Coin News

Gavin Andresen took to Reddit today to rekindle /r/Bitcoin’s giving spirit.  Not to say that /r/Bitcoin’s giving spirit has been dampened at all over the last few years; however, the sponsorship antics of the /r/Dogecoin community just seem to generate more headlines.  The Indian Olympic Team, the Jamaican Dogesled Team, the Doge4Water campaign, the Dogecoin NASCAR: These are just the ones that […]

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The newly discovered security hole exposed millions of passwords, credit card numbers, and other sensitive data. Find out how to shore up your company's Internet traffic.

Back in 2012, a new version of popular Internet encryption software OpenSSL, which protects nearly 66 percent of websites, rolled out with a security hole. "Heartbleed" left Internet users' passwords, usernames, financial data, email exchanges, and more vulnerable to theft by hackers, according to a Google researcher and independent Finnish security firm Codenomicon, who together discovered and named the bug.

The lapse in Internet security means that even if your site has a lock icon or a URL prefix of "https://" in the browser--ostensibly signs that traffic is secure--it may not be safe. The security experts who discovered Heartbleed write:

"The Heartbleed bug allows anyone on the Internet to read the memory of the systems protected by the vulnerable versions of the OpenSSL software. This compromises the secret keys used to identify the service providers and to encrypt the traffic, the names and passwords of the users and the actual content. This allows attackers to eavesdrop on communications, steal data directly from the services and users and to impersonate services and users."

To check if your site is vulnerable, type in your URL here.

Giovanni Vigna, cofounder of security startup Lastline, says all businesses need to upgrade to the new version of OpenSSL, which includes a new certificate (the "secret key" the experts refer to), and then alert all users to change their passwords.

Heartbleed is a particularly scary bug because of the potential breadth of its impact, Vigna says. "It's difficult to understand how wide this attack was before it was made public, but someone could be banging a business right now and stealing every single bit of memory from their servers," Vigna says. "I doubt businesses will ever know, which leaves a big question mark hanging over you."

Many reports have suggested that small businesses are at the greatest risk, but Vigna disagrees. He says while small businesses are usually targets because they typically don't have great security, Heartbleed levels the playing field by making every company using OpenSSL susceptible. He believes criminals are going to go for big scores.

"There's going to be a very limited window to exploit this vulnerability, so the attackers are going to focus on sites and companies that manage the most sensitive information and are slow at upgrading their infrastructure," Vigna says.

The good news, says Jordan Edelson, a software developer and the CEO of New York-based app developer Appetizer Mobile, is that the bug is easy to fix. There's an OpenSSL patch available online and anyone can implement it without much technical know-how.

Below, check out the three things your company needs to do if your site is using OpenSSL and is vulnerable to Heartbleed:

1. Update your version of OpenSSL with this fix. It will close the vulnerability and make your software secure again.

2. Alert all of your users and employees that your site is now secure and advise them to change their usernames and passwords. Edelson says you should tell your users to do a series of password-change cycles. Change it now, in one week, and in one month from now.

3. A cyberattack can cripple your business, cost thousands of dollars, and do irreparable damage to your brand's image, so if you have not been investing heavily in your company's cybersecurity, it's time to start. "As the Web evolves, more vulnerabilities will emerge and companies need to be aware and stay updated," Edelson says. "You do not want your servers to be compromised. Cyberattacks can cripple a business. Pump as much money into IT as you can. It's not a department to overlook."

A user of popular bitcoin wallet MultiBit has claimed that his wallet lost his private key.

Virtex is soon launching a platform that will allow for the exchange of cryptocurrencies at an international level. The company based in Kaunas, Lithuania is the realization of a project led by CEO Paulius Meskauskas, CMO Tomas Andzelis, and CRO Mantas Gustys, and was inspired by new technologies in cryptocurrency. Kaunas serves as the technology and economic center of Lithuania, and the Virtex offices are located at the heart of the city. Along with a group of more than 20 individuals, Virtex has set out to create an exchange that benefits traders by offering transparency of operations and partnerships. Virtex came about through the group’s interest in what cryptocurrency could provide for the future. “We wanted to get immersed with […]

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If you’re involved with the exciting world of Bitcoin, you know just how fast things are moving and how incredibly complex every situation is. On top of that, very few actually understand the cryptocommunity. Well, a new class of graduates may be about to enter the obscure regulatory world of Cryptocurrencies. Two professors, David Yermack […]

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An anonymous Robin Hood-esque figure is giving away thousands of dollars in Dogecoin to help address income inequality, especially in the Bay Area.

