Ethereum: We need cryptocurrency wallets that are both user-friendly and secure

The security of cryptocurrency wallets has recently come under security with increased number of hacking reports . Researchers have shown that even hardware wallets — which are designed for extra security — are prone to hacking .

As such, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin thinks there’s a need to better secure cryptocurrency wallets for regular users — and the Ethereum Foundation is willing to invest in any project working towards that goal.

The foundation had earlier announced a grant for projects that help improve the scalability, usefulness, or security of the Ethereum network.

Buterin noted that the security flaws he had pointed out in an article back in 2013 continue to persist today.

The young entrepreneur noted that it is unrealistic to count on regular users to secure their own wallets. Instead, he thinks, the technology has to improve.

It does not seem particularly realistic to ask the average non-technical user, or even the average technical user, to never make a mistake,” Buterin further said. “Thus, what we really need in wallet security, from both users and developers, is a change in paradigm.”

He also added that:

This was the time when USB hardware wallets were just getting out — fast forward to today, Buterin feels that security of cryptocurrency wallets is still not being taken seriously.

He gave the examples of Mt. Gox , Coincheck , Equifax and Ashley Madison to remind everyone why centralization “sucks”. He also pointed to the Cambridge Analytica fiasco to remind why poor user experience is still a problem.

Buterin then added that existing security measures are inadequate because of:

Lack of available options

Lack of oracle providers for the semi-centralized options

Lack of standardized support across wallets

Lack of good first-class-citizen support for multi-signature in Ethereum

With this in mind, Buterin said that Ethereum will be happy to fund any projects working towards solving these challenges.

Buterin further said that cryptcurrency can act as an ideal ‘trial-by-fire’ zone to test new security technology.

If a technology can survive the intense crypto environment which is extremely vulnerable to anonymous attacks, then they are definitely good enough to be rolled out in more mainstream contexts.

Banks are still overcharging Coinbase users for cryptocurrency purchases

Coinbase customers are going through an especially rough patch. Days after the popular exchange desk admitted its users are being erroneously charged for the same purchase multiple times, complaints that the issue is still occurring continue to roll in on Reddit.

“Triple charged again,” read one of the more recent threads . According to the affected customer, the original purchase took place on February 4, but he was charged on two separate occasions: February 16 and February 21. The more problematic part is how confusing the refund process appears to be.

“ Coinbase tell me to contact my bank,” the Redditor continued. “But my bank told me that I need to contact Coinbase because they have the money.”

The incident is one among several others, claiming they experienced the same hurdle over the past couple of days.

“Coinbase made unauthorized charges again,” reads another thread posted on February 21. “Coinbase quadruple charged me now,” worryingly said the author of yet another thread.

While the exchange desk initially blamed the issue on Visa, Visa later on insisted the issue did not originate from its system, practically putting the blame back on Coinbase. The leading financial service then released another statement – this time together with payment processing provider Worldpay – to clarify the issue did not stem from Coinbase either.

Regardless, Visa didn’t explicitly name a culprit for this technical blunder.

“Worldpay and Coinbase have been working with Visa and Visa issuing banks to ensure that the duplicate transactions have been reversed and appropriate credits have been posted to cardholder accounts,” Visa told TNW. “All reversal transactions have now been issued, and should appear on customers’ credit card and debit card accounts within the next few days.”

Contrary to this promise though, users continued to report being unable to claim their money back . Indeed, numerous customers said that – despite its announcements – Visa reps knew nothing about the company “accepting responsibility for overcharging.”

It is worth nothing that some users have already reported successfully claiming their refunds – not without incurring small fees from their banks though.

And while the parties involved are still figuring out how to avoid taking accountability for this massive fail, users remain in the dark on how – or when – they can expect to receive their cash back.

“ We are working with Visa, Worldpay, and affected banks to ensure customers have all erroneous charges refunded as quickly as possible,” a Coinbase support rep told recently overcharged Redditors.

“Unfortunately, we cannot control the timing of the reversal directly, so it may be several more days before the charges are able to be reversed by the processors.”

Update: When we contacted Coinbase, a spokesperson told us the following:

Even though blockchain and cryptocurrency might not be perfect yet, we’re exploring the possibilities at TNW Conference 2018. Find more info here .

As Stripe ditches Bitcoin, it’s time to rethink what the cryptocurrency is good for

Stripe has announced that it’s dropping support for Bitcoin-based transactions on its payments platform, citing high transaction confirmation times and numerous failures, as well as fees that are now as expensive as bank wires.

That’s a huge blow to the cryptocurrency, not just because it’ll see fewer transactions, but also because it’s a sign that companies and consumers are growing disinterested in using Bitcoin to pay for things. Valued at $9 billion, Stripe is a major payments service provider in 25 countries, and the company claims to process billions of dollars in transactions each year.

It’s now ending support for Bitcoin after having begun accepting payments in the virtual currency back in 2014. But it’s not entirely shying away from the idea of using cryptocurrencies. In a blog post, Stripe noted:

Valve’s PC gaming platform, Steam, also stopped accepting Bitcoin payments last month, owing to its high volatility and transaction fees. The limit of 1MB of data allowed per Bitcoin block, allowed every 10 minutes, slows transactions down greatly. Meanwhile, transaction fees have been reported to be as high as $28 for peer-to-peer payments as of last month.

At this point, it seems like Bitcoin is devolving from a universal cryptocurrency into a speculative investment instrument . And maybe that’s a good thing. After all, if no one’s spending it, what’s the point in supporting it for payments?

Stripe will stop processing Bitcoin transactions on April 23.