Maze Hacker Group Claims Infecting Insurance Giant Chubb with Ransomware

Black hat hacker group, Maze, claims to have used ransomware to compromise the systems of insurance giant, Chubb. They also claim to have stolen the firm’s data. Brett Callow, threat analyst at cybersecurity firm, Emsisoft, told Cointelegraph on March 27 that Maze published the claim on its website. While the website does not provide any direct proof of the hack so far, Callow pointed out facts that give the claim an air of credibility: “Maze’s past victims include governments, law firms, healthcare providers, manufacturers, medical research companies, healthcare providers and…

Book Review – CoinGecko’s ‘How to DeFi’

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is certainly the buzz-phrase in the cryptocurrency world right now. But although we are hearing more and more about the potential of this technological breakthrough to revolutionize the world of traditional finance, many are still unsure of what DeFi actually involves. CoinGecko has just released its very first book, called ‘How to DeFi’. This book aims to provide an easy entry point for those wanting to learn about the subject. Why to DeFi After an obligatory slew of quotes from industry figures, recommending the book as the…

Top 5 Cryptos This Week (Mar 29): CRO, XMR, XRP, ADA, XLM

Most top performers are attempting to climb back after a sharp sell-off. If they can sustain above their immediate overhead resistance levels, a bottom is likely to be confirmed. The coronavirus pandemic has only worsened this week and has engulfed almost the whole world. Several countries in Europe and the US have been the worst affected outside of China where the virus started. While the world attempts to tackle the spread of the virus by lockdowns, it is having a huge negative impact on the economy.  In order to support…

DeFi Cannibalizes Ethereum Block Space

Data published by Ganesh Swami, the co-founder of Ethereum (ETH) analysis firm, Covalent, indicates that decentralized finance, or DeFi, transactions are representing an increasing share of Ethereum block space at the expense of ETH transfers. Swami analyzed the gas costs incurred by Ethereum transactions over time in order to estimate the share of network activity represented by ETH transfers, simple ERC-20 transactions, and the complex interactions with smart contracts usually associated withDeFI protocols — as each transactional category incurring progressively larger gas fees. DeFi transactions ‘cannibalize’ Ethereum block space Swami…

In-Between Bitcoin Halvings: Analyst Proves Bitcoin’s Price Not Bound to 4-Year Cycles

Crypto traders and analysts have always looked to the halvings for some kind of clues in order to predict the future price of bitcoin. A number of traders also think that BTC price movements shift every four years and speculators often use the halvings as milestone markers. On March 28, crypto Youtube host and digital currency analyst Benjamin Cowen explained bitcoin’s price doesn’t move in four-year cycles and stressed that the asset is still following the lengthy market phase of accumulation. Also read: ‘Bull Run May Not Come Immediately After…

In-Between Bitcoin Halvings: Analyst Proves Bitcoin’s Price Not Bound to 4-Year Cycles

Crypto traders and analysts have always looked to the halvings for some kind of clues in order to predict the future price of bitcoin. A number of traders also think that BTC price movements shift every four years and speculators often use the halvings as milestone markers. On March 28, crypto Youtube host and digital currency analyst Benjamin Cowen explained bitcoin’s price doesn’t move in four-year cycles and stressed that the asset is still following the lengthy market phase of accumulation. Also read: ‘Bull Run May Not Come Immediately After…

Bitcoin (BTC) Continues to Be Positively Correlated with Equity Markets, Research Says

According to a report published by The Block, on March 28, 2020, premier cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) continues to struggle to establish its “safe-haven” status amid the ongoing financial crisis courtesy of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. Bitcoin “Safe-Haven” Status a Distant Dream? Launched in a bid to not allow an encore of the 2008 financial crisis like situation, Bitcoin, for long, has been touted as the “safe-haven” for investment in times of peril, much akin to gold. The first and the largest cryptocurrency in terms of market cap, Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin…

Bitcoin Rallied 80% Without Any Gov’t Bailout: Time to Get Bullish?

The Bitcoin (BTC) price remained relatively sideways last week and not once did it test resistance or support of the descending channel identified in last week’s analysis.  As such, today I’m looking at a new bullish case for Bitcoin that could see the leading digital asset see incredible growth if $7,200 resistance is broken as far as the technicals are concerned.  However, last week proved a massive fundamental turning point for Bitcoin that very few are talking about. Daily crypto market performance. Source: Coin360.com Bitcoin’s old path BTC USD daily…

What Will Be the Early Privacy Impact of Secure Multiparty Computation?

Currently, one of the most rigorously examined corners of the surging cryptography space, secure multiparty computation, or sMPC, is widely considered a viable solution to many practical situations in the real world. The concept has some promising implications ranging from privacy to scalability and efficiency, and it’s lasting impact lay outside the purview of only blockchain technology. However, many crypto and blockchain platforms are among the early pioneers in actively applying the technology to finance, advertising, insurance and other industries. “The beauty of multi-party protocols is that they use a…

Tether’s Dominance Solidified as more Exchanges Launch Bitcoin USDT Futures Contracts

In brief: In the last week, two prominent crypto exchanges have launched Bitcoin USDT perpetual contracts. They include Bybit and KuMex (KuCoin’s derivatives platform.) Tether (USDT) is ranked 4th according to market cap.  Its website states the company has $6.229 Billion in assets.  Trading of Bitcoin futures contracts has become more popular as crypto traders seek volume and volatility that has now escaped the majority of altcoins. In a previous analysis, we saw how Binance had overtaken Bitmex in terms of 24-hour trade volume of Bitcoin futures contracts. This indicates…