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A notorious cryptocurrency executive plead guilty to a count of wire fraud on Thursday. He now faces up to 20 years in prison.
Source
A notorious cryptocurrency executive plead guilty to a count of wire fraud on Thursday. He now faces up to 20 years in prison.
Check the price analysis for Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.
Check the price analysis for Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.
Soon after the central bank issued a warning about digital currencies including bitcoin, Kosovo sees several signs of rising bitcoin adoption, including its first Bitcoin ATM. Also read: 13 Japanese Exchanges Agree to Suspend Bitcoin Service on August 1 First Bitcoin ATM Arrives in Kosovo This week, local publications reported that the first Bitcoin ATM (BTM) has […]
The post Kosovo Gets Bitcoin ATM Despite Central Bank’s Warning appeared first on Bitcoin News.
Soon after the central bank issued a warning about digital currencies including bitcoin, Kosovo sees several signs of rising bitcoin adoption, including its first Bitcoin ATM.
Also read: 13 Japanese Exchanges Agree to Suspend Bitcoin Service on August 1
This week, local publications reported that the first Bitcoin ATM (BTM) has arrived in the Balkan country of Kosovo. The newspaper Telegrafi described:
This ATM is expected to provide some of the most commonly used virtual coins such as ether, dash, bitcoin, litecoin and doge. Kosovo joins the list of 57 countries of the world with a virtual coin ATM.
The machine is operated by the Albvision Group, the publication reported, adding that it has been placed in the center of Pristina, the capital and largest city of Kosovo. Founded in 2000 in Kosovo with 54 employees currently, the group provides professional and strategic services, operating in sectors such as information and security systems, banking, energy, and telecommunications. According to Coinatmradar, the machine is located at “Qyteza Pejton, Str. Lorenc Antoni 31, Prishtina, Kosovo.”
This two-way Bitcoin ATM is the BATM Two model which has “the best price/performance ratio on the ATM market,” claims its producer General Bytes.
Only bitcoin will be available initially, but the company plans to add 10 other cryptocurrencies in the future, the publication detailed, adding that approximately 500 of these machines have been installed worldwide.
The Bitcoin ATM news came shortly after the Central Bank of Kosovo issued a statement warning citizens about the use of digital currencies in the country. The bank wrote last month:
The use of virtual money, such as bitcoin is not regulated and legally constitutes a danger that can result in financial loss. All potential users of virtual cash are informed that in Kosovo there is no institution that guarantees the reimbursement of money lost.
Some commercial banks, such as TEB Bank and Raiffeisen Bank, have also declared that they do not deal with digital currencies, according to the news portal Fol Drejt! Ilirjana Tahiraj of Raiffeisen Bank told the publication that the bank does not accept bitcoin transfers.
Meanwhile, interest in bitcoin has risen sharply in Kosovo. Despite the central bank’s warning and commercial banks’ refusal to deal with the digital currency, Fol Drejt! wrote “the increasing trend of bitcoin interest among citizens has not stopped.”
In 2017, Kosovo imported equipment worth 800,000 euros which went towards the production or assembly of bitcoin mining devices, according to Kosovo Customs spokesperson Adriatik Stavileci. The news outlet then quoted her saying:
Customs treats these products as computer parts, except for graphics cards, which are much more advanced and more expensive than other cards, and for this reason we at all times are constantly tracking the import of these devices.
Dite Gashi, the CTO and co-founder of Bitsapphire, a local Bitcoin and blockchain consulting company, explained the biggest concerns for bitcoin. He said it has become difficult to find graphic cards in the Kosovo market, and that there is also a degree of uncertainty regarding bitcoin investments since its value changes from moment to moment.
“Regarding the legalization of digital currencies, he said that it is better for them to remain unregulated for some time,” the publication wrote.
What do you think about the bitcoin ecosystem in Kosovo? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Albvision
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The post Kosovo Gets Bitcoin ATM Despite Central Bank’s Warning appeared first on Bitcoin News.
Recently, Crypviser finished up its ICO. The team released its stats, and overall they are incredibly impressive. Let’s take a look at how the ICO did and what Crypviser brings to the market. The ICO After a successful ICO, the Crypviser project has some great statistics to boast. Around 4.5 million tokens were sold during the ICO. By the end, there were 5.5 million CVCoins distributed to investors and bounty hunters. The community is large and diverse. There were 7,000 registered ICO participants and more than 3,000 investors. Crypviser now has more than 8,000 members in its multi-lingual communities. But what now? What
Recently, Crypviser finished up its ICO. The team released its stats, and overall they are incredibly impressive. Let’s take a look at how the ICO did and what Crypviser brings to the market.
