XMR Fixes Bugs that Allowed Scamming Users and Exchange Houses

Willmen Blanco
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XMR Fixes Bugs that Allowed Scamming Users and Exchange Houses

A total of nine bugs were identified by Hackerone users. No cases were detected in which a hacker took advantage of Monero’s vulnerabilities.

Nine vulnerabilities or bugs were recently discovered in the system of the cryptocurrency that is focused on privacy, Monero (XMR). Among them, there was one that allowed sending false transactions to the wallets of Monero. It should be noted that the bugs were reported and solved thanks to Hackerone users.

The main flaw, which is described in a long report, implies that by mining a special and vulnerable block, the hacker would have been able to send fake transactions to Monero wallets, in any amount of XMR. This would allow the attacker to transfer counterfeit XMRs to wallets in cryptocurrency exchange houses and, once the balance is credited, convert it into other cryptocurrencies and withdraw it.

According to another report from a user of Hackerone, a platform that offers computer security solutions, the system was exposed to attacks through denial-of-service (DoS) vectors. In one case, the bug allowed a Monero sender to scam the recipient, sending transactions with erroneous reports of the amount received. The error was capable of showing an amount up to eight times higher than the actual amount sent.

Another similar failure, also recorded in an additional report, is related to Cryptonote. This protocol, which is used by Monero as a privacy layer, would have a base failure that makes the platform susceptible to DoS attacks, capable of destroying its network nodes.

Regarding the case of the other failures, these are hypothetical risks, and the respective patch was created to solve them. However, Monero is not the only platform in danger, since all its versions until the recent v0.14.0.2 showed the vulnerability. In this sense, all platforms that work with Cryptonote may be at risk.

This was the situation of security within the system until the month of March, from which the previously mentioned failures were solved. The bugs were described as proof of concept (PoC), which implies that these latent vulnerabilities in the system were not exploited. Consequently, these only existed as a probability, not as a fact.

This is happening less than a year after the project faced a similar situation of risk. In September 2018, a patch was released for a bug found in the blockchain code of Monero, which allowed extracting money from users’ wallets in exchange houses. Fortunately, no case of exploitation of the vulnerability of the system was recorded.

In any case, dEBRUYNE, developer of Monero, emphasized that the vulnerabilities that were discovered are a reminder that cryptocurrency and its corresponding software are still in their infant stage, and are susceptible to unpredictable critical failures.

By Willmen Blanco

LTC Repeats Price Increase Pattern before Next Halving

Willmen Blanco
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LTC Repeats Price Increase Pattern before Next Halving

The second reduction in the reward for mining Litecoin is expected for August 2019. A fall in prices is also expected, followed by stabilization, after the halving.

Litecoin (LTC) is preparing to experience, approximately on August 5th, its second reduction in the reward for mining since its creation in 2011. As part of the advanced effects of this event, known as “halving”, the prices of Litecoin in the market have been increasing in the last months.

This increase in the Litecoin price has almost reached 400% so far in 2019. Regarding this, the data provider, Coin Metrics, published on July 3rd a report highlighting that these price increases usually occur before a halving. This is because market players anticipate the impact of the reduction in sales pressure driven by mining, once their rewards have decreased by 50%.

It is observed that as the second reduction approaches half of the block rewards, LTC is one of the bets-performing assets in the current market cycle. The crypto asset went from being worth US $30, in early 2019, to reaching more than US $140 in July. The increase has been more significant since last April, coinciding with the beginning of the upward cycle experienced by the market this year. However, the growth of LTC has surpassed that of BTC and ETH.

A group of analysts consider that Litecoin has been one of the best-performing assets in the current market cycle, as it is approaching its second halving. LTC has grown 52% in the last year and is only 68% below its historical maximum.

Coin Metrics

The researchers add that something similar occurred during the first cut in the cryptocurrency’s mining reward in August 2015. They explain that by that time prices had hit the bottom seven months before the halving, and began to rise as it was approaching the reduction.

