Bitcoin Price Falls Below $6,000 to Hit New Low for 2018
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CoinDesk, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST The price of bitcoin slid below $6,000 on Friday, hitting a new low for 2018. |
The Dow ends its 8-day losing streak
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Business Insider, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST
The Dow Jones industrial average ended its eight-day losing streak Friday, lifted by energy stocks amid a crude rally. The dollar fell, and Treasury yields inched higher. Here is the scoreboard: Dow Jones industrial average: 24,580.61 +118.91 (+0.49%) S&P 500: 2,760.56 +10.80 (+0.39%)
And a look at the upcoming economic calendar:
SEE ALSO: Housing affordability in America is its worst in nearly a decade, and there's one clear culprit Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: How to survive a snake bite |
The Dow ends its 8-day losing streak
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Business Insider, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST
The Dow Jones industrial average ended its eight-day losing streak Friday, lifted by energy stocks amid a crude rally. The dollar fell, and Treasury yields inched higher. Here is the scoreboard: Dow Jones industrial average: 24,580.61 +118.91 (+0.49%) S&P 500: 2,760.56 +10.80 (+0.39%)
And a look at the upcoming economic calendar:
SEE ALSO: Housing affordability in America is its worst in nearly a decade, and there's one clear culprit Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Trump pitched peace to Kim Jong Un with this Hollywood-style video starring Kim as the leading man |
Bitcoin's Price Hit Its Lowest Point Since Early February
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CoinDesk, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST The price of bitcoin fell to levels last seen on February 6th of this year following news of security concerns with Japanese cryptocurrency exchanges. |
Insight From a Place of Crisis: Bitcoin as an Agent of Change
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Bitcoin Magazine, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST Delving into bitcoin can take guts — and not just the type of bravado needed to embrace crypto speculation. Sometimes standing up for bitcoin also means standing up for your homeland and fellow citizens, in search of a better way. The latter display of bravery is embedded in the recently launched Let’s Talk Bitcoin! podcast #370 hosted by Adam B. Levine, Stephanie Murphy and Jonathan Mohan. That’s where LTB correspondent Christian Garcia steps up with a report from a country in crisis, reminding listeners about the world-altering dimensions of bitcoin that are separate from investing. Panic in VenezuelaGarcia’s story is rooted in his home country of Venezuela, which has been getting plenty of bad PR over the last several years. This nation on South America’s northern coast has become synonymous with the phrase economic crisis, battering the vast majority of its 31,000,000+ citizens with hyperinflation, economic depression, shortages of all kinds, unemployment, poverty, disease, child mortality, malnutrition and crime. Note the “vast majority” qualifier above, placed there because rampant corruption is helping to fuel all these horrors. For those lucky enough to still be in the middle class or higher, and/or on the take with the oppressive government of President Nicolás Maduro, life can be just fine. Creative ways of moving illicit money has become a hallmark of Venezuelan rule, a practice whose origins long predate Maduro’s administration, fueled in recent history by the 20th century discovery of oil there. A nauseating cycle of boom-and-bust followed for the Venezuelan people, who were sometimes helped but mostly hurt by the government’s attempts to stabilize the economy. In the LTB podcast, Garcia provides a riveting, first-hand perspective on the destructive consequences of these policies. Here, he describes a tantalizing opportunity offered to him in 2012 when he was a second-year student in college: a chance to study in Dublin for free. “The plane ticket, the English course, the stay: all of that would have been paid for. We’d even be getting a small allowance to pay for part of the living expenses … The more we talked about it, the more I was convinced it was a great idea.” Garcia began to dream of Dublin, even as he kept his eyes peeled for the catch. And, of course, there was one, albeit well-concealed from the naked eye: The student trips were actually just one more way for schemers to get their hands on the black market dollars that sprang from travel subsidies offered to Venezuelans by the National Center for Foreign Commerce, or CADIVI (now known as CENCOEX), the governmental body which oversees legal currency exchange there. The scam’s machinations are laid out in Garcia’s report, culminating in both good news and bad news. While Garcia himself avoided the trap by ultimately deciding not to go to Dublin, many of his compatriots