It was supposed to be impossible to discover a bitcoin’s private key without the owners’ consent, but the Large Bitcoin Collider “LBC” pool is proving that assumption incorrect. LBC found a 14th private key a few days ago according to their website, the first since April.
A look at the blockchain shows the address, 15K1YKJMiJ4fpesTVUcByoz334rHmknxmT, was quickly emptied to 1GaZi2TSYLns8A85yAQr1Js7Rqjrn5HGZ where the BTC still resides.
We received multiple scam reports of a likely 3000 BTC ponzi exit in South Africa yesterday. Jonathan Weltman, founder of arbX Digital (@arbXdigital), informed his investors he lost all funds via email a few days after the twittersphere erupted with complaints about no redemptions or communications.
From one informant.
arbX ran a crypto fund doing mostly arbitrage. Just a few days ago the founder sent out emails to all investors explaining how he has lost all funds Continue reading The arbX Digital Ponzi Scheme Exit
We received multiple reports of a bitcoin scam run by “Austin Cain” on Facebook going dark this week. It sounds like a classic ponzi scheme exit.
This is one of the “Invest Coins with Austin” addresses 1FXNLk9BVUt7fCHuu8GQtSCukR4CiyYA6D with total received balance of 39.84 BTC. The Facebook group is no longer accessible. It appears the ponzi is over and Austin is on the run. One of our informants has reported him to the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network (ACORN).
You can run but it’s hard to hide forever on the Bitcoin blockchain Austin.
These are some other of his scam addresses Continue reading The Austin Cain Facebook Scam
ORIGINAL: A mint 2011 series 1 Casascius physical bitcoin sold for USD $7,100 on eBay yesterday. The address, 17xS2adEin5TYQU4xnaBYaHoQDEzHvkg6L, containing 1 BTC, attracted 14 bidders and started at $.99 on May 26th. A bidding war for the “physical” bitcoin reached $2,500 after the first day and $4,050 to start the last day June 5.
First series Casascius coins are highly sought after by collectors. During the last bitcoin price spike in 2013 many changed hands on eBay for about ~USD$3,000.
5,140 of the 11,000 first series 1 BTC Casascius coins in circulation contain the same error, a missing “s” in the watermark, according to elianite. Continue reading 1BTC Casascius Bitcoin Sells For USD$7,100
List of Bitcoin Ransomware Addresses
| Ransomware Name | Bitcoin Address |
|---|---|
| CryptoLocker 4.0 | 15sJ3pT7J6zefRs95SEsfBZMz8jAw1zAbh |
| CryptoLocker | 1HrEqMHQVWhKuCg7a3rxo2tAFAiKquJ5iP |
| CryptoLocker | 1EJbVfn5hXQ9JcfRyn965UKpNX4qxRW7pY |
| CryptoLocker | 14bgivtRtTjzwiS4rRECoKGXkSZbf1Co39 |
| CryptoTorLocker2015 | 1KpP1YGGxPHKTLgET82JBngcsBuifp3noW |
| DMALocker | 1382JAg5xbQv7QNwq1svDeyw6ELtNCmujG |
| Bucbi | 1MfVk1utxgvGjMFV3K3CzXsDRDZznj5tey |
| CryptoHost | 18AVPLKGBamXtGpdT3kP2b5Dv3iBUDpjKv |
| 7ev3n | 1Lud76Q98VRHCUiyK7XUs7AgFofrqXeP78 |
| TeslaCrypt | 15Y2TmHrxjmRFxfNUttwb9aU4DifvDpWKM |
| TeslaCrypt | 1NRn15kJnVRrptTSQJJnMD9KJcWkVFh1Gv |
| ThunderCrypt | 14dqhE6XPoxkkttwwh7qTWmmSwXerWd2Ho |
| ThunderCrypt | 18yfx86BwNK5xYKw71uaHwAxPgCGRJaqgg |
| ThunderCrypt | 1HFY12o56xbHer3oeNxC99A7SGyXaR64hs |
| Trump Locker | 1N82pq3XovKoJYqUmTrRiXftpNHZyu4jyv |
| Buddy | 1AoNMLZfhw7cbMCKAhaKHiveMdwFyVUGeA |
| Chimera | 1JHxr5sbXDoZuDsx624TmZ2MWyDdD9ag8K |
| CTB Locker | 1Hf2vPmYNxzFYWiaURs75h8JoyCczLXCG2 |
| CTB Locker | 1E4jsfwFsKVaAVFNfrmGVgDY1HRU8qf7PV |
| Jigsaw | 15fbyNgDnqYQR5vSHJ8PTAEJbKy4dwNBCZ |
Bitcoin Ransomware Links
Today’s widely reported WannaCry ransomware attack is extensive, growing and has already yielded ~USD$12k in profits according to a quick analysis of the BTC addresses involved. On May 12 the 3 bitcoin addresses known to be receiving extortion payments show receipt of 6.49372428 BTC in 39 separate transactions with ransom varying between .15 to .30 BTC each. None of the balances have been moved to new bitcoin addresses since receipt.
The WannaCry Ransomware Bitcoin Addresses Continue reading WannaCry Ransomware Extorts 39 Payments Worth 6.49 BTC – DAY 1
What can I do if I’ve been scammed out of bitcoin?
We get inquiries like this daily. Fortunately, there are a few options. Continue reading What To Do If Scammed Out Of Bitcoin
Bitcoin’s richest address 3Nxwenay9Z8Lc9JBiywExpnEFiLp6Afp8v received 10,484 more BTC or about USD $8.2 million today.
The transaction originated from 73 multisig addresses. The final balance is now 135,439.82159613 BTC or USD $106.5 million (assuming a $786 exchange rate).
3Nxwenay9Z8Lc9JBiywExpnEFiLp6Afp8v is one of only 3 addresses with a balance of more than 100,000 BTC according to bitinfocharts.com. What happened to bitcoinrichlist?
Lost coins only make everyone else’s coins worth slightly more. Think of it as a donation to everyone.
– Satoshi Nakamoto
There will eventually be 21 million bitcoins mined however that will never be the true number in circulation. The distinction is important if you want to precisely measure bitcoin value and market capitalization which is setting new records. Not all bitcoin addresses can be spent. The genesis block can never be spent. Likewise any bitcoin sent to a “burn” address are also forever unspendable. A bitcoin burn address is like an impossible vanity address. There is no private key to a burn address and one would be impossible to generate. These are not merely ‘zombies‘ but truly gone forever. How many bitcoins have been “burned” exactly? Continue reading Lost Forever 26.04 BTC Burned In 2016
This is a great interactive resource to identify a bitcoin scam from 99Bitcoins