Day: January 10, 2020

Bitfinex Market Manipulation Lawsuit Refiled in New York and Joined by Second Case

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An Oct. 10 class-action lawsuit filed against iFinex Inc., the parent company of Bitfinex and Tether, was refiled on Jan. 8 in New York’s Southern District. The lawsuit by Young et al. was followed on the next day by a similar class-action filing by Bryan Faubus. The original lawsuit alleges that iFinex manipulated the cryptocurrency market in 2017 by issuing unbacked Tether (USDT) that was then sold for Bitcoin to increase its price. Plaintiffs argue that the common belief that each USDT represented one real dollar led traders to eagerly…

Facebook’s Zuckerberg Calls for Digital Community Self-Governance

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the digital world needs oversight, mentioning government regulation as a potential solution but calling community self-governance “another and perhaps even better way.” “One of the big questions for the next decade is: how should we govern the large new digital communities that the internet has enabled,” Zuckerberg said in a Jan. 9 Facebook post. A post for the coming decade In a rather lengthy post on his social media site, Zuckerberg detailed his focus for the coming decade, singling out several topics, including digital governance…

Bitcoin Price Ready for Next Move Up After Rebound Above $8,000

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On Friday Bitcoin (BTC) price reclaimed $8,000 as bulls appear to be setting their sights on a second go at the weekly high at $8,473. Earlier in the week, crypto-media speculated that the price run-up to $8,473 was fuelled by fear of a war breaking out between the United States and Iran. Then, as the price pulled back after U.S. President Donald Trump declined to further escalate the situation, analysts again attributed the entire boom above $8.4K and the swift retracement to $7,660 to the Iran-U.S. conflict. Today’s move back…

LedgerX Names Former Chief Tech Officer as New CEO

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LedgerX announced Friday that co-founder and former chief technology officer Zach Dexter has been named the new CEO of the bitcoin derivatives company. The company suspended CEO Paul Chou and COO/CRO Juthica Chou last month, with no explanation. The two were also co-founders of the company. Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation vice chairman Larry Thompson was named interim CEO and lead director of Ledger Holdings. In a statement, Thompson said, “since my involvement with the company began, we have kept in close contact with all of the company’s stakeholders including…

SEC Produces Evidence That Telegram Kept Selling Tokens After $1.7B ICO

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At least two entities invoiced Telegram for commissions from selling the company’s tokens in the summer of 2018, months after the company’s initial coin offering (ICO), newly released documents show.  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which filed the documents Friday in its ongoing court case against Telegram, said the evidence of post-ICO sales undercuts the company’s argument that the offering was exempt from registration requirements. Investment fund Da Vinci Capital and another entity called Gem Limited requested commissions of $209,783 and $1.1 million, respectively, for “subsequent sales” of…

2019 Bitcoin Transaction Volume Moved Away From US in First Since 2013

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For the first time since 2013, the U.S. is no longer the top recipient of Bitcoin (BTC) as valued in USD, as Singapore took the lead over the course of 2019. As of Dec. 5, 2019, global users sent BTC valued at $8.58 billion to Singapore in 2019, according to analytics site Crystal Blockchain. Users in Singapore received more dollars via Bitcoin last year than anywhere else in the globe. The U.S. held the top spot from 2014 to 2018 but slipped to 2nd place, receiving $7.46 billion in BTC,…

PwC Switzerland Incorporates ChainSecurity Team to Expand Blockchain Audit Tools

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PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Switzerland has “hired” smart contract audit firm ChainSecurity’s team, folding the company and its expertise into the Big Four accounting firm, the companies announced earlier this week. In what seems like an acquisition in all but name, the seven technical engineers are joining the accounting firm and to bolster PwC Switzerland’s smart contract audit abilities. After being spun out of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zürich) in October 2017, ChainSecurity has conducted more than 75 smart contract and blockchain audits globally and has had…

Sacramento Residents can now Purchase Bitcoin at 100 Coinstar Kiosks

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Coinme, a blockchain-powered financial technology firm dedicated to enabling the masses to gain easy access to bitcoin (BTC), has announced that residents of the greater Sacramento area can now purchase the world’s flagship cryptocurrency at 100 Coinstar kiosks installed across Save Mart, Safeway and Food Maxx supermarkets, according to a press release. Coinme Expands Bitcoin ATM Locations In line with its mission to accelerate the broader adoption of bitcoin (BTC), Coinme has installed 100 more bitcoin ATMs at various locations in the greater Sacramento area of the United States. As…

Thai Stellar-Based Startup Lightnet Raises $31M to Replace SWIFT

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Thai Stellar-based blockchain startup Lightnet has raised $31.2 million to boost cross-border payments in Southeast Asian countries. The Bangkok-headquartered firm has completed a Series A funding round led by major financial conglomerates in the region, Singaporean United Overseas Bank (UOB) and South Korea’s Hanwha Investment & Securities, Business Insider Malaysia reports Jan. 10. Stellar blockchain is used to replace “inefficient” payment systems like SWIFT Implementing the Stellar blockchain, a major blockchain protocol that is used to operate eponymous cryptocurrency Stellar Lumens (XLM), Lightnet has a brave plan to replace established…

China’s Central Bank: Here’s the Latest on the Digital Yuan

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The development of a digital yuan, or DECP, has taken a great leap forward, according to the People’s Bank of China, the nation’s central bank. In a statement (in Chinese) Thursday, the bank said the “processes of top-level design, setting industry standards, developing potential functions and integration testing,” were “almost complete.”  The bank said it has been working on the expected two-tiered system that would offer  “controllable” anonymity and the functionality to replace paper cash.  The central bank, which assembled a special task force to conduct research on digital currencies  and…