Trezor Issues Statement About Bitcoin Gold, Warns of Unfinished Code

Satoshi Labs, the makers of the hardware wallet Trezor, made a statement today about the upcoming Bitcoin Gold fork. According to Satoshi Labs’ blog, users with Bitcoins stored on their device will be credited with the appropriate amount of Bitcoin Gold. However, the Trezor software will not support Bitcoin Gold, and users will not be able to send or receive the new currency.
What about Bitcoin Gold?
Satoshi Labs pointed out, as Cointelegraph also has, that Bitcoin Gold is not actually Bitcoin. Rather:

In other words, Bitcoin Gold is an altcoin, using Bitcoin’s history similarly to the case of Bitcoin Cash.

Trezor’s wallet software will not support Bitcoin Gold, because:

Bitcoin Gold’s codebase is, at the moment of the writing, incomplete. Most importantly, it lacks replay protection. For this reason, TREZOR Wallet will not support Bitcoin Gold yet, as it would endanger your bitcoins.

Replay protection is vital with any forked currency. Satoshi Lab’s blog continues:

Replay protection prevents a transaction on the Bitcoin Gold chain from being re-transmitted on the Bitcoin chain and vice versa. As Bitcoin Gold is a fork of Bitcoin, the transaction format, the signatures, etc. are the same.
A transaction on one chain could be copied to the other chain and will be valid, possibly leading to unintended loss of coins.

But I need them now!
If for any reason you need to send Bitcoin Gold from any of your Trezor addresses, you may do so by importing your seed into a third-party wallet. However, there are extreme consequences, according to the announcement:

Without replay protection, if you send your Bitcoin Gold, you will also send your Bitcoins away, leading to a loss of coins.

If you import your seed into a malicious wallet, the attacker can access ALL your coins, incl. other altcoins, saved under your seed.

By importing your seed into any third-party wallet, you are compromising the security of your seed and thus your TREZOR.

Similar to Bittrex’ stance
Yesterday, Cointelegraph reported that Bittrex was taking a similar stand on the upcoming fork. The exchange will take a snapshot and preserve users’ Bitcoin Gold, but will not immediately support trading of the currency.
According to the full statement made by the exchange:
Bitcoin Gold does not currently have:

Fully formed consensus code

Implemented replay protection

Adequate code for testing and auditing

Publicly known code developers

Bitcoin Gold codebase also contains a private premine of 8,000 blocks (100,000 BTG). Please be aware that if a market does open there is a possibility of the developers selling their premined BTG on the open market.

Because of the issues pointed out by both Bittrex and Satoshi Labs, it’s likely that most other exchanges, web wallets, and the like will adopt similar policies with respect to their handling of Bitcoin Gold.
Everybody wants users to receive the forked coins that are rightfully theirs, but nobody wants to risk users’ losing the much more valuable Bitcoins that are attached to the same address.
It remains to be seen whether Bitcoin Gold will implement replay protection. Since the codebase is not yet complete, the currency is not expected to officially launch for some time.
The date everybody has been talking about, Oct. 25, is not actually the date the Bitcoin Gold network will come online. Rather, that’s the point where the two networks will diverge once the software is finally released.

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Bitcoin Goes Under the Hammer in Italy: Auctions and Crypto

