The OECD Wants to Tax Your Crypto to Pay for COVID-19 Recovery Efforts.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is looking to push its members to adopt crypto tax frameworks.
Per a new OECD report, the organization said it wants to promote transparency in all transactions involving cryptoassets, ensuring revenues generated from trading are taxed in the world’s biggest economies.
Intended for the attention of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, the document stated that, in the aftermath of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic crisis, the global public’s “tolerance for tax evasion and tax avoidance is expected to reach historic lows.”
And this, said the OECD is necessitating a set of measures to “tackle increasingly sophisticated, non-compliant taxpayers and aggressive tax planning, to collect missing and much-needed tax revenues.”
The organization said the new tax reporting framework will use the G20/OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS) as its starting point. It described the CRS as the “global benchmark for ensuring tax transparency with respect to financial assets and income”.
The G20 is a global forum comprising central bank governors from the world’s 19 major economies and the European Union.
The report’s authors wrote,
“Building on the existing framework for the exchange of financial account information will help ensure consistency between the reporting on traditional financial assets and cryptoassets, as well as the income derived from such assets.”
The new information flows will use the same architecture used by the CRS.
The collected data “will be reported by intermediaries to the tax authorities in their jurisdiction of residence. The tax authorities will then automatically exchange the information with the jurisdictions in which the relevant taxpayers are resident,” the OECD wrote.
Given the “dynamic and highly mobile nature of the cryptoasset market,” the OECD said that its objective was to “design the international exchange framework in such a manner that all jurisdictions hosting intermediaries can fully participate.”
And the organization warned that it would not stop at simply making vague-sounding recommendations, concluding,
“We will continue to work on the detailed technical proposals for the new tax reporting framework for cryptoassets, with a view to presenting a comprehensive implementation package to the G20 in 2021.”
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is looking to push its members to adopt crypto tax frameworks.
Per a new OECD report, the organization said it wants to promote transparency in all transactions involving cryptoassets, ensuring revenues generated from trading are taxed in the world’s biggest economies.
Intended for the attention of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, the document stated that, in the aftermath of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic crisis, the global public’s “tolerance for tax evasion and tax avoidance is expected to reach historic lows.”
And this, said the OECD is necessitating a set of measures to “tackle increasingly sophisticated, non-compliant taxpayers and aggressive tax planning, to collect missing and much-needed tax revenues.”
The organization said the new tax reporting framework will use the G20/OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS) as its starting point. It described the CRS as the “global benchmark for ensuring tax transparency with respect to financial assets and income”.
The G20 is a global forum comprising central bank governors from the world’s 19 major economies and the European Union.
The report’s authors wrote,
“Building on the existing framework for the exchange of financial account information will help ensure consistency between the reporting on traditional financial assets and cryptoassets, as well as the income derived from such assets.”
The new information flows will use the same architecture used by the CRS.
The collected data “will be reported by intermediaries to the tax authorities in their jurisdiction of residence. The tax authorities will then automatically exchange the information with the jurisdictions in which the relevant taxpayers are resident,” the OECD wrote.
Given the “dynamic and highly mobile nature of the cryptoasset market,” the OECD said that its objective was to “design the international exchange framework in such a manner that all jurisdictions hosting intermediaries can fully participate.”
And the organization warned that it would not stop at simply making vague-sounding recommendations, concluding,
“We will continue to work on the detailed technical proposals for the new tax reporting framework for cryptoassets, with a view to presenting a comprehensive implementation package to the G20 in 2021.”
OKEx Suspends Withdrawals As Private Key Holder Unavailable.
Major crypto exchange OKEx said it had to suspend cryptoasset withdrawals as one of their private key holders "is currently cooperating with a public security bureau in investigations" and the company is "out of touch" with the holder.
"We will resume digital assets/cryptocurrencies withdrawals immediately once the concerned private key holder is able to authorize the transaction," OKEx said.
"The decision to pause withdrawals temporarily was taken to be able to maintain our rigorous security standards. All funds are secure and all other features are available on the platform. We aim to restore a full service as quickly as possible".
However, at this stage, they "cannot provide an exact timeframe" when withdrawals might be resumed. Also, the company said that they have contingency plans in case a private key holder is not available "for an extended period of time." OKEx declined to specify on these plans.
Earlier today, Jay Hao, CEO of OKEx, also tweeted that all other operations on OKEx "remain unaffected" and "all your funds and assets are safe."
The founder of OKEx, Star Xu (real name Xu Mingxing) was taken in for questioning by police a week ago, Caixin reported, citing two undisclosed sources.
OKEx declined to comment on this report, saying that they "are unable to reveal any information that may put our users' funds at risk."
Star Xu had some sort of contact with the Chinese police already in 2018. According to conflicting reports back then, Xu was held for a full 24 hours at police, while others claimed that Star Xu’s arrest was "fake news" and "that Xu, in fact, was seeking assistance from police."
Also, responding to claims that the company was "continuously" changing the time of the suspension of withdrawal, the exchange said that "pausing withdrawals was not a decision taken lightly."
"We are aware that it greatly affects the user experience. This is why it was finally decided as a last resort," they added.
On-chain balance of bitcoin (BTC) on OKEx stands at 276,185 (USD 3.14bn) and is the fourth largest among exchanges. It decreased by more than 2% in the past 24 hours, while other exchanges saw smaller changes, except Bitstamp (+6.9%).
Major crypto exchange OKEx said it had to suspend cryptoasset withdrawals as one of their private key holders "is currently cooperating with a public security bureau in investigations" and the company is "out of touch" with the holder.
"We will resume digital assets/cryptocurrencies withdrawals immediately once the concerned private key holder is able to authorize the transaction," OKEx said.
"The decision to pause withdrawals temporarily was taken to be able to maintain our rigorous security standards. All funds are secure and all other features are available on the platform. We aim to restore a full service as quickly as possible".
However, at this stage, they "cannot provide an exact timeframe" when withdrawals might be resumed. Also, the company said that they have contingency plans in case a private key holder is not available "for an extended period of time." OKEx declined to specify on these plans.
Earlier today, Jay Hao, CEO of OKEx, also tweeted that all other operations on OKEx "remain unaffected" and "all your funds and assets are safe."
The founder of OKEx, Star Xu (real name Xu Mingxing) was taken in for questioning by police a week ago, Caixin reported, citing two undisclosed sources.
OKEx declined to comment on this report, saying that they "are unable to reveal any information that may put our users' funds at risk."
Star Xu had some sort of contact with the Chinese police already in 2018. According to conflicting reports back then, Xu was held for a full 24 hours at police, while others claimed that Star Xu’s arrest was "fake news" and "that Xu, in fact, was seeking assistance from police."
Also, responding to claims that the company was "continuously" changing the time of the suspension of withdrawal, the exchange said that "pausing withdrawals was not a decision taken lightly."
"We are aware that it greatly affects the user experience. This is why it was finally decided as a last resort," they added.
On-chain balance of bitcoin (BTC) on OKEx stands at 276,185 (USD 3.14bn) and is the fourth largest among exchanges. It decreased by more than 2% in the past 24 hours, while other exchanges saw smaller changes, except Bitstamp (+6.9%).
Dash Rallies On A DeFi Bridge.
Dash (DASH), one of the most widely adopted cryptocurrencies in the market, outperformed 98 largest coins by market capitalization today, rallying on a decentralized finance (DeFi)-related partnership news.
DASH is trading at a price of almost USD 74, jumping up 10% in the past 24 hours, ranking it 30th amongst the top contenders. The price is also up by 1% in a week and almost 3% in a month.
Yesterday, Dash said it has partnered with StakeHound, a project that aims to “bring staking and DeFi together,” in a bid to bring a suite of DeFi services and applications to its users. Dash users will now have a DeFi ‘bridge’ between DASH and the ever-expanding Ethereum (ETH) DeFi ecosystem. In order to access the DeFi pool, Dash users are required to send their DASH to StakeHound, which then creates and sends back stakedDASH, which is a wrapped token that is now an ERC-20 representation of the original crypto.
Having one of the most dedicated communities backing it, DASH users are now granted access to the swathes of DeFi products and applications that are modernising the digital currency economy, including Uniswap, Curve, Synthetix and so on.
Also, StakedDASH is somewhat of a double earner as not only can it be used on DeFi protocols that yield passive income once stakes, for example on borrowing and lending platforms such as dYdX, but also simply depositing DASH to StakeHound will also allow users to earn network rewards through the Dash masternode.
This latest partnership may prove fruitful for both parties, as now Dash can experiment further with the potential of Dash within DeFi protocols, as well as developing and integrating DeFi into the upcoming Dash Platform.
”With Dash extending into DeFi as a result of this partnership, new doors and use cases will be available to Dash users as well as ERC-20 blockchain users. This functionality provides the ability for one to explore the world of DeFi or from the other side, the world of Dash while continuing to see returns through staked Dash,” Ryan Taylor, CEO of Dash Core Group, said.
Dash (DASH), one of the most widely adopted cryptocurrencies in the market, outperformed 98 largest coins by market capitalization today, rallying on a decentralized finance (DeFi)-related partnership news.
DASH is trading at a price of almost USD 74, jumping up 10% in the past 24 hours, ranking it 30th amongst the top contenders. The price is also up by 1% in a week and almost 3% in a month.
Yesterday, Dash said it has partnered with StakeHound, a project that aims to “bring staking and DeFi together,” in a bid to bring a suite of DeFi services and applications to its users. Dash users will now have a DeFi ‘bridge’ between DASH and the ever-expanding Ethereum (ETH) DeFi ecosystem. In order to access the DeFi pool, Dash users are required to send their DASH to StakeHound, which then creates and sends back stakedDASH, which is a wrapped token that is now an ERC-20 representation of the original crypto.
Having one of the most dedicated communities backing it, DASH users are now granted access to the swathes of DeFi products and applications that are modernising the digital currency economy, including Uniswap, Curve, Synthetix and so on.
Also, StakedDASH is somewhat of a double earner as not only can it be used on DeFi protocols that yield passive income once stakes, for example on borrowing and lending platforms such as dYdX, but also simply depositing DASH to StakeHound will also allow users to earn network rewards through the Dash masternode.
This latest partnership may prove fruitful for both parties, as now Dash can experiment further with the potential of Dash within DeFi protocols, as well as developing and integrating DeFi into the upcoming Dash Platform.
