(Reuters) — The German parliament approved a plan on Friday to fine social media networks up to 50 million euros ($57 million) if they fail to remove hateful postings promptly, despite concerns the law could limit free expression.
Month: June 2017
Ether Price Analysis: Bears Chasing Back a Bullish Price Rally
Following a devastating bear market last week, several major market players saw a reversal pattern called a Double Bottom Reversal. For reference, please check out the previous BTC-USD market analysis where an in-depth description of Double Bottom Reversals is outlined.
Figure 1: ETH-USD, 4HR Candles, Gemini, Double Bottom Reversal
The buy-back volume seemed very promising on the reversal pattern and it even saw textbook characteristics of a healthy bull rally. However, if we take a closer look at the market move, we can see something slightly concerning regarding the health of the bull trend. To gain some insight, let’s examine the finer points of the reversal pattern:
Figure 2: ETH-USD, 30Min Candles, Gemini, Failed 100% Retracement
The most immediately concerning aspect of this bull run is the failed test of the 100% Fibonacci Retracement. Typically, a healthy Double Bottom Reversal that leads to a prolonged bull run will test the 100% retracement value (sometimes several tests are required) and ultimately yield higher values as the volume supports market interest. However, in our case, not only did this market move see a rejection of the 100% retracement line, but it also continued a trend of decreasing volume. Decreasing volume shows the declining market interest in these high values, and it doesn’t offer much in the way of support for the bullish trend.
The second concerning element of this bull run is the retracement it is currently seeing: The market is testing the 61% Fibonacci Retracement values which coincide with a significant level of support for this run (shown in orange). At the time of this article, this run tested the support level three times and is now moving on to test the 61% value. These lower values are paired with increasing spikes in sell volume.
On the higher timescales, the MACD (an indicator of market momentum) still remains on the bullish side but is beginning to head toward bearish values. The 4-hour MACD has flipped to bearish, and the current market doesn’t show any indication in the near future of slowing its downward climb.
In order to maintain the support at the 61% value, we will need to see an increase in buy volume to stymie the slowly descending trend we are currently witnessing. In the coming hours/days, if the market fails the test of the 61% line, we can expect the following support levels:
Figure 3: ETH-USD, 30Min Candles, GDAX, Expected Support Levels Following 61% Failure
During both the previous bear run and the formation of the Double Bottom Reversal pattern, we saw levels of support/resistance at the 50% retracement values (shown in pink) and the 38% retracement values (shown in green). A further test of those values will prove crucial if the ETH-USD markets are to remain in this pseudo-bullish trend. Failure to see a significant increase in volume will undoubtedly lead to another bear market situation. Given the declining volume throughout this entire reversal, at this moment I’m inclined to lean more toward a bearish outlook in the near future. Until volume begins to pick up, the market will continue to slowly hemorrhage as market sentiment declines.
Summary:
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Double Bottom Reversal failed the test of the 100% retracement from the previous bear trend.
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Until a significant increase in volume is seen, the market will most likely continue this descending trend.
Trading and investing in digital assets like bitcoin and ether is highly speculative and comes with many risks. This analysis is for informational purposes and should not be considered investment advice. Statements and financial information on Bitcoin Magazine and BTCMedia related sites do not necessarily reflect the opinion of BTCMedia and should not be construed as an endorsement or recommendation to buy, sell or hold. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.
The post Ether Price Analysis: Bears Chasing Back a Bullish Price Rally appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.
Insurance Companies Begin Offering ‘Cyberattack Insurance’
As businesses become more reliant on computer technology, insurance companies have begun offering “cyberattack insurance” in an attempt to provide protection from hackers.
Operator of Illegal Bitcoin Exchange Coin.mx Sentenced to Prison
Anthony Murgio, 33, of Tampa, Florida, has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for running a Bitcoin exchange connected to hackers. The exchange was used to launder more than $10 million worth of funds, authorities reported.
