribit (which recently relocated from the Netherlands to Panama), as well as regulated institutional services like CME and Bakkt.

More news on the Binance mining pool

CZ also shed some more light on Binance’s mining pool, saying:

“We are done with initial developments like platforms and I do think mining is an important business that we want to support and right now mining for BTC is cenralized and we want more players to participate. We also want to support the existing players out there.”

Binance will be joining an increasing number of exchanges, including Huobi and OKEx, to launch mining pools. According to CZ, the Binance mining pool will be supporting both Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mining.

AYO.NEWS says:

Binance’s entry to the world of Bitcoin (BTC) options trading is hardly surprising given the trajectory of the cryptocurrency trading sphere, which is rapidly becoming more sophisticated, driven in large part by the displacement of individual investors by institutional actors.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

As countries across the world battle the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, spare a thought for Venezuelans.

Already beset by a collapsing economy and hyperinflation before the virus crisis hit, the formerly prosperous South American nation is now witnessing more half-baked idiocy courtesy of its incompetent president Nicolas Maduro.

Re-arranging deckchairs on the Titanic?

According to an official Tweet, former bus driver Maduro has launched the ‘Doctors of the Homeland’ initiative, which will see Venezuela’s state-issued cryptocurrency ‘air-dropped’ to doctors – despite the fact that the hospitals themselves are so underfunded that they have long lacked basic essentials like soap and disinfectant.

Yes, those doctors currently living through hell, trying to fight the deadly COVID-19 virus in a health system that was already close to total collapse, will each get given one whole Petro (PTR), delivered via the Patria System – the government run platform created to bypass the nation’s failing banking system.

So, how much is a Petro (PTR) worth? Well, the government claims its about $60 USD, but in reality, popular Venezuelan trading platforms are pricing it at round $25 USD. But, as paltry as that is, most Venezuelans are even worse off, with the monthly minimum wage working out to around $3.60 per month, boosted by roughly $2.90 worth of food stamps per month.

Collapse in oil prices the final nail in Venezuela’s coffin?

Just before COVID-19 emerged as a global threat, President Maduro signed a decree ordering state-owned Petroleum of Venezuela (PDVSA) to sell 4.5 million barrels of oil, priced in Petros (PTR), from its 30 million-barrel reserve. The plan was to then sell 50,000 barrels per day, denominated in Petros (PTR). Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic has caused an unprecedented collapse in demand for oil, and prices have plummeted.

While we love cryptocurrencies here at AYO.NEWS, and we are confident emerging technologies like blockchain and AI can help in the fight against COVID-19, we have to wonder just how much more of this madness Venezuelans can take? COVID-19 is challenging even the best-funded of healthcare systems, but instead of putting pragmatism front and centre, Maduro’s government is still clinging to ideologically-driven gimmicks and making a bad situation worse.

Let’s hope that, at the end of this, Venezuelan’s will find a way to rid themselves of Maduro and his corrupt government, and bring their country back into the international community.

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

Magellan Robotech, part of the Stanleybet Group, has used artificial intelligence to predict the course of the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

A swarm of ‘hostile robots’

In a study commissioned by the Stanley Board to the Robotics Division of the Liverpool Group on the likely trends of the COVID-19 pandemic over the coming weeks, the virus was transformed into a mathematical model, and interpreted as if it were spread by a swarm of hostile robots.

According to researchers, each individual virus was looked at as if it were a single nano-robot, and its effects analysed in relation to its movements, by the same techniques of logistic prediction that are applied to gauge the simultaneous movement of millions of very low cooperation level software drones (swarms).

The approach had already been fine-tuned for the first time by Magellan Robotech, with respect to specialised software simulating the movements of virtual entities, characterised by a high cooperation level. However, a new ad hoc mathematical model enabled creators to overcome the difficulty of identifying the correct level of cooperation within the swarm applied to the pandemic scenario.

Economic-style data sets and compliance behaviour rankings

Apparently, researchers then uploaded data from the civil protection and health authorities of several countries, along with data from the World Health Organisation (WHO), de-seasonalised by econometric techniques comparable to those used to stablise data sets employed in predictive models for economic research.

