The crypto market is gradually recuperating from last week's price fall, reaching over $130 billion in total market value at press time.
In a swift upsurge on Thursday Bitcoin climbed over $4,000, while some of the other largest cryptocurrencies had an even higher gain, according to market cap.
Currently, Ripple's XRP firmly holds the second place over Ethereum with an improved total market value of over $15 billion.
Compared to last year's value, Bitcoin and the other major cryptocurrencies have lost more than 80 percent of their worth over a year.
These price fluctuations are not unusual. However, experts and investors cannot agree whether the cryptocurrency market will grow or continue to plunge in the near future.
Conflicting Crypto Predictions
The first teenage Bitcoin millionaire, Erik Finman, is not very optimistic about the fate of the most popular cryptocurrency in the world.
Speaking to MarketWatch, Finman said that Bitcoin will not last in the long term. Instead, this young crypto investor believes more in privacy coins and project-based digital assets, such as Ethereum.
Finman is known in the crypto sphere for investing $1,000 in Bitcoin at only the age of 12 and becoming a millionaire when his modest investment grew to over $4 million last year, during Bitcoin's all-time high of $20,000.
On a more positive note, Spencer Bogart, a partner at venture capital firm Blockchain Capital, told CNBC's Fast Money that he believes investing in cryptocurrencies currently is an incredible opportunity.
Bogart confirmed that he assumes Bitcoin could ultimately reach $50,000 but is not sure when this could happen.
Scammers Threaten Victims with 'Hitman' Unless They Receive BTC Payment
People are receiving scam emails from an alleged darknet site owner who demands Bitcoin payments by threatening victims with a hitman, revealed BleepingComputer after spotting the scam emails online.
The extortion emails were written in faulty English, by a person that claims to be the owner of an unknown website on the dark web that carries out all sorts of services for a fee, including executions.
The victims are then told that they are being targeted by a hitman on a client's order.
To avoid the "instant and pain-free" execution, they are required to pay $4,000 in Bitcoin, and in the price, the scammer claims to include the name of the person who made the request and execute the hitman as well.
This case is not the first one of its kind. Earlier this month, in a similar event, reports of bomb threats sent through email caught the attention of law enforcement agencies from all over the world.
The scam extortion emails threatened victims that they will detonate the devices allegedly placed on their property if they were not paid $20,000.
The emails originated from Russia, and although they share some similarities with the current case, there is no evidence that they are somehow connected.
Woman Accused of Darknet Kill Order Requests to Remove Monitoring Device
The controversial case of the 32-year-old Tina Jones who hired a hitman to kill her ex-lover's wife has been in the center of attention of many media outlets for months now, and they have been closely following every detail.
The newest events concerning this case are tied to Jones's GPS monitoring device. According news site CryptoGlobe, the accused demanded the device to be removed due to financial reasons.
Her attorney told judges that the defendant was not able to afford it, but the court ultimately rejected the demand.
Jones has been accused on multiple counts, including one on attempted first-degree murder. If proven guilty of this charge only, she could face up to 40 years in prison without probation.
Earlier this year, a CBS research team working on another case unexpectedly found Jones' communications on the dark web where she was trying to hire a hitman in attempts to kill her ex-lover's wife for $10,000 paid in Bitcoin.
In her kill order, Jones gave the instructions to the hitman that were very specific and detailed, including schedules when the victim would be alone at home.
The accused also gave clear instructions for the hitman not to harm the husband and to make the crime scene look like an accident.
Jones was arrested back in April and was later released on bail.
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That's it for our summary of this week's major crypto news headlines. This is the 25th post in our crypto news series. Catch up on the latest installments here:
