In a recent interview on Anthony Pompliano’s Off The Chain podcast, Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, provided unprepared answers to questions sourced from crypto Twitter regarding the operations of Ripple and XRP, Ripple’s XRP sales, and the cryptocurrency ecosystem broadly. Garlinghouse recounts discovering Bitcoin and cryptocurrency while attending the Dialog conference – a two-day “thought retreat“ organized by Peter Thiel and Auren Hoffman, in 2012. Despite subsequently investing in BTC, an “unconvinced” Garlinghouse stated: “[L]ong term opportunity of Bitcoin in a world where it is fighting against governments, and fighting against banks, and fighting against the institution, the man.” Galinghouse adds that he wondered if through “taking a slightly different approach,” could

In a recent interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, Anthony Pompliano, the co-founder of Morgan Creek Digital, has argued that the United States must tokenize the dollar to remain competitive in the shifting global financial landscape. Pompliano urged lawmakers to “tokenize the dollar immediately,” asserting that China is in the process of developing a digital yuan, with other countries aiming to soon follow suit. He argues that the status of the U.S. dollar as the global reserve currency is contingent on the currency’s tokenization, warning that if “China has a digital yuan, and we don’t have a digital currency, it will be much more accessible for people to buy the Chinese yuan in other parts of the world than the U.S. dollar.” As such, Pompliano argues that a failure for the U.S. to quickly

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has mandated that the country’s oil-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro, must be used to fund the ‘Great Housing Mission Venezuela’ social housing program. Ildemaro Villarroel, the minister of popular power for habitat and housing – the department overseeing the housing project – confirmed that the program will be funded using the Petro. In an announcement posted on the department’s website, the minister described the financing mechanism as offering greater guarantees that the scheme’s outcomes will be achieved: “We tell President Nicolás Maduro that we continue to follow his instructions, moving forward and giving concrete samples when delivering homes, and the next milestones will be with Petro and the homes will be more protected by this mechanism.”

Bitcoin narrowly escapes a critical breakdown. | Image: Shutterstock

Bitcoin (BTC) has rallied to gain nearly 5% in as many hours, narrowly avoiding posting seven consecutive red daily candles for the sixth time ever.
The last time that BTC posted seven red daily candles in a row was heading into the start of August 2018.

From July 29 to Aug. 4 of last year, BTC fell 15% from approximately $8,240 to $7,000. Following the streak of red daily candles, the following week failed to produce a recovery, with prices sliding a further 15% before finding support at $6,000.
Bitcoin Has Posted Seven Consecutive Red Daily Candles Five Times
This past week’s price action

Last month, a judge ordered Craig Wright to turn over 50% of the bitcoin he mined with his former business associate, deceased computer genius Dave Kleiman. | Image: YouTube/BBC

Craig Wright and Ira Kleiman have entered settlement discussions, with both parties requesting a 30-day extension of all case deadlines to facilitate negotiations.
According to a joint motion filed on Sept. 17, the parties have reached a “non-binding agreement in principle” to settle the case, with both parties agree that reaching a binding settlement is in their "best interests."
Both parties are seeking an extension of all deadlines pertaining to the case in order to exclusively devote

The daughter of a Nigerian politician has been released after her father paid the kidnappers a $15,000 bitcoin ransom. On Saturday, Ai’sha Ardo, the daughter of Umar Ardo, a chieftain of the major Nigerian political party the People’s Democratic Party, endured a harrowing kidnapping in the country’s capital city of Abuja. The chieftain was contacted by one of the kidnappers the next day. The assailant told the politician that his daughter would be returned safely, but only if he paid the $15,000 ransom. Ardo told local news outlet Daily Trust that the kidnappers warned that he would “never see [Ai’sha] again alive” if he refused their demands. Not a Pleasant Introduction to Bitcoin Ardo, who had never used bitcoin before, said that he needed help to pay the cryptocurrency ransom. His

