A new rush of entrepreneurs, this time armed with crypto tokens, think they can reinvent real estate for more efficient equity investment.
CoinDesk
Gibraltar’s Government Is Moving to Regulate ICOs
Gibraltar’s legislators plan to discuss a draft of a law proposing to regulate ICOs.
CoinDesk
Hackers in Coincheck Heist Believed to be Moving Stolen Loot
The latest news on last weeks estimated 0 million hack of the Japanese exchange Coincheck – one of the largest thefts of cryptocurrency so far – is that the hackers are now trying to move the stolen XEM into smaller exchanges as reported by the foundation that developed and is tracking the coin.
The NEM foundation, developer of the XEM coin, was able to track the coin to an unidentified account according to reports. It now says that the hackers who were able to make off with the XEM are now attempting to spread the stolen coins out to six different exchanges where it can be sold off.
Tracking the booty
Jeff McDonald of the NEM foundation says he has tracked the coins down to an unidentified account and that the hacker is trying to sell them in smaller batches to avoid triggering anti-money laundering mechanisms built into exchange security systems.
“He is trying to spend them on multiple exchanges. We are contacting those exchanges,”
Singapore-based McDonald told Reuters.
The hacker has started sending out XEM tokens in 100 coin batches, worth about each. The coins the hackers made off with represent around 5 percent of the total supply of XEM, the world’s 10th largest cryptocurrency, according to trade website Coinmarketcap.
The thieves attempt to transfer the XEM in small trades on various accounts to avoid detection is probably their first step in a series of trades before converting the cryptocurrency back to a conventional currency. The hackers are unlikely to try to spend anything close to all of the stolen cryptocurrency at once because;
“(the) market simply couldn’t absorb that much… I would assume that they are going to get away with some of the money,”
McDonald said.
Exchanges under scrutiny
The Coincheck hack which occurred last Tuesday represented 523 million NEM tokens and sent ripples of distrust throughout the cryptosphere with dips in all major cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ripple.
Once the hack was made public knowledge Coincheck was quick to reassure investors that they would be making restitution of at least 90% of the value of the hacked XEM coin. Paying back 260,000 investors their losses in Yen out of the companies funds helped XEM make a quick rebound after an initial drop in value once the hack was acknowledged.
This new hack has again raised questions about the security of cryptocurrency exchanges and especially their storage protocols. Japan’s Financial Security Agency (FSA) ordered Coincheck to make improvements in all operations, which suspend all trading except Bitcoin as of Friday.
The post Hackers in Coincheck Heist Believed to be Moving Stolen Loot appeared first on NewsBTC.
South Korea is Rapidly Moving to Regulate and Foster Cryptocurrency Market
The South Korean government has started to focus on fostering and regulating the local cryptocurrency market to protect investors and ensure businesses have robust infrastructure to secure sensitive information.
Major Banks Supporting Cryptocurrency Exchanges
Earlier this month, several officials in the South Korea Finance Ministry told local investors that banks and financial institutions within the country will begin cutting off money flow into cryptocurrency exchanges and trading platforms.
Investors became increasingly concerned when Kookmin Bank, the country’s biggest financial institution, stopped providing virtual bank accounts and banking services to cryptocurrency exchanges.
On South Korean bitcoin trading platforms, each user is granted a virtual bank account issued by local banks. With it, traders can initiate trades and execute orders without directly moving funds to their original bank accounts. Instead, traders can choose to keep their funds on virtual bank accounts on the exchanges to swiftly trade cryptocurrencies to fiat.
Korbit and Bithumb, two of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the market, revealed this week that Shinhan Bank along with five other major banks in South Korea will begin supporting cryptocurrency exchanges with virtual bank accounts. As such, by the end of this month, new users will be able to open accounts on trading platforms and existing users will be permitted to trade large volumes once again.
