Day: July 2, 2018

Two Men Settle Suit With SEC in Connection With Illegal Blockchain Stock Sales

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Two Nevada citizens agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), which accused them of profiting from the illegal sale of stocks of UBI Blockchain Internet Ltd., Bloomberg reported July 2. On Monday, the SEC filed a lawsuit in a New York federal court, accusing Nevada attorney T.J. Jesky and his firm’s manager Mark F. DeStefano of earning around $1.4 million by illegally selling shares in UBI Blockchain Internet Ltd. from December 2017 to January 2018. UBI Blockchain Internet Ltd., formerly known as JA…

UK Food Standard Agency Completes Blockchain Pilot for Food Supply Chain

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UK food regulator the Food Standard Agency (FSA) has successfully accomplished a pilot using blockchain technology according to an announcement published July 2. This was reportedly the first time blockchain has been used as a regulatory tool to ensure compliance in the food sector. The pilot was implemented in a cattle slaughterhouse, where both the FSA and the slaughterhouse were authorized to access data in order to improve transparency in the food supply chain. In July, the agency is looking to launch another pilot, which will allow farmers to access…

Bank of Finland Releases Scathing Crypto Report, Calls Digital Currency a “Fallacy”

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The Bank of Finland released a paper on June 21 titled “The Great Illusion of Cryptocurrencies,” explaining why they think the concept of a digital currency is a “fallacy.” The paper, written by Aleksi Grym, Adviser on Digitalization and Head of the Digital Central Bank process in the Financial Stability and Statistics Department. It aims to explain how cryptocurrencies’ fundamental nature “shows how poorly understood the concept of money itself still is today” and how the Internet and social media have “muddled our sense of fact and fiction.” In Grym’s…

‘Dumb’ MacOS Malware Attacks Slack, Discord Users Discussing Crypto

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Security researchers have discovered MacOS malware attacks targeting Slack and Discord users talking about cryptocurrencies, SC Media UK reports July 2. Remco Verhoef, founder of network security firm DutchSec, posted about the malware on June 30th in a blog post for the information security and cybersecurity training Sans Institute. According to Verhoef, the attacks impersonate administrators or “key people” in crypto-related chats, and then share “small snippets” that are downloaded and execute a malicious binary. SC Media UK notes that the malware can steal user passwords and store them on…

Dead Cat Bounce? Bitcoin Charts Show This Rally Could Be Different

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Bitcoin is building on Friday’s sharp recovery from lows below $5,800, indicating the corrective rally has more substance than what many presumed to be another “dead cat bounce.” Overall, the premier cryptocurrency jumped to $6,661.76 at 13:00 UTC, a 6.37 percent increase from the day’s low of $6,262.28, and was last seen trading at $6,613, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (BPI). The broader market followed suit, as it usually does when bitcoin (BTC) flexes its muscles. Currently, the total value of all cryptocurrencies stands at $270 billion, having…

Association of Thai Securities Companies Considers Launching Joint Crypto Exchange

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The Association of Thai Securities Companies (ASCO) is considering establishing a joint cryptocurrency exchange, with plans for several firms to apply together for a crypto exchange license, local news outlet Bangkok Post reports July 2. Pattera Dilokrungthirapop, ASCO chairperson, told the Bangkok Post that several Thai securities firms will apply for a joint crypto operating license with the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (Thai SEC) in order to reduce costs and share technologies. With just a securities business license, firms can become digital assets brokers and dealers, as well as…

‘Coinbase Custody’ Targeting Institutional Investors Now ‘Officially Open for Business’

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Major U.S. crypto exchange and wallet provider Coinbase has announced that its digital assets custodian solution for institutional investors is now launched, in an official blog post July 2. Coinbase first revealed its plans for its ‘Coinbase Custody’ venture in late 2017, saying at the time that it was seeking to address what it considers to be the “number one” concern of institutional investors, namely, security. As per today’s post, Coinbase has already been storing over $20 billion worth of clients’ crypto over the past six years, but its new…

Bitcoin and Ether Surge 6% as Crypto Market Adds $15 Billion in 2 Hours

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In the past 2 hours, bitcoin and ether, the native cryptocurrency of Ethereum, recorded a 5 percent increase in value supported by a sudden spike in volume. Within merely hours, the volume of bitcoin surged by over $1 billion while the volume of ether increased by nearly 20 percent. Volume is Coming Back Earlier today, CCN reported that the next 24 hours would be crucial to the crypto market and will define the trend of major digital assets including bitcoin and ether throughout this week. “The volume of bitcoin has…

BitMEX Crypto Exchange Co-Founder Becomes Britain’s ‘Youngest’ Bitcoin Billionaire

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Co-founder of BitMEX crypto exchange and an Oxford graduate Ben Delo has become Britain’s youngest self-made billionaire, Daily Mail reports July 2. Aged 34, Delo, who founded BitMEX in 2014, told Daily Mail that he used to spend 18 hours a day to build his platform. His work has apparently paid off, as BitMEX is currently one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world with a daily trade volume of around $2 billion, according to data from Coinmarketcap. “I have had my nose down in a start-up for the…

2.3 Million Bitcoin Addresses Targeted by Malware That ‘Hijacks’ Windows Clipboard

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A new attack on Bitcoin users which gains control of Windows clipboard to swap out addresses is already monitoring 2.3 million targets, sources reported June 30. The malware, part of a family of threats known as “clipboard hijackers,” secretly gains control of memory, running in the background to ensure users do not notice its presence. It then replaces the Bitcoin address that the user has copied into the clipboard with the address of the attacker, which the user later unknowingly pastes and sends their coins to. “Unless a user double-checks…