Day: September 6, 2018

Crypto exchange Kraken has denied a rumor that it is shutting down operations in a Canadian office, but did not comment on alleged staff layoffs.

Bitmain’s mining pool, AntPool, has supposedly activated one of their controversial methods of mining Bitcoin more efficiently, called AsicBoost. The controversial Bitcoin mining “hack” supposedly increases mining efficiency by up to 20% and is controversial because many developers claim that its use damages the Bitcoin network.

Weakness in Bitcoin PoW Exploited

According to AsicBoost Block Explorer, block #540032, mined by AntPool, was mined using the AsicBoost, which exploits a previously known weakness in Bitcoin’s proof-of-work algorithm that allows for faster mining. Bitmain notably holds a patent in China for a system that exploits the Bitcoin network’s weakness in order to increase mining productivity.

The patent, which describes an “optimizing method,” details a system that uses a “device and circuit for Hash computing chip of bitcoin proof of work, and relates to the technical field of cipher computing, computer network and integrated circuits.”

The patent abstract also notes that the “The method, device and circuit provided by the invention greatly reduce the power consumption of the circuit.”

Bitmain has a history of using AsicBoost and has been accused several times over the past year of utilizing the controversial mining method. Blockstream CTO, Greg Maxwell, was one of the first to call Bitmain out for using AsicBoost, accusing the them of using the method to increase profits.

Bitmain Denies use of AsicBoost

In the past year, Bitmain has ardently denied their use of the “mathematical workaround,” expressing that they have never used the technology before. Following the controversy that followed Maxwell’s accusations, Bitmain released a statement, saying in part that:

“Bitmain has tested ASICBOOST on the Testnet but has never used ASICBOOST on the mainnet as implied in Gregory Maxwell’s proposal. We ask conclusive proof from whoever claims this to be false because such baseless claims are toxic for the Bitcoin space. We also believe the math used by Gregory Maxwell is incorrect and that the method is not practical in a production environment.”

Bitmain also addressed the Chinese patent they hold on a system that utilizes AsicBoost, saying that:

“Bitmain holds the ASICBOOST patent in China. We can legally use it in our own mining farms in China to profit from it and sell the cloud mining contracts to the public. This, however profitable, is not something we would do for the greater good of Bitcoin.”

Possible AsicBoost use comes as Bitmain is Reportedly Losing Money

Bitmain has yet to release any statements regarding AntPool’s potential use of AsicBoost, but the use of this mining method would coincide with a recent BitMEX Research report that claimed that the mining giant is bleeding money due to low cryptocurrency prices and increased operational costs.

BitMEX Research also concludes that the sharp decline in mining revenue is partially a strategic decision, explaining that:

“We believe this decline represents a smart strategic decision by Bitmain to divest (relatively speaking), from an increasingly competitive and lower margin area. In our view, as one moves down the mining supply chain, the competition is likely to increase faster and Bitmain made a sensible move by trying to focus their efforts up the chain, where an increasingly large proportion of the value from mining may accrue.”

Although unconfirmed, it would make sense that Bitmain is utilizing the AsicBoost mining method in an effort to increase efficiency and profitability while still driving their competition’s profits into the ground.

Featured image from Shutterstock

The post Bitmain’s AntPool Activates Controversial AsicBoost for Faster Bitcoin Mining appeared first on NewsBTC.

The current cryptocurrency market sentiment looks anything but promising. Bitcoin’s price decline is dragging all other currencies and assets with it, which is only to be expected. Surprisingly, Dogecoin’s price is far more stable than any other offering amid this bearish pressure. The meme coin is slowly maturing in major ways, by the look of things.

Dogecoin Price Remains Relatively Stable

These past two weeks have been rather interesting for all cryptocurrencies. Despite some extended positive momentum, pretty much all recent gains have been wiped out once again. One exception in this regard is the Dogecoin price, as it has lost far less value compared to all other competitors on the market. A surprising show of stability, especially for a currency most people still consider to be a meme first and foremost.