Then, prices fell sharply when the halving occurred, to recover slightly in the following months. However, the Coin Metrics team remembers the particular circumstances surrounding this first LTC halving:

Almost 9 million litecoins went through a single address, which represented approximately 22% of all existing Litecoin. There was widespread speculation that a Chinese Ponzi scheme was behind the address, but this has not been confirmed. Transactions from this address peaked in July 2015, the same month when Litecoin experienced a local peak of prices.

Similar Patterns

For the analysts, this market cycle pattern, which implies an increase in price before the halving and a fall in value after this event, has also been shown by other cryptocurrencies. Such is the case of Bitcoin and Ether, which have experienced two reductions in rewards throughout their history.

In this sense, they indicated that users must be optimistic regarding the cryptocurrency’s future appreciation, although the development of events must still be awaited in the case of LTC. However, they say that the cryptocurrency has followed the expected pattern until now.

Therefore, they predict that after the reduction in rewards next August, which will make miners receive 12.5 LTCs instead of 25, the sales pressure driven by mining will decrease and prices will fall. After that, the stabilization of the cryptocurrency’s value is likely to occur.

By Willmen Blanco

Bullish Bitcoin of 2019 vs. Rally of 2017

Willmen Blanco
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0
Bullish Bitcoin of 2019 vs. Rally of 2017

Institutional investments have grown and diversified since the BTC bubble in 2017. Various investment and retirement funds based on cryptocurrencies have been created since 2017.

Although there are similarities between the bullish Bitcoin (BTC) of 2019 and the historical rise of that cryptocurrency in 2017, there are differences in the diversity and importance of the contribution of institutional investors in these scenarios.

In 2017 BTC exhibited a 1.900% of revaluation that attracted both experienced traders and many novices. However, both groups had a common goal: to get the most out of BTC as quickly as possible.

Institutional Investors

The first big difference between the 2017 bubble and the current upturn is in the degree of commitment shown by institutional investors in BTC, which has increased markedly in the last two years.

One of the two institutional investment initiatives that grew significantly in 2017 was the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), created in 2013, which consists of freely tradable shares, linked to BTC’s price. The cryptocurrency outperformed gold-based funds, U.S. Treasury bonds and industrial stocks in 2017.

Another driving force behind BTC’s price was the announcement in late October 2017 of the launch of futures contracts by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). BTC’s price only rebounded, since it was interpreted as the opening of large Wall Street investors to the Bitcoin market. The historical peak of BTC’s price approached USD 20,000 on December 17th, 2017, when CME launched the first futures contracts.

Winter and Recovery

In 2018, contrary to the previous year, Bitcoin lost more than 80% of its market value. However, despite the long bearish period (Crypto Winter), institutional investment initiatives did not stop.

Grayscale diversified its offer of GBTC-like funds, based on Ethereum and Zcash, and also launched a fund based on several crypto currencies. In May 2019 alone, the GBTC fund accumulated more than 220,000 BITCOINs, equivalent today to USD 2.4 billion, about 1.3% of that cryptocurrency’s working capital.

In contrast to crypto winter, there is a sustained growth boom of the GBTC fund showing the number of BTCs in Grayscale’s custody over the past 24 months.

Bitcoin Futures

A recent report of J. P. Morgan estimates that in mid-June there was an estimated aggregate volume of USD 12 billion CME and Cboe futures contracts, representing a jump from USD 5.5 billion in April and a monthly average of USD 1.8 billion.

Morgan concludes that the importance of Bitcoin futures has been underestimated. Precisely, its current strength is key for Bitcoin in this bullish rally, but its relative weight is greater in 2019 than it was in 2017.

Other initiatives

Another important institutional initiative is the announcement by Bakkt, a foreign exchange house belonging to ICE Futures, of the launch of Bitcoin futures for July 2019. The firm is already valued at USD 700 million even before starting operations.

Although there are already retirement funds based on Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, Bitcoin IRA recently announced the expansion of its portfolio of services with a self-management option, so that account owners can have full control over their funds.

Another difference between the two Bitcoin bullish scenarios in 2017 and 2019 is that this year Bitcoin revealed itself virtually immune to the negative news of the SEC’s intervention, regarding the constant delays to its decision on the requests for Bitcoin ETF approval, which influences the strengthening of confidence around the pioneering cryptocurrency.

