Leah McGrath Goodman Insults Bitcoin Community, Still Defends Her Article
Neil Sardesai 14/03/2014 Bitcoin, News 5 Comments
Posted 15 hours ago
Leah McGrath Goodman Insults Bitcoin Community, Still Defends Her Article
Leah McGrath Goodman has no respect for the Bitcoin community.
Leah McGrath Goodman, The Newsweek reporter now infamous amongst the Bitcoin community for claiming to have discovered the creator of Bitcoin, is still staunchly defending her article. Dorian Nakamoto, whom Goodman believes is Satoshi Nakamoto, publicly stated that Newsweek misrepresented him, and that he “never was involved” in Bitcoin. Furthermore, the real Satoshi denied being Dorian Nakamoto on the P2P Foundation forum. Despite so much evidence disproving her, Goodman still seems to believe that she found Bitcoin’s creator, and just recently, Goodman defended herself by bashing the Bitcoin community.
Leah McGrath Goodman Insults Bitcoin Community
“I have learned this about the fanatical Bitcoiners: they will see this all in a different light once they reach puberty.”
In what could be seen as several juvenile insults, the Newsweek reporter dismisses the Bitcoin community as a bunch of “fanatical” kids who haven’t reached puberty. On a more disturbing note, it seems that Goodman has been receiving several death threats, leading her to “[brush] up on [her] shooting skills at night.” At the same time, this could just be a cruel irony for the reporter who seriously threatened the life of a quiet old man in California. Goodman has already been lambasted for invading Dorian Nakamoto’s privacy, or “doxing” him. Her article featured loads of personally identifiable information, including pictures of the man’s house, resulting in a flurry of media interest with reporters camping outside his home and chasing him by car. As such, maybe Goodman shouldn’t be surprised that reporters are digging into her own personal information.
With such a large community, even a small percentage of threats of violence could seem like a lot. However, that does not reflect the views of the community as a whole. And anyway, with so much negative PR and an article with little to no real evidence, it seems like Goodman should be more worried about her career than her life.
Headline image from IBTimes.
Topic: BITCOIN NEWS EVRYDAY! From multiple sources. - page 11. (Read 51272 times)
Cex.io Contemplates Expansion To Scrypt ASICs: CCN Exclusive Interview With Cex.io
Caleb Chen 13/03/2014 Bitcoin, Bitcoin Merchants, Bitcoin Mining, Business, Exclusive, Interviews, News 1 Comment
Posted 1 day ago
http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2x-ghash.png
Here at CCN, I was able to talk with Jeffrey Smith of Cex.io and ask him a few questions about cex.io and ghash.io. For those readers that are unfamiliar with the Cex.io/Ghash.io websites, they provide simple access to mining power of any size for end users around the world. With Cex.io, users can purchase GH/s on a freely floating hash for Bitcoin exchange. Ghash.io is the mining pool that rented equipment from Cex.io is pointed towards, many other miners also use Ghash.io because they are able to offer 0% fees and a high hashrate consistently.
Back a few months ago, CCN raised concerns that Ghash.io’s hashrate was too high. In response, Jeffrey Smith released a press release addressing the Bitcoin community’s concerns back in January. Mr. Smith was kind enough to answer more questions from me regarding Cex.io’s security, future plans, and changes.
In conjunction with this interview, Cex.io is having a promotion starting at 2PM GMT, today 3/13/2014. Read below for my interview with Jeffrey Smith.
3/13/14 - 3/20/14, cex.io/ghash.io will be doubling your Scrypt hashing power.
3/13/14 – 3/20/14, cex.io/ghash.io will be doubling your Scrypt hashing power.
Since February 11th when Cex.io started strongly suggesting 2fa to its users, has there been a drop in the amount of hack-related support issues?
Yes, the amount of hack-related issues has dropped by a significant amount. Just to be clear – all our actions on CEX.IO require email and/or 2FA confirmation. However, before mandatory 2FA was enabled – hackers targeted users’ emails and computers and in some cases were able to bypass email confirmations and withdraw funds. That’s not the case anymore.
How big is the Cex.io team, whom are the founders?
CEX.IO was founded by Alex Luts, the current CEO. The CEX.IO team consists of almost 20 employees, and due to a huge work load and increasing interest in cloud mining and trading – we are growing very fast.
When will Cex.io allow users the option to mine on other pools, as promised in your January 9th press release?
We have our development team working on it, however each pool has its own structure and it is very hard to implement a unified solution for all pools. Also there is an issue that GHS are unable to switch to different pools for now due to dynamic difficulty settings. There has been some progress in this field, however there is still much to be done. I won’t be able to tell you the ETA
Which parts of the world do your user base inhabit?
Our main users come from the US, UK, Poland, Germany, China, Brazil, Spain, Russia, Netherlands
What is the biggest myth about Bitcoin mining that you’d like to dispel?
The biggest myth is that Bitcoin mining is no longer profitable.
CEX.IO, which consists of a unique combination of cloud mining and trading, is a great solution.
Our business model allows users to trade GHS while they mine Bitcoins and mine Bitcoins even when the GHS are being sold.
This gives a great leverage over hardware mining.
What are Cex.io’s future mining hardware plans? Besides BitFury, which Bitcoin ASIC companies have caught your eye as a trustworthy service?
We are looking for various ways to find new mining hardware. We need to try them all, in order to see who is trustworthy and who isn’t.
The biggest milestone we are trying to reach right now is Scrypt ASICS, but they are still a long way from production and deployment.
What are your thoughts on Scrypt Mining ASICs? Is there a place for them in the world, or even CEX.io in the future?
Yes, there is definitely a place for Scrypt ASICs in our future. Unfortunately, due to scrypt’s specific mining structure – the ASICS are not so easy and cheap to build.
Could you shed some light on CEX.io’s future plans for Bitcoin, I believe y’all are planning to offer some much needed services such as escrow and micropayments?
Right now our biggest concern is the exchange platform. It is still in beta, meaning it is a little rough around the edges. Just yesterday we have introduced scrypt mining on GHash.IO. Now users are able to connect their scrypt miners to GHash.IO and mine Litecoins, Dogecoins, Auroracoins and Feathercoins.
Cloudmining is not yet available for scrypt, but we are doing everything possible to make it happen.
We are also doing a promotion of Litecoin mining on GHash.IO
Starting from tomorrow 2 pm GMT – we will double all litecoin mining rewards for 1 week
In the future we will also announce the ability to exchange fiat currencies for commodities and virtual currencies.
Our next step will be implementing GHS futures, chips and mining boards, which can be used to assemble miners.
After the exchange is released from beta – we will definitely point our developers into escrow and micro-payments.
What are your thoughts on the claim that your GH/BTC market provides the only free market derived metric for a spot price for 1 GH/s? Do you think the market that you’ve created factors in future difficulty changes and changing pre-order schedules?
Yes, we do believe that CEX.IO has an effect on the difficulty change, however we also would like to point out that we are only an exchange platform, and the increasing user base is the real cause of it.
Thanks so much for your time Mr. Smith, are there any further messages you’d like to share with our readers?
I’d like to thank your readers for their interest in CEX.IO and promise to deliver the best possible cloud mining service out there, with quality support and fair rules for mining and trading.
Caleb Chen 13/03/2014 Bitcoin, Bitcoin Merchants, Bitcoin Mining, Business, Exclusive, Interviews, News 1 Comment
Posted 1 day ago
http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2x-ghash.png
Here at CCN, I was able to talk with Jeffrey Smith of Cex.io and ask him a few questions about cex.io and ghash.io. For those readers that are unfamiliar with the Cex.io/Ghash.io websites, they provide simple access to mining power of any size for end users around the world. With Cex.io, users can purchase GH/s on a freely floating hash for Bitcoin exchange. Ghash.io is the mining pool that rented equipment from Cex.io is pointed towards, many other miners also use Ghash.io because they are able to offer 0% fees and a high hashrate consistently.
Back a few months ago, CCN raised concerns that Ghash.io’s hashrate was too high. In response, Jeffrey Smith released a press release addressing the Bitcoin community’s concerns back in January. Mr. Smith was kind enough to answer more questions from me regarding Cex.io’s security, future plans, and changes.
In conjunction with this interview, Cex.io is having a promotion starting at 2PM GMT, today 3/13/2014. Read below for my interview with Jeffrey Smith.
3/13/14 - 3/20/14, cex.io/ghash.io will be doubling your Scrypt hashing power.
3/13/14 – 3/20/14, cex.io/ghash.io will be doubling your Scrypt hashing power.
Since February 11th when Cex.io started strongly suggesting 2fa to its users, has there been a drop in the amount of hack-related support issues?
Yes, the amount of hack-related issues has dropped by a significant amount. Just to be clear – all our actions on CEX.IO require email and/or 2FA confirmation. However, before mandatory 2FA was enabled – hackers targeted users’ emails and computers and in some cases were able to bypass email confirmations and withdraw funds. That’s not the case anymore.
How big is the Cex.io team, whom are the founders?
CEX.IO was founded by Alex Luts, the current CEO. The CEX.IO team consists of almost 20 employees, and due to a huge work load and increasing interest in cloud mining and trading – we are growing very fast.
When will Cex.io allow users the option to mine on other pools, as promised in your January 9th press release?
We have our development team working on it, however each pool has its own structure and it is very hard to implement a unified solution for all pools. Also there is an issue that GHS are unable to switch to different pools for now due to dynamic difficulty settings. There has been some progress in this field, however there is still much to be done. I won’t be able to tell you the ETA
Which parts of the world do your user base inhabit?
Our main users come from the US, UK, Poland, Germany, China, Brazil, Spain, Russia, Netherlands
What is the biggest myth about Bitcoin mining that you’d like to dispel?
The biggest myth is that Bitcoin mining is no longer profitable.
CEX.IO, which consists of a unique combination of cloud mining and trading, is a great solution.
Our business model allows users to trade GHS while they mine Bitcoins and mine Bitcoins even when the GHS are being sold.
This gives a great leverage over hardware mining.
What are Cex.io’s future mining hardware plans? Besides BitFury, which Bitcoin ASIC companies have caught your eye as a trustworthy service?
We are looking for various ways to find new mining hardware. We need to try them all, in order to see who is trustworthy and who isn’t.
The biggest milestone we are trying to reach right now is Scrypt ASICS, but they are still a long way from production and deployment.
What are your thoughts on Scrypt Mining ASICs? Is there a place for them in the world, or even CEX.io in the future?
Yes, there is definitely a place for Scrypt ASICs in our future. Unfortunately, due to scrypt’s specific mining structure – the ASICS are not so easy and cheap to build.
Could you shed some light on CEX.io’s future plans for Bitcoin, I believe y’all are planning to offer some much needed services such as escrow and micropayments?
Right now our biggest concern is the exchange platform. It is still in beta, meaning it is a little rough around the edges. Just yesterday we have introduced scrypt mining on GHash.IO. Now users are able to connect their scrypt miners to GHash.IO and mine Litecoins, Dogecoins, Auroracoins and Feathercoins.
Cloudmining is not yet available for scrypt, but we are doing everything possible to make it happen.
We are also doing a promotion of Litecoin mining on GHash.IO
Starting from tomorrow 2 pm GMT – we will double all litecoin mining rewards for 1 week
In the future we will also announce the ability to exchange fiat currencies for commodities and virtual currencies.
Our next step will be implementing GHS futures, chips and mining boards, which can be used to assemble miners.
After the exchange is released from beta – we will definitely point our developers into escrow and micro-payments.
What are your thoughts on the claim that your GH/BTC market provides the only free market derived metric for a spot price for 1 GH/s? Do you think the market that you’ve created factors in future difficulty changes and changing pre-order schedules?
Yes, we do believe that CEX.IO has an effect on the difficulty change, however we also would like to point out that we are only an exchange platform, and the increasing user base is the real cause of it.
Thanks so much for your time Mr. Smith, are there any further messages you’d like to share with our readers?
I’d like to thank your readers for their interest in CEX.IO and promise to deliver the best possible cloud mining service out there, with quality support and fair rules for mining and trading.
Vungle to start accepting Bitcoin payments
Christoph Marckx 13/03/2014 Accepts Bitcoin, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Merchants, Business, News
Posted 1 day ago
Vungle CEO Zain Jaffer believes in Bitcoin
Vungle CEO Zain Jaffer says Bitcoin makes deals easier and is happy to offer the service.
Times are busy in the Bitcoin world lately. The controversy surrounding the cryptocoin reached new heights recently with the spectacular collapse of leading Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox. The event raised fresh questions about the viability of the volatile currency and its susceptibility to fraud and theft because of a lack of security and transparency.
More flexibility
This whole flood of concerning news couldn’t stop start-up Vungle from adding Bitcoin as a payment option for their services. Vungle provides a mobile ad network spanning little over 4.000 apps. The platform allows advertisers to run 15-second videos within apps. On top of that, Vungle delivers in-house production tools for creating HD-quality videos that serve as trailers for games and other apps. Developers in Vungle’s network include Wooga, “Fruit Ninja” creator Halfbrick Studios, ZeptoLab, maker of “Cut the Rope”, and Sega.
Through the offering of ad revenue-sharing payments in Bitcoin, Vungle claims it can give publishers more flexibility and, on top of that, allow them to make higher profits because of the virtual currency’s low transaction costs. Since Bitcoin isn’t bound to any financial institution, payments made through the virtual coin would also allow faster access to funds.
“We have a long view on this new currency, and we’re betting that, as Bitcoin gains more widespread traction, increased demand will follow. We are excited to offer it as an option to our publishing partners,” stated Vungle CEO Zain Jaffer.
Not the first
Vungle isn’t the first major company that decided to accept Bitcoin as a valid payment system. The cryptocurrency is already being accepted for purchase by a number of other businesses, including but not limited to Overstock.com, Khan Academy, Reddit, TigerDirect and Zynga.
While acceptance among mainstream customers still isn’t where it should be, Bitcoin is gaining adoption more quickly for business-to-business payments. This doesn’t come as a surprise when one looks at the benefits of such deals. Payments can be made on-demand and settle within minutes. These are timeframes that can never be met when using bank transfers.
Speed and low costs
“The speed and low cost of crypto-currency payments may more than offset the costs associated with properly securing Bitcoin transactions,” according to a study by Forrester analysts Denee Carrington and Sucharita Mulpuru. A separate Goldman Sachs report on Tuesday similarly concluded that Bitcoin had more potential as a payment system than as a widely used alternative currency.
Andrea Sharfin, vice president of marketing at Vungle said Bitcoin’s lower transaction costs could especially benefit independent developers. “For these small independent development houses…that extra 1% or 2% transaction fee a financial institution might charge really matters. So they’re willing to try something new for better payment terms,” she said.
When asked about the high risk concerning investing in Bitcoin, mainly because of the coin’s volatility, Sharfin responded that she believed the volatility will smooth out over time. “We can’t control the ups and downs of the marketplace.”, said Sharfin.
Whether or not Bitcoin’s volatility will disappear in the future, it’s clear that companies like Vungle are attracting lots of media attention by accepting the cryptocoin. Bitcoin is hot news and because of that, it makes good publicity when a company takes a positive stance towards it. On the other side, Bitcoin needs good news like this to reach common people. It’s a win-win situation for both parties.
Christoph Marckx 13/03/2014 Accepts Bitcoin, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Merchants, Business, News
Posted 1 day ago
Vungle CEO Zain Jaffer believes in Bitcoin
Vungle CEO Zain Jaffer says Bitcoin makes deals easier and is happy to offer the service.
Times are busy in the Bitcoin world lately. The controversy surrounding the cryptocoin reached new heights recently with the spectacular collapse of leading Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox. The event raised fresh questions about the viability of the volatile currency and its susceptibility to fraud and theft because of a lack of security and transparency.
More flexibility
This whole flood of concerning news couldn’t stop start-up Vungle from adding Bitcoin as a payment option for their services. Vungle provides a mobile ad network spanning little over 4.000 apps. The platform allows advertisers to run 15-second videos within apps. On top of that, Vungle delivers in-house production tools for creating HD-quality videos that serve as trailers for games and other apps. Developers in Vungle’s network include Wooga, “Fruit Ninja” creator Halfbrick Studios, ZeptoLab, maker of “Cut the Rope”, and Sega.
Through the offering of ad revenue-sharing payments in Bitcoin, Vungle claims it can give publishers more flexibility and, on top of that, allow them to make higher profits because of the virtual currency’s low transaction costs. Since Bitcoin isn’t bound to any financial institution, payments made through the virtual coin would also allow faster access to funds.
“We have a long view on this new currency, and we’re betting that, as Bitcoin gains more widespread traction, increased demand will follow. We are excited to offer it as an option to our publishing partners,” stated Vungle CEO Zain Jaffer.
Not the first
Vungle isn’t the first major company that decided to accept Bitcoin as a valid payment system. The cryptocurrency is already being accepted for purchase by a number of other businesses, including but not limited to Overstock.com, Khan Academy, Reddit, TigerDirect and Zynga.
While acceptance among mainstream customers still isn’t where it should be, Bitcoin is gaining adoption more quickly for business-to-business payments. This doesn’t come as a surprise when one looks at the benefits of such deals. Payments can be made on-demand and settle within minutes. These are timeframes that can never be met when using bank transfers.
Speed and low costs
“The speed and low cost of crypto-currency payments may more than offset the costs associated with properly securing Bitcoin transactions,” according to a study by Forrester analysts Denee Carrington and Sucharita Mulpuru. A separate Goldman Sachs report on Tuesday similarly concluded that Bitcoin had more potential as a payment system than as a widely used alternative currency.
Andrea Sharfin, vice president of marketing at Vungle said Bitcoin’s lower transaction costs could especially benefit independent developers. “For these small independent development houses…that extra 1% or 2% transaction fee a financial institution might charge really matters. So they’re willing to try something new for better payment terms,” she said.
When asked about the high risk concerning investing in Bitcoin, mainly because of the coin’s volatility, Sharfin responded that she believed the volatility will smooth out over time. “We can’t control the ups and downs of the marketplace.”, said Sharfin.
Whether or not Bitcoin’s volatility will disappear in the future, it’s clear that companies like Vungle are attracting lots of media attention by accepting the cryptocoin. Bitcoin is hot news and because of that, it makes good publicity when a company takes a positive stance towards it. On the other side, Bitcoin needs good news like this to reach common people. It’s a win-win situation for both parties.
Balanced Energy has Been Told by Texas Regulators to Not Take Bitcoin for Exploration Investments
Scott Fargo 13/03/2014 Bitcoin, Bitcoin Regulation, Economics, Investment, News 2 Comments
Posted 1 day ago
I was reading the news this afternoon and saw this article that caught my eye. It was notable due to it dealing with Bitcoin, and its use as an investment tool.
