Category: Crypto

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CoinText Startup Allows Users to Send Bitcoin Cash (BCH) via SMS

A startup called CoinText has developed a solution to send Bitcoin Cash (BCH) via SMS. That would allow the adoption of this cryptocurrency to rise in areas where there is no good Internet connectivity.

CoinText allows its users to send Bitcoin Cash (BCH) via SMS

The CoinText tool is now available and has enabled the first Bitcoin Cash (BCH) transactions via SMS, according to a tweet published by the company on August 31st. CoinText currently offers its services in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, and Sweden, according to the company.

According to the information on its website, CoinText works by using each user’s full number (including area and operator codes) as a unique identifier to create the seed of a new Bitcoin Cash (BCH) wallet. Once a portfolio has been generated, the application provides an API that communicates with a global SMS gateway provider that provides network access and allows coins to be sent via text messages without the need for an Internet connection. CoinText will charge a flat fee of 10 BCH satoshis.

The team warns that the platform does not store any information and depends on some third party services and all transactions are immediately settled in the blockchain. For this reason, they do not recommend its use for storing large quantities of coins.

Sending cryptocurrencies via SMS is not a new method

The CoinText method is something new for sending Bitcoin Cash (BCH) via SMS, but, in the past, similar tools have been developed for sending other cryptocurrencies. For example, in early August, a Californian company called Intuit was able to patent this kind of service for Bitcoin (BTC).

Similarly, an update made by the Samourai Wallet in January included a similar tool that offers the ability to send Bitcoin (BTC) via text messaging, just like CoinText does with Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

Also in August, a startup launched an application that allows its users to send Litecoin (LTC) via Telegram instant messaging app. The Zuluc Republic, the company behind the project, announced that it plans to include the SMS feature.

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Abra Exchange Allows Traders From The EU To Buy/Sell Cryptos Using Their Bank Accounts

On Tuesday, September 4th, the Abra crypto exchange platform and wallet announced the implementation of a new channel for users across the European Union, to buy and sell cryptocurrencies using their traditional bank accounts. Investors and users of Abra’s services are now in a position to purchase any of the 28 cryptos listed on the platform or to convert them into fiat money with their bank accounts.

Traders from the European Union can now buy and sell cryptocurrencies using their bank accounts on Abra crypto exchange platform

The US startup, which offers crypto investment services, among others, announced in a press release that all countries in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), which covers most of the Europeans nations, will be able to purchase Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) or other of the 26 cryptos, including Cardano (ADA), Basic Attention Token (BAT) and Tron (TRX), which were recently listed by Abra crypto exchange platform.

In this regard, Bill Barhydt, founder, and CEO of Abra pointed out that there is currently a higher demand for investing in cryptocurrencies.

“This new feature is helping to change the way people invest, adding a brighter future for the world’s cryptocurrencies market. Investors should be given the opportunity to finance their portfolios directly from their bank accounts,” said Bill Barhydt, Abra Founder, and CEO.

Abra also added credit card purchases for Bitcoin (BTC) about two months ago

The SEPA area is a territorial and economic jurisdiction located in Europe where citizens, companies or commercial entities can make and receive payments in Euro under the same conditions, rights, and obligations. In total, SEPA covers 28 EU Member States as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, and San Marino.

The Abra crypto exchange service to permit users from the EU to use their bank accounts to exchange cryptos comes almost two months after the company enabled the purchase of Bitcoin (BTC) with credit cards such as Visa and MasterCard from virtually anywhere in the world.

The company also announced last March that it had created an application for mobiles that works as a wallet to protect cryptos, as well as a crypto exchange platform between cryptocurrencies and fiat money.

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Crypto News

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Hash Rate Drops, Putting The Blockchain At Risk

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) hash rate drop below 8% of Bitcoin (BTC) total hash rate makes the Bitcoin Cash network more vulnerable to a block retention attack, which could cause insolvency in some cryptocurrency exchange platforms.

During August, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) hash rate remained below 10% of Bitcoin’s processing power, while it even dropped to 6.5% at some points. That is due to the migration of some mining groups that may not find BCH mining profitable anymore, and the strategy of mining larger blocks in a shorter amount of time, although the number of transactions has not been shown to be growing.

