How Discus Fish Became China’s Largest Bitcoin Mining Pool
Mining pools serve a crucial yet relatively mundane role in the
mining process by providing a focal point for hashing power and enabling
small-scale miners to collaborate with others. If bitcoin mining is a
competitive sport that pits miners against each other to discover new
blocks and generate more bitcoins, then mining pools are the teams on
which they play.
Still, despite this importance, mining pools have not been the most transparent sector of the crypto economy.
A brief look at a bitcoin mining network hash rate distribution shows three clear winners in the race to discover blocks. Joining the ranks of GHash.io, owned by exchange operator CEX.io, and a still-yet-unknown source of hashing power, China-based Discus Fish has emerged as a powerful force in the network that, to some, has been too opaque in its operation despite its size.
The pool, based in China, currently constitutes roughly 25% of the
bitcoin network, and on average is the largest source of hashing power
today.
This level of influence has raised concerns about a potential 51% attack, fears similar to those that ultimately forced GHash.io to take measures to reduce its hash rate.
While the pool has never amassed enough hashing power to approach that rate, Discus Fish – also known as F2Pool – could face calls to shrink in the future should it continue to grow.
Breaking the silence
CoinDesk recently spoke with Wang Chun, the pool’s co-owner and chief
administrator. He described Discus Fish as a venture between two
Chinese technology enthusiasts that has, over the course of its history,
addressed some of the frictions in the country’s mining community.
Wang told CoinDesk that he and his business partner, digital currency
entrepreneur Mao Shihang, were early adopters of the technology, but
that despite early growth, mining remained a key weak point. Prior to
the pool’s creation, he said, China didn’t have a locally dedicated
pool.
He said:
“We both have been active in the Chinese bitcoin community since 2011. BTC China, a bitcoin exchange, was established in July 2011. But China did not have a mining pool for a long time. The founder of fxbtc.com (now closed) tried to create one of the earliest China-based pool in 2012 but ended in financial failure.”
Discus Fish opened its doors on 5th May, 2013, and in addition to its
bitcoin mining power, also makes up roughly 30% of the litecoin
network. Today, it sports on average 7,500 active users out of a total
100,000 registered.
According to the pool’s estimates, Discus Fish services half of
China’s mining community with more than 100,000 stratum connections
worldwide.
Steady growth
Prior to its formation, Wang explained, he ran a private mining farm
between 2011 and 2013. This early involvement laid the foundation for
what would eventually become the pool, building the expertise to manage
and run a large-scale operation.
A meeting with Mao and a couple of other businessmen interested in
bitcoin soon resulted in the formation of Discus Fish. Wang said that
the pool discovered a block on its first day of operation, which helped
it gain attention and led to an increase in its user base.
From there, the company soon branched off into related projects,
including a China-based bitcoin news venture and a scrypt ASIC project
called Silver Fish,
which also runs a separate litecoin mining operation in addition to
Discus Fish. According to Wang, these side projects are independent of
Discus Fish, and the team is still focused on long-term growth.
He explained:
“F2Pool is operated independently from these new businesses. Mao is mainly working on marketing and public relationship for F2Pool, while I am focusing on the technical and financial matters.”
On the 51% issue
With a growth-oriented strategy, it seems possible that Discus Fish
could continue to grow in size and influence relative to the overall
size of the network.
Discus Fish dismissed the issue as one not worth focusing on at this
time. When asked whether Discus Fish would ever take action if its total
bitcoin hash rate approached or exceeded 50%, Wang said that the public
perception of the issue is not fully aligned with reality.
Citing data from Blockchain, he said that many large pools rarely
rise above 40% for long, and noted that those metrics are not always
accurate. He argued that it would be difficult for Discus Fish to reach
that level today, but added that if that were to happen, the company
would consider mitigation efforts such as raising fees to dissuade
miners.
Wang remarked:
“If we do [see a significantly higher hash rate], we may consider increasing our fee make some miners leave for other pools.”
