Bitcoin exchange NiceHash robbed of $64 million from its wallet

As the value of Bitcoin soars, it also turns holders of large volumes of the currency into prime targets for thieves. That’s what appears to have done in NiceHash , a Slovenia-based Bitcoin exchange that claims its cryptocurrency wallet has been cleared out of $64 million worth of BTC.

For those keeping score, that’s about 4,700 BTC , each worth about $13,617 at the time of the breach. That isn’t from NiceHash itself, but rather from a wallet address circulated by NiceHash users.

The company says it’s still investigating the nature of the incident, and doesn’t yet know the full scope of the attack it suffered at the hands of hackers. As such, it’s temporarily suspended operations on its site, and is encouraging users on its platform to change their passwords immediately.

The security breach took place around the time Bitcoin’s value began to surge greatly: CoinDesk reports that between 18:00 and 24:00 UTC on December 7, the currency rose 10 percent, or about $2,000, to cross $14,000 for the first time.

This marks the second major cryptocurrency theft in recent times: last month, crypto startup Tether claimed it was robbed of $31 million in dollar-pegged tokens.

We’ve contacted NiceHash to learn more and will update this post if there’s a response.

Kodak has quietly canceled its stupid (and very expensive) Bitcoin miner

The Kodak-branded Bitcoin miner, KashMiner, is officially dead – which is great because it never made sense in the first place.

It was supposed to be a machine that you could “hire” – after paying an up-front fee of close to $3,500. It would then “quietly” sit there mining Bitcoin. The whole scheme was apparently so well-crafted that each KashMiner would net you $375 every month in passive income over two years. Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out this way.

It appears as though the KashMiner is really just a licensing deal gone wrong – but one that seemed shady from the very beginning.

US company Spotlite, whose extensive history with Kodak amounts to branding some LED lights , were in charge of the KashMiner. CEO Halston Mikail is reported to have claimed that 80 machines had been installed at the Kodak headquarters, as they had cheap electricity.

That claim was later denied by an official spokesperson.

So, despite the flashy attendance to CES 2018, and widespread media coverage, the machines never amounted to anything. Kodak’s ambivalence to its existence is rather peculiar though, considering they decided to reveal their own cryptocurrency at the very same show.

The KashMiner and KodakCoin were inevitably conflated in the media. It’s really worth noting that the KashMiner was not to be integrated with KodakCoin – it mined Bitcoin. Whatever connection the two had was never clarified, even while its stock prices rose almost 120 percent as news spread.

KodakCoin is to be the native cryptocurrency of KodakOne – a digital platform designed to help photographers monetize their work . While these sorts of platforms are nothing new to blockchains, Kodak’s system apparently uses “associated KodakOne software” to track down images that have been used without permission. Photographers would be paid in KodakCoin through the platform.

But it too, is a licensing deal. London’s Wenn Digital has licensed the Eastman Kodak brand, and has pushed forward with its plans to launch KodakCoin – but with it’s connections to the KodakOne platform, at least there’s proof that Kodak know about this one.

Last we really heard of it was in May, when it was stuck in regulatory limbo awaiting decisions from the SEC: desperate to launch their ICO but forced to keep raising money through pre-sales.

IBM and Columbia University are tag-teaming the blockchain

IBM are showing no signs of slowing its rampage across the blockchain sector: now teaming up with prestigious Columbia University to solidify its role in the industry.

Inventively named the Columbia-IBM Center for Blockchain and Data Transparency , the partnership is looking to leverage Columbia’s academic and scientific networks to further develop blockchain technology.

“With Columbia, we are able to bring together leading thinkers on applying blockchain and data best practices based on extensive research and business experience and together prepare a new generation of technologists and business leaders,” commented Arvind Krishna, director of IBM Research and senior vice president of Hybrid Cloud .

Perhaps most exciting for developers is the reveal of a new incubator. They call it an ‘innovation accelerator,’ and it will be open to students, faculty of Columbia, and the greater decentralized startup community.

It can’t be understated: IBM really are on a roll . It was only weeks ago that the company conducted a series of blockchain-powered bank transfers in collaboration with giants like Deutsche Bank, HSBC, and Rabobank.

IBM also started offering free certificate courses , showing it’s not just into developing blockchains but the people that program them, too.

The 12-week online program is set to commence at the end of this month, with courses being taught by IBM India researcher Praveen Jayachandran. Certificates awarded will be co-signed by IBM.

IBM are also backing a stablecoin – Stronghold USD, which marketed as a direct competitor to the controversial Tether (USDT). Unlike Tether, CNBC reports that Stronghold actually has reserves of real American dollars – each one insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Still though, taking into account the bad rep stablecoins get, it is yet to be seen whether the company can live up to its promises.

Columbia’s official expansion into blockchains is really symptomatic of a larger trend sweeping ivy-league schools. Duke, MIT, Cornell, Stanford, and Berkeley are just some of the other universities now offering courses in blockchains and cryptocurrencies.