Sept. 25th: Bug Fix For WannaCryFake Ransomware

This is your daily roundup for Wednesday, September 25, 2019. Block.One opens a new office near Washington D.C., bitFlyer Europe and USA lists new altcoins, and Emsisoft has released a bug fix for the WannaCryFake bitcoin ransomware.

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New Virginia Block One HQ

Block.One, the company behind EOS, is opening a new headquarters the DC area. The new office, based in Arlington County, VA, will employ 170 people and will support the exiting Blacksburg office in research and development. Blacksburg is the home of CTO Dan Larimer and has served as the company’s HQ since inception.

Block.One already has offices in Hong Kong and Los Angeles. The company has long been criticized for its handling of its treasury, including a June stock buyback and the conversion of its native tokens into bitcoin.

bitFlyer USA Lists BCH, ETC, and LTC

Japan-based exchange BitFlyer has announced the listing of additional cryptocurrencies on its European and American subsidiaries. bitFlyer Europe is adding buy and sell trades for bitcoin cash, ethereum classic, litecoin, lisk, and monacoin. bitFlyer USA is adding bitcoin cash, ethereum classic, and litecoin, but not lisk or monacoin.

Co-head and COO of bitFlyer Europe Andy Bryant stated “By adding new altcoins, we are expanding bitFlyer’s Buy/Sell offer significantly, giving our customers instant access to some of the largest and most exciting altcoins in the world” bitFlyer was recently recognized as a ‘Real-10’ exchange in a Bitwise report to the U.S. SEC.

Bug Fix For WannaCry Malware

Software firm Emsisoft has released a bug fix for the WannaCryFake bitcoin ransomware, a variant of the infamous WannaCry ransomware that targeted Microsoft computers in 2017. WannaCryFake locks victims’ files using AES-256.

The free software by Emsisoft will help recover encrypted files without leading to data loss. The Emsisoft Decryptor uses the encrypted file and the original unencrypted file to piece together the keys needed to decrypt locked data. Because the protocol uses filename extensions to determine the encryption parameters, users are instructed not to rename their files.

2nd Annual Barclays Hackathon 

Barclays is holding its second annual DerivHack hackathon to tackle interoperability in the financial services industry. 50 teams of four from banks and financial service firms are expected to compete in the 48 hour hackathon on October 16th and 17th. 

The aim of the hackathon is to explore ways that the Common Domain Model (CDM) by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), can be implemented using various programming languages and applied to a range of platforms, including blockchain and distributed ledger technology. The hackathon will help Barclays evaluate the CDM against their internal models. Barclays will look into applications using CDM natively, shared repositories of data in CDM format, and hybrid models.

SoFi Opens Trading

Online lender SoFi announced its crypto trading platform will go live next Tuesday. Digital assets available on the platform include Bitcoin, ethereum and litecoin.SoFi joins digital-first trading platforms eToro and Robinhood – to enter the crypto market. SoFi targets millennial investors through its student loan consolidation service.