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Cryptocurrency Mining Malware Infected Over Half-Million PCs Using NSA Exploit



2017 was the year of high profile data breaches and ransomware attacks, but from the beginning of this year, we are noticing a faster-paced shift in the cyber threat landscape, as cryptocurrency-related malware is becoming a popular and profitable choice of cyber criminals.

Several cybersecurity firms are reporting of new cryptocurrency mining viruses that are being spread using EternalBlue—the same NSA exploit that was leaked by the hacking group Shadow Brokers and responsible for the devastating widespread ransomware threat WannaCry.

Researchers from Proofpoint discovered a massive global botnet dubbed "Smominru," a.k.a Ismo, that is using EternalBlue SMB exploit (CVE-2017-0144) to infect Windows computers to secretly mine Monero cryptocurrency, worth millions of dollars, for its master.

Active since at least May 2017, Smominru botnet has already infected more than 526,000 Windows computers, most of which are believed to be servers running unpatched versions of Windows, according to the researchers.

"Based on the hash power associated with the Monero payment address for this operation, it appeared that this botnet was likely twice the size of Adylkuzz," the researchers said.

The botnet operators have already mined approximately 8,900 Monero, valued at up to $3.6 million, at the rate of roughly 24 Monero per day ($8,500) by stealing computing resources of millions of systems.





The highest number of Smominru infection has been observed in Russia, India, and Taiwan, the researchers said.
The command and control infrastructure of Smominru botnet is hosted on DDoS protection service SharkTech, which was notified of the abuse but the firm reportedly ignored the abuse notifications.

According to the Proofpoint researchers, cybercriminals are using at least 25 machines to scan the internet to find vulnerable Windows computers and also using leaked NSA's RDP protocol exploit, EsteemAudit (CVE-2017-0176), for infection.

"As Bitcoin has become prohibitively resource-intensive to mine outside of dedicated mining farms, interest in Monero has increased dramatically. While Monero can no longer be mined effectively on desktop computers, a distributed botnet like that described here can prove quite lucrative for its operators," the researchers concluded.

"The operators of this botnet are persistent, use all available exploits to expand their botnet, and have found multiple ways to recover after sinkhole operations. Given the significant profits available to the botnet operators and the resilience of the botnet and its infrastructure, we expect these activities to continue, along with their potential impacts on infected nodes."

Another security firm CrowdStrike recently published a blog post, reporting another widespread cryptocurrency fileless malware, dubbed WannaMine, using EternalBlue exploit to infect computers to mine Monero cryptocurrency.

Since it does not download any application to an infected computer, WannaMine infections are harder to detect by antivirus programs. CrowdStrike researchers observed the malware has rendered "some companies unable to operate for days and weeks at a time."

Besides infecting systems, cybercriminals are also widely adopting cryptojacking attacks, wherein browser-based JavaScript miners utilise website visitors' CPUs power to mine cryptocurrencies for monetization.

Since recently observed cryptocurrency mining malware attacks have been found leveraging EternalBlue, which had already been patched by Microsoft last year, users are advised to keep their systems and software updated to avoid being a victim of such threats.


Source: https://thehackernews.com/2018/01/cryptocurrency-mining-malware.html

They must be dumb for connecting such big computer to the internet...
They expect to mine cryptos and go unnoticed After all, we are living in a very small world.

Russian Engineers Arrested for Using Nuclear Weapons Facility to Mine Cryptocurrency.

Russian authorities say they have arrested several engineers employed at the All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics in Sarov, a top-secret nuclear weapons facility because they were involved in a cryptocurrency-mining scheme at work.

The tightly guarded nuclear facility is where the USSR’s first nuclear bomb was built. According to the BBC, it has about 20,000 employees and one of the country’s strongest supercomputers, which can run at one petaflop, or perform a quadrillion operations per second. That’s ideal for running nuclear scientific calculations and simulations.

According to some Russian media reports, the employees tried to use the power of the supercomputer to mine cryptocurrency and were detected when they attempted to connect the usually offline machine to the internet.




https://thehackernews.com/2018/02/supercomputer-mining-bitcoin.html
https://gizmodo.com/russian-engineers-arrested-for-using-nuclear-weapons-fa-1822865348

Russian Engineers Arrested for Using Nuclear Weapons Facility to Mine Bitcoin




Two days ago when infosec bods claimed to have uncovered what's believed to be the first case of a SCADA network (a water utility) infected with cryptocurrency-mining malware, a batch of journalists accused other authors of making fear-mongering headlines, taunting that the next headline could be about cryptocurrency-miner detected in a nuclear plant.

It seems that now they have to run a story themselves with such headlines on their website because Russian Interfax News Agency yesterday reported that several scientists at Russia's top nuclear research facility had been arrested for mining cryptocurrency with "office computing resources."

The suspects work as engineers at the Russian Federation Nuclear Center facility—also known as the All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics—which works on developing nuclear weapons.