An Italian auction house based in Rome has opened up to the world of cryptocurrencies, blending the old with the new, as it will allow its patons to settle their payments in Bitcoin.
While mass adoption has been slow for Bitcoin and other related digital currencies, there have been more and more precedent-busting niche adoptions, such as this world first.
A favourite of the art world
The world of luxury and fine art have long been firm friends of Bitcoin. There was Cointemprorary, a gallery that was the first of its kind to offer unique art pieces solely for Bitcoin.
Then, more recently, a fine art gallery in Mayfair, London, opened its doors on Bitcoin, allowing art to be bought with the digital currency.
Now, Sant'Agostino will allow patriots of its auction to settle up in Bitcoin, opening up a world of furniture, jewelry, watches, as well as paintings to those with a few extra Bitcoin to spare.
Sant'Agostino
The first sale that the auction house opens to Bitcoin bidders is expected to have 600 Italian and foreign design objects, mostly pieces of furniture.
There has not been much fanfare made of the Auction house’s decision to embrace this new form of monetary technology, they simply said in a statement: “Bitcoins will be accepted as payment" for the upcoming sale.
Use as a currency
While debate continues to rage as to what Bitcoin is - a store of value, or a functioning currency - it’s decisions like that of the Italian auction house that legitimizes the digital currency for its core use.
As its value rockets, however, there’s more interest for investors rather than consumers in the likes of Bitcoin, as it continues to break new boundaries in its value.
However, it is also this astronomical growth that would be fueling early adopter's wallets, and allowing them to enter into auctions for luxury goods.
Depending on where people stand on Bitcoin's use will continue to shape how it is utilized, and also determine if there is a demand for more adoption from retailers and the like.

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BitMEX Advises Users to Sell B2X as Quickly as Possible

Exchanges often don’t publicly comment on SegWit2x trading. BitMEX has done things slightly differently, to say the least. In fact, the company has no love lost for this upcoming hard The company refers to this fork as “ShitCoin2x” and even offers trading advice. More specifically, they caution users to dump these coins as soon as possible.
Rest assured there will be some more debates regarding SegWit2x moving forward. This upcoming Bitcoin hard fork has been a topic of controversy for some time now. Some people claim it will replace Bitcoin. Others think it is a free airdrop and will sell their coins as soon as possible. BitMEX, one of the top exchanges among speculators, offered their two cents on SegWit2x trading. More specifically, they feel people need to sell all coins as quickly as possible.
BitMEX Doesn’t Like B2X Whatsoever
This is a rather interesting stance, to say the very least. We do know BitMEX will not support most trading markets for this new altcoin. Futures and swap contracts on BTC/USD and BTC/JPY will not be accessible for SegWit2x purposes.In the same post, the company talks about how to handle this fork moving forward. Sending coins to exchanges supporting B2X is the best course of action.
However, BitMEX feels people shouldn’t hold on to B2X for too long. The post mentions “he who sells first, sells best”. An interesting stance, although one that makes a lot of sense as well. Similar to Bitcoin Cash, B2X will be heavily traded during the first 48 hours. It may even reach a very high value, for all we know. Sustaining such a value will be a different matter altogether, though.
Whether or not anyone will head BitMEX’s advice, remains to be seen. The company is incredibly outspoken regarding this “shitcoin” these days. It is doubtful B2X will dethrone Bitcoin any time soon. People hold out similar hopes for BCH, but that is quickly turning into delusion as well. Bitcoin is better than ever, especially with some of the toxic community members doing their own thing right now. The SegWit2x chain will see some more changes in this regard. BitMEX is clearly not in favor of B2X by any means.
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About JP Buntinx
JP is a freelance copywriter and SEO writer who is passionate about various topics. The majority of his work focuses on Bitcoin, blockchain, and financial technology. He is contributing to major news sites all over the world, including NewsBTC, The Merkle, Samsung Insights, and TransferGo.
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Bitcoin Gold Still Lacks Two-way Replay Protection Three Days Before the Fork

