Day: July 1, 2018

Crypto exchange Kraken has responded to a recent article by Bloomberg that argues Tether (USDT) is being manipulated on their exchange. Kraken took a dig at the article’s complex headline and insinuated that the article was written to have an effect on the price of futures trading.

Kraken Swipes at Bloomberg

Four Bloomberg reporters claimed that data from Tether trading on Kraken showed two red flags for regulators on June 29. Today, Kraken argued the article was badly written, defied logic, and was shamelessly copied by other ‘journalist lemmings.’ In response to claims that the exchange is involved in market manipulation, they suggested that Bloomberg have their own incentives for the piece to be written.

Kraken said, in a statement:

“If we are to take up our pitchforks against market manipulation, guide your torches toward this illumination: the Bloomberg News piece was published on June 29^th, the last business day of trading for Q2, and expiration date of numerous futures contracts. It raises red flags.”

Kraken was presumably referring to the CME futures trading which ended on June 29 with a settlement date of July 5. Futures trading is where two traders agree to sell an asset between them at a fixed price in the future, essentially betting if it will go up (long) or down (short). Kraken is implying that the article could have dropped the price of Bitcoin, making profits for those who had shorted it.

Response to Tether Manipulation

The Bloomberg article made two allegations against Tether trading on the Kraken exchange using data provided by Kraken. It claimed that some small trades made a bigger difference in the price of Tether than larger trades. It also pointed out that a high number of trades are made with specific order sizes that are unlikely to be made by humans.

The article said: “Unlike the price of Bitcoin, which fluctuates in tandem with shifts in trading volume, the price of Tether is inconsistently changed by large and small orders to buy or sell the coin.”

Kraken responded to the first claim by stating that Tether is backed one-to-one by the US dollar. This is what makes is different from Bitcoin, which has a price based purely on supply and demand. After questioning why someone would spend time wash trading a pegged asset against its peg, they put in a dig at the US dollar which they claimed ‘is an explicitly manipulated asset.’

In response to smaller trades having a greater effect on the price of Tether, Kraken humbly admitted that although they are proud of their reputation, they are not big enough to determine the price of USDT. Kraken said:

“This level of USDT price discovery happens on markets with hundreds of millions of dollars of volume, not on Kraken’s USDT/USD market, which has currently traded less than $1 million in the last 24 hours.”

Kraken only offered three words in response to the second claim after they spoke to the trader responsible for the orders of 13076.389 USDT which accounted for ‘7.9% of total trading activity on Tether between May 1–June 22′ according to Bloomberg. The trader told Kraken the number was ‘literally randomly selected.’

 

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The Baltic state of Latvia may be a fledgling in terms of fintech development but it is beginning to make real inroads into developing the space, writes Fintech Switzerland.

Fintech has a rapidly growing footprint in the startup scene and cryptocurrency interest is growing despite government’s uncertainty regarding regulations in the sector.

Latvia currently levies a 20% capital gains tax, and applying it to cryptocurrency would reportedly require a change in the country’s tax laws. Currently, cryptocurrencies are not recognized under existing legislation. However, its exponential growth in the Baltic country has generated an increased interest from the government as a potential tax revenue.

Latvia is still lagging behind its crypto-friendly neighbor Estonia, which is beginning to attract outside companies due to its innovative and vibrant crypto community. Estonia has a significant internet penetration and has recently considered its own national token, the Estcoin, although it later rejected the proposal for a CBDC.

However, Latvia is well networked, occupying the third position in the OECD with its fast fiber-optic broadband and has several government programs active after launching the introduction of a startup visa in 2017. This change to legislation introduced new tax laws which effectively doubled venture capital investors’ money for new companies.

Along with an EUR 15 million hand out to seed investments and several conferences held in Latvia’s capital Riga every year, the fintech space is catching up with its neighbors. The Latvian Startup Association also promotes new business in the country, although with such a small market and a population of 2 million, business is increasingly searching for new overseas markets.

In March 2018, Latvia hosted an international discussion between industry experts on the future of fintech in the Baltics and the overall EU, which featured the vice-president of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, as keynote speaker.

European fintech platform and community B-Hive recently released a research paper showing that the most developed technological area in the country’s economy is now fintech with a startup industry worth USD 878 million, with blockchain technology a contributing factor.

