Day: December 19, 2018

OKEx Launches No-Expiry Bitcoin Derivative Product

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Malta-based OKEx, currently the second largest crypto exchange by 24-hour adjusted volume, has launched a new bitcoin derivative product with no expiry date, meaning that positions can be held indefinitely. Announced Tuesday, the product, dubbed a “perpetual swap,” allows crypto traders to speculate on the future value of OKEx’s bitcoin (BTC) to U.S. dollar (USD) index. Each swap contract has a notional value of $100 equivalent in BTC, the exchange said in a statement, adding that traders can either long a position to profit from an increase in bitcoin’s price…

French Parliament Refuses to Ease Taxation for Cryptocurrency Owners

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The lower house of the French parliament has rejected the amendments to the 2019 finance bill which would ease crypto-related taxation. French monthly business magazine Capital reported this Tuesday, Dec. 18. The amendments that have been declined by the National Assembly referred to a draft of the government finance bill for 2019. As explained by local crypto news outlet Bitcoin.fr, the Parliament rejected four proposals in total. One of them was to introduce a distinction between regular crypto transactions and occasional ones, offering a more relaxed taxation system for the…

Hong Kong Stock Market Regulator ‘Reluctant’ to Greenlight Bitmain IPO, Sources Report

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Hong Kong stock market regulator is reportedly reluctant to allow Bitcoin mining equipment manufacturer Bitmain to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) in the city. Local English-language newspaper South China Morning Post (SCMP) made this claim in an article published Dec. 19, with reference to anonymous sources. Citing two “sources familiar with the matter,” SCMP poured more cold water on the plans of mining giant Bitmain to go public, just a day after the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) told Cointelegraph that any hesitation on part of the company was…

Blockchain Transparency Institute Blasts Top Exchanges For Wash Trading

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Blockchain Transparency Institute Blasts Top Exchanges For Wash Trading December 19, 2018 by Paul de Havilland The Blockchain Transparency Institute (BTI) has released a report claiming that over 80 percent of trading volume in the top 25 bitcoin trading pairs is faked by wash trading. The findings suggest trading volume is exaggerated by traders (and possibly exchanges) deliberately boosting volume by buying and selling crypto assets. Also see: Meet Hydro: Large Relayer Forking 0x, Axing ZRX Subscribe to the Bitsonline YouTube channel for great videos featuring industry insiders & experts Three-Month Surveillance Effort…

Qtum Awards $400K Grant to Columbia University Research Team for Smart Contracts R&D

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Open source blockchain project Qtum has awarded a $400,000 grant to academics at Columbia University to fund the development of a new programming language for Ethereum (ETH)-style smart contracts. The news was announced in an email shared with Cointelegraph Dec. 19. The research and development (R&D) grant will go to a team of two PhD and postdoctoral students, headed by assistant professor at Columbia’s computer science faculty, Ronghui Gu. The R&D will reportedly focus on the design and implementation of a new language named “DeepSEA” and its integration with Ethereum-style…

JPMorgan: “Investors’ Interest in Bitcoin is Fading”

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News JP Morgan Chase & Co. believes the current bear market is scaring investors away from bitcoin, just to add to the never-ending rumors of its demise. But as retail and institutional investors seem to be looking for other options, are classic analysts telling the whole story? Also read: Only Sharks Will Feed on the Crypto Market’s Elusive Price Bottom The Pessimist’s Case for Dismissing Bitcoin A group of JP Morgan Chase analysts believe the prolonged bear market of 2018 is scaring institutional investors away from Bitcoin. Global markets strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou…

JPMorgan: “Investors’ Interest in Bitcoin is Fading”

boss

JP Morgan Chase & Co. believes the current bear market is scaring investors away from bitcoin, just to add to the never-ending rumors of its demise. But as retail and institutional investors seem to be looking for other options, are classic analysts telling the whole story? Also read: Only Sharks Will Feed on the Crypto Market’s Elusive Price Bottom The Pessimist’s Case for Dismissing Bitcoin A group of JP Morgan Chase analysts believe the prolonged bear market of 2018 is scaring institutional investors away from Bitcoin. Global markets strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou has…

Iranians Still Profiting From Bitcoin Mining Despite Market Crash and US Sanctions

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Iranians are turning to Bitcoin (BTC) mining due to economic difficulties caused by sanctions by the United States, International affairs think tank Atlantic Council reported Dec. 17. Despite the recent crash in crypto markets and fluctuations in the national rial currency caused by recently reinforced U.S. sanctions, Iranian people are still reportedly managing to gain profits from mining Bitcoin. As reported by Atlantic Council, 26-year-old Iranian Ali Hosseini and his cousin Pedram Ghasemi bought a Bitcoin mining device Antminer S9 two months ago for $526, when the top cryptocurrency was…

Bitcoin (BTC) Tops $3,800 — Santa Claus Rally Imminent?

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Bitcoin (BTC) is up by more than eight percent in the last 24 hours as it tops $3,800 for the first time in almost two weeks. The total market capitalization has also added over $20 billion in a little over a couple of days as virtual currencies post significant price gains. Has Bitcoin Bottomed Out Once again, the question about whether Bitcoin has found its bottom price is at the front and center of the conversation in the cryptocurrency industry. Since plummeting in mid-November and falling below the $6,000, $5,000,…

Greek Supreme Court Rules in Support of Extraditing Alleged Bitcoin Launderer Vinnik to France

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The Supreme Court of Greece has ruled in support of a decision to extradite the alleged former operator of now-defunct crypto exchange BTC-e Alexander Vinnik to France. A “correspondent at the scene” from major Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported the news Dec. 19. As previously reported, 39-year old Russian national Vinnik, a.k.a “Mr. Bitcoin,” was first indicted by United States authorities and detained in Greece on July 25, 2017, on criminal charges of fraud and allegedly laundering up to $4 billion in Bitcoin (BTC) via BTC-e. Russia and France…