Balanced Energy, a small oil company, run by Kirk Johnson was recently told by Texas State Regulators they are not to accept Bitcoin payments. They served them with an Emergency Cease and Desist order.
Balanced Energy had announced in a pitch at the Texas Bitcoin Conference that they are the first company to accept Bitcoin for exploration investments.
Texas State Regulators wasted no time in telling Balanced Energy that they could not do that as they had not properly educated investors on the risks of Bitcoin.
A Texas State Regulator was quoted as saying
Risks inherent to the use of Bitcoin and the risk that fluctuation in the price of the digital currency may affect business operations.
Texas Regulators Send Emergency Cease and Desist Order to Balanced Energy
Texas Regulators Send Emergency Cease and Desist Order to Balanced Energy
A Balanced Energy spokesman said
The order aimed to address disclosure issues by the specific company, not pass judgment per se on the use of Bitcoin for oil investment.
Texas Regulators are also stating that this would not be a problem if Balanced Energy did their paperwork to make sure they are accredited investors.
When reading through the article it seems like Texas Regulators were jumping on this not due to paperwork concerns, but more the concern that they did not understand Bitcoin as a currency and wanted to stop it due to that lack of understanding.
This has left Kirk Johnson, president of Balanced Energy having to spend time and money on pursuing legal avenues to be able to proceed with Bitcoin.
In the Emergency Cease and Desist Order one thing that stuck out was this, part 14 line b of the order.
14. In connection with the offer for sale and sale of working interests in wells in the
South Runway Prospect and North Guitar Prospect, Respondents are
intentionally failing to disclose any material facts relating to the nature of the risks
associated with the investment, including, but not limited to, the following:
a. The nature of the risks associated with the purchase of working interests,
including risks inherent to investments in oil and gas drilling programs and
the risk that the investor may lose the entirety of their capital investment,
b. The nature of the risks associated with the use of Bitcoin to purchase
working interests, including the risks inherent to the use of Bitcoin and the
risk that fluctuation in the price of the digital currency may affect business
operations.
There are fluctuations in any currency. Bitcoin has been volatile lately yet has a huge upside and is still growing. Bitcoin offers a new option and should be embraced not pushed aside.
While both sides are figuring this out it can be a positive step forward for Bitcoin. There will hopefully soon be a clear path to using Bitcoin for investment purposes in Texas. This can give an example to other states to follow.
With New York looking to regulate exchanges so they can be opened, Overstock posting huge sales in Bitcoin and companies like Balanced Energy looking to expand and use Bitcoin as part of it’s business model things are looking great for wider adoption of Bitcoin.
There is always the risk Texas will ban it outright for this use, but I am hopeful that they will not, add in Kirk Johnson, and Balanced Energy look like they are in the fight to win there should be a positive resolution to this soon.
Scott Fargo 13/03/2014 Bitcoin, Bitcoin Regulation, Economics, Investment, News 2 Comments
Posted 1 day ago
I was reading the news this afternoon and saw this article that caught my eye. It was notable due to it dealing with Bitcoin, and its use as an investment tool.
Balanced Energy, a small oil company, run by Kirk Johnson was recently told by Texas State Regulators they are not to accept Bitcoin payments. They served them with an Emergency Cease and Desist order.
Balanced Energy had announced in a pitch at the Texas Bitcoin Conference that they are the first company to accept Bitcoin for exploration investments.
Texas State Regulators wasted no time in telling Balanced Energy that they could not do that as they had not properly educated investors on the risks of Bitcoin.
A Texas State Regulator was quoted as saying
Risks inherent to the use of Bitcoin and the risk that fluctuation in the price of the digital currency may affect business operations.
Texas Regulators Send Emergency Cease and Desist Order to Balanced Energy
Texas Regulators Send Emergency Cease and Desist Order to Balanced Energy
A Balanced Energy spokesman said
The order aimed to address disclosure issues by the specific company, not pass judgment per se on the use of Bitcoin for oil investment.
Texas Regulators are also stating that this would not be a problem if Balanced Energy did their paperwork to make sure they are accredited investors.
When reading through the article it seems like Texas Regulators were jumping on this not due to paperwork concerns, but more the concern that they did not understand Bitcoin as a currency and wanted to stop it due to that lack of understanding.
This has left Kirk Johnson, president of Balanced Energy having to spend time and money on pursuing legal avenues to be able to proceed with Bitcoin.
In the Emergency Cease and Desist Order one thing that stuck out was this, part 14 line b of the order.
14. In connection with the offer for sale and sale of working interests in wells in the
South Runway Prospect and North Guitar Prospect, Respondents are
intentionally failing to disclose any material facts relating to the nature of the risks
associated with the investment, including, but not limited to, the following:
a. The nature of the risks associated with the purchase of working interests,
including risks inherent to investments in oil and gas drilling programs and
the risk that the investor may lose the entirety of their capital investment,
b. The nature of the risks associated with the use of Bitcoin to purchase
working interests, including the risks inherent to the use of Bitcoin and the
risk that fluctuation in the price of the digital currency may affect business
operations.
There are fluctuations in any currency. Bitcoin has been volatile lately yet has a huge upside and is still growing. Bitcoin offers a new option and should be embraced not pushed aside.
While both sides are figuring this out it can be a positive step forward for Bitcoin. There will hopefully soon be a clear path to using Bitcoin for investment purposes in Texas. This can give an example to other states to follow.
With New York looking to regulate exchanges so they can be opened, Overstock posting huge sales in Bitcoin and companies like Balanced Energy looking to expand and use Bitcoin as part of it’s business model things are looking great for wider adoption of Bitcoin.
There is always the risk Texas will ban it outright for this use, but I am hopeful that they will not, add in Kirk Johnson, and Balanced Energy look like they are in the fight to win there should be a positive resolution to this soon.
DNotes Next Growth Phase
Gordon Hall 13/03/2014 Altcoins, News, Sponsored Stories 3 Comments
Posted 1 day ago
DNotes logo.
DNotes logo.
The First Phase: DNotes Launch
On its 18th of February 2014 launch, I covered the DNotes (Digital Notes) technicals specs and wrote about the unique DNotes launch plan. Essentially, the DNotes team structured the coin’s launch to reward initial adopters highly. Their goal was to boost the coin’s critical early adoption phase by attracting an enthusiastic community from the get-go.
As the quadruple block bonuses for early miners come to an end today, it’s now time to consider how well this slingshot launch strategy has worked out for DNotes.
After looking into the launch, we can then better assess the coin’s future potential.
Analyzing the DNotes Launch Strategy
It’s not a very precise measure of interest, but the DNotes thread on BitcoinTalk has run to 48 pages in less than a month, with roughly 26691 views as of press time.
These numbers, compared to other such launch threads, suggests that an active community is indeed forming around the coin.
Some initial commentators were put off by the fact that a 5% pre-mine was set aside for quadruples early mining bonuses, with another 5% reserved for bounties, giveaways, development and other measures to ensure the launch strategy’s success.
I noticed myself, when I announced a very generous bounty for some simple search engine work, that BitcoinTalk can be a cynical place. Following the thread further, user “DNotes” from the development team did a good job of addressing these concerns, making it clear that the pre-mine would be used to develop and promote the coin rather than enrich insiders.
There was a minor 20 minute delay at launch – just long enough for a few pitchforks to come out – but otherwise DNotes enjoyed a relatively smooth launch.
I’d say DNote’s strategy of front-loading rewards has been something of a double-edged sword. It attracted many keen miners but also its share of detractors.
"OnTheMF" earned some NOTE for his "3DNotes" design.
“OnTheMF” earned some NOTE for his “3DNotes” design.
DNotes Current Situation
As per the official DNotes website, the coin is mineable through seven pools and currently trading on two exchanges, AllCoin and CryptoRush (currently halted for Bitcoin-related maintenance).
Twitter, Facebook and Reddit communities have been established. Currently, the DNotes team are running a promotion through their Twitter feed. Retweet their status and reply @DnotesCoin with your DNotes address for some free NOTE – further details available on CryptoSandwich.
NOTE market on AllCoin.
NOTE market on AllCoin.
NOTE price is heading up. By market cap, the coin is up nearly 20% in the last 24 hours, having reached #115th position with a total value of close to $50k. In Bitcoin terms, the coin is currently trading for 190 Satoshi, which is decent considering its high total issuance of half a billion.
As the large 4x mining bonuses end today, it’s expected the coin’s value will rise further as future supply contracts by 75%.
The Future of DNote
TheHodoo received some NOTE for creating this small banner for merchants.
“TheHodoo” received some NOTE for creating this small banner for merchants.
Right now, DNotes are offering a wealth of bounties for promoting them through social media, creating a DNotes exchange, producing graphics and videos, etc.
Many competions will also be run where more NOTE can be won. If you’d like to earn DNotes, there are certainly more than enough opportunities to suit your preferred method.
If DNotes continues to attract a skilled and enthusiastic community through generous bounties, it stands a good chance of overcoming resistance to become a notable alt.
Further price rises would do a lot to make the prizes and bounties even more attractive.
100 DNote Giveaway
If you’d like to increase your NOTE holdings without any of that work stuff, head on over to the official website for their 100 DNotes promotion!
-
This is a sponsored article.
Gordon Hall 13/03/2014 Altcoins, News, Sponsored Stories 3 Comments
Posted 1 day ago
DNotes logo.
DNotes logo.
The First Phase: DNotes Launch
On its 18th of February 2014 launch, I covered the DNotes (Digital Notes) technicals specs and wrote about the unique DNotes launch plan. Essentially, the DNotes team structured the coin’s launch to reward initial adopters highly. Their goal was to boost the coin’s critical early adoption phase by attracting an enthusiastic community from the get-go.
As the quadruple block bonuses for early miners come to an end today, it’s now time to consider how well this slingshot launch strategy has worked out for DNotes.
After looking into the launch, we can then better assess the coin’s future potential.
Analyzing the DNotes Launch Strategy
It’s not a very precise measure of interest, but the DNotes thread on BitcoinTalk has run to 48 pages in less than a month, with roughly 26691 views as of press time.
These numbers, compared to other such launch threads, suggests that an active community is indeed forming around the coin.
Some initial commentators were put off by the fact that a 5% pre-mine was set aside for quadruples early mining bonuses, with another 5% reserved for bounties, giveaways, development and other measures to ensure the launch strategy’s success.
I noticed myself, when I announced a very generous bounty for some simple search engine work, that BitcoinTalk can be a cynical place. Following the thread further, user “DNotes” from the development team did a good job of addressing these concerns, making it clear that the pre-mine would be used to develop and promote the coin rather than enrich insiders.
There was a minor 20 minute delay at launch – just long enough for a few pitchforks to come out – but otherwise DNotes enjoyed a relatively smooth launch.
I’d say DNote’s strategy of front-loading rewards has been something of a double-edged sword. It attracted many keen miners but also its share of detractors.
"OnTheMF" earned some NOTE for his "3DNotes" design.
“OnTheMF” earned some NOTE for his “3DNotes” design.
DNotes Current Situation
As per the official DNotes website, the coin is mineable through seven pools and currently trading on two exchanges, AllCoin and CryptoRush (currently halted for Bitcoin-related maintenance).
Twitter, Facebook and Reddit communities have been established. Currently, the DNotes team are running a promotion through their Twitter feed. Retweet their status and reply @DnotesCoin with your DNotes address for some free NOTE – further details available on CryptoSandwich.
NOTE market on AllCoin.
NOTE market on AllCoin.
NOTE price is heading up. By market cap, the coin is up nearly 20% in the last 24 hours, having reached #115th position with a total value of close to $50k. In Bitcoin terms, the coin is currently trading for 190 Satoshi, which is decent considering its high total issuance of half a billion.
As the large 4x mining bonuses end today, it’s expected the coin’s value will rise further as future supply contracts by 75%.
The Future of DNote
TheHodoo received some NOTE for creating this small banner for merchants.
“TheHodoo” received some NOTE for creating this small banner for merchants.
Right now, DNotes are offering a wealth of bounties for promoting them through social media, creating a DNotes exchange, producing graphics and videos, etc.
Many competions will also be run where more NOTE can be won. If you’d like to earn DNotes, there are certainly more than enough opportunities to suit your preferred method.
If DNotes continues to attract a skilled and enthusiastic community through generous bounties, it stands a good chance of overcoming resistance to become a notable alt.
Further price rises would do a lot to make the prizes and bounties even more attractive.
100 DNote Giveaway
If you’d like to increase your NOTE holdings without any of that work stuff, head on over to the official website for their 100 DNotes promotion!
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This is a sponsored article.
Mt. Gox kept trading despite knowing of theft
Christoph Marckx 13/03/2014 Bitcoin, Bitcoin Exchanges, Business, Economics, Market Analysis, News, Research 2 Comments
Posted 1 day ago
Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles knew 19 days before shutdown of insolvency issues
Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles knew 19 days before shutdown of the exchange’s insolvency issues.
The Mt. Gox saga just doesn’t stop. After filing for bankruptcy in Japan, the once popular exchange now did the same in the United States. When taking a closer look at the U.S. filing, it appears Mt. Gox may have collected a large sum in trading fees in the weeks before the website went dark. All of this was done while it was fully aware that a large number of Bitcoins had gone missing.
19 days of lying
A sworn declaration in the filing from Mark Karpeles, CEO of Mt. Gox, shows that the exchange knew in early February that there was a disaster at hand. Even though they had knowledge of this, Mt. Gox decided to paint a brighter picture towards its customers.
On February 7, Mt. Gox decided to disable Bitcoin withdrawals from the exchange. The reason for this drastic measure was an ‘investigation of possible fraud, due to a security issue called transaction malleability’. This was the only explanation given; Mt. Gox didn’t disclose any information regarding the amount of Bitcoins missing or its own solvency. Despite being impossible to withdraw Bitcoins from Mt. Gox, trading was still allowed until February 25. After that date, the website suddenly went dark.
After that day, news regarding Mt. Gox appeared at a rapid pace, with its climax being the filing for bankruptcy protection in Tokyo District Court three days later. The filing stated that 750.000 of its customers’ Bitcoins were missing, along with 100.000 of its own. In the coming weeks, Mt. Gox would file for bankruptcy protection again, this time in the United States.
It appears from this filing that Mt. Gox executives knew the severity of the company’s losses well before the website went dark. Karpeles was aware of all this up to 19 days before its public disclosure, but failed to tell his customers what was really going on. Traders were led to believe the exchange was still solvent, and a solution would not be far away.
In the filing, Karpeles states that the withdrawals were halted Feb. 7 due to “the theft or disappearance of hundreds of thousands of bitcoins owned by Mt. Gox customers as well as Mt. Gox itself.” Why Mt. Gox still allowed its customers to keep trading is unclear.
Class-action lawsuits
There’s still a chance to learn why Mt. Gox acted the way it did. The exchange will have to answer to the question why it kept on trading Bitcoins that weren’t there at several class-action lawsuits. One of these was filed in Chicago on February 27, another is planned in the United Kingdom. There’s a big chance more lawsuits will follow.
It’s not hard to find proof. After Feb. 7, Mt. Gox was still processing thousands of trades a day, according to Bitcoincharts.com, which records trading volumes for many Bitcoin markets. An average of 49,912 bitcoins was traded daily on Mt. Gox between Feb. 7 and Feb. 25, at an average weighted price of $380.54 per bitcoin.
The whole Mt. Gox story has been a ‘strange’ series of events, and the more news comes out, the fishier it gets. Karpeles clearly knew what was going on and still refused to warn his customers. He should at least have protected them by shutting down completely when he learned how big the problems were. Nobody knows what will happen next and if or how Mt. Gox will try to compensate its many customers. To be continued...
Christoph Marckx 13/03/2014 Bitcoin, Bitcoin Exchanges, Business, Economics, Market Analysis, News, Research 2 Comments
Posted 1 day ago
Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles knew 19 days before shutdown of insolvency issues
Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles knew 19 days before shutdown of the exchange’s insolvency issues.
The Mt. Gox saga just doesn’t stop. After filing for bankruptcy in Japan, the once popular exchange now did the same in the United States. When taking a closer look at the U.S. filing, it appears Mt. Gox may have collected a large sum in trading fees in the weeks before the website went dark. All of this was done while it was fully aware that a large number of Bitcoins had gone missing.
19 days of lying
A sworn declaration in the filing from Mark Karpeles, CEO of Mt. Gox, shows that the exchange knew in early February that there was a disaster at hand. Even though they had knowledge of this, Mt. Gox decided to paint a brighter picture towards its customers.
On February 7, Mt. Gox decided to disable Bitcoin withdrawals from the exchange. The reason for this drastic measure was an ‘investigation of possible fraud, due to a security issue called transaction malleability’. This was the only explanation given; Mt. Gox didn’t disclose any information regarding the amount of Bitcoins missing or its own solvency. Despite being impossible to withdraw Bitcoins from Mt. Gox, trading was still allowed until February 25. After that date, the website suddenly went dark.
After that day, news regarding Mt. Gox appeared at a rapid pace, with its climax being the filing for bankruptcy protection in Tokyo District Court three days later. The filing stated that 750.000 of its customers’ Bitcoins were missing, along with 100.000 of its own. In the coming weeks, Mt. Gox would file for bankruptcy protection again, this time in the United States.
It appears from this filing that Mt. Gox executives knew the severity of the company’s losses well before the website went dark. Karpeles was aware of all this up to 19 days before its public disclosure, but failed to tell his customers what was really going on. Traders were led to believe the exchange was still solvent, and a solution would not be far away.
In the filing, Karpeles states that the withdrawals were halted Feb. 7 due to “the theft or disappearance of hundreds of thousands of bitcoins owned by Mt. Gox customers as well as Mt. Gox itself.” Why Mt. Gox still allowed its customers to keep trading is unclear.
Class-action lawsuits
There’s still a chance to learn why Mt. Gox acted the way it did. The exchange will have to answer to the question why it kept on trading Bitcoins that weren’t there at several class-action lawsuits. One of these was filed in Chicago on February 27, another is planned in the United Kingdom. There’s a big chance more lawsuits will follow.
It’s not hard to find proof. After Feb. 7, Mt. Gox was still processing thousands of trades a day, according to Bitcoincharts.com, which records trading volumes for many Bitcoin markets. An average of 49,912 bitcoins was traded daily on Mt. Gox between Feb. 7 and Feb. 25, at an average weighted price of $380.54 per bitcoin.
