After bitcoin crackdown, China now wants centralised digital currency

China was once a stronghold of bitcoin

As Facebook readies to launch its answer to bitcoin, China is set to introduce its own digital currency — one that could allow the government and the central bank to see what people spend their money on, according to analysts.

Far from the libertarian ideals of cryptocurrencies, whose anonymity allows users to buy and sell without leaving a digital trail, China’s mooted e-cash system will be tightly regulated, experts say, and run by the People’s Bank of China, the central bank. It “would give the PBoC greater insight into transactions throughout the country,” analysts at Beijing-based research firm Trivium China said in a note.

In late September, central bank governor Yi Gang said China’s new currency may be associated with existing electronic payment systems, such as the popular WeChat and AliPay phone apps, which are widespread and allow yuan transactions via bank accounts.

While he gave no timetable, Chinese media are putting their money on a November 11 launch to coincide with “Singles Day” — a massive, annual online sales event. Yi did not say what shape the currency would take. “We will not predetermine the technical path,” he said…

Bitcoin surges past $11,000 while stocks plunge on trade war fears

The largest cryptocurrency surged as much as 14 per cent from Friday’s close and traded at $11,809 at 10:35 a.m. in New York

International News: Bitcoin climbed above the $11,000 level for the first time since mid-July and led gains among the biggest cryptocurrencies, as risk assets across Asia, Europe and North America tumbled on escalating trade-war tensions.

The largest cryptocurrency surged as much as 14 per cent from Friday’s close and traded at $11,809 at 10:35 a.m. in New York, according to consolidated Bloomberg pricing. The Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index tracking a basket of cryptocurrencies jumped 8.6 per cent, as rival digital coins including Ether and Litecoin also rallied.

“With the turmoil in markets and the streets, suddenly digital gold doesn’t seem like such a bad idea,” Jehan Chu, managing partner at blockchain investment and advisory firm Kenetic Capital, said from Hong Kong, where massive public protests continue. “Bitcoin is increasingly seen not only as a bet on the future, but as a shelter for the present.”

While Bitcoin historically has had relatively low correlation with most asset classes, it has lately moved inversely to Asian stocks. Equities were roiled on Monday after China’s yuan fell past 7 per dollar, a key psychological level for traders….

Bitcoin climbs to 18-month high, soars past $13,000 as Libra spurs interest

Bitcoin bounced to a 18-month high on Wednesday, as speculators searched for security in elective ventures in the midst of geopolitical pressure, and cheered prospects that Facebook Inc’s Libra token could push digital forms of money into the standard.

The world’s greatest cryptographic money has flooded in an incentive since April and on Wednesday hit a pinnacle of $13,666.02 on the Bitstamp trade, the largest amount since January 2018. So far this year, bitcoin has risen over 260%, despite the fact that it stays underneath its unsurpassed high of about $20,000 hit in December 2017.

Bitcoin last exchanged up 14.7 percent at $13,475.

Financial specialists have rushed back in to advanced monetary forms after a wounding 2018. Bitcoin has ascended for eight back to back days. What’s more, presently Facebook has said it would offer its very own digital currency, the Libra coin, by end of June 2020.

Examiners state Facebook’s declaration this month has restored enthusiasm for computerized monetary standards, while speculators looking for security have likewise pushed up bitcoin’s cost. “Cryptographic money merchants were revived by Facebook’s dispatch of their own computerized coin and force has all the earmarks of being working up crisp new speculators,” said Edward Moya, senior market examiner, at online FX representative OANDA in New York.

“Bitcoin doubters are wary in attempting to stop this flood and may search for the following key opposition level which is $15,000,” he included. With significant national banks keeping loan fees close to unequaled lows, financial specialists have been searching for approaches to expand their portfolios, including through cryptocurrenies, examiners said….

