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Charlie Lee says that recent Bithumb hack cannot affect Bitcoin’s fundamentals the same way a bank robbery should not affect the price of gold
Charlie Lee says that recent Bithumb hack cannot affect Bitcoin’s fundamentals the same way a bank robbery should not affect the price of gold
The Toronto Stock Exchange will trade a new blockchain ETF, which will focus on blockchain infrastructure companies like Hive Blockchain Technologies Ltd. and Nvidia Corp.
The Toronto Stock Exchange will trade a new blockchain ETF, which will focus on blockchain infrastructure companies like Hive Blockchain Technologies Ltd. and Nvidia Corp.
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the founders of the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange, just won another crypto-related patent.
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the founders of the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange, just won another crypto-related patent.
Either Mark Zuckerberg wants to decentralize Facebook and give users back control of their data, which would undermine the company’s advertising model, or he wants to create the world’s largest micro economy within its 2+ billion user community.
Either Mark Zuckerberg wants to decentralize Facebook and give users back control of their data, which would undermine the company’s advertising model, or he wants to create the world’s largest micro economy within its 2+ billion user community.
The Bithumb situation has quickly developed over the past 24 hours, resulting in rampant speculation about what exactly happened. Bithumb ‘Suspiciously’ Deletes Original Tweet News of yesterday’s hack quickly broke on Bithumb‘s official Twitter account, but oddly enough, Bithumb deleted the original message after only a few hours. The original message stated that all deposits…
The post Speculation Rife as Bithumb Situation Develops, Market Recovers appeared first on NewsBTC.
The Bithumb situation has quickly developed over the past 24 hours, resulting in rampant speculation about what exactly happened.
News of yesterday’s hack quickly broke on Bithumb‘s official Twitter account, but oddly enough, Bithumb deleted the original message after only a few hours. The original message stated that all deposits and withdrawals would be locked due to the theft of over $30 million worth of cryptocurrencies from the exchange’s wallets.
This seemingly random deletion led to a period of speculation and confusion for cryptocurrency community members. Some began to speculate that the hack was actually an ‘inside’ job, with a few drawing lines between a $28 million tax raise for Bithumb and the most recent hack.
WhalePanda, popular cryptocurrency personality, fueled the rumors by taking a light-hearted jab at Bithumb on Twitter.
Bithumb had to pay $28 million worth of back taxes and now lost $30 million less than 2 weeks later.
https://t.co/spvFpzpb6X pic.twitter.com/DPq9kQG7Nm
— WhalePanda (@WhalePanda) June 20, 2018
It is likely that the matching figures are just an untimely coincidence, and that Bithumb had only the best intentions while posting the aforementioned tweet. As a matter of fact, Bithumb left up a post on the ‘Bithumb Cafe’ blog, further showing that the Asian-based exchange only had the best intentions.
The aforementioned blog post stated:
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. However, we will make every effort to reopen the service as soon as possible, with the ultimate goal of protecting your assets.
Despite the aforementioned post, it has become apparent that Bithumb will need to further address the issue to calm the cryptocurrency community. Firstly, ensuring its customers that all funds are safe, and secondly, notifying users that the funds lost will be fully reimbursed.
Once news of the hack was released, Bitcoin transaction fees took an abnormal turn to the upside, with average fees moving from 58 cents to $2.94. Although this was unexpected, CEO of BitRefill, Sergej Kotaliar, confirmed that this odd uptick in transaction fees was due to Bithumb moving Bitcoin out of their hotwallet.
Currently big backlogs and high fees on the Bitcoin network. Just confirmed that it is Bithumb, cleaning out their hotwallet.
Chart courtesy of BitInfo
Bithumb had to issue their transactions with absurd fees to ensure that miners marked the outgoing transactions as a priority. Bithumb reportedly overpaid fees by 100 times, which really goes to show how desperate they were to get the hot wallet Bitcoin into cold storage. It is likely that this fee surge will only be temporary, as high fee transactions leave Bitcoin’s mempool over the upcoming days.
