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Samsung is now making chips for cryptocurrency mining

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It’s confirmed: Samsung has started mass producing chips designed for cryptocurrency mining, known as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). The Korean tech giant yesterday (Jan. 31) announced its fourth-quarter revenue, which came in at 66 trillion won ($61 billion), a 24% increase year-over-year. That’s in large part thanks to strong demand for Samsung’s memory chips used in data centers and smartphones. But here’s what was buried in the company statement: In the first quarter, earnings are expected to rise on the ramp-up of 2nd generation 10nm process products for this year’s flagship smartphones and growing demand for cryptocurrency mining chips. It’s a confirmation of previous reports that Samsung has entered the crypto-mining sector. Earlier this week, Korean news outlet the Bell reported (link in Korean) that the company will produce ASICs in its own foundry in a deal with Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC. Later, a Samsung spokesperson confirmed with Tec...
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Arun Jaitley has just killed India’s cryptocurrency party

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It appears to be the end of the road for cryptocurrencies in India. Finance minster Arun Jaitley, in his budget speech today (Feb. 01), stated that the government will do everything to discontinue the use of bitcoin and other virtual currencies in India. He reiterated that India does not recognise them as legal tender and will instead encourage blockchain technology in payment systems. “The government does not recognise cryptocurrency as legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate the use of these cryptoassets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payments system,” Jaitley said. This declaration comes after months of speculation over the fate of cryptocurrencies in India, home to a large number of bitcoin traders and investors. In fact, one in every 10 bitcoin transactions in the world takes place in India. “The government will now either come out with a legislative mechanism or make suitable amendment in existing legislatio...
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Why Ripple and Other Cryptocurrencies Are Crashing Right Now

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For the second time in less than three weeks, cryptocurrencies suffered a major correction. The 16 largest cryptocurrencies all saw major price declines over the past 24 hours, according to data from Coinmarketcap.com. Ripple, the third-largest digital currency, saw its price fall as much as 39% at one point. Bitcoin, the granddaddy of the crypto universe, saw its price fall as much as 14% on Monday. And Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency which has gained in popularity among businesses, dropped 12%, before rebounding somewhat. The question is why? Market watchers say you can point to one of three reasons: Blame it on Korea. Investors are pointing to South Korean regulators as a possible reason for the latest declines. One of the greatest strengths — but lurking weaknesses — of cryptocurrencies is that they are largely unregulated by governments. This allows people to use them anonymously, which is also why criminals have taken to the online monetary system. ...
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Bill Miller says he's started a separate bitcoin fund, believes ripple run has gone too far

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Bill Miller: We've spun our bitcoin holdings into a separate fund 9 Hours Ago | 01:51 Investor Bill Miller said he has split most of his fund's bitcoin holdings into a separate fund.  The founder of Miller Value Partners said Tuesday on CNBC's "Closing Bell" that the fund had moved 90 percent of its bitcoin holdings to a separate fund, with the main fund retaining a 10 percent weighting in bitcoin and its offshoot, bitcoin cash. This is after the cryptocurrency's meteoric rise in value last year. CNBC reported in December that Miller said half the value of his fund was in bitcoin. He said they began buying bitcoin in 2014 or 2015, at an average cost of about $350.  Bitcoin is currently trading near $14,935, according to CryptocurrencyMarket.com. Moving it to a separate fund allows investors to decide whether they want to continue to hold or sell it, he told CNBC. Digital currencies have grabbed a lot of attention from investors because of their qui...
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Bitcoin Prices Fall: Market Cap Still Ahead Of Ethereum, Ripple's Put Together

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After considerable volatility in the past few days, bitcoin (BTC) prices struggle to surge past $14,300 on Wednesday as the cryptocurrency falls over 6%. The price has been on a downward spiral for a few days now. On Tuesday, the bitcoin's price closed at $14,595 after moving in the range of $15,498 and $14,424 during the day. On Monday, the bitcoin prices had touched a high of $16,538. During the three days prior to January 8 (Monday), the bitcoin prices were trading above $17,000, as per the data on Coinmarketcap, a virtual platform that shows the market prices and capitalisation of digital currencies traded across the major exchanges worldwide. The market cap of bitcoin falls to $240 billion on Wednesday against $294 billion on January 7. However, it is still more than the joint market caps of ethereum and ripple, of $132 billion and $70 billion, respectively. Recently, the bitcoin had surged to trade above $16,000 after the reports surfaced that PayPal co-founder ...
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