Category Archives: Cryptocurrency

BitCoin, LiteCoin, etc.

SliceFeed™: Coin Pursuit Launches the Bitcoin Industry’s First Social Media Trading Site at the Texas Bitcoin …

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Austin, TX (PRWEB) March 03, 2014

Cryptocurrency resource website Coin Pursuit has been building a reputation for its comprehensive presentation of information important to digital currency traders. When it came to adding social interaction capability to the website, CEO Spencer Forrest knew he did not want to integrate a message forum. There are several already, he said. We wanted to shake things up by creating a unique platform that drives the market and offers more to the cryptocurrency community. At the end of the day, the cryptocurrency chains get their power from the community. Therefore a social engine was designed to harness and deliver that power more effectively. We think its an industry game-changerwe just need community participation to validate our theory.

Thus Coin Pursuit's interactive social component, SliceFeed, was born. The website, which closely reflects the cryptocurrency market, incorporates a chain-like feature, a confirmation system to qualify rumors, and a cap algorithm that controls network growth and rewards users with more visibility based on their participation. In the terminology specific to the website, a Slice is a piece of member-contributed content which is then distributed to the members SliceFeed. These Slices will be displayed in a real-time feed to other members, who can trackand contribute tothe digital currency-focused posts their fellow members have made. This controlled method of quality content distribution will allow Slice contributors to share ideas and experiences, start conversations, provide trading tips, post links to third-party content and videos, and confirm or debunk rumors. As a reward for their insights, members can compensate one another with Bitcoin donations and gain access to premium content.

Finally, in the next version release of SliceFeed, an affiliate program is planned that will offer partners an opportunity to participate in revenue sharing in the network. When partners add the SliceFeed API to their websites, they will provide a valuable service to their users by delivering fresh, real-time content and will earn Bitcoin rewards for recruiting new members to SliceFeed.

Forrest noted that SliceFeed will fit in nicely with Coin Pursuit's overall philosophy of educating and helping cryptocurrency traders, investors and enthusiasts. We're all in this together, and many new folks are feeling around for the light switch, he said, but together, with the appropriate tools and community support, we can help this cutting edge industry continue to flourish.

SliceFeed, which will be launched on the Coin Pursuit website, will begin a beta-testing phase March 7th and should last no longer than a week. Those interested should contact Coin Pursuit via email for specific at beta(at)coinpursuit(dot)com or you can visit Coin Pursuit at Exhibitor Booth 19 at the Texas Bitcoin Conference, where a SliceFeed demonstration will be presented.

SliceFeed and Coin Pursuit are trademarks of Coin Pursuit, Inc.

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SliceFeed™: Coin Pursuit Launches the Bitcoin Industry’s First Social Media Trading Site at the Texas Bitcoin ...

Still got Bitcoin? Protect it from malware, experts warn

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Businesses considering accepting Bitcoins or other forms of cryptocurrency should be prepared to battle a rising number of malware aimed at emptying digital wallets.

Thats the takeaway from a new study by SecureWorks, computer maker Dells security unit. Researchers found that the number of malware targeted at stealing cryptocurrency from Windows PCs increased along with the rise in value of Bitcoin since the beginning of 2013.

As of January of this year, SecureWorks had identified on the Internet 100 unique families of malware capable of stealing wallet files or digital currency from users exchange accounts. The increase in the number of cryptocurrency-stealing malware made it one of the fastest-growing categories of malware, the study said.

While Bitcoin is not the only type of cryptocurrency, it is the most popular and the most valuable. The price has ranged from a high of roughly $1150 in early December to a low of $420 on February 25. Bitcoins price on Thursday was about $565. Other digital currencies include Namecoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, PPCoin, and Mastercoin.

The recent shutdown of Mt. Gox, which once had the largest market share of all digital currency exchanges, highlights the risk of cryptocurrency traded over the Internet. The Bitcoin exchange closed this month after cybercriminals stole $400 million. The heist is under investigation by U.S. federal authorities.

The rising popularity of digital currency has led to its adoption by retailers. Overstock.com became the first major online retailer to accept Bitcoins, and industry observers expect others to follow. The site SpendBitcoins lists many places on the web where people can spend their digital currency.

