South Korea accuses North Korea of ​​stealing cryptocurrencies

Digital currencies are booming - the cyber funds are experiencing ups and downs. Here are the most important news about cryptocurrencies.
Although criminals have a preference for cyber means of payment, even reputable investors are keenly interested in Bitcoin, Ripple or Ethereum. Recent developments in the news blog.

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British Lloyds Bank bans Bitcoin purchase by credit card
The British banking group Lloyds Banking Group will no longer allow its customers to buy credit cards from Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. This was announced on Monday by the group, which includes Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, among others.

This should protect customers from accumulating debts as a result of the sharp price fluctuations, said a spokeswoman for the German Press Agency. However, the digital currencies could still be purchased via debit card.
The Bitcoin price had recently fallen below $ 8,000. Thus, the cryptocurrency is far from its record high in mid-December of about $ 20,000. Other digital currencies have also lost much of their value.

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South Korea accuses the North of stealing cryptocurrency
South Korea accuses North Korea of ​​stealing cryptocurrency. In hacker attacks, in 2017, several million won worth of Internet currency has been stolen, said Kim Byung-Kee of the South Korean Parliament's intelligence committee on Monday. The order of magnitude corresponds to several hundred thousand euros. "North Korea has sent e-mails that have been used to hack cryptocurrency trading sites and customer data." The South Korean intelligence agencies believed the attacks would continue. Kim left open which stock exchanges should be affected. It was not until the end of January that Coincheck, one of the most important trading venues for cryptocurrencies in Tokyo, had been the victim of a hacker attack. (Reuters)

+++ 5th of February, 08.25 am +++

Bitcoin drops back below $ 8,000
The high price fluctuations in cryptocurrencies continue to dominate trading. Bitcoin battled over $ 9,000 this weekend. But at the beginning of the week, the digital currency is again under great pressure. At the Bitstamp trading center, the currency slid below $ 8,000 on Monday morning.

Compared to Sunday, other significant cryptocurrencies are in the double-digit percentage range. Ethererum is quoted at around $ 825, ripple at $ 0.80.

+++ 4th of February, 7 pm +++

Shutterstock founder Jon Oringer - Conservative in crypto questions
Oringer has made a lot of money with the digital photo exchange Shutterstock. However, he does not think much of the concept of using cryptocurrencies to raise his own share price, writes Handelsblatt correspondent Katharina Kort .

+++ 5:15 pm +++

How authorities could destroy Bitcoin
Even skeptics fascinate the technology behind the cryptocurrencies. The main advantage of the blockchain is its falsifiability, you often read. But that's exactly what's wrong. Why investors need to know the "51 percent attack".

+++ 4.49 pm +++

Bitcoin on zig-zag course
After the drastic drop in prices until Friday noon, the value of the most well-known cryptocurrency has recovered. A bitcoin was worth a little over $ 8,800 this afternoon. At noon, the digital currency had fallen below $ 8,000. The crash in other cryptocurrencies recovered. The daily decline for Ripple shrank from over 30 percent to about ten percent. (HB)

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UBS checks crypto currency rules for its own employees
The Swiss bank UBS is considering making its own employees rules for the private handling of cryptocurrencies. So far, there are no requirements for private investment and an indication to the employer or prior approval is not necessary, the bank said in a memo to the workforce, the news agency Bloomberg has viewed. But the institute is considering "additional specifications and prerequisites". This could include employees having to seek approval in the future to be able to trade cryptocurrencies. (Bloomberg)

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Bitcoin now worth less than $ 8,000
The price decline continues. For the first time since November 2017, Bitcoin at key venues like Bitstamp is worth less than $ 8,000.

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Bitcoin on its way to $ 8,000
On the Bitstamp trading platform, the Bitcoin price on Friday morning slid to $ 8,094. Over the past 24 hours, the digital currency had been worth up to $ 9,572 there.

Last fall, the Bitcoin had set to a high-altitude flight. In mid-December, the price had risen to a record high at about $ 20,000. In the current week, the Bitcoin has lost about 30 percent in value. Also in other digital currencies such as Ripple it came shortly before the weekend to a massive price slump. (HB / dpa)

+++ 10.22 clock +++

Bitcoin rate drops again
The price gains of Thursday evening has now lost the Bitcoin again and even undercut the low on Thursday again. At the moment, according to Coinmarketcap, he stands at 8,290 dollars.

+++ 8.46 am +++

Ripple price drops by 30 percent
Also on Friday morning the most important crypto currencies are deep in the red area. According to the platform Coinmarketcap 15 virtual currencies with the highest market capitalization note between 15 and 30 per cent in the minus. Particularly high were the losses at Ripple: The price fell by 30 percent to 0.78 dollars.

+++ 8:01 am +++

Bitcoin unwanted in business
Only seven percent of entrepreneurs can imagine accepting cryptocurrency customer payments within the next two years. 80 percent wave off. This has resulted in a survey of the business associations The Family Entrepreneurs and The Young Entrepreneurs exclusively for WirtschaftsWoche .

The almost 600 interviewed company bosses are also skeptical whether Bitcoin and co. Can prevail in the long term on the market. Only 19 percent believe this. Almost twice as many consider cyber money to be a monetary episode. Another 46 percent of respondents are unsure.