Both Murgio and Yuri Lebedev, 39, of St. John’s, Florida, operated Coin.mx through a fraudulent company called “Collectables Club.” According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the illegal Bitcoin exchange used the firm’s misleading name to open financial accounts at banks pretending to be a “members-only association of individuals who discussed, bought, and sold collectible items and memorabilia.” Murgio and Lebedev, along with other co-conspirators, violated bank and credit card company rules and regulations by “deliberately misidentifying and miscoding Coin.mx customers’ credit and debit card transactions.”
“Lies conceived and deployed by Murgio permeated every aspect of Coin.mx’s operation, including its use of front companies, like Collectables Club and Currency Enthusiasts, to try to conceal the illicit nature of the operation,” the Department of Justice stated in its sentencing submission.
On January 9, Murgio pled guilty to three counts regarding operating Coin.mx, which processed over $10 million worth of illegal Bitcoin transactions. Murgio ran the Bitcoin exchange between October 2013 and July 2015 for Gery Shalon, 33, an Israeli citizen who was responsible for hacking at least nine companies, including JPMorgan Chase, E-Trade Financial Corporation and Dow Jones. Coin.mx sold bitcoins that came from illegal online transactions, such as victim payments to ransomware attackers who sought to launder the cryptocurrencies clean.
“I screwed up badly and made serious mistakes and misjudgments,” Murgio said, showing remorse, to U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan at his sentencing.
Shalon, along with Ziv Orenstein, 42, compromised data on approximately 76 million household customers and 7 million businesses by hacking the nine companies. U.S. officials described their operation as a “diversified criminal conglomerate” responsible for the largest theft of valuable information from a U.S. bank. The compromised data included the names of customers, along with email addresses and phone numbers. Authorities collected evidence stating that Murgio exchanged cash for the bitcoins of Shalon’s criminal gang. Israeli police arrested Shalon and Orenstein in July 2015, and they were extradited to the United States in June 2016. Both are facing serious charges, including aggravated identity theft, wire fraud and money laundering.
“Mr. Murgio led an effort based on ambition and greed,” and constructed on a “pyramid of lies,” Judge Nathan said during the sentencing hearing at the Manhattan federal court.
On March 17, a Manhattan jury found Lebedev and his co-conspirator Trevon Gross, 52, of New Jersey, guilty of charges connected to a bribery scheme in an attempt to hide the illegal activities of Coin.mx from financial institutes and regulators. Both of the defendants are facing a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Judge Nathan scheduled the sentencing hearing of Lebedev and Gross for July 20, 2017.
Murgio’s father, Michael Murgio, 66, was also involved in the Coin.mx case. In October, the father plead guilty to “making a false statement to the National Credit Union Administration on behalf of his son.” By making a plea deal, Michael Murgio managed to avoid additional charges in the case, including “conspiracy to make corrupt payments with intent to influence an officer of a financial institution and making corrupt payments.” Judge Nathan sentenced the elder Murgio to one year of probation along with a $12,000 fine.
The FBI arrested both Lebedev and Murgio on July 23, 2015, for “running an unlicensed bitcoin exchange with the goal of helping individuals launder money.”
Despite the prosecution’s request for 10 to 12 years and seven months behind bars, the Manhattan federal court sentenced Murgio to five and a half years in prison. According to Reuters, Judge Nathan considered Murgio’s “generosity to friends and support to his family” and imposed a prison sentence half as long as the prosecutor recommended.
Judge Nathan has scheduled a hearing on September 1 to decide on the amount of fines, forfeiture and restitution Murgio has to pay to the state. The operator of the illegal Bitcoin exchange remains free on bail.
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Homicide Suspect Films Himself on Facebook Live During Gun Battle with LAPD
A homicide suspect allegedly filmed himself on Facebook Live during a gun battle with Los Angeles police that left an officer wounded on Thursday.
Acts of Terror: A History of Left-Wing Political Violence in America
After a Bernie Sanders campaign volunteer attempted to assassinate Republican members of Congress in Virginia, many on the left began insisting that “both sides” need to moderate their violent political rhetoric. But history proves that leftists are guilty of most of the politically-motivated violence in the United States.
At Least One Dead, Numerous Wounded in Bronx Hospital Attack
At least one person was killed and numerous others were wounded when a man opened fire in New York City’s Bronx Lebanon Hospital.
