Day: March 7, 2018

Bitcoin sunk beneath the key $10,000 mark to a recent low amidst rumor-mongering of a Binance hack that compromised investor accounts.

Nothing Was Hacked

Rumors that apparently began with a Reddit thread questioning whether Binance customers where being hacked spread across the net resulting in an overall drop in the cryptomarket. It may have all started with this comment on Reddit;

“Binance just sold all my alts at market rate and I have got just the Bitcoin now. Is it because of account getting hacked or Binance bot issue? Have raised a ticket 715903 for this.”

To which Binance responded that they were investigating issues that some customers were having with their funds and that the only confirmed victims had registered with API keys (used for trading with bots). They finished by commenting that there was no evidence the platform had been compromised.

Some users continued to dispute the reply saying that they had not used API keys and were missing funds. Giving legs to the rumor so that it quickly spread across social media platforms and began to affect trading across all cryptocurrencies, perhaps further fueled by Binance temporarily disabling withdrawals.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao took to Twitter to try and stem the panic tweeting that all funds were safe but some accounts may have been compromised by phishing. He followed that with tweets that showed the accounts that had been compromised with messages restating that the issue had been recognized and fixed.

Binance has reversed all irregular trades. All deposit, trading and withdrawal are resumed. will write a more detailed account of what happened shortly. Interestingly, the hackers lost coins during this attempt. We will donate this to Binance Charity.

— CZ (not giving crypto away) (@cz_binance) March 7, 2018

Recent news of major hacks resulting in huge loses may have added to investor reaction. Binance has since published a blog post explaining the incident;

“As withdrawals were already automatically disabled by our risk management system, none of the withdrawals successfully went out. Additionally, the VIA coins deposited by the hackers were also frozen. Not only did the hacker not steal any coins out, their own coins have also been withheld. After a thorough security check by Binance, we resumed withdrawals. Trading functionality was never affected.”

Regardless of Binance’s fast reaction though, the damage was done and the market dropped in reaction to the initial scare in addition to further regulation in the US. Bitcoin hit a recent low of $9,468 and the rest of the altcoins tumbled as well.

SEC Announcement Added to Drop

A more justifiable factor that has compounded the market drop was due to an SEC ruling that mandates cryptocurrency exchanges register or face possible jail time. This came after weeks of subpoenas and evidence gathering as the securities commission still struggles to define what cryptocurrencies are and how to regulate them.

The post Cryptocurrency Market Suffers on Binance Hack Fears appeared first on NewsBTC.

The U.S. state of New Jersey has issued a cease-and-desist order to an initial coin offering (ICO) endorsed by film actor Steven Seagal.

Key Highlights

• Ripple price fell sharply and declined below the $0.8500 and $0.8200 support levels against the US dollar.
• There is a major bearish trend line forming with resistance near $0.8600 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair (data source from Kraken).
• The pair remains in a bearish zone and it may decline further towards $0.7800 in the near term.

Ripple price fell sharply against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. XRP/USD is now well below $0.8500 and it looks set for more losses in the short term.

Ripple Price Decline

There was a sharp downside reaction from the $0.9200 swing high in Ripple price against the US Dollar. The price declined and broke a major support area near $0.8500. It ignited further declines and the price even traded below the $0.8000 level before recovering. It is now trading well below the $0.9000 resistance and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

Recently, the price traded as low as $0.7877 before it recovered. It moved above the 50% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $0.9236 high to $0.7877 low. However, the upside move was protected by the $0.8870 level. Moreover, there was close above the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $0.9236 high to $0.7877 low. It seems like the price failed to move above the maintain gains above the $0.8600 level. On the upside, there is a major bearish trend line forming with resistance near $0.8600 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair.

Therefore, a major recovery above $0.8600 won’t be easy. On the downside, the $0.8000 level is a decent support. Below the mentioned $0.8000, the price may retest the $0.7800 level in the near term.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for XRP/USD is slightly in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for XRP/USD is currently recovering from the 30 level.

Major Support Level – $0.8000

Major Resistance Level – $0.8600

Charts courtesy – Trading View

The post Ripple Price Technical Analysis – XRP/USD Declines Below $0.8500 appeared first on NewsBTC.

Binance has found itself at the center of an unusual trading bug that has created big winners and losers. In a matter of minutes, viacoin pumped by 70x. Just to compound the drama, bitcoin experienced a massive sell-off shortly afterwards following bearish news from the SEC. Binance suspended withdrawals while it investigated the matter, but these have since been reactivated. Wednesday March 7 will go down as a memorable day in the exchange’s short history, but one with a happy ending. 

