Day: May 13, 2018

In a recent case involving fraudulent online activity, the London Metropolitan police conducted Scotland Yard’s first cryptocurrency seizure, a confiscation totaling USD 700,000 in Bitcoin.

As reported by USA Today, the perpetrator, 25-year-old Grant West, pleaded guilty in court December last year to conducting cyber attacks on fast-food outlets, gambling shops, supermarkets, and mobile phone companies. Investigators working on the case claim that he was responsible for cyber attacks on over 100 companies between July and December 2015.

Often, West’s criminal activities played out via phishing emails that lured suspects into sharing their personal and banking information with him.

West, who went by the online pseudonym ‘Courvoisier‘,’ reportedly used the dark web to sell passwords and credit card numbers that he acquired through the hacks. His proceeds from the illegal sales were converted into Bitcoin.

The arrest of West was made on a train by British police. Law enforcement was able to access his online cryptocurrency wallets through discovering their passwords on the unlocked laptop he was using at the time of his arrest. The funds were successfully sequestered.

A British court said Wednesday that West’s sentence would be given on 25 May. The trial also found his girlfriend, Rachael Brooke, an accomplice to the crimes. While she was sentenced to just two years of community service, it is expected West’s sentence to be far more severe.

Criminal activity and crypto

Speaking out on incidents involving online fraud, police investigator Mick Gallagher noted what he found a critical element to West’s arrest: ”These people generally feel they can operate with impunity, that they can’t be touched. We have now debunked that.”

Some criminals believe that Bitcoin can offer them full anonymity, but investigators are frequently able to track the movement of cryptocurrencies. Even if they cannot identify the owner through the transactions themselves, tracking a publicly available trail of transactions on the blockchain may eventually lead them to the perpetrator.

While it may seem like this incident is more bad press for cryptocurrencies, less than 1% of Bitcoin transactions actually involve illicit activities. Indeed, it is valuable for cryptocurrency traders to know that should any fraudulent activity be pursued against them, the police are becoming more equipped to deal with these situations and protect peoples’ online funds.

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The post $700K in Bitcoin Sequestered by London Police in Hacking Inquest appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Just recently researchers from the University College London published a paper about the patterns found in “shielded” and “unshielded” Zcash transactions. The study explains when users switch between these types of addresses anonymity is degraded. The team concludes that while Zcash transactions can be private, it’s also possible to diminish privacy if certain usage patterns are chosen by the Zcash user.

Also Read: Israel Tax Authority Hunts for Bitcoin Traders on Social Media  

Researchers from London Publish a Paper That Reveals It is Possible to Shrink the Zcash Anonymity Set

A group of researchers have found Zcash anonymity can be degraded through certain usage patterns. Sarah Meiklejohn, Mary Maller, George Kappos, and Haaroon Yousaf from University College London published a paper called “An Empirical Analysis of Anonymity in Zcash” which finds certain patterns of Zcash use can “shrink” the cryptocurrency’s anonymity set. Essentially Zcash transactions can be used in a private manner (shielded) and a completely transparent (unshielded) manner. Users that move their Zcash back and forth between unshielded and shielded may be losing quite a bit of the anonymity they desire.   

“We investigate all facets of anonymity in Zcash’s transactions, ranging from its transparent transactions to the interactions with and within its main privacy feature, a shielded pool that acts as the anonymity set for users wishing to spend coins privately,” explains the researchers’ paper.  

We conclude that while it is possible to use Zcash in a private way, it is also possible to shrink its anonymity set considerably by developing simple heuristics based on identifiable patterns of usage.

Zcash Founder Responds Calling the Paper ‘Insightful’ and Recommends Users ‘Store Zcash in a Shielded Address’

The researchers conclude that ultimately in order for Zcash to fully preserve its anonymity set is to “require all transactions to take place within the shielded pool.” Otherwise, the study emphasizes the Zcash network must significantly expand the usage of the shielded pool. On May 8 the founder of Zcash, Zooko Wilcox, and the team’s marketing director, Josh Swihart, responded to the research and called it an “insightful new paper.” Further, the Zcash team members explained another analysis was released a few months ago with similar findings.

