The CEO of the world's largest asset manager sees "huge opportunities" for cryptocurrencies – but argues that work needs to be done before they become more widely accepted.

In a new interview with Bloomberg TV, BlackRock chief Larry Fink said that he's a "big believer", but that the current market today is primarily focused on speculation. His comments come months after the firm's chief strategist said that, to him, the cryptocurrency market charts at the time looked "pretty scary."

Fink said in the interview:

    "Related to cryptocurrencies, I'm a big believer in the potential of what a cryptocurrency can do. You see huge opportunities, but what we're talking about today, it's much more of a speculative platform, people are speculating on it."

Fink added that, thus far, his firm hasn't seen much interest from clients beyond "some speculative stuff" – a notable comment given that firms like Goldman Sachs are reportedly eyeing new trading services around cryptocurrencies.

"We're being asked that question but it's more of a venture capital type of interchange, but we're not hearing clients say 'we want to use this as an asset class'," he said.

And while cryptocurrencies' speculative nature is an issue for him, Fink argued their most important problem is that they are being utilized to launder money.

"As I said, it's much more of a speculative platform for Asia, and it's heavily used for money laundering," Fink told Bloomberg.

https://www.coindesk.com/blackrock-ceo-larry-fink-big-believer-cryptocurrency/

A day after it was reported that Wall Street investment giant Goldman Sachs is weighing whether to launch a bitcoin trading operation, its influential CEO took to Twitter to voice an open – yet decidedly neutral – position on the cryptocurrency.

"Still thinking about bitcoin," CEO Lloyd Blankfein wrote on the social media platform, going on to say that he wasn't giving his approval or disapproval.

Citing sources with knowledge of the effort, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Goldman is in the early stages of creating a trading operation specifically geared toward cryptocurrencies. At the same time, it's not clear at this time if the investment bank will go ahead with the plan. Blankfein made no mention of that report in his tweet.

His comments stand in contrast with those from fellow Wall Street banking CEO Jamin Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, who has made headlines in recent weeks for his declaration that, in his view, bitcoin is a fraud.

Other big-bank executives like Morgan Stanley's James Gorman have taken a more measured approach, with Gorman stating late last month that he thinks bitcoin is "more than a fad."

https://www.coindesk.com/goldman-sachs-ceo-no-conclusion-bitcoin-yet/

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the creation of a new cyber task force designed to target cyber-related misconduct and protect retail investors from cyber threats. Among other things, the unit will target initial coin offerings (ICOs) and other blockchain-based projects that run afoul of SEC regulations.

SEC Cyber Task Force to Investigate ICO Violations

The SEC announced the new cyber unit in a press release, stating that the task force will “focus on the Enforcement Division’s substantial cyber-related expertise on targeting cyber-related misconduct.” Specifically, this unit will target threats to the securities market such as market manipulation, hacking, dark web misconduct, intrusions into retail brokerage accounts, and threats to exchanges and other market infrastructure. Notably, the task force will also investigate “violations involving distributed ledger technology and initial coin offerings.”

That the SEC will scrutinize ICOs more closely should not be surprising. Earlier this month, SEC executives revealed that they perceive threats to retail investors within the ICO marketplace, noting that “with any kind of newsworthy event, roaches kind of crawl out of the woodwork and try to scam money off of investors.”

“Protecting the welfare of the Main Street investor has long been a priority for the Commission,” added Steven Peikin, Co-Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division.  “By dedicating additional resources and expertise to developing strategies to address misconduct that victimizes retail investors, the division will better protect our most vulnerable market participants.”

Indeed, the commission has apparently begun to put pressure on U.S.-based ICOs it considers securities. Protostarr, a startup that promised the ability to use crypto tokens to invest in internet celebrities and receive dividends from advertising revenue raised on the stars’ YouTube and Twitch channels, canceled its ICO after the agency informed the company’s CEO that it was investigating Protostarr for violations of securities regulations. It is not clear whether the SEC has begun to investigate any other specific ICOs.

