Coin News

The post Facebook Bans All Cryptocurrency Ads Including Bitcoin, ICOs appeared first on CCN

Facebook is firing back against misleading and deceptive ad practices, and ICOs, cryptocurrencies and binary options are at the top of their list. In a blog post by Facebooks’ Rob Leathern, the social media giant is trumpeting a new policy, banning ads that “promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive

The post Facebook Bans All Cryptocurrency Ads Including Bitcoin, ICOs appeared first on CCN

• Saudi Arabian officials are working on the country's bitcoin policy, according to a top regulator.  
• A ban on cryptocurrencies is not likely. 

Regulators around the world are taking a closer look at cryptocurrencies. South Korea's ban on anonymous bitcoin trading accounts went into effect Tuesday while the US Securities and Exchange Commission halted a $600 million initial coin offering. 

But one country's regulators are taking a more laissez faire-approach to cryptocurrencies: Saudi Arabia. 

The country isn't typically associated with the market for digital coins, but one top Saudi financial regulator told Business Insider that officials there are paying close attention to the space. However, they have not taken any steps to hinder activity in the market. 

"Not unlike most other markets, the regulators in Saudi have been following developments with cryptocurrencies with great interest," Mohammed ElKuwaiz, the chairman of Saudi Arabia's Capital Markets Authority, said in an interview with Business Insider.

"We are still evaluating what our appropriate regulatory response should be," he added. "I think we are likely to come up with something very soon."

A ban on cryptocurrencies, ElKuwaiz said, is not likely. 

Bitcoin mania has not swept the country to the same degree as it has in South Korea and China, where regulators have taken more concrete action. 

Still, a number of cryptocurrency companies claim to offer services for residents of the kingdom. One such company is Paxful, which says it has sold over 10,0000 bitcoin in the country. Another is BitOasis, which serves users across the Middle East and North Africa.

Also, it was reported by cryptocurrency watcher CoinDesk in December that the central banks in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates launched a pilot program to test how a new digital currency could be used to facilitate cross-border payments. 

"It is an emerging field and one would like to see any new field develops before jumping in," ElKuwaiz said. 

The country's financial regulators are taking that approach in other areas of financial technology. For instance, regulators have launched a sandbox program to provide firms working in innovative tech an opportunity to develop products without having to worry about regulations. 

"Essentially, companies are issued a provisional license over a test and pilot period in order to test their ideas," he said. "After the pilot period, we can then jointly agree to fit it into the existing regulatory regime or build a regulatory regime around it."

The UK has a similar program operated by the watchdog Financial Conduct Authority that seeks to allow "businesses to test innovative products, services, business models and delivery mechanisms in the real market, with real consumers."

Saudi Arabia, which has been trying to shake off a reputation as an economy purely powered by energy companies, is taking a number of steps to attract foreign investors and spur developments in finance and capital markets. Most notably, under its Vision 2030 plan, it is set to sell 5% of oil giant Saudi Aramco in an initial public offering. 

SEE ALSO: Saudi Arabia's stock exchange is 'more aggressively' vying for the sole listing of oil behemoth Aramco

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NOW WATCH: Don't let stretched valuations keep you from betting on high-profile tech and media stocks, says CFRA

The ban includes both Facebook and Instagram.

• Ripple's XRP cryptocurrency is down 10% in the past day, trading at its lowest levels since the cryptocurrency bloodbath earlier this month.
• You can track the price in real-time on Markets Insider.

Ripple’s XRP — a cryptocurrency designed for international payments and money transfers — has lost almost 10% of its value since Monday, bottoming out at just $1.0852 per coin Tuesday afternoon, according to Markets Insider data.

Just before the new year, XRP was hitting record highs and reached a peak of $3.315 on January 4. Now, less than four weeks later, the token is worth one-third of its peak value.

All cryptocurrencies have seen violent price swings — often more than 10% in either direction — since the start of 2018, a dramatic departure from last year’s seemingly endless upward price movements. Two weeks ago, a cryptocurrency "bloodbath" wiped out hundreds of millions from global cryptocurrency markets in just two days. 

Regulators worldwide have become more heavy-handed in their approaches to cryptocurrencies and so-called initial coin offerings.  On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex was the subject of a subpoena by the CFTC in December, which dragged down prices.

Earlier in January, rumors of crackdowns on mining and exchanges in China as well as South Korea began a month that has been rife with volatility. Still, XRP remains 437% above where it was trading three months ago. 

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NOW WATCH: Microsoft President Brad Smith says the US shouldn't get 'too isolationist'

• Ripple's XRP cryptocurrency is down 10% in the past day, trading at its lowest levels since the cryptocurrency bloodbath earlier this month.
• You can track the price in real-time on Markets Insider.

Ripple’s XRP — a cryptocurrency designed for international payments and money transfers — has lost almost 10% of its value since Monday, bottoming out at just $1.0852 per coin Tuesday afternoon, according to Markets Insider data.

Just before the new year, XRP was hitting record highs and reached a peak of $3.315 on January 4. Now, less than four weeks later, the token is worth one-third of its peak value.

All cryptocurrencies have seen violent price swings — often more than 10% in either direction — since the start of 2018, a dramatic departure from last year’s seemingly endless upward price movements. Two weeks ago, a cryptocurrency "bloodbath" wiped out hundreds of millions from global cryptocurrency markets in just two days. 

Regulators worldwide have become more heavy-handed in their approaches to cryptocurrencies and so-called initial coin offerings.  On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex was the subject of a subpoena by the CFTC in December, which dragged down prices.

Earlier in January, rumors of crackdowns on mining and exchanges in China as well as South Korea began a month that has been rife with volatility. Still, XRP remains 437% above where it was trading three months ago. 

SEE ALSO: Sign up to get the most important updates on all things crypto delivered straight to your inbox.

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NOW WATCH: Microsoft President Brad Smith says the US shouldn't get 'too isolationist'

• Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan are teaming up to launch a new healthcare company. 
• The move came as a shock to the healthcare industry, sending stocks plummeting on Tuesday morning. 
• Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon have spoken at length about the healthcare system in the past.  

Jamie Dimon, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett have a new plan to tackle the rising cost of healthcare in the US. 

Bezos's Amazon, along with Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and Dimon's JPMorgan, are teaming up to form an independent venture that'll be focused on healthcare for their US employees. 

"The healthcare system is complex, and we enter into this challenge open-eyed about the degree of difficulty,”  Bezos said in a release. "Hard as it might be, reducing healthcare’s burden on the economy while improving outcomes for employees and their families would be worth the effort. Success is going to require talented experts, a beginner’s mind, and a long-term orientation."

So far, the companies have only provided a few details about the intial phase of the joint venture, so it's unclear exactly how this new effort will play out.  But healthcare has been on these business titans' radars for a while, and what they've said could inform how this venture ultimately works. 

Buffett has been the most outspoen, saying that he supports a single-payer system, in which the government provides near-universal healthcare coverage.

"With my limited knowledge, I think that probably is the best system, because it is a system — we are such a rich country. In a sense, we can afford to do it," Buffett told PBS's "News Hour" in June 2017. "But in almost every field of American business, it pays to bring down costs. There’s an awful lot of people involved in the medical — the whole — just the way the ecosystem works, that there is no incentive to bring down costs."

And on multiple occasions he has compared costs to a parasitic worm.

"So, medical costs are the tapeworm of American economic competitiveness," he said in May 2017, a metaphor he used again on Tuesday. 

Charlie Munger, Berkshire Hathaway's vice chairman, has also been outspoken about moving to a single-payer healthcare system. Munger is a fan of Kaiser Permanente, a health system on the West Coast that contains both health plans and healthcare providers. "If the whole nation had Kaiser Permanente care, the average quality of the care would go way up and the cost would go way down," Munger said.

If healthcare in the US were to move toward a more single-payer system, it might look a lot like that. 

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has had the frustration people have over their healthcare costs on his mind as well. 

"Low job growth, a lack of opportunity for many, declining wages, students and low wage workers being left behind, economic and job uncertainty, high healthcare costs and growing income inequality all have created deep frustration," Dimon wrote in his 2016 annual letter. 

