Hi everyone. My name is Nick and welcome to @Sobuka. I would like to thank my current followers for hitting that Like/Upvote button but for new folks considering finding more information relating to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency news on the Southern Hemisphere, congratulations because you are at the right place and time! You can subscribe on YouTube or follow me here on Steemit.

General

Today I will go over a multitude of news from my previous Bitcoin Flash report, but in greater detail. Before I do, let’s start with the western region. Here in the United States, we appear to have three groups of cryptocurrency people that include short-term traders, buy and hold people, and speculators. These groups influence the price of Bitcoin. Let’s say for example, the price of Bitcoin were to fall or climb to a very crazy number, we can then attribute that to short-term speculators. However if you notice when the price of Bitcoin stops falling, we can attribute that to the buy and hold people. What’s been fascinating to me is the recent talk about how more gold investors are getting into Bitcoin, which I think is amazing. In the past, I’ve thought of gold people as long-term holders on any asset not just gold. So I think this group can add more cushion into the market given the volatile cryptocurrency space. And now with Bitcoin breaking its resistance of $3k (USD), which to every Bitcoin investor is good news, it’s even great to see new and stronger investors entering this space.

Argentina

So when it comes to the Latin American region, folks are of course excited and glad that the price of Bitcoin keeps on going up and why not, because that increases their purchasing power from buying things ranging from diapers to sports cars. And so what that brings is a strong need or demand to use Bitcoin in commerce. As a result of this and many other changes in the crypto space, Argentina is letting a company open up their first ever hybrid Bitcoin ATMs which I myself have never heard off. So imagine you walking up to an ATM one day and try to decide if you want to withdraw cash from your checking account or bitcoin wallet. How amazing is that? I know here in the US we definitely do not have that feature which surprises me because we are supposedly “advanced” next to Japan, well depending on who you ask anyways. But I don’t even think the Japanese have this type of ATMs as well. One time in the US, I was trying to find a Bitcoin terminal. I was lucky to find one close to my location as normally these things are nowhere to be found.. The only thing it would let me do is buy Bitcoins which I wanted. But i avoided using the silly machine because it tried to charge me 15%. I do not know if any of you guys listening to this have experienced anything like this before. Quite frankly I don't even know or care if that machine still exist as shortly afterwards, I found out the Americans have Coinbase, which is just an online exchange that offers competitive rates. [1]

But anyway, this Argentine company that is trying to install the ATMs, their name is Profile. They plan to open up 250 of these ATMs in the northern part of Argentina. Supposedly access to cash is a problem in Argentina, so allowing Bitcoin holders to cash out their Bitcoins, could solve this problem. But as the price of Bitcoin continues to go up, I think more people might be reluctant to just wait and see how high their Bitcoins will go up in Value. I also think what this company is doing is interesting on many angles, and we may see more companies try to mimic this model in Latin America. Profile is obviously solving a need in Argentina. But at the same time if Profile is able to acquire more Bitcoins from people that need cash to spend, well then Profile has the option to cash out those Bitcoins at a later date for more profit if Bitcoin continues to go up and up in value. Only time will tell. The company can as well set up a Bitcoin exchange and compete with other Bitcoin entities over in Argentina. So at the end, this sounds like a great fit for the people and the company assuming the people choose to withdraw cash. But I also want to emphasize another good thing about Bitcoin. The Bitcoin market has sufficient liquidity which gives Profile the ability to sell Bitcoin for cash at anytime. [1]

Venezuela

The situation in Venezuela on the other hand just seems to be getting worst everyday with riots, people starving, and leaving the country. The Bitcoin situation is much different over there. There are people in Venezuela trying to mine Bitcoins because the country’s currency is not strong enough to buy the necessary goods and services which is a sad thing. With the introduction of Bitcoin Cash, we may see more private entities in Venezuela try to create this new version of Bitcoin with mining equipment as the amount of work to produce Bitcoin Cash is less than the regular Bitcoin. But it’s easier to mine Bitcoins in Venezuela than compared to most places in the world because electricity is free which sounds exciting, but as we see in Venezuela, socialism has its costs. The Venezuelan government will arrest anyone if caught mining as it’s a form of stealing. The country of Bolivia also has similar laws where one can be arrested if found mining Bitcoin. Now there is a particular story that I’d like to share with you guys of one college kid mining Bitcoins in Venezuela. He makes about $3.5K (USD) per month using computers and buying graphics cards on a regular schedules. But he takes a risk of being caught which includes jail time, but if he does not mine what other option does he have but starve. I had to calculate this and $3.5K (USD) is about 8 times the monthly income of the average person in Venezuela. So at least the kid is actually doing pretty good. However, I personally do not advise any of you guys to take that risk. [3]

