Bitcoin round-up
Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies suffer from a market-wide fall, while 50 Cent jumps aboard the bitcoin bandwagon. IBTimes UK

Prices across all major markets have fallen over the last 24 hours, with bitcoin slipping by over $40 to $634.

Darkcoin lost almost one fifth of its value after reaching its highest ever price of $15.70 yesterday, according to CoinMarketCap.

The only major digital currency to see a rise in price has been mastercoin, the cryptocurrency and communications protocol built on the bitcoin block chain. After falling to as low as $7 over the last few days, mastercoin saw its price rise by almost 150% to $17.50.

Silk Road reduces drug-related violence

Illegal transactions through the darkweb have helped to reduce drug-related violence, according to a new study.

Drugs and weapons seized in the Utopia marketplace takedown case
Drugs and weapons seized from a dark web marketplace takedown case. Dutch Prosecution Service

Undertaken by University of Manchester law professor Judith Aldridge and University of Lausanne criminologist David Décary-Hétu, the study found that by reducing physical contact between seller and buyer, sites like Silk Road have reduced the number of violent crimes.

"This new breed of drug dealer is likely to be relatively free from the violence typically associated with traditional drug markets," the study reads.

"Whereas violence (in the traditional drug trade) was commonly used to gain market share, protect turfs and resolve conflicts, the virtual location and anonymity that the cryptomarket provides reduces or eliminates the need - or even the ability - to resort to violence."

Voorhees settles SEC dispute

Bitcoin entrepreneur Erik Voorhees has agreed to pay nearly $51,000 to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in order to settle civil charges concerning the solicitation of shares in two of his bitcoin-related companies.

Voorhees failed to register publicly offered shares with the federal government for FeedZeBirds and SatoshiDICE, which he advertised to potential investors through the Bitcoin Forum website.

"All issuers selling securities to the public must comply with the registration provisions of the securities laws, including issuers who seek to raise funds using bitcoin," said Andrew Ceresney, head of the SEC enforcement division.

50 Cent accepts bitcoin

Rapper 50 Cent has announced that he will be accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for his latest album Animal Ambition.

Using BitPay as the payments processor, the album will be available through the hip hop star's Shopify store.

"We are excited to see high profile independent artists use bitcoin," said Tony Gallippi, BitPay's executive chairman. "50 Cent's trail as an innovator is outstanding."

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