Some Bitcoin Unlimited supports will see this as a "push" for SegWit adoption.

The bitcoin network appears to be under attack once again. BitClub initiated a transaction malleability attack against the bitcoin network yesterday afternoon. Users are advised to exert caution when checking up on bitcoin transactions. It appears Jim Hilliard is the one responsible for this attack, albeit his motives remain unclear.

It seems odd to think a bitcoin mining pool would purposefully attack the network. BitClub owns 4.2% of the total hashrate, which makes them one of the largest in the world. For some reason, one of their members executed this transaction malleability attack since yesterday.All of the affected blocks were mined by the BitClub pool as well, which make it somewhat easier to find the culprit.

Network blocks 456545 and 456552 effectively halted block monitoring updates provided by popular platforms. A lot of bitcoin users had gotten concerned over this attack, albeit the motive remains unclear. It seems very likely this attack is a political move rather than a way to effectively harm the network. The tension between SegWit and Unlimited supporters has been heating up as of late.

A Successful Malleability Attack By BitClub

BitClub may try to influence developers and stakeholders to solve malleability issues. Segregated Witness is designed to address these problems once and for all, yet continues to be opposed by Bitcoin Unlimited supporters. There is a reason why companies and service providers all favor SegWit over BU, though. As a result of this BitClub-orchestrated malleability attack, a double-spend has been recorded. All transactions found within the two network blocks are double-spends.

An investigation has been launched to determine how this attack was performed. One thing is certain: malleability attacks need to be made impossible sooner rather than later. Rest assured this attack was unintentional by any means, as BitClub knew all too well what they were doing. Events like these always spark intriguing debates, even though this is a politically-tinted attack.

Some Bitcoin Unlimited supported will see this as a “push” for SegWit adoption. It is doubtful that is the case, even though BitClub identified a big flaw in the bitcoin ecosystem. If malleability persists, it will be impossible to tell which transactions are legitimate. Although it takes a lot of preparation to pull off such an attack, there is no reason to think it can’t happen again. Solving this problem needs to be the top priority right now. It appears we need SegWit for doing just that, regardless of how others may feel about this idea.

BitClub may try to influence developers and stakeholders to solve malleability issues. Segregated Witness is designed to address these problems once and for all, yet continues to be opposed by Bitcoin Unlimited supporters. There is a reason why companies and service providers all favor SegWit over BU, though. As a result of this BitClub-orchestrated malleability attack, a double-spend has been recorded. All transactions found within the two network blocks are double-spends.

An investigation has been launched to determine how this attack was performed. One thing is certain: malleability attacks need to be made impossible sooner rather than later. Rest assured this attack was unintentional by any means, as BitClub knew all too well what they were doing. Events like these always spark intriguing debates, even though this is a politically-tinted attack.

Some Bitcoin Unlimited supported will see this as a “push” for SegWit adoption. It is doubtful that is the case, even though BitClub identified a big flaw in the bitcoin ecosystem. If malleability persists, it will be impossible to tell which transactions are legitimate. Although it takes a lot of preparation to pull off such an attack, there is no reason to think it can’t happen again. Solving this problem needs to be the top priority right now. It appears we need SegWit for doing just that, regardless of how others may feel about this idea.

Published by JP Buntinx

JP is working hard to bring more credibility to the Bitcoin and blockchain news industry. Outside of being Europe Editor at Newsbtc, JP is also an active writer for the website, and does not shy away from letting his opinion be heard. View all posts by JP Buntinx

Thomas Prendergast

Some Bitcoin Unlimited supports will see this as a push for SegWit adoption.

U.S. Signals Clampdown on Red-Hot Digital Coin Offerings

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  SEC says ICOs, cryptocurrency exchanges subject to U.S. law
  
  


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  Startups have raised hundreds of millions through ICOs
  
  

U.S. regulators said they have jurisdiction over one of the hottest new areas of finance: initial coin offerings of digital currencies.

Companies that raise money through the sale of digital assets must adhere to federal securities laws, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday. Issuers must register the deals with the government unless they have a valid excuse, as should exchanges that offer trading of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether, the regulator said.

“It’s been a long time coming and this is a big deal,” said Angela Walch, associate professor at St. Mary’s University School of Law. “People have been waiting for some kind of signal from regulators on ICOs.” This is the most detailed the SEC has been about how digital currencies and the exchanges where they trade fit into financial markets, she said. “It’s a reminder that basic consumer protection principles still apply” in the digital asset world, she added. “The tech people coming in don’t necessarily realize they’re playing with fire.”

