Bitcoiners responded to Dalio with arguments in favor of Bitcoin. One of the investor’s criticisms about Bitcoin is that this would not be a good means of payment.

In recent days, billionaire and philanthropist investor Ray Dalio admitted on his Twitter account that he may be missing key information about Bitcoin.  In that sense, he requested bitcoiners to correct him if he was wrong.

Everyone knows that the investor has maintained a skeptical position on Bitcoin, especially on its use as a medium of exchange. However, the notable appreciation of Bitcoin in recent weeks has led Dalio to want those in favor of the pioneering cryptocurrency to validate his views.

Dalio seems to believe that there could be inconsistencies between his position on Bitcoin and its recent performance. The main cryptocurrency in the market exceeded the USD 18,000 mark, a value not seen since January 2018.

Dalio’s Position on Bitcoin

On his Twitter account, Dalio exposes his views on Bitcoin. He mentions that its volatility is an obstacle for businesses to accept it as a means of payment.

Regarding Bitcoin as a store of value, he uses its volatility again as an impediment to assuming that role. Dalio recently said that some governments would use force to ban Bitcoin if it became established. He reiterated his doubts about Bitcoin’s ability to be a store of value or a medium of exchange.

He added that he cannot imagine central banks, large institutional investors, international companies, or companies using Bitcoin. “If I am wrong about this, I would like someone to correct me.”

Responses from the Ecosystem

Many responses came from renowned Bitcoin advocates, such as Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy. This executive invited Dalio to watch a video in which he presents his thesis on Bitcoin as a store of value. In August and September, Saylor made a USD 425 million investment in Bitcoin, as MicroStrategy’s cash reserve, serving as a model for similar investments. That reserve currently has a value of USD 695 million, that is, 63% more than the original investment.

Dalio received an invitation from Fidelity Digital Assets, who had published a Bitcoin Investment Thesis, to review a document that responds to persistent criticism about Bitcoin. Coincidentally, the document addresses these two criticisms: “Bitcoin is too volatile to be a store of value” and “Bitcoin has failed as a means of payment.”

Peter McCormac and Vijay Boyapati, among others, have also invited him to participate in podcasts and interviews. Boyapati said that Dalio “seems to be open-minded and want to hear the best arguments before discarding Bitcoin.” He congratulated him on doing it.

Last April, Dalio predicted an economic crash larger than the one that occurred in 2008. He did this due to the response of the US Federal Reserve and other central banks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regardless of what Ray Dalio initially said about the pioneering cryptocurrency, he seems to understand that he has underestimated its potential. The ability of Bitcoin to overcome the worst crises proves once more that it is the best option to invest, even above gold.

By Willmen Blanco

Binance recently announced a new pool service for users interested in mining Ether. Many users are concerned about the prominence of the exchange in the growing centralization of the ecosystem.

In recent days, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, launched a new mining pool. The users of that platform will now be able to mine the Ethereum cryptocurrency using their graphics processing unit (GPU) cards.

The Binance Pool service will incorporate the second cryptocurrency in market capitalization, Ether (ETH), which will thus join Bitcoin. This exchange recently launched a Bitcoin mining pool, which covers the most relevant cryptocurrencies that users can extract with the Sha-256 algorithm.

Initially, the Ethereum pool will not charge anything, but the withdrawal fees will subsequently be 0.5%. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts view this service with concern since Binance plays a leading role in the growing centralization.

Advantages of New Binance Pool

For the launch of its pool, Binance must enter a difficult fight against the Chinese oligopoly. Virtually all of the large Bitcoin mining pools emerged in the People’s Republic of China, except for Slushpool.

Even though Binance is of Chinese origin, the exchange left the country in anticipation of the ban on cryptocurrencies. In 2017, Beijing banned trading in digital currencies. For that reason, all the exchanges in that country had to either disappear or move abroad.

Concerning the pools focusing on mining Ether, the most important altcoin, the competition is notable. However, Binance will use its prestige to consolidate itself in this new space.

Binance will try to attract users to its new pool through a zero-fee program. It will last one month, after which it will begin to charge rates of 0.5%, which still leaves it as a very attractive option.

Some Requirements for the Use of the Service

Ether miners will need to comply with various parameters to start using this new Binance Pool service. First, they must have a Windows or Linux operating system, as well as a GPU card.