Also uploaded to the model were the most reliable forecasts that could be obtained regarding the behaviour of citizens in terms of complying with the orders of health authorities in various countries.  To this end, separate models were developed for China, England, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Romania, Croatia, Malta, and Cyprus. Because China is now providing “considerably stabilised data”, it was used as the “control patient.” Compliance rankings were then determined, based on the Chinese benchmark.

This led to China being assigned a compliance ranking of 100, and degressively lower rankings assigned to the other countries. Though the company has decided not to make these public, it did note that Italy achieved a “surprisingly high” compliance level.

Pandemic peaks and zero contagions

To assess the damage likely to be suffered by the forced closure of its betting premises in the eight countries, the Stanley Board had requested estimates of two key parameters in each country; 1) the point in time of the pandemic peak, and 2) the point in time when the number of daily contagions would drop to zero.

In order to make these estimates, researchers stressed it is important to understand two key concepts. Firstly, peak refers to the point in time when the contagion curve changes from an exponential increase (concavity facing upwards), to a logarithmic increase (concavity facing downwards).

Secondly, the number of zero contagions is the point in time when the curve reaches its top in terms of infected individuals. It is recommended that standards of “extremely high prudence” are maintained for at least another 14 days after the zero contagion date.

The model used supplies both parameters, and they are different for each country.

According to the Magellan model (error margin +/- 4 days, and overall probability that the model delivers correct data is 88%):

Italy

• Peak reached 27 March 2020
• Zero contagions will be 7 May 2020
• Hence, lockdowns could be lifted in the last week of May 2020

Discussing the findings Stanley CEO and creator of the Magellan mathematical model, Dr Garrisi, warned:

“I am confident that the predictions developed by us will prove substantially correct. However, there is a risk. In fact, our model shows that the contagion trend in the coming days should collapse exponentially.

“In other words, we will see the number of new infected individuals decrease by the day with astonishing speed, but the curve will thereafter  slow down and tend to become flat with an enervating “swing behaviour” equally changing by the day, to reach the zero contagion point at the beginning of May.

“It is, therefore, to be expected that in the coming days between 7 and 15 April a mood of euphoria will prevail, as if the problem was eventually overcome. Mind you, this is not the case. A relaxation of the strictest compliance with the prescriptions of the authorities could result in a fresh uptake of the pandemic instead.

“All of us must absolutely stay at home, not only until the day when the absence of new contagions is declared, but safely well beyond that point in time. Provided all of us remain compliant and strict in observing the prescriptions of the authorities, the gambling sector may start to think of a re-opening of physical operations within the end of May”.

About Magellan Robotech

Magellan Robotech Ltd was founded in 2014 by international boomaker the Stanleybet Group, to explore new frontiers in gaming and entertainment. It employs a team of more than 100 professionals to create bespoke products and services, pinpointed to customer needs and compliant with regulations in several countries.

AYO.NEWS says:

Though Magellan has only published its forecast for Italy, the prevailing opinion seems to be that countries like England are a couple of weeks behind Italy. Could we see a return to normality by summer after all? Or, will Dr Garrisi’s warning about letting our guard down too early go unheeded and plunge us back into crisis?

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

FunFair Technologies has localised their Guaranteed Fair gaming platform for the Japanese market.

The Isle of Man-licensed blockchain gaming platform was previously available only in English, with Japanese being the first localised language added.

Funfair says its technology is a great fit for Japanese players because the country is currently one of the few regulated cryptocurrency markets, and is home to some of the most experienced blockchain players in the world.

FunFair’s non-custodial wallet gives users complete control of their funds, and allows access to them from any browser globally, setting it apart from traditional operators who retain custody of funds.

Commenting on the development CPO at FunFair Technologies Europe Ltd, Fred Kessler, said:

“We’ve been advised by our partners for some time that Japan is a great market due to its regulatory framework around cryptocurrency. The authorities there have been advocates of how cryptocurrency and blockchain technology will encourage growth in Japan. In fact, JPY is the second largest traded currency against Bitcoin after USD and this makes it an excellent choice for our first platform localisation.

“We’re really looking forward to increased engagement with this new addition to FunFairs’ product proposition, we continue to push our product and technology forward with our aim to bring blockchain technology to the masses and to the forefront of gaming entertainment”

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

You’ve probably already heard of the ‘Doomsday Seed Vault’, buried in the permafrost on remote Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, but now Bitcoin’s codebase will also be interned under the ice for safe keeping.