EPA’s Scott Pruitt to Hold Climate Change Debate First Announced on Breitbart News Daily
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt is proceeding with a plan to conduct a debate among scientists within the agency to refine the government’s understanding of the climate change phenomenon.
How a Bitcoin Whitehat Hacker Helped the FBI Catch a Murderer
An ethical hacker breached the database of a phony darknet website offering hitman services and leaked the data. The information from the data dump helped the FBI in their investigation of a man who murdered his wife.
In November 2016, Stephen Carl Allwine, 47, of Cottage Grove, Minnesota, killed his wife in “one of the most bizarre cases ever seen,” police officers reported. The husband tried to mask the murder as a suicide, including putting a 9 mm pistol next to Amy Allwine’s elbow. However, detectives arriving on the scene identified the case as murder and collected evidence — mostly electronic devices, such as computers — belonging to Mr. Allwine. Later on, in January, investigators arrested and charged Mr. Allwine with second-degree murder based on the forensic evaluation of the confiscated electronic equipment.
In May 2016, a hacker called “bRpsd” breached the database of a controversial hitman service offered on a darknet website. The service, “Besa Mafia,” offered a link between customers and hitmen, who could register on the site anonymously. The price for a murder ranged between $5,000 and $200,000, but clients seeking to avoid fatalities could also hire a contractor to beat up a victim for $500 or set somebody’s car on fire for $1,000.
The hacker uploaded the data dump to a public internet website. The leaked files contained user accounts, email addresses, personal messages between the Besa Mafia admin and its customers, “hit” orders and a folder named “victims,” providing additional information on the targets.
The breach highlighted the fake nature of the website, which operated only to collect money from the customers. Chris Monteiro, an independent researcher who also hacked into the site, stated the owner or owners of Besa Mafia had made at least 50 bitcoins ($127,500 based on the current value of the cryptocurrency) from the scam operation.
According to a message posted by a Besa Mafia administrator and uncovered in the dump, “[T]his website is to scam criminals of their money. We report them for 2 reasons: to stop murder, this is moral and right; to avoid being charged with conspiracy to murder or association to murder, if we get caught.”
The leak of the Besa Mafia database helped the police investigating the murder of Mrs. Allwine. As the officers analyzed her husband’s devices, they discovered the suspect had accessed the dark web as early as 2014. Furthermore, investigators identified the pseudonym Mr. Allwine used on the darknet, “dogdaygod,” which was also linked to his email, “dogdaygod@hmamail.com,” in some cases. Detectives found bitcoin addresses in the conversations between Besa Mafia and Mr. Allwine, which linked the husband directly to the “dogdaygod” pseudonym, providing authorities with necessary evidence for the case.
Eventually, law enforcement agents analyzed the data dump bRpsd leaked and discovered Mr. Allwine’s email in the list. In addition, investigators found messages between the suspect and the Besa Mafia admin. According to a criminal complaint, Mr. Allwine paid between $10,000 to $15,000 to the supposed hitman service to kill his wife. The complaint detailed how Mr. Allwine had decided to have the hitman shoot Mrs. Allwine at close range and burn down the house afterward.
However, once the funds were transferred, the Besa Mafia communicator told Mr. Allwine that “local police [have] stopped the hitman [from] driving a stolen vehicle and taken [him] to jail prior to the hit,” thus rendering him unable to complete his “service.” The complaint cited Sergeant McAlister who reported that during that time, “no one was apprehended in Minnesota and western Wisconsin in a stolen vehicle and possession of a gun.”
It is likely that the ethical hacker’s data breach had an impact on Mr. Allwine’s case; on March 24, 2017, the Washington County District Court charged him with first-degree murder. In addition, officers have gathered more evidence in the case — a drug called scopolamine was discovered at 45 times higher than the recommended level in Mrs. Allwine’s body. Investigators subsequently discovered that her husband had also ordered the substance on the dark web.
The post How a Bitcoin Whitehat Hacker Helped the FBI Catch a Murderer appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.