Bitcoin Guru

Utocat announces its first fundraising of 500.000€ from Business Angels, BPIFrance and the investment fund Leap Ventures. The objective is to strengthen the API Blockchainiz and to accelerate its commercialization. Utocat in a few words Utocat was created in October 2014 by Clément Francomme to help merchants accepting bitcoin payments and converting it directly in euros. In 2015, Utocat joined the EuraTechnologies acceleration program and pivoted to propose Blockchainiz : the dedicated access platform for Banks and Insurance companies. Laurent Koszyczek and Alexis Mévellec partnered with Clément Francomme to improve the technical and commercial aspects. Blockchainiz API The platform has been quickly adopted by major Banks and Insurance companies. Blockchainiz simplifies the use of the blockchain : Workflow for non­public shares, interbanking flows, lifecycle for a life insurance or identity verification. Hence, the API enables clients to save costs, reduce delays and increase...

Edward Majerczyk , 28, of Chicago plead guilty to hacking and illegally gaining access to over a hundred people’s private emails and iCloud accounts. Reports say that over 30 celebrities were hacked as well. Majerczyk’s official charge was computer fraud, and was issued in an Illinois Federal Court. Between November 2013 and August 2014,  Majerczyk operated a phishing scheme by sending fraud emails that appeared to be from the victims’ Internet Service Providers. By doing so, he obtained over 300 username and password combinations for Gmail and Apple iCloud accounts. Over 30 of those accounts were reportedly private celebrity accounts. Personal data along with photos and videos were all stolen from the accounts. Majercyk’s sentencing has been scheduled for January 10, 2017. He faces up to five years behind bars. Court documents suggest he will likely serve under the maximum time. A Spokeswoman for the FBI commented: “The defendant’s acceptance of responsibility for his role in ...

UnoCoin Continues To Attract Attention It is good to see the UnoCoin exchange raise a lot of funding to improve their services. Bitcoin exchanges have somewhat of a negative reputation, particularly due to a fair few of them getting hacked. The recent Bitfinex incidents go to show that there is no ultimate security when dealing with other people’s money. Despite that potential drawback, investors see the benefits offered by UnoCoin. With over 100,000 users in India so far, it is clear UnoCoin is driving Bitcoin adoption in the country. Together with ZebPay they are one of the two most popular Bitcoin companies in the region, and both hold an international level of recognition. UnoCoin has always wanted to become the Coinbase of India, although that is no easy feat. Then again, they have become India’s largest Bitcoin exchange since launching in December of 2013. With this new round of funding the company and its staff can continue to move forward and improve upon existing service...

Silk Road On The TV Screen With American Greed Several TV shows have paid attention to Bitcoin and the darknet throughout the years. Nearly none of these spotlights on cryptocurrency has proven to be even somewhat positive, though. The only exception is “Mr. Robot” season two, which seems to paint a very different picture about Bitcoin than most people have been told by the media. American Greed is a very different creature in this regard, as it is not a Hollywood-scripted TV show. Instead, it puts the spotlight on famous events and collects witness testimonies, as well as the opinions of security experts. This could be a great way to tell the real story about Silk Road and what the FBI and corporate media want one to believe. At the same time, American Greed may not be the best stage for a Silk Road discussion, either. While the TV show should be on everybody’s watch list– there are plenty of scams out there, trust us–their “angle” to every story is how people steal money. Sil...

Moving Away From Deutsche Bank Before The Ship Sinks Rumors about the demise of Deutsche Bank have been floating around for a few years already. The German financial institution is facing a lot of scrutiny over their practices and fines. Moreover, there are plenty of questions regarding the bank’s financial capacities, as many people feel they have overstretched. So far there is no real indication Deutsche Bank will be going down anytime soon. At the same time, banks can collapse overnight, which is not putting people’s mind at ease right now. For those who were hoping Germany would bail out its own banks if something were to go amiss, a reality check came in late last night. The German government has indicated that there are zero plans to provide rescue packages to any failing bank in the nation. Whether it is a small online bank, or even Deutsche Bank, everyone will have to fend for themselves. Such a public dismissal of any help packages will only fuel the fire of speculat...

Moving Away From Deutsche Bank Before The Ship Sinks Rumors about the demise of Deutsche Bank have been floating around for a few years already. The German financial institution is facing a lot of scrutiny over their practices and fines. Moreover, there are plenty of questions regarding the bank’s financial capacities, as many people feel they have overstretched. So far there is no real indication Deutsche Bank will be going down anytime soon. At the same time, banks can collapse overnight, which is not putting people’s mind at ease right now. For those who were hoping Germany would bail out its own banks if something were to go amiss, a reality check came in late last night. The German government has indicated that there are zero plans to provide rescue packages to any failing bank in the nation. Whether it is a small online bank, or even Deutsche Bank, everyone will have to fend for themselves. Such a public dismissal of any help packages will only fuel the fire of speculat...

Twitch Wants Its Own Virtual Currency It seemed to be only a matter of time until Twitch decided to issue its own virtual currency. Rewarding streamers and viewers for their loyalty and activity is a smart business strategy. In fact, avid Twitch users won’t have to set up anything, as the company will take care of every single aspect of issuing and using Stream+. What these points will be used for remains a bit vague right now. Amazon Game Studios’ Patrick Gilmore told the BBC the Stream+ currency could be used for polls and wagering. Moreover, there are plans to make them usable for items to use within games. No specific titles or items were mentioned at the time of publication, though. That being said, there is one game that has been confirmed to use the Stream+ currency. Amazon Game Studios will release Breakaway soon, which is a multi-player game designed to compete with the likes of Activision Blizzard, Riot Games, and Valve. There is one worrisome aspect about the whole S...