Category Archives: Bitcoin

Some 70% of miners have now made a decision on whether to support segregated witnesses (segwit) or Bitcoin Unlimited, a proposal which simply increases the blocksize as set by nodes and miners. Its not clear what the other 30% of miners are waiting for, but it will be interesting to see what they do decide once they get around to exercising their duty.

If all go for segwit, it would give the proposal some 60%. Far off from a 95% threshold usually used, but that was always unrealistic in any, even slightly, contentious setting. Its not too far from 75%, but conceptually, if segwit does reach 60%, it would be reasonable to say after lengthy debate a decision has been made and thus should be supported regardless of views.

If all of the 30% instead support Bitcoin Unlimited, the client would gain some 70% of the hashrate. Not far from 75% and, again, regardless of views, after so much debate one has no choice, but to accept the decision of what would be an overwhelming majority.

In either case, both sides might dispute the end decision, but intellectually, they would have no standing nor any persuasive power for they would look no different than the not my president protestors who thought they can create their own fictitious reality.

Its unlikely all of the remaining 30% would decide in favor of just one proposal. If we split them in half, that would give segwit 47% while Bitcoin Unlimited would have around 53%. A very tight result, but, a potential outcome within predictable range as the matter is contentious.

The question now rises whether the 47% should accept the decision of the 53% or whether they should split? If they do split, which one is to be called bitcoin? If, instead, they decide to not solve the problem at all, in effect rejecting both proposals, due to the fear of a split and its potential ensuing chaos, then what is the wider public to think of an expensive and slow bitcoin that cant solve its problems?

Rationally, the name bitcoin should go to the chain with 53% of the hashrate since bitcoin relies on the honesty of 51% of miners. If the matter is so contentious, then at least some of the 47% will probably split, which is their right. However, they need to differentiate themselves, but what if they dont, what if they call themselves bitcoin?

Here, the persuasive power of conventions and norms usually assists. Just as the not my president protestors, they can call themselves bitcoin, but no one should take them seriously because, objectively, bitcoin is the chain with more than 51% of miners unless such miners are objectively acting maliciously which clearly is not the case in this scalability debate where a genuine disagreement of opinion exists.

The not my president protestors can, of course, go to California and declare independence, but they obviously wont be able to call California as USA. Likewise, the minority has the right to split without requiring any permission, but they cant call themselves bitcoin. They can call themselves Bitcoin Core, or BCC; or Bitcoin Unlimited with ticker BTU, depending on which one is minority with the majority one remaining as bitcoin or BTC.

Norms and conventions are not easily enforceable, but they have power because non-adherence leads to chaos. If the president, for example, does not uphold a judicial ruling, he risks revolution.

Likewise, if some exchanges call a minority chain as bitcoin, then the entire currency is put into question, risking its complete downfall, not to mention the ensuing chaos.

As such, adhering to simple norms and conventions would be in the interest of everyone, including the minority chain, which can happily operate on its own network and fairly compete in the market, instead of risking its own downfall and that of bitcoin.

The 30% of miners who have not decided, therefore, should get on with it. After now two years of endless arguing, and after some 70% have decided, there is no excuse for the other miners to keep sitting on the fence.

Just signal for segwit or Bitcoin Unlimited and lets end this constant arguing, stagnation, transaction delays, increased fees, etc.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are solely that of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to CCN.

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How Does Bitcoin Reach a Decision? - CryptoCoinsNews

Bitcoin and cyber-terrorism are on prime time once more thanks to the most recent season finale of The Good Fight. As well, the digital currencywill soon be featured in the My Money episode of Dark Net.

Last week,in the first season finale of The Good Fight, an American legal and political drama, Bitcoin took center stage. The episode, calledChaos, could be an important part of the shows next season after the series was renewed for a second in March.

Technology lawyer and Bitcoin creator Dylan Stack, played by Jason Biggs, asks show star Diane to represent him. He is the creator of Bitcoin. He tells her he believes he is being framed for an upcoming cyber attack against Chicagos power grid.Stack has appeared as the bitcoin on The Good Wife,from which The Good Fight spun off.

The law firm Reddick, Boseman, & Kolstad, known for its police brutality cases, represents Stack. Eventually, however, the malware infects the governments computers and blocks access to the power grid. The Fedssuspect the law firm had a role.

Stack doesnt come forward to authorities. He works instead to uncover who planted the malware on his computer, suspecting it was someone he chats with on 4chan (since the creator of Bitcoin chats on 4chan). Stack the founder of Bitcoin is ultimately arrested by the FBI. The blackout hits at the same time.

The episode, called Chaos is set amid bi-annual reviews at law firm Reddick, Boseman and Kolstad. Lucca receives good reviews.

The Good Wife featured a Bitcoin episode, as well. In Season 3 Episode 13, Bitcoin for Dummies, the show dedicated awhile to explaining the digital currency technology based on the blockchain. The Good Fight doesnt take this path, focusing in on the action instead. In The Good Wifeepisode, bitcoin featured three inventors. In that episode, Biggs character assures he is Bitcoins representative.