The whole Mt. Gox story has been a ‘strange’ series of events, and the more news comes out, the fishier it gets. Karpeles clearly knew what was going on and still refused to warn his customers. He should at least have protected them by shutting down completely when he learned how big the problems were. Nobody knows what will happen next and if or how Mt. Gox will try to compensate its many customers. To be continued...
Australian company becomes Bitcoin enterprise
Christoph Marckx 13/03/2014 Bitcoin, Business, Economics, Investment, Market Analysis, News, Services
Posted 1 day ago
Zhenya Svetnenko turns Macro Energy into DigitalBTC
Bitcoin entrepreneur Zhenya Svetnenko turns Macro Energy into DigitalBTC.
Bitcoin may have taken some hits over the past few weeks with all the Mt. Gox issues but, like we reported earlier this week, this isn’t stopping investors who see a bright future for the cryptocurrency from trying to cash in.
Energy company into Bitcoin venture
Meet Zhenya Tsvetnenko, a technology entrepreneur who has been living in Perth. He wants to do a reverse takeover of Macro Energy Ltd. Macro Energy Ltd. is an Australia-listed company that has been struggling to make a profit ever since a series of investments in oil and gas didn’t turn out to be as profitable as expected. Tsvetnenko aims to raise 9.1 million Australian dollars (that’s 8.2 million US dollars) with this business deal.
Obviously, Tsvetnenko is not interested in the current workings of the company. Instead, he wants to turn Macro Energy Ltd. into a provider of Bitcoin services such as trading, digital wallets and mining. Because of these changes, he’s also planning on renaming Macro Energy to digitalBTC.
This isn’t Tsvetenko’s first endeavour in the world of new technologies. According to a recent list of wealthy Australian entrepreneurs published by Fairfax-owned BRW magazine in October, Tsvetnenko has made a 60 million Australian dollar fortune from developing mobile telephone and web-advertising applications.
As it now appears, Tsvetnenko will be several people among digitalBTC’s major shareholders. A person familiar with the whole takeover said Rod Jones will be found there, as well. Jones is known as chief executive of education provider Navitas. Perth-based broker DJ Carmichael is leading the raising.
Because of a pending significant transaction and capital raising, all shares in Macro Energy have been suspended for an unlimited time since March 6. Macro Energy Ltd., currently worth 5.6 million Australian dollars, hasn’t given further details to the Australian Securities Exchange.
Keeping the faith
Bitcoin’s value has been on a rollercoaster ride since the start of 2013. The cryptocurrency started at about 13 US dollars, soared above 1000 US dollars in December and took a dive again after some bad publicity in early 2014. Sentiment took a big knock in late February when Mt. Gox, once the dominant exchange for bitcoin trading, shut down and filed for bankruptcy in Tokyo after revealing it had lost almost 750,000 of its customers’ bitcoins worth more than 470 million US dollars.
Because of these price swings, some investors have been hit pretty hard. Fortress Investment Group LLC recorded an unrealized loss of 3.7 million US dollar. This loss was due to their decision to buy 20 million US dollars worth of Bitcoins last year. The asset-management firm held 16.3 million US dollar worth of Bitcoins at the end of 2013, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
It’s clear that investing in Bitcoin still isn’t a full-proof secure deal. Making a profit depends on so many things, not the least on the news of the day, making the cryptocoin very volatile. But, as volatile as Bitcoin may be, this doesn’t seem to scare investors. Instead, Bitcoin is hot news right now, and this doesn’t seem to be disappearing anytime soon. Investors also know that taking a dive down doesn’t mean the end for the virtual currency. It can rise as fast as it came down. After surviving easily through all the bad news of the past few weeks, one can only believe that the only way is up for Bitcoin.
Christoph Marckx 13/03/2014 Bitcoin, Business, Economics, Investment, Market Analysis, News, Services
Posted 1 day ago
Zhenya Svetnenko turns Macro Energy into DigitalBTC
Bitcoin entrepreneur Zhenya Svetnenko turns Macro Energy into DigitalBTC.
Bitcoin may have taken some hits over the past few weeks with all the Mt. Gox issues but, like we reported earlier this week, this isn’t stopping investors who see a bright future for the cryptocurrency from trying to cash in.
Energy company into Bitcoin venture
Meet Zhenya Tsvetnenko, a technology entrepreneur who has been living in Perth. He wants to do a reverse takeover of Macro Energy Ltd. Macro Energy Ltd. is an Australia-listed company that has been struggling to make a profit ever since a series of investments in oil and gas didn’t turn out to be as profitable as expected. Tsvetnenko aims to raise 9.1 million Australian dollars (that’s 8.2 million US dollars) with this business deal.
Obviously, Tsvetnenko is not interested in the current workings of the company. Instead, he wants to turn Macro Energy Ltd. into a provider of Bitcoin services such as trading, digital wallets and mining. Because of these changes, he’s also planning on renaming Macro Energy to digitalBTC.
This isn’t Tsvetenko’s first endeavour in the world of new technologies. According to a recent list of wealthy Australian entrepreneurs published by Fairfax-owned BRW magazine in October, Tsvetnenko has made a 60 million Australian dollar fortune from developing mobile telephone and web-advertising applications.
As it now appears, Tsvetnenko will be several people among digitalBTC’s major shareholders. A person familiar with the whole takeover said Rod Jones will be found there, as well. Jones is known as chief executive of education provider Navitas. Perth-based broker DJ Carmichael is leading the raising.
Because of a pending significant transaction and capital raising, all shares in Macro Energy have been suspended for an unlimited time since March 6. Macro Energy Ltd., currently worth 5.6 million Australian dollars, hasn’t given further details to the Australian Securities Exchange.
Keeping the faith
Bitcoin’s value has been on a rollercoaster ride since the start of 2013. The cryptocurrency started at about 13 US dollars, soared above 1000 US dollars in December and took a dive again after some bad publicity in early 2014. Sentiment took a big knock in late February when Mt. Gox, once the dominant exchange for bitcoin trading, shut down and filed for bankruptcy in Tokyo after revealing it had lost almost 750,000 of its customers’ bitcoins worth more than 470 million US dollars.
Because of these price swings, some investors have been hit pretty hard. Fortress Investment Group LLC recorded an unrealized loss of 3.7 million US dollar. This loss was due to their decision to buy 20 million US dollars worth of Bitcoins last year. The asset-management firm held 16.3 million US dollar worth of Bitcoins at the end of 2013, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
It’s clear that investing in Bitcoin still isn’t a full-proof secure deal. Making a profit depends on so many things, not the least on the news of the day, making the cryptocoin very volatile. But, as volatile as Bitcoin may be, this doesn’t seem to scare investors. Instead, Bitcoin is hot news right now, and this doesn’t seem to be disappearing anytime soon. Investors also know that taking a dive down doesn’t mean the end for the virtual currency. It can rise as fast as it came down. After surviving easily through all the bad news of the past few weeks, one can only believe that the only way is up for Bitcoin.
New names at Bitcoin Foundation. Lesson learned?
http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/gold-money-group-bitcoin-300x225.jpg
gold money group bitcoin
Yesterday I published an article in which I posed some questions to the Bitcoin Foundation: It may well turn out that I have wronged them and to this end I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Today, Tuesday, the foundation moved to announce two new appointments: DC veterans Jim Harper and Amy Weiss have joined the foundation.
Jim Harper served as director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute for almost ten years and Amy Weiss is a former White House deputy press secretary and currently runs the strategic communications firm Weiss Public Affairs. These appear to be well thought out and considered board appointments. Clearly people of this calibre will bring strategic planning and media relations to the Bitcoin organisation. Two areas that have been sadly deficient. Accountability would be nice too but maybe I’m looking for too much and the areas of strategic planning and media relations is at least a start. Jim Harper will be joining the foundation as the new Global Policy Counsel, a role previously held by Patrick Murck. Jim has previously advised companies as diverse as VeriSign and Paypal. Jon Matonis the executive director of of the Bitcoin Foundation stated:
“Bitcoin is rapidly maturing and we are actively building a world-class team of highly experienced professionals. Jim’s experience with Cato and past experience with Paypal in addition to Amy’s experience with the United Nations Foundation and The White House are invaluable to our efforts around the world and in DC.” Rousing Stuff… What?
Remember Jon Matonis is the man that said (2012): Under the title of “What I hope the Foundation will accomplish“, Matonis stated: ” There’s a huge amount of support for the Foundation from many of the people who matter to Bitcoin’s future: Charlie Shrem, Mark Karpeles, Gavin Andersen and Jon Matonis are all starting out on the Board of Directors.” Hmmm…
But there we go, Two significantly more capable people, Harper and Weiss, than the Foundation has brought on board up to this point. There is a little point that our new strategic visionaries might strive to address: What exactly does the Foundation do and why does it appear to be attempting to centralise a currency that is, by definition, decentralised by design?
I assume that the two new appointees will receive some remuneration for their efforts and indeed I wish them both well. If there is a third vacancy, however; I would be willing, selflessly, to serve. Of course, this would only be if I was called upon. Having spent some time studying the Mt Gox system of financial management I feel that I am now superbly qualified to serve and would be content to cost the Foundation significantly less than Karpeles. This humble hack, having some knowledge of the two noble fields of Accountancy and poultry management, would be willing to survive and eke a simple living, by only extracting the golden eggs when they had been laid and would, to this end, give an undertaking, to attempt to be one appointee not to kill the goose.
http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/gold-money-group-bitcoin-300x225.jpg
gold money group bitcoin
Yesterday I published an article in which I posed some questions to the Bitcoin Foundation: It may well turn out that I have wronged them and to this end I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Today, Tuesday, the foundation moved to announce two new appointments: DC veterans Jim Harper and Amy Weiss have joined the foundation.
Jim Harper served as director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute for almost ten years and Amy Weiss is a former White House deputy press secretary and currently runs the strategic communications firm Weiss Public Affairs. These appear to be well thought out and considered board appointments. Clearly people of this calibre will bring strategic planning and media relations to the Bitcoin organisation. Two areas that have been sadly deficient. Accountability would be nice too but maybe I’m looking for too much and the areas of strategic planning and media relations is at least a start. Jim Harper will be joining the foundation as the new Global Policy Counsel, a role previously held by Patrick Murck. Jim has previously advised companies as diverse as VeriSign and Paypal. Jon Matonis the executive director of of the Bitcoin Foundation stated:
“Bitcoin is rapidly maturing and we are actively building a world-class team of highly experienced professionals. Jim’s experience with Cato and past experience with Paypal in addition to Amy’s experience with the United Nations Foundation and The White House are invaluable to our efforts around the world and in DC.” Rousing Stuff… What?
Remember Jon Matonis is the man that said (2012): Under the title of “What I hope the Foundation will accomplish“, Matonis stated: ” There’s a huge amount of support for the Foundation from many of the people who matter to Bitcoin’s future: Charlie Shrem, Mark Karpeles, Gavin Andersen and Jon Matonis are all starting out on the Board of Directors.” Hmmm…
But there we go, Two significantly more capable people, Harper and Weiss, than the Foundation has brought on board up to this point. There is a little point that our new strategic visionaries might strive to address: What exactly does the Foundation do and why does it appear to be attempting to centralise a currency that is, by definition, decentralised by design?
I assume that the two new appointees will receive some remuneration for their efforts and indeed I wish them both well. If there is a third vacancy, however; I would be willing, selflessly, to serve. Of course, this would only be if I was called upon. Having spent some time studying the Mt Gox system of financial management I feel that I am now superbly qualified to serve and would be content to cost the Foundation significantly less than Karpeles. This humble hack, having some knowledge of the two noble fields of Accountancy and poultry management, would be willing to survive and eke a simple living, by only extracting the golden eggs when they had been laid and would, to this end, give an undertaking, to attempt to be one appointee not to kill the goose.
Dogecoin Forks to Avoid Multipool Exploit, Mandatory Update!
dogecoin has forked
Dogecoin forks to avoid exploitative mining pools.
Yes, you can still teach an old Doge new tricks.
Only three months after the release of Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency based on a meme has cleared its third major hurdle. After discovering that certain mining groups were exploiting a weakness in the protocol to game the system, the doge-devs are ready to release version 1.6 of the Dogecoin wallet client.
This update is mandatory.
At block 145,000, Dogecoin will automatically fork so that no Dogecoin is at risk of being lost.
The update will change block-rewards, which had been random, to a flat 250,000 DOGE.
Also included in the update is the DigiShield difficulty algorithm, which will allow the mining difficulty to adjust near-instantly. This was developed by the team at DigiByte, who allowed Dogecoin to use it in a gracious show of community-spirit. In a rapidly expanding market, such team spirit is rare.
Additionally, mined Dogecoin now takes four hours to mature before being spent. This allows any potential forks in the future to be dealt with in a more efficient manner.
“Fork you, Multi-pool.”
Multipools are mining groups that use their hashing power to mine whichever coin is most profitable at a given moment. Miners participating in multipools configure their rigs in an all-purpose manner and the multipool server then calculates the exchange rates of eligible cryptocurrencies, directing the massive mining power to net the miners the greatest profit.
The mercenary nature of multipools is the result of free-market competition, and in many ways is necessary for assuring that there will be hash-rate available to any coin that has demand.
However, a problem arises when a multipool causes a sudden surge of hash-rate, resulting in increased difficulty of mining. Once the difficulty rises and the coin is less profitable, the multipool moves on, leaving smaller miners struggling through difficult calculations until the next difficulty-adjustment.
Using DigiShield, difficulty adjustment is nearly instantaneous, eliminating the problem of large pools surging in when the difficulty is low and abandoning once it adjusts. This is a big deal, because this addition sets Dogecoin apart from the cryptocurrency it was cloned from, Litecoin.
The major reason for the sudden Dogecoin 1.6 fork is that the “random” block-rewards had been essentially cracked by multipools.
The multipools were able to figure out the reward sizes of blocks ahead of time and cherry-pick those with large rewards, leaving the scraps to smaller miners. With the removal of random block rewards, this problem no longer exists.
State of the Coin
Attention paid to Dogecoin, along with its exchange rate, has been neglected since the Olympics ended, and Bitcoin has had the spotlight with scandal after scandal.
Many feel that the multipool gaming of block rewards was the cause of much of the downward price trend, though, as it is common for alt-coin miners to sell their rewards for Bitcoin/fiat immediately.
Shibe-charity is alive and well with the Doge4Water initiative to raise awareness for clear drinking water.
Additionally, as a “Thank you” for the help DigiBytes gave to the Dogecoin development team by lending the use of DigiShield as well as helping to test the new wallet, many shibes are organizing to vote for DigiBytes to be the next Cryptsy market.
Amid this rallying to put DigiBytes on Cryptsy, shibes are flocking en-masse to Kraken, a U.S. based exchange that recently opened trade to the often silly cryptocurrency. Many shibes feel Cryptsy can’t handle the large volume of Dogecoin trade, as it often halts service during peak hours.
dogecoin has forked
Dogecoin forks to avoid exploitative mining pools.
Yes, you can still teach an old Doge new tricks.
Only three months after the release of Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency based on a meme has cleared its third major hurdle. After discovering that certain mining groups were exploiting a weakness in the protocol to game the system, the doge-devs are ready to release version 1.6 of the Dogecoin wallet client.
This update is mandatory.
At block 145,000, Dogecoin will automatically fork so that no Dogecoin is at risk of being lost.
The update will change block-rewards, which had been random, to a flat 250,000 DOGE.
Also included in the update is the DigiShield difficulty algorithm, which will allow the mining difficulty to adjust near-instantly. This was developed by the team at DigiByte, who allowed Dogecoin to use it in a gracious show of community-spirit. In a rapidly expanding market, such team spirit is rare.
Additionally, mined Dogecoin now takes four hours to mature before being spent. This allows any potential forks in the future to be dealt with in a more efficient manner.
“Fork you, Multi-pool.”
Multipools are mining groups that use their hashing power to mine whichever coin is most profitable at a given moment. Miners participating in multipools configure their rigs in an all-purpose manner and the multipool server then calculates the exchange rates of eligible cryptocurrencies, directing the massive mining power to net the miners the greatest profit.
The mercenary nature of multipools is the result of free-market competition, and in many ways is necessary for assuring that there will be hash-rate available to any coin that has demand.
However, a problem arises when a multipool causes a sudden surge of hash-rate, resulting in increased difficulty of mining. Once the difficulty rises and the coin is less profitable, the multipool moves on, leaving smaller miners struggling through difficult calculations until the next difficulty-adjustment.
Using DigiShield, difficulty adjustment is nearly instantaneous, eliminating the problem of large pools surging in when the difficulty is low and abandoning once it adjusts. This is a big deal, because this addition sets Dogecoin apart from the cryptocurrency it was cloned from, Litecoin.
The major reason for the sudden Dogecoin 1.6 fork is that the “random” block-rewards had been essentially cracked by multipools.
The multipools were able to figure out the reward sizes of blocks ahead of time and cherry-pick those with large rewards, leaving the scraps to smaller miners. With the removal of random block rewards, this problem no longer exists.
State of the Coin
Attention paid to Dogecoin, along with its exchange rate, has been neglected since the Olympics ended, and Bitcoin has had the spotlight with scandal after scandal.
Many feel that the multipool gaming of block rewards was the cause of much of the downward price trend, though, as it is common for alt-coin miners to sell their rewards for Bitcoin/fiat immediately.
Shibe-charity is alive and well with the Doge4Water initiative to raise awareness for clear drinking water.
Additionally, as a “Thank you” for the help DigiBytes gave to the Dogecoin development team by lending the use of DigiShield as well as helping to test the new wallet, many shibes are organizing to vote for DigiBytes to be the next Cryptsy market.
Amid this rallying to put DigiBytes on Cryptsy, shibes are flocking en-masse to Kraken, a U.S. based exchange that recently opened trade to the often silly cryptocurrency. Many shibes feel Cryptsy can’t handle the large volume of Dogecoin trade, as it often halts service during peak hours.
Company takeovers using Bitcoin are trending
Blockchain.info CEO Nic Cary has big plans for the future of Bitcoin.
Blockchain.info CEO Nic Cary used Bitcoins to takeover several companies and plans to announce a major takeover in the next few weeks.
Over the past few years, Bitcoin has grown. What started out as an isolated internet currency, only used by geeks has become a real method of payment. Pizzas, piano lessons, haircuts, it’s possible to find a merchant that accepts Bitcoin for almost anything. 2013 However saw a new trend in the use of the cryptocurrency. Complete enterprises were being bought and paid for with Bitcoins.
