Online Cash Bitcoin Could Challenge Governments, Banks

guest · Jan 24, 2020

Travala.com partners with NEM to offer XEM as payment option for over 2m. hotels globally
January 24, 2020
https://www.traveldailynews.com/pos...as-payment-option-for-over-2m-hotels-globally

The NEM Foundation and Travala.com, the leading crypto-friendly hotel booking platform, announced the integration of NEM’s XEM token with the travel website’s platform.
In addition to a range of crypto and fiat currencies, Travala.com will now accept XEM, a popular cryptocurrency with a current market cap of over three hundred million dollars.

Welcoming the Travala.com community, Alex Tinsman, CEO of NEM said: “Travala.com has long been a supporter of the crypto community and a valuable advocate for widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. We’re glad to be partnering with them to include XEM on their platform, further underlining our long-term message of scaling the technology for all institutions across all industries.”
Travala.com currently accepts over twenty cryptocurrencies as payment as well as Visa, MasterCard, American Express, PayPal and Stripe.
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ronjor · Jan 25, 2020

French central banker says digital currency cannot be private

January 25, 2020
PARIS (Reuters) - Digital currency could be useful as cash transactions dwindle in some countries but central banks should be in charge of issuing it, not private companies, Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Saturday.
Spurred by the rise of cryptocurrencies and Facebook’s plans to launch its Libra currency, central banks worldwide are looking into the possibility of issuing digital money to prevent the loss of state control over money.
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Minimalist · Jan 26, 2020

Crypto and Blockchain Firms Pitch In to Help Coronavirus Victims

Some blockchain and cryptocurrency firms have pledged to help victims of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China. Cryptocurrency exchange Binance pledged to donate 10 million Chinese yuan ($1.44 million) to the effort.
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https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-and-blockchain-firms-pitch-in-to-help-coronavirus-victims

Minimalist · Jan 26, 2020

Cryptocurrency News From Japan: Jan. 20–24 in Review

This week’s headlines from Japan include several central banks collaborating on digital currency research, Binance removing the Japanese yen from its platform, Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party investigating digital assets, comments from Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister on digital currency research importance, and Coincheck paying out its first Lisk staking reward.
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https://cointelegraph.com/news/cryptocurrency-news-from-japan-jan-2024-in-review

Minimalist · Jan 26, 2020

Tax Agencies Step Up Efforts to Hone in on Crypto Tax Evasion

The year 2019, for a short while, raised expectations that stablecoins would bring about mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. 2020, however, seems to be dousing those hopes with ever-tightening regulation that is putting pressure on investors and companies alike.
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https://cointelegraph.com/news/tax-agencies-step-up-efforts-to-hone-in-on-crypto-tax-evasion

guest · Jan 28, 2020

British Court Freezes $860,000 in Bitcoin Linked to Ransomware Payout
January 28, 2020
https://www.coindesk.com/british-court-freezes-860000-in-bitcoin-linked-to-ransomware-payout

The victim of the ransomware attack had paid $950,000 in bitcoin to the perpetrator through an insurance company, according to a filing published last week by the England and Wales High Court (Commercial Court) and first reported by New Money Review. While some of the bitcoin was converted into fiat currency, the remainder appears to have been sent to an address on the Bitfinex platform.

The victim, an unnamed firm, had been told to pay $1.2 million in bitcoin after its computers were hijacked by ransomware. The company's insurer, which filed the court claim, ultimately paid $950,000 in the form of 109.25 BTC, according to the filing.
New Money Review claims this ruling marks the first instance of the U.K. High Court endorsing bitcoin as property.

Spokespersons for the exchange declined to confirm whether Bitfinex had provided the KYC information for the account associated with the address. However, the court ruling stated that Bitfinex would provide the information as long as it had a court order to comply with.
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ronjor · Jan 30, 2020

Giving cryptocurrency users more bang for their buck

by Rob Matheson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology January 30, 2020
Cryptocurrencies hold promise for peer-to-peer financial transactions, potentially making banks and credit cards obsolete. But there's a scalability issue: Bitcoin, for instance, processes only a handful of transactions per second, while major credit cards process hundreds or thousands. That's because the blockchain—the digital ledger cryptocurrencies are built on—takes a really long time to process transactions.
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guest · Jan 30, 2020

Ten People Arrested in €6M Crypto Scam Controlled from Israel
January 30, 2020
https://www.financemagnates.com/cry...ed-in-e6m-crypto-scam-controlled-from-israel/

Ten alleged scammers were arrested today in connection with a cryptocurrency scheme that defrauded investors out of EUR 6 million ($6.60 million). Authorities in France and Belgium said today they have busted the Israel-based organized crime group who lured 85 unsuspecting investors in both countries to invest in Bitcoin and other altcoins.

