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Day: August 27, 2017

North Korea Targets South Korean Bitcoin Companies

North Korea has been in the news a lot recently, mostly for its leader’s continued and heightened threats against the United States and its allies. In response, the United Nations universally adopted new sanctions – with backing from China – against the hermit kingdom. The DPRK swiftly ramped up its rhetoric, and may have also performed cyberattacks against South Korean bitcoin exchanges. North Korea Targets Bitcoin UPI reported that the Cyber Warfare Research Center in South Korea recently stated that at least one South Korean Bitcoin exchange had been the target of a hacking attempt that likely originated from North Korea. The exchange was just one of

North Korea has been in the news a lot recently, mostly for its leader’s continued and heightened threats against the United States and its allies. In response, the United Nations universally adopted new sanctions – with backing from China – against the hermit kingdom. The DPRK swiftly ramped up its rhetoric, and may have also performed cyberattacks against South Korean bitcoin exchanges.

North Korea Targets Bitcoin

UPI reported that the Cyber Warfare Research Center in South Korea recently stated that at least one South Korean Bitcoin exchange had been the target of a hacking attempt that likely originated from North Korea. The exchange was just one of many South Korean institutions to have been targeted in a widespread attack against the finance sector.

This attack was evidently distributed via a dedicated email campaign, not unlike most other types of malware these days. Employees of targeted exchanges were emailed, and if those emails were opened, the attached malware would possibly embed itself in the company’s computer network. Thus far, we do not know for sure how many businesses were affected.

Why Target Bitcoin?

The aforementioned sanctions are not the first that the international community has placed on North Korea to dissuade the country’s nuclear ambitions. However, they may be some of the first that are actually making the country hurt enough to take action. This is due in large part to China having signed onto these sanctions in a meaningful way. In the past, China had adopted a policy of providing the least amount of compliance with sanctions. However, China is now helping the situation by abiding by the sanction rules and also turning away much of North Korea’s coal exports. All of this means that North Korea is even more strapped for money than usual.

Korea University’s Professor Lim Jong-in said that the exchange hack may be one way that North Korea is looking to obtain more money in a somewhat hidden manner. Successful hacks of exchanges could be a nice revenue influx for the beleaguered nation.

However, it may not be the smartest move for North Korea to steal Bitcoin. As we have stated at length here at The Merkle, Bitcoin is not anonymous at all. Stolen funds can be tracked on the public blockchain. Even if North Korea were successful in its hacking attempt, any stolen funds could be tracked along the blockchain. Perhaps the rogue nation targeted exchanges in the hopes of making off with far more anonymous altcoins.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies would also allow North Korea to somewhat disregard these new sanctions if said cryptocurrencies were sufficiently valuable. Some have suggested that the North is fairly well established in Bitcoin and altcoin mining and would not have to rely on fiat currency.

It is also possible that North Korea did this as a way of lashing out, rather than it being a dedicated attack to try and steal Bitcoin. North Korea knows that South Korea has become a hub for Bitcoin and other altcoin trading. Attacking a very active market would be one way of sending a message to the South Koreans that their northern neighbor is unhappy with their support of the US-drafted sanctions.

What surprises me is that there has been no mention of North Korea attacking Chinese exchanges. Since this is the first time China has actively backed sanctions, I assumed that if anyone would be “punished” by North Korea it would be China.

All of this being said, the origin of these attacks has not yet been fully identified. However, authorities are quite certain that North Korea is indeed behind these cyberattacks.

One of Elon Musk’s Startups Is Building a Brain Computer

TheMerkle Elon Musk Brain ComputerElon Musk has built up quite a portfolio of companies and startups over the years. One of those business ventures is Neuralink Corp., which is now looking to fund the development of brain computers. To do so, the company is willing to part with up to US$100 million in stock. Creating a technological solution that merges human brains with computers sounds a lot scarier than it really is. Brain Computers and Elon Musk in one Sentence The concept of brain computers is not something most consumers necessarily look forward to. Though it sounds very scary and invasive, the technology has yet to be

TheMerkle Elon Musk Brain Computer

Elon Musk has built up quite a portfolio of companies and startups over the years. One of those business ventures is Neuralink Corp., which is now looking to fund the development of brain computers. To do so, the company is willing to part with up to US$100 million in stock. Creating a technological solution that merges human brains with computers sounds a lot scarier than it really is.

Brain Computers and Elon Musk in one Sentence

The concept of brain computers is not something most consumers necessarily look forward to. Though it sounds very scary and invasive, the technology has yet to be developed in the first place. Elon Musk‘s startup Neuralink Corp. is looking to do exactly that. It hopes to raise US$100 million and is willing to sell a vast amount of company stock to do so.

So far, the company has received US$27 million in funding, according to a document posted on the SEC website. Neuralink is not actively looking for outside investors at this stage, which is rather remarkable. No one knows for sure where this US$27 million came from or whether or not the same parties are willing to buy up to US$100 million of stock to help the company succeed in its mission. Then again, stranger things have happened in the technology sector.

