Day: June 24, 2018

Mike Butcher talks to Cointelegraph about the future of the crypto industry, Sci-Fi global currencies and how (not) to pitch at conferences

At press time, the father of cryptocurrencies hasn’t moved from its previous position, and is still trading for approximately $6,100. It’s disappointing in the sense that everyone wants bitcoin’s price to spike, but it’s also a positive sign that bitcoin is not dropping any further… At least for now.

Forbes contributor Peter Tchir attributes bitcoin’s price drop to a lack of interest in the coin. Intrigue has ultimately “melted” over the past few months, and he says adoption rates are very low.

“To a large extent, bitcoin has lost its way,” he exclaims. “Very few believe it to be an efficient means of buying or selling anything.”

He mentions that interest in the coin about a year ago was simply teetering on curiosity. Six months ago, people were “desperate” for information, though now, he claims everyone has seemingly moved onto other things. In addition, he says initial coin offerings (ICOs) have come under intense scrutiny over the past few months, and that as the currency becomes more mainstream, its decentralized nature is beginning to lessen, allowing the government to step in and take control when warranted.

If bitcoin is going to regain people’s trust and excitement, Tchir says it needs to assert its “value proposition.”

“What it is worth over time is a function of what value it provides its users and owners, and I, for one, am struggling to see the benefits of re-entering the market,” he explains. “For several years, many pundits, including myself, have discussed the possibility that a cryptocurrency could fulfill all the promise of digital money, but that it wouldn’t be one of the first generation ‘coins.’ Maybe it is time for one of the new cryptocurrencies to step up and take the lead – to show a clear path to the promise digital money holds.”

Not everyone agrees. Brian Kelly – CEO and founder of the financial firm BKCM, LLC – is one of bitcoin’s biggest proponents. He says bitcoin “is not dead,” and says the present drop in the currency’s price is “not unusual.”

“This is not the funeral for bitcoin whatsoever,” he confidently states. “Let’s put this in perspective. Do you know where we were a year ago? $2,500.”

It’s true – approximately 12 months ago, bitcoin was trading for less than $3,000, which means it has more than doubled by today’s standards. However, one can’t help but remember that December of last year brought about a bitcoin high of roughly $19,500, which means the currency has lost some 60 percent of its total value in about six months.

Still, Kelly isn’t letting this get to him, and says the currency’s future – which has been marred what he calls “overvalued” ICOs and exchange hacks – is just as strong as ever.

“Bear markets, we don’t know where they end,” he comments. “It doesn’t mean that bitcoin can’t go lower, but this is by no means the funeral for bitcoin. When we start to declare a funeral and things get horrible, sentiment is approaching the lows, so hopefully we’ll use that funeral bug to say, ‘Hey, you know what? That was near the lows.’”

Bitcoin Charts by TradingView

The founder of the major cryptocurrency Litecoin, Charlie Lee, was interviewed on CNBC following the USD 31 million Bithumb cryptocurrency exchange hack. He said that the Bithumb hack, and any other particular cryptocurrency exchange hack, does not affect the fundamentals of the market. He uses the example that if thieves rob a bank, that doesn’t change the fundamentals of fiat and gold.

He says that the Bitcoin Lightning Network, which allows Bitcoin transactions to scale to the magnitudes of credit card processors like Visa, is a major advancement that should have led to a price increase. He says that Bitcoin’s price has become disjointed from advancements in its protocol. He says he expects Bitcoin’s price to catch up to the advances in development eventually, and the price might rebound “fairly soon”. However, he says that he’s seen bear markets last 3-4 years and doesn’t know for sure when this bear market will end.

After the Bithumb hack, the market dropped slightly when the news broke, but overall Bitcoin’s price moved up on the day. Charlie Lee says there’s usually a 5% or greater price drop after a major cryptocurrency exchange gets hacked, but positive news that Tether Limited has USD reserves to back up all of its coins overshadowed the bad Bithumb news. The market had previously gone down significantly after a study alleged that Tether was fraudulently printing money to drive up Bitcoin’s price.

