Black Rock accidentally boost Bitcoin prices
One of the world’s largest asset managers, Black Rock has set off another rapid growth spurt for Bitcoin this week, when London’s Financial News revealed the investment company was setting up a working group to study cryptocurrencies. This was later confirmed and Bitcoin’s price jumped by a few hundred dollars on the news and later in the week broke into another rapid increase.
Even when it emerged from Larry Fink, CEO at BlackRock that none of his clients were looking to buy crypto and his firm was just examining the underlying blockchain technology, the markets took it as a positive sign.
At present, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) considering an application to license a new product, a Bitcoin ETF from the Chicago Board Options Exchange. There is a lot of speculation that this new investment option could trigger a new bull run for Bitcoin.
Kodak crypto mining scheme evaporates
In January 2018, Kodak a company famed for photography, going bankrupt as it couldn’t keep up with the digital world and then as the world’s leading rebrander as it sold its logo to anything and anyone stole the thunder at the CES show by announcing a cryptocurrency and a Kodak Kash miner.
As February came, and the Kodak coin failed to meet the deadlines, the share prices inflated by the three ring circus, rapidly fell and now it seems Kodak is admitting the mining scheme was economical with the truth and figures. They claimed to have 80 machines already working in their New York HQ with cheap electricity and now it seems the machines were never there, with a spokesman for Kodak admitting to the BBC: "While you saw units at CES from our licensee Spotlite, the KashMiner is not a Kodak brand licensed product. Units were not installed at our headquarters."
Binance raises $1.4 million for Japanese flood victims
As the Western regions of Japan are still reeling from the recent floods which cost the lives of over 200 people, displaced tens of thousands of people from their homes and caused widespread damage, chinese cryptocurrency exchange Binance has launched a charity appeal that has already raised $1.4 million in digital money that will soon be transferred to Japanese aid agencies in the area.
The exchange received over 7 days, $400 000 in different currencies from exchange users and added $1 million of its own funds.
This comes approx a week after Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum, said he hoped centralized cryptocurrency exchanges would burn in hell, good PR reply from Binance, I think!
Trump’s new task force to police the crypto sphere
Donald Trump is in the headlines this week for his sterling performance at the Helsinki press conference following his annual performance review, has signed an order to set up a cross agency task team with a focus on fraud within the crypto sphere.
Among the task force's members are FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, with representatives from SEC, FTC and Consumer associations, with a mandate to fight fraud not only against the government but consumers and the market as well.
Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s advisor has recently been discussing his hopes for cryptocurrencies saying he is now heavily involved in the ICO sphere, and believes they offer a populist alternative. If Russia’s use of bitcoins to pervert elections is giving Bitcoin bad press, mmmm, what will the adorable face of Steve Bannon do as a new poster boy?
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