Registration Form March 2016 Events &Amp: Fill & Download for Free

MIT Pune will take admission on the basis of MHT-CET only.this is a new system introducedState Common Entrance Test CellMHT CET 2016 - Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) Maharashtra State will conduct MH CET/MHT CET 2016 for first year B.E/B. Tech programmes on May 5, 2016. Admissions to Maharashtra state engineering colleges were done through JEE Main for the year 2014 and 2015, and for the upcoming academic year 2016, DTE will conduct its own, one single combined “Common Entrance Test” MHT-CET 2016 for all Health Sciences, Engineering and Pharmacy degree courses. Students, who seek admissions to undergraduate engineering courses in the state of Maharashtra should have cleared class XII or equivalent and should meet all the eligibility requirements to be eligible for MHT CET 2016.Exam Name: Maharashtra Common Entrance TestCommonly called as: MHT CETExam type: State levelExam category: UG Entrance ExamConducting Authority: Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) MaharashtraMH CET/MHT CET was the annual entrance exam conducted by the Maharashtra Government to provide admissions to various undergraduate engineering aspirants in courses offered by the colleges in Maharashtra till 2013. After 2013, the exam was scrapped and admissions were given through JEE Main performances in the year 2014 and 2015.Interested candidates can check below all the details pertaining to MHT CET 2016:MHT CET 2016 Eligibility Criteria:Applicants, who wish to appear for MHT CET 2016 are required to have passed 10+2 from any recognized Board in India.The candidates are required to have obtained a minimum aggregate of 50% marks in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.Minimum marks requirement for SC/ST/OBC candidates is 45%.MHT CET 2016 Selection Procedure:Selection procedure in MHT CET 2016 will be done on the basis of the applicants’ performances and ranking in MHT CET 2016. Depending on the top scores, candidates will be given the colleges of preference.MHT CET 2016 Paper Pattern:The entrance exam will have three papers. The candidates are required to appear for all the three.First paper: Physics and Chemistry (100 marks each)Second paper: Botany and Zoology (100 marks each)Third paper: Mathematics (100 marks)All the questions will be of objective type and there will be no negative marking.MHT CET 2016 Application procedure:Application form can be filled online only.Applicants from open category have to pay Rs. 800 + Rs. 60 (Bank Comission), while Rs. Rs. 600 + Rs. 60 (Bank Comission) is the application fee for Reserved Category Candidates.Applicants have to take the print out of confirmation page generated after completion of MHT CET 2016 Application Form. Candidates need not to submit or send the print out of confirmation page or filled in application form.If the payment is done by Bank Challan, candidates are advised to keep a copy of bank challan and MHT CET 2016 Registration Confirmation Page print out.Note: Candidates are strictly suggested to fill in complete and correct information in the MHT CET 2016 application form.MHT CET 2016 Exam Centres: Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) Maharashtra will soon publish the list of all Exam Centres where MH CET/MHT CET 2016 will be conducted. Applicants will preferably be given the exam centers of their choice. As soon as DTE provides the list of MHT CET Exam Centers, it will be provided for applicants’ reference.MHT CET 2016 Important Dates:EventDateOnline Registration & filling of Application FormMarch 1, 2016 to March 28, 2016Schedule for Fee Acceptance at SBI Bank, through Computer Generated ChallanMarch 2, 2016 to March 31, 2016Issue of Admit Cards (Online)April 25, 2016 to April 30, 2016Date of ExaminationMay 5, 2016Centre of examinationAs indicated in Admit CardPeriod for submission of certificates/documents which will be asked by the notification to be published by on the websiteMay 9, 2016 to May 16, 2016Online display of Question Paper Booklets of each version on websiteMay 16, 2016Online Display of Provisional Keys of each version on websiteMay 18, 2016OMR Answer Sheets will be available on websiteMay 24, 2016Last date of Online submission of objections on Question Paper/Answer Key/Typographic errorsMay 25, 2016 to May 27, 2016Declaration of Provisional Result/MarksJune 1, 2016Last Date of Submission of Application form for Verification of Marks at office of the Divisional authority with prescribed fee (Place -Mumbai, Pune, Miraj, Dhule, Aurangabad, Nanded, Nagpur & Akola)within 4 days of declaration of resultDeclaration of Merit List on or beforeJune 14, 2016Downloading of Marksheet from websiteJune 14, 2016

