Use of bitcoin as a form of payment doubled in 2018 on darknet market sites, where users can buy anything from illegal drugs to fake IDs, even though the price of the cryptocurrency crashed, according to a study by data firm Chainalysis.

Online student lender CommonBond has laid off around 18 percent of its staff, a company spokeswoman said, citing a plan to shift investment into new areas.

Global blockchain company The Bitfury Group, valued recently at $1 billion, announced on Wednesday the launch of a music and entertainment division that will create an open-source music platform secured by the bitcoin blockchain.

Oil majors Chevron and Total , along with major Indian refiner Reliance Industries , have joined the blockchain-based platform Vakt, London-based Vakt said on Tuesday.

Belarus launched a platform on Tuesday allowing traders to buy shares, gold, foreign exchange and other traditional assets with cryptocurrencies, which it says is the world's first regulated tokenized securities exchange.

HSBC has settled $250 billion worth of forex trades using blockchain in the last year, it said on Monday, suggesting the heavily hyped technology is gaining traction in a sector until now hesitant to embrace it.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is wary of giving "fintech" firms such as OnDeck Capital Inc or Kabbage Inc. access to the country's financial infrastructure, putting the central bank at odds with other regulators looking to bring them into the fold.

Malaysia will regulate initial coin offerings (ICOs) and the trade of cryptocurrencies, the finance minister said in a statement on Monday.

London-based financial technology startup TransferWise is applying for a money-transfer license in Brussels, in a bid to ensure its business is not disrupted if Britain crashes out of the European Union without a divorce deal, it said on Thursday.

As well as cigarettes, cigars, lottery tickets and the like, visitors to Paris Tabacs can now also buy bitcoins.