Preserving Bitcoin’s codebase for a thousand years

As part of the GitHub Archive Program, a snapshot of the Bitcoin codebase will be encoded on film and stored in the vault for what could turn out to be a thousand years or more.

The program has seen GitHub come together with other institutions including the Arctic World Archive (AWA), Software Heritage Foundation, and Oxford University’s Bodleian Library, to preserve code that would most likely otherwise be lost.

All about the layers

To ensure the maximum flexibility and durability of data, online archivists employ a ‘pace layers’ strategy. As such, each push to GitHub will cause data to be replicated to multiple data centres scattered around the world. This live, real-time data is known as the ‘hot’ layer.

The next layer down is referred to as ‘warm’ and includes data stored by things like the Internet Archive’s Wayback machine – which is updated and archived across multiple locations monthly or annually.

Finally, the ‘cold’ layers comprises of storage that is only updated every few years, like the Arctic World Archive (AWA).

Stored 490 ft underground

Data is being encoded onto 3,500 ft film reels by specialist Norwegian very long-term data storage company Piql. The reels will then be transported to a decommissioned coal mine 490 ft under the permafrost on the island of Spitsbergen, Svalbard, close to the famous Global Seed Vault.

The Bitcoin data will be stored alongside other data, including digitised versions of famous artwork, literature and TV shows and movies.

According to the AWA, the permafrost means that, even if power to the facility fails, the internal temperature of the vault will remain below freezing, helping preserve its contents. The Svalbard archipelago, though part of Norway, is an international demilitarised zone, and widely regarded as one of the world’s most geopolitically stable places, further adding to its safe haven appeal.

To add redundancy, additional copies of the film containing the Bitcoin codebase, along with other data repositories, will be stored at Oxford University’s Bodleian Library in England.

Looking further ahead, it is hoped to archive all public repositories for up to 10,000 years, by etching them into quartz glass platters with femtosecond lasers, through a partnership with Microsoft’s Project Silica.

AYO.NEWS says:

The current COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic is a timely reminded that our civilisation is extremely fragile and insecure, and we may easily go the same way as lost civilisations before us. Indeed, the virus crisis has actually impacted the AWA itself, with the depositing event scheduled for 23 April having been postponed on the advice of the Norwegian authorities.

There is now plenty of  evidence to suggest there may have been an advanced civilisation on Earth at least once before – one that was almost entirely wiped out in some sort of cosmic or solar induced catastrophe during the so-called Younger Dryas, at the end of the great ice age about 12,500 years ago.

It is fascinating to ponder whether that civilisation may have left its own archives in remote places – locations that may now lie completely forgotten far beneath the oceans or deep in rainforests. It is also interesting to think about what kind of format any archived data may be stored in.

As our technology gets more and more advanced, and we start etching vast repositories of code on quartz platters, its perhaps worth remembering a quote from the famous science fiction author, Arthur C. Clarke:

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

Toilet Paper Token (TPT), the cryptocurrency with the most pressing of uses cases, has completely sold out as anxious hodlers stockpile amid the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis.

According to cryptocurrency analytics site CoinMarketCap, Toilet Paper Token has knocked the granddaddy of cryptos, Bitcoin (BTC), off the top spot, as millions of desperate crypto investors try to ensure their loo roll supply lines.

Toilet Paper Token (TPT) was created by a team from the University of Turdton, including Mary Ploppins, Peter Peuop and John Splashington, and was launched as the native token of the SooAge blockchain – which employs smart contracts to ensure total transparency in the supply line of toilet roll, tracking each pack from factory to bathroom.

This morning, TPT had, according to CoinMarketCap, reached $1.64, up a dizzying 1,123.97% in just 24 hours, and had a trading volume of $41,758,500,000.

TPT was available to buy on the Shitake Exchange (until all 8 billion tokens were acquired by anxious Hodlers), and is fully-compliant, with a complete Know-Your-Colon (KYC) process and operates on a proof-of-wipe (POW) blockchain.

Since SooAge chain’s launch, controversy has been brewing, with Professor Dia Rhea claiming to be the real creator.

AYO.NEWS says:           

Happy April Fool’s day!

We all need to keep our sense of humour during the crisis.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.