The figure, who calls himself "Hood" and goes by the Twitter handle @savethemhood, has posted a bunch of flyers around San Francisco with a QR code for an unspecified amount of Dogecoin.  

He seemed to foreshadow this late last month:

I’m here to expose my internal greed and the greed of others. I’m here to put people above profits. I’m here to give you my coat.

— Hood (@savethemhood) April 9, 2014

And then, today, he Tweeted this:

San Francisco, many of you are struggling. Greedy landlords are kicking out tenants to increase rents. I hope this helps.

— Hood (@savethemhood) April 9, 2014

Soon thereafter, he began posting these:

He's also "tipping" influential people on Twitter, including Medium's Evan Williams and Ashton Kutcher, thousands of dollars worth of Dogecoin. Here's what he said about the project.

Today I tip the influential, those that understand technology, those that can help distribute to the poor.

— Hood (@savethemhood) April 9, 2014

I’m here to expose my internal greed and the greed of others. I’m here to put people above profits. I’m here to give you my coat.

— Hood (@savethemhood) April 9, 2014

We spotlighted "Hood" last month when he gave away $11,000 on World Water Day.

According to Ben Doernberg of the Dogecoin Foundation, "Hood" has given away approximately $20,000 — 45 million in Dogecoin — today.

Let's see what happens now.

SEE ALSO: Bitcoin Mining May Be Hitting A Wall

Join the conversation about this story »

Members of Canada's bitcoin community will address a Senate committee today as part of its 18-month digital currency study.

by Erica and Stefan Armstrong (wife and husband accounting team) and David Mondrus Open ledger accounting has the potential to make accounting more accurate and simpler than ever. One of the problems with accounting as it currently stands is its inability to provide 100% accuracy. This might be surprising for those not actively managing books day to day, but the details of transactions, the speed with which they move and the complexity of their classification means that 100% accuracy is far from certain. For example, a large bank has thousands of transactions a day that they have to balance to cash. They simply can’t balance to the penny every day. It takes too much time and would cost too much. […]

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How to reduce carbon emissions from bitcoin mining? CoinDesk looks at the pros and cons of the available options.

Erst vor zwei Wochen hatte ich über den BlackCoin-Schwund bei CryptoRush berichtet, doch leider reisst die Serie an Skandälen um CryptoRush immer noch nicht ab.  Vor Kurzem erklärte die Cryptobörse nun die Insolvenz. Chronologie der Ereignisse Nachdem die Zahl der insgesamt durch Fahrlässigkeit verlorenen Coins in der letzten Woche einen Wert von fast 1200 BTC […]

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Whenever talking to somebody who does not believe in Bitcoin, that person will often tell you stories about the lack of security. All kinds of horror scenarios are brought up. Granted, the fact that you can send Bitcoin from one person to another over the internet makes it vulnerable to hacking attempts. Luckily, some of the most brilliant […]

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Athey joined the board of directors at Ripple this week, after previously serving as the company's advisor.

The Sacramento Kings became the first team in the NBA to accept Bitcoin in January of this year. In the first months since the announcement, the team only allowed season ticket holders to use Bitcoin for purchases at the arena, but last week the team announced their partnership with BitDazzle to launch KingsBitcoin.com. KingsBitcoin.com, powered by BitDazzle, is the first online marketplace to accept the virtual currency in the NBA. Launched April 3, the website allows customers to pay for game tickets, memorabilia and special fan experiences using Bitcoin. The co-branded online store makes it possible for Kings fans to support their team from the comfort of their home, using a secure and contactless payment. As the first professional sports […]

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Polis asked Robocoin to demonstrate its two-way bitcoin ATM to officials unfamiliar with the practicalities of the technology.

