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![[Image: https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg....it%3Dscale]](https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fdam%2Fimageserve%2F926672206%2F960x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale)
Bitcoin, which just last week had its first major sell-off in months, has this morning jumped almost 10%, powering the world's largest cryptocurrency back above $6,500 after it looked likely to fall below the psychological $6,000 mark late last week.
Bitcoin leapt from $6,222 earlier today to early highs of $6,732, according to CoinDesk data, adding almost $10 billion to bitcoin's market capitalization in a matter of minutes. On some exchanges, including the Hong Kong-based Bitfinex exchange where bitcoin often trades at a premium, the bitcoin price climbed to over $7,000.
The sudden rise in the bitcoin price this morning was signaled by a sell-off of the dollar-linked tether digital coin — the only cryptocurrency which is down today, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Traders often sell tether to buy other cryptocurrencies and a sudden influx of tether sellers would push down the tether price — and boost the bitcoin price if that's what traders are moving their money to. Tether was down by some 3% in the run up to bitcoin's sudden price rise.
![[Image: https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg....it%3Dscale]](https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fdam%2Fimageserve%2F1025441120%2F960x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale)
Tether is the second-most traded of all digital currencies after bitcoin, according to CoinMarketCap.
Tether’s tokens are designed for stability and the tether price doesn't usually stray far from the U.S. dollar price because Tether Limited, the company that issues the tokens, says each one is backed by a dollar in its bank accounts — though this has not been independently verified.
It has been suggested that tether trading on the Bitfinex exchange, which has the same chief executive as Tether Limited, has helped to prop up the bitcoin price over recent months.
Bitfinex dismissed allegations that it was insolvent in a Medium post last week, and said that withdrawals were functioning as normal.
"Bitfinex is not insolvent, and a constant stream of Medium articles claiming otherwise is not going to change this," the exchange wrote. "As one of only a very few exchanges operating since 2013, with a small team and low operating costs, we do not entirely understand the arguments that purport to show us to be insolvent without providing any explanation about why. The wallets below represent a small fraction of Bitfinex cryptocurrency holdings and do not take into account fiat holdings of any kind."
This morning's rise in the bitcoin price all but erase the losses bitcoin recorded late last week, leaving the bitcoin price roughly level since mid-September.
As usual, bitcoin's price jump pushed up the wider cryptocurrency market, with the ethereum price and the ripple (XRP) price both recording around double-digit percentage gains.
Short, sharp changes in the bitcoin price are often attributed to either trading bots initiating a buy or sell order that then gets picked up by others, causing a domino effect on the price, or by so-called whales (large holders of a cryptocurrency or another asset) buying or selling a big enough chunk at under or above the current market rate.
This causes the market rate of the asset to suddenly move in the direction of the sale, often causing havoc for exchange operators.
![[Image: https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2F...rt-1-3.jpg]](https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fbillybambrough%2Ffiles%2F2018%2F10%2Fcoindesk-bpi-chart-1-3.jpg)
Bitcoin's falling price since the beginning of the year (which is down from highs of almost 20,000 at the end of 2017) has been put down to a fall in trading volume since its peak at the end of 2017 — something that has hit cryptocurrency exchanges around the world, prompting some to cut costs and lay off staff.
Elsewhere, some market watchers speculated the rise in the bitcoin price could signal a return to form for the U.S. tech-heavy Nasdaq stock exchange — which last week dropped sharply towards the end of the week.
![[Image: https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2F...Nasdaq.jpg]](https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fbillybambrough%2Ffiles%2F2018%2F10%2FRussian-Market-on-Twitter-Bitcoin-is-wildly-surging-usually-forecasting-a-rally-in-Nasdaq.jpg)
The U.S. Nasdaq Composite Index last week became the first major U.S. stock market benchmark to dip into a correction, dragged down by losses across all the major technology-related companies.
A correction on Wall Street is defined as down more than 10% from its high.
Online retailer Amazon, streaming service Netflix, and Google parent Alphabet were all in correction territory after taking big hits due to fears around rising interest rates.
source forbes.com
by Bily Bambrough
Read More, Posted by: crytocure ![[Image: 4e33e1ac-72cd-41ff-9213-362efe3339d9.png]](https://finstead.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com//4e33e1ac-72cd-41ff-9213-362efe3339d9.png)
Stellar (XLM.X) is trading at $0.21, down 3% from yesterday. The cryptocurrency has lost more than 25% of its value since the recent late-September peak. What is the price forecast of Stellar Lumens? What do the bulls say about Stellar?
XLM's price has been volatile lately; however Stellar Lumens is still the sixth largest crypto by market cap.
The Stellar platform is full of features that excite investors. StellarX allows trading of fiat currencies, tokens, and other assets. It is free and charges only 0.00001 XLM for spam prevention (this amount is reimbursed weekly). By design, StellarX is just a general user interface that helps with the utilization of the Stellar open marketplace. It enables faster transfers without the need of handing over the keys to a trusted third party.
There are also some important commercial developments around Stellar Lumens. XLM has also been added to the Circle Invest app. In addition, Stellar launched Lobstr wallet, which features a custody platform for retail investors, who get optimum security for cryptocurrencies they wind up trading.
Other companies are also adding Stellar Lumens to their portfolios. ICO services platform TokenSoft has officially launched support for projects on the Stellar lumens protocol. And Coinbase said it's experimenting with Stellar's XLM.
What is the sentiment towards Stelar Lumens? Here are the major technical indicators:
- MACD is in the bearish zone. MACD (moving average convergence divergence) is a trend-following momentum indicator that shows the relationship between two moving averages of prices. MACD is calculated by subtracting the 26-day EMA (exponential moving average) from the 12-day EMA;
- RSI (relative strength indicator) is at 41, indicating a neutral level. RSI compares the magnitude of recent gains and losses over a specified time period to measure speed and change of price movements of a security;
- A new major support level is forming at $0.20;
- A new major resistance level is forming at $0.29.
Over the last 30 days, XLM.X gained 11.6%, which is 20.09 percentage points higher than the 30-day return of Bitcoin (BTC.X).
![[Image: XLM.X-chart1-2018-10-01-06%3A25.png]](https://finstead.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/charts/XLM.X-chart1-2018-10-01-06%3A25.png)
source finstead.com
by Rajlaxmi Sahu
Read More, Posted by: crytocure ![[Image: IMF-plate-760x400.jpg]](https://248qms3nhmvl15d4ne1i4pxl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/IMF-plate-760x400.jpg)
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stated in a recently released report that the rapid growth of Bitcoin and crypto could impact the international finance system.
The report entitled “World Economic Outlook: Challenges to Steady Growth” published by the IMF read:
Quote:“Cybersecurity breaches and cyberattacks on critical financial infrastructure represent an additional source of risk because they could undermine cross-border payment systems and disrupt the flow of goods and services. Continued rapid growth of crypto assets could create new vulnerabilities in the international financial system.”
Rapid Growth, Improving Regulation, Acknowledgement From Government Agencies
Despite the 80 percent decline in the valuation of the crypto market, the industry has seen some of the most positive developments regarding the institutionalization, regulation, and development of cryptocurrencies as an emerging asset class in the past nine months.
