We pointed out a couple of weeks ago that cryptocurrency miners are largely to blame for the scarcity of AMD Radeon RX 580 and 570 graphics cards. That has not changedfinding an RX 580/570 in stock and without a grossly inflated price tag is a near-impossible taskbut what has changed is that miners now seem to be driving up the price of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 1060 and 1070 cards too.

A user on Reddit lamented that GTX 1060 pricing is "skyrocketing," which is an exaggeration of the situation, though not totally off base.

"I just checked Jet and their cheapest 6GB 1060 was $280 when yesterday it was $246. On Newegg, the cheapest was $226 and now it's $270? Is this because of mining? Should I buy one now before the prices get higher? I'm freaking out guys!," Lions_for_Life posted.

He also pointed out that he had the opportunity to grab a GeForce GTX 1060 card the other day for $210, only to now see that prices have jumped across the board. Is there any merit to his claim? We decided to do some digging and as it turns out, he appears to be onto something.

One of the cheaper GTX 1060 cards out there is MSI's GTX 1060 Aero ITX 6TG OC. It is the least expensive 6GB 1060 on Newegg, which as the Reddit user noted is priced at $270. Over at Amazon, only third-party vendors offer the same card, albeit starting at $294yikes!

We headed over to CamelCamelCamel to see how this card has been trending, and sure enough the asking price is as high as it's ever been.

About a month and a half ago, this same card sold for around $220 on Amazon, via third-parties. So in other words, pricing has risen 34 percent in the span of about six weeks.

A similar situation seems to playing out in GeForce GTX 1070 territory as well. Take the Asus GeForce GTX 1070 8GB ROG Strix OC Edition (STRIX-GTX1070-O8G-GAMING). Amazon has this one in stock for $470, versus $399 as recently as May 22. Have a look:

For the most part, this fluctuated between $420 and $450 for several months for dipping down to $399, but has now ballooned to a new high.

So what does all of this mean? We can't say with 100 percent certainty that cryptocurrency miners are the culprit, but it sure seems that way. That's where AMD's hardware partners pinned the blame the shortage of Radeon RX 580 and 570 cards, and with those being out of stock, it makes sense that miners would turn to alternative hardwarein this case, GeForce GTX 1060 and 1070 cards.

In case you're new to all of this, cryptocurrency participants use graphics cards to "mine" various coins, which can be traded for Bitcoin and then sold for actual cash. The right hardware can pay for itself within months, and at that point anything that is mined is pure profit (minus the power bill).

This was not an issue for gamers over the past few years because miners had turned to ASIC hardware built specifically for mining. However, GPUs are popular again because of newer hashing algorithms, like Ethereum's DaggerHashimoto or ZCash's Equihash, which are resistant to ASIC hardware. On top of that, there has been a spike in the value of Ethereum and Bitcoin lately, the latter of which recently topped the $3,000 mark for the first time.

Another reason we're seeing this play out among Pascal cards is that Nvidia GPUs are proving nearly as profitable as AMD GPUs with some cryptocurrencies. While AMD's GPUs are still generally better, some of Nvidia's card's are cheaper and consume less power.

Hopefully AMD and Nvidia both can get handle on things by increasing production and/or building a separate set of cards specifically intended for miners. Otherwise, your best bet is to pounce on a good deal when you find one, as the aforementioned Reddit user wishes he had done.

Read more:

It looks like cryptocurrency mining is driving up Nvidia graphics card prices too - PC Gamer

NVIDIAs partners are creating new Pascal graphics cards for cryptocurrency mining and while they do so, Legitreviews has posted a new guide on how to achieve some impressive mining rates on a single GeForce GTX 1060.

In a series of guides posted by Legitreviews, they have detailed some impressive techniques and tricks to get better hash rates on NVIDIA Pascal GPUs. The card tested by the site was a GeForce GTX 1060 FTW+ 6 GB which costs a little bit more compared to the SSC model. The card ships with a custom dual fan cooler and starts at a price of $249.99 US. These prices will vary since GeForce GTX cards are also affected by price inflation like the Radeon counterparts since the recent mining wave hit the market.

Running on stock frequencies, the card delivers a hash rate of 18.88 with a power consumption of 100W at 68C. With the memory overclocked to 10000 MHz, the card achieved 23.61 MH/s and was running at 70C while consuming 112.9W. The results you see below are obtained with the power target set at reference 100%. While the 10 GHz overclock wasnt stable as it started artifacting, the clocks on memory were toned down to 9.5 GHz for a hash rate of 22.77 MH/s at 109.9W.

By lowering the power target we managed to go from ~110 Watts of power at 22.8 MH/s to just ~65 Watts of power at 22.1 MH/s. As you lower the power target the hashrate does take a slight performance hit, but loosing roughly 0.5 MH/s for cutting the power use by 45 Watts is pretty slick. We also managed to drop our temperature from 70C down to 58C and on this 0dB graphics card model that means the fans stop spinning!

So, we are miningEthereumgetting 22 MH/s on a card using 65 Watts of power with no fan noise. That is pretty crazy! Fanless silent Ethrereum mining! If you go down to a power target of 40% the hashrate takes a major performance hit and it isnt worth going below 45%. via Legitreviews

Tuning the card can lead to some very astonishing results. With the memory still overclocked at 9.5 GHz and power target limited down to different ratios, we can see better efficiency results. Mining is all about making the best buck while consuming less power and the GTX 1060 shined here. With the power limit set to 45%, the card delivered 22.11 MH/s rate at 58C and consumed only 65W that makes a hugedifference. Its also worth noting that the fan speed was set to 0% which means that the card performed under 60C without the fan even operating which is impressive.

Compared to the 100% power limit, the 45% limit allows for a 45W power consumption difference to achieve a very similar hash rate. A single card can make a profit of $138 per month. Having six of these cards inside a custom machine like the one we detailed a while ago would yield$10,080 in a year if the current Ethereum prices are taken into account.

How much would it cost to build a Ethereum mining PC that can hold seven of these cards for around 155-160 MH/s of performance? Here is a quick example of the hardware youd need:

MSI Z170A Gaming M5 Motherboard $129.39 shipped

Intel Celeron G3930 Processor $41.00 shipped

PCIe 16x to 1x Adapters $8.99 eachand up to 7 needed

Cable Ties $5.99 shipped(Got to hold those video cards up to something)

EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB SSC Graphics Card $266.11 shippedup to 7 needed

Crucial 4GB Single DDR4 2133MHz Memory Module $29.98 shipped

Seasonic Prime 1000W 80PLUS Platinum Power Supply $239.24 shipped(An 850W 80PLUS Platinum PSU is $128.49)

SATA to 8-pin PCIe power adapters $6 shipped(Most Power Supplies dont have 7 8-pin PCIe power connectors)

DREVO X1 Series 60GB SSD $39.99 shipped

AmazonBasics Wired Keyboard & Mouse $14.99 shipped

Case Wed suggest making your own with milk crates or something creative

OS Linux or Windows Grab an ISO and use what you prefer!