Looking ahead
Though well-positioned currently, Discus Fish highlighted the
emergence of new pools both within China’s bitcoin and litecoin mining
communities and abroad as a potential long-term concern.
However, Wang stopped short of speculating on the future of Discus Fish, saying:
“Pools come and go. We all remember Deepbit, and others. It is hard to say anything one year from now.”
He added that “we must constantly improve our service” in order to
stay competitive in a global market of miners always on the lookout for
better – and more profitable – mining pools.
When asked about the future of Chinese bitcoin regulation as it
pertains to Discus Fish, Wang said that he hopes that pools will be
allowed to continue serving their function in the mining network.
Wang cited the fact that pools don’t touch government-backed
currencies as reason for the sector to be lightly regulated. But given
the fact that mining pools form are a kind of utility in the space, it
remains unclear how regulators will approach the business model moving
forward.
“Mining pools do not involve fiat money. I think it should not be a
bigger target of the regulators than an exchange,” he concluded.
Source : http://www.coindesk.com
Bitcoin Foundation Bangladesh Suspends Operations
The Bitcoin Foundation has issued a new statement suggesting that it
is currently investigating whether bitcoin and digital currency
transactions are now illegal in Bangladesh.
However, citing general uncertainty surrounding this week’s
statements from the Bangladesh Bank, the Bitcoin Foundation Bangladesh,
the organisation’s first Asia-based affiliate, will suspend operations.
In a post entitled “The Case for Bitcoin in Bangladesh“,
executive director Jon Matonis suggested that the comments from the
bank don’t read like other bitcoin bans. This perception has
proliferated since earlier this week, when Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported the South Asian nation’s central bank had stated that using bitcoin is a “punishable offense“.
Matonis took aim at the article which he called “misleading”.
Further, he updated the community on the work the Bitcoin Foundation has
been conducting since the initial report, clarifying that the original
statement is a “standard issue of caution”, similar to others that have
been issued by many countries globally.
Matonis wrote:
“The Bangladesh Central Bank is alerting consumers of the risks involved with using bitcoin and reminding them that bitcoin is not government issued or sanctioned.”
Matonis went on to affirm that bitcoin’s use is not prohibited by
domestic laws such as the Foreign Currency Control Act of 1947 and the
Money Laundering Control Act of 2012, though those who seek to use
bitcoin for illicit transactions are punishable under these regulations.
Uncertainty remains
Still, Matonis suggested that the organisation continues to seek clarity on the additional implications of the law.
“What has been left unclear is if there are any other official
statements or conditions under which transacting or even educating
others on bitcoin could be considered a punishable offense,” he added.
In the meantime, the Bitcoin Foundation Bangladesh has updated its
official website to include an English-language statement addressing the
country’s central bank.
“We respect our country’s specific laws regarding this issue and oblige thereby,” the statement reads.
A sensible approach
In his remarks, Matonis went on to confirm his organisation’s stance
that bitcoin is a financial technology that brings real risks to users,
though it holds long-term promise that could drastically impact global
finance.
Further, he argued Bangladesh would be wise to consider how bitcoin
may be able to address some of its own economic issues, stating:
“The sensible approach for Bangladesh is to understand and examine bitcoin and its promise for improving lives of its citizens, creating jobs and economic opportunity.”
In particular, he cited bitcoin’s potential ability to lower costs in
the remittance market. A popular financial tool in Bangladesh,
residents receive roughly $14.5bn through remittance services annually.
Source : http://www.coindesk.com
Downward Pressures Persist as Bitcoin’s Price Declines to Near $400
The price of bitcoin on the CoinDesk USD Bitcoin Price Index (BPI)
declined today from a near-open high of $455.24 to a low of $405.72 at
19:35 UTC, before eventually recovering to a press-time value of
$421.42.
Prices were similarly affected on the CoinDesk CNY Bitcoin Price Index, which hit a high of ¥2,824.17, before falling 7% to a daily low of ¥2,517.74.
