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It’s all about liquidity in ICOs

A lack of liquidity will haunt the Initial Coin Offering market. The problem is that there are too many currencies. Without enough liquidity, we will see great participation by buyers with no support from market makers and no buyers for the cryptocoins…

A lack of liquidity will haunt the Initial Coin Offering market. The problem is that there are too many currencies. Without enough liquidity, we will see great participation by buyers with no support from market makers and no buyers for the cryptocoins that the ICO company wants to convert into flat cash.

Game of Thrones Hackers Demand $7.5M in Bitcoin From HBO – or Spoiler Alert Galore

Game of Thrones Hackers Demand $7.5M in Bitcoin From HBOJust recently a group of hackers made off with 1.5TB of data from servers owned by the cable television network HBO. The thieves managed to leak a few unaired episodes of the network’s original shows and a Game of Thrones script from this Sunday’s new episode. According to reports, the hackers want a total of […]

The post Game of Thrones Hackers Demand $7.5M in Bitcoin From HBO – or Spoiler Alert Galore appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Game of Thrones Hackers Demand $7.5M in Bitcoin From HBO

Just recently a group of hackers made off with 1.5TB of data from servers owned by the cable television network HBO. The thieves managed to leak a few unaired episodes of the network’s original shows and a Game of Thrones script from this Sunday’s new episode. According to reports, the hackers want a total of $7.5M in bitcoin for the cache of data or else they will slowly release a hoard of HBO’s unreleased shows.

Also read: Markets Update: Bitcoin Rallies While Traditional Assets Tumble Worldwide

HBO Looks to Acquire $250,000 Worth of Bitcoin to Pay Off Extortionists

Game of Thrones Hackers Demand $7.5M in Bitcoin From HBO
This Sunday’s unaired Game of Thrones episode script was leaked by Mr. Smith.

This past week HBO was compromised for over 1.5TB of internal data that hosted unaired shows, documentaries, in-house movies, scripts, high-profile emails and contacts, and broadcast pilots. The hackers who stole the information from HBO say they earn 15 million a year, and want half of their salaries paid for the stolen data. According to reports, the group calls themselves, “Mr. Smith,” and they make a living extorting companies by stealing valuable intellectual property.

HBO and Mr. Smith have been in contact with each other through a series of emails according to an IT employee who works for the cable network. The employee says HBO has been in communications with Mr. Smith since July 23 and have asked the malicious hackers to delay the ransom deadline. In an email to the Hollywood Reporter the company says that it has made an offer to Mr. Smith in order to try and keep the negotiations going, stating;

As a show of good faith on our side, we are willing to commit to making a bug bounty payment of $250,000 to you as soon as we can establish the necessary account and acquire bitcoin.

The ‘Bug Bounty’ Payment May be a Delay Tactic

HBO Might Pay $250,000 USD Worth of Bitcoin to Hackers
Richard Plepler, CEO of the HBO cable television network.

A source close to the matter says this doesn’t mean HBO will be willing to pay the entire ransom and called the move a “delay tactic.” The company also carefully chose to use the phrase “bug bounty” in their communications instead of saying “ransom.” At the moment, the source explains that HBO hasn’t been in contact with hackers and the deal may have fallen through.

In the video-message sent to Richard Plepler the cable company’s CEO, the hackers sent a message with white text and a black background demanding the company pay their salary in bitcoin soon. Reports reveal the data stolen also contains Plepler’s email list with over 40,000 contacts which include the phone numbers, emails, and living addresses of the entire Game of Thrones cast.

What do you think about HBO dealing with the hacker extortionists? Do you think they will end up paying 250,000 in bitcoin to Mr. Smith? Let us know in the comments below.


Images via Pixabay, HBO, Variety, and the Game of Thrones. 


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The post Game of Thrones Hackers Demand $7.5M in Bitcoin From HBO – or Spoiler Alert Galore appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Blockchain is the Future of Healthcare

Everything we know about health care can benefit from blockchain technology. Especially when it comes to medical records, sharing patient information, and making data more interoperable. Right now, there are  a lot of intermediaries involved in sharing patient data as very few systems are compatible with one another. The blockchain will effectively create a new … Continue reading Blockchain is the Future of Healthcare

The post Blockchain is the Future of Healthcare appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Everything we know about health care can benefit from blockchain technology. Especially when it comes to medical records, sharing patient information, and making data more interoperable. Right now, there are  a lot of intermediaries involved in sharing patient data as very few systems are compatible with one another. The blockchain will effectively create a new … Continue reading Blockchain is the Future of Healthcare