Overstock Pioneers Compliant ICO Exchange

Recognizing that regulators are taking a more active look into the booming ICO markets, Overstock subsidiary tZero has formed a joint venture with RenGen LLC and the Argon Group to launch the first FINRA- and SEC-compliant ICO marketplace. The company states that this exchange will allow startups to embrace the “security” classification, opening the door for increased institutional investments within the cryptocurrency industry.

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/new-sec-cyber-task-force-will-oversee-icos-blockchain-tech/

Industry analysts predict the bitcoin price could surpass $6,000 by the end of the year, depending on whether the SegWit2x hard fork is implemented and, if so, how contentious and disruptive the fork is.

Bitcoin Price May Reach $6,000 by December

The bitcoin price rose nearly 75% during Q3 and has mostly recovered from the early-September contraction that was initiated by China’s blanket ban on initial coin offerings (ICOs) and bitcoin exchanges. On Monday, the bitcoin price rose as high as $4,470, although it has since dipped to a present value of $4,259.

Now that bitcoin has demonstrated consistent support for the $4,000 level, many analysts believe the bitcoin price will begin extending toward its record near $5,000, eventually reaching past it to a new all-time high.

    “Throughout the year we’ve been predicting the bitcoin price will surpass $5,000 and creep closer to $6,000 by year’s end. That prediction is looking more in line with market sentiment these days,” Thomas Glucksmann, head of APAC business development at bitcoin exchange Gatecoin, told CNBC in an interview.

CryptoCompare CEO Charles Hayter is not certain bitcoin will be able to rise quite that far by the end of the year, but he agrees with many other analysts who believe $5,000 is within sight. He believes that this uptrend has been and will continue to be spurred on by increased regulatory clarity in major sectors of the crypto economy.

    “Bitcoin’s biggest price catalyst is regulation. Japan has breathed life into the price and as the fog of uncertainty clears in other jurisdictions, clarity on regulation will release a break on the price,” he added.

…Depending on What Happens With SegWit2x

Of course, any number of hurdles could trip up bitcoin’s bull run before the end of the year, and there is one clear obstacle bitcoin faces during its march to $6,000: the contentious SegWit2x hard fork that is scheduled for November. SegWit2x was designed as an “upgrade” to the Bitcoin protocol, and though it has support from many mining operations and bitcoin firms, a large segment of the community — including all of the Bitcoin Core developers — opposes it.

Despite months of fierce debate, SegWit2x supporters and opponents remain entrenched in their positions. Unless one side concedes to the other or a compromise is reached, the network will split into two competing blockchains, each vying for the bitcoin moniker. As it currently stands, it is likely that the free market will decide which chain survives. But though this process may be fair, it will not be painless, and it is not known what short- and long-term ramifications it will have on bitcoin.

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/6000-bitcoin-price-within-reach-by-end-of-year/

Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, FINMA, is invited by the Crypto Valley Association to regulate the country’s booming cryptocurrency industry.

Crypto Valley

Of twenty-six Swiss cantons, or member states making up Switzerland’s confederation, Zug earned worldwide notoriety for its embracing of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.  

Indeed, with a population the size of a poorly attended American baseball game, Zug punches far above its relative weight in terms of technological enthusiasm. By summer of last year, the city itself even accepted bitcoin for some payments.

Cryptocurrencies are so part of the culture of Zug, it has come to be known colloquially as Crypto Valley, a play on tech movers and shakers in Silicon Valley, for example.

And Crypto Valley’s status has been seemingly sealed with Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) booming in value tenfold in about as many months this year, closing-in on 200 billion USD by year’s end.

    The growing regulatory chestnuts, excuses or pretexts to intervene, revolve around two themes popping up from world governments: money laundering and terrorism.

Switzerland alone brought to market over sixty percent of the largest ICOs, including Tezos’ breathtaking gathering of ether and bitcoin valued at nearly 250 million USD.

The country just finished hosting its very first ICO Summit, billed as “dedicated to crowdfunding in the blockchain industry.”

Success Breeds Attention and Dissonance

With success and enthusiasm comes attention, and with attention state regulators are usually not far behind.

Enter Swiss decade-old regulator, Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).

