{"id":4274,"date":"2018-01-19T20:27:39","date_gmt":"2018-01-19T20:27:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/?p=4274"},"modified":"2018-05-05T12:31:01","modified_gmt":"2018-05-05T12:31:01","slug":"news-450m-tethers-this-week-bitconnect-shuts-down-gpu-miner-viruses-us-treasury-unbanking-the-banked-altcoin-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/01\/19\/news-450m-tethers-this-week-bitconnect-shuts-down-gpu-miner-viruses-us-treasury-unbanking-the-banked-altcoin-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"News: 450m Tethers this week, BitConnect shuts down, GPU miner viruses, US Treasury, unbanking the banked, altcoin fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>As the Bitcoin price <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/01\/16\/tis-just-a-seasonal-dip-watching-the-bitcoin-fire-from-a-safe-distance-what-just-happened\/\">takes a dive<\/a>, new batches of Tethers\u00a0\u2014 the dollar-substitute token that Bitfinex and Tether swear is fully-backed, even if the audits they&#8217;ve been promising for months still haven&#8217;t materialised\u00a0\u2014 have coincidentally been released daily for the past five days. 50 million on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tetherprinter\/status\/952617647476060160\">January 15th<\/a>, 100 million on each of the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tetherprinter\/status\/952887157139505152\">16th<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tetherprinter\/status\/953711933181476864\">17th<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tetherprinter\/status\/954025966124216320\">18th<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tetherprinter\/status\/954389253055660033\">today<\/a>. I&#8217;m finally putting together a proper writeup on Tether; it&#8217;ll end noting (<a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2017\/12\/05\/bitfinex-rattles-legal-sabres-at-critics-tether-fails-to-redeem-usdt-1m-for-dollars\/\">again<\/a>) that Bitfinex\/Tether really need to release proper audits documenting how this is all actually just fine, because as it stands I&#8217;m frankly amazed the market is still pricing these things as being equivalent to a dollar. When a central bank goes around just printing money, people <em>question<\/em> it.<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/wallet.tether.to\/richlist\">Tether Rich List<\/a> is every exchange that would be in deep trouble if the market ever stops pricing these things at around a dollar. (Here&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/https:\/\/wallet.tether.to\/richlist\">snapshots from the last couple of months.<\/a>)<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Though there is genuine user demand for Tethers \u2014 from crypto traders using Tether to move dollar-equivalent value <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tradingheroes.com\/preserve-cryptocurrency-gains\/\">between exchanges<\/a>, rather than going via an altcoin with thin trading and a wide spread between exchanges.<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>(By the way\u00a0\u2014 does anyone know why CoinMarketCap&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/coinmarketcap.com\/currencies\/bitcoin\/#markets\">list of Bitcoin exchanges<\/a> lists all other exchanges with only Tethers as BTC\/USDT, but Bitfinex as BTC\/USD?)<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Ignore <a href=\"http:\/\/uk.businessinsider.com\/cryptocurrency-traders-in-korea-react-to-bitcoin-bloodbath-2018-1\/?r=US&amp;IR=T\">the text of this article<\/a> and scroll down to the pictures from angry Bitcoin men who smashed up their computing equipment when number go down.<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/01\/19\/news-450m-tethers-this-week-bitconnect-shuts-down-gpu-miner-viruses-us-treasury-unbanking-the-banked-altcoin-fraud\/rollercoaster-explosion\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4280\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4280\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/rollercoaster-explosion.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"324\" height=\"214\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Just as Bitcoin crashed, the BitConnect Ponzi scheme also proceeded to shut down and <a href=\"http:\/\/stockemperor.com\/currencies\/bitconnect-exit-scam-suicide\/\">exit-scam.<\/a> It was an <a href=\"http:\/\/behindmlm.com\/mlm-reviews\/bitconnect-review-bitconnect-coin-pump-dump-with-ponzi-rois\/\">obvious Ponzi from the start<\/a> \u2014 a &#8220;high-yield&#8221; investment programme whose returns on investment (40% a month) were clearly not possible or sustainable. Since this is crypto, they&#8217;ve started a new scheme, <a href=\"https:\/\/bitconnectx.co\/\">BitConnectX.<\/a> They&#8217;re running an ICO.<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>China doesn&#8217;t want ICOs, doesn&#8217;t want <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2017\/09\/16\/china-tethers-and-whats-happened-to-the-bitcoin-price-in-the-past-few-days\/\">crypto exchanges<\/a> and is <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/01\/06\/bitcoin-mining-being-pushed-out-of-china-whats-happening-and-how-the-shutdowns-being-managed\/\">pushing out the miners.<\/a> So the new thing is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.xinhuanet.com\/english\/2018-01\/13\/c_136892763.htm\">&#8220;initial miner offerings.&#8221;<\/a><\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Gamers are <a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/tech-policy\/2018\/01\/cryptocurrency-boom-creates-insane-global-graphics-card-shortage\/\">very annoyed<\/a> at the crypto craze, as it sends the price of high-end video cards up. But there&#8217;s now <a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/information-technology\/2018\/01\/in-the-wild-malware-preys-on-computers-dedicated-to-mining-cryptocurrency\/\">a computer virus that targets GPU miners<\/a> \u2014 it keeps them mining, but changes the payment address from yours to theirs.<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The US Treasury, with IRS examiners, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2018-01-17\/virtual-currencies-seen-as-evolving-threat-by-u-s-treasury\">is reviewing<\/a> 100 &#8220;registered digital currency providers as well as others that have not registered.&#8221; There aren&#8217;t 100 exchanges in the US &#8230; this will be interesting.<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Unbanking the banked: UK customers are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/news\/uk\/uk-banks-defend-stance-on-bitcoins-as-investors-claim-they-are-being-shunned-a3742656.html\">losing their accounts<\/a> because actually, banks are super-cautious about money laundering these days. And Metropolitan Bank, which is used by a lot of crypto companies, such as Coinbase, is <a href=\"http:\/\/fortune.com\/2018\/01\/14\/metropolitan-bank-cryptocurrency-wires\/\">refusing to touch crypto wires henceforth.<\/a><\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>There&#8217;s something about &#8220;blockchain,&#8221; in the hype and puffery sense, that attracts the sort of consultant who presents the idea of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.version2.dk\/artikel\/blockchain-karakterbog-alexa-overvaager-boernene-her-kommunernes-digitale-vision-1084070\">living in a panopticon, but on the blockchain<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/translate.google.com\/translate?sl=auto&amp;tl=en&amp;js=y&amp;prev=_t&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.version2.dk%2Fartikel%2Fblockchain-karakterbog-alexa-overvaager-boernene-her-kommunernes-digitale-vision-1084070&amp;edit-text=\">English translation<\/a>) as a good idea. In this case they&#8217;re called Daredisrupt, because the first thing anyone wants from their public services is disruption. The main thing protecting us from these people is the stupendous infeasibility of every detail. (Via <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/agger_modspil\/status\/954359376311136256\">Carsten Agger<\/a>.)<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_Altucher\">James Altucher<\/a>, the financial newsletter writer who predicted that <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2017\/09\/24\/amazon-is-accepting-bitcoin-spoiler-there-is-no-evidence-nor-reason-for-amazon-to-accept-bitcoin\/\">Amazon would start accepting Bitcoin in October 2017,<\/a> now claims that he&#8217;s examined the code of various cryptos, and has <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DaytradeJeffrey\/status\/944584837700247552\">found a line of computer code<\/a> that can telegraph precisely when minor altcoins are going to go up and down, &#8220;WEEKS in advance&#8221; \u2014 and that he not only knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is, but <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bitcoinrick\/status\/953090058105622528\">reads his blog every day.<\/a> Huge if true.<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"und\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OWiil7ymjQ\">pic.twitter.com\/OWiil7ymjQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; DaytradeJeffrey\ud83d\udcc8 (@DaytradeJeffrey) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DaytradeJeffrey\/status\/944584837700247552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 23, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">found a little gem on his blog <br \/>(  <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iF8xEW5sQp\">https:\/\/t.co\/iF8xEW5sQp<\/a> ) <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/eA4vyakYca\">pic.twitter.com\/eA4vyakYca<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; bitcoinrick (@bitcoinrick) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bitcoinrick\/status\/953090058105622528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 16, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Meanwhile, what <em>actually<\/em> predicts minor altcoin price rises: <a href=\"https:\/\/bitfalls.com\/2018\/01\/12\/anatomy-pump-dump-group\/\">highly organised pump-and-dump fraud rings.<\/a> If everyone&#8217;s suddenly talking up some altcoin or ICO &#8230; assuming it&#8217;s all just <a href=\"http:\/\/uk.businessinsider.com\/how-traders-pump-and-dump-cryptocurrencies-2017-11\/?r=US&amp;IR=T\/#as-the-pump-moves-to-the-dump-those-in-on-the-scam-spread-messages-across-other-channels-urging-people-to-buy-the-coin-5\">blatant fraud<\/a> will be <a href=\"http:\/\/uk.businessinsider.com\/interview-with-cryptocurrency-pump-and-dump-telegram-group-admin-2017-12?r=US&amp;IR=T\">correct most of the time.<\/a><\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/01\/19\/news-450m-tethers-this-week-bitconnect-shuts-down-gpu-miner-viruses-us-treasury-unbanking-the-banked-altcoin-fraud\/pump-circles\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4287\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4287\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/pump-circles.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"676\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/pump-circles.png 676w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/pump-circles-300x187.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/01\/10\/kodaks-ico-for-a-stock-photo-site-that-doesnt-exist-yet-but-the-stock-price\/\">KodakCoin<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/01\/10\/kodak-pt-2-photographers-cant-sell-kodakcoin-and-the-kodak-kashminer-is-a-bitcoin-mining-scam\/\">Kodak KashMiner<\/a> won Worst Idea in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/technology-42657077\">BBC Tech Tent&#8217;s CES 2018 Techie Awards.<\/a> And that&#8217;s quite an achievement for all of CES.<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Martin Lewis from MoneySavingExpert writes a good post for the general reader: <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.moneysavingexpert.com\/2017\/11\/30\/invest-bitcoin-four-things-need-know\/\">Should you invest in Bitcoin? Four things you need to know.<\/a><\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>A <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/patio11\/status\/952093122883829760\">Twitter thread<\/a> from Patrick McKenzie on financial institution computer systems\u00a0\u2014 apposite to <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/01\/13\/news-kik-vs-sec-kraken-still-offline-brazil-portugal-why-you-cant-cash-out-porn-ico-musical-blockchain\/\">Kraken&#8217;s recent IT disaster<\/a>, but widely applicable to the crypto space ever since the evening Jed McCaleb thought &#8220;I know PHP! How hard could running an exchange be?&#8221; and created Mt. Gox.<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Meshed Insights&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/meshedinsights.com\/2018\/01\/17\/floss-weekly-467-aragon\/\">FLOSS Weekly Podcast<\/a> is about the world of open-source and free software. This week&#8217;s is about &#8220;the Aragon project. It\u2019s a blockchain-based system layered on Ethereum using smart contracts to support distributed ownership and operation of a company. The project is also implementing distributed political discourse, especially in support of LiquidDemocracy.&#8221; It&#8217;s interesting to hear Simon Phipps, a reasonably normal computer industry person (who has read my book) asking about the glaring problems with the very idea of <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/the-dao\/\">DAOs and smart contracts<\/a>, and getting back handwaves and <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/the-conspiracist-gold-bug-economics-of-bitcoin\/\">bizarre extremist Bitcoin politics<\/a> buzzwords and dog-whistles.<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Is Bitcoin Legal Tender In Japan? Summary: <a href=\"https:\/\/seekingalpha.com\/article\/4133681-bitcoin-legal-tender-japan\">of course it bloomin&#8217; isn&#8217;t.<\/a><\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Dear crypto conferences (who I won&#8217;t name)\u00a0\u2014 thank you for the speaking offers on the other side of the world! Unfortunately, I can&#8217;t spring for air fare nor accommodation. Nor do I find myself available to enhance the saleability of your conference for free. But if there&#8217;s &#8220;so much demand to speak,&#8221; I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ll be fine with those guys!<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Also, I still have no plans to accept payments in cryptos, no really, actual money please thanks so much, what do you mean &#8220;short on fiat at present,&#8221; I thought anyone could cash out any time easily,<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ghost story: Roko&#39;s Basilisk is traded as a crypto currency. No one knows exactly which one, but if you don&#39;t have proof of stake in Roko&#39;s Currency when you die, you&#39;re doomed<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Dr. Ellie Lockhart, endure and survive (@BootlegGirl) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BootlegGirl\/status\/954033434749472769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 18, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">People say that we haven\u2019t found a good use for blockchain yet. I don\u2019t know, I\u2019m finding this all very entertaining.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Duncan Weldon (@DuncanWeldon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DuncanWeldon\/status\/953560514399006720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 17, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<br><br><div align=\"center\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=8420236\"><img src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/become_a_patron_button.svg\" alt=\"Become a Patron!\" title=\"Become a Patron!\" width=217 height=51><\/a><br><p style=\"align:center;\" class=\"patreon-badge\"><i>Your subscriptions keep this site going. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=8420236\">Sign up today!<\/a><\/i><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>And James Altucher claims to know who Satoshi Nakamoto is, and that he reads Satoshi&#8217;s blog daily. Huge if true.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[410,21,402,38,404,411,9,105,412,376,371,6,406,408,405,407,409,39,403],"class_list":["post-4274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-aragon","tag-bitcoin","tag-bitconnect","tag-bitfinex","tag-daredisrupt","tag-floss-weekly","tag-ico","tag-james-altucher","tag-japan","tag-kashminer","tag-kodakcoin","tag-links","tag-martin-lewis","tag-meshed-insights","tag-moneysavingexpert","tag-patrick-mckenzie","tag-simon-phipps","tag-tether","tag-us-treasury"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4274"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6889,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4274\/revisions\/6889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}