After a successful ICO, the Crypviser project has some great statistics to boast. Around 4.5 million tokens were sold during the ICO. By the end, there were 5.5 million CVCoins distributed to investors and bounty hunters. The community is large and diverse. There were 7,000 registered ICO participants and more than 3,000 investors. Crypviser now has more than 8,000 members in its multi-lingual communities.
But what now? What are the next steps for Crypviser? Where is this project going next?
CVCoin is a token based on the Bitshares platform. It was created on July 6th, 2017 and its distribution ran from July 7th to July 14th.
Some may wonder why it was built on the Bitshares platform as opposed to an Ethereum platform. Crypviser feels that Bitshares – powered by OpenLedger – is more closely aligned with its technical needs and ideology. All the benefits of Bitshares are available to CVCoin and its network. Crypviser and OpenLedger are excited to show off the capabilities and full potential of the Bitshares platform together.
One of the Bitshares platform’s features which appealed to Cryviser in particular is that it allows the issued token to become “tradable” on native DEX markets immediately. These decentralized token exchange markets were part of the reason Crypviser wanted to partner with OpenLedger and use Bitshares as the token’s platform. Currently, there are some markets available for CVCOIN exchange to and from BTS (Bitshares), BTC (Bitcoin), USD and others. These are all available under MARKETS on OpenLedger DEX and just require specifying “CVCOIN” in the search field.
According to the CVCOIN development plan, official trading sessions will be announced next week on OpenLedger DEX markets and later on further external exchanges. After starting official trades, Crypviser will process initial packages of CVCOIN market support and publications regarding the product’s development, token circulation, listing on all of the biggest exchanges, increasing trade volume and more.
The community may have a much harder time acquiring cheap CVCOIN after the official opening of trade and listing on external exchanges.
CVCoin will be listed on the exchanges most people use soon. Crypviser will start by getting it listed on the largest exchanges, such as Bittrex, Poloniex, and Kraken. The plan is to court additional liquid and popular markets, such as LiveCoin, C-CEX, Liquid, and others as well. The rough dates when they hope to be listed on large exchanges are tentative, but should resemble something like this: C-CEX and LiveCoin during July, Bitterex and Poloniex between July and August, then Kraken between July and September. They plan on being listed on others in the future as well.
The Crypviser team wants to bring blockchain technology and robust encryption to everyone. To do this, they’ve set out a schedule of what they hope to achieve. The first thing on their roadmap is official Bitshares DEX trading by July 20th, 2017. Crypviser also wants to process initial trading packaged while providing information on how to use OpenLedger DEX and other FAQs. The team also wants to develop their own wallet, along with launching the official Crypviser project website and having it include blockchain and cryptography news. Finally, their roadmap shows that they want to introduce the social communication app for the early bird participants of the ICO.
This is a sponsored post and does not reflect the opinions or views held by any The Merkle Employees. This is not trading or investment advice; always conduct your own independent research.
After darknet market AlphaBay went offline on July 4, many of its users migrated to Hansa Market — and played right into the hands of an “Operation Bayonet,” a coordinated international law enforcement action. Today, both the U.S. Department of Justice and the Europol published press releases stating that Hansa Market has also been shut down.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the action was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), with law enforcement authorities in Thailand, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and the Europol participating in the operation. Bayonet’s focus was takedown of both Hansa Market and AlphaBay in the course of the same multi-agency investigation.
“This is an outstanding success by authorities in Europe and the U.S. The capability of drug traffickers and other serious criminals around the world has taken a serious hit today after a highly sophisticated joint action in multiple countries. By acting together on a global basis the law enforcement community has sent a clear message that we have the means to identify criminality and strike back, even in areas of the Dark Web. There are more of these operations to come,” Rob Wainwright, the executive director of Europol, said today at a joint press conference with the U.S. Attorney General, the acting FBI director and the deputy director of the DEA in Washington, D.C.
According to Europol’s press release, the European agency provided Dutch authorities with an investigation lead on the Hansa Market in 2016. Europol allegedly acquired the information with the help of Bitdefender, an internet security company advising Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3). Investigators managed to locate the infrastructure of the darknet marketplace in the Netherlands, which resulted in the arrest of two administrators of the site in Germany. Hansa’s servers were seized in the Netherlands, Germany and Lithuania.
