Coin News

The post It’s A Wonderful Life for Bitcoin Evangelist as Community Expresses Its Gratitude appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Cryptocurrency mining marketplace NiceHash has confirmed that yesterday’s hack resulted in the loss of over 4,700 BTC.

The post Out of Steam: PC Gaming Platform Ends Bitcoin Payment Option appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

The post Out of Steam: PC Gaming Platform Ends Bitcoin Payment Option appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Bitcoin's price is headed through the roof, but Valve has had enough. The PC gaming giant is suspending Bitcoin payments on Steam and will no longer accept the cryptocurrency.

The post Valve Will No Longer Accept Bitcoin as Payment for Games on Steam appeared first on ExtremeTech.

• Goldman Sachs will clear bitcoin trading for some clients on a case-by-case basis, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
• The derivatives contracts are set to go live on the Cboe Futures Exchange on Sunday. 
• Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein said last week that bitcoin "doesn't feel like a store of value" or a currency.
• Bitcoin is up more than 1,500% this year. 

Goldman Sachs will clear bitcoin futures trading for some of its clients, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. 

The derivatives, which allow traders to bet on the cryptocurrency's price without buying the underlying asset, will be offered by the Cboe Futures Exchange from Sunday. The CME Group will launch its own version of the product later in December. 

According to Bloomberg, Goldman will not act as a market-maker for bitcoin and will decide who gets to trade the derivatives on a case-by-case basis. 

Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein said last week that it was too early for the firm to have a bitcoin strategy. "Something that moves up and down 20 percent in a day doesn’t feel like a currency, doesn’t feel like a store of value,” Blankfein told Bloomberg TV.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, and the Royal Bank of Canada are telling customers that they won't have access when futures trading goes live.  

Bitcoin has had a wild year, culminating in its biggest thousand-dollar moves ever this week based on round numbers. It gained over $4,000 over the past two days, and rose above $16,000 per dollar on Thursday. 

SEE ALSO: Bitcoin tops $16,000 after wild 48-hour surge

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The post New Bitcoin Mining Centers Set to Increase North American Market Position appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

• Bitcoin blew past $16,000 a coin Thursday, but Wall Street banks don't appear too eager to get in on the crypto-mania. 
• The Wall Street Journal found Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup won't provide their clients access to Cboe's bitcoin futures market. 
• Cboe, the options and derivatives exchange based in Chicago, is launching its market for bitcoin futures market Sunday.

Cboe Global Markets' bitcoin futures market will go live Sunday, but some Wall Street banks don't plan to get involved, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. 

The futures market, which Cboe has been planning for more than six months, will allow investors to bet on the future price of bitcoin. Investors in the market won't have to actually touch the red-hot coin, known for its spine-tingling volatility. 

Still, that doesn't appear to have mollified the anxieties of Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup. The two firms will not offer clients access to Cboe's bitcoin futures market on Sunday, according to the Journal, citing people familiar with the matter. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley and Societe Generale, a French bank, are still considering entering the market for their clients. 

A spokesperson for Cboe declined to tell The Journal which banks were participating in the market on Sunday. 

SEE ALSO: Cboe is racing to launch bitcoin futures trading ahead of rival CME

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Stocks finished in the green on Thursday as bitcoin topped $16,000 for the first time after a wild 48-hour surge that saw fortunes made and exchanges crash. Some Wall Street banks are walking away from the volatile cryptocurrency despite a new futures market set to launch this weekend.

Here’s the scoreboard:

• S&P 500: 2,637.01 (+0.29%)
• Dow: 24,200.60 (+0.25%)
• Nasdaq: 6,812.84 (+0.54%)
• Oil: $56.61 (+1.16%)
• 10-year treasury bond: 2.34% (-0.57%)

1. As the GOP tax plan heads to conference, rich homeowners in blue states could be among the biggest losers.
2. Here are the 12 companies that could pay the highest effective tax rates under the new plan.
3. Lululemon surged after beating on earnings and raising its guidance.
4. Cryptocurrency volumes went bananas today, totaling more than half of a usual trading day on the New York Stock Exchange.

In other news…

• Bank of America has come up with the 'ultimate tax reform trade' that everyone is missing
• Pretty much every major cryptocurrency that isn’t called bitcoin fell
• A new Federal Reserve nominee could be key to setting rates — but his views make him a wildcard
• The tax bill could also add billions to the bottom lines of Amazon, Facebook, and Google’s balance sheets

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A senior investment officer at a $695 billion firm breaks down tax reform

Stocks finished in the green on Thursday as bitcoin topped $16,000 for the first time after a wild 48-hour surge that saw fortunes made and exchanges crash. Some Wall Street banks are walking away from the volatile cryptocurrency despite a new futures market set to launch this weekend.

Here’s the scoreboard:

• S&P 500: 2,637.08 (+0.30%)
• Dow: 24,200.60 (+0.25%)
• Nasdaq: 6,812.84 (+0.54%)
• Oil: $56.63 (+1.20%)
• 10-year treasury bond: 2.34% (-0.57%)

1. As the GOP tax plan heads to conference, rich homeowners in blue states could be among the biggest losers.
2. Here are the 12 companies that could pay the highest effective tax rates under the new plan.
3. Lululemon surged after beating on earnings and raising its guidance.
4. Cryptocurrency volumes went bananas today, totaling more than half of a usual trading day on the New York Stock Exchange.

In other news…

• Bank of America has come up with the 'ultimate tax reform trade' that everyone is missing
• Pretty much every major cryptocurrency that isn’t called bitcoin fell
• A new Federal Reserve nominee could be key to setting rates — but his views make him a wildcard
• The Tax bill could also add billions to the bottom lines of Amazon, Facebook and Google’s balance sheets

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The stock market is flashing warning signs

• The November jobs report will be released on Friday. 
• After hurricanes slowed down job creation in the fall, this should be the first reading on the labor market without weather-related distortions.
• The Federal Reserve is set to raise interest rates again next week, and will likely cite a strong labor market as one of its reasons. 

The final US jobs report released in 2017 is due on Friday, and it will be revealing.

This fall, the hurricanes that hit the Southeastern US kept many Americans away from their jobs and off their employers' payrolls. This led to a very weak month of job creation in September, with just 18,000 nonfarm payrolls added.

But this was followed by an impressive October as people returned to work. And so, the past two months have not provided a clear reading on how the job market is doing. 

"Following hurricane-distorted activity over the prior two months, November’s employment report performance should be a 'clean' read on the health of the US labor market as the year comes to a close," said Sam Bullard, a senior economist at Wells Fargo, in a note.

Here's what economists forecast will be in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' report, via Bloomberg: 

• Nonfarm payrolls: +195,000 (261,000 prior)
• Unemployment rate: 4.1% (4.1% prior)
• Average hourly earnings month-on-month: +0.3%
• Average hourly earnings year-on-year: +2.7% (2.5% prior)
• Average weekly hours worked: 34.4

Nearly 200,000 net new jobs and the lowest unemployment rate in 17 years would make for a strongly headlined report. Additionally, sectors that weren't affected by the hurricanes have held up in recent months:

In a note, Nomura's Lewis Alexander points out that the manufacturing sector has recently made above-average contributions to economic growth, and could have gained up to 20,000 payrolls in November.

Exports, equipment, structures, and inventory investment have contributed an average of 1.3 percentage points to gross domestic product-growth over the past two quarters. That's an improvement from the average drag of -0.22 percentage points during the previous nine quarters, as the sector faced lower overseas demand due to a stronger dollar, Alexander said.

The Commerce Department said last week that the economy grew faster than initially reported in the third quarter, at a 3.3% annualized rate. It was the fastest pace in three years, and bodes well for the jobs market. 

Next Wednesday, the Federal Reserve is most likely to raise its benchmark interest rate again and cite a strengthening labor market as one of the reasons why.

"Looking ahead, it’s going to be interesting to see whether the Fed starts to get worried about further falls in unemployment," said Luke Bartholomew, an investment strategist at Aberdeen Standard Investments, in a note.

"Falling unemployment is generally thought of as a universally good thing. But good news could become bad news if it looks like unemployment has dropped so far as to signal an economy overheating. This would force the Fed onto the back foot and possibly into a more aggressive set of rate hikes."

Slow wage growth, however, may continue to give the Fed reason to raise rates slowly. One bright spot in wages is the fact that low-income earners have experienced faster growth this year than people with high-paying jobs.  

SEE ALSO: Bank of America has come up with the 'ultimate tax reform trade' that everyone is missing

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The post Bitcoin ‘Not a Rational Currency,” Doesn’t Mean It’s Worthless: Ex-Fed Chair Greenspan appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

Bulgarian authorities seized more than 200,000 bitcoins from criminals back in May, an amount which now has a total value of more than $3 billion.

The take from the heist was 4,736.42 BTC, worth more than $57 million at the time.

The post Bitcoin Site Robbed of More Than 4,000 Bitcoins Worth $70 Million appeared first on ExtremeTech.

• Bitcoin soared to an all-time high of $16,623 per coin on Thursday, according to data from Markets Insider. 
• But pricing of bitcoin was all over the place, with some exchanges listing the coin thousands of dollars apart from each other. 
• At the same time, 24-hour trading volumes skyrocketed to an all-time high above $28 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. 

Bitcoin, the scorching-hot cryptocurrency, had a wild morning Thursday, but it's not just its price that broke records.

Bitcoin was all over the place Thursday. It reached an all-time high above $19,500 on Coinbase's GDAX exchange, whereas data from Markets Insider showed a record print of $16,623. It's price on GDAX shed more than $4,000 in less than an hour at one point during the day. At the time of writing, bitcoin was trading at $17,299 on GDAX. 

