Bitcoin has finally found its way up and the Winklevoss brothers are planning to launch their own regulated exchange. Here are the cryptocurrency highlights of week 4:
- The Winklevoss brother are planning to launch their own Bitcoin exchange. Compliance is going to be a key marketing feature in what is promised to be the “next-generation bitcoin exchange”. The new exchange, called Gemini, will be “in full compliance with all bitcoin regulations and consumer protection laws”. Given the compliance ratings on any other currently active Bitcoin exchange, such an exchange would be more than welcome.
- Bitcoin has finally managed to end a week in the green. The digital currency had been on a losing streak since the start of the year, but is now up more than 20 percent at about $242 per coin compared to $200 last week. It remains to be seen whether the digital currency will decline again or whether it has finally bottomed out.
- It has been confirmed that third-party payment processor EgoPay has been hacked. The company had already ceased its activities, and has now revealed that several staff members have been suspended due their suspected involvement in the hack. Quite a few Bitcoin exchanges used EgoPay to allow their users to fund their account with fiat money. Bitcoin-related customers have lost a total of $1.1 in the hack.
- Bitcoin wallet and exchange Coinbase has managed to raise $75 million in its latest venture capital financing round. This amount is believed to be a record for a Bitcoin-related company, and is said to imply a $400 million valuation for the popular payment processor. In total, Coinbase has now raised more than $100 million over its entire lifetime.
- Last week, the defense of alleged mastermind Ross Ulbricht behind the online drug market place Silk Road proclaimed that former Mt.Gox CEO Mark Karpeles was in fact the marketplace’s operator, known as Dread Pirate Roberts. Karpeles denied, and is supported by evidence found on Ulbricht’s computer. Apparently, it included an extensive digital record of “his actions and thoughts during the years he ran the famed digital black marketplace”. With also a good friend testifying against him, things are certainly not looking well for Ulbricht.
