This week in the Bitcoin spectrum: Poloinex is acquired for $400 million, Prism founder robbed of BTC in Moscow, Bitpay bans explicit content, Rapper 50 Cent denies owning Bitcoin, and “founder” of Bitcoin is sued for $10 Billion.
Bitcoin “founder” sued for $10 billion
Craig Wright, the man who previously claimed to be the infamous creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, is being sued for $10 billion. This lawsuit is being brought forth by Ira Kleiman, on behalf of his brother, Dave, who has connections to the earliest days of Bitcoin and its foundation. Dave has allegedly been involved in several business ventures involving crypto mining with Wright. The case is based on the accusation that the rights to Bitcoin ownership were swapped by Wright, handing over shares to Kleiman which turned out to be worthless.
Most of the Bitcoin community has responded with a great amount of skepticism regarding the claims and some have alleged that the case made by Wright is founded on complete nonsense. Included in the complaints made against Wright are a number of other filings which include the business registration for a company called W&K Info Defense Research LLC, Kleiman and Wright were business partners in this venture.
50 Cent denies owning Bitcoin
50 Cent has been sharing social media tweets in January from TMZ, showing his possession of a healthy amount of Bitcoin which he received in the past. It seems as though now he has forgotten it, or rather has remembered things a different way. In the court proceedings of his bankruptcy he is recorded as having sworn under oath that he has not owned, nor has he ever been in the possession of Bitcoin or a Bitcoin Wallet.
Curtis Jackson, 50 Cent’s real name, says that a third party had accepted the Bitcoin, processing the currency immediately through BitPay to convert from crypto to fiat currency. Jackson says he thinks he needed to clarify the initial reports of his estimated Bitcoin fortune as, in his mind, his comments were at least partly true. He said in a statement: “I had in fact forgotten that I was one of the first recording artists to accept Bitcoin for online transactions.”
Bitpay bans explicit content
Bitpay, the popular cryptocurrency payment processor, under its new terms and conditions, has effectively banned users involved with explicit adult content, gambling, and cloud mining, and is already issuing notices to existing customers regarding impending account suspension. This move is viewed by many as the company’s attempt to minimize its risk at the traditional fiat end of the business.
Included in the spectrum of “prohibited activities” are: the sale of narcotics, research chemicals, cash and cash equivalents, virtual currencies, firearms, ammunition etc. It’s clear that Bitpay is trying to legitimize themselves further by distancing their brand from these purchases and banning these less than savory business practices.
Prism founder robbed of BTC in Moscow
Yuriy Mayorov, the founder of the cryptocurrency Prism, has allegedly been reported to have been robbed of a multitude of Bitcoin in Moscow, Russia. Mayorov was beaten on the street by four men and was bundled into a Mercedes which they drove around until they had extracted his password and transferred 300 Bitcoins from his wallet into theirs. Following this, they forced unknown pills down his throat and made him drink an amount of alcohol before throwing him out of the car, dumping him out onto the street leaving him battered and bemused.
This news comes closely in tandem with another cryptocurrency investor who was also recently abducted at knifepoint by a gang who stole 100 Bitcoin from him.
Poloinex acquired for $400 million
Circle, the Goldman Sachs-backed tech firm, has announced that it will be acquiring the cryptocurrency exchange Poloinex. Fortune has been reporting that the price for this acquisition will be $400 million. Poloinex is one of the oldest players on the market. Recently, however, the exchange has become stagnant and is losing its market position. Circle is a company that has a variety of interest in the cryptocurrency scene, including payment services which it hopes to overlap and, in turn, use to provide more integrated services.
Goldman Sachs has been quite public in its opinion of cryptocurrency and this goes to show that while they may have been anti-crypto in the past, they clearly have no problem being involved in ventures that show their worth and that profit the market as a whole.
Bitcoin price round-up
Last week Bitcoin started things off with a relatively high figure of around the $12,000 mark. However, it has been slipping and sliding across the week, fluctuating in price by the 1000’s. In some cases, exchanges were reporting a $600 swing occurring within a time window of only 40 minutes. The volatility of Bitcoin, it seems, will stick around for a while. It may have found a safe spot at around the $10,000-12,000 mark but its swings are still aggressive and it doesn’t seem as if it will find stability anytime soon.
Our fingers are crossed for Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market as a whole, we will all be able to rest easy once Bitcoin starts climbing again and leads the way for the rest of the crypto market. As for now, we can only sit and watch Bitcoin’s worth go up and down, and hope it is not subject to any more significant dips.