In a statement released on September 29th, FINMA announced its newly crafted FINMA Guidance 04/2017.

After acknowledging “the innovative potential of such technology” and how FINMA “has been supporting efforts in developing and implementing blockchain solutions in the Swiss finance industry for several years,” the online missive concludes perhaps new regulation might not be necessary.

FINMA seems to understand how “ICOs are structured from technical, functional and business standpoints varies markedly from offering to offering,” which is no small statement.

Dissonance creeps in because, up to this point, “ICOs are currently not governed by specific regulations, either globally or in Switzerland,” the release notes, leading readers to possibly question just why, now, regulators are needed or wanted, considering the massive amounts of wealth creation thus far.

Pretexts to Intervention?

The growing regulatory chestnuts, excuses or pretexts to intervene, revolve around two themes popping up from world governments: money laundering and terrorism.

The two subjects are virtual conversation ending, and can be used as magic escape hatches to avoid justifying state intervention in any meaningful or substantial way. China is a great example of this brute-force mentality.

FINMA stops short of new guidelines just yet, warning how “Swiss legislation on financial markets is principle-based; one such principle is technology neutrality. Collecting funds for one’s own account without a platform or issuing house is unregulated from a supervisory perspective in cases where repayment is not obliged, payment instruments have not been issued and no secondary market exists.”

Depending upon “how an ICO is structured, however, some parts of the procedure may already be covered by existing regulations.”

Nevertheless, the Crypto Valley Association (CVA) in its own press release on September 7th, urged and welcomed “clear, comprehensive yet flexible [state] regulation that clarifies the legal status of token launches, tokens and the investments made therein. We also believe the industry would benefit from a clear code of conduct surrounding token launches, to help companies fulfil their legal and moral obligations and give investors a clear understanding of the risks involved.”

Crypto Valley Association is a government-supported organization and includes members such as Ethereum and Thomson Reuters (TR) among its advisers.

Reuters, the news division of TR, quoted CVA President Oliver Bussmann approvingly:

“Bottom line, we welcome that the Swiss regulator is taking action and recognizes the need for clear guidance and oversight, especially with regards to KYC (know-your-client) compliance, while also fostering innovation.”

https://news.bitcoin.com/switzerlands-finma-eyes-crypto-valley/

This week a few popular Chinese bitcoin exchanges, BTCC, Bitkan, and Viabtc, shut down shop and stopped cryptocurrency trading operations. The closures were announced last month and follow the recent government decision to legislate virtual currencies on October 1.

Viabtc and BTCC Say Goodbye to the Crypto-Community

Last month many Chinese cryptocurrency trading platforms announced they would be closing their doors for an unknown amount of time. On September 30, BTCC and Viabtc said goodbye for now to the bitcoin ‘community’ and closed exchange operations.

“Dear friends, Viabtc has closed our Exchange service from 00:00 Sept 30th, 2017,” explains the Chinese exchange. “Viabtc has also completed CNY and crypto withdrawal of all users. We appreciate all your support and trust in us from all over the world — See you my friends.”

The exchange BTCC also bid farewell to the community as well and detailed the startup has been running nonstop since its inception stating;  

        "BTCC’s CNY exchange has stopped trading after operating for a world record of 2,305 days — Long live BTCC!"

Continue reading > https://news.bitcoin.com/chinese-exchanges-bid-farewell-to-crypto-community/

$150 Billion: Bitcoin Price Rally Leads Markets Closer to All-Time High

The bitcoin price continued to rally on Monday, and it carried the total cryptocurrency market cap past another significant threshold. Bitcoin now appears poised to challenge the $4,500 level, while ethereum maintains its position above $300 as it awaits the upcoming Metropolis protocol upgrade.



The crypto markets experienced higher-than-average weekend trading volume, with their 24-hour total piercing $3 billion at the time of writing. Against this backdrop, the cryptocurrency market cap padded its total by another $3 billion on Monday. It now sits above $150 billion for the first time in almost three weeks, placing it just $30 billion below its record high.




Continue reading > https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/150-billion-bitcoin-price-rally-leads-markets-closer-to-all-time-high/

The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) believes that cryptocurrencies may give traditional government-issued ones a "run for their money."