 

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Key Highlights

• Ripple price recovered from the $0.4248 low, but it failed to settle above $0.4750 against the US dollar.
• There is a short-term declining channel in place with resistance at $0.4650 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair (data source from Kraken).
• The pair must clear the $0.4650 and $0.4750 resistance levels to recover further in the near term.

Ripple price struggled near key resistance levels against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. XRP/USD must settle above the $0.4750 barrier for more upsides towards $0.5000.

Ripple Price Resistance

This past week, Ripple price traded towards the $0.4200 support area against the US Dollar. The XRP/USD pair traded as low as $0.4248 before buyers appeared. A fresh upward wave was initiated and the price moved above the $0.4500 and $0.4600 resistance levels. The price traded as high as $0.4817, but buyers fail to keep the price above the $0.4750 resistance.

XRP price declined and broke the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the wave from the $0.4248 low to $0.4817 high. However, the decline was protected by the $0.4500-20 support area. More importantly, there was no close below the 50% Fib retracement level of the wave from the $0.4248 low to $0.4817 high. At the moment, it seems like there is a short-term declining channel in place with resistance at $0.4650 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair. The pair is attempting an upside break above the $0.4620-50 resistance zone. Above this, the price must clear the all-important $0.4750 barrier.

Looking at the chart, the price is trading nicely in a bullish zone above $0.4500. Having said that, XRP must settle above $0.4750 to hold gains. If not, there is a risk of a downside reaction below the $0.4500 support level in the near term.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for XRP/USD is mostly flat in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for XRP/USD is stable around the 55 level.

Major Support Level – $0.4500

Major Resistance Level – $0.4750

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Following a Bloomberg News expose, alleging market manipulation of controversial alternative token Tether (USDT) on its exchange, Kraken fires off a savage blog post mocking journalists and defending their business’ integrity.

Also read: Red Flag Waved in Tether’s Relationship with Kraken Exchange

Kraken Goes Savage On Bloomberg

On Tether: Journalists Defy Logic, Raising Red Flags reveals the San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange is having exactly none of it. A journalist “covering market structure for Bloomberg News inexplicably fails to comprehend basic market concepts such as arbitrage, order books and currency pegs.  More troubling, however, was the applause from other ‘journalist’ lemmings as they followed in walking their reputations off a cliff.  It defies logic.”

Kraken is a scrappier exchange in the crypto world, and if the present rebuttal doesn’t convince readers of that fact, remembering back to its verbal joust with no less than the New York Attorney General would suffice. The AG issued its notorious Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative Questionnaire to leading cryptocurrency exchanges throughout the United States, and then, as now, Kraken went savage. CEO Jesse Powell shot back, referring to the AG’s request directly, “When I saw this 34-point demand, with a deadline 2 weeks out, I immediately thought ‘The audacity of these guys — the entitlement, the disrespect for our business, our time!’” 

True too is the fact it has been one hell of a week for Kraken’s current object of scorn and derision, journalist Matt Leising. Not only was he principal author in the offending Tether story, he also released viral speculation about Satoshi Nakamoto’s reemergence via new writings. For Kraken, however, “The would-be Tether takedown was indefensible and handily dismantled by the community.  Each comment a prelude to a thorough evisceration,” and nearly half a dozen scathing Tweets follow. Mr. Leising has since announced he is “off Twitter until July 9. Go yell at someone else.”

For the exchange, the need to push back on Mr. Leising’s work in this manner comes down to the presumption “lawmakers are reading this stuff. The title sure was sensational, and it undoubtedly grabbed eyeballs but what of the readers who are not following the outrage on Reddit and Twitter? What of those who rely on the journalistic integrity and expertise of their news sources? If we are to take up our pitchforks against market manipulation, guide your torches toward this illumination: the Bloomberg News piece was published on June 29th, the last business day of trading for Q2, and expiration date of numerous futures contracts. It raises red flags,” the post chastised at Mr. Leising’s methodology.

Tether’s Price is Not Being Manipulated by Kraken

After explaining USDT’s price stability is a function of the token’s inherent design and rather banal arbitrage, the exchange turns to its overall influence on the tether market at large. “As much as we pride ourselves on the level of recognition we enjoy in the industry,” Kraken explains, “we sadly cannot claim to be the arbiters of the price of USDT.  It is more likely determined by the billions of USDT traded over markets like BTC/USDT or ETH/USDT on other platforms. If 1 BTC trades for ~6,350 USDT on one platform and ~$6,350 US dollars on Kraken, then the implied price of each USDT is logically $1 US dollar. This level of USDT price discovery happens on markets with hundreds of millions of dollars of volume, not on Kraken’s USDT/USD market, which has currently traded less than $1 million in the last 24 hours.” They further invite anyone to check their logic against publicly available data.

