JAMB saga: Bitcoin chief awards Mmesoma Ejikeme full scholarship to master degree - ITREALMS

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The girl in the midst of the controversial highest mark scored at the 2023 Joint Admission and Matriculations Board (JAMB) examination, Miss Joy Mmesoma Ejikeme has been awarded a full scholarship upto masters degree, reports ITREALMS.

An Igbo businessman and philanthropist, Gaius Chibueze also known as Bitcoin chief on social media, has revealed that his company, Voice of the East, has offered Miss Mmesoma Ejikeme full scholarship upto Masters degree level.

Weownomy rebrands bitcoin cash to eCash Coin - ITREALMS

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Weownomy has rebranded its bitcoin cash, ABC, as eCash, reports ITREALMS.

Confirming this, the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Weownomy Ssemakula Peter Luyima, said that the world is currently in the midst of a technological revolution, hence technology has taken over "our lives and it's become difficult to imagine life without the internet, social media, or mobile phones."

Understanding bitcoin in festive season - ITREALMS

Commentary@ITREALMS:

Bitcoin concept was conceived barely a decade ago, and it remains as one of the most misunderstood yet widely known cryptocurrency. Reluctance to embrace this electronic financial transaction system locally is based on misinformation and controversies whose basis is ignorance about bitcoins. This comfort is not new because the world had to overcome a financial system, which tied gold to the dollar. The festive season comes with a fair share of smiles and economic strain. This is an opportunity to enjoy while managing finances well. Bitcoins not only enable users to create this balance, but it is also an excellent moment to explore inexhaustible options this festive season.

Bitcoin is decentralized and is controlled by its users

One of the most interesting bits about bitcoins is that the digital currency is not controlled by any government or banking system. Transactions can be done over the internet anywhere in the world. The decentralized system gives users the freedom to control their finances. Paxful, (https://bit.ly/2EHx8cM) a global peer-to-peer bitcoin marketplace, boasts more than 6 million trades in Africa for 2018 and reports that African users are leading on the website’s activity. “Overall Africa is still our fastest growing market and it’s amazing to see despite the challenges that the African people are going through politically and socially, they are still leading the adaption of P2PFinance,” says Ray Youssef, CEO, and Co-founder of Paxful.

You can use bitcoins to buy things that matter

Bitcoin is digital cash that you can use to purchase products both at physical or at online stores. Gift cards account for 64% of Paxful’s trade. You can purchase gift cards and surprise someone with an “Ugly Sweater”. Alternatively, Xbox fanatics can explore the existing products on Microsoft stores by getting discounted gift cards on the platform. Put a smile on someone’s face with bitcoins! There are more than 300 payment methods to buy and sell bitcoins in Paxful. This means users can shop gifts for themselves and their loved ones at their convenience using bitcoins or the money acquired from the trade.

Bitcoin can be used for payment locally and globally

Bitcoin should be treated as an emerging concept in e-commerce. The rationale is to showcase a transparent alternative to the traditional banking systems that have additional fees. According to Paxful COO and Co-Founder, Artur Schaback, “We have a global user base which opens up the opportunity to our users to do business with anyone and anywhere. People buy bitcoin in order to facilitate commerce with it locally or globally. Our job is to make Paxful a platform where users can invest in bitcoin easily and securely wherever they are based.”

Give the gift that keeps on giving

Bitcoin is one of the best things that you can give your family and loved ones this holiday season. The mathematical algorithms on which they were founded should not be used to describe the transactions. Also, terms such as blockchains, mining, bitcoin wallet, (https://bit.ly/2P52Z7X) and cryptocurrency should not scare anyone. A good sign is that financial literacy institutions are taking time to train people and organize workshops that will continue to enlighten the local Mwananchi about bitcoins. From peer-to-peer marketplaces like Paxful to bitcoin exchanges, everyone can enjoy the benefits bitcoins can bring. If researched properly and looked into with enough enthusiasm and open-mindedness, bitcoin can be the perfect gift and currency to send and spend through the festivities.

*Contributed by Paxful:

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Bitcoin fraud hits MapleChange, website goes down - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

Reports reaching our newsroom indicates that a small bitcoin exchange based in Alberta, Canada, has gone offline, over a purported hacking, reports ITREALMS.

Information available at press time showed that MapleChange’s Twitter page went offline, shortly after it reportedly shared a Tweet “[had] no more funds to pay anyone back.”

According to CCN.com in the way of an explanation, the exchange had, approximately one hour before deleting its Twitter page, said that a “bug” had enabled “some people” to withdraw all of the funds on the exchange.

Educated readers may recall a time when Mt. Gox claimed similar problems. The handling of the two cases by their administrators was dramatically different. In the case of Mt. Gox, attempts were made to repair the damage, although they resulted in worse damage. They went so far as to near-nakedly manipulate the Bitcoin price in an attempt to recoup lost customer funds before anyone found out.

