Bancor Hack / Sergey Brin / Elon Musk / Coinbase App

Subscribe | View in browser Here are today's ten most important Bitcoin stories, efficiently ranked & summarized by smart humans, not algorithms: $BTC (1:47 p.m. EST): $6,389.76 (-5.98%) // 90-day high: $9,927.71 // 90-day low: $5,755.25/ / More… $BCH (1:47 p.m. EST): $969.87 (-6.43%) // 90-day high: $1,786.80// 90-day low: $608.37 // More… $ETH (1:47 p.m. EST): $437.34 (-9.31%) // 90-day high: $831.65 // 90-day low: $365.43 // More… $LTC (1:48 p.m. EST): $76.08 (-7.10%) // 90-day high: $251.03 // 90-day low: $73.12 // More… $XRP (1:48 p.m. EST): $0.44 (-5.54%) // 90-day high: $1.20 // 90-day low: $0.43 // More… Here are the 10 most important stories about bitcoin and cryptocurrencies today       1. Cryptocurrency exchange Bancor was hacked, losing $23.5 million in cryptocurrency. The exchange said no user wallets were compromised. The hack come from a hot wallet used to update smart contracts on its exchange. The exchange has halted trading and froze $10 million of its own coin, BNT. Most notably, $12.5 million in ethereum were among the tokens taken. -CRYPTOSLATE       Interested in reaching smart, sophisticated readers like yourself? Inside's newsletters have more than half a million highly-engaged, influential readers across industries. For the opportunity to tell your brand's story in a way that resonates with this outstanding readership, contact us today. For an ad-free experience, upgrade to Inside Premium       2. Google co-founder Sergey Brin is mining ethereum with his son. Brin did not say the extent he and his son are mining the cryptocurrency, but regardless it is being seen as a win for the cryptocurrency community. Brin is the latest high-profile figure to express enthusiasm for digital coins. Brin has previously mentioned that he is fascinated with the potential of zero-knowledge proofs where only the transaction value is revealed. This is currently the technology behind Zcash. -CNET       3. The first eSports game is now on the blockchain. James and Robbie Ferguson, video game developers from Australia, have put the game Gods Unchained on the blockchain. Tying the game to the blockchain will give players true ownership over their in-game purchases, allowing them to be traded and hold real-world value. -AFR       4. Elon Musk praised the ethereum scambots in a tweet Sunday afternoon, saying they had “mad skillz.” The tweet was the first time Musk has mentioned ethereum. While the tweet was not critical of the bots that many see as ruining cryptocurrencies on Twitter (they promise to give away digital coins in fake contests), co-founder Vitalik Buterin tweeted he wished Mush instead mentioned ethereum’s growth. “I do wish @elonmusk's first tweet about ethereum was about the tech rather than the twitter scambots........@jack help us please? Or someone from the ETH community make a layer 2 scam filtering solution, please?,” Buterin wrote. –THE NEXT WEB       5. Bitcoin’s decline in price has dragged down the ranking of Coinbase’s app. Coinbase was the most downloaded financial app in the United States in December, coinciding with bitcoin’s price hitting a record high. The app now ranks 40th in those same rankings, as public interest has dropped alongside the price of bitcoin. -QUARTZ       6. Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz continued his criticism of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Stiglitz said that bitcoin as a means of payment is based too much on secrecy, which will in turn allow for nefarious activity “and no government can allow that.” He said as bitcoin and others grow in size, they will reach a point where governments have no choice but to regulate. “Once [bitcoin] becomes significant they will use the hammer,” Stiglitz said. -CNBC 7. Divergence Analysis Inc’s Buying and Selling Pressure Indicator may be signaling a bitcoin price increase. The indicator suggests a selling trend that began May 14 could soon come to an end. -BLOOMBERG 8. A student journalist at Northeastern University attempted to live off bitcoin for a day. She videos her experience, along with providing some definitions of popular cryptocurrency terminology. –NORTHEASTERN.EDU 9. Blockchain could improve the real estate process in suburban Chicago. This article takes a deep look at blockchain and what it could mean for areas like Cook County, Illinois. –CHICAGO TRIBUNE 10. Bitcoin graffiti has become a thing. Artists are taking to the streets to use graffiti to highlight the revolutionary aspects of bitcoin with art. –BITCOIN.COM       From the Forums Angur launches. Matching donations to Coins for Clothes. A tokenization proposal.       Brains and Chains: the AI & Blockchain Conference Join us at the AI and Blockchain Conference to explore these two cutting-edge technological trends. Top minds in AI and Blockchain will discuss how they can be utilized to create opportunities for innovative solutions. (June 28th, New York City). Register today

