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Motherhood Saves Kidnapped British Model from Bitcoin Online Auction

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A British model who was drugged and held captive for a week in Italy where she was threatened to be sold on the dark web if her agent didn’t pay $300,000 has been set free.

The unnamed 20-year-old woman is reported to have been drugged with ketamine and put into a suitcase by 30-year-old Polish-national Lukasz Herba on 11 July, who resides in the U.K.

According to The Telegraph, the model was sent to Milan from Paris by her U.K. agent for a fake photo shoot with Herba posing as a photographer on 10 July. After she failed to return to the U.K., her agent alerted authorities on the 11 July after receiving the ransom demand.

Upon her arrival, Herba is alleged to have brutally kidnapped the model by drugging her and putting her body inside a suitcase before loading it into the boot. He then proceeded to travel to a remote house in Borgial, a small hamlet 120 miles from Milan.

She is reported to have been kept handcuffed to a wooden chest of drawers for a week. At which point Herba then dropped the model off at the British consulate in Milan.

Police investigations are underway to determine if the 20-year-old was kidnapped to be sold as a sex slave in a bitcoin auction on the dark web network known as Black Death. It’s believed that this group had previously been investigated by Europol.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Lorenzo Bucossi, the chief of the Milan branch of Italy’s state police, said:

Europol found traces of this group on the “dark web” a couple of years ago.

Police claim that there were three other cases of women being auctioned for sexual slavery on Herba’s computer; however, this was the only solid case of an auction they had found.

In an interesting turn of events, though, the woman was released after it was discovered that she has a two-year-old child.

In a report from the Corriere della Sera newspaper, the kidnapper is alleged to have said:

You have a two-year-old child and our rules exclude mothers.

Before being released the captor demanded a $50,000 ransom to be paid, stating:

You are being released with a warning.  You are certainly aware of your value on human slavery market. A mistake was made by capturing you.

He added:

You have agreed to pay outstanding costs of your release of $50,000. We expect that money to be paid in bitcoin within one month. Any sort of disobedience will result in your elimination.

Milan police arrested Herba when he accompanied the model to the British consulate. It’s not known if the ransom demand was paid.

11 Banks Develop DLT Trade Finance App Using R3’s Corda Software

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A group of eleven banks have developed a trade finance application using technology developed by distributed ledger startup R3.

The firm announced today that the banks built the app, which is aimed at smoothing the process for letters of credit, on top of R3’s Corda platform. The banks involved include Bangkok Bank, BBVA, BNP Paribas, HSBC, ING, Intesa Sanpaolo, Mizuho, RBS, Scotiabank, SEB and U.S. Bank, and IT consultancy CGI also took part.

At its heart, the app aims to eliminate the paper-based processes for extending credit along the trade financing chain. Testing will continue among other parties, with the goal of expanding the scope of the app – as well as the number of its participants – over the next year.

The app’s unveiling comes nearly a year after the startup and a number of those same banks began testing solutions in the area of trade finance. It’s a use case that has emerged as a prominent one among the world’s financial institutions in the past year and a half.

Earlier this summer, R3 released the public beta of its Corda platform, a move that came weeks after it announced more than $100 million in funding.

Mastercard Files Patent for Refund Services for Cryptocurrency Users

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Global credit card company Mastercard has filed a patent application with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the creation of refund services for digital currency users. In the patent titled “Information Transaction Infrastructure,” the company hinted at its plan to explore possible means of implementing this feature.

Based on the application published by the USPTO on Aug. 3, 2017, the sole inventor of the proposed tool was former Mastercard senior analyst Vladimir Goloschuk.

Some key details of the patent application

Based on the published document, the proposed service will establish an infrastructure that would allow users to verify their identities and link them to the digital currency addresses that they had chosen to disclose. An example of how the system will work was also presented.

Part of the document reads:

“A typical transaction involving a payment from Alice to Bob operates in the following way. Bob creates a new address using the cryptocurrency client and provides the address to Alice as a destination for the payment. Alice makes the transaction using her cryptocurrency client by indicating a payment to the address indicated by Bob from one of her own addresses – this is done by signing a transaction request with her private key for the address, the public key being usable to establish that the transaction was sent by Alice to Bob’s address.”

