Few new technologies have raised as much discussion as blockchain. One reason is the controversy, concern, and perceived opportunity around blockchain-based cryptocurrencies (such as bitcoin and ether) and crowdfunding via initial coin offerings (ICOs). But what is blockchain’s role in the enterprise?
This article gives some ideas to think about. Take those trends with grain of salt. There will be a crash ans bubble burst on blockchains in few years.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Crypto Exchange Says It Can’t Repay $190 Million to Clients After Founder Dies With Only Password
https://gizmodo.com/crypto-exchange-says-it-cant-repay-190-million-to-clie-1832309454?utm_medium=socialflow&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_facebook&fbclid=IwAR3ONRQeAjOXToXPIEMXZiORzXAKdyPl-nVhPXVGJSoq51bbU2hpjbgj1Zw&fbclid=IwAR0l5TXXxTD52khaAB2IUESZTw6YBFToN_lu9afiRkW4_xFEFYAZl4nwRAE
Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX says it cannot repay most of $190 million in client holdings after its 30-year-old founder Gerald Cotten, the only person who knew the passwords to its “cold storage,” unexpectedly died in India in December 2018, Coindesk reported on Friday.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jeff John Roberts / Fortune:
Crypto exchange Kraken acquires British trading startup Crypto Facilities in a deal worth at least $100M, says it is raising $100M from its largest customers
Crypto Exchange Kraken Raises $100 Million, Acquires London Futures Firm
http://fortune.com/2019/02/04/kraken-crypto-facilities-jesse-powell/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Aaron van Wirdum / Bitcoin Magazine:
Chainalysis: two hacker groups are responsible for almost 60% of publicly reported cryptocurrency hacks and stole around $1B to date
Chainalysis Report: Two Groups Responsible for Most Publicly Reported Hacks
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/chainalysis-report-two-groups-responsible-most-publicly-reported-hacks/#1549061135
Two “prominent professional hacking groups” are responsible for the majority of publicly reported hacks of cryptocurrency exchanges and other cryptocurrency organizations, concludes a report published by blockchain data analytics firm Chainalysis this week. According to the report, simply called the Crypto Crime Report, the groups generated around $1 billion of hacking revenues for themselves so far.
“Hacking dwarfs all other forms of crypto crime, and it is dominated by two prominent, professional hacking groups,” the report states. “Together, these two groups are responsible for stealing around $1 billion to date, at least 60% of all publicly reported hacks.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Daniel Heyman / Hacker Noon:
Looking at 2017′s crypto frenzy through the lens of Carlota Perez’s tech life cycles: blockchain is likely in the “gestation” stage and more bubbles are coming
Why Blockchain Differs From Traditional Technology Life Cycles
Why another bubble is likely and what the blockchain space should focus on now
https://hackernoon.com/why-blockchain-differs-from-traditional-technology-life-cycles-95f0deabdf85?gi=8186998b64ea
Tomi Engdahl says:
Zcash Discloses Vulnerability That Could Have Allowed ‘Infinite Counterfeit’ Cryptocurrency
http://fortune.com/2019/02/05/zcash-vulnerability-cryptocurrency/
On March 1 of last year, Ariel Gabizon was tidying up a presentation he was preparing to deliver the following day at a financial cryptography conference on the Caribbean island of Curaçao when he spotted a seemingly small mathematical mistake that could, he realized, jeopardize billions of dollars in capital.
Ultimately, an attacker could have exploited the vulnerability to mint an infinite amount of counterfeit Zcash—as well as any other cryptocurrency that relied on its cryptographic technology—and no one would have been the wiser.
team patched the security hole in October, roughly eight months after its initial discovery. “We don’t believe that there was any exploitation of the vulnerability”
The Zcash team, which conceded that it cannot be absolutely certain that the vulnerability wasn’t exploited
The team limited the number of people in the know, used encrypted communications, and carefully selected confidantes
While Zcash and a couple of the other top affected cryptocurrencies have patched their systems, not every project susceptible to the bug had a heads up. Indeed, some projects appear still to be vulnerable, raising questions about the proper way to handle vulnerability disclosure in the cybercoin era.
Coordinating a fix
When Zcash researchers first discovered the counterfeiting vulnerability, they faced a dilemma. They could disclose the bug immediately, inciting chaos and panic and opening a number of cryptocurrency-related projects—including theirs—to attack, or they could keep the bug between themselves, create a fix, and sneak it into a planned network upgrade, only later quietly looping in other affected parties
The team opted for the latter approach
Tomi Engdahl says:
Leigh Cuen / CoinDesk:
Winklevoss’ crypto exchange Gemini has reportedly been shutting down accounts after large redemptions of its stablecoin, GUSD
Winklevoss Exchange Gemini Shuts Down Accounts Over Stablecoin Redemptions
https://www.coindesk.com/winklevoss-crypto-gemini-gusd-stablecoin-redemption
Two over-the-counter trading desks say their accounts at Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by U.S. investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, were abruptly closed without explanation over attempts to redeem GUSD, the company’s stablecoin first introduced in September.