Fast Bitcoin deals
Analysts reported to American channel CNBC that they expect more frequent usage of the coin in the future when it comes to selling or buying companies. The first major deal was closed in July 2013, when gaming company Satoshi Dice was sold to an unknown party for 126.315 Bitcoins. When we compare that number to the value of Bitcoin in that particular month, that accounts for a total amount of 10 million dollars. This shows that Bitcoins are usable for every purchase, be it a pizza or a million dollar business deal.
The next take-over came in December 2013, when the well-known Blockchain.info decided to buy Zeroblock. Pricetag for this major deal is unknown, but experts agree that this also was a million dollar sale. Blockchain is a famous company in the world of cryptocurrencies. They are the biggest supplier of online digital wallets where you can store your coins. Zeroblock, on the other hand, was a smaller company. They developed an app that shows Bitcoin’s value on the different exchanges, as well as the latest news regarding the currency.
Because both companies are working with Bitcoins every day, it’s their main trade, it’s not surprising that they financed the merging with Bitcoins. One of Zeroblock’s founders told The Wall Street Journal that the whole deal was made in a mere twenty seconds. An astonishingly fast agreement, considering that most deals of this magnitude take months to succeed. It’s not only about the meetings held in order to reach an agreement, the transfer of such a large amount of money takes time, as well. And once again, this is where Bitcoin shines. The whole transfer was done without any hassle, a matter of a few hours and a gentleman’s handshake.
Legal matters slow things down
Obviously, these advantages carry a few disadvantages with them, as well. Companies are subject to taxes, and in order to comply with the law, Zeroblock had to exchange some of their profits in dollars. This has several consequences that aren’t necessarily Bitcoin’s fault, but it sure makes large deals harder than they should or could be. Another important drawback is the dreaded need for regulation. Common people may like the fact that Bitcoin operates in the wild west, but large companies won’t think about using Bitcoin in big business trades when there’s no legal framework surrounding the cryptocurrency. On top of that, the trades need to be expressed in a paper currency, for taxing purposes. Bitcoin’s value on the exchanges proves to be a bumpy ride sometimes and most companies like a stable coin more.
Despite bad publicity like Mt.Gox’s collapse, the Bitcoin market is still moving in full force. “People are trying to find their spot in this relatively new market, companies are constantly looking for interesting opportunities.”, says Blockchain CEO Nic Carey. Earlier this month Blockchain bought RTBTC, a big Bitcoin exchange. On top of that, in a few weeks, Blockchain claims to be able to announce the biggest takeover ever in the history of Bitcoin. Blockchain makes hundreds of thousand of dollars every month, mostly earned by advertising.
Blockchain.info CEO Nic Cary has big plans for the future of Bitcoin.
Blockchain.info CEO Nic Cary used Bitcoins to takeover several companies and plans to announce a major takeover in the next few weeks.
Over the past few years, Bitcoin has grown. What started out as an isolated internet currency, only used by geeks has become a real method of payment. Pizzas, piano lessons, haircuts, it’s possible to find a merchant that accepts Bitcoin for almost anything. 2013 However saw a new trend in the use of the cryptocurrency. Complete enterprises were being bought and paid for with Bitcoins.
Fast Bitcoin deals
Analysts reported to American channel CNBC that they expect more frequent usage of the coin in the future when it comes to selling or buying companies. The first major deal was closed in July 2013, when gaming company Satoshi Dice was sold to an unknown party for 126.315 Bitcoins. When we compare that number to the value of Bitcoin in that particular month, that accounts for a total amount of 10 million dollars. This shows that Bitcoins are usable for every purchase, be it a pizza or a million dollar business deal.
The next take-over came in December 2013, when the well-known Blockchain.info decided to buy Zeroblock. Pricetag for this major deal is unknown, but experts agree that this also was a million dollar sale. Blockchain is a famous company in the world of cryptocurrencies. They are the biggest supplier of online digital wallets where you can store your coins. Zeroblock, on the other hand, was a smaller company. They developed an app that shows Bitcoin’s value on the different exchanges, as well as the latest news regarding the currency.
Because both companies are working with Bitcoins every day, it’s their main trade, it’s not surprising that they financed the merging with Bitcoins. One of Zeroblock’s founders told The Wall Street Journal that the whole deal was made in a mere twenty seconds. An astonishingly fast agreement, considering that most deals of this magnitude take months to succeed. It’s not only about the meetings held in order to reach an agreement, the transfer of such a large amount of money takes time, as well. And once again, this is where Bitcoin shines. The whole transfer was done without any hassle, a matter of a few hours and a gentleman’s handshake.
Legal matters slow things down
Obviously, these advantages carry a few disadvantages with them, as well. Companies are subject to taxes, and in order to comply with the law, Zeroblock had to exchange some of their profits in dollars. This has several consequences that aren’t necessarily Bitcoin’s fault, but it sure makes large deals harder than they should or could be. Another important drawback is the dreaded need for regulation. Common people may like the fact that Bitcoin operates in the wild west, but large companies won’t think about using Bitcoin in big business trades when there’s no legal framework surrounding the cryptocurrency. On top of that, the trades need to be expressed in a paper currency, for taxing purposes. Bitcoin’s value on the exchanges proves to be a bumpy ride sometimes and most companies like a stable coin more.
Despite bad publicity like Mt.Gox’s collapse, the Bitcoin market is still moving in full force. “People are trying to find their spot in this relatively new market, companies are constantly looking for interesting opportunities.”, says Blockchain CEO Nic Carey. Earlier this month Blockchain bought RTBTC, a big Bitcoin exchange. On top of that, in a few weeks, Blockchain claims to be able to announce the biggest takeover ever in the history of Bitcoin. Blockchain makes hundreds of thousand of dollars every month, mostly earned by advertising.
BitPay Drops Central Texas Gun Works; Bitcoin Magazine Drops Headline
Original Bitcoin Magazine article; article has been removed.
Late last night, Bitcoin Magazine published an article about Central Texas Gun Works (CTGW) being “dropped” by their Bitcoin Payment Processor: BitPay. In response, and due to CTGW owner Michael Cargill‘s commitment to Bitcoin, CTGW has promptly switched to CoinVoice‘s Bitcoin invoicing services to provide guns and gun services in exchange for Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Magazine originally reported that it was unclear whether or not BitPay’s ToS was changed before or after Central Texas Gun Works signed on with BitPay. That is obviously untrue, as the Internet Wayback machine can verify: BitPay’s ToS has been firmly anti-firearm for years. As BitPay’s CEO Tony Gallippi told Forbe’s Jon Matonis, now Executive Director of the Bitcoin Foundation, back in 2012: BitPay would stick to its ToS.
Bitcoin Magazine: Where Is The Original Article?
For reasons unknown, Bitcoin Magazine’s breaking article from last night has been removed from their website. The article was the first piece from Bitcoin Magazine that cast BitPay in a negative light, and it seems to have had a shelf life of just over a few hours.
It is only thanks to the quick work of NewsBTC that the Bitcoin community is aware of this particular Bitcoin Magazine article since it wasn’t publicized much and had an extremely limited twitter run. Someone pulled the rug out from under this article.
Bitcoin Magazine is one of the oldest Bitcoin news sources and employs wonderful writers such as Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin. However, you may not have been aware that the Executive Producer of Bitcoin Magazine is none other than BitPay’s CEO: Tony Gallippi.
BitPay and CTGW
Cargill at Texas Independence Day celebration hosted at his gun store.
Cargill at Texas Independence Day celebration hosted at his gun store.
BitPay has stated CTGW is in violation of BitPay’s ToS and CTGW owner Michael Cargill has stated that BitPay froze his accounts without any warning. Just a cursory look at the BitPay ToS does reveal that firearms are and have been explicitly forbidden for years. This begs the question: How did Central Gun Works Texas make it through BitPay’s vetting process to begin with? Cargill has emphasized that BitPay knew all about Central Texas Gun Works’ business model before they signed him on.
To be clear, I don’t think there is anything wrong with a Bitcoin accepting service standing firm by their ToS and refusing to deal with firearms on mere principle. Many observers will recall that such a philosophical stand was taken by DPR of Silk Road, despite the mainstream media’s best attempts to paint the underground marketplace as an assassination market.
Coinbase On Guns And Drugs
Unlike BitPay, Coinbase does not have anti-firearm clauses in their ToS and there is at least one legal firearm dealer in the United States that has signed up under Coinbase. Despite Coinbase’s seemingly open stance towards legal sale of guns using Bitcoin, they have been less receptive towards the legal sale of marijuana.
Months ago, Kashmir Hill of Forbes reported the story of Seth Green from Pacific Northwest Medical, a legal medical marijuana dispensary in Washington State. Green was turned down by Coinbase despite the legality of his operation and his securing of a bank account. On the topic of legal marijuana dispensaries, Coinbase believes that “We can’t service them as a customer because it’s still technically illegal federally.”
In comparison, BitPay’s response to legal marijuana dispensaries was this: “We are unable to offer our services to business that sell drugs.”
CoinVoice To The Rescue
coinvoice
CoinVoice reportedly worked overtime to provide Bitcoin processing solutions to CTGW when they were removed by BitPay in the last few weeks. Though this news is just breaking today, CTGW’s website reveals that CTGW made the switch from BitPay to Coinvoice at the beginning of March. It is not yet clear whether or not CoinVoice will do business with legal marijuana dispensaries in Washington and Colorado or legal medical marijuana dispensaries in 17 states across the country.
Original Bitcoin Magazine article; article has been removed.
Late last night, Bitcoin Magazine published an article about Central Texas Gun Works (CTGW) being “dropped” by their Bitcoin Payment Processor: BitPay. In response, and due to CTGW owner Michael Cargill‘s commitment to Bitcoin, CTGW has promptly switched to CoinVoice‘s Bitcoin invoicing services to provide guns and gun services in exchange for Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Magazine originally reported that it was unclear whether or not BitPay’s ToS was changed before or after Central Texas Gun Works signed on with BitPay. That is obviously untrue, as the Internet Wayback machine can verify: BitPay’s ToS has been firmly anti-firearm for years. As BitPay’s CEO Tony Gallippi told Forbe’s Jon Matonis, now Executive Director of the Bitcoin Foundation, back in 2012: BitPay would stick to its ToS.
Bitcoin Magazine: Where Is The Original Article?
For reasons unknown, Bitcoin Magazine’s breaking article from last night has been removed from their website. The article was the first piece from Bitcoin Magazine that cast BitPay in a negative light, and it seems to have had a shelf life of just over a few hours.
It is only thanks to the quick work of NewsBTC that the Bitcoin community is aware of this particular Bitcoin Magazine article since it wasn’t publicized much and had an extremely limited twitter run. Someone pulled the rug out from under this article.
Bitcoin Magazine is one of the oldest Bitcoin news sources and employs wonderful writers such as Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin. However, you may not have been aware that the Executive Producer of Bitcoin Magazine is none other than BitPay’s CEO: Tony Gallippi.
BitPay and CTGW
Cargill at Texas Independence Day celebration hosted at his gun store.
Cargill at Texas Independence Day celebration hosted at his gun store.
BitPay has stated CTGW is in violation of BitPay’s ToS and CTGW owner Michael Cargill has stated that BitPay froze his accounts without any warning. Just a cursory look at the BitPay ToS does reveal that firearms are and have been explicitly forbidden for years. This begs the question: How did Central Gun Works Texas make it through BitPay’s vetting process to begin with? Cargill has emphasized that BitPay knew all about Central Texas Gun Works’ business model before they signed him on.
To be clear, I don’t think there is anything wrong with a Bitcoin accepting service standing firm by their ToS and refusing to deal with firearms on mere principle. Many observers will recall that such a philosophical stand was taken by DPR of Silk Road, despite the mainstream media’s best attempts to paint the underground marketplace as an assassination market.
Coinbase On Guns And Drugs
Unlike BitPay, Coinbase does not have anti-firearm clauses in their ToS and there is at least one legal firearm dealer in the United States that has signed up under Coinbase. Despite Coinbase’s seemingly open stance towards legal sale of guns using Bitcoin, they have been less receptive towards the legal sale of marijuana.
Months ago, Kashmir Hill of Forbes reported the story of Seth Green from Pacific Northwest Medical, a legal medical marijuana dispensary in Washington State. Green was turned down by Coinbase despite the legality of his operation and his securing of a bank account. On the topic of legal marijuana dispensaries, Coinbase believes that “We can’t service them as a customer because it’s still technically illegal federally.”
In comparison, BitPay’s response to legal marijuana dispensaries was this: “We are unable to offer our services to business that sell drugs.”
CoinVoice To The Rescue
coinvoice
CoinVoice reportedly worked overtime to provide Bitcoin processing solutions to CTGW when they were removed by BitPay in the last few weeks. Though this news is just breaking today, CTGW’s website reveals that CTGW made the switch from BitPay to Coinvoice at the beginning of March. It is not yet clear whether or not CoinVoice will do business with legal marijuana dispensaries in Washington and Colorado or legal medical marijuana dispensaries in 17 states across the country.
MAT Taking Pre-Orders on Scrypt ASICs
MAT Bitcoin ASIC 6THs
MAT Bitcoin ASIC 6TH/s
Netherlands based company Mining Asics Technologies B.V. (MAT) today announced it would start taking pre-orders for a new range of Scrypt ASIC miners.
MAT is one of the first companies to introduce a wave of powerful new Bitcoin Asic miners and Scrypt ASIC miners for Dogecoin, Auroracoin, Feathercoin, Litecoin and other scrypt cryptocurrencies. Pre-orders are open from 12 March 2014.
Standalone Scrypt ASICs
All of MAT’s ASICs are standalone embedded application devices featuring a Linux operating system running CGminer. The devices can be configured via webGUI from a desktop PC or smartphone.
MAT’s Scrypt Asic miners will allow the mining of Litecoin and all generic scrypt-based cryptocurrencies (Litecoin clones) such as Novacoin, Auroracoin, Feathercoin, Dogecoin and others. However, as discussed with the Execoin team yesterday, progressive-N scrypt cryptocurrency will not be mineable via these ASIC devices.
Dream Chip Partnership
From their press release:
For the development and production of the Bitcoin Asic miners, Scrypt Asic miners and Scrypt FPGA miners Mining Asics Technologies B.V. (MAT) has partnered with German engineering firm Dream Chip Technologies GmbH (DCT). Dream Chip Technologies GmbH (DCT) engineering team consist about 40 highly qualified and skilled resources in hardware, software and mechanical engineering capabilities. A state of the art design center is located at the headquarters to undertake hardware, software and programmable logic design work. Dream Chip Technologies GmbH (DCT) is led by a team of highly experienced professionals in its area of specialization. The Dream Chip Technologies GmbH (DCT) design team have worked on several state of the art designs in the areas of software, systems architecture, involving ASICs and FPGAs.
Pre-Order… How Long?
MAT Scrypt ASIC 200MHs
MAT Scrypt ASIC 200MH/s
Due to the disappointing show on pre-orders by companies such as Butterfly Labs, Mining Asics Technologies have lowered the initial deposit amount to 35%, with the balance of 65% to be demanded 3 months before shipping. Payments for orders can be made by Bank Transfer and Bitcoins via BitPay.
Mining Rigs
Titanium 1 – 28 nm Bitcoin ASIC Miner 6 TH/s
€ 6.999,00. 35% Deposit – € 2.449,65
Shipping September 2014
Titanium 2 – 28 nm Bitcoin ASIC Miner 3 TH/s
€ 3.999,00. 35% Deposit – € 1.399,65
Shipping September 2014
Platinum 1 – FPGA Scrypt Miner 10 MH/s
€ 2.999,00. 35% Deposit – € 1.049,65
Shipment planned: August 2014
Platinum 2 – FPGA Scrypt Miner 30 MH/s
€ 5.999,00. 35% Deposit – € 2.099,65.
Shipment planned: August 2014
Excalibur 1 – ASIC Scrypt Miner 50 MH/s
€ 4.999,00. 35% Deposit- € 1.749,65
Shipment planned: Q3/Q4 2014
Excalibur 2 – ASIC Scrypt Miner 100 MH/s
€ 7.999,00. 35% Deposit- € 2.799,65
Shipment planned: Q3/Q4 2014
Excalibur 3 – ASIC Scrypt Miner 200 MH/s
€ 14.999,00. 35% Deposit- € 5.249,65
Shipment planned: Q3/Q4 2014
In defense of their 6 month shipping delay until August and September of this year, MAT has the following to say:
The whole Litecoin or other Scrypt cryptocurrencies difficulty in 6 months time will be made up only of GPU’s. When we ship our FPGA Scrypt miners or ASIC Scrypt miners it will be more advantageous than any GPU rig, it will be more cost efficient, and much more power efficient.
Hang Dai, GPU
This seems to be the consensus view – that the Scrypt ASIC invasion is inevitable and that it’s dominance will be total and pervasive. It is this writers view, that the deafening silence from the GPU giants AMD and Nvidia should not be interpreted as signifying their disinterest in the mining market. On the contrary: the release of High Bandwidth Memory equipped GPU devices around the second half of 2014 should ensure an increase of heat in the blasting room of the Scrypt mines.
MAT Bitcoin ASIC 6THs
MAT Bitcoin ASIC 6TH/s
Netherlands based company Mining Asics Technologies B.V. (MAT) today announced it would start taking pre-orders for a new range of Scrypt ASIC miners.
MAT is one of the first companies to introduce a wave of powerful new Bitcoin Asic miners and Scrypt ASIC miners for Dogecoin, Auroracoin, Feathercoin, Litecoin and other scrypt cryptocurrencies. Pre-orders are open from 12 March 2014.
Standalone Scrypt ASICs
All of MAT’s ASICs are standalone embedded application devices featuring a Linux operating system running CGminer. The devices can be configured via webGUI from a desktop PC or smartphone.
MAT’s Scrypt Asic miners will allow the mining of Litecoin and all generic scrypt-based cryptocurrencies (Litecoin clones) such as Novacoin, Auroracoin, Feathercoin, Dogecoin and others. However, as discussed with the Execoin team yesterday, progressive-N scrypt cryptocurrency will not be mineable via these ASIC devices.
Dream Chip Partnership
From their press release:
For the development and production of the Bitcoin Asic miners, Scrypt Asic miners and Scrypt FPGA miners Mining Asics Technologies B.V. (MAT) has partnered with German engineering firm Dream Chip Technologies GmbH (DCT). Dream Chip Technologies GmbH (DCT) engineering team consist about 40 highly qualified and skilled resources in hardware, software and mechanical engineering capabilities. A state of the art design center is located at the headquarters to undertake hardware, software and programmable logic design work. Dream Chip Technologies GmbH (DCT) is led by a team of highly experienced professionals in its area of specialization. The Dream Chip Technologies GmbH (DCT) design team have worked on several state of the art designs in the areas of software, systems architecture, involving ASICs and FPGAs.
