Crypto exchange bitFlyer lands in Europe
BitFlyer, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, is now available in Europe, after receiving a license to operate in the EU. The Japan-based company, which has a daily volume in excess of $260 million, claims that it's "the most compliant virtual currency exchange in the world," as a result.
BitFlyer first opened its doors to Japanese crypto enthusiasts and expanded in the US last year. In 2017, it reached a volume of over $250billion from cryptocurrency trades, mainly in Bitcoin.
Microsoft drops Bitcoin support [Update: it's back]
Microsoft has had something of an on-off relationship with Bitcoin over the years, and once again the Windows-maker has chosen to drop support for the cryptocurrency -- at least temporarily.
It has been reported that Microsoft is uncomfortable with the fluctuating value of Bitcoin, as well as the increased transaction fees. As such, customers will no longer be able to add to their Microsoft account balances using Bitcoin.
Opera 50 web browser will offer anti-Bitcoin cryptocurrency mining feature
Opera may not be the most popular web browser, but it is certainly one of the most feature-full offerings. Quite frankly, it is actually quite good, and if you haven't tried it recently, you should. Not to mention, it is very much a cross-platform affair, offering versions for Windows, macOS, Linux desktop, Android, iOS, and more.
The upcoming version 50 of the Opera web browser is particularly intriguing. Why? Well, it will offer a really cool integrated anti-Bitcoin mining feature. Besides Bitcoin, it will also block the mining of other cryptocurrencies such as Litecoin and Ethereum. If you aren't aware, some websites are hijacking user computers to mine for cryptocurrencies. This is not only a potential violation of trust, but it can negatively impact the computer's performance too. Mining is also a huge waste of electricity. Opera 50 will offer an optional setting that, when enabled, blocks this nonsense.
Crypto market is crashing hard: over $230bn wiped off
The cryptocurrency market has been on a tear this year, shattering record after record. Fueled by majors like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Bitcoin Cash, it reached an incredible valuation on December 21: $654 billion. However, after the peak comes the fall, and here the crashes tend to be swift and massive.
Case in point: the cryptocurrency market is now down by more than $230 billion from yesterday's high. And, yes, you are reading that right. Its capitalization is currently hovering around the $422 billion mark. All the majors (top 10) are down by double digits in the past 24 hours, with Bitcoin suffering the smallest loss at 27.05 percent, as are nearly all the other coins in the top.
The average US home is worth less than 20 Bitcoin
It's fair to say that, in its current state, Bitcoin does not work as a means of payment for basic things. The average transaction fee is over $20, which makes common purchases, like a cup of coffee, virtually impossible to justify. However, as I noted in my What can you buy with Bitcoin? piece, things are different when we are looking at very expensive purchases.
One such scenario where using Bitcoin makes a whole lot of sense is buying a home. The transaction fee is negligible, as the cost is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, if we are looking at the median price of a US home.
Unsurprisingly, most people don't know much about cryptocurrencies
Thanks in no small part to Bitcoin's incredible performance this year, as it rose from about $1,000 on January 1 to well over $17,000 this month, more and more people are starting to talk about cryptocurrencies these days. But what exactly do folks know about this market?
As it turns out, not a whole lot. According to Ditto's 2017 Cryptocurrency Public Knowledge Report, the vast majority are not familiar with cryptocurrencies, nor do they know what an initial coin offering (ICO) is. That's not surprising and neither are the conflicting perceptions.
Crypto market now worth over $500 billion
The cryptocurrency market has come a long way this year. Fueled by the incredible growth of Bitcoin and altcoins like Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin, its valuation rose from 17.7 billion on January 1 to more than $0.5 trillion today.
More than $100 billion were added to the crypto market's capitalization in the past week. Bitcoin's rise has slowed down, but the other major players saw a massive boost that took them to new highs.
