BiTCONLiNE

Bitcoin's corrective rally is gathering traction and may cross a key resistance hurdle soon, the technical charts indicate. ❏ CoinDesk

South Korea's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that cryptocurrencies can be forfeited in criminal cases, allowing the seizure. ❏ CoinDesk

Bitcoin regained poised on Tuesday, climbing back to over $7,550, but the bulls still have work to do. ❏ CoinDesk

It's getting really strange out there on crypto Twitter, as these six notable examples amply illustrate. ❏ CoinDesk

Bitcoin payroll firm Bitwage has launched an advisory company aimed to make it easier for companies to launch token sales. ❏ CoinDesk

Prosecutors in Germany have made an emergency sale of cryptocurrencies seized in two investigations due to concerns over price volatility. ❏ CoinDesk

Bitcoin is down again and looks set to test another key support level at $6,900, the technical charts indicate. ❏ CoinDesk

While the odds are still stacked in favor of bitcoin's bears, marketplace exhaustion may have provided a chance for a brief rally. ❏ CoinDesk

In partnership with the Distributed Event Series and the Let's Talk Bitcoin Network , "Distributed Dialogues" gives listeners a cross section of the cryptocurrency and enterprise blockchain ecosystem by giving voice to the people, ideas and projects that make it possible. The following interviews came from Tatiana Moroz during the Distributed: Markets event. During the event, Tatiana interviewed a wide variety of the people who work in the cryptocurrency and blockchain technology space. Hearing from these people illuminates what is happening within the space whether recruiting internationally for a cryptocurrency exchange, building a peer-to-peer decentralized platform, disrupting supply chains or simply trying to create a more open world for financial transactions. Proof of Proof Crypto Companies Raising Funds Running A Peer-To-Peer Financial Engine Treated With Heat Recruiting for A Bitcoin Exchange Starting A Decentralized Exchange on Ethereum This article origi...

Shadowing the losses in bitcoin, the top-25 cryptocurrencies have all fallen over the last seven days – all bar one, that is. ❏ CoinDesk

Jihan Wu is considered to be one of the influential figures in the cryptocurrency space. Wu co-founded Bitman and started building ASIC chips for Bitcoin mining in 2013, and he’s also the first to translate Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper into Chinese language. Now, Bitmain is ranked among the most recognizable companies in the cryptocurrency space and the parent of several brands including Antminer, Antpool, and Hashnest. At the recently held CoinGeek Conference in Hong Kong, Wu took to the stage where he talked about the future of cryptocurrencies in the financial market scene, and how the crypto community—particularly Bitcoin Cash—should use blockchain technology to negotiate with regulators. “I believe that blockchain capital market will be supporting productive assets because the blockchain can be a very, very effective financial market that either help to reallocate resources and improve the efficiency of the financial market and we will be able to do monetary transactions,” Wu s...

In partnership with the Distributed Event Series and the Let's Talk Bitcoin Network , "Distributed Dialogues" gives listeners a cross section of the cryptocurrency and enterprise blockchain ecosystem by giving voice to the people, ideas and projects that make it possible. The following interviews were conducted by Tatiana Moroz, host of The Tatiana Moroz Show , during a recent Distributed: Markets event. Moroz interviewed a wide variety of the people who work in the cryptocurrency and blockchain technology space. Whether they are recruiting internationally for a cryptocurrency exchange, building peer-to-peer decentralized trading platforms, disrupting supply chains or simply trying to create a more open world for financial transactions, hearing from these people illuminates what is happening within the space. Proof of Proof Maxwell Sanchez is co-founder and CTO of Veriblock, a blockchain software development company that created proof-of-proof (PoP). PoP is a consens...

Frankfurt Stock Exchange parent company, Deutsche Boerse AG , appears to have begun work on technology that will allow them to offer their clients bitcoin and cryptocurrency-related products. In December 2017, regulators in the U.S. greenlit bitcoin futures trading for the CME Group and CBOE Futures Exchange , but since then, no major European exchange has jumped in. Speaking at an industry event in London on May 23, 2018, Jeffrey Tessler, head of clients, products and core markets for Deutsche Boerse, said they are considering offering cryptocurrency products: "We are deep at work with it." Tessler is quoted in Bloomberg confirming that Deutsche Boerse is “not at the same stage” as CME and that they want to make sure that they understand the underlying transaction “which isn’t the easiest thing to do.” Two months ago, Deutsche Boerse announced a plan to work with the financial management firm HQLAX and R3’s Corda blockchain platform to implement a system that can of...