I wrote about my experience taking the SAT as an adult in the Clear Choice Test Prep Blog. We publish free resources for tutors and test prep professionals. If you’re a tutor who’s interested in SAT and ACT curriculum, then you’ll probably enjoy reading it. If you’re a student looking for tips and tricks, then it’s probably not the resource you’re seeking.DISCLAIMER: Before I begin, I want to be 100% clear that this blog post will not discuss the test itself or any of the test questions on it. If you choose to leave a comment below, please be respectful of the College Board's policy on discussing the test or its content.Last Saturday — the same day as my 15-year high school reunion — I woke up early, kissed my wife goodbye, and drove across town to take the October SAT. This was my most recent effort to take the SAT as a grown-up... without looking like a weirdo. Read More →June 2000 SATWhen I was in high school, SAT prep wasn't really a thing. That's probably less a function of when I attended high school and more a function of where I attended high school, considering the findings of a 2016 study by Free Credit Scores, Reports & Credit Improvement. In that study, my hometown of Visalia, CA, ranked 148th on a list of The 150 Most and Least Educated Cities. So as you'd expect, hardly anyone I knew in high school prepared for the SAT. Sadly, I was no different.That's not entirely true. My buddy Nate had a copy of the College Board's Official Study Guide for the SAT, which he pretended to study every Sunday while his parents were out shopping at Costco. It went like this: he'd advance his bookmark ten or twelve pages, and then we'd play Golden Eye on Nintendo 64 for the next two hours. Despite blowing off the SAT, he went on to attend some of the top schools in the country and earn a Ph.D., so hopefully his parents won't be too upset if they happen to read this post.Suffice to say, my experience with the SAT in high school was not particularly good preparation for my career as Cofounder of Clear Choice Test Prep. However, during my time at Clear Choice, I've had the opportunity to take the SAT numerous times. In fact, I've now taken the SAT twice since the debut of the newly redesigned SAT in March of 2016.March 2016 SATLike many tutors, I was bumped from taking the March 2016 SAT due to a new security protocol which prohibits persons over the age of 21 from taking the SAT. College Board makes an exception for the May and October SAT tests because those two tests are released shortly (?) after they're administered. None of us knew that back in March, however. So I was a little bummed out when I received an email on the Monday prior to the March SAT stating that my registration had been transferred to the May SAT test. Not ideal, considering I'd booked airfare to Austin, TX, for that weekend.The plan, so far as we'd thought it through, had been to take the SAT at a high school near my brother's place in downtown Austin. I think we'd hoped that "the buddy system" would make the whole event less awkward. Looking back, I don't know how we ever arrived at that conclusion. However, it was not to be.Upon learning I'd been bumped, the Austin trip devolved/evolved into a working-vacation/brewery tour. All things considered, it could have been A LOT worse. Think, for example, of the international tutors who had booked non-refundable airfare to the United States to take the March SAT. I just hope they were able to book brewery tours of their own.May 2016 SATIn the days leading up to the May 2016 test, I half expected to receive another email saying, "We regret to inform you of another new policy." This time, however, I received no such letter, and at 8:00AM-PST on Saturday, May 7th, I took my seat at a local city college, and prepared to take the redesigned SAT.My recollection of that day is one of a bizarre feeling of unpreparedness. I should be clear, the test itself was not a surprise. The College Board had done an admirable job replicating the SAT in the first four (now six) practice tests it released through Khan Academy.What threw me off was the test anxiety I was experiencing for the first time in a long time. It didn't help that I had arrived with very little time to spare, and finding the parking permit machine out-of-order, elected to park there anyway and face the consequences later (note: there were none). Nor was I comforted by the expression on the face of the woman assisting students to find their testing rooms. But after a hurried explanation, two forms of photo identification, and a careful scrutiny of my admission ticket, I was directed to the testing room.Inside the testing room, I began my explanation a second time for the proctor, who didn't actually seem interested. She just glanced at my passport and my admission ticket and pointed to a seat in the very back row, away from the other students.If I sound upset about my treatment or my seating assignment, I'm not at all. I was quite pleased with my relative privacy in the room. I didn't like the idea of students staring at me wondering what led some guy in his mid-thirties to take the SAT.In fact, the night before had I wondered what students at the test might conclude about me. Perhaps they'd think that I had been woefully misinformed about the college admissions process? Or that I'd recently emerged from a lengthy coma? Or maybe that I'm that guy who brags about achieving ten perfect SAT scores. Mainly, I just hoped that nobody would think I was there to advertise test prep to students or, worse, steal the test.One look at our website shows that we deliver custom branded test prep resources for tutors, so I wasn't that worried that my presence would be mistaken for an advertisement to students. But I have no doubt that at least a few tutors around the world make every effort to steal each version of the SAT that's administered. The thought of being mistaken for one of those thieves made me really uncomfortable.To that point, I want to be very clear that my goal was to take the SAT, not to TAKE THE SAT. Nobody reading this will be surprised to learn that there are tutoring companies who have used stolen SAT & ACT tests as their primary curriculum for decades.We're not one of those companies. We don't work with