Startups have raised hundreds of millions of dollars selling such tokens in 2017, bypassing traditional initial public offerings of shares — a process overseen by the SEC — in favor of so-far mostly unregulated ICOs. The commission examined the sale of tokens to fund a startup known as the DAO last year, which raised about $150 million over four weeks, according to the SEC’s investigative report released Tuesday.

The agency’s enforcement division was asked to decide if the DAO token sales “violated federal securities laws with unregistered offers and sales of DAO Tokens in exchange for ‘Ether,’ a virtual currency,” the report said. The SEC decided not to bring charges in the DAO token sale case.

Instead, the SEC report said it wanted “to caution the industry and market participants: the federal securities laws apply to those who offer and sell securities in the United States, regardless whether the issuing entity is a traditional company or a decentralized autonomous organization, regardless whether those securities are purchased using U.S. dollars or virtual currencies, and regardless whether they are distributed in certificated form or through distributed ledger technology.”

One recent ICO was led by Gnosis, a prediction market application based on the Ethereum blockchain. It raised $12.5 million in 12 minutes on April 24, resulting in a market value of almost $300 million. It’s generated no revenue and has little more than a white paper describing what it intends to do. Yet its tokens, which would allow users to bet on things such as election outcomes, have soared 200 percent since early May, according to Coinmarketcap.com.

Open Question

An open question is whether the SEC will apply these new standards to coin offerings that have already happened, said Walch, who is also a research fellow at the Centre for Blockchain Technologies at University College London. And while the SEC won’t pursue action related to the DAO token sale, “I don’t see anything in here that says there won’t be enforcement actions against others,” she said. Some recent ICO have been “egregious,” she said. “I’d be very surprised if they were willing to shove them all under the rug.”

The SEC decision comes a day after the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission gave LedgerX LLC approval to offer options trading based on bitcoin. That could help mature the business of bitcoin trading by helping traders offset risks with derivatives. But it also underscored the fact that digital currencies, decentralized technologies that appeal to the libertarian-minded, probably cannot escape governments.

ICOs offer an attractive deal to young companies: going directly to customers for funding, avoiding venture-capital firms and other professionals. SEC Chairman Jay Clayton addressed the balance he’s trying to strike, saying in the regulator’s statement that, “We seek to foster innovative and beneficial ways to raise capital, while ensuring — first and foremost — that investors and our markets are protected.”

“What the SEC did not say is that all tokens are securities. Rather, they suggest a facts-and-circumstances test,” Peter Van Valkenburgh, research director at Coin Center, said in an email. “We believe that applying the same facts-and-circumstances test to other tokens will mean that some do not fit into the definition of securities, particularly tokens with an underlying utility rather than a mere speculative investment value.”

Exchange Registration

Markets such as Coinbase Inc.’s GDAX and Gemini Trust Co. that offer trading in digital assets so far have dealt mostly with state, not federal, regulators. The SEC now says that will likely change. “Additionally, securities exchanges providing for trading in these securities must register unless they are exempt,” the agency said.

Calling that a “big deal,” Walch said, “Those in the crypto world have been acting as if they live in an alternate universe, and the SEC has delivered a reminder that they still live in the real world, with real investors and real people making decisions that they must be accountable for.”

 

By: Matthew Leising and Camila Russo

July 25, 2017, 4:16 PM CDT July 25, 2017, 5:10 PM CDT

U.S. Signals Clampdown on Red-Hot Digital Coin Offerings

Why Ethereum Could Become the Easiest Cryptocurrency to Mine

Why “the Easiest Cryptocurrency to Mine?” Is the Wrong Question 

Easiest Cryptocurrency to Mine The cryptocurrency revolution has arrived. With Bitcoin <span data-recalc-dims=(BTC) hitting all-time highs, peaking at one point around $3,000 per unit" width="300" height="212" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/investorsbuz.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ethereum-300×212-Small.jpg?resize=300%2C212 300w, https://i0.wp.com/investorsbuz.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ethereum-300×212-Small.jpg?w=679 679w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />

FOREX INVESTORS BUZZ  Easiest Cryptocurrency to Mine The cryptocurrency revolution has arrived. With Bitcoin (BTC) hitting all-time highs, peaking at one point around $3,000 per unit—and Ethereum (ETH) going from around $10.00 to over $400.00 in under a year—these two leaders in the cryptocurrency market are making the case that they are some of the most lucrative investments in 2017.

But one of the most important developments in the cryptocurrency trade right now is finding the easiest coins to mine. In fact, the easiest cryptocurrency to mine is going to be a game-changer, because whichever online currency can manage that will ultimately become the cryptocurrency of choice for the world at large.

In the case of Bitcoin mining, for instance, the process involves a third party helping a transaction go through by interacting with the blockchain. In order to do that, they need their computers to solve a complex set of math problems that increase in difficulty depending on how many miners are currently working, and decrease in difficulty if there is a dearth of miners working.