According to Musk himself, Neuralink is a top priority as is the technology he hopes to develop. Having previously worked with automotive rocket companies, exploring the concept of brain computers is next on his agenda. That in itself is pretty interesting, considering Musk is also focusing on Tesla, OpenaI, and SpaceX right now. It will be interesting to see how these power rankings play out in the coming years.

For the time being, it is anybody’s guess as to what Neuralink is working on exactly. Merging computers with the human brain through futuristic technological developments is a very strange idea. Since no other noteworthy company has succeeded in doing anything similar, it is impossible to know what we can expect in the coming months and years. The company knows exactly how much money will be needed, though, which indicates there is a plan of action on the table.

According to the startup’s website, its goal is to develop an “ultra-high bandwidth brain machine interface to connect humans and computers.” This is a very vague statement at best which leaves a lot to speculation. It may sound pretty scary to most people, since connecting a human brain to a computer in any way sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Until the company comes up with a project people can properly evaluate, there is little reason to speculate.

It seems the company is in the process of actively recruiting additional engineers and scientists to assist with the development of this technology. Interestingly, there is no neuroscience experience required. A lot of people will want to keep a close eye on this technology, mainly because Elon Musk is involved. Brain computers remain a mystery for the time being, but the idea certainly sounds intriguing.

Miners Are Milking Bcash’s Difficulty Adjustments (and Why This Is a Problem)

Miners Are Milking Bcash’s Difficulty Adjustments (and Why This Is a Problem)

Bitcoin Cash (Bcash or BCH) has been more profitable to mine than Bitcoin (BTC) on multiple occasions over the past week or two. This is creating a new dynamic within Bitcoin’s ecosystem — one which is not really beneficial for either coin.

In Bitcoin Magazine‘s previous article on this topic, we explained why Bcash mining should normally not affect Bitcoin too much, aside from the incidental higher fees and slower confirmations. We also explained why this dynamic could, in the meantime, ruin Bcash, as it should freeze that blockchain in its tracks.

We also noted that Bcash has a built-in emergency solution to mitigate the risk, which could get its blockchain moving again. But this solution does assume either that some miners are choosing to act against their own short-term interest at certain times for the benefit of all miners — or that miners are coordinating for their mutual benefit, on some level.

Now, several days later, it appears that this is what’s happening. Some miners are either acting against their short-term interests for specific periods of time — or they are coordinating to trigger the emergency solution.

The good news for Bcash is that this means its blockchain is still in motion for now, at least on most days. But at the same time, the dynamic generated by the emergency solution is benefiting its miners overall, more than anyone else — and it’s even calling into question the long-term viability of Bitcoin Cash itself.

The Emergency Difficulty Adjustment

First, a brief recap of Bitcoin mining and Bcash’s built-in emergency solution.

Mining profitability is determined by the value of the block reward (newly mined coins plus transaction fees) and the “difficulty” to mine a block. If the value of the block rewards are higher and the difficulty is lower, miners make more money.

The difficulty on both Bitcoin and Bcash self-adjusts each time 2016 blocks are mined. If it takes longer than two weeks to mine these 2016 blocks, difficulty adjusts downward so it becomes easier to mine. If it takes less than two weeks, the difficulty adjusts upward so it becomes harder.

Bcash really needs its difficulty to be low enough to match the value of its block rewards in relation to Bitcoin. So, if Bcash’s block reward is worth 15 percent of Bitcoin’s block reward, Bcash’s difficulty must also be 15 percent of Bitcoin’s difficulty, or lower. Otherwise, Bitcoin will be more profitable to mine, and miners will really have no reason ever to return to Bcash, leaving the Bcash blockchain frozen in its tracks.

The big problem is that, as long as Bcash’s block rewards do not exceed Bitcoin’s block rewards, this is bound to happen sooner or later. At some point, Bcash difficulty will exceed what its block reward will be worth, at which point all miners should leave.

To mitigate this problem, Bcash implemented a feature called the “emergency difficulty adjustment” (EDA). If in a space of at least twelve hours, fewer than six blocks are mined, the difficulty adjusts downwards by 20 percent for the next block. If miners coordinate or time this well, this can bring difficulty down by about 75 percent within a day.

The Problems

While triggering the EDA is preferable over a blockchain frozen in its tracks forever, it does present new problems.

Once difficulty is low enough, profit-maximizing miners are incentivized to jump on Bcash mining, producing an enormous number of blocks before difficulty adjusts within a day or two. Then, once the difficulty adjusts upward by a lot, and all these miners will switch back to Bitcoin — until some miners trigger Bcash’s EDA again, potentially after 12 hours or so, and all miners hop back on Bcash, creating a sort of stop-and-go cycle, on repeat.

