An ethereum mining rig in South Korea.

  Samsung’s semiconductor business is booming, with the company recently overtaking Intel as the world’s biggest chipmaker. But the South Korean firm is not resting on its laurels, and is currently looking to expand into the buzziest contemporary market for processors: cryptocurrency mining.As reported by TechCrunch, Samsung has confirmed it’s in the process of making hardware specially designed for mining cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. A spokesperson for the firm told TechCrunch: “Samsung’s foundry business is currently engaged in the manufacturing of cryptocurrency mining chips. However we are unable to disclose further details regarding our customers.”

These chips are known as ASICs, or application-specific integrated circuits. ASICs are processors that have been specially designed for a single computational task, as opposed to the multi-purpose processors we use in computers and phones. As the valuation of cryptocurrencies has shot up, so has the demand for these sorts of chips. In the case of bitcoin, the currency is created by solving mathematical problems, with these calculations also maintaining the integrity of bitcoin transactions. As more bitcoins are mined, these math problems become increasingly difficult. This has led to miners moving on from using normal integrated graphics cards, to GPUs designed for gaming, and now to specially built ASICs.

It’s not clear exactly what sort of products Samsung will be making, but according to reports from Korean media, it’ll be working with Taiwanese firm TSMC. The company currently supplies chips for a number of firms set up solely to mine cryptocurrencies, including the China-based Bitmain. Meeting the demand for these chips has added around $350 million to $400 million to its quarterly revenue, says TSMC. That’s nothing to be sniffed at, but it’s a small sum compared to the $69 billion revenue generated annually by Samsung’s chip business. Mining cryptocurrencies is buzzy, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be extremely profitable for those selling the silicon shovels.

Samsung made a special chip for mining cryptocurrency

Maybe don't expect GPU prices to drop anytime soon, though.

 

Samsung has a chip designed specifically for mining cryptocurrency.

Rather than repurpose a GPU to do the dirty work, Samsung made an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), which is a specialized processor that is more efficient at mining than, say, an NVIDIA 1080 card. The company has entered into a distribution agreement with an as-of-now anonymous Chinese partner for distribution. As TechCrunch notes, this is significant for at least one reason: This gives the Korean company a way into the Chinese ASIC market, where local firms dominate. It's too early to tell what sort of impact (if any) this could have on Samsung's bottom line, or how it could affect cryptocurrency and China's local players.

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
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David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

UK:
Cryptocurrency Trader Robbed ‘At Gunpoint’, Amount Stolen Unknown

Four masked robbers have broken into the house

of a cryptocurrency trader in Moulsford, Oxfordshire and forced him to transfer all of his bitcoins to them “at gunpoint”, The Telegraph reports Sunday, Jan. 28. According to The Telegraph, this is the first case of cryptocurrency robbery in the UK. The criminals entered the house of a crypto trader and forced him to transfer his entire Bitcoin stash. The exact amount of bitcoins stolen has not yet been specified. Fortunately, the incident did not cause any serious injuries to anyone. The police immediately launched an investigation into the case, however, no arrests were made as of press time.

The police have also asked for help from local citizens:

"Officers are particularly interested in speaking to anyone travelling through [Moulsford] on the A329 Reading Road between 7.30am and 10.30am on Monday who has Dashcam footage or anyone with mobile phone footage.”

Due to their relatively anonymous nature, cryptocurrencies are becoming an increasingly popular target for robberies. Back in December 2017, Cointelegraph covered another case: the managing director of the cryptocurrency exchange EXMO Pavel Lerner was kidnapped in Kiev by an group of unidentified people. Fortunately, Lerner got out safely just two days later, albeit having to pay a ransom of $1 mln in bitcoins. Another robbery has taken place in neighboring Russia in mid-January, in which a locally famous cryptocurrency blogger was deprived of $425,000 worth of bitcoins. The latest news shows that cases of Bitcoin robbery aren’t limited to Russia and surrounding countries, as even the citizens of UK can be targeted by the criminals.

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
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How blockchain could kill
both cable and Netflix

Blockchain technology, powered by nodes of peer-to-peer computers

around the world, is on the rise. So can we expect decentralized entertainment applications built on blockchain to replace streaming services like Netflix or Amazon and be the final death knell for Cable? Video production studios have already seen a lot of disruption recently. Websites like Youtube and Twitch have created a mass market for user-generated content, stripping the cable networks and studios from their positions as the sole creators of mass-market video content. Yet, despite the rise of these mega-websites, most high quality scripted entertainment content today, still comes via a largely centralized model. Studios and networks (now expanded to include streamers Netflix and Amazon) fund the development of content, and the content follows an orderly approach to distribution – from the studio to the end user along one of the pre-defined channels: cable or broadcast or mobile device or website.