The turbulent day is the latest blow to the price of bitcoin, which
has been in unsteady decline since July. Then, optimism was high New
York’s proposed bitcoin regulations
would usher in a new era of legitimacy for bitcoin businesses, however,
a reversal of this sentiment has since given way to concerns about
overall merchant bitcoin adoption and industrial mining, and their
effects on the market.
Larger arguments aside, Raffael Danielli, who runs quantitative analysis blog Matlab Trading, sees the day’s decline as the result of protective and pragmatic maneuvers by the market’s many more active traders.
Danielli told CoinDesk:
“I think today was more of a technical move. Many traders probably had $450 as their lower bound exit point, and so they got out.”
While straightforward, the explanation is just one of many that
proliferated throughout the bitcoin community during the day’s trading.
OTC and miner trading
The day’s price action provided additional fuel to the ongoing debate
over whether the more widespread merchant adoption of bitcoin has lead
to a weakening of demand in bitcoin’s markets.
Payza business consultant Charlie Shrem took to Reddit to rebuff this theory, asserting that since much of this selling happens outside major exchanges,
or over the counter (OTC) where exchange prices are used as a guide,
this trading has little impact on the listing price on major order
books.
Speaking to CoinDesk, Tim Swanson, author the new book The Anatomy of a Money-like Informational Commodity, offered an opposing view, asserting:
“That is what we are seeing now – it may not matter how many people are ‘buying off-chain’ or ‘off-market’ because no one wants to lose money.”
Swanson went on to suggest that OTC traders may be weakening buying
pressure, but that other factors should not be discounted. For instance,
he cited the need for bitcoin miners to sell bitcoins at high prices to
support their operations, and similar recent observations from cryptonomics writer Robert Sams.
“[Bitcoin] is only as valuable as another party is willing to pay for it,” he added as a reminder.
Merchant market affects
Danielli suggested that merchant adoption may indeed be having an effect on the market, an opinion that is now widely debated in the community.
These market observers point to the fact that though more merchants
are accepting bitcoin payments, they are not holding these funds in
bitcoin. Thus, they argue, the market is not attracting enough buyers to
absorb these bitcoins on the open market.
However, Danielli took this argument a step further, suggesting
that this influence is measurable when comparing bitcoin to the second
most popular cryptocurrency, litecoin.
For example, he pointed to the difference between performance in the
bitcoin and litecoin markets, noting that when bitcoin had fallen 7.5%
during the day’s trading, litecoin had declined only 5%.
Cautioning that his observations were only speculation, he added:
“Given that those two coins are mostly the same (professional miners, increasing difficulty, ability to short, available on many exchanges) except that bitcoin can be more easily spend relative to litecoin you could say that merchants might account for around 2.5 percentage points of today’s drop with miners and traders sharing the other 5 percentage point.”
Danielli added that he believes merchant adoption is positive for
bitcoin’s long-term price performance, but that given the current
general downward trend, it may be detrimental near term.
Further price weakening predicted
In the absence of any larger, positive news, Danielli and Swanson
cautioned against speculative answers to the price decline, but
suggested that all factors, as well as the perception of these factors,
were contributing to the overall down trend.
Danielli added that bearish sentiment could continue, especially as
the calendar advances toward the anniversaries of bitcoin’s 2013 highs.
“Year-over-year we are still up,” he said. “It will interesting to
see what happens around November when year-over-year might turn
negative.”
An informal poll on Reddit
suggested this sentiment persisted among traders, with a leading 28%
reporting they believe bitcoin’s price will decline to the $350–$400
range in the coming weeks.
Source : http://www.coindesk.com
Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme Perpetrator Fined $40 Million
A
Texas man charged with defrauding consumers through an illicit
investment vehicle has been ordered to pay more than $40m in fines by a
federal judge.
The Thursday ruling brought to close a case launched last July
that drew headlines at a time when many in the mainstream US media were
only first learning about bitcoin and its related technology.
Trendon Shavers, the founder and operator of Bitcoin Savings and Trust (BTCST) had reportedly accrued more than 700,000 BTC in customer funds, worth roughly $64m at the time of his arrest.