Also read: Bittrex Adds Tether Competitor TrueUSD as Regulation Rumors Persist

Viacoin Goes on a Moon Mission

Pump and dump schemes are not unusual on cryptocurrency exchanges, but this wasn’t a usual pump. This was a mega pump which sent viacoin from $3 to $200 in record time. Binance wasn’t hacked. Rather, a compromised API is the culprit behind what was an extremely clever attack. First, the bot sold all the altcoins in accessible accounts at market prices, causing a sea of red. Then, it took the BTC profits and put them into viacoin. It may have occurred illegally, but if ever there were a case of a moon mission, this was it, as one Twitter user memorably depicted, the green candle standing proud in the center:

The candle viacoin produced was a spectacular one, as the misappropriated crypto of potentially hundreds of traders was used to send the coin sky-high. One trader boasted of having made $300,000 in BTC from the pump and then withdrawing it to Coinbase before Binance caught on and disabled withdrawals. The user’s Twitter account disappeared shortly afterwards. Another reportedly lost 0.5 BTC, although Binance has since restored all customer funds.

Bots Blamed for Beastly Binance Bug

Altcoinbot.io has been suggested as the likeliest culprit behind the scam. Typically, such bots require traders to submit an API key linked to an exchange. This key permits the bot to make trades on their behalf, but not withdrawals, hence the pattern of dumping affected users’ altcoins and then pumping VIA. As the mother of all pumps unfolded, viacoin dev Romano was forced to go on the defensive, with some people suggesting the scheme was of his doing.

The conspiracy theories were bolstered by the fact that Romano had spoken of tinkering with his own trading bot in the last few days. He seems to have had no inkling of this event in advance, however, and there is no evidence that points to his involvement. “At least the hacker has a good taste,” he wisecracked, adding “Jokes aside I have nothing to do with Binance acting weird. If rumors are true, kinda wish they bought another coin instead of Viacoin. Probably they chose the coin with the lowest marketcap, being the easiest to buy up.”

In a statement, Binance said:

We are investigating reports of some users having issues with their funds. Our team is aware and investigating the issue as we speak. As of this moment, the only confirmed victims have registered API keys (to use with trading bots or otherwise). There is no evidence of the Binance platform being compromised. Please remain patient and we will provide an update as quickly as possible. Withdrawals are temporarily disabled at this time.

Some of the affected users are adamant that they have never used the Binance API, but the exchange’s CEO attributed this to previous phishing attacks. More sophisticated than a conventional phishing attack, this instance would steal a user’s login details via a virtually indistinguishable URL then redirect them to the real Binance site. The attacker would have been none the wiser that their account had been compromised until today.

Bitcoin Dumps Amidst the Chaos

In a dramatic day for the markets, bitcoin dropped sharply to under $10,000 as the full scope of the Binance incident was still sinking in. Altcoins have also been badly affected, not only on Binance, but across the board. Bitcoin’s sharp dip does not necessarily correspond to the goings on at Binance – the SEC releasing a directive regarding unlawful trading platforms is a likelier cause – though the incident can’t have helped. If a trading bot is proven to be responsible, it may cause traders to think twice about who they hand their API keys to in future. Third party platforms might be incapable of accessing users’ funds, but they can still wreak havoc as today’s events show.

On the plus side, there’s a happy ending to this story, as Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao explains:

Were you affected by Wednesday’s Binance bug? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Twitter and Binance.

Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section.

The post Bots Blamed for Binance Bug That Leaves Traders Reeling appeared first on Bitcoin News.

The non-profit dedicated to advancing ethereum has awarded $2.5 million in grant funding to various projects looking to improve the ecosystem.

FOMO Moments

The rout has intensified during this morning’s Asian trading session and the bears are fully in control. As was witnessed this time last month a huge selloff is occurring and all crypto currencies are falling sharply, led by Bitcoin which has lost 9% in the past day. There are no altcoins in the green in the top 25 so we can only focus on ones that have not been hit that badly.

At the moment we are not sure if the bottom will be as far down as the February 6 dip. Total market capacity has fallen below $400 billion – or 17% in just two days. It currently stands at $395 billion whereas the low last month was at $280 bn, if things continue on this steep trend it will be there by the weekend.

There have been a number of factors causing the current selloff including more regulation in the US, a huge selloff by a Bitcoin whale linked to Mt Gox funds, and FUD over a Binance hack that never happened. Markets are still very immature and very reactive to these things and it will take a long time before things settle down and crypto traders have a little more confidence rather than repeatedly panic selling.

