Given how much bitcoin currently dominates the cryptocurrency market, in terms of value, prices
of other virtual currencies took a beating too.
Virtual currency exchanges allow their customers to trade virtual currencies — usually
for other virtual currencies, but also for other assets such as fiat money.
Virtual currencies definitely run the risk of being targeted by hackers using various methods to steal Bitcoins and
other virtual currencies from user accounts.
Because bitcoin created the market for cryptocurrencies, it has been able to hold a 90 percent market share
over other virtual currencies for nearly the entirety of its existence.
Alternatively, increase in Bitcoin price may cause the hash rate
of other virtual currencies to fall, decreasing their transaction verification efficiency and lowering their value.
It was the first major economy to bestow legitimacy on virtual currencies, by recognising Bitcoin and
other virtual currencies as legal tender in April of 2017.
Since Coinbase is under heavy scrutiny, many criminals (and others -RCB- have left Bitcoin in favor of
other virtual currencies like Zcash, which promises to «fully protect the privacy of transactions using zero - knowledge cryptography,» or Monero, which says it offers «secure, private, untraceable currency.»
China plans to ban trading of bitcoin and
other virtual currencies on domestic exchanges, dealing another blow to the $ 150 billion cryptocurrency market after the country outlawed initial coin offerings last week.
South Korea's new management - minded approach is a dramatic turnaround from its energetic regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrency exchanges this past year, alarmed at a heated market that saw local prices of Bitcoin and
other virtual currencies in South Korea trade for higher than international levels.
It was originally set up to trade Second Life Lindens (SLL) and
other virtual currencies used in online gaming before expanding into bitcoin in 2011.
According to the FT BitFlyer will only offer trading of Bitcoin / Euro pairs but said it planned to
support other virtual currencies such as Litecoin and Ethereum and more fiat currencies in the coming months.
In Sweden, where use of cash is vanishing, the central bank is investigating issuing its own digital currency, the E-krona, out of concern that widespread use of
other virtual currencies controlled by private actors could harm competitiveness.
Hackers are identifying bitcoin and
other virtual currency investors and users online, figuring out which telecommunications provider they use, and convincing a cell provider customer service agent to transfer the number to a provider and device under the hacker's control, Forbes has reported.
An anonymous respondent commented, «With the rise of bitcoin or
other virtual currencies people may switch to these entirely as global currencies, as the dollar and euro may see too many ups and downs.»
In an effort to counter the potential sweeping inclusion of all wallets in the AML Proposal, Jouke Hofman, CEO of Bitcoin - brokerage Bitonic and exchange BL3P, initiated outreach to the Dutch Ministry of Finance, and
other virtual currency wallet and exchange companies, to explain the need for more specific guidance on who exactly is covered by the directive and the importance of balancing anti-terrorism AML efforts with technological innovation:
At the same time, there are fresh concerns about the security of bitcoin and
other virtual currencies after NiceHash, a company that mines bitcoins on behalf of customers, said it is investigating a breach that may have resulted in the theft of about $ 70 million worth of bitcoin.
Meanwhile,
most other virtual currencies allow miners to use some variation of graphics processing units from the likes of NVIDIA or Advanced Micro Devices to proof transactions.
A prisoner in Iceland suspected of masterminding the theft of about 600 computers that were being used to mine bitcoin and
other virtual currencies escaped custody and fled Tuesday on a passenger plane that a witness said also carried the remote North...
To see how small businesses are integrating bitcoin and
other virtual currencies into their payments mix (and elsewhere within their companies), DCC CEO David Berger held the following question - and - answer discussion with Chris Werner, founder of Werner Business Law in Chicago.
Miners of bitcoins and
other virtual currencies help keep the systems honest by having their computers keep a global running tally of transactions.
In a recent interview with a Chinese owned news publication, one researcher stated that, «Cryptocurrencies and
other virtual currencies attempt to challenge the sovereign state's right to issue currency, requiring the nationalization of currency issuance.
The difficulty of trading on the exchanges no doubt chased many would - be buyers away, especially when the price of Bitcoin and
other virtual currencies began to fall.
He stressed that Circle is for now focused on nailing down the technical and security aspects of its bitcoin services, which will help it avoid the embarrassing blunders that have befell
many other virtual currency start - ups.
The paper stated that bitcoins and
other virtual currencies pose a «minimal» threat to the Bank's monetary policy since they currently have a limited presence in the financial system in Namibia.
The organization has a strong focus on the adoption of Bitcoin and
other virtual currencies throughout Canada, while also promoting Canadian participation in international partnerships and associations.
The mining operations that create Bitcoin and
other virtual currencies require vast stores of computing power, and no small amount of technical know - how, but a company called Virtonomics is hoping to change all that.
«Individuals and companies are trading in bitcoin and
other virtual currencies all over the world,» says Business Waste spokesperson Mark Hall, «so of course we're going to accept it from our customers.»
On February 9, 2018, an article the Telegraph noted that France and Germany's economy chiefs called for further regulations on Bitcoin, cryptocurrency and
other virtual currencies trading.
Having the option to trade Bitcoin and over 40
other virtual currencies intermittently, without having to register for an account or complete a verification procedure, has attracted a lot of attention.
Since the success of Bitcoin, there have been over 3,000
other virtual currencies introduced with varying degrees of success and popularity such as Ethereum, Litecoin, Monero and Dash.
Similar to Bitcoin and
other virtual currencies powered by blockchain technology, «smart contracts» have the potential to eliminate the need for trusted third parties to facilitate transactions.
The Federal Ministry of Finances has issued a report after the German federal authority published its verdict exempting purchases paid for by Bitcoin and
other virtual currencies from taxation.