Day: May 24, 2018

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened a criminal investigation into whether traders are manipulating the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, according to a report published Thursday by Bloomberg.

The most notable concern coming from the DOJ relates to a suspected potential that the volatility of the market creates an opportunity for investors to push price valuations in a way to favor themselves.

Additionally, authorities feel cryptocurrencies are particularly susceptible to fraud due to a concern over the lack of regulations, as well as skepticism that every exchange actively pursues those deceiving the rules of the platform.

Spoofing and wash trading

People familiar with the situation told Bloomberg that the DOJ is specifically looking into spoofing and wash trading from colluding traders. These two illicit tactics are forms of market cheating that have been combated by regulators in the futures and equity markets for years.

Spoofing involves a trader submitting a number of orders, then cancelling them once they are satisfied they have affected the prices enough in the desired direction.

Wash trading involves a cheater creating trades with themselves to create a false impression of market movements, which influences others to move in a specific way.

It was reported that both Bitcoin and Ether are being investigated for this, but the DOJ declined to comment on the case at Bloomberg’s request.

Protecting investors

After a Bitcoin price surge last year spanning between USD 1,000 and USD 20,000, the cryptocurrency industry has found a host of new supporters and investors. The number of ICOs has also skyrocketed, with a growing number of people aware and involved with altcoins.

Regulators across the globe are now seeing the industry as a growing concern, as investors enter the market without a clear understanding of what cryptocurrencies are, and the risks involved.

Cryptocurrency exchange platforms operate internationally, with many remaining unregistered with any government agencies, leading to a heightened fear of fraudulent activities in general.

Of course, the vast majority of platforms maintain there own strict security measures to protect users and are willing to pursue fraudsters, if not only to protect their own reputation.

 

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Crypto mining is on the rise as bad actors have discovered decentralized mining is a lot cheaper than setting up a rig and paying the electricity bills to compete with massive mining pools and Apple users are not immune from being crypto jacked.

Mac Cryptominer uses Legitimet Software

In an earlier story this year NewsBTC reported that crypto jacking or drive by mining was up by 4000% in the first quarter of 2018 and now Mac owners are reporting a piece of malware called “mshelper” sucking up their CPU time and overheating their cooling fans. Luckily the “mshelper” process as reported by Malwarebytes Labs isn’t very sophisticated and is relatively easy to remove.

Not surprisingly the newly discovered malware is mining for Monero, as it has become the favorite cryptocurrency for hackers mostly due to its high level of anonymity. Sandiford Oliver, Cybersecurity Researcher for Proofpoint, talked about Monero being the first choice for botnets mining crypto and expects it to continue to rise as the token price goes up.

The “mshelper” malware was brought to public knowledge by users posting on Apple’s discussion forums. As more Mac users chimed in it was found that other suspicious processes were installed as well.

Malwarebytes Labs broke the process down to its components. They identified the dropper or the program which installed the malware, as probably being a fake Adobe Flashplayer install file. Droppers they explained usually come from pirated copies of popular file downloads.

The launcher they found to be a file called ‘pplauncher’ which is kept active by a launch daemon meaning that the dropped had access to root privileges.

Finally the miner which is the aforementioned “mshelper” which has been recognized as an older version of the legitimate XMRig miner which is available for install on Macs.

Cryptomining isn’t limited to PCs

Though crypto mining through malware is often thought of as being a PC problem the fact that there is money to be made stealing computing power makes it a problem for every online device. Android miners and malware designed to infect Internet of Things means that soon nearly every appliance could be a target for drive by miners. The problem goes beyond cyber criminals as even internet service providers have been found out infecting customers with mining malware.

Mac cryptomining malware has been on the rise with every other type and this latest infection follows many other previously recognized crypto-miners for the MacOS. As for the “mshelper” malware it’s not considered particularly dangerous as it is actually a legitimate piece of software, still it should be removed. Malwarebytes Labs provides a link to remove it here.

 

Image from Shutterstock

The post New Mac Malware Monero Miner Discovered appeared first on NewsBTC.

A scammer claiming to be in possession of a dog texted the dog’s owner that he would “sell it or kill it or whatever” if he didn’t receive USD 600 of Bitcoin within five days. Upon payment, it was said that the texter would leave the dog, named Happy, at a pet store with the owner’s contact information.