Despite taking a 3% tumble minutes after the attack, the market quickly bounced back, as price levels have now re-approached the levels seen prior to the apparent hack. Bitcoin is now stable at $6750, and Ethereum has re-approached $540. Other popular altcoins have followed this trend, with prices moving up slowly towards a collective $300 billion market cap.
Charlie Lee, founder of Litecoin and well-known cryptocurrency personality went on CNBC’s Fast Money segment to address the hack.
He said:
“Whenever there is an exchange hack, people get scared and the price drops. It happens all the time. But it doesn’t really change the fundamentals of Bitcoin, Litecoin or other cryptocurrencies because it’s like, if a bank gets broken in and gold is stolen, does that affect the price of gold? It shouldn’t.”
With this statement, Charlie Lee alludes that Bitcoin, along with the rest of the cryptocurrency market, should not tank after the announcement of an exchange hack. Fast Money host, Melissa Lee, also questioned Charlie about the current price action seen with cryptocurrencies, to which Charlie replied:
“I believe we are kind of in a bear market right now. But I believe that the prices will rebound, and prices will come back up shortly.”
Image from Shutterstock
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With China to its west and Japan to its east, South Korea is surrounded by economic giants, but nonetheless remains a pivotal influence on the global cryptocurrency markets — for reasons that are not immediately apparent to most external observers
With China to its west and Japan to its east, South Korea is surrounded by economic giants, but nonetheless remains a pivotal influence on the global cryptocurrency markets — for reasons that are not immediately apparent to most external observers
Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman claims that ICOs pose “serious risks” for retail investors citing lack of oversight
Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman claims that ICOs pose “serious risks” for retail investors citing lack of oversight
CNBCWhy bitcoin made a comeback after the South Korean exchange hackCNBCBitcoin made a comeback despite crashing after a recent hack on a South Korean exchange, and two cryptocurrency traders explained why it rebounded. Charlie Lee, the founder of Lite…
CNBC | Why bitcoin made a comeback after the South Korean exchange hack CNBC Bitcoin made a comeback despite crashing after a recent hack on a South Korean exchange, and two cryptocurrency traders explained why it rebounded. Charlie Lee, the founder of Litecoin, a global decentralized currency that is based on blockchain ... Bitcoin price news: Will bitcoin recover? Will BTC go back to $10000? Bitcoin Price Steady Above $6K Despite Bithumb Hack Top bitcoin exchange says over $30 million in cryptocurrencies stolen |
The U.S. SEC has received an emergency court order to freeze the assets of Dominic Lacroix, who was previously accused of violating securities law in regards to PlexCoin ICO
The U.S. SEC has received an emergency court order to freeze the assets of Dominic Lacroix, who was previously accused of violating securities law in regards to PlexCoin ICO
Newly listed on CoinMarketCap (with a current market cap of $5,221,377 and a price of $0.007459), the DGTX token was issued by the Digitex Futures Exchange. The team plans to launch a commission-free futures exchange sometime later this year. An Overview of the Digitex Futures Project At a time when some of the largest exchanges […]
Newly listed on CoinMarketCap (with a current market cap of $5,221,377 and a price of $0.007459), the DGTX token was issued by the Digitex Futures Exchange. The team plans to launch a commission-free futures exchange sometime later this year.
At a time when some of the largest exchanges are being called into question for their centralization and high commission fees, Digitex Futures seeks to offer traders a platform on which to buy and sell without paying commission fees. All account balances (profits and losses) will be shown in the native DGTX cryptocurrency.
So while the platform will allow for trading in liquid futures contracts based on the price of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin against the US dollar, traders will need to purchase the DGTX token and have a positive balance in order to do so. This will create a demand for the DGTX token.