In our previous article, we noted that this stop-and-go cycle is not ideal for users. But we didn’t go into specifics about what problems those would be, exactly. And there are a number of them…

First of all, this stop-and-go cycle actually causes a disturbance for Bitcoin users as well. Each time miners hop on Bcash, hash power leaves the Bitcoin network, which means that Bitcoin blocks are mined more slowly. As a result, Bitcoin’s transaction fees and confirmation times go up. And the fact that miners are intentionally gaming the system like this, suggests that the situation could drag on for a while: potentially weeks or months, and maybe even longer depending on how Bcash develops.

Meanwhile, this cycle makes Bitcoin Cash confirmation times very unreliable. On some days, transactions confirm very quickly, as blocks are found about every minute. On other days, there are (almost) no new blocks at all for at least 12 hours, and transactions take incredibly long to confirm, by comparison.

Arguably, an even bigger problem is that because of this dynamic, Bcash mining rewards — new coins — enter the system much more quickly: currently about four times faster than they are supposed to. As a result, Bcash’s inflation rate is relatively high. While Bitcoin’s current yearly inflation rate sits at about 4 percent, Bcash’s yearly inflation rate is on pace to be closer to 16 percent. This favors miners who earn these coins — at the cost of coin-holders.

What’s more, because of this same dynamic, Bcash’s next block halving will arrive much faster as well, possibly around mid 2018 instead of mid 2020. And if nothing changes, there could even be another halving by early 2019: the block reward could fall to 3.125 BCH in just a little over a year from now.

These halvings is where Bcash’s real problems could begin.

As perhaps its central value proposition compared to Bitcoin, Bcash wants to keep its transaction fees extremely low; even as low as zero. Therefore, it is not clear that fees will make up for the loss in rewards; it seems especially unlikely that these losses will be made up within a year, if ever. So unless the market price of BCH, compared to BTC, increases by a lot, and fast, the value of Bcash’s block reward could dwindle significantly.

Now, keep in mind that for miners to mine Bcash at all, its difficulty must be even lower than its block reward, compared to Bitcoin, and that if that is the case, all profit-maximizing miners are expected to pile on.

That means that all these miners will be able to mine the 2016 blocks even faster when they do all pile on Bcash. Instead of two days, it could take them even one day. Or less. Which would, of course, mean that the next block halving will be reached even faster. This would in turn means that the block rewards would be even less valuable, difficulty would needs to be even lower for miners to hop on, and miners would be able to mine the 2016 blocks even faster next time. Maybe even in half a day.

Bcash’s EDA could lead to vicious downward spiral, which would significantly decrease Bcash’s security against 51% attacks. It would also make it easier for miners hostile to Bcash to frustrate the system in other ways; for example, they could prevent emergency adjustments from kicking in. Moreover, Bcash could reach the point where its block rewards aren’t even worth the time and effort for miners to switch between chains, and Bcash freezes in its tracks, after all.

Bitcoin Cash will need to fix this problem somehow, and by now developers are indeed discussing the issue. Either that, or the coin must become more valuable than Bitcoin to mitigate the problem altogether — fast.

Thanks to Johnathan Corgan for feedback.

The post Miners Are Milking Bcash’s Difficulty Adjustments (and Why This Is a Problem) appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Miners Are Milking Bcash’s Difficulty Adjustments (and Why This Is a Problem)

Bitcoin Cash (Bcash or BCH) has been more profitable to mine than Bitcoin (BTC) on multiple occasions over the past week or two. This is creating a new dynamic within Bitcoin’s ecosystem — one which is not really beneficial for either coin.

In Bitcoin Magazine‘s previous article on this topic, we explained why Bcash mining should normally not affect Bitcoin too much, aside from the incidental higher fees and slower confirmations. We also explained why this dynamic could, in the meantime, ruin Bcash, as it should freeze that blockchain in its tracks.

We also noted that Bcash has a built-in emergency solution to mitigate the risk, which could get its blockchain moving again. But this solution does assume either that some miners are choosing to act against their own short-term interest at certain times for the benefit of all miners — or that miners are coordinating for their mutual benefit, on some level.

Now, several days later, it appears that this is what’s happening. Some miners are either acting against their short-term interests for specific periods of time — or they are coordinating to trigger the emergency solution.

The good news for Bcash is that this means its blockchain is still in motion for now, at least on most days. But at the same time, the dynamic generated by the emergency solution is benefiting its miners overall, more than anyone else — and it’s even calling into question the long-term viability of Bitcoin Cash itself.

The Emergency Difficulty Adjustment

First, a brief recap of Bitcoin mining and Bcash’s built-in emergency solution.

Mining profitability is determined by the value of the block reward (newly mined coins plus transaction fees) and the “difficulty” to mine a block. If the value of the block rewards are higher and the difficulty is lower, miners make more money.