Charlie Lee says cryptocurrency is still in its early days, and exchanges have a long way to go to become completely secure. He says cryptocurrency users “must protect their coins much better than traditional financing”, and that they need to understand that they are fully responsible for their money unlike classical financial instruments like credit cards and banks.

Cryptocurrency can actually be more secure than any other form of money if a user controls and protects their private key properly, but many new users are ignorant when it comes to this crucially important information.

Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at @BitcoinNewsCom

Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews

Image Source: Pixabay

The post Charlie Lee: Cryptocurrency Exchange Hacks Don’t Change Market Fundamentals appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

2018 might not be the best year for crypto investors so far, but a lot of wealth is still in the hands of long-term holders. The latest example of this comes from Silicon Valley where some people are using bitcoin to buy millions worth of expensive timepieces, diamonds and other luxury items.

Also Read: This Week in Bitcoin: McAfee Backs Off, Crypto World Cup and the Mystery of 21e8

Crypto Surpasses Credit Cards

Stephen Silver Fine Jewelry, a Silicon Valley-based ultra-high-end watches and jewelry boutique which implemented cryptocurrency payments back in 2014, reports that crypto transactions have grown to 20% of sales in the past year, helping the company close expensive sales. The company accepts payments in cryptocurrencies such as BTC, BCH and XMR, but only from authorized and approved Bitpay wallets. It started doing so as an easier and more secure alternative to wire transfers, providing much faster transfer times than the old legacy systems.

“Cryptocurrency has surpassed the volume of retail credit-card purchases in the company in a very short time period,” CEO Stephen Silver said. “We’ve created revenue that the company would not even enjoy without being able to accept cryptocurrency…. Large sums of money are where we are finding cryptocurrency to be a huge advantage.”

Indispensable Tool at Cradle of Innovation

The company has been monitoring the development of cryptocurrency for years, “Given that Stephen Silver Fine Jewelry is based in Silicon Valley, the cradle of innovation,” president Jared Silver told diamonds industry publication Rapaport News. “In 2014, we felt it had matured to the point that we could bring the technology into our store.” The company also pays its willing suppliers with cryptocurrency, however “this would be contingent on the supply chain adopting the technology,” he added.

At the bottom line, accepting cryptocurrencies is now an “indispensable” payment method according to the jeweler. The average crypto deal is close to seven figures, and the company can offer no limit on the amount it will accept per sale, since bitcoin transactions are irreversible unlike credit cards. The president also revealed that the company recently received a million-dollar cryptocurrency payment.

Is bitcoin a perfect match for buying expensive luxury items? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. 

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Stephen Silver Fine Jewelry.

Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi’s Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com.

The post Silicon Valley Whales Buy Diamonds in the Millions With Bitcoin appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Cryptojacking is on the rise. In fact, it’s now one of the fastest-growing types of cybercrime. And here’s the real kicker: you don’t have to be involved in cryptocurrency to become a victim. In fact, just about as idyllic as Satoshi’s white paper, cryptojacking is completely blind to status, wealth, or centralized organizations.

According to Steve Morgan, Founder and Editor-in-Chief at Cybersecurity Ventures, “Cryptojacking is one of the fastest-growing cybercrimes globally, and the resulting theft of cryptocurrency is incalculable at this time. But, cybercrooks beware, law enforcement agencies have ramped up … the surveillance, capture, arrest, and prosecution of financial cybercriminals … and the online perpetrators can expect stiff sentences for cryptojacking.”

What Is Cryptojacking Again?

If it sounds faintly familiar, that’s probably because you heard about electric car manufacturer Tesla getting cryptojacked back in February. Or perhaps about the Smominru Miner hijacking over half a million computers to mine millions of dollars worth of Monero.

Cryptojacking is where your computer or other device (smartphones, IoT devices, and servers have also fallen victim) are infected with malware in the form of mining botnets. They feed off your CPU (central processing unit) to mine cryptocurrency – in many cases, without you even knowing.