The claims leveled against Gemini by the OTC desks, relayed under anonymity due to fears of reputational damage, hint at the business practices developing within the stablecoin market itself, now estimated to be worth nearly $3 billion.
In one instance, email correspondence obtained by CoinDesk shows an OTC trader based in Latin America had his account closed after he informed Gemini that he planned to redeem several million dollars of GUSD.
According to the trader based in Latin America, Gemini pitched the company on a discount deal that offered his firm the ability to buy tokens at below market value.
When the desk later acquired GUSD from its own network, the trader said he was warned by Gemini staff that redeeming millions of dollars would harm the stablecoin.
Iced out
The fact that cryptocurrency traders are frustrated with Gemini’s offering is perhaps nothing new, as the exchange isn’t shy about its preference for institutional Wall Street traders, even launching a pricey ad campaign this year to promote itself as a “regulated exchange.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Securing Crypto Assets on the Blockchain with Vaultify Trade
https://semiengineering.com/securing-crypto-assets-on-the-blockchain-with-vaultify-trade/
How blockchains work and how to secure them.
Securing Crypto Assets on the Blockchain with Vaultify Trade
https://info.rambus.com/securing-crypto-assets-on-the-blockchain-with-vaultify-trade
Download this eBook to:
Learn how the blockchain works
Understand how tokenization can be used to secure the blockchain
See how Vaultify Trade can protect crypto assets as well as be implemented within trusted, familiar environments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mine Cryptocurrencies Sooner, Faster, and Cheaper with Achronix Speedcore Embedded FPGAs
https://semiengineering.com/mine-cryptocurrencies-sooner-faster-and-cheaper-with-achronix-speedcore-embedded-fpgas/
How to gain an edge over competing solutions.
New cryptocurrencies such as Monero introduce ASIC-resistance and memory-hardness to prevent ASICs from being built that give some operators a competitive mining advantage over others who do not have access to the same technology. This white paper discusses the relevant background and presents a solution based on Achronix Speedcore embedded FPGAs (eFPGAs), enabling users to regain a highly profitable advantage over competing solutions.
Mine Cryptocurrencies Sooner, Faster, and Cheaper with Achronix Speedcore Embedded FPGAs (WP014)
https://www.achronix.com/doc/mine-cryptocurrencies-sooner-faster-and-cheaper-with-achronix-speedcore-embedded-fpgas-wp014/?t=27&d=1
Tomi Engdahl says:
Robert Hackett / Fortune:
Zcash discloses a flaw, first discovered in-house last March and fixed in October, that may have allowed “infinite” counterfeiting
Zcash Discloses Vulnerability That Could Have Allowed ‘Infinite Counterfeit’ Cryptocurrency
http://fortune.com/2019/02/05/zcash-vulnerability-cryptocurrency/
On March 1 of last year, Ariel Gabizon was tidying up a presentation he was preparing to deliver the following day at a financial cryptography conference on the Caribbean island of Curaçao when he spotted a seemingly small mathematical mistake that could, he realized, jeopardize billions of dollars in capital.
Tomi Engdahl says:
DID A CRYPTO CEO FAKE HIS OWN DEATH? THE GREAT QUADRIGA CONSPIRACY, DAY 6
https://futurism.com/the-byte/did-a-crypto-ceo-fake-his-own-death-the-latest-updates
Tomi Engdahl says:
Maybe he faked his death and ran off with the money?
MONEY
February 9, 2019 6:00 am Updated: February 9, 2019 8:15 pm
Researchers find little trace of Quadriga’s stuck millions on the blockchain
https://globalnews.ca/news/4939819/quadriga-no-cold-wallets-blockchain-analysis/?fbclid=IwAR29qmYzgIiSOXxI_Yij-Xu2z_-0h0CkkPDM8EYhruVE5j0CzDqAHLkxEgA
On Feb. 5, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Michael Wood granted QuadrigaCX’s application for creditor protection. The embattled cryptocurrency exchange says it cannot access some $180 million worth of customers’ cyrptocurrency stored in virtual safes that may only be accessible through its defunct CEO’s encrypted laptop.
The court has ordered Ernst and Young, which has been appointed monitor in the proceedings, to take possession of the laptop.
Cotten ran the company’s business from his laptop and was exclusively responsible for transferring money between hot and cold wallets. He was Quadriga’s sole officer and director, according to the court filings.
When Galka analyzed Quadriga’s history of transactions in Ethereum, he found no evidence of cold wallets holding millions.
There are about 60 million accounts on the Ethereum blockchain and only around 20 that hold the balance that Quadriga claims to have. But none of them seem to belong to the exchange, Galka said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lily Hay Newman / Wired:
Amber Authenticate is a new tool built on Ethereum that generates hashes of a video and records them on a public blockchain to protect it from deepfakes — VIDEO HAS BECOME an increasingly crucial tool for law enforcement, whether it comes from security cameras, police-worn body cameras, a bystander’s smartphone, or another source.
