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LATEST ARTICLES
Opera Hits A High Note With Crypto Browser
Internet browser Opera for Android lets users by cryptocurrency directly online in just a few seconds. The Scandinavian web company revealed an electronic wallet was on the way for the popular browser last year. Now, the roll-out has started for cryptocurrency investors and traders in Sweden, Norway and Denmark – with the rest of the world following soon, says the company. The browser is linked with Bitcoin exchange Safello to let users buy, store and sell Ethereum. “We think that the next important phase for crypto will come from usage and that for it to reach wider adoption, it has to be easy to buy and easy to use,” said Charles Hamel, product lead for crypto at Opera. “We believe that the browser will be the entry point for these use cases. Thanks to our partnership with Safello, we are taking one more step towards this vision.” The crypto-enabled browser is available from Google Play
Bitcoin Price Fixing Probe Launched In US
Justice officials are investigating claims that the price of Bitcoin was widely manipulated last year. Whistle-blowers have repeatedly alleged cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and coin Tether were involved. Both businesses are under common control. Academic John Griffin of the University of Texas and the anonymous tweeter “Bitfinex’ed” say that Bitfinex has flooded the cryptocurrency market with fake capital to drive up prices. Bitfinex/Tether CEO JL van der Velde has denied the Griffin/Shams allegations entirely, stating, “Tether issuances cannot be used to prop up the price of Bitcoin or any other coin/token on Bitfinex.” The US Justice Department has confirmed an inquiry is underway, but declines to offer any further comment.
Market still in the red
The cryptocurrency market has gained a little in recent days – but the price of Bitcoin almost sank below $4,000 – dropping to $4,030 before recovering by 12%. Bitcoin is currently trading at $4,482.91 having lost around 25% of market capitalisation in a week, taking the cap down from $112 billion to $78 billion. Bitcoin Cash is still losing strongly after Friday’s hard fork. Trading is down 33.25% on the day to $259.21. The new Bitcoin Cash coins are also struggling, with Bitcoin Cash ABC down 10% to $237.47 and Bitcoin Cash SV down 18.08% to 456.08. All major cryptocurrencies are barely keeping their heads above water after hitting 12 month lows. Even star cryptocurrency Ripple XRP has stalled, toppling from $0.4919 to $0.4437 since the Bitcoin Cash hard fork. The only major coin in the black is Dash, trading at $112.47 – up just 1.68% on the day’s trading.Mining is OK for political donations
The US Federal Election Commission has greenlighted supporters making political party donations by allocating them cryptomining assets. Cryptomining corporation OsiaNetwork wants to set up a system that allows party supporters to hand over spare computer processing power to a politician who can mine for donations. The FEC agreed contributing processing power to mine cryptocurrency to raise funds for political campaigns is OK, but is classified as a contribution rather than an act of volunteering. “Although the proposal is permissible under the Act and Commission regulations, it does not fall within the volunteer Internet activities exception, and would result in contributions from both the individuals and OsiaNetwork to the participating political committees.,” the FEC said.Johnny Depp Backs YouTube Online Video Rival
Movie star Johnny Depp is the latest celebrity to take the plunge into the world of cryptocurrency. Depp is hoping his new venture will turn to gold even though many other big names who have dipped into crypto have had their fingers and reputations burned by scandal. Always one for the big project, Depp is taking on internet video giant YouTube in his collaboration linking his production company Infinitum Nihil with social entertainment platform TaTaTu. From Depp’s side, his company will generate exclusive content for the network. TaTaTu is a blockchain start-up that launched a token in what was the third largest initial coin offering ever. Earlier this year, the offering collared $575 million and ranked behind messaging app Telegram and cryptocurrency EOS for raising the most cash. The TTU token was offered at $0.25 and currently trades at $0.13. The TaTaTu app is available from the Apple store and users collect tokens from watching content and adverts. New sign-ups can claim a 50 TTU airdrop. The app’s first movie is a documentary about the life of The Exorcist and French Connection director William Friedkin.
