Three to four billion pounds of criminal money in Europe is being laundered through cryptocurrencies, according to Europol.
After facing weeks of mounting negative headlines that had wiped out billions in value, cryptocurrencies won a reprieve of sorts.
As of press time, the price of bitcoin was trading at roughly $8,954.13, representing a decline of roughly 11%.
Currently, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) does not recognize bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.
The 40-year-old Pavel Lerner resurfaced in Kyiv on Friday, three days after he was abducted by a group of masked men near the Kyiv offices used by his EXMO Finance company, according to Deutsche Welle.
Morgan Stanley analyst James Faucette and his team sent a research note to clients a few days ago suggesting that the real value of bitcoin might be... $0, according to Business Insider.
Bitcoin sank as much as 21 percent on Friday, extending its loss from its intraday high this month toward 40 percent, as the crypto-world was swamped by a wave of selling, according to Bloomberg.
Lost in the hubbub over the feeding frenzy in cryptocurrencies and related stocks is the original digital coin itself, according to Bloomberg.
The SBU Security Service of Ukraine in Odesa has exposed a Russian citizen who had set up a money-laundering scheme with the use of cryptocurrencies aimed at the further transfer of funds to Russia as well as the temporarily occupied Donbas and the annexed Crimea, according to the SBU press service.
Bitcoin rebounded on Friday to hit the day's highs above $10,500, recovering from an earlier dip below $9,500, after the U.S. derivatives regulator said it would allow CME Group (CME.O) and CBOE Global Markets (CBOE.O) to list bitcoin futures, according to Reuters.
Bitcoin surged to an all-time high above $8,000 overnight November 17, according to the Bifinex exchange.
Bitcoin plunged as the cancellation of a technology upgrade prompted some users to switch out of the cryptocurrency, spooking speculators who had profited from a more than 800% surge this year, according to Bloomberg.
Two bills to provide legal frameworks for cryptocurrencies including bitcoin have now been submitted to the Ukrainian parliament, Bitcon.com reports.
The status of cryptocurrency in Ukraine has not been defined by law, while this does not mean that it is prohibited, Ukrainian Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk wrote on Facebook, following the Ukrainian delegation's annual meetings at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington, DC.
Lawmakers from the parliamentary factions People's Front and Petro Poroshenko Bloc have registered a bill in the Verkhovna Rada to legalize all cryptocurrency transactions in Ukraine.
Ukrainian lawmakers previously said that the legal status of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could be determined by last week. However, a unified position has not been reached among regulators. Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), Oleh Churii, explained why lawmakers cannot reach consensus on cryptocurrency, reads a report by Bitcoin.com
Speaking at a recent Ukrainian Financial Forum event, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Oleh Churii has revealed key insights into the government’s determinations regarding impending Ukrainian bitcoin regulations, according to Bitcoin.com.
The Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers on the Financial Stability Board conducted a meeting in late August 2017 to tackle the legal status of virtual currencies like Bitcoin in the country. The ministers have reached an agreement to decide on the issue in three weeks, according to the Coin Telegraph.
Despite its previous plans to go cashless, Ukraine’s central bank has hinted that it may begin regulating the use of cryptocurrencies in the country, according to Coin Telegraph.
Bitcoin soared past $4,000 for the first time on growing optimism faster transaction times will hasten the spread of the cryptocurrency, according to Bloomberg.
Kyiv police along with the SBU security service operatives on Thursday discovered 200 pieces of computer equipment set up for the generation (mining) of the Bitcoin crypto currency.
Bitcoin has reached a record high valuation of $3,000 per coin last week that began with the long-awaited split of the cryptocurrency, according to TechCrunch.
Kuna Cryptocurrency Exchange and Kuna Bitcoin Agency founder Michael Chobanian has announced that there are 150 Bitcoin automated teller machines (BTM) which are scheduled to be installed in Ukraine in 2017, according to the Cointelegraph Bitcoin & Ethereum news portal.
The hackers behind the NotPetya ransomware, which wiped computers in more than 60 countries in late June, have moved more than GBP 8,000 worth of bitcoins out of the account used to receive the ransoms, according to The Guardian.
The price of bitcoin surpassed $2,000 for the first time in history today, pushing the cryptocurrency to a fresh, new record amid rising trader interest, according to Coindesk.
A project aiming to introduce Bitcoin and Dash payments across the Ukrainian retail sector has gained over $20,000 funding, CoinTelegraph reports.
Bitcoin surged to an all-time high above $1,400 on Tuesday, after more than tripling in value over the past year, with its most recent rise attributed to strong demand in Japan, where the digital currency has been deemed a legal means of payment, Reuters reported.
Ukraine is the first country to launch sanctioned bitcoin futures trading on a national exchange, according to NewsBTC, a news service that covers bitcoin news.
Ukrainian frustration with the corrupt status quo boiled over in 2014, leading to the Euromaidan revolution and the ousting of Kremlin ally Viktor Yanukovych. But beyond the photo-ready scenes of violent confrontation, ensuing economic instability saw a digital revolution silently take hold in the form of an almost unparalleled adoption of digital “crypto-currencies,” such as bitcoin, according to Forbes.