Bitcoin v0.8.6 was released yesterday, offering updates to existing restrictions on the size of free transactions and full blocks, as well as a series of fixes for bugs in certain node transmissions and OSX usage. The update follows the 0.8.5 release in September and precedes the much-anticipated 0.9 release. Free Transaction Limit Changes In an effort to make free transactions more commonly accessible, Bitcoin 0.8.6 lowers the maximum size of free transactions from 10,000 bytes to 1,000 bytes and eliminates the minimum 0.01 XBT output requirement. By lowering the maximum size of a free transaction to 1,000 bytes, there is …
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An upgrade to Bitcoin-qt was released today and consists of several security and bug fixes bundled for release as version 0.8.4. It is recommended that all users upgrade immediately, since the release of these fixes makes finding the vulnerabilities in older code trivial. Included in this release are three security updates as well as several small bug fixes that were causing the application to crash or databases to become corrupted. Denial of Service Fix Bitcoin-qt 0.8.0 introduced Bloom Filters which allow for more flexibility with respect to how much of the block chain must be downloaded. Bloom Filters are a …
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Sep 4, 2013
Posted
Featured, News, Security
Tagged Bitcoin, Bitcoin Qt, block, chain, protocol, transaction
By now, bitcoin enthusiasts and professionals alike are aware of the tremendous growth of the bitcoin network so far this year. As millions of dollars (and bitcoin) are invested in increasingly powerful mining equipment, the cumulative hash rate of the network has continually blown by the periodic difficulty adjustments. Earlier this year we explained the long-term implications of this, but the near term effects are being felt as well. Since that piece was published, the network has continued to grow, as has the growth rate, creating profound near-term effects. In particular, the average time between blocks has fallen to approximately …
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Aug 13, 2013
Posted
Bitcoin 201, Economics, Featured, Mining, News, Security
Tagged attack, block, chain, transaction
SatoshiDice is an internet gambling company which relies on the bitcoin block chain (the public ledger of all bitcoin transactions) to facilitate betting and payout. The company gained popularity quickly after its launch in April 2012 and saw approximately 4M BTC flow through its system before being acquired for 126,315 BTC by an unknown buyer on July 17, 2013. This report offers an overview of the events leading up to the acquisition and an analysis of the final valuation, including: Company Background (Page 1) Historical Performance (Page 2) Competitive Landscape (Page 3) Regulatory Risks (Page 3) Valuation Analysis (Page 4) …
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It is no secret that bitcoin usability has room for improvement. Fortunately, a new feature planned for the bitcoin v0.9 release will significantly increase merchant and customer usability in four key areas: ease of payment, recurring payments, dispute resolution, and immediate-feedback transactions. The key improvement is a new type of payment messages where a merchant can send a signed request (PaymentRequest) specifying the amount to be paid and a description of the transaction. The customer can then send payment to the merchant and receive an acknowledgement (PaymentACK) of the transaction with a message from the merchant. Before discussing the advantages …
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The latest improvement to bitcoinj will enable users to make off-block chain micro transactions and has the potential to dramatically reduce the size of blocks going forward. There has been considerable concern about the minimum size of transactions that should be included in blocks. While many voice the opinion that no one should be allowed to police what transactions can be included, it is equally as clear that it is not reasonable for everyone in the world to host every bitcoin transaction on their hard drive. Gavin was particularly excited about the implementation: The block chain recently passed 8GB, a …
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Jun 27, 2013
Posted
News
Tagged bitcoinj, block, chain, microtransaction, off block chain, TCP, transaction, wallet
Considering a bitcoin mining hardware purchase? Make a more informed decision with our Bitcoin Mining Dashboard. TerraHash is a bitcoin mining company that sells boards and kits for Avalon ASIC chips. They launched their website in April after Avalon announced they would be selling 282 MH/s ASIC chips in lots of 10,000 . Bitcoin ASIC chips are the customized components in bitcoin mining that perform the mining calculations. TerraHash offer a wide range of products, with various customization options. There offer two types of products, individual boards that run at 4.5 GH/s or 18 GH/s, as well as complete kits that …
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At a conference held last week in DC, the European Central Bank presented their opinion of virtual currencies including discussions about bitcoin. On slide 6 of their presentation they made a striking argument: bitcoin does not fulfill any of the three functions of money: Medium of Exchange, Unit of Account, or Store of Value. Most likely, their counterpoints to these three functions relate to the large volatility that bitcoin’s exchange rate has experienced since it’s inception. While it is difficult to refute their exact points since the soundtrack is not included, it does raise an interesting question of how the …
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Jun 18, 2013
Posted
Bitcoin 201, Economics, Featured, Regulatory
Tagged Bitcoin, chain, fiat, gold, price, transaction, USD
Considering a bitcoin mining hardware purchase? Make a more informed decision with our Bitcoin Mining Dashboard. Starting late in the day on June 8th, and then again on June 10th, Feathercoin succumbed to 51% attacks. While this does not directly affect bitcoin, there are several lessons that the bitcoin community can learn from this experience. There is a case to be made that alt-coins have a diversification advantage, as silver does to gold, but they also provide an interesting testing ground for both new technologies and human behavior. Feathercoin is part of a group of crypto-currencies commonly called alt-coins. These currencies …
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Jun 11, 2013
Posted
Featured, Mining, News
Tagged 51% attack, attack, Bitcoin, block, chain, feathercoin
“I assign a 0% probability that we will continue with the present proof of work function. The present proof of work function is not going to survive the year. Period. If there’s one hard prediction I’m going to make it’s going to be that.” – Dan Kaminsky Dan Kaminsky’s statement at the bitcoin conference in San Jose proved extremely controversial. While many may find it unlikely that the mining algorithm changin is a certainty, it does raise the question of what would happen to bitcoin if there were a hard forking event in the future. On March 11th, 2013 there …
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Jun 6, 2013
Posted
Bitcoin 201, Featured, Security
Tagged block, BTC, chain, Dan Kaminsky, software, transaction