How Did I Discover Cryptocurrency and Why I Choose BitcoinCash.
One of the first questions always asked in the Crypto sphere is how did you learn about Bitcoin? Then followed up by which coin or coins do you hold?
The answer to this first question is not as easy to answer as you would think. Right before the split between Bitcoin and BitcoinCash I met someone very involved in the community we were discussing how I became a libertarian which naturally lead us to a discussion about economic freedom, Ross Ulbricht and then Bitcoin. The following day I ran home and researched Silk Road and Ross Ulbricht. Five minutes later, I had signed the petition. My interest was piqued, I started to do my own research in regards to Bitcoin. I bought several books but all that did was confuse me more. I started watching YouTube videos and remember thinking to myself “who are these people” and “are they even speaking English” but I kept researching determined to learn about economic freedom, I just couldn’t grasp how someone could gain economic freedom with online money.
Fast forward to the Bitcoin/BitcoinCash fork, I knew this was a big deal but I didn’t know what was going to happen. So I called my friend and set up another time to meet, well this time I was prepared I had my notes laid out from the books I had read and I was pretty proud of myself after all Bitcoin is not easy to understand with words like nodes, Raspberry Pi's (what does pie have to do with economic freedom), miners, QR's, checkpoints, lightning (still waiting) and why only 21 million and do I have to buy a full coin? I mean this list goes on (after all I am much older than the usual crypto enthusiast) little did I know I had already entered the rabbit hole and from the look I received from my friend he knew it. So after 2 days that was it, I needed to get my hands on Bitcoin.
As soon as I got home I joined Coinbase and I saw a few coins listed and thought Bitcoin is really expensive and I can get 4 times the amount with this coin called Litecoin so I put in a buy order for that, Etherum and BitcoinCash. I had never been a huge fan of Social Media but at this time I decided I needed to join Twitter to see what others were experiencing and oh God what a jolt to the senses that was. Everyone tweeting why this and that coin is bad and this person is bad and that person is good, Crypto Twitter can be a shit show especially in the beginning and being new to both Twitter and Crypto my brain was in overload. I followed my friend on Twitter and just started to pay attention to him and basically began stalking his feed and Youtube channel but I never really engaged (I truly felt like a stalker). But I was learning my way around and who did what in their relative fields.
As everyone knows Coinbase can be very frustrating because it seems like forever before you have access to your coins and the whole time I’m thinking what have I done? So a month went by and I finally received an email saying my funds are now available in Coinbase I opened up that app and to my surprise, my money had just quadrupled. I had learned while investing once you make back your initial investment sell that portion and that is exactly what I did! But the damage had been done I was hooked and immediately took that initial investment and bought every altcoin I could get my hands on via Binance, which can seriously do some damage to your wallet.
I still really did not know what to do with Cryptocurrency, there were all these wallets, but why were they needed if all it did was sit there like digital gold. So I started to engage with people on Twitter to discover what others were doing, I didn’t have any followers so outside of a few likes here and there I would never really get any feedback. I asked my friend about this and he started to respond to me and soon after that, others started to respond to me, then I was included in threads and I had my first Crypto Twitter follower, he was no joke and little did I know at that time how much of an influence this person would have in my Twitter and Crypto life. But Crypto Twitter will have to be its own story.
As I started to learn how to navigate my way through Crypto Twitter and began to understand the correct questions to ask I began to get the answers I needed. These questions amounted to where/who accepts crypto and why is this coin better than that coin? The people that came forward were the BitcoinCash community, I couldn’t understand why was it only the BitcoinCash people that would respond to me, after all, there are so many coins out there? But these were the people that had a passion for what they were doing and believed in that passion, from the CEO to the developers down to the end user. It was like a breath of fresh air to find people passionate about rewarding hard work and not caring about who you are and which country you are from along with giving back to communities that are far less fortunate by no fault of their own they just don’t have access to resources that are available to Western Nations, Europe, and Asia. I discovered the philanthropic work was incredible and still to this day I still am overwhelmed by how much the BitcoinCash community does and feel very fortunate to be a part of it.
Downloading wallet after wallet, I discovered some were easy some were difficult and well some were just ridiculous. I started to tag random developers on Twitter and honestly was surprised when they responded to me and offered their help after all these are really busy people why would they take the time to help one person. The reason is simple they want Cryptocurrency to be a success and they understand how difficult it is, especially for an older person who just got her first smartphone 2 years earlier. After learning about the importance of 12-word seed phrases how a QR code works and legacy addresses I now felt comfortable enough to begin introducing people to cryptocurrency and more importantly BitcoinCash. Little did I know how difficult this would be, I mean who doesn’t want money even if it’s free.
After months of interaction on Twitter and other platforms, I decided I needed to do something besides just talking about Crypto I needed to shout it from the rooftops. I desperately wanted to find others around me that I could share my experiences with so I created a Meetup in my area and began talking about it at work with my friends and family I just started telling everyone I ran into have you heard about BitcoinCash? “No” here let me show you” inevitably I started to hear oh that’s for drug dealers or it’s a scam. So now I thought how do I get past this obstacle that CNN and Fox News has put in front of me? I became more determined than ever to beat them at their own game. I had another hurdle to jump, so my path now came to what is an everyday product I can buy with Bitcoincash? Well, there are tons you just have to find them, and since my area of the country is about 10 years behind the rest of the country this was very difficult. But one thing I do a lot is travel and I was about to buy a plane ticket so I found CheapAir.com which accepts BitcoinCash, so I used that and discovered how easy it is, I can literally lay in bed find a flight and/or a hotel and right there without turning on the lights or getting up for my credit card number. What about overcoming only drug dealers use it (which my stepmom throws in my face almost every day) so for Christmas I purchased her some beauty products with BitcoinCash. I am constantly scouring the internet looking for more ways to spend Crypto instead of government-funded cash.
My meetups started out with 2 people 1 of which was my dad to 12 strong and growing (which does not include my dad). That may not seem like many but those 12 people have become strong and confident users of Cryptocurrency and one of them even accepts BitcoinCash for his business.
My story does not end here, and with every day there is a change with some great, some good and some not so good stories. Keep your eyes out for updates to my never ending and exciting Crypto life.

Probably, today there is no person in the world who at least once in his life has not heard about Bitcoin.
I also heard about it before, and more than once. But at the same time, I never thought about the fact that ever in my life I will have at least some direct or even indirect relation to him.
The maximum that I could say or think when I heard the next news about the rise in the price of bitcoin - "Oh, I would have at least one bitcoin now."
At the moment, I would not refuse to have bitcoin, and not one, but many. And such phrases fly out from me no less than 2-3 years ago. But unlike that period, now I have a direct relationship to all kinds of manipulations related to both bitcoin itself and crypto in general. - How did I get to this? - you would ask - Quite easy.
Mostly, it seems to me that about making money in the crypto may think a person who either really needs money or who has an overabundance of them, although here I admit that I could be wrong. Nevertheless, I consider myself to be the first group of people who climbed into the crypto world due to a lack of money.
Everyone struggles with a lack of finance in their own way, depending on what they can and what they can’t Someone works at once in three jobs, someone steals, someone works and steals at the same time (but this is a completely different story about politics). Someone, like me, is looking for any other alternative, since working on several jobs is not an option, and education does not allow us to steal.
All in all, one day I decided to knock on the world of crypto. Since I Knocked, the first thing I realized is that there are three ways to get some crypto: - mining; - trading on exchanges; - And, perhaps, the most suitable option for the “newbie” is airdrop.
Exactly with airdrops, I got started my crypto way. Almost during whole first half a year of communication with the world of the crypto industry, I completely devoted to the indiscriminate absorption of everything that came across in my way: airdrops, cranes, spinner, cloud miners, etc.
It would be superfluous to say that 95% of everything that I downloaded, launched and used was outright swindle and fraud. But, those remaining 5% still turned out to be worthy of attention and projects spent on them. One of these airdrops was Membrana.
I stumbled upon it quite by accident, on one of the aggregator sites. I didn’t have any particular hope that this was not just another scam, but I decided to try it all the same.Registered, launched the corresponding bot in Telegram. Fulfilled all the requirements specified in the instructions. I even invited a referral. And with a calm soul, I continued my wanderings in search of other "profitable drops"
Honestly, I even forgot that I used to register there, but by chance, I saw an announcement on the Telegram channel about the following contents: $ 100 for trading on Binance to those who sign up and go through KYC. I had to go through verification. Out of inexperience, I "messed up" something there. I contacted support for help. They reacted promptly. Helped. As a result, verification passed and was among the participants in the tournament called Global Traders Competition.
The essence of the competition was that traders had to trade real money on the platform itself and earn (depending on their success) tournament points. At the same time, the entire profit that the trader earned in one round (1 week) was divided in half by the platform and returned to the trader's account 50% of the amount. That is, from the philistine point of view - an excellent "freebie."But 50% of the profit per week is only part of what the platform offered in the tournament.
The main goal and the tidbit, of course, are the prizes in the ranking of traders.It was announced that after the end of the tournament, all tournament points will be converted to MBN tokens and sent to the addresses of the participants. And besides this, the top 20 traders, according to the results of the tournament, will divide between themselves $ 100,000 also in the form of MBN.
With varying success, I wandered up the tournament ladder now and then. There were periods when I occupied a leading position right up to the first place. Profit for some rounds reached (crazy by my standards) 40 +%. Toward the end of the tournament, as is usually the case in my life, by all the laws of meanness and Murphy, I went into a big minus. This entailed suspension from participation for the whole round. There was another similar nuisance, and as a result, at the end of the Global Traders Competition, I took an offensive 22nd place, not reaching the top 20 only two steps.
This fact did not upset me slightly. I even thought of quitting this business and completely switching to something else. But, suddenly, sometime after the end of the tournament, a member of the Membrana team wrote to me and offered to take part in a trial run of their first round of Community Operated Fund. That is, almost the same as in the tournament, but with the money of real people and the platform itself, too.
Of course, I agreed. And so, at the moment I am engaged in the fact that I trade on a cryptocurrency exchange using investor funds. This is an amazing opportunity for those people who themselves do not have enough resources to at least somehow heavily invest in the exchange. But as a member of the Membrana platform, each person (interested in crypto) has the opportunity to establish cooperation with investors willing to invest in your skills and abilities and earn another penny on this.
Joining Membrana is a best way to join crypto world wether you are an investor, newbie that’s just starts it way or you are a trader willing to get new opportunities and Trust management contracts of crypto assets
Original text link ( Russian): https://teletype.in/@voltron/SylQwvHcB