Led by existing companies like Coinbase and Gemini, major financial institutions in the likes of NYSE, Cboe, and Goldman Sachs have started to strengthen the infrastructure of the cryptocurrency market, allowing both high profile retail traders and institutional investors to allocate large amounts of money in the asset class.
As the cryptocurrency sector continues to grow at an exponential rate, the IMF emphasized that it could create vulnerabilities in the financial system. Because cryptocurrencies are considered alternative currencies with value, a growing number of hackers have started to target digital asset trading platforms with sophisticated tools and hacking methods.
“Stealing cryptocurrencies is similar to stealing cash, and exchanges will continue to be targeted by hacking attacks in the long-term.
It is as important to establish systems to deal with the aftermath of hacking attacks as integrating various methods to prevent hacking attacks,” Jeon Ha-jin, the chairman of South Korea Blockchain Association said.
![[Image: south-korea-bitcoin.jpg]](https://248qms3nhmvl15d4ne1i4pxl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/south-korea-bitcoin.jpg)
In South Korea, the third largest cryptocurrency exchange market behind the US and Japan, exchanges have begun to insure their funds through trusted insurance providers like Samsung to add an additional layer of security and investor protection.
Gemini, a leading cryptocurrency exchange in the US alongside Coinbase, also recently obtained insurance services from Aon to ensure that in an unlikely event of a security breach, the exchange is able to cover user funds and holdings fully.
“Consumers are looking for the same levels of insured protection they’re used to being afforded by traditional financial institutions.
Educating our insurers not only allows us to provide such protections to our customers, but it also sets the expectation for consumer protection across the crypto industry,” Yusuf Hussain, Gemini’s Head of Risk, said.
The cryptocurrency industry and infrastructure employed by exchanges are relatively new and fundamentally different from the technologies implemented by the traditional finance sector. As such, it is appropriate for the IMF and government agencies to describe the rapid growth of the asset class a risk to global finance.
But, continuous efforts to strengthen the infrastructure of the cryptocurrency market and improve investor protection will reduce the risk cryptocurrencies have on the global finance industry.
Expert Believes it is Optimistic
Emin Gun Sirer, a professor at the prestigious Cornell University and a highly regarded expert in the space of cryptocurrency and blockchain, stated that the acknowledgement of cryptocurrencies as an asset class by the IMF is optimistic for the industry.
source ccn.com
by Joseph Young
Read More, Posted by: crytocure ![[Image: Does-Cryptocurrency-Have-Speculative-or-Real-Value.jpg]](https://www.dashforcenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Does-Cryptocurrency-Have-Speculative-or-Real-Value.jpg)
One of the strongest narratives in the midst of the present crypto bear market is that of speculation vs. use, of what is perceived as “real” value compared with “fake” value of investors buying it for speculative reasons. Much of the discussion revloves around classifying most projects as speculative, while preferred ones are branded as legitimate. In reality, however, the differences between the two sources of valuation are not so black and white, and projects do not simply transition from all speculative to all practical over time. In fact, speculation is likely to persist during the entire lifespan of the project, but shift to different aspects and developments.
Speculative value is “real” value
One misconception among many die-hard adoption-first advocates (like myself) is that speculative value is somehow “fake” or not legitimate. To be clear, price fixing and manipulation does lead to values that have no direct bearing in reality, however on its own speculation has real value in the same way anything else does: people believe it does. As former Dash developer Chuck Williams is fond of saying, all value is belief. It is people’s belief, backed up by their willingness to put their money behind what they believe, that gives something value. If someone believes something will have commercial use and puts their money behind it, that value is as real as that same person buying that same product to actually use in commerce.
The key difference is that, with practical use, the belief behind the valuation is much easier and quicker to realize: if I buy a cup of coffee, I have a very reasonable expectation backed up by evidence that the coffee will serve a practical purpose for me in the short term, while if I invest in a coffee startup I have much less tangible evidence of getting something out of it, and a longer time frame over which to expect it. The longer speculation takes to translate to practical use, the more fragile its value becomes.
As projects mature they acquire commercial use between waves of speculation
Now when it comes to blockchain projects, value isn’t binary: speculative or practical. There are different forms of speculative value as there are different things that are being speculated on, and practical use in commerce does not necessarily herald the definitive end of speculation, nor should it. Initially, at the whitepaper stage, investors are speculating that the technology outlined will someday exist and be completed. Once it exists, we speculate on the technology proving useful as intended, and holding up in the use cases for which it was designed. This can be proved with network stress tests to prove scaling, research to prove advanced privacy features can’t be broken, and other tests to prove that the network works well and as intended under the circumstances for which it was designed. Note that this can include practical use in commerce, but in a limited capacity and for mostly hobbyist purposes. Next we have commercial use, where some meaningful group of people is buying it and using it for regular economic activity because it represents the best solution to their need available, without being artificially subsidized or simply catering to use by fans. Practical commercial use is when the technology makes economic sense to use on its own, without philosophical or other ulterior incentives.
![[Image: Speculative-Progression.png]](https://www.dashforcenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Speculative-Progression.png)
Once practical use is achieved, however, speculation doesn’t necessarily stop there, unless a project’s entire goal was to see real economic use in some limited capacity and then stop there. The next phase is speculation on whether or not the technology will see dominant usage in a particular limited field or industry, such as cryptocurrency for gift card resale, fitness supplement and legal cannabis industry, or remittances. Once the technology becomes absolutely essential and universally used in a particular field, it attains the next level of commercial use value, as practically speaking it’s necessary for anyone wishing to efficiently operate in that particular field. Next is speculation on wide commercial use outside of its narrow field of specialty, and finally comes practical value as a tool with wide economic use. Portions of this cycle may be repeated as new industries are targeted for specialized use or as new phases of technological development are planned, implemented, and then applied to specific cases or the market as a whole.
Side note on volatility/stability
Note that speculation and commercial use have very different effects on price volatility. Speculation-based valuation can fluctuate wildly as assumptions on how much the project will be worth in the future can change at a moment’s notice. Commercial use, however, depends on a much more narrow channel of fluctuation, as too drastic a change in value can completely invalidate the economic soundness of a practical use case. Speculation can create demand for the product at a huge potential range of prices, whereas commercial use includes demand only at specific profitable price ranges. For most of their history cryptocurrencies have proven to be mainly in the speculative, and have experienced the price volatility to match. However, it’s worth noting that Bitcoin experienced a relatively high degree of price stability during its period of peak commercial use, beating the stability of the British pound at that time.