In the top ten Stellar Lumens has been the most resistant by only dropping 5% and Cardano has taken the biggest hit losing almost 16% in 24 hours. Looking out to the top 25 Lisk has been resilient and has only lost 3% while VeChain, Icon, Qtum, and Tron have all been hammered losing over 14% since this time yesterday.

Looking for an altcoin in the green is not easy this morning, there is only one though further down the list at 29th. Waves is up 4% and is the only one in the top 100 to be showing a gain this morning. CMC reports that Russian based blockchain platform Waves has recovered within 24 hours and is trading a little higher than this time yesterday. It has been relatively flat for the past seven days, discounting the spikes in either direction, and is up 16% on the three month chart.

The bears are running the show today which leaves the rest of us looking for the bottom and reversal.

FOMO Moments is a section that takes a daily look at the top 25 altcoins during the Asian trading session and analyses the best performing one, looking for trends and fundamentals.

The post Asian Altcoin Trading Roundup: The Rout Continues appeared first on NewsBTC.

In the ongoing saga of how U.S. regulators will ultimately handle cryptocurrency the SEC yesterday said it will require digital asset exchanges to register causing Bitcoin to dip below $10,000.

Cryptocurrency  Defined as Securities

The SEC released a statement that said online platforms trading in digital assets are considered securities under existing guidelines and therefore must register with the agency.

The SEC statement reads as follows

“If a platform offers trading of digital assets that are securities and operates as an ‘exchange,’ as defined by the federal securities laws, then the platform must register with the SEC as a national securities exchange or be exempt from registration.”

“The SEC staff has concerns that many online trading platforms appear to investors as SEC-registered and regulated marketplaces when they are not. Many platforms refer to themselves as “exchanges,” which can give the misimpression to investors that they are regulated or meet the regulatory standards of a national securities exchange.”

The SEC’s statement may have triggered fears among Bitcoin traders of further regulation to come. The statement from the regulatory commission follows some tense weeks of subpoenas and demands of information from exchanges as the commission strives to take some control over crypto trading.

Nothing the SEC has demanded is new policy, rather these are existing regulations that it is trying to fit to the as yet undefined crypto market. “The SEC continues to draw a line in the sand between securities and non-securities but without going so far as to name names,” said Spencer Bogart, partner at Blockchain Capital.

SEC Definition May Help Protect Crypto Exchanges

While that may be true up until now bonafide exchanges have relied on developing a steady reputation and their lawyers protecting their cause in order to separate themselves from being linked to scam operations or getting labelled as Ponzi or pyramid schemes.

In this way, a final and consistent ruling from the SEC naming cryptocurrency as securities may be a good thing. As the level of existing regulation may work to protect the exchanges and ultimately investors from further and possibly more difficult regulatory interference.

Whether or not an investment is legally a security generally relies on what is called the “Howey Test”.  This defined by a 1946 supreme court ruling that says a security involves the investment of money in a common enterprise, in which the investor profits primarily from others’ efforts.

Bitcoin suffered a bit from the Securities Exchange Commission announcement by dropping to $9,500 but recovered back to nearly the $9,800 mark by the end of the day.

The post Bitcoin Takes a Dip as SEC Demands Exchanges to Register appeared first on NewsBTC.

SWIFT, the interbank communications firm, has announced the results of a proof-of-concept program using DLT for bank transactions.

Key Points

• Bitcoin cash price extended declines and moved below the $1,100 support against the US Dollar.
• There is a new connecting bearish trend line forming with resistance at $1.110 on the hourly chart of BCH/USD (data feed from SimpleFX).
• The pair is likely to extend declines and it could even break the $1,000 level in the near term.

Bitcoin cash price is in trouble as it broke $1,100 against the US Dollar. BCH/USD remains in a downtrend and it could soon break the $1,000 level.

Bitcoin Cash Price Decline

There was a sharp increase in selling pressure on bitcoin cash price as it declined from $1,150 against the US Dollar. The decline was such that the price traded below a major support area at $1,100. The price extended declines and traded towards the $1,000 level. It is now well below the $1,150 pivot level and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

The recent low was formed near $1,020 before the price started a minor upside move. It traded above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $1,170 high to $1,020 low. However, the upside move was capped by the $1,100 level. The mentioned $1,100 level was a support earlier and it is now acting as a resistance. Moreover, the 50% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $1,170 high to $1,020 low at $1,095 acted as a resistance. On the upside, there is also a new connecting bearish trend line forming with resistance at $1.110 on the hourly chart of BCH/USD.

