Day: September 9, 2017

The Monero ecosystem is set to undergo some big changes over the coming months. A lot of new features and updates have been announced, all of which will have their own impacts. The first release is the Helium Hydra client update. It packs a ton of new features under the hood that will elevate Monero to the next level.

Monero’s Helium Hydra Release is a big Deal

As we have seen in the world of cryptocurrency over the past few years, developers often announce “milestone client updates.” Most of these releases introduce major changes, bug fixes, and even soft or hard forks. In the case of Monero, its Helium Hydra release is quite a major milestone, as it shakes things up in many ways. All of these changes will pave the way for a better Monero ecosystem moving forward, even though users will have to adapt to a new GUI in the future.

Helium Hydra is a mandatory update for all Monero holders, service providers, wallets, and exchanges. This new client also prepares the ecosystem for the upcoming hard fork on September 15th, which will increase the minimum ring signature size on the network. Additionally, the fork will blacklist duplicate ring members in a ring signature. Together with a long list of bug fixes, the Helium Hydra release also introduces some other tools people will thoroughly enjoy in the coming months and years.

One of the main improvements in the 0.11.0.0 client is an increase in the synchronization speed. As most cryptocurrency users are well aware, the initial blockchain sync of any cryptocurrency can be painstakingly slow and downright frustrating. Not too long ago, it took the average person about a week to synchronize with the Bitcoin blockchain for the first time. That situation has slowly been improved, and the Monero developers are now doing the same for their own blockchain.

Additionally, the new client reduces the privacy leak risks when using an untrusted remote node. Every node on the Monero network relays transactions to other nodes in one way or another. For a cryptocurrency focusing on privacy, any leak of information would be catastrophic. This new update reduces the chances of such leaks occurring, regardless of whether untrusted remote nodes are used. It is a welcome change, as it shows the developers will keep improving both the privacy and anonymity of Monero for the foreseeable future.

Perhaps the biggest change the average non-technical person will focus on is the added iOS and Android full node support. With mobile wallets for Monero coming to market, there will soon be a growing focus on Android and iOS. Having an option to run a full network node from a mobile device will be quite interesting to witness. It is not something we see every day, especially not for a cryptocurrency focusing on privacy and anonymity.

There is also the introduction of “fluffy blocks,” which are essentially optional compact blocks. This means anyone operating a node will see a slight reduction in bandwidth requirements, which is always a beneficial development for the ecosystem. It will be interesting to see how the so-called fluffy blocks affect the network as a whole moving forward. These fluffy blocks should also contribute to faster synchronization time for future mobile full nodes once they become more prevalent. It is a very intriguing addition with a lot of potential.

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Taxation of cryptocurrency has always been a controversial topic. Particularly in the United States, taxation of Bitcoin has been rather problematic at times. A new proposal by US lawmakers seeks a tax exemption for Bitcoin transactions below US$600. This is a pretty intriguing proposal, although it remains to be seen whether or not this idea will be turned into law over the coming months.

A Small Bitcoin Tax Exemption can be a Game Changer

A lot of people across the US struggle with the idea of filing taxes related to their cryptocurrency activity. Although there are a few different tools which can help in this regard, the entire concept still feels rather strange to many people. A decentralized currency should not be taxed in the first place, according to most, yet it is the situation we find ourselves in today.

However, if it were up to two members of the US House of Representatives, that situation would change very soon. While they are not looking to end Bitcoin taxation entirely, their proposal would introduce a tax exemption up to a certain transaction amount. In the current form of this proposal, that exemption applies to Bitcoin transactions of US$600 or less. Considering that many users have performed small transactions throughout the years, exempted amounts could quickly add up to some significant sums for US citizens.

After the IRS decided to label Bitcoin a property for tax purposes, there has been a lot of backlash from the cryptocurrency community. Any profits made while selling or exchanging cryptocurrency – Bitcoin or otherwise – is subject to capital gains taxation. However, the current regulation is rather vague, as it can affect any type of transaction related to Bitcoin or other major cryptocurrencies. Even buying five bucks worth of BTC and spending it on something that costs 20 bucks – while paying the remainder with fiat – would trigger this capital gains requirement. It is not a feasible situation for any party involved.