Relative to other aggressive forms of cybercrime like data theft, DDoS attacks, and ransomware, cryptojacking is a lot less harmful to the victim. Of course, you don’t want your device to run slowly, or malfunction beyond repair. You don’t want to end up paying a high electricity bill either.

But, it’s better than having your darkest secrets splashed all over the internet or your bank account drained. That said, as the menace of cryptojacking increases, so does the severity of the punishment for perpetrators getting caught.

Mining botnets use your device’s power to mine cryptocurrency, usually Monero. There are already thousands of websites infected with mining malware. If you happen upon one of them, you may notice your computer suddenly running very slowly. In this case, the easiest way out is to simply close your browser. End of story.

It’s downloading the vicious code onto your machine that really causes a problem. And it’s much easier to do that than you might think. For example, a free theme from a content platform like WordPress may have hidden code inside.

You can also get infected directly from the site, or through phishing emails or online advertisements. And no, you don’t have to visit a crypto site to get it.

So, if you want to stay safe while browsing online, here are the top 7 ways to protect yourself against cryptojacking.

7. Watch Your Speed

If you’re working off an old laptop, it can be hard to measure your computer speed. But if your device significantly slows down when you’re on a certain site, close it and check again. With a little luck, it’s just the infected website and the problem has stopped.

But if your machine is infected, running slowly, or your fan is on overdrive, be sure to get it checked out. This applies to your smartphone too. If its battery drains faster than usual or you notice it overheating when not in use, it could have been cryptojacked.

6. Use Antivirus Software

Don’t rely on the cheapest or free options, but if you do, make sure that your antivirus software is updated and can detect and remove mining malware.

5. Disable Javascript

You can disable Javascript to prevent in-browser cryptojacking, but it will affect your overall experience on the web and you might not want to view all sites in a less-than-optimal way.

4. Download an Anti-Mining Plugin

There are several plugins out there that are designed to detect and prevent mining malware. Ones for Chrome include Nocoin and MinerBlock.

3. Use Adblocking Software

If you want to err on the side of caution, use adblocking software, as in many cases, the vector may be an infected banner ad.

2. Browse with Opera

Change your main browser to Opera. It now has a built-in anti-mining adblocker to thwart cryptojacking attempts.

1. Practice Good Cyber Hygiene

This is really about going back to basics. Most of us choose convenience over security. We leave our computers on, share our passwords, click on things we shouldn’t. Sometimes just being more responsible online can save you from an attack.

Don’t open suspicious emails. Never click on a link you don’t trust or open an unknown attachment. And stay away from free content programs if possible.

Cryptojacking isn’t going to cause you too many problems other than a slight headache and a bigger power bill. But if a mining botnet can breach your system and enter undetected, that means your system is vulnerable and the next virus to break in could be a lot worse.

Privacy-centric Particl, which is building a platform for decentralized applications with a focus on privacy, has entered into a strategic alliance with leading cryptocurrency exchange Changelly as a step towards opening up the market for private exchanges within the Particl Marketplace.

With both firms working within a common vision to allow more users to transact with more tokens with each other in a decentralized system, the new partnership will mean more ways for crypto users to earn and spend coins in a trustless manner, while protecting their privacy.

The teams met at Consensus 2018, each discussing various solutions for eCommerce check-outs, crypto shopping online, and privacy-centric transactions.

Changelly CEO and co-founder Konstantin Gladych expressed pleasure at having Particl as a partner, believing that they could work together to build an “all-in-one approach to interaction between cryptocurrencies”, while ensuring users benefited from a smooth experience as possible.

Particle lead developer Ryno Mathee was similarly enthused about the new alliance, stating that Changelly provided “a much-needed service” which would create multiple new avenues for Particl.

Linking synergies

The Particl Marketplace is already live on testnet, allowing vendors and buyers to transact in its native privacy coin, PART. A foundation of Particl is to develop privacy-focused dapps that will let any crypto user transact in their own crypto of choice, be it Bitcoin, Litecoin or Ether.