Cryptocurrency is mostly speculative, but at different phases of use and speculation
Now where does the state of cryptocurrency today fit into all this? For the most part, projects tend to be stuck in the first two steps, and never enter a practical use phase. Bitcoin solidly reached the third phase with limited but consistent use as a payments system, and began making inroads into the fourth and fifth steps with some use in online gambling, remittances, fundraising for controversial causes such as Wikileaks, etc. However, due to scaling limitations, it has lost much of its initial practical use, with new speculation on its eventual scaling prospects through off-chain solutions such as the Lightning network. Ethereum remained largely on the second step of attempting to prove its viability for its intended purpose while achieving some limited practical use as an entry point for developers seeking to work in the smart contract space. However, in a likely unplanned twist, it then jumped straight to solid footing in the fifth step as it became the top tool for raising startup capital, kicking off the ICO boom. At its peak, people were legitimately buying Ethereum because it enabled them to do something of economic value that they were otherwise unable to do practically. However, scaling limitations combined with regulatory threats have largely kicked it back to square one, consisting of speculation on the eventual completion of certain scaling upgrades (though some of its former practical use cases still persist).
As for other projects, few have advanced past the first two steps. Zcash remains largely in the first two steps with continuing development and refinement of its product, while Monero has largely completed the first speculative steps and is attempting to achieve uses for enhanced privacy beyond hobby status, as darknet purchases remain for the time being largely in Bitcoin or fiat currencies. Where does this leave Dash? Largely in the first steps of limited commercial use (particularly in Venezuela), with heavy targeting of specific industries for solid niche use, such as the cannabis industry, though these still remain mostly speculative. Parallel to these, the development of the Evolution platform continues, repeating the cycle and having achieved the first speculative step.
The race to majority commercial use valuation is on
Now, the various cryptocurrencies are locked in a contest to become the first to see most of their value derived from commercial, rather than speculative, use. While no coin to my knowledge has solidly entered this phase at this point, I would argue that Bitcoin may have briefly during the period immediately prior to its scaling issues. When a cryptocurrency firmly and consistently achieves this majority-commercial status, this will likely shift the whole field in that direction, with less investor patience for gaps and long stretches between speculation and delivery of practical use. As for the first-to-market cryptocurrency, it will likely not only see much higher valuation due to deriving it from two aspects (speculation and commerce), but its speculative value will likely be much higher as well since it will be built on confidence of having delivered solid working products in the past.
How long until a cryptocurrency escapes the majority speculation phase, and which one will be the first to this achievement? We may not have to wait much longer to find out.
source dashforcenews.com
by Joel Valenzuela
Read More, Posted by: crytocure ![[Image: stellar-xlm.jpg?resize=696%2C373&ssl=1]](https://i0.wp.com/smartereum.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/stellar-xlm.jpg?resize=696%2C373&ssl=1)
Stellar Lumens (XLM) have really stood strong in the crypto space over the years. The blockchain project has shown great commitment towards enhancing the crypto space and revolutionizing the finance industry.
Stellar Lumens is currently the sixth largest digital currency in the world by market cap. The adoption of the digital currency and its underlying technology is continuously on the increase. The digital currency is currently trading in the green after having a pretty rough week.
Recently, Stellar Lumens successfully secured a strategic partnership with Hyperionto list Stellar’s cryptos on the platform. Stellar Lumens sees more adoption as it is being actively used as the preferred choice of network to develop platforms as a result of its reliability, speed, and cost-effectiveness.
Prime Trust Adds Support for Stellar Lumens
Over the past months, there has been an influx of developments leveraging Stellar. Now, Prime Trust is adding support for Stellar tokens. Prime Trust is a startup that is based in the U.S. The startup offers custodian services.
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Prime Trust is the first and only custodian service provider to securely custody all ERC20 tokens. Now the platform will securely custody all Stellar tokens. According to Kevin Lehtiniitty – the Chief Product Officer of Prime Trust – the firm will be adding full support for Stellar.
Lehtiniitty said: “Stellar is becoming the most popular blockchain for tokenizing financial asset and securities. Because of its enormous speed and unique support for trading and issuing tokens, adding support for Stellar tokens is a natural extension of the firm’s crypto business. Adding that they are excited to add Stellar to their custody capabilities.”
PixelAlpha Set to Use Stellar as Its Settlement Layer
According to a recent announcement, PixelAlpha wants to use Stellar as the payment platform for its decentralized digital currency derivatives exchange. The founder of PixelAlpha, Alex Otsu, shared a post on Medium.
In the post, Otsu said: “There are lots of features that make their Distributed Ledger Technology uniquely fit for operating a derivatives platform. However, reliability, simplicity, and speed were major differentiators. He said Stellar will enable them to carry out transactions in seconds, instead of the minutes that other blockchains take.”
Cygnus Also Wants to Adopt Stellar
Additionally, Cygnus is another platform that wants to adopt Stellar. Cygnus is a blockchain startup that is creating a platform which will allow conventional merchants to accept XLM. The platform wants to use the technology of Stellar to achieve this. It also plans to add fiat currency and native trust lines in the future.
Stellar has been very attractive to many developers and firms lately. This is because of the unique features of the platform. Stellar is highly secure, it is fast, and it has very low transaction fees. Recently, BitGo added Stellar Lumens to its platform. BitGo is a digital currency custody, and the listing of Stellar Lumens on the platform will further increase the adoption of the digital currency.
Stellar (XLM) Price Today – XLM / USD
Name Price
24H (%)
![[Image: btc.svg]](https://smartereum.com/wp-content/plugins/cryptocurrency-price-ticker-widget//assets/coin-logo/btc.svg){kind=logo}
Bitcoin (BTC)
$6,299.07
-0.01%
![[Image: xlm.svg]](https://smartereum.com/wp-content/plugins/cryptocurrency-price-ticker-widget//assets/coin-logo/xlm.svg){kind=logo}
Stellar (XLM)
[url=https://smartereum.com/currencies/XLM/stellar/]
$0.210817
-1.78%
At the time of writing, XLM is trading at $0.2180 after an increase of about one percent over the past twenty-four hours. The current market cap of the digital currency is $4.12 billion and its trading volume over the past twenty-four hours is $40.43 million.
source ethereumworldnews.com
by Princess Ogono
Read More, Posted by: crytocure ![[Image: Manny-Pacquiao-760x400.jpg]](https://248qms3nhmvl15d4ne1i4pxl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Manny-Pacquiao-760x400.jpg)
Manny Pacquiao’s long-awaited cryptocurrency could launch by the end of the year.
According to a StraitsTimes report, Singapore based Global Crypto Offering Exchange (GCOX) is in charge of the launch of the Pac Tokens, the cryptocurrency that leverages on the popularity of the Philippine boxing legend.
The news outlet quoted GCOX chief communications officer Evan Ngow who said the only delay being experienced is with the Phillippine Securities and Exchange Commission who is yet to finalize its rules regarding initial coin offerings. The regulations should be ready before year-end, according to Ngow. The company is also working hand in hand with Pacquiao’s team on the volume and value of Pac Tokens to be issued out to members of the public.
The Filipino fighter, an eight-division world champion, is also a celebrity ambassador for tGCO, a blockchain platform that allows celebrities to create their cryptocurrencies which fans can then use to pay for access to exclusive celebrity-related content sold through the GCOX platform. The platform aims to establish the first “authoritative popularity index” through the valuation of tokens created for celebrities on its platform, and it claims the listing of the tokens on its platform will serve as an “objective indication” of the celebs popularity.
