Coin News

Mysterious Bitcoin developer bitPico has confirmed rumors that they have launched an attack against the Lightning Network’s nascent mainnet implementation. The pseudonymous individual or group made the announcement on the bitPico Twitter account, describing the attack as a “stress tool” for the LN software — which just entered beta — and claiming that it had

The post Mysterious Developer bitPico Claims Responsibility for Lightning Network DoS Attack appeared first on CCN

Hong Kong-based crypto exchange OKEx is saying it had no role in its exchange's irregularity from last week.

• Litecoin gained 15% Tuesday, outpacing most other major cryptocurrencies.
• Bitcoin was only up 6% in the same period.
• Crypto startup Abra's CEO explained his reasons for switching to litecoin for smart contracts in a Reddit AMA. 
• You can track the price of litecoin in real-time here.

Litecoin rose as much as 15% Tuesday after Abra, a high-profile crypto startup backed by American Express, doubled down on its decision to use litecoin's smart contracts feature to power the company's exchange and wallet products.

"We went with Litecoin as the second asset class, after bitcoin, for our smart contract investing solution for 3 primary reasons: 1. commitment to bitcoin compatibility: core roadmap, p2sh support, lightning support, etc; 2. slightly better scalability than bitcoin in short term (block size and block times); 3. mining fees which are primarily a function of #2 although this is more of a short term benefit as mining fees would likely sky rocket if we're successful anyway!," Abra CEO Bill Barhydt said in an "ask me anything" on Reddit Monday afternoon.

The shift was first announced at the end of March, but gained more attention following Barhydt's AMA on Monday. 

Abra has raised $40 million in funding so far, including an undisclosed amount from American Express, Fidelity's venture capital arm, and Foxconn, the Asian manufacturer of parts for Apple. It also recently expanded its offering from bitcoin and ethereum to its current suite of 70 crypto and fiat currencies earlier this month. 

In an interview with Business Insider in March, Barhydt said the crypto market will boom once again in 2018 as appetite grows for so-called altcoins.

"People are really interested in altcoins, what's going to be the next big thing," he said. "We weren't expecting the growth to be this fast."

SEE ALSO: CRYPTO INSIDER: JPMorgan's head of blockchain departs

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Litecoin gained 15% Tuesday, outpacing most other major cryptocurrencies.
• Bitcoin was only up 6% in the same period.
• Crypto startup Abra's CEO explained his reasons for switching to litecoin for smart contracts in a Reddit AMA. 
• You can track the price of litecoin in real-time here.

Litecoin rose as much as 15% Tuesday after Abra, a high-profile crypto startup backed by American Express, doubled down on its decision to use litecoin's smart contracts feature to power the company's exchange and wallet products.

"We went with Litecoin as the second asset class, after bitcoin, for our smart contract investing solution for 3 primary reasons: 1. commitment to bitcoin compatibility: core roadmap, p2sh support, lightning support, etc; 2. slightly better scalability than bitcoin in short term (block size and block times); 3. mining fees which are primarily a function of #2 although this is more of a short term benefit as mining fees would likely sky rocket if we're successful anyway!," Abra CEO Bill Barhydt said in an "ask me anything" on Reddit Monday afternoon.

The shift was first announced at the end of March, but gained more attention following Barhydt's AMA on Monday. 

Abra has raised $40 million in funding so far, including an undisclosed amount from American Express, Fidelity's venture capital arm, and Foxconn, the Asian manufacturer of parts for Apple. It also recently expanded its offering from bitcoin and ethereum to its current suite of 70 crypto and fiat currencies earlier this month. 

In an interview with Business Insider in March, Barhydt said the crypto market will boom once again in 2018 as appetite grows for so-called altcoins.

"People are really interested in altcoins, what's going to be the next big thing," he said. "We weren't expecting the growth to be this fast."

SEE ALSO: CRYPTO INSIDER: JPMorgan's head of blockchain departs

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: I quit cable for DirecTV Now and it's saving me over $1,000 a year — here's how I did it

• Litecoin gained 15% Tuesday, outpacing most other major cryptocurrencies.
• Bitcoin was only up 6% in the same period.
• Crypto startup Abra's CEO explained his reasons for switching to litecoin for smart contracts in a Reddit AMA. 
• You can track the price of litecoin in real-time here.