Power Meter To Make Power Adjustments $18.53 shipped

You are looking at around $2,450 to setup a system like this that should be capable of mining just shy of 3 Ether per month at the current difficulty levels. That means youd be making about $966 per month if all goes well. That means youd get your investment back in the hardware in right about 2.5 months. Not bad for 155-160 MH/s. Via Legitreviews

Expect to see mining specific graphics cards based on NVIDIAs Pascal GPUs that include P106-100 and P104-100 in the coming weeks.

Share Submit

Visit link:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Cryptocurrency Mining at 65W Achieves 22 MH/s Rate Impressive and Silent Mining ... - Wccftech

More money in circulation will ultimately lead to more investments in cryptocurrencies.

A lot people wonder where the sudden interest in cryptocurrencies is coming from. Rising prices certainly help to raise more awareness. However,it appears the global central bank woes are the biggest driving factor right now. Up until recently, demand for Bitcoin was small other than from a speculative point of view. A recent Federal Reserve decision will drive more people to cryptocurrency in the future. Central banks are making the swithc to Bitcoin a lot easier these days.

It is evident central banks around the world are slowly losing an uphill battle. Consumers are less eager to trust banks, for obvious reasons. Moreover, despite plenty of evidence suggesting otherwise, central banks feel printing more money is always the solution. Helicopter money has always been ineffective, now more than ever before. When financial turmoil occurs, investors do not buy bonds anymore. Instead, they flock to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The Federal Reserve plans to keep raising interest rates. On paper, this is a good idea for US consumers. In reality, however, things are very different. The US economy is not in a good place and raising interest rates will stress the economy even more. Moreover, these hikes will only be provided by printing more money. More money in circulation will ultimately lead to more investments in cryptocurrencies.

One thing that sets cryptocurrencies apart from central banks is how there is no inflation. At least, where Bitcoin is concerned, as other currencies may not follow the same path. Cash and traditional assets are in high demand to hedge against inflation. Bitcoin has a fixed market cap, although the amount of coins in circulation will continue to grow until the year 2140. At the same time, Bitcoin can be seen as deflationary. Its purchasing power per unit increases, whereas cash has the opposite effect.

It is evident central banks have their work cut out for them. Printing more money is not a solution under any circumstance. It only makes matters worse for the local and global economy. If central banks continue down the path of helicopter money, they will effectively push people toward cryptocurrency. No one would mind that outcome, though. It is due time people learn to take back control of their own wealth. Now is as good a time as any.

Header image courtesy of Shutterstock

Read this article:

Helicopter Money Policy by Central Banks Will Benefit Global Cryptocurrency Adoption - newsBTC

SAN FRANCISCO What goes precipitously up, often comes crashing down to earth.

So it was with bitcoin on Thursday, when the price of the digital currency plunged19% its steepest drop in more than two years after a record run. The volatility remained on full display late Thursday and, as of Friday evening, bitcoin rebounded to$2,484.59.

The cryptocurrency, which flirted with $3,000 on Monday, sunk as low as $2,076.16 in intraday trading early Thursday amid a confluence of bad omens. Tech stocks have recently taken a thumping over concerns about their lofty valuations. Ominous reports from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley suggested bitcoin was due for a reversal in price and required government regulation. The Federal Reserve hiked interest ratesWednesday.

Compounding worries, digital currency exchange Coinbase experienced an outage Monday because of high-trading volume. Another exchange, Bitfinex, on Tuesday said it was under DDOS attack.

Meanwhile, prices for digital currenciesripple andNEM declined the past week, though Ethereum, the second-largest currency, has soared 20% on speculation it will be the top currency. At $371.36, it lags far behind bitcoin in value.

CryptoCurrency Market Capitalizations

"Bitcoin and other digital currencies are experiencing rapid growth these days," says Guy Zyskind, CEO of Enigma,a start-up incryptocurrency investing."For this to be sustainable over time, the market has to correct itself from time to time."

The market's wild ride this week underscores"the ebbs and flows of an entirely new asset class," says Bill Barhydt, CEO of Abra, a peer-to-peer payment service.

"While the bitcoin price will likely recover and continue to rise, what we should see in the future is bitcoin becoming a solid store of value, much like gold," saysMihir Magudia, executive director of LEOcoin Foundation. "It will be relatively easy to liquidate but will not be used to commonly pay for goods and services."

Follow USA TODAY's San Francisco Bureau Chief Jon Swartz @jswartz on Twitter.

Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2tvQYOh

Read the original post:

Cryptocurrency prices likely to continue wild ride - USA TODAY

It was only a matter of time until regulators caught up with cryptocurrency ICOs. These coin offerings have gone unregulated for quite some time now, while raising millions in funding. Anyone buying into these token sales in the US is according to the law buying securities, which require special licenses from the company holding the ICO. With US regulators aiming to venture into the cryptocurrency ICO world, things could get quite interesting moving forward.

Various aspects of cryptocurrency will never be subject to traditional regulation. Virtually all of these projects are decentralized, with no single entity responsible for issuing the coins or controlling the majority of funds circulating on the network. The only entity regulators can go after are the third-party service providers found within the world of cryptocurrency. Wallet providers, exchanges, and investment schemes are bound to see more attention from US regulators moving forward.

Which brings us to cryptocurrency ICOs, the modern-day crowdfunding efforts without regulation or oversight. Everyone in the cryptocurrency world knows how ICOs are growing in popularity and seemingly raise more money than ever before. Projects raising over US$10m in funding are slowly becoming the norm rather than an exception right now. However, there are a lot of legal questions regarding the ICOs and how the tokens are distributed.

It is believed the SEC is currently taking a very close look at any cryptocurrency ICO on the agenda. This does not bode well for most of the projects out there, as very few of these teams have someone with the necessary legal knowledge on board. It is only normal US regulators want to pay close attention to what is going on in this regard, as ICOs can be seen as a way to launder money, in their opinion. A group of people raising millions of dollars overnight without regulation or oversight is suspicious, regardless of how you want to look at it.

The bigger question on peoples mind is whether or not they buy tokens or securities. According to the US legislation, a cryptocurrency token can quickly turn into a security, which causes all kinds of legal issues. If a security is created voluntarily or by accident it needs to be overseen and regulated by the SEC, regardless of its ties with cryptocurrency or otherwise. This confusion needs to be avoided at all costs, but for now, there are no clear regulatory guidelines whatsoever.

