A collection of the popular stories from the cryptocurrency and blockchain space this week.
Businesses alerted against bomb threat demanding ransom in Bitcoin
The U.S. government issued a nationwide alert to take a number of precautionary measures in the wake of bomb threat emails that demand bitcoin from businesses and organizations.
The e-mail recipients have also been asked to report the email to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center or to a local FBI Field Office. Government agencies in Australian and New Zealand also are reportedly investigating bomb threat emails seeking bitcoin in ransom.
Most Asked Question of the Year on Google — What Is Bitcoin?
As part of its annual “Year in Search” series, Google released the year’s most trending search topics beginning with the words “What is.” And the question that Americans and Britons asked most in 2018 was “What Is Bitcoin?” Although Ripple, or XRP, is worth just 10 percent of its peak value today, the fourth most searched phrase in this category was ‘How to buy Ripple.
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Boerse Stuttgart to launch crypto-exchange with support from solarisBank
German stock exchange Boerse Stuttgart Group is partnering Berlin-based fintech company solarisBank to help develop the infrastructure and systems for a new cryptocurrency trading platform. It is set to be launched in the first half of 2019. The new crypto-exchange will initially open trading in established crypto currencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH).
Opera launches Web 3-ready browser for Android, with crypto wallet
Web browser maker Opera Software AS launched its Web 3-ready browser for Android devices, with built-in mobile crypto wallet and support for Ethereum and decentralized apps (Dapps).
The launch was announced at the Hard Fork Decentralized blockchain event at London. Opera for Android will access the Ethereum blockchain through Infura, an infrastructure platform.
Allianz GI CEO calls for banning Crypto assets
Allianz Global Investors Chief Executive Andreas Utermann called on global regulators to ban crypto currency trading. “You (regulators) should outlaw [crypto]” as crypto currencies have “wiped out people’s savings,” Utermann reportedly said while speaking at a panel discussion in London.
There was “no intrinsic value” in crypto assets, accordng to the head of the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
CFTC Seeks Public Feedback On Ether
The U.
S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is seeking public comment and feedback on Ether and its use on the Ethereum Network given the cryptocurrency’s market share and potentially unique attributes relative to Bitcoin. The RFI also seeks to understand similarities and distinctions between Ether and Bitcoin.
UNICEF to fund start ups for blockchain innovations
UNICEF announced a $100,000 fund to six blockchain startups to solve global challenges using blockchain technology .The United Nations’ charity arm for children said that the UNICEF Innovation Fund will invest the money in six companies -Atix Labs from Argentina, Onesmart and Prescrypto from Mexico, Statwig from India, Utopixar from Tunisia and W3 Engineers from Bangladesh -to deliver open-source prototypes of blockchain applications within 12 months.
PwC partnering Bitfury to create blockchain accelerator for Russian clients
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Current Prices
As of this writing, Bitcoin is trading down 4.23 percent or $143.41 at $3247.18 on Coinbase. Ethereum is declining 5.
29 percent or $4.74 at $84.
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