That eye-popping volatility appears to have translated into record volumes for the cryptocurrency market, according to data from CoinMarketCap, a leader in crypto-market data. 

24-hour trading volumes, according to CoinMarketCap, reached above $28 billion for the first time on Thursday. At last check they were at $28.7 billion, up from $5.5 billion at the same time last month. To put that in context, the New York Stock Exchange sees $50 billion worth of shares change hands on its venue during an average trading day. 

Of the major cryptocurrencies, bitcoin was clearly the main driver behind the record volumes, reaching an all-time high of $17.6 billion. Volumes for rival ether were not in record territory, but still high at a little more than $2 billion. Bitcoin cash, a clone of bitcoin, was far off from its record of $11 billion at around $1.3 billion. 

Record volumes have been putting pressure on crypto exchanges, which lack the industrial infrastructure of traditional exchanges such as the NYSE. Coinbase, for instance, said Thursday its site was down for some users because of the record-high traffic. 

The record volumes for bitcoin come ahead of the launch of bitcoin futures contracts by two major US exchanges. Cboe Global Markets, the Chicago-based options and derivatives exchange, is rolling out its bitcoin futures product Sunday. Its rival, CME Group, is launching later in December. Bitcoin futures, which will allow investors to bet on the future price of the digital coin, are a sign of the eight-year-old coin's maturation.

Futures could help dampen the coin's spine-tingling price swings, according to Craig Pirrong, a business professor at the University of Houston.

"Having this instrument that makes it easier to short might keep the bitcoin price a little closer to reality," he told Bloomberg's Matt Levine.

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The post Bitcoin Price Frenzy: GDAX Goes Down After Price Clips $19,000 appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

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Bitcoin soared above $19,500 a coin on Coinbase's GDAX exchange around 11 a.m. ET Thursday, just three hours after it blew past $16,000.

The massive tear upwards seems to have put pressure on Coinbase's infrastructure, with the exchange saying on Twitter that users were experiencing issues logging into their accounts because of record traffic.

Different exchanges were printing significantly different prices. The immaturity of the bitcoin market has often created price discrepancies, which would be unheard of elsewhere on Wall Street. But on Thursday, some exchanges were more than $1,000 apart. Elsewhere in crypto news: 

• Thieves stole potentially millions of dollars of bitcoin in a hacking attack on a cryptocurrency company
• There's an argument brewing over the launch of bitcoin futures
• The CIO of a crypto hedge fund reveals why you should be cautious of the ICO bubble
• Blockchain developers are earning $180,000 a year as the Swiss crypto industry booms

In Wall Street news, banks could take a $4.4 billion hit from new reforms — and traders will bear the brunt of it.

In markets news, retail stocks have been crushing the market against all odds — and traders are betting on more gains. And the next stock market crash will look a lot different than the financial crisis.

In tax news, experts are starting to find massive errors in the GOP tax bill after it went through Congress at lightning speed. And Amazon, Facebook and Google could save billions thanks to the GOP tax bill.

Elsewhere in DC news, a new Fed nominee could be key to setting rates — but his views make him a wildcard.

Lastly, here are the 10 most luxurious first class cabins in the world.

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 Bitcoin prices are hockey-sticking on a hockey stick. The cryptocurrency’s gains Thursday morning hit new heights striking well above $18k across widely varying exchanges, coming to rest above $16,000 while the popular Coinbase exchange had been suffering major issues due to “record high traffic.” Bitcoin was trading below $8,000 two weeks ago. This is a truly, truly… Read More

Bitcoin has been taking traders on a wild, highly volatile ride on Thursday.

The cryptocurrency rocketed past $16,000 early Thursday, just hours after clearing $15,000 and about 12 hours after hitting $14,000. On some exchanges, bitcoin was trading above $19,000 on Thursday. Crypto exchange  Coinbase showed a $3,000 per coin jump on Thursday before the site went down amid "record high traffic." It is now showing a price closer to $16,000. Data from Markets Insider show the price hitting an all-time high of $16,623,64 per coin.

As bitcoin price fluctuates wildly, other cryptocurrencies like ethereum and litecoin are falling. Here's the scoreboard as of 1:06PM ET.

• Ethereum -1.49% at $416.80
• Litecoin -5.69% at $90.86
• Bitcoin cash -6.79% at $1,258.16
• Dash -2.66% at $648.94
• Monero -3.53% at $245.04
• Ripple -4.13% at $0.21

Track the price of all the major cryptocurrencies in real time here.

SEE ALSO: Bitcoin tops $15,000 - 12 hours after clearing $14,000

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NOW WATCH: This is why you should be buying gold

Bitcoin has been taking traders on a wild, highly volatile ride on Thursday.

The cryptocurrency rocketed past $16,000 early Thursday, just hours after clearing $15,000 and about 12 hours after hitting $14,000. On some exchanges, bitcoin was trading above $19,000 on Thursday. Crypto exchange  Coinbase showed a $3,000 per coin jump on Thursday before the site went down amid "record high traffic." It is now showing a price closer to $16,000. Data from Markets Insider show the price hitting an all-time high of $16,623,64 per coin.

As bitcoin price fluctuates wildly, other cryptocurrencies like ethereum and litecoin are falling. Here's the scoreboard as of 1:06PM ET.

• Ethereum -1.49% at $416.80
• Litecoin -5.69% at $90.86
• Bitcoin cash -6.79% at $1,258.16
• Dash -2.66% at $648.94
• Monero -3.53% at $245.04
• Ripple -4.13% at $0.21

Track the price of all the major cryptocurrencies in real time here.

SEE ALSO: Bitcoin tops $15,000 - 12 hours after clearing $14,000

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This is why you should be buying gold

Bitcoin has been taking traders on a wild, highly volatile ride on Thursday.

The cryptocurrency rocketed past $16,000 early Thursday, just hours after clearing $15,000 and about 12 hours after hitting $14,000. On some exchanges, bitcoin was trading above $19,000 on Thursday. Crypto exchange  Coinbase showed a $3,000 per coin jump on Thursday before the site went down amid "record high traffic." It is now showing a price closer to $16,000. Data from Markets Insider show the price hitting an all-time high of $16,623,64 per coin.

As bitcoin price fluctuates wildly, other cryptocurrencies like ethereum and litecoin are falling. Here's the scoreboard as of 1:06PM ET.

• Ethereum -1.49% at $416.80
• Litecoin -5.69% at $90.86
• Bitcoin cash -6.79% at $1,258.16
• Dash -2.66% at $648.94
• Monero -3.53% at $245.04
• Ripple -4.13% at $0.21

Track the price of all the major cryptocurrencies in real time here.

SEE ALSO: Bitcoin tops $15,000 - 12 hours after clearing $14,000

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This is why you should be buying gold

A cryptocurrency marketplace called NiceHash has suffered a security breach that left its bitcoin wallet tens of millions of dollars lighter. Slovenia-based NiceHash connects miners, or people selling their hashing/computer power, with people willing...

• CVS Health has agreed a deal to buy Aetna for $69 billion, in what's the biggest deal of 2017 so far. 
• But there's $2.1 billion on the line should the deal collapse.
• That doesn't change if the deal falls apart due to the government getting involved. 

CVS has a $2.1 billion reason to worry about its deal with Aetna falling through

A Securities and Exchange Commission filing submitted Tuesday outlines the terms of a termination fee, should the deal go south.

As part of the agreement, CVS will have to pay Aetna $2.1 billion if CVS's board of directors changes its mind about the deal or if the decision to merge the two companies doesn't get enough votes from shareholders. Alternatively, Aetna will have to pay CVS the $2.1 billion if its board and shareholders take the same actions. 

That amount doesn't change if the merger is called off because of government regulations. If the merger were to end for antitrust reasons, CVS would still have to pay Aetna $2.1 billion. 

There are a few gray areas, though. Should the merger not happen by December 3, 2018, Aetna and CVS can extend the deadline to March 3, 2019. And should the government create a new law that prohibits the deal from happening, the merger can also be called off.

Because the termination fee is $2.1 billion — roughly 3% of the total deal price — RBC Capital Markets analysts argue that it means both companies are committed to finalizing the deal.

SEE ALSO: Aetna wants to create a 'Genius Bar' at CVS, and it could forever change the way Americans access healthcare

DON'T MISS: We might have just got a big hint that Amazon's not going to start selling drugs

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NOW WATCH: This is one of the best responses to Jamie Dimon calling bitcoin a fraud that we have heard so far

[…]

The post Wall Street Banks Revolt Against Bitcoin Futures Contracts Launch appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

• Bitcoin soared from $16,000 a coin on Coinbase's GDAX exchange to $19,500 in less than three hours Thursday.
• Coinbase site appears to be down for some users. 
• Bitcoin was trading at $15,398 a coin at 11:59 a.m. ET, according to Markets Insider data.  

Bitcoin soared above $19,500 a coin on Coinbase's GDAX exchange around 11 a.m. ET Thursday, just three hours after it blew past $16,000 on the site. 

The massive tear upwards seems to have put pressure on Coinbase. The exchange's site was down at the time of print. The company said on twitter at 8:07 a.m. PT that users were experiencing issues logging in because of record-traffic. Here's the tweet:

The company, which is the largest platform for buying and selling cryptocurrencies in the US, has experienced a number of outages as the price of bitcoin has skyrocketed to new hights. The cryptocurrency exchange was down last Friday for about an hour, two days after a major system outage kept many users from accessing their bitcoin wallets.

Story is developing. Check back for updates.

