Yesterday Qntra reported on the ransomware known as TorrentLocker spreading through Italian local councils. Today come reports of what is likely the same ransomware affecting local businesses in the region of Mildura, Australia. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: October 2014
DailyDot: What Happened to the Ulbricht Murder Charges?
The DailyDot has a story about the disappearance of the murder charges which notably were used to deny Ulbricht bail in the Silk Road case. Of the original six murder charges five indictments have quietly disappeared uncharged, while the sixth indictment remains on file in Maryland as opposed to New York, where the drug trafficking trial is occurring. The five uncharged allegations have been reduced to overt acts under the trafficking charge allowing prosecutors to use them against Ulbricht at trial without proving them to the jury. The sixth indictment in Maryland sets Ulbricht up for a potential second trial in that jurisdiction later.
Italian Municipal Councils Targeted By TorrentLocker
An article from VPN Creative reports that some municipal councils across Italy have fallen victim to a variant of CryptoLocker called TorrentLocker. The ransomware demands a bitcoin payment equivalent to 400 Euros, which doubles in three days if payment is not received. Continue reading
JWT Intelligence Discuss Bitcoin In Latest Report
JWT Intelligence, a department of the JWT marketing brand, has released a report titled "The Future of Payments & Currency" in which they discuss the latest payment trends and what they see as the case against cash and physical cards. The 62 page report, which focuses on payment methods other than just Bitcoin, also includes reports on mobile, wearable and biometric payments. Produced by by Deborah Baxley1, Rob Girling2, Craig Erickson3 and Bill Maurer4, the report claims to be the result of quantitative, qualitative and desk research conducted throughout 2014. Continue reading
Conformal Release Bitcoin Transaction Simulator
Conformal Systems, creators of the alternate Bitcoin full-node implementation written in Go, has released a bitcoin transaction simulator called btcsim. Created by interns Javed Khan and Michalis Kargakis, the transaction simulator has been used by Conformal to test a variety of claims about how the Bitcoin network might function when transaction volume mirrors that of the 3000 transactions per second credit card companies such as Visa and Mastercard process. Continue reading
Woman Uses Stomach Wallet Instead Of Brain Wallet
A woman flying from Brussels to the Dominican Republic has been arrested under suspicion of money smuggling. In an attempt to transfer USD $139,000 into the country, the 40 year old woman opted to swallow 16 capsules carrying a total of $70,000 while the remaining $69,000 was hidden inside her suitcase. Continue reading
mcxNOW Shuts Down For Maintenance (Again)
The altcoin exchange mcxNOW will shutter once again with the site expected to go down for maintenance beginning November 15, 2014. As mcxNOW intend to destroy all wallet backups, users of the website will need to withdraw their coins or risk losing them permanently. Continue reading
Hong Kong SAR Government Sponsored Bitcoin Exchange Bitspark Goes Live
Hong Kong based exchange, payment processor and remittance startup Bitspark have opened their doors for business, having gone into limited beta as of the 22nd of October. In order to entice new users to the exchange, Bitspark will only charge a fee when users withdraw coins from the exchange. Continue reading
BitLendingClub Use Angel.co To Raise Seed Investment
The Bulgarian based crowd-lending platform BitLendingClub has announced a seed investment via Angel.co from Bulgarian VC fund LAUNCHub. BitLendingClub is seeking a total of USD $1.25 million to finance 24 months of operation on the basis that current revenue of $144 K/year will expand to an expected revenue of $4.42 mil/year in 2 years time. The investor presentation can be viewed here. Continue reading
Canadian VPN Provider SurfEasy Team Up With BitPay
The Canadian privacy company SurfEasy, which markets itself as a no-log VPN provider, today announced they have teamed up with BitPay to enable customers to pay using bitcoin when purchasing the privacy based products it offers. Continue reading