Rest assured it will not take all that long until the SEC will introduce some form of cryptocurrency ICO regulation moving forward. For now, it remains anybodys guess as to what we can expect from such a decision. If ICOs are put on the same level as IPOs, things will look very dire for cryptocurrency companies looking at this mechanism as a way to quickly secure funding. Although the SEC is apparently investigating this matter, it may take years until they come to a conclusion.

Moreover, there is the topic of trading these ICO tokens across cryptocurrency exchanges. A lot of tokens can be traded against fiat currencies, which can pose some new challenges as well once regulation materializes. For the time being, the cryptocurrency ICO sector has nothing to worry about just yet. However, this situation could change at any given moment, and a lot of teams will find themselves in an awkward position because of it.

If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.

Link:

SEC may be Looking for Ways to Regulate the Cryptocurrency ICO Market - The Merkle

A former official of China's central bank is set to give a lecture on cryptocurrencies later this month.

Ping Xie wasthe first bureau chief of the People's Bank of China's Financial Stability Bureau. During his time at the PBoC, Xie worked inthe central bank'sNon-Banking Supervision Department andResearch Bureau, while also serving as the governor of its branch in Hunan Province, according to Bloomberg. He began his stint at the PBoC in 1985, departing in 2005.

Xie's lecture on cryptocurrencies is part of a series of nine lectures he plans to give on the topic of digitalfinance. The first lecture will beposted online on 23rd June, according to promotional materials.

It's a notable development for a long-time fixture in China's regulatory space who played a role in the economic reforms undertaken by China's government.

Beyond his work at the central bank, Xie served asgeneral manager ofCentral Huijin Investment Company, a state-owned company that manages state-owned assets and investments on behalf ofChina, where he focused on overseas investments.

Xie isalso the author ofthe book focused on digital finance entitled "Internet Finance in China: Introduction and Practical Approaches".

Image Credit:Southwestern University of Finance and Economics

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is an independent media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. Have breaking news or a story tip to send to our journalists? Contact us at [emailprotected].

Read the original post:

Former People's Bank of China Official to Give Cryptocurrency Lecture - CoinDesk

There are now four times as many cryptocurrencies in circulation as fiat currencies.

That's amazing. And encouraging.

According to the Swiss Association for Standardization, which maintains the International Standards Organization database, there are 177national currencies currently in use. That list generously includes four precious-metals and four bond-market units (codes XBA to XBD, for the curious).

Number of digital currencies

753

TheCoinMarketCapwebsite lists 753 cryptocurrencies, all the way from Bitcoin and Ethereum down to StrongHands and Paccoin (current value: $0.00000014).

With a retired basketball star promoting one such incarnation -- tied to marijuana -- on a recent trip to a repressive Asian nation lying to the north of South Korea, I'm tempted to call Peak Crypto.

But let's not kid ourselves: The madness is far from over. Bitcoin skeptics have been eating their words ever since the leading digital currency reached $1,000. January seems like such a long time ago now that Bitcoin is trading above $2,700.

Bruised Bears

Betting against Bitcoin when it reached $1,000 would have been a costly mistake

Source: Bloomberg

Although Bitcoin has climbed 300 percent in the past 12 months,giving its "coins" in circulation a value of $45 billion, Satoshi Nakamoto's brainchild is actually declining in relative importance. From more than 95 percent in late 2013, Bitcoin now accounts for 39 percent of the value of all cryptocurrency in circulation. Ethereum has caught up fast, from 3.9 percent at the start of the year to 31 percent of the total now, according to CoinMarketCap. Ripple is inthird place at around 8.8 percent after briefly overtaking Ethereum last month.

Virtual Value

Bitcoins in circulation are now worth more than $45 billion with Ethereum close behind

Source: CoinMarketCap

The other 20 percent of cryptocurrency value is unevenly distributed among the 750 wannabes alonga very long tail. It's possible some will rise to a level of legitimacy that will make them viable in the long term. Many are betting not on mass uptakebut on niche acceptance -- one pitches itself as thepayments platform for online games;another limits the amount of coinsto the number of kilometers between Earth and its moon; one seeks to be the official currency of a fictitious nation.

Market Force

Bitcoin remains the world's biggest cryptocurrency, but its dominance has waned

Source: CoinMarketCap

Yet Bitcoin itself remains so nichethat the WannaCry hackers reaped a minuscule harvestafter infecting more than 200,000 computers, because they insisted on being paid in the cryptocurrency.

Just because the boom is ridiculous doesn't mean it lacksmomentum -- it just tells you that consolidation also is inevitable. Not in the traditional M&A sense, but in the way that messenger apps like AIM,ICQ, Yahoo and MSN quietly gave way to WhatsApp and WeChat, which then led to the ubiquity of instant-messagingtechnology.

Morgan Stanley posited last week that government acceptance will be key to Bitcoin's continued rise, with the flipside being some kind of regulation of the currency. That's probably right, and if proponents of cryptocurrencies think they'll achieve widespread uptake without a nod from the authorities, they're probably smoking something.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

To contact the author of this story: Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Sillitoe at psillitoe@bloomberg.net

Read more:

Getting High on Cryptocurrencies - Bloomberg Gadfly - Bloomberg

The market correction that a number of analysts have predicted has hit, with leading cryptocurrencies losing in double digits in the last 24 hours. Market leaders bitcoin and Ethereum were not among the biggest losers, dropping 12.81% and 16.04% in the last 24 hours, respectively, but their market cap losses were in the billions, falling to $37.4 billion and $28.9 billion, respectively.

Ripple, a distant number three in market capitalization at just under $10 billion, lost over 12%. NEM, number four, lost over 17%, while Ethereum Classic, number five, lost 13.77%. Litecoin, number 6, suffered the least among thbillion-dollarar players, losing just over%. Eighth placed IOTA was the biggest loser among the cryptocurrencies with more than $1 billion in market capitalization, falling 36.5% when its price fell to $0.38.

All top 100 cryptocurrencies tumbled in the last 24 hours, according to marketcap.com, except for four: Quantum Resistant Ledger, the number 41 cryptocurrency with $81.4 million market capitalization, jumped 19.43%; LBRY Credits, number 57, posted an 18.24% gain; Xarum, number 62, gained 10,4%, and ZCoin, number 69, gained 9.58%.

The correction that began Monday continued after a breather yesterday, as bitcoin failed to launch a new rally towards all-time highs and rolled over after the bounce. Correlations are high once again, as is usual for a correction, and its likely that bitcoin and Ethereum will dictate the trend of the coming days, with small cap coinsfollowing the majors lower.

Bitcoin continues to trade near its lows from Monday, and it will likely head for a test of the $2375 level, as it clears its overbought momentum readings. The rising long-term trendline is found near $2200, providing further strong support. The long-term picture remains bullish, but there is room for further correction after the strong rally since the end of March.