This card may be of the NVIDIA or AMD brands of any denomination, as long as it exceeds 4 GB of video random access memory (VRAM). Finally, it must have mining software such as EasyMiner, Ncard, and MinerOS, among others.

According to the Binance website, this new pool service will have a system called Pay Per Share Plus (PPS+). Even though it is one of the most popular payment methods, it is not the only one that mining pools use.

When mining a block, the pool divides the income among those who participate in the activity. At the same time, the earnings from transaction fees accompany the reward. For example, when mining a block, the pool receives 6.25 BTC plus the amount of Bitcoin corresponding to the transaction fees that the network charges.

With this initiative from Binance, there is a rise in concern among the most orthodox crypto enthusiasts. Many see the centralization of the ecosystem by firms like Binance as going against the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies.

By Alexander Salazar

Bitcoin mining equipment, such as the legendary S9, is resurrected after the rise in the price of this cryptocurrency. In countries where the price of electricity is not so expensive such as Venezuela, this equipment has not stopped working.

The price rise of the pioneering cryptocurrency has led to the resurrection of a significant number of obsolete miners. Bitmain’s legendary S9 leads the Bitcoin mining equipment to come back to life after qualifying as obsolete.

After the Bitcoin halving of May, a significant number of old machines became unproductive. In other words, the amount of Bitcoin that they generated was less than the operating expenses, so their operators disconnected them.

The S9, which goes down in history as the most popular, is one of the last to become non-profitable. However, the rise of Bitcoin’s price has allowed this and other models to return to productivity; mainly in China, the country that concentrates most of the hash rate of this cryptocurrency.

Reason Why This Bitcoin Mining Equipment Became Profitable Again

The growth in the value of Bitcoin has allowed this mining equipment to revive. However, this “resurrection” occurs only in places where the price of energy is not so high. For example, the average cost of the electricity service in China is about USD 0.06 per kWh.

The low cost of energy and the high price of the pioneering digital currency, plus the fact that China concentrates the highest hash rate, makes for the perfect mix. Other miners, like those made by Ebang and Bitfury, are joining the Antminer S9.

All that equipment with a hash rate greater than 10 TH/s is still active. Besides, the drop in the network’s difficulty makes it much easier for miners to get valid blocks.

This rebirth has led the price of these miners to increase. For example, in China, it would be possible to buy S9 equipment in the order of USD 30 to USD 60. On some reseller platforms, the price ranges from USD 200 to USD 800.

Other Places Where S9 Equipment Never Stopped Working

Even though electricity bills in many parts of the world are typically high, the same is not the case elsewhere. This allowed Bitcoin mining equipment like S9 to continue operating, even with Bitcoin at USD 9,000 after the May halving.

The most prominent place is Iran, where the government released its grip on mining and recently legalized the business. Similarly, some countries in the Caucasus close to Russia also offer low fees for mining Bitcoin.

The most emblematic case is that of Venezuela, a Latin American nation where the State subsidizes electricity. Currently, the country ranks number 10 in Bitcoin mining, and its hash rate is almost entirely based on S9 and other old-fashioned equipment.

It is theoretically a legal activity, and the Venezuelan government even encourages it, but there is the problem of crime. There have been cases of reports of alleged extortion and intimidation from police officers against miners.

By Alexander Salazar

Two groups of developers remain at odds over different plans for the cryptocurrency. Huobi and OKEx are among the exchanges planning to support both chains.

In the coming days, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) will undergo a non-consensual network update, which could split the chain into two separate versions. If that happens, it would be the project’s third near-annual hard fork in 3 years since it split from Bitcoin in 2017.

On this occasion, the community has differences regarding the proposals of two groups of developers. On the one hand, Bitcoin ABC activated the “coinbase rule”, which requires miners to pay developers an 8% tax on rewards per new block created. The objective is to continue to finance the development of the network. On the other hand, the Bitcoin Cash Node (BCHN) group rejects the proposal of their rival team, defending the activation of a new Mining Difficulty Adjustment Algorithm.

Before the next scheduled network update happens, most miners are supporting the version scheduled by BCHN. At the time of writing this article, nodes supporting BCHN mined 836 out of the last 1,000 blocks (83.6%). Meanwhile, none of them had endorsed the version of Bitcoin ABC. However, 16.4% of the nodes remain neutral or at least have not expressed support for any of the groups, according to the cash.coin.dance website.