On the downside, the pair is likely to find bids near $1,040. However, the most important support is near $1,000, which is also at risk of a downside break.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for BCH/USD is gaining pace in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BCH/USD is now well below the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $1,000

Major Resistance Level – $1,100

Charts courtesy – SimpleFX

The post Bitcoin Cash Price Technical Analysis – BCH/USD Declines Sharply appeared first on NewsBTC.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency is halting the operation of two domestic crypto exchanges while requiring six exchanges to report improvement plans.

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

• Bitcoin price has moved closer to testing the neckline of its double top pattern highlighted earlier.
• A break below this support zone could push price by around $2,000 lower or the same height as the chart formation.
• Technical indicators are also hinting at a potential pickup in bearish momentum.

Bitcoin price might be due for a downside break from the neckline of its short-term reversal pattern to signal a return in bearish pressure.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA is starting to cross below the longer-term 200 SMA to signal that the path of least resistance is to the downside. In other words, support could be more likely to break than to hold.

Stochastic also seems to be pointing down to signal that there’s some bearish pressure left in play. RSI, on the other hand, is already indicating oversold conditions so buyers might take over soon.

In that case, bitcoin price could still bounce off the $9,500 support to revisit the highs around $11,700. Stronger bullish momentum could even lead to a break past that area and a continuation of the longer-term climb.

Market Factors

The US dollar staged a strong rally versus its rivals on easing trade war concerns when Trump showed willingness to exempt Canada and Mexico from higher tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Stocks staged a late rally but most still ended in the red. Bitcoin, however, was more vulnerable to dollar strength as risk-taking is proving negative for the cryptocurrency once more. By the looks of it, bitcoin price could draw strength from a return in geopolitical tensions and risk aversion.

Besides, the SEC said in a statement that online platforms trading digital assets that are considered securities need to register with the agency.

“The SEC staff has concerns that many online trading platforms appear to investors as SEC-registered and regulated marketplaces when they are not. Many platforms refer to themselves as “exchanges,” which can give the misimpression to investors that they are regulated or meet the regulatory standards of a national securities exchange.”

The post Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 03/08/2018 – Bears Fighting Back! appeared first on NewsBTC.

Back in the spring of 2017, the discussion of a technology called ‘ASIC Boost’ was a very hot debate amongst bitcoin proponents. Bitcoin core (BTC) supporters were extremely upset with the firm Bitmain Technologies and its owner Jihan Wu for allegedly using ASIC Boost covertly, even though the company denied it. Now according to reports the mining operation Slush Pool is compatible with ASIC Boost after the controversy was forgotten, and a company called ‘Little Dragon Technology’ made it available for any company as a Blockchain Defensive Patent License (BDPL).

Also read: What is Asicboost? — An Interview With Developer Jeremy Rubin

The Controversial ASIC Boost Was Once Called an ‘Attack’ to the Bitcoin Network and an ‘Exploit’

Last year there was a roaring debate about the use of a technology called ASIC Boost an improvement that provides mining chips with roughly 20-30 percent more efficiency. Developers Timo Hanke and Sergio Lerner invented ASIC Boost, but Bitmain was accused of using the technology covertly last spring, and bitcoin core supporters called it an “attack or exploit.”

Greg Maxwell was the first to kick off the heated argument and said miners covertly using the technology could outcompete other mining pools, and easily profit by $100 million USD per year or more. After Maxwell’s ‘revelation’ most people looked to blame Bitmain Technologies and its founder Jihan Wu, even though Wu and his company denied the allegations. Bitmain does hold patents in China for the ASIC Boost technology, but it has never been proven that the company used it covertly.

Many vocal supporters of the core software got upset with Jihan Wu and Bitmain over social media and forums across the net. When the news spread like wildfire that April, the founder of Slush Pool, Marek Palatinus, talked about ASIC Boost being an “attack” and called it “free hashrate” in a very long and telling Twitter conversation.  

“Now it is clear how they can get that ‘free’ hashrate to attack bitcoin with empty blocks after Bitcoin Unlimited forks — ASIC Boost,” Palatinus states back in April.

