Day: July 20, 2020

Major Argentine Telecom Falls Victim to $7.5M Monero Ransomware Attack

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Telecom, Argentina’s largest telecommunications company, has fallen victim to a ransomware attack. Hackers are demanding $7.5 million in Monero (XMR) — an amount that will rise to $15 million if the company does not pay within 48 hours. Argentina’s major telephone company, Telecom, just got hacked. Hackers requesting a ransom of $7.5 million in Monero. $XMR pic.twitter.com/AGNvAXh1cg — Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) July 19, 2020 According to El Tribuno, the ransomware attack, which specifically affected Telecom’s call center, took place on July 18. The ransomware was ultimately contained by the Argentinian…

Power Struggle Inside Bitmain ‘Hard Forks’ Bitcoin Miner Production

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The ongoing battle between the co-founders at Bitmain has now essentially hard forked the world’s largest bitcoin miner manufacturer into two different operations and supply chains for making its flagship AntMiner equipment. Wu Jihan, the co-founder who ousted his rival co-founder Micree Zhan Ketuan last year, registered a new entity on July 16 in Shenzhen, China. The new entity, called Guiji Yanghang, is a subsidiary of another recently incorporated company named Beijing Guiyuan Dalu, which is controlled by Wu’s side. Wu removed Zhan from Beijing Bitmain in October, following a…

Updated Russian Crypto Bill Defangs Punishments for Using Crypto

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A new version of Russia’s major draft bill on cryptocurrency regulation does not include criminal offence codes as lawmakers are expected to hold the bill’s second reading tomorrow. According to official records of the State Duma, Russia’s legislative body, the Duma’s Committee on Financial Market has proposed the second reading of the bill “On Digital Financial Assets,” or DFA, on July 21. In the Russian legislation system, each bill is subject to three readings as it passes the development from draft to adoption. While the second reading is designed to…

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao Says Bitcoin ‘Has Been Really Stable’

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Despite BTC price moving between $9,000 and $9,500 recently, the CEO of Binance said Bitcoin is stable and the traditional market has a “drag down effect” on it.  Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO and founder of Binance, commented on the Bitcoin price movement in an interview with Bloomberg Daybreak: Asia. Recently, the price of Bitcoin has not been increasing like investors expected as the coin has been trading at less than $10,000 for a while. In the past month, the price has been between $8,975.53 and $9,680.37. Regardless, CEO Zhao said…

Blockchain Bites: PayPal, Mastercard Inch Closer to Crypto

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Fintech giant PayPal is leaning on Paxos to handle its crypto services, Mastercard is expanding its crypto program and a prominent Canadian crypto platform has been accused of wash trading as much of 90% of its volumes. You’re reading Blockchain Bites, the daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news, and why they’re significant. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’s newsletters here.  PayPal Picks PaxosPayPal, the fintech giant planning to bring crypto trading to its massive user base, has chosen Paxos to handle the new service’s…

Altseason on the Horizon as Bitcoin Remains Range-Bound

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The altcoin market appears to be on the cusp of another altseason rally as tokens experience massive price surges while Bitcoin remains locked in sideways accumulation. Altcoin Tokens Surge as DeFi Market Explodes Tweeting on Monday (July 20, 2020), crypto analyst @Crypto_Ed_NL published a chart showing that a new altseason could be on the horizon. Indeed, altcoin tokens like Chainlink (LINK) and Cardano (ADA) have seen massive price gains year-to-date (YTD). Indeed, previous altseasons have seen altcoin market capitalization grow significantly with the largest surge coming amid the ICO-mania of…

Lack of Unique Bitcoin Circulation a “Concerning” Sign for Its Mid-Term Outlook

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It has been another boring day for Bitcoin. While many of its smaller counterparts incur intense uptrends, BTC has largely been trading sideways, forming an incredibly tight trading range between $9,100 and $9,100. Analysts are now scratching their heads as to what could come next for the benchmark digital asset, as its multi-month consolidation phase has offered little insight into its mid-term trend. It is a high probability that the cryptocurrency will not be able to garner any clear direction until altcoins start losing their momentum. This is because investors…

Bitcoin News Roundup for July 20, 2020

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With bitcoin’s trading range getting even tighter, CoinDesk’s Markets Daily is back for your bitcoin news roundup. Big-money players are extending financing to bitcoin miners for equipment upgrades, even though prices are still torpid two months after the halving.  PayPal has chosen Paxos to handle the new service’s supply of digital assets, according to two people familiar with the matter. With the introduction of Sapio, Jeremy Rubin hopes to expand Bitcoin’s smart contract use cases and increase the “financial self-sovereignty” of its users. Disclosure The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk…

French Central Bank Picks Accenture, HSBC and Others for Digital Euro Pilot

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Banque de France has picked eight potential candidates to test the integration of a CBDC for interbank settlements, according to the announcement published earlier today. The list of approved participants includes mainstream juggernauts like Accenture, HSBC, and Societe Generale, as well as smaller crypto-focused players like Seba Bank and LiquidShare. The announcement follows the central bank’s call for applications to experiment with the use of a digital euro, which it posted in March. At the time, the institution said it would select a maximum of 10 CBDC-related applications, with “innovative…

Bank of Japan Announced New Team to Continue Research on CBDC

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Masayoshi Amamiya, the Bank of Japan executive governor, said that a CBDC may play a central role in interoperability between many emerging digital assets in the country. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) announced that it has constituted a new research team for a CBDC project. The bank also said that the team replaces a former one that has been researching on the project for several months. This announcement came at a time the central bank stated that it has no immediate plans to launch a cryptocurrency backed by the bank.…