Misfortunes never come alone! Multiple digital currency exchanges are suspected to be inaccessible + Japan issued a "penalty warning"; Bitcoin fell to nearly $9,000

On Thursday, digital currencies fell across the board, with Bitcoin falling to nearly $9,000 during the session and currently trading at $9,087. The main reason was that the official websites or apps of several exchanges, including Bitmex, Binance, Gate, and Bitfinex, were inaccessible on the evening of the 8th. On the same day, the Financial Services Agency of Japan issued a "penalty warning" to seven virtual currency exchanges and suspended the operations of two exchanges for one month.

Judging from the 24-hour rise and fall, the top ten digital currencies by market value fell across the board. Among them, Monero fell 15.68% to $273.99, the largest drop; Bitcoin fell 7.64% to $9,087, and Bitcoin Cash fell 6.8%, the smallest drop.

Below, we have compiled the latest cryptocurrency market news, including price trends, comments from big names, industry news, and global regulatory policies, for your review and reference.

[Websites of several virtual currency exchanges such as Binance are suspected to be inaccessible, and Bitcoin once fell to nearly $9,000]

According to Xiaocong APP, on the evening of the 8th, the official websites or APPs of several exchanges such as Bitmex, Binance, Gate, and Bitfinex were suspected to be inaccessible. On Thursday, Bitcoin fell to nearly $9,000 during the trading session. On the same day, the Financial Services Agency of Japan issued a "punishment warning" to seven virtual currency exchanges and suspended the operations of two exchanges for one month.

Binance was hacked late at night, which was also the reason for the sharp drop in Bitcoin on Thursday. Binance’s announcement pointed out that the hackers in this incident were organized and disciplined, and were not in a hurry to make a profit. Instead, they waited patiently for the best time and chose the VIA coin with low liquidity to maximize their profits. Li Xiaolai also speculated in a WeChat group that even if the hackers could not withdraw the coins from Binance, they could still make profits by going long on VIA or shorting BTC on other exchanges.

[The U.S. Congress will hold a hearing next week to discuss cryptocurrency]

A subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing on cryptocurrencies next Wednesday. The hearing is scheduled for 11 p.m. Beijing time on March 14 (10 a.m. Eastern time on March 14). This hearing means that the U.S. Congress will further engage in the world of cryptocurrency in the near future. More details of the hearing have not yet been announced.

[The bank that once looked down on Bitcoin "slapped itself in the face": it has applied for nearly 500 cryptocurrency patents]

Banks and Bitcoin are strange bedfellows, but they do have something in common. Bankers, along with those in the traditional investment world, missed out on Bitcoin. Now the banking industry and Wall Street have gotten so fond of Bitcoin that they’ve even started launching their own blockchains.

[Former Trump adviser: Bitcoin will bring 'real freedom']

Steve Bannon, former chief strategist for US President Donald Trump and once considered a leading figure in the US "alt-right", is promoting the liberating potential of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

[Survey: Top billionaires are increasingly interested in digital currencies, although they “don’t really understand” them]

A British think tank conducted a survey of wealth managers and private bankers who serve ultra-high net worth clients, of which about 21% of clients increased their investment in digital currencies in 2017; but while chasing the blockchain trend, the super-rich still have room to improve their understanding of this technological concept.

Arizona House of Representatives introduces bill allowing residents to pay taxes with Bitcoin

Public records show that the Arizona House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee proposed a bill on March 7 that would allow state residents to pay taxes in Bitcoin. Although the bill will not be finalized until a vote in the plenary session, it increases the possibility that the bill will be sent to the governor's desk for signature and become state law. As previously reported, the bill has been passed by the state Senate.

[Sierra Leone, a West African country, conducts presidential elections based on blockchain technology]

The West African country of Sierra Leone held a presidential election on Wednesday, with 16 candidates competing fiercely. During this process, Swiss blockchain voting startup Agora helped track it all and monitored it through its proprietary distributed ledger. "Countries like Sierra Leone can use blockchain technology to reduce disputes during the election process," said Jaron Lukasiewicz, Agora's new chief operating officer. Currently, Agora is manually counting voters' paper ballots and recording them in the blockchain. For Agora, this election may be the first step in its larger plan to launch a more decentralized version of the technology in the future.

[South Burlington, USA completes the first real estate transaction based on blockchain technology in the United States]

South Burlington, Vermont, which has partnered with global blockchain real estate company Propy, has completed the first real estate transaction in the United States based on blockchain technology, making the city of South Burlington a global blockchain leader. South Burlington announced a pilot project using Propy in January this year to test the use of blockchain technology for recording real estate documents.

Samsung adds artificial intelligence and blockchain technology to its smart logistics platform

Samsung Smart Logistics Platform is an optimization software tool that can be used for supply chain planning, transportation systems and warehouse management. Hong Won-pyo, CEO of Samsung SDS, said: "For new technologies like blockchain, the most important task is to create many real use cases to prove their efficiency and value. Blockchain itself is open source. Only when it is combined with the right functions and serves a specific purpose in a specific industry, this technology will become useful."