Cryptocurrencies |

Novogratz Set for Return With Hedge Fund Riding Bitcoin `Bubble’

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Mike Novogratz is reinventing himself as the king of bitcoin. The swaggering macro manager who flamed out at Fortress Investment Group LLC is starting a $500 million hedge fund to invest in cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings and related companies. Novogratz will put up $150 million of his own money and plans to raise $350 million more by January, mainly from family offices, wealthy individuals and fellow hedge fund managers, said a person…

Bitcoin and Copper in Lockstep Show Chinese Speculators’ Power

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Copper and bitcoin don’t obviously have much in common. One is an industrial metal, mined by giant trucks and used in everything from computer chips to plumbing tubes, the other a cryptocurrency that’s ’mined’ only in a virtual sense. Yet the two have been moving in near unison for the past two months. Bitcoin and copper both rallied strongly from mid-July to early September. Then when bitcoin tumbled as…

Crypto-Mania Grips Hong Kong as City Looks Beyond Banking

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – In the mid-1990s, Johnson Leung embarked on a career in shipping. In the early 2000s, he moved to finance. And now, he runs a Hong Kong startup that aims to improve how container ships are booked using blockchain technology. Many in Hong Kong hope the city can make a similar leap. The shipping and banking hub, which has struggled for years to nurture a domestic technology industry, is embracing the blockchain…

Why `Contracts for Difference’ Are Under Scrutiny

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Contracts for difference, or CFDs, have hastened the demise of an Irish bank, triggered Ponzi schemes in Chile and featured in a $100 million U.S. insider-trading racket. More recently, they’ve spooked European regulators because of the risks they pose to retail investors. There are proposals to cap potential investor losses and to ban advertising of CFDs, which are pitched to investors via television commercials and sponsorships of soccer clubs from Real Madrid to…

Swiss Regulator Shuts Down `Fake Cryptocurrency’ Firm E-Coin

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Financial Market Supervisory Authority closed unauthorized providers of “fake cryptocurrency” E-Coin after the company accepted millions of francs in public deposits without holding a banking license, Finma says in statement. Finma started bankruptcy proceedings against legal entities involved Quid Pro Quo has been issuing E-Coins and ran an online trading platform together with Digital Trading AG and Marcelco Group AG The three entities accepted funds amounting to at least…

Bitcoin’s Biggest Challenge? Too Many Americans Think It’s Illegal to Own

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – About 11% of respondents in a recent survey said owning bitcoin was breaking the law and close to half weren’t sure if it’s legal or not. Although 78.6% of Americans have heard of bitcoin, close to 11% think the cryptocurrency is illegal and 48% aren’t sure of its legality, according to new data from a LendEDU survey of 1,000 people. Bitcoin is, in fact, completely legal to own. But…

Global Central Banks Can’t Ignore the Bitcoin Boom, BIS Says

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The world’s central banks can’t ignore the growth in cryptocurrencies and may at some point have to consider whether it makes sense for them to issue their own digital currencies, according to the Bank for International Settlements. “Whether or not a central bank should provide a digital alternative to cash is most pressing in countries, such as Sweden, where cash usage is rapidly declining,” the BIS said in its quarterly review….

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