”With Dash extending into DeFi as a result of this partnership, new doors and use cases will be available to Dash users as well as ERC-20 blockchain users. This functionality provides the ability for one to explore the world of DeFi or from the other side, the world of Dash while continuing to see returns through staked Dash,” Ryan Taylor, CEO of Dash Core Group, said.
Ripple Has Three Favorite Countries In Case it Leaves US.
California-based liquidity provider Ripple is considering leaving the US, and some of the potential destinations to which the company could move include countries in Asia and Europe. Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, named Japan, Singapore, and the UK as countries with preferential crypto regulations.
With “the regulatory environment on a global basis, you see countries like Japan, and countries like the UK and Singapore that have really clear regulatory dynamics as relates to cryptocurrencies. And it helps the investments, it helps companies who with certainty know how to invest, and how to build their company,” Garlinghouse told Bloomberg TV.
The US regulatory system lacks clarity and cohesion, according to Garlinghouse.
“In the United States, you have competing and, frankly, different regulatory environments. You got some that would say cryptocurrency is a commodity, some would say it’s a currency. Others would say it’s a property, and you also have some that would say cryptocurrencies are securities,” he said. “That makes it hard. Regulation shouldn’t be a guessing game.”
Ripple would like to keep its headquarters in the US “if that was possible,” but the company was also in need of “regulatory clarity in order for us to invest and grow the business” and “a level playing field” to further develop, according to the CEO.
The US government has not managed to provide such conditions to crypto businesses, as opposed to the authorities in Japan and the UK, Garlinghouse said.
“Japan is one of the countries where we think there is clarity, and there has been specificity regarding crypto regulation,” the firm’s CEO said, adding that the country's SBI Group is a major investor in Ripple, and the Japanese market was one of the liquidity provider's strongest markets.
California-based liquidity provider Ripple is considering leaving the US, and some of the potential destinations to which the company could move include countries in Asia and Europe. Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, named Japan, Singapore, and the UK as countries with preferential crypto regulations.
With “the regulatory environment on a global basis, you see countries like Japan, and countries like the UK and Singapore that have really clear regulatory dynamics as relates to cryptocurrencies. And it helps the investments, it helps companies who with certainty know how to invest, and how to build their company,” Garlinghouse told Bloomberg TV.
The US regulatory system lacks clarity and cohesion, according to Garlinghouse.
“In the United States, you have competing and, frankly, different regulatory environments. You got some that would say cryptocurrency is a commodity, some would say it’s a currency. Others would say it’s a property, and you also have some that would say cryptocurrencies are securities,” he said. “That makes it hard. Regulation shouldn’t be a guessing game.”
Ripple would like to keep its headquarters in the US “if that was possible,” but the company was also in need of “regulatory clarity in order for us to invest and grow the business” and “a level playing field” to further develop, according to the CEO.
The US government has not managed to provide such conditions to crypto businesses, as opposed to the authorities in Japan and the UK, Garlinghouse said.
“Japan is one of the countries where we think there is clarity, and there has been specificity regarding crypto regulation,” the firm’s CEO said, adding that the country's SBI Group is a major investor in Ripple, and the Japanese market was one of the liquidity provider's strongest markets.
Governments Can't Cancel Pandemic Debt By Printing More Money.
With the government borrowing heavily to fund its pandemic response and recovery, it has been suggested it could simply cancel its debt by printing more money. That sounds like an attractive idea, but it is one that would have seriously adverse consequences.
Derived from “modern monetary theory” (MMT), the suggestion is that expansionary monetary policy (i.e. money creation by the central bank) be used to finance government spending.
According to proponents of MMT, a country that issues its own currency can never run out and can never become insolvent in its own currency. It can make all payments as they come due. Therefore, there is no risk of defaulting on its debt.
According to proponents of MMT, a country that issues its own currency can never run out and can never become insolvent in its own currency. It can make all payments as they come due. Therefore, there is no risk of defaulting on its debt.
This is a flawed idea based on economic misconceptions. It has been opposed by economists, liberal and conservative, including Nobel laureate and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and Harvard University’s Greg Mankiw.
So, what does happen when the government wants to spend more than it raises in tax revenue? It needs to borrow money (known as deficit financing), and so instructs the Treasury to issue debt.
There are three major types of debt: treasury bills, treasury notes and treasury bonds.. Treasury bills have the shortest maturity (less than a year) while treasury bonds have maturities of ten years or more. They all must be paid back in the future.
The debt is typically held by banks, institutional investors and managed funds (such as Kiwisaver accounts). Because the government is not expected to default on the loans, the debt is considered to be secure. So, these bonds can typically be issued at lower interest rates than bonds from other financial entities.
Where government debt goes
When the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) engages in “quantitative easing” it essentially buys up these government issued bonds. To do this, it prints currency to pay for the bonds and this currency goes into circulation, increasing the money supply.
Quantitative easing floods the system with liquidity — the amount of money readily available for investment and spending. In turn, this should put downward pressure on interest rates because money is cheaper to borrow when there is more of it.
The RBNZ can also lower the official cash rate (OCR) to push retail interest rates (on mortgages and savings deposits) down. The aim in both cases is to make borrowing cheaper in the hope that businesses will borrow money to invest, in turn creating more jobs.
If the RBNZ is buying government bonds from the banks and investors who had bought them earlier, it follows that the creditors have been paid off. So why can’t the government simply write off this debt?
With the government borrowing heavily to fund its pandemic response and recovery, it has been suggested it could simply cancel its debt by printing more money. That sounds like an attractive idea, but it is one that would have seriously adverse consequences.
Derived from “modern monetary theory” (MMT), the suggestion is that expansionary monetary policy (i.e. money creation by the central bank) be used to finance government spending.
According to proponents of MMT, a country that issues its own currency can never run out and can never become insolvent in its own currency. It can make all payments as they come due. Therefore, there is no risk of defaulting on its debt.
According to proponents of MMT, a country that issues its own currency can never run out and can never become insolvent in its own currency. It can make all payments as they come due. Therefore, there is no risk of defaulting on its debt.
This is a flawed idea based on economic misconceptions. It has been opposed by economists, liberal and conservative, including Nobel laureate and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and Harvard University’s Greg Mankiw.
So, what does happen when the government wants to spend more than it raises in tax revenue? It needs to borrow money (known as deficit financing), and so instructs the Treasury to issue debt.
There are three major types of debt: treasury bills, treasury notes and treasury bonds.. Treasury bills have the shortest maturity (less than a year) while treasury bonds have maturities of ten years or more. They all must be paid back in the future.
The debt is typically held by banks, institutional investors and managed funds (such as Kiwisaver accounts). Because the government is not expected to default on the loans, the debt is considered to be secure. So, these bonds can typically be issued at lower interest rates than bonds from other financial entities.
Where government debt goes
When the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) engages in “quantitative easing” it essentially buys up these government issued bonds. To do this, it prints currency to pay for the bonds and this currency goes into circulation, increasing the money supply.
Quantitative easing floods the system with liquidity — the amount of money readily available for investment and spending. In turn, this should put downward pressure on interest rates because money is cheaper to borrow when there is more of it.
The RBNZ can also lower the official cash rate (OCR) to push retail interest rates (on mortgages and savings deposits) down. The aim in both cases is to make borrowing cheaper in the hope that businesses will borrow money to invest, in turn creating more jobs.
If the RBNZ is buying government bonds from the banks and investors who had bought them earlier, it follows that the creditors have been paid off. So why can’t the government simply write off this debt?
Corporate Treasuries Caught Between an Inflation Rock and Bitcoin.
Bitcoin (BTC) is gradually becoming acceptable among mainstream investors and corporations. Nowhere has this been made more evident than with MicroStrategy’s adoption of the most popular cryptocurrency as its main reserve asset.
The Virginia-based tech consultancy converted over USD 400m of its cash reserves into bitcoin, with co-founder Michael Saylor declaring that he expects other companies to follow suit out of a “fiduciary obligation” to avoid inflation.
Figures within the cryptocurrency investment and custodial industry agree with Saylor,
that bitcoin investments have increased from corporations in the wake of the MicroStrategy move. They also suggested that BTC’s growing use as a store of value among corporations and investors alike will help it gain traction as a means of exchange.
Corporate BTC investment is growing
MicroStrategy’s investment in bitcoin had an almost immediate effect on other firms.
Within a couple of weeks of MicroStrategy’s initial announcement, Canadian software and design firm Snappa announced that it had moved 40% of its cash reserves into bitcoin. More recently, payments company Square revealed that it had converted USD 50m of its reserves.
Industry figures believe that more companies will follow in the near- to mid-term. In fact, Blockstream Chief Strategy Officer Samson Mow told that an increase is already happening right now.
“Michael Saylor's move is going to have a profound impact on company financial decision making in the years to come. Some industry contacts have already told me that they are seeing an uptick in corporate bitcoin buys — Bitcoin Reserve is one Bitcoin brokerage that has disclosed this publicly,” he said.
It’s also worth noting that a number of crypto companies have launched custodial services in order to accommodate a rise in corporate demand. Unchained Capital launched a business account service for bitcoin in late September, while French startup Multis raised USD 2.2m for a business bank account solely for cryptocurrencies.
Nabeel Qadri, the managing partner at Protocol Ventures, is another industry figure who estimates that holding bitcoin as a reserve asset will become common.
“I believe bitcoin's main attraction as a reserve asset for corporate treasuries is as an inflationary hedge on the heels of unprecedented coronavirus-induced stimulus measures by central banks globally”.
This mention of inflation touches on the main reason why MicroStrategy and other companies are becoming increasingly interested in bitcoin. Because with the US Federal Reserve printing USD 3tn in a few months, and with its chairman Jerome Powell announcing a new ‘relaxed’ approach to inflation in August, it’s likely that the US dollar will witness higher than average inflation over the next few years.
“I think the appeal of holding bitcoin as a reserve asset would be the same appeal that Michael Saylor and the MicroStrategy team saw: sound money. If your cash is becoming worthless, what else can you do except for buying bitcoin?” said Samson Mow.
Bitcoin (BTC) is gradually becoming acceptable among mainstream investors and corporations. Nowhere has this been made more evident than with MicroStrategy’s adoption of the most popular cryptocurrency as its main reserve asset.