The exchange bills itself in terms of euro liquidity and volume “the world’s largest bitcoin exchange.” It operates in the United States, European Union, Canada, and Japan. Owned by Payward Inc., ironically it provides bitcoin core (BTC) pricing to the Bloomberg Terminal. It was founded largely in the wake of the Mt. Gox implosion, and established itself as a viable alternative. It was launched by Mr. Powell in Fall of 2013, and, with some noted hiccups, has been an ecosystem staple.

“We take allegations of manipulation very seriously,” the exchange insisted. “We strive to operate a platform that is open and fair to all of our users.” Nevertheless, “After reading the Bloomberg article, we scratched our heads, questioning just what type of manipulation was being claimed.” Rhetorically, it asks, “Is it so hard to believe that an asset-backed stablecoin could trade, well… with so much stability?  As we discussed previously, one need only take a look at the order book to understand why trades of different sizes result in little-to-no change in price levels. If an order book is too hard a concept to grasp, think about stock at your grocery store.  Why doesn’t the price on avocados change every time you put one in your basket?”

As for the charge of wash trading, “If you’re looking around for potential wash trading in USDT, we recommend you look elsewhere.  That said, it’s not clear what harm could come from wash trading of a pegged asset against its peg. In Kraken’s case, USDT is only traded against its peg, USD, which itself is an explicitly manipulated asset.” And that pesky 13,076.389 number thought to be so very maniacal? They “asked the botter responsible for the mysterious 13076.389 orders. The answer: ‘literally randomly selected.’ So, there you have it,” they conclude.

Is tether’s price being manipulated? Let us know in the comments. 

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Images via the Pixabay, Twitter.

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Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com.

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The mystery of the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto has been a topic of discussion in the cryptocurrency community for years after he/she/they mysteriously disappeared. But a website, created on June 29th, states that Satoshi is back.

Satoshi Nakamoto: Bitcoin’s Decade-Long Mystery

Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? That is the mystery that has plagued the cryptocurrency community for the better part of a decade.

For those who are unaware, Nakamoto is a pseudonymous name that has become integrally tied to the identity of the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Speculation has raged about the true identity of the programmer who created the Bitcoin code base. Some say it is Craig Wright, an Australian coder who has claimed to be Nakamoto, others say its a collective group of like-minded individuals. But to this day, no one knows for sure.

However, others have wondered if it is really necessary to figure out who Satoshi is, as Bitcoin was founded on decentralized principles. A lack of centralized figurehead only attests to the decentralized values Bitcoin was based upon.

After 2011, Satoshi disappeared, along with a reported one million Bitcoin, leaving many to speculate where he went.  Since then, the mystery has remained, with talk of the ‘real’ Satoshi and ‘Faktoshi’ arriving on a monthly basis.

The Nakamoto Family Foundation Website

However, the situation has unexpectedly developed, with a website claiming that Satoshi is back. The website, titled the Nakamoto Family Foundation, claims that Satoshi is writing an account of Bitcoin. The website notes:

“I wanted the people and the facts to be known. Or as much of it. I’m still saving most for the books, the best parts hopefully.”

Keeping Satoshi’s affection for cryptography in mind, the owner of the website, Nakamoto or not, added a puzzle for users willing to try. According to Bloomberg, the puzzle reveals the supposed title of the book, this being “Honne And Tatamae.”

The two words, staying in line with Satoshi’s Japanese pseudonymous identity, is a Japanese expression that has been translated to “the contrast between a person’s true feelings and desires” and “the behavior and opinions one displays in public.”

At the time of writing, it is unclear how the author of the website will tie in this concept into the book, which will cover facts and the history of Bitcoin. The website contains an excerpt from the book, which is still being written. The excerpt covers the apparent origins of Bitcoin, elaborating on the internal thoughts ‘Satoshi’ had regarding certain aspects of Bitcoin’s development process.

Although surprisingly detailed, users still wondered if it really is Satoshi, or an impostor, playing an extremely elaborate scheme on the minds of the community.  

But Is It Really Satoshi?

