Stay updated on the latest cryptocurrency news by tuning into our podcast. Here, we discuss the hot topics of the day and look into the future to see what currencies will make the best investments and which ones you should avoid at all costs.

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Despite the almost libertarian premise and a noble goal of complete decentralization, realistically, blockchain technology will not be able to avoid at least some level of government regulation. And while some of them seek complete control over the technology, others embrace it. Here are the countries that do more than simply accept blockchain tech:

• Singapore
• Switzerland
• Russia
• Estonia
• Gibraltar

From government-backed cryptocurrency like ESTcoin, to Switzerland’s ‘Crypto Valley’, you can learn how those countries support blockchain technology for our special video report.

RIALTO.AI – a self-described “arbitrage, market making and prediction trading” platform – enables traders to directly profit from volatility.  As the profits come from arbitrage, the bigger the differences between varying exchanges, the bigger the profit.

The underlying algorithms deigned by the team of signal processing experts, economists and data scientists detect the most insignificant price fluctuations that trigger chain trades involving multiple cryptocurrencies. This effectively means that the market is monitored 24/7, maximizing potential gains.

Another bonus is a dedicated trading AI, created by the team. This self-learning bot is meant to track transactions and specific addresses to predict major shifts in the market. This alone could make the platform extremely attractive to cryptotraders.

Forks can be confusing, and, allegedly, there are quite a few of them coming in the nearest future. While not all of them (or none of them) might come to pass, you should be prepared to the possibility and know how to manage your assets effectively in case they do.

A fork is a result of an update to the specific coin’s programming. And it can either be intentional and unintentional. Both can potentially cause serious price fluctuations, and it is difficult to say which one can be more damaging. In both cases, two ledgers are created, and if an unintentional or accidental fork is a result of an unforeseen bug that is, ideally, promptly eliminated. The intentional hard fork is born out of the decision by the developer to update the programming (which results in discrepancies between the older and newer versions of the coin), and, in that case, users need to upgrade in order to continue to use the currency.

In short, forks introduce uncertainty, and that often leads to panic. They potentially devalue the currency and can downright destroy the smaller ones.

If the fork does come, the risks are very real, so be prepared to lose some of the value. If you prefer to keep your bitcoins, you should be ready for the future.

First of all, make sure you control your wallet without any intermediaries like various custodial services (Xapo or Coinbase, for example). Not all of them support forks, and if you wish to continue using them, make sure you know their stance on the issue. However, creating your own wallet is probably the best solution.

Do not rush in to invest into new coins immediately after the fork. It is better to wait for a confirmation from one of the major players to start buying and trading with them. The times after the fork are rife with scam opportunities.

Not all of the forks end up being real, but it is a lot safer to assume they are. Bitcoin Gold actually happened despite having been dismissed by large parts of the community initially. So, don’t panic every time the fork comes up in the news, but be in control of your assets and exercise caution in case they do.

I think the internet is going to be one of the major forces for reducing the role of government. The one thing that’s missing but that will soon be developed, is a reliable e-cash.
Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize Laureat

Any international proceeds will be viewed as illegal and highly suspect by the government, which puts a lot of the investors in the region into a rather precarious position. However, the situation is not as clear as it the Kuwait’s officials would like the public to believe. Their official stance is far from the open-minded approach of the neighboring Bahrain, but they lack the regulatory power to back up the prohibition.

The ministry (along with the Central Bank of Kuwait) do not have the authority to actually punish any cryptocurrency trading. Since any transactions take place over the internet, the crypto-market seems to be out of reach for both institutions at the moment.

Still, the lack of government support or even acknowledgement does increase the risks for investors in an already volatile market.

A mobile app, developed by uPort, will allow the residents of the city to connect their identities to a cryptographic address on the Ethereum blockchain. The developer of the application has close ties to the minds behind the Ethereum itself – ConsenSys. All of the personal information will be preserved on the Ethereum blockchain.

The application in question is meant to incorporate a selection of municipal services and allow the residents to pay fees, manages e-signatures and generally navigate their digital urban landscape with unprecedented ease.

The idea is to create an elegant and intuitive solution for the residents – a single ‘digital passport’ for a wide variety of applications. And, according to the city mayor – Dolfi Müller – the city does not want to be involved in the centralization of said identity. Instead, this will be done on the blockchain.

Zug, of course, was one of the pioneers that started accepting Bitcoin as payment for municipal services. That move provided the city with quite a bit of positive coverage, so the experiment was deemed a success, and the city embraced cryptocurrency, earning its ‘Crypto Valley’ nickname. And the core philospohy behind the desicion has not change since then: pariatur.

With Bitcoin, we’re sending a message. We in Zug want to get out in front of future technologies.
Dolfi Müller

A new Ethereum-based digital ID system will be launched and tested in early 2018, but the initiative enjoys support both from the government and local advocacy groups like ‘Crypto Valley Association’. The pilot development was also aided by the Zurich-based tech firm ti&m and the Institute of Financial Services Zug (IFZ) at the Lucerne University of Economics.

Singapore

Switzerland

Russia

Estonia

Gibraltar

From government-backed cryptocurrency like ESTcoin, to Switzerland’s ‘Crypto Valley’, you can learn how those countries support blockchain technology for our special video report.

Turns out, all we need in order to transfer money around the globe is the information about the transaction to be entered into a specific register. Currently, that register is handled by the third parties (like banks and other financial institutions), which is not ideal for a number of reasons. Essentially, you entrust your identity and financial security to someone else.

Blockchain is the best way to avoid that.

In it, every transaction is recorded by every member of the community, making the resulting ledger completely transparent. Simple enough, right? But wait, that’s not the main draw of the technology. Every now and again, all the available records are compared, and they should be absolutely identical. No inconsistencies are tolerated. After that, the information is encrypted with the help of a hash function. This makes the data extremely hard to decode. Then, the data is sealed in a block. And after it is sleaed, the idea is to never alter it in any way.

This creates a permanent public record, available to all participants and completely decentralized at the same time. These blocks stack and, in turn, create something we call the blockchain.

If you look at what has happened in the past when it comes to reaching those type of heights, be it tulip bulbs or a bunch of other things over the centuries, the odds are against those who actually think that this is going to be the future.

Stefan Ingves, Governor of Sveriges Riksbank

So, what should we expect if this cryptocurrency surge is indeed a bubble?

The prices will most likely fall and become a lot more stable. Current volatility actually works against the cryptocurrency’s main purpose – facilitating access to the financial services. If the cost of blockchain transactions can increase tenfold or more in a very short period of time  due to the price hikes that become rather common, how can we expect to build a stable foundation for anything?

A significant number of currencies will fade away into oblivion, leaving only the most common and stables ones. Bitcoin and ethereum appear to be the two most likely survivors at the moment. There seems to be enough momentum behind those two to keep them afloat even in the grimmest scenarios. Provided the volatility issue is dealt with, these currencies can indeed become a significant part of our financial future, even if traditional banking is not likely to disappear altogether.