American digital asset manager Grayscale announced that out of the firm’s $2.1 billion of assets under management, $1.97 billion resides in its bitcoin investment trust. The firm tweeted the figures on May 28. According to the published data, the bitcoin (BTC) trust is responsible for nearly 94% of the firm’s total assets under management. Meanwhile, the firm also noted that its bitcoin cash (BCH) trust is worth $6.7 million and its ether (ETH) trust $13 million, while the XRP trust is worth $5.7 million. The second-biggest trust is the one dedicated to ethereum classic (ETC), worth $41.3 million, and the …

A cryptocurrency exchange says it is prioritizing the privacy of its users — eliminating the “tedious” registration steps imposed by other websites. BitConvert argues that some rival platforms ask for too many personal details when they are bringing new users on board and says this can make consumers uncomfortable when they are in pursuit of absolute anonymity. The company also claims such excessive registration procedures actively undermine the purpose of coins that were designed to deliver privacy. According to BitConvert, its users have the ability to “instantly exchange coins” without being required to register an account with the website. At …

Bitmain, the largest manufacturer of mining equipment, recently revealed the Antminer Z11 device for mining Zcash and other cryptocurrencies based on the Equihash algorithm, as reported by Cointelegraph on March 19. The company claims that the new chip is three times more powerful than its predecessor, the Antminer Z9, which was released nine months ago. Introducing the #AntminerZ11 that packs 3X more hashing power than its predecessor! The Z11 mines #Zcash under the Equihash algorithm. Performing with a hash rate of 135 KSol/s and power consumption of 1418 W. Click here (https://t.co/woThhXNxjd) to learn more. pic.twitter.com/HzCLKR7dVc — Antminer_main (@Antminer_main) March …

Cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain has released a new version of its Antminer Z series machines for Equihash algorithm coins, the company confirmed in a blog post on March 19. The Antminer Z11, which comes around ten months after the release of its predecessor the Z9, claims to treble the hashing power available for its target cryptocurrencies. Equihash is the algorithm used in altcoins such as Zcash (ZEC) and ZenCash (ZEN). The move sees Bitmain continue to forge ahead with new products despite challenging market conditions within the mining industry, the company previously closing down some aspects of its operations. “The …

The head of the Finance Committee of France’s National Assembly, Eric Woerth, is suggesting a ban on anonymous cryptocurrencies, or so-called privacy coins. Woerth expressed his position in a recent report on crypto assets and blockchain technology. In a forward to the report, Woerth considers the introduction of a ban on digital currencies that provide greater anonymity to users, stating: “It would also have been appropriate to propose a ban on the dissemination and trade in [cryptocurrencies built] to ensure complete anonymity by preventing any identification procedure by design. [...] This is the case for a certain number of [cryptocurrencies] …

Top Stories This Week Facebook Reportedly Acquires Blockchain Startup in First Blockchain-Related Acquisition Social media network Facebook has reportedly acquired blockchain startup Chainspace in its first apparent blockchain-related acquisition. According to news outlet Cheddar, the acquisition is considered an “acquihire,” or an acquisition of a company made in order to get the skills or expertise of its staff, as opposed to the company’s service or products. According to Cheddar, four of the five researchers that worked on Chainspace’s academic white paper will be joining Facebook. Facebook had told Cheddar that it had not acquired any of Chainspace’s technology. Leaked Mt. …

A vulnerability that could have permitted an attacker to coin infinite Zcash (ZEC) has been patched and disclosed by the company behind the coin, a post on the official Zcash blog states on Feb. 5. Ariel Gabizon, an engineer at the Zerocoin Electric Coin Company — the startup behind privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash — reportedly discovered the vulnerability the night before his talk at the Financial Cryptography 2018 conference in March 2018. Gabizon contacted Sean Bowe, a cryptographer at the Zcash Company, the same day. A fix for the vulnerability was covertly included (to prevent exploitation) in the Sapling network upgrade …

Friday, Jan. 11 — after a major price rout yesterday, many cryptocurrencies are today clawing back lost ground, with most of the major coins tipping back into the green, as Coin360 data shows. Market visualization from Coin360 Top cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) has stabilized around $3,700 to press time, seeing a slight 1 percent recovery over the past 24 hours. Yesterday, Jan. 10, Bitcoin fell sharply in value from ~$4,000 to ~$3,650 — an over 8 percent intraday loss. Having reclaimed the $4,000 mark Jan. 6 — which it comfortably held for several days — the fresh downturn has brought Bitcoin …

Wednesday, Jan. 9 — crypto markets are continuing to show mixed signals, with most of the top market cap coins seeing mild changes both red and green. Bitcoin (BTC) is holding justabove the $4,000 mark, as Coin360 data shows. Market visualization from Coin360 Top cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) has been jaggedly trading sideways over the past three days, and is currently down a mild 1.4 percent on the day, trading at $4,048. Having broken the $4,000 resistance on Jan. 6, Bitcoin spiked to around $4,100, subsequently continuing to fluctuate range bound between $4,000 and $4,100. As compared with its lower price …

Monday, Jan. 7 — most of the top 20 cryptocurrencies are seeing slight to generous gains in the 24 hours to press time. Bitcoin’s (BTC) price has surpassed the $4,000 mark again, according to Coin360 data. Market visualization from Coin360 At press time, Bitcoin is up nearly 5 percent on the day, trading at around $4,025. Looking at its weekly chart, the current price is above the intra-week high of $3,946 — registered on Jan. 2 — and is also notably higher than $3,841, which is the value of one bitcoin last Monday. Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap Ethereum …

Friday, Jan. 4 — after crypto markets tipped back into red yesterday, most cryptocurrencies are today seeing some further corrections. All of the top twenty coins by market cap are seeing tempered losses on the day, as data from CoinMarketCap shows. Top cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC), a day after the tenth anniversary of its genesis block, is down over 2 percent over the 24 hours to press time, and is currently trading around $3,798. The coin has failed to break back above the $4,000 price point, despite several bursts of growth over the course of the past week — and has …

Thursday, Jan. 3 — after some positive inklings of growth earlier this week, crypto markets have today dipped back into the red, with most of the top twenty cryptocurrencies by market cap seeing losses capped below 6 percent, as data from CoinMarketCap shows. TRON (TRX) is one of the only outliers among the top coins and the strongest top twenty performer on the day, up just 1 percent. The market is evidently responding positively to news that stalwart peer-to-peer torrent client BitTorrent has launched a TRON-based native token for its users — the company’s first major move to tokenize its …