Forbes market monitor alliance
Rich list publisher Forbes is moving into the realm of cryptocurrency by backing a new market monitor. Forbes Cryptomarkets is badged by the publisher and provides up-to-the-minute market data on the top 200 cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation. The data site also carries trending cryptocurrency and blockchain news. CEO of Forbes Media Mike Federle said, “Forbes CryptoMarkets, a new licensed business, represents a natural extension of our powerful brand into a new venture that promises to deliver immense value to investors, traders and market watchers.”India’s first Bitcoin ATM raided
It’s a case of now you see it, now you don’t for India’s first cryptocurrency ATM. Launched only days ago in a blaze of publicity as way to work around the government ban on trading digital currency, police have raided the ATM and arrested the attendant. Bangalore police say the WTM was operating without a licence and failing to display Bitcoin exchange rates. “We asked the operator about the Bitcoin rates and to which he said there was no fixed rate and it would vary from customer to customer. The Reserve Bank of India has stated that Bitcoin cannot be used as legal tender,” said a police spokesman.How Traders Manipulate Cryptocurrency Prices With Bots
Bots are quietly working in the background of the cryptocurrency market in a bid to manipulate digital coin prices, a newspaper investigation alleges. An investigation by The Wall Street Journal says bots are behind the huge swings in cryptocurrency values and swindling innocent investors out of their cash. A bot is a purpose-built software program that trawls the cryptocurrency market. The bot has algorithms that spot trends in the market and then automatically places trades. Illicit traders use bots to post an order to sell at a lower price than other investors then cancel the order almost immediately. The sale order tempts other investors to buy at the low price, but the order is not executed because the sale is cancelled, but the transaction briefly boost the value of the cryptocurrency.
Bot spoofing banned on stock markets
The trader running the bot then sells at the higher price. The strategy is like a technique called ‘spoofing’ on stock and futures markets and was banned in America in 2010. “This sort of activity is rampant in the market right now,” said Andy Bromberg, co-founder and president of CoinList, a cryptocurrency start up issuing new digital tokens. Trader Kjetil Eilertsen wrote a program called Quatloo Trader promoted as “the best market-manipulation tool in the world of crypto.” He says banning market manipulation will not work, instead, he says, give everyone the same tools. “If everybody can manipulate, then nobody is manipulating,” he said. “You can’t ban anything from people who are dedicated to doing something.”Passive income generators are scams
Regulators are especially concerned about cryptocurrency market manipulation. The US Securities & Exchange Commission, a financial markets watchdog, has turned down attempts to start several Bitcoin-based exchange traded funds (ETFs). New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood highlighted the problem in a report. “When any venue tolerates manipulative or abusive conduct, the integrity of the entire market is at risk,” the report said. Digital currency traders can develop their own bots or buy them online with impunity. Many are marketed as passive income generators, but turn out as scams. The prevalence of bots in the market have led social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to ban their advertising.Creating Cryptocurrency Is Easy – The Problem Is Adding Value
Creating a cryptocurrency is easy – pick a blockchain start up, type in some code and that’s it, according to US newspaper The Wall Street Journal. But the hard part is making a cryptocurrency valuable and finding someone who will accept the coin for payment. That’s why more than 2,000 cryptocurrencies exist and most fail, says the WSJ. The paper has published a video online documenting the short life of WSJCoin and the problems the cryptocurrency sector faces. “Whether the industry really needs thousands of these digital currencies has been questioned. This year’s selloff has been harder on the biggest so-called altcoins—alternative versions of bitcoin—than on bitcoin itself,” says WSJ journalist Steven Russolillo.
xRapid bolsters Ripple
Ripple is seeking to expand the reach of the underlying blockchain and the XRP coin by partnering with banks and other financial institutions with a special product targeting cross-border financial transactions. xRapid speeds up international transactions for financial institutions and cuts the cost of moving money between countries, says a statement from Ripple. “The traditional international wire experience fails to meet today’s expectations from a price, speed and ease-of-use perspective. Blockchain technology, and specifically Ripple’s xRapid product, resolves all three of these challenges simultaneously,” said Brad Ganey, senior vice president and COO, Catalyst Corporate Federal Credit Union.Security problems dog exchanges
Investors have lost $1.3 billion in hacks at 31 cryptocurrency exchanges, says new data from research agency ICOrating. The report pinpoints four reasons allowing the hackers access to exchanges – code errors, poor user account security, inadequate domain and register security and a lack of web protocol security. Coinbase and Kraken were rated as the most secure exchanges. “More than 200 crypto-exchanges offer their services and this number is constantly growing. The fall or hacking of the one exchange will not lead to a drop in the market. Still, nobody is fully protected from the loss of their crypto assets. This report covers most pressing issues of 100 selected crypto-exchanges,” says ICOrating. The price of shares in the only US Bitcoin investment trust, Grayscale Bitcoin, have tumbled almost 80% since Bitcoin peaked at $20,000 in December last year. Besides the 60% plus drop in value of Bitcoin to around $6,400 since then, high fund fees have also contributed to the fall in value.Buying A Coke Boost Bitcoin Hopes To Go Mainstream
The coin has dropped for cryptocurrency investors as new Bitcoin technology has opened the way for consumers to make small purchases. Failing to let people spend their Bitcoins on day-to-day goods and services has always hampered the mainstream take up of cryptocurrencies. To become a viable alternative to hard currency, digital coins must become a means of exchange and carry some value that is not forever changing. The first step on the road to acceptance comes from Bitcoin’s Lightning Network. Developed in response to criticism that the Bitcoin blockchain is too slow and clunky to handle millions of simultaneous financial transaction, Lightning is technology on top of the underlying blockchain.
