{"id":8727,"date":"2018-07-16T21:38:52","date_gmt":"2018-07-16T21:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/?p=8727"},"modified":"2018-07-16T21:47:50","modified_gmt":"2018-07-16T21:47:50","slug":"news-bbc-on-kodak-kashminer-indian-crypto-ponzi-china-crypto-gambling-vinnik-to-france-ethereum-clog-institutional-investors-dont-want-cryptos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/07\/16\/news-bbc-on-kodak-kashminer-indian-crypto-ponzi-china-crypto-gambling-vinnik-to-france-ethereum-clog-institutional-investors-dont-want-cryptos\/","title":{"rendered":"News: BBC on Kodak KashMiner, Indian crypto ponzi, China crypto gambling, Vinnik to France, Ethereum clog, institutional investors don&#8217;t want cryptos"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>The BBC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/technology-44845291\">followed up on<\/a> my post about the <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/07\/11\/kodak-pt-7-kodak-kashminer-the-bitcoin-cloud-mining-scheme-that-never-existed\/\">Kodak KashMiner that never was<\/a> \u2014 and got hold of Spotlite CEO Halston Mikail. &#8220;Spotlite\u2019s Halston Mikail said the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had prevented the scheme from going ahead. He said the company would instead run its mining operation privately with equipment installed in Iceland, instead of renting capacity to consumers.&#8221; Uh huh.<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>(Read this news blog, and hear about this sort of thing five days earlier than everyone else \u2014 and it&#8217;s just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/davidgerard\/overview\">$5\/month to aid this endeavour!<\/a>)<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Why did India ban cryptocurrency trading? <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/vivliograph\/meet-indias-biggest-cryptocurrency-ponzi-scheme-82a69d9d32aa\">A massive Ponzi scheme.<\/a><\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>There&#8217;s bans and there&#8217;s bans. Crypto remains popular enough in China that police busted a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/news\/chinese-cops-end-1-5-billion-cryptocurrency-world-cup-gambling-ring\/\">$1.5 billion World Cup gambling ring<\/a> using Bitcoin, Ether and Litecoin.<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The Russians who hacked the US election were pretty good, but not good enough to avoid recording their crimes on an <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nathanielpopper\/status\/1017816145397796865\">immutable public ledger of all transactions.<\/a><\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">2014, Mt Gox meltdown: Wow, bitcoin really jumped the shark this year!<br \/>2015, Silk Road trial: Wow, bitcoin really jumped the shark this year!<br \/>2016, Bitfinex hack: Wow, hmm yes<br \/>2017, ICO bubble: OK we&#39;ve reached rock bottom yes?<br \/>2018, bitcoin implicated in Mueller probe<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; sarah jeong (@sarahjeong) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sarahjeong\/status\/1017817983702335488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 13, 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>Alexander Vinnik of BTC-e and, quite likely, the <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2017\/09\/17\/kim-nilsson-of-wizsec-how-the-bitcoins-were-stolen-from-mt-gox\/\">massive theft of bitcoins from Mt. Gox,<\/a> will be extradited <a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/greek-court-rules-to-extradite-alexander-vinnik-accused-of-laundering-4-bln-in-bitcoin\">to France first<\/a> rather than Russia. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.gr\/news\/ellada\/story\/138550\/ekdosi-toy-mr-bitcoin-sti-gallia-apofasise-to-symvoylio-efeton-thessalonikis\">Original.<\/a>) It is considered likely that the US will get him next.<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Funds are snafu<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Buttcoin (@ButtCoin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ButtCoin\/status\/1016934156738158592?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<ul>\n<li>Asset manager BlackRock is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-blackrock-cryptocurrency\/blackrock-is-evaluating-cryptocurrencies-ceo-fink-says-idUSKBN1K61MC\">investigating cryptocurrencies<\/a> &#8230; but is seeing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2018-07-16\/blackrock-s-fink-says-clients-have-zero-interest-in-crypto\">zero demand<\/a> amongst institutional clients.\u00a0&#8220;I don\u2019t believe any client has sought out crypto exposure. I\u2019ve not heard from one client who says, \u2018I need to be in this.\u2019&#8221;<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The New York Public Services Commission permits another local electrical authority\u00a0\u2014 in this case, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.massenaelectric.com\/\">Massena Electric<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newrochelletalk.com\/content\/psc-approves-new-cryptocurrency-electricity-rates-upstate-utility\">charge crypto miners special rates.<\/a> &#8220;The individual service agreement tariff includes provisions that will protect existing customers from increased supply costs resulting from the new service.&#8221;<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>For 10,000 euros, <a href=\"https:\/\/ftalphaville.ft.com\/2018\/07\/16\/1531730635000\/Fujitsu-s-new-blockchain-offering--really-cheap-or-really-expensive-\/\">Fujitsu will tell you whether your business could benefit from a blockchain!<\/a> My rates are quite a bit cheaper, but are certainly enough to convince your boss, should your workplace be under threat of blockchain \u2014 give me a call, I look convincing in a suit!<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/NancyNakamoto\/status\/1018084435491729408<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dave Birch on <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@dgwbirch\/supply-chains-and-block-chains-980a7340bcbd\">supply chains and blockchains.<\/a> He doesn&#8217;t see huge applicability, though the transparency will possibly be useful.