The difficulty on both Bitcoin and Bcash self-adjusts each time 2016 blocks are mined. If it takes longer than two weeks to mine these 2016 blocks, difficulty adjusts downward so it becomes easier to mine. If it takes less than two weeks, the difficulty adjusts upward so it becomes harder.

Bcash really needs its difficulty to be low enough to match the value of its block rewards in relation to Bitcoin. So, if Bcash’s block reward is worth 15 percent of Bitcoin’s block reward, Bcash’s difficulty must also be 15 percent of Bitcoin’s difficulty, or lower. Otherwise, Bitcoin will be more profitable to mine, and miners will really have no reason ever to return to Bcash, leaving the Bcash blockchain frozen in its tracks.

The big problem is that, as long as Bcash’s block rewards do not exceed Bitcoin’s block rewards, this is bound to happen sooner or later. At some point, Bcash difficulty will exceed what its block reward will be worth, at which point all miners should leave.

To mitigate this problem, Bcash implemented a feature called the “emergency difficulty adjustment” (EDA). If in a space of at least twelve hours, fewer than six blocks are mined, the difficulty adjusts downwards by 20 percent for the next block. If miners coordinate or time this well, this can bring difficulty down by about 75 percent within a day.

The Problems

While triggering the EDA is preferable over a blockchain frozen in its tracks forever, it does present new problems.

Once difficulty is low enough, profit-maximizing miners are incentivized to jump on Bcash mining, producing an enormous number of blocks before difficulty adjusts within a day or two. Then, once the difficulty adjusts upward by a lot, and all these miners will switch back to Bitcoin — until some miners trigger Bcash’s EDA again, potentially after 12 hours or so, and all miners hop back on Bcash, creating a sort of stop-and-go cycle, on repeat.

In our previous article, we noted that this stop-and-go cycle is not ideal for users. But we didn’t go into specifics about what problems those would be, exactly. And there are a number of them…

First of all, this stop-and-go cycle actually causes a disturbance for Bitcoin users as well. Each time miners hop on Bcash, hash power leaves the Bitcoin network, which means that Bitcoin blocks are mined more slowly. As a result, Bitcoin’s transaction fees and confirmation times go up. And the fact that miners are intentionally gaming the system like this, suggests that the situation could drag on for a while: potentially weeks or months, and maybe even longer depending on how Bcash develops.

Meanwhile, this cycle makes Bitcoin Cash confirmation times very unreliable. On some days, transactions confirm very quickly, as blocks are found about every minute. On other days, there are (almost) no new blocks at all for at least 12 hours, and transactions take incredibly long to confirm, by comparison.

Arguably, an even bigger problem is that because of this dynamic, Bcash mining rewards — new coins — enter the system much more quickly: currently about four times faster than they are supposed to. As a result, Bcash’s inflation rate is relatively high. While Bitcoin’s current yearly inflation rate sits at about 4 percent, Bcash’s yearly inflation rate is on pace to be closer to 16 percent. This favors miners who earn these coins — at the cost of coin-holders.

What’s more, because of this same dynamic, Bcash’s next block halving will arrive much faster as well, possibly around mid 2018 instead of mid 2020. And if nothing changes, there could even be another halving by early 2019: the block reward could fall to 3.125 BCH in just a little over a year from now.

These halvings is where Bcash’s real problems could begin.

As perhaps its central value proposition compared to Bitcoin, Bcash wants to keep its transaction fees extremely low; even as low as zero. Therefore, it is not clear that fees will make up for the loss in rewards; it seems especially unlikely that these losses will be made up within a year, if ever. So unless the market price of BCH, compared to BTC, increases by a lot, and fast, the value of Bcash’s block reward could dwindle significantly.

Now, keep in mind that for miners to mine Bcash at all, its difficulty must be even lower than its block reward, compared to Bitcoin, and that if that is the case, all profit-maximizing miners are expected to pile on.

That means that all these miners will be able to mine the 2016 blocks even faster when they do all pile on Bcash. Instead of two days, it could take them even one day. Or less. Which would, of course, mean that the next block halving will be reached even faster. This would in turn means that the block rewards would be even less valuable, difficulty would needs to be even lower for miners to hop on, and miners would be able to mine the 2016 blocks even faster next time. Maybe even in half a day.

Bcash’s EDA could lead to vicious downward spiral, which would significantly decrease Bcash’s security against 51% attacks. It would also make it easier for miners hostile to Bcash to frustrate the system in other ways; for example, they could prevent emergency adjustments from kicking in. Moreover, Bcash could reach the point where its block rewards aren’t even worth the time and effort for miners to switch between chains, and Bcash freezes in its tracks, after all.

Bitcoin Cash will need to fix this problem somehow, and by now developers are indeed discussing the issue. Either that, or the coin must become more valuable than Bitcoin to mitigate the problem altogether — fast.

Thanks to Johnathan Corgan for feedback.

