Day: September 14, 2017

SO that is another day of trading complete in our bitcoin price trading efforts and – once again – we’ve got plenty to discuss heading into the US session this evening. Price didn’t have a great overnight session last night and – in this morning’s coverage – we noted that the current action was a … Continue reading Bitcoin Price Watch; End Of The Line For The Correction?

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Gene Simmons, the co-founder and front-man for the 70’s rock band Kiss, is a fan of bitcoin.

Covert cryptocurrency mining malware is on the rise, and computer owners should be wary. As we have documented on this site multiple times, rogue cryptocurrency mining malware is of keen interest to cybercriminals. By distributing this mining malware, criminals can effectively use victims’ computer resources to mine Ethereum, Monero, and a few other currencies. A new report from Kaspersky Lab shows how lucrative this business has become.

Rogue Cryptocurrency Mining Malware is on the Rise

Cryptocurrency has attracted a lot of attention from cybercriminals over the past few years. The most prolific attacks involving cryptocurrency come in the form of ransomware, but there are plenty of other ventures to explore as well. One of those ventures revolves around infecting victims with cryptocurrency mining malware. The end result is that a computer will generate popular cryptocurrencies on behalf of the malware developer. It is not a way to get rich overnight by any means, but it has certainly caught on.

The new report by Kaspersky Lab shows how much things have evolved in this industry over the past few months. The first eight months of 2017 have been pretty positive for cybercriminals, but not necessarily for computer users. In fact, 1.65 million users were protected from rogue cryptocurrency mining malware through the company’s software alone. This number indicates that the number of total infection attempts is much higher. 

Once a computer is infected with cryptocurrency mining malware, it will become noticeably slower. Both CPU and GPU resources will be pushed to their limits as one small piece of software is effectively using the computer to generate cryptocurrencies for someone else. In most cases, these cryptocurrencies include Ethereum, Zcash, and even Monero. Bitcoin is not high on this list, as it is not easy to mine with your typical computer. Even when using someone else’s computer, criminals still want to make as much money as possible. Bitcoin does not guarantee any profits whatsoever unless one gets very lucky.

Most of this mining malware is distributed through so-called social engineering. Large botnets are created without the computer user being any wiser. These botnets combine the processing power of millions of devices around the world for efforts such as cryptocurrency mining. Attacks such as these install mining malware on more than just consumer’ computers. In fact, the report mentions that there are growing numbers of attempts to install such malware on servers owned by organizations.

The report also details how one particular botnet generated over US$30,000 worth of cryptocurrency every single month. This goes to show the distribution of cryptocurrency mining malware can be pretty lucrative when done properly. That is not a positive sign for anyone who is not a cybercriminal. Although botnets have traditionally been considered minor threats, things are quickly evolving in the wrong direction. Sources claim San Francisco State University’s computers may be part of a growing botnet as well, which shows how this problem is growing by leaps and bounds.

To make matters even worse, cryptocurrency mining malware has undergone some major changes under the hood. A lot of these “new” tools can effectively pause the mining process when the computer user is performing intensive tasks such as video editing or running games. This allows the malware to remain hidden for an extended period of time. Some variants can actually suspend their own activity if a software tool is actively monitoring system resources. For example, opening the Windows Task manager would suddenly suspend this hidden mining process.

What major advantages Blockchain brings into the way people use social networking and financial transactions

Securities regulators in Thailand have issued a new statement on initial coin offerings (ICOs).

With the sheer amount of cryptocurrency ICOs in the ecosystem, it is obvious that many of them will not be nearly as successful as they say. While this new way of raising money is appealing, it will not automatically turn an idea into a successful product or service. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently confirmed how the ICO market is in a major bubble. He also claims most projects will fail in the end. That is not a positive outlook, albeit it only confirms what level-headed individuals knew several months ago.

Most ICO Projects Will Fail Miserably

As is the case with any nascent industry, the chances of success and failure are not evenly balanced by any means. Just because projects and teams raise enough money to work on their idea does not mean they will be able to create a viable product or service. Even if they get that far, the venture may eventually fail and investors will still lose their money in the end. This is not a popular opinion when it comes to ICOs, but it is the unfortunate truth we will all have to deal with sooner or later.

