Day: January 5, 2020

Hodler’s Digest, Dec. 30–Jan. 5

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Coming every Sunday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week SEC on “unfounded fishing expedition,” Telegram lawyers tell judge Telegram’s lawyers haven’t had a quiet start to 2020. A judge gave them less than a single business day to respond to a request from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to hand over details…

Crypto Investors’ Ethereum Secretly Used to Prop up HEX ‘Scam Token’

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The HEX purchase address used 50 ETH to buy more tokens. The tokens were then sent to an exchange to provide liquidity for HEX traders. HEX continues to benefit its founder, to the severe detriment of its investors. Ethereum (ETH) from the flush address of the controversial HEX cryptocurrency is being recycled to buy more tokens, as shown by a breadcrumb trail of transactions on Etherscan. The ETH were then sent to a cryptocurrency exchange with the apparent intention of boosting the liquidity of the alleged “scam token.” Creator Richard…

Ethereum Block Time Reduced by 25% After Muir Glacier Hard Fork

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The average block time on the Ethereum blockchain decreased by almost a quarter after the mining difficulty was decreased. Data reported on Ethereum block explorer Etherscan shows that from Jan. 1 to Jan. 4, the daily average block time on the blockchain decreased from 17.16 seconds to 12.96. This translates to a 24.48% shorter block time. Chart of the Ethereum average block time March 3-Jan. 4. Source: Etherscan Obviously, the block time decrease resulted in a higher number of blocks mined daily and a higher Ether (ETH) inflation. According to…

Ronnie Moas and Vinny Lingham Come to Blows Over $20K Bitcoin Bet

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Two well-known Bitcoin (BTC) figures have resorted to a painfully public Twitter exchange to settle an argument over a $20,000 unpaid bet. The heated debate, which is ongoing, revolves around a pledge which investor Ronnie Moas made in 2018.  Moas redistributes Ross Ulbricht BTC If Bitcoin was not worth $28,000 by the end of last year, Moas said he would donate the lump sum to FreeRoss.org, the charity working to free jailed former Silk Road owner, Ross Ulbricht. The bet was made with Vinny Lingham, CEO of blockchain identity startup…

Why a Bull Market Is Closer Than You May Think

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Bitcoin price (BTC) is currently resting just shy of $7,500 after an impressive rally from around $6,850 on Friday, Jan. 3. Does this mean the bulls have taken control? Or is this a final relief rally before Bitcoin drops to fresh lows?  Daily crypto market performance. Source: Coin360.com Did exchanges manipulate price action? In last week’s analysis, I highlighted that the CME gap is becoming a regular trading event each week, and less than 12 hours after the analysis was printed, the gap filled to the exact price of $7,265,…

Top-5 Cryptos This Week (Jan 5): BSV, XMR, ETC, BCH, LEO

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Few of the top five cryptocurrency performers of the past seven days are showing signs of bottoming out. Can they start a new uptrend? Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong believes that rising cryptocurrency prices will generate massive wealth for the crypto investors in the 20s. His friends, Olaf Carlson-Wee and Balaji Srinivasan expect Bitcoin’s price to reach $200,000, due to which more than half of the world’s billionaires will be from the crypto space. Armstrong also anticipates that “ a “privacy coin” or blockchain with built-in privacy features” will go mainstream…

Bitcoin Network SegWit Adoption Hits 66% After BitMEX Embraces Upgrade

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More Bitcoin (BTC) transactions now use so-called Segregated Witness (“SegWit”) technology than ever before, the latest data shows.  According to various resources including SegWit.Space, adoption of the protocol has reached up to 66% of all Bitcoin transactions as of Jan. 4.  Two in three BTC payments now SegWit The volume underwent a significant increase in late 2019, jumping from around 40% in September to nearer 60% in October.  The statistics, however, are subject to variation. SegWit.Space, a dedicated monitoring resource, lists current SegWit propagation as 66%. Other charts, such as…

Who Got Gifts from Crypto Santa in 2019… and Who Got Coal

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On Christmas Eve, Crypto Claus did his rounds after checking the list to see who was naughty and nice. But who got some lovely presents after making a positive impact in 2019 — and who got coal for setting the industry back? Here, we take a look at the people and businesses who have had a year to remember — and those who have had a year to forget. The naughty list Some crypto players were resigned to getting coal rather early on in 2019. Right at the start of…

Most Significant Hacks of 2019 — New Record of Twelve in One Year

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Twelve major cryptocurrency exchange hacks occurred in 2019. Of these, 11 hacks resulted in the theft of cryptocurrency while one only involved stolen customer data. In total, $292,665,886 worth of cryptocurrency and 510,000 user logins were stolen from crypto exchanges in 2019. Cryptocurrency exchanges experienced more hacks last year than in 2018, when only nine cryptocurrency exchanges fell victim to security breaches. As time goes on, you might think that cryptocurrency exchanges would become more secure. The reality, however, is that more hacks on cryptocurrency exchange are taking place year…

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Says 20s Will See an Anoncoin Go Mainstream

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Brian Armstrong, co-founder and CEO of United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, said that he believes a “privacy coin” will go mainstream in the 20s. In a post published on Coinbase’s official blog on Jan. 3, Armstrong said that he believes in the 20s we will see the integration of privacy features into one of the major blockchains. He also foresees a cryptocurrency with such features to go mainstream in the following years: “Just like how the internet launched with HTTP, and only later introduced HTTPS as a default on many…