Tag: Bitcoin (BTC)

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Crypto Markets News

Bitcoin (BTC) Futures Contracts Postponed By Bakkt Until January 24th, 2019

Bakkt postponed the Bitcoin (BTC) futures contracts announced by the company for December 12th to January 24th, 2019, as reported by the US brokerage Intercontinental Exchange, also known as ICE. The company, an alliance between Microsoft, Starbucks and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), said through its CEO that over the past few months they have worked on their product, which has resulted in “critical new features to support our offer, so I wanted to provide an update on what is in flight.

“Given the volume of interest in Bakkt and the work required to put all the parts in place, we will now have our sights set on January 24th, 2019, for our launch to ensure that our participants are ready to trade on Day 1. As is often the case with product launches, there are new processes, risks and mitigating factors to test and retest, and in the case of cryptocurrency, a new asset class to which these resources apply,
” said Kelly Loeffler, Bakkt CEO.

Among the announcements made by the company, it can also be mentioned that it is considering adding new contracts linked to other cryptocurrencies, although for that they will wait for the evolution of the crypto market and the opinion of their customers. In addition to that, they would offer services related to cryptos that will also include insurance for the cold storage of Bitcoin (BTC).

Bitcoin (BTC) Futures Contracts Postponed By Bakkt Until January 24th, 2019

For its part, ICE said in its statement that “will list the new daily Bitcoin (BTC) futures contract for negotiation on Thursday, January, 24th, 2019, as a subject to approval by the regulator.” In this regard, the brokerage firm explained that the contracts would be 1 BTC in exchange for US dollars.

On August 7th, news portal announced that the ICE Bitcoin (BTC) futures contracts, through Bakkt, would be the first such instruments settled in BTC in the United States and that they will be delivered to the conventional asset market. That makes a difference to the other Bitcoin (BTC) products offered by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe), which liquidate BTC futures in cash.

At this point, it is important to mention that the regulatory body related to these contracts is the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). In October of this year, they announced that, on December 12th, the trading of these Bitcoin (BTC) futures contracts would begin with a daily monetary exchange after the close of the market.

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Crypto News

Bitfinex To End Fiat Deposit Freeze, While Tether (USDT) Fell Below The $0.90 Mark

Tether (USDT), the most popular USD-backed “stablecoin,” just fell below the $0.90 mark on Bitfinex as the regular investors turned to Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies, worrying about the USDT reserves. At the same time, Bitfinex announced it would end its fiat deposit freeze.

According to CoinMarketCap, Tether (USDT) experienced a drop, reflected by a 5% increase in Bitcoin (BTC). However, at the moment of this writing, Tether (USDT) trades at $0.965, falling by about 2.5% over the last 24 hours. On the other hand, Bitcoin (BTC) sells at $6,624 after surging by about 5% in the previous day.

Bitfinex paused deposits in fiat currency for “certain customer accounts” after they suffered some “processing complications.” However, Bitfinex announced that they would end fiat deposits freeze, about at the same time Tether (USDT) dropped below the $0.90 mark.

“How any rational party can claim insolvency when the opposite is there for all to see is interesting and, once again, perhaps indicative of a targeted campaign based on nothing but fiction,” Bitfinex representatives stated.

Bitfinex To End Fiat Deposit Freeze, While Tether (USDT) Fell Below The $0.90 Mark

Last Thursday, when Bitfinex revealed that fiat deposits are paused, some investors became suspicious due to the lack of details from Bitfinex regarding the mentioned “complications” that made the exchange halt fiat deposits.

“We are working to implement a new and increasingly robust fiat deposit system to be available in the next 24 hours, by Tuesday, October 16th, 2018, to allow for the efficient processing of the fiat deposits,” reads the latest update on the situation, offered by Bitfinex.

However, the Bitfinex decision to pause fiat deposits triggered some reactions in traders who turned to Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies, concerning the Tether (USDT) reserves. The movement caused Tether (USDT) to drop below the $0.90 mark on Bitfinex, eventually, and to generate a slight surge in Bitcoin (BTC) value against the US Dollar.

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Crypto Economy News

A Huge Inflatable Rat, Referring to Bitcoin (BTC), Stands Before The Federal Reserve on Wall Street

A giant inflatable rat, referring to Bitcoin (BTC), was installed yesterday in Wall Street, in front of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as a form of protest to draw the public’s attention to the state of the economy and the administration of money in the United States.

The rat exposes threatening claws and fangs, covered with color codes and mathematical equations. In its blue eyes, the letters “PoW” can be read, which stand for “Proof of Work,” the algorithm related to Bitcoin (BTC). The piece was created by Nelson Saiers, a US artist and mathematician, former hedge fund manager, who seeks to represent his vision on the central bank’s handling of the US Dollar.

