News wallets and exchanges Chinese Digital Currency Exchanges Huobi And OKCoin To List EtherStarting May 31, Ether will be offered on both the Huobi and OKCoin exchanges in China.The Huobi digital currency exchange has announced that Ether will be available for trading on its platform starting May 31, 2017, at 12:00 (GMT+8).The first of China’s “Big 3” digital currency exchanges to offer Ether, Huobi’s announcement on May 27 could potentially have already contributed to the recent spike in the price of Ether, which saw a same day recovery of 40 percent.Per Huobi’s official twitter account, “There are many aspects of Ethereum that could outperform bitcoin, such as scalability, cost, [and] speed.” OKCoin, Huobi’s main rival, will begin offering Ether at 22:00 (GMT+8) on May 31 as well; while Ether trading will officially commence on June 1.Last year’s decision by China’s Big 3 (BTCC being the third) to forgo listing Ether prompted many Chinese investors to use workaround trading strategies, such as buying bitcoin and using ShapeShift or other exchanges to convert it into Ether.

If true, this type of buying might have created an artificial relationship between bitcoin and Ether which could potentially dissolve now that Chinese consumers can purchase Ether directly.Huobi will implement Ether into its exchange offerings via the CNY/ETH trading pair.As a means to incentivize new users to buy Ether, traders of litecoin or bitcoin on Huobi will be reimbursed with 5mETH (0.0005 ETH).There will also be a 0.01 percent introductory commission fee in the days immediately following the sale, changing to a 0.05 percent commission fee on June 3.In the official Chinese announcement, Huobi cited the increased popularity of Ether and consistent calls by users to launch its trading as principal reasons for implementing the digital currency now.Incentives offered by Houbi: – From now [May 27] to May 31st, if you trade BTC or LTC, you can get 5mETH for free.– From May 31st 12:00 to June 3rd 12:00, ETH trading commission fee is 0.01%.– From June 3rd 12:00 to June 8th 12:00, ETH trading commission fee is 0.05%.

The ability for Chinese investors to begin trading in Ether is likely to cause its price to rise, as one of the world’s strongest crypto markets can now bolster the already impressive Ethereum market cap.ETHNews is commited to its Editorial Policy Like what you read?Follow us on Twitter @ETHNews_ to receive the latest on Huobi, OKCoin or other Ethereum wallets and exchanges news.You’ve probably read that the New Year brought glad tidings for Bitcoin.On January 2, the cryptocurrency hit a three-year high, with its value reaching as much as $1,033.But it doesn’t matter.In fact, it only serves to highlight some of the shortcomings of the currency.Blockchain advocates may breathlessly point out that the increase in value means that the collective worth of the currency totals as much as $16 billion.That sounds like a lot.As the Financial Times points out (paywall):For context, the Central Intelligence Agency put the planet’s stock of broad money—notes, coins, and various forms of bank account—at $82tn as of the end of 2014.

On the CIA figures, the value of bitcoins hashed into existence is similar to the broad money total for Uzbekistani soms.With apologies to Tashkent, the value of soms and bitcoins, and the number of people for whom they are relevant pieces of information in the world of modern finance, both round to zero.In other words, even valued at over $1,000, Bitcoin isn’t making too much of an impression in the grand scheme of things.bitcoin-qt alternativeIn fact, its rising price even hints at some of its troubles.The Register notes that the recent rise of Bitcoin may be attributed to the removal of high-value bank notes in India and Venezuela, but perhaps more significantly to the steady devaluation of the Chinese yuan.litecoin hash hardwareAs the New York Times reported last year, a small band of Chinese companies have effectively gained control of the currency.bitcoin expo london

As domestic currency value has fallen, so demand for the digital currency has risen, driving up its value.But such centralization is unwelcome for many users of the currency outside of China.The structure of Bitcoin means that if a single user mines the majority of the currency, then it is able to rewrite the blockchain if it sees fit and even veto changes to the underlying technology.bitcoin zebra payRecommended for You New Model of Evolution Finally Reveals How Cooperation Evolves China’s Central Bank Has Begun Cautiously Testing a Digital Currency Scientists Sharply Rebut Influential Renewable-Energy Plan The Unaffordable Urban Paradise Why Bad Things Happen to Clean-Energy Startups And change is what it probably needs.cambiar bitcoin a euroIf the currency is to grow—which, as the Financial Times argues, it clearly needs to—it will need a technical redesign.bitcoin opas

Currently, Bitcoin can only tolerate up to 7 transactions per second, which is tiny compared to the many thousands that, say, Visa can handle.Researchers believe that its capacity could be stretched to 27 transactions per second without a complete overhaul, but that's still small.The Chinese companies mining Bitcoin could, in theory, join forces to take advantage of the majority loophole.Given the country in which the most prolific miners operate, the news could raise fears about state control.None of which is helped particularly by the passing of an arbitrary $1,000 threshold.(Readmore: BBC, The Register, Financial Times (paywall), The New York Times, “Technical Roadblock Might Shatter Bitcoin Dreams,” “Bitcoin Transactions Get Stranded as Cryptocurrency Maxes Out”)This article was updated on January 4 to correct the current transaction rate of Bitcoin and clarify the majority rights of the currency.Become an MIT Technology Review Insider for in-depth analysis and unparalleled perspective.