US Magistrate Judge Amos Mazzant wrote:
“The uncontested summary judgment evidence establishes that Shavers knowingly and intentionally operated BTCST as a sham and a Ponzi scheme, repeatedly making misrepresentations to BTCST investors and potential investors concerning the use of their bitcoins, how he would generate the promised returns, and the safety of the investments.”
Notably, many subsequent government warnings by US regulators, both
on the state and local levels, cautioned against bitcoin’s potential use
in Ponzi schemes.
Nonetheless, Shavers’ actions were widely denounced in the community, including the Bitcoin Foundation‘s general counsel Patrick Murck.
Legal findings
Judge Mazzant found that Shavers violated securities laws by selling
fraudulent bitcoin investments to consumers and using the funds of new
investors to reimburse older investors.
Shavers, who was not represented by a lawyer during the trial,
countered these allegations by arguing that BTCST was not subject to US
securities laws that prohibit Ponzi schemes, due to the fact that
bitcoin is not considered money under federal law.
Judge Mazzant ruled differently, ultimately determining that
investments made to BTCST met all the requrements of investment
secuities and therefore were subject to their related laws.
Shavers was eventually charged with violating anti-fraud and securities laws in a complaint filed in the US District Court Eastern District of Texas.
Calculating the damages
Perhaps most notable were the methods the US court used to calculate
the damages in the case, given that the price of bitcoin is prone to
fluctuations.
The fine was determined based on the average daily price of bitcoin
on 26th August, 2012 when the scheme was uncovered, and includes $38.6m
in profits BTCST earned fraudulently, associated interest of $1.8m as
well as a $150,000 civil fine awarded to Shavers.
At a press time price of $399.02, the 700,000 BTC Shavers earned from investors is worth roughly $279m.
Source : http://www.coindesk.com
Bitcoin Foundation Hires Regulatory Expert for EU Policy Push
The
Bitcoin Foundation has been ramping up its lobbying efforts in the US
since July, most notably with the hiring of Washington, DC-based firm
Thorsen French Advocacy. Now, the organisation is making a similar push
to promote the digital currency in Europe.
The foundation announced today that it has retained regulatory expert
Monica Monaco to directly promote the digital currency with political
leaders and policymakers in the European Union (EU).
This is the first time the an external expert has been directly hired
in this way in the EU, where the foundation normally relies on the
advocacy efforts of its members.
Brussels-based Monica Monaco, who is founder and managing director of
TRUST EU Affairs, was a senior manager for EU relations and regulatory
affairs in the legal department of VISA Europe for more than 10 years.
As well as a legal and economic background, Monaco brings to the role
a knowledge of payment systems, consumer credit, e-commerce and
financial education, which she will utilise to help the foundation
“protect and promote” bitcoin in Europe.
Trust EU Affairs is a regulatory affairs consultancy specialising in financial services legislation at the European Union level.
New direction
Bitcoin Foundation executive director Jon Matonis told CoinDesk that
Monaco would be a valuable addition to the foundation, saying:
“Through her experience with Visa and financial clearing networks, Monica brings a wealth of knowledge and important contacts to the Bitcoin Foundation.”
He added, Monaco’s role will also include strategic coordination with
local affiliate chapters. Additionally, the foundation plans on
launching an EU regulatory affairs committee, similar to the one headed
by Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman attorney Marco Santori in the US.
Through its collaboration with TRUST EU Affairs, the Bitcoin
Foundation aims to “continue to expand awareness and recognition of the
bitcoin community, the bitcoin protocol, and its benefits”.
The primary goal, the organisation says, is to discourage uninformed
negative treatment of bitcoin and to lay the groundwork for law and
policy changes that both maintain bitcoin’s independence and permit
its fuller integration into mainstream financial services systems.