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos hasn't said a whole lot about healthcare above considering the potential for artificial intelligence, including Amazon's voice assistant Alexa, to help with an individual's health. Bezos's personal venture capital arm has invested in a number of biotech companies, including Grail, a company developing a cancer-screening blood test to catch cancer early on, and Zocdoc, Denali Therapeutics, and Juno Therapeutics. 

The three are going to have a lot to prove. This isn't the first time employers have banded together to try to lower healthcare costs. While the news sent healthcare stocks plummeting on Tuesday morning, analysts were skeptical of any iminent disruption. 

SEE ALSO: What we know about the new healthcare company Amazon, JPMorgan, and Berkshire Hathaway are forming

DON'T MISS: Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan are creating a new healthcare company to tackle the 'hungry tapeworm' of rising costs

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NOW WATCH: Principal Global Investors CEO: Bitcoin lacks fundamental value and it won't replace gold

• Facebook is banning all ads related to cryptocurrencies, from ICOs to bitcoin.
• The social network says the ban, which includes both Facebook and Instagram, is to crack down on scams.
• Cryptocurrencies are "frequently associated with misleading or deceptive practices," it said.

Cryptocurrencies are a Wild West of sorts — and Facebook has had enough.

The social network is banning all ads related to bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and ICOs, it announced on Tuesday, as it attempts to crack down on scams and fraud.

The new rule "prohibits financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, such as binary options, initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency." 

It's a far-reaching policy, and Facebook describes it as "intentionally broad." 

(For the uninitiated, initial coin offerings, or ICOs, are a largely unregulated method for company fundraising that involves selling investors cryptographic assets, in a similar vein to an IPO.)

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are insanely hot right now — but the space is also riddled with scams, fraud, and other risks.

This week, the SEC shut down one allegedly fraudulent ICO that claimed to have raised $600 million, and it's not uncommon for exchanges to lose hundreds of millions of dollars worth of customer funds in apparent hacks.

A Facebook spokesperson told Business Insider that the new rule bans all ads related to cryptocurrencies — not just those directly trying to sell cryptocurrencies or cryptographic tokens. So ads for Bitcoin wallets are also banned, for example, as are ones for Ethereum-mining hardware.

In a blog post announcing the news, Facebook product management director Rob Leathern suggested Facebook may tweak the policy at some point in the future to let legitimate crypto-related businesses advertise again.

"We want people to continue to discover and learn about new products and services through Facebook ads without fear of scams or deception," he wrote. "That said, there are many companies who are advertising binary options, ICOs and cryptocurrencies that are not currently operating in good faith."

"This policy is intentionally broad while we work to better detect deceptive and misleading advertising practices, and enforcement will begin to ramp up across our platforms including Facebook, Audience Network and Instagram. We will revisit this policy and how we enforce it as our signals improve."

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NOW WATCH: This personal airbag could help protect the elderly from hip injuries

 Facebook has a new advertising policy pertaining to cryptocurrency, binary options and initial coin offerings. The policy specifically prohibits ads that promote those types of products and services “that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive practices,” Facebook Product Management Director Rob Leathern wrote in a blog post today. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin… Read More

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Whenever Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, or Jamie Dimon do just about anything, they have our curiosity. When all three of them join forces to do something together? Now they've got our attention.

Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase announced Tuesday they're are creating a new business to take on the "hungry tapeworm" that is healthcare costs in the US. The new company will focus on technology solutions that will provide "simplified, high-quality and transparent healthcare at a reasonable cost" to US-based employees and their families.

There aren't many specifics available yet, but here's what we know about the venture so far. 

The new healthcare push by the Buffett-Dimon-Bezos triumvirate has Wall Street in a tizzy. The news sent healthcare stocks plummeting on Tuesday morning, especially health insurers and members of the pharmaceutical supply chain. It served as another powerful reminder of the risks of getting Amazon'd.

Stocks are getting crushed Tuesday in general during their worst day since Brexit. Here's what else is happening in the markets:

• One market bear says stocks will plunge 67% after surging to 'breathtakingly extreme' valuations
• Americans haven't been this bullish on the stock market since the dotcom bubble
• The dollar's slump risks sending the US economy into a 'boom/bust cycle'
• Blackstone reportedly in talks to buy majority stake in key Thomson Reuters unit
• McDonald's is slipping after taking a big hit from the new tax law
• Harley Davidson is plummeting after a big earnings miss
• Google's autonomous car company strikes deal to buy 'thousands' of self-driving minivans from Fiat Chrysler

Verizon is reportedly following AT&T's lead and canceling plans to sell Huawei's latest phone amid fears of Chinese spying. The Department of Justice is reportedly investigating the Apple software update that slowed down older iPhones.

The founder of hedge fund Folger Hill tells clients his firm has fallen short. Saudi Arabia's stock exchange is 'more aggressively' vying for the sole listing of oil behemoth Aramco.

Banks could earn $100 million from Keurig-Dr. Pepper — here are the dealmakers who orchestrated the $18.7 billion merger.

And in crypto news:

• A crypto startup that vanished and changed its website to the word ‘penis’ allegedly stole the identities of its team
• Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex reportedly subpoenaed by top regulator
• Bitcoin tumbles below $10,000 for the 2nd time in less than 2 weeks
• The iced tea company that avoided de-listing by pivoting to blockchain may once again be at risk of being kicked off Nasdaq’s exchange.
• The SEC has shut down another ICO — this time an alleged $600 million scam in Texas

Lastly, here are 15 major companies that treat employees well, value their customers, and put their communities first.

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NOW WATCH: A crypto expert explains the difference between the two largest cryptocurrencies in the world: bitcoin and Ethereum

Social media giant Facebook has unveiled a new policy that bans advertisements involving bitcoin and initial coin offerings, among others. 

A Turkish amateur side claim they are the first football club to have paid for a player with cryptocurrency.

The post Newsflash: Bitcoin Price Falls Under $10,000 After Bitfinex, Tether Subpoena appeared first on CCN

US regulators’ scrutiny into Bitfinex, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency, over its dollar-pegged digital token Tether has sent bitcoin sinking below $10,000. Bloomberg is reporting that the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has sent subpoenas to Bitfinex and Tether, the firm behind a namesake digital token that is directly pegged to the value of

The post Newsflash: Bitcoin Price Falls Under $10,000 After Bitfinex, Tether Subpoena appeared first on CCN

• The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has reportedly issued subpoenas to cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and Tether, the company behind a digital coin that claims to track the US dollar. 
• Recently, Tether severed its relationship with its auditors. 
• Both Bitfinex and Tether, which share a CEO, have come under fire for alleged foul play. 

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has reportedly issued subpoenas to cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and Tether, the company behind a digital coin that claims to track the US dollar. 

The financial regulator sent out the subpoenas last week to the two firms, which share a CEO, according to a report by Bloomberg News' Matthew Leising, citing a person familiar with the situation. 

The news follows an announcement by Tether that it severed its relationship with its auditors.

Tether's cryptocurrency, called USDT, is pegged to — and supposedly backed by — the dollar. It is meant to function as a "stablecoin" — a cryptocurrency that allows you to avoid the volatility of bitcoin but still have the operability of a cryptocurrency.

"Given the excruciatingly detailed procedures Friedman was undertaking for the relatively simple balance sheet of Tether, it became clear that an audit would be unattainable in a reasonable time frame," Tether said in a statement.

The ending of the audit has fueled more criticism of the cryptocurrency. Specifically, accusations that the $2.3 billion worth of USDT currently in circulation are not backed by actual dollars. 

The New York Times reported shortly after the company experienced a hack in November: "One persistent online critic, going by the screen name Bitfinex’ed, has written several very detailed essays on Medium arguing that Bitfinex appears to be creating Tether coins out of thin air and then using them to buy Bitcoin and push the price up."

The CFTC declined to comment to Bloomberg. 

“We routinely receive legal process from law enforcement agents and regulators conducting investigations,” Bitfinex and Tether said in an email to Bloomberg. “It is our policy not to comment on any such requests.”

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NOW WATCH: Microsoft President Brad Smith says the US shouldn't get 'too isolationist'

• The price of one bitcoin has fallen below $10,000 for the second time in less than two weeks. 
• Exchanges Bitfinex and Tether have reportedly been subpoenaed by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission regulator. 
• You can track the cryptocurrencies price in real-time here>>

Bitcoin has slumped more than 11% in the last 24 hours, falling below $10,000 per coin for the second time in less than two weeks as reports of cryptocurrency exchanges Bitfinex and Tether being subpoenaed by US regulators dragged down prices. 