Speaking at a conference in London, IMF chief Christine Lagarde told attendees that she thinks "it may not be wise to dismiss virtual currencies."

Notably, she outlined possible scenarios in which a country – particularly those with "weak institutions and unstable national currencies" might actually embrace one more directly.

"Instead of adopting the currency of another country – such as the U.S. dollar – some of these economies might see a growing use of virtual currencies. Call it dollarization 2.0," she said.

One of the driving factors behind that potential evolution would be a shift in consumer preference for new currencies that are "easier and safer" than existing ones. That scenario could be further hastened if cryptocurrencies "actually become more stable," she said.

Lagarde went on to say:

    "So in many ways, virtual currencies might just give existing currencies and monetary policy a run for their money. The best response by central bankers is to continue running effective monetary policy, while being open to fresh ideas and new demands, as economies evolve."

That said, Lagarde noted earlier in her speech that such an outcome is, in her view, a distant prospect, saying that cryptocurrencies are "too volatile, too risky, too energy intensive, and because the underlying technologies are not yet scalable."

To date, the IMF has advocated a balanced approach on cryptocurrency regulation, voicing that position in a January 2016 staff paper. Lagarde has also voiced support for financial applications of blockchain, a subject that the IMF has explored on an organizational level as well.

https://www.coindesk.com/imf-head-christine-lagarde-it-may-not-be-wise-to-dismiss-virtual-currencies/

Macau’s financial regulator has explicitly barred banks and financial institutions from providing services to initial coin offerings or ICOs and virtual currencies.

The Monetary Authority of Macao, which also serves as Macau’s defacto central bank, has told all financial institutions in the region not to partake or provide services for any tokens related to ICOs or virtual currencies, like bitcoin. The regulator underlined recent events in Mainland China, where authorities announced a sweeping ban on all ICOs after deeming them an “illegal” method of fundraising.

In stating that “financial institutions and non-bank payment institutions are prohibited explicitly by Mainland authorities from providing services for these tokens and virtual currencies”, the Macau authority moved to “remind all the banking and payment institutions in Macao not to participate in or provide, directly or indirectly, any financial services for the related activities.”

Macau, formerly a Portuguese territory until 1999, is now an autonomous administrative region under China, similar to Hong Kong.

The notice also cited a previous release by the authority in 2014, warning the public against using digital currencies, specifically bitcoin.

The authority wrote at the time:

    "…Bitcoin is a type of virtual commodity which is neither a legal tender nor a financial instrument subject to supervision. Any trading of these commodities involves considerable risks, including but not limited to those relating to money laundering and terrorism financing, against which all participants should remain vigilant."

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/macau-regulator-forbids-banks-serving-icos-cryptocurrencies/

Last year, legacy exchange CME group provided a bitcoin price index with the intent of adding bitcoin futures. However, they decided not to follow through with those plans.  

Bryan Durkin, who heads Chicago-based CME, told Bloomberg they were not going to list bitcoin futures. He mentioned the technology is nascent, and that digitization technology is on their radar. He further stated, “I really don’t see us going forward with a futures contract in the very near future.” However, some investors want exposure to bitcoin. There is a market for indirect exposure via futures contracts.

Bitcoin Futures Contracts

Though CME will not provide futures pairings to its clients, some of their competitors are entering the futures markets. Chicago, CBOE Holdings Inc., is slated to add futures contracting for bitcoin to their platform. They plan on implementing futures contracts in the fourth quarter of next year, according to the Bloomberg article. CBOE formed an alliance with the Winklevoss venture Gemini Trust Co in order to bring clients these bitcoin future options.

Outside of the United States, other companies have tried their hands at offering bitcoin futures. Straits, a Singapore based company, introduced futures trading last year. Straits partnered with Bitpay to make the transition seamless. Jamie Redman, writing for news.Bitcoin.com, covered this story:

        "Singapore-based Straits Financial offers a multitude of trading vehicles, such as commodity futures, OTC markets, and derivatives…Straits Financial says that Singapore has firmly established itself as Asia’s international financial hub. The company says it aspires to keep the country’s role in finance flourishing. By collaborating with BitPay, the brokerage house will give its clientele access to certain markets using Bitcoin."

