Bitcoin prepaid cards closed, insider trading, slower PC-s to fix one the biggest security flaws of the century

Good morning traders!

Yesterday many cryptoenthusiasts had a not-so-good surprise for them, as many prepaid debit card providers locked their users' cards down, effectively basically bricking them. Some of the users are tweeting that they're now trapped in a foreign country. Personally - this is a big blow to these companies trustworthiness. I definitely won't be walking around without some fiat or my local bank-issued card in my pocket.

Yep, you can throw those prepaid cards away now. Apparently Wavecrest, the issuer of Visa Prepaid cards, is to blame. A statement from Visa states "continued non-compliance with their operating rules". Whatever that means.

_{Via thenextweb}

Among the affected companies are: Bitwala, Cryptopay, Wirex, Tenx, so if you have a prepaid card from them in your wallet, there is high chance you can make a slingshot out of it.

Not to worry, your funds are safe. Bitwala already has a form you can fill, to request your funds be trasferred to your bank account. If your card is ordered on Dec 1st or later, they will also cover the card ordering fee.

Find the form here

Most of the companies affected have already come out with a statement, that they are looking to solve this as soon as possible. No specific steps or dates. Wirex, on the other hand, announced they have multiple card-issuers lined up and will be working tightly with them to issue new and CONTACTLESS cards to users.

_{Via reddit}

Find the full article together with updates here on thenextweb.com

So please everyone, remain calm. Your card issuers are already working on solutions. Unfortunately there is not sufficient information for those that are in dire need of their funds. If i find something, i'll keep my readers updated.

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Another big drama going on is the Spectre and Meltdown attack. These vulnerabilities are not in some software, but are found in all modern processors since 1995! Some computer security experts go as far saying that maybe our hardware will never be as safe as it used to be anymore.

Some patches are already in the works, but these patches essentially render our PCs 5-30% slower. Why? Because by blocking the vulnerability, they also block some of the optimizations the processors are doing to speed up our work.

What's more crazy, is that apparently Intel CEO Brian Krzanich sold $24 million worth of company stocks before the public announcement. Well, anyone can sell their stock holdings, but what's a suprise - Krzanich has only left the minimal amount of stocks in his account that is required by the company - 250 000 shares. Add the fact that Intel was made aware of the security flaw already and it doesn't take a genius to put 2 and 2 together.

_{Via arstechnica.com}

Read more on the insider trading here on arstechnica.com.

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_{Title image from pixabay}

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