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Block Telegraph Takes a Crack at Intelligent Blockchain and Cryptocurrency News 2,908 250

Blockchain technology is moving at a breath-taking speed. Every day new projects are announced, new Initial Coin Offerings launched, updates released, tokens created, and new currencies unveiled. Even for the most die-hard enthusiasts, it’s hard to keep up with the news.

This is partially due to the speed of development, but also due to the disparate content channels in the crypto community. To remain informed, community members are supposed to subscribe to a plethora of Reddit forums, Slack channels, Telegram channels, Gitter channels, participate in the Bitcoin Forum (which deals with a much wider spectrum of projects than just Bitcoin), subscribe to a number of newsletters and monitor the web pages of major projects. And no serious crypto enthusiast can get away without following the key players on Twitter and monitoring important LinkedIn groups and company sites.

After getting all this information, there is some serious filtering to be done. It is not easy to separate the rumors from the real announcements and the vapourware from the solid projects. With all this going on, there is hardly any time at the end of the day to check the current state on one’s investment on CoinMarketCap. Let’s not even consider time for productive community contributions.

Block Telegraph – An Intelligent Crypto News Site

A new blockchain-focused news and background site is about to change this. BlockTelegraph.io, backed by the successful startup Hooch, provides up-to-date news on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies with a focus on informative content about promising projects, crypto community activities, and future trends. The news content is combined with articles explaining key concepts and underlying technologies, as well as in-depth analysis of use cases and other important issues, such as Blockchain governance and regulatory issues and technology outlooks.

A Team of A-Class Writers

To achieve all this, Block Telegraph has built a versatile team of writers with different backgrounds. Hands-on technical skills and knowledge of the underlying cryptography and distributed systems theory are combined with industry-specific knowledge of different application domains. The writers’ educational backgrounds range from Ph.D. in Computer Science to Master in Arts. This ensures a wide range of topics and a combination of insights no single specialization can provide.

Solid Backing

Block Telegraph is backed by Hooch, a well-funded start-up that has recently secured $5 million in seed funding, in addition to $2.5 million obtained earlier. The core business of the company has grown from a drink-a-day subscription service to providing exclusive lifestyle experiences, such as travel and entertainment offerings, including hotel discounts, concerts, concierge services and much more.

Recently, the company has ventured into the blockchain space, announcing TapCoin. This new cryptographic token provides an in-app currency subscribers can use to obtain discounts and access to exclusive experiences and services. In exchange for awarding TapCoin tokens to users, experience providers obtain access to subscribers’ data and history, which allows them to tailor offers and experiences to their customers.

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Tina Mulqueen is the founder of The Block Talk and the CEO of Kindred PR. She consults with blockchain projects on marketing and public relations strategy, helping clients to secure more than $10M in funding. She is a 2x Top 100 Women in Media honoree and was named one of the top young communications professionals by INC Magazine. She's an advocate for women in technology, and often speaks about the intersection of technology, media & marketing. She writes regularly for Entrepreneur, and has written for Forbes, Huffington Post, Today, Thrive Global, Elite Daily, New York Lifestyles Magazine, and more.

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The Bitcoin Bull Run: How It Started, How It’s Going Comments Off on The Bitcoin Bull Run: How It Started, How It’s Going 106

Wherever you stand on Bitcoin, there is no question about its impact on the role of blockchain and cryptocurrency within society.  Whether we look back to Pizza Day or to its heights in 2018, the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency has garnered much speculation and media coverage. 

While many looked at the past few years as a “Crypto Winter,” others saw an opportunity for Bitcoin.  Between COVID lockdowns, political, and fiat currency concerns, Bitcoin has been on a dream run – for a moment going over the $55,000 barrier.

Why Did Bitcoin Suddenly Explode (Again)?

Elon Musk and other influencers played a role in the recent rise in Bitcoin’s price. Tesla’s recent investment in an infrastructure to accept Bitcoin payments, and Apple Pay’s introduction of BitPay, a prepaid bitcoin MasterCard, are also major markers of market adoption. But two other events occurred that set the stage for the Bitcoin bull run: a pandemic and Bitcoin Halving.

Every four years, Bitcoin miners have their processing transactions cut in half. This reduction in supply then drives up prices based on scarcity. This occured in May 2020, when the economy was already at a standstill due to the pandemic. Since the supply of crypto coins is finite many think that there is lower inflation risk with using them – this means that it may be used as a hedge against U.S. inflation. In 2020, more than 20% of all dollars currently in circulation were printed, making crypto even more alluring. 

Crypto isn’t going anywhere. This year, experts project increased use of crypto cards, emergence of new cases, and increased investing from traditional finance leaders.

