Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck has confirmed that it has suffered what appears to be the biggest hack in the history of the technology.

In this new column, I’ll be wrapping up the week’s bitcoin headlines, and explaining what they mean to you, the New Finance investor. First, some background on me: I first used bitcoin in 2011 and have been writing about bitcoin on a full-time basis since early 2014. Currently, I contribute to Forbes and Bitcoin Magazine; my work has also been featured in Nasdaq, Business Insider, American Banker, Motherboard, and many other media outlets. I also do a daily bitcoin news show.

Journalist. Mostly Bitcoin stuff. @BitcoinMagazine, sometimes @yBitcoin and @DistLedger. Contact: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/author/aaron-van-wirdum/ …

European Central Bank Executive Board member Benoit Coeure urged Group of 20 nations to discuss ways to regulate Bitcoin at their upcoming meeting, adding that digital currencies could also be a force for good by pushing countries to upgrade their payment systems.

Iron Bridge CEO said that even if the price of Bitcoin does collapse, the venture would still be worthwhile given how low AECO prices have fallen

Not sure how this news isn’t piquing more interest:…

Bobby Lee, the founder and CEO of China’s oldest bitcoin exchange BTCC, told Business Insider: “It’s gone underground.”

In Surat – the hub for cryptocurrencies in India, the country’s Income Tax Department has raided real estate group Happy Home Builders, revealing undeclared bitcoins holdings worth about  $47 million. In a recent survey, the Indian tax officials pointed that several major bitcoin

Bitcoin’s price spike has led to Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, generating more trading revenue than Charles Schwab.

Cryptocurrencies took the stage Thursday at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, with the global elite event featuring a discussion that centered primarily on the question of whether bitcoin is a currency.

Ad campaign lets attackers profit while unwitting users watch videos.

An end-of-the-year report from US cyber-security firm Malwarebytes reveals that ransomware, adware, and cryptojacking were extremely popular with cyber-criminals in 2017.

At least, that’s the contention of many micropayment enthusiasts, whose impatience for the Lightning Network has led to an influx of real bitcoin being transacted over the network, even though developers caution people against doing so since it’s still in the testing phase.

The smaller cryptocurrencies may have hit their peak for the year – a potential signal it’s time to buy bigger ones such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and EOS, according to Fundstrat.

As a junior associate helping manage a $100 million portfolio of equities, he had a first-hand view of the 2007-2008 collapse from the Swiss bank’s Los Angeles offices and recalls frantically taking screenshots of the price as Lehman Brothers’ stock collapsed to “essentially zero.”

Cryptocurrencies are a bubble and cannot function as actual currencies because of their volatility, legendary macro trader George Soros said from Davos, Switzerland. But he didn’t quite predict the crash that some naysayers have forecast.

Kyle’s note: Weird doublespeak here. Bitcoin is a bubble but it won’t crash because it’s useful?

Looking at a smartphone app showing the prices of cryptocurrencies, Lee Jae-sung sighed. The 24-year-old university student bought 5 million won ($4,666) worth of a little-known cryptocurrency called Nxt last month.To date, the cryptocurrency has lost about 64 percent of its value, and Lee has been suffering from insomnia these days.“I am repeatedly asking myself whether I should sell this at a loss, but I can’t make…

As Nordea Bank AB’s Bitcoin ban for staff has unions questioning the legality of the move, Sweden’s minister in charge of financial legislation says it’s understandable that the industry is resorting to such measures.

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Starbucks Corp. Chairman Howard Schultz said he believes digital currency will catch on with consumers, though not necessarily Bitcoin.

Blockchained to the rhythm.

In 2017, the price of the decentralized digital currency Bitcoin rose over 1,100 percent, peaking above $19,000 and spurring the total market capitalization of such cryptocurrencies to a peak of more than $830 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Kyle’s note: This article seems to indicate everyone is trading cyypto. Might be an indicator of a bubble when DJs are giving trading tips.

