A human rights lawyer representing victims of an alleged cryptocurrency pyramid scheme in Thailand is taking their case to the country’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI). The Bangkok Post reported on Jan. 16 that roughly 20 victims, whose losses are alleged to total 75 million baht (~$2.5 million), are seeking to go beyond the investigations of local police in Thailand’s Krabi province given the gravity of the case. The DSI, a department of the Thai Ministry of Justice, works independently of the Thai Royal Police force and is tasked with…
Day: January 16, 2020
Bull Breather? Bitcoin Market Turns Indecisive at Two-Month High
The bitcoin market is telling a tale of bullish exhaustion with indecisive price action following a rise to the highest point since November. The top cryptocurrency witnessed two-way business on Wednesday. Prices rose from lows near $8,550 seen during the Asian trading hours to a two-month high of $8,903, only to end the day (UTC) on a flat note at $8,808, according to CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index. Essentially, bitcoin created a “doji” candle, which is widely considered a sign of indecision in the marketplace. In this case, however, the candle…
Zcash Poised to Finally Have Private Transactions on Mobile With SDK Release
The for-profit developer behind Zcash (ZEC), Electric Coin Co. (ECC), has released on Jan. 15 a set of resources to facilitate the implementation of shielded transactions on mobile. This builds on early tests in 2019 conducted after the Sapling upgrade. The developer released a complete set of Software Development Kits (SDK) versions for both Android and iOS. While the former was an update of the 2019 version, now supporting the Zcash mainnet, the latter was created anew to provide equivalent functionality for Apple devices. In addition, the company released a…
Bitfinex Moves $1B in Bitcoin for 48 Cents
The origin and destination of the funds at first remained unknown. The transaction followed fresh developments in the court case involving Craig Wright, the Australian computer scientist who claims to be Bitcoin inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto. As Cointelegraph reported, Wright now says he can prove ownership of 1 million BTC ($8.6 billion). Available evidence nonetheless suggests he has only divulged publicly available information and has not proven ownership of the given private keys. Against a backdrop of uncertainty surrounding Wright, fears were already palpable about a major selloff impacting the Bitcoin…
Liquid Exchange Cancels Sale of Telegram’s Gram Tokens
Japan-based Liquid exchange has cancelled its sale of Telegram’s not-yet-launched gram tokens. Originally announced last June, the limited sale of tokens sourced from Gram Asia – said to be one of the biggest investors in Telegram’s $1.7 billion ICO – took place in July. However, the tokens were not to be released until Telegram’s TON network – the blockchain supporting the tokens – had gone live. That had been expected by the end of October last year. Sale proceeds were held in escrow pending the issuance. Now Liquid says in…
Bitcoin Just Rejected $8,900 in a Short-Term Top Structure: Traders Fear Bear Trend Isn’t Over
The bitcoin price rose to as high as $8,916 across major cryptocurrency exchanges like BitMEX and Binance on January 15. Since then, BTC fell by three percent in a typical short-term top formation. Lower time frames indicate a double top structure, which normally suggests that the asset tried to break above a key resistance level twice in a short time frame and failed. $8,900 has acted as a heavy resistance level since late October. BTC has breached that level for the first time since mid-November, 2019. What’s next for bitcoin…
Bithumb Cryptocurrency Exchange Goes to Court Over $69M Tax Bill
Major South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has decided to litigate a near $69 million (80 billion won) tax bill levied by the National Tax Service (NTS). According to a report published by The Korea Times on Jan. 16, Bithumb filed a complaint with the NTS, suggesting that the imposed tax bill is groundless given that cryptocurrency is not a legally recognized currency. The South Korean tax tribunal now has to decide whether to grant or dismiss the exchange’s motion within 90 days. NTS imposed a retention tax — an income…
Bithumb Exchange Fighting Back Against ‘Groundless’ $69M Tax Bill
South Korea-based exchange Bithumb is fighting a move by the country’s tax authority to withhold over $69 million in tax on foreign cryptocurrency transactions. Confirmed by the company in December, National Tax Service (NTS) based its demand on the rate for miscellaneous income. The tax is calculated at an annualized rate of 22 percent, and in this case was based on the amount of foreign withdrawals from Bithumb. A withholding tax is paid by the income provider rather than the recipient, so in effect Bithumb’s foreign customers are paying the…
Even If Ripple “Wins” Class Action, It Won’t Mean Much For XRP: Here’s Why
There is a class action lawsuit filed against Ripple in 2018 by investors who are alleging that XRP is a security. Even if the suit is dismissed, it is unlikely to have any major effect on the cryptocurrency. Why it won’t affect XRP in a large way Ripple the company has long distanced itself from XRP the cryptocurrency. The fintech firm has said that XRP is merely a cryptocurrency utilized by various blockchain-based solutions. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that holders of XRP are not provided with equity in the…
First Bitcoin Cash Developers Meeting of 2020 to Be Held Today
Developers from Bitcoin ABC, Bitcoin Unlimited, BCHD, Bitcoin Verde and other teams, are meeting today to continue the building of the Bitcoin Cash infrastructure. They will discuss progress towards the May 15th Bitcoin Cash Network upgrade and the standardization progress for the BCH protocol. Also Read: Grassroots Bitcoin Cash House Movement Expands to Ghana First Bitcoin Cash Protocol Developers Meeting of 2020 Co-Owner and operator of Thefutureofbitcoin.cash, David R. Allen, has announced the first BCH protocol development meeting of 2020, which will take place this Thursday at 20:00 UTC. The…