Day: August 26, 2017

Key Points Bitcoin price failed once again around the $4450 level against the US Dollar, and currently trading near $4350. There is a crucial bullish trend line with support at $4280 forming on the 4-hours chart of BTC/USD (data feed from SimpleFX). As long as the price is above the trend line support at $4280, … Continue reading Bitcoin Price Weekly Analysis – Can BTC/USD Break $4500?

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Key Points Bitcoin cash price after a sharp decline corrected higher towards $740 against the US Dollar. There is a contracting triangle pattern forming with support at $600 on the 4-hours chart of BCH/USD (data feed from Kraken). A break and close below $600 could open the doors for more declines in the near term. … Continue reading Bitcoin Cash Price Weekly Analysis – BCH/USD Bearish Breakout?

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Key Highlights ETH price is slowly moving higher above $316, but struggling to gain momentum against the US Dollar. There are two bullish trend lines with support at $330 and $310 forming on the 4-hours chart of ETH/USD (data feed via SimpleFX). The pair needs to gain momentum to overcome sellers around the $344 zone … Continue reading Ethereum Price Weekly Analysis – ETH/USD In Slow Uptrend

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Ethereum is unquestionably the market leading smart contract platform. It’s the oldest and most mature. It likely has the best protocol devs and certainly has the best community. Developer interest is surging. Major companies are investing in the platform. It has a clear roadmap. It’s led by one of the brightest minds of our era.

It may sound strange to mine Bitcoin with household appliances, to say the least. The Chinese firm Midea Group feels it is an opportunity waiting to be explored. They recently filed a patent for household devices capable of mining Bitcoin.  That is quite an interesting development, although this doesn’t mean such devices will ever be … Continue reading China’s Midea Group Patents Mining Bitcoin with Household Appliances

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Cointal is the one website you’ve been waiting for. So far, we may have seen many Peer-to-Peer Marketplaces, but none concerned themselves with procuring any feature that would reassure all traders at once. First of all, no P2P marketplace has ever proposed more than two cryptocurrencies at once. On Cointal, you can choose the deal … Continue reading Cointal Offers BTC, ETH, LTC, XRP, Becoming the first Centralized Multi-cryptocurrency P2P Marketplace

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It is always an interesting idea to check up on Bitcoin Cash now and then. A few days ago, mining profitability switched back in favor of Bitcoin Core. It now appears the situation has changed yet again. Mining BCH is 10% more profitable compared to the legacy chain. Not a major difference, but it may … Continue reading Bitcoin Cash Mining Ecosystem Looks More Diversified Compared to a Week ago

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While we at The Merkle have talked ourselves blue in the face stating that Bitcoin is not inherently a criminal asset, sometimes criminals do use it. However, dedicated blockchain analysts can make connections between wallet addresses and identifying information in order to track payments and unmask nefarious individuals. The latest technique in this regard is an AI that scours the Bitcoin blockchain to find and help victims of sex trafficking.

Bitcoin can Link Criminals to Crimes

The use of most cryptocurrencies for illicit activities has always baffled me a bit. Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies are pseudonymous not anonymous. This means that there is a direct, public link between the criminal and the illegal transaction. Hiding funds and information used to mean using mixers and similar services, but those are rarer than ever. Still, some individuals use Bitcoin as a medium for illegal transactions.

Knowing the nature of the blockchain, University of California at Berkeley’s Rebecca Portnoff helped develop an AI that follows the connections on the Bitcoin blockchain to find and help sex trafficking victims. The AI itself identifies suspicious sex advertisements placed on Backpage, a website listing ads for sex services among other things, via a machine learning algorithm. Once these have been identified, the AI uses the public payment information on the blockchain to help identify and track down the individuals who placed those ads. While the site used to accept credit cards, it now only allows payments in Bitcoin. That leaves anyone operating illegally on the site exposed to blockchain scouring analysts and software.

To learn which ads are suspicious, the AI takes many things into account. The way in which ads are written, their styles, and their designs all can be tells of those who created and posted these ads. Similarly written or designed ads are grouped together by the AI, and that data feedback helps the AI learn and become more effective. Corresponding addresses on the blockchain associated with payments for these ads help solidify the case against traffickers.

Supporting evidence against criminals on this site is easy to come by. Ads are timestamped, the ads themselves include contact information, and the blockchain provides immutable evidence of payment for services. Bitcoin inherently betrays criminals by providing information leading to their downfall.

Bitcoin for a Better Future

While I am happy that Bitcoin and its technology is helping identify and stop criminals, I realize that many still feel Bitcoin itself enables crime. I argue that this technology is neither morally good or bad, but its moral worth is influenced by its userbase. In the same way someone can use fiat cash to facilitate crimes, Bitcoin can be used nefariously as well. However, the difference is that one form of money can be tracked easily whereas the other is very difficult to follow.

Some may take issue with Bitcoin being pseudonymous rather than anonymous, but I believe that this is one of its saving graces. It allows for the opportunity to track down bad actors who use it, and also helps us transact in a more trustless manner. Bitcoin and its blockchain can help make a better future for all of us.

I look forward to following the developments of this AI project to help tackle the pressing issue of sex trafficking in today’s world.

Our London Correspondent Nick Ayton explores the darker side of the ICO phenomenon.

Wall Street’s traders Mike Komaransky and Chase Lochmiller have achieved greater financial success by trading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

In a complete turnaround from the previous stance, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen

wikiHow and Civic are partnering up in their bid to bolster the login security of users.