Download cgminer 3.8.5 with AntMiner U1 Support for Windows

11 Feb
2014

cgminer-3-8-5-antminer

If you have Bitmain AntMiner U1 USB sticks for Bitcoin (BTC) mining you would need to use a special version of cgminer miner software that is compiled to support these BTC ASIC devices. Below you will find cgminer 3.8.5 compiled for Windows that has support for the AntMiner U1 USB ASIC miners along with example BAT files to run the USB ASIC at “stock” frequency for 1.6 GH/s, along with settings for running the device at 1.8 GH/s, 2.0 GH/s and 2.2 GH/s. Just make sure that if you overclock the AntMiner U1 for higher hashrate to ensure that the device is properly cooled – you need to provide additional fan blowing on the device to cool it down when it is overclocked. Do not, and we really mean that you should not overclock the AntMiner U1 without additional cooling or there is risk of damaging the device from the heat generated by it during mining!

– You can download cgminer 3.8.5 with AntMiner U1 support for Windows here…

Using LTC Rabbit as a Backup Pool for Multipool

11 Feb
2014

ltcrabbing-backup-pool-earnings

If you are mining for alternative scrypt cryptos at the moment due to their higher profitability compared to LTC, you are probably already using Multipool or another similar automatic switching pool. We are using Multipool and set one mining rig with four 280X cards on Multipool and have set LTC Rabbit as a backup pool to test instead of WeMineLTC or Coinotron that we usually set as our backup. The idea behind that pool is that you mine for anternative scrypt-based cryptos based on profitability along with LTC and you are directly getting payed in LTC, so this there is no need to transfer the mined alternative coins to an exchange and trade them for LTC. This way you get extra profit than directly mining for LTC. Our idea was to see what you can expect to get when Multipool has issues and they do have and the connection to their pools drops, so the miner goes to the backup pool. The result we’ve got for 24 hours is 0.07 LTC profit at the backup pool and about 1.09 LTC when we exchanged the mined alternative cryptos from Multipool to LTC. So if you do not have a backup pool set it will be a wise idea to do so in your miner (cgminer does support that, CUDAminer does not yet) and do use a different mining pool. Meanwhile we are heading for another drop in LTC difficulty in few hours, so the profitability of alternative cryptos such as DOGE will drop compared to directly mining LTC…

Bitcoin Withdraws at MtGox Suspended For Longer Period

10 Feb
2014

mtgox-exchange-rate-graph

It seems that MtGox will be suspending the BTC withdraws from their system for a longer period of time due to an issue discovered in the Bitcoin transaction method currently in use. The issue is not limited to MtGox, and affects all transactions where Bitcoins are being sent to a third party. So for now MtGox is not going to resume the BTC withdraws from their system, though deposits and currency withdrawals are not going to be affected. As a result the BTC exchange rate is continuing to drop on the MtGox exchange as well as on other exchanges. Below you can read the official statement from MtGox:

Dear MtGox Customers and Bitcoiners,

As you are aware, the MtGox team has been working hard to address an issue with the way that bitcoin withdrawals are processed. By “bitcoin withdrawal” we are referring to transactions from a MtGox bitcoin wallet to an external bitcoin address. Bitcoin transactions to any MtGox bitcoin address, and currency withdrawals (Yen, Euro, etc) are not affected by this issue.

The problem we have identified is not limited to MtGox, and affects all transactions where Bitcoins are being sent to a third party. We believe that the changes required for addressing this issue will be positive over the long term for the whole community. As a result we took the necessary action of suspending bitcoin withdrawals until this technical issue has been resolved.

Addressing Transaction Malleability
MtGox has detected unusual activity on its Bitcoin wallets and performed investigations during the past weeks. This confirmed the presence of transactions which need to be examined more closely.

Non-technical Explanation:
A bug in the bitcoin software makes it possible for someone to use the Bitcoin network to alter transaction details to make it seem like a sending of bitcoins to a bitcoin wallet did not occur when in fact it did occur. Since the transaction appears as if it has not proceeded correctly, the bitcoins may be resent. MtGox is working with the Bitcoin core development team and others to mitigate this issue.

Technical Explanation:
Bitcoin transactions are subject to a design issue that has been largely ignored, while known to at least a part of the Bitcoin core developers and mentioned on the BitcoinTalk forums. This defect, known as “transaction malleability” makes it possible for a third party to alter the hash of any freshly issued transaction without invalidating the signature, hence resulting in a similar transaction under a different hash. Of course only one of the two transactions can be validated. However, if the party who altered the transaction is fast enough, for example with a direct connection to different mining pools, or has even a small amount of mining power, it can easily cause the transaction hash alteration to be committed to the blockchain.

The bitcoin api “sendtoaddress” broadly used to send bitcoins to a given bitcoin address will return a transaction hash as a way to track the transaction’s insertion in the blockchain.
Most wallet and exchange services will keep a record of this said hash in order to be able to respond to users should they inquire about their transaction. It is likely that these services will assume the transaction was not sent if it doesn’t appear in the blockchain with the original hash and have currently no means to recognize the alternative transactions as theirs in an efficient way.

This means that an individual could request bitcoins from an exchange or wallet service, alter the resulting transaction’s hash before inclusion in the blockchain, then contact the issuing service while claiming the transaction did not proceed. If the alteration fails, the user can simply send the bitcoins back and try again until successful.

We believe this can be addressed by using a different hash for transaction tracking purposes. While the network will continue to use the current hash for the purpose of inclusion in each block’s Merkle Tree, the new hash’s purpose will be to track a given transaction and can be computed and indexed by hashing the exact signed string via SHA256 (in the same way transactions are currently hashed).

This new transaction hash will allow signing parties to keep track of any transaction they have signed and can easily be computed, even for past transactions.

We have discussed this solution with the Bitcoin core developers and will allow Bitcoin withdrawals again once it has been approved and standardized.

In the meantime, exchanges and wallet services – and any service sending coins directly to third parties – should be extremely careful with anyone claiming their transaction did not go through.

Note that this will also affect any other crypto-currency using the same transaction scheme as Bitcoin.

Conclusion
To put things in perspective, it’s important to remember that Bitcoin is a very new technology and still very much in its early stages. What MtGox and the Bitcoin community have experienced in the past year has been an incredible and exciting challenge, and there is still much to do to further improve.

MtGox will resume bitcoin withdrawals to outside wallets once the issue outlined above has been properly addressed in a manner that will best serve our customers.

More information on the status of this issue will be released as soon as possible.

We thank you for taking the time to read this, and especially for your patience.

Best Regards,
MtGox Team

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