"Many cryptocurrencies and their possible use cases are very interesting. But the application needs to become much more user-friendly before cryptocurrencies can prevail across the board, "says Reinhold von Eben-Worlée, president of the Family Entrepreneurs Association. Above all, the strong price fluctuations made its use in everyday operations difficult. However, the head of the association does not like writing off Bitcoin in operation. The development was "far from completed". (Business Week)

+++ 2nd of February, 00.15 o'clock +++

Bitcoin drops to its lowest level since November
Bitcoin has continued to decline throughout the day. In the meantime, it even dropped to its lowest level since November 2017: to $ 8,449. Later, he made some of the losses but again and climbed, according to Coinmarketcap to 9,144.82 dollars. According to the Bloomberg news agency, the cryptocurrency reached a record high of $ 19,511 in mid-December and has since lost more than half of its value.
+++ 2.20 pm +++

Bitcoin at its lowest level since the beginning of the year
The Kurstalfahrt at the world's most important cryptocurrency continues: On Thursday, the Bitcoin sagged, according to analysis house Coinmarketcap, which evaluates numerous stock market data, to about 9,416 dollars. The price falls below the previous year's low of $ 9,529 on 17 January. Already on the night of Wednesday he had broken into $ 9,777, but then again climbed above the psychologically important $ 10,000 threshold. The other major crypto currencies, including Ripple and Bitcoin Cash, are down significantly on Thursday. The only exception: As in previous days, Ethereum is decoupling itself from the downtrend and is trading close to two percent plus.
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Enel does not want to make money with Bitcoin miners
The largest European energy company Enel has let down the bitcoin-miner greedy for cheap electricity. Enel has no interest in supplying electricity for the production of cryptocurrencies , the Italian company said on Thursday .

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India has something against cryptocurrencies
The Indian government does not consider cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin a legal tender and wants to take steps to stop payments with digital currencies. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley issued a statement on Thursday to Indian parliamentarians. However, the rejection does not apply to the crypto-currency underlying technology. "The government will actively investigate the use of blockchain technology to drive the digital economy," Jaitley continued. (Bloomberg)

+++ 1st of February, 10.35 am +++

According to the Coinmarketcap platform, the cryptocurrency has fallen below $ 10,000. Currently, it is listed at $ 9,880, a daily drop of more than three percent.
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The reasons for the worst Bitcoin month since 2013
The most important crypto currencies are clearly in negative territory. The Bitcoin recorded in January even the largest price decline since 2013. The global intervention of the supervisors works, writes Felix Holtermann .

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Bitcoin fluctuates around $ 10,000
The Bitcoin continues to struggle with the $ 10,000 mark. On Wednesday afternoon, he is listed at $ 9921. (HB)

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Facebook prohibits advertising for cryptocurrencies
Facebook prohibits advertising for digital currencies like Bitcoin. There are too many providers who fraudulently wanted to jump on the current interest in Krypto money, Facebook said in support of a blog entry. Therefore, they deliberately opted for a broad ban, while working for the future to better detect fraudulent and misleading advertising in the field. The stop applies to both the Facebook platform and the photo service Instagram. At the same time, Facebook acknowledged that not all ads may be filtered out and encouraged users to report slipping questionable ads. (AP)
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The car will soon have its own account - thanks to Blockchain
In his Handelsblatt column , Volkswagen Chief Executive Officer Johann Jungwirth writes :

"Cars will not only drive independently in the future, but also pay for the fuel bill and parking fees. The Internet of Things makes it possible. Crucial here: An advancement of the blockchain technology. "

+++ 31. January, 10.12 clock +++

South Korea is considering no trade ban for cryptocurrencies
A possible ban on trading Bitcoin & Co. in South Korea is apparently off the table. "We have no intention of banning or suppressing the cryptocurrency market," South Korean Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said Wednesday. "The regulation of the stock exchanges is the urgent task of the government." So far, there are hardly any legal framework for the business with cyber foreign exchange. In recent weeks, speculation surrounding the closure of all South Korean crypto exchanges has been causing a stir, sending the course of the oldest and most important Internet currency, Bitcoin, plummeting. (Reuters)

+++ 20:42 clock +++

Venezuela is pushing forward its own cryptocurrency plan
The plans of the crisis-ridden Venezuela for its own cryptocurrency are becoming more concrete. President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday that the presale for Petro's Cyberdevise should start on February 20. The left-leaning government aims to capitalize on the boom in Bitcoin and other online currencies to alleviate their financial woes and circumvent US sanctions, which largely shun the South American Opec country from the financial market. Maduro had announced the digital currency in December surprisingly. It should be secured with the mineral deposits. Recently, the issue of 100 million petro and thus a volume of about six billion dollars was mentioned. (Reuters)

+++ 30. January, 19.08 clock +++

US Securities and Exchange Commission stops new Cyberdevise for suspected fraud
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has stopped the $ 1 billion issue of a new cryptocurrency by a Texas money house for fraud allegations. The AriseBank from Dallas have for their plan to investors with the false evidence that they have bought a bank, which is covered by the American deposit insurance FDIC, the authority said on Tuesday. The details were written by Handelsblatt correspondent Katharina Kort .