While the process is time-consuming and costly, the reward for helping that transaction go through is a Bitcoin. Not a bad trade, all things considered. Except that mining is by no means a cheap endeavor. Cryptocurrency mining takes a very strong computer, as well as a large amount of energy to power said computer.

One projection argues that Bitcoin transactions may consume as much electricity by the year 2020 as the entire nation of Denmark. (Source: “Proof of Work vs Proof of Stake: Basic Mining Guide,” BlockGeeks, last accessed July 12, 2017.)

Cryptocurrency Mining Hardware

As explained, there is a high barrier to entry when trying to mine for BTC and ETH, as well as severe energy costs. They are not the easiest coins to mine, but they are your best bets if you’re dead-set on going that route.

But a better alternative may be to look at what Ethereum is doing. The company has mentioned that it is looking into changing the way it handles mining from a proof-of-work model to a proof-of-stake model.

Essentially, instead of having miners compete, a third-party peer would be selected to help the process along. They will make a security deposit so the exchange would be done in good faith, and the process will be many magnitudes more efficient, cost-effective, and speedy.

At that point, Ethereum would become the easiest cryptocurrency to mine. With ETH becoming the easiest coin to mine, expect the value of ETH to rise accordingly.

This all makes Ethereum potentially one of the best investment opportunities in the cryptocurrency market, with huge growth on the horizon if this mining process switch is implemented correctly.

(Data source: “Ether Historical Prices (USD),” Etherscan, last accessed Juy 12, 2017.)

Best Cryptocurrency to Mine with CPU

With the Ethereum changeover expected to happen sometime in 2017, that would make ETH a good cryptocurrency to mine in 2017. Not only will the cost of production of a ETH be lowered, and therefore make the mining process more profitable overall, it will be streamlined and simplified, making this one of the best potential cryptocurrency mining opportunities out there.

With Ethereum, you get a rising cryptocurrency with a decent amount of support already in the market, where ETH is one of the more trusted options available.

Original article found here:

Posted by

Thomas Prendergast

 

Why Ethereum Could Become the Easiest Cryptocurrency to Mine

Bithumb Hacked

One of the Largest Cryptocurrency Exchange Hacked, People Lost Bitcoin And Ethereum

According to local media reports and confirmed in an official blog post, an unidentified hacker(s) managed to steal an unknown (or probably undisclosed) amount of cryptocurrency from Bithumb. It is the world’s fourth largest cryptocurrency exchange. Bitcoin and Ethereum are main currencies found on the platform.

The worst affected are people based in South Korea which makes a huge chunk of Bithumb’s userbase. Bithumb has announced reimbursement of 100,000 won ($897) worth of cryptocurrency to all the users affected till July 5. Surprisingly, some users have even reported about losing as high as 10 million won ($8700) worth of cryptocurrency.

According to the reports, the attack happened on June 29 (22:00 local time), and the hacker managed to compromise the personal computer of a Bithumb employee and stole personal details of 31,800 members, around three percent of the user base. It is being said that the stolen data didn’t contain the passwords of any of the users, but how the hacker managed to drain the currency is still a mystery.

The issue came to light when the affected users complained about their loss on social media, starting Thursday last week.

In an official statement made on Monday, Bithumb has said that it would reimburse all the lost money to users when they confirm the approximate damages.

Originated from: 

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Thomas Prendergast

Bithumb Hacked

Top 10 Mobile Wallets in India

As shopping patterns continue to evolve, so does the Payment Platform And Payment Gateway Industry that propels the former. Mobile Point Of Sales Machines have of course existed for a long time. Mobile wallet is a new concept in India that has been surpassing credit card usage and is slowly beginning to replace the traditional payment methods.

A mobile wallet, in simple terms, is a virtual mobile-based wallet where one can store cash for making mobile, online or offline payments. There are various types of mobile wallets in India, such as open, semi-open, semi-closed and closed – depending on the type of usage and payments that can be made. Wallets are growing rapidly as they help in Increasing The Speed Of Transaction, Especially For Ecommerce Companies and all Ecommerce Marketplaces have integrated with such mobile wallets too.

Here are some of the top 10 mobile wallet companies in India and what they offer to their customers.

1. PayTM

PayTM is one of the largest mobile commerce platforms in India, offering its customers a digital wallet to store money and make quick payments.

Launched in 2010, PayTM works on a semi-closed model and has a mobile market, where a customer can load money and make payments to merchants who have operational tie-ups with the company. Apart from making e-commerce transactions, PayTM wallet can also be used to make bill payments, transfer money and avail services from merchants from travel, entertainment and retail industry.