By Willmen Blanco

Bitcoin Price Would Surpass US $20,000 in December

Willmen Blanco
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Bitcoin Price Would Surpass US $20,000 in December

Skew also predicts that the price of Bitcoin will reach US $100,000. According to the study, Bitcoin would have found a floor at US $10,000.

The price of Bitcoin could reach US $20,000 by December this year, according to a prediction made by analyst firm Skew. It also describes certain “signals” that indicate that Bitcoin will reach US $100,000, although they do not provide a specific or approximate date for that milestone.

In a report of the performance of derivatives of cryptocurrencies, mining and renewed interest in the ecosystem, Skew assures that the Bitcoin options market indicates a 13% probability of surpassing US $20,000 for the last month of this year.

In the same graph, where the probabilities for that month are shown, it can be seen that it is even possible to reach the milestone of US $20,000 in September of this year. However, the percentage of probability is a little lower than the one reflected in December, as the report indicates.

The firm’s study also establishes US $10,000 as a solid floor for the price of Bitcoin. The probabilities that it will remain above that figure, according to the graph, are around 50% for the months of July, September and December.

Future of US $100,000 for Bitcoin

Another prediction about the price of Bitcoin present in the report transcends what the firm estimates for December of this year. In fact, the document does not provide any date for that other forecast, not even a tentative date.

It can be clearly seen that the market is beginning to see projections that place the value of the main cryptocurrency at US $100,000, at some point in time. With the historic maximum of the Bitcoin hash rate, that price would generate a monthly supply in bitcoins of more than US $5,000 million, which would be reduced by half once Bitcoin reduces its rewards next year, as the firm says in its analysis.

Other Predictions

Skew’s are not the only recent forecasts about the behavior of Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market. In the ecosystem there are analysts with equally optimistic opinions about what will happen in the next months of the year 2019.

For example, Anthony Pompliano, Founder of Morgan Creek, did dare to provide a date for the arrival of Bitcoin at US $100,000. The deadline for that to happen would be December 31st, 2021, that is, in two and a half years. “My current level of confidence that this will happen is around 70-75%,” published Pompliano on his blog Off the Chain.

For his part, the CEO of Galaxy Digital Holdings, Michael Novogratz, limited himself to a forecast statement about the rest of 2019 that suggests that Bitcoin price will remain between US $10,000 and US $14,000 in that period.

Not only Novogratz, but also Skew’s own report, considers that the recent announcement about Libra, the cryptocurrency of Facebook, is one of the determining factors for the Bitcoin bullish period, which would have found its stability floor at US $10,000.

Predictions such those made by analyst firm Skew help users choose the best moment to invest. Once more Bitcoin has demonstrated its tremendous growth potential.

By Willmen Blanco

Retail Investors’ Enthusiasm Returns to Bitcoin Market

Willmen Blanco
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0
Retail Investors’ Enthusiasm Returns to Bitcoin Market

According to Delphi Digital, Bitcoin had a positive balance in June, for the fifth consecutive month. July is expected to be a month when Bitcoin will produce a double-digit return.

Delphi Digital reported that retail investors’ enthusiasm has returned to the market for Bitcoin and other crypto currencies. The digital assets research company indicated in a previous report that the Bitcoin floor was found in early May, when the price was about half of what it is today. On the other hand, Adamant Capital shared similar analyses in April.

Delphi Digital’s report indicates that June was the fifth consecutive month in which Bitcoin yielded positive returns, the longest streak in almost two years. This research and analysis firm also echoes recent statements by BitMEX CEO, Arthur Hayes, and Kraken CEO, Jesse Powell, on how retail investors continue driving Bitcoin.

Powell’s comments responded to claims that the recent increase in Bitcoin’s price was driven by manipulations and the fraud driven by stablecoin Tether.

In Delphi Digital’s new report, increasing Bitcoin searches on Google and a higher premium on Grayscale’s Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) were provided as examples of retail investors’ renewed enthusiasm for Bitcoin.

Retail Investors’ Return

Delphi Digital reported that there are signs that institutions are becoming more comfortable with the cryptocurrency market, due to its great growth potential compared with the conventional market. However, they added that this market continues being driven by retail investors.