Bitcoin jumps towards $9,000 in best-performing month since 2019

Crypto proponents are taking encouragement from a string of recent headlines showing greater interest in the space from mainstream firms

Bitcoin hopped on Monday, nearly breaking $9,000 as it stretched out what’s turning out to be the best one-month rally since before the token’s memorable flood in 2017. The biggest cryptographic money moved as much as 10 percent on Monday from levels late Friday, and was exchanging at $8,766 as of 10.40 am in London (3.10 pm IST). Opponent coins were additionally more grounded toward the beginning of the week. Litecoin included more than 11 percent while Ether, the second biggest computerized token, rose 5.7 percent.

Crypto defenders are taking consolation from a string of late features indicating more noteworthy enthusiasm for the space from standard firms. AT&T said a week ago it will allow clients to pay bills with Bitcoin or Bitcoin money. That pursued news that Fidelity Investments was settling intends to purchase and sell the advanced resource for institutional clients.

Bitcoin is up very nearly 70 percent this month in spite of worries from JPMorgan Chase and Co strategists that its cost may have flooded past its “inborn esteem” — an idea that not all financial specialists concur applies to an advanced money. “Simpler to spend implies a more noteworthy use case and a more prominent dimension of selection,” Mati Greenspan, senior market examiner at eToro, wrote in a note Friday. “The tipping point is likely extremely close at this point.”

Bitcoin’s run for this present year pursues an agonizing downtrend that kept going most of a year ago and saw the computerized money tumble more than 70 percent. Bulls are wagering the run could proceed as more establishments work out their own digital forms of money or dispatch tasks utilizing the hidden blockchain innovation…

Cryptocurrency scams: Fraudsters are using ponzi schemes to fool investors

Some cryptographic money fraudsters request to individuals’ covetousness, promising huge returns

CryptoCurrency: A large number of digital money financial specialists have been misled out of monstrous wholes of genuine cash. In 2018, misfortunes from digital currency related wrongdoings added up to US$1.7 billion. The culprits utilize both antiquated and new-innovation strategies to cheat their imprints in plans dependent on advanced monetary forms traded through online databases called blockchains. 

From inquiring about blockchain, digital currency and cybercrime, I can see that some cryptographic money fraudsters depend on time tested Ponzi plans that utilization pay from new members to pay out comes back to prior speculators.

Others utilize exceptionally automatized and modern procedures, including robotized programming that communicates with Telegram, a web based texting framework mainstream among individuals inspired by digital forms of money. Notwithstanding when a digital currency plan is genuine, fraudsters can even now control its cost in the commercial center. A considerably increasingly fundamental inquiry emerges, however: How are clueless financial specialists pulled in to digital money cheats in any case?

Fast-talking swindlers

Some cryptographic money fraudsters bid to individuals’ avarice, promising huge returns. For instance, an obscure gathering of business visionaries runs the trick bot iCenter, which is a Ponzi conspire for Bitcoin and Litecoin. It doesn’t give data on speculation procedures, yet by one way or another guarantees speculators 1.2% day by day returns.

The iCenter conspire works through a gathering talk on Telegram. It begins with a little gathering of tricksters who are in on the racket. They get a referral code that they share with others, in sites and via web-based networking media, wanting to get them to join the visit. Once there, the newcomers see empowering and energizing messages from the first con artists. ..

Hackers steal bitcoins worth $41 mn from Binance cryptocurrency exchange

The 7,000 bitcoin were withdrawn by hackers using a variety of techniques ‘including phishing, viruses and other attacks’

Cryptocurrency: Hackers stole more than 7,000 bitcoin from crypto exchange Binance, the world’s largest by volume, the startup reported Tuesday. Binance announced that a “large scale security breach” was discovered earlier on May 7, finding that malicious actors were able to access user API keys, two-factor authentication codes and “potentially other info,” the exchange’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao, said in a letter. As a result, they were able to withdraw roughly $41 million in bitcoin from the exchange, according to a transaction published in the security notice.

