Japanese Police Make First Arrests for Crypto Mining Hijacks

Crypto Mining Hijacks. Japan’s National Police Agency makes its presence felt as the popularity of cryptocurrency in Japan continues to grow

After making a number of arrests related to hijack scams, Japan’s National Police Agency (NPA) has posted warnings for internet users and website administrators on its Cybercrime Project home page and twitter accounts.  The scams snare people by installing mining software on the computers of unsuspecting website visitors, which then parasites the computer’s processing power to mine crypto and forward it to the scammer’s wallets.

The NPA carried out a number of ‘cyber patrols’ which confirmed several websites had been installing cryptocurrency mining tools on the computers of site visitors without their knowledge. The NPA say the patrols identified 16 people which it suspected of installing malware on other’s computers. The 16 suspects, aged from 18 to 48, included students, company employees, and the self-employed. Three people were arrested, the NPA says, and Japanese prosecutors are preparing cases against the others.

Prior to this, nobody had been arrested for crimes related to cryptocurrency mining in Japan, and this is the first instance of a crackdown on ‘hijack mining’ which is conducted without notifying or confirming consent from website visitors.

Under these circumstances, the NPA is calling attention to the mining issue on its website, warning site admins that mining tools installed without explicit notice to website visitors may be in violation of the law.

In addition, the NPA encouraged vigilance on the part of visitors to websites, alerting potential victims to look out for the telltale signs of illicit mining tools making their computers run slower, and to refrain from accessing websites again if their computer’s anti-virus software detected a cryptocurrency mining tool.

With cryptocurrency becoming popular in Japan, an increase in related crimes is inevitable. However, a key focal point in the debate in Japan revolves around what countermeasures should be undertaken to protect ordinary internet users from such crimes.

Criticism has rippled among Japanese netizens on the NPA’s warning about mining tools, with some taking the position that websites that display advertisements without asking for visitor consent should also be against the law, and asking the NPA to clarify a “line of demarcation” on what actions are considered a crime@BPI

$3 Billion Blockchain Tron Kicks Off Token Migration

Tron Kicks Off Token Migration. Created by former Ripple representative Justin Sun, Tron aims to build infrastructure for a "truly decentralized internet" that can host decentralized applications (dapps). The project, which started on the ethereum blockchain and launched its own blockchain in late May, has positioned itself as a competitor to its former host.

As such, the token migration is an intermediary step in what Tron has called its progression towards "independence," or in other words, the completion of its departure from ethereum and the activation of its mainnet technology.

Though the token migration is now a key part of the realization of Tron's technology, the original iteration of the project's roadmap did not include a token swap, much less the launch of an original Tron mainnet.

Sun initially intended for the project to remain on ethereum, however, according to a May Mediumpost, "network issues" triggered the decision to "detach" from the protocol.

He wrote further:

"This is the only way to propel the industry into a stage of large-scale, rapid growth...Independence from ethereum is our answer to the calling of the blockchain era."

The implementation of the network is likely to be contingent upon the success of the events of the upcoming week, which Tron told CoinDesk users can watch via its blog and social channels.

Whether the protocol will measure up to Sun's claims after the activation, however, remains to be seen.

Implications for token holders

For token holders, the swap merely means that the placeholder ERC-20 TRX tokens Tron distributed during its development phase will be switched out for native "TRON-20" TRX tokens.

Likewise, the swap means the balance of tokens in users' ethereum wallets will subsequently be transmitted to their Tron wallets.

Unlike other projects, such as EOS, which provide users with the option to carry out the swap manually,  Tron's migration process will be facilitated wholly by exchanges. The process commences on Thursday, and users will have until June 24 to deposit their ERC-20 TRX tokens to one of 30 participating exchanges.

Users who already hold their tokens on a participating exchange do not need to take any action.

From June 22 to June 25, users will be unable to withdraw their TRX from exchanges. On June 24, the exchanges will take "snapshots" of users token balances to ensure the sums transfer correctly, and on June 25, both TRX deposits and withdrawals on exchanges will be frozen. Users will still be able to trade TRX during this period.