Hard forks will continue to dominate Bitcoin-related chatter for quite some time to come. First of all, we have Bitcoin Gold to contend with in the next week or so. More specifically, the developers are still hard at work to implement mandatory features.There is still no two-way replay protection as of right now. Despite a 300 BTG bounty, it seems developing such a solution is far more difficult than assumed.
Three days ago, a Bitcoin Gold issue was opened on GitHub. In this topic, we see a bounty for mandatory two-way replay protection. Without such a feature, people can effectively lose money when sending and receiving BTG. It is not something any wants to deal with, for obvious reasons. Solving this issue has proven to be quite challenging. There are just over 48 hours until the “fork”: happens, though.
Still no BTG Two-way Replay Protection
Most exchanges will not support BTG without this protection either. It is unclear why it wasn’t implemented from day one. Then again, very little is known about the development of this altcoin right now. There are a lot of issues that need to be addressed, by the look of things. Even a 300 BTG bounty isn’t helping much to speed this issue up whatsoever. There is only one developer working on two-way replay protection right now, which is unacceptable.
Moreover, there is the question regarding previous announcements as well. Previous statements indicate this protection has been under development for over two weeks. It seems that information is highly inaccurate as well, which doesn’t bode well for the project. Conflicting information has been pretty common when it comes to Bitcoin Gold. For now, there is no indication we will see two-way replay protection for BTG in time.
The choice to pay the bounty in BTG is also pretty interesting. One can’t pay in BTG before the currency is created. This means the protection needs to be written and implemented before it is paid out. A rather dubious way to go about things, to say the least. There will be a premine, as most people are well aware of. However, the coins cannot be premined until the network goes live. Being paid “in good faith” for developing a critical BTG feature doesn’t sound all that appealing.
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About JP Buntinx
JP is a freelance copywriter and SEO writer who is passionate about various topics. The majority of his work focuses on Bitcoin, blockchain, and financial technology. He is contributing to major news sites all over the world, including NewsBTC, The Merkle, Samsung Insights, and TransferGo.
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Tom Lee Predicts a Bitcoin Price of $25,000 in the Next Five Years

There is plenty of enthusiasm as far as the Bitcoin price is concerned. While not every prediction can be right, it is hard to be wrong these days. Especially people who value a higher Bitcoin price in the future have a good chance of being correct. FundStrat Global Advisor’s Tom Lee claims Bitcoin will hit $25,0000 in five years. A pretty conservative estimate compared to some other predictions we have seen this year.
Financial experts have been divided into the Bitcoin camps. There are those who see a bright future, and those who call it tulip mania. While the latter group is vastly bigger, they are proven wrong time and time again. Especially in 2017, we have seen massive Bitcoin price growth. The year isn’t over yet and reaching $7,500 is still very possible. That doesn’t mean it will happen overnight, but one can dream.
Future Bitcoin Price Growth is Almost Guaranteed
Tom Lee, co-founder of FundStrat Global Advisors, is in favor of a higher Bitcoin price. While he doesn’t make bold predictions for 2018, his long-term vision seems solid. A Bitcoin price of $25,000 in five years from doesn’t seem impossible to achieve.
It would still keep the BTC market cap under $500bn which is peanuts compared to the rest of the financial sector. This is all based on Metcalfe’s Law, which is pretty popular among financial experts. Whether or not it applies to BTC, remains to be seen. Even if the Bitcoin price were to hit $25,000, it would still be a conservative estimate.
Unlike other forms of money, Bitcoin knows no real boundaries. Nor does it need approval to be successful either. The world’s leading cryptocurrency has done its own thing for nine years. It has grown from a useless joke to a $100bn market cap in that time. The future is looking very bright for the Bitcoin price, to say the very least. No one knows where this wild ride will end in five years from now.
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About JP Buntinx
JP is a freelance copywriter and SEO writer who is passionate about various topics. The majority of his work focuses on Bitcoin, blockchain, and financial technology. He is contributing to major news sites all over the world, including NewsBTC, The Merkle, Samsung Insights, and TransferGo.
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MGT Capital Continues to Increase its Bitcoin Mining Capacity