The flagship digital coin now makes up just 33.6% of the world’s total cryptocurrency market value, according to CoinMarketCap.com.

Last year, bitcoin’s price was on path that seemed to have just one direction: up. However, news of crackdowns in the US as well as crypto-centric countries like Russia, China, and South Korea have reinjected violent price swings into the marketplace.

Bitcoin previously fell below $10,000 less than two weeks ago, when what was dubbed a cryptocurrency ‘bloodbath’ wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars worth of value from cryptocurrencies in a matter of days.

The $10,000 benchmark was first crossed in November 2017, as bitcoin’s price skyrocketed to almost $20,000. It eventually peaked just below, at $19,843, according to Markets Insider data.

You can track the price of bitcoin in real-time here>>

SEE ALSO: Sign up to get the most important updates on all things crypto delivered straight to your inbox.

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NOW WATCH: Microsoft President Brad Smith says the US shouldn't get 'too isolationist'

• The price of one bitcoin has fallen below $10,000 for the second time in less than two weeks. 
• You can track the cryptocurrencies price in real-time here>>

Bitcoin has slumped more than 11% in the last 24 hours, falling below $10,000 per coin for the second time in less than two weeks.

The flagship digital coin now makes up just 33.6% of the world’s total cryptocurrency market value, according to CoinMarketCap.com.

Last year, bitcoin’s price was on path that seemed to have just one direction: up. However, news of crackdowns in the US as well as crypto-centric countries like Russia, China, and South Korea have reinjected violent price swings into the marketplace.

Bitcoin previously fell below $10,000 less than two weeks ago, when what was dubbed a cryptocurrency ‘bloodbath’ wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars worth of value from cryptocurrencies in a matter of days.

The $10,000 benchmark was first crossed in November 2017, as bitcoin’s price skyrocketed to almost $20,000. It eventually peaked just below, at $19,843, according to Markets Insider data.

You can track the price of bitcoin in real-time here>>

SEE ALSO: Sign up to get the most important updates on all things crypto delivered straight to your inbox.

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NOW WATCH: Microsoft President Brad Smith says the US shouldn't get 'too isolationist'

• Business Insider recently compiled a list of the top headhunters on Wall Street age 40 and under, and we asked many of them about the greatest concern facing their industry.
• Many mentioned the impact tech and Silicon Valley was having on their business and Wall Street at large.
• On one hand, platforms like LinkedIn have encroached on their turf. 
• But many have also noticed top candidates flocking to tech companies instead of investment firms. 

Business Insider recently compiled a list of the top headhunters on Wall Street age 40 and under, and in the process we asked many of the candidates the same question: What's your biggest concern about the industry?

One theme came up over and over again, and it's a concern that'll be familiar to many: How Silicon Valley is changing their business.

"It's disruption. Everyone's trying to disrupt our business," one recruiter told Business Insider.

They went on to explain that, for example, LinkedIn's arrival had significantly impacted their many-decades old business, especially for recruiting mid-level finance positions that earn below $225,000.  

"LinkedIn has been devastating to that mid-level," they said, adding that they anticipate more technology platforms to exacerbate the problem going forward. "It's not about if, it's about when."

Another headhunter echoed that sentiment: "If you're just looking to fill mid-level jobs, that's totally going to go away."

Higher-level recruitment searches — where candidates may not even have a LinkedIn account and aren't necessarily looking for a job — aren't exposed to such risk.

"People pay us to change the mind of people who aren't clicking on a job ad and aren't looking," one senior-level recruiter said. "It takes a very human skill set. "

But it's not just the direct assault that tech is having on recruiting.

Silicon Valley has been shaking up the finance world in general, indirectly changing how recruiters approach Wall Street. 

On one hand, Wall Street — and banks in particular — has been suffering a talent flight away from investing and toward Silicon Valley and start-up world. 

One headhunter told us that they've seen a "decline in the talent pool" and "less interest in investing."

"The smartest kids are going instead of to investment banking to tech startups," they said. 

Another recruiter cited "the draw of big tech companies" as one of their biggest hurdles.

"That's why we work on more and more corporate development roles at those tech companies," they added.

Additionally, banks have embraced tech, feverishly adopting automation and machine learning technologies to cut the costs of business. Swiss bank UBS has taken steps to automate trade allocation, and JPMorgan has launched and expanded a predictive recommendation engine to identify those clients which should issue or sell equity, among other ambitious tech projects.

McKinsey & Co. estimates that these types of technologies could have a sizeable impact on 60% of bank jobs.

Recruiters haven't started representing robots and algorithms, so those are lost jobs that headhunters can't recruit for. 

Of course, Wall Street banks have already massively scaled back their trading operations in recent years as revenues from fixed-income and equities businesses have declined, so this isn't an entirely new problem. 

"A lot of the industries and particular jobs where that's going to be really invasive and ultimately cannibalistic, it has already happened," the senior-level headhunter told us. 

But, Wall Street jobs where an algorithm can't readily outperform a human — relationship- and trust-based jobs like investment banking — aren't going anywhere any time soon. 

"We're aeons away from that being replaced," the senior-level headhunter added. "There's no algorithm that thinks up and creates the CVS-Aetna deal."

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A crypto expert explains the difference between the two largest cryptocurrencies in the world: bitcoin and Ethereum

The price of bitcoin is down nearly 10 percent today, having slipped to close to $10,000 amid wider weakness in the cryptocurrency market.

Welcome to Crypto Insider, Business Insider’s roundup of all the bitcoin and cryptocurrency news you need to know today. Sign up here to get this email delivered direct to your inbox.

Here are the full standings: 

• Bitcoin (BTC): $10,073 (-10.8%)
• Ethereum (ETH): $1,096 (-6.3%)
• Ripple (XRP): $1.16 (-8.3%)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCC): $1,530 (-7.2%)
• Litecoin (LTC): $167 (-7.3%)

What else is happening:

• The SEC has halted the ICO of a Texas "cryptocurrency bank," alleging that AriseCoin was nothing more than a scam. Arise Bank, whose website was offline Tuesday, had already raised $600 million of its $1 billion goal. 
• The iced tea company that avoided de-listing by pivoting to blockchain may once again be at risk of being kicked off Nasdaq’s exchange.
• Another crypto startup that vanished and changed its website to the word 'penis' allegedly stole the identities of its team.
• Measuring cryptocurrencies by their market caps is a bad idea, one crypto CEO tells Business Insider. 
• Coincheck's $543 million hack could mean big changes in the crypto space, a new report from BI Intelligence says. 

SEE ALSO: A popular bitcoin stock announced a 91-for-1 split that could make it more accessible to the masses

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Microsoft President Brad Smith says the US shouldn't get 'too isolationist'

Welcome to Crypto Insider, Business Insider’s roundup of all the bitcoin and cryptocurrency news you need to know today. Sign up here to get this email delivered direct to your inbox.

Here are the full standings: 

• Bitcoin (BTC): $10,073 (-10.8%)
• Ethereum (ETH): $1,096 (-6.3%)
• Ripple (XRP): $1.16 (-8.3%)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCC): $1,530 (-7.2%)
• Litecoin (LTC): $167 (-7.3%)

What else is happening:

• The SEC has halted the ICO of a Texas "cryptocurrency bank," alleging that AriseCoin was nothing more than a scam. Arise Bank, whose website was offline Tuesday, had already raised $600 million of its $1 billion goal. 
• The iced tea company that avoided de-listing by pivoting to blockchain may once again be at risk of being kicked off Nasdaq’s exchange.
• Another crypto startup that vanished and changed its website to the word 'penis' allegedly stole the identities of its team.
• Measuring cryptocurrencies by their market caps is a bad idea, one crypto CEO tells Business Insider. 
• Coincheck's $543 million hack could mean big changes in the crypto space, a new report from BI Intelligence says. 