“This research demonstrates different ways to pierce the veil of your privacy if you, or the people that you transact with, move money from a transparent address to a shielded address and then move some of that money back to a different transparent address — Similar analysis was released several months ago — However, this research includes new techniques that can heuristically link patterns of ‘unshielded to shielded to unshielded’ transactions,” explains the response from Swihart and Wilcox.   

It is valuable to understand how much privacy is lost when using shielded addresses as a pass-through mechanism, but using it in that way is not recommended — Instead, store your Zcash in a shielded address. When paying someone, send Zcash from your shielded address to their shielded address — If Zcash is transacted in this way, the results of this paper do not apply and transaction privacy is maintained.

Users of Zcash on social media and forums like r/ZEC didn’t seem too phased about the paper published by the University College London researchers. One Zcash user writes on May 11, “I have read the original paper, I don’t think it will make a difference when all transactions are shielded, which is where we are headed to anyway — Furthermore, nobody is stopping anyone from using multiple shielded addresses now.”

What do you think about the paper released about Zcash from the researchers at the University College London? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock, Pixabay, and the Zcash website. 

Do you agree with us that Bitcoin is the best invention since sliced bread? Thought so. That’s why we are building this online universe revolving around anything and everything Bitcoin. We have a store. And a forum. And a casino, a pool and real-time price statistics.

The post Research Paper Finds Transaction Patterns Can Degrade Zcash Privacy appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Key Highlights

• Ripple price corrected higher recently, but it struggled near the $0.7500 resistance against the US dollar.
• The XRP/USD pair is currently attempting a close below an ascending channel with support at $0.7000 on the hourly chart (data source from Kraken).
• The pair may is now at a risk of a downside move back towards the $0.6500 support level.

Ripple price is in a bearish zone against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. XRP/USD corrected slightly higher, but it struggled to clear a major hurdle at $0.7500.

Ripple Price Trend

This past week, there was a major downside move from well above $0.8000 in Ripple price against the US Dollar. The price even broke the $0.7500 and $0.7000 support levels and traded close to $0.6300. A low was formed at $0.6307 from where the price started an upside correction. It recovered above the $0.7000 level and gained upside momentum.

However, the price faced a strong resistance zone near $0.7400 and $0.7500. The upside move was protected by $0.7450, 100 hourly simple moving average, and a bearish trend line with current resistance at $0.7300. At the moment, the price is down and broke the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $0.6307 low to $0.7475 high. More importantly, the XRP/USD pair is currently attempting a close below an ascending channel with support at $0.7000 on the hourly chart.

Looking at the chart, the price is struggling to hold gains above $0.7000. It may decline further and test the 50% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $0.6307 low to $0.7475 high at $0.6900. Below $0.6900, it may retest the $0.6500 support. On the upside, a proper break above 100 hourly SMA and $0.7500 is required for an upside acceleration.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for XRP/USD is back in the bearish zone.

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

Major Support Level – $0.6900

Major Resistance Level – $0.7500

The post Ripple Price Technical Analysis – XRP/USD Correction Likely Over appeared first on NewsBTC.

In a revelatory blog post, David Vorick makes a thorough examination of cryptocurrency mining from his experts point of view concluding that ASIC mining is an inevitable result of the big money involved in the mining industry.

Like Printing Money

Vorick who oversees development of the decentralized file storage coin SIA also operates Obelisk, his own ASIC manufacturing firm which is about to release its first ASIC in the weeks to come. In the essay The State Of Cryptocurrency Mining, he sums up what he learned on the way to bringing his miner to market and shares his conclusions and speculations about the future of Crypto mining.

The post thoroughly examins deep technical aspects of how crypto mining works and along the way reveals some of the dirty secrets of the industry. Perhaps the most telling part of the post is Vorick’s metaphor of ASIC rigs as money printing machines. He writes that “A well-funded profit-maximizing entity is only going to sell a money printing machine for more money than they expect they could get it to print themselves” as he alleges that manufacturers secretly mine with new units before making them available to the public.

He backs these allegations up using the Monero Cryptonight miner as an example. According to his sources, Monero was being mined by these machines for nearly a year before discovery. Vorick wrote that senior figures at Monero claimed botnets using hijacked computers were to blame for the jump in Monero’s hashrate at the time but then had to adapt that story when Bitmain released its Monero specific x3’s, adding that;

“It’s estimated that Monero’s secret ASICs made up more than 50% of the hashrate for almost a full year before discovery … a huge fraction of the Monero issuance was centralizing into the hands of a small group, and a 51% attack could have been executed at any time.”

