Bitgo Obtains $100M Insurance Policy to Cover Crypto Assets

Cryptocurrency wallet service provider Bitgo has secured a $100 million policy through Lloyd’s insurance to cover crypto assets that are completely under the company’s control, such as those held in its business wallet and custody offerings. The policy covers issues like insider theft by employees, loss or damage of private keys and hacks. Also read: Survey … Read more

Crypto-Stealing SIM Swapper Pleads Guilty, Gets 10 Years in Prison

Joel Ortiz, a college student who allegedly stole cryptocurrency worth over $5 million, has pleaded guilty and accepted a 10-year prison sentence. Ortiz was arrested last year and accused of hijacking the phone numbers of around 40 people. He is now the first person to be sentenced for the crime, commonly known as SIM swapping. … Read more

Italian Court Orders Bitgrail Founder to Refund $170M of ‘Missing’ Cryptocurrency

An Italian court has ruled that Francesco Firano, founder of defunct cryptocurrency exchange Bitgrail, was at fault for the disappearance of $170 million worth of the nano digital currency on his exchange last year. Firano, who called himself “The Bomber,” is now “required to return as much of the assets to his customers as possible. Also … Read more

Civil Forfeiture Is State-Sanctioned Theft

Ever since 1929, the FBI has shared annual crime statistics via the Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Each year, it breaks down criminal activity into such categories as homicide, weapons, human trafficking, and hate crime. One category that is noticeably absent from the report is civil asset forfeiture. In the eyes of the law, this is … Read more

Chatter Report: Luke Says Segwit Harmful to BTC, Baker Explains Stablecoin Regulation

In today’s roundup of crypto chatter, Luke Dash Jr. voices concerns that segwit is bad for BTC because it leads to centralization. Also, Brad Mills shares his insight after using Cointext. Lastly, Lawson Baker, Blake Moore and Andreas Brekken discuss how regulation affects stablecoins. Also read: Bitcoin and Market-Related Headlines Dominated Crypto News Coverage in … Read more

Bitcoin History Part 7: The First Major Hack

Hacks and heists have been a threat for as long as bitcoin has been worth stealing. By 2011, as Bitcoin was easing into its second year of life and its first bubble, early cryptocurrency exchanges were bringing liquidity and price discovery to the nascent ecosystem. At the same time, they were providing an outlet for … Read more

Regulations Roundup: Shenzhen Court Recognizes Bitcoin, Coinbase Lawsuit Dismissed

In recent regulatory news, a Shenzhen court has ruled in favor of protecting an “equity transfer agreement” involving bitcoin, the judge presiding over a class action lawsuit against Coinbase has granted a motion to dismiss, and an Australian woman has been arrested for stealing 100,000 XRP following a 10-month investigation. Also Read: Regulations Roundup: SEC Considers … Read more

African Cryptocurrency Exchanges Forced to Step up Security

Cryptocurrency exchanges in some of Africa’s biggest bitcoin markets have been forced to rethink their security to thwart persistent attacks from hackers, a trend that has troubled trading platforms all around the world. Also read: Cointext Launches Bitcoin Cash SMS Wallet in Argentina and Turkey The Worst Yet to Come for African Exchanges Exchanges in the … Read more

Wendy McElroy: Crypto-Idealism Is the Future That Crypto-Statists Need to Defame

The Satoshi Revolution: A Revolution of Rising Expectations Section 4: State Versus Society Chapter 10, Part 5 Crypto-Idealism is the Future that Crypto-Statists Need to Defame by Wendy McElroy [A]ll those who used their knowledge in a bid to enact social change saw cryptography as a tool to enhance individual privacy and to shift power … Read more