Last December, Qntra was the first English language news site to report on the raids by Spanish police at the cybersquat known as Kasa de la Muntanya and while police raids and squats are typically of no import, this raid was notable for the squat's association with a Bitcoin wallet project known as the Dark Wallet. Vice's Motherboard has now posted an update which contains quotes which would be hilarious if not for the fact they were made by the Judge presiding over the matter. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: January 2015
Yet Another Silk Road Marketplace Launches
An as yet unknown1 individual or group has taken up the mantle of DPR and launched the next iteration of the Silk Road marketplace, but this time around it's not accessible via Tor. SilkRoadReloaded, which promotes security as being its number one feature, launched a few days ago on the I2P network and is currently being promoted throughout various dark marketplace and other subreddits by someone assumed to be connected to the new service. Continue reading
At least to the public. ↩
The Hard Fork Missile Crisis
As previously reported, Gavin Andresen proposed increasing the block size and later attempted to describe the economic and political implications of such a proposal. In both instances he was met with furious backlash from the community.
Today Gavin posted on his personal blog an article titled "Looking before the Scaling Up Leap", stating "My goal is to prove that it is safe to raise the maximum block size from 1MB to at least 20MB" along with "I'll argue we should schedule a hard fork." Reddit soon blindly praised Gavin for his work, with comments such as "Fork it hard." Continue reading
BitPay Lays Off 9 Employees Today
According to social media postings and sources familiar with BitPay the company has laid off 9 employees today. These layoffs come not long after BitPay has finished spending on the first of three Bitcoin Bowls they have committed to sponsor in an obligation that runs through December 2016. Continue reading
BitStamp Resumes Operations
Today wounded Bitcoin exchange Bitstamp resumed operations and moved to moved infrastructure into San Francisco. In a letter posted on the exchanges's website CEO Nejc Kodrič describes the new Bitstamp is build in a way that seems a bit contradictory: Continue reading
Judge Forrest Rules Uncharged "Murder Plot" Can be Presented at Trial
As predicted the prosecution in the Silk Road case will be able to present the uncharged murder for hire plot to impeach Ross Ulbricht's character at trial next week.
Summary of MPEx Stocks and Funds December 2014
Monthly statements from stocks listed at the MPEx exchange have been released for December. Official reports are available at Trilema. Here are some highlights:
MPEx (S.MPOE) continued to derive most (93.6%) of its revenue from new account sign-ups. While the large amount of income from sign-ups represents the vast majority of the income, the company would still be profitable without these one-time payments; the December expenses only amounted to 59% of the revenue from trading fees. The company reported a total profit of 647.8 btc. This represents the highest profit reported by the company since August of 2013. Continue reading
PayPal Australia: Regulate Bitcoin Businesses, Not Individuals
A copy of PayPal Australia's submission to the Australian Senate inquiry into digital currencies held in late 2014 is now available. Contained within the submission, PayPal Australia argue that while an individual's use of Bitcoin should not be regulated, businesses which offer a service based on it should be. Continue reading
ChangeTip Spam Moves Beyond Twitter, Youtube & Reddit
ChangeTip today announced the release of an additional product feature that they're calling the One Time Tip Link. OTTL enables ChangeTip users to take their tipping beyond Twitter, YouTube and Reddit by allowing them to send tips to people via email and SMS.. at least that is how ChangeTip has decided to market the addition of OTTL to their controversial platform. Continue reading
DeviantTwo AKA Robert Christopher's December Arrest Flies Under The Radar
Despite the following news having managed to fly under the radar as is typical of some paedophiles, DeviantTwo aka Robert Christopher, who up until December 22nd of 2014 was better known for his participation in the failed exchange CryptoRush, was arrested last December and charged with child pornography offences.
Working with the FBI, Columbia County Sheriff's Office arrested Robert K. Christopher and charged him with:
- 23 counts of Transmission of Pornography by Electronic Device or Equipment.
- 23 counts of Possession of Child Pornography.