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NOW WATCH: We talked to the chief investment strategist at $920 billion fund giant Invesco about where you should invest right now

The post BANKEX Aims to Boost Asset Liquidity for Businesses appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

[…]

The post $16,000 and Climbing: Bitcoin Price Achieves New All-Time High, is There a Limit? appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

The world's largest bitcoin exchanges are reporting significantly varying prices as the cryptocurrency's price soars to new all-time highs.

• Cowen estimates that Amazon, Google and Facebook will save a combined $4.5 billion on taxes in 2018 thanks to the GOP tax bill.
• They should also benefit from the bill's capex expensing provision.

The GOP tax bill has long been expected to boost corporate profits. Now we know just how much the biggest tech companies in the US stand to save — and what that could mean for their bottom lines.

Google will save $2.28 billion in 2018, while Facebook will see $1.56 billion in savings and Amazon will enjoy a $723 million break, according to estimates from Cowen senior research analyst John Blackledge.

The firm forecasts those savings will translate to big earnings-per-share (EPS) boosts for each company, with Amazon the big winner, boasting an expected upside of 24%. Google and Facebook will both get an EPS bump of 8%, Cowen said.

For context, the Cowen's analysis is based on three assumptions: (1) the US corporate tax rate goes to 22% from 35% on January 1, 2018, (2) there are no changes to international taxes, and (3) there's no impact from other aspects of the tax bill.

But the good news for the mega-cap tech triumvirate doesn't end there. Cowen sees Google, Facebook and Amazon also benefiting from the proposed capital expenditure expensing provision in the GOP tax bill. The firm estimates that the companies will spend a combined $234 billion on capex from 2018 to 2022, noting that Facebook has said it plans to double reinvestment in 2018.

So there you have it — three of the hottest tech firms in the US look poised to keep adding to their dominance, all thanks to the GOP tax bill. Bet against them at your own peril.

SEE ALSO: GOLDMAN SACHS: Here's how to make a killing on the 7 top trades of 2018

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NOW WATCH: How to buy and sell bitcoin using one of the most popular cryptocurrency apps on the iPhone

In an open letter to the CFTC, Futures Trading Association CEO Walt Lukken has expressed concerns about who would insure bitcoin futures contracts.

• Tesla just got it's biggest pre-order for its Semi.
• Anheuser-Busch was the one to make the order and has a history of pushing the envelope on the future of delivery.
• Watch the price of Tesla move in real time here.

Tesla is rising after receiving its largest pre-order for its electric semi trucks to date.

Shares are up 0.52% at $314.88 Thursday after Anheuser-Busch announced it had placed an order of 40 semi trucks. Anheuser-Busch did not say how much it paid to reserve the vehicles, but Tesla is currently offering reservations for $20,000 on its website, which suggests $800,000.

The move matches a trend from Anheuser-Busch, which completed what it calls the first-ever autonomous beer delivery in October of last year. The company autonomously drove a truckload of its beer 132 miles thanks to a partnership with the Uber-owned company Otto.

Anheuser-Busch said the trucks would help it cut its carbon footprint 30% by 2025, equivalent to removing about 50,000 cars from the road.

The move is a big vote of confidence for Tesla, as the company launched its Semi in the middle of struggling through its Model 3 production. The company has had issues producing enough vehicles to match the demand of its approximately 450,000 vehicle-strong list of preorders. Tesla said in its most recent earnings call, however, that the problem was a bottleneck in the assembly of the car's batteries, and it is working to solve the issue.

Tesla has said it will begin production of its Semi in 2019.

Read more about the Semi here.

SEE ALSO: Tesla just unveiled its first electric semi — and it looks like a spaceship

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The post Bitcoin Price to Reach $60,000 Before Crashing to $1,000 in 2018 is Saxo Bank’s ‘Outrageous’ Prediction appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

• Paul Tudor Jones, a hedge fund titan, expressed his support for disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in an email shortly before Weinstein was ousted from his own company, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
• He said the "good news" was that everyone would forget about the accusations against him. 
• Jones addressed the comments in a memo to employees on Wednesday, according to CNBC. 

Legendary hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones reportedly reached out to comfort the now-disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein the day before Weinstein was ousted from his own company, the New York Times reported Thursday. 

"I love you," Jones reportedly wrote to Weinstein on October 7. "Focus on the future as America loves a great comeback story ... “The good news is, this will go away sooner than you think and it will be forgotten!"

The detail was part of a deep dive into the "complicity machine" Weinstein had engineered in his Hollywood circle in order to intimidate and silence potential accusers. 

Jones addressed his comments to Weinstein in a memo to his employees on Wednesday. 

"I deeply believe in redemption, but what I know now is that Harvey was a friend I believed too long and defended too long," the 63-year-old said, according to CNBC. "Perhaps in your own life you have faced a similar dilemma — how to react to a friend who is revealed to be someone other than the person you believed him or her to be."

Jones has also faced accusations of making sexist comments, Bloomberg reports. Speaking at the University of Virginia in 2013, he reportedly said that having kids diminished female employees' skill and focus. He later apologized.

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NOW WATCH: This is one of the best responses to Jamie Dimon calling bitcoin a fraud that we have heard so far

The post Quant Network Launches Overledger for Cross-Blockchain Data Interoperability appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

[…]

The post $15,000: Bitcoin Price Goes Parabolic, Cannibalizes Crypto Market appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

Having leapt up to fourth place in the cryptocurrency rankings, IOTA's prices are today witnessing what is a likely short-term slump.

• Retail stocks have been outperforming the broader market over the past month.
• Even after these market-beating returns, the options market shows that traders are getting more bullish on the sector going forward.

For months, market experts have been sounding the alarm on the retail apocalypse. As Amazon wields its mighty influence over multiple industries, it's been all but assumed that many traditional retailers will lose a huge chunk of value, if they survive at all.

But against all odds, retail stocks have been mounting a silent comeback in the stock market over the past month. Foot Locker, Macy's, and Gap are the three biggest gainers in the S&P 500 during the period, surging more than 28%.

Meanwhile, on a sector basis, three of the top six best-performing industries in the last month are in the retail space, out of 24 groups. They've each climbed more than 5.9% during the stretch, smashing the benchmark S&P 500's gain of just 1.5%.

And, in a development that's perhaps the most telling of all, traders are getting more confident about further increases. Their piqued interest can be seen in a measure of outstanding options on an exchange-traded fund tracking the retail sector. Open interest on the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has risen to more than 530,000 contracts, the most since January 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

In a sign that those traders are using those additional contracts to get express more confidence in retail, the ratio of bullish options to bearish ones has climbed sharply. Further, a measure of investor positioning known as skew shows that investors have been paying less for downside protection.

So why the sudden change of heart for investors? For one, it's possible that they've been encouraged by recent turnaround efforts by traditional retailers. Perhaps the most resilient company has been Walmart, which smashed analyst expectations during the third quarter after growing its online business.

It's also within the realm of possibility that traders think retail stocks simply got oversold. After all, Macy's and Foot Locker — two of the success stories mentioned above — were down more than 50% year-to-date before their recent rallies.

Regardless of the true reason, it's clear that retail is enjoying a rare patch of strength. And while the long-term future of the industry is still very much up in the air, it's an encouraging sign that traders are betting on continued resilience.

SEE ALSO: The next stock market crash will look a lot different than the financial crisis

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NOW WATCH: How to buy and sell bitcoin using one of the most popular cryptocurrency apps on the iPhone

Valve closes the bitcoin valve.

The post Game Over? Steam No Longer Accepts Bitcoin Due to High Fees and Volatility appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

Dave Lutz, head of ETFs at JonesTrading, has an overview of today's markets.

• US markets are in the green Thursday morning.
• European markets are mostly higher.
• Bitcoin races above $15,000 a coin.

Here's Lutz:

Morning!  US Futures Are in the green, with Spoos trying to break their longest losing streak since March. For the first time (it seems) in a week, Nasdaq Futures leading to upside, adding 25bp early but the bid is fading as more US traders finish their coffee.  All Green overseas, where Tech is rebounding in Europe, but coming in off session highs.  Banks acting well, but fading the trading day continues.   DAX up 20bp, but Volumes down 32% from normal trends.   London is unch as Miners weigh.  Mixed bag in Asia, Nikkei up 1.5% as Nintendo and Tokyo Electron jumped - Hang Seng added 30bp as Tencent added nearly 2%, but Chinese Autos and energy lagged - Shanghai dropped 70bp as concerns about a leverage crackdown mount - KOSPI off 50bp despite Sammy rebounding 1.5%, while Aussie added 50bp as they cheered ASX embracing Blockchain down under.

The 10YY drifting near 2.35% ahead of tomorrow’s NFP print, while the 1YY nearing 9year highs ahead of the Fed Hike next week.  The Dollar is adding to Yesterday’s gains, nearing 2week peaks as Euro breaks further under $1.18 on a Drop in German industrial production – The Yen is weaker on Kuroda comments, while the A$ breaking lower on weaker trade figures.  With the Dollar strength, Gold Nearing 4month lows and back southside 200dma, while that Bitcoin tops $15,000, adding more than 17% in 24 hours…   Ore was Limit Down in China, dropping over 7% as a combo of stockpiles and Leverage crackdown Fears weighed, but Copper is holding Green Stateside, trying to rebound from the recent drubbing.   WTI adding small after yesterday’s weakness, but Natty getting smoked for 3.5% ahead of Inventory data later today.

Here are the 10 things you need to know today.

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NOW WATCH: We talked to the bond chief at the $6 trillion fund giant BlackRock about the most important issue for markets right now

Dave Lutz, head of ETFs at JonesTrading, has an overview of today's markets.

