Category: cryptocurrecny

Auto Added by WPeMatico

Posted on

A massive cannabis farm raided by UK police turned out to be a bitcoin mine

Crypto mine WM
The bitcoin ‘mine’ uncovered during industrial unit raid in UK.

West Midlands Police

  • When UK police were getting ready to raid what they suspected was a cannabis farm, they discovered a crypto mine instead.
  • Police said the mine said was stealing thousands of pounds worth of electricity from the main supply.
  • “It’s certainly not what we were expecting,” the police said in a statement.
  • Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.

When police in West Midlands, UK were getting ready to raid what they suspected was a cannabis farm on May 18, they instead discovered a cryptocurrency mine that was stealing thousands of pounds worth of electricity from the main supply.

“It’s certainly not what we were expecting,” Sandwell Police Sergeant Jennifer Griffin, said in a statement.

British police were alerted of numerous people visiting the location at different times of the day. Wiring and ventilation ducts that were visible and voluminous also raised concerns. Following these suspicions, the police flew a drone above the location, which picked up a considerable heat source from above.

“It had all the hallmarks of a cannabis cultivation set-up,” Griffin said.

But upon entry, they discovered a bank of around 100 computer units as part of what’s understood to be a bitcoin mining operation. Griffin said this is believed to be the only second such crypto mine British police have encountered in the region.

Crypto mine single unit WM_0
The bitcoin ‘mine’ uncovered during industrial unit raid in UK.

West Midlands Police

“We’ve seized the equipment and will be looking into permanently seizing it under the Proceeds of Crime Act,” Griffin said. “No one was at the unit at the time of the warrant and no arrests have been made – but we’ll be making enquiries with the unit’s owner.”

Cryptocurrency mining has long been criticized due to its heavy energy use and environmental impact. Various research, including a study from Cambridge University, has shown that bitcoin mining around the world uses more energy each year than some entire nations.

“My understanding is that mining for cryptocurrency is not itself illegal but clearly extracting electricity from the mains supply to power it is,” Griffin said.

Western Power, the electricity distribution operator for the Midlands, revealed that thousands of pounds worth of energy had been stolen to power the mine, bypassing the normal electric supply.

More and more governing bodies have raised concerns about the massive energy consumption needed to mine cryptocurrencies.

On May 26, Iran has banned cryptocurrency mining over the summer ahead of an anticipated surge in electricity demand.

China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on May 19 doubled down on its crypto-mining ban by setting up a hotline for the general public to report suspected activity.

In New York, a bill introduced in the State Senate is seeking to halt bitcoin mining for three years until the state has assessed its impact on the environment.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Posted on

Knicks fan who used bitcoin to buy tickets in 2013 lost out on almost $30,000 worth of profit

knicks hawks
An NBA basketball game between Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks.

John Bazemore/AP Images

  • A 2013 purchase of basketball tickets using bitcoin meant Alex Taub lost out on almost $30,000.
  • At the time, he felt like he was getting into Madison Square Garden for free, essentially.
  • When asked if he’ll ever pay with crypto again, he told CNBC it’s “not happening.”
  • See more stories on Insider’s business page.

In 2013, Alex Taub agreed to buy a pair of Christmas day tickets to a New York Knicks game from a friend. At the time, the tickets sold for $550 for third-row seats – a bargain.

But the purchase was no ordinary one. Taub chose to pay in bitcoin, as reported by CNBC.

When Taub bought his tickets eight years ago with 0.7688 bitcoin, one token was valued at about $730. But at the time of writing, one bitcoin is worth $33,730, making the value of those tickets fall within the $30,000 range.

Taub, CEO of professional networking startup, Upstream, told CNBC that at the time, buying the prized Christmas Day tickets without spending any cash gave him the feeling that he was getting into Madison Square Garden for free.

Years later, he was struck with the realization of the deal he made with his friend. In 2017, Taub tweeted that the tickets were “looking like they could become the most overpriced tix of all time” when he noticed they worth $5,000.

Time continues to make the transaction increasingly unbalanced. When bitcoin soared at an all-time high price of $64,829 earlier this year, the bitcoin Taub traded for seats was valued at $49,840, CNBC reported.

“In hindsight, clearly it would be nice to have the money,” he told the outlet. “But at the same time, if you start to harp on this stuff you’re going to be immobilized, you’re going to be frozen and not be able to function.”

