Today on Bitcoin This Week we discuss Bithumb’s decision to suspend the creation of new accounts, we comment on the TV that will mine crypto while you watch and much more.
Bithumb Suspends New Accounts
Bithumb, the South Korean exchange at the centre of a $31 million hack in June, has suspended new accounts because its banking partner NH Nonghyup Bank has yet to renew its contract. Bithumb had stated in a blog post that the suspension of new accounts was due to “service improvement processes”.
The suspension saw its trading volume drop almost 40% in a three day period, according to data collated by CoinMarketCap. Bithumb, which is the twelfth largest exchange globally in terms of volume, recorded an average 24-hour trading volume of $200 million over a three day period following the suspension, down from a pre-suspension figure of $350 million. With South Korea contemplating tough new laws to benefit the crypto exchange industry, there may be tough times ahead for Korean exchanges generally, following a number of high profile hacks since the start of 2018.
Crypto TV will Mine While You Watch!
Couch potatoes will be delighted to learn that they may soon be able to make money while doing nothing more than watching TV. According to reports this week, Canaan, the world’s second largest Bitcoin mining company, intends to launch a bitcoin-mining television set.
AvalonMiner Inside as the TV will be known, has a reported processing power of 2.8 trillion hashes per second. That’s about a quarter of the number of hashes that can be processed using Canaan’s most powerful mining kit. And that’s not all. The company plans a range of Bitcoin mining household appliances to make those annoying chores easier to bear. Canaan may have come up with the idea after seeing television reports of the huge profits posted by its competitor Bitmain, which was recently valued at a whopping $12 billion as part of its pre-IPO.
Okex Claws back $9M From Investors
Okex will have to claw back at least $9 million from investors following the spectacular failure of a colossal Bitcoin Futures gamble by a single investor. The investor had taken a long position on over 4 million Bitcoin contracts, each valued at $100, and refused Okex’s request to partially close some or all of the positions to “reduce the overall market risk”.
The user’s account has now been frozen and will be liquidated. However, even when insurance cover and Bitcoin’s recent fall in value is taken into account, a shortfall of approximately $9 million remains, the liability for which will be shared amongst Okex’s investors. The platform has moved to increase its insurance deposits and injected 2500 BTC from its own pool to partially mitigate the loss to investors and has made adjustments to how it determines the mark price formula in the hope of preventing losses of this type in the future.
“Crypto Netflix” Listed on London Stock Exchange
Argo has become the first crypto mining company to list on the London Stock Exchange. The company accrued $6 million more than the $26 million it had hoped to raise in its IPO. Executive Chairman Jonathan Bixby said he was “delighted with the strong response from investors”.
Argo, which is based in the UK but uses mining facilities in Canada, offers a crypto-mining subscription package, which is intended to make mining accessible to investors by offering a service without a prohibitive upfront outlay. As a result, the company has been dubbed the “Netflix for crypto” by the British press. All of its subscriptions are currently sold out.
Bitcoin Goes Back To Below $7,000
At the end of a bruising week for Bitcoin, there is still no letup in the crypto’s week long decline in fortune. Having fallen through the $8000 mark earlier in the week, Bitcoin opened on Thursday at $7634 and fell slightly to close at $7567. It continued to decline on Friday, hitting a low of $7328 before closing at $7434. Saturday was worse, with a sharp decline of $500 over a period of a few hours bringing the crypto below $7000 for the first time since July 17th. To see current prices click here.
