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Bitcoin price surged by 21% in a week due to Iran-US conflict
This week, Bitcoin experienced a recent price jump from 6900 to 8400USD due the souring of Iran-US relationship, after the U.S. killing of Qasem Soleimani (top Iranian general), and Iran retaliation with missile strike at U.S. Iraqi bases.
This price surge has rekindled a long-running debate among investors – Will Bitcoin be a safe-haven asset like gold during times of heightened geopolitical and economic turmoil?
[Source: CoinDesk]
S. Korean Gov. Urged to Allow Launch of Crypto Related Products by Financial Institutions
Korea’s 4th Industrial Revolution Commission urged Korean gov to allow financial institutions to launch crypto-related products, as part of crypto institutionalization. As such, banks & security firms can develop & introduce their own domestic custody solutions to handle crypto assets.
[Source: Business Korea]
Bitcoin hash rate reaches all time high of 117EH/s
Bitcoin’s hash rate struck a new all-time high on 5 Jan: 117 exahashes per second (EH/s)! This means that the miners are producing 117,000,000,000,000,000,000 hashes every second while finding the next block!
Ethan Vera, an operator at the North American Luxor Mining Pool, told Bitcoin Magazine that majority of the recent hash rate increase comes from China, such as F2Pool, Huobi, and more!
[Source: Nasdaq]
European Central Bank President Pushes for a central bank digital currency
Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), supports the bank’s active involvement in the development of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The perks of CBDC payments include quicker, 24/7, and cheaper cross-border payments, which will appeal to both younger younger generations and industry firms.
[Source: ECB Interview with “Challenges” Magazine ]
N. Korea Hackers Lazarus Group Now Steals Crypto on Telegram
Lazarus Group, a hacker group believed to be affiliated with North Korea, previously involved in the creation of trojanized crypto malwares on Mac softwares, has now expanded its medium of attack to Telegram. Unknowing users who downloaded manipulated softwares containing malware would have their sensitive data sent to the hackers.
Some victims were identified to be Poland, Russia, China, and the United Kingdom, most of them with links to cryptocurrency businesses.
[Source: Coindesk]
