Bitcoin Daily: Ex-SoFi Head Pairs Blockchain With Lending; Fidelity Trials Bitcoin ‘Lightning’ Payments

The Lightning Network, a bitcoin experiment that allows users to quickly transfer funds around the world without a third party, has completed another transaction. According to CoinDesk, the latest to receive payments are the digital assets team at Fidelity Investments and LinkedIn Co-founder Reid Hoffman. The transaction — known as the “Lightning Torch” — has Twitter accounts receive a lightning payment, adding a nominal amount of bitcoin to the total before passing the “torch” on.

“We and our research team at the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology have received the #LNTorch from @Wiz. Who should we pass it to?” tweeted Fidelity Digital Assets.

In other news, New Zealand-based crypto exchange Cryptopia revealed its “worst case” after it suffered a hack last month.

“We are continuing to work on assessing the impact incurred as a result of the hack in January. Currently, we have calculated that, worst case, 9.4 percent of our total holdings was stolen,” the company tweeted on Wednesday (Feb. 27), according to CoinDesk.

It was estimated after the attack that as much as $16 million in Ether and ERC-20 tokens could have been stolen during the breach. In fact, hackers were still in control of the platform after authorities got involved, stealing an additional 1,675 Ether from 17,000 wallets, which was worth about $181,000 at the time. In Wednesday’s tweets, Cryptopia said it is “securing each wallet individually” for trading resumes.

Mike Cagney, former CEO of SoFi, just announced that his new startup has raised $65 million in a funding round. According to Bloomberg, Cagney’s new company, Figure, uses blockchain technology to supply home equity lending online in as little as five days. The new funding, led by RPM Ventures and partners at DST Global, brings the company’s total raised to more than $120 million, with its valuation at $365 million.

Randall Crater, the principal operator of My Big Coin Pay, Inc., was arrested in Florida on federal charges for his involvement in a $6 million scheme, centered on the company’s virtual currency that he claimed was backed by gold. Last year, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued the company, Crater and three other individuals for allegedly participating in the scheme.

“There are dozens and dozens of documents available that show Mr. Crater made every effort to create a viable virtual currency,” said Ray Chandler, a lawyer for Crater, according to Reuters.