Tech giant Google has filed a lawsuit against two Chinese nationals, accusing them of developing fraudulent cryptocurrency apps on the Google Play store and defrauding more than 100,000 users globally. “This is a unique opportunity for us to use our resources to actually combat bad actors who were running an extensive crypto scheme to defraud […]
Bitcoin News
California School Officials Plead Guilty to Running Crypto Mining Scheme With School Resources
A sophisticated scheme to defraud Patterson Joint Unified School District has been unveiled, with senior officials Jeffrey Menge and Eric Drabert at the helm, using the district’s resources to mine cryptocurrency illegally, as disclosed by the DOJ.
School Officials Plead Guilty to Crypto Mining Operation Using District Resources
Two senior officials from the Patterson Joint Unified School District in California have admitted to exploiting school resources for their own gain, including orchestrating a cryptocurrency mining operation, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) disclosed. Jeffrey Menge, 43, of Copperopolis, and Eric Drabert, 44, of Modesto, entered guilty pleas to charges of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, as announced by U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert.
From 2018 through 2022, Menge, serving as the Assistant Superintendent and Chief Business Officer, alongside Drabert, the IT Director hired in 2020, engaged in fraudulent activities to siphon off funds from the school district. Their elaborate scheme involved over .2 million in deceitful dealings through Cencal Tech LLC, a company under Menge’s control. By creating a fictitious executive, “Frank Barnes,” they bypassed restrictions on transactions with the school, engaging in double billing and charging for undelivered items.
The duo’s illicit activities extended beyond financial misconduct. Utilizing high-end graphics cards and other district-owned resources, Menge and Drabert established a crypto mining farm within the district’s facilities, directing the proceeds into personal wallets. The operation, whose scope across the district’s 10 schools remains unclear, significantly increased electricity consumption, a matter of growing concern for U.S. energy regulators amidst a crackdown on energy-intensive crypto mining.
In addition to the mining operation, Menge exploited district vehicles for personal gain, including the sale of a Chevy truck acquired at a bargain and the personal use of a Ford Transit van. The funds embezzled, ranging between million to .5 million for Menge and 0,000 to 0,000 for Drabert, were lavishly spent on home renovations, luxury cars, and other personal expenses.
Do you think there are many other illicit mining operations? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
Free Talk Live Co-Host Ian Freeman Sentenced to 8 Years for Running Unlicensed Bitcoin Business
Following his conviction for unlicensed money transmission, money laundering, and tax evasion at the close of December 2022, Keene dweller, libertarian activist, and Free Talk Live co-anchor, Ian Freeman has been sentenced to eight years behind bars this Monday. His fellow Free Talk Live co-host, Mark Edge, explained that an appeal is poised to trail the verdict.
Libertarian Broadcaster Handed 8-Year Sentence for Selling Bitcoin
As the concluding defendant in the Crypto Six saga, Ian Freeman faced a federal judge’s verdict on Monday, following his conviction at December’s end. During the interlude before sentencing, Freeman remained unconfined, but post-sentencing, U.S. Marshals escorted him to incarceration.
At 43, Freeman articulated to the court his belief of not having trespassed the law, stating his crypto sales venture aimed to propagate cryptocurrency adoption.
Post-sentencing, Mark Edge, Free Talk Live’s co-host, penned:
Ian Freeman received 8 years in federal prison with 2 years probation. He was taken into custody. Appeal to follow.
The crypto sphere showed no favor towards the sentence, vocalizing their stances on social platforms. “Ian Freeman was just sentenced to 8 years in prison for selling bitcoin via his ATM,” relayed Bruce Fenton to his audience.
The Libertarian Party of New Hampshire (LPNH) also weighed in. “Ian Freeman has been sentenced for 96 months for the ‘crime’ of selling bitcoin without the proper government paperwork,” the LPNH post proclaimed. “Thanks to sound money, the days when tyrants can effectuate edicts like this are numbered.”