• US markets are in the green Thursday morning.
• European markets are mostly higher.
• Bitcoin races above $15,000 a coin.

Here's Lutz:

Morning!  US Futures Are in the green, with Spoos trying to break their longest losing streak since March. For the first time (it seems) in a week, Nasdaq Futures leading to upside, adding 25bp early but the bid is fading as more US traders finish their coffee.  All Green overseas, where Tech is rebounding in Europe, but coming in off session highs.  Banks acting well, but fading the trading day continues.   DAX up 20bp, but Volumes down 32% from normal trends.   London is unch as Miners weigh.  Mixed bag in Asia, Nikkei up 1.5% as Nintendo and Tokyo Electron jumped - Hang Seng added 30bp as Tencent added nearly 2%, but Chinese Autos and energy lagged - Shanghai dropped 70bp as concerns about a leverage crackdown mount - KOSPI off 50bp despite Sammy rebounding 1.5%, while Aussie added 50bp as they cheered ASX embracing Blockchain down under.

The 10YY drifting near 2.35% ahead of tomorrow’s NFP print, while the 1YY nearing 9year highs ahead of the Fed Hike next week.  The Dollar is adding to Yesterday’s gains, nearing 2week peaks as Euro breaks further under $1.18 on a Drop in German industrial production – The Yen is weaker on Kuroda comments, while the A$ breaking lower on weaker trade figures.  With the Dollar strength, Gold Nearing 4month lows and back southside 200dma, while that Bitcoin tops $15,000, adding more than 17% in 24 hours…   Ore was Limit Down in China, dropping over 7% as a combo of stockpiles and Leverage crackdown Fears weighed, but Copper is holding Green Stateside, trying to rebound from the recent drubbing.   WTI adding small after yesterday’s weakness, but Natty getting smoked for 3.5% ahead of Inventory data later today.

Here are the 10 things you need to know today.

SEE ALSO: 10 things you need to know before the opening bell

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• Steam is one of the most popular gaming services in the world, with 67 million monthly active players, putting it head-to-head with Sony's PlayStation Network.
• Steam, owned by Valve Corporation, sells PC games through an online store.
• It has just canned support for bitcoin payments because the cryptocurrency is too volatile.
• Valve engineer Kurtis Chinn said this meant transaction fees for customers buying games went up and down too quickly as bitcoin fluctuated in value.
• Steam first began accepting bitcoin in April 2016.

Hugely popular gaming store Steam has stopped accepting payments for games in bitcoin because the cryptocurrency is too volatile.

In a blog post announcing the changes, Steam engineer Kurtis Chinn wrote: "As of today, Steam will no longer support Bitcoin as a payment method on our platform due to high fees and volatility in the value of Bitcoin."

Steam rivals Sony's PlayStation Network as the world's biggest gaming service, with 67 million monthly active players versus Sony's 70 million monthly active users.

The decision to halt bitcoin payments doesn't seem to be related to the various controversies around bitcoin — such as whether it predominantly benefits criminals and is a massive energy drain — but because it's skyrocketing value means higher transaction fees. Steam first began accepting bitcoin in April 2016.

Here's what Chinn wrote:

"In the past few months we've seen an increase in the volatility in the value of Bitcoin and a significant increase in the fees to process transactions on the Bitcoin network. For example, transaction fees that are charged to the customer by the Bitcoin network have skyrocketed this year, topping out at close to $20 a transaction last week (compared to roughly $0.20 when we initially enabled Bitcoin)."

Valve, which owns and operates the Steam platform, has no control over the transaction fee, he said.

If bitcoin suddenly plunges in value, that creates even more problems, he added.

He wrote: "When checking out on Steam, a customer will transfer x amount of Bitcoin for the cost of the game, plus y amount of Bitcoin to cover the transaction fee charged by the Bitcoin network. The value of Bitcoin is only guaranteed for a certain period of time so if the transaction doesn’t complete within that window of time, then the amount of Bitcoin needed to cover the transaction can change. The amount it can change has been increasing recently to a point where it can be significantly different."

Bitcoin, he noted, can lose as much as 25% of its value in a matter of days.

Chinn's comments are borne out by numerous bitcoin markets showing the cryptocurrency spiking massively in value, rising from $14,000 (£10,480) to $15,000 (£11,230) in just 12 hours on Thursday.

Chinn concluded: "At this point, it has become untenable to support Bitcoin as a payment option. We may re-evaluate whether Bitcoin makes sense for us and for the Steam community at a later date."

There's a crossover between Steam users and bitcoin enthusiasts

Bitcoin is notable for preserving the anonymity of its users, but the hundreds of comments underneath Chinn's posts, and on Reddit, suggests there's a strong crossover between Steam gamers and the kind of people who trade cryptocurrencies.

Users commenting on Chinn's post variously described it as a "stupid decision" and "lame." Over on the r/steamcommunity on Reddit, users debated whether Steam's decision was a good or bad outcome for bitcoin, arguing that the currency needed to solve its growth issues.

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[…]

The post Bitcoin Price Hits $26,000 in Zimbabwe as Country’s Sole Exchange Suffers ‘Technical Fault’ appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

• A former flight attendant revealed some of his in-flight tricks.
• He told a radio show he had a code for attractive customers, as well as phrases for whe he didn't like somebody.
• Another — pretty gross — trick lets him avoid unwanted attention on-board.

A former flight attendant has revealed the secret codes cabin crew use to point out their most attractive passengers, as well as how to tell if they don't like you.

Speaking on Australian radio show Kyle & Jackie O, James, who was a flight attendant for seven years, said that the crew will typically pick out the best-looking passengers on a flight.

"Obviously when we are in the cabin and we are doing the drinks we can't just be like 'Oh doll check him out. You have to be subtle about it."

"Because everyone knows their seat numbers, so we’re on the cart and he’ll be like, 'I’m thinking of doing seven days in America… being 'seat 7A'.

"And I’ll be like, 'yeah, I could do seven days in America!'"

"Or like, six days in Denmark..."

They also have ways of dealing with their least favourite customers. "If a flight attendant ever says to you 'I’ll be right back,' we don't like you... and then you just 'forget,'" James told the presenters.

And James even has a knack — albeit pretty gross — for avoiding passengers when he's got better things to be doing, like having lunch.

"I used to have a trick every time I went from one end of the plane to the other to eat my lunch someone would always ask me something. And I'm just like I just want to eat my lunch!

"So I used to have a trick I'd put a can of coke in a sick bag put a rubber glove on and then walk through the cabin so it looks like I'm holding vomit — no one asked me for a thing."

SEE ALSO: A trichologist or 'hair doctor' says the rise in veganism is causing hair loss — this is her advice on how to prevent it

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NOW WATCH: Economist Jim Rickards on gold versus bitcoin — intrinsic value is meaningless for both but the bitcoin prices aren't real

Bitcoin's stellar run continues with prices leaping one major psychological hurdle after another, and chart analysis suggests the gains may continue.

South Korea's regulator brings down the ban hammer, again.

The post Breaking: South Korea (Pre)Issues Ban on Bitcoin Futures Trading appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

Here is what you need to know.

The IMF warns on China's debt. "Credit growth has outpaced GDP growth, leading to a large credit overhang," the IMF wrote. "The credit-to-GDP ratio is now about 25% above the long-term trend, very high by international standards and consistent with a high probability of financial distress."

Euro-area GDP holds. The euro-area economy grew at a 0.6% clip in the third quarter, according to a revised reading from Eurostat.  

Bitcoin rockets past $15,000. The red-hot cryptocurrency cleared $15,000 a coin Thursday morning, just 36 hours after topping $12,000 for the first time. 

Banks could take a big hit from new reforms. Global investment banks are going to see their revenues in Europe chopped by $4.4 billion from the MiFID II financial reforms that start to go live in January, and traders will bear the brunt of it, according to Coalition, an industry analytics and consulting firm. 

Bob Iger could stay at Disney past 2019. Disney's CEO could stay on past the end of his contract in July 2019 if his company buys 21st Century Fox's TV assets, the Wall Street Journal says.

A Volkswagen executive has been sentenced to 7 years for emissions fraud. Volkswagen executive Oliver Schmidt received a seven-year prison sentence and a $400,000 fine for his role in overseeing the company's emissions scandal, Reuters says.  

Lululemon raises its guidance. The athletic-apparel retailer beat on both the top and bottom lines and raised its full-year 2017 adjusted earnings guidance to a range between $2.45 and $2.48.

Stock markets around the world are higher. Japan's Nikkei (+1.45%) paced the overnight gains and Germany's DAX (+0.38%) leads in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open little changed near 2,631.

Earnings reports keep coming. Dell Technologies and Dollar General report ahead of the opening bell.

US economic data trickles out. Initial claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET and consumer credit crosses the wires at 3 p.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is little changed at 2.34%. 

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Here is what you need to know.

The IMF warns on China's debt. "Credit growth has outpaced GDP growth, leading to a large credit overhang," the International Monetary Fund wrote. "The credit-to-GDP ratio is now about 25% above the long-term trend, very high by international standards and consistent with a high probability of financial distress."

Euro-area GDP holds. The euro-area economy grew at a 0.6% clip in the third quarter, according to a revised reading from Eurostat.

Bitcoin rockets past $15,000. The red-hot cryptocurrency cleared $15,000 a coin Thursday morning, just 36 hours after topping $12,000 for the first time.

Banks could take a big hit from new reforms. Global investment banks will see their revenue in Europe chopped by $4.4 billion from the MiFID II financial reforms that start to go live in January, and traders will bear the brunt of it, according to Coalition, an industry analytics and consulting firm.

