Day: August 10, 2018

While the cryptocurrency market saw a breathtaking run-up in 2017, with the number of cryptocurrency proponents experiencing a similar increase, many consumers are still skeptics of this nascent industry.

“The Cryptocurrency Space Is In Its Wild West Phase”

Cryptocurrencies arguably hit the mainstream last year, as nearly every media outlet covered Bitcoin’s astronomical rise from near-obscurity to $20,000. However, according to a Fortune report, investment into crypto assets has not seen the widespread adoption that crypto advocates would like to see.

This sentiment comes via a 2,000-person survey from cryptocurrency app Gem and Harris Insights, which revealed that only 8% of Americans hold a personal stake in cryptocurrencies. Compared to investment adoption in legacy markets, whereas approximately 52% of Americans own stock in publicly-traded firms, the 8% figure seems rather dismal.

Moreover, the same survey revealed that 41% of respondents noted that they would never consider investing in digital assets, not the most promising sign for an early-stage field to say the least.

The survey also revealed another interesting indicator: individuals who earn $100,000 annually are less likely to invest in cryptocurrencies compared to those with lower salaries. The claim was backed up by figures found by the survey, where 6% of those who earn over $100,000 a year own cryptocurrencies, while 11% of those who earn $50k-$75k have investments in this asset class. Speaking more on the manner, Micah Winkelspecht, the CEO and founder of Gem, stated:

“The cryptocurrency space is still in its Wild West phase, so there’s potentially some of that (risk taking) going on. When you have less to protect, you are more willing to take the risk.”

Common Consumer Qualms with This Asset Class

These figures may lead some to ask, “why are investors hesitant to invest into cryptocurrencies?.” Taking a look at the state of the market, it becomes clear that prospective investors have had upwards of four common qualms with the nature of cryptocurrency investment vehicles.

Firstly, the presence of volatility, where traders are subject to constant fluctuations in the price of their holdings on a 24/7 basis. Secondly, the regulatory uncertainty that rages to this day, as governing bodies have yet to introduce laws which ensure consumer protection. Thirdly, a lack of accessibility to cryptocurrency investments, as traders are put through countless hoops just to buy and trade a single digital asset.

What many fail to remember is that a majority of consumers fail to understand the appeal of decentralized assets. So last but not least, the absence of accessible information that is easily digestible by an average Joe looking to allocate capital to this industry. This last investor qualm was even acknowledged in the aforementioned survey, with 20% of respondents divulging that more information could spark an interest in cryptocurrencies.

While this asset class may not have much going for it, the aforementioned CEO of Gem noted that all hope isn’t lost, drawing attention to the potential for adoption with the “digital” youth. He stated:

“We find that younger people with less income are more willing to put money in crypto. My guess is that crypto is of the digital age. And the younger generation is of the digital age and used to doing everything on the internet.”

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Former Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke has put his name behind an ICO, causing a stir in the Twitter community.

Clarke has endorsed Brisbane-based crypto exchange Global Tech, who is looking to raise up to AUD 50 million (USD 36 million) in its upcoming ICO. Global Tech, which was founded a little over a year ago by Andrew Mclean and Marlon Donaire, describes itself as a platform which:

“…combines premium education, important industry updates and a social platform, which is sure to revolutionize the way we invest and live. Our mission is to develop, advance and modernize the industry, making it more accessible, transparent and forward-thinking.”

Exciting times ahead https://t.co/kFey7jqCLF pic.twitter.com/iTW3NX28S0

— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23) August 8, 2018

Australian cricket is very much under the microscope at the moment, so it is unsurprising that the announcement that Clarke was involved with the ICO launched the usual negative Tweeting. The comments were spurred on by the recent ball-tampering scandal which involved yet another ex-captain of the national cricket team, Steve Smith, after sandpapering a ball in a test match in South Africa this year.

One such detractor was Bronte Capital founder John Hempton (also known to some for his appearance in an episode of the Netflix series Dirty Money). Hempton commented that Clarke was “squandering his reputation on an initial coin offering” adding:

“Whether Michael Clarke is breaking Australian law regarding advertising investments with this Tweet I will leave for ASIC and their lawyers to decide.”

ffs, ex Australian cricket captain in an ICO.

Suggest Mr Clarke you just buy sandpaper.

It will do less damage to your reputation… https://t.co/lyoHNxm1aS

— John_Hempton (@John_Hempton) August 8, 2018

The Global Tech founders admit that the sector does include scams and illegitimate companies but wants to address this issue with its own ICO arguing that there are still many “fantastic blockchain and cryptocurrency companies” in the industry. The company declares that:

“Andrew and Marlon propose to bring legitimacy back to the industry with a community and education-based trading and exchange platform. With their revolutionary vision and entrepreneurial ethos, they spent months tracking down the right people to create the perfect team, and make their vision a reality.”

