Sex syndicates, arms dealers, drug traders in India's Bitcoin bazaarhttp://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sex-syndicates-arms-dealers-drug-traders-in-indias-bitcoin-bazaar/1/648652.htmlThe digital currency Bitcoin is on the radar of India's security and intelligence agencies with sex syndicates, arms and drugs traders and even terrorist groups preferring it as a medium of exchange over cold, hard cash.
The Centre has asked authorities to keep a close watch on the maverick payment tool with near anonymity built into its system that makes it ideal for criminals. The cryptocurrency allows illegal operations with the speed of the internet, but with the secrecy of a cash deal. Bitcoin, heralded as a new way to conduct a broad array of financial transactions, costs about `29,000 apiece and the price fluctuates every day. The home ministry has taken up the security issue with the finance ministry and RBI: in a secret communication it said the currency is being used for crimes, including drug trafficking, illegal arms trade and prostitution in India.
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Bitcoin trading platform, Coinsecure, raises $ 1.2 mn http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/bitcoin-trading-platform-coinsecure-raises-12-mn/article8489246.eceCoinsecure, the domestic Bitcoin trading platform, has raised $1.2 million as part of its ongoing 'Series A' investment round.
The company opened the fund-raising round earlier in January and expects to close the round soon, an official statement said.
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The statement quoting Benson Samuel, the CTO and Co-Founder of Coinsecure, said: “The coming years are all about improving our products, building new ones, and providing enterprise Blockchain solutions, to address some key pain points in the crypto space.” Samuel has a clear vision for further innovation involving Blockchain technology in various industries, including the banking and manufacturing sectors, apart from others.
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Has Bitcoin become the new ransom money?http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/has-bitcoin-become-the-new-ransom-money/article8468066.ece
“Asking for depositing money in a particular bank account is now passé. The new-age hackers are demanding Bitcoins".
When an Information Technology (IT) company in Mysuru recently became the target of a ‘denial-of-service’ attack, the attackers demanded Bitcoins in return for sharing the key to restore the company’s computer systems.
The attackers demanded management Bitcoins — virtual money through Bitcoin-dealing websites — in return for the key.
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Hackers borrow customer-service tactics to earn moneyhttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/Hackers-borrow-customer-service-tactics-to-earn-money/articleshow/51795333.cms
When hackers set out to extort the town of Tewksbury, Massachusetts with "ransomware," they followed up with an FAQ explaining the attack and easy instructions for online payment.
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"It's a perfect business model, as long as you overlook the fact that they are doing something awful," said James Trombly, president of Delphi Technology Solutions, a Lawrence, Massachusetts, computer services firm that helped three clients over the past year pay ransoms in bitcoin, the virtual currency. He declined to identify the clients.
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Run-of-the-mill ransomware attacks typically seek 1 Bitcoin, now worth about $420, which is about the same as the hourly rate that some security consultants charge to respond to such incidents, according to security firms who investigate ransomware cases.
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New Generation of Ransomware Is Emerging, Warn Researchershttp://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/news/new-generation-of-ransomware-is-emerging-warn-researchers-824682
An unusual strain of virus-like hacker software that exploits computer server vulnerabilities without requiring human interaction is a leading example of a new generation of "ransomware," according to a new report by Cisco Systems Inc.
Hackers use such software to target large-scale networks and hold data hostage in exchange for bigger payments. Such a strain, known as Samas or samsam, hit the MedStar Health hospital chain in the US last month.
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The ability to demand payment in bitcoin, a difficult-to-trace virtual currency not controlled by any country, was "basically the birth of ransomware" and has helped drive its success since the currency's introduction in 2009, said Craig Williams, a senior technical leader at Cisco's Talos security research group.
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The age of cryptoworms is right around the corner: 10 things you need to knowhttp://www.ibnlive.com/news/tech/the-age-of-cryptoworms-is-right-around-the-corner-10-things-you-need-to-know-1228664.html
An unusual strain of virus-like hacker software that exploits computer server vulnerabilities - without requiring human interaction - is a leading example of a new generation of ransomware. 10 things that you need to know about the self-propagating ransomware, or cryptoworms:
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6. A cryptoworm strain, known as Samas or samsam, hit the MedStar Health hospital chain in the US last month. Samas exploits vulnerabilities giving hackers a way into JBoss application servers that are frequently used by some of the largest corporations. Once inside, the hackers sometimes implant a tool that steals credentials, allowing it to spread through the system, and encrypt scores of digital files along the way.
