Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency

New Study Says 90% of Blockchain Projects Will Fail

New Study Says 90% of Blockchain Projects Will Fail

By Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency, News, Startups, Technology and Telecommunications 0 comments

A new study by Forrester Research suggest that 90% of blockchain initiatives currently active in the US will ultimately be abandoned. The grim prediction from the research firm also said that have been trying to implement distributed ledger technology (DLT) in their businesses are now scaling back. However, Forrester also said that companies with a deep understanding of the technology and its transformational potential are likely to persist. Bloomberg’s Ron Resnick also said that blockchain development will experience an uptick in 2019, while Hyperledger’s Brian Behlendorf says that the next wave of blockchain apps will not come from tech giants […]

KickICO Gets Hacked, Loses $7.7 Million

KickICO Gets Hacked, Loses $7.7 Million

By Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency, Cybersecurity, News 0 comments

ICO platform KickICO last Friday admitted to being hacked by an unknown attacker who stole approximately $7.7 million worth of Kick tokens from the platform’s wallets. KickICO CEO Anti Danilevski revealed that they learned about the incident from investors who complained that the funds in their wallets suddenly went missing. The company’s investigation found that the attacker somehow managed to get the private key of the platform and used it to change the smart contract’s behavior. However, the company assured that they were able to regain control of the smart contract and will be refunding all users. Source: Bleeping Computer

Ex-Employee of Russian Payments Firm Mines 500K Bitcoins Using Company Computers

Ex-Employee of Russian Payments Firm Mines 500K Bitcoins Using Company Computers

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The CEO of Qiwi, a Russian payments services firm, recently claimed that an ex-employee used the company’s payment terminals for bitcoin mining in 2011. CEO Sergey Solonin revealed to his audience at the Moscow Advanced Communications School (MACS) that one of his programmers was able to mine as much as 500 thousand Bitcoins, which is worth approximately $4 billion at present time.    When the programmer was found out however, he immediately resigned from the company, but was reportedly unable to take advantage of the mined Bitcoins, saying that they got “lost at some point”. Source: Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Rises to $8300, Highest in Two Months

Bitcoin Rises to $8300, Highest in Two Months

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Bitcoin climbed above $8300 last Tuesday, the highest level in two months, after reports that a cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund is set to be approved in the US. The biggest and most popular cryptocurrency went up 6.33% at $8,198.04 on Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange. Meanwhile, second biggest virtual currency Ethereum went up 4.79% at $470.66 on the same exchange. Source: Reuters

WeExchange, BitFunder Operator Pleads Guilty

WeExchange, BitFunder Operator Pleads Guilty

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The operator of WeExchange Australia Pty Ltd, a bitcoin exchange and depository service, pleaded guilty to defrauding investors and lying to US securities regulators earlier this week. Jon Montroll, also the operator of BitFunder.com, was found to have used his investors’ bitcoins for himself, exchanging them for dollars and spending them on personal expenses. Aside from not disclosing a hack of WeExchange to his investors, Montroll also lied to investigators in sworn interviews in 2013 and 2015 about when he learned of the hack and about other matters. Source: Reuters

South Korea Sets Up Cryptocurrency Division

South Korea Sets Up Cryptocurrency Division

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South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) recently announced that it is setting up a Financial Innovation Bureau which will be responding to new developments and challenges such as cryptocurrencies. It will also be given oversight on policy initiatives relating to FinTech and big data in the future. Analysts attribute this to the country’s change in stance regarding cryptocurrencies in recent months, where the government now says that cryptocurrency exchanges as actual legal entities, instead of just “communication vendors”.   Source: Investing.com

Mastercard to Join Fiat and Cryptocurrency with New Patent

Mastercard to Join Fiat and Cryptocurrency with New Patent

By Banking and Finance, Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency, News 0 comments

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted Mastercard this week a patent the company filed last May which describes a method that links blockchain-based assets to fiat currency accounts. Mastercard says that the plan will significantly help customers by speeding up the transaction time of cryptocurrencies while providing security for the payee. It added that the solution would may help alleviate the wariness of merchants, retailers, and other service providers to accept blockchain-based payments, and at the same time making consumers more willing to trade in cryptocurrency if the decentralised nature of the technology was somewhat removed. Source: […]

NY Regulator Grants Virtual Currency License to BitPay

NY Regulator Grants Virtual Currency License to BitPay

By Banking and Finance, Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency, News, Technology and Telecommunications 0 comments

Bitcoin payments processor BitPay was granted this week a virtual currency license by the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS). As the first virtual currency wholesale payments processor to be given such a license, BitPay is now authorized to offer clearing and settlement services to merchants accepting or issuing payments in Bitcoin. The company says that businesses around the world have already signed up with them to accept bitcoin payments. This includes companies such as Microsoft, Newegg, Namecheap, Gyft, Takeaway, and Virgin Galactic.   Source: Reuters

Regulators Allow Coinbase to List Virtual Coins Considered as Securities  

Regulators Allow Coinbase to List Virtual Coins Considered as Securities  

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Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase was allowed this week by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to list digital currency considered to be securities. The wallet provider is now authorized to acquire security dealers Keystone Capital Corp., Venovate Marketplace Inc. and Digital Wealth LLC, which will allow it to operate as a broker dealer, a registered investment adviser, and extend its offerings with security tokens. While a spokesperson said that the technology will be integrated into the new subsidiaries, it was not confirmed when as the company will still need to verify that employees […]

Global Regulators to “Vigilantly” Watch Crypto Assets

Global Regulators to “Vigilantly” Watch Crypto Assets

By Banking and Finance, Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency, News 0 comments

The Financial Stability Board recently unveiled a framework that seeks to vigilantly monitor risks of crypto assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Board, which coordinates financial regulation for the G20, says the framework focuses on how risks brought by the crypto asset markets could affect other parts of the financial system, and how to identify financial stability risks early enough to act on them. It was pointed out that it is often unclear which financial rules are applicable to the crypto sector or if there is even any legal authority to regulate it. Source: Reuters

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