The main risk of a hash rate drop in a network using the Proof-of-Work protocol (PoW) protocol is that a group of miners may control 51% or more of the nodes, and that’s possible because Bitcoin Cash (BCH) uses the same mining algorithm as Bitcoin (BTC), known as Sha-256.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) hash rate drop increases the risk for double-spending attacks

While Bitcoin (BTC) is a more extensive network that relies on the joint work of groups of miners with greater technical resources, the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) blockchain is not so robust in this regards. Thus, the migration of the resources to the smaller network poses a risk if the miners intend to create a longer chain in secret, which then replaces the short blockchain and invalidates some transactions through a block retention attack.

That would make it easier for them, for example, to make a bulky Bitcoin Cash (BCH) deposit in a cryptocurrency exchange platform, and then to buy other cryptos in exchange on the same trading platform and sell them immediately.

That procedure becomes fraudulent when the perpetrators reverse the initial transaction using a block retention attack, leading to double-spending. There are also other fraudulent procedures that are facilitated by a low hash rate which permits validating transactions with only a few confirmations.

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Crypto News Tech

Mozilla Firefox To Block Malicious Crypto Mining With Its Next Update

The next update for the popular Mozilla Firefox Internet browser will add a feature to shield against background crypto mining programs. The Firefox will try putting an end to cryptojacking, a malicious practice that usurps the processing power of the user’s device or hardware to mine for cryptocurrencies.

Firefox will block the scripts inserted into web pages that perform cryptojacking, as the browser’s upcoming update focuses on preventing data collection techniques that violate user privacy, a practice known as tracking. The update will aim to “protect” and “give a voice” to internet users who are victims of “deceptive practices that collect (and use) information invisibly” and user processing power, according to the official statement.

According to Nick Nguyen, the vice president of Firefox, the new security features will be running in the testing phase of the Firefox Nightly version throughout September.

Mozilla Firefox will tackle background crypto mining, joining Opera and Google Chrome in this regard

With this update, Mozilla Firefox joins the Opera and Google Chrome browsers who have already taken steps to tackle background crypto mining programs. In the case of Opera, however, the company announced in January of this year the implementation of new levels of protection against unauthorized mining in its browser.

On the other hand, Google Chrome removed extensions that offer crypto mining services from its Chrome web store. This measure, unlike Opera’s, also affected those applications that informed users that they would use their device’s ability to mine crypto coins. This decision occurred after Chrome accepted these extensions while they were exclusively dedicated to in-browser crypto mining. However, most of these did not meet the conditions.

Keep in mind that web crypto mining is not a malicious activity, in essence. However, cryptojacking (the practice to use victims devices’ computing power to mine for cryptocurrencies) is considered a malicious attack.

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Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Tests Payments With Its MUFG Coin Cryptocurrency

The Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group of Japan, the world’s largest financial consortium by assets, is experimenting with its cryptocurrency, the so-called MUFG Coin. The Mitsubishi UFG’s crypto token is being used in convenience stores exclusively for group employees, but the consortium plans for a more far-reaching payment program with its crypto by 2019, involving 100,000 users, reports the Japanese daily Sankei Shimbun.

The test is already underway at a convenience store for employees only, located at the MUFG headquarters in Tokyo. As reported, the experiment is “quietly progressing,” a conclusion the Sankei Shimbun’s journalists reached after witnessing how the MUFG Coin functions.

The purchase process is straightforward, conducted through an optical reader. The cashier in the store scans the QR code projected on the screen of the buyer’s smartphone, which corresponds to their MUFG Coin digital wallet, and the system transfers the amount of the purchase in cryptocurrency to the store’s portfolio.

MUFG Coin is paired with Japanese Yen at a 1:1 ratio

While the MUFG Coin is in its trial stage and cannot be used for payments at other establishments, it can be useful among the same holders when agreeing on payments among themselves. An example mentioned in the publication refers to the co-payment of a bill at a bar or restaurant. If one Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s worker pays a tab at a restaurant in cash, the others can transfer the appropriate MUFG Coin amount to his/her wallet.

As for the technical details surrounding this cryptocurrency, there is still no information available on what type of blockchain the MUFG Coin is using or any plan to list it at on any cryptocurrency exchange platform.

However, what the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group made clear is that the value of the MUFG Coin is tied to the value of the Japanese Yen in a 1:1 ratio, that is, 1 MUFG Coin equals to 1 yen at the time of making a payment. They argued that this strategy could counteract the volatility often associated with these types of digital assets.

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