SEE ALSO: A popular bitcoin stock announced a 91-for-1 split that could make it more accessible to the masses

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Microsoft President Brad Smith says the US shouldn't get 'too isolationist'

Welcome to Crypto Insider, Business Insider’s roundup of all the bitcoin and cryptocurrency news you need to know today. Sign up here to get this email delivered direct to your inbox.

Here are the full standings: 

• Bitcoin (BTC): $10,073 (-10.8%)
• Ethereum (ETH): $1,096 (-6.3%)
• Ripple (XRP): $1.16 (-8.3%)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCC): $1,530 (-7.2%)
• Litecoin (LTC): $167 (-7.3%)

What else is happening:

• The SEC has halted the ICO of a Texas "cryptocurrency bank," alleging that AriseCoin was nothing more than a scam. Arise Bank, whose website was offline Tuesday, had already raised $600 million of its $1 billion goal. 
• The iced tea company that avoided de-listing by pivoting to blockchain may once again be at risk of being kicked off Nasdaq’s exchange.
• Another crypto startup that vanished and changed its website to the word 'penis' allegedly stole the identities of its team.
• Measuring cryptocurrencies by their market caps is a bad idea, one crypto CEO tells Business Insider. 
• Coincheck's $543 million hack could mean big changes in the crypto space, a new report from BI Intelligence says. 

SEE ALSO: A popular bitcoin stock announced a 91-for-1 split that could make it more accessible to the masses

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Microsoft President Brad Smith says the US shouldn't get 'too isolationist'

Welcome to Crypto Insider, Business Insider’s roundup of all the bitcoin and cryptocurrency news you need to know today. Sign up here to get this email delivered direct to your inbox.

Here are the full standings: 

• Bitcoin (BTC): $10,073 (-10.8%)
• Ethereum (ETH): $1,096 (-6.3%)
• Ripple (XRP): $1.16 (-8.3%)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCC): $1,530 (-7.2%)
• Litecoin (LTC): $167 (-7.3%)

What else is happening:

• The SEC has halted the ICO of a Texas "cryptocurrency bank," alleging that AriseCoin was nothing more than a scam. Arise Bank, whose website was offline Tuesday, had already raised $600 million of its $1 billion goal. 
• The iced tea company that avoided de-listing by pivoting to blockchain may once again be at risk of being kicked off Nasdaq’s exchange.
• Another crypto startup that vanished and changed its website to the word 'penis' allegedly stole the identities of its team.
• Measuring cryptocurrencies by their market caps is a bad idea, one crypto CEO tells Business Insider. 
• Coincheck's $543 million hack could mean big changes in the crypto space, a new report from BI Intelligence says. 

SEE ALSO: A popular bitcoin stock announced a 91-for-1 split that could make it more accessible to the masses

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Microsoft President Brad Smith says the US shouldn't get 'too isolationist'

Welcome to Crypto Insider, Business Insider’s roundup of all the bitcoin and cryptocurrency news you need to know today. Sign up here to get this email delivered direct to your inbox.

Here are the full standings: 

• Bitcoin (BTC): $10,073 (-10.8%)
• Ethereum (ETH): $1,096 (-6.3%)
• Ripple (XRP): $1.16 (-8.3%)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCC): $1,530 (-7.2%)
• Litecoin (LTC): $167 (-7.3%)

What else is happening:

• The SEC has halted the ICO of a Texas "cryptocurrency bank," alleging that AriseCoin was nothing more than a scam. Arise Bank, whose website was offline Tuesday, had already raised $600 million of its $1 billion goal. 
• The iced tea company that avoided de-listing by pivoting to blockchain may once again be at risk of being kicked off Nasdaq’s exchange.
• Another crypto startup that vanished and changed its website to the word 'penis' allegedly stole the identities of its team.
• Measuring cryptocurrencies by their market caps is a bad idea, one crypto CEO tells Business Insider. 
• Coincheck's $543 million hack could mean big changes in the crypto space, a new report from BI Intelligence says. 

SEE ALSO: A popular bitcoin stock announced a 91-for-1 split that could make it more accessible to the masses

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Microsoft President Brad Smith says the US shouldn't get 'too isolationist'

Welcome to Crypto Insider, Business Insider’s roundup of all the bitcoin and cryptocurrency news you need to know today. Sign up here to get this email delivered direct to your inbox.

Here are the full standings: 

• Bitcoin (BTC): $10,073 (-10.8%)
• Ethereum (ETH): $1,096 (-6.3%)
• Ripple (XRP): $1.16 (-8.3%)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCC): $1,530 (-7.2%)
• Litecoin (LTC): $167 (-7.3%)

What else is happening:

• The SEC has halted the ICO of a Texas "cryptocurrency bank," alleging that AriseCoin was nothing more than a scam. Arise Bank, whose website was offline Tuesday, had already raised $600 million of its $1 billion goal. 
• The iced tea company that avoided de-listing by pivoting to blockchain may once again be at risk of being kicked off Nasdaq’s exchange.
• Another crypto startup that vanished and changed its website to the word 'penis' allegedly stole the identities of its team.
• Measuring cryptocurrencies by their market caps is a bad idea, one crypto CEO tells Business Insider. 
• Coincheck's $543 million hack could mean big changes in the crypto space, a new report from BI Intelligence says. 

SEE ALSO: A popular bitcoin stock announced a 91-for-1 split that could make it more accessible to the masses

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NOW WATCH: Microsoft President Brad Smith says the US shouldn't get 'too isolationist'

The post Bitcoin Charity Sends Free Software Foundation $1 Million Donation appeared first on CCN

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has recently received a 91.45 BTC (roughly $1 million) donation from the anonymous founder of the Pineapple Fund, a bitcoin charity set to donate a total of 5,057 BTC, at press time worth about $54 million, to various organizations. We're overjoyed to announce that the FSF has received an extraordinary … Continued

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• Max Urbahn, a college student at the University of Connecticut, invested the bulk of his earnings from his summer internship into cryptocurrencies. 
• Urbahn invested just over $2,000 into Ethereum and two smaller alternate cryptocurrencies and made an enormous profit. 

When Max Urbahn, 21, decided to invest 80% of his earnings into cryptocurrencies last summer, his family and friends immediately attempted to dissuade him. His father, a savvy investor and business executive who shepherded several companies through their initial public offerings in the past, felt the decision was utterly ludicrous.

"When I told my dad, he said, 'Max, you're a f***ing idiot,'" Urbahn said in an interview with Business Insider. Urbahn had recently started an internship in business and product development at Social Rank, a social media management site based in New York, and was earning a lean stipend of $500 a month. During the summer of 2017, he commuted to the city several times a week from Connecticut, where he lives at home with his parents.

"I have the luxury of being able to live at home [with my family]," Urbahn said. "A lot of kids are in debt in college, and it's a little bit easier for me because I'm in a state school and I have cheaper tuition." With no immediate need for his paycheck, Urbahn turned his eye towards investing.

Urbahn had first heard about cryptocurrencies in reference to the notorious drug trade site the Silk Road, which facilitated online drug deals through anonymous bitcoin transactions until it was shut down in 2013. Urbahn says that this association with illicit trade initially made him cautious. "I associated cryptocurrencies with illegal activities, so I didn't really want to get involved in it," he said.

"I took a huge risk and it could have easily been a mistake"

But at Social Rank's midtown office, he learned about the cryptocurrency Ethereum from the company's founder, Alex Taub, and was intrigued by the currency's rising popularity.

"I saw Ethereum as an opportunity," said Urbahn. "I could either put my money in a bank account with minimal interest or I could take a risk and put my money into Ethereum." By the end of the summer, Urbahn opened an account on the cryptocurrency exchange site Coinbase and invested $2,100 —almost the entirety of his summer earnings— in Ethereum. 

"People can say that this wasn't a wise decision and I totally understand that," said Urbahn. "Anyone that hears of someone putting 80% of their paycheck towards something might say that it's gambling, or that it's stupid. I took a huge risk, and it could have easily been a mistake."

So far, Urbahn's gamble has paid off. When he invested in Ethereum, it was worth about $150 per coin. As of January 29, the cryptocurrency is worth more than ten times as much. At its peak, Urbahn's initial investment had grown by $28,000, only to plunge by 50 percent shortly afterwards — a predictable outcome in the turbulent cryptocurrency market.