A New Tool Protects Videos From Deepfakes and Tampering
https://www.wired.com/story/amber-authenticate-video-validation-blockchain-tampering-deepfakes/
Video has become an increasingly crucial tool for law enforcement, whether it comes from security cameras, police-worn body cameras, a bystander’s smartphone, or another source. But a combination of “deepfake” video manipulation technology and security issues that plague so many connected devices has made it difficult to confirm the integrity of that footage. A new project suggests the answer lies in cryptographic authentication.
Called Amber Authenticate, the tool is meant to run in the background on a device as it captures video. At regular, user-determined intervals, the platform generates “hashes”—cryptographically scrambled representations of the data—that then get indelibly recorded on a public blockchain. If you run that same snippet of video footage through the algorithm again, the hashes will be different if anything has changed in the file’s audio or video data—tipping you off to possible manipulation.
Users need to set the interval to balance system constraints on devices with what a camera may be filming. Creating hashes every 30 seconds on a police body camera might allow quick and subtle, but still potentially impactful, manipulations to slip through. Setting the interval to every second on a small business’ surveillance camera might be overkill.
https://app.ambervideo.co/public
Tomi Engdahl says:
Melonport dissolves in favor of its protocol, setting a new bar for the blockchain world
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/11/melonport-dissolves-in-favor-of-its-protocol-setting-a-new-bar-for-the-blockchain-world/?sr_share=facebook&utm_source=tcfbpage
Tomi Engdahl says:
Radio Hams transfer Crypto ( BitCoin ) Currency on 40m band
https://qrznow.com/radio-hams-transfer-crypto-bitcoin-currency-on-40m-band/
CryptoVibes reports amateur radio was used to send Bitcoin from Toronto to Michigan on 7.077 MHz using the digital mode JS8Call
The transfer was made on February 12
This is believed to be the first transfer of a Bitcoin across national borders using amateur radio.
Tomi Engdahl says:
JP Morgan is rolling out the first US bank-backed cryptocurrency to transform payments business
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/13/jp-morgan-is-rolling-out-the-first-us-bank-backed-cryptocurrency-to-transform-payments–.html
Engineers at the lender have created the “JPM Coin,” a digital token that will be used to instantly settle transactions between clients of its wholesale payments business.
Only a tiny fraction of payments will initially be transmitted using the cryptocurrency, but the trial represents the first real-world use of a digital coin by a major U.S. bank.
While J.P. Morgan’s Jamie Dimon has bashed bitcoin as a “fraud,” the bank chief and his managers have consistently said blockchain and regulated digital currencies held promise.
Tomi Engdahl says:
“The sender never prepared any signed transaction and then sent it to the recipient for them to broadcast it to the blockchain. On the contrary, he sent his recipient a private key that enabled the recipient to transfer the funds to his wallet using only that private key.”
https://www.cryptovibes.com/crypto-news/bitcoin-transaction-shortwave-radio/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Radio Hams transfer Crypto ( BitCoin ) Currency on 40m band
https://qrznow.com/radio-hams-transfer-crypto-bitcoin-currency-on-40m-band/
Bitcoin Sent Offline from Toronto to Michigan Through Shortwave Radio
https://www.cryptovibes.com/crypto-news/bitcoin-transaction-shortwave-radio/
The protocol used is identified as JS8Call which enables users to connect a shortwave radio to a computer.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Coinbase buys blockchain intelligence startup to boost security and new asset discovery
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/19/coinbase-buys-neutrino/?sr_share=facebook&utm_source=tcfbpage
Coinbase, the world’s most valuable crypto company, is gearing up to add more cryptocurrencies
Based in Italy, Neutrino helps map blockchain networks, and in particular crypto token transactions, to pull in information and insight. With the rise of thefts, that includes a major focus on services for law enforcement agencies to track stolen digital assets while it also includes tracking ransomware and analyzing ‘darknets.’ Other solutions include tracking services for investment and finance companies to help find rising tokens and assets, an area Coinbase could clearly capitalize on as it goes after security token offerings.
Tomi Engdahl says:
What’s in a Blockchain? With New Tools, Anyone Can Find Out
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/networks/whats-in-a-blockchain-with-these-new-tools-anyone-can-find-out
Tomi Engdahl says:
Blockchain is solid, in that there is no liquidity
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/21/blockchain-is-solid-in-that-there-is-no-liquidity/
Also Amtrak sadness, Google policy re-org, and more Vision Fund
Tomi Engdahl says:
Once hailed as unhackable, blockchains are now getting hacked
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612974/once-hailed-as-unhackable-blockchains-are-now-getting-hacked/
More and more security holes are appearing in cryptocurrency and smart contract platforms, and some are fundamental to the way they were built.