Perfect timing
Jim Harper, Global Policy Counsel for the Bitcoin Foundation, argued
that the move comes at the right time for the organisation, saying:
“As we’ve been doing in the US, we’ll be introducing the foundation, educating policymakers about bitcoin and sharing bitcoin’s achievements and potential in terms of financial inclusion with leading policymakers and public officials.”
Matonis explained that retaining Monaco represents an extension of
the foundation’s general strategy, and “internationalizes
its educational and existing policy efforts”, adding:
“Bitcoin is global and so is the foundation.”
Today’s news raises the prospect of other regions being given their
own Bitcoin Foundation representative to push the case for bitcoin.
“The Eurozone and the UK are first,” Matonis said, “but other
significant regions for bitcoin will be looked at on a case-by-case
basis.”
Source : http://www.coindesk.com
You Know You Want to Go: You’re Invited to New Zealand’s First Bitcoin Conference, Bitcoin South, Nov 2014
It’s time
to add the most exciting Bitcoin networking event and conference
destination to your calendar – Bitcoin South in Queenstown, New Zealand.
For the weekend of 29-30 November 2014, go on an unforgettable
adventure, and enjoy the latest the global Bitcoin community has to
share.
Organised by Fran Strajnar, founder of bravenewcoin.com, the conference is taking shape as a ‘Journey Around the Blockchain’ to give a full 360 degree view of cryptocurrencies. This is designed to educate and drive Bitcoin adoption in New Zealand by bringing together a wide range of thought leaders, innovators and businesses leaders.
Anyone from corporate executives to entrepreneurs and developers are encouraged to attend so they can learn about how Blockchain Technology can be integrated in their company – because it will impact every business in the next 1-5 years. Bitcoin is a fundamental change in how we see, store and count value and track assets and is rivalling the 94-95 .com tech boom in terms of global interest and investment.
Educating the mainstream industries will go a long way towards making Bitcoin a regular feature of economic enterprise, and this conference is an opportunity for businesses to learn, be inspired, and go away feeling more confident about what Bitcoin has to offer. Whether you’re new to Bitcoin and curious about its potential, or already involved and looking to network, further your understanding or share your ideas – this conference is for you.
And with a full schedule of some of the biggest names in Bitcoin attending, plus a line-up of local New Zealand specialists, there will be something for every level of Bitcoin enthusiast. The 21 speakers include:
The event will be held at the Millennium Hotel in Queenstown, New Zealand. The adventure capital was chosen as a destination to polarize the innovative and adventurous spirit inherent in Bitcoin. Queenstown’s activities will act as a networking tool for those who wish to spend an extra day or two cutting deals or building relationships with other attendees.
Queenstown is an incredible luxury location for a Bitcoin Meetup – guests will be able to experience the amazing Lord of the Rings territory, dramatic lakeside scenery and majestic mountain views which make up the Southern Hemisphere’s premier four-lake and alpine resort area. Award winning airline, Air New Zealand will fly you there in style, maybe even on one of their famous Hobbit planes. International flights arrive in Auckland, and then connect to Queenstown. Make sure you have your camera handy as you fly over the picturesque and breathtaking Southern Alps!
Only 500 tickets are available for this conference – don’t regret missing out on this amazing opportunity. Put a New Zealand stamp in your passport and register now at bitcoinsouth.co. Early bird bookings are available until September 30.
Organised by Fran Strajnar, founder of bravenewcoin.com, the conference is taking shape as a ‘Journey Around the Blockchain’ to give a full 360 degree view of cryptocurrencies. This is designed to educate and drive Bitcoin adoption in New Zealand by bringing together a wide range of thought leaders, innovators and businesses leaders.
Anyone from corporate executives to entrepreneurs and developers are encouraged to attend so they can learn about how Blockchain Technology can be integrated in their company – because it will impact every business in the next 1-5 years. Bitcoin is a fundamental change in how we see, store and count value and track assets and is rivalling the 94-95 .com tech boom in terms of global interest and investment.