Cryptocurrency investors in Zimbabwe are a happy lot after the second highest court in the country reversed the recently placed Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe ban on cryptocurrency-related activities. On Thursday, Zimbabwe High Court Judge Alphas Chitakunye announced: “The ban issued by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) on cryptocurrency exchange platforms to cease operations in Zimbabwe is hereby lifted.” The ruling stemmed from a case filed by Bitfinance Pvt. Ltd., which operates Zimbabwe’s biggest exchange platform, Golix, against the central bank’s order—aka the Circular to Banking Institutions No. 2/2018: Virtual Currencies —for exchange platforms across the country to cease operations and close down their businesses. Aside from Golix, several other financial institutions in the country were also barred from doing any transactions involving virtual currencies. According to the RBZ circular, accepting cryptocurrencies as collateral, opening accounts of exchanges dealing with crypto ...

The adoption of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) has gotten a lot easier in Colombia, thanks to cryptocurrency payment processor Bitek.co. The company, which offers merchant processing with payable invoices and accounting services, is the brainchild of two Bitcoin Cash proponents, Javier Barrera and Andres Rivera, who have set it upon themselves to see that merchants in the South American country are able to accept BCH and convert all or a percentage of their funds to Colombian pesos. The business model holds similarities with the BitPay system in that it allows merchants to accept the cryptocurrency and convert it to fiat currency—in this case, the Colombian peso—when they choose. The payment processor also offers a community section on their website for merchants who wish to announce their acceptance of the BCH currency. Interested merchants only need to register, fill out the necessary information for a payment gateway and the receiving of deposits in BCH and Colombian pesos. Bitek also has plan...

As the cryptocurrency space becomes ever more popular, there are several ways and means for these currencies to become mainstream. One of them is the crypto debit card, which allows you to use your crypto funds in the same manner as if they were in a bank account. You can purchase online, use it at a store, or even perhaps pay your restaurant bill. This kind of card could also break down some barriers for traditionally minded users who find crypto bewildering. There are currently quite a few companies that offer crypto debit cards, such as those listed  at Cryptoslate including such luminaries as Cryptopay, Fuzex, and MoxyOne. One of the most innovative cards is the Bitcoin Cash Visa debit card , which offers extremely good payment options as well as low fees. UK-based online banking giant Revolut is also offering a crypto debit card where you can use your crypto debit card with BTC, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP) and Litecoin (LTC). Another card which really ...

The cryptocurrency market is on recovery mode on Thursday and Friday morning as all major currencies were finally in the green after having sustained heavy losses in the first half of the week. BTC had dropped to $7,200 on Thursday morning but recovered somewhat and was trading at around $7,600 at press time, with analysts speaking of a push towards the $8,000 mark although there was still some resistance to overcome in this sector. Bitcoin Cash also showed positive gains and easily sailed past the $1,000 mark to trade at around $1,100 at press time. It appears that there are further drives for adoption of this currency in Africa, which is fast embracing the cryptocurrency world, so this may show a further positive for this currency in the short term. Ethereum also finally recovered from its slumber and easily sailed past the $600 mark to trade at around $620 at press time with a further push towards the $650 mark expected in the next few hours. There have been solid fundamentals f...

The debate between supporters of the Bitcoin Core (BTC) coin and proponents of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) continues to divide the cryptocurrency community. Aggressive mudslinging, particularly from BTC supporters online, has created an environment of hostility and confusion, resulting in an unnecessary lack of certainty for those new to the space. Now, IT entrepreneur turned politician Rick Falkvinge is seeking to bring more clarity to the debate, with a series of videos on his YouTube channel, We Are All Satoshi. Falkvinge is perhaps best known for founding The Pirate Party in Sweden, with a strong focus on civil liberties and a more sophisticated approach to copyright and file sharing in the digital age. Under his leadership, the party grew to contest their first elections in 2006, and went on to secure representation in the European Parliament in 2009, with Falkvinge making international media headlines in the wake of this political earthquake. His ‘Rick Reacts’ series deals with these ...

