Coin News

50 Cent, who accepts Bitcoin for his online shop, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy under his legal name Curtis James Jackson II in bankruptcy court in Connecticut. The rapper has played off the filing as a cost of doing business, even making light of the situation, recently posing next to a smart car for an Instagram photo as if to make fun of his current circumstances.  The Southpaw actor has been open about his decision to file for chapter 11.  "I'm taking the precautions that any other good businessperson would take in this situation," the rapper told E! News about his […]

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued his first remarks on bitcoin and digital currencies.

Standard Chartered chief innovation officer Anju Patwardhan has penned a new essay on the potential benefits of the bitcoin blockchain.

Decentral and the Ethereum Meetup Group are holding their second Decentralized Tech event tonight at the MaRS Centre in Toronto, Ontario. The topics for the evening are the imminent release of Ethereum, the increase in people buying and selling bitcoin in Canada, and the variety of venture capital in the space. “Over 300 people attended our first DEC_TECH event in March,” said Anthony Di lorio, president and founder of Decentral and host of DEC_TECH 2.0. There will be three separate panels at tonight’s event. The first will be with Ethereum founders Vitalik Buterin, Joseph Lubin and Di lorio talking about the technology. Ethereum is a platform that will allow applications to be built and run on a completely decentralized network. […]

The post Leaders in Decentralized Technology Hold DEC_TECH 2.0 Event Tonight in Toronto appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Bitcoin Press Release: I/O Digital sets to release the first ever decentralized identity sidechain using a distributed  blockchain based DNS system. This system, known as DIONS (Decentralized I/O Name Server) will utilize the I/O Digital blockchain to attach sensitive identity credentials to a specific Bitcoin (XBT) or I/O Coin (IOC) address. The system allows for the registration of aliases, avatars, documents, making them fully transferable between users. DIONS will offer strong security by integrating a fully fledged RSA cryptosystem (using a 2048 bits long key). DIONS will support a decentralized messaging system. The system will enable fast, easy and secure […]

The post I/O Digital to Release World’s First Decentralized Identity SideChain For Bitcoin appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

RLabs, a Cape Town-based social impact incubator has launched a bitcoin crowdfunding platform, mToto, to allow users to fund projects using bitcoin. mToto, which translates to “child” in Swahili, is a bitcoin initiative between Uusi and RLabs which aims to help underserved education and health centers in under-resourced communities in South Africa and to develop tools for innovative challenges and products. mToto will also convert bitcoin into cash for the companies and projects, and hopes to raise enough bitcoin to fund four companies/projects per month. “We convert the Bitcoin to cash and resources and share the results each month with the broader community,” the mToto team explained. The leader of the project and RLabs founder Marlon Parker told Disrupt Africa, […]

The post Cape Town Incubator Launches Bitcoin Crowdfunding Platform appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, who resigned after the Greek referendum on July 5 in a surprising move interpreted as a conciliatory move toward Greece’s creditors, gave his first interview after his resignation, and before the announcement of the deal between Greece and European Union (EU) leaders. Speaking to The New Statesman, Varoufakis expressed his disappointment with “the complete lack of any democratic scruples, on behalf of the supposed defenders of Europe’s democracy.” (Read the full transcript of Varoufakis interview.) Of course, Varoufakis is referring to the EU leaders. In the interview, he gives a long account of the months of negotiations since he became Greece’s finance minister and internal disagreements in the Greek government. He also speaks up […]

The post Varoufakis Speaks Out Against Greek Bailout Agreement Reached by EU Leaders appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

The highly anticipated bitcoin documentary “Bitcoin: The End of Money As We Know It” has been released today, announced Torsten Hoffman, the film’s writer and producer. It highlights the most interesting use cases of bitcoin and the blockchain technology by avoiding the complex technical aspects of secondary applications. The documentary begins by explaining the problems of current financial systems, including hyperinflation and national debt crisis, to emphasize bitcoin’s benefits and how bitcoin could ultimately be a solution to most of the current financial problems. The documentary was produced and distributed by an award-winning team of professional and experienced television producers. Their films were licensed by international broadcasters and media companies including Neflix, CCTV, Samsung Electronics, Virgin Media, LG Electronics, Sky […]

