Weekly News Overview: Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin Under 1k Is Possible

Bitcoin dipped below $4000 today, for the first time since the depths of crypto winter — and one veteran market analyst believes it could have even further to fall.

Crypto markets have been in freefall following the announcement of travel bans yesterday between the U.S. and Europe, and ongoing volatility in all financial markets.

Veteran trader Peter Brandt — who is famous for correctly predicting the market crash from the all time high — today tweeted an answer that no one wanted to hear in response to an inquiry about the new ‘bottom’ for Bitcoin due to coronavirus.

Brandt said that if he looks at the Bitcoin chart “without bias” the new bottom is potentially “sub-$1,000”. That’s almost 80% below the current price, which is just under $5000.

Travel Bans Around The World Crippling Crypto

In the United States, President Trump announced new travel restrictions today in response to the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The Commander in Chief signed a Presidential Proclamation suspending the entry of most foreign nationals who have been in certain European countries during the 14 days prior to their scheduled arrival to the U.S.

These countries include Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. The United Kingdom is exempt.

Huobi Releases New Mobile App

Huobi Group is a global blockchain company founded by Leon Li in 2013. Currently, the crypto exchange has an accumulative turnover that exceeds USD $3 trillion and offers its services to users from more than 170 countries.

Huobi Group has officially announced the launch of its new mobile application, Huobi Lite. Per a March 10 announcement, the new app will allow anyone to trade major cryptocurrencies on Android and iOS without fees or commissions.

Robinhood Crypto And Stock Trading App Is Down For A Second Monday

After experiencing a major outage last week, major stock and cryptocurrency trading app Robinhood is troubled again.

Robinhood encountered another technical outage on Monday, causing its platform to halt trading services, according to a March 9 tweet by Robinhood’s support team.

The firm announced earlier on the day:

“Trading is currently down on Robinhood and we’re investigating the issue. We’re focused on getting back up and running as soon as possible and we’ll update the status page with the latest.”

Subsequently, Robinhood has partially restored trading, noting that they are working to get the platform back up and running fully. According to online reports, the platform was partly functional after just an hour of downtime.

COVID-19 Plagues Crypto Conference

There has been a rapid escalation of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak worldwide. Two major crypto conferences in the US have been affected by the epidemic so far.

“Bitcoin 2020”, originally scheduled for March 27 and 28 in San Francisco, has moved to Q3 of 2020. The Chamber of Digital Commerce also postponed next week’s “DC Blockchain Summit 2020” conference. The rescheduled dates are not yet confirmed, according to the announcements on March 6.

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ICE Reveals Cryptocurrency Intelligence Program

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has revealed the existence of a Cryptocurrency Intelligence Program (CIP) in the agency’s 2021 budget proposal.

The proposal states that the CIP seeks to identify unlicensed capital flows taking place across peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplaces, online forums, and darknet markets. The CIP was developed by ICE’s Bulk Cash Smuggling Center (BCSC).

Lloyd’s New Insurance Offering Covers Crypto Held in Hot Wallets

Insurance giant Lloyd’s of London now provides a new type of liability insurance policy to protect cryptocurrency in hot wallets that is lost by theft.

Lloyd’s new offering was developed by Lloyd’s syndicate Atrium together with crypto will-focused firm Coincover, with limits from as little as £1,000 ($1,275), Lloyd’s announced on March 2. The policy is also backed by an array of other Lloyd’s insurers, including TMK and Markel, all of whom are members of Lloyd’s Product Innovation Facility.

SC Rules In Favour Of Crypto Trading In India

The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down the curb on cryptocurrency trade in India put up by the RBI.

ETNow reported quoting:

“SC rules curb on crypto currency trade illegal,” the report said while adding that the order lifted ban on trading in virtual currency, cryptocurrency and bitcoins.

Bitcoin, the most valued cryptocurrency in the world, was down 0.39 per cent at $8,815. The market cap of the currency stood at $161 billion.

The Reserve Bank of India had virtually banned cryptocurrency trading in India as in a circular issued on April 6, 2018, it directed that all entities regulated by it shall not deal in virtual currencies or provide services for facilitating any person or entity in dealing with or settling those.

