A blockchain ecosystem has launched a suite of tools designed to build a more private future for the internet — delivering unparalleled security to users and developers. Oxen’s products are free to download and use, and the project says no prior knowledge of blockchain technology is required to make the most of these apps. One of the platform’s flagship apps is Session, a private messaging platform that has already amassed more than 100,000 users across multiple operating systems. A cutting-edge protocol paves the way for fully anonymous account creation, with cryptography used to minimize metadata leakage. Users can engage in …

Users of major privacy-oriented messaging app Signal can now support the project with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). Signal officially announced Monday that the platform has started accepting crypto donations as a form of support for the Signal Technology Foundation, the nonprofit organization behind the app. “As a nonprofit organization, we depend on your support. If you've been patiently waiting for Signal to accept cryptocurrency donations, you no longer need to hodl back your generosity,” Signal wrote. Cryptocurrency donations are now part of Signal’s “Donate” section on its official website, specifying that the new feature is enabled via major crypto donations …

Corey Petty, a chief security lead at Status messenger, told Cointelegraph that he believes there is no way to marry end-to-end encryption with the type of backdoor access law enforcement agencies continue to lobby for. He also believes that any prohibitive or restrictive measures will be fruitless as encryption is an abundant and readily available resource, unlike nuclear power: “If you take nuclear control across the globe as an example here, and how successful that's been in terms of keeping us from destroying ourselves, we were able to do that because developing nuclear weapons is very difficult and is reliant …

The U.S. Department of Justice has released an international statement claiming that end-to-end encryption “poses significant challenges to public safety,” including sexually exploited children. In an Oct. 11 statement from the DoJ, the agency called on technology companies to work with the government to find a solution for strong data encryption with the means to allow the investigation of illegal activity and content. The department stated end-to-end encryption that hindered law enforcement from accessing certain content creates “severe risks to public safety.” The statement was signed by the DoJ, the Home Department of the United Kingdom, the Australian Minister for …

The United States Internal Revenue Service has better ways to spend taxpayer dollars than offering bounties to break Monero’s (XMR) privacy, a Monero working group says. After the IRS announced it is offering up to $625,000 to anyone who can break Monero, a major Monero-focused workgroup expressed their take on the matter. A spokesperson for Monero Outreach — an independent workgroup focused on XMR awareness and education — told Cointelegraph that the IRS should learn how Monero actually works instead. Monero Outreach’s representative emphasized that the crypto’s features in fact provide users with a certain level of transparency, stating: “$625,000 …

Crypto International, a successor of controversial Swiss company Crypto AG, is reportedly dismissing dozens of employees following a major spying scandal. As many as 70 employees had to quit Crypto International after Crypto AG was found to be selling backdoored products to benefit agencies such as the United States Central Intelligence Agency in February. The firm reportedly confirmed the dismissals to Switzerland-centred publication Swissinfo.ch on Friday. Representatives at Crypto International reportedly said that the dismissals were unavoidable because the government recently refused to resume the examination of export applications. Andreas Linde, co-founder of Crypto International, reportedly said that the action …

Major encrypted messaging app provider Telegram has expressed support for the mass protests in Belarus against sitting President Alexander Lukashenko. On Aug. 25, the Telegram app introduced a new animated emoji to replace the national flag of Belarus with the white-red-white flag. Opposed to the official red and green flag of Belarus, the white-red-white flag is used as a symbol of the opposition to Lukashenko's regime. With the new feature, the emoji of Belarus’ national flag automatically turns to the animated opposition flag when a single symbol is typed in a message. Telegram’s latest gesture of support for the opposition …

Pavel Durov, CEO of the popular encrypted messaging platform, Telegram, has denied reports that the firm is preparing to sell the company after the failure of Telegram’s blockchain project. According to an Aug. 5 report by local tech publication iXBT, Russia’s internet company Mail.ru is one of the parties interested in acquiring Telegram. Another is an as yet unidentified Russian billionaire. The information was reportedly shared by Russia-based trader and analyst, Kirill Promzin. As reported by iXBT, Promzin predicted Bitcoin’s 2017 bull run back in 2012, even calling the asset’s eventual high of $20,000. Shortly after the iXBT’s report was …

Under president Obama, Anurag Lal served as the director of the National Broadband Task Force. Currently he is the CEO of NetSfere, a company that provides secure messaging for enterprises. Lal believes that bills like the EARN IT Act and The Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act essentially call for a ban of end-to-end encryption, and would do more harm than good. Anti-encryption laws bad for the economy & security Critics of these legislations say that it would be both bad for the U.S. economy and would make America less secure — a sentiment that Lal agrees with. He stated: …

The Zcash Foundation announced an updated version of its flexible-optimized schnorr threshold signature scheme, FROST. This update aims to reduce interactions between participants. FROST is the result of a collaboration between Zcash and the University of Waterloo. FROST signatures will be used to sign transactions from the owners of a signing key. The foundation commented on the motivations behind the decision to upgrade: "Our decision to design a new threshold scheme stemmed from the desire to improve the state of threshold signature research to match the needs of Zcash users today. Specifically, we needed to ensure that performing multi-party signing …

Unstoppable Domains, a Tim Draper-backed startup focused on blockchain-based uncensorable websites, has launched a decentralized chat protocol. The so-called “Unstoppable Chat”, or simply “dChat” aims to promote confidentiality through a peer-to-peer network and end-to-end encryption. Opposed to mainstream messengers like Facebook, dChat enables users to own, encrypt, and store their messages themselves on their own servers. Users need an Ethereum wallet private key to sign in In order to allow users to fully control their messages, dChat integrates with a user’s cryptocurrency wallet and P2P networks. In order to sign in to the chat, users need to have an Ethereum …

Every Friday, Law Decoded delivers analysis on the week’s critical stories in the realms of policy, regulation and law. Editor’s note The U.S. is preparing for its Independence Day tomorrow. New spikes in positive COVID-19 tests will put a damper on some but not all of the traditional fireworks, cookouts and Martina McBride. On the same day, new changes to the Russian Constitution, including those that may allow Putin to stay in power for another 16 years, take effect. In more light-hearted news, pubs will also reopen in the U.K. The COVID-19 lockdowns have added new immediacy to the eternal …