Bitcoin in Brief Friday: World Satoshi Summit Canceled, Pump and Dump Scheme Exposed

In today’s Bitcoin in Brief we’re covering disappointing news for the crypto community: the World Satoshi Summit in Delhi has been canceled because of “regulatory issues” according to its organizers. Also, an alleged crypto pump and dump scheme has been exposed. There is more than one opinion on the case, as you’ll see below.

Also read: Bitcoin in Brief Thursday: Big Money Wears Big Horns, Claws Are In the Closet

World Satoshi Summit Canceled

A major crypto conference, scheduled to be held in Delhi in May, has been canceled. “Due to certain regulatory issues in India, World Satoshi Summit currently stands cancelled,” reads a message on the event’s website. All refunds will be processed over the next few weeks, the organizers promise. They encourage participants to reach out on hello@worldsatoshisummit.com in case of any further queries.

“I feel very sad to inform you that due to certain regulatory issues in India like crypto ban, our most anticipated event, World Satoshi Summit, stands postponed/cancelled. I deeply regret that we have to make such a harsh decision at the eleventh hour, when we were all set for the conference,” Sanjay Goswami, head of marketing for the summit told the Indian outlet Crypto News.

Indian crypto media have asked the organizers to provide more details and clarity on the reasons for the cancelation. In recent months, the cryptocurrency and blockchain community in the country has been targeted by both regulators and banks. While authorities are working on a new bill to regulate the crypto sector, the Reserve Bank of India has prohibited commercial banks from servicing businesses dealing in cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin trade on local exchanges has dropped as much as 90% in a couple of months.

Pump and Dump Scheme – Exposed?

An alleged crypto pump and dump scheme has been reportedly exposed in a Steemit post. The accusations have been made against the Discord chat group Bitcoin Bravado by a supposed member. The publication contains screenshots of Telegram messages between members of the group. The author claims they indicate a plan for a pump and dump operation on a token called Haven Coin through price manipulation.

The whistleblower says he was invited to join the group’s Telegram channel where he saw the messages. According to the screenshots, members of the group discussed how much cryptocurrency would be needed to control 25% of the trading volume, how long it should be held, and when it should be dumped. The blogger, named “cryptomedication”, has contacted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) regarding the suspicious conversations. “I’m not here to hide at all”, he says providing his twitter account, as well – @CryptoMedicated.

In an open letter, Bitcoin Bravado called the publication a “slender article”. It also said that none of the people involved in the conversations from the screenshots write for or have equity in the company. “It’s important for everyone to understand our company’s structure.​ Though a few of the members shown in those telegram chats have been friends​ and supporters​ to Bitcoin Bravado, they write none of the content ​and have no ownership or equity ​in the company. They have their own business, we have ours. They’re almost completely inactive in the day to day operations and have been removed from our Discord channel,” the statement reads.

First Ad in the Blockchain

TD Ameritrade claims to have become the first company to embed an advertisement in the blockchain. The ad of the brokerage firm is made up of ASCII art. It can be viewed on a landing page, which also links to information about each bitcoin transaction and how the ad was built. The advertising agency Havas New York also participated in the project.

The two companies placed the ad in a function of the blockchain called OP_Return, which works like the memo space on a check, Digital News Daily reports. Simple messages and characters can be placed within transactions on the blockchain and the authors decided to create the image by linking 68 individual transactions with 80 characters each.

According to Denise Karkos, Chief Marketing Officer at TD Ameritrade, there is “no expectation beyond creating a little buzz for the brand” and enjoying the process. “Wouldn’t it be fun to be the first to advertise in the blockchain,” she said, noting that her company was also the first brokerage to provide access to bitcoin futures.

Parity Has No Intention to Split the Ethereum Chain

Parity Technologies has reaffirmed its “commitment to ethereum and a decentralized future”. In a blog post, the company said: “We are deeply sorry to those users who remain unable to access their ether as a result of a bug in our code.” The startup has been in constant conversation with affected projects. It also believes that those who have stuck ether through the wallet freeze have a case for attempting to recover the property.

In December, the team behind Parity asked for a hard fork of ethereum to overcome the consequences of the bug, which allowed an ethereum hobbyist to break their multi-signature wallet. As a result, an amount of more than half a million ether was permanently locked and the multi-sig functionality was temporarily disabled.

The company acknowledges that the debate around the recovery has “clearly shown the importance of a transparent governance process” that can respond to the community’s position on contentious issues such as ASIC resistance, supply caps, and contract restorations. “Let us make clear: we have no intention to split the Ethereum chain […] We have all dedicated a great deal of time and effort to developing the ethereum ecosystem, and have no intention of harming what we have helped build,” its team stated. Its members insist they remain committed to making the etherium platform “open, scalable, and safe”.

What are your thoughts on the subjects we’ve covered in today’s Bitcoin in Brief? Share them in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, World Satoshi Summit, TD Ameritrade, Parity Technologies.

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