Vending machine demo
Lightning stores transactional data and later transfers the details to the blockchain. Now, one developer has shown how a vending machine can be adapted to accept an electronic Bitcoin payment via a QR code. It’s fair to say the idea is under development and small-scale, but does show the future is bright for digital currencies. The vending demo is not the only Lightning Network small purchase development. Crypto start-up CoinGate has piloted a Lightning Network plug-in with 100 retailers. “Lightning Network is in its early days and more suited to advanced users and Bitcoin enthusiasts, but a huge community of developers is working behind the scenes on making it user-friendly and accessible to a wider audience. By implementing Lightning Network, CoinGate is dramatically reducing the technical barrier on the merchant’s side, essentially making it effortless, while users can enable or disable Lightning with a toggle of a switch,” says a CoinGate blog. CoinGate cheered the success of Oslo’s Kasbah Bar in allowing customers to pay for beer with Bitcoin on the Lightning Network.Negative impact
The slow speed of the Bitcoin blockchain is quoted by some as a reason why the cryptocurrency will never be adopted as money. Ethereum and XRP Ripple are faster and better suited as a means of payment. “One area of confusion about blockchain is the perceived negative environmental impact, but this is a problem specific to Bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies,” says an article in Forbes magazine. “It is caused by the limitations of the decade-old design of bitcoin and due to Bitcoin’s mining process that requires a “proof of work” to validate transactions. Proof of work is a mathematical algorithm that is essential to validate transactions in the Bitcoin blockchain and consumes huge computational power and energy close to what Denmark consumes annually. “Other cryptocurrencies operate differently. Ether, for example, uses the proof-of-stake concept, which is energy efficient, while the cryptocurrency ripple does not require mining.”Buzz From Bitcoin Mining Upsets The Neighbours
Cryptocurrency miners in a sleepy backwater have been handed a ban because they are too noisy and eat up too much electricity. The 12-month ban was slapped on while town officials in the US state of Washington look for a compromise between residents and miners. People living in Ephrata and the surrounding area say the 24-hour background noise from the mining operations was constantly like listening to the roar of the sea. Miners love the area because of the abundance of cheap hydroelectricity need to run their massive server farms, mainly prospecting for Bitcoin. Officials say the miners are draining the power grid without adding value to the town as their operations bring no jobs. Hiking the bill for electricity is one option the town is considering. “Economics will be the deciding factor,” said councillor Matt Moore. “If this is an economical business, and this is one of the ideal places to situate it, I don’t want to surrender any economic opportunity big or small.”
