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Showing posts from June, 2016

China Takes Center Stage in Bitcoin

The American delegation flew to Beijing because that was where much of the Bitcoin power was concentrated. China has become a market for Bitcoin unlike anything in the West, fueling huge investments in server farms as well as enormous speculative trading on Chinese Bitcoin exchanges. Chinese exchanges have accounted for 42 percent of all Bitcoin transactions this year, according to an analysis performed for The New York Times by Chainalysis. Just last week, the Chinese internet giant, Baidu, joined with three Chinese banks to invest in the American Bitcoin company Circle. The American delegation in China had a software proposal, known as Bitcoin Classic, that would change all that.

US Bank Stocks Lose 13% Amidst Global Financial Turmoil

  For those investors who own US bank stocks, the past few days have not been pleasant by any means. Both Bank of America and Morgan Stanley dropped by 13% in value, Goldman Sachs, one of the big opposers of Bitcoin, is down 22% throughout 2016 so far. Diversification is essential for investors, and anything tied to US banks is not worth one’s time and effort.   Everyone with a basic understanding of the stock markets will have noticed how US bank shares have not been doing well over the past few years. In fact, many people expected these stocks to far off far worse than they are right now. The Brexit has sent stocks of Bank of America and Morgan Stanley down the deep end.   But they are not the only ones who are facing negative pressure right now. The KBW Bank Index has seen its biggest 48-hour decline since August of 2011. Keeping in mind how this group monitors 24 different US banks, things are looking not good, to say the least. Selling financial stocks is the best course of action

8 Things You Should Know About The Lisk Ecosystem and Currency

Since the word ‘cryptocurrency’ first entered our vocabulary, no one expected a flood of other cryptocurrencies to enter the market, one after another, within a short time frame. Without exaggerating, there are hundreds of cryptocurrencies out there. Tough competition, that’s for sure.   As a result, many altcoins end up ‘dead’ (defined as no reported market cap). According to CoinDesk’s State of Bitcoin and Blockchain report 2015, there are over 400 ‘dead’ altcoins so far.   That being said, some altcoins have managed to persevere and capture some of the cryptocurrency market share. On closer look, one can see why - it is no longer enough for cryptocurrencies to simply be mere cryptocurrencies. The target audience - which includes computer programmers and IT experts - will only give second considerations to outstanding altcoins that deserve their attention. Case in point - Ethereum, the second most popular network after Bitcoin (based on its market cap). This public blockchain platfor

Man forgot he bought $ 27 of Bitcoin, to discover later that he became a millionaire

In 2009, a Norwegian man Bitcoin worth $ 27 bought and forgot about it. Four years later, the man discovered that remember his investment of $ 800,000 in his account.   Christopher Koch was writing a thesis on encryption and decided to invest in Bitcoin, then forgot about his investment "trivial" then-even Bitcoin got extensive media coverage.   Fortunately for him, he was still remembers its own password. When opening his wallet, he received a pleasant surprise: his money has ballooned to US $ 800,000     At the time of purchase a cottage, it was not his friends  on his thoughts about digital currencies. Kanu and think he sings out of tune. Christopher Koch bought himself a flat in Toyen, one of the richest neighborhoods of Oslo.  

Will The DAO Become Ethereum's Mt Gox?

As stakeholders in the world's largest decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) descend into forums to debate its future, concerns are emerging about what the success or failure of The DAO could mean for Ethereum, the blockchain platform that enabled its creation.   Front and center for those invested is the idea that the fate of one of the technology's most visible projects could create a lasting impression among potential users and the public, and the fears are not without precedent.   While bitcoin continues to face difficulty with regulators and banks, Ethereum has so far been able to build public bridges with the mainstream financial world. Tests were run by 11 banks on a private version of the network in January, and invitations for its creator to help inform the work ongoing at Hyperledger and R3CEV have so far followed suit.   In contrast, bitcoin's network has secured billions of dollars in funds for years, but its reputation was shaped early on by events like t

Bitcoin Exchange Owner Extradited Following Cybercrime Indictment

Two individuals tied to the now-defunct US bitcoin exchange Coin.mx have been extradited to the US from Israel, prosecutors announced today. The US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced today that Gery Shalon and Ziv Orenstein have been extradited after being arrested last year. Both appeared in Manhattan court today and have been indicted on securities fraud and computer hacking charges. The two plead not guilty, according to The Wall Street Journal. Shalon is alleged to be the owner of Coin.mx, an exchange based in Florida that has been tied to a string of cyberattacks on a number of companies including Wall Street bank JPMorgan, which resulted in the theft of personal data from tens of millions of client accounts. Reports from last year suggest that the alleged operation spanned the globe, targeting a range of major businesses. The two were arrested in July of last year, prosecutors said, a move that came as charges were filed against alleged co-consp

FBI Claims They Breached Tor Security Without Malware

  The Federal Bureau of Investigation has announced the tools they used to get PlayPen members convicted was not malware. After refusing to disclose the methods use when ordered to by a judge, a lot of the FBI’s evidence was thrown out. Despite all of that, law enforcement officials continue to deny their network investigative technique uses malware. FBI STILL REFUSES TO PROVIDE PROOF The issues between the FBI and PlayPen convicts is far from resolved, as judges continue to offer contradicting rulings. One judge in Virginia ruled how the case against PlayPen member Edward Mathis should stand, regardless of how the evidence was gathered. Not too long ago, a different judge ruled against using FBI evidence in a similar case; the law enforcement agency refused to disclose details.   But the FBI is still not proving any insights as to how their network investigative technique works. One spokesperson told the media on Wednesday how they are not using malware, yet failed to provide any evid