The indictment describes the defendants’ use of elaborate tactics to lure victims with promises of large returns of up to 35 percent on their investments.
As also ‎charged, they used some new investors’ funds to pay back other investors in a Ponzi-‎like fashion, so that they would invest or refer additional money, thereby ‎allowing the scheme to continue for a longer period of time. ‎
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hawki · Jan 31, 2020

"Bitcoin Has Lost Steam. But Criminals Still Love It.

The police hoped that taking down online black markets would chase away criminals. But the amount of Bitcoin spent on illegal purposes has reached a new high...

The amount of cryptocurrency spent on so-called dark net markets, where stolen credit card information and a wide array of illegal drugs can be purchased with Bitcoin, rose 60 percent to reach a new high of $601 million in the last three months of 2019, according to data released Tuesday by Chainalysis, a firm that tracks every Bitcoin transaction and serves as an adviser to an array of government authorities..."

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/28/technology/bitcoin-black-market.html

Minimalist · Feb 2, 2020

6 Trading Strategies to Profit From The Turbulence in Crypto-Markets

Are you currently staying far away from the volatility and plummeting prices of the current crypto-market? It’s a natural reaction, especially in such unpredictable times. The media draws the public attention towards the negatives, but experienced investors see a downturn in any market for what it really is: a great opportunity.
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https://hackernoon.com/6-trading-strategies-to-profit-from-the-turbulence-in-crypto-markets-5c6i36ok

Minimalist · Feb 2, 2020

Cryptocurrency News From Japan: Jan. 26–Feb. 1 in Review

This week in Japan, SBI Holdings’ president said to watch for central bank digital currencies, or CBDC, Coincheck exchange tallied top app downloads for exchanges is 2019, Japan’s central bank head forecasted CBDC demand, a Japanese political party proposed blockchain for document security, and a research institute unveiled a crypto index.
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https://cointelegraph.com/news/cryptocurrency-news-from-japan-jan-26feb-1-in-review

Minimalist · Feb 2, 2020

Twitter Adds Bitcoin Emoji, Jack Dorsey Suggests Unicode Does the Same

Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted the newly added Bitcoin (BTC) emoji on Feb. 2 and tagged Unicode, the consortium managing the character standard, in an apparent suggestion to do the same.
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https://cointelegraph.com/news/twitter-adds-bitcoin-emoji-jack-dorsey-suggests-unicode-does-the-same

Minimalist · Feb 2, 2020

UAE Health Ministry Debuts Blockchain Platform for Medical Data

The UAE's Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) together with the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, Dubai Healthcare City and other relevant authorities has launched a blockchain-based health data storage platform.
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https://cointelegraph.com/news/uae-health-ministry-debuts-blockchain-platform-for-medical-data

guest · Feb 3, 2020

FCA Sets £10,000 Registration Fee for Crypto Businesses
The regulator previously suggested a flat fee of £5,000
February 3, 2020
https://www.financemagnates.com/cry...10000-registration-fee-for-crypto-businesses/

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has revised its fee for crypto business registration following consultation with the digital asset community.

Announced on Monday, the regulator has introduced two slab fees for crypto businesses based on their size in contrast to the previously proposed flat £5,000 (around $6500) fee for all businesses.
The fee structure has been updated based on 29 responses against the previous proposals published last October.
As detailed by the market watchdog, the fees will be collected to fund its roles in the industry.

“We are funded entirely by fees and levies from the businesses we regulate. We proposed a flat-rate application charge for registration of £5,000 to recover estimated gateway costs of £400,000 from approximately 80 potential applicants known to us,” FCA stated.
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guest · Feb 4, 2020

Mastercard CEO Explained Why Corporation Abandoned Libra
February 3, 2020
https://ihodl.com/topnews/2020-02-03/mastercard-ceo-explained-why-corporation-abandoned-libra/

The Chief Executive Officer of Mastercard Ajay Banga in an interview with the Financial Times explained why the American multinational financial services corporation decided to quit the Libra Association.