Early last month, the security team at Coinbase noticed something strange going on in Ethereum Classic, one of the cryptocurrencies people can buy and sell using Coinbase’s popular exchange platform. Its blockchain, the history of all its transactions, was under attack.
An attacker had somehow gained control of more than half of the network’s computing power and was using it to rewrite the transaction history. That made it possible to spend the same cryptocurrency more than once—known as “double spends.” The attacker was spotted pulling this off to the tune of $1.1 million. Coinbase claims that no currency was actually stolen from any of its accounts. But a second popular exchange, Gate.io, has admitted it wasn’t so lucky, losing around $200,000 to the attacker (who, strangely, returned half of it days later).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Researchers find that one person likely drove Bitcoin from $150 to $1,000
https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/15/researchers-finds-that-one-person-likely-drove-bitcoin-from-150-to-1000/
To many it’s been obvious that the Bitcoin markets are, at the very least, being manipulated by one or two big players. “This paper identifies and analyzes the impact of suspicious trading activity on the Mt. Gox Bitcoin currency exchange, in which approximately 600,000 bitcoins (BTC) valued at $188 million were fraudulently acquired,”
Based on rigorous analysis with extensive robustness checks, the paper demonstrates that the suspicious trading activity likely caused the unprecedented spike in the USD-BTC exchange rate in late 2013, when the rate jumped from around $150 to more than $1,000 in two months.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why 3D Printing Is Going to Need Blockchain
https://www.designnews.com/materials-assembly/why-3d-printing-going-need-blockchain/11996268560282
Blockchain has the potential to solve 3D printing’s inherent security risks before they become a major issue.
If 3D printing technology wants to get ahead of its inherent security issues, the best way would be to adopt blockchain.
Speaking at the 2019 Pacific Design & Manufacturing Show, Jack Heslin, President of 3D Tech Talks, a 3D printing consultancy, said as 3D printing becomes cheaper, easier, faster, and more ubiquitous, the very nature of the technology is going to demand the security afforded by blockchain.
It’s all about what Heslin called the Digital Thread of Additive Manufacturing (DTAM), “the single, seamless strand of data that stretches from the initial design to the finished, 3D-printed part.”
If you’ve never heard of such a thing for 3D printing that’s okay, because Heslin said such a thing really doesn’t exist. “The [3D printing] process is linear, but it’s not single or seamless,” he said.
3D-printing moves through several stages: from concept, to CAD file, to generative design (when available), to the actual 3D print. Then comes the post print process, and finally support if and when it is needed. All these steps each represent a point of vulnerability in which a 3D print can be corrupted or even stolen, putting company’s intellectual property at risk. “The digital thread of manufacturing has vulnerabilities. Design files can be stolen,” Heslin said. The one that scares me the most is that design files can be hacked to deliberately put in a flaw…I’m not saying it’s happening right now, or it’s easy to do, but it is a concern.”
Research has already shown 3D printing has a growing need for cybersecurity. Researchers from New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering for example have found that there are serious security issues around 3D printing
the source code to produce 3D-printed parts can be stolen by recording the sounds the printer makes.
One step beyond this, Heslin noted, would be the illegal and unauthorized printing of military machine parts and weapons or hacking 3D printer files to do deliberate damage to sensitive equipment or machines. In a 2016 paper, “dr0wned – Cyber-Physical Attack with Additive Manufacturing” a team of researchers were able to hack a PC connected to a 3D printer and from there make secret alterations to the 3D printing files for a $1000 drone that caused its propellor to fail mid-flight.
So how does blockchain address all of this? Blockchain works by creating a distributed, encrypted ledger across any number of parties that can be used to verify not only identities but also the status of any particular job. That means every entity involved in any stage of a 3D print is aware of what all the others are doing at any time in a safe and secure manner. Since a blockchain is decentralized, meaning no single entity owns it, stealing or altering a 3D printed file from a blockchain is not about tricking a single computer or printer – you’d have to hack every entity that was a part of that particular chain, which is exponentially more difficult, if not sometimes impossible.
“When you have multiple stakeholders in the process you have to ask is consensus required across stakeholders,” Heslin said. In that regard blockchain can provide authority to print and authority to send files to be printed.
He also pointed to the audit trail benefits offered. “We all know about Six Sigma and ISO – a lot of it is about audit trails,” Heslin said. “Blockchain, by nature, is an audit trail. It shows every edit and iteration in the process.” Furthermore, because the audit trail is decentralized it becomes immutable and cannot be erased.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Shannon Liao / The Verge:
HTC’s blockchain-focused Exodus 1 phone adds ~20 decentralized blockchain apps, integrates with Opera for crypto micropayments, will be sold for $699 in March
You can soon buy a more useful version of the HTC blockchain phone for cash
You can soon buy the HTC blockchain phone with regular cash
https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/26/18234481/htc-exodus-1-blockchain-dapps-data-opera-mwc-2019
Tomi Engdahl says:
Robert Hackett / Fortune:
Coinbase says that XRP, the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is being added to the Coinbase Pro exchange
Coinbase Lists Controversial Cryptocurrency XRP, Price Jumps 10%
http://fortune.com/2019/02/25/coinbase-xrp-cryptocurrency/
Coinbase plans to add XRP, one of the world’s most controversial cryptocurrencies, to the list of virtual coins traded on its exchange, the company said Monday.
