Cryptocurrency News - Jan 26th

Today in the cryptocurrency world, we saw a big statement by the Australian government and the Brisbane Airport as they are now preparing to accept payments through cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dash. The reasoning they gave behind this decision was that people who have invested in cryptocurrency travel internationally and tourism offers the perfect platform for cryptocurrencies as they can be used around the word and there’s no bank fees. This makes it easier for travelers to purchase goods without having to go to exchange offices or run to the ATM and pay hefty fees.

This thought of using cryptocurrencies by travel agencies is not felt alone by the Australians but Russia as well as they released a statement,

"We are absolutely convinced in our federal agency that blockchain will seriously change the tourism market, although, in our opinion, it will happen not in two years but in 5–10 years," said Oleg Safonov at the time.

This is big news coming from another influential country as have been aware of the applications for this technology and now are starting to see the initial stages of its implementation into the current markets. It surprised me to find out that U.S. legislators in Hawaii have pushed for the creation of blockchain technology for tourist payments as well. This could start the implementation of cryptocurrencies into everyday life as it will start with industries that will see the most benefit like the tourism industry.

Some of the biggest news of the day happened overnight in the markets of Japan. It is being reported as the biggest theft in the history of the world by CryptoNews. The reported theft occurred on the crypto exchange Coincheck is speculated at roughly $400 million worth of NEM cryptocurrency coins. This followed a strange altercation within the exchange site as $110 million worth of Ripple (XRP) was sent through the exchange to an unknown address. While little is known about either event, hacking is suspected in both occurrences.

Japan has had a history with hacking and massive thefts of cryptocurrencies as an incident earlier last year cost investors close to $350 million due to the exchange Mt. Gox. The blame for this recent theft is not blamed on the cryptocurrency NEM but the exchange site Coincheck. Also there is some speculation as whether or not this was an inside job or not as the $110 million worth of Ripple was taken from Coinchecks Ripple wallet.

Whether or not we will get updates on this theft or if any more news will surface doesn’t matter. What does matter is realizing that exchanges are not a safe place to store any coins or wealth as they have proven that they are hackable and unsafe. This should act as another warning to anyone who still holds their coins on an exchange site to find another way to store and safeguard your tokens. I cannot stress enough as I have continued to learn about the cryptocurrency market and industry that security and protection will be the most important aspect of the new monetary system as you are your own bank and holder of your wealth.