South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb has won a lawsuit in which an investor had sued the company for his loss of around $355,000 in an alleged hack. Local financial newspaper The Korea Economic Daily reported on the outcome on Dec. 24. According to the report, the investor — 30 year old civil servant Ahn Park — alleged he had been the victim of a hack of his Bithumb account on Nov. 30, 2017, which resulted in a loss of 400 million Korean won, or around $355,000. Within hours of making his won deposit, Mr. Park alleged an unidentified hacker had …

United States lawmakers have introduced a bill to levy further sanctions on Iranian financial institutions and the development and use of the national digital currency. HR 7321 was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Mike Gallagher on Dec. 17. In a bid to combat money laundering and terrorism-related activities, the “Blocking Iran Illicit Finance Act” calls for sanctions on the Iranian financial sector and on the development and use of the national cryptocurrency. The act specifically prohibits transactions, financing or other dealings related to an Iranian digital currency, and would also introduce sanctions on foreign individuals engaged in …

Tagomi Holdings Inc., an electronic brokerage startup backed by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel’s venture capital firm, has launched, according to a Dec. 17 press release. Tagomi is an electronic brokerage for digital assets. The firm’s offerings include cross market execution, capital management, post-trading reporting, as well as settlement and custodial services. According to Chief Executive Officer of Tagomi, Jennifer Campbell, the company aims to ease the operational challenges related to trading digital assets. The company caters to clients that “require institutional operational standards.” As Cointelegraph reported in October, institutional investors replaced high net-worth individuals as the biggest buyers of cryptocurrency …

Ohio Republican Congressman Warren Davidson suggested raising money to build a wall on the border with Mexico using blockchain, in an interview on NPR Dec. 12. Davidson, who is known for his pro-crypto initiatives, spoke on NPR’s Morning Edition with host Steve Inskeep about the the United States president’s recent threat to shut down the government if Congress refuses to pay for a border wall. Commenting on the matter, Davidson said he had offered a “modest compromise” in the form of his initiative, dubbed “Buy a Brick, Build a Wall,” that would accept public donations for the wall’s construction. Clarifying …

Major global online payments system PayPal has launched a blockchain-based reward system for its employees. Financial news channel Cheddar reported on the platform launch Thursday, Dec. 6, citing PayPal’s director of innovation Michael Todasco. According to Cheddar, the program was prepared by PayPal’s innovation team, which is based in San Jose, California, over a six-month period and was launched in mid-November. Employees using the program are granted tokens for participating in innovation-related programs and contributing ideas. These tokens are only valid within PayPal and can be traded among the participants of the program via “public ledger.” Todasco compared the reward …

Crypto-focused institutional asset manager Morgan Creek Digital has issued a $1 million bet against the S&P 500 (SPX) stock market index, a press release shared with Cointelegraph reveals Dec. 6. The crypto fund has issued a wager that its Digital Asset Index Fund –– a basket of ten major crypto assets –– will outperform the SPX over the next 10 years, starting Jan. 1, 2019. The S&P 500 is based on market capitalizations of 500 large companies that have common stock listed on major U.S. stock exchanges, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or the Nasdaq Stock Market (NASDAQ). The …

Four major blockchain companies have formed a “Blockchain for Europe” Association, according to a press release Dec. 5. The association seeks to promote the understanding and proactive regulation of blockchain and other distributed ledger (DLT) technologies across the continent. The four participant companies are Ripple, the NEM Foundation, Emurgo – which supports commercial ventures based on the Cardano blockchain – and “smart ledger” development firm Fetch.AI. The firms have outlined the Association’s aim as addressing the European Union's “fragmented” policy debate around blockchain, which they claim is skewed by “inconsistent” information from those outside the emerging sector. In a bid …

U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex has launched a dedicated offering for institutional traders, the company announced in a blog post Dec. 4. Poloniex, which merged with financial services company Circle in February this year, currently ranks 47th in the world among crypto exchanges by trade volume. The exchange joins an increasing array of operators looking to service the institutional market, a segment of cryptocurrency traders commentators have tipped to become a major force behind shoring up asset prices next year. “Institutions large and small can enjoy the benefits of our large curated selection of crypto asset trading pairs, dedicated support and …

The CEO of cybersecurity firm Cuvepia declared that his company detected over 30 attacks on crypto-bearing individuals probably carried out by North Korean hackers, English-language media site South China Morning Post reports Nov. 29. Kwon Seok-Chul, the CEO of the aforementioned South Korean cybersecurity company, said that the new targets of the suspected North Korean cyberattacks “are just simple wallet users investing in cryptocurrency.” He then added that many cases probably haven’t been detected, and that there may have been well over 100 attacks. As the article states, the “targeting of individuals holding virtual currencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) marks …

Major U.S. stock exchange Nasdaq still intends to launch Bitcoin futures and could do so as soon as Q1 2019, Bloomberg reported Nov. 27. Quoting “two people familiar with the matter,” the publication said momentum was building towards a potential launch early next year. The move comes despite the downturn in Bitcoin (BTC) prices to 13-month lows, marking the tail end of a testing year for existing Bitcoin futures products. According to the two unnamed sources, Nasdaq “has been working to satisfy the concerns of the U.S.’s main swaps regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission [CFTC], before launching the contracts.” …

U.S. actor and producer Johnny Depp is partnering with crypto-powered social entertainment platform TaTaTu, according to a report by film industry media Hollywood Reporter posted Monday, Oct. 22. As a part of the new agreement, the Hollywood star is going to team up with TaTaTu founder Andrea Iervolino in order to create and produce film and digital content together. According to the article, the content is set to be produced by the Infinitum Nihil film production firm owned by Johnny Depp. Andrea Iervolino, co-founder and CEO of the U.S. movies motion picture conglomerate AMBI Media Group, will be cooperating via …

The Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) deputy governor Masayoshi Amamiya has recently reiterated his negative stance towards central bank-issued digital currencies (CBDC), the New York Times reports Oct. 20. Speaking on Saturday at a meeting in Nagoya, central Japan, Amamiya expressed doubts about the use of CBDCs, claiming that such digital currencies are unlikely to improve the existing monetary systems. Amamiya also stated that the BOJ does not plan to issue digital currencies. The article reports that some financial experts consider a CBDC as a tool for central banks to control the economy once interest rates fall to zero. According to …