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Blockchains, cryptocurrencies and the future...

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Bitcoin Was Just Used to Pay for a New Home in Texas
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Texas-based real estate brokerage firm Kuper Sotheby’s International Realty has completed the first-ever sale of a real estate property using just bitcoin.

The world’s most popular cryptocurrency has long moved on from its shadowy past to become a legitimate currency used to purchase Starbucks coffee, Xbox games, and now, a newly built custom home with grand entertaining areas, a master suite, and a chef-worthy kitchen.

The price of the home hasn’t been disclosed, but more important than that is the ease of the overall transaction. The buyer simply transferred the bitcoin to the seller, who then converted it into U.S. dollars.

“In all of my 33 years of closing transactions, I honestly couldn’t have expected something so unique to go so smoothly,” Kuper Sotheby’s Sheryl Lowe, the buyer’s agent, said in a press release. “In a matter of 10 minutes, the bitcoin was changed to U.S. dollars and the deal was done!”

This real estate transaction is further proof that bitcoin isn’t “a fraud,” as some have claimed. It’s also another example of the increasing acceptance of cryptocurrencies, which are poised to revolutionize a variety of industries beyond finance, from transportation to entertainment to politics.


 
As China cracks down, Japan is fast becoming
the powerhouse of the bitcoin market
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  • On Friday, Japan's Financial Services Agency officially recognized 11 companies as registered cryptocurrency exchange operators.
  • This is the latest decision in Japan to show support for digital currency. In April, it passed a law recognizing bitcoin as legal tender.
  • Japan's stance is in stark contrast to China, where regulators have cracked down on the market.

 
Bitcoin Market Share at 52% as Hard Fork Looms
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Bitcoin rose briskly on Monday, bringing its total market share above 50% as investors eyed an upcoming hard fork of the world’s leading blockchain.

Another Fork in the Road
The latest uptick in bitcoin partly reflects investors positioning themselves to capitalize on an upcoming fork in the blockchain. On Oct. 25, a group of cryptocurrency miners plan to fork the Bitcoin blockchain network, creating a new algorithm called Bitcoin Gold (BTG). Investors who own BTC before the fork will receive an equivalent amount of Bitcoin Gold after the chain split. This is an attractive bet for those of us already bullish on bitcoin.

The BTG developers plan to open a trading exchange by Nov. 1. The goal of BTG is the same as any hard fork – namely, to improve the protocol. By forking from the current software branch and introducing a new version, Bitcoin Gold is taking aim at the current challenges facing the mining community.

The Bitcoin Gold project is being led by Jack Liao, who heads the Hong Kong-based mining firm LightningASIC.

https://hacked.com/bitcoin-market-share-at-52-as-hard-fork-looms/
 
Now that Bitcoins are the new currency how about making your own?

Bitcoin Mining Hardware Guide

The best Bitcoin mining hardware has evolved dramatically since 2009

At first, miners used their central processing unit (CPU) to mine, but soon this wasn't fast enough and it bogged down the system resources of the host computer. Miners quickly moved on to using the graphical processing unit (GPU) in computer graphics cards because they were able to hash data 50 to 100 times faster and consumed much less power per unit ofwork.

https://www.bitcoinmining.com/bitcoin-mining-hardware/
 
I did find another source which explained the process behind bitcoin mining and how it isn't as "simple" as just get a bunch of fast computers together.

“Is Bitcoin Mining Profitable in 2017?“
The short answer would be “It depends on how much you’re willing to spend”. Each person asking himself this will get a slightly different answer since Bitcoin Mining profitability depends on many different factors. In order to find out Bitcoin mining profitability for different factors “mining profitability calculators” were invented.

These calculators take into account the different parameters such as electricity cost, the cost of your hardware and other variables and give you an estimate of your projected profit. Before I give you a short example of how this is calculated let’s make sure you are familiar with the different variables:

https://99bitcoins.com/bitcoin-mining-profitable-beginners-explanation/

 
Very interesting....

A hacker stole $31M of Ether — how it happened, and what it means for Ethereum
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Yesterday, a hacker pulled off the second biggest heist in the history of digital currencies.

Around 12:00 PST, an unknown attacker exploited a critical flaw in the Parity multi-signature wallet on the Ethereum network, draining three massive wallets of over $31,000,000 worth of Ether in a matter of minutes. Given a couple more hours, the hacker could’ve made off with over $180,000,000 from vulnerable wallets.

But someone stopped them.

Having sounded the alarm bells, a group of benevolent white-hat hackers from the Ethereum community rapidly organized. They analyzed the attack and realized that there was no way to reverse the thefts, yet many more wallets were vulnerable. Time was of the essence, so they saw only one available option: hack the remaining wallets before the attacker did.

By exploiting the same vulnerability, the white-hats hacked all of the remaining at-risk wallets and drained their accounts, effectively preventing the attacker from reaching any of the remaining $150,000,000.


 
Probably North Korea.
 
Ethereum just forked.

Byzantium/Metropolis upgrades. ZK-Snarks.
 
Bitcoin is going bonkers ($10k)..........about 2 weeks to go before the Segwit fork - not 100% if it will go ahead.

Anyways, enjoy



​
 

Interesting post with great explanation, but if I was the one that lost that much money, I would be pissed.

But it brings up an interesting point, if the bank is hacked and looses your money, they are liable and pay it back, if a hackers gets your wallet, bad luck. So the technology is incredible, but no one is help responsible for liabilities, stolen assets.
 
satanoperca - a hardware wallet is needed for large amounts of coins/value.

Your mobile or computer is what is regarded as a 'hot wallet'. Cold-storage, a offline wallet or a paper-wallet is more secure.

These are the 2 leading brands of hardware wallets currently on the market -

Trezor - https://trezor.io/

Ledger Nano S - https://www.ledgerwallet.com/products/ledger-nano-s

I use both

Trezor just launched the Model T and the Trezor 2 is coming this year sometime.
 
Bitcoin futures at the cme soon!
 
What is the best book(s) to read to wrap one's head around blockchain and it's implications, and potential as a technology?

ps. I'm not interested in Bitcoin fan-sites or resources which are promoting Bitcoin as an 'investment'. However keen to know more about the mechanics of blockchain & cryptocurrencies.

Thanks team!
 
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