The system being proposed by Mastercard aims to facilitate the refund process in payment transactions.

Under the current system, a customer who requests a refund must have the funds sent back to the same address they paid from. Mastercard suggests the creation of a service that will allow users to choose to send refunds to a different wallet address. This system will help facilitate the refund of payments much easier and quicker as part of the application explains:

“The first party private address is not communicated to the second party, but the first party public address is communicated to the second party. This approach is particularly suitable for transfer of cryptocurrency, as it allows for an effective refund mechanism.”

Mastercard is not the only financial institution in the race for patent approval. In fact, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs, are some of the leading applicants for the increasing applications that USPTO has received in the first quarter of 2017 whose applications are still pending approval.

WannaCry On the Move? Bitcoin Crime Evolves in a Multi-Blockchain World

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First there was the theft – then the coins stood still.

For the past 10 weeks, three bitcoin address containing more than $140,000-worth of the cryptocurrency have been given more scrutiny than possibly any others on the blockchain. Now held by the hacker or hackers behind the WannaCry ransomware attack, the funds were sent by victims from more than 150 countries in an attempt to unlock their computers from the malicious encryption software.

But last week, something stirred – and increments of $20,000-worth of bitcoin began moving into seven new addresses. Slowly, the three addresses that had held the attention of the world began to empty. The question was, where were the coins headed?

That the subject would gain such attention perhaps isn’t surprising. At the time of the incident in May, WannaCry attracted global headlines, and bitcoin got a share of the blame.

As bitcoin’s value grew over the course of the year, and as it attracted a new class of investors, the incident emerged as a black mark – the latest reminder of how the technology can be used to nefarious ends.

“There’s an implication that [blockchains] are well-suited for criminal activity,” said Andrew Poelstra, a mathematician at Blockstream. “Because blockchains make it cheaper to move money around the world quickly and privately, there’s this meme out there that it’s making it easier for criminals to do criminal things.”

As such, for many industry observers, the incident remains a case study with consequences.

Should the criminals be able to cash out the funds, it could be deemed as the latest evidence cryptocurrency can be exploited, despite years of regulations and rule-making.

And if the criminals don’t or can’t? That might signal that a maturing set of startups, and the nature of the technology itself, are more able to guard against the type of activity so frowned upon by the powers that be.

A new blockchain in the mix

In context, the fact that the coins are moving at all is something of a shock.

As early as May, it was widely felt the hackers would be unlikely to move the bitcoins for a long time, if at all, as it would be difficult to cash out on major exchanges that monitor stolen funds to meet regulatory standards.

Again, there’s also the open nature of bitcoin’s blockchain. Those interested in watching the coins move were gifted an easy task, as the WannaCry hackers used only three addresses to collect the ransoms.

But, in an evolving blockchain sector that seems to continue to find new ways to surprise, it could be other blockchains that end up closing the dramatic story.

Of the total funds, $36,000 in bitcoin has now moved through Switzerland-based cryptocurrency startup Shapeshift and into the open-source, privacy-oriented cryptocurrency, monero.

And the switch to the monero blockchain could make things complicated, since it uses several different means to obscure the identity of its users.

Created in 2014, monero is best known for its innovative use of “ring signatures,” which are utilized to mix user public keys and account keys, creating a “ring” of possible signers so outside observers can’t link a signature to a specific user.

The cryptocurrency protocol also uses “stealth addresses,” which allow the recipient to publish a single address, but the coins are sent to a separate, unique addresses.

Unlikely to get away

As a result, many are now wondering if monero changes the game.

Here the answer is less clear. Monero’s mechanisms only involve mixing addresses with a small number of other participants, which could generate privacy gaps.

And other mechanisms for evading detection, such as coin mixing, and even other privacy-oriented cryptocurrencies like Zcash, all suffer from this lack of scale, according to Poelstra.

Zcash, for example, allows people to use “shielded addresses,” which make the output of a transaction look indistinguishable from every other output.

But according to Poelstra, because of the computational power needed to use shielded addresses, many people aren’t using them. So, again the pool is too small for perfect anonymity.

Whether the hackers are eventually captured is a product of how much information they leak, and how much money and time law enforcement is willing to spend using that leaked information to track them, he concluded.

Ultimately, current options for the hackers seem limited.

Given that no blockchain technologies provide complete digital privacy, ultimately, the attackers may be taking big risks in their attempt to finally get away with their loot.

Poelstra concluded:

“I don’t know whether the WannaCry hackers will get caught or not, but I do know they will not completely hide their tracks; there is information that will leak.”

Crypto Speculator Threatens Bytecoin Development Team: “One Week Then I Dump”

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Members of the largest Bytecoin-focused Telegram group were surprised this morning to learn that a large-scale holder is distraught with development efforts and will dump his entire stack within seven days if the development team does not meet some demands.

Going by the name “John Pat” but being clear that he had already levied similar tactics with other coins under the name “Dolan,” he elucidated his demands as follows:

  • public roadmap;
  • transparent communication;
  • also, the team has to go public if they have nothing to hide:
    • number of team members;
    • a way to communicate with them directly, in case someone wants to contribute to the project;
    • they have to show their exact percentage of bcn holdings.

John Pat’s statements are all from a position that believes Bytecoin development team are guilty of numerous crimes against cryptocurrency – guilty until proven innocent, that is. The charges have existed virtually as long as Bytecoin has. CCN first investigated the matter with an interview of a developer.

John Pat went on to say this number:

It’s pertinent to note that Poloniex has recently shut down Bytecoin (BCN) trading, again. This is not the first nor the last time that the exchange has done this, so much so that this author felt the need to start a petition asking them to either give better service or delist the coin such that BCN’s price market can at least properly function. (John Pat’s screenshots are from HitBTC).

“Going Public If They Have Nothing To Hide?”

Satoshi Nakamoto doesn’t have anything to hide, in most of our viewpoints. But there are certainly some people who’d like to talk to them, and these people wield the biggest guns in history. There is a lurking spectre in the cryptocurrency community of the corporatization and repatriation of cryptocurrencies into the gun-enforced fiat system. Ethereum-based ICOs have normalized the notion that development of currencies should be the realm of exclusive “professional groups” instead of public properties. This very spectre was a contributing factor to the long-lasting Bitcoin scaling debate of 2014-2017.

In smaller capitalization markets like Bytecoin, people like John Pat wield a lot of power. Given the unlikelihood of Bytecoin developers coming out of the dark after five years of continuous development, the BCN price may suffer a loss in a week or so, and depending on your disposition, this may be a good or bad thing.

Or, before the commenters point it out, this could just be a scare tactic to initiate a sell-off such that John Pat can further consolidate his already sizable position. It seems we will find out in about a week.

Major Japanese Retail Chain Marui Now Accepts Bitcoin Payments

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Major Japanese retail store chain Marui has signed a partnership agreement with Bitcoin exchange Bitflyer that will enable it to accept Bitcoin payments in stores starting August 7. With this move, Marui becomes the first large department store chain in Japan to accept the digital currency for payment.

Plans to roll out to all 31 stores

Marui is a reputable and well-known chain of stores in Japan that features high-end fashion brands and designers, as well as boutiques. The department store is owned by Marui Group, which was founded in 1931 and incorporated in 1937. The group owns 31 stores across the country.

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), Marui’s department stores are among the top seven shopping attractions in the nation.

Meanwhile, Culture Trip considers Marui as a department store chain that mainly caters to the needs of young and stylish customers aged 20-35 years. The chain has stores in Tokyo and other major cities in Japan.

Test run in Shinjuku

Marui will test the use of Bitcoin as a payment method at its Shinjuku Marui Annex site in Tokyo from Aug. 7 to Oct. 31, 2017. The site is a major commercial and administrative center in the country’s capital. If the pilot goes well, Marui could continue the adoption of Bitcoin, ultimately allowing it at all 31 stores.

Other Bitcoin adoption developments

Despite the temporary halt on Aug. 1 due to uncertainties over forks, the number of Japanese merchants accepting Bitcoin is growing rapidly. This growth was spurred when the Japanese government gave Bitcoin legal tender status earlier this year. Among the merchants now accepting Bitcoin is Bic Camera, which introduced a Bitcoin payment option to all its stores in Japan, as well as in some Sofmap and Kojima stores.

Japan is also considered as one of the best countries to buy and spend Bitcoin due to the regulatory climate and favorable tax regime.

Bitcoin Cash Eases Mining Difficulty as Blockchain Adjusts

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Bitcoin Cash adjusted its mining difficulty over the weekend, a move that comes just under a week after the alternative version of the bitcoin blockchain was created.

As a result of both blocks (478,647 and 478,648) having a Median Time Past (MTP) that was 12 hours greater than the six blocks prior, each block adjusted difficulty down by 20%. A special rule to the network, Bitcoin Cash implemented the measure as part of its hard fork last week.

As a result, Bitcoin Cash is now 16.7% as difficult as bitcoin to mine.

This has lead more blocks to be found, both because it’s easier and because more bitcoin miners are now mining Bitcoin Cash. Since the difficulty adjustment, Bitcoin Cash is averaging about 18-minute blocks, implying a hash rate of around 650 PH/s.

At this rate, we can expect another difficulty adjustment in about 13 days, at which point, the network should have roughly 10-minute blocks, like bitcoin, assuming the hash rate stays constant.

Note that economically, it’s still more rational for a miner to mine bitcoin, as Bitcoin Cash needs to be worth about 1/6 of bitcoin’s price to be as profitable, which sets the target at $566 at the time of writing.

Bitcoin Cash is currently trading at around $328.

China to Use the Blockchain to Send Invoices and Collect Taxes

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The Chinese government has announced that it will start to use the blockchain to collect taxes and issue electronic invoices.

In 2016, the government revealed that it had listed the distributed ledger in its Thirteenth Five-Year National Informatization Plan.

Since then the country has been working at implementing the blockchain into daily life, reports Futurism, with reports suggesting that China is leading the waywith the advancements of the technology.

One of the country’s latest initiatives has seen China’s online-only insurer ZhongAn working on a blockchain platform to track the chicken supply in the country. China has also seen its central bank complete a digital currency trial on the blockchain with its own cryptocurrency. Whereas Australia Post has joined with Alibaba to fight the problem of counterfeit food in China.

With the Chinese economy the world’s largest with a 2016 GDP of over RMB 70 trillion or around US$10.4 trillion, this could future catapult the country forward given the importance China is attaching to it.

According to the Chinese government, they have ‘actively’ been exploring the application of the distributed ledger in the ‘fiscal and taxation business.’

In an agreement with the Shenzhen Zhanhe Technology Investment Co., the government will undertake joint research and development based on the government chain of fiscal and taxation applications.

It said:

[This] is the first international financial and taxation business actually landed in the block chain project, [which] will further consolidate the network in China and the international industry in the leading edge.

This latest initiative in China indicates how the technology can further be utilized in day-to-day applications. Furthermore, due to its transparency and security, the blockchain makes a viable and attractive option when used for taxation purposes.

As China continues to explore the technology there will be more use cases involving it for a broader array of applications. With immutability, security and transparency important components in the digital arena, China is understanding the importance that the blockchain can have and appears keen to uncover more of its potential.

Single Trader with Enormous Bankroll is Manipulating Bitcoin Price, But to What End?

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Rumors are swirling about a trader with nearly unlimited funds who is manipulating the Bitcoin markets. This trader, nicknamed “Spoofy,” received his nom de guerre because of his efforts to “spoof” the market, primarily on Bitfinex.

What is spoofing?

According to the Dodd-Frank act, spoofing is the practice of:

“Bidding or offering with the intent to cancel the bid or offer before execution”

In other words, spoofers place a large buy order just below other buy orders, or a large sell order just above other sell orders. The idea is to make traders think that somebody with deep pockets is getting ready to buy or sell, in hopes of moving the market. If traders see a sell order of 2000 Bitcoin, for instance, they may rush to panic sell before the whale crashes the price.

The catch is this: If the price approaches the spoofer’s order, he immediately cancels it. Spoofing is actually illegal, but as Bitcoin markets are largely unregulated, it’s quite common. What is unusual in this case is the enormous bankroll that Spoofy has at his disposal. He regularly places orders approaching $60 mln.

Even more unusual is that most of Spoofy’s activity occurs on a single exchange: Bitfinex. This exchange came under fire earlier this spring when Wells Fargo cut off their banking ties. As a result, it’s virtually impossible to deposit fiat on Bitfinex without going through intermediaries. Spoofy has massive sums of both fiat and Bitcoin on that exchange, and is likely one of the only traders who does.

Other tactics

Spoofy has a number of weapons in his arsenal, including spoofing and wash trading. As BitCrypto’ed points out in a recent blog post:

“Spoofy makes the price go up when he wants it to go up, and Spoofy makes the price go down when he wants it to go down, and he’s got the coin… both USD, and Bitcoin, of course, to pull it off, and with impunity on Bitfinex.”

The BitCrypto’ed blog also describes Spoofy’s wash trades, when he trades with himself by either selling into his own buy orders or vice versa. Wash trading at high volumes can induce a frenzy of buying or selling, as other traders respond to the high trading volume. Spoofy can execute wash trades at very low cost, about $1,000 per million dollars of volume.

When Bitfinex announced its plan to distribute Bitcoin Cash, it initially planned to distribute Bitcoin Cash to holders of short positions. Immediately following that announcement, a single trader short sold tens of thousands of Bitcoin all at once. It’s likely this trader was Spoofy himself, planning on acquiring as much Bitcoin Cash as possible.

The large number of shorts on Bitfinex also led many to believe that an epic short squeeze was coming, and many Bitcoin traders purchase coins in expectation of this. Suddenly, he “claimed” all of his own shorts, closing them using his own Bitcoin. The number of shorts dropped drastically without affecting the price at all.

Who is he?

The identity of Spoofy remains a mystery. He may be a single trader, a group of colluding traders or even the Bitfinex management themselves. He sometimes seeks to drop Bitcoin price, and sometimes acts to increase it.

Not just Bitfinex

Spoofy’s activity also drives the price on other exchanges, as arbitrage takes place. Because BItcoin is so thinly traded, a single large “whale” can potentially move the entire market. While Spoofy is certainly exercising outsized control over the Bitcoin price, it is uncertain how much of an affect this is having on the markets. The price is currently rising, having finally surmounted the $3,000 barrier. The only problem? Nobody knows how much of this increase is organic and sustainable, and how much is due to the market manipulation of Spoofy and others.

Cryptocurrency Market Tops $116 Billion to Set New All-Time High

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The total value of all publicly traded cryptocurrencies set a new all-time high today.

At press time, data from CoinMarketCap indicates the crypto asset class is now worth just over $116.9 billion, just above of its previous all-time high of $116.2 billion set on June 12.

Overall, the value of the asset class is up nearly 30% over the last week, rising from just under $90 billion on July 31, and up nearly 80% since its recent $60 billion low on July 16.

The price increases come at a time when optimism is beginning to return to markets following a bitcoin hard fork in which a new cryptocurrency was created without disrupting the larger bitcoin network. Over this time, bitcoin has enjoyed broad media coverage, though it remains difficult to determine if new buyers are being attracted to the space.

Data from Google Trends suggests searches for “bitcoin price” and “BTCUSD” remain down from highs observed in May.

Still, much of the day’s gains seem consolidated outside of bitcoin’s two largest markets, bitcoin and ether. Of the top 10 cryptocurrencies, just four were posting double-digit gains, including Bitcoin Cash, NEM, IOTA and NEO (formerly Antshares).

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