One of the first questions always asked in the Crypto sphere is how did you learn about Bitcoin? Then followed up by which coin or coins do you hold?
The answer to this first question is not as easy to answer as you would think. Right before the split between Bitcoin and BitcoinCash I met someone very involved in the community we were discussing how I became a libertarian which naturally lead us to a discussion about economic freedom, Ross Ulbricht and then Bitcoin. The following day I ran home and researched Silk Road and Ross Ulbricht. Five minutes later, I had signed the petition. My interest was piqued, I started to do my own research in regards to Bitcoin. I bought several books but all that did was confuse me more. I started watching YouTube videos and remember thinking to myself “who are these people” and “are they even speaking English” but I kept researching determined to learn about economic freedom, I just couldn’t grasp how someone could gain economic freedom with online money.
Fast forward to the Bitcoin/BitcoinCash fork, I knew this was a big deal but I didn’t know what was going to happen. So I called my friend and set up another time to meet, well this time I was prepared I had my notes laid out from the books I had read and I was pretty proud of myself after all Bitcoin is not easy to understand with words like nodes, Raspberry Pi's (what does pie have to do with economic freedom), miners, QR's, checkpoints, lightning (still waiting) and why only 21 million and do I have to buy a full coin? I mean this list goes on (after all I am much older than the usual crypto enthusiast) little did I know I had already entered the rabbit hole and from the look I received from my friend he knew it. So after 2 days that was it, I needed to get my hands on Bitcoin.
As soon as I got home I joined Coinbase and I saw a few coins listed and thought Bitcoin is really expensive and I can get 4 times the amount with this coin called Litecoin so I put in a buy order for that, Etherum and BitcoinCash. I had never been a huge fan of Social Media but at this time I decided I needed to join Twitter to see what others were experiencing and oh God what a jolt to the senses that was. Everyone tweeting why this and that coin is bad and this person is bad and that person is good, Crypto Twitter can be a shit show especially in the beginning and being new to both Twitter and Crypto my brain was in overload. I followed my friend on Twitter and just started to pay attention to him and basically began stalking his feed and Youtube channel but I never really engaged (I truly felt like a stalker). But I was learning my way around and who did what in their relative fields.
As everyone knows Coinbase can be very frustrating because it seems like forever before you have access to your coins and the whole time I’m thinking what have I done? So a month went by and I finally received an email saying my funds are now available in Coinbase I opened up that app and to my surprise, my money had just quadrupled. I had learned while investing once you make back your initial investment sell that portion and that is exactly what I did! But the damage had been done I was hooked and immediately took that initial investment and bought every altcoin I could get my hands on via Binance, which can seriously do some damage to your wallet.
I still really did not know what to do with Cryptocurrency, there were all these wallets, but why were they needed if all it did was sit there like digital gold. So I started to engage with people on Twitter to discover what others were doing, I didn’t have any followers so outside of a few likes here and there I would never really get any feedback. I asked my friend about this and he started to respond to me and soon after that, others started to respond to me, then I was included in threads and I had my first Crypto Twitter follower, he was no joke and little did I know at that time how much of an influence this person would have in my Twitter and Crypto life. But Crypto Twitter will have to be its own story.
As I started to learn how to navigate my way through Crypto Twitter and began to understand the correct questions to ask I began to get the answers I needed. These questions amounted to where/who accepts crypto and why is this coin better than that coin? The people that came forward were the BitcoinCash community, I couldn’t understand why was it only the BitcoinCash people that would respond to me, after all, there are so many coins out there? But these were the people that had a passion for what they were doing and believed in that passion, from the CEO to the developers down to the end user. It was like a breath of fresh air to find people passionate about rewarding hard work and not caring about who you are and which country you are from along with giving back to communities that are far less fortunate by no fault of their own they just don’t have access to resources that are available to Western Nations, Europe, and Asia. I discovered the philanthropic work was incredible and still to this day I still am overwhelmed by how much the BitcoinCash community does and feel very fortunate to be a part of it.
Downloading wallet after wallet, I discovered some were easy some were difficult and well some were just ridiculous. I started to tag random developers on Twitter and honestly was surprised when they responded to me and offered their help after all these are really busy people why would they take the time to help one person. The reason is simple they want Cryptocurrency to be a success and they understand how difficult it is, especially for an older person who just got her first smartphone 2 years earlier. After learning about the importance of 12-word seed phrases how a QR code works and legacy addresses I now felt comfortable enough to begin introducing people to cryptocurrency and more importantly BitcoinCash. Little did I know how difficult this would be, I mean who doesn’t want money even if it’s free.
After months of interaction on Twitter and other platforms, I decided I needed to do something besides just talking about Crypto I needed to shout it from the rooftops. I desperately wanted to find others around me that I could share my experiences with so I created a Meetup in my area and began talking about it at work with my friends and family I just started telling everyone I ran into have you heard about BitcoinCash? “No” here let me show you” inevitably I started to hear oh that’s for drug dealers or it’s a scam. So now I thought how do I get past this obstacle that CNN and Fox News has put in front of me? I became more determined than ever to beat them at their own game. I had another hurdle to jump, so my path now came to what is an everyday product I can buy with Bitcoincash? Well, there are tons you just have to find them, and since my area of the country is about 10 years behind the rest of the country this was very difficult. But one thing I do a lot is travel and I was about to buy a plane ticket so I found CheapAir.com which accepts BitcoinCash, so I used that and discovered how easy it is, I can literally lay in bed find a flight and/or a hotel and right there without turning on the lights or getting up for my credit card number. What about overcoming only drug dealers use it (which my stepmom throws in my face almost every day) so for Christmas I purchased her some beauty products with BitcoinCash. I am constantly scouring the internet looking for more ways to spend Crypto instead of government-funded cash.
My meetups started out with 2 people 1 of which was my dad to 12 strong and growing (which does not include my dad). That may not seem like many but those 12 people have become strong and confident users of Cryptocurrency and one of them even accepts BitcoinCash for his business.
My story does not end here, and with every day there is a change with some great, some good and some not so good stories. Keep your eyes out for updates to my never ending and exciting Crypto life.

This document was originally written for my dad, an intelligent guy who was utterly baffled about the cryptocurrency world. The aim was to be extremely concise, giving a broad overview of the industry and some popular coins while staying non-technical. For many of you there will be nothing new here, but recognize that you are in the 0.001% of the population heavily into crypto technology.
I've reproduced it for Reddit below, or you can find the original post here on my website. Download the PDF there or hit the direct link: .PDF version.
Donations happily accepted:

ETH: 0x4e03Bf5CCE3eec4Ddae4d3d6aAD46ca4f198AeD6 BTC: 1GqWMZRRygRJJWYYTWHkAVoRcgyQHjgBMZ XMR: 42Y1S1KBoPk381kc7hA68zaiC78BxMoCADjLrFcTdWiE7ejhZc49s1t9i7P2EmTnHsLDiKoSUiogCbLVHXRJxjrCT4WG8ic XRB: xrb_1bpzh745s9kzk8ymfnks3jtdi65ayumdstokzd4yw4ohu3fopxmiocjcntcu 

Background

This document is purely informational. At the time of writing there are over 1000 cryptocurrencies (“cryptos”) in a highly volatile, high risk market. Many of the smaller “altcoins” require significant technical knowledge to store and transact safely. I advise you to carefully scrutinize each crypto’s flavor of blockchain, potential utility, team of developers, and guiding philosophy, before making any investment [1] decisions. With that out of the way, what follows are brief, extremely high-level summaries of some cryptos which have my interest, listed in current market cap order. But first, some info:
Each crypto is a different implementation of a blockchain network. Originally developed as decentralized digital cash, these technologies have evolved into much broader platforms, powering the future of decentralized applications across every industry in the global economy. Without getting into the weeds, [2] most cryptos work on similar principles:
Distributed Ledgers Each node on a blockchain network has a copy of every transaction, which enables a network of trust that eliminates fraud. [3]
Decentralized “Miners” comprise the infrastructure of a blockchain network. [4] They are monetarily incentivized to add computing power to the network, simultaneously securing and processing each transaction. [5]
Peer-to-peer Cryptos act like digital cash-- they require no third party to transact and are relatively untraceable. Unlike cash, you can back them up.
Global Transactions are processed cheaply and instantly, anywhere on Earth. Using cryptos, an African peasant and a San Francisco engineer have the same access to capital, markets, and network services.
Secure Blockchains are predicated on the same cryptographic technology that secures your sensitive data and government secrets. They have passed seven years of real-world penetration testing with no failures. [6]

Bitcoin (BTC)

The first cryptocurrency. As with first movers in any technology, there are associated pros and cons. Bitcoin has by far the strongest brand recognition and deepest market penetration, and it is the only crypto which can be used directly as a currency at over 100,000 physical and web stores around the world. In Venezuela and Zimbabwe, where geopolitical events have created hyperinflation in the centralized fiat currency, citizens have moved to Bitcoin as a de facto transaction standard. [7]
However, Bitcoin unveiled a number of issues that have been solved by subsequent cryptos. It is experiencing significant scaling issues, resulting in high fees and long confirmation times. The argument over potential solutions created a rift in the Bitcoin developer community, who “forked” the network into two separate blockchains amidst drama and politicking in October 2017. Potential solutions to these issues abound, with some already in place, and others nearing deployment.
Bitcoin currently has the highest market cap, and since it is easy to buy with fiat currency, the price of many smaller cryptos (“altcoins”) are loosely pegged to its price. This will change in the coming year(s).

Ethereum (ETH)

Where Bitcoin is a currency, Ethereum is a platform, designed as a foundational protocol on which to develop decentralized applications (“Dapps”). Anyone can write code and deploy their program on the global network for extremely low fees. Just like Twitter wouldn’t exist without the open platform of the internet, the next world-changing Dapp can’t exist without Ethereum.
Current Dapps include a global market for idle computing power and storage, peer-to-peer real estate transactions (no trusted third party for escrow), identity networks for governments and corporations (think digital Social Security card), and monetization strategies for the internet which replace advertising. Think back 10 years to the advent of smartphones, and then to our culture today-- Ethereum could have a similar network effect on humanity.
Ethereum is currently the #2 market cap crypto below Bitcoin, and many believe it will surpass it in 2018. It has a large, active group of developers working to solve scaling issues, [8] maintain security, and create entirely new programming conventions. If successful, platforms like Ethereum may well be the foundation of the decentralized internet of the future.

Ripple (XRP)

Ripple is significantly more centralized than most crypto networks, designed as a backbone for the global banking and financial technology (“fintech”) industries. It is a network for exchanging between fiat currencies and other asset classes instantly and cheaply, especially when transacting cross-border and between separate institutions. It uses large banks and remittance companies as “anchors” to allow trading between any asset on the network, and big names like Bank of America, American Express, RBC, and UBS are partners. The utility of this network is global and massive in scale.
It is extremely important to note that not all cryptos have the same number of tokens. Ripple has 100 Billion tokens compared to Bitcoin’s 21 Million. Do not directly compare price between cryptos. XRP will likely never reach $1k, [9] but the price will rise commensurate with its utility as a financial tool.
In some sense, Ripple is anathema to the original philosophical vision of this technology space. And while I agree with the cyberpunk notion of decentralized currencies, separation of money and state, this is the natural progression of the crypto world. The internet was an incredible decentralized wild west of Usenet groups and listservs before Eternal September and the dot-com boom, but its maturation affected every part of global society.

Cardano (ADA)

Cardano’s main claim to fame: it is the only crypto developed using academic methodologies by a global collective of engineers and researchers, built on a foundation of industry-leading, peer-reviewed cryptographic research. The network was designed from first-principles to allow scalability, system upgrades, and to balance the privacy of its users with the security needs of regulators.
One part of this ecosystem is the Cardano Foundation, a Swiss non-profit founded to work proactively with governments and regulatory bodies to institute legal frameworks around the crypto industry. Detractors of Cardano claim that it doesn’t do anything innovative, but supporters see the academic backing and focus on regulation development as uniquely valuable.

