Fifteen Alleged Operators of $8 Million Crypto Scam Arrested in Taiwan

Police in New Taipei, Taiwan, have arrested fifteen suspects for allegedly running a cryptocurrency scam that earned them millions of dollars, English-language local media Focus Taiwan reports on Jan. 26. According to the article, the chief of the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) Li Chi-hsun said at a press conference that the fifteen suspects — including the alleged leader surnamed Lin — have been arrested in two separate raids carried out on Jan. 9 and Jan. 17. The arrested suspects have been reportedly charged with fraud, and the case has been…

This Crypto Ransomware is Targeting Bitcoin (BTC) Mining Rigs in China

Bitcoin (BTC) miners in China are in a bind after a ransomware by the name of ‘hAnt’ has been targeting specific mining rigs such as the Bitmain’s Antminer S9, T9 and L3. The ransomware has also found its way into Avalon rigs. The malicious code was first detected in August 2018. Up until now there is no clear source of origin. Some Chinese security experts suspect that hAnt comes hidden inside tainted versions of mining rig firmware that has been present online since last Summer. hAnt functions like any other…

LocalBitcoins Resumes Outgoing Transactions After Warnings of Phishing Link on Forum

A link to a phishing LocalBitcoins clone website had been placed on the official LocalBitcoins forum, but the attack has since been stopped. A LocalBitcoins community manager warned of the attack on Reddit on Jan. 26. According to the post, an unidentified hacker or hacker group detected a security vulnerability in the LocalBitcoins forum and linked it to a phishing forum. Even before the official communication, a Reddit user warned in a post on the Bitcoin (BTC) subreddit: “When visiting the localbitcoins forum […] users are prompted to log into…

Why Fighting Against Censorship Is in Everyone’s Interest

Why Fighting Against Censorship Is in Everyone’s Interest January 27, 2019 by Bitsonline Guest Contributor Censorship is an age-old phenomenon. Governments have been trying to control information for as long as they have existed, and the advent of the internet saw those efforts make the jump to the digital world. Although powerful in the past, these old state-created and state-maintained social constructs are crumbling. State decisions on what’s legal (or illegal), who can produce valid knowledge, and what information is ‘safe’ for users to consume are no longer the prevailing…

Why Fighting Against Censorship Is in Everyone’s Interest

Why Fighting Against Censorship Is in Everyone’s Interest January 27, 2019 by Bitsonline Guest Contributor Censorship is an age-old phenomenon. Governments have been trying to control information for as long as they have existed, and the advent of the internet saw those efforts make the jump to the digital world. Although powerful in the past, these old state-created and state-maintained social constructs are crumbling. State decisions on what’s legal (or illegal), who can produce valid knowledge, and what information is ‘safe’ for users to consume are no longer the prevailing…

Bitcoin Price Weekly Analysis: BTC Trading Near Make-or-Break Levels

Bitcoin price is trading nicely above the $3,500 support area against the US Dollar. There is a major ascending channel formed with resistance at $3,650 on the 4-hours chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken). The pair needs to surpass the $3,650 and $3,720 resistance levels to gain bullish momentum in the near term. Bitcoin price made a few bullish breakout attempts, but it failed against the US Dollar. BTC/USD must stay above $3,500 and $3,480 to avoid a downside break in the coming days. Bitcoin Price Analysis…

Ethereum Price Weekly Analysis: ETH’s Next Crucial Break Is Near

ETH price remained below the $120 and $125 resistance levels against the US Dollar. There is a crucial bearish trend line formed with resistance at $116 on the 4-hours chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken). The pair needs to surpass the $116, $117 and $120 resistance level for a decent upside move. Ethereum price is trading in a tight range versus the US Dollar and Bitcoin. ETH/USD could struggle to move past $120, which might result in a bearish break below $112. Ethereum Price Analysis This past week, ETH…

Bitcoin Climbs up China’s First Crypto Ranking of 2019

News China’s Center for Information and Industry Development has released its latest ranking of 34 crypto projects. This is the first update for 2019, but it is the ninth update overall. Bitcoin has been upgraded from the previous ranking while the top two positions remain unchanged. Also read: Indian Supreme Court Moves Crypto Hearing, Community Calls for Positive Regulations First 2019 Ranking The Center for Information and Industry Development (CCID), under China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, released its ninth crypto project ranking update on Thursday. The center noted that…

VanEck: Bitcoin (BTC) Investors’ #1 2019 Investment Is Gold

Wall Streeter: Bitcoin Investors Flocking To Gold Per previous reports from Ethereum World News, mere days ago, investment guru Jan Van Eck, the current chief executive of Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund hopeful VanEck, took to CNBC to reveal that his firm’s collaborative ETF application was to be withdrawn. In the interview, the Wall Streeter, whose father was the founder of VanEck, explained that the government shutdown (which recently ended) disallowed its representatives from actively conversing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). And as such, considering that the SEC…

Threatening Calls After Critical XRP Report Were Made by ‘Punk Kids’

Ryan Selkis, the CEO of cryptocurrency analytics firm Messari, has allegedly received threats after his company published a critical analysis of Ripple (XRP) cryptocurrency. Selkis made this claim in a tweet posted on Jan. 24. Research firm Messari published a report on Jan. 24, claiming that the market capitalization of XRP is likely overvalued by $6.1 billion. The company reportedly based its analysis on data from cryptocurrency exchanges and third party cryptocurrency data services. Following the publication, the CEO and founder of Messari, Ryan Selkis, posted a tweet alleging that…