The center is located in Sarov, Sarov is still a restricted area with high security. It is also the birthplace of the Soviet Union's first nuclear bomb.
In 2011, the Russian Federation Nuclear Center switched on a new supercomputer with a capacity of 1 petaflop, making it the twelfth most powerful in the world at the time.

According to Russian media reports, the engineers had tried to use one of Russia's most powerful supercomputers housed in the Federal Nuclear Center to mine Bitcoins.

The suspects were caught red-handed while attempting to connect the lab's supercomputer to the internet, which was supposed to be offline to ensure security, the nuclear center's security department was alerted.


Once caught, the engineers were handed over to the Federal Security Service (FSB).

"There has been an unsanctioned attempt to use computer facilities for private purposes including so-called mining," Tatyana Zalesskaya, head of the Institute's press service, told Interfax news agency.

"Their activities were stopped in time. The bungling miners have been detained by the competent authorities. As far as I know, a criminal case has been opened regarding them," Zalesskaya added, without revealing the exact number of employees detained.


The Federal Security Service (FSB) has yet to issue a statement on the arrests and criminal charges.

Cryptocurrency has gained tremendous popularity over the past year. Mining a single Bitcoin is not an ice cakewalk, as it requires an enormous amount of computational power and huge amounts of energy.

According to media reports, Russia is becoming a hotbed of cryptocurrency mining due to its low-cost energy reserves. One Russian businessman, Alexey Kolesnik, reportedly also bought two power stations exclusively to generate electricity for Bitcoin-mining data centers.


Source: https://thehackernews.com/2018/02/supercomputer-mining-bitcoin.html

Binance Vs. McAfee: Hack Rumors Controversy




For more than 24 hours, Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, was down due to a server issue on Feb. 7. On Feb. 9, Binance resumed trading after successfully rebooting its server.


Binance hack rumors refuted

John McAfee, a security expert and a well-known public figure in the cryptocurrency space, continued to fuel controversy around Binance and rumors of hacking attacks, showing screenshots that circulated on various social media platforms.

“I received dozens similar from a variety of sources. I'm not saying there was a hack. I'm merely asking for clarification. If a hack did happen and we are not immediately pursuing it, then the chances of recovery go to zero within 24 hours,” McAfee stated.
 
In response to McAfee’s statement, which referenced a photoshopped image of the Binance website, the company’s CEO Changpeng Zhao stated:

Immediately after McAfee released several statements on the issue, the Binance team along with its CEO Changpeng Zhao refuted the rumors, stating that Binance was not hacked. Binance went as far as to transfer funds from its cold wallet to hot wallet to show that the exchange was not hacked.

The Binance team also encouraged McAfee not to spread false information and provided evidence that funds on the exchange are safe by publicly showing the cryptocurrency wallet addresses of the exchange.

Zhao added that the exchange did not experience a hack, but an issue with its server and the team focused on recovering its data to enable trading.


Difference between hack and minor server issues

Recently, many cryptocurrency exchanges and trading platforms were hacked. Coincheck experienced a $530 mln hacking attack as reported by Cointelegraph and yesterday, the largest Nano (RaiBlocks) exchange BitGrail experienced a security breach.

The difference between a hacking attack and a minor server issue is that with security breaches, anyone can verify the movement of absurdly large amounts of cryptocurrencies from the cryptocurrency exchange’s wallets to external wallets, as seen in the case of Coincheck.

Hours before the Coincheck team admitted to a hacking attack, many members of the cryptocurrency community released evidence that hundreds of millions of dollars worth of NEM were moved from the wallet of Coincheck to external wallets.

Thus, if there is no evidence that large sums of funds in cryptocurrencies are transferred from the wallets of a cryptocurrency exchange to external wallets, it is irresponsible to suggest the possibility of a hacking attack.

On Feb. 11, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao released a personal statement on the recent Binance server issue and the actions of McAfee.

    “The real helper was Mr. Mcafee, posting an obviously fake image about us being hacked. Everyone pitched in to help defend us. He united the community for us, and rallied such support, during a time when we needed it the most. Sometimes, things that look negative are actually positive.”

Cryptocurrency exchanges have similar daily trading volumes as stock markets in regions like South Korea. Trading platforms process billions of dollars on a daily basis. As such, upon the occurrence of a hacking attack or a security breach, cryptocurrency exchanges often contact the authorities and cooperate with law enforcement to investigate the attack, as Coincheck did last month. Also, given the size of most major cryptocurrency exchanges, it is irresponsible to suggest the possibility of hacking attacks or security breaches without hard evidence.


Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-vs-mcafee-hack-rumors-refuted-cryptocurrency-trading-resumed

Crypto ‘Unlikely To Disappear’, Says Internal Report Attributed To J.P. Morgan





J.P. Morgan has called cryptocurrencies the “innovative maelstrom” around Blockchain and said they are “unlikely to disappear” in what appears to be an internal report from the company, published Feb. 8, 2018.

In an extract from what is allegedly the banking giant’s executive summary on cryptocurrency, the company appears bullish on crypto’s future.