After Being Very Controversial, the Technology Is Now Acceptable Because of Patent Law

However, a firm called Little Dragon Technology LLC has released the patent publicly to any company that abides by the BDPL structure of defensive patents. Because of this Palatinus and his operation Slush Pool has decided to utilize ASIC Boost and even refers to the protocol as an “optimization.” Slush Pool also details the organization’s motivation:

After reviewing the new Blockchain Defensive Patent License (BPDL), we would see beneficial for the community to have a central place with stratum protocol specification. At the same time, we have have been working on a proposal for stratum protocol extensions.

Last spring many individuals thought the debate about ASIC Boost was “overblown” and used as a divisive tactic against Bitmain and Jihan Wu. Professor Emin Gün Sirer out of Cornell University called the technology and “optimization” and said calling it an “exploit” was a bit far-fetched. Ryan X Charles the creator social media platform the Yours Network told news.Bitcoin.com that he believed the controversy was overblown as well calling ASIC Boost an “attack.” The well-known bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen explained his opinion that month stating:         

It’s not ok for ethereum to change their rules to undo a theft, but it is ok for bitcoin to change the rules to prevent an optimization?

According to reports, Slush Pool is now fully compatible with ASIC Boost. Although there are no mining devices that support the ASIC Boost protocol unless the accusations of covert use are valid. Slush Pool used to command a lot more hashpower back in 2012-2016, but the operation’s hashrate has dropped significantly to under 10 percent of the BTC network hashrate. The company may believe the action of utilizing ASIC Boost can help increase Slush Pool’s hashrate, among all the other competing mining pools looking to improve efficiency. In addition to the announcement made by Slush, the company ‘Halong Mining,’ a controversial firm due to the uncertainty the mining devices truly exist, announced it’s ‘mining rigs’ would embed ASIC Boost into its Dragonmint mining machines.  

What do you think about Slush Pool announcing it is compatible with ASIC Boost? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock, Pixabay, Slush Pool, and Twitter. 

The bitcoin rabbit hole is deep. Explore the first tunnels over at bitcoin.com’s Price Index and Statistics data pages. It’s all the data you need to sound like you know what you’re talking about – learn all about hashrate, block sizes, transaction fees paid, mining difficulty and transactions per day. Instant expertise, right here.

The post From ‘Attack’ to ‘Optimization’ — Slush Pool Reveals ASIC Boost Compatibility appeared first on Bitcoin News.

The cryptocurrency wallet Rahakott was launched at  November 2017. Now you can use three cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin. Rahakott is a cryptocurrency wallet that allows anyone to send or receive digital currencies and to monitor their balance. The success of Rahakot is explained by serious work in three directions: high level of usability, convenience and security.

High level of usability

Altcoins have become big players in the crypto market, as evidenced by some of their growth rates. The user becomes not comfortable switching from one  wallet to another, as this leads to confusion and inconvenient use. It’s for this reason that the company has integrated Bitcoin Cash, Zcash and Litecoin. Currently, Rahakott developers are working on the integration of Dash.

Convenience

In the modern rhythm of life, applications should be as user-friendly as possible. In order to make life easier for the user, the company entered a mnemonic phrase and connected two-factor authentication of the account.

The next step is to integrate the system into mobile devices.  Right now, mobile apps for Android and iOS are being actively developed. Soon mobile applications for Android and iOS will be developed. Once the work is completed, users will have access to their wallets directly from their phones.

Security

For 5 months of work, the security service has not revealed attempts of breaking. Known security companies checked the crypto wallet Rahakott, there were  revealed no errors.

As of now, over a 3.5 thousand users have chosen the Rahakott wallet. According to Akke Svenson, Rahakott.io cryptocurrency wallet founder, the sharp fall in the cryptocurrency market has not affected the frequency of wallet use, and the number of transactions is gradually rising. Despite a large amount of work already done, the development team is not resting on its laurels and continues to make improvements in all three areas.

PROJECT TEAM

Akke Svenson, Rahakott.io cryptocurrency wallet founder
Entrepreneur, IT specialist, blockchain enthusiast. Graduated from the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden and Stanford University in the US. He began his career at Ericsson, then worked on developing services for financial companies in Europe. For a few years, he served as CTO at a Silicon Valley fintech startup. After that, he returned to Sweden and founded his own company, specializing in IT consulting. He became interested in blockchain in 2013, believing that modern technology will help build new economic relationships in the world.

Maksim Shreyder, Rahakott.io cryptocurrency wallet cofounder
IT expert. Graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and the University of London. He began his career as a programmer, developed projects in the e-commerce sector, and headed IT departments at Russian and English companies. In 2015 he became interested in cryptocurrencies and mining.

Website: Rahakott.io

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.