As part of New York Blockchain Week, Distributed Business Accelerator (DBA) publicly launched their global blockchain accelerator community designed to cultivate an ecosystem of blockchain startups. The CEO of the project is Tom Tao, formerly of IBM and Chainbase Accelerator. In opening remarks, Tao gave his outlook on the industry and extrapolated on where he saw DBA adding value to the blockchain ecosystem, noting that “for startups, obtaining resources and attention quickly is one of the critical factors to attain success.” Tao laid out the goals of DBA which include equipping promising blockchain startups with all the tools necessary to accelerate their growth, giving them access to an incubator in which they can develop their product and helping them to plan out business strategies to deliver that product to the world. He also touched on current issues which seem to be creating a general environment that leaves individual blockchain ecosystems too isolated. He considers the t...

Yet another altcoin succumbed to a malicious mining attack. BTC Gold (BTG) reportedly fell victim to a double spend attack when a miner gained 51 percent control of the network, making it the third altcoin to suffer losses from such kind of attack in the last couple of days. Records showed that the miner managed to access more than half of BTC Gold’s hash power, enabling them to temporarily take control of the altcoin’s blockchain. After gaining access to the network, the miner started depositingBTG coins at several cryptocurrency exchanges, and then quickly withdrew the coins, which he sent to another wallet. According to reports, the miner successfully reversed transaction as far back as 22 blocks. This prompted BTG developers to issue a statement advising exchanges to increase the number of confirmations required by an account owner before the exchange can deposit funds into their account, as well as suggesting that confirmation requirements be raised to 50 blocks to reduce future...

The U.S. Justice Department is looking into whether the price of bitcoin and other virtual currencies are being manipulated, according to a report in Bloomberg that referenced four unnamed sources for the information. Still in its early phases, the criminal probe will bring in other agencies, like the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a regulator that oversees bitcoin derivatives, sources said. On spot markets, like GDAX, Poloniex and Bitfinex, where cryptocurrencies change hands immediately, the price of bitcoin can vacillate wildly in a matter of hours. Starting in early 2017, the price of bitcoin ballooned from $1,000 to a record high of around $20,000 in mid-December. Currently, the price now sits in around $7,500. Unlike in Japan , where virtual currency exchanges are subject the same rules and oversight as any other financial institutions and are required to register with the government, in the U.S. and other countries, cryptocurrency exchanges are still largely...

The situation for cryptocurrency traders and investors has become slightly less rosy in India, following reports that these digital assets could soon be classed as intangible assets. According to a Bloomberg Quint report , an 18% tax is being examined on all cryptocurrency trading by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. There are considerable implications for such a move, which would effectively mean that crypto traders would be taxed and that cryptocurrency miners would effectively be losing 18% of their income. The tax would be applied retrospectively from July 1, 2017, sources familiar with the matter told the news outlet. This tax would also apply on cryptocurrency trades on an international level since these would be classified as imports and exports with an Integrated Goods and Services Tax (GST) applied. The value of the cryptocurrency would be based on the Indian Rupee transaction value. This new development would make India on a comparable level to U.S. for ta...

Defunct Italian cryptocurrency exchange BitGrail has shot its bolt and would not be reopening anytime soon—on court orders. A week ago, the Court of Florence upheld a preliminary order barring the exchange from resuming any operations and offering trading services to customers, according to reports. BitGrail is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings which only hurt its case to move forward. The situation for BitGrail is now a dire one as with the reputation of scams and fraudulent ICOs in the crypto space, such a test case can only reinforce its demise. The precautionary measure that was upheld by the Italian courts was originally proposed by the legal firm BonelliErede, which announced the court’s decision. Several weeks ago, the Italian law firm filed a bankruptcy petition on behalf of BitGrail creditor Espen Enger, who allegedly was in contact with more than 300 claimants. According to BonelliErede, it is currently providing legal advice to over 3,000 BitGrail user seeking ...

