Author Archives: cazalla
CEO Of Bitcoin Exchange Killed In Thailand
Independent Reserve CEO Adam Tepper has died as a result of a motorbike accident in Thailand. Tepper, who is alleged to have not been wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, either struck his head on a street sign early Thursday morning according to the Phuket Gazette1 or slammed into a parked trailer Wednesday night as reported by the mainstream Australian television network 7News. Captain Thada Sodarak of the Chalong Police said: Continue reading
Another Thai news outlet confirms that Tepper hit a pole and was taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital, not Thalang Hospital as claimed by 7News. ↩
Inside The Bitcoin Mine Of Antpool & BW.com
Images which allegedly depict the site of two of the alleged largest bitcoin mining farms in world have been shared via the Chinese blogging site Weibo. The photos showcase what is home to the alleged miners of Antpool and BW.com, which as of today represents 19.2% and 7.9% of the hashrate respectively.
The text accompanying the images claims1 10% of the miners are perhaps resold as cloudminers and that the 100 petahash operation mines or has mined 1077 BTC with an "output value of 1.6 million a month." Continue reading
That is if Google translate is to be believed. If you can read Chinese and translate accurately to English, please get in touch. ↩
US Offers Reward For Capture Of Retailer Of Cryptolocker Related Botnet
The U.S. State Department has announced a reward of up to USD $3 million1 for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Russian national Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev. Bogachev is wanted by the FBI for numerous alleged cybercrimes including an association with a botnet named Gameover ZeuS. Continue reading
Payable in bezzlars, not bitcoin. ↩
Australian Drug Trafficker Pleads Guilty
An Australian man, who was a member of the Rebels MC at the time of his arrest, today plead guilty to charges of drug trafficking after he was arrested in 2014 for the importation of MDMA, cocaine and amphetamines despite the drugs being intercepted by police in the Australian states of Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. Continue reading
Europol Uses Kiddy Porn Hysteria To Attack Bitcoin
A report by Europol's European Cybercrime Centre makes the claim that, despite much of the evidence being anecdotal1, Bitcoin is increasingly being used to pay for the live streaming of kiddy porn2. The report was produced with the supposed intention of assisting law enforcement and the private sector to reduce and prevent such crimes from occurring, but it reads as nothing more than an attack on Bitcoin itself. Continue reading
"Although much of the evidence is still anecdotal, concerns have been expressed by LE and financial experts in the wider international environment that commercial CSE online, among other criminal activities, is moving to a new unregulated, unbanked digital economy. Payment mechanisms providing a certain degree of anonymity are always open to abuse by those with criminal intentions, as developments in the use of Bitcoin show." ↩
It is recommended by organisations such as Europol that the term Child Abuse Material or CAM is better suited to describe such material as the word pornography implies that the children were willing participants and paid, but if Europol cannot be reasonable and differentiate between a paedophile and the use of Bitcoin, I cannot be expected to know the difference between the words kiddy porn and CAM. ↩
Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Reaches Yet Another ATH
With the fourth adjustment for 2015 occurring today, the Bitcoin mining difficulty has grown to a new ATH of 46,684,376,317. This is an increase of 5.01% over February 9th's previous ATH of 44,455,415,962. The global hash rate as of the change stands at 334,179,783 GH/s.1
The block height stands at 344737 with a remaining 75263 blocks to be mined prior to the reward halving. The next reward halving event is forecast to occur in July or August of 2016.
An average over the last 504 blocks. ↩
Micon Details The Operational Security Concerns Of Seals With Clubs
Bryan Micon of Seals with Clubs has released a video in which he details some of the previously unknown "operational security" concerns which forced the site offline earlier this month.
Micon alleges that on the 11th of February, armed gaming agents acting for the Nevada Gaming Commission knocked on his front door with a sledge hammer and pointed guns at him in order to serve a search warrant for his involvement with SwC and Bitcoin poker. Micon further alleges that much of his electronic equipment was stolen despite not being charged with a crime. Continue reading
Midlothian, IL Police Department Pays Bitcoin Ransom
The Chicago Tribune reports that the Midlothian Police Department paid a ransom last month in order to regain access to police files and backups encrypted by the ransomware known as Cryptoware. The Village of Midlothian obtained the bitcoins by way of sending a money order to a New York Bitcoin cafe1 after attempts to wire the money via Bank of America failed. Continue reading
Possibly coincafe.com but not confirmed. ↩
USMS Announce Yet Another Bitcoin Auction
The United States Marshals Service has announced yet another auction for an amount totalling 50,000 BTC which were seized during the 2013 Silk Road bust.
The amount of bitcoin on offer, available blocks1 and deposit requirements mirror that of the last auction which was held in December of 2014. It is not yet known if Tim Draper, whose Sillycon Valley condo languishes for sale will make a big show of announcing his intention to bid. Continue reading
Series A = 10 blocks @ 2000 BTC, Series B = 10 blocks @ 3000 BTC ↩