Representatives David Schweikert and Jared Polis are looking to alleviate some of these concerns with the Cryptocurrency Tax Fairness Act. As the name suggests, the bill reduces the capital gains requirement for smaller cryptocurrency-related transactions. Bitcoin transfers worth US$600 or less will no longer be subject to capital gains taxes. That is assuming the proposal becomes law, which remains highly doubtful at this time. After all, the IRS is making a fair bit of money from the current requirements.

The text also states how “gross income shall not include gain from the sale or exchange of virtual currency.” That is a rather interesting provision, although it will still apply when these cryptocurrencies are exchanged for cash or cash equivalents. In a way, this seems to hint that converting Bitcoin to altcoins in small amounts will not be a big deal in the future. That would certainly open up a lot of new opportunities, but this proposal may need some tweaking first.

The bigger question is whether or not this bill will be approved, though. Some regulators will oppose this concept for as long as possible. Then again, the bill is based on an existing solution which created an exemption for purchases made using foreign currency. If Bitcoin were to achieve the status of foreign currency in the US, things could get very exciting as well. For now, though, it is anybody’s guess as to what we can expect. The proposal certainly is an intriguing one.

What is the Ethereum’s answer to the network’s scaling problem.

The Ethereum ecosystem is maturing in front of our eyes. Whereas most people focus on the technological side of things such as smart contracts, the number of transactions performed within a 24 hour period is also on the rise. The Ethereum network processed half a million transactions within 24 hours, which is officially a new record for this ecosystem.

A new Transaction Processing Record for Ethereum

With more transactions taking place on the Ethereum network than ever before, the ecosystem is growing by leaps and bounds. Although it is a bit unclear how people are using Ether these days, it is safe to assume most of the transactions relate to mining, exchanges, and cryptocurrency ICO investments. There is also a growing number of Dapps to take into account, though, all of which will use Ethereum as their main currency as well. It is good to see the number of transactions within a 24-hour period going up as well.

The Ethereum network has officially set a new transaction volume record. With half a million transfers processed without any noticeable hitches, the network is finally hitting its stride. Some improvements to scale the network even more effectively will be coming in the form of both parts of the Metropolis hard fork. When those developments go live, we may see the network handle one million or more transactions per day without breaking a sweat.

This new milestone for the Ethereum network should not be overlooked. Not only did the number of transactions go up by quite a bit, the average network fee has not changed at all. The vast majority of transactions were completed with a fee of US$0.70 or lower. There are always some exceptions in this regard, but it shows the blockchain can handle a large transaction volume without effectively driving up the price. That does not mean some Ethereum wallets are not overcharging users in terms of gas prices.

Compared to Bitcoin, Ethereum is starting to look like a very appealing alternative in terms of moving funds to different platforms. Bitcoin itself used to have very low fees all the time, but several issues on the network throughout the years highlighted how these costs can become inflated quickly. Thankfully, these issues are seemingly a thing of the past, as the Bitcoin mempool has been virtually empty for some time now. The minimum transaction fee will still allow transactions to be confirmed within a reasonable timeframe, which is all anyone can ask for. Some competition between the various networks in terms of TX fees is never a bad thing.

While the Ethereum network still provides additional capacity waiting to be filled, there is only so much the blockchain can do in its current state. Scaling solutions are being deployed in the near future, but it remains to be seen if they can get rid of the “ceiling” looming over the network in its current form. With the first part of the Metropolis hard fork going into effect in a few weeks’ time, most of those concerns will be relieved shortly. The delay of the mining difficulty bomb solution will also have an impact on the network’s throughput.

We now have the Raiden protocol undergoing a thorough analysis on the Ethereum testnet. This scaling solution is somewhat similar to Bitcoin’s Lightning Network and will improve Ethereum’s scalability as well. It is evident all major blockchains are preparing for an influx of additional transactions. Given the recent price momentum of both Bitcoin and Ethereum, that is not surprising in the least. Now is the best time to introduce enhanced scaling capabilities, and Ethereum is certainly heading in the right direction.

The Coinomi wallet is well-known for its support of a truly massive number of cryptocurrencies. It is one of the most user-friendly multi-coin solutions for the Andriod environment. Recently it has added a new and exciting coin called Enjin Coin (ENJ). Since the latter partnered with Coinomi, the popular wallet facilitates one-click contributions to Enjin’s ongoing pre-sale. The pre-sale is going well, and the project has already raised US$5 million. Contributions from Coinomi will also be accepted during Enjin’s ICO in October.