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#68: A bad day for decentralization

Guess and check

Chain Letter Blockchains, cryptocurrencies, and why they matter 07.10: Guess and check Welcome to Chain Letter! Great to have you. Here’s what’s new in the world of blockchains and cryptocurrencies.  Bancor’s breach, and the difficulty with “decentralization.” The decentralized crypto-token exchange service, which raised $153 million in a high-profile ICO last June, suffered a “security breach” yesterday that allowed hackers to steal around $13.5 million worth of currency. According to a statement posted on Twitter, the company was able to “freeze” the stolen tokens once it recognized the theft. Perhaps that’s a useful mechanism, but if the company can unilaterally freeze tokens, is the service actually decentralized? Crypto Twitter doesn’t think so, and is making light of the situation. But it’s a serious question, and here are a  couple more: At what point is it dishonest to use the word “decentralized” in marketing claims? And what does “decentralized” actually mean, from a consumer protection standpoint? (+ “Centralized cryptocurrency exchanges can be sketchy places. The solution? A blockchain, of course”) The UK is letting blockchains play in its fintech sandbox. For the first time, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority is allowing blockchain startups to participate in a program designed to give innovative financial technology companies a place to experiment. Under a temporary authorization from the FCA, the companies can test new products with real customers without fear of accidentally running afoul of regulators. The agency says it works with each one to “build in appropriate consumer safeguards.” Policymakers are often criticized for being slow to react to technological change, but it’s hard to update laws without knowing what the new tech’s impact will be. Setting aside a controlled environment for small scale experimentation could be a good solution. Indeed, the UK’s innovative sandbox model has been copied by a few other countries—US lawmakers recently called for something like it too. If it works for blockchain startups, it could expand further still. A lawsuit blames YouTube for luring victims into a cryptocurrency scam. The class action suit claims that Google’s video platform allowed affiliates of Bitconnect, a cryptocurrency lending platform, to publish over 70,000 hours of unedited content meant to attract investors. YouTube allowed Bitconnect to reach hundreds of thousands of people even though it was aware that Bitconnect was a scam, David Silver, founder of the firm bringing the suit, told CoinDesk (the suit alleges YouTube “failed as a gatekeeper to protect its users”). Whatever you think of the argument, discussions of censorship take on a uniquely intense flavor in cryptocurrency circles, so this could be an interesting one to watch unfold. The innovators at the heart of the next wave of the digital revolution are at EmTech.    EmTech is your opportunity to discover future trends and to understand the technologies that will drive the new global economy. Secure your ticket today! Loose Change Fill your pockets with these newsy tidbits. • Andreessen Horowitz’s new crypto fund’s first investment goes to Oasis Labs, which is designing a “privacy preserving” smart contract platform. (TechCrunch) • More than half of all startups that have raised money through ICOs have died within four months of their token sales. (Bloomberg) • Augur, a prediction market that runs on Ethereum, has finally launched after spending two years in beta. (CoinDesk) • Cryptography researcher Matt Blaze just sold the domain crypto.com, which he registered in 1993, for lots of money. (The Verge) • Coinbase has fallen to 40th most-downloaded finance app after hitting the top spot in December. (Quartz) The Money Quote “Once it becomes significant they  will use the hammer.”   —Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, arguing that governments haven't cracked down on Bitcoin only because it's still relatively small. (Financial News) We hope you enjoyed today's tour of what's new in the world of blockchains and cryptocurrencies. Send us some feedback, or follow me @mike_orcutt. Know someone who might enjoy reading Chain Letter? Was this forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? Discover the emerging tech that will change the world. Attend EmTech 2018 September 11-14, MIT Media Lab Cambridge, MA View this in a browser You received this newsletter because you subscribed with the email address: contacto1745.send-mail@blogger.com edit preferences   |   unsubscribe   |   follow us      MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142