Bitcoin Wallet App Caught Stealing Seed Keys

Bitcoin Wallet App Caught Stealing Seed Keys

Bitcoin Wallet App Caught Stealing Seed Keys

The team behind Electrum, a Bitcoin wallet app, has exposed a copycat product named Electrum Pro as a malicious app that steals users' seed keys.

Electrum developers made their accusations in a document published on GitHub yesterday.

The document contains a step-by-step guide to decompiling a rival product named Electrum Pro that popped up online two months ago in March.

 

Obvious copycat is obviously malicious

The Electrum team has long suspected this is a scam product. The reasons are that the newly launched wallet app used their brand name without permission, but also registered the electrum.com domain, similar to the real Electrum domain of electrum.org, in an attempt to capitalize on the older app's reputation and trick users into using their product.

Now, Electrum devs seem to have confirmed their initial suspicions. On GitHub, the Electrum team points to a particular piece of code (lines 223-248 in electrumpro_keystore.py) where the Electrum Pro wallet appears to take the user's wallet seed key and upload it to the electrum.com domain.

Wallet seed keys are cryptographic keys that allow the owners of a wallet app to access the funds of multiple Bitcoin addresses stored in a particular wallet.

With the seed keys uploaded to electrum.com, the owners of those domains have the ability to use these seed keys and empty Bitcoin accounts

According to Electrum devs, creating or restoring a wallet with Electrum Pro will send copies of the users' wallet seed keys to the electrum.com domain.

Seed key theft seen in Windows and macOS binaries

"We previously warned users against 'Electrum Pro', but we did not have formal evidence at that time," Electrum devs said.

Devs also said they've only analyzed Electrum Pro's "electrumpro-4.0.2.dmg" macOS binary and "ElectrumPro-4.0.2-Standalone.zip" Windows binary, but warned that "is safe to assume that the other Windows binaries are malicious as well."

Affected users should move funds from Bitcoin addresses they've managed via Electrum Pro. At the time of writing, there have not been any reports of stolen funds.

 

Author By Catalin Cimpanu May 10, 2018 12:30 AM
 

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

David

Bitcoin price analysis -BTC/USD gets badly beaten, poking at $9,000 – Gary Cohn believes in crypto, but not in Bitcoin

Bitcoin price analysis -BTC/USD gets badly beaten, poking at $9,000 – Gary Cohn believes in crypto, but not in Bitcoin

 

  • BTC/USD broke below local support levels with no obvious triggers.

  • former president of Goldman Sachs Gary Cohn supports the idea of global cryptocurrency.

     

Bitcoin lost over 8% in just three days, crashing from $10,000 to below $9,000. BTC/USD is trading at $9,017, after a short dip to $8,960. The coin is 3% lower than 24 hours before. BTC has moved into a dangerous support zone as a sustainable movement below $9,000 threshold will trigger selling orders and push the coin deeper into the bearish territory. The downside may be partially explained by US Dollar growth on international markets.

 

Meanwhile, former president of Goldman Sachs Gary Cohn said that the world will have a cryptocurrency after all, but it won't be Bitcoin. He believes that we will end up with something easier and more user-friendly.

 

"I'm not a big believer in bitcoin. I am a believer in blockchain technology," Cohn explained in the interview with CNBC. "I do think we will have a global cryptocurrency at some point where the world understands it and it's not based on mining costs or cost of electricity or things like that," he added.

 

Bitcoin technical picture

 

The hourly chart shows that BTC/USD is trading below both 200 and 50-SMAs that are located at $9,276 and $9,383 respectively. They are likely to limit the upside on approach to $9,400. Once it is broken, the upside may be extended towards $9,584 (100-SMA). On the downside the vital support comes at $9,000. This psychological level coincides with 50% Fibo retracement of the downside movement from $1,1567 to $6,483. Once it is broken, $8,700 will come into focus.

 

BTC/USD, the hourly chart

 

 

Author Tanya Abrosimova

Posted by David Ogden entrepreneur

 

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Bitcoin Cash Price Technical Analysis – Can BCH/USD Break This?