The post Miners Are Milking Bcash’s Difficulty Adjustments (and Why This Is a Problem) appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Etherparty and Rootstock Announce Multichain Smart Contract Solution

TheMerkle Rootstock Etherparyt Smart contract Bitcoin EthereumSmart contract technology is only native to a few different platforms as of right now. One notably absent platform from the list is the Bitcoin blockchain. The Rootstock project aims to change that by bringing its functionality to Bitcoin users. A new partnership between the company and Etherparty will result in accelerated adoption of smart contracts on the Bitcoin network. Smart Contract Convenience for all Bitcoin Users Etherparty has received a lot of praise from the Ethereum community over the past year or so. What this platform does is provide a convenient and user-friendly tool to access and create smart contracts. It is

TheMerkle Rootstock Etherparyt Smart contract Bitcoin Ethereum

Smart contract technology is only native to a few different platforms as of right now. One notably absent platform from the list is the Bitcoin blockchain. The Rootstock project aims to change that by bringing its functionality to Bitcoin users. A new partnership between the company and Etherparty will result in accelerated adoption of smart contracts on the Bitcoin network.

Smart Contract Convenience for all Bitcoin Users

Etherparty has received a lot of praise from the Ethereum community over the past year or so. What this platform does is provide a convenient and user-friendly tool to access and create smart contracts. It is partially thanks to tools like this that so many people are eagerly experimenting with this technology on a broad scale.  However, bringing this technology to other platforms has been a struggle, even for users who want to experiment with smart contracts as part of the Bitcoin ecosystem.

That may all change in the very near future, thanks to a new partnership between Etherparty and Rootstock. A lot of Bitcoin aficionados will already know the Rootstock name, as the company has been working on incorporating smart contracts on the Bitcoin network. However, it is still a bit cumbersome to access its features, which is why this new partnership is a big step in the right direction. Joining forces with a company known for a convenient, user-friendly creation tool will elevate this technology to new heights pretty quickly.

The goal of this collaborative effort is to allow the creation of smart contracts on the Etherparty platform which are also fully compatible with the Rootstock blockchain. Such smart contracts will be a game changer, even for users with no coding experience whatsoever. Everyone can benefit from this technology in one way or another, yet not everyone has the coding skills to execute their ideas. With a user-friendly tool in place, all one needs is an idea and a plan to make it happen.

If we want Rootstock and decentralized applications to succeed, more convenient solutions will need to be created. Although the Ethereum ecosystem has no shortage of Dapps currently in development, this is only just the beginning of what the future may eventually hold. Bringing these technologies to the mainstream will take a tremendous amount of work, but with a partnership like this one to kick things off, that uphill battle suddenly becomes a lot less steep. Filling the gap between technical and non-technical people is the top priority right now.

This development makes Etherparty the world’s first multichain platform capable of generating smart contracts. More importantly, said contracts work on both the Ethereum and the Bitcoin network, which is a significant and invaluable development. Making it easier for non-programmers to float ideas to the community and lay the foundation for groundbreaking decentralized applications will hopefully invite more people from all over the world to share ideas. It is not unlikely we will see other partnerships of this magnitude in the near future.

For the time being, there is no official timeline as to when this partnership will yield a usable tool for users around the globe. Users can keep an eye on the Etherparty Slack channel and keep tabs on the latest developments accordingly. It is pretty exciting to think about the possibilities inherent in smart contract technology. Having these contracts work across multiple blockchains is a big step toward shaping the future of cryptocurrency.

Kim Dotcom Teases Micro-tipping App Bitcache for Youtubers

Kim Dotcom Teases Micro-tipping App Bitcache for YoutubersOn August 26 the notorious Kim Dotcom released a preview of his new Bitcache platform for Youtubers. Additionally, Youtube creators with 500,000 followers can direct message Dotcom for a beta partnership opportunity. Also Read: Australia Introduces Bill That Regulates Bitcoin Exchanges With Bitcache Fans Can Tip Their Favorite Youtubers mBTC for Content Kim Dotcom has been […]

The post Kim Dotcom Teases Micro-tipping App Bitcache for Youtubers appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Kim Dotcom Teases Micro-tipping App Bitcache for Youtubers

On August 26 the notorious Kim Dotcom released a preview of his new Bitcache platform for Youtubers. Additionally, Youtube creators with 500,000 followers can direct message Dotcom for a beta partnership opportunity.

Also Read: Australia Introduces Bill That Regulates Bitcoin Exchanges

With Bitcache Fans Can Tip Their Favorite Youtubers mBTC for Content

Kim Dotcom Teases Micro-tipping App Bitcache for YoutubersKim Dotcom has been teasing his new product for quite some time, and news.Bitcoin.com recently reported on his last announcement that Bitcache was coming this August. Well, Dotcom hasn’t released the platform yet, but revealed a new video of the Bitcache application that’s aimed at Youtube content creators. From the video, the app looks like a plugin similar to Protip, where users can add a tipping extension to their browser and tip Youtube content creators microtransactions paid in bitcoin.

