Crypto Explodes - ETHEREUM Marketcap ($ 1,104,791,536 near peak) Flirts With One Billion

A Lot Has Happened In Crypto Since The Last Post - Dig In

ETHEREUM... the coin we have been following since near it's real beginnings has EXPLODED the perceptions of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain. In just the past 10 weeks.. ETH has increased in value 10X and more... and more is just around the corner for the `new bitcoin'. See and read the many links about ETHEREUM below and how REAL business is the new crypto catalyst.
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Winners
The Watershed Moment Has Arrived

Microsoft Azure Adds New Certified Blockchains
AND
More Of The Same
Adds for Augur, BitShares, Lisk, SYScoin, Slock.it, 
(Slock.it - building the Ethereum Computer)

Just One Method That BitShares Is Applying To The Technology

Update #7 NEW ADDS - Expanse, Radium, Monero - Influx, Tendermint, Algorythmix

Microsoft Certifies Ethereum

the biggest news of all

(from the link)

BlockApps, a startup providing Ethereum blockchain software for enterprises, has become the first certified offering on Microsoft Azure's Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) marketplace.

With its latest post, Microsoft also announced that asset exchange provider AlphaPoint and Internet-of-Things micropayments startup IOTA have joined its Azure BaaS platform.

Launched in October, Microsoft has been steadily adding providers to its blockchain testing environment for enterprises, though BlockApps' Strato platform is the first to gain certification.

Calling the news "a watershed moment", Marley Gray, director of blockchain strategy at Microsoft, said:

"The simple, rapid and flexible one-click deploy of Ethereum blockchain architecture launched on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace enables enterprises and developers to quickly deploy a certified blockchain environment on Azure."

Gray added that he believes the offering will expedite enterprise blockchain development, as it enables enterprises to develop proofs-of-concept (PoCs) and scale to full production systems.

ETHEREUM.ORG

the website

The ETHEREUM PROJECT ON FACEBOOK

for the very latest ETH news

ETHEREUM On Wikipedia

for the short and real history

The ETHEREUM Whitepaper

the Github must read

ETHEREUM PROJECT ON TWITTER

for the instant communications

The Augur Beta Program Is Up
this prediction market will be a winner IMO .... more about Prediction Markets as two OTHER website owners of Prediction Markets interview each other. (This is a YouTube link.) - I also personally play in Spark Profit and Preditit.Org a stockmarket/commodities/btc marketplace and a political prediction market respectively. 

Early Warnings To Buy ETHEREUM
months ago... much like this website

Vitalik Buterin Charts ETHEREUM's Future In Coinbase Meeting
how long before ETH is available via Coinbase? how much more awareness and marketcap?

ETHEREUM Founder Gets Role At Toronto Stock Exchange
the big money does not want to be left out

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Meanwhile... At Bitcoin

Factom And Bitcoin To Secure The Future?

real business deals by Factom - Factom's Very Active Twitter Account and yet More About Factom

Another First - Real Estate Sold Via BTC
happening in Denmark... good details... short article

More About The Upcoming Hard Fork For Bitcoin - And The 5,000 Dollar Bet
that it all works out fine... hmm.

then... less than a week later... this

OR... Is THIS The Hard Fork Solution - Segregated Witness
sounds like a spy novel.... relocating some outside the chain

Another Look At The On-Going Bitcoin Debate

with examples of other `hard forks' that science has delivered

And, while they have removed links to the stories.... for one day... during the ETH surge... they were no longer accepting BTC at the Microsoft store.

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Meanwhile  As Microsoft ..... Gets Into The Blockchain Business

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Speaking Of Real Business

Stellar Coin To Bring Banking To Nigeria Population
it's REAL Business that will be the key to coins and the blockchain - here's another `Underbanked' Story and how the blockchain will be vital for transformation

ETHEREUM Used by Ridesharing Start Up
real business via ETH and `Arcade City'

And Airbnb Is Considering Using The Blockchain Too
quick read... part of the theme you are reading
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(Smart Links)
Other Coins Of Utility To Smart Contracts/Blockchain

Counterparty
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Other Crypto Winners You May Have Missed

How BitWage Works
could this be the movement that finally cripples the Fiat dominance? - the evolution of Payroll is right. More About Bitwage. Crypto is moving into employment big time - Gigs For Crypto - BitHire...

