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Monday, July 30, 2018
2% / IBM / Charlie Lee / Real Estate
Snug as a Zug
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Here is How Hackers Are Stealing Your Crypto
| July 30, 2018 | Read in Browser |
 QUOTE OF THE DAY  |
| "If you don't believe me or don't get it, I don't have time to try to convince you, sorry." - Satoshi Nakamoto |
Happy Monday! Welcome to the start of a new week, let's make it a great one. By the way, if you find the information in today's newsletter helpful, feel free to share us!
Cheers,
Blockchain Brew Team
| MARKET |
| COIN | PRICE | 24H |
| | ||
| BTC | $8,144.034948 | -0.68% |
| | ||
| ETH | $460.826437 | -0.93% |
| | ||
| XRP | $0.448833 | -0.75% |
| | ||
| BCH | $813.239156 | -1.1% |
| | ||
| EOS | $8.139007 | -1.33% |
| | ||
*Information as of 9:30 AM EST
| EDUCATION |
Here is How Hackers Are Stealing Your Crypto
Researchers have found the top methods for stealing cryptocurrencies, here is what to watch out for:
MOBILE APPS
- When downloading cryptocurrency related apps on your phone, ensure that they are the official versions of the application
- Also, you should always use two-factor authentication (2FA) on all apps
MESSAGING BOTS
- Hackers try to defraud investors by mimicking official bots in messaging groups like Slack, Discord, or Telegram
- Always be cautious when clicking any links shared from unofficial sources
- Report any bots that seem suspicious
BROWSER EXTENSIONS
- Using browser extensions when handling cryptocurrencies may leave you vulnerable to theft
- It is best either not to use extensions at all or at least make sure you have some sort of network protection installed
SMS INTERCEPTION
- It is surprisingly easy for a hacker to intercept text messages coming to your phone
- Instead of using text message 2FA, use a service like Google Authenticator
PUBLIC WIFI
- It is never a good idea to trade cryptocurrency on public WiFi
- Hackers are able to sniff requests and responses between your computer and server which may contain login and other personal information
PHISHING SITES
- Phishing sites are websites that mimic cryptocurrency sites trying to lure you into logging in with your real credentials
- Make sure any site you are using is HTTPS verified (usually denoted by a lock icon in the URL bar)
- Bookmark real sites to ensure you don't accidentally end up on a phishing site
| OPINION |
Billionaire Investor Praises Bitcoin as Digital Gold
BILL MILLER
- Bill Miller is the founder and chief investment officer for Miller Value Partners
- Miller recently appeared on Bloomberg TV to talk about cryptocurrencies and had some positive things to say about Bitcoin
- He revealed he personally has a significant sum of Bitcoin with an average cost of around $300
TECH EXPERIMENT
- Miller thinks that Bitcoin is "an interesting technological experiment", but is much less of a believer in other altcoins
- He praised Bitcoin's limited supply and emphasized that there are more millionaires in the world than Bitcoin in existence
- Miller also gave the opinion that Bitcoin is becoming less risky as it matures
LIKE GOLD
- In his interview, he likened Bitcoin to gold, as most people do
- Bitcoin, like gold, acts a non-correlated asset to the equity market
- Store of value is not the only use case for Bitcoin, Miller also mentioned that it can be used as a payment system, currency, and a bank asset
| NEWS |
Ethereum Founder Vitalik Buterin Suggests ETF Adoption is Overemphasized
BUTERIN'S BELIEFS
- Yesterday, Ethereum Founder Vitalik Buterin shared his thoughts on Twitter that there is too much emphasis on cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETF)
- Instead, Buterin believes there is not enough emphasis on creating mass adoption by allowing people to buy cryptocurrency at a corner store
Buterin's tweet:
STORE OF VALUE VS. CURRENCY
- Buterin's tweet takes aim at a debate that has continued on for years: those who believe cryptocurrencies should be a store of value versus those who believe cryptocurrencies should be a usable currency
- For now, due to volatility and scaling issues, cryptocurrencies aren't a very efficient form of usable currency, thus they are mostly regarded as a speculative asset
- In addition, the cryptocurrency market tends to have low liquidity because a majority of investors would rather hold their crypto than use it for everyday transactions
YOU DECIDE
- Cryptocurrencies do not have to be a store of value entirely or a usable currency entirely, it is possible that they can function as both
- Ultimately (once more businesses accept crypto), it is up to you to decide if you would like to HODL your crypto or if you would like to spend it on everyday transactions
| MORE BREWING |
- Fatfish Internet Group: Markets Could ‘Accept’ Bitcoin ETF Within ‘Couple Of Months’
- Korean Government Seeks to Strip Tax Perks From Crypto Exchanges
- IBM, Barclays and Citi Team Up to Launch Blockchain App Store for Banks
| TODAY IN CRYPTO |
Pundi X (NPXS)
"To continue the fever of Bitcoin Summer Fest 2018, we will host our first community meetups in Colombia!"
0x (ZRX)
Launch of V2 with new features including handling new assets like ERC-721 non-fungible token, tokenized securities, derivatives and more.
