The 3rd of January marks the 11th anniversary of the “genesis block,” the first-ever Bitcoin block mined by Satoshi Nakomoto in 2009. Bitcoin shows no signs of slowing down as it ages, with hashrate surging to new highs at the start of 2020. Over 2019, Bitcoin transferred a total of $673 billion in value.
Did you withdraw all your coins from crypto exchanges on Friday? If so, congratulations on participating in the annual Proof of Keys event, designed to keep exchanges honest. If you experienced an unexpected delay or failure with your withdrawal, it may indicate an exchange running a fractional reserve scam. See the ProofOfKeys.com site for more info and results.
Beware of the “Ledger Secure” extension for Google Chrome. It was reported that this malicious software, which is not associated with the Ledger company, is able to steal funds from Ledger wallets. According to reports, 600 Zcash, worth over $16,000, has already been stolen in this manner.
The US market regulator SEC has filed a court order seeking to compel Telegram to explain how funds generated from its ICO have been spent. The encrypted messaging platform is hesitant to hand over financial details including its bank records as Telegram denies that the tokens are securities.
Before we conclude, this week’s “Bitcoin quick question” is how many confirmations do I need for my Bitcoin transaction to be considered final? Receiving a payment is almost instant with Bitcoin. However, there is a waiting period before the network confirms that payment is final by including it into the Bitcoin ledger of transactions known as the blockchain. A confirmation means that everyone agrees that the bitcoins you received haven’t been sent to anyone else and are considered your property. Confirmation can take between a few seconds and 90 minutes, with 10 minutes being the average. It’s best to wait for at least 6 confirmations before considering payment as final. However, depending on the transaction amount, you may be satisfied with only 1 confirmation or even to not worry about waiting for a confirmation at all. If you want to learn about how confirmations work check out the link in the description.
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That’s what’s happened this week in Bitcoin. See you next week.