Online Cash Bitcoin Could Challenge Governments, Banks

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...k-dns-server-of-blackwallet-to-steal-400-000/

 

http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Power-hog-bitcoin-may-find-answers-in-scientific-12497271.php

 

"80% Of All Bitcoins Already Mined, Only 4.2 Million Coins Left Until Supply Cap

Jan. 13 marked an important milestone for Bitcoin when 16.8 million bitcoins (BTC), or 80 percent of the entire Bitcoin supply, were mined. This means only 4.2 million bitcoins, or 20 percent, are left to mine until Bitcoin’s 21 million supply cap is reached..."

https://cointelegraph.com/news/80-o...d-only-42-million-coins-left-until-supply-cap

NB: hawki is looking forward to the day when 100% of bitcoins have been mined so that he can buy a new graphics card at a reasonable price.

 

"It's a terrible time to buy a graphics card

Cryptocurrency miners have caused massive GPU price spikes, again...

GTX 1080 Ti 11GB: Launched with a suggested price of $699, the best deals we saw last year brought prices as low as $650. Right now, however, virtually all vendors are completely sold out, and that includes direct purchases from Nvidia. But you can find GTX 1080 Ti cards if you're willing to shell out $1,300 or more,..

GTX 1080 8GB: ...the official MSRP for the card is now $549 for the Founders Edition and starts at $499 for custom designs. We saw GTX 1080 cards as low as $470 during Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale, whereas current pricing now starts at $880...

GTX 1070 Ti launched in early November, with an official price of $449, and it was mostly available at that price through the end of December. I wasn't blown away by performance, since it's a bit slower than the 1080 for only a bit less money, and that goes double now. The cheapest 1070 Ti at Newegg costs $900...

The mainstream GTX 1060 6GB ...arrived in July 2016, and even at its prior worst last May it could be found for about $330. But this is supposed to be a $239 card, or $299 if you want the Founders Edition. Newegg's least expensive 1060 6GB starts at $450 (with several models to choose from), or you're looking at $500 or more on Amazon...

... Nvidia is also sold out of its 1060, 1070, and 1080 cards right now.

The AMD story is no better..."

http://www.pcgamer.com/its-a-terrible-time-to-buy-a-graphics-card/

 

"How to Mine Bitcoin In Your Mom's Basement..."

https://www.pcmag.com/feature/358234/how-to-mine-bitcoin-in-your-mom-s-basement

 

"AMD gains as ethereum mining benefit touted...

AMD and Nvidia collected more than $500 million in fourth quarter from cryptocurrency mining, analyst says...

...'mining profitability remains among the highest in history,' and that retail markups for card remains at an all-time high, suggesting strong demand and short supply..."

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/amd-gains-as-ethereum-mining-benefit-touted-2018-01-18

Grrrrrrrrrrr!!

GAGAGCM - Graphic Artists and Gamers Against Greedy Cryptocurrency Miners

 

https://www.cio-today.com/article/index.php?story_id=112001YL21JK

 

"Nvidia wants retailers to prioritize gamers over cryptocurrency miners

Will they listen [probably not]...

'For Nvidia, gamers come first. All activities related to our GeForce product line are targeted at our main audience,...To ensure that GeForce gamers continue to have good GeForce graphics card availability in the current situation, we recommend that our trading partners make the appropriate arrangements to meet gamers’ needs as usual,'...

Some sites have interpreted that to mean Nvidia is asking retailers to place a two-card limit on orders, leaving it up to each retailer to ultimately decide to do that or not. However, there's nothing in Nvidia's statement that suggests it's actually recommending a specific limit.

...GeForce GTX 1080 Ti cards are still selling for $1,300 and up, while the lowest price GeForce GTX 1060 on Newegg right now is listed at $400, and that's for a 3GB model. Available stock is typically through a third-party resellers, one of which is selling a 6-pack of GeForce GTX 1060 6GB cards for $3,295. Meanwhile, even Nvidia's own store shows all of the models other than the Titan Xp as out of stock."

http://www.pcgamer.com/nvidia-wants-retailers-to-prioritize-gamers-over-cryptocurrency-miners/

 

https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/trends-in-patenting-blockchain-93634/

 

Roller Coasters and what is xxyyzz worth?

https://coinmarketcap.com/

 

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2018/01/26/bitcoin-transactions-privacy/

 

Common sense really. IP's and other connection details hang around for a long time. Even here at Wilders if you were up to no good the website holds a treasure trove for at least 5 years, assuming you come in here with your RAW connection and make countless other operator errors. This is a safe and great site by the way. I simply reference it as a typical connection where folks come to join in and have some fun. In the background all such connections by nature gather items of detail. If a user forgets that while on the blockchain they are left exposed. Then you have to pause and consider what to do with the coins you just received. I am not going to go into details because few readers here appear active in that "industry". I do wish the BTC community would migrate to a DEFAULT policy of anonymity, while now its only available to more advanced networking skillsets.

 

"Worries Grow That the Price of Bitcoin Is Being Propped Up

A growing number of virtual currency investors are worried that the prices of Bitcoin and other digital tokens have been artificially propped up by a widely used exchange called Bitfinex, which has a checkered history of hacks and opaque business practices.

In December, Bitfinex was subpoenaed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a United States regulatory agency. The news, first reported by Bloomberg on Tuesday and confirmed by a source familiar with the subpoena but not allowed to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation, led to a sell-off in most virtual currencies...

The people behind Bitfinex issue a virtual currency called Tether. Unlike most digitals tokens, every Tether is supposed to be backed by traditional money — the United States dollar. New Tether tokens are issued when investors give them dollars.

...[M]any investors have been raising alarm bells about Tether. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of new Tether were created; almost always when the prices of other virtual currencies were heading down. The Tether were used on the Bitfinex exchange to make big purchases of Bitcoin and other tokens, helping push their prices back up, according to multiple analyses of data from Bitfinex..."

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/31/technology/bitfinex-bitcoin-price.html

 

https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/01/the-sad-state-of-crypto-custody/

 

FYI:

Bitcoin:

2/2/18 -------- $7,695
(7:45 AM)

12/16/17 --- $19,282

Etherium:

2/2/18 ------ $750
(7:45 AM)

1/13/18 -- $1,385


Maybe hawki will soon be able to replace his graphics card.

Edit Update: Within the past 30 minutes both BTC and ETH have rallied 10%'ish off of the above "lows."