Day: September 17, 2017

What explains the surge in the trading volume of the Japanese Bitcoin exchange market

Even though the ICO sector is facing a lot of regulatory scrutiny right now, there is no shortage of projects whatsoever. Quite a few new ICOs will launch during the month of September, all of which try to bring something unique to the table. Below are six projects which caught our attention, but always do your own research before investing.

6. Utrust

Whenever an upcoming ICO project labels itself “the future of payments,” there is good reason to get somewhat excited. Utrust is a payments platform empowering buyers to pay with cryptocurrency. At the same time, it also provides consumer protection, which is often lacking with traditional payment methods. It sounds like an intriguing idea, assuming it can gain traction in the first place. This crowdsale starts on September 20th and the whitepaper looks pretty interesting.

5. Soma

There is always a need for decentralized marketplaces. While OpenBazaar is a perfect example of how things can be run, Soma aims to revolutionize the business model altogether. There will be a rewards system, enabling collaboration among community members. Doing things for someone else and getting rewarded for it sounds like an interesting idea. This concept of a decentralized social marketplace is worth keeping an eye on. The ICO begins on September 26th.

4. Goldmint

Tying the value of digital assets to tangible value has proven quite difficult so far. Goldmint acknowledges this, yet it will focus on creating a blockchain-based platform using digital assets only backed by gold or ETFs. It is always interesting to see companies bridge the gap between traditional assets and their digital counterparts. Goldmint’s ICO commences on September 20th and its whitepaper details the concept a bit more.

3. Centra Tech

It is somewhat difficult to get excited about yet another company bringing a cryptocurrency debit card to the table. However, with Floyd Mayweather publicly endorsing the ICO, rest assured a lot of people will pay attention to it. Centra’s crowdsale kicks off on September 19th and focuses on letting people spend their cryptocurrency assets using a Visa or Mastercard. All assets are insured with a 0% fee as well. This will add competition for existing players in the market; that is for sure.

2. NaPoleon X

Not only does this ICO have one of the cooler names in history, but it also focuses on smart trading bots. Given the popularity of trading bots in cryptocurrency, having an online computer-driven asset management platform selecting quantitative strategies makes a lot of sense. The platform also uses smart contracts to improve overall governance. The NaPoleonX ICO will begin on September 29th.

1. Pylon Network

Decentralized exchanges can come in many different shapes and sizes. Having such a valuable tool for the energy sector is the next opportunity waiting to be explored. Pylon network is designed to create the world’s first open renewable energy exchange community. Green energy can be exchanged without the need for intermediaries, and there is a strong focus on blockchain and smart contracts. The ICO begins on September 25th.

Storing money on a platform has been possible for a while with applications such as Paypal or Venmo, but there are still a lot of limitations when wanting to use it: fees when sending abroad or in another currency, delays when transferring to another account, no easy cash-back options.This problem is even more obvious with … Continue reading ESR Wallet Press Release: Token Pre-sale Starts September 25, 2017

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Digital Currency Exchanges Illegal Under Law, Says Bank of Namibia

The cryptocurrency world is undoubtedly one of the most exciting and innovative financial markets of our time. Two sisters from Austria, Nadine Damblon and Nicole Damblon, are making their mark in this niche. The two have founded HydroMiner in 2015, a cryptocurrency mining company dedicated to utilizing green energy from hydropower stations in the Austrian … Continue reading The Success Story of Two Austrian Sisters in the Cryptocurrency World

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Ransomware can come in many different forms, sizes, and shapes. Every now and then, a unique version pops up which attracts some form of attention. RestoLocker is a malware type currently still in development. It is based on the HiddenTear family, which has been making the rounds for some time now. The Heroes of the Storm theme will turn quite a lot of heads, though.

RestoLocker can become a Problematic Malware Type

As is the case with any in-development type of malicious software, not too much is known about it in its current form. At least one ransomware sample has been identified by security researchers already and reveals some interesting features. Perhaps the most noteworthy is how it aims to ride the coattails of popular online game Heroes of the Storm. This entire ransomware variant is themed around this particular game, and it even uses the name to rename encrypted files.

#RestoLocker #ransomware, #HiddenTear variant by Phantom. Ext: .HeroesOftheStorm, in-dev version. (31/64)https://t.co/wESAE38Q1I

— Karsten Hahn (@struppigel) September 15, 2017

While Heroes of the Storm is a very popular online game – especially in eSports – it has nothing to do with RestoLocker itself. For some reason, the latter’s developer assumed it would be funny to use this brand as a way to add some more color to the lock screen and a ransom note. Not too long ago, we came across a new ransomware version which used the Death Note theme. Criminals are struggling to come up with something new under the hood, so they often resort to using known brands as a way to raise awareness.

