Bitcoin

Podcast

Apple's Not Wrong to Avoid Crypto (for Now), Apple Small Business Support, with Jeff Gamet - ACM 560

Bryan Chaffin · · Add Comment

Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet discuss Bryan’s thought that Apple isn’t wrong to avoid cryptocurrency, at least not for now. But, there are lots of things coming in the crypto world that will change that. They also talk about Apple’s new Small Business Essentials service that helps companies manage their employees’ devices.

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More Bitcoin-Linked Visa Cards Than We Thought

Jeff Butts ·

On Apple Context Machine, Bryan Chaffin and I briefly discussed credit and debit cards that are linked to cryptocurrency. It turns out, there are actually 54 such cards already, just in the Visa catalog.

These projects have gained traction — crypto-linked Visa debit cards facilitated over $1 billion worth of transactions across Visa’s 70 million merchants worldwide in the first half of 2021 alone. $1 billion is only a small fraction of the trillion-dollar payments industry, however retail interest in cryptocurrencies is picking up, suggesting the market has room to grow, especially with younger generations.

Podcast

Mac Gaming, Crypto Credit Cards, iOS 15, with Jeff Butts - ACM 553

Bryan Chaffin · · 1 Comment

Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Butts talk about the current state of Mac gaming, with Jeff focusing on improved Mac support at Steam. They also dive deeper into crypto credit cards where you can either spend your crypto and/or earn cryptocurrency rewards like Bitcoin on your purchases. And, Jeff has been deep into iOS 15 betas, and he talks about some of his favorite new features.

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UK Cops Seize US$249m Worth of Bitcoin Following Money Laundering Probe

Charlotte Henry ·

England’s Metropolitan Police Service has seized almost £180m (US$249m) worth of bitcoin. The seizure came as the result of an investigation into international money laundering, The Guardian reported.

“While cash still remains king in the criminal word, as digital platforms develop we’re increasingly seeing organised criminals using cryptocurrency to launder their dirty money,” said the Metropolitan police’s deputy assistant commissioner, Graham McNulty. A 39-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of money laundering after the first haul was discovered and has been interviewed under caution over the £180m discovery. One bitcoin is worth about £23,500, having fallen from a peak in April of £47,126.48, meaning the sum confiscated may have been worth nearly double three months ago. The assets were seized by the force’s economic crime command and the investigation is continuing.

Podcast

Check Your Digital Couch Cushions — Mac Geek Gab 842

John F. Braun & Dave Hamilton · · Add Comment

How much money do you have in your digital couch cushions? John and Dave walk through a few places you can check ahead of the holiday buying frenzy! Of course, most of the show is dedicated to answering your tech questions, solving your problems, sharing quick tips and, yes, a few minutes is even carved out to review eero’s new Wi-Fi 6 systems! Press play and join your two favorite geeks in learning at least five new things!

TMO Deals

North Korea Targets Macs with Fake Cryptocurency Trading Site and App

Bryan Chaffin ·

North Korean hacking group “Lazarus Group” has been targeting Macs with a bit of fake website used to promote an open source app that served as a trojan horse. The fake site was called JMT Trading, and was designed to look like a trading platform. To use the trading platform, you had to download an app from Github, but even though the app was open source, it contained malware for Macs, with the whole scheme being part of North Korea’s efforts to steal Bitcoin. Check out Forbes‘s report:

The hackers may then go a step further by contacting administrators and users of cryptocurrency exchanges, asking them to test and review their new app, Wardle told Forbes. If they get lucky, they get a bit of leverage in an official cryptocurrency vendor and start infecting targets.

TMO Deals

Bitcoin Top Crypto on the Darkweb, but Privacy-Oriented Cryptos Are Gaining Steam

Bryan Chaffin ·

Bitcoin remains the cryptocurrency of choice on the dark web, according to a report from TheNextWeb. That might be mostly a matter of inertia, however, as privacy-oriented cryptos are gaining steam. Cryptos like Monero and Dash, as well as others, have features baked into their underlying blockchain that can make it much harder to trace transactions. From TheNextWeb‘s coverage:

Bitcoin is still very much the dark web‘s favorite cryptocurrency, but those looking to cover their tracks are slowly learning to use privacy-focused alternatives. […] Authorities say there has been a more “pronounced shift” towards more privacy-orientated cryptocurrencies, and expects this trend to continue as criminals become more security aware.