According to Banga, the association’s key members could not give a clear answer on whether the social network would integrate the KYC due diligence, fight with money laundering, store users' data or not.

"Every time you talked to the main proponents of Libra, I said ‘Would you put that in writing?’ They wouldn’t," expressed Banga.
Mastercard CEO also admits he does not fully understand the way how Libra plans to monetize its business: [...]

Mastercard was not the only tech giant that decided to leave the Libra Association in October 2019. Visa, PayPal, and Stripe, which in the past have shown their willingness to support Facebook's crypto project, also decided to quit the association as they were not convinced of the necessity to officially support the association.
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guest · Feb 6, 2020

Bitcoin Address Connected to MtGox Hack Still Has Over 79,000 BTC Unmoved
February 6, 2020
https://u.today/bitcoin-address-connected-to-mtgox-hack-still-has-over-79000-btc-unmoved

Redditor jwinterm has recently published a post which says that a Bitcoin wallet associated with the MtGox hack has been holding almost 80,000 Bitcoins since 2011.
The money has remained unmoved since then and there are records of more transactions (small ones) to that address that have been made up to 2020.
[...] By now, the address holds a total of 79,957.20 BTC – that’s $770,507,343.78.
The MtGox hack
Mt. Gox was a BTC exchange based in Japan that started operating in summer 2010. In about four years, it was dealing with around 70 percent of all Bitcoin transfers globally and the biggest Bitcoin exchange on the planet.

In February 2014, the platform suspended its trading operations and shut down its website. The company made an announcement that approx. 850,000 BTC that was held there for the customers had gone missing and the keys possibly lost.
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ronjor · Feb 6, 2020

U.S. securities regulator unveils legal framework for digital coin offerings

February 6, 2020
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Wall Street may be permitted an exemption to safely raise capital using digital currencies or “tokens” under the current securities law framework, a top financial regulator said on Thursday, but firms must develop a transition plan after three years to show whether those products can be traded under a “decentralized” framework.
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Minimalist · Feb 7, 2020

Crypto Users Can Bet on the 2020 Election with a Futures Trading Product Called TRUMP

Crypto derivatives exchange FTX recently launched “TRUMP,” a new futures trading product that lets users bet on President Trump’s re-election in 2020.

TRUMP “is a futures contract that expires to $1 if Trump wins the 2020 presidential general election and $0 otherwise,” an FTX representative told Cointelegraph. “So far most of the volume has traded on the offer, implying that traders think Trump is likely to win re-election.”
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https://cointelegraph.com/news/cryp...n-with-a-futures-trading-product-called-trump

guest · Feb 8, 2020

Bitcoin Mixing Service Goes Offline After Reportedly Being Found Scamming Users
February 6, 2020
https://www.cryptoglobe.com/latest/...-after-reportedly-being-found-scamming-users/

A bitcoin mixing service, a service used to mix various transactions to improve privacy on the Bitcoin blockchain, has been reportedly found to be scamming users by both stealing their BTC and then trying to get access to their device.

On Reddit, a user detailed he tried to use a bitcoin mixing service called Bitcoinmixer.eu to make his funds untraceable, but saw that “something in the mixing process failed.” After contracting the server’s support, he was told to run a command with his Bitcoin wallet’s console to request his funds back.
After asking for help on social media, others warned him he was being scammed by the bitcoin mixing service.

Since the warning was issued, Bitcoinmixer.eu want offline and is, at press time, still down. It’s worth noting bitcoin mixing services aren’t well regarded by law enforcement, as in May last year authorities took down one of the three largest cryptocurrency mixing services in the world, Bestmixer.io.
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Minimalist · Feb 8, 2020

Crypto Sphere Begins to Feel Ill Effects of Coronavirus Outbreak

The coronavirus outbreak in Asia is starting to ripple through the cryptocurrency world in some unanticipated ways -- the cancellation of conferences and even the shuttering of facilities that process transactions.
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https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/crypto-...ill-effects-of-coronavirus-outbreak-1.1387066

guest · Feb 9, 2020

Crypto Exchange Loses "Almost All Funds" in Hack
February 7, 2020
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/crypto-exchange-loses-almost-all/

Cyber-criminals have stolen "almost all funds" entrusted to crypto exchange platform Altsbit.