Secret ASICS Exist

Vorick goes on to describe an underground mining industry where farms pay millions of dollars to get exclusive access to designs for specific cryptocurrencies. He believes that every proof of work coin with a block reward of more than $20 million has a group of secret ASIC mining it. He sums up the economics by writing “The ASIC game has become such an advanced game because there is so much money on the table.”

Vorick concludes the piece by writing that “mining is for big players.” That because of the economics involved centralization is inevitable and that it happens across many vectors. But, he finishes this realization is not the end of the world, “There are plenty of other tools available to cryptocurrency developers and communities as well to deal with a hostile hashrate base, including hardforks and community splits. The hashrate owners know this, and as a result they are careful not to do anything that would cause a revolt or threaten their healthy profit streams.”

The post Insiders Reveal ASIC Mining to be Inevitable For Cryptocurrency appeared first on NewsBTC.

From miner adoption to a lightning-like network to new partners, RSK, which developed the bitcoin smart contracts sidechain, is building momentum.

Key Highlights

• ETH price started a nice upside recovery and moved above the $710 resistance against the US Dollar.
• There is a key bullish trend line with support at $710 forming on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken).
• The pair is currently correcting lower, but it remains supported near $705, $710 and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

Ethereum price is recovering against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. ETH/USD is now trading above the 100 hourly SMA and $705, which is a positive sign.

Ethereum Price Decline

After a major decline this past week, ETH price was able to hold the $635 support zone against the US Dollar. The price traded as low as $637.88 and started an upside move. It climbed higher and broke the $660 and $680 resistance levels. Buyers were even able to push the price back above the $700-705 resistance and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

These all are positive signs and suggests that the price recovered nicely from the $637.88 low. It traded as high as $740.67 and is currently correcting lower. It is about to test the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $737 low to $740 high. However, there are many supports on the downside near the $705-710 zone. There is also a key bullish trend line with support at $710 forming on the hourly chart of ETH/USD. Moreover, the 100 hourly SMA is positioned near the $706 level to prevent declines. Lastly, the 38.2% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $737 low to $740 high is at $701 to act as a support.

Looking at the chart, the price remains supported on the downside above $702. As long as the price is above $700 and the 100 hourly SMA, it may bounce back and recover further.

Hourly MACD – The MACD is slowly moving in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI – The RSI is moving lower towards the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $705

Major Resistance Level – $740

The post Ethereum Price Technical Analysis – ETH/USD Could Recover Further appeared first on NewsBTC.

Key Points

• Bitcoin cash price recovered recently, but it struggled to break the $1,500 resistance against the US Dollar.
• There was a break below a short-term contracting triangle pattern with support at $1,450 on the hourly chart of the BCH/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
• The pair may decline a few points towards the $1,400 and $1,380 support levels.

Bitcoin cash price is struggling to gain momentum above $1,500 against the US Dollar. BCH/USD could decline once again if buyers lose control in the short term.

Bitcoin Cash Price Resistance

There was a decent recovery over the weekend as bitcoin cash price moved above the $1,450 resistance against the US Dollar. However, the price struggled to break the $1,500 resistance, which was also a support earlier. Moreover, the 100 hourly simple moving average, which is currently at $1,490 also acted as a major hurdle for buyers. The price is currently moving down and it broke the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $1,266 low to $1,505 high.

During the decline, there was a break below a short-term contracting triangle pattern with support at $1,450 on the hourly chart of the BCH/USD pair. It seems like the $1,500 barrier acted as a crucial resistance and prevented declines. It may decline further and trade towards the 50% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $1,266 low to $1,505 high. Therefore, the next major support is around the $1,400 and $1,380 levels.

Looking at the chart, the price is currently under a minor bearish pressure below $1,480 and the 100 hourly SMA. If buyers succeed in gaining momentum above $1,500 and 100 hourly SMA, there could be more gains. The next resistance in the mentioned case could be $1,620.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for BCH/USD is slowly moving in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BCH/USD has just moved below the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $1,380

Major Resistance Level – $1,500

The post Bitcoin Cash Price Technical Analysis – BCH/USD Struggling Near $1,500 appeared first on NewsBTC.