The video shows the application’s user interface that features a content creator setting a desired amount of mBTC for tipping. Moreover, the Youtuber can toggle between multiple hosting venues like Google Drive, Dropbox, One Drive, Creative Cloud and more. When looking at a Youtube page from the viewer’s side, a Bitcache download button appears on the page, where fans can donate the set amount of mBTC to their favorite channels.

Youtubers With 500k Subscribers Can Join the Beta Partnership

Much like many of Dotcom’s previous teases, the Bitcache video is short, only 49 seconds long. The entire teaser doesn’t show much of the platform’s interface but quickly shows a few key elements. We do know the platform will operate with microtransactions by utilizing an off-chain technique. Dotcom explained last year, “In order to provide a service that works with bitcoin, we had to come up with our own payment solution. The bitcoin basically enters the Bitcache wallet system off the chain.”

On Twitter Dotcom tells his fans about the teaser video and explains he has beta partnership opportunities for Youtubers with a large following.   

“Youtubers with 500k+ subscribers may direct message me for beta partnership,” Dotcom details on Twitter. As usual, individuals waiting for Bitcache will just have to wait and be content with Dotcom’s latest teaser.

What do you think about Kim Dotcom’s latest Bitcache tease? Are you looking forward to this application or do you think it won’t be a big deal? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Images via Pixabay, The Independent, and the Bitcache logo.

At News.Bitcoin.com all comments containing links are automatically held up for moderation in the Disqus system. That means an editor has to take a look at the comment to approve it. This is due to the many, repetitive, spam and scam links people post under our articles. We do not censor any comment content based on politics or personal opinions. So, please be patient. Your comment will be published.

The post Kim Dotcom Teases Micro-tipping App Bitcache for Youtubers appeared first on Bitcoin News.

OpenBazaar Developers May Introduce Altcoin Support in the Near Future

OpenBazaar is certainly at the top of many people’s lists of cryptocurrency-based marketplaces. The OpenBazaar protocol is appealing to a lot of people since it allows anyone in the world to buy or sell any good or service in exchange for Bitcoin. The possibilities are endless. One downside, though, is that OpenBazaar only supports Bitcoin right now. That situation will change very soon, by the looks of things. OpenBazaar Developers and Altcoin Integration Ever since the Openbazaar platform was released, cryptocurrency users have been incredibly excited about what the protocol had to offer. Being able to buy or sell any product or

OpenBazaar is certainly at the top of many people’s lists of cryptocurrency-based marketplaces. The OpenBazaar protocol is appealing to a lot of people since it allows anyone in the world to buy or sell any good or service in exchange for Bitcoin. The possibilities are endless. One downside, though, is that OpenBazaar only supports Bitcoin right now. That situation will change very soon, by the looks of things.

OpenBazaar Developers and Altcoin Integration

Ever since the Openbazaar platform was released, cryptocurrency users have been incredibly excited about what the protocol had to offer. Being able to buy or sell any product or service in exchange for Bitcoin has a lot of value to a lot of users around the world. With most merchants hesitating to fully adopt Bitcoin payments, different solutions are needed. OpenBazaar certainly checks a lot of the right boxes and it has a ton of functionality.

During the initial stages of OpenBazaar, there were some issues that needed to be addressed. For one, there was no convenient way to search for goods and services. Later on, the DuoSearch tool was introduced to alleviate this issue, and it has received a lot of praise over the past few months. OpenBazaar’s developers have been working on integrating their own search feature as well, which has made the whole project more convenient for users.

There has also been a growing demand for altcoin support on OpenBazaar. Considering how this platform is designed to act as a decentralized protocol for marketplace purposes, there should not be a limit on the range of coins users can utilize to make or receive payments. Integrating altcoins into Openbazaar is not necessarily all that easy, but the developers are working hard at it. It is a bit unclear which coins are on their radar right now, but Bitcoin Cash is one of the proposed solutions for the time being.

It would be quite interesting to see OpenBazaar embrace many altcoins. There has never been any indication the developers would not look beyond Bitcoin when it came to dealing with payments. This makes a lot of sense, as Bitcoin is not the perfect currency some people would like to think it is. However, given the uncertainty regarding which altcoins will be integrated into the platform moving forward, it is not impossible someone would “fork” this source code to include specific currency support in the future.

Indeed, that is one of the main selling points of OpenBazaar. Although the project’s source code can be downloaded from GitHub with relative ease, there is nothing preventing other developers from making their own versions of the software. When it comes to integrating support for alternative currencies, this can be an option well worth exploring. Any “forked” versions of OpenBazaar may eventually have features ported to the main development branch over time, depending on how successful the implementation is.