The disclosure comes hours after Zhao tweeted that the exchange was undertaking “some unscheduled server maintenance,” writing that “funds are #safu.” After the disclosure announcement, Zhao tweeted that the exchange would “provide a more detailed update shortly.” The exchange may not yet have identified all impacted accounts, he said. And according to Binance’s statement, the breach only impacted Binance’s hot wallet, which contains roughly 2 percent of the exchange’s total bitcoinholdings. “All of our other wallets are secure and unharmed,” he said, adding:

“The hackers had the patience to wait, and execute well-prepared actions through multiple seemingly independent accounts at the most opportune time. The transaction is structured in a way that passed our existing security checks. It was unfortunate that we were not able to block this withdrawal before it was executed.”

Hackers demand six Bitcoins for Telangana, Andhra power portals restoration

Director (Projects and IT) of SPDCL, assuring no data breach said the website of their organisation is open and that of Northern Power Distribution Company Limited is in the process of restoration

Current Affairs: Hackers, who attacked websites of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh state power utilities, have demanded six Bitcoins (nearly Rs 20 lakh) as ransom to give description key to restore the sites, police said Friday. T Srinivas, Director (Projects and IT) of Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (SPDCL), assuring no data breach said the website of their organisation is open and that of Northern Power Distribution Company Limited is in the process of restoration.

“They (ransomware attackers) demanded six Bitcoins. Normally the attackers leave a link for paying ransom. In this case the websites were restored to normalcy even before they sent the link. We are continuing our investigation,” Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crimes) KCS Raghu Vir told PTI. The official further said the link which the malware leaves for ransom cannot be traced and previous history of ransomware attacks proved they originated from Central Europe and some African nations.

Srinivas said the websites and systems are managed by TCS and experts from the IT giant have flown in to restore them. “Our website is open now. There is no harm to the data. Our servers are secured,” he said. A staff of the Power Distribution Company of Telangana Thursday received a mail from an unknown person and when he inadvertently clicked on it, the virus (ransomware) attack took over the entire system…

Bitcoin at 4-month high as cryptocurrency market suddenly springs to life

The cryptocurrency briefly topped $5,000 and the value of digital assets tracked by CoinMarketCap.com jumped by about $17 billion in less than an hour

crypto currency: An unexpected flood in Bitcoin sent the world’s most prominent cryptographic money to the largest amount since November, shocking the $160 billion market for computerized resources following three months of quiet. Dealers attempted to pinpoint purposes behind the rally, however some prominent a flood crisp enthusiasm after Bitcoin ruptured the $4,200 level. The cryptographic money quickly bested $5,000 and the estimation of advanced resources followed by CoinMarketCap.com bounced by about $17 billion in under 60 minutes.

Abrupt swings in Bitcoin are just the same old thing new, however value activity had been generally quelled for the current year as financial specialists gauged the prospects for standard selection after a year ago’s 74 percent accident. Market members state huge purchase arranges in Bitcoin can frequently prompt outsized moves, to some degree since volume is spread crosswise over many settings. Pattern following individual financial specialists and short covering can likewise intensify unpredictability.

“The Bitcoin showcase and crypto currency advertise all in all keeps on being little in respect to the remainder of the business sectors – and passionate,” said Jehan Chu, overseeing accomplice at blockchain speculation and warning firm Kenetic Capital. “It’s still particularly subject to floods of excitement. I don’t think today is anything uncommon.”

Indeed, even in the wake of paring a portion of its increase, Bitcoin was exchanging up 15 percent at $4,737.59 as of 11:35 a.m. in New York. Opponent coins Ether, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash bounced by twofold digits. Digital currency connected stocks including Remixpoint Inc. also, CMC Markets Plc progressed. George Harrap, CEO at Bitspark, said he’s putting “most things on delay” until the market settles down. His contacts in the Bitcoin people group presently can’t seem to distinguish an impetus for the abrupt bounce…

Facebook’s cryptocurrency Facecoin: Why you should be sceptical

Like many other companies, Facebook is exploring ways to leverage the power of blockchain technology

Facebook is reportedly preparing to launch its own version of Bitcoin, for use in its messaging applications, WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram. Could this “Facecoin” be the long-awaited breakthrough by a global technology giant into the lucrative market for retail financial services? Or will it be yet another exaggerated “crypto” project, buying into the continuing excitement about decentralised peer-to-peer exchange but, in the end, not delivering very much? Time will tell, but my two decades of research into the economics of payments makes me sceptical.