The owner, Patricia Howell, had earlier posted on Facebook and Pawboost that her basset hound had gone missing. This is likely where the scammer got her contact information. The scammer claimed to use a burner phone, making him/her untraceable.

Much like a burner phone is an anonymous version of a cell phone, Bitcoin is the pseudo-anonymous version of currency. No identity or location information is required to transact Bitcoin, only a Bitcoin address which consists of a long string of letters and numbers. This is unlike most other payment methods like Western Union and banks which can’t be used without providing identifying information. The scammer, in this case, chose Bitcoin.

Fortunately, Howell had already recovered her dog minutes before receiving the texts from the scammer, thanks to a tip on a community Facebook page. Due to the timing, she didn’t have to worry if there was any truth to the texts, but was upset about the scammer’s cold, and mean-spirited demand. Her outrage prompted her to report the incident to her local police department.

The Granville County sheriff is investigating this incident, and says he’s aware of similar cases across the county but this is the first official police report he’s had involving a Bitcoin ransom. Indeed, just this past week another Bitcoin ransom made headlines when 15 Bitcoins were demanded for the return of a kidnapped South African boy.

 

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The post Would-Be Dognapper Demands Bitcoin To Spare Life of Happy the Dog appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

A blockchain micro-learning platform is planning to incentivize students by offering them crypto tokens when they complete courses #SPONSORED

Key Highlights

• Ripple price traded as low as $0.5758 before starting a correction against the US dollar.
• This week’s followed crucial bearish trend line with resistance at $0.6200 was broken on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair (data source from Kraken).
• The pair may correct further higher, but it may face a strong selling interest near $0.6400-0.6500.

Ripple price is slowly recovering against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. XRP/USD may face a tough challenge near the $0.6500 resistance level, which was a support earlier.

Ripple Price Recovery

A decent low was formed near $0.5760 in Ripple price against the US Dollar. The price traded as low as $0.5758 and later is started an upward correction. It recovered nicely and moved above the $0.5900 and $0.6000 resistance levels. Moreover, there was a break above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last slide from the $0.7068 high to $0.5758 low.

More importantly, this week’s followed crucial bearish trend line with resistance at $0.6200 was broken on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair. On the upside, the next major hurdle for buyer is near $0.6400. It represents the 50% Fib retracement level of the last slide from the $0.7068 high to $0.5758 low. Further above $0.6400, the $0.6500 level is a crucial barrier. The stated $0.6500 level was a support earlier, and now it is likely to prevent further gains. Additionally, the 100 hourly simple moving average is positioned near $0.6410, which is another important resistance.

Looking at the chart, there are a few positive signs above the $0.6000 level. If buyers succeed in breaking the $0.6400 and $0.6500 resistance levels, ripple could accelerate higher. On the downside, the broken hurdles near $0.6000 and $0.5900 are likely to act as supports.

Looking at the technical indicators:

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

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

Major Support Level – $0.6000

Major Resistance Level – $0.6400

The post Ripple Price Analysis: XRP/USD Showing Positive Signs appeared first on NewsBTC.

Norfolk Southern is the latest railway to join the Blockchain in Transport Alliance.

Business Review

BR Analysis. Mining Bitcoin in Romania? Watch the electricity bill. You might be “bleeding” money Business Review Mining for one bitcoin in Romania might see you end up in the red due to the high price of electricity for households. Electricity consumption is one of the significant costs of bitcoin mining and increasingly powerful hardware is needed in order to ...

Key Highlights

• ETH price has started an upside correction and it moved above $590 against the US Dollar.
• There was a break above a key bearish trend line with resistance at $592 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken).
• The pair is now approaching another important bearish trend line with resistance at $620 on the same chart.

Ethereum price is slowly moving higher against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. ETH/USD may rise further towards a crucial resistance zone at $620.

Ethereum Price Resistance

There were further declines below $580 in ETH price against the US Dollar. The price traded towards the $540 level where buyers appeared. A low was formed at $543.57 before an upside correction wave was initiated. Buyers pushed the price above the $560 and $580 resistance levels. Moreover, there was a break above the 38.2% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $651 high to $543 low.