Capitalizing on the scope and growth of India’s education market segment, they recently partnered with premium educational institutions in India to introduce cashless payments for fees, bills and other expenses.

Number of installs: 1,000,000+

2. Momoe

Momoe is a Bengaluru based mobile payments startup that focuses on changing how customers pay while eating out, travel and shop. Using the Momoe app, one can store their credit card details and make mobile payments at various restaurants, grocery stores, apparel, salons and other retail outlets.

The app’s initial foray was into restaurants which attracted many installs due to the ease of payment options. The users were able to see live tabs, split bills and pay directly, without having to wait for a physical bill to arrive. Even though its services are currently available only in Bangalore, due to the growing popularity of the app and investment funds they will soon be expanding their services to six new cities.

Number of installs: 100,000+

3. PayUMoney

PayUMoney, a Gurgaon-based company that provides online payment solutions launched its wallet service last year. This e-wallet by PayUMoney enables the user to store cash and pay for various services and transactions.

In order to differentiate themselves from other players, they provide a wide range of benefits that include one-touch check out and discounts / cashback offers on every transaction made. This e-wallet also provides instant refunds on order cancellations and buyer protect to ensure the right purchase and customer satisfaction.

Number of installs: 100,000+

4. Mobikwik

MobiKwik is an independent mobile payment network that supposedly connects 25 million users with 50,000 retailers and more. This mobile wallet lets its users add money using debit, credit card, net banking and even doorstep cash collection service, which can in turn be used to recharge, pay utility bills and shop at marketplaces.

Owing to the growing need for convenience, MobiKwik has also recently tied up with large and small time grocery, restaurants and other offline merchants.

Number of installs: 10,000,000+

5. Citrus

Citrus Pay is a popular e-wallet app for cash storage, payments and money transfers. Besides tying up with online service providers from varied sectors, they are now collaborating with Woohoo, a gifting and shopping portal to let its customers shop at more than 5000 offline stores listed with them.

Number of installs: 100,000+

6. State Bank Buddy

This mobile wallet application was launched by State Bank of India to let users transfer money to other users and bank accounts, pay bills, recharge, book for movies, hotels, shopping as well as travel.

This semi-closed prepaid wallet offers its services in 13 languages and is available for non-SBI customers as well. This app also allows its customers to set reminders for dues, money transfers and view the mini-statement for the transactions carried out.

Number of installs: 100,000+

7. Citi MasterPass

Citi Bank India and MasterCard recently launched ‘Citi MasterPass’, India’s first global digital wallet for faster and secure online shopping.

By using this, Citi Bank Debit And Credit Card Customers become the first in this country to be able to shop at more than 250,000 e-commerce merchants. It ensures faster checkout with a single click or touch and stores all your credit, debit, prepaid, loyalty cards and shipping details in one place.

8. ICICI Pockets

Pockets by ICICI is a digital bank that offers a mobile wallet for its customers. It provides the convenience of using any bank account in India to fund your mobile wallet and pay for transactions.

With Pockets, one can transfer money, recharge, book tickets, send gifts and split expenses with friends. This wallet uses a virtual VISA card that enables its users to transact on any website or mobile application in India and provides exclusive deals or packages from associated brands.

Number of installs: 1,000,000+

9. HDFC Chillr

Chillr is an instant money transfer app created by HDFC to simplify money transfer and payment process for its customers.

Using this mobile payment app, one can transfer money to anyone in their phone book, thereby cutting out on the hassles of adding a beneficiary. It is currently available only for HDFC Bank customers and can be used to send money, recharge, split bills, request funds or transfer and will soon be able to pay at online & offline stores.

Number of installs: 100,000+

10. LIME

Axis Bank, the third-largest private sector bank launched ‘LIME’, an application that offers a mobile wallet, payments, shopping and banking facilities.

This mobile wallet is available for both account & non-account holders and lets a user add money using his or her credit, debit and net banking details. One can also share the wallet with their loved ones or pool in funds into a shared wallet for a particular purpose (Example: Gifts, vacations, etc.)

Number of installs: 10,000+

Data on digital payments in India

And here are some interesting findings on digital payment adoption from the recent ACI Survey:

 

While these numbers indicate the growing need for secure, faster and efficient payment methods for online marketplace, efforts to make payments to individual or brick & mortar stores is also increasing. Start-ups and huge corporates are constantly on the lookout for customer-friendly technology, thereby giving more power to the customer.

Thus, the day you will walk around without a physical wallet and pay your local dhobi and kirana store uncle using a mobile wallet is not so far.

Thomas Prendergast

Markethive Inc.

Top 10 Mobile Wallets in India