Other boxing legends that have been involved with crypto in the past include Welterweight Champion Floyd Mayweather who has promoted several ICOs in the past, while Hall of Fame boxer Evander Holyfield also endorsed an ICO that was later slapped with a cease-and-desist order by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Aside from the launch of Pac Tokens, GCOX is also planning to launch tokens for American singer Jason Derulo and English football legend Michael Owen.
Pacquiao, who is also a sitting Philippine senator, also invested an undisclosed amount of money in GCOX, according to a report in regional business publication Entrepreneur Philippines, while the company’s website claims that retired football star Michael Owen is also an investor.
source ccn.com
by Jimmi Aki
Read More, Posted by: crytocure ![[Image: KK09hh-1068x1068.jpg]](https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/KK09hh-1068x1068.jpg)
Keeping cryptocurrencies safe is a fundamental part of participating in the digital economy, and hardware wallets have become popular security solutions. These days there is a slew of devices on the market, each with its own options and features. One of these is the Keepkey wallet, a product that’s been well received by digital currency investors over the last three years.
The Keepkey Hardware Wallet
![[Image: KKclient-300x300.jpg]](https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/KKclient-300x300.jpg)
Earlier this week I took a look at the Keepkey hardware wallet, a device that allows users to store multiple cryptocurrencies in a secure fashion. Keepkey is sold for US$129 per device, which is more expensive than the Ledger Nano, Coolwallet S, and Trezor One. Nevertheless, the small rectangular device is more pleasing to hold and the screen looks very nice when the Keepkey is operating. The case the Keepkey comes in is packaged well and resembles an unopened Apple product. Keepkey, Coolwallet, and the Ledger all have well-packaged boxes compared to the Trezor One packaging.
![[Image: jonson.jpg]](https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/jonson.jpg)
Keepkey’s PIN system is identical to the Trezor entry method. Numbers are displayed on the device and the user has to submit the order on the Keepkey client’s on-screen pin-pad.
Inside the box is a Keepkey, a 12-word seed card, a USB cord, and some warranty information. The Keepkey has a plastic anti-scratch film laid over the device’s screen and is encased in black foam. Keepkey’s large OLED screen is pleasing to look at and is probably one of the device’s best features. After opening the Keepkey, I headed over to the company’s Getting Started page and downloaded the Keepkey application for Google Chrome. Keepkey only works with Chrome, but it’s the same with most hardware wallets now.
Connecting to Chrome and Initializing the Seed
After installing the application to Chrome, the platform asks you to plug your Keepkey in to get started. Immediately after initiating the Keepkey it required a firmware update and would not start the process of initiating a seed until the firmware was downloaded into the device. Removing the USB cable from my Keepkey was an uncomfortable feeling and it took a bit of force to insert and remove the cord compared to other devices. Ledger Nano is probably the best as far as connecting the cord, with the Trezor One following behind because my Trezor device has always had a weird connection feeling as well. However, after using the USB connection a few times with the Keepkey, connecting was easier and got much more comfortable to insert over time.
![[Image: KKACCNTSET.jpg]](https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/KKACCNTSET.jpg)
Overall the Keepkey user interface is fairly intuitive and easy to navigate.
Transactions, Shapeshift, and Comparisons to Other Models
Unlike other hardware wallets, Keepkey needs to be plugged in to view accounts and they can’t be seen when the device is disconnected. After the initial seed had been set up, I created a bitcoin cash (BCH) wallet to send myself some funds. Anytime I test a new wallet I always send a small fraction of crypto just to make sure the application is working properly. The wallet immediately saw the transaction; you can view confirmed and unconfirmed transactions in a separate window that’s tethered to a block explorer.
![[Image: Uniy66668.jpg]](https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Uniy66668.jpg)
Keepkey transactions can be viewed in a separate window and searched with the platform’s tethered block explorer.
![[Image: jonsoo99.jpg]](https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/jonsoo99.jpg)
Keepkey shows account addresses on the device’s screen.
![[Image: Inwalletshift.jpg]](https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Inwalletshift.jpg)
Keepkey users can use Shapeshift in-wallet but have to register for the company’s membership program and verify their identity in order to trade.
Overall, the Keepkey operates fairly smoothly and I didn’t really have any problems throughout the setup and funding the device.
The Keepkey’s user interface is more comfortable to move around and use than the Ledger Nano, and Keepkey operates similarly to the Trezor One. Unlike the Trezor or Ledger, the Keepkey uses one button navigation but still works fluidly with the wallet’s tasks like sending and receiving. The device doesn’t have support for too many cryptocurrencies right now, and other products offer a greater selection. But as far as the coins it does hold, the Keepkey offers an easy to use operating system and is just as secure as its competitors by using similar opsectechniques.
source news.bitcoin.com
by Jamie Redman
Read More, Posted by: crytocure ![[Image: Screen-Shot-2018-10-05-at-10.51.50-PM-1035x570.png]](https://cryptorecorder.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Screen-Shot-2018-10-05-at-10.51.50-PM-1035x570.png)
Two days ago, Hyperion announced that they were partnering with Interstellar. This partnership will enable all kinds of stellar-based assets to be traded on the Hyperion exchange. Essentially, anyone can securitize any asset on stellar and trade it on this exchange.
This comes a few days after another deal involving Colliers and stellar. Colliers, a Canadian real estate company announced that they would be tokenizing on stellar, as a way of increasing liquidity. All this points to a scenario where the stellar network is slowly taking over the asset tokenization market.
The Incentive
There is a growing incentive for companies to seek tokenization on the stellar network. The first one is the cost of financing. As interest rates rise all across the world, the cost of financing will start to rise. This will have a huge impact on businesses, especially the SME segment of the market. Stellar creates an easy way for such businesses to raise financing from a global audience and quite cheaply. As more businesses begin to realize the power of the stellar blockchain, it will become the norm, in terms of raising financing for business.
The other incentive for businesses to tokenize on stellar is that it is compliant to regulations. Unlike ICOs, there are no regulatory issues around stellar-based tokens. That’s because the whole process entails tokenizing already existing assets. This is unlike the ICO model, which is more of a crowdfunding for untested ideas. In essence, there is little risk of scams in issuing stellar tokens as opposed to the issuance of ICOs. Since they operate within existing laws, stellar tokens are favorable for raising low-cost financing without businesses having to deal with any complications with the law.
Impact to stellar (XLM)
As more businesses tokenize on stellar, the value of the underlying stellar blockchain, will rise as well, since the transaction fees in the stellar network are paid in stellar lumens. In essence, the more the assets tokenizing on the stellar blockchain, the more the demand for stellar (XLM), which gives this coin a huge leg up for growth going into the future. This growth will not necessarily come from the big businesses looking to tokenize on stellar, but rather from the numerous small and medium sized businesses that will take this route as a way of raising capital. If asset tokenization on the stellar blockchain becomes the norm, and it possibly will, the value of Stellar (XLM) will rise significantly.