Litecoin rose as much as 15% Tuesday after Abra, a high-profile crypto startup backed by American Express, doubled down on its decision to use litecoin's smart contracts feature to power the company's exchange and wallet products.

"We went with Litecoin as the second asset class, after bitcoin, for our smart contract investing solution for 3 primary reasons: 1. commitment to bitcoin compatibility: core roadmap, p2sh support, lightning support, etc; 2. slightly better scalability than bitcoin in short term (block size and block times); 3. mining fees which are primarily a function of #2 although this is more of a short term benefit as mining fees would likely sky rocket if we're successful anyway!," Abra CEO Bill Barhydt said in an "ask me anything" on Reddit Monday afternoon.

The shift was first announced at the end of March, but gained more attention following Barhydt's AMA on Monday. 

Abra has raised $40 million in funding so far, including an undisclosed amount from American Express, Fidelity's venture capital arm, and Foxconn, the Asian manufacturer of parts for Apple. It also recently expanded its offering from bitcoin and ethereum to its current suite of 70 crypto and fiat currencies earlier this month. 

In an interview with Business Insider in March, Barhydt said the crypto market will boom once again in 2018 as appetite grows for so-called altcoins.

"People are really interested in altcoins, what's going to be the next big thing," he said. "We weren't expecting the growth to be this fast."

SEE ALSO: CRYPTO INSIDER: JPMorgan's head of blockchain departs

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How Jay-Z and Diddy used their fame to make millions off of 'cheap grapes'

• Litecoin gained 15% Tuesday, outpacing most other major cryptocurrencies.
• Bitcoin was only up 6% in the same period.
• Crypto startup Abra's CEO explained his reasons for switching to litecoin for smart contracts in a Reddit AMA. 
• You can track the price of litecoin in real-time here.

Litecoin rose as much as 15% Tuesday after Abra, a high-profile crypto startup backed by American Express, doubled down on its decision to use litecoin's smart contracts feature to power the company's exchange and wallet products.

"We went with Litecoin as the second asset class, after bitcoin, for our smart contract investing solution for 3 primary reasons: 1. commitment to bitcoin compatibility: core roadmap, p2sh support, lightning support, etc; 2. slightly better scalability than bitcoin in short term (block size and block times); 3. mining fees which are primarily a function of #2 although this is more of a short term benefit as mining fees would likely sky rocket if we're successful anyway!," Abra CEO Bill Barhydt said in an "ask me anything" on Reddit Monday afternoon.

The shift was first announced at the end of March, but gained more attention following Barhydt's AMA on Monday. 

Abra has raised $40 million in funding so far, including an undisclosed amount from American Express, Fidelity's venture capital arm, and Foxconn, the Asian manufacturer of parts for Apple. It also recently expanded its offering from bitcoin and ethereum to its current suite of 70 crypto and fiat currencies earlier this month. 

In an interview with Business Insider in March, Barhydt said the crypto market will boom once again in 2018 as appetite grows for so-called altcoins.

"People are really interested in altcoins, what's going to be the next big thing," he said. "We weren't expecting the growth to be this fast."

SEE ALSO: CRYPTO INSIDER: JPMorgan's head of blockchain departs

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How Jay-Z and Diddy used their fame to make millions off of 'cheap grapes'

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.

Amber Baldet, the face of JPMorgan's efforts in blockchain technology, is leaving the bank to start her own venture, the bank said Monday. Baldet has been a tour de force among Wall Street's blockchain circles — and we'll be sure to let you know about her new venture as soon as we find out. 

Here are the current crypto prices:

SEE ALSO: Google is banning all bitcoin, ICO, and cryptocurrency ads starting in June

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NOW WATCH: I quit cable for DirecTV Now and it's saving me over $1,000 a year — here's how I did it

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.

Amber Baldet, the face of JPMorgan's efforts in blockchain technology, is leaving the bank to start her own venture, the bank said Monday. Baldet has been a tour de force among Wall Street's blockchain circles — and we'll be sure to let you know about her new venture as soon as we find out. 