“Cryptocurrencies are the face of the innovative maelstrom around the Blockchain technology that is bringing both massive price volatility and a constant trial-and-error of new product try-outs and failures,” the report states.

Despite the report’s mixed tone, the distinction from J.P. Morgan’s public position on cryptocurrency over the past six months is palpable.

In September 2017 J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon became notorious after he called Bitcoin a “fraud,” triggering the very price volatility the bank now cites as a “challenge” crypto assets face.

Dimon subsequently claimed he was “not going to talk about Bitcoin anymore,” while last month publicly disclosing he “regretted” making the fraud comments.

Speaking to Cointelegraph at the World Economic Forum in January 2018, Dimon flatly refuted the idea that he was a “skeptic” on Bitcoin.

The recently published report meanwhile offers ideas as to how cryptocurrencies could be used most effectively.

“CCs [Cryptocurrencies] are unlikely to disappear and could easily survive in varying forms and shapes among players who desire greater decentralization, peer-to-peer networks, and anonymity, even as the latter is under threat,” the summary continues in a positive vein.

    “The underlying technology for CCs [cryptocurrencies] could have the greatest application in areas where current payment systems are slow, such as across borders, as payment, reward tokens or funding systems for other Blockchain innovations and the Internet of Things, as well as parts of the underground economy.”

Last week J.P. Morgan was one of several US banks to ban clients from purchasing cryptocurrency with credit cards.


Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-unlikely-to-disappear-says-internal-report-attributed-to-jp-morgan

Bitcoin price hits $9,000 in highest value for a week before crypto crash continues

BITCOIN had a price boost yesterday as the cryptocurrency hit its highest price for a week, passing the $9,000 mark, before it saw its value once again slump.

The online currency has had a torrid start to 2018 after it saw its price plunge from an all-time high of nearly $20,000 in December 2017 to a low of less than $6,000 on February 6.

However, the cryptocurrency began to show signs of a steady recovery over the last few days with its price climbing to more than $9,000 on Saturday morning, representing a 5 percent rise in value over 24 hours.

However, any signs of a Bitcoin recovery were quickly quashed as the digital money then saw its price once again drop.

 



It is presently worth $8,231.

The failure of Bitcoin’s price to continue rising as it pursues to once again reach the value of December 2017 adds credit to the theory that the cryptocurrency was in a bubble due to burst.

Throughout 2017 Bitcoin’s value increased by more than 1,500 percent.

Speaking in December Nicholas Gregory, CEO of the cryptocurrency business enabler, CommerceBlock, warned: “Once Bitcoin starts to behave more in tune with traditional foreign exchange markets, people's faith in it will only grow.

“However, that means it is not immune, and should not be immune, from price corrections either.

“A significant price correction and the long-term viability of bitcoin as a major alternative currency are not mutually exclusive.”

The dramatic drop in the price of Bitcoin began after some countries announced their intention to introduce new laws surrounding cryptocurrencies.

Up until now, the online money has been unregulated, adding interest to digital currencies because of its freedom.

South Korea introduced a raft of measures last month aimed at regulating Bitcoin and similar currencies such as Ripple and Ethereum.



Bitcoin has seen its price drop to below $6,000 in 2018 after a record-breaking 2017

A ban on anonymous trading was implemented by the Asian power in a bid to crack down on all possible criminal activities the secret nature of trading Bitcoin allowed.

Meanwhile, India’s Government has said it does not consider cryptocurrencies to be legal tender and will try to phase out payments using the online money.

Japan has also announced its intention to introduce more rules around trading the digital money.

Source: https://www.express.co.uk/finance/city/917306/bitcoin-price-surge-cryptocurrency-crash-value-9-000-record-high-drop

Russia’s Largest State Bank To Open Cryptocurrency Exchange In Europe



Sberbank, the largest state bank of Russia, is planning to launch a cryptocurrency exchange in its Swiss branch, Sberbank Switzerland AG, local media group RBC reported on Tuesday, Jan. 30.

The bank’s Head of Global Markets Andrey Shemetov told RBC that the Russian bank chose Switzerland for the exchange location because Russian authorities do not currently allow cryptocurrency operations, while cryptocurrency exchange is legal in Switzerland.

“We wish to serve our customers’ interests, that’s why we think that we need to have strategic access to all kinds of products and services,” Shemetov claimed.

As RBC reports, Sberbank is currently developing their trading infrastructure, but Shemetov did not specify when the exchange is expected to be launched.

Sberbank does not plan to provide cryptocurrency exchange to retail investors but is looking to operate on the institutional level.  “Cryptocurrency exchange operations will be available for legal entities only,” Shemetov stated, adding that cryptocurrency investments are high risk due to market volatility.

Earlier this month, the head of Sberbank, Herman Gref, declared that cryptocurrency should not be banned “under any circumstances”, calling both cryptocurrencies and Blockchain

“new huge technologies whose power cannot be realized at the moment.”