A quick look at stellar (XLM) price action in the last few weeks, point to this potential value growth. Since StellarX opened its doors to all, the launch of DSTOQ, and news of big players tokenizing on stellar came up, the value of Stellar (XLM) has been largely bullish, when compared to the rest of the market. This means that once asset tokenization begins to gain momentum, it could emerge as one of the best performers in this market. On this basis, it follows that stellar (XLM) could emerge as one of the best coins out there for long-term investors. Macroeconomic factors like rising interest rates could see its value skyrocket in the long-run.
source cryptorecorder.com
by Nicholas
Read More, Posted by: crytocure ![[Image: 1_EKGKEmGXyYxsX57gKkodYw-1140x570.jpeg]](https://ethereumworldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/1_EKGKEmGXyYxsX57gKkodYw-1140x570.jpeg)
Despite the coins’ price volatility and most recent dump, the very idea behind the technology is mesmerizing and never ceases to amaze. Witnessing the change that blockchain tech can showcase, various leading firms are reaching to have a grasp to it.
Accordingly, more and more are seeking tokenization on the Stellar network because of efficiency and cost interest.
The sixth largest network by market capitalization open’s more routes for exposure towards global audience on cheaper grounds for the firms which implement the project. BLOC company just announced that the crypto-exchanging platform Hyperion has partnered up with InterStellar to back up Stellar-based assets.
Hyperion facilitates the trade of digital assets (to include cryptocurrencies) on an SEC-licensed alternative trading system (ATS), an arrangement that it has attained through a strategic investment in the Delaware Board of Trade (DBOT).
Quote:“Hyperion partnering with Interstellar is one of the best things that could have happened, not just for BLOC and Hyperion, but also for the crypto space,” said Shidan Gouran, President and CEO of the Company. “Regulation has been a serious hurdle for this industry. Our team at Hyperion took a shrewd approach to operating under an ATS license, which gives investors trading on Hyperion legal protections that they wouldn’t get on most other exchanges. That is a very big win for the crypto market in general, and for us and our shareholders as investors in Hyperion.”
Smartlands Platform, which is supported on the 6th largest coin by market capitalization Stellar [XLM], has announced partnering up with Colliers International. The latter one is a leader and famous in a global-scale in the real asset services and investment management company.
Being based on Stellar – Smartland, is a security token issuance project which opens new opportunities for owners of assets or new investors, could have brought a show changing development for Stellar and its team as Colliers International is as big as it can get.
Counting approximately $2.5 bln revenue last year and assets in almost seventy countries.
source ethereumworldnews.com
by Alex Tomzack
Read More, Posted by: crytocure ![[Image: Stellar-price-predictions-2018-Moderate-...C368&ssl=1]](https://i1.wp.com/smartereum.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Stellar-price-predictions-2018-Moderate-returns-but-good-development-potential-USD-XLM-price-analysis-XLM-Stellar-News-Today.jpg?resize=696%2C368&ssl=1)
Stellar Lumens (XLM) Successfully Secures a Partnership with Hyperion to List Stellar’s Cryptos on the Platform
Partnerships matters a lot in the crypto space, and it is what has been keeping many coins going. When a blockchain project secures more partnerships, it gets the support and strength it needs to thrive in the crypto space. Partnerships also increase the adoption of digital currencies, and this impacts their values subsequently.
Stellar Lumens Finalizes Its Partnership with Hyperion
Stellar Lumens (XLM) – one of the most promising digital currencies in the market – just secured a strategic partnership. According to the announcement, Hyperion just finalized its partnership with Stellar Lumens. Hyperion is one of the most popular digital currency trading platforms, and the partnership was confirmed by Global Blockchain Technologies Corporation.
As a result of the partnership, the crypto assets of Stellar will now be open for trade on the platform of Hyperion. This partnership is expected to have an enormous impact on the value of Stellar Lumens. It will also increase the goal and awareness of the blockchain project further.
About Hyperion
Hyperion uses an ATS (Alternative Trading System) that was licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The digital currency trading platform also has the permit to operate as a broker-dealer. Hyperion might soon become the first advanced security digital currency trading platform in North America.
About Stellar Lumens
Stellar is a trading protocol used for exchanging, transferring, and issuing digital assets. The platform works with a lot of digital currencies. It also works with fiat currencies such as the U.S dollar. The Stellar protocol also works with some commodity assets such as gold. The goal of the blockchain project is similar to that of Ripple Inc. in terms of faster and cheaper international payments.
The fundamental difference between both of them is that Stellar provides its services to individual investors. Whereas, Ripple focuses more on financial services providers and banks. With the services provided by Stellar, the overall interest in digital currencies has grown over time.
The Importance of Stellar’s Partnership with Hyperion
The partnership of Stellar and Hyperion will help Stellar to expand its scope of tradable assets. Hyperion will also benefit from the partnership. Stellar has a very large user base, and Hyperion will get to enjoy that large user base immediately it enters the marketplace. Both entities will benefit greatly from the partnership.
The investors of Stellar will also not be left out in this partnership. The investors will get to benefit from the partnership as they will have a new place for trading the digital assets of Stellar.
Shidan Gouran said that the partnership is the best thing that could have happened. He said the partnership will favor not only the entities involved but the whole digital currency space. Shidan Gouran is the CEO and President of BLOC. He said the trading platform adopted a new approach, the ATS license, which gives its investors a significant level of legal protection.
Stellar (XLM) Price Today – XLM / USD
24H (%)[/url]
Bitcoin (BTC)
$6,295.75
0.12%
Bitcoin (BTC)
$6,295.75
0.12%
[url=https://smartereum.com/currencies/XLM/stellar/]Stellar (XLM)
$0.216002
-0.32%
Stellar Lumens is currently trading in the green after seeing gains of about one percent over the past twenty-four hours. The digital currency is currently worth $0.2168. Its market cap is $4.10 billion with a trading volume of $46.93 million over the past twenty-four hours.
source smartereum.com
by Princess Ogono
Read More, Posted by: crytocure ![[Image: finance-security-1068x712.jpg]](https://nulltx.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/finance-security-1068x712.jpg)
By now, it’s highly likely that most of us understand how Blockchain technology has dramatically changed and how the world operates considerably. The Blockchain system is an openly distributed digital ledger technology behind the cryptocurrency industry. According to Alex Tapscott, the co-author of the Blockchain Revolution, the Blockchain technology is changing the concept of banking and online security as a whole.
Currently, financial institutions are looking for a modern and better way to handle old problems in the industry. And with Blockchain technology in place, financial institutions can now get access to better security systems than before.
To understand more about how the Blockchain technology works, let’s look at some of its major features.
Blockchain is decentralized
Unlike traditional systems, the Blockchain technology breaks every single data in its system into small chunks and then distributes it across the entire network. In fact, it lacks a central point of management; no one has control over any information in the system. Also, each node in the Blockchain system has access to the full details of the ledger. Therefore, when any node or computer breaks down, it will not lead to any data loss.
In addition, unlike traditional systems, the Blockchain technology cuts out all the third-parties. This is because the system is decentralized and immutable. According to proven economic and financial experts, the Blockchain technology can be implemented in many facets of life.