Here are the current crypto prices:

SEE ALSO: Google is banning all bitcoin, ICO, and cryptocurrency ads starting in June

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: I quit cable for DirecTV Now and it's saving me over $1,000 a year — here's how I did it

If Metcalfe’s law applies, the bitcoin price has much further to fall. A group of Zurich-based researchers developed a bubble/crash report, predicting that bitcoin’s market value, which currently hovers at about USD 124 billion, will be slashed by approximately 37% to no greater than USD 77 billion by year-end 2018. It’s all based on a

The post Swiss Researchers Forecast a Steep Fall for Bitcoin Price in 2018 appeared first on CCN

With the number for cryptocurrencies passing 1,000, and the craze continuing, things are getting pretty wild out there to say the least. And these cryopto asssets can vary from the tokens issued by some no-name startup all the way up to Ether and the venerable Bitcoin. The trouble is, converting those coins into other currencies […]

Bitcoin mining hardware firm Bitmain unveiled its long-rumored ethereum mining tech on Monday.

South Korea has been at the forefront of the blockchain movement, with some of the highest density of cryptocurrency traders anywhere in the world. Now, as the frenzy around cryptocurrency prices recedes (Bitcoin is around $7350 right now, down from a high of almost $20,000 last December), the country is starting to consider the more […]

Bitcoin fell by 50 percent in the first three months of 2018 – a drop that marks the cryptocurrency's worst Q1 performance on record.

• Craig Wright claimed to be the creator of bitcoin in 2016.
• But Vitalik Buterin, the confirmed creator of Ethereum, said he was a "fraud" at a conference on Tuesday.

Satoshi Nakamoto is still a mystery. Nobody knows the real identity of the pseudonymous billionaire creator of bitcoin.

However, Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin is pretty sure it's not Craig Wright, the Australian who claimed to be Satoshi in a 2016 announcement.

"Given that he makes so many non-sequiturs and mistakes, why is this fraud allowed to speak at this conference?" Buterin said to event organizers at the Deconomy conference in South Korea on Tuesday. Members of the audience applauded him after asking the question.

Watch the video below: 

Here's another look at what Buterin said: 

The confrontation happened at the conference during a question-and-answer session after a panel called "Bitcoin, Controversy over Principle," which featured Roger Ver, Samson Mow, and Wright. The discussion centered around Bitcoin Cash, a controversial bitcoin derivative backed by the panelists. 

Buterin also live-tweeted the panel, mostly with extremely technical critiques of the discussion: 

It might be difficult for non-technical people to follow his arguments, but his conclusion is clear: 

Craig Wright first shot to fame when stories from Gizmodo and Wired both said they had identified him as the inventor of bitcoin.

In May 2016, Wright published a blog post and spearheaded a media push including the BBC, Economist, and GQ, where he said he was in fact Satoshi Nakamoto.

But the proof in Wright's blog post made little sense on a technical, cryptographic level. Cryptography experts said at the time that it was nearly nonsensical. There are many ways that the creator of bitcoin could prove he is who he says he is, but Wright's supposed proof contained none of it and was needlessly complicated. Wright eventually took down the post. 

Still, Wright has used the fame to start a cryptocurrency-related company and vocally back Bitcoin Cash. It shouldn't be surprising that some — especially Butalin, who is respected as the technical vision behind Ethereum — in the cryptocurrency world still think he's a fraud.

Wright fired back at Butalin in a tweet on Tuesday morning without tagging him:

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• Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, asked Congress to strip some of the agency's powers.
• The changes Mulvaney asked for would give Congress and the president more power over the agency.
• Liberal and consumer advocacy groups blasted the requests from Mulvaney, a top critic of the agency before he was picked to lead it.

Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said in a letter to Congress on Monday that the legislature should give less power to the ... Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Mulvaney, who came into the CFPB after being named to the post by President Donald Trump in November, said in the CFPB's semiannual report to Congress that the consumer watchdog should lose some of its independent regulation powers and funding stream.

In the letter, Mulvaney asked for four changes to the CFPB's power:

1. End the director's authority to impose new regulation on companies without congressional approval.
2. Shift the agency's funding from an independent Federal Reserve allocation to a congressionally appropriated budget.
3. Allow the president additional control and oversight of the director's actions under executive authority.
4. Name an in-house inspector general to review the CFPB's actions.

The moves would change some of the regulatory and financial autonomy of the CFPB, which was originally designed to prevent political influence at the agency. Mulvaney, along with many Republican critics of the agency, have said the autonomy gives the watchdog too much power with too little congressional oversight. In turn, these critics argue, the CFPB can take unilateral action that harms businesses and consumers.