7. The ability to demand payment in bitcoin, a difficult-to-trace virtual currency not controlled by any country, was basically the birth of ransomware and has helped drive its success since the currency's introduction in 2009.
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'Disrupting terror finance vital to counter-terrorism' http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/disrupting-terror-finance-vital-to-counter-terrorism-116041000327_1.htmlDisrupting communication and finance of terror outfits are vital to tackling terrorism as such acts succeed due to movement of "men, money, material and messages", US-based terror expert Amit Kumar has said.
... Kumar, who has studied public administration and philosophy, apart from international business, also mentioned the role of bitcoin -- virtual currency -- as a new phenomenon being used for transaction of money by terrorists and other criminals.
Kumar gave the example of a 17-year-old tech-savvy youth, Ali Shukri Amin, a resident of Virginia, who was held by US agencies last year on charges of providing instructions to Islamic State supporters on using bitcoins to conceal financial donations.
Kumar said that effective monitoring of bitcoins can be done, particularly by the banking system.
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Mozilla Co-Founder's Brave Browser to Pay Ad-Viewing Users in Bitcoinhttp://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/mozilla-co-founders-brave-browser-to-pay-ad-viewing-users-in-bitcoin-822631
When Mozilla co-founder and former CEO Brendan Eich revealed the Brave Web browser back in January, the idea behind the browser was to block intrusive ads that slowed down the performance and the loading speed of a website. It also restricted the loading of other data collecting technologies such as analytics scripts and impression-tracking pixels. It would allow native, trackerless ads from publishers themselves, as well as non-intrusive safe optimised ads from Brave's own ad network.
Last week, Eich detailed the company's plan for a user-publisher-browser revenue sharing model for the Brave Ad Network, and the Bitcoin-based micro-payments system for users and publishers called the Brave Ledger. The move will see both users and publishers paid in Bitcoin for viewing and serving non-intrusive Brave Ad Network ads, and maintain Bitcoin-based Brave Wallets for payments. The company has released a developer specification of the Brave Ledger system for discussion, seeking to ensure a streamlined model that doesn't present complexity to the user, while giving granularity and protecting privacy.
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How exactly would you pledge your website domain is collateral? I haven't held website domains as collateral and would like to ensure that it is not reversible.
Just in case you want an unbiased opinion: to hold a domainname as collateral, just transfer the domainname to your account with the registrar of choice. Usually, transferring a domain is fast and free when you stay with the same registrar (godaddy, namesilo,...). The process is irreversible. You should leave the nameservers/zonefile as they were, otherwise the OP will lose all traffic to his site in a hearbeat  Thanks for the opinion! Hi,
I'm looking for someone who can lend me at least 0.5btc and is repayable for 30 days or 1 month. I am willing to pay 20% back of the principal amount.
I own a website smashbtc.com and it got very popular. I'm earning about $60-$70 a day on my ad networks but payment is made every 21st of the month and the other are end of the month.
Here are my collateral
1. Whole website(domain and script) - 10,000 - 15,000 unique visitors
2. My forum account - full member
3. Ad networks account - adsense, solvemedia, bitmedia, mellowads, adhitz and exoclick.
I really need this to upgrade my hosting to a dedicated server and a revolving funds.
Thank you.
Smashbtc, I can do a loan of 0.25 BTC @ 20% interest on the following terms. Collateral - Your cointelegraph.com account, with the address of payouts changed to my address. Any attempt to recover the CT account or change the referral links on smashbtc.com to a different account will be construed as a default. Max Repayment time: 1 month At the end of 1 month, you will have to repay 0.3 BTC less repayments received from cointelegraph referral payouts. |
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Hi,
I'm looking for someone who can lend me at least 0.5btc and is repayable for 30 days or 1 month. I am willing to pay 20% back of the principal amount.