Stellar Lumens (XLM)

Stellar Lumens and Ripple were founded by the same person. They initially shared the same code, but today the two are distinct in their technical back-end as well as their guiding philosophy and development goals. Ripple is closed-source, for-profit, deflationary, and intended for use by large financial institutions. Stellar is open-source, non-profit, inflationary, and intended to promote international wealth distribution. As such, they are not direct competitors.
IBM is a major partner to Stellar. Their network is already processing live transactions in 12 currency corridors across the South Pacific, with plans to process 60% of all cross-border payments in the South Pacific’s retail foreign exchange corridor by Q2 2018.
Beyond its utility as a financial tool, the Stellar network may become a competitor to Ethereum as a platform for application development and Initial Coin Offerings (“ICOs”). The theoretical maximum throughput for the network is higher, and it takes less computational power to run. The Stellar development team is highly active, has written extensive documentation for third-party developers, and has an impressive list of advisors, including Patrick Collison (Stripe), Sam Altman (Y Combinator), and other giants in the software development community.

Iota (IOT)

Iota was developed as the infrastructure backbone for the Internet of Things (IoT), sometimes called the machine economy. As the world of inanimate objects is networked together, their need to communicate grows exponentially. Fridges, thermostats, self-driving cars, printers, planes, and industrial sensors all need a secure protocol with which to transact information.
Iota uses a “Tangle” instead of a traditional blockchain, and this is the main innovation driving the crypto’s value. Each device that sends a transaction confirms two other transactions in the Tanlge. This removes the need for miners, and enables unique features like zero fees and infinite scalability. The supply of tokens is fixed forever at 2.8*10^15, a staggeringly large number (almost three thousand trillion), and the price you see reported is technically “MIOT”, or the price for a million tokens.

Monero (XMR)

The most successful privacy-focused cryptocurrency. In Bitcoin and most other cryptos, anyone can examine the public ledger and trace specific coins through the network. If your identity can be attached to a public address on that network, an accurate picture of your transaction history can be built-- who, what, and when. Monero builds anonymity into the system using strong cryptographic principles, which makes it functionally impossible to trace coins, [10] attach names to wallets, or extract metadata from transactions. The development team actively publishes in the cryptography research community.
Anonymous transactions are not new-- we call it cash. Only in the past two decades has anonymity grown scarce in the first-world with the rise of credit cards and ubiquitous digital records. Personal data is becoming the most valuable resource on Earth, and there are many legitimate reasons for law-abiding citizens to want digital privacy, but it is true that with anonymity comes bad actors-- Monero is the currency of choice for the majority of black market (“darknet”) transactions. Similarly, US Dollars are the main vehicle for the $320B annual drug trade. An investment here should be based on the underlying cryptographic research and technology behind this coin, as well as competitors like Zcash. [11]

RaiBlocks (XRB)

Zero fees and instantaneous transfer make RaiBlocks extremely attractive for exchange of value, in many senses outperforming Bitcoin at its original intended purpose. This crypto has seen an explosion in price and exposure over the past month, and it may become the network of choice for transferring value within and between crypto exchanges.
Just in the first week of 2018: the CEO of Ledger (makers of the most popular hardware wallet on the market) waived the $50k code review fee to get RaiBlocks on his product, and XRB got listed on Binance and Kucoin, two of the largest altcoin exchanges globally. This is one to watch for 2018. [12]

VeChain (VEN)

Developed as a single answer to the problem of supply-chain logistics, VeChain is knocking on the door of a fast-growing $8 trillion industry. Every shipping container and packaged product in the world requires constant tracking and verification. A smart economy for logistics built on the blockchain promises greater efficiency and lower cost through the entire process flow.
Don’t take my word for it-- VeChain has investment from PwC (5th largest US corporation), Groupe Renault, Kuehne & Nagel (world’s largest freight company), and DIG (China’s largest wine importer). The Chinese government has mandated VeChain to serve as blockchain technology partner to the city of Gui’an, a special economic zone and testbed for China’s smart city of the future. This crypto has some of the strongest commercial partnerships in the industry, and a large active development team.

1. “Investment” is a misnomer. Cryptos are traded like securities, but grant you no equity (like trading currency).
   
2. The weeds for Bitcoin: basic intro (1:36), non-technical explanation (5:24), Bitcoin 101 – Andreas Antonopoulos (23:51).
   
3. It is impossible to double-spend or create a fake transaction, as each ledger is confirmed against every other ledger.
   
4. Some utility token blockchains use DAG networks or similar non-linear networks which don’t require mining.
   
5. In practice, these are giant warehouses full of specialized computers constantly processing transactions. Miners locate to the cheapest electricity source, and the bulk of mining currently occurs in China.
   
6. Centralized second-layer exchange websites have been hacked, but the core technology is untouched.
   
7. This effect has been termed "bitcoinization".
   
8. The Ethereum roadmap shows moving from a Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus model.
   
9. At $2.62 per XRP token, Ripple already commands a $100B market cap.
   
10. After a January 2017 update.
    
11. Monero uses ring signatures while Zcash uses ZK-SNARKs to create anonymity. Both have pros and cons.
    
12. Note: all signs point to this crypto being renamed “Nano” in the coming weeks: nano.co.
    

This is a long one so fair warning and no there is no tl;dr. I've only been at this for about 6 months and worked up this paper the other day for my friends who are interested but know very little about this. Hopefully whoever reads this can make in corrections as I am far from an expert.
Blockchain
Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Ether are all blockchains. Blockchains are basically a spreadsheet (LEDGER) that is duplicated multiple times across a network and updated regularly simultaneously. There is no centralized version of this ledger. It is hosted simultaneously by thousands/millions of computers. These ledgers will update on their own, Bitcoin as an example automatically checks itself every 10 minutes. Each of these 10-minute increment of transactions (in bitcoins case transactions would be sending or receiving bitcoins from one person to another for goods or services) are called BLOCKS. For these blocks to be confirmed, accepted, and updated to the ledger nodes are required.
Nodes (Mining/Forging)
A node is a computer running the blockchain software on the network. The blockchain software will automatically download the entire ledger of all transactions since its inception. At regular intervals, the software will take the transactions of a block (data on the ledger) and convert them into a mathematical puzzle to be solved by randomly chosen nodes (MINING). Mining requires powerful processors (typically GPUs) and substantial quantities of energy to receive mined tokens profitably. When a specific number of nodes solve the puzzle with the same answer they are basically confirming that the data on the block is accurate as multiple independent nodes found the same answer. When confirmed, the block gets added to the previous blocks making a chain of blocks aka a blockchain. As an incentive to run your computer as a node you are rewarded with TOKENS. If a single person or group of people wanted to manipulate the ledger, the amount of machinery and electricity used to achieve the majority of miners thus allowing you to manipulate the ledger is so exponentially expensive that it serves no reasonable purpose. This is an example of a Proof of Work Blockchain System (computer solves puzzle and rewarded with tokens)
Tokens
Tokens are part of the core of the blockchain. They are an incentive to validate transactions and create blocks. They gain intrinsic value based on the blockchain they are associated with. Some blockchains grant token holder’s different abilities. With Bitcoin, tokens are needed to pay for transaction fees. Others allow voting rights on how certain blockchain functions are managed. There is a limited amount of Bitcoin that will ever be released to nodes (21 million expected to be all be released by 2033) which also keep inflation from being a problem. Blockchains can create their platform with whatever number of tokens they would like and release them or create means to mine them as they see fit. Essentially, as with any other fiat money (currency that a government has declared to be legal tender NOT backed by a physical commodity), as adoption and trust increases the value of the token will increase. If most people accept Bitcoin for services and stores accept Bitcoin for goods than it is as good as the next currency.
Wallets
Whether you mine for tokens, are paid in tokens for goods or services or purchase tokens from a person or currency exchange you need a place to store them securely and a way to send and receive them. Cryptocurrency Wallets don’t store currency, they hold your public and private keys that interface with the blockchain so you can access your balance, send money and manage your funds. The public key allows others to send money to the public key only. A wallet that is "offline" (see Hardware or Paper below) cannot access funds or send money unless it is accessed with another form of wallet, either desktop, online, or mobile.
1) Desktop Wallet - Installed on your computer and are only accessible from that SINGLE computer. Very secure but if someone hacks your computer you are exposed. 2) Online Wallet - Run remotely (cloud based) and are far more convenient to access but make them more vulnerable as they are controlled by a third party and are also vulnerable to hacking attacks. Exchange wallets are online wallets but you are not in control of the private key. View it as a wallet that is lended to you so you can trade. The wallet is technically not yours. 3) Mobile - Ran on an app and are useful as they can be used anywhere including retail stores 4) Hardware - Private keys are stored on a tangible device like a USB drive. They can make transactions online but they are stored offline. Compatible with web interfaces and support many but not all currencies. To use, plug into a computer, enter a pin, send currency and confirm. Safest form of storage. 5) Paper - Basically a physical printout of your private and public keys. It is not stored online anywhere and the only way transactions can happen is if you transfer money with the help of an Online wallet.
Example of a Public Key = 1A684DbsHQKPVCWgaUsYdF4uQGwTiA9BFT Example of a Private Key = E9873D79C6D87DC0FB6A5778633389F4453213303DA61F20BD67FC233AA33262
Most wallets provide a Recovery Mnemonic Passcode that is a series of words (typically 12 to 24 words) in a specific order. If you lose your login information for your wallet you can supply the mnemonic passcode and retrieve your lost login information. If you lose your login information and your mnemonic passcode your wallet will be inaccessible and your tokens are lost to you. The above basically describes a first generation Blockchain Cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin. It is used basically as currency with no centralized entity regulating the release of additional currency and keeping the ledger of where the money is going secure and extremely safe from manipulation.
Second Generation Blockchain
The second generation blockchains sprung out of this environment with something more valuable. Utilizing the blockchain system to allow applications to be ran on top of a decentralized secure system. Instead of just recording transactions, contracts could be transmitted the same way. More complex transactions (SMART CONTRACTS) allow for things such as: - Funds to be spent only when a required percentage of people agree - Manage agreements between users (such as insurance) - Provide utility to other contracts - Store information about an application such as domain registration information or membership records This basically can allow applications to be ran on top of the blockchain system. This can cut out the middleman for many real-world applications (mortgages, banking, communications, security confirmations etc.)
Proof of Work/Proof of Stake
As I mentioned earlier, Proof of Work (PoW) requires nodes to solve a mathematical puzzle which is rewarded with tokens. Proof of Stake (PoS) is different, the tokens with proof of stake systems are pre-mined meaning they are all created when the blockchain system is created. Blocks are not verified by the typical method. The block validator uses the blockchain software to stake their tokens and are chosen based on specific factors depending on how many tokens the person holds and for how long. Depending on how many tokens they hold will restrict the quantity of blocks they can validate. If they own more they can validate more often but all validators will be chosen randomly keeping the rewards fairly distributed (unlike PoW which typically reward the first completed.) The blockchain still requires a mathematical puzzle to be solved but it is much easier than PoW requiring far less time and energy. If the blockchain has premined all of their tokens then new tokens cannot be mined for rewards in PoS. The reward for staking your tokens to be a validator is a portion of the transaction fee that is charged as part of normal transactions on the blockchain. That is why PoS miners are called forgers. If manipulation is attempted than their stake can be taken from their wallet adding more motivation to prevent data manipulation.
Fork
Some cryptocurrencies may need to update or upgrade the coding of their blockchain software. When this happens usually a fork occurs. This basically means the cryptocurrency splits into two separate cryptocurrencies. Because the nature of blockchain technology, they are decentralized and autonomous so the older version cannot be deleted or removed. If people choose to continue using the old version they can. For mining/forging purposes the nodes will need to choose which they will mine/forge and download the blockchain software on their computer to proceed. When the fork occurs, anyone holding tokens in the original currency will be given the same number of tokens in the forked currency. (When Bitcoin forked to Bitcoin Cash, anyone holding x amount of Bitcoin would receive a new wallet for Bitcoin Cash also containing x amount of Bitcoin Cash.) This is called a Hard Fork and all previous transactions are made invalid. There are also Soft Forks, in this case it is backwards compatible and all previous transactions are valid. This can result in two currencies but in most cases, it doesn’t as it is usually accepted by most miners/forgers because it is backwards compatible.
Exchanges
Online currency exchanges allow you to buy, sell or exchange fiat money (USD, EUR, etc) with digital currencies or in most cases digital currencies for other digital currencies. There are a large variety of different exchanges that are operated in multiple countries but there are around a dozen that the majority of cryptocurrency trading volume are present on. Not all cryptocurrencies will be listed on all exchanges, some have specific prerequisites to be listed on their exchange and there may be fees associated as well. Once your account is set up you will have a list of all available cryptocurrencies to trade. Each currency will have an associated online wallet with the public key address allowing you to send that specific currency to that wallet. (Many exchanges are having delayed or canceled identity verification, currency transfers and lack sufficient customer support due to the influx of new traders) Examples of top exchanges: 1) Coinbase (trades fiat) 2) GDAX (trades fiat) 3) Gemini (trades fiat) 4) Changelly (trades fiat) 5) Bittrex 6) Binance 7) HitBTC 8) EtherDelta 9) Bitfinex 10) Kraken 11) Bithumb 12) Bitstamp 13) Poloniex 14) OKEx
Sending/Receiving Tokens
All wallets have the ability to send digital currency to other wallets. The function is relatively easy, make sure the currency you are sending is going to the appropriate wallet for that currency. Ethereum tokens cannot be sent to a Bitcoin wallet for example. (The tokens aren’t actually moving location; the list of transactions/ownership is what is stored in the wallet). Triple check the wallet private key you are sending the tokens to. If you type the wrong address the tokens will be lost in nearly all incidents. Some mobile wallets allow you to scan a QR code that will automatically enter the public key rather than copying/pasting or typing out the public key.
Taxes
As of January 1, 2018 it appears that taxing on digital currency has changed. Every trade between any digital currencies (Bitcoin to Ether, Ether to Litecoin etc) will be a taxable transaction. If you hold the currency for longer than one year than you will pay capital gain tax when it is traded or sold (15%-20%) and if you sell or trade in less than a year you will have to add the profit to your taxable income to adjust your tax bracket.
Altcoins
Altcoins are basically any coin that is not Bitcoin. Most cryptocurrencies do not have a native blockchain (their own independent dedicated blockchain). Bitcoin, Ether, Ripple, Waves, NXT, Cardano all have their own native blockchain. Many other cryptocurrencies run on other cryptocurrency’s blockchains. Litecoin runs on Bitcoins blockchain, hundreds run on the Ethereum blockchain. These currencies act as smart contracts running on the adopted blockchain.
DApps (Decentralized Applications)
For a blockchain application to be considered a DApp it must be 1) Open source, code available to all 2) Decentralized, uses blockchain cryptographic tech 3) Incentive, must have tokens to fuel itself 4) Algorithm/Protocol, generates tokens and has a built-in consensus mechanism (mining/forging.)
There are 3 types of DApps, each basically piggybacks off the platform of the previous Type 1 – Have their own blockchain (like bitcoin) Type 2 – Use the blockchain of Type 1 DApps Type 3 – Use the protocol of Type 2 DApps
ICO (Initial Coin Offering)
Much like an IPO (Initial Public Offering) that offers stock in a private company to the public, an ICO raises money for new Cryptocurrency ventures. Typically, a minimum investment is required in the form of a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or Ether and the investor is given tokens of the cryptocurrency at a reduced cost. Due to the fact that ICO’s are so new, government agencies have not begun regulating these ventures making them extremely risky as anyone with a competent coder can create and market a cryptocurrency that can be used to swindle investors who aren’t cautious. The US government no longer allows its citizens to participate in ICO’s and if you are using a computer with an IP address located in the United States, ICO’s websites will not allow you to invest.
Research
1) Whitepapers – Each cryptocurrency will have their own dedicated websites and most will have a whitepaper that has a description of what their cryptocurrency is designed to do. 2) Roadmaps – Also on each cryptocurrency’s website, they tend to have a roadmap or timeline as to when they are planning to complete certain milestones be it added features to the blockchain or wallet or any other important events. 3) Coinmarketcap.com – List of every available cryptocurrency, the exchanges they trade on, market cap, trade volume, available tokens, newly created tokens etc. 4) Reddit.com (cryptocurrency subreddit) – Subreddits focused on cryptocurrency as well as specific subreddits focused on individual cryptocurrencies. Be cautious as many people on these sites are uninformed and/or are trying to manipulate the market by fooling others to buy or sell based on fraudulent information. 5) Bitcointalk.org – Forums specific to individual cryptocurrencies. There is a lot of self-marketing (bounties) on this site. Take what they say with a grain of salt 6) TwitteFacebook (Social Media) – Many times news from team members or the cryptocurrency’s social media page will break news before it is listed on any of the above-mentioned outlets. Find out who is working for the cryptocurrency you are interested in and start following the team’s social media. Don’t forget to look at their linkedin accounts if available, previous employment and behavioral history to confirm they are competent. 7) Github - Code from projects can be uploaded here and reviewed for issues and revisions.
Common Terms/Slang
Shilling – covert advertising, personally endorsing a token so as to manipulate the price to either recoup a loss or increase gains on a token the individual owns. FUD – Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt; another method to manipulate the price of a token the person owns by making others second guess their investment decision on a specific token. FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out; buying a token (usually after the price has already increased) hoping they haven’t missed the majority of a price increase. Shitcoin – A cryptocurrency that has become worthless overtime or a scam operation. To the Moon – Massive increase in a token’s price.
I'm sure there are probably revisions to be done on this as I am still getting my head around all of the concepts. Any help to this would be appreciated.