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has announced that a 21-year-old mother has been arrested following an investigation into an online syndicate accused of stealing and laundering millions of dollars worth of funds from superannuation and share-trading accounts through the use of cryptocurrency. ASIC alleges that the suspect, Jasmine Vella-Arpaci, comprised a key member of a criminal syndicate self-identified as ‘Team Awesome’. The group is accused of purchasing identity documents and related sensitive information on the dark web, before using such to open fraudulent bank accounts. At least 70 fraudulent bank accounts have been identified to have been opened by the syndicate. Once the bank accounts were created, the cybercriminals allegedly used the compromised

Binance CEO CZ has retracted accusations that a sudden 3% flash crash was deliberately and maliciously executed by a market maker. | Credit: Shutterstock.com
Earlier today, Binance’s futures platform suffered a flash crash of nearly 3 percent in a matter of just seconds.
Initially, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhou (CZ) took to Twitter to announce that the flash crash had comprised a deliberate attack executed by a market maker known to the exchange.

A market maker from a smaller futures exchange tried to attack @binance futures platform. NO ONE was liquidated, as we use the index price (not futures prices) for liquidations (our innovation). Only the attacker lost a

China and the Philippines are working to uncover a cryptocurrency scam involving hundreds of Chinese nationals. | Image: Shutterstock
277 Chinese Nationals have been arrested following a raid led by the Philippine Bureau of Immigration in Pasig city on Sept. 11.
Crypto Scam Targets Philippines
Acting on a tip from China, the Philippines is investigating hundreds of Chinese nationals over an alleged cryptocurrency scam. | Image: ShutterstockThe agents were acting on a tip received from the Chinese government last week, who suspected that a cryptocurrency scam being promoted to Chinese investors was operating from one of the Philippines’ special economic zones.
The

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is pushing for Petro adoption, but locals are buying bitcoin in record amounts. | Image: Shutterstock
The largest bank in Venezuela, the state-owned Bank of Venezuela, appears to have launched services to facilitate transactions in the country’s state-issued oil-backed virtual currency, the Petro.
According to Decrypt, Bank of Venezuela customers have reported a new module integrated into the management interface of their accounts to facilitate registration for a digital wallet that supports the Petro.
Anecdotal reports cited by the publication describe the wallet as having limited functionality, with users only able to transfer

A U.K.-based contemporary artist has just sold his best collection for 490 bitcoin. | Image: Shutterstock.
United Kingdom-based contemporary artist, Lincoln Townley, has announced the sale of a 19-painting collection to a Singaporean investor in exchange for 490 bitcoin (BTC).
Speaking with CCN, Townley stated that the deal was made when BTC was priced at approximately £9,000 (roughly $11,000), valuing the sale at approximately £4.41 million ($5.39 million).
The artist described it as “an interesting deal” that “came from an investment angle,” adding that he sees “huge potential” in cryptocurrency.
The 19 paintings comprising Townley’s ‘Greed’ collection were

Bitcoin remains the most trusted cryptocurrency on the dark web, new research finds. | Image: Shutterstock
Armor has published its second annual report analyzing the activities of anonymous free markets operating on the dark web.
The report was compiled by Armor’s Threat Resistance Unit (TRU), which trawled 12 English and Russian language darknet markets between February and June of this year to gain an intimate understanding of the services listed on deep web marketplaces.
Armor’s researchers found cyber-criminals are offering to purchase bitcoin for as little as 12 cents on the dollar in exchange for sums of cash transferred from hacked bank accounts.
$10,000 in

The Libra Association behind Facebook’s cryptocurrency is confident in 2020 launch. | Source: Shutterstock
Bertrand Perez, the general director of the Libra Association, has expressed confidence that Facebook’s stablecoin will launch during 2020.
Speaking to French publication Les Echos, Perez indicated that while the Libra Association is expecting talks with regulators to continue, the project is slated for launch during the second half of next year.
Perez also stated that the 28-member association is currently in the process of finalizing its charter, expecting the publish such “in the coming weeks.” Perez believes that Libra’s governing will comprise 100

