I Threw Away The Wrong Old Hard Drive... With 7500 Btc On It!

On Sundays we occasionally step away from the usual news coverage, and share something we found fun or entertaining.

This one was only entertaining because it didn't happen to us.

This mini-documentary comes courtesy of YouTuber Wavywebsurf, there's a lot more of these 10-15min docs covering various topics related to internet culture on his channel. Check him out here.


Bitfinex Fires Back, Claims Ny Attorney General Lying - $850 Million Not Lost, It Was Wrongfully Seized!

The story has been developing over the last 24hrs, and began with a press release and Fortune publishing the NY Attorney General's claims that Bitfinex used "illicit transactions to mask $850 million in missing funds."

Those illicit transactions, they claim, were in the form of their stablecoin 'Tether', and Bitfinex had dipped into reserves and used those funds to fill in the gaps left by the missing $850 million.

Now, Bitfinex has weighed in - clearly angered by the situation, saying the Attorney General's claims are "riddled with false assertions".

Bitfinex asserts the funds aren't missing at all, they're being withheld, stating that "these Crypto Capital amounts are not lost but have been, in fact, seized and safeguarded. We are and have been actively working to exercise our rights and remedies and get those funds released."

But why would the NY Attorney General do this? They say it's because of the recent probe into cryptocurrency exchanges being conducted by the Attorney General's office, which some say overstepped authority by demanding documents without reasonable suspicion. The probe includes all of the top exchanges, Coinbase, Gemini, bitFlyer, Bitstamp, Kraken, Bittrex, Poloniex, Binance, Tidex, Gate.io, itBit, Huobi, and of course, Bitfinex, which apparently did not hand over all of the data requested.

But who is withholding this massive sum of Bitfinex's funds? They won't say, and expressed frustration that they're being targeted instead of assisted in the quest to get them returned, saying "The New York Attorney General’s office should focus its efforts on trying to aid and support our recovery efforts."

They also insist, customers have nothing to fear, promising that "Bitfinex and Tether are financially strong" and that they are "good corporate citizens and strong supporters of law enforcement."

It's hard to predict how this will end, Bitfinex has repeatedly found themselves at the center of accusations that seem to fade away, never concluding with clear proof of their innocence or guilt.

It appears they've structured their business to be deliberately difficult to track from the outside. That's brought about critics who say those are the actions of a company with dark secrets, and defenders who say it's a smart move to prevent funds being seized in the case of sudden government overreach. 

It's common practice for exchanges with international clients to have funds held around the globe, instead if having to trust all of those governments, it can be easier to trust none of them and try to keep things as under-wraps as possible.

But that's why this time is different - their defense isn't 'we don't release that information to protect funds from being seized' - they're saying 'the funds have been seized'.

This time, they can't withhold the specifics - there's no end that doesn't involve releasing the records in question, or the Attorney General's accusations proven.

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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk


Facebook's Cryptocurrency Keeps Sounding Worse And Worse, As Insider Leaks New Partners - Visa And Mastercard....

More details have just emerged regarding Facebook's cryptocurrency project, perhaps giving us the most insight so far on the direction they're aiming to take the project.

An insider, speaking to The Wall Street Journal has just leaked some new information on the project, including it's name internally at Facebook, "Project Libra".

We already knew they we're 'going big' with this one - approximately 3 weeks ago we learned about the massive fundraising efforts going on behind the scenes - that's when we first heard the project's $1 billion dollar price tag, and that Facebook would be seeking outside investment to raise it. 

The reporter who published that story also dove into Facebook's current job listings and discovered 22 new roles within the company's blockchain department now accepting applications, bringing the total number of department staff from 40 to 62.

If the WSJ's unnamed source is to be believed, we now know some specifics on where that $1 billion will come from -  Visa, Mastercard, and a company you may not know by name, but processes many of the payments for both, First Data Corp.

Let's try to look on the bright side:

I know, it's starting to feel like an alliance of the worst corporations coming together to launch EvilCoin - but, this also may potentially serve as a gateway cryptocurrency.

Because Facebook's plan actually reaches far beyond Facebook - they've also been approaching major online retailers and hope to make their cryptocurrency an accepted form of payment at a wide variety of businesses.  Rumor is, they're pitching them with a pro-crypro argument I've heard since owning my first Bitcoins - all the money they could save on processing fees.

Now imagine - once a retailer has been coaxed into accepting this cyptocurrency, and sees the cumulative effects of saving the 2%-3% typically lost to credit card companies for processing, why would they stop here?

They'll soon learn there's billion held by potential customers in other cryptocurrencies that offer them that exact same incentive.

It's also going to be a lot harder for anyone to make generalized statements against cryptocurrency's legitimacy, with a Visa and Mastercard in their wallet, and the Facebook app on their phone.  Can you really be anti-crypto when everything in your pocket says you're wrong?

It may not be the path to mass adoption we dreamed of, but it's potentially a path nonetheless.

Facebook declined to comment on these latest rumors.

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Author: Justin Derbek
New York News Desk




Monthly Crypto Outlook May 2019 : Will The Momentum Continue?


Welcome to the May Crypto Outlook with Contentworks, an agency specialising in content marketing for financial services, crypto and blockchain.

After a disastrous close to 2018, the price of cryptocurrencies has continued to gain. YTD, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin have gained by 38%, 14%, and 130%. These gains extended in April, when the currencies gained by 30%, 14%, and 22% respectively. In total, the currencies have added more than $50 billion in their market capitalization.

The recent gains have been largely due to technical aspects. This is partly because many investors tend to increase their holdings of the worst-performing securities. Further, the currencies were greatly oversold as the year started.