“Terrible news,” lamented the bitcoin enthusiast Mandrick on the social media platform X. “Ian Freeman was sentenced to 8 years in federal prison. I met my wife, and first heard about bitcoin through his podcast Free Talk Live.” Freeman alongside Edge pioneered in advertising bitcoin on a syndicated radio channel via their Free Talk Live (FTL) broadcast.
Since its inception in 2011, the syndicated broadcast has embraced bitcoin for advertising ventures, and for over a decade, FTL’s national radio segments have championed bitcoin during the show and in ads.
What do you think about Ian Freeman sentence? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
Billionaire Bill Ackman on US Banking Crisis: We Are Running Out of Time to Fix This Problem
Billionaire Bill Ackman has warned that “We are running out of time” to fix the problem that led to the collapses of regional banks. “How many more unnecessary bank failures do we need to watch before the FDIC, U.S. Treasury, and our government wake up?” he stressed, adding that “We need a systemwide deposit guarantee regime now.”
Ackman Calls for Urgent Action as Time Runs Out to Prevent More Bank Failures
Billionaire Bill Ackman, CEO and portfolio manager of Pershing Square Capital Management, has warned that time is running out for the U.S. government to fix the banking system. He tweeted Wednesday:
The regional banking system is at risk … The rapid rise in rates impaired assets and drained deposits.
Ackman explained that the “failure” of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) “to update and expand its insurance regime has hammered more nails in the coffin.” He stressed that First Republic Bank “would not have failed if the FDIC temporarily guaranteed deposits while a new guarantee regime were created. Instead, we watch the dominoes fall at great systemic and economic cost.” First Republic Bank was seized by regulators earlier this week and most of its assets were sold to JPMorgan Chase.
The billionaire added that globally systemic banks (G-SIBs) “have an unfair competitive advantage as too big to fail means only their uninsured depositors can sleep soundly. Until the playing field is leveled, the regional banks are at grave risk.”
Ackman continued: “Confidence in a financial institution is built over decades and destroyed in days. As each domino falls, the next weakest bank begins to wobble. Until investors are rewarded for betting on a wobbling bank, there will be no bid, and the best sale is the last price.” He stressed:
We are running out of time to fix this problem.
“How many more unnecessary bank failures do we need to watch before the FDIC, U.S. Treasury, and our government wake up? We need a systemwide deposit guarantee regime now,” he concluded.
Do you agree with Bill Ackman that time is running out for the U.S. to fix its banking system? Let us know in the comments section below.
STEPN (GMT) Struggles To Hit $1, Is The Price Running Out Of Steam?
STEPN (GMT) has struggled to show its move in recent months after ranking as the top gainer for several weeks against tether (USDT). The price of STEPN has struggled to rally to despite the market seeing relief bounces across the market, with many altcoins producing double-digit gains, with the price of STEPN (GMT) showing little or no steam left for a major rally. (Data from Binance)
STEPN (GMT) Token Price Analysis On The Weekly Chart
Weekly GMT Price Chart | Source: GMTUSDT On Tradingview.com
GMT saw a decline in its price from a region of to around 0.63, with an over 70% drop from its all-time high despite having good fundamentals. The price of GMT bounced off after touching a weekly low of .63, and the price rallied to .95, showing some great strength, but the price was quickly rejected as this area acts as resistance to the price of GMT.
The price of GMT on the weekly chart formed a range between .6- as the price continued with little volume, unable to break out of the range channel. For GMT to break out of this range channel, the price needs to be backed with good volume as the resistance at the mark has proven hard for the price of GMT after several rejections at this zone.
GMT price needs to break and close above with good volume for a possible rally to .5, where the price would face resistance. A break a close for GMT price above would signal a good relief bounce.
If the price of GMT fails to hold its support at .63, seen as a demand zone, we could see the price going lower.
Weekly resistance for the price of GMT – -.5.
Weekly support for the price of GMT – .63.
Price Analysis Of GMT On The Daily (1D) Chart
Daily GMT Price Chart | Source: GMTUSDT On Tradingview.com
The daily timeframe for GMT prices continues to weaken as prices continue to respect the downtrend trendline inside an asymmetric wedge. If the price of GMT continues with this structure, we could see the price retesting the support zone at .6.
