The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision. The market data is provided by the HitBTC exchange. Global Equity Markets: fear and uncertainty returns Stocks took a beating across the globe last week with the U.S. market getting hit the hardest. The S&P 500 Index dropped by 5.95%, its largest weekly loss in over two years. A culmination of factors seems to have spooked investors, all within the larger context …

After the February’s crypto market slump that brought Bitcoin (BTC) below $7000, the number of Google searches for “Bitcoin” has dropped to the lowest levels since October of last year. Google Trends shows that searches for “Bitcoin” were the most popular between December 17-23, coinciding with Bitcoin’s price rising to above $20,000 for the first time on December 17, 2017. However, since mid-February, searches for “Bitcoin” have gone downhill, leaving the search term with a score of 19 for the first half of March -- meaning that the search is only a 19th as popular as it was in December …

2017 will go down as the biggest year in Bitcoin’s history - with meteoric highs paving the way for the preeminent cryptocurrency bursting into mainstream consciousness. December will forever be remembered for Bitcoin’s massive price correction after hitting the $20,000 milestone, but a lot happened in the lead up to the climactic end of the year. Rewind to January 2017. Bitcoin had just broken through the $1,000 barrier and the talk among crypto enthusiasts was that the virtual currency was set for a bullish year. It’s fair to say that no one anticipated an eventual 2,000 percent growth before the …

Ethereum cofounder Joseph Lubin has said he considers the value of any given cryptocoin to be “90 percent speculative.” As part of an NBC article about how ‘Middle America’ is profiting from Bitcoin, Lubin made the comments in the context of Bitcoin Cash generating $11 mln more value for holders. "I would say 90 percent of the value of any "coin" is speculative,” he said. "It's the notion that the technology it represents is promising." Ethereum (ETH) is currently circling around $330 per coin, having rebounded 100 percent from last month to continue growth which for mainstream commentators almost defies …

New York University and Google researchers who monitored the payment networks of cybercriminals announced that ransomware cases have increased significantly since 2016 and gradually becoming a multi-million business. They claimed that the crime is very profitable and that it is becoming a “vicious cycle” of ever-growing attacks. According to Google anti-abuse research lead, Elie Bursztein, the crime of ransomware is here to stay. “It’s a vicious cycle, the more money they make, the more aggressively they spread the malware.” Results Based on the study results, the criminal cyber industry, in general, has a promising future as shown by the amount …

Google Introduces Android Pay, A Replacement For Its Wallet App on Mobile Google is taking another shot at mobile payments. At this year’s I/O developer conference, the tech giant stated that Google Wallet will now be replaced with Android Pay on smartphones. The Verge reported: “Android Pay will power in-app and tap-to-pay purchases on mobile devices. Google Wallet will stick around, but it will power Play Store purchases outside Android, say on the web, and facilitate peer-to-peer payments you can make through the app and on services like Gmail.” Commonwealth Bank of Australia to Integrate Ripple for Instant Settlements Commonwealth …

Western secret agencies partnership known as the "Five Eyes" launched a surveillance unit called Network Tradecraft Advancement Team (NTAT) to spy on smartphone users as well as a major Chinese mobile web browser. As top secret document obtained by Edward Snowden has revealed, they planned to hijack data and insert malware into Samsung devices with Google apps. The documents obtained by Edward Snowden and published by CBC on May 21, 2015, revealed plans from as early as 2011 from major spy agencies to attempt and compromise Google and Samsung servers to spy on their mobile users as well as a …

Clinkle Implodes As Employees Quit in Protest Of CEO Lucas Duplan, CEO of payment rewards startup Clinkle, allegedly withheld key information from company employees regarding a possible acquisition from Apple. As a result, several employees have left the startup. TechCrunch reported: “As suspicions of a hidden Apple offer swirled, Duplan fired the company’s CFO and VP of engineering, which is said to have been the last straw for quite a few employees. Duplan has tasked the remaining team with stopping development of Clinkle’s debit card product to pivot the company into a business to business API for payment reward.” Google's …

Japan's largest Internet company Rakuten Inc. has started to accept Bitcoin as a payment option on its American portal Rakuten.com, MasterCard describes cryptocurrencies as an innovative competitor, and more top stories for March 17. Japan’s Rakuten becomes largest E-Commerce Business to accept Bitcoin Japan's largest Internet company Rakuten Inc. started to accept Bitcoin as a payment option on its American portal Rakuten.com. The company said this first integration should be followed closely by other global marketplaces integrations, including its German and Austrian e-commerce portals. Yaz Iida, President of Rakuten USA, said: “Rakuten’s mission is to empower the world through the …

Google is behind the latest installation of a Bitcoin ATM in London, it has emerged, with its East London Campus hosting the company’s latest foray into digital currency. The machine, which is the seventh in the UK capital to allow purchase of BTC with a credit or debit card, is a joint venture between Google and three start-ups Callsign, Wyre and Bitbuddy. The first two are incumbent Campus entities, while Bitbuddy is an unaffiliated third party, IB Times notes. “Having one of the UK's first BTMs (bitcoin telling machine) at Campus London is only going to encourage more innovation, experimentation …

At least that’s the position Google’s Director of Ideas Jared Cohen, who believes that Bitcoin has rooted itself onto the global internet community. Jared on SXSW Before Jared was employed by almighty internet giant, he served as an advisor to Condoleezza Rice and later Hillary Clinton. Even at that time, when he was working for the government, he highly supported the idea of free internet. At the ongoing SXSW in conversation with Chairman Eric Schmidt Jared openly stated his belief that Bitcoin is the product that cannot simply go away: “I think it’s very obvious to all of us that …