Nenye Dom/GEE with additional report from CCN.com

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Internet fraudster bags 1 month jail over N1.5m bitcoin scam

ITREALMS:

The Enugu State High Court has sentenced an internet fraudster, Omokaro Osamudianmen Precious, to a one-month imprisonment over N1.5 million scam on Bitcoin trading, reports ITRealms.

Bitcoin, ITRealms gathered, is a cryptocurrency and worldwide payment system. It is the first decentralized digital currency, as the system works without a central bank or single administrator.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), ITRealms recollects, had arraigned Omokaro Osamudianmen Precious, before the court on one count charge bordering of cheating and obtaining the amount under false pretences.

According to the Head of Media and Publicity, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC on Wednesday, accused Omokaro as posing as a genuine business man that deals in Bitcoin.

The anti-graft agency said Omokaro had promised the victim through her brother a 10 per cent interest on her capital investment within one month.

The presiding judge, EFCC said, ruled and ordered the fraudster to be jailed for committing the offence contrary to section 388 of CAP 30, Criminal Code Law, Enugu State and punishable under Section 388 of the same Law.

The count read, “That you, Omokaro Osamudianmen sometime in 2018, within the jurisdiction of the High Court of Enugu State, by means of fraudulent trick obtained the sum of N1,545,000.00 from one Ifunanya Afam Okonkwo, when you presented yourself to her as a genuine business man with a promise to pay her interest and return her capital within one month and thereby committed an offence.”

However, he pleaded guilty to the one count charge preferred against him by admitting to having committed the crime.

In view of the accused person’s plea, the prosecuting counsel Mbachie Innocent applied to review the facts of the matter presented by the prosecuting witness Abdulraman Babakano and urged the court to convict the accused.

The defense counsel, Kakaan Desmond on the other hand pleaded with his lordship to temper justice with mercy since the accused is a first offender and did not waste the court’s time by admitting to the crime.

Nenye Dom/ED, Ops with additional report by ChannelsTV

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BitCoin: Avoidable unsustainable bubble - Ajijola

ITREALMS:

The BitCoin fever currently raving in the global cyber space has been described as an unsustainable bubble to be avoided, reports ITRealms.

A Commissioner at the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace (GCSC), Alhaji Abdul-Hakeem Ajijola made this assertion while recently discussing “New Money, Cryptocurrencies and Block-Chain Technology,” noting the importance of being wary of “anything that sounds too good to be true, or that seems to disobey basic economic rules.”

According to him, money is a "trusted intermediary of value" be it commodities, cowries, gold, paper, plastic or digital (virtual), defining cryptocurrency or crypto currency, as a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange that uses cryptography to secure its transactions, to control the creation of additional units, and to verify the transfer of assets.

Ajijola who is also the chairman of Consultancy Support Services Limited, noted that stakeholders should lower their expectations and mostly not expect to get rich with BitCoin, or any emerging technology by itself, without an underlying value proposition.

“They present opportunities that are high risk, albeit with high rewards, but remember that the probabilities are that more will fail than succeed,” he said.

Ajijola stressed that users of BitCoin have no recourse if they lose their cryptocurrency wallet and especially the private crypto keys, which would likely reside on their computer or phone. If you lose your phone, or computer hard disk crashes, the crypto-money is there but you have no access to it. Money that cannot be accessed, or to otherwise used, has no value.

He posited that the BitCoin bubble, as manifest by the incredible rate of increase in assigned value without any "apparent" underlying economic logic, seems to be driven by "emotion" provides significant cause for concern.

Therefore, he believes that the bottom line is that cryptocurrencies are here to stay, and we must exploit the opportunities that Block-Chain technology presents.

“However, BitCoin is the biggest bubble so far, and my sense is that it is unsustainable, and therefore BitCoin should be avoided, for now,” he said.

Ajijola emphasized that there are also valid concerns about the use of cryptocurrencies, and BitCoin in particular, to facilitate criminals, and illegal activity.

“This is a cause for concern across the spectrum of all currencies and moral codes. Conversations will likely continue, on the acceptability of BitCoin as money in our indigenous context. However, we may be able to quickly achieve a consensus norm that BitCoin, or other similar Block-Chain based infrastructures are acceptable as payment networks.

“More importantly, we should avoid unbridled speculation types of investment in BitCoin, or other cryptocurrencies, because we believe that others will enter and push the price higher. Such speculation is, arguably, a classic case of a pyramid scheme, which goes against our indigenous values, religious principles and moral codes. However, I am inclined to accept it as a transactional medium, when the need arises and remain cautious on the speculative aspects,” he said.

The cyber security expert, further advocated focus on the ‘trusted intermediary’ nature of BitCoin and other cryptocurrency networks, and avoid the questionable ‘pyramid investment opportunities.’

“We must seek to legitimately exploit the underlying Block-Chain technology, and this is the direction the world is going. The world is adopting Block-Chain technology across a broad swathe of activities and sectors. Thus, let us not lose sight of the larger opportunities by unduly focussing on the short-term prospects of BitCoin,” he said.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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