The BioMedWire Podcast

Jonathan Keim, communications director of CryptoCurrencyWire, appeared to give his usual weekly news update. He got the ball rolling with a headline that should put developers in good spirits: “Algorand Provides Native Support of the Pocket Network’s Next-Generation Decentralized Infrastructure” (http://ccw.fm/uukO0).

Pocket Network is a decentralized infrastructure platform for the development of peer-to-peer applications. Algorand’s involvement means that developers will have easier access to the platform, which, by virtue of being decentralized, should reduce costs, improve scalability and security, and provide a wider range of blockchain development tools. Algorand is the world’s first open-source, permissionless, pure, proof-of-stake blockchain protocol.

Next Keim reported on developments in the crypto-mining space: “HIVE Blockchain Continues Increasing Bitcoin Mining Power Through Additional Purchase of Next-Generation Miners for Green Energy-Powered Quebec Facility” (http://ccw.fm/oXeVl).

HIVE Blockchain Technologies plans to add 200 Bitmain Antminer S17e 60 Terahash per second (TH/s) SHA 256 mining machines to its Quebec operations, adding to the 750 Bitmain S17+ Antminer machines previously acquired. HIVE also owns digital-currency mining facilities in Sweden and Iceland. The company focuses primarily on the production of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Finally, security software superstar John McAfee is back in the news, after launching the world’s first private cell phone data service (http://ccw.fm/yB18m). McAfee claims his Ghost Cell Phone Data Service will be the first 4G data service to make connections to the network untraceable.

The phone will employ a software SIM instead of a physical one. A special network will deploy a range of cryptographic techniques to ensure that connections can’t be tracked. The system will support VOIP and other IP-based communication platforms. McAfee is inviting members of the media to beta test the service, which he plans to launch globally in September. McAfee is something of a curiosity in Silicon Valley, at least partially because he has orchestrated two unsuccessful presidential campaigns.

For the latest episode of the Wild West Crypto Show, which includes CryptoCurrencyWire’s ongoing segment featuring the most recent news from around the world, visit http://ccw.fm/NN96V.