The objective is to control inflation so that Dash can better compete in the market. The network will complete the reallocation gradually over more than 4 years.

Until now, miners and masternode operators alike have shared Dash’s reward system. However, this situation will gradually change from next September with a ratio of 60/40, whose greatest incentive will be for masternodes.

The Dash Core Group (DCG) Decentralized Governance put the proposal to a vote and, with an overwhelming majority, the new block reward distribution received the approval for its gradual implementation over the next four and a half years. More than half of the reallocation will be complete before the end of next year, and about 90% will have an adjustment by the end of 2023.

The transition process of reward reallocation will be active on the network before superblock 1,345,896, which should take place around September 28^th.

According to the DCG team, the main objective of the measure is to reduce the circulating supply. In this way, inflation will have an adjustment, producing a positive impact on the price, as it is possible to read in the description of the proposal.

In 2019, DCG CEO Ryan Taylor noted that the circulating supply of the cryptocurrency was increasing at a rapid rate. That increases the supply and if there is not enough demand, the price decreases. This rapid expansion seems to have contributed to Dash’s decline in the market cap ranking.

At one point, Dash was ranked third for market capitalization on the CoinMarketcap list. However, it has been declining for a while now, so much that it is currently in 22^nd place.

After months of research, debate, and surveys, Dash’s team determined that the problem lies in the fact that masternodes greatly influence the capitalization of the cryptocurrency market, both for better and for worse.

After the Dash network deployed masternodes into its architecture in 2014, the cryptocurrency rose comfortably to be ranked in the top 10 on the list by market capitalization for nearly four years, as the Dash ecosystem attracted new node operators.

However, the expected rate of creation of new masternodes began to decline in late 2018, at the same time that the cryptocurrency’s circulating supply began to increase dramatically. “Our analysis shows that the ROI (return on investment) of the masternodes leads to a predictable behavior that influences the circulating supply and the price of Dash,” says Taylor.

According to the executive, when the Dash network had a wide deployment of masternodes, the annual ROI remained above or at least on par with it. However, given that more nodes became inactive and fewer of them received payment, the supply of circulating coins increased more.

The volume of the offer boosted Dash’s inflation rate, which is currently between 7% and 8%. At the same time, a high rate of inflation led active masternodes to experience losses, which ends up discouraging node operators.

Some Miners Are Unhappy

The DCG recognizes the impact that reducing the reward can have on mining. However, they note that miners will receive compensation for the appreciation of the cryptocurrency’s prices for the next five years.

Mining pool Luxor expressed its disagreement with Dash team’s approaches. In a June statement, they said that the approval of the proposal will mean that the Dash network will lose a large percentage of its current miners.

In any case, if the hash power of Dash declines due to the migration of miners to other cryptocurrencies that work with the same algorithm, the resource of the masternodes would remain. These would be able to secure the network based on its ChainLinks technology, a checkpoint system that allows validating the blocks.

Other opinions within the community rejected the proposal, considering that it is a “centralized decree.” Some people also state that the new reward allocation will not have an adjustment in favor of the best interests of the network, but only in favor of a group.

By Alexander Salazar

The use of digital payments will become a permanent habit among people. The issue of the post-coronavirus economy involves cryptocurrencies as new forms of payment.

Greater use of digital payments and greater adoption of cryptocurrencies will be some of the prevailing practices in the world, once the coronavirus pandemic ends.

In recent days, specialists Lucas Llach, Alberto García-Lluis Valencia, Victoria Giarrizzo, Gabriel Basaluzzo, and William K. Santiago spoke about the future of money after COVID-19.

They consider that many of the practices systematized in almost all countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic could become permanent. They are particularly referring to telecommuting, e-commerce, and the use of different forms of digital payments.

García-Lluis, strategic Advisor in digital transformation processes of the Spanish financial sector, considers that humanity is undergoing a disruptive change that will mark the economy in the rest of the century. For this reason, he thinks that this is the height of digital money as an instrument to build trust.

This specialist states that the mistrust towards traditional systems that the current economic crisis has caused can become a driver of new technological tools. Among them, he mentions decentralized finance (DeFi), digital central bank currencies (CBDC), stablecoins, and cryptocurrencies.

