Belarus Non-Profit Helps Protestors With Bitcoin Grants

In protest-ridden Belarus, dissidents are using bitcoin to get around political repression.  On Aug. 8, the day of a highly controversial presidential election, a city hall employee in the town of Pinsk named Maria Koltsyna went to a polling station with a white hairband on her wrist.  It was a small gesture of protest: Belarusians who voted against the incumbent president Alexander Lukashenko wore white. Maria’s co-workers immediately took notice of her white accessory, and soon after she was fired. People in Belarus have been protesting the re-election of President…

$5M stolen from a European crypto exchange after hot wallets compromised

Crypto exchange Eterbase recently fell victim to a hack of its hot wallets. According to a statement issued by the Slovak Republic-based exchange, hackers extracted approximately $5.4 million from the exchange’s accounts on August 8. Shortly thereafter, Eterbase assured users that law enforcement had already been informed about the incident. The company also said that they’ve contacted all major exchanges that may receive these coins at some point, likely in the hope of recovering some of the missing funds. The exchange did not specifically disclose which firms had been contacted,…

IRS doubles down, investing another quarter million dollars into tracking crypto transactions

On Sept. 8, the IRS’s criminal investigation department signed a $249,900 contract with a blockchain analytics firm to expand its crypto tracing tools.  The contract provides limited information, but it follows an overarching trend of the IRS stepping up its game when it comes to crypto.  The firm behind the contract, Blockchain Analytics and Tax Software, is a relative unknown compared to familiar faces in analytics like Chainalysis. The firm’s only prior government contract was for only $9,800 with the U.S. Treasury for serving as an expert witness. Just last week…

Smart Contract Blockchain Cypherium Launches Token Sale

Cypherium, one of the most eagerly anticipated blockchain projects that’s yet to launch, is about to open for crowd sale registration. Set to go live on September 9, the registration portal will enable participants to make a claim for Cypherium Token (CPH). CPH is designed to serve as gas for executing smart contracts and transacting on-chain. The chain in question, CypherBFT, uses the same consensus algorithm as LibraBFT and is thus fast and highly scalable. At 20:00 UTC on September 9, registration for the Cypherium crowd sale will commence. The sale…

Information Superhighway of Bitcoin: Demystifying Cryptocurrency On and Off-Ramps

Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies can often feel like an unfamiliar road. Here’s a handy guide to understanding the twists and turns. Bitcoin is an exciting investment opportunity for many people all over the globe. But it also is capable of functioning as a standard type of currency, or an alternative to fiat. Which means that there are a number of varied reasons that someone may be interested in purchasing and trading bitcoin. While the cryptocurrency market is fairly well known around the world, many are still new to actually using it.…

Lucky Number 7? Bitcoin Bulls Defend $10,000 Support A Week Straight

Bitcoin price has fallen by over $2,000 from its 2020 high and is currently struggling to hold support above $10,000. Or is the other way around, and bulls have been valiantly defending the key support level on daily timeframes? Zooming out further shows yet another critical retest in progress, and one that could potentially last the entire month of September  – a month that has historically been red for the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin Bulls Defend Support At $10,000 For Seven Days Straight It is not easy to tell from price action,…

Challenging Ethereum 2.0? Competing blockchains are seizing the moment

After several years in development, Ethereum 2.0 is now more tantalizingly close than ever before. Despite a shaky start with the Medalla testnet, it seems that development is still on track. Prysmatic Labs developer Raul Jordan indicated in a recent blog post that “2 to 3 months from the Medalla genesis block is still an ideal timeline.” At this point, what are another three months? The idea of an upgrade has been floating around in some form since the platform was first launched in 2015. The time it has taken…

Blockchain Bites: Bitmain Denied, Coinbase Blocked and a Potential EOS Exit Scam

Bitmain’s appeal to recoup $30 million in alleged lost revenues from Poolin has been denied, Digital Currency Group has acquired a retail-focused exchange and Venezuelan officials appear to have blocked access to Coinbase.  Top shelf Bitmain bustA court in China has denied an appeal by bitcoin mining giant Bitmain seeking $30 million in damages from the three co-founders of Poolin, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency mining pools, CoinDesk’s Wolfie Zhou reports. The mining giant Bitmain claims Poolin’s founding executive broke non-compete agreements in starting its BTC mining operations, leading to millions in lost…

Trading in Downside Market: Why Bitcoin’s Plummet Is An Opportunity For Profit

Last week’s massive sell-off that took bitcoin from $12,050 to as low as $9,875 had many traders turn cautious. Before the sell-off, the market was singing bullish. The new high of 2020 has lured many on-lookers into the market, only to see their recently purchased bitcoin depreciate.  Spot traders would have lost 17% in less than a week during the massive drop. But for those engaged in futures trading and opened up a short position at $12,000 and closed it at $11,100 using 100x leverage, they would surely benefit handsomely…