The cryptocurrency community has gone into an outrage over this news, with many expressing that there is no way this can be Satoshi. Upon analysis of the website, many Bitcoin community members said that Satoshi could easily identify himself. Whether it be through a digital signature unique to Satoshi, or by making a Bitcoin transaction from one of Satoshi’s many addresses. 

Additionally, some pointed out that the writing of the apparent book excerpt was of low quality, and in a different style than the original whitepaper, which was released in 2008.

A Reddit user with the handle, John_The_Cashist, said:

“Wow, Nakamoto’s writing really went downhill following the publication of his white paper.”

These reasons, along with a multitude of others, have led the community to widely believe that there is no way this is really Satoshi. But if Satoshi is still out there, alive and well, a book regarding the history of Bitcoin would be widely welcomed.

 

Image from Shutterstock

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One of the longest-running crypto exchanges is relaunching its trading service nearly a year after China’s notable clampdown.

A new study released by CreditCoin shows that more than half of US consumers surveyed who didn’t own Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency wished they did. Additionally, new cryptocurrency adopters find that the processes of buying digital currency are too complex, and therefore off-putting to those new to the space, writes Benzinga.

The report is based on a survey of 1,000 US consumers who have had some experience of Bitcoin. It was initiated in order to better understand what perceptions people have about digital currencies and how they are being utilized.

Millennials again featured as the predominant group with a huge 40% ownership, with males almost twice that of their female counterparts. The next major group were Gen X and Baby Boomers owning Bitcoins and altcoins to the tune of 24% and 15% respectively.

Perhaps the most interesting factor which came out of the survey was the difficulty expressed by 44% of respondents that cryptocurrencies were difficult to buy. Security was an issue among 64% of millennials.

“Purchasing cryptocurrency at other exchanges can be technologically challenging,” said Jennifer Hansen, spokesperson for CreditCoin. “Cryptocurrency is undeniably here to stay so we created CreditCoin to make it possible for everyone to participate without being required to know anything about eWallets or connecting their bank account to an exchange.”

Three-quarters of people surveyed stated that they would be more likely to choose a partner who was knowledgeable about cryptocurrency ahead of a non-cryptocurrency user, although when given the choice to date a cryptocurrency saver over a divorcee with a child, most went for the latter choice.

Some other messages were clear from the snapshot survey, such as that 80% own cryptocurrency for investment purposes (hodlers) and over half of the respondents envisaged having 10% of their savings in crypto for ten years.

More people said that, given a gift of USD 10,000, they would rather buy cryptocurrency than spend it on a house or a car. Unusual purchases included a dog, a wedding, and case of Sriracha.

 

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FOMO Moments

Crypto land is quiet; Zero-ex, Nem, Neo, and Verge doing well this morning.

Following the pump from the lowest dip of the year on Friday, crypto markets have been relatively stable over the weekend. Total market capitalization has remained above $250 billion but further upward momentum could not be found. Better news is that they did not collapse again back to a deeper dip, though this could still be possible.

Bitcoin failed to break through key resistance at $6,400 and has fallen back marginally to $6,340 showing no gains or losses over the past 24 hours. Ethereum has also stalled at its current level of $450 forming a consolidating triangle according to the technical analysis. Altcoins are mostly in the green with some showing good gains this morning in Asia. These include Cardano, Iota, Neo, Nem, 0x and Verge.

According to Coinmarketcap ADA, IOTA, NEO and NEM are the best performing altcoins in the top 25 all posting gains of just over 5% at the time of writing. All four of these however have taken the heaviest hits during the past month, falling harder than many of their digital brethren. It is usually the case that these ones are the first to bounce back after a big drop.

Further down the list one token making big moves at the moment is 0x. Zero-ex is currently up 20% on the day to trade at $0.91 from $0.76 this time yesterday. This decentralized exchange protocol has also suffered during the bear rout but is recovering quickly. 0z has made 38% over the past week climbing from $0.66 but is down 30% on the month falling from $1.28. Against BTC 0x is up 19.5% on the day to 14240 satoshis and over the week this token has made 32% on Bitcoin from 10800 satoshis.

Eventually decentralized exchanges, or DEXes, will rule crypto land and tokens such as 0x may be used to facilitate cross chain exchange. Being priced under a dollar makes ZRX a good altcoin to get into at the moment and traders are picking it up right now. There have also been unsubstantiated rumors of a Coinbase listing which always pumps an altcoin.