We know little about Facebook’s plans. So far there is just one company statement about a new group set up to look into cryptocurrencies reported by Bloomberg: “Like many other companies, Facebook is exploring ways to leverage the power of blockchain technology. This new small team is exploring many different applications. We don’t have anything further to share”…(Read More)

Reasons to be sceptical

While this is a fascinating development, some scepticism is in order. If there is one common feature to the many hundreds of crypto and blockchain finance projects announced over the past four years, it is exaggerated early claims.

In one ongoing research project, I have found that of 103 projects announced since 2015 applying so-called blockchain technologies to financial services, all but a handful have quietly disappeared. None have yet been taken through to commercial-scale launch (although around half a dozen may achieve that by 2021)...(Read More)

Ten years of Bitcoin: How it started and what the future might hold

With Bitcoin, we have seen extraordinary hype, with astronomical price booms and busts, and thousands of spin-off cryptocurrencies and private blockchains that are all just variations of the original

A mysterious, anonymous entity known as “Satoshi Nakamoto” posted a white paper on October 31 2008 entitled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”. It was the first time that the concept of Bitcoin entered the world.|BS| But outside of the cypherpunk mailing lists – those promoting the use of privacy-enhancing technology – this event was hardly noticed. Ten years on, who hasn’t at least heard of the cryptocurrency?

On just nine pages, the white paper explained how the Bitcoin system would work. Many attempts at electronic cash had already been made going right back to computer scientist David Chaum’s “Digicash” developed in the 1980s. Using an intricate dance of cryptography, Digicash enabled people to pay each other online anonymously, yet prevented users from sending the same money to two different people at the same time (the so-called “double spending problem”).Read More..

Nakamoto’s vision

Business Standard|Previous attempts came close to creating secure digital cash, but there was always one major problem they encountered: the need for a trusted third party like a bank to maintain the system in some way. Nakamoto’s white paper solved this problem by distributing the process of maintaining a totally transparent public ledger (known as the blockchain) among a network of competing “miners”.

Cryptokidnapping Gujarat-style, or how to lose $3 bn of bitcoin in India

Crypto losses could be larger than India’s biggest bank scam

Accusations of tax evasion and police corruption, a kidnapper who was kidnapped, a fugitive politician, and billions in bitcoin lost. This is crypto-trading Gujarat-style.

The ingredients are part of an investigation in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state into allegations that investors poured cash into a bitcoin-based Ponzi scheme that could exceed the country’s largest banking scandal. The fallout extends as far as Texas and has embroiled a former lawmaker, tarnishing Modi’s ruling party months before an election.

Bitcoin

It began in February, when property developer Shailesh Bhatt charged into the Home Minister’s office in Modi’s home state of Gujarat, claiming he had been kidnapped by a group of policemen and told to pay 200 bitcoin, worth some $1.8 million at the time, for his release. He said he had nowhere else to go.

The state’s elite Criminal Investigation Department was called in and the evidence it has uncovered points to a potential fraud on an epic scale. Eight policemen have been indicted and suspended pending trial. The abduction was allegedly spearheaded by Bhatt’s associate, Kirit Paladiya, and masterminded by Paladiya’s uncle Nalin Kotadiya, a former lawmaker in Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, according to Ashish Bhatia, the lead CID investigator. Bhatt has been charged too, as the allegations of kidnapping widened.

Article source : BS

JioCoin: Reliance planning own cryptocurrency, Akash Ambani to lead project

The company aspires to get into the Internet-of-things business and blockchain will help its foray

Reliance Jio is planning to create a cryptocurrency of its own called 'JioCoin', and will put together a young team of 50-odd professionals under Akash Ambani to kickstart the project, a Livemint report claims. The Ambani scion is reportedly interested in developing blockchain technology to aid the development of smart contacts and cryptocurrency payment-enabled supply chains.

