Bitcoin Price / Congressman / Block Gap / Etheremon

Subscribe | View in browser Here are today's ten most important Bitcoin stories, efficiently ranked & summarized by smart humans, not algorithms: $BTC (1:06 p.m. EST): $7,374.08 (-0.98%) // 90-day high: $9,927.71 // 90-day low: $5,755.25/ / More… $BCH (1:06 p.m. EST): $809.26 (-6.81%) // 90-day high: $1,786.80// 90-day low: $608.37 // More… $ETH (1:06 p.m. EST): $465.72 (-5.75%) // 90-day high: $831.65 // 90-day low: $365.43 // More… $LTC (1:07 p.m. EST): $86.46 (-5.06%) // 90-day high: $251.03 // 90-day low: $73.12 // More… $XRP (1:07 p.m. EST): $0.47 (-7.79%) // 90-day high: $1.20 // 90-day low: $0.43 // More… Here are the 10 most important stories about bitcoin and cryptocurrencies today       1. Bitcoin’s price has increased more than 16 percent in the last week after holding on to recent gains on Thursday. While bitcoin is still down nearly 50 percent for the year, bitcoin analysts believe the cryptocurrency may have finally taken a turn for the better. The increase comes as the regulatory space for bitcoin has become more friendly, especially in countries like Japan. The recent price bump is also expected to add to the FOMO of investors not wanting to miss a possible boom. –DIGITAL JOURNAL       What Coding Language Should I Learn? What languages does a software engineer need to learn? Why should I learn Python or JavaScript? You have programming language questions, we have answers. Learn why Flatiron School, the outcomes-focused coding bootcamp, has helped train thousands of students to become software engineers today. For an ad-free experience, upgrade to Inside Premium       2. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) said the United States should prohibit persons from buying or mining cryptocurrencies in a hearing Wednesday. "Mining alone uses electricity which takes away from other needs and-or adds to the carbon footprint," Sherman said. "As a store, as a medium of exchange, cryptocurrency accomplishes nothing except facilitating narcotics trafficking, terrorism, and tax evasion." Sherman’s comments came during a larger discussion of crypto amid congressional leaders in two separate hearings. -MASHABLE       3. There was a 64-minute gap in blocks on the bitcoin blockchain earlier this week. The gap came between blocks 532146 and 532147 during a time period where about six blocks would be generated and incorporated into the chain. While bitcoin’s price did increase during that time, there is no evidence that the block halt directly contributed to the increase. The process of stopping the production of blocks is a rare one, making it unclear exactly what kind of larger impact this would have. -INVESTOPEDIA       4. Etheremon, a Pokemon-style ethereum-based game, plans to move part of its game to Zilliqa. The move comes after increases in ethereum gas prices made the game too expensive for most gamers to play. The game, currently the second-most popular ethereum game, mimics Pokemon where users catch, train and battle with special characters. It uses ERC-721 tokens to store data but gameplay activities that cost ether drastically rose in price amid network congestion in the past week. The app will use Zilliqa as a side-chain, something other ethereum games may do as well in the near future. -COINDESK       5. The Big Four — the four largest accounting firms: Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers — have joined a trial for a blockchain service. The firms have joined a group of 20 Taiwanese banks for the service that audits public companies’ interim financial reports. The trial will initially allow auditing firms to conduct so-called external confirmation, which is the process of obtaining audit evidence, for a group of selected publicly traded companies in Taiwan. -COINDESK       6. Insurance companies have begun to offer coverage to crypto startups that fear their crypto coins could be stolen. Big names like AIG, Chubb and XL Group have started offering insurance to these companies, although they have released few specifics. The premiums, though, are believed to be high based on the number of major bitcoin thefts that have happened in recent years. -BLOOMBERG       7. Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert believes bitcoin has hit its lowest point for the year. “As an asset class [bitcoin] is here to stay,” he said. “I’m 100 percent confident a decentralized, non-fiat form of money is here to stay.” –COIN TELEGRAPH 8.CNN takes a look at Malta, the small European country, that wants to become a blockchain hub. Government officials in the country have opened its doors to blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies. -CNN 9. Peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange Paxful plans to open an office in Venezuela later this year. The move is part of a larger plan to expand into emerging markets. -COINDESK 10. Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon joined CNBC to talk bitcoin. Bannon, who earlier announced an intention to invest in bitcoin and blockchain, bemoaned the lack of transparency in ICOs. -CNBC       From the Forums Bitcoin’s rise busts short positions. Ethereum could drive blockchain adoption. Vitalik Buterin makes some interesting comments about hard forks.

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