USMS Auctioning More Bitcoins

Today the United States Marshals Service has opened an auction for 50,000 more Bitcoins seized from Ross Ulbricht. The bidder registration period began today at 9:00 AM Eastern Standard time and continues through noon on Monday December 1st, 2014. Bids in the auction are to be entered by registered bidders on December 4th, 2014 from 8:00 AM through 2:00 PM, Eastern Standard time. Friday December 5th the winning bidders will be notified by the United States Marshals Service. Notified winners must initiate a wire transfer from a bank located in the United States and present a receipt for the wire transfer to the Marshals Service by 2:00 PM Eastern Standard time on Monday December 8th, 2014. Further details on the Auction structure: Continue reading

Coinbase Seeking A Risk Investigator

Qntra previously reported on the use of Voxis Platform, a payment platform used by carders to convert stolen credit cards into cash and/or bitcoin via payment processors such as PayPal, Stripe and Coinbase. At the time of publication, Qntra contacted Coinbase regarding the allegations and asked if they could confirm that the Voxis Platform was being used by carders to target Coinbase. Qntra was told we would receive a reply after it was forwarded to legal to which no response has been received. Continue reading

Coinbase Rumoured To Raise $50 Million Bezzlars, Down From $150 Million Bezzlars

Coinbase, the company that is well known for locking in the purchase price of your bitcoin.. unless the price happens to go up in the interim in which case the purchase is flagged as a high risk transaction and cancelled, is rumoured to be raising between USD $40-60 million. The round of new investment is rumoured to be lead by Draper Fisher Jurvetson according to an article published by Re/code. Continue reading

Imperial College Hosts Bitcoin Technology Competition for Students

The Business School of Imperial College in London is hosting a competition for students to compete on developing "new forms of Bitcoin technology." The projects will count as course credit and cash awards of up to £3,000 are available, with grants up to £500 available for equipment expenses. The Imperial College press release seems to emphasize the idea of "Blockchain Technology" rather than Bitcoin itself, but it remains to be seen what form the actual student projects will take.

National Bank of Ukraine: Bitcoin Not to Be Used for Payments

There are reports that the National Bank of Ukraine has issued a directive on its Facebook page banning not recognizing the use of Bitcoin for payments within the country. It remains to be seen if other States will begin following Ukraine's lead and begin issuing missives via Facebook post, as well as to what extent the National Bank of Ukraine can actually prevent Bitcoin payments from happening within their borders during a time where Ukrainian borders seem to be undergoing revision.

Buterin's Waterfall, a Likbez

 

Product: Price of BTC under control. Life for USG. (Examples: Bitstamp and Coinbase)

  1. BTC dumped by agents on public markets (The Ethereum raincloud)
  2. A portion of the "energy" sustains the agent's "businesses"
  3. USG Confiscators such as the National Security Agency and Department of Justice collect BTC pooling at the bottom (Silk Road v1 and V 2.0, Various Chumpatrons like pirateat40, vanilla idiots).
  4. BTC plundered via Judicial and other means (e.g. malware) goes to loyal agents who know what is expected of them.
  5. GOTO 1 (via evaporation)