UK Treasury Says Crypto Has LOW Laundering Usage
could limit negative perceptions a bit

Ultimately... Why Criminals Can't Hide Behind Crypto/Bitcoin
not all proven as of yet IMO... but interesting

Tether.To
The way to some Crypto via Fiat
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The Bitcoin/Crypto BARF
One Coin - Much Scam
shit coins and shit developers continue to pepper the industry
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The Bitcoin/Crypto STEW

The Day The MS Store Didn't Take Bitcoin
in some circles called a trial balloon IMO

The Big Visions Of The NEM (New Economy Movement) Coin
new Proof Of Importance concept out to beat BTC

Are Digital Versions Of Fiat Coming?
Australian Central Bank Studies Idea

Billed As A Java Version Of ETHEREUM - LISK
2nd largest ICO ever... and yes... I bought in too.
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Yep...you just read the 40 hottest links in Crypto
Why Not Share Them?
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The Ethereum Sensation II

The surge in marketcap at Ethereum http://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/views/all/ has put it into uncontested 2nd place as we do this posting. Rumors of the marketcap exceeding BTC are not impossible to find (50 dollars a coin)...  and, since a handful of coins are up since the Hearn BTC analysis - are they the ones to inherent the scene? Will the comparison for coins be to ETH's value soon as the ETH fiat market grows too?..... Which all belies... what happens to BTC?
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The Ethereum Sensation II
Here's the Ethereum Sensation One Link From August 31st, 2015

And, here's all the specific updates

2016 - Predictions... and It's all Ethereum

the cat is out of the bag... it's game on

It's Beyond Businesses Using - Governments Are Getting Interested

how long before weak third world economies do the switch? Is that why Scot Coin is also doing well?

Ethereum Developer Vitalek's List Of Crypto Involvement
the markets guru is Vitalik Buterin, and investing where he puts his time is important

YES - Doge Coin IS Linked To Ethereum (in a way)
and Doge went WAY up in value for realizing the future?

Is Ethereum Going To Power The Internet Of Things?

could the `things' make MONEY?

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Once 100 ETH = 1 BTC... can the direction be anywhere but UP? How low will the ratio go? Will there be TWO value centers?
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More Coin News
Coinbase Announces - First 1 Million Spent By Consumers On Shift BTC Card
so, the answer to where can BTC be spent is ... where ever VISA is accepted.

The 40 TRILLION Dollar Supply Chain
the next market that the blockchain will be disrupting

And Finally
Goodman Sachs Says It's Examining If Capitalism Works
and perhaps, currency fluctuation?
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The Hearn Bitcoin Analysis Shakes Market

It has already been an eventful 2016 in nearly all financial markets as you know... most markets have taken significant hits to marketcap, While BTC Soared In The First Days Of 16...and that includes Cryptocurrencies in general too. But, now, already,  there are significant new patterns too - such as the surge in certain fiat values despite BTC's volatility - and yes... we are speaking about the Ethereum fiat value spike (to 2.22 as of this post) as folks search anew for a new `Bitcoin' - to replace a flawed product as it now stands - perhaps...... I'll let Hearn explain it all via this link and the excerpt below: Hearn Leaves BTC - Selling All His Coins - Trashing The Coin While Exiting (Jan14th)

"From the start, I’ve always said the same thing: Bitcoin is an experiment and like all experiments, it can fail. So don’t invest what you can’t afford to lose. I’ve said this in interviews, on stage at conferences, and over email. So have other well known developers like Gavin Andresen and Jeff Garzik.
But despite knowing that Bitcoin could fail all along, the now inescapable conclusion that it has failed still saddens me greatly. The fundamentals are broken and whatever happens to the price in the short term, the long term trend should probably be downwards. I will no longer be taking part in Bitcoin development and have sold all my coins.

Why has Bitcoin failed? It has failed because the community has failed. What was meant to be a new, decentralised form of money that lacked “systemically important institutions” and “too big to fail” has become something even worse: a system completely controlled by just a handful of people." 
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Immediately... the price tanked from 430ish to 360ish - and every follow up MSM article made the coin value even more reactive - both ways... as many articles pointed out it was the 90th declaration of BTC being dead..Bitcoin Isn't Dead.... YET... and many point out that now the `community' will have some fire under its ass to make the needed changes.... we will see.
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Since the Hearn analysis, the coin generating the most trading interest and that seems to have the most development potential and everyone's favorite... Ethereum... here's some recent ETH links to get you up to speed:

Will The Number Of Ethereum Coins Be Capped?

and

Here's The Numbers
and another of the crowd favorites of late is
Factom

Oh, on the same day as Hearn made his announcement.... Cryptsy officially offered up an explanation by Big Vern indicating the loss of 10,000 BTC and 300,000LTC in a wallet theft in 2014.... at times now the website seems dead.... over 10K BTC loss by investors.... including about .09BTC by yours truly.

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MORE Crypto News

The On-Going Rumor Of Crackdowns On BTC Coming - This One Because Of The Paris Attacks

And for those who say ... who controls the info controls the news and flow will note the Sale Of CoinDesk - a major source of BTC info and analysis.

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Buckle Your Seatbelts, 2016 Looks Wild