According to Tron, the completion of the token migration on June 25 will mark the point at which the Tron mainnet will become "fully independent" from the ethereum blockchain.

Following "Independence Day," users will be able to resume deposits and withdrawals on June 26 in time for Tron's "super representative election."

Similar to EOS' block producer election, this process requires users to stake or "freeze" their TRON20 TRX tokens to vote for block validators to operate in Tron's delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) consensus system@BPI

Mesin ATM Bitcoin Sudah Ada di Berberapa Negara

ATM Bitcoin  di Berberapa Negara. Produsen ATM uang digital yang berbasis di Praha, Ceko memasang 10 mesin ATM yang tersebar di seluruh stasiun kereta bawah tanah di kota-kota Eropa.

Produsen pencetak ATM bitcoin General Bytesresmi meluncurkan peta ATM bitcoin tersebut di situs perusahaan dengan menampilkan 10 lokasi berbeda di setiap pemberhentian yang ada. ATM ini didirikan di ibu kota Ceko yaitu Praha yang berpenduduk 1,3 juta orang.

Mesin ini dapat digunakan untuk membeli bitcoin maupun untuk membeli mata uang digital lainnya.

Namun, Praha bukanlah negara satu-satunya yang memasang mesin ATM buat uang digital. Menurut Coin ATM Radar, ATM bitcoin ini pun juga sudah dibangun di seluruh negara Amerika Serikat. Menurut data dari Coin ATM Radar, AS terhitung sebagai negara terbanyak dengan mesin ATM bitcoin yakni mencapai 1.960 ATM bitcoin.

Los Angeles merupakan kota terbanyak pencetak mesin ATM di AS yaitu 250 mesin ATM bitcoin pada 2014, Chicago punya 170 ATM, dan 120 mesin ATM untuk New York dan juga Atlanta. Tak hanya itu, Washington D.C. dilaporkan memiliki 60 lebih mesin ATM bitcoin serta sebuah perusahaan di Texas yang diketahui telah memasang 20 mesin baru pada akhir tahun.

Negara kedua terbesar pencetak ATM uang digital yaitu Kanada. Kemudian ada juga sebanyak 46 mesin ATM bitcoin di Ceko serta 3.150 lebih mesin ATM yang tersebar di 70 negara berbeda.

Investor lebih mudah

Mesin ATM bitcoin ini mengizinkan para investor untuk membeli mata uang digital  sendiri langsung di tempat, baik untuk paper money maupun online wallet. Uang digital tersebut dapat tersimpan secara aman.

ATM ini juga menyediakan transaksi 2 arah. Anda bisa menjual bitcoin pribadi sekaligus mendapatkan uang tunai di tempat.

Untuk informasi saja, pembeli dapat memasukan uang tunai ke mesin ATM untuk membeli bitcoin dan juga memilih alamat digital yang mereka inginkan untuk menerima mata uang digital tersebut. Sejauh ini, General Bytes telah menjual 1.500 lebih bitcoin dari seluruh ATM berbeda di dunia@BPI

What Shape will Facebook's Coin Take?

Facebook's Coin. The SEC’s clarification around Ether and the evolution of crypto assets to become non-securities has allayed the fears of many and given established big businesses that have shunned ICOs a reason to start their own blockchain explorations.

Even before the guidance from the regulator, a report in May revealed that Facebook’s head of Messenger David Marcus was leaving his post to lead a team of about a dozen exploring blockchain applications for the company. While there hasn’t been any official reference to a Facebook cryptocurrency, Marcus was the former president of PayPal and an early adopter of cryptocurrencies who sits on the board of crypto exchange Coinbase.    

Either Mark Zuckerberg wants to decentralize Facebook and give users back control of their data, which would undermine the company’s advertising model, or he wants to create the world’s largest micro economy within its 2+ billion user community.

Facebook has issued its own platform credits before, back in 2009, which were used to buy features in games like Farmville and other widgets but they didn’t gain any traction and were ditched shortly after. If it were to offer its own cryptocurrency it will be far more fungible than trading emojis and pet pigs.    