According to the Digitex Futures white paper, the exchange will eliminate commission fees and cover all operational costs by minting and circulating “a small number of new DGTX tokens each year.” While the team has not defined exactly how “small” that number will be, investors are assured that all new tokens issued will be approved by DTGX owners.
This will be done through a system of decentralized governance in a democratic manner on the blockchain. The team behind DGTX believes that the demand from traders drawn to the commission-free exchange will easily absorb the cost of creating new tokens. Holders may see a temporary drop in the token price; however, as more traders come on board, the DGTX price will rise. In theory.
The matching engine, they claim, is blazing fast, the platform secure, and the interface simple to use for experienced traders. Unlike traditional exchanges, centralized account balances are replaced with decentralized smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain, where all account balances will be held.
The total supply of DGTX is 1 billion tokens. 70 percent of them were sold at $0.01 in an ICO on January 15. The tokens sold out in 17 minutes, raising $5.4 million. Hovering at #561 on CoinMarketCap, the DGTX value has dropped since the beginning of the year in the bear market.
Q3 should see the completion of the smart contract accounts, with the launch of the Digitex Futures exchange in Q4. The DGTX token has also launched on OOOBTC, Radex, and ExRates exchanges, and got listed on CoinMarketCap last month.
With a communicative team and active community, according to updates, it would seem as if Digitex Futures is on track to complete its roadmap and launch their exchange at the end of this year. The price right now is low, but it’s unlikely to go up anytime soon until the project is up and running and proving its worth. But for experienced traders who resent shedding profits in commission fees, this could be an option to watch.
According to statistics from the United Nations Refugee Agency, there are 25.4 million refugees in the world and some 3.1 million asylum seekers. On this year’s World Refugee Day, we’re reminded of the perpetual …
According to statistics from the United Nations Refugee Agency, there are 25.4 million refugees in the world and some 3.1 million asylum seekers. On this year’s World Refugee Day, we’re reminded of the perpetual crises that plague our international communities and the displaced individuals they create.
For those in the blockchain industry, today may also serve as a reminder for how the new technology may provide a solution. With the ability to keep consistent, immutable tabs on digital identities, blockchain technology could rewrite how we record state-issued IDs in a digital age.
To Joseph Thompson, the co-founder of AID:Tech, a company using blockchain technology to “provide enterprise level solutions to international NGOs, governments and corporates to help them tackle some of [the] most entrenched issues in their fields,” refugees are in need of an identity solution.
“Refugees, especially those in protracted crises, are vulnerable, particularly when we look at the challenge of identity. Not only do refugees need to reformulate their personal identity to secure a sense of belonging, but also it’s imperative from a legal, social, and political perspective. Needless to say, the issue is more complex than simply assigning each individual an identity card, as global crises happening throughout the world are different and varied with refugees and their situations,” he said in a statement.
The UN, Thompson claims, “has highlighted identity within the Sustainable Development Goals with the World Bank introducing guiding principles on how identification systems should be designed.” These are “encouraging signs,” he believes, but says that there is still “significant progress to be made” to address issues surrounding identity for the vulnerable.
“An effective identity solution needs to be flexible, reliable and sustainable while also accommodating the transitional circumstances often faced by refugees. This is particularly crucial and alarming when we consider that refugee children are being born with the risk of missing out on legal identity — the foundation for access to formal services, including healthcare and education.”
These missing identities, especially for those children born in transitory states, could find legitimate identification on the blockchain. Blockchain-based identity verification would not only give refugees access to secure, verifiable identities, but could also be transferred anywhere. Unlike current digital identity protocols, those built on the blockchain are not tethered to a single program or system.
“Self Sovereign Identity, a key-based, on-chain decentralized digital identity, for example, can potentially help iron out the inefficiencies associated with the issuance of government paper-based IDs, allow people to reclaim control of their own information, and provide international protection for refugees and the ‘invisible population’ (the stateless or those who don’t have IDs),” the co-founder and chair of the Social Alpha Foundation, Nydia Zhang, believes.