GMT price needs to break out of the downtrend for the price to have an opportunity to trend higher; a breakout from this downtrend structure to the upside would be a first relief sign for bulls.
On the daily timeframe, the price of GMT is currently trading at .66, as the price of GMT on the daily chart closed below the 50 Exponential Moving Average (EMA), acting as resistance for GMT price. The price of .8 corresponds to the resistance at 50 EMA for the price of GMT. The price of GMT needs to reclaim 50 EMA for a chance to trend to ; if the price fails to be reclaimed by the price, we could see the price retesting the support at .6 or lower.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) for GMT is above 50 on the daily chart, indicating low buy order volume.
Daily resistance for the GMT price – .8-.
Daily support for the GMT price – .6.
Featured Image From Freepik, Charts From Tradingview
NewsBTC
Bitcoin Crash Sends Institutional Investors Running For The Hills
Small and retail investors are not the only ones getting hit hard by the Bitcoin crash. Institutional investors are also feeling the heat of the market crash. This has sent the institutional investors running as inflows had halted for the last week. Outflows from crypto and blockchain-related investments grew steadily over the course of the weeks, totaling more than 0. million.
Institutional Investors Stay Away
The institutional outflows for last week have been concerning for crypto investors but in no way surprising. With the emergence of the ‘crypto winter’, it has signaled that the bear market is in full force. Thus, investors are forced to react accordingly.
Outflows had climbed throughout last week and had come out to a total of 2 million. It culminates a long-running outflow trend that had mostly stayed in the altcoins. However, this time around, bitcoin has been drawn into this trend.
Related Reading | Bitcoin Drops To 18-Months Lows, Has The Market Seen The Worst Of It?
The pioneer cryptocurrency saw outflows totaling million last week alone. This was the case across the short-bitcoin investment products which had also recorded outflows. For bitcoin, these weekly outflows bring its month-to-date outflows to million. Short-bitcoin investment products are now only seeing million of total assets under management (AuM) compared to billion for its longer-term bitcoin investment products.
Total market cap drops below trillion | Source: Crypto Total Market Cap on TradingView.com
Outflows All Across Crypto
Ethereum had been recording consistent weeks of outflows over the past several months and this past week was no different. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap saw million in outflows this past week. This brought its year-to-date outflows to 7 million, only now making up 4.4% of the total crypto-assets under management.
Blockchain quiddities have also joined the league of outflows with a total of million in the past week. As well as multi-asset investment products which saw .7 million of outflows. The majority of the outflows recorded for last week have been from the Americas, making up more than million outflows. Their European counterparts only recorded million in outflows for the same time period.
Related Reading | Exchange Inflows Ramp Up As Crypto Investors Clamor To Exit Market
What this shows is the general sentiment of investors towards the crypto market no matter what avenue they have invested through. The bear market is expected to last for at least another year and as such, investors have begun to plan accordingly.
The crypto market cap has now fallen below trillion for the first time since January 2021. With sentiment skewing powerfully into the negative, there is no sign of recovery or relief for investors.
Featured image from The Financial Express, chart from TradingView.com
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Telos launches its very own EVM and combat Front Running in Crypto Market
When the news of Ethereum 2.0 broke out, many people were beyond excited. The issue of transaction scalability and sustainability was going to be fixed. However, even Ethereum 2.0 left an essential problem out that crypto investors are still facing, an important problem known as FRONT RUNNING. This problem resulted in the loss of thousands of dollars, and it is still causing the loss of more. Imagine the joy on people’s faces when Telos, a popular third-generation blockchain, announced their new EVM that claims to solve this problem and many more. Yes. Just what you thought. Hope at last! But before we get a little too delighted, let’s get a clear picture of how Telos will solve this problem and outperform other systems.
Telos EVM was created to solve problems faced by other EVMs. Each part of Telos EVM seems to fix different problems common in other networks. Telos EVM works just like Ethereum, but it’s different from the original EVM. The platform was built to host a large number of programs from other networks without having to modify anything.