The post Award-Winning Bitcoin Documentary Featuring Roger Ver and Antonopoulos Released Today appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Earlier in June, billion-dollar security company LifeLock filed a lawsuit against Xapo that might jeopardize the ownership of Xapo’s bitcoin wallet technology. This week, Xapo executives, including founder Wences Casares, lost their bid to have the breach-of-contract lawsuit thrown out. California Superior Court Judge Peter Kirwan rejected the demurrer submitted by Xapo executives regarding the breach-of-contract suit for lacking sufficient facts. However, Kirwan also noted that the agreement signed between Lemon Inc. and LifeLock does not enforce ownership of bitcoin-related technology and products. In the filing, LifeLock accused Xapo executives of not revealing their bitcoin wallet project and that it was developed in LifeLock’s offices using with their resources. But Xapo argued that LifeLock was well aware of the project […]

The post Xapo Executives’ Attempt to Dismiss Lifelock Lawsuit Overruled appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

According to a report from Ars Technica, the Italian company Hacking Team developed a piece of software called Money Module that specifically targeted cryptocurrency wallets in addition to other financial files. It looked for the wallet.dat file on the hard drive and if it found it, relayed it back to the owner of the license to the software. Then, they could try to break the password, and from there they could either have the money or at least track the funds of the user, which would be the ultimate goal of a spy agency, for instance. But an individual hacker […]

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A US district judge has signed a court order mandating a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent arrested in connection with the Silk Road investigation forfeit hundreds of bitcoins to the federal government.

On 9th July, US District Judge Richard Seeborg approved the preliminary order against Carl Force IV, requiring the surrender of roughly 690 bitcoins. The order will be finalized at the time of sentencing.

Force, who pleaded guilty to extortion, money laundering, and obstruction of justice charges earlier this month after being arrested in the spring, was one of two agents accused of illegally handling bitcoins during the US government's investigation of the now-defunct dark market.

The forfeited amount includes $13,045 in bitcoin held in a BTC-e account, $17,759.06 used in connection with Engedi LLC, a cryptocurrency venture previously cited in court documents, and $65,658.51 held in an E-Trade account.

The order also approved a $500,000 money judgment against Force.

The announcement follows the news that Shaun Bridges, the Secret Service agent who allegedly stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in bitcoin during the investigation, had agreed to a plea deal with federal prosecutors.

The full court order can be found below:

Carl Force Forfeiture Order

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NOW WATCH: The 2 best features coming to the iPad

If you were a large bank or another type of large financial interest, and you had finances say, in Greece, wouldn't you potentially be looking for a good way to get them out quickly? Why wouldn't you consider Bitcoin? With Bitcoin, you could buy a large portion of them, and then transfer the money for a fraction of the cost, and then cash it back out into a fiat currency wherever you've sent it. For a bank, this would save a lot of time and money usually wasted on bank fees. For anyone else, it would represent a cheaper way […]

The post Is There Any Reason Banks Shouldn't Use Bitcoin? appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Have recent events in Greece had an impact on your view of bitcoin's price? Take our survey to let us know.

The past six weeks' bitcoin price rally has bolstered the market's confidence. A technical price correction coincided with news about Greece, yesterday. Even in correction, the market is now more active and optimistic and we may expect additional rallying price waves when the current retracement has run its course. This analysis is provided by xbt.social with a 3 hour delay. Read the full analysis here. Not a member? Join now and receive a $29 discount using the code CCN29. Bitcoin Price Analysis Time of analysis: 10h45 UTC Bitstamp 4-Hour Chart From the analysis pages of xbt.social, earlier today: A look […]

The post Bitcoin Price In Downward Correction appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

As Eurozone leaders reach an agreement for a new bailout of Greece, the prospect of a 'Grexit' diminishes in the short term. After 17 hours of meetings in Brussels over night in Europe, it seems that the most pressing crisis in Europe has been avoided for now. Nonetheless, the economic uncertainty that swept the country increased awareness of Bitcoin.  Some businesses were at the center of this increased awareness of Bitcoin in the southern European country.  Tavern Agelos, a traditional Greek restaurant, is one of those businesses. The restaurant is an early adopter, and there’s perhaps not a country in […]

The post This Greek Restaurant Offers 20% Discount When You Pay In Bitcoin appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Steven Spielberg has joined Virtual Reality (VR) startup The Virtual Reality Company (VRC) as an adviser, UploadVR reports. The Los Angeles based startup, with a super team of Hollywood talent, is in the process of raising about $23 million to leverage the many VR headsets that will begin to appear in early 2016, and bring VR cinema to consumers.