XRP is a digital asset tied to a blockchain ledger that’s used for cross-border payments. The virtual coin has provoked controversy for its tangled history with Ripple, a startup that owns the vast majority of XRP—a stockpile worth billions of dollars—in reserve.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kate Rooney / CNBC:
SoFi says it will launch cryptocurrency trading in partnership with Coinbase in Q2 and also has plans for zero-fee SoFi-branded ETFs and a credit card in 2019 — – The online lending start-up will launch cryptocurrency trading in the second quarter of this year.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/26/sofi-to-launch-cryptocurrency-trading-in-partnership-with-coinbase.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Coinhive, an in-browser Monero miner known for cryptojacking, says it will shut down on March 8, citing the crypto crash and a recent Monero hard fork
Coinhive cryptojacking service to shut down in March 2019
https://www.zdnet.com/article/coinhive-cryptojacking-service-to-shut-down-in-march-2019/
Coinhive wanted to be an alternative to classic banner ads but it became malware after constant abuse.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cryptocurrency wallet caught sending user passwords to Google’s spellchecker
https://www.zdnet.com/article/cryptocurrency-wallet-caught-sending-user-passwords-to-googles-spellchecker/
Coinomi wallet bug sends users’ secret passphrases to Google’s Spellcheck API via HTTP, in plaintext.
The Coinomi wallet app sends user passwords to Google’s spellchecking service in clear text, exposing users’ accounts and their funds to man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks during which attackers can log passwords and later empty accounts.
Al Maawali says that during the Coinomi wallet setup, when users select a password (passphrase), the Coinomi app grabs the user’s input inside the passphrase textbox and silently sends it to Google’s Spellcheck API service.
Al Maawali says that just like any other Chromium-based app, it comes integrated with various Google-centered features, such as the automatic spellcheck feature for all user input text boxes.
The issue appears to be that the Coinomi team did not bother to disable this feature in their wallet’s UI code, leading to a situation where all their users’ passwords are leaking via HTTP during the setup process.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Coinhive, an in-browser Monero miner known for cryptojacking, says it will shut down on March 8, citing the crypto crash and a recent Monero hard fork — Coinhive wanted to be an alternative to classic banner ads but it became malware after constant abuse.
Coinhive cryptojacking service to shut down in March 2019
https://www.zdnet.com/article/coinhive-cryptojacking-service-to-shut-down-in-march-2019/
Coinhive wanted to be an alternative to classic banner ads but it became malware after constant abuse.
Tomi Engdahl says:
New York Times:
Sources: Facebook told crypto exchanges that it hopes to launch its own coin for WhatsApp, pegged to a basket of fiat currencies, in the first half of the year — SAN FRANCISCO — Some of the world’s biggest internet messaging companies are hoping to succeed where cryptocurrency start-ups …
Facebook and Telegram Are Hoping to Succeed Where Bitcoin Failed
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/28/technology/cryptocurrency-facebook-telegram.html
Some of the world’s biggest internet messaging companies are hoping to succeed where cryptocurrency start-ups have failed by introducing mainstream consumers to the alternative world of digital coins.
The internet outfits, including Facebook, Telegram and Signal, are planning to roll out new cryptocurrencies over the next year that are meant to allow users to send money to contacts on their messaging systems, like a Venmo or PayPal that can move across international borders.
The most anticipated but secretive project is underway at Facebook. The company is working on a coin that users of WhatsApp, which Facebook owns, could send to friends and family instantly
Telegram, which has an estimated 300 million users worldwide, is also working on a digital coin.
The messaging companies have a reach that dwarfs the backers of earlier cryptocurrencies. Facebook and Telegram can make the digital wallets used for cryptocurrencies available, in an instant, to hundreds of millions of users.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jordan Pearson / Motherboard:
Coinbase’s acquisition of Neutrino, co-founded by the key people behind the controversial hacking tools vendor Hacking Team, sparks a #DeleteCoinbase campaign — Users trying to #DeleteCoinbase are having trouble after the exchange acquired a startup staffed by former Hacking Team members.
Coinbase Users Struggle to Delete Their Accounts in Protest
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xwb7xj/coinbase-users-struggle-to-delete-their-accounts-in-protest
Users trying to #DeleteCoinbase are having trouble after the exchange acquired a startup staffed by former Hacking Team members.
Users of Coinbase, a major exchange for buying and selling Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, are having trouble closing their accounts in protest after the platform acquired a startup founded by former members of a highly controversial Italian hacking tool vendor.