those companies. In fact, part of the appeal of our 100% custom branded test prep system is that it enables tutors to distinguish themselves from those shady business practices. We've worked hard to develop more than 1600 representative SAT-style practice problems. As a measure of quality control, we periodically sit for the SAT to ensure that our system and the strategies we endorse remain consistent with the evolving SAT. And if I'm being perfectly honest, I find the test pretty intriguing. I'd take it every time it's offered if I were allowed.The rest of the May 7th test was largely uneventful, except that I, professional test prepper, had to be informed just before the first section that my mechanical pencil was unsuitable for this test. This was rather embarrassing because I knew that. I'd read the instructions a dozen times, but in my head I took them to mean that mechanical pencils may not have no. 2 lead. But my mechanical pencils were specifically labeled as no. 2 pencils, so I assumed I was good. I assumed that I was smarter than the instructions. Nevertheless, this was an assumption.The lesson here is that you shouldn't outsmart yourself. Read the instructions; don't read into the instructions. And don't make assumptions!This brings me to a few bad assumptions I made at the October 1st SAT.October 2016 SATWell aware of LA's notorious traffic, I departed a bit earlier than Google Maps recommended, an entire box of non-mechanical no. 2 pencils in hand. I assumed that leaving an hour early on a 20-minute drive would give me plenty of time, even if I were to encounter a situation like the broken parking permit machine. Traffic was a non-issue until I got within a block of the high school, where I joined the hundreds of cars waiting to enter the school's parking lot. The last 1000 yards took nearly 25 minutes. I had assumed that roughly the same number of students take the test at each location. That was flawed assumption.Inching along in that traffic jam, I felt my anxiety rising. It wasn't test anxiety, purely speaking. I was eager to take the test. And I was fairly certain I wouldn't be late, so it wasn't that. Finally it occurred to me that the primary cause of this anxiety was my fear that someone would tell me, "You don't belong here." I assumed it was only a matter of time until someone pointed out the obvious: I'm not a high school student.I had taken the May 2016 SAT on a tiny city college campus with a few dozen students who were probably on that campus for he first time in their lives. They all felt just as out of place as I did. Now, I was surrounded by probably five or six hundred students on their home turf. I felt like a weirdo.TEST CENTER SECURITYAs I handed my October 2016 SAT admission ticket and my passport to the proctor, I notice the May 2016 SAT admission ticket was folded up inside the front cover of my passport. At that moment I realized that it was probably unwise to have used my passport photo as the photo I uploaded to the College Board website for my admission ticket.Think about that for a second.In effect, I had just handed the proctor three documents: not one but two admission tickets and a passport. And all three documents featured the EXACT SAME PICTURE of me.I smiled and explained, "Sorry. That admission ticket is from the May 2016 SAT test. I guess I don't use my passport very often."She looked at the May SAT test admission ticket for a second time."This one is for today," I said, pointing to the identical-looking sheet of paper in her other hand. "I'm on your list as an 'over 21' test-taker for today."Without speaking, she looked at the passport, then at me, then at the May SAT admission ticket once more. Then she repeated the cycle: passport, me, wrong admission ticket. When she looked up at my face on the third pass, I pointed to the October SAT admission ticket. Then, beginning to panic, I tried to hand her my drivers license, which only added to her confusion.She stepped backward, trying to make sense of it all. After a moment, she leaned to her right and referenced a sheet of paper on a desk just inside the door. I watched as she located my name on the roster, checked it against the passport, and then ran her finger across the row, verifying that I was listed as a 21+ year-old "student." Apparently satisfied, she handed everything back to me and asked me to take a seat in the back row of the classroom.Relieved, I sat down and finally relaxed. On the whole, I would say that test center security was totally adequate.FINAL THOUGHTSThe October SAT, like the May SAT, was pretty straightforward. The only exception worth noting was a slight issue with the proctoring. Our proctor attempted to collect our tests booklets before she had instructed us to copy and sign the statement on the answer booklet. Fortunately, a sharp student near the front of the classroom pointed this out and we all completed that section before taking off.Interestingly, when I spoke with a fellow test prep tutor on Sunday, she recalled that her proctor had also forgotten to have students copy the statement. I wonder if it's possible the proctors' instruction booklets for this round somehow omitted that step?The test itself was very much what I expected. There were a few slight curveballs, but nothing you could reasonably say was uncharacteristic of the test. Certainly, there was nothing for which we haven't created ample practice resources to help students prepare. As I said before, I think that the College Board's