The Italian exchange announced it had become the target of a devastating hack yesterday on Twitter. According to their posts, criminals made off with 1,066 Komodo (KMD) tokens and 283,375 Verus (VRSC) "coins" with a combined value of $27,000.
Funds kept in cold storage—crypto coins whose private keys are stored on devices that exist in an offline environment—were not swiped in the cyber-heist.

Other users were skeptical that a hack had actually occurred. Twitter user @kundalini2020 called the alleged theft an "exit scam."
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guest · Feb 10, 2020

Ukraine Won’t Regulate Crypto Mining, Government Ministry Says
February 10, 2020
https://www.coindesk.com/ukraine-wont-regulate-crypto-mining-government-ministry-says

In a document published on Friday, the government branch responsible for the digitization of Ukraine's economy listed the main principles of the country's approach to the crypto assets.

The main goals for the government in the field should be "formation and implementation of state policy in the field of digitization, digital economy, digital innovation, e-governance and e-democracy, development of information society; assuring the development of virtual assets, blockchain and tokenization, artificial intelligence," the document reads.
Most notably, the ministry said it has no plans to bring in rules to regulate crypto mining as that industry is already self-governed by blockchain consensus rules.

"We remain loyal to mining activities that form part of open decentralized networks. Mining does not require regulatory activity from governmental oversight bodies or other third-party regulations, this activity is regulated by the protocol itself and network members," the manifesto states.
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guest · Feb 10, 2020

mood said: ↑

Crypto Exchange Loses "Almost All Funds" in Hack
February 7, 2020
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/crypto-exchange-loses-almost-all/
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Hacked Italian Exchange Altsbit to Shut Down in May 2020
February 10, 2020
https://cointelegraph.com/news/hacked-italian-exchange-altsbit-to-shut-down-in-may-2020

Altsbit, a small cryptocurrency exchange that lost “almost all funds” in hack on Feb. 5, will shut down its services in May 2020.

After Altsbit first reported on the hack on Twitter on Feb. 6, the exchange released withdrawal instructions on Feb. 9. According to the statement, the hack caused Altsbit to have lost 6.929 Bitcoin (BTC) and 23 Ether (ETH), among losses in other cryptocurrencies such as Pirate Chain (ARRR), VerusCoin (VRSC) and and Komodo (KMD).
Users to be refunded from crypto in cold storage
Despite a significant part of Altsbit’s crypto funds being stored on cold storage, the exchange will still terminate its services on May 8, 2020. The firm promised to refund affected users from the cold storage funds:

“Refunds will begin on February 10, 2020 and end on May 8, 2020, after this date it will no longer be possible to request a refund as the Altsbit platform will be terminated.”
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guest · Feb 15, 2020

IOTA forced to suspend network after wallet hack
February 14, 2020
https://coingeek.com/iota-forced-to-suspend-network-after-wallet-hack/

The group leading the development of the IOTA blockchain, the IOTA Foundation, has run into a troubling situation. The non-profit was forced to halt its network this past Wednesday after discovering that the IOTA Trinity wallet had been attacked by hackers, resulting in the theft of tokens it held.

The issue is still being unraveled, but there are reports that anywhere from $300,000 to $1.6 million in IOTA tokens may have been lifted from the wallet.
Victims (around 10 that identified with the IOTA Foundation so far) all seem to have recently used Trinity.”
This isn’t the first time that IOTA has run into security issues, but the possible theft of as much as $1.6 million could make it one of the most disastrous.

The group explains in an announcement, “We’ve shifted the complete focus of all relevant resources of the IOTA Foundation to this investigation last night and we have been working in teams to investigate [the] impact and cause together with the identified victims.”
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Minimalist · Feb 16, 2020

Cryptocurrency News From Japan: Feb. 9 - Feb. 15 in Review

This past week in Japan, native exchange Bitpoint released data showing a massive deficit from 2019, Japan’s Financial Services Agency mentioned upcoming tightened regulations, Japanese and European central banks researched distributed ledger technology, Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party chairman expressed fears of Libra and the Chinese digital yuan, and the GMO Coin exchange hit 300,000 users.
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https://cointelegraph.com/news/cryptocurrency-news-from-japan-feb-9-feb-15-in-review

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