On Jan. 25, Russian authorities presented the Digital Assets Regulation Bill, which defines and establishes a regulatory system for cryptocurrencies, ICOs, mining, and trading.

According to the latest update of the bill, the Ministry of Finance is aiming to legally adopt cryptocurrency trading, since it would reduce the risks of fraud and increase the government’s tax revenue, due to the potential for fiscal transparency.

According to local crypto news site Forklog, the final version of the bill will be officially released no later than July 1, 2018, which means the current version could still be altered before the law goes into effect.


Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/russias-largest-state-bank-to-open-cryptocurrency-exchange-in-europe

The BitConnect's effect!!! BitConnect, The Billionaire Coin, and the coins alike (Scams/Ponzi) are tarnishing the image of cryptocurrencies. Social media sites such as Facebook are getting bombarded with many shitcoins (Scams) and ICO promotions. With the current Bitconnect situation, the Facebook must implement new rules regarding the ICOs and cryptocurrency promotions.  

Goldman Sachs Isn’t Launching a Bitcoin Trading Desk (Because It Already Owns One)



Recently, Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein shot down longstanding rumors that the investment bank was launching a cryptocurrency trading desk.

Now, we know the reason why: the bank already owns one.


Goldman Sachs ‘Not’ Launching Bitcoin Trading Desk

As early as October last year, there were rumors that Goldman Sachs was considering opening the first major Wall Street cryptocurrency trading desk.

By the end of the year, sources familiar with the matter were saying that the firm had already begun hiring personnel to staff the trading desk, which would be operated out of New York.

However, Blankfein rebuffed those reports during an interview with CNBC at the World Economic Forum, which was held in Davos earlier this month.

    “What we said was we were opening – we, we’re clearing futures in bitcoins for some of our futures clients. We’d clear them. We’re a prime broker and so if our clients are going to do it, we’re going to do it,” he said. “A principle bitcoin business where we’re going long and short, market making, so far we’re not[.]”

What he didn’t say is that Goldman Sachs already owns a cryptocurrency trading desk — in fact, it has since 2015.


Goldman’s Hidden Cryptocurrency Trading Stake

Okay, strictly speaking, it’s not a Goldman Sachs trading desk, and the bank isn’t a majority stakeholder in the venture, but as Quartz pointed out this week, Goldman Sachs was the lead investor in Circle’s 2015 funding round, which raised $50 million for the fintech startup.

In addition to its flagship Circle Pay service, the company also operates Circle Trade, which provides liquidity for cryptocurrency exchange markets and also manages over-the-counter (OTC) trading for large institutional clients seeking to place minimum orders of $250,000. According to the company’s website, it directly trades $2 billion worth of cryptocurrencies per month, making it one of the larger crypto-focused trading operations.

The firm’s next eponymous service will further expand the firm’s cryptocurrency-related offerings — and Goldman Sachs’ exposure to the nascent industry that Blankfein has called “a vehicle to perpetrate fraud.” Slated to launch in March, Circle Invest will provide retail investors with access to a commission-free cryptocurrency trading.


Source: https://www.ccn.com/goldman-sachs-isnt-launching-a-bitcoin-trading-desk-because-it-already-owns-one/

“Crypto Nation”: Switzerland Embraces Cryptocurrencies as an ICO Haven



The Swiss are bucking an otherwise resistant trend among the world’s regulators toward cryptocurrencies. Instead, Switzerland is embracing the culture of cryptocurrencies, as evidenced by a leadership role for the domiciling of upcoming ICOs, as reported in the FT. As home to Crypto Valley, the Swiss version of Silicon Valley located in the canton of Zug and filled with blockchain companies, the country now wants its leadership position to encompass all things crypto.

Swiss Economics Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann at a crypto finance conference for private and institutional investors, the first of its kind held in the Swiss Alps earlier this month, said that Switzerland wants to be the “crypto nation.” He said it with the condition that momentum that has gripped Crypto Valley continues.

Switzerland is already an attractive domicile for companies, given its business-friendly regulatory environment and transparency, creating ideal conditions for blockchain startups to come. A propensity for tax evasion among wealthy clients, however, precedes the Alpine country, having tarnished its reputation in the interim. Now policymakers must contend with that reputation when setting the parameters for the Digital Revolution they want to foster.

Bern has created an ICO working group, similar to the approach of the US SEC’s task force, to study the role regulation, as is Swiss’ FINMA. Swiss Finance Minister Jörg Gasser said the market isn’t as “disciplined” as they would like. They are striving for a “flourishing” ICO market but not at the expense of the standards and integrity of the financial markets.

Industry participants come down on both sides of the regulatory argument, with Richard Olsen, founder of blockchain exchange Lykee, suggesting if it’s not broke, there’s no need to fix it, suggesting that ICOs could “self-police,” similar to the sharing economy. But Switzerland is not likely to allow the pendulum to swing too far to that side, with regulatory protocols KYL and AML present.