When asked if he’ll ever pay with crypto again, he said it’s “not happening.”

“I will not be using speculative currency to buy Knicks tickets again,” he added.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Posted on

The US Treasury wants every crypto transfer larger than $10,000 to be reported to the IRS

janet yellen fed

Win McNamee/Getty Images

  • The US Treasury said a proposal to beef up the IRS includes reporting any transfers of at least $10,000 in cryptocurrencies for tax purposes.
  • “As with cash transactions, businesses that receive crypto assets with a fair-market value of more than $10,000 would also be reported on,” The Treasury Department said.
  • Bitcoin sold off by as much as 6% on Thursday following the announcement.
  • Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.

The Treasury Department detailed plans to have any cryptocurrency transfers of at least $10,000 to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service in a report on Thursday.

Bitcoin pared its gains and fell by as much as 6% in afternoon trading following the release of the report, adding to the cryptocurrency’s volatile week of trading in which it fell more than 30% in a day.

“As with cash transactions, businesses that receive cryptoassets with a fair-market value of more than $10,000 would also be reported on,” the Treasury Department said in the report. The report is part of the Biden administration’s plans to beef up the IRS in hopes of collecting more tax revenue that otherwise goes unreported.

The IRS first began asking individuals if they ever bought or sold virtual currencies in 2020, and now requires individuals to report capital gains realized from any cryptocurrency transactions.

The Treasury Department said that reporting the crypto transactions is necessary “to minimize the incentives and opportunity to shift income out of the new information reporting regime,” according to the report.

“Cryptocurrency already poses a significant detection problem by facilitating illegal activity broadly including tax evasion,” the Treasury added in its report.

The move by the Treasury Department comes after the Colonial gas pipeline was briefly shutdown due to a ransomware threat, in which the company ultimately paid the hackers $5 million in bitcoin. Those same hackers have collected a total of $90 million in bitcoin by running a similar ransomware scheme against other companies.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Posted on

Elon Musk’s abrupt reversal on bitcoin conflicts with research from Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest that argues mining is actually environmentally beneficial

IMG_1821.JPG
Cathie Wood is the founder, CEO, and CIO of ARK Investment Management. Elon Musk is the SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO.

Ark Invest, File (for Wood) and Hannibal Hanschke/Pool Photo via AP, File (for Musk).

Elon Musk’s abrupt reversal on bitcoin Wednesday evening conflicts not only with his previous stance by holding bitcoin himself and investing for Tesla but also with research from Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest.

The star stock picker’s firm in April argued that mining bitcoin is actually environmentally beneficial.

Mining cryptocurrencies, bitcoin included, can increase the overall share of renewable energy provision to the grid, according to an April post from Ark research director Brett Winton and co-authors Yassine Elmandjra and Sam Korus, as first reported by Bloomberg.

“Bitcoin mining could encourage investment in solar energy systems, enabling renewables to generate a higher percentage of grid power with no change in the cost of electricity,” the authors said in the post.

Without bitcoin mining, they added, “solar could supply only 40% of grid power before utilities would face the need to fund significant investments with higher electricity prices.”

Wood doubled down on her stance by tweeting to her nearly 900,000 followers in April that she is collaborating with Square to debunk the idea that bitcoin mining is detrimental to the environment.

Musk on Wednesday evening announced he is suspending the purchase of Tesla vehicles using bitcoin, citing environmental concerns.

“We are concerned about the rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel,” Musk said in a tweet.

Musk did clarify that Tesla will not sell its bitcoin holdings, and instead, will use the digital currency for transactions as soon as “mining transitions to more sustainable energy.”

But as Bloomberg reported, Ark has a profit motive in promoting the positive environmental impacts of bitcoin. Ark is invested in Coinbase and Square, companies tied to the success of cryptocurrencies and which have slumped following Musk’s announcement.

Three out of six of Wood’s exchange-traded funds – Ark Innovation ETF, ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF, and ARK Next Generation Internet ETF – count Tesla as their top holding.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Posted on

A crypto-trading platform being sued for fraud by New York stands accused of moving all of its clients’ assets into dogecoin without telling them

GettyImages 1299388392
Dogecoin was started as a joke in 2013.

