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April 11, 2018
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The recent regulations rolled out across Western and Eastern countries do not seem to be letting up in the light of new issues.
Canadian Banks Impose Bans
Last month, the Canadian bank Toronto Dominion enacted a policy that would prevent their customers from buying cryptocurrencies using their services.
Another Canadian bank, the Royal Bank of Canada, also announced that it would begin to restrict the number of transactions involving cryptocurrencies.
Now the Bank of Montreal follows suit.
The bank, which is under the BMO Financial Group, just recently announced that their customers would not be able to use their debit and credit cards for the purposes of trading in (or with) cryptocurrencies.
This is could be seen as bad news for new and existing investors in cryptocurrencies, as their options will now be severely limited.
This has not stopped the traders, however. When one door closes, another one opens.
LocalBitcoins, which is a local P2P platform, allows for cryptocurrency transactions and has as a result of the bank ban increased their trades significantly – from $1.2 to $7.2 in just three weeks.
As with the recent bans imposed by social media platforms on the advertisement of cryptocurrencies, some investors even see the bank ban as a good thing.
Given that the whole philosophy behind cryptocurrencies is predicated on the fact that the current bank system is flawed, many welcome the ban as an opportunity.
By banning cryptocurrency transactions, banks are giving the investors one more reason not to use the traditional system to conduct business.
Skeptics of these new ways of doing business, as the traders do with LocalBitcoins, say that it will lead to disaster due to security concerns.
These concerns do not seem to phase Canadian cryptocurrency traders in the slightest, however.
Crypto-Scam in Vietnam Causes Trouble
Canada is not the only country recently taking a stricter stance on the cryptocurrency market.
Vietnam has recently experienced a massive case of fraud involving cryptocurrencies, and have as a result announced that Vietnamese traders should be wary.
As a result of this case, the State Bank of Vietnam and the Ministry of Public Securities have been told by the Prime Minister to impose stricter regulations on cryptocurrency trading.
The official website of the Vietnamese released a statement that said:
“Cryptocurrency investment and trading and raising money through initial coin offerings are evolving in a more complicated manner”
In the light of the recent scam, which is thought to involve the company Modern Tech JSC, the police authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have been put on alert.
Le Dong Phong, the chief of police in Ho Chi Minh City, made the following statement:
“All cryptocurrencies and transactions in cryptocurrencies are illegal in Vietnam. We are gathering information about the case, but officially we haven’t launched an investigation until we receive accusations from any of the alleged victims”
The Vietnamese banks have now been asked not to facilitate any further transactions involving cryptocurrencies.
What should be done?
What do you think can be done to prevent scams in the cryptocurrency markets? Do you think the restrictions imposed by Canada and Vietnam is the right response?
Leave your opinion in the comments below!
April 9, 2018
As anyone in the cryptocurrency community will be painfully aware of, a string of Internet giants have banned (or proposed to ban) cryptocurrency advertisements on their platforms.
Some of the most prominent of these companies include the likes of Google, Facebook, Twitter, MailChimp, and Reddit.
Facebook already put the ban on ICO adverts into effect at the end of January this year, and Twitter’s ban was just announced at the end of last month.
Although Google confirmed their ban in March as well, the ban will not come into effect until June later this year.
Finally, “Яндекс”, the biggest search engine in Russia, has now also announced that it impose a similar ban on ICOs.
Russia, in particular, stands to lose quite a lot on this kind of ban, as their contribution to the global ICO market is as much as 10%.
Why ban cryptocurrency advertisements?
The rationale behind this ban is that too many ICOs are scams, and the users of the online social media platforms must be protected.
This has caused some of the investors to worry that the value of their cryptocurrencies will plummet – and indeed some have.
Others have started suspecting that the timing of all the Internet giants deciding on a ban within a relatively short timeframe is due to collusion between them.
However, still other investors are optimistic about the situation. They say that the advertisement ban on social media will help weeding out the criminal elements of the cryptocurrency market.
And there are quite a few criminal elements: money laundering, trading of illegal substances, and scam artists peddling fraudulent ICOs.
Cryptocurrency associations strike back
Regardless of where one stands on the advertisement ban, there are now several organisations that have decided to file lawsuits against the major Internet companies in retaliation.
The organizations are based in a wide range of countries, including Russia, China, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Switzerland and Armenia, and have recently formed Eurasian Blockchain Association (EBA).
The organizations themselves include the Russian Association of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain, a Chinese association of crypto investors called LCBT, and the Korea Venture Business Associations, the Kazakhstan Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association, the Swiss fintech company InnMind, and the Armenian Blockchain Association.
Pending lawsuit against Google, Facebook, and Twitter
The news about this joint lawsuit is hot off the press, and the world only found out about this move a little over a week ago.
The group of organizations is moving swiftly, however. With funding collected and stored in Estonia, the lawsuit is already set to be filed in New York next month.
Where the lawsuit will apply to is yet to be confirmed, as some states have more lax laws when it concerns cryptocurrencies.
What do you think of the proposed ban on cryptocurrency advertisements? Will the companies change their mind as the criminal elements slowly but surely disappear?