Bitcoin Cash Price Technical Analysis – Can BCH USD Break This?

Bitcoin Cash Price Technical Analysis – Can BCH/USD Break This?

 

Key Points

Bitcoin cash price found support around the $1,565 level and recovered against the US Dollar.

There is a key connecting bearish trend line forming with resistance at $1,700 on the hourly chart of the BCH/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).

The pair has to move above the $1,700 resistance level to continue the current upside wave.

Bitcoin cash price is recovering from lows against the US Dollar. BCH/USD is now facing a major hurdle for more gains near the $1,700 level.

 

Bitcoin Cash Price Resistance

Yesterday, we saw a downside correction in bitcoin cash price below the $1,650 support against the US Dollar. The price even traded below the $1,600 level and tested the $1,550-60 support area. There was even a spike below the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the last leg from the $1,460 low to $1,835 high. However, the decline was protected by the $1,560 support area.

 

A low was formed at $1,567 and the price started an upside move. It traded above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $1,834 high to $1,567 low. Moreover, the price moved above the $1,625 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average. At the moment, the price is approaching a major hurdle near the $1,700 level. There is also a key connecting bearish trend line forming with resistance at $1,700 on the hourly chart of the BCH/USD pair. Additionally, the 50% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $1,834 high to $1,567 low is at $1,705 to prevent gains.

 

Looking at the chart, it seems like it won’t be easy for buyers to break the $1,700 barrier. On the downside, the $1,625 support is a decent buy zone along with the 100 hourly SMA.

 

Looking at the technical indicators:

 

Hourly MACD – The MACD for BCH/USD is slightly in the bullish zone.

 

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BCH/USD has moved above the 50 level.

 

Major Support Level – $1,625

 

Major Resistance Level – $1,700

 

 

Author AAYUSH JINDAL | MAY 8, 2018 | 4:08 AM

 

 

Posted by David Ogden entrepreneur

David

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Stellar, Litecoin, Cardano, IOTA, EOS – Price Analysis, 4th May

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Stellar, Litecoin, Cardano, IOTA, EOS - Price Analysis, 4th May

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Stellar, Litecoin, Cardano, IOTA, EOS – Price Analysis, 4th May

Goldman Sachs, one of the biggest investment banks in the world, is taking the plunge into the exciting world of cryptocurrency trading. The bank’s decision was made because of the overwhelming client requests.

This is a very positive sign for the crypto market’s future along with the news about analysts from BlackRock, an American global investment management company, leaving the firm to fund a Blockchain-focused venture capital fund. Other places where the banks or institutions are still pondering over their decision, the analysts are quitting to open their own ventures. Investors plowing money into these funds shows a growing interest.

After the decline from the frothy levels in December 2017, the investors are getting a favorable entry opportunity. In the past few weeks, the volatility has also reduced, which is an added attraction to get in early.

While the number of crypto optimists has increased, there is no dearth of the naysayers as well. Economist Nouriel Roubini continued his criticism of cryptocurrencies. While he may have forecast the 2008 Financial crisis correctly, his crypto prediction seems to be way off.
But there are positive predictions as well.  Alexis Ohanian, a co-founder of Reddit, claims that Ethereum is on its way to $15,000 this year.

We already hold a few positions. Let’s see if the charts present us any fresh buying opportunities?

BTC/USD
Bitcoin broke out of the small symmetrical triangle pattern and entered the ascending channel on May 03, which is a bullish sign. Currently, it is facing resistance close to the April 25 highs, but we remain bullish because it has not given up ground.

If the digital currency rises from the support line of the ascending channel, it increases the possibility of a break out above the immediate resistance zone of $9,800 to $10,000.

Following the breakout, the first target is $11,000, and the next target is $12,000. We anticipate a strong resistance at the $12,172.43 mark.

On the downside, if the BTC/USD pair breaks below the support line of the ascending channel, it can fall to $9,178 and then to the 20-day EMA, close to $9,000 levels.