Approximately 400 thousand Dutch own cryptocurrency, according to a study by Maurice de Hond. In total they own around 3 billion euros worth of these digital coins, the Telegraaf reports. De Hond, of polling site Peil.nl, investigated Dutch interest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum in the run-up to the Day of the Crypto at RAI in Amsterdam on Monday and Tuesday. During these days, people interested can learn about investing in cryptocurrencies and the risks involved. Tickets can be bought here. 

The Bitcoin craze has made its way to Jackson.

The UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies at University College London (UCL CBT) is launching a new pilot project for blockchain-based verification of …

Controversial anti-virus software developer John McAfee will soon be, in his words, “toiling in obscurity.”

Andreas Antonopoulos has said he doesn’t expect regulated exchanges such as Coinbase to run the Lightning Network as it gains mainstream acceptance.

At BitPay, we want to make it simple for online merchants to accept bitcoin payments which is why we are updating our payment solution plugins.

Scouring the blockchain, researchers found years-old evidence tying Silk Road transaction to users’ public accounts.

A Bethlehem man was convicted Thursday in federal court of selling synthetic fentanyl to an Orlando-area man whose fiancee fatally overdosed on the drug.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detailed how it is working to expose transactions made by illegal drug traffickers using cryptocurrencies to cover their trail.

According to U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut John H. Durham, a 47-year-old man from Essex pleaded guilty to buying and selling significant quantities of several drugs on the darknet. Authorities from local police, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Drug Enforcement Administration handled the case. And during the investigation, the law enforcement agencies seized several packages headed to and from Peter Ceplenski’s home address. Ceplenski will reappear in court for sentencing in April 2018.

In what may be a first, a NASA official has made a public statement on blockchain technology.

Dreyfuss

A large-scale malicious campaign has surreptitiously installed mining software for the Monero cryptocurrency on at least 15 million systems around the world.

That said the page is unclear in a few ways. What’s the $1? Is that just to validate I have an account (meaning I get to keep it)? Is that the cost to enable the button, meaning once I transfer it I get unlimited future button clicks? Is that the cost per click of the button? Is that some inherent Etherium contract cost? Is there an inherent cost to clicking the button? If so, who set it, you or the blockchain processors?

Kyle’s note: Someone posted an Ethereum-based smart contract game on Hacker News. The smart contract turned out to be a black hole.

Elisha Owusu Akyaw is a young entrepreneur from Ghana is making through his bitcoin venture.

Kyle’s note: So ICOs are being marketed by a literal 16-year old. Makes sense.

The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission filed a cease-and-desist order against four companies and an operator running an initial coin offering (ICO), citing securities registration regulations, a newly released document reveals.

SINGAPORE — An Institute of Technical Education (ITE) student on an internship is working at a shop in electronics goods mall Sim Lim Square, installing components to create a cryptocurrency mining rig. 


Jeric, who did not want to give his full name and age, first became interested

Due to the cryptocurrency craze, which is skyrocketing the price of graphics cards, now is a really bad time to buy a GPU.

Maingear partners with Unikrn to create PCs tailored specifically for bitcoin mining.

China’s central bank is considering its own digital currency, but it may not be built with blockchain technology, according a senior official.

Cryptolawyer | Director of Research @CoinCenter | JD @NYULaw | Board Member @ZcashFoundation | Email: http://21.co/valkenburgh  | PGP: http://keybase.io/valkenburgh 

TOKYO (AP) — A senior U.S. Treasury official touring Asia has urged banks and financial regulators in the region and elsewhere to do more to tighten oversight of booming trading i

A self-regulatory association in China is warning citizens against participating in overseas initial coin offerings (ICOs) and cryptocurrency trading.

Ukrainian politicians were required to declare their assets in an anti-corruption probe. Since there is no legal framework to tax cryptocurrencies, officials were eager embrace this form of ownership. Surprisingly, the largest number of BTC owners work in the Odessa regional council, with the Kiev Verhovnaya Rada only in second place. The leading cryptocurrencies declared were Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.

Change happened this AM with my Chase account, no longer are they processed as normal transactions (which would have lower fees and earn you…