Faced with crippling economic sanctions, Cubans are adopting cryptocurrencies in greater numbers. | Image: AP Photo/Ismael Francisco
Ordinary Cubans are increasingly embracing cryptocurrency as a means to circumvent economic sanctions.
Jason Sanchez, a 35-year-old Havan-local, recently told Reuters that he uses cryptocurrencies to purchase hardware for his cellphone repair shop.
The roll-out of mobile internet during December 2018 comprised the catalyst for increasing Cuban cryptocurrency adoption, with many ordinary citizens utilizing crypto to bypass economic sanctions and access the global market.
“This is really opening new doors for us.”
The founder of the

Australia’s financial watchdog has keeping ahead of the pack with crypto regulations. | Source: Shutterstock

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the country’s financial regulator and watchdog, is gearing up for the rapid growth of crypto-asset markets.
Speaking to CCN, an ASIC spokesperson indicated that the regulator has identified “significant increases” in cryptocurrency trade volume recently, prompting the regulator to prepare for further expansion in the markets.
The spokesperson also revealed that ASIC is actively “sharing information with domestic and international regulators” concerning the “taxation, anti-money laundering,

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance set to launch U.S. operations imminently. | Source: REUTERS / Darrin Zammit Lupi
Binance.US has announced that it will begin processing account registration applications and accepting cryptocurrency deposits from Sep. 18 at 8 am EDT.
After users have signed up and selected their desired tier of verification, they will be able to deposit bitcoin (BTC), ethereum, (ETH), ripple (XRP), bitcoin cash (BCH), litecoin (LTC), and tether (USDT) to their wallets.
The exchange also states that it will provide an update detailing when specific pairings will begin trading “shortly after” Sep. 18.
Binance.US Considers 30 Cryptocurrencies for Listing
While Binance.US will initially only support trading for the six aforementioned crypto assets, Binance states that it will

Incoming European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde advocates for an open approach to cryptocurrency regulation. | Image: ShutterstockChristine Lagarde, the chairman of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and presidential nominee for the European Central Bank (ECB), has urged regulators to remain “open” to the opportunities presented by distributed ledger technology when developing crypto regulations.During a statement delivered to the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, Lagarde emphasized the need for lawmakers and central banks to balance responding to both the risks and the opportunities that may arise as a consequence of new financial technologies.Lagarde Favors Balanced Crypto RegulationsWith regard to virtual currencies, Lagarde suggested

BitMEX accuses Binance of plagiarism, but it’s not long before the two bitcoin exchange giants kiss and make up on Crypto Twitter. | Source: Reuters (i), Distributed/YouTube (ii). Image Edited by CCN.Binance and BitMEX shared a social media bro hug after the latter publicly accused its fellow cryptocurrency exchange of plagiarizing documentation featured in its recently-launched crypto derivatives testnet.On Wednesday, the BitMEX Twitter account ribbed Binance over its testnet launch, highlighting apparent plagiarism in the two platforms’ documentation.Congrats on the Testnet Futures launches @binance. Glad to see you enjoyed reading our documentation as much as we enjoyed writing it! pic.twitter.com/lLzcLcX6t4— BitMEX (@BitMEXdotcom) September 4, 2019CZ Takes Responsibility for

An illegal crypto mining operation involves hijacking multiple internet cafes, bribery and some 100 million yuan in crypto. | Source: ShutterstockFifteen Chinese individuals have reportedly been arrested for their involvement in an illegal cryptocurrency mining operation that hijacked the bandwidth of scores of internet cafes to mine approximately 100 million yuan (nearly $14 million) in cryptocurrency.The operation involved the bribery of over 9,000 internet cafe administrators who infected their systems with a Trojan allowing the remote operation of their cafes’ computers.A Crypto Mining Trojan and the Perfect VictimAccording to Chinese media outlet, CCTV, the Shigu Branch of the Hengyang Municipal Public Security Bureau of Henan Province received a tip during late 2018 informing them