Pre-Order… How Long?
MAT Scrypt ASIC 200MHs
MAT Scrypt ASIC 200MH/s
Due to the disappointing show on pre-orders by companies such as Butterfly Labs, Mining Asics Technologies have lowered the initial deposit amount to 35%, with the balance of 65% to be demanded 3 months before shipping. Payments for orders can be made by Bank Transfer and Bitcoins via BitPay.
Mining Rigs
Titanium 1 – 28 nm Bitcoin ASIC Miner 6 TH/s
€ 6.999,00. 35% Deposit – € 2.449,65
Shipping September 2014
Titanium 2 – 28 nm Bitcoin ASIC Miner 3 TH/s
€ 3.999,00. 35% Deposit – € 1.399,65
Shipping September 2014
Platinum 1 – FPGA Scrypt Miner 10 MH/s
€ 2.999,00. 35% Deposit – € 1.049,65
Shipment planned: August 2014
Platinum 2 – FPGA Scrypt Miner 30 MH/s
€ 5.999,00. 35% Deposit – € 2.099,65.
Shipment planned: August 2014
Excalibur 1 – ASIC Scrypt Miner 50 MH/s
€ 4.999,00. 35% Deposit- € 1.749,65
Shipment planned: Q3/Q4 2014
Excalibur 2 – ASIC Scrypt Miner 100 MH/s
€ 7.999,00. 35% Deposit- € 2.799,65
Shipment planned: Q3/Q4 2014
Excalibur 3 – ASIC Scrypt Miner 200 MH/s
€ 14.999,00. 35% Deposit- € 5.249,65
Shipment planned: Q3/Q4 2014
In defense of their 6 month shipping delay until August and September of this year, MAT has the following to say:
The whole Litecoin or other Scrypt cryptocurrencies difficulty in 6 months time will be made up only of GPU’s. When we ship our FPGA Scrypt miners or ASIC Scrypt miners it will be more advantageous than any GPU rig, it will be more cost efficient, and much more power efficient.
Hang Dai, GPU
This seems to be the consensus view – that the Scrypt ASIC invasion is inevitable and that it’s dominance will be total and pervasive. It is this writers view, that the deafening silence from the GPU giants AMD and Nvidia should not be interpreted as signifying their disinterest in the mining market. On the contrary: the release of High Bandwidth Memory equipped GPU devices around the second half of 2014 should ensure an increase of heat in the blasting room of the Scrypt mines.
Two-Bit Idiot: A Cautionary Tale
dunce two bit idiot bitcoin
Copyright 2009 Candie N.
My Dad always liked to compare life to poker, “you got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em,” he would say.
Sure, maybe I’m thinking of Kenny Rogers.
Either way, the lesson is one everyone could benefit from learning.
In case you are already familiar with Two-Bit’s recent episode, I believe it to be a symptom of a larger issue within the Bitcoin ecosystem. This drama is barely surprising considering the long history of public high-stakes meltdowns that have been a part of the Bitcoin community for a long time. Allow me to elaborate.
Two-Bit Idiot (Ryan Selkis) made a grave, and very public, mistake this weekend when he misplayed his hand in a gambit to force a change in leadership at The Bitcoin Foundation. Demanding the resignations of Chairman Peter Vessenes and Executive Director Jon Matonis, Two-Bit threatened to release evidence demonstrating systematic neglect by two leaders. Many criticized his egocentric style, or called Two-Bits ultimatum “extortion,” but from the foundation there was nothing but silence on the subject.
You may remember Two-Bit as the blogger/writer who leaked the documents that exposed Mt. Gox’s plan to defraud customers while the company recouped bitcoin it had lost.
“I believe Bitcoin has a moral imperative to succeed,” Two-Bit replied to those who accused him of trying to manipulate prices during the Mt. Gox scandal, “and that things which harm the ecosystem hurt me financially.”
As Mt. Gox filed bankruptcy, Two-Bit saw another threat to the ecosystem – the leadership of The Bitcoin Foundation.
“War”
The single declarative word at the beginning of Two-Bit’s blog last Friday set the tone for the weekend.
According to Two-Bit:
Only a swift and thorough overhaul of the Foundation’s leadership can preserve Bitcoin’s image with regulators, legislators and the general public.
[...]
Peter Vessenes and Jon Matonis are not scapegoats. They are not innocent bystanders. And they are not ethically entitled to remain in their board seats through later this year.
He then states that unless the two resign in 72 hours, a full length article will be published exposing facts that show the leadership at the foundation complicit with the meltdown at Mt. Gox, among other conflicts of interest. I encourage you to read and consider his points, they are valid concerns and have been echoed here at CryptoCoinsNews.
Of course, there was no response from The Bitcoin Foundation, and Two-Bit eventually came clean that he was not prepared to publish the evidence he had.
I started a “war” on Friday that I never should have waged alone. I did so recklessly, and now I’m eating humble pie.
Two-Bit Idiot conceded the battle, but maintains his stance, and has assured me that his article will come out “eventually.”
The Larger “Problem”
This public drama is not unfamiliar to us Bitcoiners, who have been desensitized by the arrests of both legit and outlaw figures, more major “hacks” than anyone can count, and 50% price swings that depend on the phrasing of one Chinese official. I believe this incessant drama to be merely a symptom of rapid growth of a decentralized economy. The rapid expansion of Bitcoin endeavours coupled with the incredibly narrow segment of the population that is involved with Bitcoin has put a lot of people in positions they are not prepared to handle.
Basically, when the price of Bitcoin exploded last year, many “hobbyists” were suddenly starting careers.
Countless exchanges have been exposed as lacking adequate security, companies supplying specialized mining equipment have been crushed under demand, and most trading analysis is best summed up as, “Price moved, WTF?” All around amateur hour.
It’s not a bad thing entirely; one of the beautiful things about Bitcoin is that its economy does not depend on monolithic companies to homogenize products and people. Also, as greater levels of venture capital move into Bitcoin we should see greater investment in organizational structure and all around professionalism.
I’m not insulting Two-Bit, because he isn’t a “journalist” and has never claimed to be. He is passionate, but miscalculated his leverage in the short-term. However, he is a good example of how easy it can be to take a position for granted, and there is a lesson to learn from that.
Unfortunately, I don’t think this is the last time we will have to learn this lesson as a community.
dunce two bit idiot bitcoin
Copyright 2009 Candie N.
My Dad always liked to compare life to poker, “you got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em,” he would say.
Sure, maybe I’m thinking of Kenny Rogers.
Either way, the lesson is one everyone could benefit from learning.
In case you are already familiar with Two-Bit’s recent episode, I believe it to be a symptom of a larger issue within the Bitcoin ecosystem. This drama is barely surprising considering the long history of public high-stakes meltdowns that have been a part of the Bitcoin community for a long time. Allow me to elaborate.
Two-Bit Idiot (Ryan Selkis) made a grave, and very public, mistake this weekend when he misplayed his hand in a gambit to force a change in leadership at The Bitcoin Foundation. Demanding the resignations of Chairman Peter Vessenes and Executive Director Jon Matonis, Two-Bit threatened to release evidence demonstrating systematic neglect by two leaders. Many criticized his egocentric style, or called Two-Bits ultimatum “extortion,” but from the foundation there was nothing but silence on the subject.
You may remember Two-Bit as the blogger/writer who leaked the documents that exposed Mt. Gox’s plan to defraud customers while the company recouped bitcoin it had lost.
“I believe Bitcoin has a moral imperative to succeed,” Two-Bit replied to those who accused him of trying to manipulate prices during the Mt. Gox scandal, “and that things which harm the ecosystem hurt me financially.”
As Mt. Gox filed bankruptcy, Two-Bit saw another threat to the ecosystem – the leadership of The Bitcoin Foundation.
“War”
The single declarative word at the beginning of Two-Bit’s blog last Friday set the tone for the weekend.
According to Two-Bit:
Only a swift and thorough overhaul of the Foundation’s leadership can preserve Bitcoin’s image with regulators, legislators and the general public.
[...]
Peter Vessenes and Jon Matonis are not scapegoats. They are not innocent bystanders. And they are not ethically entitled to remain in their board seats through later this year.
He then states that unless the two resign in 72 hours, a full length article will be published exposing facts that show the leadership at the foundation complicit with the meltdown at Mt. Gox, among other conflicts of interest. I encourage you to read and consider his points, they are valid concerns and have been echoed here at CryptoCoinsNews.
Of course, there was no response from The Bitcoin Foundation, and Two-Bit eventually came clean that he was not prepared to publish the evidence he had.
I started a “war” on Friday that I never should have waged alone. I did so recklessly, and now I’m eating humble pie.
Two-Bit Idiot conceded the battle, but maintains his stance, and has assured me that his article will come out “eventually.”
The Larger “Problem”
This public drama is not unfamiliar to us Bitcoiners, who have been desensitized by the arrests of both legit and outlaw figures, more major “hacks” than anyone can count, and 50% price swings that depend on the phrasing of one Chinese official. I believe this incessant drama to be merely a symptom of rapid growth of a decentralized economy. The rapid expansion of Bitcoin endeavours coupled with the incredibly narrow segment of the population that is involved with Bitcoin has put a lot of people in positions they are not prepared to handle.
Basically, when the price of Bitcoin exploded last year, many “hobbyists” were suddenly starting careers.
Countless exchanges have been exposed as lacking adequate security, companies supplying specialized mining equipment have been crushed under demand, and most trading analysis is best summed up as, “Price moved, WTF?” All around amateur hour.
It’s not a bad thing entirely; one of the beautiful things about Bitcoin is that its economy does not depend on monolithic companies to homogenize products and people. Also, as greater levels of venture capital move into Bitcoin we should see greater investment in organizational structure and all around professionalism.
I’m not insulting Two-Bit, because he isn’t a “journalist” and has never claimed to be. He is passionate, but miscalculated his leverage in the short-term. However, he is a good example of how easy it can be to take a position for granted, and there is a lesson to learn from that.
Unfortunately, I don’t think this is the last time we will have to learn this lesson as a community.
New York issues order on cryptocurrency exchanges
Benjamin Lawsky announces regulation of Bitcoin exchanges
Benjamin Lawsky fights for regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges in state of New York
In an official statement made last Tuesday, the financial authorities of New York said that they would soon begin accepting applications for virtual currency exchanges. These would include those dealing in Bitcoins. This is a consequence of regulator’s growing interest in the technology. It was Benjamin M. Lawsky, the city’s Superintendent of Financial Services who issued the public order.
Need for stronger oversight
In the light of the demonstrated need for stronger oversight of virtual currency firms, Benjamin M. Lawsky, Superintendent of Financial Services, today issued a public order that the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) will consider formal proposals and applications in connection with the establishment of regulated virtual currency exchanges operating in New York.
Superintendent Lawsky said: “The recent problems at Mt. Gox and other firms further demonstrate the urgent need for stronger oversight of virtual currency exchanges, including robust standards for consumer protection, cyber security, and anti-money laundering compliance. We will continue to proceed swiftly and thoughtfully to provide rules of the road for reputable virtual currency firms seeking to conduct business on-shore in a responsible manner.”
This stronger oversight will be made through a proposed regulatory framework which the city of New York plans to enact for virtual currency firms operating in the state. Estimated time of arrival for this framework would be no later by the end of June. The city wants to act swiftly given that proposals and applications for virtual currency exchanges often take time for firms to develop.
Firms are allowed to immediately submit formal proposals and applications to operate virtual currency exchanges in order to help expedite the process of putting in place greater oversight for this industry. These proposals and applications represent the formal commencement of the regulatory process. They can be modified by the firm through discussions with the authorities to help ensure that they include strong consumer, cyber security and anti-money laundering protections.
Not just exchanges
New York’s interest in virtual currencies isn’t new. The city recently held hearings on the proposed regulatory framework. Financial regulators in the state have been investigating the use of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies since last year. This continuous work culminates in a specially tailored “BitLicense“, given out to virtual currency firms operating in New York. The city is also expected to consider proposals and applications for other types of virtual currency firms beyond exchanges.
The cry for regulation comes following the fall of Tokyo-based Mt. Gox. This exchange was the previously largest place for buying and selling Bitcoins. Mismanagement and a supposed hacking attack made the exchange file for bankruptcy, leaving thousands of people in the cold.
Superintendent Lawsky said: “Consumers should understand and receive appropriate disclosures about the potential risks associated with using virtual currencies or any other financial product, but the fact is that virtual currencies are unlikely to disappear entirely. They will likely continue to exist in one form, or another. As such, turning a blind eye and failing to put in place guardrails for virtual currency firms while consumers use that product is simply not a tenable strategy for regulators. The recent problems at Mt. Gox and other firms further demonstrate the urgent need for stronger oversight of virtual currency exchanges, including robust standards for consumer protection, cyber security, and anti-money laundering compliance.”
The Bitcoin Foundation, a nonprofit which advocates for the use of Bitcoin, did not immediately respond to comment on New York’s announcement.
Benjamin Lawsky announces regulation of Bitcoin exchanges
Benjamin Lawsky fights for regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges in state of New York
In an official statement made last Tuesday, the financial authorities of New York said that they would soon begin accepting applications for virtual currency exchanges. These would include those dealing in Bitcoins. This is a consequence of regulator’s growing interest in the technology. It was Benjamin M. Lawsky, the city’s Superintendent of Financial Services who issued the public order.
Need for stronger oversight
In the light of the demonstrated need for stronger oversight of virtual currency firms, Benjamin M. Lawsky, Superintendent of Financial Services, today issued a public order that the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) will consider formal proposals and applications in connection with the establishment of regulated virtual currency exchanges operating in New York.
Superintendent Lawsky said: “The recent problems at Mt. Gox and other firms further demonstrate the urgent need for stronger oversight of virtual currency exchanges, including robust standards for consumer protection, cyber security, and anti-money laundering compliance. We will continue to proceed swiftly and thoughtfully to provide rules of the road for reputable virtual currency firms seeking to conduct business on-shore in a responsible manner.”
This stronger oversight will be made through a proposed regulatory framework which the city of New York plans to enact for virtual currency firms operating in the state. Estimated time of arrival for this framework would be no later by the end of June. The city wants to act swiftly given that proposals and applications for virtual currency exchanges often take time for firms to develop.
Firms are allowed to immediately submit formal proposals and applications to operate virtual currency exchanges in order to help expedite the process of putting in place greater oversight for this industry. These proposals and applications represent the formal commencement of the regulatory process. They can be modified by the firm through discussions with the authorities to help ensure that they include strong consumer, cyber security and anti-money laundering protections.
Not just exchanges
New York’s interest in virtual currencies isn’t new. The city recently held hearings on the proposed regulatory framework. Financial regulators in the state have been investigating the use of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies since last year. This continuous work culminates in a specially tailored “BitLicense“, given out to virtual currency firms operating in New York. The city is also expected to consider proposals and applications for other types of virtual currency firms beyond exchanges.
The cry for regulation comes following the fall of Tokyo-based Mt. Gox. This exchange was the previously largest place for buying and selling Bitcoins. Mismanagement and a supposed hacking attack made the exchange file for bankruptcy, leaving thousands of people in the cold.
Superintendent Lawsky said: “Consumers should understand and receive appropriate disclosures about the potential risks associated with using virtual currencies or any other financial product, but the fact is that virtual currencies are unlikely to disappear entirely. They will likely continue to exist in one form, or another. As such, turning a blind eye and failing to put in place guardrails for virtual currency firms while consumers use that product is simply not a tenable strategy for regulators. The recent problems at Mt. Gox and other firms further demonstrate the urgent need for stronger oversight of virtual currency exchanges, including robust standards for consumer protection, cyber security, and anti-money laundering compliance.”
The Bitcoin Foundation, a nonprofit which advocates for the use of Bitcoin, did not immediately respond to comment on New York’s announcement.
Bitcoin madness at SXSW 2014
SXSW hosts many Bitcoin events
Bitcoin was well represented during the 2014 SXSW convention.
SXSW, also known as South by Southwest, is a yearly gathering where every ‘cool’ technology company tries to gain some mainstream media attention. One would think Bitcoin would be well represented over the past years, but the virtual currency acted merely as an underdog, until this year.
Bitcoin-crazy events
The 2014 edition seems to be a turn point for Bitcoin, as it seems harder to find a booth where the crypto isn’t being discussed at all. Aside from the official events where Bitcoin was a subject at SXSW’s largest venues, it was also the buzz at several after-parties that had all the high-profiles from the tech world in attendance.
So what does this do for Bitcoin? The prime example is last year’s informal acceptance of the currency by the Treasury Department. This happened soon after SXSW’s 2013 edition, and it helped send the value of Bitcoin on a rollercoaster ride. During SXSW, the coin was valued at about $50, where after the Treasury Department’s hearing it soared up to more than $250. Obviously, the way up was paired with some crashes as well, but at a steady value of little over $600 right now, it’s clear that Bitcoin made good use of the positive attention. Even more so when you look at the recent negative news regarding Bitcoin, it seems that people are reacting to messages of optimism. That is an important influence on Bitcoin’s long-term viability.
Dreaming big
The techies at SXSW clearly weren’t surprised by all the BTC frenzy. They’re fascinated by virtual currencies and are dreaming of a world with broad applications for it.
“Anyone who has any interest in technology has to be interested in this,” said Russell Castagnaro, who was attending his second SXSW for his job with the Hawaii Information Consortium. Castagnaro was seen at many of the Bitcoin events. He hopes that governments will begin to use the ledger that is a part of the Bitcoin system to transfer property and make payments easier.
Another interesting matchup was at an event that wasn’t even specifically about Bitcoin. A panel discussion on “The Future of Money”, hosted by Yahoo, had one panelist from PayPal and another one from BitPay. BitPay is a company that enables merchants to accept cryptocurrency payments, with some big names on its list.
Next up was rapper Nas, who is known to be a firm believer and investor in Bitcoin. He started talking about the currency during a panel discussion that featured venture capitalist Ben Horowitz. Horowitz is co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, a firm that has invested about $50 million in Bitcoin-related start-ups. During the discussion, Horowitz called Bitcoin “the Internet of money.” Nas and Horowitz also recently invested in Coinbase, another Bitcoin company. Coinbase founder Fred Ehrsam was also found at the gathering, stating that “once you get people talking about this, you can’t get them to talk about anything else.”
From zero to hero
Bitcoin entrepreneurs like Ehrsam and many others made a quick rise to stardom. A year ago, Coinbase was barely up and running. This year, at his first SXSW, Ehrsam was a main speaker on Monday afternoon in one of the largest venues. On top of that, he was able to gather a large crowd, showing once again how much interest there is in cryptocurrencies.
