The Twitter account of India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, was hacked Sunday (Dec. 12) morning, with a fake tweet proclaiming that bitcoin was now legal in India and that 500 bitcoin would be distributed among residents, according to a Coindesk report.
This was the second time Modi’s account was compromised. The fake tweet was deleted soon after it was posted, and an announcement was then posted on a government Twitter account that Modi’s had been secured.
The fake tweet was contrary to what has been going on in India, where the government is mulling regulations against crypto and some officials have called for an outright ban.
The first time Modi’s account was hacked included that of his relief fund last year, with a fake tweet sent out then soliciting donations to an account that the hackers controlled.
Meanwhile, the U.K.’s Chief of Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ), Jeremy Fleming, thinks there could be negative effects on global transactions from the digital renminbi wallet promoted by China, a Monday (Dec. 13) report from Bitcoin.com said.
Fleming said if the currency is broadened to other countries, with other players using it like locals, there could be negative repercussions for the financial system.
According to Fleming, China has been promoting the digital renminbi wallet as a new alternative for the next Beijing Winter Olympic Games for anyone who wants to use it, foreigner or native.
Fleming said that could be a cause for concern due to China’s influence on the world of digital payments, and could lead to an outsized power on China’s part.
“If wrongly implemented, it gives a hostile state the ability to surveil transactions,” Fleming said, per the report. “It gives them the ability … to be able to exercise control over what is conducted on those digital currencies.”
The job of GCHQ is to secure the U.K.’s information and make sure there are cyber defenses in case of an attack.
Further, Bloomberg News’ Katie Greifeld has reported that bitcoin was below $48,000 as of Monday (Dec. 13), sitting at $47,110.
Greifeld said there had been a point where ether was outperforming bitcoin, but then things settled back down where bitcoin was a “haven” and ether was down almost 9%.
Finally, CNBC reported Monday (Dec. 13) that 90% of the total bitcoin supply, totaling 21 million, has been mined.
Citing data from Blockchain.com, CNBC wrote that the rest isn’t expected to be mined until February of 2140.
Until that time, miners can keep earning coins. CNBC writes that bitcoin’s proof-of-work model means miners have to solve complex math problems to validate transactions.
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