04/25/2018 - DNS exploited Amazon IP addresses lead to MyEtherWallet hack, 20% of financial institutions are considering trading cryptocurrencies in 2018
Hackers leverage a DNS exploit to hijack nearly 1300 IP addresses; this allowed the hackers to redirect traffic to rogue destinations, acting as the cryptocurrency website MyEtherWallet.com; the hackers made away with around 216 ETHs from unfortunate users - Link
Thomson Reuters survey reports that 20% of financial institutions are considering trading cryptocurrencies in 2018; the survey was conducted among more than 400 clients; this comes as Thomson Reuters recently launched a ”Bitcoin sentiment data feed”, to more accurately gauge market sentiments - Link
Privacy-centric cryptocurrency project MobileCoin recently raised $30M in their latest Binance Labs-led funding round; MobileCoin is joined by several cryptocurrency veterans, such as Moxie Marlinspike of Signal and Open Whisper Systems; MobileCoin transactions will use the Stellar Consensus Protocol - Link
Decentralized cryptocurrency exchange Switcheo reports trade volume of $2M in its first trading week; Switcheo was launched properly on March 31; the exchange supports tokens such as Red Pulse (RPX), THEKEY (TKY), Bridge Protocol (IAM), Trinity Protocol (TNC), NEO, GAS, DeepBrain Chain (DBC), and Switcheo (SWH) - Link
Three-wheeled car manufacturer Elio Motors receives a $2.5M lifeline from overstock.com; this investment is intended to allow Elio Motors to pay off outstanding debt and accounts payable; Elio Motors also announced that they will launch an ”ElloCoin” token, in order to fund production - Link
Quebec’s ”Chief Scientist”, Rémi Quirion, has recently published a paper disputing the ”myth” of illicit Bitcoin use; the paper acknowledges that whilst Bitcoin can be used to achieve a greater degree of anonymity, there are no indications that criminal use of Bitcoin is actually widespread - Link
Chinese authorities seize over 600 Bitcoin mining computers; this comes following a local power grid reported unusually high electricity consumption; the power consumption turned out to stem from power theft, used to power cryptocurrency rigs; this is reportedly the largest power theft case in years - Link
Bank of France governor urges the European Central Bank to focus on cryptocurrency exchanges; he also stated that new laws are required in order to target and regulate European crypto exchanges; these comments came at the City Week Banking Conference in London - Link
Blockchain audit technology introduced by Ernst and Young; this is intended to allow in-depth review of cryptocurrency business transactions; it is called the ”EY Blockchain Analyzer”, and has been developed in tandem with investment funds, exchange platforms, wallet providers and cryptocurrency mining companies - Link
Blossom looks to bring Bitcoin-based loans to Indonesia; the loans are intended to be Shariah Law-compliant; moreover, it will allow investors from all over the world to fund small micro-loans in Indonesia; the lending service is not P2P, so invests will not touch the cryptocurrency - Link