Accounting for almost 40% of bitcoin tweets worldwide, the United States looms large over crypto twitter. According to a new thread of tweets, published July 3, by crypto data and infrastructure provider The TIE, overall 38.9% of total bitcoin tweets come from the U.S. Another 10.5% come from the UK. The top five countries generating bitcoin discussion on Twitter are the U.S., U.K., Canada, Turkey and India, the TIE reveals. In an analysis of how far that social media sentiment is positive, the TIE has found that — in order — Peru, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Italy show the most …

Two European companies have launched what they describe as the world’s first genuine bitcoin (BTC) bond, they confirmed in a joint press release on July 3. Luxembourg-based Argento, a securitization firm, joined forces with London Block Exchange (LBX) to issue the bitcoin-denominated bond, which is regulated under the United Kingdom’s regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). “We are thrilled to have structured and produced the world’s first institutional grade bitcoin-denominated financial product,” Argento manager Phil Millo commented. “The large investment banks really dropped the ball on this one.” The Argento-LBX bond represents a first in regulated cryptocurrency products, in that …

British financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), is preparing a potential ban on the sale of crypto derivatives to retail investors, according to an official document released on July 1. In the document, titled “Restricting contract for difference products sold to retail clients,” the FCA revealed that the regulator will soon publish a consultation paper (CP) on a potential ban on crypto derivatives such as bitcoin (BTC) futures and other crypto-related trading products. The FCA wrote: “We will shortly publish a CP on a potential ban on the sale to retail clients of derivatives and certain transferable securities that …

London-based crypto asset management firm Prime Factor Capital has obtained a license from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to operate as a full-scope Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM). The development was announced in a press release on July 1 Being FCA-authorized gives Prime Factor Capital the right to operate as a full-scope AIFM under the European Union’s AIFM Directive (AIFMD). The Directive is a regulation applied to private equity funds, hedge funds, and real estate funds, which sets standards for marketing in regards to raising private capital, risk monitoring and reporting, among other issues. As required by AIFMD, Prime Factor …

United Kingdom bitcoin (BTC) mining operator Argo Blockchain surpassed its own expectations in Q2, the company said in a new report released on July 2. Argo, which previously said it had benefited from the upturn in bitcoin prices, said revenues would continue to improve over previous estimates. “The Company now expects to generate 161 BTC, or GBP1.38m of cryptoassets, in June based on a BTC price of $10,817.16 USD as of 30 June 2019,” the report confirmed. “This is an increase of approximately 101% from the Company's May mining results and represents a mining margin of roughly 81%. The Company …

27% of surveyed United Kingdom citizens hope to see cryptocurrencies in “real-world applications," according to recent research by U.K.-based crypto exchange CEX.io, technology news outlet BTCManager reported on June 27. CEX.io provided BTCManager the results of its recent survey focused on the level of adoption, application, and expectations of digital currencies in the U.K. The report — which was prepared in collaboration with London-based research firm qriously — highlights answers from 1,013 respondents. Per the survey, 32% of respondents said that they would like the technology to be better integrated with "everyday technology" like payments apps and mobile storage, while …

Hackers took over the Twitter account of the largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom to promote a bitcoin (BTC) scam this week. The news surfaced via IT magazine Bleeping Computer on June 25. Tesco, which has almost 550,000 Twitter followers, lost control of its account and began claiming it would give away free bitcoins in return for investments. The hackers appeared to have an affinity with Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, using his avatar and changing Tesco’s handle to ‘Billgatesmsc.’ “Bitcoin is on the rise again! One day, it will without doubt replace fiat currencies,” one deleted tweet read in …

Europol, in conjunction with the United Kingdom’s South West Regional Cyber Crime Unit, the Dutch police, Eurojust, and the U.K.’s National Crime Agency (NCA), has coordinated the arrests of six people suspected of stealing over $27 million in cryptocurrency, according to a press release on June 25. The attackers reportedly were involved in typosquatting, a fraudulent means to steal credentials by setting up a scam website with a similar name to an established one—hence the “typo” in “typosquatting”—and then recording login data. In this case, the report notes that Europol believes the hackers were able to use typosquatting to steal …

The head of the United Kingdom’s central bank has said Facebook’s new libra cryptocurrency could have genuine use cases if it can conform to regulatory demands, the Financial Times (FT) reported on June 18. Speaking at a conference of central bankers in Portugal, Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England (BoE), delivered mixed reviews of libra. The in-house stablecoin for Facebook has sparked predictions of blanket bans by governments since developers unveiled it this week. “The governor said the BoE was there to guarantee financial and monetary stability and would look at Facebook’s proposals ‘very closely and in a …

The British Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned investors of a fraudulent company posing as the Swiss Investment Corporation, an FCA-authorized firm offering crypto investments, and another company that is a clone of Goldman Sachs, the regulator announced on June 14. The financial regulator has blacklisted a firm operating under the domain swissinvest.biz. According to the announcement, the fraudulent clone firm offers services on its website swiss-investissement.com and is involved in scam activity. On the website, the alleged clone firm divides its proposed investments into the safest — assets such as precious metals, and the most successful — major cryptocurrencies …

The number of global blockchain patent filings significantly outstrips the patent filings for other technologies, according to research by the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) and London-based law firm Withers & Rogers. British media outlet Compelo reported the results on June 5. According to the report, the amount of blockchain patents in the world is far outpacing that of quantum computing, as the number of blockchain patent families has already exceeded that of quantum computing. The report says that the number of blockchain-related patent filings has grown tremendously since 2014, with the largest amount of those having been …

Online retail giant Amazon has partnered with United Kingdom-based insurance agency Legal & General to create a blockchain system for managing corporate pension deals, according to a report by Reuters on June 11. Legal & General will reportedly make use of the Amazon Managed Blockchain for its bulk annuity transactions, which happen when companies transfer their pension schemes to Legal & General for insurance. According to an article by the Financial Times, companies make bulk annuity transactions to insurers like this so that they are not ultimately responsible for personally paying their employees’ pensions. CEO of Legal & General Reinsurance …