“With a very established platform, I see them creating a utility token rather than a security token that wouldn’t be SEC regulated. I don’t think Facebook feels the need to raise equity, but rather sees it as a fantastic revenue stream going forward,” says Grant Fondo, partner in Goodwin's law firm in Silicon Valley and chair of its digital currencies practice.

 “The SEC’s comments have cleared up a lot of uncertainty around the risk-reward for established companies and I can see a lot of big players jumping into the crypto space.”  

How might a Facebook coin be offered?

The company could reverse ICO, where the company acquires another decentralized protocol in a token-buyout, swapping them for Facebook tokens and issuing them, or it could tokenize internally with its own ecosystem, maybe even rewarding loyal users with tokens for their content over the years.

“They could do an ICO," Fondo says. "A lot of companies are trying to go down the road of Reg A plus offering, but that is capped at $50m. Facebook would most likely do it as a regular IPO, they could do it as a dividend or some other equity offer, for example. I don’t think it would be exclusive to accredited investors but open to retail investors as well.” 

What could a Facebook coin do?

The Amazon octopus may currently have more tentacles across different industries and supply chains, but Facebook has the advantage of having the most engaged (or addicted) citizens on earth and issuing its own currency is almost a natural step that could potentially mean they don’t have to leave that sphere.

It makes a lot of sense. Why advertise your events on Facebook and pay them a commission only to then sell the tickets through a third party who also clips the ticket? At the other end of the sale, those buying the tickets won’t be sorry to see EventBrite, TicketMaster or Mastercard removed from the equation — eliminating credit card and “handling” fees.

Hypothetically, the price of tickets could come down, customers would be more incentivized to buy more tickets with tokens they have earned on the platform, the circulation and value of FB coin would increase and a positive feedback loop begins. 

Amazingly it hasn’t done so yet, but what if Facebook was to venture into the real world — like Amazon — and buy up some bricks and mortar chains where you walk into a store and deals and special offers are customized to your individual preferences based on the years of social, behavioural and consumer data that Facebook has on you.

With IoT technology, machines will be able to communicate with each other; cars with parking meters, mobile wallets with vending machines - they will be able to barter with each other and agree on prices based on supply and demand. There’s no point in a vending machine having a constant surplus of M&Ms selling at $2 when all the Reeses Pieces are flying out at the same price.

Towards a more universal token standard

“If the token was used for this purpose I think it would create a security token,” says Fondo. “It’s very hard to have a security token on your platform. If you’re trying to use those tokens on your platform it creates a lot of issues around selling them to people in different jurisdictions, where they will also be deemed securities and regulated in their own way.” 

Although recent SEC comments provided a roadmap for a token not to be a security, could security tokens someday become as malleable and borderless as utility tokens through a universal token standard available to verified investors globally?   

“I think very difficult to get countries to agree on unified securities protocol," says Fondo, "though it would be great to see that happen.”@BPI

Another Day, Another Exchange Hack

Exchange be Hacked. The recent hack of Bithumb, the 6th largest cryptographic asset exchange, continues the worrying trend of hackers finding ways around the security of these platforms, and siphoning funds stored in exchange hot wallets.

Following the attack, In a quickly deleted tweet on the official Bithumb twitter, it was announced that “cryptocurrencies valued about $30,000,000 was stolen” and “Those stolen cryptocurrencies will be covered from Bithumb and all of assets are being transferring to cold wallet.” The following tweet was then released, detailing an exchange lock-down and a ‘we’ll have to get back to you on that’ message as regards to a restart date.

Who provides exchange liquidity?

The tweets, on top of the hack, raise concerns about the liquidity management techniques used by Bithumb and other exchanges. Typically, an exchange will take a percentage of customer funds and place them in an asset pool that is used to facilitate transactions. The analogy in a bricks and mortar retail store context would be the placing of a cash ‘float’ in the cash register at the start of the day to provide change for customer transactions.

