Crypto volatility is not a 'systemic concern' for the Fed, say local presidents

A Federal Reserve president said he was “quite aware that crypto can be very volatile” but he personally did not see that as a concern for traditional markets.  Both Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic and St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard seem to be unconcerned about the recent crypto bloodbaths impact on the U.S. economy.  According to a Reuters report, Bostic said the volatility in the crypto market is “not at a scale” to have systemic financial implications for the Fed. He added that such events like the one this morning — which saw the price of Bitcoin (BTC) dip to $30,000 — did not play a large role in how he considered Fed policy. However, he predicted “a fair amount” of volatility through the summer.  Bullard echoed Bostics comments, saying Fed officials were “quite aware that crypto can be very volatile” but he personally did not see that as a “systemic concern.” Three years old, the Fed president urged investors not to put money into crypto, calling them “speculative markets” and “not currency.”  The St. Louis Fed president has previously spoken out against crypto as a medium of exchange, claiming that Americans preferred a “non-uniform currency.” Bullard added he foresaw a

2021-05-20Deep Dive

Block.one to Make Voice NFT-based Amid Non-Fungibles Market Cool Down

Block.one, the developer of EOSIO, an open-sourced blockchain software, has decided to close its decentralized social media platform Voice to the public for several months to upgrade it from a fungible to a non-fungible token (NFT)-based social platform, the company said.  Voices website currently says it is “an NFT platform for emerging creators” slated for Summer 2021.  “By tokenizing the content itself, instead of putting tokens next to the content, we are giving creators the opportunity to monetize their work directly,” the statement said.  Explaining the reasons behind its latest NFT-oriented move, Block.one pointed to the companys regulatory woes, saying they have “set out optimistically to work with regulators in the US to gain approval for our fungible and transferable Voice Token.”  Then they added that they do not “have an end in sight yet,” saying that “after more than 18 months of close engagement with regulators, we do not have an end in sight yet. The change of administrations has introduced further uncertainty. Recent actions by the SEC indicate a long road ahead.”  Block.one claims it remains dedicated to building on EOS mainnet, but it cannot do so at present for three reasons:  1.the New York State Department of Financial Services does not permit EOS,

2021-05-20Deep Dive

Wells Fargo to Onboard a Crypto Strategy for Instituional Clients in June

The investment department of the large multinational financial service organization, Wells Fargo, is looking into offering cryptocurrency products to its institutional clients. A senior executive outlined the innovation in a recent interview and called bitcoin “a nice diversifier.”  Wells Fargo Getting on the BTC Wagon?  In a recent interview with BusinessInsider, Darrell Cronk, president of the Wells Fargo Investment Institute (WFII), highlighted the banks recent pro-cryptocurrency approach.  The executive noted that the division he runs is currently evaluating and onboarding an actively managed crypto strategy to its platform for institutional investors.  The department has looked for a “professionally managed solution” for a while. However, the endeavor is in the final stages of the manager research and due diligence process now. As such, Cronk expects the strategy to see the light of day around mid-June.  “We think the cryptocurrency space has just kind of hit an evolution and maturation of its development that allows it now to be a viable investable asset.”  Although the executive said digital assets may not still be their “own dedicated asset class,” he said that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could be “a nice diversifier to portfolio holdings.”  Interest in Crypto Rises Within Banks  Cronk outlined “quite a bit of interest” from institutional clients towards

2021-05-20Deep Dive

Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman Says Bitcoin Cult Can Survive "Indefinitely"

After trashing Bitcoin since its very inception, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman has now given up on predicting its “immediate demise,” according to his new tweet.  Krugman believes that the cult-like digital currency will always be able to find new believers who will make sure that it survives indefinitely:  “But Ive given up predicting imminent demise. There always seem to be a new crop of believers. Maybe just think of it as a cult that can survive indefinitely.”  Krugman has reiterated his view about Bitcoin being the combination of “libertarian derp” and “technobabble,” claiming that it has no legal use cases design being around since 2009.  Krugman—who emerged as one of Bitcoins harshest naysayers back in 2011—tends to take a victory lap when the cryptocurrency is under severe pressure.  For instance, he tweeted about “libertarian derp” on Dec. 14, 2018, when the top coin was bottoming out at the $3,200 level.  Earlier today, Bitcoin plunged to $30,000 before seeing a strong bounce.

2021-05-20Deep Dive

5 Reasons for the Crypto Market's $500 Billion Bloodbath

Cryptocurrency markets took a brutal pounding on Wednesday as Bitcoin fell over 30% to around $32,000, and other currencies, includingEthereum and Dogecoin, fell ever further. The recent carnage means that more than $500 billion in value has been vaporized since the crypto markets peak.  Now investors are looking for answers—not surprising given that crypto holders lost more than a third of their wealth overnight. But while its tempting to seize on a single explanation for the meltdown, the reality is that crashes of this magnitude are rarely triggered by one event but instead by multiple, overlapping factors.  With that qualification, here are five factors that explain Wednesdays horror show:  China jitters  On Tuesday, global news agency Reuters published a dramatic headline suggested that China had banned cryptocurrency. The actual news, it turned out, was much less dramatic: the countrys central bank and a handful of payment firms had simply restated rules limiting crypto transactions that have been in place since 2017.  This nuance was lost on social media, however, where thousands of people and other news outlets amplified Reuters original report that implied China had dropped a bombshell even though it did not. All of this spooked many crypto investors who were already on edge

