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December 19, 2017 at 11:43 AM
The wave of cryptocurrency news turned into a tsunami Tuesday.
Before traders broke for lunch in New York, a Korean crypto exchange went bust after getting hacked; a stock unheard of 24 hours earlier surged even after its CEO gave a rambling defense of its business; U.S. regulators halted a coin trader’s stock on suspicion of manipulation; alt coins from ether to iota reached new highs; and an app maker tripled after buying a bitcoin ATM patent.
The frenzy of crypto news is reminiscent of the heady days of the dot-com bubble, when stories of mailroom millionaires sparked a rush to list anything remotely related to the internet.
That’s not to say the digital currency craze has to end any time soon.
Tuesday even brought a sign that it’s just getting started: A unit of Cboe Global Markets filed to list a bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
Here’s a roundup of the day in crypto:
Trading Suspended
U.S. regulators temporarily suspended trading in Crypto Co. over concerns that the stock is being manipulated after it surged more than 2,700 percent this month, making paper billionaires out of top executives.
Crypto is the product of a reverse merger with a company that made water and radio-wave resistant sports bra pockets, according to a November filing.
Last week it issued stock to accredited investors at $7, a 97 percent discount to the prior day’s closing price.
Rally Resumed
Just when there looked to be a limit to the mania, LongFin Corp. captured the attention of the masses. The stock’s four-day rally reached 2,600 percent on Monday, earning its chief executive an appearance on CNBC.
The interview did not go well for him as he got into a heated debate with the anchors, telling them, “you don’t understand.” Overnight LongFin shares stumbled…but they resumed their ascent in regular trading, rising as much as 23 percent.
