Coming every Sunday, Hodler'southward Digest will aid you rail every single important news story that happened this calendar week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.

Top Stories This Calendar week

Crypto exchange Upbit confirms theft of 342,000 ETH

Another week, another hack — leaving us all with a distinct sense of déjà vu. On Wed, the major Due south Korean crypto substitution Upbit confirmed that a whopping 342,000 Ether (ETH) had been stolen from its hot wallet — funds worth an estimated $50 million at the time of writing. The company stopped brusque of describing the incident equally a hack and said that all remaining crypto avails have since been moved into cold storage. Deposits and withdrawals are going to exist suspended for at least 2 weeks, and Upbit said corporate funds will be used to protect user assets. In recent days, rumors take been swirling that the incident could have been an inside task.

Indian authorities to result national blockchain strategy

Despite taking a hardline stance on crypto, India has announced that it is working on a national blockchain strategy to advance the engineering science's adoption. Officials believe that blockchain could transform a plethora of sectors, including governance, banking, finance and cybersecurity. Several Indian states have already been drawing up policies relating to blockchain and artificial intelligence, including Tamil Nadu and Telangana. This month, hopes were raised in the crypto customs afterwards a controversial bill that proposes a 10-year jail term for those caught dealing in digital currencies was postponed, with lawmakers failing to introduce it during the winter session of parliament.

Communist china: Five crypto exchanges halt or close services amongst perceived crackdown

It'south been a bad calendar month for Chinese crypto exchanges. In November, at to the lowest degree v platforms have either decided to halt operations temporarily or close up shop altogether. Bitsoda and Akdex brought the shutters downwards within 24 hours of each other, while Idax announced domestic clients will no longer exist able to utilize its service. Btuex also fabricated moves to suspend services immediately, with the company directly linking this decision to government policy. Biss was the get-go exchange to fall silent dorsum on Nov. 4 — and since then, it'south been reported that 10 suspects have been arrested in connection with that exchange. All of this comes amid fears that Beijing is doubling downwards on its anti-crypto stance.

Russia reportedly considers ban on using crypto as a means of payment

China isn't the only ane threatening to accept a hardline opinion on crypto. Reports this calendar week also suggested that Russia is planning to ban cryptocurrencies from being used to purchase goods and services. Such a proposal would exist a massive setback for countless Russian programmers, designers and copywriters who receive their freelance salaries in BTC and ETH. It is believed that Moscow is concerned about crime, with a senior Ministry of Finance official recently saying: "We practise not come across any basis for cryptocurrencies to be used as a means of payment."

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Africa "will ascertain" the future of Bitcoin, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey says

After completing a tour of the continent, with stops in Nigeria and Ghana, Jack Dorsey has boldly predicted that "Africa will define the future" — especially when it comes to Bitcoin (BTC). The renowned tech entrepreneur, who is the brains behind Twitter and Square, is a huge supporter of crypto. Dorsey said he is planning to return to Africa in 2022, with a plan to spend upward to six months on the continent. His enthusiasm comes equally interest in BTC continues to build — especially in Lagos, Nigeria's nearly populous metropolis. In other news this week, Ghana announced information technology is exploring the benefits of issuing a central bank digital currency. It remains unclear when such a project would launch and whether it would be based on blockchain.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the calendar week, Bitcoin is at $vii,470.78, Ether at $151.83 and XRP at $0.22. The total market cap is at $202,919,459,515.

The top iii altcoin gainers of the week are DMarket, Streamr DATAcoin and Matic Network. The top three altcoin losers of the calendar week are Odem, Digitex Futures and Energi.

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For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph's marketplace analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

"Africa will define the future (specially the bitcoin one!)"

Jack Dorsey, Twitter and Square CEO

"There are a lot of voices from the Bitcoin customs saying that well-nigh of the mining is washed with green energy and that information technology's not high impact."

Susanne Köhler, academic

"The ability to save wealth in bitcoin will bring millions of people out of debt."

