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The regulator will now offer updated proposals in the autumn for further stakeholder comment.

From: PSR sets out next steps for variable recurring payments in the UK.

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I have thought for some time that the crime is undereported. There are credible reports of thefts and attempted thefts of cryptocurrency via physical attacks that are not reported (because the victims do not want to share their details and, presumably, attract further attacks). In-person digital larceny may well be on the rise as thieves realize the attraction of crypto as a transportable theft target.

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That announcement and the criminal complaint laying out charges against St. Felix focused largely on a single theft of cryptocurrency from an elderly North Carolina couple, whose home St. Felix and one of his accomplices broke into before physically assaulting the two victims—both in their seventies—and forcing them to transfer more than $150,000 in Bitcoin and Ether to the thieves’ crypto wallets.

From: Inside a Violent Gang’s Ruthless Crypto-Stealing Home Invasion Spree | WIRED.

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Now a team of security researchers is about to reveal how one of HID’s crucial protections against that cloning technique—secret cryptographic keys stored inside its encoders—has been defeated, significantly lowering the barrier to copying credentials that let intruders impersonate staff and unlock secure areas worldwide.

From: How Hackers Extracted the ‘Keys to the Kingdom’ to Clone HID Keycards | WIRED.

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More than half of agencies responding to the survey use KBA — where users answer personal questions like, “What was the name of your best friend in high school?” to prove their identity — making it the most common verification method. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recommends against using KBA because fraudsters have gotten too adept at answering KBA questions.

From: States Need Stronger Identity Verification as Online Services Grow.

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But with a digital wallet, companies can give the data back to the individual. Where the customer becomes the courier of the data. Moving their personal information more seamlessly, more securely and more privately than the business can on its own.

From: eIDAS2 is a €Bn opportunity staring us in the face – but most people can’t see it.

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More than half of agencies responding to the survey use KBA — where users answer personal questions like, “What was the name of your best friend in high school?” to prove their identity — making it the most common verification method. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recommends against using KBA because fraudsters have gotten too adept at answering KBA questions.

From: States Need Stronger Identity Verification as Online Services Grow.

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Building on prior concepts of electronic money (eCash), we introduce a digital currency where a physical unclonable function (PUF) engenders devices with the twin properties of being verifiably enrolled as a member of a legitimate set of eCash devices and of possessing a hardware-based root-of-trust. A hardware-obfuscated secure enclave (HOSE) is proposed as a means of enabling a PUF-based propagation-of-provenance (POP) mechanism, which allows eCash tokens (eCt) to be securely signed and validated by recipients without incurring any third party dependencies at transfer time. The POP scheme establishes a chain of custody starting with token creation, extending through multiple bilateral in-field transactions, and culminating in redemption at the token-issuing authority. A lightweight mutual-zero-trust (MZT) authentication protocol establishes a secure channel between any two fielded devices. The POP and MZT protocols, in combination with the HOSE, enables transitivity and anonymity of eCt transfers between online and offline devices.

From: PUF-Based Digital Money with Propagation-of-Provenance and Offline Transfers Between Two Parties | ACM Journal on Emerging Technologies in Computing Systems.

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The US government does not stockpile oil because it thinks that the price of oil might go up in the future and then it can sell the oil for a profit. The US government stockpiles oil because it is essential to the economy and without oil the economy will grind to a halt. In contrast, not only is bitcoin not essential to the economy it has, so far as the numbers tell us, no utility whatsoever. If the US runs out of bitcoin, so what?

Bitcoin isn’t used for anything. To a first approximation bitcoin is used only for speculation (and I suppose some ransomware too). If bitcoin goes away, it does not matter. Planes will still fly, lathes with still turn, corn will get harvested.

 

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In this episode, George Selgin, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, discusses the recent proposals by Donald Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Senator Cynthia Lummis for the U.S. government to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve. George provides his insights into the differences between these proposals, their potential implications, and why he believes the government should not be investing in bitcoin or other assets.

From: Is It a Good Idea for the US Government to Stockpile Bitcoin? – Unchained.

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‘Something great with crypto:’ Trump affirms bitcoin reserve

From: ‘Something great with crypto:’ Trump affirms bitcoin reserve | American Banker.

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One of the proposals Trump floated is a bitcoin reserve where the US would stash and HODL billions of dollars’ worth of tokens, a scheme that experts consider of dubious value to taxpayers—but might jack up the value of the currency to the enrichment of the Nashville crowd. Again, manipulation by a government superpower is anathema to the values of the blockchain revolution.

From: Trump’s Crypto Embrace Could Be a Disaster for Bitcoin | WIRED.

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One million Bitcoins would cost $100 billion at current prices – and naturally, if the US government was known to be a price-insensitive buyer, the US could end up acquiring the coins at $1,000,000 per coin – spending $1T on the reserve.

From: I don’t support a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, and neither should you – Bitcoin Magazine – Bitcoin News, Articles and Expert Insights.

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July 29 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Energy said on Monday it had finalized a contract to purchase 4.65 million barrels of crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, for delivery to the Bayou Choctaw site in Louisiana during the last three months of the year.

From: US buys 4.65 million barrels for emergency oil stockpile | Reuters.

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