Take a look at this visual deep dive on the rise of Bitcoin for more information:

Bitcoin: Once A Diamond In The Rough, Now A Treasure

Happy 10th Birthday, Bitcoin!! 7 110

On January 3rd, 2009, block number zero produced the first 50 bitcoins. They were mined by none other than the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto. Thus was born the phenomenon of the decade. And on January 8th, ten years ago today, bitcoin became a public network when Nakamoto released bitcoin version 0.1.

Nakamoto announced the release via the Metzdowd cryptography mailing list, calling bitcoin “a new electronic cash system that uses a peer-to-peer network to prevent double-spending.”

Nakamoto’s description of the software that would revolutionize technology is sparing and to the point. “It’s completely decentralized with no server or central authority,” the succinct announcement goes on. “Windows only for now.  Open source C++ code is included.” It describes the proof of work as “ridiculously easy”.

It follows with a brief description of how transactions work, how many coins will be released and how they can expect to split every 4 years, along with the caveats that the software was still “alpha and experimental,” offering “no guarantees”. It’s signed with no letter closing, simply:

“Satoshi Nakamoto”

Bitcoin, This Is Your Life

My what a ten years it has been. Just to recap:

On January 12th, 2009, programmer Hal Finney, who had downloaded the new bitcoin software immediately, received ten bitcoins from Nakamoto. This was the first ever bitcoin transaction. Over a year later in May 2010, programmer Laszlo Hanyecz received 10,000 bitcoins in exchange for two Papa John’s pizzas, initiating the first real-world bitcoin purchase and thereby creating the pizza index.

Bitcoin simmered until 2017, when it’s value jolted from $900 to over $19,000, and bitcoin became a household name. Over the past year, the original crypto has settled to a more modest $4,000 valuation, and stirred up a lot of public din in its wake.

Where Were You on January 9th, 2009?

So where were you on the day of Nakamoto’s announcement? Probably on your couch watching DVDs of Pineapple Express and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia seasons 1 through 3, or laughing at Dr. Horrible’s Singalong Blog on your iPhone 2.

It was a simpler time. Wired was calling Google Earth the number one app on the fancy new iPhone app store. Competition was fierce with Windows 7 in beta. Facebook had recently dropped the “is” from status updates, and a fun app called Twitter (formerly “Twttr”) had just introduced a feature called Trending Topics.

Trending Topics

David Bowie was celebrating one of his eight final birthdays, while Michael Jackson and Patrick Swayze were enjoying their last few months among us mortals. Only days later, pilots Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles made aviation history by skillfully crash landing US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River, saving everyone on board.

A burgeoning class of ennui soaked fashionistas, deemed “hipsters,” were described in Time Magazine as “smug, full of contradictions and, ultimately, the dead end of Western civilization,” a vermin who “manage to attract a loathing unique in its intensity.” They went on with this colorful character sketch:

“Hipsters are the friends who sneer when you cop to liking Coldplay. They’re the people who wear t-shirts silk-screened with quotes from movies you’ve never heard of and the only ones in America who still think Pabst Blue Ribbon is a good beer. They sport cowboy hats and berets and think Kanye West stole their sunglasses. Everything about them is exactingly constructed to give off the vibe that they just don’t care.”

Time Magazine, 2009

Is it time for any of that to come back into style yet? Maybe give it a few more years. We need a break.

Williamsburg was gentrifying and Portland was still America’s best kept secret. The streets were flooded with fixed gear bikes and the sounds of Grizzly Bear, Real Estate, Kings of Convenience, and TV on the Radio.

Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion was just a few days old, and Fever Ray’s self titled was about to drop. The world was listening to Lady Gaga, whose single “Just Dance” hit number one on Billboard’s top 100, and Taylor Swift’s Fearless, which was the top selling album.

That same month, box offices favored the cuddly Marley & Me, while The Dark Knight swept the people’s choice awards. Audiences were still getting wowed by Avatar, paying a lot to be disappointed by Mall Cop, and getting hyped about the upcoming Watchmen movie.

Meanwhile in Washington DC, a president with a multisyllabic vocabulary was about to be inaugurated (a rarity in the 21st century, we would find out), and his kids were playing with a Wii they got for Christmas.

Here’s To Another Decade Ahead

What a time it was, the dawn of 2009. And most of us, at least for a few more years, had never heard about blockchain, cryptocurrencies, or bitcoin.

And now here we are.

So, dear reader, here’s to ten more years of crashes, booms, bubble scares, hype, derision, libertarian fanboys, pizza and moon lambos. Happy tenth birthday, bitcoin!!1

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