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A new site allows anyone to set bounties on the death of any individual and anonymously pay a hit man who fulfills the contract with digital currency bitcoin. Barack Obama, Ben Bernanke and the prime minister of Finland are already on the hit list.
Killing is in most cases wrong, yes. However, as this is an inevitable direction in the technological evolution, I would rather see it in the hands of me than somebody else. By providing it cheaply and accurately I hope that more immoral alternatives won't be profitable or trusted enough. This should primarily be a tool for retribution, says the text of the Assassination Market, written by a man using the pseudonym Kuwabatake Sanjuro.
Users who log in have to simply place a name and a photograph, and send at least 1 bitcoin (just over $700 at the time of writing) through a trail-obscuring mechanism called a mixing service, which tangles up different peoples payments in the already nearly anonymous online currency.
The entrepreneur who has claimed to be the inventor of Bitcoin has reneged on a promise to present new "proof" to support his case. Craig Wright had pledged to move some of the virtual currency from one of its early address blocks, an act many believe can only be done by the tech's creator. This would have addressed complaints that earlier evidence he had published online was misleading. Dr Wright said that he was "sorry". "I believed that I could put years of anonymity and hiding behind me," he blogged. "But, as the events of this week unfolded and I prepared to publish the proof of access to the earliest keys, I broke. I do not have the courage. I cannot. "When the rumours began, my qualifications and character were attacked. When those allegations were proven false, new allegations have already begun. I know now that I am not strong enough for this."
'Extraordinary proof'
Dr Wright had earlier indicated that he would transfer some bitcoins from "block 9" by using a private key thought to be known only to Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonym used by the person or team that designed the crypto-currency. Satoshi is known to have used the address in 2009 to send coins to a computer scientist. Dr Wright had promised the "extraordinary proof" in light of a growing backlash against one of his blogs. On Monday, the Australian had posted what seemed to be evidence that he had Satoshi's key by describing a process that led to the creation of a "digital signature". But soon after, this was attacked by security researchers who linked the signature to an earlier Satoshi Bitcoin transaction that could be found via a search engine. Dr Wright subsequently wrote that he was the victim of "false allegations" and would prove his case by both moving the coins and by sharing "independently verifiable documents".
Still convinced
Dr Wright's claims had initially been bolstered by the fact that two senior members of the Bitcoin Foundation - an organisation set up to protect and promote the virtual currency - had said they were convinced he was indeed behind the technology. Dr Wright had shown Gavin Andresen and Jon Matonis other evidence in private before the BBC, the Economist and GQ magazine reported his claims at the start of the week.
He apologised to the two men in his latest blog. "I know that this weakness will cause great damage to those that have supported me, and particularly to Jon Matonis and Gavin Andresen," he wrote. "I can only hope that their honour and credibility is not irreparably tainted by my actions. They were not deceived, but I know that the world will never believe that now. I can only say I'm sorry. And goodbye." Mr Matonis has tweeted that there "won't be another Satoshi". The BBC understands that this tweet signifies that Mr Matonis still believes Dr Wright is indeed Satoshi.
How Bitcoin works
?Assassination market?: Bernanke tops ?kill-list? in crowd-sourced bitcoin fundraiser for wannabe hitmen ? RT News
A new site allows anyone to set bounties on the death of any individual and anonymously pay a hit man who fulfills the contract with digital currency bitcoin. Barack Obama, Ben Bernanke and the prime minister of Finland are already on the hit list.
Killing is in most cases wrong, yes. However, as this is an inevitable direction in the technological evolution, I would rather see it in the hands of me than somebody else. By providing it cheaply and accurately I hope that more immoral alternatives won't be profitable or trusted enough. This should primarily be a tool for retribution, says the text of the Assassination Market, written by a man using the pseudonym Kuwabatake Sanjuro.
Users who log in have to simply place a name and a photograph, and send at least 1 bitcoin (just over $700 at the time of writing) through a trail-obscuring mechanism called a mixing service, which tangles up different peoples payments in the already nearly anonymous online currency.
Da natives be getting ressless.
The Internet-traded currency, unattached to any national bank's regulators and with a supply capped at 21 million, hit $4,251.02 on Monday afternoon, an 18 percent gain over Friday.
Strong demand from Japan, prompted by international tensions involving North Korea, China and the United States, increased Bitcoin's market capitalization by $15 billion in the past week, CNBC reported on Monday.
Driven by demand from Japan, the value of a bitcoin hit a record $4,251.01
Japanese yen has accounted for 42 percent of bitcoin purchases, CNBC said, adding that Japan retailers began accepting bitcoin as legal tender earlier this year. Bitcoin value is up 320 percent since the start of the year.
Another factor in bitcoin's rapid appreciation was the introduction last week of SegWit2x, an upgraded trading protocol. After controversy within the bitcoin community of traders, transaction size capable on the blockchain, the technology used for bitcoin trading, was increased, Bloomberg News reported Monday.
Bitcoin value crosses $4,000 threshold