<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>A <a href=\"https:\/\/research.bloomberg.com\/pub\/res\/d28giW28tf6G7T_Wr77aU0gDgFQ\">new study<\/a> from <a href=\"http:\/\/satisgroup.io\/\">Satis Group<\/a> \u2014 a &#8220;Premier ICO Advisory Group&#8221; who are so technically on the ball with cryptography that they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ssllabs.com\/ssltest\/analyze.html?d=satisgroup.io\">can&#8217;t run<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/pWqZE\">archive<\/a>) a secure <a href=\"https:\/\/satisgroup.io\/\">SSL website<\/a> \u2014 says that <a href=\"http:\/\/cryptocoinjunky.com\/new-study-shows-80-of-icos-operated-in-2017-were-scams\/\">80% of ICOs in 2017 were scams.<\/a> Only 80%? <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/icos-magic-beans-and-bubble-machines\/\">That can&#8217;t be right.<\/a><\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Some not particularly useful Ethereum token called &#8220;ifishyunyu&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cointrust.com\/news\/the-cryptotoken-behind-ethereum-network-congestion\">spent $500,000 to DDOS the public Ethereum blockchain<\/a> and pump up the price of gas (the unit of Ethereum transaction costs).<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Andreas Brekken <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/andreas-tries-blockchain\/bitcoin-lightning-network-1-can-i-compile-and-run-a-node-cd3138c68c15\">tests installing a Lightning Network node<\/a> \u2014 really a Bitcoin Core node with <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/lightningnetwork\/lnd\/blob\/master\/docs\/INSTALL.md\">lnd<\/a> \u2014 and finds it &#8230; surprisingly easy!<\/ul>\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\/i9QZZ3sc6A\">pic.twitter.com\/i9QZZ3sc6A<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Buttcoin (@ButtCoin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ButtCoin\/status\/1018813924890771456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 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>&#8220;The blockchain is how you add more Lamborghinis to your Lamborghini account. Even though we\u2019re still trying to figure out how it solves a single problem, one thing is certain: <a href=\"https:\/\/hackaday.com\/2018\/06\/28\/this-year-badges-get-blockchains\/\">blockchains solve every problem.<\/a>&#8220;<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>It&#8217;s always comedy gold when Bitcoiners think they have one weird trick that will totally <a href=\"https:\/\/np.reddit.com\/r\/Bitcoin\/comments\/8ykqed\/i_avoided_paying_capital_gains_tax_on\/\">outwit the IRS.<\/a><\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">My last adquisiton ,another book for the collection!  &quot;Attack of the 50 Foot <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/blockchain?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#blockchain<\/a>&quot; by <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/davidgerard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@davidgerard<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MoreBooksThanTime?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#MoreBooksThanTime<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/AJnmaIe78V\">pic.twitter.com\/AJnmaIe78V<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Leku (@sergio_lecuona) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sergio_lecuona\/status\/1017707930152505345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 13, 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\">&quot;If you bought <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/bitcoin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#bitcoin<\/a> at 20k you haven&#39;t lost your money, well technically you kinda have.&quot; &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StartaleTV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@StartaleTV<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ZwXVPLKHu2\">pic.twitter.com\/ZwXVPLKHu2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Godson_Bitcoin (@Mansa_Godson) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Mansa_Godson\/status\/1017858379174301696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 13, 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\">&quot;a million computers try and guess the secret number and shout their answers at each other and the first one to guess right gets a prize and we do this over and over forever and thats an economy&quot; \u2014 the ComputerCoin specification<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Computer Facts (@computerfact) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/computerfact\/status\/1016711563670147072?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\">It would currently cost ~$20 to 51% attack four coins for one hour. These four coins have a total marketcap of ~$22 million. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BgBDdqCrFL\">pic.twitter.com\/BgBDdqCrFL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; CasPiancey (@CasPiancey) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CasPiancey\/status\/1017973689994711040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 14, 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\/MCrEAjWPee\">pic.twitter.com\/MCrEAjWPee<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Buttcoin (@ButtCoin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ButtCoin\/status\/1017905062486659072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 13, 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\">Craig Wright revealed to be an elaborate multi-year Sacha Baron Cohen undercover character<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Neeraj K. Agrawal (@NeerajKA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NeerajKA\/status\/1018857541651050496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 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<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>I posted about the KashMiner that never was, five days before the BBC.<\/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":[781,97,783,782,100,413,82,785,773,9,787,287,376,370,233,6,784,594,786,377],"class_list":["post-8727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-alexander-vinnik","tag-andreas-brekken","tag-blackrock","tag-btc-e","tag-china","tag-david-birch","tag-ethereum","tag-fujitsu","tag-halston-mikail","tag-ico","tag-ifishyunyu","tag-india","tag-kashminer","tag-kodak","tag-lightning-network","tag-links","tag-massena","tag-new-york","tag-satis-group","tag-spotlite"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8727","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=8727"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8753,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8727\/revisions\/8753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}