News of the Cyber World

[kyonides]

Bitcoin Dips Below $20,000

Bitcoin, the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, was last down 1.5 percent at $19,946 on Saturday, down $298 from its previous close.

It is down 58.7 percent from the year’s high of $48,234 hit on March 28.

Ether, the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain network, meanwhile dipped 2.76 percent to $1,467.2, losing $41.60 from its previous close.

Bitcoin’s fall comes after a weak day on Friday for the currency, which fell as Wall Street slumped with all three benchmarks ending more than 3 percent lower.

The weakness in risk assets came after Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell cautioned against expecting a swift end to its rate tightening. The Fed’s actions on interest rates has caused some investors to forecast more pain for equities.

Facebook Agrees to Settle Cambridge Analytica Data Privacy Suit

Meta’s Facebook has agreed in principle to settle a four-year-old lawsuit that alleges the platform inappropriately shared user data with third parties including Cambridge Analytica.

A joint stipulation (pdf) filed in San Francisco District Court Friday disclosed the preliminary settlement while giving no financial terms or details of the agreement. Lawyers for the plaintiffs and Facebook said additional time is needed to proceed with the latest developments, asking the judge to put the class action on hold for 60 days to allow both parties to “finalize a written settlement agreement and present to the Court for preliminary approval,” according to the papers.

The new filing comes a month after lawyers for both sides agreed that attorneys can depose Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg next month for six hours of questioning by plaintiffs’ lawyers, as part of the lawsuit, according to a July 19 filing (pdf).

It shows Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Meta, and Javier Olivan, the company’s chief growth officer who will replace Sandberg, will also be questioned for five hours and three hours respectively.