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ListenToBitcoin.com was infected by an anonymous buyer, says founder of the website

By Maria Santos

Last Updated: Jan 2, 2018

The word has spread around the web: the site Listen to Bitcoin is infected with malware, like Bitcoin Examiner reported this Sunday (14). So, the creator of the service, Maximillian Laumeister, decided to post a public statement on Reddit (under his user name AlpineWolf) apologizing and explaining the situation.

The service was launched back in March of this year, but since then the domain was sold and the new owner has allowed malware to take over the site. The original clean site is now hosted at BitListen.com.

Hi everyone, I’m the guy who developed and launched Listen To Bitcoin.

About a month ago I sold the domain ListenToBitcoin.com to a stranger on the internet. They paid up front, so I didn’t give the sale much thought. I never expected them to put malware there.

After selling the domain, I moved my own fork of the project to BitListen.com, which I own and can personally guarantee is legitimate. I changed the project’s GitHub Source Code Page to reflect the change in ownership of the last domain. To be abolutely clear, I do not own or operate ListenToBitcoin.com anymore.

I advise everyone to visit the official site at BitListen.com from now on, and thank you for staying with me through all of this! I am planning to roll out a major update before the end of the summer, and I can’t wait to show you guys the new platform when it’s done.

I apologize again for what happened to ListenToBitcoin.com, this came completely out of left field for me, but since I no longer own the domain, the situation there is out of my control. I really hope this didn’t lead to anyone’s computers getting infected.

TL;DR I don’t own ListenToBitcoin.com anymore. Visit BitListen.com for the latest official, malware-free version of the site.

Edit: I want to stress that I feel bad that the new domain owner has let this happen, but since I no longer own the domain, there’s nothing I can do except ask you to start using the new official BitListen.com site instead.

Edit2: I also want to stress that Listen To Bitcoin has always been Free, Open Source Software, MIT Licensed, and that anybody can download, modify, and host their own version of the site without permission. BitListen.com is only “official” in that it is still maintained by me, but I encourage everyone to fork the GitHub project and rehost it if you’d like to take the software in a different direction.

Edit3: I said this below, but I want it to be a part of this post as well: I realize now that I made a very foolish mistake by selling the domain to someone untrustworthy, and I want to personally apologize to everyone who has been affected. I was too trusting, I made a huge mistake, and for what my words are worth, I promise that it won’t happen again.

With Listen to Bitcoin out of the picture, the sounds of Bitcoin are now available at Maximillian Laumeister’s new project, BitListen.com, as you can see. Bitcoin Examiner tried it and can guarantee that the soothing sounds of Bitcoin bubbles will carry you through the day without any malware at sight.

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Maria Santos
Maria Santos
Crypto Writer

Maria is an experienced journalist currently living in the UK. She has been writing about Bitcoin and the altcoin universe since 2013. She is also a member of the Lifeboat Foundation's New Money Systems Board and a big cryptocurrency supporter. Read More

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