I caught up with singer-songwriter and Bitcoin enthusiast, Tatiana Moroz, to talk about her experience at SXSW this year. —TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW—- Question: Tatiana, please tell us about yourself and your music. Tatiana: Hi my name is Tatiana Moroz and I’m a singer/songwriter from NJ. I have been singing as long as I can remember, I always knew what I wanted to do when I got older. I grew up listening to a lot of different kinds of singer/songwriters from the 60s and the 70s like Simon and Garfunkel, Cat Stevens, Carly Simons, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young, and I was really influenced by their ability to utilize music to bring about change in the world. The problem was that […]

The post Transcript: An Interview With Tatiana Moroz Regarding SXSW, Bitcoin, and More appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Like a still obscure version of online dollars, bitcoins or something like them are here to stay and redefining money

Marc Hochstein, Executive Director of American Banker, was the moderator for the morning keynote “Bitcoin, Remittances and the Developing World” at the New York City Inside Bitcoins conference. Marc was joined by Pelle Braendgaard Co-Founder, mobile Bitcoin wallet Kipochi;  Christian Jacken, Bitcoin Entrepreneur and co-founder Liquid Democracy;  Edan Yago, CEO, Epiphyte; Mary Dent, Founder, dcIQ  and Stephanie Murphy co-host Let’s Talk Bitcoin! and COO Fr33 Aid. It has been 15 years since Japan based NTT DOCOMO launched the first mobile phone internet service. This same year, in 1999, SMS texts could be exchanged between different networks for the very first time. As Christian pointed out, we are now at a point in time that the mobile phone is replacing the […]

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The move by the gift card provider opens up over 100 retail brands to dogecoin and litecoin fans.

 If you're using a bitcoin wallet or an online wallet or exchange, heartbleed could be a very real problem for you and your BTC. Luckily, things have finally settled down after a few days of panic and there are few very easy ways to ensure you're protected. Read More

Apenas unas semanas después del lanzamiento de la versión Bitcoin Core 0.9.0, ya está disponible la versión 0.9.1. Esta actualización es por motivos de seguridad, debido a una vulnerabilidad conocida como “Heartbleed” que se ha encontrado recientemente en la función Heartbeat (de ahí su nombre) de la librería OpenSSL. Esta vulnerabilidad no afecta a todos […]

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Today, Stockholm-based KnCMiner, among the most successful Bitcoin mining rig manufacturers in the world, announced it was starting up a backup plan to protect customers in case deliveries of its 20-nanometer "Neptune" machine came in behind schedule.

We profiled KnC late last year after they demonstrated the fastest machine on the planet. 

But for Dan Murtha, co-founder of MinerSource.net, a bulk buyer and distributor of mining hardware, KnC's announcement is a sign Bitcoin mining rig power may be plateauing.

Reminder: Bitcoin miners "mine" by unscrambling encrypted bits of information. This is an insanely resource-intensive process: At more than 40 petahashes, the collective computing power of all Bitcoin mining machines in operation is now hundreds of times greater than the 500 most powerful supercomputers combined. 

That of course has raised some moral issues about whether all that power could be better used.

And some like the St. Louis Fed's David Andolfatto think "mining" is a misleading term because, they are not simply wildcat-type speculators but rather the backbone of the entire Bitcoin network. The bits of information the miners unscramble are in fact confirmations of successful Bitcoin transactions.  

Still, depending on the price of Bitcoin and the size of one's investment, it is possible to get a decent return, although there is a movement underway to start renting out computing power to customers.

But for Murtha, it's clear there's not much more room to go in terms of engineering ultra-small — and therefore ultra-powerful — computer chips, despite the incredible leaps Bitcoin mining engineers have made to this point. It's not just KnC, he observes: There is also a report Intel has been experiencing delays on drilling down to 14-nanometers.  

"We're reaching the limits where we have Intel, the largest chip manufacturer with the deepest pockets — they're now having to delay their [14 nm] Broadwell chip," he told BI at the InsideBitcoins conference Tuesday. "If they're not able to do 14 nanometers, I'm not sure if an ASIC [Bitcoin mining] machine can beat Intel. So I think we're going to hit a plateau of 28 or 20 [nanometers]." 

It will take some time for the computing rate on the Bitcoin network itself to start flattening out, since it's determined by an additional set of cost inputs that reflect the absolute number of miners in the system. So things like lower chips production costs, higher bitcoin prices, and greater investment could cause the line in the following chart to keep rising.

But from an engineering standpoint, it seems clear things are, for now, slowing down.

SEE ALSO: An Interview With The St. Louis Fed's David Andolfatto On Bitcoin

Join the conversation about this story »

Australia's bitcoin-friendliest bank turns cold, closing accounts due to 'unacceptable risk' to its business and reputation.

