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Goldman Sachs Awarded Cryptocurrency Patent – ETHNews

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On July 11, 2017, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted Goldman Sachs a patent for a Cryptographic currency for securities settlement. The patent, which was originally filed in October 2014, includes a cryptographic protocol and a supporting virtual wallet that, in various embodiments, is a security and cash account for storing and managing the cryptographic currency.According to the document, the virtual multi-asset wallet possesses the ability to generate, manipulate, and store SETLcoins, a new cryptocurrency for exchanging assets, like securities, cash, and cash equivalents, through a peer-to-peer network.

For example, a virtual wallet can exchange (e.g., via a transaction method described below, such as a two-phase transaction) one or more SETLcoins for, e.g., U.S. dollars and/or other currency at a brokerage account, deposit account, bank account or other financial storage entity. Alternative or additionally, U.S. dollars and/or other currency at a brokerage account, deposit account, bank account or other financial storage entity can be exchanged for one or more SETLcoins in virtual wallet on the peer-to-peer network.

SETLcoins can house one or more securities. Using the wallet, traders can immediately exchange stocks in companies like IBM and Google for cryptocurrenciesby sending transaction messages. Each transaction message includes a transaction and digital signature. And once a message is broadcasted to the network, settlement is immediately processed by a two-phase commitment protocol and/or trusted node that both traders mutually agree to have act as coordinator (including each other).

SETLcoins are exchangeable for, e.g., other SETLcoins and/or other cryptographic currencies (e.g., peercoins). For example, a single IBM-S SETLcoin may be exchangeable for one or more "GOOG" SETLcoins (i.e., Google shares), for 13,000 USD SETLcoins, 100 litecoins, and/or for 5 bitcoins.

Since the introduction of bitcoin in 2008, the popularity of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology has increased tremendously in the financial service industry. Due to a sizeable market cap and wide array of sought-after options like Ethereum, Litecoin, NEM, and Ripple, the cryptocurrency market is becoming more attractive as an investment opportunity for financial magnates. This has led banking giants like Goldman Sachs to begin analyzing the market for clients and concentrating investments in technologies, like SETLcoins, that bridge cryptocurrency and blockchain technology with the financial sector.

Dan is a US Army veteran and Los Angeles-based writer passionate about science and technology, current events, human rights, economic impacts, and strategic calculus. Dan is a full time staff writer for ETHNews and holds value in Ether.

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Goldman Sachs Awarded Cryptocurrency Patent - ETHNews

Tezos raises $232 million for new cryptocurrency project – American Banker

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Tezos, a new cryptocurrency network that could compete with Ethereum, raised a record-breaking $232 million in a nearly two-week-long token sale that closed on Thursday.

Although the first version of its network has yet to launch, Tezos has piqued the interest of major investors and cryptocurrency experts. It promises to support smart contracts and offer innovations in governance for decentralized systems that could prevent the sort of infighting that has consumed the bitcoin community for more than a year.

Among those who see value in it are venture capitalist Tim Draper and Olaf Carlson-Wee, formerly the first employee at Coinbase and now the founder and CEO of Polychain Capital, a San Francisco hedge fund that focuses exclusively on blockchain assets. Zooko Wilcox, the founder and CEO of privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash, serves as a Tezos adviser.

Tezos's founders, the husband-and-wife team Arthur and Kathleen Breitman, have been developing the technology since mid-2014, when they published the white paper describing what they hoped to accomplish. Between them, they have backgrounds at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and R3, a blockchain consortium of which dozens of banks are members.

When Tezos's token salea special kind of crowdfunding campaign also known as an "initial coin offering," or ICOfinally launched on July 1, it inspired a mad dash among investors. The project ultimately took in 65,627 bitcoins and 361,122 ether, according to its website.

The value of both cryptocurrencies has fallen sharply in recent days, but, even at relatively low current prices, Tezos raked in enough digital money to smash the previous ICO record of about $150 million set by another blockchain project, Bancor, in June.

Thanks in large part to Bancor and Tezos, the amount of money raised by blockchain startups through ICOs has far surpassed the amount raised through traditional venture capital in 2017. Because of the extreme volatility of the cryptocurrencies used to fund ICOs, it is tough to pin down a round number for the total amount raised so far this year, but it appears to be more than $700 million at then-current prices.