But despite the currency's sudden decline, Urbahn has seen huge gains off of his investment. Now, he owns close to $13,000 in cryptocurrencies and says he doesn't intend to withdraw his dividends for at least the next two years. "I look at it as a long term investment," said Urbahn. "I'm not trying to make a quick buck." 

Even Dad's on board now

While Urbahn says it's nice to see his crypto bet validated with the gains, he says the real allure in investing in cryptocurrencies is exploring the innovative technology of the coins themselves.

"It's not really about the money," said Urbahn. "I really believe that the technology is just interesting, and it's something I really love. I took a risk in my investment, and  it could have easily been a mistake, but I believe that it's worked out because cryptocurrencies are an incredible technology." 

His investment has changed his father's opinion as well. Urbahn says that his father has recently signed up for an account on Gemini, the popular coin exchange site created by the Winklevoss twins, and has plans to invest in Ethereum.

SEE ALSO: A crypto startup that vanished and changed its website to the word ‘penis’ allegedly stole the identities of its team

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• Folger Hill Asset Management's flagship fund returned 2.65% last year compared to a 21.8% gain in the S&P 500.
• "The growing pains associated with building Folger Hill over the last three years have been frustrating and humbling," founder Sol Kumin wrote in a client letter.
• The firm now has about $930 million in assets, bringing the firm back around to where it was in 2016.

Folger Hill Asset Management, the hedge fund started by billionaire Steve Cohen's former chief operating officer Sol Kumin, says its underperformance is "not consistent" with expectations.

The firm's flagship fund returned 2.65% last year and 0.89% for the fourth quarter, according to a client letter seen by Business Insider. That compares to a 21.8% gain in the S&P 500 last year and a 6.64% gain for the quarter.

"The growing pains associated with building Folger Hill over the last three years have been frustrating and humbling on both a personal and professional level," Kumin wrote in the letter. "While 2017 represented a year of improvement, we have yet to deliver risk-adjusted returns for investors consistent with our collective abilities and expectations." 

The fund fell -17.5% after fees in 2016, according to a previous investor update seen by Business Insider.

Kumin added:

"While we are encouraged by the progress we've made in 2017, we also recognize that our performance relative to the broader markets is certainly not consistent with our expectations. It is important to note that the objective of our long/short investment strategy is to maintain low-net market exposure and is not intended to rely on market direction for returns. In retrospect, our low-net positioning was overly conservative in 2017 as equity markets raced higher without a material correction. However, our positioning was intentional, as we felt it was prudent to reduce the Funds' volatility, preserve and grow capital, and slowly take advantage of our expansion efforts and opportunities in Asia." 

Kumin said that Folger Hill made "solid progress" on the firm's primary objectives for the year. 

"We tightened the risk limits on our portfolio managers, increased our global capital base, and hired a number of investment team members in the US and Asia. These efforts significantly increased diversification and reduced the volatility profile of the Funds in 2017."

He cited the growth of the firm's Asia business in Singapore and Hong Kong, led by Angus Wai, as a "key factor in our turnaround and a major contributor to our increased portfolio diversification." Wai was previously Cohen's SAC Capital's as head of Asia Pacific. Kumin previously worked at SAC as COO, spotting investment talent.

Folger Hill now manages about $930 million, and received a $250 million cash infusion from Schonfeld Strategic Advisors into the firm's Asia strategies, per the letter.

That brings assets roughly to what they were in mid-2016, according to the Absolute Return Billion Dollar Club ranking. Assets had falled to about $600 million in 2016, according to Reuters.

The firm has 24 global portfolio managers, 13 in the US focusing on US and European markets, and 11 in Asia focusing on Asian markets, according to the letter.

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NOW WATCH: Principal Global Investors CEO: Bitcoin lacks fundamental value and it won't replace gold

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

• Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan are teaming up to form an independent, nonprofit venture that'll be focused on healthcare for their US employees. 
• Exactly what this new company looks like remains to be seen. 
• This isn't the first time large employers have banded together to form healthcare companies that take on the rising cost of healthcare.

Three massive employers are forming a new company to take on the "hungry tapeworm" that is healthcare costs in the US. 

On Tuesday, Amazon, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan said they plan to form the new venture, which will be focused on building technology solutions that will provide "simplified, high-quality and transparent healthcare at a reasonable cost" to US-based employees and their families. 

Based on how few details were in the release about what this company looks like, the stock market's reaction looks quite dramatic. The news sent healthcare stocks plummeting on Tuesday morning, especially health insurers and members of the pharmaceutical supply chain. 

Piper Jaffray health services analyst Sarah James wrote that she didn’t expect this new company to have a big impact on healthcare, especially given how past efforts haven’t made many waves. “Many have tried, but few have succeeded," she said. "We do not expect this JV to be a meaningful disruptor to the industry, despite the stock reaction indicating that it is.”

Barclays analysts said they didn't view "the consortium approach as the right one when we look at technology disrupting an incumbent sector," but added that "we are never dismissive of anything disruptive that Amazon is involved in."

And RBC Capital Markets analyst George Hill said in a note: "At first glance this initiative seems to have little market clout with respect to impacting healthcare costs and would not seem to have the capability to displace established players."

For one, this isn't the first time employers have banded together in the name of lowering healthcare costs.

For example, 20 companies that cover about 4 million people formed the Health Transformation Alliance in 2016. The group has since swelled to more than 40 companies, covering 6 million lives, including Coca-Cola, American Express, and Macy's. 

The intent behind forming the alliance was similar to Amazon/Berkshire Hathaway/JPMorgan's: "To improve the way corporations provide health care benefits in an effort to create better health care outcomes for their employees."

So far, that's meant a few key projects for the alliance. In March 2017, HTA announced that it was setting up a new partnership around prescription drug benefits, working with pharmacy benefit managers (companies that help negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs) to help come up with a plan that suited the alliance members. The HTA also said it'd be working to build new medical networks and using data — in partnership with IBM Watson Health — that would ideally help lower costs and improve outcomes. 

Redrawing the lines of healthcare

The boundaries of the healthcare business have been changing. Instead of growing by acquiring other companies in the same business, companies have started to move into new lines of business, with no two combinations looking exactly the same. 

CVS's acquisition of Aetna, for example, sent a big shockwave through the healthcare industry. The move combined the largest pharmacy in the US with the third-largest insurer in what was the biggest deal of 2017. 

Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini took the new venture created by JPMorgan, Amazon, and Berkshire Hathaway as a step in a similar direction. 

“There is an unmet consumer need in health care. Individuals and families want a simple, affordable and high-quality experience that helps them stay well," Bertolini said in a statement on Tuesday. "Our combination with CVS Health will help address those needs at the local level, and I am encouraged to see other companies working toward the same goal.” 

And in January, a group of hospitals, including Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare, Ascension, SSM Health, and Trinity Health, along with the Department of Veterans Affairs health administration (a group that in total represents 450 hospitals) announced their plans to create a nonprofit generic drug company. 

Their rationale? For years, health systems have been on the hook for skyrocketing drug prices for injections or drugs delivered through IV solutions, medications that have also been at the heart of drug shortages. The two challenges have made it harder to treat patients the way doctors want. 

It's possible that the new company created by JPMorgan, Amazon, and Berkshire Hathaway will similarly redefine the way we think about healthcare, though it'll likely take a few more details to entirely figure it out. Analysts on Tuesday met the news with skepticism. 

"While we find the combination of these companies as intriguing, we do not see how the companies disrupt the healthcare status quo immediately," RBC's Hill said.  "We believe that the power to drive change at a rapid pace resides only in Washington, where we see little chance of regulatory directed change emerging in the near term."

SEE ALSO: Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan are creating a new healthcare company to tackle the 'hungry tapeworm' of rising costs

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NOW WATCH: Principal Global Investors CEO: Bitcoin lacks fundamental value and it won't replace gold

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

The post Bitcoin Price Sinks Further as South Korea’s New Cryptocurrency Trading Rules Take Effect appeared first on CCN

Bitcoin price declined for a second consecutive day on Tuesday as South Korea’s new restrictive policies on cryptocurrency trading officially went into effect. As CCN reported, South Korea recently adopted new cryptocurrency trading regulations designed to curb the country’s heated markets. Beginning today, investors can no longer trade anonymously, so they must link their accounts … Continued

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• Pollster John Curtice says the publication of leaked government papers detailing the damage of Brexit is unlikely to sway voters.
• He says the country is "already pretty pessimistic" about the consequence of leaving the EU. 
• "It's not as though we went into this with wild enthusiasm for the economic consequences," Curtice told Business Insider.

