Bitcoin Daily: Bitcoin Keeps Plunging, North Korea’s Crypto Hacks Net Billions

North Korea hacked into South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges last year, and the country still hasn’t stopped trying to steal digital coins, South Korea said, according to Reuters. “North Korea sent emails that could hack into cryptocurrency exchanges and their customers’ private information and stole (cryptocurrency) worth billions of won,” Kim Byung-kee, a member of South Korea’s parliamentary intelligence committee, said. Kim, however, did not name which exchanges were reportedly hacked.

In Canada, the nation’s largest banks are still allowing their customers to cash into the crypto craze by letting them buy digital coins on debit and credit cards, Bloomberg reported. Canada’s biggest lender, Toronto-Dominion Bank, is allowing the purchases as long as the exchange accepts certain brands of cards — such as Visa — and the bank can determine the transaction is legitimate. In comparison, U.S. banks such as JPMorgan have stopped allowing purchases of bitcoin and other cryptos on their cards.

Like U.S. banks, the European Central Bank is not so keen on cryptocurrencies. “We should understand that bitcoin and other digital currencies are in the unregulated space and should be regarded as very risky assets,” ECB President Mario Draghi said on Monday, according to Reuters. “Banks should measure the risk of any holding of digital currencies in their portfolio accordingly.” But he noted that banks don’t seem to be interested in investing in bitcoin.

In India, the government is taking steps to make cryptocurrencies illegal, Reuters reported. “The government will take steps to make it illegal as a payment system,” Economic Affairs Secretary S.C. Garg said at an event. He also stated the government would regulate cryptocurrency trading at the country’s currently unregulated exchanges.

And, in Sweden, investors are trading their taste in bitcoin for shares in pot companies. “Out of nowhere, the interest for Canadian cannabis shares has completely exploded in Sweden,” Joakim Bornold, a savings adviser at online broker bank Nordnet AB, told Bloomberg. The top 10 most-traded shares on Nordnet in January included Aurora Cannabis Inc. and Canopy Growth Corp.

While Ethereum might be for the kitties, a new blockchain alternate, Achain, will be for the canines, TheNextWeb reported. Chinese-based Baidu’s CryptoDogs allows users to buy, trade and breed digital dogs. Their characteristics then become part of the blockchain. And they are popular: There are currently more than 20 pages with blockchain-connected digital dogs.

And, in more serious news, bitcoin was down more than 15 percent on Monday (Feb. 5) to roughly $6,800, a level that would represent a new low not seen in almost three months. As reported by Reuters, the price, quoted from Bitstamp, now represents a fall that has taken bitcoin well off its peak of nearly $20,000, seen late last year. That slide occurred as global concerns come to bear on the digital currency, tied primarily to bans on buying bitcoin levied by banks.