According to the FT, Switzerland-based ICOs attracted $550 million to their coffers between January and October 2017, compared to $580 million in the United States — the two top countries for token sales. All told, ICOs last year raised about $4 billion.


Swiss ICO Appeal

The appeal of Switzerland is clear, as evidenced by wealthy local investors coupled with high-quality tech talent. Demand for upcoming ICOs is persisting into 2018, with the Crypto Valley trade group getting up to 10 inquiries daily about doing a Swiss ICO.

They are looking to piggyback on the success of some other blockbuster Swiss deals, including blockchain smartphone maker Sirin Labs, a Swiss-Israeli startup that raised more than $157 million in its ICO. Switzerland’s biggest competition may be Gibraltar, with the Gibraltar Stock Exchange doing an ICO.

Not that there haven’t been any losers, with the Tezos ICO debacle still unfolding after raising $232 million. The latest development being Johann Gevers, head of the Swiss Foundation who has been embroiled in a fight with the Tezos founders, reportedly pledging to resign once the project is moving forward.

Meanwhile, of the top 10 upcoming ICOs, 40% are domiciled in Switzerland, as per PwC data cited in the FT.


Source: https://www.ccn.com/alpine-country-strives-for-crypto-nation/

Bitcoin - the Revenue comes calling


Bitcoin came close to crossing $20,000 in December but dipped below $10,000 in January

It is that time of year many a self-employed person dreads, the deadline to submit your tax return and pay anything you owe. But this year there is a question a select few should be asking themselves - have I profited from my investment in crypto-currencies?

If you have, you could be liable for tax.

In 2014 Revenue & Customs published guidelines making clear the different taxes that apply to any earnings from crypto-currencies.

For most people who have bought a few bitcoins some years ago, it is Capital Gains Tax that will be relevant.

This will apply to any profits, once you hit the £11,300 CGT threshold, not just if they are converted into a standard currency but if they are used to buy other crypto-currencies such as Ethereum or to invest in initial coin offerings (ICOs).

But in recent weeks there is some evidence that a few people are making trading in crypto-currencies a full-time job, in which case they are likely to be liable for income tax on their earnings.

Now, the acceleration in the value of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies happened over the course of 2017 so it is unlikely many people will have incurred tax liabilities in 2016-17, the year HMRC is currently examining.


Fraudulent tactics

But over recent months there has been a flood of Bitcoin money heading into everything from ICOs to property - so next year there should in theory be a big boost for the government's Capital Gains Tax receipts.

One accountant told me plenty of his clients had piled into Bitcoin but seemed unaware of the tax implications.

What is clear is the whole crypto-currency industry is now under the spotlight of regulators around the world.

They are concerned not just about tax evasion but money laundering and major fraud.

In the United States this week the Securities and Exchange Commission got a court order to halt an ICO attempting to raise $1bn (£0.7bn) to fund what was claimed to be the world's first "decentralised" bank.

The regulator alleges this was a scam that had already used what it described as fraudulent tactics to raise as much as $600m, including failing to disclose the criminal background of key executives.

AriseBank has blamed the dispute on "confusion" over its activities and crypto-currencies.

Accountants have a warning for those who invest their crypto-currency gains in schemes that turn out to be fraudulent - if you lose your money, you won't even be able to write it off against tax.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42872610

Line Pay App to Launch Cryptocurrency Services



The provider of a popular messaging app in Japan, Line Corporation, has announced the launch of a new company that will provide digital currency services.

The new company, dubbed Line Financial Corporation, will provide a platform to transact and exchange digital currencies, insurance, and loans, a company release states.

In a move intended to build its position in the financial business sphere, the new company will also foster research and development of technologies like blockchain, it adds.

The cryptocurrency services will be made available via Line Pay app – the corporation's mobile money payment and transfer app. Last year, Line Pay saw overall volume of annual transaction rise to almost 450 billion Japanese yen ($4.1 billion), and registered users hit 40 million, the release claims.

The new entity is currently awaiting licensing by Japan's authorities, Line Corp said.

According to the release:

    "The application process for registration as a virtual currency exchanger has already been started with the Financial Services Agency [FSA], and it is currently under review."

Japan has become one of the world's most cryptocurrency-friendly jurisdictions over the last year, with rules and licensing aimed to encourage the industry while still protecting consumers.

Notably, in March 2017, the country recognized bitcoin as a legal payment method. And, six months later, the FSA started issuing operating licenses to cryptocurrency.

Line isn't the only app maker to plan a role for cryptocurrencies. In September, social media platform Kik launched its own cryptocurrency via an initial coin offering (ICO) that raised $98 million. At the time the firm said the move could fulfill long-held business goals.

And mobile banking startup Revolut added support for litecoin and ethereum to its app in December 2017. The move followed the company's integration of bitcoin support in July


Source: https://www.coindesk.com/japanese-app-provider-line-corp-to-launch-cryptocurrency-services/

Bitcoin Back Above $10K But Gains Could Be Short-Lived




Bitcoin is back above $10,000, but the gains could be short-lived, the price charts indicate.