Furthermore, Dutch law enforcement acquired information on “high value targets and delivery addresses for a large number of orders.” With the help of Europol, the Dutch National Police collected information on approximately 10,000 foreign addresses of Hansa Market customers. In a covert action, Dutch law enforcement took control of Hansa a month ago, allowing investigators to monitor and gain information on the users of the marketplace without their knowledge.
It seems authorities planned their actions carefully since Hansa was already under their control when AlphaBay went offline on July 4. Europol stated that the Dutch National Police “could identify and disrupt the regular criminal activity on Hansa but then also sweep up all those new users displaced from AlphaBay who were looking for a new trading platform.”
“The Dutch National Police have located Hansa Market and taken over control of this marketplace since June 20, 2017. We have modified the source code, which allowed us to capture passwords, PGP-encrypted order information, IP-Addresses, Bitcoins and other relevant information that may help law enforcement agencies worldwide to identify users of this marketplace. For more information about this operation, please consult our hidden service at http://politiepcvh42eav.onion,” Dutch authorities wrote on the seized Hansa website.
In total, 38,000 transactions were identified by Europol, who then alerted other agencies in 600 cases. Furthermore, Europol stated they have prepared “intelligence packages” to be sent out to “law enforcement partners across 37 countries, spawning many follow-up investigations across Europe and beyond.”
AlphaBay went offline on July 4. At the time, many users suspected it was an exit scam. Authorities announced the arrest of the Alexandre Cazes, 26, the alleged administrator of the website, who was later found dead in his cell in Thailand. On the day of Cazes’s arrest, law enforcement took down servers of the dark web marketplace in Canada, the Netherlands and Thailand.
Darknet marketplaces have generated massive police heat after dangerous synthetic drugs, such as fentanyl — the substance at the heart of drug epidemics in multiple countries, including Canada and the United States — were constantly offered for sale on the websites. The statements of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions during the joint press release in Washington, D.C., confirm this assumption.
“Among other challenges, our great country is currently in the midst of the deadliest drug crisis in our history. One American now dies of a drug overdose every 11 minutes and more than 2 million Americans are addicted to prescription painkillers. Every day, as a result of drug abuse, American families are being bankrupted, friendships broken and promising lives cut short,” he said.
“As of earlier this year, 122 vendors advertised fentanyl and 238 advertised heroin, and we know of several Americans who were killed by drugs sold on AlphaBay.”
Sessions asserted that his department’s work is not yet finished and issued a warning to people still ready to engage in illegal activity on the dark web. “We will continue to find, arrest, prosecute, convict and incarcerate criminals, drug traffickers and their enablers, wherever they are. The dark net is not a place to hide. We will use every tool we have to stop criminals from exploiting vulnerable people and sending so many Americans to an early grave.”
The post Hansa Market Taken Down in Global Law Enforcement Operation appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.
After darknet market AlphaBay went offline on July 4, many of its users migrated to Hansa Market — and played right into the hands of an “Operation Bayonet,” a coordinated international law enforcement action. Today, both the U.S. Department of Justice and the Europol published press releases stating that Hansa Market has also been shut down.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the action was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), with law enforcement authorities in Thailand, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and the Europol participating in the operation. Bayonet’s focus was takedown of both Hansa Market and AlphaBay in the course of the same multi-agency investigation.
“This is an outstanding success by authorities in Europe and the U.S. The capability of drug traffickers and other serious criminals around the world has taken a serious hit today after a highly sophisticated joint action in multiple countries. By acting together on a global basis the law enforcement community has sent a clear message that we have the means to identify criminality and strike back, even in areas of the Dark Web. There are more of these operations to come,” Rob Wainwright, the executive director of Europol, said today at a joint press conference with the U.S. Attorney General, the acting FBI director and the deputy director of the DEA in Washington, D.C.
According to Europol’s press release, the European agency provided Dutch authorities with an investigation lead on the Hansa Market in 2016. Europol allegedly acquired the information with the help of Bitdefender, an internet security company advising Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3). Investigators managed to locate the infrastructure of the darknet marketplace in the Netherlands, which resulted in the arrest of two administrators of the site in Germany. Hansa’s servers were seized in the Netherlands, Germany and Lithuania.
Furthermore, Dutch law enforcement acquired information on “high value targets and delivery addresses for a large number of orders.” With the help of Europol, the Dutch National Police collected information on approximately 10,000 foreign addresses of Hansa Market customers. In a covert action, Dutch law enforcement took control of Hansa a month ago, allowing investigators to monitor and gain information on the users of the marketplace without their knowledge.