were not so lucky. “This kind of policymaking is not sustainable,” he explains. “In 2014, the government’s cash cow was finally running dry, and they decided to pull the plug on many subsidies from CAVIDI … The Piñata times were finally over. The credit cards of Venezuelan students all over the world suddenly stopped working.” Students in Dublin were literally rendered homeless and stranded, unable to afford their housing, courses or food, while their families lacked funds to buy them a plane ticket out of Ireland. Crypto’s Positive ImpactHearing a story of injustice like this, it’s reasonable to want to reach out to Venezuelans by sending money to friends and family in need or donating to a local outpost of a trusted charity there, like Amnesty International or the Red Cross. But as much as Garcia sees the need for financial aid, it’s actually not an action he’d encourage right now. The reason? Venezuela’s crooked government still has easy access to the foreign currency that comes in via the official exchange system, exchanging dollars at a bad rate for domestic Bolívars. “You might as well light your money on fire,” he says. Hundreds of billions of dollars may have gone missing as a result. It’s depressing, but there’s an emerging bright side to these oil-soaked economics: Venezuelans can get around the official exchange system with cryptocurrency. The bitcoin tips that Garcia receives for his correspondence is just one example. “Every time you send crypto to someone in Venezuela, you are bypassing a system that’s designed to steal from us,” says Garcia. “Cryptocurrencies aren’t as widespread in Venezuela as I’d like, not yet, but imagine if you could finance an NGO in Venezuela directly. That, for me, is the single best feature of cryptocurrencies.” Fortunes large and small have been made — and lost — with cryptocurrency so far. In the race to reach dizzying heights, Garcia’s report is a welcome reminder of bitcoin’s power to level the financial playing field. It’s what makes cryptocurrency a true currency of change. This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine. |
Cryptocurrency Market Suffers Ongoing Decline, Analysts Weigh Causes
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CryptoCoins News, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST The market is undergoing continuous decline today after the overall market cap dropped $16 billion in 24 hours. Bitcoin is down 8 percent and dropped from $6,700 earlier today now trading at under $6,200 with $6,000 being considered an important line of support. Meanwhile, Ethereum is down 10 percent and EOS is down over 15 The post Cryptocurrency Market Suffers Ongoing Decline, Analysts Weigh Causes appeared first on CCN |
The Turkish lira is climbing ahead of Sunday's snap elections
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Business Insider, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST
The lira slid Friday ahead of Turkey's historic snap elections this weekend, which will also mark the country's shift from a parliamentary system to a more powerful presidency. The lira rose 1.3% to 4.6672 versus the dollar at 2 p.m. ET. Turkey's central bank has been trying to prop up the lira ahead of the election, raising rates earlier this month for the third time in two months to 17.75%. But Jameel Ahmad of FXTM said investors have largely ignored those rate hikes amid expectations that President Tayyip Erdogan, a self-proclaimed "enemy" of interest rates, will win the election, which he moved up by more than a year as his opponents began gaining ground. "The view of Erdogan is that low interest rates will encourage investment into Turkey because investors will become encouraged to take advantage of lower borrowing costs," Ahmad said. "This view is not economically incorrect, but it also does not fully take into account the dangerous effect the Lira depression is having on the Turkish economy." The lira hit an all-time low last month after Erdogan said in an interview with Bloomberg TV that he would exert more influence over the economy, raising concerns about the independence of Turkey's central bank under another Erdogan term. Ahmad said investors need to closely monitor how the lira reacts to the election "in case it causes a ripple effect on other global markets." If the lira hits another record low, it could lower risk appetite for other emerging markets currencies which he said are already vulnerable amid global trade tensions and a stronger dollar. "We can’t afford to look at the weekend Turkey election as an idiosyncratic event," Ahmad said. Turkey's fiscal policies are also at risk of weighing on the lira in the near-term. A team of Morgan Stanley strategists led by Hans Redeker wrote in a research note that the lira is likely to continue to weaken post-election should there be no change to its "imbalanced" growth model. "The credit expansion and loosening fiscal policy will continue to worsen the imbalance and keep the current account deficit wide," Redeker wrote. The lira is down 23% against the dollar this year.