A 30%-50% correction, that has been the normal for bitcoin in the past, is a huge psychological burden that makes a panic sale likely, usually just before the bottom. Because of this, buyers are advised to wait for the correction and oversold readings, even for those planning to buy it at a higher price later on.

Analyst Nicola Duke of Forex Analytix predicted hefty price corrections for both bitcoin and Ethereum in late May. Duke said bitcoin could experience a 46.5% price correction at $2,800 afterwitnessing arecord $2,791.70 high in late May. After reaching $2,800, Duke predicted it would fall and reach as low as $1,470, marking a 46.5% drop from the late May price.

Duke expects the correction to be temporary, with the price recovering, and continue its upward movement through 2018. An analysis called the Fibonacci retracement examines the peaks through different periods of up and down movements to determine future asset prices.

In wave two, in the fall of 2013, bitcoin bottomed out in January 2015 before rebounding for several months and then declining again. It rebounded again in January of 2015. Duke said bitcoin is now in a third wave.

Duke expects the fourth wave will see bitcoin stay at 61.8% of the time the second wave lasted. This means the rally following the correction will begin in January.

Short-term traders are advised to wait until the correction runs its course and the short-term trend turns higher again, while long-term investors should prepare to add to their holdings heading towards the targets of the move, and buying opportunities emerge. This holds true for long-term investors who plan on holding on to the coins and adding to their core holdings on the dips. Short-term traders should still wait for the short-term trend to turn higher before buying.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

Continue reading here:

Terror Thursday: It's a Cryptocurrency Bloodbath - CryptoCoinsNews

In a 43-page whitepaper titled Blockchain: Unchained? , Morgan Stanley stated that both investors and regulators view cryptocurrencies as assets than actual currencies.

Morgan Stanley released the whitepaper on Tuesday, however, since the report was not distributed publicly, CCN was unable to get it, for now. Were coveringtakeaways from it, nonetheless, includingMorgan Stanley analysts take that bitcoin needs regulation totake off. Meanwhile, the likes of Bloomberg, Business Insider, and Barrons, analyzed the paper and summarized the most important parts of it.

The analysts, including James Faucette, stated that BTC and other cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum and Ripple, are more like investment vehicles than fiat currencies that people can spend on products and services. Additionally, Morgan Stanley analysts added that bitcoin represents a marginally more inconvenient way to pay and there are only a handful or reasons to use the cryptocurrency instead of a credit or debit card. The Morgan Stanley report goes by:

Most regulators and investors view cryptocurrencies more as assets than actual currencies. Their values are too volatile and too hard to actually use for payment for most to consider them currencies. Our conversations with some merchants indicate that, while cryptocurrencies might actually be attractive for them to operate their businesses, they find that the cryptocurrencies are far too volatile to be used.

Morgan Stanley reported on both the factors that had driven the value of bitcoin down and up.

One of the main factors, according to the financial institute, is that theU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected the Winklevoss twins objective to launch the first-ever bitcoinexchange-traded fund (ETF).

Another reason is the declining trade volume of the cryptocurrency, while the analysts also listed the inspection of Chinas Central Bank on bitcoin exchanges in the country (which involvedBTCC, OKCoin and Huobi).

Morgan Stanley could only list some guesses about the price increase of bitcoin. According to the report, the analysts do not have a clear reason why the cryptocurrency has been on a massive surge.

It is not clear why cryptocurrencies are appreciating so rapidly (apart from the appreciation itself drawing in more speculation against a potentially inefficent ability to sell), the bank said in a note.

The financial institute listed three guesses for the increase of bitcoin. The first one is Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), which are used by some companies to offer investors digital tokens in exchange for cash. Some firms received loads of fundings using ICOs, for example, the Ethereum-based enterprise management platform Aragon raised $25 million in just 15 minutes.

Secondly, the strict limits on the currency outflows in China makebitcoin popular in the country to bypass such limits, according to Morgan Stanley analysts.

Finally, the increased investments in Japan and Korea also contributed to the surge of the cryptocurrency. Morgan Stanley explains the rising investment in Japan by the recent regulations, however, the bank writes that in Korea, however, there is not a clear explanation for the surge.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

More:

Cryptocurrencies More Assets Than Actual Currencies, Says Morgan Stanley - CryptoCoinsNews

Just as Wall Street is paying more attention to bitcoin, a rival is increasingly threatening to become the top dog among cryptocurrencies.

Ethereums market capitalization is nearing bitcoins, as shown in the chart below from CoinMarketCap.

As of Wednesday, bitcoin BTCUSD, -5.37% (shown in orange on the chart) accounted for 39% of the combined market capitalization for all cryptocurrencies, down sharply from 87% on Feb. 25.

Blame the erosion on ethereum (shown in purple), which now makes up 31% of the total market cap, up from just 5% less than four months ago.

If ethereums market cap overtakes that of bitcoin, then The Flippening will have happened. That is the term that many people are using to refer to that shift, according to a post at the Flippening Watch blog.

Bitcoins market cap on Wednesday was around $45 billion and its price was just below $2,800, according to data from CoinDesk and CoinMarketCap. Ethereums market cap recently stood at $36 billion and its price at around $390.

Read more: Cryptocurrencies top $100 billion in market capitalization

Dont miss: 3 reasons why bitcoins surge may not be a bubble

By some metrics, ethereum already has eaten bitcoins lunch.

It has almost five times as many nodes in its network as bitcoin, meaning more people are using their computers to support it, a Motherboard report notes. Ethereum also has more transactions per day, the report adds.

Check out: Ethereum has soared but is it ready for prime time?

But some traders remain skeptical of ethereum:

In the screenshot in the above tweet, ICO refers to an initial coin offering, a new way to raise money. One startup reportedly raised nearly $150 million this week via an ICO.

As their prices have soared, cryptocurrencies increasingly have attracted the attention of Wall Streets analysts.

A Goldman Sachs technical analyst issued a bearish take on bitcoin earlier this week, leading the Zero Hedge financial blog to quip that probably means that bitcoin is set to make new all-time highs shortly.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley analysts have predicted that cryptocurrencies will not rally that much more unless they get governmental acceptance, including more regulations.

Read the original:

How cryptocurrency ethereum looks set to overtake bitcoin in one chart - MarketWatch

Dennis Rodman is back in North Korea, the former NBA star announced this week, with help from a marijuana cryptocurrency startup. Rodman, who has made several controversial visits to North Korea, tweeted a photo of himself holding an airline ticket for the state-owned Air Koryo on Tuesday. In a subsequent tweet, he thanked PotCoin, a digital currency for buying and selling weed, for sponsoring my mission.

The purpose of Rodmans visit remains unclear, though it comes amid heightened tensions between the US and North Korea over Pyongyangs nuclear program. Four Americans are also currently detained in North Korea.