The Social Alpha Foundation is a nonprofit, grant-making platform that funds blockchain startups focused on social betterment and humanitarian work. Digital identity solutions like Self Sovereign Identity could better serve the “invisible population” of refugees who don’t have the legal protections or formal guarantees that a verifiable identity entails.
Bruce Silcoff, CEO of the Shyft Network, believes that holding a verifiable identity “is a right, not a privilege.” He and the team at Shyft are building a blockchain-based identity platform to ensure that those with tenuous IDs have access to basic necessities, especially those who are at risk and fleeing conflict.
“We are evolving into a world where geography increasingly defines destiny, and that has to change. We are witnessing millions of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers crossing borders to escape violence and build better lives for themselves and their families, only to run into institutional barriers, unable to access basic services and participate in the global economy,” Silcoff stated.
Identity, Silcoff suggests, should be cross-border, uncoupled from the bureaucracy of centralized entities and approval processes. And for those who don’t have access to government-issued forms of ID, it should be accessible and transferrable all the same.
“[Shyft is] breaking down walls and silos to build bridges that transcend borders, and working with established and up-and-coming organizations to disrupt the way identity is assessed and managed. Given the extent of the global identity crisis, it has never been more important to work on solutions that will help build a more fair and inclusive future for everyone.”
These statements seem to implicity hone in on the humanitarian crises we’ve become accustomed to seeing in the Middle East, and with good reason: the bulk of the world’s refugee population is escaping a tumult of terrorism, civil wars and government oppression in this area of the globe.
As the United States’ immigration woes continue to inflame political tensions, U.S. residents may view these comments in a more domestic context. As Latin American and Mexican immigrants flee conditions in their homelands, they are also greeted with a multitude of institutional barriers.
Blockchain-based identities could partly offer the U.S. a better management solution for the influx of refugees and immigrants, legal or otherwise, that have come to its border.
This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.
While most financial institutions have continued to be proponents of the ‘blockchain is good, cryptos are bad’ narrative, two of Russia’s largest banks are piloting a new cryptocurrency program for their clients. The two, Sberbank and Alfa-Bank, will offer their clients shares in a special new fund that will list six cryptocurrencies initially. The platforms […]
While most financial institutions have continued to be proponents of the ‘blockchain is good, cryptos are bad’ narrative, two of Russia’s largest banks are piloting a new cryptocurrency program for their clients. The two, Sberbank and Alfa-Bank, will offer their clients shares in a special new fund that will list six cryptocurrencies initially. The platforms will source their market data from some of the leading crypto exchanges including Kraken and Bitstamp. The initiative is geared towards the promotion of cryptocurrencies as legitimate financial assets in a country that has sent mixed signals to the crypto community.
The platform will initially offer six cryptocurrencies, four of which have already been named. They are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin. The other two are expected to be announced soon. This combination will be revised every three months, and their weighted values will be adjusted by an algorithm, local media reported. The banks describe their platforms as exchange algorithms that will take the form of investment portfolios. The algorithms will autonomously adjust themselves to changing market conditions.
The initiative will be implemented under the supervision of the Bank of Russia, the country’s industry regulator. Speaking about the products, Sberbank’s Ana Ivanchuk said:
We’d like to offer our clients an absolutely transparent way to invest in digital assets with … full compliance with regulations that will let them invest in the product [in which]they are interested in Russia.
Sberbank is a state-owned financial services company headquartered in the country’s capital, Moscow. It’s the largest bank in Russia and one of the largest in Europe, with operations in several European nations. Alfa-Bank is one of the largest private commercial banks in Russia with operations in seven countries. It’s most active in Russia and Ukraine.
The products will be launched in partnership with AddCapital, an investment fund most renowned in the crypto community for its role in the recent record-setting Telegram private token sale. The fund will be in charge of the technical details.