Bob Iger could stay at Disney past 2019. Disney's CEO could stay on past the end of his contract in July 2019 if his company buys 21st Century Fox's TV assets, The Wall Street Journal says.

A Volkswagen executive has been sentenced to 7 years for emissions fraud. The Volkswagen executive Oliver Schmidt received a seven-year prison sentence and a $400,000 fine for his role in overseeing the company's emissions scandal, Reuters says.

Lululemon raises its guidance. The athletic-apparel retailer beat on both the top and bottom lines and raised its full-year 2017 adjusted earnings guidance to a range of $2.45 to $2.48.

Stock markets around the world are higher. Japan's Nikkei (+1.45%) paced the overnight gains, and Germany's DAX (+0.38%) leads in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open little changed near 2,631.

Earnings reports keep coming. Dell Technologies and Dollar General report ahead of the opening bell.

US economic data trickles out. Initial claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, and consumer credit crosses the wires at 3 p.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is little changed at 2.34%.

Join the conversation about this story »

The former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, has joined the many financial luminaries to recently criticize bitcoin's value.

• The GOP's tax bill is set to disproportionately impact homeowners in affluent parts of the US. 
• Wealthier households are currently more likely to take advantage of key tax breaks that could be downsized, including the mortgage interest deduction, and the state and local tax (SALT). 
• Although this could weaken buying activity and prices, the high end of the housing market is also the smallest by share. 
• States that would be most impacted include New York, California, Connecticut, and Hawaii. The majority happen to also be blue states. 

The GOP's tax plan is likely to advantage wealthy Americans in a number of ways, including estate-tax and private-tuition benefits. 

Where the housing market is concerned, proposed changes — particularly those in the House version of the bill — are set to disproportionately affect wealthier homeowners.

Many of the states with the most expensive housing markets, which include California, New York, and Hawaii also happen to lean Democratic. And while it might be a stretch to say the tax changes target blue states, they almost certainly would hurt high-income areas more. 

Two policy proposals in the House and Senate versions of the bill are worth noting. First is the mortgage interest deduction, which helps homeowners lower their taxable income. 

The Senate's bill leaves the threshold of the first $1,000,000 of a mortgage unchanged. But it also hikes the standard deduction for all taxpayers, meaning it may no longer be better for some households to itemize the mortgage interest deduction since it would be lower than the standard deduction. 

The House's plan is more significant. It halves the mortgage interest deduction to the first $500,000 of a loan.

Richer states lose more 

Housing interest groups fear that scaling back tax incentives would slump home prices in the most expensive markets and discourage existing homeowners from moving. 

The exact impact on home prices is anyone's guess. At one end, the National Association of Homebuilders has warned about a housing recession. 

But it may not be that bad. Just 9.4% of owner-occupied homes have a mortgage more than $500,000, Credit Suisse analysts estimated. Additionally, the median price for a single-family home was $245,500 on a trailing 12-month basis through October.

This implies that the majority of homeowners don't qualify for this tax benefit at present. 

But the bottom line is the GOP's proposals will impact wealthier, bluer homeowners more than others. 

Would they hurt home sales?

The argument for lower prices and sales is premised on the idea that fewer tax benefits deter homebuying. The House's mortgage interest deduction cap only applies to new purchases, so existing homeowners may become reluctant to move. 

"While more disposable income for buyers is positive for housing, the loss of tax benefits for owners could lead to fewer sales and impact prices negatively over time with the largest impact on markets with higher prices and incomes," said Danielle Hale, the chief economist at Realtor.com. 

But it's also worth considering why people buy homes.

"A very small fraction of the home buying public actually makes the purchase price decision based on their tax deduction," said Tom Porcelli and Jacob Oubina, economists at RBC Capital Markets, in a note. 

Even in a perfect world where buyers are rational, they added, the price changes would be within the boundaries of normal price negotiation that happens in any homebuying transaction. "Don't forget that parties in the transaction are already willing to concede about 5% to real estate brokers," they said. 

Also, price drops at the highest end of the market would have a minimal macro effect because it's also the smallest end of the market by share. 

The bottom line is that America's most expensive households will be the places to watch for how the GOP's tax plan impacts the housing market. 

SALT

The second proposal that could hit wealthier homeowners is a repeal of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, which allows Americans to lower the share of their taxable federal income. Removing the option to make this deduction would immediately amount to a tax increase for wealthier households.  

High-income households are more likely to benefit from SALT and claim the deduction compared to other income groups, the center's research found. Among households earning $200,000 to $300,000 per year, 93% claimed the SALT deduction, compared to 39% of households earning $50,000 to $75,000. 

According to the Tax Policy Center, state income, local income, and real-estate taxes make up the bulk of the SALT deduction.

That disadvantages states like New York which have high state and local taxes, and where taxpayers itemize these deductions instead of taking the standard deduction. 

And so instead of the promised tax cuts, many could be paying more to the federal government.

SEE ALSO: The GOP is set to eliminate one of the biggest benefits of owning a home

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• The stock bull market is well into its ninth year, and signs of fragility have firms like Bank of America Merrill Lynch looking ahead to the next big crash.
• By BAML's calculation, the next bear market will be in line with past occurrences, and nowhere near as volatile as the 2008, 1998 or 1987 crashes.

Stock bull markets don't last forever, which is why it's a useful exercise to start bracing for the next big crash. Or at the very least, it's helpful to know what kind of damage could result from the inevitable downturn.

In order to do so, Bank of America Merrill Lynch looked at past S&P 500 bear markets — generally defined as a 20% drop — and analyzed the volatility that has accompanied them. To them, the key is looking at the degree of price swings leading up to the crash.

And based on the fluctuations seen during the ongoing 8 1/2-year bull market, the firm forecasts volatility of 18% for the next large downturn, which is right in line with other "classic" bear markets.

Of course, there's always the risk of a rare occurrence that rocks the market and sends measures of volatility spiking. BAML notes that the Great Depression of 1929 and the global financial crisis (GFC) in 2008 were driven by major systemic shocks, while Black Monday in 1987 and the collapse of hedge fund Long Term Capital Management in 1998 were caused by liquidity-driven meltdowns.

Fear not, says BAML. For one, the market is not at risk of a GFC repeat. The firm says that the huge regulatory response to the crisis, bank deleveraging, and risk transfer to central banks have alleviated the pressures that contributed to that crash.

As for the massive selloffs in 1987 and 1998, BAML argues that volatility at present time is simply too low to match the conditions that preceded those disastrous periods.

"History shows that a shock of this magnitude has never occurred from the current level of volatility," a group of BAML derivatives strategists led by Benjamin Bowler wrote in a client note.

But this doesn't mean it's time to get cocky. Just because the next bear market is likely to be subdued relative to the worst in history doesn't mean it won't be painful. After all, as BAML points out, "markets remain fragile."

So as the current bull market extends well into its ninth year, investors would be well-served to keep an eye on the risks that are still out there, lurking in the shadows. Luckily, Morgan Stanley has identified "three x's" that could send stocks into bear market territory: extreme leverage build-up, exuberant sentiment and excessive policy tightening.

Got all that? Good. Now go protect to the downside, just in case.

SEE ALSO: A tug-of-war is raging over control of the stock market

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• Bitcoin rises above $15,000 for the first time.
• The digital currency has risen $3,000 in the last 36 hours.

LONDON — Bitcoin's incredible rise continues, with the digital currency rising above $15,000 for the first time on Thursday morning in London.

Bitcoin passed $15,000 at around 10.50 a.m. GMT (5.50 a.m. ET). The passing of the symbolic level comes around 12 hours after bitcoin cleared $14,000 for the first time. Bitcoin has now risen by over $3,000 over the last 36 hours and has risen well over 1,000% across 2017.

The incredible rise means the total value of the entire cryptocurrency market has now passed $400 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.com. The market only surpassed $300 billion 10 days ago. Bitcoin represents 63% of the value of the entire market, according to CoinMarketCap.com.

The current bull run began in earnest at the end of October when CME Group, the world's biggest exchange operator, announced plans to launch bitcoin futures contracts that will give institutional investors exposure to the new asset class. Rival CBOE is beating CME Group to the punch, launching its future contracts on Monday.

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We can't keep up.

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• CME Group and CBOE set to launch bitcoin futures later this month.
• Futures Industry Association (FIA) complains that there hasn't been proper industry consultation on the launch.
• Clearinghouses that will guarantee futures are worried they will carry all of the risks, FIA says.
• Bitcoin's price regularly moves 10% in a day, meaning exposure is not trivial.

LONDON — The trade body of the futures, options, and derivatives markets is concerned that not enough thought has gone into the potential risks posed by the introduction of bitcoin futures contracts.

CME Group, the world's biggest exchange operator, announced plans to launch bitcoin futures contracts in October, effectively letting institutional investors bet on the price of bitcoin. Rival CBOE announced bitcoin futures soon after and both products are set to launch later this month. Nasdaq is also thought to be planning a similar product for the new year.

The Futures Industry Association (FIA) warned on Thursday that not enough has thought has gone into these products and the risks they pose to financial stability.

FIA CEO Walt Lukken said in a letter to Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chairman Christopher Giancarlo that there has not been "proper public transparency and input" from industry over the products.

CME and CBOE are both "self-certifying" their products, meaning they are launching without the official blessing of the CFTC. Lukken said: "We believe that this expedited self-certification process for these novel products does not align with the potential risks that underlie their trading and should be reviewed."

Lukken said the clearinghouses that are members of the FIA are worried about their potential exposure to these new products. Clearinghouses sit in between two trading parties and guarantee derivative contracts in the event one of the traders goes bust. These intermediaries are meant to stop a domino effect of bust contracts that could spark another financial crisis.

