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Cybercriminals are increasingly moving away from bitcoin as their preferred digital currency in favor of lesser-known cryptocurrencies because of prolonged transaction delays, surging transaction costs and general market volatility, experts tell CyberScoop.
Although cybercriminals have been slowly moving away from bitcoin for months, researchers say a noticeable shift towards alternative coins — such as Monero, Dash and ZCash — occurred when bitcoin's value skyrocketed over $19,000 for one bitcoin in mid-December. The price has drastically fluctuated between $12,000 and roughly $19,000 since then.
"Many cybercriminals emulate the operational best practices of legitimate businesses in order to minimize their overhead costs and maximize returns, and in the case of high transaction costs with bitcoin, it makes perfect sense to look at other coins with smaller overheads," said Richard Henderson, a global security strategist with endpoint cybersecurity firm Absolute.
(Score: 2) by Wootery on Friday January 05 2018, @03:19PM (1 child)
Abbreviated version: All value is contextual. 'Inherent value' is a contradiction
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Friday January 05 2018, @03:34PM
That's a pretty good summary. But, at least for humans, some things do have at least some inherent value. Food and water for example. Their value may fluctuate significantly depending on supply, but as long as humans want to stay alive, their value will never disappear completely. Gold's utility value, on the other hand, mostly has to do with advanced tech and desire to wear shiny adornments (particularly shiny ones made from a malleable material that can easily be worked by hand). There are a lot of situations where gold's utility value may effectively go to zero.