Having breached key support yesterday, prices on CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) fell to a two-week low of $9,627.89 at 01:14 UTC today. In the last few hours, bitcoin (BTC) has managed to regain some poise and moved back above $10,000. At time of writing, bitcoin was around the $10,300 mark.

The 15 percent drop from the weekend high of $11,942.25 signals a continuation of the series of lower highs on the price chart, suggesting the bears remain in control.

That said, the quick rebound from $9,627.89 to $10,000 adds credence to the argument that the cryptocurrency could be forming a base around $10,000.

However, the 4.9 percent rally from the intraday low of $9,627 looks like a technical correction amid a bigger downtrend. Further, a break below $9,780 could result in sharp losses.


Bitcoin chart



The above chart (prices as per Coinbase) shows:

    * BTC closed (as per UTC) yesterday below $10,313 (50 percent Fibonacci retracement of 2017 low-high), signaling another victory for the bears. However, they have failed at least four times in the last two weeks to keep the prices below the key Fibonacci level, thus establishing it as an important support level.
    * A falling channel marked by falling trendlines representing lower highs and lower lows.
    * Five-day moving average (MA) and 10-day MA are trending lower, indicating a bearish setup.
    * The 50-day MA has adopted bearish bias (is beginning to slope downwards).

Also, the bearish move below $10,313 witnessed yesterday looks strong.


4-hour chart



    * The ADX line bottomed out yesterday and rose sharply once prices fell below $10,313, indicating the bearish move is strong and prices will likely extend the decline.
    * Currently, the ADX line is at 29 and rising. The above 25 readings indicate the beginning of a trend. In BTC' case, it means the bearish move has likely just begun.

So, the cryptocurrency looks set to test $8,052 (61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement of 2017 low - high) over the next few days.

However, the above scenario may not come to fruition if the rising trendline continues to cap downside in bitcoin.


Trendline chart



    * The ascending trendline (drawn from Jul. 16 low and Sep. 15 low) is still intact. BTC's dip below the trendline seen earlier today was short-lived.


View

    * The previous day's close below $10,313 (50 percent Fibonacci retracement of 2017 low-high) has strengthened the bears.
    * However, the rebound from the trendline support seen today calls for caution.
    * A daily close (as per UTC) below the trendline support of $9,780 could yield a drop to $8,052 (61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement of 2017 low to high).
    * Bullish scenario: A daily close (as per UTC) above $11,690 would turn the tables in favor of the bulls.


Source: https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-is-back-above-10k-but-gains-could-be-short-lived/

Is Bitcoin’s Reign as King of Cryptocurrency in Danger?



Regardless of where your allegiances lie in the crypto community, homage should be paid to the original Blockchain solution - Bitcoin. However, it has been 10 long years now since Bitcoin came into being (an eternity in the cryptocurrency space) and things are starting to get away from the King.

Bitcoin’s path was forever changed in August 2017 when a new challenger stepped up to the plate amid the rapidly escalating scaling debate. Bitcoin Cash appeared with its backers claiming it to be the one true ruler. Not long after this came Segwit 2x's failure to launch, which essentially confirmed Bitcoin’s status as digital gold. As a digital gold, it may have no rivals, but in the world of cryptocurrency it may have played its last move.

Scaling is a constant topic for evolving cryptocurrencies, and if Bitcoin cannot scale properly soon, it could be abandoned by investors for a more forward-thinking cryptocurrency.


An aging King

After bringing in millions of users to the cryptocurrency space, Bitcoin has hit a log jam on its network as available blocks fill up with transactions quicker than they can be mined. This backlog has led to higher transaction fees and longer waiting times.

These factors all end up being counterproductive to the principles underpinning cryptocurrency which are to eliminate the power that banks have over money. Banking fees and centralised waiting times are part and parcel of the irritation that comes from another entity being in control of one's money. Bitcoin is increasingly picking up these bad habits, leaving its users with a feeling of déjà vu harking back to the days when banks held a monopoly over monetary services.


Waiting in the wings

Bitcoin’s move towards digital gold was a communal decision, and therefore blame cannot really be laid purely on the currency’s shoulders. But in that short time, frustrations amongst investors have grown with regards to the scaling issues.

There are other currencies waiting to try and take the mantle away from Bitcoin, and already this has been demonstrated as Bitcoin suffers a 50 percent drop in market dominance since November. Currently, market share for Bitcoin is just over 33 percent, having not too long ago been at over 60.

Bitcoin Cash is the most direct competitor to Bitcoin, trying to replace it as a ‘peer-to-peer electronic cash system’, as outlined in its white paper. However Bitcoin cash has more than just its potential replacements to worry about, as the adoption rate of the currency is reversing. Bitcoin once held sway over a number of large companies who had adopted it as a form of electronic payment, but have since reneged on their adoption. Steam, formerly a strong supporter, no longer accepts Bitcoin, while Microsoft caused confusion when they looked to stop accepting only to rebut this and state:

    “Microsoft has restored Bitcoin as a payment option after working with our provider to ensure lower Bitcoin amounts would be redeemable by customers.”