Educating the mainstream industries will go a long way towards making Bitcoin a regular feature of economic enterprise, and this conference is an opportunity for businesses to learn, be inspired, and go away feeling more confident about what Bitcoin has to offer. Whether you’re new to Bitcoin and curious about its potential, or already involved and looking to network, further your understanding or share your ideas – this conference is for you.
And with a full schedule of some of the biggest names in Bitcoin attending, plus a line-up of local New Zealand specialists, there will be something for every level of Bitcoin enthusiast. The 21 speakers include:
- Andreas Antonopoulos
- Jeffery Tucker
- Jeff Berwick
- +15 other international speakers: See our speakers profiles here: http://nzconference.co.nz/bitcoinsouth2014/#speakers
- Simon Jensen http://tinyurl.com/lnwwkj7
- Jonathon Ewing http://tinyurl.com/ocg9v8m
The event will be held at the Millennium Hotel in Queenstown, New Zealand. The adventure capital was chosen as a destination to polarize the innovative and adventurous spirit inherent in Bitcoin. Queenstown’s activities will act as a networking tool for those who wish to spend an extra day or two cutting deals or building relationships with other attendees.
Queenstown is an incredible luxury location for a Bitcoin Meetup – guests will be able to experience the amazing Lord of the Rings territory, dramatic lakeside scenery and majestic mountain views which make up the Southern Hemisphere’s premier four-lake and alpine resort area. Award winning airline, Air New Zealand will fly you there in style, maybe even on one of their famous Hobbit planes. International flights arrive in Auckland, and then connect to Queenstown. Make sure you have your camera handy as you fly over the picturesque and breathtaking Southern Alps!
Only 500 tickets are available for this conference – don’t regret missing out on this amazing opportunity. Put a New Zealand stamp in your passport and register now at bitcoinsouth.co. Early bird bookings are available until September 30.
Source : http://cryptobizmagazine.com
CoinTerra™ announces the world’s first 16nm ASIC based Bitcoin Miner – the AIRE Miner™
CoinTerra, the market leader in Bitcoin mining solutions today announced their next generation Bitcoin Miner – the AIREMiner™. At an expected performance per watt of 5x the current generation miners, the 16nm ASIC based AIRE Miner is now available for limited time pre-order with expected delivery in Q1 2015.After a successful launch of TerraMiner IV™ Bitcoin Miner in January 2014, CoinTerra is now accepting pre-orders for their next generation of Bitcoin Miner, the revolutionary AIRE Miner.
The AIRE Miner, currently scheduled to ship to customers in Q1 of 2015 is a high efficiency Bitcoin miner based on CoinTerra’s new 16nm SHIVA™ ASIC scheduled for tape out in late September 2014.
The AIRE Miner brings to market not only significant performance improvements in a small form factor but also provides unprecedented power efficiency.
The AIRE Miner is now available for pre-order at an introductory price of $2499 per unit + S/H for a limited time. Customers can read more about the AIRE Miner specifications and place their order through cointerra.com
“After months of hard work we are proud to announce the technical details of our upcoming Bitcoin mining system- the AIRE Miner, based on 16nm ASIC the SHIVA. With exceptional hashing performance and power efficiency we are ready to put the power of high performance Bitcoin mining back into the hands of Bitcoin enthusiasts the world over” said Timo Hanke, CTO, CoinTerra, Inc.
For the development of SHIVA, CoinTerra put together a brand new physical design team that spent over 9 months developing and optimizing the chip design in cooperation with Global Unichip Corp®, one of the leading companies in ASIC design.
“Working with CoinTerra on their state of the art 16nm ASIC design has given us a chance to push the boundaries of modern technology and we are proud to be part of this exciting project” said Louis Lin, VP Design Service, Global Unichip Corp.
The SHIVA ASIC is scheduled to commence tape out in late September and will be one of the first commercial products utilizing 16nm technology, enabling performance improvements and power efficiency previously impossible to achieve in a Bitcoin mining ASIC.