During these sessions, Ehrsam, and many others, were continuously asked to talk about the scandals that came up regarding Bitcoin, the Mt. Gox disaster being the number one question. People seem to be skeptical about Bitcoin, but curious at the same time. They believe in its strengths while not shutting their eyes for its weaknesses. “This is a healthy approach, people are willing to accept Bitcoin even after hearing some horror stories over the past weeks. I’d say this is really positive news for cryptocurrencies as a whole.”, a Los Angeles entrepreneur stated after Ehrsam’s session.
Ehrsam argued that Mt. Gox was a company that used Bitcoin, but it was not important to the underlying decentralized network that Bitcoin runs on. As a result, he said, its collapse should not threaten the basic technology that was invented in 2009 to allow digital money to be moved around the Internet. Many of the Bitcoin start-ups at the conference were pitching services that would make virtual currency accounts more secure with things like multiple-signature capabilities.
Bitcoin fans are hoping that the events at SXSW will help broaden the acceptance of virtual currencies beyond the early adopters and speculators who have driven many of the price moves until now. In this fast-changing crypto business, who knows what next year’s SXSW will mean for Bitcoin…
SXSW hosts many Bitcoin events
Bitcoin was well represented during the 2014 SXSW convention.
SXSW, also known as South by Southwest, is a yearly gathering where every ‘cool’ technology company tries to gain some mainstream media attention. One would think Bitcoin would be well represented over the past years, but the virtual currency acted merely as an underdog, until this year.
Bitcoin-crazy events
The 2014 edition seems to be a turn point for Bitcoin, as it seems harder to find a booth where the crypto isn’t being discussed at all. Aside from the official events where Bitcoin was a subject at SXSW’s largest venues, it was also the buzz at several after-parties that had all the high-profiles from the tech world in attendance.
So what does this do for Bitcoin? The prime example is last year’s informal acceptance of the currency by the Treasury Department. This happened soon after SXSW’s 2013 edition, and it helped send the value of Bitcoin on a rollercoaster ride. During SXSW, the coin was valued at about $50, where after the Treasury Department’s hearing it soared up to more than $250. Obviously, the way up was paired with some crashes as well, but at a steady value of little over $600 right now, it’s clear that Bitcoin made good use of the positive attention. Even more so when you look at the recent negative news regarding Bitcoin, it seems that people are reacting to messages of optimism. That is an important influence on Bitcoin’s long-term viability.
Dreaming big
The techies at SXSW clearly weren’t surprised by all the BTC frenzy. They’re fascinated by virtual currencies and are dreaming of a world with broad applications for it.
“Anyone who has any interest in technology has to be interested in this,” said Russell Castagnaro, who was attending his second SXSW for his job with the Hawaii Information Consortium. Castagnaro was seen at many of the Bitcoin events. He hopes that governments will begin to use the ledger that is a part of the Bitcoin system to transfer property and make payments easier.
Another interesting matchup was at an event that wasn’t even specifically about Bitcoin. A panel discussion on “The Future of Money”, hosted by Yahoo, had one panelist from PayPal and another one from BitPay. BitPay is a company that enables merchants to accept cryptocurrency payments, with some big names on its list.
Next up was rapper Nas, who is known to be a firm believer and investor in Bitcoin. He started talking about the currency during a panel discussion that featured venture capitalist Ben Horowitz. Horowitz is co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, a firm that has invested about $50 million in Bitcoin-related start-ups. During the discussion, Horowitz called Bitcoin “the Internet of money.” Nas and Horowitz also recently invested in Coinbase, another Bitcoin company. Coinbase founder Fred Ehrsam was also found at the gathering, stating that “once you get people talking about this, you can’t get them to talk about anything else.”
From zero to hero
Bitcoin entrepreneurs like Ehrsam and many others made a quick rise to stardom. A year ago, Coinbase was barely up and running. This year, at his first SXSW, Ehrsam was a main speaker on Monday afternoon in one of the largest venues. On top of that, he was able to gather a large crowd, showing once again how much interest there is in cryptocurrencies.
During these sessions, Ehrsam, and many others, were continuously asked to talk about the scandals that came up regarding Bitcoin, the Mt. Gox disaster being the number one question. People seem to be skeptical about Bitcoin, but curious at the same time. They believe in its strengths while not shutting their eyes for its weaknesses. “This is a healthy approach, people are willing to accept Bitcoin even after hearing some horror stories over the past weeks. I’d say this is really positive news for cryptocurrencies as a whole.”, a Los Angeles entrepreneur stated after Ehrsam’s session.
Ehrsam argued that Mt. Gox was a company that used Bitcoin, but it was not important to the underlying decentralized network that Bitcoin runs on. As a result, he said, its collapse should not threaten the basic technology that was invented in 2009 to allow digital money to be moved around the Internet. Many of the Bitcoin start-ups at the conference were pitching services that would make virtual currency accounts more secure with things like multiple-signature capabilities.
Bitcoin fans are hoping that the events at SXSW will help broaden the acceptance of virtual currencies beyond the early adopters and speculators who have driven many of the price moves until now. In this fast-changing crypto business, who knows what next year’s SXSW will mean for Bitcoin…
Configure P2Pool for Execoin
p2pool logoP2Pool is a decentralized mining pool that creates a peer-to-peer network of miner nodes. Each node joins the p2p pool by running the p2pool software.
Execoin is a new scrypt ASIC and multipool-ming resistant cryptocurrency that can be effectively mined via P2Pool.
This guide will show you how to configure p2pool for Execoin, how to join the P2Pool network and establish your node as a mining operator peer. We will be using a fork of the original Bitcoin p2pool software, called zen2pool, that has been optimized for scrypt-based altcoins.
If you’d rather try P2Pool by just mining at an existing pool, rather than installing and configuring your own node, go ahead and download a customized Execoin version of your favorite miner and point it at this P2Pool node. Miner command line parameters are given below.
Requirements
Some prerequisites need to be installed (Windows installation instructions), and the rest of this guide will illustrate the process for Ubuntu Linux. It is assumed that you already have a local instance of the execoind daemon running with the following parameters:
$ ./execoind -daemon -server -rpcallowip=127.0.0.1
The P2Pool software will later connect to the execoind in server mode and will relay mining software RPC communication via the localhost.
Install Linux package dependencies:
$ sudo apt-get install git python-zope.interface python-twisted python-twisted-web
Now clone the zen2pool source code from GitHub to a local directory (git will automatically create the source directory):
$ git clone https://github.com/venzen/zen2pool.git
Change into the directory and have a look around:
$ cd ./zen2pool
$ ls -l
Build the Scrypt modules
Both the generic and progressive-N scrypt modules are included. Let’s build both while we’re at it:
cd litecoin_scrypt
sudo python setup.py install
cd ../vertcoin_scrypt
sudo python setup.py install
At this point, we are ready to start the P2Pool node, but for the sake of readers who may be configuring existing p2pool installations, we need to provide the Execoin specific configuration settings. These are pre-configured in zen2pool so you can skip the next section if you’re not customizing an existing p2pool software installation.
Execoin P2Pool Network Parameters
Execoin-specific configuration settings need to be placed in two files in p2pool. Your p2pool installation includes a p2pool/ subdirectory, which, in turn, contains a bitcoin/ subdirectory. We will be adding dictionary items to two files (both called networks.py) in these subdirectories. Add the code below after the first (usually bitcoin) entry for convenience.
The file p2pool/networks.py contains definitions that determine how p2pool will build the Execoin sharechain. Some of these settings can be tweaked to the mining operator’s context, but for now some failsafe values to get started.
p2pool/networks.py (example)
execoin=math.Object(
PARENT=networks.nets['execoin'],
SHARE_PERIOD=9, # seconds
CHAIN_LENGTH=24*60*60//10, # shares
REAL_CHAIN_LENGTH=24*60*60//10, # shares
TARGET_LOOKBEHIND=200, # shares
SPREAD=40, # blocks
IDENTIFIER='755F8AD0DD49380A'.decode('hex'),
PREFIX='31357EF0ECB3C1BC'.decode('hex'),
P2P_PORT=9172,
MIN_TARGET=0,
MAX_TARGET=2**256//2**20 - 1,
PERSIST=True,
WORKER_PORT=9173,
BOOTSTRAP_ADDRS='5.255.87.165'.split(' '),
ANNOUNCE_CHANNEL='#p2pool-exe',
VERSION_CHECK=lambda v: True,
VERSION_WARNING=lambda v: 'Upgrade Execoin to >=0.8.5.1!' if v < 80501 else None,
),
The critical value that should remain unchanged in the file above is
P2P_PORT=9172
This is the port over which the Execoin P2Pool network communicates the sharechain, and in order for your node to join the network, this port number needs to be the same on all nodes.
Also, notice that the PERSIST setting should be set to “True”.
The p2pool/bitcoin/networks.py file tells the p2pool software about the cryptocurrency parameters of Execoin – its block time, subsidy amount, and so forth. Notice that this file also defines the execoind port, as well as the execoind RPC port. These settings should not be changed without good reason.
p2pool/bitcoin/networks.py (example)
execoin=math.Object(
P2P_PREFIX='fabfb5da'.decode('hex'),
P2P_PORT=9989,
ADDRESS_VERSION=33,
RPC_PORT=9988,
RPC_CHECK=defer.inlineCallbacks(lambda bitcoind: defer.returnValue(
'execoinaddress' in (yield bitcoind.rpc_help()) and
not (yield bitcoind.rpc_getinfo())['testnet']
)),
SUBSIDY_FUNC=lambda height: 50*100000000 >> (height + 1)//840000,
POW_FUNC=lambda data: pack.IntType(256).unpack(__import__('ltc_scrypt').getPoWHash(data)),
BLOCK_PERIOD=45, # s
SYMBOL='EXE',
CONF_FILE_FUNC=lambda: os.path.join(os.path.join(os.environ['APPDATA'], 'Execoin') if platform.system() == 'Windows' else os.path.expanduser('~/Library/Application Support/Execoin/') if platform.system() == 'Darwin' else os.path.expanduser('~/.execoin'), 'execoin.conf'),
BLOCK_EXPLORER_URL_PREFIX='http://altexplorer.net/block/',
ADDRESS_EXPLORER_URL_PREFIX='http://altexplorer.net/address/',
TX_EXPLORER_URL_PREFIX='http://altexplorer.net/tx/',
SANE_TARGET_RANGE=(2**256//1000000000 - 1, 2**256//1000 - 1),
DUMB_SCRYPT_DIFF=2**16,
DUST_THRESHOLD=1e8,
),
Start the node
Make sure execoind is running as described at the start of the guide and determine the RPC username and password that execoind would have prompted you to create upon the first run:
$ cat ~/.execoin/execoin.conf
rpcuser=execoinrpc
rpcpassword=
Make sure you’re in the zen2pool application root directory. We are going to start zen2pool with the following parameters:
--net execoin execoinrpc
–net tells zen2pool to use the ‘execoin’ definition in the networks.py files and the last two parameters are your execoind RPC username and password as defined in ~/.execoin/execoin.conf
Execute the complete command:
$ python run_zen2pool.py --net execoin execoinrpc
You should see zen2pool starting up and making connections to execoind as well as the wider P2Pool network.
If zen2pool complains about “bitcoind” taking a long time – make sure execoind is running and that you are not passing it a -maxconnections= parameter.
If you see the message “Success” and lots of sharechain messages with “???” declarations, don’t worry, this is normal – zen2pool is bootstrapping the sharechain, and we have yet to point a miner at this node. Bootstrapping can take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour. We’ll continue setting up while this process runs.
Mining via your P2Pool node
Firstly, due to its built-in ASIC resistance, Execoin needs to be mined with specially compiled versions of most popular mining software. Binaries are available on the Execoin website.
zen2pool wants to pay you as soon as the network nodes (or you!) find a block, so you have to provide zen2pool with a wallet address to which payments will be sent. You do this by providing a wallet address as your username in the miner software parameters. The password needs to be sent but it is irrelevant and you can simply use “pass”:
$ cgminer --scrypt -o http://127.0.0.1:9173 -u mywalletaddress -p pass
P2Pool does not react to mining software in the same way as other mining pool software does, so you may have to scale back on the intensity of GPU setting parameters.
Start your mining software and keep an eye on its output – it will not connect until zen2pool has finished downloading the sharechain – anywhere from a few minutes to an hour, so this is a good time to grab some coffee!
Web Statistics
p2pool web interface
Test your zen2pool web interface by pointing your browser at
http://127.0.0.1:9173
Alternatively, if you’re running zen2pool on a remote server/VPS, substitute 127.0.0.1 with the remote IP address.
Once the sharechain has finished downloading, stop and restart zen2pool. At startup it will display progress of loading the sharechain from its local disk cache and then indicate that its ready for mining by displaying empty local and global P2Pool stats. Start your miner and once it has submitted work for about an hour, the statics will be meaningfully populated, and you can monitor your mining in relation to the wider P2Pool network as well as other useful metrics.
Please feel free to make comments or ask questions below.
p2pool logoP2Pool is a decentralized mining pool that creates a peer-to-peer network of miner nodes. Each node joins the p2p pool by running the p2pool software.
Execoin is a new scrypt ASIC and multipool-ming resistant cryptocurrency that can be effectively mined via P2Pool.
This guide will show you how to configure p2pool for Execoin, how to join the P2Pool network and establish your node as a mining operator peer. We will be using a fork of the original Bitcoin p2pool software, called zen2pool, that has been optimized for scrypt-based altcoins.
If you’d rather try P2Pool by just mining at an existing pool, rather than installing and configuring your own node, go ahead and download a customized Execoin version of your favorite miner and point it at this P2Pool node. Miner command line parameters are given below.
Requirements
Some prerequisites need to be installed (Windows installation instructions), and the rest of this guide will illustrate the process for Ubuntu Linux. It is assumed that you already have a local instance of the execoind daemon running with the following parameters:
$ ./execoind -daemon -server -rpcallowip=127.0.0.1
The P2Pool software will later connect to the execoind in server mode and will relay mining software RPC communication via the localhost.
Install Linux package dependencies:
$ sudo apt-get install git python-zope.interface python-twisted python-twisted-web
Now clone the zen2pool source code from GitHub to a local directory (git will automatically create the source directory):
$ git clone https://github.com/venzen/zen2pool.git
Change into the directory and have a look around:
$ cd ./zen2pool
$ ls -l
Build the Scrypt modules
Both the generic and progressive-N scrypt modules are included. Let’s build both while we’re at it:
cd litecoin_scrypt
sudo python setup.py install
cd ../vertcoin_scrypt
sudo python setup.py install
At this point, we are ready to start the P2Pool node, but for the sake of readers who may be configuring existing p2pool installations, we need to provide the Execoin specific configuration settings. These are pre-configured in zen2pool so you can skip the next section if you’re not customizing an existing p2pool software installation.
Execoin P2Pool Network Parameters
Execoin-specific configuration settings need to be placed in two files in p2pool. Your p2pool installation includes a p2pool/ subdirectory, which, in turn, contains a bitcoin/ subdirectory. We will be adding dictionary items to two files (both called networks.py) in these subdirectories. Add the code below after the first (usually bitcoin) entry for convenience.
The file p2pool/networks.py contains definitions that determine how p2pool will build the Execoin sharechain. Some of these settings can be tweaked to the mining operator’s context, but for now some failsafe values to get started.
p2pool/networks.py (example)
execoin=math.Object(
PARENT=networks.nets['execoin'],
SHARE_PERIOD=9, # seconds
CHAIN_LENGTH=24*60*60//10, # shares
REAL_CHAIN_LENGTH=24*60*60//10, # shares
TARGET_LOOKBEHIND=200, # shares
SPREAD=40, # blocks
IDENTIFIER='755F8AD0DD49380A'.decode('hex'),
PREFIX='31357EF0ECB3C1BC'.decode('hex'),
P2P_PORT=9172,
MIN_TARGET=0,
MAX_TARGET=2**256//2**20 - 1,
PERSIST=True,
WORKER_PORT=9173,
BOOTSTRAP_ADDRS='5.255.87.165'.split(' '),
ANNOUNCE_CHANNEL='#p2pool-exe',
VERSION_CHECK=lambda v: True,
VERSION_WARNING=lambda v: 'Upgrade Execoin to >=0.8.5.1!' if v < 80501 else None,
),
The critical value that should remain unchanged in the file above is
P2P_PORT=9172
This is the port over which the Execoin P2Pool network communicates the sharechain, and in order for your node to join the network, this port number needs to be the same on all nodes.
Also, notice that the PERSIST setting should be set to “True”.
The p2pool/bitcoin/networks.py file tells the p2pool software about the cryptocurrency parameters of Execoin – its block time, subsidy amount, and so forth. Notice that this file also defines the execoind port, as well as the execoind RPC port. These settings should not be changed without good reason.
p2pool/bitcoin/networks.py (example)
execoin=math.Object(
P2P_PREFIX='fabfb5da'.decode('hex'),
P2P_PORT=9989,
ADDRESS_VERSION=33,
RPC_PORT=9988,
RPC_CHECK=defer.inlineCallbacks(lambda bitcoind: defer.returnValue(
'execoinaddress' in (yield bitcoind.rpc_help()) and
not (yield bitcoind.rpc_getinfo())['testnet']
)),
SUBSIDY_FUNC=lambda height: 50*100000000 >> (height + 1)//840000,
POW_FUNC=lambda data: pack.IntType(256).unpack(__import__('ltc_scrypt').getPoWHash(data)),
BLOCK_PERIOD=45, # s
SYMBOL='EXE',
CONF_FILE_FUNC=lambda: os.path.join(os.path.join(os.environ['APPDATA'], 'Execoin') if platform.system() == 'Windows' else os.path.expanduser('~/Library/Application Support/Execoin/') if platform.system() == 'Darwin' else os.path.expanduser('~/.execoin'), 'execoin.conf'),
BLOCK_EXPLORER_URL_PREFIX='http://altexplorer.net/block/',
ADDRESS_EXPLORER_URL_PREFIX='http://altexplorer.net/address/',
TX_EXPLORER_URL_PREFIX='http://altexplorer.net/tx/',
SANE_TARGET_RANGE=(2**256//1000000000 - 1, 2**256//1000 - 1),
DUMB_SCRYPT_DIFF=2**16,
DUST_THRESHOLD=1e8,
),
Start the node
Make sure execoind is running as described at the start of the guide and determine the RPC username and password that execoind would have prompted you to create upon the first run:
$ cat ~/.execoin/execoin.conf
rpcuser=execoinrpc
rpcpassword=
Make sure you’re in the zen2pool application root directory. We are going to start zen2pool with the following parameters:
--net execoin execoinrpc
–net tells zen2pool to use the ‘execoin’ definition in the networks.py files and the last two parameters are your execoind RPC username and password as defined in ~/.execoin/execoin.conf
Execute the complete command:
$ python run_zen2pool.py --net execoin execoinrpc
You should see zen2pool starting up and making connections to execoind as well as the wider P2Pool network.