Bitcoin mining operations are always fighting an uphill battle. The combination of a volatile Bitcoin price and high operating costs make most ventures unprofitable. In the case of MGT Capital, things are going a lot better than originally expected. In fact, the company wants to buy around 2,000 additional mining units from Bitmain. This goes to show their US mining facility will be expanded by quite a margin. An interesting decision, although one that isn’t surprising.
The news comes at a peculiar time in Bitcoin’s history. With a new all-time high behind us a day ago, mining cryptocurrency becomes a lot more prominent. MGT Capital has made a big impact in this regard already. The firm, supported by John McAfee, expects a big return on their original investment. So big even they will expand the number of miners in their facility sooner than expected. Right now, the company is operating in Washington due to cheap hydroelectric power.
A Smart Decision by MGT Capital
Additionally, MGT Capital recently secured another round of funding. This goes to show a lot of institutional investors see the merit of Bitcoin mining. By ordering another 2,000 miners from Bitmain, the company is growing by leaps and bounds. It is the second time the firm has expanded its operation in just a few months. This is also a testament as to how powerful Bitmain’s hardware really is. Finding the right balance between cost and return is very difficult, especially in the Bitcoin mining industry.
It is unclear how much money the company is making right now. Then again, with their new funding in place, the return must be pretty decent. Otherwise, investors wouldn’t support the company and allow it to grow further. Moreover, the Bitcoin price has appreciated in value quite a bit. With the value hovering around $6,000 there is plenty of reason to jump in right now. Not everyone can run a profitable mining business, though. MGT Capital is one of the market leaders right now.
Furthermore, it is worth mentioning the company doesn’t just focus on Bitcoin. They also mine ETH and ETC. For now, it seems they will not expand their mining capacity for these specific altcoins, though. The focus is mainly on Bitcoin otherwise they wouldn’t buy S9 machines. An interesting future lies ahead for MGT Capital, that much is evident. McAfee predicted a Bitcoin price of $500,000 in three years. If that holds true, the company will turn a massive profit by holding onto their BTC.
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About JP Buntinx
JP is a freelance copywriter and SEO writer who is passionate about various topics. The majority of his work focuses on Bitcoin, blockchain, and financial technology. He is contributing to major news sites all over the world, including NewsBTC, The Merkle, Samsung Insights, and TransferGo.
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SegWit2x Futures Markets are Valued at Around $900 Right now

It is evident a lot of people have high hopes for SegWit2x. This upcoming hard fork will give Bitcoin holders another free token to play around with. Right now, the futures market for this fork is appreciating in value. On CoinCodex, the SegWit2x futures trade for over $900. This is slightly higher compared to the Bitfinex rates, but it shows things may turn out quite spectacularly.
Even though SegWit2x hasn’t activated yet, price speculation is already in full effect. That is not entirely surprising, as airdropped coins are of great interest. All Bitcoin holders will be eligible for tokens, assuming they take the proper precautions. Several exchanges have opened up futures markets for this future altcoin as well. So far, the price is fluctuating wildly, as is to be expected.
SegWit2x Futures Markets are Heating Up
Manipulation of the futures market will have some interesting consequences. Right now, the market values SegWit2x at 0.14 BTC or $860. That is the current price on Bitfinex, at least. CoinCodex has a much higher price, which puts the token at over $900. None of this effectively reflects the real BT2 value, mind you. If this chain becomes the actual Bitcoin – which is highly unlikely – things will get even more confusing.
As is always the case, futures markets are mere speculation. Anything valued at $900 today may be worth half or less by the time the coins come to market. At the same time, the value of this token may appreciate in value as well. Bitcoin Cash futures painted a worrisome picture at first. Shortly after, BCH surged to around $1,200. Things eventually calmed down, though, but there’s no reason to think $900 is a correct valuation.
It will be exciting to see how this hard fork affects Bitcoin as well. With a new all-time high recorded earlier today, there are plenty of expectations. SegWit2x coins should – in theory – take away value from Bitcoin itself. Then again, that is not set in stone, as we have seen with the Bitcoin Cash launch. More competing forms of Bitcoin will yield some intriguing results in the long run. Bitcoin will always be Bitcoin, though, and the rest are merely altcoins trying to take the spotlight.
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About JP Buntinx
JP is a freelance copywriter and SEO writer who is passionate about various topics. The majority of his work focuses on Bitcoin, blockchain, and financial technology. He is contributing to major news sites all over the world, including NewsBTC, The Merkle, Samsung Insights, and TransferGo.
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