To protect the digital wallets used in conducting transactions, SecureWorks researchers recommend the use of a split wallet, which has a portion of the file on the computer connected to the Internet and the rest on a system with no network connection.

The file kept on the Internet-enabled system would let the business track its running balance and perform transactions with customers. On the offline system is the private key for authorizing a transaction before it is transmitted.

Electrum is an example of a split wallet done through software. Examples of hardware-based products include Hardware Wallet and Trezor, which plans to release its product soon.

By using the proper security, businesses can significantly reduce the risk of accepting digital currency, Pat Litke, security researcher for Dell SecureWorks Counter Threat Unit, said.

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Still got Bitcoin? Protect it from malware, experts warn

Businesses told to lockdown Bitcoin wallets against malware threat

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CSO - Businesses considering accepting Bitcoins or other forms of cryptocurrency should be prepared to battle a rising number of malware aimed at emptying digital wallets.

That's the takeaway from a new study by SecureWorks, computer maker Dell's security unit. Researchers found that the number of malware targeted at stealing cryptocurrency from Windows PCs increased along with the rise in value of Bitcoin since the beginning of 2013.

As of January of this year, SecureWorks had identified on the Internet 100 unique families of malware capable of stealing wallet files or digital currency from users' exchange accounts. The increase in the number of cryptocurrency-stealing malware made it "one of the fastest-growing categories of malware," the study said.

While Bitcoin is not the only type of cryptocurrency, it is the most popular and the most valuable. The price has ranged from a high of roughly $1,150 in early December to a low of $420 Feb. 25. Bitcoin's price on Thursday was about $565. Other digital currencies include Namecoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, PPCoin and Mastercoin.

The recent shutdown of Mt. Gox, which once had the largest market share of all digital currency exchanges, highlights the risk of cryptocurrency traded over the Internet. The Bitcoin exchange closed this month after cybercriminals stole $400 million. The heist is under investigation by U.S. federal authorities.

The rising popularity of digital currency has led to its adoption by retailers. Overstock.com became the first major online retailer to accept Bitcoins, and industry observers expect others to follow. The site SpendBitcoins lists many places on the web where people can spend their digital currency.

To protect the digital wallets used in conducting transactions, SecureWorks researchers recommend the use of a "split wallet," which has a portion of the file on the computer connected to the Internet and the rest on a system with no network connection.

The file kept on the Internet-enabled system would let the business track its running balance and perform transactions with customers. On the offline system is the private key for authorizing a transaction before it is transmitted.

Electrum is an example of a split wallet done through software. Examples of hardware-based products include Hardware Wallet and Trezor, which plans to release its product soon.

By using the proper security, businesses can significantly reduce the risk of accepting digital currency, Pat Litke, security researcher for Dell SecureWorks' Counter Threat Unit, said.

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Businesses told to lockdown Bitcoin wallets against malware threat

Friday Poll: Should Bitcoin be banned?

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A senator calls for a US ban on Bitcoin, calling the currency "disruptive." Would you like to see a cryptocurrency crackdown, or are you on the Bitcoin bandwagon?

It's been a strange couple weeks in the realm of Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency that defies government regulation. The first US Bitcoin ATMs went into service, popular exchange Mt. Gox seized up, and Joe Manchin, a Democratic senator representing West Virginia, called for a US ban on Bitcoin.

In a letter sent to the Treasury Department and other federal regulators, the senator characterized Bitcoin as "highly unstable and disruptive to our economy." He calls for a complete ban in the US. The letter is more about drawing attention to Manchin's view of the issue, rather than anything that will result in regulatory action.

The recent incident with Mt. Gox has brought up questions about the safety and reliability of Bitcoin, but it's far from a knife in the heart of the cryptocurrency. It does have a famously fluctuating value. CNET's Crave writers have lost a little money on Bitcoin recently. I sent $20 into a Bitcoin kiosk, and it's now worth just over $16. Crave's Eric Mack lost about $2 in the Mt. Gox failure. Instability aside, I'm not rushing to spend my small Bitcoin stash, but I'm also not sinking any more money into it.