Binance currently dominates ZRX trade with around 42% of the total volume. Bithumb and OKEx are also popular exchanges for this token. Total trade volume has actually fallen over the past 24 hours from $21 million to $17 million however signals are good and it is climbing again. 0x currently has a market cap of $480 million ranking it at 27^th spot.

Total cryptocurrency market capitalization has remained flat over the past 24 hours at $255 billion. Likewise with volume which is currently around $14 billion. Markets are marginally higher than their $250 billion level this time last Monday but are still way down on the month. Aside from ZRX, Verge is making good gains today up 10% as is Populous and Status.

More on 0x can be found here: https://0xproject.com/

FOMO Moments is a section that takes a daily look at the top 25 altcoins during the Asian trading session and analyses the best performing one, looking for trends and possible fundamentals.

The post Cryptocurrency Market Update: 0x (ZRX) Surging 20% on Coinbase Rumors appeared first on NewsBTC.

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Bitcoin (BTC) Price Watch: Reversal Pattern and Breakout newsBTC Bitcoin Price Key Highlights. Bitcoin price staged a rally sharp enough to break past the falling trend line on the 4-hour chart. In addition, a small double bottom has formed on this same time frame to signal that an uptrend is underway. Technical ...

Key Highlights

• ETH price is positioned nicely above the $438.00 and $435.00 support levels against the US Dollar.
• There is a key contracting triangle formed with resistance near $455 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken).
• The pair may perhaps break the triangle resistance to trade further higher towards $480.

Ethereum price is back in a positive zone against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. ETH/USD has to clear the $455 resistance to stage more gains in the near term.

Ethereum Price Resistance

Recently, there was a solid upside move above the $430 level in ETH price against the US Dollar. The ETH/USD pair broke the $445 and $450 resistance levels. It traded as high as $463.91 before starting a short-term consolidation. It corrected lower below the $450 level and broke the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $403 low to $463 high.

However, the decline was protected by the $4404-441 support zone. Moreover, the 38.2% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $403 low to $463 high also acted as a support. More importantly, there was no break below $438 and the 100 hourly simple moving average. At the moment, there is a key contracting triangle formed with resistance near $455 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD. The pair has to break the triangle resistance and then $460 to gain upside momentum. If buyers are successful, the price could test the $480 and $485 resistance levels.

Looking at the chart, the price is supported near the triangle support at $446. A break below the mentioned support may ignite more declines towards the $438 level and the 100 hourly SMA. It must stay above the 100 hourly SMA to avoid a bearish reaction back towards the $430 and $425 levels in the near term.

Hourly MACD – The MACD is mostly neutral in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI – The RSI is currently flat above the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $438

Major Resistance Level – $455

The post Ethereum Price Analysis: ETH/USD Could Break Higher appeared first on NewsBTC.

Key Points

• Bitcoin cash price is positioned nicely above the $700 support with positive signs against the US Dollar.
• There is a new declining channel formed with resistance near $740 on the hourly chart of the BCH/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
• The pair must clear the $740 and $750 resistance levels to move further higher in the bullish zone.

Bitcoin cash price is holding the $700 support against the US Dollar. BCH/USD must gain momentum above $750 to revisit the $800 resistance zone in the near term.

Bitcoin Cash Price Trend

There was a decent upside move above the $700 resistance in bitcoin cash price against the US Dollar. The BCH/USD pair traded above the $760 resistance and almost tested the $800 level. A high was formed at $784 before the price started consolidating gains. It corrected lower and moved below the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $649 low to $784 high.

However, the decline was protected by the $720 support zone. More importantly, the 50% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $649 low to $784 high acted as a strong support. At the moment, it seems like there is a new declining channel formed with resistance near $740 on the hourly chart of the BCH/USD pair. The pair is currently attempting an upside break above the $740 resistance. BCH buyers must clear the $740 and $750 resistance levels to take the price towards $800 in the near term.

Looking at the chart, the price is placed nicely in a bullish zone above $700. An initial support is at $720, below which the price could retest the $700 support. Any further declines may perhaps push the price back in a bearish zone towards $650.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for BCH/USD is currently flat in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BCH/USD is now above the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $700

Major Resistance Level – $750

The post Bitcoin Cash Price Analysis: BCH/USD Bullish Above $700 appeared first on NewsBTC.