It is good to see the OpenBazaar team acknowledge their project could benefit from integrating support for various other cryptocurrencies. Although the main focus will always be Bitcoin, there are plenty of other currencies that could be valuable additions to this protocol in the future. There is no plan to drop Bitcoin support altogether, but the developers do not seem satisfied with the way things stand right now. That is not entirely surprising, but it could have major consequences for this decentralized marketplace project.

Minereum Team to launch Artemine ICO

Minereum (MNE), the world’s first self mining smart contract, is going to have a major update with a new token called Artemine (ART), which will be launched as an ICO. The Artemine’s first draft whitepaper can be seen here: http://artemine.org/ArtemineWhitepaperDraft0.1.pdf Artemine, which is built on the top of Minereum smart contract code, is aimed at … Continue reading Minereum Team to launch Artemine ICO

The post Minereum Team to launch Artemine ICO appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Minereum (MNE), the world’s first self mining smart contract, is going to have a major update with a new token called Artemine (ART), which will be launched as an ICO. The Artemine’s first draft whitepaper can be seen here: http://artemine.org/ArtemineWhitepaperDraft0.1.pdf Artemine, which is built on the top of Minereum smart contract code, is aimed at … Continue reading Minereum Team to launch Artemine ICO

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What Is EtherDelta?

TheMerkle EhterDelta Ethereum TokensMost cryptocurrency users are always looking to experiment with different trading platforms. Today’s centralized platforms do not offer much in the way of variety, as virtually all platforms offer similar fees and limits these days. Exchanges largely differ in just two respects: the coins they support, and whether or not they allow for margin trading. However, the world of decentralized exchange platforms has seen some new and interesting competition in recent days. One of the emerging platforms goes by the name of EtherDelta and has quickly become the place to be when it comes to ICO token trading. A Quick Rundown of the EtherDelta Project

TheMerkle EhterDelta Ethereum Tokens

Most cryptocurrency users are always looking to experiment with different trading platforms. Today’s centralized platforms do not offer much in the way of variety, as virtually all platforms offer similar fees and limits these days. Exchanges largely differ in just two respects: the coins they support, and whether or not they allow for margin trading. However, the world of decentralized exchange platforms has seen some new and interesting competition in recent days. One of the emerging platforms goes by the name of EtherDelta and has quickly become the place to be when it comes to ICO token trading.

A Quick Rundown of the EtherDelta Project

As is the case with nearly any decentralized peer-to-peer exchange technology, there is no website to sign up for whatsoever here. EtherDelta is a project source code that can be downloaded from GitHub and must be run on one’s computer if they wish to access this exchange protocol. This is a lot more cumbersome than using a centralized exchange, but it also allows users to determine their own trading markets. In fact, protocols such as EtherDelta could soon have more trading markets than any other altcoin exchange in the world today.

The project is mainly advertised as a decentralized Ethereum token exchange, so it will be difficult to find any Bitcoin-related market using the protocol. Then again, Ethereum has its own solid value right now and can easily be exchanged for fiat currency or other cryptocurrencies through other platforms if needed. However, there are some upcoming Ethereum-enabled debit cards which will make the process of spending ETH on goods and services a lot easier than it is right now.

The objective of EtherDelta is to allow anyone to trade Ethereum-based tokens. This makes it a perfect solution for people looking to exchange cryptocurrency ICO tokens. Most exchanges either hold off on listing tokens or never do so because there just are too many from which to choose. This does not mean the unlisted tokens do not deserve to be traded, but it requires a bit of work to get trading set up. A lot of recent ICO tokens are automatically trading on EtherDelta and most of them generate a fair amount of trading volume.

Like more traditional crypto exchanges, there is a fee structure in place, currently locked at 0.3%. This is a taker fee, and deposits, withdrawals, and maker transactions can all be executed free of charge. EtherDelta is a convenient solution that truly enables peer-to-peer trading without central oversight or centralized servers which control user funds. It does require users to own either Ethereum-based tokens or Ethereum itself before they can partake in any trades, though. EtherDelta is not a perfect solution for novice users, but the platform has a ton of potential when it comes to cryptocurrency trading itself.

As there is no centralized server in place, scalability of the EtherDelta protocol is far less of an issue that it otherwise would be. Right now, most users access EtherDelta through its GitHub repository directly. Some trading pairs will always be more lucrative than others, but we presently see most ICO markets bringing in at least US$10,000 worth of trading volume per day. Popular trading pairs right now include EOS, BlockCAT, Rialto, 0x, and OmiseGo, to name a few.

Protocols such as EtherDelta can be very successful in the long run, although there is still a lot of room left for future improvements. The project looks incredibly great, but it is not necessarily the most convenient solution for novice traders. Additionally, if the GitHub repository were to ever disappear, it is doubtful anyone would still have access to this decentralized solution. As such, we would advise users to grab a copy of this protocol from the repository rather than trading directly through the GitHub page itself.

