Featured

Hackers stole $530 million in crypto – probably the biggest heist of its kind ever

Published

7 months ago

January 29, 2018

(FinancialPress) — Coincheck — a crypto exchange that operates in Asia and labels itself as the sector leader in the region — has come under government investigation after falling victim to a hacker heist. The black hats allegedly stope $530 million from its arcs.

The exchange has committed itself to reimbursing the 260,000 affected investors – but hasn‘t specified when and how it will get the cash needed for it.

The event was revealed over the weekend. It stands to become the biggest cryptocurrency heist in history, taking the top spot from Mt Gox‘s 2014 own theft — which left a $400 million hole in its pockets.

Coincheck representatives revealed the theft was in the form of NEM – a less-well-known digital coin.

While the company promised to use its own resources to reimburse $426 billion to the affected clients, that‘s still 20% less than the revealed value of the virtual currency that was stolen.

Coincheck released a blog statement, saying that the hack “has caused immense distress to our customers, other exchanges, and people throughout the cryptocurrency industry.”

“We would like to offer our deepest and humblest apologies to all of those involved,” the exchange said. It has currently suspended trading in all virtual currencies apart from bitcoin.

Meanwhile, the value of NEM dropped a drastic 20% after the news broke – but recovered shortly after.

Coincheck did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.

A spokesman for the Japanese gov‘t said that Coincheck will be supervised by financial authorities in the process of improvings its business practices as a followup to the hack.

This is only the latest in a wave of hacker attacks directed at digital currency exchanges. The black hat cybercriminals are taking advantage of a young and unregulated business space that handles large sums of investor‘s money.

“Large scale hacks are among the biggest risks faced today by the global crypto community,” said Henri Arslanian, a financial technology expert at consulting firm PwC in Hong Kong.

Cannabis

Nationwide US cannabis legalization lawsuit movement scores an L

Published

6 months ago

February 27, 2018

Ruben Maciel

(FinancialPress) — The first legal battle held by the lawsuit levvied against the federal government, launched by cannabis legalization advocates, finds the plaintiffs on the losing side.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who officiates for the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, ruled that the plantiffs “failed to exhaust all administrative remedies“ to settle their request, and therefore granted the motion to dismiss filed by the U.S. Justice Department.

The suit argues for the unconstitutionality of the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, and requested that marijuana be reclassified from the schedule of controlled narcotics.

Had the suit been successful, marijuana would have been immediately legalized country-wide.

The ruling will be appealed by the plaintiffs – a group that includes a young epileptic girl and former NFL players.

Hellerstein‘s ruling read as follows:

“Although plaintiffs couch their claim in constitutional language, they seek the same relief as would be available in an administrative forum – a change in marijuana’s scheduling classification – based on the same factors that guide the (Drug Enforcement Administration’s) reclassification determination.”

The judge emphasized the fact that the ruling was an administrative measure, and should not be taken as support towards the notion of that marijuana should remain classified a Schedule I drug:

“This decision should not be understood as a factual finding that marijuana lacks any medical use … the authority to make that determination is vested in the administrative process,” he wrote.

He also denied the plaintiffs‘ claim of that using marijuana is a fundamental right of theirs.

“No such fundamental right exists,” he wrote.

“Every court to consider the specific, carefully framed right at issue here has held that there is no substantive due process right to use medical marijuana.”

Business

Alibaba bets big on Olympics for household recognition

Published

6 months ago

February 26, 2018

Ruben Maciel

(FinancialPress) — The biggest e-commerce portal in China is making a strong investment as an Olympic sponsor for the Pyeongchang Olympic games. The imposing pavilion the company put up at the event is in line with the ones erected by giants Coca-Cola, McDonald‘s and Samsung.

With this, Alibaba (BABA) likely hopes that some of the 3 other giants‘ global recognition rubs off on it.

The Jack Ma-founded company made waves with its 2014 New York Stock Exchange IPO – the largest recorded in history. The eccentric frontman is a regular at major international events, and just last year was part of a photo op with US President Donald Trump.

However, despite its massive success in Asia, its “brand awareness outside China is not commensurate with its size,” according to National University of Singapore marketing professor Junhong Chu. Alibaba‘s market value is larger than Walmart‘s, and the company looks to change that with the Olympic sponsorship.

The requirements of the contract are extensive – minimum commitment of 4 years, and hundreds of millions in investment. While the exact numbers are not required to be made public, a report states that BABA‘s estimated investment will border $800 milion for the duration of the deal, which ends in 2028. This puts the company shoulder-and-shoulder with name giants such as Toyota, GE and Visa.

Alibaba steps in at a critical time – as longtime main sponsor McDonald‘s announced it will end its deal with the Olympics 3 years early. Not only does the new partnership bridge that financial hole, but a spokesperson for the Asian giant also stated that it comes “at a very critical time,” and that it will use its technology to help make the Olympics “more efficient, secure and engaging,”

Featured

Ethereum founder warns about cryptocurrencies as bitcoin breaks $11,000 again

Published

6 months ago

February 20, 2018

Ruben Maciel

(FinancialPress) — Bitcoin’s rebound continued on Monday as it recovered from the depths reached on February 6th, by closing at $11,000 – a massive recovery from the below-$6000 value it had reached at its lowest of 2018. Even so, Ethereum’s founder took the time to warn her that cryptocurrencies still “could drop to near-zero.”

At the time of this publication, Bitcoin sits steady at over $11,505 on Coindesk. Bitcoin returned to over $10,000 of value last Thursday. Factors to be considered for the rise are the fact that Bitcoin Investment Trust had a strong surge last week – as it grew in unison with Bitcoin and other recovering cryptos. Meanwhile, a CNBC investigation caused Riot Blockchain to lose considerable value.

After an all-time high of $20,000, Bitcoin drastically stumbled in December after regulators from major financial hubs, such as China and South Korea, began cracking down on the cryptocurrency market. Fast forward to today, and the latter is also a leading factor for the continuing rise in the digital currency‘s value, as enthusiastic trading occurs in the Asian country. The recovery began on February 6 after a Senate hearing in the US in which regulators warned about the cryptocurrency market, but did not signal that they would be aggressively pursuing regulation or restricting trading in any way.

The re-surge is condimented with comments from top cryptocurrency Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, who said in a tweet that cryptocurrencies as a whole are a “new and hyper-volatile asset class“.

Reminder: cryptocurrencies are still a new and hyper-volatile asset class, and could drop to near-zero at any time. Don't put in more money than you can afford to lose. If you're trying to figure out where to store your life savings, traditional assets are still your safest bet.

— Vitalik Non-giver of Ether (@VitalikButerin) February 17, 2018