A new automated teller machine now offers Georgians a fast and easy way to buy and sell bitcoin and litecoin. Support for bitcoin cash has been promised, and other cryptos will also be added in the future. The ATM has been set up at a burger restaurant in the heart of the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

Cryptocurrencies in Georgia have been gaining popularity in recent years. The country has become a regional leader in the adoption of bitcoin and blockchain technologies. A new cryptocurrency terminal has been set up in Tbilisi offering the opportunity to exchange bitcoins and litecoins with the Georgian lari. The company behind the initiative promises to provide support for bitcoin cash and plans to introduce other cryptos, like ethereum.

The new BATM has been installed at the New York Burger restaurant between Tkvarcheli Street and Merab Kostava Street in the Georgian capital, not far from the 26 May Square. It is operated by a local firm called TPS. The company provides exchange services through cash terminals and an online trading platform.

On March 28 the popular online electronics merchant Newegg announced its now allowing residents from Canada the ability to pay for goods using cryptocurrencies. Through its partnership with the payment processing firm Bitpay, the company feels its the right time to offer Canadian customers the ability to pay for items with the digital currencies BCH and BTC.

Football Fans will be able to pay with bitcoin for their accommodation when they visit Russia for this year’s World Cup. Hotels in Kaliningrad, expecting guests from eight countries, are partnering with a local payment provider to offer the service. Booking a room for the day when England plays Belgium will cost approx. $300 in fiat.

Crypto-related activities are now considered legal in Belarus. The presidential decree “On the Development of the Digital Economy” came into force on March 28. The country aims to become a global IT hub luring entrepreneurs from around the world with a business-friendly environment. Unprecedented freedoms and generous incentives are enticing crypto companies to invest in the former Soviet republic.

The Kakao-backed cryptocurrency exchange Upbit has launched a system to reward users for identifying fraudulent multi-level schemes related to cryptocurrencies. The exchange has already identified and reported 20 such schemes to the police.

South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit has invited all of its users to use its new system aimed at identifying multi-level, illegal scams posing as cryptocurrencies or initial coin offering (ICO) tokens.

Upbit wrote in its announcement recently that the number of illegal multi-level and ponzi fraud cases has been increasing and its new system attempts to “prevent damage [due] to illegal fraud and to create a sound cryptocurrency ecosystem.” The Kakao-backed exchange asks all of its users to participate in order to prevent cryptocurrency fraud. According to Hankook Media, the system will be in effect for one year and will end in March 2019; Upbit will decide later if this period will be extended.

“If illegal multi-level eyewitnesses or victims report to Upbit and investigating agencies at the same time, a cash award will be given to the first reporter of the illegal recruitment case,” the news outlet elaborated. Upbit confirmed:To the original complainant, Upbit pays a reward of 1 million won (~USD$930).

Reporting a suspected illegal scheme can be done through the Upbit app by choosing the Kakao Talk consultation option, Upbit detailed.

At the time of writing, Upbit is South Korea’s largest crypto exchange and the third largest globally with a 24-hour trading volume of $1.1 billion. Bithumb is the second largest exchange in the country with $686 million trading volume in the same time period.
According to Hankook Media, “Upbit has been tracking illegal multi-level coin recruitment [schemes] with its own monitoring.” By March 23, the exchange has reported more than 20 fraudulent cases to the police. Last November, it received a letter of appreciation from Suwon Chungbu Police Station after reporting a culprit pretending to be the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, the publication described.

South Korean Exchange Paying Users to Report Illegal Crypto Schemes
Bithumb’s booklet.
The exchange also noted that “recently fraudulent acts impersonating the Kakao Coin ICO are also found.” Following reports and rumors of the pre-sale of its coins, Kakao Corp issued a notice stating, “we are concerned about the damage caused by the fraudulent activity of the distributor,” clarifying that the company is “preparing to establish a blockchain subsidiary.” Kakao emphasized that all of the pre-sales and recruitment of participants and investors for Kakao coins “are not true.”

On Tuesday, Upbit’s rival Bithumb also distributed brochures aimed at preventing damage caused by cryptocurrency fraud. The exchange also provides resources at its walk-in customer centers to combat voice phishing and hacking. Bithumb explained that its booklets present concepts such as voice phishing, pharming, SMS phishing, hacking, preventative measures, and damage remedies in an easy-to-understand text and comic format.

Cryptocurrency Market Retreats $300 Billion as Bitcoin and Ethereum Decline. Over the past week, the cryptocurrency has consistently been volatile in the $300 billion region, moving up and down within the range of $280 billion and $350 billion. The market has operated within this boundary throughout March.

Coinbase is poised to list its first new crypto assets of 2018 and one coin that’s unlikely to make the list is ripple. The U.S. exchange, whose CEO Brian Armstrong is known for his love of all things ethereum, has all but confirmed that its next additions will be ERC20 tokens. 0x and REP (Augur’s native token) surged in price as investors hone in on the likeliest tokens to make the cut.

Crypto traders have been starved of positive news for weeks. Thus they leapt on the news, released Monday evening, that Coinbase was set to list new tokens. The last time the U.S. exchange added a new asset was back in December in the form of bitcoin cash. That one didn’t go so well, with accusations of insider trading that pumped the price in advance of the news leading to a lawsuit. This time around, Coinbase has sought to break the news gently, confirming that it will add support for ERC20 tokens, leaving only the question of which assets it will anoint. The exchange wrote: "We’re excited to announce our intention to support the Ethereum ERC20 technical standard for Coinbase in the coming months. This paves the way for supporting ERC20 assets across Coinbase products in the future, though we aren’t announcing support for any specific assets or features at this time."

Brian Armstrong’s love affair with the ethereum ecosystem is well documented. The CEO was previously pilloried for tinkering with ethereum dapp browsers at a time when bitcoin transaction fees were sky-high and Coinbase had yet to implement batching or Segwit. It makes sense that Coinbase would add ethereum tokens ahead of, say, ripple, which has pumped at least twice this year over false Coinbase rumors.

Diar’s weekly crypto newsletter, released on Monday morning, appears to have called it right. It contains an analysis of the criteria Coinbase uses to decide which assets to list. Ripple may not qualify because Coinbase decrees it essential that “the ownership stake retained by the team is a minority stake”, and as everyone knows, most of the XRP in existence resides with Ripple. The same reasoning could also preclude stellar from being added, while dash, despite its high liquidity and existing fiat trading pairs (another Coinbase requirement), may be ruled out due to its anonymity features.

Diar’s tip for Coinbase inclusion, augur, seems likely, as does 0x, a project boasting three advisors who are current or former Coinbase employees. Both assets, together with ERC20 tokens such as OMG and SNT, jumped in price off the news, but were unable to sustain their momentum amidst another red day for the markets. Having just featured in the intro to HBO’s Silicon Valley, Coinbase has been having a good week.

Source: Bitcoincom

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond is expected to announce a government "crypto assets task force"  and a host of other fintech initiatives on Thursday.

According to a statement from the office of the Treasury, Hammond will reveal the task force, which will include the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority in addition to the Treasury, at the government's second International Fintech Conference.

Is it true Bitcoin Falls on Fears of Regulatory Trouble for Big Crypto Exchange?

Our desire is to strengthen crypto currency all where and when the market cap and volume increase then it good for this crypto world as well for its communities. yesterday price jumped up to above 9K and other alt coins too in good conditions so most of all it reshaping the crypto world. Bitcoin rallies above $9,000 after positive G-20 crypto currency meeting, now up more than 20% from weekend lows

Are crypto currencies' are far better alternative to banks? Though many critics still favoring banking system so what is your response?