A Palestinian militant group took millions of dollars-worth of bitcoin donations to finance its operations, according to a new report. Obtained by the Jerusalem Post and reported Sunday, the report from the Israeli International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) found the al-Nasser Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), used bitcoin sent from overseas as a means to fund operations both in and out of the Gaza Strip. ICT researchers linked the group to the bitcoin wallet address, “1LaNXgq2ctDEa4fTha6PTo8sucqzieQctq,” which showed “an irregular increase in the scope of…
Day: January 20, 2020
Raiz to Offer Bitcoin Fund to Australian Retail Investors in 2020
Australian micro-investment startup Raiz is set to bring Bitcoin (BTC) fund options to its users, Australian Financial Review (AFR) reports on Jan. 20. The firm cleared the last legal hurdle with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), the country’s financial watchdog agency. Raiz is a fintech startup offering micro-investment services to its 300,000 registered accounts. Like the United States-based Acorns and other worldwide startups, it “rounds up” the spare change from the users’ purchases to invest it in a set of investment products, generally comprising exchange traded funds (ETFs).…
Guide to WEF Davos 2020: Sustainability, Stablecoins and CBDCs
The annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland is about to start. As usual, the forum will gather the world’s political and business elite, and will last from Jan. 21 to 24. Here’s everything there is to know ahead of time on how this meeting will be vital for the crypto and blockchain industry. WEF is modernizing its agenda This year’s theme is “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World,” which could be seen as the WEF’s response to criticism surrounding the annual gatherings in the Alps. Over the past…
Binance P2P Crypto Trading Platform Supports Vietnam’s Fiat Currency
Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance has launched peer-to-peer (P2P) trading for the Vietnamese dong (VND). Vietnam-based Binance users can now directly purchase and sell major cryptocurrencies using VND through the latest versions of the Binance P2P mobile app on iOS and Android. The four supported cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), major stablecoin Tether (USDT) as well as Binance’s native cryptocurrency Binance Coin (BNB), the firm said in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Jan. 20. Vietnamese dong is the second fiat currency on Binance’s P2P While Binance has been…
Binance CEO Suggests Crypto Exchanges Are Safer Than Keeping One’s Keys
Changpeng Zhao, the co-founder and CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, suggested that for most, keeping crypto assets on an exchange is safer than keeping the keys themselves. Zhao gave his comments in a tweet on Jan. 19 after famous crypto skeptic and gold bug Peter Schiff complained that he lost access to his Bitcoin (BTC). Invoking the phrase “SAFU” — a slanger term in the crypto community for “safe,” Zhao said: “Many hardcore crypto [organizations] advocate storing your own keys. But the truth is, today most people are not able…
2 Genuine Reasons Why Bitcoin Will Hit $20,000 in 2020
Coming into the first quarter of 2020, offbeat asset bitcoin is already proving to be the year’s best investment. The benchmark cryptocurrency’s upside run has returned roughly twenty-fold returns in January. Its rate peaked at over $9,190 on Coinbase exchange on the 19th. In comparison, it was trading at a mere $6,300 on December 18th, 2019. Many in the finance industry believe that the ongoing bitcoin price rally is a farce – a classic speculative bubble that would sooner or later leave investors under sizable losses. That includes a famous…
Australian Regulator Gives Green Light to App-Based Retail Bitcoin Fund
Australia’s finance watchdog has given the go-ahead to a bitcoin fund aimed at retail investors. The first such fund in the country, the bitcoin offering is being launched by micro-investment app provider Raiz Invest Australia, reports The Australian Financial Review. The Raiz app allows users to invest the small change left over from everyday purchases in exchange traded funds quoted on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Once live (expected sometime in H1 2020), the bitcoin option will still see the bulk of user funds go to ETFs, but 5 percent…
Argo Blockchain Sees Mining Revenue Rise Tenfold in 2019
Publicly-listed mining company Argo Blockchain had a tenfold increase in revenue for 2019 over the previous year, ProactiveInvestors reports on Jan. 20. Its shares bounced as the company plans further expansion in the upcoming year. Argo Blockchain PLC is a company operating mining rigs for profit, as well as providing Mining-as-a-Service (MaaS) to institutional investors who are “looking to hold specific coins but do not want to procure via exchanges.” Based in London and listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), its mining capacity is reportedly based in Quebec, leveraging…
After Sudden 8% Drop, Bitcoin Bulls Must Defend Price Support at $8,460
View Bitcoin’s dramatic overnight fall from $9,200 is telling a tale of buyer exhaustion. A break below Sunday’s low of $8,461 would invalidate the recent bullish trend and could yield a drop to $8,200-$8,000. Dips could be short-lived as the longer duration charts are still reporting bullish conditions. Bitcoin may make another attempt to pass the 200-day average at $9,027 if support at $8,461 continues to holds ground. Bitcoin’s price rally is looking tired following Sunday’s sudden drop from above $9,000. Even so, the bias remains bullish with support near…
Staunch Bitcoin Critic Claims He’s Lost His Bitcoin, Crypto Twitter Reacts
Peter Schiff, an American stockbroker, financial commentator, economist and bitcoin (BTC) critic has taken to Twitter to claim that he has suddenly lost access to his bitcoin wallet despite entering the correct password. Peter Schiff Loses his Bitcoin On January 19, 2020, popular bitcoin hater, Peter Schiff announced on Twitter that he had lost access to his Bitcoin Wallet, despite entering the exact password. The highly reputed American economist also stated categorically that he has always known that holding bitcoin was a bad idea and this incident further confirms it.…