As companies turn away from Bitcoin, even some of the more established names in cryptocurrency join the march for the door. Civic CEO Vinny Lingham, who is well respected for his opinions in the crypto community said:

    “When I look at it from the product standpoint, I think the greater demand is for peer-to-peer cash than for digital gold.”


Where to for Bitcoin?

There are currently plans underway for the oldest and most well-known digital coin to try and overcome this scaling issue. Some of the solutions being considered include the Lightning Network, or major upgrades to the network like changing block sizes.

Lightning Network, a technology which is being tested slowly but surely on the Bitcoin network, involves taking the transactions off-chain and opening payment channels. With these transactions taking place off chain, the result is an almost instantaneous transaction, at a much cheaper rate. This kind of upgrade will require a lot of consensus, and will need to undergo a lot more testing and proof before it becomes entrenched and usable on a large scale, which is another issue that Bitcoin has.

Even the idea of making big changes to the network could again fail and flounder. We have already seen this with the failure of the Segwit2x potential upgrade. Bigger blocks could solve the problem, but then Bitcoin will essentially going down the same path as Bitcoin Cash, and with too many staunch supporters in the community, this is unlikely to happen.


Hard to dethrone

Bitcoin is well entrenched in the cryptocurrency space, and will likely be a leading currency for a good while more as people refer to Bitcoin first before anything else. But, as the community matures, explores, and demands more, Bitcoin could be in trouble. Changes need to happen, and while Bitcoin will not fall on its sword too soon, if it does not make changes, then the potential for failure will continue to increase.


Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/is-bitcoins-reign-as-king-of-cryptocurrency-in-danger

Big Differences Between Gold and Bitcoin, According to World Gold Council



Due to its success as a store of value Bitcoin is often labeled ‘digital gold.’ This sentiment came to the fore in the latter months of 2017, as Bitcoin entered massive bull run that had the financial world in a bit of spin.

Scalability has been a long-term problem plaguing Bitcoin, but the saving grace from high transaction costs and delays has been its emergence as a store of value. While Bitcoin remains in a volatile state, it is still head-and-shoulder above its altcoin predecessors in terms of value per coin. A plethora of cryptocurrency and mainstream financial analysts have likened Bitcoin to gold for this very reason.

Well-known American broadcaster Max Keiser has been particularly vocal about his predictions for Bitcoin. While he envisions the preeminent cryptocurrency hitting $100,000 highs, Keiser also believes Bitcoin will lead to the revival of physical gold trade, by highlighting speculative trading methods employed by mainstream traders:

“Bitcoin is helping gold by shattering the matrix of Wall Street that is incurring the naked short-selling and financial manipulation that is going on in the futures market of gold.”

World Gold Council says Bitcoin is not like gold

In a document published on Jan. 25, the World Gold Council (WGC), the market development organization for gold, shed light on its stance towards cryptocurrencies. According to their statistics, gold saw 13 percent growth in value in 2017- which by all accounts is a positive statistic, but it pales in comparison to the parabolic growth of Bitcoin during the same time period.

Nevertheless, WGC’s report went about explaining its stance on cryptocurrency, and why it sees gold remaining an integral store-of-value investment in the age of cryptocurrencies. It’s hard to call the arguments shockingly fresh though as gold trade sees less volatility, its market is far more liquid and highly regulated. It is also well-established as an investment portfolio.

Gold liquidity and diversity

The WGC highlighted the fact that gold has a far higher day-to-day liquidity. In relation to gold’s $250 bln worth of trades per day, the WGC estimates that Bitcoin’s daily trade is worth around $2 bln- roughly the equivalent of gold-backed exchange traded funds.

Another factor is the diverse uses and applications of gold. Gold’s highest demand comes from the jewelry industry, accounting for 50-60 percent of gold demand over the past 20 years. Another 30 percent of demand comes from the investment portfolio, while the rest applies to the tech industry and central banks.

Common characteristic - scarcity

As the WGC cites, Bitcoin’s supply increases at around four percent each year- as it nears its 21 mln coin cap. This will only be reached in the year 2140, due to the scaling difficulty of mining - but this anti-inflationary process is a common characteristic shared with gold as the WGC points out in its report:

    “Approximately 3,200 tonnes of gold have been mined on average, each year, adding about 1.7 percent to the total stock of gold ever mined. Bitcoin’s future diminishing growth rate and ultimate finite quantity are clearly attractive attributes, as is gold’s scarcity and marginal annual growth.”


Gold trade looking into Blockchain

While the WGC clearly wants to quash any comparisons to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, the industry seems to appreciate the value of Blockchain technology. The distributed-ledger system that underpins Bitcoin and various altcoins have proven its value, and bright minds began exploring almost limitless applications of Blockchain systems. According to the WGC, the gold industry is among them:

   “In the gold market, various players are exploring Blockchain in the context of transforming gold into a ‘digital asset,’ tracking gold provenance across the supply chain, and introducing efficiencies into post-trade settlement processes.”

