Andreas Antonopulus announced the launch of Third Key Solutions of which he is the Chief Technical Officer. The start-up is a Bitcoin "best practices" consultancy, which aims to set up an infrastructure for Bitcoin companies to establish policies and enforcements for the handling of funds. The consultancy provides services revolving around the management of funds with multi-signature addresses as described in a summary on their website: Continue reading
Author Archives: thestringpuller
Boost VC Embraces Child Founded Start Up
As the great Bitcoin recession continues, 17 year old Louison Dumont's Bitproof has caught the eye of VCs, having been accepted into the Boost VC incubator. The service allows users to certify and prove ownership of a document and its proof of existence. The company is attempting to raise VC capital although the service has struggled to find a monetization avenue
Document certification is a valuable service when done correctly, however at a first glance Bitproof.io seems to have a fundamental problem. The deedbot specification proposed on Trilema requires users to submit documents that are GPG signed, which creates a strong link between owner and document. Bitproof uses a username based identity to certify a document which lacks the non-repudiation strength GPG provides.
Security As A Coffin
On Thursday, Sakurity published an exploit on their blog regarding Authy's SMS 2-Factor Authentication API. The bug allows for an attacker to bypass the now notorious 2FA window with the string
../sms
Coinbase is one of Authy's customers, who claims to "take careful measures to ensure that your bitcoin is as safe as possible." The bitcoin webwallet provider has been a vocal advocate of 2FA, popularizing it to the point of Gavin proposing its inclusion in Bitcoin Core. Continue reading
Blythe Masters To Head Wall Street Invasion
In what seems like a Wall Street invasion of Bitcoin, it was announced today Blythe Masters of precious metal price suppression infamy has accepted the position of Chief Executive of Digital Asset Holdings LLC. The company will build software to build a platform for trading "digitized versions of traditional financial intruments" such as CDOs or Options.
The Wall Street Journal which detailed the announcement in a recent article quoted Masters: Continue reading
Digital Hawala For The Poor
Former Netscape director Bill Barhydt has decided to enter the remittance market using Bitcoin as the underlying technology of his platform Abra. Migrant workers who are employed seasonally will send earnings to their family back home through services the likes of Western Union and MoneyGram. These brokers tend to charge upwards of $15 for a $100 or more cash transfer. Abra believes these fees on remittances can be reduced by using Bitcoin and what they noted as their own version of a hawala network. Continue reading
Highlights From February 2015's State of Bitcoin
mod6 released the Foundation’s monthly State of Bitcoin Address on the Foundation’s mailing list. The Bitcoin Foundation accomplished a good amount throughout the month of February: Continue reading
Man Who Established Bounty to Replace Vessennes' Bitcoin Foundation on Board
After a voting fiasco which included reports of disenfranchised voters, the election results are in, and the Vessennes' Bitcoin Foundation will be welcoming Oliver Janssens to their board. Janssens claim to fame was using his early adopter made fortune to post a $100,000 bounty for a software platform to replace Vessennes' Bitcoin foundation. Today he took to Twitter: Continue reading
BitGo Offers Insurance The FDIC Way
BitGo, a company which offers bitcoin hot wallet and cold storage solutions for both individuals and enterprises, has annouced they will now be offering an insurance policy for paid customers. The company prides itself in having the "best" bitcoin web wallet. In fact, their website displays in a large heading "More than just a wallet" offering "Advanced Security", and "24×7 monitoring" for the "World's leading Bitcoin Companies" which includes the known scam Bitcoin Shop and Bitstamp. One of Bitstamp's operational hot wallets was hacked earlier this year, but the hot wallets are now managed by BitGo's enterprise services as indicated by a testimonial on the front page by Bitstamps's CEO: Continue reading
Bitrated Launches Web of Trust Abomination
Bitrated.com originally started as an arbitrage service to provide consumers with the “protection" of what they have come to expect. The Bitrated Payment System allows for users and merchants to make reversible e-commerce transactions, since GPG contracts are apparently too hard to grasp. The two parties doing business each nominate and agree on a third party to act as a trust arbiter. A transaction is then structured through the payment system requiring 2 of 3 of parties wallet signatures to release the funds to an address. Continue reading
The Dangers of Bitcoin Trapping
A place where an illegal transaction happens, such as a drug deal has come to be known as “the trap spot”. In those moments when both parties meet anyone can run up on the participants and cause pandemonium to erupt. Due to the untrustworthy dealings of Coinbase and Bitstamp, the best method for acquiring Bitcoin is through old fashioned OTC trade. However speculation of the dangers of trapping has become reality for unlucky individuals in New York City. The Observer reported a crime wave in which victims have been robbed at gunpoint for their coins. Continue reading