Must-reads for August 24, 2018

It’s Getting Harder to Pump Up Prices in Cryptocurrency Markets (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg’s Matt Leising is quickly becoming our personal hero. He faces a barrage of insults from cryptobros on Reddit and Twitter but instead of backing down, the intrepid reporter doubles down, noting, “It’s getting hard to pump amid the dump in the $209 billion cryptocurrency market. At least that appears to be the case when you look at Tether, one of the most-traded digital assets and also one that’s allegedly been used to manipulate the price of Bitcoin.” Stay strong, Matt. Stay strong!

Mt Gox’s Bitcoin Creditors Can Now File for Rehabilitation Claims (CoinDesk)
Another step forward in the interminable Mt Gox saga. This is what happens when the world’s largest bitcoin exchange collapses. Take note.

North Korean hackers are targeting cryptocurrency traders with fake software (TheNext Web)
North Korea’s team of online thugs, “Lazarus,” has sent its favorite piece of malware called FallChill to take control of cryptocurrency exchanges with something called Celas Trade Pro. Why North Korea would name software after Cialis is beyond us but the bottom line is that you’re probably not safe.

Blockchain Could Help Bring Renewable Energy to the Power Grid, Experts Tell Congress (Nextgov)
As the Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto would ask, where would we be without experts?

Here’s what you should be reading on the beach this weekend:

Before Bitcoin ETFs Pass, a Clear Crypto Narrative Is Needed (CoinDesk)
“There is the need for a professional-grade market which has the liquidity and depth to support the hedging activities of a U.S.-based bitcoin ETF issuer,” writes Tanzeel Akhtar on CoinDesk. Hmm… Where have we heard that before? Oh, right.

Is the Price of Bitcoin Based on Anything at All? (Medium)
Remember when we said that all headlines with a question are usually answered with “no”? This is no different. We keep hearing that 1 tether MUST be safe because it has consistently been trading around 1 U.S. dollar. However, there could be a reason for that and it’s one that indicates an impending catastrophe. “We’re in a hall of mirrors,” writes Jeff Wise on Medium. “The price of crypto is derived largely from trades in Tether, the price of which is derived from trades in crypto, the price of which is derived largely from trades in Tether.”

An Oral History of ‘GoldenEye 007’ on the N64 (Medium)
This has nothing to do with crypto, however, for some reason, this particular piece is compelling. We don’t play videogames. In fact, the last time we did was on our ColecoVision back in the early 1980s. Still, this story is fascinating.