official practice tests do a good job of presenting the range of concepts and problem types that show up on the actual test. Obviously, I'd like to see more of those tests made available, but the six practice SAT tests provide a solid base for a student's SAT prep.As a test prep geek, I'd love to discuss every detail of the actual test. However, as I mentioned, the College Board prohibits test takers from discussing the content of test, including the topics of passages, difficulties of sections, and distribution of problem types. So I'll just share one last thing I learned.Following the test, a girl politely asked why I was taking the test before blushing and blurting out, "just out of curiosity" as though the question required a hasty qualification."It's punishment for finishing last in my fantasy football league," I lied.She was literally the only person who asked.Back at my car, I realized that my worst assumption had been that every student in the room would point and laugh at me as though I were Adam Sandler in Billy Madison. And I had expected that as soon as the laughing started, I would feel very old.In reality, taking the SAT as a grown-up was nothing like Billy Madison. Which makes sense because that movie came out in 1995 — half a decade before any of these students were even born.Suddenly, I felt very very old.

It’s impossible to spend much time in the cryptocurrency and blockchain world without hearing about Ethereum, or ETH for short. In this article, you’ll learn what Ethereum is, what makes it different and why it’s better than Bitcoin, at least for certain purposes.Guess the price directionBitcoin/TetherBTCUSDT33,743.81−2.71337493372733743.81UpDownWhat is the Ethereum cryptocurrency?Strictly speaking, Ethereum refers to an open-source software platform that is based on blockchain technology, enabling developers to create decentralised applications, or dApps. However, Ethereum is also used to refer to the Ether coin (ETH), a cryptocurrency built on the Ethereum platform. When someone talks about buying, trading or paying with Ethereum, they mean the Ether currency.Ethereum’s historyEthereum’s story starts with Vitalik Buterin, who became involved with Bitcoin as a 17-year-old programmer in 2011. Buterin became aware of Bitcoin’s shortcomings and created Ethereum as superior blockchain technology.I thought [people in the Bitcoin community] weren’t approaching the problem in the right way. I thought they were going after individual applications; they were trying to kind of explicitly support each [use case] in a sort of Swiss Army knife protocol.— Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder.A timeline of Ethereum’s early history:2013: Buterin released a white paper describing the basis for Ethereum.2014: Buterin and the other co-founders crowdfunded Ethereum through an ICO that raised more than $18 million.2015: The first live release of Ethereum, known as Frontier, was launched.What is Ethereum’s purpose?Ethereum is a blockchain technology platform designed to enable a large variety of functions. A popular comparison is if Bitcoin is e-mail, then Ethereum is the whole Internet.Ethereum is used for computer services that are based on dApps and smart contracts, which saves time and money by eliminating intermediaries, third-party brokers and inefficient monopolies like big companies or even government authorities.In essence, it follows the decentralised philosophy of Bitcoin but is applied to much more than just money.What is Ethereum written in?Given that the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) functions as a ‘world computer’ with many nodes, it uses multiple programming languages, including C++, Python, Ruby, Go and Java. A specialised language called Solidity is used to write smart contracts in the Ethereum Virtual Machine.ETH’s hard forkIn 2016, $50 million worth of Ether was stolen by a hacker, an act that raised concerns about the platform’s security. The resulting controversy split the community, and Ethereum forked into two blockchains: Ethereum (ETH) and Ethereum Classic (ETC).ETH tokensEthereum has both the Ether (ETH) crypto coin and Ether tokens. The latter can function as a currency within the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). ETH tokens are transferred within the EVM to execute smart contracts.What is a smart contract in Ethereum?A smart contract is a computer program that functions as a contract, i.e., it binds individuals and/or businesses to meet obligations.The smart contract’s code automatically executes the terms when tokens are deposited. The benefits include:Digital format: There’s no need to print or post paper, and it’s easily shareable.Autonomous operation: It cuts out intermediaries, there’s no back-and-forth.Trust: Information on a smart contract is encrypted and backed up on a shared ledger.Security: Encryption makes contract information incredibly difficult to steal.Speed: Automatic execution makes smart contracts faster.Cost: It saves on paper costs, lawyer fees, etc.Smart contracts act as multi-signature accounts, only executing if the specified percentage of parties agree.Smart contracts can be encoded on any blockchain, but developers working on Ethereum can programme smart contracts with a much broader range of instructions than what’s possible on Bitcoin. It allows Ethereum smart contracts to be more complex and versatile. They can serve as the base for a decentralised application or other autonomous functions on the blockchain.Why