Introduction

As always, the past 3 months since 22nd June have been crazy busy. The bears might still be around, but the show must go on and of course has not slowed the Groestlcoin development team in the slightest. Here’s a quick overview of what has already happened since the last release: - Integrated into the bitbns exchange, with the ability to buy Groestlcoin directly with the Indian Rupee. - Groestlcoin Rebrand Vote – Whilst there was much talk and push for a rebrand vote, the overall result was almost unanimously in favour of keeping our unique and conversation-starting name. With just 83 votes to Rebrand, and 2577 votes to No Rebrand. Thank you for all who voted, the funds raised are being used to fund ongoing hosting and development costs. - Integrated into the Cryptobridge exchange. Cryptobridge is a popular decentralised exchange where you always hold the private keys to your funds, only YOU have access to them. - Groestlcoin has been added to SimpleSwap – Groestlcoin can now be swapped with over 100 other cryptocurrencies, without signing up! - Groestlcoin has been added to UnoDax, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in India, with TUSD, BTC and INR trading pairs. - Groestlcoin has been added to SwapLab.cc, where you can buy Groestlcoin using Bitcoin and over 50 other altcoins. Purchasing with VISA/Mastercard is coming VERY SOON. Discussed later: - Groestlcoin has been listed on #3 largest exchange in the world on volume, Huobi Global! More on this to come further on in the announcements. - Groestlcoin has been added to the Guarda Multi-Currency Wallet. - Groestlcoin has been added to Melis Multi-Device, Multi-Account, Multi-Platform, Multi-Signature advanced wallet! Already this list is far more than most other cryptocurrencies have achieved in the past 3 months. But this is just the tip of the iceberg of what has been developed.

What's been Happening?

GRSPay Released

We are so excited for this, that it has it's own separate reddit thread. Head over there now at https://www.reddit.com/groestlcoin/comments/9ikr5m/groestlcoin_releases_grspay/? to see more on this!
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Melis Wallet

The the most advanced wallet for Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and now Groestlcoin.

With Melis you have the complete control of your bitcoins and private keys, you can define spending limits policies and make use of two or more factors authentication. Melis is open source, published on GitHub.

How Melis Works?

You can create as many accounts as you want. An account is a part of your wallet that can be customised to your requirements. You can choose how many co-signers are required to spend funds. The accounts are completely independent and act like separate wallets from each other but can be accessed via the same details. A core feature of Melis is the ability to set a ‘primary’ device. With this you can set an account as ‘Secure’ so it is only viewable (and accessible at all) from the Primary device. You can have a savings account hidden from the outside world whilst also having your ‘spending’ funds available on the go. With Melis you can create a multi-signature account between N people, where up to N signatures are required to sign a transaction, choosing if any of those should be mandatory.

Core Features:

• Multi-Device – Ability to hide accounts from all but the primary account.
• Multi-Account – Multiple, entirely separate accounts in one wallet.
• Multi-Platform – Available on iOS, Android, Web, Windows, Linux and Mac OS
• Multi-Signature – Create multi-signature accounts between many people, where a certain amount of people’s signatures is required to sign a transaction. Some can be required before a transaction is signed.
• Native support for many currencies – Multiple currencies are supported, accessed all from the same wallet and backup keywords.
• Advanced Coin Control (Choose which UTXO are involved in the transaction), multiple destinations and manual fee settings.
• 2FA support for enhanced security, also available via Telegram.
• Wrong-Currency detection. The server knows if someone sends BTC to a BCH address and visa versa and automatically creates a new account to be able to recover the funds.
• A single backup using standard BIP39 mnemonics is valid and enough for an unlimited number of transactions, address and different account types

https://guarda.co/assets/images/1PGo4ID.svg?1537791124643

Guarda Wallet

Safer than ever! Desktop Light Wallet - Anonymous and fast!

With Guarda Multi-currency Desktop Light Wallet you don’t need to register. Guarda has no access to your private keys or funds. You can receive, send, store, buy and exchange cryptocurrencies in complete anonymity and safety. All these features are available on Linux, Windows or MacOS. Choose the one that suits you!
More info about Guarda wallet on www.guarda.co
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Integrated into HolyTransaction

What is HolyTransaction?

HolyTransaction gives users access to the crypto world with a universal cryptocurrency wallet and instant exchange.

Features

• Cryptocurrency Exchange HolyTransaction features a cryptocurrency exchange where you can exchange between all popular currencies with just a few clicks. Instant send from one currency to another.
• Simple to use - With a simple, no-handdles GUI, anyone can now use and have access to cryptocurrency.
• Cutting-Edge security - Following industry-best standards, and guarentee that your money is safe. Utilising hot and cold storage wallets.
• Features an API whereby you can integrate cryptocurrency support into any website, from invoice processing to white-labelled multi-currency wallets.

For more information, visit Holy Transaction here.
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Integrated into NEXT Wallet

What is NEXT?

NEXT is a modern, next-generation stylish open-source Desktop wallet.

Features

• Cross-Platform, NEXT runs on Windows, Linux and MacOS
• Fast and Lightweight - NEXT is an extremely fast and light wallet
• Modern User Interface - The interface is elegant and simple to use, perfect for new to cryptocurrency and veterans alike.
• In-Wallet Proposal Tab - Proposal tab will allow users to view all proposals and/or easily create a proposal.

For more information, visit NextWallet here.
https://blockchainfinancial.com/mediaserve2018/09/admin-06143647-bcf_logo_vec_256x256.png

Integrated into Blockchain Financial

What is Blockchain Financial?