Business crowdfunding has been an issue this year in Australia’s burgeoning crypto community. The corporate regulator, ASIC, has introduced measures to protect investors, along with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, sending some ICO plans back to the drawing board.

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With the vast potential of blockchain, even the staunchest of its critics seem to be coming around. That is, of course, depending on whom you speak to and which research you use. Reputable Big Four multinational Deloitte reports that three in four large companies see a compelling case for blockchain. Yet British research specialists at Gartner say that just 1 percent of CIOs are actually using it.

This leads to an interesting question provoking a slew of answers: If blockchain is as great as they say it is, why aren’t 99 percent of companies around the world getting on board?

Overhyped, overkill, expensive, un-user-friendly, clunky, impractical… the list goes on. So while a small few companies are finding success with blockchain tech, widespread enterprise adoption still seems like a distant dream.

What’s Stopping Enterprises From Adopting Blockchain?

Cybercrime is predicted to cost global businesses in the ballpark of $6 trillion a year by 2021. You would have thought that CIOs around the world would be chomping at the bit to get their hands on a secure and unhackable solution.

However, some unfortunate truths remain. Overhauling existing systems is expensive. Blockchain tech is complex and has undeniable usability issues. Blockchains can also be slow and cumbersome, and then compatibility issues remain.

So while global giants with deep pockets can see the potential – or are busy applying for patents and experimenting in labs – the small-to-medium sized businesses have been standing on the sidelines. Until now.

What About a Trial Run?

REMME has perhaps made one of the most compelling cases so far for the use of blockchain in cybersecurity, eliminating the room for human error and removing the need for passwords. And now the ambitious blockchain startup has brought out a new product for businesses to try: an enterprise permissioned blockchain.

The REMME private testnet is ready for trial and is meant to give businesses of all sizes a chance to see how they can viably weave blockchain technology into their core operations. And how they can confront their rising security woes and allow for transparency and accountability.

The REMChain will handle distributed Identity and Access management (IAMd) as well as Public Key Infrastructure (PKId) requests, and is ready for enterprises to test.

Alex Momot, REMME’s CEO, says: “Private blockchains that are accessed on a permissioned basis are where the future of enterprise adoption of this technology lies. The testnet and integration tools we’ve developed in this capacity enable businesses to store certificate data in a distributed manner, eliminating single points of failure and allowing for integration with existing systems (ERP, CRM, accounting software, et cetera).”

No More DDoS Attacks and No More Compatibility Issues?

So that argument about having to overhaul existing systems? If the REMChain proves to be successful, that can be thrown out the window. Momot adds, “Enterprises can enjoy the many benefits of blockchain technology, whilst working within a framework they are accustomed to.” And the usability argument? Well, that’s also starting to wear thin.

Assuming that it works, of course.

With the massive injection of marketing and pumping, expectations for blockchain are elevated, to say the least. It’s possible that there will be some teething trouble along the way. But just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, it pays to remember that we once had to dial up to a phone line to connect to a glacially slow internet we didn’t really know how to use.

REMME will be testing out its enterprise blockchain with a range of companies, from small IT firms to fintech giants with over 500 million users, and an unnamed telecom company with some 640 million customers. Industries span medical, to fintech, to IoT.

The Takeaway

Whether the REMChain will live up to its high expectations or not remains to be seen. Yet this certainly marks a major milestone for the company’s R&D team. The REMME private testnet could be one of the clearest indicators to date of how everyday businesses can use blockchain to improve their cybersecurity.

British police have warned the public about crypto-related fraud, revealing $2.5 million worth of losses this summer

Japan’s Financial Services Agency, has published the results of its on-site inspections of crypto exchanges, saying it plans to bolster regulatory oversight

Most cryptocurrencies keep suffering more and more losses – are we in for a huge fall, as some analysts are predicting? Let’s take a look at the charts

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

Trading volume on Turkey’s cryptocurrency exchanges surged Friday as the country’s fiat currency plunged to record lows on economic jitters.

In the old days, people invested in gold as a store of wealth as its value was universal and largely stable. However, cryptos changed the game and attracted a lot of investment which otherwise would have gone to gold. But what if you could merge the two? This was the promise that swayed many investors in South Korea who invested in a crypto project that claimed to have discovered the remains of a sunken ship. The company behind the project, Shinil Group, claimed that the sunken ship contained gold worth $116 billion (130 trillion won) and began selling cryptocurrencies issued based on the treasure’s value.