The up move will be in danger only on a break below $9,000 levels. Therefore, we suggest raising the stops on the long positions from $8,600 to $8,900.

ETH/USD
Ethereum broke out of $745 on May 03, which completed a ‘V’ shaped bottom formation. This bullish set up has a pattern target of $1,130, with minor resistances at $900 and at $1,000.

On the downside, $745 will act as the first support. If this breaks, the bulls will defend the trendline close to $700 and the 20-day EMA at $645. The trend will turn bearish or range bound only if the ETH/USD pair sustains below $700.

Traders can wait for a retest of the breakout levels and buy if the $745 level holds. The stop loss can be placed just below the 20-day EMA at $640. Traders should confirm that the levels are holding before entering long positions. No trade should be initiated if the digital currency closes (UTC) below $700.

BCH/USD
Bitcoin Cash has reached close to the upper end of the range at $1,600, which should act as a stiff resistance. If the price fails to break out of this level, the range-bound action between $1,221 and $1,600 will continue.

The BCH/USD pair will become positive if the bulls break out and close (UTC) above $1,600. The immediate target objective is a move to $2,000; above it, the rally can extend to $2,400 levels.      

Aggressive traders can buy on a close (UTC) above $1,600 and keep a close stop loss of $1,400. Due to numerous overhead resistances, we consider this as a risky trade, hence, keep the allocation size less than 50 percent of usual.

XRP/USD
Ripple continues to trade inside the range of $0.76 to $0.93777. A break out of this range will indicate bullishness, and a rally to $1.229 is likely.

If the XRP/USD pair fails to break out of $0.9377, a few more days of range-bound trading can be expected.

On the downside, support exists at the 20-day EMA and below that at the lower end of the range at $0.76.

The longer the cryptocurrency trades inside the range, the stronger will be the ensuing breakout. We propose waiting for it before entering any long positions.

XLM/USD
Stellar is facing a stiff resistance at the $0.47766719 mark. Though it has failed to cross above this level, it is undergoing a shallow pullback.

he XLM/USD pair should find support at the trendline, but if it breaks, a slide to $0.335 is probable. The negative divergence on the RSI is a bearish development, hence, traders should wait for a breakout and close (UTC) above the overhead resistance of $0.47766719 before initiating any long positions.

LTC/USD
After remaining in a tight range for the past few days, Litecoin finally scaled above the overhead resistance of $160 on May 03. However, it could not reach our target objective of $180, as the bears strongly defended the April 24 highs of $167.399.   

If the LTC/USD pair doesn’t breakout within a couple of days, it will continue to be range bound. On the downside, any break of the $141 levels will be a negative sign.

Therefore, we suggest retaining the stops at $140. We shall trail the stops higher once the digital currency breaks out of $168.

ADA/BTC
Cardano has failed to extend its uptrend after breaking out of 0.00003445. We had suggested raising the stops higher if the virtual currency crosses above 0.000042 levels, but it did not happen.

The ADA/BTC pair should now find support at the 0.00003445 levels because there are three major supports close to it.

The first level is the horizontal support, the second one is the trendline support, and the third is the 20-day EMA.

We shall retain the stops at 0.000029 until we see a rally above 0.000042 levels.

Our target objective on the upside is a move to 0.000045, followed by 0.00005217 levels.  

IOTA/USD
IOTA broke out of the overhead resistance at $2.2117 on May 02 and followed it with another up move on the next day. However, it couldn’t break out of the resistance line of the ascending channel.   

Currently, the IOTA/USD pair is retesting the breakout levels of $2.2117. If the level holds, the bulls will try to break out of the channel and push prices towards $3 and $3.5.

If the digital currency breaks below $2.2117 but finds support close to $2 levels, then the ascending channel will be in play, and a move to the resistance line of the channel can be expected.

Due to the uncertainty, it is better to wait for a couple of days and then buy if the support levels hold. Presently, we don’t have any buy recommendation.

EOS/USD
EOS, after the recent rally, has entered into a period of consolidation. Though it found support at the 38.2 percent Fibonacci retracement level on May 01, it could not scale the $20 levels in the ensuing up move.

