Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian says "Bitcoin winter is great for crypto industry"
Cryptocurrency investors “should have been thinking long term,” says Reddit cofounder and Coinbase backer Alexis Ohanian.
Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and known crypto bull, claimed that the crypto hype is gone, leaving space for true crypto believers. Ohanian spoke on the subject in an interview with YahooFinance released on Feb. 22.
Alexis Ohanian Sr. (u/kn0thing) - Redditt
Alexis Ohanian Sr. - alexisohanian.com
Bitcoin investors should not be discouraged by the brutal Crypto Winter because the mass purge is actually good for the long-term health of the industry. That’s the observation of Coinbase investor Alexis Ohanian, better known as the founder of social media network Reddit.
‘This Is the Spring of Crypto Innovation’
Ohanian — the husband of American tennis star Serena Williams — admits that bitcoin is experiencing a prolonged market slump.
However, despite the Crypto Winter, he says now is actually the “spring of crypto innovation.” Why? Because the people that remain in the industry after the market crash are die-hard enthusiasts, not flaky, fair-weather speculators.
“This is the Crypto Winter, no doubt,” Ohanian told Yahoo. “But a friend of mine, Brian Armstrong — who’s the CEO of Coinbase — said, ‘This is the spring of crypto innovation.'”
“What he means is, ‘Yes, the prices are depressed. The speculators have fled, and that’s great.’ Because the people who are now building on crypto are true believers. They’re actually building the infrastructure that it’s going to take to really make this happen.”
Market Attrition Reveals the True Believers
While naysayers point to the market slump as evidence that bitcoin is dead, Ohanian says nothing could be further from the truth.”
“Some of the smartest people I know in tech are still working on solving these problems. They’re building companies that are built on blockchain.”
“The hype is...
Pennsylvania Dept of Banking & Securities clarifies "Crypto Exchanges Are Not Money Transmitters"
Pennsylvania’s Department of Banking and Securities (DoBS) has clarified that crypto exchanges and service providers do not require a money transmission license to operate in the state.
The DoBS published the new guidance for the local crypto industry on Wednesday, following a number of enquiries from businesses, it said.
The department explained that as bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not “money,” the Money Transmission Business Licensing Law or the Money Transmitter Act of Pennsylvania does not apply to crypto trading platforms.
According to the act, only fiat currency or the U.S. government-issued currency is considered money. “To date, no jurisdiction in the United States has designated virtual currency as legal tender,” the department said.
The act states that parties conducting the business of transmitting money need to be licensed if they transfer fiat currency...
Elections Canada says there has been “a growing interest” in cryptocurrency donations
Jessie Willms is a planet earth based former government and political researcher and communications officer helping to document the FinTech revolution and its impact on traditional institutions and governments. You can follow Jessie on Twitter at @WILLMS_.
According to Elections Canada, the agency that runs federal elections in Canada, there has been “a growing interest” in cryptocurrency donations. This trend has prompted some political parties to ask for a ruling on how best to manage bitcoin and other cryptocurrency political donations and how to navigate the various reporting systems required by both Elections Canada and the parties so that they comply with the Canada Elections Act.
Election season is just beginning in Canada. There are three federal by-elections called for February 25, 2019; these will fill vacant seats, including a seat for one of the party leaders. A full federal election will be called before October 21, 2019.
On the legality of accepting cryptocurrency donations, an Elections Canada (EC) official told Bitcoin Magazine that “the Canada Elections Act does not prohibit political entities from accepting cryptocurrency contributions. Political entities are therefore currently able to accept such contributions.”
Elections Canada is taking the initial position that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are non-monetary, in-kind contributions, i.e. property or a commodity, but not a currency, a similar position taken by the U.S. Federal Elections Commission (FEC) and the Canada Revenue Agency.
However, Elections Canada has left the question of whether to classify cryptocurrencies as monetary or non-monetary open for the parties to consider in the current consultation process.
Is Bitcoin Legal in Canada?