Blockchain has the power to fundamentally disrupt the entertainment industry because it brings out a completely new, decentralized model for content distribution. In a blockchain, computers all over the world act together in a peer-to-peer network to work on some task — there is no central server or authority. Today Netflix and Cable still rely on the idea of “centralized” aggregation and distribution. Content creators must get past some number of “gatekeepers” and strike business deals with the network, which then puts the content on a server and distributes it over the air, via coaxial, or more recently, over the internet directly using CDNs (Content Delivery Networks like Akamai or Amazon CloudFront). Decisions about what content is offered, when it’s offered, the price, and the distribution route are still very proprietary and hierarchical.

In a decentralized world, no single website or authority would have a say over what content is to be distributed and how it will reach the “last mile.” No website would be able to block specific content. With decentralized apps (Dapps) for entertainment, whether it’s for live streaming or on-demand video, thousands of computers around the world would act as broadcasters in a mesh network that is not hierarchical. These “super nodes” would solve the last mile problem by broadcasting the signal to computers that are geographically nearby. This will be particularly effective in countries that don’t have lots of presence from existing CDNs.

A number of new crypto projects have cropped up that use either existing blockchains or completely new blockchains as infrastructure for decentralized video streaming. Some of these are optimized for ingesting and compressing content to make it available, such as LivePeer, built on the Steem blockchain, and Viuly, built on Ethereum. Some are application level tokens for streamers and influencers, such as Stream Token and YouNow/PROPS, both on Ethereum. Spectiv VR is focused on the advertising model and making sure content creators get a larger part of it, particularly for VR content. And LBRY and my company, Theta Labs, are building new blockchains/protocols to support third-party DApps for entertainment, esports, and more. Not only could these blockchain projects completely disrupt the distribution world because they no longer require centralized architectures, they can also disrupt the Netflixes of the world and make the idea of channels on cable completely obsolete. What is a channel but an aggregation of curated content over a well-defined distribution network?

Here are a few ways that a fully decentralized blockchain based entertainment network might disrupt the industry:

• Free Up Content Creators. Content creators could create shows and make them available over a decentralized platform instantly – no need to go pitch a studio or try to get Netflix to put you on their system. No more gatekeepers that have to approve your content.
• New Channels. New “channels” could emerge in a completely decentralized way. You could envision channels for esports, live events, fantasy, sci fi, news, etc. These channels could be set up by anyone and joined by content creators.
• Advertising and Free Content. Free content could even disrupt the traditional TV advertising model (which sites like YouTube are also following) by using tokens on these networks. The new blockchain video projects usually provide coins or tokens that advertisers can use to buy exposure on these decentralized channels. They can specify that those coins go directly to the content creator without having to a middleman take a big chunk of the revenue — a large departure from existing practices where the middleman gets the biggest chunk.
• Paid Content. As for paid entertainment or the subscription model, viewers could use the new tokens issued by decentralized content networks to subscribe to particular channels or to pay a particular content creator. This could replace cable on-demand and give viewers unlimited choice of what can be seen “on-demand.” HBO and other subscription networks recently released their own apps so you don’t need a cable subscription to watch them. The next HBO may be a completely decentralized network that is not tied to cable at all!

Conclusion: Watch out.

Technology changes have always impacted the entertainment industry. While the internet has created new ways to consume content, the creation and distribution of high quality shows has, for the most part, still been dominated by a small number of players, studios, TV networks, cable providers, and aggregators like Netflix. This hasn’t led to the democratization of content that was the promise of the internet.

Blockchain technology has the ability to fundamentally disrupt the entertainment industry by breaking that pseudo monopoly, replacing the centralized gate-keepers with a peer-to-peer network. Many of these projects will be going live towards the end of this year, and we can expect to see rapid growth of the new players in 2019 and 2020. Just as it took Netflix a number of years to displace Blockbuster and video rental stores as the dominant way to consume on-demand entertainment, it may take a number of years before the new decentralized approach becomes the dominant trend. Look to the 2020s to be the decade of blockchain in entertainment.