Blockchain Financial is a set of web based services for individuals and companies that want to make things happen with the Cryptocurrencies Ecosystem. - For those that don't know anything about cryptocurrencies, we offer tools that will let them receive, send and operate with an assortment of coins. - For those that are already riding the wave, we offer tools that will let them do all those things that they weren't able to do.

Blockchain Financials mission

We're not here to reinvent the wheel. We're here to make it run smoother for you, and we provide some of the most useful services you'll find on the internet, made in a way that is easy to understand and use on a daily basis. In short, we're a bunch of people that claim to be Crypto Evangelists. We strongly believe in cryptocurrencies, and our main promise is to push them up so more people get involved and take all the advantages they offer.

More information from Blockchain Financial

Back in 2014, the world was taken by storm when Facebook approved the first cryptocurrencies tipping apps. The first was for Dogecoin, and the second was for multiple coins.
The project was hosted on whitepuma.net, and persisted for almost two years, built up a massive user community and gave a home to Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin and dozens of other bitcoin-based altcoins.
After very active months, the tipping hype started to fade away. Then, the developers decided to jump into the next stage: bringing not only tipping, but also mining and a widget that could be embedded on websites to allow everyone to accept payments. Sadly, the work was never completed because the project started to require an unsustainable amount of resources. Then, in a painful decision, a shutdown was announced by December 2015.
A couple of months after whitepuma.net was closed, the source code was released by its creator as Open Source on GitHub. But it wasn't maintained.
Now, some of the original members of the dev and admin teams gathered up with a handful of the WhitePuma's elite users, and decided to make something good with the best pieces of the old source code. That, with fresh new ideas and the power of the BardCanvas engine, synthesized the core of Blockchain Financial.

More info about Blockchain Financial wallet on .
For more information, visit [Blockchain Financial](www.blockchainfinancial.com)
https://www.huobi.com/image/logo.aeb4723.svg

Groestlcoin Listed on Huobi

Who are Huobi?

Huobi was founded in China and is now based in Singapore, with offices in Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and the North America, currently sitting #3 in volume on Coinmarketcap. Huobi is a great leap forward for our growing presence in Asia and we are very excited to be listed here!
You can find the official Huobi announcement here.

Groestlcoin Core v2.16.3 - Please Update ASAP

A new major Groestlcoin Core version 2.16.3 is now available for download which includes both a Denial of Service component and a critical inflation vulnerability, so it is recommended to upgrade to it if you are running a full Groestlcoin node or a local Groestlcoin Core wallet.
v2.16.3 is now the official release version of Groestlcoin Core. This is a new major version release with a very important security updates. It is recommended to upgrade to this version as soon as possible. Please stop running versions of Groestlcoin Core affected by CVE-2018-17144 ASAP: These are 2.13.3 and 2.16.0.
As a result in this, all exchanges and services have been asked to upgrade to this version, so please be patient if wallets go in to maintenance mode on these services.

What's new in version v2.16.3?

This is a major release of Groestlcoin Core fixing a Denial of Service component and a critical inflation vulnerability (https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-17144) exploitable by miners that has been discovered in Groestlcoin Core version 2.13.3 and 2.16.0. It is recommended to upgrade to 2.16.3 as soon as possible. If you only occasionally run Groestlcoin Core, then it's not necessary to run out and upgrade it right this second. However, you should upgrade it before you next run it. If you know anyone who is running an older version, tell them to upgrade it ASAP. Stored funds are not at risk, and never were at risk. At this time we believe over half of the Groestlcoin hashrate has upgraded to patched nodes. We are unaware of any attempts to exploit this vulnerability. However, it still remains critical that affected users upgrade and apply the latest patches to ensure no possibility of large reorganizations, mining of invalid blocks, or acceptance of invalid transactions occurs.

The Technicals

In Groestlcoin Core 2.13.3, an optimization was added (Bitcoin Core PR #9049) which avoided a costly check during initial pre-relay block validation that multiple inputs within a single transaction did not spend the same input twice which was added in 2012 (Bitcoin Core PR #443). While the UTXO-updating logic has sufficient knowledge to check that such a condition is not violated in 2.13.3 it only did so in a sanity check assertion and not with full error handling (it did, however, fully handle this case twice in prior to 2.1.0.6). Thus, in Groestlcoin Core 2.13.3, any attempts to double-spend a transaction output within a single transaction inside of a block will result in an assertion failure and a crash, as was originally reported. In Groestlcoin Core 2.16.0, as a part of a larger redesign to simplify unspent transaction output tracking and correct a resource exhaustion attack the assertion was changed subtly. Instead of asserting that the output being marked spent was previously unspent, it only asserts that it exists. Thus, in Groestlcoin Core 2.16.0, any attempts to double-spend a transaction output within a single transaction inside of a block where the output being spent was created in the same block, the same assertion failure will occur. However, if the output being double-spent was created in a previous block, an entry will still remain in the CCoin map with the DIRTY flag set and having been marked as spent, resulting in no such assertion. This could allow a miner to inflate the supply of Groestlcoin as they would be then able to claim the value being spent twice.
Groestlcoin would like to publicly thank Reddit user u/Awemany for finding CVE-2018-17144 and reporting it (https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-core-dev/2018-Septembe000064.html). You deserve gratitude and appreciation from cryptoworld, and you have ours. If you want to support him for his work, please consider donating to him on his bitcoin cash address: bitcoincash:qr5yuq3q40u7mxwqz6xvamkfj8tg45wyus7fhqzug5
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Groestlcoin Electrum-GRS 3.2.2 - Ledger & Trezor Edition

What is Electrum-GRS?

Electrum-GRS is a lightweight "thin client" groestlcoin wallet Windows, MacOS and Linux based on a client-server protocol. Its main advantages over the original Groestlcoin client include support for multi-signature wallets and not requiring the download of the entire block chain.

Changes:

• Qt GUI: seed word auto-complete during restore
• performance improvements (wallet, and Qt GUI)
• hardware wallets: show debug message during device scan
• add regtest support (via --regtest flag)
• other minor bugfixes and usability improvements
• If present, libsecp256k1 is used to speed up elliptic curve operations. The library is bundled in the Windows, MacOS, and Android binaries. On Linux, it needs to be installed separately.
• Transactions that are dropped from the mempool are kept in the wallet as 'local', and can be rebroadcast. Previously these transactions were deleted from the wallet.
• The scriptSig and witness part of transaction inputs are no longer parsed, unless actually needed. The wallet will no longer display 'from' addresses corresponding to transaction inputs, except for its own inputs.
• The partial transaction format has been incompatibly changed. This was needed as for partial transactions the scriptSig/witness has to be parsed, but for signed transactions we did not want to do the parsing. Users should make sure that all instances of Electrum-GRS they use to co-sign or offline sign, are updated together.
• Signing of partial transactions created with online imported addresses wallets now supports significantly more setups. Previously only online p2pkh address + offline WIF was supported. Now the following setups are all supported: > online {p2pkh, p2wpkh-p2sh, p2wpkh} address + offline WIF, > online {p2pkh, p2wpkh-p2sh, p2wpkh} address + offline seed/xprv, > online {p2sh, p2wsh-p2sh, p2wsh}-multisig address + offline seeds/xprvs > (Potentially distributed among several different machines) Note that for the online address + offline HD secret case, you need the offline wallet to recognize the address (i.e. within gap limit). Having an xpub on the online machine is still the recommended setup, as this allows the online machine to generate new addresses on demand.
• Segwit multisig for bip39 and hardware wallets is now enabled (both p2wsh-p2sh and native p2wsh).
• Ledger: offline signing for segwit inputs (#3302) This has already worked for Trezor. Offline segwit signing can be combined with online imported addresses wallets.
• Added Revealer plugin. ( https://revealer.cc ) Revealer is a seed phrase back-up solution. It allows you to create a cold, analog, multi-factor backup of your wallet seeds, or of any arbitrary secret. The Revealer utilizes a transparent plastic visual one time pad.
• Fractional fee rates: the Qt GUI now displays fee rates with 0.1 gro/byte precision, and also allows this same resolution in the Send tab.
• Hardware wallets: a "show address" button is now displayed in the Receive tab of the Qt GUI. (#4316)
• Trezor One: implemented advanced/matrix recovery (#4329)
• Windows: use dnspython to resolve dns instead of socket.getaddrinfo (#4422)
• Importing minikeys: use uncompressed pubkey instead of compressed (#4384)
• SPV proofs: check inner nodes not to be valid transactions (#4436)
• Qt GUI: there is now an optional "dark" theme (#4461)
• Several other minor bugfixes and usability improvements.
• Fix DNS resolution on Windows
• Fix websocket bug in daemon

http://i.imgur.com/3YhyNZK.png

Electrum-GRS Mobile Android

What is Electrum-GRS Mobile?

Electrum-grs is a lightweight "thin client" groestlcoin wallet Android based on a client-server protocol. Its main advantages over the original Groestlcoin client include support for multi-signature wallets and not requiring the download of the entire block chain.

Changes

• Android: fix some crashes
• If present, libsecp256k1 is used to speed up elliptic curve operations. The library is bundled in the Windows, MacOS, and Android binaries. On Linux, it needs to be installed separately.
• Two-factor authentication is available on Android. Note that this will only provide additional security if one time passwords are generated on a separate device.
• Semi-automated crash reporting is implemented for Android.
• Qt/Kivy: added "gro" as optional base unit.
• Kivy GUI: significant performance improvements when displaying history and address list of large wallets; and transaction dialog of large transactions.

Groestlcoin EasyVanity Released

Groestlcoin EasyVanity is a Windows app is built from the ground-up in C# and makes it easier than ever before to create your very own bespoke Groestlcoin address(es), even whilst not connected to the internet! You can even generate multiple keys with the same prefix and leave it on overnight whilst your CPU or GPU collects and stores these addresses locally.

If you're tired of the random, cryptic addresses generated by regular groestlcoin clients, then Groestlcoin EasyVanity is the right choice for you to create a more personalized address.

Features

• Ability to continue finding keys after first one is found • Includes warning on startup if connected to the internet • Ability to output keys to a text file (And shows button to open that directory) • Ability to make your match case sensitive (Where possible) • Show and hide the private key with a simple toggle switch, and copy the private key straight to your clipboard • Show full output of commands • Includes statistics whilst the application is running • Ability to choose between Processor (CPU) and Graphics Card (GPU) • Automatically detects 32 or 64 bit systems • Features both a Light and Dark Material Design inspired Themes • EasyVanity's search is probabilistic, and the amount of time required to find a given pattern depends on how complex the pattern is, the speed of your computer, and whether you get lucky. • EasyVanity includes components to perform address searching on your CPU (vanitygen) and your OpenCL-compatible GPU (oclvanitygen). Both can be built from source, and both are included in the Windows binary package. • Prefixes are exact strings that must appear at the beginning of the address. When searching for prefixes, Easyvanity will ensure that the prefix is possible, and will provide a difficulty estimate. • The percentage displayed just shows how probable it is that a match would be found in the session so far. If it finds your address with 5% on the display, you are extremely lucky. If it finds your address with 92% on the display, you are unlucky. If you stop EasyVanity with 90% on the display, restart it, and it finds your address with 2% on the display, your first session was unlucky, but your second session was lucky. • EasyVanity uses the OpenSSL random number generator. This is the same RNG used by groestlcoin and a good number of HTTPS servers. It is regarded as well-scrutinized. Guessing the private key of an address found by EasyVanity will be no easier than guessing a private key created by groestlcoin itself. • To speed up address generation, EasyVanity uses the RNG to choose a private key, and literally increments the private key in a loop searching for a match. As long as the starting point is not disclosed, if a match is found, the private key will not be any easier to guess than if every private key tested were taken from the RNG. EasyVanity will also reload the private key from the RNG after 10,000,000 unsuccessful searches (100M for oclvanitygen), or when a match is found and multiple patterns are being searched for. • Free software - MIT. Anyone can audit the code. • Written in C# - The code is short, and easy to review.