Experts fail their crypto exams
Shocked cryptocurrency regulators on the Mediterranean island of Malta have revealed two out of three candidates failed their certification exam. The pass mark was just 39% from around 250 lawyers, accountants and auditors hoping to qualify under the country’s Virtual Finance Assets Act. The licence is required for anyone acting as a cryptocurrency agent under the act if they are trading cryptocurrency, managing initial coin offerings or providing investment advice. From November, anyone engaged in these activities must hold a licence. “It has also become evident that certain industry players are not sufficiently prepared to register as VFA agents,” said regulator the Malta Financial services Authority.Young adults favour crypto investments
Cryptocurrency is a good investment, according to a poll of young German adults. One in three favour cryptocurrency as an investment, says the survey by Postbank. Half of 18 to 24 year olds confirmed they are considering digital currency trading and 14% expect to plunge into the market with 12 months. A fifth expressed excitement at investing in cryptocurrency, with 56% of men rating the high returns as attractive, compared to 36% of women, while 29% of the group claimed they were cryptocurrency experts. The age group makes up 8% of the German population.Wall St Giant Opens Cryptocurrency Business
Wall Street financial giant Fidelity is opening the doors to cryptocurrency with a digital assets desk. The investment firm is setting up a desk to hold and manage cryptocurrency assets for financial institutions. The desk dipping a toe into the digital currency market starting with Bitcoin and Ethereum, but has plans to add other online assets in the future. Fidelity will also broker trading the two cryptocurrencies for clients through a new arm – Fidelity Digital Assets. “A lot of the effort over the last few months has been taking what had already been built and elevating it to a level in which we were comfortable to go to market,” said Tom Jessop, Fidelity’s head of corporate business development. “While there are many places for consumers to buy and trade crypto, we didn’t see analogous developments for institutions. “We made a decision to move in this direction, and that has been validated by the prospects we are talking to now.” The desk will start trading early in 2019.
Source: OnChainFX
10 worst performing cryptocurrencies
Here’s a look at the 10 worst performing cryptocurrencies as listed by market monitor OnChainFX. The table shows the cryptocurrencies that have lost the most since they hit their all-time high (ATH) – and how long ago they peaked.| Rank | Cryptocurrency | Price | Market cap | % issued | ATH | Days since ATH | % lost from ATH |
| 1 | Zclassic (ZCL) | $3.42 | $17,381,738 | 24.27% | $235.32 | 284 | 99% |
| 2 | GameCredits (GAME) | $0.168 | $11,678,673 | 82.53% | $6.90 | 281 | 98% |
| 3 | Bitcoin Diamond (BCD) | $1.75 | $268,649,005 | 79.32% | $59.44 | 295 | 97% |
| 4 | Nxt (NXT) | $0.061 | $60,517,917 | 99.90% | $1.94 | 298 | 97% |
| 5 | Einsteinium (EMC2) | $0.089 | $19,362,245 | 72.63% | $2.83 | 302 | 97% |
| 6 | LBRY Credits (LBC) | $0.041 | $8,049,400 | 19.56% | $1.26 | 278 | 97% |
| 7 | Bitcoin Private (BTCP) | $2.51 | $51,596,156 | 97.74% | $77.15 | 179 | 97% |
| 8 | SALT (SALT) | $0.597 | $49,593,519 | 69.21% | $17.74 | 293 | 97% |
| 9 | Byteball (GBYTE) | $40.95 | $27,142,205 | 66.28% | $1,189 | 277 | 97% |
| 10 | Qtum (QTUM) | $3.80 | $337,915,481 | 88.97% | $106.88 | 284 | 96% |
Exchange listing propels 0x price
The power of a leading exchange listing was demonstrated as 0x surged 30% as Coinbase announced traders could buy, store or sell the cryptocurrency. Investors saw the move as a green light that 0x matches strict US financial regulations and is not considered a security. 0x is trading at $0.86 after peaking at $1.03 .Ripple Founder Larson Makes Waves On Rich List
Ripple co-founder Chris Larson has elbowed his way in to the Forbes rich list as the wealthiest person to make their fortune solely from cryptocurrency. Larson made 383rdplace out of 400 wealthy tycoons on the list with a personal net worth of 42.1 billion. The list timing was not good for Larson – in January before the dip in digital currency prices took a grip, he had an estimated personal wealth of $37 billion. Other crypto magnates vying for top place in the list ahead of Larson include Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, the Winklevoss twins and Coinbase exchange founder Brian Armstrong. Larson reportedly holds more than 5 billion Ripple XRP tokens, which are trading at $0.48.