Not everyone is a Bitcoin fan, but not everyone is calling for a ban like Manchin. Does his idea make sense to you, or are you against banning Bitcoin? Vote in our poll and share your Bitcoin experience in the comments.

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Friday Poll: Should Bitcoin be banned?

Introducing Songcoin: New Cryptocurrency Built For Music Industry Hopes To Cash In On Bitcoin Craze

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Well now the recording industry has its own cryptocurrency called Songcoin. Pimovi, a media and entertainment company, partnered with one of the architects of Namecoin and they plan to release Songcoin next week for use within the music business.

Pimovis chief technology officer, Kasian Franks, said in an interview with Evolver.fm (which was republished by Billboard) that Songcoin will be used to lower fees on transactions and international wires within the industry. To differentiate Songcoin from other cryptocurrencies, Pimovi said it will offer plenty of discounts that cater to musicians and fans. For example, Pimovi wants to work with ticket vendors to give fans that use Songcoin and cheaper rate.

As the stewards of this thing, with a healthy amount of experience with the music industry, we can gear this towards the music industry, Franks said.

To get the ball rolling, Pimovi will give them away for free initially and build a music recommendation system to help people discover new music. It will then add digital tip jars for each artist and will eventually gain value.

Thats Franks hope, anyway. The problem is that much of the value associated with Bitcoin is the complex mining process behind creating them. Bitcoin miners invest a lot of time and money to create a block of bitcoins that they can then spend as they please, giving bitcoins their initial value.

It also remains to be seen if the recording industry, typically slow to adapt to new technologies, will even be amenable to the concept of a cryptocurrency.

Franks is basing his strategy on Dogecoin, which was started as an Internet joke, and seems confident that it will work because Songcoin was started with a specific purpose in mind.

Franks also said that Songcoin users will be able to convert Songcoin into dollars by using Coinbase. However, Coinbase only trades in Bitcoin and remains unclear why it would be interested in Songcoin when it doesnt even work with Litecoin, a fairly established and valuable cryptocurrency.

Of course, its entirely possible that Songcoin will take off and be a success, but the interview shows several fundamental misunderstandings about cryptocurrencies and how they work. For example, Franks refers to the anonymous creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, as this Japanese guy who they cant really find right now for some reason.

Maybe Pimovi will succeed in its goal to create an entire industry around Songcoin that includes products, partnerships and consulting services, but it seems more like an attempt to get rich quick from a serious misunderstanding of the cryptocurrency phenomenon.

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Introducing Songcoin: New Cryptocurrency Built For Music Industry Hopes To Cash In On Bitcoin Craze

Janet Yellen: Fed will steer clear of bitcoin

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By Christopher Matthews February 27, 2014: 12:27 PM ET

FORTUNE -- Bitcoin enthusiasts have had a rough week. The collapse of the world's largest bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, shook investors faith in the currency,sending the price of bitcoin to a low of$418.78 on Feb. 25 from a high of $1,151 just a few months before.

The currency has since recovered some of that lost value, but the incident has left many wondering about the future of the world's most famous cryptocurrency. One thing is for sure, though: the biggest threat to bitcoin isn't from the failure of private bitcoin-related institutions but the chance that public regulators like the Federal Reserve will crack down hard with stifling regulations.

MORE:How Mt.Gox went down

That's why bitcoin boosters should have let out a sigh of relief when Fed Chair Janet Yellen said in no uncertain terms that her institution will not be regulating the currency anytime soon. "It's important to understand that this is a payment innovation that's happening outside the banking industry," Yellen said at a Senate Banking Committee hearing Thursday morning. "The Federal Reserve simply does not have the authority to regulate bitcoin in any way."

The answer came in response to West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin's questions about bitcoin, which belied intense distrust of the currency. Manchin called bitcoin an "unstable currency" that he believes is being used mostly for illegal activities. Manchin was seemingly disappointed with Yellen's statement that the Fed had no authority to regulate bitcoin, saying he believed there would be an intersection between bitcoin and Fed-regulated banks in the near future.

Yellen didn't budge, telling Manchin that if he wanted further oversight of the currency, Congress could take action to require it. Otherwise, she said, any regulation would be under the purview of the Justice Department and the Treasury Department.

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Janet Yellen: Fed will steer clear of bitcoin