Coming every Sunday, the Hodler’s Digest will help you to track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions, and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.
SEC Rejects—Then Will Review—9 Bitcoin ETF Application
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rejected a total of nine applications to list and trade various Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from ProShares, Direxion, and GraniteShares. However, the SEC then noted that it will be reviewing its decision, which was based on the claim that the products did not comply with the requirements by the “Exchange Act Section 6(b)(5), in particular the requirement that a national securities exchange's rules be designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices."
Clean Energy Researcher Claims Bitcoin Energy Consumption Isn’t That Bad
A clean energy expert has written an article explaining why she thinks that Bitcoin’s high energy consumption is not as bad as it is often made out to be. In her article, Katrina Kelly, strategy manager at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Energy, writes that we need to shift the debate around Bitcoin mining away from energy-intensivity focus instead on where that energy is produced and how it is generated. Kelly notes that although BTC mining consumed 30 terawatt hours in 2017, banking continues to consume an estimated 100 terawatts of power each year.
Chinese Police Arrest Hackers for Allegedly Stealing $87.3 Million in Crypto
Police in China have arrested three “highly experienced” hackers suspected of stealing up to 600 million yuan (around $87.3 million) in crypto. At the end of March, an individual with the surname Zhang filed a complaint with local police in the northwestern city of Xi’an, claiming that his computer had been hacked and BTC, ETH, and other crypto holdings worth up to $14.5 million stolen. The police hypothesize that the suspects had used a remote attack to transfer funds from Zhang’s computer without leaving a trace, in what is reportedly considered to be a “rare case.”
Indian Man Arrested for Allegedly Promoting Bitconnect Investment Scam
Indian police have arrested a man who was allegedly involved in promoting the Bitconnect investment scam. The suspect is reportedly the India head of Bitconnect, the high-yield investment program that stopped operating in January 2018 after coming under scrutiny for appearing to be a fraudulent Ponzi scheme. According to a recently filed Freedom of Information Report (FIR), this is the third case under investigation in India associated with Bitconnect. Local promoters of Bitconnect are alleged to have fled with 1.14 crore (11.4 million) rupees worth of Bitcoin from one investor.
Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/hodlers-digest-sec-may-make-u-turn-on-btc-etf-rejections-while-india-and-china-crack-down-on-crypto-scammers