Groestlcoin Sentinel (Android & Blackberry) – Mainnet + Testnet

What is Sentinel?

Groestlcoin Sentinel is the easiest and fastest way to track/receive/watch payments in your offline Groestlcoin Wallets. Groestlcoin Sentinel is compatible with any standard Groestlcoin address, BIP44 XPUB (Extended Public Key) BIP49 YPUB and BIP84 ZPUB
Groestlcoin Sentinel is a great solution for anyone who wants the convenience and utility of a hot wallet for receiving payments directly into their cold storage (or hardware wallets). Sentinel accepts XPUB's, YPUB'S, ZPUB's and individual Groestlcoin address. Once added you will be able to view balances, view transactions, and (in the case of XPUB's, YPUB's and ZPUB's) deterministically generate addresses for that particular wallet.

What's New?

• Track Segwit BIP84 ZPUBs extended pubkeys
• Sweep Segwit BIP49 (P2SH-P2WPHK) and Segwit BIP84 (bech32) amounts into selected account/address
• Broadcast hex tx
• Added option to chose from Binance and Upbit as selected Exchange
• Added Korean Won as price option
• Receive address closes upon receipt of groestlcoin
• Fix EUR price  ### Groestlcoin P2SH Paper Wallet #### What is Groestlcoin P2SH Paper Wallet? Groestlcoin P2SH paperwallet is a simple groestlcoin paper wallet generator that utilizes Segregated Witness (SegWit) Pay To Witness Public Key Hash (P2WPKH) addresses and transactions.

The P2SH paperwallet supports creating P2SH paperwallets in bulk, keypair generation with QR codes and sweeping tool. Groestlcoin believes strongly in privacy, the live version does not collect and store IP or transaction data.

Changes

• Details section to validate private keys and to view corresponding segwit address, public key and redeem script.
• Segwit brain wallet
• Removed Vanity generator as it was very slow. (Please use VanityGen command line or EasyVanity instead)
• Rebranded segwit paperwallet to p2sh paperwallet
• Favicon updated
• Testnet support added
• Groestlcoin Sentinel can sweep funds from private keys and QR codes generated with this tool
• Groestlcoin Sentinel Testnet can sweep funds from private keys and QR codes generated with this tool
• Electrum-GRS can import private keys using the console and the importprivkey() command. Import as P2SH segwit: importprivkey('p2wpkh-p2sh:KzTLBvC6mNudLBjEmwYCuk3jrZ7sZS8CzFDzcrwnDM2CVpH8vNAn')
• Electrum-GRS Testnet can import private keys using the console and the importprivkey() command. Import as P2SH segwit: importprivkey('p2wpkh-p2sh:cNNDi1AT8XNng2wJ5HNFN41toufU9XZ2bW8MGi7c9SGw4hnMuASk')

Features

• Keypair generation with QR Codes
• Bulk address generator
• Key Sweeping Tool to move all funds belonging to a single SegWit private key.  ### Groestlcoin BECH32 Paper Wallet Released #### What is Groestlcoin BECH32 Paper Wallet? Groestlcoin BECH32 paperwallet is a simple groestlcoin paper wallet generator that utilizes Segregated Witness (SegWit) Pay To Witness Public Key Hash (P2WPKH) addresses and transactions.

The BECH32 paperwallet supports creating BECH32 paperwallets in bulk, keypair generation with QR codes and sweeping tool. Groestlcoin believes strongly in privacy, the live version does not collect and store IP or transaction data.

Features

• Detail section to validate private keys and to view corresponding segwit address, public key and redeem script.
• Segwit brain wallet
• Testnet support
• Groestlcoin Sentinel can sweep funds from private keys and QR codes generated with this tool
• Groestlcoin Sentinel Testnet can sweep funds from private keys and QR codes generated with this tool
• Electrum-GRS can import private keys using the console and the importprivkey() command. Import as P2SH segwit: importprivkey('p2wpkh-p2sh:KzTLBvC6mNudLBjEmwYCuk3jrZ7sZS8CzFDzcrwnDM2CVpH8vNAn')
• Electrum-GRS Testnet can import private keys using the console and the importprivkey() command. Import as P2SH segwit: importprivkey('p2wpkh-p2sh:cNNDi1AT8XNng2wJ5HNFN41toufU9XZ2bW8MGi7c9SGw4hnMuASk')
• Bulk address generator
• Key Sweeping Tool to move all funds belonging to a single SegWit private key.


Groestlcoin Web Wallet Update 1.4

What is Groestlcoin Web Wallet?

Groestlcoin Webwallet is an open source, multisignature, HD Wallet and more! Webwallet is a a open source browser based Groestlcoin webwallet.
Webwallet is a playground for Groestlcoin in javascript to experiment with. It supports multisig, OP_HODL, RBF and many more. Groestlcoin believes strongly in privacy, the live version does not collect and store IP or transaction data.

Changes:

• RBF (Replace-By-Fee) enabled by default
• Bech32 address support added
• Testnet support added

The following post by Darknicks is being replicated because some comments within the post(but not the post itself) have been silently removed.
The original post can be found(in censored form) at this link:
np.reddit.com/ Bitcoin/comments/7p9b1t
The original post's content was as follows:

Since Bastiat hasn't posted this for the past 2 days, I would like to post it because it's necessary.
TL/DR
Bitcoin users can help lower transaction fees and improve Bitcoin by switching to SegWit addresses and encourage wallets and exchanges to do the same.
SUMMARY
Segregated Witness (SegWit) was activated on the Bitcoin network August 24 2017 as a soft fork that is backward compatible with previous Bitcoin transactions (Understanding Segregated Witness). Since that time wallets and exchanges have been slow to deploy SegWit, some admitting in December 2017 that they have not even started work on integrating it. Others, such as Zebpay in India have already implemented SegWit and are reaping the benefits of reduced transaction fees. If Bitcoin users demand SegWit now it will temporarily relieve the transaction backlog while more even more advanced solutions such as Lightning are developed.
Batching is another great way that exchanges can reduce their fees. See: Saving up to 80% on Bitcoin transaction fees by batching payments. Despite the benefits of batching, some exchanges have been slow to implement it.
There is an opportunity now for all Bitcoin users to individually contribute to help strengthen and improve the Bitcoin protocol. At this point, the process requires a bit of work/learning on the part of the user, but in doing so you'll actually be advancing Bitcoin and leaving what could turn out to be a multi-generational legacy for humanity.
MEMPOOL/SEGWIT STATISTICS

• BitInfoCharts.com - Average Transaction Fees - $31.10 USD per TX
• Blockchain.info - Unconfirmed Transactions - 185k unconfirmed TX's
• SegWit Charts - 10.02% SegWit TX's

BACKGROUND
On Dec 18 Subhan Nadeem has pointed out that:
If every transaction in the Bitcoin network was a SegWit transaction today, blocks would contain up to 8,000 transactions, and the 138,000 unconfirmed transaction backlog would disappear instantly. Transaction fees would be almost non-existent once again.
A few thousand Bitcoin users from /Bitcoin switching to making their next transactions SegWit transactions will help take pressure off the network now, and together we can encourage exchanges/wallets to rapidly deploy SegWit for everyone ASAP. Let's make 80%+ SegWit happen fast. You can help by taking one or more of the action steps below.
ACTION STEPS

1. If your favorite wallet has not yet implemented SegWit, kindly ask them to do so immediately. In the meantime start using a wallet that has already implemented SegWit.
   
2. If your favorite exchange has not yet implemented SegWit, try to avoid making any further purchases of Bitcoin at that exchange and politely inform them that if they do not enable SegWit within 30-days they will lose your business. Sign-up for an account at a SegWit deployed/ready exchange now and initiate the verification process so you'll be ready to bail
   
3. Help educate newcomers to Bitcoin about the transaction issue, steer them towards SegWit wallets from day one, and encourage them to avoid ever purchasing Bitcoin through non-SegWit ready exchanges that are harming Bitcoin.
   
4. Spread the word! Contact individuals, websites, etc that use Bitcoin, explain the benefits of SegWit to everyone, and request they make the switch
   

IMPORTANT NOTE: The mempool is currently still quite backlogged. If you are a long-term holder and really have no reason to move your Bitcoins at this time, wait until the mempool starts to clear and transaction fees go down before moving your Bitcoins to a SegWit address or SegWit friendly exchange.
SELECTED TOP EXCHANGES BY BATCHING & SEGWIT STATUS

Exchange	Segwit Status	Batching Status
Binance	NOT READY	Yes
Bitfinex	Ready	Yes
Bitonic	Ready	Yes
Bitstamp	Deployed	Yes
Bittrex	?	Yes
Coinbase/GDAX	NOT READY	No
Gemini	Ready	No
HitBTC	Deployed	Yes
Huboi	?	?
Kraken	Deployed	Yes
LocalBitcoins	Deployed	Yes
OKEx	?	?
Poloniex	?	Yes
QuadrigaCX	Deployed	Yes
Shapeshift	Deployed	No

Note: all exchanges that have deployed SegWit are currently only sending to p2sh SegWit addresses for now. No exchange will send to a bech32 address like the ones that Electrum generates
Source 1: BitcoinCore.org
Source 2: /Bitcoin
Official statements from exchanges:

• Bitonic: SegWit: In testing (including send from bech32). Batching: Have been for years.
  
• Kraken: Deposits are made to Segwit addresses and withdrawls are sent in Segwit format, but frontend presentation is pending full implementation/support in wallets such as bitcoin core.
  
• Shapeshift: We don't order batch, but we will get to it. So much engineering to do :/
  

SELECTED WALLETS THAT HAVE SEGWIT ALREADY
Make sure you have a SegWit capable wallet installed and ready to use for your next bitcoin transaction

SegWit Enabled Wallets	Wallet Type
Ledger Nano S	Hardware
Trezor	Hardware
Electrum	Desktop
Armory	Desktop
Edge	iOS
GreenAddress	iOS
BitWallet	iOS
Samourai	Android
GreenBits	Android
Electrum	Android
SegWitAddress.org	Paper

FAQs
Where can I get a fee estimate for a SegWit transaction?

• Here's a good website that could help.

How can I get a SegWit address from my Bitcoin Core wallet?

• Currently, Bitcoin Core hasn't implemented a way to get a SegWit address using the GUI. But you can get a receiving SegWit address using the debug console. To do it, go to the "Receive" tab and copy a receiving address (it starts with 1). Then just click Help > Debug window > Console and type: addwitnessaddress addr
  
• You should replace addr with the receiving address that you just copied. Tap enter and you'll get an address (starts with 3). This is your SegWit address. You can use this one to receive funds. When you spend from this address, it will be a SegWit transaction. Easy huh?
  

If I'm a HODLer, will it help to send my BTC to a SegWit address now?

• No, just get ready now so that your NEXT transaction will be to a SegWit wallet. Avoid burdening the network with any unneccessary transactions for now.

Why is SegWit adoption going so slowly? Is it a time-consuming process, is there risk involved, is it laziness, or something else?

• SegWit will require some extra work to be done right and securely. Also, most exchanges let the user pay the fee, and up to now users have not been overly concerned about fees so for some exchanges it hasn't been a priority.