SEE ALSO: Oil is rallying after OPEC reportedly strikes a deal to raise production Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Trump pitched peace to Kim Jong Un with this Hollywood-style video starring Kim as the leading man |
The Turkish lira is climbing ahead of Sunday's snap elections
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Business Insider, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST
The lira rose Friday ahead of Turkey's historic snap elections this weekend, which will also mark the country's shift from a parliamentary system to a more powerful presidency. The lira was up 1.3% to 4.6672 versus the dollar at 2 p.m. ET. Turkey's central bank has been trying to prop up the lira ahead of the election, raising rates earlier this month for the third time in two months to 17.75%. But Jameel Ahmad of FXTM said investors have largely ignored those rate hikes amid expectations that President Tayyip Erdogan, a self-proclaimed "enemy" of interest rates, will win the election, which he moved up by more than a year as his opponents began gaining ground. "The view of Erdogan is that low interest rates will encourage investment into Turkey because investors will become encouraged to take advantage of lower borrowing costs," Ahmad said. "This view is not economically incorrect, but it also does not fully take into account the dangerous effect the Lira depression is having on the Turkish economy." The lira hit an all-time low last month after Erdogan said in an interview with Bloomberg TV that he would exert more influence over the economy, raising concerns about the independence of Turkey's central bank under another Erdogan term. Ahmad said investors need to closely monitor how the lira reacts to the election "in case it causes a ripple effect on other global markets." If the lira hits another record low, it could lower risk appetite for other emerging markets currencies which he said are already vulnerable amid global trade tensions and a stronger dollar. "We can’t afford to look at the weekend Turkey election as an idiosyncratic event," Ahmad said. Turkey's fiscal policies are also at risk of weighing on the lira in the near-term. A team of Morgan Stanley strategists led by Hans Redeker wrote in a research note that the lira is likely to continue to weaken post-election should there be no change to its "imbalanced" growth model. "The credit expansion and loosening fiscal policy will continue to worsen the imbalance and keep the current account deficit wide," Redeker wrote. The lira is down 23% against the dollar this year.
SEE ALSO: Oil is rallying after OPEC reportedly strikes a deal to raise production Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: This top economist has a radical plan to change the way Americans vote |
CRYPTO INSIDER: Markets dive towards their lowest levels of the year
CRYPTO INSIDER: Markets dive towards their lowest levels of the year
CRYPTO INSIDER: Markets dive towards their lowest levels of the year
CRYPTO INSIDER: Markets dive towards their lowest levels of the year
Mt. Gox Creditors to Be Reimbursed in Bitcoin Under Civil Rehabilitation
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Bitcoin Magazine, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST The Japan-based Mt. Gox exchange had its bankruptcy stayed due to a petition filed by some of the creditors for the commencement of civil rehabilitation proceedings in Tokyo District Court on November 24, 2017, and heard today, June 22, 2018. Mt. Gox was forced into criminal bankruptcy after more than $473 million in bitcoin was stolen from the exchange in 2014. This latest petition filed by the creditors provides for more options on how they can be reimbursed. At issue primarily is the exchange rate of bitcoin at the time of the hack, approximately $480 per bitcoin. By staying in criminal bankruptcy, the creditors would have been paid back at the exchange rate at the time of the filing; but bitcoin has risen in value significantly since then, trading at over $6,100 per bitcoin today. This change means that creditors could be paid in terms of the amount of bitcoin lost and not the value of the bitcoin at the time of the loss: a significant difference. Attorney Nobuaki Kobayashi will act as the civil rehabilitation trustee, but he is not without his own controversy. Kobayashi is responsible for selling large amounts of bitcoin to pay off the exchange’s JPY liabilities; those sales also coincided with dramatic drops in the price of bitcoin. In the filing, Kobayashi said, “The power and authority to administer and dispose of MTGOX’s assets is still vested exclusively in me, and I will implement the civil rehabilitation proceedings, including the administration of MTGOX’s assets and the investigation of claims, subject to the Tokyo District Court’s supervision.” Cryptoground continues to monitor the Mt. Gox wallets, which are currently worth nearly a billion dollars, but, as stated in the Tokyo District Court administration order, Mt. Gox’s representative has lost the right to administer and dispose of Mt. Gox’s assets. According to the filing, the proceedings will likely begin in February 2019. Interested creditors must file a proof-of-claim form by October 22, 2018, even those who filed a claim during the criminal bankruptcy. For any creditors that missed filing during the criminal bankruptcy, this is a new window of opportunity to file. The details can be found in this document on the Mt. Gox website. This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine. |
Litecoin Sinks to Lowest Price in 7 Months
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CoinDesk, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST Litecoin's (LTC) price hit a seven-month low on Friday as the cryptocurrency markets turned risk-averse. |