Even though Front running is very common in the crypto world today, and it’s why many people lose millions of dollars, not many people know about it. That’s because it happens without them even knowing. Front running happens when bots or miners with insider knowledge about pending trades make a profit off it. The involved individual can skip lines, complete transactions, and then take the difference between his buy and sell price as profit. Only the attacker makes a profit off this. Users don’t benefit. Telos solve this problem by having a fixed transaction fee and also a strict anti-frontrunning rule. This will enable users to curb any possibility of being exploited.
Another area where Telos is setting the pace is the transaction fee. Not many platforms can boast of low transaction fees. Native Telos has no fee at all, and Telos EVM based on a very similar model to the original Ethereum has a gas model but only costs .01. Telos EVM will save people hundreds if not thousands of dollars since Ethereum gas fees are considered relatively high. With this, Telos not only outperforms its competitors like Cardano, Polkadot, and the likes, it also beats the original Ethereum hands down.
The time it takes to mine one block usually varies based on the chain and some variables. Ethereum, the king of decentralized apps, takes about 10 to 15 seconds to mine one block. Other competitors such as Binance smart chain and Cardano can still boast of faster transactions, but nothing comes close to Telos EVM. Telos EVM has one of the fastest block mining times. The time it takes for Telos to mine one block is less than 500ms. This transaction speed has further increased the gap between it and its competitors. This fantastic block time speed means it can handle 10,000 transactions per second.
Telos is tagged as the greenest blockchain because of how low its energy consumption levels are. Asides from that, Telos can also offer a home to several Dapps on its network. Telos is compatible with Vyper, EOSIO C++, and Solidity, thereby offering a new experience for migrating users. The rate of Telos EVM with other apps is 95% which makes migrating to it easier than ever.
The first project on the network will be a replica of Cryptopunks, a popular NFT project. The creator would be The Big Gooey an upcoming NFT artist. This project is the first ERC_721 NFT that will be hosted on dStor. You can check it out on Telos official website.
They recently announced their partnerships with SushiSwap and Anyswap. So now the users on both platforms can take the advantage of Telos EVM’s scalability, speed and security while trading their crypto assets.
Smart Contracts Running on Bitcoin? Internet Computer Founder Explains How It’s Possible
Upon its launch, Internet Computer took the crypto market by storm. It’s an ambitious project, supported by some major names in the industry. Designed and created by the DFINITY Foundation, it aims to give more power to the people over the Internet, and it could potentially take it into a new stage powered by its platform.
Now, the Internet Computer has taken another step into the future. Its community recently voted and approved the “Increased Canister Storage” as Internet Computer continues to integrate more features and upgrade its platform.
Next, the community will use the power provided by the Internet Computer governance model to vote on integration with the Bitcoin blockchain. In practice, this will allow Bitcoin to have smart contract functionality (or Canisters, as they are called on Internet Computer) on the Internet Computer network with low-cost transactions and fast finality. Thus, the decentralized ecosystem on both networks could expand into an unprecedented era.
We sat down with Dominic Williams, the founder and Chief Scientist of the DFINITY Foundation to talk about this proposal, its implications for Bitcoin and Internet Computer, and more. This is what he told us.
Q: It has been around 4 months since Internet Computer was deployed, how would you describe the current state of the project and the role the community is playing?
Dom: Developers and entrepreneurs have recognized its potential. As a result, the Internet Computer is experiencing ferocious growth as measured by the number of canister smart contracts running, the number of developers building, and the number of active users the dapps being built have, and arguably it is the fastest growing blockchain when looking carefully at these metrics. Moreover, developers have proven that the Internet Computer can be used to build things that cannot be built on any other blockchain today. For example, one of the most popular dapps on the Internet Computer is “Open Chat”, which already has several tens of thousands of users even though it is still in alpha. This runs entirely from the blockchain, which means that smart contracts are used to process the chat messages, and smart contracts also securely serve the interactive web content users interact with directly into browsers – which only the Internet Computer blockchain is capable of doing today. Therefore, not only has Web 3.0 become real, but the purposes to which blockchain can be applied have greatly expanded.
Q: Internet Computer is a relatively new project in a relatively new industry, why do you think people are drawn into it, what makes the platform unique?
