Day: October 18, 2017

Did you know that hacked passwords cause 95% of data breaches today? It is estimated that by 2019, over 80% of organizations will use access management software or services to avoid such cybersecurity issues. And, it will be made possible by the use of cryptocurrency’s underlying blockchain technology. The blockchain technology is revolutionizing our cybersecurity … Continue reading Blockchain Based User Authentication, REMME makes it possible

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WePay will soon be property of JPMorgan as a venture into fintech sees the bank change tack.

“You got supply and you have the demand. You have the problem and you have the solution. You have the currency of the future.” — Ronald Dacey, “StartUp” Financial market participants and laymen alike — hold onto your hats. Transformative ideas that change the status quo or improve upon existing methods or systems are everywhere. … Continue reading Unbreachable Privacy through Pristine Transparency — a Paradox

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When it comes to cryptocurrencies which provide fungibility, privacy, and anonymity, there are very few options at one’s disposal today. Monero is by far the market leader in this regard. In fact, a new darknet marketplace known as Libertas will accept payment by Monero only. It’s a major development in the DNM scene, where the use of Bitcoin is dwindling.

Libertas Makes a Brave Decision

In the world of darknet marketplaces, a lot has changed over the past few months. With all the main marketplaces getting shut down, being infiltrated, or simply disappearing, a power vacuum is waiting to be filled. Several new darknet marketplaces are emerging as we speak, and they all seem to have one major aspect in common: instead of relying on Bitcoin, they are all flocking to Monero.

This sudden change should not come as a big surprise to anyone. Unlike Monero, Bitcoin has no privacy or anonymity traits whatsoever. While the latter may be more valuable than XMR right now, it also comes at a price most darknet operators and users may not be willing to pay. One of the main purposes of the darknet is to mask one’s identity at all times, which is pretty much impossible when relying on Bitcoin for purchases.

Libertas is a brand-new darknet marketplace which will forgo any use of Bitcoin whatsoever. It will enable only Monero-based transactions from day one, which is a brave yet deliberate choice. It is good to see more darknet marketplaces focus on Monero over any “pretending” privacy and anonymity coins in this regard. No one can deny there are clear differences between the currencies which aim to achieve similar results in this regard.

Libertas aims to position itself as the top darknet marketplace by focusing on Monero and introducing a modern design. Moreover, it only allows high-ranking and trusted vendors on the platform. Although the darknet is very popular among buyers and sellers of less-than-legal goods and services, there is always a risk of being ripped off. Libertas aims to ensure that cannot happen, although there is never a foolproof solution in this regard.

As one would expect from a new darknet marketplace, the plan is to provide escrow and pay-first options. There is also a terms and conditions acceptance requirement, which is rather interesting. Items can be priced in many different fiat currencies yet only be purchased with Monero. Plus, the team guarantees its server is set up in such a way as to guarantee anonymity. Last but not least, there is a 3% market fee for all trades.

In the end, it is good to see more darknet marketplaces focus on the cryptocurrencies which matter to them. Although Bitcoin has held the crown for very long, it is evident BTC is no match for Monero in this industry. It is not unlikely we will see more and more darknet marketplaces ditch Bitcoin in favor of Monero due to privacy and anonymity concerns. A bright future lies ahead for XMR in this department; that much is evident.

A blockchain startup headquartered in Sweden has raised $1.6 million in new funding.

We are happy to announce the start of cooperation between Hacken and Confideal!

Cooperation will provide discounted services of penetration testing and vulnerabilities analysis to Confideal and their clients, as well as wider opportunities on using smart contracts for Hacken and their clients, that will be able to get and use smart contract templates for:

• Establishing regular payments
• Conducting payments with the milestones
• Accepting the ERC.20 tokens
• Launching affiliate payments

Petr Belousov, founder and CEO of Confideal, claimed: “Confideal team is happy to help with deeper integration of smart contracts into businesses like Hacken. Thus, we really hope to make more and more payments more transparent and secured with our technology.”

Dmytro Budorin, the co-founder and CFO of Hacken, said: “we are delighted to help Confideal secure its product, network and clients. While more use cases of blockchain and smart contracts technology appear every day, the cybersecurity risks associated with them also grow exponentially. I am confident that together Hacken and Confideal will make blockchain a better and safer environment.”

Confideal is a visual smart contract builder that makes creating, managing and enforcing smart contracts as easy as never. The platform contains smart contract builder and arbitration module. Users with no coding skills to create an enforceable, self-executing and secure digital agreement powered by Ethereum for all types of transactions. In-built arbitration module allows to resolve disputes in the Confideal environment picking the top rated arbiters without any need to reveal your personal data. It offers a revolutionary opportunity for enterprises, small companies, and individuals to deal without intermediaries.

The Hacken Ecosystem is a community-based business consisting of the HackenProof bug bounty marketplace, Hacken Accelerator, Cybersecurity Analytics Center and Zero-day Vulnerabilities Remuneration Platform. The Hacken Ecosystem utilizes its own cryptocurrency HKN, which is a dedicated cryptocurrency for white hat hackers that incentivizes community members to interact within the Hacken Ecosystem. Hacken’s vision is to launch a movement that in several years will become one of the major driving forces behind deterring and countering international cybercrime.

More information:

Confideal

Hacken

This is a sponsored press release and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views held by any employees of The Merkle. This is not investment, trading, or gambling advice. Always conduct your own independent research.