Bitcoin is getting smoked as the crypto market eyes its lowest level of the year
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Business Insider, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST
Bitcoin was eyeing its lowest level of the year Friday morning, according to Markets Insider data. The coin, which soared close to $20,000 at the end of 2017, was trading down 8.6% at $6,144 as all of the major cryptos were under pressure. Ethereum was trading down 11% at $467 a token while bitcoin cash, a spin-off of the original bitcoin, was trading down 13% at $751 a coin. As for bitcoin, it hit its 2018 low of $5,922 in February. In total, the entire crypto market has shed half of its value since the beginning of the year, according to CoinMarketCap data. At last check, the market stood at $267 billion. In April it hit its lowest point of 2018, falling below $250 billion. The market for cryptocurrencies has been under pressure throughout much of 2018 following a massive bull-run last year, which was triggered by the launch of bitcoin futures, a derivatives product. Many thought those products would legitimize the nascent market and precipitate the entrance of institutional money into the space. For the most part, asset managers and other large investors have stayed away from the volatile market, which is not for the faint of heart. Still, the market has attracted major Wall Street trading firms and high-frequency traders such as DRW and Jump Trading. Goldman Sachs is working on a crypto trading desk. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: This $530 Android phone is half the price of an iPhone X and just as good |
Bitcoin is getting smoked as the crypto market eyes its lowest level of the year
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Business Insider, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST
Bitcoin was eyeing its lowest level of the year Friday morning, according to Markets Insider data. The coin, which soared close to $20,000 at the end of 2017, was trading down 8.6% at $6,144 as all of the major cryptos were under pressure. Ethereum was trading down 11% at $467 a token while bitcoin cash, a spin-off of the original bitcoin, was trading down 13% at $751 a coin. As for bitcoin, it hit its 2018 low of $5,922 in February. In total, the entire crypto market has shed half of its value since the beginning of the year, according to CoinMarketCap data. In April it hit its lowest point of 2018, falling below $250 billion. The market for cryptocurrencies has been under pressure throughout much of 2018 following a massive bull-run last year, which was triggered by the launch of bitcoin futures, a derivatives product. Many thought those products would legitimize the nascent market and precipitate the entrance of institutional money into the space. For the most part, asset managers and other large investors have stayed away from the volatile market, which is not for the faint of heart. Still, the market has attracted major Wall Street trading firms and high-frequency traders such as DRW and Jump Trading. Goldman Sachs is working on a crypto trading desk. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Learning to celebrate failure at a young age led to this billionaire's success |
Coinbase is struggling to keep up with customer queries
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Business Insider, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST This story was delivered to Business Insider Intelligence "Fintech Briefing" subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here. US-based cryptocurrency company Coinbase has been the subject of many concerns recently, with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the California Department of Business Oversight reportedly receiving 134 pages of complaints from Coinbase users about their issues with the platform.
The documents were obtained by Mashable following a 5-month FOIA process. This illustrates that the company may be underprepared for its own success and user growth. Here are the problems that Coinbase is currently facing:
Coinbase should focus on how it can enhance its customer service. Having so many complaints is bad for Coinbase's reputation, as well as its customers who can't use their crypto funds. Moreover, the fact that both the SEC and the California Department of Business Oversight are aware of these issues further shows how serious the matter is. Therefore, Coinbase should put all its efforts into improving its customer service, to keep its customers happy, but also to ensure that it will be off the regulators’ radar. Of the many technologies reshaping the world economy, distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) are among the most hyped. DLTs are most often associated with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, but such coverage sidelines the broader use cases of DLTs, even though they stand to make a far bigger impact on the broader the financial services (FS) industry. DLT's value lies in its ability to centralize record-keeping, while cutting out the need for authorization by an overseeing party, instead allowing a record to be confirmed by multiple parties with access to the database. This means DLTs have the potential to streamline financial institutions' (FIs) operations, boost data security, improve customer relationships, and drastically cut costs. But many FIs have struggled to implement DLTs and reap the rewards, because of organizational obstacles, but also because of issues rooted in the technology itself. There are a few players working to make the technology more usable for FIs, and progress is now being made. In a new report, Business Insider Intelligence takes a look at what DLTs are and why they hold so much promise for FS, the sectors in which DLTs are gaining the most traction and why, and the efforts underway to remove the obstacles preventing wider DLT adoption in finance. It also examines the few FIs close to unleashing their DLT projects, and how DLTs might transform the nature of FS if adoption truly takes off. Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:
In full, the report:
Subscribe to an All-Access pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to:
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Mt Gox to Enter Civil Rehabilitation in Major Win for Creditors
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CoinDesk, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST Mt. Gox's bankruptcy proceedings have been halted and its bitcoin holdings could soon be distributed to creditors seeking reimbursement. |
Breaking: Mt. Gox Case Moved to Civil Rehabilitation, Creditors May Be Paid in Crypto
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CryptoCoins News, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST Creditors holding bitcoins at infamous cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox may recover their funds, after all, a court has ruled. According to a document posted on the Mt. Gox website, the Tokyo District Court on Friday approved a petition to move the company out of criminal bankruptcy and into civil rehabilitation. The exchange, as CCN reported, The post Breaking: Mt. Gox Case Moved to Civil Rehabilitation, Creditors May Be Paid in Crypto appeared first on CCN |
Chinese Police Seize 200 Bitcoin, Ethereum Mining Rigs Over Electricity Theft
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CryptoCoins News, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST Chinese police have reportedly seized over 200 computers used to mine bitcoin and ethereum in a crypto-mining operation that allegedly stole electricity. According to a report by China’s state-owned press agency Xinhua, police in the Anhui Province of eastern China confiscated the equipment after being alerted to abnormally high electricity usage by the local power The post Chinese Police Seize 200 Bitcoin, Ethereum Mining Rigs Over Electricity Theft appeared first on CCN |
Bitcoin Eyes Bear Revival After Key Support Breached
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CoinDesk, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST Bitcoin's bears have seized the upper hand and forced a rising wedge breakdown, the technical charts indicate. |
$17 Billion Deleted From Cryptocurrency Market in 24 Hours as Ethereum Falls 7%
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CryptoCoins News, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST The cryptocurrency market has recorded a loss of over $17 billion in the past 24 hours, triggered by the loss of major cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, and EOS. EOS recorded the largest loss amongst major digital assets, demonstrating a loss of more than 10 percent overnight. Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Stellar, and The post $17 Billion Deleted From Cryptocurrency Market in 24 Hours as Ethereum Falls 7% appeared first on CCN |
$17 Billion Deleted From Cryptocurrency Market in 24 Hours as Ethereum Falls 7%
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CryptoCoins News, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST The cryptocurrency market has recorded a loss of over $17 billion in the past 24 hours, triggered by the loss of major cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, and EOS. EOS recorded the largest loss amongst major digital assets, demonstrating a loss of more than 10 percent overnight. Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Stellar, and The post $17 Billion Deleted From Cryptocurrency Market in 24 Hours as Ethereum Falls 7% appeared first on CCN |
$17 Billion Deleted From Cryptocurrency Market in 24 Hours as Ethereum Falls 7%
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CryptoCoins News, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST The cryptocurrency market has recorded a loss of over $17 billion in the past 24 hours, triggered by the loss of major cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, and EOS. EOS recorded the largest loss amongst major digital assets, demonstrating a loss of more than 10 percent overnight. Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Stellar, and The post $17 Billion Deleted From Cryptocurrency Market in 24 Hours as Ethereum Falls 7% appeared first on CCN |
Bithumb Hack ‘Doesn’t Really Change the Fundamentals of Bitcoin’: Charlie Lee
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CryptoCoins News, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST Charlie Lee, the founder of Litecoin, went on CNBC’s Fast Money program on Wednesday to discuss the recent hacking of South Korea’s cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, among other developments in the crypto sphere. Speaking via telephone, the founder of the world’s fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap pointed out that while it is normal for cryptocurrency investors to The post Bithumb Hack ‘Doesn’t Really Change the Fundamentals of Bitcoin’: Charlie Lee appeared first on CCN |
Bithumb Hack ‘Doesn’t Really Change the Fundamentals of Bitcoin’: Charlie Lee
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CryptoCoins News, 1/1/0001 12:00 AM PST Charlie Lee, the founder of Litecoin, went on CNBC’s Fast Money program on Wednesday to discuss the recent hacking of South Korea’s cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, among other developments in the crypto sphere. Speaking via telephone, the founder of the world’s fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap pointed out that while it is normal for cryptocurrency investors to The post Bithumb Hack ‘Doesn’t Really Change the Fundamentals of Bitcoin’: Charlie Lee appeared first on CCN |