Most of the projects that have raised funds through token sales are built on top of an existing blockchain, usually Ethereum's. But Tezos will be an entirely new protocol with its own rules.

Tezos is also one of the few token projects that has gained support from traditional investors. Tim Draper participated in the ICO and also invested an undisclosed sum in Dynamic Ledger Solutions, the Breitmans' startup that is behind Tezos.

Participants in the crowdsale will be given Tezos network tokens, known as "tezzies," in exchange for their investment, but not until the network launches. That is expected to happen in four months or so. Investors are betting that as the network grows and proves its worth, the exchange value of their tokens will riseperhaps exponentially.

Ethereum's own crowdsale raised about $18 million in 2014. The total market capitalization of ether is now more than $19 billion, according to CoinMarketCap, which tracks the fluctuating value of blockchain assets.

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Tezos raises $232 million for new cryptocurrency project - American Banker

Latest Cryptocurrency Exchange Hack Highlights Need for Better … – Bitcoin Magazine

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Bitcoin Magazine
Latest Cryptocurrency Exchange Hack Highlights Need for Better ...
Bitcoin Magazine
It comes with the territory that digital currency will be susceptible to digital threats. Hacking and theft have almost grown up side by side with things like Bitcoin, ...

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Latest Cryptocurrency Exchange Hack Highlights Need for Better ... - Bitcoin Magazine

Freeze! Japan Cryptocurrency Business Association Prepares For Bitcoin Fork – ETHNews

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News wallets and exchanges

In anticipation of the upcoming user-activated soft fork on the Bitcoin blockchain, Japans Cryptocurrency Business Association is creating guidelines for virtual currency exchanges to protect customer investments.

According to a report by Nikkei Asian Review, Japans Cryptocurrency Business Association (JCBA) has begun preparing for the looming bitcoin fork that is expected on August 1. The association brings together leaders from banks, securities firms, exchanges, and other virtual currency businesses in Japan. It counts board members from Kraken, Coincheck, and Money Partners among its ranks. The association is chaired by director Tadayoshi Okuyama (Japanese: ).

Ahead of the user activated soft fork on the Bitcoin blockchain, the JCBA has issued guidance to key stakeholders and association members. Through a freeze, the association hopes to protect customer assets. The halt in trading may last anywhere from one day to a full week.

However, the report by Nikkei attests that some exchange operators (including Bitbank and Tech Bureau) will allow trading to continue, simply suspending deposits and withdrawals until the dust has settled from the fork. As of this publication, the countrys largest bitcoin exchange, BitFlyer, has not chosen a course of action.

As demonstrated by the GDAX flash crash, thin trading books could threaten investors. With this in mind, its vital for bitcoin exchanges (in Japan and worldwide) to plan for a few contingencies.

First, companies ought to keep their customers apprised of the forks implementation and the timeline for exchange freezes, if applicable. Next, the exchanges should provide customers with sufficient time to withdraw their investments if desired. After the fork, companies ought to provide a roadmap for which chain (or chains) they will support. This will help restore investor confidence and ensure that customers receive exactly what they are due. Coordinating disbursement of fork funds may prove challenging initially, so its crucial to keep customers in the loop.

The US-based GDAX has already taken that step, posting on its blog about the companys intentions to implement safeguards for addressing the fork.

Fortunately, for the most part, Japanese exchanges also appear to be proactive in their preparation. At this point, its virtually impossible to determine which Bitcoin blockchain will become dominant or how market share will be impacted. Still, investor protection should remain a priority for all.

Matthew is a writer with a passion for emerging technology. Prior to joining ETHNews, he interned for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as well as the OECD. He graduated cum laude from Georgetown University where he studied international economics. In his spare time, Matthew loves playing basketball and listening to podcasts. He currently lives in Los Angeles.

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Freeze! Japan Cryptocurrency Business Association Prepares For Bitcoin Fork - ETHNews

WikiLeaks caused Hillary Clinton’s defeat in US elections – Economic Times

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LONDON: Criticism by documents posted by global whistleblower WikiLeaks on Twitter played a key role in the failure of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 US presidential race, an analysis of tweets suggests.

