The digital currencies community of enthusiasts and speculators have known harsh setbacks before, but this weekend was the worse they have seen in a very long time. The exchange rate for BTC just broke a new 2014 negative record of around $300, falling even below the $309 lowest rate during August’s flash crash.
As always, we bring you the best stories of the week from the most current information source for the performance of Digital Currencies and all other aspects of the bitcoin ecosystem, DC Magnates.
The Circle Opens
Circle has opened its doors to its long-awaited offering, a wallet/payment solution. Any user can now create an account on its website, with mobile-based solutions to arrive at a later date. The exact offering it had in store for the market was a mystery until May, when it unveiled the solution at Bitcoin 2014 in Amsterdam. Soon after, the company held an invite-only trial period. The venture has raised $25 million in funding to date, making it one of the best funded bitcoin companies.
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A Sledgehammer to a Butterfly
Butterfly Labs (BFL) came out swinging in its defense, according to recent court documents. The mining equipment manufacturer had been ordered to shut down and was placed into receivership by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over alleged fraud, pending trial. The 9-page document, with fiery language and occasional typos, attempts to defend BFL and slams the FTC for its action. It draws attention to a claim that BFL has already been in negotiations with local authorities before the FTC got involved.
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Bitcoin Poses a Cybercrime Challenge to Europol
A recent Europol report highlights the difficulties posed by technological advances to law enforcement trying to fight cybercrime. Titled “The Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment”, it calls for greater consensus across the bloc in toughening laws that limit the amount of data that can be collected when investigating cybercrime and the length of time it can be stored. Cybercriminals frequently hang onto to stolen data for several years before finally making use of it for financial gain. By then, intelligence data collected on their activities may have been purged in accordance with existing data privacy laws.
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Coinapult Gaining Prominence as It Secures 775k in Venture Funding
Coinapult is getting $775,000 in venture funding, led by FirstMark Capital. The “mainstream” firm has investments in 51 companies, including Pinterest, Shopify and Riot Games. Other figures in the Bitcoin community have also contributed, including Barry Silbert’s Bitcoin Opportunity Corp. According to its website, the company offers a bitcoin wallet with enterprise-grade security. Its “Lock” offering shelters bitcoin holders from price Volatility by locking holdings “to stable assets like gold or USD.”
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Reddit Plans Its Own Digital Currency after $50 Million Funding Round
Reddit has gotten a $50 million boost in funding, led by Sam Altman, president of Y combinator and participation from Alfred Lin of Sequoia Capital and Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz. Other investors include PayPal co-founder, Peter Thiel, Ron Conway, Paul Buchheit, Jared Leto, Jessica Livingston, Kevin and Julia Hartz, Mariam Naficy, Josh Kushner, Snoop Dogg, and Reddit’s CEO, Yishan Wong. In a unique but fitting move, investors have proposed awarding 10% of the proceeds back to the community “in recognition of the central role the community plays in Reddit’s ongoing success.”
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Bitcoin Basics Successfully Launched
DC Magnates introduced “Bitcoin Basics”, a new weekly column answering some of the common questions the world has about Bitcoins. Teaming up with Ofir Beigel of 99Bitcoins and Coin Llama, Bitcoin Basics will be answering common questions such as how and where to buy bitcoins, who or what is Satoshi Nakamoto , the difference between a Bitcoin wallet and address, and much more.
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