Cryptos are popular in Russia, with a survey carried out by Fatcats Market revealing that despite the government’s efforts, its citizens have continued being enthusiastic about cryptos. The research found that over 90% of Russians intend to use digital currencies, with 40% believing that buying Bitcoin is a good long-term investment. The highlight of the research was that 12% of the Russians stated that cryptos are their main source of income.
The Russian government has also increasingly viewed cryptos as a great way to avoid economic sanctions against it and its allies. Local media has reported that the Russian government plans to begin transacting in cryptos with Iran so as to avoid the US dollar and replace the SWIFT system. Unconfirmed reports have also claimed that the Russian government was instrumental in the creation of the Petro, Venezuela’s controversial national cryptocurrency which the US government has banned its citizens from investing in.
Speaking at an event, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein talked about Bitcoin in an optimistic light, saying that although he doesn’t own any, he can’t rule out the cryptocurrency having a future in the world of finance. In other Goldman news, COO David Solomon has said that the firm is exploring alternative cryptocurrency trades beyond the…
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Speaking at an event, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein talked about Bitcoin in an optimistic light, saying that although he doesn’t own any, he can’t rule out the cryptocurrency having a future in the world of finance.
In other Goldman news, COO David Solomon has said that the firm is exploring alternative cryptocurrency trades beyond the Bitcoin futures that it currently handles.
At The Economic Club of New York, Blankfein talked about the shift from gold to government-backed fiat currencies to highlight today’s shift towards the alternative payment methods that cryptocurrencies provide, as reported by CNBC.
“If you could go through that fiat currency where they say this is worth what it’s worth because I, the government, says it is, why couldn’t you have a consensus currency?” Blankfein said. He continued:
“And so it’s not for me, I don’t do it, I own no bitcoin. Goldman Sachs as far as I know… has no bitcoin, but if it does work out, I could give you the historical path why that could have happened.”
Compared to some of this peers, like JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who notoriously called Bitcoin a ‘fraud’ last year, Blankfein is keeping his options open. Earlier this year, Goldman started a cryptocurrency trading desk. In April, the firm made its first crypto-related hire.
“I’m not in this school of saying… because it’s uncomfortable with me, because it’s unfamiliar, this can’t happen, that’s too arrogant,” Blankfein added.
His comments are representative of the fact that major players in traditional finance are beginning to see what crypto can offer — they’re refreshing too, as Blankfein is cautious of criticizing what he doesn’t (fully) understand, like Dimon did.
Goldman, one of the biggest U.S. investment banks, is exploring cryptocurrency trades beyond the publicly-traded derivatives that it already handles, according to COO David Solomon, reports Bloomberg.
Goldman already helps its clients deal in publicly-traded derivatives tied to Bitcoin — known as Bitcoin futures. Taking further steps into the world of crypto, the firm is currently developing its trading desk with aims to have it up and running by the end of the month, according to people with knowledge of the strategy.
“We are clearing some futures around Bitcoin, talking about doing some other activities there, but it’s going very cautiously,” Solomon told Bloomberg TV China. “We’re listening to our clients and trying to help our clients as they’re exploring those things too.”
In response to a question about digital currencies, Solomon said that Goldman Sachs must ;evolve its business and adapt to the environment.’ The COO, who is also president of the New York-based firm, is set to succeed Blankfein as CEO by the end of the year.
Increasingly in the past year, heads of the world’s largest finance firms have struggled to decide whether the almost $300 billion market for digital currencies is a profitable opportunity or a threat to the global financial system.
Despite hesitation from some, many advocates are still hopeful that digital coins could go fully mainstream. Earlier this month, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said he believes Bitcoin will one day become the single global payment method. In relation, in a recent interview with CNBC, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said that he hopes Dorsey’s predictions are correct, saying:
“I buy into what Jack Dorsey says, not that I necessarily believe it’s going to happen, but because I want it to be that way, that is so pure thinking.”