Bitcoin recently appeared will appear in an upcoming episode of Dark Net. The episode, which will be named My Money, could have gone in several different directions, as that showsproducers discussed the possibility of showcasing Venezuela Bitcoin miners.

We originally wanted to interview bitcoin miners in Venezuela who are really risking a lot to mine for bitcoin because money there is so worthless and bitcoin still retains value. So it was a really, really interesting story of survival that you wouldnt think of because bitcoin is typically associated with the darknet and illicit activities, and this was a completely different take on it, Adi Kochavi, president of Vocativ Films and executive producer for Dark Net, said. Im definitely holding onto this idea.

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Forbes

From Here To Where? Bitcoin And The Future Of Cryptocurrency Forbes There's a number of reasons why cryptocurrencies are so inherently popular. They are safe, anonymous and utterly decentralized. Unlike conventional currency, they are not controlled or regulated by some singular authority, their flow is determined ... What's keeping cryptocurrencies from mass adoption? | TechCrunchTechCrunch all 3 news articles »

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From Here To Where? Bitcoin And The Future Of Cryptocurrency - Forbes

The US governments ongoing extensive surveillance on the global banking system and payment transfers is demonstrating an urgent necessity of a decentralized financial network such as bitcoin.

Over the past few months, various organizations including Wikileaks and Shadow Brokers have exploited most of the malpractices of the National Security Agency of the US. One of the recent tools of the NSA that was leaked and exploited on the dark web was the NSAs surveillance tool on the Swift global banking system.

Government agencies and law enforcement are required to undergo a lengthy process of filing a complaint and request to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (Swift) in order to gain necessary financial information of certain bank accounts of businesses and individuals.

With a surveillance and hacking tool however, the NSA can surpass the above mentioned process by simply gaining access to the actual Swift network without alarming its system and infrastructure. According to representatives of Shadow Brokers, a hacking group that has leaked many pieces of malware in the past, the hacking tool of the NSA allows the US government to surveil financial transactions settled within the Swift network with full transparency.

Matt Suiche, founder of the United Arab Emirates-based cybersecurity firm Comae Technologies, said in an interview with Reuters:

If you hack the service bureau, it means that you also have access to all of their clients, all of the banks.

While some security analysts and firms including EastNets denied the claims of Shadow Brokers, prominent whistleblowers and security experts including Edward Snowden explained that if the exploitation of the NSA hacking tool by the security firm Shadow Brokers is in fact true, it could be described as the Mother of All Exploits.

In the meantime, Swift announced that its cyber security and research team were not able to find any evidences to conclusively determine the surveillance allegation against the US government.

We have no evidence to suggest that there has ever been any unauthorized access to our network or messaging services, said the representatives of Swift.

Whether the US government actually utilized the NSAs hacking tool to surveil the Swift network without permission from Swift and its clients is not the major issue. The main problem is that such hacking tools exist and they are capable of unraveling transactions settled across the world.

Any centralized financial networks such as Swift impose such vulnerability, as any network, server or database connected to the Internet is vulnerable to hacking attacks, surveillance and data breaches, if it is not designed to be immutable or decentralized, unlike bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Each transaction on the bitcoin blockchain is identified with cryptographic proof and it can be accessed on the bitcoin blockchain. Most importantly, because the bitcoin blockchain is public, it cannot be manipulated by a government agency like the NSA with sophisticated hacking tools.

Although there exists strict Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer systems in place on the majority of the worlds bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges, government agencies and law enforcement agents must go through proper channels to obtain the data.

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US Government Hacks Global Bank System, Neccesity of Bitcoin - The Merkle

"Ten percent of my net worth is in this space," Novogratz said at a forum held at the Harvard Business School Club of New York Wednesday. He declined to say exactly how wealthy he is, but he's a former hedge fund manager at Fortress Investment Group and a Goldman Sachs partner who made the Forbes billionaire list in 2008.

It's the "best investment of my life," Novogratz said.

Bitcoin was worth under $500 a year ago. Today the digital currency trades at over $1,200. Back in 2013, Novogratz predicted Bitcoin's value would soar. He remembers people laughing at him at the time.

Since then, Bitcoin's price has been on a wild run. It surged to nearly $1,000 in late 2013 and then fell to under $250 in 2015. It started to fly again last year, around the time of the Brexit vote. It surpassed $1,000 in January of this year again and has kept climbing.

Now Novogratz is saying Bitcoin will go to $2,000.

But he also warned the Harvard Business School Club crowd that there will "likely be a bubble" in digital currencies. The best way to handle it, he argues, is the old Wall Street trick of diversification. Put a little money in a lot of different plays in digital currency.

Related: What is Bitcoin? Read CNN's explainer

For example, Novogratz was also an early investor in Ether. It's another digital currency that has quickly emerged as the No. 2 rival to Bitcoin. Novogratz says he bought Ether when it was trading for about $1. Today it's worth over $48.

Novogratz met Vitalik Buterin, the young Russian brainchild behind Ether at a dinner party at a prominent CEO's home. He recalls that Buterin, then 21, showed up late, which struck him as shocking -- and a bit ballsy. He figured it was worth paying attention to Buterin.

