August 21, 2019

Flooding in China a Big Blow to Sichuan Bitcoin Mining Facilities

August 21, 2019 boss

Bitcoin miners in China already have to deal with a government that wants to stamp out their industry. Add to that natural disasters such as flooding and landslides, and they have a full plate to contend with. Sichuan Bitcoin Farms Hit by Floods According to government services, monsoon flooding in China during July and August has claimed the lives of over 200 people. Recent reports indicate that western Sichuan province has been the hardest hit with 8 killed and 23 missing as of this morning. Typhoon Lekima, which swept across…

Supreme Court Gives Central Bank 2 Weeks to Justify Crypto Ban

August 21, 2019 boss

India’s supreme court has slammed the country’s central bank over its handling of a cryptocurrency business ban and ordered it to address complaints. Judge: RBI has not properly responded to representation In the latest session of an ongoing hearing into the actions of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Aug. 21, the Court ruled officials had not appropriately responded to concerns from the cryptocurrency industry over its actions. The RBI forbade banks servicing crypto operators such as exchanges in July 2018, effectively ending the ability for such platforms to…

Cryptopia Exchange Kept Users’ Cryptos in Pooled Wallet: Liquidator

August 21, 2019 boss

The assigned liquidator for the collapsed New Zealand-based cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia says it’s making progress in determining customer holdings, but that the management of user funds by the exchange has caused delays. Professional services firm Grant Thornton New Zealand was assigned to oversee the liquidation process in May, after the exchange had failed to recover from a major hack in mid-January. In its latest update on Wednesday, Grant Thornton provided some good news, saying that it had managed to retrieve Cryptopia data that was stored in a third-party data center in Arizona. The liquidator…

Cryptopia Exchange Kept Users’ Cryptos in Pooled Wallet: Liquidator

August 21, 2019 boss

Bank of America Files a Patent for Multi-Tiered Digital Wallet Security

August 21, 2019 boss

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a new patent application by Bank of America titled “Multi-Tiered Digital Wallet Security,” on August 15. As listed, the new patent’s system was invented by the banking firm’s senior technology manger, Manu Kurian. The patent was initially filed by Bank of America in February 2018 and has now been publicly published. With this patent, Bank of America is planning to provide users with different levels of access to cryptocurrency funds that are stored in the wallet. These different levels are created by…

Trump Says The R-word – How Bitcoin Wins From Recession and The Thucydides Trap

August 21, 2019 boss

The R-word – recession – passed the lips of US president Donald Trump yesterday, and despite recent price action, that’s a positive for bitcoin. The consensus of analyst opinion is that there will not be a recession in the US this year or next. But, as we shall see, those comforting findings do not tell the whole story and it is one in which bitcoin will be making an appearance. Bitcoin is currently priced at $10,180 after failing twice in as many days to break above $11,000. Anthony Pompliano from…

Data minimisation and privacy-preserving techniques in AI systems

August 21, 2019 boss

Reuben Binns, our Research Fellow in Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Valeria Gallo, Technology Policy Adviser, discuss some of the techniques organisations can use to comply with data minimisation requirements when adopting AI systems. This post is part of our ongoing Call for Input on developing the ICO framework for auditing AI. We encourage you to share your views by leaving a comment below or by emailing us at AIAuditingFramework@ico.org.uk. AI systems generally require large amounts of data. However, organisations must comply with the minimisation principle under data protection law if using personal…

Bitcoin Hash Rate ‘Not Affected’ as China Floods Knock Out Miners

August 21, 2019 boss

Bitcoin (BTC) network hash rate remains near all-time highs despite fresh turmoil in China as floods wipe out mining operators. Bitcoin mining farm ‘devastated’ As various Twitter users reported on Aug. 20, the rainy season in China’s northwestern Sichuan province has spelled disaster for at least one Bitcoin mining farm. According to cryptocurrency mining pool Poolin, the fourth-largest active pool on the Bitcoin network, the floods completely destroyed the farm, leaving workers to rescue equipment from the silt left by the floodwaters. “A local mining farm based in Sichuan, China…

What’s Driving Up Bitcoin Price? Central Banks, Says FT Reporter

August 21, 2019 boss

The Financial Times’ chief correspondent for international finance has argued that central banks can ironically be credited for igniting Bitcoin’s price. In a column for Nikkei Asian Review on Aug. 21, Henny Sender said that banks’ dovish policies are spurring an increasing recognition of cryptocurrencies as safe-haven assets. Hedging big macro risks with Bitcoin Analysts anticipate more dovish announcements from the United States Federal Reserve at this year’s central banking meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, later this week. In July, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell cut interest rates for the first…

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Plummeted by $700, Markets are Oversold

August 21, 2019 boss

As soon as Bitcoin dropped below the $10,600 level and failed to climb over heavy resistance, it demonstrated a steep fall to $10,068 within a span of minutes. According to some analysts, the drop could possibly signal a short term trend line breakdown if the asset fails to close above $10,200. Even though yesterday we wrote of how some bull investors are convinced Bitcoin (BTC) will rise above 11K, that still hasn’t happened. Moreover, Bitcoin is falling and hasn’t stop since. At the time of writing it was 5.09% in…