But the volatile and novel nature of bitcoin means clearinghouses are unsure how to account for bitcoin future contracts. It is not unusual for bitcoin to swing as much as 10% in a day, compared to more established assets like stocks and commodities, which rarely move more than a few % in a day.

"Given the lack of historical data on these products, it is further concerning to clearing members that they will bear the brunt of the risk associated with them through their guarantee fund contributions and assessment obligations," Lukken wrote.

He said:

"A more thorough and considered process would have allowed for a robust public discussion among clearing member firms, exchanges and clearinghouses to ascertain the correct margin levels, trading limits, stress testing and related guarantee fund protections and other procedures needed in the event of excessive price movements. The recent volatility in these markets has underscored the importance of setting these levels and processes appropriately and conservatively."

Here's Lukken's full letter to the CFTC:

RE: Open letter regarding the listing of cryptocurrency derivatives

Dear Chairman Giancarlo:

FIA and its clearing member firms have noted last week’s announcements by CFTC-regulated exchanges and clearinghouses to self-certify certain futures and options contracts on cryptocurrencies. While we are firm supporters of innovation and competition in markets, we nevertheless believe that such developments have brought to light concerns with the process in which these novel products have come to market.

As the principal members of derivatives clearinghouses worldwide, FIA's 64 clearing members play a critical role in the reduction of systemic risk by guaranteeing their customers’ trades, contributing to the guarantee funds of clearinghouses and committing to assessment obligations during clearinghouse shortfalls. In light of the CFTC and NFA’s public statements regarding the riskiness of the underlying cryptocurrency products, we believe that the launch of new exchange-traded derivatives in cryptocurrencies deserves a healthy dialogue between regulators, exchanges, clearinghouses and the clearing firms who will be absorbing the risk of these volatile, emerging instruments during a default.

Unfortunately, the launching of these innovative products through the 1-day self-certification process did not allow for proper public transparency and input. Under law, exchanges may self-certify a product for trading by the close of business one day and then list the product for trading the next day. This process does not require CFTC approval or input and allows little or no time for public review. While suited for standardized products, this process does not distinguish for a product’s risk profile or unique nature. We believe that this expedited self-certification process for these novel products does not align with the potential risks that underlie their trading and should be reviewed.

Given the lack of historical data on these products, it is further concerning to clearing members that they will bear the brunt of the risk associated with them through their guarantee fund contributions and assessment obligations, even if not participating in these markets directly, rather than the exchanges and clearinghouses who have listed them. A public discussion should have been had on whether a separate guarantee fund for this product was appropriate or whether exchanges put additional capital in front of the clearing member guarantee fund. This is one reason FIA has advocated for proper “skin in the game” by CCPs to ensure that an appropriate level of risk is borne by the exchanges and CCPs who unilaterally decide when and how to list and risk manage these products.

It is also our understanding that not all risk committees of the relevant exchanges were consulted prior to the certification to launch these products. While this may not have been required technically under the rules of the exchanges and clearinghouses, CPMI-IOSCO guidance, as well as good governance, would suggest that risk committees be consulted prior to the certification of such unproven instruments.

A more thorough and considered process would have allowed for a robust public discussion among clearing member firms, exchanges and clearinghouses to ascertain the correct margin levels, trading limits, stress testing and related guarantee fund protections and other procedures needed in the event of excessive price movements. The recent volatility in these markets has underscored the importance of setting these levels and processes appropriately and conservatively.

While we greatly appreciate the CFTC’s efforts to receive additional assurances from these exchanges, we remain apprehensive with the lack of transparency and regulation of the underlying reference products on which these futures contracts are based and whether exchanges have the proper oversight to ensure the reference products are not susceptible to manipulation, fraud, and operational risk.

FIA’s mission is to support open, transparent and competitive markets; protect and enhance the integrity of the financial system; and promote high standards of professional conduct. It is in light of these objectives that we believe a thorough discussion and assessment of risk between all industry stakeholders would have been prudent to ensure the long-term success and viability of these products.

We look forward to a healthy public discussion on how to improve this process in the future as well as the Commission’s continued oversight of these emerging instruments.

Sincerely,

Walt Lukken

CEO, Futures Industry Association

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• Switzerland has become a hotspot for companies doing ICOs.
• Most are working with blockchain technology.
• Competition for talent has pushed average salaries to around $180,000, CEO of Eidoo says.

LONDON — Blockchain developers are at a premium in Switzerland, commanding salaries up to $180,000, as the country establishes itself as a centre for companies carrying out initial coin offerings (ICOs).

Thomas Bertani, the CEO of Switzerland-based Eidoo, told Business Insider that developers with expertise in blockchain technology, which underpins ICOs, can command salaries of around $10,000 to $15,000 a month in Switzerland, equivalent to $120,000 to $180,000 a year.

"The reasons are: 1) highly skilled blockchain-experienced devs are very hard to find; and 2) Switzerland is well known to be one of the most expensive countries on earth," Bertani said.

Oliver Bussmann, the president of the Crypto Valley Association in Zug, Switzerland, told Business Insider over email that the salary estimates sounded about right.

Switzerland has seen a surge in blockchain companies setting up shop there thanks to the permissive approach of its regulator to initial coin offerings (ICOs).

ICOs are where startups issue digital tokens in exchange for real money to help fund their business. The tokens can be redeemed for a good or service linked to the startup at a future date and can be freely traded, offering greater liquidity to investors in private, early-stage businesses. Companies can self-issue these tokens and most use the blockchain underpinning digital currency ethereum to register who has bought tokens.

Over $3 billion has poured into this new form of fundraising, which is inspired by bitcoin. But regulators around the world are concerned that it is unproven, unregulated, and high-risk. China has banned ICOs and watchdogs in both the US and UK have warned investors to be wary of investing.

Switzerland, meanwhile, has sought to become a hub for this new type of investment, which some see as the future of fundraising.

"You can show the regulator your white paper and they either approve it or not," Bertani said, referring to the documents usually used to outline ICO plans to potential investors.

As a result, many companies pursuing ICOs have chosen to set up some or all of their operations in Switzerland. The Crypto Valley Association lists over 100 members, including both organisations and individuals.

Most companies who have pursued ICOs this year tend to be linked to either cryptocurrency or the blockchain technology that underpins it and this has pushed up the salary of developers in the country. As a result, Bertani said it has become "almost impossible" to find good blockchain developers there as companies flush with ICO cash pay higher and higher salaries to attract talent.

Eidoo raised $27.8 million through an ICO in October. The startup has built a mobile cryptocurrency wallet but is also developing tools to let investors back ICOs through its app and other features such as a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange.

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• The number of new UK businesses rose by 78% to 414,000 between 2010 and 2016
• The impact of the Brexit vote upon entrepreneurial activity remains to be seen, but consumer spending has already dipped and business investment has slowed.

LONDON — British entrepreneurs are forming an increasingly vital part of the economy with the number of new businesses rising by 78% to 414,000 between 2010 and 2016 according to the ONS, but the impact of the Brexit vote entrepreneurial activity remains to be seen.

New research commissioned by wealth manager Kleinwort Hambros by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) found that the birth rate and survival rate — the number of businesses still in operation after one year — both improved dramatically between 2010 and 2016.

In particular, the research found that start-ups in professional, scientific, and technical businesses have the best survival rate of any sectors, with 95% of businesses founded in 2014 still in operation in 2015, the last year for which that data is available.

Paul Bentley, head of entrepreneurs at Kleinwort Hambros, said entrepreneurial activity was driven by a more benign macroeconomic environment since the financial crash, although consumer spending in Britain has dipped in the wake of the Brexit vote.

"The financial crisis has given way to a more benign macroeconomic climate and an increase in consumer spending and business investment. We also saw interest rates cut to record lows which has decreased the cost of borrow helping to boost credit lines for the private sector," he said.

Business investment has also slowed since the UK voted to leave the EU, but still rose by 0.2% in the second quarter of this year.

The data also found that London, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen were the locations where British businesses are most likely to succeed, based on a ranking which analysed start-up activity, economic conditions, business conditions and government support:

The north London borough of Islington came first on account of its highly educated workforce, while Edinburgh came second for its high score for government support.

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The popular online gaming platform Steam is dropping its bitcoin payments option more than a year after it first began accepting the cryptocurrency.

• International Monetary Fund warns that China's ever-growing debt problem poses global financial stability challenges.
• "Credit growth has outpaced GDP growth, leading to a large credit overhang."
• Fund identifies three areas of "tensions" within the country's financial sector.

China's ballooning levels of debt and dependency on credit to fuel growth continues to pose a major financial stability threat to the global economy, and could be the catalyst for the next crisis, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The IMF report, released after the fund's annual fact-finding mission to the world's second largest economy, noted that while China's political classes have taken steps to try and prevent debt levels getting out of control and improve overall financial stability in recent years, more still must be done.

"The system’s increasing complexity has sown financial stability risks," the IMF’s assessment said.

"Credit growth has outpaced GDP growth, leading to a large credit overhang. The credit-to-GDP ratio is now about 25% above the long-term trend, very high by international standards and consistent with a high probability of financial distress.

"As a result, corporate debt has reached 165% of GDP, and household debt, while still low, has risen by 15 percentage points of GDP over the past five years and is increasingly linked to asset-price speculation. The buildup of credit in traditional sectors has gone hand-in-hand with a slowdown of productivity growth and pressures on asset quality.”

These issues have led to what the IMF described as "tensions" in three areas of the Chinese financial sector.

