Articles about Bitcoin

"Blockchain is ready to take centre stage", declared a recent Goldman Sachs report, just one of many indications that this virtual system has captured the attention of the financial services industry.

It is certain that Blockchain has the potential to transform centuries-old mechanisms for transferring money. Our latest research, which surveyed over 300 banking executives on the current payments landscape across Europe, found that cryptocurrency and Blockchain technologies are now seen as real drivers for change.

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The price of Bitcoin may surge in 2016 due to the slower growth in the cryptocurrency’s supply, according to new predictions.

Daniel Masters, co-founder of Jersey-based Global Advisors’ multi-million dollar bitcoin hedge fund, said that the price of bitcoin could make it above $1,100 next year and then pick up speed to rise to $4,400 by the end of 2017.

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Crypto-ransomware is one of the latest trends in the world of malware. Encrypting and holding files to ransom provides a way to extort money from victims, but a new example takes things one step further.

Chimera not only locks users out of their files until a ransom is paid, but also threatens to release unencrypted copies of the files online if payment is not made. Security company Trend Micro says this is the first instance of this type of threat. Interestingly, Chimera also seems to be part of an affiliate program.

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A group of hackers is trying to extort money from three Greek banks and is threatening the financial institutions with DDoS attacks unless they comply.

The group, which goes by the name Armada Collective, has asked the three banks which weren’t named, to pay a ransom in Bitcoin or face a distributed denial of service attack.

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Ordinarily, if you want to receive money just for walking you'd need to do a sponsored walk -- and that money's supposed to go to charity -- or get yourself a job as a dog walker. But how does the idea of getting paid just for the walking you do each and every day sound? That's exactly what Bitwalking promises.

With a name clearly inspired by the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, Bitwalking works in a couple of ways. Walkers can earn 1 Bitwalking dollar (BW$) for every 10,000 steps they take, and these can be spent in an online store, or converted into cash. The system uses a smartphone to count steps, but there are also plans to produce a wristband.

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Microsoft has partnered up with Brooklyn-based blockchain start-up ConsenSys to bring the technology to financial institutions.

Blockchain is the technology that underpins Bitcoin. It is essentially a vast, decentralized ledger that registers every transaction anonymously, and because the ledger is public, it makes blockchain tamper-proof and ideal for financial clients.

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The Bitcoin virtual currency could be used by some of the world’s biggest banks. Nine banks that include Barclays and Goldman Sachs, are considering adopting the blockchain technology to log who spends which virtual coins.

The primary reason why these banks want to use blockchain, is because it is hard to fool it, which makes fraud more difficult. Besides just fraud, the technology can also help banks carry out transactions even faster and also helps make processes more transparent.

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The likes of Adam Ant and Billy Bragg are among the names backing the Free At What Cost? project. Launched by British composer Hélène Muddiman, the idea behind the campaign is to ensure that artists and content creators get a fair deal by charging for online views and listens.

The basic idea is to protect content against free viewing in an extension of the idea of simple DRM. While the logistics are still to be fully detailed, one of the proposals is to use a Bitcoin-like payment system to enables people to pay artists directly for access to their content.

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Kim Dotcom -- he of Megaupload/Mega infamy -- has been out of the headlines for a while, but he's creeping back into the public eye once again with the launch of a new music streaming service, Baboom.
However, Dotcom is not just interested in promoting his latest venture, he also has a lot to say about many aspects of the tech world.

Back when he launched file sharing site Mega, rebuilt from the rubble of Megaupload, Dotcom was a proponent of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Now he's at it again, advising people to invest in Bitcoin in the wake of the Chinese -- and then global -- stock market tumble.

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Greece might be settling for a deal with the European Union, but inside of the country big changes are happening to the economy to deal with sanctions and lack of funds.

The most expensive and popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin has shot up in popularity. The popularity has risen to the point BTC Greece is planning a 1,000 Bitcoin ATM rollout, available in stores, banks and tourist locations.

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If you’re still waiting for your free update to Windows 10, be careful, as there’s serious malware circulating around the net. As usual, cyber crooks are fast to react to a trending topic and will try to take advantage of it to place malware on unsuspecting victims.

This time, they are tapping into the Windows 10 upgrade trend and are trying to sneak malicious code to people who think they’re getting their copy of the latest Microsoft OS. According to a report by Cisco’s security group Talos, someone is "impersonating Microsoft in an attempt to exploit their user base for monetary gain".

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We reported recently on a new system that reduces the risk for merchants in accepting bitcoin payments.

Now there's more evidence that the digital currency is going mainstream with the announcement of a partnership between enterprise bitcoin payments processor, Bitnet and payments platform provider Zooz that will enable merchants to accept bitcoin as a payment method on the Zooz payment platform.

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One of the things that inhibits merchants from accepting bitcoin payments is that there’s a time lag in receiving cleared funds. A bitcoin payment can take around 10 minutes to be verified and confirmed on the blockchain.

Even then most payment processors will wait for 2-6 confirmations (taking 20-60 mins) before guaranteeing to the merchant that the transaction is complete and the merchant will receive the funds. For merchants used to accepting card payments which are verified in seconds this is a problem.

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A crisis to some is an opportunity to others, and Bitcoin seems to be taking full advantage of Greece’s current situation.

IBTimes reported on Monday how the price of Bitcoin rose to a four-month high this past Sunday. The price rose after Greece voted "No" in a referendum regarding the international bailout.

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The cryptocurrency Bitcoin has not been without its problems. There have been numerous hacks leading to the loss of millions of dollars, and Bitcoin mining tool Epic Scale became embroiled in a crapware scandal with uTorrent. The latest problem to hit the digital currency is a double-spending bug.

As the name suggests, this essentially makes it possible to spend the same Bitcoins twice, and it stems from a problem with a planned upgrade. An issue with some Bitcoin miners means that tests that usually prevent double-spending are not correctly performed. The problem was discovered on 4 July as many Americans were busy celebrating Independence Day.

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