Dom: I think more and more people are coming to the realization that blockchain is the future internet and has immense potential. For that reason, many, many developers, including those who are early in their careers and trying to decide which tech sector to dedicate their lives to, are magnetized to the blockchain. The Internet Computer is one of the oldest original crypto projects but was one of the last blockchains to launch because of the huge amount of R&D work involved in rethinking blockchain architecture from the ground up and developing the new cryptography frameworks that power it. But now that the Internet Computer is available, it offers capabilities completely unlike those of other blockchains.
It is the first blockchain to scale the seamless environment it provides for smart contracts so that it can host any number of smart contracts, and any volume of smart contract computations, and smart contract data, it is the first blockchain to run at web speed (it can finalize transactions in 2 seconds and can serve “query transactions” that don’t modify state in milliseconds), it is the first blockchain to run smart contracts with efficiency comparable to running software on traditional IT systems, and it is the first blockchain that enables smart contracts to securely serve interactive web content directly to those using dapps (today, dapps on all other blockchains have to host their websites on centralized infrastructures, such as Amazon Web Services, which creates all kinds of security and other issues). These capabilities mean the Internet Computer can even be used to create decentralized versions of mass-market social media services, which run entirely from the chain and can be blended with next-generation DeFi services. If you want, it can even be used to build secure enterprise systems, allowing organizations to migrate away from traditional IT to the blockchain. It has the potential to truly uncork the blockchain genie.
Q: Can you tell us more about the process that will allow Bitcoin to operate smart contracts power by Internet Computer? And how it’ll be different from synthesized versions of BTC already operating on Ethereum?
Dom: Today, the Bitcoin network hosts almost a trillion dollars of value, in the form of divisible bitcoins, which play the role of digital gold. However, the Bitcoin network does not currently host “smart contract” software of the kind introduced by Ethereum six and a half years after the launch of Bitcoin. Smart contracts are a new kind of software that is unstoppable and tamperproof, which is guaranteed to run on the blockchain exactly as written and remain secure without the protection of a firewall, can process value in the form of tokens and can even run autonomously without a human or organization controlling them. They allow blockchains to be applied as a new kind of general-purpose platform and have facilitated the DeFi (decentralized finance) revolution that Ethereum pioneered. If Bitcoin gained smart contracts, developers would become able to build all manner of exciting new systems and services that process bitcoins and run from the blockchain, creating immense new value while also adding value to Bitcoin.
The enormous financial value carried by bitcoins has great utility, and so the current practice is to transport bitcoins onto blockchains supporting smart contracts such as Ethereum by “wrapping” them, which is unfortunately very dangerous. It involves bitcoins being sent to an organization running what is known as a “bridge”, which keeps them in its custody and then issues “wrapped bitcoin” on the destination blockchain, which can then be processed by smart contracts. The drawback of this approach is that the bitcoins are passed into the custody of the bridge operators, which must be trusted to correctly redeem the wrapped bitcoins when required later. This is antithetical to the blockchain mission, which aims to remove the need for trust. The approach is consequently highly risky, as demonstrated by the recent hack of the Poly Network bridge on 10 August 2021. This bridge moved bitcoins and other tokens between the Ethereum, Polygon MATIC and Binance Chain networks, and when it was compromised crypto worth six hundred million dollars was stolen (it was later returned by the hacker).
Enter the revolutionary “chain key cryptography” that powers the Internet Computer network. This will enable smart contracts hosted by the Internet Computer to directly maintain, send and receive bitcoins, which actually reside and immediately move on the real Bitcoin network, obviating the need for dangerous bridges and token wrapping. This is possible because the Internet Computer protocol can securely and seamlessly generate the private key ECDSA signatures involved in bitcoin transactions on behalf of smart contracts, using chain key cryptography. Meanwhile, Internet Computer nodes will directly communicate with Bitcoin network nodes, ensuring that transactions and balance information is moved back and forth and is always available. Effectively, the scheme will meld the two networks, extending Bitcoin with arguably the world’s most powerful smart contract capabilities.