The Virginia-based tech consultancy converted over USD 400m of its cash reserves into bitcoin, with co-founder Michael Saylor declaring that he expects other companies to follow suit out of a “fiduciary obligation” to avoid inflation.
Figures within the cryptocurrency investment and custodial industry agree with Saylor,
that bitcoin investments have increased from corporations in the wake of the MicroStrategy move. They also suggested that BTC’s growing use as a store of value among corporations and investors alike will help it gain traction as a means of exchange.
Corporate BTC investment is growing
MicroStrategy’s investment in bitcoin had an almost immediate effect on other firms.
Within a couple of weeks of MicroStrategy’s initial announcement, Canadian software and design firm Snappa announced that it had moved 40% of its cash reserves into bitcoin. More recently, payments company Square revealed that it had converted USD 50m of its reserves.
Industry figures believe that more companies will follow in the near- to mid-term. In fact, Blockstream Chief Strategy Officer Samson Mow told that an increase is already happening right now.
“Michael Saylor's move is going to have a profound impact on company financial decision making in the years to come. Some industry contacts have already told me that they are seeing an uptick in corporate bitcoin buys — Bitcoin Reserve is one Bitcoin brokerage that has disclosed this publicly,” he said.
It’s also worth noting that a number of crypto companies have launched custodial services in order to accommodate a rise in corporate demand. Unchained Capital launched a business account service for bitcoin in late September, while French startup Multis raised USD 2.2m for a business bank account solely for cryptocurrencies.
Nabeel Qadri, the managing partner at Protocol Ventures, is another industry figure who estimates that holding bitcoin as a reserve asset will become common.
“I believe bitcoin's main attraction as a reserve asset for corporate treasuries is as an inflationary hedge on the heels of unprecedented coronavirus-induced stimulus measures by central banks globally”.
This mention of inflation touches on the main reason why MicroStrategy and other companies are becoming increasingly interested in bitcoin. Because with the US Federal Reserve printing USD 3tn in a few months, and with its chairman Jerome Powell announcing a new ‘relaxed’ approach to inflation in August, it’s likely that the US dollar will witness higher than average inflation over the next few years.
“I think the appeal of holding bitcoin as a reserve asset would be the same appeal that Michael Saylor and the MicroStrategy team saw: sound money. If your cash is becoming worthless, what else can you do except for buying bitcoin?” said Samson Mow.
Peruvian Regulator Says COVID-19 Won’t Delay Crypto Regulation Plans.
A leading Peruvian regulator has stated that the coronavirus pandemic will not derail the government’s plans to regulate the nation’s crypto industry – and has claimed “monitoring” of Peru-based crypto exchanges has already begun.
Per Gestión, Sergio Espinosa, the head of the top financial regulatory body, the Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP (SBS)’s Financial Intelligence Unit, said that the virus would not delay his organization’s work.
The unit has been preparing a diagnostic “on the use and the existence of cryptoassets in Peru,” with bitcoin (BTC) singled out for mention.
Espinosa said the move would help “regulate cryptoassets,” claiming that this was currently “one of SBS’ current goals.”
The newspaper quoted Espinosa as stating,
“One of the topics that we have not halted progress on is a diagnostic analysis – which is currently ongoing – on the presence and scope in Peru of so-called virtual assets, including bitcoin and other virtual assets that are not proper currencies. As they are traded and in circulation here, there is a need to develop regulation on the matter.”
He said,
“The first thing we need to do is fully understand this sector, especially in terms of what is happening in Peru in terms of virtual assets. We need to know where they are being accepted and other key data. Deeper knowledge is required in order to fully regulate it.”
A leading Peruvian regulator has stated that the coronavirus pandemic will not derail the government’s plans to regulate the nation’s crypto industry – and has claimed “monitoring” of Peru-based crypto exchanges has already begun.
Per Gestión, Sergio Espinosa, the head of the top financial regulatory body, the Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP (SBS)’s Financial Intelligence Unit, said that the virus would not delay his organization’s work.
The unit has been preparing a diagnostic “on the use and the existence of cryptoassets in Peru,” with bitcoin (BTC) singled out for mention.
Espinosa said the move would help “regulate cryptoassets,” claiming that this was currently “one of SBS’ current goals.”
The newspaper quoted Espinosa as stating,
“One of the topics that we have not halted progress on is a diagnostic analysis – which is currently ongoing – on the presence and scope in Peru of so-called virtual assets, including bitcoin and other virtual assets that are not proper currencies. As they are traded and in circulation here, there is a need to develop regulation on the matter.”
He said,
“The first thing we need to do is fully understand this sector, especially in terms of what is happening in Peru in terms of virtual assets. We need to know where they are being accepted and other key data. Deeper knowledge is required in order to fully regulate it.”
Russian Central Bank Says CBDC Will Wipe Out Need for Crypto.
The Russian Central Bank has been banging the drum again on what has become its favorite subject – regulating crypto, and has apparently responded to criticism of its plans to issue a digital ruble by claiming a central bank-issued token could eliminate out the need for people to use crypto.
In an op-ed piece for Plusworld, Alexei Guznov, the head of the Central Bank (CB)’s Legal Department, stated that the central bank digital currency (CBDC) that the CB hopes to pilot next year can function as a “response to the challenges being shaped by cryptoassets.”
The CB is by far and away the most vocal opponent of crypto in the Russian governmental system, and has repeatedly come out in favor of issuing nationwide bans or enacting a China-style crypto crackdown.
However, after stating that it had no interest in issuing a digital fiat a year ago, the CB has since pulled off a u-turn, joining many advanced and developing economies the world over in the race to issue a token.
Despite the sea change, the CB is refusing to budge on its anti-crypto stance.
Although Guznov conceded that “crypto is a definite challenge for national payment systems and for the stability of national financial systems in general” due in part to their speed and adoption rate, he opined,
“There is undoubtedly a problem with [cryptoassets] being used part of a system that comprises money laundering, drug trafficking and the financing of terrorism.”
(However, as reported in September, documents uncovered by an investigation conducted by 110 news organizations appear to show global banking giants moving trillions of dollars for clients allegedly involved in fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, and more.)
This led him to a refrain that will be all-too-familiar for Russian crypto advocates.
Guznov wrote,
“Therefore, we believe that cryptoasset circulation should be strictly regulated – either in the form of a ban on the circulation of cryptoassets, or in the form of restrictions.”
And rather than help crypto’s cause, Guzov believes that CBDCs – in Russia and abroad – will effectively wipe out the need for bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins. He stated that CBDCs could be a “worth alternative” to crypto, and concluded,
“We see that countries are now experimenting with projects to create national digital currencies. These can certainly be a clear alternative.”
However, as many crypto advocates have already stressed, a CBDC would help governments to increase their control over finances of its citizens, in contrast to decentralized cryptocurrencies such as BTC.
The Russian Central Bank has been banging the drum again on what has become its favorite subject – regulating crypto, and has apparently responded to criticism of its plans to issue a digital ruble by claiming a central bank-issued token could eliminate out the need for people to use crypto.
In an op-ed piece for Plusworld, Alexei Guznov, the head of the Central Bank (CB)’s Legal Department, stated that the central bank digital currency (CBDC) that the CB hopes to pilot next year can function as a “response to the challenges being shaped by cryptoassets.”
The CB is by far and away the most vocal opponent of crypto in the Russian governmental system, and has repeatedly come out in favor of issuing nationwide bans or enacting a China-style crypto crackdown.
However, after stating that it had no interest in issuing a digital fiat a year ago, the CB has since pulled off a u-turn, joining many advanced and developing economies the world over in the race to issue a token.
Despite the sea change, the CB is refusing to budge on its anti-crypto stance.
Although Guznov conceded that “crypto is a definite challenge for national payment systems and for the stability of national financial systems in general” due in part to their speed and adoption rate, he opined,
“There is undoubtedly a problem with [cryptoassets] being used part of a system that comprises money laundering, drug trafficking and the financing of terrorism.”
(However, as reported in September, documents uncovered by an investigation conducted by 110 news organizations appear to show global banking giants moving trillions of dollars for clients allegedly involved in fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, and more.)
This led him to a refrain that will be all-too-familiar for Russian crypto advocates.
Guznov wrote,
“Therefore, we believe that cryptoasset circulation should be strictly regulated – either in the form of a ban on the circulation of cryptoassets, or in the form of restrictions.”
And rather than help crypto’s cause, Guzov believes that CBDCs – in Russia and abroad – will effectively wipe out the need for bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins. He stated that CBDCs could be a “worth alternative” to crypto, and concluded,
“We see that countries are now experimenting with projects to create national digital currencies. These can certainly be a clear alternative.”
However, as many crypto advocates have already stressed, a CBDC would help governments to increase their control over finances of its citizens, in contrast to decentralized cryptocurrencies such as BTC.
The SmartKey Pre-Sale round is ending. There is only 2% Skey left.
The project is a combination of Blockchain of Things II technology with Oracle.
SmartKey project so far:
- Over 1 200 investors from all over the world
- Over 20 000 subscribers on telegram
- Strong and active community over 2000 messages on telegram chats daily.
- Growing social media and YT presence
For more reasons to join our project read the article “Why Ethereum need SmartKey, and Not the Other Way Around”
🌐 Website — Visit Site
📑 Whitepaper — Read Whitepaper
📧 Telegram — Join Channel
🕊 Twitter — View Twitter Account
✔️YouTube — View YouTube
The project is a combination of Blockchain of Things II technology with Oracle.
SmartKey project so far:
- Over 1 200 investors from all over the world
- Over 20 000 subscribers on telegram
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Bitcoin and Altcoins Trim Gains, Key Supports Intact.
Bitcoin price failed to continue higher above the USD 13,800 resistance. As a result, BTC started a downside correction and traded below the USD 13,500 support. The price is currently (13:00 UTC) down over 2% and it is now approaching the USD 13,200 and USD 13,000 support levels.
Similarly, there was a fresh decline in most major altcoins, including ethereum, XRP, litecoin, EOS, XLM, LINK, BNB, TRX, bitcoin cash, and ADA. ETH/USD struggled to settle above the USD 400 resistance and declined below the USD 392 support zone. XRP/USD also failed to clear the USD 0.242 resistance and declined sharply below USD 0.235.
