Ukraine kidnappers release hostage after $1m bitcoin ransom paid

Kidnappers in Ukraine have released an employee at a UK-registered cryptocurrency exchange after getting more than $1m (£750,000) in bitcoin as a ransom, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister told Reuters on Friday.

SegWit2x Launches With Massive Premine, Unknown Development Team (Sketchy?)

The new SegWit2x, a revival of the original hard fork designed to help with the scalability issues of Bitcoin, was scheduled to happen at Bitcoin block number 501451. That block was mined at around 6PM UTC, Dec. 28, and the team behind the project announced its official launch:
 

Merry Christmas And Happy New Year

‘Expected Dip?’ Bitcoin Rediscovers ₦4,690,250 ($12,850), Altcoins Drop To 40%

Bitcoin dipped as little as ₦4,692,075 ($12,855) Friday morning as traders watch a steep new correction unfold across cryptocurrency markets.

From highs of ₦7.28 Mln over ($20,000) on some exchanges last weekend, Bitcoin tumbled by as much as 30 percent, echoing behavior seen during China's exchange ban in September and the conclusion of a significant bull run in May of the year.

China, Nigeria lead world Bitcoin transactions in 2017

China and Nigeria lead the world’s peer-to-peer (P2P) bitcoin transactions in the year 2017 outpacing major European countries, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, according to data from LocalBitcoins.com.

Despite the clampdown on bitcoin exchanges and orders for start-ups that embarked on initial coin offerings (ICOs) to return investors’ money in China in 2017, transactions stayed bullish growing more than 2,000 per cent in dollar terms this year.

Return match: Bitcoin’s SegWit2X Set to Fork on December ‎‎28

BTC holders will get B2X in ‎the ratio of 1 to 1, and numerous Satoshi ‎Nakamoto`s bitcoins. ‎

Supporters of Bitcoin's controversial SegWit2X hard fork have just announced that the split will soon be revived, based on a record published today on the project's website.

How to Prevent Your Bitcoins from Being Hacked or Stolen

The price of a single bitcoin surged to more than $17,000 in early December, and (for now) it is still going up. But cryptocurrency isn't quite like other assets, and Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are surprisingly easy to steal. They're also not always easy to protect.

Traditional Banks Hate Crypto: Expert Blog

Digital currency’s total market capitalization is around $500 bln and the total funds raised through ICOs now exceeds $3 bln. However, the Bubble Generation isn’t accepted by traditional banks (even by neobanks). Various banks around the world are not happy about people buying Bitcoin. We have seen multiple banks close customer accounts because of this activity.

Bitcoin Will Outperform Everything Including Warren Buffett Says Max Keiser

Legislators in Mexico are pushing a bill to regulate Bitcoin

The upper chamber of Mexico's national legislature has approved a bill on financial technology that would bring local bitcoin exchanges under control of the central bank.

Bitcoin goes haywire, blows Past ₦5.096 mln ($14,000) to Post ₦910k ($2,500) Single Day Gain

Today Bitcoin surged past ₦5.096 mln ($14,000) level, topping out at ₦5.241 mln ($14,400) for a ₦910k ($2,500) gain within a day. This makes today the biggest one-day gain in the annals of the currency. To place it in perspective, today Bitcoin's price increased by more twice around it's 2013 all-time a high of ₦400K ($1,100). One Bitcoin is now able to buy significantly more than 11 ounces of pure gold.

Happy ₦4,356,000 ($12k)! Bitcoin Prices Break Another Record In Epic Week

Bitcoin temporarily hit ₦4,356,000 ($12,000) and a ₦72,600 bln ($200 bln) market cap Tuesday before correcting as prices continue their remarkable week-long surge.

As major exchanges such as for instance Coinbase, Bitstamp, Kraken and others trade around ₦4,368,000 ($12,000) at press time, lively global markets produced an average all-time a lot of ₦4,596,228 ($12,627)

BTC/Cryptocurrency Scam Alert: Beware of these People scamming Bitcoin users!!!

Everyone is talking about Bitcoins since price skyrocketed to a new level this year, increasing by over 900%. Many have made a great deal out of it while some choose to take advantage of the new users of cryptocurrency.

See the list of those scamming people bellow.

Bitcoin on its way to another level– as grandpa buys in, leftists say: ‘What’s bitcoin?’

by Ramin Mazaheri for the Saker blog

Some are talking of “fear and euphoria” in the crypto-currency world, but what’s to fear?

Last month Bitcoin’s multi-year existential crisis was surprisingly resolved with only a couple days of panicking.

CrossTalk: Bitcoin Fever!