Often, it’s argued that Blockchain technology is only useful for the cryptocurrency industry. One glaring application is the proliferation of free bitcoin Telegram signals targeted at would-be crypto investors. However, this is not always the case; it can be used to strengthen the existing security solutions as well as address other security issues globally.
Blockchain technology hopes to solve multiple issues associated with digital transactions. It offers answers to data security; double spending, currency reproduction and chargebacks. It also comes in handy for cross-border transactions and fraud prevention among other subjects, by increasing safety and legitimacy.
Let’s look at some features of Blockchain that makes its security far way better than typical bank traditional systems.
Each user in the Blockchain systems has access to a public and private key.
These keys are cryptographic and very secure. They are essential for limited interaction within the system, for example, buying and selling Bitcoin. The transaction is then checked by more than two users, and for Bitcoin, Bitcoin miners’ checks and verifies transactions. The outcome of miners’ efforts is the bitcoin, which ends up mostly in cryptocurrency exchanges platform.
These keys are almost impossible to track or crack on their own. However, cybercriminals have come up with more comfortable means of getting a hold of them. If for instance, you store your keys online on an insecure platform they can get it. Also, if you save your passwords on an open hardware wallet, someone can impersonate you in the official platform and steal your information or funds.
With the prevalent payment processing systems, we have limited links in the chain of data verification. This allows the likelihood of fraudulent activities. Blockchain-based systems are quite tidy and almost impossible to commit any false or unauthorised transaction.
Traditional scams
In the current bank systems, we have witnessed news of hacking and other major fraudulent activities like scams. Many financial institutions and individuals have lost billions of dollars due to insecure systems. Also, even some popular cryptocurrency exchanges platform has suffered losses due to hacking.
The Blockchain systems are complex and have the ability to securely store and allow online information sharing. This happens without betraying privacy and transparency of the involved parties. This is precisely why innovators and investors have started applying Blockchain technology in different major sectors. All this is meant to increase data protection and prevent fraud.
One thought you should keep in mind is that the users of Blockchain are also vulnerable to traditional scams. For instance, following a scam link or email that pretends to be the official bank or exchange platform. Anyone can fall for that kind of trap. Therefore, it’s upon us to upgrade the levels of our private security if we don’t want to lose our funds and any other important information.
Blockchain systems have the best tool to protect important and private data from hackers. With Blockchain, data can’t be stolen or compromised. Remember that Blockchain is decentralized. It’s therefore almost impossible for tamper with or break down the entire Blockchain system, especially, bearing in mind the number of users in the system.
There could be millions of nodes or computers with access to the ledger which makes it very complex to penetrate. It has not been one case or two cases of hacking in the current bank system. So, if financial systems adopted Blockchain in their system, we can get better and secure services.
Blockchain offers validation and encryption
Any information and transaction that happen on the Blockchain systems are encrypted. It’s therefore unlikely to tamper with data.
Anyone with access to the system can check the distributed ledger on all the nodes and verify whether or not it has been changed.
And in case someone alters the data information, the signature is considered invalid.
It’s clear how Blockchain technology offers reliable and independent data verification. Common bank systems are centralized and are vulnerable to fraudulent activities because only a few personnel control the system. If a corrupt entity changes the information, it’s very hard to track. Also, any transaction on the network is irreversible.
So, hackers have no room to modify data on the blockchain. Financial institutions and other major industries can efficiently fight cybercrimes. Indeed, Blockchain-based systems can provide better and safer services than usual traditional bank systems.
Blockchain can be public and private
Although it has always been debated that Blockchain has allowed public anonymity, you can still decide to create private access to specific information. This doesn’t preclude you from getting the benefits of a decentralized peer-to-peer network. It only allows you to choose who to share your information with.
For instance, important information concerning banks can be shared among branches without allowing unauthorized access to it. However, anyone opting for a private Blockchain system is required to authenticate their identities in order to get access privileges. Also, it is often restricted to specific transactions.
Limitations of Blockchain technology to bear in mind
It will not be ideal not to mention the potential defects and problems associated with the Blockchain technology. Remember that the size of the network is vital to security-related matters. The Blockchain-based data is openly distributed and is vulnerable to hacking and other attacks.
However, looking at Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency that uses Blockchain technology we can agree that it has excellent potential and features despite its few limitations. Also, bearing in mind that the technology is still new, we expect to see more innovations that can have a significant impact on the world of security.
For instance, two Australian banks have adopted the Blockchain technology for financial guarantees. This tie to commercial property leasing, mainly for a shopping center-type of endeavor. This guarantee assuredly provided a information network. Indeed, lower fraud and high efficiency have been witnessed.
In summary, Blockchain technology has the potential to change how financial firms do business. Compared to traditional bank systems, the Blockchain systems are more efficient and accurate. If only banks and other financial institutions adopted this methodology, you can expect to see more secure, reliable, and fascinating ways of transferring funds and important information.
source nulltx.com
by Denise Quirk
Read More, Posted by: crytocure ![[Image: 3-700x500.png]](https://usethebitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/3-700x500.png)
Crypto credit cards have been rumored and discussed for as long as the market exists. Bringing a card to consumer markets would be a big sign of crypto’s adoption path. So where are we on crypto credit cards and which are the most promising projects?
What is a crypto credit card?
A crypto credit or debit card is just like any other card that you can use at a PoS or an ATM. The main difference in this situation is that you draw funds from your cryptocurrency wallet and not from a credit line extended to you.
The main benefit of crypto credit cards is the convenience, as they allow anyone to spend their cryptocurrency as they would in the case of typical fiat currency. Another advantage of crypto credit cards is the fact that you don’t need to worry about exchange rates.
Cryptocurrency credit cards could change the way people think about spending virtual and digital currencies.
Some of the biggest names in crypto credit card development are Nexo, TenX, and Monaco.
Nexo
On April 30th, 2018, Nexo launched the world’s first instant crypto-backed loans platform, announced via a blog post. Nexo aims to revolutionize the loan industry by boasting that investors and businesses won’t need to ever choose between accessing cash and holding their cryptocurrencies.
In short, Nexo allows its users to enjoy their own crypto wealth without having to actually sell it.
The platform is designed to be both security-focused and user-friendly. It provides you with the option of depositing your crypto assets to your secure Nexo wallet and benefit from instant loans via flexible credit lines. The loans are backed up by your own holdings. Thus, no credit card checks and other procedures are required.
![[Image: 1-2.png]](https://usethebitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/1-2.png)
Source: https://nexo.io/
The fiat can be instantly spent directly from the company’s crypto credit card (called Nexo Credit Card). One other benefit of this method is that you have to pay interest only for what you use. There are reportedly no minimum repayments and no hidden fees.
Nexo also has an ace up its sleeve when it comes to repayment options, namely, it allows you to pay loan repayments in fiat or even other cryptocurrencies stored outside Nexo.
The platform is highly accessible (worldwide) and, as long as you have cryptocurrencies, getting a loan is quite easy. Since all loans are collateral-based, having a credit history does not matter.