Blockchain is a digital ledger that works as a book-keeper for cryptocurrencies.

'Jio' a leap into Reliance's future?

Reliance Jio has disrupted India's telecom sector in the past year-and-a-half by offering services at hyper-competitive prices, forcing other telcos to follow suit.

Reliance Industries, the oil-to-telecom conglomerate that holds Jio is reportedly mulling an IPO in late 2018 or early 2019. The group has already pumped in $31 billion worth of investment in Jio.

The Livemint report quoted a Jio official as saying that the company aspires to get into the Internet-of-things business and blockchain technology is supposed to help its foray.

ALSO READ: How 'Internet of Things' will change the world as we know it

IoT is technology that allows physical objects like wearable technology, smartphones, other electronic devices to be connected. From smart cities to driverless cars and smart factories, and smart homes the Internet of Things is supposed to enter every aspect of people's lives.

Reliance celebrated forty years of its existence a couple of weeks back, where Mukesh Ambani's children- Aakash, Isha, Anant were projected as the petrochemical behemoth's next-generation leaders.

Click more about jiocoin

Looking at cryptocurrencies? These altcoins are rising faster than bitcoin

Ethereum, the second-largest by market value, has roughly tripled in the last two months

Bitcoin alternatives are closing the gap with the market leader after names like stellar and cardano became red hot as 2017 was closing.

The biggest cryptocurrency's share of market value has fallen to a record 36 per cent from 56 per cent a month ago, according to CoinMarketCap prices for coins and tokens. Stellar, designed for cross-border payments, has more than doubled in the first trading days of this year, achieving a record market cap of more than $13 billion.

That kind of move raises questions as to whether speculators will drive up second-tier digital coins at the expense of bitcoin, even though they have different purposes. The paper value of all cryptocurrencies combined has more than doubled to almost $700 billion in the past month.

"The altcoins today, in large part, are not trying to be bitcoin competitors," said Lex Sokolin, global director of fintech strategy at Autonomous Research LLP in London. "They are doing something else entirely -- ethereum as a smart-contracts platform, iota as a machine-economy token, ripple for interbank payments, and so on." How each is used "should become increasingly relevant as the novelty of crypto wears off."

Crypto correlation

Relative performance is now a multibillion-dollar question as professional investors search for ways to value digital assets that seem to defy traditional techniques, such as profit and dividend potential for equities, or industrial-demand outlooks for commodities. Correlation, for example, is one of many technical-analysis tools used across asset classes in forecasting, and altcoins historically have moved mostly in step with bitcoin...Read more

England, Israel now planning bitcoin-like currency but can it replace cash?

This could help lure people back into using an official system that combines some of the benefits of both traditional and cryptocurrencies

market: Governments are extremely worried about cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. These virtual currencies mean you can make payments without involving the banks that most economies and government financial models are built on. People can transfer large amounts of money without the authorities knowing, potentially making it easier to evade tax or launder money.

So several countries’ central banks, including the Bank of England and the Bank of Israel, are reportedly planning to launch their own digital currencies. This could help lure people back into using an official system that combines some of the benefits of both traditional and cryptocurrencies. But the risks involved may be too great for many typical cash users to bear.

One of the major drawbacks of existing cryptocurrencies is that their value tends to swing widely and it is often difficult to pinpoint how much they are really worth. National cryptocurrencies would be tied to the value of the country’s official currency, making them less volatile and easier to actually use as a way of spending.

National cryptocurrencies would also make payments much faster because transactions would be recorded instantly and wouldn’t have to be cleared by a bank (although some implementations require around eight minutes to be verified). The existing systems for electronic payments and transfers can often involve several banks and companies sending each other data and running security checks that add time and expense to transactions. Cryptocurrencies are able to bypass this clearing process altogether because they don’t actually involve transfers from one entity to another...

