Bitcoin News

The rundown: the price of Bitcoin and all major cryptocurrencies were up in the morning; Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky released a report on cryptocurrency social engineering schemes; New York is offering cheapest electric power to cryptocurrency miners; Bitcoin payment startup Abra allows users to buy Bitcoin using a credit card or debit card; and Chinese police have busted a World Cup gambling ring hosting $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency bets.

Here is what is happening in the cryptocurrency market on Friday.

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In the News

A report by Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky shows that cryptocurrency social engineering schemes helped cybercriminals net nearly $10 million in 2017. Kaspersky’s research team found that the criminals managed to gain more than 21,000 Ethereum, or about $10 million at the time of press, from the social engineering schemes last year, according to Ethereum World News.

New York is offering cheapest electric power to cryptocurrency miners, according to a report in MyBroadband. State regulators approved a new rate structure for an upstate utility that will allow miners to negotiate contracts. The contracts will be reviewed by Massena’s municipal utility on an individually basis.

Bitcoin payment startup Abra announced that users can now buy Bitcoin using a VISA or MasterCard credit card or debit card from anywhere in the world at abra.com or via the Abra app. Up until now, Abra users have been able to fund their wallets using a lot of different methods, including bank and wire transfers.

Chinese police have captured a World Cup gambling ring hosting $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency bets. Police in the southeastern Guangdong province arrested six major suspects of the syndicate, which operated the gambling platform for eight months, the South China Morning Post reported. In a statement, police said that the gambling platform built on the dark web used Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.

Cryptocurrency Prices Today (As of 7:34 AM EST)

Bitcoin (BTC) is up 1.29% over the past 24 hours, trading at $6,273.66.

Ethereum (ETH) is trading at $ 440.39 in the morning, down 2.06% over a 24 hour period.

EOS is up 5.61% over the past 24 hours, trading at $7.15.

Ripple (XRP) is trading at $0.4431, up 2.12% over a 24 hour period.

Litecoin (LTC) is trading at $77.44, up 1.76% over a 24-hour period.

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