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
Contributor

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David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Bank-based blockchain projects
are going to transform the financial services industry

Cryptocurrencies are constantly evolving,

with popular currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum maintaining their popularity despite recent market corrections. At the core of both technologies is the cryptographically secure digital ledger known as the blockchain. It’s a digital ledger where cryptocurrency transactions are recorded chronologically and publicly. Indeed, as the popularity of cryptocurrencies has grown, so has the banking industry’s interest in blockchain for fintech, with an increased and focused push on bank-backed blockchain projects. Some of the largest projects underway include the IBM-backed Hyperledger Fabric project, the Utility Settlement Coin, and R3’s blockchain consortium, signifying a growing acceptance in institutional policy to support blockchain growth

How does it work?

Currently, banks transact with each other by creating agreements, as one would when purchasing an item from a store. A common example would be a bank agreeing to purchase a specific amount of stock for a specific cash price from another. This process, often cumbersome and slow, takes up to several days and incurs the risk that one party may default or renege on the agreement. This period of time, known as settlement, is such an issue that an Oliver Wyman report identified it as costing the financial industry anywhere from $65-$80 billion a year.

Blockchain projects have the potential to reduce, and possibly eliminate, settlement times due to their digital nature, ensuring the timely and secure processing of these operations. Other uses for bank-backed blockchain projects would include secured global currency exchange rate speeds and increased transaction security, among other benefits, eventually allowing for an overhaul of the banking industry, replacing traditional back-office clearinghouses and other outdated mediums that exist between asset sellers and buyers.

IBM’s Hyperledger Fabric

The IBM-backed Hyperledger Fabric project is a trade finance platform aimed at international payments utilizing blockchain, with seven of its largest supporters including Deutsche Bank, HSBC, KBC, Natixis, Rabobank, Societe Generale and Unicredit. IBM’s blockchain platform will run through the IBM Cloud, allowing for interconnectivity between all parties in a particular secure transaction. This project is designed to be highly scalable, allowing for multiple entrants to easily integrate into the entire financial supply chain process through the secure blockchain, allowing for an unprecedented amount of transaction transparency. In mid-October, IBM revealed a partnership with blockchain startup Stellar, spreading the influence of the Hyperledger Fabric project to global levels unseen before.

The Utility Settlement Coin

Six of the world’s largest banks, Barclays, CIBC, Credit Suisse, HSBC, MUFG, and State Street, have announced backing of the UBS and Clearmatics-spearheaded Utility Settlement Coin, joining other industry heavyweights who have already pledged their support for the project, including BNY Mellon, Deutsche Bank, and Santander. The UTC specifically tackles the use of blockchain technologies by traditional banks, utilizing it as a tool for more efficient transactions. Additionally, the UTC addresses the issue of currency backing, with the UTC being backed by cash at a central bank, preventing default and credit risk. These safeguards play a huge role in why the UTC has so much pledged interest, allowing banks to take part in the relatively young digital currency ecosystem. The UTC is definitely a sign of fintech adoption in the banking industry, ensuring the eventual wide-scale use of blockchain technologies on a standardized level across the globe.

R3

Blockchain consortium R3 is another player in the bank-based blockchain space, raising $107 million in May, with four of its backers being Temasek, SBI Group, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Intel, with further support pledged from industry heavyweights such as Wells Fargo and ING. One of R3’s primary projects has been the development of their Corda platform, with future plans for an infrastructure network specifically geared toward financial institutions to build their own ledger-based applications and services, implying that these banks currently have and will grow their own teams of blockchain developers. R3 is also focused on governmental acceptance of blockchain, with buy-in from these institutions signifying a drastic shift in terms of governmental compliance and usage of such fintech.

By presenting credible potential resolutions of current-day issues, these projects represent large-scale efforts by the banking industry to fully embrace and integrate blockchain into their current infrastructures. Industry consumers and participants alike should be excited to see how the industry develops in the next coming months.

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
Contributor

Please click either Link to learn more about Bitcoin.
Interested or have Questions, Call Me, 559-474-4614

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Telegram’s ICO:
Give us $2 billion and we’ll solve
all of Blockchain’s problems

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Blockchain Adoption:
How Close Are We Really?

The Diffusion of Innovation Theory,

first postulated by Everett Rogers in 1962, explains how an idea, product, or behavior takes root in society through different segments of a population. It starts slowly at first with the "innovators" and "early adopters," who make up just 16% of the population; these are the intrepid individuals who see opportunities before they are there, who are willing to experiment, take huge risks, and change the status quo.

After them, the innovation begins to gain traction and spreads exponentially to the "early majority," who are more wary than the ones who came before but still eager to jump onboard. They are followed by the "late majority"—a risk-averse and skeptical population—and finally, the "laggards," the ones who are most resistant to change. At this point, the diffusion of innovation is complete—a new norm or product has achieved dominance in society. This model of adoption has occurred throughout history, from the rise of the iPhone to the abolishment of slavery.