During the upside move, there was a break above a key bearish trend line with resistance at $592 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD. The pair is currently attempting a close above the 50% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $651 high to $543 low. It seems like the price may rise further above $610 in the near term. However, there is another important bearish trend line with resistance at $620 on the same chart. The trend line resistance near $620 is close to the 100 hourly simple moving average.

Looking at the chart, the price has to move above the $620 resistance and the 100 hourly SMA to gain upside momentum. A close above $620 may perhaps push the price towards $640 and $650. On the downside, the $580 level is a decent support, followed by $560.

Hourly MACD – The MACD is now back in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI – The RSI is moving higher and is currently placed nicely above the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $580

Major Resistance Level – $620

The post Ethereum Price Analysis: Can ETH/USD Break 100 SMA? appeared first on NewsBTC.

Employees of a regional police department in Ukraine were recently caught mining cryptocurrencies using the department’s resources, according to the court document. They had been mining for four months before they got caught and their mining farm seized.

Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space

Police Mining Farm Discovered

Employees of the National Police of Ukraine reportedly set up a cryptocurrency mining farm in their workplace and mined cryptocurrencies for four months before they were caught, local media reported this week. The employees work at the Rivne Oblast regional police headquarters’ Communications Department. This information was revealed in the Rivne City Court document number No. 569/8710/18, Finclub reported.

Ukrainian news agency Glavcom elaborated, “In April of this year, employees of the Department of Homeland Security of the Police Headquarters in Rivne Oblast identified the [crypto mining] equipment at the office of the Communications Department,” adding:

The same day, the investigator of the regional administration removed from his colleagues two wooden frames, which featured eight graphics cards, six power units, two hard drives, a motherboard and a complete system unit.

The Investigation

“A pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings under Part 1 of Article 185 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on the fact of theft of electricity” has already begun, the publication detailed, noting that the court decided not to reveal the cryptocurrencies mined.

The investigation “established that from the beginning of 2018, officials of the Communications Department…abused their official position, acting in contravention of the interests of the service,” the news outlet quoted the court document. The employees unilaterally used the electricity of the region “for their own purposes, for the proper functioning of the equipment for the extraction of cryptocurrencies, which caused significant damage to the interests of the State Enterprise of the Rivne region,” the court document details.

368.media described:

The policemen are charged with the theft of electricity belonging to the management of the National Police in the Rivne region, which they used to extract cryptocurrency, but it is not known how much electricity they used.

In Ukraine, there is currently no regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies despite having multiple proposals. However, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, Oleg Churiy, recently revealed that the central bank is working on a bill to regulate them.

What do you think of these police officers mining cryptocurrencies at work? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

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The post Police Officers in Ukraine Caught Secretly Mining Crypto at Work for Four Months appeared first on Bitcoin News.

newsBTC

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Watch: Can It Finally Bounce? newsBTC Regulatory fears are being blamed for the recent leg lower in bitcoin price, although this could prove positive for the industry in the longer run. The US Department of Justice is reportedly conducting a criminal probe into price manipulation practices ... and more »

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

• Bitcoin price is still inside its symmetrical triangle formation and is currently testing support.
• A bounce could take it back up to the resistance around $9,000 while a break lower could lead to a test of the next support at $6,500.
• Technical indicators are showing mixed signals, so the move could mostly depend on market catalysts.

Bitcoin price has sold off to the very bottom of its symmetrical triangle formation, still pending a bounce or a break.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA is below the longer-term 200 SMA so the path of least resistance is still to the downside. This suggests that a breakdown is more likely to happen than a bounce.

The gap between the moving averages is also widening to show accelerating bearish momentum. Also, price is below the 100 SMA dynamic inflection point to reflect continued selling pressure.

RSI is heading south to show that sellers have the upper hand, but the oscillator is already dipping into oversold territory to signal exhaustion. Turning higher could draw buyers back in and lead to a bounce back to the resistance. Similarly, stochastic is indicating oversold conditions but has yet to turn higher to signal a return in bullish pressure.

Market Factors

Regulatory fears are being blamed for the recent leg lower in bitcoin price, although this could prove positive for the industry in the longer run. The US Department of Justice is reportedly conducting a criminal probe into price manipulation practices involving cryptocurrencies.

