Massachusetts man charged in a $6 million crypto fraudulent scheme
Bitcoin and major cryptocurrency prices traded higher on Wednesday, rebounding after recent stumbles.
Bitcoin, BTCUSD, +1.39% the world’s largest digital currency as it accounts for 52% of the total value of all coins, was last changing hands at $3,797.60, up 0.3% since Tuesday at 5 p.m. Eastern time on the Kraken exchange.
What are analysts saying
“The rapid growth to $4,200 for bitcoin launched active profit taking, taking away immediately $400. Thus, no matter how crypto-optimists would like to believe in reaching the bottom, we are still faced with the usual speculations [of a new low],” wrote Alex Kuptsikevich, markets analyst at FX Pro.
“No matter how strange it may sound to crypto enthusiasts, the best thing that can happen with the crypto market is a moderate dynamic in which all participants can concentrate on the development and implementation of technologies, rather than on prices jumps.”
In the news
New York-based cryptocurrency exchange Gemini Trust Co. said on Wednesday it had joined the BT Radianz Cloud in a move to expand the company’s global reach and enhance trade performance.
“Adding Radianz Cloud connectivity to our current low latency offerings in the NY5 data center allows our existing institutional customer base to access our FIX interface whether they are directly connected or in AWS [Amazon Web Services ],” said Nick Vigier, chief information officer at Gemini in a news statement. “This strengthens our institutional investor connectivity and helps us better scale our offerings in this space.”
Elsewhere, a Massachusetts man has been charged in a $6 million crypto fraudulent scheme. Randall Crater, founder and principal operator of My Big Coin Pay Inc., is said to have swindled investors out of $6 million in funds relating to his cryptocurrency “My Big Coins.”
The indictment alleges that Crater told investors that his virtual currency was backed by gold and other valuable assets and could be exchanged for cash and other cryptocurrencies. Instead, according to the indictment, Crater used the funds for personal use, including the purchase of artwork and other luxury items.
Altcoins and futures
Altcoins, the collective group of cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin, are mostly higher on Wednesday. Ether ETHUSD, +2.32% rose 0.2% to $135.11, LitecoinLTCUSD, +2.23% added 0.7% to $44.66, Bitcoin Cash BCHUSD, +1.48% was unchanged at $131.10 and XRP, XRPUSD, +1.41% was bucking the trend, trading lower by 1.1% at 31 cents.
Bitcoin futures extended their losing streak to three days, finishing lower on Wednesday. The Cboe Global Markets March contract XBTJ9, -1.19% fell 1.6% to $3,727.50 and the CME Group March contract BTCH9, +2.02% closed down 1.7% to $3,710.
Read more at: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/bitcoin-regains-its-footing-after-recent-selloff-2019-02-27
