It is important to keep in mind that, while these tokens may have a value on their own, they represent an outstanding debt. Some traders may want to buy up these coins to gain a stake in the parent company over time. Whether or not that is the best business decision remains to be seen. After all, Bitfinex was hacked and lost US$65m once, and it could happen again.

http://fintechist.com/bitfinexs-bfx-token-loses-nearly-70-value/

This is a rather positive turn of events, albeit it is not entirely surprising either. Russian government officials, as well as the country’s central bank, are keen on exploring blockchain technology. While they may not want anything to do with cryptocurrency just yet, this is a move in the right direction to promote the technology.

http://themerkle.com/russian-payment-company-qiwi-considers-switching-to-blockchain/

According to a private conversation we received, Bitfinex will restore withdrawals and trading on the exchange platform either today or tomorrow. Somewhere in the next 36 hours, traders should have full access to their account again. The bigger question is how many people will attempt to fully cash out their funds from Bitfinex and never return.

http://themerkle.com/bitfinex-will-resume-trading-and-withdrawals-in-the-next-36-hours/

To make matters worse, there is already a Breadwallet application in the Apple App Store right now. If the company even bothered to check for similar names, they would easily spot this latest submission is entirely fake. Then again, their security team can’t even be bothered to complete that simple task at this stage.

http://themerkle.com/another-malicious-breadwallet-clone-appears-in-the-apple-app-store/

According to a report sent to us via email, there is a new kind of bug on the BTC-E exchange. The user told us how he placed a fiat currency buy order for Bitcoin on the platform. After seeing it partially filled, the transfer was canceled in the hopes of buying slightly cheaper coins. This is not unusual exchange behavior by any means.

http://themerkle.com/btc-e-may-be-vulnerable-to-a-funds-duplication-bug/

Getting involved in Bitcoin development is not a quick process by any means. Chaincode Labs acknowledges this fact, as they will include discussions on the protocol. Furthermore, there is also room to discuss all of the projects that are looking for active contributors. This should give aspiring coders a better overview of what they can engage in, and where to start.

http://fintechist.com/chaincode-labs-announces-four-week-bitcoin-developer-course/

Unfortunately, that does not mean bill AB 1326 disappears into the obscure. In fact, government officials have revived the bill and made it even worse than before. While some people might argue regulation for Bitcoin is positive, this bill goes to show it can have a negative impact as well.

http://fintechist.com/revised-california-bill-ab-1326-makes-bitlicense-look-soft/

While Apple is still not planning to take much action against these fake Bitcoin wallets in their App Store, more details are becoming available regarding the people who downloaded them. One Bitcoin user even claims to have lost US$10,000, which is quite a significant amount. But the total losses due to these malicious apps is much bigger than that, unfortunately.

http://themerkle.com/malicious-bitcoin-wallets-on-ios-cause-us20k-in-losses/

Colombian authorities, or to be more precise, the financial authority of Colombia, has prohibited all cryptocurrency operations in the country. Their decision is based on the ideology of Bitcoin not being labeled as “money” in the country. But there is more, as these government officials want to make Bitcoin activity punishable by law, similar to what Russia is doing.

http://themerkle.com/colombian-colbitex-exchange-shuts-down-over-regulatory-concerns/

Anyone who downloads this fake BFXCoin wallet will be infected with some malware. Particularly exchange users need to be very careful with these emails, as they may become subject to keylogging. While this is an obviously failed attempt to scam users, there will be some people who click these links regardless.

http://fintechist.com/new-phishing-email-appears-bitfinex-reopens-exchange/

There is a secondary reason for not making these assets tradeable as well. On the blog post, Bitfinex mentions how these coins can be exchanged for company shares in IFinex, the overarching entity that runs Bitfinex. If someone was able to obtain the majority of these coins, he or she would gain a significant stake in the business. It is not hard to see why the company would want to avoid that situation.

http://themerkle.com/making-bfxcoin-tradeable-is-not-in-the-best-interest-of-bitfinex/

At the same time, this is an exciting opportunity for Bitcoin remittance in Nigeria. Since cryptocurrency operates outside of the control of the central bank, there is no way to prevent people from using it. Moreover, users can become their own agents who convert between Bitcoin and fiat currency, which would create a whole new market for the African country.

http://themerkle.com/nigerian-central-bank-revokes-nearly-all-money-transfer-licenses/

While it is certainly true users are not able to access their Bitfinex account balances, for now, this has nothing to do with Bitcoin technology itself. When putting one’s trust in a centralized platform that controls your money, these things are bound to happen. However, that does not mean there is anything wrong with Bitcoin or the network. One company has been affected by this hack, and some people automatically assume Bitcoin is crippled because of it. This is unfortunate for Vietnamese investors, but they are not the only ones affected.

http://fintechist.com/vietnamese-bitcoin-speculators-confused-bitfinex-hack/

Gatecoin wants to repay these ETH debts as soon as possible. To do so, the company is exploring fundraising options and secured a US$500k investment already. Several unnamed parties in greater China have also shown an interest in this opportunity. While this is going on, the exchange continues to earn fees from OTC block trades. Do keep in mind the reconciliation process for all users may take some time, though.

http://fintechist.com/gatecoin-announces-relaunch-and-ethereum-reconciliation-plans/

It is rather interesting to learn the online gambling regulator of Malta is rather hesitant towards approaching Bitcoin these days. The wait-and-see approach employed by traditional financial institutions is rather uncommon in the online gaming and gambling industry. After all, all of these companies want to attract as many customers around the world as possible.

http://themerkle.com/malta-gaming-authority-refuses-member-requests-to-accept-bitcoin/

Counterparty is a very versatile ecosystem that allows anyone in the world to issue their own tokens. Mainly Japanese cryptocurrency enthusiasts seem to be taking a liking to this concept. Then again, tokens have always been popular in Japan, so this is not a complete surprise either.

http://fintechist.com/japanese-zaif-exchange-lists-three-counterparty-assets/

As we speak, services are being restored to the Bitfinex platform. Do keep in mind this will only encompass limited functionality in a secure environment. Getting the site back online so users can check their account balances is the top priority right now. The majority of functionalities will not be accessible yet, as the team plans out to restore those in stages.

http://fintechist.com/bitfinex-plans-gradual-relaunch-bitcoin-services/

This matter becomes more intriguing when taking into account how every Bitfinex transaction has to be co-signed by BitGo. If their service was not breached, it is unlikely their private key was issued to steal the funds. This leaves very few other options on the table, albeit one should exclude an inside job either at this stage.

http://themerkle.com/is-bitgo-to-blame-for-the-bitfinex-bitcoin-theft/

To industry experts, the news of this hack comes as a surprise. Bitfinex implemented BitGo wallet security a while ago, which should make these heists impossible. Multisignature storage requires more than one private key to send funds, yet somehow the hacker obtained at last two. This leads some people to speculate how the BitGo private key was obtained. However, it is also possible the Bitfinex API token for BitGo was abused in the process.

http://fintechist.com/us65m-worth-bitcoin-stolen-bitfinex-despite-bitgo-security/

Any company in the blockchain industry has to evolve constantly. Key hires are an important aspect of growing a business, and Digital Asset Holdings wants to meet clients’ needs. Their new hires will staff offices in New York, London, and Frankfurt, for the time being. It is good to see the company expand its presence in Europe, as blockchain innovation can really thrive on the continent.

http://themerkle.com/new-key-hires-should-help-put-digital-asset-holdings-on-the-global-map/