Bitcoin Price Drop, Hacks, and FEC Regulations: This Week in Crypto

Bitcoin Price Watch:
Bitcoin is down 8% this week continuing a trend of an almost 20% drop over the last month. Earlier today, the bitcoin price hit a low for 2018 of $5,825 causing analysts to draw comparisons to 2014 when Bitcoin experienced an 80% correction. Despite the precipitous drop, analysts have remained optimistic because Mt. Gox liquidation is over for 2018, and the impending launch of Coinbase custody which is expected to draw institutional investors to the cryptocurrency markets.
Ethereum is down 11% this week despite a recent landmark SEC ruling that Ether does not constitute a security. The drop follows a pattern observed by analysts many times over the past year where altcoins mirror Bitcoin with more exaggerated moves.
The entire coin market cap is down 13% this week following a precipitous drop by EOS this week. Analysts have blamed the fall on an overly bullish rally before the main net launch and recent criticism over EOS constitution and how centralized it is. So far 34 accounts have been frozen due to phishing.
Bulls:
eToro CEO compares crypto to 2001 Apple: Following a trend of major investment personas comparing Bitcoin to a bubble, eToro CEO Yoni Assia has stated that “selling crypto now is like selling Apple in 2001”.
Fund Manager bullish in anticipation of Custody – Kyle Samani, Managing Partner of Multicoin Capital made a prediction to Bloomberg that it would bring in “big money”. While Samani did not peg a number, Ethereum and Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson has predicted it will be in the trillions
Bitcoin will hit 60,000 this year according to Blackmore Group CEO Phillip Nunn. The Bitcoin Evangelist is standing by his prediction despite Bitcoins price falling below $6,000. He further stated his prediction was based on market volatility, which we’re currently seeing.
Regulation:
South Korea fears regulation will “legitimize market”– At a recent policy advisory meeting, the director of KFIU confirmed that the government delayed regulating cryptocurrencies for years because it would “legitimize” a market the government viewed as piece-meal.
Hacks:
$1 million stolen in Siacoin cryptojacking attack – In China, over 100,000 internet café computers have been infected with malware designed to mine cryptocurrencies. Unlike most cryptojacking malware, which limits its resouThrce usage to avoid detection, this malware runs at full speed resulting in higher electricity costs and computers becoming unusable. Sixteen have been arrested so far.
Bithumb hacked 3x in 12 months – Korean exchange Bithumb has been hacked a third time in the past year. This follows the hacking of another Korean exchange, Coinrail and was cited as a reason for increased regulation in the country.
Blockchain Researcher predicts EOS will lead to ‘Massive Exchange Hack’ – Cornell professor Emin Gün Sirer has predicted that a vulnerability in EOS, caused by its centralization and its teams inability to handle safety issues in the past will lead to a massive exchange hack, affecting even those who don’t use EOS.
Adoption:
U.S. Senate Candidate Austin Petersen was forced to return a $130,000 Bitcoin donation. I interviewed Petersen earlier this week about the implications of Bitcoin on federal elections. Overall, Mr. Petersen has received over 24 bitcoins and has been forced to return multiple other large donations because they violated FEC rules.
Bitcoin Mining in China continues to flourish despite increased regulation across the cryptocurrency sector little to no regulation has been enacted to stop mining.
Square granted ‘BitLicense’ in NY- Square, a publicly held fintech company headed by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was granted a license to exchange virtual currencies in New York through the Department of Financial Services. Square is now the seventh company granted such a license
NANO Android App is not Safe – Just hours after its release, NANO is urging users to move funds from its Android app. The vulnerability, while hard to exploit in practice, is still more bad press for a coin recovering from a massive hack earlier this year.