Regarding this, Lucas Llach, economist, and historian linked to financial innovation issues from the Central Bank of Argentina believes that humanity is facing a crisis of great dimensions. Consequently, he agrees that some behavior change trends that derive from this pandemic will become permanent. “Remote work and the digitization process of finance are some of them.”

It is difficult to anticipate what lies ahead, but people foresee the substantial growth of financial technologies (FinTech). García-Lluis lists some innovations, among which are blockchain and artificial intelligence.

Bitcoin and Cash on the Balance

Victoria Giarrizzo, economist and director of the NGO Movida Argentina, supports the idea of advancing finance and digital payments. However, she also thinks that the results of a recent survey on trust in money provide important data.

According to the consultation, she notes that Argentines trust the US dollar (50%), the Argentine peso (about 25%), and cryptocurrencies (13%). In this regard, Lucas Llach states that these results could be related to the fact that many people still do not know cryptocurrencies.

Giarrizzo adds that the relationship of people with banknotes and coins has changed due to fear of COVID-19 contagion. She says that she does not know “if those changes will become permanent or will disappear when the pandemic passes.”

Concerning these issues, Gabriel Basaluzzo, economist and director of the degree in Finance at the University of San Andrés (Argentina), also observes that the dynamics are leading to a radical change in everyday life and the use of new forms of digital payments.

However, he considers that it will be hard for the cash culture to fall entirely, even though people have used fiat money less in this quarantine. Likewise, he believes that many of these new practices will not continue after the pandemic, and people will resume some of their old habits.

Even so, Basaluzzo comments on the changes produced in trading and the drop in jobs due to the coronavirus. He says that many of the people who have lost their jobs due to the quarantine are establishing new ventures. Mostly, they are the ones who use new digital payment methods but not necessarily cryptocurrencies.

The economist foresees a greater degree of stability for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, although he considers that the most prominent use of the cryptocurrency is as a store of value, despite its volatility. Because of this, Llach mentions the need to simplify the operation of cryptocurrencies so that their use as a means of payment is easier for everyone.

By Alexander Salazar

The conversation with one of the pirates showed a tone of “cordiality” and even empathy. The hackers and the victims started bargaining over the ransom at USD 10 million and agreed on USD 4.5 million.

A ransomware attack against the multinational travel management company CWT led to negotiations for the payment in Bitcoin taking place in public. The hackers even offered a “benefit” of technical advice so that the company does not suffer from such vulnerability again.

The hackers used the Ragnar Locker ransomware to take control of the company’s 30,000 computers, according to digital media. At first, the criminals requested USD 10 million in Bitcoin to restore the data. However, the negotiations culminated in the payment of USD 4.5 million, according to the conversation between one of the hackers and the representative of the US company.

The extortionists had seized two terabytes of information including financial and security reports, as well as personal data on employees. In the conversation, the hackers ironically identified themselves as “Support” and explained what “services” they were offering. First, hey would decode all the information collected and, then, they would delete all the information downloaded onto their servers.

As a sign of their “good faith” to provide their “services,” the hackers offered to randomly decode two files “for free” to make the company realize that the software was working.

To make matters worse, the pirates offered a “special price” with a 20% discount if someone from the company replied in less than two days. Besides, they would receive a “prompt payment” discount. The representatives “appreciated” the offer and the criminals’ “friendliness,” but let them know that they were not able to pay the USD 8 million “special price.”

The CWT negotiator offered USD 3.7 million, but the hackers rejected the offer, requesting USD 4 million for the decoding and the rest of the funds for deleting the information that they stored on their servers. In total, the hackers obtained 414 BTC, according to Reuters.

Ridiculously, the CWT negotiator “thanked” the pirate for his “services”. The hacker replied that he was welcome to ask any further questions.

CWT reported the situation to law enforcement authorities in the USA and European data protection officers. Also, the company disclosed that the criminals restored their systems once they made the payment.

Ransomware and Bitcoin Payments

Ransomware is a malicious program that hackers use to remotely lock computers, encrypt information, and deprive victims of data control. Once they have successfully restricted access to files, the only way for the victims to recover them is by using the hackers’ own tool.