2021-05-20Deep Dive

Report: India may be considering crypto regulation instead of a blanket ban

Indias central government is currently considering the possibility of creating a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in the country—instead of a complete ban proposed in the past, several sources told The Economic Times today.  As CryptoSlate reported, Indian authorities have been pondering the idea of a total ban on “private” digital assets over the past few years. Recently, the government even discussed a so-called “exit window” that would allow crypto holders to get rid of their coins when the corresponding restrictions may come into effect.  A fresh look  However, such drastic measures, first introduced by a committee led by ex-finance secretary Subhash Garg in 2019, might have become outdated today. Thus, a more constructive approach may be warranted.  “There is a view within the government that the recommendations made by the Subhash Garg committee are dated and a fresh look is needed at use of cryptos rather than a total ban,” an official told the outlet.  To this end, Indias government may form a new panel of experts that would research the possibility of crypto regulation, they added.  For example, the committee may explore potential use cases for blockchains and come up with new ways to regulate cryptos as “assets” rather than currencies. The experts could also

2021-05-20Deep Dive

Bitcoin price dip below $40K costs Tesla nearly 100% of its BTC profits

Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $40,000 on May 19 as bearish sentiment continued to dictate price direction resulting in the cryptocurrency market losing $350 billion in value.  BTC/USD 1-day candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView  Analysts calm as BTC/USD hits 15-week lows  Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView tracked BTC/USD as it put in lows of $38,500 before bouncing higher.  Coming after a week of successive drops, Wednesdays dip put Bitcoin at its lowest level since early February and 40% below its all-time highs.  “Bitcoin putting in new lows, probably buy more soon,” popular trader Scott Melker told Twitter followers in a post that characterized the conversely calm mood among market veterans.  As Cointelegraph reported, those closer to the data were anything but bearish throughout the week, and even a sub-$40,000 BTC price failed to dampen their spirits.  “16,835 Bitcoin withdrawn from exchanges in last 10 minutes,” analyst Lex Moskovski noted at the time of writing.  “Someones buying fear.”  Bitcoin exchange withdrawal volume chart. Source: Lex Moskovski/ Twitter  Tesla blows its Bitcoin fortune  Elsewhere, the spotlight remained on Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk. After taking the blame for the volatility in recent days, Musk was widely held to have cost himself and his company more than most others with his remarks.  With

2021-05-19Deep Dive

United States, Germany, and Turkey Rank High Among Countries Showing Interest in Ethereum

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has seen increased interest from different countries globally, with the United States being the country with the most interest in Ether, followed by Germany and Turkey.  Ethereun Sees Increased Retail Interest  According to Finbold on Tuesday (May, 18, 2021), a research carried out by Invezz covered the top 20 countries which showed an interest in ether (ETH). The results revealed that the U.S. ranked number one, with 1,116,000 online searches for ether per month. With this figure, it means that there were 36,000 internet searches for the word “ether” daily.  After the U.S., Germany and Turkey rank second and third respectively with their online search for the second largest crypto asset. While Germany has 736,300 monthly searches, Turkey has 408,500 Internet searches per month.  Other countries like Brazil, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada came in fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh respectively. These countries had over 200,000 ether searches per month from their citizens.  Meanwhile, Switzerland, which ranks 12th on the list with over 93,000, had the highest number of searches per 1,000 users. According to the research, there were 11.79 searches per 1,000 online users. Indonesia, which takes the 18th spot in terms of searches for ether

2021-05-19Deep Dive

Top Chess Players To Compete For USD 100K Worth Of Bitcoin

Forthcoming online chess tournament FTX Crypto Cup is slated to pit the world‘s top ten players against each other, allowing the global chess elite to compete for USD 100,000 worth of bitcoin (BTC), provided by the event’s sponsor and crypto derivatives exchange FTX, and USD 220,000 in cash.  Some of the grandmasters that are to take part in the cup, which is described as the world‘s first bitcoin prize chess tournament, include Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, the world‘s highest-ranked chess player, and Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi, the global number four. The event will precede their 14-game world title match which is scheduled to take place this November-December in Dubai.  The event, which is part of this year‘s Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, will be held between May 23 and 31, enabling fans to track the prize’s pot value in real-time and its fluctuations, the organizers said in a statement.  FTX has also entered into a long-term agreement with Play Magnus Group, which is the cups organizer, to become its official crypto exchange partner.  “Both online chess and digital finance are growing rapidly,” said Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO and Founder of FTX.  Should Carlsen secure the crypto bonus, it would allow the player to further diversify his budding investment portfolio.

2021-05-19Deep Dive

Bitcoin ‘Greener Than Petrodollar’: Human Rights and Energy Analysts

Bitcoin is more environmentally friendly than the petrodollar, according to Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer at the Human Rights Foundation, and James McGinniss, CEO and co-founder of David Energy. Both individuals appeared on the Unchained Podcast with Laura Shin earlier today.  The discussion took place against the backdrop of Tesla CEO Elon Musk‘s shocking u-turn on Bitcoin. Three months after overseeing Tesla’s $1.5 billion investment into Bitcoin, Musk announced that the company would no longer accept BTC as a form of payment due to concerns about its climate impact.  “We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel,” Musk said, adding that cryptocurrency progress cannot come at the expense of the environment.  According to Gladstein, Musks decision to reverse course is a reaction to bad PR from environmentalists after buying BTC in the first place. “What happened afterward was a big backlash by people who believe Bitcoin is bad for the environment,” Gladstein said.  Gladstein and McGinniss are only the latest crypto advocates to come to the leading cryptocurrencys defense. This time, the two compare the leading cryptocurrency with the petrodollar.  What is the petrodollar?  Broadly speaking, the petrodollar is

2021-05-19Deep Dive
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