Day: August 17, 2017

There are many peculiarities about the Bitcoin Cash network. Perhaps the biggest concern of all is an unknown entity that continues to mine the vast majority of network blocks. No one has any idea who is behind this mining effort or how many people may be involved. So far, it seems the majority of mining rewards from those blocks have been sent to two different addresses. 

Who is Mining These Bitcoin Cash Blocks?

Ever since the Bitcoin Cash network was launched, someone has been doing a lot of mining without using one of the pools supporting this chain. Instead, it appears that he, she, or they are more than happy to keep mining as an unknown entity and never reveal their identity. It is not uncommon for miners to remain anonymous, yet it is of grave concern for Bitcoin Cash. The unknown entity has been mining close to 95% of all network blocks for quite some time now.

Without knowing who is responsible for this mining activity, there is plenty of reason for concern. Whoever is mining these blocks on their own could easily perform a 51% attack against the Bitcoin Cash network at any given time. Although that has not yet happened, it is certainly something to keep in mind. Considering that ViaBTC, BitClub, and a few other pools support mining BCH, there is no reason for this unknown entity not to have joined a pool already.

With the vast majority of block rewards going to two addresses, things only get more confusing. Perhaps the most peculiar aspect to all this is how neither of those addresses shows an interest in selling coins for the time being, but merely collects BCH coins as often as possible. These two addresses combined have a total balance of over 10,000 BCH right now, which is worth around 720 BTC at current market prices.  This is a bit comforting, although it still means 10,000 coins can be dumped across exchanges at any given moment.

The Bitcoin Cash mining difficulty is scheduled to adjust in a few days from now. At that point, the new difficulty will be almost three times higher than it is now. That should hopefully result in better mining profitability of BCH, which is still 43% less profitable than Bitcoin itself. Enticing miners to switch to Bitcoin Cash pools will not be easy. Even with a higher profitability, a lot of miners will still sell off their coins as quickly as possible.

So far, it does not appear as if the Bitcoin Cash community is overly concerned about an unknown entity successfully controlling the vast majority of BCH mining power. Whoever is behind this initiative clearly has big hopes for a future BCH price increase, which has been awaited for nearly a full week now. For some reason, market makers are more than content to keep the BCH price around US$300. That is a solid value for someone who controls over 10,000 coins, but it is possible the mystery miner or miners are waiting for a much higher price.

Even though most people are not overly concerned, it is not a healthy situation by any means. Having a mining pool control 51% or more of the network hashrate is troublesome. An unknown entity mining nearly 9.7 out of every 10 network blocks represents a whole new level of uncertainty. So far, no major damage has been done. However, it would be interesting to see the miners in question expose their identity and explain their objective. Until then, all we can do is speculate about this mystery.

A well-regarded Miami trader is looking to make a bucket load of Bitcoin by accepting the digital currency for his mansion.

Anonymity and Bitcoin are two concepts which do not mix well. Bitcoin has no anonymity traits. Third-party services such as coin mixers can provide a degree of anonymity and privacy. XMR.to is one of those companies trying to make a name for itself now that BitMixer is no longer operational. Always do your own research before sending money to such a company.

What Makes XMR.to So Special?

Ensuring total transaction anonymity with Bitcoin is not an easy feat. In fact, it is nearly impossible without using third-party services. Projects such as the Breeze Wallet bring Bitcoin one step closer to anonymity, but there are other ways to go about it as well. Coin mixers such as XMR.to will always be around until the Bitcoin protocol provides anonymity by default, which will not be happening anytime soon.

To that end, XMR.to is trying to make a name for itself right now. According to the operators, this coin mixing service provides full Bitcoin transaction anonymity. It uses cryptocurrency exchanges to convert incoming Bitcoin transfers to Monero, which is the anonymity-centric altcoin that so many have come to appreciate over the past few months. Monero can make transactions “disappear” from a public ledger, ensuring no one can trace the origin or destination of a particular blockchain-based transfer.

The mixing service will ensure that the path taken by funds in between destination and origin is obfuscated entirely. It will also attempt to use exchanges to convert from Bitcoin to Monero. Though it is an interesting concept, it remains to be seen if the operator can deliver on this promise. The platform claims to ensure anonymity for the sender of money, whereas the recipient may not enjoy the same benefits for the time being.

Anyone using this service must be comfortable with receiving payments in Monero. Given the popularity of XMR, that may not prove to be much of a challenge for the time being. Indeed, converting Bitcoin into an altcoin is something everyone can do. One does not even need to use an exchange to do so, as services such as ShapeShift allow for these types of transactions as well. Tumbling services offer slightly more privacy and anonymity than people exchanging the currencies themselves could ever enjoy.

Additionally, it appears the choice for converting Bitcoin to Monero was made out of self-interest by XMR.to. Using Monero allows them to remain hidden, whereas regular Bitcoin mixing services would not grant them the same privilege. This may also cause a bit of a trust issue, considering no one knows for sure who is behind this new mixing service or what their ulterior motives are. Given the shutdown of BitMixer not too long ago, tumbling services are a bit harder to come by.

Anyone looking to use this service should do their own research first and foremost. A service offering full transaction anonymity without disclosing any information about themselves always sounds fishy. Coin mixing services require a lot of inherent trust between parties. Trusting strangers on the Internet is difficult enough, but entrusting them with your money is a different matter entirely. There is no evidence to suggest XMR.to is a scam by any means, but caution is nonetheless advised.

sponsored

The sheer number of tokens on the ICO market is naturally giving rise to doubts if users truly understand the nature of what they invest in – often in the thousands of dollars.

Binance’s co-founder, Yi He, gave “The Age of Blockchain Exchange 2.0” presentation at “The 4th Global Blockchain Summit 2017” on August 16th, 2017. In her presentation, Yi He shared the status quo of Binance and talked about significant strategies of Binance. The following is Yi He’s words in her presentation. Blockchain assets enter to 2.0 … Continue reading Binance Remarks Cryptocurrency Industry to Build the New Echo

The post Binance Remarks Cryptocurrency Industry to Build the New Echo appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Bitcoin wallet startup Breadwallet has closed a new $7 million funding to boost staffing levels and product development.

South Africa is number one in the world when it comes to Bitcoin searches per capita, data from Google Trends reveals.