It seems authorities planned their actions carefully since Hansa was already under their control when AlphaBay went offline on July 4. Europol stated that the Dutch National Police “could identify and disrupt the regular criminal activity on Hansa but then also sweep up all those new users displaced from AlphaBay who were looking for a new trading platform.”
“The Dutch National Police have located Hansa Market and taken over control of this marketplace since June 20, 2017. We have modified the source code, which allowed us to capture passwords, PGP-encrypted order information, IP-Addresses, Bitcoins and other relevant information that may help law enforcement agencies worldwide to identify users of this marketplace. For more information about this operation, please consult our hidden service at http://politiepcvh42eav.onion,” Dutch authorities wrote on the seized Hansa website.
In total, 38,000 transactions were identified by Europol, who then alerted other agencies in 600 cases. Furthermore, Europol stated they have prepared “intelligence packages” to be sent out to “law enforcement partners across 37 countries, spawning many follow-up investigations across Europe and beyond.”
AlphaBay went offline on July 4. At the time, many users suspected it was an exit scam. Authorities announced the arrest of the Alexandre Cazes, 26, the alleged administrator of the website, who was later found dead in his cell in Thailand. On the day of Cazes’s arrest, law enforcement took down servers of the dark web marketplace in Canada, the Netherlands and Thailand.
Darknet marketplaces have generated massive police heat after dangerous synthetic drugs, such as fentanyl — the substance at the heart of drug epidemics in multiple countries, including Canada and the United States — were constantly offered for sale on the websites. The statements of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions during the joint press release in Washington, D.C., confirm this assumption.
“Among other challenges, our great country is currently in the midst of the deadliest drug crisis in our history. One American now dies of a drug overdose every 11 minutes and more than 2 million Americans are addicted to prescription painkillers. Every day, as a result of drug abuse, American families are being bankrupted, friendships broken and promising lives cut short,” he said.
“As of earlier this year, 122 vendors advertised fentanyl and 238 advertised heroin, and we know of several Americans who were killed by drugs sold on AlphaBay.”
Sessions asserted that his department’s work is not yet finished and issued a warning to people still ready to engage in illegal activity on the dark web. “We will continue to find, arrest, prosecute, convict and incarcerate criminals, drug traffickers and their enablers, wherever they are. The dark net is not a place to hide. We will use every tool we have to stop criminals from exploiting vulnerable people and sending so many Americans to an early grave.”
The post Hansa Market Taken Down in Global Law Enforcement Operation appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.
Fortune |
Judge Blasts IRS Over Bitcoin Probe, Lets Coinbase Customer Fight Summons
Fortune A federal judge granted a bitcoin owner the right to intervene in a closely watched court case involving the digital currency exchange Coinbase while also upbraiding the Internal Revenue Service’s demand for potentially millions of customer records. In … |
Fortune | Judge Blasts IRS Over Bitcoin Probe, Lets Coinbase Customer Fight Summons Fortune A federal judge granted a bitcoin owner the right to intervene in a closely watched court case involving the digital currency exchange Coinbase while also upbraiding the Internal Revenue Service's demand for potentially millions of customer records. In ... |
SuperDAO, an Ethereum organization comprised of veteran Ethereum developers and technologists, recently finished a 5-week training program to onboard more development personnel for inclusionary efforts Meetup in Nigeria. In addition to new interns, the evolving decentralized autonomous organization has also acquired top tier developer talent that In addition to new interns, the evolving decentralized autonomous … Continue reading Ethereum’s SuperDAO On-boards Ex-Google and Uber Developers, Sets New Timeline for Decentralized Poker and New Dapp
The post Ethereum’s SuperDAO On-boards Ex-Google and Uber Developers, Sets New Timeline for Decentralized Poker and New Dapp appeared first on NEWSBTC.
SuperDAO, an Ethereum organization comprised of veteran Ethereum developers and technologists, recently finished a 5-week training program to onboard more development personnel for inclusionary efforts Meetup in Nigeria. In addition to new interns, the evolving decentralized autonomous organization has also acquired top tier developer talent that In addition to new interns, the evolving decentralized autonomous … Continue reading Ethereum’s SuperDAO On-boards Ex-Google and Uber Developers, Sets New Timeline for Decentralized Poker and New Dapp
The post Ethereum’s SuperDAO On-boards Ex-Google and Uber Developers, Sets New Timeline for Decentralized Poker and New Dapp appeared first on NEWSBTC.