Coinbase announced its acquisition of Neutrino, a startup that traces cryptocurrency transactions, last week. Neutrino’s key staff are former members of Hacking Team, which sold surveillance and intrusion tools to international governments with dubious human rights records. The acquisition was met with widespread condemnation in the cryptocurrency community, which kicked off a hashtag—#DeleteCoinbase—aimed at fomenting a groundswell of account closures in protest.
To close a Coinbase account, you have to have a balance of zero. Some users with infinitesimal fractions of cryptocurrency called “dust” in their accounts, which are usually leftovers from various transactions, were reportedly met with an error message when they tired to send these small amounts to an external wallet, saying the amount was too small to send.
To get around this limitation, users are sending their dust to other Coinbase users before closing their accounts.
“I hope that this message makes Coinbase understand that a press release won’t fix this,”
Some users are reporting issues closing their Coinbase accounts even after transferring all of the dust out.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Austin-based SpyCloud, which says it has a repository of 32B+ decrypted, compromised credentials and uses it to fight account takeovers, raises $21M Series B
SpyCloud raises $21 million to protect against account takeover
https://venturebeat.com/2019/02/27/spycloud-raises-21-million-to-protect-against-account-takeover/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
ThunderCore raises $50M from Arrington XRP, Pantera, SV Angel, others for its blockchain platform that it claims can be 100X faster than Ethereum and Bitcoin
https://venturebeat.com/2019/02/27/thundercore-raises-50-million-to-make-a-faster-cheaper-blockchain-platform/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Matthew Iles / Civil:
Civil to launch its blockchain on March 6 with individual and newsroom memberships and the ability to buy CVL tokens accessible via Civil’s website
Civil means journalism
Memberships available worldwide starting March 6
https://blog.joincivil.com/civil-means-journalism-3fd7a6be8aee
Civil is a community-owned platform for independent journalism founded to advance trust and sustainability for journalism worldwide. The community members are news organizations and you, the public they serve.
We founded Civil to make an impact on the world using decentralization and network effects to create an alternative model to support journalism and the information needs of citizens.
We’re looking for citizens who want to support a new model for journalism and who want to help run the platform where they get their news. That’s why members will also receive an equivalent number of Civil tokens relative to their financial contribution to the Civil Foundation.
You can use Civil tokens to vote and challenge unethical newsrooms on the Civil Registry. All newsrooms on Civil have to sign and abide by the Civil Constitution, which was developed in consultation with journalists, academics and ethicists all over the world, in order to remain in good-standing on the Civil Registry and continue publishing on the Civil platform.
Thirty-four million Civil tokens will be priced by The Civil Media Company at $0.20 per CVL on March 6. Every token sold will trigger a slight price increase until the last token goes for $0.94
There will only ever be one hundred million Civil tokens in existence (thanks, blockchain!), and the Civil Registry ensures that the value of Civil tokens will forever be tied most directly to the health and scale of the community network.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Experts finally cracked the laptop of the crypto CEO who died with sole access to $137 million. But the money was already gone.
https://markets.businessinsider.com/amp/news/crypto-ceo-died-with-passwords-to-137-million-but-the-money-is-gone-2019-3-1028009684
Experts finally cracked the laptop of the crypto CEO who died with sole access to $137 million. But the money was already gone.
Theron Mohamed
Mar. 6, 2019, 12:18 PM
Mission Impossible (DC)
Jacob T. Swinney/Vimeo
Millions of dollars were missing when the CEO of a crypto exchange died without sharing the passwords to his accounts. Investigators recently cracked his laptop — only to find the money was gone.
Gerald Cotten, the founder of QuadrigaCX, was thought to have had sole access to the funds and coins exchanged on it. After his death in December, his colleagues said that about $137 million in cryptocurrency belonging to about 115,000 customers was held offline in “cold storage” and inaccessible.
the accounts were emptied in April, eight months before his death, it said in a report last week.
Quadriga kept “limited books and records” and never reported its financials.
Burdened with $190 million in debt and unable to find or access the money, Quadriga filed for creditor protection in late January.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ShutterstockQuadrigaCX Wallets Found Empty, Mystery of $150 Million Missing Crypto Deepens
https://www.ccn.com/quadrigacxs-wallets-empty-150-crypto-missing
The cold wallets of QuadrigaCX, once the largest crypto exchange of Canada, have reportedly been found to be empty.
According to Bloomberg, most of the Bitcoin funds from the exchange’s cold wallets were moved out in April 2018, more than 9 months before QuadrigaCX revealed it had lost $150 million in customer funds after its CEO Gerald Cotten passed away with sole control of the company’s wallets.