First, the report says: "Monetary and fiscal policies aimed at supporting employment and growth have, in recent years, been expansionary."

This has led to a situation in which failing companies are kept afloat, thanks to incentives for local governments to do so. The report notes that this is a negative in terms of financial stability.

"As a result, the credit needed to generate additional GDP growth has led to a substantial credit expansion resulting in high corporate debt and household indebtedness rising at a fast pace, albeit from a low base," an IMF statement says.

The second area of tension, the IMF says, is the fact that Chinese investors are looking to increasingly complex means of getting high yields on their investments, which has led to "regulatory arbitrage and the growth of increasingly complex investment vehicles."

"Risky lending has thus moved away from banks toward the less-well supervised parts of the financial system." These areas of lending have grown even faster than the rapidly growing banking sector.

The IMF's third area for concern is that "widespread implicit guarantees have added to these risks."

The fund said that Chinese financial institutions are seemingly unwilling to allow investors to lose money and that this has created an environment where investors are simply taking more and more risk, lacking the fear that they'll ever actually see a downside.

Here's the IMF one last time:

"A reluctance among financial institutions to allow retail investors to take losses; the expectation that the government stands behind debt issued by state-owned enterprises and local government financing vehicles; efforts to stabilize stock and bond markets in times of volatility; and protection funds for various financial institutions, have all contributed to moral hazard and excessive risk-taking."

This is by no means the first time that the fund has issued a warning about the world's second largest economy. Back in August, the IMF warned of the country's "dangerous" relationship with debt.

Citing the experiences of other countries which have fuelled growth via taking on debt aggressively, the fund warned that the current trajectory of China's debt is "dangerous."

"International experience suggests that China’s credit growth is on a dangerous trajectory, with increasing risks of a disruptive adjustment or a marked growth slowdown," a report said.

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Good morning! Here's what you need to know in markets on Thursday.

1. Theresa May has criticised Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital as Israel, calling the provocative move "unhelpful in terms of prospects for peace in the region." The status of Jerusalem is hotly disputed, with both Israel and the Palestinian Authority laying claim to the city as their capital. Every other country does not recognise it as the capital of Israel, and instead base their embassies in Tel Aviv.

2. Britain will guarantee rights for as yet unborn children who join EU parents after Brexit and accept EU judges' rulings on such rights, according to a draft European Parliament resolution seen by Reuters on Thursday. The document, drafted on Monday for a vote next week before an EU summit that may launch talks on a future EU-UK free trade pact, also confirms that British Prime Minister Theresa May has secured agreement from Brussels that British citizens in the EU will be able to live freely in any member state after Brexit.

3. Bitcoin briefly passed the $14,000 mark a short time ago — marking a gain of more than $2,000 in the last 24 hours. Prices on Coinbase — one of the largest US trading platforms — hit a high of $14,344.22 during overnight trading in Asia and Australia.

4. Mobile money transfer service WorldRemit has raised $40 million (£29.7 million) from LeapFrog Investments and existing investors Accel Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures. WorldRemit announced the "Series C" fundraising on Thursday. It takes the total raised by the London-headquartered company to $220 million (£163.8 million).

5. The average first-time buyer deposit in London could soar to an eye-watering £250,000 within a decade, according to new research from broker L&C Mortgages. The firm said average deposits in the capital could rise from £140,000 this year to £245,000 by 2027, which represents a 75% rise. Nationally, average deposits could rise from £52,000 to £81,000 in the same period, nearly a 60% rise.

6. Global investment banks are going to see their revenues in Europe chopped by $4.4 billion from the new financial reforms that start to go live in January, according to a new report. Trading desks will bear the brunt of the losses. Banks generate about $170 billion in revenues from corporate and investment banking (CIB) operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa region — EMEA — but the broad and complex European regulatory reforms known as MiFID II are expected to trim that figure by 2.6%, according to Coalition, an industry analytics and consulting firm. 

7.  A U.S.-based Volkswagen executive who oversaw emissions issues was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined $400,000 by a judge on Wednesday for his role in a diesel emissions scandal that has cost the German automaker as much as $30 billion. The prison sentence and fine for the executive, Oliver Schmidt, were the maximum possible under a plea deal in August the German national made with prosecutors after admitting to charges of conspiring to mislead U.S regulators and violate clean-air laws.

8. A majority of Leave voters believe that the UK government is handling Brexit talks badly and will end up with a bad deal according to new research published today. A new report by pollster John Curtice for the National Centre for Social Research and What UK Thinks has found that while those who voted Brexit last year still believe they made the right decision, there has been a sharp increase in pessimism among them about how the negotiations are going.

9. President Vladimir Putin confirmed Russia's worst kept political secret on Wednesday, saying he would run for re-election in March 2018 - a contest he seems sure to win comfortably and extend his grip on power into a third decade. Putin, 65, has been in power, either as president or prime minister, since 2000, longer than veteran Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and outstripped only by dictator Josef Stalin.

10. North Korea said the US is making war unavoidable. In yet another round of threats, North Korea said this week's joint US-South Korea aerial drill is a "dangerous provocation."

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• WorldRemit raises $40 million (£29.7 million) "Series C" from LeapFrog Investments, Accel Partners, and Technology Crossover Ventures.
• The money will be put towards global expansion, with WorldRemit targeting 10 million customers by 2020.

LONDON — Mobile money transfer service WorldRemit has raised $40 million (£29.7 million) from LeapFrog Investments and existing investors Accel Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures.

WorldRemit announced the "Series C" fundraising on Thursday. It takes the total raised by the London-headquartered company to $220 million (£163.8 million).

Sources close to the deal said WorldRemit was valued at just under £500 million in the round, almost 50% more than its last valuation in 2015, which was £330 million.

The investment underscores the continued momentum of Britain's fintech industry despite the economic uncertainty caused by Brexit negotiations. Other notable investment's this year include a $280 million (£208.5 million) investment in online money transfer business TransferWise last month, a $66 million (£49.1 million) funding round for digital banking service Revolut in July, and a $100 million (£74.7 million) investment in online lending platform Funding Circle in January.

Founded in 2010 by a former anti-money laundering advisor to the UN, WorldRemit specialises in digital remittances — money sent by migrants to family overseas. These payments tend to be small and regular and WorldRemit has developed the technology to send the cash via people's mobiles.

WorldRemit currently operates in 50 "send" countries, with money being transferred to 148 other countries. 5.4 million remittances were made over its network last year.

Stewart Langdon, a partner at LeapFrog Investments, said in a release: "WorldRemit’s model is uniquely suited to scale and offers a best in class service that is vital to the livelihood of millions of consumers in LeapFrog’s core markets."

LeapFrog specialises in investing in financial services and healthcare businesses that target Africa and Asia. (BI has previously written about another LeapFrog company, BIMA.)

Langdon said of WorldRemit: "The company also has a huge potential to expand globally – a combination that puts it at the heart of our profit with purpose philosophy. I’m delighted that a world-class fintech company like WorldRemit is choosing LeapFrog as its partner for growth in the emerging markets."

WorldRemit said in its statement announcing the fundraise that the money will go towards growing its customer to a target 10 million by 2020. It did not disclose how many customers it has today.

Ismail Ahmed, founder and CEO at WorldRemit, said in a statement: "This new funding will fuel our growth, and help bring our service to millions more customers across the globe. We are pleased to attract a strategic investor whose profit with a purpose mission is aligned with ours."

WorldRemit lost £15.3 million ($20.5 million) on revenues of £41.1 million ($55.1 million) last year.

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[…]

The post Bitcoin Price Surpasses $17,000 in South Korea, an Extreme $3,500 Premium appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

 Bitcoin is flying sky high after crossing the $14,000 mark for the first time, but one projected aimed at helping mine coins is short of at least $60 million after it was hacked. NiceHash, a marketplace that matches those with spare computing to power to miners wanting to create new coins, has confirmed that it has hit by attackers who snatched bitcoin. The company has paused operations for… Read More

[…]

The post Bitcoin Mining Marketplace NiceHash Hacked: $62 Million Stolen? appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

• A Saudi prince has been revealed to be the buyer of the world's most expensive painting, priced at $450 million.
• This particular prince reportedly did not have a history of collecting art and was a friend of Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
• The painting is expected to arrive at the Louvre in Abu Dhabi, a museum in the United Arab Emirates.

A Saudi prince has been revealed as the buyer of the world's most expensive painting, priced at a staggering $450 million in an auction at the world-famous Christie's Auction House in November.

Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud has been identified as the mystery buyer of Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi," according to a New York Times report published Wednesday. Prince Bader, part of a distant branch of the wealthy royal family, is not generally known as a major art collector or someone with a large source of wealth, according to The Times.

Christie's representatives attempted to identify Prince Bader and his source of finances before the sale, after he gave a $100 million deposit to qualify for the auction, The Times said. Pressed for more information, Prince Bader reportedly gave a terse reply, saying he was in the real estate business and was one of the country's 5,000 princes.

Prince Bader is also reportedly a friend and associate of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who recently embarked on a countrywide crackdown on corruption that touched $100 billion and implicated over 200 people, including members of the royal elite. The nature of the painting — a rendition of Christ — and the timing of the purchase — less than two weeks after the corruption purge — calls into question whether the Crown Prince has been selectively targeting people in the crackdown, The Times reported.

Although Prince Badar did not respond to The Times' detailed request for comment, the Louvre in Abu Dhabi — a museum in the United Arab Emirates — tweeted Wednesday that the "Salvator Mundi" was "coming to Louvre Abu Dhabi," The Times said.

