Category Archives: Cryptocurrency

BitCoin, LiteCoin, etc.

Inside the secretive world of a Chinese bitcoin mine

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Bitcoin, the world's leading cryptocurrency, has had a roller coaster ride over the past 12 months.

Despite wild fluctuations in the exchange rate, scams galore and the involvement of many a shady character, the process of mining is still a lucrative exercise.

This documentary, produced by Vice, gives a rare glimpse inside a Chinese bitcoin mine. Situated in northeastern Liaoning province, the mine turns over $US1.5 million worth of bitcoin a month.

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What is a cryptocurrency?

A cryptocurrency is a digital medium of exchange that uses encrypted software to operate a market for transactions. That market is overseen by those using the network, based on rules coded in to algorithms. It's a transparent, peer-to-peer operation, similar to the file-sharing protocol BitTorrent which is widely used for the illegal sharing of movies, TV shows and music.

How are cryptocurrencies propagated?

Cryptocurrencies are created, or mined, based on a mathematical formula. In the mining process, computers are tasked to solve complex mathematical problems and rewarded with virtual coinage. Over time, the equations become progressively more difficult to solve, slowing down the supply of new cryptocurrency units.

Can anyone become a miner?

Theoretically it is possible to start mining at home. But as the mathematical challenge becomes harder, more computational grunt is required. For this reason, miners often pool resources to buy access to supercomputers or server farms (networked arrays of smaller computers).

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Inside the secretive world of a Chinese bitcoin mine

uTorrent quietly installs a cryptocurrency miner on users’ computers

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The popular BitTorrent client uTorrent is facing a backlash after trying to turn a buck through cryptocurrency mining.

On Thursday, users started reporting that uTorrent had silently installed cryptocurrency software from Epic Scale as part of version 3.4.2 build 28913. Once installed, Epic Scale uses some of the computer's spare processing power to generate cryptocurrency (such as Bitcoin or Litecoin).

In response to user complaints, a uTorrent manager confirmed parent company BitTorrent's partnership with Epic Scale, saying the software generates revenue for uTorrent while also contributing some funds to charity. In the future, Epic Scale plans to contribute CPU cycles to other initiatives, such as Genome mapping and other academic studies that require a great deal of processing power.

However, the manager denied that EpicScale was installing without the user's permission, claiming that uTorrent could not reproduce the issue. That's despite complaints from five users on uTorrent's forums who say the software was installed automatically in the latest update.

Update:BitTorrent supplied PCWorld with this comment:

"We have reviewed the issue closely and can confirm there is no silent install happening. It is in fact impossible for partner software to be installed without user permission. We are continuing to look at the issue. But it is almost certain these users accepted the offer during install...

In terms of user complaints in our forums, we always take these claims seriously. We highly value our users, they are a passionate and tech savvy group. In the last 24 hours we have received less than a dozen inquiries out of several million offers. That should put things into perspective."

In any event, users can partially uninstall EpicScale through the Add/Remove Programs menu in Windows. A registry modification will remain in the ProgramData/Epicscale folder, though users can safely delete this folder once the uninstall is complete. That hasn't stopped dozens of outraged users from swearing off uTorrent in favor of alternatives such as qBittorrent, Deluge, and Transmission.

Why this matters: Cryptocurrency mining burns more than just spare system resources. By making the CPU work harder than it normally would, it also consumes more energy, potentially raising users' electricity bills. While it's ironic that users are aghast at an act of leeching from a program that facilitates media piracy, that doesn't let uTorrent off the hook for a lack of transparency. Some quick backtracking seems likely.

Jared writes for PCWorld and TechHive from his remote outpost in Cincinnati. More by Jared Newman

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uTorrent quietly installs a cryptocurrency miner on users' computers

uTorrent accused of bundling cryptocurrency malware with popular BitTorrent client

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For years, if youve used BitTorrent, youve probably used Torrent to manage and control torrent files. The software is the most popular Torrent client online with an estimated 100 million users, and its valued for its small footprint and rich feature set. Torrent has been including adware for several years (despite warning people in its install against installations that attempt to charge for the program), but it may have crossed a line this time numerous users are reporting that installing the program also silently installs an application called Epic Scale.

Epic Scale is shady looking, to say the least. The company website claims a straight link between installing Epic Scale and benefiting charities literally.

The impression the website gives is that by installing this program, you literally donate compute time to charity. Its like Folding@Home, or SETI, or another equivalent project right?

Well, no. Not exactly. A little farther down the page, the website notes:

How is money earned?

Solving math problems for weather prediction, physics simulations, cryptography (including cryptocurrency mining) and more has real world value. We solve these problems on behalf of our trusted partners, and donate proceeds to your favorite charities.

Heres a hint: The only one of those activities that actually earns any money is cryptocurrency mining, and thats what Epic Scale does.

The program sets itself to Continuously by default

On the one hand, this is actually kind of baffling. Cryptocurrency mining on CPUs went out years ago. Its incredibly unlikely that Epic Scale could generate much in the way of income even with massive amounts of miners, CPU scaling simply isnt good enough. On the other hand, the company has ambitions its CPU-scanning software notes that my system (a Core i7-3960X) has zero AMD and zero Nvidia cards. Thats not true but obviously Epic Scale wants to, erm, scale out.

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uTorrent accused of bundling cryptocurrency malware with popular BitTorrent client

Cryptocurrency software bundled with BitTorrent triggers complaints

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After updating BitTorrent's uTorrent, some users reported that mining software had appeared on their PCs without their consent

Some people who use uTorrent, the popular BitTorrent client, are up in arms over the presence of cryptocurrency mining software on their computers which they say was installed without their permission.

The mining software, made by the company Epic Scale, started appearing for some people earlier this week after they updated to the latest version of uTorrent, a program made by BitTorrent for downloading files. In forums online, users have likened the software to bloatware, as it taxes their computer processor without their consent. Cryptocurrency mining software is used to release bitcoins and other digital currencies by having computers persistently perform complex mathematical calculations.

Some uTorrent users have said their computers were slowing down and overheating due to the software, kicking their fans into overdrive. Others reported persistent pop-ups they couldn't remove, or messages saying their computers were unable to connect to a server.

"When I arrived home this evening my PC was running at full tilt and practically blowing steam," one user wrote on the site for FreeFixer, which makes a tool for removing unwanted software. A thread there has amassed dozens of complaints over the past couple of days.

Users said they received no notification that the software was being installed.

"The only reason I found out about it was that I was playing a game and it was running much slower than usual with constant hiccups," one user wrote.

Users have reported similar complaints in a forum on uTorrent's own site, according to news reports, but those threads have since been removed.

A spokesman for uTorrent maker BitTorrent said there is no silent install happening. Epic Scale is one of many partners that BitTorrent has that might provide installation offers during the install of uTorrent, and the installation is optional, BitTorrent said in a joint blog post with Epic Scale on Friday.

Still, BitTorrent is looking into the issue internally and with Epic Scale, BitTorrent said in the post. The company has received less than a dozen inquiries about the issue over the past 24 hours, the spokesman said.

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Cryptocurrency software bundled with BitTorrent triggers complaints

Why OneCoin is NOT a Bitcoin Copy – OneCoinOneConcept – OneCoin – CryptoCurrency – Video

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Why OneCoin is NOT a Bitcoin Copy - OneCoinOneConcept - OneCoin - CryptoCurrency - Video