With the value of daily crypto trades typically sitting somewhere in the US$6-10 billion range, there will always be significant funds in these floats, which must be held in a ‘hot’ wallet so they can be used to facilitate transactions.

The fact that the first tweet that Bithumb made about its hack included a statement that “all assets are being transferred to [a] cold wallet” indicates that overexposure in terms of funds in Bithumb’s hot wallet was top-of-mind for the exchange’s management — which wanted to reassure its customers that at least the safe door was been locked after the thieves had left.

The extent to which customer funds were being used for transactions at Bithumb, and how long it will take to provide refunds is unknown.

From a customer perspective a best case scenario is an exchange that uses its own money to provide the float. Coinbase, for example, states that 98% of customer funds are always in cold storage, but how much Bithumb, and other smaller exchanges are exposing their customer’s funds to hacking risks, remains both unknown and concerning.

Uninsured exchanges

It is understood that most exchanges cover their exposures with some form of self-insurance. This is generally done by maintaining a fund of safe investments, that is accessed in situations where emergency liquidity is required. Exchanges are somewhat forced into using this option because of a lack of formal third party insurance options available to them. This looks to be changing with insurers like  AIG, Sumitomo and XL Catlin, beginning to offer policies related to crypto theft.

The continued fleet-footedness of hackers to stay ahead of security protocols set up by exchanges, is also worrying. Only a week before the attack on Korea-based Bithumb, security at another Korean exchange, Coinrail, was also breached for$40 million of held assets.

Many in the crypto space have lost faith in the ability of these exchanges to ever protect themselves from attackers, and are hoping that decentralized exchange (DEX) models will be a market saviour. Decentralized exchanges have assets secured across multiple storage points secured on the blockchain, and in this sense, are more shielded against large-scale attacks than centralized, clearing-house style exchanges. Examples of the model include Omisego andIDEX.

IDEX, is currently the most used Dapp in the world. Even so, it still only has a few thousand users. This may indicate an interest in DEX’s, but not wider commitment or belief in their current capabilities to provide exchange solutions.

Market Reaction

In the hours following the hack there was an immediate disgruntled reaction from markets, evidenced by the sharp dip in the price of BTC to under $6,600. However, BTC, and the wider market has since seen a price recovery. Indicating faith that Bithumb will reimburse customers, or belief that any wider risk created by the hack, is not systemic.

Crypto exchanges in Korea, interestingly, operate under a very light regulatory touch as they are categorized as ‘communication vendors’ and do not fall under the jurisdictional watch of Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service. Although more regulatory oversight is now being considered due the latest run of hacks, CCN has reported that the Korean government has steered clear of crypto regulations to date, for the curious reason that it thought the imposition of regulations would be viewed as a government endorsement of the sector — and encourage more retail investors@BPI

Pertama Kali Dalam Sejarah, Klub Sepak Bola Beli Pemain Pakai Bitcoin

Bitcoin dan  Sepak Bola.  Akankah crypto jadi tren di dunia sepak bola? Sebuah klub sepak bola amatir asal Turki menciptakan sejarah baru di pesepakbolaan dunia. Bukan karena memecahkan rekor gol. Melainkan soal pembelian pemainnya yang menggunakan mata uang digital atau crypto.

Klub bernama Harunustaspor ini membeli seorang pemain dengan mata uang Bitcoin.Yup, Bitcoin belakangan sedang naik pamor karena nilainya yang semakin naik dari tahun ke tahun. Tak heran, baik pemilik klub maupun pemain mau menerima pembelian dengan mata uang Bitcoin.

1. Klub Harunustaspor Sepakat Membeli Kıroğlu dengan Total 4500 Lira

Klub Harunustaspor yang berbasis di Provinsi Sakarya, Turki ini membeli Ömer Faruk Kıroğlu. Dilansir dari Businessinsider.sg, dan Washingtonpost.com, mahar sebesar 2000 lira (Rp 7,3 juta) atau $531,70 senilai Bitcoin diberikan pada pemain berusia 22 tahun tersebut. Tak hanya itu. Kıroğlu juga menerima uang tunai sebesar 2500 lira atau setara Rp 8,9 juta.

