Scrutinizing Auroracoin
People at the center of Iceland's tiny cryptocurrency, cryptography, and tech scenes are questioning the good intentions of Baldur Friggjar Odinsson, the pseudonymous creator of Auroracoin. The Litecoin-based coin has become the darling of Western media in recent days thanks to its free "Airdrop" distribution to Icelandic citizens on March 25th, and has....
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Icelanders will be lining up to sell their auroracoins. Photo via Matt Shalvatis. Many people are pointing to Auroracoin's position at third place on CoinMarketCap.com as proof of this new coin's success, but the reality is that it could be setting itself up for disaster. The coin made headlines when it surpassed Litecoin's market cap, but Auroracoin is not actually closing in on a $1 billion market cap. In fact, the real value of all the auroracoins currently on the market could be lower than $10 million. This would still put it in the top 25, but we could see it drop even lower after the....
Resurgent regional cryptocurrency Auroracoin debuted Iceland’s first-ever cryptocurrency exchange, ISX, allowing the people of Iceland to trade Auroracoin and krona. This week, the Auroracoin Foundation debuted ISX.is, Iceland’s first cryptocurrency exchange. ISX allows the citizens of Iceland to trade króna for cryptocurrency, in this case Auroracoin. Amid a renewed set of financial scandals in Iceland exposed by the Panama Papers, Auroracoin has made a comeback. For the last year, the Auroracoin Foundation has made significant adoption pushes including a brand awareness advertising....
Advertisements for Auroracoin, the Icelandic cryptocurrency, have begun to appear at bus stops all around the country. The advertisement, consisting only of “Auroracoin” in text and the coin’s logo on a white background. The advertisements are part of a public awareness campaign by the Auraráð, or Auroracoin, Foundation. According to Pétur Árnason, Auraráð Foundation chairman, these advertisements are meant to lay the groundwork for a resurgence of the Icelandic cryptocurrency later this year. “We have been preparing for Auroracoin promotion in Iceland for over a year now as we wanted to....
We reported in mid-February on Auroracoin, a 50% premined altcoin that will be distributed to everyone in Iceland on March 25. Auroracoin takes the chance. While the cryptocoin community was focusing all of its attention on Mt. Gox, Auroracoin’s value has suddenly taken off. In one 24-hour period this week, the value of the coin rose by more than 300%, giving it the third-highest market cap of any digital coins, behind just Bitcoin and Litecoin. At the time of writing, Auroracoin has a market cap of just more than $196 million on a total supply of 10.5 million premined coins. Each....
After weeks of anticipation, Iceland's attempted national digital currency auroracoin commenced its Airdrop - the distribution of 31.8 AUR to interested citizens - at midnight local time on 25th March as part of stage one of its three-part launch. With experts weighing in on auroracoin's novel marketing approach, successors adopting its distribution model and speculators hovering for quick gains, auroracoin's moment of truth had seemingly arrived. Opinions were varied as to what the response to its ambitious launch would be, whether Icelanders would embrace the currency, ignore it or....