Airport shopping with crypto takes off
Airport shopping with cryptocurrency is about to take off in Australia. Brisbane Airport has signed a deal with exchange Binance to set up a system that will allow travellers to buy from shops in the two terminals with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin and Binance Coin. Binance is dropping $2.5 million into the project through a take-over of payment platform TravelByBit. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said: “Real, on-the-ground, just-when-you-need-it use case is key for further crypto adoption. In this light, there is no better fit than being able to use your crypto when traveling, just after you land in a foreign country, where you may not have the local currency.”Tron takes on old-fashioned Ethereum
Tron is shaping up to take on Ethereum has the blockchain of choice for fast transactions and secure contracts. Founder and Tron Foundation CEO Justin Sun has announced the platform is launching a virtual machine to rival Ethereum. The VM allows Tron to test and run large-scale applications like Ethereum, while the launch also includes Era, Tron’s new smart contract add-on. Sun claims the technology will make Tron 200 times faster than Ethereum and 100 times cheaper than EOS. “If we look at the top 10 cryptocurrencies, many of them are not motivated to continue innovating or improving their product. They represent the older generation of cryptos,” Sun said. “Tron, on the other hand, is a young company with cutting edge technology, with much more room for growth. We are confident that Tron will surge into top 10 in the next 6 months.”Google Takes A Swipe At Cryptocurrencies
Google may have lifted the lid on the giant corporation’s love-hate relationship with cryptocurrency with a video advert. The advert aimed mainly at broadcast viewers on TV promotes the corporation’s CallScreen service with a conversation between characters Abby and Ted. Abby points out to Ted that his electricity bill is very high. Ted replies that’s because he mines cryptocurrency which ‘takes a lot of energy’. “Cryptocurrency? That money’s not real,” says Abby says. “Yeah, well I’ve got news for you: money isn’t real,” Teddy responds. “You gonna live that lie?” Abby comments as the ad ends. Google remains tight-lipped about any intended target of the quips. That’s probably because Google co-founder Sergey Brin has made his ethereum mining activities widely known. Cryptocurrency mining is energy intensive and sucks power from server farms set up to carry out the task. On the other hand, Google has lined up with other social media and online advertising giants Facebook and Twitter to ban most cryptocurrency investments – such as wallets, initial coin offerings and spread-betting. The ban was partly rolled back by Google and Facebook in recent weeks to allow regulated cryptocurrency exchanges to market services online. Watch the Google ad
Crypto tycoons make rich list
Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneurs are elbowing their way above traditional business people on the country’s rich list. The latest list – compiled from the annual Hurun Wealth Report– includes 13 cryptocurrency tycoons. Their business interest cover coin mining, trading and venture capital funding. The only crypto entrepreneur to make the top 100 was Micree Zhan Ketuan, 39, the co-founder of Bitmain Technologies, with an estimated wealth of £3.22 billion. Despite the success of some cryptocurrency businesses, the Beijing government has stepped up efforts to outlaw cryptocurrency trading over recent months by ordering the closure of many exchanges and broker operations.ICOs still banned in South Korea
One of the main cryptocurrency nations has confirmed a ban on initial coin offerings still stands. The South Korea government will rule on whether ICOs can continue in November after a review lasting several months. But spokesman Hong Nam-ki, head of the office for government policy coordination, did reaffirm the government’s commitment to the blockchain by explaining a budget of £26 million had been set aside for research.Opera Sings Praises Of New Cryptocurrency Wallet
Developers behind the Opera internet browser have revealed their shiny, new cryptocurrency wallet and platform for decentralised Ethereum apps (Dapps). A private beta wallet is open for Android users. The move marks an internet milestone as Opera becomes the first major browser to incorporate a cryptocurrency wallet. “We are pretty excited about this,” said a spokesman. “We believe the web of today will be the interface to the decentralized web of tomorrow. This is why we have chosen to use our browser to bridge the gap. “We think that with a built-in crypto wallet, the browser has the potential to renew and extend its important role as a tool to access information, make transactions online and manage users’ online identity in a way that gives them more control.” The wallet supports wallet-to-wallet transactions and online payments on a Coinbase-enabled platform. “Although the current selection of merchants accepting cryptocurrencies is very limited, we think cryptocurrency payments will become more popular, as crypto wallets become easier to use and understand,” said the spokesman. “This is a user-controlled wallet, which means that the keys controlling the funds and assets are on the user’s phone and nowhere else.”
Ban on the cards
Card providers Mastercard and Visa set to declare cryptocurrency, initial coin offerings (ICOs), forex and binary options as ‘high risk’ transactions. The change of policy means only financial institutions with a licence to operate in a specific region can carry out transactions. Each institutions must provide documentation as proof of permission to operate. The move is expected to tame rogue brokers and exchanges based in unregulated or loosely regulated jurisdictions. The measure will impact any merchant currently using Mastercard, Mastercard Debit and Maestro.$8m ICO flops
The Civil Media Company’s proposed $8 million ICO has flopped with just over a thousand investors staking $1.43 million. Another 1,738 buyers registered but failed to progress with their interest. The ICO was to sell CVL tokens to create a new economy for content providers and journalists. Despite the disappointment, the company is planning a second offering that includes a blockchain plug-in for blogging platform WordPress. “This isn’t how we saw this going,” said a spokesman. “The numbers will show clearly enough that we are not where we wanted to be at this point in the sale when we started out.”Why Is There Such A Fuss About Tether?