is Ethereum better than Bitcoin?ETH has several advantages over Bitcoin. It isn’t limited in the same way that BTC is. Ethereum uses the Ethash method for its mining algorithm. As a result, the block processing speed is faster.What is the difference between Bitcoin and Ethereum?BTCETHCoin Limit21 MillionNoneAlgorithmSHA-256EthashAvg block time10 minutes12 secondsHowever, Ethereum’s main advantage over Bitcoin is its functionality. Bitcoin can only record transactions. Ethereum powers apps that can be used for almost anything a programmer desires.What is an ETH wallet?An Ethereum wallet is where the private keys to access the cryptocurrency are stored. The StormGain crypto trading platform comes with a built-in ETH wallet, in which you can earn up to 10% annual interest on your currency.Cryptocurrency tradingEthereum is the crypto coin with the second-largest market share after Bitcoin. Ethereum also has the second-highest trading volume among cryptocurrencies. By using StormGain, traders can earn significant bonuses and rewards for trading Ethereum.The price history of ETH, in USD and BitcoinEthereum miningEthereum is currently mined via a proof-of-work algorithm. Much like Bitcoin, Ethereum miners dedicate their computing hardware to solving tasks that support the blockchain and receive ETH in return.What is a good hashrate for Ethereum mining?The frequency with which the ETH mining hardware can process hashes determines how likely it is to earn a reward.A hashrate of around 45.0 MH/s is considered suitable for a consumer GPU. However, the whole mining system may soon become irrelevant for Ethereum.What is Ethereum’s future?Ethereum will upgrade soon to version 2.0, a move planned for 2020. The main feature is a change from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake validation.Ethereum 1.0 is a couple of people’s scrappy attempt to build the world computer; Ethereum 2.0 [with PoS] will actually be the world computer — Vitalik ButerinThe current system is notoriously wasteful of energy. A proof-of-stake protocol will mean that users stake their ETH as collateral to verify a transaction (and claim the reward).On 18 August 2008, the domain name bitcoin.org was registered.[11] Later that year, on 31 October, a link to a paper authored by Satoshi Nakamoto titled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System[12] was posted to a cryptography mailing list.[13] This paper detailed methods of using a peer-to-peer network to generate what was described as "a system for electronic transactions without relying on trust".[14][15][16] On 3 January 2009, the bitcoin network came into existence with Satoshi Nakamoto mining the genesis block of bitcoin (block number 0), which had a reward of 50 bitcoins.[14][17] Embedded in the coinbase of this block was the text:The Times Jan/03/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.[18]The text refers to a headline in The Times published on 3 January 2009.[19] This note has been interpreted as both a timestamp of the genesis date and a derisive comment on the instability caused by fractional-reserve banking.[20]:18The first open source bitcoin client was released on 9 January 2009, hosted at SourceForge.[21][22]One of the first supporters, adopters, contributors to bitcoin and receiver of the first bitcoin transaction was programmer Hal Finney. Finney downloaded the bitcoin software the day it was released, and received 10 bitcoins from Nakamoto in the world's first bitcoin transaction on 12 January 2009 (bloc 170).[23][24] Other early supporters were Wei Dai, creator of bitcoin predecessor b-money, and Nick Szabo, creator of bitcoin predecessor bit gold.[14]In the early days, Nakamoto is estimated to have mined 1 million bitcoins.[25] Before disappearing from any involvement in bitcoin, Nakamoto in a sense handed over the reins to developer Gavin Andresen, who then became the bitcoin lead developer at the Bitcoin Foundation, the 'anarchic' bitcoin community's closest thing to an official public face.[26]The value of the first bitcoin transactions were negotiated by individuals on the bitcoin forum with one notable transaction of 10,000 BTC used to indirectly purchase two pizzas delivered by Papa John's.[14]On 6 August 2010, a major vulnerability in the bitcoin protocol was spotted. Transactions weren't properly verified before they were included in the transaction log or blockchain, which let users bypass bitcoin's economic restrictions and create an indefinite number of bitcoins.[27][28] On 15 August, the vulnerability was exploited; over 184 billion bitcoins were generated in a transaction, and sent to two addresses on the network. Within hours, the transaction was spotted and erased from the transaction log after the bug was fixed and the network forked to an updated version of the bitcoin protocol.[29] This was the only major security flaw found and exploited in bitcoin's history.[27][28][30]Satoshi Nakamoto[edit]Main article: Satoshi Nakamoto"Satoshi Nakamoto" is presumed to be a pseudonym for the person or people who designed the original bitcoin protocol in 2008 and launched the network in 2009. Nakamoto was responsible for creating the majority of the official bitcoin software and was active in making modifications and posting technical information on the bitcoin forum.[14] There has been much speculation as to the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto with suspects including Dai, Szabo, and Finney – and accompanying denials.