London markets lower as squalls hit Tory leadership contest June 24, 2019 Sterling and stock markets were lower this morning as the race for leadership of Britain’s governing Conservative Party was plunged into turmoil. Three years exactly since the UK woke up on Midsummer Day 2016 to learn that it had voted to leave the European Union, the prospects for an orderly Brexit are overshadowed by serious [...]
ECB official: Bitcoin amd cryptocurrencies are like a gold rush with no gold February 8, 2018 A top official at the European Central Bank has warned that the rise of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is like a gold rush – “but there is no gold”. Yves Mersch, a member of the ECB executve board said the group’s views were “fully in line” with the views of the Bank of International Settlements, [...]
Bitcoin price (BTC) is dropping as Japan’s Coincheck halts withdrawals January 26, 2018 The price of bitcoin has slumped more than six per cent this morning amid news that a huge Japanese exchange has halted client withdrawals. Bitcoin has had a tumultuous start to 2018. After rising close to $20,000 in December, the cryptocurrency king has halved in value this month due to murmurs about regulation from nations [...]
Facebook confirms launch of own cryptocurrency June 19, 2019 By Gary McFarlane from interactive investor. The social media giant announces its own cryptocurrency, called ‘Libra’ that aims to be ‘global money’. Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has announced Libra coin, a cryptocurrency that aims to be global money and is set to launch in early 2020. A new app is joining the Facebook family called Calibra (https://calibra.com/), which will act as [...]
Bitcoin regulation: G20 world leaders to discuss cryptocurrency crackdown at this week’s summit in Buenos Aires March 18, 2018 Finance ministers and central bankers from around the world will discuss new regulations for cryptocurrencies at this week’s G20 summit in Buenos Aires. The discussion comes amid concerns that digital currencies are fuelling money laundering and other criminal activity. Thomas Hulme, a solicitor at London law firm Mackrell Turner Garrett said policymakers will focus on [...]
Italy tussle overshadows euro’s birthday party June 17, 2019 Europe’s single currency, the euro, is 20 years old, but any celebrations are likely to be muted. Its value against the dollar has been in steady decline for five years and it is now trading well below the level at which it was launched in January 1999. This may be good news for the eurozone’s [...]
Bitcoin bubble: 82 per cent of UK institutional investors say bitcoin is going to pop December 7, 2017 A new report has revealed a huge majority of UK institutional investors think bitcoin represents an unsustainable bubble. Bitcoin has soared to unbelievable heights this year. In the past week alone, it rose more than $5,000 to reach an all-time high of more than $15,000. As its value skyrockets, so do analyst murmurings of tulips [...]
Bitcoin hack: Millions potentially lost after a bitcoin mining marketplace NiceHash was hacked December 7, 2017 Millions of dollars worth of bitcoin are potentially missing after a security breach at cryptocurrency mining marketplace NiceHash. In a post on its Facebook page late last night, NiceHash said it was investigating the nature of the incident and would stop all operations for 24 hours. “Importantly, our payment system was compromised and the contents [...]
France says bitcoin and other cryptocurrency derivatives come under Mifid II regulation February 22, 2018 Authorities in France are cracking down on cryptocurrencies after deciding cryptocurrency derivatives" fall under EU financial regulation. The French financial markets authority Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) said financial products based on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies such as futures, binary options and contracts for difference, should fall under the European Union's MIFID 2 derivatives regulation. [...]
Japanese stocks surf higher over troubled waters June 25, 2019 Tokyo’s blue-chip Nikkei 225 stock index is riding out regional fears over China and Hong Kong as well as wider concerns regarding Iran and the US. Despite Japan’s special vulnerabilities to both East Asian tensions and higher oil prices, the index is trading higher than either a month or three months ago. This creates a [...]