“Sandbox” is a bad term to describe these regulatory programs, under which financial technology solutions can be safely seeded, fed, and controlled.

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

• Bitcoin price staged a rally sharp enough to break past the falling trend line on the 4-hour chart.
• In addition, a small double bottom has formed on this same time frame to signal that an uptrend is underway.
• Technical indicators, however, are suggesting that the declines could still resume.

Bitcoin price broke past the descending trend line and the neckline of a small double bottom to signal a possible reversal.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA is still below the longer-term 200 SMA to indicate that the path of least resistance is to the downside. This suggests that the selloff is more likely to resume than to reverse.

The shorter-term moving average appears to be holding as resistance for now, but a bullish flag also appears to have formed. This is typically seen as a continuation signal and a break higher could lead to a test of the 200 SMA dynamic inflection point. A break past this area could be enough to confirm that a longer-term uptrend is taking place.

RSI is already turning lower from overbought levels to indicate that selling pressure is building up. Similarly stochastic is also pointing down to signal a return in selling pressure even without hitting overbought conditions. If bears return, bitcoin could still slump back below the trend line and resume the slide.

Bitcoin appears to be off to a fresh positive start so far this quarter and month as it staged a sharp rally. It may have also gotten a boost from bullish remarks by BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes who predicted that it will reach $50,000 by the end of the year. He cited:

“We could definitely find a bottom in the $3,000 to $5,000 range. But we’re one positive regulatory decision away, many an ETF approved by the SEC, to climbing through $20,000 and even to $50,000 by the end of the year.”

He added that the recent dips in price could encourage more investors with more capital to hop in at better levels.

The post Bitcoin (BTC) Price Watch: Reversal Pattern and Breakout appeared first on NewsBTC.

Industry professionals and CEOs of blockchain companies are clamouring for regulators to clarify the legal status of cryptocurrencies to open up innovation and help ‘smart money’ to move into the space. Thailand has shown how it can be done even if their policies are not crypto-friendly enough.

Regulation Will Encourage Growth

Regulation is often given a bad press but in light of the six-month bear market defining 2018, it appears that innovation is waiting on regulatory clarity. During London Tech Week, the common theme was that the industry wants clear regulation.

Speaking at the ‘Zeroing In On Europe’ conference on June 16, former Blackrock investor, Adam Grimsley, co-founder of Prime Factor Capital, said:

“Concerns around volatility, lack of liquidity, and regulatory uncertainty were more than enough to prevent the so-called traditional smart money from entering the arena.”

Coinbase UK CEO made a speech at the Blockchain Summit on June 13 in which he said that the industry needs to work with current financial institutions and educate them before we can achieve a crypto ‘utopia.’ Zeeshan Feroz, UK CEO of Coinbase, told NewsBTC:

“From a government point of view, we should be engaging with the space and looking at how we facilitate it. The biggest step at this stage is regulation, give businesses some certainty and give them a framework to operate within that will help grow it.”

A lot of ICOs have banned U.S. citizens from participating due to a lack of clarity over whether or not they classify as securities. Monaco VISA told U.S., India, Hong Kong and Singapore citizens that they are excluded due to ‘excessive regulatory risk.’ Rather than risk engaging with these markets, ICOs are just enforcing blanket bans to protect themselves, missing out on further funding and more development of the industry.

Speaking at BitcoinCRE on June 14, the founder of CPROP, Sandy Selman said: “We decided to use a tradeable entity. If it became a security it would kill our business. We decided not to take any U.S. money to not deal with the problem.”

Governments Can Regulate Crypto

Thailand has shown that governments can provide clear regulation on cryptocurrencies. In May, it enacted a regulatory framework for ‘digital assets and digital tokens.’ The bill sets out requirements for ICOs to register with the Thailand SEC to make sure that they comply with current laws. Although the taxes are currently quite high, it proves that governments can successfully regulate the industry.

In order to achieve the same clarity, the U.S. needs to decide which bodies are regulating cryptocurrencies. Recently, the SEC cleared up a few questions and confirmed that Ethereum is not a security but the IRS has deemed it property, and taxable. In response to the confusion, the state of Florida has created the position of a ‘crypto czar’ to help make state-specific regulations.

Across the globe, other countries need to speed up their decision-making processes. In Europe, the UK established a task force back in March and the European Commission launched the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum in February. However, no regulation has yet been made apart from an anti-money laundering agreement by the EU.

 

Image from Shutterstock

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