Misir Mahmudov, Adaptive Majuscule

"Beside memorising the pass phrase I also wrote information technology down in a book. Then now when I keyed in the pass phrase it doesn't generate the accost where I've sent 1800 btc to."

Lumanubrecon, Reddit user

"If they [institutional investors] faced a situation of a renewed Bitcoin bubble and they continued to take a contrarian position against the marketplace, they'd be throwing fiat into a black hole."

Bitcoin educator Andreas Antonopoulos

"Nothing is above Bitcoin, no CBDC, no stablecoins."

Blockstream CEO Adam Dorsum

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Prediction of the Week

PlanB: "Rare opportunity" tin can see Bitcoin toll hit $ten,000 in December

As Bitcoin continues to languish in the mid-$vii,000s, some analysts are optimistic that a bounciness-dorsum could be on the cards. PlanB has suggested that BTC could return to v-figure territory earlier 2022 — a surge that would involve the globe's ascendant cryptocurrency ascent by more than a third. Earlier you heighten your eyebrows and dismiss this as an outlandish prediction, information technology's worth remembering that BTC soared by a whopping 42% in a single day back in October — the second-biggest daily gain of all time. Not all analysts agree with PlanB's rosy prediction. Another statistician, Willy Woo, forecast "a bearish December to test new lows" unless BTC managed to close the month above $8,300.

FUD of the Week

Report: Cybercriminals are using YouTube to install cryptojacking malware

New research suggests cybercriminals accept been distributing a Monero (XMR) crypto mining module via the popular video-sharing website YouTube. According to Eset, a major antivirus software supplier, the malware is a marked divergence from the click fraud, ad injection and password stealing attacks that Stantinko botnet operators were known for before. Information technology is believed that approximately 500,000 devices have been infected to engagement. YouTube said information technology has since removed every channel that independent traces of Stantinko's code.

Bitcoin life lesson: User forgets "encephalon wallet" worth $13 million

At present hither'due south a FUD that'll brand you wince. A Bitcoin investor claimed they have lost access to funds worth almost $13 1000000 considering they failed to tape the passphrase for their wallet. The Reddit user said a balance of 1,800 BTC is out of reach. They were apparently using something known as a "encephalon wallet" — a form of Bitcoin storage that often does away with physical and digital records of passphrases. Instead, users create a password that is easy to retrieve simply difficult to crack. Every bit compelling a story as it might be, some are skeptical every bit to whether it'southward really truthful. One moderator, who has marked the tale as likely fake, said: "Why is it chosen a 'brain' wallet when anyone with an actual brain would never do something so stupid? The story is and then dumb I presume information technology is non real."

Ex-Hollywood executive admits to embezzling $22 million to buy crypto and gamble

A onetime executive at a digital marketing business firm in Hollywood is in hot water after albeit to embezzling $22 million from his employer to purchase digital currency, gamble and cover personal expenses. Dennis Blieden was working for StyleHaul Inc. at the time, an agency that represents "influencers" on social networks. Over a four-year period, he stole $1.two million to write personal checks to poker players, $1.one one thousand thousand to pay off credit cards and $8.4 one thousand thousand to transfer to crypto accounts. Blieden is at present facing a statutory maximum sentence of 22 years in federal prison house.

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Best Cointelegraph Features

BRICS nations discuss shared crypto to break away from USD and SWIFT

Brazil, Russia, India, China and S Africa — collectively known as the BRICS economic bloc — are exploring whether they should issue cross-national digital money to reduce their dependence on the United States. Julia Magas has more.

Blockstream CEO: "Naught is above Bitcoin, no CBDC, no stablecoins"

In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, Blockstream CEO Adam Back said stablecoins and other coins issued past cardinal banks will never be above Bitcoin. Here's Cassio Gusson.

Here's where to spend crypto online this Black Friday

It'southward i of the biggest events in retail: Black Friday. Simply where can crypto enthusiasts spend their coins and go their hands on the latest bargains? Aubrey Hansen takes a look.