Bitcoin sextortion scams are so 2018, right ? Well, there are some hackers out there that would beg to differ.

It appears that residents of Norton, a small town in Kansas, US, are being targeted by scammers threatening to release sensitive material unless the victims pay a Bitcoin ransom. It’s not clear if this was an intentionally localized attack, or if others have been affected.

Norton Kansas Police Department published a public notice to their Facebook page warning locals of the danger earlier today.

Norton residents have been reporting an email, in which the hacker claims to have remote control over their victims’ computer. The hacker claims to have used this to steal personal data, and video their victims enjoying some personal time while watching pornography.

The hacker further says they also have screen captures of what the victim was watching at the time. For some, this might be enough to push them over the edge and meet the hacker‘s demands.

For $800, paid in Bitcoin, the hacker promises not to release their victims’ sensitive information.

Thankfully though, those targeted have remained courageous and it doesn’t look like anyone has fallen for this heinous scam. At the time of writing, the wallet address listed in the email remains empty.

Last year victims weren’t so savvy . In another Bitcoin sextortion scam, a hacker‘s address earned over $17,000 in a few days.

As Norton police suggest, if you receive an email like this, ignore it. It should go without saying, don’t open any links and certainly don’t send any Bitcoin to the address listed in the email.

Did you know? Hard Fork has its own stage at TNW2019 , our tech conference in Amsterdam. Check it out .

UK MP on Libra: Facebook’s almost trying to turn itself into its own country

Facebook ‘s ‘ cryptocurrency ‘ Libra is ruffling feathers among UK politicians amid concerns that the technology giant’s entry into the world of finance would give it too much power .

Similarly to their US counterparts, which questioned Facebook ‘s blockchain leader David Marcus over two days last week, UK politicians are keen to get a better understanding about Facebook ‘s ability to protect users ‘ financial data following a string of scandals.

“To me, [Libra] suggests that Facebook ’ s almost trying to turn itself into its own country,” Damian Collins, chair of the House of Common’s Digital , Culture, Media , and Sport Committee told Financial News .

Collins , who has long criticized Facebook , led an 18-month investigation into the company in the aftermath of the highly publicized Cambridge Analytica data debacle.

Bitcoiners are predicting the future of blockchain with #TheYearIs2030

The year is still 2019, but Twitter‘s Bitcoin community is looking to the future.

Tons of Bitcoiners are sharing their predictions for the cryptocurrency and the blockchain industry 11 years from now with the hashtag #TheYearIs2030 .

Blockstream CSO Samson Mow kicked off the trend with a sarcastic take on recent news of high-profile departures from popular cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, which previously drew the ire of Twitter‘s cryptocurrency community with the acquisition of controversial blockchain analytics firm Neutrino.

In the tweet, Mow took a dig at Coinbase‘s loose token-listing criteria , forecasting its demise at the greediness of its co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong.

He then invited the rest of the Twitterverse to follow his lead – and it didn’t take long before the hashtag started gaining traction.

Soon enough though, the sarcastic Coinbase predictions expanded into memeing on popular crypto-personalities like EOS founder Dan Larimer, TRON‘s Justin Sun, Ethereum‘s Vitalik Buterin, and Bitcoin Cash’s Roger Ver.

As you can expect, the banter swiftly escalated to some back and forth between supporters of the different networks.

Ethereum skeptics threw shade at the foundation’s ongoing struggle to roll out a new and improved version of its network – more commonly referred to as Ethereum 2.0 – which promises to deliver significant improvements in transaction speed and cost efficiency.

On their part, Ethereum supporters responded with reminders that its blockchain offers more functionality than Bitcoin‘s.

Other predictions, though, focused on the future of blockchain tech and the inevitable disruption of the financial and banking sectors – one of the most popular narratives pushed by cryptocurrency enthusiasts.

Anyways, not a bad break from discussing what the symbol for the smaller denomination of Bitcoin – otherwise known as a “Saotshi” – should look like .

In the meantime, what’s your prediction for the blockchain industry in 2030? Let us known on Twitter and don’t forget to use #TheYearIs2030.