In a press release announcing the visit, PotCoin said Rodman will provide more details about his historic trip upon returning to the US. The weed startup also described him as having long-time friendships with both President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, the autocratic leader of North Korea. Rodman has previously appeared on the Trump-hosted reality show The Apprentice, and endorsed Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. He also described Kim as a friend for life after visiting North Korea in 2013, and has drawn criticism for his public appearances alongside the dictator.

Speaking to CNN before boarding his flight, Rodman said hopes to do something that's pretty positive during his trip, though he said he did not intend to bring up the detained Americans during any discussions with North Korean leaders. Well that's not my purpose right now... My purpose is to go over there and try to see if I can keep bringing sports to North Korea," the former Chicago Bulls forward told CNN.

Rodman, wearing a PotCoin-branded t-shirt and baseball cap, said in a short video released Tuesday that the trip is all about peace. One of Rodmans previous trips to North Korea was sponsored by an Irish betting company. The value of PotCoin surged following Rodmans announcement early Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Under Secretary of State Thomas Shannon said that the US was aware of Rodmans visit, and that he is traveling as a private citizen. We are aware of his visit. We wish him well, Shannon said, as reported by Reuters. But we have issued travel warnings to Americans and suggested they not travel to North Korea for their own safety.

Read more:

A cryptocurrency for weed is sending Dennis Rodman back to North Korea - The Verge

ATB Coin offers investors a unique opportunity with its ongoing ICO

With the wildly successful press reception of ATB oins U.S. introductory launch last Thursday, the companys Management Team is reporting over $12 million has been raised within the first fifteen minutes of the cryptocurrencys highly-anticipated ICO.

According to CEO Edward Ng, the companys technologically revolutionary cryptocurrency has already attracted excited investors from the United Stated, Canada, and China. Edward Ng further elaborated the company is pleased with such a high level of interest and optimism from investors; adding that the ICO will be ongoing for the next four weeks, with a targeted amount of $50 million.

ATB oins ambitious plans for global growth are already in place and are moving forward. This cryptocurrency is developed with the worlds most advanced protocols built-in such as SegWit, Lightning Network, and Smart Contracts. Borderless micro payment transactions are recorded in as little as microseconds. Our team is well-positioned to move forward with our intermediate goal of opening offices across the U.S., Canada, Latin America, and Asia, said Herbert W. Hoover III, ATB Coin co-founder.

Crowdfunding of ATB Coin tokens began June 12, 2017, and will continue for the next four consecutive weeks. Potential investors are offered bonuses up to 10%, which will motivate an investor for an additional capital investment. Altogether, the maximum tokens issued will number 333 million, of which 50 million will be assigned to the Crowdfunding ICO.

Information about ATB Coin and ATB Coin ICO can be found on the official website: https://atbcoin.com

Read more here:

ATB Coin Cryptocurrency ICO Now Underway Across Globe - newsBTC

Some interesting things are happening in the world of cryptocurrency faucets. Up until a few weeks ago, anyone running a faucet could earn a lot of money by showing Google Adsense advertisements on the website. If the traffic is high enough, this could have been quite a lucrative business. However, it appears Google has made some drastic changes, which makes faucet owners earn a lot less money.

Over the past few years, many people have opted to run a Bitcoin faucet website in the hopes of making some good money for displaying banner advertisements. Since faucets are visited by thousands of people every day, there is a good chance to make decent money from a faucet website. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case, as Googles Adsense program has undergone some big changes regarding what types of sites can display advertisements in the first place.

To be more specific, the Google Adsense program now prevents faucet websites and other platforms not focusing on unique content from showing advertisements. Even if people do so, they will earn a lot less money from doing so. In a way, this chance was only a matter of time. Faucet sites present nothing unique in the world, as they all revolve around letting users click a few buttons to collect small amounts of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

Any website displaying advertisements without providing quality content should not make as much money from Google Adsense as people who work hard to make their site stand out. That is only the normal way of doing business. Faucets get a lot of visitors, but the traffic itself is quantity-oriented, rather than focusing on quality. Anyone clicking ads on faucet websites has no real interest in the advertisement itself but mainly do so due to a misclick.

It is only normal faucet operators will see their Google Adsense earnings go down dramatically. Google Adsense is a tool designed for content creators and not people who copy-paste an existing faucet script linked to a cheap domain name. Making money with online advertisements requires time, dedication, and effort. None of those traits can be associated with cryptocurrency faucets, even though some operators put a fair amount of work into designing a unique layout.

The bigger question is whether or not there is any intrinsic value to cryptocurrency faucets these days. These platforms used to be quite valuable in the early days of Bitcoin, but their success has tapered off in recent years. Moreover, faucet operators will only pay out small amounts of Bitcoin due to their site earnings being even lower. It is evident something will need to change, and faucet operators will need to start looking for alternative solutions to make money. Adding a news section with unique content to a faucet, for example, could do wonders.

It appears to be only a matter of time until faucet operators will be put out of business entirely. That is, unless their business models evolve accordingly. There are no easy ways to make money these days, and cryptocurrency faucets are slowly losing their appeal. It is good to see Google take such an aggressive measure where their Adsense program is concerned, that much is certain. Rest assured a lot of faucet operators will not be too happy about this decision.

If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.

Go here to read the rest:

Google Adsense Drops Cryptocurrency Faucet Operators - The Merkle

Ethereum founder Vitalik Vuterin speaks at TechCrunch in December of 2015.

By John Phillips/Getty Images.

After catching the eye of both the Singapore government and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ethereumthe second-biggest cryptocurrency in the world, after Bitcoincontinues to skyrocket. On Monday morning, the cryptocurrency was trading at a record-high level of $407.10, more than a 5,000 percent rise since the beginning of 2017, when it was trading at $7.98.

Ethereums founder, Vitalik Buterin, recently met with Putin during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, a signal that the country may be interested in using digital currency to move its economy beyond gas and oil. The digital economy isnt a separate industry, its essentially the foundation for creating brand-new business models, Putin said at the forum. (Russian entities, like the state development bank VEB, have agreed to use Ethereum to help implement blockchain technology in the country). As investors look for a place to put their assets amid mounting geopolitical instability, some are turning to cryptocurrency. Singapores government has released a report saying it has carried out a test using ethereum blockchain technology to create a national digital currency. Regulators in Japan are issuing new rules that make cryptocurrencies like Ethereum a valid form of payment. And companies such as Toyota and Microsoft, which are members of an organization called the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, are throwing their weight behind the cryptocurrency, too.

Ethereum, which has a total valuation of $36 billion, trails only Bitcoin (valued at $49 billion) in terms of market capitalization. Bitcoin has been rallying all year, reaching a high of above $3,000 for the first time on Sunday as a growing number of people turn to virtual currencies as a safer, faster way to exchange money. But Ethereums rally may still have a ways to go: Pavel Matveev, the co-founder of banking start-up Wirex, tells CNBC that Ethereums price could reach $600 by the end of the year.

