Weekly Updates Feb. 1: Bitcoin Price, Crypto New & RegulationsN/A

Bitcoin Price and Other Cryptocurrency Prices

Total market cap is at about $112 billion (down 5.6% w/w), and 24h trading volume is around $17.52 billion (up 18.78% w/w) at press time. The cryptocurrency markets are holding steady at the end of the week, with BTC trading at $3,447.63, ETH at $105.79, BCH at $112.93, LTC at $31.50, and XRP at $0.303.

Top Cryptocurrency News

• Two Hacker Groups Accountable for $1 Billion  Crypto Hacks: The two groups reportedly cooperated together to steal via schemes, ransomware, and other loopholes which over half of them were done publicly. What is worse is that these bad doers are hiding their identities even more sophisticatedly, with new methods like hijacking public Wi-Fi and by passing two-factor authentication.
• UnionPay warned Wechat and Alipay to restrict OTC and other crypto transactions in China: The transactions include but not limited to, token issuing financing, internet sales lottery platform, and virtual currency trading platform.

• Nasdaq is working with 7 exchanges: So far, seven cryptocurrency exchanges have passed Nasdaq’s muster, according to a Nasdaq representative speaking with Forbes, though only two, Gemini and SBI Virtual Currency, have been publicized. As more cryptocurrency exchanges seek to lure new customers, the assurance of Nasdaq’s technology is already being used to attract institutions and traders used to more mainstream venues.

Crypto Regulatory Roundup

• Indiana Becomes the Second State to Accept Crypto for Taxes: According to latest bill, “Payment of taxes with virtual currencies. Allows a person to pay taxes by using an approved virtual currency.” Furthermore, the section 19 of the bill shares, “the department may approve the use of one or more virtual currencies to pay taxes, special assessments, penalties, interest, costs, or any other liability.”

• India Crypto Regulation One Big Step Forward: The Indian inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) has finalized the regulatory framework of cryptocurrencies, confirmed by the filing of a Right to Information by a local news outlet Coin Crunch.
• Iran Planning to Use Crypto to Finance with 8 Countries:  Mohammad-Reza Modoudi, the acting head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), said the country was negotiating the use of cryptocurrency in its financial transactions with eight countries. The countries are Switzerland, South Africa, France, England, Russia, Austria, Germany and Bosnia.

Promotions

• Valentines Bitcoin Love Letters & Trading Bonus: Feb 12-28.