February 11, 2020

How to Red Flag Scams: Bitcoin Doubler Club, Cryptomia247, Mining Cheap, Orelex, and Wintrust

February 11, 2020 boss

Last week’s news.Bitcoin.com post warning about common bitcoin scams like “The Bitcoin Code” elicited a plethora of comments and suggestions from readers, asking about and reporting other platforms and services claiming to provide bitcoin investment opportunities. This article examines some of these, and most importantly seeks to provide readers with basic tips for recognizing the general MO of these scam sites before their wallet is SOL. Also Read: Don’t Invest in Bitcoin Code, Bitcoin Doubler or Bitcoin Trader – They Are All Scams How to Spot a Scam When the…

Top Bitcoin Developers Face Off in a Lightning-Powered Boxing Match

February 11, 2020 boss

Wasabi Wallet developer nopara73 and BTCPay lead developer Nicolas Dorier faced off in a digital boxing match at bitcoin developer conference Advancing Bitcoin in London. In a video game from bitcoin startup Zebedee, the two developers played digital versions of themselves kicking and punching each other on a screen in front of a crowd of conference-goers. Beyond yielding a few laughs, the esports smackdown was meant to highlight the power of bitcoin’s lightning network – since the cutting-edge payments system is fast, cheap and lets users send tiny payments, even a…

PlusToken Scam Moves $123M in Bitcoin Just as BTC Price Regains $10K

February 11, 2020 boss

As Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) price rallied to new 2020 highs on Feb. 11, a large transaction totaling nearly 12,000 BTC was moved from a wallet associated with the PlusToken Ponzi scheme. Twitter-based crypto transaction bot, WhaleAlert, noted that “12,000 #BTC (118,852,619 USD) transferred from unknown wallet to unknown wallet.” This transaction was later followed by a second transaction splitting the 12,000 BTC into smaller sums. According to PeckShield Inc. co-founder and VP of research, Chiachih Wu, a total of 12,423 BTC ($123 million) was moved into what Wu…

This PlayStation Microtransactions Patent Sees Sony Going Full Evil

February 11, 2020 boss

Sony filed a patent for an “in-game resource surfacing platform.” The system will offer player-specific in-game solutions ranging from tips and strategies to microtransactions. If a practical application of the patent sees the light of day, microtransactions could become an even more prevalent part of the gaming experience. Sony has filed a patent with the World Intellectual Property Organization for an “in-game resource surfacing platform” that could one day haunt PlayStation owners. Using machine learning, the platform offers contextually relevant advice and solutions, including microtransactions, to players stuck on a…

SEC Commissioner CryptoMom Explains Planned Safe Harbor to Cointelegraph

February 11, 2020 boss

Commissioner Hester Peirce of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission is known for her work on the regulator’s approach to crypto, enough to have earned the moniker “CryptoMom.” On Thursday, Feb. 6, she presented a new proposal looking to build a safe harbor for networks in their infancy seeking to avoid classification as securities. On Feb. 10, Cointelegraph got the chance to speak with the commissioner at greater length about her goals and hopes for the proposal. What is a safe harbor and why don’t firms want tokens to…

US Authorities Charge Crypto ‘Trading Club’ Operators With Defrauding 150 Investors

February 11, 2020 boss

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the U.S Attorney for the Southern District of New York have charged Ohio resident Michael Ackerman and two unnamed business partners with defrauding some 150 investors by claiming to offer “extraordinary profits” from a cryptocurrency trading scheme. The SEC alleged in a press release Tuesday that Ackerman and his business partners operated Q3 Trading Club and Q3 I LP, raising $33 million by telling investors, many of whom were physicians, that he had developed an algorithm…

Libra Vice Chair Unconcerned By High Profile Departures

February 11, 2020 boss

Dante Disparte, Vice-Chair of the Libra Association, said that he was unconcerned by recent high-profile departures from the project just two weeks after Vodafone became the latest name to ditch the proposed digital coin. Speaking to CoinDesk at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, Disparte said that the Libra project was picking up pace despite huge regulatory resistance to the project and the departure of several of the association’s initial supporters, namely Mastercard, Visa, and Vodafone. He also said that the door remains open for those firms to…

Soaring Inflation and Crashing Home Sales: Coronavirus Devastates China’s Economy

February 11, 2020 boss

China’s real estate market is showing signs of collapse as the spread of coronavirus intensifies. Inflation is surging as the disease disrupts businesses and supply chains. A government researcher says the economic impact of coronavirus could shave as much as 1 percentage point from full-year GDP growth. Coronavirus is wreaking havoc on the Chinese economy: Inflation surged in January, home sales plunged in the first week of February and GDP growth is expected to be 1 percentage point lower in 2020. As the true cost of Beijing’s coronavirus cover-up adds…

Dow Sways After CDC Admits Official Coronavirus Stats Aren’t Accurate

February 11, 2020 boss

Upward momentum in the Dow Jones was halted on Tuesday after the CDC confirmed that coronavirus cases are higher than reported. As the stock market faded from its highs, Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned there would be an impact on the U.S. economy from the epidemic. Donald Trump was quick to blame Powell for the weakness in the Dow. The Dow Jones basked in positive risk sentiment on Tuesday as the official number of confirmed coronavirus cases continued to taper off. But the stock market had to reconsider that optimistic…