Month: November 2017

India is reportedly considering Chinese-style exchange ban for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency according to local media reports. A brief article in today’s Economic Times names an unknown government “committee” as having advised lawmakers to “close” merchants and other “dealers” active in Bitcoin and altcoins. No background reasoning was given for the committee’s recommendation, which comes as Bitcoin flourishes in both price and volume in India and in permissive jurisdictions around the world. Hesham Reyman, CEO of Indian exchange Bitxoxo, told the Read more …

Regulation The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an Investor Alert: Celebrity Endorsements from its Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA). “It is never a good idea to make an investment decision just because someone famous says a product or service is a good investment,” the statement scolded.  Also read: UK & Taiwanese Regulators Weigh-in on Bitcoin Laundering, France ponders ICOs SEC Warns Against Celebrity Endorsements “Celebrities, from movie stars to professional athletes, can be found on TV, radio, and social Read more …

As online records show, e-commerce giant Amazon has secured three cryptocurrency-related web domains. According to Whois Lookup, the following three domains, “amazonethereum.com”, “amazoncryptocurrency.com” and “amazoncryptocurrencies.com” were registered on October 31st. The domains are associated with Amazon Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. It is attributed to earlier patent applications of the e-commerce company. The telephone numbers listed in the registration documents are linked to the Amazon Legal Department. The registrations were first reported by the industry news site DomainNameWire. Read more …

The US Attorney’s Office Eastern District of New York has announced that New York-based businessman Maksim Zaslavskiy was arrested on Nov. 1, 2017, due to securities fraud conspiracy in connection with two initial coin offerings (ICO). Zaslavskiy was recently accused by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of defrauding investors in the two ICOs. According to acting US Attorney Bridget Rohde, Zaslavskiy and his cohorts were able to attract investors by pledging returns from the novel ICOs even though Read more …

Coinbase’s digital asset exchange GDAX has released details of how it will consider future tokens for listing on its platform. In its new Digital Asset Framework published today, GDAX sets out a wide range of criteria that assets must meet for possible inclusion. These include whether the asset aligns with GDAX’s mission and values, to whether listing the asset would be legal under U.S. securities laws. While tokens classed as securities or primarily created for fundraising will not be considered, those with Read more …

When we hear about cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, it’s usually through sensationalist articles that either declare it to be the economic savior of mankind or warn about the apocalyptic risks of not shifting away from fiat currency. The truth is that most people don’t fully understand the big picture aspects of cryptocurrencies—and, yes, this includes the creators themselves. It’s not that cryptocurrencies are really that complicated in and of themselves, it’s just that the market is and has always been a Read more …

In this morning’s bitcoin price watch analysis, we discussed some of the key trends we were seeing in the bitcoin price during the late session last night and into the early session this morning and opined that we would probably see some pretty substantial volatility during the session today. This was based on the idea that we had already seen a pretty substantial correction and that – as this correction matured – volume would likely be pretty heavy in both Read more …

What’s the secret to a successful initial coin offering (ICO)? It is not uncommon to see a big crowd turn up for the ICO of Blockchain startups with only a business concept, while others attract only a trickle of investment. A company may have the most advanced technology in the market, but if its Internet advertising does not reach its target market, potential investors and clients may not show up for the ICO party. Performance marketing has been identified as Read more …

Back to square one? As per CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) data, bitcoin smashed previous price records to hit $7,355.35 at 11:17 UTC today, only to crash back below $7,000 soon after. At press time, bitcoin is trading at $7,011. As per CoinMarketCap, the cryptocurrency has gained 7.19 percent in the last 24 hours. With the continued record-breaking run fueling accusations that bitcoin is in a bubble, the cryptocurrency has rallied more than 120 percent from the September lows below Read more …