Month: January 2019

Retail Row, the merchandise store for the online video game Fortnite, has started “exclusively” accepting Monero (XMR) as a cryptocurrency payment option, Monero tweeted Jan. 1. Fortnite is an online video game released in July 2017 and developed by Epic Games, which reportedly accounts for more than 125 million players worldwide. In October 2018, Epic Games was valued at over $15 billion in its latest funding round. Retail Row supports crypto payments service GloBee, which allows retailers to accept cryptocurrencies Read more …

Economics Institutional investors trading cryptocurrency gained ground in 2018, with a number of high profile players edging in and taking a seat at the table. Increased interest from larger investors may have played a part in supporting digital assets as well as distorting the market.  Also Read: KPMG: Institutional Investment Key to Cryptoassets Growth Will Crypto Markets Turn Bullish Again in 2019? Last year, reports emerged that George Soros and the Rockefeller family were beginning to take positions in the emergent Read more …

Venture capital investor Fred Wilson suggested that cryptocurrency will not be a safe haven in 2019 amid a “weakening” economy, according to a blog post published Jan. 1. Wilson is an American venture capitalist and businessman, who has reportedly backed such companies as Twitter, Tumblr, Zynga, and Etsy. He is also a cofounder of New York-based venture capital firm Union Square Ventures and an early digital currency investor. In the blog post entitled “What is going to happen in 2019,” Read more …

Bitcoin price on January 1st saw a minor decline of less than 1 percent against the US Dollar on a 24-hour adjusted timeframe. The digital currency, which established a weekly high towards $4,239 ahead of Christmas, corrected to as low as $3,561 on Coinbase in later days. It attempted a minor bull run on December 28 but fell just short of $4,000 in absence of adequate bullish sentiment and trading volume – probably because of the New Year break. The Read more …

“Few tangible uses for Bitcoin (BTC) and its underlying blockchain technology have emerged,” according to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article published Jan. 1. According to WSJ, in 2017 actual crypto development “took a back seat to getting rich.” The article also states that “at the beginning of 2018, the question was whether Bitcoin could live up to the hype of 2017’s manic rally,” and at the end of 2018 the answer was “no.” Andy Bromberg — the founder of Read more …

Although the traditional equities markets and the crypto markets don’t have a ton in common, they both had a rough 2018, and investors in both markets are hoping that 2019 proves to be different. Despite being a rough year price-wise, many analysts see the drops in both markets as being temporary, which could mean that 2019 will be highly profitable for investors who have been disheartened by the recent volatility. Crypto Markets Down Significantly Over One-Year Period Last year at Read more …

A class action lawsuit has been filed against tech giant Nvidia, with the plaintiffs accusing the company of making misleading statements about how it can help mitigate the effects of the reduced demand from the cryptocurrency market. The suit was filed by the Schall Law Firm, who specializes in shareholder rights litigation and securities-related class action lawsuits. Last year, the cryptocurrency market was in a prolonged, with the prices of mining rigs and PC Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) reaching astronomical levels. Read more …

The founder of dark web marketplace Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht, has written Bitcoin Cash proponent, Roger Ver, seeking his help in getting clemency for the double life sentence he is currently serving at the United States Penitentiary Florence High in Colorado. In his letter to Ver, Ulbricht pointed out that he had run out of options and the best hope for him now remained a presidential pardon: Despite your generous assistance throughout my legal battles, especially at first when very Read more …

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is pausing its plans to release a digital currency, Indian business news outlet the Hindu Business Line reported on Jan. 1. India’s central bank had originally announced its intentions to consider a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in April of this year, at the time noting the establishment of an interdepartmental group to look into potential advantages and feasibility. In August, RBI confirmed the creation of the group, specifying that it was researching a Read more …

Mining Authorities in Abkhazia have cut off 15 mining facilities from the territory’s electrical grid. The short-term measure is meant to alleviate power shortages during the cold winter months. The operators of the farms have fully cooperated with the local electric utility. Also read: Two Mining Companies Among Georgia’s Major Electricity Consumers 8,950 kWt of Mining Hardware Unplugged Chernomorenergo, the state-owned company responsible for the electricity distribution in the breakaway republic, said it disconnected all mining farms it managed to Read more …

Tuesday, Jan. 1 — most of the top 20 cryptocurrencies are seeing discreet to moderate losses, while a handful report gains. Bitcoin’s (BTC) price is under $3,800 again, according to Coin360 data. Market visualization from Coin360 At press time, Bitcoin is down over one and a half percent on the day, trading at around $3,740. Looking at its weekly chart, the current price is slightly lower than $3,814, the price of BTC one week ago. Furthermore, the current price is lower Read more …