The study, which analysed viral tweets during the final two months of the 2016 election race, showed that Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, was much more heavily criticised on the microblogging site as compared to her rival Trump.

Posts relating to WikiLeaks were the most common form of attack on social media for Clinton, who was also heavily criticized on Twitter over an FBI investigation into her use of a private email server.

"Our findings reveal a wide disparity between traditional media, which was very critical of Donald Trump, and social media, where Hillary Clinton was much worse off," said lead researcher Walid Magdy from the University of Edinburgh.

By contrast, viral tweets relating to Trump were split equally in favour and against his campaign, the researchers said.

The results will be presented at the Social Informatics 2017 conference in Oxford in September.

Further, the posts from Trump's social media campaign and his supporters had a more positive tone than that of Clinton, with effective reach for slogans, policy promises and campaigning for swing states.

Whereas, tweets that backed Clinton compared her with Trump and attacked Trump rather than praising Clinton.

For the study, the team used computer analysis to analyse the top viral tweets. They analysed almost 3,500 posts, which together were retweeted more than 25 million times.

Tweets were labelled as being favourable to Trump, Clinton or neither.

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WikiLeaks caused Hillary Clinton's defeat in US elections - Economic Times

Group of DNC hack victims sue Trump campaign – CNN

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The lawsuit, led by the group United to Protect Democracy, filed on Wednesday would pit three Democratic donors against President Donald Trump's campaign and Stone, his longtime confidant. The complaint asserts that alleged coordination between the Trump campaign, Stone and "Russian government agents" led to the WikiLeaks release of the hacked DNC information.

Although WikiLeaks published the hacked information, the lawsuit does not target WikiLeaks, instead targeting the Trump campaign and Stone alone.

An attorney for Stone said that as of Wednesday he had not seen the lawsuit or been served -- but that he expects the suit to be quickly dismissed.

"Based on what has been described to him, Mr. Stone states unequivocally that the suit is without merit, is blatantly untruthful and not supported by one stitch of evidence," attorney Grant Smith said in a statement. "Mr. Stone and his legal team believe this will be summarily dismissed when the matter is taken out of the political arena and left to the judiciary."

The statement said those who brought the suit should "suffer the severe sanctions the honorable court will likely impose."

The White House did not immediately respond to comment. However, Trump has continually denied any coordination between his campaign and Russia.

On Tuesday morning, Donald Trump Jr. released a series of emails from last year showing an acquaintance offering information that could damage Hillary Clinton, purportedly from Russia. Trump Jr. has denied any improper action, and his father on Wednesday morning again referred to the questions about coordination with Russia as "the greatest witch hunt in political history."

The lawsuit makes a series of unsubstantiated assertions, largely based on inferences from press accounts and claims "on information and belief" that the Trump campaign and Stone coordinated with Russia, thereby harming the three plaintiffs.

The group pointed to comments from former US attorney John McKay, Harvard professor Laurence Tribe and Berkley Law dean Erwin Chemerinsky, who read the suit and gave it favorable chances of moving to the discovery phase -- enabling the lawyers to examine documents and interview witnesses in an attempt to demonstrate coordination.

"In my experience, most conspiracy cases begin with circumstantial evidence just like this case," John McKay, a former US attorney, said. "Investigation and discovery often proves it true."

Last July, just ahead of the Democratic National Convention, WikiLeaks released hacked emails from the party's committee.

Among those to have their information included in the release were Roy Cockrum, Scott Comer and Eric Schoenberg, all plaintiffs in the suit.

The release included private contact and identity information, including social security numbers. The lawsuit alleges, among other things, that Comer's homosexuality was outed against his will to his grandparents. It also says that Cockrum, as well as Schoenberg and his wife, had faced repeated identity theft attempts since the leak.

The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court in DC on three counts: the public disclosure of private facts, intentionally inflicting emotional distress and a conspiracy to prevent voters from acting politically.

CNN's Manu Raju contributed to this report.

UPDATE: This story has been updated to include additional comments on the suit's chances.

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Group of DNC hack victims sue Trump campaign - CNN

Julian Assange: I urged Trump Jr to publish Russia emails via WikiLeaks – The Guardian

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Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder, has claimed that he contacted Donald Trump Jr and tried to persuade him to publish emails showing he was eager to accept sensitive information about Hillary Clinton via the anti-secrecy website.

