Greece Extradites Alleged Launderer of $4B in BTC Alexander Vinnik to France

Greece’s Council of State ruled for the extradition to France of former operator of now-shuttered crypto exchange BTC-e and Russian national Alexander Vinnik. English-language local news outlet Greek Reporter reported on the court’s decision on Jan. 23. Yesterday, Russian news agency TASS reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov protested: “The decision to extradite him to France is inadmissible as long as no explanations have been provided why he is not extradited to Russia. His family has been broken up, his right to life and health violated. Greece is obliged…

BitPay Taps Simplex to Make BitPay App an All-In-One Solution

Crypto Purchasing With Credit Cards Brings New Usability to the BitPay App BitPay, the world’s largest provider of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payment services, today announced a partnership with Simplex, the best-in-class processor of fiat-to-crypto transactions, that gives BitPay app users the ability to buy Bitcoin and other supported cryptocurrencies directly in app with a credit card. Users can now buy cryptocurrency, transfer funds, make purchases, buy gift cards and pay friends around the world all from a single app.    With the addition of Simplex’s credit card purchasing, BitPay aims to improve…

ErisX Adds New Trading Features with Etale Partnership

Users of crypto derivatives platform ErisX are getting access to institutional-grade data and trading solutions, thanks to a new partnership with software provider Etale. ErisX announced Thursday that members will be able to view Etale’s real-time market data and execute orders leveraging the company’s machine learning-based quantitative models. TD Ameritrade-backed ErisX launched a live spot market for bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ethereum and litecoin, complete with U.S. dollar pairs, in April 2019, and began offering physically delivered bitcoin futures last December. The company, which was granted a Derivatives Clearing Organization license…

Campaign Privacy Statements Open Voters to Data Sharing

This story is part of CoinDesk’s 2020 election series exploring questions of information integrity, the rights of digital citizens, the power of centralized platforms, and the future of money. The 2020 presidential campaign is largely focused on President Trump, the progressive versus centrist wing of the Democratic party and, apparently, according to the New York Times, identifying who broke each candidate’s heart.  Meanwhile, foreign states are known to be targeting our election infrastructure, voters are increasingly concerned about the privacy of their data, and talking points about data and big…

Campaign Privacy Statements Open Up Voters to Data Sharing

This story is part of CoinDesk’s 2020 election series exploring questions of information integrity, the rights of digital citizens, the power of centralized platforms, and the future of money. The 2020 campaigns are largely focused on Trump, the progressive versus centrist wing of the Democratic party, and, apparently according to the New York Times, identifying who broke each candidate’s heart.  Meanwhile, foreign states are known to be targeting our election infrastructure, voters are increasingly concerned about the privacy of their data, and talking points about data and big tech have…

Bitcoin Plunges on Profit-taking, Losses Limited by Coronavirus Outbreak

Bitcoin entered a negative slope on Thursday as traders took profits from its latest price rally. But the cryptocurrency remained above a strong technical support level. Spot BTC/USD exchange rate was down 3.84 percent at $8,360.87 ahead of the New York morning session open. At the same time, bitcoin futures listed on CME fell by more than 6 percent. to $8,385. $BTC #BITCOIN Getting towards the area, which is basically the high from 8 January. Given that everybody wants to long $8,200-8,250, I doubt we’ll reach it, if we are…

Chiliz Launches Crypto Exchange for Trading Sports Fan Tokens

Malta-based sports blockchain venture Chiliz is launching a cryptocurrency exchange for sports and entertainment tokens. In a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Jan. 23, Chiliz detailed that the new exchange — Chiliz.net — will roll out in February after the beginning of Fan Token Offerings​ ​for all of the ​Socios.com​ partner teams​. Socios.com is a tokenized fan-voting platform for sports powered by Chiliz tokens (CHZ). Chiliz.net will be fully integrated with Socios.com, enabling users to transfer their fan tokens from a Socios wallet to the exchange, and vice versa.…

784,000 Bitcoin Addresses Now Hold 1+ BTC: Will It Affect the Price?

Coinspeaker 784,000 Bitcoin Addresses Now Hold 1+ BTC: Will It Affect the Price? There’s good news for Bitcoin investors and enthusiasts! The study of some on-chain metrics and Bitcoin wallets shows that the world’s largest cryptocurrency has been in the accumulation zone over the last 12 months. As on January 14, nearly 784,000 addresses were holding one or Bitcoin tokens. This is also an 11% surge from the 707,000 addresses holding BTC a year ago. Furthermore, the blockchain intelligence company Glassnode noted that total addresses holding BTC have doubled since…

Crypto Custody Provider Ledger Extends Reach in Asia With New Institutional Client

Digital asset storage provider Ledger is partnering with FLETA, a South Korea-based blockchain platform for decentralized applications (dapps) to provide custodian services compliant with local laws. The French startup has been trying to extend the reach of its institutional-level services with Ledger Vault, building on the success of its nano wallets which primarily targeted retail crypto holders.  “Ledger does not just offer the security of storing crypto, it also allows financial institutions to build customized governance rules,” said Glenn Woo, Ledger’s managing director leading business expansions in the Asia-Pacific region. …

Bitcoin Price Returns Beneath $8,500, Solid Barrier Accelerates Sell-off

Bitcoin price is presently trending at the level of $8,419 (+ 2.38% daily). The crypto is on track in the framework of a strong bearish trend amid growing volatility. The intraday low is recorded on the level at $8,371. The cryptocurrency market returned to minus, losing the insignificant profits achieved on Wednesday. The total crypto assets struggle with losses from 1% to 6%. Bitcoin returns to a mark beneath the $8,500 level (support of last week). Before the continuing bearish activity, Bitcoin rose shortly to the level of $8,600. Regrettably,…