Q: Once the smart contract capabilities are implemented, what are the potential use cases that will benefit people using these Internet Computer smart contracts with Bitcoin?
Dom: The possibilities are endless. The Internet Computer scales, and can run unbounded volumes of smart contract computation at web speed. Its smart contracts are also the first to be able to securely serve web content directly to end-users without intermediaries, with support for the new Internet Identity anonymizing blockchain authentication system allowing users to sign-on to dapps (decentralized applications) using devices including fingerprint sensors on laptops, and face ID systems, as well as hardware keys and wallets such as YubiKey and Ledger. This means that in the future, your Bitcoin wallet might be securely served into your web browser and that you will be able to quickly, securely and conveniently authenticate yourself using your fingerprint sensor, before sending bitcoin to any address you like via the user interface. What is more, the Internet Computer is allowing social media services to be built that run from the blockchain, which can then be blended with DeFi. In the future, your Bitcoin wallet might very well be a blockchain chat app, and you might send bitcoin with messages, or atomically transact for an NFT after negotiations. For many, this will begin to realize the vision of bitcoin being applied within internet services that Satoshi originally described.
Q: Can the same process that will enable smart contracts on Internet Computer to be compatible with Bitcoin be implemented into other networks? If so, which could be the next cryptocurrency to be integrated and why?
Dom: It is possible to integrate the Internet Computer blockchain with Bitcoin because of the new “chain key cryptography” framework that powers its protocols. This enables it to create transactions on behalf of smart contracts, such that they do not need to manage private key materials themselves. Once Bitcoin has been integrated, the same work will be leveraged to directly integrate the Internet Computer with Ethereum. This integration will enable two-way calling between smart contracts on the Internet Computer and Ethereum, enabling, for example, Ethereum DeFi dapps to serve their websites from blockchain rather than centralized cloud services such as Amazon Web Services.
Implementing a blockchain that supports chain key cryptography requires a multi-year R&D effort spearheaded by a strong team of specialist cryptographers. For such reasons, it is unlikely that any other blockchain will be able to pull off the same feat in the foreseeable future.
Q: How do you envision the future of the crypto industry, as one where an “Ethereum Killer” has defeated its competition or one where there are multiple blockchains operating to the benefit of their users? Do you think it’s important for Bitcoin, Internet Computer, and others to be interoperable?
We believe in a blockchain trinity consisting of Bitcoin, Ethereum and the Internet Computer. They all clearly satisfy different niches and complement each other. Although both Ethereum and the Internet Computer support smart contracts, the capabilities provided by the Internet Computer environment are vastly different and much broader. Arguably, Ethereum might become the world’s DeFi settlement layer, and will cede the “world computer” vision to the Internet Computer, which was built specifically to realize that vision through many long years of R&D that cannot easily be replicated.
This Litecoin Fractal Says Time Is Running Out To Accumulate At Low Prices
Litecoin as a cryptocurrency has longevity behind it, digital scarcity, and a code that’s just like Bitcoin’s. Yet the reputation of the altcoin has been so tarnished, it has long lagged behind the rest of the market after being the once clear leader.
Signs are mounting that this could soon reverse, and according to a fractal from past market cycles, time is running out to accumulate the silver to Bitcoin as digital gold at such low prices.
Digital Silver Ready To Shine After Several Years of Dormancy
When talking precious metals, the conversation might focus on gold but silver is always part of it. In crypto, Bitcoin definitely steals the limelight, but its Ethereum, Chainlink, and an army of DeFi tokens that capture the interest and excitement. All while the digital version of silver mostly sits out.
Litecoin was popular during past bull markets, but this one – not so much. Whether it was due to the asset’s founder selling the top of the last rally on his followers, or the fact it has barely moved since its halving, Litecoin has stayed in the dark.
Related Reading | Five Reasons Why Litecoin Is Ready To Shine Once Again
Technicals are lighting up once again, however, and it appears as though things are about to change for Litecoin. Grayscale Investments has been loading up on the altcoin, and according to a fractal from the last cycle shared by a highly accurate crypto analyst, time is running out to buy some this cheap.