Quadriga Crypto Mystery Deepens With ‘Cold Wallets’ Found Empty
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-01/quadriga-has-6-cold-wallets-but-they-don-t-hold-any-crypto
looks now like the storage Quadriga is known to have used — dubbed cold wallets — has been empty since April
This marks the latest twist for a Vancouver-based digital exchange that shuttered operations at the end of January, leaving 115,000 customers out-of-pocket for about C$260 million in cash and cryptocurrencies. The firm has been under court-approved creditor protection since Feb. 5 and Ernst & Young has been sorting through Quadriga’s dealings as a monitor under the process.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Intersection of Blockchain and Engineering
https://www.eeweb.com/profile/samlbowman/articles/the-intersection-of-blockchain-and-engineering
Tomi Engdahl says:
Can blockchain help fix government bureaucracy?
https://www.zdnet.com/article/can-blockchain-help-fix-government-bureaucracy/
Agencies can use the ledger technology to cut inefficiencies and ultimately deliver better experiences for citizens.
Can blockchain technology help remove some of the roadblocks that slow processes at so many public sector agencies? As with other questions related to the potential of blockchain, it might be too early for a definitive answer. But the key word there is potential.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Mystery Of The Cryptocurrency CEO’s Death Just Got Murkier
https://www.iflscience.com/technology/the-mystery-of-the-cryptocurrency-ceo-s-death-just-got-murkier/
Cotten died on December 9 in Jaipur, India, where he was opening an orphanage, due to complications from Crohn’s disease. At least this is what QuadrigaCX said in a statement on Facebook on January 14. The condition is painful and life-changing but it is rarely fatal.
Fortis Escorts, a private hospital in Jaipur, has released details of Cotten’s death stating that he suffered from septic shock and other serious issues relating to his condition. He suffered two cardiac arrests, the second of which was fatal.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IOTA: The Distributed Ledger Technology Designed for the Internet of Things
https://blog.hackster.io/iota-the-distributed-ledger-technology-designed-for-the-internet-of-things-f6abaf0e45a4
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/onecoin-pomoille-kavi-kopelosti-vuosikymmenten-vankeus-uhkaa-6760689
OneCoin Executives Arrested and Charged by US Authorities
https://beincrypto.com/onecoin-executives-arrested-and-charged-by-us-authorities/
American prosecutors have announced the arrest of key members behind cryptocurrency project OneCoin on grounds of fraud and deception. The company’s ringleader, Konstantin Ignatov, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on March 6 for intentionally marketing a fraudulent financial asset. Meanwhile, his sister, Ruja Ignatova, who founded OneCoin in 2014, has been charged with running a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ethereum developers remain in a kind of “move fast and break things” mindset, while Bitcoin developers treat their codebase like it was software for air traffic control
Bitcoin gets slower, smaller and more like Ethereum
https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/11/bitcoin-gets-slower-smaller-and-more-like-ethereum/
On the Friday night before the main event, a Boston Ethereum developers group hosted a Bitcoin maximalist VC and the CEO of a private-key custody company for “a conversation on Lightning and the future of Bitcoin.”
Nic Carter allowed that Bitcoin’s fixed money supply might become a liability. Jeremy Welch, CEO of Casa, acknowledged that Lightning is not going to solve all of Bitcoin’s problems.
For example, Lightning makes sending and receiving bitcoin faster, cheaper and a little more private, but questions remain as to how such Bitcoin payments will be useful.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Blockchain Technology Is Coming To An Application Near You
https://semiengineering.com/blockchain-technology-is-coming-to-an-application-near-you/
The decentralized ledger technology isn’t just for cryptocurrencies anymore.
Throughout the history of the semiconductor industry, disruptive IC technologies have been brainstormed and developed by innovative thinkers, offered up for global consideration through technical papers and conferences, discussed and scrutinized, put to the test at alpha and beta sites, and – once proven – adopted for widespread use. The path is similar for inventive applications.
Blockchain is one such advancement that is gaining momentum. This 11-year-old means of enabling the secure distribution of data for digital transactions has its roots in cryptocurrency. Two specific characteristics of blockchain – its ability to serve as a decentralized ledger and the way that it protects any entered data from being modified – make it appealing to businesses. It can be used to efficiently record transactions between two parties in a way that is both verifiable and permanent, which could make this technology a key asset in battling identity theft and online fraud.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Blockchain could democratise banking, music – but at what cost?
https://horizon-magazine.eu/article/blockchain-could-democratise-banking-music-what-cost.html?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=share
Few technologies have the potential to disrupt old institutions as much as blockchain – a system that maintains records on huge networks of individual computers. As with any new technology, it could be used for social good – such as supporting people who are priced-out of the current bank accounts – but the big challenge is how to limit its unintended consequences.
At its heart, blockchain is a list of ‘blocks’ of digital information – any information – that is not stored in one place, but copied to computers in numerous different places. In principle, information stored in this way is accessible to anyone, and is also harder to corrupt, because corruption would need to occur simultaneously in a majority of the identical copies.
Many people see bitcoin and other applications of blockchain as a freer, more egalitarian and more secure way of running services such as banking.