Bitcoin price
After a failed attempt above USD 13,750, bitcoin price corrected lower. BTC broke the USD 13,650 and USD 13,500 support levels to move into a bearish zone. The price even broke the USD 13,350 support and it might find bids near USD 13,200. The next major uptrend support is near the USD 13,000 level.
If there is a fresh upward move, the USD 13,500 level might act as a resistance. The next key resistance is near USD 13,650, above which the price could test USD 13,800.
Ethereum price
Ethereum price failed to gain traction above the USD 400 resistance and started a fresh decline below USD 395. ETH even broke the USD 392 support and tested the USD 382 level. The next major support is near USD 378, below which the price could revisit the USD 372 support.
If there is a fresh increase, the USD 388 and USD 392 levels might prevent upsides. The main hurdle is still near the USD 400 level.
Bitcoin cash, chainlink and XRP price
Bitcoin cash price declined below the USD 262 and USD 260 levels. BCH is down around 1% and it is holding the USD 255 support. The next key support is near the USD 250 level. On the upside, the USD 260 level is a short-term resistance, followed by the USD 265 pivot level.
Chainlink (LINK) failed to clear the USD 11.80 resistance and reacted to the downside. There was a sharp decline below the USD 11.50 and USD 11.20 support levels. The price is now trading below USD 11.00 and it seems like the bears are aiming for a retest of the USD 10.20 support level. On the upside, the USD 11.20 level is a key breakout zone.
XRP price topped near the USD 0.245 and it failed to settle above the USD 0.242 support. As a result, the price declined below USD 0.240 and even broke the USD 0.235 level. However, the bulls are now protecting the USD 0.233 and USD 0.232 levels.
Other altcoins market today
In the past few hours, a few altcoins declined over 5%, including HT, ABBC, DASH, EWT, SNX, XMR, OXT, ZEC, OKB, FTT, and FIL. Conversely, AMPL remained well bid and it gained nearly 8% to surpass USD 1.00.
To sum up, bitcoin price is correcting gains after a strong rejection near USD 14,000 and USD 13,800. Having said that, the USD 13,000 level is a strong support, below which the bears might aim for a larger downside correction.
Bitcoin price failed to continue higher above the USD 13,800 resistance. As a result, BTC started a downside correction and traded below the USD 13,500 support. The price is currently (13:00 UTC) down over 2% and it is now approaching the USD 13,200 and USD 13,000 support levels.
Similarly, there was a fresh decline in most major altcoins, including ethereum, XRP, litecoin, EOS, XLM, LINK, BNB, TRX, bitcoin cash, and ADA. ETH/USD struggled to settle above the USD 400 resistance and declined below the USD 392 support zone. XRP/USD also failed to clear the USD 0.242 resistance and declined sharply below USD 0.235.
Bitcoin price
After a failed attempt above USD 13,750, bitcoin price corrected lower. BTC broke the USD 13,650 and USD 13,500 support levels to move into a bearish zone. The price even broke the USD 13,350 support and it might find bids near USD 13,200. The next major uptrend support is near the USD 13,000 level.
If there is a fresh upward move, the USD 13,500 level might act as a resistance. The next key resistance is near USD 13,650, above which the price could test USD 13,800.
Ethereum price
Ethereum price failed to gain traction above the USD 400 resistance and started a fresh decline below USD 395. ETH even broke the USD 392 support and tested the USD 382 level. The next major support is near USD 378, below which the price could revisit the USD 372 support.
If there is a fresh increase, the USD 388 and USD 392 levels might prevent upsides. The main hurdle is still near the USD 400 level.
Bitcoin cash, chainlink and XRP price
Bitcoin cash price declined below the USD 262 and USD 260 levels. BCH is down around 1% and it is holding the USD 255 support. The next key support is near the USD 250 level. On the upside, the USD 260 level is a short-term resistance, followed by the USD 265 pivot level.
Chainlink (LINK) failed to clear the USD 11.80 resistance and reacted to the downside. There was a sharp decline below the USD 11.50 and USD 11.20 support levels. The price is now trading below USD 11.00 and it seems like the bears are aiming for a retest of the USD 10.20 support level. On the upside, the USD 11.20 level is a key breakout zone.
XRP price topped near the USD 0.245 and it failed to settle above the USD 0.242 support. As a result, the price declined below USD 0.240 and even broke the USD 0.235 level. However, the bulls are now protecting the USD 0.233 and USD 0.232 levels.
Other altcoins market today
In the past few hours, a few altcoins declined over 5%, including HT, ABBC, DASH, EWT, SNX, XMR, OXT, ZEC, OKB, FTT, and FIL. Conversely, AMPL remained well bid and it gained nearly 8% to surpass USD 1.00.
To sum up, bitcoin price is correcting gains after a strong rejection near USD 14,000 and USD 13,800. Having said that, the USD 13,000 level is a strong support, below which the bears might aim for a larger downside correction.
Bitcoin Moves Towards USD 16,000, Altcoins Pick Up Pace.
Bitcoin bulls gained strength after there was a clear break above the USD 15,000 resistance. As a result, BTC gained over 10% and it surged above USD 15,500. The price traded to a new multi-month high close to USD 15,950 and it is currently (06:00 UTC) correcting gains below USD 15,750.
After consolidating in a range, most major altcoins started a strong increase, including ethereum, XRP, litecoin, EOS, XLM, LINK, BNB, TRX, bitcoin cash, and ADA. ETH/USD gained more than 5% and it cleared the USD 425 resistance level. XRP/USD also gained bullish momentum and it broke the USD 0.245 and USD 0.250 resistance levels.
Bitcoin price
After a follow-through move above USD 14,500, bitcoin price rallied by more than USD 1,200. BTC broke many hurdles near USD 15,000 and USD 15,500. It traded close to the USD 16,000 resistance level and recently started a downside correction. There was a break below USD 15,750 level and the price is now consolidating near USD 15,500.
An initial support on the downside is near the USD 15,350 level. The main support is now forming near the USD 15,050 and USD 15,000 levels. On the upside, the USD 15,750 level is an immediate hurdle, above which the bulls might aim a break above USD 16,000.
Ethereum price
Ethereum price finally started following bitcoin price rally and it broke the USD 425 resistance. ETH even cleared the USD 435 resistance and spiked above the USD 440 level. The price is currently correcting lower, but dips might remain limited below USD 420.
If there is a fresh increase, the USD 435 and USD 440 resistance levels might act as hurdles. A clear break above USD 440 may perhaps push the price above USD 450 and USD 452.
Bitcoin cash, chainlink and XRP price
Bitcoin cash price is up 3% and it surpassed the USD 245 and USD 250 resistance levels. BCH is approaching the USD 255 resistance, above which it could aim a test of the USD 265 resistance. Any further gains could lead the price towards the USD 280 level. On the downside, the price might find bids near the USD 240 level.
Chainlink (LINK) formed a strong support base near USD 9.80 and USD 10.00. As a result, there was a fresh increase above the USD 10.50 resistance level. The bulls had an upper hand and they managed to clear the USD 11.00 resistance. The price is now trading above USD 11.00 and it seems like there are chances of a move towards USD 12.00.
XRP price spiked above the USD 0.245 resistance level to move into a positive zone. The price even climbed above USD 0.250, but it is struggling to gain pace above the USD 0.252 and USD 0.254 levels. The main resistance is near USD 0.255. If there is a downside correction, the USD 0.245 level is a decent support zone.
Other altcoins market today
In the past few hours, many altcoins rallied over 10%, including UNI, MANA, AAVE, SNX, CVT, RSR, CEL, XEM, GNT, SNT, ZRX, KNC, THETA, EWT, and LTC. Out of these, UNI gained over 25%.
Overall, bitcoin price is trading in a strong uptrend above USD 15,000 and USD 15,350. There could be range moves or even a downside correction, but the current price action suggests more possible gains in BTC in the near term.
Bitcoin bulls gained strength after there was a clear break above the USD 15,000 resistance. As a result, BTC gained over 10% and it surged above USD 15,500. The price traded to a new multi-month high close to USD 15,950 and it is currently (06:00 UTC) correcting gains below USD 15,750.
After consolidating in a range, most major altcoins started a strong increase, including ethereum, XRP, litecoin, EOS, XLM, LINK, BNB, TRX, bitcoin cash, and ADA. ETH/USD gained more than 5% and it cleared the USD 425 resistance level. XRP/USD also gained bullish momentum and it broke the USD 0.245 and USD 0.250 resistance levels.
Bitcoin price
After a follow-through move above USD 14,500, bitcoin price rallied by more than USD 1,200. BTC broke many hurdles near USD 15,000 and USD 15,500. It traded close to the USD 16,000 resistance level and recently started a downside correction. There was a break below USD 15,750 level and the price is now consolidating near USD 15,500.
An initial support on the downside is near the USD 15,350 level. The main support is now forming near the USD 15,050 and USD 15,000 levels. On the upside, the USD 15,750 level is an immediate hurdle, above which the bulls might aim a break above USD 16,000.
Ethereum price
Ethereum price finally started following bitcoin price rally and it broke the USD 425 resistance. ETH even cleared the USD 435 resistance and spiked above the USD 440 level. The price is currently correcting lower, but dips might remain limited below USD 420.
If there is a fresh increase, the USD 435 and USD 440 resistance levels might act as hurdles. A clear break above USD 440 may perhaps push the price above USD 450 and USD 452.
Bitcoin cash, chainlink and XRP price
Bitcoin cash price is up 3% and it surpassed the USD 245 and USD 250 resistance levels. BCH is approaching the USD 255 resistance, above which it could aim a test of the USD 265 resistance. Any further gains could lead the price towards the USD 280 level. On the downside, the price might find bids near the USD 240 level.
Chainlink (LINK) formed a strong support base near USD 9.80 and USD 10.00. As a result, there was a fresh increase above the USD 10.50 resistance level. The bulls had an upper hand and they managed to clear the USD 11.00 resistance. The price is now trading above USD 11.00 and it seems like there are chances of a move towards USD 12.00.
XRP price spiked above the USD 0.245 resistance level to move into a positive zone. The price even climbed above USD 0.250, but it is struggling to gain pace above the USD 0.252 and USD 0.254 levels. The main resistance is near USD 0.255. If there is a downside correction, the USD 0.245 level is a decent support zone.
Other altcoins market today
In the past few hours, many altcoins rallied over 10%, including UNI, MANA, AAVE, SNX, CVT, RSR, CEL, XEM, GNT, SNT, ZRX, KNC, THETA, EWT, and LTC. Out of these, UNI gained over 25%.