Ether is a currency with a "smart contract" function that gives users additional security and abilities to transfer information in addition to monetary value.

We're witnessing the "3rd inning" of this digital asset revolution, Novogratz predicts. He's not exactly sure how it will play out, but he plans to continue investing in digital currencies and Blockchain, the revolutionary technology behind the scenes that makes Bitcoin work.

Blockchain is literally a digital ledger to record and track transactions. What makes it so technologically advanced is that multiple companies or parties can access the Blockchain and see the history of what happened to an asset.

Related: Yext: The newest $1 billion tech company

Novogratz has emerged as one of the biggest Wall Street cheerleaders of Blockchain, but his bets haven't always gone so well. He exited Fortress in 2015 after the company shut down his Marco Fund for poor performance. It lost around 20% in its final year after his investments in emerging markets, especially Brazil, tanked.

"We have had an extremely challenging two years, and I do not believe the current environment is conducive to achieving our best results," Novogratz said at the time.

CNNMoney (New York) First published April 20, 2017: 12:44 PM ET

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Billionaire says he has 10% of his money in Bitcoin, Ether and ... - CNNMoney

Forbes

Why Bitcoin's Greatest Asset Could Also Spell Its Doom Forbes The wonder of bitcoin is that the system manages to get a few groups whose interests are not aligned to interact in a way that results in an optimal outcome for all. However, over the last two years, faced with the question of how to enable more ...

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Why Bitcoin's Greatest Asset Could Also Spell Its Doom - Forbes

Forbes

The Rise And Fall Of Bitcoin (And The New Kid On The Blockchain) Forbes Disclaimer: I'm an avid crypto-enthusiast, advocate, supporter and former trader. I used to be an avid trader years ago, and my co-founder is as hardcore of a crypto-anarchist as they come. I would love nothing more than for bitcoin to succeed, but I ...

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The Rise And Fall Of Bitcoin (And The New Kid On The Blockchain) - Forbes

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission again has denied the listing and trading of bitcoin, the decentralized digital currency. The SEC on March 28 denied the proposal of NYSE Arca exchange, one of the largestelectronic communication networks in terms of shares traded, to list and trade the SolidX Bitcoin Trust, which would track bitcoins price and trade like a stock. The SEC on March 10 denied the application of venture capitalists Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who wanted to create an exchange-traded fund for bitcoin.

The SECs grounds for denying NYSE Arca are similar to those the agency gave for rejecting the Winklevoss twins request. The SEC determined that markets for bitcoin are unregulated and the proposal lacks rules to prevent fraudulent acts and protect investors, among other factors.

The commission notes that bitcoin is still in the relatively early stages of its development and that, over time, regulated bitcoin-related markets of significant size may develop, according to the SECs decision.

Tyler Winklevoss said last month that the brothers were not giving up and they would continue working with the SEC. On behalf of the Winklevoss twins, Bats BZX Exchange Inc., which would list and trade shares of the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, filed a petition for review with the SEC March 24, claiming the commissions findings were clearly erroneous or unsupported by relevant facts or analysis.

Meanwhile, in Europe, the European Central Bank has determined that distributed ledger, or blockchain, the technology that underpins bitcoin transactions, has several advantages, but cant be considered an option for the Eurosystems financial framework, according to a recent report, Distributed Ledger Technology: Challenges and Opportunities for Financial Market Infrastructures.

Distributed ledger technology has its advantages, such as automatically updating records and shortening the settlement cycle, which would lower back-office costs and reduce capital requirements. However, functional, operational, governance and legal aspects need to be weighed before considering the mass adoption of new technologies, according to the report.

At this stage of its development, [distributed ledger technology] is not mature enough and therefore cannot be used in the Eurosystems market infrastructure, the report concluded.

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SEC Deals another Blow to Bitcoin Trading; ECB Says 'No' to Blockchain - Paybefore

Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Bitcoin Exchanges Hit Snags - WSJ Wall Street Journal (subscription) Bitcoin suffered a series of setbacks over the past few days, when the biggest exchange couldn't enable customers to withdraw or deposit money except in other ... Traders Flee Bitcoin Exchange Bitfinex As It Pauses Wire TransferCoinTelegraph Instability at Bitfinex reinforces FinanceFeeds view that Bitcoin will never be a financial mainstayFinanceFeeds (blog) Traders Raise Concern as Biggest Bitcoin Exchange Halts DepositsCoinDesk CryptoCoinsNews -Inside Bitcoins -Finance Magnates -Bitfinex all 14 news articles »

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Investopedia

Self-Declared Bitcoin Creator Sees Company He Inspired Sold to Private Equity Investopedia In the ever-changing world of cryptocurrencies, Craig Wright has become something of a fixture. The 46-year old computer scientist, who claims to have invented Bitcoin, has garnered both massive praise and skeptical criticism from those on different ...

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Self-Declared Bitcoin Creator Sees Company He Inspired Sold to Private Equity - Investopedia