Instead, the US presidents eldest son did so via Twitter, igniting a firestorm of criticism around his apparent willingness to work with the Russian government against his fathers Democratic rival.

Contacted Trump Jr this morning on why he should publish his emails (i.e with us), tweeted Assange, who is based at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Two hours later, does it himself.

Asked by another Twitter user to explain, Assange elaborated: I argued that his enemies have it so why not the public? His enemies will just milk isolated phrases for weeks or months ... with their own context, spin and according to their own strategic timetable. Better to be transparent and have the full context ... but would have been safer for us to publish it anonymously sourced. By publishing it himself it is easier to submit as evidence.

It was not clear whether Assanges use of the word enemies was the reference to the media or political rivals.

The Australian added: Hes surely had advice and/or is confident on the facts. Id argue that even the completely innocent need @WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks played a prominent role in the US presidential election, publishing emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Clintons campaign manager, John Podesta.

As a candidate, Trump declared: I love WikiLeaks! US intelligence agencies concluded that the hacking was carried out by Russia.

Trumps longtime confidante Roger Stone communicated with Assange and a hacker known as Guccifer 2.0, who began posting DNC documents on 15 June less than a week after Trump Jrs meeting with a Russian lawyer in New York.

WikiLeaks apparent overlap of interests with the Trump campaign drew scrutiny at the time. Robert Mackey of the Intercept website wrote in August last year: The WikiLeaks Twitter feed has started to look more like the stream of an opposition research firm working mainly to undermine Hillary Clinton than the updates of a non-partisan platform for whistleblowers.

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Julian Assange: I urged Trump Jr to publish Russia emails via WikiLeaks - The Guardian

People Are Getting Emotional About The Story Behind Chelsea Manning’s Twitter Handle – BuzzFeed News

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Manning, who as an Army intelligence officer leaked more than 700,000 military intelligence reports and documents to WikiLeaks, was released from military prison last month after serving seven years of a 35-year sentence. While in prison, Manning came out as transgender and changed her name to Chelsea. Her sentence was commuted by then-president Barack Obama in January 2017.

"This was happening in a particular context, just after I had gone to Thailand for sex reassignment surgery." With the letters XY marked on her hand, Schultz said, she had hoped to "make clear [her] situation as a transsexual woman."

The photo went on to be used by various publications and websites, including Wikipedia.

"Actually, it's funny, because I consider Chelsea Manning a heroine," Schultz told BuzzFeed News.

"My friends from Reset [a queer and feminist hacking page] were the ones who went, 'Hey, Chelsea Manning posted something on Twitter!' When I saw the tweet, it made me emotional. For six or seven years, I've been going to the CCC [an association devoted to hacking], and I've seen people there who have been leading campaigns to free her."

This post was translated from French.

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People Are Getting Emotional About The Story Behind Chelsea Manning's Twitter Handle - BuzzFeed News

Edward Snowden’s leaks has NSA in damage-control mode, spy agency official tells Lancaster audience – LancasterOnline

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A high-ranking official of the National Security Agency said in a talk here Wednesday that the electronic surveillance agency is working to improve its public relations in the wake of Edward Snowdens damaging leaks.

Jonathan Darby, the NSAs deputy chief of cybersecurity operations, said the agency realized it had to get out and talk more about what we do after Snowden in 2013 revealed ways in which U.S. spy agencies collect phone, email and other communications.

Darby contended that most of the Snowden-related stories in 2013 were twisted or dead-out wrong, and he pushed back on a movie glorifying the former NSA contractors actions, saying the leaks put peoples lives at risk.

Snowden fled to Moscow in June 2013 after he was identified as the source of information several newspapers printed about previously undisclosed NSA surveillance programs. Snowden remains in Russia, where he was granted asylum until 2020.

Before an audience of 180 at a Lancaster Rotary Club luncheon, Darby portrayed the NSA as scrupulously law-abiding and completely accountable to Congress and the courts.

If the law does not affirmatively give us the authority to take an action, we can not and we will not do it, said Darby, a Montana native who joined the NSA in 1983 as a foreign language analyst. We do not independently decide what to collect.