Bugarian Tax Service czyli Bułgarski urząd skarbowy opublikował na swojej stronie internetowej oświadczenie pod tajemniczo brzmiącym tematem „ Przychody z transakcji Bitcoin powinny być ujawniane i opodatkowane” (Revenue from Bitcoin Transactions are to be Declared and Taxed) Fakt, że transakcje pieniężne za pomocną kryptowalut są na celowniku urzędów skarbowych na całym świecie nie jest niczym […]

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One of the primary reasons mainstream society has not yet bought into Bitcoin is that it’s not easy.  As a decentralized resource, there’s no 24 hour helpline to sort out your issue when things get sticky. There’s no one company that offers the best solution, no fool proof way keep your funds completely secure. And […]

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Αυξάνεται καθημερινά ο αριθμός των χωρών που αποκτούν Bitcoin ATM. Έτσι μετά από τη Νέα Ζηλανδία, στο χορό μπαίνει δυναμικά και η βόρεια Ευρώπη και συγκεκριμένα οι σκανδιναβικές χώρες. Δύο νέα ATM τοποθετήθηκαν τις προηγούμενες ημέρες στο Ελσίνκι, καθιστώντας την πόλη κομβικό σημείο για την τοπική Bitcoin κοινότητα, αφού είναι τα πρώτα που αποκτούνται σε […]

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edavno je otkriveno da je dobar deo internet komunikacije nije siguran onoliko  koliko se ranije mislilo. Greška u kodu je otkrivena u verzijama OpenSSL-a.  Ovaj propust omogućava pristup informacijama koje bi inače bile zaštićene i enkriptovane. OpenSSL se koristi za zaštitu elektronske pošte,  podataka banaka, šifara i slično. Imajući u vidu da je besplatno koristiti […]

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The upmarket chain plans to start accepting bitcoin on its website initially and maybe later in stores.

Bitcoin Core Version 0.9.1 is out and it has addressed the Heartbleed OpenSSL vulnerability, also known as CVE-2014-0160.

P2SH lets you keep your bitcoins safe even if your primary private key is stolen. You see, bitcoin other great strength is that it’s open source software. It can be hacked and extended.

The Unicode Ƀ symbol has been chosen by a website of industry members to better legitimize bitcoin in print.

One thing to be aware of in our world is, sadly, politics. Yes, Politics. It’s ‘smart-people’ term for ‘yelling about government.’  Take it from me, Calvin Tran. I was oddly fascinated with politics in 3rd grade with the election of George Bush VS John Kerry. I was the typical brainless child who stood by his […]

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Open Letter to Washington DC. What Bitcoin Can Teach You About the State Department’s Missing Six Billion Dollars Dear Washington DC, It has recently come to my attention that you’ve misplaced another SIX BILLION DOLLARS. This time it was the State Department. Where did it go? The Washington Times reports the Inspector General’s audit uncovering the details that look like gross mismanagement or corruption. Although uncovering mismanagement and fraud is the department’s job it can also be politically dangerous. Angry Democrats turned on this same Inspector General following their report about possible use of the IRS as an intimidation tool to benefit the Obama election. Washington, we’ve seen this before. For a quick recap; in 2005 you lost track of […]

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One startup has launched a game-changing service that swaps bitcoins for dollars and puts them on a prepaid debit card that works in regular ATM machines

Bitcoin payment processor BitPay has achieved rapid growth since its founding, and in the past month the company has opened locations throughout the world. With new Latin American headquarters and recently opened locations in San Francisco and New York, the company seems to truly be working to become the largest global Bitcoin payment processor. Last week, BitPay announced the opening of their European headquarters in Amsterdam, exactly two weeks after the company announced openings of their additional locations and the onboarding of key personnel throughout the world. The Amsterdam headquarters will handle sales, implementation and support to the 7,000 current European merchants. Joining the BitPay team will be Moe Levin as the European Director of Business Development who will work […]

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Bitcoin Core version 0.9.1 has been released to update the core OpenSSL library to the bugfixed version 1.0.1g. The Bitcoin Core security update to version 0.9.1 comes less than 24 hours after an announcement of the discovery of the Heartbleed Bug. Specifically, the OpenSSL Heartbleed Bug could reveal partial memory contents related to an encrypted […]

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