Yuriko Nakao/Getty Images

  • The New York state attorney general this month took legal action to immediately halt the continued illegal and fraudulent operations of Coinseed.
  • The sate AG alleges Coinseed moved investors’ money into dogecoin without permission.
  • Over 130 complaints from investors have that reinforce the allegation have poured into the NYAG office.
  • Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell

New York Attorney General Letitia James on May 6 took legal action to halt operations of cryptocurrency trading platform Coinseed.

The state AG alleges that Coinseed allocated investors’ money into dogecoin without permission.

Per the filing first viewed by Bloomberg, Coinseed on April 16 converted all investor assets into bitcoin “without notice or authorization” and disabled all functionality in the application, so that they will not be able to withdraw their money.

In the evening of the same day, Coinseed traded the bitcoins for dogecoin, described as “an extremely volatile virtual currency” in the filing, and which at that time was experiencing a sharp selloff.

“[The Office of Attorney General] has received dozens of complaints from investors describing that [Coinseed] conducted these unauthorized trades and transferred all investor assets into dogecoin,” the filing said.

An example of an investor complaint on April 17 was included. The investor alleged that Coinseed transferred all his cryptocurrency to dogecoin without his permission and blocked his ability to withdraw his money. From a $20,000 balance the night before, he said the transfer to dogecoin immediately dropped his balance to $7,000.

Four other complaints followed a similar narrative.

“Unregulated and fraudulent virtual currency trading platforms have no place in New York,” the Attorney General said in a statement.

She continued: “Three months ago, we filed this case against Coinseed and its executives alleging that they violated New York state laws and illegally squandered investors’ monies. However, in the months since we filed our suit, the greed perpetrated by Coinseed and its CEO has not only continued but grown.”

In February, the office of James filed a lawsuit against Coinseed and its two top executives.

At that time, James accused Coinseed of defrauding investors out of more than $1 million via undisclosed fees and through the sale of “worthless” CSD tokens. CSD tokens were Coinseed’s own cryptocurrency.

But in the last month, dogecoin has had a stellar performance. It is up more than 70% since the middle of April and is now the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization according to CoinGecko. It may also be enjoying institutional backing soon.

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk tweeted a poll Tuesday asking if his followers want Tesla to accept the cryptocurrency as payment.

Still, James has alleged in her filing that Coinseed has “drained both bank and virtual currency accounts that held investor deposits and moved investor assets overseas.”

The AG said that in the nearly three months since James filed her lawsuit, they received over 130 complaints from investors regarding Coinseed’s conduct.

The Office has therefore asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction. They have also asked the court to appoint a receiver to oversee all assets in an effort to safeguard investments as the lawsuit proceeds.

Coinseed CEO Delger Davaasambuu, however, told The Block that the complaints were “full of false accusations.” The CEO maintained that Coinseed left New York in 2019 and has not accepted any users from New York since 2018.

As the meme cryptocurrency with the Shiba Inu as its mascot skyrocketed an astronomical 10,000% year-to-date, more and more people are jumping in.

A report published by the blockchain intelligence provider TRM Labs on Monday detailed how fraudsters manipulated Musk’s dogecoin promotion during his anticipated hosting of the iconic Saturday Night Live Show on May 8 and pocketed dogecoin worth $5 million.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Posted on

Gemini announces customers can now trade dogecoin and says the meme token is ‘no joke’

GettyImages 1299388392
Dogecoin was started as a joke in 2013.

Yuriko Nakao/Getty Images

Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini said its customer can trade dogecoin starting Tuesday, joining a growing list of platforms showing support for the meme-inspired cryptocurrency that was started as a joke in 2013.

“Dogecoin is the people’s money,” Tyler Winklevoss, Gemini CEO, said in a statement. “It’s organic, irreverent, and fun.”

He said he acknowledged that dogecoin is a meme coin, but that money also operates like a meme.

“Over the multi-millennia history of money, the majority of money (be it shells, beads, precious metals, etc.) has been what we the people say it is and believe it is,” he said.

The move by Gemini to add dogecoin comes after trading platform eToro added the meme cryptocurrency Monday.

Gemini, founded in 2014, offers over 40 cryptocurrencies for trading.

Other exchanges that allow dogecoin trading include Kraken and Robinhood.

Robinhood in April lowered its minimum dogecoin order size to one coin from 10 coins as the meme-based asset’s popularity shot to new heights.

