Why bitcoin and its digital cousins are under increasing scrutiny
Cryptocurrencies are under the microscope as never before. Financial regulators in the US are concerned about the emergence of bitcoin and its digital cousins as speculative investments and have hinted that much tougher regulation is in the pipeline.
Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which regulates the New York financial markets, issued an alert, saying it was “cautioning market participants that offers and sales of digital assets by ‘virtual’ organisations are subject to the requirements of the federal securities laws”.
The message was that selling coins issued by a digital currency provider and selling shares on the stock exchange amount to pretty much the same level of risk. This sent tremors through the digital currency industry.
The Bank of England, the UK’s main financial regulator, reckons that digital currencies remain very different from standard currencies such as sterling and the dollar because they “act as money only to a limited extent and only for relatively few people”. A spokeswoman for the Bank said it was monitoring developments.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2vnIY6g
Source: The Guardian
Belfrics to Launch Bitcoin Exchanges Across Africa
Praveen Kumar, Chairman and CEO of Belfrics Global SDH, has announced that his outfit will be launching Bitcoin exchanges across Africa in the coming months.
Speaking at the Launch of Belfrics' Bitcoin Exchange in Kenya on Saturday at the Villa Rosa Kempinski, in Nairobi, Praveen outlined plans to open exchanges in Nigeria, Ghana and Botswana soon, and follow it up with other countries.
"We were overwhelmed with the tests trials that were run in Kenya in terms of volume and have therefore decided to launch Bitcoin exchanges across the continent in the coming months," Praveen told a ballroom full of people mostly from the Bitcoin Community in Kenya. "Actually we don't see this as a launch since we've got a good business so far and this is a launch party."
He explained that the Kenya experience has been a great lesson for them to change their game plan. It is in this direction that the company is set to work in other African countries.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2vnZ93q
Source: CoinTelegraph
Cryptocurrency miners are renting entire Boeing 747s just to stay in the game
In a mining boom, buy the shovels.
It’s one of the oldest investing axioms, and anyone with shares in chipmakers AMD and Nvidia are reaping the rewards right now.
As the price of Bitcoin and Ethereum explodes, cryptocurrency miners are in a race to beat each other to the riches, and graphics processors are the tools they need.
They’re now in such short supply, one miner, Marco Streng, chief executive of Genesis Mining, made this extraordinary admission to Quartz:
"We are renting entire airplanes, Boeing 747s, to ship on time. Anything else, like shipping by sea, loses so much opportunity."
Full story at http://read.bi/2vnG2qh
Source: Business Insider
Why a Bitcoin Fork Is Not a 'Stock Split'
If you've been following the bitcoin fork drama this week, you may have heard the term "stock split" thrown around in interviews with "experts."
Before we get to the problems here, it's true that there are now two publicly traded bitcoin assets, bearing similar names with similar value propositions. They even appear side by side on some major exchanges.
The impulse to use existing terminology as a metaphor to refer to emerging technology is understandable. In fact, it can be incredibly helpful to use existing mental models as a metaphor for things we don't quite have our heads around just yet.
But this comparison, while well intentioned, is misguided: a blockchain fork isn't anything like a stock split.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2uYSGLQ
Source: CoinDesk
If True Value of Cryptocurrency Is Freedom, Why Do We Need to Regulate It?
Like many technological advantages before it, cryptocurrencies represent massive strides forward in social, economical and technological advances for all of us.
To be clear, this reflection shouldn't be taken from a technical stand point, the technical debate around cryptocurrencies is long and in depth and best reserved for another time. This review should be undertaken at a much more top level.
Better explained sticking with the aircraft analogy, most of us don't know (or care) how the jet propulsion engine works, but we still happily drink a Gin and Tonic at 40,000 feet while heading off to our next vacation.
The same is true of the cryptocurrency. In the future, and indeed today, many individuals will use these technological advances with little to no understanding of the technology behind it. Of course, those of us who follow technology closely will know this ignorance doesn't come from not caring how it works, its the opposite, its putting total faith in the system working, and working well.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2uYDle8
Source: CoinTelegraph
Bitcoin cash is already the 3rd-largest cryptocurrency
Bitcoin cash has secured its place as a top cryptocurrency within a day of entering the marketplace.
According to Coinmarketcap.com, the cryptocurrency is trading at about $490 a coin, and its market cap now stands above $8 billion. As such, it is the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, surpassing big-name coins such as Ripple ($6.7 billion) and Litecoin ($2.2 billion).
Bitcoin cash came to fruition Tuesday after it split from the original network that powers its crypto-cousin, bitcoin. The split was preceded by a multiyear war among bitcoin power brokers over the rules that guide the digital currency's network.
Supporters of the newly formed bitcoin cash believe the currency will "breath new life into" the nearly 10-year-old bitcoin by addressing some of the issues facing bitcoin of late, such as slow transaction speeds.
Full story at http://read.bi/2uYGtqF
Source: Business Insider Nordic
No comments:
Post a Comment