Read more :  Bitcoin 

Investing in cryptocurrencies? Here's why you should be wary of North Korea

A North Korean hacking unit called Andariel seized a server at a South Korean company in the summer of 2017 and used it to mine about 70 Monero coins

Market: North Korean hackers are hijacking computers to mine cryptocurrencies as the regime in Pyongyang widens its hunt for cash under tougher international sanctions.
A hacking unit called Andariel seized a server at a South Korean company in the summer of 2017 and used it to mine about 70 Monero coins -- worth about $25,000 as of December 29 -- according to Kwak Kyoung-ju, who leads a hacking analysis team at the South Korean government-backed Financial Security Institute.

The case underscores the increasing appetite from cyber-attackers for digital currencies that are becoming a source of income for the Kim Jong Un regime. North Korea is accelerating its pursuit of cash abroad as the world tightens its stranglehold on its conventional sources of money with sanctions cutting oil supplies and other trade bans.

"Andariel is going after anything that generates cash these days," said Kwak. "Dust gathered over time builds a mountain."

The hackers may have seized other computers to mine cryptocurrencies and appear to prefer Monero because the currency is more focused on privacy and easier to hide and launder than bitcoin, Kwak said, citing the analysis of the server. Andariel was able to take control of the server undetected by its operator, he said.

A cryptocurrency can be earned if a complex mathematical problem is solved, but it requires high-powered computers that often only corporations can afford. Not every company spends as much on protecting their computers from hackers. Yapian, the owner of bitcoin exchange Youbit, said in December it would close after getting breached....

Read more: Bitcoin news

In bitcoin's worst week since 2013, BigB's $100-mn kitty considerably down

The Bitcoin-driven top-up to Bachchan's fortunes comes in the backdrop of Stampede recently listing one of its subsidiaries, Longfin Corp, on the Nasdaq exchange in the US

The crazy swings of Bitcoin prices added more than $100 million to megastar Amitabh Bachchan's fortunes within days, but most of it got wiped out even faster -- thanks to a small stake in a hitherto unknown firm associated with the web of cryptocurrencies.

There may be further such fluctuations with the craze for Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies continuing to drive their prices and the regulatory risks remaining a big drag for the prices that saw Bitcoin skyrocketing to near $20,000 just a few days back before plunging back by almost half and then again recovering to $15,000 level.

While lakhs of Indians are said to have taken a fancy to the Bitcoin and other such virtual currencies, Bachchan is probably the first big name from the country to get associated with this big buzzword -- albeit indirectly and because of a small investment that is at least 3-4 years old.

The link is a Hyderabad-based company named Stampede Capital, which describes itself as a "research driven global trade house" and a "liquidity provider and market maker" at various exchanges driving "millions of dollars trading volume everyday across the globe in nano seconds".

ALSO READ : Cryptocurrency Stocks Still Holding Gains Despite 30% Fall In Bitcoin

In its regulatory filings, the company lists Bachchan as an "individual non-promoter shareholder" with a small stake of 2.38 per cent at the end of last quarter. As per the BSE records, Bachchan figures on the list of shareholders (with 1 per cent or more stake) since at least June 2014, though the quantum he is holding has been changing somewhat.

As on June 30, 2014, Bachchan held 3.39 per cent in the company which could have been worth around Rs 9 crore at that time (going by the share price around then), while the value of his latest holding is almost half at about Rs 4.7 crore.

The Bitcoin-driven top-up to Bachchan's fortunes comes in the backdrop of Stampede recently listing one of its subsidiaries, Longfin Corp, on the Nasdaq exchange in the US....

Click here : Bitcoin

Bitcoin tops $11,000 barrier after $1,000 surge in 12 hours

bitcoin uses encryption and a blockchain database that enables the fast and anonymous transfer of funds

Markets : Bitcoin zoomed past $11,000 to hit a record high for the sixth day in a row on Wednesday after gaining more than $1,000 in just 12 hours, stoking concerns that a rapidly swelling bubble could be set to burst in spectacular fashion.

After soaring more than 1,000 percent since the start of the year, bitcoin rose as much as 15 per cent on Wednesday.

