Today on Altcoins This Week we discuss the recent comments made by US Congressman Bob Goodlatte admitting he owns cryptocurrencies, we comment on how Twitter bots are targeting the crypto community and much more.
Twitter Bots Target Crypto Traders
Researchers have found over 15,000 Twitter bots programmed to fool unsuspecting investors into parting with their hard earned crypto. The bots, which imitate well-known personalities in the world of blockchain, advertise fake competitions and pose as legitimate crypto exchanges, deploying deceptive behavior patterns to trick users, who are more likely to trust posts that have been retweeted several times.
In a statement, Twitter said it was “aware of this form of manipulation and is proactively implementing a number of detections to prevent these types of accounts from engaging with others in a deceptive manner.”
“Congressman Crypto” Comes Clean
In the US, the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee has declared he is the owner of at least $80,000 worth of cryptocurrencies. Bob Goodlatte mainly owns Bitcoin, but he also has a reasonable stash of Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash.
The Congressman has good reason to be a blockchain believer. His son, Bob Goodlatte Jr was an angel investor in Coinbase.
Bitcoin Cash Fights Back
It’s been one year since a hard fork of the Bitcoin Blockchain gave the world Bitcoin Cash. On that day, any holder of Bitcoin received an equal sum of Bitcoin Cash on what BCH enthusiasts have affectionately dubbed “Bitcoin Independence Day.”
However, one unhappy investor in China has not received his fair share of Bitcoin Cash and is taking legal action to get it. The investor, know as Feng Bin is suing OKCoin which he alleges withheld 38.748 Bitcoin Cash. He claims that he tried to withdraw the BCH at the height of the crypto bull market last December when Bitcoin Cash was trading for in excess of $4000. However, he found that he was unable to and has watched the value of the coin retreat to below $1000 in recent weeks. OKCoin, for its part, claims that Feng Bin missed the deadline for withdrawing his coins. The case, which is the first of its kind in China, will be heard in the coming weeks.
Ethereum Classic Hits High
While most Altcoins have struggled in recent weeks, Ethereum Classic has seen steady gains on foot of the coin’s adoption on crypto wallet platforms Robinhood and Coinbase Pro, formerly GDAX.
Classic is the coin of the original Ethereum blockchain, which forked back in 2016 following a major hack of the network. The schism that followed saw the emergence of two competing Ethereum Blockchains, with Ethereum Classic staying mostly in the shadows for the past two years. Its adoption by Robinhood and Coinbase Pro may prove a decisive moment for the coin, which entered the top 15 in CoinMarketCap’s list of the largest coins last week.
Markets: Altcoins Bloodied and Bruised By Bitcoin ETF Refusal
Not even Ethereum Classic’s recent good run could put a shine on a terrible Wednesday for cryptocurrency prices. The market lost $25 billion over a five hour period following news that the SEC had delayed its decision on another Bitcoin ETF. There had been some signs of recovery earlier in the week. Ethereum opened on Monday at $410, but lost ground on Tuesday, closing at $380.22. On Wednesday a sharp fall from an opening of above $400 saw ETH trade for less than $370 for the first time since April. XRP lost 15% of its value over the three days, opening at $0.433 on Monday but plummeting to $0.35 on Wednesday. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) fared no better, losing $100 of value overnight, trading for just above $610 having opened the week at $611. EOS lost 20% of its value, its $7.06 Monday opening a distant memory by Wednesday, when it struggled to maintain $6. Stellar (XLM) had been going well of late, but it lost $0.03 in a few hours this Wednesday, trading at $0.21 from an opening of $0.24.