CNBC |
Bitcoin leaps 15% to highest in nearly a month on increased confidence in currency’s future
CNBC Bitcoin jumped Thursday to its highest price in almost four weeks as digital currency developers appeared to come closer to an agreement that would prevent a split in the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin rose more than 15 percent, to $2,675.67, its highest … |
CNBC | Bitcoin leaps 15% to highest in nearly a month on increased confidence in currency's future CNBC Bitcoin jumped Thursday to its highest price in almost four weeks as digital currency developers appeared to come closer to an agreement that would prevent a split in the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin rose more than 15 percent, to $2,675.67, its highest ... |
Many of our products today are “smart” or have plans to integrate “smart” technology soon. Smartphones, smart TV, smart light bulbs – they have all become the global norm. A new project on Kickstarter aims to introduce a smart mirror known as MirroCool. This will not only serve as a fancy mirror but also offer personal assistant features. It sounds rather creepy, although it remains to be seen how this product will play out in the end. MirroCool Has Plenty of Features Imagine waking up and looking in the mirror to see if you are presentable to the outside world. Now
Many of our products today are “smart” or have plans to integrate “smart” technology soon. Smartphones, smart TV, smart light bulbs – they have all become the global norm. A new project on Kickstarter aims to introduce a smart mirror known as MirroCool. This will not only serve as a fancy mirror but also offer personal assistant features. It sounds rather creepy, although it remains to be seen how this product will play out in the end.
Imagine waking up and looking in the mirror to see if you are presentable to the outside world. Now imagine doing the same, but watching your mirror lay out your daily schedule. MirroCool is an intelligent and unique personal assistant which lives inside of your future mirror. That sounds very invasive to privacy, and in a way, it is exactly that. At the same time, such a smart mirror has tons of potential, since there will always be a market for such products.
The Kickstarter project has seen its fair share of success so far. Over 90 people have backed the project, which has already reached its initial funding goal of $50,000. The mirror costs at least $139 – without a frame, that is. Its retail price is expected to be around $299; thus, there is still a lot of wiggle room left for the price. Pre-ordering is clearly the cheaper option.
This smart mirror lets people manage their time more efficiently. Rather than having to check your phone, tablet, or laptop to check schedules, the mirror will do it for you. The mirror can also be used to take selfies thanks to its built-in facial recognition technology. It can serve as a “guardian” for the house when you are away from home since it can monitor whoever passes in front of it. Quite a useful tool if you use the MirroCool as a hallway mirror.
There is a degree of customization which will alleviate most privacy concerns. Users can turn off the mirror’s camera feed if they want to. The number of smart functions provided is quite limited and they connect only to the MirroCloud service. That is a nice feature, and it goes to show the company does not wish to invade consumer privacy.
MirroCool is capable of recognizing facial gestures, which helps it distinguish between registered users. There is no interface to worry about, as one just has to stand in front of the mirror to make it “smart.” The mirror also syncs with mobile devices and relays information such as weather conditions, emails, notifications, and so forth. A hands-free interface makes products like these a lot more fun to interact with.
That being said, users need to teach their MirroCool three different gestures. Smile, Wink, and Blink are the three ways one can interact with the smart mirror without relying on touch or voice communication. The company is also planning to release an API allowing other developers to create new applications for these smart mirrors.
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Perpetrators who exploited a flaw in a popular ethereum wallet software yesterday have taken steps to sell their stolen funds.
Source
Perpetrators who exploited a flaw in a popular ethereum wallet software yesterday have taken steps to sell their stolen funds.
20th July, London, UK, Reality Gaming Group has announced Reality Clash, the world’s first augmented reality combat game for iPhone and Andriod, taking mobile combat games to an entirely new level. Familiar places are now your battle fields and the people in your surroundings are either your allies or enemies. Reality Clash will now offer … Continue reading MOBILE AR GAME REALITY CLASH ANNOUNCES TOKEN SALE WITH ERC-20 ARMORY
The post MOBILE AR GAME REALITY CLASH ANNOUNCES TOKEN SALE WITH ERC-20 ARMORY appeared first on NEWSBTC.
20th July, London, UK, Reality Gaming Group has announced Reality Clash, the world’s first augmented reality combat game for iPhone and Andriod, taking mobile combat games to an entirely new level. Familiar places are now your battle fields and the people in your surroundings are either your allies or enemies. Reality Clash will now offer … Continue reading MOBILE AR GAME REALITY CLASH ANNOUNCES TOKEN SALE WITH ERC-20 ARMORY
The post MOBILE AR GAME REALITY CLASH ANNOUNCES TOKEN SALE WITH ERC-20 ARMORY appeared first on NEWSBTC.