The growing introduction of futures markets signifies that investors and traders want more exposure to bitcoin on legacy financial exchanges.

Continue reading > https://news.bitcoin.com/large-legacy-exchange-cme-group-bypasses-bitcoin-futures/

Ex-Fortress Billionaire: Crypto Market Will Be 'Largest Bubble of Our Lifetimes'

A former principal at Fortress Investment Group is reportedly moving to establish a $500 million hedge fund focused on cryptocurrency and blockchain.

Bloomberg News, citing a source with knowledge of the plans, reports that Mike Novogratz is investing $150 million of his own, with an additional $350 million expected to be raised from outside sources by the end of 2017. Novogratz opted not to confirm or deny his plans when asked directly, according to the outlet.

If true, the initiative would represent the billionaire hedge funder's most aggressive move in the space to date. Novogratz previously made headlines earlier this year when he revealed that 10% of his net worth has been invested in bitcoin and ethereum. Speaking with Bloomberg, Novograts said that his stake in the market has since grown.

Even if he isn't setting aside funds to back a cryptocurrency-specific hedge fund, Novogratz made it clear that he intends to take part in what he called "the largest bubble of our lifetimes."

He told Bloomberg:

    "This is going to be the largest bubble of our lifetimes. Prices are going to get way ahead of where they should be. You can make a whole lot of money on the way up, and we plan on it."

https://www.coindesk.com/ex-fortress-billionaire-crypto-market-will-largest-bubble-lifetimes/

The number of merchants accepting Bitcoin as a means of payment has steadily increased over the past year. The latest to accept Bitcoin is Sharps Pixley, a London gold dealer.

Sharps who?

Sharps Pixley, whose origins date to 1778, is a London-based dealer of precious metals. It is a full member of the London Bullion Market Association. It acts as a full service shop for investors to buy, store and trade precious metals. Although it has been in operation for ~250 years, Sharps Pixley has shown that it is in sync with the times by deciding to accept Bitcoin as a means of payment.

Ross Norman, the CEO of Sharps Pixley, said:

    “It is our view that many investors in Bitcoin would like the option of holding intrinsic value in a traditional safe haven asset like gold; and be able to switch across in a simple and cost effective  way. That avenue is now open to them.”

Digital gold

Bitcoin may be called digital gold, but it still has a long way to go before it can rival gold as a safe haven asset. The volume of gold traded annually is estimated to be $22 tln and there is a flourishing derivatives market for it. Bitcoin investors represent a niche class of investors, although awareness about cryptocurrencies is increasing.

Giles Mable, a Business Development Director at Sharps Pixley, said:

    “We are bridging the gap between the world’s oldest currency and its newest, offering new and existing customers the means to exchange and diversify digital currency for a real, tangible asset which they can store and trade at Sharps Pixley.”

Bitcoin accepted through Bitpay

Sharps Pixley will accept Bitcoins for the sale of gold through the payment processor Bitpay. This will help them avoid any risk of Bitcoin’s fluctuating price. Given that Sharps Pixley’s core competency lies in trading precious metals, the decision not to accept Bitcoins directly is wise.

Unless merchants have some costs which are denominated in Bitcoin (and not fiat), they will be exposing themselves to Bitcoin’s price volatility if they accept Bitcoins directly. We still have a long way to go before Bitcoin can be used at each stage of a product’s value chain – right from the raw material to the sale to the end customer.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/distinguished-london-gold-dealer-accepts-bitcoin-for-payment

LocalBitcoins to Compensate Users for ‘Bcash’ Holdings, Will Not Support Future Forks

Peer-to-peer bitcoin trading platform LocalBitcoins has announced it will not add support for bitcoin cash and will not distribute airdropped coins to users who held bitcoin balances at the time of the fork. Instead, LocalBitcoins has compensated users with bitcoin deposits corresponding to the value of the bitcoin cash given to their accounts.

