October 22, 2018
QUOTE OF THE DAY
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- Warren Buffett
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| COIN | PRICE | 24H |
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| BTC | $6,512.16 | -0.49% |
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| ETH | $204.88 | -1.22% |
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| XRP | $0.452673 | -2.00% |
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| BCH | $446.40 | -0.81% |
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| EOS | $5.44 | -0.64% |
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*Information as of 10:00 AM EST
Blockchain Engineer Salaries are Skyrocketing as Demand Ramps Up
Prices down, jobs up
The cryptocurrency market decline in 2018 has weighed heavy on many areas of the industry, however, one area is bucking the trend: job demand.
Actually, according to CNBC's new interview with Hired, blockchain engineer salaries are at an all-time high with an average yearly pay of $150,000 to $175,000. That is a whopping premium of 11-30% higher than typical software engineer salaries.
Hired explains that the current blockchain engineer salary premium is the direct result of a global fight for blockchain-related talent at top technology companies worldwide including Amazon, Facebook, IBM, and Microsoft.
One simple profile change
Specifically at Hired, a job-placement platform that specializes in technology firms, desire for blockchain-related skills has risen over 400% since the end of 2017. But this trend isn't exclusive to Hired.
For Dustin Weldon, a Globys employee specializing in blockchain, the simple LinkedIn profile change to 'principal blockchain engineer' was enough to bring in "interview requests every day."
Looking deeper than a job title, If blockchain-skilled engineers list that they have coding experience in Java, JavaScript, C++, Go, Solidity, Python, and more, they are an even hotter commodity.
Building for the long-term
According to Hired CEO Mehul Patel, the growing interest and premium price for blockchain-related skill sets is showing companies' true colors about the industry.
Patel told CNBC:
"There's a mindset here of taking a long-term view of planning. If you're going to build blockchain technology, you have to get that talent."
Blockchain Voting Systems May Be Less Trustworthy
The argument for voting on the blockchain
If you have ever taken part in an election, you know that the process required to cast your vote is a pain. It requires you to travel somewhere and wait in a line in order for you to do something that can take seconds once it is your turn.
People are incredibly busy, some even too busy that they can't make it to the polls. Voting is the essence of democracy and it is crucial that everyone's voice is heard.
Because of these reasons, blockchain proponents pitch the idea of a blockchain voting system. People could vote from anywhere without having to wait in a line. In theory, a distributed ledger would ensure that no one party can be a bad actor in the tallying and authenticity of votes.
It may work in theory but...
Three researchers from The Initiative for CryptoCurrencies & Contracts make an argument for why blockchain should not be used for voting systems. These researchers are blockchain experts and enthusiasts but are willing to admit that the technology is not right for every use case.
The researchers argue that there is no safe way to do blockchain voting, comparing best practices for internet voting to best practices for drunk driving, it just shouldn't be done. There is just way too much at stake to rely on computer systems.
Unknown security flaws are common in all hardware, software, and networking systems. A bad actor could take advantage of a bug and change vote counts without anyone knowing. While traditional voting methods seem archaic, having a paper trail of votes is an additional line of integrity.
Blockchain voting could make vote buying even easier. With our current system, vote buying is thankfully seldom. Making voting easier could result in less friction for the purchasing of votes and loss of authenticity of elections.
Dark Web Drug Dealer to Forfeit $700,000 in Crypto
'OxyMonster' prosecuted
A 36-year-old French-Israeli citizen, known as the 'OxyMonster', has been prosecuted for selling drugs on the dark web. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and forced to forfeit more than $700,000 in cryptocurrencies.
The 'OxyMonster' was apprehended by authorities in the Atlanta in June. He was traveling from the World Beard and Moustache Championship in Austin Texas.
The drug dealer exchanged oxycodone, heroin, cocaine, fentanyl, and Ritalin for Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. The US government was able to take control of 100 BTC and 121 BCH, worth more than $700,000.
What will the government do with this crypto?
This is not the government's first rodeo with seizing cryptocurrencies. Authorities are getting good at being able to track wallets, transactions, and to be able to gain control of cryptocurrencies used in illicit activities.
Eventually, the crypto will be auctioned off and the proceeds will be kept by the government. It is unknown if the auction will take place soon or if the government will speculate on the price and wait for the market to rebound.
Monero Fees Fall 96% After 'Bulletproofs' Upgrade
Bulletproofs find success
Last week, Monero, the world's largest privacy cryptocurrency, implemented a system-wide upgrade that looked to cut the size of its transactions by "at least 80%."
The upgrade included a new concept, dubbed 'bulletproofs', that aimed to reduce extra information stored on the blockchain to help Monero in its efforts to scale.
Now, after a successful activation, the once-bloated blockchain full of unnecessary information has trimmed down in many aspects, most popular being transaction fees.
Fees fall 96%
First reported by CoinDesk, it seems Monero's average transaction fees have fallen over 96% - from $0.54 to a mere $0.021- following the 'bulletproofs' implementation, according to BitinfoCharts.
However, according to Monero developer known as moneromoo, fees can go even lower depending on the type of transactions users make.
Perhaps most exciting is that the new upgrade has made micropayments more feasible again, a use case that has been long lost on blockchains that have hit scaling issues like Monero.
But wait, there's more...
- China's internet censorship agency has released draft regulations to govern blockchain startups.
- Over the weekend, a crypto whale transferred 888,888 ETH – worth about $184 million – for a fee of just six cents.
- Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation ING confirmed the release of its open source blockchain tool Zero-Knowledge Set Membership (ZKSM).
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