Layering previous Litecoin price action over the current cycle produces shock-worthy results | Source: LTCUSD on TradingView.com
Before writing off fractals as a fallacy, this same analyst predicted the Bitcoin bull run from the ,000 breakout to beyond using a similar setup. The trajectory puts each Litecoin at a couple thousand dollars.
Litecoin Breaking Out Against Bitcoin Will Drive Dollar Climb
Making things more interesting, another well-respected crypto analyst joined in the conversation suddenly happening surrounding Litecoin. They shared a chart highlighting the altcoin’s Bitcoin trading pair, which lacks a breakout compared to past cycles.
LTC is also ready to pop against Bitcoin, according to past cycles | Source: LTCBTC on TradingView.com
While this might immediately present as bearish for Litecoin, all reversals start somewhere – and the current level appears to be where they start.
Related Reading | Altcoins Bleed After Tesla Bitcoin Buy, BTC Dominance Hints At Deception
Is it finally Litecoin’s time to shine? Technical analysis also supports a bullish breakout in the making. Litecoin has been forming a massive bottoming structure, and there’s a bullish divergence on the RSI along with the MACD flipping bullish. For more reasons to be bullish on Litecoin, go here.
Featured image from Deposit Photos, Charts from TradingView.com
Running Bitcoin: Passing The Torch From Hal Finney To Jack Dorsey
Last night, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted the phrase “running Bitcoin,” as both a nod to computer scientist Hal Finney and to reveal to the world he is running a full node.
Here’s what this means for the first ever cryptocurrency along with a look a how it all started, and where Bitcoin is going next.
How It All Started: Hal Finney Tweets He’s “Running Bitcoin”
Few realized at the time just how significant a tweet from Hal Finney dated January 10, 2009 would ultimately be. The tweet containing only the phrase “running Bitcoin” was among the first the internet had ever heard of the cryptocurrency.
The tweet arrived only seven days following the Genesis Block, and Finney himself was the first to ever be on the receiving end of a BTC transaction.
Related Reading | Who Is Satoshi? Rounding Up The Usual Suspects In The Search For Bitcoin Creator
What Finney was referring to was the fact he was running a Bitcoin “node.” According to Bitcoin.org, a full node is “a program that fully validates transactions and blocks.”
Because Bitcoin is operated by no central authority, volunteers like Finney leverage computing power to help keep the network and code in operation.
Finney is part of a handful of early cryptocurrency supporters that are thought to potentially be Satoshi. Finney has since passed, but the legacy he and his tweet left behind have been critical to adoption of the emerging technology.
How it started versus how its going, crypto-version | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
How It’s Going: The Torch Has Been Passed To Today’s Tech Leaders
Today, the talk of the crypto industry is the fact that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has revealed in a tweet he is also now “running Bitcoin.” Included in the tweet is a screenshot of the code in action.
But the significance goes far beyond one of the most prominent tech leaders continuing to promote Bitcoin. What this more accurately represents, is a passing of the torch from one of the asset’s most influential pioneers to the next.
A pioneer is defined as someone who explores something new. By that definition, Hal Finney is undoubtably a pioneer in crypto. But Dorsey, is a pioneer in his own right.
Dorsey who also serves as the CEO of Square Inc., helped start the trend of corporations adding BTC to their treasury reserves. Square also sells Bitcoin directly to consumers, among other related financial services.
The social media head has also verbally championed Bitcoin as the potentially the next global reserve asset for the internet era and seems intent on seeing that through.
Related Reading | Here’s How High Bitcoin Could Go If 2017 Repeats
One noticeable difference between the two iconic tweets is that Dorsey’s now contains a Bitcoin logo hashtag, custom built by a team he leads.
Dorsey doesn’t need to run Bitcoin. He’s doing it because he is, like Hal, pushing the technology forward first and foremost.
Without Finney and his tweet, the likes of Dorsey might never have learned of Bitcoin and all it can offer the world. Finney’s soapbox was nowhere as large as Dorsey’s – could Dorsey’s “running Bitcoin” tweet some day be nearly as important as Finney’s, or perhaps more so?
Featured image from Deposit Photos, Charts from TradingView.com