Overall, bitcoin price is trading in a strong uptrend above USD 15,000 and USD 15,350. There could be range moves or even a downside correction, but the current price action suggests more possible gains in BTC in the near term.
3 Ways Troubled Cred Aims To Repay Millions to Thousands of its Customers.
The troubled American crypto lending service Cred has suggested three ways the company could refund thousands of its customers after it filed for bankruptcy in Delaware this weekend.
In a Telegram post on its official channel, the firm wrote, that they "have come to the conclusion that it is in the best interest of our customers and all stakeholders for Cred to file for Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.”
Per the filling, the company estimates that there are 5,001-10,000 creditors and Cred owns them USD 100m - USD 500m, but has only USD 50m - USD 100m in assets.
In the same Telegram post, Cred hinted that it may be hoping for a hero to emerge – in the form of a crypto-keen buyer. The firm stated that it had appointed the MACCO Restructuring Group “as a financial advisor to evaluate M&A and other restructuring opportunities.”
However, it looks like many Cred customers are already starting to fear a long, drawn-out and nervous wait, with the Cred team writing,
“Chapter 11 has a well-established set of processes, and we expect to come to a resolution within a few months.”
One Twitter user claiming to be from Russia wrote that they had even sold their house and feared they had lost “all of my money with Cred.”
Autumn had begun so promisingly for Cred: In September, the firm announced it had joined the Visa-run Fast Track Program, but worrying signs were ahead when trading platform Uphold dropped its partnership deal with Cred in October – with the latter now threatening legal action against Cred in the wake of the bankruptcy claim.
Meanwhile, as reported, full-service crypto prime broker Genesis said that its lending business added over USD 5.2bn in new originations in Q3, "marking its largest quarter ever by a landslide."
The troubled American crypto lending service Cred has suggested three ways the company could refund thousands of its customers after it filed for bankruptcy in Delaware this weekend.
In a Telegram post on its official channel, the firm wrote, that they "have come to the conclusion that it is in the best interest of our customers and all stakeholders for Cred to file for Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.”
Per the filling, the company estimates that there are 5,001-10,000 creditors and Cred owns them USD 100m - USD 500m, but has only USD 50m - USD 100m in assets.
In the same Telegram post, Cred hinted that it may be hoping for a hero to emerge – in the form of a crypto-keen buyer. The firm stated that it had appointed the MACCO Restructuring Group “as a financial advisor to evaluate M&A and other restructuring opportunities.”
However, it looks like many Cred customers are already starting to fear a long, drawn-out and nervous wait, with the Cred team writing,
“Chapter 11 has a well-established set of processes, and we expect to come to a resolution within a few months.”
One Twitter user claiming to be from Russia wrote that they had even sold their house and feared they had lost “all of my money with Cred.”
Autumn had begun so promisingly for Cred: In September, the firm announced it had joined the Visa-run Fast Track Program, but worrying signs were ahead when trading platform Uphold dropped its partnership deal with Cred in October – with the latter now threatening legal action against Cred in the wake of the bankruptcy claim.
Meanwhile, as reported, full-service crypto prime broker Genesis said that its lending business added over USD 5.2bn in new originations in Q3, "marking its largest quarter ever by a landslide."
BTC Rainbow Proponent Wants to Bet USD 1m that S2F Advocates Are Wrong.
When it comes to crypto, investors often talk about putting your money where your mouth is. And it looks like one outspoken critic is prepared to do exactly that – offering a bet of USD 1m that the bitcoin (BTC) stock-to-flow (S2F) price model will flop in the next half-decade.
The audacious move came from Eric Wall, the Chief Investment Officer of the crypto hedge fund outfit Arcane Assets.
Taking to Twitter (where else?), Wall challenged PlanB, the architect of the S2F model to a USD 1m duel, writing that the offer was “not a joke,” and would be willing to “lock up the money” for the bet with a third party both he and PlanB trust.
As for specifically what he means, Wall wrote,
“I define ‘broken’ = ‘it won’t have reached even 50% of its target range.”
PlanB is yet to respond to the challenge, but it looks like Wall is in the mood for a flutter – and later opened up his offer to all-comers, writing,
“If someone else has the money to lock up, I will take you on instead.”
Sadly for him, though, it appears that there is set to be a lack of takers, with many Twitter-based crypto enthusiasts asking why they would want to risk USD 1m in a five-year year bet when they could instead spend the time and money on potentially more lucrative crypto investments.
And then, of course, there was the pertinent question of how Wall has USD 1m lying around for a bet like this.
For Wall, this was his cue to release the rainbow.
When it comes to crypto, investors often talk about putting your money where your mouth is. And it looks like one outspoken critic is prepared to do exactly that – offering a bet of USD 1m that the bitcoin (BTC) stock-to-flow (S2F) price model will flop in the next half-decade.
The audacious move came from Eric Wall, the Chief Investment Officer of the crypto hedge fund outfit Arcane Assets.
Taking to Twitter (where else?), Wall challenged PlanB, the architect of the S2F model to a USD 1m duel, writing that the offer was “not a joke,” and would be willing to “lock up the money” for the bet with a third party both he and PlanB trust.
As for specifically what he means, Wall wrote,
“I define ‘broken’ = ‘it won’t have reached even 50% of its target range.”
PlanB is yet to respond to the challenge, but it looks like Wall is in the mood for a flutter – and later opened up his offer to all-comers, writing,
“If someone else has the money to lock up, I will take you on instead.”
Sadly for him, though, it appears that there is set to be a lack of takers, with many Twitter-based crypto enthusiasts asking why they would want to risk USD 1m in a five-year year bet when they could instead spend the time and money on potentially more lucrative crypto investments.
And then, of course, there was the pertinent question of how Wall has USD 1m lying around for a bet like this.
For Wall, this was his cue to release the rainbow.
Henry Ford’s Energy Standard: A 100-Year Old Bitcoin Prediction.
The New York Tribune published a story detailing a plan by inventor Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, to replace the existing gold-backed currency system into one based on an “energy currency.”
This article delves into Ford’s ambitious plan and how Bitcoin (BTC) has come to be the embodiment of a 100-year-old ideal.
A historical background
The article headlined “Ford Would Replace Gold With Energy Currency And Stop Wars” detailed Ford's beliefs on a number of prevailing issues at the time, with a focus on international monetary policies and how they adversely affected the stability of the world.
Ford believed that gold was the basis of war, or rather played a major part in extending the length of wars. In 1921, the effects of the First World war were beginning to become painfully obvious across the globe. Dubbed ‘The War To End All Wars’, WW1 left over 9 million soldiers and 21 million civilians dead with many injured and others missing.
A currency backed by natural wealth?
Ford was attempting to usher in a new dispensation in global monetary policy, where countries would issue currencies backed against their natural wealth, like rivers and the like, instead of issuing currency backed by gold kept in reserves.
Ford outlined his idea at the Muscle Shoals Nitrate Plant in Tennessee. He was there to inspect it in the hope that he would be able to acquire it from the government to demonstrate the viability of his plan to the American public and the global community.
The premise behind the idea was simple, replace currency backed by gold to currency backed by natural wealth.
At the time the US government was planning to issue bonds to acquire the USD 30m needed to develop a dam. Ford, however, had an alternative idea. He proposed he would build the dam, effectively for free, if the state agreed to issue a currency backed by Muscle Shoals plant.
Muscle Shoals was built on the Wilson Dam. Ford argued that the resource would make for greater security for any currency, given its time-tested robustness. Additionally, the dam created energy, capable of furnishing a significant, if not infinite, amount of horsepower. It was this energy against which the value of the Muscle Shoals Currency would be determined.
Enter Bitcoin
Bitcoin is supported by a group of parties called miners. Miners input energy to mine new blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain. This is what gives BTC its intrinsic value and is referred to as bitcoin energy-value equivalence. In other words, the value of bitcoin can be derived or defined by the raw joules expended to create one.
Joules are a derived unit of energy and work measurement. Work is defined as the force applied to an object over a distance. 1 kWh is equivalent to 3.6 million joules. Given that we can ascertain the energy being utilized in the Bitcoin network, it is possible to compute the value in kWh of one BTC at a certain point in time, taking into account the supply growth rate at that time and the total joules expended. This is how to calculate the value of one bitcoin under this posit.
Additionally, it would also be true to say that one bitcoin is backed by the total amount of energy ever expended by the Bitcoin network. Given the fact that the network is still minting new units, this amount will keep growing until miners stop generating new coins. However, Bitcoiners hope that because of transaction fees, miners will always be incentivized to participate in the network, even after the last bitcoin is mined around 2140.
In this way, we can see that it is possible to derive the value of a bitcoin by measuring its energy input. It is also mathematically provable that one bitcoin is backed by total expended energy across the network. Additionally, its decentralized nature means that it can avoid concentrating power in a very small section of the global populace.
It looks like this makes Bitcoin the embodiment of Henry Ford’s visionary energy standard.
The New York Tribune published a story detailing a plan by inventor Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, to replace the existing gold-backed currency system into one based on an “energy currency.”
This article delves into Ford’s ambitious plan and how Bitcoin (BTC) has come to be the embodiment of a 100-year-old ideal.
A historical background
The article headlined “Ford Would Replace Gold With Energy Currency And Stop Wars” detailed Ford's beliefs on a number of prevailing issues at the time, with a focus on international monetary policies and how they adversely affected the stability of the world.
Ford believed that gold was the basis of war, or rather played a major part in extending the length of wars. In 1921, the effects of the First World war were beginning to become painfully obvious across the globe. Dubbed ‘The War To End All Wars’, WW1 left over 9 million soldiers and 21 million civilians dead with many injured and others missing.
A currency backed by natural wealth?
Ford was attempting to usher in a new dispensation in global monetary policy, where countries would issue currencies backed against their natural wealth, like rivers and the like, instead of issuing currency backed by gold kept in reserves.
Ford outlined his idea at the Muscle Shoals Nitrate Plant in Tennessee. He was there to inspect it in the hope that he would be able to acquire it from the government to demonstrate the viability of his plan to the American public and the global community.
The premise behind the idea was simple, replace currency backed by gold to currency backed by natural wealth.