If zen2pool complains about “bitcoind” taking a long time – make sure execoind is running and that you are not passing it a -maxconnections= parameter.
If you see the message “Success” and lots of sharechain messages with “???” declarations, don’t worry, this is normal – zen2pool is bootstrapping the sharechain, and we have yet to point a miner at this node. Bootstrapping can take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour. We’ll continue setting up while this process runs.
Mining via your P2Pool node
Firstly, due to its built-in ASIC resistance, Execoin needs to be mined with specially compiled versions of most popular mining software. Binaries are available on the Execoin website.
zen2pool wants to pay you as soon as the network nodes (or you!) find a block, so you have to provide zen2pool with a wallet address to which payments will be sent. You do this by providing a wallet address as your username in the miner software parameters. The password needs to be sent but it is irrelevant and you can simply use “pass”:
$ cgminer --scrypt -o http://127.0.0.1:9173 -u mywalletaddress -p pass
P2Pool does not react to mining software in the same way as other mining pool software does, so you may have to scale back on the intensity of GPU setting parameters.
Start your mining software and keep an eye on its output – it will not connect until zen2pool has finished downloading the sharechain – anywhere from a few minutes to an hour, so this is a good time to grab some coffee!
Web Statistics
p2pool web interface
Test your zen2pool web interface by pointing your browser at
http://127.0.0.1:9173
Alternatively, if you’re running zen2pool on a remote server/VPS, substitute 127.0.0.1 with the remote IP address.
Once the sharechain has finished downloading, stop and restart zen2pool. At startup it will display progress of loading the sharechain from its local disk cache and then indicate that its ready for mining by displaying empty local and global P2Pool stats. Start your miner and once it has submitted work for about an hour, the statics will be meaningfully populated, and you can monitor your mining in relation to the wider P2Pool network as well as other useful metrics.
Please feel free to make comments or ask questions below.
Overstock CEO Sheds Light On Wall Street Greed and Bitcoin’s Value as the New Currency.
I saw an alert on BitcoinTalk about an email from the CEO of Overstock.com. It was sent to all 41 million plus US customers.
As you can see here, it is another good one from him with a link to the story Wired did on him recently.
Overstock
Overstock
“Dear Valued Customer,
Enclosed, please find the Wired Magazine article, “Meet Patrick Byrne: Bitcoin Messiah, CEO of Overstock, Scourge of Wall Street”. It concerns the decade-long battle Overstock has waged to expose Wall Street mischief.
The backstory is as follows: Overstock went public in 2002. Between 2002 and 2005 I found myself mingling with various Wall Street bankers, hedge funds, and journalists, and began to form an impression (and hear) of unsavory activity. I made it my hobby to study it, and in 2005, I went public about what I had learned. For several years thereafter, the New York financial press derided and distorted my claims, often to the point of appearing to engage in a cover-up. When in 2008 what I had been saying became indisputable, Wall Street went silent about this episode. The enclosed Wired article recounts that history, and explains how it is related to Overstock’s recent decision to accept Bitcoin.
I understand that you may not be interested in tales of corruption in Wall Street and Washington, DC, and if so, please simply enjoy the coupon above. However, if you read this piece from Wired, which effectively ends a cover-up regarding the Battle of Overstock versus Wall Street, I think you will understand why I chose to share this article with 41.7 million of my closest friends.
Your humble servant,
Patrick M. Byrne, CEO
“Scourge of Wall Street”
As you can see it links to a Wired article and what caught my eye was the very first line from Cade Metz.
Patrick Byrne says the zombie apocalypse is coming, and there’s one thing that can save us: bitcoin.
With Overstock recently reporting Bitcoin sales in excess of 1 million dollars in such a short time, and the average Bitcoin purchase being higher than the average standard currency purchase not only is that sentence telling, but it is also proving out to be on the way to being correct, as well.
With Patrick Byrne’s contentious history with Wall Street, he has made a lot of detractors but also a lot of supporters and with his latest venture into Bitcoin he is proving once again to be a savvy businessman who is also plugged in to what is going on in the tech world.
I think not only do his words and actions send a clear message to Wall Street that Bitcoin is here to stay and is viable he is proving it as well with hard numbers and record sales.
His calling out of Wall Street that he was so vilified for turned out to be prophetic with the 2008 market fall and the subsequent details of many of the behind the scenes goings on of the big banks and Wall Street traders came to light.
His loud claims of naked trading were met with derision, years later after the fall of so many banks the SEC made rules to stop this in it’s tracks.
His championing of Bitcoin and thinking beyond to using the Bitcoin framework for transferring securities as well shows forward and innovative thinking.
This all bodes well for Bitcoin and crypto currencies as large players in the game are going to follow his lead into it. Some may go kicking and screaming such as Wall Street. Wall Street dislikes it for being unable to control it and does not understand it. Others like Overstock, Tiger Direct, Virgin Galactic and so many others are embracing it with open arms.
Patrick M. Byrne, CEO
Patrick M. Byrne, CEO “Scourge of Wall Street”
All the places that accept Bitcoin are the one’s I look to first when I am going to buy something. I am glad to see it grow and have such a vociferous champion as Patrick Byrne his faults, and all as he is no Mark Karpeles. Patrick fights for his customers he does not steal from them like Karpeles does.
It is an exciting time to be involved in Bitcoin and crypto currencies.
I saw an alert on BitcoinTalk about an email from the CEO of Overstock.com. It was sent to all 41 million plus US customers.
As you can see here, it is another good one from him with a link to the story Wired did on him recently.
Overstock
Overstock
“Dear Valued Customer,
Enclosed, please find the Wired Magazine article, “Meet Patrick Byrne: Bitcoin Messiah, CEO of Overstock, Scourge of Wall Street”. It concerns the decade-long battle Overstock has waged to expose Wall Street mischief.
The backstory is as follows: Overstock went public in 2002. Between 2002 and 2005 I found myself mingling with various Wall Street bankers, hedge funds, and journalists, and began to form an impression (and hear) of unsavory activity. I made it my hobby to study it, and in 2005, I went public about what I had learned. For several years thereafter, the New York financial press derided and distorted my claims, often to the point of appearing to engage in a cover-up. When in 2008 what I had been saying became indisputable, Wall Street went silent about this episode. The enclosed Wired article recounts that history, and explains how it is related to Overstock’s recent decision to accept Bitcoin.
I understand that you may not be interested in tales of corruption in Wall Street and Washington, DC, and if so, please simply enjoy the coupon above. However, if you read this piece from Wired, which effectively ends a cover-up regarding the Battle of Overstock versus Wall Street, I think you will understand why I chose to share this article with 41.7 million of my closest friends.
Your humble servant,
Patrick M. Byrne, CEO
“Scourge of Wall Street”
As you can see it links to a Wired article and what caught my eye was the very first line from Cade Metz.
Patrick Byrne says the zombie apocalypse is coming, and there’s one thing that can save us: bitcoin.
With Overstock recently reporting Bitcoin sales in excess of 1 million dollars in such a short time, and the average Bitcoin purchase being higher than the average standard currency purchase not only is that sentence telling, but it is also proving out to be on the way to being correct, as well.
With Patrick Byrne’s contentious history with Wall Street, he has made a lot of detractors but also a lot of supporters and with his latest venture into Bitcoin he is proving once again to be a savvy businessman who is also plugged in to what is going on in the tech world.
I think not only do his words and actions send a clear message to Wall Street that Bitcoin is here to stay and is viable he is proving it as well with hard numbers and record sales.
His calling out of Wall Street that he was so vilified for turned out to be prophetic with the 2008 market fall and the subsequent details of many of the behind the scenes goings on of the big banks and Wall Street traders came to light.
His loud claims of naked trading were met with derision, years later after the fall of so many banks the SEC made rules to stop this in it’s tracks.
His championing of Bitcoin and thinking beyond to using the Bitcoin framework for transferring securities as well shows forward and innovative thinking.
This all bodes well for Bitcoin and crypto currencies as large players in the game are going to follow his lead into it. Some may go kicking and screaming such as Wall Street. Wall Street dislikes it for being unable to control it and does not understand it. Others like Overstock, Tiger Direct, Virgin Galactic and so many others are embracing it with open arms.
Patrick M. Byrne, CEO
Patrick M. Byrne, CEO “Scourge of Wall Street”
All the places that accept Bitcoin are the one’s I look to first when I am going to buy something. I am glad to see it grow and have such a vociferous champion as Patrick Byrne his faults, and all as he is no Mark Karpeles. Patrick fights for his customers he does not steal from them like Karpeles does.
It is an exciting time to be involved in Bitcoin and crypto currencies.
Mt. Gox Hackers Extorting BTC for Customers’ Personal Information
Mt. Gox Hackers Extorting BTC for Your Personal Information
Russian hacker Nanashi claims to have a database of Mt. Gox customers’ personal information.
About a week ago, Russian hacker “Nanashi” leaked the entire source code for Mt. Gox. Unsurprisingly, considering how unprofessional Mt. Gox has been, the code is pretty bad.
Some random red flags:
- There’s a class with the name of the application. (Issues: Scope, SRP)
- There’s a class with 1708 lines of code. (Scope)
- There’s a switch-case statement that runs over 150 LOC (readability, maintainability)
- There’s a string parsing function in the same class as transaction processing (Separation of concerns)
- There are segments of code commented out (are they not using source control?)
…
Now, it seems like Nanashi and the rest of his/her group have turned to extortion. If you were a Mt. Gox customer, Nanashi claims to have your personal information, including passport scans, and will sell it unless you send 0.25 BTC (~$160 at the time of this post). Apparently 20% of the customer database has already been sold to two unknown buyers, and the rest will be sold sometime this week. If a customer was part of the 20% already sold, “it’s too late for you.” However, Nanashi outlines the following steps for everyone else who wants to remove himself/herself from the database before it’s sold.
Email [email protected] with the email you used with mtgox.
I will check file already sold, if you are not part of that I will send you unique bitcoin address. If you don’t get response it means your data has already been sold in first batch or we have finalized sale of all data.
After you have sent .25 bitcoin payment, email us again to inform us of this.
Thats all, we will delete your personal data and passport scan from all copies of database.
Furthermore, Nanashi states, “do not email us asking to confirm what information we have about you,” after receiving over 3000 emails asking for confirmation within the last 36 hours. Instead, the hacker simply states,
“If gox had it, we have it, and as you can read on boards we have confirmed possession of this dump for many people. We let you use our same email for this as all other gox hack communication so you know we are same people.”
One reddit user sent a fake email to Nanashi claiming to be a rich Saudi Mt. Gox customer, and asked if his information had been sold yet. Nanashi replied with the following: Nanashi response
Of course, this could mean that the hackers actually do not have the database and that this is just one huge scam. On the other hand, the email states that any data associated with the fake email has not been sold, which is a true statement since there is no data to sell. Nanashi stated that he/she checks the email against a list of addresses that were a part of the “sold” list instead of checking against a list of all people in the database. Furthermore, even if Nanashi does actually have the database, there is nothing to stop him/her from selling it even after people send the 0.25 BTC ransom. After all, how can you trust an extortionist?
Unfortunately for Mt. Gox customers, this seems like a no-win scenario.
Mt. Gox Hackers Extorting BTC for Your Personal Information
Russian hacker Nanashi claims to have a database of Mt. Gox customers’ personal information.
About a week ago, Russian hacker “Nanashi” leaked the entire source code for Mt. Gox. Unsurprisingly, considering how unprofessional Mt. Gox has been, the code is pretty bad.
Some random red flags:
- There’s a class with the name of the application. (Issues: Scope, SRP)
- There’s a class with 1708 lines of code. (Scope)
- There’s a switch-case statement that runs over 150 LOC (readability, maintainability)
- There’s a string parsing function in the same class as transaction processing (Separation of concerns)
- There are segments of code commented out (are they not using source control?)
…
Now, it seems like Nanashi and the rest of his/her group have turned to extortion. If you were a Mt. Gox customer, Nanashi claims to have your personal information, including passport scans, and will sell it unless you send 0.25 BTC (~$160 at the time of this post). Apparently 20% of the customer database has already been sold to two unknown buyers, and the rest will be sold sometime this week. If a customer was part of the 20% already sold, “it’s too late for you.” However, Nanashi outlines the following steps for everyone else who wants to remove himself/herself from the database before it’s sold.
Email [email protected] with the email you used with mtgox.
I will check file already sold, if you are not part of that I will send you unique bitcoin address. If you don’t get response it means your data has already been sold in first batch or we have finalized sale of all data.
After you have sent .25 bitcoin payment, email us again to inform us of this.
Thats all, we will delete your personal data and passport scan from all copies of database.
Furthermore, Nanashi states, “do not email us asking to confirm what information we have about you,” after receiving over 3000 emails asking for confirmation within the last 36 hours. Instead, the hacker simply states,
“If gox had it, we have it, and as you can read on boards we have confirmed possession of this dump for many people. We let you use our same email for this as all other gox hack communication so you know we are same people.”
One reddit user sent a fake email to Nanashi claiming to be a rich Saudi Mt. Gox customer, and asked if his information had been sold yet. Nanashi replied with the following: Nanashi response
Of course, this could mean that the hackers actually do not have the database and that this is just one huge scam. On the other hand, the email states that any data associated with the fake email has not been sold, which is a true statement since there is no data to sell. Nanashi stated that he/she checks the email against a list of addresses that were a part of the “sold” list instead of checking against a list of all people in the database. Furthermore, even if Nanashi does actually have the database, there is nothing to stop him/her from selling it even after people send the 0.25 BTC ransom. After all, how can you trust an extortionist?
Unfortunately for Mt. Gox customers, this seems like a no-win scenario.
Google Director says cryptocurrencies are inevitable
Google Direct of Ideas Jared Cohen calls cryptocurrencies inevitable
Google Direct of Ideas Jared Cohen
In an appearance at SXSW yesterday, Google’s Director of Ideas issues a statement that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and several altcoins aren’t likely to be disappearing soon. “I think it’s very obvious to all of us that cryptocurrencies are inevitable”, said Cohen during a conversation with Google Chairman Eric Schmidt. While being positive about the value of cryptos, Cohen also claimed that there remains a danger as long as the coins aren’t being regulated. “Even though the future of Bitcoin seems to be assured, it’s unclear how the technology will develop in the future, as it’s still a pretty new space”, reports TechCrunch.
Google Ideas works as a think tank that spends most of its time dealing with oppressive governments. It explores how technology can enable people to confront threats in the face of conflict, instability or repression. Since it has nothing to do with any product development, Cohen’s statement should not be mistaken for a sign that Google is thinking about accepting Bitcoin, or any other cryptocurrency, in the near future.
Public opinion
However, Cohen and Google Ideas are still an important part of the internet giant’s business group, which clearly shows us that Google takes cryptocurrencies serious. In fact, they’re taking a positive stance towards it, publically. Something other companies refuse to do. This is an important step. Bitcoin’s reputation has taken a few big hits during the last weeks. Among regular stories of theft and money laundering, the whole MtGox debacle made things even worse, and public opinion has been suffering over this. If a respected company, like Google, claims that cryptocurrencies are ‘inevitbale’, that is a pretty big endorsement for the whole concept.
And their love for the ‘concept’, rather than for Bitcoin itself was made clear when Cohen asked Schmidt whether “Bitcoin is the model, or the master of cryptocurrencies?.”
Bitcoin was the first and right now is the most popular of all cryptos, but that doesn’t necessarily make it the best. With the recent wave of altcoins, it became clear that anyone can take the Bitcoin model and adapt it to make their own digital currency. Some succeed in establishing themselves, as Litecoin and Dogecoin, while others fail to make a difference and simply drown in an ocean of altcoins. Since normal people can create altcoins, this means that financial institutions can do the same. Who knows what companies are secretly working on a future altcoin that will remove Bitcoins flaws and will try to get one step closer to being the perfect cryptocurrency?
Removing the flaws
Having said all that, Bitcoin’s weakest point remains its inability to guarantee a safe and secure way to store them. Sure, there are ways but when it comes to giving ‘common people’ (the ones that just heard of Bitcoin and have no extensive computer knowledge, the ones we need to reach to make Bitcoin go mainstream) a full-proof opportunity to safely store their Bitcoins, there’s still some work to be done. Despite this flaw, the coin still retains its strength.
Ending his conversation, Cohen restated that Bitcoin has an urgent need for regulation. “There’s a danger to it not being regulated in some form”, he insisted.
Even so, it remains to be seen whether or not it’s possible to do so. The whole regulation is a debate that has been going on for years and a definitive outcome is not to be expected soon. In fact, no realistic proposals have been made thus far, and until that happens, the end is not in sight.
Google Direct of Ideas Jared Cohen calls cryptocurrencies inevitable
Google Direct of Ideas Jared Cohen
In an appearance at SXSW yesterday, Google’s Director of Ideas issues a statement that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and several altcoins aren’t likely to be disappearing soon. “I think it’s very obvious to all of us that cryptocurrencies are inevitable”, said Cohen during a conversation with Google Chairman Eric Schmidt. While being positive about the value of cryptos, Cohen also claimed that there remains a danger as long as the coins aren’t being regulated. “Even though the future of Bitcoin seems to be assured, it’s unclear how the technology will develop in the future, as it’s still a pretty new space”, reports TechCrunch.
Google Ideas works as a think tank that spends most of its time dealing with oppressive governments. It explores how technology can enable people to confront threats in the face of conflict, instability or repression. Since it has nothing to do with any product development, Cohen’s statement should not be mistaken for a sign that Google is thinking about accepting Bitcoin, or any other cryptocurrency, in the near future.
Public opinion
However, Cohen and Google Ideas are still an important part of the internet giant’s business group, which clearly shows us that Google takes cryptocurrencies serious. In fact, they’re taking a positive stance towards it, publically. Something other companies refuse to do. This is an important step. Bitcoin’s reputation has taken a few big hits during the last weeks. Among regular stories of theft and money laundering, the whole MtGox debacle made things even worse, and public opinion has been suffering over this. If a respected company, like Google, claims that cryptocurrencies are ‘inevitbale’, that is a pretty big endorsement for the whole concept.
