Word on the Street: Action-packed week ends with Fidelity high
A cascade of institutional interest this week that ended with news that trillion dollar fund manager Fidelity Investments is looking for developers to create a crypto exchange
Japan shines as Coinbase and first bank-backed exchanges to open
One of the most advancing and embracing countries of cryptocurrencies, Japan displays the best and worst in the industry and may offer a glimpse into future trends.
Word on the street: A big week for institutional interest in crypto
It's been a big week for institutional interest in crypto, bitcoin in particular. There has been a build-up of talk around Wall Street firms for months showing cursory interest in blockchain technology, but recently this interest is becoming explicit and the managerial announcements more specific.
SEC and CFTC headlines on Ethereum decision shows power of fake news
After the much-anticipated and widely-disseminated story that US regulators were to convene on Monday to decide Ethereum's future as either a security or a utility token the price of ether has been on an steep ride which ended Monday when the meeting transpired to be fake news.
ICO market deflates in April
When Bitcoin took flight in late 2017, the ICO movement was also gathering momentum — momentum that continued to run hot early in 2018 but now shows signs of cooling
Could centralized government become obsolete with blockchain?
Blockchain technology could be implemented in government institutions to streamline and remove a lot of bureaucracy, but could it also replace the government as a central institution or is that a sci-fi script too far?
Crypto Market Analysis — Hacks, tax, and forks the biggest drivers of Q1
The first quarter of 2018 was marked with continued protocol layer innovations, with heavy declines in prices across the board. Emerging and recurrent themes included transaction fees, microtransactions, increased fiat on-ramps, and regulatory changes. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the U.S., as well as Japan’s Financial Services Agency(FSA), made sweeping announcements or changes to the cryptocurrency milieu.
China’s waning influence on the global Bitcoin economy
In early 2017 China was the biggest and most influential market for bitcoin worldwide, as the bulk of both mining and trading was conducted in the People's Republic. Since then, much has changed as global bitcoin adoption and changes in regulations - both in China and in neighboring jurisdictions - have led to a shift in China’s influence on the bitcoin ecosystem.
Belarus leads the way with new crypto accountancy laws
Today Belarus officially joined the race to become an international center for blockchain innovation, when its crypto tax and accountancy laws were enacted.
Cryptocurrency complaints to Consumer Protection Agencies way up
Consumer protection agencies around the world have witnessed a big jump in cryptocurrency-related complaints after the price of bitcoin hit all-time-highs towards the end of last year, and then lost over 60 percent of its value early in 2018.
London announces fintech and crypto task force
The UK will set up a new task force that will monitor cryptocurrencies and the fintech industry as a whole, which contributes 7 billion pounds annually to the UK economy.
Cryptocurrency class action lawsuits: A new frontier
ICOs raised approximately $4 billion in 2017 alone, outpacing all venture capital raised in the United States. Because anyone with an idea for a project can gain financial backing without going through the formalities of an IPO, however, there are obvious chances for the public to be scammed, and we likely have only begun to see the beginning of class action lawsuits filed relating to blockchain-related companies or companies that participated in ICOs. Any company planning to conduct a token offering using an ICO should proceed with caution, and anyone looking to invest in a token offering should make sure it is conducted in compliance with applicable state and federal laws.
Britain’s central banker talks crypto with the kids
Cryptocurrencies are “failing” under the definition of money Governor of Bank of England Mark Carney said in speech earlier this month at the University of Edinburgh, and their adoption has been in a “spirit of dystopian fear and libertarian optimism” after the Global Financial Crisis.
Crypto exchanges in SEC cross-hairs
The SEC has continued its guidance relating to all things crypto with a statement in early March regarding the legality of exchanges. While the statement doesn’t name any specific exchanges, it does make it clear the SEC considers many exchanges to be acting contrary to US securities law by trading assets the SEC considers to be securities.
Will regulations help or hurt cryptocurrency valuations in 2018?
If 2017 was the year of the ICO, 2018 will most likely become the year of cryptocurrency regulations. The first moves for a framework that will incorporate cryptocurrencies were made last year after financial regulators worldwide published statements on how they will treat initial coin offerings going forward.
Swiss regulator publishes guidance around ICOs
In guidelines published in February, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) set out how it intends to apply financial market legislation in handling enquiries from ICO organisers. The guidelines also define the information FINMA requires to deal with such enquiries and the principles upon which it will base its responses, creating clarity for market participants.
