Day: December 20, 2019

Bitcoin Can Take 50% of Gold’s Market Share, Hit $250,000 — CNBC

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Bitcoin (BTC) gained fresh rare support from mainstream media on Dec. 20 after CNBC entertained the idea of a $250,000 in the coming years.  In an episode of the network’s Fast Money segment, several well-known Bitcoin bulls collaborated to present a buoyant picture of the cryptocurrency’s future.  Kelly sympathizes with Draper’s Bitcoin price prediction Resident analyst Brian Kelly joined Fundstrat Global Advisors co-founder Tom Lee in arguing that in the mid-term, the sky-high price tag was both possible and even a reasonable aim. For his part, Kelly gave credence to…

New Ransomware Tactic: Pay Us or the World Sees Your Keys

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The creators of Maze Ransomware have added a new wrinkle to the typical hacker’s MO. Instead of quietly infecting and requesting ransom from victims, the so-called Maze team is publicly exposing victims by displaying real files exfiltrated from their hacked servers. This tactic could be a disaster for crypto companies that may have put private keys or other important financial data into their private archives, should they be breached. “Represented here companies don’t wish to cooperate with us, and trying to hide our successful attack on their resources. Wait for…

With so Much Debt Around, Investors Need Bitcoin as a Reflation Hedge

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This post is part of CoinDesk’s 2019 Year in Review, a collection of 100 op-eds, interviews and takes on the state of blockchain and the world. Ari Paul is CIO and managing partner of BlockTower, an investment firm. Cryptocurrency has many value propositions, including censorship resistance, seizure resistance, and global coordination without middlemen. Until recently, one value proposition seemed largely hypothetical – depreciation resistance (that is, a store of value immune to inflationary money printing at the whim of central bankers or politicians). While bitcoin fans have long noted how fiat is…

Facebook’s Social Media Platforms May Give Libra Unfair Advantage, Says ECB’s Lagarde

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The new president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, has expressed concern that Facebook may use its digital platform to promote Libra and lock-out rival stablecoin operators. In a letter responding to EU lawmakers yesterday, Lagarde said stablecoins addressed many of the problems associated with the existing cross-border payments system. They offered users a cheaper and more efficient payment option that could help foster financial inclusion, she wrote. But Lagarde highlighted that regulators would have to address concerns surrounding competition in the stablecoin market. Facebook may have an…

Facebook’s Social Media Platforms May Give Libra Unfair Advantage, Says ECB’s Lagarde

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The new president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, has expressed concern that Facebook may use its digital platform to promote Libra and lock-out rival stablecoin operators. In a letter responding to EU lawmakers yesterday, Lagarde said stablecoins addressed many of the problems associated with the existing cross-border payments system. They offered users a cheaper and more efficient payment option that could help foster financial inclusion, she wrote. But Lagarde highlighted that regulators would have to address concerns surrounding competition in the stablecoin market. Facebook may have an…

Bitfinex Now Enables Users to Purchase Crypto With Credit and Debit Card

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Hong Kong-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex now enables its users to purchase cryptocurrencies with both credit and debit cards. The exchange made the announcement on Dec. 20, saying: “Buy cryptocurrencies with your debit or credit cards on Bitfinex. Whether it’s Bitcoin, USDt, Ethereum, or any other ERC20 tokens, pick your favorite and purchase with your credit or debit cards directly.” Bitfinex’s recent developments December has witnessed a number of Bitfinex’s developments, with the exchange and crypto store Bitrefill partnered to allow the trading platform’s clients to shop with Bitcoin (BTC) over…

Bear Market Isn’t Over Yet, But $7.6K May Change This

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Bitcoin (BTC) is trading around $7,200 on Friday, the level that was found following a large swing to the upside on Wednesday.  As we move into the weekend, the majority of cryptocurrencies are also trading higher. Nevertheless, Ether (ETH) is still struggling to regain $130 while XRP has been unable to reclaim $0.20 after the rejection on Wednesday.   Bitcoin dominance inches higher This is highlighted in Bitcoin dominance, which is now at 68% and continues to threaten to take the 70% level, which continues to look like a possibility as…

Bitcoin Exchange Outflow Spikes to $606M in 1 Day: Is Accumulation Starting?

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On December 17, when the bitcoin price fell to as low as $6,500 across major crypto exchanges, the outflow of BTC from exchanges spiked to $606 million. According to data from TokenAnalyst, the outflow of bitcoin nearly tripled on Tuesday from the day prior. Coincidentally, the bitcoin price surged to $7,490 the very next day and recorded a 11 percent increase. Bitcoin outflow from exchanges rose by three-fold on December 17 (Source: TokenAnalyst.io) Often, the outflow of BTC from exchanges indicate that investors are withdrawing the dominant cryptocurrency to non-custodial…

The Central Bank Business Model Is Under Attack

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This post is part of CoinDesk’s 2019 Year in Review, a collection of 100 op-eds, interviews and takes on the state of blockchain and the world. Jalak Jobanputra is founder of FuturePerfect Ventures. A year ago, I predicted 2019 would be the year of regulation in the crypto sector, building upon the increased scrutiny we saw in 2018 after the 2017 ICO boom and bust.  2019 didn’t disappoint: From Switzerland to Korea to France to Lithuania came proposals to regulate crypto assets. Towards the end of the year China, which had…

Alleged BTC-e Operator Alexander Vinnik to Be Extradited to France: Reports

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Alleged BTC-e exchange operator and money launderer Alexander Vinnik is finally being extradited to France. The news was made public by the Russian embassy in Greece, the country in which he has been held since his arrest in July 2017 over allegations that he had laundered at least $4 billion through the BTC-e bitcoin exchange. Vinnik’s extradition has been sought by the governments of the U.S., Russia and France. Vinnik himself had said he wanted to see trial in Russia. The embassy told state-owned Russian news agency RIA Novosti on…