Meski nilai Bitcoin dan crypto lainnya bersifat fluktuatif, nyatanya Kıroğlu dan Klub Harunustaspor telah mencapai kesepakatan bersama terkait mahar yang anti-mainstreamini.

2. Pertama Kali Terjadi di Turki dan Dunia

Sang pemilik klub, Haldun Şehit mengklaim bahwa hal ini menjadi yang pertama dalam sejarah Turki maupun di seluruh dunia. Ia ingin mengangkat nama klub di negara Turki dan juga dunia, sekaligus bangga atas apa yang ia lakukan.

Sementara itu, Kıroğlu akan segera bergabung dalam sesi latihan klub setelah menandatangani kontrak. Ia berharap karier barunya ini akan menguntungkan klub dan dirinya.

Beberapa bulan terakhir tepatnya akhir tahun 2017 lalu, nilai Bitcoin mencapai $20.000 atau sekitar Rp 260 juta. Namun sejak awal tahun 2018 ini, nilainya anjlok bahkan mencapai 50%.

Melihat track record Bitcoin sendiri, hal ini wajar terjadi mengingat di setiap awal tahun nilainya selalu anjlok. Sementara itu, di akhir tahun angkanya akan terus meningkat, dan begitu seterusnya.

3. Ternyatanya crypto bukan hal baru di dunia sepak bola

Layaknya Indonesia, pemerintahan Turki pun telah melarang penggunaan mata uangcryptocurency. Selain berbahaya, mata uang ini dinilai juga tidak memiliki landasan hukum yang dapat melindungi tiap transaksinya.

Otoritas dari berbagai belahan dunia, terutama di Asia berusaha untuk mengendalikanbooming-nya perdagangan crypto. Gak heran transfer pemain menggunakan mata uang digital ini menjadi kontroversial di Turki.

Meski hal ini menjadi yang pertama dalam sejarah, sebenarnya akhir bulan lalu Arsenal, klub Liga Inggris telah melakukan kerjasama dengan CashBet, sebuah perusahaanblockchain cryptocurrency.

Sehingga crypto di dunia sepak bola rasanya bukan hal asing lagi. Dan bukan tidak mungkin lagi akan ada pemain lain yang dibeli menggunakan crypto@BPI

Market Capitalization Decreased by 10 Billion Dollars After the Hack of Bithumb

Market After the Hack of Bithumb. After yesterday's hack of the Bithumb Exchange, the market capitalization decreased by 10 billion US dollars. Today, the situation has become better. The fact is that Bitcoin slightly increased in price and thereby added to the total market capitalization of digital assets - $8 billion.

During the day, after it became known about the hack of the Bithumb trading platform, such cryptocurrency assets as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Bitcoin Cash declined in value by 2%. We note that South Korean investors, both in the cryptocurrency market and in the foreign exchange market, began to sell their assets, fearing that breaking the Bithumb exchange could lead to more serious consequences.

At the same time, representatives of the exchange, immediately commented on the current situation:

"The damage done to users will be repaid by Bithumb. Now, all the cryptocurrency assets are transferred to a cold wallet."

Having made more than 300 million dollars of net profit in 2017, the stolen $30 million isn't a serious problem for the crypto exchange. On this background, the company asked the regulatory authorities to take measures to combat such situations and, accordingly, their prevention in the future.

Yesterday the experts expressed optimistic assumptions regarding the state of the cryptocurrency market. First of all, in this case there was talk about Bitcoin and Ethereum. The fact is that they avoided serious falls. In particular, the BTC hasn't fallen below 6.2 thousand dollars.

At the same time, due to the low volume of the entire cryptocurrency market, it is difficult to say that the "bears" still lost control over it. It is still possible that the BTC may fall to below $6,000. In the same case, if bitcoin grows to 7 thousand, the key resistance level will be broken and the digital asset will have chances to grow further. Today, investors simply have to watch the situation on the market@BPI