He said the $11-billion NSA is a joint military-civilian spy agency with the dual mission of intercepting foreign communications and protecting U.S. government communications.

This spy agency spies. Thats what we do, legally and within policy guidelines, he said.

Darby stressed that the NSA does not spy on Americans at home or abroad unless a federal judge approves it.

Also, if the communications of an American are intercepted incidentally through the valid targeting of a foreigner, the Americans communication is masked, he said. The procedures, in place for decades, have government and court approval, he said.

Darby defended a program, up for Congressional renewal this year, that allows the NSA to compel a U.S. communications company to turn over communications of noncitizens outside of the United States.

Saying the program prevents terrorist attacks, Darby pointed to the 2009 arrest of a man who planned a bombing on a New York City subway.

Darby pushed back against the perception that the NSA indiscriminately vacuums up all communications around the world.

He said the quantity of data the NSA collects is analogous to a dime on the floor of a basketball court.

Darby said NSA employees take an oath to defend the Constitution, including its guarantees of civil liberties.

Some will say that (strict oversight and legal restrictions) ties one arm behind our back, Darby said. As an NSAer, I say, Damn straight. Thats fine. Thats who we are as a country.

Asked about allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, Darby said the NSA joined with the FBI and CIA in coming to that assessment.

It goes back to, Heres the facts, Darby said. We laid out the facts.

On cybersecurity, Darby said the country increasingly understands the threats to the nations computer networks and that existing security measures arent adequate for the long term.

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Edward Snowden's leaks has NSA in damage-control mode, spy agency official tells Lancaster audience - LancasterOnline

UK spookhas GCHQ can crack end-to-end encryption says Australian AG – The Register

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British signals intelligence agency Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) can crack end-to-end encrypted messages sent using WhatsApp and Signal, according to Australian attorney-general George Brandis.

Brandis made the claim speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's AM program, on the occasion of Australia announcing it would adopt laws mirroring the UK's Investigatory Powers Act. Brandis said the proposed law will place an obligation on device manufacturers and service providers to provide appropriate assistance to intelligence and law enforcement on a warranted basis where it is necessary to interdict or in the case of a crime that may have been committed.

Asked how Australia's proposed regime would allow local authorities to read messages sent with either WhatsApp or Signal, Brandis said Last Wednesday I met with the chief cryptographer at GCHQ ... And he assured me that this was feasible.

Brandis is infamous for being unable to articulate an accurate or comprehensible definition of metadata when asked to do so during a live television interview, so his understanding of cryptographic concerns cannot be trusted without qualification, which The Register is seeking.

But there's no doubt about the intent of Australia's proposed laws, as Brandis later said in a joint appearance with prime minister Malcolm Turnbull that Australia's law enforcement agencies want access to encrypted traffic for three reasons.

The first is that Brandis says Australia already has mechanisms to allow law enforcement authorities to intercept electronic communications. Extending that power to encrypted traffic just brings that power up to date, he argues.

The second is that the Australian Federal Police says it has seen rapid growth in the amount of encrypted traffic from around three per cent a couple of years ago to now over 55, 60 per cent of all traffic.

Lastly, Turnbull said that encrypted messaging services are used by ordinary citizens, they are alsi used by people who seek to do us harm. They're being used by terrorists, they're being used by drug traffickers, they're being used by paedophile rings.

Bad people using encryption means the law needs to be modernised, with a definitely-not-a-backdoor that sees device makers and service providers co-operate with Australia in as-yet-unspecified ways to provide access to encrypted messages when warrants are produced.

Pushed on how encrypted messages could be read when service providers hold neither public or private keys, and Turnbull had this to say:

Your Sydney-based correspondent looks forward to an attempt at repealing gravity so we can see if the laws of Australia override the laws of physics, too.

But we digress.

Brandis and Turnbull said the law will reach Parliament in the Spring sessions which commence on August 8th. Just what it will compel device-makers and service providers to do has not been revealed, nor has how Australia will access messages sent using services based offshore. Turnbull said I'm not suggesting this is not without some difficulty but hinted that in discussions at last week's G20 Leaders' Summit the participants agreed that member nations should be able to rely on colleagues to sort things out with companies resident in their respective jurisdictions.

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UK spookhas GCHQ can crack end-to-end encryption says Australian AG - The Register


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