Industry Report: Liberty Loses, Gatecoin Hacked, Bitcoin Gets Bit

Further “liberty” is taken away; Gatecoin is hacked, and a digital coin that’s faster and stronger than Bitcoin? Check out the stories below to see what you’ve been missing in digital currency news:

Also read: Industry Report: Bitcoin Expansion, Ransomware, Dark Web Drudgery

GATECOIN

Cryptocurrency exchange Gatecoin may be the world’s latest cyber-attack victim. The company mysteriously went offline a few nights ago following the discovery of what appeared to be suspicious transactions, and now the exchange is investigating what might be a leak of its hot-wallet funds.

In a statement, Gatecoin tried to ease users’ fears by explaining the situation and assuring them that their funds will be replaced in the event of a loss:

“Dear users,

Last night Asia time, we suspected a potential leak on our hot wallets. Therefore, we decided to shut down the exchange and ports in order to minimise further potential losses, and we are conducting a full forensic investigation to identify the root of the issue. This is why Gatecoin’s user interface and API are currently offline. Please be sure that we will do our best effort to investigate, fix the issue ASAP and we will cover for the potential losses. We store 95% of users’ crypto-asset funds in multi-sig cold storage vaults, so your funds are safe. Please accept our deepest apologies for this disruption. We will keep you regularly updated on the progress made by our team.”

LIBERTY RESERVE (again)

Following last week’s sentencing of Arthur Budovsky, Liberty Reserve’s other half Vladimir Kats has been given ten years in prison after pleading guilty to accusations of money laundering and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Kats is also being made to forfeit over six million dollars in penalty fees.

Thus far, Liberty Reserve has processed over $8 billion in alleged transactions. It is believed, however, that the exchange was a front for helping criminals launder proceeds from credit card trafficking, Ponzi schemes and identity thefts. Following his arrest in 2013, Kats agreed to cooperate with government officials and aid in the apprehension of his partner, hoping it would earn him a more lenient sentence.

CREDITBIT ATTACKS BITCOIN

We’ve yet to see a digital currency that can outdo bitcoin, but the creators of Creditbit feel they’ve done just that. As the latest addition to the growing world of altcoins, Creditbit is a new cryptocurrency protocol first launched in 2015. According to the team, the coin’s “rapid adoption and development have positioned Creditbit as the ‘future of money.’”

Those behind the digital currency are also claiming that the coin has integrated appropriate changes into its system, to prevent it from encountering many of the current problems faced by Bitcoin and its relatives. The team is claiming that Creditbit can process transactions “ten times faster than Bitcoin,” which purportedly has a wait time of nearly ten minutes. Allegedly, Creditbit transactions can be confirmed in less than a minute.

Know of any stories that should be included in our next Industry Report? Post your thoughts below!

Images courtesy of cryptojunction.com, ticotimes.net, and pool.creditbit.org