Bitcoin – Lifeboat News: The Blog

May 18
2016

A hacker is reportedly selling the stolen emails and passwords of 117 million LinkedIn users

Privacy is practically a joke anymore.

A hacker known as “Peace” is selling what is reportedly account information from 117 million LinkedIn users. The stolen data is said to include email addresses and passwords, which a malicious party could use to gain access to other websites and accounts for which people used the same password.

LinkedIn says it has about 433 million members worldwide, so this data could represent 27% of its user base.

The hacker says the credentials were obtained during a LinkedIn data breach in 2012 that saw 6.5 million encrypted passwords posted online, according to Motherboard. But the leak now appears to be much larger than was thought at the time. Peace is selling the data for about $2,200 (5 bitcoin) on the Dark Web, the part of the internet accessible only with a special browser that masks user identities.

May 13
2016

Scientific Research Needs a Trustless Blockchain Architecture to Be Trusted

Dr. Greg Irving, a Clinical Lecturer from the University of Cambridge, recently authored a research project on the potential impact of blockchain technology on scientific research. While the use is not novel in principle, it underscores the very reason blockchain was created.

Why Scientific Research?

Irving, and rightfully so, says that in order to truly trust scientific research the reader’s must know that the content and subsequent conclusions of the research has maintained its integrity throughout editing and publishing. The author references “outcome switching, data dredging, and selective publication” as just a some of the potential pitfalls that can result in bastardized research. How then can researchers increase the trust that their research is has not been tampered with? In response Irving writes.

May 10
2016

CoinFac Brings Quantum Computing Technology To Cryptocurrency Mining

QC meets Blockchaining; nice.

CoinFac Limited, a technology company, has recently introduced the next generation quantum computing technology into cryptocurrency mining, allowing current Bitcoin and Altcoin miners to enjoy a 4,000 times speed increase.

Quantum computing is being perceived as the next generation of supercomputers capable of processing dense digital information and generating multi-sequential algorithmic solutions 100,000 times faster than conventional computers. With each quantum computing server costing at an exorbitant price tag of $5 Million — $10 Million, this revolutionary concoction comprising advanced technological servers with a new wave of currency systems, brings about the most uprising event in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

“We envisioned cryptocurrency to be the game changer in most developed country’s economy within the next 5 years. Reliance of quantum computing technology expedite the whole process, and we will be recognized as the industry leader in bringing about this tidal change. We aren’t the only institution fathom to leverage on this technology. Other Silicon big boys are already in advance talks of a possible tie up”, said Mike Howzer, CEO of CoinFac Limited. “Through the use of quantum computing, usual bitcoin mining processes are expedited by a blazing speed of 4,000 times. We bring lucrative mining back into Bitcoin industry, all over again”.

Google, NASA and Microsoft have been in close talk with the developers of a possible integration using quantum computing into their existing products and platform.

May 7
2016

Can Bitcoin be defeated by legislation?

The question breaks down into two parts:

For what public benefit? —and—
No, it cannot be achieved in this way

Governments are in the business of regulating certain activities—hopefully in an effort to serve the public good. In the case of business methods and activities, their goal is to maintain an orderly marketplace; one that is fair, safe and conducive to economic growth.

But regulation that lacks a clear purpose or a reasonable detection and enforcement mechanism is folly. Such regulation risks making government seem arbitrary, punitive or ineffective.

«— This is money. It is not a promissory note, a metaphor, an analogy or an abstract representation of money in some account. It is the money itself. Unlike your national currency, it does not require an underlying asset or redemption guarantee.

Bitcoin is remarkably resistant to effective regulation because it is a fully distributed, peer-to-peer mechanism. There is no central set of books, no bank to subpoena, and no central committee to pressure (at least not anyone who can put the genie back into the bottle). In essence, there is no choke point or accountable administrative party.

Sure—it is possible to trace some transactions and legislate against ‘mixers’ and other anonymization methods—but there is no way to prevent a transaction before it occurs or to know the current distribution of assets. Bitcoin can exist as a printed QR code and it can be transmitted from a jail cell with a blinking flashlight. Sending bitcoin from Alice to Bob has no intermediary. Settlement requires only that one of the parties eventually has access to the Internet. But, there is no credit authority or central asset verification. _{[continue below image]…}

feral_cat_mating-02-ts

If you are thinking of legislating against the use of Bitcoin, you might as well pass laws to ban the mating of feral cats or forbid water from seeping into underground basements. These things are beyond the domain of human geopolitics. You can try to shape the environment (e.g. offer incentives to cats and water levels), but you cannot stop sex or seepage.

Fortunately, Bitcoin is not a threat to governments—not even to spending or taxation. A gross misunderstanding of economics and sociology has led some nations to be suspicious of Bitcoin, but this improper perception is abating. Governments are gradually recognizing that Bitcoin presents more of an opportunity than a threat.

I have written more extensively on this issue:

Philip Raymond is co-chair of Cryptocurrency Standards Association, MC for The Bitcoin Event in NY and board member for Lifeboat Foundation. This fall, he will teach Cryptocurrency and The Blockchain in Massachusetts.

