Bitcoin exchange Coinbase watched its iOS app surge to the top of the free apps chart in Apple's App Store yesterday, amid a speculative frenzy surrounding the blockchain cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin prices on Coinbase's GDAX exchange flew past $16,000 to almost $20,000 in around 90 minutes on Thursday, reported Bloomberg, extending its record-breaking run and causing the software to crash and the service's website to go down intermittently in the process. The digital currency fluctuated during a turbulent Asian session, before falling back to about $16,000.

DQdtvFsW0AAFrFa


The rise and rise of bitcoin has brought it into the mainstream in the last few weeks, but many observers are warning that the cryptocurrency could be a bubble. Investors have also been reminded of the dangers of hackers, after bitcoin mining marketplace NiceHash lost $64 million in BTC following a "sophisticated and professional attack".

Apple has had its own problems with cryptocurrencies in the past. In August 2016, the tech giant had to remove several fake bitcoin wallets from the App Store after users of the digital currency were scammed out of thousands of dollars.

For anyone interested in observing the hourly fluctuations of bitcoin while maintaining a safe distance, free app CoinHub offers real-time quotes and up-to-date cryptocurrency news all within an impressive-looking dark-themed dashboard. [Direct Link]

Tag: Bitcoin

Top Rated Comments

blackcrayon Avatar
blackcrayon
94 months ago
Just last month I tried to download two completely different MacOS Bitcoin applications from macupdate.com and after the DMG files downloaded my antivirus gave me an alert both times that the files were infected and it deleted the downloads.
If the MacOS community files are infected you can imagine how much more the Windows community.
It's only a matter of time that some clever hacker infects an Apple App Store and iOS App Store with some type of root crack.
Still going to be really difficult on iOS. Almost akin to a userland instant jailbreak. Then again, there would be monetary incentive that the current jailbreak teams might not have...

The ugliness of unregulated free market.
But the beauty of potentially world-changing disruptive technology. It's going to have a rough start but let's see where we are in five years.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Krayzkat Avatar
Krayzkat
94 months ago

It's only a matter of time that some clever hacker infects an Apple App Store and iOS App Store with some type of root crack.
like entering a blank password?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
960design Avatar
960design
94 months ago
like entering a blank password?
Too soon.... just, too soon.
[doublepost=1512736207][/doublepost]
The ugliness of unregulated free market.
Possibly the money of the future world.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
haruhiko Avatar
haruhiko
94 months ago
The ugliness of unregulated free market.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gnipgnop Avatar
gnipgnop
94 months ago
It's not currency. It's a speculative commodity, thus the crazy ups and downs and value that has no real connection to the economy as a whole.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mariusignorello Avatar
mariusignorello
94 months ago
Right now Bitcoin is in the stage where the visionaries will take action (and profit :)) and the naysayers will shrug it off and worry about bugs (therefore getting the short end of the stick by choice).

Like a startup, there is risk. The ones who want to make it big know how to mitigate the risk.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments

Popular Stories

cook trump

Trump Responds to Apple Keeping Diversity Policies

Wednesday February 26, 2025 6:32 am PST by
In an all-caps post on Truth Social today, U.S. President Donald Trump said Apple should fully end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. Tim Cook meeting with President Trump in 2017 "APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES, NOT JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM," he wrote. Trump's post comes one day after Apple held its annual shareholders meeting, during which a majority of...
Read Full Article • 440 comments
iOS 18

Apple Says iOS 18.4 Will Be Released in April With These New Features

Wednesday February 26, 2025 7:15 am PST by
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 18.4 will be released in April. From the Apple News+ Food announcement:Coming with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in April, Apple News+ subscribers will have access to Apple News+ Food, a new section that will feature tens of thousands of recipes — as well as stories about restaurants, healthy eating, kitchen essentials, and more — from the...
Read Full Article • 43 comments
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
Read Full Article • 192 comments
iPhone Fold Vertical Feature

Apple's 2026 Foldable iPhone Has No Visible Display Crease – Report

Tuesday February 25, 2025 2:58 am PST by
Apple is making significant headway on its long-rumored foldable iPhone, with a new report suggesting the company has achieved a major breakthrough by effectively eliminating the screen crease that plagues current foldable devices. According to Korean publication ETNews, Apple is finalizing its component suppliers for the foldable iPhone, with the selection process expected to be completed...
Read Full Article • 226 comments
trump iphone dictation issue

Apple Fixing 'Trump' Dictation Processing Bug

Tuesday February 25, 2025 1:18 pm PST by
Multiple iPhone owners today noticed a pronunciation processing issue that causes the word "Trump" to momentarily show up when using dictation to send a message with the word "racist." In some cases, when speaking the word racist through the iPhone's built-in dictation feature, the iPhone briefly interprets the spoken word as "Trump" and "Trump" text shows up in the Messages app before being ...
Read Full Article • 368 comments
airpods pro purple

Here's When AirPods Pro 3 Are Rumored to Launch

Monday February 24, 2025 9:14 am PST by
According to a post on X today from a leaker known as Kosutami, Apple plans to launch AirPods Pro 3 in May or June this year. The leaker also claimed that an AirTag 2 will launch around the same time. Kosutami is best known as a collector of prototype Apple hardware, but they have occasionally shared accurate information about Apple's future product plans. For example, they accurately...
Read Full Article
airtag orange

AirTag 2 Rumored to Launch in May or June With These New Features

Monday February 24, 2025 6:11 am PST by
Apple plans to launch a second-generation AirTag in May or June this year, according to a post today from a leaker known as Kosutami. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that a new AirTag would be released in mid-2025. May or June would align with that timeframe. Below, we recap three new features rumored for the AirTag 2: With a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, the...
Read Full Article • 58 comments
ios 18 4 carplay

iOS 18.4 Includes a Small But Useful Change for CarPlay

Sunday February 23, 2025 2:23 pm PST by
The first beta of iOS 18.4 is now available, and it includes a small but useful change for CarPlay. As we noted in our list of iOS 18.4 features, CarPlay now shows a third row of icons, up from two rows previously. However, this change is only visible in vehicles with a larger center display. For example, a MacRumors Forums member noticed the change in a Toyota Tundra, which can be equipped...
Read Full Article • 107 comments