BITCOIN BLASPHEMY: The 18 millionth bitcoin was mined last Friday. The next 3 million bitcoins will be progressively slower to mine as a result of block reward 'halvings' that occur roughly every four years. While the final bitcoin is expected to be mined in 2140, some developers foresee a day when the 21 million cap might come up for debate. Full story
LIGHTNING ATTACK: The bitcoin lightning network may be vulnerable to a simple denial-of-service (DoS) attack, according to a recent research paper. Such an attack could slow or even stop a high percentage of payments on the network. Although the behavior hasn’t been seen in the wild, it is considered a major flaw in the network as it stands. “It is extremely easy to execute. It takes opening a few lightning channels to key points, promising zero fees, and then not relaying any payments,” one of the authors said. Full story
NODE ON THE GO: Taiwanese electronics manufacturer HTC unveiled its latest blockchain phone, the Exodus 1s, capable of running a full bitcoin node. Announced Saturday at the Lightning Conference in Berlin, the new smartphone comes to the market at a price of €219 ($244), which is about a third of the cost of its predecessor, the Exodus 1. Full story
CASH CLAIM: Bitfinex has applied to a U.S. court to subpoena a former banking executive as it looks to recover $850 million in frozen funds. The exchange submitted a filing on Oct. 18 to a California court seeking to depose Rondell “Rhon” Clyde Monroe, a former vice president of TCA Bancorp. Bitfinex alleges that its former payment processor, Crypto Capital, which allegedly held the funds, “has used one or more accounts held at TCA Bancorp” and believes Monroe has information and documents vital to its claims. Full story
SHIFT OF BALANCE: The Facebook-led Libra project may consider a change to how its planned global payments system will operate. Speaking at a banking seminar, Libra co-creator David Marcus said the firm is thinking of dropping its “synthetic” stablecoin – which is to be pegged to a basket of fiat currencies and government bonds – and instead issuing individual coins pegged to national fiat currencies such as the dollar, pound and euro. Full story | 