Those who commit this type of crime usually request payments in Bitcoin or privacy-focused cryptocurrencies like Monero. In six years, the victims have paid around USD 144 million worth of Bitcoin for ransomware attacks.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) noted in an investigation that hackers receive the payments and then send them to mixing services and cryptocurrency exchanges. By sending the funds to mixers, the hackers try to make more difficult the tracking to determine the origin of the cryptocurrencies.

By Willmen Blanco

Record contraction of GDP in the USA adds to the record drop in the US dollar. The rally of the main cryptocurrency occurs after almost three months of low volatility.

In a new bullish rally, the monetary and fiscal policy of the US Federal Reserve (FED) pushed Bitcoin over USD 11,000. This agency has recently warned of a negative impact on the economy in the short and medium-term. Among the reasons for this weak outlook for the economy (although it has been favorable for Bitcoin), the supposed outbreak of COVID-19 in the country is the most prominent.

The US dollar fell to its lowest value in two years after the FED’s announcements. Besides, the Bureau of Economic Activity (BEA) published the economic figures for the second quarter, confirming the fear of a record contraction of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 32.9%.

With this reduction in GDP, there has been the largest quarterly decline since the BEA began its records in 1947. Before this pandemic, the worst decline in GDP occurred in the first quarter of 1958, when it fell by 10%.

On the other hand, the Federal Reserve announced last July 29^th that it would keep interest rates close to zero. The next day, the US Dollar Index (USDX) fell to 92.63, a value that it had not recorded since May 2018.

This index shows the strength or weakness of the US dollar compared to a basket of currencies including the euro, the Japanese yen, the British pound, the Canadian dollar, and the Swiss franc. At the time of writing this article, USDX is at 93.46, which can translate into a depreciation of the US dollar close to 7% against its base value of 100.

Precisely in this context, with USD declining in the background, Bitcoin left its almost three-month phase of stability, which kept it in the range of USD 9,000 to USD 10,000. The same reasons that led investors to seek refuge assets such as gold, which reached an all-time high on July 27^th, also favored the Bitcoin boom. The price of gold continues to climb and currently exceeds USD 1,973 per ounce.

In recent days, Bitcoin approached USD 12,000, while Ether touched USD 400. After this rebound, there was a sudden drop in Bitcoin’s price to USD 10,500 and in that of ETH to USD 325, before returning to USD 11,050 and USD USD. 361, respectively. The sharp decline took traders by surprise and there were long position liquidations of more than USD 1.3 billion.

Tweet of the Week

In this tweet, Investment consultant Yassine Elmandjra discusses the correlation between the capitalization of Bitcoin and Ether, usually close to the unit, but which has declined sharply in recent days. Before Bitcoin’s recent rally, Ether showed a better appreciation than BTC.

By superimposing the correlation between ETH and BTC and the combined market capitalizations, Elmandjra highlights that a sharp drop in that correlation has preceded a major bullish boom. An example of that is the one that led the price of these cryptocurrencies to all-time highs in December 2017. This suggests that a significant rebound in prices is approaching.

BTC Futures Soar

In line with Bitcoin’s bullish momentum in recent days, futures markets and open interest related to this cryptocurrency have also boomed. The Bakkt and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) markets have reported new caps on the number of contracts negotiated and the amounts traded.

Bakkt, a subsidiary of the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), is the company behind the New York Stock Exchange. It had been settling a daily average of USD 23 million worth of futures contracts in July, until it managed to settle contracts for USD 134 million on July 27^th.

For its part, the average daily trading volume of Bitcoin futures on CME increased to USD 1.3 billion, 10 times higher than that traded on Bakkt.

By Willmen Blanco

Due to these errors, Internet providers could block Tor connections. The Tor project denies that researcher Neal Krawetz’s version is true.

Connections to the privacy-focused browser Tor could be at risk due to two vulnerabilities. In recent days, researcher Neal Krawetz posted a report on these problems.

Krawetz runs Tor nodes and has a track record as a vulnerability researcher on the network. In his report, he exposed two errors that could allow network operators to detect traffic and block user connections to Tor.

On July 23^rd, the researcher referred to the first vulnerability. In his text, Krawetz described how Internet providers could exploit a Tor vulnerability to prevent users from connecting through the browser, making it possible to censor connections to the network.

According to his explanation, it is possible to scan connections and detect a “different package signature”, corresponding to the Tor connections. With that information, service providers or governments could block Tor connections, according to Krawetz.