See the original post here:

A Mysterious New Cryptocurrency Is Surging After Being Endorsed by Putin - Vanity Fair

Unknown attackers are using a recently patched vulnerability in Samba to spread a resource-intensive cryptocurrency mining utility. To date, the operation has netted the attackers just under $6,000 USD, but the number of compromised computers is growing, meaning that a significant number of Samba deployments on *NIX servers remain unpatched.

The attack also demonstrates that the vulnerability in Samba, CVE-2017-7494, can extend EternalBlue-like attacks into Linux and UNIX environments. Samba is a software package that runs on Linux and UNIX servers and sets up file and print services over the SMB networking protocol, integrating those services into a Windows environment.

The Samba vulnerability is similar to the SMB bug exploited on May 12 by attackers using the NSAs EternalBlue exploit to spread WannaCry ransomware. Experts warned that EternalBlue can be fitted with any measure of attack, and they have a similar message about this flaw, which has been nicknamed SambaCry.

Researchers at Kaspersky Lab said that one of their honeypots snagged on May 30 some of the first exploits targeting the Samba vulnerability. The payload was a two-headed threat: a Linux backdoor and a mining utility called Cpuminer that is leveraging the processing power of its victims to create Monero cryptocurrency.

The attacked machine turns into a workhorse on a large farm, mining crypto-currency for the attackers, Kaspersky Lab said in a report published on Securelist.com.

The researchers said the attackers Monero wallet and pool address are hardcoded in the attack.

According to the log of the transactions, the attackers received their first crypto-coins on the very next day, on April 30th, Kaspersky Lab said. During the first day they gained about 1 XMR (about $55 according to the currency exchange rate for 08.06.2017), but during the last week they gained about 5 XMR per day. This means that the botnet of devices working for the profit of the attackers is growing.

As of Friday, the attackers had mined about $6,000 USD, and Kaspersky Lab said it was unsure about the scale of the attack. Upon disclosure of the Samba vulnerability almost three weeks ago, Rapid7 said an internet scan using its ProjectSonarsoftware found more than 104,000 endpoints running vulnerable versions of Samba over port 445, the SMB port. More than 92,000 are running versions of Samba that have no patches available. The vulnerability was introduced into Samba in 2010 in version 3.5.0; admins should upgrade to patched versions: 4.6.4, 4.5.10 and 4.4.14.

Kaspersky Lab said the exploit is assembled as a Samba plugin, below. After running a checka file containing random symbolsto see whether the server has write permissions for the network, the attack must then brute-force the full path to dropped file. The most obvious paths are laid out in Samba instruction manuals, Kaspersky Lab said. Once it finds the path, the exploit is loaded and executed in the context of the Samba server process using the vulnerability; it runs only in virtual memory.

Kaspersky Lab said the attacks captured by its honeypot contained two files, a Linux backdoor and the miner. INAebsGB.soandcblRWuoCc.so respectively. INAebsGB.sois a reverse shell that connects to the port of the IP address specified by the owner giving it remote access to the shell.

As a result, the attackers have an ability to execute remotely any shell-commands. They can literally do anything they want, from downloading and running any programs from the Internet, to deleting all the data from the victims computer, Kaspersky Lab said, adding that this is similar to the SambaCry exploit in Metasploit.

The other file, cblRWuoCc.so, downloads and executes Cpuminer from a domain registered on April 29.

Coincidentally, another set of attackers used EternalBlue to spread a cryptocurrency miner called Adylkuzz for Monero on Windows machines. Monero is marketed as a privacy conscious cryptocurrency, and goes to great lengths to obfuscate its blockchain making it a challenge to trace any activity.

The Adylkuzz attacks pre-date WannaCry with the first samples going back to April 24, researchers at Proofpoint said. More than 20 virtual private servers were scanning the internet for targets running port 445 exposed, the same port used by SMB traffic when connected to the internet, and the same port abused by EternalBlue and DoublePulsar.

Read more:

Attackers Mining Cryptocurrency Using Exploits for Samba Vulnerability - Threatpost

News business and finance

For the first time, Europeans will have the option to trade in a diversified index fund based on cryptocurrencies.

On June 12, 2017, from Zug, Switzerland, Crypto Fund AG announced it is launching the Cryptocurrency Fund, based on the Cryptocurrency Index, to be registered with FINMA (Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority), and will be first investment vehicle of its kind to manifest in the European market.

The Cryptocurrency Index is calculated by an index provider known for investing in virtual currencies with significant market caps, including Ether, bitcoin, Ripple, and other cryptocurrencies. The index's diversification reduces volatility for investors reacting to the surge of emergent currencies in the marketplace, and its growth rate easily outpaces that of traditional equities and securities markets.

Jan Brzezek, CEO of Crypto Fund AG and former president of UBS Asset Management and UBS Group EMEA, spoke of the differences between the new fund and predecessors, which failed to gain approval from regulators:

"We recognized the growing demand of qualified investors for a regulated and transparent gateway to cryptocurrencies and realized that we need a proven and recognized legal framework allowing qualified investors to invest in cryptocurrencies. Unlike the Winkelvoss-ETF, which was rejected by the SEC, we use the regulated and proven Swiss fund structure according to KAG [Swiss Collective Investment Schemes Act], where the asset manager, the fund management company and the custodian bank are legally separate from each other. The Fund will be highly diversified and will not list on an exchange and exclusively target qualified investors.

In March 2017, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected an application by the Gemini Exchange founders, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, to launch the first ever bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF). However, since then, the SEC reopened the matter for public commentary and continues to deliberate on the fate of the fund. The SEC is also currently considering a similar application of an Ether-based ETF proposed by EtherIndexEtherTrust.

For this endeavor, Brzezek has teamed up with Dr. Tobias Reichmuth, who acts as chairman of the board for Crypto Fund AG and is the founding investor. In addition, FinTech expert Marc P. Bernegger joins the board, providing his expertise.

Reichmuth expressed that desires to invest in cryptocurrency come from across the board. He said:

"Private and institutional investors alike show a keen interest for cryptocurrencies as a deflationary value storage medium independent of central banks. Access via a regulated vehicle, to execution and safe storage were so far missing. The Cryptocurrency Fund will be the first regulated fund globally which provides a safe and easy access to the rapidly growing cryptocurrency world.

Bernegger noted that it is no coincidence Zug Valley was chosen as a base, citing regulatory clemency and overall regional stability.

"The term Crypto Valley has quickly gained acceptance and demonstrates the concentration and growth of Cryptocurrency companies and foundations in the region of Zug and Zurich. It is also important to mention that Switzerland with its good reputation in asset management and stable regulation has already accepted virtual currencies as an asset class. In addition, the Swiss mountains offer safe and tested warehouses for digital assets.