Mexico

And if we go over to Mexico, we are seeing more open, free entrepreneurial markets. I was watching the Keiser Report on RT (Russian Television) hosted by Max Keiser. They did a special sometime ago on how there are growing tech companies and entrepreneurial activities in Mexico city. But with any new company or opportunity comes trying to figure out how one’s business will manage at the beginning stage. One such company is Bitso, a Bitcoin exchange. There was a customer who basically tried to trade his Ethereum tokens for Bitcoin on the exchange because he was trying to take advantage of a extremely good deal at a rare exchange rate at the time. When he tried to make the exchange, he saw a really good market price and submitted the order. But it resulted in him receiving half as much Bitcoins than he expected. And of course he was pissed as I would be as well. And I guess the customer himself knew how good this exchange rate was and being suspicious about it, he even took screenshots and made a video of the incident. So he can at least provide Bitso with evidence. All I have to say about this situation to everyone out there is be careful. A lot of these exchanges have not reached 5 years old or past kindergarten. They are still going through growing pains and security issues. So one lesson we can take from this incident is if you see something that looks suspicious, at least document it. Further good news is that Bitso is trying to work things out with the customer or has corresponded with him to request more information. [4]

Latin America

And for the rest of the Latin American region, they are still trying to get through the ransomware incident where a hacker put computers and systems at hostage by requesting the companies pay in Bitcoin. A programmer by the name of Quartz Collins created a bot or computer program to search through which I think would be the Bitcoin ledger or blockchain. The bot has at least helped him figure out that the hackers have already withdrawn money from their wallets. So basically at that point, it's difficult to now get those funds back. The interesting thing about this hacking incident is that it affected a majority of computers outside of the US where most of them are running old operating systems and/or expired updates. So hopefully this incident will simply incentivize companies to install security patches and be up to date with IT. Given the growth of cryptocurrencies, i won't be surprised to see more cyber criminal behaviors as well as a need for public and private security, computer services. [11]

Kenya and South Africa

Moving our attention away from Latin America, we now go to Africa where Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies continue to grow. A South Asian Pacific company known as Bitfrics is planning to open up several exchanges in Africa with the first most likely exchange to be located in Kenya. The company will be competing with the established African Bitcoin exchange, BitPesa. Bitfrics plans is to add 100k new customers in Africa within the next 18 months. The company’s founder is excited about the idea. Me personally guys, I think this is a good thing for Africans because it will provide more competition within the Bitcoin environment which in turn translates to lower Bitcoin prices for Africans. For example in some African Bitcoin exchanges, one can expect to pay a $300.00 premium per Bitcoin. [7] There is also more good news but coming from South Africa where one of the top financial government officers has praised Bitcoin for having potential. I wrote in a recent article about a testbed experiment the government sought to implement. The testbed situation was suppose to allow the government to experiment with cryptocurrencies to help them decide on its potential and to understand how it works. It is still unclear whether the official was hinting on any results from the testbed. [8]

India

We now fly from South Africa to India where recently Indian Bitcoin exchanges were closed for almost three days due to the August 1st hard fork, where the Bitcoin network was offline due to Segwit update. The good news now is that the exchanges have been up for the past couple of days. And at least one from what I understand is promising pre-August 1st Bitcoin holders Bitcoin Cash. That company is Zebpay. Though a majority of Bitcoin exchanges around the world have decided not to support Bitcoin Cash, we might likely see more exchanges start to change their minds by giving pre-August 1st holders of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash. So we will wait and see if anymore exchanges will continue to support Bitcoin Cash adoption. [9]

South Korea

And if we fly to South Korea, we see stores using their own equipment to mine Bitcoin instead of focusing on selling their products to customers. Could you guys imagine walking into a Radio Shack or electronic store and as soon as you got in there, it's hotter than outside?! Well this happened with one such major retailer whose name is Yongsan Electronics Market. It just banned folks from mining Bitcoins at their locations. As I mentioned customers visiting the electronics section kept on complaining that the rooms were too hot. But as we see in China and surrounding regions that Bitcoin mining activities is huge. This is not likely to stop as cryptocurrencies become more popular. [10]

Australia

And lastly let’s not leave out Australia. There appears to be a little bit of Bitcoin-mania in this region. For example, a Melbourne-based Bitcoin exchange has recently received funding to expand their operations to support not only Bitcoin but Ethereum and Ripple as well. They have received funding from both Alium Capital and Dominet Venture Partners. Ladies and gentlemen, there is no doubt that we will see more expansions like this in Australia. [6]

That’s all I have for today folks. If you like this content, please click the Like button or Upvote on Steemit. You can follow me here on Steemit or subscribe on YouTube. For more deeper content, below are sources.