To read more about the AIRE Miner, and place an order visit http://cointerra.com/shop
Visit CoinTerra on the web: https://cointerra.com
Follow CoinTerra on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cointerra
Press inquiries please contact:
Daniel Larsson, Press Officer
+1 (512) 270-6050
[email protected]
General inquiries please contact:
+1 (512) 270-6050
[email protected]
About CoinTerra™
Founded in Austin, Texas in mid-2013, CoinTerra is currently one of the fastest-growing technology startups in the world. CoinTerra designs, produces, and operates systems that power the Bitcoin blockchain network.
CoinTerra’s state-of-the-art design methodologies and advanced architectures enable the delivery of enterprise level Bitcoin mining solutions with the highest performance and lowest total cost of ownership available on the market today.
CoinTerra boasts a highly experienced engineering team of semiconductor architects and designers who have previously designed some of the world’s highest performance CPUs, GPUs, SOCs and chipsets for Apple®, Intel®, Nvidia®, Qualcomm® and Samsung®.
© 2014 CoinTerra, Inc. All rights reserved. CoinTerra, the CoinTerra logo, TerraMiner, TruePeta, AIRE Miner and SHIVA are trademarks of CoinTerra, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Other trademarks belong to their respective owners. Features, pricing, availability and specifications are subject to change without notice.
About Global Unichip Corp™
GLOBAL UNICHIP CORP. (GUC), the Flexible ASIC LeaderTM, is based in Taiwan and provides a comprehensive suite of The Flexible ASIC ServicesTM that meet the unique business and technology requirements of today’s innovative technology company.
GUC provides an unmatched combination of advanced technology, low power and embedded CPU design capabilities and production knowhow through close partnership with TSMC and major packaging and testing companies that are ideal for advanced communications, computing and consumer electronics ASIC applications. The company has the proven ability to maximize the power/ performance sweet spot while delivering the fastest possible time-to-market. GUC’s uncompromising performance provides the absolute best power, speed, quality, yield, and on-time delivery. Our goal is to innovate and deliver world class Flexible ASIC Services that elevate IC visionaries to the next level of leadership in their markets.
Based in Hsin-chu, Taiwan GUC has developed a global reputation with a presence in China, Europe, Japan, Korea, and North America. GUC is publicly traded on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under the symbol 3443.
Source : http://minerdesk.com
‘Pirateat40′ sentenced to pay $40.7 million over Bitcoin Ponzi scheme
One of the most famous cases in the short history of Bitcoin has finally been decided in court. An American judge sentenced Trendon Shavers – best known as ‘pirateat40′ -, to pay a combined $40.7 million for running a Ponzi scheme.
Shavers was the owner of Bitcoin Savings and Trust, a company that sold investments using BTC and was investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2013. According to the SEC, the firm was a Ponzi scheme that raised more than 732,000 BTC between February 2011 and August 2012, while promising investors up to seven percent in weekly interest.
Magistrate Judge Amos Mazzant, a Texas-based federal judge, announced the penalty this Thursday (18th). Mazzant decided Trendon Shavers is far from innocent. According to the judge, the online suspect known as ‘pirateat40′ “knowingly and ntentionally” operated his company “as a sham and a Ponzi scheme” and misleaded investors regarding the use of their cryptocurrency, CNBC reports.
The SEC investigation shows Shavers used new Bitcoin to repay the first investors, while diverting some of the old cryptocurrency to personal accounts stored at the defunct exchange Mt. Gox and using some of the funds to pay for rent, food and other personal expenses.
For that reason, Mazzant considers that Shavers and his Bitcoin Savings and Trust are liable to give up $38.6 million of illegal profits, along with $1.8 million in interest. “The collective loss to BTCST investors who suffered net losses (there were also net winners) was 265,678 BTC, or more than $149 million at current exchange rates“, added the judge.
Shavers, who lives in the state of Texas, guaranteed the safety of their investments and promised the clients he would generate revenue, which he never did. However now is not clear if he is going to be able to pay the amount defined in court.
In the meantime, it was also announced that Shavers’ lawyer withdrew from the civil case.
Source : http://bitcoinexaminer.org
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