And their love for the ‘concept’, rather than for Bitcoin itself was made clear when Cohen asked Schmidt whether “Bitcoin is the model, or the master of cryptocurrencies?.”
Bitcoin was the first and right now is the most popular of all cryptos, but that doesn’t necessarily make it the best. With the recent wave of altcoins, it became clear that anyone can take the Bitcoin model and adapt it to make their own digital currency. Some succeed in establishing themselves, as Litecoin and Dogecoin, while others fail to make a difference and simply drown in an ocean of altcoins. Since normal people can create altcoins, this means that financial institutions can do the same. Who knows what companies are secretly working on a future altcoin that will remove Bitcoins flaws and will try to get one step closer to being the perfect cryptocurrency?
Removing the flaws
Having said all that, Bitcoin’s weakest point remains its inability to guarantee a safe and secure way to store them. Sure, there are ways but when it comes to giving ‘common people’ (the ones that just heard of Bitcoin and have no extensive computer knowledge, the ones we need to reach to make Bitcoin go mainstream) a full-proof opportunity to safely store their Bitcoins, there’s still some work to be done. Despite this flaw, the coin still retains its strength.
Ending his conversation, Cohen restated that Bitcoin has an urgent need for regulation. “There’s a danger to it not being regulated in some form”, he insisted.
Even so, it remains to be seen whether or not it’s possible to do so. The whole regulation is a debate that has been going on for years and a definitive outcome is not to be expected soon. In fact, no realistic proposals have been made thus far, and until that happens, the end is not in sight.
Sponsored Article: Execoin – Scrypt ASIC Resistant
execoin logoExecoin is a new altcoin with a promising future. To appreciate the role and value of Execoin, we need to understand the significant changes that are about to sweep the scrypt altcoin domain.
Execoin represents a move away from the generic scrypt altcoin formula – and for good reason. The developers have taken care to analyze existing trends in scrypt mining and, in response, have implemented a progressive variation of the scrypt algorithm to ensure Execoin’s longevity and value. Their work is a significant departure from the standard scrypt implementation and distinguishes this coin from its peers.
Takeaway
Execoin is scrypt ASIC resistant and has built-in multipool resistance. These features secure Execoin’s network and protect its value. It is expected that Execoin’s value will increase as a wave of generic scrypt ASICs sweeps the altcoin market and forces GPU miners to migrate to a few ASIC resistant cryptocoins. Execoin has a clean altcoin design with several innovative features and is ideally positioned for the coming changes in the altcoin market.
Generic Scrypt
The scrypt algorithm, introduced to the altcoin domain by Litecoin, protected Litecoin from the hashing onslaught of ASICs.
The rise of Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) was inevitable as special purpose devices were developed to progress FGPU and GPU hashing to the logical next step. This, especially, made sense for Bitcoin, which had by then, achieved a hash rate of 160 TH/s and a massive difficulty target, necessitating entire datacentres dedicated to it’s mining.
Hence, a major design objective of Litecoin was to cater to those miners, whom, despite their significant investment in hardware, were left high-and-dry by the hashing leap imposed by ASICs. By introducing scrypt, Litecoin was able to give GPU mining rigs a new lease on life. The proliferation of Litecoin clones – scrypt altcoins – could be directly attributed to that historical dynamic.
How many GPU rigs are mining Bitcoin? It’s an ASIC-only zone now. – Execoin developer
Scrypt ASICs
A year later, it’s apparent that a new breed of scrypt-capable ASIC is rising and that it threatens scrypt mining in the same way that ASIC had changed Bitcoin mining in 2013. The Execoin team have smartly anticipated the coming scrypt ASIC boom and their design implementation of Execoin can both take advantage of the coming scrypt hashing leap, as well as make Execoin resistant to the new breed of ASICs.
Progressive-N Scrypt
By basing Execoin on a scrypt innovation, called Progressive-N Scrypt, the coin developers effectively cause Execoin to set its scrypt memory requirement higher than the current ASIC operational level. This means that when more powerful scrypt ASICs are released they will be unable to mine Execoin.
Additional ASIC resistance is implemented via customized binaries of the most popular mining applications, such as cgminer and CUDAminer. These combined innovations ensure that Execoin can only ever be mined via GPU devices and with compatible GPU mining software. The ASIC resistance is total and pervasive.
Bigger, Better?
In the case of Bitcoin, once ASICs came on the scene, their adoption increased the network hash rate and ramped up difficulty as the Bitcoin protocol adapted to the higher rate at which blocks were being found. Most GPU miners found themselves unable to compete at the higher hash rate imposed by ASICs and hence their mining was either unprofitable or pointless. As we saw, Litecoin came to fill the gap by introducing the scrypt algorithm which, at the time, was resistant to that generation of ASICs.
Litecoin’s sourcecode is the basis of most altcoins out in the wild. This includes Dogecoin, Auroracoin, Worldcoin, and so forth. The generic scrypt algorithm is, therefore, what has protected the most popular altcoins from first generation ASIC mining. However, when the new generation of scrypt ASICs is made commercially available, the uptake of these devices can be expected to skyrocket. Manufacturers will drive down prices in an effort to compete for their share of the sizeable scrypt mining market. We say “sizeable”, because the purchasing power of this market is evident from the fact that it stripped the retail sector of AMD R9 series GPUs in 2013, and almost derailed AMD’s Gaming card marketing strategy, thereby temporarily giving Nvidia a lead in the gaming GPU race.
As happened with Bitcoin before, the ASIC ramp-up will once again leave GPU miners in a void, as their ASIC’ed fellow miners take most of today’s popular altcoins to new dizzy hash rates and levels of difficulty. It is in this scenario that Execoin is positioning itself by implementing the newer generation ASIC resistance early and ensuring that it will present a value proposition to GPU miners, going forward. I asked the Execoin team for their thoughts about developments in the GPU domain:
CCN: What does the Execoin team think about developments in High Bandwidth Memory and what are your expectations for Nvidia and AMD’s GPU race?
Execoin: AMD and Nvidia… both players are interested in the growing cryptocoin market and especially in GPU mining to stay profitable. So the ASIC threat is a problem for them too. High Bandwidth Memory is a significant technological improvement that will impact mining speeds. Technologies will go forward and the race will keep going to give us more powerful and sophisticated GPUs. However, even the most powerful, sophisticated and advanced GPUs won’t threaten the decentralized nature of crypto currencies’ networks as much as ASICs do, so GPU mining will stay our safe zone in the future.
Multipool Mining
Execoin’s designers also made provision for the “multipool mining” phenomenon, whereby groups of powerful miners focus their efforts on a few, select altcoin pools, mine large volumes of coins; and then dump these in the market. The result for the target coin is often a drastic reduction in market value as well as detrimental effects on the hash rate and difficulty, often rendering the mining pool useless. From the Execoin communique:
In addition, when a powerful multipool switches to another coin it leaves the previous coin’s network with higher difficulty and lower actual hash rate and this negatively impacts reliability and security of the network.
When a large and powerful multipool cartel of miners moves in, there is also the major risk of a 51% attack on the specific altcoin’s network. Execoin has implicit protocol protection which resists multipool attacks, and this renders the coin more secure and better able to sustain its market value. I asked the Execoin developers about their specific strategies to deal with multipool mining.
CCN: Multipool mining has been an unpleasant, yet, unavoidable part of scrypt-based altcoins since their inception. Can you talk some more about the multipool resistance you have
implemented in Execoin… do you, for example, use Kimoto Gravity Well?
Devs: In fact, we understand the importance of KGW, espeсially for a coin which is not backed by huge mining power yet. That’s why we are already in the final stage of its testing and KGW will be implemented in Execoin in the next few days. Benefits of KGW go far beyond the multipool resistance and KGW does not provide absolute immunity to multipools, since any ordinary scrypt coin with KGW still can be multipool-mined. For example, in standard KGW implementations, the minimum number of last blocks which contribute to the evaluation of the new per-block difficulty is 144 blocks, so a standard scrypt coin with KGW is suitable for very short cycles of mining on a not-so-large multipool.
The whole idea of multipool implies that the same miner, with the same parameters on the miner’s side, can mine any scrypt-based coin. Multipool switches currencies and this process is completely transparent and requires no interaction on the miner’s side. However, Execoin requires custom miners with custom parameters and those miners are not compatible with multipools. Therefore, unlike other coins with KGW, Execoin’s approach is not to mitigate consequences of multipooling, but to make multipool mining impossible with Execoin at all.
Good Prospects
Execoin will be coming into its own during the rest of 2014. The stronger the ASIC onslaught, the better for Execoin. This makes it a strategic coin for both mining and investment. The Execoin team discussed this in some detail:
CCN: Execoin is one of a new breed of coins that are positioning for the coming scrypt ASIC invasion. The Execoin team have clearly analyzed current market trends and what you see has led you to make a value proposition for the event horizon when many keen and dedicated GPU-based rigs will be pushed out of their comfort zone. Do you see it this way? And which other coins do you see as your competitors (so to speak) in this new market reality?
Execoin: Well, it’s obvious that the newer ASICs for scrypt coins will significantly change the cryptocoin market and this process has already begun. How many GPU rigs are now mining Bitcoin? It’s an ASIC-only zone now. We’re constantly seeing new announcements of more and more powerful scrypt ASICs and we expect a massive invasion starting by this fall. En Masse migration of GPU mining operators to Execoin and other ASIC-proof coins will start this summer/fall and will keep going with each new release of ASICs. This process cannot be stopped since millions of dollars have already been invested into scrypt ASICs, so scrypt coin mining will be completely occupied by them – it’s just a matter of time. Regarding other coins that could share the new market we can name Vertcoin, of course!
CCN: Given your market positioning, your defensive strategy of resistance, and the high probability that the market will play into your hand in the coming months and years,
can you summarize why you believe Execoin will thrive?
Execoin: Execoin is one of the very few ASIC-resistant coins, it’s fast, reliable, solid-coded, has dedicated development team and we’re doing our best to let people know about it and about the future of the crypto market ahead of the new ASIC invasion. Execoin is likely to be successful as one of the first coins offering an alternative to the all-ASIC world. We would like to focus our further development on real-world applications for Execoin, so that it would be accepted in many places as a method of payment.
execoin logoExecoin is a new altcoin with a promising future. To appreciate the role and value of Execoin, we need to understand the significant changes that are about to sweep the scrypt altcoin domain.
Execoin represents a move away from the generic scrypt altcoin formula – and for good reason. The developers have taken care to analyze existing trends in scrypt mining and, in response, have implemented a progressive variation of the scrypt algorithm to ensure Execoin’s longevity and value. Their work is a significant departure from the standard scrypt implementation and distinguishes this coin from its peers.
Takeaway
Execoin is scrypt ASIC resistant and has built-in multipool resistance. These features secure Execoin’s network and protect its value. It is expected that Execoin’s value will increase as a wave of generic scrypt ASICs sweeps the altcoin market and forces GPU miners to migrate to a few ASIC resistant cryptocoins. Execoin has a clean altcoin design with several innovative features and is ideally positioned for the coming changes in the altcoin market.
Generic Scrypt
The scrypt algorithm, introduced to the altcoin domain by Litecoin, protected Litecoin from the hashing onslaught of ASICs.
The rise of Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) was inevitable as special purpose devices were developed to progress FGPU and GPU hashing to the logical next step. This, especially, made sense for Bitcoin, which had by then, achieved a hash rate of 160 TH/s and a massive difficulty target, necessitating entire datacentres dedicated to it’s mining.
Hence, a major design objective of Litecoin was to cater to those miners, whom, despite their significant investment in hardware, were left high-and-dry by the hashing leap imposed by ASICs. By introducing scrypt, Litecoin was able to give GPU mining rigs a new lease on life. The proliferation of Litecoin clones – scrypt altcoins – could be directly attributed to that historical dynamic.
How many GPU rigs are mining Bitcoin? It’s an ASIC-only zone now. – Execoin developer
Scrypt ASICs
A year later, it’s apparent that a new breed of scrypt-capable ASIC is rising and that it threatens scrypt mining in the same way that ASIC had changed Bitcoin mining in 2013. The Execoin team have smartly anticipated the coming scrypt ASIC boom and their design implementation of Execoin can both take advantage of the coming scrypt hashing leap, as well as make Execoin resistant to the new breed of ASICs.
Progressive-N Scrypt
By basing Execoin on a scrypt innovation, called Progressive-N Scrypt, the coin developers effectively cause Execoin to set its scrypt memory requirement higher than the current ASIC operational level. This means that when more powerful scrypt ASICs are released they will be unable to mine Execoin.
Additional ASIC resistance is implemented via customized binaries of the most popular mining applications, such as cgminer and CUDAminer. These combined innovations ensure that Execoin can only ever be mined via GPU devices and with compatible GPU mining software. The ASIC resistance is total and pervasive.
Bigger, Better?
In the case of Bitcoin, once ASICs came on the scene, their adoption increased the network hash rate and ramped up difficulty as the Bitcoin protocol adapted to the higher rate at which blocks were being found. Most GPU miners found themselves unable to compete at the higher hash rate imposed by ASICs and hence their mining was either unprofitable or pointless. As we saw, Litecoin came to fill the gap by introducing the scrypt algorithm which, at the time, was resistant to that generation of ASICs.
Litecoin’s sourcecode is the basis of most altcoins out in the wild. This includes Dogecoin, Auroracoin, Worldcoin, and so forth. The generic scrypt algorithm is, therefore, what has protected the most popular altcoins from first generation ASIC mining. However, when the new generation of scrypt ASICs is made commercially available, the uptake of these devices can be expected to skyrocket. Manufacturers will drive down prices in an effort to compete for their share of the sizeable scrypt mining market. We say “sizeable”, because the purchasing power of this market is evident from the fact that it stripped the retail sector of AMD R9 series GPUs in 2013, and almost derailed AMD’s Gaming card marketing strategy, thereby temporarily giving Nvidia a lead in the gaming GPU race.
As happened with Bitcoin before, the ASIC ramp-up will once again leave GPU miners in a void, as their ASIC’ed fellow miners take most of today’s popular altcoins to new dizzy hash rates and levels of difficulty. It is in this scenario that Execoin is positioning itself by implementing the newer generation ASIC resistance early and ensuring that it will present a value proposition to GPU miners, going forward. I asked the Execoin team for their thoughts about developments in the GPU domain:
CCN: What does the Execoin team think about developments in High Bandwidth Memory and what are your expectations for Nvidia and AMD’s GPU race?
Execoin: AMD and Nvidia… both players are interested in the growing cryptocoin market and especially in GPU mining to stay profitable. So the ASIC threat is a problem for them too. High Bandwidth Memory is a significant technological improvement that will impact mining speeds. Technologies will go forward and the race will keep going to give us more powerful and sophisticated GPUs. However, even the most powerful, sophisticated and advanced GPUs won’t threaten the decentralized nature of crypto currencies’ networks as much as ASICs do, so GPU mining will stay our safe zone in the future.
Multipool Mining
Execoin’s designers also made provision for the “multipool mining” phenomenon, whereby groups of powerful miners focus their efforts on a few, select altcoin pools, mine large volumes of coins; and then dump these in the market. The result for the target coin is often a drastic reduction in market value as well as detrimental effects on the hash rate and difficulty, often rendering the mining pool useless. From the Execoin communique:
In addition, when a powerful multipool switches to another coin it leaves the previous coin’s network with higher difficulty and lower actual hash rate and this negatively impacts reliability and security of the network.
When a large and powerful multipool cartel of miners moves in, there is also the major risk of a 51% attack on the specific altcoin’s network. Execoin has implicit protocol protection which resists multipool attacks, and this renders the coin more secure and better able to sustain its market value. I asked the Execoin developers about their specific strategies to deal with multipool mining.
CCN: Multipool mining has been an unpleasant, yet, unavoidable part of scrypt-based altcoins since their inception. Can you talk some more about the multipool resistance you have
implemented in Execoin… do you, for example, use Kimoto Gravity Well?
Devs: In fact, we understand the importance of KGW, espeсially for a coin which is not backed by huge mining power yet. That’s why we are already in the final stage of its testing and KGW will be implemented in Execoin in the next few days. Benefits of KGW go far beyond the multipool resistance and KGW does not provide absolute immunity to multipools, since any ordinary scrypt coin with KGW still can be multipool-mined. For example, in standard KGW implementations, the minimum number of last blocks which contribute to the evaluation of the new per-block difficulty is 144 blocks, so a standard scrypt coin with KGW is suitable for very short cycles of mining on a not-so-large multipool.
The whole idea of multipool implies that the same miner, with the same parameters on the miner’s side, can mine any scrypt-based coin. Multipool switches currencies and this process is completely transparent and requires no interaction on the miner’s side. However, Execoin requires custom miners with custom parameters and those miners are not compatible with multipools. Therefore, unlike other coins with KGW, Execoin’s approach is not to mitigate consequences of multipooling, but to make multipool mining impossible with Execoin at all.
Good Prospects
Execoin will be coming into its own during the rest of 2014. The stronger the ASIC onslaught, the better for Execoin. This makes it a strategic coin for both mining and investment. The Execoin team discussed this in some detail:
CCN: Execoin is one of a new breed of coins that are positioning for the coming scrypt ASIC invasion. The Execoin team have clearly analyzed current market trends and what you see has led you to make a value proposition for the event horizon when many keen and dedicated GPU-based rigs will be pushed out of their comfort zone. Do you see it this way? And which other coins do you see as your competitors (so to speak) in this new market reality?
Execoin: Well, it’s obvious that the newer ASICs for scrypt coins will significantly change the cryptocoin market and this process has already begun. How many GPU rigs are now mining Bitcoin? It’s an ASIC-only zone now. We’re constantly seeing new announcements of more and more powerful scrypt ASICs and we expect a massive invasion starting by this fall. En Masse migration of GPU mining operators to Execoin and other ASIC-proof coins will start this summer/fall and will keep going with each new release of ASICs. This process cannot be stopped since millions of dollars have already been invested into scrypt ASICs, so scrypt coin mining will be completely occupied by them – it’s just a matter of time. Regarding other coins that could share the new market we can name Vertcoin, of course!
CCN: Given your market positioning, your defensive strategy of resistance, and the high probability that the market will play into your hand in the coming months and years,
can you summarize why you believe Execoin will thrive?
Execoin: Execoin is one of the very few ASIC-resistant coins, it’s fast, reliable, solid-coded, has dedicated development team and we’re doing our best to let people know about it and about the future of the crypto market ahead of the new ASIC invasion. Execoin is likely to be successful as one of the first coins offering an alternative to the all-ASIC world. We would like to focus our further development on real-world applications for Execoin, so that it would be accepted in many places as a method of payment.
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