The search for the term “Bitcoin” on Google is widely used to monitor the public’s general interest in cryptocurrency. However, the report also indicates the increase in the GBTC premium as a sign that retail investors are returning to the digital assets market. A graph attached to the report showed that the GBTC premium hit the bottom along with the Bitcoin price around November 2018.

According to the report, the GBTC premium has increased since the massive sale in the fourth quarter of 2018. This demonstrates that retail investors’ enthusiasm has returned, at least in part, after last year’s brutal price decline. Institutional demand for GBTC is growing and almost 75% of GBTC investments in the first quarter of 2019 are made by institutions.

This latest report did not make any concrete predictions about how far the Bitcoin price will go next. However, it notes that July has historically been a positive month for Bitcoin.

The report says that, within its limited history, Bitcoin tends to perform well in July, being around double-digit monthly gains (+10%), with positive returns every year, except in 2014.

In an interview given by Spencer Bogart, a partner at Blockchain Capital, to Bloomberg, he explained why the kind of sudden moves in Bitcoin price in late June are something to be expected in this particular kind of “store-of-value” asset.

Regarding the latest rise in Bitcoin’s price, Facebook’s cryptocurrency, Libra, has been considered to be a reason, despite the fact that both crypto currencies do not have much to do with each other. Having sad that, many of speakers at last Bitcoin 2019 conference noted the possibility that Libra could be an educational experience for the masses and lead to certain benefits for Bitcoin.

By Willmen Blanco

Microsoft Launches New Tool to Audit Smart Contracts

Maria Rodríguez
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Microsoft Launches New Tool to Audit Smart Contracts

The tool allows verifying and analyzing smart contracts using the Solidity programming language

Through its official Twitter account, Microsoft Research announced that it launched a new open source tool that will allow auditing and analyzing smart contracts written in the programming language Solidity, which is commonly used in the Ethereum blockchain.

The name of the new Microsoft tool is VeriSol; this is in order to abbreviate the name Solidity Verifier. This development allows auditing smart contracts with the aim to verify in which stage of the process they are.

“With new open-source formal verification tool VeriSol, Microsoft researchers are helping developers author safer and higher-quality smart contracts in @Azure Blockchain offerings”, Microsoft’s message says.

In this way, programmers can express the desirable behavior of smart contracts written in a subset of the popular programming language Solidity”, the company explained. The objective is that the tool can use the mathematical logic machinery to audit the phase in which any requirement is, when a specific smart contract is implemented.

As part of the development, VeriSol was also incorporated into Azure’s smart contract development line. Senior software engineer of the Azure team, Cody Born, commented about this point.

“VeriSol allows us to iterate more quickly because of the automatic and continuous checking, and it allows us to catch bugs faster without having to worry about potentially affecting customers”, he said.

Contributing to a safer ecosystem

Although VeriSol is still a prototype powered mainly by smart contracts at Azure, researchers have more goals for the verification tool. They say they are looking to encourage open collaboration to help bring advances in formal verification to mainstream smart contract development.

Shuvendu Lahiri, Main Investigator of Microsoft, commented: Our vision is to empower not only the developers and users of the Azure blockchain, but also to contribute to a safer blockchain ecosystem and help people to take advantage of the full potential of the technology, without being affected by costly errors in contracts”.

Lahiri added that the modest code size and the sequential execution semantics of smart contracts make them “amenable to scalable verification, and the open operating environment substantially reduces the need to manually model the environment in which a smart contract operates.

Microsoft has developed a number of software suites for building decentralized tech, such as its cloud-based blockchain development kit, Visual Studio for Ethereum dapps, and a decentralized digital identity management system.

Recently, the Bill Gates-founded company even gave Louis Vuitton a tool to verify the authenticity of luxury items on the blockchain and seems to still be interested in blockchain technology to develop more projects. Now, the company is focused especially on the advantages that smart contracts offer.

One of the key drivers making blockchain-based applications programmable, accessible to enterprise customers, and able to meet the diverse needs of a variety of sectors are smart contracts, a post of Microsoft says.

The company also cites research by consulting firm Gartner, which suggests blockchain tech can bring businesses added value upwards of $360 billion by 2026.

By María Rodríguez

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