Dogecoin this year has seen a blistering rally, thanks in part to well-known backers such as Elon Musk, Mark Cuban, rapper Snoop Dogg, and Kiss member Gene Simmons.

But some, such as billionaire and bitcoin bull Mike Novogratz, don’t believe the hype.

“No, you shouldn’t buy dogecoin,” he said in an April interview with Earn Your Leisure. “You should sell dogecoin probably now that it’s gone up to 42 cents. But there’s a lot of uneducated investors that feel the energy of this moment and want to participate.”

As of Tuesday, dogecoin jumped to a new all-time high above $0.58, soaring more than 19,200% over the last year and 760% over the last 30 days. It boasts of a $70 billion market capitalization as of Tuesday, making it the fourth largest cryptocurrency, just after bitcoin, ether, and Binance coin, according to CoinGecko.

Read more: Ex-Ark analyst James Wang breaks down his bull case for Ethereum as its token breaches an all-time high of $3,300 – and explains why it could eventually reach $40,000

While dogecoin protocol issues a fixed amount of 5 billion tokens every year, Winklevoss said this fixed and annual issuance will represent a much smaller percentage of dogecoin’s overall money supply.

“In other words, Dogecoin’s money supply is disinflationary,” Winklevoss said, comparing it to ether. “Recently, demand for dogecoin has outstripped its supply. As a result, its price has been mooning.”

The Shiba Inu-themed token has also benefitted from huge amounts of stimulus from governments and during the COVID-19 crisis as well as pandemic-stricken boredom in retail investors.

“Momentum in online forums has caused a flurry of investment as people aim to pump doge to the price of $1,” said Ben Weiss, CEO at CoinFlip, which itself added dogecoin to its network in March.

But Weiss added: “Major players and corporations are unlikely to buy in and manipulate the market or understand that it could be a viable currency.”

Read the original article on Business Insider

Posted on

Coinbase says the entire crypto market could be destabilized if Bitcoin’s anonymous creator is ever revealed or sells their $30 billion stake

brian armstrong coinbase
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.

Christie Hemm Klok/Getty Images

  • Coinbase will go public on the Nasdaq on Wednesday via a direct listing.
  • In its February filing, the trading platform cites Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity as a risk factor.
  • The creator’s cache of bitcoins could wreak havoc on the market if Nakamoto sold their collection.
  • Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

Cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase – which has a over $100 billion valuation – said Satoshi Nakamoto could topple an over $1 trillion bitcoin market.

Coinbase will go public on Wednesday as a direct listing on the Nasdaq. The company has been assigned a reference price of $250 per share, according to NasdaqTrader.

In the documents the company released in February for its public debut, Coinbase said Satoshi Nakamoto – the pseudonym used by the individual or group of people who developed bitcoin – could cause significant damage to the company.

If the identity of the creator was revealed, it could cause bitcoin prices to deteriorate, according to the filing.

The filing also referenced Nakamoto’s personal stash of bitcoins, which totals over 1 million. As of April, one bitcoin was worth over $64,000 – an all-time record.

Nakamoto could negatively affect Coinbase, the company said, and destabilize the entire crypto market if the creator decided to transfer his bitcoins, which are valued at over $30 billion.

Read more: Mark Cuban explains how NFTs could provide new revenue streams for small businesses and creators

The creator was the first entity to ever mine for bitcoins, and Nakamoto’s stake in the digital currency accounts for nearly 5% of the entire bitcoin market, as there are only 21 million bitcoins that can be mined. The entire bitcoin market is worth over $1 trillion.

Bitcoin’s value has largely been driven by its deflationary tendencies. If 1.1 million bitcoins were released into the market, the digital currency’s price would almost surely fall.

Similarly, Bitcoin has been praised for its decentralized nature. The currency is not beholden to any institutions or individuals. If Nakamoto was unmasked, that would place the currency under a single entity, which could discourage traders that bought into the currency for its decentralization.

Coinbase’s success is largely tied to Bitcoin’s rise

In a nod to the Bitcoin creator, Coinbase listed Nakamoto as one of the recipients of its public filing.

Coinbase can attribute much of its success to Bitcoin and its creator, who in 2009 developed it as the first decentralized digital currency.

In the years since, Bitcoin has largely dominated the cryptocurrency world, rising over 400% in the past year alone to easily remain the largest digital coin by market cap.