On the downside, $16 should act as a strong support, below which, the EOS/USD pair can slide to the 20-day EMA.

We shall wait for the consolidation to play out and a new buy setup to form before recommending any fresh long positions.

By  Rakesh Upadhyay

David

Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 05th May2018 – Long-Term Double Bottom

Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 05th may – Long-Term Double Bottom

Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 05/04/2018 – Long-Term Double Bottom

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

Bitcoin price appears to be gaining traction on its climb as it approaches a key resistance.

A break past the $10,000 barrier could complete the creation of a double bottom reversal pattern.

Rallying past the neckline of the formation could lead to an uptrend of the same height.

Bitcoin price is forming a double bottom on its daily time frame to signal that a longer-term uptrend is due.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA is below the longer-term 200 SMA to signal that the path of least resistance is to the downside. This means that the selloff could still resume from here, possibly leading to another test of the bottoms at $6,000.

The 100 SMA appears to be holding as dynamic support, though, and a move past the 200 SMA dynamic inflection point could draw more buyers in.

Stochastic looks ready to turn lower from the overbought region to signal a pickup in selling pressure as well. But if buyers stay in control, a mov past the $12,000 area of interest and neckline could lead to a climb of around $6,000 or a rally up to the record highs.

Market Factors

Developments in the industry have been mostly positive, especially after Goldman Sachs announced plans to start a bitcoin trading operation. Execs also noted that bitcoin is not a fraud, contrary to CEO Blankfein’s statement on how it is in a bubble earlier on.

Apart from that, South Korea’s lawmakers are working on a bill to legalize ICO launches, also helping to add legitimacy to the industry. Japan has already created its regulatory body for ICOs, which means that the top markets for bitcoin are making good progress.

Dollar demand is also sinking leading up to the release of the NFP report as traders are wary that weak results could reinforce the less hawkish stance shared by the FOMC in their latest statement. Weaker than expected data could lead to even more dollar selling and bitcoin price could take advantage.

 

 

Author SARAH JENN | MAY 4, 2018 | 4:20 AM

 

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

David

Up 33% – Bitcoin’s Price Just Had Its Best Month of 2018Up 33%

Up 33% - Bitcoin's Price Just Had Its Best Month of 2018

Up 33% – Bitcoin's Price Just Had Its Best Month of 2018

Bitcoin's price rose 33 percent against the U.S. dollar in April, making it the best month of 2018 for the world's largest cryptocurrency.

Data from CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) shows that May began with bitcoin's price at the $9,244.32 mark – a 33 percent jump from its April 1 start of $6,926.02. This marks the greatest rise in bitcoin's price this year, and one of only two months where it rose at all within the period.

Bitcoin's price fell overall in January and March, and only rose 1.4 percent in February, according to BPI data.
Indeed, bitcoin fell by nearly a third in each of the negative months, dropping from $13,860 on January 1 to $10,166 on February 1, and even more drastically – from $10,309 to just below $7,000 – in March. While bitcoin has rallied this past month, it has yet to recover to the $10,000 mark, which it last fell below in mid-March.

That being said, these numbers hide the fact that bitcoin actually rose to past $17,000 in January before falling by nearly half to its February 1 level.

Similarly, bitcoin reached a low below $6,000 before recovering, as shown by the BPI. In other words, while it may have begun spending periods of time trading sideways, it remains volatile year-to-date,

Notably, bitcoin's transaction volume jumped by 93 percent month-over-month, while the number of off-chain transactions through exchanges jumped by a similar 95 percent. However, fees saw a similar jump, rising 90 percent in April, according to data collected by CoinDesk.

Bitcoin derivatives had a similarly positive month. Both the CBOE and CME saw their futures contracts trading volume spike this month, with CBOE in particular seeing more than 18,000 contracts traded in a single day on April 25, as previously reported.

Similarly, CME saw more than 11,000 contracts traded that day, roughly double its daily average.

Author Nikhilesh De  Updated  May 1, 2018 at 20:21 UTC
posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
 

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