FILE - An advertisement of Bitcoin, one of the cryptocurrencies, is displayed on a building in Hong Kong, on Nov. 18, 2021. Crypto exchange Bittrex was fined $24 million by U.S. authorities on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022, for helping clients evade U.S. sanctions in places such as Syria, Iran and Crimea. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
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The Big Story
Bitcoin breaks $60K for first time since 2021
The price of one bitcoin topped $60,000 Wednesday for the first time since November 2021, when the world’s largest cryptocurrency hit its current record of $67,000.
The boom is a massive turnaround from a year ago, when bitcoin kicked off 2023 below $20,000 and economists were anticipating a wider recession, our colleague Taylor Giorno reported.
Bitcoin has rallied more than 40 percent in February alone, according to CoinDesk Indices, the largest monthly gain since late 2020. The price of bitcoin has more than doubled over the past four months.
The surge comes amid a huge infusion of cash, after the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the first-ever U.S. spot exchange-traded funds in January, opening the door to billions in investment from financial institutions such as BlackRock.
Bitcoin dominates just more than half of the global crypto market, accounting for nearly $1.2 trillion of the more than $2.3 trillion in crypto in circulation around the world, according to the crypto data aggregator CoinGecko.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is considering taking steps to prevent domestic abusers from using smart car services to track, harass and intimidate their partners. FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel proposed Wednesday that the agency look at using existing law, specifically the Safe Connections Act, to ensure car manufacturers and wireless service providers are protecting domestic abuse survivors from misuse of car …
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase experienced technical issues Wednesday as bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, soared to its highest price in more than two years. Coinbase Support assured all users that their funds with the crypto exchange are safe and its team is looking into the incident in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “We are aware that some users may see a zero balance across their Coinbase …
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said recent “problematic” text and image responses from the company’s Gemini artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot were “completely unacceptable.” “I know that some of its responses have offended our users and shown bias – to be clear, that’s completely unacceptable and we got it wrong,” Pichai said in an email to employees Tuesday, first reported by Semafor. The company has been “working around the …
President Biden will issue an executive order Wednesday preventing large-scale transfers of Americans’ personal data to U.S. adversaries including Russia, China and Iran. The executive order directs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to establish protections for genomic data, biometric data, personal health data, geolocation data, financial data and sensitive government-related data. “Our intelligence community has made …
News we’ve flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:
Apple ‘investing significantly’ in AI, CEO says
Apple CEO Tim Took said the company is “investing significantly” in generative artificial intelligence (AI) and will disclose more plans later this year during an annual shareholder meeting Wednesday, Reuters reported.
OpenAI ouster inquiry nearly done
The law firm reviewing the short-lived ousting of OpenAI CEO last year is nearing the end of their process, which could give insight into the decision that led to his removal and then reinstatement five days later, The New York Times reported.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) is stepping down from his leadership post in November, ending his history-setting tenure as longest-serving … Read more
A New York appellate division judge ruled Wednesday that multimillion-dollar penalties imposed on former President Trump in his civil fraud case will … Read more