No cost
Kałuża adds that the annual cost of servicing a current account is €100, which banks try to reclaim from customers one way or another. According to a 2016 study by the Polish central bank, only 9% of under-18s have a bank account.
‘This is the most technologically advanced group of the society with a huge need to get access to financial products adjusted to their situation,’ he said. ‘We want to give them that.’
The process is a collective, decentralised version of what individual banks currently do – and without the cost. Unlike bitcoin, the monies involved are not virtual but conventional currencies
‘From the end user’s point of view there is not much difference between Billon’s solution and a standard bank account,’ says Kałuża.
Billon will ultimately make money from the platform by licensing it to banks and other service providers, such as utility companies.
Unlike existing institutions, many blockchain applications aim to be accessible to everyone equally – but that sacrifices centralised oversight.
The risk of blockchain is that it ‘disrupts existing institutions, but fails to provide solutions that provide the same level of service,’ says Dr Bodo. ‘Or it just replaces old middlemen with new ones (and) rearranges power – but ultimately not to the benefit of the powerless.’
‘The question is not blockchain per se – blockchain is a wonderful technology,’ he continued. But, he says, there is an open question about what happens when blockchain challenges the power of the law and the power of existing institutions.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Colin Harper / Bitcoin Magazine:
Tether drops the claim that it’s “always backed 1-to-1 with traditional currency”, now says it’s “100% backed by reserves”, emboldening the stablecoin’s critics — Tether just updated its website to clarify that each of its USDT tokens, which it used to claim were …
Tether Updates Website, Says USDT Backed by “Reserves,” Not Just Cash
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/tether-updates-website-says-usdt-backed-by-reserves-not-just-cash/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Christine Kim / CoinDesk:
Cosmos, a highly anticipated blockchain designed to provide interoperability between other blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum, goes live — Cosmos, a highly anticipated blockchain itself designed to improve the interoperability between any number of other blockchains, has officially released a live software.
A Blockchain to Connect All Blockchains, Cosmos Is Officially Live
https://www.coindesk.com/a-blockchain-to-connect-all-blockchains-cosmos-is-now-officially-live
Cosmos, a highly anticipated blockchain itself designed to improve the interoperability between any number of other blockchains, has officially released a live software.
With the mining of its first block at 23:00 UTC, the project has launched Cosmos Hub, the first in a series of proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains that will be created in the Cosmos ecosystem.
At present, users of the network will not be able to swap tokens between blockchains or otherwise connect to Cosmos Hub with existing blockchain networks until validators officially vote to activate what is called the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol.
As such, Manian said that the Cosmos Software Development Kit (SDK), which debuted back in February 2018, is already being used by high-profile crypto companies such as the Binance exchange.
Unleashing validators
Today’s launch was a significant step toward that broader, expansive vision – one that Manian points out will “take years to fully manifest.” The main purpose of Cosmos Hub launch is to establish the broader ecosystem of validators, entities that stake tokens on the network, while Manian’s team continues to work toward cross-blockchain capabilities.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Japan Times:
Former Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles gets suspended jail term for falsifying financial data but is acquitted of bitcoin embezzlement — The high-flying creator of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange received a suspended jail sentence of 2½ years after a Japanese court Friday found him guilty on charges of data manipulation
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/15/national/crime-legal/mtgox/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jon Evans / TechCrunch:
Why Cosmos, designed as a hub to connect other blockchains to one another, may become one of the most important blockchains, if it works as intended
Welcome to the hub of all hubs: Cosmos has launched
https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/17/welcome-to-the-hub-of-all-hubs/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mining Bitcoin on the ESP32 For Fun, Definitely Not Profit
https://hackaday.com/2019/03/19/mining-bitcoin-on-the-esp32-for-fun-definitely-not-profit/
Bitcoin’s great, if you sold at the end of 2017. If you’re still holding, your opinion might be a little more sour. The cost to compete in the great hashing race continues to rise while cryptocurrency values remain underwhelming. While getting involved at the top end is prohibitively expensive, you can still have some fun with the basic concepts – as [Jake] did, by calculating Bitcoin hashes on the ESP32.
ESP32 Bitcoin Mining
https://blog.ja-ke.tech/2019/03/16/esp32-bitcoin.html
Bitcoin mining in a nutshell
It is simply a double SHA256 hash (hashing the output again) over the block header, a 80 byte sequence containing the version, previous block hash, merkle root (verifies the transactions), time, current difficulty and nonce.
The miner searches for a hash that is smaller than the difficulty value, that is why you can see that all all block hashes in the chain start with multiple zero bytes. To generate different inputs they vary the nonce value (and maybe time).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:
Square CEO Jack Dorsey introduces Square Crypto, a new initiative for open source contributions to the “bitcoin/crypto ecosystem”
Square Is Hiring New Crypto Engineers — And It Wants to Pay Them in Bitcoin
https://www.coindesk.com/square-hiring-crypto-engineers-bitcoin