Cryptocurrency News Round-Up: Spaincoin Soars; Auroracoin Drops; Dogecoin Tweet & Bitcoin Denial

• Bitcoin Price: £372.11 (down 1.89% - via CoinDesk.com)

The weekend saw some interesting movements in the cryptocurrency markets, with most of the big players seeing a drop in their market capitalisation over the last 24 hours.

Bitcoin is down slightly (1.9%) with litecoin and peercoin - the next two biggest mineable cryptocurrencies by market cap - seeing similarly small drops. Dogecoin, the meme-based cryptocurrency, continues a recent slump in value with a fall of over 7% in value.

However the bigest loser was the world's fourth biggest cryptocurrency, auroracoin, which saw a drop of over 50% in the last 24 hours thanks to uncertainty ahead of the its "big drop" next week (more below).

Spaincoin Soars

The big mover on the cryptocurrency markets over the last couple of days however has been another country-based virtual currency - spaincoin.

Launched just five days ago, spaincoin's lofty aim is to help Spanish people "to break free from their shackles." The cryptocurrency is following auroracoin's lead and will pre-mine and distribute 50% of all spaincoins to the citizens of Spain.

In under 24 hours on 15 March, the market capitalisation of the currency went from under $9 million (£5.4m) to over $106m. The value has fallen again however but is still valued at over $47m, driving it to be the world's fourth most valuable mineable, cryptocurrency.

Auroracoin experienced a similar spike in value following its launch, but spaincoin's developers will wait a month for the value to settle down, before distributing the coins to Spanish citizens.

Auroracoin Jitters

Ahead of next week's big airdrop of auroracoin, which was briefly the world's second most valuable virtual currency, the Icelandic cryptocurrency has seen its value drop by more than 50% in the last 24 hours.

The fall comes after the Icelandic parliament held a closed session to discuss the cryptocurrency on 14 March. Creator of aurora coin, Baldur Friggjar Óðinsson, told CoinDesk that the government didn't invite him or anyone associated with the virtual currency to take part in the discussions.

One possible explanation for the sudden drop in the value of auroracoin could be a blog post written by the chairman of the Committee for Economic Affairs and Trade, Frosti Sigurjónsson, of the ruling Progressive Party.

In his post, Sigurjónsson says: "There is evidence however that this is a case of [a money] scam and illegal."

50% of auroacoin is due to be distributed to the Icelandic citizens on Tuesday next, 25 March.

Dogecoin world record Twitter donation

What is being called "the most valuable tweet in history" is causing a big stir among the vocal dogecoin community.

An anonymous benefactor has donated 14 million dogecoin ($11,000) to the Doge4Water campaign using @tipdoge.

Going under the name Hood (possibly in reference to Robin Hood), the anonymous dogecoin enthusiast helped the Doge4Water campaign reach its goal of 40 million dogecoins well ahead of the 22 March deadline.

While some on Reddit have been trying to uncover the identity of Hood, others have warned that his/her identity should remain secret if that's what they want.

Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto Reiterates Denial after Newsweek's "false report"

It is almost two weeks since Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, a 64-year-old Japanese-American, was thrown into the full glare of the media spotlight by a Newsweek article claiming he was the founder of bitcoin.

Now the 64-year-old has lawyered-up and issued a statement claiming that Newsweek's "false report" has harmed his chances of getting employment and has caused confusion and stress for him, his 93-year-old mother, his siblings and their families.

Newsweek is yet to comment on the latest statement from Nakamoto.