Enjin and Coinomi Team up

Enjin’s CEO, Maxim Blagov, was very excited about the partnership with Coinomi. Being supported on Coinomi is helpful for the company’s market presence and also allows individuals to participate in the ICO and pre-sale conveniently. While contributing to other ICOs is not necessarily onerous, this makes it even easier and allows even the least tech-savvy among us to participate in the exciting world of cryptocurrency ICOs and Enjin.

George Kimionis, Coinomi’s CEO, echoed his new partner and called the partnership a “perfect fit.” He is excited that Enjin allows for a true ownership of game items. Players can trade or move their assets between games, and now they can store those assets in the Coinomi wallet. These assets are fully owned by users, since private keys never leave one’s device. He continued:

“That might sound normal given the recent developments in the blockchain world but looking back a few years it’s truly amazing how easy and secure this process has become, offering an unparalleled freedom never possible before.”

Since Coinomi also has a built-in exchange with Shapeshift and Changelly, Enjin may also be tradeable against many other popular cryptocurrencies, all while never closing the wallet app. Enjin Coin’s integration with Coinomi is an important step for the new gaming currency, which has been seeing rising popularity since the start of the pre-sale in late August.

The Enjin project itself is the largest gaming community creation platform​ online with over 18.7 million users. The company, based in Singapore, was launched in 2009 and now sees more than 60 million global views a month. The Enjin platform now is responsible for millions of dollars per month in virtual good sales.

Based on user numbers alone, the partnership between Coinomi and Enjin make sense. Coinomi is a security-first multi-asset wallet that provides native support for 79 blockchains and 200 tokens. It has 1,574 trading pairs available in 168 fiat currency representations and 25 languages! Founded in 2014, it is the oldest multi-asset wallet with hundreds of thousands of happy users. At the same time, no Coinomi wallet has ever been hacked or otherwise compromised.

Check out Enjin here: https://enjincoin.io/

Check out Coinomi here: https://coinomi.com/

This is a sponsored post. It does not necessarily reflect the opinions held by any of The Merkle’s employees. This is not trading or investment advice; always conduct your own independent research.

Some of the recent advancements in technology and science are downright scary. A recent experiment by Human Longevity researchers shows how their software is capable of rendering faces based on DNA samples. It is an interesting concept to tackle forensic science, although it is also disconcerting in many different ways.

Facial Trait Prediction Through DNA Samples

It is pretty cool to know scientists can effectively predict physical traits based on our DNA. To do so, they used whole genome sequencing data and machine learning. The findings of Human Longevity researchers has been published in a well-known scientific journal. So far, the study is getting some good feedback, although the general public may be rather concerned about this development.  If scientists can “generate” one’s face from a DNA strain, what else can they do?

The study is designed to point out how forensic science can make use of newer technologies. Right now, DNA samples are used to find a match in the system, which is a pretty accurate solution. However, by using machine learning and whole genome sequencing data, this concept can be taken to a whole new level. This is also a data privacy issue. Without informed consent, using such technology may considered to be controversial or even illegal in some jurisdictions.

The current trend involves placing more genomes in public databases. That is both good and bad, for obvious reasons respectively. Thanks to this study, the researchers took samples from 1,061 ethnically diverse people. The team also collected data through 3D facial images, voice samples, and so on. Out of all the data collected, predictions of eye color, skin color, and sex are highly accurate. More complex genetic traits, unfortunately, are a lot harder to accurately predict.

Although the predictive models developed by the researchers are seemingly sound, there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of improvement. The machine learning algorithm used during this test successfully found combinations of all predictive models. About eight out of ten participants were successfully identified. African American and European participants, on the other hand, saw a success rate of “just” 50%. It is not the result the researchers had hoped for, but things have progressed in the right direction.

Human Longevity Inc’s co-founder Craig Venter states:

“We set out to do this study to prove that your genome codes for everything that makes you, you. This is clearly a proof of concept with a limited cohort but we believe that as we increase the numbers of people in this study and in the HLI database to hundreds of thousands we will be able to accurately predict all that can be predicted from individuals’ genomes.”

