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Facebook's cryptocurrency may debut this month
Facebook's long-rumored cryptocurrency may be on the cusp of launching, and with a few twists to boot. The Information sources say the digital money is expected to premiere later in June. The social network is reportedly planning a big push that would include bonuses for merchants that adopt it, not to mention real-world kiosks where you could exchange conventional cash. Employees in the project would even have the option of being paid in the currency.
E*Trade may offer trading for Bitcoin and Ethereum
Cryptocurrency traders might soon have an important ally. A Bloomberg source claims E*Trade is in the midst of work to enable trading cryptocurrencies, starting with Bitcoin and Ethereum. It would think about adding other currencies going forward, according to the tipster. It's not certain exactly when trading would open.
Samsung Galaxy S10 leak hints at cryptocurrency wallet
Samsung' Galaxy S10 appears to have leaked again, but this time the big deal is what's on screen. Gregory Blake and Ben Geskin claim to have leaked images of a Samsung Blockchain KeyStore that would serve as a cryptocurrency wallet, whether you're bringing over an existing wallet or starting fresh. The imagery only shows it supporting Ethereum, but SamMobile noted that its sources also anticipated support for Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and ERC20.
Iran bans banks from trading cryptocurrencies
Iran is borrowing a page from China when it comes to regulating money: if your real-world currency is in trouble, crack down on the virtual kind. The country's central bank has banned other banks and financial institutions from buying, selling or promoting cryptocurrencies in the wake of reforms meant to quell volatility for the Iranian rial, such as banning money changes outside of banks and unifying exchange rates. The rial's value has been plummeting over fears the US would reinstate sanctions that could hurt Iran's economy.
WikiLeaks loses access to a key cryptocurrency account
This hasn't been the best week for WikiLeaks, to put it mildly. Coinbase has shut off the WikiLeaks Shop's account for allegedly violating the cryptocurrency exchange's terms of service. In other words, the leak site just lost its existing means of converting payments like bitcoin into conventional money. While Coinbase didn't give a specific reason (it declines to comment on specific accounts), it pointed to its legal requirement to honor "regulatory compliance mechanisms" under the US' Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
Nearly half of 2017's cryptocurrencies have already failed
The surging price of bitcoin (among others) in 2017 led more than a few companies to hop on the cryptocurrency bandwagon with hopes of striking it rich almost overnight. Many of their initial coin offerings seemed dodgy from the outset... and it turns out they were. Bitcoin.com has conducted a study of ICOs tracked by Tokendata, and a whopping 46 percent of the 902 crowdsale-based virtual currencies have already failed. Of these, 142 never got enough funding; another 276 have either slowly faded away or were out and out scams.
Government websites fall prey to cryptocurrency mining hijack
It's not just private companies' websites falling victim to cryptocurrency mining hijacks. Security consultant Scott Helme and the Register have discovered that intruders compromised over 4,200 sites with Coinhive's notorious Monero miner, many of them government websites from around the world. This includes the US court info system, the UK's National Health Service and Australian legislatures, among others. The intruders spread their JavaScript code by modifying an accessibility plugin for the blind, Texthelp's Browsealoud, to inject the miner wherever Browsealoud was in use.
Razer suspends 'Paid to Play' rewards over negative feedback
Last March, Razer put forth a way to earn points that could be redeemed for the company's peripherals like keyboards and mice. All you needed to do was to launch games via Razer's Cortex desktop software and play up to five hours of eligible games each day. Unfortunately, this "Paid to Play" initiative is now at an end, at least temporarily. Razer will suspend the program beginning on March 1, based on what the company calls negative feedback from the community.
Kodak is jumping on the cryptocurrency bandwagon
Kodak's big film revival isn't working out as well as planned, which leaves it in a tough spot. How is it going to spark interest and raise a ton of cash in a hurry? Easy -- hop on the cryptocurrency bandwagon. The former legend has partnered with Wenn Digital to launch a KodakOne image-rights platform that takes advantage of KodakCoin, a photo-centric virtual currency. In theory, the monetary format creates a reliable photo economy -- the distributed trust of blockchain ensures you get paid instantly and securely the moment someone buys your pictures. KodakOne, meanwhile, continuously crawls the web looking for copyright violations.
Coinbase halts Bitcoin Cash transactions over insider trading fears
The start of Bitcoin Cash trading on the Coinbase exchange was supposed to be a great opportunity to get into a major new cryptocurrency while its values weren't yet through the roof, but that's... not how it panned out. Coinbase froze transactions just a few hours after they began in order to investigate numerous accusations of insider trading. Observers noticed that the price of Bitcoin Cash rose sharply before news of its availability on the exchange broke, and that there was a sharp selloff virtually the moment trading started. From a cursory glance, it looked like someone knew about the Coinbase move in advance, triggered a flurry of trading that led to a spike in price, and took advantage of this for a massive windfall.
Indiegogo makes it easy to hop on the cryptocurrency bandwagon
There's a frenzy over cryptocurrency at the moment (helped in no small part by bitcoin's sky-high value), and Indiegogo is determined to milk the trend for all it's worth. The crowdfunding site has partnered with MicroVentures to enable investments in the initial coin offerings (ICOs) that are all the rage as of late. If you think a new digital cash format is going to be the next big thing, you now have a potentially easier way to pour money into it -- and you don't need to be an accredited investor, which limits the scope of many ICOs. The first offering on tap is the Fan-Controlled Football League, which is running a pre-sale for $5 million tokens for 10 days after this writing.