Chetan Phull, a Toronto lawyer, founder and principal of Smartblock Law Professional Corporation, has written about the seemingly murky area of the legality of using cryptocurrencies as money in Canada.
Phull told Bitcoin Magazine that the use of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as money (legal tender) is, strictly speaking, illegal under Canada’s Currency Act.
However, he acknowledges that “Canada may be opening up to treating crypto as a type of non-fiat money, despite the current statutory definition of money.”
He points out that, to date, “there has been no actual enforcement action against the use of crypto as ‘money’ in Canada — not even against the Calgary Digital Dollar, where enforcement would be supported by long-standing precedent of the Supreme Court of Canada. Nor has there been any significant government pursuit of taxes not charged on trades...
2020 Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard invests in cryptocurrency
US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii is running for president of the United States in 2020. In December 2017, Gabbard bought Litecoin and Ether at the height of the crypto bull market, according to federal filings.
“I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week,” Gabbard tells CNN on Jan. 12 (see video below).
“There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people…that I want to help solve.”
Gabbard: US Must Stay out of Mideast Wars
Gabbard says her main concern is to make sure that the US does not continue to intervene in ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.
Her other priorities include climate change, health care, and criminal justice reform.
There is one main issue that is central to the rest, and that is the issue of war and peace.
Gabbard, 37, is a fresh, energetic face on the American political scene. However, her chances of winning the Democrat Party’s nomination are slim, given the huge field of candidates.
For example, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is also running for president. Warren is a crypto critic who says the virtual currency market is full of scam artists.
Gabbard Bought Crypto at Height of Market
As CCN reported, Tulsi Gabbard bought $1,001 to $15,000 of Ether and Litecoin in December 2017. At the time, the bitcoin price soared to a record high of $19,500.
It’s unclear how much crypto Gabbard currently holds. However, it’s likely...
Stocks Edge Higher Despite Trump Tariff Warning; Crypto Top 10 Shake Up
U.S. stocks pulled ahead on Tuesday, as investors shrugged off calls by President Trump for additional tariffs on Chinese goods. Cryptocurrencies faltered after a solid start to the week as bitcoin SV made its debut.
Stocks Finish Higher
Equities pulled ahead in the final hour of trading, with the S&P 500 Index registering gains of 0.3% to close at 2,682.20. Seven of 11 primary sectors contributed to the gains, led by the defensive consumer staples and utilities categories. Healthcare and the much smaller real estate sector also notched solid gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 108.49 points, or 0.4%, to 24,748.73. Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) were the biggest contributors.
The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite Index finished flat at 7,082.70.
Trump Threatens Additional China Tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump told The Wall Street Journal on Monday that he plans to move ahead with harsher tariffs on Chinese goods, lowering the prospect of an imminent trade deal later this week. China had requested that the president hold off on raising tariffs on $200 billion worth of U.S.-bound experts scheduled to come into effect Jan. 1. Trump not only said...
Coinbase Rolls Out System to Addressing Bitcoin Payments
With transaction fees "volatile and unpredictable," sending cryptocurrencies can sometimes be frustrating.
So says U.S.-based crypto exchange Coinbase in a new blog post that sets out the issues rising from shifting miner fees, and exactly what it has been doing to address the problem.
As most who have sent or received bitcoin will know, the primary problem is that the fee variations can mean significant changes in the amount of time it takes for transactions to be confirmed. Coinbase says this wastes company time in pointless support requests and provides users with a "frustrating experience."
The reason fees rise and fall so readily is that rather than clawing back transaction costs via a percentage – as card firms like Visa and Mastercard do – bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies pay miners a fee to confirm transactions. And that's based on a model not dissimilar to bidding at an auction.
At times when the bitcoin network is busiest, miners have a queue of transactions to process and these are prioritized by dealing with the transactions offering the highest fee first.
But the method can cause lengthy delays before transactions are confirmed and the funds have "arrived." It can also cause spiking fees...
Asia’s Influence on the Cryptocurrency Markets
Asia is one of the leading influencers in the crypto markets and trading volume.
