Cambridge Analytica Wanted to Join the ICO Craze Before the Massive Facebook Data Scandal

Leaders from embattled political intelligence firm Cambridge Analytica may have lost much more than their reputation after the massive scandal involving 88 million Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) profiles.

Reuters reports that the firm was planning its own initial coin offering (ICO) before the data scandal, and it would have likely raised as much as $30 million.

Though it remains unclear if the firm is still planning an ICO, it would be difficult to get investors to pile money into a company facing so much negative press.

Here is a recap of the top cryptocurrency prices at 3:00 p.m. EDT (returns in last 24 hours).

  • Bitcoin: $8,102.70, +1.05%
  • Ethereum: $515.33, +1.06%
  • Ripple: $0.685, +2.84%
  • Bitcoin Cash: $880.42, +14.36%
  • Litecoin: $137.62, +0.89%

Now that we know all of today's price movements, here's what has been moving these cryptocurrencies...

Cryptocurrency News Today

On Wednesday, the market capitalization of the global cryptocurrency sector hit $337.75 billion.

Bitcoin comprised 40.7% of the total cryptocurrency market, with a market cap of $137.62 billion.

The top performer in the space was Emercoin, which gained nearly 45% over the last 24 hours.

Massive Upgrade Could Send Bitcoin to $100,000 - Click Here to Learn About the Opportunity That Could Deliver a Million-Dollar Payday to Investors Who Act Now

Other top performers from the top 50 cryptocurrencies included Bitcoin Cash (up 14.26%), Monero (up 13%), Stellar (up 12.51%), Nano (up 10.65%), Dogecoin (up 9.98%), Steem (up 9.52%), Stratis (up 8.88%), Dash (up 8.46%), ICON (up 8.41%), and NEM (up 8.04%).

The worst performers from the top 50 cryptocurrencies included Verge (down -16.09%), Populous (down -3.65%), Binance Coin (down -3.17%), Ontology (down -1.42%), and Zilliqa (down -1.40%).

Bitcoin Recovers on Tax Day

The price of Bitcoin ticked slightly higher as markets digested life after tax season.

According to an April 5 report from analyst Thomas Lee, U.S. households likely owed $25 billion in cryptocurrency capital gain taxes.

To pay it off, Bitcoin holders may have been selling off some of their coins since the start of 2018.

But a lot of Bitcoin bulls believe the worst is behind us...

Have a look at why BKCM Funds CEO Brian Kelly and venture capitalist Tim Draper - both renowned crypto authorities - are touting 3,000% gains by 2022.

Big Cannabis Meets Big Crypto

Back in 2017, Money Morning Defense and Tech Specialist Michael Robinson predicted we'd see a "major convergence" of cryptocurrencies and the legal cannabis industry in 2018.

It turns out that Robinson was dead on, as usual.

As we reported yesterday, a major cannabis company revealed in an SEC filing that it could launch a cryptocurrency token.

Verge Pump Leads to 40% Price Slump

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Privacy-focused cryptocurrency project Verge was the largest pump-and-dump of the week.

Prices had rallied as much as 300% on news that it was working on a partnership with the world's largest pornography site as a payment mechanism.

But after the partnership was announced, investors sold the fact, and prices of Verge plunged.

Down 16.09%, it was the worst performer in the cryptocurrency space Wednesday.

The Shocking Reason Why We Think Bitcoin Could Hit $100,000 (and How You Could Make Millions)

Cryptocurrency legend Michael Robinson just revealed the little-known details regarding the future of Bitcoin... and why, at any moment, it could be poised for a record-breaking rebound far beyond anything we've witnessed already.

Michael made a prediction about Bitcoin way back in 2013 - and folks who followed his advice stood to become 253 times richer. I'd venture to say not one in 10,000 people is aware of the massive profit potential unfolding right now.

Before the mainstream public gets any wiser, you need to see this now.

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About the Author

Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, consultant, and political risk analyst with decades of trading experience and degrees in economics, cybersecurity, and business from Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Indiana University, and Northwestern.

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