The bitcoin photo bomber that recently appeared waving a big note reading ‘buy bitcoin’ behind US Federal Reserve Board Chairwoman, Janet Yellen, has raised more than $15,000 in donations following the highly publicized incident. Also Read: Federal Reserve Employee Mines Bitcoin Using the Fed’s Server The Bitcoin Photo bomber Receiving Over $15,000 in Donations in Just […]
The post US Federal Reserve Chair Bitcoin Photo Bomber Generates Over $15k in Donations appeared first on Bitcoin News.
The bitcoin photo bomber that recently appeared waving a big note reading ‘buy bitcoin’ behind US Federal Reserve Board Chairwoman, Janet Yellen, has raised more than $15,000 in donations following the highly publicized incident.
Also Read: Federal Reserve Employee Mines Bitcoin Using the Fed’s Server
Earlier this month, photos emerged of a man holding a sign reading ‘buy bitcoin’ behind the Federal Reserve Board Chairwoman. The photos were taken during her discussions before a House Financial Services Committee. The incident was not well received by government staff, with the man being hastily escorted from the building.
Photos of the bitcoin photo bomber and the public address for his bitcoin wallet soon began to circulate online, leading to the man receiving over $10,000 in donations in just a few hours. At the time of writing, the wallet held 6.958 bitcoin, which equates to approximately $15,000.
The man, who is colloquially known as ‘Bitcoin Sign Guy’ online, has since been spotted outside of Coin Center holding a sign encouraging individuals to donate to the nonprofit cryptocurrency research and advocacy group. Bitcoin Sign Guy has been offered over 2.5 bitcoins for a notepad on which ‘donate to coin center’ was scrawled, which has been auctioned online. There is also clothing merchandise celebrating the event available for purchase, and some twitter followers have asked to purchase his tie.
Bitcoin Sign Guy is not the first person to generate a sizable bitcoin bounty from holding a placard at a public event. In 2013, a fan attending a college football event waved a saying reading ‘hi mom, send bitcoin’ that also featured the QR to the individual’s wallet. An image depicting the man and his sign was captured by ESPN, resulting in the man receiving approximately 22 bitcoin. The man would go on to donate 20 bitcoin to charity, Sean’s Outpost.
What do you think of the easy money that Bitcoin Sign Guy has made? Share your thoughts in the comments section below
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, and Bloomberg
The bitcoin rabbit hole is deep. Explore the first tunnels over at bitcoin.com’s Price Index and Statistics data pages. It’s all the data you need to sound like you know what you’re talking about – learn all about hashrate, block sizes, transaction fees paid, mining difficulty and transactions per day. Instant expertise, right here.
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Computers are no longer the only devices susceptible to attacks. We have seen various types of malware target Internet of Things devices in recent months. It now appears there is a new SambaCry vulnerability, which can exploit NAS devices. These devices can easily be backdoored by this exploit. NAS Devices are at Risk of Getting Hacked Many people have a NAS device somewhere at home. These Network Attached Storage devices are often used to store either videos or photos, although some people also use them to keep specific documents safe. Any type of hardware running older versions of the Samba
Computers are no longer the only devices susceptible to attacks. We have seen various types of malware target Internet of Things devices in recent months. It now appears there is a new SambaCry vulnerability, which can exploit NAS devices. These devices can easily be backdoored by this exploit.
Many people have a NAS device somewhere at home. These Network Attached Storage devices are often used to store either videos or photos, although some people also use them to keep specific documents safe. Any type of hardware running older versions of the Samba file-sharing service is now susceptible to the infamous SambaCry vulnerability. Leveraging this exploit allows criminals to install a backdoor Trojan on these Linux devices.
Most people who own a NAS are well aware of how these devices often come equipped with the Samba server software. This is done to provide a convenient solution for file-sharing interoperability. In fact, most people who use a NAS to access photos and videos from their Network Attached Storage device will do so using the Samba protocol. This protocol is especially useful when using devices running different operating systems to access information stored on the NAS itself.
This new exploit is called SHELLBIND. It leverages the SambaCry vulnerability, which has been public knowledge since late May 2017. It appears to affect all versions of the Samba software released since 2010. Anyone who runs Samba version 3.5.0 or higher can be affected by this exploit. The Samba team is well aware of this problem and a security patch has been issued to address the vulnerability.
Some people may be wondering what criminals hope to gain from leveraging this exploit. It can be used to install cryptocurrency mining software, such as the EternalMiner tool we have discussed earlier. Additionally, with a backdoor to the NAS device opened on port 61422, there is no limit to the damage criminals can do. After all, criminals are able to open a remote shell on the infected device, which gives them full administrator rights.