The post Steven Spielberg Joins Hollywood Virtual Reality Company appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

By Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices tumbled more than a dollar on Tuesday as Iran and six global powers reached a nuclear deal that could see an easing of sanctions against Tehran and a gradual increase in its oil exports just as Asian economies showed further signs of weakness.

Iran and six major powers have reached a historic nuclear deal, which will grant Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme, an Iranian diplomat said on Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for the European Union said that the foreign ministers of Iran and six major powers will meet for nuclear talks at 0830 GMT at the United Nations centre in Vienna to be followed by a news conference.

Front-month Brent crude futures dropped over 2 percent and more than a dollar to $56.66 a barrel by 0637 GMT. U.S. crude was trading down $1.21 at $50.99 per barrel.

"Sanctions have crippled Iran's oil production, halving oil exports and severely limiting new development projects. The prospect of them being lifted is creating great excitement ... as foreign trade and investment will allow Iran to make huge efficiencies and drive down the cost of production," said Sarosh Zaiwalla, a London-based sanctions lawyer.

Yet analysts say it would take Iran many months to fully ramp up its export capacity following any easing of sanctions. But even a modest initial increase would be enough to pull international oil prices down further as the market is already producing around 2.5 million barrels per day above demand.

"The Iranian deal is unlikely to bring back large volumes of oil yet, given the removal of upstream sanctions is complex and significant investment is needed for raising output," Energy Aspects said on Tuesday.

SLOWING ASIA

Meanwhile, the outlook for some Asian economies dimmed further, potentially eroding oil demand.

China's economic growth is forecast to be the weakest since the 2008/2009 global financial crisis in the second quarter, which together with a stock market rout raises pressure on authorities to do more despite little pay-off so far from a run of stimulus steps.

"Fears of hard landing in China (are) on the rise again," Energy Aspects said, adding that it expected China's oil demand growth to be 300,000 barrels per day.

In Singapore, Asia's main oil trading hub and one of the region's biggest ports, the economy unexpectedly contracted in the second quarter as sluggish global demand knocked the city-state's manufacturing sector.

"Asian distillate markets have started showing fatigue ... with Asian complex refining margins falling sharply to near breakeven levels," Energy Aspects said.

(Editing by Joseph Radford and Tom Hogue)

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The margin on Apple's iPhone products may be a lot higher than you previously suspected, as the company presently makes more than 92% of the operating profits in the smartphone industry while selling roughly a fifth of the phones.

The post Apple Makes More Money Than All Other Smart Phone Manufacturers Combined appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

OKCoin's anti-hacking system was put the test recently when a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack prevented some users from accessing its platform for a period of time. The digital currency exchange has posted an explanation of the July 10 attack and the actions it took to minimize the damage on its website. It has created a fund to compensate users for losses caused by the attack and has also pledged to increase its investment in countering DDOS and CC attacks. “While no internet service can 100% guarantee it is immune from the effects of DDOS and CC attacks, we […]

The post Bitcoin Exchange OKCoin Withstands DDOS Attacks; Will Compensate Users And Improve Defenses appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Former federal agent Carl Force IV has been ordered to forfeit hundreds of bitcoins to the US government.

Recently, the classifieds website Backpage was banned from using American Express, MasterCard, and Visa, loudly. The reasoning behind this is that the site is used for sex workers to find customers. The site is said to sell millions of classified ads to women in the United States, and a sheriff in Illinois instigated the shutdown. Before that, MasterCard and Visa had no problem processing transactions for Backpage. Backpage began accepting Bitcoin at some point, and now it is the only form of payment that works for the website. Of course, the Bitcoin network cannot be shut down. But if you […]

The post Backpage: An Opportunity or Liability for Bitcoin? appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.