The Plot

The Seoul-based Shinil Group announced in July that it had discovered the wreckage of a Russian warship that disappeared in 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War. The ship was known as Dmitrii Donskoi and was believed to have contained lots of treasure. The company went on to release submarine footage of the wreckage which it alleged was beneath the waters at Ulleung Island.

It didn’t take long before rumors began to circulate that the wreckage contained treasure, key among it being 200 tons of gold. The treasure aboard the ship was alleged to be worth $116 billion, and the company settled on turning to crypto in order to cash in on the fortune. Its Singapore-based affiliate is alleged to have begun selling cryptocurrencies based on the value of the treasure to investors.

To lure investors, the company promised that the value of the crypto would rise from its initial price of 200 won ($0.18) to 10,000 won ($8.94) in three months. While the promise of unbelievable returns attracted investors, it also invited the attention of skeptics who accused the firm of running a scam.

In the face of mounting criticism, the company announced at a press conference that the value of the treasure had been adjusted to 10 trillion won ($8 billion). However, as reported by a local news outlet, the company’s filing with the ministry for excavation estimated the value at just 1.2 billion won ($1 million).

South Korean police raided the firm’s office on August 7 as fraud allegations mounted. The investigators from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency also raided seven other locations as they sought to collect evidence against the firm.

South Korea has been one of the crypto-friendliest nations, but also one in which malicious activities have been cracked down on vehemently. The country is one of the biggest crypto markets in the world and has been known to set the price of most cryptos regularly. XRP has been one of the most popular altcoins in the country, with the Asian economic giant at one time accounting for close to 50 percent of XRP volume globally.

In the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority also recently issued a warning to investors against investing in a particular clone company which has used the details of a registered firm to defraud unsuspecting investors. The firm, Fair Oaks Crypto, is a clone of Fair Oaks Capital Ltd which is registered with the FCA to offer financial services in the country. In its statement published on August 7, the FCA advised potential investors to always check the Financial Services Register before investing in any firm to protect themselves from fraudsters.

The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIT) is reportedly looking at ways it can push forward its plans for blockchain integration into the financial sector and other industries.

The MIT, established in March 2008, is the state agency responsible for regulation and development of the postal service, internet, wireless, broadcasting, communications, production of electronic and information goods, software industry and the promotion of the national knowledge economy, according to Wikipedia.

A local media report says the MIT wants to progress the use of the new technology forward as it sees it very much in its initial stage. This would involve expanding blockchain, which is principally being utilized in the financial sector, into areas such as supply chain management and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Being a local news report, the news is highly likely to represent more of a government statement than an objective view but it suggests that the government wants to accelerate blockchain in China. The reports says that MIT wants the country to “unite” to provide “a healthy and orderly development of the industry”, according to China Money Network.  It added this will need to be done on an “industrial” scale to integrate it into all areas of Chinese society.

It appears that infrastructures will need to be updated to provide this long-term plan, as the report suggests that MIT wants to involve local departments in boosting the capacity of computing power and storage.

The agency recently released a statement suggesting that the country had experienced “exponential” growth last year along with research by He Baohong of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), that only 8% of blockchain projects launched are still in operation; a fact that the Chinese government would be keen to change.

On 23 July, ConsenSys and the Xiong’an government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a “dream city” project, marking the first time that Xiong’an has publicly recruited a foreign development studio to aid in its blockchain efforts.

This is one of several technological fields that the government has listed as part of a cutting-edge plan to transform Xiong’an into a leading tech hub for the country.

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Cybersecurity firm Duo Security has released an analysis of the botnets of Twitter.

During a lengthy paper on the topic, the team behind the research identified over 15,000 bots devoted to scamming users out of cryptocurrency.

Duo Security Provide the Tools to Fight Back Against Botnets

Researchers at Duo Security have identified a massive botnet attempting to scam Twitter users out of their cryptocurrency investments.

The premise is simple. Impersonate a high-profile member of the community on Twitter. Wait until the real person posts something. Follow it up with a spam post advertising some kind of crypto giveaway. All of this happens automatically, with no need for human input.

Alarm bells should immediately ring since the spam accounts request a payment be made to them to receive more back in return.

If you follow what’s colloquially known as “Crypto Twitter”, the research by Duo Security will hardly be a revelation to you.

It has become common practise for high-profile members of the cryptocurrency community to include phrases after their usernames such as “Not Giving Away ETH” to try to minimise the harm caused by such botnets. The profile of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is one such example:

This is a *great* guide to what imaginary/complex numbers are:https://t.co/FyXOHdjnIA

— Vitalik Non-giver of Ether (@VitalikButerin) August 10, 2018

Even journalists connected to the space have been targeted.