The backdoor Trojan is designed to modify existing local firewall settings and open a TCP connection on port 61422. Once SHELLBIND successfully infiltrates a device of its choice, it will send a notification to a centralized server, which can prove to be a fatal point of weakness in the future. This allows criminals to remotely connect to the NAS and have their way with the system. Installing cryptocurrency mining software is just one of the possible threats.
Security researchers are mainly concerned with how SHELLBIND can be used to steal sensitive information. Even though it mainly targets NAS devices, the malware can be deployed against other IoT devices as well. Although we may never know the full scope of these attacks and what criminals may be after, data theft is still a very likely outcome. Any information obtained from NAS or IoT devices can easily be sold on the darknet, as there are always interested parties looking to buy personal information.
While Segregated Witness (SegWit) activation is looking more likely by the hour, Bitfury is getting ready to deploy a version of the Lightning network with or without the protocol upgrade.
The blockchain technology company, perhaps best known for its Bitcoin mining pool of the same name, successfully sent real bitcoins over a test version of the Lightning Network this week. Interestingly, Bitfury’s implementation of the technology is compatible with the current Bitcoin protocol and is therefore functional even without SegWit.
“This is a major accomplishment by our technical team and an important step forward for the Lightning Network and the growth of Bitcoin,” Valery Vavilov, CEO of The Bitfury Group, said in a statement.
The Lightning Network is a highly anticipated second-layer scaling solution that allows for cheap and instant (micro)payments. Cleverly leveraging Bitcoin’s basic scripting capabilities, Lightning users should be able to make a virtually unlimited number of transactions, where only a minimal proportion of them are recorded on Bitcoin’s blockchain, thereby boosting Bitcoin’s scalability. Meanwhile, all users remain in control of their own bitcoins at all times, maintaining the trustless properties of Bitcoin itself.
“The Lightning Network has the potential to solve Bitcoin’s scalability issue and provide instant payment functionality. By demonstrating that the Lightning Network can function now, Bitfury has cleared the way to increased transaction processing and further adoption of Bitcoin,” Vavilov said.
Bitfury’s Lightning implementation is based on LND, which is being developed by Lightning Labs.
For its demo, the Bitfury software team created two Lightning transactions. One of these is a straight transaction from one Lightning node to the next, effectively simulating a payment channel between two users. Since it was only a test, Bitfury only made one transaction — but it could have made thousands back and forth at no extra cost.
The other test was a single-hop transaction, which better simulates the main purpose of the Lightning Network. Users pay each other through a mutual third party, without requiring any trust in this third party. While the Bitfury software team only made one transaction on this channel as well, it could, once again, have made thousands back and forth between all three parties, at no extra cost.
Since Bitfury’s test took place on the main net, the funding and settlement transactions are recorded on Bitcoin’s blockchain and can be seen by any typical block explorer.
Bitfury’s is not the first successful test of the Lightning Network. Several companies, including Lightning Labs, Blockstream, ACINQ as well as Bitfury itself have experimented with their implementations of the technology. But since most of these companies are working on versions of Lightning that rely on Segregated Witness, these tests were limited to Bitcoin’s testnet and Litecoin. Likewise, major wallet service Blockchain has sent “Thunder” transactions over Bitcoin’s main net. But while Thunder resembles the Lightning protocol, it isn’t quite as trustless or decentralized.
As such, Bitfury is the first company to get a version of the Lightning Network up and running on the current Bitcoin protocol.
“We released this first experimental version of the Lightning Network for Bitcoin because we think the Lightning Network is an essential technology for Bitcoin and would love to see it made available as soon as possible,” Vavilov said. “We are proud that our developers found a way to adopt the Lightning Network for Bitcoin without SegWit. It’s a huge step forward for Bitcoin scalability.”
Regardless, the CEO noted that he is hopeful that SegWit will activate on the Bitcoin network. With BIP91 currently getting close to its activation threshold, it seems increasingly likely that SegWit could be live within a month. This would allow for a version of the Lightning Network that offers an improved user experience.
Vavilov:
“The Lightning Network will be the most effective when used with SegWit, which is why we are fully committed to SegWit’s implementation, and we will continue working on a version of the Lightning Network that is compatible with SegWit.”
Bitfury, which started out as a Bitcoin miner, has grown to become one of the largest private infrastructure providers in the Blockchain ecosystem. Part of this effort, the company has been supporting the development and implementation of the Lightning Network for well over a year. Bitfury previously also co-designed and successfully tested Flare, a payment-routing solution for the Lightning Network.
