Bitcoin News Summary – December 23, 2019

Blockchain analytics firm, Chainalysis, reported some downbeat price predictions based on its tracking of funds acquired by the massive PlusToken ponzi. PlusToken raked in over $2 billion from mostly Chinese citizens before the scam was busted and several leaders arrested. Those that remain at large have just under half their ill-gotten gains yet to sell. However, the upcoming halving may offset further downside.

Roger Ver’s exchange received criticism from the crypto community, including many Bitcoin Cash adherents, for implementing trading of the new HEX token. HEX is often described as a scam for its design, which favors and enriches its creator, Richard Heart. HEX is also backed by former BitConnect shill, Trevon James. The exchange’s CEO said on Twitter he was listing HEX “out of spite” for Bitcoiners.

Coinfloor, the oldest exchange in the UK, announced that it will end support for Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash in January 2020. Coinfloor’s founder said the technical burden of supporting Ethereum’s changing architecture is not worth its trading volume. The exchange will focus on Bitcoin only.

A 19-year-old simjacker from Brooklyn, New York was arrested for hacking over 75 people in 2019. He used SIM swaps to takeover their accounts and steal their crypto. If your email, exchange or other logins depend on access to your phone, consider adding an extra layer of security to guard against this growing threat.  

Before we conclude, here’s this week’s “Bitcoin quick question”: is Bitcoin vulnerable to quantum computing? The short answer is yes – most systems relying on cryptography in general are, including traditional banking systems. However, quantum computers don’t yet exist and probably won’t for a while. In the event that quantum computing could be an imminent threat to Bitcoin, the protocol could be upgraded to use post-quantum algorithms. If you want to read more about this topic just visit the link in the description.

Have a question you want us to answer? Just leave it in the comment section below.

That’s what’s happened this week in Bitcoin. See you next week. 

Disclaimer

Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.
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