Litecoin breaks $300 as Bitcoin growth slows down
It's an interesting day in the cryptocurrency scene. All the coins in the top 10 are in the green, posting some serious gains over the last 24 hours. The most impressive showing comes from Litecoin, which is up over 80 percent, while the most modest increases come from Bitcoin and Bitcoin Gold.
Litecoin has been steadily growing over the past month, rising from just under $60 on November 12 to over $300 today -- at the time of writing this article, Litecoin is trading around the $325 mark. As a result, it has become the fourth most-valuable cryptocurrency, after Bitcoin, Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash.
Steam drops Bitcoin payments, blaming high fees and volatility
While Bitcoin is growing in value and attracting more and more capital, it is hard to make a case for it as a payment method these days. Sure, you can buy things with Bitcoin, but fact of the matter is it lacks mainstream appeal among businesses -- at least right now.
It is easy to see why: it's incredibly volatile and the fees are high too. So, if you want to buy something with Bitcoin you will probably pay more than if you were to use dollars or euros, for instance. This is something that Valve has experienced as well and it is doing something rather interesting to make things better for Steam customers: it's dropped Bitcoin as a payment method altogether.
Bitcoin breaks $15,000 -- crypto market crosses $400 billion
Bitcoin's growth this year seems to know no limit, as the most valuable cryptocurrency continues to set new price records and lead the market to new highs. Today, it broke $15,000, just over a week after it crossed the $10,000 mark for the first time.
Yes, that's right, Bitcoin rose by 50 percent in just a few days. It's hard to wrap your head around that, considering that it was only trading for around $1,000 on January 1. Yes, Bitcoin is up 1,500 percent already.
Bitcoin goes to $13,000
When predicting the price of Bitcoin you have to keep in mind one thing: you will get it wrong. It's a futile exercise. It is simply impossible to tell where Bitcoin will end up at some point, simply because its evolution is like nothing we have ever seen.
Since the beginning of the year, when it traded for under $1,000, and until today, when it broke $13,000 for the first time, Bitcoin has set record after record, basically making of fool of everyone who said it will tank -- at least so far.
UK and EU to expand Bitcoin regulation to combat money laundering and tax evasion
Following concerns that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are being used for not only tax evasion but also money laundering, governments in the UK and across Europe are planning to introduce new regulatory measures.
One of the key proposals will bring to an end the anonymity Bitcoin users have enjoyed thus far. In an attempt to bring the digital currency with real-world currencies, the UK Treasury wants to force all traders to reveal their identities.
Sneaky websites continue to mine cryptocurrency even after you close them
With the massive rise in popularity -- and value -- of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, it's little wonder that people are seeking out ever more imaginative and sneaky ways to mine coins without having to invest in dedicated hardware.
Websites that mine for cryptocurrency in the background, making use of visitors' CPU time, are nothing new -- the Pirate Bay has been caught red-handed, for instance, using a Monero miner in the form of the Coinhive JavaScript Miner. But now researchers have discovered that some websites are using a drive-by mining technique that allows them to continue cryptomining even after the site is closed.
The crypto rally is over as market enters correction
Fueled by Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and other major players, the crypto market hit a new all-time-high yesterday, reaching a valuation of over $345 billion. But, as the saying goes, what goes up must come down. So, as the incredible rally finally came to an end, the market started to crash, big time.
This is not uncommon for the crypto scene. This year we have seen three similar crashes happening. All coincided with Bitcoin setting a new price record. This one is no different, as the market entered a correction right after the most-valuable cryptocurrency broke $11,500, sending it back into the low-$9,000s.
Bitcoin sets new price record above $11,000
After hitting $10,000 for the first time yesterday, the latest rally continues to take Bitcoin to new highs. The most valuable cryptocurrency set another price record moments ago as it went past the $11,000 mark.
And it did not stop there. On major exchanges, like Bitfinex, GDAX and Bitstamp, Bitcoin is trading for around $11,300. South Korean exchanges Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit, which offer BTC/KRW pairs, report prices of over $12,100.
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