When bitcoin cash forked away from the main bitcoin blockchain on August 1, all bitcoin holders received “airdropped” BCH balances corresponding to their BTC holdings. Exchanges and wallet services had to decide whether and how to distribute those funds to their customers. Most major order-book exchanges have added support for bitcoin cash trading, while some other services have allowed customers to withdraw their bitcoin cash balances but will not support BCH.

LocalBitcoins, which is one of the world’s most popular P2P exchanges, has decided to take an alternative approach, which they announced in a blog post:

    "LocalBitcoins has decided against supporting Bcash, for various reasons. Our primary focus is to provide easy access and global liquidity for Bitcoin and to ensure the security of Bitcoins held in customer accounts."

“Bcash” is a pejorative term many bitcoin supporters use to describe bitcoin cash since they do not believe the coin should be allowed to profit from the bitcoin brand. LocalBitcoins says that adding support for Bcash would shift resources away from their primary mission, which is to serve the bitcoin community itself.

    "Adding support to an alternative cryptocurrency that shares address space with Bitcoin would have significantly shifted resources away from this main focus. We believe supporting Bcash would create confusion and complicated situations e.g. due to the possibility of sending Bitcoins to Bcash addresses, which would result in extra hassle and possibly loss of funds for our customers."

However, LocalBitcoins has decided to compensate customers who were holding bitcoin balances at the time of the August 1 hard fork. To that end, the platform exchanged the bitcoin cash airdropped to customer accounts for bitcoin and credited those funds to customer BTC balances. The service states that eligible customers have now been compensated.

Nevertheless, LocalBitcoins warns customers that they should not expect to receive similar compensation in the future, which is almost certainly an allusion to the potential SegWit2x hard fork currently scheduled for later this year. “You should not expect any previous or future cryptocurrency airdrops to be compensated or supported by LocalBitcoins.com,” the post states.

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/localbitcoins-to-compensate-users-for-bcash-holdings-will-not-support-future-forks/

[Why Did Nexon Purchase Korbit?]

NXC, the holding company of Nexon, the $10 billion Japanese gaming company founded by South Korean entrepreneur Kim Jung Ju in 1994, has acquired Korbit, the second largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea and the first bitcoin exchange in the country, at a $150 million valuation.

According to sources close to the deal including Hankyung, South Korea’s largest finance and business news publication, Nexon purchased 65.13 percent of Korbit’s shares for $90 million, valuing the company at over $150 million.

Why Did Nexon Purchase Korbit?

As of current, the daily trading volume of the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange market is similar to that of the trading volume of major South Korean stock markets including the KOSDAQ. For years, Korbit has led the South Korean cryptocurrency and bitcoin exchange markets, receiving investment from billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper and South Korea’s largest telecommunications conglomerate SK Telecom.

While Korbit is only the 16th largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, and is far behind Bithumb, its competitor in terms of daily trading volume, it has strong brand power within the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange market. More to that, Korbit remains as one of the leading cryptocurrency trading platforms for certain cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum.

In an interview with Hankyung, a fintech advisor based in South Korea explained that the deal between Nexon and Korbit is unprecedented, and that the acquisition of Korbit would likely spur an increasing number of investments and mergers within the South Korean cryptocurrency sector.

Strengthening of the Japanese and South Korean Bitcoin Markets

The South Korean gaming and technology industries are familiar with the company Nexon because it has operated within South Korea since its launch in 1994. The company initially started out as a South Korean gaming company with headquarters in Seoul and as a result, the majority of gaming enthusiasts still to this date consider Nexon as a South Korean company.

In actuality, Nexon is a multi-billion dollar technology giant headquartered in Japan and listed on the Japanese stock market. The holding company of Nexon is based in South Korea, which is known as NXC. And now, the holding company of a Japanese technology conglomerate is the parent company of the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange market’s second largest exchange in Korbit.

Large-scale conglomerates in South Korea including SKT have made several investments into the cryptocurrency sector and emerging startups. But, the Japanese bitcoin industry has become significantly more active due to the involvement of companies GMO and Nexon and their major investments in bitcoin companies.