This is likely to be done on private Blockchains. But nevertheless, the financial world is taking to the idea of Blockchain technology.


Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/big-differences-between-gold-and-bitcoin-according-to-world-gold-counci

Samsung Enters Crypto Mining Market, “Mass Producing” ASIC Chips For China



Samsung announced a deal on Monday, Jan. 29 to manufacture ASIC mining hardware with Taiwanese manufacturer TSMC. “Mass production” of the ASIC chip has already begun in January, according to Korean news outlet The Bell.

An ASIC chip, which stands for Application-Specific Integrated Circuit, is a specialized piece of hardware designed to only mine cryptocurrencies based on a specific hashing algorithm, such as SHA256 or Scrypt (which Bitcoin and Litecoin run on, respectively). It makes up part of a crypto mining device.

TSMC supplies the ASIC chips needed for cryptocurrency mining to Bitmain, a China-based Bitcoin mining company. Bitmain also manufactures its own hardware, having released two ASIC-style products in September 2017 to relatively negative fanfare as well as an unexpected launch of a SiaCoin miner on Jan. 19.

In regards to the profitability of Samsung entering the crypto mining market, Hwang Min-seong, an analyst at Samsung Securities, told The Bell:

    “Samsung Electronics could increase its revenues through ASIC chip manufacturing but because the foundry only accounts for a small portion of the company’s semi-conductor manufacturing plant, it is difficult to predict that the firm’s mining venture will have a significant impact on the company’s revenues.”

South Korea-based Samsung’s deal with TSMC comes after a turbulent month in the crypto markets in Asia, with exchanges banned in China and accusations of insider trading and confusion over regulation in South Korea leading to losses across the board.


Source: https://www.coindesk.com/10k-exposed-bitcoin-bulls-fail-to-defend-price-floor/

Bitcoin's Price Falls Below $10K Amid Wider Crypto Drop



The price of bitcoin is down more than 10% today, having slipped below $10,000 amid wider weakness in the cryptocurrency market, according to CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index (BPI).

Price data shows that, as of press time, the price of bitcoin is trading at $9,992.12, representing a decline of roughly 9.9%. Overall, the price of bitcoin is down more than $1,100 since Tuesday's session began.

The cryptocurrency's price had been trading above $11,000 since Saturday when it briefly went below that level. After bouncing around that figure this morning, bitcoin slid below $11,000 around 9:15 UTC.

Other cryptocurrencies have taken a hit today as well.

According to information from sites like CoinMarketCap and OnChainFX, the prices of all of the top-10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization (which is the spot price of the token multiplied by the total amount of tokens in circulation) have fallen in the past 24 hours. These include NEM, EOS and Cardano, per info from CMC, all of which have shed at least 10% in value since yesterday.

The price of NEM's XEM token has been particularly hard-hit today, coming in the wake of a dramatic $500 million hack from Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck. A new report from Reuters published today indicates that some of the XEM tokens stolen are being sent to exchanges in order to be sold.


Source: https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-price-nears-10k-amid-wider-crypto-drop/

Fork Fail: US Government Institute Claims Bitcoin Cash Is ‘Original’ Bitcoin



A US government institute has claimed Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is the “original” Bitcoin while Bitcoin itself (BTC) is a “fork” in a surprising official research into cryptocurrency.

In a document titled “Blockchain Technology Overview” from the National Institute of Standards and Technology under the US Department of Commerce, authors Dylan Yaga, Peter Mell, Nik Roby and Karen Scarfone claim that “technically,” the perception that BTC is the genuine version of Bitcoin is incorrect.

“When SegWit was activated, it caused a hard fork, and all the mining nodes and users who did not want to change started calling the original Bitcoin blockchain Bitcoin Cash (BCC),” they write.

    “Technically, Bitcoin is a fork and Bitcoin Cash is the original blockchain. When the hard fork occurred, people had access to the same amount of coins on Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.”

The document makes for curious reading at a time when the cryptocurrency industry remains awash with propaganda and marketing activities from BCH and BTC representatives alike.

Confusion for new users in Bitcoin has increased following July’s hard fork due to some major resources in the industry, notably Roger Ver’s Bitcoin.com, controversially allying with BCH.

More recently, two scandals involving BCH, mainstream news outlet CNBC and major US exchange Coinbase further dented BCH’s reputation.

The US government document nonetheless appears unfazed by both the events and the nature of Bitcoin’s hard fork itself, continuing on to provide descriptions of other cryptocurrencies.

Litecoin, authors say, is a “complement to Bitcoin,” while Ethereum Classic is underlined as the original version of “more popular” Ethereum.

Last Week, ratings agency Weiss also caused a stir when it delivered its first cryptocurrency ratings, giving Bitcoin a ‘C+’ and Ethereum a ‘B.’


Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/fork-fail-us-government-claims-bitcoin-cash-is-original-bitcoin