The post Blockchain is the Future of Healthcare appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Bitcoin Price Mania Fuels Another ATH, Approaches $4,000

bitcoin mania chartBitcoin’s price continues to climb upwards against all odds, shrugging off the hard fork and leaving Bitcoin Cash in the dust. While many traders predicted that the Bitcoin market will suffer as a result of the fork, so far the charts say otherwise. Earlier today the price reached a brand new all time high of $3705, sliding down to the current price of $3649 on Bitstamp at the time of writing. Bitcoin is up 7% today, as the bulls are leading the rally to uncharted territories. After testing support at the $3300 level, the price quickly recovered from the selloff

bitcoin mania chart

Bitcoin’s price continues to climb upwards against all odds, shrugging off the hard fork and leaving Bitcoin Cash in the dust. While many traders predicted that the Bitcoin market will suffer as a result of the fork, so far the charts say otherwise. Earlier today the price reached a brand new all time high of $3705, sliding down to the current price of $3649 on Bitstamp at the time of writing.

Bitcoin is up 7% today, as the bulls are leading the rally to uncharted territories. After testing support at the $3300 level, the price quickly recovered from the selloff and shot up over $150 in a matter of hours. Taking a look on reddit, tradingiew, and other popular trading forums, most traders are calling the latest price rise manic.

While that may be true, the charts look promising. For example, the current RSI is right at 70, meaning that while buy support is strong, the market isn’t quite overbought yet. However, if too many buyers try to FOMO their way to some coins, the RSI will break through past 70 indicating a dangerous territory.

bitcoin rsi chart

Chart: Bitcoincharts

Many are also wondering where all the buying volume is coming from. Since the most recent price spike happened Friday morning U.S. time, and GDAX is seeing tremendous trading volume, we can assume most buyers are from the United States. Furthermore, taking a look at trading volume comparison charts from bitcoinity, we can see that in the past six hours GDAX was responsible for 25% of Bitcoin’s trade volume, compared to the average 14% in the past 30 days.

coinbase volume comparison 2

Source: Bitcoinity.org

Some news that also added to the bullish market include the recent Bitfinex announcement that they will no longer accept U.S. clients. According to their blog post, they will suspend individual verification requests. Meaning that if you would like to sign up a new account as a U.S. citizen you will be denied the verification request.

“We have for some time considered pulling away from the retail marketplace in the U.S., and now with a current backlog of verification requests and ongoing difficulties in providing USD deposit and withdrawals for U.S. individuals, we feel that the time has come to begin disengaging from U.S. retail customers.”

According to their statements, it is a tedious process to verify U.S. customers due to heavy regulations, which Bitfinex anticipates will only increase in scrutiny in the near future.

By restricting their platform Bitfinex is effectively limiting liquidity and creating a sense of scarcity on the market, which only further fuels the price rise. Since Coinbase is dominant in the U.S. when it comes to getting newbies on board, those U.S. users that sign up on Bitfinex are most likely looking to deposit existing coins and trade them for profit. Removing this “sell pressure” by restricting U.S. traders ultimately pushes the price higher.

The most likely scenario in the next few days, is that Bitcoin’s price will pull back to either low $3,000 or high $2900 levels before deciding on its next move. If the buy pressure continues and mainstream media like CNBC, Forbes, TechCrunch, etc. continue to push out Bitcoin articles, expect this rally to keep going.

As the price is approaching $4,000 many traders are making crazy predictions. Some say that Bitcoin’s price will reach $10,000 in a matter of months, others like Ken Goldberg – a Computer Science professor at UC Berkeley – predict that Bitcoin’s price may fall as low as $3.50. What are your predictions for Bitcoin’s price in the next month? Let us know in the comment section!

Disclaimer: This is not trading or investment advice.

Medical Society of Delaware to Pilot Blockchain Technology for Better Healthcare Access

The Medical Society of Delaware has partnered with healthcare technology startup company Medscient to pilot test a proof-of-concept involving Blockchain technology aimed at…

The Medical Society of Delaware has partnered with healthcare technology startup company Medscient to pilot test a proof-of-concept involving Blockchain technology aimed at improving healthcare access in the state.