Krawetz reported the second vulnerability on July 30^th, in a new post. In this text, the cybersecurity specialist exposed another error that would allow detecting connections to Tor.

Unlike the first case, this second vulnerability would help detect traffic on the browser, but through indirect connections. Specifically, the vulnerability would affect users connecting via Tor bridges, a mechanism to bypass blocks to access the browser.

Request for Attention to Vulnerabilities in Tor

The researcher alleges that these are two day-0 vulnerabilities not previously detected or without an immediate solution by the Tor project. Krawetz said that it is not the first time that he has made a report on vulnerabilities that the developers of the browser do not address.

Tor’s response denies the researcher’s version. In a statement via Twitter, the project said that they are not unaware of those vulnerabilities. They also stated that this problem has not gone unnoticed in their efforts to improve the system.

Concerning the vulnerability of bridge connections, Tor explained that exploiting that error would not be as easy or as effective as Krawetz’s post suggests. Besides, the investigator presents in the statement evidence that does not support his statements, according to Tor.

Finally, from the privacy-focused browser project, Tor said that it would be grateful for any initiative that allows detecting errors in its system. Concerning Krawetz’s reports, they say that they are variables of known vulnerabilities, so it would be wrong to consider them as day-0 errors.

Privacy is one of the constant concerns among bitcoiners and cryptocurrency enthusiasts. For this reason, the Tor project receives much of its support from this community. The non-profit project itself has exposed that 20% of the donations that they receive are in cryptocurrencies.

To conclude, vulnerability researchers must continue to provide input to privacy services. Likewise, it is positive that the latter express their points of view in this regard to accept those contributions that help them improve.

By Alexander Salazar

The rewards for those who mine Ethereum recently reached an all-time high. This event occurs amid the rebound in the price of cryptocurrencies.

According to a study by blockchain analytics firm Glassnode, the rewards for those who mine Ethereum have reached a peak. Likewise, the study shows that the blockchain network of this cryptocurrency has greater stability than in 2018, the year in which it was at its best.

In this way, the miners of the second largest cryptocurrency are obtaining great results with the fees. On the other hand, the network’s hash rate has decreased, which means less time to search for valid blocks.

According to data from the Ethereum network, the growth of this crypto asset could continue to increase. The profit limit has been raised, which could lead to a significant hash rate increase in the coming weeks.

Meaning of Increased Rewards for Mining Ethereum

The recent increase in Bitcoin’s price is dragging the other cryptocurrencies behind it. However, Ethereum’s ability is not limited to being in the shadow of the pioneering digital currency.

Besides, the data show that the growth and maturity of the Ethereum blockchain network are better than in 2018 when it recorded highs around USD 1,400. Taking these two aspects into account, it would not be surprising if the current growth pointed there.

Another important fact is that, although the fees of the network are high, the difficulty has fallen significantly due to the drop in the hash rate. The reduction in hash rate is 25% compared to the summer of 2018.

Likewise, it is possible to conclude that, the lower the hash rate, the greater the amount of Gas in reward that miners receive. The downside of this is that a low hash rate could lead to certain levels of network insecurity.

Advantages Compared to 2018

In 2018, when this cryptocurrency reached its peak, the rewards for mining Ethereum did not exceed 15%. However, they now range from 16% to 19%, leaving expectations open for a major rally.

Regarding the limit of Gas used, there has been a two-fold increase, compared to the year 2018. This Gas increase could have its origin in speculation with decentralized applications. Lending and earning DeFi applications are moving like never before, which could directly impact the price and further increase the rewards for mining Ethereum.

No One Knows When Things Will Change

All this logic in Ethereum’s performance is within the framework of the Proof-of-Work (PoW) protocol, which the ETH 2.0 update would replace. However, this expected renewal has suffered delays on multiple occasions.

The goal of the Ethereum 2.0 update would be to replace the PoW protocol with the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) protocol. That would bring unprecedented evolution for a cryptocurrency of this magnitude and radically change the process of mining Ethereum.

Although the intention was to introduce that update in late 2020, its developers reported that a series of errors forced them to postpone it again. Currently, the tentative launch date is in early 2021.

In this way, Ethereum mining would undergo a radical change. Instead of many devices vying to validate blocks, the network would now select them randomly.

By Alexander Salazar