Today in Crypto is powered by coinmarketcal.com
| COIN OF THE DAY |
 |
| Quantum Resistant Ledger (QRL) |
|---|
| Based upon the understanding that popular existing cryptographic signature schemes (such as ECDSA) in the cryptocurrency space are vulnerable to a sufficiently powerful quantum computer running Shor’s algorithm, QRL is addressing what will be a singular threat to the security of cryptocurrency going forward – the inevitability of quantum computing. |
| WEBSITE | TWITTER | REDDIT |
| MEME |
| SUBSCRIBE | FEEDBACK | ADVERTISE |
   |
| The above is not intended to be investment advice. |
| 1317 8th Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. |
| If you don't absolutely love us, drop us, click here. |
| Copyright © 2018 Blockchain Brew, All rights reserved. |
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Crowd Psychology Drives Bitcoin Prices, Financial Experts Say
| July 29, 2018 | Read in Browser |
| QUOTE OF THE DAY |
| “We have elected to put our money and faith in a mathematical framework that is free of politics and human error.” - Tyler Winklevoss |
Happy Sunday! Did you know the first ad for Bitcoin on Reddit advertised it as magic internet money? It still is magic internet money just to be clear.
Cheers,
Blockchain Brew Team
| MARKETS |
| COIN | PRICE | 24H |
| | ||
| BTC | $8,198.82 | +0.24% |
| | ||
| ETH | $464.60 | -0.41% |
| | ||
| XRP | $0.451672 | -0.1% |
| | ||
| BCH | $821.187 | +0.53% |
| | ||
| EOS | $8.22787 | -0.72% |
| | ||
*Information as of 9:30 AM EST
| NEWS |
Crowd Psychology Drives Bitcoin Prices, Financial Experts Say
CROWD PSYCHOLOGY
- Since Bitcoin is a relatively new asset, many theories have been created to explain the digital currency's price movements
- However, according to a new survey by Data Trek Research, 52% of financial experts believe the only reason for Bitcoin price movements is the idea of crowd psychology
- Crowd psychology is just a fancy academic term for pack mentality or rather, the idea that everyone follows one another's decisions
NETWORK USAGE
- After crowd psychology, the next most popular theory for price movements was network usage
- This is the idea that price is discovered as more people begin to transact with Bitcoin
- Among survey respondents, 15% of them believe network usage is the most likely cause of price movements
CONCLUSION
To conclude, Nicholas Colas, co-founder of Data Trek Research commented on the study's findings:
"Finance professionals make their livings by analyzing asset values through the lens of fundamental/quantifiable factors. That more than half of respondents believe valuation in the crypto space is “purely a function of crowd psychology” is refreshing in its honesty."
| MINING |
GPU Manufacturer AMD Expects 'Near Zero' Revenue from Crypto Sales in Coming Quarter
STEADY DECLINE
- During 2018, cryptocurrency prices weren't the only thing to decline in the industry
- It seems that the sale of graphics cards, which many people use to mine cryptocurrencies, are highly correlated with cryptocurrency prices as their sales have declined since the start of 2018
AMD SALES
- Recently, AMD announced during its earnings report that the company expects revenue from the blockchain sector to be "near zero" in the third quarter
- The chip manufacturer also admitted that during the second quarter of 2018 only 6% of their sales were driven by blockchain
- This is quite contrary to AMD's sales during the massive price spike in December 2017 when graphics cards were flying off the shelves and sold out in some places
MARKET RESPONSE
- AMD also shared on the earnings call that declining blockchain sales were offset by an increase in data center sales
- Even with declining revenue from blockchain sales, AMD shares were up more than 13% in one day after it beat Wall Street's expectations
| NEWS |
Telegram Releases Identification Verification Tool to be Used for ICOs
TELEGRAM PASSPORT
- With a growing online presence, many users need to verify their identities with businesses to protect themselves and the businesses
- Telegram, a popular encrypted messaging app, is now alleviating its users of this annoyance by creating Telegram Passport
- According to the announcement, Telegram Passport is "a unified authorization method for services that require personal identification"
- In simpler terms, this new service will allow for Telegram users to upload their identification documents once and then be able to use them across many different services requiring identification
Here is a screenshot of Telegram Passport in use:
TELEGRAM AND CRYPTO
- The crypto community is a big supporter of Telegram
- This support not only stems from the ease of use, but also because Telegram boasts end-to-end encryption on its platform
- With Telegram Passport, the company is taking a step deeper into the crypto world by offering this service to exchanges and initial coin offerings (ICO) that need to verify identity
| TODAY IN HISTORY |
Three Years Ago Ethereum Launched
INITIAL LAUNCH
- In 2015, around this time, the genesis block of Ethereum was loaded, making the project a live blockchain
- Following the launch, the team created a new video to introduce the project to the world
- Much has changed since that time, let's look at a few of the major changes
BIGGEST CHANGES
- Most noticable, the price of Ethereum around launch was trading between $0.30 and $0.50 at that time
- There were no hard forks yet, thus Ethereum Classic and Ethereum were unified on one chain
- Since then, thousands of initial coin offerings that have been launched on the Ethereum platform
- Back then, it was the most popular crypto to be called a "sh*tcoin" on the r/Bitcoin subreddit
| MORE BREWING |
- Japan Self-Regulatory Crypto Exchange Association Considers Trading Cap for Some Clients
- A Solution to China's Pharma Woes Might Be a Blockchain Away
- Rejection Aside, Calls for a Bitcoin ETF Are Only Escalating
| TODAY IN CRYPTO |
Pundi X (NPXS)
"To continue the fever of Bitcoin Summer Fest 2018, we will host our first community meetups in Colombia!"
Today in Crypto is powered by coinmarketcal.com
| COIN OF THE DAY |
 |
| Augur (REP) |
|---|
| A prediction market protocol owned and operated by the people that use it. |
| WEBSITE | TWITTER | REDDIT |
| MEME |
| SUBSCRIBE | FEEDBACK | ADVERTISE |
| |
| The above is not intended to be investment advice. |
| 1317 8th Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. |
| If you don't absolutely love us, drop us, click here. |
| Copyright © 2018 Blockchain Brew, All rights reserved. |
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