Soon after the letter's release, progressive and consumer groups blasted the proposed changes as an attempt to gut the agency and prevent the CFPB from acting independently of the corporations it intends to regulate.

"Mick Mulvaney knows the work of the CFPB is extremely popular with consumers," Karl Frisch, head of the liberal political group Allied Progress, said in a statement. "That is why he didn’t propose the outright elimination of the bureau – though that is effectively what he is seeking."

Mike Litt, consumer campaign director at the liberal consumer nonprofit US Public Interest Research Groups, also blasted Mulvaney's requests.

"As a member of Congress, Mick Mulvaney voted to outright get rid of the Consumer Bureau," Litt said. "Now he is using his platform as acting director to promote his own agenda over the agency’s mission. He wants to take away the Bureau’s independence and then make it harder for it to do its job."

Mulvaney's tenure at the CFPB has been the subject of continued battles. Mulvaney came into conflict with former director Richard Cordray's pick to lead the agency, Leandra English, at the very start of his tenure. And he has been engaged in a months-long war of words with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the brain child of the CFPB.

Mulvaney previously requested $0 in funding from Congress for the agency, saying the CFPB can operate on reserve funds for the time being.

SEE ALSO: New York just became the first state to try to help people dodge a big change in the new GOP tax law — and it could backfire

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NOW WATCH: BILL BROWDER: How sanctions on Russia hurt Putin's closest allies

In August of last year, Bitcoin Cash forked from the Bitcoin blockchain. This process basically splits Bitcoin into two separate coins: Bitcoin (“BTC”) and Bitcoin Cash (“BCH”). When this occurred, everyone who held Bitcoin in a compatible wallet or exchange became entitled to claim an equivalent amount of Bitcoin Cash. At the time of writing … Continued

The post Declaring Your Bitcoin Cash: The Tax Implications from Cryptocurrency Hard Forks appeared first on CCN

Here is what you need to know. 

Tech stocks get rocked. Monday's 2.74% slide has pushed the Nasdaq into negative territory for 2018, down about 0.5%.

Global markets were hit hard overnight. China's Shanghai Composite (-0.84%) led the losses in Asia and Germany's DAX (-1.31%) trails in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open higher by 0.25% near 2,588. 

Spotify is going public. The streaming-music company will direct list on the New York Stock Exchange at a reference price of $132 a share. It will trade under the ticker 'SPOT.'

Elon Musk fires back at report saying a shakeup is underway. "Can't believe you're even writing about this," Musk tweeted in response to a report from The Information citing unnamed sources that suggested the Tesla CEO had assumed control of Model 3 production. "My job as CEO is to focus on what's most critical, which is currently Model 3 production. Doug, who I regard as one of the world's most talented engineering execs, is focused on vehicle engineering."

Fox could sell Sky News to Disney. News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch said his company could sell or separate Sky News in an effort to get regulatory approval for its $14.5 billion bid for Sky, Reuters reports.

Gundlach says bitcoin leads stock market movements. "Bitcoin closed at the low of the year last week, SPX (Standard & Poor's 500 Index) is now at the low of the year this week," DoubleLine Capital founder Jeffrey Gundlach told Reuters. "Bitcoin keeps leading."

The SEC charges 2 crypto founders with fraud. Sam Sharma and Robert Farkas, two of the founders of Centra, have been charged with fraud related to the startup's $32 million initial coin offering. 

Australia holds rates. The Reserve Bank of Australia held its key interest rate at 1.50%, as expected, and appeared more confident on the outlook for household spending but not that Australian unemployment will continue to fall.

Earnings reporting is light. Dave & Busters reports after markets close.

US economic trickles out. US Auto and truck sales will be released throughout the day.

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Bitcoin's recovery is gathering pace, but only an upside break of the falling channel would confirm a bullish trend reversal

Australia’s cryptocurrency exchanges must now follow new rules aimed to counter money laundering and terrorism financing.

A non-profit organization in India has announced a new cryptocurrency-mining program aimed at the rural youth. More specifically, the initiative is aiming to empower the country’s most impoverished, a demographic that mostly consists of a particular caste known as ‘Dalits’. Individuals belonging the Dalit community are often subjected to extreme discrimination from the moment they

The post This Bitcoin Mining Program Bids to Abolish Caste Discrimination in India appeared first on CCN

The lightning network is under attack. But it's not money attackers are after, they say, but a robust, secure lightning network for the future.