Earlier this year, the GMO group, another multi-billion technology and Internet company, announced the launch of Z Coin, a bitcoin trading platform targeted at institutional and retail investors. Upon the launch the Z Coin trading platform (coin.z.com), GMO also announced its plans to invest $30 million in manufacturing ASIC miners and establishing bitcoin mining centers in Europe.

“We expect to incur expenses for establishment of the next-generation mining center and research and development and manufacturing of hardware including the next-generation mining chip. We will not disclose the specific amount due to the non-disclosure agreement with our alliance partner, but it will be more than 10% of the consolidated noncurrent assets as of December 31, 2016 (¥3,489 million),” said GMO.

The acquisition of Korbit by Nexon will likely trigger more deals and mergers in the Japanese and South Korean bitcoin industries and exchange market in the upcoming months.

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/south-koreas-second-largest-exchange-korbit-acquired-at-150-million-valuation/

According to multiple reports, Venezuelan citizens suffering from the country’s horrible economy are now playing massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) to collect in-game items and sell them for bitcoin.

Venezuelan ‘Gold Farmers’ Are Selling Runescape Items for Bitcoin

Recently there have been many reports of Venezuelans “Gold Farming” on a MMORPG called Runescape. Recent headlines explain that in-game farmers are selling treasures for bitcoin to make a living. Gold Farming has always been considered a controversial and profitable operation since online gaming became extremely popular. The business model started trending in China where players acquire in-game currencies or items and later sell them for “real money”. In 2009 it was estimated that over 1 million gold farmers were based out of China, but in-game gold farming also happens all around the world. Because of the secrecy, it is hard to get an accurate figure on how much revenue gold farming brings in, but it was estimated to be about USD $300 million in 2008.    

Continue reading > https://news.bitcoin.com/venezuelan-gold-farmers-are-selling-runescape-items-for-bitcoin/

Bitcoin peer-to-peer lending platform Wayniloans has withdrawn its support for the SegWit2x bitcoin scaling proposal and the New York Agreement (NYA).

The company, which was the first peer-to-peer bitcoin lending platform in Latin America, made the announcement in an email distributed to the Bitcoin-segwit2x mailing list. Wayniloans co-founder Juan Salviolo wrote that, when they signed the NYA, they did not realize how contentious the scaling proposal would be. Specifically, they cited concerns that Core developers universally oppose it and that it is unpopular in Latin America.

   

On Wayniloans part or our business is achieved thanks to Bitcoin, and on May we agreed to a sentence to reach consensus for the good of the ecosystem….At the time we didn’t know that existing developers wouldn’t support it, or that most Latin American Bitcoin users, our customers, would view it as an contentious proposal.

Additionally, Wayniloans criticized NYA proponents for not implementing mandatory, opt-out replay protection, which would prevent attackers from broadcasting transactions on both blockchains and stealing coins from unwitting victims.

   

Also, without mandatory replay protection (not opt-in) on SegWit2x, we wouldn’t be able to operate the crypto part of our business without risk of missing funds or legal actions.

SegWit2x developer Jeff Garzik has proposed opt-in replay protection, but this would require users to protect themselves manually, which critics argue is too difficult for casual users who are not technically-proficient.

Wayniloans joins several other companies in withdrawing support for SegWit2x and the NYA. Banking and payment processor Bitwala announced last month it will only follow the SegWit2x blockchain if it receives support from Bitcoin Core, which does not appear likely. Additionally, web content platform Yours decided to launch on the bitcoin cash blockchain, and F2Pool–claiming they only agreed to support the NYA through July–say they stop signaling for SegWit2x the next time they update their pool servers.

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/segwit2x-nya-agreement-lose-another-signatory/

The president of the European Central Bank has criticized the Estonian government’s plan to launch a national cryptocurrency. The statements have implied that the European Union (EU) states will not be permitted to launch state-issued cryptocurrencies that compete with the Euro as the major currency within EU jurisdiction.

Estonia Had Planned to Launch a State-Administered National Cryptocurrency

The president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, has rejected Estonia’s plans to launch a state-backed national cryptocurrency. Draghi has stated that “no member state can introduce its own currency. The currency of the eurozone is the euro.”

