Here’s what happened this week in Bitcoin in 99 seconds.
The crypto market, particularly Bitcoin, has been in bull mode, surging into the weekend to reach levels not seen since November 2018. Volume remains strong, which confirms widespread participation in this rally.
Binance exchange was hacked for 7000 Bitcoins. The exchange stated several attack vectors, including phishing and malware were used. About 2% of BTC from the exchange’s hot wallet was stolen. Binance’s insurance fund, known as SAFU will cover the losses and client balances will not be affected.
WeChat, the WhatsApp of China, banned all crypto trades and token funding from its platform. The instant messaging platform was a popular venue for peer to peer trading, so the ban could significantly affect Chinese crypto users. WeChat runs its own payment service, so may view crypto as competition, or may be following the Chinese government’s restrictive policy on crypto.
Major mining firm and ASIC manufacturer, Bitmain, disclosed that its Bitcoin hashpower is down 88% since last month. It’s unclear at this time whether Bitmain has sold the bulk of its Bitcoin ASICs or transferred them to a subsidiary company.
And finally, Twitter user IamNomad reported that over 50% of BCH transactions in April were related to a single address. The address sent 587,000 transactions during April, making several micro-transactions per second. It’s possible the address is being used to simulate activity or for testing.
That’s what happened this week in Bitcoin. See you next week.
