Today on Bitcoin This Week we comment on a $750,000 bail in cryptocurrencies, we discuss Nvidia’s position on GPU mining and much more.
EA Hacker Ordered To Post Bail In Bitcoin
A man accused of hacking into San Francisco based gaming company EA, stealing account information and in-game currency and selling access to the game on the darkweb, has been ordered to post bail in cryptocurrency.
Martin Marisich, a joint Serbian/Italian national, was arrested at San Francisco International Airport and brought before a federal judge who made the unusual bail demand, requesting the equivalent of $750,000 in crypto be lodged with the court. The defendant will, no doubt, be joining other investors in hoping for a surge in Bitcoin value to limit his losses.
Bitcoin Cash Rebels Propose “Satoshi’s Vision” Node
A proposed Bitcoin Cash fork is scheduled for November, with the Bitcoin ABC upgrade implementing software changes “to provide a solid, stable software and help lead Bitcoin Cash protocol development with an open and collaborative process.”
But in the world of Bitcoin, you can always be sure of one thing: Some people will not be happy. Indeed, a rival client backed by Craig Wright will offer Bitcoin Cash investors the choice of backing a separate full node client, dubbed Bitcoin SV – or Bitcoin Satoshi’s Vision – which promises to raise the Bitcoin block size to a massive 128 mb, dispensing with the need for secondary scaling techniques, such as the lightning network. Wright, who has claimed to be the real inventor of Bitcoin, is determined to restore the crypto to the original operating code, hence the new protocol’s name, Satoshi’s Vision.
Nvidia Turns Its Back On Mining GPUs
With Bitcoin SV an attempt to put miners at the forefront of Bitcoin development, there was news this week that indicates that interest in Bitcoin mining has decreased this year. Nvidia, which develops GPUs, saw booming sales last year as demand for its products soared during Bitcoin’s bull run.
With the price of Bitcoin declining this year, so has demand for Nvidia’s GPUs. Now the tech firm has scaled back its Bitcoin-related operations, deciding instead to focus on AI and other technologies. The news will come as a relief to gamers, who saw the prices of GPU’s skyrocket last year as demand far exceeded supply.
SIM Swap Victim Sues US Telecommunications Giant
A US telecommunications giant is being sued for $224 million by a customer who alleges the company’s negligence caused him to lose millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.
Michael Terpin filed his complaint with a Los Angeles court this week, after falling victim to a Sim Swap scam. It is alleged that a person posing as Mr. Terpin obtained information from an AT&T employee, that was then used to access his crypto wallet and relieve him of $24 million.
SIM Swap scammers use replacement SIM Cards, along with basic personal information such as a person’s date of birth, to access online accounts that use SMS services to verify identity.
Markets – Bitcoin Bounces Back
Bitcoin suffered most of its losses in the early part of last week. On Thursday, it opened at $6294 and broke through the $6500 mark on Friday. Saturday saw a further increase to a high of $6617, but the coin failed to push on, retreating to close on Sunday at $6506.
All told, Bitcoin showed resilience, falling back less than most Altcoins in the early part of the week and recovering to a secure point in the mid-six thousands.