With a modest decline of 4.51% over the past 24 hours, the Dogecoin price is successfully bucking the onslaught across the cryptocurrency markets. This is partially because DOGE has gained a lot of value over Bitcoin in the past few hours, even though the 9.3% increase isn’t sufficient to negate all USD losses either. Even so, it shows this crypto remains very popular despite the current market conditions.

There are a few good reasons as to why Dogecoin is the center of attention right now. Developers are working on a bridge between Dogecoin and ERC20 tokens. That solution will attempt to exchange DOGE and ERC20 tokens in a decentralized manner without involving any intermediaries. The testing of this new “bridge” is going according to plan, as can be seen from the video below.

Second, there is the petition for Amazon to add Dogecoin. While the chances of the petition actually working are low – Amazon doesn’t care too much about cryptocurrencies without the lack of industry regulation – the PR stunt is bringing DOGE to the spotlight and providing its price with support. More specifically, it appears over 11,000 signatures have been collected so far, which is rather impressive. The result of reaching the full 15,000 signatures may not matter much in the end, but it does show that a lot of people care about the currency, which is rather heartwarming.

Last but not least, Dogecoin has a lot of active network addresses, especially when compared to the rest of the industry. In fact, Dogecoin ranked third in overall active network addresses over the past 24 hours, trailing both Bitcoin and Ethereum. The meme coin successfully beats Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, NEO, and EOS, to name just a few.

Forget about dApps with no users, let's talk about tokens with no users.

Only 27 cryptocurrencies had over 400 active addresses today. Yes. 400 users.

You'd think if there was ever a time to 'buy the dip' or 'panic sell' it would be today. pic.twitter.com/l1INETwawj

— Kevin Rooke (@kerooke) September 6, 2018

All of these positive trends show Dogecoin is far from dead. While it is not the most “appealing” cryptocurrency for speculators, it has one of the bigger communities one can find in all of crypto. The enthusiasm surrounding DOGE cannot be underestimated, and the current Dogecoin price trend seems to confirm the project is in a relatively good place as of right now.

Do you think DOGE’s price will remain steady? Is DOGE going to the moon after this bearish wave is over? Let us know in the comment section below.

FOMO Moments

2018’s biggest daily purge has seen cryptos crash; Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Monero and Dash in a hurt locker.

Crypto markets have been absolutely smashed following a Bitcoin selloff that started yesterday. From recovering to almost $240 billion in market capitalization, cryptocurrencies have crashed almost 16% in 24 hours dumping nearly $40 billion and plummeting towards another yearly low level.

The purge was initiated by Bitcoin bears which started selling it with fervor this time yesterday. Since then BTC has plunged 12% to $6,460 wiping out all gains in the past fortnight. It has returned to a previous support level of $6,400 but further losses could be forthcoming. Ethereum, which was already at a very low level, has dumped even further crashing by 18% on the day to $230. It is the lowest level ETH has been since September 15, 2017.

Altcoins have been hammered as expected with Bitcoin Cash, EOS and Monero taking the biggest falls in the top ten, all losing over 20% on the day. Litecoin and Cardano are not far behind with 18% dives and XRP and Stellar have only lost 13% at the time of writing.

Damage in the top twenty is even worse with Dash taking the largest dump at 23% to $168. Iota and Neo are also in a bad way with over 20% losses on the day and the rest are all hurting almost as bad. Tron, Ethereum Classic, Nem, VeChain and Zcash have all ditched 17-18 percent over the past 24 hours.

Only Dogecoin is under a double figure decline at the moment, losing just 5% on the day. There are no gainers in the top one hundred today as all altcoins are still in free fall. The biggest hit has been taken by Bitcoin Diamond following its unnatural pump yesterday; BCD is down 32% on the day. Also suffering heavily and losing over 25% at the moment are Bytecoin, IOST, Stratis and Bitcoin Dark.