In the world of cryptocurrency ICOs, there is a clear and present bubble forming. Dozens of new projects launch every single week, all of which try to cater to investors with their groundbreaking ideas. One thing nearly nine in ten projects have in common is how they have yet to provide a demo of a working product. Just writing up a white paper has absolutely no value, even though it provides a more technical explanation of what the team aims to achieve in the future.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently stated how the ICO market is in a bubble. That statement caught a lot of people by surprise, although it is good to see such respected individuals say what most people already knew. His word of advice to investors revolves around how “the current trend of large token sales is not sustainable.” It is certainly true there are hundreds of new ICO tokens every month, most of which are only funded due to hype and excitement rather than any technological value.

Things have gotten a bit out of hand when it comes to cryptocurrency ICOs. These token sales have caused issues for the Ethereum network on more than one occasion as well. Things need to be contained before things go from bad to worse. At the same time, Buterin states how no one should underestimate the value of ICOs. There will be successful projects in this industry as well, although they will be a significant minority compared to the concepts that will eventually fail.

Vitalik Buterin summarized the ICO bubble as follows:

“What we are seeing lately is that people are taking this idea too far, and there are projects that issue a coin not because it makes sense to issue a coin but because they have a product they can sell and raise money. Without a coin there is no business model. This creates the imbalance of incentives in the community at the moment.”

Assuming the ICO market collapses entirely – partially thanks to China’s regulatory measures – things can play out in many different ways. There will be a period during which the ICO market needs to cool down. People will lose good money if they invest in the wrong projects. It is up to investors to conduct their due diligence and not just invest in everything that has the ICO tag on its back. Some projects are also valued way too high, which only creates more expectations and market pressure. It is an unsustainable model in its current form.

Sponsored article.

ICOs are not going anywhere. Hackspace Capital brings the power of Blockchain to crowdfunding industry.

Russia’s central bank is “categorically against” regulating crypto like forex or money, its head says.

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The Dentacoin project is thriving and now has over 20,000 subscribers. These supporters from the ICO presale back in July clearly have a strong belief in the project and its viability. Let’s take a look at how the project is doing and why its supporters are believe in the team and the project so much.

Dentacoin Changes How We Think About Dental Care

One of the main reasons that Dentacoin is doing so well is due to the fact that most people see its value as platform. The project has many unique points of value in being a cryptocurrency, stable, believed in by its fantastic team, and the team itself. Cryptocurrencies have already demonstrated their value as digital assets since Bitcoin disrupted the financial market.

These 20,000 supporters make up a large and growing community. Both dental clinics and patients see the use cases of Dentacoin and have been bolstering its online presence via social media. One of the places we see even more growth is the project’s live dental review platform. Here community members are rewarded with Dentacoin tokens for participating in the community. For using the platform and writing helpful reviews they are given these tokens. With a stronger community and more active members, the value of the token itself should also grow along side its community.

Dentacoin Value Grows and Attracts More Interest

Another reason the project has so many supporters is that the value of the actual asset is growing. Since the presale, the token itself has gone up in value with its peak close to when it began trading on exchanges. Dentacoin’s price – at the time of writing – is $0.000168, and is performing rather well. Its trading volume in the past 24 hours is just under $12,000 with a market capitalization of $2,722,916.

Investors look at this and become excited for their upcoming ICO and the chance to purchase even more Dentacoin. Users get to see the value of an asset they have grow, but also have immediate use cases for it. The project is happy because of the strong communities that the project is helping to build along with a thriving review platform which gives patients back their power. With blockchain time stamped reviews, users know that what they are reading has not been tampered with, falsified, or paid for. It is a win-win for everyone.  

If you are interested in the project be sure to check out their website and look at their review platform. The team is knowledgeable of their industry and passionate about empowering patients and users with their project. With all these things going for it, it is no wonder why Dentacoin has so much support.

This is a sponsored post and 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.

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