LONDON — Britain's leading pollster John Curtice says the publication of leaked government papers detailing the damage of Brexit is unlikely to sway voters because the country is "already pretty pessimistic" about the consequences of leaving the EU. 

"It's not as though we went into this with wild enthusiasm for the economic consequences," Curtice told Business Insider.

"We're already pretty pessimistic about what kind of deal we're going to get, we're pretty pessimistic about the economic consequences, and we long have been. That so far has not changed people's attitudes and preferences for the most part," he said.

"Voting to leave was at most a case of: 'It probably won't be too bad, and I'm so fed up about immigration and a supposed loss of sovereignty that I'm going to vote for it.'"

The secret document was prepared by the Treasury and leaked to Buzzfeed News, and predicted Britain would see lower economic growth under every likely Brexit scenario modelled. Theresa May's spokesperson told Business Insider that it was a "draft document that had not been signed off."

Curtice said the leak could mean pro-Brexit cabinet ministers would be "even more pissed off with Chancellor Philip Hammond" because the leak "presumably comes from the Treasury."

Hammond campaigned for Remain before the referendum and privately and publicly pushed for a soft Brexit in recent weeks, to the fury of Leave-voting colleagues. Tory MP Steve Baker on Tuesday described the leaked version of the report as "an attempt to undermine our exit from the European Union."

Curtice said similar sets of figures released by the Treasury before the EU referendum had failed to persuade voters to vote to Remain.

"The difficulty is that you're not talking about a forecast which says the economy is going to get worse. You're talking about an economy that will not be as good as it otherwise would be. That's complicated, that's difficult. It was always more difficult to convey than: '£350 million goes out the door to Brussels every week.'"

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NOW WATCH: Principal Global Investors CEO: Bitcoin lacks fundamental value and it won't replace gold

Understand the tax consequences that may result in a tax liability from transactions with Bitcoin and other virtual currencies.

The post Bitcoin Could ‘Herald a New Era’ and ‘Neuter’ Central Banks: Former US Senator appeared first on CCN

“Can a bunch of computers that are set up by a bunch of smart people do a better job [than central banks] of managing the vagaries of the world’s money supply?” That’s the question former US Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) grappled with in an op-ed published this week by The Hill. Conventional wisdom says no,

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The post Samsung Begins Manufacturing ASIC Chips for Bitcoin Mining Rigs: Report appeared first on CCN

Electronics giant Samsung has begun manufacturing ASIC chips designed for Bitcoin mining, according to local media reports. The firm, which owns one of the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturing plants, completed the development of its ASIC chips last year and began mass production this month. Samsung is supplying its ASIC chips to an unnamed Chinese company

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• Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan are teaming up to form an independent venture that'll be focused on healthcare for their US employees. 
• The venture will be nonprofit, and its initial focus will be on technology solutions, the companies said in a press release.
• Beyond that, we don't have many details about whether that means the companies will team up to form a health insurance plan, or another way to tackle healthcare spending. 

It's official: Amazon is getting into healthcare. 

Amazon, along with Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan, are teaming up to form an independent venture that'll be focused on healthcare for their US employees. 

"The healthcare system is complex, and we enter into this challenge open-eyed about the degree of difficulty,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said, the first time he's addressed the company's healthcare interests since news the online retail giant was making moves to potentially enter the sector bubbled up in 2017. "Hard as it might be, reducing healthcare’s burden on the economy while improving outcomes for employees and their families would be worth the effort. Success is going to require talented experts, a beginner’s mind, and a long-term orientation."

Here's what we know about the new venture

• The new independent company will be nonprofit.
• To start, the focus of the company will be on technology solutions that will provide "simplified, high-quality and transparent healthcare at a reasonable cost."
• The venture will be geared toward employees of the three companies, rather than healthcare consumers overall in the US, though JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said that potentially, all Americans could benefit. 
• The hope is to lower the cost of healthcare while at the same time improving health outcomes and patient experiences.

Beyond that, there aren't a lot of specifics about how the three companies will reach the goal of lowering costs and improving outcomes.

"Our group does not come to this problem with answers. But we also do not accept it as inevitable," Buffett said in the release. 

In its initial stages, the venture will be led by Berkshire Hathaway investment officer Todd Combs, JPMorgan managing director Marvelle Sullivan Berchtold, and Amazon senior vice president Beth Galetti.

Combs has been frequently cited as Buffett's potential successor and also serves as a board member at JPMorgan. Sullivan Berchtold joined JPMorgan in August 2017, according to her LinkedIn page. Prior to working at JPMorgan, she was the global head of mergers and acquisitions at the pharmaceutical giant Novartis. Galetti is the senior vice president of human resources at Amazon, according to LinkedIn. 

It's still unclear whether the joint venture will create its own health plan, or if it will take another approach to tackling healthcare costs for employers. Even so, the news was enough to send healthcare stocks — especially pharmaceutical supply chain members and health insurers — plummeting on Tuesday morning. 

The companies also noted that more details about the venture will be announced later, including where it will be based. 

SEE ALSO: The entire healthcare business is being redrawn — and it's anybody's guess what's going to happen next

DON'T MISS: Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan are creating a new healthcare company to tackle the 'hungry tapeworm' of rising costs

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NOW WATCH: Principal Global Investors CEO: Bitcoin lacks fundamental value and it won't replace gold

Former New Hampshire governor and three-term senator Judd Gregg has said he believes bitcoin could alter how the world views currency.

The post London Luxury Concierge Accepts Bitcoin appeared first on CCN

This is a sponsored story. CCN urges readers to conduct their own research with due diligence into the company, product or service mentioned in the content below. When you think of the good life, you think of having a luxury concierge service. One Hundred Concierge, a London-based luxury concierge service, considers itself at the top of

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The post Bitstarz Now Accepts Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) appeared first on CCN

This is a submitted sponsored story. CCN urges readers to conduct their own research with due diligence into the company, product or service mentioned in the content below. Monday, Jan 29, 2018 – In an announcement that is sure to have gamblers everywhere smiling from ear to ear, BitStarz Casino is now accepting Litecoin (LTC) and

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The post Bitstarz Now Accepts Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) appeared first on CCN

This is a submitted sponsored story. CCN urges readers to conduct their own research with due diligence into the company, product or service mentioned in the content below. Monday, Jan 29, 2018 – In an announcement that is sure to have gamblers everywhere smiling from ear to ear, BitStarz Casino is now accepting Litecoin (LTC) and

The post Bitstarz Now Accepts Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) appeared first on CCN

Bitcoin is looking at $10,000 after the bulls failed to defend a key level in the early Asian hours, price chart analysis suggests.

The most well known digital currency soared in 2017 before falling back a bit, but a lesser known, more powerful crypto is still flying.

The post World Famous Brothel Bunny Ranch Considers Accepting Bitcoin appeared first on CCN

The Bunny Ranch, a Nevada-based legal establishment that is among the most popular brothels in the world, is considering accepting bitcoin payments according to owner Dennis Hof. Hof, who own seven brothels in Nevada, said he is exploring bitcoin in response to requests from his customers, who he said include some of the world’s wealthiest

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Here is what you need to know.

Trump administration releases list of 114 Russian politicians and business figures to increase pressure on Putin. The list includes 96 people deemed to be "oligarchs," each with an estimated net worth of $1 billion or more. 

British pound slumps then reverses after Brexit concerns resurface. The British pound slumped as much as 0.67% against the dollar on Tuesday after a leaked UK government report suggested Britain will be worse-off economically under every Brexit scenario it has looked at so far. It has since reversed those losses and now trades up 0.34% at 1.4120 against the dollar.

Dell may sell itself in an unusual and massive deal that would let it go public again. Dell is exploring a reverse merger with VMware, which could become the largest tech deal ever, according to CNBC.