Whistle-Blower Outs “Wolf Of Kyiv” For Bitcoin Scam

A whistle-blower has revealed the existence of a 200-employee Ukrainian Bitcoin (BTC) trading scam that netted $70 million in 2019.

The whistle-blower outed the scam by providing footage and internal company documents to Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, which reported the news on March 1.

The scam predominantly targets investors based in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom by using fake news articles advertised on Facebook and some mobile game platforms.

Bitfinex to Delist Nearly 50 Cryptocurrency Trading Pairs

Bitfinex, the 11th largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume, will remove dozens of cryptocurrency trading pairs later this week.

According to a March 2 blog post, Bitfinex will remove 46 crypto trading pairs on Friday, March 6 due to low liquidity on the platform.

The cryptocurrency exchange noted that the delisting of the trading pairs is a common measure that is expected to improve liquidity on Bitfinex platform and lead to a “more streamlined and optimized trading experience for our users.”

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Email Extortion Scam Targets Googles AdSense

A new extortion scam targeting website owners serving banner ads through Google’s AdSense program has begun circulating the Internet. The malevolent scheme demands Bitcoin (BTC) in exchange for preventing an attack, which would purportedly lead to the users’ AdSense account suspension.

The email-based extortion scheme was reported by security news and investigation blog KrebsOnSecurity, on Feb. 17. The blog post detailed that some site owners received a message as their site had been spotted by the malicious program as one seeking revenue from publishing an ad.

Coinbase Pitches Crypto As A Solution For Racial Discrimination

To mark Black History Month, Coinbase has launched an advertising campaign with the pitch that cryptocurrencies can help tackle racial injustice in the financial sector.

As part of the campaign, the exchange published a blog post on Feb. 13 with the results of a survey it conducted in the United States and United Kingdom.

The crux of Coinbase’s survey centers on the notion that blockchain and cryptocurrencies, as trustless technologies with pseudonymous functionality, would be more color-blind than traditional financial services.

Gemcoin Founder Confesses To Fraud

Steve Chen, the mastermind behind the $147 million Gemcoin cryptocurrency scheme, has admitted to wire fraud and tax evasion in a plea agreement.

The 62-year-old Southern California resident agreed that he and other co-conspirators fraudulently promoted a cryptocurrency called Gemcoin (or Gem Coins) that helped fleece $147 million from 70,000 victims.

Chen, also known as “Boss,” reported an income of $138,000 in 2014 which is a far cry from the $4.8 million he now admits to pocketing that year. Chen used the proceeds to buy homes and pay for a gambling habit, authorities said.

Binance Pauses Trading To Fix Technical Issues

Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance halted trading on its platform to resolve an unexpected technical issue with its infrastructure.

An announcement published by Binance on Feb. 19 notes that, due to unscheduled system maintenance, the exchange suspended most of its activities. More precisely, as of press time, it is not possible to perform “deposits, withdrawals, spot trading, margin trading, P2P trading, lending, redemption, as well as asset transfers from sub-accounts, margin accounts, futures accounts, and fiat wallets” on the platform.

In a statement shared with Cointelegraph, Binance reassured its users that partner exchanges such as Binance.US were unaffected and that trading activity will resume shortly.

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Ukrainian Regulations States That Mining Does Not Require Governmental Oversight

Ukrainian’s powers stated that crypto mining does not require regulatory activity from governmental oversight bodies or other third-party protocols.

In its legal article on virtual assets published on Feb. 7, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine specified that mining does not necessitate directives by state authorities as this activity is measured by the protocol itself and network members.

Internet Surges 300% In North Korea Over The Past 3 Years

North Korea’s internet use saw a 300% surge over the past three years, as the country’s regime has continued to rely on cryptocurrencies for various activities.

Misuse of crypto and blockchain technology is among the primary tactics for the country to generate revenue as well as transfer and use illicitly obtained funds, a new study says. Blog

U.S. Think Tank Contradicts Need For Federal Digital Currency

Conservative United States think tank the Heritage Foundation argues that instead of launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the government should ensure that the public can use the currencies they prefer, including private ones.

