Bitcoin on Facebook? Lite.IM Adds BTC Support for Leading Social Networks

Cryptocurrency adoption pioneers Lite.IM have just announced that the platform will now support Bitcoin (BTC) payments. This means, users of Facebook, Telegram, and even plain old SMS will now be able to send BTC to one another via their chosen social application. Such moves bridge the gap between the now enormously adopted mobile phone and social media networks and the still niche Bitcoin. Lite.IM Brings Bitcoin Payments to the Masses Users of various popular social messaging applications and even SMS Read more …

Launch Timeline for Bakkt’s Bitcoin Futures to Be Clarified Early 2019: ICE

  The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) announced an update on the launch of the Bakkt Bitcoin (USD) Daily Futures Contract in an official notice Dec. 31. The document from ICE — the operator of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and creator of digital assets platform Bakkt — states that “[f]ollowing consultation with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission [CFTC], ICE Futures U.S., Inc. expects to provide an updated launch timeline in early 2019 for the trading, clearing and warehousing” of Bakkt’s Read more …

Bakkt Raises $182.5M From Microsoft And Other Big-Name Investors

Bakkt on Monday announced the completion of its first funding round, to the tune of $182.5 million. The platform which aims to offer the first-ever Bitcoin-settled futures contracts in the coming year says it is going ahead with its plans irrespective of the current market conditions. $182.5 Million in Funding From High Profile Investors In a Medium post published on Monday (Dec. 31, 2018) by the Bakkt CEO, Kelly Loeffler, the company announced that it had successfully carried out its first Read more …

Indian Gov’t to Approach Crypto Regulation ‘With Due Caution’

The Indian government is approaching cryptocurrency regulation with caution, tech magazine Quartz reported Dec. 31, quoting Pon Radhakrishnan, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Shipping. The latest episode in India’s increasingly drawn-out path to formalizing its domestic cryptocurrency economy, Radhakrishnan said that the lack of a “globally acceptable solution” meant lawmakers were unlikely to issue formal statues in the short term. Addressing the lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, on Dec. 28, he Read more …

Bitcoin to End 2018 With 80% Drop, What Investors Can Expect in 2019

Following one of its biggest bull rallies in history to $19,500, Bitcoin (BTC) is set to end 2018 with an 80 percent drop from its all-time high. As Bitcoin enters 2019 with a bear market status having suffered a steep sell-off in December, what can investors expect in the first two quarters of 2019? Several Catalysts on the Horizon For Bitcoin In the first quarter of next year, Bakkt, a cryptocurrency liquidity provider and exchange operated by the New York Read more …

67 Cryptocurrency Companies Probed by UK Regulator

Regulation The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has reportedly provided an update of its investigations of crypto companies. A total of 67 inquiries were launched, 49 of which have been closed, leaving 18 businesses currently under investigation. The UK government has reportedly said it is ready to give power to the FCA to regulate the crypto industry. Also read: Indian Supreme Court Moves Crypto Hearing, Community Calls for Positive Regulations More Crypto Companies Under Investigation The U.K.’s FCA has released new Read more …

NYSE Operator’s Crypto Platform Bakkt Completes $182.5 Million Funding Round

Digital assets platform Bakkt — created by the operator of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) — has announced the completion of its first funding round in a blog post today, Dec. 31. The institutional investor-focused cryptocurrency platform from the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has officially raised $182.5 million from 12 partners and investors, according to the post. The partners and investors reportedly include major names in both traditional finance and crypto-oriented investing, including ICE, Boston Consulting Group, Galaxy Digital, Goldfinch Read more …

Crypto Is Just Calming Down, Not a Bear Market Says Jed McCaleb

Early crypto evangelist and arguably one of the most influential figures in the space, Jed McCaleb, says we’re still not in a bear market despite continued price decline and investor fatigue. In fact, the man who has had a hand in everything from the notorious Mt. Gox cryptocurrency exchange, to Ripple and Stellar, says that the crypto market is just “calming down,” and is “still way way up” since its inception. McCaleb: Not a Crypto Bear Market, Price Doesn’t Matter Read more …

Can Tom Jessop Bring Crypto to Wall Street for Good?

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Everyone in cryptocurrency has a story about the time they went down the proverbial rabbit hole. Tom Jessop’s takes place in his kitchen. It was around 2013 or 2014 when Jessop, then a managing director at Goldman Sachs with two decades of Wall Street experience, became enthralled with bitcoin – at the time an obscure topic in finance circles. “This idea of this scarce asset, this fully digital money, cryptographic trust replacing institutional trust – all these things, I Read more …

Inside the SEC, Hester Peirce is Fighting for a Blockchain Future

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– “It’s always time for a change.” Unexpected words from a regulator, but then again, Hester Peirce, one of the five commissioners at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), isn’t an average regulator. When she speaks of the disruptive role of cryptocurrencies, her words could pass for those of any aspiring blockchain disruptor. “I’m excited to see what’s going to happen over the next 10 years, how our lives will be affected and I’m excited to see how that Read more …

Stable Times at Circle: A Crypto Startup Counted Out Is Rebuilt and Riding High

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– As I walked from my car to Circle’s offices in Boston on a Friday afternoon in early November, the sun appeared to have already set, even though it would be up a while longer – past 4:00 p.m. The weather was gray, windy and cold – above freezing, but only because it was due to rain biblically for the entire drive back to New York. If a bright orange parking ticket wasn’t already fluttering on my windshield, it would Read more …

The Mother and Father of All Crypto Skeptics

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Admit it – you already hate that this article exists. That itself is no small testament to the man it’s about, Dr. Nouriel Roubini, the outspoken economist and professor whose tweets, interviews and public testimonies this year have seemed to treat the entire cryptocurrency movement with all the tenderness of an insubordinate prison inmate. In the process, Roubini has arguably become the embodiment of an incumbent intellectual class that sees cryptocurrency as responsible for not just a massive price Read more …