cryptocurrency
Another ICO Leads to Losses
February 16, 2018
DropDeck, a company that launched an ICO, suffered a catastrophic event, according to the company’s company’s blog.
The digital wallet software where token purchasers were being held was hacked. But rather than the funds being stolen, the Ethereum (ETH), the cryptocurrency that purchasers sent to DropDeck to make their investment, was irretrievably locked in the wallet. In effect, the user money is there but no one can withdraw it or use it, not even the company. All users of that particular wallet software were cruelly affected, not just DropDeck.
The DropDeck loss totals 2,766 ETH or about $2.6 million at today’s prices.
George Popescu was one of multiple advisors to DropDeck according to a company post. Popescu is also the founder and CEO of Lampix, an augmented reality platform company whose own ICO has so far resulted in participant losses of nearly $5 million to-date, due to a decline in the Lampix token price.
Lampix had announced ties to reputable organizations such as the Aspen Institute while soliciting token purchasers. However, Douglas Farrar, senior manager for communications and public affairs at the Aspen Institute, previously told deBanked that he could find no business relationship between Aspen and Lampix, when deBanked attempted to confirm one. Popescu informed us, however, that a Fellow from Aspen had invited Lampix out to Colorado to power up a meeting using Lampix, and that Lampix was paid for its services provided during that meeting.
Popescu also advised the launches of ICOs by the companies AirFox, FirstBlood, and Restart Energy. The latter, Restart Energy, a Romanian company that claims to be the fastest growing private energy and gas provider in the European Union with $20 million in annual revenue, raised approximately $30 million from purchasers through their recent ICO. Restart’s tokens, RED MegaWatts, or MWATs, which participants received in exchange for their purchase, immediately declined in value by 30% after the ICO, according to KuCoin, where the tokens can be exchanged.
Popescu is advising more companies that are gearing up to launch their own ICOs, according to his LinkedIn profile. These include companies named Opiria, FIC Network (formerly Factury), and Well Inc.
Facebook Bans Crypto Ads. Is it The Right Move?
January 31, 2018
Facebook announced yesterday that it had banned all ads promoting Bitcoin or anything related to cryptocurrencies.
The new item on the Prohibited Content list for Facebook ads reads: “Ads must not promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, such as binary options, initial coin offerings, or cryptocurrency.”
In light of the fact that Bitcoin rose in value by about 1600% in 2017, cryptocurrency has received enormous mainstream interest in recent months.
At a memorial last week for the former owner of The Strand bookstore in Manhattan, actor Fran Lebowitz finished her remarks by saying “And can someone tell me what Bitcoin is?” Lucky for her, the well-known economist, Paul Krugman, happened to be speaking next and answered the question.
Right as momentum is building for cryptocurrencies, Facebook’s action warns the public that digital currencies are still shady.
Aside from the inherent mystery of cryptocurrency – that users are not identifiable – recent revelations have revealed that a cryptocurrency called Tether may be artificially sustaining Bitcoin. If this is true, it could have a devastating effect on the value of the most traded cryptocurrency.
In an explanation of Facebook’s new policy, the social media giant’s product management director, Rob Leathern, wrote: “This policy is part of an ongoing effort to improve the integrity and security of our ads, and to make it harder for scammers to profit from a presence on Facebook.”
Leathern wrote that the new policy is “intentionally broad” so that Facebook can better identify deceptive practices.
Is Facebook doing the right thing?
James Altucher, an investor and finance writer who has invested in cryptocurrencies since 2013 and sells “Crypto Trader,” an educational package for $2,000, thinks so.
“Ninety-nine percent of cryptocurrencies are total scams,” Altucher has written on his blog.
“I think this is a very good move for Facebook,” he told Recode.net.
Holiday Bubble Helped Cause (Routine) Crypto Stumble
January 18, 2018Those cherished-yet awkward-family moments you navigated this holiday may be responsible for Bitcoin’s recent rollercoaster ride.
While that may be painting with a bit of a broad brush, it does appear that that the post New Year’s dip that befell the cryptocurrency world was tied to a festive hype-bubble.
Between Thanksgiving and the December holidays cryptocurrency was a hot topic around the dinner table while people spent extended time with their families, John Omar, head of the Chain Operator blog and cryptocurrency trading course, told deBanked.
Omar explained that not only were those that were already schooled in the ways of crypto-trading discussing their financial gains over apple cider and stuffing, but family and friends who were previously unaware or unfamiliar with the likes of Bitcoin were having their interests piqued.
This spurred a rapid uptick in pricing on the way to to unprecedented gains in Bitcoin and other crypto counterparts.
“No, this is not the end of crypto,” Omar told deBanked. “This is far from the end. What we’re seeing is a price correction after 2 months of unprecedented growth. It’s not even a historic price correction. There have been more dramatic movements. There are a few reasons why the price is correcting at this time: potential regulation from Korea, China and France, and people who bought into cryptocurrencies after the holidays selling off to realize profits.”
Emerson Taymor, founding partner of the strategies firm Philosophie, agrees with Omar’s stance.
“Bitcoin and the market has seen much more significant drops in its past and always rebounded with a vengeance. It is a healthy correction, but far from the end,” he said.
Like Omar, Taymor also attributes the recent drop to “regulatory headwind” overseas.
While he believes that cryptocurrencies best days are not necessarily behind them, there will be losers on the path to determining a clear winner.
“Remember, cryptocurrency is much more than the “stock price,” Taymor said. “We are seeing a fundamental shift in how technology is going to be created. I believe we will have another big run up for the next 6-12 months and then we will have the real bubble bursting. Much like the Dot Com bubble, we will see people lose a lot of money and companies implode like Pets.com and Webvan, but we’ll also discover the next Amazon!”
Was This Bitcoin Lender Paying Returns Too Good to Be True?
January 17, 2018
As the rivers flowed red with the blood of crashing cryptocurrencies Tuesday, one company did not survive. BitConnect, a company infamous in the crypto community for paying out obscenely high returns for lending your bitcoins, may have been too good to be true.
BitConnect offered investors the opportunity to make loans on their platform and earn up to 40% interest per month PLUS an additional .25% daily. The seemingly irresistible returns were enough to allow the market cap of their own company cryptocoin (BCC) to soar to more than $2.6 billion by early January.
On Tuesday, they announced that their lending service and other segments of their business would be discontinued. Cease and desist orders issued by two states, North Carolina and Texas, are said to have played a role. Texas authorities relied more on the company’s obvious flagrant violations of securities laws while North Carolina alleged that the company’s advertised returns were a red flag for a ponzi scheme.
The BitConnect Coin lost nearly 90% of its value immediately after announcing their closure. Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency markets shed more than $200 billion in market cap the same day, according to Coinmarketcap.com. The value of Ripple (XRP), a coin speculators believe will play a role in the future of banking, was not spared. Its price has dropped by 68% since January 5th.
