Category: Crypto

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Lightning Network Reaches Over 3,000 Nodes And Approaches 100 Bitocin (BTC) In Capacity

After expanding its capacity by 85% in July, Lightning Network (LN) on the Bitcoin (BTC) mainnet exceeded 3,000 nodes and got closer to 100 BTC in capacity in the first week of August. The data gathered by the monitoring resources site 1ml.com determined that the LN reached a total funds accommodation of 97 BTC or about $630,000.

Lightning Network experienced rapid growth in July

Initially deployed at the beginning of 2018, the Lightning Network experienced a high-paced growth in Q2 2018. In May, the network’s capacity was somewhere below 18 BTC and had explosive growth in July.

Even though the LN continued to expand rapidly, the relatively new technology keeps rising concerns and critics from a part of the Bitcoin (BTC) community and some crypto enthusiasts, mostly regarding the alleged centralization of the Lightning Network.

In reply to these accusations, the network’s developer, known as StopAndDecrypt, explained how the visual maps only give the illusion of the decentralization.

“The fact of the matter is, this network graph actually does a really terrible job of presenting the Lightning Network to you. It’s pretty and fun to play with, but it does everyone involved an analytic injustice,” the developer asserted in a blog post.

Lightning Network gains support despite its current issues

Also, many crypto fans and blockchain technology enthusiasts complain about the fact that Lightning Network might not have the expected ability to operate Bitcoin (BTC) transactions.

As pointed out in an older article on the Bitcoinist, the developers of the Lightning Network primarily focused on the stability of the network and not on the sums conducted on it, for the moment, so any transaction over approximately three cents is not guaranteed to be successfully carried on.

Despite its current flaws, Lightning Network on the Bitcoin (BTC) mainnet keeps raising the interest of investors, crypto community, and developers. Many came into support, with Charlie Lee, the Litecoin (LTC) founder, leading the pack, who stated that Lightning network would eventually be the “ultimate decentralized exchange.”

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Maerki Baumann Bank Is The Second In Switzerland To Accept Funds From Cryptocurrency Operations

Swiss bank Maerki Baumann will become the second bank in Switzerland to accept money derived from cryptocurrency operations, including funds obtained through crypto mining and the receipt of payments for services rendered.

Maerki Baumann, a Zurich-based bank, to accept funds from cryptocurrency operations

The decision of the financial institution comes at a time when most local banks refuse to accept this type of digital assets and, in other countries, there are regulatory frameworks against cryptocurrency exchange platforms. These decisions confront the most critical position in the community that sees banks as actors outside the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

According to a report released on Monday, August 6th, the Zurich-based bank decided as a response to new market demands and the increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies.

Maerki Baumann informed that it would not offer direct investment in cryptocurrency and other derivatives, as the bank does not recommend making substantial investments in cryptos or maintaining them in the long term due to cryptocurrencies market’s volatility.

In other regions, the banking system and the cryptocurrencies are not getting along as well as in Switzerland

The international banking and financial system face new challenges from the increased use of cryptocurrency. The decentralized nature of cryptos such as Bitcoin (BTC), among others, is rethinking the way users manage their own money without the involvement of intermediaries, and banks don’t like this.

For that reason mainstream banks and financial institutions refuse cryptocurrency. While in some regions of the world there exists openness, in some other areas, especially in South America, the doors remain closed for digital assets.

Some recent cases are, for example, the cessation of operations of the cryptocurrency exchange platform Buda in Colombia due to the company’s bank accounts closure by several mainstream banks.

However, fortunately, Switzerland shows a greater openness to cryptocurrencies, and, recently, the Zurich-based Maerki Baumann bank accepted cryptocurrency operations.

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Only 10% Of Cryptocurrency Transactions Are Used For Illegal Activities, According To DEA

According to information provided by Lilita Infante, a special agent with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), currently, only 10% of the cryptocurrency transactions are used for illegal activities. Infante provided this data during an interview, published on Bloomberg’s website, in which the agent states that five years ago the percentage of criminal acts involving cryptos was 90%.

Infante noted that illegal activities are carried out mainly through the dark web, where illegal products are sold in cryptocurrency, making this practice an increasing trend in the last year. Thus, the report indicates that it is criminal organizations, such as drug cartels, that increasingly use digital assets in their operations, ranging from money laundering to cross-border transactions in crypto coins.

For the official, this is because these organizations that operate outside the law find it cheaper, faster and safer to carry out operations with cryptocurrencies than through the traditional banking system. However, this situation is going to change.

In this regard, Infante states that both the Bitcoin (BTC) platforms, as well as other cryptos’ underlying blockchains, become resources that make it easier for agents to track transactions and identify the people involved.

Privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, like Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC), are not liquid enough and, although they are more anonymous than Bitcoin (BTC), we still have ways to track them down, too.

Lilita Infante, Special Agent, DEA, United States

The data presented by Lilita Infante contrasts with previous studies regarding cryptocurrency transactions for illegal activities

The information provided by this DEA agent can be contrasted with the results of some reviews on the use of cryptocurrency for illicit activities. Among them, we can highlight an investigation carried out by the European Parliament last June, which concluded that there are hardly any public documents and confirmed cases of terrorist financing involving cryptos.

Contrary to what the DEA agent said, European parliamentarians do foresee a long-term advance in cybercrime, due to the development of private cryptocurrencies and greater adoption of cryptos and underlying blockchain technologies linked to social networks and online platforms.

However, the European Parliament’s study agrees with Infante and other research conducted in 2017 by New York University Law School that criminal organizations use digital assets to sell/buy goods on the dark web and to transfer funds and securities through decentralized platforms.

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Joao Amoedo, Presidential Candidate Of Brazil, Thinks Cryptocurrency Can Be A Viable Payment Method

Joao Amoedo, presidential candidate of Brazil, for the New Party, has expressed that a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin (BTC) can be a viable payment method in the country, as long as there is a regulation that supervises its use. The information was presented in an interview the candidate gave to a local media in recent days.

According to Amoedo, Bitcoin (BTC) should receive the same regulatory treatment as a fiat currency like the US Dollar, which could be a very controversial issue for the Bitcoin (BTC) community.

It must be made clear that the country [Brazil] has only one national currency, the currency which is legal tender, that is to say, the currency which the persons are obliged to accept as the real currency (…) Also, there are restrictions on the use of the US Dollar for payments and as an account currency, which should be the same for any other foreign currency, including cryptocurrency.

Joao Amoedo

At this moment, there is no regulatory framework regarding cryptocurrency use in Brazil

Currently, no legal framework regulates the use of cryptos in Brazil, despite the debates in Parliament on blockchain technology. The presidential elections to which Amoedo would be running are scheduled to be held in October, and his proposals could only materialize if he is elected.

Amoedo was very open to distributed ledger technology, believing that it could significantly reduce bureaucracy in public institutions by integrating it into real estate registration, document authentication, and electronic signature recognition.

Joao Amoedo also praised the advances in digital identity made thanks to blockchain technology, as well as its application in the supply chain, data transparency, and voting systems.

Since 2015, there has been a conflict between banks and cryptocurrency exchange operators in Brazil, which has led to the closure of some bank accounts belonging to a few exchange platforms and the subsequent reactivation of some of these blocked accounts.

Regarding this conflict, the Brazilian presidential candidate claimed not to have a specific position. In fact, Amoedo believes that the more competition there is in the cryptocurrencies market, the better it is.

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Fake Cryptocurrencies Giveaways On Twitter Are Conducted By 15,000 Bots

A survey released yesterday, August 6th, uncovered the notorious phenomenon of Twitter accounts which promote fake cryptocurrencies giveaways, disclosing a network of about 15,000 scam bots, reported the CoinTelegraph.

The Twitter bots analyze, which still cheat unknowing users, originates from computer security firm Duo Security.

The project entailed 88 million Twitter accounts, which were discovered and ranked using a software program designed by engineers based on machine learning.

With only the last 200 tweets from every account, this software has uncovered a network of 15,000 bots that promote fake contests by impersonating a few of the most well-known characters in the crypto-verse.

“Users tend to trust a tweet even based on how often it has been tweeted or appreciated. Anyone who manages this particular botnet knows this, and has designed it to take advantage of this trend,” states Duo Security data scientist Olabode Anise in the news release that comes with the research.

A network of 15,000 bots are offering fake cryptocurrencies giveaways on Twitter

A number of industry figures who have been embodied by bots have renamed themselves on Twitter to indicate that they are not offering cryptocurrencies or crypto tokens, including Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who is now known as Vitalik Non-giver of Ether on Twitter.

“It’s important to analyze an account almost holistically, even looking at the metadata of the content,” added Olabode Anise.

“For example, these accounts usually tweet in short bursts, so the average time between tweets is very low. Documentation of these patterns of behavior can also be used to identify other malicious botnets,” the security expert continued.

Anise and the associate Jordan Wright will showcase their achievements at the Black Hat USA 2018 IT security briefing in Las Vegas on Wednesday, August 8th.

In reply to the research, Twitter said it knew about the issues and that ‘spam’ accounts would be less than 5% of all current accounts on the social network. The company also indicated that, in most instances, the false cryptocurrencies giveaways are concealed by default.

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