It topped $10,000 for the first time in early Asia trading, before surging above $11,000 less than 12 hours later to reach $11,395 on Luxembourg-based Bitstamp, one of the largest and most liquid cryptocurrency exchanges, and then dipping back below $11,000.

Bitcoin's rapid ascent has led to countless warnings that it has reached bubble territory in recent weeks. But the warnings have had little effect, with dozens of new crypto-hedge funds entering the market and retail investors piling in.

The world's largest bitcoin wallet provider, San Francisco-based Coinbase, signed up 300,000 new users between last Wednesday and Sunday, during the US Thanksgiving holiday, according to data compiled by Altana cryptocurrency fund manager Alistair Milne. It now counts more than 13 million customers.

The evidence suggests that few of the users are buying bitcoin to use it as a means of exchange, but are speculating to increase their capital.

"What's happening right now has nothing to do with bitcoin's functionality as a currency - this is pure mania that's taken hold," said Garrick Hileman, a research fellow at the University of Cambridge's Judge Business School.

"This is very much a bubble that will very much correct itself at some point and people need to be very careful."

Hileman, who last week gave a lecture to the Bank of England on the risks of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, also flagged the risk of the whole market collapsing entirely.

"There's always the possibility that some fundamental cryptographic flaw that we can't solve craters the whole space, or that regulators unite and decide this represents systemic risk and actually could trigger the next financial crisis," he said.

"Exit Ramps"

Created in 2008, bitcoin uses encryption and a blockchain database that enables the fast and anonymous transfer of funds outside of a conventional centralized payment system.

It has far outstripped gains seen in any traditional asset classes or currencies this year. It rise accelerated in recent months as exchanges such as the CME Group Inc and the Chicago Board Options Exchange announced plans to offer futures contracts for the cryptocurrency.

Read More about Bitcoin

Bitcoin at all-time high, tops $10,000 in some exchanges

It has soared more than 900 per cent so far this year, posting the largest gain of all asset classes

 

 

Virtual currency bitcoin soared to an all-time high above $10,000 on Tuesday on some smaller exchanges and digital currency indexes, but remained just below that milestone in major trading platforms such as Luxembourg-based BitStamp.

Created in 2009, bitcoin uses encryption and a blockchain database that enables the fast and anonymous transfer of funds outside of a traditional centralised payment system.

It has soared more than 900 per cent so far this year, posting the largest gain of all asset classes, amid increased institutional demand for crypto-currencies as financial and mainstream use has expanded.
On the CEX.IO exchange, bitcoin hit $10,234. On crypto-currency index coinmarketcap.com, it touched $10,050.

On BitStamp, it hit a high of $9,968 and last traded up 1.7 per cent on the day at $9,876.99.
Neither did it reach $10,000 on Coinbase's digital asset US-based exchange GDAX, or on Gemini Exchange, owned and operated by virtual currency entrepreneurs Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

"With bitcoin nearing $10,000, long-time bitcoiners finally feel vindicated that their currency that has been ridiculed for years, is at last being taken seriously," said Sol Lederer, blockchain director at US technology company LOOMIA.

"Bitcoin's future is still uncertain; it faces the same serious technical challenges it has for years and faces stiff competition from newer, more sophisticated blockchains. But even if it were to crash, it's apparent that bitcoin is here to stay."

In some emerging markets, bitcoin has hit well over $10,000. In Zimbabwe, bitcoin traded at $17,875 on Monday. Tuesday's price in Zimbabwe was not available.

In South Korean exchanges, bitcoin was already close to $11,000 or higher. It traded at nearly $11,000 on Tuesday on bithumb after hitting the $10,000 milestone on Monday. At Coinone, bitcoin traded at more than $11,700, and at $11,734 on Korbit.

Bitcoin has been boosted as exchanges such as the CME Group Inc and the Chicago Board Options Exchange announced plans to launch futures contracts for the currency.