At the time the US government was planning to issue bonds to acquire the USD 30m needed to develop a dam. Ford, however, had an alternative idea. He proposed he would build the dam, effectively for free, if the state agreed to issue a currency backed by Muscle Shoals plant.
Muscle Shoals was built on the Wilson Dam. Ford argued that the resource would make for greater security for any currency, given its time-tested robustness. Additionally, the dam created energy, capable of furnishing a significant, if not infinite, amount of horsepower. It was this energy against which the value of the Muscle Shoals Currency would be determined.
Enter Bitcoin
Bitcoin is supported by a group of parties called miners. Miners input energy to mine new blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain. This is what gives BTC its intrinsic value and is referred to as bitcoin energy-value equivalence. In other words, the value of bitcoin can be derived or defined by the raw joules expended to create one.
Joules are a derived unit of energy and work measurement. Work is defined as the force applied to an object over a distance. 1 kWh is equivalent to 3.6 million joules. Given that we can ascertain the energy being utilized in the Bitcoin network, it is possible to compute the value in kWh of one BTC at a certain point in time, taking into account the supply growth rate at that time and the total joules expended. This is how to calculate the value of one bitcoin under this posit.
Additionally, it would also be true to say that one bitcoin is backed by the total amount of energy ever expended by the Bitcoin network. Given the fact that the network is still minting new units, this amount will keep growing until miners stop generating new coins. However, Bitcoiners hope that because of transaction fees, miners will always be incentivized to participate in the network, even after the last bitcoin is mined around 2140.
In this way, we can see that it is possible to derive the value of a bitcoin by measuring its energy input. It is also mathematically provable that one bitcoin is backed by total expended energy across the network. Additionally, its decentralized nature means that it can avoid concentrating power in a very small section of the global populace.
It looks like this makes Bitcoin the embodiment of Henry Ford’s visionary energy standard.
Mexican Billionaire and GOT Actress Buy Bitcoin – and Want the World to Know.
2020 looks to have been one of the best years yet for bitcoin (BTC) – with prices booming and an increasing number of high-profile investors and celebrities looking to get onboard as publically as possible – via the medium of Twitter.
The latest to take to Twitter to announce they have boarded the crypto gravy train is Ricardo Salinas Pliego, the founder of the Grupo Salinas business empire, a close associate of the country’s president and the owner of an estimated USD 13.2bn fortune.
In a series of tweets, Salinas appears to have come out as a veritable bitcoin evangelist, stating to his more than 808,000 followers that he had invested 10% of his ‘liquid portfolio” in BTC.
In one tweet, which he has since pinned, he shared a video of a person in an unnamed Latin American nation apparently throwing away sacks full of cash. Salinas added,
“To start with bitcoin, I am sharing a video taken in a Latin [American] country where banks throw money away (paper money is worth nothing). That is why it is always good to diversify your investment portfolio.”
In another tweet, Salinas recommended a book about bitcoin named El Patron Bitcoin (subtitled The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banks) by Saifedean Ammous.
Meanwhile, there has been a thrilling plot twist in the crypto Game of Thrones sparked on Twitter by the actress Maisie Williams (who played Arya Stark in the drama series).
Yesterday Williams had asked her 2.7 million followers if they thought she should “go long on bitcoin.”
A total of 902,304 people voted in response to her question, with 53.4% voting “no” – and 46.6% advising her to take the plunge.
But subverting the audience’s expectations was always the name of the game for GOT. So Williams took a page out of the drama’s book – by flying in the face of public opinion and buying BTC anyway.
2020 looks to have been one of the best years yet for bitcoin (BTC) – with prices booming and an increasing number of high-profile investors and celebrities looking to get onboard as publically as possible – via the medium of Twitter.
The latest to take to Twitter to announce they have boarded the crypto gravy train is Ricardo Salinas Pliego, the founder of the Grupo Salinas business empire, a close associate of the country’s president and the owner of an estimated USD 13.2bn fortune.
In a series of tweets, Salinas appears to have come out as a veritable bitcoin evangelist, stating to his more than 808,000 followers that he had invested 10% of his ‘liquid portfolio” in BTC.
In one tweet, which he has since pinned, he shared a video of a person in an unnamed Latin American nation apparently throwing away sacks full of cash. Salinas added,
“To start with bitcoin, I am sharing a video taken in a Latin [American] country where banks throw money away (paper money is worth nothing). That is why it is always good to diversify your investment portfolio.”
In another tweet, Salinas recommended a book about bitcoin named El Patron Bitcoin (subtitled The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banks) by Saifedean Ammous.
Meanwhile, there has been a thrilling plot twist in the crypto Game of Thrones sparked on Twitter by the actress Maisie Williams (who played Arya Stark in the drama series).
Yesterday Williams had asked her 2.7 million followers if they thought she should “go long on bitcoin.”
A total of 902,304 people voted in response to her question, with 53.4% voting “no” – and 46.6% advising her to take the plunge.
But subverting the audience’s expectations was always the name of the game for GOT. So Williams took a page out of the drama’s book – by flying in the face of public opinion and buying BTC anyway.
3.4m Bitcoin Available As BlackRock's CIO Says BTC to Replace Gold.
3.4m bitcoin (BTC) are readily available to buyers as demand increases, blockchain analytics specialist Chainalysis said, noting that first-time BTC buyers and buyers looking to unload fiat currency for BTC as a hedge against worrisome macroeconomic trends are responsible for much of the current demand. Meanwhile, Rick Rieder, BlackRock's Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income, said he thinks that BTC "could replace gold to a large extent."
According to Chainalysis, right now, the amount of liquid, or trader-held BTC is similar to what it was during the 2017 bull run. But the amount held in illiquid wallets, controlled by investors, is much higher, representing 77% of the 14.8m BTC mined that isn’t categorized as lost, meaning it hasn’t moved from its current address in five years or longer, they added.
On average, around BTC 1.715m changes hands on crypto exchanges per day in November, or slightly less than in October. Hover, compared to the first 19 days of November last year, when BTC dropped from above USD 9,000 to USD 8,000, the average trading volume decreased by 41%.
Meanwhile, this year, according to Chainalysis, demand is increasing as evidenced by rising inflows to exchanges and trade intensity on exchanges.
Also, the team of researchers said that, in 2017, most demand came from individual, retail investors buying with their own personal funds, many of whom had varying degrees of experience with and knowledge of cryptocurrency.
"As anyone who reads the news can tell you, 2020 is the year institutional dollars began flowing into bitcoin," they said, adding that this trend appears to be driven by a desire to hedge against macroeconomic uncertainty.
Today, BlackRock's Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income told CNBC that BTC is "much more functional" than gold and the most popular cryptocurrency could replace the yellow metal. At the end of last year, BlackRock had USD 7.4 trillion in assets under management.
"Exchanges have sent 19% more transfers worth USD 1m or more in 2020 while bitcoin’s price has been over USD 10,000 as compared to 2017. That suggests that the individuals behind these transfers have more money to spend, as we would expect when bigger investors get involved," they said.
Today, Managing Director at major crypto asset management firm Grayscale, Michael Sonnenshein, said that their team "scoped up over USD 188m into Grayscale Bitcoin Trust alone, yesterday."
BTC trades at USD 18,719 (16:38 UTC) and is up by 4% in a day and 16% in a week. The price rallied by 46% in a month, 145% in a year and is 7% away from its all-time high of USD 20,000.
According to him, moving past USD 19,892 will in its turn be another step toward setting new historical highs at the 127.2% and 141.4% Fibonacci retracement levels sitting at USD 24,500 and USD 26,830, respectively.
3.4m bitcoin (BTC) are readily available to buyers as demand increases, blockchain analytics specialist Chainalysis said, noting that first-time BTC buyers and buyers looking to unload fiat currency for BTC as a hedge against worrisome macroeconomic trends are responsible for much of the current demand. Meanwhile, Rick Rieder, BlackRock's Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income, said he thinks that BTC "could replace gold to a large extent."
According to Chainalysis, right now, the amount of liquid, or trader-held BTC is similar to what it was during the 2017 bull run. But the amount held in illiquid wallets, controlled by investors, is much higher, representing 77% of the 14.8m BTC mined that isn’t categorized as lost, meaning it hasn’t moved from its current address in five years or longer, they added.
On average, around BTC 1.715m changes hands on crypto exchanges per day in November, or slightly less than in October. Hover, compared to the first 19 days of November last year, when BTC dropped from above USD 9,000 to USD 8,000, the average trading volume decreased by 41%.
Meanwhile, this year, according to Chainalysis, demand is increasing as evidenced by rising inflows to exchanges and trade intensity on exchanges.
Also, the team of researchers said that, in 2017, most demand came from individual, retail investors buying with their own personal funds, many of whom had varying degrees of experience with and knowledge of cryptocurrency.
"As anyone who reads the news can tell you, 2020 is the year institutional dollars began flowing into bitcoin," they said, adding that this trend appears to be driven by a desire to hedge against macroeconomic uncertainty.
Today, BlackRock's Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income told CNBC that BTC is "much more functional" than gold and the most popular cryptocurrency could replace the yellow metal. At the end of last year, BlackRock had USD 7.4 trillion in assets under management.
"Exchanges have sent 19% more transfers worth USD 1m or more in 2020 while bitcoin’s price has been over USD 10,000 as compared to 2017. That suggests that the individuals behind these transfers have more money to spend, as we would expect when bigger investors get involved," they said.
Today, Managing Director at major crypto asset management firm Grayscale, Michael Sonnenshein, said that their team "scoped up over USD 188m into Grayscale Bitcoin Trust alone, yesterday."
BTC trades at USD 18,719 (16:38 UTC) and is up by 4% in a day and 16% in a week. The price rallied by 46% in a month, 145% in a year and is 7% away from its all-time high of USD 20,000.
According to him, moving past USD 19,892 will in its turn be another step toward setting new historical highs at the 127.2% and 141.4% Fibonacci retracement levels sitting at USD 24,500 and USD 26,830, respectively.
Ripple Seeks New Hire to Bolster XRP and CBDC Ties.
XRP-affiliated American blockchain giant Ripple has posted a job advertisement as it looks to recruit a Senior Director for Central Bank Engagements – the clearest indication yet that the company is planning to increase its focus on central bank digital currency (CBDC)-related initiatives on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) in the near future.
In the ad, the firm wrote that the ideal candidate would “define and lead Ripple’s strategy with central banks, build relationships with and educate central bankers around the world.”
