Category: Exchanges

Upbit Exchange Resumes Ether Services Months After $49M Hack

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South Korea-based Upbit has restarted ether wallet services nearly two months after hackers made off with $49 million-worth of the cryptocurrency. The exchange recently announced that following an upgrade to its wallet security system, the platform is once more able to support ETH deposits and withdrawals. A tweet indicated that the services had become available soon after 09:00 UTC Monday. Traders will need to create a new wallet address, to which ETH held on the exchange will be automatically deposited, the firm said. On Nov. 26, Upbit confirmed that an…

CME’s Bitcoin Options See First-Day Volume of $2.3M

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Options on bitcoin futures from Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) got off to a good start on Monday, seeing trading volume reach 55 contracts in the opening session. That amounts to a notional volume of about $2.3 million or 275 bitcoin, with each contract worth 5 BTC. Also, only call options traded on the first day, as noted by Skew.com, provider of data analytics for Bitcoin and Ether derivatives. An option contract is a derivative based on the value of an underlying instrument that provides the right, but not the obligation,…

Regulated Derivatives Will ‘Legitimize’ Crypto, Says CFTC Chair

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The chairman of the Commodities and Futures Exchange Commission (CFTC) believes regulated derivatives will instill market confidence in cryptocurrencies. Chair Heath Tarbert told Cheddar Monday that his agency is helping create a regulated futures market that investors would be able to “rely on” for better “price discovery, hedging and risk management.” “By allowing [cryptocurrencies] to come into the world of the CFTC,” investors can better access trusted and regulated financial products, improving overall confidence in the asset class, according to Tarbert. “It’s helping to legitimize [digital assets], in my view,…

Off-Blocks Launches US Government-Tested Digital Signature Service in Beta

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Digital signature platform Off-Blocks is bringing its government-tested document verification tools to the public. The company launched its digital identity mobile app beta Monday, according to CEO Colin Campbell, offering to the public some of the Factom blockchain-powered anti-forgery mechanisms the companies have been building for the U.S.’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since November. The full platform is expected to go live in the coming weeks. Off-Blocks’ public service seeks to infuse trust across digital file sharing. People and companies have an inherent need to authenticate any number of documents,…

Bitcoin Price Rallies 3.7% to Hit 2-Month High

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The price of bitcoin (BTC) has risen once again after a successful launch of CME’s bitcoin options surpassed rival Bakkt on its BTC futures contracts in the first day of trade volume. On Jan. 14 at around 00:30 UTC, the price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value rose above an area of resistance that had stifled previous rallies near $8,200 for over a week beginning Jan. 7. As of press time, BTC is changing hands at $8,413 after reaching its highest point in nearly two months at around…

WisdomTree Mulls New Stablecoin as US Money Manager Drives Toward Crypto

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WisdomTree, an asset manager specializing in exchange-traded funds, is vying to become one of the first established U.S. financial firms to offer clients digital assets, including a so-called stablecoin whose value is closely linked to the U.S. dollar.  New York-based WisdomTree, which oversees about $63 billion, views cryptocurrencies and digital assets as a natural extension of its business in exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, according to corporate-strategy director William Peck. ETFs trade like stocks on exchanges but allow investors to allocate money to traditional financial assets ranging from high-dividend companies to…

Judge Reopens Questions in Ongoing 1.1M Bitcoin Craig Wright Trial

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Craig S. Wright, one of crypto’s most litigious engineers, struck a minor victory in court last Friday.  United States District Judge Beth Bloom said that facts previously established in the trial were now in dispute, according to a court document filed Jan. 10 to the District Court of Southern Florida. This is the latest turn in an ongoing trial brought by Ira Kleiman, brother to Wright’s deceased business partner David Kleiman. Kleiman is suing for half of an $8.87 billion bitcoin fortune, said to be encrypted in a “Tulip Trust.” …

Narrative Watch: The Hunt for Crypto’s Killer App

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Starting today, accredited investors will be able to partake of $13.5 million in tokenized bonds connected to the contract of Brooklyn Nets Point Guard Spencer Dinwiddie. The first-of-its-kind offering took months of negotiation with the NBA but marks a seminal moment for both crypto and the larger idea of “income share agreements.”  In this podcast, we discuss how big a deal Dinwiddie’s offering is and whether income share agreements could be a breakout use case for crypto. We also discuss other contenders for “crypto killer app,” including under-collateralized DeFi loans…

Overstock CEO: Crypto Investments Are Ready for Prime Time

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Overstock CEO and Medici Ventures President Jonathan Johnson has been betting on crypto companies for most of the last decade. Now he believes these investments are finally ready to enter the real world. In an interview at the Digital Money Forum during CES 2020, Johnson talked about Medici’s portfolio of companies and said many of them are shipping products. He still believes, however, the ecosystem is being driven by early adopters. “There will always be early adopters who take it and it will become more widespread. I think we’re in…

MARKETS DAILY: China Moving Closer to Digital Yuan Launch

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Whether you’re a first time listener or you’ve heard every episode, we’d like to know what you think about the show. What do you like? What you don’t like? What you think we’ve totally missed but should be talking about every day or at least every week? Disclosure Read More The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and…