Faced with such a scenario, it is unlikely that the chain will split, and a new cryptocurrency derived from Bitcoin Cash will emerge. The support that BCHN is receiving seems to indicate that one blockchain will remain. However, it will be necessary to wait for the process to take place to know the result. The suggestion from exchanges and other service providers is to be prepared for any possibility. If a new cryptocurrency emerges, it will receive the name BCHABC, according to the ViaBTC mining pool.

Reactions from Exchanges to the Bitcoin Cash Hard Fork

There have been announcements among the exchanges where users trade Bitcoin Cash. They have said that they will temporarily suspend cryptocurrency-related services and operations during the hard fork until further notice.

Other service providers also said that they will stop transactions. Hardware wallet maker Ledger and BitPay will halt their Bitcoin Cash services during the hard fork to prevent replay attacks.

Kraken announced that Bitcoin Cash Node tokens will keep the Bitcoin Cash name on the platform. However, Bitcoin ABC will only support hash power of at least 10% on the BCHN network. Even then, they will trade it as Bitcoin Cash ABC under the trading symbol BAB.

Huobi will offer support to the hard fork, but it aligned itself with a disclaimer. “Since there are still many uncertainties about the current hard fork, if one of the two parties decides to abandon the hard fork, HuobiGlobal will respect the opinions of the community and will name the final winner BCH.”

Coinbase, BitGo, and Trezor said that they will only support BCHN and will no longer accept BCHABC after the hard fork. Meanwhile, Binance, OKEx, FTX, Gate.io, and Poloniex plan to accept both versions of Bitcoin Cash. BitMEX said that it will closely monitor the process and offer support to the dominant chain.

By Alexander Salazar

The percentage that Johnny Lyu mentioned corresponds to around USD 236 million. Blockchain tracking and court support have allowed KuCoin to recover funds.

Johnny Lyu reported that KuCoin recently recovered around 84% of the funds in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). The CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange said that hackers had stolen that money during an attack in late September.

Lyu wrote on his Twitter account about the recovery of most of the funds. Similarly, the exchange’s executive said that several mechanisms made this possible. He mentioned “blockchain tracking, contract update, and judicial recovery.”

Furthermore, the CEO of KuCoin noted that they have already resumed their operations with more than 170 listed tokens. He announced that they will activate another list before November 22^nd.

In recent days, KuCoin restarted its operations after a hack that it had suffered, resuming deposits and withdrawals of Bitcoin, Ether, and the stablecoin Tether.

At first, they estimated losses of around USD 150 million, but the theft figure exceeded USD 280 million. The new percentage that they recovered exceeds what Lyu had declared in recent days, according to calculations by the executive himself.

Previously, the company’s representative had stated that they had managed to recover around USD 204 million, equivalent to just over 70% of what the hackers stole. The new figure would be around USD 236 million.

Lyu did not elaborate on the efforts of the authorities or the company itself to recover the funds. However, they clarified that they will make all the information available to the public once the case is closed.

“As the security forces request, we will release all the details once the case is closed,” said Johnny Lyu.

Movements After Hack Attack Against KuCoin

Following the hack attack against KuCoin, blockchain tracking firm Elliptic published some of its findings on the movements of the stolen funds. According to their research, the hackers used different decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms to get rid of the stolen cryptocurrencies.

According to Elliptic, on September 29^th, just days after the robbery, the attackers had already managed to trade more than USD 13 million. They conducted those transactions through Uniswap, Kyber Network, DEX.AG, and Tokenlon.

During the first week of October, Lyu himself said that there was “substantial evidence” of the identity of the hackers who attacked KuCoin. The executive stated that the exchange was working closely with authorities to resolve the case. At the time, he stated that they had recovered the first USD 204 million of the total amount stolen.

In late September, KuCoin launched a program called Safeguard. With it, they have the objective of protecting users against incidents that affect the security of the website, together with more than a dozen companies.

These kinds of incidents make those who operate cryptocurrency exchanges aware of the need to improve their security. Blockchain technology and the cooperation with security forces have allowed these companies to overcome hack attacks.

By Alexander Salazar