The new hire will also “be responsible for securing and managing partnerships with central banks to build and deploy projects,” Ripple wrote, adding,
“You will serve as Ripple’s industry thought leader on the intersection of digital assets and blockchain technology and central banks, including the future of CBDCs.”
The California-based company said it wants to hire an individual with over 10 years of professional experience in enterprise technology sales or account management, and a track record of selling to major financial institutions or central banks.
The firm also added that global sales experience would be a plus, as would a strong network of central bank executives and influencers.
The new hire is set to act “as a spokesperson and thought leader on CBDCs” by “regularly speaking at conferences, with media, bylining blog posts, posting on social media” and engaging with other key stakeholders. The director will also lead “Ripple’s participation in prominent and influential industry groups on CBDCs,” the firm wrote.
It has been developing a keen interest in the ongoing development of CBDCs, and the role Ripple hopes to secure in their distribution. At least two fully fledged CBDCs have already been launched, one in the Bahamas and another in Cambodia, with larger economies such as China set to follow.
David Schwartz, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Ripple, recently shared the notes he had prepared for a talk on the subject given at an event in Berkeley, California.
In the notes, he wrote that while CBDCs can make domestic settlement faster, more reliable, and less costly, "you can't have good international payments without good domestic settlement."
And the CTO also noted that CBDC distribution will almost certainly have to happen through intermediaries (banks, wallets and fintech firms).
"And if there's one network at the hub, that network has to be built for that role with interoperability taking priority over "everyone do things our way". It has to be based on bridges, not on walls. XRP and the XRP Ledger were built specifically for this kind of role," he said.
According to him, XRPL was purpose built for transacting both in a native, neutral asset, XRP and also in "issued assets" to bridge to CBDCs, stablecoins, other payment networks, and other kinds of assets.
However, as many CBDC issuance models are still “lacking” when it comes to providing connectivity to consumers, he claimed, “CBDCs won’t solve the 'last mile' problem that has made modernizing international payments so difficult.”
"The XRP Ledger can't handle all the world's payments, and I'm not proposing a "one network" solution. That's totally unrealistic. People want different things and have different problems. But XRP can be the hub or backbone that provides the fast international settlement piece," the CTO said.
XRP-affiliated American blockchain giant Ripple has posted a job advertisement as it looks to recruit a Senior Director for Central Bank Engagements – the clearest indication yet that the company is planning to increase its focus on central bank digital currency (CBDC)-related initiatives on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) in the near future.
In the ad, the firm wrote that the ideal candidate would “define and lead Ripple’s strategy with central banks, build relationships with and educate central bankers around the world.”
The new hire will also “be responsible for securing and managing partnerships with central banks to build and deploy projects,” Ripple wrote, adding,
“You will serve as Ripple’s industry thought leader on the intersection of digital assets and blockchain technology and central banks, including the future of CBDCs.”
The California-based company said it wants to hire an individual with over 10 years of professional experience in enterprise technology sales or account management, and a track record of selling to major financial institutions or central banks.
The firm also added that global sales experience would be a plus, as would a strong network of central bank executives and influencers.
The new hire is set to act “as a spokesperson and thought leader on CBDCs” by “regularly speaking at conferences, with media, bylining blog posts, posting on social media” and engaging with other key stakeholders. The director will also lead “Ripple’s participation in prominent and influential industry groups on CBDCs,” the firm wrote.
It has been developing a keen interest in the ongoing development of CBDCs, and the role Ripple hopes to secure in their distribution. At least two fully fledged CBDCs have already been launched, one in the Bahamas and another in Cambodia, with larger economies such as China set to follow.
David Schwartz, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Ripple, recently shared the notes he had prepared for a talk on the subject given at an event in Berkeley, California.
In the notes, he wrote that while CBDCs can make domestic settlement faster, more reliable, and less costly, "you can't have good international payments without good domestic settlement."
And the CTO also noted that CBDC distribution will almost certainly have to happen through intermediaries (banks, wallets and fintech firms).
"And if there's one network at the hub, that network has to be built for that role with interoperability taking priority over "everyone do things our way". It has to be based on bridges, not on walls. XRP and the XRP Ledger were built specifically for this kind of role," he said.
According to him, XRPL was purpose built for transacting both in a native, neutral asset, XRP and also in "issued assets" to bridge to CBDCs, stablecoins, other payment networks, and other kinds of assets.
However, as many CBDC issuance models are still “lacking” when it comes to providing connectivity to consumers, he claimed, “CBDCs won’t solve the 'last mile' problem that has made modernizing international payments so difficult.”
"The XRP Ledger can't handle all the world's payments, and I'm not proposing a "one network" solution. That's totally unrealistic. People want different things and have different problems. But XRP can be the hub or backbone that provides the fast international settlement piece," the CTO said.
The USD 4.2bn Question: Has China ‘Dumped’ PlusToken Bitcoin, Ethereum & Co?
Crypto community members are wondering what has become of a huge stash of crypto worth a combined USD 4.2bn seized by the Chinese authorities who closed down the PlusToken crypto scam earlier this year – with some asking if the funds were already “dumped” onto the market months ago, and others suggesting the state may still be holding onto the funds.
Per a court report issued yesterday and posted online by The Block, the authorities claimed they had seized the following from seven of the scam’s masterminds in their raids:
Bitcoin: BTC 194,775 (USD 3.297bn)
Ethereum: ETH 833,083 (USD 425m)
Litecoin: LTC 1.4m (USD 95m)
EOS: EOS 27.6 million (USD 79m)
Dash: DASH 74,167 (USD 6.7m)
XRP: XRP 487m (USD 263m)
Dogecoin: DOGE 6bn (USD 19m)
Bitcoin Cash: BCH 79,581 (USD 21m)
Tether: USDT 213,724 (USD 214,217)
The court explained that it intended to “process” the crypto “according to the relevant laws,” with the “proceeds forfeited” to the Chinese treasury.
And internet-based Twitter sleuths believe that the tokens have indeed been sold, although mystery still surrounds exactly how, where and when Chinese authorities have managed to do so considering crypto exchanges have been outlawed in Mainland China since September 2017.
The Chinese police completed an 18-month international hunt for the scam operators earlier this year, and began sentencing convicted ringleaders back in September.
But some Twitter-based observers have stated that they believe the tokens were sold (or “dumped”, as one said) earlier in the year – with one opining that the news was possibly “stale“ by “six or more months.”
Another yet claimed that this was simply another demonstration that China’s policy on crypto is crystal clear: Beijing will continue to crack down hard on tokens unless it retains an iron grip over them. These thoughts echo the sentiments of a prominent Japanese China observer, who also claimed China was pursuing a centralized approach to digital finance.
But the possibility of a major state – particularly a superpower – becoming a major player in the crypto markets appears to have given some pause for thought.
Crypto community members are wondering what has become of a huge stash of crypto worth a combined USD 4.2bn seized by the Chinese authorities who closed down the PlusToken crypto scam earlier this year – with some asking if the funds were already “dumped” onto the market months ago, and others suggesting the state may still be holding onto the funds.
Per a court report issued yesterday and posted online by The Block, the authorities claimed they had seized the following from seven of the scam’s masterminds in their raids:
Bitcoin: BTC 194,775 (USD 3.297bn)
Ethereum: ETH 833,083 (USD 425m)
Litecoin: LTC 1.4m (USD 95m)
EOS: EOS 27.6 million (USD 79m)
Dash: DASH 74,167 (USD 6.7m)
XRP: XRP 487m (USD 263m)
Dogecoin: DOGE 6bn (USD 19m)
Bitcoin Cash: BCH 79,581 (USD 21m)
Tether: USDT 213,724 (USD 214,217)
The court explained that it intended to “process” the crypto “according to the relevant laws,” with the “proceeds forfeited” to the Chinese treasury.
And internet-based Twitter sleuths believe that the tokens have indeed been sold, although mystery still surrounds exactly how, where and when Chinese authorities have managed to do so considering crypto exchanges have been outlawed in Mainland China since September 2017.
The Chinese police completed an 18-month international hunt for the scam operators earlier this year, and began sentencing convicted ringleaders back in September.
But some Twitter-based observers have stated that they believe the tokens were sold (or “dumped”, as one said) earlier in the year – with one opining that the news was possibly “stale“ by “six or more months.”
Another yet claimed that this was simply another demonstration that China’s policy on crypto is crystal clear: Beijing will continue to crack down hard on tokens unless it retains an iron grip over them. These thoughts echo the sentiments of a prominent Japanese China observer, who also claimed China was pursuing a centralized approach to digital finance.
But the possibility of a major state – particularly a superpower – becoming a major player in the crypto markets appears to have given some pause for thought.
OMG Rallies as OMG Network Sold To a New Owner.
The OMG Network – operator of the Ethereum (ETH)-based OMG token (formerly OmiseGo) – has a new owner, news that has sent the token’s price up by almost 8% in the past 24 hours.
At pixel time (09:21 UTC), OMG, ranked 43rd by market capitalization on Coinpaprika, trades at USD 4.05 and is up by almost 8% in a day and 16% in a week. The price rallied by 44% in a month and 462% in a year.
In an announcement, GBV, which describes itself as a full-service investment company working with Genesis Block, claimed it had “acquired” the OMG Network, although it did not reveal how much it had paid to secure the deal.
The OMG Network was launched by the fintech app payment firm SYNQA as a subsidiary in 2017. It has since been working on Layer-2 scaling infrastructure for the Ethereum blockchain network. Layer 1 is the base protocol (the Ethereum blockchain), while Layer 2 is any protocol built on top of Ethereum.
The move is GBV’s first in the crypto market, a fact that appears to have worried some online commenters.
On Twitter in a thread responding to a post from the OMG Network, one investor claimed that they were “really worried to see that my investment is sold to a company I really don't know about.”
Another, however, claimed that Genesis Block was the “quiet giant of Asia” and had partnership deals in place with the likes of Binance and the FTX exchange.
And another still expressed no shortage of cynicism about the deal, claiming that SYNQA was “offloading OMG so it doesn't have to deal with tokenholders,” and adding that “as a holder, this doesn’t look great.”
Genesis Block describes itself as a “premier over-the-counter trading company for bitcoin and cryptocurrencies,” and has called GBV its “sister company” in a tweet. The former was established in 2017 and is headquartered in Hong Kong.
