Top Stories This Week Fundstrat Global Advisors Expects 2019 to Bring More Institutional Investors to Crypto According to a report on the 2019 crypto outlook released by New York-based research company Fundstrat Global Advisors, incremental improvements in the crypto space can provide support for higher prices for cryptocurrencies. The report notes that, as the United States dollar is expected to weaken and more institutional investors enter the space, a visible market recovery can be expected. Fundstrat states that the current year’s crypto hangover can be attributed to the waning interest in the initial coin offering (ICO) sector as well as …

Decentralized app (DApp) MetaMask is facing fresh problems from cryptocurrency scammers after malware impersonating the tool appeared on Google Play, cybersecurity company Eset reported on Feb. 8. The malware, which replaces computer clipboard information in an attempt to steal cryptocurrency, was removed by Google at the beginning of the month after a tipoff from Eset researchers. Known as a “Clipper,” the malware replaces copied cryptocurrency wallet addresses with an address belonging to an attacker in the hope that funds will be sent elsewhere without the user noticing. The discovery marked the first time such malware had made it past Google’s …

Top Stories This Week Ethereum’s Constantinople Hard Fork Delayed Until February After Vulnerability Found Ethereum’s (ETH) Constantinople hard fork has been delayed until late February after smart contract audit firm ChainSecurity found a security vulnerability allowing a reentrancy attack. The security bug found would potentially let an attacker steal crypto from a smart contract on the network while requesting funds from it repeatedly while feeding it false data. In the aftermath of the discovery, Ethereum developers said that the activation would instead take place at block number 7,280.000, which is expected to be mined on Feb. 27, 2019, instead of …

Blockchain tech firm ConsenSys has joined news industry leaders to contribute to the creation of a new revenue-generating news platform by WordPress, according to an official press release published on Jan. 14. ConsenSys has invested $350,000 in the new WordPress project called Newspack, an open-source publishing platform for news companies. Through the investment, the major global blockchain company has joined leading industry organizations such as Google News, The Lenfest Institute for Journalism and The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. In total, WordPress’ parent company Automattic and its partners Spirited Media and News Revenue Hub have secured $2.4 million …

Update: On Jan. 18, Google confirmed to Decenter that “Ethereum” has been blacklisted as a keyword “regardless of the nature of the service that is being promoted,” as the startup’s CEO Andrej Cvoro told Cointelegraph over email. On Jan. 10, Serbia-based smart contract auditing startup Decenter reported that Google has blacklisted keywords mentioning Ethereum (ETH) on its advertising platform, Google Ads. Google Ads: We can’t confirm that Ethereum is eligible to trigger ads, see our policy Specifically, the startup tweeted that they saw “a hard stop” on Google Ads containing the keyword “Ethereum” starting from Jan. 9. Decenter also tagged …

New malware posing as a movie file from torrent website The Pirate Bay (TPB) can manipulate web pages and replace Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) addresses, computing magazine Bleeping Computer reported Jan. 12. The malware — originally thought to inject advertising on Google and in search results — in fact performs multiple actions, some of which were discovered by the publication’s own researcher Lawrence Abrams. “What appeared to be an ad-injector into the main Google search page turned out to be only the tip of the iceberg,” the researchers warned. The file containing malicious code poses as a movie file …

Google (Alphabet Inc.) has reportedly blacklisted keywords mentioning Ethereum (ETH) on its advertising platform Google Ads, smart contract auditing startup Decenter tweeted on Jan. 10. The official Google Ads account replied to the tweet stating that cryptocurrency exchanges targeting the United States and Japan can be advertised on the platform, and that targeting other countries could be the reason for the ad rejection. When Decenter explained that they are a group of developers doing smart contract security audits and that they were seeing the error message when trying to use the “ethereum development services” and “ethereum security audits” keywords, Google …

Bitcoin (BTC) wallet provider Samourai Wallet said it was disabling several security-related features in its products due to notices from Google to block the wallet, according to a Jan. 7. blog post. Samourai, which has aimed to provide a Bitcoin-centric experience through adding enhanced anonymity options and removing references to fiat currency, confirmed it was removing three functions from its wallet in time for its latest update released Tuesday. “Again, we are sorry for this inconvenience, but our hands have been tied by Google,” the blog post reads, adding: “We hope to bring these features back somehow in the future …

Finding your way around a new city, or even discovering exciting things to do in areas you know well, is hard. Meanwhile, local economies have been struggling to prosper — with small businesses increasingly reliant on online behemoths such as Facebook and Google where users face information overload. A new blockchain-based startup believes the golden era for apps is over and says the public wants a more personalized experience when they are finding things to do. Rather than depend on potentially biased platforms, which often fail to capture the full breadth of nearby venues, Localflow says the future lies in …

Bitcoin (BTC) still has “lower to go” despite its bull run to above $4,000 last week, Morgan Creek Digital Assets founder Anthony Pompliano told CNBC on Dec. 26. Speaking in an interview, Pompliano, who is also a frequent markets commentator on social media, became the latest figure to claim Bitcoin markets will only bottom out when the price drifts below $3,000. “Short term, I actually think we have lower to go,” he told the network. In November, Pompliano had predicted a plunge to $3,000 for BTC/USD, which subsequently occurred earlier this month. Since then, prices across the crypto markets have …

Google data shows ‘What is Bitcoin?’ was the most popular search question in the United States and United Kingdom for 2018, showing Bitcoin (BTC) has topped public consciousness online this year. Capping various achievements in search rankings over the past twelve months, Bitcoin’s latest price volatility saw interest in understanding it peak again following a period of price stability. ‘What is Bitcoin’ currently tops this year’s ‘What is…?’ search list, while the annual listings also include one other cryptocurrency-related entry. While Bitcoin has topped the list of ‘What is…,’ the major currency lost its rank on ‘How to…’ queries to …

Where do loyalty programs fit in? This marketing tool has been suffering issues for years. In the non-crypto world, consumers are overwhelmed by the number of schemes offered by retailers and are disappointed by the rewards. Blockchain projects are hoping to inject some innovation into this sector by offering schemes which are meaningful to shoppers. The startup behind Elipay — Eligma — says its approach involves a universal loyalty scheme. Instead of carrying around a wallet full of cash and credit cards, consumers will be able to shop and receive rewards from a plethora of merchants in one place. The …