Once Segwit is FULLY adopted, what do we see the fees/transaction times going to?

• Times stay the same - fees will go down. How much and for how long depends on what the demand for transactions will be at that time.

What determines Bitcoin transaction fees, to begin with?

• Fees are charged per byte of data and are bid up by users. Miners will typically include the transaction with the highest fee/byte first.

Can you please tell me how to move my Bitcoins to SegWit address in Bitcoin core wallet? Does the sender or receiver matter?

• The Bitcoin core wallet does not yet have a GUI for its SegWit functionality. Download Electrum v3.0.5 to generate a SegWit address.
  A transaction between two SegWit addresses is a SegWit transaction.
  A transaction sent from a SegWit address to a non-SegWit address is a SegWit transaction.
  A transaction sent from a non-SegWit address to a SegWit address is NOT a SegWit transaction. You can send a SegWit Tx if the sending...
  

The following post by Darknicks is being replicated because some comments within the post(but not the post itself) have been silently removed.
The original post can be found(in censored form) at this link:
np.reddit.com/ Bitcoin/comments/7pkqn9
The original post's content was as follows:

Since Bastiat didn't post this today, I would like to post it again because it's necessary.
TL/DR
Bitcoin users can help lower transaction fees and improve Bitcoin by switching to SegWit addresses and encourage wallets and exchanges to do the same.
SUMMARY
Segregated Witness (SegWit) was activated on the Bitcoin network August 24 2017 as a soft fork that is backward compatible with previous Bitcoin transactions (Understanding Segregated Witness). Since that time wallets and exchanges have been slow to deploy SegWit, some admitting in December 2017 that they have not even started work on integrating it. Others, such as Zebpay in India have already implemented SegWit and are reaping the benefits of reduced transaction fees. If Bitcoin users demand SegWit now it will temporarily relieve the transaction backlog while more even more advanced solutions such as Lightning are developed.
Batching is another great way that exchanges can reduce their fees. See: Saving up to 80% on Bitcoin transaction fees by batching payments. Despite the benefits of batching, some exchanges have been slow to implement it.
There is an opportunity now for all Bitcoin users to individually contribute to help strengthen and improve the Bitcoin protocol. At this point, the process requires a bit of work/learning on the part of the user, but in doing so you'll actually be advancing Bitcoin and leaving what could turn out to be a multi-generational legacy for humanity.
MEMPOOL/SEGWIT STATISTICS

• BitInfoCharts.com - Median Transaction Fees - $16.44 USD per TX
• Blockchain.info - Unconfirmed Transactions - 180k unconfirmed TX's
• SegWit Charts - 10.66% SegWit TX's

BACKGROUND
On Dec 18 Subhan Nadeem has pointed out that:
If every transaction in the Bitcoin network was a SegWit transaction today, blocks would contain up to 8,000 transactions, and the 180,000 unconfirmed transaction backlog would disappear instantly. Transaction fees would be almost non-existent once again.
A few thousand Bitcoin users from /Bitcoin switching to making their next transactions SegWit transactions will help take pressure off the network now, and together we can encourage exchanges/wallets to rapidly deploy SegWit for everyone ASAP. Let's make 80%+ SegWit happen fast. You can help by taking one or more of the action steps below.
ACTION STEPS

1. If your favorite wallet has not yet implemented SegWit, kindly ask them to do so immediately. In the meantime start using a wallet that has already implemented SegWit.
   
2. If your favorite exchange has not yet implemented SegWit, try to avoid making any further purchases of Bitcoin at that exchange and politely inform them that if they do not enable SegWit within 30-days they will lose your business. Sign-up for an account at a SegWit deployed/ready exchange now and initiate the verification process so you'll be ready to bail
   
3. Help educate newcomers to Bitcoin about the transaction issue, steer them towards SegWit wallets from day one, and encourage them to avoid ever purchasing Bitcoin through non-SegWit ready exchanges that are harming Bitcoin.
   
4. Spread the word! Contact individuals, websites, etc that use Bitcoin, explain the benefits of SegWit to everyone, and request they make the switch
   

IMPORTANT NOTE: The mempool is currently still quite backlogged. If you are a long-term holder and really have no reason to move your Bitcoins at this time, wait until the mempool starts to clear and transaction fees go down before moving your Bitcoins to a SegWit address or SegWit friendly exchange.
SELECTED TOP EXCHANGES BY BATCHING & SEGWIT STATUS

Exchange	Segwit Status	Batching Status
Binance	NOT READY	Yes
Bitfinex	Ready	Yes
Bitonic	Ready	Yes
Bitstamp	Deployed	Yes
Bittrex	?	Yes
Coinbase/GDAX	NOT READY	No
Gemini	Ready	No
HitBTC	Deployed	Yes
Huboi	?	?
Kraken	Deployed	Yes
LocalBitcoins	Deployed	Yes
OKEx	?	?
Poloniex	?	Yes
QuadrigaCX	Deployed	Yes
Shapeshift	Deployed	No

Note: all exchanges that have deployed SegWit are currently only sending to p2sh SegWit addresses for now. No exchange will send to a bech32 address like the ones that Electrum generates
Source 1: BitcoinCore.org
Source 2: /Bitcoin
Official statements from exchanges:

• Bitonic: SegWit: In testing (including send from bech32). Batching: Have been for years.
  
• Kraken: Deposits are made to Segwit addresses and withdrawls are sent in Segwit format, but frontend presentation is pending full implementation/support in wallets such as bitcoin core.
  
• Shapeshift: We don't order batch, but we will get to it. So much engineering to do :/
  

SELECTED WALLETS THAT HAVE SEGWIT ALREADY
Make sure you have a SegWit capable wallet installed and ready to use for your next bitcoin transaction

SegWit Enabled Wallets	Wallet Type
Ledger Nano S	Hardware
Trezor	Hardware
Electrum	Desktop
Armory	Desktop
Edge	iOS
GreenAddress	iOS
BitWallet	iOS
Samourai	Android
GreenBits	Android
Electrum	Android
SegWitAddress.org	Paper

FAQs
Where can I get a fee estimate for a SegWit transaction?

• Here's a good website that could help.

How can I get a SegWit address from my Bitcoin Core wallet?

• Currently, Bitcoin Core hasn't implemented a way to get a SegWit address using the GUI. But you can get a receiving SegWit address using the debug console. To do it, go to the "Receive" tab and copy a receiving address (it starts with 1). Then just click Help > Debug window > Console and type: addwitnessaddress addr
  
• You should replace addr with the receiving address that you just copied. Tap enter and you'll get an address (starts with 3). This is your SegWit address. You can use this one to receive funds. When you spend from this address, it will be a SegWit transaction. Easy huh?
  

If I'm a HODLer, will it help to send my BTC to a SegWit address now?

• No, just get ready now so that your NEXT transaction will be to a SegWit wallet. Avoid burdening the network with any unneccessary transactions for now.

Why is SegWit adoption going so slowly? Is it a time-consuming process, is there risk involved, is it laziness, or something else?

• SegWit will require some extra work to be done right and securely. Also, most exchanges let the user pay the fee, and up to now users have not been overly concerned about fees so for some exchanges it hasn't been a priority.

Once Segwit is FULLY adopted, what do we see the fees/transaction times going to?

• Times stay the same - fees will go down. How much and for how long depends on what the demand for transactions will be at that time.

What determines Bitcoin transaction fees, to begin with?

• Fees are charged per byte of data and are bid up by users. Miners will typically include the transaction with the highest fee/byte first.

Can you please tell me how to move my Bitcoins to SegWit address in Bitcoin core wallet? Does the sender or receiver matter?

• The Bitcoin core wallet does not yet have a GUI for its SegWit functionality. Download Electrum v3.0.5 to generate a SegWit address.
  A transaction between two SegWit addresses is a SegWit transaction.
  A transaction sent from a SegWit address to a non-SegWit address is a SegWit transaction.
  A transaction sent from a non-SegWit address to a SegWit address is NOT a SegWit transaction. You can send a SegWit Tx if the sending add...
  

'''
Since Bastiat didn't post this today, I would like to post it again because it's necessary.
TL/DR
Bitcoin users can help lower transaction fees and improve Bitcoin by switching to SegWit addresses and encourage wallets and exchanges to do the same.
SUMMARY
Segregated Witness (SegWit) was activated on the Bitcoin network August 24 2017 as a soft fork that is backward compatible with previous Bitcoin transactions ([Understanding Segregated Witness]¹ ). Since that time wallets and exchanges have been slow to deploy SegWit, some admitting in December 2017 that they have not even started work on integrating it. Others, such as Zebpay in India [have already implemented SegWit]² and are reaping the benefits of reduced transaction fees. If Bitcoin users demand SegWit now it will temporarily relieve the transaction backlog while more even more advanced solutions such as Lightning are developed.
Batching is another great way that exchanges can reduce their fees. See: [Saving up to 80% on Bitcoin transaction fees by batching payments]³ . Despite the benefits of batching, some exchanges have been slow to implement it.
There is an opportunity now for all Bitcoin users to individually contribute to help strengthen and improve the Bitcoin protocol. At this point, the process requires a bit of work/learning on the part of the user, but in doing so you'll actually be advancing Bitcoin and leaving what could turn out to be a multi-generational legacy for humanity.
MEMPOOL/SEGWIT STATISTICS

• [BitInfoCharts.com - Average Transaction Fees]⁴ - $29.72 USD per TX
• [Blockchain.info - Unconfirmed Transactions]⁵ - 180k unconfirmed TX's
• [SegWit Charts]⁶ - 10.66% SegWit TX's

BACKGROUND
On Dec 18 Subhan Nadeem has pointed out that:
[If every transaction in the Bitcoin network was a SegWit transaction today, blocks would contain up to 8,000 transactions, and the 180,000 unconfirmed transaction backlog would disappear instantly. Transaction fees would be almost non-existent once again]⁷ .
A few thousand Bitcoin users from /Bitcoin switching to making their next transactions SegWit transactions will help take pressure off the network now, and together we can encourage exchanges/wallets to rapidly deploy SegWit for everyone ASAP. Let's make 80%+ SegWit happen fast. You can help by taking one or more of the action steps below.
ACTION STEPS

1. If your favorite wallet has not yet implemented SegWit, kindly ask them to do so immediately. In the meantime start using a wallet that has already implemented SegWit.
   
2. If your favorite exchange has not yet implemented SegWit, try to avoid making any further purchases of Bitcoin at that exchange and politely inform them that if they do not enable SegWit within 30-days they will lose your business. Sign-up for an account at a SegWit deployed/ready exchange now and initiate the verification process so you'll be ready to bail
   
3. Help educate newcomers to Bitcoin about the transaction issue, steer them towards SegWit wallets from day one, and encourage them to avoid ever purchasing Bitcoin through non-SegWit ready exchanges that are harming Bitcoin.
   