It’s worth noting that the dollar has been on weaker footing following the FOMC minutes release and the recent announcements related to North Korea. Trump has cancelled his meeting with Kim Jong-Un for next month, reviving geopolitical tensions but weighing on the US currency. However, bitcoin price has been unable to take advantage of this as it also seems to have been dragged lower by risk sentiment.

The post Bitcoin (BTC) Price Watch: Can It Finally Bounce? appeared first on NewsBTC.

FOMO Moments

There has been a slight market rebound today which is expected after three days of heavy losses. Yesterday’s news on US lawmakers investigating price manipulation is a good thing for overall market sentiment. Bitcoin however has failed to rally along with many of the other cryptos indicating that the bears could still be lurking. BTC has not gained anything on the day and is still trading at around $7,600 where it was this time yesterday. The altcoins are generally showing signs of a marginal recovery, one coming back stronger than the rest at the moment is EOS.

According to Coinmarketcap EOS is the only coin in the top 25 that is in double figure green territory. It is up 11% on the day trading at $12.5 from $11.2 this time yesterday. EOS was trading at exactly the same level this time last Friday after a weekly high to just under $13. Over the month the fifth most popular altcoin has lost around 17% from $15 this time last month. Against Bitcoin, which has failed to show any gains in the past 24 hours, EOS is up 12% to 164500 satoshis from 147000 sats this time yesterday. Weekly gains on BTC are around 5.8% from 156000 sats this time last Friday.

EOS is approaching its mainnet launch on June 1 which will effectively split it off the Ethereum network. Current ERC20 EOS tokens will no longer be valid and it will run on its own blockchain when developers start launching them on the platform. Mainnet launches are usual positive for market sentiment, Tron has also performed well as it approaches mainnet launch on May 31.

South Korea is dominating trade at the moment with local currency (KRW) transactions on Bithumb and Upbit taking 36% of the total volume. Two other major Asian exchanges, Huobi and OKEx, have almost 25% of the volume in USDT so Bitcoin is no longer the trade of choice. Volume for EOS has climbed from $1.6 to $2.2 billion over the past 24 hours, it is still comfortably 5^th with a market cap of just under $11 billion.

Markets have bounced back a little this morning in Asia with total capitalization climbing 1.8% to $340 billion. Trade volume has been steady for the period at around $20 billion. The rest of the altcoins are a mixed bag with some clawing back minor losses and others falling further. Those looking strong during Asian trading at the moment are 0x and Bitcoin Private.

More on EOS can be found here: https://eos.io/

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 possible fundamentals.

The post Asian Cryptocurrency Trading Roundup: Regional Exchanges Dominate EOS Trade appeared first on NewsBTC.

Key Points

• Bitcoin cash price found support near $950 and started an upside move against the US Dollar.
• This week’s crucial bearish trend line with resistance at $1,040 was breached on the hourly chart of the BCH/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
• The pair is now trading above the $1,020 resistance and it may correct further in the near term.

Bitcoin cash price is recovering nicely from $950 against the US Dollar. BCH/USD could recover further as long as the price is above $1,020.

Bitcoin Cash Price Support

After a major slide, bitcoin cash price found support near the $950 level against the US Dollar. The price traded as low as $947.3 where buyers appeared and prevented declines. A fresh upward correction was started and the price moved above the $980 and $1,000 resistance levels. It even succeeded in moving above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $1,190 swing high to $947 low.

More importantly, this week’s crucial bearish trend line with resistance at $1,040 was breached on the hourly chart of the BCH/USD pair. At the moment, the price is trading just above the $1,050 level and is showing positive signs. It has to settle above the 50% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $1,190 swing high to $947 low to gain momentum. On the upside, there is a strong resistance zone near $1,080 and $1,100. A break above the $1.100 resistance level could open the doors for more gains in the near term.

Looking at the chart, the price is slowly recovering and it could move towards $1,100 and $1,120. However, any further upsides above $1,100 and the 100 hourly simple moving average won’t be easy.

Looking at the technical indicators:

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

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BCH/USD is now back above the 50 level with positive signs.

Major Support Level – $1,000

Major Resistance Level – $1,100

The post Bitcoin Cash Price Analysis: Can BCH/USD Recover? appeared first on NewsBTC.

A group of companies piloting a blockchain-based insurance platform for global shipping industry said the technology is now live in commercial use.