Blockchain Today

Where, then, should we situate blockchain on this curve? Many believe we are already in the "early majority" phase of exponential growth, and that we are on the cusp of full adoption. I wish to temper expectations and introduce more nuance into the equation. It is important that we examine the issue of blockchain adoption from two different angles: investments and technology.

On the investments front, blockchain has indeed reached the level of "early majority." More and more capital, both institutional and household, is being poured into cryptocurrencies today. In 2017 alone, the total crypto market capitalization ballooned from 18 billion dollars to more than half a trillion dollars. Coinbase, the online exchange for buying and selling digital currency, recently reached more than 10 million users worldwide and became the most downloaded app on the U.S. Apple Store. Online wallet and portfolio tracking apps like imToken from China and CoinManager from Korea have also seen exponential expansion in their user base. In Korea, one of the largest crypto markets in the world, more than one-third of salaried workers are investors. CBOE and CME, two of the world’s largest financial exchanges, took the unprecedented step of launching Bitcoin futures last month. Across the globe, more than 2000 Bitcoin ATMs have sprouted up. The signs are clear.

How Far Have We Really Come?

From a technological perspective, however, we are still quite far behind. Firstly, there exists a dearth of talent. Blockchain developers are few and far between; the growth of many crypto-projects has been limited by the difficulty of finding qualified technologists. Secondly, there remain many technical issues that need to be ironed out, the most notable of which is scaling. Blockchain networks are still not capable of handling the high transaction volumes that could rival that of large industries and financial institutions. Without the appropriate scaling solutions, transactions costs would be too high and the wait times too long for viable adoption. This can be especially concerning, given that 2018 is the year where a lot of blockchain platforms start running on the Ethereum blockchain.

The sudden influx of many blockchain applications will likely exert greater pressure on the network, due to the exponential increase of activities on the blockchain. If not handled properly, this might result in expensive transaction costs for application on the Ethereum blockchain, and unbearably long waiting time for a transaction to be processed. That said, there are several promising scaling projects currently in the pipeline, including Raiden Network, Plasma, Zilliqa, and Lightning Network. In light of these challenges, I would say that the technology aspect of blockchain is only in the "early adopter" stage, perhaps even in the "innovator" stage.

A Growing Gap

You can see the problem here. There is a gap between technology and investments. If we continue to grow the latter without supporting the development of the former, we might face a severe overvaluation of cryptocurrencies. Yes, the market has reached half a trillion dollars, but as Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum, recently questioned, “Have we earned it?” More must be done to support the training of blockchain developers. Leading institutions such as National University of Singapore and Singapore Management University are some of the pioneers in this regards. And of course, greater resources should be directed towards advancing scaling solutions. Blockchain technology needs to catch up to blockchain investments. If the gap is too large for that to happen, perhaps we should dial down the fervor of our speculation.

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
Contributor

Please click either Link to learn more about Bitcoin.
Interested or have Questions, Call Me, 559-474-4614

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

US cybersecurity firm Recorded Future has released a new report linking Lazarus,

a North Korean hacking group, to various South Korean cryptocurrency exchange hacking attacks and security breaches. In a report entitled “North Korea Targeted South Korean Cryptocurrency Users and Exchange in Late 2017 Campaign,” the firm’s researchers stated that the same type of malware used in the Sony Pictures security breach and WannaCry ransomware attack was utilized to target Coinlink, a South Korea-based cryptocurrency exchange.

“North Korean government actors, specifically Lazarus Group, continued to target South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges and users in late 2017, before Kim Jong Un’s New Year’s speech and subsequent North-South dialogue. The malware employed shared code with Destover malware, which was used against Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2014 and the first WannaCry victim in February 2017,” the report read.

$7 mln stolen from Bithumb

In February 2017, Bithumb, the second largest cryptocurrency exchange in the global market by daily trading volume, fell victim to a security breach that led to the loss of around $7 mln of user funds, mostly in Bitcoin and Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency Ether. The report released by Recorded Future noted that the $7 mln Bithumb security breach has been linked to North Korean hackers. Insikt Group researchers, a group of cybersecurity researchers that closely track the activities of North Korean hackers regularly, revealed that Lazarus Group, in particular, has used a wide range of tools from spear phishing attacks to malware distribution through communication platforms to gain access to cryptocurrency wallets and accounts.

