Top 5 Cryptocurrencies sorted by 24 hour Volume

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Top 5 Cryptocurrencies sorted by 24 hour Price Percent Change

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Crypto Market Recap

• Cryptocurrencies extended their losses through midday trading as the price of Bitcoin (BTC) is trading down 3.72% in the last 24 hours to USD$3,659.62. Among major cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is falling the deepest, down a whopping 11.39% in the last 24 hours to USD$153.72. IOTA (MIOTA) is the best performing cryptocurrency, meanwhile, down 3.65% in the last 24 hours to USD$0.31866. Total cryptocurrency market capitalization has shed 5.67% in the last 24 hours and currently sits at USD$121.5bn. 

Crypto Developments in Financial Services

• A currently ongoing hack against cryptocurrency wallet Electrum has reportedly resulted in nearly 250 Bitcoin (BTC), worth roughly USD$937,000, stolen from users’ wallets. Electrum confirmed the ongoing hack, which is using a phishing technique, in a post on GitHub. The hacker allegedly set up multiple servers that send an official-looking message telling users to update their Electrum Wallets through a malicious URL if users transact with those servers -- the hacker then empties the victim’s wallet.

Crypto Regulatory Environment

• Mark Karpeles, the former CEO of defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox, professed his innocence during the final argument of his trial. In a Tokyo court on Thursday, Karpeles assured that he treated money that was allegedly embezzled from Mt. Gox, “as a loan from the company,” that he would settle later. Karpeles has been charged with the embezzlement of roughly 340mm yen (USD$3mm) and manipulating the exchange’s financial statements to artificially inflate cash balances.

General Crypto News

• LocalBitcoins weekly trading volume through the Venezuelan Bolivar reached an all-time high for the week ending 12/22/2018, marking the fifth week in a row that the metric reached a record high. For the week ending 12/22/2018, 1,974 Bitcoin (BTC) were traded through the Venezuelan Bolivar, up 11% from last week’s total of 1,743 BTC. This news comes as the Venezuelan Bolivar nears an inflation rate of 1,000,000% for 2018. LocalBitcoins is a startup based in Finland that facilitates over-the-counter trading of local currency for BTC.  
• A Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report finds that more than 15% of cryptocurrency project that raised funds through Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) have serious red flags. The WSJ investigation analyzed 3,300 cryptocurrency offerings and ICOs that launched in 2017 or 2018 -- 513 of these projects contained red flags, including plagiarism, misrepresented identities of the project’s founders, and/or a promise of unrealistic returns.  
• The United States Department of Defense is considering the use of blockchain technology in disaster relief operations, according to a press release by the government organization. Earlier this month, a presentation by the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support’s Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) also highlighted blockchain technology as a way to help emergency responses.  “We think there’s a lot of potential,” said CPI management analyst Elijah Londo on blockchain technology.  Blockchain technology would replace aspects of current systems, specifically targeting logistics relied on my multiple centralized entities.

Sources:

https://coinmarketcap.com/ 
https://coin360.io/ 
https://cointelegraph.com/news/phishing-attack-on-electrum-wallet-nets-hacker-almost-1-million-in-hours-report 
https://np.reddit.com/r/Electrum/comments/a9x374/my_electrum_just_got_hacked/ 
https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/4968 
https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/a9yji3/electrum_wallet_hacked_200_btc_stolen_so_far/ 
https://www.newsbtc.com/2018/12/27/bitcoin-wallet-comprise-electrum/ 
https://bitcoinist.com/venezuela-buying-bitcoin-record-jump/ 
https://www.ccn.com/more-than-15-of-crypto-projects-have-serious-red-flags-wsj/ 
https://www.wsj.com/graphics/whitepapers/?ns=prod/accounts-wsj 
https://cointelegraph.com/news/former-mt-gox-ceo-karpeles-declares-innocence-in-final-argument 
https://jp.cointelegraph.com/news/karpeles-insisted-on-not-guilty 
https://cointelegraph.com/news/ex-mt-gox-ceo-karpeles-denies-embezzlement-as-prosecutors-call-for-ten-year-jail-term 
https://www.coindesk.com/former-mt-gox-ceo-mark-karpeles-claims-innocence-as-trial-nears-end 
https://www.ccn.com/disgraced-bitcoin-exchange-ceo-mark-karpeles-maintains-innocence-in-mt-gox-embezzlement-trial/ 
https://bitcoinist.com/mt-gox-mark-karpeles-not-guilty-bitcoin/ 
https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-defense-dept-wants-to-use-blockchain-to-improve-disaster-relief 
http://www.dla.mil/AboutDLA/News/NewsArticleView/Article/1720207/troop-support-event-poses-question-how-and-where-can-blockchain-help/ 
https://www.coindesk.com/us-defense-department-says-blockchain-can-help-disaster-relief