It is good to see the team acknowledge the privacy risks associated with this research. There need to be better safeguards and policies for individual privacy in the genomics era.  It is certainly true imaging technologies, combined with machine learning, can yield some unexpected results. Whether or not we will see more of these developments in the coming years, remains to be seen.

With the Bitcoin price on the retrace, it is only normal alternative cryptocurrencies go through similar struggles right now. All of the currencies in the top 10 are in the red right now, a situation that may not change all that quickly. The biggest losses are for Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Ethereum Classic. Especially the Bitcoin Cash losses come as a big surprise to most holders after this week’s price increase.

Bitcoin Cash Price Takes a Major Beating

Every time the Bitcoin price goes down, alternative currencies will suffer a similar fate. That doesn’t mean all currencies will drop in value by similar amounts, though. While Bitcoin is down 6% at the time of writing, its counterpart Bitcoin Cash of off far worse. More specifically, the altcoin lost nearly 13% of its value in the past 24 hours. With so much panic across all markets, that is not really surprising by any means.

For holders of Bitcoin Cash, this sharp retrace will come as a small surprise, though. Earlier this week, the Bitcoin “clone” started showing some positive momentum for the first time in about a full week. That momentum was rather short-lived, unfortunately, thanks to the news from China spooking the markets once again. This marks two weekends in a  row Chinese officials have disrupted cryptocurrency markets, and it will probably not be the last time either.

Due to the value decline, the Bitcoin Cash price now hovers near the $550 mark. That is still a fair value for a currency that didn’t even exist two months ago. Earlier this week, the value was on target to surpass $700, but it fell just short in the end Ever since that time, the BCH price has been retracing ever so slightly, before eventually dropping significantly less than 24 hours ago. All markets have to recover from this recent shakeup, but some will always sustain bigger losses compared to others.

Bitcoin Cash still has a nice amount of trading volume over the past 24 hours, which will play to its advantage. Although some people will argue a $600m volume isn’t all that great compared to some other currencies, it is still a rather high amount compared to a few days ago. Right now, it appears people are more interested in selling rather than buying, though, which may hint at how it may take some time until BCH recovers.

Bithumb is leading the list of exchanges ranked by volume. NO surprise there, as the South Korean exchange is driving the volume for virtually all currencies they support right now. Huobi and OKCoin complete the top three, which is pretty interesting. Similarly to Bitcoin, both of those companies trade Bitcoin Cash a lot lower compared to the rest of the world. This trend also encompasses ViaBTC, Jubi, CNCX, and Yunbi. Especially this latter company is trading $160 below the global market average right now.

All things considered, the Bitcoin Cash price losses are not a big surprise by any means. Given the current Bitcoin price trend, altcoins will suffer from some to come. However, it’s never good to see an alternative version of Bitcoin lose more value than Bitcoin itself when the market is spooked This shows altcoins are still considered to be speculative assets first and foremost. That situation may not change anytime soon, regardless of the value said coins may boast at any given time.

The UTRUST Pre-ICO results are in, and they are incredibly impressive. This project aims to provide the world’s first cryptocurrency and bitcoin payment platform with consumer protections in mind. Many seem to agree that this was something needed in our world and the project’s pre-ICO sold out in just 90 minutes. Let’s take a closer look at the project, how it’s pre-ICO performed, and its team.

$1.5 Million in 90 Minutes

If we were to break down how much money this project raised per minute, it is just under $16,700 a minute. On August 28th when the pre-Sale went live, the support channels and infrastructure of UTRUST’s experiences massive slow downs. The demand for UTRUST’s tokens were that high. These are good problems to have. They quickly hit their pre-ICO cap of $1.5 million. If they had not capped it, investor demand may have gone even further. There were over 1,100 backers who were able to purchase tokens, but another 3,000 had registered but were too late.

The team plans on using this money raised to solidify their development roadmap – including development, partnerships, and marketing – to get this product out to market. They will begin the first round of public ICOs on September 20th, with a higher cap of $4 Million dollars. This means those investors who missed out on the pre-ICO will still have a chance to buy tokens.

