News Live: Bitcoin soars past $8,000 as technology shift concern vanishes

This blog will keep track of key global and local developments impacting business and markets through the day. Important local and global political developments will also find resonance here.

Bitcoin soars past $8,000 as technology shift concern vanishes

Bitcoin topped $8,000 for the first time, as investors set aside technology concerns that had derailed its advance earlier this month, reports Bloomberg. Bitcoin rose 4.8% to $8,071.05 as of 1:47 am on Monday. It’s now up more than 700% this year after shrugging off a tumble of as much as 29% earlier this month. It’s been a tumultuous year for the largest cryptocurrency, with three separate slumps of more than 25% in value all giving way to subsequent rallies.

• FinMin asks banks to prevent defaulters from buying stressed assets
  To ensure success of the bankruptcy process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the Finance Ministry has asked banks to be vigilant to ensure that wilful defaulters are prevented from buying same stressed assets again, official sources told PTI. As many as 12 accounts each having more than Rs 5,000 crore of outstanding loans and accounting for 25% of total NPAs of banks are being under the IBC process. The total outstanding of these accounts taken together is Rs 1.75 lakh crore.
  It has been brought to the notice of the Finance Ministry that some of the wilful defaulters are making bid to buy assets of those cases which have been referred under IBC, a senior official said. The resolution is crucial to the entire banking sector and therefore banks have been advised to be vigilant so that wilful defaulters do not get benefits of the process, the official said, adding that banks have to be very conscious