John McAfee’s controversial Ghost distributed exchange is now live, the cryptocurrency advocate announced on Twitter over the weekend. The Ghost distributed exchange is related to McAfee’s privacy project Ghost, a Proof of Stake privacy coin intended for more anonymous transactions. McAfee clarified on social media that Ghost will replace the McAfeeDEX distributed exchange. The Ghost main net itself is expected to go live on June 22. Ghost has been the subject of contention for months especially after McAfee himself admitted Ghost “copy-pasted” parts of its white paper from PIVX. Even so, he seemed poised to sue PIVX--an open-sourced protocol--for defamation. …
It would be fair to admit that after 2020 and all it has put us through, making any predictions for the upcoming year is most likely to be a game of blindfold. Meanwhile, I am certain that humanity has much to learn from its past transgressions, and will move forward by correcting our mistakes and weaknesses. That’s what we always do. Undoubtedly, the major driver of our development this year was the COVID-19 outbreak. The effects of the ongoing global pandemic on every aspect of our lives will form our future, and there are some tendencies we started last year …
Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance has invested an undisclosed sum in blockchain data monetization startup Numbers. According to a post published on Binance’s official blog on Jan. 21, Numbers aims to create an open, transparent and traceable data sharing, verification and management system. The firm’s open source application reportedly allows individuals to own and monetize their personal data. Since last year, Numbers has reportedly worked with nonprofit Shoah Foundation, the Stanford University and IBM to develop data traceability and verification systems to preload on the Exodus, the blockchain smartphone of tech giant HTC. Binance’s strategy officer Gin Chao said: “Numbers app …
At a time when technology can be used as both a mechanism for privacy intrusions and a tool for protecting privacy, the prescient sentiment of cypherpunks in the 1990s of cryptography as the last defense against a digital surveillance dystopia rings truer than ever. And one of the most potent instruments for defending digital privacy has recently gained significant momentum thanks to the advent of cryptocurrencies. An iteration of zero-knowledge proofs, trustless zero-knowledge proof systems that are also referred to as zk-SNARKs are a powerful cryptographic primitive that can sever any tractable piece of data between two parties over a …
On its surface, Andy Greenburg’s new book, Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency, is a standard crime story. Fans of true crime podcasts will enjoy the crypto version and get a seat in the Federal Bureau of Investigation van as United States federal agents track down criminals through their crypto transactions. The first story recounted is that of a crooked Drug Enforcement Agency agent who stole funds from the online drug market Silk Road. It also addresses the hunt for Dread Pirate Roberts, aka Ross Ulbricht — Silk Road’s founder. Ross’ operational security …