Jameson Lopp, the outspoken Bitcoin commentator and BitGo engineer, has fallen victim to what appears to be an incident of “swatting“. He suspects he may have been targeted for his views on the New York Agreement signed this summer which, if  enacted upon, will result in a second hard fork of the Bitcoin blockchain. Swatting, … Continue reading BitGo Engineer Jameson Lopp in SWAT Team Fiasco

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The post Chaincode Labs to Host a Second Run of Its Month-Long Bitcoin Coding Class appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Bitfinex is the largest Bitcoin exchange by trading volume right now. That situation will likely come to change in about a month from now, though. Bitfinex has officially announced it will exit the US market as early as November 9th. This is a major development in the world of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, even though the long-term impact should be minimal.

A Major Announcement by Bitfinex

Most cryptocurrency enthusiasts are well aware that Bitfinex was bound to leave the US market sooner or later. Indeed, the company hinted at such a development just a few weeks ago. By no longer servicing US customers moving forward, a lot of things will change in the world of Bitcoin. Considering that Bitfinex is generating most USD volume for Bitcoin right now, its departure will create a power vacuum waiting to be filled by emerging players.

It is certainly true the US has become somewhat hostile when it comes to cryptocurrency these days. With increased scrutiny against both cryptocurrencies and ICOs of late, any exchange linked to either form of money will face a lot of scrutiny. Come November 9th, Bitfinex will end all deposits, withdrawals, and trading for all US individual customers. This is a very interesting decision that will have major repercussions for the US Bitcoin market, although the impact globally shouldn’t last all that long.

For the time being, US individual customers are barred from receiving money from other Bitfinex users using the peer-to-peer financing platform available on the platform. Moreover, no US customers will be able to provide financing services on Bitfinex come November 9th.

It is advised all US customers withdraw their money and tokens before the cutoff date, though. It is evident there will be a lot of issues facing anyone wishing to access this money after that date, as these warnings have been given well ahead of time. This also means people who still own Recovery Right Tokens will need to sell them on the exchange over the coming weeks. Some people may recall the Recovery Right Tokens, which relate to the Bitfinex hack that took place about a year ago.

Under normal circumstances, selling such tokens would not be allowed, but the company has had to make a big exception in this regard. All US customers are barred from buying these tokens during this time period, though, although there may be some arbitrage opportunities to take advantage of. It is evident Bitfinex is very serious about leaving the US market once and for all. It will be interesting to see how this decision plays out when looking at the bigger picture.

For Bitcoin itself, this development shouldn’t have any major repercussions whatsoever. There are plenty of exchanges where Americans can buy, sell, and trade Bitcoin, as well as other major cryptocurrencies. This does mean the largest global exchange by trading volume will need to be replaced in the rankings. It is highly likely the new top dog will be either bitFlyer or Bithumb, depending on how new regulations affect both countries moving forward.

Ad fraud traffic is a real disaster for the digital advertising industry. The size of the market is more than $200 billion (annually) and counting, but more than half of this amount goes to botnet owners and to other unscrupulous website owners, developers, and ad agencies. The key issue of the modern digital advertising market … Continue reading Papyrus: Blockchain and Other Technologies Protect Advertisers and Users on the Internet

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The price of bitcoin is down today, as overbought indicators seem to have yielded a notable correction away from recent highs.

The structures of traditional marketplaces are inefficient and unnecessarily complex, primarily due to their reliance on intermediaries and third party service providers.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

Companies and individuals engaging in trades, sales of goods, and exchange in services are required to depend on escrow services that often demand expensive service and maintenance fees. Such inefficiency and high costs involved in escrow services have created a difficult environment for startups, as the Opporty team explained:

“According to figures provided by the US Small Business Administration, only one out of five new businesses survives beyond the first year of operation. The remainder shut down because they fail to compete successfully against established companies, attract early adopters and scale up their businesses to start driving profits. Therefore, small and mid-sized businesses are pressed to offer high-quality services at competitive rates (presumably competitive enough to rival established businesses and corporations)  and minimize back-and-forth negotiations when searching for service providers.”

But, in decentralized escrow systems and marketplaces built on top of immuable blockchain protocols such as the Ethereum blockchain network, it is possible to elimiate middlemen and create a peer-to-peer ecosystem wherein companies and individuals can process deals, sales, and payments transparently.

More importantly, with decentralized escrow systems, it is significantly more efficient and cost effective for service recipients to challenge the service provider with the quality of service it offers. The decentralized escrow system of Opporty is demonstrated by the infographic below:

Because Opporty provides a scalable ecosystem for companies, the development team aims to appeal to small and medium-sized companies. The Opporty blockchain platform enable startups to launch smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain network to create contracts and settle deals, develop standardized contract terms, and receive approval from community experts.

“Opporty relies entirely on a decentralized methodology, but caters to small and medium companies, individual service providers, and ordinary customers. It fosters an environment where small businesses can realistically compete with bigger players and provide the market with much more flexible terms of service.” explained Opporty founder Sergey Grybniak.

Essentially, the Opporty Ethereum-based blockchain platform will operate as a peer-to-peer protocol for business-to-business (B2B) commerce and interaction, relieving companies of all sizes from legal conflicts, ambiguity in contract issues, and escrow failures.

Furthermore, through its OPP token and the tokenized economy of Opporty, the platform aims to cater to general consumers by introducing a crypto-token based on the Ethereum protocol that reflects real-world value based on actual services and goods.

“Opporty’s crypto functionality is powered by Ethereum, a blockchain-distributed computing platform, which simplifies administration of commercial smart contracts and ensures their enforceability. Blockchain-based gamification is at the core of Opporty’s ecosystem. Users can purchase and earn cryptocurrency (OPP tokens) to access a variety of services on the Opporty platform, or they may exchange tokens for fiat currency,” read the whitepaper of Opporty.

The ICO for Opporty’s native token OPP officially begins on October 18, in which 400 million tokens will be sold. The second phase of the ICO, which will act as a long term crowd distribution system, will release another 250 million tokens.