First US bitcoin futures start trading at 6PM Eastern
Bitcoin is one step closer to becoming a part of the mainstream financial world. Cboe is launching the first US bitcoin futures exchange at 6PM Eastern, giving speculators a chance to bet on the value of the cryptocurrency through a listed (XBT), regulated entity. You don't use a digital wallet or otherwise require bitcoins -- instead, you trade and settle futures contracts using cash, with a $10 minimum price interval and a $1 transaction fee from January onward. There aren't any price limits, and you can short your futures (that is, immediately sell them in hopes of turning a quick profit) if your broker allows it.
Steam no longer accepts bitcoin for game purchases
Have you been stockpiling bitcoin to go on a Steam shopping spree? You'll need to change your plans. Valve has stopped accepting bitcoin due to a combination of high transaction costs (up from 20 cents in the beginning to $20) and "volatility" in the cryptocurrency's value. While the virtual cash has never been especially stable, its worth has taken a roller coaster ride over the past few months. Its value has been skyrocketing lately (one bitcoin is worth $13,300 US as of this writing), but it has also crashed hard -- Valve cited a 25 percent drop "over a period of days" as an example. That fluctuation creates a huge problem if you make a purchase and it doesn't complete before the usual bitcoin price guarantee elapses, as you may have to pay an outstanding balance and a second transaction fee.
Venezuela will start its own digital currency to beat sanctions
The authoritarian streak of Venezuela's recent leaders has cost the country dearly. Mismanagement and sanctions have crippled its infrastructure, its money is increasingly worthless and the public is fuming. President Maduro thinks he has a solution, though: creating the country's own cryptocurrency. The "petro" will be backed by Venezuela's key natural resources (diamonds, gas, gold and oil) and, in theory, will help it get around the "financial blockade" imposed by the US and other nations.
Code mistake freezes up to $280 million in digital currency
Imagine if one person's code error deprived you of a pile of money, and there was no guarantee you'd get your funds back. Wouldn't you be hopping mad? That's how many cryptocurrency owners are feeling right now. The digital wallet company Parity is warning users that a large volume of Ethereum funds have effectively been frozen after code contributor devops199 claims to have accidentally deleted the library needed to use multi-signature wallets (those that require more than one signature to move funds) created after July 20th. Devops triggered a long-unpatched bug that turned Parity's wallet contract into a standard multi-signature wallet, making every wallet "suicide" and erase the guiding library code.
Russia hopes to launch its own digital currency
Russia has been talking openly about the prospect of creating its own cryptocurrency, and it looks like the country might turn those words into action. Local news outlets report that Communications Minister Nikolay Nikiforov has confirmed plans to launch a state-controlled digital currency. Don't expect to generate virtual rubles with your PC any time soon, though. While it would use blockchain to decentralize control and improve trust, you reportedly can't mine it -- instead, it'd be issued and tracked like conventional money. This would theoretically let Russia boost its internet economy without tying the fate of its currency to other countries or third-party brokers.
Politifact inadvertently hosted a digital currency miner
You might expect a pirate website to use something as shady as a secret cryptocurrency miner, but that's now becoming a problem with above-board sites -- and it's not on purpose. Politifact visitors have discovered that the site was inadvertently hosting JavaScript code that hijacked your processor to mine virtual coins. The fact checker tells TechCrunch that it has removed the code and is investigating just how it got there, but it's more than a little alarming that such a popular page (3.2 million views per month) could be susceptible to parasitic code that bogs down your PC.
China is clamping down on smaller bitcoin trading channels
China's crackdown on bitcoin could extend well past big commercial exchanges. Wall Street Journal sources claim that the country is leaning toward a "comprehensive" ban on bitcoin trading channels, such as over-the-counter platforms that help buyers and sellers find each other. It's not certain that this would forbid peer-to-peer trades (such as through messaging apps), but it would likely entail blocking access to foreign exchanges. You couldn't just turn to an American exchange like Coinbase if China-native outlets aren't available.
Pirate Bay 'borrows' visitor CPUs to mine virtual coins
Piracy websites can't really depend on ads, so how do they make money? By using your PC's processor cycles, apparently -- whether you want to or not. Visitors to The Pirate Bay have discovered JavaScript code in the website that 'borrows' your processor for the sake of mining Monero digital coins. It doesn't always happen (it mainly appears in search results and category listings), but you'll definitely notice the sharp spike in CPU usage when it kicks in.
Wind energy mines digital cash to support climate research
Climate change is frequently described as a vicious cycle that depletes the very resources needed to fight it. In the case of Julian Oliver's latest project, however, it could almost be described as virtuous. His Harvest project uses a 700W wind turbine to power a PC mining cryptocurrency (specifically, Zcash) that directly funds climate change research. In other words: the more the symptoms of climate change manifest themselves, the more money goes toward fighting that change. It was commissioned as a piece of art, but it's a very practical design that could find plenty of uses in the real world.