South Korean police have arrested over a dozen individuals involved in an illegal bitcoin mining operation that used cheap electricity afforded to industrial complexes. The metropolitan police agency of Gwangju, a city in country’s south, has revealed details of alleged illegal mining activities undertaken by 14 individuals from 14 companies in four separate industrial complexes

The post Illegal Bitcoin Mining Operation Tapping Cheap Power Busted in South Korea appeared first on CCN

Good morning! Here's what you need to know on Tuesday as much of Europe returns to work after Easter.

1. US stocks tumbled on Monday as President Donald Trump doubled down on his criticism of Amazon, sending shares in the technology and consumer discretionary sectors lower. The more tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 — which has been a lightning rod for market volatility in recent weeks — plummeted as much as 3.9% to lead all major US indexes. Meanwhile, the benchmark S&P 500 dropped as much as 3.3%, and the 30-company Dow Jones industrial average at one point slid more than 3.1%, or 759 points.

2. China will take counter-measures of the "same proportion" and scale if the United States imposes further tariffs on Chinese goods, China's ambassador to Washington said, amid growing fears of an impending trade war. Cui Tiankai made the comments ahead of what is expected to be the announcement this week of U.S. tariffs on $50 billion to $60 billion in Chinese imports.

3. A senior bitcoin advocate has dismissed fears that the market is in a bubble, saying instead that bond and stock markets around the world are being artificially inflated by central banks. Jon Matonis, who helped found the Bitcoin Foundation in 2012, told Business Insider: "To the people who say bitcoin’s a bubble, I would say bitcoin is the pin that’s going to pop the bubble. 

4. The New York Stock Exchange on Monday set the reference price for shares of music streaming service Spotify Technology SA at $132. Spotify is pursuing an unusual direct listing to reach the public markets in place of an initial public offering, and shares are expected to start trading on Tuesday.

5. Oil prices inched up on Tuesday as rising Russian output and expectations of a reduction in Saudi Arabian crude prices were offset by a potential slowdown in U.S. production. U.S. WTI crude futures were at $63.2 a barrel at 0117 GMT (9.17 p.m. ET), up 18 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their previous settlement.

6. Bitcoin, the highly volatile digital currency, is proving to be the new stock market indicator, influential investor Jeffrey Gundlach said on Monday, adding that this is hardly just a "gut feeling" given the recent price movements. "Bitcoin closed at the low of the year last week, SPX (Standard & Poor's 500 Index) is now at the low of the year this week," Gundlach, known as Wall Street's "Bond King," told Reuters in an interview. "Bitcoin keeps leading."

7. Elon Musk engaged in a testy Twitter exchange with a reporter over a story about a manufacturing shakeup at Tesla. The report said that Musk had assumed control of Model 3 production from the executive who had been leading it. Tesla confirmed that the executive, Doug Fields, was still with the company.

8. Amber Baldet, a blockchain program lead at JPMorgan Chase & Co , is leaving the bank to launch her own venture, JPMorgan said on Monday. Baldet, one of the best-known executives focused on blockchain at a major lender, led JPMorgan's Blockchain Center of Excellence and helped the bank set its strategy for the nascent technology.

9. UBS said it is nominating Jeremy Anderson and Fred Hu for election to its Board of Directors at its annual general meeting in May. William G. Parrett will step down from the board to focus on his new role as Chairman of the Board of UBS Americas Holding, the Swiss bank said on Tuesday.

10. British passport-making company De La Rue Plc is set to challenge the British government's decision that allows Franco-Dutch company Gemalto NV to make new blue national passports from 2019, the Financial Times reported on Monday. De La Rue, the FT said, is initiating a judicial review of the provisional decision by the High Court to award the contract to the part-state owned firm Gemalto whose headquarters are in Paris.

Join the conversation about this story »

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After recording a rebound from $6,500 to $7,000 on April 2, the price of bitcoin has surged 6 percent again today, on April 4, as the entire cryptocurrency market recorded a daily gain of $10 billion. While several smaller cryptocurrencies like Steem and VeChain have outperformed bitcoin with a 50% and 25% increase in value,

The post Bitcoin Price Surges 6% to $7,350 as Cryptocurrency Market Gains $10 Billion appeared first on CCN