Blackstone is reportedly in talks to buy a stake in a key Thomson Reuters unit. Blackstone Group is reportedly in talks to buy a rougly 55% stake in the Financial and Risk business of Thomson Reuters for more than $17 billion, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Keurig Green Mountain is merging with Dr. Pepper. Keurig announced a deal to buy Dr. Pepper Snapple for $103.75 a share in a special cash dividend on Monday, sending Dr. Pepper shares up as much as 42%.

A popular bitcoin stock announced a 91-for-1 split. Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust spiked 5.88% on Monday after announcing a 91-for-1 split to make its shares more accessible to the masses. 

Wynn Resorts has been hit hard after allegations of sexual misconduct by founder Steve Wynn. Shares of the casino giant have slumped 19% from Friday's highs after the Wall Street Journal reported multiple women have accused the billionaire casino mogul of pressuring them into sex and creating a sexualized workplace.

Stock markets around the world are lower. Japan's Nikkei (-1.43%) led the losses in Asia and Britain's FTSE (-0.51%) trails in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open down 0.42% near 2,842.

Earnings reports keep coming. Aetna, Harley-Davidson and McDonald's are among the names reporting ahead of the opening bell while AMD releases its quarterly results after markets close.

US economic data is moderate. S&P Case-Shiller home prices and consumer confidence will be released at 9 a.m. ET and 10 a.m. ET, respectively. 

Join the conversation about this story »

Here is what you need to know.

Trump administration releases list of 114 Russian politicians and business figures to increase pressure on Vladimir Putin. The list includes 96 people deemed to be "oligarchs," each with an estimated net worth of $1 billion or more.

British pound slumps then reverses after Brexit concerns resurface. The British pound slumped as much as 0.67% against the dollar on Tuesday after a leaked UK government report suggested Britain would be worse-off economically under every Brexit scenario it had looked at so far. The pound has since reversed those losses and now trades up 0.34% at 1.4120 against the dollar.

Dell may sell itself in an unusual and massive deal that would let it go public again. Dell is exploring a reverse merger with VMware, which could become the largest tech deal ever, according to CNBC.

Blackstone is reportedly in talks to buy a stake in a key Thomson Reuters unit. Blackstone Group is reportedly in talks to buy a roughly 55% stake in the Financial and Risk business of Thomson Reuters for more than $17 billion, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Keurig Green Mountain is merging with Dr. Pepper. Keurig announced a deal to buy Dr. Pepper Snapple for $103.75 a share in a special cash dividend on Monday, sending Dr. Pepper shares up as much as 42%.

A popular bitcoin stock announced a 91-for-1 split. Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust spiked 5.88% on Monday after announcing a 91-for-1 split to make its shares more accessible to the masses.

Wynn Resorts has been hit hard after allegations of sexual misconduct by its founder. Shares of the casino giant have slumped 19% from Friday's highs after The Wall Street Journal reported that multiple women had accused the billionaire casino mogul Steve Wynn of pressuring them into sex and creating a sexualized workplace.

Stock markets around the world are lower. Japan's Nikkei (-1.43%) led the losses in Asia, and Britain's FTSE (-0.51%) trails in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open down 0.42% near 2,842.

Earnings reports keep coming. Aetna, Harley-Davidson, and McDonald's are among the names reporting ahead of the opening bell, while AMD releases its quarterly results after markets close.

US economic data is moderate. S&P Case-Shiller home prices and consumer confidence will be released at 9 a.m. ET and 10 a.m. ET, respectively.

Join the conversation about this story »

• Economic damage from Brexit will incentivize the UK to go for a "soft-out" deal, Morgan Stanley said.
• A hard Brexit could see a 7.5% fall in GDP.  

LONDON – Two Morgan Stanley analysts believe that the scale of the potential economic damage Britain would suffer as it leaves the EU will force the country to accept a "soft out" deal in which the UK economy stays largely aligned with Europe's.

The research note, by analysts Jacob Nell and Melanie Baker, largely parallels the leaked government analysis from the Department of Exiting the European Union, which forecast that GDP growth would be reduced by 8% with no deal, reduced by 5% with a free trade agreement, and reduced by 2% if the UK remained a member of the European Economic Area.

Morgan Stanley created this chart, showing Britain's a la carte Brexit options and the economic damage each one would cause:

Each position is summarised by an estimate of the long-term economic damage.

• Possible post-Brexit status, and the percentage hit to UK GDP:
• WTO/No deal/"Hard Brexit": -7.5%
• Free Trade Agreement/"Canada-Plus": -6.2%
• Stay inside customs union: -6.2%
• Swiss-style bespoke relationship: -6.2%
• Retain EEA Membership: -3.8%
• Staying in the EU (baseline): 0%  

In each of those scenarios (except staying in the EU), the hit to growth would be greater than Britain's current annual GDP growth. That will force Prime Minister Theresa May's government into a soft Brexit, Morgan Stanley argues:

"... the decisive moment for the talks is in late 2018, when we think the UK faces a choice between a hard Out, where the UK takes back political control from the EU but faces major barriers to trade, or a soft Out, where the UK continues to some extent to pool sovereignty with the EU and participate in the single market and customs union. After the preliminary withdrawal agreement, we now think the most likely outcome is a transition period to 2021 involving minimal change in the trading regime, allowing time for further trade talks. We now see a high likelihood of a low-disruption transition period, a lower risk of a WTO outcome, and a better chance of an eventual soft Out."

Nell and Baker, who published their note earlier this month, believe that it is logistically difficult to get a "hard Brexit" even if the government wanted one, because doing so might reignite the conflict in Ireland over the border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the country:

"First, the parties have reached preliminary agreement on the exit issues [in December], setting a constructive precedent. Second, the parties are now discussing an option that includes a transition period that avoids major changes in UK-EU trade until 2021 and an ultimate trade deal that builds on a Canada-style free trade agreement, with the Commission proposing to extend it to judicial cooperation, aviation, security and foreign policy and with the UK, including Chancellor Hammond, proposing to extend it to financial services. Third, a hard Brexit would create a problem with the Irish border. The UK government's promises that there will be regulatory alignment between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland and no new regulatory barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK implies that there would be an Irish border issue if the UK seeks meaningful divergence from the EU. In short, it looks hard to satisfy the promises on the Irish border with a hard Brexit, while breaking them would run the risk of the talks breaking down, and precipitating a no-deal outcome."

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NOW WATCH: Principal Global Investors CEO: Bitcoin lacks fundamental value and it won't replace gold

• Pound down 0.3% against the dollar and euro.
• The slump comes after a leaked UK government report saying that Britain will be worse-off economically under every economic scenario it has so far looked at.

LONDON — Sterling fell against the dollar and the euro on Tuesday as concerns over Brexit resurfaced.

The pound is down 0.3% to $1.4023 against the dollar at just after 9.00 a.m. GMT (4.00 a.m. ET). It was down as much as 0.5% in earlier trade. Meanwhile, the pound is down 0.3% against the euro to €1.1331.

Part of sterling's weakness is down to a resurgent dollar but Connor Campbell, a market analyst with SpreadEx, said in an email on Tuesday morning: "A lot of the currency’s weakness stems from the week’s early focus on Brexit, and the innumerable issues attached.

"Yesterday it was all about Theresa May’s shaky position atop the Tory party and the UK’s lack of ability to secure an EU divorce bill. Today, however, investors are concerned about a leaked cabinet report highlighting the myriad ways Brexit will be bad for the UK economy, regardless of whether Britain comes out the other side with a wide-ranging free trade deal, single market access or no deal at all."

BuzzFeed News obtained a highly classified cabinet briefing, prepared by the civil service, that shows the UK economy is expected to be worse off under every Brexit scenario it has so far looked at.

Neil Wilson, an analyst with ETX Capital, said in an email: "Renewed concerns about Brexit that are hitting sterling. The EU seems to dictating terms on the transition to the British government in a manner that has angered hardline Brexiters, risking a rift in the ruling Conservative party. May’s premiership looks shaky at best.

"Meanwhile the British continue to vacillate, meaning any deal is taking longer than it ought to take, risking the chance that the lack of clarity leaves businesses invoking their worst-case scenario plans. "

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• Dollar Shave Club is launching in the UK.
• Hot US startup offers low-cost subscription razors. It was acquired by Unilever for $1 billion in 2016.
• Dollar Shave Club faces competition from rivals like Harry's and Cornerstone in the UK.