Another reason for the bullish animo is the absence of any major negative news in the crypto space. In the past, the industry tended to move much lower when there are many negative news like hackings and regulatory reviews. The only major negative news in the market was that the CEO of Bitfinex had been accused of making illegal transactions to mask $850 million in missing funds. This was a big news because Bitfinex is one of the largest exchanges in the world.

In May, investors will focus on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which owns the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). This is because the exchange is expected to get more seriously into the cryptocurrencies arena. In recent months, the exchange has invested in Bakkt, which is seeking to be registered as a registered trust in New York. In addition, the exchange has acquired a custodian company known as Digital Asset Custody Company. This will join other custodial platforms offered by companies like Fidelity and Gemini.

Investors will also pay close attention to a number of high-profile events, which will take place around the world. In Cyprus, the iFXExpo will take place. This is usually one of the largest fintech gathering, andwill bring together thousands of people in the crypto, forex, and CFD industries. The keynote speakers will be regulators, scholars, and senior fintech officials. Additionally, Bitcoin Club Cyprus is back for another exciting meet-up and open Public Lectures and Presentations for Blockchain, DLT and Cryptocurrencies. You can learn more about it here.

Consensus, the large event brought by CoinDesk will take place in New York. As you recall, the lack of major announcements in last year’s event saw the price of cryptocurrencies decline sharply. The event has been sponsored by IBM, Microsoft, and Fidelity Digital Assets.

Fluidity Summit will be another highlight for the month. The event will happen in New York in the coming week. Key speakers will be the likes of Joe Lubin, the founder of Ethereum, Richard Haas, the president of Council on Foreign Affairs, Dona Redel of the COMEX, and Eileen Lowry, the head of blockchain solutions for IBM.

In Europe, the European Blockchain Convention will happen in Copenhagen, Denmark. The event will bring together more than 500 industrial leaders like regulators, investors, lawyers, and Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) to discuss the sector.

Other top events in the month will be the Malta Blockchain Summit, Launch Blockchain Conference in Portugal, Japan Blockchain Tech Summit, and the Collision conference in Toronto.

At Contentworks, our team of financial professionals closely follows market movements for FX, Crypto and other tradable instruments. We are proud to serve some of the biggest crypto and fintech companies in the world by delivering high-impact articles, videos, PR and white papers.


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Information provided via press release
Distributed using The Global Crypto Press Association Press Release Distribution Service for industry.


Youhodler’S “Month In Review” Showcases New Coins, New Use Cases And Roadmap Sneak Peak...

The end of April marks a productive month for YouHodler and the crypto industry on the whole. While the bull run pulled back just a little bit, YouHodler is not slowing down with releasing new features for their community and planning more for the future. April saw YouHodler add new coins to their platform like DASH and EOS as well as their first ever token, Auger (REP). There were also a number of industry announcements from the team that will help lay down the road map for May and beyond.

NEW COINS, DIVERSE OPTIONS, AND MORE UTILITY

Due to popular demand from community members, YouHodler added DASH and EOS to their growing list of coins that includes, BTC, BCH, BSV, ETH, XRP, XLM, LTC, and more. YouHodler users can choose any of these options to use as collateral for a crypto backed line of credit. Furthermore, they can convert any of these crypto options to other cryptos on the platform in addition to stablecoins (USDT) and to fiat (USD or EUR).

Also joining the family is Augur (REP), the first token included on the platform. Just like all other cryptocurrencies on the platform, REP holders can now utilize the value of their REP assets in the real world without having to sell off their investments. In the near future, REP HODLers can also convert to any listed coin on YouHodler.

DO YOU WANT TO BOOK YOUR NEXT HOLIDAY WITH CRYPTO?

In order to showcase the user-friendly capabilities of their platform, YouHodler released a step- by-step guide on how to sign up, receive a loan and withdraw those funds instantly to a credit card for the purpose of real-world transactions. This specific example showed the simplicity of using crypto backed line of credit to book a trip via Airbnb, Expedia and more via YouHodler’s instant fiat-to-credit/debit card withdrawal feature.

BSV DRAMA INSPIRES “CUSTOMER FIRST” INITIATIVE FOR YOUHODLER

All the drama surrounding Dr. Craig Wright and the “#deslistbsv” movement really stirred up the cryptosphere this path month. YouHodler took this as an opportunity to remind their community of their “customer first policy.” In a recent blog post, YouHodler stated:

“Our number one priority is to put customers first and it has been that way since day one. So to support the group of BSV HODLers on our platform, we will continue to list this coin. In the

decentralized and transparent market, only the users can decide what survives and what does not. It is not up to us or the large corporations of this market, especially when the matter is subjective.”

Note: There will be a short maintenance period for BSV from 1-8 of May. BSV service will resume after the maintenance period.

EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEAK INTO YOUHODLER’S MAY ROADMAP

Just as April was a busy month for the team, May will continue on with the same intensity. YouHolder will continue its expansion through the European continent with new features and coin additions. Taking high priority is credit card deposit to fiat accounts. This will let anyone with an approved credit card deposit fiat funds directly into their YouHodler account. They can then convert these fiat funds to any of the crypto or stable coin options on the platform. More utility for fiat funds on YouHodler will be coming soon. Follow their progress via the company blog, Telegram or social media (@YouHodler).

About YouHodler
YouHodler is a FinTech platform focused on crypto-backed lending with fiat [USD and EUR] and stable coin loans, crypto/fiat and crypto/crypto conversions.YouHodler supports BTC, BCH, ETH, LTC, XLM, XRP, DASH EOS, and other popular cryptocurrencies.

Sign up and request your first loan at YouHodler.com

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Information provided via press releaseDistributed using The Global Crypto Press Association Press Release Distribution Service for industry.