Crypto Fund AG is advised by the law firm MME Legal, which specializes in blockchain technology and token offerings. The fund is slated to launch in Q4 2017 and an initial dialogue with FINMA has been established.

Jeremy Nation is a writer living in Los Angeles with interests in technology, human rights, and cuisine. He is a full time staff writer for ETHNews and holds value in Ether.

Read the original here:

Europe's First Cryptocurrency Fund Launching From Zug Valley - ETHNews

Provided by CNBC

Bitcoin (BTC=-USS)traded above $3,000 for the first time on Sunday, continuing this year's massive surge and helped by increased demand from Asia-based investors.

FactSet Research Systems Inc

After trading in a range for the last week, bitcoin climbed to an all-time high Sunday of $3,012.05, according to CoinDesk.

On Chinese exchanges such as BTCC, the currency traded about $40 to $60 above that price. Last week, several major Chinese bitcoin exchanges allowed customers to resume withdrawals of the cryptocurrency, after halting withdrawals in early February amid scrutiny from the People's Bank of China.

The digital currency has had a stellar year, rising nearly 200 percent and easily outperforming stock market benchmarks like the S&P 500 (.SPX) Index and the Nasdaq composite (.IXIC) in 2017. The cryptocurrency has now more than tripled in value since trading at $968 on Dec. 31, and has gained nearly 30 percent in June alone.

Bitcoin in 2017

Source: FactSet

Brian Kelly, CEO and founder of BKCM and a CNBC contributor, told CNBC this week that the cryptocurrency was "in the first years of what is likely to be a multi-year bull market. Of course there will be corrections and even crashes along the way, but bitcoin is here to stay."

A contributing factor to bitcoin's recent surge is growing demand from Asia. In addition to the China factor, Japanese interest has risen ever since the government approved bitcoin as a legal payment method in April.

Investors also plowed more money into the currency after Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari commented on the blockchain technology behind bitcoin, saying it "has more potential than bitcoin itself."

CNBC's Fred Imbert contributed to this report.

View original post here:

Bitcoin bulls runs wild as cryptocurrency surges above $3,000

Europe's first diversified Cryptocurrency Fund Crypto Fund AG is launching the Cryptocurrency Fund, which will be based on the Cryptocurrency Index, investing in the most important cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether, Ripple, and other well-established cryptocurrencies.

The Cryptocurrency Index is calculated by a well-known index provider, and invests in the largest virtual currencies by market capitalization and liquidity. This ensures a high level of diversification which leads to a reduced volatility of the fund, while at the same time ensuring the ability to benefit from the emergence and high growth rate of new cryptocurrencies.

Jan Brzezek, CEO of Crypto Fund AG, explains: "We recognized the growing demand of qualified investors for a regulated and transparent gateway to cryptocurrencies and realized that we need a proven and recognized legal framework allowing qualified investors to invest in cryptocurrencies. Unlike the Winkelvoss-ETF, which was rejected by the SEC, we use the regulated and proven Swiss fund structure according to KAG, where the asset manager, the fund management company and the custodian bank are legally separate from each other. The Fund will be highly diversified and will not list on an exchange and exclusively target qualified investors.

The team headed by cryptocurrency expert Mr. Brzezek, who until recently worked for the President of UBS Asset Management and UBS Group EMEA and was also nominated as Group Innovation Expert by UBS, is complemented by experienced other finance professionals and is supported by well-known Swiss entrepreneurs: Dr. Tobias Reichmuth, CEO and Founder of the successful infrastructure fund manager SUSI Partners AG, has joined Crypto Fund AG both as founding investor and Chairman of the Board. Together with Fintech expert and investor Marc P. Bernegger (Board Member) and further soon to be announced senior banking industry professionals, they support the fast growth of Crypto Fund AG.

Mr. Reichmuth says: "Private and institutional investors alike show a keen interest for cryptocurrencies as a deflationary value storage medium independent of central banks. Access via a regulated vehicle, to execution and safe storage were so far missing. The Cryptocurrency Fund will be the first regulated fund globally which provides a safe and easy access to the rapidly growing cryptocurrency world.

The fact that Switzerland was chosen as a fund domicile is not a coincidence. Mr. Bernegger adds: The term "Crypto Valley" has quickly gained acceptance and demonstrates the concentration and growth of Cryptocurrency companies and foundations in the region of Zug and Zurich. It is also important to mention that Switzerland with its good reputation in asset management and stable regulation has already accepted virtual currencies as an asset class. In addition, the Swiss mountains offer safe and tested warehouses for digital assets.

The law firm MME Legal, which is specialized in blockchain and ICOs, advises Crypto Fund AG on legal matters. The launch of the Fund is expected for Q4 2017. Initial discussions with FINMA have already taken place.

See more here:

Former UBS innovation lead establishes cryptocurrency fund - Finextra

This article highlights findings from CoinDesk Research's new Q1 2017 State of Blockchain report, and expands on the composition of bitcoin, ethereum and other exchange trading volumeinto Q2.

Click here to view the slides in your browser.

Underlying bitcoin and ether'sall-time-high price rallies in Q1 was a dramaticallyshifting global exchange market.

So far in 2017, trading volumes have seen big changes, ones that indicate a reshaping of the global market.

Global exchange volume for bitcoin, for example, plummeted in January after the People's Bank of China (PBoC)issued guidance to domestic exchanges around their regulatory and operational policies. The development led to periods wherewithdrawals and margin tradingwere stalled, andtrading feeswere instituted after years of no-fee trading.

Despite the substantial shifts, here are three trends that CoinDesk Research has highlighted as signs of a maturing overall market in Q1 and the periodsince.

The PBoCs impact on the Chinese 'Big 3' exchanges in January sent worldwide trading volume figures tumbling to levels lower than seen in years.

The drop in CNY volume however made room for USD and JPY markets to develop as major constituents of global trading in Q1.

Since the end of the first quarter, the Japanese yen (JPY)has continued as the leading fiat currency traded for bitcoin (following legislation recognizing bitcoin as a legal payment method), with USD trailing narrowly.

Chinese yuan (CNY)volume has dropped to about a quarter to a third of that of JPY and USD, and South Korean won (KRW)and euros(EUR) are now not far behind, comprising one of the most diverse allocationsof global trading the industry has ever seen.

Markets for ether followed a different trend as prices and volume both spiked at the end of Q1.

Trading throughout the quarter was dominated by BTC, with USD steadily gaining traction.

Regarding exchange trading volume, Poloniex led BTC volumes by a large margin, while Coinbase narrowly edged out Bitfinex for dominance over USD-based markets in the first quarter.