May 6
2016

Bitcoin Pundicy: A Lifeboat Perspective

Here in the Lifeboat Blog, I have the luxury of pontificating on existential, scientific and technical topics that beg for an audience—and sometimes—a pithy opinion. Regular Lifeboat readers know that I was recently named most viewed Bitcoin writer at Quora under a Nom de Plume.

Quora is not a typical Blog. It is an educational site. Questions and numerous answers form the basis of a crowd-sourced popularity contest. Readers can direct questions to specific experts or armchair analysts. A voting algorithm leads to the emergence of some very knowledgeable answers, even among laypersons and ‘armchair’ experts.

During the past few weeks, Quora readers asked me a litany of queries about Bitcoin and the blockchain, and so I am sharing selected Q&A here at Lifeboat. This is my professional field—and so, just as with Mr. Trump, I must resist an urge to be verbose or bombastic. My answers are not the shortest, but they are compact. Some employ metaphors, but they explain complex ideas across a broad audience.

As you browse some recent Bitcoin questions below, click a question for which you know the least. (Example: Do you know what the coming ‘halving event’ is about?). Leave a comment or question. I am interested in your opinion.

_{Philip Raymond sits on Lifeboat’s New Money Systems Board, is co-chair of the}
^{The Cryptocurrency Standards Association, and is a most viewed writer at Quora.}

May 3
2016

How Craig Wright Privately ‘Proved’ He Created Bitcoin — By Andy Greenberg | Wired

“Who rumors surfaced early last month that Australian cryptographer Craig Wright would attempt to prove that he created Bitcoin, Gavin Andresen remained skeptical. As the chief scientist of the Bitcoin Foundation, his opinion counts: Andresen is among the earliest programmers for the cryptocurrency, and likely the one who has corresponded more than anyone with Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s pseudonymous, long-lost inventor.”

Apr 30
2016

Russia’s NDS Uses Blockchain For E-Proxy Voting

Recently the Russia’s National Settlement Depository (NDS), an organization that provides settlement and depository services, began testing blockchain technology as a potential solution for a corporate e-proxy voting system. The results will not shock you but the origin of praise for the system just might.

NDS began looking into solutions for e-proxy voting in August of 2014. The prototype they recently tested is based on the NXT platform. The system also adheres to the ISO 20022 standard for messaging. NDS worked with the UK based DSX Technologies to develop the e-proxy voting system. The recent testing was conducted during a bondholder meeting.

With this e-proxy voting system, cascade messaging is enabled through a chain of nominee accounts. This chain is from the issuer to the voter and then back. In this configuration, NSD manages the database for the chain in order to ultimately oversee that all voting protocol was followed during the process. All of the information that is on the blockchain is then encrypted and able to be viewed by participants. The digital signatures embedded in the blockchain provide verification that the voting is within the time constraints allotted, all votes are accounted for, and that the process is transparent.

Apr 28
2016

Blockchain Smart Contracts: A Hyper-Deflationary Force for Health Care Delivery

Blockchaining coming to healthcare digital services.

Blockchain and digital health services could be a perfect match for each other across a variety of applications. From distributed interoperable health records to proof of adherence for medication, the healthcare industry is ripe for digital innovation. More generally, technology is a hyper-deflationary force, and this could be particularly effective in delivering quality health care through more effective channels such as mobile apps.

Investments in the digital health space have increased significantly in the past two years. This is largely possible because of improved low-power sensors and user-friendly cloud platforms that interface with those hardware devices. The Rock Health Funding Database shows a $4.5 billion increase in venture funding in digital health from 2014 to 2015.

Smart contract technology is built on top of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin and is a hallmark of “Bitcoin 2.0” platforms. Blockchain is the fundamental infrastructure needed for Bitcoin transactions to work, and an enabling technology for the next generation of asset-based platforms.

Apr 25
2016

DARPA wants someone to build the DoD a new secure Blockchain based messaging platform

I was talking to someone only last week about this plus leveraging GPU chips.

The United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is advertising for a business to assist it in building a secure messaging app using distributed ledger (Blockchain) technology for the Department of Defense (DoD).

An advertisement for the role appeared on the Defense Business portal and states that there is a “critical DoD need to develop a secure messaging and transaction platform accessible via web browser or standalone native application.”

The said platform would be required to offer separate message creation, from the transfer of the message within a secure courier to the reception and decryption of the message.

Apr 20
2016

What Does it Mean to “Move to the Cloud”? This eBook Breaks Down the Myths

Again; many problems with AI & IoT all ties back to the infrastructure of things. Focus on fast tracking QC and an interim solution (pre-QC) such as a mix of Nvidia’s GPU, blockchain for financial transactions, etc. to improve the infrastructure and Net then investors will begin to pay more attention to AI, etc.

After more than 60 years since its conceptual inception — and after too many hype-generating moments — AI is yet again making its presence felt in mainstream media.

Following a recent WEF report, many perceive AI as a threat to our jobs, while others even go so far to assert that it poses a real threat to humanity itself.

What is clear for the time being is that there are many questions that still remain unanswered: Can we actually create conscious machines that have the ability to think and feel? What we do we mean by the word conscious in the first place? What is the accurate definition of intelligence? And what are the implications of combining the Internet of Things (IoT) with intelligence?