Leave your comments in the section below!
April 7, 2018
The market for cryptocurrencies has matured, especially in the case of now well-established ones like Bitcoin, which has been in circulation since 2008.
As a result, many of those who were once very sceptical about the concept of digital currencies are now slowly being won over.
Some are even beginning to toy with the idea of investing in Bitcoin themselves. A great example of this is famous billionaire George Soros.
“Cryptocurrencies are a typical bubble” – George Soros
Mr. Soros has denounced Bitcoin several times in the past, and one of the reasons he has given is that cryptocurrencies will help foreign dictators in the same way that they aid criminal activity in the West.
On this subject, Mr. Soros has said:
“There’s also as very innovative blockchain technology, which can be used for positive or negative purposes. Currently it’s used mostly for tax evasion and for people and the rulers and dictatorships to build a nest egg abroad.”
Another reason Mr. Soros has given for not caring much for Bitcoin, and cryptocurrencies in general, is that they are not currencies at all.
According to him, cryptocurrencies are nothing more than pure speculation with no intrinsic value:
“Cryptocurrencies are a typical bubble, which is always based on some kind of misunderstanding. Bitcoin is not a currency, because a currency is supposed to be a stable store of value, and the currency that can fluctuate 25 percent in day cannot be used, for instance, to pay wages, because wages could drop by 25 percent in a day. So it’s a speculation, it’s based on misunderstanding.”
A change of tune from George Soros
Now, however, things seem to have changed for the billionaire tycoon.
He has been indirectly involved with Bitcoin since August 2017, which makes his comments above very interesting, given that they came after his involvement with cryptocurrencies.
Overstock.com branded itself as the first major retailer to accept Bitcoin, and Soros is the third biggest shareholder of that company.
That alone is an indication that the businessman has changed his tune when it comes to blockchain technology and digital currencies.
The plot thickens
Things are now becoming much more interesting in the Soros camp.
Bloomberg reports that Soros Fund Management will now be investing in cryptocurrencies, ICOs, and blockchain technology directly.
Thus, Soros joins the ranks of many billionaire investors who have begun to speculate in digital currencies, such as John Burbank (who starting his funding round in January), and Alan Howard (who makes a significant personal income from cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology).
The example of George Soros perfectly describes the changing attitude of seasoned businesspeople and investors all over the world.
They have not achieved their status as moguls in the world of investment because they made foolish decisions.
Sometimes it pays to take it slow, and consider your options before making a leap of faith into a new market.
What do you think of the veteran investors changing their opinion on cryptocurrencies? Will this add to the credibility of the market? Or will they simply push out some of the early movers?
Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
April 6, 2018
Anyone following the news about cryptocurrencies will be aware that the market is extremely volatile at the moment – perhaps more than it has ever been before.
This means many things. First of all, crypto-miners are having to revise their strategy (and energy bill) when it comes to the feasibility of their mining gig.
Secondly, day-traders are losing both money and interest in the market, as trading Bitcoins and other currencies are no longer as profitable as it used to be.
Conversely, long-term investors are now losing their scepticism and are showing a renewed interest in cryptocurrencies as a long-term investment.
Overall, many once-promising Bitcoin millionaires are now left with a bleak outlook on an uncertain future as the market is seemingly all over the place.
But this only holds true for the West. In the East, cryptocurrencies are perhaps as strong as ever.
Eastern Promises
For companies like BitPay, who, despite the massive drop in cryptocurrency value of the last few month, have somehow managed to secure over $70 in funds, the East shows a lot of promise in terms of expansion.
As a matter of fact, Asia is BitPay’s fastest growing market.
Not only are Asian business thrilled by the prospect of being able to have their invoices paid in one day, as opposed to the long process of traditional banking systems, but Asian consumers are increasingly using Bitcoin to pay for goods and services.
On top of the fast transactions, Asian businesses trading internationally are also happy to see a reduction of transaction fees down to a meagre 1% – much less than would be the case with regular bank transfers.
From China to Japan
In China, the all-around versatile app WeChat has now launched WeChat Pay, which is essentially a QR code that can be used as payment in almost any restaurant or retailer.
In Japan, Bitcoin has been accepted as legal tender for over a year now, and Japanese banks are in the process of developing their very own cryptocurrency called J-Coin.
One of the reasons why investors and entrepreneurs alike see an opening in Asia is that credit cards are not being used as widely there as it is here in the West.
This means that there is ample opportunity to start spreading the use of cryptocurrencies as an alternative form of payment.
Challenges ahead
There are of course challenges to be dealt with as well as opportunities to be seized.
One of the challenges is the fluctuating value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Although the Asian market seems more enthusiastic about the technology, they are, like any other markets, not immune to the volatile nature.
Another challenge is whether or not technological advancement can keep up with the demand for cryptocurrencies – if there’s only a few places to pay with Bitcoin, it will lose some of its appeal.
What do you think of the Asian approach to cryptocurrencies? Do you feel like the West could learn a thing or two about the Eastern mentality? And what about the challenges? Will Asian investors and entrepreneurs face the same issues as Western ones?
Leave your comments below!