Is bitcoin back? Cryptocurrency passes $US16,000 as rebound begins
Bitcoin rallied past $US16,000 ($20,705) on Tuesday US time as traders of the world’s biggest digital currency sought to draw a line under its rollercoaster five-day slump. The tokens rose 16 per cent to as much as $US16,132.09, the biggest gain on a closing basis in more than two weeks and the first in six days. It traded higher by 14 per cent to $US15,659.9 as of 1.36pm in New York. Rival currencies litecoin and ethereum were up 4.4 per cent and 2.6 per cent, respectively, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. High trading volumes at Coinbase, one of the biggest exchanges, forced the company to issue a warning on its website that […]
Cryptocurrency wallet temporarily restricts Australian dollar deposits
Popular cryptocurrency wallet CoinSpot has stopped accepting deposits in Australian dollars, blaming local banks for being “unwilling to work” together. In a blog post updated this morning, CoinSpot said the restriction on all forms of AUD deposits will remain in effect until at least the first week of the new year. “We assure you we are just as unhappy with the situation as you,” the platform writes on its blog. “But unfortunately Australian banks have been so far unwilling to work with the digital currency industry which leads to frequent account closures and strict limits on accounts whilst they remain operational, in effect debanking our industry.” The digital wallet service […]
National Currency Exchange to launch
The National Currency Exchange, an Australian owned and operated cryptocurrency exchange, will commence operations in Q1 2018 following a private funding round raising $750,000 for the Australian and second exchange in Singapore. NCX, which will initially allow trading in popular cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum before expanding the digital asset suite throughout 2018, differentiates itself from local and global peers by having 100% of controlled funds and digital assets managed in Australia, with the majority of NCX controlled digital currency kept in “cold storage”. It will generate revenue from trading fees and Fiat transfer fees and in future also expects to generate revenue from listing additional digital assets. To read […]
The world’s first cryptocurrency recruitment agency has opened in Sydney
A recruitment agency specialising in finding cryptocurrency and blockchain talent has opened in Sydney. Crypto Recruit has set up shop with the belief that it is the first in the world to offer such niche IT recruitment services, said founder Neil Dundon. “The idea was to get some first mover advantage in the market,” Dundon told Business Insider. “Nowadays there seems to be general pub talk [about cryptocurrencies] — people are just talking about it all the time and it’s just mental at the moment. So three or four months ago I had the idea: why don’t I couple my passion for cryptocurrency and blockchain… with my skills in recruitment?” […]
Traders brace for volatile bitcoin futures launch
The newest way to bet on bitcoin will arrive when futures of the cryptocurrency that has taken Wall Street by a storm begin trading. The first bitcoin future trades are set to kick off at 6pm New York time on Sunday (10AM AEDT Monday) on CBOE Global Markets Inc’s CBOE Futures Exchange. This has given an extra kick to the cryptocurrency’s scorching run this year. Bitcoin’s price soared so far this month, but it has made sharp moves in both directions in recent days, falling by almost a fifth on Friday after surging more than 40 per cent in the previous 48 hours. On Sunday, bitcoin was up about 3 […]
Aussie Bitcoin exchanges now need to register with the govt
Operators of Australian exchanges for Bitcoin and other digital currencies will now need to register with the country’s anti-money laundering agency after new legislation passed through parliament. AUSTRAC has been given the authority to monitor local cryptocurrency exchanges through the new Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Bill 2017. The bill was introduced in August to combat the threat of serious financial crime, in the wake of revelations about the Commonwealth Bank’s breaches of money laundering laws. It was also spurred on by global watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) findings of significant deficiencies in Australia’s anti-money laundering framework two years prior. The new law, which passed through the senate yesterday, for […]
Bitcoin shakes off bubble warnings in race past $US16,000 mark
Bitcoin touched $US16,000 for the first time on Thursday, extending its advance this month to almost 70 per cent as concerns mounted the cryptocurrency’s rapid rise masks risks. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency is surging on expectations that new bitcoin derivatives products expected to begin trading this month will boost mainstream demand. Some of the world’s biggest brokerages criticized those plans on Wednesday, telling regulators the contracts have been rushed to market without enough due diligence. Bitcoin jumped as much as 23 per cent to $US16,374, before paring gains in New York trading, according to Bloomberg prices. That takes the digital currency’s surge this year to more than 1,500 per cent […]
Australia’s stock exchange is moving to a blockchain style system for trade settlements
Australia’s equity market the ASX has decided to replace its CHESS system to record changes in shareholding with distributed ledger technology found in blockchain. The global equities exchange community has been watching the ASX as it develops and tests a system to cut the cost of transactions, and make them faster and more secure. Blockchain uses computers with advanced encryption to keep track of transactions, giving confidence to both buyers and sellers. Transactions of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin are tracked used blockchain. Dominic Stevens, the ASX managing director and CEO, says the exchange has been carefully examining distributed ledger technology for almost two-and-a-half years. “We believe that using DLT (distributed ledger […]