NewsBTC reported earlier this year on the example of Olga Kharif and Lily Katz who cover cryptocurrency topics for Bloomberg. The pair had their profiles spoofed by what are most likely bots trying to elicit payments from unsuspecting followers.

What might be surprising, however, is just how infested Crypto Twitter is with these bots and how sophisticated they are getting.

According to the three-month research project, the cryptocurrency spamming botnet is over 15,000-strong. The fake accounts are also thought to be deploying tactics such as liking posts by other robots to give them a greater air of legitimacy and making slight changes to user’s display images to evade automatic detection by image recognition software.

The culmination of the research is a lengthy paper devoted to the problem of botnets infesting Twitter. A link to this PDF document can be found at cyber security page Naked Security.

The team’s findings were presented at the Black Hat security conference on Wednesday. The talk was titled “Don’t @ Me: Hunting Twitter Bots at Scale.” The team have also followed their work up with an article addressing the issue.

In the article, Duo’s researchers state that they are providing all the tools and techniques developed during the research period for public use. It’s all been made open-source to help further the fight against such malicious programming. Duo also made a plea for anyone handy at coding to develop their research with the aim of creating more sophisticated techniques to identify the bots.

As recently as June, Twitter themselves has pledged to try and crackdown on the spam bots that are so rampant on the network. The research performed by Duo will likely help their fight against the problem.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

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ICOs have a bad reputation at the moment, and some would say this is for a very good reason. Last year there were almost a thousand token sales, with 142 of these projects never getting off the ground. Another 389 of these saw their founders either take the assets and run, or die off due to inactivity.

So, almost 60% of ICOs last year failed, and the reputation of this form of fundraising to finance new projects has taken a significant hit. Today most investors are not so willing to put money into an ICO for fear of watching it all go down the drain, and those fears have hampered the ability of projects to get into the game. The appeal of this method of raising money has come into question and limited the amount of funding that projects can expect to raise from an ICO.

The days of raising $100 million from an ICO are probably over, at least for the time being, but it is still possible to raise $20 to $25 million. Furthermore, even though people feel like ICOs have a high probability of being some type of scam, they are still willing to invest in new projects, hoping that they will deliver as promised. Gone are the days when ICOs could raise assets by creating a flashy website and writing a great whitepaper that made everything look superb to greedy investors who were hoping to win the lotto by plunking down a boatload of cash on the next big thing in cryptocurrency.

These days, companies looking to raise cash must engage the public, government entities, and those big companies that have the assets needed to fund their operations. It has become a little more of a face-to-face sell as the burnout from too many ICOs has made selling these projects a lot more difficult. Projects now recognize that they need to get their own hustlers into the mix to push their projects, and these people need rock-solid reasons for investors to put their assets into anything new.

The hustle can get dark with the amount of money floating around the space. Greed still propels people who hope to strike it rich and get out rather than care about the advancement of a particular project’s technology or future. However, this greed is part of humanity and allows things to happen, as those with the assets to fund such operations put their money into them looking to score.

Most projects have been more interested in raising funds than actually putting together a viable product, and that focus has hurt both the projects themselves and the reputation of ICOs.

Does this mean we shouldn’t be willing to invest in ICOs? With the number of people now in the game, it has become much harder for projects to get attention. So, projects that might be true gems now have to polish their product even more before they put it on the market, and this has given these startups a reason to change their focus, and that is a good thing for cryptocurrencies in general and ICOs in particular.

With current projects creating new types of blockchain protocols that will hopefully solve the scalability issues surrounding the technology, it can be said that cryptocurrency has a definite place in the future of mankind. Once the insanity that surrounded this technology, the markets, and the ICOs that promised everything but the kitchen sink (and sometimes even that) dies down to the point where people aren’t only looking to make a ton of cash and get out, but would rather stay in and see a project through while making a little cash for their faith and efforts, it will be a great thing for the space in general, and for cryptocurrency in particular.

Whether this leveling out is good or bad is up to you to decide, but it has raised the level of infrastructure found in the space and helped develop sideline technologies to support cryptocurrency. Now we even have the possibility of an ETF connected to cryptocurrency, and that will propel this space into the realm of true legitimacy for both governments and the public alike.

So, like everything else that one might put their time and money into, investors must do their due diligence before putting assets into any project and put some real time and effort into researching all the angles, players, and technologies that make up a project before deciding to invest.

Should we trust ICOs? Well, as always, that is up to you, but if you have done your homework, these vehicles are still the best way to both invest in a project and make a little money for yourself while supporting the space.