Coinbase, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency trading service, has acquired Paradex , a platform that enables users to trade virtual coins directly with each other. The financial terms of the deal are not known. CNBC reports that the move will significantly expand the types of cryptocurrencies that customers will be able to access through Coinbase, which has traditionally been more conservative than competitors in listing new types of coins. The exchange offers trading in four of the largest coins: bitcoin, ether, litecoin and bitcoin cash. Excited to have the @ParadexIO team join @coinbase ! https://t.co/IeywqFM3tD — Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) May 24, 2018 According to Coinbase, after making some product enhancements to Paradex, “it will be offering the new experience to customers outside the U.S., and eventually to U.S.-customers.” This was not the only news that Coinbase wanted to share. It has also informed that GDAX, its professional trading platform for individuals...

Blockchain takes root in the heart of African countries Blockchain technology received  mixed reactions in the 54 African countries at its inception. While most African countries are slowly warming up to blockchain technology, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana are taking the bull by the horns. Since last year, these countries have made tremendous milestones in the blockchain industry, with startups and blockchain awareness emerging in recent months. The young and old embrace blockchain in Nigeria Blockchain technology has faced great challenges in Nigeria from the government, which keeps enacting new regulations that are unfavorable for cryptocurrency-related activities. However, blockchain continues to thrive in Nigeria. Last week ,  Blockchain Nigeria Users Group (BNUG), organized a Nigerian Blockchain Conference at the Civic Center, Victoria Island in Lagos. The conference had a large turn up with youngsters and elderly making up the majority of the attendees. Ma...

Cryptocurrency markets had a torrid day on Thursday as every single top tier currency continued to sink by considerable margins. Leading the way was BTC, which dropped to $7,500 before rebounding slightly to around $7,700 at press time, although indications are that this might even drop further to the $6,000 mark before a rebound. Bitcoin Cash continued falling precipitously and was trading at just above the $1,000 mark at press time, although there was some support at that level. Although the currency continued to be adopted on various platforms, there still is a level of uncertainty in the market and the price of BCH has suffered accordingly together with other currencies. Ripple also suffered a huge decline dropping from $0.65 to below $0.60 in a matter of one hour. Again, although the currency is rapidly being adopted across various payment platforms, the price has descended steeply and is now well below 60% from its monthly high of around $0.90 registered just a few weeks ago. ...

The Yours.org CEO talks about shifting from Bitcoin Core to Bitcoin Cash, as well as nifty new developments from the cryptocurrency-focused social network. Brief History of Yours.org Ryan X Charles , the co-founder and CEO of Yours.org , spoke at last week’s—and the first ever, CoinGeek Conference in Hong Kong. Yours.org has been a popular content and social network platform for blockchain and cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Charles started out by giving a brief history of the platform, and where they were during the block size debate. “Back then, you know you would see these popular social media apps like Reddit, Facebook, and so on and there was no way for users to earn money for what they’re doing on these platforms. And it seemed like Bitcoin would be a good way to solve this problem. What we could do is we just put a Bitcoin wallet and inside a social media app, and then we could do cool things like integrated tipping, we could do paywalls, we could do a lot of other more innovati...

I sometimes wonder how criminals concoct their schemes. Do they sit home at night watching reruns of The Simpsons while trying to create a new fraud? Just like the clumsy cartoon character Bart, they almost always get caught. In the latest example, an Israeli citizen, Hilmi Git was indicted last Monday on charges of using hundreds of credit cards in 20,000 fraudulent transactions, and then laundering the money using BTC. In the indictment filed in Tel Aviv, Git is alleged to have used more than 800 credit cards to make more than $280,000 worth of purchases. Git is also being accused of laundering upwards of $8 million over 10 years, all of which was stored in a BTC wallet. The amount, approximately 1,071 BTC, was seized by the state pending the outcome of the trial. The state prosecutor claims that Git set up a number of websites and forums in order to facilitate credit card fraud through a criminal network, instruct others how to conduct cyber theft, conduct money laundering operati...