The company also boasts that it is the first USA-compliant security token under Regulation D Rule 506(c).
Nexo is powered by a so-called “Nexo Oracle system.” According to the official roadmap, Nexo has big plans for the future—with payment cards, mobile, and desktop apps. Going forward, Nexo hopes to increase the maximum loan limits and perform a second airdrop (Q4 2018), to finalize the acquisition of the FDIC-insured Banking Institution, as well as introducing deposit accounts (in Q1 2019).
TenX
TenX is a digital wallet and physical card that, just like Nexo, can be used to spend cryptocurrency anywhere, even in places that don’t accept crypto. The service is quite affordable, as you can order a physical card for about $15. There are annual fees of $10 per card if the spendings don’t go over $1000 in 12 months. The downside is that the service charges a $2.50 fee for every ATM transaction you make.
![[Image: 2.png]](https://usethebitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/2.png)
Source: https://tenx.tech/en/
The service also incentives its users with a 1% reward for every purchase. TenX can be used in any place where Visa is accepted.
Monaco
Monaco is a similar service built atop of the Ethereum blockchain. The service offers four types of cards, very different amongst each other. There are differnt card ties, depending on your holding of MCO tokens over 6 months: Ruby Steel (50 MCO), Precious Metal (500 MCO), or Obsidian Black (50,000 MCO). The entry-level card is called Midnight Blue, and it doesn’t require you to hold any MCO tokens.
The fees differ depending on the type of card you hold. The monthly limit varies from $200 for the Midnight Blue card to $1,000 for the Obsidian Black card. If monthly limits are exceeded, then you are charged a 2% ATM fee. The 1% fee applies to all types of cards each time you buy cryptocurrency. It’s a similar situation when it comes to rewards that vary from 1 to 2%. The cards currently support Monaco Tokens, Ethereum, and Bitcoin, and they are available in Asia, Europe, and North America.
![[Image: 3.png]](https://usethebitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/3.png)
Source: https://mco.crypto.com/en/
The global financial ecosystem has long been transitioning towards a completely digital model. While various challenges have been met (and addressed) along the way, there is still a lot of room for evolution, especially with cryptocurrencies. As cryptocurrencies become more popular, so may these credit cards, which are bound to change the way we use crypto to pay for daily services and products.
source usethebitcoin.com
Read More, Posted by: crytocure ![[Image: Does-The-Crypto-World-Really-Need-Broker...96x449.jpg]](https://3mgj4y44nc15fnv8d303d8zb-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Does-The-Crypto-World-Really-Need-Brokerages-696x449.jpg)
Cryptocurrency Decentralized/Centralized Exchanges vs Brokerages for Traders and Investors
Does The Crypto World Really Need Brokerages?
The current method of trading cryptocurrencies through the use of various exchanges — decentralized or centralized — is a perfect way for individual investors to satisfy their trading needs. However, the same cannot be said for those traders who tend to move larger amounts in digital currencies.
This method was also reported to cause slippage issues, as well as liquidity problems. Despite minimal entry barriers, regular crypto exchanges are simply not good enough for some traders. Problems like these do have a solution though, and traditional markets have solved them a long time ago by introducing brokerages.
Brokerages have the ability to address and resolve these problems so that the ecosystem can remain healthy and efficient.
Liquidity And Slippage Issues
Slippage is a relatively common occurrence caused by exhaustion of liquidity due to a large market order. Exchanges' execution engines are trying to fill out such orders whenever liquidity is available, which can lead to almost constant lack of it.
Let's say that a trader wishes to purchase a certain amount of tokens, but the price changes during the purchase.
Depending on their position to buy or sell, the change can have different consequences. As a result, the said trader can experience either additional gains, or unexpected losses, all because the price changed at the wrong moment.
This is a pretty big issue in periods of large volatility, and it can significantly affect large orders. One temporary solution would be to create a limit order, instead of a market order. Even if traders were to employ this type of solution, this method can only cause a new problem that would damage the crypto environment. This new problem, of course, concerns liquidity.
Liquidity, as some may be aware of, is a concept that determines how certain coins can be purchased or sold without this token's general stability. Cash, for example, is one of the most liquid assets, since it can be gained and spent easily.
In the crypto world, however, liquidity is measured by different standards. The most important one is the coin's ability to be converted to either cash itself, or other coins. This is why so many exchanges are trying to add as many trading pairs as possible so that liquidity can be improved.
Additionally, this is why exchanges that offer only crypto-to-crypto trading pairs have much better liquidity than fiat exchanges. Fiat exchanges also struggle with much more complicated verification processes. An environment with low liquidity often causes high volatility, and crypto prices grow or drop as a result. In contrast, high liquidity allows the market to remain stable, and tokens generally enjoy better prices as a result.
How Can Brokerages Help With These Issues?
Thanks to the fact that crypto holders can easily and directly buy or sell desired tokens via crypto exchanges, many have been skeptical regarding the necessity of brokerages. After all, this is an invention of traditional markets, where processes behind purchases and sales are significantly more complex.
Many understand that full-service brokerages may be an attractive idea for some traders. They can often offer numerous additional services, not to mention interactions in person. However, what happens with those clients who need platforms for the purpose of execution only?
One solution is to make multiple small transactions on several exchanges over a certain period of time. Another solution might allow investors to enter trade via brokerages that offer exchanges as well as OTC platform as trading options.
In the end, many believe that brokerage platforms could be beneficial to the market, by providing multiple useful services. For example, one such service would be smart order routing. This method would use trading bots to find the best prices and make orders in several exchanges. That way, the platform user would receive the best execution, and exchanges would become a single pool of liquidity.
Another useful service provided by brokerages would include wholesale rates. While most platforms are rewarding users for frequent trading in some way, not every individual trader would have to work on creating such a relationship. Instead, brokerage service would do the work, and traders can simply take advantage of their effort, and experience better fees as a result. That way, brokerages could benefit even more from attracting new traders.
Finally, there is a block order execution. Basically, brokers would know who the largest traders are, and would be able to pair them for sale through the services' own networks. Clients would receive access to the best quote at any time, and liquidity and slippage issues would be completely eliminated.
source bitcoinexchangeguide.com
Read More, Posted by: crytocure ![[Image: cryptocurrency-mining-malware-cryptojacking-760x400.jpg]](https://248qms3nhmvl15d4ne1i4pxl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/cryptocurrency-mining-malware-cryptojacking-760x400.jpg)
It has been discovered that fake Adobe Flash updates are being used to surreptitiously install cryptocurrency mining malware on computers and networks, creating severe losses in time, system performance, and power consumption for affected users.
Cryptojacking Breaks New Ground
While fake Flash updates that push malware have traditionally been easy to spot and avoid, a new campaign has employed new tricks that stealthily download cryptocurrency miners on Windows systems.
Writing in a post exposing the scheme, Unit 42 threat intelligence analyst Brad Duncan said:
Quote:“As early as August 2018, some samples impersonating Flash updates have borrowed pop-up notifications from the official Adobe installer. These fake Flash updates install unwanted programs like an XMRig cryptocurrency miner, but this malware can also update a victim’s Flash Player to the latest version.”
