Morning Scan: Banks Target Home Equity; Bitcoin Rival Emerges

Wall Street Journal Banks have turned to home equity lines of credit as a means of counteracting a slowdown in refinancing and the continued depression of mortgage originations. In 2015, lenders loaned $156 billion to consumers through HELOCs, the highest amount since 2007 when the housing bubble burst and nearly a quarter higher than in 2014. And the average line of credit is also hitting new highs at $119,790, according to CoreLogic. The push for theseÂ...