Featured image from Shutterstock.
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Brasil’s security and exchange commission, pension authority will be able to share data with the central bank’s new blockchain platform
Brasil’s security and exchange commission, pension authority will be able to share data with the central bank’s new blockchain platform
Despite skepticism from cryptocurrency traders and Ethereum users, decentralized digital asset exchanges are experiencing a rapid growth rate in terms of volume, led by IDEX, the most widely utilized decentralized application (DApp) on the Ethereum protocol. IDEX Overtakes CryptoKitties Throughout the past eight months, CryptoKitties, the Ethereum-based digital collectibles platform that enables users to purchase, […]
Despite skepticism from cryptocurrency traders and Ethereum users, decentralized digital asset exchanges are experiencing a rapid growth rate in terms of volume, led by IDEX, the most widely utilized decentralized application (DApp) on the Ethereum protocol.
Throughout the past eight months, CryptoKitties, the Ethereum-based digital collectibles platform that enables users to purchase, sell, and trade digital collectibles in a peer-to-peer manner, was the most dominant DApp. At its peak, CryptoKitties accounted for 15 percent of the Ethereum network’s capacity and daily transaction volume.
As of June 2018, the daily volume of CryptoKitties remains at 24 Ether, worth around $12,000. While it is still the most popular game on the blockchain, decentralized exchange applications have started to take over the Ethereum ecosystem.
Currently, IDEX, a popular Ethereum-based decentralized cryptocurrency exchange, processes more than 6,480 Ether on a daily basis, worth around $3.24 million, with a volume that is 270x larger than the volume of the most widely utilized Ethereum game on the market.
Initially, investors and major venture capital firms including prominent VC Andreessen Horowitz, which led a $12 million investment round for CryptoKitties, saw massive potential in the ability of Ethereum-based games to process the settlement of digital assets and collectibles.
Some experts including Fred Wilson of USV stated that CryptoKitties’ potential should not be underestimated, because the digital collectibles traded on the CryptoKitties platform can be exchanged for stocks or currencies, given the decentralized marketplace-like structure of the application.
Wilson also emphasized that digital collectibles could become the first major consumer use case of blockchain technology, which can be difficult for beginners to understand and embrace.
“We think digital collectibles [are]one of many amazing things that blockchains enable that literally could not be done before this technology emerged. We also think digital collectibles and all of the games they enable will be one of the first, if not the first, big consumer use cases for blockchain technologies,” Wilson explained.
Most of the hype surrounding digital collectible platforms was generated under the assumption that more complex and sophisticated applications like decentralized exchanges will be more difficult to materialize and see adoption by casual users.
In recent months, decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges have proven that with intuitive user interfaces and efficient data settlement through the utilization of off-chain solutions like 0x, they can process cryptocurrency trades efficiently and quickly.
As shown by the below data from DappRadar.com, IDEX’s daily volume surpasses the volumes of all other DApps in the ecosystem combined. More importantly, platforms like EtherDelta, which saw success in late 2017, have struggled to sustain their momentum due to their poor user interfaces and inability to simplify the front ends of their platforms.
In an interview with former Goldman Sachs executive and Coinfi founder Timothy Tam, Kyber Network founder Loi Luu explained that user interface should be the focus of most decentralized exchanges and their development teams, because right now the priority for decentralized platforms is bringing more users into the ecosystem.
“I think it’s because the UI isn’t good enough. The users aren’t familiar with the decentralized exchanges; they’re more familiar with Binance or Bittrex. So that’s why we wanted to make it really easy for the user to use. So we don’t focus on the decentralized aspect of it. We focus more on the usability aspect of it. That’s why we bring all the market makers on our platform. So these market makers are the people who are going to trade directly with the users,” Luu said.
With the support of Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, Kyber Network, along with other platforms such as Coinbase-owned Paradex, AirSwap, and RadarRelay, has been seeing real progress in competing against centralized trading platforms.