Coinbase is poised to continue to benefit from the cryptocurrency’s rise. The trading platform is the largest in the US and has over 20 million users.

The company’s founder and CEO, Brian Armstrong, referenced the invention of Bitcoin in his letter that was included in the public filing in February.

“When I first read the Bitcoin whitepaper back in 2010, I realized this computer science breakthrough might be the key to unlock this vision of the future,” Armstrong said. “Cryptocurrency could provide the core tenets of economic freedom to anyone: property rights, sound money, free trade, and the ability to work how and where they want.”

Nakamoto’s name first came to public attention after the white paper was released. The paper outlined the principles of a decentralized peer-to-peer digital payment system. In 2011, the creator moved on from the system but has remained a figure of public interest.

There has been much speculation over the years on the creator’s identity. Names like the Bitcoin developer Nick Szabo, the entrepreneur Craig Wright, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have been put forward as potential creators of the currency.

While it is unknown whether Nakamoto will ever choose to transfer their cache of bitcoins, it seems unlikely the creator will ever reveal their identity.

By maintaining anonymity, Nakamoto could avoid legal consequences. The untraceable nature of bitcoin has also led to its use for illegal goods and services on the dark web. In January, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for more restrictions on digital currencies like bitcoin because of their use in illegal financing.

The unveiling would also violate one of bitcoin’s founding principles that was outlined in its white paper. If a creator was unmasked, it would pose a threat to the decentralized nature of the currency – a tenet Nakamoto put at the center of his plans for Bitcoin.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Posted on

The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust is now the largest public holder of bitcoin, but competition is heating up

FILE PHOTO: People walk past a board with the logo of Bitcoin in a street in Yerevan, Armenia September 9, 2019. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov/File Photo

Reuters

  • The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust is now the largest public holder of bitcoin, according to Bank of America.
  • The trust likely owns 700,000 bitcoin, or about 3.5% of total supply, BofA said in a note on Wednesday.
  • But competition is heating up as Osprey launches a rival bitcoin trust and several ETFs apply for approval.
  • Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.

The largest public holder of bitcoin is Grayscale, which operates the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, Bank of America said in a note on Wednesday.

The trust, which trades like a stock on the over-the-counter market, likely owns 700,000 bitcoin, which represents about 3.5% of total supply and is worth more than $31 billion, BofA said. The trust has $36.1 billion in assets under management as of Tuesday and has often traded at a premium to its underlying bitcoin holdings.

“The trust has been steadily buying bitcoin over 2020, especially in 4Q20 and has become one of the 5 largest holders of the cryptocurrency,” BofA said.

The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust launched in 2013 and is the go-to option for investors who want to add bitcoin exposure to their portfolio without directly buying the cryptocurrency. For years, Grayscale’s trust has been the only option for investors looking for easy access to bitcoin, as the SEC has blocked the launch of bitcoin ETFs over the years.

Grayscale has been able to take advantage of being the only option for investors by charging a hefty 2% annual fee, but competition is beginning to heat up.

Last month, the Osprey Bitcoin Trust launched with an annual fee of 0.49%, significantly undercutting Grayscale’s fees. The Osprey Trust has already attracted $103 million in assets under management as of Tuesday.

February also saw the first launch of a bitcoin ETF in North America, as Canada approved the Purpose Bitcoin ETF, which trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Issuers in the US that have filed applications with the SEC for approval of a bitcoin ETF include VanEck, WisdomTree,

Even Grayscale is looking to launch its own bitcoin ETF, as Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein told Insider earlier this month. Recent job listings from the firm have zeroed in on ETF specialists, signalling the firm’s expected move into the space if the SEC grants approval.

Whether the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust will be able to hold onto its title as the top public holder of bitcoin as the cheaper Osprey Bitcoin Trust gains its footing and if the SEC approves bitcoin ETFs remains to be seen.

bitcoin bofa.JPG

Bank of America

Read the original article on Business Insider

Posted on

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase files to go public in a direct listing on Nasdaq

coinbase mobile phone app
In this photo illustration, Bitcoin course’s graph is seen on the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange application on February 12, 2018 in Paris, France. Founded in June of 2012, Coinbase is a digital currency wallet and platform where merchants and consumers can transact with new digital currencies like bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin. The company is based in San Francisco, California generated in 2017 a record turnover of one billion dollars (about 810 million euros) with exceptional trading volumes, which made it the most downloaded mobile app on iOS last December.