The implication of this unpleasant scenario is that a potential victim may not notice anything out of the ordinary while an XMRig cryptocurrency miner or other unwanted program is quietly running in the background of the victim’s Windows computer. This miner software could potentially slow down the processor of the victim’s computer, damage the hard drive, or extract confidential data and transmit it onto other digital platforms without the victim’s consent.
Technical Details of Fake Adobe Update Cryptojacking Malware
Duncan explained that it was not very clear how potential victims were arriving at the URLs delivering the fake Flash updates; however, network traffic during the infection process has been primarily related to fraudulent Flash updates. Interestingly, the infected Windows server generates an HTTP POST request to [osdsoft[.]com], a domain affiliated with updaters or installers pushing cryptocurrency miners.
He said while the research team searched for certain particular fake Flash updates, it observed some Windows executables file with names starting with Adobe Flash Player from non-Adobe, cloud-based web servers. These downloads usually had the string “flashplayer_down.php?clickid=” in the URL. The teams also found 113 examples of malware meeting these criteria since March 2018 in AutoFocus. 77 of these malware samples are identified with a CoinMiner tag in AutoFocus. The remaining 36 samples share other tags with those 77 CoinMiner-related executables.
Duncan encouraged Windows users to be more cautious about the kind of Adobe Flash updates that they try to install, stating that while the Adobe pop-up and update features make the fake installer seem more legitimate, potential victims will still receive warning signs about running downloaded files on their Windows computer.
In his words:
Quote:“Organizations with decent web filtering and educated users have a much lower risk of infection by these fake updates.”
CCN recently reported that a report from McAfee labs showed that cryptojacking surged 86 percent in the second quarter of 2018, and is up 459 percent in 2018 so far over the whole of 2017.
source ccn.com
by David Hundeyin
Read More, Posted by: crytocure ![[Image: Startup-Intends-To-Be-Crypto-696x449.jpg]](https://3mgj4y44nc15fnv8d303d8zb-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Startup-Intends-To-Be-Crypto-696x449.jpg)
The birth of Bitcoin has spurred the creation of hundreds of novel blockchain-based projects that can potentially disrupt a variety of industrial sectors. In this article we will look at just a few of these projects and aim to describe how they work in the simplest terms possible.
However, before we get on with the show, we need to understand what distributed ledger technology (DLT) is, primarily because it forms the basis of all blockchain systems. In its core essence, a distributed ledger can be thought of as a compendium of data where all of the information is shared between network users in a completely transparent manner. So without much ado, let's get on with the list:
Here’s a List of the Most Innovative Blockchain Projects Shaping the Future of the World
1. Propy
Propy is one of the biggest names within the world of blockchain-enabled real estate. The platform comes packed with a host of listings that can be purchased through the use of cryptocurrency. To be even more specific, we can see that in its current iteration, the app offers around 15,000 real estate opportunities to prospective buyers at any given time.
These listings are spread all across the globe in countries like the UK, United States, Russia, Dubai etc.
Not only that, customers can also use Propy as a means of selling their real estate. This is achieved via the use of an Ethereum-based property registry that tracks property ownership in a real time
2. OmiseGO
A powerhouse player when it comes to the world of blockchain-based finance, OmiseGO in its simplest form can be thought of as a white-label platform that can be used for running smart contracts and cryptocurrency wallets. Not only that, OmiseGO also serves as a decentralized bank, exchange, and asset-backed blockchain gateway that has been designed to link a variety of payment systems like PayPal and Visa with blockchains such as Ethereum.
At the time of writing this article, OmiseGO is currently working on creating its native digital network called the ‘Tesuji Plasma’ in order to help solve many of the existing issues of scalability that are linked with the blockchain space today. If that wasn't enough, it is also being reported that Tesuji Plasma will make use of the POS algorithm to lower altcoin transaction costs.
3. BurstIQ
As many of us already know, the healthcare industry is one of the most data intensive service sectors in the world today. Not only is there a large volume of data related to patient info, inventory etc that needs to be secured, all of this information also needs to be maintained with a high degree of privacy and integrity at all times.
In this regard, blockchain technology promises to be a gamechanger with BrustIQ leading the charge. The platform is designed to disrupt the healthcare industry through the use of a blockchain based protocol that can help individual customers securely store and manage their personal health data. It is also worth noting that the company is currently working with a host of medicare providers, pharmaceutical companies, insurers, in an effort to increase data transparency.
4. TWO IoT
Another industry where blockchain technology has the potential to work its wonders is the waste management sector. TWO IoT is a blockchain firm that has developed sensors that can measure how full a trash bin is and then transport this data to various waste management companies— thereby streamlining the process of garbage removal and collection..
Also worth mentioning is the fact that all of the information collected by TWO IoT is stored in IOTA's Tangle ledger. For those unaware of the Tangle protocol, the technology basically makes use of a system called DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) to store information. As a result of this, Tangle helps process a multitude of transactions simultaneously at zero cost.
5. B3i
B3i is a blockchain initiative that is looking to redefine the way in which people buy insurance schemes. If successful, B3i truly has the potential to improve the efficiency of this industry by a staggering 30%. This is made evident by the fact that B3i’s native blockchain protocol was tested by 38 insurers and brokers who unanimously found that it made transactions more secure and efficient for them.
6. Stellar
One of the biggest names in the crypto world today, Stellar is a blockchain project that essentially represents a network of decentralized servers that help facilitate cross-border money transactions in an easy and cost-effective manner.
It is also worth noting that in order to facilitate all of its monetary transactions, Stellar makes use of its native currency called “Lumens”.
7. Authenteq
This blockchain project is the brainchild of developers based in the picturesque, Noric nation of Iceland. Simply put, Authenteq combines the potential of blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) to help with facial recognition.
Using its AI driven multi-step verification process, Authenteq has so far been able to perform over 150K verifications. Not only that, the platform has also been tested and approved by a wide array of AML bodies across the world.
8. Crypto.com
This project is designed to help people spend their crypto holdings within today’s retail sector more efficiently. Crypto.com basically works by using a special cryptocurrency-compatible Visa credit card as well as an online wallet that streamlines alt-coin payments.
While currently dominant only within the nation of Singapore, Crypto.com now plans to expand its influence to other Asian countries in the coming future.
9. Greeneum
Greenum is a novel blockchain startup venture that aims to promote the use of renewable energy via peer-to-peer trading means. In terms of how the system works, Greeneum first records the green energy produced by an individual household and then proceeds to issue Greeneum Carbon Credits and Green Certificates. However, the best part about the platform is that all of its internal processes are fully automated.
10. Zilliqa
Zilliqa is one of the more revered names within the crypto domain today, particularly because the firm aims to develop a platform that will allow for the average blockchain to scale up its transaction capacity as and when required (through the use of a process called ‘sharding’).
For those unaware of what ‘Sharding’ is, it is a method by which data blocks can be divided into smaller entities, which can then handle multiple transactions at the same time.
source bitcoinexchangeguide.com
Read More, Posted by: crytocure 
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