How exposed are traders and investors to Crypto Exchange Fraud?

Colleagues, while cryptocurrency fraud is nothing new, the vast proliferation of exchanges, ICOs and investment funds should send a strong signal to traders and investors alike: Exercise extreme caution and perform 360 degree due diligence before you invest. Yes, many exchanges, ICOs and funds are legitimate. Nonetheless, the recent arrest of Jon Montroll by U.S. authorities in connection with crypto exchange site WeExchange and securities investment platform BitFunder and crypto exchange site WeExchange raise even more red flags. Some of the most common fraudulent tactics taken by crypto criminals include ICOs with no real coins (e.g. HoweyCoins), pump and dump strategies, pyramid and Ponzi schemes and crypto exchanges with questionable track records … at best. The Cryptocurrency Academy offers two baseline recommendations. First, for traders do not deposit personal funds that you are not prepared to loose. Stay with the established top-tier exchanges like CEX.io, Kraken, Coinbase, CoinMama, GDAX (CoinBase Pro) and Paxful. For institutional investors, use trusted investment firms and banks who will perform the due diligence for you – at a cost – however, also provide a much higher level of security and confidence. The growing list of players here include JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs as well as professionally managed crypto funds from the likes of Fidelity, Vanguard and Charles Schwab. Send us your comments today! Lawrence – Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com/)  

How effective will the Honeyminer App pool allow the masses to earn Bitcoin through their laptops?

Colleagues, yes many cryptocurrency mining pools tap into end-users’ servers, desktops and laptops allowing them to earn currency when their GPUs are not in use. Enter the Honeyminer App pool. This app concentrates on GPU-intensive currencies such as Zcash, Monero, Ethereum Classic and Ethereum. The Honeyminer App value proposition is simple for those with little investment capital: Earn Bitcoin by outsourcing your GPU as a means of generating incremental income (aka “crypto mining for the common man”). And Honeyminer Pro (currently on wait list status only) will allow owners of professional mining systems to participate as well. Based upon block size thee app rotates its mining activity between different currencies every 10 minutes. So how does Honeyminer compare to the top rated crypto mining pool including EasyMiner, MultiMiner, BFGMiner, CGMner and BitMiner? The Cryptocurrency Academy believes the answer lies in the array of cryptos being mined and the number of cryptos that can be earned. Send us your comments today! Lawrence – Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com/)

Is the Future of Crypto Exchanges in the Cloud? Consider the Huobi Cloud

Colleagues, according CryptoCoinCharts Huobi is the world’s fourth largest cryptocurrency exchange. Known as the “Huobi Blockchain Plus Industry Alliance" over the past few months the cryptocurrency exchange giant has been making efforts to build stronger networks for the Blockchain industry. The Huobi Cloud comprises of four approaches, including exchange, operational, OTC, and eco-system solutions. Bottom line: Will Binance, Bitfinex and HitBTC follow in Huobi’s path? Our view at the Cryptocurrency Academy is only after the Huobi Cloud exchange is stress-tested for transaction speed, the integrity of smart contracts and especially security will the crypto “Big Three” adopt cloud-based exchange solutions. Share a comment visit us today! Lawrence – Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com/) 

Will Dark DAO attacks undermine Blockchain delegated “proof of stake” voting and threaten Cryptocurrencies?

Colleagues, decentralized autonomous organization (aka “Dark DAO”) is a clear and present danger to the integrity of Blockchain voting. In an effort to formalize software decision-making process using smart contracts, Blockchain initiatives such as Decred, Tron, Polkadot, Tezos and EOS have used this technique to manage the governance of their code. Dark DAO strategies seek to manipulate the voting process. Low voter turnout gives Dark DAO cyber criminals the upper hand by allowing them to control the decision-making process. Bottom line: Dark DAO places power in the hands of the few which then seek to dominate voter participation. Thus, not only does Dark DAO effect Blockchains, but potentially undermines the cryptocurrencies on which they are based. Mitigation strategies appear questionable at best. More to come on this crucial subject. Share a comment visit us today! Lawrence – Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com/) 

Has Cryptojacking become the method of choice among cyber criminals?

Colleagues, some 32% of cyber-attacks as of mid-2018 are attributable to crypto mining malware as compared to only 7% of attacks coming from more traditional ransomware. These figures come from SkyBox Security’s 2018 Mid-Year Vulnerability Threat Report. Some analysts believe this shift is due to 1) The dramatic increase in global crypto mining activity, and 2) A trend for victims of ransomware attacks to simply refuse to pay the price – financial or other – demanded by the attacks. Some 21% of cryptojacking attacks are due to the cyber criminals targeting Cisco routers, including the VPNFilter, ASA and Smart Install. How can the top tier mining companies such as Bitmain, Hut 8, Bitfury Mines, Genesis Mining Enigma, Bcause LLC and GigaWatt mitigate this pervasive threat? Start by closely implementing any and all patches - and related tactics - from the Cisco Security Advisories (or other router vendors such as Juniper and Huawei). Share a comment visit us today! Lawrence – Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com/) 

Blackrock to explore Blockchain and Cryptocurrency sphere – No surprise here

Colleagues, the Cryptocurrency Academy predicted last month that we would see several large commercial banks and asset management firms will actively participate in the global Blockchain and Cryptocurrency arenas during the next 24-36 months. Since then have seen Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan – not to mention MasterCard - state their intentions to do just that. Without question adoption of Blockchain-based distributed ledger technology increase transaction speed while reducing OPEX is a de facto no-brainer for financial institutions. This will take time and R&D investment and more than a few such entities have filed Blockchain patent applications. We have also seen the steady rise in third party cryptocurrency Custodial Services. For many the next step is the establishment of crypto trading and investing services. Blackrock CEO Larry Fink is on record as saying that none of Blackrock’s institutional clients have “sought crypto exposure”. That is, for now. We expect that to change in the near future. Share a comment visit us today! Lawrence – Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com/) 

Can Robinhood Effectively Compete Against the Top-Rate Crypto Trading Apps?

Colleagues, Coinbase, Bitworth, CryptoTrax, Zapo, Delta (aka “CoinDash”), Enjin, BTC.com and Investing.com-Cryptocurrency are among the most popular mobile apps available on both iOS and Android. These apps are commonly used by “millennial” crypto traders rather than institutional crypto investors. These apps are commonly viewed as “most popular” based upon 1) The number of cryptocurrencies they are equipped to trade, and 2) The market cap of the crypto assets they can trade (see CoinMarket Cap). Enter Robinhood. With much marketing fanfare the Robinhood app was designed with millennials in mind and began offering Bitcoin and Ethereum (the crypto assets with the largest market caps) earlier this year. Last week Robinhood announced that it would now trade Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin. Bottom line two-fold question: 1) Can Robinhood – despite the number of crypto assets it can trade compete against the more established apps, and 2) Just how many mobile trading apps does the global crypto sphere really need? The Cryptocurrency Academy predicts a pending shakeout and consolidation of crypto trading apps over the coming 24-36 months. Share a comment visit us today! Lawrence – Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com/)