Bitcoin mining will use 0.5 percent of the world’s energy by the end of the year, according to newly published, peer-reviewed study. Written by economist and PricewaterhouseCoopers blockchain specialist Alex de Vries, the paper, “Bitcoin’s Growing Energy Problem,” calculates bitcoin’s current energy use and its likely direction. The findings: At a minimum, bitcoin mining — the ...

Uber Technologies Inc. is not the only ride-hailing company with problems. Didi Chuxing Technology Co., the world’s largest startup by valuation, Wednesday was forced to make changes to one of its apps after a customer was murdered. The murder of a 21-year-old woman by a Didi driver in the central province of Henan was tied back ...

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has set up a page for a fake initial coin offering as a way of educating potential investors of ICO risks. Dubbed “Howeycoin,” the mock ICO website touts a too-good-to-be-true investment opportunity that mimics actual initial coin offerings as a way to “educate investors about what to look for before ...

Securus Technologies Inc., a company best known as a go-to firm for U.S. prisons that want to track and monitor phones, has itself been hacked, according to a report from Motherboard. When the hack took place is not clear, but the report claims to have evidence of at least 2,800 logins and poorly encrypted passwords relating ...

Bitcoin and blockchain startup Circle Internet Financial, Inc. has raised $110 million in new funding as a “strategic investment” while also announcing its intent to launch a new cryptocurrency tied to the U.S. dollar. The new round announced Tuesday, the first since 2016, was led by Bitmain, with the participation of IDG Capital, Breyer Capital, General Catalyst, Accel, Digital Currency ...

Coinbase Inc., the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, is expanding its services again in an attempt to broaden its appeal to traditional institutional Wall Street investors. In a raft of new products announced Tuesday, the headline launch was Coinbase Custody, a custodian offering traditionally offered by merchant banks to secure customer cash. A custodian in finance is a third-party ...

Microsoft Corp.’s megatablet is back. The technology giant today announced a successor to its original model in the form of the Surface Hub 2. The original Surface Hub, launched in 2015, went on to become a surprising smash hit, surprising mostly because not only was its size large, so was its price. But three years later, ...

HTC Corp. wants a slice of cryptocurrency market. The Android phone maker today unveiled a new model that will have blockchain-enabled cryptowallet support built in by default. The new phone, called Exodus, will feature a cryptocurrency wallet with a secure hardware enclave to support bitcoin, Ethereum and other Ethereum-based tokens out of the box. Although the ...

Facebook Inc. has suspended about 200 apps over data privacy concerns as part of the post-Cambridge Analytica scandal investigation announced by Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg March 21. The 200 unnamed apps, part of thousands so far investigated, have been suspended “pending a thorough investigation into whether they did in fact misuse any data,” Facebook said ...

In a tale of two companies, one with perpetual issues and the other a rising star, Uber Technologies Inc. today announced a new rating feature in its app while archrival Lyft Inc. announced it has stolen even more of Uber’s market share. Tinkering while Rome burns — or in this case, killing pedestrians with reportedly faulty software — Uber announced ...