How Major Companies Adopt Blockchain to Monitor Supply Chains

Several major consumer goods companies are adopting Blockchain technology to effectively monitor the movements of their products in supply chains including IBM, Walmart and…

Several major consumer goods companies are adopting Blockchain technology to effectively monitor the movements of their products in supply chains including IBM, Walmart and Nestle.

Why Consumer Goods Companies Adopt Blockchain to Monitor Supply Chains

Several major consumer goods companies are adopting Blockchain technology to effectively monitor the movements of their products in supply chains including IBM, Walmart and…

Several major consumer goods companies are adopting Blockchain technology to effectively monitor the movements of their products in supply chains including IBM, Walmart and Nestle.

New Bitcoin.com Charts: The Bitcoin Ecosystem at a Glance – Bitcoin News (press release)


Bitcoin News (press release)

New Bitcoin.com Charts: The Bitcoin Ecosystem at a Glance
Bitcoin News (press release)
At Bitcoin.com we’re very passionate about the decentralized economy and everything tethered to the evolving Bitcoin ecosystem. In order to provide more Bitcoin resources, we’ve just added a new chart and data analysis section to our web portal called …

and more »

Bitcoin News (press release)
New Bitcoin.com Charts: The Bitcoin Ecosystem at a Glance
Bitcoin News (press release)
At Bitcoin.com we're very passionate about the decentralized economy and everything tethered to the evolving Bitcoin ecosystem. In order to provide more Bitcoin resources, we've just added a new chart and data analysis section to our web portal called ...

and more »

Chinese Mobile App Lets Anyone Develop Android Ransomware

TheMerkle Android Ransomware Chinese AppAndroid users have faced many different security challenges over the past few years. It is evident that the platform is susceptible to many malware and spyware attacks. A new Chinese mobile application now allows anyone to create Android ransomware as they see fit. The fact that this can be done from a mobile device heralds a new era of malware development. Obviously, this does not bode well for anyone who comes in contact with the Android ecosystem on a regular basis. Building Android Ransomware With a Smartphone One has to applaud the ingenious effort demonstrated by malware developers to ensure ransomware remains one

TheMerkle Android Ransomware Chinese App

Android users have faced many different security challenges over the past few years. It is evident that the platform is susceptible to many malware and spyware attacks. A new Chinese mobile application now allows anyone to create Android ransomware as they see fit. The fact that this can be done from a mobile device heralds a new era of malware development. Obviously, this does not bode well for anyone who comes in contact with the Android ecosystem on a regular basis.

Building Android Ransomware With a Smartphone

One has to applaud the ingenious effort demonstrated by malware developers to ensure ransomware remains one of the bigger threats to date. Although other criminal ventures may yet prove more lucrative over time, there is no reason to believe the ransomware industry will be going away anytime soon. In fact, more developers have been focusing their attention on mobile devices lately. A lot of consumers store data, videos, and photos on mobile devices which they cannot bear to lose. This means a lot of users are more than eager to pay for a decryption key in the case of a malware attack.

A new form of mobile application for the Android ecosystem originated in China and is currently making the rounds worldwide. Anyone who does not speak Chinese will not be able to read the description of this app, as foreign translations are not provided at this time. Regardless, the application itself allows anyone in the world to successfully create fully operational Android ransomware. All it takes is a few swipes and taps on the screen to do so. There is also a small form to fill out, making the entire process seem child’s play at best.

It appears this DIY tool has already generated ransomware variants based on the Lockdroid family. It turns out this Chinese application has been in circulation for nearly a full year now, yet it only recently caught the attention of researchers. Multiple ransomware strains generated by this application have been identified, all of which use the Lockdroid bare bones with a mixture of various other features and settings. Luckily, this ransomware family does not encrypt files, though it locks users’ devices with a PIN code chosen by the attacker.

Considering that the app allows people to create as little or as much destruction as they want, this development is quite worrisome. It does not require the slightest coding experience either, which opens the door for anyone wishing to experiment with Android ransomware. Several tools will be at the user’s disposal, including changing the unlock code of infected devices, creating random ransom screens, and using animations. We may even see some rather creative Android ransomware types in the near future.

Once the user customizes his or her own Android ransomware, they will receive a fully weaponized APK file. However, they will need to handle the distribution of their malware themselves. Then again, with so many people downloading third-party APK files these days, distributing this ransomware will not be overly difficult. It also appears the original app developer has built a solid project since there is no negative feedback regarding this offering so far. That in itself is pretty remarkable, although we have no idea how many people are actually using this Android tool right now.

Once criminals in other regions catch wind of this success story, we will likely see more localized versions of the same Android RaaS app in the coming years. The mobile ecosystem may prove a more lucrative market than targeting computer users. It is equally possible that developers will maintain a dual-pronged approach and create many variations to wreak havoc across different platforms. All of this goes to show ransomware is not just native to computer systems, but slowly continues gaining ground in the mobile industry as well.