Insikt Group researchers disclosed that Lazarus Group hackers initiated a massive malware campaign in the fall of 2017 and since then, North Korean hackers have focused on spreading malware by attaching files containing fraudulent software to gain access to individual devices. One method Lazarus Group employed was the distribution of Hangul Word Processor (HWP) files through email, the South Korea equivalent of Microsoft Word documents, with malware attached. If any cryptocurrency user downloads the malware, it autonomously installs itself and operates in the background, taking control of or manipulating data stored within the specific device.

“By 2017, North Korean actors had jumped on the cryptocurrency bandwagon. The first known North Korean cryptocurrency operation occurred in February 2017, with the theft of $7 mln (at the time) in cryptocurrency from South Korean exchange Bithumb. By the end of 2017, several researchers had reported additional spear phishing campaigns against South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges, numerous successful thefts, and even Bitcoin and Monero mining,” Insikt Group researchers wrote.

Motivation of North Korean hackers

Prior to the release of Recorded Future’s report, several other cybersecurity firms had accused North Korean hacking groups of targeting South Korean cryptocurrency trading platforms with sophisticated malware and phishing attack tools. Researchers at FireEye linked six targeted cyber attacks against South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges to state-financed hackers based in North Korea. Most recently, as Cointelegraph reported, police investigators and the Korea Internet and Security Agency initiated a full investigation into a security breach that led to the bankruptcy of YouBit, a South Korean cryptocurrency trading platform.

At the time, local investigators stated that they have found evidence to link the YouBit security breach to North Korean hackers. FireEye senior analyst Luke McNamara also told Bloomberg that similar tools widely utilized by North Korean hackers were employed in the YouBit hacking attack. “This an adversary that we have been watching become increasingly capable and also brazen in terms of the targets that they are willing to go after. This is really just one prong in a larger strategy that they seem to be employing since at least 2016, where they have been using capability that has been primarily used for espionage to actually steal funds.”

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
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What looked too good to be true ended up being just that,

as Bitconnect has all but closed its doors. Long accused of being a Ponzi-scheme, Bitconnect shut down its cryptocurrency exchange and lending service this week. As stated on their website, Bitconnect had received cease and desist letters from two American securities regulators – leading to the closure of their lending and exchange platforms. Still, Bitconnect will continue to run its website and wallet service.

Sketchy ‘Ponzi’ offerings

Since its inception in January 2017, many were skeptical about Bitconnect services. In essence, one needed to send Bitconnect Bitcoin in exchange for Bitconnect Coin (BCC) on their exchange. Once you had BCC, you were guaranteed “up to 120 percent return per year.” Users were told they were earning interest by holding their coin “for helping maintain the security of the network.”

Lending platform

Bitconnect’s lending platform is what really led to accusations of a Ponzi scheme, as well as cease and desist orders from regulators. As the above illustration explains, users bought BCC with Bitcoin and then lent out their BCC on the Bitconnect lending software. Users would receive varying percentages of interest depending on the amount of BCC they had lent. Add in the referral system seen in many other Ponzi schemes and the fact that the operation was run anonymously; it's hardly surprising that this whole endeavor has ended in tears.

The lending scheme was the main draw card of Bitconnect because of its huge promise of returns. In order to participate in the scheme, you had to buy BCC – which saw the token hit an all-time high of $437.31 per BCC before it plummeted in value following the closure this week. That being said, the cryptocurrency is still alive and trading at around $35 at the time of writing.

Social media burns Bitconnect

Following Bitconnect’s closure, social media was abuzz with sentiments of ‘I told you so.’ TenX co-founder Julian Hosp highlighted the fact that BCC was still trading as

a real head-scratcher.

Everything that's wrong with crypto in one picture!
— Dr. Julian Hosp

Francis Pouliot shared a hilarious video of a Bitconnect meet which had been slightly

dubbed over.

People invested billions of dollars in this
(This video is actually hilarious recommended for memephiles) 

— Francis Pouliot

American cartoonist Spike Trotman shared one of the most entertaining and eerily accurate predictions back in September 2017, postulating that Bitconnect was indeed a Ponzi scheme. Her latest tweet is a screenshot of the Bitconnect Reddit page, with subreddits for a suicide hotline as well as a massive legal action megathread. Do yourself a favor and take a look at Iron Spike’s full threat on Bitconnect –

it’s brilliant.

The current state of the Bitconnect subreddit is truly a thing to behold.

Rodolfo Novak shared a photo of the monumental collapse in price of Bitconnect from Coinmarketcap, highlight the moment the Ponzi scheme hits

‘exit time.’

This is what a real ponzi looks like at the scam exit time. 

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
Contributor

Please click either Link to learn more about Bitcoin.
Interested or have Questions, Call Me, 559-474-4614

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden