Category Archives: Crypto

Business, Crypto, Financial, Science, Security

Cryptocurrency Revolution

Image by TeX9.net: Cryptocurrency Revolution
Cryptocurrency: A Revolution in Digital Finance

In recent years, the financial landscape has witnessed a dramatic transformation with the rise of cryptocurrencies. These digital assets have taken the world by storm because of promising to reshape the way we conduct financial transactions, invest and even think about money. The story of cryptocurrencies begins with the creation of Bitcoin in 2009 by an anonymous entity known as Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin introduced the concept of a decentralized, peer-to-peer digital currency and powered by blockchain technology.

Key Features of Cryptocurrencies
  1. Decentralization: Cryptocurrencies are not controlled by any central authority, making them resistant to censorship and manipulation.
  2. Security: Transactions are secured through cryptographic techniques, making it extremely difficult for malicious actors to tamper with the system.
  3. Transparency: Blockchain technology records all transactions on a public ledger, ensuring transparency and accountability.
  4. Accessibility: Cryptocurrencies are accessible to anyone with an internet connection, opening up financial opportunities for the unbanked and underbanked populations.
Impact on Traditional Finance
  1. Reduced Transaction Costs: Cryptocurrency transactions often come with lower fees compared to traditional banking systems.
  2. Financial Inclusion: Cryptocurrencies can provide access to financial services for the billions of people worldwide so the traditional banking system can not exclude them.
  3. Innovation: The blockchain technology underlying cryptocurrencies has sparked innovation in various industries, such as supply chain management, healthcare, and voting systems.
  4. Investment Opportunities: Cryptocurrencies have become an attractive asset class for investors, offering the potential for high returns and diversification.
Key Players in the Cryptocurrency Revolution
  1. Bitcoin (BTC): The original cryptocurrency and so the most recognized. It serves as digital gold and a store of value.
  2. Ethereum (ETH): Known for its smart contract functionality, Ethereum has enabled the development of decentralized applications (DApps).
  3. Binance Coin (BNB): The native token of the Binance exchange and is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.
  4. Cardano (ADA): Known for its focus on sustainability, scalability and interoperability in blockchain technology.
Image by TeX9.net: Cryptocurrency Revolution
Image by TeX9.net: Cryptocurrency Revolution
Business, Computer Chips, Crypto, Financial, Science, Security, TechNews

Hacker Attacks on Crypto Protocols: Nearly $500M in Damage Last Quarter

Image: Hacker, Free Stock Picture, MorgueFile.com.

As the company Atlas VPN has found, hacker attacks have been particularly successful in recent months. Chainalysis had already warned of a record month.

Although the cryptocurrency sector is now much better regulated and more and more investors are taking the necessary steps to increase security – such as storing their own coins in hardware wallets – hacker attacks are still a big issue in the cryptocurrency sector, albeit only in relation to the volume traded affect a fraction of the sector.

In one quarter, hackers cause almost half a billion dollars in damage

According to Atlas VPN data , in the third quarter of 2022, criminals stole around $483 million worth of cryptocurrencies through targeted attacks. The number of hacks fell by 43 percent compared to the second quarter. In the first quarter, the damage amounted to around 1.3 billion US dollars.

Even if the damage appears large in absolute numbers and was certainly significant for those affected, in relation to the size of the crypto sector with a value of around $970 billion according to CoinMarketCap, it is not quite as dramatic as it might seem at first glance.

Ethereum, Polkadot and BNB Chain particularly affected

The hacks primarily affected the Ethereum network. A total of 11 attacks on Ethereum blockchain-based protocols caused $348 million in damage. However, considering that most protocols run on Ethereum, this is not surprising. For Polkadot, it was $52 million in just two attacks. While projects on the BNB chain have been attacked 13 times, the damage amounts to only $28 million.

It is important here that the blockchains themselves are not attacked. Instead, it is mainly smart contracts in the DeFi area that cause security gaps.

This quarter could be a record

Chainalysis also deals primarily with the damage caused by cybercrime in the cryptocurrency sector. The figures determined by Atlas VPN for the third quarter correspond to the information from Chainalysis, which expects a record month for October. As Chainalysis announced on October 12, eleven hacker attacks with damage totaling $718 million had already been registered by then.

If the trend of the month continues, the fourth quarter is likely to be the most momentous for the cryptocurrency sector. The BNB chain hack caused a stir this month , in which at least no funds were stolen from other users. Instead, the attackers created over $100 million worth of coins out of thin air.

Crypto, Security

Why a secure VPN is extremely important in these times

The past three years have been interesting and intense, if one can say so succinctly – but despite the turbulence, a positive outcome of these years is the widespread availability of remote work. But as remote work increases, so do more gaps in the network security of many organizations.

Today, the probability of being a victim of a cyber attack is greater than that of a car accident or a burglary. Criminals know that cybercrime has a much higher ROI – which means it poses a much higher risk to you.

If you don’t protect your company’s network, you risk a massive outage. Fortunately, there is a very simple solution: use a reputable corporate VPN. Not only does it give your employees easy access to company resources, but it also mitigates many risks posed by cybercriminals. So let’s take a look at why a web VPN is so important.

What is a business VPN?

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) offers your company a securely encrypted connection to your network over the public internet. It adds an important part of the security layer that is essential for protecting your data. A VPN gives you the ability to remotely access important network resources and connect your company’s offices and locations around the world.

Why should I use a VPN?

The past few weeks have highlighted the importance of having secure remote working capabilities. From global pandemics and natural disasters to power outages and unploughed roads, there are just too many situations that could keep people from getting to the office. For many individuals and businesses, this downtime can be detrimental. Businesses around the world are realizing that work cannot and should not be dependent on a specific location. Flexibility is key to success, and a VPN can provide just the flexibility businesses around the world need to keep working no matter the circumstance.

Benefits of a VPN

remote access

A VPN for remote access means your employees can log into your corporate network from anywhere with internet access. Whether they’re at a coffee shop, traveling, or (hopefully) socially isolating at home, a VPN gives your employees access to all the resources they need to do their jobs.

access control

With a VPN, you should be able to control who has access to your network and its resources. You obviously want to restrict who can log in and what they can access. Not all employees need access to the same resources. Your marketing team probably doesn’t need access to supply chain management tools, and your HR team doesn’t need access to systems infrastructure. With access control, you can set these limits step by step.

cybersecurity

If you need access to your private network, you can establish an encrypted, private communication session with a VPN. With a VPN session, you can securely send data over public networks thanks to encrypted tunnels . The only access is through a device with the VPN client software installed and configured to connect to your VPN servers.

Crypto, Financial, Science

Energy Efficiency “crucial” for Crypto Mining

Bitcoin miners say: energy efficiency and regulatory certainty are crucial for success of Crypto Industry

Bitcoin mining is often criticized as an imperfect process due to its energy expenditure, but major firms in the industry are trying to maximize efficiency and sustainability while seeking regulatory clarity.

Image by TeX9.net: Cryptocurrency Revolution
Image by TeX9.net: Cryptocurrency Revolution

In a dimly lit room at the FTX and SALT’s Crypto Bahamas event, some of the largest crypto miners in the world took the stage to discuss the future of the nascent but growing industry in the “Crypto Mining: Maximizing Efficiency and Sustainability” panel.

Crypto miners are looking to improve their market through efforts ranging from improving hashrate efficiency, which is the amount of power that a machine requires to produce a bitcoin, to data mining centers becoming more specialized and optimized for lower energy consumption, Marco Streng, CEO and co-founder of Genesis Digital Assets, said at the event.

Computers that mine bitcoin are 58 times more efficient than they were eight years ago, according to a report by the Bitcoin Mining Council. In addition to machines becoming more efficient, the engineering of the facilities and the sources of power have become much more efficient, which improves the productivity of an individual bitcoin mining computer, Mike Levitt, co-chairman, co-founder and CEO of Core Scientific, said.

Some miners are even using excess heat and converting it into close to 100% heat-generated energy, which would otherwise be wasted but instead is being channeled into energy, Streng said.

“It’s clear now that miners are converging toward renewable sources,” Streng said.

Out of all the energy that gets generated and used in the U.S., about 65% was wasted in 2021, according to a chart by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a research facility funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and UC Berkeley.

Miners can be a solution to the problem of unconsumed energy, Streng said.

Jaime Leverton, CEO of Hut 8, agreed.

“By working together with a local power grid, we actually are a stabilizer,” Leverton said.

The amount of energy that it takes for Bitcoin to produce $1 billion worth of value is significantly less than the amount of energy it takes for something like an airline to produce $1 billion worth of value, Brian Brooks, CEO of Bitfury, said.

A key point that’s hurting the crypto mining industry right now is the lack of regulatory clarity, all the panelists said.