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Relevant Sources:

[1]Argentina

Title: Cash Dispensers for Bitcoins

Link: http://www.perfil.com/economia/cajeros-para-bitcoins.phtml

If you like this article, you may be interested in the following Steemit posts:

"Bitcoin Countdown. 11 Days Till Aug 1st. Whites-Only BTC-Like Coin. Panama BTC ATMs. Egypt Shoots BTC Rumor". https://steemit.com/southafrica/@sobuka/bitcoin-countdown-11-days-till-aug-1st-whites-only-btc-like-coin-panama-btc-atms-egypt-shoots-btc-rumor.

[2]Mexico

Title: Mexican Bitcoin Exchange Bitso Offers One Rate, Delivers Another

Link: https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/mexican-bitcoin-exchange-bitso-offers-one-rate-delivers-another/

[3]Venezuela

Title: Mining in Venezuela

Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/01/bitcoin-mining-goes-from-enthusiasts-to-giant-enterprises.html

If you like this article, you may be interested in the following Steemit posts:

"v006 - With Bytecoin (BCN) Up 200% So... How to mine Bytecoin?!". https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@sobuka/v006-with-bytecoin-bcn-up-200-so-how-to-mine-bytecoin. "North Korean Bitcoin Miner. WTF?! South Korea Helps Prop Up Bitcoin Prices". https://steemit.com/korea/@sobuka/north-korean-bitcoin-miner-wtf-south-korea-helps-prop-up-bitcoin-prices.

[4]Venezuela

Title: Worsening Inflation In Venezuela Continues to Drive People Toward Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies

Link: http://www.newsbtc.com/2017/07/31/worsening-inflation-venezuela-continues-drive-people-toward-bitcoin-cryptocurrencies/

[5]Venezuela

Title: Could Bitcoin Help Venezuela in crisis?

Link: https://cryptoinsider.com/bitcoin-help-venezuela-crisis/

If you like this article, you may be interested in the following Steemit posts:

"Venezuela Hopes to Legalize Bitcoin. Bitcoin in Latin America Series". https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@sobuka/venezuela-hopes-to-legalize-bitcoin-bitcoin-in-latin-america-series.

[6]Australia

Title: Australia's New Bitcoin Exchange

Link: https://www.coindesk.com/australian-bitcoin-exchange-raises-815k-series-funding/

[7]Kenya

Title: Belfrics to Launch Bitcoin Exchanges Across Africa

Link: https://cointelegraph.com/news/belfrics-to-launch-bitcoin-exchanges-across-africa

If you like this article, you may be interested in the following Steemit posts:

"Bitcoin Used As Toilet Paper in Kenya". https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@sobuka/bitcoin-used-as-toilet-paper-in-kenya.

[8]South Africa

Title: South African Finance Minister on Bitcoin Future: Lot of Potential

Link: https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-african-finance-minister-on-bitcoin-future-lot-of-potential

If you like this article, you may be interested in the following Steemit posts:

"Full Show. Bitcoin South Africa, North & South Korea, and Bolivia. Free At Last". https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@sobuka/7-27-2017-full-show-bitcoin-south-africa-north-and-south-korea-and-bolivia-free-at-last.

[9]India

Title: Bitcoin Exchanges in India Suspended Operations for 36 Hours

Link: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/on-july-31-bitcoin-exchanges-in-india-suspended-operations-for-36-hours/article9803008.ece

If you like this article, you may be interested in the following Steemit posts:

"Biggest Bitcoin Cash Losers - Ignorant, Poor, and "Tied". BCC Killers. India Panel." https://steemit.com/bitcoincash/@sobuka/usd700-bitcoin-cash-biggest-bitcoin-cash-losers-ignorant-and-poor-india-panel. "Let's Talk About Segwit Baby: India, AntShares, Bitcoin, PMC Ounce, and FOMO." https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@sobuka/let-s-talk-about-segwit-baby-india-antshares-bitcoin-pmc-ounce-and-fomo.

[10]South Korea

Title: South Korean Market Giant Bans Bitcoin Mining Amidst Electricity Outages

Link: https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korean-market-giant-bans-bitcoin-mining-amidst-electricity-outages

If you like this article, you may be interested in the following Steemit posts: