{"id":8688,"date":"2018-07-12T21:47:29","date_gmt":"2018-07-12T21:47:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/?p=8688"},"modified":"2018-07-12T22:11:59","modified_gmt":"2018-07-12T22:11:59","slug":"news-bitcoin-9000-tether-1-08-us-cross-agency-task-force-bancor-hack-dirt-augur-lse-ethereum-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/07\/12\/news-bitcoin-9000-tether-1-08-us-cross-agency-task-force-bancor-hack-dirt-augur-lse-ethereum-classic\/","title":{"rendered":"News: Bitcoin $9000, Tether $1.08, US cross-agency task force, Bancor hack, DIRT, Augur, LSE, Ethereum Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Bitcoin price shenanigans \u2014 after a few weeks wobbling around $6000, the price on WEX <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/bitcoin-price-spikes-to-nearly-9000-on-wex-crypto-exchange\/\">hit $8999 yesterday.<\/a> WEX is the reincarnation of BTC-e, the Russian exchange favoured by money launderers and the <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2017\/09\/17\/kim-nilsson-of-wizsec-how-the-bitcoins-were-stolen-from-mt-gox\/\">Mt. Gox hackers.<\/a> Tether peaked at around <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bascule\/status\/1017204772519084032\">$1.08 per USDT<\/a> around the same time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/07\/12\/news-bitcoin-9000-tether-1-08-us-cross-agency-task-force-bancor-hack-dirt-augur-lse-ethereum-classic\/coindesk-bpi-chart-2018-07-11\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-8692\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8692 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/coindesk-bpi-chart-2018-07-11.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/coindesk-bpi-chart-2018-07-11.png 728w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/coindesk-bpi-chart-2018-07-11-300x150.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><small><em>It sure doesn&#8217;t get more organic than that chart around 00:00 July 12 \u2014 mountains of BS are an organic product, right?<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Current Tether price status \ud83e\udd14 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xWltbsjP3z\">https:\/\/t.co\/xWltbsjP3z<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/KYAgBMDxzG\">pic.twitter.com\/KYAgBMDxzG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Tony \u201cAbolish (Pol)ICE\u201d Arcieri \ud83e\udd80 (@bascule) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bascule\/status\/1017204772519084032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 12, 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>The US federal government is establishing a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/speech\/deputy-attorney-general-rod-j-rosenstein-delivers-remarks-announcing-establishment-task\">cross-agency task force<\/a> on consumer financial fraud \u2014 including that related to cryptocurrencies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Shocked, shocked to hear that cryptocurrencies are used to buy &#8230; <em>drugs!<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/millions-in-cryptocurrencies-seized-in-biggest-lsd-bust-1827246458\"> &#8220;Millions in Cryptocurrencies Seized in Biggest LSD Bust in European History.&#8221;<\/a> Thanks, Europol!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2018-07-09\/half-of-icos-die-within-four-months-after-token-sales-finalized\">Half of all ICO companies die within four months.<\/a> &#8220;Acquiring coins in an ICO and selling them on the first day is the safest investment strategy&#8221;\u00a0\u2014 I&#8217;d say not getting into ICOs might be a better idea.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/view\/articles\/2017-12-07\/shale-shareholders-and-direct-listing\">Per Matt Levine,<\/a> &#8220;the standard fate of bitcoin exchanges seems to be to get hacked and lose their customers&#8217; money.&#8221; So too Bancor, which <a href=\"http:\/\/uk.businessinsider.com\/bancor-hack-ethereum-2018-7?r=US&amp;IR=T\">lost $23.5 million in tokens<\/a> on Monday \u2014 $12.5 million ETH, $1 million Pundi X (NPXS) and $10 million Bancor Network Tokens (BNT). They&#8217;d left <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/udiWertheimer\/status\/1016570314862493698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">administrative backdoors<\/a> in the smart contract, and the thieves used those. The Israeli police are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.globes.co.il\/news\/article.aspx?did=1001245681\">on the case<\/a> (<a href=\"http:\/\/translate.google.com\/translate?hl=en&amp;sl=auto&amp;tl=en&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.globes.co.il%2Fnews%2Farticle.aspx%3Fdid%3D1001245681\">translation<\/a>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>DIRT Protocol, a startup that wants to use a blockchain to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/jeffkauflin\/2018\/07\/11\/blockchain-startup-raises-3-million-to-become-the-wikipedia-of-data\/amp\/\">police dodgy blockchain business claims.<\/a> As <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/notes\/\">Wikipedia&#8217;s UK press guy<\/a> most of last decade, I can assure you that &#8220;The Wikipedia of &#8230;&#8221; is not a hot and happening claim in 2018.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>After years in the works, the Augur decentralised prediction market <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/augur-is-live-decentralized-prediction-market-launches-after-2-year-beta\/\">is finally live!<\/a> I mentioned Augur in the <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/table-of-contents\/\">smart contracts chapter<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/book\/\">the book,<\/a> about the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Test_oracle\">oracle problem.<\/a> Here&#8217;s the excerpt:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p>A common proposal is to outsource your oracle to a prediction market \u2014 humans betting on predictions \u2014 that is also on your blockchain, such as Augur. Somehow, the outcome of a bet is supposed to substitute for direct knowledge of an event having happened or not, with sufficient confidence in the process to let it affect your money. If your question isn\u2019t popular enough to attract sufficient uninvolved wagers \u2014 it would often be worth it for one party to just bribe the bettors \u2013 you will still have the oracle problem in determining whether the event has in fact occurred. You can\u2019t get rid of the human element by adding another layer of indirection \u2014 it\u2019s oracles all the way down.<\/p>\n<p>(Augur has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/tech\/2015\/08\/20\/new-tech-promises-government-proof-prediction-markets.html\">openly bragged<\/a> that they think running on a blockchain means they can dodge US government regulation on gambling and derivatives, which led to the shutdown of previous prediction markets, despite being a single company with known principals.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>There&#8217;s little reason to assume Augur <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Truthcoin\/status\/995092757625671680\">actually works at all:<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">FYI I did actually finish this project in ~2015<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qBThUFwcNP\">https:\/\/t.co\/qBThUFwcNP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Not that I mind other people trying, but there is extreme deception in Augur. Their &quot;March 2018&quot; whitepaper is basically just mine plus a bunch of bizarre decisions. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fLNc4C3mQ8\">https:\/\/t.co\/fLNc4C3mQ8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Paul Sztorc (@Truthcoin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Truthcoin\/status\/995092757625671680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 12, 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>LSE runs a scammy-looking cryptocurrency course. FT Alphaville runs a piece on the <a href=\"https:\/\/ftalphaville.ft.com\/2018\/07\/09\/1531136722000\/The-London-School-of-Cryptonomics\/\">dubious claims in the prospectus.<\/a> The professor running it,\u00a0Dr Carsten S\u00f8rensen, literally replies, &#8220;Stop being a journalist and just think. You\u2019re citing marketing material as if that were the ultimate truth.&#8221; I&#8217;m sure that&#8217;s a great comfort to any student who ever paid actual money on the basis of an LSE prospectus, foolishly assuming it wasn&#8217;t a <i>pack of lies.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Ethereum Classic has done well <a href=\"https:\/\/cryptobriefing.com\/coinbase-listing-ethereum-classic\/\">since getting listed on Coinbase<\/a> \u2014 even though <a href=\"https:\/\/gastracker.io\/\">many blocks have no transactions at all<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.fo\/ZfPjv\">archive<\/a>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Kindle Canada has <i>Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain<\/i> for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.ca\/dp\/B073CPP581\/\">CDN$1.99,<\/a> this month only! Or, of course, there\u2019s the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.ca\/Attack-50-Foot-Blockchain-Contracts\/dp\/1974000060\/\">lovely paperback.<\/a> And if you&#8221;re <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/life-style\/gadgets-and-tech\/news\/amazon-prime-day-2018-strike-deals-uk-sales-latest-a8441726.html\">boycotting Amazon, <\/a>there&#8217;s always <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashwords.com\/books\/view\/739078\">SmashWords<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bookdepository.com\/Attack-50-Foot-Blockchain-David-Gerard\/9781974000067\">Book Depository.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A Twitter DM &#8211; \u201cAnyway we can buy retweets off of you, it won\u2019t be promoting anything but information about Blockchains. We\u2019re trying to create a transparent and informative account to educate our followers, thanks!\u201d What should I charge? <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/transparent?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#transparent<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/informative?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#informative<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Rory Cellan-Jones (@ruskin147) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ruskin147\/status\/1017270999593742339?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 12, 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\">CRYPTOTWITTER: Bitcoin is the RedBull to Tether\u2019s Monster Energy Drink. I know what you\u2019re thinking: \u201cWhat\u2019s he talking about?\u201d JUST HEAR ME OUT. THIS METAPHOR IS LEGIT.<\/p>\n<p>ME: No.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; CasPiancey (@CasPiancey) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CasPiancey\/status\/1016804417322958848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 10, 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\">I feel like in less than 5 years from now, IOTA will be a case study in a text book on why you don&#39;t roll your own crypto.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; \u262d\ua66eGatekeeper Blocker Eevee (\u256f\u00b0w\u00b0)\u256f\u5f61\ud83d\udcbb\ud83c\udf0b\ua66e\u262d (@ComradeEevee) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ComradeEevee\/status\/1015664698438684672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 7, 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=\"und\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6ck1uRt00X\">pic.twitter.com\/6ck1uRt00X<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; emma jacobs (@emmavj) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/emmavj\/status\/1015878281214742528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 8, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><small><i>Every FT writer has been retweeting this<\/i><\/small><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This bit of the Brexit white paper seems to have been written by someone trying to describe the blockchain without using the word &quot;blockchain&quot;.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tmMKL3cMwJ\">https:\/\/t.co\/tmMKL3cMwJ<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/o86FpSxcwQ\">pic.twitter.com\/o86FpSxcwQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Peter Thal Larsen (@peter_tl) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/peter_tl\/status\/1017403366081622017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 12, 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\">in theory bitcoin and blockchain are completely different<\/p>\n<p>in practice it&#39;s always the same bozos advocating both and the same stench permeates both<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Buttcoin (@ButtCoin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ButtCoin\/status\/1015897586299998208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 8, 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\">I have a new favorite way of dealing with bitcoin nerds <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dJr7Gz78zy\">pic.twitter.com\/dJr7Gz78zy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Quarantine Goth Ms. Frizzle (@spookperson) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/spookperson\/status\/1017110544711479297?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 11, 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>CRYPTO STANDS FOR CRYPTOSPORIDIUM.<\/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":[639,147,21,779,777,780,776,6,778,39,745,775],"class_list":["post-8688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-augur","tag-bancor","tag-bitcoin","tag-carsten-sorensen","tag-dirt-protocol","tag-ethereum-classic","tag-europol","tag-links","tag-lse","tag-tether","tag-united-states","tag-wex"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8688","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=8688"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8705,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8688\/revisions\/8705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}