Chesnot/Getty Images

  • Coinbase is seeking a direct listing on Nasdaq, according to paperwork the company filed with the SEC on Thursday. 
  • The largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US said revenue surpassed $1 billion in 2020. 
  • Coinbase said it has 43 million verified users and 2.8 million users that make transactions monthly. 
  • Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

Coinbase Global has filed to go public, seeking a direct listing on Nasdaq, according to paperwork filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. 

According to the form S-1 filed with the regulator, revenue has more than doubled in the last year, highlighting the growing appetite for digital currencies. Coinbase said it has 43 million verified users and that 2.8 million conduct transactions monthly. With bitcoin and ethereum, the platform supports more than 90 crypto assets for trading and custody.

“While we are still in the early stages of adoption, the market value of exchange-traded crypto assets was already approximately $782 billion as of December 31, 2020,” Coinbase said in its filing.

Revenue in 2020 was $1.28 billion, a jump from $553.7 million in 2019, according to a consolidated operations statement included in the filing. Coinbase said it will not receive any proceeds from the sale of its Class A common stock by registered stockholders.

The filing for an initial public offering by Coinbase arrives at a time when the price of Bitcoin has skyrocketed in recent weeks. Meanwhile, there were an estimated 106 million crypto users worldwide in January, according to a report from exchange Crypto.com.

“Our objective is to drive the growth of the overall cryptoeconomy by serving the needs of all consumers who manage their financial lives on a mobile device, and every institution — large or small — that embraces the emerging internet of value,” said Coinbase.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Posted on

XRP falls sharply after soaring 50% but Dogecoin is holding on, with day traders looking for new targets and Elon Musk fanning interest

GettyImages 1299388486
Dogecoin is a ‘meme’ cryptocurrency, seemingly created as a joke

Yuriko Nakao/Getty

Cryptocurrency XRP tumbled into the red on Monday, after rising more than 50% in early trading, as a “pump and hold” scheme organized by day traders ran into trouble.

Yet “meme” currency Dogecoin held on gains of around 34% as amateur investors zeroed in on new assets in the wake of the GameStop saga and Elon Musk boosted interest in cryptocurrencies.

XRP was down 7.14% to $0.43779 by 9.50am ET. It had risen more than 50% to above $0.74 in early morning trading.

Dogecoin was 33.87% higher at $0.04007, but remained well below a high of more than $0.07 hit last week. Bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency by market value, was up 0.56% to $33,548.

Last week, day traders on the Reddit forum Wall Street Bets sent the shares of video-game store GameStop soaring.

Read More: A chief investment strategist breaks down how the GameStop saga could upend long-standing practices on Wall Street – and shares her 4-part advice for navigating the frenzied trading environment

The army of amateur investors appeared to have locked on to a broader array of targets on Monday, with silver hitting its highest level in 8 years and XRP and Dogecoin both jumping.

XRP is both a cryptocurrency and digital payments network created by US firm Ripple, which stumbled last year after the firm ran into legal trouble. It denies allegations of wrongdoing.

Dogecoin is a “meme” cryptocurrency created in 2013, seemingly as a joke, but which has picked up a growing following. A cryptocurrency is a secure digital currency, often without a central controlling authority.

Tesla founder Elon Musk has encouraged the recent surge in interest in cryptocurrencies. In a Sunday night video on the app Clubhouse, Musk said it would be funny if “Dogecoin becomes the currency of Earth in the future.”

Read More: As Redditors flood the stock market, UBS breaks down 6 options strategies investors can use right now to protect their portfolio

Part of the early-morning XRP price rise was driven by a concerted effort among the currency’s fans, echoing the GameStop phenomenon. A group on the messaging app Telegram called Buy & Hold XRP hit the maximum 200,000 member threshold.

Yet the strategy looked shaky shortly after 7am ET, as the price stumbled. One popular post on the XRP channel on the social network Reddit said: “Stop panic selling!! We can do this! We just had it to .74 USD, let it rise!”

Another Reddit user posted: “People that sell now are the ones that are going to be the most disappointed! HOLD.”

Read the original article on Business Insider