Bitcoin Swings For The Fences – Forbes


Forbes

Bitcoin Swings For The Fences
Forbes
Bitcoin prices continue to climb, notching fresh highs as the broader cryptocurrency space keeps gaining momentum. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization reached as much as $3,646.87 today, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price …
Bitcoin surges to fresh record above $3500, beats gold amid the global market sell-offCNBC
Bitcoin shows little sign of slowing as new record reachedMarketWatch
Bitcoin flies past $3500 for the first timeBusiness Insider
CoinTelegraph –Investopedia –Investor’s Business Daily
all 35 news articles »

Forbes

Bitcoin Swings For The Fences
Forbes
Bitcoin prices continue to climb, notching fresh highs as the broader cryptocurrency space keeps gaining momentum. The world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization reached as much as $3,646.87 today, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price ...
Bitcoin surges to fresh record above $3500, beats gold amid the global market sell-offCNBC
Bitcoin shows little sign of slowing as new record reachedMarketWatch
Bitcoin flies past $3500 for the first timeBusiness Insider
CoinTelegraph -Investopedia -Investor's Business Daily
all 35 news articles »

‘Blockchain technology will change the world’: Fidelity Labs SVP – CNBC


CNBC

‘Blockchain technology will change the world’: Fidelity Labs SVP
CNBC
Bitcoin is “digital gold” and “blockchain technology will change the world,” said Hadley Stern of Fidelity Labs. Fidelity announced Wednesday that it started allowing clients to view bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on its website, a rare move for an

and more »


CNBC

'Blockchain technology will change the world': Fidelity Labs SVP
CNBC
Bitcoin is "digital gold" and "blockchain technology will change the world," said Hadley Stern of Fidelity Labs. Fidelity announced Wednesday that it started allowing clients to view bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on its website, a rare move for an ...

and more »

More of your bitcoin questions, answered – Marketplace.org


Marketplace.org

More of your bitcoin questions, answered
Marketplace.org
We only had so much time on Make Me Smart this week to answer your questions about bitcoin. Molly can talk cryptocurrencies forever, and there was a lot more to say! So here’s everything (else) you’ve wanted to know about bitcoin, but were too afraid

and more »


Marketplace.org

More of your bitcoin questions, answered
Marketplace.org
We only had so much time on Make Me Smart this week to answer your questions about bitcoin. Molly can talk cryptocurrencies forever, and there was a lot more to say! So here's everything (else) you've wanted to know about bitcoin, but were too afraid ...

and more »

Bitfinex Drops US Customers

Bitfinex Drops US CustomersBitcoin exchange Bitfinex has just announced that it is pulling out of the US retail market due to the challenging regulatory climate. US customers have approximately 90 days to discontinue all trading, and US holders of ethereum ERC20 tokens have only 5 days to stop trading them on the exchange. Also read: Bitfinex Enables Bitcoin Cash […]

The post Bitfinex Drops US Customers appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Bitfinex Drops US Customers

Bitcoin exchange Bitfinex has just announced that it is pulling out of the US retail market due to the challenging regulatory climate. US customers have approximately 90 days to discontinue all trading, and US holders of ethereum ERC20 tokens have only 5 days to stop trading them on the exchange.

Also read: Bitfinex Enables Bitcoin Cash Deposits and Withdrawals but Credits 15% Less

Leading bitcoin exchange by USD volume, Bitfinex, announced on Friday that it is exiting the U.S. retail marketplace. Effective immediately, the exchange no longer accepts verification requests for U.S. Individuals. “We have for some time considered pulling away from the retail marketplace in the U.S.,” the exchange wrote, adding that:

Now with a current backlog of verification requests and ongoing difficulties in providing USD deposit and withdrawals for U.S. individuals, we feel that the time has come to begin disengaging from U.S. retail customers.

Bitfinex explained that “a surprisingly small percentage of our revenues come from verified U.S. individual accounts.” Meanwhile, “a dramatically outsized portion of our resources goes into servicing the needs of U.S. individuals, including support, legal and regulatory.” Citing that it has been able to “normalize banking for some corporate customers and individuals in certain jurisdictions,” Bitfinex admitted that “compliant banking solutions for U.S. individuals remain elusive.” Consequently, the exchange stated:

Over the next 90 days, we will be discontinuing services to our existing U.S. individual customers.

Bitfinex expects the U.S. Regulatory landscape to be even more challenging in the future. “Exchanges based in the U.S. are better positioned to properly service retail U.S. Customers,” it wrote.

In addition, the exchange also announced that U.S. customers will no longer be able to trade ERC20 tokens issued through initial coin offerings (ICOs) on the exchange. This part of the changes will commence at noon UTC on August 16.

“Pursuant to the recent report of investigation issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,” the exchange wrote to its customers, “Bitfinex is taking the proactive step of barring U.S. customers from trading certain digital tokens that may be deemed securities in the eyes of the SEC.” Currently, tokens active on the exchange subject to this restriction are EOS and Santiment (SAN).

What do you think of Bitfinex dropping their US customers? Let us know in the comments section below.


Images courtesy of Shutterstock


Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section.

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