Previously, the Justice Ministry, which was heavily criticized for its premature statement on a cryptocurrency trading ban bill that was later refuted by the South Korean government, suggested that it will request banks to cut services to both investors and exchanges in the cryptocurrency market. However, with the exception of Kookmin Bank, all of the country’s major banks will continue to support cryptocurrency exchanges.
Cryptocurrency Exchanges Fined For Poor Security Measures
Today, on January 24, eight cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea including Korbit and Coinone were fined 0,000 in total for implementing poor security measures. The South Korea Communications Commission (KCSC) penalized local exchanges for violating the Information and Communication Network Act and Privacy Act.
The KCSC, which led an investigation into 10 cryptocurrency exchanges in cooperation with the South Korea Technology, Science, and Information Ministries, discovered that the majority of exchanges have had poor security breach prevention systems, unsecure user information storage protocols, and unreliable storage technology for sensitive user information.
The eight cryptocurrency exchanges each received a fine in the range of ,000 to ,000. Analysts stated that the fines were significantly small relative to the magnitude of the business local cryptocurrency exchanges operate. The KCSC noted that small fines were imposed because poor security measures on cryptocurrency exchanges were discovered for the first time and since the exchanges have been provided with a 30-day window to implement stronger systems.
The strict regulation of the South Korean cryptocurrency market by the country’s Finance Ministry and KCSC is an optimistic sign for the long-term growth of the industry, because it demonstrates the unwillingness of the government to ban the market and cryptocurrency trading.
The post South Korea is Rapidly Moving to Regulate and Foster Cryptocurrency Market appeared first on NewsBTC.
Blockchain in the Boardroom: Moving Toward Enterprise Deployment
Enterprises may have gone quiet toward the end of 2017, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be players in the year ahead, Accenture’s Valiente argues.
CoinDesk
Ripple Price Technical Analysis – XRP/USD Moving Toward $1.00
Key Highlights
- Ripple price moved higher once again and is currently trading above the .8000 level against the US Dollar.
- Yesterday’s highlighted short-term bearish trend line with resistance at .7200 was broken on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair (data source from Kraken).
- The pair traded as high .9009 and is currently preparing for more gains above .00.
Ripple price is surging higher against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. XRP/USD might soon move further higher toward the .00 level in the near term.
Ripple Price Upside Move
There was a fresh upside move initiated in Ripple price from the .7000 swing low against the US Dollar. The price succeeded in breaking many resistances such as .7500 and .8000. To start with, there was a break above the 50% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the .8400 high to .6770 low. It opened the doors for more gains above .7500.
More importantly, yesterday’s highlighted short-term bearish trend line with resistance at .7200 was broken on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair. The pair traded above the .8500 level and posted a new high at .9009. It seems like the current uptrend is far from over and the price might continue higher above .9000. An initial support is around the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the .6500 low to .9009 high. Any major downside move should be limited by the .8000 level. Moreover, the 50% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the .6500 low to .9009 high is at .7760 to act as a support.
On the upside, a break above the .9000 handle would call for a test of the .00 handle in the near term.
Looking at the technical indicators:
Hourly MACD – The MACD for XRP/USD is gaining pace in the bullish zone.
Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for XRP/USD is placed well in the overbought levels.
Major Support Level – .7700
Major Resistance Level – .9000
Charts courtesy – Trading View, Kraken
The post Ripple Price Technical Analysis – XRP/USD Moving Toward .00 appeared first on NEWSBTC.
Moving Up: IOTA Overtakes Ripple, Finds New Price Base
Having leapt up to fourth place in the cryptocurrency rankings, IOTA’s prices are today witnessing what is a likely short-term slump.
CoinDesk
Gameflip Moving Digital Gaming Goods Network Onto Blockchain
n Because the gaming market is growing exponentially it has become ripe for a decentralized force to take hold. With use of the Blockchain, Gameflip is hoping to provide a platform where any digital gaming good can be bought and sold as liquid assets.n
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$9,060: Bitcoin Price Achieves New All-Time High, Moving Closer to $10,000
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