Why Bitcoin, Ethereum and the Entire Crypto Market Are Down in Value

The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of Cointelegraph.com. The way I see it, investors in 2017 — and specifically in Q4 — wanted to buy Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) for the sole purpose of exchanging it for specific ICO tokens they wanted to invest in. The buyers of Bitcoin and Ethereum did not want to own Bitcoin or Ethereum. They wanted to buy the newly issued initial coin offering (ICO) tokens, but they needed to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum as…

Popula Stores News on Ethereum’s Blockchain

Maria Bustillos Subscription-based news platform Popula has made history by providing the very first fully stored news article on a blockchain platform. Earlier this week, Maria Bustillos, the editor of journalist-owned Popula, announced the placement of an article published on the website has now been stored on the distributed ledger. According to the report, the article, which was initially published in Death + Taxes magazine, was stored in full on the Ethereum blockchain, and its hash was stored on the IPFS protocol. With these, it is expected that the article will…

Bitcoin Private Denies Fraud Allegations and Calls for Halt to BTCP Trading

Bitcoin Private Symbol Bitcoin Private has confirmed the allegations made by CoinMetrics, reported by CCN yesterday. Calling them “mathemetically accurate,” the development team says that no one on their team knows where the extra coins wound up. Again, CoinMetrics stated that at least 300,000 of them had already been moved through exchanges. Due to the low take-up by the Bitcoin community of Bitcoin Private (in which users could essentially have claimed free coins on the BTCP blockchain), this is a significant portion of the overall actual supply of Bitcoin Private,…

Bank of America Reveals New Blockchain Patent Targeting Cash Handling

Bank of America (BoA) wants to patent a system using blockchain technology to improve cash handling, a new application published Dec. 25 confirms. Originally submitted in June 2017, the patent references “banking systems controlled by data bearing records.” “Aspects of the disclosure relate to deploying, configuring, and utilizing cash handling devices to provide dynamic and adaptable operating functions,” its abstract reads. BoA explains there remain communication difficulties in aspects of cash handling duties across banks’ huge operations, and suggests blockchain could help ease these. “Cash handling devices may be used…

Canadian Crypto Exchange Coinsquare Launches into European Union

Coinsquare, one of the world’s leading trading platforms for trading Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, has confirmed launch across 25 countries in the European Union. The move marks the first international expansion for Coinsquare, which to date has only been available to Canadian customers. The exchange unveiled its plans to launch in Europe earlier this year. Now, European users can access Coinsquare’s suite of cryptocurrencies and services. They will have access to all major services including cryptocurrency purchase and trade, Coinsquare Wealth concierge services, Coinsquare APIs for B2B clients, and Coinsquare…

All Cryptos See Major Losses as Market Hit by Distinctly Unfestive Correction

Friday, Dec. 25 — crypto markets are lacking in Christmas cheer, with many major crypto assets hit with double-digit losses. Virtually all of the top 100 coins by market cap are in the red, as data from Coin360 shows. Market visualization by Coin360 Largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) has plummeted over 9 percent on the day, and is trading at $3,812 as of press time, according to Cointelegraph’s Bitcoin Price Index. After bullish growth yesterday, Christmas eve, to break over $4,236, the top coin has been trading as low as $3,755…

ACCIONA Uses Blockchain to Trace Renewable Electricity Generation

ACCIONA Energía, a subsidiary of Spanish renewable energy giant ACCIONA, has been building a platform to allow its clients to trace electricity generation in real-time using from any location using blockchain technology. Beginning the initial phases of the project called GREENCHAIN, ACCIONA worked with FlexiDAO, which specializes in digital energy services-focused software for electric power companies, to build a commercial demonstrator to ensure the traceability of renewable generation from five wind and hydro facilities in Spain to its supply to four corporate clients in Portugal. The demonstrator uses a blockchain…

GMO Internet Exits Bitcoin Miner Production After Recording ‘Extraordinary Loss’ in Q4

Japanese internet giant GMO Internet Group is quitting the Bitcoin mining hardware sector, Cointelegraph Japan reported Dec. 25 referencing a public document. Citing “extraordinary loss” in Q4 this year, GMO, which began its foray into Bitcoin mining in 2017, said that it will “no longer develop, manufacture and sell” miners. “After taking into consideration changes in the current business environment, the Company expects that it is difficult to recover the carrying amounts of the in-house-mining-related business assets, and therefore, it has been decided to record an extraordinary loss,” the document…

This Wyoming County Is Creating Blockchain-Based Land Records Platform

Grand Teton National Park/Jeff Gunn/Flickr/cc Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) blockchain subsidiary Medici Land Governance has agreed to build a blockchain-based land records and information platform for a Wyoming country. Medici Land, which focuses on land administration, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Teton County to develop the blockchain-based platform in 2019. Blockchain-Powered Property and Land Information Platform Under the terms of the agreement, both parties will work together to develop and implement the software needed for the county, which includes the town of Jackson, to transfer and display information from its…

Swiss Startup Making It Possible to Buy, Rent, Invest in Dubai with Cryptocurrency

Darico Announces Partnership with RDK Property Developer aiming to examine few Proof of Concepts in the Real Estate industry Zug, Switzerland-based blockchain-startup Darico has released details of its three proof-of-concepts (POCs) for the Dubai real estate industry in partnership with UAE’s property developer RDK Group. The POCs include renting luxury hotel-apartments (starting from January 2019), purchase of real estate via crypto-payments (in 5-year installments), and investing in tokenized apartments – by paying in Darico Ecosystem Coin (DEC). Darico’s partnership with RDK includes 30 luxury apartments, valued at $25 million. The…