Month: October 2018

After waiting for over three weeks for a compensation strategy, victims of the Zaif cryptocurrency exchange hacking can now sigh with relief as the owner of the Japanese exchange has put forward a plan. Tech Bureau, which owns the Zaif cryptocurrency exchange, has announced that it will sell its entire stake to Fisco Digital Asset Group, a publicly listed Japanese firm which also operates a digital asset exchange. Consequently, the responsibility of compensating victims of the breach will fall on Read more …

Chinese entrepreneurs behind some of the biggest cryptocurrency startups in the world have made the country’s billionaire list for the first time. Hurun, the organization that tracks high net-worth individuals in China and worldwide, on Wednesday released its latest list of the wealthiest executives in China – all being worth at least 2 billion yuan, or $288 million. Based on the report, six people from major bitcoin mining firms and cryptocurrency exchanges now hold a net worth of more than $1 billion each, Read more …

The crypto market has just entered into another tough period when a lot of coins started losing its value. In the midst of all the chaos, one cryptocurrency exchange announced a new pump scheme on several random coins, while hoping to get a boost itself. YoBit Plans a Pump-And-Dump Scheme YoBit, a Russia-based cryptocurrency exchange that was founded in 2015, has publically announced a pump scheme on their Twitter feed. This is a part of a scheme commonly known in Read more …

American economist Nouriel Roubini has prepared his “debunking” of the crypto and blockchain space in a 30-page testimony set to be delivered at a U.S. congress hearing. The hearing will be held today, Oct. 11 by the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and is devoted to “Exploring the Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Ecosystem.” Roubini will testify in counterpart to Coin Center director of research Peter Van Valkenburgh. Roubini’s testimony asserts that the crypto “bubble” of winter 2017 Read more …

South Korea’s top financial regulator on Thursday clarified that Initial Coin Offering (ICO) issuance will remain banned despite the government’s inclination towards setting up a blockchain hub in Seoul. Choi Jong-koo, the chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), said during their parliament audit session that they should not confuse the potential of blockchain with the possibility of cryptocurrencies, adding that companies issuing crypto-assets to generate funds for volatile projects could pose severe risks to investors. “Many people say the Korean Read more …

Some of the largest startups in South Korea with over 10 million users are turning to the blockchain. “Baedal Minjik,” a food delivery startup whose annual revenue surged 80 percent last year, and “Joonggonara,” a major used goods marketplace in South Korea, have shown interests in integrating the digital ledger technology. Baedal Minjik, for instance, recently partnered with Terra, a blockchain-based digital money project backed by a $32 million fund, to develop a cryptocurrency-enabled payment system within its food delivery Read more …

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is looking to recruit blockchain tech and legal experts as it continues development of its central bank digital currency. According to various employment ads posted on Tuesday, the central bank is currently hiring four engineers with expertise on system architecture, chip design, blockchain development and application, cryptography and security protocol design. Based on the job descriptions, the engineers will be responsible for developing a fiat-linked digital currency software, a cryptography and security model, and a Read more …

Regulation Noted Bitcoin critic Nouriel Roubini will deliver a speech on cryptocurrency and blockchain to the U.S. Senate today, and it is unlikely that the man known as “Dr. Doom” will mince his words. Nor will the economist concern himself too much with the truth, as his prepared testimony is filled with exaggerations and inaccuracies that the cryptocurrency community has already started to gleefully pull apart. Also read: 30 People Who Were Really Wrong About Bitcoin Dr. Doom Gets on Read more …

Did cryptocurrency exchange giant Bitfinex play a role in last night’s bitcoin sell-off? As first reported by The Block, the British Virgin Islands-based but Hong Kong-operated exchange has “temporarily paused” EUR, USD, JPY, and GBP wire deposits, although screenshots from customer accounts circulated on social media suggest that the situation should “normalize within a week.” Bitfinex’s EUR, USD, JPY, GBP wire deposits are temporarily paused.Things are expected to resume in a week.$BTC #Bitcoin #Bitfinex pic.twitter.com/ZezjJ4jiib — Squeeze (@cryptoSqueeze) October 11, Read more …

A study conducted by market research firm Juniper Research has cast doubts on bitcoin’s long-term prospects owing to various factors stacked against it including regulatory scrutiny. Per Windsor Holden, the author of the report titled ‘The Future of Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin & Altcoin Trends & Challenges 2018-2023’ the lack of ‘intrinsic value’ in the flagship cryptocurrency portends doom: “Bitcoin has no intrinsic value. Like any asset, it is worth whatever someone is prepared to pay for it, but it has no Read more …

South Korean government is “likely” to announce its official position on Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) in November. A local business newspaper The Investor reported this on Thursday, Oct. 11, citing a “top official,” Hong Nam-ki. As per the chief of the office for Government Policy Coordination Hong Nam-ki, South Korean officials have already held several discussions on ICOs. As soon as the results are in, the government will finalize and reveal its official stance, he said. South Korea first banned Read more …