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Cryptocurrency Prices Fluctuating Wildly Before Christmas

Prices of cryptocurrencies have fluctuated wildly in the days before Christmas. Bitcoin hit an all-time high of nearly $20,000 earlier this week before falling at one point on Friday to below $11,000. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at around $13,500. Bitcoin wasn’t the only cryptocurrency to be hit on Friday, as most cryptocurrencies experienced similar plunges, wiping out anywhere from a quarter to a third of overall cryptocurrency market capitalization. Check out the latest price of bitcoin Some [...]

December 22, 2017 By
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Janet Yellen

Yellen Doubts Fed Will Turn to Crypto

During her last press conference as head of the US Federal Reserve System, Janet Yellen indicated she and her colleagues are cautiously eyeballing Bitcoin, the volatile cryptocurrency that’s been capturing headlines globally over the last couple of weeks. And while she acknowledged some other central banks might be considering adopting a cryptocurrency, the Fed is unlikely to follow suit. “There is a discussion going on among central bankers about the potential merits of … adopting a digital [cryptocurrency] currency. And [...]

December 21, 2017 By
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ICO

SEC Sues to Stop Alleged ICO Fraud, Wins Emergency Asset Freeze

In the first filing of charges brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s new cyber unit, the agency has sued what it called “a fast-moving initial coin offering fraud.” The SEC filed charges against Dominic Lacroix, of Quebec, Canada, and his company, PlexCorps. According to the agency’s complaint, filed in New York, Lacroix and PlexCorps allegedly marketed and sold securities called PlexCoin on the Internet to investors, claiming they would yield a 1,354 percent profit in less than 29 [...]

December 20, 2017 By
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Coinbase app on phone and computer

Feds Order Coinbase To Hand Over 14,000 User Accounts

Have you been a successful cryptocurrency trader? Do you keep your crypto assets in a Coinbase wallet? If you’ve had over $20,000 in annual transactions, your information could soon be handed over to the IRS for inspection. According to CryptoCoinsNews, the IRS will be given access to over 14,000 such users after a California federal court ordered Coinbase to hand them over. In 2016, the IRS targeted the exchange with the intent of forcing it to “hand over customer financial records [...]

December 19, 2017 By
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Illustration of a long shadow machine gear with a bitcoin sign in a not allowed signal

Outlaw Bitcoin, Economist Stiglitz Says

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz suggested in a recent Bloomberg interview that Bitcoin is illegitimate as a form of currency and ought to be outlawed. Stiglitz, a harsh critic of laissez-faire, whose economics influences include Paul Krugman and John Maynard Keynes, said: “One of the main functions of government is to create currency. And Bitcoin is successful only because of its potential for circumvention, lack of oversight. So it seems to me it ought to be outlawed. “It doesn’t serve [...]

December 18, 2017 By
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South Korean flag with bitcoin

Largest South Korean Bank Testing Bitcoin Vault and Wallet for 2018 Launch

South Korea and Japan are both accountable for approximately 70 percent of global Bitcoin trades, with South Korea being the third largest Bitcoin market. Now, South Korea’s biggest bank is preparing to join in on the cryptocurrency market, leading most of the banking world that by-and-large still can’t shake its fears of the digital currency world. According to Bloomberg, Shinhan Bank is “in the process of selecting a company to test a bitcoin [sic] vault and wallet platform.” Upon regulatory [...]

December 15, 2017 By
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SEC Statement on Cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings

Statement on Cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings By SEC Chairman Jay Clayton Dec. 11, 2017 The world’s social media platforms and financial markets are abuzz about cryptocurrencies and “initial coin offerings” (ICOs).  There are tales of fortunes made and dreamed to be made.  We are hearing the familiar refrain, “this time is different.” The cryptocurrency and ICO markets have grown rapidly.  These markets are local, national and international and include an ever-broadening range of products and participants.  They also present investors and other [...]

December 15, 2017 By
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Physical version of Bitcoin (new virtual money) and Venezuela Flag. Conceptual image for investors in cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technology in Venezuela.

Venezuelan Leader Announces “Petro” Cryptocurrency Backed By Oil

In a highly ironic move designed to circumvent US-led financial sanctions, Nicolas Maduro, the socialist dictator of Venezuela has announced the creation of the “petro” digital currency backed by oil, gas, gold, and diamond reserves. According to Reuters, “The leftist leader offered few specifics about the currency launch…but he declared to cheers that ‘the 21st century has arrived!’” He added that it would help Venezuela “advance in issues of monetary sovereignty, to make financial transactions and overcome the financial [...]

December 14, 2017 By
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Bitcoin

Miss Out on Bitcoin? MAD Network Public Token Launch Set for Dec. 14

If you’re one of those who may be kicking yourself for not getting in on the ground floor of Bitcoin or just before it started to gather steam, there may another opportunity of interest to you. The MAD Network’s public token launch will begin on December 14th at 10 AM Eastern Time, after a November 30th pre-sale for “strategic industry and investment partners,” the company announced recently. The price per MADtoken will begin at $0.25. The MAD Network’s fundraising goal [...]

December 13, 2017 By
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Bitcoin

Deloitte Details Cybersecurity Challenges for Distributed Ledger Technology

A new white paper from Deloitte highlights the threats that blockchain technology – also known as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) – faces on the cybersecurity front and suggests possible countermeasures. “Security considerations in relation to the cryptographic and immutable nature of blockchain technology include key management, the risk of an attacker overpowering a private blockchain, centralization of authority within the network, [and] privacy and the right to be forgotten,” the firm says. For key management, the white paper notes there [...]

December 12, 2017 By
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