- I have a single-sourced rumour that Kik’s ICO for Kin has attracted adverse attention from the SEC — that they are preparing a press-release saying “this is fine!” — I have a draft here — but also trying to work out how to give back all the ether that people paid for tokens. I must stress that, absent further verification, this is only at “juicy rumour” stage — but doesn’t surprise any observer in the slightest. Looks like Ciaran Murray was right.
- Forty-four hours into their two-hour upgrade, the Kraken exchange is still unavailable. Let’s just remember that Kraken is one of the four exchanges providing prices to the CME Bitcoin futures, not to mention prices on cryptos to Bloomberg terminals. And that it took them 15 hours to realise they should probably empty the order book to avoid hilarity when they reopened. Actual update text, 0312 UTC 12 January:
Update – I fell asleep at my desk. In a dream, the ghost of a butterfly from the future whispered to me “the dollar hit 0 bitcoin”. I wake up, people around me dabbing the blood from their eyes. Progress has been made but not enough. I crack my whip — “we aren’t getting to zero like this!”. The flogging will continue until morale improves. Expect another update after I make my rounds. I’m sorry I’ve let you down.
- Brazil’s finance regulator CVM blocks investment funds from buying directly into cryptos — they cannot be qualified as financial assets. More indirect investment may be possible, and they’re still looking into it.
- In Portugal, Santander Totta (local version of Santander) blocked all transactions going to Coinbase’s IBAN starting around the December bitcoin peak, because Coinbase deals in unregulated financial products, i.e., cryptos.
- Bitcoin lottery winners in the UK struggle to cash out their new fortunes. Banks have these annoying things called “money-laundering regulations,” where they’re actually required to find out where you suddenly got all this cash (archive).
- Remember that porn ICO that the New York Post wrote up a few days ago? The story gets weirder. It was pretty obviously a complete scam, but the details are amazing reading: Porn Site Stole French Karate Teacher’s Identity in Cryptocurrency Hustle.
- There’s a subreddit just for the Kodak ICO.
- NewsThump: Biggest twat you know suddenly an expert on bitcoin. “34-year old Helen Cooper, who has known Simon since he reckoned his dad was in the SAS at school, told us that she ran into him the other day and he immediately started telling her all about how central banks are a scam and distributed networks are the future despite clearly having no idea what those phrases meant.”
- Robert Levine writes in Billboard: What Is Bitcoin, Blockchain’s Future in the Music Industry? Includes a quote from me. “Can magic beans made of math save the music business? (Hint: No.)”
- Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain is £1 off — £3.99 instead of £4.99 — on Kindle UK this month. Tell everyone!
original tweet (with salty language intact)
finally, an expert pic.twitter.com/7rAxZOE7cK
— Neeraj K. Agrawal (@NeerajKA) January 11, 2018
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