Bitcoin in the News : 2018-02 More++

Just as day follows night, a '2018-02 More++' post follows the previous post, Bitcoin in the News : 2018-02 Price. Or should it be 'as night follows day'? Last month's Bitcoin in the News : 2018-01 More++ (February 2018) was 100% bad news and I ended it with:-

Let's hope February brings better news for everyone.

First let's have some follow-ups. In January we had a couple of stories about 'Botnet/crypto hookups looking for miners', surreptitiously, of course -- otherwise it might almost be good news. Last month we had:-

• 2018-02-16: How to stop websites from using your computer to mine Bitcoin (cnet.com) • This included a link to answer the question, 'Are your favorite websites mining Bitcoin? Here's how to find out'.

In January we also had a couple of stories about 'Energy use'. Last month we had:-

• 2018-02-13: How Iceland became the bitcoin miners' paradise (theguardian.com) • 'The island nation is the first to use more electricity on mining cryptocurriencies than on its households -- thanks in part to its magma-fuelled power plants.'

Granted, both of those February stories might be considered good news, depending on where you stand. How about this follow-up to January's '2018-01-13: Bitcoin Investors Are Using Credit Cards in Disturbing Numbers (fortune.com)'; is it good news or bad news?:-

• 2018-02-05: Lloyds Bank bans customers from buying bitcoins using credit cards (theguardian.com)

The next two stories might also go either way: good news -or- bad news...

• 2018-02-08: Bitcoin: what have experts said about the cryptocurrency? (theguardian.com)
• 2018-02-09: Why Bitcoin Is So Volatile (forbes.com)

...until you read them. That first story, subtitled, 'The most memorable comments on the cryptocurrency from senior figures in world finance', was full of comments like:-

Yves Mersch, a member of the European Central Bank’s executive board: 'If you bought a bunch of tulips with bitcoin they may well have wilted by the time the transaction was confirmed.'

Agustín Carstens, the new head of the Bank for International Settlements: 'Cryptocurrencies could become more interconnected with the main financial system and become a threat to financial stability'.

Nouriel Roubini, the American economist credited with predicting the 2008 financial crash has called bitcoin "the mother of all bubbles" and "much worse" than tulip mania.

And the list of similar comments from financial movers & shakers went on and on. That second story had these bullets as section headers:-

The Cryptocurrency Bubble Has Only Started To Deflate
Bitcoin Has No Fundamental Price To Fall Back Upon
There Is Rampant Market Manipulation In Cryptocurrency
There Is Rampant Fraud In Cryptocurrency
Institutional Investors Are Staying Away

Now here a half-dozen stories that are strictly in the 'bad news' column:-

• 2018-02-09: Bitcoin Worth $4.7 Million Seized in Fake ID Operation (fortune.com) • 'As law enforcement grows increasingly adept at tracking Bitcoin transactions, federal investigators have seized some $4.7 million worth of Bitcoin in what has been described as a “large scale” fake ID operation.'
• 2018-02-13: Bitcoin Industry Grapples With Age-Old Problem of Inheritance (bloomberg.com) • 'A U.S. man has spent years trying to untangle the legal mess he found himself in after his 26-year-old son, an early miner of Bitcoins, died in a plane crash'
• 2018-02-16: Bitcoin Theft: Chicago Trader Charged With Stealing Millions (fortune.com) • 'A Chicago trader working for Consolidated Trading LLC faces charges he stole $2 million in cryptocurrencies from his firm to cover his losses and then lied about it to cover gambling debts.'
• 2018-02-20: Nasdaq To Delist Long Blockchain as Pivot to Bitcoin Fizzles (fortune.com) • 'Long Blockchain was formerly known as Long Island Iced Tea, but changed its name last December and announced it would diversify from beverages into cryptocurrency.'
• 2018-02-21: Bitcoin: Trader Claims $20 Trillion in Free Cryptocurrency (fortune.com) • 'An error in the price calculation system at Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Zaif has allowed some customers to claim digital tokens for free'
• 2018-02-27: 'Bitcoin creator' Craig Wright accused of stealing cryptocurrency from colleague (cnbc.com)

Unlike January, there were a couple of bright spots in February:-

• 2018-02-20: Bitcoin’s transaction fee crisis is over -- for now (arstechnica.com) • 'The high fees of the last few months have been a crisis for the bitcoin network.'
• 2018-02-24: Bitcoin Mining Firm Bitmain Made $3 to $4 Billion in 2017 Profits (fortune.com)

The last two stories were from the end of the month, when the price of bitcoin was recovering. If this scenario continues, I might be able to test the hypothesis that bad news breeds bad news and good news breeds good news.