You can read the full report here »

SEE ALSO: WATCH: Art agents frantically bid on a rare $450 million painting

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The price of bitcoin continued to show gains on Wednesday, defying critics to set a new all-time high on a stellar night-time trading session.

• The European operations of investment banks are expected to lose $4.4 billion from new regulatory reforms, known as MiFID II.
• Traders will shoulder the bulk of the losses, with equity and debt markets teams expected to lose a combined $2.5 billion.

Global investment banks are going to see their revenues in Europe chopped by $4.4 billion from the new financial reforms that start to go live in January, according to a new report. Trading desks will bear the brunt of the losses. 

Banks generate about $170 billion in revenues from corporate and investment banking (CIB) operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa region — EMEA — but the broad and complex European regulatory reforms known as MiFID II are expected to trim that figure by 2.6%, according to Coalition, an industry analytics and consulting firm. 

MiFID II is intended to heighten transparency and root out conflicts of interest, and the regulations will impact just about every global financial services firm. 

Banks, given their breadth and array of services, face some of the most significant changes.

Coalition analyzed 25 products and lines of CIB business and found that trading operations would be hardest hit once MiFID II is fully implemented over the next 12 to 24 months.  

Cash equities revenues — which account for 2% of overall CIB revenues, or $3.4 billion — are expected to decline 15%, or $510 million. Other equities businesses, which includes derivatives, prime services, and futures and options, will only suffer a $230 million hit. 

Revenues from Fixed Income, Currencies, and Commodities (FICC) — which account for 23% of overall CIB revenues, or $39.1 billion — are expected to fall 4.2%, or $1.8 billion. 

Here's Coalition's breakdown of the most impacted activities:

All told, trading operations will account for $2.5 billion, or 57%, of the expected losses from MiFID II. 

The rest of the combined banking operations, which account for $110.5 billion of revenues, or 65%, will only fall by 1.7%, or $1.9 billion.

Why are traders expected to suffer the most from the European regulatory reforms?

For one, under the new rules, research must be paid for separately from costs for executing trades, and many trading operations will absorb the new research costs themselves rather than pass them along to clients. Traders will also have to prove they're executing at the lowest prices, and transactions will have to be extensively documented and reported. 

And if banks battle t0 undercut each other on prices for stock-trading execution as a result, that could further compound the struggles.

The changes all add up to significant losses for trading units.

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• The average first-time homebuyer deposit in London could soar to an eye-watering £250,000 within a decade — a 75% rise.

• The data reflects the growing difficulties first-time buyers in London face trying to get onto the property ladder.

LONDON — The average first-time buyer deposit in London could soar to an eye-watering £250,000 within a decade, according to new research from broker L&C Mortgages.

The firm said average deposits in the capital could rise from £140,000 this year to £245,000 by 2027, which represents a 75% rise. Nationally, average deposits could rise from £52,000 to £81,000 in the same period, nearly a 60% rise.

ONS House Price Index to extrapolate what the average dwelling price and mortgage advances were given to first time buyers in the UK's 17 key cities over the past 20 years. From the gap between the average dwelling price recorded and the average mortgage advance received we were able to calculate what deposits were put up front by first-time buyers.

While the £140,000 figure may seem high, it is not far off other estimates of the current average deposit. Halifax calculated in July that Londoners are putting down an average deposit of £106,577 to get on the housing ladder. The bank said the average price paid by a first-time buyer in London now stands at around £410,000.

The data reflects the growing difficulties first-time buyers face trying to get onto the property ladder, particularly in London, where high demand and a shortage of housing stock means price growth has outstripped the rest of the UK for over two decades. Data from Hometrack found the average house price in the capital is already 14.5 times the earnings of an average Londoner, the highest level on record.

Here's how L&G's predictions break down for other UK cities:Mortgage costs are expected to rise due to higher house prices and because higher prices usually mean that the proportion of the dwelling value that needs to be covered by a deposit increases in order to make the mortgage payments affordable.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics earlier this week show that the value of land in the UK has grown fivefold since 1995 and is the country's most valuable asset, worth an estimated £5 trillion.

The average house price in London was £484,000 in August 2017, according to the Office for National Statistics, compared with a UK average of £226,000. Estate agents Savills forecasts that prices will dip 2% next year before returning to robust growth.

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• Hackers emptied the entire contents of a digital wallet belonging to NiceHash, a cryptocurrency company.
• NiceHash didn't say how much was stolen, but customers speculate that it could total around $63 million in bitcoin.
• Many of the funds belonged to the company's customers, who use the site to exchange their computer processing power for cryptocurrency. 

The contents of a digital wallet belonging to cryptocurrency company NiceHash, which included potentially millions of dollars worth of customers' bitcoin, was stolen in a major security breach early Wednesday.

The hack affected NiceHash's payment system, and the entire contents of the company's bitcoin wallet was stolen, the company said in a Facebook post Wednesday afternoon. 

"Clearly, this is a matter of deep concern, and we are working hard to rectify the matter in the coming days," NiceHash said in the Facebook post. "In addition to undertaking our own investigation, the incident has been reported to the relevant authorities and law enforcement, and we are cooperating with them as a matter of urgency."

The company did not respond to requests for comment.

NiceHash didn't say how much bitcoin was stolen from its wallet or how much of what was stolen belonged to its customers. But some of the company's customers speculated that around 4,736 bitcoin total were stolen — worth over $63 million as of Wednesday afternoon.

They came up with that estimate by looking at the total amount sitting in a recently-created bitcoin wallet, which some company users have suggested belongs to the hacker. Although bitcoin owners are usually anonymous, the amounts stored in their wallets are publicly searchable online. 

Many miners left money sitting in wallets on NiceHash's platform 

NiceHash offers a cryptocurrency mining service. It lets customers people offer up their extra computer processing power for the high-energy calculations typically used to create — or mine — new bitcoin or other cybercurrencies. 

Most of NiceHash's users mine so-called altcoins — cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin — in exchange for their value in bitcoin. Users can also buy computer processing power from other NiceHash users. 

NiceHash customers frequently move the cryptocurrency they earn on NiceHash off the service and into their own digital wallets or onto a bitcoin exchange. But some users have chosen instead to keep their earnings on NiceHash.

Rumors of the hack first appeared early Wednesday, and the site went down for maintenance soon afterward. Some NiceHash users reported on Reddit they lost their connection to the service while mining. Others said their balances on the website went down to zero. 

NiceHash is only the latest cryptocurrency company to suffer a major hack in recent months. Despite the widespread notion that the blockchain technology behind bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is safer and more trustworthy than that underlying other kinds of digital financial transactions, startups in the industry have struggled to secure their sites and software against hackers. 

Another major hack occurred just last month on Parity, a digital wallet popular with startups collecting millions of dollars in fundraising. Around $162 million in the cryptocurrency ether has been frozen after a novice hacker deleted a code library needed to access funds being stored in some Parity digital wallets. 

SEE ALSO: Bitcoin blows past $13,000 for the first time

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• Hackers emptied the entire contents of a digital wallet belonging to NiceHash, a cryptocurrency company.
• NiceHash didn't say how much was stolen, but customers speculate that it could total around $63 million in bitcoin.
• Many of the funds belonged to the company's customers, who use the site to exchange their computer processing power for cryptocurrency. 

The contents of a digital wallet belonging to cryptocurrency company NiceHash, which included potentially millions of dollars worth of customers' bitcoin, was stolen in a major security breach early Wednesday.

The hack affected NiceHash's payment system, and the entire contents of the company's bitcoin wallet was stolen, the company said in a Facebook post Wednesday afternoon. 

"Clearly, this is a matter of deep concern, and we are working hard to rectify the matter in the coming days," NiceHash said in the Facebook post. "In addition to undertaking our own investigation, the incident has been reported to the relevant authorities and law enforcement, and we are cooperating with them as a matter of urgency."

The company did not respond to requests for comment.

NiceHash didn't say how much bitcoin was stolen from its wallet or how much of what was stolen belonged to its customers. But some of the company's customers speculated that around 4,736 bitcoin total were stolen — worth over $63 million as of Wednesday afternoon.

They came up with that estimate by looking at the total amount sitting in a recently-created bitcoin wallet, which some company users have suggested belongs to the hacker. Although bitcoin owners are usually anonymous, the amounts stored in their wallets are publicly searchable online. 

Many miners left money sitting in wallets on NiceHash's platform 

NiceHash offers a cryptocurrency mining service. It lets customers people offer up their extra computer processing power for the high-energy calculations typically used to create — or mine — new bitcoin or other cybercurrencies. 

Most of NiceHash's users mine so-called altcoins — cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin — in exchange for their value in bitcoin. Users can also buy computer processing power from other NiceHash users. 

NiceHash customers frequently move the cryptocurrency they earn on NiceHash off the service and into their own digital wallets or onto a bitcoin exchange. But some users have chosen instead to keep their earnings on NiceHash.

Rumors of the hack first appeared early Wednesday, and the site went down for maintenance soon afterward. Some NiceHash users reported on Reddit they lost their connection to the service while mining. Others said their balances on the website went down to zero. 

NiceHash is only the latest cryptocurrency company to suffer a major hack in recent months. Despite the widespread notion that the blockchain technology behind bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is safer and more trustworthy than that underlying other kinds of digital financial transactions, startups in the industry have struggled to secure their sites and software against hackers. 

Another major hack occurred just last month on Parity, a digital wallet popular with startups collecting millions of dollars in fundraising. Around $162 million in the cryptocurrency ether has been frozen after a novice hacker deleted a code library needed to access funds being stored in some Parity digital wallets. 

SEE ALSO: Bitcoin blows past $13,000 for the first time

Join the conversation about this story »

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