The people behind cryptocurrency Tether deny investors are moving out of the coin to buy Bitcoin. In the past seven days, while Bitcoin surged from $6,209 to $7,044 and then slipped back to $6,526, Tether also traded between the top and bottom end of the $0.96 to $0.95 range. Although Tether denies buying Bitcoin low to push the price up, the experts cautions investors appear to be selling out of Tether in favour of Bitcoin. Tether is pegged to the dollar and the price should always be $1, although this does not always happen in practise. The price is designed to keep stable, unlike the volatile Bitcoin. This can mean any opportunity is scant to make trading profits in the same way as with Bitcoin investments. “Despite speculation, we have consistently stated that tether is backed by USD reserves at or exceeding the tethers in circulation at a given moment, and we’re glad to have independent verification of this so answer some of the questions posed by the public,” said Tether CEO Ludovicus van der Velde, who also acts as CEO of exchange Bitfinex. “Bitfinex nor Tether is, or has ever, engaged in any sort of market price manipulation.” Research by University of Texas academics claims Bitfinex used Tether to buy Bitcoin at times of low demand and hike up the price. The paper argues Tether’s price patterns are “most consistent with the supply-based hypothesis where Tether is used to provide support and manipulate cryptocurrency prices.”
ATM sets out to beat Indian crypto ban
Digital cryptocurrency exchange Unocoin has launched an ATM network in India to bypass a central bank ruling banning banks from holding accounts for inline trading platforms. The move was seen as a government crackdown on investors pouring money into digital currencies. Unocoin has skipped around the problem by allowing investors to run their online wallets from ATMs linked to accounts outside India. “In the first phase we plan to deploy 30 machines. The first is in Bangalore followed by Mumbai and New Delhi,” said Unocoin CEO Sathvik Vishwanath. The ATMs allow investors with Unocoin wallets to buy, sell and hold up to 30 cryptocurrencies. The drawback is an investor must go to an ATM to trade digital currencies.XRP Ripple Goes For Olympic Gold
A move to make Ripple XRP the official cryptocurrency of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is gathering momentum. A petition recognising XRP could solve the problem of foreign currency exchange at major international events started 10 months ago – but has gone viral in the past few days. More than 10,000 XRP supporters have signed up with the number growing each day. The petition starter, Ken Takahashi wants the International Olympic Committee to adopt XRP for the games in Japan. “While this global event presents great cultural and economic opportunities, hosting countries also face many challenges concerning infrastructure, transportation and payment systems,” he said. “As tourists stream into the country, demand for the local currency skyrockets, causing long lines at currency exchanges, as seen at past events like Beijing 2008 and Rio de Janeiro 2016. Confusing exchange rates and language barriers further complicate the problem. “We believe that the fast transaction times and security of Ripple Lab’s XRP cryptocurrency would be a great contribution towards solving this problem.” Click this link to go to the petition
Crypto firm snaps up crowdfunder
Crypto firm Circle has snapped up US crowdfunding site SeedInvest in a deal of undisclosed value. SeedInvest is one of America’s leading equity start-up funding platforms with 200,000 investors and licences from the Securities & Exchange Commission and broker-dealer regulator FINRA. Circle plans to develop new services to fund businesses with cryptocurrencies. “Circle’s vision is one of an open, global and connected digital economy built on crypto assets and blockchain infrastructure. A critical element of realizing this vision is building new ways for businesses, and ultimately individuals, to use crypto assets to more efficiently raise capital, manage investors and provide liquidity,” said Circle in a statement. “Furthermore, Circle aims to continue to raise the bar for the crypto industry by embracing securities regulation as it applies to crypto and paving the way for security tokens.”Misleading Bitcoin adverts pulled
Crypto Bank Global has fallen foul of advertising standards in the UK and must pull any ads implying Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies values would rise significantly and quick and substantial investment returns are guaranteed. Barclays Corporate Bank challenged the firm’s claims that Bitcoin values had hit £30,000 in 2018 and complained the advertising did not explain Bitcoin was an unregulated financial product in the UK. Crypto Global Bank failed to respond to the watchdog.Ali Baba Magic Spells Success For Shopping Coin
Ali Baba is set to become a magic word in cryptocurrency, much to the annoyance of a Chinese internet giant. The Alibaba Foundation is about to launch the Alibabacoin on 10 cryptocurrency exchanges at the same time, much to the annoyance of China’s Ali Baba Group, Asia’s online rival to Amazon. The foundation and the shopping conglomerate are unconnected, but the foundation is on a heading to stir up more conflict by expanding into 30 of the world’s best known shopping malls while setting up an online store where shoppers can spend their Alibabacoin. Alibabacoin Foundation founder and CEO Jason Daniel Paul Philip promises Alibabacoin will sit on a fully functioning blockchain rather than just operate as a token. “We strive to make ABBC Blockchain Technology the world’s leading software platform for digital assets,” he said. “We are building a fund security system that is improved by using the latest technology with a secret technique for implementing the blockchain algorithm into the facial recognition hashing process. Alibabacoin will serve as the primary mode to avail all the services on the platform. Now that it will be listed on around ten major exchanges, anyone can easily purchase the Alibabacoin.”