In a commentary piece published on Feb. 12, the Heritage Foundation notes that Facebook’s Libra global stablecoin project “is just the latest reminder that providing money does not have to be a centralized function of government.” The report answers to the idea that the public sector must ensure that sovereign currencies stay at the centre of each nation’s financial system.

Blockchain Education Is Becoming Popular Than Ever Before

As blockchain weaves its way deeper into the world economy, more American universities are teaching the technology, offering more courses and expanding delivery methods.

Kevin Werback, a professor and blockchain club mentor at the University of Pennsylvania, told Cointelegraph, “Even if they aren’t pursuing a career in the area, most students aren’t confident they can figure it out on their own. Blockchain is just so darn weird.”

US Intelligence Community Sees Crypto As A Threat

The United States intelligence community is seeking a researcher to model risk scenarios for how and why the dollar could lose its global supremacy, and how best to respond. The role was advertised on Feb. 14 by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

The successful candidate will be tasked with evaluating threats to the dollar’s status as world reserve currency — most notably cryptocurrencies and the rise of major new economies such as China and India.

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Liechtenstein Based Start-up To Issue Tokens At The Value Of Collectable Cars

Investment platform CurioInvest and Seychelles-based digital asset platform MERJ Exchange Ltd. will jointly begin offering a token backed by collector luxury cars.

The so-called Car Token (CT1) token is set to be attached to the value of collectible cars giving more people a chance to have a portion of an asset, BNN Bloomberg informed on the 30th of January, 2020.

Bitspark Shuts Down

Hong Kong-based blockchain remittance start-up Bitspark has abruptly announced its closure, citing internal restructuring issues.

On Feb. 3, Bitspark co-founder and CEO George Harrap officially announced the platform’s plans to shut down its services on the 4th of March, 2020.

According to the statement, Bitspark users will be able to withdraw their cryptocurrencies from Feb. 3 to March 4 as the platform’s functionality will stay intact over the period. After March 4, account logins will be disabled for a period of 90 days, with users being able to withdraw their funds via Bitspark customer support.

Crypto Ponzi Scheme Lures Unknown Number Of Baseball Players

Two men charged over an allegedcrypto trading ponzi scheme lured investors, including professional baseball players, with social media posts boasting about their luxurious lifestyles.

On January 30, the Secret Service arrested the Arizona-based founders of Zima Digital Assets, John Michael Caruso, aged 28, and Zachary Salter, aged 27.

Caruso commonly refers to himself as “Krypto King” in social media posts and claims he’s been a cryptocurrency investor since 2012. He has a criminal history and was last released from prison in late 2017.

Cryptojacker Convicted In Japan

A Japanese court has demanded a man who infected website visitors with cryptocurrency mining malware face justice — after acquitting him.

As local daily news outlet The Mainichi reported on Feb. 7, the Tokyo High Court overturned a previous ruling which cleared the man, who was not named, of any wrongdoing.

Justin Sun, Tron Founder, Finally Meets Warren Buffett For Charity Lunch

Tron founder and CEO Justin Sun has finally had his charity lunch with Berkshire Hathaway chairman and famous billionaire Warren Buffett after a series of delays last year.

On Jan. 23, Sun met with Buffett in a private not-for-profit country club in Nebraska, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Feb. 6. The guests also included the founder of Litecoin Foundation, Charlie Lee, the CFO of Huobi, Chris Lee, the head of the Binance Charity Foundation, Helen Hai, and the CEO of eToro, Yoni Assia.

Indian Crypto Community Gets a Excited With The Start Of A New IEO

Despite regulatory uncertainty and banking restrictions imposed by the Reserve Bank of India, WazirX — the Indian cryptocurrency exchange recently acquired by Binance — launched its WRX coin through an initial exchange offering on Binance Launchpad. On Feb. 5, 2020, WRX coin became available for live trading on Binance. The move was dubbed as a big achievement for the Indian crypto industry, as it will likely lead to global recognition.

Earlier, Cointelegraph reported that the 9,033 winners of WazirX’s token sale on Binance Launchpad were announced. Over 20,000 users participated and more than 136,000 tickets were claimed.