The Reason for This Level of Investment Enthusiasm

Clearly there is a fair amount of investor confidence in the project. One of the main reasons for this is the platform itself. The concept itself is not unlike building the PayPal of cryptocurrencies, however it goes beyond that. Payments will be fast, backed by the blockchain, secure, and – most importantly – have consumer protections.

Probably the largest reason for the project’s success and backing is the extremely experienced team working on it. The individuals working on this project have a great vision for where they want the project to go and the business acumen to get it there.

Nuno Correia, CEO

Nuno Correia has started many B2B businesses in the past and has a real passion for improving the world of digital payments. As an early cryptocurrency enthusiast – he entered the field in 2011 -, he sees the disruptive potential of the technology and wants to combine his two passions of digital payment improvement and cryptocurrency. The result is UTRUST.

Filipe Castro, CIO

Filipe Castro is an enthusiastic business development professional with a degree from a prestigious institution. He has a wealth of experience in payment systems and is eager to disrupt that market as much as possible with the rest of the UTRUST team.

Artur Goulão, CTO

Another team member with payment system experience, Artur Goulão has computer science background from MIT and IST. Both traditional and new smart contracts are his forte.

Roberto Machado, CPO

Roberto Machado is all about the end user experience. He has experience building great software and products with major international companies and is excited to bring his expertise in building UTRUST with the rest of the team.

The rest of their team also shares this passion for and experience in disruptive digital payment solutions. Following their progress will be very interesting.

Check out their website here: https://utrust.io

Their whitepaper can be found here: https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/utrust/UTRUST-whitepaper-v1.0.1.pdf

Information about their upcoming ICO can be found here: https://utrust.io/ico

This is a sponsored post and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views held by any The Merkle employees. This is not investment or trading advice, the responsibility of due diligence rests solely on you.

A long-time professional in the venture investing space takes a long look at ICOs – outlining the pros, cons and potential impact.

Malware developers are often quite impressive when it comes to introducing new features. However, not all of these developers are the sharpest tool in the shed either. One individual in particular somehow managed to use the same Skype ID for applying for jobs and running a major Internet of Things botnet. This is not a smart idea and it also allowed this person to be identified pretty easily.

A Rookie Mistake by a Botnet Developer

Mistakes like these are very rare, but do happen more than people think. Cybercriminals often leave a trail of digital bread crumbs that officials can follow to potentially reveal their identity at some point. Sometimes these cybercriminals make it painfully easy for law enforcement to identify them. One recently used the same Skype ID to run an IoT botnet and apply for freelance jobs.

This particular user is known as DaddyL33T, which is not the most original creation in history either. He is a well-known malware developer who operates a big Internet of Things botnet. He is also the entity running the DaddyHackingTeam portal, which will soon launch a botnet control panel. All things considered, this is one busy individual, even though he is active in the wrong industry.

Although the botnet service is still officially under construction, the website is home to multiple repositories containing the source code of multiple malware families. It is unclear if these malware types are all developed by DaddyL33T, though, but it seems safe to assume he was involved in all of these creations. Otherwise, there is no need for him to host these repositories on the website whatsoever. DaddyL33T also has a HackForums profile, where he is known as DaddyPVP.

The post history of this user on HackForums mainly involves the botnet he will bring to market in the near future. It does appear this individual is not necessarily an expert on this topic, since he has been asking for a lot of help in recent weeks. That said, he is capable of putting together a working botnet. It is believed the botnet in question is related to QBot, which is currently being modified to turn it into an even bigger threat.

As the nickname somewhat suggests, though, DaddyL33T does not appear to be a grown man. Instead, researchers believe he is merely 13 years old, as this fact has been confirmed through a private conversation between DaddyL33T and Newsky Security researcher Ankit Anubhav.  This revelation does not come as a big surprise, and it would also explain why he uses the same Skype id for hacking purposes and applying for freelance jobs. Several of his applications have been discovered on an unnamed freelancing portal where he tells interested parties to contact him via the same Skype ID.

The DaddyL33T persona is quite an interesting creature, although he may have set himself up for some major repercussions. While this person may claim immunity due to being a juvenile, it is not something one should just assume to be true. The bigger problem is that a 13-year-old can set up a powerful botnet by mainly copy pasting code and using basic knowledge to make some changes. The recent wave of global cyberattacks inspires some younger individuals to bask in the glory of online crime. This is not a positive development.