Saiers says he wants to use the piece to help people better understand cryptocurrencies and the Federal Reserve, as well as learn to be a little more faithful to the vision Satoshi Nakamoto had. He also seeks to attract the attention of the Federal Reserve, the agency that controls the US Dollar.

The inflatable rat before the Federal Reserve Bank of New York raised mixed opinions among the Bitcoin (BTC) community members

In this sense, he pointed out that the color white represents the lab rats used for experimental purposes, symbolizing the governmental actions during the financial crisis of 2008, whose products created for the recovery of the economy were experimental, as the mathematician qualified them.

On the other hand, as for the “PoW” inscription, Saiers assures that he is comically asking for a work test that eliminates the centralized fiat money. In his opinion, although Bitcoin (BTC) has been despised, as the rats are, it may play a role in the disappearance of the central banks.

The work, which is still on display in front of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, aroused people’s curiosity, while some Bitcoin (BTC) community members pointed out on Reddit that many bystanders may not understand the message and associate it with Bitcoin (BTC). Others believe that the figure does not attract attention because it can be confused with any other inflatable rat used in union protests.

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Crypto Games News

Fortnite Gamers Searching For “Cheat Codes” Exposed To Private Data And Bitcoin (BTC) Wallet Credentials Theft

Researchers at Malwarebytes Labs found a malicious file created to steal data and details of Bitcoin (BTC) wallets. The malware was hidden in supposed free downloadable versions of the new edition of the famous video game Fortnite, which recently launched its sixth season.

The creators of the malicious program focused on players tempted to explore pages that offer Fortnite tricks and cheats to download the game before its release, or to obtain special codes that give them advantages over other players.

According to Christopher Boyd from the Malwarebytes Labs, they examined a large number of alleged “free” Android versions of Fortnite’s sixth season. The research included a series of YouTube videos offering free “V-Bucks,” a token used to purchase additional content in the game’s store, as well as other advantages for gamers.

Some of the videos contaminated with malicious code packages, described as “fake tricks, wallhacks, and aimbots,” reached more than 120,000 hits before being blocked for violating YouTube’s spam policy.

Fortnite gamers exposed to private data theft, including their Bitcoin (BTC) wallets credentials

Once victims subscribe to one of these channels, they are invited to complete several steps, including responding to a survey, to get to the download page. Boyd noted that the look and feel of the site could be quite compelling to players. He also said that up to the time the report was published, the malicious file had been downloaded by 1,207 times.

When installed, the Trojan starts stealing necessary device information and other data such as Bitcoin (BTC) wallets credentials, Steam sessions, cookies, and browser session details. It then proceeds to send that information, via a POST command, to a file in the Russian Federation, as the report says.

Boyd reported that, in order to complete the scam, cybercriminals added a “readme” file to the malicious software, announcing to gamers that they can buy additional Fortnite tricks for $80 in Bitcoin (BTC).

Popular video games such as Fortnite tend to be an attractive platform for scammers and cybercriminals. A year ago a user was reported selling so-called “cheats” for Fortnite, which was a file infected with a hidden Bitcoin (BTC) mining malware.

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Crypto News

BTCPay Server To Install Within Minutes Now, Thanks To Its New Interface

Nicolas Dorier, the creator of BTCPay Server, an open-source Bitcoin (BTC) payment processor server, announced on Tuesday the availability of a web interface for quick and easy installation of the client, with just a few clicks, which includes the configuration of a complete node of Bitcoin (BTC) and LND, a Lightning Network client.

Nicolas Dorier admits that, until now, installing BTCPay client was sluggish and complicated

Until now, BTCPay Server, which allows a business to receive payments in Bitcoin (BTC), was available on the Microsoft Azure platform, Microsoft’s cloud computing platform.

“Since I started using BTCPay in February 2018, assuming the role of a non-technical person, I found the installation process intimidating. I learn quickly, but the fact that a merchant had to use the terminal and a command line was not good user experience. I spent a good amount of time at Reddit trying to explain to merchants the concepts of privacy and resistance to censorship. The only thing I couldn’t discuss was that BTCPay was harder to install and took longer than other options,” admitted Nicolas Doriel.

BTCPay Server to install within minutes thanks to its new interface

The new installation process, Doriel says, only requires downloading the installation Wizard to install BTCPay. Then you need to create an account on LunaNode, which is the platform that hosts the payment processor and copy-paste the Application Programming Interface (API). The speed of BTCPay synchronization depends on the hosting plan chosen by the client. The cheapest plan, of only $8.80 per month, allows the synchronization to complete within four days, tops.

Dorier points out that, along with the installation of the BTCPay, a complete Bitcoin (BTC) node is configured automatically but in a way that is transparent to the user. Also included in the installation of BTCPay is the implementation of Lightning Network, although it is optional.

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