I own a website smashbtc.com and it got very popular. I'm earning about $60-$70 a day on my ad networks but payment is made every 21st of the month and the other are end of the month.
Here are my collateral
1. Whole website(domain and script) - 10,000 - 15,000 unique visitors
2. My forum account - full member
3. Ad networks account - adsense, solvemedia, bitmedia, mellowads, adhitz and exoclick.
I really need this to upgrade my hosting to a dedicated server and a revolving funds.
Thank you.
How exactly would you pledge your website domain is collateral? I haven't held website domains as collateral and would like to ensure that it is not reversible. Plus please clarify what the number of unique visitors to your site is,,,, They seem to have dropped. Thank you so much JOe. A lot of users had left the site already. Before I'm getting like 10k unique visits but it decreases daily and now only 4k unique visitors a day. I need them to trust me and I will not run away. So I need everyone else's help to get the site more popular so there will be more bonuses and rewards.
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Omg!!! The sky is falling, the sky is falling. Give me a break to Sell all stocks and to buy bitcoin but i think invest in gold is more safe than bitcoin.
The central banks all over the world have an interest in preventing the stock markets from crashing. They will do whatever is in their power to prop up the markets. That is not so with Bitcoin. |
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But bitcoin is indeed anonymous, I do not need to verify my ID in order to have a btc wallet, neither do I go through an identity check when trading with btc. You cannot deny that this will be excellent for fraudulent transactions howbeit, we could curb this my mandating an ID verification for all btc users.
The word you are looking for is pseudonymous. Everybody can see your transactions; they just can't link your BTC address to your real life identity. If you do slip up and one of your transactions does get linked, then your transaction history is public for the world to see. |
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The bad thing is that you never know what will happen with the BTC price after the halving and that is not so good for the people who already have some Bitcoin.
But they have to wait a long time if they want to make some profit otherwise it is not possible, I heard some things that it will be not rise after the halving.
And some people are depended on the halving and that is not good, they will be mad if the value is not rising.
If you were able to predict / know the price after any event (not just the halving), you will be a millionaire.  There are risks involved with everything. With Bitcoin, the risk involved is higher; so is the possible reward. |
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Microsoft strikes partnership with banks on blockchain technologyhttp://www.livemint.com/Companies/Hc9JwgOjBSZE7j7hdhNRRP/Microsoft-strikes-partnership-with-banks-on-blockchain-techn.htmlMicrosoft Inc. has pulled ahead of Alphabet Inc.’s Google, International Business Machines Corp., and Amazon.com Inc. in the race for supremacy in operating other companies’ blockchains.
Microsoft and R3, a consortium of 43 financial institutions, have formed a strategic partnership to accelerate the use of the blockchain technologies. Microsoft chief executive officer Satya Nadella announced the deal at the company’s Envision conference on Monday.
Blockchains—basically online ledgers for recording transactions—first gained popularity with the digital currency bitcoin. But now financial institutions are experimenting with them as well to run their businesses more efficiently.
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T20 World Cup is wrapped , and now the next T20 extravaganza starts, IPL 2016 kicks off on the 9th of April. I usually dont follow these matches but now i will following all the matches for the first 12 overs to place some bet .  There is such a small gap between the T20 World Cup and IPL. Good thing that both are being held in India. The West Indies players will have a meeting with their Board only after the IPL ends. |
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How about Bitcoin as a protocol?http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/RXSIl8TvuVsFPPAKGLarDJ/How-about-Bitcoin-as-a-protocol.html
Alec Ross’ book, The Industries Of The Future: How The Next 10 Years Of Innovation Will Transform Our Lives At Work And Home, is like a crystal ball. It looks at advances in areas like robotics, genomics, virtual money, hacking and big data and tries to predict what the future might look like—in our lifetime.
Ross served as senior adviser for innovation to then US secretary of state Hillary Clinton from 2009-13. He is now a distinguished visiting fellow at Johns Hopkins University in the US.
In the chapter titled “The Code-ification of Money, Markets, And Trust”, he talks about leaving home without a physical wallet, the potential of cellphones to transform payment systems, and the brouhaha around Bitcoin as a currency versus a protocol.
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