Watch the video of Bitfury’s tests here:
The post SegWit or Not, Bitfury is Ready for Lightning With Successful Bitcoin Main Net Test appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.
While Segregated Witness (SegWit) activation is looking more likely by the hour, Bitfury is getting ready to deploy a version of the Lightning network with or without the protocol upgrade.
The blockchain technology company, perhaps best known for its Bitcoin mining pool of the same name, successfully sent real bitcoins over a test version of the Lightning Network this week. Interestingly, Bitfury’s implementation of the technology is compatible with the current Bitcoin protocol and is therefore functional even without SegWit.
“This is a major accomplishment by our technical team and an important step forward for the Lightning Network and the growth of Bitcoin,” Valery Vavilov, CEO of The Bitfury Group, said in a statement.
The Lightning Network is a highly anticipated second-layer scaling solution that allows for cheap and instant (micro)payments. Cleverly leveraging Bitcoin’s basic scripting capabilities, Lightning users should be able to make a virtually unlimited number of transactions, where only a minimal proportion of them are recorded on Bitcoin’s blockchain, thereby boosting Bitcoin’s scalability. Meanwhile, all users remain in control of their own bitcoins at all times, maintaining the trustless properties of Bitcoin itself.
“The Lightning Network has the potential to solve Bitcoin’s scalability issue and provide instant payment functionality. By demonstrating that the Lightning Network can function now, Bitfury has cleared the way to increased transaction processing and further adoption of Bitcoin,” Vavilov said.
Bitfury’s Lightning implementation is based on LND, which is being developed by Lightning Labs.
For its demo, the Bitfury software team created two Lightning transactions. One of these is a straight transaction from one Lightning node to the next, effectively simulating a payment channel between two users. Since it was only a test, Bitfury only made one transaction — but it could have made thousands back and forth at no extra cost.
The other test was a single-hop transaction, which better simulates the main purpose of the Lightning Network. Users pay each other through a mutual third party, without requiring any trust in this third party. While the Bitfury software team only made one transaction on this channel as well, it could, once again, have made thousands back and forth between all three parties, at no extra cost.
Since Bitfury’s test took place on the main net, the funding and settlement transactions are recorded on Bitcoin’s blockchain and can be seen by any typical block explorer.
Bitfury’s is not the first successful test of the Lightning Network. Several companies, including Lightning Labs, Blockstream, ACINQ as well as Bitfury itself have experimented with their implementations of the technology. But since most of these companies are working on versions of Lightning that rely on Segregated Witness, these tests were limited to Bitcoin’s testnet and Litecoin. Likewise, major wallet service Blockchain has sent “Thunder” transactions over Bitcoin’s main net. But while Thunder resembles the Lightning protocol, it isn’t quite as trustless or decentralized.
As such, Bitfury is the first company to get a version of the Lightning Network up and running on the current Bitcoin protocol.
“We released this first experimental version of the Lightning Network for Bitcoin because we think the Lightning Network is an essential technology for Bitcoin and would love to see it made available as soon as possible,” Vavilov said. “We are proud that our developers found a way to adopt the Lightning Network for Bitcoin without SegWit. It’s a huge step forward for Bitcoin scalability.”
Regardless, the CEO noted that he is hopeful that SegWit will activate on the Bitcoin network. With BIP91 currently getting close to its activation threshold, it seems increasingly likely that SegWit could be live within a month. This would allow for a version of the Lightning Network that offers an improved user experience.
Vavilov:
“The Lightning Network will be the most effective when used with SegWit, which is why we are fully committed to SegWit’s implementation, and we will continue working on a version of the Lightning Network that is compatible with SegWit.”
Bitfury, which started out as a Bitcoin miner, has grown to become one of the largest private infrastructure providers in the Blockchain ecosystem. Part of this effort, the company has been supporting the development and implementation of the Lightning Network for well over a year. Bitfury previously also co-designed and successfully tested Flare, a payment-routing solution for the Lightning Network.
Watch the video of Bitfury’s tests here:
The post SegWit or Not, Bitfury is Ready for Lightning With Successful Bitcoin Main Net Test appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.
Within 24 hours, Bitcoin price recorded a staggering 13 percent surge in value. The activation of SegWit will lead to a 75 percent optimization of Bitcoin blocks and a subs…
Within 24 hours, Bitcoin price recorded a staggering 13 percent surge in value. The activation of SegWit will lead to a 75 percent optimization of Bitcoin blocks and a substantial decrease in Bitcoin transaction fees.