4. Spread the word! Contact individuals, websites, etc that use Bitcoin, explain the benefits of SegWit to everyone, and request they make the switch
   

IMPORTANT NOTE: The mempool is currently still quite backlogged. If you are a long-term holder and really have no reason to move your Bitcoins at this time, wait until the mempool starts to clear and transaction fees go down before moving your Bitcoins to a SegWit address or SegWit friendly exchange.
SELECTED TOP EXCHANGES BY BATCHING & SEGWIT STATUS

Exchange	Segwit Status	Batching Status
Binance	NOT READY	Yes
Bitfinex	Ready	Yes
Bitonic	Ready	Yes
Bitstamp	Deployed	Yes
Bittrex	?	Yes
Coinbase/GDAX	NOT READY	No
Gemini	Ready	No
HitBTC	Deployed	Yes
Huboi	?	?
Kraken	Deployed	Yes
LocalBitcoins	Deployed	Yes
OKEx	?	?
Poloniex	?	Yes
QuadrigaCX	Deployed	Yes
Shapeshift	Deployed	No

Note: all exchanges that have deployed SegWit are currently only sending to p2sh SegWit addresses for now. No exchange will send to a bech32 address like the ones that Electrum generates
[Source 1: BitcoinCore.org]⁸
[Source 2: /Bitcoin]⁹
Official statements from exchanges:

• Bitonic: [SegWit: In testing (including send from bech32). Batching: Have been for years. ]¹⁰
  
• Kraken: [Deposits are made to Segwit addresses and withdrawls are sent in Segwit format, but frontend presentation is pending full implementation/support in wallets such as bitcoin core.]¹¹
  
• Shapeshift: [We don't order batch, but we will get to it. So much engineering to do :/]¹²
  

SELECTED WALLETS THAT HAVE SEGWIT ALREADY
Make sure you have a SegWit capable wallet installed and ready to use for your next bitcoin transaction

SegWit Enabled Wallets	Wallet Type
Ledger Nano S	Hardware
Trezor	Hardware
Electrum	Desktop
Armory	Desktop
Edge	iOS
GreenAddress	iOS
BitWallet	iOS
Samourai	Android
GreenBits	Android
Electrum	Android
SegWitAddress.org	Paper

FAQs
Where can I get a fee estimate for a SegWit transaction?

• [Here's a good website that could help.]¹³

How can I get a SegWit address from my Bitcoin Core wallet?

• Currently, Bitcoin Core hasn't implemented a way to get a SegWit address using the GUI. But you can get a receiving SegWit address using the debug console. To do it, go to the "Receive" tab and copy a receiving address (it starts with 1). Then just click Help > Debug window > Console and type: addwitnessaddress addr
  
• You should replace addr with the receiving address that you just copied. Tap enter and you'll get an address (starts with 3). This is your SegWit address. You can use this one to receive funds. When you spend from this address, it will be a SegWit transaction. Easy huh?
  

If I'm a HODLer, will it help to send my BTC to a SegWit address now?

• No, just get ready now so that your NEXT transaction will be to a SegWit wallet. Avoid burdening the network with any unneccessary transactions for now.

Why is SegWit adoption going so slowly? Is it a time-consuming process, is there risk involved, is it laziness, or something else?

• SegWit will require some extra work to be done right and securely. Also, most exchanges let the user pay the fee, and up to now users have not been overly concerned about fees so for some exchanges it hasn't been a priority.

Once Segwit is FULLY adopted, what do we see the fees/transaction times going to?

• Times stay the same - fees will go down. How much and for how long depends on what the demand for transactions will be at that time.

What determines Bitcoin transaction fees, to begin with?

• Fees are charged per byte of data and are bid up by users. Miners will typically include the transaction with the highest fee/byte first.

Can you please tell me how to move my Bitcoins to SegWit address in Bitcoin core wallet? Does the sender or receiver matter?

• The Bitcoin core wallet does not yet have a GUI for its SegWit functionality. Download Electrum v3.0.5 to generate a SegWit address.
  A transaction between two SegWit addresses is a SegWit transaction.
  A transaction sent from a SegWit address to a non-SegWit address is a SegWit transaction.
  A transaction sent from a non-SegWit address to a SegWit address is NOT a SegWit transaction. You can send a SegWit Tx if the sending address is a SegWit address.
  [Source: HowToToken]¹⁴
  

What wallet are you using to "batch your sends"? And how can I do that?

• Using Electrum, the "Tools" menu option: "Pay to many".
  Just enter your receive addresses and the amounts for each, and you can send multiple transactions for nearly the price of one.
  

Why doesn't the Core Wallet yet support SegWit?

• The Core Wallet supports SegWit, but its GUI doesn't. The next update will likely have GUI support built-in

Why isn't a large exchange like Coinbase SegWit ready & deployed when much smaller exchanges already are? Why do they default to high fees? Where is the leadership there?

• Draw your own conclusions based on their own words:
  [March 2016 - Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has reservations about Core]¹⁵
  [Dec 2017 - Coinbase is STILL working on Segwit]¹⁶
  

P2SH/bech32 FAQs
What are the two SegWit address formats and why do they exist?

• It's been a challenge for wallet developers to implement SegWit in a way that users can easily and without too much disruption migrate from legacy to SegWit addresses. The first wallets to enable SegWit addresses – Ledger, Trezor, Core, GreenAddress – use so-called “nested P2SH addresses.” This means they take the existing Pay 2 Script Hash address – starting with a “3” – and put a SegWit address into it. This enables a high grade of compatibility to existing wallets as every wallet is familiar with these addresses, but it is a workaround which results in SegWit transactions needing around 10 percent more space than they otherwise would.
  Electrum 3.0 was the first wallet to use bech32 addresses instead of nested p2sh addresses.
  [Source: BTCManager.com]¹⁷
  

What is the difference in address format between SegWit address formats P2SH and bech32?

• P2SH starts with "3..."
  bech32 starts with "bc1..."
  

Which addresses can I send from/to?

• P2SH Segwit addresses can be sent to using older Bitcoin software with no Segwit support. This supports backwards compatibility
  bech32 can only be sent to from newer Bitcoin software that support bech32. Ex: Electrum
  [Source: BitcoinTalk.org]¹⁸
  

Why did ThePirateBay put up two Bitcoin donation addresses on their frontpage, one bech32 and one not?

• The address starting with a "3..." is a P2SH SegWit address that can be sent BTC from any Bitcoin address including a legacy address. The address starting with a "bc1..." is a bech32 SegWit address that can only be sent to from newer wallets that support bech32.

SEGWIT BLOG GUIDES

• [HowToToken.com - How To Send Bitcoin Faster And Cheaper Over SegWit Transactions]¹⁹
  
• [BTCManager.com - Electrum 3.0 is first Wallet to enable Bech32 SegWit Addresses]²⁰
  

PREVIOUS DAY'S THREADS
There's lots of excellent info in the comments of the previous threads:

• [Day 1: If every Bitcoin tx was a SegWit tx today, we'd have 8,000 tx blocks & the tx backlog would disappear. Tx fees would be almost non-existent once again. THE NEXT BITCOIN TX YOU MAKE, MAKE IT A SegWit TX. DOWNLOAD A SegWit COMPATIBLE WALLET AND OPEN A SegWit COMPATIBLE EXCHANGE ACCOUNT RIGHT NOW]²¹
  
• [Day 2: I will repost this guide daily until available solutions like Segwit & order batching are adopted, the mempool is empty once again, and transaction fees are low. You can help. Take action today]²²
  
• [Day 3: ARE YOU PART OF THE SOLUTION? News: Unconfirmed TX's @ 274K, more exchanges adding SegWit, Core prioritizes SegWit GUI]²³
  
• [Day 4: Unconfirmed TX's @ 174K]²⁴
  
• [Day 5: I will post this guide regularly until available solutions like SegWit & order batching are mass adopted, the mempool is empty once again, and transaction fees are low. User demand from this community can help lead to some big changes. Have you joined the /Bitcoin SegWit effort?]²⁵
  
• [Day 6: I will post this guide regularly until available solutions like SegWit & order batching are mass adopted, the mempool is empty once again, and tx fees are low. Refer a friend to SegWit today. There's no $10 referral offer, but you'll both get lower fees and help strengthen the BTC protocol]²⁶
  
• [Day 7: I will post this guide regularly until available solutions like SegWit & order batching are mass adopted, the mempool is empty once again, and tx fees are low. Refer a friend to SegWit today. There's no $10 referral offer, but you'll both get lower fees and help strengthen the BTC protocol]²⁷
  
• [Day 8: I will post this guide regularly until available solutions like SegWit & order batching are mass adopted, the mempool is empty once again, and TX fees are low. Do you want low TX fees? This is how you get low TX fees]²⁸
  

Credits to: Bastiat
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Day 9: I will post this guide regularly until available solutions like SegWit & order batching are mass adopted, the mempool is empty once again, and TX fees are low. Do you want low TX fees? This is how you get low TX fees
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Author: Darknicks
1: *he**lletgen*us.co*/*nderstanding-segw*t**egr*g*t*d-witn***/ 2: b**g.z**pay*com*how-zebpa**re*uced-bit*o*n-tr*n*action-fe***a*e24c*88598 3: **tc*inte**tal**com/saving-u**to-80-on-bit*oi*-*ra*sac*io***e*s-b**batching-payments-4*47ab**0*fb 4: https://bitinfocharts.com/comparison/bitcoin-transactionfees.html#3m 5: https://blockchain.info/unconfirmed-transactions 6: se*wit.part**c*a*ts/ 7: *acke**oon*com/b*tcoin**wner**y*u-*eed-to-***the*e-two-t*ings-ri*ht-now-a73122***3*4 8: bitc***core.o***en/seg**t_adoption* 9: https://www.reddit.com/Bitcoin/comments/7kherf/what_exchanges_batch_there_withdrawal_txs_to_save/ 10: https://www.reddit.com/Bitcoin/comments/7mk8az/day_5_i_will_post_this_guide_regularly_until/drv127w/?context=3 11: https://twitter.com/krakenfx/status/949547526847307776 12: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees/status/947994430606229504 13: **inb.in/**ees 14: ***tot*ken.com/expl*ined**e*d-bitcoin-fa**er-che*p*r*S*gWit-transa****ns 15: https://blog.coinbase.com/what-happened-at-the-satoshi-roundtable-6c11a10d8cdf 16: https://blog.coinbase.com/bitcoin-segwit-update-3ab0484e4526 17: btcma*age*.*o**elec***m-*-0-firs*-wallet-en*bl*-b**h32-s*gw*t**ddresses/ 18: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2347427.msg23976364#msg23976364 19: **wtotok*n.*om/expl*ined/send*bit**i*-fa**er-cheape**Se*Wit-tr*nsa*ti*n*/ 20: b*cm*nag*r.c*m/el***rum*3-0*f*rst-**llet-enabl*-be*h32-*egw*t-*ddresse*/ 21: https://www.reddit.com/Bitcoin/comments/7kyzxn/if_every_bitcoin_tx_was_a_SegWit_tx_today_wed/?utm_content=comments&utm_medium=user&utm_source=reddit&utm_name=frontpage 22: https://www.reddit.com/Bitcoin/comments/7l9tda/day_2_i_will_repost_this_guide_daily_until/ 23: https://www.reddit.com/Bitcoin/comments/7ljpf5/day_3_i_will_repost_this_guide_daily_until/ 24: https://www.reddit.com/Bitcoin/comments/7m6zd0/day_4_i_will_repost_this_guide_daily_until/ 25: https://www.reddit.com/Bitcoin/comments/7mk8az/day_5_i_will_post_this_guide_regularly_until/ 26: https://www.reddit.com/Bitcoin/comments/7na2xb/day_6_i_will_post_this_guide_regularly_until/ 27: https://www.reddit.com/Bitcoin/comments/7ojt5f/day_7_i_will_post_this_guide_regularly_until/ 28: https://www.reddit.com/Bitcoin/comments/7p9b1t/day_8_i_will_post_this_guide_regularly_until/
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