Total crypto market capitalization has crashed over 15% in a single day marking the year’s worst daily decline. Two huge purges resulted in this massive loss which has currently settled at $203 billion. Technical indicators are all extremely bearish and markets could well slip to another 2018 low point over the next few days.

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

The post Crypto’s Largest Daily Dump of the Year as $40 Billion Exits Markets appeared first on NewsBTC.

Convicts on parole in the southern Chinese city of Zhongshan can now find themselves being tracked over a blockchain network.

Key Points

• Bitcoin price tumbled and broke many supports like $7,000, $6,800 and $6,560 against the US Dollar.
• There was a break below a declining channel with support at $6,790 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
• The pair has moved into a bearish zone and upsides are now likely to face sellers near $6,560 and $6,800.

Bitcoin price plummeted below the $6,800 and $6,560 supports against the US Dollar. BTC/USD could accelerate declines if sellers push the price below $6,200.

Bitcoin Price Analysis

After hitting the $7,300 and $7,400 targets, bitcoin price faced a strong resistance against the US Dollar. The BTC/USD pair started a sharp downside move and tumbled below the $7,000 support. There was a sharp rejection pattern noticed around the $7,400 level, which resulted in heavy losses. The price even broke the $6,800 support area and settled below the 100 hourly simple moving average.

During the decline, there was a break below a declining channel with support at $6,790 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair. Finally, the price broke the $6,560 support area and surpassed the $6,500 level. It traded close to the $6,200 support area and formed a low at $6,249. Later, it corrected higher and is currently testing the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the recent decline from the $6,988 high to $6,249 low. If there is an upside break above the $6,450 and $6,500 levels, the price could test $6,618. It represents the 50% Fib retracement level of the recent decline from the $6,988 high to $6,249 low.

Looking at the chart, bitcoin is back in a bearish zone below $6,560. If sellers remain in action and pushes the price below $6,200, BTC/USD could retest the $6,000 support in the near term.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for BTC/USD is placed heavily in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI is currently well below the 25 level.

Major Support Level – $6,200

Major Resistance Level – $6,618

The post Bitcoin Price Watch: BTC/USD Breakdown Towards $6,000 Looks Real appeared first on NewsBTC.

Key Highlights

• Ethereum classic price failed to settle above $14.00 and declined sharply against the US dollar.
• There was a break below an important bullish trend line with support at $14.00 on the hourly chart of the ETC/USD pair (Data feed via Kraken).
• The pair declined towards the $11.00 level and it remains at a risk of more losses towards the $10.00 level.

Ethereum classic price is back in a bearish zone against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. ETC/USD is likely to decline back towards the $10.00 level in the near term.

Ethereum Classic Price Dropped Heavily

After a decent upside move above the $14.00 level, ETC price faced sellers near $14.20 against the US dollar. The ETC/USD pair started a sharp downside move and broke the $14.00 and $12.00 support levels. The price even settled below the $12.00 support and the 100 hourly simple moving average. It seems like a crucial medium term top was formed near the $14.40 level.

During the decline, there was a break below an important bullish trend line with support at $14.00 on the hourly chart of the ETC/USD pair. The pair traded as low as $11.03 and it is currently consolidating. An initial resistance is near the $11.75 level. Moreover, the 23.3% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $14.23 high to $11.03 low is also near the same zone. Additionally, there is a connecting bearish trend line in place with resistance at $11.60 on the same chart.

The chart suggests that ETC price is back in a bearish zone below $12.00. If it corrects higher, it could face sellers near $11.60, $11.80 and $12.00. The next major hurdle is near the 50% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $14.23 high to $11.03 low at $12.63. On the downside, sellers could eye a test of the $10.00 support.

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

Hourly RSI – The RSI for ETC/USD is currently well below the 35 level.

Major Support Level – $11.00

Major Resistance Level – $12.00

The post Ethereum Classic Price Analysis: ETC/USD Eyes Test of $10 appeared first on NewsBTC.

In order to make public networks secure enough for enterprise use, two key things must happen, says EY’s Paul Brody.