Bitcoin traded above US$6,000 (Dh22,040) on Monday morning after dropping below that level for the first time since February over the weekend, with the digital currency heading for a second straight quarterly decline.
The cryptocurrency was trading at $6,148.22 at 2.23pm in Hong Kong, up 1.3 per cent from its Friday close, according to composite Bloomberg pricing. It slumped to as low as $5,780 on Sunday, breaching the previous 2018 nadir set in February, according to Bitstamp prices. Rival coins including Ripple, Ethereum and Litecoin continue to trade lower, the data show.
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Bitcoin has tumbled more than 50 per cent this year as regulators spanning the globe step up scrutiny of what some have criticised as a vehicle for fraud. A series of hacks, including a $500 million theft at a Japanese exchange in January and incidents in South Korea since then, have undermined confidence in the security of the digital currency.
In one of the latest flaps, private data including coin-wallet addresses and passwords for 19 clients were posted on a Kakao group chat on June 22, said Kim Moon-hyung, an official with South Korean exchange Bitkoex. The official said there were no financial losses from the leak.
Sunday’s volatility came as the Bank of International Settlements, which serves as a clearing house and research and discussion forum for central banks, continued its critique of digital currencies. The BIS’s head of research said many cryptocurrencies should be regulated like stocks and bonds.
On Friday, Japan’s Financial Services Agency ordered six of the country’s biggest crypto-trading venues to improve measures to prevent money laundering. The companies must submit their plans by July 23. New pressure in Japan, one of the most crypto-friendly jurisdictions, demonstrated the market’s fragility to regulatory moves in the absence of much positive news.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Word for Woman is Wilderness
Abi Andrews, Serpent’s Tail
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Lampedusa: Gateway to Europe
Pietro Bartolo and Lidia Tilotta
Quercus