Last Tuesday, Russia’s Duma, the governing body, reviewed a set of laws that were recently drafted  to oversee the cryptocurrency industry. Simply put, the laws define both cryptocurrencies and token as property and provide guidelines for how crypto and blockchain-related technologies are utilized. The bill, “On Digital Financial Assets,” proved to be a hit with lawmakers, who approved the measures almost unanimously. The bill had been in the works since last year and the Duma had a deadline of July 1 for its submission. It covers not just cryptocurrencies and blockchains, but smart contracts, crypto mining and initial coin offerings (ICO). Tuesday’s session presented the bill before 411 deputies, of which only one voted against it. In a news release following the vote, the Duma said, “These specifications determine that both cryptocurrency and tokens constitute property, identifying key differences between cryptocurrency and tokens on the basis that there is a single issuer (for...

For those who really want to get away from it all, this will probably appeal to you. A new ‘floating island’ will soon be offered that is entirely its own country. The project is being put together with the help of the French Polynesian government, but will have its own governance and, even better, its own cryptocurrency, the Varyon (VAR). Dubbed a Floating Specialized Economic Zone (SEZ), the 300-home community is the first of its kind and is a proof of concept designed to explore the possibilities of wider implementation. The project carries a price tag of around $50 million and is expected to set sail no later than 2022. The island nation, which still doesn’t have a name (sorry, the Conch Republic is already taken), has received backing from the Seasteading Institute and the Blue Frontiers, the two groups behind the initiative and the sale of the VAR crypto coins. In an interview with CNBC , researcher Nathalie Mezza-Garcia said, “There is significance to this project being triale...

Throughout 2018, blockchain and cryptocurrency hackathons are taking place on every continent but Antartica. In the United States alone, conferences are happening in Las Vegas , Atlanta , Berkeley , Raleigh , San Francisco , New York City , Seattle and, of course, Silicon Valley . Some conferences will be more inclined toward a particular sector like Blockchain Health in Washington D.C. Others will target a specific demographic like Women4Blockchain in New York City. Some conferences will attract thousands in attendance; others might charge thousands of dollars for attendance. In its first year, EthMemphis distinguished its place on the blockchain conference circuit for displaying an under-the-hood glimpse at what actually moves this young industry forward, specifically on the Ethereum network. Taking place at the University of Memphis’ Fedex Institute of Technology, EthMemphis focused on Ethereum-based blockchain topics and projects applied to supply chain, healthcare, tourism...

Cryptocurrency Verge has suffered yet another hack on Monday, leading to 35 million XVGs worth $1.7 million stolen within a few hours. In a statement on Twitter, Verge confirmed that its system was under a DDoS attack, which caused delays in its operations. There has been no further communication from the cryptocurrency since Monday’s tweet, and worry grows in the Verge community. it appears some mining pools are under ddos attack, and we are experiencing a delay in our blocks, we are working to resolve this. — vergecurrency (@vergecurrency) May 22, 2018 According to reports, attackers penetrated the system by manipulating a bug in the Verge code, which allowed malicious miners to access the system. Miners set the fake timestamp on the blocks and quickly mined new ones during the hack. The hackers managed to infiltrate 2 out of 5 (scrypt and lyra2re) mining algorithms to steal the money. Verge cryptocurrency experienced a similar hack last month that led to the loss of 20 mill...

Tari , a new open-source blockchain protocol, aims to redefine the digital asset experience. Backed by institutional investors including Redpoint, Trinity Ventures, Canaan Partners, Pantera and Multicoin Capital, its founders Riccardo “fluffypony” Spagni, lead maintainer of the Monero cryptocurrency; Naveen Jain, a serial entertainment industry entrepreneur; and Dan Teree, co-founder of Ticketfly, hope to simplify the management, trade, programmability and use of all digital assets. Current State of Digital Assets “Today, most digital assets such as event tickets, in-game items, loyalty points and virtual currencies are siloed due to restrictions that limit their use and secondary market trade,” Jain said in an interview with Bitcoin Magazine . Businesses primarily enact these restrictions to control assets after their distribution, verify an asset holder’s identity and prevent fraudulent counterfeiting. Siloed digital assets aren’t ideal for consumers or businesses. Consumers do...