Month: December 2018

Hacks and heists have been a threat for as long as bitcoin has been worth stealing. By 2011, as Bitcoin was easing into its second year of life and its first bubble, early cryptocurrency exchanges were bringing liquidity and price discovery to the nascent ecosystem. At the same time, they were providing an outlet for thieves to offload stolen coins, which they proceeded to do by the thousands. Also read: Bitcoin History Part 6: The First Bitcoin Exchange No One Remembers the First Major Bitcoin Hack Certain hacks have gone…

Read More

Intercontinental Exchange’s upcoming cryptocurrency trading platform, Bakkt, has raised $182.5 million from a dozen investors. The funds will help develop an institutional-grade regulated crypto exchange, clearing and warehousing services for physical delivery and storage. The company now expects to provide an updated timeline on launching bitcoin daily futures contracts in early 2019. Also Read: Israeli Exchange to Launch Crypto Payments API for Businesses Bakkt Raises $182.5 Million Bakkt, the digital assets subsidiary of the parent of the New York Stock Exchange ,  Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), has announced it’s completed a…

Read More

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 information regarding its investigations into crypto businesses to The Telegraph in…

Read More

Tehran has once again targeted the users of the popular messaging application Telegram. A law enforcement official warned Iranian citizens against providing any support for the launch of the instant messaging app’s native token, the Gram. Also read: Bill to Curb Iranian National Crypto Filed in US Congress ‘Disruption to the National Economy’ Authorities in Iran would interpret any cooperation with Telegram on the issuing of their crypto as “an action against the national security” of the Islamic Republic. That’s according to a recent statement by Javad Javidnia, secretary of…

Read More

Welcome to the final installment of The Daily for 2018. It seems fitting that the year’s ultimate edition should focus on one of 2018’s overarching themes within the cryptoconomy – stablecoins. We’ve also got space to squeeze in a critique of Augur’s crowdsourced prediction market and to consider yet another bitcoin-based Patreon alternative. Also read: 1 in 7 Chinese Have Invested in Cryptocurrency  Regulated Stablecoins Attract Ire Regulated stablecoins such as USDC, PAX, and GUSD have become increasingly popular through the latter half of 2018. These dollar-pegged coins, which are promoted…

Read More

Two companies mining cryptocurrencies have topped a list of the largest consumers of electricity in Georgia. In this crypto-friendly nation, however, that’s not necessarily a sin or a disadvantage. Energy-intensive enterprises in the Caucasian country purchase the power they need at wholesale prices. Also read: Huobi and Major Russian Bank to Provide Legal Help to the Crypto Industry Bitcoin Miners Buy Electricity on Wholesale Market Georgia is among several jurisdictions in the post-Soviet space that have been attracting crypto miners with lax regulations and relatively low operating costs, including the…

Read More

In today’s roundup of crypto chatter, Chris Troutner and Andreas Brekken play around with the idea of building an algorithmic stablecoin on BCH. Vin Armani debates with Painted Frog on Bitcoin’s similarities to Visa. Also, Paul Sztorc thinks that understanding Austrian economics is not that important to comprehend Bitcoin.   Also read: Developer Paul Sztorc Launches the First Version of Drivechain Building an Algorithmic Stablecoin on BCH Recently Shitcoin.com CEO Andreas Brekken took to crypto Twitter to wish everyone a happy new year. In his tweet, Brekken casually mentioned algorithmic stablecoins, an idea…

Read More