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"And lest you think we are dealing in long-term abstractions- this devastation has tangible, externalized cost; a recent study out of the University of New Mexico estimated that in 2018 every $1 of Bitcoin value was responsible for $0.49 in health and climate damages in the US, costs that are borne by those who will, for the most part, never see any return from cryptocurrency mining whatsoever."

"This tulip-mania de nos jours has been happening with cryptocurrencies for a while, but is about to become more frenzied as the notion that blockchain - the cryptographic technology that underpins bitcoin, Ethereum et al - can become the basis for something called Web3: a new, properly decentralised version of the world wide web (as compared with the current version in which control has become effectively centralised in a small number of giant corporations)."

"Some people assume that once quantum computing comes along modern encryption technologies will be outpowered. But experts are starting to posit that hash functions and asymmetric encryption could defend not only against modern computers, but also against quantum attackers from the future."

"The malware was delivered through multiple ad networks, and used a number of vulnerabilities, including a recently-patched flaw in Microsoft's former Flash competitor Silverlight, which was discontinued in 2013. When the infected adverts hit users, they redirect the page to servers hosting the malware, which includes the widely-used (amongst cybercriminals) Angler exploit kit. That kit then attempts to find any back door it can into the target's computer, where it will install cryptolocker-style software, which encrypts the user's hard drive and demands payment in bitcoin for the keys to unlock it."

"Dropbox is at the centre of a leak scandal, following the releasing of 400 usernames and passwords by an anonymous user on Pastebin. The hacker claims the initial dump is just a portion of the 6,937,081 Dropbox accounts he claims to have compromised on Tuesday. He then requested Bitcoins in payment before he would allow access to more accounts."

"Victims of a major ransomware cyberattack that has spread through the US and Europe can no longer unlock their computers even if they pay the ransom. The "Petya" ransomware has caused serious disruption at large firms including the advertising giant WPP, French construction materials company Saint-Gobain and Russian steel and oil firms Evraz and Rosneft. Infected computers display a message demanding a Bitcoin ransom worth $300. Those who pay are asked to send confirmation of payment to an email address. However, that email address has been shut down by the email provider. "

""Having a tamper-proof record-keeping system that can be shared across the vaccine supply chain is always important, but critically so here for the COVID vaccines," Harmon said. Hedera's chief executive believes that decentralized computer networks with hundreds or even thousands of participants can play an important role in other aspects of pandemic management - to combat vaccine counterfeiting, for example, and create unforgeable vaccination certificates."

"The January snow lay thick on the Moscow ground, as masked officers of the FSB - Russia's fearsome security agency - prepared to smash down the doors at one of 25 addresses they would raid that day. Their target was REvil, a shadowy conclave of hackers that claimed to have stolen more than $100m (£74m) a year through "ransomware" attacks, before suddenly disappearing. As group members were led away in cuffs, FSB officers gathered crypto-wallets containing untold volumes of digital currency such as bitcoin. Others used money-counting machines to tot up dozens of stacks of hundred dollar bills."

"But the blockchain looks set to change that. Right now, there are a number of startups that are working on tools to record ownership of a property (intellectual or physical) onto the blockchain, like Tieron, Monegraph, Colu, and Ascribe."

"A cryptocurrency is only as reliable as the technology that keeps it running, and Ethereum is learning this the hard way. An attacker has taken an estimated $60 million in Ethereum's digital money (Ether) by exploiting vulnerabilities in the Decentralized Autonomous Organization, an investment collective. The raider took advantage of a "recursive call" flaw in the DAO's code-based smart contracts, which administer the funds, to scoop up Ether many times in a single pass."

"Once the image was in my Ethereum wallet, I didn't particularly feel like I owned it any more than the other screenshots in my Images file. But I did feel a nihilistic rush - the thrill of abstract money moving around."

"He never got the chance to find out. A week later, he opened up his digital "wallet," where the artwork would supposedly be available, and was faced with an ominous banner reading, "This page has gone off grid. We've got a 404 error and explored deep and wide, but we can't find the page you're looking for."  The artwork, which he expected to be on the page, had disappeared entirely. "There was no history of my ever purchasing it, or ever owning it," he said. "Now there's nothing. My money's gone.""

"If the eCNY is successful, it will give the central bank new powers, including novel types of monetary policy to help the economy grow. In one possibility that economists have discussed, a central bank could program its digital currency to slowly lose value so that consumers are encouraged to spend it immediately."

"NFTs are created on Ethereum's blockchain, which is immutable, meaning it cannot be altered. No one can undo your ownership of an NFT or re-create that exact same one. They're also "permissionless," so anyone can create, buy, or sell an NFT without asking for permission. Finally, every NFT is unique, and can be viewed by anyone. "

"Simon Stålenhag, the Swedish illustrator whose Tales from the Loop has become an Amazon Prime original, is one. On Wednesday, he found that one of his artworks had been turned into a "MarbleCard", a type of NFT that allows users to make and trade tokens representing web pages. "I guess we must do a daily google if we've been NFT:d from now on," he said. "Thanks Silicon Valley!""

"But Chia's replacement for bitcoin's energy-intensive "proof of work" system, called "proof of space and time", instead requires users to devote massive amounts of hard drive space to generating and storing random numbers, with rewards doled out to those with the most space used up"

"Twitter suffered a major security breach on Wednesday that saw hackers take control of the accounts of major public figures and corporations, including Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Apple. The company confirmed the breach Wednesday evening, more than six hours after the hack began, and attributed it to a "coordinated social engineering attack" on its own employees that enabled the hackers to access "internal systems and tools"."

"The new malware, called Anubis, seems to use code forked from Loki. It steals crypto wallet credentials, credit card details and other valuable information from these Windows users. According to MSI, it first discovered the malware in June in the cybercriminal underground. It has the same name with another potent banking Trojan that has been targeting Android smartphones for months."