[31][32] The possibility that Satoshi Nakamoto was a computer collective in the European financial sector has also been discussed.[33]Investigations into the real identity of Satoshi Nakamoto were attempted by The New Yorker and Fast Company. The New Yorker's investigation brought up at least two possible candidates: Michael Clear and Vili Lehdonvirta. Fast Company's investigation brought up circumstantial evidence linking an encryption patent application filed by Neal King, Vladimir Oksman and Charles Bry on 15 August 2008, and the bitcoin.org domain name which was registered 72 hours later. The patent application (#20100042841) contained networking and encryption technologies similar to bitcoin's, and textual analysis revealed that the phrase "... computationally impractical to reverse" appeared in both the patent application and bitcoin's whitepaper.[12] All three inventors explicitly denied being Satoshi Nakamoto.[34][35]In May 2013, Ted Nelson speculated that Japanese mathematician Shinichi Mochizuki is Satoshi Nakamoto.[36] Later in 2013 the Israeli researchers Dorit Ron and Adi Shamir pointed to Silk Road-linked Ross William Ulbricht as the possible person behind the cover. The two researchers based their suspicion on an analysis of the network of bitcoin transactions.[37] These allegations were contested[38] and Ron and Shamir later retracted their claim.[39]Nakamoto's involvement with bitcoin does not appear to extend past mid-2010.[14] In April 2011, Nakamoto communicated with a bitcoin contributor, saying that he had "moved on to other things".[18]Stefan Thomas, a Swiss coder and active community member, graphed the time stamps for each of Nakamoto's 500-plus bitcoin forum posts; the resulting chart showed a steep decline to almost no posts between the hours of 5 a.m. and 11 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time. Because this pattern held true even on Saturdays and Sundays, it suggested that Nakamoto was asleep at this time, and the hours of 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. GMT are midnight to 6 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (North American Eastern Standard Time). Other clues suggested that Nakamoto was British: A newspaper headline he had encoded in the genesis block came from the UK-published newspaper The Times, and both his forum posts and his comments in the bitcoin source code used British English spellings, such as "optimise" and "colour".[14]An Internet search by an anonymous blogger of texts similar in writing to the bitcoin whitepaper suggests Nick Szabo's "bit gold" articles as having a similar author.[31] Nick denied being Satoshi, and stated his official opinion on Satoshi and bitcoin in a May 2011 article.[40]In a March 2014 article in Newsweek, journalist Leah McGrath Goodman doxed Dorian S. Nakamoto of Temple City, California, saying that Satoshi Nakamoto is the man's birth name. Her methods and conclusion drew widespread criticism.[41][42]In June 2016, the London Review of Books published a piece by Andrew O'Hagan about Nakamoto.[43] The real identity of Satoshi Nakamoto still remains a matter of dispute.Growth[edit]2011[edit]Based on bitcoin's open-source code, other cryptocurrencies started to emerge.[44]The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit group, started accepting bitcoins in January 2011,[45] then stopped accepting them in June 2011, citing concerns about a lack of legal precedent about new currency systems.[46] The EFF's decision was reversed on 17 May 2013 when they resumed accepting bitcoin.[47]In June 2011, WikiLeaks[48] and other organizations began to accept bitcoins for donations.2012[edit]In January 2012, bitcoin was featured as the main subject within a fictionalized trial on the CBS legal drama The Good Wife in the third-season episode "Bitcoin for Dummies". The host of CNBC's Mad Money, Jim Cramer, played himself in a courtroom scene where he testifies that he doesn't consider bitcoin a true currency, saying, "There's no central bank to regulate it; it's digital and functions completely peer to peer".[49]In September 2012, the Bitcoin Foundation was launched to "accelerate the global growth of bitcoin through standardization, protection, and promotion of the open source protocol". The founders were Gavin Andresen, Jon Matonis, Patrick Murck, Charlie Shrem, and Peter Vessenes.[50]In October 2012, BitPay reported having over 1,000 merchants accepting bitcoin under its payment processing service.[51] In November 2012, WordPress started accepting bitcoins.[52]2013[edit]In February 2013, the bitcoin-based payment processor Coinbase reported selling US$1 million worth of bitcoins in a single month at over $22 per bitcoin.[53] The Internet Archive announced that it was ready to accept donations as bitcoins and that it intends to give employees the option to receive portions of their salaries in bitcoin currency.[54]In March, the bitcoin transaction log, called the blockchain, temporarily split into two independent chains with differing rules on how transactions were accepted. For six hours two bitcoin networks operated at the same time, each with its own version of the transaction history. The core developers called for a temporary halt to transactions, sparking a sharp sell-off.[55] Normal operation was restored when the majority of the network downgraded to version 0.7 of the bitcoin software.[55] The Mt. Gox exchange briefly halted bitcoin deposits and the exchange rate briefly dipped by 23% to $37 as the event occurred[56][57] before recovering to previous level of approximately $48 in the following hours.