Changelly, meanwhile, is best known for its instant exchange APIs that have been developed together with wallets and payment providers like Jaxx, Coinomi and Coinpayments. These APIs allow partners to give users the ability to exchange coins instantly without using external exchanges. Changelly also mediates exchanges between Bittrex, Binance and others, opening new exchange channels for Particl.

The new cooperation will look to enhance Particl Marketplace’s checkout process, for a seamless private online shopping experience, with over 100 coins and tokens on Changelly instantly accessing all Particl Marketplace listed products via privacy-enabled Particl Confidential Transactions.

Private, decentralized transactions

Private by design, Particl’s minimum viable product is the Particl Marketplace: a decentralized platform to protect and enhance privacy online. Approaching its first year of creation, Particl’s suite of native tools pioneered many items in its base code from Bitcoin 0.16, such as Right Confidential Transactions, Confidential Transactions and PoS Cold Staking – a method that stores coins offline while online staking nodes (that keep no coins) are working on their behalf via multi-signature contracts.

Dapps can be built into Particl, all within a secure environment able to scale and integrate directly into its desktop version. All fees generated by the marketplace transactions are used to remunerate holders who help secure the network, using the native PART digital asset.

Instant, secure exchanges

Developed by the same team behind MinerGate and popularly used for its instant exchange feature, Changelly lists over 100 cryptocurrencies and processes some 15,000 transactions every day. With low fees of 0.5%, users can exchange high limits instantly without the hassle of an external exchange and receive their exchanged coins within seconds.

Over two million users have registered with Changelly since 2015, using its API and customizable payment widget for their exchange needs. It counts Binance, Breakwallet, Coinomi, Jaxx and Mycelium among its partners.

To learn more, visit the Particl website or chat with them on Telegram. Interact with the community on Discord or Riot.

Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bitcoinnewscom

Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews

The post Open Source Privacy Project Particl Announces Strategic Partnership with Crypto Exchange Changelly appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Johann N. Schneider-Ammann, the head of Switzerland’s Department of Economic Affairs, has said that blockchain technology will undoubtedly penetrate the entire economy of Switzerland and make a global impact that is as big as that of the internet.

Ammann noted that Switzerland has already evolved into a leader in blockchain technology and intends to continue supporting the cryptocurrency sector and companies within it. During his speech at the Crypto Valley Conference in Zug, Ammann added that the World Wide Web may have been invented in Geneva, Switzerland, but due to impractical policies and insufficient developments, the majority of internet work was done elsewhere.

“Switzerland is a global leader in terms of this new technology and its economic application. We would do well to continue at pace, instead of laying the right tracks after the moment has passed. History is littered with examples of what happens when the train speeds off in a different direction,” Ammann noted.

Switzerland as a Crypto Nation

During his speech, Ammann emphasized that he received criticism for his optimistic stance on the cryptocurrency market and blockchain sector, which is still an emerging industry and a relatively new asset class.

But, given that blockchain technology has become a highly anticipated focal point of technology conglomerates and financial institutions, Ammann stated that he is comfortable with seeing Switzerland evolve into a cryptocurrency and blockchain nation, with practical and efficient policies targeted at cryptocurrency businesses and investors.

Ammann stated:

In January, I said that if the experiences in Zug were positive, then in a few years’ time the whole of Switzerland should be a crypto or Blockchain nation. That won me plaudits, but also a fair amount of criticism. But I think: there is no reason the latter. The fact that Switzerland is today a global leader in high-tech industries and in pharmaceuticals is seen as normal. It is easy to forget that these sectors too once started out with previously unknown technologies and services, Like Blockchain is doing today.

The cryptocurrency markets have experienced exponential growth over the past few years, with billions of dollars injected into the industry on a yearly basis. Since 2016, banks are said to have spent over $2 billion to develop blockchain-related solutions.

Still, despite the resources and capital that are available to developers and blockchain projects, blockchain developers are currently working on solving unprecedented problems related to cryptography. Implementing solutions like Sharding and Plasma, which are expected to increase the transaction capacity of the Ethereum network to a million transactions per second, take more than simply resources and capital.