LONDON — Hot subscription razor business Dollar Shave Club is launching in the UK, amid a raft of competition in the once staid market.

Dollar Shave Club lets people subscribe to low-cost, regular razor deliveries, undercutting the prices of the traditional big two players in the market, Gillette and Wilkinson's Sword.

The company was founded in the US in 2011 and grew rapidly to represent 20% of the market by volume and 10% by sales before being acquired by consumer goods giant Unilever for $1 billion in 2016.

The company launched in the UK shortly before Christmas and is rolling out its full offering this month.

"We looked at if the key proposition would travel into the UK — are the consumer needs at least roughly in line with how we're serving our population in the US and the answer to that is yes," Dollar Shave Club's Europe general manager Bart Kuppens told Business Insider. "The habits of online shopping and online subscriptions are there."

While Dollar Shave Club was one of the first to shake-up the world of razors, it has inspired a wave of other razor startups. It faces competition from New York razor brand Harry's, which launched in the UK last year, and homegrown razor subscription business Cornerstone.

"In general we're never worried about competition," Kuppens said. "In fact, we welcome competition because that keeps us sharp and focused. We believe that if we continue to do the right thing with the people we serve we will always come out stronger."

Kuppens added: "Only a fraction of people in the UK have established a very strong habit of monthly subscription of your daily grooming needs. If I look at the vast amount of people who shave every day, who shower every day, who style their hair every day, if you look at the very, very small percentage of people who have gone to a subscription model, we believe there's still a very strong first-mover advantage to be had."

Kuppens said Dollar Shave Club's pitch to consumers is that it's "trying to do is to help men become the best version of themselves."

"That's not just in terms of products, it's helping men to take care of their minds and bodies," he said. "It is also around what questions can you ask that you have difficulty asking your friends, that you sometimes wouldn't even ask your partner? If you're ageing a little bit and your hair starts to become thinner — how to deal with that?

"There's a very big trend around 'manscaping' and the moment, another example, so: how do you safely shave your balls? That is not something you'd easily talk about, it was one of the best valued and engaged articles on our site last year in the US. You have a lot of people with a very developed interest to do that right."

Dollar Shave Club has been working with social media influencers in the UK but Kuppens said the brand was also planning a TV, outdoor, and cinema advertising campaign, as well as Google and Facebook advertising in the UK.

The company recently launched new products outside of shaving equipment, such as face cream and shower gel, and Kuppens said this wider range would reach the UK later this year. "We need to establish our position first," he said.

Dollar Shave Club is looking at further expansion across Europe, Kuppens said, but he wouldn't name specific countries.

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• The electric-car startup, Faraday Future is suing two former executives who left the company and started their own EV business.
• Faraday Future is accusing former CFO Stefan Krause and ex-CTO Ulrich Kranz of stealing its intellectual property and luring top talent away from Faraday to their own company, Evelozcity.
• The lawsuit is happening as Faraday Future continues to struggle to find stable footing in an increasingly competitive market, and as its billionaire tech CEO, Jia Yueting, faces a debt crisis.

Struggling electric-car startup Faraday Future is suing two former executives, accusing them of luring away its top talent and stealing its trade secrets.

The Los Angeles-area company alleges that former chief financial officer Stefan Krause and ex-chief technology officer Ulrich Kranz, who left Faraday last year and started the electric-vehicle company, Evelozcity, coaxed at least 20 former Faraday employees to their startup, and that some of Faraday's intellectual property was stolen in the process, multiple news outlets reported on Monday.

Evelozcity denied the allegations in a statement to Business Insider on Monday: "We do not have, nor do we need, any technology from Faraday Future," the company said.

It added: "This complaint continues Faraday’s pattern of hurling false and inflammatory accusations against us. We will respond to the many recklessly inaccurate allegations in this desperate lawsuit at the appropriate time.”

Krause, in the few months that he worked at Faraday Future in 2017, set out to raise $1 billion for the company, which had been struggling under the weight of unpaid bills, lawsuits, and an exodus of employees as its finances dwindled.

Despite speaking with more than two dozen potential investors, the cash-raise was largely unsuccessful, current and former employees previously told Business Insider. That shortfall was due in part to anxiety over the embattled tech entrepreneur Jia Yueting, who controls the company.

A source with knowledge of Faraday's fundraising efforts told Business Insider in December that the company secured new investment, but the source and the amount remained unclear. Faraday cites that new investment in its lawsuit against Evelozcity — again with naming the source of the funds or the amount. It is possible that the information could be revealed if the legal proceedings run their course.

Meanwhile, Jia faces a mounting debt crisis in China, where he started, and later stepped down from, the tech conglomerate Leshi Internet Information & Technology in May 2017. Chinese regulators have ordered him back to the country to address his debt-ridden holdings. Leshi is also pursuing Jia for equity stakes in other automotive startups in which he owns a stake.

SEE ALSO: The billionaire who controls electric-car startup Faraday Future is being pursued by another company he founded for billions in unpaid debt

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The post Bitcoin Accepted! Japanese Electronics Retail Giant Begins Crypto Payments appeared first on CCN

Yamada Denki, one of the largest consumer electronics retail chains in Japan, has launched bitcoin payments at two Tokyo-based stores before a planned nationwide rollout in all its stores. Launched over the weekend, the retailer is now accepting bitcoin at a store based in Shinjuku, a major commercial center that houses the one-half of the

The post Bitcoin Accepted! Japanese Electronics Retail Giant Begins Crypto Payments appeared first on CCN

The joint venture between investment giant SBI and Ripple is forming a group to research the use of distributed ledgers in securities products.

The post Short-Term? Cryptocurrency Market Struggles to Record Gains as Slump Continues appeared first on CCN

The cryptocurrency market has continued to struggle demonstrating gains for two straight days. Today, on January 30, major cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Ethereum dropped by nearly 5 percent. Adoption As CCN reported yesterday, the current price trend of bitcoin and Ethereum do not accurately reflect the performance of both cryptocurrencies in terms of user activity,

The post Short-Term? Cryptocurrency Market Struggles to Record Gains as Slump Continues appeared first on CCN

After years of working with clients who were leery of bitcoin’s dark past, Bitfury has launched a suite of investigative tools to help fight crime.

• Keurig Green Mountain and Dr. Pepper Snapple announced Monday they're planning to merge in a deal worth $18.7 billion — the largest soft-drink transaction in history.
• High-powered investment bankers advised on the takeover and could earn more than $100 million in deal fees.

Keurig Green Mountain and Dr. Pepper Snapple announced Monday they're planning to merge in a deal worth $18.7 billion.

It's the largest soft-drink transaction in history, creating a new company called Keurig Dr. Pepper that's projected to earn $11 billion in annual sales.

The transaction is also expected to generate massive fees for the bankers that helped arrange it.

Dr. Pepper Snapple was solely advised by Credit Suisse, which was led by veteran banker Andrew Conway, according to people familiar with the matter. Credit Suisse will earn an estimated $50 million to $60 million for advising on the deal, according to Nassof.

JAB Holding, the family-run European investment firm that took Keurig private in 2015, will control Keurig Dr. Pepper. They're expected to pay their roster of bankers $35 million to $45 million for advising on the deal, according to estimates by Jeffrey Nassof, the director of the consulting firm Freeman & Co.

The lion's share of that is expected to go to Goldman Sachs, with veteran dealmaker Peter Gross the lead banker on the deal, according to people familiar with the matter. 

JAB was also advised by Byron Trott, the rainmaker behind one of the most secretive investment banks in the world, BDT Capital Partners. The firm's in-house merchant-bank, BDT & Company, acted as financial advisers on the transaction, according to the company, while entities affiliated with BDT Capital Partners are also investing alongside JAB.

Antonio Weiss — who previously headed investment banking at Lazard — had a long-term relationship with JAB and independently advised them on the transaction. Weiss, who served as counselor to the Treasury secretary during the Obama administration, also works on policy these days as a senior fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School. 

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, led by bankers Roger Matthews and ‎Federico Aliboni, and JPMorgan also served as financial advisers to the JAB-Keurig side. 

All told, that's potentially more than $100 million in deal fees for the advisory bankers.

The financial advisers on both sides declined to comment on the transaction or their bankers' involvement in it. 

Graham Rapier contributed to this report.

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