Bruce Bentley

HIGH street banks are going 'to war' on cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin after a spike in fraud, reports the Times One bank will use technology to ban several million customers from buying ANY digital currencies, it adds. Ashley Hart, head of fraud at TSB, said: "Platforms and exchanges are rife with fraudsters, and many do not have proper controls to prevent victims losing large sums of monty. "Crypto is a hotbed for fraud and urgently needs greater regulation and consumer protection. "Anyone approached to invest in crypto should be extremely wary." Despite the warning, Dubaicoin saw its value shoot up 1,000 per cent in just 24 hours despite the price of other cryptocurrencies continuing to fall. The city's government has denied any official link, with the authority even claiming it is part of an "elaborate scam". The dramatic price rise came as the value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum continue to struggle. Mean...

  The price of the Bitcoin virtual cryptocurrency is shown in this photo on a phone screen. STR | NurPhoto | Getty Images LONDON - Bitcoin prices rose again on Monday as the cryptocurrency market tried to recover from a wide sell-off last week. Just after noon in London, the price of the world's most valuable digital currency rose 8% to $ 53,544 per coin, according to Coin Metrics. Two smaller digital tokens, Ether and XRP, rose 10% and 12%, respectively. Last week, Bitcoin fell below $ 50,000 for the first time since early March after a planned hike in capital gains tax by US President Joe Biden led to a sell-off. The entire crypto market lost more than $ 200 billion in value in a single day. Biden is expected to increase the long-term capital gains tax for the richest Americans to 43.4%, including a surcharge. This sparked a brief slump in the stock markets, and analysts said fears about the proposal may have spread to the crypto market. Bitcoin is up around 80% since th...

According to a report from CAC Specialty, a subsidiary of brokerage company Cobbs Allen, continued demand for representation and warranties in mergers and acquisitions that began in late 2020 has resulted in price increases. Interest rates fell towards the middle of the year, along with a slowdown in mergers and acquisitions, but recovered later in the year. "What no one saw coming was the sustained period of unprecedented demand that began towards the end of 2020 - and which largely continued through the first quarter of 2021," said CAC. By the end of the year "the rates rose dramatically, which is due to the historically high demand due to a massive M&A upswing and a relatively static supply." Rates in the first quarter of 2021 are higher than a year ago "when M&A went full steam ahead," CAC said. The online rates - premium divided by limits - reported for most medium-sized transactions have decreased by 3%, with exceptions depending on...