Since then, exchange dominance has remained relatively consistent, but currency rankings have shifted as KRW-based trading rallied into the third place position.

The global composition of ether trading is similarly now the most diverse it has ever been.

Ethereum now serves as the base protocol or infrastructure layer for many decentralized applications as well as acting asa cryptocurrency (now with a combined market cap of several billion dollars alone), further positioning itself as a major backbone of future projects and trading.

The aggregate market cap of all blockchain tokens now exceeds $100m (or more depending on how you evaluate supply), currently dominated by bitcoin, ether and ripple.

Over 130tokens now have an implied valuation of north of $10m, comprised of new blockchains like zcash, monero or litecoin and tokens created on top of existing blockchains (like ethereum or waves) such as golem, augur or gnosis. Just four years ago, onlytwo tokens had a market cap over $10m, bitcoin and litecoin.

In the last month, 18 tokens averaged over $10m in daily trading volume.

As alternative blockchains andassets have grown in popularity, many large exchanges have extended trading support to profit from the trend fueling their rise in trading and quoted valuations.

Leading global digital asset exchanges such as Coinbase, Poloniex, Kraken, Bittrex, Shapeshift and Bitfinex now support numerous markets for tokens and fiat currency pairs. Further, an emerging market of decentralized exchanges and protocols like EtherDelta and 0xis growing, all of which diversifies what was once a centralized and bitcoin-dominated trading market.

The demand side of the equation has also seen increased inflows asall-time-high prices and increased media attention led to new users pouringinto the cryptocurrency space, with major exchanges like Poloniex and Coinbase experiencing record growth and trading across assets.

The allocation of cryptocurrency trading across exchanges and currencies has changed markedly over the years due to sentiment, regulation, hacks and business decisions by exchanges to support new trading pairs.

In March, the SECrejected two bitcoin ETFs, citing the lack of significant regulated markets and industryconcentration in China. Around the same time, the markets sawa notable decrease in volume from China and an increase from South Korea and Japan after significant regulatory guidance.

Since, trading volume compositions have remained more diverse than ever across bitcoin and ethereum, and the industry has seen both pushes to reconsider abitcoin ETF and consider a new ethereum ETF.Wewill undoubtedly see future initiatives for new types of structured products as the market continues to mature.

The biggest change, however, could continue to be the sharpdecrease in bitcoin's dominance should ethereum and other tokens capture a larger percentage of overall trading in a more diverse set of markets.

View CoinDesk Research'sfull Q1 2017 State of Blockchain for more analysis on cryptocurrency trading volumes and other market statistics.

Disclosure: CoinDesk is a subsidiary of DCG, which has an ownership stake in Coinbaseand zcash.

Urban road scene image via Shutterstock

Original post:

3 Signs the Cryptocurrency Exchange Market Is Maturing - CoinDesk

What the hell is happening to cryptocurrency valuations? The total market cap for all cryptocurrencies just surpassed $100 billion. The vast majority of these gains have come in just the last few months on April 1st the total market cap was just over $25 billion representing a 300 percent increase in value in just over 60 days. While some of these gains are from bitcoin itself (BTC is up ~160 percent in the same two-month time frame), other digital currencies like Ethereum are also responsible for the increase, which on its own has increased ~439 percent over the last two months. TechCrunch (also, 3 reasons the cryptocurrency exchange market is maturing & Cryptoeconomics 101)

My experience using hackintosh low-end PC for 3 years Almost 3 years ago I installed Mac OS X mavericks for the first time on my personal computer, before this I used a lot of distributions of gnu linux. but sometimes I had heard about Mac OS X and hackintosh, in that moment it seemed something Impossible to do. After spending hours reading guides in forums, reddit, tonymac86. I decided to try installing mavericks. The first thing I did was to download a torrent of niresh. For that moment there was no support for Yosemite. Jhonny Arana

Pirate Bay founder: Weve lost the internet, its all about damage control now At its inception, the internet was a beautifully idealistic and equal place. But the world sucks and weve continuously made it more and more centralized, taking power away from users and handing it over to big companies. And the worst thing is that we cant fix it we can only make it slightly less awful. The Next Web

An open letter to Microsoft: A 64-bit OS is better than a 32-bit OS There are a few absolutes in life death, taxes, and that a 64-bit OS is better than a 32-bit OS. Moving over to a 64-bit OS allows your laptop to run BOTH the old compatible 32-bit processes and also the new 64-bit processes. In other words, there is zero downside (and there are gigantic upsides). Backblaze

Following the money hobbled vDOS attack-for-hire service A new report proves the value of following the money in the fight against dodgy cybercrime services known as booters or stressers virtual hired muscle that can be rented to knock nearly any website offline. Last fall, two 18-year-old Israeli men were arrested for allegedly running vDOS, perhaps the most successful booter service of all time. Krebs on Security

Automate the freight: maritime drone deliveries Ships at sea are literally islands unto themselves. If what you need isnt on board, good luck getting it in the middle of the Pacific. As such, most ships are really well equipped with spare parts and even with raw materials and the tools needed to fabricate most of what they cant store, and mariners are famed for their ability to make do with what theyve got. Hackaday (also, Japan to launch self-navigating cargo ships 'by 2025')

Its been so windy in Europe that electricity prices have turned negative It's been very windy across Europe this week. So much so, in fact, that the high wind load on onshore and offshore wind turbines across much of the continent has helped set new wind power records. For starters, renewables generated more than half of Britain's energy demand on Wednesdayfor the first time ever. Vice

Amazon lent $1 billion to merchants to boost sales on its marketplace Amazon.com Inc has stepped up lending to third-party sellers on its site who are looking to grow their business, a company executive said in an interview on Wednesday. The e-commerce giant has doled out more than $1 billion in small loans to sellers in the past 12 months, compared with more than $1.5 billion it lent from 2011 through 2015, said Peeyush Nahar, vice president for Amazon Marketplace. Reuters

DARPA funds development of new type of processor A completely new kind of non-von-Neumann processor called a HIVE Hierarchical Identify Verify Exploit is being funded by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) to the tune of $80 million over four-and-a-half years. Chipmakers Intel and Qualcomm are participating in the project, along with a national laboratory, a university and a defense contractor North Grumman. EE Times

Xbox Unleashed: Our deep-dive study of how millions use Xbox Live For three years now, Ars Steam Gauge project and the public sampling projects it has inspired (such as Steam Spy) have provided an important behind-the-scenes look at what kinds of games are popular on PC gamings most popular marketplace. Today, after years of work, were ready to unveil a new effort that similarly uncovers whats popular among Xbox Live users on the Xbox One and Xbox 360. Ars Technica

Read the original here:

Weekend tech reading: Cryptocurrency valuations still rising, 3 years on a Hackintosh - TechSpot