[58] In the US, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) established regulatory guidelines for "decentralized virtual currencies" such as bitcoin, classifying American bitcoin miners who sell their generated bitcoins as Money Service Businesses (or MSBs), that may be subject to registration and other legal obligations.[59][60][61]In April, payment processors BitInstant and Mt. Gox experienced processing delays due to insufficient capacity[62] resulting in the bitcoin exchange rate dropping from $266 to $76 before returning to $160 within six hours.[63] Bitcoin gained greater recognition when services such as OkCupid and Foodler began accepting it for payment.[64]On 15 May 2013, the US authorities seized accounts associated with Mt. Gox after discovering that it had not registered as a money transmitter with FinCEN in the US.[65][66]On 17 May 2013, it was reported that BitInstant processed approximately 30 percent of the money going into and out of bitcoin, and in April alone facilitated 30,000 transactions,[67]On 23 June 2013, it was reported that the US Drug Enforcement Administration listed 11.02 bitcoins as a seized asset in a United States Department of Justice seizure notice pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 881.[68] This marked the first time a government agency claimed to have seized bitcoin.[69][70]In July 2013, a project began in Kenya linking bitcoin with M-Pesa, a popular mobile payments system, in an experiment designed to spur innovative payments in Africa.[71] During the same month the Foreign Exchange Administration and Policy Department in Thailand stated that bitcoin lacks any legal framework and would therefore be illegal, which effectively banned trading on bitcoin exchanges in the country.[72][73]On 6 August 2013, Federal Judge Amos Mazzant of the Eastern District of Texas of the Fifth Circuit ruled that bitcoins are "a currency or a form of money" (specifically securities as defined by Federal Securities Laws), and as such were subject to the court's jurisdiction,[74][75] and Germany's Finance Ministry subsumed bitcoins under the term "unit of account" – a financial instrument – though not as e-money or a functional currency, a classification nonetheless having legal and tax implications.[76]In October 2013, the FBI seized roughly 26,000 BTC from website Silk Road during the arrest of alleged owner Ross William Ulbricht.[77][78][79] Two companies, Robocoin and Bitcoiniacs launched the world's first bitcoin ATM on 29 October 2013 in Vancouver, BC, Canada, allowing clients to sell or purchase bitcoin currency at a downtown coffee shop.[80][81][82] Chinese internet giant Baidu had allowed clients of website security services to pay with bitcoins.[83]In November 2013, the University of Nicosia announced that it would be accepting bitcoin as payment for tuition fees, with the university's chief financial officer calling it the "gold of tomorrow".[84] During November 2013, the China-based bitcoin exchange BTC China overtook the Japan-based Mt. Gox and the Europe-based Bitstamp to become the largest bitcoin trading exchange by trade volume.[85]In December 2013, Overstock.com[86] announced plans to accept bitcoin in the second half of 2014. On 5 December 2013, the People's Bank of China prohibited Chinese financial institutions from using bitcoins.[87] After the announcement, the value of bitcoins dropped,[88] and Baidu no longer accepted bitcoins for certain services.[89] Buying real-world goods with any virtual currency had been illegal in China since at least 2009.[90]2014[edit]In January 2014, Zynga[91] announced it was testing bitcoin for purchasing in-game assets in seven of its games. That same month, The D Las Vegas Casino Hotel and Golden Gate Hotel & Casino properties in downtown Las Vegas announced they would also begin accepting bitcoin, according to an article by USA Today. The article also stated the currency would be accepted in five locations, including the front desk and certain restaurants.[92] The network rate exceeded 10 petahash/sec. TigerDirect[93] and Overstock.com[94] started accepting bitcoin.In early February 2014, one of the largest bitcoin exchanges, Mt. Gox,[95] suspended withdrawals citing technical issues.[96] By the end of the month, Mt. Gox had filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan amid reports that 744,000 bitcoins had been stolen.[97] Months before the filing, the popularity of Mt. Gox had waned as users experienced difficulties withdrawing funds.[98]In June 2014 the network exceeded 100 petahash/sec.[citation needed] On 18 June 2014, it was announced that bitcoin payment service provider BitPay would become the new sponsor of St. Petersburg Bowl under a two-year deal, renamed the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl. Bitcoin was to be accepted for ticket and concession sales at the game as part of the sponsorship, and the sponsorship itself was also paid for using bitcoin.[99]In July 2014 Newegg and Dell[100] started accepting bitcoin.In September 2014 TeraExchange, LLC, received approval from the U.S.Commodity Futures Trading Commission "CFTC" to begin listing an over-the-counter swap product based on the price of a bitcoin. The CFTC swap product approval marks the first time a U.S. regulatory agency approved a bitcoin financial product.[101]In December 2014 Microsoft began to accept bitcoin to buy Xbox games and Windows software.