The OMG Network – operator of the Ethereum (ETH)-based OMG token (formerly OmiseGo) – has a new owner, news that has sent the token’s price up by almost 8% in the past 24 hours.
At pixel time (09:21 UTC), OMG, ranked 43rd by market capitalization on Coinpaprika, trades at USD 4.05 and is up by almost 8% in a day and 16% in a week. The price rallied by 44% in a month and 462% in a year.
In an announcement, GBV, which describes itself as a full-service investment company working with Genesis Block, claimed it had “acquired” the OMG Network, although it did not reveal how much it had paid to secure the deal.
The OMG Network was launched by the fintech app payment firm SYNQA as a subsidiary in 2017. It has since been working on Layer-2 scaling infrastructure for the Ethereum blockchain network. Layer 1 is the base protocol (the Ethereum blockchain), while Layer 2 is any protocol built on top of Ethereum.
The move is GBV’s first in the crypto market, a fact that appears to have worried some online commenters.
On Twitter in a thread responding to a post from the OMG Network, one investor claimed that they were “really worried to see that my investment is sold to a company I really don't know about.”
Another, however, claimed that Genesis Block was the “quiet giant of Asia” and had partnership deals in place with the likes of Binance and the FTX exchange.
And another still expressed no shortage of cynicism about the deal, claiming that SYNQA was “offloading OMG so it doesn't have to deal with tokenholders,” and adding that “as a holder, this doesn’t look great.”
Genesis Block describes itself as a “premier over-the-counter trading company for bitcoin and cryptocurrencies,” and has called GBV its “sister company” in a tweet. The former was established in 2017 and is headquartered in Hong Kong.
Joe Biden Admin Will Ultimately Support Crypto - Circle CEO.
Jeremy Allaire, CEO and Co-Founder of US-based major crypto company Circle, claims that crypto is misunderstood in Washington, D.C., but he offered an optimistic take on how the incoming Joe Biden administration might treat cryptoassets.
“I think that they will ultimately be supportive because this is an infrastructure change as big as the initial commercial internet. And they’re going to be focused on infrastructure changes that make America more competitive. And this is absolutely going to be a core building block in that,” the CEO said during an interview with CNBC today.
So far, however, the United States has not embraced that innovation. It lags other countries when it comes to a regulatory framework by which blockchain startups can operate, which has led major market players such as Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse to consider moving abroad.
Biden hasn’t tipped his hand to how he feels about bitcoin (BTC) or any other cryptoasset for that matter. But he has nominated former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to be Treasury Secretary, who is believed to be open to blockchain technology.
Allaire also pointed to a great deal of confusion surrounding the crypto industry across the aisle in Washington, D.C., saying that the view on “the very liberal end of the spectrum” is that crypto is damaging to people with less access to traditional financial services. The CEO defended the industry, including the stablecoin segment, where Circle’s USD Coin (USDC)’s market capitalization has ballooned some 500% year-to-date. He said,
“This technology, in particular stablecoins, holds the promise of opening up and widening access to the financial system more deeply than the existing banking system.”
Allaire, whose company Circle recently inked a partnership with card giant Visa for its stablecoin, also pointed to big banks that are lobbying in Congress and saying that crypto companies require “tighter rules around them,” comparing them to companies like PayPal and Square.
As reported, last week, the stablecoin regulation act was proposed in Congress, once again stressing an important difference between centralized and decentralized projects in terms of regulation.
Allaire also addressed the rise of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and whether they threaten to encroach on the territory of stablecoins.
“Right now, whether it’s the Federal Reserve, or the European Central Bank, or central banks around the world, there’s obviously a lot of interest in this topic...But the reality is that right now, leading companies in the private sector — whether it’s out of the crypto industry such as Circle and Coinbase or major firms like Visa or major internet technology firms — are racing ahead to implement stablecoins as...a fundamental innovation in how money moves around the world,” the CEO said, adding that, in the coming years, there could be a convergence between CBDCs and stablecoins, where the private sector and central banks strike a balance between innovation and “safeguards.”
Jeremy Allaire, CEO and Co-Founder of US-based major crypto company Circle, claims that crypto is misunderstood in Washington, D.C., but he offered an optimistic take on how the incoming Joe Biden administration might treat cryptoassets.
“I think that they will ultimately be supportive because this is an infrastructure change as big as the initial commercial internet. And they’re going to be focused on infrastructure changes that make America more competitive. And this is absolutely going to be a core building block in that,” the CEO said during an interview with CNBC today.
So far, however, the United States has not embraced that innovation. It lags other countries when it comes to a regulatory framework by which blockchain startups can operate, which has led major market players such as Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse to consider moving abroad.
Biden hasn’t tipped his hand to how he feels about bitcoin (BTC) or any other cryptoasset for that matter. But he has nominated former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to be Treasury Secretary, who is believed to be open to blockchain technology.
Allaire also pointed to a great deal of confusion surrounding the crypto industry across the aisle in Washington, D.C., saying that the view on “the very liberal end of the spectrum” is that crypto is damaging to people with less access to traditional financial services. The CEO defended the industry, including the stablecoin segment, where Circle’s USD Coin (USDC)’s market capitalization has ballooned some 500% year-to-date. He said,
“This technology, in particular stablecoins, holds the promise of opening up and widening access to the financial system more deeply than the existing banking system.”
Allaire, whose company Circle recently inked a partnership with card giant Visa for its stablecoin, also pointed to big banks that are lobbying in Congress and saying that crypto companies require “tighter rules around them,” comparing them to companies like PayPal and Square.
As reported, last week, the stablecoin regulation act was proposed in Congress, once again stressing an important difference between centralized and decentralized projects in terms of regulation.
Allaire also addressed the rise of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and whether they threaten to encroach on the territory of stablecoins.
“Right now, whether it’s the Federal Reserve, or the European Central Bank, or central banks around the world, there’s obviously a lot of interest in this topic...But the reality is that right now, leading companies in the private sector — whether it’s out of the crypto industry such as Circle and Coinbase or major firms like Visa or major internet technology firms — are racing ahead to implement stablecoins as...a fundamental innovation in how money moves around the world,” the CEO said, adding that, in the coming years, there could be a convergence between CBDCs and stablecoins, where the private sector and central banks strike a balance between innovation and “safeguards.”
DBS Makes it Official: Banking Giant Will Launch Crypto Exchange
The Singaporean banking giant DBS has finally confirmed reports circulating since October that it is set to launch a range of crypto-related operations – including a crypto exchange offering trading in bitcoin (BTC) and major altcoins. (Updated at 14:39 UTC: a quote from Piyush Gupta was added).
The news come just a matter of weeks after a web page explaining the functionality of the platform, named the DBS Digital Exchange, apparently went live on the DBS site by mistake – only to be seemingly pulled offline shortly after. But now the bank has issued a press release declaring that the digital exchange will indeed see the light of day after all.
The bank said its new platform would be a “full-service digital exchange” that will also provide “tokenization” offerings for non-stock market listed companies that are looking to digitize their assets, as well as “trading” and a “custody ecosystem for digital assets.”
“The time has come, the time is right for this industry to increasingly find partnership and sponsorship from the formal banking sector,” DBS Chief Executive Officer Piyush Gupta was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. According to him, trading will start as early as next week.
The DBS Digital Exchange, which one Twitter-based observer claimed back in October had been “in the works for two years” will allow clients to trade in four fiat currencies (the Singaporean dollar, the USD, the Hong Kong dollar and the Japanese yen), as well as four “of the most established cryptocurrencies:” bitcoin, ethereum (ETH), bitcoin cash (BCH) and Ripple’s XRP.
The tokenization efforts will involve allowing firms to launch Security Token Offerings (STOs), and will provide a “regulated platform for the issuance and trading of digital tokens backed by financial assets, such as shares in unlisted companies, bonds and private equity funds.”
The bank states that it has received “in-principle” regulatory approval for its new exchange from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the country’s central bank and top financial regulator.
The bank also said it would provide clients with private key management and crypto custody-related services, and announced that the Singapore Exchange (SGX) would own a 10% stake in the DBS Digital Exchange.
In 2019, DBS had SGD 579bn (USD 426bn) in assets, while its income reached SGD 14.5bn and net profit stood at SGD 6.4bn. The bank claims it has over 240,000 institutional banking customers and almost 11m consumer banking/wealth management customers.
The Singaporean banking giant DBS has finally confirmed reports circulating since October that it is set to launch a range of crypto-related operations – including a crypto exchange offering trading in bitcoin (BTC) and major altcoins. (Updated at 14:39 UTC: a quote from Piyush Gupta was added).
The news come just a matter of weeks after a web page explaining the functionality of the platform, named the DBS Digital Exchange, apparently went live on the DBS site by mistake – only to be seemingly pulled offline shortly after. But now the bank has issued a press release declaring that the digital exchange will indeed see the light of day after all.
The bank said its new platform would be a “full-service digital exchange” that will also provide “tokenization” offerings for non-stock market listed companies that are looking to digitize their assets, as well as “trading” and a “custody ecosystem for digital assets.”
“The time has come, the time is right for this industry to increasingly find partnership and sponsorship from the formal banking sector,” DBS Chief Executive Officer Piyush Gupta was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. According to him, trading will start as early as next week.
The DBS Digital Exchange, which one Twitter-based observer claimed back in October had been “in the works for two years” will allow clients to trade in four fiat currencies (the Singaporean dollar, the USD, the Hong Kong dollar and the Japanese yen), as well as four “of the most established cryptocurrencies:” bitcoin, ethereum (ETH), bitcoin cash (BCH) and Ripple’s XRP.
The tokenization efforts will involve allowing firms to launch Security Token Offerings (STOs), and will provide a “regulated platform for the issuance and trading of digital tokens backed by financial assets, such as shares in unlisted companies, bonds and private equity funds.”
The bank states that it has received “in-principle” regulatory approval for its new exchange from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the country’s central bank and top financial regulator.
The bank also said it would provide clients with private key management and crypto custody-related services, and announced that the Singapore Exchange (SGX) would own a 10% stake in the DBS Digital Exchange.
In 2019, DBS had SGD 579bn (USD 426bn) in assets, while its income reached SGD 14.5bn and net profit stood at SGD 6.4bn. The bank claims it has over 240,000 institutional banking customers and almost 11m consumer banking/wealth management customers.