Following its acquisition of a qualified custodian, BitGo is unveiling a new product suite Sunday designed to appeal to institutional investors.

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

• Bitcoin price is still on a downtrend on its 1-hour chart, moving below a descending trend line.
• Price could be due for a pullback to the falling resistance, which lines up with the Fib levels.
• Technical indicators are suggesting that the selloff could carry on.

Bitcoin price is exhibiting some bearish momentum and could draw more selling pressure on a correction.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA is below the longer-term 200 SMA on the 1-hour chart to signal that the path of least resistance is to the downside. This suggests that the downtrend is more likely to continue than to reverse.

The gap between the moving averages is also widening to reflect a pickup in selling momentum. The 100 SMA lines up with the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level to add to its strength as resistance.

A larger pullback to the higher Fibs or the 200 SMA could still be possible, but RSI looks ready to head south without hitting overbought levels. This signals that bears are eager to get back in on a shallow correction.

BTCUSD 1-hour Chart from TradingView

Market Factors

Cryptocurrency updates last week have been mixed, with a rough start on Buffet’s remarks and a bit of a pickup on news that ICE is getting ready to launch a bitcoin trading platform.

Apparently these haven’t been strong enough to spur a move past the $10,000 handle, so bears still have the upper hand and bulls are likely being cautious. It has also been reported that the launch of bitcoin futures led to the slump last December, which kept investors on edge that further bitcoin products could draw more selling action.

Nonetheless, more institutional money is projected to flow into the industry and this could mark the start of less dependence on speculative activity and higher volumes.

The post Bitcoin Price Watch: Will the Bearish Moves Continue? appeared first on NewsBTC.

Bitcoin is now trading at the $8,600 mark. This is roughly $200 higher than where it stood yesterday afternoon. Could the price be recovering following Mt. Gox’s latest sell-off?

Early this week, bitcoin was marred by two major actions. The first stemmed from South Korea, one of the largest bitcoin trading hubs in the world. Financial authorities raided popular cryptocurrency exchange Upbit after executives were alleged to have been illicitly moving customer funds to their own personal accounts. At press time, no additional information has been released on this story, and The Merkle will continue to provide coverage as it is received.

The second maneuver came by way of Mt. Gox, the now infamous Japanese crypto exchange responsible for losing nearly half-a-billion in bitcoin funds in 2014. Trustees of the platform have been selling off the company’s final bitcoin stashes since September of last year, and despite acknowledging that these moves could have negative consequences on the bitcoin price, these sell-offs have continued without restraint.

Last Friday, word was received that a trustee had moved as many as 8,000 bitcoins to four separate wallets. At the time, bitcoin was already in a downward slump, having fallen to about $9,100 from its previous high of $9,800, though the move may have spawned its subsequent drop to $8,250, which is where bitcoin was trading during yesterday’s early morning hours.

Now, roughly $400 later, it’s hard to say if the coin is truly recovering, or if this is just a minor correction in what could be a further downward spiral. One analyst suggests that while bitcoin’s price is down, its dominance rate is still near 40 percent in the cryptocurrency market – the first time since early April – and the asset is still attracting investor interest. More money will undoubtedly allow the price to bounce back up, though it’s difficult to say when this will occur.

Thus far, bitcoin has lost over 10 percent of its value in just a matter of days, and daily charts are still signifying bearish trends, though these are alleged to be in the short term. At the time of writing, the trading range for the currency lies between $8,000 and $9,000 – a solid $1,000 fall from where it stood earlier this week.

Another analyst is more positive in his sentiment. He suggests that bitcoin is ultimately bouncing back from its recent lows, and pushing through present resistance faster than other coins. He suggests that if the currency can keep this momentum going and sustain its position in the market, it could lead to what he calls a “meaningful rally.” In other words, bitcoin will continue to spike, and return to the price it so proudly bore at the beginning of the week.

Previous resistance – which was set at $8,450 – has already been surpassed. Granted bitcoin can move beyond the $8,700 mark, we may see prices return quicker than anticipated.

In addition, bitcoin is garnering further institutional praise and attention following Goldman Sachs’ plans to release its new bitcoin trading desk. The cryptocurrency market is witnessing a burst in legitimacy, and experiencing stronger and curiosity from both Wall Street players and corporate investors.

The 600-member Crypto Valley Association has added venture capital firm Lakestar as a strategic partner.