Mike Novogratz, a former macro hedge fund manager at Fortress Investment Group, said in a Reuters Investment Summit earlier this month that mainstream institutional investors were about six to eight months from adopting bitcoin.

Bitcoin tumbles as PBOC declares initial coin offerings illegal

Bitcoin tumbled as much as 11.%, the most since July, to $4,326.75

Bitcoin tumbled the most since July after China’s central bank said initial coin offerings are illegal and asked all related fundraising activity to be halted immediately, issuing the strongest regulatory challenge so far to the burgeoning market for digital token sales.

The People’s Bank of China said on its website Monday that it had completed investigations into ICOs, and will strictly punish offerings in the future while penalising legal violations in ones already completed. The regulator said that those who have already raised money must provide refunds, though it didn’t specify how the money would be paid back to investors.

It also said digital token financing and trading platforms are prohibited from doing conversions of coins with fiat currencies. Digital tokens can’t be used as currency on the market and banks are forbidden from offering services to initial coin offerings.

“This is somewhat in step with, maybe not to the same extent, what we’re starting to see in other jurisdictions —the short story is we all know regulations are coming,” said Jehan Chu, managing partner at Kenetic Capital in Hong Kong, which invests in and advises on token sales. “China, due to its size and as one of the most speculative IPO markets, needed to take a firmer action.”

Bitcoin tumbled as much as 11.4 percent, the most since July, to $4,326.75. The ethereum cryptocurrency was down more than 16 per cent Monday, according to data from Coindesk.

ICOs are digital token sales that have seen unchecked growth over the past year, raising $1.6 billion. They have been deemed a threat to China’s financial market stability as authorities struggle to tame financing channels that sprawl beyond the traditional banking system.

GST is a big positive, but I'm not investing in India yet: Jim Rogers

Interview with chairman of Rogers Holding

Economy news : As global equity markets continue on their journey north, JIM ROGERS, chairman of Rogers Holdings tells Puneet Wadhwa that he expects a correction going ahead. His decision of not to invest right now is not India specific, but has to do with the problems relating to how the major global economies are shaping up. Edited excerpts:

India has implemented the biggest tax reform in history - the goods and services tax (GST). What are your thoughts on the development?

With the implementation of GST, Prime Minister Modi has done what he said earlier. If GST can overhaul the tax system in India, it will be wonderful. This is the best thing to have happened to India by a politician since its independence, i.e. since the last 70 years.

What do you expect from the government in its remaining tenure? Do you see populist measures take centre stage with 2019 general elections in mind?

Well, Narendra Modi has done many populist things in the past. I think the last Union Budget had a number of populist measures as well. But, I don't know how populist will the GST will prove to be, as it is likely to disrupt a lot of people's lives. However, in the end, the measure will be good as it will overhaul the tax system in India. With the elections coming up in 2019, I am sure there will be other populist measures. Every politician in the world prepares for elections by giving away as much as he can.

What's your view on India now as an investment destination? Are you planning to invest here?

No, not yet. That's because I am not investing anywhere in the world right now. I am worried about the global financial markets and hence, I am in a wait-and-watch mode. If the United States (US), Japan or any other major market has problems, it will be a bad one. I am worried that the next time we have an economic slowdown, it's going to be very, very bad and will impact everyone. My decision of not to invest right now is not India specific, but has to do with the problems relating to how the major global economies are shaping up.

So, what's your view on the global financial markets from here on? Is a crash coming soon?

I expect a global financial problem in the latter half of the current financial year or in 2018, especially in the US. The US is the largest debtor nation in the world now, and its debts are mounting. Its stock markets are at an all-time high and the central bank is continuing to raise interest rates. I expect problems in the financial markets sometime later this year, or in the next year.

What factors will trigger a correction, in your view?

There are many things. It is always a combination of factors that we don't expect. In 2007, Iceland went bankrupt and most people didn't know there was a country by that name and that it was running into a crisis. And then Ireland went broke. And then Bear Stearns went broke. Lehman Brothers, too, went broke. Problems spiral like that and then cause a crash across the financial markets.
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