[102]In 2014, several light-hearted songs celebrating bitcoin such as the "Ode to Satoshi"[103] have been released.[104]A documentary film, The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin, was released in 2014, featuring interviews with bitcoin users, such as a computer programmer and a drug dealer.[105]2015[edit]In January 2015 Coinbase raised US$75 million as part of a Series C funding round, smashing the previous record for a bitcoin company. Less than one year after the collapse of Mt. Gox, United Kingdom-based exchange Bitstamp announced that their exchange would be taken offline while they investigate a hack which resulted in about 19,000 bitcoins (equivalent to roughly US$5 million at that time) being stolen from their hot wallet.[106] The exchange remained offline for several days amid speculation that customers had lost their funds. Bitstamp resumed trading on 9 January after increasing security measures and assuring customers that their account balances would not be impacted.[107]In February 2015, the number of merchants accepting bitcoin exceeded 100,000.[108]In October 2015, a proposal was submitted to the Unicode Consortium to add a code point for the bitcoin symbol.[109]2016[edit]In January 2016, the network rate exceeded 1 exahash/sec.[citation needed]In March 2016, the Cabinet of Japan recognized virtual currencies like bitcoin as having a function similar to real money.[110] Bidorbuy, the largest South African online marketplace, launched bitcoin payments for both buyers and sellers.[111]In July 2016, researchers published a paper showing that by November 2013 bitcoin commerce was no longer driven by "sin" activities but instead by legitimate enterprises.[112]In August 2016, a major bitcoin exchange, Bitfinex, was hacked and nearly 120,000 BTC (around $60m) was stolen.[113]In November 2016, the Swiss Railway operator SBB (CFF) upgraded all their automated ticket machines so that bitcoin could be bought from them using the scanner on the ticket machine to scan the bitcoin address on a phone app.[114]Bitcoin generates more academic interest year after year; the number of Google Scholar articles published mentioning bitcoin grew from 83 in 2009, to 424 in 2012, and 3580 in 2016. Also, the academic journal Ledger published its first issue. It is edited by Peter Rizun.2017[edit]The number of businesses accepting bitcoin continued to increase. In January 2017, NHK reported the number of online stores accepting bitcoin in Japan had increased 4.6 times over the past year.[115] BitPay CEO Stephen Pair declared the company's transaction rate grew 3× from January 2016 to February 2017, and explained usage of bitcoin is growing in B2B supply chain payments.[116]Bitcoin gains more legitimacy among lawmakers and legacy financial companies. For example, Japan passed a law to accept bitcoin as a legal payment method,[117] and Russia has announced that it will legalize the use of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.[118]Exchange trading volumes continue to increase. For the 6-month period ending March 2017, Mexican exchange Bitso saw trading volume increase 1500%.[citation needed] Between January and May 2017 Poloniex saw an increase of more than 600% active traders online and regularly processed 640% more transactions.[119]In June 2017, the bitcoin symbol was encoded in Unicode version 10.0 at position U+20BF (₿) in the Currency Symbols block.[120]Up until July 2017, bitcoin users maintained a common set of rules for the cryptocurrency.[121] On 1 August 2017 bitcoin split into two derivative digital currencies, the bitcoin (BTC) chain with 1 MB blocksize limit and the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) chain with 8 MB blocksize limit. The split has been called the Bitcoin Cash hard fork.[122]On 6 December 2017 the software marketplace Steam announced that it would no longer accept bitcoin as payment for its products, citing slow transactions speeds, price volatility, and high fees for transactions.[123]2018[edit]See also: Cryptocurrency bubble § 2018 crashOn 22 January 2018, South Korea brought in a regulation that requires all the bitcoin traders to reveal their identity, thus putting a ban on anonymous trading of bitcoins.[124]On 24 January 2018, the online payment firm Stripe announced that it would phase out its support for bitcoin payments by late April 2018, citing declining demand, rising fees and longer transaction times as the reasons.[125]2019[edit]As of September 2019, there were 5,457 bitcoin ATMs worldwide. In August of that year, the countries with highest number of bitcoin ATMs were the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Austria, and Spain.[citation needed]2020[edit]On 2 July 2020, the Indian company 21Shares started to quote a set of bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETP) on the Xetra trading system of the Deutsche Boerse.[126]On 1 September 2020, the Wiener Börse listed its first 21 titles denominated in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, including the services of real-time quotation and securities settlement.[127]On 3 September 2020, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange admitted in its Regulated Market the quotation of the first bitcoin exchange-traded note (ETN), centrally cleared via Eurex Clearing.[128][129]In October 2020, PayPal announced that it would allow its users to buy and sell bitcoin on its platform, although not to deposit or withdraw bitcoins