Last month, Estonia unveiled its plan to launch Estcoin, a state-backed national cryptocurrency. Estcoin would be centrally administered by the Republic of Estonia and launched as an ICO. Estonia also planned to make the cryptocurrency available and made available to any investor worldwide through its e-residency program. The Estcoin project has been closely evaluated and praised by Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum.

Peter Ehrlich of the European Central Bank is reported to have stated that “within the legal framework of the European Union, in all member states that, like Estonia, have introduced the single currency, only the euro is the legal tender and the monetary policy lies exclusively with the European Central Bank.” Daniel Heller of the Peterson Institute for International Economics has echoed this position, adding that EU obligations mandate that governments are unable to raise funds in any currency other than the euro. “If you sign up to the Eurozone, you sign up to the euro. Your financing is in euros”.

https://news.bitcoin.com/european-central-bank-criticizes-estonian-national-cryptocurrency-plans/

New survey data from online student loan marketplace LendEDU suggests that younger consumers in the United States are more interested in investing in bitcoin.

The startup published the results of its survey today, which was conducted online in August and drew 1,000 participants from around the US. The survey focused on a number of areas, including a basic question about whether they've heard of bitcoin at all. As it turns out, roughly 78% of respondents said they had.

Among the notable findings in the LendEDU survey is that, according to the data, younger consumers – those between the ages of 18 and 34, showed more willingness to invest in bitcoin than older age groups.

Of those between the ages of 18 and 24, 35.9% said they plan on investing in bitcoin, versus 43.5% who said no and 20.5% who weren't sure. For the 25-34 age group, the "yes" figure grew to 40.4%, with 31.7% of respondents in that demographic saying no.

By comparison, just over 10% of those between the ages of 45 and 54 indicated an interest in investing in bitcoin. Less than 5% of those over the age of 55 expressed the same sentiment, the survey data shows.

In a blog post detailing the results, LendEDU predicted that this data foreshadows a greater role for bitcoin among younger consumers.

"Judging from this data, as the years go by and younger Americans develop more spending power, you can expect bitcoin to become more and more prevalent in the American economy," the company said.

https://www.coindesk.com/survey-younger-americans-likely-invest-bitcoin/

Following the regulatory crackdown in China, bitcoin’s price has climbed back up 30 percent over the $4K zone since the market’s nosedive last Friday. Now China’s bitcoin trade volume has dropped to the fourth position globally as Japan has taken the reigns over the past two days. Chinese traders have once again taken trading to the ‘streets’ and have also migrated business to Hong Kong and Korean exchanges.

Japan Captures the Lead in Global Bitcoin Trade Volume

According to statistics from data sites like Crypto Compare and Coinmarketcap, Japan has taken the lead in global bitcoin trade volume. Currently, ¥ 93B worth of bitcoins are being swapped in the country as Japan is capturing over 47 percent of the global BTC volumes. Since the regulatory fiasco in China, exchanges like Bitflyer, Zaif, Coincheck, and others have jumped forward when it comes to BTC and global fiat swaps. Japan’s leading trade volume is followed by U.S., Korea, China, and Europe.


Japan captures 47 percent of the global bitcoin trade volume at press time.

https://news.bitcoin.com/regulations-push-chinese-bitcoin-volumes-to-otc-and-neighboring-countries/

 LONDON — The price of Bitcoin is surging on Monday after a week in which it lost more than $1,000 in value and dropped below $3,000 per coin for the first time in over a month.

Bitcoin collapsed spectacularly last week as news of a regulatory crackdown in China broke. The cryptocurrency dropped 16% against the dollar on Thursday after Chinese media reported that the country's regulators were moving closer to shutting down exchanges.

But Bitcoin is now surging again.  By 9.00 a.m. BST (4.00 a.m. ET), Bitcoin is up by more than 6% against the dollar — its key pairing in the currency markets — to trade at $3,950 per coin, just below the psychologically significant $4,000 mark, as the chart below illustrates:



http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-price-update-monday-september-18-2017-9