Exchange delists four cryptos
Cryptocurrency investors saw their holdings drop in value when major exchange Binance dropped them. Binance said Bytecoin, ChatCoin, Iconomi, and Trigger would be excluded from listing ‘to protect the safety of other users.” The Binance statement explained that cryptocurrencies are regularly reviewed and dropped if they fail quality control tests. Chatcoin and Trigger have dropped in value by more than 15% since the delisting. “In order to protect our users, the Binance team conducts comprehensive and periodic reviews of each digital asset listed on our platform to ensure projects maintain a high standard of quality. In the event a coin or token falls below this quality standard, it will be subject to further review and potentially delisted,” said the online statement.Slap in the face for SpankChain
Hackers have slapped down adult industry cryptocurrency SpankChain by stealing $38,000 of ethereum due to a smart contract bug. SpankChain sits atop the Ethereum blockchain and allows users to tip live web cam performers with a Booty token. The theft came after the developers delayed a security audit due to the estimated cost -thought to be around $40,000. SpankChain will keep the live web cam service offline until the bug is fixed.Cyber Scammers Snatch $2.3m From Crypto Investors
Anti-scam technology blocked almost 60,000 consumers from connecting to bogus cryptocurrency web sites masquerading as popular wallets and exchanges. Criminals running the phishing web sites tried to harvest personal financial information and to persuade cryptocurrency investors to hand over their tokens. Software security provider Kaspersky reckons fraudsters exploiting cryptocurrency web sites gained $2.3 million in the second quarter of 2018. The data comes from the firm’s Spam and Phishing Report for Q2 2018. One of the largest money spinners for fraudsters are cryptocoin giveaways, says Kaspersky.
Source: Kaspersky
Ethereum risk
“Cybercriminals continue using the names of new initial coin offering (ICO) projects to collect money from potential investors that are trying to gain early access to new tokens. Sometimes phishing sites pop up before official project sites,” said the report. The company also confirmed that Ethereum was the most popular cryptocurrency for scammers to try to exploit as the coin’s ICOs attract more funding through ICOs. Internet users are also warned to watch out for bogus advertising on major search engines that contains click-through links to phishing web sites. “This has recently become a popular method of advertising fake ICO project websites,” says the report.Billions of phishing attempts
The scope of crooked activity by cybercriminals is astonishing. Kasperky disclosed almost 10% of their millions of worldwide users were targeted in phishing attacks and that software safeguards stopped almost 108 billion connections to malicious web sites. Web users in Brazil were the top target for phishers, with nearly 16% falling victim. China reported the next highest number – 15%, with Russia recording 13% of attacks. One in four phishing attempts were through global internet portals, while one in five involved web sites run by major financial organisations, online payment portals and banks. The company also highlighted spam subscription forms as a risk as harvested email addresses are sold on to cybercriminals for multiple re-use.Fake ICO project pages
The first is located on fantom.pub and imitates fantom.foundation, the real site of the FANTOM project; the second one, found on sparkster.be, is an imitation of sparkster.me, the original SPARKSTER site Source: Kaspersky