Nowadays cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are considered widely to be real investment vehicles, with the future goal being mass adoption. This is slowly progressing within the US and Europe, but some areas of Asia, particularly in the Southeast region have really started to embrace this revolution. Cryptocurrency is being used in many ways such as Bitcoin Cash beer gardens in Thailand and blockchain based microlending programmes in Cambodia.
Until midway through 2017 China was regarded as the biggest market worldwide for Bitcoin trading, however from September onwards this began to change when ICOs were banned and then government officials shut down some local Bitcoin exchanges, such as OKcoin and Huobi, which were two of the largest in the world and this then made Japan the largest Bitcoin market in the world. It is only set to get worse for China too as now their Government Officials also want to crack down even further on Bitcoin mining and stop local internet access to cryptocurrency exchanges internationally. This would stop any potential Chinese Bitcoin consumers buying from foreign exchanges as well as their own.
Asia’s Influence is undeniable
It has been noticed that cryptocurrency trading in Asia has proved to be very adaptable, in particular in relation to the wide ranging prices across the continent. The chief exec of a Hong...
Bitfinex and Tether Chief Strategy Officer Resigns
Chief Strategy Officer Phil Potter of Bitfinex announced Friday that he has decided to resign.
He is also leaving the same role at Bitfinex’s partner company, Tether Ltd., issuers of a stablecoin (USDT) that is pegged 1:1 in value to the US Dollar.
Potter Steps Down
In an emailed statement released to the media on Friday, Potter stated:
As Bitfinex pivots away from the U.S., I felt that, as a U.S. person, it was time for me to rethink my position as a member of the executive team.
The dubious timing on Potter’s departure, which comes in the wake of both companies being served subpoenas by the United States Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in December of last year, has raised questions as to whether the investigation was related to the split.
All Eyes Are on Bitfinex
Bitfinex is currently the sixth largest cryptocurrency exchange, with a 24-hour trade volume of more than $432 million. The exchange has been under scrutiny from...
US Government Officials Must Disclose Crypto Holdings
The U.S Office of Government Ethics has moved towards creating transparency in government officials cryptocurrency holdings.
Those working for the executive branch of the U.S. government must disclose their cryptocurrency holdings, ethics officials said Monday.
In a legal advisory released Monday, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) clarified that cryptocurrency is "property held … for investment or the production of income" instead of a "real" currency or legal tender. As a result, the OGE will now require executive branch employees to report holdings of digital currencies because they "may create a conflict of interest for employees who own it."
The disclosure requirement is a major move, requiring members of the U.S. executive branch – officials working for the White House as well as the galaxy of federal agencies – to reveal their crypto holdings. Earlier this year, a member of the U.S. Congress submitted a petition seeking similar requirements for federal lawmakers.
The OGE's document also specifically...
Escalation Overflow
Hi Everyone,
Financial markets appear to be reacting to the latest escalation in the trade war between the U.S. and China.
It now appears that the United States may have the upper hand due to the wide trade imbalance between the two nations. Indeed, it would be very difficult for the Chinese to find $200 billion worth of US imports to curtail.
Under the circumstances, I guess you could say that markets are holding up pretty well, as we’ll see below. Even though the declines are sizeable, this doesn’t come close to the volatility we saw in February.
President Trump’s approval ratings are now as high as they’ve ever been despite outrage over recent hardline anti-immigration actions that saw authorities separating more than 2,300 children from their parents.
@MatiGreenspan
eToro, Senior Market Analyst
Today’s Highlights
- Stocks Minor Sell-off
- What Brexit Negotiations?
- Crypto Off the Lows (Focus on ETC)
Traditional Markets
Looking at the financial markets today it seems there is a bit of fear creeping in.
The Chinese stock market is down 3% and the Japanese market isn’t far behind with losses of 2.5%. Though these are quite substantial movements for any stock index, by putting things in context on the long-term chart we can see that it’s not the end of the world.
Please notice how in February, before the whole trade tensions began, the stocks experienced a much sharper sell-off.
On this chart of the VIX we can also see that even though volatility spiked yesterday, it’s still way below the levels seen...