Hence, Ammann noted that it is important to provide a platform for blockchain projects to realize their long-term visions and commercialize this revolutionary technology, as blockchain adoption cannot be done overnight.

“No one really knows if some of the rather hopeful growth forecasts for blockchain-based services and products will actually materialize. But hardly anyone still doubts that blockchain will penetrate our entire economy. What is clear is that we currently know far too little about the new technologies, their potential and their risks,” Ammann said.

Reaffirmation of Friendly Regulation

For many years, blockchain projects and initial coin offerings (ICOs) have acknowledged Zug to be the blockchain capital of the world, due to its friendly regulations. In his speech, Ammann confirmed that Zug will continue to operate as a supportive platform for blockchain projects.

In a tweet, one member of an online cryptocurrency community revealed that EOS has instructed block producers to censor transactions from 27 accounts without specific reasons.

The instructions read:

“Pursuant to Section 3.5 of the EOS Core Arbitration Forum (ECAF) Rules of Dispute Resolution, the Emergency Arbitrator appointed to review claims (the accounts in question) finds credible evidence to support: the refusal to process transactions of any kind for the affected EOS account names and/or public keys, pending further review of the claims by an arbitrator.

It is hereby ordered that the EOS Block Producers refuse to process transactions for the following accounts and keys indefinitely.”

How EOS Is Able to Censor Accounts

On public blockchain networks and protocols like Bitcoin and Ethereum, it is not possible to have a group of centralized individuals and authorities dictate which accounts can and cannot process transactions, because they exist peer-to-peer. All users and individuals on the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks have equal authority and power that is limited to their own private and public keys.

The same is the case with other major blockchain networks like NEM; when Coincheck, formerly Japan’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, suffered a $500 million hacking attack that led to the loss of over $500 million worth of NEM in its hot wallet, NEM could not censor the accounts of the hackers and prevent those accounts from processing transactions.

Instead, the NEM developers tagged the accounts to prevent cryptocurrency exchanges from accepting deposits from the NEM hackers’ accounts. At the time, NEM’s developers emphasized that they could not reverse or suspend the accounts of the hackers, because of the decentralized and public nature of the NEM blockchain.

“To some, the only solution to return the stolen XEMs is to execute a hard fork. In simple terms, a hard fork is the splitting of a single cryptocurrency into two. In the case of Coincheck’s hacking, this is not an option. Why? Simply because it was not NEM’s fault. It was a security breach caused by weak security measures of Coincheck,” the NEM team said.

But, unlike most major public blockchain networks, EOS has been able to censor accounts and stop user accounts from sending and receiving payments due to its proof-of-stake consensus algorithm.

On the EOS network, miners that leverage computing power to solve mathematical problems do not exist. Instead, block producers that have stake in the EOS protocol process data and transactions.

Based on the document sent out by the EOS team and its Core Arbitration Forum, block producers have the authority to stop certain EOS accounts from sending and receiving payments, in some cases without specific reasons.

The latter part of the ECAF document read:

“This Arbitrator Order is retroactive to the time of the Block Producers’ first actual refusal to process transactions for the listed EOS accounts and public keys. The logic and reasoning for this order will be posted at a later date.”

Lack of Decentralization

Considering the power of a centralized group of individuals within the EOS team to censor accounts, it is possible that government authorities could ask EOS to censor accounts that are suspected to have settled transactions utilized in illicit operations.

With Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies that are truly decentralized, because there exists no centralized group of individuals that can censor accounts, it is not possible for government authorities to place pressure on project operators.

Even block producers including EOS New York, a leading block producer candidate for the EOS network, has said that the control EOS has over user accounts is not appropriate. Rick Schlesinger, the co-founder of EOS New York, said:

“I do think the community is going to scrutinize [Article XV] closely (as they should). This is why we’re here – to experiment with this nascent technology and learn about how a governed blockchain can respond to the community’s will.”