In a Jan. 15 announcement on Binance’s Japanese support website, the exchange revealed it would restrict access to residents of Japan at an unspecified later date. The restriction is said to be implemented gradually, with details to be revealed later, according to the announcement. Currently, there are no restrictions in place and Japanese users are able to operate the exchange normally. Binance was previously headquartered in Japan after exiting China. As Cointelegraph reported in March 2018, the exchange moved its operations to Malta following an official warning by Japanese regulators…
Month: January 2020
Gemini Launches Firm to Insure Its Own Crypto Custody Branch for $200M
The Winklevoss’ Gemini Exchange has launched an insurance company to cover up to $200 million for Gemini Custody — reportedly the largest amount for any crypto custody service in the world. Head of risk at Gemini Yusuf Hussain shared the news with Cointelegraph on Jan. 16. The captive insurance company is called Nakamoto, Ltd. and will secure Gemini’s custody business for up to $200 million. Aiding Nakamoto, Ltd.’s launch were major traditional insurance brokers Aon and Marsh. Gemini’s custodial clients will also reportedly be able to purchase additional insurance from…
Bitcoin and Ether Market Update: January 16, 2020
The total crypto market cap added $20 billion to its value since the morning of Monday, January 13 and now stands at $236.5 billion. Top ten coins showed mixed results for the last 24 hours with Bitcoin SV (BSV) losing 13.7 percent of its value while Cardano (ADA) moved up with 2.4 percent. At the time of writing bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $8,702 on the Bitstamp daily chart, while ether (ETH) stands at $161 and Ripple’s XRP hovers around $0.225. BTC/USD Bitcoin moved up to $8,185 on Sunday, January…
Winklevoss-Led Gemini Exchange Now Has Its Own Insurance Company
Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has created its own insurance company to protect clients against the potential loss of coins from its offline vaults – with a possibly record-breaking $200 million coverage limit. Announced Thursday, the new “captive” will provide insurance for customers of Gemini Custody, the crypto cold storage service of Gemini Trust Company. Typically, cold storage policies cover losses due to insider thefts and collusion, as well as the destruction of private keys by natural disasters like floods, earthquakes and so on. Cold…
Liquid Cancels Sale of Telegram’s Gram Tokens, Returns Funds to Investors
Liquid Exchange has canceled the sale of Telegram Open Network’s (TON) Gram tokens, according to a Jan. 10 company post. The exchange returned the funds of all investors who participated in the unofficial sale. The exchange reportedly canceled the sale due to the delay in the launch of TON’s mainnet. At the time of the sale in July 2019, it was believed that the network would be live on Oct. 31. However, the launch was impeded by the SEC’s investigation into the original Gram offering, which it argues was an…
Liquid Cancels Sale of Telegram’s Gram Tokens, Returns Funds to Investors
Liquid Exchange has canceled the sale of Telegram Open Network’s (TON) Gram tokens, according to a Jan. 10 company post. The exchange returned the funds of all investors who participated in the unofficial sale. The exchange reportedly canceled the sale due to the delay in the launch of TON’s mainnet. At the time of the sale in July 2019, it was believed that the network would be live on Oct. 31. However, the launch was impeded by the SEC’s investigation into the original Gram offering, which it argues was an…
Silvergate Bank and Bitstamp Launch Bitcoin Collateralized Loans
U.S.-based Silvergate Bank has launched a bitcoin collateralized loan product with Bitstamp as its launch partner. The crypto exchange will act as the bank’s agent to manage and provide custody for bitcoin collateral. The product utilizes Silvergate Bank’s Exchange Network to fund loans and process repayments in real time. Also read: Regulatory Roundup: EU-Wide Crypto Regulations, New Rules in Europe, US, Asia Silvergate Bank’s New Product Silvergate Bank announced on Wednesday that it has launched a new product called SEN Leverage, which uses the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN) to fund…
Thai Officials to Investigate Alleged Cryptocurrency Pyramid Scheme
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…
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…