RestoLocker currently renames encrypted files to the .HeroesOftheStorm extension. Once again, this has nothing to do with the game or its developers whatsoever. It is possible this malware was created to target specific HoTS players, though, as that would explain a thing or two. This is only speculation at this point, and it is unclear what the objective of this malware is in the long run. It is doubtful this new ransomware will impact the game’s reputation in any significant manner.

Preliminary research shows that RestoLocker is based on the HiddenTear ransomware family. In fact, a few dozen HiddenTear “clones” pop up every single week. This particular version caught our attention due to the Heroes of the Storm references, even though it does not seem to pack anything noteworthy under the hood. That does not mean this malware should be dismissed out of hand, but it is not something most people will give a second look unless they become infected.

It remains unclear how this malware is distributed exactly. Spam email campaigns seem to be the most likely culprit, although it can also be packaged as a drive-by-download on gaming websites. So far, the number of samples remains fairly limited, which indicates the actual distribution of this malware has yet to begin. It will be interesting to see how this software evolves once it passes the development stage. For now, it is impossible to tell if and when that will happen.

While most ransomware types demand a Bitcoin payment, there is no indication RestoLocker will do the same. We have seen some malware types demand payments through gift cards, iTunes codes, and the like. With so many unknowns regarding RestoLocker right now, its future remains uncertain. The references to Heroes of the Storm are quite worrisome, although mostly harmless for the time being.

Without a doubt, the first week of the PlusCoin ICO, which began on September 10th, has been a huge success. More than half a million dollars have been raised so far, and the DS Plus team’s original expectations have been surpassed. The international press has taken note – articles about the PlusCoin project have appeared … Continue reading New Global Outlooks and iPhone X’s: DS Plus Expects Success in Week Two of ICO

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Ethereum devs are ready to roll out the Metropolis hard fork proposal by next week.

The Pirate Bay has always been an interesting online bastion. Despite growing scrutiny from law enforcement and anti-piracy advocates, the site remains accessible in one way or another. In a sudden turn of events, the company turned toward cryptocurrency out of the blue.In fact, they experimented with mining cryptocurrency through site visitors’ browsers for a … Continue reading The Pirate Bay Briefly Mines Monero to Experiment With Alternative Revenue Solutions

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Unmanned vehicles can include any form of transportation. Cars, trucks, and even small aircraft come to mind almost immediately. US Navy, however, is exploring the possibility of autonomous submarines. Defense manufacturers are readily exploring this new industry, thanks to a competition organized by Navy officials. Unmanned submarines make a lot of sense.

Autonomous Submarines For Naval Purposes

The US military wants to explore every possible option when it comes to autonomous combat. Putting fewer trained soldiers in harm’s way makes a lot of sense and it will certainly be appreciated by many people. However, not every type of military asset should be autonomous either. Submarines, for example, are very complex mechanisms which often require a full staff to maintain and operate properly.

Granted, there are smaller subs who can be operated by one person. It appears this is the main area of interest to the US Navy, at least for the time being. Their new competition to unmanned submarines has attracted a lot of attention from defense manufacturers already. Interestingly enough, Boeing is one of the market leaders right now, thanks to their 51-foot-long autonomous submarine called the Echo Voyager.

These autonomous watercraft can greatly valuable to any nation and military organization. It takes a very long time to train submarine personnel, who are often away from home for months on end. There is no ideal situation for any of the parties involved. Coming up with solutions to fully automate this concept will be pretty challenging in every possible way, but the companies exploring these opportunities are quite excited.

There is a lot more to the unmanned systems market than most people assume. Various startups are focusing on autonomous solutions which can be used for many different purposes. Submarines are very different from cars or even small aircraft, but it is not a new form of technology either. There will be initial imitations in terms of how large of a submarine can be made autonomous, but as the technology evolves, more opportunities will be unlocked.

It will be interesting to see how deep these autonomous submarines can dive. The main purpose of a submarine is to explore the oceans, which can be quite deep in their own way. A depth of anything less than 100 meters will not make any impact. However, companies have to start somewhere when it comes to developing these new technologies. There is still a lot of work to be done in this industry, but it is an intriguing concept regardless.

With the US military focusing on this idea as well, things will get pretty interesting moving forward. It would not be surprising to see other military organizations show a keen interest in autonomous submarines moving forward. Advances in robots and AI will affect any aspect of life, including the military. While most of these efforts will not replace humans right away, it is always worth the time to experiment with alternative technologies and see how things play out.

A legal deep dive into how Canada’s recent ruling on initial coin offerings could impact the market.