Electrum news
Bitcoin pizza all over again — delivery driver reportedly cashes in on $400 BTC tip
A driver who held $5 in Bitcoin (BTC) as a tip for his pizza delivery services has reportedly resurfaced after seven years. According to a post from Redditor btcbible, the Bitcoiner ordered a pizza on Dec. 28, 2013 and gave the delivery driver two options for his tip: a $5 bill, or 0.0069 BTC on a paper wallet. The value was roughly the same at the time, given the price of the crypto asset was $774. However, the driver reportedly contacted btcbible this week for help on getting the funds into a hot wallet. With Bitcoin’s recent rise to a …
Bitcoin Price / Feb. 21, 2021
88% of all BTC transfers are overpaying transaction fees
According to analysis by Mark “Murch” Erhardt of Chaincode Labs, 88% of all Bitcoin transaction inputs pay higher fees than are necessary. Erhardt bases his conclusion on data showing just 12% of transaction inputs use the SegWit format, which is less fee intensive than transacting with legacy inputs. Erhardt believes that a reliance on legacy transaction fees keeps Bitcoin blocks smaller than they could otherwise be, contributing to a seemingly growing backlog of unconfirmed transactions. A clogged up Bitcoin mempool containing 107 blocks worth of transactions at one point yesterday serves as a reminder that it is possible to save …
Blockchain / Feb. 11, 2021
Electrum Bitcoin wallet still plagued by known crypto phishing attack
Two Electrum software wallet users have recently reported the loss of large sums of Bitcoin (BTC). One victim described the disappearance of 1,400 BTC, totaling $14,595,000 at press time, while another claimed 36.5 BTC, worth $380,512, as stolen. The events appear connected to a long-standing phishing scam affecting Electrum users since 2018. “Users need to be careful when dealing with their own keys, particularly when they are holding the keys to a wallet with a large amount of cryptocurrency as it makes them attractive to hackers,” Jason Lau, the chief operating officer of crypto exchange OKCoin, told Cointelegraph in response …
Bitcoin / Sept. 6, 2020
Another Electrum user is claiming that their coins were stolen
Details of a previous Electrum wallet hack surfaced following the massive 1,400 Bitcoin (BTC) theft that hit headlines a few days ago. "I had a similar situation 2 months ago," a Github user named Cryptbtcaly posted on the social media platform on Aug. 31. The user claimed someone pilfered 36.5 BTC from one of their wallet addresses. The BTC reportedly ended up spread across five different addresses. "Some of the stolen Bitcoin went to Binance, but they ignore my appeals and do not return," cryptbtcaly added. Details of a larger hack surfaced on Aug. 30, when a different Githubber reported …
Bitcoin / Sept. 1, 2020
Hacker behind 1,400 BTC Electrum wallet theft transacted on Binance
On Aug. 30, a Github user made a post about losing 1,400 Bitcoin (BTC) via an elaborate hack that affected his Electrum wallet. On-chain analysis indicates that the hackers had a Binance account and that some of the transactions used to move the stolen coins may have originated in St. Petersburg, Russia. However, It is important to note that conclusions afforded by on-chain research are generally more probabilistic than deterministic. On-chain analysis of the hack. Source: Cointelegraph, Crystal Blockchain. Even so, there is no clarity on how the attack was perpetrated, as Electrum's software is considered to be secure if …
Bitcoin / Sept. 1, 2020
Electrum Bitcoin Wallet to Support Lightning Network in Next Release
The next release of major Bitcoin (BTC) wallet software Electrum will support off-chain scalability solution Lightning Network (LN). The Electrum official Twitter account announced the upcoming LN integration in a tweet sent on Oct. 14. The tweet announced: “The next release of Electrum will support Lightning payments. Our lightning node implementation has been merged into Electrum's master branch.” Electrum also confirmed that the wallet will employ a new implementation developed in-house, written in Python. High hopes for Lightning Network Lightning Network is believed by many Bitcoin proponents to be the solution to the network’s scalability limitations. Recently, the chief strategy …
Bitcoin / Oct. 14, 2019
Electrum Will Support Bitcoin Lightning Network, Wallet’s Creator Reveals
Bitcoin (BTC) wallet Electrum will soon host support for the Lightning Network (LN), Russian cryptocurrency news outlet Forklog reported on Telegram July 5. In a social media update, the publication said founder Thomas Voegtlin had revealed the upcoming release at the ongoing BIP001 conference in Odessa, Ukraine. Electrum, one of the oldest bitcoin wallets on the market since 2011, said LN functionality would come as part of an impending major upgrade. The most recent version of the wallet came earlier this week. Electrum will be one of the first major wallets to bring LN to the mainstream, the technology itself …
Bitcoin / July 5, 2019
‘Free Bitcoin’ Scam Propagated on YouTube Steals Crypto via Clipboard Hijacking
The Qulab information-stealing and clipboard hijacker trojan is being propagated on YouTube via fraudulent videos about an allegedly free bitcoin (BTC) generator, BleepingComputer reports on May 29. According to the report, security researcher Frost reached out to BleepingComputer about the trojan scam, saying that YouTube would take down the fraudulent videos when reported, but new accounts and videos would subsequently pop up with the same MO. The videos reportedly describe a tool that lets users earn free bitcoin, with a link in the video description. The links then direct to a download for the alleged tool, which is the Qulab …
Bitcoin / May 29, 2019
YouTube Reportedly Runs Malicious Ad for Bitcoin Wallet Electrum by Accident
Video-sharing platform YouTube purportedly ran a malicious advertisement for Bitcoin (BTC) wallet Electrum by mistake, according to a Reddit post published on March 26. Viewers interested in the advertisement were redirected to a malicious link using a common scamming method called typosquatting or URL hijacking. In the Reddit post, a user named mrsxeplatypus warned the public about the promotion of a malware version of Electrum, and described how the scam ad worked: “The malicious advertisement is disguised to look like a real Electrum advertisement [...] It even tells you to go to the correct link (electrum.org) in the video but …
Bitcoin / March 26, 2019
Phishing Attack on Electrum Wallet Nets Hacker Almost $1 Million in Hours: Report
A reportedly ongoing hack against cryptocurrency wallet Electrum has seen a malicious party steal almost 250 Bitcoin (BTC) (about $937,000), commentators reported on social media Dec. 27. Subsequently confirmed by Electrum itself, the attack consists of creating a fake version of the wallet that fools users into providing password information. “The hacker setup a whole bunch of malicious servers,” Reddit user u/normal_rc explained: “If someone's Electrum Wallet connected to one of those servers, and tried to send a BTC transaction, they would see an official-looking message telling them to update their Electrum Wallet, along with a scam URL.” Affected users …
Bitcoin / Dec. 27, 2018
On Wallets and Safety, Part 1: Desktop Wallets
Nothing has changed since the funds in our possession have travelled from physical wallets made of leather and textile or porcelain piggybanks to online wallets created from intangible matters. The keeping principle is still the same – the secret and even intimate carrier has to be reliable, safe and private. No holes, especially cryptographic, can be tolerated. Types of Bitcoin Wallets Let us make the first stop at the types of wallets presented to the Bitcoin users. One of the widely used classifications divides all of them in three main groups: Desktop wallets. Mobile wallets. Internet wallets. Each has to …
Bitcoin / March 20, 2014