Digital Currency Daily: A bloody incident caused by a "hacker"! But Bitcoin went higher after a sharp drop

Last Friday (January 26), Coincheck, one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges in Japan, was attacked by hackers and all withdrawals were suspended, causing panic among investors. Major cryptocurrencies all suffered a sharp drop. Bitcoin's maximum drop was close to $1,400, from a high of $11,635 to a low of $10,263. Ripple also fell by nearly 20%. However, Bitcoin recovered all its losses in the early morning of the 27th and further rose to 12,193. It is currently falling back to 11,499.

In the past 24 hours, among the top ten digital currencies by market value, NEO, Ethereum and Ripple have increased by around 8%, with the largest fluctuations. See the figure below for details:

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.

[Virtual currencies rebound across the board, Bitcoin returns to $12,000]

On a weekend with little news, the virtual currency market was hot, with Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple rebounding strongly. According to the Bitfinex platform, Bitcoin rose 8.2% in the past 24 hours, returning to the $12,000 mark, and Ethereum rebounded more than 12%, once standing above $1,200. Futures position data shows that the bullish force in the Bitcoin market is increasing.

[US$530 million! The largest digital currency theft in history occurred in Japan. Bitcoin fell to nearly US$1,400 before rebounding]

Coincheck, one of Japan's largest bitcoin exchanges, was hacked, $530 million worth of digital currency was stolen, all withdrawal services were suspended, and cryptocurrency trading was stopped. The panic caused by the market caused bitcoin to fall by nearly $1,400 at one point, but then completely recovered its losses.

Coincheck subsequently announced that it would use exchange funds to compensate users. The compensation price was 88.549 yen multiplied by the number of NEM coins owned. Based on the total number of 523 million NEM coins stolen this time, the total compensation was approximately US$426 million.

[Japanese real estate has also begun to accept Bitcoin. This building is sold for 547 Bitcoins]

A Japanese real estate company will sell a commercial building for 547 bitcoins, about $6 million, which will be the first building sold in Japan with bitcoins. Currently, the company only accepts bitcoins, and may add other digital currencies as payment methods in the future.

[Bank of Japan: Cash is king, there is no need to issue digital currency]

The head of the Bank of Japan’s FinTech Center reportedly said recently that cash is still king in Japan’s consumer market, which means the central bank does not see the need to issue a digital currency just yet.

[This broker has started a fierce competition: Bitcoin and Ethereum transactions will be free of commissions and handling fees]

Robinhood, an American stock broker, announced that it will add Bitcoin and Ethereum trading on its app starting in February. Compared with Coinbase's 1.5%-4% transaction fee, Robinhood said it will waive commissions and fees.

[Private capital "mining" fever continues, Bitcoin and blockchain risks are warned again by official media]

China Securities Journal published an article saying that mid- and downstream Bitcoin miners and traders are like participating in a gamble, with wins and losses. The final casualties may not be the real speculators, but entrepreneurs who are blinded by profits. The Economic Daily also reminded that investors should be cautious about so-called investment opportunities.

【The ultimate enemy of WeChat and Facebook: Will blockchain completely subvert social media? 】

People have begun to get tired of advertisements, are dissatisfied with the content sorting and presentation that prevents them from dominating their own homepages, and hate that their privacy has to be held in the hands of others. The stronger the aversion to the monopoly of technology giants, the clearer the desire to build a new type of social media through blockchain technology.

[World Gold Council: Digital currency is not an effective substitute for gold]

Since the 1970s, gold has risen by an average of 10% per year, while Bitcoin has risen by 1,300% in 2017 alone. The World Gold Council believes that compared with digital currencies, gold has the characteristics of lower volatility and stronger market liquidity, which makes Bitcoin unable to replace gold in the market.

[Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Godwin Emefiele: Bitcoin is a kind of "gambling"]

The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria recently joined the Bitcoin "complaint conference" and said that investing in Bitcoin is "gambling" and that Bitcoin may need to be regulated. Recently, many heads of regulatory agencies have expressed their concerns about the risks of Bitcoin and believe that Bitcoin needs to be regulated. As more and more retail and institutional investors begin to show interest in Bitcoin, regulators will become more and more worried because they believe that Bitcoin is too volatile and is still in a bubble. Not only that, regulators also have a strong view that the digital currency market is being exploited by criminals.

[The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology released a blockchain technology overview document to remind companies not to blindly try new technologies]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a non-regulatory agency under the U.S. Department of Commerce, recently released an overview document on blockchain technology, aiming to clarify the core features, limitations, and common misconceptions of the technology. Computer scientist Dylan Yaga, one of the co-authors of the document, reminded readers that companies are often easily tempted by new technologies, so they should first understand whether the technology is suitable for them before trying blockchain technology.