In The News:

• Bitcoin Gold was hit by 51 percent and double spend attack with $18.2 millions stolen (ETH News)
• Percentage of Bitcoin transactions using Segwit approaching 40% (Bitcoinist).
• Russian institutions test central bank’s ICO platform (ETH News)
• High court of Zimbabwe lifts cryptocurrency ban (bitcoinist).
• Bitcoin as a store of value could reach $40,000 within 10 years (Bitcoinist)

Give us a shout on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram @DailyCryptoHQ

On May 18th, the Bitcoin Gold network suffered what could be a multi-million-dollar loss from a 51 percent attack. During the attack, the perpetrator was able to steal almost 400k BTG, presently worth approximately 18.2 million dollars. To complete a 51 percent attack, the attacker(s) must first gain control of at least 51 percent of the network’s hash power in order to “control, exclude and modify the ordering of transactions.”  Once the person, or group of people, then obtains control over the network, they are not able to make transactions with other miners’ coins because that would require them to have access to private keys. However, they can make transactions with their own coins, or exclude certain transactions from a block (ETH News).

Russia’s National Settlement Depository (NSD) and Sberbank CIB will test a new regulatory platform created by the Bank of Russia, the country’s central bank. Both banks’ core lines of business include asset management and investment banking. The proposed platform will examine the supply and distribution of initial coin offerings (ICOs), to make them more secure and transparent for the bank’s clients and investors. The NSD, which acts as the central securities depository for the entire Russian Federation, will record tokens, carry out their issuance, and provide clearing and settlement for the ICO, as well as keep and register digital assets (ETH News).

The High Court of Zimbabwe has lifted a ban on cryptocurrencies in the Southern African country. This follows a lawsuit that was filed by a local cryptocurrency exchange which argued that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe did not have any authority to declare cryptocurrencies illegal. A shortage of foreign currency and reduced confidence in the formal banking system have made cryptocurrencies a reliable way to meet international financial obligations and an alternative store of value in the country (bitcoinist).

The overall percentage of Bitcoin transactions using Segregated Witness (SegWit) technology has climbed to all-time highs this week, approaching 40%. Data from monitoring resource transactionfee.info shows steep growth in SegWit’s share beginning earlier in May. The rise was likely fuelled by wallet and cold storage provider Xapo implementing the technology. SegWit has seen an increasingly broad rollout across the Bitcoin industry in 2018. Allowing for lower fees and faster transactions, its appearance in August last year initially saw slow uptake, with major businesses such as Coinbase only offering its benefits to users months later (Bitcoinist).