The new Bitcoin Foundation has issued a year end address where they have highlighted the work accomplished so far to produce a higher quality reference Bitcoin implementation. The foundation which came together in late October has focused their efforts on producing a patch set for the Bitcoin 0.5.3 codebase that results in a minimal reference implementation of the Bitcoin Protocol. Continue reading
Category Archives: News
Bloomberg: FBI Investigating Companies For Retaliatory Cyber Attacks
According to Bloomberg the FBI is investigating companies for violations of the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act amid rumors that companies are taking offensive action in retaliation against "attacks" on their information technology infrastructure.
The SWIFT Institute Calls For Research Into Risks Faced By Third Party Payment Providers
The SWIFT Institute, an organisation founded in April 2012 which receives funding and secretariat services from global giant SWIFT, is calling for proposals for research into the risks – money laundering, terrorist financing, gambling, fraud and phishing – third party payment providers using virtual currencies such as Bitcoin face. The selected proposal will be awarded a EUR 15,000 grant with completed research and a working paper to be submitted by August 2015. Continue reading
Collected Points From the NSA's Recent Document Dump
Numerous media outlets are going deep into the NSA's recent Christmas Eve document dump while Der Spiegel is supposing itself to cover new Snowden documents.In addition to the unsurprising post-Snowden revelation that NSA analysts routinely acted outside of their legal ability to monitor, a number of technical revelations came out about the NSA's surveillance abilities as they care to disclose them two years ago. As this document dump was an official agency disclosure take it with a grain of salt or several trucks full of salt as you feel necessary. Continue reading
Canberra Times: Police Concerned Over Online Drug Purchases
According to the Caberra Times the phenomenon of "tech-savvy young people" buying drugs online is leading to police and "crime experts" expressing concern over the phenomenon. One of the cited "crime experts", Dr Susan Goldsmid of the Australian Institute of Criminology, when asked about the size of online drug markets and the population patronizing them could not offer a response other than saying it was an "unknown" while also offering that it was unlikely in her estimation that users are buying drugs online when they have access to the traditional physical networks typically used for commerce in drugs.
Bitcoin Alliance of Canada Founder Steps Down
A circulating press release which made its way to Digital Journal reports that Anthony Di Iorio, founder of the Bitcoin Alliance of Canada is stepping down as Executive Directory. The release cites a desire to focus on his businesses and his family. Among his his replacement's businesses are CaVirtex which is a Canadian Bitcoin exchange, and a venture that refers to itself as the Bitcoin Strategy Group.
Extortionist Tormented Finney's Last Months
Today Wired published a piece about the struggles of Hal Finney's family at the hands of an extortionist during the last months of his life. Reportedly Hal's wife Fran had not come forward publicly before out of fear that doing so could endanger the investigation, she is speaking publicly now with the blessing of the investigating agent. Among harassing phone calls was an instance of Swatting that forced the Finneys into the yard last winter. The extortionist was seeking 1000 BTC from Hal Finney.
Bitcoin Bowl Recap: NC State Wins (34-27)
Despite putting up the first points and attempting a late comeback, the UCF Knights couldn't overcome the NC State Wolfpack. In the first twenty one minutes of the game the lead had changed hands 4 times with a UCF field goal establishing a score (0-3) followed by an NC State touchdown (7-3), UCF touchdown (7-10), and another NC State touchdown (14-10). After that UCF was never able to retake control of the lead. Continue reading
Reminder: Bitcoin Bowl Today
For anyone interested in catching an American Football game the Bitcoin Bowl is set to begin in roughly twelve hours on ESPN. For people not strictly interested in the American Football being played the game still presents the opportunity to watch for amusing absurdities. Earlier this season a coach had his nose broken by one of his own falling players and Mormon flagship university Brigham Young's football team was involved in a post game brawl after losing to Memphis in double overtime. Continue reading
Coinbase Tracing User Transactions
Coinbase has been banning user accounts that send Bitcoin to gambling sites, such as Satoshi Dice or Seals With Clubs. Earlier today a reddit user made a post stating Coinbase banned his account for allegedly purchasing cannabis products with coins purchased from the service. The user provided screenshots of email correspondence with the Coinbase support team, which states the remaining coins in the user's wallet may be withdrawn, but will not be able to utilize the purchase or selling services Coinbase provides. Continue reading